It's been a while since I've posted. I just haven't bought any cards in about a month. Though, I have been getting a lot of autographs this spring.
In my mailbox this week I discovered an envelope from Brian of subjectiveandarbitrary.blogspot.com.
He sent me all the Mets cards he got from a recent break of his.
Every single card was from the years that I was no longer in the hobby.
Some of these were really nice. I love the Fleer Greats set. I may look into obtaining some more of those. I wasn't crazy about the set that looked like paintings.
I think these were the only Mets inserts that were in the break. The Mo Vaughn card is really thick, not sure why it needed to be.
I'm always happy to add more Mets cards to my collection, and I thank Brian for adding my name to his list of participators.
I completed my first trade today. Brian, over at Highly Subjective and Completely Arbitrary sent me an envelope full of Mets cards. In exchange, I sent him several cards off his wantlists.
We never said exactly what we were sending each other, so it was basically a blind trade.
My last trade was probably 20+ years ago, and involved a Beckett Price Guide at my side, so we'd both be getting a fair deal. This one was completely new to me, yet exciting at the same time.
Brian, knowing that I'm a New York Mets fan, did not disappoint in what he sent me. There were cards from the 1970's, including former Mets player and manager, Bud Harrelson.
A couple of Sportflics cards of Keith Hernandez and Sid Fernandez.
A card of Tim Teufel that confused me at first.
Darryl Strawberry cards as a Los Angeles Dodger. The second one being new to the collection.
And finally, a 1984 Donruss card of Bill Gullickson as a Montreal Expo. Huh?
I'm not sure if that was mistakenly thrown in, or if Brian knows of my admiration of that '84 Donruss design.
Anyway, I'm very pleased with what I received, and hope that Brian is equally happy with what I sent his way.
I'm looking forward to completing many more trades.
Today I visited the Toronto Blue Jays spring training complex in Dunedin, Florida. I found the roster online of all players invited. It featured the 40-man roster as well as the non-roster invitees. I went through all my cards, pulling all the ones who were listed. One player's card I had, Devon Travis, was wearing a Detroit Tigers Minor League uniform. I didn't know anything about him, but I just assumed that the Tigers probably dumped him and the Jays were willing to give him a shot.
He was wearing number 77, a sure sign that his stay in big league camp was not going to be long. After watching him take batting practice, I approached him for an autograph. He signed my card and liked my pen of choice, a retractable Sharpie.
When I got home, I posted the card on my autograph site (it won't be posted until June 2017, so enjoy the sneak peek above).
I always add the Baseball Reference page for each player. While reading his page, I was blown away at how well he's performed.
Granted, he only has 3 professional seasons under his belt, but those numbers were impressive.
I have no idea what the Toronto Blue Jays infield is like, but I do have a strong feeling that Devon Travis will be involved in it in the near future. It may not be in 2015, but I will bet that he'll be wearing a much lower jersey number come spring training 2016.
