Trade with Fellow Blogger : Alex Of Chavez Ravining

A chapter in my collecting world is sadly coming to an end with this post. Hopefully in a few years that will change but this will be the last post for the foreseeable future when it comes to trading with Alex of Chavez Ravining. For those that do not know Alex has taken a temporary and possibly permanent leave from the collecting world as he will be concentrating on school and life in general. I also had similar sabbatical (for different reasons) back in 2001 and only came back to the hobby in 2013. Hopefully he will not be gone for over a decade like I was as we had a great trading relationship. 

With that said, Alex had cards he needed to unload and what better chance to do our final trade. He has plans to come down here next month for a Dodger game and he was planning to buy my season tickets for a game but we just switched it to a trade. Some cards for some tickets. The only card I "had" to have back is an Adrian Beltre autograph card that I traded to him back in August of 2013. Even though I since then have reacquired the same card I wanted to have an extra copy. Both are ear marked for BGS grading of course. To even out the trade I told Alex to just throw in whatever he felt like and we would call it even. He sent a couple handfuls of base cards which I won't go over (too many) but he did include more autographs and that is my collection priority so here they are.

Donruss Federowicz

First up is this on card/jersey autograph of former Dodger Tim Federowicz. As Alex knows I am not the biggest fan of non licensed cards but it still is an autograph which is always a good thing. I have a Tim autograph with him in USA colors so this is available for trade if anyone is interested in it.

Bowman Sterling Windle

Next up is an on card autograph of yet another former Dodger, Tom Windle, who is now part of the Phillie organization. I already have a copy of this card but it never hurts to have another for trade purposes so if anyone is interested this one is also available for trade.

Bowman Chrome Billingsley

One of my favorite former Dodgers makes an appearance. Chad is yet another player who is now with the Phillie organization but when he was a Dodger he was always a class act I am sure he still is on the east coast. This is a PSA 9 graded rookie card of his which I did not have as of yet. I am not a fan of PSA nor does the grade matter to me so I cracked it open and put it in my collection as a raw card. Great luck to the Defiant, PA resident unless he is pitching against the Dodgers.

Topps Fan Favorite Sax

166 / 215

Another great card of a former Dodger and this time its Steve Sax. While I have autograph photos of the Saxman I did not own an on card autograph till now. This card was never on any of my eBay searches and thankfully it wasn't as now I received it for "free". 

Topps Retired Lopes

Second to last card and the one I think has the best visual appeal. Love these retired autographs and even though I own an on card autograph of Lopes this one trumps it which makes the other one expendable. These came sealed but like the Billingley card I have opened it up and put it in my own case. 

Upper Deck Beltre

And lastly the card that started the trade off and the one I get to welcome back home after months away, Adrian Beltre in Dodger blue with an on card autograph. 

Thank you again to Alex for all the cards and it is appreciated as always. If this is our last trade then it was a great final one but hopefully in future years we can do another when or if you decide to rejoin the hobby. 

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Card of the Day - 2007 USA Baseball : Tim Federowicz Autograph ( 24 / 100 )

Now this is a rare card in my collection as for most categories I require the card to have this one does not fit. No blue ink, no Dodger uniform, no mainstream card brand. That is a lot of to look past but on this one I did.

Tim as far as I know does not have an autograph card in Dodger colors. I have seen Red Sox but no way in hell am I getting that. So I just content on just waiting til some company released one. But I stumbled across this card and I wanted it. Baseball is king but being a proud American is top dog. Tim is sporting our countries colors and that is enough for me. USA cards can join my collection next to my Dodger cards any day of the week and with Tim being a Dodger now I wanted to acquire this card. The signature is also in red ink which I don't do as well but considering there is a lot of red already on the card it blends nicely.

Book value is set at $12 but I think in the real world that is tad high for Tim. Even so I still set my eyes on the auction but was not going to over bid. In the end I won the auction for half of book. Happy to add this to my collection and until there is a Dodger card this great looking USA card will hold a place for that future incoming card.

Red, White and Blue 24 / 100

Autographs of the Day : 2013 Dodger Spring Training @ Camelback

It's that time of the year. Baseball is in the air and it's time to go see the Boys in Blue. For the second year in a row I have made the trip out to Arizona to catch the team and all their new acquisitions from the off season. Hopefully this will become an annual tradition. I am already making plans for next year and hopefully it will be to see the reigning World Series Champs at Camelback.

The first day that I was there it happened to be Saturday and there were a good amount of people which was to be expected as it was the weekend. I had a few things that I really wanted signed, one, a single signed ball of Puig and Ryu, a team signed ball of the 25 man roster and Matt Kemp to sign the 3rd out ball I got back in Washington D.C. last year.

Around 9:45 a.m. the players and coaches started to come out of the main building to go towards the practice fields and though most players were not signing there were some that stopped and signed. I got in front of at least five guys and missed out on each one. The most irritating one was Yansiel Puig who is an up and coming minor leaguer. Got in front of him twice on his way to the field and both times he stopped signing right before me. That became the theme of the weekend for me with him. So on the morning exodus to the field I zeroed out on the autographs and thought this is different from last year as I got 5 in the morning. I was hoping for the best but not holding my breath. Took some pictures of them jogging around and Manny Mota on his famous bike.

Even during ST Uribe looks like he lags behind everyone and is huffing and puffing. Ugh.

Once on the field the pitchers looked on as they took turns doing some drills on the main practice field. Nothing like seeing Kershaw on the field. Should win the Cy Young this year.

Decided to venture over to the bullpen area where new Dodger pitcher Ryu was getting ready to throw a session and the area became crowded as I wasn't the only one interested in watching what he had. Half way through Mattingly stepped in with bat in hand to gauge the newcomer. Came away impressed.

Once that was over I headed back to the main practice field and saw fan favorites Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier with new batting coach Mark McGwire. Andre has been very chatting with fans lately and a group of us have been talking to him about places to eat in the AZ area as he is a foodie. Kemp as always is very nice with fans and willing to engage with them. Love those rare superstars that don't think they are better than us "normal" people.

Practice was ending and this was the time to get as many autographs as I could. As usual a mad rush towards every player as they walked off the field and they now have two different areas to come and go so they do not walk all together through one entry way. You have to time the ones you want as security will rope you off at times. Makes things more interesting to say the least. So with a few balls in hand I started and luckily I was able to end up with 6 total players on my 2013 team ball. Don Mattingly (sweet spot), Andre Ethier, Skip Schumaker, Jerry Hariston Jr., Ronald Bellasario and Brandon League. And guess what, I saw Puig again and walked up and he was signing a few for a few people then stop right before. AGAIN. That was now twice that day. Ugh. Andre worked the line and signed for as many people as he could as did Ronald. The others you had to track down and hope a little as they signed a few and then just moved on. After the last one I noticed Kemp in the corner getting mobbed as usual and I had two options. Do I give him my team ball or my 3rd out ball for him to sign? I chose the 3rd out ball as it means more to me and I assume I can get Kemp on the team ball at the stadium. With the 3rd out ball done I won't have to carry an extra item into the stadium. I got over to his area and found an opening and was able to hand him the ball and he signed it. He side paneled and I noticed he was doing that to a lot of people so maybe this is something new he is doing. Normally that would irk me but I am just ecstatic I got this one finally signed. That was the end of the day for me. So 7 autographs wasn't too bad considering I had zero to start of the day.

Back at the ranch on Sunday I went for day two of my trip and I was hoping for more luck on the autographs this day. So guess which one of the players came out first? Puig once again. He signed again for some people. I was there, again, and he didn't sign for me, again. Three times now. Sigh. This time a I was lucky enough to get two people as they walked out, Chris Capuano, which is a slight risk for the team ball as he might be traded but for some reason I feel he will be on the team and Tim Federowicz which I got lucky as he signed for exactly two people and I was one of them. So unlike the previous day I got 2 start out of my day. I headed over to watch them practice once again and Ned Colletti came out and even though I got his autograph back at fanfest I thought I would take a pic with him. Nice guy. Question some of his trades but appreciate the interaction with fans that he has.

Tommy Lasorda set up shop again to sign for fans again. I already have his signature but I thought I would get a spare one that I can either sell or use as trade. So if anyone wants a Tommy Lasorda sweet spot signed baseball I have one for trade.

Then all hell broke loose. The Immortal Sandy Koufax arrived at camp and he started to walk towards the field and I have never seen such a mob form in the short of time. I have seen Fernando, Lasorda and Kemp mobs form but nothing like this. I was somewhat close but by the time I got to the area where he was I was about 3 deep and the crowd was growing. He stopped for a few signatures then kept moving and the crowd moved with him. It was crazy. I have read on other blogs that people were punching others and hitting and shoving. I love me some autographs and would have loved to get an IP of Koufax but I will not injure someone to get it. Have some manners and morals people.

Practice was coming to a close and the players walked by once again but this time not too many of them stopped and signed. I was fortunate to get Ted Lilly on the team ball but no others. So that was the end of day two so I headed out. I did glance back and noticed Dee Gordon ( who I chose on to put on the ball ) stood there and signed for anyone that asked for his time and signature. Classy. I like the guy personally as I have chatted with him but baseball-wise he needs to work on his game and hopefully he will make it back to the bigs as we could use his speed.

I was planning to just leave and come home Monday morning but I thought I would swing by one last time to see if I could get any more signatures on before heading out. Got there and this time not a single player signed for anyone on their way to the field. A total blank for everyone. I was finally finished for the weekend. 10 signatures total. Not as good as last year but a successful and fun trip nonetheless. Hope to make it out next year and hope to finish the team ball at the stadium.

Pics of the balls :