Some new Braves additions!

Braves are 2-0 after last night's win over the Phillies. Let the Upton era begin!

I welcome the start of the season as I try to forget about my horrible, no good, very bad bracket. I never do brackets, and after a pretty okay start (thank you, Oregon) I was feeling pretty high on mine. I then went on to pick a grand total of 0 correct Final Four teams. Darn Wichita State/Michigan/Syracuse! I take the blame for not picking Louisville.

One of the cool things about blogging is coming across new ones. I was recently able to make a small trade with Josh of one such blog, Pence, Nix, and Pierre. I hope that by seeing what I got you'll be motivated to help Josh add to his collections of, well, Pence, Nix, and (Juan) Pierre.

 A couple of horizontal shots. I still haven't received a Masterpiece card I didn't like.

These were some oddball issues I hadn't seen before. The one on the left is a 1990 Swell Satchel Paige. At first I wasn't sure how I didn't know Satchel was a Brave, but Google told me he wasn't a player but a coach in the 1960s.

Chipper Jones Twitter account continues to make news.

Another Dale Murphy card, and a colorful 1992 Topps Kids Steve Avery. The silhouettes in the background really make that card for me.

This is the back, depicting Steve's giant leap from high school to a major league ballpark, as well as a criminal with a handgun. Ah, the (relatively) politically incorrect '90s.

To close out with a bang, Josh also sent me my first Chipper Jones relic card! From  2011 Lineage, this is a sweet addition to the PC!

Thanks to Josh for the cards, and the trade!

Peter Michael Moylan: a Profile and a Cardboard Tribute

Lost in the vortex of coverage that was the Justin Upton trade was the departure of Peter Moylan from the Braves. Now with a minor-league deal for the Dodgers, Pete will try to stay healthy and work back up to the bigs with a 34-year-old arm.

It's been an interesting ride for Moylan, as he made a well-chronicled journey from selling drugs for a living (okay, so they were pharmaceuticals) in Australia to the World Baseball Classic to Atlanta, Georgia, USA. The man has inked arms and a Twitterfeud with Nickelback on his resume, and apparently moonlights as a Pennsylvania dentist (that last item may or may not be completely accurate). He describes himself on Twitter as "an Aussie bloke living the American Dream."

Moylan was recently non-tendered by Atlanta, which is tantamount to saying "the Braves didn't want to pay him as much as his contract called for, so they released him." He's been bitten by the injury bug in the past couple of years, so that's understandable.

He's not a very uptight guy in the clubhouse, it seems, as Moylan was named by the majority of Braves players in a fan magazine questionnaire as the funniest guy on the team. This in terms of his jocular humor, I'm pretty sure.

I have only 2 cards of Moylan: his 2011 Topps Update base card, and the gold parallel. Exciting stuff, I know. Moylan only has a handful of cards, though, so I have a bit of an excuse. This based on the inventory on COMC...

If you haven't been able to tell from my monologue, I'm going to miss Moylan, maybe more than Prado. Just his personality, I think, is enough to keep young guys like Kimbrel and Venters loose in the clubhouse. Like many managers say, "I hope he does well-unless he's playing us." Have a great year Moylan, except against the Braves!

Cards in Miniature from Community Gum!

Have you ever wondered what would happen if you willingly never posted a trade? I'm too scared to find out, but my hypothesis is that the cards you traded for would vanish. Anyway.

In the not-so-distant past, Jon of Community Gum busted a box of Topps Mini cards, which I believe (hypothesis again) only got into the hands of those who did like he did and ordered a box, or were members of the 5 Star Club. I have not seen these anywhere personally outside of CG's blog. If showing 'fashionably late' to blog posts is just your style, plenty of cards appear to be left.

The base cards are basically the Reader's Digest Condensed versions of 2012 Topps, but knowing how unlikely it was to get at these outside of the Gated Community of Gum, I bit and sent Jon some Maduxxes (Maddi)? See for yourself what I got back! (If you have the Chipper Jones card from this set by chance to send this-a-way, you will be rewarded.)

Scan chomped off the bottom of this card, but here's Tyler Pastornicky. Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said in a recent interview Tyler may be the next "Martin Prado." Read: Utility guy. If he can hit decently enough, though, that'd be fine by me!

 Jonathan Venters rocking the high socks! Liking it.

At the time this card was scanned, Randall was a Brave. He's now a Diamondback by way of the Justin Upton trade.

The height discrepancy between Bourn and Jason Heyward behind him is funny. Not sure what to think about having BJ as a CF this year-maybe Frank Wren thought that two Uptons together can't both be terrible?

That is all-thank you Jon!

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!