It Begins .. Somewhat

After a very long offseason, the Cardinals will play their first spring training game today.  It will not be against a MLB team, but rather Florida Atlantic University.  FAU is on the spring training schedule because they are located within a few miles of the Cardinals' spring training home in Jupiter, Florida.  The Cardinals will take on the Marlins tomorrow in their first true game.  Another convenient opponent because the Marlins share Roger Dean Stadium with the Cardinals.

 Austin Gomber gets the start today.  Gomber was the Cardinals co Minor League pitcher of the year in 2015 along with Alex Reyes.  He played the entire season at Low A Peoria going 15-3 while making the mid season all star team.  He was the Cardinals' 4th round draft pick in 2014 out of Florida Atlantic.  I cannot imagine how cool it will be for Gomber to face some of his former college teammates as a member of a MLB team.

2 Plummers in 1 Day

You never know what type of weather to expect when you live in Southern Illinois.  Last weekend was sunny with temps pushing 70 degrees.  Yesterday brought blizzard warnings for much of the state with 3-5 inches of snow and wind gusts up to 40mph.  My area was lucky in a sense because we did not receive any snow accumulation, but we did get 2-3 inches of rain.  Early forecast for this weekend is sunny and 60 degrees.

All the rain reminded me of  time a few years ago when my basement flooded due to a drain backup.  A plumber came and cleaned everything out before there was too much water on the floor.  Luckily there was less than an inch of water with the some drywall being the only thing of note damaged.  I had a little chuckle when a trade package yesterday contained 2 plummers.

Nick Plummer was the Cardinals #1 draft pick in 2015.  I have mentioned before that he played high school baseball in Michigan where the batter started with a 1-1 count.  I would guess I have an outside chance of seeing him play in Peoria later this summer. 

The second Plummer is not as nice as the auto, but I still needed it for my team set.  The Cardinals selected Jake Woodford 39th in last years draft with their competitive balance pick.  It is almost comical they get an extra draft pick for being a so called small market team, but yet still make the playoffs almost every year.  I admit that system needs to be fixed.

The trade packaged also included a handful of inserts.  The Yadi is a refractor from 2013 Bowman Chrome.  I still have a hard time realizing Taveras is no longer playing baseball.  Yes it was a trajedy, but hopefully a lesson learned for other young players.

A couple of minis featuring the Big Puma and often injured Jaime Garcia.  I read early today that this is the first spring in 5 years that he is healthy.  I would like to think he will have a career year since he will be a free agent after this season, but I would not bet on him staying healthy.

These may appear to be base 2011 Topps, but a closer look at the upper left corner shows them to be Target Throwback variations.  The backs also differ from the base cards due to lack of the glossy finish.  Hard to believe Freese is still sitting at home with a team. 

Orange Tribute

Yesterday I received one card in the mail from a trade I completed on The Bench website. 

2015 Topps Tribute Orange Relics

I believe this is my first relic from the Topps Tribute brand.  The orange design really makes the card stand out.  I was having a hard time deciding what type of hat Wainwright was wearing in this photo until I discovered this card while putting the Tribute card away.

2014 Topps Update All Star Stitches

Same photo, just a not a close up version like the Tribute.  I am sure Topps will use the same photo somewhere in one of their 2016 products.

IP Recap: The Bird and Brian

Spring training started late last week for pitchers and catchers for the Cardinals along with most other teams.  Today is the first full workout for all Cardinals players, meaning exhibition games are right around the corner.  I have a love/hate feeling for this time of year.  I love the fact baseball has started.  I hate the fact February also starts dance competition season for my daughter.

OK, hate is too strong of a word.  Dislike may fit better.  My daughter has danced in various competitions the last 4 years.  There is anywhere from 4-5 competitions each spring that we drive at least two hours to, with a national competition in Ohio being a 7 hour drive.   Youth sports can be expensive, but dancing is right up there with it.  Monthly class fees, costume fees, and competition fees add up very quickly.  Worse yet, you cannot sell a used dance costume that you outgrow like you can with a baseball glove that is too small.  I support my daughter 100% while she is dancing and enjoy watching her during her 5-6 minutes of stage time.  It is the other 3-4 hours of time watching young girls shake body parts they should not that leaves me thinking when will this end.  At least this appears to be her last year dancing, as sports will take a more prominent place in her life during junior high.
 
Last weekend was her first competition in Collinsville, IL.  I was lucky enough to be searching the internet last week and found out a sporting goods store in St. Louis was having a baseball expo with former Cardinal Brian Jordan signing autos for free from 12-2.  Since it was just a 20 minute drive from the dance competition, my son and I were able to get away for it.  I had been to one of these signings a few years ago when Willie McGee was there.  People were lined up 2 hours before he started, so I did not wait around for the slight chance to get his auto.  This year was completely different.    

  We arrived about 12:30 and found the line was less than 30 people deep.  While waiting in line, my son got his first auto of the day

 Cardinals mascot Fredbird

Fredbird helped passed the 10 minute wait until we got to the front of the line.  Jordan signed my son's bat that has about 40 other signatures on it.  He was very nice and took a picture with him.  I got 2 cards signed.  

We put our autos back in the van and went back into the store to hit in the indoor batting cage.  After we finished, I noticed Jordan had less than 10 people in line.  The workers said anyone can jump back in line if they wanted since there was still an hour left for the signing. I got one more card signed.

The store was providing free 8x10s for anyone that did not bring a ball or card with them.  My son grabbed one.

All 3 cards came out nice, but the photo is great.  Nice big bold signature with his full name.  He thanked us for coming and being Cardinals fans.  I cannot argue about 5 free autos.  The store was even giving away free hot dogs and water.  I almost felt guilty getting all the free things, but I did end up buying a bat for my son. 

All in all a great day.  My daughter's dance group finished first in both her routines, so everyone left happy.

                                                                                                                                

Classic Variety in a Trade Package

I think some of my favorite trades are with other Cardinals fans.  Whether it be with fellow bloggers, message board members, or email friends it always nice to exchange my extra cards for some wantlist hits.  My box of Cardinals doubles is well over 2000 thanks to numerous blind team trades.  I have them sorted by year to make trading a little easier.  Sometimes I even find a card that I need or a variation that I overlooked while going through the box.  Last week I sent a package to an email trader with a small stack of early 1980s Cardinals.  My end of the trade arrived Tuesday.

 

 I do not have many of the Classic cards from the late 1980s or early 1990s.  I had planned to buy some during the COMC Black Friday sale last year, but was shocked at some of the prices.  The 2 purple cards did complete one of the 1989 sets.

I am not a huge fan of the Topps Big cards.  The front has too much going on with the color splash, action photo, and the player close up. I doubt too many players were flattered with the close up shot.  It looks like Todd Zeile was heavily medicated for his pic.

I think Topps realized smoke/fog border did not work for the 1989 Mini League Leader set, so they cut it back to just 2 corners for the 2016 flagship set.  I don't think either design is that great.  I did purchase a big chuck of Sportflics from COMC on Black Friday, but did not have the Terry Pendleton.  The Steve Peters 88 Donruss Rookies finished that set.

Pacific put out a ton of sets in 1999.  They did utilize unique designs and included a nice variety of players.  McEwing was somewhat of a cult hero when he came up, earning the nickname Super Joe.  His star did not last long, but he is still around as a coach in the White Sox minor league system.

Edgar Renteria has been the longest tenured starting shortstop for the Cardinals since Ozzie Smith retired.  A good all around player who was not outstanding at one thing, but did everything well.  He bounced around to 6 different teams after leaving the Cardinals in 2004, but was still a solid player.

I am a fan of the Topps Heritage brand, but 2008 was a down year for me.  I know Topps had to follow the 1959 blueprint, but the bulleye design does not work for me.  Ankiel's card looks like a most wanted poster.

Late to the 2016 Topps Party

2016 Topps Series 1 has not been out for 2 weeks yet, but it seems like longer than that by looking at all the breaks and posts about it.  I did not have any luck finding packs/boxes at my Wal-Mart the first couple days after release, so I went the trade route to get my team set.  I cannot tell you the last time I bought a hobby box, but I will purchase the occasional blaster every now and then.  A home loan and 2 children makes for a small hobby budget in my household.

The Cardinals have 9 cards in the base set.  My favorite shot is the Matt Holliday sliding into home.  I like the action photos, but the cards seem a little to up close.  The full bleed photos are also nice, but I do not know what to think of the white cloud/smoke.  On some cards it is ok, but others like the Molina card it takes away from the background.

Topps always features Musial in a few insert sets.  Pressed into Service cards feature position players who pitched in a MLB game.  You may not have known that Musial was a pitcher in the minor leagues before he hurt his shoulder.  I think his career turned out ok. 

The rainbow foil parallels are back this year.  Not a bad looking card, but is it necessary with the other parallels like Gold, Black, etc?  I can do without the wacky sticker inserts.  The Perspectives are excellent looking cards.  They have the full panoramic feel of being in the ball park. 

A Rainbow Anniversary

Earlier this week I was updating my wantlist link on my webpage when I noticed today is my one year anniversary of starting this blog.  I have never been known as a very talkative person, and the same holds true to my blogging.  I average a post about every fifth day.  I do enjoy reading others' blogs daily, but sometimes just do not have anything to say of my own. 

The bulk of my posts feature cards I have received from numerous sources: the blogging community, EBAY, trading websites, etc.  I also throw in the occasional autograph recap from the minor league games my family attends or a card show review.  My posts are not meant to invoke any deep thoughts about baseball or card collecting.  Rather, I just enjoy sharing my experiences and collection with others.

Very few of my posts feature my favorite player, Ray Lankford.  I am down to needing a small amount cards of his, most being low numbered or 1/1s.  I believe I picked up 3 cards of his that I needed in 2015.  This year I plan on featuring more of my favorite Lankford cards.  Maybe I will try a weekly type post.

The first anniversary is traditionally considered the paper anniversary.  Unless I get some unexpected mail, I will not have any new cards to show off so I decided to share my favorite Lankford rainbow.  A lot of collectors show a rainbow of Topps or Bowman cards made up of different colors of refractors.  Lankford retired before the refractor trend started.  My Lankford rainbow is only 3 cards, but oh what a beautiful three cards they are.

   

1998 Donruss Crusade Green 225/250

1998 Donruss Crusade Purple 51/100

1998 Donruss Crusade Red 20/25

I think the Green version looks the best, but the red is not bad.  I have seen the Green and Purple version pop up on EBAY every now and then, but the Red never seems to surface.  I purchased my copy about 3 years ago for under $30 delivered.  That may sound high, but check out what recent completed auctions have closed for.  Crazy money