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?

More Baseball Art from 20x200

I’ve written about the occasional baseball related art available from 20x200 in the past: Don Hammerman’s Baseball Series and the Babe In the Negroe Leagues. They released another piece last fall, In The Ballpark by Tatsuro Kiuchi.

Being the OC type, I ordered it and have grown to appreciate it over the last few months. The picture reminds me of The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner by Alan Sillitoe: just the solitary outfielder among faceless spectators. Will he catch it for the team or maybe drop it on purpose to spite them? Or, maybe I'm reading too much into it. Regardless, I love the sparseness of the piece. No umpires, no teammates, no billboards!

As with other 20x200 artwork, these come in various sizes - each in a limited edition and signed by the artist. I can't wait to see what they may have for Opening Day 2010!

St. Louis Cardinals Winter Warm Up 2010 - Day 1

This was our third year at the warm up but first as a Father - Son duo. My wife and daughter decided to sit this one out. The event moved down the street to the Hyatt, a change Isaac loved: huge widescreen TV's in the room, "Dad, they have four ESPN's!!!", and way better food. While the location changed, it was still all Cardinals, all the time. As always, I told Isaac we'd stay in the autograph lines as long as he could last. He had to take a break midday, but that was the only break he took all weekend and ended up with autographs from 23 different players!


Onto the autographs!



We started the day with two Cardinal alum's. Isaac didn't have a Reuss card so we picked up this rookie card for a buck before heading to the autograph lines. David Green was supposed to be a killer first baseman. He wasn't... but was a super nice guy to Isaac.



I told Isaac I'd pay for $75 worth of autographs. In the past he has spent that money on cheaper, younger players. Not this year. He knew exactly who he wanted to "buy" and which card to sign for each player. He picked two core Cardinals. This Carpenter card came in a trade with Project '62 from nearly a year ago. He stared at this card at every chance after meeting Carp and getting the auto. Garcia may very well be one of our future core players if he can bounce back from Tommy John surgery this year. Given the Holliday contract and looming Pujols contract, we're going to need plenty of young, cost controlled contributors in the future.



Two more youngsters. We don't know much about Hamilton but Tyler Greene made his debut last year and was a solid contributor and has a chance to make the team this year as a utility player.



The Baby 'Birds just keep coming. Kozma is a nice defensive player but needs to step up the offense. Even then, he may be stuck behind Brendan Ryan and Tyler Green in the future. Ottavino is the next in a long lines of righty starters / middle relievers in our farm system.



Two former Cardinals here. One from my teenage years and the other more recent. To be honest, I don't remember Costello ever playing for the team... at least in the games I watched. Eldred was only with us for a few seasons but stuck around after retiring and can be seen or heard on gameday. He includes reference to the bible in his auto.


And we end with Glenn Brummer, the man who, without his manager's permission, stole both 3rd and home in the bottom of the 12th inning to beat the Giants on August 22, 1982. The Cardinals would go on to win the World Series later that year.

Well, its been awhile as Ike lost interest in blogging / trading but we just attended the Cardinals Winter Warm Up last weekend and he's excited to post the autographs he got this year. More to follow!