2019 Durham Bulls Team Set

The Bulls team set came out a little later than normal this year, but I picked up a copy a few weeks back when I went to a Bulls playoff game with the little man.  The Bulls won the game, and the series, but they ended up losing in the International League finals against the Columbus Clippers (Indians). 

I only went to a handful of games this year, I felt a little disconnected from the team.  Probably does not help that the end and beginning of my schools years have been a little hectic, I switched grade levels, and my summer vacation was spent almost entirely on an almost 3,000 mile road trip.  

Some great names in this set, so let's have a look.  I scanned the cards in groups of three.  

I do not love the design.  I cannot remember the last time the Bulls used Choice, or similar company to produce their team set.  Feels like it has been a few years, the majority have been made by smaller, more local companies.  Although, the photographer for the set is from the area.  

Out of this first group, Brosseau is my favorite player.  He ended up being a pretty important player for the Rays down the stretch.  

Like the Cronenworth card on the end.  He did not get called up by the Rays at the end of the summer, but he hit .334 for the Bulls, and also appeared as a relief pitcher for the roughly a dozen games too.  He was a two way player in college at Michigan a few years back.  Not sure he could pitch in the Majors, but he's fun to watch in the Minors.  I believe that batting average ended up winning the International League batting crown.  

This is actually two groups of three.  I like that the photographer shows off some of the different home uniforms that Bulls wear.  Tan caps, blue caps, blue jerseys, white jerseys, and Dalton Kelly with the 4th of July hat.  In the first group of cards you can see Brosseau has the white front panel cap.  Not much on the players in these two groups outside of Nate Lowe on the bottom right, who has spent some time with the Rays already.  

McKay has to be the best card in the set.  Love the idea of having a two way player, although the Rays seem to really be leaning towards towards just having him pitch.  The amount of time he has spent playing in the field, or as an offensive player seems limited.  

Pruitt is my favorite veteran player on the Bulls.  He shuffled back and forth a lot this year, something like nine call ups to the Rays. 

Love the Dashenko Ricardo card.  He was an independent league player for a few years, made back to Triple A with the Bulls, and actually had some pretty decent play at times.  I believe he might have hit a home run in first Triple A game, or something like that.  

The Rays traded Nick Solak to the Rangers towards the end of the season for a pitcher.  He hit two home runs and had a ton of RBIs in a series against the Rays late in the year.  Sulser is on the Orioles now.  Slegers is still in the Rays system, I think. 

We are to the end of the set.  Kean Wong had done a lot of clutch hitting for the Bulls in the playoffs the last two years, got called up to the Rays, but was eventually claimed by the Angels.  I think that Kean might find some more playing time there, so probably for the best. 

Brady Williams was in his first year managing the Bulls.  He had some great shoes. 

That's always important. 

Last three cards.  We have the mascot.  Wool E. Bull is a great, he's better than the majority of Major League mascots, but we get to enjoy him in Durham. 

Last we have Quinton McCracken.  You might remember him from being an outfielder in the Major Leagues during the 1990s and 2000s, but to locals he was a standout defensive back and kick returner for Duke during the early 1990s.  

2018 Durham Bulls Team Set Part 2

Part 1 of the Durham Bulls team set for 2018 can be found here.  Here's the second half of the set....

Feels like there were a whole bunch of former Mariners players on this year's squad.  Andrew Moore was one of them.  He spent some time up with the Mariners last year, but was not very good with them.  He did pitch really well with Tacoma though and they are in a really hard part of the Pacific Coast League for pitchers.  Pitched decently with the Bulls this year.  I think there is some hope with him.  

Russell is a North Carolina native and a graduate of the light blue ACC school.  Seems like 

Russell is a North Carolina native and a graduate of the light blue ACC school.  Seems like a solid defender, but I am not sure he is ever going to hit in professional baseball.  The Rays have a ton of versatile infielder types too.  Maybe somewhere else.  

Schultz went to High Point University which is not far from Durham.  He misses a lot of bats, but he has been in the Minors for a long time, a few in Durham.  Not sure why a guy with as many strikeouts as Schultz keeps ending up in the Minors.  The Rays used him as a relief pitcher this year, started last season, still misses a lot of bats.  

Forrest Snow is another former Mariner.  He's 29 and in Triple A.  Solid starter this year in Triple A, but I am not sure what sort of future he has in the Majors. 

Velazquez spent a chunk of the year in Durham.  Seems like a solid player, in that mix of really versatile infielders that the Rays have on their 40 man roster.  Velazquez ended up in the Majors for awhile the Rays.  Definitely a future in the Majors.  

Snyder has been around for awhile.  Good older player to have around.  He has been in the Majors a few times and has been a very good player in Triple A.  Seems like a good guy.  

Justin Williams ended the season with the Cardinals Triple A team after being traded away for Tommy Pham.  He actually won a Triple A National Championship ring after the Memphis Redbirds defeated the Bulls.  It was the third time the two teams have played in the Triple A National Championship Game.  The Bulls had won the last two.  

Did I mention there were a lot of former Mariners players on the Bulls this year?  Meet Ryan Weber.  

Hunter wood became one of the "Openers" for the Rays.  Good pitcher.  Does not make all of those prospect lists, but seems to have a Major League arm and a good idea of what he is trying to do.  I very much enjoy watching him pitch.  He has a few other cards out there, might pick up a few of them this offseason.  

Kean is Kolten's brother.  Similar player, but the Rays have a ton of middle infielders and Kean is not better than most of them.  I think he's trade bait.  Definitely a Major League player, just not in Tampa.  

Rick Knapp has been around a long time as a coach.  Read the biography on the back of the card.  Sandberg has been the Bulls' manager for a few years now, really grown as a manager.  He's only 40, so he should get a shot at coaching or managing at that level at some point.  

Dement is a career Minor League guy.  Played for awhile, has coached for awhile.  There are tons of coaches like this, invaluable to the organization for the sake of consistency.  

Ben Johnson was actually a Cardinals draft pick, even has some Bowman autographs in a Cardinals uniform, as well as a long time Padres farm hand.  I am not sure how long he has been coaching, but he seemed to do a good job this year.  

Last card.  Best card?  

Everyone loves the Bull.  

I Made A Trade!

I used to make a ton of trades when I first started my blog a few years back.  I would throw out a card on Twitter or a Facebook group and ten to fifteen minutes later I would have something simple ironed out with the other collector.  I would drop the cards in the mail and a few days later would have a nice bubble mailer to open.  It was always a great feeling to rip open the mail, scan the cards, and post them here on my blog.  There was a little drama every once in awhile, but it was a great inexpensive way to move unwanted cards and pick up some adds for the collection.  

Where did the trades go?  I am not entirely sure, but I have kind of gotten away from the practice over the past year or two.  I cannot point to one specific incident that made me push away from the practice, but I think the fact that I actually have a local card shop that is worthwhile has been a factor, along with the fact that the Facebook groups have exploded.  Most of the groups started out with a circle of collectors and they were all generally known.  You knew who to avoid and who was cool to deal with.  Now?   Maybe I have been away to long.  

Last week I ventured back out into that world looking to unload a few of the cards I picked up in my Topps Update box.  Some of the offers were decent.  A Sepia Taveras parallel, a gold Zobrist refractor, and a handful of low end Rays autographs for a Jeter jersey card could be doable to name one of several which were worthy of some thought and consideration.  Others just made me cry.  A 2007 SPx Juan Salas autograph with a throw card of a 1999 Just Minors Adam Kennedy autograph for a Julio Teheran Strata Autograph, or a Jared Sandberg autographed baseball for both the Jeter jersey, Teheran autograph, and a Joe Morgan World Series Trophy Card.  Ridiculous.  

So, the point of my post was not to dump on all trades and tell people that the world of baseball cards is filled with terrible trade offers.  First, I had someone offer me the price of a completed auction listing on Ebay for the Jeter card.  Only the card was not listed on Ebay, so I paid no fees.  Good and good.  I also ran into an old trade acquaintance who had no interest in trading or buying anything I pulled out of my Topps Trade box, but did trade me a few other cards I was interested in adding to my collection.  

Here are my newest four autographs: