It's Trading Season: Cards from Infield Fly Rule

I recently completed a swap with Adam of Infield Fly Rule. I had a few Rockies in need of a new home and some fun shiny stuff, so I reached out to Adam and we quickly came to an agreement. 

I've been largely working on building my Dodgers team sets from flagship for the past few months, and Adam definitely helped put a dent in some of my want lists. 

With the exception of 2015, I''m pretty close to completing most Dodgers sets from the past decade. 2011 Update Series has been a particularly hard set to finish off, so this pair of Ethiers was well-appreciated. I'm six cards away from completing the 2011 set, with four of those needed cards hailing from Update Series. I'm hoping I can knock out this set some point this spring. 

While I can probably knock out most of the sets from the 2010s this year, the Dodgers sets from the 2000s will probably take me much longer. Take the fun black-bordered 2007 set, for example. Including Topps Traded, the Dodgers checklist contains 33 cards. With the addition of the Proctor and Drew cards above, I now have three cards from the set.  I definitely need to get a move on here. 

My lack of cards from the 2000s is quite surprising actually. I started collecting back in 2002 after finding a Shawn Green card in a box of cereal while making myself breakfast. In fact, that card inspired me to really start paying attention to the Dodgers and baseball, and I've been hooked ever since. In hindsight, it's probably the most important bowl of cereal I'll ever eat. 

Despite the fact that I started collecting back in the 2000s, I only have a handful of cards remaining in my possession and they are mostly in my Shawn Green binder. The rest have been lost to bicycle spokes, ill-fated trips to Goodwill, and various family pets over the years. Most everything else was donated or sent across the blogosphere when I stepped away from collecting a few years ago. 

Still, I never managed to track down many Dodgers from the start of the millennium, so these two from 2004 are a push in the right direction. I've always been a huge fan of the 2004 set--you gotta love those foil silhouettes--though the cards aren't ideal for folks with iPhones. Lighting was not on my side, so much of the foil work on these cards is difficult to read. 

Another needed card from the 2000s, this time from the 2006 set. Hendrickson was a tall lefty listed at a healthy 6'9". His time with the Dodgers in 2006 and 2007 was fairly forgettable, but it's hard to ignore his impressive feat of pitching in the big leagues and playing in the NBA, one of only 13 players to ever do both. It's also hard to ignore the approaching fog behind Hendrickson. Quite the photo. 

Of course, Adam included quite a few other fun pieces in this trade, and I'm extremely thankful. Thanks for the trade, Adam!

Reinvigoration Part One: The Dodgers

I've been spending the past few days going through stacks and stacks of cards. I'm trying to tone down the collection and make some room, so I've been setting cards aside for a variety of people. 

Dimeboxes, Bob Walk the Plank, Plaschke, Johnny's Trading Spot, Tomahawk Empire, Andrew's Baseball Cards, A Swing and a Hit, Sportscards From The Dollar Store and others should be expecting cards from me pretty soon. I will also be getting out the rest of the contest winnings from my last contest soon as well. 

In the mean time, I will be "listing" cards on here that I am attempting to move. Feel free to comment if anything catches your eye. I am up for trading the cards, or in some cases, selling them. However, I will probably only sell the bigger lots of cards. More on that later. 

Andre Ethier Likely Out In Los Angeles

When the Los Angeles Dodgers announced that they were bringing Andrew Friedman on board in the front office, many people associated with the team were ecstatic. He is known as one of the best minds in baseball right now, and he should be able to have an impact on this franchise as they try to win their 1^st World Series since 1988. However, with him coming in, several players knew that their jobs were in jeopardy. One guy in particular who could be moving sooner rather than later is Andre Ethier.

Going into the winter, everyone knew that the Los Angeles Dodgers were going to need to make some changes with their outfielders on the roster. The question was, which player would likely be moved? Ethier appears to be the answer to that question, especially after having a very subpar season in 2014. He will be 33 years old by the start of the 2015 regular season, and his batting average and on-base percentage has gone down consistently for the last 4 years. Trading him away would open up more opportunities for not only the outfielders already at the MLB level, but the prospects coming up.

Ethier still has value, but he is owed a total of $56 million. Los Angeles is going to be trying to find a potential team to trade him with, but they will likely have to give up another decent prospect in order to do that. They have a list of untouchables at this point, but this team is focused on winning in 2015 at the MLB level. If they feel like they can make a key trade in the winter, the new president of baseball operations is going to pull the trigger. It might seem like the Los Angeles Dodgers have an unlimited budget to work with, but they are going to be a bit more cautious with contracts now that he is on board but they will have more value in fantasy. Ready to try daily fantasy basketball leagues? Use a Fanduel Promo Code to get started.

Happy Birthday, Greg!

No, not that Greg who also celebrated his birthday yesterday. Greg of Plaschke, Thy Sweater is Argyle gets to celebrate his birth today. What better way to celebrate a fellow blogger's birthday, than by showing off some awesome cards he passed along my way earlier this week at the Dodger game. Of course, you can celebrate by harassing Greg on Twitter or just visiting his awesome blog.

Although Greg and I have been in contact since the inception of my blog almost a year ago, this is only our second trade. And boy, the first one (so good it required two posts) was just a sign of things to come when dealing with Greg. 

The centerpiece of this deal was a swap of autographs from the Parks and Recreation set by Press Pass. Both Greg and I are attempting to put the entire autographed set, and we were able to help each other out by flipping some of our excess autographs. This time around I was able to pick up the hilarious Joan Callamezzo portrayed by Mo Collins. I now have 5 out of the 13 autos in the set, still needing the big ones like Amy Poehler and Rob Lowe. With the prices those seem to be sitting at, it may be beneficial to just buy a hobby box and hope for the best. 

Greg also tossed in my very first autograph of former Dodger, Blake DeWitt. Although he was traded for Ted Lilly back in 2010, DeWitt remained one of my favorite players. From the looks of it, DeWitt is a free agent. Ahem....you know what to do Dodgers.

Moving from a former Dodger, to a soon to be former Dodger, Greg threw in this sweet relic of Andre Ethier. Look, I love Ethier, but his production has dropped off immensely the past two seasons. With Joc Pederson knocking on the door in Triple-A, one of Ethier or Carl Crawford will most likely be moved before the start of 2015. The Dodgers will either have to give away one of the players for some mediocre prospects, or take on another albatross contract in return. Jonathan Papelbon's name was thrown around yesterday, and even though I dislike Papelbon, it would probably benefit the team in the long run. 

Hell, the Dodgers could trade either of their overpriced outfielders for dirt and sign Shawn Green and I'd be happy. We know that would never happen, but a man can dream right? Greg threw in two Green relics into this trade package, though I decided to just scan the one. This one is #'d 226/250 and joins its brothers in my box box of Greens.

Speaking of former Dodgers I'd like to see make a return to LA, here is a sweet swatch of Russell Martin. Considering it is a fairly low numbered relic of one of Greg's favorite players, I am assuming he had a spare. If so, I don't blame him for having more than one of these spectacular cards. 

It seems like this post has turned into me clamoring for former Dodgers to make their return to the magic castle that is Dodger Stadium. However, I don't only want former Dodgers to return. It would be nice to have Withrow at the back of the Dodgers bullpen, but he is just one of many Tommy John victims this year. 

Of course, relievers tend to be expendable and with the Dodgers depth, they aren't horribly effected by Withrow's loss. The Dodgers showed off how expendable relievers can be by shipping off Josh Lindblom to Philly in the deal for Shane Victorino in 2012. In a strange sequence of events, the Phillies then traded Lindblom to the Rangers for Michael Young after the 2012 season. The Dodgers then traded for Young in August of last season to bring the trade full circle. 

Moving away from the hits that Greg exchanged with me, we have three new Matt Kemp cards for my #BEASTMODE PC. There is just something about those Triple Play cards that grabs my attention. They are wonderful. 

Triple Play is one of the low-end products, so Greg made sure to include a new Matty Ice card from one of the high-end sets. This Kemp marks four new cards Greg added to my collection, which now sits at 165 unique cards. 

Greg was also kind enough to toss in a couple of Shawn Green cards, one better than the other. I'll let you guess which one don't like. 

Though I tend to hate cards of Shawn Green featured as a D-Back, I'll take any card of Jonathan Broxton. I have always been a big fan of the big man, even after Joe Torre killed him back in the Yankees series in 2010. Broxton was one of the most dominant relievers in the game during a four year stretch from 2006-2009. After that ill-fated series against the Yankees, in which Broxton pitched in 4 out of 5 games, and warmed up in the other one, Broxton was never the same. By the way, Broxton (a closer mind you) threw 99 pitches in a span of five days. As Mike Petriello, then of Mike Scioscia's Tragic Illness pointed out, Jonathan Broxton is a starting pitcher now, I guess. I need to get all of my Broxton cards together and officially add him to my tertiary PC's, but that means I actually have to do something when I'm not at work.

A vertical card next to a horizontal one is not very pleasing to the eyes, but this is my blog and I can do whatever I want. All joking aside, Greg managed to throw in a pair of sweet Bryce Harper cards that I did not have somehow. 

Greg also threw in a ton of other great cards, including a ton of mini collection hits, other hits, and some Dodgers. Unfortunately, I forgot Greg's side of the deal when I took my trip to LA over the weekend, but Greg will be happy to know that his cards are en route. He probably won't get them today, but a belated birthday gift tomorrow should be expected.

Thanks again for all of the wonderful cards Greg! Be sure to enjoy your birthday amigo!

Topps Chrome Rainbow: Andre Ethier Black Refractor

For those that didn't notice, it was a bit quiet on my blog over the weekend. My mom decided to head to Vegas for the weekend, which forced me to pack up my laptop and homework to go and watch our dogs about 40 miles away. Unfortunately, I forgot to scan any cards before heading out there which meant no posting. 

It's a moot point now, as I got back yesterday evening. Waiting for me were a few awesome packages, the first containing the sweet card you'll see below.

I was able to pick this beauty up off of the bay last week for just a few bucks. Numbered 26/100, it marks my fourth black refractor out of twelve needed for my Dodgers Topps Chrome Rainbow. 

For those who don't care to click on the link, or for those just too lazy, I now have 49/120 cards needed to put together the entire Topps Chrome Rainbow. That number will increase to 50 tomorrow, as I plan on showing off the lowest numbered card in my possession yet. 

P.S: I will be shipping out cards to everybody I have talked to over the past two weeks or so this Friday! Yippee! I didn't want to take this long to ship, and most of the packages are already put together, but shipping about 20 bubble mailers at one time can be quiet costly. 

A Dre from the Bay

I spent last Friday evening scouring eBay for some good deals. Because, you know, that is what all twenty-year-old's do on Friday nights. 

I ended up only winning one auction that night, however, it was a great deal if you asked me.

Yup. My first authentic Andre Ethier auto and boy is it a beauty. Topps Tribute puts out some of the nicest autos you'll see and I was able to capitalize by having this shipped to my door for a penny under five bucks. That is a good deal for just about any auto, but the deal is that much better for the Dodger outfielder. 

Ripping Open Some New Gypsy Queen

Over the weekend, my buddy Dikran and I got the itch to rip some packs.  We headed over to one of the 7 local Targets here in Fresno and quickly decided on the new Gypsy Queen. I'm not the biggest fan of Gypsy Queen, but ripping open new cards is always fun. We ended up picking up three of the 10 dollar hanging packs. 

This card stood out above the rest, although we did pull some cool cardboard. It came out of the bonus three card pack that came with the hangar packs, cards that I now have an infatuation with. It is hard to get a feel for this card from the scan, but these cards are sweet. I will definitely be on the lookout for the rest of the Dodgers, as well as my PC guys. 

This card was later found inside of the same hangar pack. Color is nice, but sometimes the old-school look can be nice. This is a perfect example of that. Topps featured a great pose of the man that doesn't hustle, one that they will probably be re-using in another set sometime later this year. This time I won't be complaining though.

The rest of the 1st hangar pack was lackluster. Other than the Kemp, there were no Dodgers. However, the second hangar pack quickly helped my itch for new Dodgers cardboard. I managed to pull this awesome insert of the most hated man in baseball, well second to A-Rod maybe, Yasiel Puig. Like I said earlier, I am not a big fan of Gypsy Queen, but the Glove Stories inserts are pretty cool. Because Topps knows how much I enjoy them, they allowed me to pull this exact card again in the third hangar pack, but I won't be needing that. I guess it goes to the first person that claims it.

Other than the Puig card above, the second hangar pack turned out to be a dud. The third hangar pack looked to continue the trend, but I finally pulled a card of someone I collect: David Ortiz. I have seen cards very similar to this one of Big Papi, but I quickly realized how difficult it must be to find pictures of a guy that does nothing but hit. Topps could probably address this in flagship by throwing out some more "behind-the-scenes" cards you may have seen in the 90's, but most cards like that are SPs these days.

Just behind the Ortiz card was this beauty of Captain Clutch. That nickname probably doesn't apply much anymore these days, but it is still fun to reminisce about the success he had a few seasons ago. Now is the time to buy high on Ethier cardboard, which I have done. In fact, I may have some new additions show up in the next few days. 

Dikran and I were a little bummed that $30 didn't get us more of what we collect, but we did manage some decent hits from other teams. But you can head over to my freshly updated Trade Bait page to see what those hits were exactly.

BTW: Head over to Andrews Baseball Cards and enter his latest contest.

My Dodger Bobbleheads: Andre Ethier

If you missed my initial post on this yesterday you can check it out here. I will be going through my Dodger bobbleheads over the coming days (possibly weeks), and eventually I will cover them all. Maybe I'll be able to swing a few trades because of this too. 

Were moving on in this small series to Captain Clutch, Andre Ethier.

I absolutely love this bobble of Ethier. For one, the idea of him celebrating a homer rounding the bases is solid. The addition of the fantastic Brooklyn throwback jersey adds to my love of the whole thing. Not to mention, the Brooklyn hat is freaking awesome. I wish mine still fit my big melon of a head. 

I don't remember why I took this picture, but it provides a great look of the detail of the jersey. This truly is an awesome piece of Dodger memorabilia. 

For some reason, unbeknownst to me, I only took two pictures of this highly awesome bobble before taking off earlier this week. I will probably come back later and add the equally cool back part of the bobble sometime in the future, but for now these two pics will have to do. 

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If you have nay Dodger bobbles that you would like to trade, or possibly sell, let me know. I may not be ready to immediately purchase it off of you, but we could always come to an agreement. 

I'd also like to give a big thanks to everyone reading or simply checking out my blog. I know I am not the best writer, head over here if you are looking for some good writing, but I truly do appreciate those that take their time to see what I have to say.

Trade with $30 a Week Habit: Another Awesome Swap

I completed my first trade with fellow blogger Robert of $30 a Week Habit. We talked about a swap a few months ago, but didn't pull the trigger until early last month. It has taken me awhile to post the cards and for that I apologize.

This was probable one of the smaller trades I've made during my time in the blogosphere, but it produced some awesome cards.

Take these awesome cognac cards from 2011 Topps for example. I have seen these parallels in my LCS, but never had the opportunity to add a Dodger, let alone two PC guys, to my collection. Thanks to Robert, I can say that I have some cognac cards. 

This was another awesome card sent to me by Robert. I am pretty positive this is the first card from 1969 in my possession, but because I have not had the time to update my Topps Team Set Project needs list in awhile, I don't know for sure. Hopefully I can get to that this weekend.  

This may be my only card from '69, but it is a beauty. From what I've heard, '69 has a ton of infamous cards including Reggie Jackson rookie card, and Mickey Mantles final regular issued Topps card. Not to mention a sweet looking Roberto Clemente card that I hope to own one day. But I am far too broke and young to be thinking about getting some of the higher end vintage cardboard at the time being. However, if I happen to win the lottery before I am able to finish college I will be sure to pick up a Clemente, Jackson, and Mantle for my collection, as well as one of each for all of you :)

Thanks again for the trade Robert. Hope we can do another swap in the future. 

Another Trip Down to my LCS

I made another trip to my LCS after work yesterday and was able to walk away with some awesome new PC additions. 

Matt, the owner, has been trying to convince me to buy a spot in a baseball box break this weekend at a card show type event at one of the mall's in town. I am always interested in new cards, but $40 for a spot is a price I wasn't willing to spend. He said he is opening up a few boxes of 2013 Triple Threads, as well as 10 other boxes. $40 bucks is probably more than worth it, but as a full-time college student money is hard to come by. 

He told me he was looking to beef up his cards for the show this weekend and asked if I could bring in commons/relics/autos for him. I don't buy that many cards, but I did have some stuff for him. I took him a 3 inch stack of Yankees, as well as a 3 inch stack of base cards from 2014 S1. I threw in about 15 NBA/NFL autos/relics, and about 150 basketball cards. I don't really have an interest in basketball cards, but they always end up in my hands after Dikran keeps the cards he is interested in after opening a box. Needless to say, I cleared out some space and helped my LCS owner for the show.

He told me over the phone that he would give me some store credit for anything I brought in but my expectations were low. I figured I would be lucky if I got $10 bucks. He took a look through the stuff when I got there last night and ended up giving me $35 bucks in store credit. He put me down for a spot in the break this weekend and told me to bring him some more base cards and Yankees and we'll call it even for the other $5 bucks. So, If you have Yankees from the past 2-3 years you don't want, I'll gladly take them off your hands. 

Anyways, I took a stroll around the shop and ended up digging through some dimeboxes and eventually walked out with a nice little stack of cards. 

Eight new cards for my A-Gon PC. He looks 100% in a Dodgers uni IMO. The card that stands out the most is the brand new 2014 Donruss card on the bottom left. It actually came out yesterday and I was already able to pick up a couple of Dodgers. 

Six new cards for my Big Papi PC. The diamond sparkle cards are pretty snazzy and the UD Masterpieces is wonderful as well.

I also snagged this 2012 Topps Chrome Refractor of Matt Kemp after realizing I did not have any of his 2012 TC cards.

Two new cards for my Andre Ethier PC. The more I look at these diamond sparkle cards, the more I want to chase them all down. They look pretty damn awesome.

I also picked up a new Beltre card to add to the binder. Am I the only one who thinks the card looks cutoff on the right? 

I will never pass up a Ryu card, as the Korean is quickly becoming one of my favorite players. This is the other 2014 Donruss I picked up BTW. 

Kind of a weird pairing for Topps to make here. That is until I realized they are both Jewish. It took me a minute to notice that on the back of the card. I guess I should take a closer look at the back sometimes. I should also get a move on uploading my Koufax PC to the blog. Maybe this weekend.....

I also grabbed these even though they don't really fit into any of my collections. The Piazza on the left doesn't actually come from 1994, it is a reprint from 2011 Topps. The Sellers card was calling my name for some reason. He isn't anything special on or off the field, but it is an aweome card nonetheless. 

In addition to the cards above I was able to grab nine new cards for my Topps TeamSet project. 

The best thing about the entire trip to my LCS is that I didn't spend a dime (except on gas). Matt was gracious enough to let me walk away with these fantabulous cards for nothing. I was also able to secure a spot in his box break this weekend, and I cleared up space in my room by doing so. I won't be able to make it to the break, but hopefully I will have some goodies to show off this weekend.