First Minor League Game of the Year

Being a baseball junkie,  I always try to work in a visit to the ballpark on any out of town trip or vacation my family takes.  It does not even have to be a Cardinals related team.  Any day at a major or minor league park is a good day in my book.  If you have read my past posts, you know I favor minor league games.

Back in late fall when the minor league schedules were released, I noticed my children's Easter break came during opening weekend for the Springfield Cardinals.  I have never been to any season opener, so my wife and I decided to take the kids out of school a day early to catch Thursday and Friday's games.  We arrived in Springfield around 3:00 in the afternoon.  First stop was the ticket office where I picked up our game tickets and couple of additional items.

The Cardinals ran an opening day ticket special last fall where you could buy 2 dugout seats and your choice of a 2016 promotional item for $27.  I bought 2 packages that included a Carlos Martinez and Stephen Piscotty bobbleheads.  The Martinez even has his Tsunami forearm tattoo.  I like the inclusion of each player's Double A stats on the box.

I like when different players are featured on tickets.  My son lost his that featured Matt Carpenter.  From top to bottom is Stephen Piscotty, Alex Reyes, and Carlos Martinez.  A quick check of the math shows I paid a $1 for each bobblehead.  Pretty good deal considering they sell for $15-20 plus shipping on EBAY.

The promo item for opening night was a 2017 magnet schedule.  I have seen better, but I have seen far worse.  At least it is big enough to read.

Always have to get a pocket schedule when I go to the park.

After the gates opened at 6:10, we headed for the team store.  My only purchase was the 2016 team set for $2.  We were able to watch the opening ceremony which was very similar to the one in St. Louis.  Each player rode in a truck from the center field wall to home plate, was introduced, and then took his place along the first base line for the national anthem. 

 

The game was not a very good one for a Cardinals fan.  #6 ranked prospect Sandy Alcantara started the game and had control problems.  While he did hit 101 on the radar gun, he gave up a first inning home run and 6 wild pitches in less than 5 innings.  The offense was also less than stellar only scoring 1 run on a solo home run by Cuban Jose Adolis Garcia.  The Cardinals lost the game 7 to 1.  The post game fireworks was also lacking.  There is a pyro plant in Springfield that sponsored the fireworks show.  It lasted maybe 5 or 6  minutes with a show that reminded me of my small county fair show.  I have seen much better fireworks in Peoria.

 

One of the more fun aspects of going to minor league games is getting autographs.  The Cardinals usually have 1 or 2 players at 3 different gates to sign autographs for 15 minutes after the gates open.  With opening ceremonies, none of the players were available.  There was also very little time after the ceremony for the players to warm up, so they did not sign before the game.  Since the team lost badly, most players left right after the final out.  Even if they wanted to stay, the lights went out pretty quickly for the fireworks show.  On the bright side, the weather was perfect and we had Friday's night game to look forward to.     

     

Getting Behind

Since my last posting I have 5 more trade envelopes to go through.  They have all been opened, but there is a huge stack of cards waiting to be scanned and filed away.  The majority of them will stay like that until some time next week.  After attending a family funeral tomorrow, we will be leaving on Thursday morning for a few days to catch some minor league baseball.  More about that later.  I did manage to scan the contents of the first trade package late last night after getting home from my son's baseball practice.  This was a trade with a Trading Card Database member.

There are a ton of McGwire cards in the 1999 UD Victory set.  I like the one on the right the best due to the Lankford cameo.

 Blue bordered chrome cards are very nice regardless of year or brand.  I am guessing 2003 Topps Chrome may have been the first blue bordered set.  Topps Gold Label cards are also very attractive.  This is a Class 1 card from 2000.

 I thought I had 2005 and 2006 Topps Udpate team sets done long ago.  This trader informed me otherwise.  I can be hard to overlook these highlight cards when it comes to team collecting.  Some sights listed all teams pictured on the card, while others simply list the players.  O the joy of being a team collector.

I have not had a chance to watch any Cardinals games since the opening series with the Cubs.  I wonder if Piscotty still looks like this after being hit 3 times in one inning.  It seems there have been a handful of players getting hit in the helmet already this year.  Piscotty's was from a errant throw home, but Buster Posey took a fastball to the head last night.  I cannot even image the headache he must have for the next few days.

Get Well Soon Pedro!

It was reported a couple of days ago that former Cardinals/Dodgers player Pedro Guerrero suffered a massive stroke that left him in a coma.  Yesterday he opened his eyes and tried to communicate with his family and doctors.  Given that this is his second stroke, Guerrero may have a long road to a full recovery.

Yesterday's mail brought another trade package from a TCDB member.  I found the first card to pop out somewhat ironic.

 

Guerrero came to the Cardinals in a 1988 trade with the Dodgers for John Tudor.  He played for them until he retired in 1992.  1989 was his best year with the birds when he was an All-Star and finished third in the MVP voting. 

I am about half way finished with the 1988 Panini stickers team set.  I believe I only had 1 before I started trading on TCDB, now I have 11. 

There are 23 Cardinals cards in the 2001 Upper Deck Victory set.  I still need #322 Edgar Renteria to finish it.  Please Topps bring back a set like Victory or Topps Total that covers the entire roster including bench players and relievers. 

Finishing out the trade package is a 2017 Heritage Jhonny Peralta.  This will most likely be his last year with the Cardinals.  He will be a 35 year old free agent at the end of this season.  The Cardinals will still have Jedd Gyorko, Matt Carpenter, and Greg Garcia on the roster next year that can all play third base.  I look for Matt Adams to have a good year this year and force the Cardinals to move Carpenter back to third.  Peralta will most likely sign with a AL as a DH.

The Queen Got Me

I consider myself a very budget minded collector.  I mentioned my EBAY buying habits in yesterday's post.  When I go to the occasional card show, I try to keep my spending under $25.  Most of that is spent in quarter or dime boxes.  In the past few years, I have almost spent as much money on postage mailing trades than I have on buying cards.  A major reason for this is not buying any packs or boxes.

After I graduated college I was buying a hobby box or two each month.  Fast forward 5 years and my spending changed dramatically when my wife and I built a house.  Add in 2 children shortly after  we moved in and my card budget took a back seat clothes, dance/sports lessons, etc.  I still get the itch to open packs ever now and then, but try to avoid the card aisle in any big box store I go to.

Last night my wife sent me to Wal-Mart to buy a few things for the kids' Easter baskets.  I knew I was in trouble when Pokemon cards were on the list.  Of course those are right next to the baseball cards.  I debated in between a fat pack of 2017 Donruss and 2017 Gypsy Queen for a few minutes before the lack of logos made me put the Donruss pack back.  The $20 blaster was tempting, but the $10 fat pack offered 3 packs and a 5 card pack with green bordered cards.

 Trout and Lindor were my notable base cards.  Not a single Cardinal card among them.

The green border cards look nice, but once again no Cardinals.  Even worse I pulled a Cub.

The only insert/parallel I pulled was this purple border #ed to 250.  I was glad to see Topps went away from the raised borders for the colored parallels. 

So for $10 I got a few nice cards for trade bait and no Cardinals.  Considering it only took me about 5 minutes to open everything, I should have bought a movie ticket instead.  If anyone wants anything drop me an email or message.

   

Sometimes EBAY Does Not Make Sense

I admit that when it comes to buying on EBAY I am usually a bargain hunter.  Unless I find a Ray Lankford card I need or a nice lot of cards, I generally do not spend more than $5-10 on a single card and that is including the shipping cost.  One of my favorite searches is for certified autographed Cardinals cards.  Last year there were quite a few prospects with their first autographed cards in Bowman products.  Austin Gomber was one of them.

Gomber is a left handed pitcher who is ranked among the Cardinals top 15 prospects.  He will start the year in Double A, but should see time in Triple A before the end of the season.  He only throws in the 90 mph range, but has a very good change up.  He may end up being a loogy in the Majors in the next few years.

This is a 2016 Bowman Chrome auto that has been selling in the $5-7 range since its release.  I was lucky enough to win an auction last week for $1.25.  I guess ending an auction on a Tuesday afternoon does affect the ending price.  The seller offered two shipping options: $1 for PWE, and $2.75 for a bubble envelope.  I took a chance on the PWE option and promptly paid the $2.25.  I guess the seller either did not pay attention or was feeling generous because the card arrived in a bubble envelope with a $2.67 mailing label.  Add in the EBAY and Paypal fees, he lost close to $1. 

TCMA

One of the great things about the trade packages I have received from Trading Card Database (TCDB) members is the variety of Cardinals cards that I have received.  From minor league sets, to oddballs, to some sets I have never heard of I have received just about every type of card you can imagine.  The latest package I received Wednesday contained quite the variety.

One great feature about trading on TCDB is you see the cards you are trading for.  I have never seen these 1987 TCMA 1934 Cardinals cards before.  I like the use of sepia photos on cards of retired/old timers.  The 1934 Cardinals were know as the Gas House Gang.  This 9 card set highlights key members of that team.  I have read that Paul Dean hated to be called Daffy, but did not say anything in order not to make his older brother Dizzy mad.  Dizzy and Daffy rolls off the tongue better than Dizzy and Paul.

The Cardinals traded Rogers Hornsby for Frankie Frisch in 1926 after Hornsby wanted more money.  Frisch would serve as the manager and second baseman for the 1934 team that won the World Series.  I think everyone on that team had a nickname.  Durocher was the Lip, Frisch the Fordham Flash, and Ripper Collins real first name was James.

Medwick is the last National League player to win the Triple Crown, doing it in 1937.  Most of his other baseball cards use his first name Joe instead of Ducky.  Keeping with the nickname theme,  Spud Davis was actually Virgil Davis and Tex Carleton was James Carleton. 

This 1983 TCMA card is part of a 68 card set featuring member of the 1942-1946 Cardinals teams that 3 World Series.  Considering I only have 2 of these cards, it is going to take a while to finish the set. 

I received all but one of the 1987 Hygrade Cardinals in a trade a couple of weeks ago.  This Musial was the last one I needed to finish the team set. 

The only card I had from the 88 Best Springfield set is Ray Lankford.  As I have said in a previous post, I find it strange that collectors only have one card from a team set that did not come in packs.  The Tewksbury is a 1989 CMC card.  It is strange to see him on a minor league card when he played 3 years in the Majors before 1989 and had regular Topps, Fleer, and Donruss cards issued. 

Two More Trade Packages

Besides the trade package I highlighted in yesterday's post, I also received two smaller packages on Monday.  Though not as big or full of oddballs, the Cardinals I received still knocked out a few sets.

It sounds like the Cardinals will sign Molina to a contract extension sometime this week that should make him a Cardinal for life.  I am sure somewhere in California a certain blogger will be overjoyed.  I did not go crazy buying Wal-Mart pizza last year trying to pull the 2 Cardinals in this set, maybe 2 boxes of breadsticks and 1pizza.  Along with the Michael Wacha I had, this Yadi completed my team set.

Stadium Club almost looked as good in 1997 as it does today.  I am not a huge fan of the blue ribbon and stars, but the great photo makes up for it.  The card also completed my team set.

Failed Cardinals draft picks seem to be a recurring theme in my posts lately.  Lovinger had long odds anyway as a 25th round draft pick, but Hall was a fourth round selection.  He never made it past Double A during his 5 year minor league career. 

The Geronimo Pena card sums up his career very well.  Very athletic second baseman who could not stay healthy.  That photo just makes me hurt in more areas than one.  Arocha was one of the first Cuban defectors who played in MLB.  He played for the Cardinals from 1993-1995.  He was almost 30 before he pitched in the Majors, so that may have something to do with this short career.  Other than his Cardinals tenure, he pitched in 6 games for the Giants in 1997.