Bout Dang Time

My 174th Hall of Famer on a baseball is someone I've advocated to get into the Hall for quite some time.  Dave Parker finally got in via the Veterans Committee this past December.  It's about time.  Parker is battling Parkinson's, so it is especially good to see him get the call while he is still living. 

I may upgrade my ball at some point and get one with a HOF inscription, but above is one I got in 2012 via TTM. Congratulations to the Cobra for finally getting into the Hall of Fame. 

2022 National Paid Signer - Dave Parker

Dave Parker was one of the paid signers at this year's National that I just wanted to meet in person.  I didn't have any special cards of his put aside, so I went to Ebay and bought this 2002 Upper Seck SP Legendary Cuts.  The card looks great.

Parker's signature is getting shakier.  He was diagnosed with Parkinson's a while back, and it seems to be taking a toll.  That was the main reason why I wanted to get him in person.  He was nice enough, but you could tell the disease has him worn down.  The guy should be in the Hall of Fame, as well.

I enjoyed meeting Parker, and at that price point, it was a no-brainer.

Another TTM Success From Dave Parker

I wasn't going to bother Dave Parker again with another TTM request, but I found a couple of his rookie cards at a card show for a great price, so I picked them up.  I sent one to my buddy, Nate, and I sent the other to Parker to be signed and added to my autograph album.

The 1974 Topps looks great, and I am glad I sent it off to be signed.  I mailed the card on October 13 via PastPros and got the card back on October 27, for a 14-day TAT.  With PastPros fees, I paid a total of $23.50 for the autograph.

TTM Success - Dave Parker, again

I had gotten Dave Parker TTM way back in 2010 or 2011 on a ball.  Recently, I decided I would try to get as many 1987 Topps as I could, so I figured I would send these two cards off and try him again.  Since Parker has Parkinson's Disease, I wanted to get these out while he was still signing.  Rumor has it, he won't be signing for much longer.

Parker (b. 1951) played in the majors from 1973 to 1991 for the Pirates, Reds, A's, Brewers, Angels and Blue Jays.  He had 2,712 hits, 339 home runs and a .290 batting average.  The 1978 NL MVP was also a 2-time batting champ (1977 and 1978).  He finished in the top 10 in the MVP voting 6 times and was an All Star 7 times (1977, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1985, 1986 and 1990).  Parker was also a Gold Glove Award winner in 1977, 1978 and 1979 and a Silver Slugger Award winner in 1985, 1986 and 1990.  Parker won the World Series with the Pirates in 1979 and the A's in 1989.

For some crazy reason, Dave Parker is not in the Hall of Fame.  Jim Rice is in with similar awards and similar stats.  Parker lasted 15 years on the ballot, the then maximum that anyone could remain on the ballot.  He only received at most 24.5% of the vote.  His last chance was in 2011, and he only received 15.3% of the vote that year, well short of the required 75%.  Now, Parker's only chance at the Hall is via the Veterans committee.  He will be eligible this December for the Veterans Committee vote, but with other popular players such as Alan Trammell, Jack Morris and Lou Whitaker on that ballot, it doesn't look like Parker will make it this time, either.

I mailed to Parker on October 26 and got the cards back on October 23 for a 7-day TAT.  I paid his fee of $20/card.

Birthday Gifts From Mom - What's a Charleston Charlie?

Mom woke me up last Saturday because I was sleeping in her guest bedroom and she and Dad were getting ready to head to a race.  So, I was half-asleep when she presented me with a gift bag for my birthday.  I don't recall where she told me she found this Charleston Charlies t-shirt, but it is pretty cool.  Cool because my youngest brother's nickname is Charlie and our new cat's name is Charlie.  Pretty cool.  However, I don't have a clue who the Charleston Charlies were.

Because you can find out anything with a simple Google search, I learned that the Charleston Charlies were a Triple-A team located in Charleston West Virginia from 1971 to 1983.  They were the former Charleston Jets, then relocated to Maine in 1984 to become the Maine Guides.  They now are known as the Scranton-Wilkes Barre Railriders.  The Charlies were affiliated with the Pirates from 1971 to 1976; Astros from 1977 to 1979; Rangers in 1980 and the Indians from 1981 to 1983.  Dave Parker and Tony LaRussa are a couple of many former stars who were Charleston Charlies.

Mom also picked up a Richmond Flying Squirrels shirt that looks really cool.  If Richmond can hold onto the team, maybe I can wear it to a game.

Mom also included this cool Cal Ripken acetate card from 2013 Panini Pinnacle in with my birthday card that came in the mail a couple days before my birthday.  The card isn't numbered, but looks really cool.  I'm glad to add it to my Cal PC.

I could write a whole series of blog posts about how awesome my mom is.  While I'm certain that she would just Love for me to do that, I will just advise that one can simply click on the "mom" tag at the bottom of this post and let all of my past blogs do the talking for me.  I will say that Mom always helped support my hobbies, ever since I was leaving coins lying on the floor at 8 years old.  She always showed an interest in what all of us were doing, and many times, collected alongside us.  She still buys packs of cards here and there.  Someone should tell her, though, that they have not printed any cards showing shirtless David Lough.

Thanks for the birthday presents, Momma!  I love them, and I love you!

Mailday From Bruce - Continuing To Rake In Awesome Autos and Relics

In what has been an increasing trend around here, I completed another huge deal that landed me quite a few nice cards.  I honestly don't remember what I sent Bruce, but I know a couple of the cards I sent him were a Gypsy Queen auto of Neil Walker and a Topps Chrome auto of Andrew Lambo.  This Dave Parker auto from 2014 Topps Five Star was the key to our deal.

This card is amazing (and really darn thick!).  I feel like I got a steal from Bruce, to be honest.  I like Parker and think he really should be in the Hall of Fame, especially since Jim Rice is in now.

Bruce had this 2014 Panini Immaculate Chris Davis relic posted on his Instagram for quite a while and had told several people that if it ever was for sale or trade, it would only be to me.  Well, I finally was able to pick it up.  The card is numbered 85/99.  I think that Panini did a fantastic job in 2014 with their products.  I know a lot of people don't like that they don't have logos on their stuff, but I, myself, don't feel like it takes too much away from the product.  My only issue is that a lot of their stuff, if it is a two-team market like New York or Chicago, they don't make it very clear which team the player plays on.

Bruce also included some items as throw ins that I could use as trade bait.  One such card was this 2011 Topps Marquee Hanley Ramirez jumbo relic.  There is a little damage on the back of the card, but I have a feeling that the Hanley fans that I know wont have an issue with it.  We'll see.

Uggh, Dustin Pedroia on my blog, where's the Lysol?  Bruce included several Spring Fever cards in the package.  Since the owner of my LCS gave me a complete set of these yesterday, I can trade the loose ones that I have.  I know some Red Sox fans who could be interested in this one as well.

There were a bunch of rookie and draft pick cards in the package as well.  Some of them I might be willing to trade, while others would probably be placed into my RC box and put up for a while.  I always enjoy going through the RC box and seeing who's cards I have that I didn't realize would be stars at the time (this helped me find 3 Mike Trout RCs that I forgot about - even though I still think he is overrated... :p).

Finally, I close with this 2014 Topps Hi Tek Sonny Gray.  Again, I really enjoy Hi Tek.  There is something about acetate cards that really appeals to me.  I have his auto coming in from this product, it should be here any day.  This will help with my fledgling Gray PC, which has grown quite a bit over the last few weeks.

The cool thing about all of these trades (with the exception of my deal with Michael) is that I have landed all of these awesome cards, yet I haven't spent a whole lot of money.  Now that my wife is back to work after her surgery, money isn't as tight, but during that time, I had been relatively quiet on Ebay.  Now that things are settling down, I can pick up a few more set needs on the 'Bay and continue to work out trades for other PC stuff.  The period of the last few months has been a lot of fun, the wheeling and dealing aspect of it.  I plan on working hard to keep up with my trade bait, and even trading for more.  I learned that I don't always have to trade for PC stuff.  Sometimes, trading for trade bait is even more fun.

Thanks for the deal, Bruce!  I really appreciate it, and you know I love the cards!

TTM Success - Dave Parker

Finally, another TTM has come in.  I sent a ball to Dave Parker on March 10 and got it back today, March 16.  A 6-day turnaround, which is pretty darn fast!  I had to send a check for $25 to Mr. Parker for the signature, but I believe it was well worth it.

I wish I had thought to ask for an inscription, but I didn't think of it when I wrote my note to him.  It would have been nice to get 'Cobra' inscribed on the ball.  Oh well.  It still looks great!

Chris and I went to the Kinston card shop and picked up a bunch of stuff to be blogged later, but I thought it was cool when he opened his 50 cent pack of 1989 Donruss and got this Dave Parker card.  It worked out perfectly.

Parker played in the majors from 1973 to 1991 for the Pirates, Reds, A's, Brewers, Angels and Blue Jays amassing 2,712 hits, 339 home runs and a .290 batting average.  The 1978 NL MVP, he has numbers that ALMOST warrant a ticket to Cooperstown.  I doubt he will get in, but you never know.

I'm really glad I got a TTM in, I was starting to get worried.  He is now my 48th TTM success.  Here's to hoping I get a few more in the coming days.

My 2011 Hall of Fame Ballot

Tomorrow, we will find out who will complete the Hall of Fame class of 2011. Here is the complete ballot:

Roberto Alomar
Jeff Bagwell
Harold Baines
Bert Blyleven
Juan Gonzalez
Barry Larkin
Edgar Martinez
Tino Martinez
Don Mattingly
Fred McGriff
Mark McGwire
Jack Morris
Dale Murphy
Rafael Palmeiro
Dave Parker
Tim Raines
Lee Smith
Alan Trammell
Larry Walker
John Olerud
Kevin Brown
B.J. Surhoff
Marquis Grissom
John Franco
Brett Boone
Al Leiter
Benito Santiago
Carlos Baerga
Raul Mondesi
Bobby Higginson
Charles Johnson
Kirk Reuter
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If I had a vote, which would be awesome, I would vote for the following (a 10-year tenured member of the Baseball Writer's Association of America receives a ballot on December 1 and must turn their ballot in on December 31. They are allowed to choose up to 10 candidates):
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Roberto Alomar - Probably the best second baseman of this era. He was a member of the 1992 and 1993 World Champion Blue Jays. To me, the spitting incident with umpire John Hirshbeck is a non-issue because he apologized a long time ago, was forgiven and the two are close friends now.
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Bert Blyleven - Some people close to me don't feel that Blyleven is a Hall of Famer because he doesn't compare to the likes of Bob Feller, Sandy Koufax, etc... My thought is: You can't compare them because that would be like comparing apples to dinosaurs. At the time of his retirement, Blyleven was third all-time in strikeouts and ninth all-time in shutouts. Since then, he was passed by Roger Clemens and Randy Johnson. He won the World Series with the Pirates in 1979 (Pirates), and 1987 (Twins).
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Rafael Palmeiro - I explored Raffy's HOF candidacy here.
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Jeff Bagwell - Jeff Bagwell played in the Steroid Era. Jeff Bagwell deflated at the end of his career. Do I believe Jeff Bagwell did steroids? No, I do not. He never tested positive and has never been linked in any way that I have seen. It is completely unfair, given the evidence that we have today to label Bagwell as a 'user.' So what that he deflated at the end of his career. He had an arthritic shoulder that made it impossible for him to work out. Just because there were 'whispers' isn't enough for me to keep him out. He was one of the best first basemen out there during his career. He won the 1994 NL MVP, had 449 career home runs, 2,314 hits and hit .297 lifetime. In my opinion, he's a lock.
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Jack Morris - I have a friend who is a huge Jack Morris fan and he doesn't believe that Morris should gain entry into the Hall of Fame. My argument is this: If Bert Blyleven gets into the Hall of Fame, then Jack Morris should as well. They are very similar pitchers, albeit, Blyleven pitched for more seasons. Something that I feel gets forgotten is that Morris was 'lights out' in the postseason. He led the 1984 Tigers, 1991 Twins and 1992 Blue Jays to victories in the World Series. No other pitcher had more wins in the 1980s than Morris. That has to speak for something. He never won a Cy Young award, but I'm not too worried about that. If I had to pick a starting pitcher in his prime to start a World Series game for me, I would have no problem picking Morris.
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Fred McGriff - 493 home runs is hard to argue with. Like Jeff Bagwell, mentioned above, McGriff was never linked to any steroid suspicion that I am aware of. Based on that, McGriff's numbers stand out more than ever. He was a bona-fide leader on many of the Braves teams of the 1990's that perennially made the playoffs. He helped the Braves win the championship in 1995. McGriff is definitely worthy of election to the Hall and will get in sooner than later.
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Dave Parker - Much like McGriff, Parker's numbers should see a boost now, since writers are re-considering past players who did not play in the Steroid Era or were not linked in any way to performance enhancing drugs. So, why, then is the 1978 NL MVP, 2-time batting champ (1977 and 1978) and 2-time World Series winner (1979 - Pirates and 1989 - A's) not enshrined? He has 2,712 career hits, 339 career home runs and .290 batting average. What's the deal? The issue? Parker's cocaine abuse. Ouch. Imagine how amazing Parker's numbers would have been if Parker was not addicted to the drug in the early 1980's. Wow. We are living in a forgiving society, and with the current success of recovering addict Josh Hamilton, I believe it is time to give Parker his due.
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So, there you have it. My Choices for the 2011 Hall of Fame - Roberto Alomar, Bert Blyleven, Rafael Palmeiro, Jeff Bagwell, Jack Morris, Fred McGriff and Dave Parker. I resisted my initial urge to include Harold Baines, who was a good player who would have 3,000 hits if he had not been traded from Chicago twice. I also do not believe Barry Larkin is a Hall of Famer, even though most people do. There are a few who I believe deserve some consideration (Mattingly, Trammell), but I did not feel like they should at this time. Feel free to disagree with me, which I know many of you do, but I assure you that i took this seriously.
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I also don't believe in turning in a blank ballot. That's complete horesh*t. Baseball writers, you have the privilege to vote, use it. Just because Babe Ruth or Ty Cobb didn't get in unanimously doesn't mean you should be stupid and turn in a blank ballot. Your vote should be taken away and given to someone who deserves it. Ok, I'm off of my soapbox. I hope you guys enjoyed the read.