Hall of Fame Signed Baseball - Kirby Puckett

My first HOF ball in a little while came today.  I got it off of Ebay (I got bored while my wife and son were out of town) and actually got it for a whole lot cheaper than his baseballs are selling in Buy It Now style auctions.

Puckett (b. 1960 - d. 2006) played in the majors from 1984 to 1995 for the Minnesota Twins.  Beloved all throughout baseball and especially Minnesota, Puckett was one of my favorite players growing up.  It was a shame to hear about some of the trouble he had gotten into toward the end of his life.  Also, it was one of the saddest days that I remember when I heard that he had a stroke.  It was just a terrible end to such a beloved player.

He played only 12 seasons in the majors before his career ended after he lost vision in his right eye.  He had 2,304 career hits, 207 home runs and a .318 lifetime batting average.  He was the 1989 AL batting champion.  He won the World Series with the Twins in 1987 and 1991.  He hit over 200 hits in five of the twelve seasons in which he played.  His number 34 was retired by the Twins in 1997 and he was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2001 with 82.1% of the vote (his first year of eligibility).

Puckett is my 83rd Hall of Famer.  The ball was one of the Historic Autographs Ball of Fame offerings and is PSA/DNA graded and authenticate.  It has an autograph grade of 7, ball grade of 6 and an overall grade of 6.5.

Andrew is Having a Group Break

Andrew over at Andrew's Baseball Cards is going a group break of 2013 Gypsy Queen:

• 24 Packs Per Box, 10 Cards Per Pack
• (2) Autograph Cards and (2) Relic Cards Per Box!
• (1) 10-Card Mini Box Per Hobby Box!
• Look for Bat Barrels and Mini Button Cards!

There are 15 slots up for grabs.   $12 a slot.  When purchasing a slot, you get your team of choice (if available) and also a random team.  Seems like a good deal to me.  Here is the link to his post:

http://andrewsbaseballcards.blogspot.com/2013/04/box-break-2013-gypsy-queen-hobby.html

No Mail Lately

I haven't gotten any good mail since my Virgil Trucks Photo Negative (and a thank you card from his daughter for sending her the audio copy of my interview).  I have a couple things pending, but who knows when they will arrive.

So, after being disappointed by a close loss by the O's tonight (man, they are swinging the bats!), I figured I better get something posted.  Here is that something.

Recently, I went to the card shop and got a few packs of 2013 Heritage.  In the last pack, I pulled this mini parallel of Detroit Tigers' pitcher, Max Scherzer.  It is hand numbered 100/100 (OH DEAR LORD, EBAY ONE OF ONE!!!!!).  Ahem.  It is hand numbered 100/100, which is kind of cool (Why couldn't I pull Verlander?).

Scherzer is pretty good (but he's not Verlander), so I guess I'm cool with pulling it.  I know a few Tiger fans who would love to have it, so, yeah, trade bait?

If anyone it interested, please shoot me an email.  Thanks!

Something a Little Different In The Mail

I found something really cool on Ebay the other day, an original photo negative of Virgil Trucks in the Detroit locker room from 1941 (his rookie season).  I need to figure out a way to get it developed.  There are a couple photo places around here that could probably do it, but I'm not sure what they would charge.  A friend from work suggested that I try the Photography Department of ECU and see if they could do it.  I might send them an email and see.  If anyone else has any ideas, I'm listening.  It looks like it will be a cool photo once it is developed.

Mailday - Virgil Trucks Signed Photo

I sent an email to my friend (and friend of the blog) Mr. Don McNair last week letting him know that Virgil Trucks had passed away.  Mr. McNair's father, Eric McNair, and Mr. Trucks played on the 1941 Tigers together and both had been members of the Philadelphia/Kansas City Athletics organization in their careers.  Mr. McNair (Don) had met Mr. Trucks during an Athletics Alumni luncheon a while back and conversed at times.  On one of those occasions, Mr. Trucks sent Mr. McNair a signed photo.  Well, when I mentioned to Mr. McNair that Mr. Trucks had passed, I made a comment about how I wanted to get a nice photo of him to put on my wall in my 'man cave.'  Mr. McNair responded and said "Don't buy one.  I have one, signed, that I will put in the mail to you!"  The photo arrived today.

I'm so lucky that I have been able to interact with some really nice folks during the life of this blog.  It makes the collecting experience that much more fun and rewarding.  I think, aside from Mr. Trucks, I have conversed with Mr. McNair the most about the hobby and the history of the game.  I really wish there were more folks like them so that the rich history of the game could be passed along so easily.

Thank you again for the photo, Mr. McNair, it is definitely in good hands!

O's Win The Opener

I was able to catch a good portion of the Orioles season opener this afternoon and was pleased to see the Orioles beat David Price and the Tampa Bay Rays 7 to 4.  Jason Hammel looked really sharp and the O's brought their bats to Tampa, culminating with a 7th inning 3-run blast by Chris Davis, who had followed Adam Jones' 2-run double and Matt Wieters' double.

What a great way to start off the season.  I knew beating Price would be tough.  The O's need to keep swinging the sticks against the tough Tampa hitters.

Happy Opening Day

The look on Jonathan Papelbon's face describes how I feel.  Opening Night was last night, followed (mostly) by Opening Day today.  I watched the Astros - Rangers game in its entirety yesterday and plan on catching a game or two tonight.  I was disappointed when I found out that I have to wait until tomorrow to watch the Orioles open their season against the Rays.  The game is at 3PM, so I will still be at work.  Darn.  Anyway, I hope you all enjoy Opening Day!