A Venerable Old Card Part 39

I have spent a little bit of time this week off from work sorting out a few different sets from the mid 1980s.  Since there were not very many, you'd think it would go quickly, but it has actually been a little slow.  Some of the sets I have multiple copies, Tiffany and non-Tiffany cards mixed up, and all sorts of other conundrums.  There were a few sets that were really easy to put together.  One in particular caught my eye.

I say ugliest baseball cards, most people who lived through the 1990s say.......

1991 Fleer.  I know a few people who feel differently, but this set almost universally is at least in many collector's list of bad sets.  I'd like to point out that I also picked out Tino Martinez, but he's not hitting into a double play on this card.  

So, it turns out that Topps made sort of a pre-curser to the 1991 Fleer set five years earlier.  I found this Willie McGee card in a box of random Cardinals commons.  The yellow border.....

the header and other design features are different from the 1991 Fleer, but yellow borders.  I can't really take a picture of the finish, but these cards actually are really glossy.  Nicer than the mid 1980s Tiffany cards, probably closer to the mail-in Glossy cards from Topps, but this card might even have a nicer finish than those cards too.  I sat here at my desk and held the cards in my hand for a few minutes trying to decide.  

The back of the cards are actually worse than the 1991 Fleer cards.  Fleer cards kind of had that standard back design with some slight variations.  This Topps card has almost nothing on the back....

Home runs on a 1980s Cardinals baseball card?  Ha.  Where are the stolen bases?  Runs scored?  Much more important to the Cardinals winning a lot of games.  So, where did this card come from?  

I did a little digging and found out that it was a part of a box set that was sold at Woolworths at some point in 1986.  Funny thing is, and I was like a third grader or so at this point, I don't ever remember going to a Woolworths.  Where there even Woolworths in St. Louis in 1986?  No idea.  

The picture of the box is not mine, I found it online while trying to find information about the set.  I was pretty much only into opening packs of cards as a kid,    It had occurred to me that I might have just ended up with the McGee card out of a dime box at a card show or shop, but I actually have all 33 cards.  All of them are spectacularly yellow and bright.  

McGee is the only Cardinals player in the set, so he was my choice for this post.  If you can get past the yellow, there are some great 1980s baseball names in this small set.  

Tek Savvy Rays

I hope that everyone is having a good 2017.  We are a few hours in, doesn't feel that much different from 2016.  It's cold rainy day here in central North Carolina, so I figured I could catch up a little bit on blogging.  It's been a few days since I posted, a pair of new cards for your Sunday.

First up, is a new Blake Snell.....

I have picked up a bunch of the Topps Tek autographs over the last two years since Topps relaunched this product.  I always enjoyed collecting these back in the late 1990s and early 2000s when the original few sets were put out.  The new version does have a base set, but I have not really gotten into those as much as I have enjoyed the autographs.  There have been some good current and former players on the checklists for autographs, plus they've been on card card signatures.

Snell was kind of my Durham Bulls player of choice during this past year, I have picked up a bunch of his autographs, so hopefully this year will have plenty of more new Snell autographs for me to track down.

and more Topps Tek....

It's a little weird to see Wil Myers back in a Rays uniform, but this is one of those "older" Topps Tek autographs that I spoke of in the paragraphs above.  Beyond being really cool cards, a lot of the autographs from the 2014 and 2015 Topps Tek sets have become really inexpensive.  This Myers card cost me more in shipping off of Ebay than the cost of winning the auction.  

Two cool new cards to start off 2017.  Hope everyone had a fun and safe New Years Eve!  Happy 2017!  

Project Durham Bulls #5

Nathan Karns - 2014 Durham Bulls 

Background- 

Karns originally actually went to college at NC State, but transferred to Texas Tech after his freshman year to be closer to his mother who was sick at the time.  He started out his professional career with he Nationals and was traded to the Rays for Jose Lobaton and Felipe Rivero.  His first season in the Rays organization landed the hard throwing starter in Triple A with the Bulls.  In 27 starts Karns had an ERA of 5.08, but averaged more than a strikeout per inning (153 in 145.1).  The Rays called him up at the end of the 2014 season where he made two starts.  He stayed with the Rays in 2015 before he was in the Brad Miller trade sending him to the Mariners for the 2016 season.  This past season in Seattle Karns had an ERA north of 5, but again averaged more than a strikeout per inning.  

Card-

I actually have a another Karns autograph from one of those cool Donruss college sets from aways back.  It's a pretty sweet card from his time at Texas Tech.  I didn't really need another Karns autograph I guess, but this card was nearly free on Ebay.  I was actually trying to pick up a few cards for my Bowman Autographs set project, the seller also had this card up for auction.  I know that the autographs in the base Topps products have high print runs and the whatnot, but I guess it's nice to get a Karns autograph in a Major League uni.  

Set Project #5

I recently did a post on a Mark McGwire card from the 1999 Topps Gallery set.  Topps has produced a ton of rehash sets over the last decade, but the Topps Gallery Heritage set was one of the first to make those types of rehash products popular.  As I recall, they were roughly one per box and very popular at the time of the sets release.  I know that I have a bunch of them lingering around my collection, but I also know that I do not have the complete set.

Here is the McGwire card from the other week.....

Again, I know that these sorts of cards have now become commonplace, but these Gallery Heritage cards have are pretty special to me.  They really were the first insert set that I tried to fully assemble.  While I know I did not succeed, I plan on fixing that 17 years later.  In fact, I started last week by picking up a copy of the Ken Griffey Jr. card.  

I know I did not have this card......

the backs are also the same as the 1953 Topps cards.....

Very nice card.  So, here is my biggest problem with these cards at the moment.  I know that I am missing a bunch of the cards in this set, but as I have been looking through my boxes of cards the Gallery Heritage cards are not in with the rest of what I have out of the 1999 Topps Gallery set.  I do have a big box of insert cards from the 1990s and early 2000s that they are undoubtedly in.  So for the moment I am going to post the entire checklist down here at the bottom of the post, but I know that many of these will be checked off in the coming days as I sort through a few boxes of cards.....

TH1- Hank Aaron 

TH2- Ben Grieve 

TH3- Nomar Garciaparra 

TH4- Roger Clemens 

TH5- Travis Lee

TH6- Tony Gwynn

TH7- Alex Rodriguez 

TH9- Derek Jeter 

TH10- Sammy Sosa

TH11- Scott Rolen 

TH12- Chipper Jones

TH13- Cal Ripken Jr. 

TH14- Kerry Wood 

TH15-Barry Bonds

TH16- Juan Gonzalez 

TH17- Mike Piazza

TH18- Greg Maddux 

TH19- Frank Thomas 

The Griffey and McGwire cards are the 8 and 20 spots.  Off the top of my head looking at the pictures of on Ebay and COMC, I think I also have Garciaparra, Lee, ARod, Jeter, Sosa, Rolen, Ripken, Piazza, and Thomas.  I might have more, either way I am figuring I will need about 10 or so cards to finish the set.  

I will update the cards I need in a few days, but for now I have placed the entire checklist under the set projects tab at the top of the blog.....

2016 International League All-Star Set

Why I am I posting this a few months after the set came out?  See the post from yesterday about the Durham Bulls set.  I picked this up at a Durham Bulls game and it features some really good talent from the International League which is Triple A level teams.  Sometimes the amount of high end talent in Triple A can be short lived, it seems that more and more teams get players past Double A and promote them very quickly.

Cards and a little snippet about one of the players, maybe two....

Out of this group I really like Josh Bell.  Berrios could be really good too, but he's been really shaky at the Major League level.  Bell made it to the Majors last year too, and while the pop in his bat did not shine through in the 40 or so games he played in Pittsburgh, he had more walks than strikeouts.  That translated into a .368 OBP.  Getting on base is always a good skill to have and a great way to stick around...

A lot of players to like here....Pompey is a great defensive player, should be around a long time as a good centerfielder.  Glasnow is going to be a good pitcher, Judge is going to hit, and I am still pretty high on Buxton.  Feel like people have gotten down about him, but he is still only 22 and has a lot of potential.  

Sanchez and Turner are the real standouts here, but there are others in this group who could be solid players.  My favorite here is obviously Snell, also good to see Shaffer in this set, but I think he's lost a lot of his luster as a prospect.  Severino and the two Red Sox could also be pretty good.....

Last three...

Hey, I like that Bacon USA jersey Nick Williams is wearing.....

2016 Durham Bulls Team Set

I cannot tell you how long these cards have been out, and I bought them the first week they were for sale, but for some reason they did not get posted at any point during the season.  I actually found them a few days back while I was putting away a few other cards in a box I have with different minor league team sets and minor league single cards.  For those who have seen my card room in person, you'd be hard pressed to believe this, but I actually put the cards right away when I got home from the game.

Not sure what was happening that week that would make me do such a thing.  Usually they sit on a shelf or my desk for a week or two before they are put into some sort of stack and shuffled away to a box.  Found the International League All-Star set too, that will be later in the week.  Like tomorrow.

Here are the cards with a little commentary......

There are a lot of solid names in the first batch of cards:

• Blake Snell is one of the Rays top pitching prospects and will spend the entire 2017 season in Tampa after beginning last season with the Bulls.  
• Motter was traded from the Rays this offseason to the Mariners along with Richie Shaffer in the second row.  The M's have Motter on their roster at the moment, it would be nice to see him get some playing time.  Shaffer went to the Mariners, was released and signed by the Phillies, and was released again and signed by the Reds.  
• Mahtook, Franklin, and Maile have all spent time in the Majors.  Not sure what their roles will be next year, but each of them would seem to have a decent shot of being in Tampa.  At the same time, it won't shock me if all three are back in Durham.  
• Schultz is sort of the hidden gem out of this group.  He attended college at a small school in North Carolina (High Point) and was drafted by the Rays in the 14th Round of the 2013 Draft.  Since he has struck out more than 11 batters per 9 in almost 80 starts through four different levels of Minor League ball.  His last two seasons he struck out more than 160 in 130 innings.  He's one to watch.  

There are some older players in this grouping of cards along with some fringy prospects.  Decker, Arencibia, Sappington have all seen a decent amount of playing time in the Majors.  Varona is a Cuban defector who seems like he will likely be a AAAA player, Floro has a little potential for the next level as a ground ball specialist out of the bullpen, and Belletti would also be a bullpen arm.  That really leaves two players to chat about.....

• Robertson was a highly regarded prospect in the A's system before he was traded for Ben Zobrist.  He's just 22 and played his first season in Triple A last year.  He had a decent .259/.358/.356 line.  Obviously the OBP makes up for the average, but that slugging percentage is too low.  The Rays have another hot shortstop prospect, Willy Adames, who should be in Durham in 2017.  Curious to see what happens to Robertson.
• Field was apart of Arizona's College World Series winner a few seasons back and has made his was through the Rays system in the past three seasons.  He has some pop in his bat for a little a guy, more than 50 extra base hits last year and a slugging percentage over .450, but his OBP has dropped significantly since getting past A Ball.  In two A ball stops Field was at .367 and .396, since he has gone .329, .301, and 338.  You can't steal first.  

This grouping of cards is all older guys with limited potential in the Majors.  The whole group is over 25, while some Rays fans consider Seitzer somewhat of a prospect, he is not.  Nope.  

Last three.  The mascot, but not the one from the movie, Wool E. Bull is one of the better sports mascots around in any sport.  Really good.  Snyder has been the pitching coach the last few seasons.  He went to UNC, so there is a local connection, and he seems to give my son a ball (we often sit near the bullpen) almost every time we are at the game.  Ozzie Timmons is Ozzie Timmons, pretty awesome.  

A Christmas Card Now

I did a few of the Topps Now cards this year, not as into the whole thing as some other collectors, but I found some nice cards that fit my collection.  I have a of the cards still on my radar at this point, mainly some of the former Durham Bulls that have ended up spread throughout the league.  Not in any rush to get them, but if they pop up and are the right price I would be happy to pick them up.

In the meantime, I picked up an unexpected Topps Now card a few days back in the mail.  I like classy gestures, and it was nice to see Topps send out a bonus card to all of the collectors who bought a Topps Now card at some point this past summer.  Or at least that's what I think they did based on a few different discussions around Twitter and Facebook.

Here is the card which is two sided....

The front has Cubs third baseman Kris Bryant and Yankees catcher Gary Sanchez.  The Topps Now cards usually have a specific event attached to them, but nothing is mentioned on here as to why they are being celebrated.  The Bryant side looks like the final play from the World Series, the Sanchez?  I must admit though that I did not follow along with the Yankees too closely this year.  He hit a bushel of home runs....

The back has Ichiro, 3000th hit, and David Ortiz, who was retiring.  I must say that this was a really cool free card to pick up from Topps and a nice way to thank collectors.  It even has a cool snowflake print around the edges to give it that holiday feel.

The card was enclosed in a holiday card from Topps.  The front of the card.....

and the inside of the card.....

Again, very appreciative of the cool holiday card.  Great way to reward collectors at the end of the year.