TCDB 2 for Tuesday #77

The Cardinals' first full month of the season ends today with a doubleheader against the Tigers.  It will be strange watching Jack Flaherty throw to Carson Kelly in the first game.  Both former Cardinals were players I followed closely.  I wish them the best after today's games.  With a sweep, the Cardinals can get back to .500.  I would be happy with a split.

I could not think of a theme for either of today's recaps, so I will jump right into it.  First envelope came from member Mrwhite1978.

Another 6 cards were crossed off my 2024 Heritage wantlist.  Topps did a good job with the dual MVP cards.

Also grabbed the Altuve for my son.  I thank Topps for not making his card a short print this year.  

The second trade envelope came from member el_cid91.

I was not a fan of Topps including short prints in Gallery.  After receiving this Molina, I only need the Musial sp to finish the 2020 team set.

I received 2 shiny cards with this Silver Portrait McGwire and a Topps Chrome Update Arenado.  Arenado and the rest of the team could really use McGwire as their hitting coach.  During his 4 seasons as the Cardinals hitting coach, they had a great offense.  Some of that had to do with Albert Pujols being on the team, and some had to do with McGwire.  

The blue border Topps Update parallels look very sharp.  Not refractor sharp, but still very nice.

     

Peoria Chiefs Game

Yesterday was a beautiful day to watch a baseball game.  It was a little overcast, with temps in the mid-70s.  My son and I took advantage of the nice day and made the 3 hour drive to Peoria to catch our first Chiefs game of the year.  Game time was 2:00, which worked out great for us to leave after church and also return home before 9:00.  

Sunday is team autograph day in Peoria.  After the game, players signed autographs in the concourse for 15 minutes.  Most of the roster was there except for the pitchers who pitched in the game, which was quite a few because the Chiefs lost 14 to 6.  2 of the starting position players did not show up as well.  I cannot blame them because they were a combined 1 for 8.  We managed to get 20 autographs from 8 different players.

Won Bin Cho is the Cardinals 9th rated prospect.  Being from South Korea, I was curious to hear how well his English was.  He had quite a line of people wanting his signature, so all I heard was thank you.

I always take my camera to Chiefs games.  With less than 1,000 people in attendance, it is easy to move around to take pictures.  The Chiefs have not installed netting past the home plate side of the dugouts yet, so the view is great.  I plan to have Cho sign one of these next to we go to a game.

Joshua Baez is the 29th rated prospect.  He did play in the game.  He is a very large young man with a ton of power who also strikes out a lot.

Cooper Hjerpe was the Cardinals first round draft pick in 2022.  He is the 6th rated prospect.  I hope to see him pitch sometime this year.  He has a somewhat submarine delivery that is hard to pick up the ball from.  Very nice kid who thanked us for coming.

Brycen Mautz is prospect #20, while Pete Hansen is #26.  We were lucky none of the started pitchers we had cards for pitched yesterday.  

The last of the cards are from the 2022 and 2023 team sets for players who are not ranked.  

Leonardo Bernal is the Cardinals' #7 prospect.  He does not have any cards besides a 2023 Bowman Chrome autograph.  These pictures are during his first at bat when he hit a home run.  I will print out the bottom picture next time we go to Peoria with hopes of getting it signed.  

Zach Levenson is the #22 prospect.  I did have a card for him to sign, but he did not come out.  Maybe next time.  I liked this picture showing a ball he fouled off to the backstop.  

Despite the lopsided score, the game was very entertaining.  23 hits and 20 runs scored between the 2 teams.  Peoria's manager and a bench player were ejected during the 7th inning for arguing balls and strikes.  All that in a little under 3 hours.  

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.