I'm A Show Off

It is a dreary day in Los Angeles right now.  The sun hasn't risen in a few days and the dark clouds have finally burst with filthy, acidic rain.  My little Fiat has been sliding over the roads as I cruise along the freeways of the Valley.  It is better to just stay in and enjoy the glorious cardboard that has been sent my way from the blog world.

I started to write out a daily task list each morning.  I heard this was the best way to try and accomplish some goals.  I had actually heard this over a decade ago and I let procrastination get the best of me.  After two whole days of writing out a to-do list, I am finding out that listing out goals may actually work.

One of the objectives of this cloudy Thursday, was to write up a mega trade post.  Some bubble mailers have been piling up on my desk and it was time to start sorting through them.  

Democratic Roadkill is a big time Allen and Ginter mini collector.  I have been trying to complete some Ginter mini sets of my own from 2012.  This has proven to be an extremely tough task and is taking a very long time.  I have been reluctant to even put up the 2013 Allen and Ginter sets that I am currently trying to finish.  I was just hoping that readers of the Platter could just see into my mind and send me some 2013 mini Ginter inserts.

Democratic Roadkill has knocked off many of the 2012 Ginter cards that I was after.  This has given me the motivation to post up the 2013 Ginter cards that I am chasing.  I am very thankful for that.

One of the keys to my collecting heart is getting cards of my childhood idols.  Specifically, receiving 90s inserts of my favorite Dodgers.  Some might say that getting 90s inserts of my favorite players is the key to my collecting heart.  Actually nobody says that.  Only I find that to be true.

The Lost Collector brought some shiny greatness into my collection.  I would have traded a Fleer Ultra insert of Cal Ripken Jr. or of Frank Thomas back in '96 for this Mike Piazza card.  This would have been highly sought after by a young bike riding Spiegel.

The Piazza wasn't the only 90s gem to fall out of a bubble mailer sent to me by the Lost Collector.  He also sent me this embossed Raul Mondesi insert from '95 Fleer.  Back in the day this card would have cost me a John Kruk or a Tim Salmon insert.  I would have gladly dumped a mullet haired fat guy or a rotting salmon for a muscular Rauuuuul.

The Lost Collector made my heart warm and fuzzy with these two cards for my collection.  What a swell fellow.

Sometimes I bump into bloggers on other corners of the collecting landscape outside of the blog world. Over at the Sports Card Forum, I ran into Tim from the Home of the Toddfather blog.  We worked out a trade and sent each other cards of our favorite teams.  

This Hideo Nomo is new to me which is always a good thing at the Platter.  This card hails from a set I had never heard of called Ballpark Idols by Upper Deck.  This card also features Nomo standing on the edge of the mound peering at an incoming grounder.  This photo may have been taken during some sort of fielding drill as no other players are standing in the background.

I used to watch pitchers work on fielding drills back in the day during spring training in Vero Beach.  Pitchers always seemed bored going through these drills.  Fielding your position is important and fans always get hulk style angry when a pitcher boots an easy comeback dribbler during a game.  

Nomo looks focused in the picture.  He was a true professional.

 

I was sent many great cards from this bundle from Tim but this is my favorite.  This actually may be one of my favorite cards of all time.  Tommy Lasorda drinking a milkshake?  In the form of a cartoon caricature? As the card states this is fun stuff.  Cards like this makes me so proud to be an avid collector of Dodger baseball cards.

This Lasorda is definitely the show stopper for this mega trade post.  Thanks for the cards my fellow bloggers.  Time to drop the mic and walk off. 

We Play Nice

The Dodger/Padre scuffle the other night has added a spark to the blog world.  Dodger and Padre fans have posted write-ups about their opinions on the incident.  This fight has led to some dialogue between me and a couple Padre fans.  Emails were exchanged that were mostly pleasant and offered some insight into the thoughts and feelings of the Dodgers newest rival.

The Dodgers and Padres have always been in the same division and have competed for playoff spots.  This has been happening for decades.  Most of the animosity in this SoCal feud has been Padre fans hating the Dodgers.  Dodgers fans didn't really acknowledge that there was any bitterness or anger towards the Padres or their fans.  That lack of mutual hatred probably bristled the nerves of some Padre supporters.  San Diego fans may have wanted this rivalry to take a step up in temperature and I should add that they probably didn't want the feud to escalate due to a fight and a broken bone.

Sadly, the disdain level between the two fan bases has escalated due to a fight on the field and a near fight in the player's parking lot.  The rivalry of mutual hatred between Dodger and Padre fans has begun.  This is going to be a new experience for both fan bases.  Dodger fans save their angst for the hated Giants to the north.  Now Dodger fans have to shift a piece of the darkness to the San Diego team to the south.

Another team to the south that probably hates the Dodgers more than we hate them is the Angels.  I have heard Angel fans mention their dislike of the real LA team before.  I don't often hear Dodger fans talking about any hatred for the Angels or their players.  Mostly, Dodger fans take jabs at the Angels team name or Arte Moreno's mustache.

The emotions that we show towards other teams doesn't really affect the way we treat each other in the blog world.  We may have certain grudges against teams that are close in proximity or that are competing for the same division crown but, we still exchange items through the mail and write nice comments on blog posts.

I mean, I even take the time to read the words typed by a Giants fan and we also swap cardboard on occasion.

I even trade baseball cards with a fan of Orange County's major league team.  Tom from the blog, The Angels, In Order sent me a sweet PWE that included some Dodger stamps and a few Ian Kinsler cards.  Tom may not like the baseball team I root for and he may consider the Dodgers to be his team's biggest rival.  I am not sure.  I am sure that he is a nice fellow that surprised me with some stamps featuring some of my favorite players of the 90s.

The players included on this sheet are Mike Piazza(awesome dude in the 90s), Eric Karros(LA Dodger home run champ), Raul Mondesi(Physical freak until poor eating habits got in the way), Hideo Nomo(Superstar), and Delino Deshields(?).

These stamps were from 1996.  So, I googled the roster from that season to see if any other player on the team could have supplanted Delino on this sheet to make it perfect.  I actually came across several candidates that could have fit better than Delino.

Todd Hollandsworth would have been nice but, maybe these stamps came out prior to the '96 season and that was before his solid rookie campaign.  Ramon Martinez was a really solid starter.  Brett Butler was a premier lead-off hitter that could get on base, swipe a bag and lay down beautiful bunt hits.  Juan Castro would have been a better choice as well because Castro's inclusion would be making me laugh right now instead of cringing.

This PWE was a kind gesture by Tom.  I will have to scrounge up something sweet and odd that will fit into his collection.

Baseball fans can get along in the blog world despite the level of seriousness that we take our rivalries.  That kindness doesn't extend to the stands at the ball parks across America.  Maybe those drunken loudmouths would treat their fellow baseball fans better with some friendly dialogue and baseball card trading?

Rain and Organize

Every baseball card collector has a day that they spend several hours sorting, viewing and cleaning up their card collection.  Actually, every collector of anything, from stamps to bottle caps, probably has a day where they spend sifting through their collection.  A collection needs some order and is best not left to being stored as a chaotic mess.

Today is my sorting day of my collection.  It is a day of grey skies and rainfall.  It is also a day where I have no work and am caught up on my schooling.  What a perfect day to put a dent in some of the stacks of cards and packages by my bedside.

I consider some other blogs to be friends of the Platter.  These are bloggers that I have been trading with over the years, they may occasionally leave a comment on one of my posts and they have earned my respect as a writer.  "O" No!!! Another Orioles Blog is one such blog that I consider to be a friend of the Platter.  That blog is run by an Orioles fan named Ryan.

His computer was down for a bit and he has gotten back to posting after a hiatus.  Ryan probably missed posting on his blog.  During his hiatus, he may have even pulled or purchased an award winning piece of cardboard and was unable to show it to the masses due to technical difficulties.  That is a painful situation for an card collecting blogger.  It is good to have him back in the mix.

Ryan sent me these cards a while back.  I just haven't been able to show off a card like this Tadahito Iguchi autograph because of school and probably a little laziness.

Some collectors may open up a trade package and consider the autographed card to be the best of the lot.  I am not one of those collectors.  The Iguchi signature may have the most value or worth but, it certainly wasn't the best looking card that Ryan sent me.

This Hideo Nomo card was the favorite one that Ryan included in the bubble mailer.  Don't let the ugliness of the New York Met uniform distort your view of this great action shot.  The only thing that would have made this card better was if this card came out a year earlier when Nomo was a Dodger.  This still rates highly and is my favorite Nomo Mets card that I own.

This Mike Piazza weightlifting card probably would have been my favorite card from this trade if it weren't for some of Piazza's comments towards Vin Scully.  Piazza mentions in his book that Scully was critical of Piazza during his contract negotiations with the Dodgers in the late 90s and this soured the LA fans on him.  Scully doesn't turn any fans against anybody, he isn't critical of any player's contract and he never threw Piazza under the bus.  This was such an odd person for Piazza to try and go up against.  Scully is God and you never tempt your fate by creating a false rumor about God in your biography.

Therefore this card is just a notch below the above Nomo card.  Piazza will always be viewed differently in my mind after what he was saying about Scully.

Piazza even made me enjoy a card that features him with a greasy mullet and him pumping iron a little less than I would have before.

Welcome back to blogging, Ryan and thanks for the trade.

Good News and Good News

I just got back from a meeting with my college counselor.  I knew that I was getting close to being able to apply for graduation.  I counted only 2 or 3 more classes left.  Today's meeting was about making sure I had enough credits and to fill out some paper work so, I can obtain my associates degree.

The counselor was very helpful and told me that only two more classes for my associates in history and one more class that is required to transfer to Cal State Northridge.  Next Spring, I am going to work less and crank out the last few classes.  Getting my associates degree is going to be a huge accomplishment for me and by next fall I will actually be on a campus of a state university, taking classes, searching for parking and finishing up life goals.

2013 is going to be the start of the Decades of Spiegel.  I can't wait until next year.

Since, I am full of a lot of spirit and energy, it is time for a long form trade post.  This trade post is going to feature cards from blogger superstar named Night Owl who runs a blog that the world has read.  Night Owl sent me a lot of really nice Dodger cards.  He sent them in a little box.

Night Owl is above using bubble mailers.  He prefers sending a stack of baseball cards in a cardboard box.

This card is instantly one of my favorite Mike Piazza cards.  Piazza won the All-Star Game MVP in 1996.  The game took place in his hometown of Philadelphia and it was also the city that I was living in at the time.  It was big news in the area that the city was hosting the All-Star Game and for a local boy like Piazza to win the MVP honors was a perfect story for the game.

I am not sure if this card has been on the Dodger Card Countdown that Night Owl is running.  I don't remember seeing it.  This Piazza may have a chance.

Oddball cards featuring Dodgers always have a binder spot in my collection.  Even Dodger players that I prefer not to look at, get a placed in a binder if they appear on an oddball card.

This is a fantastic action shot of Steve Garvey.  It shows him crushing a baseball and showing off his popeye forearms.  The bottom blue part on the bottom takes away from this photo a bit.  Topps needs to acquire the rights to this photo, revamp Stadium Club and churn this card out for the masses.

It is only that simple, Topps.

These are some of my first 2012 Topps minis.  I have been staring at boxes and packs of these at my local card shop for weeks.  I have been tempted to buy a box or at least a handful of packs.  I must refrain from doing so and just wait until the hundreds of Dodger bloggers out there get some dupes and mail them to me.

The Javy Guerra card is a neat daytime celebration photo.  It would be better if Dioner Navarro wasn't in this picture.  I am surprised the Dodgers actually won this game with Navarro in the line-up.

Are collectors getting frustrated with the over saturation of parallels.  We have all different colors or parallels and also mini sized ones.  When is too much of one card.....too much of one card?

Night Owl has been purging his collection of relics since the card companies got involved in a scandal.  The scandal involved the card companies knowingly buying fake jerseys from some scumbag and sticking the non-game used jerseys in cards.

I understand Night Owl's frustration.  I still would like to obtain cards that have photos of Dodgers on it.  The prices of relics has dropped and the ease in which bloggers mail me them has been beneficial in my quest to obtain Dodgers.

Night Owl gladly dumped a handful of relics on me and I gladly accepted.  He sent me a couple Shawn Green cards.

This is a well designed relic of Paul Lo Duca.  It has a tiny photo of his face, a tiny piece of cloth and a tiny version of a Dodger Stadium ticket.  Fleer added a lot of stuff on this card and I like the effort.  It gives my eyes many things to look at and focus on.

This card is also slightly smaller in size and has a perforated edge on one side.  I miss the creativity that Fleer used to bring to the table.

How many more years until MLB gives another company a license to compete with Topps?

 
One of the relics that Night Owl included features a dude that I never heard of.  He is wearing a Dodger uniform and it stumped me.  This doesn't happen very often.

I had to Google Mike Nixon's name and look up his stats.  Nixon was drafted out of a baseball player factory called Arizona State University.  The Dodgers picked him in the 3rd round of the 2002 draft.  Nixon didn't pan out for the club and his baseball career ended in 2005.

He does have a spot in my collection though.  I may never own a Mike Nixon base card but, I at least have this one of him.  I really like the mountain and the brick building in the background of his photo.  The stadium that he is in is probably pretty nice with a mountain popping out of center field.

This was a wonderful trade and it took me a while to pick out some cards that I wanted to feature at the Platter.  That is usually a good sign of how well received this trade box was.

Thank you for the cards, Night Owl!

Piazza and Nomo, Show and Tell

My plan and goal was to whittle down the stack of bubble mailers full of cards.  These cards are from some great traders out in the blog world.  I wanted to post about them before I started to make some new trades.

That hasn't happened so far.  I sent out a couple packages to complete some trades.  I did organize and place some cards into my binders tonight.  That stack of cards was about to topple over.

I was able to tend to my collection tonight because the Dodgers had the day off.  I hate when the Dodgers have an off day.  Some players probably look forward to there days off.  They may spend time with family, recover from an injury, or go on a drinking binge in Old Town Pasadena.

But, for me, the Dodgers off day is terrible.  I don't know how to fill that void of a few hours in my day without a baseball game to watch.

Time to show some Dodgers of my childhood.  The Diamond King seems to come across some promo cards from the 90s.  Some of the cards that he has sent me in our trades were once out of my price range back in the day.

The shiny Donruss Preferred card is numbered out of 1500.  That was considered rare back in 1997.  The set that Donruss is sampling is called "Staremaster."  The set is supposed to be showing a baseball player staring out in a random direction and supposedly Mike Piazza has mastered this.

I am not sure if this "Staremaster" card is only a sample or if it caught on and was in the real Donruss Preferred set.  The set is too lame for me to look up.

Oddly, I am glad to be one of the 1500 people to own this card.  Piazza is Dodger Blue will be in my collection even if he is only staring.

The Diamond King also included some Hideo Nomo cards.  This card is made by Upper Deck in 1996.  At one point in 1996, this card was sold for five dollars.

Times were crazy back then.  Inserts still had monetary value in the mid-90s.  The child Spiegel, in 1996 didn't buy cards that cost five dollars.  That was out of my range.  Current Spiegel, does spend five dollars on cards that are autographed or vintage.  I like this time better.

The Diamond King hasn't posted anything in a few weeks.  I hope he gets back in the blogging mood and we can trade again.  Thanks for the cards!

Hiflew Returns to the Platter!

I am so glad that the blog called Cards From The Quarry came back.  Hiflew is the dude that runs the best Rockies blog in the blog world.  His blog may be the only blog that focuses on Rockies cards.  The blog world was void of someone to trade there Rockies too.  When the Quarry was on hiatus, I just had stacks of Rox piling up waiting for Hiflew's return.

The blog world is a better place when the Quarry is open.

Hiflew knows what I like.  He knows that I like the 90s, shine and cards of first base icon Mike Piazza.  Wait.  What?!?!  Mike Piazza playing first base in the 90s while on the Dodgers. I don't remember seeing this back then.  Eric Karros had the Dodgers first base position on lock in the 90s.  This card is from 1996.

Piazza does look very determined at first base.  He may also just be showing off for the Pinnacle camera man while horsing around in between snap shots.

This is another great Mike Piazza card from '96 Aficionado.  This is a really slick looking set.  This set combines 90s flash with a retro wood finish.

Piazza is glaring into the dugout during this shot.  Piazza must be looking into the dugout wondering why they are leaving Tom Candiotti in for so long.  Mark Guthrie is already warm.  I remember this game like it was yesterday.  The Dodgers ended up rallying to overcome a 10 run deficit against the Giants.

Mike Piazza had 11 RBIs.  The Dodgers won 11-10.  Great game.

This is a flashy 1996 Aficionado Hideo Nomo card.  The impact that know had on popularizing the game in Asia is still felt today.  The impact he made just in Japan was huge.  The stars of Japanese baseball still want to ply there trade Stateside.

Yu Darvish is the latest Japanese Star that is trying to make it in the big leagues.  I wish the Dodger ownership situation was already clear so, they could bid on Darvish.  The kid has mad skills.  Just a little more patience until the new Dodger owners start spending some serious scratch.

Welcome back, Hiflew!  The blog world will always need someone to rep the Rockies.

Late Night, Early Morning Read

I just got back from tonight's Dodger game.  Clayton Kershaw outdueled Tim Lincecum again.  Kershaw is no 5-0 against the Giants this season and is 4-0 against Lincecum head to head.  He has been dominating the rivals up north this season.

The atmosphere was pretty good at Dodger Stadium tonight.  There was more electricity in the air as opposed to other games that I have attended this year.  People were pumped for Kershaw vs. Lincecum.  My favorite match-up to watch.  This was also the last game that I am going to this year.  It was a night that I got to witness Kershaw getting win number 20 against the hated ones.  It was a great final live game for me.  I don't think that I will be going to any games next season as long as Frank McCourt is in control.  I won't be renewing my mini plan but, I could still see myself going to a handful of games next year.  Just, much less than in previous years.

I haven't posted in a while.  So, lets see some cool cards that I have gotten recently.  That's what I came on to blogger tonight to show you some of the good stuff. 

I am just rewinding from a thrilling baseball game.  My adreneline from the game has given me the energy for some night time posting.

Wicked Ortega hosted a group break done draft style on his blog.  His blog is called My past time...I love it. 

Wicked had a wide range of game used, autos, and vintage to choose from.  Most of my picks are going into my PC.  I picked up some trade and sale bait that I may show you guys at another time. 

Since the Dodgers won tonight by beating the Giants, let me start by showing you guys the only Dodger that I picked up from Wicked Ortega.  This card is a 1968 Topps Dodgers team card.  The condition is really solid.

Don Drysdale and Don Sutton are lurking on this card somewhere.  This photo may not have ever been taken.  The faces are impossible to make out.  The players may have been painted in a generic fashion from a far distant.  That is a fact over here at the Platter.

The 1968 Topps Dodger team card was the only Dodger that I added to my collection from this break.  I did however manage to get some nice cards of players that have worn Dodger Blue.

Kirk Gibson will always be remebered in Dodger lore for what he did in the 1988 World Series.  I had to pick this card even though it is him as a Detroit Tiger.  Gibson is a Dodger legend, who is now managing the Arizona Diamondbacks to a division title.

2007 Upper Deck Sweet Spot has some sweet looking GUs.  This is the Upper Deck set that I would like to see some back.  The autos are cool looking from this set also.

Here is another card featuring a dude that has played for the Dodgers.  This is a 1999 Just Minors autograph of Jayson Werth.  The auto is on-card and features Werth as an Oriole.

Werth was a player that I really liked on the Dodgers in the mid-2000s.  I was always happy to see him have success when he went to the Philadelphia Phillies.  Werth is now struggling after signing a huge contract with the Washington Nationals.  He traded away winning with the Phils for losing and a lot more cash.  I just hope that his performance picks up to at least warrant the kind of deal that was given to him.

This is my first Mike Piazza relic.  It is a bat relic to boot!  But, it is Piazza has an Oakland A.  I give that just a 1/2 notch below him as a Dodger.  But, it is better than seeing him as a Met or Padre. 

Bowman Heritage was nice enough to print Piazza's full name on the card.  I find it important to know Piazza's middle name.  It is an added sign of respect to the greatest hitting catcher.  Check out his stats for the 1997 season.  It was his last full season as a Dodger and it was a year only a beast can have.

Thank you for 1997 Mike Joseph Piazza.

Since, I have other PCs other than ones that involve the Dodgers, I picked up this Dice-K GU.  Dice-K is a future Ned Colletti signing.  I feel it in my gut.

Dice-K is a "name" player.  He is also on the downside of his career.  Dice-K has also had surgery this year.  That sounds like a Colletti signing this offseason.  So, this card will be of more interest to me in 2012 when Dice-K is donning Dodger Blue.

This was a preemptive pick for my PC.

The Diamond King Sends Some Cards To The Platter

The Diamond King is a fairly new card blog that is run by a cool dude named Kevin.  But, I enjoy referring to him as The Diamond King.  That is such a cool name of a blog.  I am surprised that there aren't a dozen blogs named Diamond King.  Please go and check out his blog.  The Diamond King even has the time to post about everyday, which is awesome.

The Diamond King posted about this card a few days ago.  I commented on how sweet it is and then we worked out a deal for it.  Of course, I like this card, it is of 1988 World Series Game 1 hero, Kirk Gibson.  This is my first relic of Gibson.  He is now coaching up the Arizona Diamondbacks who are surprising a lot of people by playing fairly well. 

As part of the trade, the Diamond King also sent me some nice PC cards.  He sent me a retro looking Kirk Gibson from the 2003 Topps set.  It is weird seeing Gibson so clean cut.  I thought he was born with a mustache.  He also sent me this shiny Shawn Green.

The Diamond King must have done a ton of collecting in the 90s.  He sent me a lot of Hideo Nomo and Mike Piazza cards from the greatest decade.  I love the 90s!  The inserts were so much more creative.  This is an awesome Piazza card.  It kind of reminds me of the cards that Denny's used to give out when you ordered a grand slam breakfast.

The Diamond King also held a contest when he first started in order to get some buzz for his blog.  I feel like I should hold a contest at the Platter.  I have an excess amount of cards that I could easily give away.  I'll try to think of a sweet idea and get a contest going.  Anyways, I won this O.J. Mayo relic from his blog.  I am not a USC Trojan fan.  I am a UCLA supporter.  I do like a Trojan that gets the school into hot water though.  Mayo got paid well for his one season as a Trojan and the NCAA wasn't happy about that.  I was happy about that though.  It gives me some verbal ammunition when chatting with Trojan fans.

Thanks for the trade.  Long live the Diamond King!!!