Go Away Winter!

The weather is even gloomy in LA during this time of year.  The sky is gray and the rain has been off and on. The rain won't even get in a downpour that may be cool to look at.  Outside is just really glum and makes me very sleepy.

I wish the winter months were a boom time for receiving trade packages from the blog world.  The weather is much worse in most other parts of the country right now and I am sure a few collectors out there need a boost that comes with getting a bubble mailer stuffed with baseball cards.

This recap of a trade package that I got from Roy from Plain Gray Swatch will be the last bubble mailer from a blogger that I have sitting on my desk.  The trade packages are clear from my desk.  I think this only occurs during the holiday season.  During baseball season, I can't keep up with all the cards that I am swapping.

Here is a nice Chin-Feng Chen rookie card.  Chen had a whopping 2 hits in 22 major league at-bats spanning 4 seasons.  He also had 3 walks in his career as well as 13 foul tips.

I am actually that collector that wanted this card because of Chin-Feng Chen's appearance on the card beside Cory Patterson and Josh Hamilton.  Chen last played major league baseball in 2005.  Patterson, surprisingly saw big league action in 2011 with the Toronto Blue Jays and St.Louis Cardinals.

Josh Hamilton is going to sign a huge contract pretty soon.  He has been one of the better hitters in baseball over the past few seasons.  If the National League had the designated hitter like the American League, I believe the Dodgers would probably make a run at him.  Instead, Hamilton will hopefully stay in the AL with little chance to hurt the Dodgers.

I love getting older cards of Eric Gagne.  Gagne is shown here wearing the unfamiliar number of 48.  His hat looks clean too.  It doesn't have the sweat stains on the cap that was seen as sexy by thousands of female Dodger fans.

Gagne was a few years away from winning a Cy Young award when this card came out.  Nobody thought that this guy had Cy Young potential back in 2000.

Former Dodger Chan Ho Park announced his retirement from professional baseball a few days ago.  Park was a very good Dodger starter in the late 90s-early 2000s.  Park had back to back 200 strikeout seasons in LA during the 2000 and 2001 seasons.

Park left the Dodgers after the 2001 season and signed with the Texas Rangers for big money.  The signing turned out to be a disaster while Park had an ERA over 5 in each of his 4 seaons as a Ranger.

Park returned to LA in 2008.  He pitched well that season and helped the Dodgers get to the NLCS.  Park will always be remembered as a Dodger first because he pitched a lot of seasons for the team and he had his best seasons in LA.

Thank you for the trade, Roy.  This is one of my favorite Chan Ho Park cards.

High End Trade Partner

Sometimes when I make a trade with a fellow blogger, I get the feeling that the person actually reads my blog.  I know that may sound strange.  You probably just read that first statement and blurted out something like, "Hey Spiegel, if someone is trading baseball card with you, then they must know that by reading your blog.  How else would they know what to send you?"

But, there are some folks that really pay attention to my words and click on other parts of the Platter.  Some trade partners click on my haves lists or have read a post about me chasing the Topps sets of the 70s Dodgers.  That is what I mean.

One of the few readers that are known as Platter Super Fans.

I believe Nick from an awesome blog called Dime Boxes:The Low End Baseball Card Collector's Journey, is a fan of my blog.  I do think he reads my posts from time to time.  He also probably checks out what cards that I already have under my player collections.

I thank him for that effort and care in his trade packages.  Nick and I have made a few trades or so and they have all been a great return.

I totally dig this 2000 Fleer Ultra card of Eric Gagne.  His is slim, wearing a high number, and working on some sort of fielding drill.  He is almost unrecognizable to me.

The size and shape of the 2012 Topps '87 minis is preferred by me as opposed to the size of the Gypsy Queen or Ginter minis.  I just like a little more meat on my minis. You know what I'm saying?

This card features a great shot of Kemp celebrating a home run against the Giants.  Kemp is one of the best hitters in baseball and will probably hit several hundred more homers against the Giants in his career.

I should have a special section at the Platter for Hideo Nomo cards that are super shiny.  I bet Nick will read that and send me a bunch of flashy Nomo cards that he somehow finds in dime boxes.

The flair that this card has will add some class to one of my many binder pages of Nomo cards.  You can never have to much flair.

An aspect of my collection that I have been trying to build up this summer is my hall of fame collection.  Nick helped me out with that by sending me some cards with legends on them.

These Mound Dominance cards from 2012 Topps are cool looking and informational.  The card was made to honor Bob Gibson's 17 strikeout performance against the Detroit Tigers in the opening game of the 1968 World Series.  17 strikeouts in the World Series?!?!?

That dude invented beast mode back in the day.  I hope St.Louis has a statue of him outside their stadium.  I think they have a Stan Musial statue but, I am not sure about Bob Gibson.  Maybe someone in the blog world has an answer to that.

Dodger Stadium has no statues yet.  The only Dodger statue that I know of is a Johnny Podres statue that I made out of melted copper pipes.  It sits in my living room so I can pay homage to his Game 7 pitching victory in 1955.

Thanks for the trade, Nick!

Bid Board Goods

About a month ago, I started going to a card shop called Valley Sports Cards in Tarzana,CA.  This shop was recommended to me by Dodgerbobble.  This shop isn't very close to me.  It takes me about a half an hour to get there.  But, the drive is worth it.

One of the better aspects of this card shop is the bid board.  People pin up some random cards on a wall once a week and you bid on the items.  Ebay style!  Except it's in person and interactive.  I even put some items up there to get a few extra bucks on something more fit for my collection.  Since, this shop is in Dodger territory a lot of people put up Dodger items for bidding.

A customer of the store posted up tons of 2005 Dodger Medallions.  These are metal, coin-like objects that are slightly bigger than a quarter.  The set includes Dodger legends as well as players on the dreadful 2005 team.

Gagne is my boy so, I had to pick this one up.  He has a nice drunken, lumber jack beard going on.  I hope Gagne gets a job with the Dodgers as a coach someday.  Gagne can teach the young ball players how to use roids yet still have a beer gut.

This is was the best medallion that I saw at the shop.  Yhency Brazoban was briefly the Dodgers closer in the mid-2000s.  He had 21 saves for the Dodgers in 2005.  Brazoban wasn't very effective in getting those saves but because the team was awful and had some injury issues, he was allowed to close.  He had a ERA of 5.33 and a WHIP of 1.40.  Not exactly dominating stuff.  His career fell down each year after 2005.  Brazoban had arm troubles and troubles with obesity.

The Dodger Medallions were kind of random to find.  But, I do live in a Dodger hot bed.  This graded Kaz Matsui is even more random.  This card is a 1994 BBM Matsui RC graded at a 10.  Awesome!.  I have never seen this card probably would have never found it in my life but, then here it was in Tarzana,CA.  This card makes me want to find more graded cards.  I hope it will be the vintage kind of card.

Eric Gagne Haves List

Here is my Gagne haves list.  Anything not listed here, please send my way. Thanks

Updated on 12-29-14

Eric Gagne

1999 Fleer Tradition U-42
2000 Fleer Tradition #230
2000 Fleer Ultra #289
2000 Just Minors #230
2000 Skybox #222
2000 Skybox Dominion #292
2000 Upper Deck #11
2000 Upper Deck MVP #67
2000 Upper Deck World Premier Ovation #68
2001 Topps #447
2001 Topps Gold #447 #ed/2001
2002 Fleer Tradition #393
2002 Fleer Tradition Update U347
2002 MLB Showdown #30
2002 Topps #238
2002 Topps Home Team Advantage #238
2002 Topps Total #499
2002 Upper Deck Checklist #268
2002 Upper Deck Game Materials GU Jersey UD-EG
2003 Bazooka #38
2003 Bowman Chrome Refractor #124
2003 Donruss #306
2003 Flee Hardball #81
2003 Fleer Authentix #51
2003 Fleer Focus Jersey Edition #84
2003 Fleer Genuine #34
2003 Fleer Tradition Banner Season #466
2003 Fleer Tradition U255
2003 Leaf #180
2003 Topps #236
2003 Topps 205 #112
2003 Topps Heritage #185
2003 Topps Opening Day Blue #151
2003 Topps Season Highlights #336
2003 Upper Deck First Pitch #190
2003 Upper Deck MVP #102
2004 Bazooka #100
2004 Bazooka Red #100
2004 Bowman #13
2004 Bowman Gold #13
2004 Donruss Elite #114
2004 Donruss Leather and Lumber #70
2004 Donruss Studio #102
2004 Fleer Hot Prospects #55
2004 Fleer Patchworks #41
2004 Fleer Platinum #48
2004 Leaf #143
2004 Topps #260
2004 Topps Chrome #179
2004 Topps First Edition Sporting News #726
2004 Topps Grudge Match GM-7
2004 Topps Opening Day #95
2004 Topps TP #69
2004 Upper Deck #190
2004 Upper Deck Diamond Pro Sigs Collection #44
2004 Upper Deck Reflections #29
2004 Upper Deck SPX #4
2005 Donruss #219
2005 ESPN Sportscenter Swatch GU Jersey GU-EG
2005 Fleer #192
2005 Fleer Ultra #172
2005 Leaf #101
2005 Topps #238
2005 Topps First Edition #238
2005 Topps Total Award Winner AW7
2005 Topps Total Checklist #15
2005 Topps TP Uncirculated #71 #ed/375
2005 Upper Deck Checklist #485
2005 Upper Deck Milestone Materials MMEG
2005 Upper Deck Pro Sigs #42
2005 Upper Deck Pros and Prospects #50
2005 Upper Deck SP Authentic GU Jersey #37
2005 Upper Deck Trilogy #331
2005 Upper Deck Ultimate Collection #33 #ed/475
2006 Fleer Ultra #62
2006 Fleer Ultra Gold #62
2006 Topps #75
2006 Upper Deck #241
2006 Upper Deck Artifacts GU Jersey #ed/325
2006 Upper Deck Sweet Spot SW-EG #ed/299
2006 Upper SP Authentic #ed/899 #148
2007 Allen and Ginter GU Jersey AGREG
2008 Upper Deck #555
2008 Upper Deck Documentary #1056
2008 Upper Deck Documentary #1356
2008 Upper Deck Documentary #2856
2008 Upper Deck First Edition #397
2008 Upper Deck Spectrum GU Jersey RS-EG2