The need to feel even

For many of us, we receive packages with a note that reads something like, "No need to send anything back. Just wanted to get rid of these."

Except it never seems to work that way.

Like so many others, I always feel like I have a debt to others who send me cards. No matter if the person said we're good and they need nothing in return, there is that unofficial score in my brain that says I'm behind and need to make things right.

I know I'm not alone feeling like this. 

Earlier this week, I received a bubble mailer from Coach Tom at Waiting Til Next Year. A few weeks ago, I sent Tom a few Cubs items I received from the Cubs Race to Wrigley Virtual 5K I ran. I think I sent a small bag and the Cubs shirt that came in the race package.

I told Tom I didn't need anything in return. I wasn't lying! I truthfully had no use for the Cubs gear, and even if he didn't use them himself, I knew he could find a good home for the items. I wanted and expected nothing. I kept the race medal and that's all I needed.

In his note, Tom acknowledged that I said that, but also said "you must know that's not how I operate."

So Tom sent me a few cards, I'm sure to make himself feel better. It wasn't necessary, but the cards were great.

First off, a Robinson Cano signed card! A Cano autograph has been on my 'most wanted' for ages. I just never got around to getting one. It's sad that Cano is now a repeat PED offender. I assume the market for his cards had tanked pretty hard as a result. Yet I never did have that autograph, until now. Very cool!

I had vaguely seen the Onyx Vintage set that was out, but hadn't;t acquired any. And Tom also delivered my first autograph of Yankees prospect Esteven Florial! Very cool! Florial made his debut last year and collected a hit. Hopefully there are plenty more of those to come.

Although we were even to begin with, I really do appreciate these cards.

Now the only question is...do I need to send Tom something back?

The Derby

This year's Home Run Derby definitely feels a lot different than last year's. It seems that the HR Derby is starting to go the way of the NBA Slam Dunk Contest, where the big-ticket players will choose not to participate.

I see both sides of it, and I'm not disappointed that no Yankees are in it tonight. Being 29 games over .500 at the break is more important, and whatever players can do to gain a little more rest at this point is totally cool with me.

Still, it's fun to look back at the four Yankees who won the derby, especially in 1997 when Tino Martinez won it. That's still a highlight of my childhood fandom.

1997 - Tino Martinez at Jacobs Field in Cleveland

2002 - Jason Giambi at Miller Park in Milwaukee

2011 - Robinson Cano at Chase Field in Arizona

2017 - Aaron Judge at Marlins Park in Miami

If I had to guess, I'd say Bryce Harper puts on a show for the home crowd and takes home the win tonight.
 

Thanks for looking out for me

Every couple of weeks, a blogger reaches out with a photo of a Tino Martinez card, asking if I need it.

Most of the time I can tell right away if it's a yes or a no. In this instance, I actually had to look when Paul from Scribbled Ink reach out with this card:

What threw me was the "UD PROMO" stamped across the card in foil. Hmmm. Turns out, this is a promotional card versus the regular Game Face, which I have. Cool!

Paul threw in three more cards into the PWE. First off, another Tino, this one a 1998 Ultra Gold Medallion. I'd say that this is my second favorite Gold Medallion design behind 1996.

The third card is of AL Silver Slugger winner Gary Sanchez. I always appreciate cards of this guy.

Lastly, a cool Robinson Cano Bowman Gold. I had been on the hunt for a Cano autograph for awhile, but obviously his PED suspension came as an unfortunate surprise. Maybe I'll pick one up on the cheap now.

Paul, thanks for the cards!

SuperTraders #25: San Jose Fuji

It's nearing the end as a "SuperTrader" for me. I have a few packages I need to send those I haven't yet, then I'll be stepping away. I don't buy enough cards to replenish inventory to regularly trade with a representative of all teams.

Unexpectedly, San Jose Fuji sent me a great package around the new year. It had a bunch of great relic-type cards.

I really gravitated toward the Jason Giambi base relic. I think game-used bases are some of the coolest out there. This one has some great dimples and dirt (that'd be a good name of an insert set...Dimple & Dirt). Far more interesting than a plain jersey swatch, right? I don't think we've seen a game-used base insert set in a long time - probably at least ten years, right?

Speaking of plain jersey swatches, these are two relics I didn't have. For a time I considered collecting the 2011 Topps 60 relic set of just Yankees, but I couldn't stay dedicated to it. The Cracker Jack of Soriano is cool too, as it's smaller than a standard card.

I always liked these rookie reprints too. I have the Mattingly, and am now happy to have the Cano.

I meant to buy this Jose Pirela autographed card during COMC Black Friday, but I forgot! Luckily, Fuji took care of that for me.

He also snuck in a pretty great vintage card of Bobby Murcer. I have a few Murcers, but this is new to my collection. Tony Oliva was pretty great too. I may be showing my age, but I have no idea who Merv Rettenmund is.

Last, but not least, Fuji was kind enough to send a pack of Sportflics for my son! I haven't given him the pack yet - he got too many 'time outs' at pre-school last week!

Fuji, it's always a pleasure. Thank you!

SuperTraders #15: Night Owl Cards

My 15th #SuperTraders package arrived a month or so ago from Night Owl. Luckily I scanned the cards before I threw a bunch of unsorted bubble mailers in boxes while moving houses. I definitely want to thank Greg for sending some Yanks my way, as I know he likes keeping them in his collection.

NO included a note that 2016 Diamond Kings wasn't for him. I'm guessing it's because he pulled a bunch of Yanks. Seems like a fun break to me!

 

My favorite card is easily the Frank Crosetti. The Crow isn't included in many sets, so it's always special to get a new card of his. Fun fact: back in the late '90s I received a Crosetti TTM autograph. On my letter he wrote: "My memory doesn't allow me to remember much of my playing days, but I can say I was born to play baseball." Very cool. I cherish this photo very much.

Here is another 2015 Stadium Club I didn't have of Dan Mattingly. If this image is from what I think it is, then it's from the 1995 ALDS Game 2 when Mattingly went deep, providing us all with Gary Thorne's memorable "Hang onto the roof!" call. What a moment!

Love seeing Jeter on the top step celebrating, even though he wasn't officially on the roster.

Speaking of not on the roster...Robinson Cano. Man, he would look good as a Yankee. But you know what, they'd still be an average team.

This card is so freaking cool. Mr. Baseball himself, taking grounders as a Yankee. I love Frank Thomas there too. He looks good in Pinstripes! He's definitely marveling at Tom Selleck's mustache. Mr. Baseball isn't my favorite baseball movie, but I do like it. I'll probably see if I can get Magnum P.I. to sign this TTM.

What struck me about this card was "25 years of Topps Baseball Cards." Now we are at 65 years in 2016. How the heck did that happen? I'll say that I like this subset a lot more than Berger's Best! Don't overthink your odes to the past, Topps.

Lastly, this is one of the action photo variants from 2016 Heritage. Didi has turned himself into a very stellar shortstop. While he doesn't have the upside of guys like Seager and Xander and Lindor and Russell, somehow he's flirting with .300 and has 11 homers. I definitely didn't expect him to be quite this good.

Great package all around. Now I need to unpack my cards in the new house, a massive chore in its own right! Thanks for the cards, Greg.

SuperTraders #13: 2x3 Heroes

I'm a few weeks behind on some #SuperTraders posts. I gotta catch up, or it's going to get too overwhelming!

My 13th package came from Jedi Jeff over at 2x3 Heroes. Jeff reps the White Sox in this here trading group, and sent me some sweet Yankees.

Among the goods was this Mark Teixeira relic. It's crazy to think his 8-year Yankee tenure is just about over.

Here are a bunch of black-bordered minis. One day I am going to actually place all my minis in a binder. One day. Probably not soon.

Even though Topps used this Jeter photo in flagship cards, the black and white in this looks really cool.

This is a classly looking Jeter. I love the white parallel.

Gold from the post-Cano spending spree.

I like Starlin Castro so far. He is a bit frustrating on offense, as many Cubs fans can attest to, but when he's playing well he's really good. On the flip side, I'm pretty shocked that Jacob Lindgren isn't a bigger part of the Yankees pen at this point in his career. Injuries.

What on earth? Never seen these in person. They are awesome!

Hard to tell from the scan, but this is a very foily Cano. Where did Bowman Heritage go? I assume they ran out of designs?

Speaking of Heritage, there were a bunch more. I love that Matt Lawton made it into a set.

Lastly, here are a few more new Jeters. This summer I am going to count my Jeters. I really think I might have 500, although it's probably less than that and I'm just over-exaggering. It might make for a fun contest post.

Jeff, this was a great package. I needed a TON of these. Thanks again!

Sunday Holoday

I'm nearly caught up on trade packages from the last few months. Here's another, this time from Matt of Doc Holoday Cards.

Matt is one of those Red Sox fans I shouldn't get along with but do. He's a really nice guy and has sent me a few batches of great Yankees cards. Our mailings are a little different. I tend to pepper Matt with some PWEs and an occasional bubble mailer. Matt, on the other hand, usually waits until he has a flat rate box ready to go!

See?

This one was full of awesome Yanks. Below is a random sampling, but I enjoyed the whole box!

Here are a few Jeters I didn't have. Once I get organized, I am going to count my Jeters. I must have 500 or so that are different. I want to know. If the number is over 500, I may try for 1,000 different Jeters, because why not?

 

This is cool. There was a post-it note on the card that says "it's faint, but I think there's an autograph on there." Right you are, Matt!

A couple of low-numbered GQ minis!

Two very blue lefties! The CC is #'d to just 25 and is really gorgeous and sparkly.

Two Tanaka RCs, including the flagship issue! I'm pretty sure I didn't have this one.

And let's cap it with a Reggie #'d to 199.

Matt, this was an awesome assortment. Thank you!

The JBF Mystery Box

This past spring, Jaybarker fan held a Big Fun Game in honor of Napkin Doon of the dormant The Adventures of Napkin Doon blog. Napkin actually participated, but then didn't keep his word about blogging about then game. Figures.

As part of the Big Fun Game, I swiped a Mystery Box of cards. What could be in there? 1987 Topps? Some sexy Bench Warmers? Dick Tracy cards? Packing peanuts?

I anxiously awaited, and here's what I found:

Ohh yeah! In typical JBF fashion, of course he would tailor the cards to whoever won the mystery box. Below the Cano is also an unopened pack of top loaders (always helpful!), and the cards were flanked by some 1988 Donruss was packs. I opened one pack, and saved two for my kids to open one day in the future. Here are the highlights from my pack. Two HOFers...not bad!

You can already see the Cano, but here's a scan. I loved these blue foil Opening Day cards, as this one is from 2013. They were super nice. Behind that was an emerald foil Jeter, so these two looked awesome falling out one after another.

More foil! Although this one is from Panini. This is a pretty sweet Ichiro!

I was thrilled to see this one fall out! I do have a copy of this card, but I was never expecting to have another one. It was sandwiched in the loose cards section over on the right. It's one of my favorite cards of all time!

A nice assortment of other Yanks to give you an idea of what else was in there:

 

And finally! Wes also included a bunch of sweet Bengals hits! I love the Jeremy Hill jersey. He's a stud and can't wait to see him in year two. And the Devon Still auto is great. He's obviously been pretty front and center this season as his daughter, Leah, has undergone cancer treatment.

Wes aka JBF, this was awesome. Thank you!