Another Trade Package with more Molina

I commented last week how most of my recent trade packages contained at least 1 Yadier Molina card.  He is one of the more popular Cardinals that does have a card and/or insert in most sets, but there are quiet a few more hardcore Molina collectors out there than me.  My streak continued early this week when I got a trade package from Ron of the Trading Bases group.  I mailed him some of the Pirate cards I got signed at Indianapolis a few weeks ago. 

This package contained 2 Molina cards from 2016 Donruss and 1 from Diamond Kings. I like the painted look of this year's Diamond Kings cards.  Panini seems to have used all catching poses to get past airbrushing the logos. 

This Piscotty Rated Rookie finished my Donruss set.  The lack of logo on the helmet really sticks out on this card. 

These are my first 2016 Opening Day cards. I love the looks of the blue parallels, will have to track some down.

I found it kind of funny that I got 2 different Lankfords  in the package.  I had the Ray Lankford, but this is my first Cole Lankford.  Cole is an outfielder in rookie ball right now who may see single A before the end of the year.  Hard to tell from the scan, but the die cut is numbered to 200.

Jaime Garcia is healthy for the second year in a row, which is big news.  He has had a Jekyll and Hyde type of year so far.  He threw a 1 hit shutout with 11 strikeouts, but has also gotten bombed twice.  At least he is healthy so far.  I am not for sure who the Cardinals would have for a 5th starter if someone got hurt right now.

The Coupon Got Me

Back in the fall of 2002 my wife and I made the decision that our double wide trailer was not a big enough place to start a family in, so we decided to build a house.  We moved the double wide in June of 2003 because we wanted to attach the existing garage to our new house.  Construction started on July 5 with the digging of our basement.  After four long months of living in a camper, we moved into the new house a week before Thanksgiving.

So what does this have to do with baseball cards you may ask.  Long story short, the monthly mortgage took a good bite out of the card budget.  Before the house, I would buy a hobby box every month or two.  I cannot even tell you the last time I busted a hobby box since then.  I will get the occasional blaster box from Wal-Mart, but busting packs is almost as rare as a Adam Wainwright quality start this year. 

Monday night I had the chance to sort some cards sitting on my desk and came across the coupon that was included with the Topps Marketside cards.   I had to go to the store for dog food anyway, so I took the coupon along hoping to find some 2016 Bowman.  No such luck though, so I decided to use the $1 off value pack coupon for some 2016 Gypsy Queen.

The base cards feature the typical border Gypsy Queen has used the past few years.  I like the simple design and the way the red text stands out.  I did not get any sps or Cardinals from the base cards, so all of these are for trade:  16-22-33-47-51-96-127-136-141-145-152-223-233-270

 I like the look of the blue frame parallel cards compared to the white border from last year.  Once again all of these are up for trade.

7 Corey Seager

12 Jose Bautista

69 Edwin Encarnacion

86 Adrian Beltre

98 Carlos Rondon

Each pack contained a mini card, although each was different.  The Robbie Ray was the only regular mini.  Yep, all of these are for trade also.

282 Robbie Ray

MVP Cal Ripken Jr

Purple 200 Brian McCann 206/250

The only insert in the 3 packs was also my only Cardinal.  This is the same photo Topps has used for other Musial cards, but at least they included more of the background.  I do believe Power Alley is a new insert for Gypsy Queen. 

This was the first pack of cards I opened in 2016, not counting the Marketside cards.  I do miss the thrill of busting a pack, but not the letdown of not getting what I paid for.  All of these are nice cards, but not really worth the $3 per pack price.  I am a sucker though, so will most likely use the $2.50 blaster box coupon when Bowman does arrive.

1 Sticker + 2 Carlos + Assorted Hits = Great Trade Package

My trading has slowed down a bit with the nicer weather finally arriving here in Southern Illinois.  It seems every night I have one or two functions to run the kids to.  Ball practice, dance practice, choir, etc keeps me away from home until 8 or 9 in the evening.  By the time showers, dinner, and homework is done, there is little time or motivation to devote to baseball cards.  It is nice though to open the mailbox and find a trade package or two still coming in.

I have traded with Michael from the Trading Bases group multiple times, but it has been a long time.  He was one of the traders who had some Pirates for the Indianapolis game I attended.  He also slipped in some Cardinals.

Michael included a nice variety of cards and even a sticker.  I have a couple other 2013 Topps Stickers to go along with the Lance Lynn, but need quite a few more.  The 2015 Heritage Minors card features Tim Cooney, a promising lefty who is experiencing shoulder problems to start the season.  Not sure why Shelby Miller has a 2013 Bowman Draft card when he was in the regular Bowman set that same year.

Two Carlos from the 2013 Bowman Chrome set.  I hope Martinez builds on his season from last year and continues to build up to a 20 game winner.  Beltran had a nice couple of season in St. Louis as the veteran replacement for Albert Pujols. 

Nothing too flashy about these 2 2016 Donruss cards.  Not for sure why, but it seems like all of my recent packages has at least one Molina card that I need. 

I am a fan of the refractor like finish of Pannini Prizm regardless of what year.  Panini did a decent job of selecting photos that minimize the lack of logos on these 2 cards.  It is sad to see how far Allen Craig has fallen.  Last I check he is still with Boston's Triple A team.

All Cardinals goes All Pirates

The Cardinals have a big series starting tonight against the Cubs.  Good thing they have been playing better of late, going 7-2 since starting the season by getting swept by the Pirates.  I cannot say that the Pittsburgh sweep was a surprise.  Having seen the Cardinals in spring training the week before, it did not look like they were prepared to start the season.  A lot of the starters either did not play, or looked like they were just going through the motions.  Pittsburgh served as a good wake up call.

I have never been to Pittsburgh to see a game, but I would love to go.  I hear the ballpark is beautiful.  I did see their Triple A team the Indianapolis Indians play 2 years ago.  They play at Victory Field in downtown Indy.  Like its Major League counterpart, Victory Field is very nice.  The concourse has many pictures of past players including Andrew McCutchen, Randy Johnson, and Larry Walker.

The family and I made another trip to Indy on Saturday to watch the Baby Buccos take on the Columbus Clippers, Cleveland's Triple A team.  Each Saturday is Signature Saturday with various people signing free autographs.  This past Saturday was team autograph night.  Tables were set up along the concourse with 2 players or coaches at each table signing for 45 minutes.  This is a great setup for fans, as the tables are labeled  with each signer.  Each person is allowed to get 1 auto, but you can get back in a line if you choose to.  It was not hard to get through each table , although some had longer lines than others.  I had a few cards from a Sportlots order to get signed along with some from 2 Pirate fans from the Trading Bases group.

Butch Wynegar is the hitting coach for the Indians.  He did not have a long line and was very talkative.

Willy Garcia has a cannon for an arm with some power potential.  His auto leaves a little to be desired, although he was nice.

Ngoepe is a very talented shortstop.  He made a great sliding stop to his backhand and through out the runner by a step.  He is a native of South Africa.

Rojas is the son of the former MLB pitcher.  He was very talkative and shook hands with almost everyone.

 Alen Hanson has a good mix of power and speed for a shortstop.  Out of all the players, he seemed the most disinterested in signing.  He made little eye contact and did not say a word.

Jameson Taillon is the Pirates 4th rated prospect.  He missed the last 2 seasons due to injuries.  He joked with us about not signing because we were wearing Cardinals hats, but was very friendly.

Josh Bell is the Pirates 3rd rated prospect.  Most fans think he will be in Pittsburgh before the All Star break.  He is a big man with big power.  He was at the same table as Taillon.  This was by far the most popular table.

There were numerous players who we did not have cards for, so they signed this logo sheet.  Good thing most of them added their numbers otherwise I would have not clue who signed this.  From top to bottom, left to right: Jorge Rondon, Kelvin Marte, Alen Hanson, Max Moroff, Ed Easley, John Kuchno, Mel Rojas Jr, Jason Rogers, Guido Knudson, Wilfredo Boscan, Trey Haley, and Curtis Partch.  I was shocked Hanson signed this.  While Marte was signing it, Hanson leaned over and scribbled his name.

I could not go the entire night without getting something Cardinal related signed.  Rondon was a member of the Springfield Cardinals that won the 2012 Texas League championship.  This is the 12th card I have signed from the team set.

Ed Easley was by far the most friendly player.  This program is from a 2014 Memphis Redbirds game.  Easley is a native of Memphis and spent a few minutes talking about how great it was to play in his home town.  He did not have much of a line, so he was more than happy to talk about the minor leagues.  He did get 6 at bats with St. Louis last year, but went hitless.  He should be able to hang around Triple A for a few more years as the veteran catcher.

We got a total of 35 autographs for our 45 minutes of work.  Our seats were in the front row by the Clippers bullpen.  My daughter got a ball from a relief pitcher after he finished warming up.  My son caught a foam ball that was thrown out in between innings that included a $5 Subway card.  Nice little prize for him.

The game was not overly exciting.  The  Clippers won 2-1 with a home run in the top of the ninth.  Pirates #1 prospect Tyler Glasnow started the game and struck out 9 in five innings.  He looks to be a stud with a short stay in Indy this year before he gets called up.

One last thing that made me a proud dad:

My 11 year old daughter kept a scorecard for both teams the entire game.  Other than not using a backwards K, she was spot on with almost everything without asking for help. 

PWE x 3

Yesterday's mail brought a trio of trade packages, all the plain white envelope variety.  I know others do not like using this method, but if it is a low dollar trade with only a handful of cards I am all for it.  Any way you can find to stretch your hobby dollar is usually a good idea.

I swapped a couple of 2016 Topps Gold cards from my dime box find for these 2 2015 Topps Update Gold cards.  If you blinked you would have missed Cishek in a Cardinals uniform.

I traded 2 more of the 2016 Gold cards for this 3 pack of team set hits.  The 1986 Sportsflic card is Ozzie Smith.  It would have been nice for Topps to make 1 Heritage card with both Cardinals prospects on it, but that would be to logical for them.

My favorite package contained these 2 Molina cards.  The one on the left is a2015 Panini Elite All Star Salutes card.  It looks much better in person.  The 2015 Prizm card is a Camo parallel numbered to 199.  Panini did a great job with the various parallels from this set.  They even chose a photo that did not require airbrushing the logos off.  I love when the card shows cathers in their tools of the trade.

NCAA win = Sportlots Goodies

My NCAA tournament bracket stunk this year.  I only picked 1 correct final four team, and that one lost in the championship game.  I did enter a Sweet 16 pool where you pay $5 for a random team with winner taking all.  I was luckily enough to get Villanova, so once my entry fees for brackets and the pool were subtracted I netted $70.  Of course I had to spend a small portion on cards, so I hit up Sportlots to fill in some team holes and also get a few cards for autographing at a future minor league game.  I placed a 25 card order with 1 seller for a total of $7.07.

Not sure what Red is doing with all the gloves in this picture, but he seems happy to be doing it.  This was the last card needed to complete the 2013 Panini Cooperstown set.

2012 Elite Extra Edition featured quite a few Cardinal draft choices.  Maness is the only one from this group to see St. Louis, although Wilson may have a chance in September or if another infielder gets hurt.  Rowan Wick had a ton of power as an outfielder, but could not make contact.  He is now a pitcher for the Cardinals Palm Beach Class A team.

I have written about Patrick Wisdom and Carson Kelly before in this blog.  Kelly just hit his first homer in Double A last night. 

I bought these 3 2015 Bowman Chrome cards with the intent to have them autographed at a Peoria Chiefs game, but discovered I needed them for team sets.  Autos will have to wait.

Rounding out the Cardinals portion of the order were these 2013 Prizm cards.  Not sure why I did not order the Ryan Jackson card to finish the set.  Maybe next time.

I received another 8 cards in the order, but will save them with the hopes of showing them off when they get autographed. 

Solace in Losing

The Cardinals have not started the season well, going 0-3 for the first time since 2007.  The Pirates will be a good team this year, most likely a good chance of making the playoffs, but I have a hard time believing Juan Nicasio is that good of a pitcher.  He may prove me wrong.  The number of strikeouts through 3 games is very alarming, as is the sloppy play in the field.  I guess there is no where to go but up, at least I hope it can't get any worse.  At this rate the Cardinals could get no hit this weekend in Atlanta.

While watching the game last night, I did find comfort sorting a trade package that arrived while I was on vacation.  I have traded with Trading Bases member Stu numerous times.  He always does the leg work for these trades, find cards from my team want lists while also going through my tradelist for things he can use.  His latest package knocked off 50 cards from my wantlist, some as old as 1970. 

These 6 1970 Topps cards are in excellent condition.  Some may be a little off center, but there are not creases and most off the corners are very sharp.  Torre would spend parts of 6 seasons with the Cardinals, winning the MVP award in 1971.  He would also managing the Cardinals from 1990-1995.  He was a great player and manger, but never made the playoffs with the Cardinals. 

2 more Torre cards, these from 1972.  Both have some flaws, but still are in decent shape.  I am not very picky when it comes to the condition of early 1970s cards.  As long as all the card is there and there is no major creases, I am happy.

Topps put out some funny stickers in 1983, like the top right card featuring Darrell Porter's midsection.  I believe you had to put together 2 or 3 stickers to get the full action pose.

I always had a fondness for the Cardinals outfielders of the early 1990s. Sure my favorite player Ray Lankford was a mainstay, but players like Jordan and Gilkey were good all around players.  These 3 cards completed my 1995 Emotion set.

These 1999 Skybox Molten Metal cards did not scan well.  They have a Finest refractor like finish to them. 

I have quite a few holes in my Heritage teams sets, ranging from obscure pitchers like Stephenson to the various SPs.  Amazing how thin and young Molina looks on this 2004 Heritage card. 

I think the sting of Pujols leaving St. Louis is all but gone.  The Cardinals used the 2 draft picks they received for losing him to pick Michael Wacha and Stephen Piscotty.  Although Pujols has been injured for much of his time in Anaheim, I doubt he would have put up the same .300, 30 home runs, and 100 rbi seasons he had for the Cardinals.  It will still be interesting to see what type of reception Pujols gets if the Angels ever come to St. Louis.  The 2007 Topps is the red letter variation that finished a team set. 

I received a few other cards from Stu, but some were not scan worthy such as a few checklists.  I am one of those people who adds the checklists to team sets.  Guess I am weird that way.