Big time baseball

Posted by cardboard hogs on March 22, 2017

I’m writing while watching the WBC Championship Game between Los Estados Unidos y Puerto Rico…and i must say…i’ve thoroughly enjoyed the Spring “classic” tournament this go round. I know it’s not a super popular thing to like the WBC, but maybe that’s a thing of the past? For the past week and a half, i’ve checked in to just about every game and have been captivated by the intensity of professional baseball players in early…now mid March. Honestly, i’ve enjoyed the baseball tourney significantly more than the basketball tourney that’s going on these days. Mostly due to the fact that i’m not a huge basketball fan, and i’m a big baseball fan, but more than that. It’s the level of competition and intensity each nation has laid out for each game. Plus you get to see some major talent that are teammates during the season compete against each other in these games…looking at you Manny and Adam…I don’t know, i think it’s a beautiful thing and I hope you do too…This is very entertaining baseball, maybe not baseball at it’s highest most intense level, but great to watch. And Marcus Stroman…man, what a night for the Blue Jay kid.

I haven’t picked up any new cards in a while, but had a few Bowman cards sitting around from a box of 2015 i bought a few months ago. In hopes of not wasting your time, here are the hits.

First up to bat is a Giants prospect Daniel Carbonell with an autograph that looks like he may have passed out before he wrapped up the ‘n’ in his name. Maybe he had to grab a snack and refuel, i get it…you’re working, you get distracted and forget to eat…it happens. Daniel learned how to write his ‘D’s just like i did when i was in grade school…and for that, i say ‘atta boy!

Mr. Juan Herrera, a Cardinals prospect a the time has basically signed his card like i sign one of those electronic signature devices these days. A big ‘K’ followed by scribble and then a big ‘R’ followed by more scribbles…in this case, we see a big ‘J’ and a ‘H’.

Raisel Iglesias. This guy seems like he could be on target for the Reds closer job…assuming the all too important ‘good health’ caveat. I must admit, this autograph made me smile quite a bit. Just write the last name and your number please…first names aren’t important here.

Endrys Briceno signs his card ‘Ends’ as in the ends of this WBC is about to happen after Stanton bounced that ball of the right centerfield wall. Detroit Tigers.

Rowdy Tellez. So this is one guy i did a little research on prior to posting his card and was surprised to find out that he is only 22. I kind of thought he had been around for a few years and was in his mid to late 20’s. Also, i think his autograph looks like what i would imagine Ron Jeremy’s autograph would look like.

It figures that a left would sign his card justified to the left…and keep all the ink to the left…lefties man…Also, the name Gonsalves is very unique, maybe even odd. He’s another one of those 22 year old people.

I got Adam Jones as my WBC tourney MVP. That catch was everything. Amazing play in a big play moment. Plus he’s really a great guy…can’t help but imagine what kind of career he would have had if he wasn’t traded from Seattle for Erik freakin’ Bedard!

So, a year ago i was working late at work…really late. I was on a ridiculous deadline and working until midnight 3-4 times a week for 4+ months. Although it was a brutal time, i managed to listen to a lot of spring training baseball and a ton of new music. In between breaks of music and working (and whiskey drinking) I jumped on to twitter and was deeply saddened when i saw that Phife Dawg had died. I believe it was around 11pm when i found out and it just stopped me and my thought process…i couldn’t do anything the rest of the night. A Tribe Called Quest was one of those groups that i fell in love with immediately as a teenager and continued to love through my twenties, thirties and now forties. Losing Phife was devastating…but as it’s an unfortunate part of life, you try to focus on what they did while they were here and not focus on the fact that they are gone…so, tonights video is one of my favorite Tribe songs…and maybe another one of Phife, just for fun.

thanks for reading tonight.

Mail Day! Unexpectedly…

Posted by cardboard hogs on March 14, 2017

My wife has been working a lot lately. Early mornings and late nights at times too…lots of time away from the family. One of the few benefits of this is that i get some one on one time with my boy. At times, he’s an amazing kid and at times…he’s a toddler. I’ve been slowly showing him my card collection and McFarlane figures…or dolls as he calls them.

THEY’RE NOT DOLLS!!! THEY ARE COLLECTIBLE ACTION FIGURES!!!

Anyways, another benefit of the spouses extra work time is that i get to drop off my kid to school in the morning. Tuesdays and Thursdays he has a later class, it starts at 10am…which is kinda cool since i get to stroll in to work around 10:30. I also, apparently get to be home to receive FedEx packages from Topps…which is what happened this morning. Thankfully our overprotective dog alerted us to the scary FedEx guy or i would have completely missed out on this!

A nice little package from Topps…but what the hell is it? I’ve been a little negligent in tracking my outstanding redmemptions…so which one is it? Oh yeah!

It’s Andy Pettitte! From my box of 2017 Topps Series 1. That was crazy fast…especially considering i’ve got other cards that have been out for over a year. This one took just over 2 months.

As Topps has been doing with some of their redemptions, i also received another card from the fine folks at Topps.

My favorite part of this card is that it’s a Meaningful Material Prime Relic Card…very meaningful i would imagine, maybe a Sunday game? Not complaining, just thought it was kind of funny.

I also received this thoughtful thank you card from Topps…that everyone else has received…not i’m part of the gang guys!

My patronage will definitely continue.

Now, here’s some music that you may or may not like…you should all love Brother Ali though…

Sons and Fathers

Posted by cardboard hogs on January 11, 2017

Being an adult is a tough thing to be at times. It’s a never ending commitment to things you never dreamed of as a child; bills, responsibilities to loved ones as well as our contemporaries can be incredibly daunting at times. Overwhelming even. When you add children to the mix it becomes even more difficult. Prior to becoming a father, i had a very specific image of what having a child would be like…and to be honest, it’s nothing like what i thought. It is far more difficult than i could have ever imagined. Getting things done the way i want them or even when i want them is close to impossible. Over the past few months or so, i’ve learned to let things go. I had to. My expectations were not realistic or fair for an incredibly curious toddler. His young developing mind was discovering a world he needed to experience…in his very own way. Once i was able to grasp that seemingly simple concept, i was able to become a better father and enjoy the simple moments in life that later become memories we never forget…

The snow we’ve had in town last night and today was one of those moments to stop and let go of being an adult…although i had to make sure my kid didn’t hurt himself :). One of my recent posts was a reflection of a fond memory as a kid, the big San Antonio snow storm. Keeping that in mind, my goal was to make this day off of work and “adulting” as much fun as i could. Not to break an arm patting myself, but i thing we got it done today and made some awesome memories!

When i started out on this post i had an idea to show a few cards from the Bowman Draft jumbo box i bought before Christmas. The theme of the first post would be about sons of former MLB players and their fathers, but i wanted to shed a little personal experience since we had so much fun. So, for those excited to see some cards that i pulled take a look below…and i promise the hits will be exhibited in the next post!

As i opened the packs, i continued to see names that i recalled from my younger days as a collector…first thought was HOLY CRAP! I’m getting old!! I remember thinking, damn i’m old when a guy i remember as a rookie retired, or made the Hall of Fame…but now these guys have raised baseball players and kept the name in the family business.

I’ve always wondered what it would have been like to be the son of a professional athlete. Most of us had idols and a child, and i would imagine most of our idols were professional athletes vs. musicians or actors…or doctors and scientists i guess. My father had no special talents, nor did he have much of a presence in my life as a kid…which i would imagine is somewhat similar for these guys that made it to their 1st Bowman cards. The baseball season is long and there is a significant amount of travel each season. Being a parent is truly a 24 hour job. Really makes me think how amazing their mothers were…not sure they were as amazing as mine was though. 🙂

I hope to have my son share in my passion for baseball one day. Not sure if it will happen or not…it’s not something i ever want to force on him, it needs to be his decision, and i’m sure he will make the right decision…:)

Not sure how many readers out there have kids, if you do, i hope you can understand the sentiments that i’ve shared here today. It’s a little more personal than i normally like to get, but i felt like it was worthy…thank you for your time to read today.

Here are a few more images from our day…along with a zen like dog photo and a couple pictures of Derek Jeter standing next to a snow buried ruler.

Have a great night and give your family a hug! We’re gonna need each other to get through the next four years of this new Trump nation.

and a song for the day…kinda reminded me of being a kid and going on road trips with my mom each summer…or to visit my father.

We’re all snowflakes…

Posted by cardboard hogs on January 3, 2017

I grew up in Texas and snow is not a normal thing for me. When i was 9 we had a huge blizzard in San Antonio, 14″ to be exact. It was absolutely nuts…as a kid though, fantastic! It was a freakish event that i will never forget. Rafik and I missed a couple days of school and had the greatest time ever. We watched Chris Marrou tell us about the school closures and hoped it would never end! Our days were filled with bags of sugar to fuel the moments in between epic snowball fights and a rudimentary snow man construction site. It was the greatest of times for every kid in town.

When we were able (forced) to go back to school, our classrooms had so many leaks that we were huddled en masse in the schools gym. A very large, crowded and noisy gym. A gym on the edge of child anarchy. It was one conch away from being a snowy version of Lord of the Flies. The teachers were on edge trying to keep us all in line for the couple of days. We were being taught in a prefabricated building not suited for long division or lessons on social studies. But they did it and they were the real MVP’s that week.

But now…

I’m a tall adult that likes collecting things like cards and books and also likes rap music. I also like familiarity and something i can depend on…surprises don’t work well for me. For the last month or so, my part of Portland has had 3 different weekends of snow…g’darn freakin’ snow!!! Now, don’t get me wrong, snow is cool when you go to it and are able to look at it and touch it. But when it comes to you as an unwanted guest, it’s a bit of an annoyance. We haven’t have had a ruler lengths of snow, but enough to shut the city down a couple of days and keep me from work. It’s also made my snow driving (sliding) skills ratchet up a tick or two.

All the snow that i was surrounded by made me cave and pick up a box of cards with snow flakes on them. Subliminal marketing. Well done Topps, you got me. Now, let’s see what you gave me Topps.

One of the first things i noticed about these cards is the streaking on the card fronts. Half of the cards in the blaster box contained the streaking. Maybe the other bloggers have already touched on this and as usual, i’m late to the party, but it seems that the quality of these cards may have been left to be what they are. Not super upset about it, but a little disappointed with these…especially the Kershaw card.

Another thing that was very noticeable is the large amount of white space, most notably on the landscape cards. Guess that’s the Topps blizzard parallel…? Seems like a little gradient or transparency could have been a savior for Nick’s card.

These cards were awesome in their original issue and Ricky Bones seems to be dressed appropriately for this card, while Mike Trout is attempting to catch a tiny little snowflake. Is snow flake one or two words? snowflake snow flake…

Dickey Flakes should be a cereal, f’real.

Please let me digress a bit here. Not sure if you have heard of Krampus, I hadn’t until about two weeks ago. He’s an incredibly evil Germanic character created to scare the shit out of bad kids…to be honest, i saw a video of him and was a tad scared. We used the Krampus tactic over the holidays to keep our little snowflake/snow flake in line. For the most part it worked…but i feel guilty about it in hindsight. I would point out the window, similar to what Carlos Correa is doing and say “I SEE KRAMPUS!!” and my child of 51 months would run off terrified, similar to what Jed Lowrie is doing. The things parents do to get done what they want to get done the way they want it to get done. Not my best parenting story…but sadly, it yielded the result i was looking for.

We now begin the bumpy snowflake portion of the blog post with a couple winners. Dexter and Kris. It’s a shame Ernie Banks didn’t get to see these guys win the title. RIP #14.

If the card on the right was Steve rather than Nori Aoki, the hair on this pair would be most epic. But it’s just Jacob and Nori.

My game used memorabilia card was Adam Jones which is pretty cool. I really like Adam and often wonder what his career would have been like if the Mariners kept him..also wonder what the Mariners could have done with his dependability over the incredibly fragile and unreliable Erik Bedard…hindsight is 50/50 man..

So that’s my highlights from a Wal-Mart box of snowflake cards. Rumor has it we may get some more snow in the next few days up here, climate change ain’t no joke…remember that we are all snowflakes/snow flakes and nobody is like us…even though those Adam Jones cards are pretty much the same thing.

Mile High Hogs

Posted by cardboard hogs on January 2, 2017

When i travel to a new destination I like to pick up a few packs or a blaster from the local Target or Wal-Mart. It’s kind of a souvenir. A souvenir that matters to me and hand a greater level of value than a cheesy shirt (although i love an odd shirt now and again…). The cards serve as a little reminder of the town I was in, an artifact from a past vacation. In the past, the trips have been via automobile and the cards were a little easier to handle since i could always see where they were and keep them safe and sound. The last couple of trips though have been via airplane…the friendly skies! When traveling, i’m always concerned about the safety and security of the cards and tend to open them up when i get home. Not this time though, i wanted to join the mile high club! Well, i wanted my cards to join the mile high club…of sorts. So i did it on a plane earlier this week!

Since we card people don’t like damaged cards, getting these guys on the plane safely was a bit of an emotional journey for me. Going through security and boarding a plane is difficult enough! My first concern was the lovely TSA folks that can be a little handsy with people and peoples stuff. The only thing worse than the disinterested cashier man-handling (woman-handling…? person-handling…?) the cards and dropping them 18″ to the bottom of a plastic bag is definitely getting them through TSA. They pick up bags and boldly ask “THIS RED ONE YOURS SIR!”, why, yes. The red bag that i was about to grab is mine…definitely my bag. The surly looks that follow…them, not me…i’m nice. Half the battle has been fought, but the war has not been won. I still need to get these unprotected packs boarded and loaded on a flying tube with an ever increasing shortage of personal stowing space. Done deal. Packs located gently on my fold away tray until i am told to hide my fold away tray. See the photo above (and now below) that was after we reached our cruising altitude…so no foul there although my phone was not in airplane mode.

Normally when i’m opening a pack of cards i like to have space to lay them out and sort them as i go through the cards. Kinda particular about those sorts of things, you know. It’s nice to have a little layout space and a clean surface to boot. In hindsight this plan would have been better if i had a more sturdy box to put them in afterwards. Enough with the long winded build up. Here is what was pulled.

Tyler Glasnow – Pittsburgh Pirates | Alex Bergman – Houston Astros

Dee Gordon – Miami Marlins | Cole Hamels – Texas Rangers

Brian McCann – New York Yankees | Tyler White – Houston Astros

Kenta Maeda – Los Angeles Dodgers | Gleyber Torres – New York Yankees

Javier Guerra – San Diego Padres | Jorge Mateo – New York Yankees

Kolby Allard – Atlanta Braves | Lucius Fox – San Francisco Giants

Not a bad pack, no real jaw droppers. I do like the three Yankee cards and the Alex Bergman is nice as well as the Maeda card. They all have a nice little shine to them as well. My wife, sitting in the miserable middle seat (love ya babe!) was particularly fascinated by the shiny-ness of these cards which the cabin lighting made a little extra sexy! Here’s pack two!

JP Crawford – Philadelphia Phillies | Austin Meadows – Pittsburgh Pirates

Raul Mondesi Jr. – Kansas City Royals | Byron Buxton – Minnesota Twins

Eddie Rosario – Minnesota Twins | Joey Votto – Cincinnati Reds

Matt Carpenter – St. Louis Cardinals | Billy McKinney – Chicago Cubs

Tyler O’Neill – Seattle Mariners | Conner Greene – Toronto Blue Jays

Brady Aiken – Cleveland Indians | Francis Martes – Houston Astros

Each of the cards made it home safe and sound, no dings, no dents, no errors. Twenty Four shiny cards to sit and wait on now…will they become stars or not…!

So there you go. That was the very first time i’ve ever busted a pack on a plane, in the air above the United States of America. Hope you enjoyed the show!

***BIG PIMPIN***

Now it’s time to do some contest pimpin’ for Collector’s Crack and his annual NFL playoff contest!

Almost the Easiest Super Bowl Contest on the Web

Since i don’t have to deal with the emotions of having my team in it this year, i’m free to pick a SB matchup that will hopefully be closer to reality…and so should you! So, hit that link and sign up! But first, in honor of CB’s contest i thought i’d post a couple of videos in line with all the pimpin’. First is one of my favorite UGK songs and the other is an interesting documentary on Pimp C that i haven’t quite gotten through yet. It’s by Mass Appeal, so you can’t really go wrong though.

Heritage autograph issue

Posted by cardboard hogs on December 16, 2016

One of my favorite sets each year is Topps Heritage…actually it is my favorite set. I buy a few boxes…actually i buy quite a few boxes each spring and slowly and painfully build a set including all of those damn high numbers. What can i do, i’m a collector that must complete things.

One of the things that i love about Heritage is that it’s not a set based on “MoJo” or “Sick” hits, it’s just about set building…painful set building…but occasionally you get a nice autograph. Only one though, remember it’s not a gamblers box of cards. When you get that one auto it always seems to be pretty cool you know? Most of my autos through the years have been veterans that played during the season of the Heritage re-up which is super cool. Veteran guys that most of the time i know nothing about so it gives me a chance to learn a thing or two about a guy from the 50’s or 60’s. It’s great for the history of the game and for educating the younger or maybe less informed fan of baseball.

Here are a couple autos i received from my 2015 Heritage purchases a couple years ago (don’t think these have been posted yet…if so, i apologize!)

When i first saw this autograph Red Sox card of a guy named Schilling, all i could think of was a stupid bloody sock and…nevermind…not a fan of Curt Schilling, so i’ll leave it at that. Now Chuck didn’t have a stellar career or a long career, only lasting 5 seasons with the BoSox. But hey, i’d take 5 years as a big leaguer over non years. As you can tell this card is red ink and numbered to 66…because it represents the 1966 Topps set…but also notice the 1. I always like to get the lower number cards thinking that the penmanship is better for these cards. Mr. Schilling has some pretty nice ink…right over the cup region to boot.

Next up is a younger, modern era player…maybe even a future superstar. I think it’s safe to say that the way he’s pitched the past couple of years he’s at the star level for a star filled Blue Jays organization. Mr. Aaron Sanchez

When i look at this photo, i feel incredibly old. He looks like he could be my son, my incredibly talented son with some additional flair to his signature. Wouldn’t be surprised if this isn’t the exact same way Amy Schumer signs her autographs…just look at it. I do appreciate how Aaron tucked his signature on his left shoulder over the white uniform. Nice backdrop for a pretty decent autograph.

Step into 2016 with me. Bought some more boxes of Heritage and pulled two autographs.

Jake Wood. I love this card. Almost as much as the next one. The smile on Jakes face looks like a smile of content and pride…like a guy that is genuinely happy to be where he is at that point in his life. Now, i could be completely wrong as i don’t know Jake personally, but he just looks like nothing is ever too difficult for him. Jake along with ol’ Chuck from up the page didn’t have a stellar career although it lasted a couple years longer. Jakes is still pretty active and is doing some great things in the world according to wikipedia. He continues to play softball at the ripe old age of 79…i can only hope i can still bend over when i’m 79. Jake also mentors Inmates at a Jail in Florida for the “A Will and a Way” ministry. Good for him.

Next guy up, Mr. George Altman.

George to this point of my post has had the best professional baseball career (i see you Aaron Sanchez…). George played with the legends of Chicago Cubs baseball; Ernie Banks, Billy Williams and Ron Santo and did more than keep his own among that great group of ball players. As i mentioned above, this is one of my favorite cards from the bunch. George looks idk an intimidating guy, he is 6’4″. He’s also one of those odd guys that bats left and throws right…sorry batted/threw. He also became the first player in the history of baseball to hit two home runs of the legendary Sandy Koufax in one game…not sure how many guys ever did that, context is everything, but to be the first to do anything like that is a good thing.

Got a few more autograph posts lined up for the next few days. Nothing overly spectacular, but i’m hoping to learn a little about some of these guys. Hope you enjoyed reading!

This is what we were listening to at the office today. Childish Gambino aka Don Glover. Check it out!

2014 Topps S1 – Packs 7 and 8

Posted by cardboard hogs on February 27, 2014

Yeah, it’s been a while. I haven’t posted since the 10th. I was on such a roll too! Life.

I’m going to stick with the 2014 Topps Jumbo duo pack breakdown because I like order and crossing things of off lists. It’s a problem, but it’s my problem. I pray to whatever you choose to believe in that you have already seen these cards, so that none of them should be eye openers. My hope though is that i can knock it out of the park with my witty narrative…or not. You will be the judge of that.

I’m going to go ahead and start with the box autograph ‘hit’. Not because i’m super excited about it, but because if you are reading this, you probably pulled this auto as well. From what i’ve seen on the other blogs, this card is a popular pull from this years Topps. Way to diversify your packs Mr. Topps company. Andrew Lamb-oh everyone.

I did get a couple of Harper’s in one pack. My first look through the pack and i completely missed the Power Player logo on the lower right of the card. It’s a Harper parallel and an insert. Nice. Here’s hoping the Bryce kid tears it up this season and avoids walls.

Another nice little pull from these two packs was a Casey Janssen black border card. See! It has a black border!

Next up is a Derek Jeter All Rookie Cup team. It’s not the athletic supporter type of cup, which is probably best for us all considering how many gift baskets this guy has handed out. He is stellar in his accomplishments on and off the field. A legend.

Maddux Mini. Why is the border yellow? WHY!

A gimmicky base card from Topps that you have seen on every blog from everyone that has opened a Topps pack this year. I can’t wait to put this one in a 9 pocket sleeve in a binder and forget all about it. He’s catching a football. Maybe I should get out my Nolan Ryan slinging the pigskin card out and put them side by side.

I pulled two buy back cards and this one is a very Brave Ralph Garr, no relation to Terry Garr I imagine. Maybe thirds cousins?

Sean Doolittle closing it out with a very red and pubic-y beard and 90’s Oakley glasses and a t-shirt that has words on it. Great photo selection Topps. Great selection.

Two more packs to go with a nice thick card that will make some of you smile, and then it’s back to some good ole vintage Redskins…or maybe a few card show pickups from a future show.

Oh hey, i’ve gotten around to posting a few very random cards on ebay. Please take a look if you are interested in bidding on them. The cards that don’t sell will be available for trade, or will end up back on ebay.

2014 Topps S1 – Packs 5 and 6

Posted by cardboard hogs on February 10, 2014

I’m now 6 packs deep and haven’t pulled a big hit…but I’m going to show you what i’ve got anyways. Because I know you all love to see some scans of base cards and stuff.

Donny Baseball was one of my favorite players growing up, not Rickey Henderson favorite, but way ahead of whomever was third at the time…maybe Nolan Ryan or George Brett? Mattingly was always an elusive pull or me. I never got his card in the packs I bought during the 1985 and 1986 seasons. I got a whole bunch of 1987 Topps though…damn that set was so overproduced. I think I had about 4 complete sets that year due to everyone in my family buying me boxes from Sam’s. Mattingly seemed destined for the Hall of Fame and put up phenomenal numbers especially with a healthy Rickey Henderson hitting in front of him. Seeing this young skinny photo of Donny baseball brings back some great memories of being a young collector. I appreciate Topps pulling old stock photos of baseballs legends and the players that were really good. It keeps the older kids connected and provides a great lesson for the kids that are starting to collect.

Topps has also provided the kids with a look at their previous card designs, which is also a very good thing in my mind. Although, i’m not sure if copying the late 80’s and early 90’s is the way to go. Best to make up for it by making these babies die cut.

Here are some Power Player cards that have powerful players on them. Yadi would like to salute you and Giancarlo is getting a Marlin cortisone shot to the knee…sorry…I couldn’t think of anything else to add to these cards. It’s a parallel that could have been more parallel-y in my mind. I guess changing the border color has been done a million times. Maybe if they edited out the backgrounds…I don’t know, crap. I actually didn’t notice these were Power Player cards at first pass. My oversight was corrected when I realized that these ‘base’ cards should not have been in the middle of the pack. I’m sleuthy!

Love the Mo cards. Love the bottom one the most though. Such a great baseball moment.

The next two cards are last because they deserve to be last.

Although the back of Melky’s card doesn’t suggest anything about PED as Night Owl had suggested it should. I find it telling that Topps decided to quote A-Rod with the very insightful “He’s a big, big, big-time player.” That’s three bigs. I would have gone with he’s a big, bigger, biggest time player but that wouldn’t make much sense either. Don’t do drugs kids, especially if they are to be inserted with needles.

Lastly. This guy. The finger pointer. Topps was smart enough to not drop any photos of him with eye black. I’m finding it difficult to justify writing what I feel about his homophobic eye black last year. He seemed to play it off as ignorance and something that wasn’t a big deal.

But, I’m an adult and I know words can be filled with hate and bad intentions. My dilemma though, is that I’m a die hard Redskins fan. Another term that has been deemed as hateful or oppressive. It’s an unfair position for me to be ok with one derogatory term but not with another. It doesn’t really matter if one is worse, if the words offend someone than it’s an offensive term…besides, what’s with finger pointing at the cameraman? Who does that?