Yunel Escobar...Blue Jay

I haven't seen any reports on the story, so I am not yet sure how much better MLBNetworks or ESPN (you're dead to me, ESPN) have photoshopped Yunel Escobar's Braves mugshot with the Toronto "T". This only took a few seconds, and as long as you don't zoom in...well, anyways...it's good enough for me.

Gettin' Blasted: 2010 Bowman (Retail hit? Not Quite)

I had better luck with this particular blaster, in terms of prospects than any loose packs at this point. However, if you'll check the box to the top left detailing how many pack it takes until a Strasburg is pulled by me, you'll notice it is zero at this point. So if that's all you're here for, don't bother. Thirteen packs and counting...

On to the cards. If you follow this blog (and if you don't, why not?), you'll know of my affinity for 2010 Bowman. One reason is the photography:

Some great shots here with Mannywood (designed especially for the Night Owl), Kurt Suzuki (who's cards always look awesome) and Vic Martinez. Martinez's cards are usually well-done, also.

I enjoy parallels. Golds are fun, but the blues are useless to me. Aybar is featured here because that is what a card of a middle infielder should look. Romero is pictured because: 1) Awesomeness and 2) The card color and the matierial which make up his left arm are the same. Gold. Vazquez was actually a 1:3-4 blaster hit, seeded 1:29 packs and numbered out of /520. Definitely available for trade.

If you know how these packs play out, you know the chromes are next. And I finally got three big ones I'd been waiting for.
Big Chad from Kennesaw State, a new hotbed for MLB talent. I WILL have a rainbow of this card by the end of 2010, most likely by the end of summer.

Part one of the future of the Cubs infield - or someone elses. Last year he was often rumored in connection with Jays trades, but Halladay is gone, so our chance to land him is probably gone, plus the signing of Adeiny Hechevarria didn't help. This is the start of my hak-Ju Lee player collection! Weeee. (I collect Korean players.)
My name is Starlin Castro and I will be a perennial all-star short stop. Oh, and the other half of the previous card's opening statement.
I was really hoping Drew Pomeranz would slip to #11 for the Jays. No luck. 6'5" lefty with college seasoning...Team USA. Awesome fact from the back: "Fanned 16 Kentucky batters on two days rest in 2009 NCAA Tournament." Seriously, NCAA baseball is amazing.

And this guy:
Not drafted, committed to Rice. Hopefully they'll turn him into the next Jeff Niemann.

Oh yeah, seeded 1:8 packs is a...
PURPLEFRACTORRRRRR I love these so much. Much better than my Mike Lombardozzi from a couple weeks ago...

Now comes the hard part. I did not know this card existed until it fell out of the second to last pack. I'll start by saying I don't card for the Bowman Expectations cards. I like the Topps 100, and tolerate the 1992 Throwbacks, but I have a good amount of disdain towards the expectations. However, I pulled this one today, and I have to thank Bowman for it:
This mixed feeling are ripe, but I love this card. Kyle Drabek was to one player Jays fans and management were demanding in return for the Good Doctor. Although he is pictured in Phillies gear (is it airbrushed? Probably not), it's still Doc. My man. The best cut-fastball in the history of the game (bring it on, Pettitte/Rivera homers). I, in no way, expect Drabek to live up to greatest-of-a-generation-or-better status. I do, however, expect Drabek, Brett Wallace and D'Arnaud to become serviceable Jays down the road. This is also my first ever Kyle Drabek card (and maybe the only one in this set?!) and is the start of my second player collection from this box.

In summary, it was a good blaster. In combinations of Lee, Castro, Jenkins, Green, Romero, Pomeranz and Drabek/Halladay, it was great for me. The Bowman will keep flooding this blog until I find some A&G to chase.

MLB's G20 Stunt: Safety or Fiscal Opportunity?

It's official, MLB relocates Blue Jays June 25-27 series against the Phillies to Philadelphia due to G20 summit. More on mlb.com soon. 22 minutes ago

-Jordan Bastian Twitter Feed

The suspense it over. Major League Baseball has officially moved the 6/25-27 series in Toronto with the Philadelphia Phillies to Philadelphia, in response to heightened security for the looming G20 summit.

So far this year, Toronto is struggling with attendance. With Canada being hit harder, and recovering slower from the recession, the Blue Jays now rank 29th in average attendance.

The Blue Jays now have three more home games subtracted from their schedule. The three games in which Toronto was looking for their highest attendance of the year, with many fans buying tickets ahead of time for all three games in anticipation of the return of the son of Toronto, Roy Halladay.

The fans were not going to go to boo.
They weren't going to pick fights with scrawny, foul-mouthed Philly fans making the trek to Toronto.

Roy's fans were coming out for one more chance to see the Good Doctor dominate once again at Rogers Centre, even if it was against their own team.

There are, however, two winners in this decision. Major League Baseball and the Philadelphia Phillies.

Major League Baseball gets what it wants: three guaranteed weekend sellouts just as the season begins to heat up. Merchandise sales will rocket in Philadelphia, as the fans, dying to run on the their field in Halladay jerseys and tees, will spend.

Philadelphia, well it's a no brainer. They get to pad their ridiculous lineup even more with a DH.

What does Toronto get? The last at-bat. "A home game" according to MLB.

Questions arise. Is this truly a safety stunt? I doubt it. To me, this is a money grab for Major League Baseball. They are the real winners.

All this does is further hurt baseball in an amazing city.

Cards found on the side of the road...

...well not really. Today I got three packages, er..down the road. The one which I will showcase tonight is a solid package from Duane at Democratic Roadkill. I want to thank you, Duane, quickly, before I get to the loot. Duane came to me saying he had a good amount of cards from my '07 Fleer Ultra want list, and some '06 Fleer Traditions. Without giving him a rundown of a return package, he sent these awesome cards my way. Don't worry Duance, I'll cook something good up for you, though it may take a while.

First up, one of the greatest players of all time from one of the greatest sets of all time:
What a great card. He sent a bunch of these, all Jays save for the Junior Griffey, including the flowing golden locks of a one Kelly Gruber:
Awesome. Gruber is letting everyone in Major League Baseball know right then and there, who finished first in 1992. And will again in 1993. And 2014.
Currently the oldest Jays card in my collection. Boomer's 6'5"/218 frame dominates his panel. He might be average by today's standards.

I juxtaposed these on purpose. Why? A couple reasons. One, The pose is very similar. I'm assuming Topps did not do this on purpose, because they hate the Blue Jays, but also because these cards are 200 apart in the set.

The real reason they are juxtaposed for me is that this way, we can symbolize the passing of the torch. My favorite Blue Jays traded away for some baby birdies, the ringing in of the new ace and my favorite player, as well as my #1 Personal Collection player. Dusty, it's time to be a man.

Now for some more '08 Allen & Ginter's (I need to get a want list up for these) of Mr. Joe Baseball himself:
Love the state cards, pissed that my state is represented by a complete shithead.
'08 Ultimate Collection Joe Baseball. Didn't think much of these from randoms I have seen on eBay, but these are pretty solid for high-end (limited to /350) base cards.
As I mentioned above, got some '07 Ultras in this package. This was the one that stood out most, only because of that hat. I really dislike the Padres, but that hate is awesome. WANT.
Weee. Another Soria, for my paltry Soria collection. I haven't heard of anyone else who collects him, but someone mentioned it on their blog recently. I dig this card. Someone else sent me a Seth Smith of the same variety. I really like how UD did this set.

Well, thanks for the awesome cards, Duane. I will get a package out to you soon. I hope you'll be as pleased with it as I am with my half. Awesome.

Go check out the trader's blog, Democratic Roadkill.

Cards from Fans of Red Teams

That's right. Fans of the blasted Red Sox and the "who knows how they'll be this year" Reds. Seriously, how the Reds will fair one year to the next is always a mystery to me.

Anyways, let's start with some goodies from fanofReds over at Nachos Grande. Sadly, no nachos were included. I flipped him a Gallardo relic for a near-impossible task of putting together the '09 A&G relic set, along with some Larkins, and he was kind enough to send these my way.

First up is a V-Dub spectrum jersey:
Nice, healthy card. Spectrums do not scan well, but they're a treat to look at. Also the jersey cards seem pretty common, I am currently sitting on a Brandon Webb who will probably go visit someone's pseudo-card shop in Arizona in the future.

Chris sent some Jays to boot:
Greatest Blue Jay of All Time, Roy Halladay with painted-on eyes...
Gruber!
And something else...
...this makes me happy. Apparently I wasn't the only one who spent $.99 of 16 of these suckers back in '00. (This card is 10 years old...yikes.)

Thanks for the cards Chris, they're good ones.

Next up, Adam at Thoughts and Sox. I contacted him a week or so back (this package got here quiiiick), and proposed Jays-for-Sox. Unfortunately, he had sent all but a few Jays to another blogger. Aww shucks, but I collect Rockies too! Well, add another blogger to the list that cannot wait to drop his Rockies off on another. Adam sent a 100-count box over here to NY, filled with mostly Rox, but a few, very quality Jays mixed in.

First: some Baby Jays:
These are beauties. You can probably pull my fingerprint from the Aaron Cibia if you feel like incriminating me. Hopefully the Jays won't give up on these guys.
'08 SPx Halladay die-cut. Are these all die-cuts or is this a parallel? Either was, I cannot believe it scanned so well. Adam also sent a Todd Helton. Fellow bloggers have been exceptionally generous in sending me Heltons. Adam sent 15. Wow.
Adam - when you were putting this package together did you know this would be my favorite? Probably not, but Dusty Lambchops is my favorite Jay now that Shawn Green, Carlos Delgado, Orland Hudson and Brandon League are gone. I am actually thinking of starting a Dustin McGowan collecting blog, as other have for Carl Crawford, Brian Roberts, and other players.

Here's the bad news for Adam, though. I haven't even started putting the package together yet! I apologize deeply for this, but things have been a bit hectic lately, and I'm out of packages. I'll put the cards together tonight, so hopefully you can expect them by the end of next week. Once again, sorry for the delay.

On to an eBay score...

This is the best deal I have ever received on eBay. Two autographs, a Tejada pants relic, and an Ichiro SSP from '09 Topps 206.
I'm leading myself to believe that the seller had no idea that he was sitting on an Ichiro short print. This is one of my favourite cards ever, at least in my Ichiro collection. What a great card.

Also, for $.25, Miguel Tejada's pants!:
I picked this up since shipping was cheap past the first card. For two autos, Miggy's pants and the SP, the order cost $4.75 or something. STEAL.

Ultimate Wish List Card #4

2000 Pacific Crown Royale
Sweet Spot Autograph
Vernon Wells

eBay Scores: Week of 2/18/2010

Still trying to get used to writing 2010.

Anyways. Now that the whole applying-for-graduate-school fiasco is over with and actually had a semi-positive result, I'll be back and more active in posting, rather than just quick Matt Wieters posts and three-weeks-delayed trade posts here and there.

I'll start off with some eBay pickups (which were from last week, but arrived today.)

First and ABSOLUTELY most important, Number 2 in my Base-Shredding Saga: Troy Glaus!
What a beautiful foiled beyond recognition, well-used rubber (gross) piece of cardboard. This is my second of the insert set, which in 2000 were an about every 5th case hit at 1:288 packs. They're still hard to find, but with a $.50 price tag (not including shipping) they're very attainable - when you can find 'em. Vladimir Guerrero and Tony Gwynn are both hanging out on eBay right now as well, listed @ $9.99 BIN. Also, Eric Munson is on there too, at a staggering $3.99. I wouldn't pay $3.99 for an Eric Munson if he hand made the damn card.

A new Delgado relic. Sic mosh, brah. I've built a steady collection of Delgados so far, and man, this one looks awesome in the preview with an all-white background. Unfortunately, it won't show up that way in the actual post.

I'm getting close to completing the 2010 Jays bullpen and rotation relic/autograph set right now, and Accardo is the newest to join in on the custom-book party (more on that at another time). These Ultimate Collection cards are incredibly beautiful. There's a slight tint to the sticker so it doesn't blend as well into the card as this one:

Eugenio Velez is not a Blue Jay, Rockie or a player I collect of any sort. I bought this one because the shipping was only $1 added on to the initial $3.00 for the previous three cards, and this is probably one of the best/worst autographs I have ever seen. Ever.

You can look at this card and guess his named would be spelled "E L V Gamma B/R". Still, he's faster than a flushed grouse and it's a sick card. Worth $1.35 plus shipping.

In case you haven't figured it out by now, and really, why the hell should you have, these are the mystery cards from this post on the Thirteenth of this month.

A quick review: Somehow, without trying, the cards listed there are the same order that they show up here: Troy Glaus Base Shredders, Delgado uni, Accardo ink and Velez ink.

How many of you knew Accardo saved 30 games for Toronto in '06?

Next, and last package.
A $.99 lot of 2008 Topps Chrome Refractors! By far the best deal so far, got 19 of 'em for $3.49 with shipping. If you've got any you want to get rid of, let me know. Trying to piece together 225 refractors is proving pretty tough. I'll take all colours, too - Red, Copper, Regular or Blue. Blue and Red are the best.

And, just for fun, here's my dog covered in snowballs:

Gettin Milestoned

It took me about an hour (half of the second period, the 2nd intermission, and the first 5:03 of the third period of Maple Leafs @ Devils game), but I have recorded, collated and scanned the THREE trade packages I received today. The first, and girthy-est of the packages came form Dinged Corners. Now, I don't precisely remember what I did to earn this package, some sort of contest I think, but nonetheless, there it was, and here I am smiling about it.

Inside was a total of (I think) five loaded team bags, and in this case, aptly named team bags. I know when I throw team bags into a trade, it usually involves about forty cards of mixed players and teams with absolutely no pattern, unless there's a relic, and in that case I make sure it's sandwiched warmly between commons and, if necessary, a bip blanket...

On to the cards.

DC sent me loads of Blue Jays and Rockies, included a load of Moments and Milestones. Hence the post title.

Text, from here on, will only involve the cards. No more mindless scientist chatter.
Dave Stieb Diamond Kings. Very cool. I believe I used to own this, but if I did, it is nowhere to be found. This is probably my favorite DK set, aside from that one year that the cards had a canvas/UD Masterpieces feel to them.
Shaun Marcums: Always welcomed here at the Paper Chase. Or A Paper Chase. I don't even know, I don't like the title, and hey, it might even change eventually.
First CarGo card. I'm not an '09 Topps homer like so many others out there. It's a good set, but hey, I loved 2008 and everyone seems to hate them.
DC really kicked my Halladay collection in the ass, and with some good ones, too. This is a Bowman Heritage from 2007. It's shinier than the side of a rainbow trout (I didn't know there would be fish jokes...) and I dig it. Is this a parallel? I don't know anything about 07 Bowman Heritage, and the three she sent me like this, were all rainbow-trout foil board. (That's going to be my new thing. Rainbow Trout cards...)
Rarely do I have trades without Tulos. However, the next two I will post have no Tulos, but that's just fine. This is a nice one. There was a healthy amount of these M&M cards, which 've never purchased, but seem like the biggest pain in the ass to collect. Ever. But I was sent two which were #'ed/25, which are now tied with my Mauer Jersey card for for lowest numbered cards.

That's all I'll post for this package. Much thanks to Dinged Corners. If you've never check them out, please do so. They were one of the first card blogs I discovered, and have been a constant source of cardawesomeness these past two months (really...I've only been here since December...)

Ultimate Wish List Card #2

2002 Stadium Club
World Champions
(Regular Season Worn Jersey)
Al Leiter

eBay Scores and the Beginning of my Chad Jenkins Collection

So, I'm pretty happy that I socred these three beauties (and when I saw beauties, that's an understatement) from eBay on, oh, Thursday or so. Today, on Monday, I already had them. Pretty solid. Each was $.99, and all three shipped together for $3.00. That's right, three Prospect autos for less than $6.00. I think I made out pretty well.

First up is Rinku Singh. You may remember a few days, maybe a week or so ago I posted how much I loved Rinku's inks. I posted the Bowman '09 Auto, which isn't nearly as attractive as the Bowman Sterlings. I had already purchased this one, so I didn't want to ruin the surprise.

Next is Dinesh Kumar Patel. Patel finished second in the Million Dollar Arm contest, but ended up being the more successful pitcher this year in this summer's Pirates Florida League teams. Mechanically he is mroe sound than Singh, but Singh also has the magic ability of being able to throw with his left arm.

Finally, Chad Jenkins. The back of the cards details a bit about the our newest baby Blue Jay (1st Round, 20th Overall in 2009) saying that he never intended to play professionally, just wanted to play some ball at Kennesaw State and get a Business Degree...then he won '09 Atlantic Sun Conference Pitcher of the Year, going 8-1 with a 2.54 ERA. Welcome to the Jays, Chad.

Disturbing, Disappointing...49 more chances.

You know, I love what eBay has done for the collecting community. Beautiful cards like this that "Book" for probably around $15-$20 are easily attainable at reasonable prices. Like this 2000 Skybox Star Rubies Extreme parallel of my main man, Carlos Delgado. Opening bid: $0.99 green American money.

Awesome.

Being a typical sheisty eBay buyer I skimmed it, and decided to wait until it was almost over to bid (when it rises to the top of my 3-15 page long watch list). This morning I check it out with 11 hours remaining and...what the f...$4.50 shipping?! No way. This is what really bothers me deeply about eBay. There is in no way justification for this card costing $4.50 to ship.

Example: Ed from Roll out the Barrel stuffed three (3) team bags full of Rockies for me sometime in the last two weeks. We're talking 30+ cards here, and not light-weight '88 Donruss. The total shipping for the package, I believe, was less than $1.75. For three team bags filled!

Could this Delgado possibly cost more than $2.00 to ship? Like most sellers, this one probably will arbitrarily stuff it into a scotch-taped-to-shit-beyond-recognition-destroyed top loader and stuff it in a letter to Grandmother white envelope.

Maybe he'd put it in a top-loader and bubble envelope. Still $4.50? I doubt it. A few weeks ago a I bought a 10-pack of #00 bubble-mailers...for $4.44. So those are $0.44/package.

Let's do some Sunday math (or college math, since I always waited until Sunday nights to do Calculus and Statistics last year):

$0.44 (Package)
+
$0.05 (Top Loader)
+
$0.01 (Penny Sleeve)
+
$2.00 (Shipping, being Very Generous)
=
$2.50 Maximum.

I guess there's a $2.00 "handling" fee here or something.

And I look a little further to find the item location is Seoul, South Korea. What in the hell is a 2000 Skybox Star Rubies Extreme Carlos Delgado doing in Seoul?

Answer: Topps gimmick.

Thanks Long Overdue

I've been a bad blogger. In the past 1+ week I have received two packages from Play at the Plate and Roll out the Barrel. Both packages were initiated by the others, really just looking for a place to unload some sexy Rockies cards and some pure kindness to help out with my 2007 Ultra set.

What both ended up sending the said Rockies and Ultras...but both went above and beyond, and just go to show how amazing the readers of A Paper Chase are.

We'll start with Brian from Play at the Plate's package.

First off, there was 10 or more great cards I needed from the Ultra set, including some rookies. Much thanks goes out there. Also included was a 30+ card 2007 Ultra fat pack...with a Gold Miguel Montero showing! This was a decent pack compared to what I have ripped most recently, and I added I believe 2-3 more cards from this pack including the Montero.

Also included, I am sure out of sheer kindness, was a Carlos Delgado SPx Relic and a Todd Helton jersey card as well.

Awesome. We gotta good man over there at Play at the Plate...go check him out.
________________________________________________________________________________

Next up was Ed from Roll Out the Barrel's astounding package of Rockies. After three team bags and multiple "holy shi....'s" later, I found myself the proud new owner of these beauties.

2009 Bowman Dexter Fowler

2007 Goudey Troy Tulowitzki MINI RC

2008 Stadium Club First Day Issue Troy Tulowitzki (Parallewitzki!)

2008(9?) Allen & Ginter's Jeff Francis Auto
Once again, extremely generous one here.

And:
2009 Topps Propaganda Posters Todd Helton

You know, I voted for these on Stale Gum's Insert Set of the Year without even holding one in my hands. I didn't make a mistake. These are amazing, and it's my first one. Best of all, I had never even seen it, so it was a complete surprise. Amazing card, amazing insert.

I was amazed at the loot that was waiting me in this package. Tons of nice Rockies cards, included one of my most wanteds:

An amazing amount fo thanks Gentleman. Please do not sit back and think these deeds will go unanswered. And if I mixed up who sent me what cards I apologize to the end of the Earth as I had six packages the day these came in and got myself good and confused writing it. I am putting together what I hope will be equal contributions to your respective collections...but it'll be hard to do. Thanks so much.

Back to my defense. I have been "busy" I guess. Work finally picked back up. Some visiting went on as well. My applications are sent in to Graduate school, so I have that to worry about. Still trying to get health insurance finalized. Have a letter of recommendation to write for my undergrad adviser and a life to plan. So I apologize if there is a slight lull in posting lately, but hey, sometimes life gets in the way.

Oh, and I want to start writing a "Blook". "What's a blook?" you may ask. In my hopes it will be a blog/book combination. It will chronicle life working in an anonymous CNY amusement park during summer tourism written with blogger-type style. It'll be a fun project, and I'll let everyone know about updates. However, I must warn you - mature audiences only.