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. 

The Original Rayhawk and Friends

I have seen several Cubs fans this week who were excited at the prospect of seeing some of Joe Maddon's fun themed filled road trips and clubhouse antics when he starts working on the north side of Chicago.  There was that hippie weekend, James Bond formal, the white trip to Miami (Don Johnson suits), football uniforms, letterman jackets, and that press conference when he wore a Buccaneers helmet.

One of the earliest "fun" Maddon events took place during the team's World Series run during the 2008 season.  The Rays adopted a "Rayshawk".  They were really Mohawks, but people really seemed to latch on to the fact that all of the Rays players were walking around during the Postseason with mohawks.

The "Rayhawks" were actually adopted from Rays second baseman Akinora Iwamura.  The team's second baseman styled his hair into a mohawk and the "Rayshawk" was inspired by Imamura's unique hair do.  It looked something like this......

Besides inspiring one of the first cool Joe Maddon themed events, I actually had the opportunity to see Iwamura play a few games for the Durham Bulls during an injury rehab and also saw him him play for the Pirates Triple A team towards the end of his North American career.  I always liked Iwamura and have a few of his cards in my collection.  This past week I was able to flip around a few Cardinals cards, including a Marp autograph, to land a nice autograph of the Rays former second baseman.

This card of Aki Iwamura come from the 2007 UD Black set.  One of my favorites from the late 90s. Tons of really cool autographs and loads of cool patches.  This card is just an autograph, but I love the silver signature on top of the black background.  I know that lots of sets use this look now, but seven years ago this was one of the first sets to put this look together.  The card is also limited to just 10 copies.  Really cool card.  

I also picked up a copy of the Chris Archer jersey card from the Gypsy Queen set in the trade and also landed a nice looking black framed Rod Carew jersey card in the trade.  Also picked up a few nice single cards of some Rays players including a Joe Maddon, a sweet David Price Gypsy Queen insert, and a very nice James Shields Bowman refractor.  

Road Trip

The past week my blog has been quiet while I have been traveling.  There aren't many card shops in northern Michigan, but I still got a little baseball fix.  On my way to Michigan I stopped for a night in Cincinnati and checked out a Cardinals/Reds game.

I had great seats and really enjoy attending games at Great American Ball Park.  The stadium was pretty full and crowds at Reds games are usually pretty enthusiastic.  Definitely worth a trip if you live in the Midwest.  

I also got to attend a Tigers game with my father-in-law, brother-in-law and aunt.  I was really impressed with Comerica.  Nicer than Great American by a hair.  I got to boo Pujols and see Miggy and Trout hit home runs.  

I also picked up a couple of minor cards this past week which included three 2012 Tier One jersey cards and a pair of 1998 Donruss Signature autographs.  The three jersey cards were Ryan Zimmerman, James Shields, and Adam Wainwright.  The Donruss Signature cards were Ismael Valdes and Luis Ordaz.  

2012 Topps Tier One Adam Wainwright Jersey Card

2012 Topps Tier One James Shields Jersey Card 

2012 Topps Tier One Ryan Zimmerman Jersey Card

1998 Donruss Signature Ismael Valdes Autograph 

1998 Donruss Signature Luis Ordaz Autograph

A D-Bull and Two Trades

One of the best parts of living in the Raleigh-Durham (the Triangle) area is the awesome baseball.  Sure we are known for our basketball, but the quantity and quality of baseball is pretty awesome.  We have two teams in the immediate area, the Durham Bulls and the Carolina Mudcats, and several more within an hour or two.  The Durham Bulls are by far the most recognizable minor league franchise in these parts and they are often quite talented.  I usually pull together cards of players on the team and am pretty happy with the cards both in the short and long term.

This year has been difficult for the Bulls.  For the first time in a long time they are bad.  Really bad.  There are really very few players to be excited about.  Alex Cobb is the team's ace at this point and he is not a star in waiting.  Tim Beckham has been suspended for 'roids and there are a lot of thirty somethings on the team.  So, I have been reduced to finding cool cards of scrubby players.  Example:

2010 Donruss Elite College Patches Kyle Hudson Autograph

I also picked up a bunch of different materials cards and an autograph in two separate trades this week.  The autograph is an Eric Gagne from 2005 Showcase.  This is my second copy of this card, but the person trading it was looking for very little in return.  

2005 Showcase Eric Gagne Autograph 

I also picked up a few Rays and Cardinals relic cards from a trade on Facebook.  I also picked up a few 2012 Topps relics including a David Price, Justin Verlander, and a dirty Evan Longoria.  The cards all came from Ryan who is a fabulous and reliable trader.  Always looking for some good Brewers.   

2001 Fleer Final Cuts Wade Boggs Jersey Card

2010 Topps Allen & Ginter Jon Jay Bat Card

2009 Topps Heritage Clubhouse Collection Ryan Ludwick Jersey

2012 Topps Evan Longoria, Justin Verlander, David Price, and Sergio Santos Jersey Cards

2012 Topps Gypsy Queen James Shields Jersey Card

2008 Bowman Sterling Carl Crawford Refractor Jersey 14/25