Famous Last Words

I stopped by my local card shop a few days back. The shop had moved across the parking lot to a larger storefront a few weeks back and I was excited to see the new digs. Needless to say, it did not disappoint. I probably should have taken some photos inside the shop, but my mind was on cards.  

Here are the latest pickups at Triangle Area Trading Cards.  

First up......

You see a great card from your childhood and it's cheap, it's really hard to pass up. The card is off center and there is some chipping on the edges, but this is a great card. Could not pass it up.  I need to post my first Rickey Henderson rookie on here one of these days, because it's a really good story from my childhood.  

Luken Baker has hit a ton of home runs the last two years with the Cardinals Triple A team. They've left him in the Minors most of the time, given the Cardinals track record, it's only a matter of time until Baker is a really good player on some other team.  Decent autograph, cheap card. Go team.  

I spent some time in Michigan this summer, which included watching a decent number of Tigers games. I had been meaning to pick up a Reese Olson card all summer long, but never got around to it.  He's a really impressive young pitcher, think this will be a good pickup in the long-term.  

An old Archives autograph for cheap. Yes, please.  

A newer Archives autograph for cheap. Yes, please.  

Esteban played for the Durham Bulls a few years back.  He's spent most of his career playing in Mexico, but spent time in the Minors with the Red Sox, Rays, and Phillies with a cup of coffee in the Majors with the Cubs. Lovable player, spark plug type. I am glad that someone gave him a baseball card and had him sign a few autographs.  

Zack Gelof is having a terrible year, but I still like him. I saw him play in college while he was at the University of Virginia. He was also on my fantasy baseball team last year. Let's hope for a better 2025.  

Next up, Luis Arraez. I loved the Silver Slugger cards when Topps made them back in the early 2010s, this one is not as thick, but still a really nice card. Serial numbered to just 10 copies, but it's on the back.  Sorry, no back scans today.  

A little bit quicker......

Masyn Winn, Junior Caminero Finest RC, and a cool Taj Bradley Chrome parallel.  

Cal Raleigh RC, Willy Adames RC, and another Masyn Winn.  

Shiny Big Mac, Xavier Issac should be the Durham Bulls first baseman next year, and a Jordan Walker.  

Shiny cards of Yordan Alvarez, Willson Contreras, and a Satchell Paige with the Browns.  

Last, let me tell you about the blaster box I bought. I saw the 2024 Donruss packs and boxes at the counter, decided why not. Let's try a few packs. Ninety-nine percent of the box was terrible and I am not going to waste my time scanning the cards, nor waste your time reading about the terrible cards. 

It was the last thing I said as I was checking out. "Let me get a box of 2024 Donurss"

Famous last words and it turns out that 1% of the box was pretty spectacular.  

Just Hope Willson Can Help The Team.....

I was waiting for Topps to put out a Willson Contreras card in a Cardinals uniform.

Sure, I was excited the Cardinals signed him to replace Yadier Molina, but Willson was not super high on my baseball card fandom list. Add a historically bad start to the season by the Cardinals and some ridiculous drama by the team's front office, and I am a huge Willson Contreras fan.  

To summarize.......

It's been an infuriating season for the 10-24 (!) Cardinals, but removing Willson Contreras from behind the plate signifies the biggest red flag to date.

More on the most bizarre turn of events yet in St. Louis: https://t.co/4rzBNN1NVo

— Katie Woo (@katiejwoo) May 7, 2023

The Cardinals pitchers were (are) terrible at the beginning of the season and it was all Willson's fault according to the team's management, so they stopped using him as a catcher one month into a five year contract he signed to be the primary catcher. 

In reality, Willson has been just fine and he's handled the situation really well. My Willson Contreras fandom has been elevated enough that I am willing to take on some Cubs cards.  

Let's start.  

I picked up a copy of the 2019 Topps Heritage Willson Contreras autograph. Nice looking card.  

I just hope Willson can help the Cardinals win some games.  

A Giant Project Update #10

I crossed the half-way point with the 1964 Topps Giants during my last update post back in January. I have been working on this set for awhile, but I have crossed off a lot of the short-prints and big names on the checklist. Over the past month, I have added another 4 cards from the set to my collection. All four of the new Topps Giants are Hall of Fame players, including the last pricy card I needed to find.  

I am going to start off with Whitey Ford.  

Not a huge Whitey Ford fan. He looks a little grizzled here. Wonder what Whitey and Mickey were up to the night before this photo was taken. Probably the morning this photo was taken too. In keeping with the other Topps Giants posts, here is the back of the card.    

You ever look at the Hall of Fame stats at the bottom of player's Baseball Reference page? You know what left-handed pitcher had a better top 7 years of their career than Whitey Ford? 

Mark Langston.

I am going to make a Mark Langston post one of these days.  

On to the next one.  

Yes, there are Cubs cards on the checklist. I actually waited to buy this Billy Williams card. When I first saw it, I was convinced that the copies were flawed due to the fuzzy quality of the picture. Nope, that's just the way this card was made. Disappointing given that Topps managed to put together 59 other decent pictures of the players in this set.  

The back of the card has a nice write-up on Billy Williams. He was a younger player here. As mentioned in previous posts, Topps spent a lot of time talking about Minor League careers on the backs of the Giants cards. This Billy Williams card is particularly odd. The left-side of the card focuses on his first few seasons, there are two or three sentences about his time in the Texas League, and then it goes back to his career as a Major Leaguer.  

Just give me a whole paragraph about the home run in the All-Star Game.  

Another Cub.  

Much better photograph on the Santo card. He looks really young here, although this photograph would likely have been taken in his third or fourth season. I really like the cream colored Cubs jersey here. They should wear these as throwbacks.  

Back of the card. 

The Texas League. 

American Association.  

The National League is not mentioned.  

The last card is the best card.  

There is a little surface discoloration going horizontally across the card from the W on the Willie to the left border. The centering is not terrible, but I am happy to cross off the last really tough card left on the checklist. I am still missing the Roberto Clemente and Frank Robinson cards, but those are fairly reasonable compared to the Mantle, Koufax, and Mays.  

A card back without any mention of the Minors. 

Amazing.  

I am now at 37 cards out of 60, closing in on the two-thirds mark. I am mainly down the common cards, but I am going to keep working on the bigger names on the checklist. Overall, I have four Hall of Famers left. I am going to try to knock those four players out next.   

1 Gary Peters
2 Ken Johnson
3 Sandy Koufax SP
4 Bob Bailey
5 Milt Pappas
6 Ron Hunt
7 Whitey Ford
8 Roy McMillan
9 Rocky Colavito
10 Jim Bunning
11 Roberto Clemente
12 Al Kaline
13 Nellie Fox
14 Tony Gonzalez
15 Jim Gentile
16 Dean Chance
17 Dick Ellsworth
18 Jim Fregosi
19 Dick Groat
20 Chuck Hinton
21 Elston Howard
22 Dick Farrell
23 Albie Pearson
24 Frank Howard
25 Mickey Mantle
26 Joe Torre
27 Ed Brinkman
28 Bob Friend SP
29 Frank Robinson
30 Bill Freehan
31 Warren Spahn
32 Camilo Pascual
33 Pete Ward
34 Jim Maloney
35 Dave Wickersham
36 Johnny Callison
37 Juan Marichal
38 Harmon Killebrew
39 Luis Aparicio
40 Dick Radatz
41 Bob Gibson
42 Dick Stuart SP
43 Tommy Davis
44 Tony Oliva
45 Wayne Causey SP
46 Max Alvis
47 Galen Cisco SP
48 Carl Yastrzemski
49 Hank Aaron
50 Brooks Robinson
51 Willie Mays SP
52 Billy Williams
53 Juan Pizarro
54 Leon Wagner
55 Orlando Cepeda
56 Vada Pinson
57 Ken Boyer
58 Ron Santo
59 Johnny Romano
60 Bill Skowron SP

Dysfunctional and Talented

I spent a little bit of time last month working on my collection of 2006 Durham Bulls baseball cards.  That was the first full year that I lived in North Carolina.  It was easily one of the most talented Bulls team that I have seen.  High draft picks, Top 100 prospects, future Major League All-Stars, a World Series MVP, and plenty of other solid Major League players. 

The team was also easily one of the worst Bulls teams that I watched in terms of on-field play and their finish in the standings.  In the 15 years, I have been watching the Durham Bulls, it's the only one to finish in the bottom 5 teams in the International League.  

In spite of their lack of wins, the 2006 Durham Bulls is still a fun group of players to collect.  

You've probably seen a few of these guys.  

First up is a pair of B.J. Upton autographs.  Nothing too hard to find, not sure why I am only getting around to these two at this point.  

Above is a 2003 Topps autograph out of the base set.  The card below is from the 2005 Upper Deck Origins set.  Both on-card signatures.  These would have been pretty pricy back in the day.  Both cost me less than $5 combined.  

Next up is long-time Major League pitcher Jason Hammel.  He was a member of the 2016 World Series Championship team for the Cubs.  Hammel never appeared in a playoff game that season, but did win 15 during the regular season.  The 2016 Cubs actually had 3 former Durham Bulls players; Hammel, Mike Montgomery, and Ben Zobrist.  

Love this autograph.  

Next up is a pair of autographs from James Shields.  

Never a huge fan of Shields during his playing career, but I have grown to appreciate his time in Durham a little more since he retired.  He was a good player in Durham, just never understood the hype around him in the Majors.  Shields has a career Postseason ERA of almost 5.50.  Why is he nicknamed "Big Game"? 

 

Back to his time in Durham. Shields pitched the first home opener I ever attended for the Bulls in 2006.  He pitched 6 innings and did not give up an earned run.  The Rochester Red Wings did manage to score 3 unearned runs against Shields.  Upton hit a walk-off grand slam to win the game in the bottom of the 9th.  

I did not have a single Shields autograph in the collection.  At some point I owned one, but it appears I traded/gave it away at some point.  

Next up, Delmon Young.  

Only non-autograph in the post.  I don't really dig relic cards, but I liked the picture on this Bowman with Delmon standing in Comerica Park.  He never turned into the franchise player many thought he would be, but he had some great moments in his career, especially the Postseason, with the Tigers.  

Those green Devil Rays hats were terrible.    

Last Delmon autograph is a Topps Finest card.  I think I avoided all of the silver sticker autographs that I could back in the day.  Delmon has a ton of sticker autographs, so I usually stuck with the Upper Deck cards since the stickers were clear.  These are dirt cheap now.  

Last card.  

The 2006 International League MVP.  

Kevin Witt was a good prospect for the Blue Jays in the late 1990s.  They released him at some point and he bounced around between several teams before making his way to the Bulls in 2006.  He ended up hitting 36 home runs and driving in 99 runs in just 128 games.  Pretty good player, even if did not even amount to much in the Majors.  

I have several Witt autographs, but I never got around to adding this card.  He's not someone with a great signature, but this one is really weak.  The card only cost me $2 after shipping.  Not sure I can really complain at that price. 

Pat Darcy Is Lost

I last updated my 1975 Topps mini Durham Bulls project back in November.  I was down to just eight cards to finish off the "team set" of former Durham Bulls players who appeared in the set.  I already had the big names, Hall of Famers and greats of the era, so I was down to a few commons.

Now, I am down to one common. We'll save that story for the end of the post.  

Yes, the cards are mini even if the scans are large. A little blurb about each player is included.  

Jim Ray is first up.  He was on the 1965 Durham Bulls as a starting pitcher, but spent most of his Major League career as a relief pitcher.  Pretty good during the late 1960s, threw really hard, and was nicknamed "The Ray Gun".   Ray pitched for the Tigers in 1974, but spent the rest of his career in the Minors.  This is his final card.  

Easily the best player in this post.  I've posted a few Bibby cards before.  He was not only on the Durham Bulls, but also a local player from Franklinton, North Carolina and attended Fayetteville State University for college.  Bibby played for the 1968 Raleigh-Durham (it's an airport) Mets.  He had been out of baseball the two prior years serving in the Vietnam War.  Bibby played a total of 12 years, won more than 100 games, which included being a starting pitcher on the 1979 World Series winning Pirates team.  

I was a little disappointed with this card.  I bought it off of SportsLots, but it is clearly not in "Mint" condition.  Overall, a little disappointed with my recent experiences with SportsLots.  More on that later in the post.  I will find another copy of this card at some point.  Morales played for the 1968 Raleigh-Durham (airport) Mets, but spent the majority of his career with the Cubs.  He was long-time coach with the Dodgers and Expos after retiring.  

Leroy Stanton was on the 1968 Raleigh-Durham (airport) Mets.  He played roughly a decade in the Majors and had some good years along the way with the Angels and Mariners.  Probably most noted for being traded with Nolan Ryan from the Mets to the Angels for Jim Fregosi, but was also an original member of the Seattle Mariners in 1977.  In fact, he led the team in home runs and RBIs during their first season.  

Bobby Heise was on the 1967 Durham Bulls.  The first year the team was a Mets affiliate, also the last year before the Mets decided that the team should be renamed after an airport.  Bob played on 7 teams in 11 years.  I could tell you his career slash line, but let's just say that even his slugging percentage is under .300 (that's really bad).  Something nice about Bob?  He could play all the infield positions.  That's all I got.  

I was excited about John Denny's rookie card, but he did not play for the Durham Bulls.  He did lead the National League in wins during the 1983 season.  Nope.  I bought this card for Rawley Eastwick who was on the infamous 1971 Raleigh-Durham Triangles. 

I need to do more research into why people in the late 1960s and early 1970s decided to go away from just using the Durham Bulls name.  Anyway, back to Rawly Eastwick.  

Rawly Eastwick led the National League in saves twice while pitching for the mid 1970s Cincinnati Reds.  Relievers weren't a huge deal back in the 1970s, but Eastwick was a good pitcher. Won two World Series rings with the Reds.  

This was actually a pretty tough card to find.  There are no short-prints in the 1975 Topps mini set, so I am not sure why there are not many of them on Ebay or COMC.  

Last card.  

Ted Martinez was on the 1968 Raleigh-Durham Mets.  He was in the Majors for 9 years, mainly as a utility/bench player. Apparently, he was a favorite interview of Ralph Kiner's during pre and post game radio shows for Mets broadcasts.  As the story goes, Ted did not speak much English, but it was okay because Ralph did not speak much Spanish. I can't find a clip, but apparently they were pretty fun together.  

Let's talk about Pat Darcy.  

Here is the Pat Darcy card that showed up in my mailbox.  

At the beginning of the post, I had stated that the cards were all Minis even though the scans were giant.  Not true here.  I bought a Topps Mini of Pat Darcy off of Sports Lots, but I was sent a regular 1975 Topps card.  I got a refund, bought a second copy, and it appeared to be headed to my mailbox last week.  It was supposedly delivered in the morning last Thursday, but my mail does not show up until late in the afternoon.  It did not show up in the late afternoon, or the next day.  I asked my mail carrier about the package, gave him the tracking number, but all I got a shoulder shrug.  

Pat Darcy is lost.  

Maybe the third time buying a Pat Darcy card will work out better than the first two times.  

Slightly Let Down.

I was really excited earlier this year when Topps announced that they were putting out a set that was created with the owner of the Super 70s Sports Twitter account.  The Twitter account is sort of a cross between sports and pop culture with a heavy 1970s lean.  Sure, there is a little bit of 1960s and 1980s cross over in there from time to time, but the account generally does a good job of staying in its lane.  

For example........

Brilliant.  

I was hoping the set would be the Topps equivalent of the 2001 Upper Deck 1970s set.  If you collected cards at the time that set was released, you know that's a high bar to meet.  There were some really strong inserts, great names from the decade, and a solid autograph checklist.  I thought Topps was up for the challenge of matching cards like this one from the Upper Deck set.....

 

It took awhile for the box to show up, but last week it appeared in my mailbox.  I was excited to open the pack of cards.  It's one of the few current 2020 products that I have opened this year.  

The packaging inside the box was pretty nice.   

Now that I mentioned the Twitter account and the packaging, I am roughly 50% of the way through the highlights for this product.  The set has one major flaw.  Maybe I am being picky, but I am going to go ahead and borrow a meme from Mad Man and one of my current favorite sayings at work.  

Works great in 2020, usually more than once in a week.  

So, here is the problem.  Ohtani has nothing to do with the 1970s.  He wasn't even born in the 1970s.  Sandy Koufax did not pitch in the 1970s.  In fact, he retired in the middle of the 1960s.  It's not even like he pitched in the late 1960s.  I am not scanning on my cards from the box, they are on my Twitter if you really need to see them, but there were a lot of other non-1970s players.  

Not to keep harkening back the Upper Deck 1970s set either, but that product only had players from the 1970s, which is what made it a really great product.  I'd like to think there is still a market for that type of product 20 years later.  Has Topps looked around at who collects baseball cards nowadays?  There are a lot of people who would eat up a set filled with players from the 1970s.  

Here is the sad part.  

The 1970s cards that are in the set are really well done.  It's not like I am expecting a set of Hall of Famers.  J.R. Richard and Dave Kingman are definitely more in line with what I thought would be in pack of cards.  These are great cards.  The 1970s themed insert cards are even better.  I pulled three insert cards, one of which was an autograph, out of my box of 1970s Topps.

This card is a gem with Rich "Goose" Gossage wearing shorts for the White Sox.  

Lou Brock wearing sunglasses.  Yes, absolutely great 1970s card. 

This Gorman Thomas card is also awesome.  The mustache is magnificent, as is the long hair cover up his ears and the long side burns.  

I understand that I am being a little hard here.  There are truly some really great 1970s cards in this product.  If had to go back and keep my $20 and not order this box, I probably would have still picked up a few singles on Ebay or COMC at some point.  It's not a total disappointment, I just feel slightly let down.  

Set Appreciation Post #8 - 2010 Topps USA Baseball

 I enjoyed making these Set Appreciation posts this summer, so I am going to try to get back into looking at the old sets hanging out in my closet. USA Baseball sets are always pretty small, so it seemed like it might be a good place to start back. I have been going to USA Baseball teams since 2006, so I got to see the college players in this set in person. Pretty good team, a few of the players worked out, a few flamed out. The usual with watching amateur players.  

Before we get into the set, here was the roster for the College National Team during the summer of 2010.  Players from the 18U and 16U teams were also included in the set, but I mainly buy these cards for the college kids.  

Again, a good mix of players here.   

Basic Design 

There are never any really well designed USA Baseball sets.  Most people just collect these cards for the autographs, right?  Maybe there is a good design out there, but I am just not thinking of it at the moment.  They always just seem bland with very little effort.  This one might be a little worse than some of the others.  

Here is the front of the card.  

What do you want me to say?  

Looks like it could be the design for the 2022 Topps base set.  Some squiggly lines around the border with a red, white, and blue color scheme.  I spent time looking for something that was good about the card.  I like that they identify the level of the team on the front of the card.  

That's it.  

Back of the card.  

None of the players have stats on the back of the cards, just a short write up about their playing career.  Some of the "this player reminds scouts of....", or "this player is just like........", or "this player models their game after......" tend to not age very well.  

ARod.  Albert Amora.  No.  

This was originally a boxed set.  If I remember correctly, you got the complete set along with one autograph per box.  Everyone bought these for the one autograph.  At least, I hope they did.  

I Bought This For An Autograph 

Do people buy USA Baseball cards for the base cards?  

No.  

Do people buy USA Baseball cards for the autographs? 

Yes.  

I keep repeating it.  Keep telling yourself the same thing if you are buying these cards for any other reason.   

I watch the games at USA Baseball.  I try to pick out some players that I think are going to be good, buy their autographs, and store them away for a few years.  I pulled an autograph of South Carolina outfielder Jackie Bradley Jr. out of my set.  

Solid Major League player and the 2018 American League Championship Series MVP.  Jackie Bradley Jr. was a great college player.  If he's not in the University of South Carolina's Hall of Fame, he will be before long.  Bradley helped South Carolina win the College World Series and took home the College World Series MVP.  He was awesome in college.  Bradley ended up being a first round selection by the Red Sox, so this was a pretty good pull at the time this set was released.  

Also decided to pick up an autograph of a UCLA pitcher who seemed to be a pretty good college pitcher.  Heard that this guy turned out to be fair pitcher.  Picked this up a few years ago while he was pitching for the Pirates. 

Special Guest Appearance By....The Durham Bulls Athletic Park 

The USA Baseball teams regularly use the Durham Bulls Athletic Park for their home games.  Yes, USA Baseball has their own complex a short distance away in Cary, North Carolina, but there are always a few appearances by the DBAP in every USA Baseball card set.  

In fact, most USA Baseball cards are either taken at either the USA Baseball complex or in Durham.  Here is the USA Baseball complex field.  Note the tall green screen in center field and pine trees behind the outfield wall.  

This card has a photograph taken at the USA Baseball complex.  

Green screen with trees in the background.  

Here is the Durham Bulls Athletic Park.  

Dark blue walls and dugouts.  The seats are also dark blue.   Green manual scoreboard.  Ads on the outfield walls.  

A few cards from the Durham Bulls Athletic Park.....

and a few more cards from the Durham Bulls Athletic Park.  

It's nice that Topps put all these cards with pictures from the Durham Bulls Athletic Park in this set.  

This might be the best part of this set.  

Best Cardinals Card(s) 

Not sure there are many great options here, so I went with the only two Major League Cardinals players who appeared in this set.  Neither player spent much time with the team.  

First up is Clemson shortstop Brad Miller.  He appeared for the Cardinals last season, and was about the only person outside of Paul Goldschmidt who hit at all last year.  

Miller was on the USA Baseball College team multiple years, including one where he was backed-up by Hawaii infielder Kolten Wong.  Miller has been a solid Major Leaguer, but very good college baseball player.  

Carson Kelly also appears in the set as a member of the 16 U team.  

Kelly was one of the catchers was supposed to take over the catching job from Yadier Molina before he was traded away for Paul Goldschmidt.  I believe the Cardinals originally drafted him as a third baseman and moved him to catcher after a few years in the Minors.  The picture on this card is a little odd.  He is listed as a pitcher and an outfielder, but it looks like he is playing 2nd Base.  

Not the best pair, but it's not like Topps has any control of where amateur players end up during their professional careers.  

Best Durham Bulls Player 

Mikie Mahtook was a great player at LSU.  He was an All-American and helped the Tigers win the 2009 College World Series Championship.  He ended up getting drafted by the Rays and was on the Durham Bulls a few years after that.  

Here's the card.  

This might be my favorite card. Mahtook is a player who ended up on the Durham Bulls for a few seasons, and the photograph on this card appears to have been taken at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park.  Mahtook made the 2014 International League All-Star team, held in Durham, and is a bit of a fan favorite locally.  Mikie has played a few years in the Majors, but he's never really been a regular player outside part of a year for the Tigers.  

In fact, I think he's most memorable play in the Majors was getting a home run taken away by Alex Gordon, but not before he gave the first base coach a high five. 

Alex Gordon turns Mikie Mahtook's redemption dinger into a spectacular out: https://t.co/xzOZey1Srn pic.twitter.com/L7bqHjQcZo

— Deadspin (@Deadspin) September 4, 2017

 It was a spectacular catch, but we have other things to talk about here.  

The Best Non-Cardinal Card 

There were a few different choices here, but I went with Francisco Lindor.  

Seemed like a pretty easy choice.  

How Does It Compare?  

Welp.  I have done a really good job of poker facing my way through this post.  I am really glad that Topps no longer makes the USA Baseball products.  Between the three major manufacturers that have held the license over the past twenty years, Topps did the worst job.  This set has a really boring design and packaging the cards as a set with a single autograph just feels a bit lazy.  

It's easily the worst set that I have posted this year.  

8. 2010 Topps USA Baseball  

7. 2000 UD Ionix 

6. 2017 Topps Heritage Minor League

5. 1986 Topps Mini League Leaders 

4. 2001 Fleer EX 

3.1979 Kellogg's 

2. 2002 Topps Super Teams

1. 1983 Topps