Rest In Peace - Monte Irvin

Over the course of the last two days, two huge names have left this world and have moved on to the next one.

I was shocked and blown away yesterday morning to hear that music icon, David Bowie had passed away sometime Sunday.

Today, when I was checking on some Oriole news on Twitter, I saw that Hall of Famer Monte Irvon had passed away at age 96.  Irvin wasn't necessarily a shock, since he was 96, but it still stung nonetheless.  He was a baseball pioneer, one of the last remaining players of a bygone era.  He was also very good to fans and a great TTM signer.

The above baseball was one I got TTM back in 2010, which I have since flipped to my good friend, Andrew.  I had replaced that ball with a PSA one from Historic Autographs Ball of Fame.

Irvin was one of the oldest living baseball players at the time of his passing, and was the second longest tenured Hall of Famer (Sandy Koufax is the longest tenured living Hall of Famer, having been elected in 1972).

Irvin was a great ball player in his time and is regarded as one of the best to have come out of the Negro Leagues.  It was widely speculated back then that he would be the player who would break the color barrier, but Branch Rickey went with Jackie Robinson instead.

Rest in peace, Monte Irvin.

Christmas Gift From Sam

 

 I got half of my Christmas gift from my good friend, Sam, recently, with the other half on the way.  He says it is going to be something really good.  I don't know, though, because I really loved this half of it.  Ok, he told me what it is, and he's right, it's really amazing.  Sam got me some really cool cards to go with the gift, but the second half was delayed.  This Chris Davis patch from 2014 Panini National Treasures is really awesome.  It is a nice piece of patch numbered 9/25.

Sam hooked me up with another 2009 Bowman Sterling Nolan Reimold auto.  I love these cards, and am happy he sent it, regardless of how many I own.

Another card, among the many he sent, was this 2006 Bowman Futures Game relic of Nolan.  I had one of these already, but am happy for more.  With Nolan autos and relics, I don't care if I have duplicates.  I like getting any and all of them that I can get my hands on.

Thank you so much for the gifts, Sam!  You didn't have to get me anything else, but I'm happy you thought well enough of me to do so!

Card Show Pickup - 1954 Topps Al Kaline RC

I believe I have started my collecting in 2016 off with a bang.  Last week, I got three Hall of Fame signed baseballs for my collection.  This week, I knocked a card off of my Top Ten Wishlist, the 1954 Topps Al Kaline rookie card.

This card has been on my wishlist for a long time, ever since a former friend of mine picked one up at a show back in 2009 or so for $80.  That card had a huge crease down the front.  This card, I got for cheaper than that, but it is far from perfect.  It has some creasing, but overall, looks great.

The vendor I got the card from is one I try to buy from whenever I get the chance.  He is a really good guy, and always works with me on pricing.  I bought another card from him, but I will wait to show it.  He also had another card that was on my Top Ten, but I didn't pull the trigger on that one.  I may get it at another show, but the condition held me back some on it as well.  We will see how it goes.  I'm just happy to finally cross this one off.

Ebay Pickup - 2015 Topps Mini Chris Davis Red Parallel

I signed up for EBay bucks recently at the behest on one of my Instagram friends (I think it was Nick S., but I'm not sure).  I got my first email from Ebay Bucks and was able to use the ones I had earned to get almost half price on this 2015 Topps Mini Chris Davis numbered 4/5.

The list price was $29.99 shipped, and I got $12 off, so I think I got a nice steal on it.  I think the card looks really cool, so I am glad I was able to pick it up.  I was more worried about not getting one because they are so short printed, so I really made my move pretty quick.  I probably would have bought it, even without the Ebay Bucks discount.

There is another red parallel of Davis listed on Ebay.  I have considered going ahead and getting that one, too, but I don't really have $30 to spend on a card I already have at the moment.  Maybe I will leave it for some other Davis super collector.

Partial Christmas Gift From Max

I have made a lot of friends in this hobby, from the day in October 2006 when I started helping out at the former card shop in Winston-Salem, to when I started this blog in November 2008 to when I joined the Instagram card community in November of 2013.  One of the friends that count among the best of the best is my good friend, Max.  He and I have been trading for a long time now, and hung out at the National this past summer.  We text and skype almost every day.  He is an amazing person, whom I can't imagine being without.

Max sent me what he says was half of my Christmas gift.  The above Fergie Jenkis ball was something he picked up in person about a month ago for me, so I used it as an opportunity to upgrade the ball that I had.  Mine was one of my original TTM successes, but was on a China ball with a bad pen, so it has faded quite a bit.

This one looks so much better and is on an OMLB ball.  Definitely an upgrade!

Max knew someone who was doing some "graphing" recently, and was able to take every Bob Milacki card that I could find and turned them into autos.  Max and I 50/50'ed the cards and here are a few of the notable ones.

I love 1989 Topps's design, so I had to show this one.  It looks really cool signed.  I need to get myself into more TTMs on cards, because I feel like TTM autos give some of the 80s-90s cards new life, so to speak.

Speaking of 80s-90s cards, here is a nice signed 1989 Donruss, followed by the below 1990 Donruss.

In all, Max sent me 9 Milacki signed cards.  Not bad at all!  I'm really happy with them, and they will go into my TTM binder.

Max also included some signed cards by other former Orioles.  This 2012 Robert Andino is a nice one.

I was surprised last year to see that Adam Loewen popped back up in the majors in the Phillies pitching staff.  I guess his left arm is feeling better now after taking a few years off from pitching and playing as a position player.

Finally, this really cool Xavier Avery auto on a 2012 Topps.  Avery is back with the Orioles as a minor league signing.  He will try to break camp with the O's in Spring Training.  I feel like he is outfield depth at AAA, but not a bad deal on a milb contract.

So, thank you so much for the awesome package, Max.  As always, I appreciate it!

Ebay Pickup - 1969 Topps Rollie Fingers Rookie Card

With the little bit of Christmas money that I had left over following my purchase of the three Hall of Fame balls that I added, I was able to knock a key piece off of my 1969 set.

This Rollie Fingers rookie card was one of the higher profile cards that I needed.  To be honest, I had no idea that Fingers's rookie card was in this set, until I looked at a checklist to see what big name cards remained.

I was able to knock it out for $9.95 shipped on Ebay, which is a steal, I think.  I have seen these go for around $25 or so, so I made sure to not let this deal pass me by.

The 1969 set is a goal of mine for this year.  I have been working on it long enough, and it is time to close it out.  Here's to hoping I can meet that goal this year.

Welcome The Two Newest Members of the Hall of Fame

Today is one of my favorite days of the year, the day when the BBWAA announces the newest members to be enshrined in the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

While I had hoped that four names would be announced, only two made it this year.  It was a foregone conclusion that Ken Griffey, Jr. would make it on his first try.  He will be joined in Cooperstown by former slugger, Mike Piazza.

Jeff Bagwell and Tim Raines narrowly missed the cut, so it is highly likely that those two will be among the group called next year.

I had hoped that Bagwell would make it, since I already have a baseball signed by him; it would have made my HOF total go up.  I had a chance to pick up a Griffey at the National for a ridiculous price, but I passed because I felt it was too good to be true.

With tonight's announcement, that gives me two more guys I can pursue for my collection, which is nice.  This beats the Veterans Committee (or whatever they are calling it these days) because those guys are a lot harder to find.

Griffey received the highest voting percentage in history, with 99.3% after being named on all but 3 ballots.  He breaks the record that was held by Tom Seaver who had 98.84% in 1992.  I want to know who the three idiots are that felt that Griffey wasn't a Hall of Famer.

Next year, Bagwell and Raines will be on the ballot along with newcomers Vladimir Guerrero, Ivan Rodriguez and Manny Ramirez.  I'm interested in seeing what happens with Ramirez, since he was pegged twice for PED use.  Ivan Rodriguez is a Hall of Famer in my mind, but he was named in Jose Canseco's book as a user and deflated once MLB started testing.  I would like to see him get in, but we shall see.

Overall, I am please with how the vote turned out today.  I'm glad the BBWAA took votes away from folks (about 100).  I think they should continue to do so to the people who use the voting process as a means for attention.  I think the changes made to the process, though, have worked.  You're still seeing the right guys get in, I feel.  There are a few over the last several years that I kind of question (Larkin being the most obvious one), but in the end, I like the process.