Farewell, Marp

One of the best parts of teaching at a year-round school is the fall break.  Three weeks off work at the beginning of October are good for so many reasons.  The weather cools down, baseball usually reaches the Postseason, and I get to take in a college football game along at some point.  I also enjoy working on my cards during fall break.  

I have sorted a few cards this week.  

Along the way, I ran into a stack of Matt Carpenter autographs in one of my boxes during the past weekend.  I ended up taking a decent amount of time to flip through the cards.  There is not a post where I officially declare myself a collector of Matt Carpenter cards, but I have ended up with quite a few during the last decade he has played for the Cardinals.  It was an impressive stack.  

I also looked back through the cards of Matt Carpenter I posted here too.  

If you are not aware, this year is Matt Carpenter's (Marp) last year with the Cardinals.  I guess he could end up playing somewhere else next year, but I doubt that will happen.  At one point, Carpenter was an All-Star caliber player.  The last three years, he has been an overpaid, under-performing member of the team.  It's not really Marp's fault he is overpaid, I wouldn't turn down $20 million dollars either.  I can't be too upset at the decline in his play either.  He's in his mid-to-late 30s.  

It happens.  

Anyway, while I frequently complain about Carpenter's large quantity of strikeouts and questionable ability to throw the ball across the infield on social media, I really have enjoyed collecting his cards over the years.  I would not say that I am a Matt Carpenter collector, but it seems that I have ended up with a large number of his cards.  I thought it would be fun to take a few minutes to reminisce about a few from the stack (and old blog posts) that have a good story.  

First, the Matt Carpenter autograph from the 2013 Gypsy Queen set.  

Have you read any of the posts the past two years where I complained about the lack of Jake Cronenworth cards, but then they transitioned over to complaining about the cost of Jake Cronenworth cards?  Similar to Jake Cronenworth, Marp played college baseball and spent a fair amount of time in the Minors.  He first appeared for the Cardinals in 2011, just a cup of coffee, but was heavily used as a utility player during the 2012 season.  

Did anyone make a Matt Carpenter card?

Just like Jake Cronenworth, the answer is no.  

In 2013, Topps finally got around to putting Marp in a few sets.  Emphasis on few.  The best card they produced was an autograph in the Gypsy Queen set.  Pictured above.  Unlike the Cronenworth cards, I caved to the pressure and bought one of these overpriced Marp cards.  However, Cronenworth, a 27 year-old second-year player has $50 autographs, Marp was a 27 year-old second year player who had $30 autographs.  

I regret nothing.  

Next is a Prizm autograph that is no longer in my collection for good reason. 

I do not talk specifics of my job on here, so I will be slightly vague.  If you have have taught, you will probably understand this better.  I had a student a few years back who was "that kid" in terms of behavior.  Definitely a challenge for me at times, but we both loved baseball.  He used to bring his glove to school and we'd play catch at recess, somedays wiffleball or kickball.  Anything to build rapport.  

After teaching this student for a year, I got moved up a grade level.  He ended up in my class for a second year.  Due to circumstance outside of school, he had a tougher time during the second year.  I used to let him pick out a few friends and let them eat lunch in my classroom as an incentive every week.  At the end of the school year, he struggled with the idea of transitioning to a new school and some changes that were going on elsewhere.  In an effort to make the end of the year positive, he agreed to work towards a Matt Carpenter autograph.  The end of the year was good.  

I hope he still has it.  

Two more.  

Do you ever have a bad parenting moment?  

Well, let me tell you about this Five Star Matt Carpenter autograph.  The gold ink on top of the black card is beautiful.  However, there is a better story here outside of aesthetics.  I was off-school for half-a-day to take my very small daughter to a check-up.  She was under a year old.  My wife and I, she is also a teacher, alternate off days for kids appointments and sick days.  The pediatrician we use is literally 5 minutes from my house.  I could walk there on a nice day.  

Did I take a diaper bag?  No, it's 5 minutes from my house.  

Did I bring a bottle or any food?  No, it's 5 minutes from my house.  

Here is where I went wrong.  The appointment ended and little one has completed dozed off while I was talking to the doctor and paying the bill at the front desk.  Afternoon nap.  I put her in the car.  I am a big fan of trying to squeeze as much into days off as possible.  My children slept great in cars, so I put her in the backseat and decided to go pick up a box of cards from the one of the many card stores we've had in Raleigh.  

I get to the store and take my daughter into the store.  She is still sleeping in her car seat.  I buy the box.  I also bought this single Matt Carpenter autographed card.  I am talking to the guy in the store when my daughter starts to stir.  She wasn't too happy.  That's when the gas started and I realized I did not have her bag.  Gassy babies don't stay gassy long.  I picked her up, the cards too, and ran out to my car.  About half-way home, from both the sounds and odor coming from the back seat, she had filled her diaper.  Every light was red on the way home and she screamed for the last 10 minutes of the drive.    

We got home.  

I changed her.  

I think it took me almost an hour to get her back to sleep for her nap.  

I never forgot her diaper bag again.  

Last one.  

I have lived in Durham or Raleigh (Raleigh-Durham is an airport) since the fall of 2005.  There have been some long stretches of time where the area has not had a card shop or not had a quality card shop.  We actually just got a new card shop recently.  I am reserving judgement for the moment.  By far, the best card shop we had was open during 2013 through 2015.  It was called Big D's Card shop.  I got so many great cards for my collection from that store.  

The last card I got at the store?  

This Matt Carpenter Postseason relic/autograph.  

I miss that place.  

I am sure that I will also miss Matt Carpenter at some point too.  Maybe not right now, while all those strikeouts are fresh in my memory, but there were some good games and great moments during Marp's time with the Cardinals.  Those at-bats in the Postseason against Clayton Kershaw are going to be at the top of the list.  

It was a good ride.  

Farewell, Marp.