A Few From 2019

The first series of 2019 Topps released this week, so I ventured out to Target on Wednesday to pick up a few packs.  Retail packs are not the best way to put together a set, but it's a good way to get a look at the new cards.  Since I am limiting the number new sets that assemble this year, and limiting the amount of time and money spent on them, these few packs were more fun than an actual attempt to make a set. 

My first card of 2019..... 

was Ronald Acuna of the Braves.  Conveniently, if I were trying to put together a set out of retail packs, Acuna is card number 1 in the set this year. 

I think it is a pretty solid design this year.  I like that Topps has gone back to using a border on their base set, ask me at the end of the year what I think about the design.  Last year, I felt I made fun of the cards at the beginning of the year for having that AquaFresh looking think on the front of the cards, but they grew on me as the year went along.  

My first Cardinals card was Paul DeJong.  

Nice action shot of the Cardinals shortstop.  There are several different Cardinals cards in Series 1.  Not sure which of the cards I like the best.  I feel like I am leaning towards the Molina card, which has a nice action shot of him throwing the ball.  

Nothing better than a card of a catcher wearing their gear.  

First former Durham Bulls card of the year belongs to Cubs utility player Ben Zobrist.  I bought several packs of cards and it took me several packs to finally run into one of their players.  Considering they are the Triple A team of the Rays, and most of their players went through there on the way to the Majors, I was a little surprised it took so long to find one....

While we are on Zobrist, I can point out one other design element that I like on this year's Topps cards.  Last year, maybe 2017 too, they had chopped down the stat line to a five or six year window.  It felt like the old Donruss cards.  It's fine on younger players, even if I am missing a year or two of stats when I flip over the card.  However, with older players like Zobrist.....

It's nice to be able to flip the card over and look at all the different years that he has played.  Look, he played with the Rays back when they were the Devil Rays.  Seems like a long time ago.  Probably because it was a long time ago.  

Favorite Durham Bulls card.  

That's a pretty run of the mill picture of Blake Snell, but I love seeing him on League Leaders cards.  He was such a great pitcher while he was in Durham, which does not always guarantee that the players are successful in the Majors, but he was in a different world at times.  So much better than that level of competition.   Just completely dominate.  Nice to see Snell pitch well enough to win the Cy Young last year. 

Final card. 

Just as I loved the 1983 styled insert cards last year, I also love this year's 1984s.  I have a soft spot for the card designs of my childhood.  I could tell you this is one of my favorites, but that's generally true of most of the card designs from the 1980s and early 1990s.  

They even duplicate the backs.....

Not sure if this is going to be something I pursue this year, or not.  Last year, I put together the first series of these cards, then stuck to the Durham Bulls and Cardinals players in the later releases.  Leaning towards just buying singles again this year. 

How many wins would Greinke have if he had not played on the Royals for seven years? 

Friday Five: Greatest Former Durham Bulls Postseason Performances

Many Durham Bulls players have graduated to the Majors and have had the opportunity to shine on baseball's biggest stage during the postseason.  There have been a total of 9 former Durham Bulls who have won a Postseason MVP Award, which includes former hitting coach Gary Gaetti who won the ALCS MVP with the Twins in 1987.

Which are the five best?  Here's my take with a few baseball cards mixed in.....


Honorable Mention- Adam Kennedy 2002 American League Championship Series MVP 

The long time Cardinals and Angels infielder played in Durham during the 2009 season while trying to work his way back to the Majors.  In 2002, while playing for the Angels, Kennedy won the ALCS Award in route to the Angels taking home the World Series Championship in a hard fought series with the Giants.  The Angels took on the Minnesota Twins in the ALCS and Kennedy had one of the best Postseason games in the history of baseball hitting three home runs.



If I were ranking individual game performances of former Durham Bulls players in the Postseason I would probably have a really hard topping Kennedy's game 5 barrage against the Twins.


5.  Javy Lopez - 1996 National League Championship Series MVP 

The 1996 Braves were the favorites to win the National League after winning the World Series in 1995.  However, they found themselves in a 3 to 1 hole against the upstart Cardinals in their first season with Tony LaRussa.   During the first four games the Braves had been done in by a two home run game by Ron Gant, a Dmitri Young triple followed by a Brian Jordan home run, and a Gary Gaetti grand slam off of Greg Maddux.  Lopez and the pitching staff led the Braves back over the last three games.  He ended the NLCS with 2 home runs, 5 doubles, 6 RBIs, and an OPS of 1.607.  The Braves went on to the World Series, but lost in 6 games to the Yankees.




4.  Steve Avery - 1991 National League Championship Series MVP 

The Big 3 started out being Tom Glavine, John Smoltz, and Steve Avery.  Avery was the youngest of the bunch and probably the most hyped of the three Atlanta pitchers.  He had a nice 1991 season going 18-8 with an ERA of 3.38.  In the postseason the Braves were pitted up against the favored Pittsburgh Pirates led by Barry Bonds and Bobby Bonilla.  The series went a full seven games with Avery shutting down the Pirates in Game 2 and Game 6.  The Game 6 performance forced a Game 7, which got the Braves into the 1991 World Series.  In the 2 wins, Avery pitched 16 innings, struck out 17, and did not allow a run.


3.  Hideki Matsui - 2009 World Series MVP 

Matsui excelled for many years in Japan before joining the Yankees in 2003 at the age of 29.  By the time 2009 rolled around the power hitting outfielder was at the end of his time with the Yankees.  The Bronx Bombers reached the World Series and were matched up against the Phillies, who were the defending champions.  Matsui did not do much in the ALDS against the Twins, nor the ALCS against the Angels, but the World Series was a different story.  During the 6 games series, Matsui had 8 hits in 14 plate appearances, which included four extra base hits.  Three of those extra base hits were home runs.  Matsui would go on to spend time with the Angels and A's before landing with the Rays in 2012.  Before joining the team in Tampa, the Rays let Matsui spend a little time with the Bulls.





2. Ben Zobrist - 2016 World Series MVP 

There were players on this list that had better Postseason numbers than Zobrist did last year in the World Series, but I figured contributing to the end of the Cubs long championship drought had to count for something.  Similar to Matsui, Zobrist did almost nothing of value in the playoffs before reaching the World Series.  He hit .188 against the Giants in the NLDS and .150 against the Dodgers in the NLCS.  In the World Series he hit .357 with three extra base hits.  One of those was pretty important......





1. Mickey Lolich - 1968 World Series MVP 

Lolich is a no-brainer here.  The Tigers were heavy underdogs to the defending World Series Champions, the Cardinals, in 1968.  The Cardinals jumped out to a 3 to 1 Series led by ace Bob Gibson.  St. Louis put up 21 runs in the 3 games that they won, the lone bright spot for the Tigers was Game 2, which was won by Mickey Lolich.  The Cardinals had 3 games to put the Tigers away with Bob Gibson pitching the seventh game if the Tigers got that far.  Lolich started Game 5 and the Tigers managed to rally to win the game after the Cardinals scored 3 early runs.  Game 6 went to Detroit too, setting up a Game 7 match-up between Lolich and Gibson.  Gibson had won 7 straight World Series games stretch back to the 1964 match-up against the Yankees.  Included in those seven straight World Series victories were two Game 7 wins in 1964 and 1967 against the Red Sox.  Lolich pitched shut out ball until a Mike Shannon home run in the ninth, but that was the only run the Cardinals scored in a 4-1 Tigers win.  Lolich ended the Series a perfect 3-0.

Project Durham Bulls #20 - Ben Zobrist

2006-2008 Durham Bulls 

Background- 

Zobrist started off his professional career with the Astros after they selected him in the 6th round of the 2004 Amateur Draft out of Dallas Baptist University.  After two years in the Astros organization he was traded to the Rays in exchange for Aubrey Huff.  Zobrist was very much the same type of player offensively in the Minors as he is in the Majors.  He had a little bit of pop in his bat, but his main offensive skill was getting on base.  During his first two go arounds in Durham, 2006 and 2007, he managed to draw more walks than strikeouts over almost 80 games.  His OBP for the Bulls was above .400 during each of the 3 seasons that he played in Durham.  Zobrist is probably best known as a player who can show up anywhere on the field, but that skill did not show up until he reached the Majors for good in 2008.  The Astros played him exclusively at shortstop, while the Rays Minor League teams used him at second, short, and third.  However, the majority of his time with the Rays Minor League teams was still spent at short.  So much that I could say about Zobrist, I will keep it short and simple.  He has appeared at every position in the Majors except pitcher.  He's played more than 100 career games at second, short, and the two corner outfield spots.  Zobrist has now been in the Majors for 12 seasons, made three All-Star games, won two World Series rings, and a World Series MVP.  He has a solid .263/.356/.428 slash line with more than 150 home runs and 300 doubles.  

 Card-

I actually already had a copy of this card that I picked up way back in 2007 from one of my favorite card shops in St. Louis.  I had seen Zobrist on the 2006 Durham Bulls, so I knew of him at the time.  I went home for Thanksgiving with my then girlfriend, now wife, and I took her to the card shop.  She was a great sport about the whole baseball card shop thing.  Anyway, the guy who ran the store always used to open a pack out of the boxes that he was using to sell single packs.  Sitting there in the open pack of the Topps 52 box was a Zobrist autograph.  I asked the guy about the card, he had no idea who Zobrist was, and I ended up getting the card for a few dollars.  Always liked this card a lot, saw a cheap one the other week.  Thought it would look nice is this space.  

Friday Five: Former Durham Bulls All-Stars

I did a little digging into the stat lines of the former Durham Bulls players who are currently playing in the Majors on the lookout for the five most deserving for an All-Star appearance.  Some of these players are actually on the All-Star team, others not so much.

Honorable Mention- Melvin Upton OF 

Stretch.  There are a whole bunch of outfielders having better seasons than Melvin, but he's one of my favorite former Durham Bull players and was easily one of the most talented Triple A players I have seen in uniform for my hometown team.  While Upton may not get an All-Star game nod, he is having a sort of bounce back season and he's on the hometown team.  I know the A.L. is technically the home team this year.  His line so far this year is .260/.308/.439 with 14 home runs, 10 doubles, and 19 steals.  Melvin should post his fourth 20/20 season of his career and first since 2012 when he was still a Ray.

5. Stephen Vogt - C 

I don't like to talk much about the Stephen Vogt trade, but I have been really happy with the success the former Bulls catcher has enjoyed since moving to the Bay Area.  This year is Vogt's second straight All-Star appearance which came with a .266/.311/.413 line along with 6 home runs and 17 doubles.  Vogt played well during two stops in Durham during the 2011 and 2012 seasons.  While I hear a lot of baseball fans argue that there are better choices than Vogt, the second tier at the position behind Salvador Perez, which he is in, is pretty equal.

4. Wil Myers - 1B 

Long ago in 2013 Wil Myers appeared for the Durham Bulls after being traded over from the Kansas City Royals for pitcher James Shields.  Myers was a huge deal in these parts.  Sure, he was a local kid from High Point, North Carolina, but he was also a Top 10 prospect.  He got called up to Tampa for the second half of the season and played well.  The next year was not so great and he got traded to the Padres where he only played half a season in 2015 due to injuries.  This year he is hitting .291/.355/.535 with 19 home runs, 19 doubles, and 14 stolen bases.  First base is always a deep position for the All-Star game, but Myers is more than deserving of this honor.

3.  Evan Longoria - 3B 

The one player on my list who did not actually make the All-Star Game.  Longo is high up on my list of favorite former Durham Bulls, so I had hoped that he could get in with the Final Vote online.  However, he came in last.  Can't win them all.  It's still been a nice bounce back season for Longoria who has posted a .280/.330/.514 line with 18 home runs and 23 doubles.

2.  Wade Davis - P 

Wade Davis used to be one of those former Durham Bulls players who kind of slid through the cracks until he started blowing people away during playoff games for the Royals.  For the last three seasons he has basically been untouchable posting a 26-14 record, 2.91 FIP, and a142 ERA+ in his three and a half years in KC.  This year Davis has saved 19 games for the defending World Series Champs.  He was named to the American League All-Star team, but was headed for a possible DL stint.  I am guessing he does not make it.  

1. Ben Zobrist - 2B 

I hear a lot about Kris Bryant, Jake Arrieta, and Anthony Rizzo, but why isn't anyone talking about Ben Zobrist?  The longtime Ray, and one-time former Durham Bull, is enjoying a great season with the north siders.  He still had a strong stat line last year with the A's and Royals, but at 35 you'd expect his line to start to fall off at some point soon.  Instead, Zobrist is on pace to hit the most home runs he has hit since 2009, record his highest OBP since 2009, and drive in more than 90 runs for the first time since 2011.  The Cubs have a lot of young players, and the window for the team to be competitive is going to be open for a long time, but Zobrist is doing a great job of helping the team out with a little veteran presence.

Friday 5: Top 5 Former Durham Bulls in the League Championship Series

I had five minutes this afternoon while I was eating my lunch to gaze at the rosters of the team's left in the two League Championship Series.  I had planned on writing up a Friday Five post this afternoon when I got home from work, which I am still doing, but decided to change my topic.  The original one was pretty good, but I can get to that next week.  For the time being I am going to tackle what I found on the rosters of this year's LCS participants: former Durham Bulls players.

What else can I say about my favorite Minor League team that has not been said over the few years that I have written on my blog.  Their parent team is not even in the playoffs, we have been seem a wild card round, a division series round, and their are still players from past Bulls team's still vying for a World Series ring.  As Bulls fans we see the "Building Champions" motto around the park and can see the evidence on the field every year come playoff time when we get to watch some of our former favorites take the big stage in October.  Here are five former Bulls players to watch as the League Championship Series start this weekend:

5. Dioner Navarro- Toronto Blue Jays - C

The Blue Jays backup catcher appeared for the Bulls during the 2010 season splitting the year between the International League and the Rays.  In 43 games with the Bulls the backstop had a slash line of .284/.387/.390.  The is Dioner's second season with the Blue Jays.  Last year he appeared in 139 games for the Jays, but settled into the backup role behind Russell Martin for the 2015 season.  This is his third trip to the MLB postseason.  Navarro also appeared on the 2008 Rays American League Champions team and the 2012 Cincinnati Reds.  

4. Jason Hammel- Chicago Cubs - P

The Cubs starting pitcher appeared for the Durham Bulls during the 2005, 2006, and 2007 seasons.  He even tossed a combined no-hitter for the Bulls.  Hammel's has also been a solid starting pitcher throughout his 10 year career in the Majors.  This is his second go around with the Cubs after being traded to the A's in between stints for some shortstop prospect named Addison Russell.  Hammel's made one start during the National League Division Series against the Cardinals, but did not factor in the decision.  This is Hammel's fourth appearance in the playoffs.  He also appeared for the 2009 Colorado Rockies, 2010 Orioles, and the 2014 Oakland A's.

3. Ben Zobrist- Kansas City Royals - 2B

The Royals seem content with player Zo at second, but it's nice to see the super utility player back in the playoffs.  Zobrist played for the Bulls during the 2006, 2007, and 2008 seasons.  He played all the infield positions for the Bulls, except for 1B, and did his usual job of getting on base posting a .415 rate in his three Triple A appearances.  He started off the year with the A's after the Rays traded him this offseason.  The A's traded Zobrist to the first place Royals in the middle of the season.  This is Zobrist's fifth appearance in the playoffs.  He made four appearances with the Rays in 2008, 2010, 2011, and 2013.

2. Wade Davis- Kansas City Royals - P

Way back in 2008 and 2009 Wade Davis appeared for the Durham Bulls as a starting pitcher.  He was a top prospect for the Rays, but found a home in the bullpen starting during the 2012 season.  A year later he was involved in the Wil Myers trade and found himself starting again for the Royals.  Luckily the team moved him back to the pen where the hard throwing righty has had an impressive two year run.  Davis ended the season as the closer for the Royals and has been lights out for the team so far in the playoffs.  So far, with 4 innings pitched, he has 5 strikeouts and allowed only a single hit.  This is Wade's fourth appearance in the postseason.  He also made the playoffs with the 2010 and 2011 Rays and the 2014 Royals.

1. David Price- Toronto Blue Jays -P

Price was one of the best prospects in baseball when he rolled through Durham during the 2008 and 2009 seasons.  It was cool to see him in Durham to start the 2009 season considering he helped the Rays advance to the World Series during the 2008 postseason.  The Rays traded the talented starter to the Tigers last year, who then turned around and traded him to the Blue Jays this year.  The 2015 Postseason marks his sixth trip to the playoffs.  He made four appearances with the Rays and one with the Tigers.  He has not had the same results in the Postseason as he has had in the regular season, but I am hoping he can turn it around this year for the Jays.

2007 Durham Bulls Team Set

Just filling in a few holes from previous years.  I saw this set on sale this past weekend while I was attending Friday night's during Durham Bulls game and just simply could not pass this one up.  I think I now have all of the Bulls sets from every year that I have lived in North Carolina (roughly ten years).  I am going to have to go back and start working on the sets from before 2005 now.  This set actually has some pretty nice names in it for a Minor League team set.  A bunch of these players made it up to the Majors with Zobrist being the best of the lot.  Here's a look at the cards and a few thoughts on some of the players.....

Alright, a little bit hard to read and the cards have a horizontal orientation.  Still fun to look at.  The best card in this group belongs to Johnny Gomes on the left hand side of the middle row.  I was never really a huge fan of Johnny Gomes, but he's had a decent career and won a World Series ring with the Red Sox in 2013.  Long time relief pitcher J.P. Howell is below Gomes and Brent Butler is in the top right hand corner.

A few more Major Leaguers in this group too.  Top right is Royals/Rays infielder Elliot Johnson.  Most famously plowed over a Yankees catcher during a Spring Training and injured him somehow.  Can't remember how he trucked, but it might have been Francisco Cervalli.  Jeff Niemann on the middle left was a high draft pick out of Rice, had a decent year or two, and his career was then wrecked by shoulder problems.  Loved watching him pitch for the Bulls, but injuries definitely did him in.  Chris Richard is in the bottom right.  He was first baseman for the Orioles for awhile, but ended up in Tampa with the Rays afterwards.  Richard spent several years in Durham and is on the top of the franchise leader board in several offensive categories.

This is a good group of cards.  Let's start with the top left card belonging to Justin Ruggiano.  He's one of my favorite Bulls of all-time, and even though he's hanging out in Tacoma, I still am following his career.  Shawn Riggans is in the middle of the top row.  He was a pretty good catching prospect for awhile.  The Zobrist card in the set is in the bottom right hand side.  I also like the Gary Gaetti card to the left of the Zobrist.  

Last three.  Montoyo, the manager, is on the left.  He managed the Bulls a long time and did a great job.  Cool to add a card of his to the collection.  Wool E. Bull on the right is also a sweet add.  The Blue Monster in the middle?  Not so great.  

A Most Generous Mailday

I posted a Want List, I am calling it a Void List, a week and half ago as my New Years Resolution.  I still need to put it into a box on the side of blog, but I am getting there.  In the meantime, one of my blog readers, Jon Belk, generously filled in one of the holes on the list by sending me this really cool looking David Eckstein World Series Patch.

I was really happy to being able to cross off a card from my list so quickly, but there were more cards in the package.  Really nice cards including a Topps Black Parallel Numbered out of just 63, a Triple Threads card numbered out of just 250, an autograph of a Duke basketball star/Cardinals shortstop, and a chrome card of Jon's favorite player Ben Zobrist.  Here's a look at the cards.....  

Again, really generous to fill in a card on my newly created Void List and the extra cards were awesome.  All of them fit nicely into my collection and I was so excited to see all of them.  I have actually been spending my winter break from school putting together some packages of goodies for some of my blog followers, so I am going to have to throw a few extra cards into Jon's envelope.  Again, thank you for the awesome cards.   

A Trip Into Big D's Part 1- The Rays

Yesterday marked the beginning of the college football season.  I started my day off by sleeping in, after a long week at work, and watched my alma mater NC State take on Georgia Southern.  The game was a little bit closer than most NC State fans would have liked to see, but in the end the Wolfpack picked up a W on a nice pass play by quarterback Jacoby Brissett.

After the game ended I decided to check in at my local card shop Big D's Cards in Raleigh.  It has been awhile since I had been into the store, but Jimmy, the owner of the store, has been busy tracking down cards for my collection.  I had a pretty good stack set aside over the past month or so.  The stack was big enough that I decided to break it into two posts.  Tonight, the Rays.  Tomorrow bingo.  

I have been looking for a copy of this card for awhile, but have had a bit of a hard time tracking this down from half a world away.  This card comes from a Topps Supreme which was a release slated for Asian markets only in 2013.  It is coming to the states this year.  Each Supreme box came with one pack with two autographs in each pack.  There are some good names in the set, but the boxes sell for around $75-$80 US dollars.  While I would love to pull a pack fresh Chris Archer card, I would not like to spend $75 for a pack fresh Chris Archer card.  Cards have a cool design and a nice look.  Happy that I finally ran into one of these for a good price and in the United States.  

Next up is a Desomnd Jennings Allen & Ginter card from last year.  I believe this completes my set of Rays autographs and relics from last years set.  Next.....

This is actually an Astros card, but Zobrist is now a Ray.  I count it as  Rays card.  I already have a copy of this card, which comes from the 2004 SP Prospects set.  However, it was sold to me as part of a larger lot of Zobrist cards.  I also got these:

More Astros, but another rookie.  This is a really cool set if you have never checked it out.  Some really cool rookies.  On to some more, non-Rays Zobrist autographs.......

A Topps Tribute World Baseball Classic Autograph of Zobrist out of 50.......

another from the same set out of 35.......

and the 1/1 for good measure.  

Zorilla Tribute

I have been doing well with the Ben "Zorilla" Zobrist cards in recent weeks.  I managed to pick up a cool autograph of the Rays super utility player from the Topps Tribute set.  Love the fact that this year's Tribute cards are on-card autographs again.  Last year, Zobrist was not featured in the regular Tribute set, but was in the World Baseball Classic Tribute set as a sticker autograph.  Here's the new autograph:

The card is quite attractive, but does have one drawback.  The majority of Zobrist autographs in this year's Tribute set turned out a little bit smudgy/streaky.  I have not noticed any other signers in the Tribute set with streaky autographs, but it is a little disappointing to have the autographs not turn out well.  The poor signatures have resulted in the Zobrist cards sitting quite often right around $5.  Not a bad price to pay for the 'graph of a two-time All-Star and one of my favorite former Durham Bulls. 

Jumbo Zorilla Patch

I have not added too many cards from the Topps Triple Threads cards recently.  They've always been some of my favorite cards, the year really does not matter.   I already added a cool autograph of the former Durham Bulls/Tampa Rays super utility player earlier this month and was excited when I saw a cool jumbo patch card coming off at an odd time on a Sunday morning.  Mad shout out to my three year old for waking up at 5:45 on Sundays. 

 

I ended up landing this card for right around $10 which is a sweet price for two pieces of patch from a Rays home uniform.  Most of the patch pieces from the Rays uniform actually have both a white and light blue piece of trim around the patches.  The only letter without a piece of light blue trim is the left side, straight line,  of the letter R.  Pretty nice add. 

The Never Popular Felt Baseball Card Set

Every once in awhile I have a hard time deciding whether a card set is genius or a complete flop.  Sounds funny, but sometimes I think there is a very thin line between the two.  Take for example the 2001 Upper Deck Legends of New York set.  I initially passed on buying anything from this product when it was first released since it just focuses on four teams which I do not particularly care for.  One of my local card shops had a box of this product sitting on its shelf were it sat for a long time.  At some point on some weekend several years after 2001 I talked the shop owner down on price and figured I might get lucky with something cool.  Luckily, I pulled a cool autograph.  

2001 Upper Deck Legends of New York Reggie Jackson Bat/Autograph 

While I was really happy to pull an autograph of Mr. October I was also really intrigued by the base set of cards which featured felt.  The stuff on pool tables and the lining of your glasses case on a baseball card.  Who would have thunk of that?  Obviously, somebody at Upper Deck had this idea and put it into motion with the Legends of New York set.  At first I thought the cards looked cool and I assembled a set.  There are four basic card designs in the set featuring cards of the four New York franchises: Yankees, Mets, Dodgers, and Giants.  

2001 Upper Deck Legends of New York Ron Darling

The card above shows the most basic design from the card set which is divided equally into quarters between the four teams.  The felt part of this card is the team logo on the right side of the card.  If you cannot tell from the initial glance at the card, the felt is actually shedding.  Like a dog, or a cat.  Which is really the lowlight to this set.  Have you ever considered vacuuming out a box of baseball cards?  

2001 Upper Deck Legends of New York Mickey Mantle 

I have never actually vacuumed out the box of cards with my Legends of New York set, but there is excess felt floating around the inside of the box.  The cards, like the Mantle above, with the felt square cut around the team logo seem to shed a little less than the basic logo card, but they still are not perfect. There is also a set of cards recognizing the teams Championships, or Banner Years, which has a felt script writing with the teams name on the front of the card.  Another big shedder.  

2001 Upper Deck Legends of New York Duke Snider

If you look around the world of baseball cards you will notice that there has not been another felt set of baseball cards since Upper Deck issued the Legends of New York set in 2001.  Card companies have dabbled with other materials, like Topps and their silk cards, but nothing in felt.  After looking back over this set I fully understand why card companies have not duplicated this design or concept since this product.  

Sounds like a flop, so how do they also border on genius?  

In working on my reorganization project, this was one of the first sets that I pulled and sorted.  Frankly, I was astonished at the response I received from my efforts to trade a lot of doubles.  There is something a small cult following with this set and there are collectors that will go all out in order to complete a sale or trade.  Not lukewarm, not those are cool looking let me think about it.  More like, let me email you my want list from the set and lets fill some holes.  If you search out single cards from the set on Ebay most list for more than $1 per card, with the Mantles and Sniders fetching several dollars.  Complete sets can actually settle in the $50 range.  Not bad for a $70 box of cards considering you are likely to get either a bat or autograph card too.  

When I starting pulling doubles and triples out of my sets I expected there to effort and interest from collectors on my extras from sets like the 2001 Topps Heritage set, but the Legends of New York?  I understand that the set features four teams with good collecting bases, but was shocked to trade off one lot of doubles and sell another lot and make as much as I did.  

So, what ever comes out of my collection in way of doubles and multiples is being redirected into good things, so the Legends of New York, minus Reggie-he stays, netted me three pretty nice cards:  

2013 Bowman Inception George Springer Jersey/Autograph 

2013 Bowman Inception Shelby Miller Autograph 

2013 Topps Tribute World Baseball Classic Ben Zobrist Autograph

Not a bad haul for a set and lot of duplicates from a felt baseball card set.  I am not completely sold on the World Baseball Classic cards, but the other two cards are solid adds.  Not that I am down on Zobrist, but I am not a huge fan of the actual WBC event, barely watched it this year.  The Miller autograph is on card, while the Springer is not, but are players that I like having in my collection.