Goodbye Dylan Carlson

Trades happen every baseball season.  It is part of the game.  Teams trade from a surplus for an area of need.  Other times, the team feels a player is not performing up to potential and needs a change of scenery.  For fans, trades can be a double-edged sword.  You want to see your favorite team win but also want to see certain players be a part of that success.  That is my situation with the Cardinals and Dylan Carlson.

Carlson was traded to the Rays yesterday for a reliever.  Not much of a return for the #15 prospect in all of baseball a few years ago.  I knew the trade was coming, but I still do not like the fact it happened.  Carlson was not getting the playing time, nor was he doing well when he did play.  I am rooting for him to turn into the next former Cardinals outfielder who turns into an all-star.  Randy Arozarena, Adolis Garcia, Tyler O'Neill, and Lane Thomas come to mind.  Not all were all-stars, but they have had nice seasons since leaving St. Louis.

Carlson was the Cardinals #1 draft pick in 2016.  I first saw him play in Peoria in 2017.

He was only 19 years old that year.  I attended quite a few games that year and took quite a few pictures.  Somewhere in my office, I have an autographed copy of this one.

Carlson autographed some Cardinals on Signature Sundays that same year.

At the end of the season, the Chiefs held a meet and great for anyone who bought a ticket package.  Carlson was very polite, introducing himself to my kids and gladly taking pictures.  My son has this picture autographed and hanging in his bedroom.

Sometime that winter, I bought his 2016 Bowman Chrome auto.

Carlson would reach Double A Springfield in 2019 and be chose to the Futures Game along with being named the league MVP.  

He autographed this ball at the 2020 Cardinals Winter Warm Up.

Carlson made his MLB debut in 2020.  He broke out in 2021, hitting 18 home runs.  The last 2 years have seen him suffer injuries and reduced playing time.  That has not stopped me from adding to my collection.

Carlson was a popular choice for the Cardinals' minor league teams after his strong 2021 season.  

I have 190 different Carlson cards in my collection.  This is the only game used card.

Carlson took a picture with my son at the 2023 Winter Warm Up before he autographed this oversized Topps card.

Thanks for all the memories Dylan, and best of luck in Tampa.

    

         

TCDB 2 for Tuesday #85

I fully intended to post these cards last Tuesday, but I was too busy at work and had yard work to do when I got home.  I do a lot of my posts at work, as I am fortunate to have a desk job with no limitations when it comes to using the internet.  Today is a rain day, so plenty of spare time.  First trade package came from member Phrasingforlight.  

Matt Adams will always be one of my favorite Cardinals.  Great guy who had some big moments.  My scanner did not do justice to this 2012 Chrome Xfractor or the 2023 Platinum Anniversary Pujols base.  A big thank you to this member, as I mailed his cards 3 weeks ago, and they have not arrived yet.  Fingers crossed they show up, but he said not to worry about it if they do not.  

Second trade package came from member scrubeenie.  

It has been a long while since I added some A&G minis to my Cardinals collection.  The red background color match Wacha is a sharp looking card.  

I did not realize I was close to finishing the 2005 Bazooka gold chunk team set before I added this Carpenter.   Down to needing just the Larry Walker card.    

    

2024 American Cancer Society Day at Busch Stadium

Yesterday was the first of two American Cancer Society Days at Busch Stadium this year.  Just like past years, tickets were only $20 for bleacher seats which included pre-game autograph sessions with current and former players, and a hot dog and soda.  My wife, son, and I arrived at the stadium shortly before the gates opened at 9:00.  Once inside, it was straight to the autograph lines.  

Steve Kline was his usual quirky self.  He was at a table with reliever John King, who showed up 10 minutes late.  Kline let him know about it.

King was a nice guy once he showed up.  He does not have any cards pictured as a Cardinals, so I used a 2019 Topps stadium card.  I like when players add their jersey number and a bible verse.  Makes it easier to know who signed the card.

Jack Clark signs quite a bit around St. Louis, but this is only the second time I have gotten his autograph.  The first was at the 2009 All-Star Fanfest in St. Louis.  I love how the 1985 Topps reprint from 2001 turned out.

There were fewer than 20 people in Greg Mathews's line, so we were able to get through it twice.

Chris Roycroft does not have a Cardinals card, either.  

Tom Pagnozzi is part of some of the post game shows after Cardinals games.  Nice to see him back in the area.

I am running out of different Scott Terry cards to have signed.  He is a regular at Winter Warm Up and caravans.  

Andrew Kittredge has a few cards, but none in a Cardinals uniform.  Glad I traded for quite a few of these last fall.

Last but not least is Michael Siani.  He was the most popular autograph.  I had planned not to get in his line, but with 10 minutes left in his signing time, my wife got lucky.  

21 autographs from 9 different players in about an hour and a half.  In addition to the free hot dog and soda, it was also ice cream Sunday.  We were treated to fudge bars, which tasted great on a hot day.  The game ended in less than 2.5 hours with a Paul Goldschmidt walk-off home run.  Great way to finish off the day.

On a side note, I noticed Dylan Carlson was sent out to catch the first pitch.  This job is usually reserved for relief pitchers.  I feel bad for him and really hope he gets traded to a team that will give him a chance to play.  With the trade of Tommy Edman to the White Sox that brought Tommy Pham and Erick Fedde, the outfield got more crowded.       

  

  

More Chronicles

My last few trades have brought an influx of 2023 Panini Chronicles into my collection. Until a few weeks ago, none of these cards were on my want list.  Now I have some of the subsets complete, and I am adding the missing ones to my TCDB want list.  Member stdolan1 sent 3 more to help with my team sets.

My team sets for Pinnalce, Luminance, and Vertex are now complete.  The Lou Brock is very sharp even without the logos.

I did receive some cards with logos.  The Stadium Club red foil cards go great with the Cardinals uniforms.  

Nice looking die cut insert from 2023 Stadium Club.  I really hope Arenado can find his power stroke the second half.  8 home runs in the first 96 games is a major disappointment.

Last but not least is a card of last year's #1 draft pick.  After a tough start to 2024, Davis has turned this around in the last month.  He may have a small chance to get promoted to Peoria before the end of the year.     

    

TCDB 2 for Tuesday #84

My home run derby prediction did not pan out last night.  I was really surprised to see how poorly Alonso did. It may be time for the Polar Bear to retire from the event.  I will be watching the game tonight, or at least the first few innings.  I hope there is some excitement in the game.  Skenes should be fun to watch for an inning or two.

My first trade package today came from member BumgarnerBoys.  

Chrome cards have been drying up in value boxes at the last few shows I have been to.  Nice to trade for a couple of needs.  

This is Ozzie number 782 in my collection.  I do not recall seeing this photo on a card yet.  Nice to see Topps digging into the archives for a player that is in a ton of sets.

Second trade package came from member WikkiWikkiWikki.  That username is a mouthful.

More 2023 Chrome Platinum cards to show off.  Mr. Brock always had a nice autograph compared to current players.

Gorman would be my pick of the current Cardinals to compete in a home run contest.  He can hit them a long way when he does make contact.

This 2024 blue parallel does a great job of capturing Contreras' fiery nature.  I am not a big fan of the outspoken look at me attitude of this generation.  I am more of the old fashioned type who favors shut up, play the game, and act like you have been there.  

Monday Six Pack

Happy All-Star Break, everyone.  I'm not sure I will watch the home run derby tonight, but my pick to win is Alonso.  He has been there before and knows how to pace himself.  I am more interested in the draft that is happening right now.  The Cardinals got an excellent pick at #7, drafting JJ Wetherholt.  There was talk of him being a top 2 pick before he hurt his hamstring.  

Moving ahead to today's trade recap of 6 Cardinals I received over the weekend from TCDB member PIANELLI.  He is also a member of the Trading Bases group, with whom I have traded many times.   

Not counting the variations, there are 23 Cardinals in the 2023 Topps Chrome Platinum set.  These give me 8 total.  Most are available for trade on TCDB, I just need to find a trade match.

Some collectors are not fans of brands like Just and Best, but I love adding these obscure cards of former major leaguers like Wilson and Politte.  Jack Wilson never played for the Cardinals, being traded in 2000 for reliever Jason Christiansen.  
  
      

Just Because it's Thursday

I could not think of a good title or theme for today's trade recap, so I will jump right to the point.  TCDB member SaintOrm sent me a nice variety of 7 Cardinals in a pwe that arrived over the weekend.

2000 SP Top Prospects cards do not scan very well.  The dark foil background makes it difficult to get a good picture.  At least the player names are legible.  

My 2000 Crown Royale team set is now complete, thanks to adding this short print.  I believe the rookie cards were short-printed, although they are not numbered.

I never buy the team sets that are sold at box stores.  Other than the numbering on the back, there is not much difference between the cards and the base set.  Maybe a different image or two.

Orange and red go together well on this 2021 Big League parallel.  It is nice to see DeJong having some success this year on a bad White Sox team.  His average is not great, but the power numbers have returned.  I would not be surprised to see him traded to a contender looking for a backup infielder.

  

Card Show Pickups

This past Saturday, my son and I had the chance to hit up a card show less than an hour away from home.  This is a quarterly show that we attended back in March.  We arrived about five minutes after the doors opened.  Right away we spotted a dealer with three monster boxes of quarter cards and a couple of boxes full of cards in top loaders marked 25% off.  We spent $8 at his tables.

The quarter boxes produced 3 Cardinals and 13 cards for trade bait.  Some of the other trade bait is already in the mail.  Loved finding the Tink Hence Elite Extra numbered to 999.

These Altuve cards came to $2 each.  Nice find for my son's collection.  A dealer a couple of tables over had some boxes of autos and game used for $5 each.  Found some Altuve jersey cards there also, but he did not budge on price, so we moved on.  

The next dealer had some vintage commons marked $2-5.  I pulled three 1960 Topps I need for $8.

These are in great condition.  Four sharp corners and no creases.  The team card is my favorite.  I talked to this dealer for a few minutes and found out he has a large inventory of 1950s and 1960s in good condition.  Hope he brings them to the next show in September.

The next dealer also had some vintage cards.  Not quite as many, but I did manage to find a 1962 Topps I needed.

This Minoso was marked $10, but the dealer looked it over and gave it to me for $5.  It is not as miscut as my scanner shows it to be.  Some fuzzy corners but no creases.  I would have been happy paying $10.

My last purchase came from yet another vintage dealer.  I browsed his table earlier and spotted a card I was interested in, but I wanted to finish walking the show floor before I bought it.

This 1971 Topps Bob Gibson was $20.  Once again, my scanner cut off the right edge.  It has a couple of soft corners, but overall, it is in great shape.  I am down to 2 more high number short prints to finish this team set.

We spent a total of $41 in the 2 hours we spent at the show.  Not crazy by any means, but still a nice haul of old and new.    

  

      

TCDB 2 for Tuesday #83

You know the Tuesday drill by now.  2 small trades from TCDB members.  Today is very small, as I only have 6 cards to show off.  The first 2 are from member Whoosh610.

  

2 of my favorite parallels in 1 envelope.  It was nice to see Juan Yepez back in the majors this past series, playing first base for the Nationals against the Cardinals.  He was always a nice guy when I had the chance to interact with him at minor league games.  The Freese 2013 Topps red brought my team set of 23 cards down to just needing Lance Lynn.  I may have to hit up EBAY or Sportlots since there is not a copy for trade on TCDB.

The second trade came from member drew_engquist.  This one contained 4 cards from 2023 Panini Chronicles.

I like the simple design of the Classics set with the green border, although I have seen the Smith image used on various cards.

The prospect portion contained a Vertex card and a base card.  The Cho Vertex card may get autographed next trip to Peoria.  

  

EBAY Cardinals Lot

It has been quite a long time since I bought a Cardinals lot on EBAY.  Most of my online funds have been going to Ray Lankford cards.  I had a small Paypal credit burning a hole in my pocket, so last week I found a lot for about $7.50 delivered.  It pictured about 20 cards, with 4 of them being the most interesting to me.  

I would have been happy with these cards for $7.50.  The Holgate is numbered to 99.  

I could see some 2023 Topps Chrome Platinum Anniversary cards in the auction scan but I was not sure which ones they were.  Did not matter as I did not have any until these arrived.  

Mojo refractors are not quite as sharp as sapphire cards, but still very nice.

A few other Topps inserts including a lunar glow from 2024 Bowman.

Some old timers were also included.  Ozzie Smith looks storage in his college uniform.

A trio of 2022 Donruss purple parallels.

The last 2 cards I needed were also the Panini variety.   The seller also included another 50 base cards and 20 inserts I already had.  Some of them are on their way to other Cardinal collectors, while a few will be used for autographs on my next trip to Peoria.  All in all a great lot.