Card of the Day - 2001 SP : Darren Dreifort Chirography Autograph

Trolling around on eBay for cheap, older autograph cards of former Dodgers and this one popped up on my radar. Darren will go down as one of the biggest disappointments in draft history for the Dodgers. The one thing I can respect him for though is even though he was often injured he always tried to come back and contribute to the team. Thanks for trying Darren.

Anyways, I had not acquired an autograph of Darren yet as he was not a priority and to be quite honest I forgot about looking for him on eBay. Ran a generic search for Dodger autographs and this card came up. Buyer had it as an auction with an asking starting price of $5. That is my cap for any non-star, non limited, non special etc card so if I could pick it up at that price, great, and if not I would pass. Not a single bid on it when the final day rolled around and close to the end of the auction I put my bid in for $5 and won it for that amount. Nothing special about the card particularly but a great looking signature by Darren. A nice addition to the collection.

2013 Season Ticket Holder Christmas Gift From the Dodgers

Ah, it's that time for the year once again. There are two times a year when as a season ticket holder you get a package from the Dodgers and it has a label like this on the box.

Well since it's not March with baseball season just two weeks away it must be the yearly Christmas gift that the Dodgers send out. I have heard from many of fans that back in the day even including the McCourt years that the gifts were better. I have actually seen a few and I tend to agree. Last year's was a thermos which I had no use for and sold on eBay for $18. So I wondered what was in store this year and what was in this box?

Well it isn't just one item but two or to be more specific a matching pair.

Took the pair out of the box and noticed that weren't half bad. They have some weight to them so they aren't overly cheap like ones that you can buy in a dollar store. The Dodgers logo is displayed boldly on each glass. In the end I think the Dodgers want us fans to drink to either party together or drown our sorrows away from past disappointments. I kid of course. Nonetheless, I am proud to be a STH and thank the Dodgers for giving these to the fans. 

Now next year's gift I want something to show off the 2014 World Series Flag we would have won a couple months prior to December.

= )

Contest #1 Result

My first contest ended a couple days ago and though I did not get as much traffic as I thought and hoped I would I thought it was a small success and something that I can build upon next time.

The overall winner Jesse, the creator of blog section117bib , had to correctly guess the fourth and final answer as even though he got question 2 right he like everyone else did not have the necessary 4 points yet to win, so it was winner take all on the last question. Your cards have been mailed and you should have them early next week. As a recap the four answers were:

Question 1 : 27
Question 2 : Sportscenter from this past year
Question 3 : 28 as the Rays and Diamondbacks came into existence after the retirement of 42
Question 4 : They were the only pitchers to ever throw a no hitter in both the American and National Leagues with one of them being a perfect game.

Thank you again to all of you that participated and those that didn't and just watched from the sidelines. I will be putting a new contest up either tomorrow or Monday. Have a great weekend everyone.

Card of the Day - 2013 Topps Chrome : Hyun-Jin Ryu Base Autograph Variation

Yet another redemption card this week for me.

Topps Chrome's new set was released at the end of September and I saw that Ryu had yet another on card autograph in this set. Yet again it is of the redemption variety. I bought Ryu's autograph redemption cards from the Inception set from earlier this year as seen HERE and HERE and I'm still waiting for their arrival. With that said I can see this card not arriving until 2014 the way those two are going. Even with that thinking I still wanted to get Ryu's autograph card here as it is on a chrome card and I do love me some chrome. A few of these were being sold on eBay at the time and I was able to pick this up a modest cost. Now, as with the two Inception cards, the waiting game begins.

Card of the Day - 2011 Finest : Jerry Sands Gold Variant Autograph ( 46 / 75 )

Finally struck gold on a Jerry Sand's 2011 Finest card.

The last of the easier of the variants has made it home. With red, die cut and purple still out there to acquire to complete the rainbow set, gold was the next one to focus on acquiring. With only 75 copies of this card there are only so many chances to pick this card up and I have lost a couple of auctions on the bay prior to this one but when this one came up I made sure that it would be mine. I put a higher than normal bid in and at the end of the day I won it for a few cents over $6. Will I ever get those other 3? Probably not but I am content with what I do have in the Jerry Sands department.

Same Sands, different color

46 of 75

12-11-13 UPDATE NUMBER FOUR : Contest # 1 - 2013 Bowman Bryon Buxton Hometown Variant and Anthony Meo Autograph Card

Well I think it is time to finally take the plunge and get into the contest game that so many bloggers have started to do. Fellow blogger Alex of chavezravining fame has been running his for while now with known proven cheater Greg of plaschkethysweaterisargyle winning multiple times ( i kid of course . . . ).

As I have joined the baseball card hobby once again this year I have been wanting to expand my presence in the trading world but other than 2 trades I haven't been able to get any traction out of it. So to hopefully help my name get out there for future trades to win the contests you must RETWEET the contest and JOIN the blog. I don't care if you never comment on the blog but I would just like my numbers upped a little there. Also to help out the winner's cause I will RT and Facebook the results to get their name out as well. One big happy world.
= )

I probably won't be doing many Dodger card contests as I want those in my collection so these are my spares but I am open to trading Dodger cards to acquire other Dodger cards hence the contests to get my name out there. With that here are the "rules" which obviously can and probably will change when I see that something might not be working or can be adjusted to work better.

I will not be using a randomizer as I want everyone to use their brain a little. All contests will be question based but I always hated when I guessed wrong and lost out so each contest will have 4 separate questions which will be assigned a point value to each one so even if you miss the first and/or second question you still have a chance.

Question one will be worth 1 Point
Question two will be worth 2 Points
Question three will be worth 3 Points
Question four will be worth 4 Points

As you can see you could win by just getting question 4 right and none of the others or you can get the first 2 right and still not win. There will be no time limit on answering of the questions. Once someone correctly answers it then I will post another question. If there is ever a tie there will be a bonus "easy" question that is baseball related. At times I will give clues if it seems to be dragging too long. Questions will vary on subject from baseball, pop culture, comics, movies etc. So it helps if you are an overall geek.
=)

If there are any questions feel free to contact me and I can help out. So with that I present the 2013 Hometown Variant of Twins Prospect Byron Buxton. Current book value is $10. Sometimes it will be one card sometimes multiples and sometimes I may add to the contest prior to its ending but to start this off it will only be one.

QUESTION ONE : What does Matt Kemp, Steve Carlton and Batman have in common?
POINT VALUE : 1

Alright. I am adding one more card to the contest. Its a 2013 Bowman Autograph of Anthony Meo of the Arizona D-Backs

Clue to question 1 : Number

12-11 UPDATE :

Alex correctly guessed 27 for the first question so earns one (1) point
Kemp wears 27
Carlton won 27 games in his Cy Young winning year
Batman debuted in issue 27 of Detective Comics
Next 2 questions.

QUESTION TWO : A little about me this time. I appeared on a highlight show due to a play during a game. What show was it? What Inning was it and what two teams were playing? Don't worry question three will be strictly a baseball question.

12-12 UPDATE : 

Jesse correctly "guessed" that I was on Sportscenter this year when Eric Young horrendously misjudged a foul ball and ended up in the baseline seats at Dodger Stadium where I was seating. I can be seen getting almost undercut by Eric and then me "helping" him out of the stands.

So standings so far are 

Jesse 2 Points

Alex 1 Point

QUESTION THREE : The number 42 was retired by baseball years ago. How many of the current MLB teams have issued the 42 in their existence? Good Luck

12-12 (2) UPDATE :

Isaac correctly answered that out of the 30 current MLB teams that 28 have issued the number 42 to a player. The only 2 that haven't are the Tampa Bay Rays and Arizona Diamondbacks as they came into existence in 1998 which was a year after the retirement of 42.

One question left and the standings are :
Isaac 3 Points
Jesse 2 Points
Alex 1 Point

Any of the three or anyone else can win as question 4 is worth 4 points and 4 total is what you need to win contest.

QUESTION FOUR : What do Jim Bunning, Randy Johnson and Cy Young have in common? 

12-11-13 UPDATE NUMBER THREE : Contest # 1 - 2013 Bowman Bryon Buxton Hometown Variant and Anthony Meo Autograph Card

Well I think it is time to finally take the plunge and get into the contest game that so many bloggers have started to do. Fellow blogger Alex of chavezravining fame has been running his for while now with known proven cheater Greg of plaschkethysweaterisargyle winning multiple times ( i kid of course . . . ).

As I have joined the baseball card hobby once again this year I have been wanting to expand my presence in the trading world but other than 2 trades I haven't been able to get any traction out of it. So to hopefully help my name get out there for future trades to win the contests you must RETWEET the contest and JOIN the blog. I don't care if you never comment on the blog but I would just like my numbers upped a little there. Also to help out the winner's cause I will RT and Facebook the results to get their name out as well. One big happy world.
= )

I probably won't be doing many Dodger card contests as I want those in my collection so these are my spares but I am open to trading Dodger cards to acquire other Dodger cards hence the contests to get my name out there. With that here are the "rules" which obviously can and probably will change when I see that something might not be working or can be adjusted to work better.

I will not be using a randomizer as I want everyone to use their brain a little. All contests will be question based but I always hated when I guessed wrong and lost out so each contest will have 4 separate questions which will be assigned a point value to each one so even if you miss the first and/or second question you still have a chance.

Question one will be worth 1 Point
Question two will be worth 2 Points
Question three will be worth 3 Points
Question four will be worth 4 Points

As you can see you could win by just getting question 4 right and none of the others or you can get the first 2 right and still not win. There will be no time limit on answering of the questions. Once someone correctly answers it then I will post another question. If there is ever a tie there will be a bonus "easy" question that is baseball related. At times I will give clues if it seems to be dragging too long. Questions will vary on subject from baseball, pop culture, comics, movies etc. So it helps if you are an overall geek.
=)

If there are any questions feel free to contact me and I can help out. So with that I present the 2013 Hometown Variant of Twins Prospect Byron Buxton. Current book value is $10. Sometimes it will be one card sometimes multiples and sometimes I may add to the contest prior to its ending but to start this off it will only be one.

QUESTION ONE : What does Matt Kemp, Steve Carlton and Batman have in common?
POINT VALUE : 1

Alright. I am adding one more card to the contest. Its a 2013 Bowman Autograph of Anthony Meo of the Arizona D-Backs

Clue to question 1 : Number

12-11 UPDATE :

Alex correctly guessed 27 for the first question so earns one (1) point
Kemp wears 27
Carlton won 27 games in his Cy Young winning year
Batman debuted in issue 27 of Detective Comics
Next 2 questions.

QUESTION TWO : A little about me this time. I appeared on a highlight show due to a play during a game. What show was it? What Inning was it and what two teams were playing? Don't worry question three will be strictly a baseball question.

12-12 UPDATE : 

Jesse correctly "guessed" that I was on Sportscenter this year when Eric Young horrendously misjudged a foul ball and ended up in the baseline seats at Dodger Stadium where I was seating. I can be seen getting almost undercut by Eric and then me "helping" him out of the stands.

So standings so far are 

Jesse 2 Points

Alex 1 Point

QUESTION THREE : The number 42 was retired by baseball years ago. How many of the current MLB teams have issued the 42 in their existence? Good Luck

Card(s) of the Day - 2013 Topps Chrome: Clayton Kershaw Base Purple Refractor and 1972 Style Refractor Insert

Another day just looking around eBay to see if I could find any deals on holes on sets that I am still trying to complete. Came across these two from our two time ( should be three time defending ) Cy Young winner, Clayton.

I now have the purple variant of both Clayton and Matt but this transaction also brought me the 1972 styled insert of Clayton. Wasn't a fan of the original version but I do like the chrome ones. Other than Puig I think this set will be affordable to complete as with the Matt transaction from Monday seen HERE I completed the two transactions for a combined $6 and picked up 5 great looking cards.

12-11-13 UPDATE NUMBER TWO : Contest # 1 - 2013 Bowman Bryon Buxton Hometown Variant and Anthony Meo Autograph Card

Well I think it is time to finally take the plunge and get into the contest game that so many bloggers have started to do. Fellow blogger Alex of chavezravining fame has been running his for while now with known proven cheater Greg of plaschkethysweaterisargyle winning multiple times ( i kid of course . . . ).

As I have joined the baseball card hobby once again this year I have been wanting to expand my presence in the trading world but other than 2 trades I haven't been able to get any traction out of it. So to hopefully help my name get out there for future trades to win the contests you must RETWEET the contest and JOIN the blog. I don't care if you never comment on the blog but I would just like my numbers upped a little there. Also to help out the winner's cause I will RT and Facebook the results to get their name out as well. One big happy world.
= )

I probably won't be doing many Dodger card contests as I want those in my collection so these are my spares but I am open to trading Dodger cards to acquire other Dodger cards hence the contests to get my name out there. With that here are the "rules" which obviously can and probably will change when I see that something might not be working or can be adjusted to work better.

I will not be using a randomizer as I want everyone to use their brain a little. All contests will be question based but I always hated when I guessed wrong and lost out so each contest will have 4 separate questions which will be assigned a point value to each one so even if you miss the first and/or second question you still have a chance.

Question one will be worth 1 Point
Question two will be worth 2 Points
Question three will be worth 3 Points
Question four will be worth 4 Points

As you can see you could win by just getting question 4 right and none of the others or you can get the first 2 right and still not win. There will be no time limit on answering of the questions. Once someone correctly answers it then I will post another question. If there is ever a tie there will be a bonus "easy" question that is baseball related. At times I will give clues if it seems to be dragging too long. Questions will vary on subject from baseball, pop culture, comics, movies etc. So it helps if you are an overall geek.
=)

If there are any questions feel free to contact me and I can help out. So with that I present the 2013 Hometown Variant of Twins Prospect Byron Buxton. Current book value is $10. Sometimes it will be one card sometimes multiples and sometimes I may add to the contest prior to its ending but to start this off it will only be one.

QUESTION ONE : What does Matt Kemp, Steve Carlton and Batman have in common?
POINT VALUE : 1

Alright. I am adding one more card to the contest. Its a 2013 Bowman Autograph of Anthony Meo of the Arizona D-Backs

Clue to question 1 : Number

12-11 UPDATE :

Alex correctly guessed 27 for the first question so earns one (1) point
Kemp wears 27
Carlton won 27 games in his Cy Young winning year
Batman debuted in issue 27 of Detective Comics
Next 2 questions.

QUESTION TWO : A little about me this time. I appeared on a highlight show due to a play during a game. What show was it? What Inning was it and what two teams were playing? Don't worry question three will be strictly a baseball question.

12-11-13 UPDATE : Contest # 1 - 2013 Bowman Bryon Buxton Hometown Variant . . . Plus rules and such

Well I think it is time to finally take the plunge and get into the contest game that so many bloggers have started to do. Fellow blogger Alex of chavezravining fame has been running his for while now with known proven cheater Greg of plaschkethysweaterisargyle winning multiple times ( i kid of course . . . ).

As I have joined the baseball card hobby once again this year I have been wanting to expand my presence in the trading world but other than 2 trades I haven't been able to get any traction out of it. So to hopefully help my name get out there for future trades to win the contests you must RETWEET the contest and JOIN the blog. I don't care if you never comment on the blog but I would just like my numbers upped a little there. Also to help out the winner's cause I will RT and Facebook the results to get their name out as well. One big happy world.
= )

I probably won't be doing many Dodger card contests as I want those in my collection so these are my spares but I am open to trading Dodger cards to acquire other Dodger cards hence the contests to get my name out there. With that here are the "rules" which obviously can and probably will change when I see that something might not be working or can be adjusted to work better.

I will not be using a randomizer as I want everyone to use their brain a little. All contests will be question based but I always hated when I guessed wrong and lost out so each contest will have 4 separate questions which will be assigned a point value to each one so even if you miss the first and/or second question you still have a chance.

Question one will be worth 1 Point
Question two will be worth 2 Points
Question three will be worth 3 Points
Question four will be worth 4 Points

As you can see you could win by just getting question 4 right and none of the others or you can get the first 2 right and still not win. There will be no time limit on answering of the questions. Once someone correctly answers it then I will post another question. If there is ever a tie there will be a bonus "easy" question that is baseball related. At times I will give clues if it seems to be dragging too long. Questions will vary on subject from baseball, pop culture, comics, movies etc. So it helps if you are an overall geek.
=)

If there are any questions feel free to contact me and I can help out. So with that I present the 2013 Hometown Variant of Twins Prospect Byron Buxton. Current book value is $10. Sometimes it will be one card sometimes multiples and sometimes I may add to the contest prior to its ending but to start this off it will only be one.

QUESTION ONE : What does Matt Kemp, Steve Carlton and Batman have in common?
POINT VALUE : 1

Alright. I am adding one more card to the contest. Its a 2013 Bowman Autograph of Anthony Meo of the Arizona D-Backs

Clue to question 1 : Number

Card of the Day - 2007 Bowman Chrome : Chris Withrow Autograph Refractor ( 448 / 500 )

I am going backwards on acquiring the set of Chris Withrow's cards from the 2007 Bowman Chrome set. I picked up the blue version ( hardest ), then the xfractor ( second hardest ) and now the plain refractor with just the base to acquire. Funny how some projects take odd turns towards completion. In theory based on scarcity it should have been the reverse but I haven't been able to get my hands on the base one just yet. The refractor one has been a point of frustration for me as I kept losing on multiple auctions. I finally was able to lock in on this one at a cost of $4 and with shipping added a little under $6. Considering all the auctions I kept losing out on with the winning bid being over $7-$8 and one even touching $9 this one came in at a bargain. Glad to cross off another one on the Withrow checklist and look forward to acquiring the last card to complete the set.

3 down and 1 to go

448 of 500

Contest # 1 - 2013 Bowman Bryon Buxton Hometown Variant . . . Plus rules and such

Well I think it is time to finally take the plunge and get into the contest game that so many bloggers have started to do. Fellow blogger Alex of chavezravining fame has been running his for while now with known proven cheater Greg of plaschkethysweaterisargyle winning multiple times ( i kid of course . . . ).

As I have joined the baseball card hobby once again this year I have been wanting to expand my presence in the trading world but other than 2 trades I haven't been able to get any traction out of it. So to hopefully help my name get out there for future trades to win the contests you must RETWEET the contest and JOIN the blog. I don't care if you never comment on the blog but I would just like my numbers upped a little there. Also to help out the winner's cause I will RT and Facebook the results to get their name out as well. One big happy world.
= )

I probably won't be doing many Dodger card contests as I want those in my collection so these are my spares but I am open to trading Dodger cards to acquire other Dodger cards hence the contests to get my name out there. With that here are the "rules" which obviously can and probably will change when I see that something might not be working or can be adjusted to work better.

I will not be using a randomizer as I want everyone to use their brain a little. All contests will be question based but I always hated when I guessed wrong and lost out so each contest will have 4 separate questions which will be assigned a point value to each one so even if you miss the first and/or second question you still have a chance.

Question one will be worth 1 Point
Question two will be worth 2 Points
Question three will be worth 3 Points
Question four will be worth 4 Points

As you can see you could win by just getting question 4 right and none of the others or you can get the first 2 right and still not win. There will be no time limit on answering of the questions. Once someone correctly answers it then I will post another question. If there is ever a tie there will be a bonus "easy" question that is baseball related. At times I will give clues if it seems to be dragging too long. Questions will vary on subject from baseball, pop culture, comics, movies etc. So it helps if you are an overall geek.
=)

If there are any questions feel free to contact me and I can help out. So with that I present the 2013 Hometown Variant of Twins Prospect Byron Buxton. Current book value is $10. Sometimes it will be one card sometimes multiples and sometimes I may add to the contest prior to its ending but to start this off it will only be one.

QUESTION ONE : What does Matt Kemp, Steve Carlton and Batman have in common?
POINT VALUE : 1

Signed Ball of the Day : Philip Humber ( ROMLB Sweet Spot w/ Perfect Game Inscription )

A 30 year old journeyman with only 16 wins to his name accompanied by a plus 5 ERA has found a home in my collection. Is he a current or past Dodger? No. Relative? Nope. Why you ask did I seek to acquire an autograph of this below average pitcher? Because in 2012 he became one of only a handful of pitchers in baseball history to toss a perfect game.

This feat has only been accomplished 23 times in baseball history. A rare occurrence indeed. I already have Sandy Koufax in my collection which was acquired back in the day and then I met Don Larsen in Vegas a couple years ago and picked up Roy Halladay earlier this year. Then a couple months ago I met Dennis Martinez at Harry's Dugout in Whitter seen HERE . I realized at that point I had acquired 4 of the perfect game pitchers and it would an interesting little project to pursue. I know full well that I can never get every pitcher's autograph as a few of them did their feat back in the early 1900's and it would be virtually impossible to acquire a signed ball by them. So I will just pick up any of the other ones I might run across at any given time and that is where Philip comes into play.

One thing that I want on the balls is the inscription of the perfect game which makes the prospect of acquiring the autographs a little more pricier and little more scarcer. I saw this Humber ball on the bay and from past auctions I knew it wouldn't be a one or two bid type of auction. In the last hour of the auction the ball jumped up in price from $5 to $20 with a couple of bids and in the end the winning bid got the ball at $27. Thankfully that was my bid. Also thankfully I have sold a lot of bobble heads and other balls to cover these eBay purchases at zero or minimal cost out of pocket. So with this acquisition I now have 5 autographed balls by pitchers that have thrown a perfect game. A nice little side collection adds a member.

Perfect ball with perfect inscription

Card(s) of the Day - 2013 Topps Chrome : Matt Kemp Base Purple Refrator, Die-Cut Connections Insert and Dynamic Skill Insert

Time to start acquiring some chrome. Topps and Bowman Chrome both came out during the last week of September so I am on the look out for deals on any and all Dodger cards from both sets. I was able to complete two different transactions in the matter of minutes on eBay for the same price of just $3 delivered. The first transaction was a Matt Kemp specialty.

As it always seems with new releases I end up getting inserts or variants first prior to the base cards and these are no exceptions. Once again Matt was/is hurt and his cards can been found on the cheap right now. Seller had these 3 cards in one auction for just $2 with a $1 shipping on a standard auction. Even though it is a new set there was not a single bid on it until I put mine in during the final hour and won it for $3. I have always love the chrome look and this is a great start for my 2013 Topps Chrome set.

Cards of Kemp during happier times.

Card of the Day - 2008 Upper Deck : Chad Billingsley Heroes Autograph ( 1 / 50 )

Had change in one pocket to cover the cost of 99 cents to buy this card and a couple bucks in my other to cover the shipping. So for just a penny under $3 I was able to pick up another autograph card of Chad.

Chad has never been the most popular Dodger and I would like to debate he is one of the most underrated pitchers on the team when he was/is healthy. His cards are usually really cheap to acquire on eBay and even though this is limited to just 50 copies and with the added bonus of it being numbered 1 of the 50 there was not a single bid on this until I put mine in at the last minute. Even though this is a sticker autograph it's a steal at what I paid for it. Or at least in my mind it was. Nonetheless, I was glad to add another Chad autograph card to my collection and hope to see him in the starting rotation sometime next year.

Numero uno of 50

State of the Dodgers : Dodger Social Rewards

The first to 275K

Then the first to cross 300K

Soon enough the total passed 400K

And with today I became the first person to pass 450K on the Dodgers Social Rewards program.

 

 

I have put my well earned tokens into every promotion that the Dodgers have had. From a Sandy Koufax signed baseball to the most current ones which included bobble heads and a tour around Dodger Stadium. I have yet to win a single thing. 

This is like having the worst record in the NBA which entitles you to the most ping pong balls in the lottery which means you have the best chance of getting the top prize as you have more entries in the lottery and then the team with the worst odds comes in and takes it away from you. Ha Ha. I have talked to quite a few of the "winners" in the social rewards program and they have said they might have put one or two entries in and they win. I have always put the max of 10 and have yet to strike gold.

You might think this is bitch and moan fest but it's not. I just felt like writing out how even with the best odds in life you still need luck on your side at times to acquire something. I am happy that I have been able to hold onto first for such a long time and even though in the end that means very little I still like seeing my name up on top of the leader board each and everyday. I will continue to partake in this program till the day the Dodgers stop it. Every dog has its day and I know someday I will win something. Even if it might be a used rally towel from 2008.

= )

Go Blue !!!

Card of the Day - 2013 Allen and Ginter : Zack Greinke Framed Mini Relic

Sometimes a little bad luck with a dash of patience can be good in the end. Nothing major but this card falls into that category.

A few weeks after the release of this set I saw that this card was included in the relic insert set. Wanting a Zack card that had him in Dodger blue was the goal here and I set about to get this card. The first auction that I saw I ended up winning for a couple cents over $7. Paid the seller and waited for my card. And waited and waited. Over a month past and I inquired again with the seller about the status of the card as the USPS tracking number he provided did not pull up on the website. A little hee hawing between us and I decided to open a case to recoup my money as I didn't hear back from the seller. One day later and I was refunded my $7.

Even with the $7 recovered I still wanted the card so I went back onto the bay to see if I could find another copy. Found a different seller that had it for a little over $4 on a buy it now auction but with a best offer option. Said what the hell and sent him an offer of $3. Kind of low balling I thought but had to try. Thankfully I did as he accepted the offer and within 3 days I had the card I had waited for over 2 months to get my hands on as it arrived at my house.

Patience and bad luck saved me $4.

Card of the Day - 2011 Finest : Dee Gordon X-Fractor Autograph ( 282 / 299 )

So close and almost there. My rainbow collection of Dee Gordon is just two away now after the acquisition of this card.

Recap, rainbow is base, refractor, xfractor, orange, gold, green, die cut, red and purple. Red, purple and die cut are so limited they rarely come up for bid on eBay so with those I will just keep an eye out but never really expect to acquire them. I did win the die cut for Dee but fellow rookie Jerry Sands from the same set has been harder to complete said rainbow. None of the harder ones have made it to me just yet.

I never expected the X-Fractor to be so hard to obtain but it has been highly elusive for me. The die cut was easier. Saw it once on eBay and won it. The X-Fractor version though has slipped through my hands at least 7 times due to me not going above my cap. This card showed up on eBay and here was my chance once again and in the end I finally was the high bidder on the card. Only cost me $5 delivered to me. I now own all the "easy" variants with the last two left but not holding my breath on them. Welcome once again Dee to my collection.

Sparkly yet still not a fan of the squares.

282 of 299.

State of the Dodgers : Relief Pitching and Pitching in General

With the recent resigning of Brian Wilson to the team it looks like, on paper at least, that the Dodgers are lined up to make a deep run into the playoffs with the World Series being even more realistic now more than ever.

Brian coming back shortens up the game and with our starting pitching what it is all we need the starters to do is average 6ish innings and let the bullpen take over from there. Kershaw, Grienke, Ryu should average that over the year and I suspect Haren should be in the ballpark with that number. Only question is who the 5th starter will be. If it happens to be David Price from the Rays or Tanaka from Japan then that will only strengthen all aspects of the pitching staff. If the hole is filled by Beckett or Billingsley then that would by the only worry point at this moment.

The one last main piece that the Dodgers need to look at is locking up J.P. Howell but that might be easier said than done as he is looking for a 3 yr deal and I would advocate only a 2 yr deal. But if you were to add him back to the team your bullpen could/would like this:

Brandon League

Chris Withrow

J.P. Howell

Scott Elbert

Paco Rodriguez

Brian Wilson

Kenley Jansen

That is one hell of a bullpen to get through if they all play to their talent levels. Brandon being the only weak link of the bunch. On top of that you would have Jose Dominguez and Onelki Garcia waiting in the wings in case someone falters or gets injured.

Just thinking any of the starting pitchers going 6 innings then go with match ups for the 7th inning and then bringing in Brian and Kenley to close it out sounds like music to my and Dodger fans ears. Granted they can't be overworked and somedays a particular pitcher won't be available but on paper this looks like a dominant staff just waiting for the season to start.

Just my two cents . . .

Card of the Day - 2013 Bowman Platinum : Matt Magill Bowman Black Silver Ink Autograph ( 8 / 25 )

Scoring this card was a coup. With only 25 copies in the world the odds were against me acquiring this card at anytime for a reasonable price. I already completed my rainbow autograph set for Matt from this years Platinum set and knew this card existed but getting it seemed to be a long shot. I had lost on a couple of different auctions with both closing north of $30. Wasn't going to pay that amount. Also the day after I won this card another auction closed north of $20. What did I pay for it? $7.72 delivered. Now that is a bargain however you look at it. I don't know why there was less action on this particular card but I am  not going to complain. My first Bowman Black card is now in my collection. Card looks great. Got to love the silver on black combination.

8 of 25. Silver on black. So nice

Card of the Day - 2011-12 Elite : Simon Gagne Autograph

Finally got another hit on my Stanley Cup Champion Kings collection

Slowly but surely I intend to complete this set and had this card on my watch list for close to two months. The card originated from Canada and the seller had it on a buy it now auction for $20 with a best offer option. I was hoping he would discount it during its time on my watch list as even though I couldn't find another Gagne card I didn't want to pay that much. The seller never did lower the price and one day I said screw it and sent in what I believed to be a low ball offer of a little under $10 expecting him/her to counter or reject. Two days passed and I assumed the offer would just expire on its own but then I received an email that stated the seller accepted. Not what I expected to happen but very happy that it did. Took a couple weeks to arrive due to it coming from up north but well worth the wait. Another notch on my collection "belt". Though no longer on the team thank you for being there in 2011/12 Simon

Card of the Day - 2013 Topps Tier One : Bill Buckner Crowd Pleaser Insert Autograph ( 107 / 299 )

When most people think of Bill Buckner they remember the infamous play that he was a part of back in the 1986 World Series that is still talked about to this day. For the most part he has moved on from this and with Boston winning a few of World Series since then the hatred has mellowed there too. But most people forget that Bill was a Dodger long before that play. I have been looking to acquire his autograph for some time and finally have done so.

I am still on the lookout for a signed baseball of Bill but until I can find one of good quality and at a reasonable price I turned my attention to an on card for my autograph fix. Problem was that I never could find him depicted in Dodger blue. That is until this set came out. This is my first Tier One card that I have acquired and what a way to start. The autograph is on card and not the sticker variety. A plus in my eyes. With the card being numbered out of 299 that put a bulls eye on it for collectors. I lost numerous auctions as I was not willing to pay over $10 for it as every single auction I was involved in ended at. After a few weeks of futility I finally was able to lock this particular one down for less than $7. Card came in a week later and looks better in person than on the computer screen. Just love these old timey pictures of Dodgers. Couldn't be happier.

Simple but classic design. 107 of 299

Signed Ball of the Day : Jon Garland ( ROMLB Sweet Spot )

Not knowing if Jon has played his final game or not but either way he has had an average career up to this point. His win/loss record is just better than .500 with his ERA at over 4.00. One thing he does have to his resume that most Dodgers do not is a World Series Ring. While with the White Sox he helped the team to the 2005 crown. Once he left the White Sox in 2007 he hopped around the league between 5 different teams including the Dodgers twice. And that is why I wanted to acquire a signed ball by Jon as he did wear the blue at one point and that is all I need to want to acquire an autograph.

He was first acquired by the Dodgers in one of the funniest trades I have ever seen as he was playing for the Diamondbacks and was traded to the Dodgers. What made it funny was that the Diamondbacks were in town facing the Dodgers and you could see Jon in the dugout of Arizona being told he was traded to the Dodgers and he walked over to their locker room during the game. Classic TV moment.

Not too many authenticated signatures of Jon were to be had on eBay and the few that were way over priced or the balls were toned or had some other flaw. One day I found this one at a buy it now price of just $22 which included MLB certification. For some reason I didn't just jump on it at that precise moment. A day passed and it was still there for the taking. Decided why the hell not and purchased the ball. Within a week this nice looking signed ball by Jon arrived at my doorstep. He didn't do much for the boys in blue but I wanted and did get the chance to purchase his autograph and happy that I did.

Nice, clean blue autograph

Card of the Day - 2007 Upper Deck Exquisite : Luis Gonzalez Autograph ( 24 / 50 )

Gonzo only played for the Dodgers one year ( 2007 ) and in the beginning he was productive but towards the end his defense was getting worse and worse so more and more Matt Kemp came in to replace him. Obviously Gonzo was not too happy about that. He and Jeff Kent had major issues with the young guys that were coming up through the ranks of the Dodgers and they voiced them publicly and in the end Luis decided that one year was enough with the blue and he moved on.

Even with the brief career with the Dodgers I still wanted to acquire an autograph but with him only on the team in 2007 options were limited on getting him depicted in Dodger blue. Found this card on eBay a couple times and I kept losing out on it but I finally was able to lock in this particular one at a nice low amount of $4.57 delivered. Nothing overly special about the card but a welcome addition to my collection. Thank you Luis for just the one year on our team. Without you we would have never known the greatness of one Matt Kemp. As you can tell I didn't really like the guy.

Card of the Day - 2008 SP : Matt Kemp By The Letter " N " ( 23 / 99 ) Autograph

To finish out the purchase day I picked up the one letter where I only needed one and has one of the higher print runs.

The letter "N" has a print run of 99 but only one is needed to complete the phrase. For example though the letter "S" has a print run of only 25 but you need 3 to complete the phrase. Very frustrating for a completest to finish the project as there are only so many times you will be able to purchase any given letter. Again, thankfully I have all the "S's" I need but this project its only going to get harder as I pick up more of the letters.

Having acquired 3 letters earlier in the day I wanted to finish it off with this last one and figured out the amount would be the same and I wasn't disappointed as I did pick it up at that same price. With the addition of this one I have now acquired 7 letters for the phrase but with it containing 25 letters I am a long way to finishing it anytime soon. But you do have to start somewhere and I have a good head start. If anyone has spare letters that could help I would love to hear from you on a possible trade/purchase.

23 / 99

Card of the Day - 2008 SP : Matt Kemp By The Letter " O " ( 23 / 50 ) Autograph

Onto another purchase of Matt Kemp SP By the Letter on eBay.

Picked up my first "O" that is needed to complete the project. Thankfully I only need one more. Print run on this letter is 50 so hopefully I can pick up its twin sooner rather than later. With the other 2 purchases won and paid I now focused on this and the other last card of the day and I was confident I would win both as I figured out what the other bidder had set his/her cap at. Once again I won this card at the same price as the others. 3 down with one last one to go for the day.

23 of 50

Card of the Day - 2008 SP : Matt Kemp By The Letter " L " ( 13 / 50 ) Autograph

Another day, another letter.

With the letter "S" in my rear view mirror now and not that I ever stopped, but I could focus on some other letters and once again it was a banner day on eBay for these Matt Kemp cards.

Assuming now that I knew what the other bidder had put as their limit I bid on the remaining letters at a lower price. It paid off as I won this card at the exact same price which meant I probably could lock in the other two at that same price but still had to play it safe. Until then I acquired my first "L" for the project. I still need one more but with a print run of 50 it makes it a little more manageable than the "S's".

13 / 50

Card of the Day - 2008 SP : Matt Kemp By The Letter " S " ( 2 / 25 ) Autograph

Finally finished up a project within a project.

The letter "S" is the hardest part of this project as there are only 25 made of them but I had already acquired two of them so I needed that last one. I accomplished that by scooping this up on a day of 2008 SP purchases.

There were 4 different auctions going and with a day or so left they were all bid on by the same person. As I have experienced this before I wanted to bid a littler higher on the first one to get a feel on how high he or she put their ceiling. With this also being the last piece of my "S" puzzle I for sure would bid even a little more higher. In the end I picked it up for a very reasonable price which helped me figure out the other bidder's cap.

Even if I didn't win those other letters I did pick this one up and now am no longer are in search of "S's".

2 of 25 and I own 3 of them.

Card of the Day - 2008 SP : Matt Kemp By The Letter " S " ( 24 / 25 ) Autograph

Back to letter buying for the Matt Kemp SP project and I got one step closer to probably the most important part of it. The letter "S".

As stated in the previous "S" post there are only 25 of them in existence and needing 3 of them to complete the Matt Kemp phrase that means only 3 people in the world can have a complete set. Well I am almost one of those three as I have 2 of them in my possession while diligently looking for that last one.

The seller had this card up for sale with a starting bid of 99 cents and knew I was going to be in a dog fight for it and was determined to win it as I don't know how many more times I will see a "S" up on eBay for purchase. Only 6 bids in total but the amounts jumped in dollars not cents and with a minute left the high bid sat at $15 or so. Seconds left and I put my bid in and won it for a little over $19 delivered. About 30% less than book. That is now 2 "S's" down with 1 left to get. There are only 23 left in the world and I must have it and somehow I will obtain it without overspending. Until then I have the win "S's" to hold me over.

24 of 25. 2 down 1 to go.

Card(s) of the Day - 2008 SP : Matt Kemp By The Letter " S " ( 8 / 25 ) and " G " ( 9 / 50 ) Autographs

Give me a S.
Give me a G.
What's that spell?
Nothing much yet but the project moves forward with two new additions.

The two cards I was able to pick up were the letters S and G from the SP By the Letter insert set from 2008. As stated when you collect all the letters it will spell out :

MATT KEMP LOS ANGELES DODGERS

Once again, this is going to be a long project. I picked up the P already awhile back and now I have picked up a S and the G. Thankfully I don't need anymore G's but on the S front I need a total of 3 to complete the set. A major hurdle to overcome as the print run of the S's are only 25 and I need 3 of them. I know I am not the only one in the world that wants to complete this set and with that said that means it is only possible for 3 people in the world to have the complete set. The ultimate Matt Kemp project in my collection that I hope it sees the light of day of completion.

A seller had these two and one other letter up for sale and I missed out on the first one but I was able to obtain these two. So with that I have 3 letters of the 25 needed to finish this. A long burn just got a tad shorter.

S is 8 of 25 with G being 9 of 50

Card of the Day - 2008 SP : Matt Kemp By The Letter " P " Autograph ( 36 / 99 )

It's Matt Kemp autograph time once again and this one I actually owned at one time prior to this year's reentry into the hobby.

A couple years ago I wanted to find some other project centered around  Kemp as I already had signed balls, signed bats, signed bobbleheads et al. I found out that these cards existed and went out to collect them. At the time I had acquired K, M and P and was still on the look out for E until I decided I just didn't want to finish it. Don't remember why that is but I ended up selling them on eBay back at the beginning of the 2011 season during his MVP caliber year. Well now that I am back in the hobby and autographs are the main focus in my collecting I am looking back at these and hope to acquire the full master set this time and this is the first letter to make it back home. Like Sesame Street, today's letter is P.

Even though there is a print run of over 1300 for these cards that is for the whole phrase " Matt Kemp Los Angeles Dodgers ". That is a lot of letters. Most of the cards have a print run of 99 which is small enough already but some are as low as 25. This is one project that will probably take a few years to complete. Most of the options on eBay are of the buy it now variety with high asking prices so I have steered away from those but this one came up on a traditional auction so I was all over it. As the auction was ending it was still hovering around $15 but I had a feeling that it would jump and I was right. With a few seconds left I put a higher bid than I normally would to give me some room and thankfully I did as my bid pushed it to $22 and change. And with that I won the card and welcomed back the letter " P " to my collection and am now on the long hunt for all the other cards. Any help from other collectors would be appreciated if you happen to have spares. Until then this is a good start.

P is for kemP or mvP for the 2011 season which he should have won.

36 of 99.

Card of the Day - 2007 Bowman Chrome : Chris Withrow Autograph Blue Refractor Variant ( 7 / 150 )

Chris became a very important part of the bullpen this year and I am still trying to lock up the four different versions ( base, refractor, xfractor and blue ) of autographs from the Bowman Chrome set. I already got my hands on the xfractor version and now I was able to secure the blue version at way below book but I think book is too high even with its perceived rarity.

Book has this great looking card at $30 which to me is high for a relief pitcher but with only 150 in existence there would only be so many chances I could get this card. Most of the sales have closed in the $10 range so that was basically my limit unless I could couple it with some other cards from the same seller. No go on that front as this seller only had this one card I was interested in and he had the starting bid at $5. No action on the auction up until the end when someone put a bid in with about 10 minutes left. Hoping his limit wasn't too high and when I put my bid in it only raised the total to $5.50 which I won it at. So for a little over $7 delivered I picked up another hit on my list for well under book. It is numbered 7 out of 150 and with 7 being one of my 2 lucky numbers maybe I was meant to own this card. Love the blue border.

7 of 150.

Card of the Day - 2013 Bowman Chrome : Hyun-Jin Ryu Base Blue Refractor Variant ( 128 / 250 )

Here is another one of those cards that I have bid on numerous times but have yet to win. I probably lost out on at least 15 auctions as each time the card went for at least $7 and sometimes over $10.

I wanted the card but even with the book value at $10 I was not going to pay close to that. This card, amongst other copies, came up for sale and I was back at it again trying to win it. With multiple ones ended on the same day it may have helped my chances as I finally won one for myself and it only cost me half of book. Finally got my hands on my favorite color in my favorite set. Still have more of the blue variants to chase for but this was a big one to acquire in my eyes.

Blu Ryu

128 of 250

Movie Review : Bad Grandpa

 

 

This is less of a movie and more of just pranks and gags done to normal folks by Grandpa ( Johnny Knoxville ) and his grandson Billy ( Jackson Nicoll ). Fans of the Jackass show and films know exactly what they are going to see when buying a ticket to this film. And as such I knew what I was about to watch.

 

 

The plot if you can call it that has Grandpa thankfully losing his wife but before he can bury her their daughter comes to the funeral and leaves Billy to his care as she is being locked up. Grandpa is none to happy to have this happen as he was on a mission to chase tail as he was finally "free" from his wife. He figures he can dump Billy on his son in law who has not seen his kid in years but will take him thinking he can make money off of him. The road trip ensues going from Nebraska to North Carolina.

 

As the duo make their way to North Carolina they stop of in various places and end up pranking people while bonding. Most of the pranks and gags are dead on funny and have a lot of crass language. While there are few duds in the bunch the highlights for me were a dinner scene when they stop to get a bite to eat and a beauty pageant crashing which was highly advertised in the promos.

 

 

VERDICT : Since this is really not a "movie" in the traditional sense this review is not normal as well. Plain and simple, if you like vulgar language, endless insults, visual bodily functions or just a fan of the Jackass series you will no doubt love this film as I think it was probably the best of the bunch and that is in big part to the addition of young Billy and having a kid involved made it funnier. If you are not fun of any or all of this you will be repulsed by what you see and wonder what made you walk into the theater. With that said I am in the former group and not latter and loved this film. A great get away from day to day life for 90 minutes. A THUMBS UP from me.

Card of the Day - 2013 Bowman Platinum : Matt Magill Gold Variant Autograph ( 32 / 50 )

I have gone as far as I think I can go with Magill's autograph cards in this year's Platinum set as I have now acquired the gold variant of his autograph. There is one more that has a lower print run which would be the red variant but I have not seen one on eBay for sale as of yet and when it does show up it might be just too much for my taste to acquire. So for now I have completed my rainbow collection of Matt Magill in this year's set.

With a print run of just 50 there have not been many of these gold cards up for grabs on eBay and I missed out on a few of the auctions. After losing out on the latest auction this was at the time the last one up for sale on eBay but it was a buy it now auction. Though the seller had a best offer option as well. Having done business with him in the past might have helped me with my "low ball" offer but he accepted the bid of $6 and within the week the card arrived. So I now have the Base, Green, Blue and Gold versions of his card with the Red one left which I may or may not ever acquire. Now if Matt can contribute in the big leagues that would be great.

Gold and 35 of only 50.

Signed Ball of the Day - Player Appearance Recap : Paul Goldschmidt ( ROMLB 2013 All Star w/All Star inscription )

The wife and I headed out this past weekend to Arizona for a little R and R and to visit some friends. I had known for months that Paul would be doing a signing on this particular weekend but I was not sure until a few weeks ago if we were for sure going so I didn't keep my hopes up on meeting Goldy. Once it was confirmed we were going I made a few transactions on eBay to help fund the purchase of the autograph of Paul. The promoter was charging $59 per autograph. A bit pricey in my eyes but made cheaper by some sales so it made it easier to swallow.

Headed out to Paradise Valley mall where the promoter ( phoenixcardshows.com ) was holding the show and even though it was off season there was a fair amount of fans in line. Would say around 150-200. Patrick Corbin was also appearing but the majority who I spoke to were there for Paul just like I was. There were a few Yankee fans along with some Cubs fans but all the rest were Diamondback fans except for the lone Dodger fan ( well at least the only one to wear a Dodger cap ), me. Got some flack from a few fans but for the most part all of it was in good fun.

Paul arrived on time and started signing promptly. The line moved real slow and once I was in the shop I realized why and that was because he interacted with each fan and took pictures with anyone that wanted one. I had heard he was a nice guy and this proved it and I was glad I was about to add him to my collection. Got up to the table and he glanced up and noticed the Dodger blue and had a slight smirk on his face. Told him thanks for killing my team this year and he said you guys had a good year as well. I handed him the 2013 All Star ball and had him sign under the logo and also had him add an All Star inscription. Another minute or so and I was on my way but before that I asked him if he would mind a picture with a Dodger fan and he said by all means. Paul was a class act and I wish him well expect when he plays the boys in blue. Thank you again Paul for the autograph.

Paul signing the ball

Paul and I. Nice fuzzy picture Mr. Photographer

Autograph with All Star inscription. Came out great.