The Pressure

The hectic, mind-spinning school year began last week.  I have just survived my second week of classes without falling behind with my workload.  I knew this Spring semester was going to be a tough grind.  I was mentally prepared to handle whatever five page essay chaos was thrown my way.

The thought of posting frequency at the Platter didn't cross my mind.  The entire winter break I was training my mind to be like Rocky 4 except I wasn't training to fight some big Russian meat head, I was toughening up for college.

No such training exercises were used for Platter upkeep this winter though.  The Platter will get less attention over the next couple months.  I was even thinking about writing some simple, quick witted posts rather than the usual post length.

When responsibility comes your way, you must push your hobbies aside.  I will at least still trade actively.  I can't see trading completely exit my life for any schooling reason.  Blogging and purchasing cards will be placed on the back burner for the time being.

This has been my first post in a week.  It has been awhile since that has happened.  The super Platter fans are in for a treat tonight.  Follow me down the zigzagging cardboard path on a journey of cardboard randomness.

This A.J. Ellis card may be my favorite Dodger base card of 2013 so far.  Ellis looks like he is scheming with Clayton Kershaw to strike some chump hitter out.  The scheming worked in 2012 as Kershaw went on to strike our 229 and maybe some of the plans laid out by Ellis helped out on some of those.

This card was sent to me by Mark from the blog called This Way to the Clubhouse.  The last post he wrote up is about 1997 Topps Stadium Club.  Whenever a blogger features some cards from Stadium Club sets, it is worth checking out.  The Darryl Strawberry card that Mark features on that post makes me miss watching Strawberry play baseball and also misses when the old Yankee Stadium had a loud and enthusiastic crowd showing up to roar.

The Daily Dimwit and I have made several trades during our shared time in the blog world.  He sent me this auto sometime ago.  Ike Davis is a solid young power hitter for the New York Mets.  Sadly, Ike Davis is unable to fit 8 letters on a baseball card and his signature veers off into no chromesville.

The entire Mets organization needs to get their act together.  They are a mess from the top all the way down to the way Ike Davis signs his name.

This Wade Boggs auto was obtained for a few bucks at my local card shop.  It was just dangling on the bid board with the ink of blue sharpie calling my attention.  The shop owner says that the seller is trustworthy and reliable.  I also know that Boggs signs a lot through the mail.  That is most likely the way the seller acquired this card.

This is my first Boggs auto towards my Hall of Fame collection if this signature is legit.  Does anyone else have a Wade Boggs signed card to compare this to?

I hope it is real because three dollars for a hall of fame player is a bargain.

I will try to post again soon.  No promises so, try to reread this post to savor in my words once again.

Remember What Hooton Did

I feel some past contributors to the Dodgers get forgotten by some fans.  Some former Dodgers that were key cogs on winning teams such as Don Sutton or Zack Wheat.  Wheat had an astounding .944 OPS in his age 37 season while playing for the Brooklyn Dodgers.  A season like that should still be talked about by Dodger fans as we mill around in parking lots waiting for a signature from Hyun-Jin Ryu.

The Dodgers of the past need to get discussed more by Dodger fans of today.  We live in the present or recent past too often.  Jonathon Broxton still gets discussed and spoken of with venomous intent.  I hope Broxton still gets crapped on by Dodger fans for his misdoings in the 2008 and 2009 playoffs 50 years from now.

I sadly doubt it.  Tom Niedenfuer was a similar type of playoff stiff in the 1980s.  Current Dodger fans rarely mention his name in praise or disdain.  Some may not even know that he blew some games while pitching in LA during crucial moments.

The good players from the Dodgers past deserves more respect and homage paid to them by current Dodger fans.  The garbage players also need to be remembered for their follies.

Burt Hooton is a player fondly remembered and well liked by Dodger fans that were watching games in the 1970s and early 1980s.  Dodger fans that weren't born or were too young back then don't realize that Hooton was a pretty good pitcher while in LA.

He pitched ten seasons for the boys in blue with a nice 3.14 ERA for the club.  The masterful way that he pitched in the 1981 postseason should still get wide praise from us fans today.  Hooton dominated while starting five games while only allowing three earned runs.

In the 1981 World Series against the Yankees, Hooton was the winning pitcher in the decisive Game 6.  Hooton wasn't at his best but, gutted his way through 5 1/3 innings while allowing two runs.  He also issued five walks.  Hooton somehow even drew a walk at the plate and scored a run as well.  Steve Howe got an old fashioned save by pitching 3 2/3 innings in relief of Hooton.

The 1981 World Series saw the Dodgers fall behind 2-0 to the Yankees.  The Dodgers would eventually win in six games.  If I was 29 years old in 1981, I may have jumped from a skyscraper after Game 2 of that series being the cynic that I am.

I take a lot more joy and added stock in beating the Yankees in the World Series.  They seem to mean more to the Dodger franchise and count for something slightly extra.  Hooton was a key piece to that 1981 playoff run.

I sent these two cards out to Hooton about a month ago.  His signature is definitely worthy of my collection.  I am also glad that he owns a blue sharpie because that always makes a Dodger auto stand out more and feel just right.

Brief Dodgers

When I scope through some cards that are sent my way in a trade, I try to examine the lot and determine if the trade package has a theme.  I try to view what stands out the most in the cards sent to me by a kind blogger.

Sometimes a theme of a cardboard filled bubble mailer is easy to spot.  At times the first thought that I have is, "this trade package has five great Nomo cards."

Other trade package, I view a few times before writing about.  The cards just sit in the bubble mailer waiting for me to have a decent thought and churn out a trade post.  After skimming through the cards a few times, a theme then pops out at me.

I completed my first trade with the Underdog Card Collector and his trade package had my mind boggled when it came to finding overriding characteristic to the cards he sent.  I flipped through them multiple times waiting for a solid idea to show up in my head.

The cards he sent me was a mix of vintage from 1969 and some 2009 Upper Deck Signature Stars.  The two sets are completely different and share no similarities.  The players are all Dodgers from two distant eras.

After looking through the loot sent from the Underdog, I noticed something unique about the cards he mailed me.  Some of the players featured on the cards are of Dodgers that spent just a short amount of time with the team.

Ken Boyer spent most of his career as a St.Louis Cardinal.  Boyer hit two home runs against the Yankees in the 1964 World Series, helping the Cardinals to the title.  Boyer won the MVP award in 1964 while driving in a league leading 119 RBIs.  Boyer hit a total of 282 home runs in his career.  255 of the long balls were while he was in St.Louis.

Boyer played two seasons as a Dodger in 1968-69.  He hit a total of six homers for the Dodgers.

Hank Aguirre was another player that had some success in another uniform before a brief stint as a Dodger.  Aguirre played most of his career for the Detroit Tigers.  He played ten seasons in all as a Detroit Tiger and his best year was in 1962.

That season, Aguirre made the all-star team and that would be his only time making it to the mid-summer classic in his 16 year career.  He led the league in ERA, ERA+ and WHIP in 1962.  That was a beast year for him.

Aguirre's only year with the Dodgers was in 1968.  He pitched out of the bullpen for 39 innings and was very successful in his limited duty.  His ERA that year was 0.69 without giving up any home runs.

I am not sure how Boyer and Aguirre are remembered by baseball fans that watched them play.  For those fans, is it weird seeing Ken Boyer not wearing Cardinal red?  Is Hank Aguirre looking odd with out the Detroit "D" on his cap?

I have seen this guy play dozens of times.  Some of my first baseball watching memories occurred when I was in Jr. High School.  I remember Jim Thome rising into stardom as a young slugger in the mid-90s.  The Cleveland Indians teams that he was on were really good and had some exciting talent on the team like Manny Ramirez and Kenny Lofton.

Thome only played very briefly for the Dodgers in 2009 and had 17 at-bats towards the end of the year.  Some people may have already forgotten that Thome was on the Dodgers in 2009.  That wasn't even that long ago and I only remember because the card companies printed out a decent amount of cards of the future hall of famer.

I know Thome is probably most remembered as a Cleveland Indian.  He played most of his career in Cleveland and had some monster seasons there.

Thanks for the trade, Underdog!

It May Be Real

Remember back some months, when some dude was selling the card companies fake jerseys that the card companies were putting into "game used" cards?  Do you also remember that some of the card companies knew that these jerseys were fake but, were in such a rush to move product, they bought the phony jerseys anyways?

A lot of the blog world was up in arms over this scandal.  It was a tragic case of greed and criminals entering our beloved hobby.  This incident along with the vague wording on the backs of relic cards have forever tarnished the market value for these so called game used cards.

On occasion, I still buy a relic card.  The prices have plummeted and spending more than a few bucks for one is out of the question.  I also only purchase cheap ones of players that I really like and am building a massive collection in their honor.

Johnny Podres is my favorite Brooklyn Dodger.  He delivered in the 1955 World Series by dominating in a Game 7 victory over the Yankees.  This card even mentions his 1955 World Series MVP glory just below a piece of off white colored jersey.

As far as potential fake jersey cards go, this is a pretty good one.  I may believe that this one is real.  The cloth looks aged and at least stained in tea.  The fraudulent jersey salesman may have even rubbed some dirt on this jersey before selling it to Upper Deck for a good profit.

I like how the scammer put forth the extra effort to try and make this swatch look 1950s old.  Upper Deck probably paid a premium for this one.  Some relic cards of older players, look too modern.  The jerseys may look like the same material that current players are wearing.  This Podres card looks well worn and may be real.

If it is not real, it is a card from one of the better cheats to do business with Upper Deck.  It is better than some of the lazier criminals Upper Deck have made purchases from.

No 2013 Topps Today

The title of this post says it all about the words that I am about to type.  Whenever, a new set comes out, I try to avoid seeing scans or reading reviews of the new product.  I do this to not spoil the fun when I rip a few packs of the new 2013 Topps set.

I enjoy opening a pack of cards from a set that I haven't seen before.  I enjoy the surprise factor.  I don't avoid the blogs that post about the newest Topps release to be a jerk.  The time will come that I will get to see the new base cards, inserts, minis or whatever other creative ideas that the masterminds at Topps have come up with this year.

Mark of the blog called This Way To The Clubhouse has written a post about some 2013 Topps cards.  I just saw the title and the top half of a Miguel Montero card.  I at least think it was Montero.  The Diamondbacks aren't too recognizable these days.

Anyways, you readers should check out his post because it is probably totally awesome.  I will just wait to read it after I plucked a jumbo pack from my local card shop and I can compare my observations with the things that Mark noticed.  His posts are good, so even though I am a biased fan of his, I will guarantee that the post is enjoyable.

Another thing that is enjoyable is the trade package that Mark sent my way.  Finding new trade partners is a piece of blogging that I really dig.  It grows the community and gives me new player collections to find a fit for and want lists that I have never skimmed through in the past.

He sent me a couple flashy 90s cards that really caught my eye and blinded one of them.

The above card is of Karim Garcia and it is an atomic refractor.  These were at the top of the mountain back in 1996.  A card like this of a rising prospect in the Dodgers organization would go for a price that I was unwillingly to pay back in the day.

The 90s was the decade where the Dodgers were racking up rookie of the year awards as their farm system was pumping out quality talent.  Garcia was supposed to be in line to have big league success like the other top Dodger minor leaguers like Mike Piazza and Eric Karros.

Prospecting isn't new in this hobby and I am sure that some sucker bought up a bunch of Karim Garcia cards expecting greatness, a fat bank account and bragging rights of discovering the next Doyer star.

Stardom would not be in the cards for Garcia.  That is good for my collection because people are willing to send me an atomic refractor of him.  I am sure that Mark wouldn't send me a Piazza atomic refractor.

Piazza atomic refractors are hoarded by all collectors like Yu Darvish cards.

Mark included a card of a Dodger that actually won the rookie of the year award for the team.  This card blinded my other eye when I looked at it.  The rest of this post is being transcribed by my personal secretary.

This Rauuul Mondesi card is from 1999.  It is also probably one of the last cards to feature Mondesi in a Dodger uniform.  He was traded to the Toronto Blue Jays before the 2000 season in a trade that brought Shawn Green to LA.

Mondesi hit a career high 33 home runs in 1999.  It was also a year of his second career 30/30 season.  Mondesi's first came in 1997 and I thought he was going to have about ten more 30/30 years. Mondesi was so good back then that I thought he might be able to be a 40/40 man just like Jose Canseco.

Rauuul Mondesi needs to somehow comeback to the Dodger organization in some capacity.  He was a very popular player while in LA and it would be cool seeing him around the stadium.  The Dodgers need a ripped dude with thick gold chains teaching the youngsters about how to properly wear heavy gold and big diamond earrings while trying to crush fastballs into the pavilion.

Playing with flair is a skill that Mondesi can teach.

Thanks for the trade, Mark.  Your cards should be arriving in a couple days.  Enjoy!

Standing In Lines

I have some pet peeves.  I am sure every human has some of their own.  Some pet peeves are just odder and stranger than the ones that bug me.  One of the common ones that I here from people are their disdain for waiting in long lines.

I'm not sure what gets people most upset about this ordeal, the waiting or being around so many random people that are also just waiting.  Long lines do bother me.  I am impatient at times and hoards of people often annoy me.

This is also coming from a guy that doesn't avoid crowds and lines.  I enjoy crowded, dimly lit dive bars.  I attend many sporting events, where lines and annoying people are prevalent.  I have also lived in or around big cities most of my life.

I can't avoid a crowd but, I enjoy complaining about it.

The Dodgers had their fan fest over the weekend.  Of course, I attended, well aware of the mayhem that was going to ensue in the stadium parking lot.  I was able to get tons of signatures last year.  It was crowded but, bearable.

The 2013 Dodgers Fan Fest was loaded with fans out to see some Dodger players on a nice January afternoon.  The crowd was way bigger than I had anticipated.  The Dodgers estimated that over 20,000 people showed up.  The line to get autograph wristbands was the longest line I have ever seen.

I didn't complain much about having to wait in a line for a couple hours or so.  I am so excited that baseball season is getting closer and to see a turnout like this means that other Dodgers fans are also getting the baseball fever.

One of the reasons that I didn't whine too much about the long wait for a wristband that was only going to guarantee me one signature, was getting to hangout with so many Dodger bloggers.  The Dodger collectors of the blog world had a nice showing.  We had our own mini fest in the parking lot and swapped some cardboard.

Dodgerbobble met up with me in line while I was chilling with Arno the I'm Ballsy blogger and Zakwin the dude that prefers Plaschke in argyle sweaters.  Oscar from All Trade Bait, All the Time also stopped by for a chat and trade while I was waiting with Arno and Zakwin.

Dodgerbobble traded me an extra Ramon Martinez auto that he had gotten at a Dodgers Dream Field dedication in the Valley.  He also gave me some cards that we needed for our autographs through the mail endeavor.

I thank Dodgerbobble for taking a few minutes out of his time from signing autographs for his fans at fan fest to trade some baseball cards with me.

This was the first time that I met Arno in person.  Luckily, he was a cool dude, because the risk of spending time with a near stranger for several hours, waiting in line seems like a scary idea in hindsight.  Arno is also the first person that I met from a place called Temple City.  This place is supposedly in LA and I believe it is on the eastern part of the county.

Arno also had some cards to trade with me.  At some point during our long wait in line, we exchanged some baseball cards.  A Chin-Lung Hu signature is always welcome in my collection.  Huuuuu is in the running with Johnny Podres for most signatures in my collection.  Such an odd pairing to be racing against each other in anything.

I checked out a trade bait link on Arno's blog and saw this John Ely signature.  Ely is no longer a Doyer.  He was traded to the Houston Astros this off season.  This card also features Ely in an airbrushed version of his Chicago White Sox minor league uniform.  Ely's signature also has zero discernible letters.  Maybe I will give him credit for signing something that resembles a "Y".

Now that I discredited, the usefulness of this card to my collection, I will slide it into my non-Dodgers box and will maybe look at again several years from now.

I really wanted to get new Korean import, Hyun-Jin Ryu's autograph.  Ryu is a new rookie, chubby and possibly a really good pitcher.  After, waiting for 2 to 3 hours to get a wristband, Ryu was due to sign shortly at this point.

Arno, Zakwin and I all got wristbands to meet Ryu.  Mission accomplished.  The line to meet Ryu was pretty big.  We went from one line to another.  We were inching closer to getting some ink on a baseball.

After, finally getting Ryu's signature after about a half hour wait in his line was a relief.  I was getting hungry at this point, especially after staring at about 15 food trucks all day.

Ryu is also much larger in person than I thought.  He looked like a large man in the photos that I saw of him but, didn't look as tall as he really is.  Ryu has the body of David Wells and the face of a professional gamer.

After getting Ryu's signature, we hopped into the much shorter Shawn Tolleson line.  I didn't have a baseball card for him to sign so, I decided to add him as the first auto on my random 2013 Dodgers ball.  Many more Dodger players should be added to this from this upcoming season.  Paco Rodriguez, your next in line to be added below Tolleson.

I waited several hours in line and only got two autographs.  Some people may think that is insane and not worthwhile.  Normally, I would think the same thing.  The chance to hangout with some members of the blog world made the ordeal not seem too bad.  I had a really fun time just standing in a parking lot for the most part.

It is also odd that I got more signatures while waiting in line for a chance to get a Ryu signed baseball.  The score was 3-2.  Winner to the generosity of members of the Dodger Blogger Union.

I am not even counting the bundle of cards that Oscar from All Trade Bait, All the Time gave me.  The rubber banded stack that he gave me deserves and epic trade post of its own.

I hope the Dodgers hold a fan fest next year.  I also hope that they can maybe, sell tickets just to be able to better judge how many people to expect.  The Dodgers probably weren't expectant of a crowd this large.  Selling tickets would at least put a cap on the number of people that attend.  That will make getting many more signatures an easier proposition.

Fun day at Dodger Stadium.  Thanks for hanging out Arno and Zakwin.  Thanks for stopping by to talk and swap cards Dodgerbobble and Oscar.

Inching Towards Baseball Season

The Dodgers Fan Fest is almost upon us.  The fest is this Saturday and has a great line-up of signers scheduled to appear.  The list of current and former players that are going to be signing autographs is quite impressive.

Some big names are going to be showing up in the Dodger Stadium parking lot to mingle with the fans.  Such names as Tommy Lasorda and Matt Kemp.

The names that I am most looking forward to meet are some of the newest dudes to the Dodger family.  One of my top goals is to get a Zack Greinke autograph.  The Dodgers newest import from Korea, Hyun-Jin Ryu, is a player that I hope to get a signature from as well.

Mark McGwire is the Dodgers new hitting coach for this upcoming season.  He is probably going to be a popular signature at fan fest.  I am hoping to get a signed baseball by him.  McGwire was one of the stars of my childhood.  He was a masher that could hit a ball 500 feet.

Not all juicers could hit a ball that far.

Many of the Dodgers bloggers that I communicate with have expressed that they will be rolling to the fan fest this weekend.  Not only should I get some Dodger signatures, but I should also be getting some trade packages.  Some of the other members of the blog world that I hope to meet up with on Saturday, have been working some trades with me.  We will be conducting some old school face to face trades.

I used to trade baseball cards with people in a face to face gathering.  The other kids in the neighborhood and I would meet up on weekends and swap some cardboard.  I was living in suburban Philadelphia at the time and mostly traded cards with Phillies and Mets fans.  There was also some kids that collected cards of some of the stars of the 90s like Frank Thomas and Ken Griffey Jr.

I am glad that face to face trading isn't dead and is still a way for me to acquire some Dodger cards.

Another way that I accumulate Dodger baseball cards is by writing letters and getting some autos through the mail.  I got a couple nice returns recently.

Jerry Reuss was kind enough to sign this card for me.  This is also an odd photo choice for Fleer.  Reuss pitched over 200 innings, in 1983, the year before this card came out.  Fleer had many action shots to choose from but, settled on Reuss having a conversation in an empty stadium.  Weird move, Fleer.

Reuss made this card better with a nice blue signature.

I also miss Reuss as a Dodger broadcaster.  The Dodgers have Vin Scully as the greatest announcer ever.  They also have no one else in their stable of broadcasters that range from awful(Eric Collins) to mediocre(Rick Monday).

Fleer could have at least told Jerry Reuss to act wacky like Mickey Hatcher here.  Hatcher must be a league leader in goofy, comical baseball cards.  Roger McDowell may be up there as well.

A card that features a player in an odd pose, such as holding a giant baseball glove, always stands out in a dime box.  I noticed that an interesting photo on a card pops out of 3200 count boxes of ten cent cardboard.

I sent this card, as well as a couple others, to Hatcher while he was the hitting coach of the Anaheim Angels. I sent this through the mail request way back in March 2012 to the Angels spring training facility in Arizona.  When the Angels dumped Hatcher early in the 2012 season, I thought this return was lost in a TTM wasteland.

Hatcher rejoined the Dodgers organization in 2012.  He must have became a nicer person being apart of the LA baseball team and decided to send me a few signatures.

These were nice returns.  Some more signatures should be added to my collection this weekend.  I will see some of you at the fan fest.  I can't wait.