More From My In-Person Auto Haul

This is a rare chance to actually read a fresh and new Platter post during the afternoon.  I usually am a night time poster.  The day time usually has work involved, so that keeps me from writing anything during the day. I also run errands or get involved in some other day time activities on my off days.

Today is different.  I woke up early with some motivation.  Some extra energy to write when the sun is still out and maybe even reach a whole new audience.  Their may be an untapped readership for the Platter that reads baseball card blogs while working a 9-5 on the east coast.  Some folks may not read baseball card blogs at 1AM eastern time when I sometimes write a post on the west coast.

I have some more cards to show off from my trade with Dodgerbobble.  I posted some of the other signatures that I got from Dodgerbobble in my last post.  You can check it out here if you want.  It was a really great write up and I haven't stopped patting myself on the back for it.

Dodgerbobble got this signature of Chris Capuano while lurking in the shadows of Dodger Stadium hunting down ballplayers while being armed with a blue sharpie.

Capuano had a pretty solid year for the 2012 Doyers.  When he was signed prior to the 2012 season, I was skeptical of his arrival.  He seemed injury prone and mediocre at best.  Capuano totally proved me wrong.  He was a step above mediocre and provided a really strong 1st half performance.

Capuano had a 2.91 ERA and 100 strikeouts in the 1st half.  His ERA rose to 4.76 in the second half.  I didn't expect him to even have a good half to the season so, I will take it.

Capuano finished the year with an ERA of 3.72 and struck out 7.4 per 9 innings.  The K rate was right along with his career numbers.  He has struck out 7-8 batters per 9 innings for most of his career.

Takashi Saito, the man from Miyagi, was the Dodgers closer from 2006-2008.  Saito was signed from Japan before the 2006 season.  He arrived in America with little fanfare and nobody really knew what to expect from him.

The team needed someone to takeover the closer's role from Eric Gagne.  I don't remember too many people thinking that Saito was the best choice or even an option at all.

Saito was named the team's closer in 2006.  He dominated his entire Dodger career and pitched with such a joy on his face.  He seemed as happy to get a victory as the fans were.

Saito had a WHIP below 1 in two of his three seasons with the Dodgers.  His lowest K/9 was 10.9 and his highest was 12.3.  In his rookie campaign, Saito even received some Cy Young Award votes.

I wish the man from Miyagi nothing but the best.

Josh Wall was the Dodgers second round pick in 2005.  He has slowly made his way through the Dodgers minor league system and was able to make his big league debut in 2012.  Wall pitched 5 2/3 innings this year.

Wall is a right handed relief pitcher that throw hard.  Every team needs and has a bunch of dudes like Wall.

Dodgerbobble is such a skilled grapher that he recognized Josh Wall.  Wall was probably wearing a baseball uniform which still will make him hard to pick out.

Autographs From a Graphing Hound

Dodgerbobble has been on an autograph hunt all season.  He was getting signatures all over SoCal.  His home base was Dodger Stadium.  He was on the constant prowl and was very good at completing his mission.  Dodgerbobble claims to have gotten around 300 autographs during the 2012 baseball season.

His drive to get many Dodger autographs is of great benefit to me.  We have a continuous trade agreement, where we swap extra Dodger autos that we acquire.

During one of Dodgerbobble's trips to Bakersfield to watch a minor league match-up between the Bakersfield Blaze and the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes, he was able to get Joc Pederson's autograph.  The Quakes are the Dodgers Single-A team that Pederson played 110 games for in 2012.

Pederson is the Dodgers Minor League Player of the Year in 2012.  He is the Dodgers best position player prospect as he has a nice blend of power and speed.  This past season, Pederson hit 18 home runs and 26 stolen bases.  That is pretty solid for a 20 year old kid.

Pederson also got to play for Team Israel that competed in the World Baseball Classic.  Pederson is from Northern California but, his Jewish roots made him eligible to play for the Israeli team.  He also got to wear this cool hat that I hope to own one day.

Jamey Wright looks freakish in this photo.  His eyes kind of scare me because he reminds me of a Terminator sent from the future to destroy opposing hitters.

Signatures on Topps Heritage cards always look great.  Heritage and Ginter cards are both superb for through the mail autos or in-person autos.  It is one of the selling points for me when I choose what packs to purchase.

Wright had a decent year for the Dodgers, pitching out of the bullpen.  His WHIP of 1.50 is pretty high.  I do remember him pitching out of some tough inherited jams and pitching multiple innings in order to rest the other bullpen arms.  That is valuable for a team over the course of a long season.

I also thought Wright would get released by May.  I totally whiffed on that prediction and thank Wright for pitching well enough to stick around for an entire season in LA.

Aaron Harang has an odd looking signature.  There is no way that I would be able to tell what the blue sharpie letters on this card say without seeing that Harang is pictured on this card.

Topps was smart to show only half of Harang's frankenstein face.  His 2012 Topps Heritage card should not be sold to children.

This Luis Cruuuz card that Dodgerbobble gave me was the favorite of the 12 card lot that he gave me.  Cruuuz became my favorite Dodger player of 2012.  I love his underdog story of struggling in limited time in his past big league experiences and in the minors.  Cruuuz was about the Dodgers 10th option at third base.

Cruuuz finally seized an opportunity to get regular playing time at the major league level.  He played pretty well and exceeded everyone's expectations of him.  He hit .297 with an OPS of .753.  Cruuuz also brought a flair and excitement when he stepped up to the plate.  The Dodger Stadium crowd loves this guy.

These are some great additions to my collection.  Thank you for the goods, Dodgerbobble.  I will get you a nice stack of autos next weekend.

Playoff Fever

In years past, when the Dodgers were done for the year, I stopped watching baseball.  If the Dodgers didn't make the playoffs or were eliminated from the post season, my baseball season ended as well.  I would just be too depressed to watch anymore baseball.

This year, I am going to try something different and I am going to closely follow the Dodger-less playoffs.  I would kind of casually know what was going on in the past Dodger-less playoffs and may see bits of games. This playoffs I am going to watch chunks or full games.  The one game elimination wild card system has intrigued me.  I had fun watching most of the Rangers and Orioles game.

Since the Orioles beat the Rangers 5-1, I feel somewhat obligated to write a post that has something to do with the Baltimore Orioles.  I don't have any Orioles cards to show.  What I do have is some cards that were sent to me by a Baltimore Orioles fan

Ryan who writes the blog called "O" No!!! Another Orioles Blog, is probably thrilled right now.  He is probably celebrating in a safe but, rowdy way.  Ryan may be dancing in the streets with thousands of other long suffering Orioles fans who now have some joy in their baseball loving souls.

The green background of this Hideo Nomo card that Ryan sent me reminds of the Ecto Cooler juice boxes I drank as a kid.  Slimer from the Ghost Busters must have oozed his way through this card.

Now that Topps has included autographs of baseball general managers in their 2012 Topps Update sets, will they include cards or autos of base coaches?

I ask because some teams have base coaches that I would like to see pop up in Topps sets.  Maybe some new cards of Davey Lopes that always looks grump but still really cool.

Former Dodger Dave Roberts is the first base coach of the San Diego Padres.  I sadly don't have many cards of Roberts in a Dodger uniform.  He was a speedy, always active player that should have been a cardboard superstar.  At this point I will accept a Padre Dave Roberts card of him in a flap less helmet staring with great focus into the dugout.

I have many versions of this 2010 Topps Chrome Russell Martin card.  I love having a full page of all the different versions of a particular card.  It makes for nice viewing while flipping through my binders.

Martin will probably be a make a return to the Dodgers as an aging back up 6 years from now.  I just wanted to write that down in a time stamped blog post to gloat to all my Dodger friends when that prediction comes true.

Thanks for the trade, Ryan.  Your cards will be on their way soon.

Seeing Something New

Some bloggers have discovered something new to the card collecting customer.  I read on at least two blogs that a certain sighting has been made.  I thought this was just a story, a myth or some sort of urban legend.

There was one constant that was at card shows, flea markets and local card shops.  Prices of cards have gone up and down over time but, the dime box always had a pleasant spot in our community.  Every collector has spent time digging through a dime box.

The urban legend that a couple other bloggers have witnessed is a new thing called a nickel box.  I have never seen, heard of or quite frankly, even thought of a nickel box.

I haven't been to my local card shop called Valley Sports Cards in about a month.  I rolled in there a couple days ago and saw the dime box turn into the nickel box.

The owner of the shop told me that the cards in the dime box were now only a nickel.  The myth of the nickel box is a fact.  I am now one of the few that got a chance to dig through one.  This advancement for card collectors is hopefully sweeping the nation.

I was able to get this awesome Keith Hernandez Ralston Purina card for only a nickel.  Hernandez was a MVP winner in 1979, had a cool mustache, a two time world champion baseball player and was a guest star on one of my favorite Seinfeld episodes.

For those with more knowledge on the subject, was Hernandez a better ball player or actor?

This beauty was also found for a nickel.  Mike Schmidt is holding some awards and rocking a manly beard.  Perfect moment in time photo for Fleer.

One of the awards that Schmidt is holding is for Most Grizzled 1981.

The nickel box also gave me a laughing Charlie Hough on a 1979 Topps card.  Hough appears to be taking a photo right before pitching in a township league game in the middle of the forest.  Hough played so long in the league that he looks really old on most of the cards I own of him.  It is good seeing that at one point he looked middle aged.

I hope every blogger gets to have a grand nickel box experience.

End of the Baseball and Collecting Season

The 2012 Dodgers had a wacky season.  The word wacky is the best way to describe it.  I have never experienced a Dodger season as exciting, depressing, odd, and several other feelings that I felt about the team at some point this year went on.

The Dodgers went through an ownership change at the beginning of the year.  The team went from being run by a snake named Frank McCourt to a group of people called the Guggenheim Group.  The new owners have super deep pockets and added some high priced veteran talent as the season progressed.  The Dodgers started the season on a hot streak and had a great April and May.

Things started to fall a part in June.  Matt Kemp got hurt and never really seemed to fully recover.  Kemp set the bar high and the injuries that he suffered really hurt his numbers.  Kemp's hamstring problems as well as a shoulder injury really affected the team's playoff hopes.

The Dodgers acquired Hanley Ramirez from the Miami Marlins just before the trade deadline.  That was a huge upgrade over the stiffs that the Dodgers were trotting out at shortstop.  The team wasn't done adding payroll and talent after the trade for Ramirez.

The big trade was when the team picked up Adrian Gonzalez to take over James Loney's spot at first base.  That is small shoes to fill for Gonzalez.  The team also got Josh Beckett, Carl Crawford and Nick Punto in that same deal with Boston.

The team had acquired a bunch of new players and a new owner all in the same year.  Most of the new players such as the guys from Boston and Ramirez will be back next year.  The new ownership group will also be around for a number of years.

2012 was the start of a new Dodger era and for the first time in a long time, I am excited for the future of the Dodger organization.  I am more excited as opposed to my usual nervousness about the club's direction.

With the conclusion to the Dodgers baseball season, the collecting season for me is also over.  I will still pick up a few packs of 2012 Topps Update.  I will also still make some trades.  But, both of those activities will wain as I catch up with organizing my collection.

The collecting season for me is an almost daily drive to obtain cards, send cards to other bloggers, and buying cards for my collections.

The stacks above are cards that I need to binder and catalog in Excell.  Those stacks don't even include the trade packages that I need to sift through.

Here are some cards that I need to send out to get signed through the mail.  Most of this stack is of retired Dodgers that I will write to this off season.  This task got me through last off season and was a way to keep me busy.  This also led to getting some nice autos when my buying habits have dipped.

Some trade packages that I need to send out.  Sorry to the blog world.

What a crazy season both in the Dodger world and for my blog.  The Platter seems to be growing and is still fun for me.  Blogging is still a great outlet for me to think creatively and share my love of the cardboard hobby with the blog world.

It was a great season for collecting.

Oh yes, the collecting season was great.

I Can Handle Two Blogs

If you read my last post, you will know that I floated an idea around about a trade bait blog.  A simple blog where multiple bloggers can post a card that another blogger can claim and make an offer on.  The idea got a good response from the blog world and I set it up today.

The blog is called the Blog of Trade Bait.  Simple name for a simple premise.  I have sent invites out to some bloggers that said that they wanted to contribute to this blog.  If anyone else is interested, please let me know.

I have already posted up a brief intro as well as an auto of a very popular star baseball player for trade.  Check out the post here and make me an offer.

Thank you for your support.

Ideas For Our World

My day off from work has been spectacular so far.  I ventured about an hour north from my house to San Buenaventura State Beach in Ventura,CA.  It is a lot quieter and more peaceful going to beaches in Ventura County as opposed to beaches in LA County.  Less people and ample parking is the draw for me going to Ventura.

I had a chance to read and relax on the beach during a nice sunny day.  Aside from reading a book called "Popular Crime" by Bill James, I was able to think of the blog world for a bit.  You know, the world in which most of my readers congregate.

Most of the time when I think of blogging, I am thinking about writing topics for the Platter.  It is kind of selfish of me but, I have to give the Platter fans some quality words.  But, today, I was actually thinking of the blog world as a whole.

What are some ideas that could make our card collecting blog world better?

We can expand on some ideas as a group and maybe some additions to our community will come to fruition.

One of the ideas that I thought of was a blog that just showed pictures of cards that are for trade.  The post will be a picture, contact info for the poster and a couple sentences talking about the piece of cardboard trade bait.

It will be simple and one stop shopping for traders.  Take this 2004 Upper Deck Timeless Talents Auto as an example.  I wrote several words above the Thomas photo.  A Brewers collector could have skimmed past the previous paragraphs and not have realized this was a trade bait post. I make my readers wait a little bit before I get to some photos sometimes.

On a trade bait blog, I would simply write, "This Gorman Thomas Auto is for trade.  Send me something nice, please."

Any blog trader will frequent this site and a Brewer collector will eventually see this card and take it off my hands.  So, please trade me for this card, Brewers fans.

This is another card that I would like to be sent to a good home.  It is a piece of a Houston Astros jersey worn by Carlos Beltran.  Pedro Martinez is lurking in the background in Boston Red Sox uniform.  A New York Mets symbol is in the center of this card.  The card is also #ed/75.

Confusing card so, please make me an offer for this one.  It may appeal to a few different fan bases.

Just another example of what a trade bait blog could become.

The posts could even be separated by teams for easier searching.  Just an idea, let me know what you guys think or if a blog like this is already in play.

Another idea that I thought of while cruising past orange groves on my way home from Ventura was a blog that is a critique and commentary on the blog world.  The site won't necessarily talk about sports cards or the sports card industry but, will write about the blogs/bloggers that cover those topics.

Writers for this type of blog will write reviews of blogs or blog posts, discuss the main current trends among blogs, profiles of bloggers and a way to promote newer blogs or blogs that are under followed and deserve more readership.

Any commentary about our fellow bloggers should be taken in jest. It will be a site with humor and won't take itself to seriously.  Nothing too critical, just a blog to discuss other blogs.

Please let me know what you think of these two ideas.  Also, let me know if you would like to be a part of an endeavor like this.  I am open for a good discussion on this.

Thanks for reading, friends.