The Retro Modern Stuff

I am still a fan of collecting the retro baseball card sets.  There may be waning interest among collectors for sets like Allen and Ginter, Topps Heritage or Panini Golden Age but the interest is still present for me.  I chase down the Allen and Ginter insert sets and am trying to track down 2013 Panini Golden Age.  I also think the retro sets look best for my hunt of in-person and through the mail autographs.

The history of baseball is something that I find fascinating as well.  I enjoy reading up on old school ballplayers from the early 20th century.  If I ever finish building my time machine, Ebbets Field would be my first stop.  The '55 World Series would be the specific event that I would travel to.  I would even dress the part with a nice suit and a big cigar dangling from my mouth.  A flask of the finest whisky would also be present in my coat pocket.

I don't think they had metal detectors or pat downs at baseball games in 1955.  I think the heavy security that we face entering ballparks is a more modern occurrence.  The flask of whisky definitely would be in play as I attend the '55 World Series.

Going through a trade package sent to me by Jeff from the 2 by 3 Heroes blog gave me the motivation to start wrapping up the construction of my time machine.  I am slowly chipping away at the 2013 Panini Golden Age set and Jeff helped me get a little bit closer.  He sent me a nice stack from the set and I will be sure to update my want list just in case another kind blogger is willing to send me a bundle.

Branch Rickey wasn't with the Brooklyn Dodgers anymore in the glorious championship year of 1955. Rickey was still a key component of the construction of that team though.  Rickey was the one that brought Jackie Robinson to the Brooklyn ball club.  Rickey was also a Dodger executive when the team signed Duke Snider.  All Snider did was hit four jacks off the Yankees during the '55 World Series.

Sadly, one of the more forgotten LA Dodgers is Tommy Davis.  Davis didn't have a legendary, hall of fame career but, his 1962 season in LA will always standout.  His teammate Maury Wills would go on to win the MVP award during the '62 season.  Davis was no slouch that year as he belted 27 home runs, batted .346 and collected 230 total hits.  He led the league in all three of those categories.

The 1962 season should be remembered fondly by Dodger fans due to the contributions made by Tommy Davis.  I am glad that Panini has him pop up in the Golden Age set and this may help him be remembered by younger Dodger fans.  That is if young kids are still purchasing baseball cards.

Even though Panini Golden Age has surpassed Allen and Ginter in my mind, that doesn't stop me from compiling cards of my favorite players from the Ginter set.  Jeff sent me my first Ginter relic of 2013.  Oddly, I haven't even been buying packs of 2013 Ginter to be able to pull the inevitable relic of a Diamondback or Royal.

Luckily, Jeff helped me out by sending me a relic card of one of my favorite current Dodgers, Andre Ethier. This may be one of the last pieces of cloth from a Dodger uniform that Topps will put into an Andre Ethier card.  The rumors are heating up on the hot stove that Ethier may be dealt by the Doyers to some other team.  I will have mixed emotions if a trade goes through and it all depends on who the Dodgers will get in return for their outfielder.

Topps Heritage is in distant third place among my favorite retro sets.  I haven't enjoyed the card stock as much as I used to and the cards have a more glossy feel than they used to have.  I do enjoy the big checklist that Heritage provides as many non-stars are included.  Everyone loves a Luis Cruz baseball card, right?

The black bordered cards look exceptional in my opinion.  The blue pops out more with a darker border.  Topps includes so many parallels in their card sets now, that I forget where the black border cards come from.  I am not sure if this Ethier was from retail only, a hobby exclusive or some online style purchase from the Topps website.  Maybe a smarter collector can fill me in on the answer.

I don't have time to look it up myself.  I need to go back to building a time machine.  Johnny Podres is about to pitch a Game 7 gem that I need to attend.

Thanks for the cards, Jeff.

The Other Side of the Table

Being a vendor at a card show yesterday reinvigorated my interest in baseball cards.  My interest was waning slightly and I began trading less with my blogging comrades.  It wasn't dipping to the point of quitting and selling off my collection.  I was just on a little break from doing something card related everyday such as organizing, blogging or compiling a stack for a trade.

Selling cards to other collectors gave me a different perspective on the card collecting hobby.  I was usually always the guy haggling and searching to find the proper deal for my collection.  This time around I got to be the one offering sweet deals to folks and hopefully making them happy with their purchase.  Making another collector happy, in turn put a smile on my face.

I will now wear two hats as a collector, so to speak.  I will probably set up at another card show this fall with some other Doyer bloggers.  The hat of a Dodger and player collector will always be worn by me.  The new hat of seeking deals on larger lots for resell will also be worn.  I think this will make me a more well rounded hobbyist as a dealer and collector.  I never want to lose the collecting aspect of the hobby and only think about dollars as a seller.  There is more to selling than strictly maximizing profit.  The well being of the collector is also important to me when I am wearing my vendor hat.

By the way, both hats are Dodger hats and my Oakland Raider hat is only worn when I go on crime sprees. So, I guess I am a man that wears three hats.

I also have a new found energy when it comes to blogging.  The show gave me a sense of pride as a proud member of our baseball card collecting cult.  I do have blogger pride and I love the sense of community that we have with each other when we meet up in person.  I may have never met some of my new blogger friends if the Platter never existed.  The community that we have makes me want to type more words for those people to enjoy.

A blogger buddy of mine that I have yet to meet is Napkin Doon.  Actually, I may have met him before as I don't know his name or his face.  He may have crossed my path before and I would have no idea.  Napkin Doon is a mysterious fellow.

This post is the second part of a trade that we made recently.  I wrote about the first part last week and had promised a sequel since his package to me was really awesome.

The dude included a 3-D Kellogg's Steve Garvey card.  Cards like this may even deserve an entire post on its own.  The 70s and 80s had a ton of these multi-purpose, astro turf circular stadiums all around baseball.  They all seemed to look the same.  Is Garvey posing in Cincinnati, Pittsburgh or Philadelphia?  It is very hard to tell.

I also wonder if people of the future will wonder why so many stadiums in the 90s and 2000s were built to look retro.  Will future baseball fans wonder why so many ballparks resemble Camden Yards?  Why hasn't a team built a stadium that looks futuristic like something from outer space?  Did we really need a new Yankee Stadium that looks like a bigger, crappier version of the old Yankee Stadium?

Those are just some questions for my readers to ponder.  Those are also some questions that I think about when sitting in class learning about the beginnings of ancient civilizations.

 
I opened up a decent amount of Heritage this collecting season and haven't pulled any of these refractor looking cards.  I don't believe I even pulled one of a crummy ballplayer like Brandon League.

An entire set that looks like this may work in our hobby.  It combines the past of the 60s with something shiny and 90s-like.  Maybe an entire set with a blue color scheme would look nice.  Topps combining colors like purple, red and blue doesn't quite work.  If someone dressed with those colors, they would get mistaken for a pimp.  I don't mean a pimp, like a dude that nails tons of chicks.  I mean an actual pimp that sells peoples bodies while wearing some gaudy styled garb.

Napkin Doon sent me this neat vintage Brooklyn Dodgers card of Billy Herman.  My collection lacks some genuine Brooklyn cards and this is much appreciated.  I am not sure why someone spent the money to get this graded.  Is a "4" even considered okay for a '55 Topps card?

I have mentioned this before at the Platter, that I wish a back story would accompany every graded card.  The back story would detail why someone submitted a card for grading, what was the collectors goal after getting this card back and if it met their expectations as far as the graded number.

Who wouldn't want to know why someone sent in a '92 Topps Chris Gwynn to PSA?  The back story for finding a graded card like that may make the card more worthy of a purchase.  The back story may add some humor and life to a graded card of some random dude.

I will probably keep this Herman encased.  I am too scared to crack it open and risk damaging a true Brooklyn card.  I may also forge a back story about this card for future Spiegels to find if they are curious about such things.

This was a fun trade with one of my favorite bloggers.  Now that I am back and focused on collecting, lets get some trades going.  I am heading to the post office this week to mail a few bubble mailers out.  Let me add a few more to the pile.

Thinking Ahead To 2013

The Dodgers recently emailed an order form to purchase mini plan ticket packages.  The ticket packages are available for between 10 and 30 games.  They also offer packages that include the bobble head games.  The Dodgers are going with 10 bobble head giveaways this year.

After the end of every Dodger season, I always proclaim that I will never go back to Dodger Stadium.  I say that I will just watch the games at home and listen to Vin Scully.  I have a bunch of different reason why I say things like this after the conclusion of the Dodger season.  None of those reasons have to do with what transpires on the field.

I have been buying mini plans from the Dodgers since the horrid 2005 season.  Jason Phillips got over 400 plate appearances that year.  I still happily renewed in 2006.

Since getting the email notice from the Dodgers to renew my tickets, I have pondered whether or not to go back to watch games in person.  The seats in the Dodger Stadium pavilions are made of solid wood and are long benches.  Sometimes you are crammed tight with complete strangers for 3 hours.  The food also needs to improve at the ballpark.  The selection in left field is pretty much a Dodger Dog or overly salty nachos.  Those picks get boring after a while.

Also, not hearing Scully while I am watching a Dodger game is painful at times.  We, Dodger fans are so spoiled hearing him call a game that to see baseball being played without his pleasant voice is a lesser product.

Those are just some of my reasons for contemplating getting a ticket package for 2013.

Even with my whining, of course, I am going to renew.  I am addicted to baseball.  I am willing to put up with a bunch of crap at the ballpark that is off the field to watch my beloved Dodgers.  I probably could never go through a baseball season again without going to Dodger Stadium a bunch and patrolling the left field pavilion with pride.

2013 is going to mark the year, where I stop kidding myself and happily buy tickets for Dodger games months in advance.  No more saying that I will never go back.  I will always go back.

Matt Kemp plays for the Dodgers.  He came up through the team's minor league system, signed a long term deal last year to stay in LA and Kemp is really good at baseball.  Kemp is our guy.  He can take over ball games for weeks at a time.

Clayton Kershaw will be our opening day starter.  It is not even a question who will be on the mound for the Dodgers against the Giants on opening day.  I enjoy the stability and knowing that Kershaw can crush his opponents any game he enters.  I will be wearing my Kershaw jersey in Dodger Stadium on opening day.

The baseball addiction will never go away.

The Dodger Stadium jumbo tron doesn't show enough replays.  The replays they do show seem to be a few minutes after the play took place.  That seems way too long in our fast paced times and the television audience probably saw that same replay five times with Scully narrating it.

I can deal with that.  I usually watch the replay of the game after I get home from watching the game live.  If I feel I missed a play or had an obstructed view, the game will be on by the time I get home and I could re-watch what I missed.

I love seeing a big moment happen while I am in the stadium.  The roar of the crowd is enjoyable and feeling the nervous, anticipation that a stadium audience gets when something good or bad is about to happen.

I also don't want to miss watching Andre Ethier hit a baseball.  He always seems so angry and focused while out on the field.  Kemp smiles a lot and seems to have a relaxed swagger.  When Ethier makes an out he seems pissed at the world.  That is the same anger that I have watching him make an out at the plate.

I love that passion that he brings to his job.  I will feel like I am disappointing Ethier if I wasn't sitting in the outfield cheering him on.  He is too angry a dude to disappoint even though he may not even know that I exist or that my praying to the baseball gods help him get base hits.

I am in desperate need for baseball and am having major withdrawals.  Hockey season looks doomed and football only has one game a week that I care about.

The Dodgers have Kemp, Kershaw, and Ethier.  I will continue to ride the journey with them for our quest for a title.  Dodger Stadium will be my part time home on several nights in 2013.

  
The Dodgers also have Aaron Harang.  I love seeing the terrified look that kids have on their faces when they see Harang's face in person.

Hurry up baseball season.  I miss you!

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.

Very Random Bat Relic

The pile of bubble mailers that I have to go through is slowly dwindling.  I still have a decent amount of bubble mailers filled with cardboard gems from my fellow bloggers to write about.  The Platter won't have a content drought for some time.  People love sending me cards and I love sending them some cardboard.

I have made some trades with Matt from Cardboard Conundrum in the past.  He collects mostly Cubbies and has some other player collections building.

When I go to a card show or check out the bid board at my local card shop, I am always on the prowl for cheap trade bait.  Cards of Cubs players are cheaper in LA than Dodger cards in LA.  Sometimes I pick up some cards of star players on big market teams and am able to flip them for something that fits into my collection.

This is how the trade started with Matt.  I saw a Sammy Sosa bat relic for a good price at a card show.  I know that I can trade a Cubs card quick.  They are a big city team with a lot of fans.

That Sosa turned into a trade that netted me this Andre Ethier Heritage Chrome #ed/1963.  This card may have cost me the same price as the Sosa bat relic in LA and this card is made mostly of foil, bat relic not included.

Matt also added this Heritage Chrome Ian Kinsler in the trade.  Kinsler is a fun player to watch because of his power/speed combo.  The guy is a 30/30 player and still seems underrated.  He kind of gets overshadowed by Josh Hamilton, Michael Young and even Ron Washington.  Now, Kinsler has to compete with Yu Darvish for camera time.

Kinsler is also on my fantasy team this year.  I like watching him play but, now I have a stronger rooting interest in him.  If he plays well, this will probably also lead to my Ian Kinsler collection growing.

No, I did not mix up the Royals uniform to the Dodgers uniform when I skimmed through the trade bait page on Cardboard Conundrum.  I actually picked an Angel Berroa bat relic as the key to the trade.  Matt probably thought this would sit around in his house for years.  He had no idea that somebody out in the blog world is an Angel Berroa fan.

This is my second Berroa GU that I have in my collection.  That may surprise people.  I am also not sure what is more surprising, that two Angel Berroa relics actually exist or the I own two of them?

Berroa played briefly as a Dodger.  He played the role of veteran, scrub utility guy.  He didn't play great.  I actually wasn't sure why he was on the team, when some dude in the Pavillion at Dodger Stadium could out hit Berroa.

He looked like a goofball with a giant smile.  He knew he sucked at baseball but, somehow had a pro baseball job with a six figure salary.  He knew he was lucky and enjoyed his time as a big leaguer.  Some players that are great players look joyless but, a scrub is the happiest man on the team.  That made me root for the guy.

Thanks for the trade Matt!

I Know How To Use a Webcam!

I bought a new laptop a few months back and it came with a webcam. I never used the webcam yet because I am part Neanderthal. This is my first post using it so, I hope it came out well. Please leave me any feedback or suggestions. Thanks to these guys: Reader Steve, Napkin Doon, Cam from Cardboard Heaven

My Boy in the Argyle Sweater

I posted about trying to get some cards from one of my favorite baseball movies.  That movie is called Eight Men Out.  It is a movie about the 1919 Black Sox scandal.  The movie was very well done and had some solid actors in the film such as Charlie Ma-Sheen, John Cusak and D.B. Sweeney.

Eight Men Out is probably my fifth favorite baseball movie.  My Top 5 will probably stir a good debate.  A good baseball movie debate is always good for the blog world.  Every baseball fan has a different Top 5 baseball movie list.  No list is the exact same.  That is impossible with so many good options to choose from.  Here is my Top5:
#1 Bad News Bears
#2 Major League
#3 A League of Their Own
#4 The Sandlot
#5 Eight Men Out

What is on your list?

I can go into greater detail about my Top 5 list but, I may save that for another post.  Since, there is a lull in baseball news and I will let other bloggers discuss 2012 Topps later this month.  The other bloggers can break down 2012 Topps better than me anyways.

Let me show you some cards that Greg sent me.  Greg writes about cards at Plaschke, Thy Sweater is Argyle.  He is a Dodger collector and a player collector and a Mighty Ducks collector, and a San Diego Chokers collector and a UCLA collector and a Long Beach State Collector and a set collector.  I think that covers all of the PCs he has going on.  If I forgot anything, then I am sorry, Greg.

Greg was nice enough to dig up a couple Eight Men Out cards for me.  These came out all the way back in 1988 and were released by Pacific.  I was about 5 years old then and I don't think Greg was born yet.  I am still looking for many more of these cards so, please let me know.

I didn't think James Loney was going to be a Dodger in 2012.  I kept saying all throughout 2011 that Loney would be non-tendered and then will become a starter in Seattle or Pittsburgh, where mediocre ballplayers go to die.  I was wrong and Loney has just signed a one year deal to stay in Los Angeles.  I will continue to say throughout 2012 that this season will be Loneys last in a Dodger uniform.  Be prepared, Greg, you will hear me complaining about Loney for one more season as we wait in an autograph line for several hours this coming season.

Andre Ethier also signed a one year deal to stay in LA today.  I really hope Ethier can bounce back and have a great 2012.  The Dodgers need him to produce so, they can try and win 82 games this year.  I also think that Ethier will play well then sign a 4 year deal with Boston or New York.  That is where solid layers go to win a championship.  I should also clarify that when I say New York, I mean the Yankees and not the Triple-A team that also plays in that city.

Thanks for all the cards, Greg, except that card of Eugenio Velez that you slipped into the bubble mailer.

Never to Late to Give Thanks

I have had trade packages piling up on me for awhile.  They just pop out of no where.  I think that I have caught up, blogged about them and put them in the appropriate binders or boxes.  But, the bubble mailers must have a life of there own.  They crawl and hide.  Then they reappear and jump at the chance to be featured at the Platter.

Julie from the blog Things are Funner Here sent me some great cards.  I am trying to complete Dodger Topps sets from the 70s.  Julie sent me two 79s of Charlie Hough and Manny Mota.  This puts me a little closer to completing the team sets from the 70s.  I am still very far away from accomplishing my goal because the sets are huge each year.  I hope to at least complete one year by the end of 2011.

This is a 2009 Bowman Blue Clayton Kershaw #ed/500.  I am a fan of parallels because they look good in a binder.  When you get a bunch of parallels and set them in a plastic page, the whole page just pops with colors.

The blue border of this card looks really nice.  It gives the appearance of 60s cool.  Bowman gives this card a non-intended retro look.

The first card is a 2010 Topps reprint of a late 90s card.  It makes me feel old when cards of my youth are being reprinted.  Topps shouldn't have done this.  It is way to soon to be reprinting cardboard from the 90s.  I also don't remember this card being considered a classic that Topps just had to remake. 

I do remember the interleague match-up between the Dodgers and Mariners in the late 90s to be pretty cool.  As a kid, I had a great time getting to watch Ken Griffey Jr. play at Dodger Stadium.  The Mariners had some really good teams back then.

Julie also sent me a bunch of Ichiro cards.  The 2004 Fleer Ultra Ichiro is my favorite one of the bunch.  The photo is great and Ichiro is in deep concentration just before he walks up to the plate to do some damage.

Things are Funner Here is hosting a contest.  Please head on over and take a peak.

I also got a package from David of the greatly named blog called e rayahahn, rayhahn.  I got David's bubble mailer about a month ago.  I forget what I sent his way.  It must have been something good to get this 2008 Upper Deck X Andre Ethier GU.

I am not sure about the background of this card.  I do know that this is a card featuring Ichiro.  This card is shaped like a square as opposed to a rectangle.  I do want to know more about this set.  The card is a 2009 Fan Pak Headlines.

Did this card come from a Mariners fan pack?  Was this a Seattle giveaway? 

I would like to thank both of you for the great cards.  Keep up the great work on your blogs.

Lineage Blaster Break:Dodger Style

I couldn't resist opening up some packs of 2011 Topps Lineage.  I have opened a couple of hobby packs when it was first released.  I enjoyed some aspects of the new set.  The 1975 minis were cool.  The diamond parallels are still looking hot to me.  But, I was mostly trying to avoid buying a blaster.  Those things are a $20 gamble that favor the house which in this case is Wal-Mart.  I even joined a group break to try and get a lot of Dodger cards from this set.  The group break yielded me most of the Dodger base cards and nothing else.

I went to Wal-Mart to pick up some red shirts for work and a new binder.  Those were my two main objectives.  Getting those two items was the key to my trip.  The store happened to be packed on Sunday.  The store was packed with fat people in sweat pants and whiny little kids.  Some of the shelves were pretty barren.  Wal-Mart looked like it had been picked through by a bunch of animals.  The store was out of red shirts and only had small binders left not the bigger ones that are better for baseball cards.

Luckily, Wal-Mart has a card aisle.  Since, I wasn't able to get the two items that were on my want list, I decided to see what baseball cards that they had for sale.  First, I checked to see if they had any good discount blasters.  The shelf only had a 2010 Upper Deck blaster on sale.  I just opened one of these recently and was underwhelmed.  I passed on that. 

The 2011 Topps Lineage blasters guarantee one relic.  Awesome!  I really want to get a 1975 mini relic.  So, I splurged a little and picked up a $20 blaster.  I didn't get a crappy red shirt but, I got some baseball cards!

I happened to pull a ton of Doyers from this break.  The Jackie card is a cool leaping shot of him.  I can't wait to chase the parallels for these base cards.

I also pulled a couple more Dodgers base cards.  These two of current Dodgers, Andre Ethier and Clayton Kershaw.  Ethier is currently playing through an infected ingrown toenail.  That sounds so gross.  But, still not as gross as someone having an injury called a pulled groin.  When I hear that some player has a pulled groin, I think of a more painful, dirty image than what the injury actually entails.  You know what I'm saying.

Topps adding some refractorness to this set was a nice move.  Seeing a Roy Campanella card with some modern flashiness to it is a plus in my book.  The Diamond Platinum Parallel is seeded at 1:4 packs.  The blaster only contains 7 packs.  I was going to get at least one of these and I am glad it was a Dodger. 

I only got one of the cloth sticker cards also.  This one turned out to be of the great Sandy Koufax.  I am so happy that his cards are popping up in Topps products this year.  No Dodger fan will ever get tired of getting Koufax cards.  Koufax is above everyone. 

I still think that Koufax can pitch in today's game.  Probably in the bullpen.  He still has a solid fastball.  Just last year he killed a lion, who was attacking some school children, with his fastball.  True story.

This blaster was meant to be purchased by a Dodger collector!

Wicked Ortega Delivers A Killer Package

Around a month ago I purchased a card from Wicked Ortega and I was only expecting to get a small bubble mailer with one card in it.  To my surprise, he included several cards that will fit nicely into my collection.  I have read some other blogs on how generous Wicked Ortega is and now I have experienced his kindness first hand.

This was the card that I purchased from him.  I collect cards of baseball legends.  I consider a player a legend if, he was a beast and I have never seen him play.  Harmon "Killer" Killebrew fits that criteria.  He is enshrined in Cooperstown and mashed 573 home runs.  Also, according to Baseball Reference, Killebrew was listed at 6 feet and 195 pounds.  That seems small by today's power hitters.  I have seen pictures of him as well as a replay of the 1965 World Series Game 7.  He looked a lot bigger than that.  He had arms like Popeye.  Oh yeah, that Game 7 ended with a Dodgers victory behind a Sandy Koufax shut out.

This card is a game used bat piece #ed/250.  Killebrew hit so many bombs, that I would like to think this piece of wood came from a home run bat.

I believe this was a box topper from 2007 Allen and Ginter.  This box topper features players from Japan such as Ichiro, Kei Igawa, Dice-K and Hideki Matsui.  Wicked Ortega was kind enough to put this card in a giant top loader.  This is the first box topper that I really like.  It will probably be given to my mother so she can display her Japanese pride in the living room.

I also got some shiny Andre Ethier cards!  I love chrome cards that aren't warped like the 2010 Topps Chrome set.  Chrome cards look a lot better than the base sets that they derive from.  I mean they look a lot better when they are flat just like the Bowman or Topps base set. 

Ethier is eligible for free agency after next season.  I have been preparing myself with the news that he will be a Red Sock when that time comes.  That comment may anger some Dodger fans and they may call me a pessimist.  But, the Dodger ownership situation is a complete mess thanks to the McCourts.  Frank McCourt is going to continue to fight for sole ownership of the team.  McCourt doesn't care if his actions affect the players, the fans or even Vin Scully.  I won't be mad at Ethier for leaving when that day comes.  I will be even angrier that Frank McCourt owns the team and is so selfish that he will be hurting everyone in the Dodger world.

As I was digging through the cards that Wicked Ortega sent me, I was so happy to see a 2005 Topps Chrome Black Refractor Jeff Weaver card.  This card is #ed/225!  It has been awhile since I got a super cool card of Weaver.  Thanks!!!

Matt Kemp along with Ethier is another player that is a free agent after next season.  It is going to be sad to see him go east to the Yankees.  Kemp will go to New York and become a national superstar and be shown on ESPN all the time.  Once he becomes a Yankee most of the country will forget that he was ever a Doyer.  This may seem like a doom and gloom scenario but, anyone that has been following the McCourt saga knows that this day is coming.  Please be prepared, Dodger fans.  I am bracing myself for the heartbreak now so, the pain won't be as bad.

I am going to enjoy watching Kemp and Ethier as much as I can before they leave.  Once they leave, I will ignore them because the sight of them in another uniform will be too painful.  I didn't watch Mike Piazza play too often after he was traded and I will give the same treatment to Kemp and Ethier.  I won't be mad at the players, I will just be mad at the hand the Dodgers were dealt by Bud Selig allowing Frank McCourt to get his greasy hands on my beloved team.

Thanks for the cards, Wicked Ortega.  I am excited to get in on your current group break.