Sportlots Pickup - 2010 Topps Black Parallel Nolan Reimold

I finally was able to add to my 2010 Topps Nolan Reimold rainbow by picking up the Black Parallel off of Sportlots.  I have all of his parallels for this set now, except for the Platinum parallel.  I knew where it was, at a card shop near Charlotte, but I waited too long and it had been purchased.  Dang.

I really want to have all parallels of a year for Nolan.  I'm so close with 2010.  Maybe one day, I'll see the Platinum available again.

Finally Found a Trade Partner in Town

It has been over 4 years since I moved out this way from Charlotte, effectively leaving most of my friends and family behind.  It is hard for me to get out and meet folks.  I don't normally walk up to people and say "Hey, let's be friends.", because, well, that would be a bit creepy.

Anyway, the Town of Winterville (where I live) had a steak cookoff on Saturday.  They also had local vendors, carnival rides, etc.  One of the vendors was a young fellow named Corey who sells cards.  I had seen an ad he placed on facebook about selling a box of cards, so I made sure to stop by and say hello at the festival.

I did and took a look at his wares and ended up buying a few bucks worth.  A few things for myself and a few trade pieces.  Well, not really trade, more like 'random care package' stuff.  I got the above 1993 Upper Deck Grand Slam Cal Ripken, the below 2001 Upper Deck Endless Summer Brooks Robinson as well as a few random cards of Hall of Famers: Walter Johnson, Harry Heilmann and Hank Greenberg.

Corey dropped by last night and we went through a few boxes of cards together, just to show him a little bit of what I had available for sale/trade.  It was nice sitting in the comfort of my living room and talking cards with someone other than my wife.  She probably appreciates the break.

Vintage Finds From the LCS

Chris and I went to the Local Card Shop yesterday to pick up a few supplies and discovered that the proprietor had a box of vintage cards that I have not gone through before.  In the box were some 1969 and 1971 Topps that I needed for my sets as well as a few other cards that I picked up for trades and for myself.  Some of the cards were in mint condition while others were probably VG-EX.  I had to have the above Mike Cuellar for my Cuellar PC.  It is a 1967 Topps, showing Cuellar with the Astros, just before he was traded to the Orioles and became a superstar.

Here is a 1964 Topps Jim Gentile that I picked up.  I grabbed all of the '64s that were in the box because I knew Wendell would give me a good price on the stack of cards (and I was right).

So, I was able to chip away at my sets.  1971 is looking like it might get completed this year.  I'm not so sure about 1969.  We'll have to be a bit more patient with that one, I think.

Mail From Drew - Ron Hansen Signed Baseball

My good buddy, Drew, recently went to the White Plains, NY card show and met former Oriole and 1960 AL Rookie of the Year, Ron Hansen.

Hansen (b. 1938) played in the majors from 1958 to 1972 for the Orioles, White Sox, Senators, Yankees and Royals.  He retired with 1,007 hits, 106 home runs and a .234 batting average.  He was with the Orioles he was traded in January 1963 to the White Sox (along with Hoyt Wilhelm, Dave Nicholson and Pete Ward) for Luis Aparicio and Al Smith.

The ball is an OMLB (Selig) ball and as you can see, Hansen inscribed it '1960 AL ROY.'  Pretty cool, and I have Drew to thank.

I Got The 1941 Virgil Trucks Negative Developed

So, I went to a photo shop in town yesterday and asked them if they could take the 1941 photo negative of Virgil Trucks that I had and develop it into a print.  They were able to, at the cost of $11.25.  For that price, I got the above (awesome!) 8x10 print, plus a photo CD.  Not too bad.  The photo came out looking really sharp.  A few people responded to the post I wrote (here) about the photo negative and had sent me photoshopped files of what the picture could look like, based on the photo I had taken of the negative (which was really cool.  I need to get out more).

Anyway, I bought a nice 8x10 frame for the picture and will hang it on the wall in the man cave.  I need to shift some things around so I can fit it on the wall, but it will look great, I'm sure.

Again, the photo is of Mr. Trucks, taken during the 1941 season in the Tigers' locker room.  1941 was Mr. Trucks rookie season, so This very well could have been taken toward the very beginning of his great career.

TTM Success - Billy Beane

I got my 72nd TTM success today, Oakland A's GM Billy Beane.  Beane, as I'm sure you know, was portrayed by Brad Pitt in the recent movie Moneyball.  I really liked the movie and took it for what it was, a Hollywood dramatization of the A's early 2000s season.

Beane really is good at what he does, though, as evident by the A's surprising run to the playoffs last year.  I am a fan of the A's historically, since I have done a great deal of reading on the old Philadelphia A's.

I mailed to Beane on April 4 and got him back today, April 10, making him a 6-day TAT.  That's awesomely fast, especially it went from NC to CA.

Chris' First Game Ball

Christopher played his fourth game of Rookie level ball tonight and recorded his first hit of the season (a single).  He moved to second when the next batter singled; moved to third when the batter after that singled and then scored when the next batter hit a double.  Chris is one of the smallest kids on his team.  They are 7-8 year olds and a good portion of the kids played on this same team last season.  Chris has a lot of catching up to do with the other kids on the team, skill and size-wise.  He went a long way toward that tonight!

Coach was proud of Chris getting his first hit, hustling hard to each base and listening to him when he gave instructions, so Chris was awarded with one of 3 game balls for tonight's win against the Lugnuts.  You can see that Coach wrote Chris' name on the ball, inscribed it 'MVP' and put the score, Rockhounds 15-8.  I will put the ball in a cube and display it with my HOF balls.  I'm so proud of him right now, I don't know what to do!