Attended Game Recap - Marlins 1 @ DODGERS 7 on May 13th, 2014

It's been awhile since the wife and I have been to Dodger Stadium and it was about time to head back. It was Yasiel Puig bobblehead night and I have been looking forward to the game for a couple of weeks. The Dodgers haven't had the best of luck on the bobble nights that we have attended in person but thankfully that was not the case last night.

Derrell Thomas and Mickey Hatcher were scheduled to sign for fans up till 7ish. Once again it took us a hour and half to reach the entrance of the stadium from our house in the South Bay area. Sigh. I expected both players to be long gone as it was now 7:05 but surprising Mickey was still at his table and we jumped in line hoping he would continue to sign. Mickey ended up signing for everyone and was a class act as always. I didn't have a photo of him so I asked him to sign my generic Dodger Stadium photo and he happened to be the first autograph on it. Kind of odd that he made his signature so small in the left field area. Don't know why but thank you for signing Mickey.

My normal jersey was dirty so I had to bust out my Kemp one for the game.

Mickey about to sign.

The finished product

Since everyone else was asking for a picture with the Mick I decided to just follow suit and ask for one myself. He was more than happy to do so. Thank you again for the photo and autograph.

Hatcher and I

Time to watch a ball game.

After buying some Italian food we headed up to our seats and saw 5 innings of shut out ball. Thankfully the game was moving at a brisk pace and considering Beckett was on the mound that is a shock. I was thinking the game would end up in the hands of the bullpen and we would suffer through another bobble night loss. Thankfully the 6th inning happened and the Dodgers put up 5 runs. They weren't done and ended up tacking on two more by the end of the game for the final score of 7-1 for the good guys.

It was nice to see the continued improvement of Matt Kemp as he had two more hits and continues to raise his batting average on a nightly basis. Puig hit a booming double to drive in a run but more impressively was the out he didn't get as he caught a sacrifice fly in deep right field and almost threw out the runner at home. He drew a well deserved round of applause. 

Even Hanley did this...

Picture taken a few seconds prior to his hit to drive in a couple of runs. I see you Hanley.

Right before we left the wife noticed something watching us from the right side. 

The Tommy bobble bobbling away in between the pavilion and the loge levels. Kind of creepy with his odd smile. Ha Ha.

A great time at the Stadium as we got to witness a Dodger win, picked up another autograph for the collection and had another great time together. Go Blue !!!

Puig in a box

Puig encased in plastic

Card of the Day - 2013 Bowman Inception : Corey Seager Base Autograph

If I thought the wait for the Paco card from yesterday was long, tack on two more months as seen in this original post to get my hands on Corey here. I picked up the redemption for this card back in early September of 2013 and it is now almost mid 2014. Way too long Topps, way too long.

Seeing that eBay sales of $11 for these redeemed cards are going for, what I spent for this last year seems to be reasonable. I am still not a fan of these "cloudy" Inception cards but adding another Corey card for a low cost was the goal not to have it look great per se. That goal was left for tomorrow's post.

Card of the Day - 2013 Topps : Paco Rodriguez Chasing History Autograph Insert

In the "it's about time" category I finally get to show off some cards that have been in the Topps redemption pipeline for a long time. I checked the Topps redemption website early last week and noticed that I was finally going to acquire four autographs that I have been waiting for. This Paco one for example has been on my wait list for close to 7 months as seen from this original post of when I acquired the redemption card. Well for today and the next 3 days I will show the four cards I received from least to best in my opinion.

Paco has had an up and down year so far. When on the major league club he has struggled (but to be fair everyone in the bullpen has) and that doesn't count his time in AAA when he was sent down for a bench player.

I have a few more Paco autograph cards due to me from Topps and they will be of the more desirable on card versions. I knew this was going to be a sticker but when I purchased the card for a measly $3 I didn't care. With all the other Paco cards coming in I might just throw this one in as the autograph card for my contest. Either way for the cost of the card I didn't mind the 7 month wait.

Card of the Day - 2014 Bowman : Jacob Scavuzzo Chrome Base Refractor Autograph ( 204 / 500 )

One prospect down two to go. Now make it two down with Urias left to acquire.

Jacob is the second of the three Dodger prospects that have autographs in this year's Bowman set that I was able to acquire.

I assumed and assumed correctly that Jacob would cost a little more than Brandon but in the end it was only $1 more to get Jacob into the fold.

Now with Jacob and Brandon's base refractors checked off the need list it is now time to work on the blue parallels which I know will cost a little more and at the time of writing this post Jacob here was going for north of $25. A little too steep for at this moment. I expect it to come down soon enough.

204 of 500

Card of the Day - 2014 Topps Museum : Tommy Lasorda Canvas Collection Insert

Man, Tommy even looks grumpy in recent card releases now.

Each time I have met him he has never had a smile on his face. Kind of what he looks like on this card so in that sense the artist for this card drew it to perfection.

With not too many cards to chase after in the Museum set and most of the remaining ones having a low cost I don't think it will be too long till I am finished with this set. The canvas collection inserts are unique and I love the feel of them. Demand for Tommy cards I assume are not too high as I locked up this card for a little more than $2 delivered.

A decent priced purchase for the long time Dodger.

Card of the Day - 2013 Allen and Ginter : Matt Kemp Mini

Though I want to complete this set from the 2013 issue I always seem to have my eye on something else that takes my attention away from the set. I have acquired some cards but not at any regularity.

Wasn't even really searching for this card but it came up on my screen with an asking price of 99 cents and thought, damn I need to really try to finish this set if I can get the cards this cheap. Love the minis from the Topps set and love the minis from this set as well. Yet I have a lot more in Topps form. Go figure. Anyways, 99 cents later I had this card in hand and hope to have more in the future.

And though it doesn't need to be repeated, always love adding a new Kemp card to the collection.

Contest Over @ Play At The Plate

Brian over at Play at the Plate is holding a contest where he is giving away a box of 2014 Bowman that he received from Topps who donated it to him. Nice gesture there Topps.

I have just started reading Brian's blog and hope to cross 2000 posts someday as that is what he is celebrating. Great job.

Good luck to everyone.

2014 Bowman Retail Box Break from Target

My 1st official box for this year. I have been in a few box breaks from auctions I won on eBay but this is the first box that I get to do myself and is not team specific.

The wife was heading out to Target last night and as always I ask for her to bring me home a box of cards for me to open. She doesn't want to contribute to my habit/addiction most times but she surprised me by bringing me back this 8 pack box of 2014 Bowman. Alright wife.

Well lets get to opening.

8 packs of goodies

Retail is a real hit and miss as you are not guaranteed an auto or "rare" card but sometimes you are lucky enough to acquire one. I was not this time around.

Even though I didn't get one of those I did get some sparkly cards and a numbered colored one.

I keep hearing about this Appel kid and this is now my first card of him but I can be talked of it as it is not a numbered version.

Well since I received my 1st Appel card why not have another. This one is part of the insert set titled Bowman is Back which showcases players in the 1989 Bowman form. Wasn't a fan of the original design but the sparkles do help here.

I know nothing about this kid from the Rockies organization but it is a mini and it is a refractor. David Dahl I do not know you but if someone wants this card they are more than welcome to it.

... and the big hit from the box is this green numbered card of Nick Castellanos of the Tigers. Why couldn't it have been a Dodger? This is my first green card ever. As with the Dahl card anyone that is interested in this card feel free to contact me for a trade. I am sure there is some extra Dodgers in your collection that you have no need for.

100 of 150

Well, that does it for the box. A decent if not spectacular one but it was great fun to tear open some packs. Thank you again to the wife. Love you and appreciate the loving gesture of feeding into my addiction.

=)

Fantasy Baseball Winnings

Woo Hoo...
I won something that wasn't purely from chance.

I am in a 11 person fantasy baseball league that is being hosted by Alex of Chavez Ravining and we have just finished our 1st month. Each month there are two prizes given out to the person(s) that are leading in a specific category at the end of that month. All 11 of us have donated an item ( card, ball, etc ) that will be given out during the course of the year. This past month was for home runs and strikeouts per 9 innings. I knew from the 1st 2 rounds of the draft that power was not going to be a strength on my team so I had to even it out in other categories. At the present moment I am 4th in the league but have spent numerous days in 1st and I expect to be vying for the overall prize at the end of the year.

There was no way I was going to win the home run category but I was in play for the K/9 prize going into the last day and with a little luck I came out on top for that category which in turn scored me this nice Victor Martinez relic from Allen and Ginter. Not all the entrants will win a prize but thankfully I am not one of those.
= )

For this month the two categories are strikeouts and rbi's. I am too far back pertaining to the strikeouts but still within striking distance for the rbi crown. Maybe I can win in back to back months but my main goal is to win it all.

Good luck to all that are in the league. It's been fun so far.

Card of the Day - 2014 Bowman : Brandon Trinkwon Chrome Base Refractor Autograph ( 187 / 500 )

Well with the case breaks behind me now it is time to pick up the singles of all the Dodgers I did not acquire in said breaks.

I have decided this year for the autographs of Dodger prospects that I will only be collecting the base refractors and the blue refractors and no longer the base unnumbered versions ( unless it is for a ridiculous small cost ) in the Bowman brand. The Dodgers are represented 3 times and Brandon here is the first that I was able to acquire.

Brandon is the least heralded of the rookies behind Scavuzzo and Urias so I assumed it wouldn't take too much to pick his autograph up. I assumed correctly as there plenty of Brandon copies to choose from and won this for a small handful of $1's.

One autograph down, a few more to go.

187 of 500

Half Case of 2014 Bowman Jumbo Dodger Break

One card...

This is the only one I am showing from the break because it was the only one of note.

Out of another 4 jumbo boxes I received not one other card other than base paper and base chrome. No color, no minis, no home/state parallels. A big fat zero. Urias here came from the very last box as I thought I was going to be totally shut out but considering this was the "big" get from the boxes I guess I did get shut out.

If I thought the first case was disappointing then I don't know what to call this but a crime of a break. As always, it is what it is when you deal with these breaks. You win some and you lose some and most certainly I lost on this one.

The Urias is for my collection but if you need any base cards, paper or chrome, feel free to check out the contest I am running or contact me for a trade.

Better luck next I hope.

First Look at Pee Wee Reese and Roy Campanella Bobblehead

This upcoming July 12th when the Dodgers host the Padres they will be giving away this great looking bobblehead. The pictures have just been released and this is one fine looking figure.

The bobbles just get better and better in detail and quality. If I was still into collecting these this one would be one of my favorites. Too bad both these great men have passed away as it would have been nice to have them present when this is released.

Contest #10 - 2014 Bowman Dodger Team Set and Possibly More

It's been awhile but it's time for another contest.

This time around I will stagger in some more cards if I get more followers to my blog. Not asking you to hunt me down followers but if your retweets on twitter and/or your pimping on your own blog helps me get more then I will throw in more cards.

Regular readers I am sure have seen that I entered into a few case breaks of  2014 Bowman baseball and I have plenty left over to give out.

So the base prize is the above 16 cards which are all the Dodgers is paper form from the 2014 set. They include Urias and Guerrero. Those hot rookies everyone loves. If my blog acquires 5 more followers for a total of 60 I will throw in the 6 chrome set of the prospects from the same set. After that every 2 more followers I will throw in more cards. The first will be an autograph of my choosing and then after that a relic card and so and so on.

You can earn one entry per day for leaving a comment on this blog entry.
You can earn one entry per day for RT'ing the contest on twitter.
You earn 5 entries for pimping this on your own blog ( one time only ).
I am also thinking of adding another entry earning process but I will update that later.
The contest will run till the end of May.

As always thank you for reading this blog and may everyone have a great day.

Card of the Day - 2013 Topps Five Star : Frank Thomas Base Autograph Rainbow Parallel ( 2 / 25 )

Another in the long line of autographs to reacquire has been checked off my want list. Newly inducted hall of famer, Frank "Big Hurt" Thomas, is the subject on this entry.

I grew up watching Frank from his rookie year to his last year. Frank and Ken Griffey Jr were the two bigger boppers that people fought over who was the best. Ken's game in my opinion was the most well rounded but Frank had the most heart stopping home runs. He was and is still a big boy and just could put a hurting (pun intended) on a ball at any given time.

I actually sold the PSA authenticated ball I had of his a long time ago before the ball purge of 2014 but he was always on my list to get some type of representation back into my collection. Along game 2013 Five Star brand which seems to be my go to set lately and Frank was included in a 50 SP print run and this 25 rainbow parallel run. I really didn't care which one I got my hands on but just to get the best deal. After a few misses on eBay auctions I finally ended up in the winner's circle on this card. Card came in and looks to be in a condition that might possibly grade out to a gem mint 9.5. Welcome back to the collection and into the pile of future to be graded subjects as I wait for Beckett to come out again to do a raw grading event.

Number 2 of 25

Card of the Day - 2013 Bowman Platinum : Matt Kemp Cutting Edge Insert

Time again for a little bargain hunting on eBay and the first of many cards to make it to the doorstep is this Matt Kemp card. I had already acquired the relic parallel of this same card awhile ago as seen HERE but I still wanted to get the base version of it.

A little searching and found this copy on the bay for the paltry amount of a $1 and some pennies which also included shipping. Easy decision to make and soon thereafter the card arrived in perfect condition. Still not a fan of the Platinum brand but the inserts for some reason look better than the main set. Either way, another Kemp card for the personal collection.

Full Case of 2014 Bowman Jumbo Dodger Break

Ahh..new product means more box/case breaks for me. 2014 Bowman was just released last week and I was able to secure my place in 3 separate breaks. 2 happen to be from the same dealer and the same case. They were both 1/2 case breaks but I won both sides of the case and that is what this entry is on. I have one more 1/2 case coming in later this week.

I do love me some Bowman and think this years look is nice enough but luck was not really on my side here as I didn't really get anything overly nice in my breaks so I am a little disappointed but you can't win them all. My 2014 Topps breaks were much better. Without further adieu here are the cards I won.

The good thing with big breaks like these you are almost guaranteed the full base set of the team you are in on. Once again that was the case for me as I got the full 16 player team set which includes all the hot rookies. 4 complete sets in all. Do I hear a contest coming up?

Of course with Bowman the rookies always are represented in chrome form as well and I ended up with the full set a few times over as well. As always love me some chrome.

Silver ice is one of the parallels I collect from Bowman and within the 8 boxes I was able to pick up two Dodgers. Hanley and Kemp. A good start but a long way from being done on this project.

Another parallel set that I hunt down is the Home and State versions of the base cards. Kemp once again is represented with rookie Yimi Garcia also included. Again, a nice start but many more to acquire.

My favorite parallel and the hardest to get that I collect are the blue bordered ones. They are numbered to 500. Not overly scarce but they do present a good hunt to go after. This is the first time I have picked up a yellow parallel as they are numbered to 50. I am not a fan of this color and Greinke here is up for trade if anyone is interested. Would love to trade for maybe 2 blues? Anyone?

And my break finished off with 2 minis. Both are the fast rising rookies in the farm system. Corey with the same picture as last years ( lazy Topps ) and Julio Urias. Combined ages of both is the equivalent of my age. Nice reminder of how long I have been a fan of baseball.

Well that is all. No autographs, no colored chrome, no super rare cards. Like I said in the beginning, I am a little disappointed but that is the nature of the beast. If anyone is interested in the yellow feel free to contact me.

Trade with Fellow Blogger - Greg of Plaschke, Thy Sweater is Argyle ( 1st Trade )

My first trade with Greg and I sort of failed with pictures as for some reason I only took one of the main prize of the trade. I will update that mistake a little later once I get home.

Greg was one of the 1st bloggers I spoke to online when I re-entered the hobby but this Saturday we finished what had become the longest time to complete trade for me. We could just never meet up in person till now but a local card show presented the perfect place to finish up the trade finally.

Last April Greg contacted me after I posted about some Corey Seager cards that he wanted so I held them to aside till we could agree on something in return. During the course of the year he spotted a Matt Kemp relic card he also wanted so I threw that one onto the stack for him as well. Time went on and we still hadn't physically finished off the trade. The lot of cards he gave me for the ones he wanted is the picture I failed to take. A lot of Dodgers which included Kemp and loads of prospects made it into my hands. Thank you for those.

We agreed to meet up this past Saturday a couple of weeks ago but then Greg stated he was going to the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes game a couple of Fridays ago. I hit him up and asked if he had the opportunity if he could snag me a Julio Urias autograph on a photo. I have yet to make it there for a game this year and I feel I might miss my chance as Julio might get promoted to AA soon. Greg said he would see if he could make that happen. Well, here is Greg's  RECAP and included in his great personal haul he was able to get me that Urias autograph I wanted. Oh yeah. Now I just had to get him something that would intrigue him and make the trade right. Well I think I made that happen as we will see on his post about this trade soon enough.

Thank you again to Greg for the overall trade and thank you again for the Urias in particular. Great first trade, let's both try not to take a year next time to get another one done.
= )

17 year old phenom Julio Urias

17?

God, I feel old.

Card of the Day - 2001 Sweet Spot : Gary Sheffield Autograph

It's been awhile but I finally picked up another autograph from my to reacquire list. I basically traded a sweet spot signature on a baseball for a fake sweet spot of a baseball on a card. But I came out on top since the ball sold for more than 4x as much as I picked up this card for.

All it took as a little over $12 for me to win this card. Sweet Spot has always been one of my favorite brands to collect. I like the look of the ball seams on the card. Took awhile to find an on card autograph of Gary in Dodger blue as there just isn't that many too chose from. Thankfully after a handful of losses on this same card I finally came out on top.

Old School Card Show @ Gardena Serra High School on 5.3.2014

Yesterday there was an "old school" card showing being held at Gardena Serra High School. Gardena was the city I grew up in and still live only a few miles away from. I call it old school as it was held in a school gym and had less than 100 tables. There were some familiar faces that have shops and/or set up shop at Frank and Sons on a weekly basis. It reminded me so much of the late 90's shows I attended and considering Greg of plaschkethysweaterisargyle was going to be attending it was the perfect time to finish up a trade ( more on that tomorrow ) that we started over a year ago. This would be the first time I have met Greg in person and it is always nice to put a face to a blogger "voice"

I wasn't really look to buy anything as I was there for the trade and just to reminisce about the old days. But if there was a good deal to be had I wouldn't pass it up. I ended up buying all of these cards at one table. The first two are not for my collection and are solely for trade. I am sure Cano and Kershaw will be wanted by someone right? Contact me if anyone is interested.

Then I came across this on card autograph of Mo Vaughn when he was a member of the Angels. Not a pleasant time for Mo while on that team. No way was I paying $15 as I had no need for it but the price I did pay it made perfect sense to buy it for trade. Again if anyone is interested contact me.

The final card I picked up though I will be keeping. With massive pressure from Greg, ha ha, I went over and looked at some vintage cards and after going through a few years I came across this rookie card of Johnny Podres. Oh, he meant very little to the Brooklyn Dodgers, all he did was win game 7 of the 1955 World Series to give Brooklyn its first and only title win. Card is old but I always loved this design and with a price of $50 and then 80-90% off of all the dealer's cards I couldn't pass it up as I added my 1st vintage card to the collection since my re-entry to the hobby.

Only a couple hours were spent at the show but it was a great time. Picked up some trade bait, a great 61 year old card and met the infamous Greg and finished off a trade. Thank you again helping me spend my money Greg. Ha Ha.

Can't wait for the next show. I for sure will be attending.

Card of the Day : 2013 Topps Update : Matt Kemp Commemorative Pin Insert

Saw this card for awhile now on eBay and thought it was cool looking and added it to my want list. Saw it offered numerous times and I lost out on each auction I put a bid on. Just felt anything north of $8 was too much to spend on it. One day I happened to be looking for something else and came across the card in a buy it now option for much less than the $8+ I kept losing out on. Didn't think twice and promptly bought and paid for the card and within a week I had it in my hands. Great looking card and much bigger and heavier in person. Had to use my 180 pt. acrylic holder for this one in. 2011... what a great year for Kemp.

Card of the Day - 2014 Topps Museum : David Ortiz Base Autograph ( 199 / 199 )

Big Papi come on down.

I've been searching high and low for an on card autograph of the Red Sox slugger ever since I rejoined the hobby. It had to show him in Red Sox gear which made the search harder. I found enough choices with him in his Twins uniform from back in the day and found multiple copies in Red Sox uniforms but most of the autographs were of the sticker variety. The few on cards were way too pricey ( $75 and up ) for me to chase after.

Well this years Topps Museum set contained this beautiful card of the David and when I won it on eBay it did not have a book value at the time. Once again, bidding from the hip on this one. Beckett just came out and has it listed for $60. Well thankfully I paid nothing near that.

I am not a Red Sox fan or a Boston fan but even though David was attached to PED's I believe he fits in perfectly in that town and has done great things for them. From World Series wins to being the front man on the Boston bombings last year. He will probably go down as the greatest DH in the history of baseball.

199 of 199

Card of the Day - 2013 Topps Chrome : Matt Kemp Base Blue Refractor Parallel ( 8 / 199 )

Another deal struck with a seller on eBay has gotten me this spiffy blue refractor from the 2013 Topps Chrome set. With Kemp's Dodger career still in question his cards can still be had for a bargain. I am still in the group that believes he will come back in 2014 with a monster year ( ho hum so far ) and that the last 2 frustrating years will be a bleep on the screen when his career does end.

I love my chrome, I love my blue parallel and Kemp is still my favorite everyday player on the Dodgers. This was an easy transaction to complete and now the card resides in my collection.

Better days ahead for the Bison

Blue 8 of 199

Trade with Fellow Blogger : My Cardboard Habit ( 1st Trade )

My never ending pursuit of acquiring the 2013 Bowman Chrome set in blue received a little help the other day as a fellow blogger helped me out.

Mr. Meeks of my cardboard habit and I got to talking on Twitter one day and he mentioned that he had a couple of spare copies of some blue parallels that he had no use for.

He has a wish list of players that he collects but I did not have any so this trade officially became a "to be determined " one. He sent the cards over with my promise that somewhere down the road ( hopefully sooner rather than later ) I would square up with him. With the new releases of Bowman, Allen and Ginter and Topps series 2 I am sure I will acquire something that will work.

Thank you again.

Wade Hinkle - 44 of 250

Alex Rios - 213 of 250

Card of the Day - 2008 SP : Matt Kemp By The Letter " T " ( 44 / 50 ) Autograph

The project that keeps going and going now sees no bounds country wise as I have crossed the Pacific to get the first of two "T's" that I need to complete the set.

With a print run of 50 and the need for 2 of these letters I had to get the first before worrying about the second. With some people not trying to create the master set and just focusing on his name only it could complicate matters a bit so getting my hands on this was important. This is the first time I have seen a single "T" up for grabs and it originating in the country of the rising sun did not deter me from doing my best to winning the auction. With shipping being reasonable for an international transaction it freed up a little room on my bidding limit. Thankfully I won it and can now concentrate on it's twin.

44 of 50. Now on the lookout for one of the other 49.