2022 National Pickup - Barry Bonds Signed Ball

A signed ball, albeit controversial, has been added to my collection.  Barry Bonds is a very polarizing entity in the world of baseball, but if I had the chance to add him to my signed baseball collection at a great price, I sure was going to take it.

I bundled this ball with the purchase of a Hank Aaron (isn't it ironic, don't ya think? Yeah I probably didn't use that right, either) for a friend. 

Still, I didn't have Bonds in my collection, but now I do.  The ball is a 1994 All Star baseball from when the game was in Pittsburgh.  I love the yellow and black stitching.  I had a chance to get a steal on a Ken Griffey, Jr. signed All Star ball just like this one years ago at a National, but I let it pass.  I regretted not picking up that ball.  When I saw this one and was able to get the guy to quote me a great price, I had to take it.  The autograph is also PSA authenticated.

Huge Set Addition - Barry Bonds

With the National being pushed back and possibly canceled, I took the money I had saved up for my trip and went ahead and paid off my car.  I also got myself a little something, since there aren't too many cards to be had out there.  I picked up this nice addition to my 1987 set, a signed Barry Bonds rookie card.

The card is numbered 69/500; I imagine that is from whatever signing this came from.  It was JSA authenticated, and it now in my album.

Bonds (b. 1964) played in the majors from 1986 to 2007 for the Pirates and Giants.  He has 2,935 hits, 762 home runs and a .298 batting average.

He is the all-tome home run leader with 762, the all-time walks leader with 2,558 and the all-time intentional walks leader with 688.  He won 7 NL MVP awards (1990, 1992, 1993, and 2001 to 2004).  He was a 14-time All Star (1990 1992 to 1998, 2000 to 2004 and 2007).  He has the record for most home runs in a season with 73, hit in 2001.  Neither before, nor after, did he hit more than 49. 

Bonds only appeared in one World Series, a 2002 loss to the Angels.  In those 7 games, he hit 4 home runs and had a .471 batting average.

He is the face of the Steroid Era in baseball and this will most likely keep him out of the Hall of Fame.  In my opinion, he was a Hall of Famer before he took steroids, and being one of the most well-known baseball players of all-time should punch his ticket, since the Hall is supposed to tell the story of the game, but that isn't for me to decide.  The all-time hits leader isn't in, either.  If Bonds (and Clemens) get in, then I believe Pete Rose, Shoeless Joe and Buck Weaver should be in, too.

Still, though, I am very excited to have been able to add this card to my set.

2017 National Card Show - Trade Night Pickups

One of my favorite things from this year's National was that a fellow Instagrammer hosted trade nights at a neighboring hotel for a couple nights after the show.  We made it to trade night for Friday and Saturday nights.  At the trade nights, I was able to pick up a couple nice Trey Mancini autos from a couple folks that I'll show with the rest of the Mancini suff that I picked up.  I also was able to purchase two different Bowman's Best Riley Pint autos from a guy named Phil.  He had the Pint cards because he used to play against him in local ball, but was ok with letting them go for cheap.

I believe I picked up both Pint autos for a total of $30.  I was really happy with that, and will likely hold onto both of them as I follow Pint's career.  I have shuttered my Sonny Gray side PC, since he is a Yankee now, and am likely to sell off all of those cards.  It will be nice to transition to another player who isn't an Oriole.  It also helps that I have met Pint in person.

Another fellow Instagrammer made a point to seek me out at the trade night and work up a deal for me to land this Cal Ripken auto from Upper Deck Sweet Spot.  This is a rare Sweet Spot auto that didn't fade all to crap, but the surface of the card itself is pretty jacked up.  The trader (TimHudsonfan) made a great deal with Max for the card, and I then bought the card off of Max for cheap.

Remember the lady I spoke about who helped me with Ron Davis?  Well, I had told her about the trade nights, and her and her boys showed up on Saturday.  It turned out that her oldest son was someone I traded with on Instagram back when I was first getting started.  We worked out a deal for another Trey Mancini auto, along with this Mountcastle patch auto.  We also discussed a future 50/50 since both of the boys are Indians fans and I will be seeing Lynchburg soon.

I also met a fellow Instagrammer (santiagosportscards) who has been following me for a long time.  We discussed an orange parallel that I had gotten out of my box of Pro Debut.  I was just going to give it to him, but he insisted I take this Jonathan Schoop auto, as well.  He also had a gold refractor auto Schoop from 2014 Topps Chrome.  I almost walked out of the trade night with that card, but he said he didn't really want to sell it.  So, I told him that he should keep the card, but let me know if he ever wanted to move it.

Finally, I got this graded 1987 O Pee Chee Barry Bonds RC as a throw in to one of the deals that I made at the trade night.  I can't remember who I got it from, but I figured I would pick it up since it was a nice RC that I didn't have.  Also, since it was a throw in, I couldn't argue about the price!

So, I know that if I go next year, I will definitely make time for the trade nights, if they are being hosted.  I had a great time and left with some really cool stuff!

Cheap Shots From The National - 1986 Topps Traded Barry Bonds XRC

Here's a little something different.  During my trip to the National this year, I tried to find some good deals on cards in the dollar, 5 dollar, etc boxes.  One box I looked through had a bunch of rookie cards from the mid-80s at severely reduced prices.  I regret not picking up more of the rookies that I found, but one that I saw jumped right in my pile once I saw it.

I have never owned this 1986 Topps Traded Barry Bonds, so I was really happy that I saw it for $3.00 at the show.  I bundled it with a stack of other cards, so I paid a lot less than $3.00.  I really enjoy the 1986 set, and already had the Bo Jackson from 1986 Topps Traded.  I will put this in a brand new top loader and store it with my other rookies.  I know the card is nowhere near worth what it used to be back in the early 90s, but it is still cool that I got one of these for a good price.

I still have a huge stack of cards from the show (not to mention several signed baseballs as well) that I need to post.  I think National posts may very well get me through the season into the off-season, to where I can start up some TTMs again, among some other projects.

Great Dime Box Finds At The National

If the National lasted two weeks, I still don't believe I would have had enough time to look through all of the dime boxes that I saw.  Nonetheless, I did go through quite a few of them, and was happily surprised at some of the cards that I found.  There were color parallels of some of my PC guys, there were a bunch of vintage (I bought out a guy's 1972 Topps that he had in a dime box to help me have a decent start when I begin that set), and several good rookies.

The two best cards that I found in the dime boxes were, in fact, rookies.  The above Josh Donaldson 2010 Bowman was a great find for a dime.  He is a legitimate MVP candidate (although, I hope he falls short for my own selfish reasons) and is having a career year.  I liked Donaldson quite a bit when he was with the A's, but now that he is with the Blue Jays, I can only respect the fact that he is a really good player on a team I am continuing to loathe more and more.  Still, though, for a dime, this is a great card.

Because I have so many 1987 Topps cards, I am always looking to help folks out with that set.  I doubt that I will ever be rid of my 1987s, but I can dream.  The one card that I always am picking up is the Barry Bonds RC,  Usually running for $2-$3, I got this one for a dime.  I could easily sell it for 20x to 30 times what I paid for it, which isn't bad.  If I had found more, I would have grabbed them, too.  I may end up holding onto at least one of these at some point, since I do like the set design, and this is the most iconic card in the set, steroids or not.

Set Complete - 1997 Topps

I got a package in the mail today from my friend, Sam, from Instagram that had his Christmas gift and this final card I needed for my 1997 Topps set.  I'll post the Christmas gift another time, but I wanted to start the year off by knocking out a 90s set.  I couldn't believe that Sam had the final card that I needed, and he found it quickly one evening when we were exchanging Kik messages and I was complaining that I missed this one when I went on a Sportlots buying spree a couple months ago.

Sam really came through for me, and for that I am very grateful.  Thanks so much for helping me complete the set, Sam!

Instagram Trade With Jet - 1954 Topps Extras

I completed a trade on Instagram with my good friend, Jet, for some extra 1954 Topps cards that he had left over from when he put his set together.  I can't remember what I sent him, but in return he sent me 6 1954 Topps cards, and a few other things.  I plan on hoarding these 1954s until I can begin the set sometime in the future.  I don't know when that will be, but hopefully it will be soon.

One of the extras Jet sent was this 1973 Topps Hank Aaron.  It is a bit lower grade, but still a nice card.

Jet also included this beat up Barry Bonds rookie card.  It has some creases, but is still a cool card.  Funny how small Bonds's head was back then.

Thanks for the deal, Jet, I really appreciate it!

What a Joke

To say I was disappointed in today's lack of a Hall of Fame announcement is quite the understatement.  I look forward to the HOF vote each and every year and now, for the second time I can remember, no one was elected to the Hall by the BBWAA.  Now, don't get me wrong, the steroid cloud over the game has cast a heck of a shadow, but you can't tell me that not one single former player on the list was not worthy of election.  Some supposed sportswriters used their privilege to vote as a means to make some half-assed statement about something.  Well, I am curious as to how many of these folks were more than happy to follow Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire around during the great Home Run Chase of 1998?  I bet you they sold a heck of a lot of copies of their magazines and/or newspapers late that summer.  Are those folks going to give back the money that they earned when they, too, cashed in on the 'Steroid Era?'  I'm not saying what those players who used PEDs were in the right, I'm just saying that these guys who are putting themselves out there as making statements with their ballots need not be the morality police. 

We were all guilty during that era.  I paid my money to see games played by some of those players.  I knew who the greatest players in the game were and I was more than willing to pay to see them.  The Owners were guilty for allowing it.  Bud Selig was guilty for not doing something about it sooner.  Other players were guilty for knowing about it and not reporting it.  Hell, Buck Weaver was banned from baseball for knowing about the 'fix' in 1919 and not reporting it.  So, for some reporters to act like they are bigger than the history of the game and make statements by not voting for other worthy players, well, they really should be ashamed.

Rafael Palmeiro was one of my favorite players growing up, but his positive test for Stanozol has made it impossible for a player with 3,000+ hits and 500+ home runs to be enshrined.  Palmeiro has blamed a tainted B-12 shot given to him by Miguel Tejada as the culprit.  Palmeiro passed several tests before and after the infamous positive test.  He was found not guilty of lying to Congress when he vehemently denied using Steroids prior to that 2005 season.  Tejada, on the other hand, was the only player (not Bonds, not Clemens, not Raffy) who was found guilty of lying.  I'm not saying Palmeiro didn't do it, I'm just presenting what has come out in the last several years.  If I had to guess right now, my guess would be that Palmeiro never gets in.

Mike Piazza was the most prolific offensive catcher in the history of the game.  One sportswriter stated that they knew Piazza took PEDs because they saw him without a shirt on and pock marks and back hair on Piazza's body proved his guilt.  He never failed a drug test.  Must be guilt by association.

Craig Biggio's 3,000+ hits weren't enough to get him in.  Mainly because when folks look at him "He just doesn't seem like he is a 'first ballot' Hall of Famer."  In my opinion, you either ARE or ARE NOT a Hall of Famer, and I have always felt like Biggio is a Hall of Famer.

One of the most compelling cases is that of Jeff Bagwell.  Bagwell was a great player in his era, even winning the 1994 NL MVP award.  He broke down at the very end of his career due to a degenerative shoulder.  Bagwell never tested positive for Steroids and was never linked.  Many writers are 'suspicious', so that means he must have done them, right?  I'm so glad people in this country are guilty until proven innocent.

Finally, there is Jack Morris.  The winningest pitcher of the 1980s.  Morris' overall numbers fall just short of the average Hall of Fame pitcher.  He was clutch in many big moments, none moreso than Game 7 of the 1991 World Series.  If there was a fine line written on a sidewalk somewhere as far as being Hall worthy goes, Morris would be dancing on that line.  He is the definition of borderline.  Where does the border stop?  I don't know.  I think Morris was amazing.  I think he gets in.  Does that cheapen the hall if he does?  I don't think so.  There are far less deserving players in the Hall than Morris.  He will get in sooner or later.  Same with Dale Murphy, who failed to get in in his 15th year on the ballot.  I think the Veterans Committee will put him in at some point.  And the world will not end.

Hall of Fame - Asterisk Edition

When I went to the Hall of Fame this summer, one of the things I saw that really stuck out was the infamous 'asterisk ball.'  When Barry Bonds broke the career home run record held by Hank Aaron in 2007, he was vilified by baseball fans across the country.

I've never been a Bonds fan, even before the steroid issues.  He always came across as a kind of jerk, so he wasn't a player I really cared for.  I could see myself as a huge Hank Aaron fan had I grown up in his era.  I think Hammerin' Hank got a point across when a previously taped message was aired when Bonds broke his record as opposed to being there in person.  Message received Hank!

Unfortunately, it doesn't appear as if Bonds' record is going anywhere for a while.  Many felt like Alex Rodriguez would break the record, but injuries seem to be taking a toll on him.  Pujols might have a chance.

I liked seeing the 'asterisk ball' because it is a hot topic still and probably always will be.  I'm glad the Hall didn't sugar coat anything by not displaying the ball.  It would have been nice if they had explained the purpose of the asterisk.  We all know what it means, though.