Dollar Hot Dog Night: The Return.

       As I pointed out in this very popular post from last month, I got my brother the same thing this year for his birthday as I did last year.  Oh, I usually get him tickets to a baseball game but this year I got him tickets to the same stadium with the same teams and the exact same promotion.  And oh what a promotion it is: dollar hot dog night!  But mother nature did her best to keep us from enjoying this glorious evening...

It rained on and off all day.  When we drove to the stadium, it started to pour.  As you can see, when we got there, the tarp was on the field.  There was hope though because there was a "window" - a small break where there was about two and a half hours of lighter rain and since it was supposed to pour all day Wednesday, it seems they were going to get this game in come hell or, um, high water.

At 8pm, around an hour after the game was supposed to start, they stated to take the tarp off the field.  This was by far the loudest cheer of the evening from the home crowd. 

You will notice in the upper left hand corner that they were showing the Flyers/Rangers game on the big screen.  This was the other highlight of the evening for the Philly fans as the Flyers would win the game (but alas, not the series).  Since I hate both of these teams, I was rooting for the meteor all series - but not this night since the Flyers play right next to Citizens Bank Park. 

How alike are my brother and I?  It took this deluge of rain for us to notice that we independently own matching raincoats.  Kinda sad but not the least bit surprising.  We also once bought the exact same pair of prescription sunglasses.  You'd think we came from the same gene pool or something and grew up in the same house.

An hour and an half rain delay meant that there were plenty of good seats available at game time.  The announced crowd was 28,000.  My guess is that maybe 5,000 were there at first pitch.  And I hold no grudge against any of them.  Anyone willing to sit out in this kind of rain and the 45 degree weather (oh, did I mention it was 45 fucking degrees out too? At the end of April?!?) is a hardcore baseball fan.  This made our seatmates, even though they were all Phillies fans, quite enjoyable.  No smack talk or jackasses at this game.  We were all in this together.

As for the game itself, Jonathon Niese obviously likes it cold and rainy because he pitched a wonderful game.  Seven innings of three hit ball, his only mistake a fastball to Marlon Byrd that was bone straight that went about 10 rows back in left field.

Niese's mound opponent did not take to the cold and wet as well.  Cole Hamels is a California boy and he looked it all night.  He was very uncomfortable and couldn't get a grip on the ball.  He walked the 8th and 9th hitters at one point to force in a run and I realized "hey, maybe this game could work out well for us..."

And in the end, it did.   By the seventh inning, we were the very last people in the third deck of the stadium (they had closed the upper deck early in the game) and the ushers asked us ever so politely to go to the field level so they could go home.  My brother and I obliged them and from there we watched the end of the game.   It was a real slog through the last few innings as the Mets bullpen decided to go 3-2 on what seemed like every batter.  Somehow, though, they did not give up anymore runs and the Mets won the game 6-1.  This was the first game my brother and I could recall in a very long time that the Mets won while we were in attendance.  My best guess at the last time they won one?  This game in Camden Yards in 2010.  By the end of the game, there were about 500 fans left in the stadium, half of them Mets fans.  Heck, there was more security people than fans by the end.  It was a nice, quick, happy ride home in the driving rain.  This might also be the first baseball game I have ever attended when I drank more hot cocoa than beer.

Oh, and what about the most important score of the night...who had more hot dogs?  Well...

This one was kind of over before it started.  My brother decided to go on Weight Watchers right after we decided to go to this game back in February, thus he only had three.  I, on the other hand, had seven just to break my mark of six from last year.  So yeah, I beat my brother handily in this department.  But I am also quite proud of his will power and of the 30 pound he has lost in that time.  Of course, when he complained about how cold it was at one point, I told him he would be a lot warmer with 30 more pounds of blubber on him.  Sometimes you can't win, huh?

Coupons.

       I was at Target today shopping for birthday cards, Easter ephemera, and deodorant when the siren song of the card section drew me in.  This is what I picked up...

Why?  Coupons!  I had totally forgot I had these little coupon books that came in the 2014 Topps blasters I opened at the beginning of February. But there they were in my little coupon pouch.  There was one for $5 off a Heritage blaster and $1 off three pack of Opening day.  There was also one for $1 off two packs of Gypsy Queen, but GQ is new product so of course my Target didn't have any...*eye roll*  I am a sucker for a bargain so I got these almost in spite of myself.

I got these packs of Opening day for basically 66 cents a piece, a price I haven't paid for a pack of cards at a store since I was a kid no doubt; let's take a look at what was in there.

They put an insert in each pack of Opening Day now.  I really like those blue parallels (I see a page build in my future).  They are not quite as glittery as last year but they are a little more shiny.  The 3D stars are nifty and very busy.  I know these cards are aimed at the kiddies and my inner 7 year old approves.  Adult Max thinks the grey is too washed out, though.

I covered the Heritage pretty comprehensibly already and I also decided not to build the set, even though I adore the design and Topps did a really good job on this year's set.  I will breakdown a selection of the cards I pulled:

I like that Topps used head shots similar to the ones from the original set.  One thing you won't see on those cards from 1965 are things like the mohawk on Didi up there or the bald head and psychotic grin of Cody Ross there.  I am a little puzzled why Adam Jones is so sad on his card - smile dude, you are an above average major league outfielder.  I bought this blaster wearing my Sox hat with a thick beard leftover from winter...dear lord, I am Mike Napoli's doppelganger!  Aaron Hill is pictured holding up his Aaron Hill model bat, that seems more like a 90's Pinnacle photo than a contemporary Topps shot.  Poor Hiroki and Albert were captured making as goofy a face as you can make without knowing someone is taking your picture.  And finally, those Houston Astros cards show that they followed the '65 oddity of having both "Houston" and "Astros" on the fronts of the cards.  Also, Max Stassi is very tastefully named.  If anyone needs any of these singles for their set, please let me know.

It was a pretty good box for inserts too:

I gushed over the idea of the 1st Draft set when I initially wrote about this set and then I found out there are only 5 cards in the whole thing.  I got that same Graig Nettles in my hobby box.  This seems like a missed opportunity.  The red Target parallel looks wonderful with a Red Sox subject, I must say.  I also pulled a game used jersey of Buster Posey and a mini of Hunter Pence, both of which are very high ratio pulls.  Those are destined for ebay unless there is a Giants fan out there who wants to trade.  Lastly, I am showing the backs of two different players.  The Roy Halladay there is now something of a final tribute as he retired before the season, so that is his entire major league record.  I also have Alex Rodiguez's card back there too.  Will those be his final major league statistics?  Will any team ever take a chance on him again if/when he comes back next year?  The whole A-Rod thing makes me very sad. 

***

Oh, and I have leftover coupons I am not planning on using.  I still have one each of the $5 off a Heritage blaster and the $1 off three packs of Opening day.  I also have the two $1 off two packs of Gyspy Queen which I now plan on not using at all.  They are all good until the beginning of June.  If anyone would like any or all of these, drop me a line and I will send them to you.  Hey, money is money.  Eight bucks is eight bucks.

Tease and Re-Tease.

     Thursdays always bring me the same errands and appointments, I am kind of a creature of habit that way.  I like to have one day a week where I bang out the nonsense chores and I have found it is infinitely easier to do it on a weekday rather than a weekend.  I usually try to interject some fun into the slog of doctors and pharmacies and supermarkets, so I always stop in the card aisle of Target when my day finds me there.  I had seen on some other blogs that Heritage packs had been spotted in retail settings so today I made sure I got to the right spot.  Alas, it was not to be.  Two Targets, zero packs of Heritage found.  But there was a fine consolation prize...

A discounted Pete Rose The Living Legend blaster.  I have seen this product in a few different places and think I bought a single pack of it at one point during a former trip to Target.  I had even seen it in this cheap form amongst the blogs, but I had never come across this kind of autograph-promising blaster.  I decided to take my chances, because really, what are the odds Leaf would ever properly fill a redemption card from this product?  I tore it open and boom!

I got an autograph right in the box, just like it said.  It was even already nestled in a top loader.  So that's a pretty good trip, I got me a Pete Rose autograph for $13.  It is a halfway decent picture on the card - though it is a sticker - and in my estimation there is even a 50% chance he signed it himself and not some assistant or his crazy Asian girlfriend.  The other 60 cards in the box are mostly filler, though I am sure I will make a page out of them.  The real interesting ones are pictures of Pete in an Expos uniform or highlighting his horrible haircut and/or fashion choices.  The man was one of the highest paid players in the league during the 70's, you'd think he could get someone to do better by him, look wise. 

That blaster was the only card related thing I bought at either Target today, a rare display of restraint by yours truly.  But then I was driving home and I felt empty and unfulfilled.  What I really wanted was Heritage and a Pete Rose autograph, no matter how cool, was not going to cut it.  So while I was trapped in traffic at the 4 and 17 interchange, I darted up route 4 instead of heading up 17 and made a beeline to the one store I knew would have Heritage, a hobby shop.

So this evening I will chill out with some terrible TV and tear this bad boy open, my first hobby box of Heritage in 6 years. Some Thursdays, I will not be denied. 

Dispatch From Dollar Hot Dog Night.

       As I have for most of the last decade, I got my brother tickets to a baseball game for his birthday.  Last year, he turned 42, so it seemed quite appropriate to take in Jackie Robinson Day in Philly to watch our beloved Mets (slowly implode and lose).  This year, while perusing the Mets/Phillies dates early in the year, I was presented with three choices of premium: T-Shirt Night, Schedule Night, or Dollar Hot Dog Night.  That is a pretty easy decision; I mean, what the hell am I gonna do with a magnetic Phillies schedule and I certainly have no use (other than cleaning up after the dog) for a Phillies T-Shirt.  But two, shall we say, robust gentlemen at dollar hot dog night?  Now you're talkin'!

Plus, I decided not to skimp on the seats, either, getting 14th row behind the Mets' dugout.  Seeing as my brother was nice enough to get me this beauty for Christmas, it was the least I could do.  This wonderful view would be the high point of the evening, baseball wise.

Dillon Gee set the Phillies down 1-2-3 on eight pitches in the bottom of the 1st, so it seemed like this was gonna be a nice tight pitchers duel between him and Cliff Lee (Gee vs. Lee!).  Sadly, it was not to be.  Lee held up his end of the bargain, but Gee pitched a little batting practice in the second inning, giving up four runs - and he was lucky it wasn't more.  Fortunately, we had Dollar Hot Dogs to drown our sorrows:

That is a pile of six hot dogs purchased in a major league stadium.  Normally, that requires a home equity loan, but not on this glorious night. Much to my surprise, there was no limit to the number you could buy and they were real hot dogs, not discount crap ones.  Fatty McGee here was in heaven.

My brother was impressed by this initial haul and after we polished them off in quick order, he said "That was great, want some more?" and I was like "damn right!"  So I got up to go get more.  Suddenly, my brother chimes in, "hey! I'm gonna come with you, I want to see this gigantic pile of hot dogs..."  This decision would come back to haunt us.  In 20+ years and 100's of ballgames, we had never, ever gone to the concessions stand at the same time.  While standing on this line with an endless sea of Phillies fans, Dillon Gee gave up not one, not two, but three home runs...all in the span of eight pitches (sound familiar?).  As the frenzy died down around us, I looked at my brother and calmly said "We are never fucking going to the concession stand at the same time ever again." He could only nod his head in agreement.

The game was now 7-0 and, the way Lee was pitching, clearly out of hand.  When this happens, you have to find other ways to pass the time at a ball game.  Aside from stuffing myself with dollar dogs, I found two sure fire ways to amuse myself at this massacre.  #1 Bird Watching:

And I don't mean Marlon Byrd.  My eyes quickly found this redheaded punk rock girl in a Kirk Nieuwenhuis jersey.  She was sitting with a dude in a Carlos Ruiz jersey.  I should have rescued her and whisked her away to be with a real fan.  Twenty year old Max would have not thought twice about doing this.  Man, am I getting old.

#2 Antagonizing the locals:

The dude in the very lowest right hand corner had a Dave Cash Phillies jersey on (and kudos to him for being the only Phillies fan I have seen in the last few years with a throwback/vintage jersey other than Mike Schmidt).  After Jimmy Rollins made a terrible play on a ball, I made a few cracks about how he is wash up, how he had a rag arm, how undeserving of his MVP award he was, etc. etc.  Dave Cash dude immediately stood up to defend him and we got into it pretty good.  The mood sort of hung in the air for an inning until Ruben Tejada booted a grounder and I also made a crack about how he has 6 errors in like 7 games.  We then had a laugh about the whole thing.  Overall, I enjoyed his moxie.  Also keeping up the cliche of Philly fans was the girl who was drunk, passed out, and throwing up by the 4th(!) inning.  Stay Classy, Philadelphia.

The final score of the game was Phillies 8 Mets 3.  And it wasn't that close.  More importantly, in the battle of the titans, I eked out a victory over my bro: 6 hot dogs to 5.  And honestly, I could have eaten many more but my brother threw in the towel after five.  I had a good nine or ten in me, if I had to.

What's a cheap (under $5) cool card you feel every collector should add to their collection?

       This question was recently posed by The Chronicles of Fuji.  I have seen it answered by a few blogs so I am gonna throw my answer hat into the ring (and horribly mix my metaphors).  I am a little torn whether to answer this with a favorite (selfishly) or with a universal truth kind of card (selflessly).  In an odd display for me, I will go with the latter and be selfless.

Obviously, I have also gone a bit vulgar.  This card needs no introduction.  It should be in every collection in one form or another.  I prefer the original naughty error version, but for the more demure of you, there is no end to the "corrected" variations.  I am lucky enough to have pulled one before the frenzy back in 1989, but since this card is from the height of the overproduced junk wax era, even this "rare" card is probably out there in the tens of thousands.  Some thought they might put their kids through college with one back in the day...these days, you can snag one off eBay for about $5.