Trading Dimes for Cardinals

I completed one of my larger trades recently with TCDB member stdolan1.  21 cards headed his way consisting of Braves and 2023 Bowman cards that I bought at recent shows for a dime or less for 20 Cardinals and Altuve cards.  Due to regional pricing, most of the Cardinals would have been at least 50 cents at the shows.  Even with the $4 shipping, I think I came out pretty good.

Green parallels from 2022 Inception of the Cardinals cornerstone players.  I feel sorry for them having to endure such a bad season.  Both have stated they want to keep playing every day regardless of the standings.  True professionals in my book.

Another Goldschmidt parallel from 2022 Gallery along with now ex Cardinals Flaherty.  After a great first start with Baltimore, Flaherty has lost 2 of the last 3 games he started.  He has followed a similar pattern since 2019.  Looks like a #1 starter one week, then a #4 or 5 the next.

Some nice Topps inserts including a Wainwright numbered to 199.  Fingers still crossed he reaches 200 career wins.  He should have 4 or 5 more chances to get the 2 he needs.  Walker had his first 4 hit game yesterday that included a home run.  He seems to be settling in the last couple of weeks.  Hope it leads to a monster 2024 season.

Some 2023 Donruss parallels.  Winn has struggled quite a bit since his call up, but the Cardinals have been sticking with him.  Might as well since the season is lost.

Some Panini base cards along with 2 more Goldschmidt inserts.  

Finishing up with 4 new Altuve cards including a nice WBC card.  Hats off to Topps for that insert set.

TCDB 2 for Tuesday #52

 Not intro is needed today.  Will jump right into the 2 trade envelopes.  First up is a pwe from everone's favorite Astro's blogger marcbrubaker.

A nice 3 pack including 2 legends and a prospect card I may try to get autographed next weekend in Peoria.  

Second trade package is from member richmond02.

It was not very long ago I added the 1989 ProCards set to my wantlist.  It is a large team set with 28 cards.  It should not take very long to complete, though, thanks to knocking off a few at a time. 

1992 Topps Gold is another recently added set that is coming along nicely.  I need 11 more Cardinals to finish the 29 card team set.

I love the Fleer Tiffany parallels from the late 1990s. The nice glossy finish to them really makes the card stand out.  

 

A Barry Good Trade

It was another depressing weekend for Cardinals fans.  Swept by the Phillies in 3 games while being outscored 22-3.  I never thought I would say this, but the end of the season cannot get here fast enough.  Maybe by some small miracle Adam Wainwright will finally get win 199 against the Padres tonight.  At least I still have some nice cards coming in like the ones in a recent package from TCDB member CoachBarry.

I doubt Wainwright will have too many cards after he retires.  Being a pitcher who has no chance of making the Hall of Fame will do that.  

Donovan went from having a few cards last year to being included in almost every release this year.  He does have some nice 2022 cards like this Panini Capstone.

I view Donruss Optic as a Topps Chrome knockoff.  It's not the most exciting brand, but my OCD says I have to collect all the Cardinals base cards in it.

The minor league collector in me loves these 2 2022 Prizm Draft cards.  Both of these guys are in Peoria right now.  Slight chance I may get them signed before the end of the season.  

  

    

New Lankford Card

Before my old scanner/printer went out on me a while back, I was able to add another 2023 Donruss Ray Lankford card to my collection.  Last night as I was filing cards away I realized I have not scanned it yet for your viewing pleasure.

This yellow parallel puts me at 16 of the 24 different versions.  The last 8 will be harder to track down. The most common one left is numbered to 25. 
  

American Cancer Society Day at Busch #2

This past Sunday was the second ACS day at Busch Stadium.  You can read about the first one here.  This one had the same setup.  Player autographs, ticket to game, free hot dog and soda.  My wife, son, and I arrived around 8:30 again and waited 30 minutes to for gates to open.  The give away was a nice David Freese canvas showing him rounding the bases after the game winning home run in Game 6 of the 2011 World Series.

Unlike the first time, my 15-year-old son did not pass for 16 so we ended up with only 2 of these.  One is already hanging in my office.  On to the autographs.

Matthew Liberatore was my #1 priority.  We waited about 30 minutes in line to get him.

Brad Thompson was at the same table as Liberatore.  I have gotten his auto so many times, that I have about run out of different cards for him to sign.  

Andy Van Slyke was my second priority.  I paid for his autograph a few years ago at Winter Warm Up, so it was nice to add some free cards.  

Giovanny Gallegos was at the same table as Van Slyke.  I had hopes of Knizner signing the bottom card also, but his line was cut off before we could make it there. 

After getting the Van Slyke and Gallegos autographs, we had about 20 minutes left, so we each went to a different table.

My son was able to get Ken Dayley.  He was at a table by himself with a very short line, so he signed 2 cards.

I ended up at Scott Cooper's table.  He only played in St. Louis 1 year but is from the area.

My wife was able to hit the table with Palllante and Simontacchi.  Total of 14 autographs in 1.5 hours for the 3 of us.  Pretty good in my opinion.

As for the game, the Cardinals actually won 7 -3 over the Mets.  Announced attendance was 36,000, but I would guess there might have been 20,000 there.  2 last place teams and temperatures that felt over 100 degrees kept a lot of people away.  This was the hottest game I have ever been to.  Thankfully, our seats were in the shade.  We did move to the bleachers a couple of times in hopes of catching a home run from Masyn Winn.  The metal benches were too hot to sit on so we chose to stand.  Winn did not hit a home run, unfortunately.  We left after the Cardinals scored 4 runs in the bottom of the 7th.  Only missed the Mets scoring a meaningless run.  It was a very hot, but a very fun day.    

    

TCDB 2 for Tuesday #51

I finally was able to purchase a new printer/scanner over the weekend.  Nothing fancy, just a basic Canon printer.  It was the only Canon model at my local Walmart, so that is what ended up in my shopping cart.  It was an easy choice as it was cheap and uses the same software as my old one.  At my age I hate taking the time to learn new programs.  Let's see how the scanner worked.  First trade is from member rencherg.

Been a while since I featured a new JD Drew card for the collection.  I remember all the hype he had at the end of the 1998 season.  He was always a good player, just never the great one so many people thought he would be.  I love the design of this 1999 Crown Royale Pivotal Players insert.

Nothing like a little metallic snow on a day where it feels like 110 degrees outside.  Waino is going for win 199 again tonight against the Pirates.  DeJong joins his 3rd team of the season after signing with the Giants today.  Best of luck to them both.

There has been a lot written about how much the Cardinals miss Molina this year.  I agree there is a huge void, but I do not think he would make up 13.5 games in the standings.  I still enjoy adding new cards to the collection like this sharp 2021 A&G Chrome base card.

Second trade package came from member shredtacular.

A little bit of metallic snow in this package as well.  Flaherty looked great in his first Orioles start, not so great in the next.  If I was a betting man, I am guessing he signs with a California team over the winter.

Happy to cross 2 more base cards of my wantlist.  Even better when both finish team sets.

Only 3 more cards needed to finish the 2017 Topps Gold 24 card team set.  This could finally be the first Gold set I complete.  

  

  

  

$25 Vintage Twitter Lot

I will interrupt my 2 for Tuesday post to bring you my recent twitter purchase.  This one consisted of vintage cards from 1959-1969 that cost me $25 delivered.  

These 1959 cards are in pretty good shape.  The Sam Jones card has a lighter colored back than the other 3.  Not sure if that is a variation or not.  Even if it is, 1 is enough for my team set.

This 1960 card is in decent shape also.  A minor crease on one of the corners is the only major blemish.  For the $1 price tag, I will not complain. 

I really like the multiplayer cards from 1961.  I have never heard of Daryl Spencer before receiving these 2 cards.  

1962 Topps is the original wood grain border set, not 1987.  This one is a little rough, but once again it was only $1.

I refer to 1963 Topps as the Cardinals McDonalds year.  Yellow and red make me think of the golden arches.  This Dal Maxvill rookie card has seen better days, but still fits nicely in my collection.

The seller had 3 copies of this 1965 Topps card.  This one was in the best shape.

These 1969 Topps cards were the most expensive of the lot at $2.50 each.  I did not notice from the seller's scan, but the Brock has a major crease going through the middle of it.  I will be upgrading it sometime.  All 3 of them had a small X written in ink pen on the back in the same location.  Kind of strange.  

You may have noticed I took pictures of all the cards instead of scanning them.  After 12 years, my Cannon printer/scanner finally shot craps over the weekend.  

Very Late

I consider myself very fortunate when it comes to online trading/buying.  In the 20 plus years I have been doing this, the times I have been ripped off or had something lost in the mail can be counted on 2 hands.  Well over 95% of the time the trade or purchase goes as planned.  Occasionally, I may have to follow up with a trader to get the wheels turning.  This has happened twice with the same TCDB member within the last year.      

I will not give out his name, as the cards have arrived in good shape both times.  I do not like waiting over a month after receiving his end to get mine.  Both times took numerous messages to remind him to mail my cards.  Needless to say, this package will be the last one I will be getting from him.

It had been so long since I agreed to this trade, I already received 2 of the above cards.  Good thing there are plenty of Cardinals collectors around.

2 more cards in this lot are doubles.  Both were dime box purchases at the last 2 card shows.  

Wainwright is trying for win #199 tonight against the Royals.  I thought last Friday he had a chance pitching at home against the Rockies, but he got rocked.  

A nice pink refractor was added to my son's Altuve binders.  Jose has been playing well since coming back from injury recently.  It looks like the Astros are poised for another long playoff run. 

  

Another New Lankford

I have been busy adding 2023 Donruss Ray Lankford cards to my collection over the last few months.  It has been fun but will be slowing down big time now that all I need are mostly cards numbered to 25 or less.  That does not mean I am not adding to my Lankford collection.  My newest pick up arrived late last week.

This bobblehead was given out on July 23 at the Springfield Lucky Horseshoes game in Illinois.  Lankford was the guest manager that night.  Normally I would jump at the chance to see him in person, but my schedule did not allow it.  I heard there were 500 of these made, but not all were handed out.  Ticket holders had to stay until the end of the game to receive the bobblehead.  Luckily someone I know in a Facebook group had an extra.  
    

TCDB 2 for Tuesday #50

 Another 2 for Tuesday.  I am almost to a full year's worth, though it has taken me almost 2 years to get there.  Everyone needs a break now and then.  Today's first trade is from member Ballantine.

Saturday was International Trading Card Day.  I just now picked up last year's card.  There is also a nice Bob Gibson insert from 2023 Topps Heritage.

The shades of blue are a little different from year to year.  The 2022 Update Donovan is definitely darker than the 2023 Edman.  

Verlander and Altuve are back together after last week's trade.  Astros will be tough to beat again this year, although the Rangers have a pretty stacked team also.  The playoffs should be fun even if the Cardinals will not be in them. 

Second trade was with member jcouvy.

 A lot of blue in today's post.  This trade covered 3 brands.  

A few months ago I realized I needed quite a few 1992 Topps Gold cards.  I thought I had the complete team set, but I was confused with the Gold Winners set.  Not that I have the Ozzie card, the others should not be very hard to trade for.  

  

American Cancer Society Day At Busch 2023

My family had a lot of fun last year at the 2 ACS Days at Busch .  Tickets for this year's events went on sale in February.  I made sure to purchase them early, as one of the days sold out last year.  Yesterday was the first game, while August 20th will be the second.  

My wife, son, and I arrived at 8:30, about 30 minutes before the gates opened.  Once inside we received our free promotional items of an MLB Network sponsored hat for anyone 16 and over.  We traded 2 hats for 2 Tommy Edman growth posters that were given to those 15 and under.  From there we hit the autograph lines.  Players signed from 9:15-10:45.

All 3 of us hit up the Alec Burleson line.  He was by far the most popular name.  Quite a few people in line did not get an autograph before time ran out.  From there we decided to split up.

I hit up the Benji Molina line.  Although he never played for the Cardinals, he is one of their Spanish broadcasters.  

My wife and son were able to get John Rodriguez while I was in the Molina line.  Always nice to get another autograph from someone who played on the 2006 World Series team.

We met up in the Alan Benes line next.  He has signed at a ton of free events.  I am running out of different cards for him to sign.  Mom wife hit another line while we were waiting.  Autographs are limited to 1 per person, but Benes signed 2 for my son since his line was so short.  

Wilking Rodriguez was at the same table as Benes.  It is nice to have extra of these 2019 Topps cards to use for players with a Cardinals card.  I don't believe he even has an MLB card yet.  

My wife ended up in the Kyle McClellan line.  We have quite a few of his autographs already, but it is hard to say no to a free autograph.  There was 1 other autograph station with Andrew Knizner and Kerry Robinson, but the line was so long we would not get through it.  No matter though, as we have gotten both of them before.  Instead, we decided to get our pictures taken.

The 2011 World Series trophy was located in the centerfield batter's eye.

We also saw the 2006 World Series trophy.  

That concluded the Cancer Day events.  It was still 2 hours before game time.  Our tickets included a free hot dog and a can of soda, so we ate an early lunch.   The Cardinals also give away free frozen treats on Sundays.  We each had 2 small ice cream sandwiches.   

With still plenty of time, we went across the street to the Cardinals Hall of Fame Museum.  My son saw an Instagram post stating Paul Goldschmidt's MVP award from last year was on display.

Pretty cool seeing a major award up close.  As for the game, it was another stinker for the Cardinals.  They managed to strand 15 runners on base while losing to the Rockies 1-0.  The only positive from the game was that it was less than 3 hours long.  The announced attendance was 40,000, but I am pretty sure there were not even 30,000 people in the seats.