Baseball Cards

Four Cubs prospects made the 110 card Bowman Prospects set. I'm going to show them in order of their signing, from oldest to most recent Christian Villanueva was signed by the Rangers in August, 2008 and was acquired by the Cubs in the Ryan Dempster trade last July. The third baseman has shown decent power so far and has a good glove, being named the best defensive third baseman in the South Atlantic League in 2011. He is currently on the Cubs 40 man roster and is with the Cubs' AA team in Tennessee. Arismendy Alcantara was signed by the Cubs as a Free Agent in November, 2008 as a 17-year-old. He's been on a very slow climb through the chain...2009 Dominican League, 2010 Rookie League (Boise), 2011 Low A (Peoria), 2012 High A (Daytona), and 2013 AA (Tennessee). We'll have to see if he follows form and hits Wrigley in 2015. A middle infielder with limited power, I'm not sure where the Cubs would have room for him on the major league roster. Gioskar Amaya came to the Cubs in July, 2009 as a non-drafted free agent. He, too is on the slow climb, spending 2010 in the Dominican League, 2011 in the Arizona Rookie league, and 2012 in A Boise. He did get one AB in AAA last year...not sure what the story there is. This season he's with the Kane County Cougars and is hitting .253 through Sunday. Tayler Scott has the least professional experience of the four Cubs prospects, being drafted by the Cubs in the 5th round of the 2012 draft. He spent the 2012 season in Boise and led the team in wins with a 5-1 record. He's in Kane County this year and is 2-1 in seven starts.Tomorrow I'll have the State and Hometown cards for all eleven Cubs in the Bowman set.

Born on today's date, Earl Averill. "I thank the good Lord he wasn't twins. One more like him would probably have kept me out of the Hall of Fame." - Lefty Gomez

1993 Topps Manager’s Card With Detroit’s Sparky Anderson & Houston’s Art Howe Of all of the multi-player cards issued over the years, it is the manager’s card that I care for the least. Actually – let me say that differently, I REALLY DON’T LIKE THESE MULTI-MANAGER CARDS!!!! The reason? The team set! Imagine yourself as a team collector, a team set builder. And let’s say that you are working on the 1993 Topps Detroit Tigers team set. And this is your manager card for the set: FAIL!!!!

#37Jon Michael AdamsRelief PitcherBats: Right Throws: Right Height: 6'5" Weight: 193Born: July 29, 1978, Corpus Christi, TXHome: Robstown, TXSigned: Signed by the Milwaukee Brewers as a non-drafted free agent, May 15, 2001Teams: Milwaukee Brewers 2004-2006, San Diego Padres 2008-2011, Texas Rangers 2011-2012, Phillies 2013Acquired: Signed as free agent formerly with the Texas Rangers, December 20, 2012Contract Status: Signed through the 2014 season, with a vesting/club option for 2015

(Guess what? It's just about time again to elect someone to the Cardboard Appreciation Hall of Fame! One more Cardboard Appreciation after this one and we'll have enough candidates to vote for since the last time we did this. Aren't you excited? Feel like you're going to throw up? I feel ya. But hold that regurgitation. It's time for Cardboard Appreciation. This is the 184th in a series):I have mentioned this topic several times on my blog before, but I don't think I've ever devoted a full post to it.If you collected cards as a kid, you probably had your favorite players. They played for your favorite team or they were an all-star that you saw all the time on TV. These are perfectly rational reasons for naming a player your favorite.But if you were like me, you probably also had favorites "just because." When you look back on those "just because" favorites now -- as a rational adult -- you can't think of one logical reason why you would choose that player as a favorite. It was a player that you liked for literally no reason.I had lots of those players in my collection. Most of them reside in the 1975 Topps set, as that was the first set I ever collected. I would look in wonder at Dave Nelson, Alan Foster, Dick Ruthven and hold their cardboard dear. They were fierce favorites of mine.Ted Sizemore was another one. Truly one of my most treasured cards from that first year. And there's no earthly reason why he should have been a favorite.He wasn't a standout player. He didn't play for the Dodgers (although he used to and he later would again). His picture wasn't notable at all. In fact, he seems to be sneering at the camera and, by extension, sneering at me, a 9-year-old boy, who just wanted to collect his card. Who wants to collect a sneerer?If I look deeply into my 9-year-old self, as best as I am able to so many years years later, I'm guessing I liked the card because of Sizemore's long hair and mustache that I thought was so cool at the time. And I probably liked the card because of the brown and orange borders, what I would call "root beer colors" at the time. And there's something about that photo background that has an almost dream-like quality. I know I would think that was cool back then.So those are probably the reasons that I considered a player a favorite that I had no reason to consider a favorite.But I can't be the only one can I? For those of you who collected as kids, who were some players that you liked that you can't explain why you liked them? They didn't become a significant part of your collection and they didn't play on your favorite team, but you treasured their card anyway.To this day, I can look at that Sizemore card and the thrill of having that card in my collection that summer of 1975 comes rushing back.It's obviously meant something to me all these years later no matter how little I've thought about Sizemore since.After all, this is the very card I pulled from that pack of cards that summer in 1975.

Filed under: Card of the Day

Matt Kemp's hometown in Oklahoma got hit hard with a tornado this afternoon. If you've been watching the news then it's likely you've seen the reports. The town of Moore, a suburb of Oklahoma City, was devastated after experiencing a large twister that has already taken the lives of 51 people. Hopefully that number stays there. Kemp was born in Midwest City, Oklahoma which lies adjacent to Moore. This is the second large tornado to hit this area in as many years. Back in 1999 a large EF5 tornado hit the area. After this evenings game, Matt Kemp went onto twitter to lend his support. He promises to donate some funds to the current relief effort. See his tweet below. (twitter link) UPDATE: Ken Gurnick at MLB.com follow up this story: He said he was in junior high school when an E-5 tornado with 300-mph winds hit the same area in 1999 and killed 36 people. He remembered accompanying a cousin who was hit by a foul ball in a baseball game to the local hospital and not knowing the tornado hit until the mangled patients started to arrive. He vividly described the carnage he saw 14 years ago. "And this one hit a school," he said. "I know where the schools are. My mom lived in a house in Moore and we gave it to my aunt and uncle. They weren't home today, but they said two blocks away there's nothing left. I've never been through an earthquake, but I've seen what a tornado can do and you just can't even believe it." * Please follow on twitter @ernestreyes * * Like Dodgers Blue Heaven on facebook * * Dodgers Blue Heaven home page *

If the regular issue wasn’t enough, there will be a 2013 Topps Heritage Minors baseball set released later this year.  The classic Topps designs from 1964 will get the prospect treatment when the product is released in September. Each box will contain 24 packs with nine cards per pack, probably at around $70 per box.  Topps is promising two autographs and one relic card per box. The base card set will consist of 200 players and there will be 25 base short prints and 25 SP photo variations.  Base cards parallels include: Black-Bordered (225 Subjects) Sequentially Numbered Blue-Bordered (225 Subjects) - 1 of 1 Venezuelan (225 Subjects) Printing Plates (new this year-250 Subjects) Fans of the old Bazooka cards will get a kick out of seeing inserts patterned after the ’64 Bazooka set. Topps will also allow another collector to win the “Make Your Pro Debut” sweepstakes with a Minor League team and have their own card featured in the 2014 Topps Pro Debut Baseball release. Some lucky collectors will also find redemption cards for uncut sheets of 2013 Heritage Minors. Autograph Cards include: Black-Bordered Autographs - Sequentially #’d to 35 New Red-Bordered Autographs - Sequentially #’d to 10. New Orange-Bordered Autographs - Sequentially #’d to 5. Blue-Bordered Autographs - 1 of 1 Printing Plate Autographs - 1 of 1 There will be dual autograph cards numbered to 15 and Printing Plate Autographs that will be 1/1. For preview images and a sell sheet, click the links below. Sell Sheet:  Heritage Minor League 2013 [Show as slideshow] Click here to see Topps Heritage cards from all years on eBay.

News and notes from sources around the country... It doesn’t happen very often, but the U.S. Justice Department has dropped fraud charges against one of the six memorabilia dealers who were charged with fraud in 2011 over the sale of jerseys. Defense attorneys claimed witnesses – including three employees of the New York Giants -- lied to federal agents and the grand jury that indicted Eric Inselberg. Five other dealers pleaded guilty last year to selling fake game-used jerseys to card companies and others over a period of several years. Read more in the New York Daily News. -------------- The Atlanta Braves are holding an online auction of game-worn jerseys that will be worn in the team's June 14 contest against the San Francisco Giants.   The jerseys will be handed out by a selected player immediately after the game, but you don't have to be present to win.   However, each winning bidder will receive two tickets to the game and be taken on the field right after the game. All jerseys will be authenticated and autographed.   If you are unable or choose not to attend, the jersey will be mailed to you. All proceeds from Jerseys Off Our Backs will benefit the Atlanta Braves Foundation.   Current high bids vary with Justin Upton's jersey at $1,050 at present. Click here to check them out. ------- Next time you're on vacation near Daytona Beach, FL, you might stop by KnT Sports Cards.  Owner Kyle Sheldon has spent his working life in and around sports and took over ownership about three years ago. He's got all kinds of customers, including one who finds his hobby box habit to be much healthier than some other things he's tried. "I like baseball ... and it's another addiction that doesn't get me in trouble," said Bob Werderists of Port Orange. "I'm a recovering drug addict and alcoholic." The story, which includes the obligatory references to all of the card shops that were around 25 years ago, is here. ------- That giant auction of Gretzky memorabilia we told you about last week all came from one guy.  Shawn Chaulk didn't build his amazing collection just by indiscriminately throwing money around.  There was a method to his madness and he offered some pretty good tips on how to build a nice collection to the Canadian Press. "When you’re in it for the enjoyment, you’re never going to pay more than you’re comfortable spending. Then you can spend with heart," he said for the story that appeared in media outlets across Canada. ------- WhiteWhaleCards.com is extending the contest to win a T206 Ty Cobb until June 2. Any member of the baseball baseball card collecting community may enter the contest by uploading photos of their cards.  They say the contest is being extended to make it fair for all users. Some experienced usability issues that kept them from adding cards to their collection. WhiteWhaleCards.com is a baseball card social network that lets users share their collection with others and also features a community-editable Vintage Baseball Card Wiki Encyclopedia.

#170 Fred PatekHere is the '81 Donruss card that my dad got signed for me at All Star Fanfest last summer. Usually my dad and I are in the same line, but there were a couple of times over the three days that we went where we had to split up. One of those times was during the last signing of the week. It was on Tuesday afternoon, the day of the All Star Game. Freddie Patek and Hal McRae were signing at the same time, but at different locations. Both guys are Royals Hall of Famers and they both had cards in this set. There were not many people left at Fanfest at that point, so we could have gone through each line together fairly easily. But, like I said, it was the day of the All Star Game, and I wanted to get to the park early to try to get some autographs. So, we split up and we both were towards the very front of our lines. We each got an '81 Donruss card signed and we met up and took off for the K. This was the first time that I had got an autograph from Freddie. It is too bad that I could not have gone through the line with my dad to get a Royals card signed. Maybe next time.The worst part about it was that, although we got to the park super-early and were some of the first ones in, we did not get a single autograph there. They would not let anyone into the lower seating bowl if they did not have a ticket for seats down there. So, I basically skipped out on getting a Freddie Patek Royals card signed for nothing.But, I did get a cheesy briskit-acho while I was standing around not getting autographs at the park. It is a rather new dish at the K and it is freaking amazing. It is tortilla chips covered in cheesy corn, baked beans, brisket, barbeque sauce, and topped with cole slaw. If you ever make it to a game in Kansas City, it is a must have.'81 Donruss Tracker: 115/100