Trade with Baseball Dad

I just finished my second trade with Baseball Dad: Indians for Cardinals. The trade was for one of my Josh Tomlin autographs for a 2007 Sweet Spot Scott Rolen jersey card. I wish Rolen and LaRussa could have found a way to work together… it sure would be nice to still have him at third.

Jack also sent a 2010 Bowman Chrome Green Xfractor of Tommy Phan. I’m saving this one to get autographed at Winter Warm Up if Phan is invited to sign.

 

He also sent a bunch of cool base cards that I’ve never seen before. I really like this 2004 Fleer Dan Haren card. It says “Gold Medalion” on the back and has the die cut curved corner. If anyone has the Yadier Molina version of this card (that’s one of his rookie cards) I have plenty to trade.

 

And finally Jack sent these cool Cardinal Hall of Famer cards from 2005 SP Legendary Cuts and 1983 Donruss Hall Of Fame Heroes. These are awesome!

Thanks Jack!!!

Great Weekend at Busch III!!!

Despite the rain and tornados, it was a great weekend at the ballpark. The Cards took 2 of 3 from the Reds (and blew the lost game late… a common theme this year), Isaac took his Aunt and Uncle (White Sox and Cubbie fans from Chicago) to their first Cardinals game, and we had great Easter weekend with family.
The Cardinals honored two HOF greats on Saturday and Sunday, offering fans a Red Schoendienst replica statue and – amazingly – the first ever Stan Musial bobblehead giveaway. I also took advantage of a coupon from the 2011 Winter Warm Up to buy some game used and stadium used memorabilia… more on that in another post.

Saturday Giveaway


Sunday Giveaway


And if you’re wondering where our seats are this year… here’s the view of the field.


And here’s the view to the right… aisle seats next to the Cardinals Bullpen!!! Here’s Carp warming up before Saturday’s game.

Thorzul’s March Group Break

It took my dad too long to scan this card from Thorzul’s March Group Break. We got a few Cardinals and a few Rays but nothing that can compare to this one: A Stan Musial Jersey Card from 2005 Throwback Threads. Its AWESOME!

Can’t wait to see what Cardinals he pulls this month!

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…”

Red Back / Blue Back Retros

Love the Topps 2010 Red & Blue Back retail inserts this year and have picked up a few recent retros of the same lineage… ok two. I’m looking at the 1951 checklist to see if I can put together a Cardinal team set for a reasonable sum. We’ll see….

1968 Orlando Cepeda Game Insert

2005 Albert Pujols Bowman Heritage Mini

2010 Stan Musial Wal-mart Blue Back Insert

The non-Cardinals 2010 inserts. These are up for trade for the Dizzy Dean, Rogers Hornsby, George Sisler, or Albert Pujols inserts.

Playing with Dolls...

Ok... figures. Thought it would be fun to post Isaac's ever growing collection of bobbleheads, figures, etc...

Click on the image for a larger file.
Left to right:
Back Row - Padres & Mets Baskin Robbins sundae helmets from my childhood my parents found during their last move; Fredbird Bobble Belly, Matt Morris / Albert Pujols bobbleheads, Pujols SGA bobble, Gehrig Starting Lineup, Musial Starting Lineup, Pujols figure, Griffey & Big Mac big head figures. The Gehrig, Musial & Pujols figures sit on three autographed baseballs: Aaron Miles, Brad Thompson, and.... ???

Front Row - Lou Brock bobble, Red Schoendienst SGA bobble, Isaac bobble, Gibson Starting Lineup, Ruth Starting Lineup, Ryan Howard figure, Ruth pitching as a Yankee, McFarlane Jim Edmonds McFarlane, Jackie Robinson stealing home McFarlane, Lou Gehrig speech McFarlane.

Flea Market Mini's

Made our monthly visit to the local flea market yesterday. Isaac was disappointed the $1 pack guy didn't have any 09's but he picked up a few Pujols' at another booth. We also picked up these Cardinals for the mini binder (not sure what to do with non-T205/206 sized cards yet though). I liked how the dealer framed the 08 A&G's in red cardboard.

Note to self: Next time, take the cards out of the toploaders before scanning. I didn't realize how scuffed up the plastic was until I saw the scans!

1999 Pacific - Rick Ankiel

2001 Bowman Heritage - Red Schoendienst

2001 Bowman Heritage - Stan Musial

2001 Bowman Heritage - Enos Slaughter

2005 Heritage Play Ball - Albert Pujols

2006 A&G Black Border w/ A&G Back - Frankie Frisch

2006 A&G Black Border - Bob Gibson

2006 A&G Base w/A&G Back - Bob Gibson

2007 A&G Black Border - Albert Pujols

2008 A&G w/A&G Back - Rick Ankiel

2008 A&G w/A&G Back - Troy Glaus

2008 A&G w/A&G Back - Adam Wainwright

Dear Mr. Musial

Isaac received this postcard months ago and I’ve mentioned it a few times on comments on other blogs. The recent cut autograph fiasco reminded me of this Musial autograph card. There are tons of these on eBay for only $20 each, certified. Real? Fake? Machined? Read my brother-in-law’s letter to see why we really don’t care. Its fairly cliché these days to say that baseball and its heroes can bridge gaps between generations and, in this case, kids and their new uncles. However, its amazing how a sport, a local hero, and a simple act of kindness can transform the newest member of our family to a favorite uncle. Isaac was asked to make two Valentines this year with the teacher assuming kids would make one for each parent or maybe grandparent. Isaac made both for his new uncle.

The Autograph – Click on the picture to read the amazing list of accomplishments.

The Letter – Click on the picture for a larger, readable version.

"Here stands baseball's perfect warrior. Here stands baseball's perfect knight." – Ford Frick

Trade With All Tribe Baseball

Isaac loves coming home and seeing a package in the mail. I was out of the country last week and it was nice hearing how excited he was each evening as he told me what state the package came from, opened it up, and told me about each card inside. It felt like we were opening the package up together… almost like I was home.

This was our usual trade: a stack of your favorite team for a stack of Cardinals. This time, All Tribe Baseball sent a box of Cardinals our way along with a nice note about collecting with his sons for 16 – 17 years. He sent a ton of nice cards. These are Isaac’s favorites.

Brian Barton – 2007 UD Timeline. More on one of Isaac’s favorite players here.

Two Jim Edmonds Mini’s – Another of his favorite players, even if he wore Cubbie blue last year.

Two Musial 2004 Diamond King Variants

Two Brocks & one Gibson

Grady Sizemore – 2008 X. Not sure when he became a fan of Sizemore, not to mention Ryan Braun, but he’s started pages for both of them in his Favorite Players binder.

Thanks again, Jack. We’ve filled up the box with Indians and will be sending them tomorrow!