Yer Daily Fix, 7.14.14

1994 Fleer #418

[Ed. Note: Yer Daily Fix, or YDF for short, is intended to be a snack-sized blog post for each day featuring a card that is at least mildly interesting. Minimal commentary. Think of it as my blog version of a tweet.  Or not.]

Catchers wearing the gear will always make a good YDF card.  Ya gotta love the intensity on Oliver's face in this one.  Btw, Cincy needs to bring back the jersey tops with the cut-off sleeves.

MK

Yer Daily Fix, 7.13.14

2006 Upper Deck #761

[Ed. Note: Yer Daily Fix, or YDF for short, is intended to be a snack-sized blog post for each day featuring a card that is at least mildly interesting. Minimal commentary. Think of it as my blog version of a tweet.  Or not.]

YARR!!  Delaware native Ian Snell is the inaugural YDF. With--or without--a snarling sailor over his shoulder, Snell captured 14 victories for the Buccos in 2006.

MK

2014 Topps Matt Harvey SP! (and More Cards from Shane)

One of the really cool short print ideas Topps had for this year's Series 2 issue was to select some of the game's young superstars and use a photo from their past appearance in the MLB Futures Game.  One of those young stars is Matt Harvey and here's what his SP from Series 2 Topps looks like.  It's a supremely awesome card of the brash right-hander who took the Big Apple by storm last year before succumbing to the dreaded TJ surgery.

I had been eyeing this thing up on eBay for quite some time, but I don't have to do that anymore since my good buddy Shane (Shoebox Legends) pulled this bad boy from a pack and sent it my way.  A truly awesome gesture from a guy who's all aces in my book!

(By the way, in case you're interested, Harvey faced one batter in the 2011 Futures Game in Arizona and retired him.  The 1/3 of an inning earned Mr. Harvey a save for Team USA since it was the final batter of the game.  Oh, and his manager on that day: Mike Piazza!)

Along with the Harvey SP, Shane provided me with a smattering of Mets for my ever-growing collection...

I believe the Alou and Fernando will be calling the All-Time Mets Project a home, as both cards/photos top whatever I've already got for each player.  Nice!

And, Shane always does well to dig up some extraordinary horizontal cards for my other pet project, the Horizontal Heroes frankenset...

Rightfully named, this Masterpieces Justin Verlander is a thing of beauty!

This one is a "must" for the ol' frankenset.  A red parallel of a Redbird, and one of the best photos from the 2013 Topps catalog.  I've already got a certain card penciled in for the No. 4 slot, but this one bumps it right on out of there.

Similarly, the No. 12 position is also booked up, but how can I not include this piece of cardboard art?  In my opinion, this Pierzynski card is the best of the best from 2013 Topps.  That being said, it's a slam dunk inclusion!

I haven't purchased much 2014 Topps flagship this year because money's tight and I plan on putting the factory set on my Santa Claus list anyhow.  But, the cards I've been sent or have stumbled upon at shows have really impressed me.  I think I've done a full 180 on '14 Topps.  As a matter of fact, I think it might be my favorite design of the decade thus far (but I'll save that debate/discussion for a future post).

Lastly, a trip down a memory lane...

I don't know where he gets 'em, but I've been fortunate to have Shane hook me up with a few of these unopened '93 Pinnacle "Super Packs" which feature 27 cards.

Let's see a few highlights from this particular fat pack, shall we?

All in all, a pretty decent pack, I'd say.  The Cal Jr. and Brett subset cards are good hits plus we've got some established stars like Darryl, Sheff, Pudge and Mussina.  The Team 2001 selection is kind of a dud, but that's what you get when Pinnacle tries to predict the future!

As always, thanks for keeping me in mind, Shane!  I look forward to future exchanges!

MK

Four Topps, #770

Almost a month-long gap between Four Topps posts, but today we're back with a bang!  The magic of Random.org had me rifling through my binders in search of card No. 770 from my four favorite childhood sets -- 1987 through 1990 Topps, of course.

Let's cut right through the chit-chat and see what we've got...

1987

Welp, we knew any card ending in a five or zero was bound to be a power player, and 1987 Topps didn't let us down.  Perennial all-star and HOFer Dave Winfield in all his pinstripe glory.  It's a great-looking card, even if his front foot got cropped off.  Hey, Stat Man:  Dave's 104 RBIs were second-most on the '86 Yankees (Mattingly, 113).

1988

Another star of his era, Whitaker's 1988 Topps card is a thing of beauty  The former AL Rookie of the Year is perfectly framed in this photo showing off his 'sweet' swing.  A great example of the allure of the '88 set.  Hey, Stat Man:  Whitaker set a career high with 110 runs for the Tigers in 1987 and made his fifth consecutive All-Star team.

1989

Just like his Detroit teammate, Alan Trammell took card No. 770 for a late '80s Topps set.  Ya know, I don't consider Trammell to have an unusually long last name, but look at how the lettering on the back of his jersey is essentially spilling into his armpit.  Big font, I guess.  Then again, guys wore their uniform tops kinda snug in 'nem days.  Hey, Stat Man:  Finished seventh in MVP voting in 1988 after crafting a .311 average with 15 homers as Detroit's everyday shortstop.

1990

If you don't love 1990 Topps, I don't know if we can be friends.  Okay, maybe that's a bit strong, but cards like this Cory Snyder take me back to my boyhood days of collecting.  How great it was to break open a wax pack of '90 Topps to see all the crazy color combos on the borders of each card.  This set had a lot of lame photos, yes, but this isn't one of them.  Oh, and by the way, why did Cory Snyder get such a badass card number??  Hey, Stat Man:  Despite a .215 batting clip, Cory swatted 18 homers for the Tribe in 1989

And the Winner Is:  A great selection of cards making for a very tricky call.  One the one hand, the Winfield seems to be the obvious choice since he's the lone Hall of Fame representative of the quartet.  But, I think the Whitaker and Snyder cards each have better photos.  So, my selection for the 770 slot?  I'll go with the man who resides in the hallowed halls of Cooperstown.

MK

I Went into Town for Milk and Bread and Came Home with a...

Insert lewd joke here...

Ahem....  Don't ya just hate it when that happens?

Anyhow, Mr. Pole and his 12 friends were my 1977 Topps purchases from a recent show I went to.  Nothing spectacular, but a baker's dozen of good-condition '77s for two bucks is always a pretty good deal, no matter the names.

My campaign to amass the '77 complete set goes on.  I rather enjoy being able to add a dozen or so cards -- or even fewer -- at a time.  AKA set collecting the old-fashioned way.

The Rookie Infielders card was the most expensive of the lot, setting me back half-a-buck.  Ganter, I suppose, being the most noteworthy name of that foursome.

Til next time, friends.  Hope you're enjoying your holiday weekend!

MK

This Bud's for You

When the King of Beers is the official beer of Major League Baseball and Topps is the official trading card of Major League Baseball, something like this was bound to happen, right?  And you know what, I don't have a bad thing to say about it!

This horizontal gem comes courtesy of my true-blue blogger buddy Marcus (Backstop Cards) who is always quick to share the wealth in terms of cards for my various collections.  Whether it be Mets, player collection favorites or cards for my numerous set pursuits, I can always count on my favorite Padres blogger.

Joining this can't-miss frankenset addition were a few other prime candidates for my Horizontal Heroes project...

The Update portion of 2011 Topps is loaded with amazing horizontal cards.  The Tosoni card in the header hails from that set, as does Matt Holliday's All-Star card here.  You can never go wrong with a few teammate All-Star cameos, and Yadi Molina and Lance Berkman flank Holliday to complete the Redbird trifecta.

Naturally, if it's a trade package from Marcus, I have to show a Friars card, right?  The pesky Eckstein is a deserving player to have at least one card in the horizontal frankenset.

It's sparkly and it has a couple happy Giants jumping around in special-edition alternate jerseys.  Whether it makes the frankenset or not, this card is a true keeper.

Though he only played two-thirds of a season in Flushing, Marlon Bryd endeared himself to many Mets fans, myself included.  I was hopeful he would return to New York as a FA during the offseason, but Philadelphia bowled him over with their contract offer.  Good for Marlon.

I love those powder blue K.C. tops, and I'm sure the players love 'em, too.  Holland is having a great season for the Royals, and it couldn't happen to a better dude.  He was pitching at Class-A Wilmington one of the seasons I worked there and he was just a genuinely friendly, nice guy.  Naturally, I'm happy for his success.

This beaut is heading for the ol' R.A. Dickey collection.  I really dig the red jerseys and the maple leaf cap.

I can cross this sweet Ryan Thompson card off my JustCommons.com want list.  Thompson never fulfilled his immense promise, but he sure had his share of good-looking cards.

And while we're on the topic of Mets cards...

My first card of rookie right-hander Jacob deGrom!  The former 9th-round selection has a deceiving 1-4 mark through his first nine big league starts.  He's pitched way better than the record indicates and, if the Mets had any sort of lineup to support him, deGrom would have at least four wins under his belt.  I'm excited to see what the future holds for this guy.

The only thing more enjoyable than looking ahead is looking back.  And these 1990 Donruss NL's Best cards are terrific.  Ya know, if Donruss chose to do the entire '90 flagship in blue rather than blood red, I think we'd all have a much more favorable recollection of it.  Or is that just my bias towards blue and how the Mets players look juxtaposed with a blue border as opposed to red?

Not a Met, but Jose Fernandez is one of my favorite "new" players to collect.  A nice card with a fresh imagine. Say this about Bowman, at least: the cards aren't normally saddled with the same old recycled images that the rest of the Topps products are.

And, saving the best for last, a pair of 2012 black bordered Heritage parallels!

Super excited to get these!  I'm now just two cards shy of putting together four full binder pages of these bad boys.  In other words, I'll have stumbled into 36 of the 100 cards from that year's black variation checklist.  Not too shabby!

Another stellar package from The Backstop.  You da man, Marcus!

MK

On This Date: Six Years Ago, Nine RBIs

I've been Ziste-ing like crazy lately.  Maybe I've mentioned that before.  I've got the bug and I've essentially become a recluse in my "man cave."  Sorting cards, entering all my Mets cards into my online "collection" and scanning the cards that aren't already in the library.

For someone with borderline full-blown OCD, Zistle is a dangerous thing.  Then again, it's free and it doesn't involve me snorting anything, so it's not all that bad I suppose.  Though, Mrs. K might disagree.

Anyhow, I dug into my Carlos Delgado cards yesterday and came upon the 2009 Ticket to Stardom common you see above.  A pretty blah and forgettable set overall.  I mean, it's a decent enough photo of the former New York, Toronto, and Florida slugger, yet something just doesn't click for me.

But, the front of the card isn't what prompted today's entry.  Rather, it was the back and, more precisely, the information contained therein.

It looks like we've hit the  six-year anniversary of Carlos' big day in the Bronx.  I remember working for the Wilmington Blue Rocks (Class-A, Royals) that summer and following this particular Mets/Yankees clash while I prepared the media packets for the night's minor league game.

The Mets were a disappointing 38-39 entering the day and Delgado was in a big-time slump, batting a paltry .229.   The first-bagger's fireworks came in the first game a of a day-night, two stadium doubleheader at Yankee Stadium and Shea, respectively.  The Mets won the opener, 15-6, before dropping the nightcap, 9-0.

I guess you could say that this particular moment jump-started Carlos' season and put him on the path towards end-of-season numbers that speak of a remarkable run producer.  And, in his brief tenure in Queens, he was indeed that.

Sadly, the Mets haven't managed to replace Delgado with anybody worthwhile at first base since his retirement.  This is clearly reflected in the standings over the past five or so seasons.

Okay, the voices in my head are beckoning me back to Zistle...

MK