The Platter Serves Orange Kool-Aid

Dave from the blog, Drinking the Orange Kool-Aid, and I made a trade together weeks ago.  Dave's bubble mailer arrived in my mail box in a timely fashion.  I have just been trying to catch up on trade posts for a few weeks now.  My trading habits have slowed down a bit during this time in order to get caught up and to organize my collection properly.  Now, that I am pretty much caught up, there will be some more trades to be made.

This is the card that sparked the trade between Dave and I.  Adrian Beltre had a memorable 2004 season as a Dodger.  Beltre led the Dodgers to a division title and he also earned my vote for MVP.  Well, if your good buddy Spiegel had an MVP vote.  I am not sure what part of the jersey is blue.  It doesn't look like part of the lettering because that is a different material than the rest of the jersey.  Maybe a batting practice jersey?  Or a piece of a Spring Training uniform?  Anyways, seeing a Dodger relic colored blue does look better than the standard gray or white.

Dave also sent me some shiny cards.  Jeff Kent is the all time leader in homers by a second baseman.  He also has played in a bunch of playoff games and has won an MVP award.  That should be enough to get him into the hall of fame eventually.  I think it does anyway.  Media types don't talk about Kent too much when it comes to being a future hall of famer.  Maybe his surly attitude will hurt his chances and the writers will make him sweat it out.

The bottom card is a 2005 Topps Heritage Chrome Refractor #ed/556 Eric Gagne.  Gagne is one of my favorite Dodgers of all time.  Cards of Gagne are always welcome at the platter.

This is an awesome set.  These two Paul Lo Duca cards come from the 2005 Donruss Diamond King set.  I really need to pick up a box of this set.  The framed parallel feels like the frame from Upper Deck Masterpieces.  When a frame is put on a card, it gives the card more class. 

Sorry Dave, that it took me so long to post the cards that you sent.  I really like the cardboard that you sent my way.  Thanks for the trade.

The Diamond King Is Running A Contest!!!

A new blog that is called The Diamond King is running a contest to get some buzz for his new blog.  So, please go and check out the new kid on the block and join his contest.  Everybody needs a start and this is a good way to check out what The Diamond King has to offer.  It is also a good way to get some free cards.

Dodger Variety Bundle From The Godfather

As a Dodger blogger, I look up to the man that I call the Godfather.  This guy is referred by the name of Night Owl by mostly everyone else.  Night Owl's blog is a million times better than mine.  His blog gives me something to strive for.  Night Owl posts well written articles and has his blog very organized.  If you don't believe me of the greatness of Night Owl Cards, please go and check it out for yourself.

Now that I am done waxing poetic about my adoration of Night Owl's blog, he also sends great trade packages.  Night Owl and I trade about once a month.  We send our packages cross country to each other.  He has updated want lists of all the Dodger cards that he needs.  His lists make it easier for me to know just what he is looking for.  Night Owl always sends me a great variety of Dodgers from all different eras.

Godfather Night Owl sent me some cards of Dodger Legends.  Heck, these are baseball legends.  The greatest pitching duo in Dodger history, Don Drysdale and Sandy Koufax.  These two cards are from the 1982 TCMA set.  At one point they may have been apart of a whole sheet of cards but, have since been ripped apart.  One of these days I will get a hold of a Koufax card from the 50s-60s.  But, as of right now, these are considered jewels of my collection.

Around a year or so ago, Joe Torre's charity that helps children of domestic violence, held a speaking engagement in Downtown LA.  Joe Torre, Sandy Koufax and LA Times writer/meddler T.J. Simers were to have a sit down interview.  It was a night that I won't forget.  Koufax was cordial, funny, and a great story teller.  I was so happy to even be in the same room as Koufax.  He is a living legend.  Even though my seats were pretty far back from the stage, I think that is the closest I will ever get to being next to a God.

The Godfather also sent along some cards of other Dodger legends.  He sent along some Jackie Robinson's that I did not have.  About a couple weeks ago, former Laker great Kareem Abdul-Jabaar, was whining to the media about not having a statue outside of Staples Center.  Kareem's words made him sound like a bitter child.  You can't whine for a statue.  But, I can whine for a statue of Jackie Robinson outside of Dodger Stadium.  Why doesn't Jackie have one yet at Dodger Stadium?  Whomever buys the Dodgers from the evil McCourts, please consider giving an all time great such as Jackie Robinson a statue.  This could be done when the Dodgers get new ownership.  Please.

Hideo Nomo isn't on the same level of greatness as the previous players pictured.  But, he is one of my heroes of modern Dodger history.  Nomo was very popular as a Dodger.  He had a funky delivery and a splitter that would just drop in the zone.  I wish the Dodgers would call Nomo up and bring him back for some recognition.  I am not saying he deserves a statue but, maybe a bobble head night where Nomo can throw out the first pitch.  The fans would like that and it would be a nice gesture to a man that helped the Dodgers win a lot of ballgames. 

Thank you for the trade package, Godfather Night Owl.  Your trade packages are always welcome at the platter.

Winnings From Cardboard Collections

Colbey from Cardboard Collections hosts a reasonably priced group break every month.  The price is always perfect for my budget.  Colbey also posts the box breaks at a good pace and ships quickly.  He is getting ready to get his group break going for the month of June.  So, please go check out his blog and maybe you could claim a team next group break.

Colbey was nice enough to pull tons of Dodgers for me.  I dominated this group break.  The bubble mailer that he sent me was mostly filled with some 90s Dodgers and a handful of cards from some packs of 2008 Timeline that he opened.  I really like the 1996 E-XL set.  Putting a frame on a card seems to always make the card more appealing.  It is still being done to this day.

Like I said, the bubble mailer was packed with Dodgers from the 90s.  Along with some nice Hideo Nomo cards were some nice Mike Piazza cards.  My favorite Piazza card that Colbey pulled for me is Pacific Mike Piazza card.  Pacific made some really colorful and unique sets back in the day.  Sadly, I didn't buy too many packs of Pacific growing up.  Good thing I can get some from trades or group breaks.

Colbey opened up some 1997 Upper Deck.  That set included a Jackie Robinson subset.  I think I got at least one Jackie in every pack.  I was left with dozens of cards from the Jackie subset.  These cards are very nice looking in person.  It is the perfect blend of retro photographs on a modern glossy card stock.

This was my big hit from the group break.  This card is a 2008 Timeline Chad Billingsley GU.  My Billingsley game used collection is growing.  I am still on the lookout for a Billingsley autograph.  So, please let me know if anyone has one for trade.

Thank you for pulling me soooooo many Dodgers in your group break, Colbey.  Please be sure to check out his blog and get in on his monthly group breaks.  They are always a lot of fun.

Fun Times At Dodger Stadium

Yesterday was a fun day of getting autographs of a couple Dodger players.  You can check out my post about it here.  The Dodger game that I attended last night was a bore and left me discouraged about the team's offense.  I know that there offense has been struggling all year but, last night just seemed more painful than usual.  But, today's game against the Florida Marlins was the complete opposite.

First off, the Dodgers were having a handful of players signing autographs and were taking donations to help out with tornado relief.  I got there later than I should have and the line was super long.  Sadly, I struck out on getting some autos of players that I don't have any of such as Ted Lilly or Scott Elbert.  But, the line to meet one of my least favorite Dodgers of all time was pretty short.  Awesome!

I got to get my picture taken with Darren Dreifort and he also signed a baseball card for me.  He was the second overall pick just after A-Rod in the 1993 draft.  Dreifort was the top pitcher in college baseball that year and seemed destined to be a force in the Dodger rotation for many years to come.  Sadly for Dodger fans and Dreifort himself, injuries ruined his career.  So, did signing a 55 million dollar contract despite being mediocre at the time of the signing.  The contract hurt him because it made the fans expect more and when he didn't deliver he was booed.  Not all of his pitching troubles were his fault.  He had what seemed to be hundreds of major surgeries. 

I am still happy to get his autograph despite my feelings about him during his playing career.  Dreifort became a poster child for brittleness and being overpaid.  Neither of which is his fault.  I am just giving you the perspective of some Dodger fans out there.  Maybe I am kind of sounding like an ass but, I expect Dodger players to perform well when they sign a big contract.  Enough of Darren Dreifort, I also met Tony the Tiger!

Frosted Flakes used to be my favorite cereal as a child.  A box of Frosted Flakes adorning the cartoon photo of Tony the Tiger would stare me in the face as I ate breakfast before school on a near daily basis.  I was pretty happy to see him hanging out at the pre-game festivities at Dodger Stadium.

Oh yeah, there was also a game played today.  My parents got really sweet seats for this game.  I got to see Clayton Kershaw dominated the Marlins.  Keshaw pitched a complete game shutout with the Dodgers winning 8-0.  He cruised through most of the game.  The only trouble came when Jay Gibbons misplayed a fly ball and Rafael Furcal dropped a pop up to give the Marlins a couple base runners.  That was the only trouble Kershaw got in and it wasn't his doing.

Kershaw also had a couple hits and an RBI.  He was even hustling on the base paths, taking an extra base when he saw the opportunity and beating out a double play grounder.

Kershaw was a hyped prospect when the Dodgers picked him in the first round about 5 years ago.  He has delivered since his debut in 2008.  He has gotten progressively better each season.  The Dodgers need to do what they did with Dreifort and show Kershaw the money.

I am pleading with whomever seizes control of the Dodgers from the evil hands of the McCourts to please lock him up long term.  Please don't let Kershaw become a Yankee in a few years.  Kershaw was a hyped prospect that has the goods to reach great heights. 

This was a fun day at the ballpark.  Kershaw dominated, Dreifort signed my baseball card and I met Tony the Tiger.  All in all it was a great day to be remembered.

Jamey Carroll And Dioner Navarro Autograph Signings

I am having a great day thus far.  I went to a couple autograph appearances and I am also attending tonight's Dodger game against the Marlins.  The Dodgers own my Saturday.  I love days like this, where Dodger baseball dominates my daily schedule.  I wish everyday was like this. 

My first stop of the morning was heading over to a Sports Authority in Sherman Oaks for a Jamey Carroll signing.  When I arrived the line wasn't too long and the event was well organized was again by the great folks at Sports Authority.  The signing was to begin at noon and continue until one.  Carroll being a nice guy, arrived early at around 11:30.  He started to sign autographs shortly after his arrival.  Which made Josh from Dodgerbobble and I very happy because Dioner Navorro was signing at the same time in a different part of the city. 

I got this card signed by Carroll.  A special thanks goes out to Godfather Night Owl for sending me this Topps Heritage card.  Retro sets look really cool autographed.  I also like how Carroll added his number on the card.

Carroll was a class act.  He talked to the fans and took pictures with the fans as well.  He seemed to like the story I told him of my mom selling his dad a Tommy Bahama shirt last season.  My mom used to work at the Tommy Bahama store in West Hollywood and Carroll's dad came in to buy a shirt.  Luckily, my mom was able to help him pick out a nice Dodger one and talk some baseball with him.  Carroll stated that his dad still wears the shirt and has since bought another one from the Tommy Bahama MLB line.

Navarro was signing about 20 minutes away from the Sherman Oaks Sports Authority.  Since, Carroll is awesome and signed early, I was able to get out of Sherman Oaks a little before noon.  Dodgerbobble Josh was willing to make the drive to a Kragen O'Reilly Auto Part store.  A nice Dodger fan named Theresa also made the trek with us to the Navarro signing.  Which was cool because she had some good stories about all the ball players that she has met.  Including a story of a paint pen breaking and spilling ink when she met Rollie Fingers.

We made it to the Navarro signing in good time.  There weren't too many people there.  We had to wait in line for about five minutes before we got to meet him.  The coolest thing about the Navarro signing besides getting his auto, were his cool shades.  They were reddish colored Ray Bans.  I have the traditional Ray Bans with the black frame.  But, seeing a different color up close made me want to get another pair.  Sorry, for the fashion talk but, you gotta have cool shades in LA.  It is sunny most of the year and Summer is around the corner.

The signings were run smoothly and I had a great time chatting with other Doyer fans.  These events are also free signings which makes them even sweeter. 

I hope the Dodgers win tonight to cap off a great day in LA.  It is now nap time before game time.

A Pleasant Surprise From Ebay

I am known to spend/waste hours each week searching Ebay for good deals on baseball cards.  I am usually satisfied with my purchases.  Ebay is a great way for a collector to stock up on some cardboard without even leaving the confines of there sofa.

This time around, I purchased some cool Dodger cards on the cheap.  It was being sold as a lot and included a 2009 Upper Deck Icons Chad Billingsley GU.  The seller listed some of the cards that were to be included in the lot.  After he listed what would be in the lot, he also stated that there will be "much more."  Whenever an Ebay seller states "much more," I am expecting an extra card of 1990 Donruss or a couple of cards from 1989 Topps.  This time the seller actually included some quality and quantity into my lot.  This was a big surprise.  I was expecting the Billingsley GU and about 9 other cards.  I got much more for my 3 dollar purchase.

Here was one of the pleasant surprises.  How did this seller know that I have been trying to bolster my collection with Pedro Guerrero cards?

I know that I was going to receive these two cards.  I was a Jeff Kent hater when he was a Giant but, I was a Jeff Kent fan when he was a Doyer.  I am a big fan of the 2006 Ovation set.  I like how the player and the baseball in the background protrude from the cardboard. 

Getting a James McDonald serial numbered rookie card would have been cooler 2 or 3 years ago.  McDonald at one point in his pitching career was the Dodgers Minor League Pitcher of the year.  He looked to be on his way to being locked into the Dodger rotation for the next several years.  The Dodgers gave him some opportunities to succeed.  He was okay as a middle reliever but was complete garbage as a starter.  In one game, that I think was in 09 or 10.  I am leaning towards 2009, where McDonald was struggling with his control, got booed off the mound and was crying on his way into the Dodger dugout.  That may have been the final straw.  The Dodgers traded him last season for the services of Octavio Dotel.  Dotel was a Dodger for maybe a month.

These two cards were apart of the random extra cards that the seller sent me.  Rauuul Mondesi is shown here beating out an infield single against the Giants.  Andy Laroche, like James McDonald, is another failed Dodger prospect.  I thought that Laroche was going to make me forget losing Adrian Beltre through free agency.  The Dodgers gave Laroche some at-bats at third base but, he never produced much.  Also, like McDonald, Laroche was sent to the Pirates as part of the three way deal that brought Manny Ramirez to LA.  Remember Andy Laroche?  He plays in Oakland now after failing in Pittsburgh.  Remember Manny Ramirez?  He now plays for nobody after failing a second drug test.  Manny is wallowing in the stench of infamy with Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens.  Good thing I never bought a Manny jersey.

I need to pick-up more Billingsley GUs.  I think that I have written that before at the Platter.  I also need to obtain a Billingsley autograph.  Please help me out, blog world.  Check out my trade bait and maybe there is a card that you may be interested in.

The seller also included this 2011 Toppstown Mat Latos!?!?  I bought a Dodger lot and he sent me a Padre?!?!  That was an odd inclusion.  I have no idea why he added this into my purchase.  He probably wanted to dump a Padre on me because Padre cards usually just collect dust in one's collection.  The Padres don't have too many collectors or fans.  If I was an Ebay seller, I may include random Padre cards in someones purchase also.  That may be one of the few ways to get rid of some Padre cards. 

The chance may be slim, but if anyone wants this Latos card, please send me an e-mail.