A Series Of Infrequent Posts

This has been a busy last few weeks.  I have been transitioning from being a virtual school teacher to being a hybrid school teacher.  That means that I am teaching half a class online while also teaching half a class in-person.  There were a lot of rules to follow to set up my classroom and a lot of logistical work to make it so that I can teach both simultaneously, but I think I have it set up well.  

Let's hope.  

After a two week break from this space, I have dedicated a small portion of my Sunday to writing a post about a few of the cards that have shown up during that time.  There are others.  Hopefully, I will get there during the next week.  

My first two cards are from fellow collectors that I have met online.  First up is a Ray Lankford from the 1999 Pacific Private Stick set.  The card is a mini, but the scan is not. 

This card was from Jon at A Penny Sleeve For Your Thoughts.  You can also follow him on Twitter at @pennysleeves.  Great blog, one of my favorite reads.  He found this on the Trading Card Database and thought of me.  Very generous and another reminder that I don't do anything on Trading Card Database, but I should.  

This is a parallel to the base version of the mini.  

The base version had blue backs, the parallels had red backs.  Really nice card that I did not have in my collection.  I will have to send Jon a few cards in return.  Man, I really miss Pacific.  I am 100% positive I write that every time I post one of their cards.  

Next, a few cards that I picked up from a long-time Facebook trading/buying/selling partner.  He always holds onto his Cardinals cards for me.  These cards included an autograph of Cardinals catching prospect Ivan Herrera.  

Sometime last month, I posted an Ivan Herrera autograph out of last year's Bowman's Best.  I always like when non-licensed card manufacturers make cards of catchers with their equipment on.  You can't tell that they have to airbrush all the logos off the card.  

I also picked up two Tink Hence autographs.  He was a two-way player in high school who was committed to play baseball at the University of Arkansas.  The Cardinals drafted him in the second round and offered him enough money to get him to turn pro.  I am not sure its been decided whether the Cardinals are going to develop him as a pitcher or position player.  

A draft card from Panini's Extra Elite.  Nice looking card.  

I also ended up with a copy of his purple Bowman Chrome autograph.  The border looks a little ridiculous with the red Cardinals stuff on the card.  I am excited to see what the Cardinals end up doing with this guy. 

Last card.  A Cardinals player on a non-Cardinals card.  Still a really nice item though.  

Edmonds signs baseball cards as infrequently as I post on this page.  I cannot pass up his cards when I see them at a good price.  

Prospect Cliches

One of my favorite scenes in Bull Durham takes places on the bus while the team is return home after a successful road trip.  Ebby Calvin "Nuke" LaLoosh climbs over the seats on the bus to the front and sits down next to Crash Davis.  Nuke asks Crash to teach him something.  Davis is reading (seriously) a newspaper article about Blue Jays A Ball outfielder Mark Whiten.   

Davis tell LaLoosh they can work on his interviews.  The diolouge goes something like this:  

You're gonna have to learn your clichés. You're gonna have to study them, you're gonna have to know them. They're your friends. Write this down: "We gotta play it one day at a time."

After a minute, LaLoosh notices that the cliches are boring.  Maybe a little tired and stale.  Crash Davis closes out the scene by telling LaLoosh: 

"Of course they're boring, that's the whole point" 

Baseball card collectors have cliches too.  I notice them all the time, esepcially when people are talking about prospects.  They are somewhat ridiculous, but at the same time entertaining.  I recently bought four autographed cards of some Minor Leaguers that I am going to try to collect during the 2021 season.  I thought I would try out some of the cliches while posting their cards.  I bet you've heard a few of these.  

Note: The quotes under the cliches are things that people have actually written on the internet about these players.  I am not going to attribute the quote to the author.  They all come from Twitter, Facebook, or Reddit.  

Let's try it out with the new cards.  

Cliche #1 - Comparing A Minor Leaguer To A Major Leaguer 

"Vidal Brujan is the next Ozzie Albies"

Why does every Minor Leaguer need to have a Major Leaguer comparable?  Ozzie Albies is 24 and has played two whole seasons with the Braves.  We don't even get a Major Leaguer who has been around for ahwile?  Vidal Brujan last played in 2019 with the Double Montgomery Biscuits as a 21 year old.  He hit .266 while he was there.  

Ryan Brett once hit .303 for the Montgomery.  Who is Ryan Brett?  He was the next Dustin Pedroia, or someone like that.  Ryan Brett got 3 Major League at-bats.  

Vidal Burjan will likely be on the Durham Bulls in 2021.  

Cliche #2 -Minor Leaguer Is Going To Help The Team Win The World Series

"Mackenzie Gore is going to be the Padres third starter in the World Series" 

or 

"Can't Wait Until Mackenzie Gore starts the 7th Game of the World Series 

I think the Padres are good enough to make the World Series, but they have to play 162 regular season games to qualify for the playoffs so that they can play a few other good National League teams in the first two rounds of the playoffs.  Maybe then they will get to play a good American League team and maybe win the World Series.  

Mackenzie Gore's highest level in the Minors was Double A.  He pitched 5 games there.  

Not sure he's going to have a chance to pull an Anthony Reyes.  

Cliche #3 - This player is going to replace a long-time Major Leaguer

"Herrera is the heir apparent to the catching throne in St. Louis"  

Ivan Herrera had a good year in 2019 playing for the Peoria Chiefs.  That's an A-Ball team.  As a Cardinals fan, I am excited about Herrera.  I was also excited about Carson Kelly and Andrew Knizner.  Yadi is still starting.  This phenomena is not just something that happens with Cardinals fans.  

Cliche #4 - This draft pick is going to be in the Majors really soon.  

"He (Jordan Walker) should have no trouble getting to it in the pro ranks."

 

I am not going to share the statistics of Major League draft picks that make it to the Majors, but it's not great.  How many make it to the Majors quickly?  How many make it to the Majors and are actually really good players?  I hope Jordan Walker makes the Majors and is a very good player with the Cardinals, but there is a good chance they may not happen.  

The "May the odds be ever in your favor" women from Hunger Games pops in my head whenever I hear someone talking about high school kids being in the Majors.  

There are plenty of other cliches that people use with prospects, but I am out of cards.