This Isn't Your Best Work

I have had really bad luck with scanners and printers over the years. It all started during my final week of graduate school at NC State. I had to assemble a portfolio of work from a year-long internship. I did a good job of keeping up the portfolio during the school year, but the final week a bit of a mad dash to make sure everything ended up in my file crate. Lots of emails, documents, and other assorted articles were printed and filed.  

On the Thursday night before my Friday final, my printer died. I went to the local Office Max, picked out a printer that was on-sale, and finished my work in the wee hours of Friday morning. That sale printer would last me roughly a year before dying and was replaced in similar fashion. Its replacement would also only last a year or two. 

I bought my current printer on a Saturday morning in October of 2016. My parents were in town to visit my newborn daughter.  I was taking my father to the Duke/Virginia Tech football game, needed to print off paper tickets, and could not get my printer to work.  I went back to the Office Max and bought a printer that was not on-sale. I also checked the internet for reviews and found that Canon made excellent printer/scanners.  

Virginia Tech won. 

Every card that has appeared on this blog during the past eight years has landed on the scanner of that printer and I have generally been happy with the results. 

Well, not this morning. 

This is my latest Blake Snell card.......

This is a picture of my latest Blake Snell card......

This isn't your best work, Cannon printer/scanner, but I am willing to forgive and forget. 

Not $400.

I am old enough to remember when boxes of Topps Finest Baseball cards were not $400.

Looks like I am also now old enough to remember when they were $400.

Greedflation at its finest.  

Luckily, for us collectors on a budget, there are people who buy $400 boxes and sell the single cards on Ebay. Finest comes with two autographs per $400 box, so I started out trying to find a nice pair of autographs for less than $400.  I ended up find 3 autographs rather than two. The total cost of the three cards was less than $20 after shipping. All three cards fit perfectly into my little collection of baseball cards.  

First, an autograph of Giants catcher Patrick Bailey. 

I have several other cards of Bailey in my collection from his time playing at NC State and USA Baseball, but this is my first autograph of him since he turned pro a few years back. Patrick has shortened his signature down considerable over the years.......

but I still love this Finest autograph. Beyond attending NC State, Patrick Bailey also was the Giants catcher for Blake Snell's no-hitter. I really need to post some more Patrick Bailey autographs. Maybe next Monday......

The Bailey autograph was the majority of the not-quite-$20 I spent on these three cards.  

Next up is a pair of Durham Bulls players, one current and one former.  

Curtis Mead is a consensus Top 100 prospect with Baseball Prospectus ranking him highest at 42. Mead actually spent several weeks up with the Rays, but struggled with his bat before being demoted back to Durham. I am a big fan of the Australian third baseman and think he has a bright future somewhere. 

Last card. 

Tristan Gray was on the Durham Bulls the past three seasons. He hit a ton of home runs for them, but never got much of a chance with the Rays. Gray is an older prospect at this point, late twenties, and was traded to the Marlins in the off-season.  I am kind of surprised that he is not on the Marlins on all of his 2024 cards, although I think it's a bit of a surprise that Topps included him in any of their products. 

Anywho, his cards are very inexpensive and I enjoyed watching him play for the Bulls. 

Monday Morning Autograph - Johnny Field

 

Today's Autograph: 2014 Bowman Chrome Johnny Field 

Why Do I Own The Card: I first saw Johnny Field play at USA Baseball while he was a college baseball player at the University of Arizona. I ran into him again a few years later after he was drafted by the Rays and ended up playing with the Durham Bulls. In fact, beyond owning a bunch of Johnny Field baseball cards, I also own a game-used Johnny Field baseball bat.  

It's autographed.  

Back of the Card: 

Johnny Field's Career In A Haiku:

U of A Baseball 

Team USA, Tampa Bay Rays

Real Estate Agent (seriously) 

This Is Not A Taj Bradley Blog

For the second time this week, I am posting more cards of Taj Bradley. I won't start giving each new Taj Bradley autograph it's own post at this point, like I do Blake Snell, but it's under consideration for the future. Since this blog post is also part of an afternoon long procrastination from lesson planning for class next week, it's going to be somewhat short.  

Ten minutes on the timer.  

Two new Taj Bradley autographs, first up......

This is from the 2023 Donruss Optic set, which I think is the Panini equivalent to Topps Chrome.

The card is essentially the same as his 2023 Donruss card, outside of the Chrome finishes on the card. Perhaps Chrome is not the right word. Glossy? Let's use that word instead.  The Optics card has a high gloss finish and a slightly different photograph with tighter cropping.

Both cards are photographs from Bradley's time with the Durham Bulls. 

The scratches and dust bunny looking things on the Optics card are on the sleeve or on my ancient printer scanner, not on the card. 

Next.  

This is Taj Bradley's Signature Series card from 2024 Donruss. I did not even realize that there was a 2024 Donruss set until I found this card. I thought Panini had completely vanished from baseball after last year.  

Maybe not. 

That only took seven minutes.  

Still Bullish

My Taj Bradley collection started two years back after the impressive right-handed pitching prospect appeared on the Durham Bulls roster. I have quietly posted a few of his cards on here during that time, two to be exact, but stayed relatively under the radar with my Taj fandom.  However, with his performance with the Rays this season, I am going to be a little more aggressive with collecting his cards.  

In case you have been sleeping on the Rays mediocre season, I will admit they're not very exciting, Taj is posting more than a strikeout an inning and had a first-half ERA under 3. He's run into a bit of a rough patch after the All-Star Break, but at just 23 years old, I think the future is really bright for this pitcher.  

I have added 4 new Taj Bradley autographed cards in the past month and not spent more than $10 on any single signature. Quite the bargain for an All-Star caliber pitcher.  

Here are the four cards: 

This is a 2023 Donruss card. Yes, it's unlicensed and seems rather self-explanatory why nobody would spend much money on this card. However, if you look closely, this is actually a picture of Bradley in a Durham Bulls uniform.  Note the orange sleeve trim and the Rawlings patch on the sleeve. While the Major League Uniforms are made by Nike, the Minor Leagues jersey tops are made by an assortment of different manufacturers. The Bulls jersey tops are Rawlings.  

Love this card and was happy to see Bradley on what is essentially a Durham Bulls card.

Next.   

Another "2023" card, even though these were released in 2024.

This is from the Topps Chrome Platinum Anniversary set.  It's another rehash, but it's got on-card autographs, so I am going to spare you the snarky comments about Topps reusing their previous card designs excessively.  I will just tell you that I like the card and was happy to add it to the collection of Taj Bradley cards.  

Next.  

Tier One is a $300 box of cards.  Imagine opening a box and getting a Taj Bradley autograph.  You know I am always here to soften collector's financial missteps by purchasing their $10 autographed cards. Now, someone is only out $290 and I have a high-end card with a Taj Bradley autograph.  

Print run of 99, that's a lot of buyers regret.  

Last one.  

This is from last year's Topps update set. I had to get the rookie autographed card before working on his cards in this year's set, but that's next.  

More Taj cards coming soon.  

104

This is the 104th Blake Snell autograph in my collection. I crossed 100 while I was gone, maybe there will be a recap post coming at some point in the future. You could also check out my Instagram account where Blake Snell autographs 99-103 are all posted.  

My latest Snell follows my more recent pattern of buying older Snell cards with low serial numbers that I missed the first time around. Many are available on Ebay at much lower prices these days. 

Today, a Snell rookie autographed card from Prime Cuts that is serial numbered out to 25 copies.  

Here is the front of the card.....

That's a really young Blake Snell in the photograph, which is way too small for the front of the card. I know this is an unlicensed card and that Panini could not show Snell in a Rays uniform. Still, the word "PROSPECT" should not be the overwhelming design feature over a photograph of the player.  

In positive news, the card is older and features Snell's full signature. He only signed every letter of his name for a short period of time at the beginning of his career. The signature more than makes up for the fact that this a sticker autograph. 

Back of the card......

The back of the card is better. I like the write up about his decision to play professional baseball over college. There are plenty of high school kids that get drafted into professional baseball who are also committed to play college baseball somewhere. Kind of nice knowing the back story.

 More Snell autographs to come....

Is That You, Junior?

My favorite player on the Durham Bulls this year is third baseman Junior Caminero. He's one of the best hitting prospects in all of Minor League baseball and a name that everyone is going to know sooner than later. Junior hits the ball hard.  

Junior Caminero (@RaysBaseball) smokes his 12th Triple-A homer at 112.4 mph 🔥

MLB's No. 2 prospect has five extra-base knocks through nine games this month for the @DurhamBulls. pic.twitter.com/WXBqoKmzq8

— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) August 11, 2024

I have been slowly working more Junir Caminero cards into the collection, but it has taken some time due to their high cost. This is one of those rare moments when my collection aligns with an expensive prospect, which kind of stinks. Most of his autographs are $100 and up, so I have been chasing some of his nice looking inserts instead of his autographs. The inserts are much more reasonably priced for a guy who has played only a handful of games in the Majors.  

My latest is an All-Etch Rookie card out of this year's Topps Chrome set.  

Topps originally made the All-Etch cards back in the late 1990s, but they've brought them back for this year's Chrome set. Really nice looking cards. I love that they've kept the 1990s vibe with the background design of the card.  This card has some long odds, but still cost less than a Chrome box at Wally World or Target.  

Here is the back of the card.  

Nice write up on the back of the card with an interesting factoid about Caminero and blog favorite B.J. Upton. While Junior made his Major League debut last season, he has spent all of this year with my Durham Bulls up to being called up last week following the trade deadline.  

I have a few more cards of Junior in the works, hoping he becomes a player I regular blog about.  

Around The Card Room, Take 18

I am here this evening to talk about one of my biggest blogging fails.  

It all started when I decided I would live blog a Durham Bulls game ten years ago. 

I hung out at the American Tobacco Campus before the game and it got a short blog post.  

Love the water fountains, so relaxing after a long day at work. 

I bought dinner at the ballpark. It was a Pepsi and a hot dog. That dinner was a short blog post.  

The Bulls wore pink uniforms. That was a short blog post. Pictured is pitcher Alex Colome.  

Then the game started and disaster ensued. I thought I was going to see a loaded Durham Bulls team battle a loaded Syracuse Chiefs team. Each team scored a run in the first inning, but Syracuse than put up 11 runs in the second with Steven Souza collecting 5 RBIs.  

Kind of hard to blog about this kind of game.  

The live blogging came to a grinding halt and has not been attempted since.  

It was one of my bigger fails as a blogger.  

What am I left to show for this attempt at live blogging?  

Two things. 

First, I have a healthy collection of Steven Souza cards. He had a great 2014 season in Triple A, One of the better ones I have witnessed in the two decades I have followed Minor League Baseball. Souza was also a solid Major Leaguer for the Nationals, Rays, Diamondbacks, Cubs, Dodgers, and Mariners.    

Second, there was a bobblehead giveaway the night of my live blog attempt. The box and ticket were featured on the live blog, but the bobblehead was never shown.    

The bobblehead of Bulls outfielder Wil Myers has since left the box and resides in the baseball card room. Myers is a North Carolina native and was the top prospect in baseball at the time he was in Triple A, so it was a big deal that he was playing in Durham, 

Here is the front of the bobblehead.  

and the back of the bobblehead.  

I really like this bobblehead, even if it reminds me of my failed attempt to live blog a baseball game.  

Monday Morning Autograph - Joc Pederson

 

Today's Autograph: 2015 Bowman Chrome Rookie Autographs 

Why Do I Own This Card: I first saw Joc Pederson at the 2014 Triple A All-Star Game, which took place in Durham. The Bulls hosted. Joc Pederson is somewhere in this picture in the visitors lineup. Maybe third from home plate?    

It was not the best night for many of the Pacific Coast League players, but Pederson stood out.  

In particular, he hit a really long home run, which do not happen often in Durham. The ballpark is much more pitcher friendly. Here is a look at the blast.  

Anyway, Pederson had a good night and I decided to purchase one of his autographs.  Just in case.  

Back of the Card: 

Joc Pederson's Career In A Haiku

Dodgers, Cubs, and Braves 

Where He Won A Series Ring 

Giants, Diamondbacks 

Here One Minute......

I have been following Taylor Motter's career since he first appeared with the Durham Bulls nearly a decade ago. This was my first card of Motter on the Durham Bulls.......

Last year, Motter played for my Cardinals and even though the quantity of Cardinals cards was limited, I still collected them.  In this case, limited means one Topps Heritage card with one parallel.  

I still keep my eye out for new Motter cards. I recently found a printing plate from his 2016 Topps Update card, which is his rookie card. The plate was only a few dollars on Ebay.....

and the back of the card.......

Seems like a great addition to the Taylor Motter collection, if only the printing plate had been here for longer than a minute....... 

An update post coming soon.......

Holy $&%$, It's The Candy Convention Card!!!!!!

Two years ago, I posted a Ray Lankford card out of the 1991 Score All-Star FanFest Set. Included in the post was a story about a local card shop owner who tried to sell me a similar card that came from a Candy Convention in St. Louis. At the time, I passed on the Candy Convention card, which I later deeply regretted. It turns out the Candy Convention Ray Lankford card is pretty rare.  

Here is the FanFest card.  

Note the banner underneath the write-up, which identifies the card as a part of the "1991 Major League All-Star FanFest" set. This is a really common card, easy to find.  

Well, after posting the card, I received a comment from a reader who was also trying to track down a copy of a Candy Convention card of former Blue Jays player Ed Sprague. More comments followed indicating that they had found a copy of the Ray Lankford and a promise to forward the card on once the commenter received it from COMC.  

Well, a few weeks back I got a white envelope with a print out of the blogger comment section and note.....

and inside the note was a top loader with a baseball card........

Holy $&%$, It's The Candy Convention Card!!!!!! 

I cannot thank Derek enough for sending this card along to me! It's my current favorite baseball card and it will always have a prominent home in my collection of Ray Lankford cards.  

Monday Morning Autograph - Tristan Gray

It's not the morning, but the important thing is that I am writing on my blog today.  

It's a Monday (while I am writing this).    

So much to catch up on since I last posted here a few months back.  

My school year ended.  

I went on vacation to Michigan and hung out by a lake.  

My school year started again last week.  

Last weekend, I ate French food.......

and went to see Mama Mia with my wife in Durham.  

A few other things happened in there, but the previous few sentences are a good summary of the past few months. That's a lot of non-baseball card stuff on a baseball card blog.  

On to the card.  

I cannot believe Topps Chrome is $44.99 or something like that at Target.   

No, thank you, Fanatics.  I am buying single cards off of Ebay from other people who spent at least $44.99 to open a few packs of Topps Chrome.  Since the Cardinals stink at the moment, I am working on adding some former Durham Bulls players to the collection. Tristan Gray was on the Bulls for a few years and his autographs hover around $5. Seems like a good reason to add this to the box of Bulls signatures.  

Back of the card.  

Gray is now on the Marlins and has received a whopping 7 at bats this year with the Major League team. He has zero hits and three strikeouts.  

I am still a fan.