Maybe Hosting a Fantasy Ball League

...with prizes! The photos aren't up yet, but they will be posted eventually. I am looking to form a 10-14 team Fantasy Baseball League on Yahoo with readers of Paper Chase and other bloggers (why does spell check still pick up "bloggers", "blogosphere" and other formations of the word?) The league would be a keeper league, so you would have the same players year after year (assuming I am not swallowed up by a jokulhaup in the future).

I am thinking prized will be a something like this:

1st - Game-used card, Autograph Card, Specialty Insert/Parallel/Refractor Card
2nd - Autographed card + Favorite Player Cards
3rd - Game Used Card + Favorite Player Cards

Some cards of my own I am willing to throw into the prize package:

2009 Goodwin Champions Aramis Ramirez Jersey Card:

2009 Goodwin Champions John Lackey Jersey Card:

200? Fleer Fresh Ink Pablo Ozuna Autograph
2008 Topps Chrome Dick Perez/Sprawl*Mart Refractors
Others -
2009 Allen & Ginter James Shields Black Bordered Mini

Prize winners would more than likely receive "cleaning out" cards as well - junk wax cards of the collector/player's teams from the 80's and 90's, etc; players for personal collections and everything else.

If I find some interest, I will start a sign-up post. If you know anyone who might be interested, direct them here. If not, then I think I'll be plenty busy with my other six fantasy baseball teams this season.

Night/Scoreboard Card for Night Owl

This post on Night Owl Cards earlier today (or later last night) reminded me that I wanted Night Owl to check this card out. I'm sure many many people have this card, however, as it is a common from the (ghastly) green 2000 Topps set. Enjoy.

Plain Beautiful Cards: Volume 9 - 2008 Upper Deck First Edition Garrett Atkins #350

This one is great. I've been reluctant to post this one since I don't want to come off as a Rockies homer, as I am a Jays fan, 100%. But there are reasons why I collect Rockies:

• The Players - Atkins I do not collect but will always accept, Tulowitzki has been my man since his NCAA World Series showing, Carlos Gonzalez won me over by ripping every pitch the Phillies threw him in the 2009 NLDS, Dexter Fowler makes the game look easy and straight-up embarassed the game's best 2B, Ubaldo has an average fastball of 96.1 MPH (tops among MLB Starters) and Huston Street, Ian Stewart, and soon-to-be Jhoulys Chacin are all great talents.
• Coor's Field. Go through your cards at Coor's Field. Chances are, all the cards are sleek, and if there's a view of the fans, there's a sweet sea of purple as a backdrop.
• The Flair for the Dramatic. The 21 for 22 win streak. Matt Holliday's header.
• The smooooooking hot girl behind the first base dugout in 2007 playoffs (and possibly 2009). Sorry, I had to pay my respects to her.

Anyways, damn. Good lookin' Garrett Atkins card there. And yes, it was a Home Run. How could it not be in a shot like that?




How long to Spring Training?

Personal Player Collection Page

*denotes replacement needed

Dustin McGowan

2009 Topps (Series 1) Careers Best Autograph #CBA-DMM

2008 Topps Heritage #402
2008 Topps Allen & Ginter's A&G Back Mini #214
2008 Topps Allen & Ginter's Mini #214
2008 Topps Allen & Ginter's #214
2008 Topps #187

2007 Topps '52 #268

2006 Topps Chrome Blue Refractor #229
2006 Topps Chrome Black Refractor #229 S/N: 346/549
2006 Topps #426

2003 Just Minors Autograph #35 Hand Numbered: 41/375
2003 Bowman Chrome #BDP110
2003 Bowman's Best Autograph #BB-DMM
2003 Bowman DP&P #BDP110

Carlos Delgado

2008 Upper Deck X Memorabilia UDXM-CD

2007 Topps #125
2007 Upper Deck Future Stars #61

2006 Fleer Ultra RBI Kings #RBI15

2004 Flair Showcase #8

2002 Donruss Studio #136
2002 Flair #39
2002 Fleer Premium International Pride Jersey Relic #NNO

2001 Upper Deck Big League Beat #BB10
2001 Twizzlers/Upper Deck Big League Challege #2 of 10
2001 Topps Finest #17
2001 Topps #160
2001 Pacific Private Stock #123
2001 Fleer Triple Crown Crowns of Gold Bat Card #NNO
2001 Fleer Triple Crown #59
2001 Fleer Game Time #70
2001 Fleer Futures #16

2000 Upper Deck Ultimate Victory #10
2000 Upper Deck SP Gae Bat #CD
2000 Topps Opening Day #39
2000 Bowman's Best #14
2000 SPx #17

1999 Upper Deck Victory #412
1999 Topps #420
1999 Pacific Aurora #197
1999 Pacific Invincible #148
1999 Bowman #269

1998 Upper Deck #241
1998 Pinnacle Performers #66

1996 Upper Deck Collector's Choice #352

1995 Topps #469

1994 Topps Prospects #688 w/Chris Howard, Jason Kendall, Paul Bako
1994 Topps Stadium Club Rookie Rocker #629 Rainbow
1994 Fleer Ultra All-Rookie Team #2 of 10


Troy Tulowitzki

2009 Topps T206 #293

2008 Upper Deck Goudey #65
2008 Upper Deck First Edition StarQuest Common/Green #SQ-58
2008 Upper Deck First Edition #348
2008 Upper Deck #482
2008 Upper Deck X #38
2008 Topps Moments & Milestones #9 S/N 018/150
2008 Topps Chrome Trading Card History #NNO Blue Refractor S/N: 044/200
2008 SP Authentic #96

2007 Upper Deck #17

Ken Griffey, Jr.

2009 Allen & Ginter Mini #290
2009 Goodwin Champions #1

2008 Upper Deck X #28
2008 Upper Deck Goudey #54
2008 SP Legendary Cuts Destination Stardom Memorobilia #DS-TT

2007 Upper Deck Future Stars #22
2007 Fleer Ultra Swing Kings Materials #SK-KG
2007 Fleer Ultra Feel The Game #FG-KG
2007 Fleer Ultra Faces of the Game #GF-KG
2007 Topps Updates & Highlights #UH209

2006 Upper Deck National Baseball Card Day #UD7
2006 Topps #387
2006 Topps Big Reds #649 with Adam Dunn
2006 Fleer Ultra #139

2003 Upper Deck Honor Roll #13

2002 Fleer Ultra #30

2001 Upper Deck Ritz/Oreo #NNO
2001 Upper Deck Griffey Gallery #481
2001 Topps Hobby Masters #HM11
2001 Topps #593
2001 Topps Opening Day Magic Moments #160
2001 E-X #10
2001 Donruss Studio #13

2000 Upper Deck Ultimate Victory #86
2000 Upper Deck Victory #157
2000 Upper Deck Victory Junior Circuit #398, #399, #410, #425, #434, #436
2000 Upper Deck HoloGrFX Star View #SV1
2000 Topps Opening Day #135
2000 Topps Season Highlights #389
2000 Skybox Skylines #9 of 10
2000 Pacific Invincible Kings of the Diamond #10
2000 Pacific Paramount Update Series #27-U
2000 Metal #76
2000 Fleer Impact #100
2000 Bowman's Best #100

1999 Upper Deck MVP Swing Time #S1
1999 Upper Deck Encore #81
1999 Upper Deck Black Diamond Diamonation #D1
1999 Topps All Star Outfielders #454 with Sammy Sosa/Juan Gonzalez
1999 Topps #100
1999 SP Top Prospects Minor Memories #Jr2
1999 Pacific Invincible Sandlot Heroes #18

1998 Upper Deck #225
1998 Topps League Leaders #224
1998 Topps Interleague Preview #479 with Mike Piazza
1998 Topps #321
1998 Pacific Paramount #87

1997 Upper Deck Collector's Choice The Big Show #43 of 45 with Keith Olbermann and Dan Patrick
1997 Upper Deck Collector's Choice All-Star Connection #5 of 45
1997 Upper Deck Collector's Choice #SM-2
1997 Score #156

1996 Upper Deck Collector's Choice #310
1996 Upper Deck Collector's Choice Checklist #415
1996 Upper Deck A Cut Above #CA2
1996 Score #282

1995 Upper Deck Collector's Choice Best of the 90's #62
1995 Upper Deck Collector's Choice #70
1995 Topps #397
1995 Topps Pre-Production Sample #PP5
1995 Fleer Ultra #101

1994 Upper Deck Collector's Choice Up Close and Personal #634
1994 Upper Deck Collector's Choice Checklist #317
1994 Topps Measures of Greatness #606
1994 Topps All Star Outfielders #388 with Lenny Dykstra
1994 Topps #400
1994 Pinnacle #100
1994 Leaf #368
1994 Leaf 90's Dominators #6 of 10
1994 Fleer Sunoco/Atlantic #13 of 25

1993 Upper Deck #355
1993 Topps #179*

1992 Topps #50
1992 Leaf Gold #392

1991 Score #841 with Ken Griffey Sr.
1991 Score The Franchise #858
1991 Score Cooperstown Card #B3
1991 Score Dream Team #892 or DT12 of 13

1990 Topps #46
1990 Bowman #481

1989 Bowman Rookie #220

Roberto Alomar

2004 Fleer Showcase #35

2003 Upper Deck MVP #126
2003 Playoff Prestige #150

2002 EX #66
2002 Donruss Studio #31
2002 Donruss Fan Club #58

2001 Topps #616
2001 Donruss Studio #27

2000 Upper Deck Ultimate Victory #15
2000 Upper Deck #363
2000 Skybox #122
2000 Metal #66 (x2)
2000 EX #50

1999 Upper Deck 10th Anniversary Team #X3
1999 Topps #248
1999 Pacific Aurora #50 (x2)

1998 Topps #285
1998 Pacific Aurora #9

1995 Upper Deck Collector's Choice #331
1995 Topps Stadium Club Virtual Reality #43

1994 Upper Deck #455
1994 Topps All-Star Second Basemen #385 with Bobby Thompson
1994 Fleer/Sunoco/Atlantic #1 of 25

1993 Flair #287

1992 Leaf #233

1990 Topps #517

1989 Fleer #299

Joakim Soria

2009 Topps T206 Piedmont Mini #239

2008 Upper Deck Timeline Die-Cut #196
2008 Topps Heritage Chrome #C216 S/N 0194/1959

2007 Fleer Ultra Ultra Rookies #232

Joe Mauer

2008 Upper Deck Ultimate Collection #89 S/N 041/350
2008 Upper Deck First Edition StarQuest Common/Green #SQ-49
2008 Topps Chrome Trading Card History #NNO
2008 SP Authentic #68

2007 Upper Deck Masterpieces #50
2007 Upper Deck Future Stars #56
2007 SPx Winning Materials Bronze #WM-JM S/N 02/25
2007 Fleer Ultra Swing Kings #SK-JM

Roy Halladay

2009 Topps Topps Town #TTT2
2009 Topps Ticket to Stardom #70

2008 Upper Deck Goudey #190
2008 Topps Stadium Club #32
2008 Topps Chrome #67
2008 Topps Chrome Blue Refractor #67
2008 Topps Allen & Ginter USA #US6 - Colorado
2008 SPx #96
2008 SP Authentic #56

2007 Upper Deck Sweet Spot #90
2007 Upper Deck Checklist #1005
2007 SP Authentic #99
2007 Bowman Heritage Foil #188
2007 Bowman #149

2006 Upper Deck Ovation #11
2006 Topps Turkey Red Jersey Relic #TRR-RHA
2006 Bowman Heritage #90

2005 Fleer Showcase #59

2004 Donruss #212
2004 Skybox L.E. #106

2003 Upper Deck First Pitch #50
2003 Upper Deck MVP #215

1999 Topps Stars Gold #23
1999 Pacific Aurora Rookie #199

Paul Molitor

1998 Pacific Aurora #52
1998 Topps #291

1996 SP #117
1996 Upper Deck Predictor #R23

1995 Donruss #162
1995 Topps Stadium Club Virtual Reality #28
1995 Topps #30

1994 Bowman #281
1994 Topps Stadium Club #645

1991 Score #49

1989 Fleer #193
1989 Score #565


Al Leiter

2004 Leaf #164

2003 Upper Deck Ovation #46

2002 Playoff Absolute Memorobilia #99

2001 Fleer Game Time #45

1997 Upper Deck Collector's Choice #111

1996 Upper Deck Collector's Choice #356 (Blue Jays)
1996 Upper Deck Collector's Choice #772 (Marlins)

1991 Donruss #697

1989 Score #580 (x3)

Eric Gagne

2007 Upper Deck #979

2003 Upper Deck First Pitch #268

2001 Topps #447

2000 Bowman's Best #141

Craig Biggio

2001 Fleer Futures #21
2001 Fleer Futures #21 Black Gold S/N: #/499
2001 Topps #250

2000 Topps #339

1999 Upper Deck Hit Brigade #H11
1999 Upper Deck #108
1999 Topps #325
1999 Pacific Aurora #81

1998 Topps #318

1996 Upper Deck Collector's Choice Fantasy Team #274
1996 Upper Deck Collector's Choice #159

1995 Fleer Utra #384

1994 Topps #305

1989 Topps #49
1989 Score #237
1989 Fleer #353*

UDX Blaster Turns into Fine PC Day

So for the past 3 months or so, I have walked past (read: labored in front of for 10-20 minutes) the local SprawlMart trading cards section and noticed one recurring, unselling blaster box. It is a box of 2008 Upper Deck X, marked down 40% to $11.48.

Every time I think about getting it. A plain black box with a sleek holofoil "X"...is tempting (I love holofoil, I'll admit it.) Today I picked it up, noting that before I had been discouraged by the fact that there was little writing, and that it doesn't state how many cards are in each pack (therefore box). But today, however, I noticed the message on the side: "One Memorobilia Card in EVERY Box, on average!"

So I bit. What's the worst that could happen? Pull a few die-cuts, some trippy Xponential inserts, knock off a good portion of a decent checklist, for $11.48. I could tell which pack had the hit once I got home and observed every pack. In fact, the hit:

GBOAT (Greatest Blue Jay of All Time) #2 Carlos Delgado, is actually equal in thickness to five base cards. I was pumped about this card, placing it at the bottom of the stack. Also, I was glad that it was a Jays relic, not a Mets one. However, the color in the background is Mets, the card says Mets, and Carlos has not played in Toronto since 2004, yet he has a Jays jersey on. More on this card in another post.

The best Xponential (X^3) I pulled was a very nice David Wright. Once I got back on to blogger this afternoon, I noticed Dinged Corners posted David Wright, Curtis Granderson and Barry Zito as players they wanted to trade for, so this guy will have a good home over at Dinged Corners. Enjoy it!

The Xponentials are really cool for X^2s I pulled David Ortiz (who has been haunting me since this fall) and Pedro.

Also added a Tulo to the PC:

Often when I buy cards, I like to mix it up. Buy one plaster, add a random foil. Today random foil was actually wax(ish), and was 2008 Topps Heritage. I really like these, and got none other than my main man Dusty Mc:

Also added David Eckstein in a Jays uni, and a Hanley Ramirez. Always noting that Topps like to play the short print game, i turned all the cards over and checked for irregularities. The Hideki Matsui was the only rogue, with a black background behind the number. I did a little research and found that short prints are inserted 1:3 to mimic the original '52 set. The black backs were not listed as a short print...so how knows.

Plain Beautiful Cards: Volume 8 - 2002 Uppere Deck Jason Kendall #708

Sick play at the plate. 'Nuff said.

Fat Pack Loveliness + This Week in eBay Scores

You know, eBay sucks. Often. Not eBay itself- they've revolutionized independent commerce (is that the right term?). The sellers are the villians, but most of the time bad sellers can be avoided, and it's your own fault if you win an auction for a Rocco Baldelli jersey card (JUST $0.35!!!) and forget to read the $6.99 s&h fee. But I digress.

I love eBay. if you use it right, you can score sweet loot like I did this week. Here we go.

I snagged a 2007 Fleer Ultra Fat Pack (32 cards) for a swell $5. These are on sale at certain SprawlMarts right now for $2.49..but this one was special. The seller advertised it, with scan as "Dice-K Gold Medallion Showing." Nice! So I grabbed it. Here's what I got out of it:



Daisuke Matsuzaka Lucky 13 Gold Medallion Rookie Card.

Since Daisuke was an international free agent, Bowman couldn't get their trigger-happy rookie card logo on Daisuke before other, ENJOYABLE brands could. Take that, Bowman. So this is more or less a "true" rookie card, and a base set parallel to boot. It's numbered to /999, which is irritating, because Lucky 13's are short-printed, but base card GMs are also numbered to /999.

Fleer Ultra 2007 Set Progress:



For those who have read this before, you may remember my affinity for this set and my run at completing it. I bought THREE Fat Packs last week and got nine cards (out of 96!) for completion. Bummer. This ONE Fat Pack yielded fourteen. I am starting to suspect there is some seeding of cards based on geography (as this pack came from Texas, and contained two Rangers I needed.)

Other Sweet Scores:

I mentioned the Kei Igawa Lucky 13 last week, which I got in the mail yesterday. Not worth a scan.

2000 Skybox Skylines #6 of 10



I love these things. Got any? I only have two so far, Piazza and Chipper, so I would love to take 'em off your hands.

Saving the best for last...

2000 Metal base Shredders #NNO Matt Williams



These are the greatest inserts EVER. Back when relics were hard to come by, these were a tough pull, seeded 1:288. My buddy in high school, when we were collecting 2000 Metal, bought a Eurubiel Durazo for $10 on Induction Weekend (Kirby Puckett, Dave Winfield, Bill Mazeroski). It will be mine.
Again, if you have any of these, I want 'em. The checklist is awful, full of players like Eric Munson and the aforementioned Durazo, but they're sooooo sick.

See you later kids, should have another post tonight.

Maybe I'll Make The Trip

So, Whitey Herzog may or may not be as frustrated as I am that Robby Alomar and "The Dutchman" Bert Blyleven didn't make the HOF vote today. Andre Dawson did, and YES, he deserves it.

But John Heyman just made a good point on (last night's) this morning's MLB Hot Stove. Andre Dawson is soft-spoken and the other inductee, Umpire Doug Harvey is in poor health and will probably not give a speech. What does this mean for fans of baseball, within driving distance of Cooperstown, who need a reason to head down this July? Whitey Herzog. As Heyman noted "Whitey will tell any story, of any length, on any subject" (paraphrased). Sounds like it's worth the trip to me. Plus, seeing as the last year I went to induction was 2001 - ahem: Kirby Puckett, Bill Mazeroski, Dave Winfield; I am hoping for slightly less traffic this time. And yes, I will find a cozy place in the woods around Coop and set up a tent.

More on Whitey Herzog

I firmly believe that it is impossible to argue with the Veteran's Committee selections. Take a look at who decides:

• Hall of Famers: Jim Bunning, Tommy Lasorda, Eddie Murray, Phil Niekro, Tony Pérez, Robin Roberts, Ryne Sandberg, Ozzie Smith, Billy Williams, Dick Williams
• Executives: Jim Frey (retired), Roland Hemond, Bob Watson
• Media: Tim Kurkjian, Jack O'Connell, Tom Verducci

It's copied from Wikipedia, so there are active links. Hate Wikipedia? I don't care.
Oh. Wait. Whitey Herzog.

Let's just quote him a bit:

"If you don't have outstanding relief pitching, you might as well piss on the fire and call the dogs."

"I'm not buddy-buddy with the players. If they need a buddy, let them buy a dog."

"Some people asked me if I would be interested in managing the A's. I said a definite no thank you. At night, that place is a graveyard with lights."

"The only thing bad about winning the pennant is that you have to manage the All-Star Game the next year. I'd rather go fishing for three days."

"The only way to make money as a manager is to win in one place, get fired and hired somewhere else."

"The rules are changed now, there's not any way to build a team today. It's just how much money you want to spend. You could be the world champions and somebody else makes a key acquisition or two and you're through."

"The way we have been playing, I might tell my players not to cross the picket line (umpire strike of 1979)."

"We need just two players to be a contender. Just Babe Ruth and Sandy Koufax."

"We need three kinds of pitching: left handed, right handed, and relief."

"What counts aren't the number of double plays, but the ones you should have had and missed."

"You sweat out the free agent thing in November then you make the trades in December. Then you struggle to sign the guys left in January and in February I get down to sewing all the new numbers on the uniforms."

Plain Beautiful Cards: Volume 7 - 1994 Upper Deck Collector's Choice David Justice #156

SMOKED!

I just found this one a few days ago in the "meh..." box. I actually found a lot of good ones, and have a nice stack for this segment, but with Alomar not making the Hall as I expected, we go with this card tonight.

A few things:

• This is the oldest card I have ever scanned. I was approximately 8 when I got this one, maybe a Braves fan at the time but could have possibly fallen for the blue corvidae by that point.
• You can tell by the look on Justice's face that this ball is either about to land in the right field bleacher seats or about to obliterate some kid's first baseball game popcorn bucket beyond first base. Either way, he must have hit this one hard.
• Pretty nice card all around, not in very good condition, but I was 7 and you can't tell much from the scan. If only the Braves on the bottom right had been real logos like Upper Deck usually produces, this would have been on of my favorite sets ever. Pretty decent though (700 cards + I believe.)

That's it. Congrats to Andre Dawson, please go in as an Expo and not a Cub.

Baseball Blog Detritus from the Day

HOT DAMN LOOK AT THOSE PANTS

So, pretty eventful day in our little circle here on blogspot. Some posts of great pulls as well as cant-miss HOF debates...here's some links:

• Thorzul Will Rule has got me wishing I had $60 to throw down on a box of '08 UD Baseball Heroes. Hell of a box there...maybe someday.
• Beardy's Baseball Blog has some strong opinions, all well processed and hashed out, as well as a huge debate stemming from today's HOF selections. No Alomar for me this year, so probably no 2 hour drive to Cooperstown (unless Andre is signing some cheapie autos)...
• Drunk Jays Fans, notoriously pessimistic and generally way too angry to be that close to my Blue Jays should, gets my hopes up on hot-shit Aroldis Chapman (Man Crush #1). Jays and Angels appear to be front runners...but really? If you're Aroldis Chapman do you go to Anaheim to play with fellow Cubano Kendry Morales, work for a hispanic GM, live in sunny South CA, or go to bleak Toronto, with very few remaining hispanic players, and play for a Canadian GM?

Aaaand I thought there were more, but I guess not. Might post a Plain Beautiful Card tonight, might not. Currently searching for a better "career" in case grad school doesn't work out ("But Roy, you mean high school substitute teacher isn't a great career?!")

2010 Collection Goals

Tired of seeing this posts yet? I don't care. These are my goals for collecting this year. Most are petty, selfish goals, but whatever. Cards make me happy, and so does accomplishment. So I intend to accomplish the following:

• $ave money on collecting (see what I did there?) Kinda sick of paying $4.50 on ebay shipping charges, so through other sources such as CheckOutMyCards, SportsLots, and hopefully a few one-on-one trades, I'll be able to do so. Also, read blaster boxes more carefully before I end up purchasing another box of 2008 UD First Edition.
• Finish the 2007 Ultra Baseball Set
• Finish 2006-2007 Ultra hockey set.
• Finish 2000 Skybox Skylines insert set (2/10 so far...not a good start)
• Accomplish trades with fellow bloggers and/or followers of A Paper Chase. I'm anxious to get a good trade under my belt sooner or later.
• Join some modestly priced box breaks throughout the "blogosphere". Someone mentioned a new phrase to replace that term, and I am for it. Also, possibly hold some box breaks or pack breaks of my own.
• Start busting boxes and packs via video blog. Hopefully I will get the nards to do this eventually, still afraid of the wrong people getting a hold of videos of myself. Of course, Oh, Snap! (my brief foray into directing...) has been out there for 3 years now. [I removed the YouTube link. Very bad video involving poorly faked drug usage, awful acting, and me falling out of a clothes dryer and one off a pool table. Fun!]
  
• 30 Followers. Whoo hoo! 10%!
• Post my rosters of fantasy teams...in baseball card form. Get used to Jayson Werth!
• Double my Ken Griffey, Jr.; Carlos Delgado, Joakim Soria and Roy Halladay collections (what, like it's hard?)
• Pull an autograph. Seriously, getting sick of lame ass John Lackey and Fred Lewis relics.
• Start legit Blue Jays and Rockies team collections.
• Attain These:

Plain Beautiful Cards: Volume 6 - 2002 Fleer Ultra Steve Finley #88

Awww. A little bit more heatwarming than when Barry Bond's little one almost got trampled back in...2002? Who cares, Giants lost. Back when I didn't like the Giants. Now they've got Timmy. Back to the card at hand. This is by far my least favorite Fleer Ultra set ever. But anyways....awww.

Plain Beautiful Cards: Volume 5 - 2004 Fleer Inscribed Ichiro #63

Perfect. This is a set I intend to collect eventually, but just never see it in anywhere anymore, whether it be in foil, box or single form. These guys were pure eye candy. The scan just doesn't do it justice. Speaking of Justice...look for David in this segment soon.

The Plight of the Incomplete Set

So I wandered down to WalMart today to see if they still had any fat packs left of 2007 Fleer Ultra. They did. Marked down to $2.48 and only three remaining, I grabbed all three and a 50% off box of 2007 UD Future Stars. The Future Stars blaster was abominable, one red parallel (though a gorgeous card) and 35 base cards. No doubles, though.

The fat packs, each containing 32 cards for a total of 96, 6 of which are gold medallions. The gold medallions are awful with the digital numbering on the back, but whatever. I'm not here to collect them.

So out of 96 cards, I got 6 gold medallions (BJ Upton, Miguel Cabrera, Dontrelle Willis, Tom Glavine, AJ Pierzynski, Jim Edmonds, all #ed to 999), 90 base cards. In a set notorious for their inserts and nice rookie short prints, one thing was obvious to me: they had been searched of Lucky 13's and Ultra Rookies. Royal pain in the ass.

So out of my 90 available cards to work on my set of 200 with, I got 9 new cards. Nine. Looks like I'll be building a second set of doubles along side this one or shipping a bunch out in trades for basically nothing.

Sigh.

Plain Beautiful Cards: Volume 4 - 2004 Upper Deck Mike Sweeney #98

While scanning and uploading this card, I realized that Rafeal Furcal's 'o4 UD card was listed just a few days ago. I really want to avoid repetitious posting, so the readers will have to forgive me here.

Why this card needed to be here:

Seriously, if I was in Sweeney's place, even playing ball for a considerably poor franchise, I'd be this elated, too.

I don't know how many others have spent summers traveling their local geography on buses and overloaded carpools, waking up for 5AM before-school pitcher/catcher practices, walking door-to-door collecting bottles and cans to fund trips to sunny southern baseball tournaments, or anything related to playing baseball as a youth. I have been out of the game for four full summers at this point, due to injury, financial bounds, the enduring pursuit of science or just growing up, and I miss it.

Card collecting keeps me closer to the game than I ever thought it could, and is probably what keeps me sane outside of fantasy baseball and the MLB Network. If you ever wondered what it feels like to play baseball, please consult 2004 Upper Deck card #98.

Vote for the Gummies

....HERE

And since all my posts have pictures:

The world's most underrated moustache - George Parros.

Ladies and Gentlemen...Your 2010 Starting Third Basemen...

...Has burned a good portion of his face with a New Year's firecracker explosion.

Yeah, that's right. E-5.

I'm not going to do a great job of explaining it, so read Parkes DJF's take:

Encarnacion Faces the New Year

He's doing fine, now. What was (George) Brett Wallace doing for New Year's?

(Yeah, I had to add a Griffey picture to the post. Wanna fight about it?)

Double Take Volume 1 - David Wells Perfect Game

For about 10 years these cards were sitting only a few apart from one another in an unmarked 700-count card box. Little did these twins know, they were right next to each other all along.

I thought a lot about these two cards in the past few days, wondering how this could happen. Then I kept looking through more cards, more or less sorted by date and players, and noticed it a few more times. In one case, I may be on to a three-card progression of a Hank Blalock fly ball to right, and in another, a single pitch thrown in an away game by then-Red Sox Ace Pedro Martinez.

If anyone stumbles by this...blog (I still just don't like the word "blog") and has more similar circumstance cards, I'd love to hear about (see) them.

Stay tuned for more "Double Takes", "Plain Beautiful Cards" and the short-printed (see what I did there?) "Pitchers with Bats" themed posts here at Paper Chase.

Plain Beautiful Cards: Volume 3 - 1998 Topps Vladimir Guerrero #5

What a great shot. Vlad will always be a favorite of mine, and this card is probably my favorite of him.

What's great about it:

Look at the smile. Vladdy loves him some baseball.

He's still rocking the Expos jersey. Nothing better than players in defunct jerseys. Okay, maybe relics of defunct jerseys and throwbacks.

The pose is fantastic. The glove is blurred because the focus is on Valddy's chops, but I think that makes the card work better.

What originally got me to love this card way back in '98 was the background, though. Most definately a Spring Training shot, the clouds in the background are big and puffy, and the close up of the perfectly trimmed grass along with the darkened tree background make this an incredible card.

2007 Fleer Ultra Baseball - Want/Need List

2007 Fleer Ultra Baseball Want/Need List

1-10: Complete
11-20: 14
21-30: Compete
31-40: Complete
41-50: Complete
51-60: 60
61-70: Complete
71-80: 74
81-90: Complete
91-100: 94
101-110: Complete
111-120: 116
121-130: Complete
131-140: 137
141-150: Complete
151-160: Complete
161-170: Complete
171-180: Complete
181-190: Complete
191-200: 192

Rookies & Lucky 13

201-210: 207, 209, 210
211-220: 213, 216
221-230: 224, 225, 228
231-240: 233, 234, 236, 237, 240
241-250: 245, 246

Thanks to Dan W. from It's Like Having My Own Card Shop, Ed from Roll Out the Barrel Duane from Democratic Roadkill, Brian from Play at the Plate and Paul from Carl Crawford Cards for contributing cards to this set