Twas the night before Spring Training...

with a hat tip to Lucas Brown and Baseball Almanac....


Twas the night before Spring Training, when all through the clubhouse
Not a creature was stirring, except the managers.
The uniforms were hung in the lockers with care,
In hopes that the season soon would be there.

The rookies were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of the Big League danced in their heads.
And Nuke in his garter, and Crash in his cap,
Had just been rewound before the players' nap.

When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,
Cy Young was the pitcher, and Babe Ruth was the batter.
Away to the window the players all flew,
To see the ghosts on the evening dew.

Shoeless Joe was in left on that moonlit night,
Who was on second, oh wait, that's not right.
When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,
Mighty Casey with a bat drawing near.

"Now Mickey! now, Willie! Now, Hammerin' Hank!
On, Harmon! On, Reggie! on, Maris and Frank!
To the top of the leader boards! to the top of the Hall!
Show the young rookies how to play ball!"

They all admire the slugger named Roy
As he steps to the plate with his bat, Wonderboy.
They'll pass him on the street, a tip of the hat they will give,
'There goes the greatest player that ever lived."

The rookies' eyes will twinkle in their first at-bat.
The veterans will calm them and give them a pat.
For it is only spring training with so much to do,
Preparation for a season, a career to pursue.

The young ones will play their best through the spring,
With hopes of making the 40-man team.
They'll play their careers 'til they finally say,
"Tell them I'm through for love of the game."


One more day!!!!!!!

Soon Derek.... soon....

It started innocently enough.
A gentle warning....

But then, it was escalated...
I'm not sure she knows what she's got herself into....

Soon Derek. Not yet.... but soon.

Yummy Sticker Sweetness...

My good friend John from The Pursuit of 80's, among other blogs, has sent me the mail day to end all mail days. The last thing I sent him turned into some sort of shrine, and he wanted to return the favour I guess. He succeeded.
What you are looking at is a 12"x16" glossy 96 page sticker book. This thing is huge! And Shiny!

There is a section for every Premier League team as well as All Star pages and tonnes more... It took me over an hour to read everything.... and I haven't got any stickers yet..... or do I????

John sent a few packets of stickers to get me started....

I'm gonna be busy for awhile... not to mention trying to hide it from everyone else in the house. Everyone loves stickers!!!

Now I must go troll the 'bay for a box of these things....

I. Must. Complete. This. Set.

See Upper Deck???

A card of Kelly Johnson..... with a picture of ... KELLY JOHNSON! It's not hard to do at all.

I just don't understand how it can be this difficult.

Team name? Check.
Player name? Check.
Spellcheck? Double check.
Correct Player Photo??!?!???!??! Check.

Read and learn Upper Deck.... Read and learn.....

Packages...

Today I finally got around to going to the Post Office. Those packages that have been sitting on my desk for over a week have left for greener pastures.

If you were expecting one from me... (dayf, Scott @ Hand Collated, Mike @ Addicted, and a few more that escape me right now) they're on their way!

NNNnnnnoooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The new stuff is out. Everybody is going crazy. Yadda yadda yadda.... I decided to wait on Topps, and maybe pick up a box of Upper Deck. I'm collecting the '08 football, and the '08/09 Hockey, so why not?
This is why not!
I first saw this on Automatic for the People... thought it might be a fluke.... went trolling on the 'bay, and found this....

SONOFAMICKEYFICKEYCOCKKNOCKERBACKSTABBINLOWBALLINGINBREDINGRATERATBASTARD!

This is why you don't have sticker autos!!!! If you can't hire anybody who has actually watched a ballgame in their lives to be able to tell the difference between ball players.... at least the player could say," uh.... fuckwit? you sent me the wrong cards to sign...."

Braves one step closer to another division title...

The Braves took a big step towards another Division Championship today as the Mets signed pitcher Elmer Dessens to a contract.

More moves like this, and a World Series berth will be within reach....

In a group box break mood?

Head on over to I am Joe Collector and sign up for one of his group breaks coming up...
3 boxes each of 2008 Playoff Contenders Baseball and 2008 Playoff Contenders Football.

These are always good... I haven't really seen much of these cards as I don't usually buy the high end stuff. This is a good chance to get in fairly affordably.

BlogWars... the Beginning

For those of you who weren't there...(quite a few of you were), Suzy and Marie from A Cardboard Problem held a live Topps 2009 Jumbo case break on their blog this afternoon. Promises of pictures, Q&A, and laughter were made. Fun was to be had by all.........
Until.....
They thought it would be fun to withhold certain hits from viewing. mainly, the Braves. Threats were made. A call of a cage match was suggested. They continued to snicker... safely tucked away in the solitude of their lair.
I took a stand. On behalf of Braves fans everywhere. We will not be held hostage to the whims of Yankee fans any longer!

I give you.... a Derek Jeter rookie. Intact. For now.

It's funny what a hole punch can do to micro foil......

Heck, why not cut off his whole head?

That was shockingly mean you say! Derek should be comfortable. Not headless. Okay, let's put him at ease then.

In a dress... fitting for a diva, don't you think???

Game on ladies.... Game on!

Surprise, unannounced insert???

A seller I buy from on the 'bay busted open two cases of '09 Upper Deck, and had this listed in one of his auctions...

Anybody see anything on the sell sheets about this?

The world should be coming to an end....

but unfortunately, it's true.

read. laugh. cry.

working on a set that I can actually finish...

The latest Braves effort that I'll send over to Dave at Goose Joak for the 2009 all inclusive card set.
(my wife picked out the picture... I wanted one of him gunning someone out at the plate... she wanted one showing him from behind. We comprimised.)

I made it this far...

thank you.

2008/09 Upper Deck Hockey box break

You've seen the base cards in some of my other posts here, and here... and here. So I'll skip that part and get to the hits you find if you buy by the box. 24 packs, 8 cards per pack.

Young Guns - Short Prints... 1 in 4 packs

Winter Classics - 1 in 12 packs

Captains Calling - 1 per box

Hat Trick Heroes - 1 in 12 packs

Sophomore Sensations - 1 per box

Sidney Crosby Heroes - I have no idea the insert rate for these....

Checklist #199 - Yes, the checklists are SP's...

UD Exclusives Joe Corvo #'d 046/100 - these fall approx. 1 every 2 boxes...

Jersey Cards - 2 per box on average..

( I hate the Leafs)

( almost as much as I hate the Bruins)

I'm down to 17 cards needed in the base set, not including the SP Young Gun set.... packs at this point will be pointless, unless I want to get more SP's...

Happy Birthday Jair!

We're combining posts in an effort to be more efficient. Today's birthday post is being combined with card #2 in the Goose Joak 2009 Invitational Card Set...
Braves starter Jair Jurrjens is turning 23 today. Jair was acquired from Detroit with Gorkys Hernandez for Edgar Renteria.
Happy Birthday Jair! Stay healthy... we need you.

I'm in... I'm all in....

The last thing I needed is another "project". I need to organize my cards... keep all the trades up to date... and, oh yeah, have a life along with working 10 hour days.
But Dave over at Goose Joak suckered me into his latest amazing venture. For those of you who are not yet familiar with what he's doing... go to his blog and check it out.
Here's my first effort.
Those of you who know me know that I'm not the most computer savvy person in the world. This rather simple card almost caused a blood clot in my brain. But I stuck with it, and you see the results.
More Braves to come, if my Advil supply holds out.

EDIT: opinion please... border? or no border?

another football box break....

This time we took a chance on 2007 Donruss Threads. I bought a couple of boxes from this seller, and he said I could get another two boxes in the same package for no extra shipping. These are the sellers that take all my money....
All Day on the front. Sweet. It went down hill from there.

Base cards:

They have simple fronts.... not my favourite, but the wife liked 'em.... the backs are horribly plain and under utilized...
I haven't sorted them to see how close of a set I got yet... I remember seeing a few doubles but not many.

The "Hits"

Blue Parallels #'d to 350 - Westbrook, Spencer, and Naanee
Good cards... mainly because I really like Spencer as a player... but what is that???

Nice. Saving a bit of money by not printing the "OOK"??? His base card has the same problem.

Other parallels-

Jackson #'d to 200, McCauley to 999, and a one per box Century Star of Marvin Harrison

Framed Gridiron Kings:

Ronnie Brown 22/50, Johnnie Lee Higgins 08/25 and Corey Dillion

I really like these.... but here's the thing. If you don't buy this stuff by the box, you may never get these. All three came in the SAME PACK!

And the big hit of the box............

Charlie Frye Jersey 075/250

If you"re gonna give me a jersey card of the third string quarterback of the Seattle Seahawks in his old jersey.... you better make it brown with an orange stripe and have him autograph it. And while you're at it, paperclip a $20 to the back for good measure...

Sweet Jesus.

I have a feeling....

So the plan last night was to post a box break of 2006 Fleer Ultra Football. Then I got distracted by the news of Chipper wanting to re-sign.... box break forgotten...
Until tonight. My wife reminded me that she had packs to open. (she loves football!) Box break on again...
The plan was to post a breakdown of the hits... a showing of the base cards, inserts, etc... but something strange happened on the way to blogsville.
The very first card in the very first pack....

Kurt Warner Post Season Performers. (who just happened to become only the third QB ever to guide two different teams to the Superbowl)

Two packs later....

Kurt Warner Award Winner insert.

Three packs after that...

Kurt Warner base card!

and then the coup de grace.... 5th pack from the bottom....

yep, game used, Kurt Warner jersey. In the same colour as what he'll be wearing in a week during the Superbowl.

The cards have spoken people.

The Arizona Cardinals will win the Superbowl!!!!!

YYEEAAAAAHHHH!H!HH!!!!!1!!!!

He wants to stay! He wants to stay! After all the crap that's gone on, He wants to stay!
Frank. For the love of the gods... open the vault and let him browse. Give him the keys. Sign over the deed. You've got until the beginning of the season or you lose him.
Offer to name your next child after him. (It worked for Brett Favre) If need be, I'll name my next child after him. Boy or girl. Tell him he can replace Bobby when the time comes. Whatever he wants. GIVE IT TO HIM!!!!!
After all of the crap over the last couple of seasons... he still wants to finish his career wearing the Tomahawk.

He is the face of the Franchise.

Treat him accordingly.

We need this one Frank.

Set completion via mail day!

A big thanks to reader Mike, who sent me the last three cards I needed to complete the 08/09 McDonalds Hockey set. Sliding that last card in the page is a great feeling, isn't it?
EDIT: Mike has started a blog, Addicted to Wax, check it out!

And Greg from Night Owl, sent over a tonne (okay, 7) Derek Lowe duplicates to officially start my Derek Lowe collection.
Thanks Greg!

up later tonight.... a football box break of 2006 Fleer Ultra Football. A couple of nice hits. (relax dayf, Matt Ryan isn't even in that set...)