Entering The Cronezone

It's been a few weeks since I have made a post. I have been enjoying my fall break away from school by doing a few things around the house and taking in the NC State football game last weekend.  

My Wolfpack snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. Losing to Wake Forest after leading by 10 at the beginning of the 4th Quarter is not cool. The coaching is less than ideal.  

Baseball cards have been slow too.

No Blake Snell autographs. 

Pumping the brakes on the Rays current young players.

Nobody likes the Cardinals right now.  

I did find an interesting 2023 Topps Chrome Jake Cronenworth card a few days back. Cronenworth was on the Durham Bulls a few years back and came up in the Rays Minor League system before he was traded to the Padres. Here is the front of the card.  

I have grown tired of my scanner, so you are getting a picture.

Notice the authentication sticker on the jersey swatch. I went ahead and ran the numbers on the swatch and came up with a time and date for the jersey that appears on the card.  

The answer is a bit disappointing........

No idea why Jake Cronenworth was wearing a Padres jersey in the middle of January, but I could not find anything when I did some digging on the team's social media pages. No press conferences, no fan fests, nothing.  

Here is the back of the card......

Playing around with scanning apps......

Not too bad. 

Famous Last Words

I stopped by my local card shop a few days back. The shop had moved across the parking lot to a larger storefront a few weeks back and I was excited to see the new digs. Needless to say, it did not disappoint. I probably should have taken some photos inside the shop, but my mind was on cards.  

Here are the latest pickups at Triangle Area Trading Cards.  

First up......

You see a great card from your childhood and it's cheap, it's really hard to pass up. The card is off center and there is some chipping on the edges, but this is a great card. Could not pass it up.  I need to post my first Rickey Henderson rookie on here one of these days, because it's a really good story from my childhood.  

Luken Baker has hit a ton of home runs the last two years with the Cardinals Triple A team. They've left him in the Minors most of the time, given the Cardinals track record, it's only a matter of time until Baker is a really good player on some other team.  Decent autograph, cheap card. Go team.  

I spent some time in Michigan this summer, which included watching a decent number of Tigers games. I had been meaning to pick up a Reese Olson card all summer long, but never got around to it.  He's a really impressive young pitcher, think this will be a good pickup in the long-term.  

An old Archives autograph for cheap. Yes, please.  

A newer Archives autograph for cheap. Yes, please.  

Esteban played for the Durham Bulls a few years back.  He's spent most of his career playing in Mexico, but spent time in the Minors with the Red Sox, Rays, and Phillies with a cup of coffee in the Majors with the Cubs. Lovable player, spark plug type. I am glad that someone gave him a baseball card and had him sign a few autographs.  

Zack Gelof is having a terrible year, but I still like him. I saw him play in college while he was at the University of Virginia. He was also on my fantasy baseball team last year. Let's hope for a better 2025.  

Next up, Luis Arraez. I loved the Silver Slugger cards when Topps made them back in the early 2010s, this one is not as thick, but still a really nice card. Serial numbered to just 10 copies, but it's on the back.  Sorry, no back scans today.  

A little bit quicker......

Masyn Winn, Junior Caminero Finest RC, and a cool Taj Bradley Chrome parallel.  

Cal Raleigh RC, Willy Adames RC, and another Masyn Winn.  

Shiny Big Mac, Xavier Issac should be the Durham Bulls first baseman next year, and a Jordan Walker.  

Shiny cards of Yordan Alvarez, Willson Contreras, and a Satchell Paige with the Browns.  

Last, let me tell you about the blaster box I bought. I saw the 2024 Donruss packs and boxes at the counter, decided why not. Let's try a few packs. Ninety-nine percent of the box was terrible and I am not going to waste my time scanning the cards, nor waste your time reading about the terrible cards. 

It was the last thing I said as I was checking out. "Let me get a box of 2024 Donurss"

Famous last words and it turns out that 1% of the box was pretty spectacular.  

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.  

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.  

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.......