Card Shop Pickups From March 24, 2012

No mail today.  So, I'll show you the cards I got for myself at the Kinston card shop this past Saturday.  Not only did I get myself a few things, but I also found some stuff for my friends Drew, Scott and Andrew.  I picked up a Thurman Munson card for Drew, A 1957 Topps Mel Parnell and a 2004 Playoff Prestige Achievements Carl Yastrzemski for Scott and a 2008 Donruss Elite Extra Edition Lance Lynn auto numbered 570/570 for Andrew.  All very cheaply.

However, I did take care of myself some, too.  I picked up my Week 6 Prime 9 giveaway, Mickey Mantle (which I most likely will show in a later post) as well as the following cards.

I noticed when I got home last week that I had accidentally bypassed the 1969 Orlando Cepeda, so I went back Saturday determined to knock it off of my want list.  I was able to get it to scan fully, and the card looks great.  Another Hall of Famer has been knocked off of the set list.

Not to downplay a good deed I did for fellow bloggers, but the 'gift' cards I got were all in a box of 6/$10 cards I found at the shop.  Lots of autos and relics were in the box, and I found a few things in there that I wanted, so I didn't feel too bad when I spotted some that made me think "Oh, so and so would like this..."  I saw a few things that caught my eye, like the above Alfredo Simon rookie auto.  Not a bad card for less than 2 bucks.  Simon has been a really underrated pitcher for the Orioles, and I hope he can continue that.  He has been a starter, long reliever and closer in his brief Orioles career.

Finally, I found this really nice 2003 Donruss Hall of Fame Heroes Bob Feller.  I really like Feller.  I was chatting with a friend on Facebook the other night and the topic of meeting former players came up and he told me how he was able to meet Feller in person.  Oh man, I was so JEALOUS!  I would have loved the opportunity to meet Feller in person.  What an amazing American Feller was.  He will go down as probably my second favorite pitcher of all time, behind the awesome Virgil Trucks.

Anyway, I thought I'd share with you the stuff I found in the discounted box at the shop.  I hope they replenish the vintage and discount offerings at the shop because I really enjoy finding stuff there.

Orioles Fan Fest - First Autograph Station

Our first autograph voucher was for the 11:20 signing that featured Brian Matusz, Alfredo Simon, Ryan Adams and Jason Berken.  Brian Roberts was supposed to be in this group, but he bowed out due to the lingering effects of the concussion he suffered in 2010 and re-aggravated last season.  It definitely is a shame he couldn't make it, but as someone whose family member suffered a sports related concussion, they are difficult to overcome and very easy to re-aggravate.  My brother suffered one in college in 2003 from Shawne Merriman (yes, THAT Shawne Merriman), and he still hasn't slept right since.  Anyway, on to our autographs:

I got another ball signed by Brian Matusz.  He was really nice, speaking to both Chris and I.  He let Chris come behind the table and take a picture with him.  I really appreciated it.  I really hope Matusz's time with Brady Anderson this offseason has helped him come into spring training in much better shape than last year and he makes it very hard for Buck and Co. to send him to AAA Norfolk to start the year...

 Is it just me, or does this Topps Heritage Rookie Card look great signed?  Alfredo Simon didn't say a whole lot to us as he signed our card, but it was still great to meet him and say hello.  I think he is vastly underrated and has done everything asked of him by the Orioles.  He has started, closed, pitched in relief, etc.  I hope last offseason's difficulties have been put behind him for good.

 Jason Berken was very nice to Chris and I also, and he also let Chris take a picture with him.  He was solid out of the bullpen in the 2010 season but took a couple steps back in 2011.  He ended up with a strained arm that limited his time late in the season.  He is a candidate to pitch out of the bullpen in the 2012 season.

Ryan Adams worked his way up to the majors last season after having a solid campaign in the minors.  He is a candidate to start at second base if Roberts isn't ready to go when the season starts.  If Roberts is healthy, look for Adams to be a reserve player on the bench.

We had a good time getting autographs from these guys and had two stations to go for the rest of the day, but the next session was about 3 hours from when we got out of line, so my next post will discuss my meeting with a friend of the blog during the break... Stay tuned!!!