Around The Card Room, Take 1

I hope everyone had a great weekend.  My highlights included going to the NC State and Georgia Tech basketball game Saturday afternoon with my son and father and getting to do a little writing for this space.

My Wolfpack ended up winning, but it was closer than it needed to be.  

On to baseball stuff.  

My writing this weekend focused on my card room. I drafted a few posts and am obviously publishing this one. Over the past fifteen years, my wife has tried to keep me focused on just sticking with baseball cards and not saving everything. She has been largely successful, but there are still plenty of non-baseball card items that occupy a place in my baseball card room.  

These items are going to be part of my story.  

Today, I am going to show off one of my favorite Durham Bulls bobbleheads. Half of the baseball card room has shelves around it that hold bobbleheads and figurines that were largely giveaways at baseball games. My item for this week comes from this shelf of Durham Bulls stuff.  

Today's item is a Chris Archer bobblehead that was given away at a Rays game in 2016. I did not attend the game and ended up with this item via eBay. I think I might have paid more in shipping than for the bobble, but Archer is one of my favorite former Durham Bulls players.  

Chris Archer not only played for the Durham Bulls, but also lives locally outside of Raleigh. He had an autograph signing a few years back at the USA Baseball National Team complex. Really nice guy. 

He personalized everything. Loved some of these inscriptions.  

These were the autographs he signed for myself and my son.  

My wife also tagged along to get a baseball signed for her brother who is a big Tigers fan.  

I have been waiting for Chris Archer to end up on the Tigers. 

This experience earned my fandom, which is why the bobblehead of Archer in on my shelf. Here is the front of the bobblehead.  

The bobble includes a K counter, which is a neat feature considering Archer's propensity for missing bats. He's averaging more than a strikeout per inning throughout his career with 1,454 Ks in 1,357 innings. Unfortunately, he has not had the best luck with health during his career, so I have not really updated the K Counter the last few years. In 2016, when this bobble was given away, Chris Archer struck out 252 batters. Last year, he struck out 84. Big drop off.  

Injuries stink and it's honestly amazing that he is still even playing.  

I also love that Archer is shown smiling on the bobble. He is a fun player and a happy person while he is pitching. He's not Bob Gibson, Randy Johnson, or Max Scherzer.  

Let's not forget the time Archer created a fake college degree for the Astros mascot so the Rays players could pelt him with water balloons before a game.  

Back of the bobble.  

Love the back of the bobble with the Rays sock pattern. Archer has worn his socks high throughout his career.