Instagram Pickup - 2014 Topps Chrome Chris Davis Red Parallel

I was tagged in a post on Instagram recently where a kid named Aiden was selling this 2014 Topps Chrome Chris Davis red parallel.  I quickly made him an offer of $10.00 and he accepted.  I felt like the red parallels were selling for a bit of a premium (since I hadn't seen many of them at all), so I wanted to make a competitive offer and not miss the card.  He sent it quickly after I paid him via PayPal.

The card is numbered 4/25 and just looks awesome.  I'm glad I was able to pick it up and add it to my Davis 2014 rainbow.  I still need a few of his chromes, especially the black parallel, but I've been a bit preoccupied recently and haven't been able to search Ebay.  I should be able to settle back in within a few weeks.

We Won't Stop - Recap of My First Playoff Game

I can knock something off of my bucjet list, I went to my first ever MLB playoff game today.  Chris and I went, along with Ryan from O No Another Orioles Blog and some friends of his.  We skipped over a great deal of DC traffic this morning thanks to the HOV lanes and that we had so many people in the car.  I was worried because the start time for the game was 12:00, noon, and our plan was to leave Ryan's house at 6:30, but that would put us in DC at the Friday morning rush hour.  Thankfully, we sot through there easily and got to Baltimore right at 10:00AM with only two stops along the way.

I was really glad that I made the decision to bring Chris along so he could experience this.  He had joked that he didn't really want to go because he was missing school, but I could tell that he was really excited.  They handed us these awesome rally towels as we entered the ballpark, and Chris actually got an extra one, so my wife will get a souvenir.  I really appreciate the photo bomb by the random dude in the background, by the way.

Another thing I wanted to do while I was there was to finally try some of Boog's BBQ and who was there while we were in line?  Why, Boog himself.  He signed a ball for Chris and posed for a picture.  I told him I was happy to see him again, and he shook my hand and said he was happy to see me as well.  Boog is such an underrated historical player.  I know that the 1970 AL MVP is loved in Baltimore.  He's one of our guys and I like our guys.

This summer, when we were at the Tiger game, I was disappointed that I didn't get to see Verlander pitch and Miguel Cabrera was on the bench.  Well, I got to see both today, and Cabrera was a terror on the Orioles, but he also helped them out with some questionable baserunning when he was cut down at the plate trying to score late in the game.  That run would come back to haunt the Tigers.

Check out the sea of Orange.  I thought the Brooks Robinson statue dedication in 2012 was wild, but this crowd was raucous, energetic, pumped, whatever you want to call it.  They were a bit deflated in the middle innings when the Tigers jumped out to a 5-2 lead, but the crowd would explode in the 8th inning when Delmon Young hit his 3-run double off of the wobbly Tigers bullpen to give the O's a 7-6 lead.  Ryan and I were going crazy, and even Chris was jumping up and down, although he couldn't see over everyone who was on their feet at that moment.

There were chants of "Hey Hey, Goodbye" when Brad Ausmus lifted Justin Verlander for Anibal Sanchez; chants for "Joba, Joba, Joba" for Joba Chamberlain when he was throwing gas on the fire; chants of "We Won't Stop" when Delmon Young his the double; and one of the most gratifying chants was the role call for Nick Markakis after his home run early in the game.  Nick has been up with the O's since the 2006 season and missed out on the 2012 post season with a broken thumb.  It was really cool to see him finally play in a playoff game, and he has shone so far.

I shot a video with my phone of the final out of the game.  Sorry for the shaky camera work, but I think this captured the mood at the stadium perfectly.  Baltimore is itching for a winner, after all of those years of futility, and I believe that there isn't a fan base that wants to win right now more than the Orioles fan base.  Of course, I'm sure folks from Kansas City would like to weigh in on that.

So, I hope you all enjoyed the look into my day.  I am still elated over the outcome of the game.  I told Ryan that I had felt in the 7th inning that the perfect game would be a close one where the Orioles came from behind and won, and I got my wish.

Instagram Trade With Joey - 2007 Tristar Prospects Plus Matt Wieters

I completed a trade with my buddy Joey from Instagram about a week ago when I sent him quite a few vintage cards and in return he sent me a little cash and this 2007 Tristar Prospects Plus Matt Wieters card.

I remember when Prospects Plus came out, I was pretty excited.  I opened a ton of it, but couldn't pull this card, for some reason.  I'm pretty sure I ended up with one or more, but it was really cool of Joey to include it in our deal.

Thanks for the card, man!  I really appreciate it.

Mail From Judson - 2014 Topps Pink Chris Davis

October is breast cancer awareness month, so it is kind of fitting that a pink card is the highlight of the night.  Ladies, make sure you get checked and checked often.

I got this really awesome Chris Davis 2014 Topps pink parallel from my friend, Judson recently.  The card is numbered 7/50.  I owe Judson a card in return, and I think I have found him just the thing.  I will be shipping to him early next week, I'm hoping.

Thanks so much for this pink parallel, Judson, I've been wanting one for a while, but haven't jumped on it, and now I don't have to!

Birthday Gift and a Trade From Jake

I don't like ranking people that I know, but if I were to make a top 5 of people I've met while trading on Instagram, my buddy, Jake Ignaszewski, would be at or near the top.  He surprised me with a birthday package on Saturday that he really didn't have to send me.  In the package was a nice note from him thanking me for being a good friend to him and helping him with his collection.  Also in the package was every Orioles card that he had.  I had to chuckle a bit when I went through the cards because Jake sent me 11 copies of the above 1989 Mickey Tettleton.  In the past, one would say I had been Bipped.  I'm so glad that phase of the trading world has passed.  I know Jake included them all because he is a nice guy.

Also in the package were several different Orioles stickers from various sets over the years.  I didn't have this Fleer sticker, so I'll be putting this into my Orioles binder that I started putting together in 2005 and completely forgot about until now.

Jake and I also had completed a trade recently where I sent him back the Derek Jeter minor league card, since I had discovered that I already had one and he was having seller's remorse for letting his go.  He swapped it back for this Manny Machado RC, which I already had, but that's ok, because I don't mind hoarding Manny RCs.

I really appreciate Jake leaning on me for help with his collecting goals.  I'm hoping that I will continue to have the opportunity to help him out when I am able.  Thanks so much for the stuff, Jake, and thanks again for the trade!

Ebay Pickup - 2014 Allen and Ginter Chris Davis Box Topper

I saw this Chris Davis 2014 Allen and Ginter box topper on a kid's Instagram account recently and had to get my hands on one.  A potential deal with the kid fell through, unfortunately, so I searched Ebay and found this one for $4.29 with free shipping.

The card measures 4.5" x 6.5", so eventually I'm going to have to find myself a 5 x 7 frame so I can put this on the wall.  It looks awesome.

I kind of wish they would issue an A&G set with this design.  I would go after that set in a heartbeat!

Awesome Trade With Max S.

I completed a huge deal a few weeks ago with my friend, Max S., when I sent him a couple Michael Choice autographs and some other Cubs cards.  In return, Max sent me two packages of vintage stuff. There was so much in the packages, I was overwhelmed while looking through it all.  You can see how much he sent below.  There were 9 pages of 1975 Topps, a snap case with more 1975s and a few other 70s cards.  There was another snap case of advertising cards (mostly 1976 Hostess), three mini albums filled with 70s cards and some other miscellaneous stuff.  The card I liked the most was the above 1965 Topps Deckle Edge Willie Mays.  It was on the last page of the last mini album that i looked through and I was so excited to see it.  There were several other Deckle Edge cards, one of which was a sweet Carl Yastrzemski.

There were quite a few cards in the package(s) that looked like someone had went to town on with a pair of scissors.  Most likely, it was a kid who was trying to get their cards to fit into an album page.

This 1958 Topps All Star card of Stan Musial was the biggest example of the trimming.  There was also a 1956 Topps base card that had also been trimmed significantly.  While it would have been cool to get this Musial in untrimmed condition, it is still a nice card and carries a good story.  I'm not concerned with the value.

There were a whole bunch of these 1976 Hostess cards, not quite the complete set, but probably pretty close.  Most of them were cut like the above Cuellar, but this card will still look cool in my Cuellar PC.  The other ones will be put up for now.  I may consider going for the set later on.  They would look cool in an album, I think.

There were quite a few 1975 SSPC cards in the deal as well.  There weren't any stars, but the cards are still really cool.  This might be the first time Jorge Orta has made an appearance on my blog.

Max S. had to send this deal in two packages because the album pages of 1975 Topps didn't fit into his original package.  I ended up with a bunch of 1975s.  I already have completed this set, so I'm not quite sure what I'm going to do with these.  I might trade or sell some of them, or I might hold onto them for a bit until Chris gets into set building.  If that happens, he will already have a nice starter set.

There were a bunch of 1976 Kelloggs cards, the highlight of which was this Pete Rose that was in really awesome condition.  Most of the Kelloggs cards that came in the deal were in great shape and didn't have all of the surface cracking that I have seen on these in the past.

There were also some 1970 Kelloggs cards in the package.  The nicest of which was this Rod Carew.  I know some people in the past have built these Kelloggs sets.  I don't know if I will, but at this point, I will definitely consider it.  Worst case, I will hold onto the Hall of Famers and flip the others, who knows.

Finally, there was a really nice 1971 Topps Catfish Hunter card in the package that will get put into my Hall of Fame box (probably where a lot of this stuff will go).  I have picked up a few early career Hunter cards and each of them looks so cool with his uniform.  Hunter is also a sort of local legend around this area, as I live about 2 hours from Hertford, NC, where he called home.

While I was waiting to get this huge deal posted, Max S. and I worked out another deal where I sent him some more Cubs cards.  In return, Max sent me some nice Orioles and this really cool Topps Archives chrome Hank Aaron.  The card looks really great and I was glad Max sent it.

Please note, I will be referring to Max S. as Max from now on.  Those who have been reading this blog since its inception will remember that I used to know someone else named Max who had been featured quite a bit on here.  Since we no longer associate with one another, I will not be referring to him at all and I didn't want anyone confusing the two.  So, from now on, Max S. is who I will be talking about; a really good guy from Chicago.  I hope that clears up any confusion.