Johnny Bench 2012 Panini Cooperstown

Johnny Bench 2012 Panini Cooperstown

Because of what Panini has to do to remove all MLB team names and logos from their product, I am sure that it takes a lot more work and a very critical eye to make sure that they play by the rules to avoid any possible lawsuits from major league baseball or Topps.

With that being said, I am not certain that choosing and using horizontal images for their Panini Cooperstown set was the best idea. 

Simply stated, the cropping and zooming just looks way too intentional.  A vertical image allows for a more zoomed-out photo to be used and makes hiding the team logos a lot less obvious – at least in my eyes…

Have a peek at the card and tell me if you agree:

Mark Grace Sentenced To 4 Months In Jail For DUI

From The Chicago Tribune

The Arizona Republic reports: Former Chicago Cubs first baseman Mark Grace pleaded guilty Thursday to felony endangerment and misdemeanor DUI and received a sentence that includes four months of work-release jail time and three years of supervised probation.

Grace, who also played for the Arizona Diamondbacks and worked for them as a broadcaster, could have received more than three years in prison.

Rollie Fingers 1976 Topps

Rollie Fingers 1976 Topps

Jeez, talk about a card design and photo that looks like they were made for each other…

This is Rollie Fingers’ base card from the 1976 Topps set.  And it looks like it was custom-made for the mustache-wearing righty.

From the strong presentation of Oakland’s Yellow and Green to the small drawing of a pitcher that rests in the bottom-left of the card, it all points to a very nicely done baseball card.

And if you break out your magnifier and flip it to the X50 magnification, you can make out the handle-bar mustache on the drawing…  Go get your microscopes!!

Happy Birthday Nolan Ryan!!!

Happy Birthday Nolan Ryan!!!

Nolan Ryan turns 66 years old today.

One of the most dominant and competitive pitchers that the game has even seen, Nolan Ryan was a player admired by many.  His hard work and dedication to his craft made him a very well respected player with his teammates, peers, and fans.

For any collector and baseball fan in general that was active in the 1980’s, we all have a Nolan Ryan moment ingrained in our heads.  For me, it was the speech I did in 10th grade about Ryan’s incredible feat of 5,000 K’s.  I actually had the game taped and used the strikeout of Rickey Henderson as the ‘ice breaker’.  It was pretty cool and I believe I got an A for the speech.  I remember saying something along the lines of ‘Nolan Ryan has done this 5,000 times.  Nolan Ryan did this 1,500 times before any of us were born.’

Anyways, ‘Happy Birthday’ to one of the game’s ultimate competitors!!!  Nolan Ryan is and will always be remembered as the guy that was unbelievably dominant yet was never rewarded with an individual honor for his pitching performances. 

Happy Birthday To ‘Mr. Cub’ Ernie Banks!!!

Happy Birthday To ‘Mr. Cub’ Ernie Banks!!!

Amazingly, Ernie Banks is turning 82 years old today. 

I have seen recent pictures of Ernie at various Cubs and baseball related events and he looks great!!  Still has the famous smile of his!!!

‘Mr. Cub’ will always be the most popular and respected player from the Chicago Cubs organization.  His 19-seasons of perfection in a Cubs uniform still remain as fond and vibrant memories for the ‘North Siders’.  Banks’ 512 career home runs and season after season of MVP caliber baseball earned him a Hall of Fame induction in 1977 on the first ballot.

Unfortunately Banks never played 1 single inning, never batted 1 time, never took the field 1 time in the playoffs.  For someone who means so much the sport of baseball and specifically to the city of Chicago, it would have been great to see Ernie Banks play when the games counted the most.

Happy Birthday Mr. Banks!!

I Busted A Blaster Of 2013 Topps Today. Come Check Out Every Single Card From The Box!!!

I Busted A Blaster Of 2013 Topps Today.  Come Check Out Every Single Card From The Box!!!

I had been reading tons of blog posts and Tweets about people busting packs and boxes of 2013 Topps baseball cards for the last few days and I wanted to get in on the fun.

Since Monday, I have been stopping at the Wal-Mart that is conveniently located between my son’s school and my workplace.

Monday, nothing.

Tuesday, na-da.

Wednesday, hallelujah!!!

They had them in stock this morning, and I grabbed the first blaster that I laid eyes on!!

For those of you that are not aware, each blaster contains 10 packs with 8 cards per pack.  There is also a bonus pack that contains one Manufactured Rookie Card Patch.

And now, on to the box break!!!

Enjoy the show.

Pack 1 – The Brandon Phillips card is pretty sweet. Nice Todd Frazier too…

Pack 2 – The McCutchen mini is awesome.  I need to learn who AJ Ramos of the Marlins is.

Pack 3 – Seeing Gaby Sanchez in a Pirates uniform still feels weird…  Nice Skaggs rookie card!

Pack 4 – Loving the Lou Brock!  And it is nice to see a Marlins player on a League Leader card.

Pack 5 – Verlander!!  The Chasing The Dream cards are neat, I need to see the full checklist for that subset.

Pack 6 – A-Rod, Kershaw 1972 Topps mini, and a Blue-bordered Zambrano, not too bad…

Pack 7 – Kershaw base!!

Pack 8 – Great action pic of Longo.  And a pretty sweet Donnie Baseball too!!

Pack 9 – The Orioles Wild Card is nice.  And it is great seeing Heath Bell not wearing a Marlins uniform…  The 1972 Gwynn mini is a really nice looking card.

And the Matt Cain Die-Cut ‘Cut To The Chase’ card is fantastic!!

Pack 10 – The base card of Andrew McCutchen is nice, but for me this pack is all about REGGIE!!!

And my Manufactured Rookie Card Patch Bonus Pack…

Not a bad pull of ‘Mr. Cub’ Ernie Banks!!!

Busting this box was a lot of fun. And while I did not end up nabbing any of the rookie cards that I hoped to pull, I had a great time tearing through all ten of the packs.  Something tells me that I am not going to be happy with just one of these boxes…

The cards look fantastic – they are very vivid in color, have great action photography, and offer a nice glossy finish!!

If you see anything you want/need for your sets or team and player collections let me know.  Many of these are available for trade.

Congratulations to Topps!!  The 2013 collecting season is off to a great start!!!

2012 Topps ‘Mound Dominance’ Subset – Card #MD-7 – Roy Halladay, Philadelphia Phillies

2012 Topps ‘Mound Dominance’ Subset – Card #MD-7 – Roy Halladay, Philadelphia Phillies

I really like the ‘Mound Dominance’ subset that Topps included in their 2012 base set.  The cards are sharp, the graphics are solid, and I am a sucker for cards that pay homage to a historic baseball event.

The ‘Mound Dominance’ set recalls 15 amazing pitching performances in major league history.

This is card#7 – Roy Halladay, Philadelphia Phillies

The Dominant Day – October 6, 2010.  On this day, Roy Halladay threw the second no-hitter in baseball’s postseason history.  It was his debut in the playoffs, and the Reds had no chance against the dominant Halladay.  In the complete game, Halladay threw 104 pitches en route to 8 strikeouts and a victory for the Phillies.

Progress – 7/15

Hank Aaron 1989 Topps – Turn Back The Clock

Hank Aaron 1989 Topps – Turn Back The Clock

I built this small subset last year; Topps’ Turn Back The Clock subset was a favorite of mine as a kid…

But, while shopping on www.sportlots.com, I was making a decent sized purchase from one seller.  And one of my final tasks when buying from anyone on sportlots is to check out what they have available for 4-5 different players.  If they have anything that I don’t have, and it is affordable, I usually snag that prior to checkout.

So, this investment cost me just eighteen cents, and a fraction of a low shipping fee.

The card, issued in 1989, takes you back to the biggest headline from fifteen years ago.  That would be 1974 – and there was nobody in baseball making headlines in 1974 bigger than Hank Aaron.

I LOVE THIS CARD!!!

Derek Jeter 2007 Upper Deck ‘Future Stars’

Derek Jeter 2007 Upper Deck ‘Future Stars’

I really like the look of this baseball card.

But how in the hell did Derek Jeter land himself in a ‘Future Stars’ baseball card set issued in 2007??  1997, I am with you.  2007, what the heck?!?!?!

Did You Know…

The major league pitcher with the most shutouts after the age of 35 is Cy Young.  Young threw 39 shutouts after he turned 35 years old.  Early Wynn had 27.