Bowl Pick 'Em Contest Winnings, Part XXVI

College football will be here again before we know it IS HERE, so I've got to get my prize from last season's Bowl Pick 'Em contest at Cards on Cards posted! My prize for a second place tie was a very generously sized box of cards, so I felt a bit overwhelmed even sorting through them. I finally sorted them out by player, and, as usual, I'll plan to post them all eventually, but I might quit halfway through, we'll see.

Part I II III IV V VI VII VIII IX X
XI XII XIII XIV XV XVI XVII XVIII XIX XX
XXI XXII XXIII XXIV XXV

We're just about into Bowl Season again. Will I get these done anytime soon?

1986 Topps Traded #82T Jose Oquendo
1990 Sportflics #85 Jose Oquendo
1991 Topps Stadium Club #190 Jose Oquendo
1991 Topps Stadium Club #366 Felix Jose
1991 Topps Stadium Club #481 Jamie Moyer
1992 Donruss - Diamond Kings #DK-13 Felix Jose

St. Louis was Jamie Moyer's 3rd team, and yet he retired 21 years after he left the Cardinals.

1992 Fleer - All Stars #1 Felix Jose
1996 Donruss #87 Brian Jordan
1996 Donruss #153 Tripp Cromer
1996 Donruss #234 Jose Oquendo
1996 Donruss #282 Mike Morgan
1996 Pacific #228 Jose Oquendo

I got a nice handful of Felix Jose and Jose Oquendo cards, among others. Both of them were on the 1992 team which was the first I ever watched. Oquendo had a long coaching career with the Cardinals as well, but has opted to just be a spring training instructor for now. He's no Hall of Famer, but I think the Cardinals should retire #11 for him, for combined playing and coaching contributions to the team.

Bowl Pick 'Em Contest Winnings, Part XXIV

College football will be here again before we know it IS HERE, so I've got to get my prize from last season's Bowl Pick 'Em contest at Cards on Cards posted! My prize for a second place tie was a very generously sized box of cards, so I felt a bit overwhelmed even sorting through them. I finally sorted them out by player, and, as usual, I'll plan to post them all eventually, but I might quit halfway through, we'll see.

Part I II III IV V VI VII VIII IX X XI XII XIII XIV XV XVI XVII XVIII XIX XX XXI XXII XXIII

Today I'm thankful for prizes, Bernard Gilkey, and Gregg Jefferies. Also family and all that usual stuff too.

1991 Topps Stadium Club #402 Bernard Gilkey
1994 Score #420 Bernard Gilkey
1995 Pinnacle #62 Bernard Gilkey
1996 Donruss #49 Bernard Gilkey
1994 Donruss #9 Gregg Jefferies
1994 Leaf #56 Gregg Jefferies
1994 Studio #51 Gregg Jefferies
1994 Topps - Black Gold #35 Gregg Jefferies
1995 Upper Deck - Trade Exchange #TC5 Gregg Jefferies

I've apparently never posted a 1994 Studio card before, which I find hard to believe, but there it is.

Gilkey was part of the Cardinals when I first started watching baseball. I should really put together some kind of project with members of that team. He's probably better known for his time with the Mets, both due to performance, and being in the biggest market.

1994 Upper Deck
#265 Gregg Jefferies
#406 Bernard Gilkey

I always associate Gregg Jefferies with an episode of Who's the Boss, where Tony was watching highlights from his playing career with the St. Louis Cardinals. I believe it was a game against the Mets, and they didn't show the video, just very fake audio, and Gregg was mentioned as the first basemen.

Bowl Pick 'Em Contest Winnings, Part II

College football will be here again before we know it, so I've got to get my prize from last season's Bowl Pick 'Em contest at Cards on Cards posted! My prize for a second place tie was a very generously sized box of cards, so I felt a bit overwhelmed even sorting through them. I finally sorted them out by player, and, as usual, I'll plan to post them all eventually, but I might quit halfway through, we'll see.

Part I

1991 Stadium Club #379 Gerald Perry
1992 Stadium Club
#10 Joe Carter
#58 Rich Gedman
#103 Luis Alicea
#338 Gerald Perry
#386 Omar Olivares

I have less old Stadium club in my collection than I expected, but now I've got a half-dozen more. I think Joe Carter a buffer card stuck on the outside of a stack of Cardinals, but it's in decent enough shape to go into my collection too.

1992 Fleer Ultra
#563 Cris Carpenter
#566 Rich Gedman
1992 Upper Deck #478 Omar Olivares
1993 Leaf #438 Omar Olivares
2015 Topps
#628 Peter Bourjos
#678 Sam Freeman

I think I've said this before, but Cris Carpenter was the cause of much confusion on my part when the Cardinals brought in Chris Carpenter in 2004, and I thought they had reacquired Cris. I figured Cris had to be ancient by that point, though he was actually only 39.

Bourjos and Freeman are the first cards in my collection from 2015 Series 2, which is sort of splitting hairs because I do have some Series 1.

All-Star Winnings, Part 9

Way back in July 2012, I won a contest at Cards On Cards. The premise was to pick the Cardinals player who would have the biggest impact on the game, determined Sabermetrically. I picked the right player, and got a pile of Cardinals for my trouble. They've been sitting in that same pile, haunting me, for quite some time, so now is the time to show them to you.
Part [ I | II | III | IV | V | VI | VII | VIII ]

1991 Panini Canadian Top 15 #1 Willie McGee
1991 Stadium Club - Charter Member #20 Willie McGee
2005 Topps Rookie Cup #50 Willie McGee

Not only were these 3 Willie McGee cards I didn't have, but they're from 3 sets I had no cards from either. I have some 1991 Stadium Club, but nothing from the Charter Member set. That card commemorates one of the odder moments in baseball history, as Willie was traded away in late August to Oakland - in the AL - but still had enough at bats to qualify for, and win, the NL batting title.

1986 Topps #740 Ozzie Smith
1989 Donruss All-Stars #37 Ozzie Smith
1989 Upper Deck #265 Ozzie Smith
1990 Score #285 Ozzie Smith
1990 Kmart #4 Ozzie Smith
1991 Fleer Ultra #296 Ozzie Smith
1991 Stadium Club #154 Ozzie Smith
1992 Post #8 Ozzie Smith

What more can I say about Ozzie Smith I haven't said since starting this blog? As the long-reigning franchise player when I started watching the team, he was obviously one of my early favorites. I'm rather glad he played in an era of such baseball card variety, aka the overproduction era to some. It means I'll probably never get every card of his, and I'll always be adding new ones to my collection, and discovering new oddball or unlicensed sets, like the Kmart and logo-less Post card above.

Help me, help you

Or at least, help Kyle at Juust a bit outside fill his group break.  I've got the Cardinals and Baseball Dad wants the Indians, but as of this writing everybody else is up for grabs.  He's offering up the following boxes for $15 per team, and only $12 for the post-1992 expansion teams - Marlins, Rockies, Diamondbacks, and (Devil) Rays.

2011 - Topps Lineage hobby and Topps Allen & Ginter hobby
2001 - Upper Deck Reserve
1991 - Stadium 1 & 2, Upper Deck jumbos (w/ silver slugger cards), and 1953 Archives
1981 - Donruss

If it fills up, this will be my first paid group break, as Cards on Cards eased me into the game with a free one awhile back.  So go claim your favorite team!

A Trade with Cards on Cards, part 3

See part 1 here

See part 2 here

As mentioned before, Cards on Cards sent me way too many cards to label in one post.

2009 Topps Heritage Cardinals

5 more Ozzie Smith cards:

1991 U.S. Playing Cards All-Stars

1992 Topps Kids

1991 Stadium Club

1993 Leaf Studio

1994 Donruss Triple Play

Playing cards is big in my wife's family, mostly Poker and Hearts.  I learned early on not to expect to win any money against the in-laws.  Maybe I can complete the 1991 U.S. Playing Cards All-Stars set to bring me a little luck next time.

eBay Wins #2

Catching up on my eBay card wins should keep my blog busy for quite some time if I lack material.  Here is the oldest yet to be blogged:

1991 Upper Deck Brook Fordyce, Scott Aldred

1989 Donruss Rookies Ken Hill

1988 Topps Traded Tino Martinez

1991 Topps Traded Charles Johnson

1991 Topps Stadium Club Jim Mecir

1991 Bowman Roberto Hernandez, Todd Ritchie

1991 Fleer Ultra Juan Guzman

1991 Line Drive Rusty Meacham

1987 ProCards Roberto Hernandez

1990 ProCards Juan Guzman

12 cards for 16 cents.  Can't complain about that.  The listing was actually only for the first 10, but the  Hernandez and Guzman penny sleeves contained their minor league cards as well.  The big draw for me was Tino Martinez (a Cardinal from 2002-2003) and Ken Hill (1986-1991 and part of 1995).  So how do I make this post interesting?  Well, Ken Hill came to the Cardinals from Detroit along with the infamous "Player To Be Named Later".  That wound up being Mike Laga, who is the only man known to hit a ball out of Busch Memorial Stadium (the 1966-2005 version).  Recently, a local radio station tracked down the video, and I've been looking for an excuse to post it...but during the time I left this post in my drafts, the video went slightly viral (is it possible to go slightly viral?) and MLB ordered a takedown.


The Mike Laga Foul Ball from JoeSportsFan.com on Vimeo.

Oh yeah...it was a foul ball.  I promise you this video was real and amazing.  And now I know my Dad was telling the truth when he told me about it as a kid.