Cubs for Cardinals

Last month, I worked out 2 trades with TCDB and Trading Bases member bdhrbob.  It worked out great for both of us to have a dumping ground for our least favorite cards, Cubs for me and Cardinals for him.  This will turn into an ongoing transaction as we both manage to accumulate cards for each other.  We completed our third trade a few days ago.

I was thrilled to get a nice-sized lot of 2024 Heritage in one trade.  The upper right shows the horrible mistake by Topps of using a Whitey Herzog photo on a Red Schoendienst card.  

My 2001 Topps Chrome team set is down to needing 5 more cards.  4 commons and a Pujols RC will finish it.  

Donruss Classics sets can be difficult to complete thanks to the short print rookies and legends.  I need one common and the Musial legend short print to finish the 2005 set.  The card would look so much better if the ballpark in the background was in color.

  

9th & 10th New Lankford cards of 2024

The Cardinals reverted back to their old ways last night, losing 14 to 1.  2 different pitchers gave up 7 runs.  In a post game interview, manager Oliver Marmol said starter Steven Matz did a pretty decent job despite giving up 7 runs in less than 5 innings.  I guess I am old school, thinking that is a lousy job.  I have never really cared for Marmol since the beginning of last year when he called out Tyler O'Neill.  There is a time and place to confront a player.  Doing it to the press early in the season is not it.  I doubt there are many Cardinals fans who were pleased that Marmol received a 2 year extension at the end of spring training.  Does not make much sense to award someone after he manages a team to last place.  

Enough of my complaining.  Time to show off some nice additions to my Ray Lankford collection.

This is my 5th version of this card.  I  have the version numbered to 15 to track down.  There is a copy listed on EBAY, but the starting bid is close to what I paid for the one of one.  

This is the 2nd version of this card I have.  It does not have the eye appeal of the first card, but it does have a better write-up on the back highlighting the game Lankford hit for the cycle.         

      

TCDB 2 for Tuesday #76

I guess my boo hoo post about the Cardinals yesterday brought some good luck last night.  Paul Goldschmidt managed to hit a home run for his first extra base hit since opening day, and Nolan Gorman only needed 1 pitch to hit a walk off home run .  Everything is right in the world for a few hours.  Time to celebrate by showing off a few cards.  The first lot came from member Burnsie42.

Maybe Goldschmidt was striking this pose after he hit the home run last night.  

Altuve has started the season well despite Houston's struggles.  This 2017 Diamond Kings Aurora does a great job of complimenting the team colors.  

The second trade came from member TeddyBallGame68.

These are the last non short print Cardinals I needed from 2024 Big League.  There are 2 lower end short prints I should be able to obtain, but 2 more rare ones that most likely will never find a home in my collection.  

You do not see too many locker room photos on cards.  Stadium Club does a nice job of capturing these types of moments.  

 

Bright Spot to a Bad Baseball Weekend

It was not a good weekend to be a Cardinals fan.  The Brewers came to town on Friday and proceeded to sweep the Cardinals.  The 3 losses left St. Louis in last place.  As of today, they have the same record as they did last year and have scored fewer runs.  Something needs to change sooner rather than later to avoid another dreadful season.  

Until the Cardinals play better, I will have to rely on card packages to keep me happy baseball-wise.  Thankfully, I had a nice package arrive Saturday from TCDB member jeffburk, which brightened my weekend.

I am not a big fan of the UK or Japan sets, but I will not turn them away either.  

I opened a ton of 1994 Bowman, so I was excited to see the design return for 2022 Bowman Heritage.  If  mother nature cooperates, I should see both of these guys play in Peoria this weekend.

 

I am almost done with 2023 Stadium Club.  2 more Cardinals to track down.  2024 Big League will most likely never be complete thanks to the unnecessary short prints.  
 

It was bittersweet to receive a nice Herzog card after his passing last week.  This Prizm does a good job of showing his firey spirit.    

    

Goodbye Whitey

Yesterday morning Cardinals Nation learned of the passing of former manager Whitey Herzog.  At 92 years old, Herzog was the second oldest living Hall of Famer behind Willie Mays.  He recently attended the opening day ceremonies at Busch Stadium on April 4th.  I am not sure what the cause of death was, but hopefully, he did not have to suffer.

Herzog managed one of my favorite Cardinals teams in 1985.  I was 9 years old and loved the fast style of play that became known as Whitey Ball.  Vince Coleman, Willie McGee, and Ozzie Smith were some of the players known for stealing bases and playing good defense.  That team most likely would have won the World Series if it had not been for the worst blown call in Series history in Game 6.  Herzog still managed to win 1 World Series and 3 League Championships during his 10 year tenure.

I have a few Herzog items in my collection.  Of the 39 baseball cards, this is my favorite.

This 2003 Topps Fan Favorites autograph shows Herzog in the baby blue uniform his teams made famous.  Herzog also signed cards for the 2022 set.  I have not picked one up yet, but will have to wait until the inflated prices go down.  What once cost around $10-12 has now doubled or tripled in price.

I met Herzog at a card show in St. Louis in the early 2000s.  I believe his autograph was around $40.  He signed this ball and another that has several signatures from members of the 1985 team.

I have 3 different Herzog bobbleheads.  This is my favorite.  It was given out by the Cardinals Hall of Fame in 2021 with a paid membership.  Whitey is shown with his 1985 Manager of the Year award.  
  

        

TCDB 2 for Tuesday #75

It is time for another short and sweet Tuesday post.  Only 2 scans today from 2 different trades.  First up are 3 cards from member heattreat.

This is one of the rare trades that I did not have to propose.  It is nice when someone else takes the time to look over your needs.  Stadium Club cards look great, but adding the red foil to a Cardinals card gives them a little something extra.

Second trade came from member Donnie Sawyer.

Hard to go wrong with to MVP winning first baseman.  The 1989 design is a good one.  I like the team name with the player name in the tail.  The simple blue pinstripe sets off the white border nicely.  

This One Slipped Through the Cracks

I pride myself on having an organized collection.  It does not take me more than 5 minutes to find any card, whether it is for trade or in my personal collection.  Sometimes, cards can get misplaced, though, while they are waiting to be filed away in my card closet.  That was the case with a trade from TCDB member patricksb4.  These cards arrived on March 22, but for some reason, I put them on a shelf on my computer desk and then covered them up with some bills.  Last night when I paid them, I discovered this 4 pack of Cardinals.   

My Topps Gold quest continues with one each from 2007 and 2009.  I was never a fan of the 2007 design.  The 4 dots in each corner and facsimile autograph add nothing to the card.  Give me a nice clean design like 2009 that shows off the team logo.

One type of card TCDB does not keep track of is refractors.  I can tell you how many autographed and game used cards I have, but not refractors.  Maybe some long weekend when I am bored, I will count them.

Speaking of game used cards, this Ankiel is number 242 in my collection.  Back in 2001, Upper Deck made memorabilia cards that still fit in regular sized top loaders.  The cards were so thin that, quite often, the cards creased next to the jersey or bat piece.    
  

    

2 From the Bench

It is not Tuesday, but in an effort to lessen the clutter on my desk, I have 2 different Cardinals lots from The Bench.  1 is a trade, the other a box break.

First up is the hobby box break from 2024 Topps Big League and 2023 Bowman Inception.  I paid $10 for the Cardinals spot.

I did not do the greatest in this one, with only 4 cards.  At least I did get the Walker and Winn cards, along with a Nootbaar uncommon foil.  It is fun to get into a break every once in a while, but very rarely do I come out ahead.    

The trade came from member Scobes. I have traded with him multiple times recently.  Each time I send him numbered Phillies cards in exchange for some Cardinals.

I consider it a win to turn the dime or quarter Phillie cards from bargain boxes into Topps Gold Cardinals, which I can never find in the same boxes.  The added cost of postage for a pwe still makes the deal a win.

I also never run across older premium issues like this 2008 Triple Threads.  I like the use of team colors for the background.  Black is not the best option for the nameplate, though.  The serial number is not very easy to read.    

  
  

8th New Lankford of 2024 is a Big One (of One)

I did not have a single Panini Flawless card in my collection before this year.  Thanks to the inclusion of Ray Lankford in the 2023 set, that number has changed quite a bit.  Lankford has 2 different autographs in the set, with 6 versions of each numbered to the following: 1 , 5 , 10 , 15, 20, and 25.  I have posted 4 of them already.  Another one arrived yesterday.

This is the Platinum 1 of 1 version.  This is the fourth version of the Signatures card I have, still needing the ones numbered to 10 and 15.  It has been a long time since I added a 1 of 1 to my Lankford collection.  This is the first autograph card to go along with some printing plates and a few Fleer Masterpiece cards.  Simply beautiful card in hand.  I hope to complete the rainbow in the near future.   

TCDB 2 for Tuesday #74

Today's post will be pretty short.  I went to the Cardinals game last night and did not get home until midnight.  The lack of sleep has me dragging today.  Maybe a win would have made me more chipper, but at least it was a good game. I am thankful for the pitch clock, as the 10-inning game only lasted 2.5 hours.

The first trade came from member Jquirp001.      

Just like any outfielder the Cardinals have traded, O'Neill has flourished so far for his new team.  Whether he stays healthy will be the big question.  Carlson has yet to see the field after starting the season on the DL.  When he returns, he may soon follow O'Neill out of town.

Mikolas pitched well last night, earning a no-decision.  He seemed to get hit hard when players hit his first pitch.  Donovan came within a few feet of hitting a tying 2-run home run in the bottom of the 10th, but instead, it was the first out.  So close, so far away.  

The second trade came from member RParsons17.

Gorman and Goldschmidt are among the regulars who are hitting .200 or lower.  I know it has only been 11 games, but that is not a good start.  Graceffo has lost both of his starts this year for Memphis with an ERA close to 10.  The baby birds are also struggling.  

Bye Bye Rangers

2 things I love about trading: team trades and getting rid of a lot of cards at 1 time.  I was able to accomplish both of those in a recent trade with TCDB member Stark3K.  I sent him 54 Rangers cards from 1988-2019.  Most were base cards from 1997-2001.  I ended up with a mixture of 13 cards.  7 of them were Pirates and Cubs for 2 other collectors, while I came away with 5 Cardinals for me and 1 Altuve for my son.

Starting things off with 2 nice colored parallels.  The 2012 Update Target Red card is a great-looking color match.

This is a 2023 Update Silver Pattern Foilboard parallel.  Looks very similar to a Bowman Platinum Silver Ice parallel.  Not sure why Topps had to change the name.

Nice to add a couple of 2024 inserts to the Cardinals collection.  I am not a big fan of the Superstar Blueprint insert.  The design is too boring for me.  Give me something with color, or at least a nice chrome finish.

My son added his first 2024 Altuve card.  I like the idea of the Greatest Hits inserts set highlighting career milestones.  Reminds me of the Donruss Highlights sets from the late 1980s.  

TCDB 2 for Tuesday #73

Well, the Cardinals have started the season much like I expected, winning 1 of 4 against the Dodgers.  They could have split the series if it had not been for Marmol's bad bullpen usage on Sunday.  At least they won against the Padres last night, with the offense showing signs of life.  

Time to move on and brighten the mood with some cards.  The first trade package today came from member Sharpie0226.

Anderson Tejeda is one of those rare players who is shown on a card in a team uniform for whom he never played a regular season game.  Give me a card of a middle reliever before doing something like this.  Nootbaar is scheduled to play some minor league games before joining the Cardinals, hopefully this weekend.

The second trade was with member WLeeBaird73.  We worked out a nice Cardinals for Cardinals trade that put a little dent in my stack of Cardinals duplicates.

Ben Baller Chrome cards have lost some of the luster from the initial release, but they are still cool cards.  Topps went a little overboard with the baby blue uniform pictures in 2022.

This is the 200th DeJong card in my collection.  I still root for him because he is such a great guy in person.  He has not started off the greatest for the White Sox, going 1 for 9 in the games.  The one hit was a home run.

Childhood friends Liberatore and Gorman need to have big seasons this year.  Libby has been moved to the bullpen for now until another starter gets injured.  So far Gorman is having a rough go of it, striking out in half of his at bats so far this year.  

  

Celebrating Opening Day with 7th New Lankford of 2024

Happy Opening Day!  It has been a long time since the Cardinals played in a game that mattered.  I do not have very high expectations for the opening series.  I think the Dodgers will win 3 of 4, but hopefully, the games are competitive.

What better way to ring in Opening Day than to show off my newest Ray Lankford card.

This beauty arrived yesterday.  Only took 3 days to get here after winning the EBAY auction.  This is the emerald parallel, which looks a lot more green in person.  I actually got this one a little cheaper than the one numbered  1/5.  
    

Astros for Cardinals

I had a nice team trade recently with TCDB member jc645.  I sent him a pwe full of Astros in exchange for some Cardinals.  I was a little surprised he did not have any duplicate Altuve cards my son needed, but at least he took some duplicates we had.  

My Topps Gold quest continues with a pair of former Cardinals.  Maybe one of these sets will be my first completed Gold team set.  I need 5 more to complete each one.

I am starting to get a few 2024 inserts in.  This is one of the more common ones.  I bet I would receive 4 to 5 matches per day on TCDB, with members adding it to their trade list.

This member was gracious enough to counter my initial trade offer to include these numbered cards.  Neither is a big name, but I will gladly add cards numbered to 25 and 10.  The Kim Topps Total is a nice color match.

TCDB 2 for Tuesday #72

 After I skipped last Tuesday, I am back with the final 2 for Tuesday before the regular season starts.  Today will be pretty quick with 2 3 card pwe trades.  First came from member BubbaV304.

You are probably getting tired of seeing these 2001 HTA cards in the last couple of weeks. 30 down with 6 more to go.  No trades in the works for them yet.  

Second trade came from member nozzlemaster.    

I have also shown a few 1989 ProCards off recently.  That set is almost done, with only 3 more to go out of 28.  The 1990 CMC card finished the 33 card team set.     

Card Show Recap

Unlike the last card show I attended, I am not waiting almost a month to recap the one my son and I attended this past Saturday.  This one was only a 45 minute drive.  Free admission and 80 tables is hard to beat.  We knew it was going to be a good show when the first dealer we saw had 5 5,000 count boxes full of dime cards.  About an hour later, we pulled 65 cards that cost us $6.  Small discount without even asking is a great way to start.  

We managed to find a few Cardinals we needed.  

2014 mini blue refractors numbered to 250

3 online exclusive 582 Montgomery cards.  Wish there were more of these.

Some miscellaneous inserts and parallels were too hard to pass up for a dime each.

It is rare for me to show off Cub cards or even buy them, but the Grace 1996 Ultra Gold Medallion Prime Leather is cool card.  These will be easy to trade with my new TCDB Cub collector.

The rest of the dime cards consisted of Pirates and Yankees for trading friend Ron B, and about 25 assorted Topps Gold parallels from 2014-2020.  No big names, but once again, these are great values for 10 cents each.

The next dealer had a little bit of everything at his table, including some low-grade vintage.  This 1965 Topps card was marked at $5.  Once again, without even asking for a discount, the dealer sold it for $3.  The corners are rough, and there is a slight crease in one of them, but how can I pass up a Mays card for that price.

Our third buy was 3 cards for $1.  The Cruz variation caught my eye first.  

The next dealer had 2 boxes full of Cardinals separated by player.  Most were common cards, but I did find a Wainright regional card I needed along with 2 Busch Stadium cards I use for in person autographs.  These were $1 total.  Had a nice conversation with this dealer and found out he is a member of TCDB also.

The next dealer had several boxes full of inserts sorted by teams.  Great setup, except nothing was priced.  I am always hesitant to pull any card that is not marked, but he had some Altuves my son needed and a couple of Pirates, so we made a deal for $10.  Not a horrible deal, just not as good as some others.  

The last dealer we bought from was all ungraded vintage.  My kind of guy.  These 3 1959 cards and 2 1960 cards were marked $3 each, but he cut us a deal for $10.  All are in excellent condition.  I consider the Cimoli a Cardinals card even though it lists him as a Pirate.

Overall it was a great show.  About 2.5 hours and $31 spent was a good morning.  This is a quarterly show that I will be sure to hit up in late June again.