Trade With Matthew

I follow the "Topps Baseball Card Collectors" page on Facebook.  After I posted a few times asking (begging) folks to let me know if they have the two Brooks Robinson patches I need and then posting looking for Chris Davis and Nolan Reimold parallels, I met a kid named Matthew.  Matthew is 10 and is just starting out with his card collection.  I believe I am the first person he actually traded with, although I know he had a couple others cooking with Scott and Andrew.  Matthew admittedly has a lot to learn when it comes to trading cards, but I have tried to give him a few pointers along the way.  He also started a blog, which you can check out here.

So, I got 3 cards from Matthew in exchange for several Carlos Santana (the Indians catcher, not the amazing guitarist) and Yovanni Gallardo cards.  I didn't mind sending him a few extras, as I have no need for Santana or Gallardo.  Surprisingly, I didn't have the above Chris Davis Chrome refractor from last year's Topps Chrome.  This saves me from thinking I already have it and missing it every time I pick up Davis PC needs.

You saw the Bobby Bundy Bowman Chrome at the top; He is the 'other' Bundy in the Orioles' system.  He's Dylan's older brother and a pretty good pitcher in his own right.  The final card in the package is the above Billy Hamilton Bowman Platinum purple chrome parallel.  This is a really pretty card.  I think I'm going to add it to my RC collection and not flip it for anything.

So, I hope everyone gets a chance to check out Matthew's blog and make him feel welcome to the blogging community.  It's nice to see kids continuing to get involved with cards.  It's a sure sign that our hobby will continue into the future.

Ebay Pickup - 2013 Topps Chris Davis Camo Parallel

I added another piece to the 2013 rainbow of Chris Davis recently when my good buddy Andrew pointed out an Ebay listing of the above card.  I got it for $17.50.  There were others listed as buy it now for $19.99 plus shipping, so I think I did pretty well.

The card looks good.  I still enjoy the camo parallels.  They have so many parallels, it makes working on a rainbow quite the daunting task.  I'm not fazed, however, it gives me a project to work on and something to search on Ebay (or, if yo read above, something for my friends to search).

1969 Topps Pickups From The Antique Shop

I finally was able to sit down and scan some 1969 Topps cards I got from the antique shop in Columbia last weekend.  I picked up 29 cards total and several of them were higher end cards.  I picked up this really cool Bobby Cox rookie.  Someone at the card shop in Winston-Salem had asked me to look for one for them, but they never were willing to pay to get it.  So, I never picked one up for them and completely forgot it was in this set.  Anyway, I'm happy to have it and it is in really good condition.

I saw this Earl Weaver (look how young he is!) and had to add it, too.  He began managing the Orioles halfway through the 1968 season, so this is also his rookie card.  Not bad!

I was especially happy about this card.  Ernie was on the tail end of his career here, but he still looks like he is happy to be playing ball.  I seriously would consider starting an Ernie Banks PC.  Off of the top of my head, I can think of some awesome cards that he has.  The fact that I was also able to get him to sign for free TTM is just a bonus.  Quick trivia question: What do Ernie Banks and I have in common?  Answer: We both attended a Pearl Jam concert in 2013.

Rounding out the Hall of Famers I picked up, I got this nice Joe Morgan.  The card is really sharp.  Morgan is a super nice guy and was amazing to Chris the few times he has met him.  I'll never forget that and I'm sure Chris never will either.

Some other notable cards I got were Orioles: Boog Powell and Elrod Hendricks; rookie cards: Graig Nettles and Amos Otis; and other notable names such as Tommie Aaron, Mayo Smith, Roy White (whom my buddy Drew has met) and Ken 'Hawk' Harrelson.

I think I did really well with these 1969s.  I definitely enjoy this set and can't wait to add more to my collection.

1959 Pickups From the Antique Shop

I'm going to keep this post short since it is late and I got home so late from work, but I wanted to discuss the 1959 Topps cards that I got from the antique shop in Columbia, this past weekend.

I was able to knock out 21 cards that I needed for my set (my wishlist has already been updated to reflect these pickups).

6 of the cards are the Sporting News Rookie Stars of 1959 cards like the one seen above.  They carried a little more of a premium than the other cards I got.

Other than the Rookie Stars cards, most of what I got were commons.  The most notable names were Ruben Amaro (shown above) and Johnny Roseboro.  Even commons in this set cost a little more than I'm used to, but I think a lot of that was due to me dealing with a guy who specialized in vintage cards, which is completely fine.

Anyway, with the Gibson and Mantle already taken care of, I believe I am making great progress on this set.  I still have the Mantle All Star card to get, which is a high number as well.  The thought of getting that and some of the other All Star cards might just be enough to give me a nosebleed.  Yikes.  Anyway, I'm in no rush and am knocking cards out at an impressive clip, so I will just keep on it and see where it takes me.

(Almost) Hall of Fame Signed Baseball - Greg Maddux

It's just a matter of waiting patiently until the announcement is made on January 8, 2014 at 2:00PM, but as of right now, this ball will have to wait to be placed among my Hall of Fame signed baseballs.  This one and possibly a couple more that I have, really.  We'll have to see.

That being said, for the low price of $52.00, I was able to pick up this Greg Maddux signed baseball from Conrad at the Columbia Antique Mall.  Conrad had gotten several cases of the Maddux balls from a private signing (he also had some Glavines, one of which I should have grabbed.  I was really happy with this Maddux, though.

Maddux (b. 1966) played in the majors from 1986 to 2008 for the Cubs, Braves, Dodgers and Padres.  He:

• was a 2-time 20 game winner (1992 and 1993)
• led the NL in wins 3 times (1992, 1994 and 1995)
• set a record (once held by Cy Young) by winning 15 or more games in 17 straight seasons
• won 13 or more games in 20 total seasons
• won the Cy Young Award an unprecedented 4 straight times (1992 through 1995)
• finished second in the Cy Young voting in 1997; 3rd in 1989 and 2000; 4th in 1998; 5th in 1996
• led the NL in ERA 4 times (1993, 1994 1995 and 1998)
• had a season ERA of 2.20 or better 4 times
• had a season ERA of less than 1.64 in two seasons (1.56 in 1994 and 1.63 in 1995)
• won the World Series in 1995 with the Braves
• went 2-3 with a 2.09 ERA in 5 World Series starts
• won the Gold Glove Award 18 times
• was a 8-time All Star
• finished as high as 3rd in the NL MVP voting (1995)
• had a career record of 355-227, ERA of 3.16 with 3,371 strikeouts
• had 109 complete games, 35 of which were shutouts
• is ranked 8th all-time in Wins with 355
• is ranked 10th all-time in Strikeouts with 3,371
• is ranked 1st all-time in putouts by a pitcher with 546

So, based on all of this, I am REALLY happy to have added this ball to my collection.  My only question is, with the voting being announced on January 8th for the 2014 Hall of Fame election, what idiot(s) will leave Maddux off of their ballots?  You and I know that someone will and they will try to make an argument for their decision.  Kind of like the woman last year who tried to say that Shawn Green was a deserving candidate but then said that she didn't vote for Jeff Bagwell because he did steroids.  That is another story all in itself, but you get my point.

Anyway, regardless of the few stupid voters out there, Maddux will be getting a call on January 8 saying that he is a member of the 2014 Hall of Fame class (one that has the potential to be one of the largest in history).  It will be then that this ball will be placed among my collection of Hall of Fame signed baseballs.

A Mystery To Me ***Updated***

I spent this past weekend in Columbia visiting my brother.  As always, I took some time and visited the Columbia Antique Mall to say hello to Conrad, the proprietor of Chic Antiques.  I bought some cards and a ball from him (all of which will be posted later).  Conrad, when looking for Hall of Famers for me, found two unlabeled baseballs which he wasn't sure who the signatures were.  I was able to identify the first ball for him pretty quickly, Rollie Fingers.  The above pictured baseball, however, wasn't as easy to identify.

If anyone recognizes the signature, please shoot me an email, or comment on this page so I can let Conrad know who it is.  I don't have a clue, and I may even be holding it upside down.  Anyone have any ideas?  It doesn't look like any Hall of Famer that I'm familiar with.  He is also somewhat of a Braves fan, so it could be a Brave.  Maybe not.

****UPDATE****
Immediately after I posted this blog entry, my friend Zach identified the signer as Darryl Strawberry.  Now I need to let Conrad know.  Thanks Zach!

Two Boxes From Michael

I've been really slow in getting mail posted on this blog, you know, with all of my Ebay pickups and all.  However, I really wanted to show the interesting stuff I got in two different shipments from my good buddy, Michael.

Michael and I met at Fan Fest this past year, and again at the Orioles game that I took my son, Chris, and my nephew, Jacob.  Michael is a really great guy, and since he has a younger brother who is about Chris's age, he is really awesome with kids.  He and Chris have hit it off and have even skyped together a few times.

Michael also is a baseball player.  We have talked at length about his playing for his school and town team(s) and he is very proud of his playing ability.  He included in the two boxes several game used articles from his 2012 season of school ball.  As you can see in the picture that he is either really generous, or he really wanted to clean out his closet.

In the boxes, he included: 2 signed hats, a signed uniform shirt, a signed under armor shirt, a signed belt, signed pants, a signed bracelet, a signed game used baseball, signed game used (and hopefully washed) socks and a necklace (that he was unable to squeeze a signature on).  We joked that all I need now is a mannequin and I will have a fully dressed baseball player in my man cave.  We joke about all the stuff he sent, but in reality, it is the mere thought that counts.  He's a great guy and I appreciate him thinking of me.  Who knows, maybe he will become a major leaguer and I will have all of this stuff.

He also included a bunch of Orioles stuff.  Some of which I bought off of him, and some of which was part of my birthday present.  Coincidentally, Michael's birthday is 10 days after mine, so with what I sent him for his birthday, it ended up being a trade of sorts.

Anyway, he sent me a stack of mid-90s Hall of Fame magazines.  Those are really cool.  I plan on letting Chris read them to practice his reading.  He sent me the Buckle Up Birds rally towel that was given out during the 2012 stretch run.  Signed Orioles post cards of: Wei-Yin Chen, Joe Durham, Ronny Paulino, Dick Hall, and Cla Meredith.  I got a signed Jason Hammel 8 x 10.  Finally, he included some baseball cards of Orioles, two of which were autographed (TJ McFarland and Jeff Fiorentino).

Michael has quite the memorabilia collection.  Especially his Orioles stuff.  He is always at games and always knows how to find good stuff.  He constantly adds stuff to his Ebay profile, which you can check out here.  He's a really great guy who I enjoy talking Orioles baseball with.  Thanks again for all the stuff, Michael!  It definitely is appreciated.