Trade With Trevor - Manny Machado Auto and a Game Used Ball

My buddy, Trevor, went to the second game of the season this year when the Orioles were in Tampa.  He did some "graphing" before the game and came away with a Manny Machado signed baseball.  Manny's signature has become more and more simplistic over the last few years, resulting in what you see above.

Still, it is really nice, and it didn't take me much to get it from Trevor.  I just hooked him up with several Reds relics and autographs that he wanted.

Trevor also caught a game used baseball that was thrown over the fence at the end of the 8th inning.  That's not where the story ends, though.

Trevor called me on the phone after he caught the ball.  While he was on the phone with me, someone ran onto the field and delayed the game.  As the person was running around, avoiding security, Trevor gave me a play by play.  Finally, the person was apprehended, and brought into the area where Trevor was standing (still on the phone with me).  He later showed me a YouTube video of the altercation, and he can be seen standing off to the side (and on the phone - with me).

He sent me a screenshot of that moment on the video, but I have since cleaned off my phone.  I thought it was really cool, though.

Thanks for the deal, Trevor!

Istagram Pickup - 2015 Topps Museum Collection Orioles Quad Patch

I recently purchased a box of 2015 Topps Museum Collection and busted it.  I already have traded away 2 of the 4 hits and was kind of underwhelmed at the results of the break.  While I love busting boxes, it is so much easier to just seek out the cards you want and buy them up.  That does take a lot of the "thrill of the chase" out of it, but sometimes, it's better to conserve money.  That being said, I do like busting this product and I probably will continue to do so, budget permitting.

Anyway, I looked around after my box break and saw that the Orioles had some nice quad patches available.  I failed to nab a few off of Ebay, and had given up the hunt, until I noticed this on Instagram as I was waiting for my food Friday night (on the way to Columbia).  I made a quick and easy deal with a fellow named John who runs the Instagram handle @phillysportscards.  John and I hammered out a deal within minutes of my initial contact with him through Kik, and consummated the deal via PayPal.  All while I was sitting and waiting for my house salad with hot bacon dressing to arrive at my table (and I assume my steak was on the grill).

This card looked so much better in person when it got here last night, having three of the four relics being patches.  It is numbered 53/75.

A side note, I posted this card on my Instagram page last night and almost immediately, one of the folks on there had to comment "Nice card, too bad it has two steroid users on it."  Why is it that people feel the need to make comments like that.  He responded later that he meant no disrespect, but really, why make the comment in the first place?  It reminded me of the time I posted a Wade Boggs signed baseball on there and someone commented "There is a smudge on the ball."  Really?  Like I didn't see that on my own ball.  Some people, these days!

Anyway, I like the card, and ALL of the players on it.  I plan on watching out for others that have some nice patches, but at this moment, I am content with just this one.  I appreciate the deal I made with John, and I hope that he can check out this blog.

Top 10 Wishlist Pickup - 1954 Topps Ernie Banks RC

Yeah, it might grade at a 1, and looks pretty rough, but I now am in possession of one of the rookie cards that I have been wanting for a long time.  I got this 1954 Topps Ernie Banks RC at the Columbia antique shop this past weekend.  I saw it among the vintage cards that he had, and at a pretty good price.  I was able to get Conrad to take the price down a little further, and pulled the trigger on the card.

I'm really happy to have found this card.  I was afraid I wouldn't be able to get one at a good price, but luckily, I was able to find this one.  I also was glad that I was able to get it from Conrad, because I enjoy supporting his business.  I might have been able to find one in this condition a bit cheaper on Ebay, but in the end, I like this one, and the price I paid.  That's all that matters.

Have I Ever Told You How Awesome My Mom Is?

While my family was visiting my brother in Columbia, SC this weekend, my mom had mentioned how she had wanted to visit the antique shop while we were down there.  I had gone by there right when they opened at 10:00 AM because I had emailed the shop owner to tell him what I needed and I wanted to make sure that I got by there.  I always hated pulling out a bunch of cards for someone, only to have them not show up, and with us not really being sure as to what our plans were for after the Crawfish Festival, I didn't want to take the chance that he would be closed after we finished the Festval.

So, I went by there first thing Saturday, while everyone else was getting ready for the Festival.  I sorted through his '59s, discussed the DiMaggio ball, and searched for a few cards for a friend's birthday.  I had wanted to meet up with everyone so we could all get to the Crawfish Festival at 11:00, but I took 15 minutes too long.  No problem, though, because I was able to run by the grocery store and pick up a few things on my way, which ended up working out.

Anyway, I had texted Mom to tell her that I was about to finish up at the shop, and got a response from her that said "You were supposed to wait for me!  I wanted to go!"  So, I asked the shop owner and he confirmed that he closed at 5:30, so I told Mom that we could always go back, I just wouldn't be able to buy anything else.

That ended up working out, because we were done at the Crawfish Festival by 3:00 and a few of my brothers wanted to go back to Adam's place and either take naps or play Madden on XBox.  That made it so that my wife, my mom and my sister, Christy, could all check out the antique shop.

It was nice going there and not feeling like I HAD to search the cards, since I had already done so earlier in the day.  I walked around a bit and checked out the other antiques that he had for sale as Mom and my wife looked around.  Mom started noticing things that some of my brothers would like, such as an old 1950s Street & Smith magazine with a Miami Hurricanes player on the cover for one of my brothers and an antique tobacco pipe with a case for another brother.

Mom asked me to show her where all of the baseball cards were, since she is also a fan of them, so I took her to his section where he had a bunch of vintage stars in some display cases.  She, being a former Yankee fan, quickly noticed a few of the Mickey Mantle cards that were on display.  There was a 1958 Topps Mantle All Star for a good price, and also a 1958 Mantle for around $500.00.  She asked me why they were so high, and I explained that Mantle was always a good find, whether you were a Yankee fan or not.  She then asked me how many I had, and I told her that I had a couple.  Then she asked, "...well, do you have any of these?  Would you want one of them?"  My response was in the affirmative, of course, so she said "I can get you one, if you want one, it can be an early birthday present or something."  My eyes lit up, as she pretty much gave me a budget on what she would do, so I looked at a few of the cards that he had.

One of the Mantles we looked at had a pretty significant tear on it, so I didn't really want to spend that price on it, but I did see the 1960 Topps Mantle sitting in a corner of the case, at a good price, just above the budget that Mom had set.  I had the shop owner (Conrad) take the card out so I could look it over.  I also was able to talk him down on the price, since I had spent so much earlier, and since he had a sale in the bag with the other items that Mom was getting.

One catch was, however, the nice Jackie Robinson 1954 Topps card that was sitting front and center in the case...

I didn't own any Jackie Robinson cards, other than the 1955 Topps card that is in my set.  I have a good friend who has one, and I always thought it was a beautiful card.  Its price was also just above Mom's budget, so I had Conrad take it out so I could compare it with the Mantle.  Mom looked over bother cards as well.  While I stood there contemplating which card to get, and enduring several eye-rolls from my 15-year old sister, Mom asked me which card I was going to choose.  I told her that it was a really tough decision, but since she was the one buying the "birthday present", she could decide for me and I would be happy either way.

So, she PUSHES me out of the way and says "Let me talk it over with the shop owner, and it will be a surprise of which card you will get."  So, we are shooed away from them while they conducted business; I walked around the shop and looked at some tobacco cards that he had in a separate case, then chatted with my wife for a bit.  Mom made a purchase, and we left the shop.

In the car, she opens her bag and pulls out BOTH cards.  She wasn't able to choose between the two of them, either.  So, according to Mom, my birthday (in September) and Christmas are already spoken for, this year!  That is fine by me!

She went through the receipt and showed me that Conrad had given her awesome deals on each of the items that she had bought.  I really think he enjoyed that we came back to the shop and he also enjoyed chatting with my mom as she bought from him.

I am now the proud owner of both, a 1960 Topps Mickey Mantle and a 1954 Topps Jackie Robinson.  The Mantle can go alongside the 1959 (in my set), 1962, 1964, 1967 and 1969 (in my set) that I have.  I'm surprised that I have that many Mantles, really.  Especially since I'm not a Yankee fan at all.  I think any baseball card fan and look at any Mantle and realize how iconic he is on a card.

The Jackie is equally as amazing.  That 1954 set is an awesome set, and I actually have quite a few of them.  I might be poised to begin the set sometime soon, and the Jackie pushes it forward quite a bit.  Add in the fact that a purchase I made earlier in the day even furthers the set, if I choose to build it soon, but you'll have to wait til my next post to see what I'm talking about there.

So, thank you so much, Mom, for really hooking me up with these awesome cards.  Browsing through the antique shop with you really reminded me of our times going into the old shop when I was a kid and looking at all of the cards.  I felt like a little kid, again!  Except that Conrad doesn't look like Rafael Palmeiro.

Thanks, Mom!  I love you!

Antique Shop Pickups - 1959 Topps Set Needs

I made quite a few purchases at the Columbia antique shop.  I'll break them up into a few posts, so keep an eye out for them.  This post will center around the set needs that I picked up for my 1959 Topps set.

This Al Kaline card is a little rough, but I like it nonetheless.  Kaline was one of the last big names that I needed, so I was happy to take it off of the list.

I didn't realize that I still needed Hoyt Wilhelm for the set.  This one is a nice card that I got for pretty cheap.  I'm pretty sure that I don't need any more Hall of Famers, but I probably should consult a checklist.  I've been wrong in the past.

Finally, here is a nice group card of the Cubs, including Ernie Banks.  I still need a few of these, and some of them carry a bit of a premium.

In all, I picked up 37 cards for my 1959 set.  This definitely pushes the set along for me.  I still need quite a few high numbers, but this set should be completed this year.  That is my goal, at least.

Hall of Fame Signed Baseball - Joe DiMaggio

I visited the antique shop in Columbia, SC today and left there with a ton of stuff.  One of the more notable items I got (and I got a few) was my 110th baseball signed by a Hall of Famer.

Joe DiMaggio (b. 1914 - d. 1999) played in the majors from 1936 to 1942 and 1946 to 1951 for the New York Yankees.  He had 2,214 hits, 361 home runs and a career batting average of .325.  He was a 13-time All Star (every season he played), two-time batting champ (.381 in 1939 and .352 in 1940) and was a three-time AL MVP (1939, 1941 and 1947).

Dimaggio won the World Series nine out of the ten times he played for the title.  He won in 1936 through 1939, 1941, 1947, 1949, 1950 and 1951.  Only Yogi Berra has more rings than DiMaggio did.

DiMaggio is the owner of one of the records that baseball may never see broken, a 56-game hitting streak.  DiMaggio accomplished the feat in 1941.  That is one of those records that you will likely never see broken, much like Cal Ripken's consecutive games streak, or Cy Young's wins record.  DiMaggio was an excellent hitter who could have achieved muchmore, had his career not been interrupted in its prime due to World War II.

DiMaggio was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1955 when he was named to 88.8% of the ballot.  He had appeared on the ballot in 1953 and 1954, but wasn't elected (he also appeared on the ballot as a player in 1945).  His inclusion on the '53 and '54 ballots were largely due to the fact that it was always hinted that he night come out of retirement.  He is the reason for the 5-year waiting period on the current Hall of Fame ballot.

Care Package From Sam H.

I have learned that there are a lot of guys named Sam on Instagram.  When I went back to figure out what the screen name of the guy who sent me this care package, it took me quite a while to figure out which one it was.  Luckily, I figured it out, and sportscards33 is the guy who hooked me up with a nice care package of Orioles cards.

In the package, there were several Brooks Robinson cards that I needed, like the Canvas Collection card at the top and this World Series Heroes card.  Brooks is awesome, and I hope to be able to get a voucher to meet him again at this year's National.  That is my goal, and it is a pretty attainable one, at that.

Finally, here is a nice emerald parallel of Cal Ripken from 2014 Topps Museum Collection.  This is numbered 160/199.  You can never go wrong with Museum Collection, in my opinion.  It is really one of my favorite sets.

Thanks so much for the care package, Sam!  I really appreciate it, and I will plan on doing some deals with you in the future!