Oscar. Popsicle. Joey Votto.

Yesterday was the start of Teacher Appreciation Week at my school.  

I received an Oscar. 

I also got a raspberry cheesecake popsicle after lunch.  

I also got a pack of 2023 Topps Big League from one of my students. I should have taken a picture of the pack of cards, but did not.  I borrowed one from the internet.  

I made a post about these cards a few weeks back. Fun cards that are kid-friendly. You're not likely going to pull something to big from one of these packs.

Somedays you beat the odds.  

I feel appreciated.  

Can You Spare 10 Minutes For A Blog Post?

It won't actually take you 10 minutes to read this blog post.  

The question in the title is actually directed at myself.  

We are 11 days into September and this is my second post of the month.  I meant to make a few other posts somewhere along the way, but virtual learning feels a lot like my first year of teaching.  Everything takes a little longer.  There are plenty of things that I start, stop, and re-do throughout the week.  It's very time consuming.  

Throw in a wife who is also virtual teaching and two kids, and there have not been much time for me to sit down and crank out a blog post.  Honestly, there have been nights where I have had a free fifteen minutes to type something up, but would you want to sit in front of a computer at your house after spending eight hours doing that at work?  

Not me.  

I have decided to spare 10 minutes of my evening to type up a post.  My wife and daughter are watching Aladdin and my son is talking my ear off about the Cincinnati Reds in anticipation of watching tonight's Cardinals game.  So far, I have learned that Freddy Galvis has the best hair-do in the National League Central.  

Since it's been awhile, I am doing three cards that I was excited about adding to my collection. 

First up, is a Brandon Lowe autograph out of Topps Big League.  

Brandon Lowe is having a pretty good season for the Rays.  Getting a little more attention with baseball card folk, but his cards have stayed reasonable.  I have barely touched any 2020 cards over the summer, so it's nice to go back and get some of these sets that came out awhile ago.  

The same seller also had a pretty inexpensive Lowe jersey card.  That's so 2004.  

I love these cards with the MLB Authentication stickers.  Always willing to jump down that rabbit hole, halfway expecting it to be from a game where the player sat on the bench.  The answer with Brandon Lowe?  

Brandon Lowe left the bench.  Even had a hit.  

Huzzah.  

Last card for this post.  

I have been waiting for this moment for awhile.  

Kirby Yates was on the Durham Bulls for three years from 2013 to 2015.  He was a decent Triple A player, but definitely fell into that category of being more of a fan favorite than a serious prospect.  He did make the International League All-Star Game, but had an ERA of nearly 8 when the Rays called him up to the Majors.  Yates bounced around a bit with the Yankees and Angels before he ended up the Padres.  

He's been incredible in San Diego.  

Last year he had an ERA of 1.19 with 109 strikeouts in 60 innings.  Made the All-Star team too.  I heard he was getting a few certified autographs this year.  Happy to finally have on in the collection.  

2019 Blake Snell Autograph Count: 21

I probably should have had this Snell autograph awhile ago, but I refused to spend much money on a card out of Topps Big League.  It's supposed to be an inexpensive set, so the autographs should be inexpensive too, right?

I'd like to think so. It's the same reason why I have not posted a Topps Fire autograph of my favorite pitcher.  I am not going to pay $20 for an autograph that likely came out of a $20 retail box, and lists for more than his autographs that come out of more expensive hobby boxes. 

I finally found one at a price I was willing to pay. 

I do not love the design of these cards, but it's still a Snell autograph.  At the same time that I do not love the overall design, I will say that Topps did a good job of blending in the sticker.  If you have been here long enough you know that I don't love sticker autographs.  I do not totally avoid them, and honestly I don't mind them if they are inexpensive and the design does a good job of cover up the sticker.  That is the case here. 

Back of the card.

That's not very exciting.  

Probably low on the list of Snell autographs that I have picked up this year, but also another step closer towards my goal of getting to 25.  It's going to be close.  

Big Leagues

The scan is really crooked, but I found the last Tim Beckham autograph I needed from last year.  He was in a few different Topps products last year, but somehow I missed this card from Big Leagues.  It's a sticker autograph, but I still like the card.  There have been a few up on Ebay with "Buy It Now" listings, but I thought I could get it at a better price.  A little patience paid off. 

Which brings me to this year's Big League set.  I ended up picking up a few packs the other week at Target, the blaster boxes are dirt cheap.  I got something good out of the box too.  First off, the base set is a disaster. 

Not sure you could squeeze much more onto a card.  My ADD is kicked into overtime here.  There is a crooked photo, a wood grain background, a bar with the player name, a pennant, a ticket stub looking box with SEC, ROW, and SEAT, and the brand logo in the top right.  

It looks like the car that Homer Simpson designs in that one episode where he finds out he has a brother who runs a car company.......

Terrible.  I won't even find the single Cardinals or former Durham Bulls players in this set. 

My good card....

This design is a little better, but after a week in my collection I still do not know what is a "Rookie Republic"???? What is it?  Anyone at Topps?  

Seriously, I really like that I got a Willians Astudillo autographed card out of a box of cards from Target.  The picture on the card makes him look slender, and you cannot see the true volume of his hair on this card.  

Definitely one of the better personalities in baseball at the moment.