Finally.

Well, sort of.

I've always wanted a Jose Bautista autograph, especially an early one. And while I have a disposition against empty space on a baseball card - especially about 1/3 of the total surface - this is a good one. It also came quite cheaply. I don't remember the exact cost, but if was something like $4 - likely attributed to the seller having zero feedback.

I didn't give the seller that +1. It took them a while to ship. Cards from North Dakota rarely take over a week from trader Matt P., and this took nearly two weeks. Laziness was striek one. Strike two? The top loader was an antique. Yellowed. Scratched. Joey Bats was being disrespected. Even worse, he has to touch that nasty top loader in the nude - no penny sleeve. I just couldn't give the seller a positive, and once I liberated the card from its refrigerator box, I noticed the corner was dinged, too. 

They're not all bad, though. Like this one:

A pink 2013 Bowman Chrome Refractor out of /35. Looks more red in person, but isn't pink just perfect for smilin' Jose Reyes? This card is just so...happy.

 This one not so much. The red (pink?) ink seems to be from the end of a store-brand Sharpie. And the background is dark an mysterious. Also: blurry as hell for some reason.

Okay. Now time to get patchy. Night Owl, feel free to hit the close button...

...now. While 2013 Pro Debut totally mailed in the manupatches in 2013, Heritage crushed them. The checklist is deep, the patches are new and awesome. The Joe Berry you see above is from the Cedar Rapids Kernals, because who doesn't love a corn husk growing a baseball bat with a cap on it?

Or a wave overtaking a baseball? MiLB logos are something I love. Maybe it was the mystery of all the small city teams rolling through Syracuse in my childhood.

"Hey Ma, where's Charlotte?"

For that matter, where are the West Michigan WhiteCaps based? Answer: Comstock Park! Which is north of Grand Rapids, Michigan. And their mascot is what looks like...a badger? Now you know.

From badgers to...Legends. I guess. Or a green Kentucky completing an "L" for Lexington. Adalberto, err, Raul Mondesi, Jr. is an extremely fast-rising prospect in the Royals org. Son of Raul "obnoxious bat speed" Mondesi, Adalberto was signed out of a Dominican camp, although he was born in America (MLB fast track!). He's only 17 years odl now, and he's already made it through a complete season of A Ball with Lexington. I've heard his glove could play in The Bigs right now.

Hak-Ju Lee still needs some marinating, though, as the Rays SS/2B prospect can't seem to play a full season without breaking or tearing something. Hopefully the return in the Matt Garza trade will finally work out in 2014.

But seriously, IT'S A BISCIOUT SNEAKING AROUND AN 'M."

What's not to love?

9 Cards: Cleveland Indians

I've tried writing this introduction three times so far. That seems to be the way things are going with writing lately. Do it once. Try it again. Submit it. Get rejected. Something unrecognizable from the origin as the final product. 

But that's work, and this is not. SO if the introduction doesn't work, so be it. This blog is unfunded, so I don't have to impress anyone.

If you're like me, you're likely perusing blogs and watching the greatest thing in the World, October Baseball tonight.  In honor of the Pittsburgh Pirates Renaissance and the revival of fall baseball in Cleveland, please enjoy my nine favourite (current) Cleveland Indians cards.

This was an easy post to dream up. Somewhat unconsciously, I've been adding Tribe cards to my collection more and more through the years.

This one, however, was way before my years:

1976, the year of this glorious, malfunctioning nation's Bicentennial, featured hot pink baseball cards, because, well, AMERICA.

I long for the days of Alan Ashby commentating Blue Jays games. In fact, in the three games in Houston this season, I would tune in to their telecast, the new home of the proper baseball analyst.

Twenty-four years later I was well into collecting cards - and Skybox was totally my bag at the time (remember going into the shops and having OPTIONS?!). By 2000, Manny wasn't quite "Manny" yet, but he was surely a star, the Indians were a good team for the first time in my lifetime, and 2000 Skybox created my favourite insert set of all time: Skylines. These are majestic in-hand. Go  grab some off of COMC. They're cheap now.

Also in 2000, Skybox came out with Metal. It was like a diet Metal Universe from 1997, but still extremely gaudy. Within those extravagant foil packs, well, every 288th foil pack, was a Base Shredder. As was the style at the time, the cards do not scan well but have an extraordinary in-hand feel. I love them, and will defend them and my favorite player all-time not named Carlos Delgado to the death. This one took me 12 years to track down. I finally came up with it this summer.

Well this post is already making me nostalgic for the old brands. The insert was "Warnign Track" but the swatch is from the wall - and unlike cards nowadays guaranteeing that the swatch comes from a "relic located within the same state as player pictured during said player's lifetime", the back of this one reads: The enclosed piece of outfield wall was cut from Authentic Outfield Wall from Three Rivers Stadium used in an official Major League Baseball Game...This is a photo of the actual wall from which the swatch was taken." And of course, there is a photo. Oh, and: "2 stolen bases - 7/17/99." Thanks, Donruss.

This might not be my favorite Tribe cards, but as the old adage goes: "when you've got a sick patch, show it off." Hey, look who's batting right now!

...not this guy. In fact, I probably doubt we'll see young Francisco Lindor until about 2015. The mostly-glove shortstop was last seen with AA Akron Aeros. It's been said that the A > AA transition is the toughest. Hopefully Lindor, who's 2013 was acceptable for a defense first shortstop, will improve in 2014.

So while he's hanging out in the miserableness of Akron, Ohio (I assume) and eventually Columbus, I'll keep chipping away at his checklist. I have on last count, seven of these. It's cool to see the variations in the autograph over thousands of inkings. But man, 2012 Bowman Sterling was a miserable set to scan - these are beautiful in person.

 Purrrple! Santana! Token leg kick! This is the second of these purple ice refractors I've acquired from 2013 Bowman. This one is 10/10 and was had for only about $10 if I recall correctly. While the scan shows a dark purple, these generally tend to give more of a Triaminic cough-syrup hue.

And last but certainly not least, our fearless home starter for tonight's play-in game. It's a beaut. I'll be honest, when this came out of a pack a few months back, I wasn't incredibly familiar with Danny Salazar. A month later, he was leading me to plentiful strikeouts and a beautiful ERA going down the streatch. A month later, and the 22-year old is starting in this game.

And he looks damn good.

Enjoy the game, folks. Hell, enjoy all the playoffs!!!11 

(There's no Yankees, so you know it's going to be good.)

Getting Blasted: 2013 Bowman Platinum (1)

So...I bought some Bowman Platinum. Let's rip it.

Pack 1

The pack features a very fast guy likely flying out to a third baseman or swinging aimlessly at a bee flying around the diamond.

The highlight:

Gary Brown, SF Giants Prospect "Chrome" Refractor. 1:4. Refractors has a nice stock and their optical value crushes the overdone Platinum base cards, which would be fine without the holofoil.

The Filler:

Cano, Konerko, Brad Miller. Decent selection, boring photography.

Pack 2

The Highlight:

Completely unneccessary parallel #89644

The Filler:

Decent prospect, great defensive catching prospect and a helluva pitcher. Good pack. Not great.

Pack 3

The Highlight:

#Puigmania

The Filler:

Devan Marrero, a surprisingly cool Rob Brantley and a "gold" Alex Rodriguez. Yippee.

Pack 4

All Highlights:

Pack 4 was a good one. Here's Lil' Delino.

And 

My main man Jose Reyes.

A Prospecty Chubb.

And a green Mason Williams. Blech. These are /399 and fall 1:97, so of course it's a Yankee.

Pack 5

The "Highlight":

 

I had the same face when I pulled this one.

The Filler:

Wow, great base cards here. Jake Marisnick (lest we forget), Yo-'spedes, Joey Votto.

Pack 6

The Highlight:

Sapphire Will Middlebrooks. These look better in the scan. Glad I didn't grab the ones I saw on ebay until seeing one in-hand.

The Filler:

Bubba Starlin(g) Castro, Taylor Guerreri. Starting to see plenty of Bubbas.

Pack 7

The Highlight:

Would have appreciated a better player. So it goes.

The Filler:

Edwin! Allen Webster, Adam Wainwright. I don't hate the filler in this one.

Drum Roll:

Pack 8

The Highlight:

Another gold, but at least Chapman makes up for the Rodriguez.

The Filler:

Jerrrrrrrd Weaver, Nick Williams, Lucas Sims. Meh.

The Many Faces of Michael Pineda

Oh, hello. Thanks for stopping by today. In lieu of some drawn-out thoughtful post, please enjoy peaceful Michael Pineda slowly transform into a baseball-hurling, possibly flesh-dissolving mad scientist.

My name is Mike. I likea to smile.

But I HATE it when folks change lanes without signaling.

It's just so pppfffffrustrating.

I just want to throw something.

Wait...is ESPN Radio talking about Biogenesis again? 

PINEDA ROAARRRR

July eBay Binge Part 1

With the recent acquisition of a real job, I've been a little bit fast and loose with my eBay spending of late. Personally, I think it's justified, as I'm not spending a terrible amount, nor is there anything decent on the shelves to pass the time of late. One of the players I have been chasing after lately is Syracuse Chiefs CF/LF Eury Perez.

Eury is a very fast Dominican prospect in the Washington Nationals organization. Since he plays nearly every time we witness a game, and usually plays quite well, I've decided to start acquiring some of his cards. 

The above Futures Game relic and the aside 2010 Bowman Chrome Purple Refractor (likely the best year for Bowman Chrome refractors) were had together for around $5. I am particularly fond of the purple refractor. Good looking card right there.

If you've followed this blog closely through the years, you've likely noticed by affinity for purple baseball cards. Even better are purple cards with some of my favorite backstops in the game. While I posted the Salvador Perez one already, it was with my old scanner, which has nothing on the premium quality of my new scanner and this 2013 Bowman Purple Ice of Carlos Santana. I've really been upping my Carlos Santana collection of late. This one might be my new favourite.

However, this one is quite excellent as well. The victim of a late afternoon "let's see whats ending on ebay in the next hour" mission, this patch/bat/uni relic from some year's Topps Marquee was had pretty easily due to an odd afternoon end time.

Speaking of patches being had easily, this one had had my eye on it since it's release in June. It's Jose, it's a patch, and it's a maple leaf. Win, win, win. This was another one with a strange ending time, which I believe was about 8am on Wednesday morning. It seems to me that the best time to grab cards is during strange end times like this, but unfortunately, it is a rarity that they are listed as such.

And what would one more patch hurt? Not much at all, I say. Thus, for your enjoyment, I present another 2013 Tribute World Baseball Classic patch. This one is of Team China-Taipei's Hung-Wen Chen, who was also with the team in previous WBCs. This was had for around $7 (that's just a guess), which was surprising as Taipei cards usually seem to do quite well on the 'bay. This is the basic refractor version, but features a very nice three-colour patch from the Taipei jersey.

Yet as you can see from the title, this is only part one. It's not that Part 2 will blow you away, but it those "pieces" haven't yet arrived, nor are they baseball cards. So, you know, for the sake of being consistent, you may have to wait another day.

Seven of #9

Look, it's been a tough year for JP Arencibia. The Blue Jays are awful. The season has boiled over to spew out some incredibly ugly baseball, and it seems like my man JPA is always in the middle of it.

And he should be. He's the homegrown catcher, most important player on the field, and he has played just slightly above replacement for 2013, and also, the previous season of his career. He has a poor batting average and OBP, but so do most catchers - we've been spoiled the past few years with Yadier Molina, Buster Posey, Wilin Rosario, Salvador Perez and my new favourite - Carlos Santana. Aside from dingers - many likely aided by the shitshack that is Rogers Centre - JPA can't hold a candle to these new hotshots.

And I'm fine with that. I love JP. He's a team player, he the backstop of my favourite team, he tries like hell, he is a charitable, wonderful bloke, but in the end - he's just not the catcher everyone in Toronto wants or believes he could be. And again, I'm fine with that.

Starting last year around this time, I started a JPA-centric personal collection, with one major goal in mind: beat this deal. 

If you don't want to read that, fine. I'd be surprised if you made it this far. The jist: All seven of JP Arencibia's (attainable) 2011 Topps Chrome Autographs for under $215. That is:

Base Chrome
Refractor /499
Blue Refractor /199
Black Refractor /100
Sepia Refractor /99
Gold Refractor /50
Red Refractor /25

Well, here's six of them:

Click to embiggen.

And here's something that came in the mail last weekend:

Click to embiggen.

Challenge: Completed.

I did it in less than a year. Actually, more like 10 months.

And for half the cost of the original auction, spending about $98 on the entire project.

Final Results:

2011 Topps Chrome J.P. Arencibia Autograph Rookie
#	Variation	Available	$
182	Base	NNO	4.99
182	Refractor	of 499	4.74
182	Blue Refractor	of 199	9.32
182	Black Refractor	of 100	7.75
182	Sepia Refractor	of 99	15
182	Gold Refractor	of 50	8
182	Red Refractor	of 25	48
			97.8		117.2