Showing Some Appreciation for Zack Greinke

Most of my readers know who I primarily collect: Kemp, Kershaw, Ryu, Beltre, and Green. They may also know who some of the secondary guys I collect are: Gonzalez, Ethier, Harper, Seager, Ortiz, Ramirez, and Puig. 

In fact, you can find out everything I collect by clicking on the "What I Collect" tab up top (I linked it mid-sentence because I am a swell guy). 

Many people are unfamiliar with my tertiary collection however. Frankly, I am a little unfamiliar with the guys of my tertiary collection as well. Most of them, with the exception of Jose Fernandez, have ties to the Dodgers. Though I doubt that is a surprise. Let me give a run down of the tertiary guys for those too lazy to click on the link.

Jose Fernandez

Zack Greinke

Russell Martin

Manny Ramirez

Paco Rodriguez

That list only consists of five guys at the moment, but the list will expand with time. I have already displayed my modest Paco Rodriguez collection, which has grown a bit since that post, but I am moving onto another player of interest today.

Zack Greinke has long been one of my favorite players in the game, but only recently become a member of the Dodgers. 

And thank goodness for that. The man has been absolutely dominant during his time in Los Angeles. Throwing to a 22-5 record (though wins don't really matter) with 249 strikeouts in 231 innings for the Dodgers. 

Of course, he hasn't been dominant in just Dodger Blue. 

He spent the back end of 2012 with the other LA team after they sent over a package headlined by Jean Segura to the Brewers. He pitched effectively with the Angels, though was slightly better with the Brew Crew.

Interestingly enough, Greinke never lost a game at Miller Park while with the Brewers. Of course, he lost in his first game back as a member of the Dodgers. Baseball.

He may have had his best season to date as a member of the Royals however. Greinke took home the AL Cy Young award in 2009 and put up crazy good numbers while doing so. He led the league in ERA, FIP, and WHIP (as well as a few other categories) while striking out 242. For those who prefer the more traditional stats, Greinke had a 16-8 record and a 2.16 ERA. 

I currently have 19 unique Zack Greinke cards, 25 if you include the 6 different parallels I own from 2013 Topps Chrome. Those belong in my Topps Chrome Rainbow though, so I wont officially include them in his card total. 

If you have any extra Greinke cards laying around, feel free to ship them to my house. I am pretty sure there is somebody inside that would appreciate them. 

Highlighting a Few Fantastic Blogs Pt. 7

Previous posts in this series: Pt.1, Pt.2, Pt.3, Pt.4, Pt. 5, Pt. 6

I will continue to highlight some of the blogs that deserve more traffic and eventually work my way up to the bigger blogs.

All Trade Bait, All the Time

Another blog I have been waiting to include in this series is All Trade Bait, All the Time. It is run by a fellow Dodger fan and blogger, which some may know as Stealing Home. On top of the awesome Dodgers cards he displays, you may see awesome pictures like the Vin Scully bobblehead banner he has going on right now. Like the name implies, there is always trade bait so don't hesitate to visit his blog and swing a deal. 

Tomahawk Empire

Probably one of the newest blogs on the block, Tomahawk Empire is run by my good friend Brad. Brad primarily PC's John Smotlz, but he does collect other Braves greats such as Chipper Jones and young studs like Freddie Freeman. His blog doesn't just focus on cards though, as he does talk a little baseball from time to time. He predicted the Tigers beating the Dodgers in the World Series this year, which is bleghhh. Anyways, head on over and say hi. I am sure he would appreciate getting connected with some more bloggers. 

Royals and Randoms

The final blog I will be highlighting today is one I ran across about two weeks ago. I don't see too many Royals blogs, so finding this was a nice surprise. Shortly after following, Josh (I think he runs the blog) ran a contest that I have yet to see before. It was called Baseball Sheep, and the point was to follow the rest of the pack. Josh asked a ton of cool questions, and although I didn't win, I had a great time reading some of the responses. I plan on reaching out to Josh in the next few weeks to work out a trade, but until then I will send some viewers over his way. 

Some Shiny New Cards From This Way to the Clubhouse

I completed my first trade with Mark of the superb blog, This Way to the Clubhouse. Like most trades, we had an email conversation and quickly came to a deal. 

The centerpiece of this deal was this fantastic piece of cardboard seen above. It comes from one of my favorite releases of the year, Topps Heritage. There were a few reasons why this card caught my eye other than the fact that it is a numbered Dodger card (#'d 899/999 to be exact). 

The first being the Getting a Grip pose. I stole that term from fellow blogging buddy Ethan of Playing with my Cards. If he wouldn't have highlighted awesome cards like this one, I probably would of glossed over the grip and just considered it another Dodger card. Thanks for that Ethan!

Secondly, Greinke has become a big favorite of mine recently, especially considering his performance lately. He has been great in 2014 so far, and his dominance dates back to 2013. In fact, the back of the card states, "Zack won all 5 of his August starts with a 1.23 ERA". If that isn't ace status, I don't know what is. 

Finally, this card grabbed my attention because I have decide to start a Zack Greinke PC. I have always been a fan of the Dodger righty, in fact I used to clamor for a trade to LA on Dodger threads late at night as far back as 2007. I will probably get to posting more about the PC this weekend or next week, but studying for finals is a priority at the moment.

Whew! I don't think I have ever devoted that much writing to one card before. That said, let's move onto another sweet card from Mark.

Oooohhhh, shiny! The scan didn't come out as awesome as I was expecting, but this is an awesome card nonetheless. It may be hard to tell, but this sweet Shawn Green card comes from 2000 Bowman's Best Franchise 2000. That is somewhat of a confusing considering the double use of 2000. I guess Topps really got into the turn of the century stuff that was going on at the time.

Thanks again for the trade Mark! I will be sure to let you know when I have some more cards set aside for you. 

Careless Whisper

A couple of days ago, Oakland A's outfielder Josh Reddick came to the plate with a fantastic walk-up song. The song, Careless Whisper by Wham, has no place on the baseball field which made the incident that much more funny to me when I saw the following video.

For some reason I can't embed the video directly into this post, but click here to see the video.

I have watched this a few times now, and it cracks me up every time. That song is just the best. It got me thinking about what walk-up music I would choose if I was a big league player. After some careful deliberation, I settled on two possibilities.

Possibility the first: Queen - Under Pressure



Possibilty the second: Red Hot Chili Peppers - Can't Stop



I was leaning toward RHCP, but I hear that quite frequently on the field already. Because of that, I am choosing my favorite Queen song. 

Who has the best walk-up song in the MLB today?

What would your walk-up song be if you were an MLB player?

My Matt Kemp Golden Moment

I have been trying to pick up as many Matt Kemp cards as possible in recent weeks, as the Dodgers center fielder is back in the lineup everyday and starting to produce. Part of me wants his cards to stay as cheap as they are currently, but I would happily spend more money on his cardboard if it meant a dramatic return to his 2011 self. That is unlikely to happen, but I can live with Kemp batting .269/.346/.479 over the course of a full season. 

A couple of weeks ago I came across a seller who had a Matt Kemp card that I have had my eye on since getting back into the hobby. My grand re-entrance into the card game came in 2012, and my poison was 2012 Topps Series 2. Seriously, I knew so little about cards when I got back into the hobby that Dikran and I spent about six-hundred bucks on single packs of Series 2 at Target in a single month. That is when we got smart and took a visit to my LCS. I now have a much firmer grasp on the hobby, and I will never spend that much on packs of Flagship again. 

I wasn't fond of the base design in 2012, but the Golden Moments inserts tickled my fancy. The seller I ran across happened to have the Matt Kemp autographed version of the card with a low BIN with a best offer option. I made a decent offer, then perused the rest of his items. 

That is when I ran across this sweet card to pair with the John Hancock above.

That card just so happened to have a low BIN price with a best offer option yet again. I made an offer on it and a few hours later the seller graciously accepted both of my offers. 

But I was in for a surprise when the bubble mailer showed up at my door. You see, inside was a card that I had not ordered, but was more than happy to accept.

Following the 30-30 theme of the Golden Moments card, this beauty exhibited the greatness of Kemp's 2011 season rather blatantly. Kemp was a home run shy of joining the 40-40 club, though the Dodgers only got to play 161 games in 2011. A game in Washington was rained out and never made up. I was hoping they may be able to fit it in for the sake of the record, but they didn't. 

Because this card is not something I would normally expect as a throw-in, I contacted the seller to ask about it. He told me that he was planning on sending it to me, but decided against it right before shipping. He chalked up its presence to his sub-conscious wanting to help out a fellow collector. 

This begs the question: 

What is the best throw-in you have ever received in a trade or a purchase online?

Believe it or not, these cards were shipped to my door for under 15 bucks. It's a wonder I ever bought single packs from Target.

Blog Notes: Week Before Finals Edition w/ A Trade from S.Mack Talk Cards

I haven't done Blog Notes before, but I think I may start doing them every so often. They will help me get some information out there that I didn't necessarily want to incorporate into a post, so that's a plus. 

First of all, thanks again to everybody that takes their time to read this jumbled mess. I was not expecting this type of reception when I first entered the blogging world. I have made numerous trades over the 7 months or so I have been active, and I have met many new and awesome people. I'm sure I am not the first to say this, but blogging makes collecting 100 times better.  

Secondly, I have changed my method of shipping. I live in just about the middle of nowhere so getting to a post office was sometimes tough. Especially considering the nearest one is about 16 miles away. But, I am now printing out labels online (yay technology!) and saving money doing it. The only problem I have encountered so far is finding a way to ship to Canada, or any international place for that matter, online. I am currently printing out labels for First Class Packages through Paypal, but I cannot find a way to ship to the Great White North. If anybody out there knows of a way to do this, I am all ears. I have 3 packages waiting to be shipped up north, and I assure all of my Canadian friends that they will be shipped tomorrow. 

Finally, my buddy Dikran could use some support. As you may have already known, Dikran is my card collecting partner. He has always been a music man, and spends his free time making music. He recently produced a beat and a semi-successful artist in Fresno rapped on it. It was actually on the radio this weekend (yay again!) but he could use some help in getting it played next weekend too. All you have to do is click on this link, scroll to the bottom of the list, and vote for his song. It is listed under Amadi - My Potna. That music isn't something a whole lot of bloggers probably listen to, but a simple vote will go a long way in helping out my friend.

I will gather up some cards for those kind enough to vote for my buddy's song. No need to listen to it, unless you want to, but votes are what count. Just leave me a comment if you vote and I will pull a few things for you. 

Of course, a post would not be complete without some cards. 

These come courtesy of Jimmy of S.Mack Talk Cards. The Mike Scioscia officially closes the door on my 1988 Topps Team Set. The Green and Beltre are also sweet additions to their respective PC's as well. Jimmy also sent quite a few more card for my Topps Team Set Project, but I have yet to update my set needs. Thanks again Jimmy!

Hyun-Jin Blyu

You must excuse the ridiculously bad pun of a title.

But, you must also appreciate this sweet new pick-up of my favorite Korean pitcher, Hyun-Jin Ryu.

I nabbed this beauty off eBay for a few bucks shipped last week. Somehow, it is my first hit of the lefty, but it is spectacular. You don't normally see a ton of bat relics for pitchers, but it looks like Topps made an exception for Babe Ryuth. 

Contest Winnings from Off Hiatus Baseball Cards

Tony L. over at Off Hiatus Baseball Cards ran contest last week and I was lucky enough to be one of the winners. As a winner, I was entitled to take my pick of cards on his Trade Bait page. 

The choice was easy and I was able to take home this sick jumbo jersey of my once favorite Dodger, Chad Billingsley. A 2012 Topps Chrome Bryce Harper RC gave the C-Bills a run for it's money, but at the end of the day I made the right choice. I don't get the opportunity to pick up free hits, let alone #'d 1/50, very often, so I am extremely happy with my choice. 

Thanks again Tony! Keep up the great work over at your blog.

Colorful Kershaw's and More

I received an email from a gentleman named Jarrod a couple of weeks ago commending me on my great work on the blog. Like most people, I enjoy kind words every now and again, so thanks for that Jarrod. Anyways, Jarrod had some Dodger cards that he thought I may be interested in and offered to sell them to me for an incredibly low price. I obliged and here we are. 

*Before we continue, be sure to check out Jarrod's eBay page here. It's worth it.*

The center of this deal revolved around this lovely Kershaw from 2013 Topps Chrome. I have done my best to pick up as many of these colorful Dodgers from last years set, though I am having a tough go at the cards with low numbering. Purple refractors aren't numbered, so I am a bit surprised I only have 4 of these things. But even with only four of the purples, I am 42.50% complete (51/120). Check out my progress here. 

I considered pretty much everything else in this package a bonus, and a great bonus it was. 

These two Kershaw's were full of color themselves. Both hail from 2014 Opening Day, and are probably two of only a few cards I am interested in from that set. I dig the 3-D cards, so the Opening Day Stars was a nice surprise. The Breaking Out insert is also pretty sweet, but I don't know if Kershaw is really "breaking out". I mean, he has 2 Cy Youngs already, I think he broke out a few years ago.

Also included was this sweet mini from 2013 Allen and Ginters. I don't know how I didn't have this yet, but Jarrod was sure to fix that. This card goes down as one of my favorite Kershaw cards in my collection so far, and probably won't be topped anytime soon. 

Jarrod didn't just send along Kershaw cardboard though. This fantastic Shawn Green card came courtesy of Jarrod as well. Like the mini Kershaw above, this may go down as one of my favorite cards of Green. The card shows him in his high school jersey, something cards rarely do these days. 

There were a few more Dodgers in the package, but I simply don't have the time to show them all. Thanks again Jarrod! In case you missed it up top, be sure to check out Jarrod's eBay page here. It's worth it.

Another Visit to my LCS

I was able to pick up quite a few more hours on my last paycheck, so I decided to spend a little bit of the extra cash at my LCS. In hindsight, that 20 bucks would have looked nicer in my savings account, but at least I didn't come away empty handed.

The first thing I picked up was a jumbo pack of Bowman. I am not a big fan of Bowman this year, but I ripped it open anyways.

Though I am showing you some of the Dodgers that are featured in this set, none of these were actually pulled from the jumbo pack. I pulled these from a box of Dodgers the owner had shortly after regret from the purchase fell over me.

I did manage to pull these three from the jumbo pack though. They aren't Dodgers, anymore at least (I'm looking at you Beltre), but they still are valuable pieces of cardboard to me. Definitely not worth the 15 bucks I dropped on the pack though.

Luckily, Matt (the owner) likes me enough that he let me pick up some more singles for free. I didn't think twice when I saw this sweet Adrian Gonzalez laying inside of the Dodgers box. 

Right behind that A-Gon, I found an even sweeter card that I added to my pile. I love blue bordered Dodgers, especially when they are numbered, but this did not make up for the dud of a pack I ripped, though it was a step in the right direction. 

I also grabbed the sweet Bryce Harper card on the left and added it to the pile. I was in a rush and didn't have a ton of time to look, but I felt the urge to rip a pack again. I settled on a pack of Gypsy Queen, primarily because it was five bucks, and that is all I had left on me. I pulled the Harper insert as seen on the right, as well as a Hanley Ramirez base card (seen below).

Hanley has been struggling a bit this season, but at least he has been healthy. It wasn't until I scanned this card, but I noticed that it shares the photo with the other Hanley card I scanned above. Lazy, lazy, Topps.

I didn't get my 20 dollars worth of cardboard on this trip, but I did add some cool cards, not to mention plenty of trade bait. If you are looking for base cards from Bowman or Gypsy Queen let me know. All hits that I have pulled so far have already been added to my Trade Bait page.