High season is here. Goodbye for now.

FYI

High season is about to kick in here at my job so I won't have enough time to keep posting. I won't cancelled the blog just to keep my hope alive of coming back again in a couple of months. Hopefully.

I'll keep visiting hobby blogs and forums.

Enjoy the holiday season and keep on blogging.

Rgds,

Joe playing Keanu

I'm not a Matrix or Keanu fan but I was quite impressed when the first movie of the trilogy came out. Since then I've seen it many times but never been patient enough to sit down and watch #2 or 3 in full.

Today I have the morning off and took some time to browse through my collection and found the only Joe Torre card in my PC:

Gotta give it to Joe because you gotta have some moves and patience if your coaching Manny...

Luis Aparicio: An affordable HOF'er

Luis Aparicio is the living proof that you can still purchase great HOF'ers, even graded, for less than $15 on ebay any given sunday.

During his 18 seasons MLb career, he achieved many distinctions:

• 1956 Al ROY
• 10 time All Star
• 1966 World Series champ with the O's
• 9 Gold Golves at SS (five of them in a row)
• He lead the AL in stolen bases 9 straight seasons and went back home with 506 in his career (34th all time leader)

Finally in 1984 he was elected to the HOF receiving the highest % of votes among his class that also included Harmon Killebrew, Don Drysdale, Pee Wee Reese and Rick Ferrell. He's also a proud member of the Venezuelan Baseball HOF in which he was inducted back in 2003.

The only Aparicio card I own so far is this 1963 Topps but in the next couple of weeks I'll be making a run after a graded copy (even if it's a PSA 1) of his 1956 RC. In the meantime, enjoy:

1968 Topps Game. Matty Alou

The middle brother of the Alou saga, Matty is one the baseball players of whom I'll collect any affordable baseball card I run into.

About the card picture below, I bought it on Ebay a couple of months ago and really enjoy looking at it and comparing this piece with the rest of my PC.

I think that overall you gotta love the design of 1963 Topps Game inserts. This 33 cards set is absolutely gorgeous with its flip-flop front letters, round corners and white back ground. With most cards on this set selling for less than US$3 and the top sellers (Mantle, Mays, Clemente, Rose, Carew and Aaron) going for less than US$9/each, I'm planning to give it a try and complete the set. Looks easy and affordable considering a full non-graded set was sold yesterday for $63.98

I want my money back 1: Felix Pie

Nobody ever said he was meant to be the next A-Rod but !damn! I had high hopes on Felix Pie. But I was not alone, in 2007 Baseball America ranked him as the #1 Cubs prospect in their farm system & #49 overall.

So high were my expectations that I now regret to say that Pie is one of only 2 players (Tulowitzki is the other one) I've chased down on Ebay until I finally bought his RC (pictured below). Don't remember how much I paid for it but you can bet it was more than the $3 & $4 bucks his autos are selling for nowadays.

Anyway I'll keep this card. Do I have another option? Nop. What's the worst that could happen? Sharing a jail cell with former MLB and now deported and prosecuted women killer Ambiorix Burgos? Bahhh.

By the way, who won this contest???

Back in the early 2000 I was busy at the university and completely lost track of baseball and therefore baseball cards. I don't recall how this sweepstakes piece found its place into my collection.

Who won that bat?????? 

I've been doing some research on the Internet but so far I've just been able to find that:

"Robert Shell (14 year old back then) from Baraboo Wis. won a 1928 Philadelphia athletics jersey signed by Cobb, valued at $332,500" as part of this contest.

But who won that bat????

My Ruth's cards

You gotta love reprints as long as they're not from Todd Van Poppel. So when you hit a Hall of Fame shot courtesy of Score 1992:

Or a 1976 Topps honoring the Bambino:

Just open the binder and add that up to your collection.

The truth and main reason for this post is that I've never seen an original Ruth card in person. It's not like the Babe is the only one missing on my list but it's a tight race between him and Cobb for first place; keep digging and I still need to see/own DiMaggio, CY, Gehrig,  and you name it.

Meanwhile I'll keep digging during my flea market adventures and sooner or later I'll be the luckiest man on the face of the earth... unquote.

 

Cool nicknames: "The human vacuum cleaner"

A sign that you've made it to the show is having your nickname. If you're lucky enough it will stick with you through good and bad; in sickness and health; Pujols and Andrew Jones type of season, for ever.

I have to admit that Brooks Robinson has one of the coolest nickname ever, forget about the Iron Horse, Will the Thrill, La Cobra, cause the Human Vacuum Cleaner rules.

Bring on the Hoover!!!

My Rickey Henderson RC tks to Cardboard Icons

Back on March 7th, Ben from CardBoard Icons hosted a contest celabrating his 25,000 visits in which the winner, a.k.a yours truly, won a 1980 Topps #482 Rickey Henderson RC. 

Being new in the blogosphere there's no need to say I was thrilled when I found out.

Tks Ben, this card is mint compare to some in my vintage PC.

Joe's hobby is playing billiards

Joe's hobby is playing billiard. I get it, I get it,  you don't have to say it 2 YEARS IN A ROW!! in the back of his card:

 

Get off my back. Jim Palmer 1977 Topps #600

If one thing this downturn economy is providing me, is way too much time off for a guy who used to work in hotels +70 hours a week (yep, that's legal down here).

Surfing old cards this past couple of day, I was wondered by how so many regular and even star players have listed in the back of their cards facts that had nothing to do with them. I'll call it the "Get off my back" series.

By the time 1977 Topps was released, Jim Palmer had already won his 3 CY awards, made 4 All Star appereances and won 2 of 3 wold series rings; so I have the right to ask Topps: why did you choose Mr. Palmer card #600 to point out that Ron Hunt, Ron Hunt!! was the first Met ever to be choosen for the All Star game? I know Mr. hunt didn't make it as an active player for the 1977 Topps edition but man think about something else if you felt like remembering him; do a "Turn Back the Clock" or something else. Is not like you're trying to think of something nice to say about Tom Gorzelany, man this is Palmer. 

 

K Tom is on my "list"

For any vintage collector fan there is always an unwritten list of cards that you would choose and set aside for later negotiation even when radomly browsing through a stack or a shoebox full of cardboard. No matter if you're a team or player collector or even if you hate the Yanks, Reds, & Tigers; you'll never turn your cheek when running into a Mantle, Rose, Cobb, et al. Even duplicates will always be welcome if you're like me.

Among those players, I have Mr. Seaver and being honest, I just know about him what I've read in the back of my cards, Wikipedia and Baseball Reference

I'm not a Mets fan and don't care if Omar Minaya is planning to put the whole Dominican Republic on their payroll. 

But, Tom Seaver is on my "list"

Graded goodie from cheapbay

A couple of blogs ago I wrote about vintage goodie on the way. Finally it has arrived:

It has been with me for just 5 days but man I love this card. 

How much did I pay? USD$5.76 delivered 

If there's something that I'm 100% sure off now it's that by going vintage on my collection, my passion for the hobby is getting stronger.

My first Koufax! My first Spahn! 

My first redemption... finally delivered!!!!!

My saga started early last year when I bought my one and only box of 2007 Bowman Draft Picks and Prospects as the previous year. Back then I was still heavy hitting breaking boxes of new products, specially BDPP and SPLC. Overall it was a decent break until I hit my redemption so I immediately knew no autograph was on board cause I'm not that lucky and collation wouldn't smile at me, at least not that day. That was it, I would have to pay outrageous shipping from my country and then wait forever to get my deserved auto.

April 8th, 2008: I Found a cheaper way than FedEx (USD$35) and send it through IMPOSDOM (Dominican Postal Office) for USD$2. On a regular day I would have never sent that or any decent card/redemption by Imposdom but with that pricing I had no choice. 

February 20th, 2009: Went to my local courier company to pick up a vintage goodie I'll blog about later, and when Jessie (the clerk) said I had 2 pkg's instead of 1... 

Payback was around the corner:

Finally!!!

Winter ball now shading.

Winter baseball used to be a great time of the year when Dominican MLB stars played for their local teams and proudly dressed in either:

• Blue (Tigres del Licey). By the way, my team. Legendary guys like Alonzo Perry and young stars like Anderson Hernandez and Ronnie Paulino are just a few.

• Red (Leones del Escogido). Our enemies, antithesis, etc, etc,  for more than 99 years and counting. Sosa, Big Pappy and so on. But nowadays they reeeeeeally suck. 

• Yellow (Aguilas Cibaenas). Ruled the 90's and part of the early 00's. They just can't stand loosing. Not that anybody enjoys loosing but you have to see this guys loosing a game specially when they're home team; just get that hell out of ballpark quick, preferably by the 6th inning

• Green (Estrellas Orientales). Our Dominican version of the Cubs

• Orange (Toros del Este). I don't care much about them

• Red and whatever they feel like and the league allows them to wear (Gigantes del Cibao). The new kids on the block. The best team during this past season but started whining and complaining about umpires during the finals and you know how that story always ends

But now is not as simple as "when it was a game" because of all the restrictions by MLB Teams that don't allow their big guns to participate in winter ball cause THEY COULD GET HURT... and I'll add: taking a shower, driving, eating mangu, filling a W2 form, and you name it.

And because I need to show off a card and not because I like this next one, here's my Leones del Escogido Sammy "mustache" Sosa

1992 Topps Kids knew some some

For the first time since I started writing this blog I'll break the "vintage only" rule and help Sen. George Mitchell write page 410 of his "Report to the Commissioner of Baseball of an Independent Investigation into the Illegal Use of Steroids and Other Performance Enhancing Substances by Players in Major League Baseball"  A.K.A. "The Mitchell Report".

Sorting my collection and taking pics (I dont have a scanner) of my cards I found this:

 

• First thing:
  

Brian McNamee didn't send me this card. I actually own one copy. 

What did Topps Kids 1992 knew about all this mess? 

How did they came up with the "idea, just an idea" of this HGH version of Clemens?

Dave "underrated" Parker

What ta hell is The Cobra doing out of Baseball HOF? 

Can someone please tell me how in the world did Jim Rice got in with 412 votes and Parker just got 81?????? 

Just FYI you voters, Dave has more runs, hits, doubles, RBI's, SB, BB, gold gloves, silver sluggers, and batting titles than Jim (please don't tell me Dave had more at bats cause I don't care).

Don't get me wrong Bsox fans cause I can yell the same rant about why Lee Smith, Jack Morris, Alan Trammel also got more votes than Dave.

Doesn't having a baseball card hugging Richard Gere a.k.a Gary Carter counts?

 What about wearing that "lovely" vintage Pirates cap:

Anyway, here's the rest of my PC: