Mail Day!

Long overdue, I would like to highlight a trade that I made with Kerry from Cards on Cards. In exchange for some 2009 Topps Turkey Reds, and some Topps "Dark" and "Throwback" cards, as well as a miscellaneous handful of Cardinals that I was able to dig up I received a bounty of much needed cards, as well as a ton of other very nice additions.

We start, with a smattering of vintage Tigers on my Topps Wantlists:


Followed by a couple of the last 2008 Cards that I needed for my sets. Topps:

And Upper Deck:


For the record, I thought that the Topps Dick Perez sketches were terrible. Maybe it was just me, but both Cabrera and Cameron Maybin look awful in these cards. They are not nearly as nice as the hand painted cards that are featured later in this post.

A throwback Marcus Thames smiles back at me as I approach closing out my Series 1 throwback needs:


These cards are all great and, given I'm primarily a Topps collector at heart, go a long way towards my obsessive completion goals. However, that isn't all (not even close). Kerry sent me enough Upper Deck cards to DEMOLISH my wants list from the early years. I now remember why, growing up, I really preferred Upper Deck cards. These are incredible. I know that I had a bunch of these but have no idea where they could have gone. Opening these cards brought a smile to my face and sticking them in binder pages was a joy. Here are the highlights, all of which are from the heyday of my collecting in the early 90s:



Milt! (I know I had this card back then)


And finally, the best of the bunch, in rapid succession:




And my absolute favorite, from the moment that defined the design of my room as a child:


Winner.

Kerry, you rocked my world with this package and reminded me of all that is good in the world. The Topps, the Upper Deck, all of it incredible, not to mention the thick stack of cards that I had never seen an absolutely love. I hope to trade with you again and I hope you enjoyed your end of the deal.

I will leave you now with my favorite non Topps/Upper Deck card, from a really neat looking set:

Sure, Carlos Guillen looks like an idiot, but look at that autographic! It's silver, shiny and beautiful. Might not work with all players, but for Carlos, it's a gem.

Thanks Kerry!

Why I Blog: Luke Scott Edition

Matt Wieters, Luke Scott loves to crush the hopes and dreams of the Tigers and their fans. Oh, you haven't heard? I will now be using "Matt Wieters" to replace the more popular (for now) "Jesus Christ" as an exclamatory statement. My wife came up with it during tonight's game. Watch out, it's going to be a thing.

Anyway, not too long ago the latest blog bat around asked the question "why do you blog." I didn't have a good answer at the time and didn't really have the time to give it much thought. Well, tonight I have my answer, at least in part.

I blog because of Luke Scott. At least, he is why I blog about baseball cards. If I didn't, I might feel compelled to blog about baseball in general or the Tigers specifically. I don't think that I could put myself through it. I couldn't handle a world where so much rested on each pitch--I am already tormented as a fan. Baseball cards at least, are portraits and snapshots of happier times. I will never have a Tigers card that shows Luke Scott trotting around the bases in front of a scoreboard that reads "Luke Scott 9, Orioles 3, Tigers 3". But that's what I get when I look at the box scores. Baseball cards are neutral, they allow me to forget.

Which brings me to another thing. From here until the end of time, I will destroy every Luke Scott baseball card that I pull from packs. I know this seems overly dramatic and unnecessary, but I feel as though I will get this sick pleasure out of it. Oh, and I'll find new and fun ways to destroy the cards. If there ever comes a time that I can't find a new way to destroy a Luke Scott card, then I'll just stop, simple as that. I'm just giving you a heads up for when a picture of charred ashes pops up here after I start busting some Series 2.

That's it for tonight. Verlander is going tomorrow and we could really use a dominating performance. Matt Wieters.

Well How About That

Bobby Scales got called back up to the Cubs a day after he was sent to AAA Iowa and hit a pinch-hit home run in the 8th inning upon his return.

Cool.

(from ESPN's Out of the Box column, today)

Tigers to Play God, Birds

Beginning tonight, the Matt Weiters era is upon us in Baltimore. There is a palpable buzz in the entire area. Casual baseball fans have bought tickets for tonight's game. It's been the talk of sports radio all week. This is the turning point for Baltimore Orioles baseball, as he leads the team out of the doldrums and into a glorious new era of AL East dominance.

In my "day job" I've had the opportunity at times to work closely with part of the Orioles minor league system. Let me tell you, this hype has been building for two years. It is justified. The kid is awesome.

It isn't only baseball fans that are going to benefit either. As a regular Baltimore City resident my life has already improved dramatically. How, might you ask?

• I used to walk to Camden Yards for games, now I can just think about Matt Wieters and fly directly to my seats.
• When Matt Wieters is at bat, all TVs show him in HD.
• When Matt Wieters drives to the ballpark, all the roads he drives over become freshly paved. 
• May 29 will forever be a paid vacation day to celebrate "Matt Wieters Day"

I've got to tell you, life is better.

If you enjoyed my top of the head original creations, then you'll surely love the original which has some real gems in there.

Seriously though, the hype around this kid is like nothing that I've ever seen. Apparently, it is like nothing that this city has ever seen either. For Tigers fans, there is nothing comparable. The current Orioles streak of bad baseball (starting in 1997, I believe) is shorter and less bad than the what the Tigers dealt with for the 90's and first half of the 2000s yet the only thing that comes somewhat close to being in the same ballpark as this was the signing of Pudge Rodriguez--you know, an actual Hall of Famer to-be that was supposed to (and did) turn the franchise around. Minor League wise, we are in the dark. A system stock full of Rick Porcellos and Justin Verlanders wouldn't match this. I'm telling you, the feeling here it is unreal.

That being said, I am happy for O's fans. Things like this are rare and they are fun. I'm glad to see the city get energized over the Orioles. I'm sick of going to O's games filled with Red Sox and Yankees fans, or like last night, where I could basically count the attendance from where I was sitting. If nothing else, I hope that this brings people out to the ballpark. Camden Yards is one of the best places in baseball to watch a game and has aged very nicely. A full Camden Yards would be a true summer night joy.

So here's to the start of the Matt Wieters era, and I wish him well. If he goes on to actually have a great career, then my life as a baseball fan in Baltimore will be much improved. If he accomplishes the near-impossible task of actually living up to the hype, then more power to him. But maybe, just maybe, he can start his domination of the American League and the baseball world on Monday, after the Tigers are out of town with 3 out of 4 in their back pocket.

Tiger Killer Kills Tigers

Outside of Opening Day, this is the first Tigers game that I've seen in person this year (actually, it's the first O's game since Opening Day for me too). I have to say, while they didn't look bad, they give me that unsettling feeling that I've gotten from Tigers teams of the last couple of years.

Armando Galarraga, who's line actually looks pretty good and pitched almost the entire game on about 100 pitches was not nearly as good as the numbers suggest. He was giving up hard hit balls all over the place and some sharp defense, especially from the likes of Brandon Inge, got him out of a few potential jams. Maybe I'm being hard on him, because he really wasn't that bad. He was ok, I guess. Galarraga was fine.

But that's not really the story, is it?

Last year, during the Orioles/Tigers series at Camden Yards, I went to all four games. During the course of these games I experienced first hands the emergence of a player that had been recently acquired by the O's from the National League. His name was Luke Scott. He had been swinging well, with some power and some average. But he was no game changer. I was less worried about him than a Roberts, Markakis, Jones or Huff. Well, he proved me wrong. Scott demolished the Tigers in the series. If I recall, he his an extra inning walk-off that landed on Eutaw Street for one of the games. He was a beast. The Tigers split the series, stayed below .500 and never recovered. Scott went on to make the "Top Ten Tiger Killers" list at Number 3

Flash forward to tonight. Galarraga forces a double play to clear the bases in the second inning. Luke Scott steps to the plate for his first at bat. I turn to my wife and say "Boy, I'm glad that those bases are empty." Scott swings and sends the ball to the land of the untouchables. 1-0 O's. 8th Inning. 2 runners on and Scott steps up. I say to my wife: "This out would be huge. This guy is a Tiger Kill..." Untouchable. 5-1 O's. Game Over.

Sometimes a player just owns another team. Luke Scott owns the Tigers. There is nothing that they can do. I would intentionally walk him every time there are runners on base. It is absolutely ridiculous.

Almost as ridiculous as the Tigers leaving runners on the basepaths and in scoring position ALL NIGHT, but I'm not really in the mood to get into that.

Anyway, I just wanted to let all the Tiger fans know that that game was as frustrating in the stands as it was on TV, but it was a beautiful night in Baltimore (after the early showers) and they'll be back at it again tomorrow night.

Of course tomorrow's game is kind of a big deal around here. There's some kid getting called up from the Minors and apparently he invented baseball and hits 5-run home runs and such, but more on that tomorrow...

Ask and Ye Shall Receive

Well, that didn't take long:



Thanks to Travis, the wizard of Punk Rock Paint

Get That Man a Baseball Card: Bobby Scales

This "segment" as it were, replaces the "Hello:" tag, which I shamelessly stole from the world's greatest blog. I think that this is a little more appropriate, no?

With everything that has been going on lately, this just slipped under my radar. Apparently, the Cubs, in all of their infield/outfield/injury position shuffling, called up Bobby Scales to play 2nd and 3rd bases at the beginning of May. I'm late to the party, but he was recently sent back to the minors, although there are grumblings that he may make his way back to the show, given his solid performance.

You will remember, of course, (by which I mean, you totally won't remember), that Bobby Scales was the beloved Michigan second baseman on the 1997 Big Ten Champion team and 1999 Big Ten Tournament Champion squad. He was the major stud on the teams alongside a pitcher by the name of J.J. Putz. If I can find my signed team poster from that year (I think it's still in Michigan) I'll post it up for all to see. This was in the era when you could head down to The Fish as a kid to catch a weekend doubleheader and every time a foul ball was hit you (and all the other kids) could run out of the stands, out of the stadium, into the parking lot to get (and keep) the foul ball.

My good friend Rob and I got so good at this, that one weekend we were getting every single ball before the freshman player designated to retrieve the balls got there. A stink was raised because we didn't want to give them back and they threatened not to let us back into the stadium. Thanks to some shrewd negotiating by Rob's dad, we cut a deal. In the middle of the first game, the team gave us two practice jerseys to wear and it became our job to get the foul balls. As a middle school kid, I can tell you that is was a pretty cool experience. The icing on the cake was that I was wearing the practice jersey of J.J. Putz and Rob had Bobby Scales.

Now, the 31-year old Scales finally got his shot. He stuck with it and was rewarded, taking advantage to the tune of 2 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR, 5 RBI, a .381 OBP and a .838 OPS during his 14 game stint.

With that I ask that somebody make a Bobby Scales baseball card. This is the type of guy who deserves one--he fought and fought in the minors for 10 years before getting his shot. It might be the only one he gets. Would it be too much to ask to throw him into Updates and Highlights? Maybe as part of Upper Deck's enormous base sets? If you don't do it, how will I ever add him to my nascent collection of rookie cards of U-M alumni?

Fingers Crossed.