1958 Topps

More from the Not Topps Million vintage haul in lieu of a couple of jumbo packs. I don't know much about these vintage sets but its tough to argue with Ken Boyer. He may be my next vintage target behind Brock and Gibson.

Topps Million: Back to the Junk

Oy Vey! On the plus side, the Snipping Tool in Windows 7 is a god send for posts like this.

Flea Market Finds: The Great American Baseball Card Flipping, Trading and Bubble Gum Book

Picked this up, a first edition hardcover from 1973, for a buck, torn cover and all. The first time Isaac opened the book, the paper parted to page 67... picturing the '59 All Star card of The Man himself, Stan Musial. Serendipity.

Straggler Packs

What do you do when you see the last few packs in the box? Do you impulsively pick them up even if they weren’t on your radar? I’m guilty. I pick them up knowing that they’re just like any other pack in the box but I can’t resist the urge to empty that box out *just in case* something in those packs are special. I’ve been lucky enough to perpetuate the myth and did so again last night. I stopped by the hobby shop to pick up a 10 pack of tobacco top loaders & sleeves and four, count ‘em – four, binder pages for a few oddball cards Isaac and I have picked up recently. Total expected cost: $2.50. At the counter, I spy two last packs in the T206 box and one pack in the Ginter box instinctively grab them and instantly more than quadruple my bill. Once again, nothing fancy but enough to perpetuate the impulse.

Cy Young SP Piedmont Mini

The second card didn't scan well at all but was a Conor Jackson x/ 10 silk card!

Topps Million Traded: 2004 Mike Matheny

Wow. I posted our first trade offer and BOOM, an hour later someone accepted. Its nice to have Matheny back in the Cardinals fold as a special instructor... hopefully his role will expand as his kids get older and we'll see more of him at Busch in the future.

1957 Topps

Rather than spend $10 on a 2010 Jumbo Pack to get a Topps Million code card in hopes of winning some cool vintage, I cut out the middle man and spent the $10 to get back into the vintage swing. These will join the Hoyt Wilhelm '57 card.

Side By Side Auto's: Jaime Garcia

We were at Garcia's first Major League start two summers ago. Unfortunately, we haven't see him since. He apparently pitched with pain in 2008 without telling the coaching staff and ended up needing Tommy John surgery that fall. Brilliant. He rehabbed last spring and started for Memphis down the stretch, helping the AAA affiliate to a league crown. He's a long shot for the Cardinals 5th starter, even though he brings a much needed lefty to the rotation. I suspect that he'll be in Memphis at the start of the season to strengthen his arm and have spot start duties through mid-year. If he's as good as he was last fall for Memphis, he'll join the Cards for the stretch run.

As far as the auto's go, the top two Winter Warm Up signatures seem a bit lazy... J - squiggle G - squiggle. He more than makes up for it with his Big League uniform inscription of 64 though! That was his number in 2008. The current roster lists him as number 54 now.

Flea Market Finds: Baseball Punchboards

Found these at the Flea Market today. Both are minty fresh, unpunched, vintage baseball punchboards. The 1 cent board (8in x 8in) is innocent enough and geared towards kids; prizes are pieces of candy and every hole is a winner. With its cash prizes, the 5 cent board (7.5in x 10in) has got to be for adults. I'm assuming that there have to be some "outs" on that board, otherwise that's a money loser for the house.

Topps Million: 1977 Buzz Capra

Back to the 70's...

Side By Side Auto's: Josh Kinney

Isaac was looking through is "special" box and discovered he had twin auto's. The first was from last month's Winter Warm Up. The second is a certified auto insert of the (nearly) same card. Not a bad match. Kinney's in person auto includes a #52 inscription... his uniform number and coincidently the set the card was from.

This could be a fun, albeit short lived given the paucity of auto pulls we have, set of posts!

Cardinals Baseball Camp Autos

One of the best parts of living in St. Louis is that many former Cardinals stay in the area long after their playing days are over. Most of the camp instructors have at least part time residences in the area and are regulars at these camps, the Winter Warm Up, the Cardinals Caravan etc...

Isaac went to a Cardinals baseball camp last summer to learn the basics. In addition to a day's instruction and snacks with Fredbird, the kids had a chance to talk to the players, ask for autographs, and generally be in awe of these former big leaguers. Did they have any idea who these guys were? No way. Heck, aside from one of my childhood heroes, The Zamboni, I barely remembered these guys! Anyway, these are the autos Isaac brought home on the camp supplied cards. He also had a cap autographed by Rich Hacker.

Click on the pic for the XL version.

Topps Million: 2004 Bradley Sullivan

The 2nd card breaks the short run on 70's cards.

From Baseball Reference: Brad Sullivan was a top-flight star in college, but as of 2007, his career appears stalled in the minors.

On the plus side, Isaac said I could have all of the Million Card cards as long as he gets all the Topps Town cards. Deal.

Why couldn't I have gotten this card, which was pulled at roughly the same time (assuming the ticker is in real time).

Topps Million: 1974 Bill Fahey

My wife took the kids to Target last night. Isaac came home with two packs, each came with a Million Card card. Here's the first: not great, but not horrible.

Topps Million: 1962 Al Kaline

Ok, so I didn't actually win this card. BUT, I clicked on the card name in the Topps Million home page ticker and found this: When viewing the card from your binder or from the ticker, the card page includes a Related Cards scroll feature. As not all cards for the players are listed, might it be safe to assume that these represent which cards are available for a given player? In Kaline's case the earliest card is from the 1954 set.

Office Space

OK, its not really office space per se since the person who gave me these cards works half the country away. But when I mentioned that Isaac, and by proxy his dad, had a new found interest in baseball cards, a gentleman who works for me in Shreveport gave me a small snap case for Isaac at our meetings late last summer. The case had an unsual item on top (more on that later) but peeking out underneath was a St. Louis favorite from my youth and who still has the love of the city when he returns, Willie Magee. Magee propelled the Cardinals in the 1982 World Series and came back years later to end his career in St. Louis. I still remember him strolling to the plate in the year of his retirement with the theme from The Natural blasting through Busch Stadium. The rest of the case was filled with similar treasures.

Willie Magee - 1987 Topps

Ozzie Smith - 1983 Donruss

Ozzie and Lonne Smith - 1983 Fleer

Lou Brock - 1972 Topps

Lou Brock - 1979 Topps

Bob Gibson - 1973 Topps

Bob Gibson - 1975 Topps

Keith Hernandez - 1976 Topps

Keith Hernandez - 1978 Topps

Julian Javier - Topps Coin

Topps Million: 1971 Sandy Vance

Entered our first and only code over lunch. Anyone want to trade for a Cardinal of similar vintage?

2009 Ginter Blaster Goodness

I've been catching up on all the hoopla on the hits coming out of the Ginter blasters and thought I'd throw a few more logs on the fire. We've bought 4 - 5 blasters and have a few jersey cards (including a Ryan Howard), a bunch of the SP mini's and these two Bazooka back's. Nothing major, but these are the first (and probably last now that we've posted them) Bazooka's. Nice enough to buy some mini sleeves and top loaders anyway. Maybe we can flip the Phelps in 2012 right before the Summer Games!

St. Louis Cardinals Winter Warm Up 2010 - Day Two

Day Two was just as crazy as the first. If anything the lines were even longer from the start. We only had one pay auto so we started off with the youngsters.


Lance Lynn is yet another 4th or 5th starter type at Memphis. But to his credit, Lynn moved quickly up the ranks last year and while not spectacular, he apparently has great control and manages to get people out. Shane Robinson follows in the Mighty Mite footsteps of Aaron Miles... plus he wears cool socks. How great is that pic on the Springfield Cardinals card (below)?

Mitch Boggs has been wearing out I-55 the last couple of years but did a nice job over an extended stay last summer. He's in the hunt for the 5th starter slot this year. Super nice guy and Isaac was excited to get a chrome card auto'd.

P.J. Walters, like Lynn and Boggs, is another back-end starter type. Josh Kinney was a key piece in the 2006 playoff & World Series bullpen who's been trying to make a comeback. We wish him well. We close this page with one from *my* younger years, Ken Dayley. Dayley was lights out in the 1985 bullpen by committee. One of the few second guesses in Whitey Herzog's career might be pulling Dayley early agains the Royals in the World Series.

We had a chance to get Colby Rasmus' autograph for free during last summer's All Star festivities but Isaac sister had had enough that day. We had to pay for it this time, but it was still reasonable (and goes to charity). Seconds after pulling this Chrome X-Fractor last fall, Isaac declared he would get it autographed. And he did. Isaac knows Andy Benes as Fredbird's sidekick on the Cardinals weekly kids program. Now he thinks he makes cool B's on his autograph.

Descalso may well become another in the long line of cheap, cost controlled middle infielders who field well and tasked not to hurt the team at the plate. With Skip's two year deal done and with Tyler Greene ahead of him on the depth charts, Descalso may be an injury plug-in at best this year. Scherer is a career AAA-er in his late 20's. Not sure he's ever been to the show.

And we end with Tyler Norrick. I really like the Springfield Cardinals set. They even had an "insert" set of Rehabbing Cardinals from the big club (Lohse, Glaus, etc...).

That's it until next year. I promised Isaac I'd take the Monday off in 2011 and make it a three day weekend.

2009 Topps Series 1, 2 & UH

Updated 3/7/2010

Needs:

Series 1
Complete!

Series 2
465, 510, 556, 605, 658

Updates and Highlights
1, 8, 11, 18, 19, 21, 22, 23, 25, 27, 28, 32, 33, 35, 37, 39, 44, 48, 52, 54, 57, 58, 65, 68, 73, 76, 81, 101, 102, 107, 116, 117, 118, 119, 121, 124, 129, 132, 140, 145, 147, 152, 155, 160, 162, 164, 167, 170, 171, 182, 184, 186, 194, 198, 209, 217, 221, 223, 224, 226, 229, 242, 243, 254, 257, 262, 269, 271, 272, 283, 289, 301, 309, 318, 319, 321, 327, 329

For Trade:
Too many to list... guess that's what happens when you go after a set with random retail packs!

Baseball cards still provide a thrill - ESPN

Jim Caple on the Hobby and a visit to Tim Lincecum's local card shop.

Baseball cards still provide a thrill - ESPN

Nice video with the shop owner. Not sure why ESPN couldn't pony up for a pack of 2010 cards for the photo. 2007? Really?