A Birthday Present From Max - My 2,000th Post

Before I started this blog in November 2008, I had very few people I could trade cards with.  I had Pete and P. A. at the card shop, and my older brother John on occasion.  Other than that, it was really difficult for me to offload any cards or trade for ones I wanted to add.  I was limited to Ebay and Sportlots, as far as buying is concerned, and also the shop, of course.  Then, at P. A.'s and Pete's urging, the blog was started.  Now, almost 7 years later, I have reached a milestone, my 2,000th post.  I knew it was coming for some time now, and I wrestled with what I wanted the subject to cover.  Did I want to do a contest?  Did I want to do a retrospective?  Did I want to change things up and do something completely different?  It didn't take me long to decide that I wanted the theme of my 2,000th post to be what my blog usually covers: me talking about cards, preferably Orioles, and hopefully ones I obtained from a friend that I made while using the blog as a trading tool.  I have made countless friends over the years on this blog, some have come and gone, others have been here since the beginning.  I believe I have more "online" friends now, than I do physical ones, but I think that is just the state of how the world is today.  I can say, though, that some of the closest friends I have were ones I made through this blog.  Not to name them all, but ones who come to mind immediately are people like Drew, Andrew, Michael and of course, Max.  Each of those four are guys I have had the privilege of meeting in person, and actually trading with in person as well. There are others, and of course ones that I feel like I have a close kinship with as well, but I can't take the time to name everyone, I would be here all day.  Hopefully no one is offended that they were not mentioned.

Anyway, Max and I are such good friends now, we can get on Skype and sort boxes of "junk wax" and not say a whole lot, but know that each of us is just happy to be around the other.  He has hooked me up with some amazing stuff in the short time that we have known each other.  He also was an amazing host this summer when we were at The National.  That being said, when his birthday package arrived yesterday, I was floored with how awesome the main card (and note) were.

The main portion of the gift was the above 2014 Leaf Q Pure autograph of Brooks Robinson.  The card is amazing.  I had seen them on Ebay, but didn't pull the trigger on getting one.  I'm really glad Max picked this up, because it really will stand out in my Brooks PC.  The scan doesn't even come close to doing it justice.

Not to take anything away from the rest of the package, which consisted of a bunch of Orioles and also Hall of Famers, but the Brooks card is just awesome.  Max did add something else that has become a recurring theme of the packages that he has sent.  He sent me an IP auto that he was able to pick up this season in the above 2012 Topps Finest Tsuyoshi Wada.  Wada is a former Oriole who went on to play for the Cubs, and be pretty successful.  He never actually threw a pitch for the O's, but he was someone I watched with great interest, hoping he would be healthy and make it.  Instead, another international signing that the O's got at the same time, with less fanfare, did far better - Wei-Yin Chen.  Chen is now set to become a free agent and leave the O's.  Maybe one day, Wada can come back, but it is doubtful.  He (and Chen also) does represent a change in the Orioles' philosophy in signing international talent, which has changed for the better.

So, thank you so much, Max, for this amazing birthday package.  I appreciate your friendship, and know that we will keep this going for a long time.  Additionally, I want to thank each and every person who has read this blog, anyone who has traded with me on here, Instagram, Facebook, Kik, Snapchat, etc etc etc.  It really means a lot to me to be able to have a platform where I can share my thoughts and feelings on the O's and also on this hobby that I love.  Thank you for 2,000 reasons to post, and here's to at least 2,000 more.

Mail From Max - Awesome IP Autos and More

My good friend, Max, recently went to Cubs Convention in Chicago and picked up a ton of autographs in person.  I had reached an agreement with him to get me the above baseball signed by Bill Madlock.

Madlock (b. 1951) played in the majors from 1973 to 1987 for the Rangers, Cubs, Giants, Pirates, Dodgers and Tigers.  He had 2,008 hits, 163 home runs and a career average of .305 over 15 seasons.  He was a 4-time batting champ (1975, 1976, 1981 and 1983) and won the World Series with the Pirates in 1979.

Madlock probably won't get into the Hall of Fame, but he had a great career and I'm happy to have this baseball.  Thanks, Max!

Max went above and beyond by also including an amazing array of signed cards that he had picked up at the convention.  It appears that a lot of them were ones I had sent along, such as this 2012 Topps Chrome orange refractor of Tsuyoshi Wada.

This Wada was really nice as well.  I had sent Max quite a few of them, and I wasn't expecting to see them again, but it was really cool of him to think of me when he was getting them signed.

Max and I had a little confusion not too long ago when I was on Skype with him and we were going through cards together.  He was talking about how Jacob Turner was now a Cub, and I had thought he said Justin Turner.  So, I sent him a bunch of Justin Turner cards.  Oops.  Now I know, and knowing is half the battle.

Here is another auto from Bill Madlock.  This 1984 Topps card is really nice.  I keep forgetting that I used to own a 5,000 count box full of 1984s.  I sold it a long time ago.  I just wish I could do the same with my 1987 box.

Here is an IP auto of Glenn Beckert on a 1975 Topps.  Max had a ton of 75s and ended up sending me a bunch.  I am sitting on them at the moment, trying to figure out what I want to do with them.  I may collate them and get Chris to worn on building a set when he is older.  We'll have to see, though.

This Bob Dernier was really unexpected.  I actually had sent some of Dernier's cards to another guy from Instagram and the 1990 Topps was in the package.  That's kind of funny, but Max wasn't the person who had asked for them.

This Albert Almora card was among one of the first deals I made with Max.  I was really happy to see it in the package.  I had bought a ton of these when I was at the National in Baltimore in 2012 out of a dime box.  It was really cool to see the card again, and this time it is signed.  Not bad for a dime.

It has been a long time since I have posted a 1987 Topps card on the blog.  This Lee Smith card scanned really well and the black sharpie auto accentuates the card, I think.  It just looks sharp.  The fact that Smith will eventually get into the Hall of Fame is an added bonus.

This 1980 Topps Jay Johnstone is really cool, mainly because of the hideous Padres jersey.  I love the late 70s, early 80s jerseys.  They were so colorful.

Max threw in some 2013 Panini Cooperstown cards in the package since he knows I like Hall of Famers.  This orange sparkle of Tony Perez looks really cool in person.  It didn't scan very well, but trust me, it looks nice.

Max was also able to provide me with a few Brooks Robinson cards that I didn't have in my collection.  This green parallel from '13 Cooperstown is really nice.  I can't believe that I didn't have it yet, but now I do, so that's cool.

This 2009 Topps manufactured patch card was another that I needed.  I have avoided picking up these because I am still working on the letter patch set (can someone PLEASE find me the R?) but this one is a really cool card.

Finally, Max added this 2007 Allen & Ginter Brian Roberts relic to the deal.  I already had a couple of these, but it has been a while since I have gotten a Roberts relic and this brought back fond memories of the player who got me back into collecting.

Thanks so much for the package, Max.  It was full of so much great stuff, and almost all of it was unexpected.

Christmas and More Birthday From Michael

I got two boxes in the mail recently from my good friend, Michael.  He had to get me some stuff he promised for my birthday, a few Christmas items and a couple pieces of memorabilia that I bought off of him.

In the box, he included a ton of his own game used baseballs from various games which he has played, along with some game worn shoes.  He also sent some old batting gloves he wasn't using anymore.

He included a stack of books, including some brand new Goosebumps books for my son, Chris, which Chris loves.  We've been working hard on getting him interested in reading, and he really has taken a liking to Goosebumps.  Thanks for these, Michael!

I purchased from him, a couple signed baseballs by some Orioles, Tsuyoshi Wada and Bud Norris.  The Wada was an unfortunate purchase on my part, since I got him back in August, thinking he would be serviceable for the O's, but he never made a start.  Norris, on the other hand, should be a decent pickup for the birds.  We'll see.

The biggest piece is a grand slam ball by Brian Roberts that Michael caught at the August 23, 2013 game against the A's.  Roberts belted a Grand Slam off of the A's Dan Straily and the ball happened to bounce onto the flag court, then out into the mezzanine where Michael was standing.  I had to trade him some pretty good stuff to get it, but I have it now and it is pretty sweet.  The final addition to my Roberts collection (until he retires and is inducted into the Orioles hall of fame).

Thanks for all of the cool stuff, Michael, I really appreciate it!  See you at Fan Fest!

Some More Topps Chrome

I went to the LCS the other day, mainly because we were bored, and picked up another few packs of Bowman Platinum.  The proprietor of the shop was sold out of Topps Chrome, but did allow me to look through his singles for some Orioles.

He hooked me up with the Chris Davis X-Fractor.  They scan kind of funny.  Definitely doesn't do the X-Fractor design justice, but it still looks kind of cool.

I got this Tsuyoshi Wada RC, which I needed for my Orioles PC.  I have two guys sending me a ton of Chrome singles in separate trades, so I should have this set taken care of, but I wanted a few singles that I could slide into top loaders and put in my player collections.  Wada hasn't thrown a pitch for the Orioles in the regular season.  He went down with an elbow injury in spring training.  Supposedly, he was the better of the two Japanese signings this off season, with Wei-Yin Chen being the second best.  Well, if Chen is second to Wada, I definitely want to see what Wada can do.  I hope he is 100% next season, because Chen has been amazing.

Finally, I picked up this Xavier Avery RC.  I have watched Avery since he played for Single A Frederick.  He is a good ball player who should be a regular major leaguer for years to come.  He got some itme in the majors this season, starting off with a bang.  The league caught up with him and he was sent down after appearing overmatched.  He is now back with the team as a September call up, so he should see some playing time as the Orioles continue to put some late season pressure on the Yankees and Rays.