We're in the middle of moving so all of my energy has been directed to cleaning and scrounging up boxes. Yea.
Hopefully, I'll be able to post more next week. I just found out that Comcast can't hook up my cable until next saturday, as in 11 days from now. So unless one of my new neighbors gratefully provides free wireless I'll be participating in my draft from Starbucks.
Oh well.
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
A Little Bit of Hockey Talk
For most teams in the NHL the season is about three weeks away. Which, much like The Miz, IS AWESOME! Most training camps will open around the 15th of September and our long, hot summer will officially be over. Before the puck drops for the season opener I will have some sort of season preview posted (probably) detailing the Southeast Conference (maybe) and focusing on the beloved Lightning (of course). In the meantime, let us take a quick look at what transpired over the last 3 months or so of off-season.
If last season was the summer of Kovalchuk, then this season was the summer of unneeded worry. It started with the Steven Stamkos contract status and is drawing to a close with another round of Sidney Crosby concussion drama. For the 18th summer running the Phoenix Coyotes were in the running to move to Canada and were being courted by people with more money than me. Yet, they’ll be playing at least one more season in the desert.
In the end the biggest news was a team actually moving to Canada and a team blowing up it’s core to overpay a Russian goaltender. Unfortunately for Antero Niittymaki and his 176-0 record against them, the Atlanta Thrashers are no more. In less time then it took HP to release and then discontinue their iPad Killer, the team was sold and moved to the Great White North to the delight of thousands, if not millions, of Canadians.
Will they survive? Who knows? As a matter of fact, who cares? For the next three seasons at least the novelty of NHL hockey in Winnipeg will keep the team rolling along. Once they figure out the re-alignment issues next year the Jets won’t really be the Lightning’s problem any longer. As for now, the long commute for Southeast teams will make plenty of fodder for columnists all along the south.
As for the Flyers, well that was a busy off-season, eh? They cleared some cap space by trading away Jeff Carter and their captain Mike Richards. That space was promptly taken up when they traded for the rights to Ilya Bryzgalov and signed him to a nine year deal. Despite blowing their wad on a goalie that was only marginally better than the one the had the year before it didn’t stop them from being the number one thorn in Lightning fan’s sides for most of the spring/early summer.
Why is that? Well because they were going to sign Steven Stamkos to a 10 year $120 million offer sheet. Remember that? Now, in the aftermath, doesn’t it seem a little ludicrous? Doesn’t it seem like we all wasted a lot of thoughts on something that really wasn’t going to happen? Steven is happily signed to a reasonable deal (although it doesn’t seem he’s wasted any of it on a haircut) and no GM performed career suicide by sending in an offer sheet.
The Stamkos pseudo-drama was really the highlight of an off-season that GM Steve Yzerman put together in an efficient and lack luster manner. There was no mesmerizing of other teams in cap-dumping deals or deals that brought back beloved ex-Lightning players. Well unless you really liked Michel Ouellet, which I’m going to guess isn’t many of you.
Sure, play-off hero Sean Bergenheim took the money and his talents to South Beach but, for all he did last year, in the end he was a third line winger. Third line wingers are replaceable and hopefully Ryan Shannon shows that. Oh yeah, he re-signed ageless net minder and instant local hero Dewayne Roloson. So now we don’t even have a goalie controversy to bitch about during the pre-season. No fun at all that Yzerman guy.
Since there is nothing really exciting to talk about in the NHL right now (soccer kits!) the focus has returned to young Mr. Sidney Crosby and the condition of his brain. Depending on whose Tweets you read first he is:
A. locked in a dark room and moments away from retirement
B. scaling back his workouts as the new season approaches and there is nothing more to see here, move along, move along. Hey is that Sean Avery beating up a cop over there?
C. a whiney, untalented, poster boy for a league run by a midget megalomaniac who wants to annex Canada.
We can all agree that if the worst is true and he does have to retire, it will make for the greatest “What if” in hockey since Mario hurt his back. As in, “What if Sidney hadn’t gotten hurt, would he have challenged for second place in all the record books?”
“What if Crosby hadn’t gotten hurt, who would have had more goals- him, Stamkos or Ovechkin?”
“What if he hadn’t gotten hurt, would all of that Crosby-hate not been turned on Stammer?”
You can imagine the rest of the awkwardly phrased scenarios yourself. Go ahead, I actually have to go make lunch so I’ll give you some time.
OK. Where were we? Oh yea, now I remember. So despite him having missed anymore time since the end of last season we’re experiencing another round of Crosby Concussion Concern. Let’s face it folks, no one other than Sidney Crosby himself knows if he’s going to miss any games next season. As a matter of fact, he probably doesn’t even know.
Unlike a knee injury or a broken nose, there is no physical benchmark to know when you’re completely over a concussion. One day you can’t workout without seeing spots, the next day you can. There really is no rhyme or reason, and most frustrating no way to rehab it. If you blow out your knee you know that you can get surgery and then it’s a matter of doing your physical therapy and it will heal.
What can you do for a concussion? Nothing. Literally. That’s what you do. Nothing.
I don’t think Crosby’s career is over. It might be delayed, but I think he will be back. In the end, this will be a tale of a team and a player taking the safest possible route to dealing with an injury. Unfortunately, with the insatiable need for news that dominates sports these days, doing nothing is sometimes bigger news than doing something.
If last season was the summer of Kovalchuk, then this season was the summer of unneeded worry. It started with the Steven Stamkos contract status and is drawing to a close with another round of Sidney Crosby concussion drama. For the 18th summer running the Phoenix Coyotes were in the running to move to Canada and were being courted by people with more money than me. Yet, they’ll be playing at least one more season in the desert.
In the end the biggest news was a team actually moving to Canada and a team blowing up it’s core to overpay a Russian goaltender. Unfortunately for Antero Niittymaki and his 176-0 record against them, the Atlanta Thrashers are no more. In less time then it took HP to release and then discontinue their iPad Killer, the team was sold and moved to the Great White North to the delight of thousands, if not millions, of Canadians.
Will they survive? Who knows? As a matter of fact, who cares? For the next three seasons at least the novelty of NHL hockey in Winnipeg will keep the team rolling along. Once they figure out the re-alignment issues next year the Jets won’t really be the Lightning’s problem any longer. As for now, the long commute for Southeast teams will make plenty of fodder for columnists all along the south.
As for the Flyers, well that was a busy off-season, eh? They cleared some cap space by trading away Jeff Carter and their captain Mike Richards. That space was promptly taken up when they traded for the rights to Ilya Bryzgalov and signed him to a nine year deal. Despite blowing their wad on a goalie that was only marginally better than the one the had the year before it didn’t stop them from being the number one thorn in Lightning fan’s sides for most of the spring/early summer.
Why is that? Well because they were going to sign Steven Stamkos to a 10 year $120 million offer sheet. Remember that? Now, in the aftermath, doesn’t it seem a little ludicrous? Doesn’t it seem like we all wasted a lot of thoughts on something that really wasn’t going to happen? Steven is happily signed to a reasonable deal (although it doesn’t seem he’s wasted any of it on a haircut) and no GM performed career suicide by sending in an offer sheet.
The Stamkos pseudo-drama was really the highlight of an off-season that GM Steve Yzerman put together in an efficient and lack luster manner. There was no mesmerizing of other teams in cap-dumping deals or deals that brought back beloved ex-Lightning players. Well unless you really liked Michel Ouellet, which I’m going to guess isn’t many of you.
Sure, play-off hero Sean Bergenheim took the money and his talents to South Beach but, for all he did last year, in the end he was a third line winger. Third line wingers are replaceable and hopefully Ryan Shannon shows that. Oh yeah, he re-signed ageless net minder and instant local hero Dewayne Roloson. So now we don’t even have a goalie controversy to bitch about during the pre-season. No fun at all that Yzerman guy.
Since there is nothing really exciting to talk about in the NHL right now (soccer kits!) the focus has returned to young Mr. Sidney Crosby and the condition of his brain. Depending on whose Tweets you read first he is:
A. locked in a dark room and moments away from retirement
B. scaling back his workouts as the new season approaches and there is nothing more to see here, move along, move along. Hey is that Sean Avery beating up a cop over there?
C. a whiney, untalented, poster boy for a league run by a midget megalomaniac who wants to annex Canada.
We can all agree that if the worst is true and he does have to retire, it will make for the greatest “What if” in hockey since Mario hurt his back. As in, “What if Sidney hadn’t gotten hurt, would he have challenged for second place in all the record books?”
“What if Crosby hadn’t gotten hurt, who would have had more goals- him, Stamkos or Ovechkin?”
“What if he hadn’t gotten hurt, would all of that Crosby-hate not been turned on Stammer?”
You can imagine the rest of the awkwardly phrased scenarios yourself. Go ahead, I actually have to go make lunch so I’ll give you some time.
OK. Where were we? Oh yea, now I remember. So despite him having missed anymore time since the end of last season we’re experiencing another round of Crosby Concussion Concern. Let’s face it folks, no one other than Sidney Crosby himself knows if he’s going to miss any games next season. As a matter of fact, he probably doesn’t even know.
Unlike a knee injury or a broken nose, there is no physical benchmark to know when you’re completely over a concussion. One day you can’t workout without seeing spots, the next day you can. There really is no rhyme or reason, and most frustrating no way to rehab it. If you blow out your knee you know that you can get surgery and then it’s a matter of doing your physical therapy and it will heal.
What can you do for a concussion? Nothing. Literally. That’s what you do. Nothing.
I don’t think Crosby’s career is over. It might be delayed, but I think he will be back. In the end, this will be a tale of a team and a player taking the safest possible route to dealing with an injury. Unfortunately, with the insatiable need for news that dominates sports these days, doing nothing is sometimes bigger news than doing something.
Saturday, August 20, 2011
If It's About the O's It Must Be About Next Year
The other day I was watching the Rays play someone. OK, I wasn’t really watching it, more like it was playing in the background while I was goofing around on the internet. Normally, I would have the O’s as my white noise, but as of late the quasi-legal website I use hasn’t been streaming their games. Not that I blame them. I probably wouldn’t waste my server space on them either at this point.
What the heck happened since those heady days of April? Do you remember way back then? The team was 6-0. Zach Britton was the rookie darling of the American League. Brian Roberts was in the lineup. Now, it’s so different. All of that mojo is gone and they’re back on pace for another 100 loss season.
The bulk of the failure can be placed on the shoulders of the pitching staff. Injuries and lack of effectiveness from the young prospects doomed this team to a last place finish. Zach Britton, Jake Arrieta, and Brian Matusz have all suffered time on the DL and frankly the organization didn’t have enough depth to replace them.
Without the core of their staff being able to pitch deep into games the less than average bullpen was taxed beyond its limited capabilities. In a perfect world, the starters would be able to work into the seventh inning on a regular basis and then the triple-headed monster of Jim Johnson, Koju Uehera and Keven Gregg could finish out the game. Sprinkle in Mike Gonzalez for the occasional lefty and things would be alright. Needless to say that didn’t happen.
While the bulk of the problems can be heaped onto the pitching staff, there were other factors in play as well. In the off-season the O’s made four big moves. The results would be 50/50. They hit expectations on one (Mark Reynolds), exceeded with another (JJ Hardy) and missed on two (Derrick Lee and Vlad Guerrero). The good news on the Lee and Vlad moves is that neither move was long term. Lee has already been moved and Guerrero won’t be back next year. However, not having them provide the offense expected hurt the team’s chances to get to .500 or compete for postseason play.
Being in the bottom third of fielding percentage didn’t help them this year either. Every missed grounder, every errant throw made it harder for the young pitchers to work deep into games. Almost as damaging are the plays that don’t go down as errors. The missed double plays and pop-ups that drop between players can be what separate good teams from below average ones. If maximizing the outs you get on offense is important, so is minimizing the outs you give your opposition. The Yankees are tough enough to beat when they get 27 outs, if you give them 2 or 3 more a game then they are almost impossible to beat.
With this year done, I guess it’s not to early to talk about next year. There is a more than reasonable chance that Andy McPhail might not be back as GM. Even if he is back I would expect the pressure from management to make a big splash, not only to improve the team, but to improve the attendance. The best way to do that is with a free agent signing.
With first base still an unsettled position, expect the O’s to make an attempt at a big splash with Prince Fielder, and to a lesser extent Albert Pujols. Personally, I think Big Al will re-sign with St. Louis for an astronomical sum. A sum that is going to do nothing but drive up the price for Fielder.
Will they make a run for him? More importantly, is there enough in place to make Baltimore an enticing place for him to land? Working in the O’s favor is the fact that the two big boy, the Yankees and Red Sox, are set in that position as well as DH. I would assume that Cubs, and whoever becomes their new GM, will make a big push for the portly slugger. Milwaukee and the Dodgers might make a play as well.
For fun’s sake let us say that he does sign with the O’s. In which case, I predict he will be the first player to hit the warehouse in live action. More importantly will it do more than ignite the fan base? Are they in a position where one big name could make a difference?
The positions that it looks like the O’s have set for next year are:
Catcher - Matt Wieters
Shortstop - JJ Hardy
Right Field - Nick Markakis
Centerfield - Adam Jones
Third base - Mark Reynolds
With Fielder it would for six out of eight positions filled. Second base would remain the biggest question point. At some point everyone is going to have realize that Brian Roberts is no longer the answer. Even if he returns from his neurological issues he won’t be the same player he was simply because he will be two years removed from his prime.
Unfortunately, there isn’t much out there in the free agent market for them to pick from and none of the internal options they tried this year (Blake Davis, Robert Andino, and Ryan Adams) made a case for being a starter. Their best prospect at the position, LJ Hoes, spent the bulk of his year in Bowie playing in the outfield. So barring a trade it doesn’t look like that problem is going away any time soon.
Whatever they end up doing, defense should factor in more than offense. With a young pitching staff it is imperative that the infield be as strong defensively as possible. There is enough pop in the lineup to afford a .250 player who posses some semblance of defensive talent. I wish I had a name to throw out there, but at this point I don’t.
Left field isn’t as glaring of a problem as they can hopefully roll out a healthy Luke Scott and Nolan Reimold next season. Played right they could form a lethal platoon along the lines of John Lowenstein and Gary Roenicke.
Let me go off on a tangent here for a moment. Right before Scott’s season was ended prematurely because of shoulder surgery I read that he was “due for a raise” in arbitration. Isn’t there something wrong with the system when a player making $6.4 million dollars is “due” a raise after a year in which he only appeared in 64 games, struck out 25% of the time and only reached base 30% of the time? That’s not even an average season and he gets to negotiate how big his raise is? The arbitration should be for how much lower his salary should be, not how much higher.
OK, back to the issue at hand. Which I guess is how the O’s will improve over a disappointing season. At least that’s what I think I’m writing about. The rain outside is making me sleepy, and I’m upset that the air show is being delayed. Stupid rain!
There is enough talent in the outfield right now to be able to sacrifice a gold glover for some offense, and honestly, if they promote from within Reimold should be given the job to lose. He can hold his own out there and would provide some much needed right-handed power in the lineup.
Next season, like this season, will live and die with the pitching staff. The bullpen has to be shored up with people who can work the sixth and seventh innings. Two innings which will become even more important if Jim Johnson finally makes his long awaited appearance in the starting rotation. Perhaps swapping him with Alfredo Simon would be an option, but they still need something other than warm bodies sitting the bullpen.
I predict and extremely negative off-season from O’s fans on message boards and radio talk shows unless GM Andy McPhail can pull off something in a hurray. The fan base will no longer be placated by uniform changes or stadium improvements. Even if they welcome Cal Ripken back in some sort of management role, the fans will scream for on the field improvements. Honestly, after sitting through this season I can’t blame them.
What the heck happened since those heady days of April? Do you remember way back then? The team was 6-0. Zach Britton was the rookie darling of the American League. Brian Roberts was in the lineup. Now, it’s so different. All of that mojo is gone and they’re back on pace for another 100 loss season.
The bulk of the failure can be placed on the shoulders of the pitching staff. Injuries and lack of effectiveness from the young prospects doomed this team to a last place finish. Zach Britton, Jake Arrieta, and Brian Matusz have all suffered time on the DL and frankly the organization didn’t have enough depth to replace them.
Without the core of their staff being able to pitch deep into games the less than average bullpen was taxed beyond its limited capabilities. In a perfect world, the starters would be able to work into the seventh inning on a regular basis and then the triple-headed monster of Jim Johnson, Koju Uehera and Keven Gregg could finish out the game. Sprinkle in Mike Gonzalez for the occasional lefty and things would be alright. Needless to say that didn’t happen.
While the bulk of the problems can be heaped onto the pitching staff, there were other factors in play as well. In the off-season the O’s made four big moves. The results would be 50/50. They hit expectations on one (Mark Reynolds), exceeded with another (JJ Hardy) and missed on two (Derrick Lee and Vlad Guerrero). The good news on the Lee and Vlad moves is that neither move was long term. Lee has already been moved and Guerrero won’t be back next year. However, not having them provide the offense expected hurt the team’s chances to get to .500 or compete for postseason play.
Being in the bottom third of fielding percentage didn’t help them this year either. Every missed grounder, every errant throw made it harder for the young pitchers to work deep into games. Almost as damaging are the plays that don’t go down as errors. The missed double plays and pop-ups that drop between players can be what separate good teams from below average ones. If maximizing the outs you get on offense is important, so is minimizing the outs you give your opposition. The Yankees are tough enough to beat when they get 27 outs, if you give them 2 or 3 more a game then they are almost impossible to beat.
With this year done, I guess it’s not to early to talk about next year. There is a more than reasonable chance that Andy McPhail might not be back as GM. Even if he is back I would expect the pressure from management to make a big splash, not only to improve the team, but to improve the attendance. The best way to do that is with a free agent signing.
With first base still an unsettled position, expect the O’s to make an attempt at a big splash with Prince Fielder, and to a lesser extent Albert Pujols. Personally, I think Big Al will re-sign with St. Louis for an astronomical sum. A sum that is going to do nothing but drive up the price for Fielder.
Will they make a run for him? More importantly, is there enough in place to make Baltimore an enticing place for him to land? Working in the O’s favor is the fact that the two big boy, the Yankees and Red Sox, are set in that position as well as DH. I would assume that Cubs, and whoever becomes their new GM, will make a big push for the portly slugger. Milwaukee and the Dodgers might make a play as well.
For fun’s sake let us say that he does sign with the O’s. In which case, I predict he will be the first player to hit the warehouse in live action. More importantly will it do more than ignite the fan base? Are they in a position where one big name could make a difference?
The positions that it looks like the O’s have set for next year are:
Catcher - Matt Wieters
Shortstop - JJ Hardy
Right Field - Nick Markakis
Centerfield - Adam Jones
Third base - Mark Reynolds
With Fielder it would for six out of eight positions filled. Second base would remain the biggest question point. At some point everyone is going to have realize that Brian Roberts is no longer the answer. Even if he returns from his neurological issues he won’t be the same player he was simply because he will be two years removed from his prime.
Unfortunately, there isn’t much out there in the free agent market for them to pick from and none of the internal options they tried this year (Blake Davis, Robert Andino, and Ryan Adams) made a case for being a starter. Their best prospect at the position, LJ Hoes, spent the bulk of his year in Bowie playing in the outfield. So barring a trade it doesn’t look like that problem is going away any time soon.
Whatever they end up doing, defense should factor in more than offense. With a young pitching staff it is imperative that the infield be as strong defensively as possible. There is enough pop in the lineup to afford a .250 player who posses some semblance of defensive talent. I wish I had a name to throw out there, but at this point I don’t.
Left field isn’t as glaring of a problem as they can hopefully roll out a healthy Luke Scott and Nolan Reimold next season. Played right they could form a lethal platoon along the lines of John Lowenstein and Gary Roenicke.
Let me go off on a tangent here for a moment. Right before Scott’s season was ended prematurely because of shoulder surgery I read that he was “due for a raise” in arbitration. Isn’t there something wrong with the system when a player making $6.4 million dollars is “due” a raise after a year in which he only appeared in 64 games, struck out 25% of the time and only reached base 30% of the time? That’s not even an average season and he gets to negotiate how big his raise is? The arbitration should be for how much lower his salary should be, not how much higher.
OK, back to the issue at hand. Which I guess is how the O’s will improve over a disappointing season. At least that’s what I think I’m writing about. The rain outside is making me sleepy, and I’m upset that the air show is being delayed. Stupid rain!
There is enough talent in the outfield right now to be able to sacrifice a gold glover for some offense, and honestly, if they promote from within Reimold should be given the job to lose. He can hold his own out there and would provide some much needed right-handed power in the lineup.
Next season, like this season, will live and die with the pitching staff. The bullpen has to be shored up with people who can work the sixth and seventh innings. Two innings which will become even more important if Jim Johnson finally makes his long awaited appearance in the starting rotation. Perhaps swapping him with Alfredo Simon would be an option, but they still need something other than warm bodies sitting the bullpen.
I predict and extremely negative off-season from O’s fans on message boards and radio talk shows unless GM Andy McPhail can pull off something in a hurray. The fan base will no longer be placated by uniform changes or stadium improvements. Even if they welcome Cal Ripken back in some sort of management role, the fans will scream for on the field improvements. Honestly, after sitting through this season I can’t blame them.
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
It's a Festival/Celebration/Jamboree of Minis
I don't like mini cards. They fall out of packs. They require special pages I don't have. My failing eye sight doesn't do well with the small text. They're small.
So I offer them to you, the great mini-loving masses. Please take one or all of these cards of of my hands.
Go here
Find a card you like. Drop me a comment or shoot me an email. We'll work something out. In case people want the same card we'll work that out as well. Usually, first come first serve works best.
If you've never seen 62 minis stacked on top of each other....well now you have.
Look at the pretty minis. Now take them off of my hands!
So I offer them to you, the great mini-loving masses. Please take one or all of these cards of of my hands.
Go here
Find a card you like. Drop me a comment or shoot me an email. We'll work something out. In case people want the same card we'll work that out as well. Usually, first come first serve works best.
If you've never seen 62 minis stacked on top of each other....well now you have.
Look at the pretty minis. Now take them off of my hands!
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
How Did I Miss Ovechkin Playing For The Lightning?
Oh Upper Deck, how I love your mock-ups.
I was wandering around Upper Deck's facebook page the other day looking at product I will never, and I do mean ever, get my hands on. Namely, the 2010-11 version of their highest end product, The Cup.
Religious overreaction aside, they should just name this product "The Holy Grail". Most collectors would love to have the rookie patch/auto cards of their favorite players from this product. However, most collectors probably can't afford them. For instance, Stamkos' rookie from 2008-09 recently closed for a cool $1000. Even the non-auto base cards routinely close for many more ducets then people are willing to part with.
Every year the set is released to much anticipation among the higher end set and Upper Deck is taking to social media to help fuel the drool. On their Facebook page they have been posting pictures for the last month or so.
Despite the description clearly labeling the image as a mock-up several commentors don't quite get the concept. For instance:
Niko K - "Haha ERROR!!!"
Jacob C - "Dang this makes me think that all of my jersey cards are screwed up like this! I'm not gunna trust you anymore, upper deck!"
The cynical among us think it's laziness. I think someone in the art department is having a little fun, perhaps a subtle dig at Ovechkin and the Caps elimination from the playoffs last season.
There is no chance that a card of this magnitude (biggest release of the year of a marquee player) would make it past their quality control, but what if it did. Would it fetch a premium on the secondary market? Would Upper Deck offer a replacement? Would they announce who the swatch actually belonged to?
Imagine a Stamkos swatch on an Ovechkin card, could it fetch more than $1000 on the secondary market? If I pulled this card I'd get a huge laugh about it. Then I would write a lame-ass post about it, contact Upper Deck and see what they would offer for it.
I like that Upper Deck is using social media to generate interest in their product and interaction with the fans. Folks need to relax about previews in general. It reminds me of the hoopla that surrounded the Stamkos free agency saga earlier this year. There is a lot of noise about something that doesn't exist. Wait till they actually screw up before burying them.
Sunday, August 14, 2011
My Favorite Card From The National
I promise you that there are only two more National posts left. Then we’ll return to the usual half-hearted hockey analysis that you‘ve grown to expect from this cozy spot on the internet! Today we’ll go with my favorite pickup from my weekend of card spending debauchery. Hint, it’s not even a sports card.
It is, however, my first ever authentic tobacco card. I think I’ve made it clear in previous posts that I don’t like the current infatuation with mini cards. Some collectors love them, which is cool, I just don’t happen to be one of them. As a matter of fact look for a post some time this week where I offer all of the mini cards I have for trade.
On the other hand I always wanted to own a real tobacco card from the turn of the century. At The National there were rows and rows of cards from the popular tobacco sets like Allen & Gineter. All were slabbed and selling for decent coin, and frankly I would rather spend my money on a 2005/06 Upper Deck Victory Peter Bondra
So I walked past those vintage dealers and settled into one of the endless number of quarter boxes. Finding 4 or 5 Murrays (Murraxen? Murrai?) I needed, I paid the dealer and was about to move on when I noticed he had some loose tobacco cards in a case. I asked to see the stack and flipped through them.
None of the cards he had were sports related, but there were some cool ones. The coolest, in my opinion, was this one.
Napoleon Leaves For Paris, 1812.
I had no idea what set this card was part of until I got home and did a little research. Apparently it was a 25 card series based around Napoleon’s exploits issued by John Player & Sons in 1915. From what I can find this set was issued in Great Britain.
I was hoping that it was a little older, as one of my goals is to have a card that is over 100 years old. Still, due to the decent condition of the card I’m not too upset. Oh and the fact that it only cost me $2.00. So yeah, not a bad investment as far as I’m concerned. Besides, 2015 isn’t that far away.
Will a pursue the other 24 cards in the set? Probably not. Will it start a new direction in my collecting? Probably not. Is it pretty cool to own? Yup.
Saturday, August 13, 2011
Back to the Loot
It’s a rainy day here in the Windy City. After a day out in Oak Park I figure it’s time to get back to the haul from The National while I wait for dinner to arrive. The cards are sitting on my desk and need to be packed up in time for the move. So lets go ahead and take down the two big hits from my weekend excursion.
2002 Fleer Classic Cuts Eddie Murray Bat Relic. We know it’s real because Lloyd J Pawlak, Senior VP from Fleer/Skybox says so on the back. I like everything about the layout of the card except for the tiny picture of Murray’s face. Also, it would have been nice if they used the cartoon bird logo for the O’s.
That card was just the appetizer for the main course though.
2011 Topps Tribute Dual Relic # 03/75. It’s shiny, had two bat slivers and is the lowest serial numbered card in my collection (my $10 bid on the Lineage Canary 1/1 fell well short). There really isn’t anything I dislike about this card. From the shiny green background to the gold facsimile auto on the front everything ties together pretty nicely.
While no one is giving me there personal guarantee on the back of the card, Topps does “pledge to bring [me] closer to the game from the Past, Present, and Future.” I’m not sure how they’re going to bring me closer to the future, but hey it’s a nice thought.
There’s been a lot of internet talk lately about relics and their values. I think most of the world would agree that the single swatch jersey card can barely be considered a hit these days. The National was filled with dollar boxes full of these cards that people were skipping over like they were commons.
We can’t be that far away from Topps or Upper Deck releasing a 200 card set in which every base card has a piece of jersey on it. Heck, they could probably pull it off with a $4.99 per pack price.
Should the manufactures take a few years off from these single, white jersey cards that collectors are turning their noses up at? Perhaps by killing the supply completely the infatuation will return within a few years. That’s not to say they should do away with the jersey card altogether, just spice it up a bit. Multiple swatches, multiple colors, patches with dirt or grass on them, etc.
In the vein of a silk card, could they make an entire card out of a piece of the jersey? Imagine a swatch the size of a card with an action photo on the front and stats on the back. Frame it like the Ginter cards and that would make for a pretty sweet hit.
Sorry for the digression. For what it’s worth the Tribute joins my Murray rookie as the highest valued cards in the collection. So I’ve got that going for me.
2002 Fleer Classic Cuts Eddie Murray Bat Relic. We know it’s real because Lloyd J Pawlak, Senior VP from Fleer/Skybox says so on the back. I like everything about the layout of the card except for the tiny picture of Murray’s face. Also, it would have been nice if they used the cartoon bird logo for the O’s.
That card was just the appetizer for the main course though.
2011 Topps Tribute Dual Relic # 03/75. It’s shiny, had two bat slivers and is the lowest serial numbered card in my collection (my $10 bid on the Lineage Canary 1/1 fell well short). There really isn’t anything I dislike about this card. From the shiny green background to the gold facsimile auto on the front everything ties together pretty nicely.
While no one is giving me there personal guarantee on the back of the card, Topps does “pledge to bring [me] closer to the game from the Past, Present, and Future.” I’m not sure how they’re going to bring me closer to the future, but hey it’s a nice thought.
There’s been a lot of internet talk lately about relics and their values. I think most of the world would agree that the single swatch jersey card can barely be considered a hit these days. The National was filled with dollar boxes full of these cards that people were skipping over like they were commons.
We can’t be that far away from Topps or Upper Deck releasing a 200 card set in which every base card has a piece of jersey on it. Heck, they could probably pull it off with a $4.99 per pack price.
Should the manufactures take a few years off from these single, white jersey cards that collectors are turning their noses up at? Perhaps by killing the supply completely the infatuation will return within a few years. That’s not to say they should do away with the jersey card altogether, just spice it up a bit. Multiple swatches, multiple colors, patches with dirt or grass on them, etc.
In the vein of a silk card, could they make an entire card out of a piece of the jersey? Imagine a swatch the size of a card with an action photo on the front and stats on the back. Frame it like the Ginter cards and that would make for a pretty sweet hit.
Sorry for the digression. For what it’s worth the Tribute joins my Murray rookie as the highest valued cards in the collection. So I’ve got that going for me.
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