The New Trend

The blog world has always provided some instant happiness into my life.  Getting some baseball cards that fit into your collection, at random, from a fellow blogger is always a joy.

The new blogger craze of sending out a plain white envelope with a couple of cards enclosed has hit the Platter with some well loved greatness.

Christopher aka Nachos Grande, sent me this crunchitty, crispitty, crossed up Mike Scioscia card.  I had mentioned on his blog that I didn't have a copy of a '86 Donruss Mike Scioscia.  Nachos Grande came through and filled the void in my Dodger collection.

The plain white envelopes being sent all throughout the card collecting blog world is putting smiles on the faces of many dudes across the country.  It is a similar feeling to getting a greeting card during a holiday or getting an extra meatball in a sub.

Getting a card in this condition reminds me of a collecting adventure that I may get involved with.  I have been mulling over the thought of picking up some 1910-1911 tobacco cards featuring Brooklyn players of that era.  Some of the cards that I will probably be purchasing will be in a condition similar to this Scioscia.  Nachos Grande was just getting me mentally prepared to not expect perfect cardboard.

The Classic Card Collector has been kind and answered some questions I had about cards from the early 20th century.  He also sent me some thinks that had some good information to better my education before I start throwing some cash around towards my next cardboard adventure.

I also received an envelope with some cards in slightly better condition.  Pat, from a blog called Hot Corner Cards, sent me a couple golden Dodgers.

I say golden based on their borders not their on-field performance.

Pat and I had an agreement for a small two card trade.  I sent him some Tigers that may still be in transit.

The two Topps Gold Dodgers are in really good condition as you can see.  That somehow makes them less interesting to look at as compared to the Scioscia.  I enjoy the battle tested story that the Scioscia card has to say.

If this starts a trend of sending me beat up modern cards, please make sure that they are only of cards of players I hate.  Such players include Juan Uribe, Adam Kennedy, or Andruw Jones and other other ex-Dodger that you can envision my disdain for.

I probably will send out some plain white envelopes this week.  I enjoy riding on the fun filled blogging bandwagon.

Trading Cards With The Emerald City

The Emerald City is a great nickname for Seattle.  The nickname makes it seem like a pleasant place to hangout.  Some city nicknames don't fit the city for which it is named.

An example is Los Angeles being known as the City of Angels.  I know that Los Angeles means "the angels."  But, when I hear "City of Angels," I first think of a heavenly place, where nothing bad ever happens.  Los Angeles is a city with a lot of sinners.  Some of these sinners have been famous such as O.J. Simpson or Phil Spector.  The name doesn't match the city.

Another city nickname that doesn't quite work is the "City of Brotherly Love."  Philadelphia is know for thuggish sports fans and is a hard drinking town.  Combine sports passion and pints of lager and the "Love" gets thrown out the window.  The nickname should be changed to the "City of Brotherly Love Unless Your From A Different City And Then We Hate You."

The nickname is long but, fits the city a lot better.

I made a trade with a Mariners fan over at the blog called Emerald City Diamond Gems.  Mariner1 is a great trader and has the best Seattle Mariners blog in the community.  He may have the only Mariners blog that I have seen.  So, it is a joyous occasion to send some Mariners that have been piling up in my trade box.

Jerry Reuss was a solid pitcher for the Dodgers in the 80s.  Reuss has the appearance of a nice grandpa.  He even looks like a nice grandpa during his playing days.

Fleer has made some really nice sets over the years.  I have a fond memory of Fleer because I collected a lot of there product during my childhood.  In the 90s especially, Fleer was using great photos and had sweet looking inserts.  By the time that I got back into collecting about a year ago, Fleer was gone.  But, I still am searching for some Fleer from the past.

Mariner1 was nice enough to send me some Mike Scioscia cards from the 80s.  I am a big fan of the 1988 Fleer set.  It has a good ol' American look to it.  Baseball and America are a power combo.  The photo shows Scioscia determined to block the plate in order to tag out a Giant.

My 1981 Topps chase rolls on.  I needed these two Dodger cards.  The Yeager is my favorite of the two.  Even though, the Rick Monday action shot is nice.  Monday just doesn't look as cool lining a double in the gap as Yeager does standing in his gear.

Mariner1 also sent me some 1981 Topps cards featuring hall of fame dudes.  I really hope the Astros bring back the orange uniforms.  The brightness of Nolan Ryan's hat really stands out.  It stands out a lot because these cards almost seem pack pulled.  They are both in really nice shape.  These two along with a few others that were sent my way, puts me even closer to finishing my 1981 Topps Chase.

Thank You Emerald City!

Mike Scioscia and Mark Trumbo Signing

I made a weekend trip to enemy territory in Irvine,CA to meet Mike Scioscia and Mark Trumbo.  They were appearing at a Howard's Electronic Store.  Luckily, Josh from Dodgerbobble was willing to make the long drive to Orange County.  I hate driving to Orange County.  It is just super far from my place and there is enough freeway that there is bound to be traffic.  Thanks for the ride, Josh!

I wasn't sure how many people were going to show up to this event.  I haven't been to an Angels gathering before.  There were tons of people there.  We showed up about four hours before the scheduled signing and we were still hundred people behind the front of the line.  I think that since Scioscia was signing and he is an ex-Doyer and current Angel that he probably draws a big crowd in SoCal.

The line was moving slow.  Which, wasn't such a bad thing in hindsight because Scioscia and Trumbo were talkative and taking photos with the fans.  The wait and all day commitment gave me time to crack some jokes at the expense of Angel fans and Orange County.  I don't really have anything against the Angels other than there stupid name.  They change the name of there geographic location and color scheme every few years or so.  Pick a name and stick with it!  I was also saying some meaner things but, I won't put them in print.

Mark Trumbo has been on a tear this season, so I have been told.  He also seemed like a nice guy.  I am a fan of retro cards and they work great for autographs.  Even collectors that aren't fans of the retro set have to agree with that. 

After we got our autos we checked out the line and it was deep.  There were hundreds of people in line even after the first hundred had gotten signatures.  It was a fun day in Orange County which may be the first time I ever said that.  There should be some Dodger events closer to my home that I will be attending.