Proud of my Boy!

Chris volunteered to be the catcher for his Pee Wee team (machine pitch) the other day.  I was impressed that he took the initiative to walk up to the coach and ask him if he could be the catcher.  Chris throws left handed, so it should be interesting to see how he fares.

I took a couple shots of him with my cell phone and the above one took pretty well.  I might send it to Topps and have them make one of those custom baseball cards with it.

They don't make catcher's mitts small enough for his hands, so he will have to make do with the glove that he has until he grows some.  I will also have to find a glove for him online since he throws left handed and most stores don't carry those gloves.

Busted a Box of 2011 Topps Marquee, Again

We got our state tax check in, finally, so after buying the wife some new clothes and a video game for my son, I was allowed to make a couple purchases at my LCS today in celebration of a nice Orioles walkoff win.  I bought a box of 2012 Gypsy Queen (which will be shown later) and a pack of 2011 Topps Marquee.  The Topps Marquee was my wife's idea, but I picked it up anyway in hopes of pulling something sweet.  Yeah, it wasn't quite that, unless you are a Twins or Mets fan, but I did get an Oriole also.

The big hit was this Johan Santana 4pc jersey (one of which is a nice patch) numbered 165/199.  Not bad... but not worth the price tag.  Oh well, I can sell it, I think.  I have a card show coming up that I think will help me sell this, so we'll see.

I did get an Oriole card that I was looking at for a while on Ebay.  I'm glad I didn't buy it already.  Thing is, it really isn't the most flattering photo of the legendary Brooks Robinson.  He looks a bit old in the photo.  Oh well.  It's still Brooks and I'm glad to have it.

I don't think this pack was quite worth the amount I paid for it, but oh well, it was the thrill of pack busting.  I got that sweet Hank Aaron titanic threads last time, so I was bound to get a semi-clunker this time.  Oh well.

Hall of Fame SIgned Baseball - Joe Sewell

It sure has been a while.  I have finally knocked another Hall of Famer off of my want list.  My 64th Hall of Fame signed baseball is that of Joe Sewell, the hardest player in history to strike out.  He once played an entire season and struck out only 3 times.  WOW.

Sewell, born in 1898 and died in 1990 played in the majors from 1920 to 1933 for the Indians and Yankees.  He won the World Series with the Indians in 1920 and with the Yankees in 1933.  I did a Hall of Fame Spotlight post on him on January 2, 2011, which you can read here.  I also discussed a signed Hall of Fame postcard of his in this post.  Finally, I discussed Sewell again in a post on a 1922 E-120 American Caramel card that can be seen here.

Sewell was an amazing player who, at first glimpse, doesn't blow anyone away with his numbers.  His strikeout numbers are epic, though, and deserve recognition.

Some other random thoughts on Sewell:

• He is the first player I have a signature of that was born in the 1800s.
• He is the only player I have so far who played on a regular season team with Babe Ruth (as far as I know).
• He now holds the distinction of representing the oldest World Series champion of which I have a signature from (1920).
• He also represents the oldest season debut for any player whom I have a signature of (1920).
• 1920 was the year that my grandfather was born (he would have been 92 this year).

I just thought some of those random facts were interesting.  I hope you all enjoyed seeing this signature, as I was excited to finally add another to the china cabinet.

Happy 95th Birthday, Virgil Trucks!

Today marks Virgil Trucks' 95th birthday.  I hope that everyone who reads this blog takes a minute and sends Mr. Trucks some birthday wishes.  He is probably the best TTM signer out there and a darn good fellow as well.

For his birthday, I sent him a card with a long letter, plus a little something for his church.  I thought about sending something for him as well, but I struggled with what exactly I would send.  So, I decided that it would be a good idea to just send something in his honor to his church.  He has definitely been good to me and to Chris, so we wanted to return the favor as best we could.  I even had Chris sign the card.

So, Happy Birthday, Mr. Trucks, and I hope you see many more!

Ebay Pickup - Buck O'Neil Signed Baseball

I finally got a signed baseball that I have been wanting for a long time (since the first time I watched Ken Burns' "Baseball").  I picked up this Buck O'Neil signed baseball off of Ebay for $70.00.  It is PSA/DNA authenticated.  The free shipping was nice, too.

O'Neil was a former Negro Leaguer, coach and ambassador or baseball.  He was the first African-American coach in the majors.  He passed away at the age of 94 in 2006, not too long after he was denied entry into the Hall of Fame when a special committee was appointed to research and honor past Negro Leaguers who had been passed over.  The committee allowed for 17 former players to be inducted, but O'Neil wasn't one of them.  I think, given all that he contributed to the game, he should one day be enshrined in the Hall.  That is, of course, my opinion, but I doubt you will find too many people who would disagree.  Sometimes it is a lot more than sheer numbers that gets someone inducted, but the process is in place for a reason.

I'm really glad to add this ball to my collection as it is definitely one non-Hall of Famer that I really was looking to acquire.  As it stands, I have several signed baseballs from some prominent Negro Leaguers, including O'Neil, Buck Leonard, Monte Irvin, Ernie Banks and Hank Aaron.  I want to travel to Kansas City one day and visit their museum.

More Mail From Ryan - Orioles Cards

Did I mention how awesome Ryan was?  You know, the awesome dude from "O No Another Orioles Blog?"  He's a hell of a guy.  He sent me a good bit of Orioles cards that I didn't already have in my collection.

This 2011 Topps Gypsy Queen Nick Markakis auto is awesome!  It is an on card auto and looks great in person.  I was so amazed that I got it (even though he told me a while ago that he was going to send it to me).

Hey, look!  A Cal Ripken card that I didn't already have.  NICE!  I really like this one.  I don't know how those got by me.  I believe this is a 2010 Topps Wal Mart Exclusive Chrome Ripken.  Very nice indeed.

Here is a Cal that I don't think I had already, but I'm not sure.  It is a 1996 Leaf Limited Ripken.  It scanned really well and looks very sharp.

Here is a 2011 Topps Marquee Eddie Murray.  I don't have very many Orioles from this set at all.  Ryan also sent a Jim Palmer from that set.  I need to go ahead and get the Brooks and Cal cards also.

Finally, here is a 2011 Topps Lineage Brooks Robinson standup.  I really like this card, simply because of the bold colors and how they pop off of the computer screen.  Very awesome card.  I need to get to the card shop and get a bunch of top loaders and penny sleeves so I can add all of these (and a huge stack I've been amassing lately) to my PCs.

Thanks so much for the cards, Ryan.  Again, you're an awesome dude, and I really appreciate it!!!

Lots of Mail From Ryan Part One - Some Orioles IP Autos

Ryan from "O No Another Oriole Blog" is a heck of a guy.  He just purchased a new house (Congrats man!) and is purging some Orioles stuff and was kind enough to send some my way.  There was so much stuff that I had to break it up into multiple blog posts, so here we go.

This first post concerns some of the in person autos he sent my way.  The first of which is the below Oliver Drake signed baseball.  I believe I traded this ball to Ryan at Fan Fest this January for a Joe Mahoney signed ball.  I kind of regretted trading the ball away, but at the time my buddy Ryan needed it, so I wanted to make sure he was happy, first.  Little did I know that the ball would be back in my collection a few months later.

Drake is a mid-level prospect for the O's at the moment, but I'm hoping he can turn it up and get on their radar.  With Matusz's struggles, Tsuyoshi Wada's elbow issues, etc, The Orioles need more pitching depth in the minors.  If Drake can have a solid year at AA Bowie, he might work his way onto the 2013 roster.  Only time will tell.

Here is a signed 2010 Topps RC of Jake Arrieta.  Jake is off to a decent start to 2012, after having bone chips removed from his elbow.  Apparently he is pitching pain free for the first time since he played in college.  I expect a good year from Jake, if he can keep his ERA down.  I wouldn't be surprised if he wins 15 games this year.  We'll see!

Brad Bergesen is struggling at AAA Norfolk.  He can be a pretty effective pitcher if he can get his sinker going.  I definitely like Bergy and hope he turns it around and makes it back to the big club this year.

Of all the young pitchers that the Orioles have stockpiled thae second most disappointing (aside from Matusz) has to be Chris Tillman.  He is still 24, so there is time for him to get it together, but he really needs to get on the fast track.  Tillman has the stuff, but not the command.  He also might not have the mental makeup as of yet to be a major contributor to the rotation.  Here's to hoping he becomes what all the scouts and front office types saw in him.

Finally, the last IP auto Ryan sent was this Mike Bordick signed 2000 Upper Deck.  Bordick might be one of the most underrated shortstops ever.  Bordick, until this season, was the only major leaguer to hail from the State of Maine (from what I heard on a MASN broadcast).  He was a solid defensive shortstop who was brought into Baltimore to replace an aging Cal Ripken at shortstop when the Iron Man was moved to third base.  I met Bordick in Norfolk in 2010 and he was really nice.  He now does commentary on select Orioles' broadcasts on MASN.

Thanks so much for all of the awesome stuff, Ryan.  I don't think I will ever be able to repay you, but I'll definitely try.