Cards from the Friendly Confines

...of On Card Autos! I'll take this opportunity to thank Chris of the aforementioned blog for banging out an epic trade here.I arrived at the post office yesterday to ship out another trade package, and the annoyed clerk handed me three packages, one of which was a box (yes, a box, not a padded envelope) stuffed with 9 team bags of Rockies and Jays from Chris. Awesome trade. Well worth the Aramis Ramirez jersey that left sunny NY. Enough smalltalk, let's get to the cardstock:

The highlights -
I first saw '05 in a pack rip by Beardy, and I wasn't impressed. This card, however, is awesome. The scan doesn't do it justice. The blue is a nicer, lighter shade. The insert name is terrible, however.
Josh Newman auto, via '08 SPx. I've been offered this card a couple times. Josh Newman is, well, hasn't yet been successful, and this card doesn't carry much "resale/book/Beckett" value, but whatever. I like it. I love autos. It's on a sticker, but hardly noticible. Nice card, but UD didn't pop out all the cardboard in the bottom triangle of the "X".
My new favorite Ubaldo. Sometimes the blackout cards work better than others, and for teams like the Rockies and Jays, they work perfect. Might make a run at both team sets. Also got a Barmes throwing a big "Westsiiiide" motion up but forgot to scan. It will make an appearance soon enough.
Antoher Ubaldo. This time, a Rookie. I like the rookie card logos. Especially the new ones. Except the Upper Deck ones. Bad, bad Upper Deck. They got their comeuppance (here, here and here.) (I didn't know that comeuppance was a real word.)
Lifetime gold-glover and HOF snub, Robby.
Stieb, straight outta my birth year set. Neat. Gotta put this set together, really.
Big-game Stieb.
After every Romero win this year, expect a "RICK ROLLED!!" post. You've been warned.
Keeping with the '10 Topps theme, here's Ryan Spilborghs. My favorite from this set so far. Blacked out, this would be epic. I love cards that feature emotion on player's faces. I bet this was from a walk-off, as his pants are getting damn close to being completely undone.
I miss him already. Kick ass in Seattle, man. You deserve to be on a winning team through the arbitration years. League is often called one of the hardest pitchers to hit in the AL. Why? 96 MPH sinking fastball. No, you cannot hit it. Don't even try.
I selected this card for one reason: Robert's arms. Tats!
Bam. Silver Slugger. Once again Chris, thanks for the cards. I got lots of new Rockies and Jays...however, there was one thing...


It seems, and Chris may not have even noticed this when throwing this package together...I have been stealth-bipped by the worst closer in baseball, Brian Fuentes:
Eep. Three 2007 Upper Deck, Four 2007 Topps, four 2008 Topps. Way too many dots and circles. I won't forget this. Bip abides.

Still, awesome trade. Hit Chris up at On Card Autos.

Go Bip Yourself, San Diego

Office Bipping

Jesus Wansa Bip You

Trade with Reader Jon (And, "It Was Bound to Happen")

So the mail came in today, and I saw what every collector loves, the beautiful goldenrod packet which can mean one thing (well, it can mean many things, but these "things" are much better than other "things".) New cards! I noticed right away that the package was from reader Jon, and ripped in. (The only other pieces of mail was a credit card app from Chase and a W-2. Those were quickly ignored.)

Right away, I noticed a note in the bag...and knew exactly what it was going to say. Protecting the inner contents sandwiched between two top loaders were what could only be late-80's brown-edged Topps. You know, h said he had some '88 Jays minis to send...but these cards are standard sized....Hmm.... A Cubs player to boot...I don't have any Cubs on my "Want" lists...uh...uh....oh no.

No.

Say it ain't so, Jon!

I open the note...

"Roy, Hope you enjoy the cards. I also Bipped you..."

This is where the embarrassment sets in. Doug Dascenzo. Bipped. Descenzo'd. Chicago Cubs. I had to look this guy up. It's kind of funny. With all the '89er Topps I have, no Dascenzos. I've never seen this card nor even heard of the player in my life. And I know wayyyy too many players.

So Dascenzo facts (KNOW YOUR BIPPINGS!):

Career AVG of .234
5 HR, 90 RBI and an OBP of .293 (who the hell walked this guy?!)

Kind of sounds like 3 average Gregggggg Zaun seasons rolled into one career.

But here's what makes Dascenzo a gem of a bipping:

5.0 IP, 2 K, 2 BB and a zero ERA. This guy was LIGHTS OUT when it comes to relief pitching. Maybe he'll get a call this year from the lowly Cubbies.

Another fun fact, from Wiki, of course:
Dascenzo began his Major League career by playing in a then-National League record 241 consecutive games without making an error. The streak spanned from his debut in 1988 to the 1991 season when he committed his first error in a game on August 25. Very Nice.

Now, on to the object of the trade... Jon had a Tulo Jersey card to send me in return for an Adam Dunn jersey card. Sounds like a fair deal, my favorite for your's, and it went down smoothly.

Here's the Tulo:

Bonus Tulo! Triple Play Tulo!:

A Joakim Soria Piedmont Mini from '09 T206:

I'll get up to posting my Soria have list eventually, but the past three online trades have pumped my PC so much I'm totally lacking (Yes, I believe she said something like that...)

'88 Tom Henke Mini, but Bigger than the Soria:

And the Griffey '08 UDX:

This is by far the best looking card in this set. Something about the Red/White/Black (err...let's ignore that those are Nazi party colours for now) scheme makes this Griffey particulary eye-catching.

Thanks for the awesome cards, Jon. Your's will probably get into the mail Tomorrow morning (hopefully). You should have a healthy Adam Dunn boost soon enough. Other readers: I also have two more packets that will probably go out. A 500 Clubber caught in a Webb, and some Te-xas Rangers that I don't have a good pun for. Also, payment for Collective Troll's Group Break and Carl Crawfords "TBNLs" are still being put together, so remain patients, Rays fans.

And for those of you sick enough to want to see this: