Card of the Day - 2014 Bowman Chrome : Josh Beckett Base Blue Refractor Parallel (57/250)

I have been focusing on Topps Chrome parallels for the past couple of months as I waited for the Bowman Chrome varieties to come down in price as they are the "newer" of the two the going rates were higher.

The first one to hit my doorstop is the recent retiree Josh Beckett. Even though he had a bad reputation prior to him arriving in Los Angeles the few times I met him he was nothing less than polite and cordial. When on the mound for the Dodgers he performed better than expected. It's too bad he retired as even at his age he would have been a good 4/5 pitcher for this team.

Book on this card sits at $4 which is too much in my eyes but the one dollar I threw down for it was not. Parallel cards can be pricey but a dollar is a sweet spot everyday of the week. One down and many more to go for the Bowman Chrome brand.

57 of 250

La Gran Fiesta At Dodger Stadium On September 27, 2014

The Dodgers held their yearly La Gran Fiesta this past Saturday in Lot 6 of Dodger Stadium. Unlike the past couple of years I was going to pass on it as no real big autographs were to be had. If this was last year it would have been different as I would have had balls in hand and ready to get multiple autographs but that is not the case this year as I have moved on to photos and for most of the players signing I did not have photos of them.

On Friday I checked out the schedule to see if there were any changes. Low and behold they added Josh Beckett to the schedule. Well, Josh may or may not be retiring after this year but for sure this is his last year on the Dodgers and I still have a photo of him and Drew Butera celebrating after Josh's no hitter. Signed by Drew but still unsigned by Josh. This might be my only chance to get him. I decided to make the venture up to the Stadium and arrived early as gates opened up at 1;30 and Josh was scheduled to sign at 2.

Parked outside and power walked to Lot 6 when the gates opened and was greeting with a new sign that I have never seen but I hope the Dodgers use in the future for these events.

About time they had a separate entrance for autograph seekers while people not interested in that type of thing had their own entrance. I hopped in line and was probably about the 50-60th person. Even for just a hour session I knew I would get the autograph if I knew which line Josh was going to be in. Last year's Dodger Fest was a mess as you didn't know who was going to be in your line and you just received the luck of the draw. Hoping for the best when this nice young lady usher came walking by and I along with everyone else took this pic :

Oh yeah.
A schedule of when and where players would be signing. Josh was in line 2 so that was the line I was heading to. I ended up being about the 30th in line when I took my place but by the time 2 arrived the line had grown to at least 100+. Everyone was in Josh's line with about 50-75 in Nomar's and literally 5 people in Chad's. Well I brought a photo of Chad's so I thought I could get two in the blink of an eye. More on that later.

Josh showed up on time and promptly started signing. He was in a decent mood and at least said hello to fans that greeted him. I do appreciate that he showed up and when I got to the table I placed the picture in front of him and he started sign but just not in the place I wanted him to but that's OK I guess as I did get one project done.

I wanted Josh to sign in between his fist and the Dodgers name so the ink would pop but he did not but I can't get overly picky and I should just be happy that I was able to accomplish my main and really only goal of the Fiesta. Thank you again to Josh for showing up.

The finished product. Even with the placement of Josh's signature it still is a great finished piece I am adding to my collection.

Well after that we were all informed that to get another signature now or for the rest of the day you must exit the event and wait in line which had grown to 400+ and probably closer to 500. I glanced over and saw that there were literally no people in line for Chad. Everyone was waiting for Josh, Nomar or setting up for Fernando in the next hour. I went over and talked to one of Chad's line handlers and after a little back and forth she allowed me to jump in. I told her it wasn't fair to me or anyone that wanted to get Chad's signature to wait in a line that there was no way would filter down in time to get Chad. Plus Chad looked lonely.

Chad waiting for people to sign for.

Lady with headset is who I struck up a conversation with.

Nice lady. Thank you again to her.

Got to the table and as always Chad greeted me with a smile as I said hello and thank you once again for signing. He has always been a class act for all the times I have met him which is probably at least 6 or 7. Always personable and always engaging. If this is the last time I meet you (his contract is up) then it was great to have you on our team and great to have met you all the times. Good luck in your career but hopefully it will continue with the Dodgers in some capacity.

Perfect placement of the autograph

Two autographs down in less than 15 minutes. I looked at the line and even though I would have loved to get Rick Monday's autograph he was only scheduled for 30 minutes and there was no way I would get in front of him in time and I didn't need anyone else in the 3 to 4 hour sessions. 

I looked at the 4 to 5 hour sessions and even though I had Paco and Justin Turner photos ready I knew that I could get them next year and I had more things I could do that evening that weren't Dodger related. Plus I got what I really came for so I was happy and content with the day. 

Another successful La Gran Fiesta for me and thank you again to the players that showed up and to the Dodgers for hosting the event. Tweek the autograph lines a bit and it will be a perfect event. Till next year.

Card(s) of the Day - 2014 Topps : Base Blue ( Wal-Mart ) Parallels ( A Whole Lot of Dodgers )

Time to really make a dent if not just complete the whole blue parallel set from this year's Topps set. I wanted to get as many as possible of the Dodgers so I didn't have to search for them anymore and move onto other projects. Found a seller that had a majority of what I was looking for at pennies on the dollar.

It pains me to see Brandon in a Dodger uniform knowing that unless he is traded ( God willing ) or released he is here for two more years.

I just love Young's card for the fact that he is doing a baseball play with his eyes closed shut. A professional but glad he did not resign with the Dodgers in the off season. On the other hand I hope Hanley does come to an agreement on an extension in the next few weeks.

Sophomore slump? I have a feeling that Ryu will not fall into that category and look for him to be a solid number 3 in the rotation. Adrian hopefully will be up to his playoff Mickey Mouse antics and produces like usual but with a little more pop.

The lightening rod
The wild horse
Yasiel
This will be an interesting year and other than Kemp I think he will be a main x-factor on how far the Dodgers go.

10 blue cards down and only Nolasco and the two Kershaw League Leader cards are left for me to complete this parallel set. Hopefully I can lock those down soon.

Card(s) of the Day - 2013 Bowman : Silver Ice, State and Hometown Haul

It was time to head back to the 2013 Bowman set and fill out some holes in my silver ice and state and hometown parallel set that I still needed to complete. Found my seller that I have been buying a lot of this year's cards from and he once again had a lot that I could chose from so I busted out my list and just picked what I still needed. They were all buy it now's with a best offer option and since I have bought from him before he always seems to accept my offers so I ended up with these 8 cards that I needed for a little over a dollar a card delivered to the door. Still have work to finish the set but getting these at this price is just a great deal consider the Silver Ice Ryu alone books for $9. A good day on eBay indeed.

State and Hometown of Hanley Ramirez, Josh Beckett, Paco Rodriguez, Zach Bird and Jeremy Moore

Silver Ice of Paco Rodriguez, Adrian Gonzalez, Andre Ethier and Hyun-Jin Ryu

Card(s) of the Day - 2013 Bowman : Silver Ice / Gold and Blue Bordered Variants / Chrome / State and Home

Took a day off from really roaming eBay so I thought I visit one of new favorite seller's store on eBay to fill out some holes in my 2013 Bowman set. Still looking to finish off all the variant sets and he usually has new ones put up week in and week out.

Nothing spectacular but was able to cross off some needs on the sets while getting them in my mind a good deal. A total of 8 cards for a total of 8 dollars. I think when you get any card for a dollar or less that is a decent deal and more so when it is part of variant and/or insert sets. So in the end a nice small haul to help finish off some sets which I think I'm about half way through.

Jeremy Moore Prospect Chrome

Adrian Gonzalez State and Home Variant

Adrian Gonzalez Gold Bordered Variant

Hanley Ramirez Gold Bordered Variant

Paco Rodriguez Gold Bordered Variant

Clayton Kershaw Gold Bordered Variant

Hanley Ramirez Silver Ice Variant

Josh Beckett Blue Bordered Variant 290 / 500

Card(s) of the Day - 2013 Bowman : Kemp, Beckett, Ethier Gold / Kemp Silver Ice and Seager Mini Refractor

Also in the mail today was this package that I felt was a better buy from eBay. I got this whole lot for a total of just $8.

I needed the Seager refractor to help complete the set and that was high dollar card at $2.50. The rest I pick up for the remaining $5.50. I really like the Ice cards. Love how they sparkle so I have decided I want to get the whole parallel set of the Dodgers and Kemp is the first one to make it to my doorstop. The gold ones were just a buck a piece so I thought that was reasonable as I didn't have to leave my home to get them. Overall a good buy in my eyes.

Signed Ball of the Day - Attended Game Recap : April 27th vs Brewers - BREWERS 6 Dodgers 4

The at least once yearly group gathering of the 2011 Dodger Scavenger Hunt winners was this past Saturday. It is always a fun time with the rest of the gang and this time was no different. For the second time we all decided to seat in the All You Can Eat Section in the Pavilions. Time to watch baseball and gorge on some cheap food with good friends. Let the fun begin.

Arrived at the stadium for early BP as it has become the tradition. Had some issues with a mis informed gate ticket taker. Wouldn't let me in even though I had the STH badge but had to have him call head security and inform him he was wrong. Irritating as it took 10 minutes out of potential autograph time. Once in the stadium headed over to my usual spot on the baseline seats and after awhile as Davey Lopes likes to hit balls to fans he hit one to me this time. First time Davey hit one to me. Thanks Davey.

After awhile Josh Beckett came over and started signing and even though I got him a couple of weeks ago on a single signed ball I still needed him on the team ball so he was kind enough to sign that. Thank you again Josh. Again, I've heard he is a hard signature to acquire but I have gotten him twice already this year.

About to leave the area and Juan Uribe caught a ball from a batter and after a minute or so I got his attention and had him toss it into the stands to me. So for the day I got a couple of balls tossed to me and an autograph for the team signed ball. Could have been better but I could have blanked so that's good.

Off to my seats I went and hung out with the Scavenger Hunt Winners of 2011. A great crew to hang out with and considering the 2012 debacle of the "so called" scavenger hunt this is truly the first and only scavenger hunt winners ever that the Dodgers have sponsored. Go Club 104.

Game was entertaining for the most part and the Matt Magill in his first appearance pitched a decent game but the bullpen as is customary this year blew it for the rookie and not only did he not win the game but the Dodgers went and lost the game itself. This is the time that the team should be excelling as this is the so called easy part of the schedule. Hopefully they get their act together and start stringing along some wins.

A great time at the game with friends but the end result left a sour taste in my mouth. Let's get them next game.



Signed Ball of the Day : Josh Beckett ( ROMLB Sweet Spot )

So I attended my first nighttime and weekend game this past Saturday with a recap in my 4.6.13 attended game post. At the game I was able to acquire an autograph that I presumed would be hard for me to get this year and have heard from many people that was more true than not considering the player. That player is Josh Beckett.

As new players join the team I always want to get their autograph in person. This year I have a few that are on my main hit list, Adrian, Ryu, etc, but Josh was the highest on my list due to the fact that he unlike the others are not signed for years after 2013 and probably won't be on the team next year which makes his a priority. I have heard from many people that while in Boston he was a hard signature as well as when he was with the Marlins. Though I  also have heard that once he arrived in L.A. he has mellowed a bit but still not the easiest to track down. I missed him at Spring Training this year and had to hope to get him at the stadium.

Once I arrived at the stadium I went to my usual spot along the 3rd base side in hope of acquiring some autographs. No one really came by until Josh walked by and someone got his attention and he said I'll be back to sign. He took a couple of steps and I guessed changed his mind and came back and started signing for that person I swiftly moved over and as he was signing he was saying "only a few more, two more now " and then he said only for kids. Ugh. He was about to leave and I said Josh could you sign one more please for me and luckily he did and then left. I was the last to get his autograph.

This would be my only single signed ball of the day but it was the main one of the year I really wanted/needed to acquire so everything else is just gravy now. Josh is a two time world series champion and multiple all star. A great signature to have and I now am lucky enough to say I have it in my collection. Thank you again Josh.