Blog Bat Around - Thinking Exercise

I don't know if this is an official Blog Bat Around but a bunch of people are posting about it so it is what it is. I believe Night Owl started the full post but it was inspired by Fuji. Since I didn't get anything in the mail the last couple of days and since it is just a touch cold here and work is closed for a couple of days, plus I know I'm not getting any mail today, since there is none getting delivered because of the cold, this will be a good time to post. If you're wondering if I'm serious about the cold, check out my post on Random Thoughts.

All the scans of cards come from My Personal Collections where I'm scanning all my cards. I may not be able to fill all the players but we'll see.

We'll start with the American League Central for obvious reasons.

• Chicago White Sox - Paul Konerko - He's my favorite White Sox of all time so that was an easy one. I could think of a ton of others players so I won't go there.
• Kansas City Royals - Bret Saberhagen - Not sure why my mind went there, the obvious choice would be George Brett. I always picture Saberhagen's 1985 Topps card when I think of him.
• Minnesota Twins - Kirby Puckett - Always respected his play and he seemed like a really good guy.
• Cleveland Indians - Jim Thome - Even though he played with us and works in the front office, I still think of him as an Indian.
• Detroit Tigers - Lou Whitaker/Alan Trammel - I put both because I don't think of one without the other. The other player that comes to mind is Kirk Gibson.

  

 

*I don't have any Jim Thome cards with the Indians yet.

Next up is American League West.

• Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim - Vladimir Guerrero - I actually followed the Angels for a bit because a guy at my old job was a big Angels fan so we talked baseball all the time.
• Seattle Mariners - Ken Griffey Jr - I suppose that one isn't much of a shocker.
• Oakland Athletics - Rickey Henderson - I'm not sure we'll ever see another lead off hitter like him.
• Houston Astros - Jeff Bagwell - When I think of him, I think of his batting stance but it obviously worked for him.
• Texas Rangers - Nolan Ryan - he is the Texas Express after all.

None   

 

*I don't have any cards of Vladimir Guerrero yet.
*I don't have any cards of Ken Griffey Jr with the Mariners yet.
*I don't have any cards of Nolan Ryan with the Rangers yet.

Last and least in the American League, the East.

• Baltimore Orioles - Cal Ripken Jr. - I shouldn't have to explain that one. I also think of Eddie Murray.
• Toronto Blue Jays - Joe Carter - I mainly think of that HR in the World Series.
• Boston Red Sox - Roger Clemens. I would have guessed Wade Boggs but Clemens comes to mind first.
• Tampa Bay Rays - Evan Longoria - To be honest, I had to really think of someone and Longoria was the first to come to mind.
• New York Yankees - Babe Ruth - This one was tough because I think of the Yankees, I think of all kinds of legends.

  

 None

* I don't have any cards of Joe Carter with the Blue Jays yet.
* I don't have any other cards of Evan Longoria by himself.
* I don't have any cards of Babe Ruth yet.

First up in the National League, the Central.

• St. Louis Cardinals - Mark McGwire - I quit watching baseball after the strike, the HR race between McGwire and Sosa got me back into watching again.
• Cincinnati Reds - Tom Seaver - Even though he played for the Sox, I always think of him as a Red.
• Milwaukee Brewers - Robin Yount - I could also put Paul Molitor as they both come to mind.
• Pittsburgh Pirates - Andrew McCutchen - A modern player? I'm as shocked as you are.
• Chicago Cubs - Ryne Sandberg - He was a staple when I was growing up and around here, all you hear about is the Cubs.

  

None 

* I don't have any cards of Mark McGwire with the Cardinals yet.
* I don't have any cards of Andrew McCutchen yet.

Keeping up with the AL list, we'll do the West next.

• Los Angeles Dodgers - Fernando Valenzuela - I always picture his 1981 Topps with 2 other players on it.
• Arizona Diamondbacks - Randy Johnson - I remember watching the World Series in 2001.
• Colorado Rockies - Vinny Castilla, I don't know why him but he does.
• San Francisco Giants - Will Clark - I remember having a ton of his 1987 cards.
• San Diego Padres - Tony Gwynn - Probably no surprise there.

 None 

None 

* I don't have any cards of Randy Johnson yet.
* I don't have any cards of Will Clark yet.

Last but not least the National League East.

• New York Mets - Darryl Strawberry/Dwight Gooden - I grew up a Mets fan and they were my favorite players, until, well, you know.
• Atlanta Braves - Dale Murphy - My cousin was a huge fan of his so I always associate him with the team.
• Washington Nationals - Ryan Zimmerman - They are a newer team and I collect him so there you go.
• Philadelphia Phillies - Mike Schmidt - I always picture the powder blue uniforms and associate those with Schmidt.
• Miami Marlins - Mark Buehrle - I know, but I don't really think of anyone else. I think the only reason I think of Buehrle is because I was just shocked that he left the Sox.

  

 

What this exercise has made me realize is that I don't pay to much attention to the rosters of other teams anymore and I'm pretty sure that I know why. Back in the 1980's and 1990's, I bought packs and collected all cards and not just my pc cards like I do now. Makes sense doesn't it? I'd like to get back to collecting all cards but when I make that decision, I tend to go nuts and start spending a fortune at a time. I've started to lean this way with the Baseball collection, but even that, I'm only paying a dime a card. I really want to start buying packs again, but I haven't taken the plunge, yet.

I'm here, still

I've been slacking here but not on my cards. I've been trying to get all my cards in on the Trading Card Database (MySportsObsession). I've gotten all my player collections listed and I started the Vintage collection but I've only gotten my 1973 Topps logged in so far. I did get a few cards in the mail the last couple of days so I thought I'd throw up a quick post.

We'll start with the Baseball Collection, which in reality is any card that doesn't go into my other collections. I picked up this 2016 card for $.10/shipped. It's my 16th card from that set, all picked up for a dime or less on Ebay.

Next up is the White Sox Collection, this blue Tim Anderson from the Big League set came to me for $.15/shipped. I believe this is the first card I've gotten from that set and it's not even a base card.

Now for the player collection portion. I grabbed this Chris Sale A&G for $.20/shipped. This is my 145th card of Sale, sadly, it's another card in the wrong Sox jersey.

Last but not least, I grabbed a Tom Seaver that I didn't have, which is rare. With this card, I've already gotten half the cards that I added last year. I actually probably could have won it earlier but I usually skipped past it thinking I already had it. When I finally checked, I didn't. I grabbed it for a quarter/shipped. It is my 354th card of Seaver.

Merry (late) Christmas

Since I got no mail today and I had time to get this post up, here's a belated post.

I'm way late on this post but I got these cards before Christmas, which was fitting since he had them labeled as a Christmas gift. In my defense, I went to Florida on Christmas night and was there for just under a week. I have no excuse since then though. I know Dennis has sent a bunch of these out, that's what he does, he's very generous. I'm probably the last to say thanks, because I'm slow like that.

 

  

 

We'll start off with the White Sox collection cards. You know when Dennis is giving you cards, you gonna get some hits. I'm not talking about Dunn either, he was a flop. I recognize all 3 of the auto's which is always a good thing. I really like the Yolmer (Carlos) card because he still plays for us and I like him.

 

 

I don't about you all but I always receive cards of Larkin as well since we both collect him. He's a former Wolverine so why wouldn't we. I remember those SI posters, they were cool back in the day just because they were different. Now a days you get so much stuff in packs they aren't quite as exciting.

 

He also sent me a couple of a Tier 1 player which I don't get very often. They are both Rediscover Topps which I guess for collector's like us, they really aren't that big of a deal because there is a chance we already have them but I understand the concept.

Well you know I'm going to get some Wolverine cards. I definitely like seeing some Taco cards because I don't have very many of him, yet.

Last but definitely not least, an auto of Mike Hart, who would be my favorite former Wolverine. I have a bunch of his auto's but this one was new to me, even by sight it didn't look familiar. I like the looks, it's a sharp looking card.

As always, thank you Dennis. You can check out his stuff at Too Many Verlanders as well as Too Many Manninghams. Get in good with him, he's a great trader to have on your side.

More Wolverine Autos

I picked up a couple more Wolverine autographs that came today. One guy I've been colling for a few years without to much luck and the other guy is a more recent collection that I've grabbed some cards lately.

I've been trying to get Mike Martin cards now for 7 years and this is only my 8th one and it cost me $3/shipped. It is my 3rd autograph of his and only my 2nd in a pro uniform. The other pro uniform card is the base card to this auto.

This Christmas colored card came to me for $2.25/shipped. I've only been collecting his cards a couple of years and it's up to 6 now and half of those are autographs. I picked up 4 of his last year as he's getting settled into the NFL.

Ryan Monday

I got one card in the mail today, it's a player collection card but of a collection that hasn't really gotten off the ground. This is only my 4th card of the former Wolverine and as it's a 2015, there's been time to pick some up.

I picked it up for $3/shipped. As I said above, it's only my 4th card of Jake but 2 of them are autographs and this is the first one in a pro uniform.

2018 in review

I don't really make resolutions so we'll just do a sports review for the past year.

What did I watch you ask, let's check it out.

I'd say I'm pretty consistent the last couple of year. The basketball dropped between 2015 and 2016 because I pretty much stopped watching NBA, just can't really get into it. Same for football between 2016 and 2017. I don't make a huge effort to watch the Colts much, not that I'm still not a fan, I just can't get into the games like I do college. There's just not really that much enjoyment in watching them. I have watched the last couple of games though, but mainly because I wasn't really watching anything else.

If you haven't been here before, I have my collection in Tier's. The top tiers being my favorite player collections. Tier 2 are pretty much other White Sox and Michigan players that I collect. Tier 3 are players I liked back as a kid when I was collecting and Ryan Zimmerman just because he didn't really fit into Tier 2.

As you can tell, 2018 wasn't a very productive year for my Tier 1 collections. That's mainly because I only put a $.25 max bid on cards so I just don't win very many of their cards. Doesn't help that 3 of them are Hall of Famers.

In my Tier 2 section, I've gotten a bunch of Barry Larkin's, I pick them up pretty regularly on Ebay but I have a feeling, the majority of those came from Dennis. Other than Chris Sale, all those up their with double digit adds in 2018 are former Wolverine stars.

Same goes with my Tier 3 collections, I pick up a lot of Ripken's via Ebay but I've also received a bunch from Dennis as we share those collections. I'm surprised at the 0 on Steve Carlton's though, I've bid on a bunch, apparently I'm just not winning them.

I didn't take much time to bid on cards for the Vintage collection this year like I had in the past. Maybe that's something I can work on for next year. It's just time consuming because I have to search through each set from 1952-1987. Then when I get to the upper years, mainly the 80's, I also have to check to see what I do and don't have. I also upped my max bid to $.50 on Michigan collection cards so between that and Dennis, the Michigan collection went up as well.

Here's my funds spent per month.

January - $14.69 (21 cards, 7 hits)

February - $16.35 (15 cards, 6 hits)

March - $20.09 (26 cards, 7 hits)

April - $16.71 (109 cards, 9 hits)

May - $54.06 (51 cards, 14 hits)

June - $37.32 (48 cards, 12 hits)

July - $40.33 (65 cards, 19 hits)

August - $62.14 (801 cards, 17 hits)

September - $61.63 (102 cards, 24 hits)

October - $32.73 (68 cards, 15 hits)

November - $14.79 (21 cards, 6 hits)

December - $27.57 (115 cards, 13 hits)

Hits are defined as autos or relics.

That was way more than I expected but ever since I started searching for player collection autos and relics, I've picked up a bunch. My max bid is $3 on player collection cards, team cards just depends on who it is and how much I want to spend. In August, you can see the 801 cards, I picked up a huge box of 80's stuff, mostly Fleer, at a card shop. Those also includes cards I've received from Dennis as he sent me a couple of packages throughout the year.

As far as my posting goes, I've slacked off this past year. The first time I didn't hit 100 since I started this blog. There were 3 total months where I didn't post anything which would have probably made up the 30 I was short from 100. Even with that, I was 50 posts off my lowest year to date so I was really a slacker this year.

That's it for 2018, we'll see what goes down this year. I know for one, I have started putting my card in on the Trading Card Database. I haven't even gotten through my Tier 1 collections as I just started it a few days ago but I've been working on it. Once I get my player collections done, it should go quickly with everything else because I'll be able to do them in bulk. My name is MySportsObsession.