Just The Hits

I recently saw Greg Zakwin from Plaschke, Thy Sweater is Argyle at the Dodger Fan Fest last weekend.  We talked some baseball and about cards for a bit.  I actually handed him a couple cards that he had asked for a while back.  Zakwin and I had made a trade at Valley Sports Cards several weeks ago and these two cards completed that trade.

That trade involved me giving him a huge chunk of my Ryan Braun collection.  I only collect cheats that are Dodgers because they were at least risking their long term health for Doyer victories.  But, cheats on other teams steal MVPs from Matt Kemp.  Not cool, Ryan Braun.

Anyways, when I saw Zakwin at the fan fest, I mentioned that I still needed to post the cards that he gave me weeks ago.  He looked sad and disappointed.  He even cried a little and then that made me cry as well.  I felt that I let him down by my long awaited trade post.

The tears have went away now and I am ready to show off the goods from Zakwin.

I hate hybrid cards with a different team name as compared to the uniform Adrian Beltre is wearing.  My love for bat relics and Beltre power makes up for Upper Deck tackiness.

The Dodgers have been on an endless search for an above average third baseman since Beltre left after the 2004 season.  Casey Blake has been the best of the bunch.  That doesn't say much because guys like Juan Uribe and Mike Edwards have manned the hot corner since Beltre's departure.

In 2003, Chin-Feng Chen was known as a future phenom in some circles.  In 2012, Chin-Feng Chen isn't known as anything to anybody.

Chen was a big time power threat coming out of Taiwan.  He hit 31 home runs in his minor league debut season as a 21 year old in high-A ball.  He was a consistent 20-25 homer guy throughout his minor league career after his 31 homer season.

He only ended up with two hits in the majors in 25 plate appearances.  Chen never got much of a chance at the big league level.

Welcome to my collection of Dodger busts, Mr.Chen.

 
Another Andre Ethier to add to my collection.  Ethier is having a really nice season so far. At the beginning of the season, I was thinking that the Dodgers shouldn't resign him after the season.  His demands may be too high and he was coming off some injury plagued and sub par seasons.

So far, Ethier has been a beast in 2012.  He has hit lefties better and seems faster this year in the outfield and on the base paths.  I am now kind of hoping the new Dodger owners give him an extension.

 
This is a super flashy card of Kaz Ishii with a piece of white jersey.  The previous card of Andre Ethier has a piece of gray jersey.  Not much more color but, gray is better than a white piece of cloth.  Oddly, this Ishii card is numbered out of 25.  Leaf should have made the Ishii card with a piece of a number or letter.  Maybe a small piece?

Sorry for the delay on this post, Zakwin.  Next time we meet up, we'll swap some cardboard again.