TCDB 2 for Tuesday #148

It has been awhile since I was able to make consecutive 2 for Tuesday posts.  It is nice to have a flow of cards coming in again.  Today's first package came from member bdhrbob.  Bob and I have traded Cubs for Cardinals multiple times across 2 different sites.

Cardinal fans are pretty excited about Rodriguez, although he joins an already crowded catching situation.  He is only 19 year old, but could see a debut next year.  The kid can hit.  The Svanson finished my 2025 Topps Chrome Update team set.

Stadium Club looks good in almost any color.  I prefer the red background for obvious reasons, but sepia and lime green are not bad.

I am not a fan of the Topps Holiday buybacks, but it is hard to say no to a Musial card.  Do we really need buybacks of a card that is not even 5 years old?

The second package came from member Rooty10.  This was a Royals for Cardinals trade.

Chipping away at the 2025 Topps Chrome Platinum team set with 2 Hall of Famers and a Gold Glove winner.

The second Winn of the package is the only Cardinals in 2025 Bowman Chrome.  Finishing off today is a 2020 Topps Chrome Prism refractor that finishes my team set.

  

  

The Final Game and a Costly Reminder

Friday morning was my son's final baseball game, most likely ever.  He graduated high school in May, and will be moving on to college in August to pursue a degree in music education.  After not getting much playing time his senior year, it was nice to be able to look forward to his travel ball season knowing he would get a start each tournament.  In his 5 games as the starting pitcher, he was 4-1 with 3 complete games.  Good way to finish his career.

Shortly after my son started playing travel baseball as an 8 year old, anytime we would go to a tournament we would try to find a Walmart on the way home and buy a blaster box.  Being his last one, we had to stop.  We were hoping to find a box of 2025 Topps Chrome Platinum, but the Walmart only had Topps Series 2, Bowman, and Donruss.  He opted for the Bowman along with a fat pack of Series 2.  Here is what $40 got us along with a stack of base cards.

I was not expecting much from the Topps pack, but was a little disappointed with only 3 non base cards.  That was a waste of $7.00 .

The Bowman blaster was better.  We got a few of the big name rookies in the a paper portion.

The chrome portion had a couple of decent rookies.

Each pack had one insert or parallel.  Nothing outstanding here.

The final insert was the only card we will keep from the box.  My son pulled this in his first pack.  I would guess the cards we got would run us about $10-15 at a card show.  The enjoyment of opening the packs counts for something, but overall this was another example of why I do not buy packs very often.

TCDB 2 for Tuesday #147

What a great night to be a Cardinal fan last night.  Watching Jordan Walker win the home run derby was awesome.  How clutch was it to hit six home runs on his last swing while being booed loudly.  I hope it does not mess up his swing for the second half of the season.  He has came a long way since last year.  While waiting for him to hit in between rounds, I was able to scan a couple of trades for today's post.  First up is a colorful four pack from member dwunder20.

A 2011 Topps Update blue border and a 199 Fleer Warning Track parallel.  The Fleer looks great with the matching text.

A purple refractor and black border parallel of two members of the 2011 World Series team.  Besides 1985, that is my favorite Cardinals team.

The second package came from member WSFNYC.

My first cards from 2025 Topps Chrome Platinum include the derby champ.  Check out the sideburns on Torre.

Another trade, another Molina.  I am inching my way to 800 different cards in my collection.  Only 16 away.

   

TCDB 2 for Tuesday #146

I finally received a second trade package yesterday so I can make a 2 for Tuesday post.  I will start with the most recent trade that arrived yesterday from member MCMH CARDS.

My Series 2 team set is now complete.  Nice to get the last three cards in one trade.  I also received a couple other base cards that are headed to my sister who is a Dodgers fan.

The second trade package that has been sitting on my desk since June 20 came from member guags.

For a two year span, my son received the SI for Kids magazine.  Not a single Cardinal was included in any of those issues.  This Scott Rolen card is from 2007.

Both Saggese and Liberatore have underachieved this year.  I thought Saggese would be the primary utility/backup infielder, but he was sent down to Triple A a few weeks ago.  Liberatore has pitched OK, but the lack of options has kept him in the Majors.  Regardless I will still add nice parallels to my collection.
  

Quick Bench Trade

Happy early 4th of July.  Hard to believe 2026 is already half over.  The baseball season is also half completed.  Fans better enjoy the second half and the playoffs while they can.  It appears a strike is coming.  Regardless of what side you are on, it looks like the salary cap is going to be a major issue in the labor negotiations.  

At least we will always have baseball cards to get our fix.  Despite how slow the postal service seems to be recently, I did receive a nice package of Cardinals from The Bench member STLSHOEMAN.

My local Walmart is flooded with about every type of Series 2 packs you can think of including blasters, fat packs, and hanger packs.  I have resisted the urge and continue to build my team set through trades.

Picking up parallels has been a little slower, but a few are coming in.  Do collectors need all these variations?  Not in my opinion, but I will collect them anyway.

  

TCDB 2 for Tuesday #145

 It was nice to have things back to normal yesterday after the busy weekend.  I was able to sit down and watch most of the Cardinals game.  Dustin May almost threw a Maddux in his complete game shutout.  While watching, I opened a couple of packages that provided content for today's post.  The first batch of Cardinals came from user SMSiegell.

It has been hard not grabbing a blaster of 2026 Bowman at my local Walmart, but so far I have held off.  The more Cardinals I get from trades, the less tempting it will be.

I love the Top 100 insert set.  If I ever get a chance to meet the player, I try to get these autographed.  Not sure I will get that chance with Doyle.

The second package came from member Sloedog.

I was thrilled to cross off a 2011 and 2003 Topps Gold cards off my wantlist.

The 2011 Cognac Diamond Anniversary was just as nice.  Any card from the 2011 World Series year is a great add to the collection.

Bench Trade

It was a long weekend in my household.  My daughter got married on Saturday.  From the time pictures started at 10 in the morning until we finished cleaning the dance hall at 11:30, it was a long day.  Everything went great though, and I would not trade it for the world.  I spent a good portion of Sunday napping on the couch.  I had some spare time in the evening to go through Saturday's mail.  It contained my first trade from The Bench website this year.  I received a nice trio of Cardinals from member desertdogg.

It is great to see Walker finally living up to his potential.  Saturday he hit his 18th home run with an exit velo close to 117 mph.  He will most likely be the Cardinals All Star selection this year.  Nice to add a 2024 Heritage Chrome numbered to 375.

Wetherholt is also having a good year.  He should be in the top 3 Rookie of the Year voting at this point.

Victor Scott is on the opposite end of the performance spectrum.  After not hitting above .200 for the better part of the year, he was sent down to Triple A last week.  I hope he can get his swing worked out and come back as the starting centerfielder in a few weeks.  So far he has 6 hits in 4 games including 3 for extra bases.  Maybe it will be easier to add his cards to my collection for awhile.