Brothers Unite: Justin Upton is headed to Atlanta

(Bob Baum, AP):

PHOENIX (AP) Arizona has traded outfielder Justin Upton to the Atlanta Braves in a seven-player deal that sends former All-Star infielder Martin Prado to the Diamondbacks, a person familiar with the situation said Thursday.

The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the trade has not officially been announced.

The Braves also get third baseman Chris Johnson. Atlanta is giving up four minor leaguers in the deal, including top pitching prospect Randy Delgado. The other minor leagues headed to Arizona are right-hander Zeke Spruill, shortstop Nick Ahmed and first baseman Brandon Drury. Prado can become a free agent after this season.

So from Chipper Jones, to Martin Prado, to Chris Johnson: The Braves' hot corner has undergone some change in the past year. Good luck to Martin next year for Arizona, and here's hoping Justin can put up an awesome season for the Braves!

Sweet Contest Winnings from JBF!

Blogger Wes, aka Jaybarkerfan, of Jay Barker Fan's Junk is an intriguing figure. Besides being located to close where I live, implicitly meaning that any criticism of him from here could mean imminent revenge. Criticism, you say; Why would this sort of thing be warranted? Simply put, Wes is a fan of the beloved (and hated) Alabama Crimson Tide, and I a fan of the equally beloved and hated Auburn Tigers. You can guess who hates whom. Much has been said about the rivalry between the two teams (in football, I mean), but I will forgo launching into that, and simply refer you to the Wiki article and a local author/authority on the games.

Why else is Wes intriguing? Well, he has been lauded as the "most generous blogger," by Fuji, as well as "The Biffer" (By Thorzul)! So who is this masked man?

Well...both.

I received a prize package from JBF a month-ish ago, then received another. Then got a free card request fulfilled. I would say that paints Wes as a very generous guy. Did I mention he does weekly contests?

As to the "Biffer" moniker, well, that's true too. The Evidence:

Exhibit A:

Exhibit B:

Exhibit C:

Exhibit D:

Exhibit E:

Whew! That's more light blue than you'll get in a trip to the infant boy's section of Babies "R" Us!

Onto the rest of the (shiny) goodness...

For the life of me, I can't tell you why these scan so well. The purple Perez was one I especially liked.

The rest was stacked with Braves, both current and past players. The above were some of my favorites!

Onto the *actual* contest cards-did I mention Wes does this every week? There were also some sweet M's relics. Though awesome, I would be willing to swap for, say, a Chipper Jones or Dale Murphy relic. Either way, I declare Wes deserving of both names-thanks so much for the cards!

Oh, Well.

Much has been made about Hall of Fame inductions, or lack thereof. A few articles I've found noted that Dale Murphy, whose name graces this blog's, missed out on induction on his last try. Now, the path for Dale to the Hall runs through the Veteran's Committee.


Charts seem to legitimize just about any topic, am I right?



I could go on and say how guys like Murphy are cleaner, nicer, and have better teeth than guys like Sosa, Bonds, McGwire, and the rest, but I guess I'm not as passionate in that kind of way. Personally, I think Murph was a good, even great player who played the game well and ought to be recognized for his own work, not just compared to others'.

As for his post-playing career, Dale has kept himself visible. He will be the first base coach in the 2013 World Baseball Classic.

I think Dale has a shot at induction yet, and I will be hoping for the best in 2014!

New Year's Resolutions? Eh.

This being the time of year where New Year's resolutions are made, people strive to do better during the coming year. The rest of us rebel, a la Calvin.

That's not that we/I don't care about what others have to say. The new year can definitely be a nice, even starting point for some goal or set of goals. But I (personally) don't always go by that convention. For example, I went on a "caffeine fast" last year.* Why caffeine? Because I drink too much otherwise. Starting in mid-October (though I used November 1st as a starting point), I fasted from caffeine for one year. After a short hiatus, I'm back on the fast as of December 26. Regarding cards, I assent (in principle, certainly) with The Card Raven's recent post.

Moving right along (fancy free), Weston of Fantastic Catch has sent me several packages of cards of late, which include cards such as these Triple Play stickers. Lord knows, I need a lot more Panini cards to complete the set, and kudos to him for helping me out there!

The Eckstein will fit nicely into my Eckstein PC. More Triple Play and a Glavine RC!

I've mixed in some cards from Larry of Emerald City Diamond Gems with these-Larry sent me some nice vintage for some Mariners I sent him.The Jeff Francoeur/Chipper Jones card is #'d 77/100.  Did you know Seattle is the only team (besides Washington) to have never gone to a World Series? Mariner fans, I think, will have a special seat in the afterlife for all the toil and trouble the M's have undergone in 30+ years. 

Jheri curl is always a top qualifier for getting your card scanned, and Geronimo Berroa is no exception. Joe Roa looks like he's falling asleep, and I like the backdrop for his card. Dollar signs do that, I guess.

I like the Fleer stickers, and I think Vinnie's Greenville Braves hat would be tough to pull off today, unless maybe some rapper wore it backwards.

May I preface the following comments by saying that mint condition is overrated:

It seems that someone stuck a mirror behind Craig Skok.

Poor Howie Bedell. Some child must have thought the peeling sticker graphic was, in fact, meant to be peeled. Bob Hartman is trying to wrap his head around that.

The red pants on that guy on the right in the Braves team card stick out a lot, once you notice them.

Thanks to Larry and Wes for the sweet cards!

If you've read this far, you have merited a reward. Go check out Collector's Crack for a quite dandy contest involving prognostication.

*This may or may not have been due to Tim Tebow's doing the same thing, according to his autobiography.