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Showing posts with label Baseball Dad. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Baseball Dad. Show all posts

Friday, April 16, 2010

Baseball Dad Christmas Card

I almost forgot. Baseball Dad also sent me a Christmas card. With a baseball card. Here's what he sent:

The card is a 2007 Turkey Red Sizemore. If you've been here long you know about my mania for the Turkey Red. So you combine my favorite set with my favorite player and you get a card with a HUGE thumbs up from me.

And, to answer the comment there...yes I did already have it. And NO, I don't have nearly enough of them yet.

Thanks again Baseball Dad, and Merry Christmas!!

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Baseball Dad 4: Large Mammal Edition

It is almost certainly true that this is the last post of cards that I have scanned in from Baseball Dad. But like I said last time, I have trouble keeping track so long after I got them. Heck, I probably scanned these cards in and get them ready for the hilarious commentary 4 months ago. Maybe even 6. Who can know such a thing?


Larry Doby 2001 Topps Archives

It's hard to understand why the name Larry has fallen out of favor. You hardly ever hear of kids being named Larry anymore. I'll bet that Lawrence is also on the decline. Parents don't want to take the chance. Personally, Full Metal Jacket ruined the name Lawrence for me.

But Larry; Larry is a great name. I've met a few dudes named Larry in my life and to the best of my recollection they are all awesome. My wife would never go for it, though. So I guess that my only chance is to name the next dog Larry.

And, on this I will not budge.


Russell Branyan 2000 Fleer Who To Watch

There's Russ, the once, once again, once again (I think), and current Cleveland Indian. There's no denying that he can hit Home Runs, or he used to be able to hit home runs. He's so good at hitting home runs that the Indians signed him for $2mil this offseason despite the fact that one of the top prospects in the organization is our first baseman, and we are paying Hafner (whether we want to or not) $14 mil this year to DH. Because that makes a lot of sense for a team trying to rebuild.

Yes, let's spend money we are trying to save on a guy who's only option is to take away at bats from our top prospect.

The bummer is that he hasn't been able to hit all spring because of his back and is on the DL. But, how could have seen that coming? It's not like he's an old man with a history of back problems and couldn't finish lat season because of his bad back or anything. I mean, this back trouble really came out of nowhere.


CC Sabathia 2004 Bowman Heritage

I would comment more on this card if CC weren't dead to me.

I would like to say that he sure looked healthy on opening night, didn't he? Slim.


Eddie Murray 1996 Upper Deck Milestones

What's not to like about Murray? Right down to his subhelmet hat the guy rules. I loved his time in Cleveland. The guy will forever be an Oriole, but I feel fortunate to have seen him here. And to see him get his 3,000th hit here.

I remember the buildup to that hit. It was a big deal.

Sweet mustache too.


Steve Carlton adn Carlton Fisk 1982 Fleer

Steve Carlton and Carlton Fisk? On the same card because of the name "Carlton"? What a stupid card. Who came up with that lame idea. It's like some dude was watching Jeopardy and somehow got his idea made into a baseball card.

And, what's with Fisk's huge lapels? So many things here don't make sense.

Bad idea poorly executed.


John Kruk 1993 O-Pee-Chee

I've been staring at this card trying to think of something to say about it. The only thing I keep coming back to is that I'll bet that if Beardy photoshoped Costanza's face onto it we wouldn't doubt the result for a second.


George Williams 1998 Stadium Club

Man, I do love these Stadium Club cards. Look how thrilled George is to be getting onto the game. I have no idea who he is, though.


Moose Hass 1988 Topps

How does someone end up with the name "Moose"? How does that end up an option? Does it get narrowed down to Larry, Bill, and Moose?

I guess if your name is Moose you better grow a mustache.


Jody Gerut 2004 Donruss Elite Extra Edition

I remember when this guy was going to be our next superstar. I don't know what happened to him. I think he got hurt for a while. Then you never heard from him. them in 2008 he turned up in San Diego and had a pretty good year. Things where looking up.

Last year in 122 games he had an OBP of .279.

That's bad. Really bad.

Looks like he's still kicking around with Milwaukee or something. Good luck to him, but I don't hold out much hope.

It's a nice looking card, though. If you squint your eyes at it long enough it begins to look like it might be Grady Sizemore.

Well, that's it Baseball Dad. Thanks a bunch.

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Baseball Dad 3: Ugly Shirt Edition

Here is another moving installment of the cards that Baseball Dad sent. As usual this is only an exhibition. Please, no wagering.

Phil Niekro 1986 Topps Traded Tiffany

At least I think it's Tiffany. I'm not 100% sure. I guess it doesn't really matter. Well, that's not true. It will matter a lot when I go to file it. The thought of mis-filing a card makes me queasy.

Yes, I know I'm a weirdo. What of it?

I know that Phil is probably 46 or so when They took this photo but dang, that is one old looking dude. I'm not THAT far removed from 46 myself. I'm a lot closer to 46 than18, anyway. I sure hope I look a little better than that. Sheesh.


Bobby Abreu 1999 Pacific Prism

This is one of those rare cards that looks a lot better in the scan than in does in real life. In the scan it has that shiny purplish sheen to it. In really life it's just silver. Not that there's anything wrong with silver, it just looks really cool in the scan IMO.

And what's up with "Bob". Dude...you're Bobby...get over it.


Len Barker 1982 Fleer

The truth is for most of his career Len Barker was average. But on May15th against the Blue Jays he pitched a perfect game. It's still celebrated yearly in Cleveland. One of our few shining moments between 1954 and 1995. It's important. He will always be loved here. And when he was gone, he brought Brett Butler and Brook Jacoby in trade. Barker did a lot of great things for Cleveland.

Even if over the long haul he wasn't a superstar. He was a superstar that day.

And that mustache is anything but average.


Jim Thome 1997 Pinnacle

Goin' Jake! This card celebrates Jim Thome and Cleveland hosting the All Star Game at Jacobs Field. I remember that. Those were good times for the Indians.

But dang, that is one ugly uniform.


Jim Thome 2000 Black Diamond

OOOOHHHHHHHH BLACK DIAMOND
Deh neh neh neh neh nenenenenenenene
OOOOOHHHHHHH BLACK DIAMOND

Maybe it's just the combo of the red AS Jersey with the red socks, but this is much better. Still not great. But better.


Dickie Thon 1992 O-Pee-Chee

Ever wonder how a grown man lets everyone call him Dickie?

I do.


Daron Kirkreit 1994 Upper Deck

Nice Jugs!

(I wonder if that will translate into page hits? I'm not sure how that all works but it puts a smile on my face thinking about all of the 13 year old boys who I may convert to baseball cards when they started out looking for something completely different.)
Mike Rossiter 1992 O-Pee-Chee

And there it is. The ugly shirt I promised in the title. Lord is that hideous or what? I can't figure this card out. Why is he dressed like that? Why is he apparently at the zoo? What the heck is he looking at?

It's a shame this guy never made it to the show. Even for a few days. At the very least he could have afforded a decent shirt.


Chad Ogea 1994 Bowman's Best

I became a big fan of Bowman's Best ever since I Am Joe Collector busted some in a group break. It doesn't matter what year, I'm always impressed. I love these cards.

Hey...I guess they really are Bowman's Best!

Huh.

How about that. It all makes sense.

Thanks Baseball Dad. One more coming. I think.

Hell, I can't keep track anymore.

Monday, April 12, 2010

Baseball Dad 2: Metal Universe Edition

God only knows how long ago Baseball Dad sent me a stack of cards. Some were from his group break, and a lot were just a bunch of great Indians cards, a huge variety. I limited my haul to enough cards to make about 4 posts. The plan is to always knock out those posts and get them up on the blog as a proper thank you.

With me it never really works out that way. I try to think of something semi-interesting to say about all of the cards. The problem is, since I'm an Indians collector, I get a lot of the same players. It's hard to think of a lot of different things to say about Cliff Lee. I end up repeating myself a lot.

What happens, then, is I scan the cards into different posts waiting to be commented upon. Then those posts sit there and sit there. This week is all about getting caught up and finally posting those things. And that's how I end up posting about cards that Baseball Dad sent me a year ago.

Here's the first post about these cards...way back on Dec 13.

Notice at the end of the post that I promised to get to some cards that Night Owl sent me. I made a crack about checking back in March. At the time I thought it was ridiculous to think that it would take me until then. Oh well.

Here is the second installment of the Baseball Dad cards:

Cliff Lee 2004 Certified Materials

Speak of the devil. It's CPL in the flesh. Well, not in the flesh. On a shiny piece of cardboard. I was always behind Cliff. I didn't hold it against him that we wouldn't be able to afford him and had to trade him away. It's the way it is and he earned the money.

And then, after the trade, he said some not too nice things about the Cleveland fans. I don't want to get into it here (It deserves it's own post if I ever get to it). Suffice it to say that it is partly my own fault that we haven't won a World Series in Cleveland.

Well, awesome card aside...Cliff Lee can kiss my ass. (My apologies to Baseball Dad who I know frowns upon that sort of talk. Just take solace in the fact that the actual verbiage in my head is much more colorful.)



Grady Sizemore 2007 Topps Chrome

On to happier things than Phifer Lee. This great card combines my 2 favorite things in card collecting. Chrome and Grady Sizemore...Cleveland's beloved star player still remaining in town. I think he is primed for a breakout year. I made sure I got him on my fantasy team.


Victor Martinez 2004 Diamond Kings

Now here's a former player that I can get behind, despite the fact that he's now a Red Sock (Sox?). Victor was great when he was here and I wish him nothing but the best. Victor never wanted to leave to begin with. I still hope he can, down the road, finish out his career in C-Town. It seems like the right thing.

These Diamond Kings cards are great looking. Much better than the version that was put into the late 80's cards. I miss Donruss.


Mark McGwire 1992 O-Pee-Chee

Look how skinny this dude used to be. Those roids really made him into a monster (physically speaking. I actually like McGwire as a person.) I know I'm in a very small minority, but I like McGwire and I no longer care about his steroid use.

I don't want to get into that, though. I only bring it up to say I legitimately love this card. I love it because that's a perfect swing right there. And steroids didn't give him that swing.


Steve Wojciechowileskichowskinuberchinowski 1997 Fleer

I picked this card for a few reasons:

1. I'd never heard of him. So it gave me a chance to look him up. He wasn't good. No...not at all. He did have more strikeouts than Home runs given up, though. So that's a plus.

2. I wanted to see if I type in his name without looking at it 5 times. I could not.

3. The clinic director of my residency program had a very similar name. I couldn't spell his, either. But he's a really cool dude,and that's what matters.


Chuck Nagy 1988 Topps Tiffany Traded

We interrupt this review to tell you what I'm watching. The Cavs are playing the Kings today and it's Z's first game back at home as a Cav. Cleveland loves Zydrunas. Zydrunas loves Cleveland. I'm glad he's back.

I just watched the pregame intros and Z got a reception that gave me chills. A really nice moment. Cleveland will shower it's guys with love if they let us.


Von Hayes 1991 Fleer Ultra

I hope there's nobody out there who thinks there was a chance I would get a card of a guy named "Von" and post it. Von Hayes was a good player, but not as good as his name. He has a Hall Of Fame name.


Cory Synder 1991 Upper Deck

This card was made after it was plainly evident that Cory Snyder was never going to be the player that once looked inevitable. I still don't know what happened.

He still looks great, though.


Benito Santiago 1997 Metal Universe

Why in the world don't they make cards like this anymore/ Look at how completely awesome that card is. I don't necessarily feel one way or another about Benito. He strikes me as a player who was never really as good as we thought he was. I remember Benitio being very highly thought of. It's not that he was bad, but I doubt he was ever really great. I'm ready to stand corrected about that because I don't feel like looking him up right now.

But this card sure is great. Look at all of the awesomeness going on there. I wish they'd bring back Metal Universe.

That's all for this edition and there's more to come. Thanks Baseball Dad. Many thanks again.

And Night Owl, you shouldn't have to wait any longer. In fact I might have already posted some of yours. I'll bet it's April, though. Sorry I missed my March deadline.

Sunday, December 13, 2009

Cards From Baseball Dad

Just recently I got a nice package in the mail from Night Owl. It contained all manner of cool Tribe cards. About 2 weeks after I got it I emailed him to thank him. I honestly couldn't remember if I'd even thanked him yet. I promised that I would get a blog post up about it soon. That was about 2-3 weeks ago.

So, the logical question becomes "Why did I write Baseball Dad at the top of the Post when I'm talking about Night Owls cards?" Well, it's because I want everyone to know that I know how ridiculous it is to take over a month to get up a simple thank you post.

And, oh yeah, Baseball Dad sent me these about 3 STINKIN' MONTHS AGO! I'm not going to make any excuse other than I didn't get to it because I was lazy.

Anyway, here they are. Long overdue but here none-the-less. I will probably have about 4 posts from his cards and, believe me, it was hard enough to narrow it down that far. I got in on a few teams in his group break. I picked the Phillies and the A's because, well, why not? Also because it seemed wrong to pick the Indians.

Jack sent me plenty of Indians anyway. Here are some of them. As usual they are accompanied with my typical nonsense. Not that anyone has any reason to accept my advice, but you will get some anyway. My advice is to not read the post. Just look at the pretty cards. Anyone who reads what I have to say may very well end up a fraction dumber. For most of you there would be no measurable effect. But for some, like Canadians and Steelers fans, there's no real reason to risk it, is there?

Ellis Burks 2003 Diamond Kings - I never paid much attention to the Diamond Kings cards. Probably because they were so bad in the late 80's releases. But this is a really nice card. I wonder if these Diamond Kings cards were precursors to the fantastic Masterpieces releases. You know, the great sets that were discontinued while things like X and Spectrum continued to uninspire.

Kevin Seitzer 1993 O-Pee-Chee - OK, raise you hand if you remembered that Seitzer played for the A's. This is exciting to me. I already have about 8,000 Kevin Seitzer cards. But I didn't have this one. In fact, and I'd have to check, I think all 8,000 might be 1990 Donruss. I'm fairly certain that Donruss inserted 3 Seitzers into every pack that year.

Sid Monge 1983 Fleer - Sid Monge...what an absolutely ridiculous name. Sid Monge. Say that out loud. Sid Monge. Do this: go tell your wife/girlfriend/boyfriend that you can't do anything next Friday night because you're hanging out with your new friend Sid Monge. Met him at the Elks or something. See what they say. I don't have any idea what the reaction might be, but I can pretty much guarantee a reaction of some sort.
Bake McBride 1982 Topps - Now, this is a truly awesome card. I've mentioned from time around these parts my desire for Curtis Granderson to grow out a big fro like this. Dayf, brilliantly coined it the "Granderfro". It was the perfect name for the perfect plan. All we had left to do was to get Granderson on board with it. This, truthfully, didn't too daunting of a task. Curtis seems like a reasonable man. All it would take was for me to get 2 minutes of his time, just to introduce the idea to him. No way he turns that idea down.

But, then he had to go and ruin the whole thing by getting traded to the Yankees. It isn't even about their draconian hair policies. I'm not sure if the kibosh would be placed on the Granderfro or not. I just don't want Curtis to be the one anymore. It's just too great of an idea to hand over to a Yankee. Sorry dude, you blew it.

It's a shame because "Granderfro" is an absolutely perfect description. I doubt we'll come up with something that good again.

I'll have to put in some thought to his replacement. Lastings Milledge hasn't done enough yet and it sure as heck isn't going to be Marcus Thames.


David Justice 1999 Donruss - I was a big fan of Justice while with the Tribe. Still, I can't quite get over the fact that he was married to Halle Berry...and then he wasn't married to Halle Berry. I don't know whether this makes him one of the luckiest men in the world or unluckiest men in the world. The fact that she may very well be completely bat guano crazy only adds to my cunfusion.

Moving on:

Jody Gerut 2994 Bowman Chrome - The Indians got Gerut in 2001 from the Rockies along with Josh Bard, who cannot catch a knuckle ball. He immediately had one of the more promising of rookie seasons. He has pretty much sucked since. I'm not sure anyone knows why.

Pete Incaviglia 1993 O-Pee-Chee - Man are these O-Pee-Chee cards stupid. The backs have only 4 stats, and only for the previous year. I have to keep going to baseball reference to find out important stuff like how many times Inky K'd in 1993. Only 82. He didn't strike out as much during his career as I remembered. He also didn't hit as many HRs as I remember. Dave Kingman he was not. Sweet stache, though.

I've got to move this along. I've had a few Christmas Ales. I've also been stuffy so I took some nyquil. (Don't look at me like that.)

I can feel the Nyquil begining to take hold. Soon I'll be in bat country.



Kenny Lofton 1997 Fleer Ultra Season Crowns - I really wish I could get a scan of this card that does it justice. Not David Justice. No, justice in a sense that...wait a second. YOU all know what I meant. I'm the one on Nyquil.

Anyway, it's a completely kick butt card. If I was more articulate I'd be able to describe it. I'd also be in bed because I would have been able to finish this post long ago. So, I guess we all lose on this one.

Except me. I get the card. And, It rules (I refuse to spell rules with a z on the end. I hate that garbage. I frown upon this in all of it's ridiculous forms, including "boyz". I blame John Singleton.).


Jaret Wright 199 Century Legends - Wright had a great World Series and he's one of the most promising pitching prospects I can ever remember. I still don't know what happened to the guy. It's a shame, though. He was filthy for a while there.

If you don't know how good he was thought to be consider this; Jaret Wright was the player that the Tribe refused to part with in a Pedro Martinez deal. That's right. Be chose this clown over Pedro. And, this was after everyone knew that Pedro was lights out.

That's all for this installment. I'm going to bed. Thank you Baseball Dad. Sweet cards. There are more to come.

Night Owl, I'm getting there. Check back in March.