Ichiro... at McDonalds!

Not card related, but we finally bought tickets to the Cardinals / Mariners series in June after much brow-beating by the little guy. Even at eight, Isaac has a long term view of things and begged for tickets to see future HOF-er Ichiro as this may be the last time he's in St. Louis prior to retiring. Even better, a friend of ours pitches BP for the Cardinals and will have passes for us to be on the field for both BP sessions! As with the Wrigley Field trip this month, stay tuned for pics.

Well, I guess its slightly card related. St. Louis area McDonald's ran a promo this month where certain value meals came with random baseball cards and each card came with a discount off of Cardinal tickets. We used the $20 off per ticket code to save $80 on Field Boxes for the Mariners game!

Here are five of the nine cards we have so far. Plenty of doubles if anyone wants 'em.

King Tut

Here's another Flea Market find - A Negro Leagues postcard.

On reverse:

GLOSS
TONE

THE INDIANAPOLIS CLOWNS are

Negro American League's famed "Showmen" and "Baseball Wizards." Large size 8 x 10 gloss photos of any featured player or of entire team can be obtained by mailing 25c per photo desired and your address to Clowns, Box 64, Tarrytown, N.Y.

MFD BY FORT WAYNE PRINTING CO., FORT WAYNE, IND.

Venturing into Enemy Territory

Well, its official. We have tickets to see the Cardinals and Cubs at Wrigley Field later this month. I don't have the tickets in hand yet, but I'm told they're infield field boxes directly below the Cubs broadcast booth. Isaac's aunt is working on pre-game field passes and entry into something called the Stadium MVP Club. Details to follow...

Crazy Eight

Isaac turns eight today! In honor of this momentous occasion, Isaac opened eight random packs of UD Signature, Topps 2009 U&H, and 2009 T206 during breakfast this morning. Out of those packs, he pulled these… in addition to a few Cardinals. Chicle packs to come later.

How’s that to start the Birthday!

2011 Topps David Freese

We went to the game today. Isaac kept score for the first time, he and his sister collected Albert Pujols MVP bats, and David Freese locked up the ROY award. Ok, just kidding... maybe just a pic for next year's Topps Set. For all the talk of Heyward, who is a *beast* everywhere else, Freese is hitting over .350 with 3 HR's (admitedly all this week), 16 RBI's, and manning third base on a serious playoff contender. Heyward is definitely the favorite for ROY but if you're looking for a dark horse it may just be Mr. Freese... or maybe Jaime Garcia.

Anyway, here's a nice pic of Freese's home run swing today courtesy of stltoday.com.

Cardboard Junkie 2010 Heritage Fantasy League: Ante Up!!!

Isaac looked through his boxes and decided these were worthy Heritage League prizes. Per dayf’s rules: Relic, Numbered, Shiny… check, check, check. The other two were in his trade box and were deemed cool enough to be prize-worthy.

2008 David Ortiz A&G Jersey Relic


2008 Matt Cain Topps Co-Signers #’d 179/200


2008 Upper Deck X Evan Longoria Die Cut


2009 Topps Heritage Vladimir Guerrero Chrome #’d 944/1960


2009 Topps Target Throwback Greg Maddux
 

Topps Attax Prizes

I took Isaac to the local Toys ‘R’ Us last month for a Topps Attax game day. The turn out was sparse but it gave Isaac had a chance to play the game with other kids and they even gave a way free starter packs. Kids had their choice of the Ruth pack or the Mantle pack.

We left after 45 minutes but not before checking out the small card island. After much deliberation, Isaac decided on a rack pack of 2010 Heritage. After even more consideration, he finally picked which pack we were going to buy.

The kid has a gift. He opened the pack on the drive home and pulled this:

Nothing major… but he has a knack of usually getting something cool from his packs. Now, if only that could somehow transfer to the box breaks we’ve been signing up for lately…

Oddball Alert

I was in Prescott, Arizona a few weeks ago and picked up a bunch of Cards in an antique mall for Isaac. These cards were part of a 2001 series released by the Arizona Department of Health Services to encourage kids to stay away from chewing tobacco. I have no idea how large this set is or even who is in it. I just thought it was cool that a set from Arizona included at least two Cardinals and has classic newpaper cartoons on the back... love the Family Circle cartoon with the boy wearing a D-backs shirt.

1968 Topps Game Cards

I was brain dead when I hit the BIN button and forgot about the McCarver from a trade with Carl Crawford Cards. This was a surprisingly cheap ($5 shipped IIRC) BIN considering it has a HOF player, a HOF manager, and, dare I say it – I don’t think it will happen but wouldn’t be surprised if it did – HOF broadcaster.

Don Hamerman: Sewanee No. 17

Another baseball season is upon us which means, along with the Cardinals in 1st place, the arrival of the latest Don Hamerman image in his Found Baseballs series at 20x200. Sewanee No. 17 is now available for purchase to commemorate Earth Day as well as the new season.

As with all 20x200 art prints & photographs, Sewanee No. 17 is available in signed, limited numbered editions. Enjoy!

Farewell, Cooperstown Ball Caps...

Forget Upper Deck, a baseball related company actually *has* ceased operations. Cooperstown Ball Caps shuttered its doors in March, leaving behind a one stop shop for historical ball caps from major, minor, semi-pro, and other teams or designs long since forgotten. My favorite caps are from the early Musial-era Cardinals and 30's era St. Louis Browns.

The Archival Clothing blog published a details R.I.P. which includes scans from old Cooperstown catalogs here: Archival Clothing on Cooperstown Ball Caps.

Here's hoping someone picks up even a smidge of the historical designs for the baseball market. Maybe American Needle? Someone other than New Era whose caps don't appear to fit most MLB players well, much less the average fan.

Two Games: Twenty Nine Innings

OK... 27 in person, 2 on the radio. Isaac and I got last minue tickets in the Redbird Club on Saturday, in addition to our family tickets last night. We stayed until the end of the 18th before heading home on Saturday but stayed the full nine last night to watch the Cards win their first four series. I'll take 2/3 all year!

Saturday was also "Kids Run the Bases" Day, er - night. I wonder how many actually stuck around to run them?

Side By Side: Jason Motte

Motte is the enigma in the Cardinals bullpen. A former catcher converted to flame thrower out of the pen, Motte can throw some heat. Unfortunately, that's about it. He was supposed to have a 2nd pitch this year but we really haven't seen it. On top of all that, his heat doesn't really show up until late May / early June. We'll need him to get it going sooner rather than later this year to relieve, no pun intended, Franklin and give him some days off throughout the year to avoide the late season meltdown he had last year. If Motte doesn's perform, I'm guessing the Cardinals will trade for a setup man midseason.

All that said, Motte was great with Isaac when he signed this card in 2009 and also was the life of the elevator at the 2010 Winter Warm Up when he hitched a ride upstairs with us.

Isaac's Heritage Blaster Fantasy League Roster

Here we go. Isaac presents the St. Louis "I Have A Lot Of First Basemen's" aka The One Baggers.

Taking dayf's advice, Youkilis, identified by Topps as a first baseman but pictured playing third on the card has been 1981'd as a catcher. Despite Rich Harden being ranked higher than Andy Pettitte, Ike couldn't stomach have the ex-Cubbie on the squad so he went with the Yankee lefty.

Catcher1 - Jarrod Saltamacchia
Catcher2 - Kevin Youkilis
1B - Albert Pujols
2B - Chase Utley
SS - Miguel Tejada
3B - Gordon Beckham
OF - Ryan Braun
OF - Matt Holliday
OF - Ichiro
P - Felix Hernandez
P - Zack Greinke
P - Cliff Lee
P - Wandy Rodriguez
P - Jair Jurrjens
P - Andy Pettitte
P - Andrew Bailey
OF - Grady Sizemore
Corner Infielder - Prince Fielder
Middle Infield - Alcides Escobar
Utility - Ryan Howard

Here's the Youkilis Catcher SP:

The Heritage Blaster - AKA The First Baseman Blaster

Here's our entry (kind of) for Cardboard Junkie's 2010 Heritage Blaster Fantasy League. I say "kind of" because Isaac hasn't actually decided on his team yet... that post will come this weekend.

On to the 1B-laster...

Pack 1
Andrew McCutchen - OF
Nyjer Morgan - OF
Gordon Beckham - 3B
Glen Perkins - P
Carlos Beltran - OF
Carlos Gonzalez - OF
Ozzies Aces: Buehrle / Peavy - P
Athletics Team Card

Pack 2
Paul Konerko - 1B
Albert Pujols - 1B
Mike Jacobs - DH
Joe Girardi - Manager
Tigers Team Card
Indians Team Card
Brandon Allen - 1B
Justin Morneau 2006 MVP - 1B (Did I mention this was the First Baseman Blaster? It gets better...)

Pack 3
Ryan Braun - OF
Chris Coghlan - OF
Mike Lowell - 3B
Ricky Romero - P
Cristian Guzman - SS
Jeremy Guthrie - P
James Loney - 1B
Todd Helton - 1B

Pack 4
Prince Fielder - 1B
Zack Greinke - P
Jarrod Saltamacchia - C
Kendry Morales - 1B
Boston Speed Party: Pedroia / Ellsbury - 2B / OF
Then & Now : Maris / Pujols - OF / 1B
Andrew Bailey - P
Rich Harden - P

Pack 5
Josh Willingham - OF
Lance Berkman - 1B
Alcides Escobar - SS
Jack Cust - DH
Han-Ram and Longo: Ramirez / Longoria - SS / 3B
Then and Now: Ford / Greinke - P
Johnny Damon - OF
Kevin Youkilis - 1B (even though he's actually pictured playing 3B... nice one Topps)

Pack 6
Jair Jurrjens - P
Ron Gardenhire - Manager
Daniel Ray Herrera - P
Jayson Nix - 2B
2009 World Series: Matsui  Named MVP - OF / DH?
Cliff Lee - P (Chrome /1961)
Ryan Howard - 1B
Chase Utley - 2B

Before I list the contents of this pack, you'll notice nearly every desireable first baseman (Tex, where are you?) as well as a complete lack of solid OF contributors and, Cliff Lee's DL time aside, a "who's not" of pitching depth. So, Isaac reverted to his secret weapon... Mom. You see, around our house Mom has the magic touch. Pack Searching? Puh-lease. Mom just hovers her hand over a box and the "good"packs float magnetically towards her. So, without further ado... the Mom-Pack.

Pack 7
Tobi Stoner - P
Wandy Rodriguez - P
Matt Holiday - OF
Ichiro - OF
Felix Hernandez - P
Mike Scioscia - Manager
Chien-Ming Wang - P
Grady (or as Isaac says it GRADY!!!!!!!) Sizemore - OF

Mom nearly came through... considering that this pack had a Manager, Mr. Stoner, and Project Wang, Mom nearly killed it. Too bad she didn't pull a closer. Slacker.

Pack 8
Ozzie Guillen - Manager
Andy Pettitte - P
Delmon Young - OF
Adam Everett - SS
Randy Wells - P
Core Fore: Pettitte, Posada, Jetr, Rivera - P / C / SS / P (Finally a closer! At least a fourth of one...)
Checklist
Miguel Tejada - SS

That's it! All the 1B you could want and more!!! Considering all the 1B's (and wanna be first baseman DH's), four managers, and  three team cards, it really isn't that bad... Isaac is reading through the rules and will decide on the actual roster after his laser tag party tomorrow night. He's open to suggestions!

A simple breakdown (only cards with a full share of a player... not multi player cards).

1B: 11 (!!!)
2B: 2
SS: 4
3B: 2
C: 1
OF: 12
P: 15
DH: 2
Manager: 4
Teams: 3

The pics...

A Few For The Mini Binder

 
Never really got too excited about the Goodwin set or its corresonding mini’s. We’ve picked up a few of the Cardinal mini’s here and there. The black bordered versions are nice but the Gypsy Queen back looks unfinished.to me. A little bit of everything in this one. One for Ikes Cardinal HOF binder, one for his favorite players binder, and two for the random mini binder.

More 2010 Topps Game Inserts

Picked a few of these up in trades, some in random retail packs. We’re keeping the Cardinals. All others available for trade if anyone is interested. Just leave a comment. We’re still looking for the Pujols card in this set.

Group Break by Carl Crawford Cards and Sewingmachineguy

Spots still available for the monthly group break by CCC and Sewingmachineguy. They premier with 7 boxes of UD Icons.

More info here: New Monthly Group Break

Trade With Carl Crawford Cards

I offered a Juan Marichal Topps scratch off card for trade awhile back and worked out a trade for a 1968 Topps game card of Prime Time’s favorite baseball announcer.

CCC also threw in a bunch of cards for Isaac. Here are a few of Ike’s favorites.



Oh yeah. Ike got bipped… “Dad why did he send all of these Ozzie’s? Why did he write on the Carl Crawford Card? I’m not allowed to write on cards…”