A Trade with The Angels, in Order

Tom from The Angels, in Order sent me a nice stack of cards today.

Inside was what appeared to be a complete team set of the 2007 Tennessee Smokies, the Chicago Cubs AA affiliate. Lots of Major Leaguer's were in this set.
The manager, Pat Listach, a former American League Rookie of the Year with the Milwaukee Brewers.

Current New York Met, Jerry Blevins, whom the Mets traded for from the Washington Nationals this past spring, was also in this set.

When I got to these next 2 cards, which were back-to-back in the pile, I muttered to myself "oh, man!" and a bit louder at the second one.

In December I attended Sam Fuld's SLAM Diabetes whiffle ball tournament in Tampa, Florida. Several baseball players were involved and were all easily accessible for autographs. Unfortunately, I didn't have a card of Sam, but now I do, so if he continues his event in the Tampa Bay area, I hope to attend and have him sign this for me.
I saw Jake Fox many times throughout the spring when I'd see the Blue Jays play. Never had a card of him either.

Tom also helped with some sets that I'm trying to complete.
My 1985 Topps set is now finished as he supplied the lone missing card of Bob Boone.

I'm a bit closer to completing the 1991 Leaf series 2 set with the addition of Dave Winfield.

These three 1983 Topps cards now leave me with just one remaining before I can call this set complete.

Thanks for the cards, Tom. I will send you some cards in return very soon.

22-Card Pack of 2015 Bowman

It's been a couple of weeks since I've opened a pack of cards. Though, it's not for a lack of trying. I go to Target a lot, twice this week, and I just haven't found anything I'd like to own. Sure, they have a decent selection, but I'm so picky, it's cards I just have zero interest in.
Last night I went to Walmart and found the 22-card packs of Bowman, something that 2 different Targets didn't seem to carry in my visits this week.
I like Bowman because of their diversity with established players and prospects.
I did get several cards of players I've never had cards of, so that was nice.
Not much for highlights in this pack. I got a mini card of Blue Jays prospect, Jeff Hoffman.

However, the best part of this pack was getting 3 Mets cards.

Unfortunately, 2 of these Mets have been on the disabled list for quite a while.
David Wright was diagnosed with spinal stenosis and there's no timetable for his return.
Jhoan Urena is on the St. Lucie Mets Roster, but injured himself swinging back in May. I've seen St. Lucie play in 3 different series this season and he hasn't traveled to any of them. I already had that Bowman card and have been bringing it with me to each game, hoping he'd be activated.
Steven Matz appears to be the next big pitching prospect to emerge for the Mets. He's currently in AAA, but expected to be called up real soon.
This card was a nice surprise. A purple parallel numbered 036/250.

The cards I don't need will soon be added to my tradelist page, as well as my Zistle.

Cards from Bob Walk the Plank

Matt from Bob Walk the Plank reached out to me recently and said he had some Mets cards to send my way. Never turning my back from free cards, I quickly gave him my home address and eagerly waited for the cards to arrive.

Liked them, I did. Five Mets cards, all completely new to my collection.

I really like the Travis d'Arnaud autographed card. I just met him a couple of weeks ago while he was on a rehab assignment with the St. Lucie Mets of the Florida State League. That is definitely his signature.

I'll have to dig through my collection to send something back to Matt as appreciation for these cards. Look for an envelope from me soon, Matt.

2015 Florida State League Top Prospects

This week the Florida State League released their Top Prospects Commemorative Trading Card Set. These sets are fun to look at now, and also to look back on in a few years just to see how these players eventually turned out.

Here's the entire 25 card set (24 players + 1 checklist). No numbers on the backs of the cards, but this is the order that they came in.

Alex Reyes (Palm Beach Cardinals) - #3 rated prospect by the St. Louis Cardinals.
Grayson Greiner (Lakeland Flying Tigers) - #7 rated prospect by the Detroit Tigers.
Nick Travieso (Daytona Tortugas) - #5 rated prospect by the Cincinnati Reds.
Matt Imhof (Clearwater Threshers) - #7 rated prospect by the Philadelphia Phillies.
Rob Kaminsky (Palm Beach Cardinals) - #4 rated prospect by the St. Louis Cardinals.

Amed Rosario (St. Lucie Mets) - #6 rated prospect by the New York Mets. I saw St. Lucie play today and got Amed to sign this card for me after the game.

Brian Anderson (Jupiter Hammerheads) - #9 rated prospect by the Miami Marlins.

Willy Adames (Charlotte Stone Crabs) - #3 rated prospect by the Tampa Bay Rays.

Dawel Lugo (Dunedin Blue Jays) - #15 rated prospect by the Toronto Blue Jays.

Ian Clarkin (Tampa Yankees) - #6 rated prospect by the New York Yankees.

Victor Roache (Brevard County Manatees) - #13 rated prospect by the Milwaukee Brewers.

Kohl Stewart (Fort Myers Miracle) - #6 rated prospect by the Minnesota Twins.

Michael Conforto (St. Lucie Mets) - #4 rated prospect by the New York Mets.

Clint Coulter (Brevard County Manatees) - #4 rated prospect by the Milwaukee Brewers.

Chih-Wei Hu (Fort Myers Miracle) - #22 rated prospect by the Minnesota Twins.

Mitch Nay (Dunedin Blue Jays) - #8 rated prospect by the Toronto Blue Jays.

Kevin Ziomek (Lakeland Flying Tigers) - #4 rated prospect by the Detroit Tigers.

J.P. Crawford (Clearwater Threshers) - #1 rated prospect by the Philadelphia Phillies.

Phillip Ervin (Daytona Tortugas) - #8 rated prospect by the Cincinnati Reds.

Avery Romero (Jupiter Hammerheads) - #4 rated prospect by the Miami Marlins.

Rookie Davis (Tampa Yankees) - #23 rated prospect by the New York Yankees.

Reese McGuire (Bradenton Marauders) - #5 rated prospect by the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Austin Meadows (Bradenton Marauders) - #4 rated prospect by the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Ryne Stanek (Charlotte Stone Crabs) - #18 rated prospect by the Tampa Bay Rays.

Overall, it's a nice set with great photography. All but one seem to be live action shots.

I can't wait to revisit this set in a few years.

Tony Oliva

The Fort Myers Miracle, Minnesota Twins' Florida State League affiliate, a team that plays over 2 hours away from me, had a promotion tonight called Latino Heritage Night with special guest, Tony Oliva. Any guesses where I spent my evening tonight?

My brother and I made the trip south to Hammond Stadium, for our first ever visit.

Once inside, Tony Oliva was all set up at a table already signing autographs and taking pictures with fans. The line was about 20 people deep when we got there. Not bad at all.
On the table in front of Tony O was this sheet of paper listing Tony's accomplishments in baseball. 

Those look Hall of Fame worthy to me, yet he hasn't been enshrined in Cooperstown.

Mr. Oliva was kind to everyone, very friendly and signing anything placed in front of him (2 item limit).
It was well worth the drive.

Buddy Borden's No-Hitter

On May 13, 2015 I attended a 10:30am game between the Charlotte Stone Crabs (Rays) and Clearwater Threshers (Phillies) of the Florida State League at Bright House Field in Clearwater, Florida.

Buddy Borden, the starting pitcher for the Stone Crabs, who was acquired in the off-season from the Pittsburgh Pirates, ended up tossing a no-hitter that day.
I didn't have a card of Buddy at the time, but that night I immediately ordered one.
I had to wait nearly a month before the Stone Crabs came back to my area. A series with the Dunedin Blue Jays kicked off this week and I attended todays game, an 11am start time.
For my sake, I was happy to see Buddy was still with the team. He had a 6-2 record and was just announced as a Florida State League All-Star this week.
Coincidentally, another morning start for him that I got to witness.
No no-hitter for him today, but he did get the win, making him 7-2 on the season.
After the game I asked him for an autograph. He came over and I handed him my card.

I told him that I never ask for more than one autograph, but I was going to make an exception with him. He said that he didn't mind and would sign as many as I want. I then pulled out the ticket stub pictured above and asked him if he knew the significance of this ticket. He smiled and I told him I was at that game. He happily signed it for me.

I'm not much of a memorabilia collector. All I care about is getting cards signed in person on my own, but having this ticket stub signed with the inscription is pretty special to me.

A COMC Order

I order a lot of single cards from Sportlots, but very rarely check out COMC. Sportlots seems cheaper, especially with most of the cards I buy only being 18¢, but then shipping is closer to a $1 for each card. Individual cards at COMC are typically higher priced, but shipping is a flat $3 for as many cards as you purchase per order. I haven't quite broken it down to see where I'm better off buying from, I'm just happy that I have options on where to buy singles.

Todays' delivery from COMC brought me 6 cards of players and coaches in the Florida State League that I didn't have cards of. Hopefully I'll be able to get these signed before the season ends.

Joe Ayrault is the Manager of the Brevard County Manatees (Brewers). I remember him playing for the Atlanta Braves and thought for sure he'd have a MLB card, but I couldn't find one. This card was listed at $3.25 on COMC, but I didn't want to spend that much. I tried Sportlots, but couldn't find any of his cards on there. So, I held off. I've already seen his team play a few times already this season. I even talked to him the last time I saw them. He approached me before the game asking whose autograph I was waiting for. I told him I was looking for Wei-Chung Wang. Wei-Chung's translator happened to be in the dugout, a few feet from Joe, so Joe told him to go get Wei-Chung and tell him he has someone waiting for him. A minute later Wei-Chung comes out with his translator and ends up signing one of my favorite looking signatures.

I thanked Joe and went on my way.
Jeff Smith is the manager of the Fort Myers Miracle (Twins), whom I have yet to see play this season.
Willians Astudillo, aside from having a cool name, is a Phillies prospect playing for my local team, the Clearwater Threshers.

The rest of my COMC order includes:

Luis Heredia was recently promoted to the Bradenton Marauders (Pirates). I had read that the team signed him when he was 16 and he was highly touted, so I decided to order a card of him.
Jeff McNeil plays for my favorite team, the New York Mets, but I specifically sought out a card of his because he is the current batting leader in the Florida State League. As of this post, he's batting .344.
Ben Verlander is a Detroit Tigers farmhand, playing for the Lakeland Flying Tigers. He also happens to be the younger brother of Justin.

I can't wait to add these cards to my autograph collection.

1400

That number has a lot of significance to me. It was the street number of the house I grew up in. Where my love for baseball, baseball cards, and autographs all began.

Photo courtesy of Google Maps

Ironically, it's also the street number of my current residence.

Photo courtesy of Google Maps

On Saturday, June 6, 2015, the number became even more meaningful.

My brother and I drove 3+ hours to the east coast of Florida to Roger Dean Stadium, home of the Florida State League's Jupiter Hammerheads (Marlins) and Palm Beach Cardinals.

We saw the St. Lucie Mets (featuring 2 MLB players on rehab assignments, Travis d'Arnaud and Dilson Herrera) play the Palm Beach Cardinals.

It was there that I got 7 autographs, the 7th being my 1400th card signed. How appropriate, it was also one of my newest cards. A 2015 Topps Pro Debut card of St. Louis Cardinals prospect, Alex Reyes.

Just a reminder, but that's 1400 different cards signed. I never ask players to sign more than one card.

They're not all baseball cards. To break it down, it's:

11 Football cards

1 Basketball card

1 Wrestling card

1387 Baseball cards.

This is where they all reside, a 5" binder.

Here's the last page of the album, where autographs 1396-1400 sit.

A side view of the album, showing all 156 pages.

That binder has all my autographed cards in the order that I received them. It all started with Jose Canseco, but didn't become a full blown hobby until I got David Wells.

Who knows how long I'll keep this hobby going, but if I get another 1400 autographs, to paraphrase Chief Martin Brody...

Photo courtesy of galleryhip.com

"We're gonna need a bigger binder."

My First Zistle Trade

I joined Zistle a little more than a month ago. I mainly used it to compliment my tradelist page listed above. My primary focus was adding cards to trade, but never listing any cards I'd want in return. Realizing that I'm not using the site to its full potential, I quickly started adding cards to my wantlist. Mainly missing cards from sets that I've never completed and also cards of my childhood baseball hero, Darryl Strawberry.

Voila! When adding cards to your wantlist, people will find you. Shortly after, someone reached out to me, offering several Strawberry cards. I was interested. Sadly, the person discovered that most of the cards that he originally offered, he no longer had. I explained to him that my wantlist was kind of bare because I was still new to the site and fairly unsure of what I wanted to collect. I told him that I collect Mets cards, but I understood that the site doesn't allow you to just list teams that you collect.
Even without the promised Strawberry cards, I still agreed to the trade.
I'm not completely sure how Zistle works. I received his cards, but never got an address to ship the ones that I owe him. There was a return address on the envelope, so I will get his cards out to him tomorrow.

Here's what I got in my first trade:

Getting closer to finishing my 1991 Leaf series 2 set (6 cards remaining), I got Don Mattingly and Turner Ward.

There were a couple Darryl Strawberry cards that I didn't have.

 

When I realized that my wantlist was bare, I went and randomly picked Mets cards that I wanted. After the Zistle trader discovered he no longer had the Strawberry cards that he originally offered, he went back through my wantlist and saw this card was recently added, a 1983 Fleer John Stearns.

Knowing I collected Mets cards, the Zistle trader added these 3 cards as well, finalizing the deal.

So far, I'm happy with how things turned out. I just need to figure out what I want to collect.