After a quick stop in Alaska, The Martian has landed

The USPS does some crazy things sometimes. 

I recently bought a two card lot of Jasson Dominguez 2021 Bowman Futurists inserts. One was the regular, and one was the Mega Box version. I haven't been going crazy on Dominguez cards, but now that there are a few more and the prices are reasonable, I've picked up a couple here and there.

I bought them and didn't think twice, then I got a message for the seller. He had tracked the package, and noticed that they went from Illinois to Anchorage, Alaska. He was positive he addressed them to New Jersey.

I appreciated him reaching out. I knew it wasn't his fault.

Eventually, tracking picked back up again, and the cards made it safely to NJ. Were they actually in Alaska? I assume so, but who knows.

Dominguez, known as The Martian for his out-of-this-world skillset, is the Yankees top prospect, and their current best hope for an exciting young star in the mold of an Acuna, Tatis, or Guerrero. Will he be? Who knows. He's only 18, and obviously didn't have a minor league season last year. A lot can happen between now and then.

He did finally making his US debut yesterday, going 0 for 2 with a walk. He'll be exciting to follow these next few years, and I hope he stays healthy and on the path to NY...with as few detours along the way as possible.

Five Below to the rescue

I spent the large portion of the spring coaching my son's 9 & 10-year-old little league team.

We had a great season, and were one of the strongest teams in the league. More importantly, these guys truly became a team. It was fun to see them grow, improve, and compete each week. My son forged new friendships, even walking into school with his teammates who he might not have otherwise socialized previously. Man, youth sports are important, especially after being robbed of them for a year.

It's cliche, but from start to finish the boys really did improve. Some kids couldn't touch the ball early on, but as the season went on, became valuable contributors to the team. 

Unfortunately, we made it to the semifinals and lost just this past Thursday. It was a really intense game, actually. Well-played. No errors (which is saying something). Timely hitting. Strong pitching. Intense crowd. Anyone who says that 9 & 10-year-old little league can't be exciting is flat out wrong. Parents came up to us after stating it was the game of the year. Imagine that.

With the season coming to a close, we booked a room in a restaurant to have an end-of-season party later this week. I decided to make goodie bags for the kids, with a few items inside:

I picked up these materials at the discount store Five Below, mostly because I know they have a lot of small toys and candy, notably Big League Chew. The popular shredded gum is a bit of a team joke, as we had to ban it a few games ago because the kids were shoving so much of it in their mouths, it became a distraction. Plus I had to clean up gobs of it all over the dugout. 

You'll also see a pack of 2021 Bowman. That was an unexpected turn. You see, I had wanted to put a pack of cards in each goodie bag. But here's a funny thing about cards: you can't find them. You cannot just drive to a store and get a few packs. In an ideal world, I would have found a pack of Opening Day or Topps, as opposed to Bowman. Kids barely know Mike Trout. How are they going to know Blaze Jordan or Wander Franco?

When I went to purchase the materials for the goodie bags, it was Sunday evening, so the one local card shop around me was not open.  It's not like the pack prices would be affordable, anyhow. So I basically came to terms with not having cards in the bags, and I would just add extra candy or a toy or something.

After I put thirteen packs of Big League Chew in my hand basket, I went over to the sports section to buy my son another whiffle ball launcher toy since his broke. It's a small gadget that pops a ball up so he can hit it into a net. And lo and behold, I couldn't believe my eyes. There was a box with loose packs of Bowman!

They were overpriced, but I wanted the kids to have cards, so I bought the remaining packs - 16 of them. I kept 13 for the goodie bags, and treated myself to three of the remaining packs. I like Bowman, so it was fine. Two of my packs were fairly loaded, so I can only hope the kids find some luck, and maybe it spurns on some sort of collecting interest. Here were my best two cards from the three packs:

Not bad!

I doubt it'll have much affect. Kids don't really like cards. They all talked about Fortnite a lot more than Major League Baseball. They talked about NBA more than MLB too. But for one day, they'll open a pack, see an array of cards of stars and prospects and maybe some shine or ink, and enjoy a big wad of Big League Chew.

That's a pretty cool outcome and a great way to put a cap on the season.

Breaking a Bowman Blaster

Well, indeed it has been an awful start to the summer. It literally rained from Friday evening right up through last night. Plus, temperatures were in the high 40s. What a mess! I did use some time to organize my disaster of a card area, including deciding to order a BCW card bin to house my Tino collection. I am saying goodbye to binders.

Yesterday I needed a pick me up, and got it while watching the Indy 500. I got an email ping on my phone that a blaster of 2021 that I had ordered from Target had been delivered. I went outside and quickly rescued the box, which was getting poured on. Luckily, the box held up and the cards were fine.

I know it's fun around these parts to crap on Bowman, but I am not one of these people. I like Bowman more than most. In fact, I would rather open Bowman than:

• Allen & Ginter
• Gypsy Queen
• Heritage
• Stadium Club
• Big League
• Opening Day
• Donruss

I like the mix of current players, rookies, and prospects, including a draftee's first Bowman card. I like the inserts, which usually are very shiny. I like the chance at a prospect autograph.

Let's start with the RCs. I was glad to get Clarke Schmidt, as well as a few others like Alec Bohm and Jo Adell. Schmidt just started a throwing program in hopes of coming back later this year. He's got a world of talent, but it is starting to feel like he'll never be one who is healthy. I hope I am wrong.

I did land one parallel as well, a blue pApEr of Rockies catching prospect Drew Romo.

On to the Chromes, where the highlight was Blaze Jordan of the Red Sox. Sweet name. Not sweet team. I hope he doesn't torment the Yankees for years. This card alone will pay for at least half the price of the blaster.

I did ok with the inserts, although in pack 2 my day was made when I pulled a Jasson Dominguez Scouts Top 100. I have a couple Dominguez cards already, but this is the first time I pulled one for myself from a pack.

Here's the rest of my inserts. They always pack a lot of shine.

The weather looks better today to salvage some of the weekend, but overall, I'm happy with my blaster, as it helped save a rainy day.

First card of the year of a first year player

Yesterday, the first card I got in 2021 showed up on my doorstep.

I've always enjoyed prospect cards, but have yet to add a card of 2020 Yankees first rounder Austin Wells. Realizing Bowman Draft had come out, I did a quick search on eBay for Wells' card in the set. As expected, the Yankees tax was on him, as even the base cards were a little more than I wanted to pay.

Then I saw it!

For the same price as most of the base cards, someone had listed a gold parallel numbered to 50. I quickly added it to my card and felt like I had scored.

This was on Jan 1, so the seller shipped it very quickly, and yesterday it arrived. I was glad with my purchase, even if the graders out there will immediately see that the centering is off. Maybe that's why it was cheap! Numbered 48/50, it's a solid 1st year card.

But there was an unadvertised bonus!

The seller also threw in the lowly base card, the same card which felt a little overpriced at a few bucks. Even though it was a mere throw-in, I was thrilled!

Not bad for my first two cards of the year. Now let's hope there's a minor league season and Wells can show why he was a first round pick.

Coot Veal?! What!

Quarantine has seen a bunch of dormant bloggers come back.

One of them is not Coot Veal and the Vealtones run by DHoff...so far! Never say never. But he still resurfaced...via eBay!

I unknowingly bought a card from him, a Tino Martinez 1989 Bowman Tiffany. This card puts me at four Tino's to go to hit 1,000. DHoff hit me with an eBay messaging saying he assumed that this was The Lost Collector, and he was absolutely right. What a fun coincidence!

The Tino arrived perfectly, and I certainly trust that it;'s a Tiffany. DHoff wouldn't steer me wrong. The Card is certainly brighter than most 1989 Bowman, a good sign. The gloss level is much higher too. Yep, a Tiffany!

I believe there were only 6,000 of these made, so I'm glad to finally have one.

He also threw in a Jason Giambi, numbered to 999.

DHoff, nice to see you. Thanks for the sale!

A 2020 Bowman Blaster

From what I understand, Bowman in the wild is quite rare.

We're still relatively locked down in here in NJ. While Targets and Walmarts are indeed open, I'm not going to risk it by going hunting for baseball cards. That's silly.

What I did do, back in April, was pre-order a blaster of 2020 Bowman on Amazon. I paid $22 for it, which is $2 more than the price tag in store, but much less than you can find them on eBay from retail flippers who fill their cards and take a picture of it for Twitter. Ever notice how these flood your timelines, even when you don't follow 99.9% of the people posting them?

Since the product was still a month away, and prices went crazy, I figured I'd end up getting an order cancelation. That's apparently happening with the big box stores, unable to fulfill online orders.

However, in a true credit to this Amazon seller, I recently received a notification that my order had shipped.

I did hope to pull a Jasson Dominguez card. He's the prospect rage right now, and surely many of you consider him an overhyped Yankees prospect. Maybe he is. But he would be this hyped on any team. That's what happens when you sign for $5.1Mil and are nicked The Martian. His tools are that good. Remember, last year it was a Rays prospect who was the rage. The Rays. Whether or not he puts it all together in a few years, obviously we won't know.

Spoiler alert: of my 72 cards, he was not one of them. Bummer.

Still, it was nice to open a few packs, and I was still in disbelief the vendor came through for me.

In a rare occurrence, I pulled an autograph. First pack too. This is Reds 3B prospect Rece Hinds. He's their #8 prospect according to MLB Pipeline. These fall 1:62 in a blaster.

I also pulled a shimmer blue refractor. These are awesome looking, and actually fall 1:256, so actually a pretty rare pull from a blaster. I don't know much about him, but hopefully will recoup a couple bucks back on eBay with this card. It's numbered /150.

In terms of Yankees, I did come away with two decent ones.

I am a big Clarke Schmidt fan, so I'm happy to get his base card here. Yep, not calling this a "paper" version because that is dumb.

As for major leaguers, the only ones in the set are Aaron Judge and Gleyber Torres. I was able to snag the Gleyber. Fun to see him officially listed as "SS."

Otherwise, I got a few solid RCs and prospects, which is to be expected in Bowman. I know Luis Robert is well regarded, although nit sure why this is a RC? I guess because he was expected to be in the Majors by this time when planning was underway?

And the inserts - while no keepers (these are available on TCDB) - are all nice looking and very refractory. The 1990 Reprints look cool as Refractors, that's for sure.

It was fun to open some cards. I haven't done that in quite a while, and more than anything, appreciated the seller here honoring the original price.

1st Edition

I don't know much about 2020 Bowman 1st Edition.

I don't pay close enough attention to Topps' website to know what's coming out and what's all the rage.

I do know from Twitter that it was hard to get these packs. Like trying to get concert tickets. Log on too late, and you're out of the luck.

The big draw in this set is Yankees top prospect Jasson Dominguez, the 17-year-old from the Dominican Republic. Dubbed as one of the next big things, The Martian has taken the prospecting world my storm. It's definitely early. Too early? The tools are there, but a lot can happen between now and whenever - if ever - he finds himself on the doorstep of NY.

One guy already on that doorstep is top pitching prospect Clarke Schmidt, the Yankees 2017 1st Rounder, selected 16th overall. They selected Schmidt right after he had had TJ surgery, knowing patience with him was going to be key.

It's paid off, as his 2019 season was largely a success. His 2020 spring training showed massive glimpses of promise, and put Schmidt firmly on track for a 2020 debut in the Yankees rotation. If that happens now, who knows?

So while the world was focused on Dominguez, I decided to snag the Schmidt for a buck. And for good measure, I got the yellow for a few bucks more, numbered to 75 copies.

It'd be cool to have a Dominguez card, but that can wait. For now I'd rather focus on the guy who is right there, not 4 years away.

Timely redemption arrival

I was worried they wouldn't come, but finally my 2019 Bowman 1989 Buyback autographs of Tino Martinez have arrived!

I started seeing others in the set pop up on eBay, and admittedly got nervous Topps wasn't going to track Tino down to sign his batch. But then I got an out-of-the-blue email from Topps saying that my cards had shipped!

In all, I received both autographs that I was supposed to. The first redemption was one I pulled on my own, while the second was a gift from Collecting Cutch:

I was surprised to see these were #d to 50, since that wasn't apparent from the redemption card. I was also surprised that I didn't receive sequentially numbered cards. Were they pulled at different times to ship? Randomly? Maybe the cards were never in numerical 1-50 order to start with.

Secretly, I was hoping for #24/50, but it wasn't meant to be. I did some digging to see if I could find any significance in #s 9 or 49 as it related to Tino's career. I was able to find a good nugget for each number:

9 - The number of post-season HRs Tino hit.

49 - The number of RBIs Tino had in 2005, his final season.

The cards used in the buyback autos are a little worn. I wonder how Topps sources buyback cards? Do they have a warehouse of old cards? Do they strike up a deal with COMC for the original cards they need? Does an intern scour ebay/sportlots/etc for the designated number of copies? Maybe Sooz knows!

Regardless, I'm happy to get these. A replacement autograph really would have stunk.

What?! A 2019 Tino?!

This morning, while browsing my Tino Martinez saved search, I came across this:

Whoa! I had no idea Tino was going to be included in 2019, albeit as a buyback autograph. Tino does have a 1989 Bowman, which is his first RC that isn't his XRC from 1988 Topps Traded.

I guess it's his true RC.

I don't love 1989 Bowman for the reasons many don't, namely the oversized yardstick. But still, a certified signed RC?! That's pretty cool.

Tino hasn't appeared in a Topps set since 2006, although I guess that's not entirely true because he did have stamped Bowman Anniversary and Rediscover Topps card. From what I can tell is that he hasn't has a Topps contract since then, as he was left out of recent Home Run Derby insert sets. He was the 1997 champion, after all.

I'm hoping that by signing some of these cards, he has a new contract at that might open him up to a random appearance in Archives or something, similar to Paul O'Neill or Orlando Hernandez. I'd say he's fairly on par with those guys.

Regardless, I thought the $39.99 was a little steep, and sent an offer of $20 figuring seller would counter at $30ish or so. But he accepted the $20, so I won the card. I'll be curious to see how rare these are are where the price ends up going to new ones listed as people open more Bowman. The other players featured are:

• Andre Dawson
• Bert Blyleven
• Cal Ripken Jr
• Carlton Fisk
• Dale Murphy
• Dennis Eckersley
• Edgar Martinez
• John Smoltz
• Ken Griffey Jr
• Mark McGwire
• Roger Clemens
• Ryne Sandberg

And Tino! Solid checklist. Now, I just gotta hope this redemption gets fulfilled. Yikes.

I bid $1,775 for this card...and won!

Having eBay on our smartphones can both be a blessing and a curse. I've used it to easily search for and buy cards when I otherwise wouldn't have been in front of a computer. In fact, I can't remember the last time I've actually been to eBay's website on my computer.

The problem is that it's a lot easier to screw up a bid. I recently did this for the Matt Sauer 2018 Bowman Chrome autograph pictured above. At the time, most were selling in the $2-$3 range. So I put in a very low bid of $1.75 to see if I'd win. However, my less than agile thumb hit the 7 twice. So my bid was actually $1,775. Oy!

Upon a google search, I saw that I could visit eBay's website and go through a process to retract my bid. But I don't like it when I've had people retract bids on me. Plus I didn't want to go to the website versus the app. I also knew that this card wasn't going to skyrocket, so I was pretty safe winning it for a decent prize. I let it ride out, and ended up winning the card for $7.50 plus shipping. It's more than I would have paid on it's own and I probably could have gotten one in the $4 range, but oh well. I'm happy to have it and it's a fun story.

Maybe the seller saw my bid and felt bad, as he tossed in 12 Bowman cards to protect the autograph. I haven't found any Bowman in stores, so I guess it's like I ended up with a pack that contained an autograph of a prospect on my favorite team.

And remember to double-check your bids before pressing "submit"!

I want my buyby, buyby, buyby back

I don't think that post title worked. Baby back? Buy-by back? Buy back?

Oof. Lay off the spiked eggnog, Lost Collector.

Anyhow, my dude over at Collecting Cutch sent me a finder's fee for helping him track down that Andrew McCutchen card of the year he recently showed off.

It was a gesture he really didn't need to do. He's sent me far more Tino's that I need versus anything I've done to help his 2,000+ McCutchen collection along. Still, I very much appreciate it.

I'm not sure if he found these grouped together or what, but here are four Tino Martinez buy back cards from this year - 1 Rediscover Topps in blue, and then three Bowman 70th anniversaries. I believe two are gold and one is bronze.

 

 

From what I can gather, the blue buy backs from Topps are amongst the rarer ones. In terms of Bowman, the golds are rarer than the bronze.

And to top it off, there was also a Tino Martinez printing plate from 1998 Pacific Online! I think this is the second plate he has sent me. I don't have many Tino 1/1s at all, so this is quite special as well.

Brian, thank you for thinking of me and helping my Tino collection at all! I hope 2018 sees you add even more amazing McCutchen cards.

Mateo, don't ya know

Just two years ago, Jorge Mateo was the crown jewel of the Yankees system. He swiped 82 bases, showed some pop with the bat, and played a premium position.

There were high expectations for him in 2016, and for the most part, had a lackluster season in A+ ball, where he spent all season. Then the Yankees system acquired guys like Gleyber Torres and Clint Frazier in trades and Blake Rutherford via the Draft, and he quickly slid down top prospect lists and seemed to fall a bit out of favor within the organization.

He’s repeating High-A ball again this year, and isn’t quite lighting the world on fire. Still, he’s swiped 20 bags and has been working out in CF, so perhaps he’ll take to the OF and help the Yanks in that way. Plus, he’s on the 40-man roster, and I fully expect him to be called up in September to serve as a pinch running extraordinaire, assuming that the Yankees are still firmly in a Pennant race. Instead of going out an getting a Rico Noel or Eric Young Jr, they'll have their own, homegrown version.

His cards have cooled down as well, and I actually think this is a great time to buy. I snagged this Bowman insert for $.75 shipped, and I look forward to stocking up on a few autos that will be harder to get when he swipes a bag that helps set up the winning World Series run later this fall.

Thanks, Jud(ge)son

I mentioned yesterday that bloggers came to the rescue when I mentioned I needed a 2017 Aaron Judge Topps RC.

Matt Prigge of Summer of '74 was the first hero, and then Judson of My Cardboard Habit came to the rescue, sending quite an Aaron Judge-centric package I was not expecting.

First, the reason for the mailer:

Lovely!

Then Judson sent even more Judge goods, starting with this 2017 Rookie of the Year Favorites insert from Bowman. I've wanted this card since I saw it! One thing I'm surprised with is how "RC" logos are appearing on insert cards. I thought non-base cards couldn't be rookie cards? Honestly, I have no clue about the rules around what is a rookie card and what isn't these days. I still sort of believe that the pre-RC is the real rookie card, which would make his 2013 Bowmans his RCs. I don't know. But I do know I like this card.

Judson must have broken a bit of Bowman, because he sent me not one, not two, but three Judge RCs from Bowman.

And if that wasn't enough, Gleyber! I will hoard any and all Gleybers I can these days, and I did not have this one yet.

Judson also gave me my first in-person look at 2017 Diamond Kings. I like these. They sort of remind me of the UD Masterpieces that had the borders around them, although the card texture is a little different. Still, I think they look great.

Lastly, just as P-Town Tom does, I love a nice, personal note. What a sweet guy!

Thanks for the cards, Judson! I'll hit you back soon whenever I get my act together.

Settling on a pack of '17 Bowman

This past weekend, I was planning on stopping by Dollar Tree to pick up some of those 30-card repacks I've seen. Unfortunately, there were zero baseball cards. This Dollar Tree is historically bad with nearly empty shelves at all times, so I don't know why I excepted they'd have some new cards.

They had a few random packs of gaming cards, as well as a ton of packs from Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them. I'm a Potter fan and did see this movie on a recent cross-country flight, and I actually thought it was pretty good. However, I don't want cards from the film.

I ended up buying some bubble bath soap for the kids, and decided to walk next door to K-Mart in hopes of finding a few packs or a blaster. I would have been happy with some 2017 Series One given how crazy the RC prices are right now. I also stupidly realized that I don't have the Aaron Judge flagship RC. I sent it out for a TTM autograph in February and never bothered to replace it. Now it'll cost me at least $5, unless anyone here has one for trade.

The only baseball cards they had were a few value packs of 2017 Bowman. These are fat packs with 22 cards. Not wanting to go home empty-handed, I snagged one, hoping for a Blake Rutherford or Gleyber Torres. I didn't get any Yankees. Boo.

Overall, the pack was ok. There were some big name base cards, and a few nice rookies. I don't mind the design that much. The last few years of Bowman all felt very similar, so I like that this is a little different.

The highlight of the pack was a green paper parallel of Cody Sedlock, the Orioles' #2 prospect. It's numbered to 99. I hadn't heard of Sedlock, but seems like he has a decent arm. He's had a bit of a rough start at A+ ball this year with an ERA over 6.

I like these Rookie of the Year inserts a lot. The script is cool, and the Refractor shine looks great. I'm nearly certain that Arcia gave up his rookie status in 2016, as he had 216 plate appearances. So yeah, I think this card is inaccurate, as he cannot be deemed a Rookie of the Year favorite when he is not a rookie.

I can honestly say I watched zero World Baseball Classic. Not one out or at bat. It's not my thing. According to the stats on the back, Yoshitomo Tsutsugo is a very powerful hitter. He hit 44 homers for Yokohama last year. According to the ever reliable wikipedia, he was the MVP of Pool B in the 2017 WBC. I have no idea what that means, but hey, congrats to him.

I know this guy. Apparently, the Yankees selected between Torres and Eloy Jimenez in the Aroldis Chapman trade. I'm glad Torres was the pick, but Jimenez is an elite prospect in his own right. He's tearing up A+ ball right now, and Double A shouldn't be far off. The Cubs have another good one.

I really hope this guys swings and hits bounce balls in the dirt.

I also got a few RCs, including one of the top prospect in baseball, Yoan Moncada. David Dahl had a nice Big League debut last year, but hasn't played yet due to a rib cage injury.

Overall, not bad. I still would have preferred a repack, but at least I got to tear open a pack this weekend and celebrate America.