Trade With William, Part Dos

I'm back. Back to churning out images of baseball cards and comments on them. This is the second part of a chronicle of assorted trades with William of Foul Bunt, who will reap the rewards of a hyperlink each time I spit a phrase about this trade. Whoa-that went a little gangsta right there. Said the white rural red-state male. Maybe I should just stick to what I normally do around here... 

There are always a handful of card insert subsets that flash for a brief few days on blogs, then disappear as the next set shows up. I think Topps Gold Rush was one, but I might just have been reading the wrong blogs.

Darrell Evans. He just looks like a manager in this shot. Evans played his last game before this card was made, as he batted a rather miserable .207 in 1989. According to B-R.com, his nickname was "Howdy Doody," which I'm sure has been mentioned elsewhere before. I didn't know it though!

Going high end with Bowman Platinum of Brandon Drury, a name that I haven't heard before outside of cards. Reason probably being he went to Arizona in the Justin Upton deal last winter.

Another cropped card; this one depicting Jones swinging a bat, with bright white and a burst of sky in the background.

Some swell pick-ups, of two very different uniforms for the same team. Johnny Sain must not be on the Topps-licensed list, as I've seen a ton of Warren Spahn cards and virtually none of the Boston Braves Spahn-Sain duo.

My first rookie card of the now returned Braves catcher. Between McCann and Evan Gattis, there's a lot of chatter that Gerald Laird is the odd catcher out for the Braves. Former backup David Ross might be wishing he were benchwarming in Atlanta rather than recovering from a concussion playing for the Red Sox.

 And to top it off for this trade segment, a Jeff Francoeur mini. Nice. But hang on...

This isn't just any JF mini-it's a Bazooka red back Jeff Francoeur mini! William, you've done it again-thanks for these goodies as well!

Coming up: the last (and I think, best) installment of the trade!

Birthday Gifts from William! (Part 1)

A few months back, I received a big square box from William of Foul Bunt. This box was full of packing peanuts, cards, and an unexpected surprise (which I'll show in an upcoming post). The occasion was my birthday, just a few days after I got the box. Will had generously (as usual) said he would throw something extra in with his package. And he did! For this first post, the cards:

I think approximately seven people bought 2012 Panini Golden Age last year. Fortunately, Will was one of the seven. Could you say that Warren Spahn is being framed on this card? He doesn't seem too concerned about it.

Which one of you is the real John Smoltz?

Not all the cards I'm showing came from the same package. I've sort of accumulated stuff to do one mega-post on it all. No one else does that, do they? Oh, this is both the Error and Corrected version of John's 1990 Donruss MVP card.

Will sent several 1996 Topps Braves, including some that had the 1995 WS logo in corners. Was that the first time Topps played with those logo variations? only time? Any 1990s collectors care to enlighten me there? I like the logo, either way.

A Rays-uniformed BJ Upton. This card is numbered 247/999, and looks pretty sharp, but BJ still seems glum. Probably brooding over his .141 batting average. Ah well.

Question: I believe back in the late 90s and early 2000s, Chipper and Andruw Jones had their intials on the back of their jerseys, along with their last names. So, why this? I should probably know why the Upton brothers have no initials, but I don't. Anyone care to enlighten me?

Some 2012 Bowman. Remind me the difference between a "First-year Bowman card" and an RC-logo card, again? Oh, what the heck. Just enjoy the pictures, I guess.



Reynoso, who according to Wikipedia, was the last player on the Atlanta Braves to wear number 42 before it was retired, looks like the Mexican version of Greg Maddux. I think it's the mustache.

This was the last card I needed to finish my 2013 Topps Braves Series One set. Sorry it scanned poorly. Wait, actually...

This was the last card I needed to finish the set! Bazinga! This card scanned frightfully too, so I "borrowed" this image from Play at the Plate (maybe if I link to him seven times he'll forgive me):

The super-obvious guy in the red shirt is awesome/hilarious. Especially since the other guys you can see are just chilling. "Hey, let's watch Freeman make a sweet catch. We can stand up a minute and lean against this rail to do so." Meanwhile, red-shirt guy:



Awesome.

Thanks to William for the cards! Second post coming soon!

Take These Cards Away-2010 Topps Heritage Pack

Back in 2010, I bought a pack of Topps Heritage, none of which I really wanted nor do I still want. Who benefits from this? You, the reader! If you just send me an email or comment telling me what you want and an SASE, any or all of these six 3-year-old cards can be yours. If you are working on a trade with me right now, just let me know what cards you want added to your stack. First-come, first-served is how this is going to work. Now, have at it!



Fun fact: 4 of 6 of these players have been/are currently Braves players since 2010!

2010 Topps Heritage Dan Uggla #252 2010 Topps Heritage Juan Fransisco #287 RC
2010 Topps Heritage Gerald Laird #192
2010 Topps Heritage Coco Crisp #277
2010 Topps Heritage James Loney #310
2010 Topps Heritage Derrek Lee #299

Cards from Kevin O'Leary (-the O'leary)!

I'm a fan of the show Shark Tank, on ABC Friday nights. The premise of the show is to have wannabe entrepreneurs pitch their product, and try to get the "sharks" (actual entrepreneur millionaires) to invest $X in it, usually about 5 or 6 figures. One such shark is Kevin O'Leary, who has a reputation for being the stingiest shark.

How does this relate? Well, Mr. O'Leary is one degree of separation (first name) from Diamond King blogger Kevin! The blogger Kevin is no stranger to generosity, unlike the millionaire, and has previously sent cards to me. These cards were also sent gratis as part of his PWE bombing project, which you should really check out. Kevin also collects steroid-using ballplayers (interestingly enough), or as he likes to call them: Super Cheating American Men. Cards?

This is a Bo Jackson rookie, which is reason enough for this card to be a welcome addition to my Jackson PC. This Donruss design border didn't age well though, unfortunately. The Rated Rookie logo is a redemptive element, though. That's still pretty rad, yo.

Some sweet Chipper Jones cards-The Bats of Brilliance card is surprisingly non-glossy. When I first saw it, I could have sworn it was. The way it scanned, it looks like the leaning tower of Stadium Club.

Billboard Top 40? Psshh. Chipper's on the Top 30 of baseball player list, brah.

Which one of you is the real Bo Jackson? These are two of three Bo Jackson rookie cards Kevin sent me for my Bo PC.

And that will round it out for this small trade, oop, PWE bomb. Thanks for the cards Kevin, and I'll see if I can't send some 'roiders your way!

Another Trade Post Just Around The (Hot) Corner!

This pilfered image brought to you courtesy of the Internet.

A quickie trade post? Really? It's been too long. Alas. In other news, the Braves won a game. That's pleasing. Don't care to see what Pat of Hot Corner Cards sent me? That's okay. Go ahead and do whatever it was you were going to do this evening. Listen to Prairie Home Companion, sup, or whatnot. For the rest of you, some parallels:

Dan Uggla has been around long enough to accumulate quite a few of these. Rookie year was 2006, about when collectors started picking up on shenanigans at Topps. The green/golden firestorm parallels? Wha...??? Nevertheless, I'll take them. Thanks Pat!

But that, as the fellow said, is not all. This was one of the items off Pat's Trade Bait page (you should really take a look at it) that I had to have. I can't remember what I sent him in return, it's been awhile. (I hope it was good though-this card is sweet.) This is one of the now two jersey cards I have of Mr. Jones.

The reason I don't have a lot of Braves to scan and show was that Pat included a bunch of cards for trading partners of mine (who may have already reaped the rewards) that I've set aside for them. In the meanwhile, some Bowman cards and another Dan Uggla card!

That's it...for now. I'd like to do a little contest soon. Be on the lookout, and thanks again to Pat!

Like Bryce Harper and/or want some cards? (2013 Topps Opening Day Pack Rip)



So how about a rack pack rip of 2013 Opening Day? You know, the set that celebrates a semi-holiday that occurred nigh a month ago? Hey, why not? Let's get to work on ripping (what Eminem might call) some cold product.

(Keeping this one)

Interestingly enough, the first card pulled out of a 2013 pack for this Braves fan is the card that took the longest to get for the S1 rendition of Topps. Oh, and it's a Brave! So far so good.

2 out of 3 guys I knew before this pack rip. Looks like Aoki left the third base coach hanging there.

Harper has been claimed

Hey look! Mascot card! Flying Met! Bryce Harper! The Harper insert, and all other cards without a "keeper" subtitle, is and are up for grabs.

Harper has been claimed

Another Harper insert! This along with a bearded Bumgarner and a clean-shaven Cano.

David Price is currently mired in trade rumors right now. The Rays have a history of dealing pitchers before having them suck up payroll, hence the rumors abound. Pitcher Zimmermann currently has the most wins for the Nats, and Chris Davis is just excited about geting a fist bump-looking...thing.


Keeping the Wainwright

I really don't have anything to say about these guys. So I won't. Holding the Wainwright card for any of my three Cardinal-collecting trade partners.

Hey, it's that Jurickson Profar guy. Between Profar and Oscar Taveras, there's a lot of Rookie of the Year-type conversations going on in the blogs. Oh, and the guy you saw of the front of the pack - Prince Fielder.


Hechavarria has been claimed

A crop of young players. Starlin Castro, with an SI cover story behind him, had a mini-hitting-streak going for 14 games. Addison Reed, meanwhile, has been racking up saves. And Adeiny sits on the DL for the miserable Marlins. I would say something along the lines of, "Stinks to be a Marlin," but I can't bring myself. Jeffery Loria, man...

Morrison has been claimed

Another Marlin, a V-Mart, and Cahill on the hill. Those guys in the background on the Martinez card seem to be in a rather unsafe location.
 

Keeping the Tulo set aside for Cards on Cards



Jemile Weeks? Minor leaguer? Pssh. Give me Troy making news with childhood mullets anyday. Shoot, I'll post the picture to save a click:

As Deb would say, "Now, make a fist. Slowly ease it up underneath your chin..."

Thus ends a magical frolic through a 2013 Topps Opening Day rack pack. I do hope you enjoyed it. Please feel free to claim any cards I haven't tabbed to keep. Though I would love any sparkly Braves paralells if you have 'em, I don't expect anything in return. Adios!

Trade With Dawgbones (Part 2)

Welcome back to the Trading with Dawgbones series, part 2! With a relic involved in this trade that I saved for last, you don't want to miss this!

Straight cards now: 

Upper Deck X is a product people seem to love or hate. I like it myself, and the 2009 version (which this McCann happens to be) is my personal favorite rendition of the product. (Pushes glasses back up nose.)

Some Pieces of History, also of Upper Deck origin. The Chipper Jones card is, appropriately, card #10 in the set.

Ke$ha apparently got to this card

2001 Fleer EX Greg Maddux.  You can't really tell from the scan, but the front seems to have been glitter-fied. Fun fact off the back: 2000 was a year in which Maddux had a better record against the entire American League than he did against the Expos (3-0 vs 2-0)!

I’ve fallen behind in keeping up with inserts as 2012 has become 2013. I had to look at the back to see that this is nice Hank Aaron die-cut from last year’s Topps set.

This card is rather bizarre. It took several different glances at this card to see that the jersey-ripping fellow is actually emerging from a TV SET. In the middle of a baseball (?) park. The back identifies him as “The man who is called Prime Time,” and Deion Sanders is apparently his “Alias.” Um, ohhh-kay.

I played one of these scratch off baseball cards one time-I think it was the Expos vs. Pirates one, so there wasn’t a whole lot of value lost from that card. Nice shirt Ventura’s wearing.

Third-year card of B-Mac-this is a nice shot. My great-granddad, a Braves fan, would often refer to Brian as “a big ol’ boy.” Pretty accurate description, Lol.

This is the first Bowman’s Brightest insert I have received, and it’s of Freddie Freeman. Freeman will be out of commission for the next couple of weeks due to a strained oblique. We'll see how that affects the current series against the Nats.





A couple of exes. Ex-Braves, I mean. Mike Hampton is retired as of 2011 and Trey hasn't played in the bigs since 2003. I like the vintage design on the Hodges card, though.

Target Red parallel of Cristhian Martinez, whose first name is torturing my spellcheck. Martinez was also placed on the DL after Frank Wren acquired reliever Luis Alaya.

This was probably the highlight of the trade-a 2012 GQ Tim Hudson Mini relic. I like classy cards, and this  card definitely fits that description.

Thanks to Dawgbones for the trade! Dawgbones is a great guy to trade with; go and give his blog a look!