I Don't Know...3rd Base!

Happy Memorial Day and a Little Gypsy Queen!

2011-05-30T07:49:00.004-04:00

Good Morning All...I would like to wish everyone a happy and safe Memorial Day. We cannot forget to remember and honor those who gave up their lives for our freedom. Thank you to them and their families.

When Gypsy Queen came out and everyone was writing about them, I thought they were ugly and I wasn't going to buy any of them. Then I purchased this on the bay.....

the description said it was a Green Border "paper" card. I thought to myself, "What the heck...let's see what these cards are all about." It was cheap so I purchased the card and waited for it to arrive in the mail. When I saw the envelope sitting on the ledge when I got home from work, I was happy and ticked!! I believe the seller charged $2.50 for shipping and there was a regular small letter envelope with a .44 stamp on it waiting to be opened. If anything ticks me off more about ebay are the sellers that ship cards like this!! #@&*%&'$ Of course he is marked as someone not to buy from in the future.

Back to the card.....when I first saw the card I thought they looked pretty nice. I wanted to check this "paper" card out so I carefully removed it from the card holder and penny sleeve (which the seller did happen to use in his .44 shipment) you know, being paper and all, I didn't want to damage it. Heedless to say, I was a little disappointed, the card was not "paper" at all. However, it is a great looking card and I thought I would try some. So Friday I went to my local Target and bought a blaster box and a 3 pack rack pack that have these green border cards included. After opening the blaster I really liked the cards so on to the rack pack. I opened the green cards first and I got Pee Wee Reese, Bob Gibson and Ty Cobb(Yea!! another Tiger). I opened the other packs and in the second pack I pulled this beauty....

SWEET!!! An on card autograph!! Now normally, I would want to go back and buy more. However, I think I'm just going to chase the Tigers cards. They are nice cards and with on card autos...you can't beat it. So I do have some cards for trade for Tigers cards if anyone is interested.

Looking for some advice!

2011-05-08T21:26:00.002-04:00

I know it's been a long time since I made a post but having a 5 month old and a crappy work schedule kind of put a limit on my posts. I enjoy reading everyone's blogs so keep up the great posts.

Now to the advice I'm seeking.....

We are trying to plan a short trip this summer and we want to go to a baseball game somewhere new. We've been to Jacob's Field, Camden Yards (which is a yearly trip we make because my sister lives close by) and Comerica Park (home field). I've been to The Ballpark in Arlington and my wife has been to The Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati.

These are the places we've narrowed it down to.....

Kansas City, Minnesota, Milwaukee, Pittsburgh and Philadelphia.

Who has been to where and any suggestions which would be a great trip for a long weekend.

Thanks guys and gals! I look forward to hearing from all!

It's Been A Long Time!

2011-02-12T23:21:00.002-05:00

Just as the title reads....it's been a long time since I have written something.

A LOT has happened!! My wife and I have had our first baby just after my last post (11/18). Her name is Liliana. So right there alone will take time away from any hobby. I still owe a couple readers (hopefully they will read this blog again) some cards. I haven't forgotten about you guys. They will be in the mail and hopefully soon! I work as a courier for Fed Ex and have been working doubles since the beginning of December so my writing time has been limited. I am still able to read everyone's blogs with my phone, so I am staying somewhat up to date with what is going on. I will try to be a little more active with my blog but I can't make any promises because of my work schedule and new baby. I hope everyone understands and maybe I can win everyone back as readers and friends.

That is all for now and as pitchers and catchers report to Spring Training (YEAH!) I look forward to the new baseball season, card collecting and sharing with everyone.

Should the Tigers retire Sparky Andersons number?

2010-11-09T22:40:00.001-05:00

If you agree....click here and sign the petition.

Free Topps Chrome!!!

2010-10-28T23:58:00.002-04:00

Not from me...sorry! Georgia Mindset is giving away a box of Topps Chrome....for FREE!!

Check it out!!!

World Series Match-up!

2010-10-24T09:22:00.003-04:00

It has been decided!! This years World Series match up will be......

vs

My prediction............

Go Rangers!!!!!

Free Card Giveaway Results!

2010-10-11T16:12:00.003-04:00

Thank you all for responding to the free card giveaway. I randomized each list 4xs and here are the results. I'm sorry I don't have a copy of the screen-shot but I haven't been able to figure out how to do it. So, I copied and pasted the final randomized list which you will see below. To find out which card you will be receiving, just match up your name with the same corresponding team and that's your card. Simple!!

I only have a few of your adresses but to make things easier for me....everyone please email your mailing addres to me. As soon as I have them, I will send you your card. Thanks for participating and I hope you will continue to come back and read some more of I Don't Know....3rd Base!

Here's the lists!!!!

List Randomizer

There were 22 items in your list. Here they are in random order:

AdamE
Spankee
Colective Troll
Dodgerbobble
PhaLe 28
Brian
JasonC
Mark
Cam
Play at the Plate
SpastikMooss
Bo
Cubsfan731
Dfwbuck2
Night Owl
Mmmrhubarb
DCBraves
FanOfReds
Caljr3000
Steve D
Mariner1
Wickedortega

Timestamp: 2010-10-11 20:20:59 UTC

List Randomizer

There were 30 items in your list. Here they are in random order:

Seattle Mariners
Chicago Cubs
San Diego Padres
Los Angeles Dodgers
Washington Nationals
Florida Marlins
Atlanta Braves
Cincinnati Reds
Colorado Rockies
Kansas City Royals
New York Mets
San Francisco Giants
Baltimore Orioles
Boston Red Sox
St. Louis Cardinals
Anaheim Angels
New York Yankees
Milwaukee Brewers
Houston Astros
Chicago White Sox
Philadelphia Phillies
Minnesota Twins
Texas Rangers
Toronto Blue Jays
Cleveland Indians
Oakland A's
Arizona Diamondbacks
Pittsburgh Pirates
Detroit Tigers
Tampa Bay Rays

Timestamp: 2010-10-11 20:31:51 UTC

Free Cards!!

2010-10-08T19:07:00.001-04:00

Things are a little crazy around here but I needed to find some time to write a post. It's been a while since I wrote something and in my last post I mentioned something about giving some cards away. So....here it is!!

It's very simple.....just leave a comment! You don't have to link this on your blog, but if you did, I would appreciate it. Sorry, it won't get you any extra entries. Everyone that leaves a comment will get 1 entry. I'm giving away an auto, relic, manufactured patch or printing plate from each of the 30 teams.

If for some reason I don't get 30 comments, any of the remaining cards will be up for trade. Here's how it's going to work.....I will type each team name into random.org and each person that left a comment into random.org. I will randomize each list 4x's. I will then match each list by rank and that will be the card you win. I told you it was simple!!!

By the way...the contest ends at midnight Sunday night and the winners notified on this blog no later than Tuesday. Good Luck!!!

There's a CONTEST!!!

2010-10-03T21:43:00.002-04:00

It's not mine....sorry!! But check out Hackenbush's contest over at Can't Have Too Many Cards, he's giving away some great rookie and Hall of Fame cards from the early '80s. I know I would like to have a couple of those cards!!! So check it out.

Also, sorry about the lack of posts...I've have at lest 2 posts that need to be written including a card giveaway but things have been pretty hectic here. Within the next 6 weeks there will be a new addition to the household. I'll do my best to get those 2 posts up and then we'll go from there.

Thanks!!

Completed page....sort of!!

2010-09-13T18:19:00.004-04:00

It's a complete page but it's not in any kind of order. This page has been in one of my binders for years. Willie Horton was one of my favorite players since I was a kid, him and Aurelio Rodriguez. I don't recall how or why I put this page together but, every time I look at it, I think it's AWESOME!! To me...I don't think the cards need to be rearranged. It shows a mixture of Willie throughout the years, not just in year order. It's hard to say which one is my favorite of this page. I like the '72 design the most. I also think that the '76 design is nice also but it looks like Willie just stuck out. Anyway....I like them all and I thought I would share this page with everyone.

Enjoy!!

Topps Million Cards To Be Shipped

2010-09-12T21:15:00.002-04:00

It's been over a month since my last post and I apologize. Things have been pretty busy around here and my card purchases have slowed down. I've been obsessed with making trade offers on the Topps MCG site and one of my latest trade offers has been accepted. So, I thought it was time to have some of my cards shipped to me. I put in a request to receive 22 of them and I should have them within 9-12 business days. I'm excited to see what kind of condition they are in. They range from a 1958 Ray Boone to a 2003 Bobby Higginson. Yes, all the cards I requested are Detroit Tigers!!! I still have 25 cards in my collection including the '69 Stargell I wrote about earlier. I'm hoping to turn them into more Tigers cards I need to fill some gaps in my team sets. As soon as I get the cards in, I'll let everyone know how they are.

Has anyone received their cards from Topps and were you satisfied? Let me know!

What I got at the card show....and No it wasn't the National!!

2010-08-05T20:31:00.005-04:00

Last weekend I went to the monthly card show. I went with my stepson and wife. One of our goals was to find the missing cards my stepson needed to complete his set. So the first stop we made was to see Bob, he always has cards to complete sets and if they're not in the commons box, he'll bust a set for us. So I left my wife and stepson to look for his missing cards while I walked around to see what I could find. I did find a table where I picked up about 50+ cards for my '76 Topps set. Then I found a table that had a big box of Tigers priced at 10 cents a piece and a binder for a buck a card. Here are some of the cards I found...

Yep....Kellogg's 3D cards for a dime!! The other cards came out of the dollar binder. The Mantle card is a 1975 SSPC. I then found a table that had boxes of cards for a dollar each or 5 for $6. They had a lot of rookies and a nice selection. After searching the boxes this is what I found.

When I saw the '72 cards I was excited, since I think this is one of the nicest sets Topps has made. Then to find some of Hall of Famer's...I had to have them. Plus, I was missing the Schmidt card in my '78 set.

Overall, I was happy with what I got at the show. I ended up going back on Sunday to trade some cards with Bob and to pick up a bunch of the cards your momma threw out. I'm short a few and I'll be updating my want list hoping my fellow bloggers will help me complete the set.

Topps Million Card Trade!

2010-08-01T22:36:00.004-04:00

I've been offered a trade and I'm asking for your help. Someone has offered me a 1956 Virgil Trucks

for my 1969 Willie Stragell

I've had a lot of request for Willie and I have declined every one of them. This was one of the first few cards I have unlocked and first Hall of Famer in my collection. The others are '82 Molitor, '83 Rice and '85 Gwynn.

As you all know, I'm a BIG Tigers fan and I think this card would be nice to have in my collection. But, I was also a fan of the Pirates while growing up in the seventies.

So I'm torn between the 2 cards......Please offer some suggestions.

Thanks!!!

There's a CONTEST!!!

2010-08-01T19:47:00.001-04:00

Hey!!! There's a contest of at Play at the Plate. Go over and check it out....he's giving away some 2010 Allen & Ginter!

I went back to the card show today and picked up some more stuff. I'll be posting the haul soon so stay tuned!!!

Card Show Today....YIPEEE!!

2010-07-31T08:20:00.002-04:00

Going to the monthly Card Show today with my step-son and wife. We are going to try and find the remaining cards he needs to complete his 2010 Topps set. Once he has a complete set, he likes for us to have a fantasy draft with them. Either we'll set them out by teams or sometimes he likes to separate them by positions. We then roll the dice to see who picks what teams we want to be. He usually likes us to pick ALL 30 teams, those are long drafts. We try to talk him into picking 3-5 teams each. Then we re-roll the dice to decide the draft order and we start picking. Each team has to have a player from each position, 5 starters, 3 relief pitchers, 1 or 2 closers (depends on how he's feeling that day) and a DH. He really gets into his fantasy drafts!!! My wife and I think it's great that he thinks of these things to do with his cards. He's been getting more & more into cards since we've been married. He's now starting to want more binders and supplies for his cards because he sees how I store my cards. This will probably be our day today...a little card show fun with my family!!

I'll post the results of our haul later.

Allen & Ginter Blaster Box

2010-07-24T08:04:00.011-04:00

Yesterday I stopped at Target on the way home from Comerica Park, which the game was PPD, to buy some A & G. I wasn't going to buy any, but I've been reading and seeing what everyone has been getting and I wanted to see the cards first hand. I also had to stop and pick up a $5 Little Caesars pizza for the wife. When the pregnant wife is hungry...I need to get her some food!! Anyway...after we ate, I couldn't wait to open the box. The cards are beautiful just like everyone has said. I've always liked this set and have bought them in the past but it was always hard for me to complete. In fact, I bought a case in 2008 and I still have some boxes left. I've been thinking about doing a group break but I'll save that for a later post. Back to the cards...take a look at Pack 1....

NICE!! The cards are beautiful and a SP to boot! Pack 2......

Cool....a sketch card!! But, WAIT A MINUTE!!! I'm in pack #2 and ALREADY a DOUBLE!!! I got another TDIH Fukudome, unbelievable!! Let's check Pack 3...

HOLY COW!!!! What's going on?!?!?!? Doubles in the SAME PACK!!! OK...now I'm getting frustrated!!! I did get a Tigers cards! Hopefully pack 4 will be better....

DOUBLES AGAIN!!!! Oh wait....they're different cards.....Woosh!! On to pack 5...

FINALLY...a normal pack with a black bordered mini of Torii Hunter. Not bad! Pack 6...

NOW we're talkin'!! After 2 sets of doubles within the first 3 packs, I get another sketch card. I'll take it!! Pack 7...

Here we go again!! Another TDIH double...this one is of Robinson Cano! You'd like the subject list is long enough to not have doubles inside blaster boxes!! Well, let's see what the so called "Bonus Pack" has in store for me....

No doubles but the Morgan card has a crimp on the bottom of the cards from when Topps sealed the pack.

Over all I didn't do too bad...I did get a nice assortment of mini cards as well as 7 sort print base cards out of 8 packs. Based on the odds, I probably should have only gotten 4. The QC should be better for blaster boxes, doubles in the SAME pack should not happen!!

All these cards are up for trade for any 2010 A&G or Heritage Detroit Tigers. Comment or email me with offers. Thanks!!

Oh yeah....what do you think of a group break of a box of 2008 A&G along with a box of something else ('08 Series 1, Topps Finest or UD Premier). Unopened of course...if I get enough interest, I'll do it!!

Estate Sale!!!

2010-07-10T21:51:00.008-04:00

I went to my first estate sale today. Well, not really my first but, it was the first time I've been to one just after it opened ad this is what I found! It was right around the corner from our house and it was advertised all week. I kept telling my wife that I was going and she said I wasn't allowed to bring "...any more junk into the house until I organized the junk I already had." I'm assuming she meant all the baseball cards I have scattered around the basement!

I left the house at 9:12 and if any of you have been to an estate sale right at open...it was a zoo!!! I walked in the first room and the first thing I saw was this box of cards. I thumbed through them and saw that most of them were from 1976. Not bad, then I saw a Tom Seaver and Jim Rice and the condition of the cards were excellent! (you can't go wrong with Hall of Famer's) I also noticed some hockey and football cards in the box. I don't collect them and I wasn't sure how much of the box consisted of them, but I picked up the box anyway. I looked around the rest of sale but I really couldn't concentrate while holding the box of cards. I just wanted to get home and sort through them. The price on the box was $25 and when I went to pay for them, I asked if they would take $20. It doesn't hurt to ask. The lady said, "How about $22?", so I took them.

Finally! I'm home with the cards and I can now see exactly what I have. Just knowing I have some '76 cards made me happy. Hopefully I can fill in some of the blanks in my set. I think the 3rd or 4th stack I pulled out, I found 2, well 3 of the best cards in the box. Do you see what I see??

Yep....next to each other were a 1969 Nolan Ryan aaannd not 1 but TWO 1970 Hank Aaron!! I let out a WOO HOO!!! and the wife asked if I found something good. By the way, she wasn't too upset that I bought some cards at the sale. I continued to sort the cards and by the time I was done, there were cards of 18 different HOFers. Most of them were cards from 1976 but hey...a HOFer is a HOFer!! the condition of the cards prior to 1976 were not the best but they weren't exactly terrible either. Here's the break down of cards that were in the box....

1967 - 4 cards
1968 - 5 cards
1969 - 37 cards
1970 - 15 cards
1971 - 53 cards
1972 - 2 cards
1976 - 449 cards

That's 565 baseball cards!!! Include the 5 cloth patch/sticker, 92 football, 243 hockey and 19 oddball cards...the total was 924 cards for $22. That's .023 cents a card. Not bad!! To me, it was a great find! Check them out!!

Mail Day!!

2010-06-28T12:21:00.004-04:00

It's been awhile since my last post, sorry folks!! I transferred to a new location at work and I've been pretty busy with training. But anyways....I sent some cards over to Larry at Emerald City Diamond Gems. He had a post requesting some 2010 Topps Series 2 cards. If I remember correctly, he wanted to try and complete the set by the generosity of the blog-o-sphere, so I sent him some. In return, he sent me about 200 Detroit Tigers cards!!! It was WAY more than I expected. The cards he sent spanned 5 decades, not to mention some almost complete sets of some years!! Larry really went above and beyond! Here are only a few of the cards he sent.

1961 Don Wert, this was one of two '61s he sent. I now have 3!! The '76 Willie Horton(my 2nd favorite Tiger while growing up) and the '79 John Hiller are from 2 of the almost complete sets he sent. 1982 Alan Trammell, I just love the card pictures taken at old Tiger Stadium! 1991 Darnell Coles and 2009 Justin Verlander U&H.

Many of the cards I didn't have and some I did. To me, you can never have enough cards of your favorite team!! Thanks again Larry and I'll be getting another package out to you soon!

1 in 11,000 & a contest!!

2010-05-21T08:34:00.005-04:00

A couple of days ago, I was bored so I ended up buying 3 packs of Topps Series 1 cards. There were about 10 packs in the box and I thought, "What the heck!! Maybe I'll pull a MCG card." Well, not only did I pull an MCG but I pulled something pretty neat!! The title of this post says it all. Those are the odds in getting what I got. I pulled a HOF buyback card of....

When I first saw the card I thought it was one of those cards your mother threw out(original back) but it seemed different. It wasn't glossy and I looked at the back of the card again and realized it was an original Cal Ripkin Jr. and not a repod. I was stoked because I've made several trade offers for this card on the MCG site to no avail. Now it's mine!!!

Now I'm ready for Series 2!!!

CONTEST - Big D over at Hey, That's Mine! is running an awesome contest....check it out here. If you don't already know, Big D makes his own custom cards and he is giving one away to the lucky winner. So check it out and don't forget to tell him I sent you!

"Looong Gone!" but will NEVER be forgotten!

2010-05-05T17:50:00.004-04:00

Yesterday the Detroit Tigers and baseball lost a dear friend, Ernie Harwell died. He had inoperable cancer of the bile duct.

If you are old enough to remember listening to him on the radio, like I am, not only did he deliver the play-by-play, he made you feel like you were at the ballpark. You felt the energy of the crowd with every call he made and sometimes I could even taste the hot dogs! Today, I've been listening to every radio and TV station remember Ernie in some way. His clever anecdotes...."He stood there like the house by the side of the road" on a called looked third strike or "A fan from (insert a Michigan city) caught that one" on a foul ball into the stands. And my favorite....."It's Looong Gone!!!" describing a Tigers homerun. There were so many! These will be etched in our hearts and minds forever.

Ernie Harwell was THE voice of Tigers baseball for over 40 years. Through 3 AL Eastern Division Champions (72, 84 & 87), 2 American League Champions (68 & 84) and 2 World Series Champions (68 & 84).

I remember listening to Ernie Harwell and Paul Carey on the radio as a child. My dad always listened to the Tigers games and I have my dad to thank for introducing me to baseball. Every kid wanted to be like Ernie, pretending to call the game in his style and trying to mimic his voice, which I could never do.

Ernie.....you WILL be missed!!!

In his own words....

"Now, God has a new adventure for me and I'm ready to move on."

His adventure began yesterday evening what it is, I don't know. But I do know this, by his faith, he is on a glorious adventure and I look forward to hearing him again.

We Love You Ernie!!

Card Show Booty!! Day #1

2010-04-27T10:02:00.010-04:00

Like I promised....

I went to the monthly card show this past weekend. Since Topps is the only producer of Baseball cards and there is no new product to explore, it was pretty slow. However, it was pretty good to me!! I was able to find a bunch of cards to fill in my Tigers sets.

Time was limited, I had to get home and take my step-son to a birthday party but I found most of my cards on this day. I stopped at the first table and he had a binder of 1970 Tigers. I found 4 cards I needed and they were a buck each (hey!!! you can't go wrong for a buck!) So I picked up an Ed Brinkman, Billy Martin, Mike Kilkenny and a Rookie Stars card with Larrin LaGrow & Gene Lamont.

Feeling good...I moved on to another table and.....I hit the jackpot (or at least to me)!!! This guy had some boxes of 70's Tigers for .25 & .50!!! When you see the sign you automatically think the card conditions are going to be crummy...but not this table!! All the cards I picked up had NO creases, sharp color and excellent corners. I found 21 1975 cards including NINE mini's!! All for no more than fifty cents (5 cards), most were a quarter!!

I was also able to complete my 1977 Tigers set finding the 5 cards I was missing. For the same low price of a quarter each.

That was day #1! I was so excited, I could hardly wait for the next day!!

Card Show!!!

2010-04-24T12:10:00.002-04:00

Going to the monthly card show today with my step-son and wife...yes my wife does enjoy the occasional card show every once in awhile. As long as I buy her a Carlos Guillen card. Hopefully I can find some Tigers cards I need to complete the sets I'm working on.

I will post the results later....gotta go!!

Unsolicited package in the mail!

2010-04-16T11:13:00.008-04:00

First I would like to apologize for not updating my blog as often as I would like. I've been so busy with work, between FedEx and Comerica Park, that it seems like I barely have enough time to sleep. I will try to be better about the updates.

I came home this morning, after having breakfast with my dad, to the mail-lady walking up to the house. As she was getting my mail ready she reached into her bag and pulled out a thick manila envelop. I started thinking that I didn't buy anything off of ebay that would be so thick. When she gave me the the envelop I checked the return address and it was from Greg over at Night Owl Cards. What a pleasant surprise!!! Greg was kind enough to send 50+ Tigers cards, most I needed to fill in some gaps in my Tigers team sets from 1965 - present.

Here's a few of the cards Greg sent.....

This one was a nice surprise because believe it or not, I needed this one, the one I have is autographed and was never replaced.

Always nice to get some Topps Finest!!! Now, introducing the Tigers new 1st base coach....

This card is going on the road with me this summer to get autographed!! Tommy Brookens has to be one of the top 3 third-baseman's I have seen play wearing the ole' English D!! The other 2 are, Aurelio Rodriguez and Brandon Inge.

I am always up for making trades, just let me know your favorite team, players or want lists and I'll see what I have available. Thanks again Greg!!

Trade....and a CONTEST!!!

2010-04-01T08:33:00.005-04:00

Well I didn't make the trade on the Topps Million Card giveaway. I get a lot of requests for my '69 Stargill, I'm hoping to get something that would fill something off of my want list. I have made several trades to get cards I need, so this trading venue has been pretty good. I have made some trades with some of you guys out in the blogosphere and I will post the results later. Sorry for the delay.

Contest...Grand Cards is having a contest to reduce his Curtis Granderson collection. Check it out!! He has an Awesome collection, but hurry the contest closes today @ 5:00pm.

That's all folks!!

Topps Million Card Trade!

2010-03-20T09:13:00.003-04:00

Someone offered my a trade of a 1955 Harold (Hal) Smith for my 1969 Willie Stargell. I went to a couple of sites selling cards and both cards are selling for the same price.

What do you guys think??? Should I accept or decline the trade??

My First Relic Cards!!

2010-03-08T17:14:00.009-05:00

I just started re-collecting baseball cards in 2005 after almost a 20 year hiatus. I think I stopped collecting around 1987-88 when there was a ba-zillion different card companies producing cards.

Anyway.....I am a partial season ticket holder for the Detroit Tigers and in 2005 we hosted the All-Star game. This being my first AS game I was going to soak up ALL the festivities that I could including Fan-Fest. The big 3 card companies were there and they were giving away relic cards of 3 current Tigers as well as other cards. I think there were 12 cards in all given away. But....RELIC CARDS!?!?? I'm thinking to myself, "They make cards with pieces of the players jersey in them?!?" The hobby sure has changed since the last time I bought baseball cards! However, to get the relic cards, you needed to redeem 5 wrappers of baseball cards from each company. So off I go to find the cards I needed to buy to get the relic cards. I buy my cards for each company and I open them. I don't remember which cards I bought for Topps and Upper Deck, but I bought 5 packs of Absolute Memorabilia. When I bought them, the vendor had told me that there was still a hit left in the box. A "hit", what's that?? So, I pick my packs and I happened to find the "hit" left in the box. This is what I found.....

I was so excited I went back to the table that I purchased them from and showed him. Unfortunately, I showed him while he was telling another person that no one has informed him about the remaining hit in the box was found so I think I blew a sale for him. Oops! You have to remember, I was just getting back into the hobby so I was still green.

On to the giveaway cards.....
My first stop was the Topps table. I give the guy my wrappers and he hands me....

On to Upper Deck and I get.....

And lastly from Donruss....

I was hooked! Not bad for being out of the hobby for almost 20 years!

Tell me about your first relic card....if you can remember.

Bring On The 80's!!

2010-03-02T16:36:00.003-05:00

If you still have redemption codes for the Million Card Giveaway, the website has been showing nothing but '80's cards being unlocked. So, if you have any codes to redeem like I do, it looks like we'll be waiting until some older cards are consistently being unlocked before we try our luck.

On another note....

I've been in the process of posting a Want List on my site. Currently I'm trying to collect Tigers Topps sets from 1965 until present. While trying to figure out what cards I would need for each year, I came across this website - Team Sets 4 U. Who knows how long it must have taken to put this together. I know I'm grateful for his/her/their work!!! Check it out!!!

Mail Day.....

2010-03-01T12:50:00.007-05:00

I recently sent some cards to Night Owl to help him complete his 2010 Topps 1 set. In return he sent me some Tigers cards. Most of them I did not have so I was very excited when I opened them, including 10 of the 13/14 cards needed to complete the 2010 Topps Tigers set. I already have one but I'm going to complete one for my step-son. Here is a sample of the cards.....

I had this card at one time but my step-son wanted it, so I gave it to him. I was glad to see this card again.

Rick Porcello.....what more can I say! Between him and Verlander, the Tigers should have an excellent pitching foundation to continue to build around.

2010 Upper Deck Fu-Te Ni...I won't be completing this set but I like Ni on our pitching staff!

2007 Upper Deck Nate Robertson. I WILL be trying to complete this team set. I've noticed alot of the Tigers cards, the pictures were taken during the playoffs. All the cards are in excellent shape! Thanks again to Greg over @ Night Owl for sending me these cards. I am in the process of creating a want list and am willing to trade cards. That's it for now!!!

What's wrong with this card???

2010-02-23T16:27:00.004-05:00

I purchased a box of 2010 Topps on the bay a couple of weeks ago. When I got them in the mail, I was excited as always when I get new baseball cards. I opened them up and I really liked the design and the action shots of the cards. Then I saw this one....now I'm not a big fan of pictures of the backs of players but I thought this one was a little ridiculous. WHO is this guy?????

You can't see his face OR even read his name on his jersey. The only way to know who this guy is is by looking at the name on the card and I'm hoping Topps even got it right!! I think they could have used a different picture!! I continued to open the rest of the packs and put them in order as I open each pack. I find it easier to sort them this way and I open the hit pack last. This is what I pulled from this box.....

Being a Tigers fan, I was stoked!!! I immediately went online to check out the odds of pulling one of these bad boys...1 per Hobby box! SWEET!!! After all...there are some good guys out on the bay that are not busting boxes to find case hits and sell the rest. After adding the cards from the 6-7 packs I bought at Target I was short 49 cards to complete the set. Luckily there was going to be a card show Valentine's weekend. So, I went on Saturday and found the cards I was missing and we bought a box for my step-son as well. Of course we had to go back Sunday to complete his set. Of course I have some doubles and I sent some to Night Owl to help him try and complete his set.

I like Topps, I've always liked Topps because that's all there was when I was a kid.

Oh by the way.....the card at the top is Scott Kazmir.

Mail Day!

2010-02-17T16:31:00.005-05:00

As you know, I'm a huge Tigers fan so I'm always looking around for Tigers cards. I bought some cards on ebay last week and they are starting to come in the mail. I received the first of them yesterday. They are all Verlander Jersey cards so I was really excited to get them in my hands.

Here's the first one.....

I really like these specialty jersey cards. When I busted my box of 2007 Topps U&H, I'm always hoping for a Tigers jersey or autograph card but I got a Manny Ramirez jersey instead. I was still happy.

Card #2....

I busted 2 boxes of these and I only got 1 autograph card but I did get some NICE jersey cards, including a multi-patch card. I'll post some of these cards later. Now for card #3....

When I saw this card I HAD to have it!!! It highlights his No-Hitter he threw against Milwaukee. Funny thing about this card and game is that I had tickets to this game (I'm a partial season ticket holder) I couldn't make it so I gave them away and wouldn't you know it.... I miss History!! You can only imagine how my wife and I felt. But.... I've seen some great games in my life and I can only hope there is another Tigers no-hitter!

Until next time.......

What I got with my Million Card giveaway codes!

2010-02-16T08:26:00.006-05:00

Not to sound like a broken record...but boy did it take a looonng time to be able to enter my codes to see which cards I won. I had 18 code cards and I was excited to see how this was going to work. I finally was able to get on about 9:30pm and my first card was.....

yippee!!!! just what i need...another '80s card. So I proceeded to enter the rest of my codes...

2. '04 Bengie Molina
3. '06 Rickie Weeks
4. '87 Wade Boggs (ok...a HOFr but not exactly what I was hoping for)
5. '93 Wil Cordero
6. '65 Turk Farrell (Vintage!!!! now we're talkin"!!!) then back to reality....
7. '87 Phillies Leaders
8. '87 Donnie Moore (I'm seeing a trend here and I'm not likin' it!!)
9. '93 Joe Boever
10. '87 Duane Ward
11. '81 Alan Trammell (SWEET!!! A Tiger!!)

I decided to stop for the night since I had to get up for work @ 3:30am. After I woke up I went back and logged on (how many people are going to be up inputting codes at that time) to finish the rest of my codes.

12. '88 Craig Lefferts (her we go again....more '80s cards!!)
13. '71 Roy Foster (not bad!!)
14. '69 Willie Stargell (Vintage card of a HOFr...yea!!)

15. '87 Robin Yount (Hmm...my 5th 1987 card!)
16. '87 Mike Schmidt (ANOTHER ONE!!!!) at least these last 2 are HOFr's
17. '76 Bobby Grich and last but least......
18. '94 Denis Boucher

I think I did ok, considering I got 6 cards from 1987. I got 4 cards dated pre 1980, 4 HOFr's (Stargell, Schmidt, Yount and Boggs) and 1, in my opinion, that should be in the HOF (Trammell).

What do you think??

Million Card Giveaway....What's up?!??!?

2010-02-15T09:01:00.004-05:00

As we all know Topps is giving away some 1,000,000 cards by placing a code card in 1 out of every 6 packs. All you have to do is go to their special website, www.toppsmillion.com on 2/15/10 (today) and enter the code to see which card you will receive. Simple...right?!!??! Well, I get to the website and nothing!! NO box to enter the code....NO update if the site is down.....NOTHING!! So I started checking some of the other blogs I follow and Night Owl Cards had the same problem. Only he encountered it @ 3:30am, its now 9:15am! What's UP!?!??!? I have 18 code cards to enter and I would like to know which cards I'm going to get. I would really like to get a 1969 Aurelio Rodriguez...you know the one with a picture of the batboy instead of Rodriguez.

I guess I'll have to be patient and wait until the site is operating correctly. Good luck to all that have code cards and I look forward to reading what everyone got.

I'm Back!!! and I'm Sorry for the hiatus!

2010-02-15T08:43:00.002-05:00

Hi Folks!

It's been almost a year since my last post and I apologize for that. Things just haven't been the same around here but I have decided to dedicate more time to my blog. Baseball season is ready to start and I am EXCITED!! Even though the Tigers traded Granderson and Edwin Jackson this past off season. Anyways.....more on the Tigers to come later.

I bought some 2010 Topps Hobby and blaster boxes and I'll be writing about them soon. Thanks for reading.

I'm Back!!!

Why Topps.....Why??

2009-03-25T12:36:00.002-04:00

I was opening a Target "Throwback" box last week and I was getting a little annoyed. It seemed like every pack I opened, not all the cards in the pack were facing the same direction. What I'm saying is that I probably had to turn the cards around 3-4 times to get all 10 cards in order. However, I did come across 2 packs in the box where every card was in order. If Topps can do this for 2 of the 10 packs, why can't they do it for all the packs. This isn't something new...I remember back in the '70's they were doing the same thing. The only difference is that the cards seemed to be divided in two. The top half of the pack, the cards were all facing the same direction. Then the gum and the bottom half of the pack, the cards were upside down. At least back then I only had to turn the cards once to get them all facing the same direction.

Does anyone else find it annoying that all the cards are not facing the same direction or is it just me and why are they wasting a card in the pack with the Toppstown cards?!?!? Talk about accumulating doubles!

Well that's it for now....I'll have more later and sorry for not posting anything in the week.

TOPPS CONFIRMS 2009 HERITAGE SHORT PRINTS

2009-03-17T15:30:00.000-04:00

Topps announces that the popular 2009 Topps Heritage Baseball features short printed base cards. The set’s high numbers, cards 426 – 500, can be found 1:3 packs.

The list is as follows:

426	Scott Rolen
427	Ben Francisco
428	Jermaine Dye
429	Dustin Pedroia/Ichiro
430	Kevin Slowey
431	Jason Bartlett
432	Glen Perkins
433	Carlos Gomez
434	Jon Garland
435	Joe Crede
436	Billy Butler
437	Zach Duke
438	Chris Coste
439	Daisuke Matsuzaka
440	Elijah Dukes
441	Fausto Carmona
442	Joe Mauer
443	Marcus Thames
444	Mike Fontenot
445	John Smoltz
446	Pedro Martinez
447	Adrian Beltre
448	Kevin Millar
449	Nick Swisher
450	Justin Morneau
451	Shane Victorino
452	Placido Polanco
453	Ryan Dempster
454	Frank Thomas
455	Baltimore Orioles Coaches
456	Boston Red Sox Coaches
457	Chicago Cubs Coaches
458	Chicago White Sox Coaches
459	Cincinnati Reds Coaches
460	Cleveland Indians Coaches
461	Detroit Tigers Coaches
462	Tampa Bay Rays Coaches
463	Los Angeles Dodgers Coaches
464	Atlanta Braves Coaches
465	New York Yankees Coaches
466	Philadelphia Phillies Coaches
467	Pittsburgh Pirates Coaches
468	St. Louis Cardinals Coaches
469	New York Mets Coaches
470	Washington Nationals Coaches
471	Brad Ausmus
472	Melvin Mora
473	Austin Kearns
474	Josh Willingham
475	Derek Lowe
476	Nick Punto
477	A.J. Pierzynski
478	Troy Tulowitzki
479	CC Sabathia
480	Jorge Posada
481	Kevin Youkilis
482	Lance Berkman
483	Dustin Pedroia
484	Chase Utley
485	Alex Rodriguez
486	Chipper Jones
487	Derek Jeter
488	Hanley Ramirez
489	Josh Hamilton
490	Ryan Braun
491	Manny Ramirez
492	Kosuke Fukudome
493	Ichiro
494	Matt Holliday
495	Joe Mauer
496	Geovany Soto
497	Roy Halladay
498	Ben Sheets
499	Cliff Lee
500	Billy Wagner

Topps Heritage.....FINALLY!!

2009-03-15T08:27:00.011-04:00

Yesterday while out shopping with my wife, we stopped at the local Meijer to get some groceries. For those not familiar with what a Meijer store is, it's like a food store and Target type store combined. When we walked in the store, they had their annual Opening Day baseball display up with several shelves of old and new baseball cards along with supplies. Whenever I see anything baseball related, I seem to get pulled towards it. While checking everything out, I noticed a rack of 2009 Topps Heritage single packs hanging...YEA!!! Figuring they have been already searched, (which I ABSOLUTELY despise, they should be shot on-site) I grabbed the first 3 packs and put them in the cart. Now off to grocery shopping. Oh the agony I would endure the next 3 hours, yes I said THREE hours. We were bone dry in the cupboards so our cart was overflowing then to top it off, the register computer went dead with 3, I said THREE items left to scan. So we had to go to another register to rescan everything but fortunately we got to go to the front of the line. Finally we can go home and I can open my cards.

I think by now everyone knows what the cards look like, but I did have to explain to my wife the difference between these cards and the Topps base set. Slowly she is getting interested into baseball cards. She always asks if I got a Carlos Guillen (her favorite player) whenever I open a pack. We have been able to obtain his autograph at some games, mostly away but I'll save those stories for another post. By the way...no Guillen cards in my 3 packs. The first pack did have a Tiger, Armando Galarraga and a SP of the Phillies Coaches. You know the "floating head" card.

The next pack I received another SP, Fausto Carmona and a chrome refactor of Carlos Beltran #'d to 560. Not bad if I do say so myself.

When I grabbed the last pack to open it felt slightly different. Now mind you, when the wife and I went to the store, we were pretty focused on what we had to do, remember...3 hours of grocery shopping!! Anyway....I looked at my wife and said, "I think I may have something here". When I opened the pack, I saw a "white" card in the middle of the stack. I knew I had a hit. I arranged the cards so it would be the last card I see, which I usually do when I have a hit. Going through the pack slowly I get to the end, I see a Flashback Brooks Robinson Memorial Stadium seat card. NICE!! I had the opportunity to meet him on a cruise about 9-10 years ago. He is one of the nicest players I've ever met and I'll save that for another post.

All in all, I like the cards, but I probably won't try to build the set because I haven't been able to complete it the last 2 years. I'll just end up completing the Tigers team set and getting whatever other cards I see that I like.

Topps Black

2009-03-13T15:47:00.009-04:00

Topps is probably my favorite brand mostly, because when I was a kid collecting cards, that was the only brand. I've been completing a set of Topps base since I returned to the hobby in 2005. Each year there seems to be something added to the set and this year is no different. Everyone in the blogosphere knows what Topps is doing with their blaster boxes this year. Not only do you get a Retired Legend Commemorative patch card (which I think are COOL!) certain boxes will have a variation of the base set. A couple of weeks ago we have seen the Topps Black cards at the store and now there is going to be a throwback version of the same set. These throwback cards will be made of a similar cardboard stock as the cards were made of years ago and they will carry the Topps throwback logo as well. I was fortunate enough to participate in a group break held by Dan at Grand Cards for the Topps Black. I received my package the other day and it was well worth it, especially since I pulled a patch card.

The cards are different than what I'm used to, but that's ok. They highlight the player's photo on a black background. This card of Reggie Abercrombe is my favorite photo of the set I've seen so far. I wonder if he was safe....Hmmm!?!?

Check out this card of Evan Longoria, which I got from the group break. It almost looks like he's flying!!

I have to include a Tiger....here's Justin Verlander's card.

All in all, I like these cards. Will I be able to complete a set, probably not, but to chase the few Tigers in Series 1 plus the commemorative patch, will have me wanting more of these. It's just one more way for Topps to get you to want and buy more of their product. Another thing about these cards.....they have a scent to them which I think is due to the abundance of black ink used to produce the cards.

I look forward to seeing the "throwback" version.

Mail Day!

2009-03-09T09:37:00.003-04:00

Friday was a good, no scratch that, an excellent day to look in the mail box. It was stuffed with 3 bubble envelopes and best of all, a letter from the Detroit Tigers. I knew the bubble envelopes were from some ebay auctions I won but I wasn't sure what was in the envelope from the Tigers. I immediately opened the Tigers envelope and low and behold, it was a congratulations letter. I was just hired to work at Comerica Park during the 2009 Tigers baseball season!! Boy was I HAPPY!! I have been trying for several years to get a job there and I thought this year was going to be even harder with the way today's economy is, especially in Michigan.

As for the rest of the mail, more additions to my Detroit Tigers collection. I got a 2009 Turkey Red of Curtis Granderson and Miguel Cabrera, a 2009 Topps Legends of the Game Ty Cobb and a 2008 Ballpark Collection quad jersey of Granderson, Jeter, Furcal and Weeks. I wanted this card because how many cards are going to be made with a Granderson and Jeter game used jersey??

1975 Topps

2009-03-08T20:54:00.007-04:00

I'm taking a break from watching the WBC to add this tonight. Venezuala and USA are playing right now. My wife and I are having a hard time deciding which team to root for. Venezuala has 4 Tigers playing tonight and USA....well it's USA, plus Curtis Granderson is on the team. I just watched my beloved Tigers go hitless in their first at-bats. Cabrera struckout in the 1st inning, Ordonez flied out to Granderson, Guillen grounded out to 2nd in the 2nd inning and Granderson grounded out to 3rd to start the 3rd inning. So far the only bright spot for the Tigers today is Galarraga, he has struck out 3 batters in the first two innings, Pedroia(swinging), Chipper(looking) and Dunn(looking). Awesome, especially after how the Tigers pitching did in today's spring training game against the Yankees.

In 1975, Topps decided to try something different....they came out with a "mini" baseball card set. The cards look exactly like the regular sized set just smaller. I heard one time years ago that Topps was testing these cards in certain markets and Detroit happened to be one of them. Unbeknowst to me and my friends, or anyone else for that matter, the cards would be smaller in 1975. You have to remember...the information highway was a lot slower in 1975 than it is today. I'd been collecting baseball cards for about 3 years by then and every spring I couldn't wait for the cards to show up on the counter at the corner store. I would stop at the store on the way home from school to check the counter. When they finally arrived, I was so excited!! I couldn't wait to see what the cards looked like each year. I bought a couple of packs and opened them, but something just wasn't right. Even at the age of 10, I knew something was up. The design was colorful and even though each player on a team had a different color border, something else seemed different. I went home and sorted them by team then put them away with my others cards and that's when the mystery was solved....they were smaller. I still bought them that summer but not as much as I would have if they were the normal size.

I am working on completing a Tigers team set of both sizes and I would be willing to make some trades to complete my set. Let me know if you have any and are willing to trade.

The Original A-Rod!

2009-03-05T12:28:00.002-05:00

My two favorite players growing up were Willie Horton and (my all-time favorite) Aurelio Rodriguez…..the original A-Rod! Me, being of Mexican descent, you can say he was my idol. The plays he made at 3^rd base were UNBELIEVABLE and he had an arm like a rocket.

I remember going to a game at Tiger Stadium with my parents and he was signing autographs and by the time my mother and I got to where he was by the dugout, he left to go warm up. My mother spoke to him in Spanish he replied back that he had to get ready for the game, so no autograph for me. We had excellent seats for the game between the dugout and homeplate. When he came up to bat, my mother shouted for him to hit a homerun in Spanish and sure enough, he did it. I still remember the game like it was yesterday.

It wasn’t until 1988 that I would get another chance to meet him and get his autograph…FINALLY!! In fact, I was able to get every card and picture I had of him autographed. I lived in Colorado Springs for a short time and it so happened to be the same year the Sky Sox (Indians AAA team at the time) moved back there. He was one of coaches and I got a job at the ballpark selling Pepsi and peanuts in the stands. Game 2 was my chance, opening day was a zoo, I got to the park early with my stuff and waited for the team to come onto the field. When I saw him, I introduced myself to him and told him I was from Detroit and he was happy to be remembered. From that day on we would talk everyday and I would get an occasional game ball or broken bat. I remember him trying to teach Terry Francona how to play 3^rd, but I’ll save that for another post.

Unfortunately his life was shortened while he was in Detroit to attend a card show in 2000. While walking to his car after lunch, he was struck by a car whose driver suffered a stroke and jumped the curb. He died later that day in the hospital.

Rodriguez spent 9 yrs with the Tigers and even though he wasn’t a power hitter like today’s A-Rod, he was one of the best defensive 3^rd basemen in the game. He even won a Gold Glove in 1976 breaking Brooks Robinson’s streak of 16 straight Gold Gloves. He played with 7 teams in his 17 yr career playing in 4 American League Championships Series and 1 World Series with the Yankees which they won, where he hit .417.

The original A-Rod lives on in this fans heart!

Welcome!!

2009-03-05T10:45:00.002-05:00

Hello! I have decided to do something I've wanted to do for a long time...start a blog about baseball and baseball cards. Yes, there are a ton of sites already dedicated to this but it never hurts to get a new perspective on things. I hope as time goes by you will enjoy what you read and share this with other fans of the sport and hobby. I will start my first few posts sharing some of my favorite cards, players and baseball experiences. You may not agree with some of the players I think are great or not so great and that's ok, this is America. So as my wife says, "Sit back, enjoy and have a Fresca!"