Designation Positive

Positive.  I’m going to try to stay positive today. 

My 10 month old daughter has decided she doesn’t want to sleep soundly anymore.  It’s possibly tooth related (her third), but whatever the reason it keeps us up at night  (ed – My wife took her to the urgent care, and it’s bronchitis and pneumonia!  That exclamation point is positive!).  Since I wake up earlier to go to work, my wife has been willing to do more than her fair share the past two nights, and I’m very grateful for that. 

It still has left me worn out (thought not as worn out as she is), and that tends to make me a little more cranky that I usually am.  That made me ready to blog about this card from 2010 Topps because I really didn’t care much for it.  But after reading a comment from Dr Brian Price at ITG the other day , I’ve decided to try and shake the negative vibe and be positive, even about a card I don’t care much for. 

So, here’s four things that I can find to like about this card:

1.  It’s got good color, especially the darkening evening sky. Too bad the first DH took the field at 1:53 pm (is that a negative?  Crap.)  Night Owl, would this qualify as a Night Card, or do you have to start a new series entitled “Awesome Dusk Cards?”

2.  You can’t make it out in the scan, but I swear that’s Jim Rice on the scoreboard picture, so Topps took some effort to get a picture from the right era.  Too bad Rice’s début wasn’t until 1974 (Dang it!)

3.  It even looks like the 2nd team in the picture is the Yankees, which would be the Red Sox opponent in the first DH game.

4.  This card made me find this story, which made me chuckle:

Yankee Ron Blomberg, a lifetime .293 hitter, was the first official “Designated Pinch Hitter,” as the position was originally called. Before the game, he asked bench coach Elston Howard what to do as DH. “He said,” Blomberg recalled, ‘the only thing you do is go take batting practice and just hit.’ “

“When it was my time to hit,” Blomberg said, “the bases were loaded. I was batting sixth in the Yankee order against Luis Tiant. I walked and forced in a run.” The DH

“I was left at first base,” the brand-new first DH said. “And I was going to stay there because normally that was my position. Elston said ‘Come on back to the bench, you aren’t supposed to stay out here.’ I went back and said, ‘What do I do?’ He said, ‘You just sit here with me.’

Well, I certainly tried, and two purely positive things is still pretty good with the attitude I started with.  It’s also made me change my attitude towards the card from dislike to a more neutral tone.  If anyone else wants to point out more positives, I may actually start to like this card. 

On a personal note, my streak of posts with a comment seems to have ended at eight.  Another negative.  It’s funny how posts that you think are going to generate some comments don’t and other posts you think nothing of can spark a memory or a thought in others.

Dear Upper Deck,

I’ve been trying to write about you and your newly released 2010 Upper Deck set for the last two days.  Every time I start to write something, it ends up sounding pompous and preachy, and I tell myself to get down off that horse and start all over again.  The nest thing I know, I’m right back on it.

Look, here’s the thing.  I’ve wanted to like you for a long time.  Ever since your début in fact.  When you started out you were a high-class (or so I thought) release that I just couldn’t afford to hang out with.  Subsequent issues came down to my level, or I adjusted mine so we could spend some time together.  I did the best I could and thought you were doing the same.

But there’s always been something there.  Something that never felt right.  Something that made me think you weren’t really in this for me, but for my money and my money alone.  Then finally a few years ago I read Card Sharks, and I realized I was right.

I think we all are familiar with those ‘89 Dale Murphy reverse negatives by now.  And the ‘91 french hockey ordeal, too.  And it’s not hard to find people who say you still owe them money from past contracts.  MLB says you still owe them millions.  This guy says he knows some people, too.

Truly the final straw was reading about your lawsuit with Konami.  Then after the judge finds you guilty of counterfeiting, your press release has no mea culpa, no apology, just a feeble attempt to diminish what you had done.

Then your 2010 cards are released, and, surprise, they are a big middle finger to the MLB.  And it didn’t have to be this way.  So you lost the license.  So what?  Just make a better card without those logos and team names.  Other companies have soldiered on and put out decent products without MLB’s  blessing.  There’s no reason you couldn’t have, too.

You would’ve been an underdog in the hobby world.  Most people I’ve read hint that competition is good and they hate the Topps exclusive deal.  In that case, you’d be the freedom fighter trying to put down the monopoly by producing quality cards that don’t break the law.  You could’ve been a victim.  Instead, you knew the law and chose to ignore it anyway.  And you chose to do so in a way that seems to suggest you just didn’t care.

Think about it.  You were an industry leader, not just a company that wanted its day in the sun but never fully got out of the shade.  People would have given you some benefit of the doubt when it came to your releases.  That Profiles set, for example.  It looks nice, and since it’s all profiles, there’s no way that set impedes on any agreement.  But you just had to try and get away with it, didn’t you?   It wouldn’t have been an Upper Deck release without that bold yet now misplaced swagger, I guess.

You’ve enjoyed that NHL exclusive deal for five years now.  You know the rules and you know if Topps or anyone else came anywhere near damaging that deal that you’d go after them.  So you can’t be surprised that MLB is doing the same.  And I can’t see this ending well for you, I’m sorry to say.

But I could be wrong.  You say there’s no law stopping you, and you’ll get your days in court to make your case.  And if the judge rules in your favor, the next letter I write won’t be some braggadocios piece claiming I was right all along.  I’ll accept that I was wrong and we’ll try to move on.

Because I know as long as I have money in my pocket, you’ll be happy to take me back.

Things you should know about Topps Million card giveaway

No, mom, not my 1985 Schmidt! He's the key to the set!

First, and most importantly, the codes are not scratch offs.  The code is there for you and the eBay seller you think you want to buy these cards from to see.  I know it can be hard to believe, but not all people are honest, so it’s possible that, if you are shopping for these on eBay, that by the time the card reaches your mailbox the code on the back will be worthless.

In reality, though, most of the codes are probably worthless anyway.  Here’s the deal with the actual giveaway.  Topps is giving away one of each card it’s released since 1952, and I’m assuming this applies to baseball cards only, but I could be wrong.  That, according to the Topps GM is around 38,000 cards, so some cards will have to be made available multiple times to get them up to the magic number of 1,000,000.

Figure around 26 copies of each card would be needed to reach a million.  Then realize that Topps isn’t going to have 26 1953 Willie Mays to give away, which has to mean a lot more recent material to make up for it.

So while the potential is there for you to pull a nice ‘52 Mantle, you are probably more likely to pull a 1987 Mark Huismann or a ‘89 Expos team checklist card because those are cheaper and easier for Topps to find.  For those of you still chasing down the overproduced sets of the 80’s and 90’s, it could be your lucky day.  For those of you who have too many of these, well, it may be best just to turn up your nose and submit the code anyway (more on that in a minute).   Topps has also said there will be autographs and relics given away as well.

Now, why would you enter the code for the chance at another Wayne Krenchicki?  Well, there’s still the chance at ‘54 Aaron rookie, and of course you can’t win if you don’t enter.   And for each code you redeem you are entered into a drawing for a complete 1952 Topps set.  That chance alone outweighs the addition of more Sal Buteras or John Pacellas to your collection if you ask me.

The insert cards will fall one in every six packs produced by Topps, which means that Topps will produce a total of six million packs of Series 1, 2 and Updates and Highlights.  I’ve pulled two out of four packs, so your odds are now a little worse than 1:6, especially if you live in Southern California and shop at my local Target.

Here’s the back, in case you’re interested:

So, you’ll go to Toppsmillion.com and enter the code in the white box to see what great card you’ve won.  Topps will hold that card for you as long as you want, and allow you to trade it with other winners if you so choose.  So I could actually parlay this contest into my last 2008 Topps need or the final two cards on my ‘86 Topps wantlist if I get Bipped.  Once you’ve got what you want, you ask Topps to ship you your cards.

I’m almost certain that not all these cards will be mint condition.  So your 1966 Jim Palmer card could have been bike spoked to death.  Your ‘82 Dan Driessen could have teeth marks.  And there’s no word as to whether Topps will charge you for shipping and handling either, which would make winning a worthless card even worse.

Codes can be entered starting February 15th.

One last thing to note.  You’ll see in the upper right on the back of the cards that these contest pieces are numbered as part of a set.  That means they count as an insert and towards your X number of cards in the pack.  Pretty shifty if you ask me.

When pie turns to egg

Three of the four pie in the puss Yankee cards have sold in the $100-$130 range on eBay.  Does anyone see these novelty cards sustaining this value long term?

Also, does anyone else wish that Felix Pie was a member of the Yankees last year and included in the set?  How about Rangers’ prospect Marcus Lemon?  Reliever Rocky Cherry?  Tacoma Rainiers mascot Rhubarb?

I’ll be here all night.  Please tip your waitress.  It’s not their fault.

2010 Topps, the shortprints, and me

JayBee has been all over the 2010 Topps Series 1 shortprints, and announced last night that there are even more Yankees with pie on their face, including some series 2 cards that are being pre-released.  What’s the point of that?  What is Topps scheming to take the place of those unannounced short prints in series 2?  I shudder to think.

So that’s 29 short-printed cards.  No doubt the Yankees cards are designed to appeal to fans of the most popular team in baseball, and I must admit it’s a great way to drive interest in your product.  Topps hit paydirt with the Jeter-Bush card in 2007, and they won’t stop until they bleed this thing dry.  Even I am tempted to go after that Joe Morgan card from this year and am certain the Johnny Bench can’t be far behind.

So why do I find these things so frustrating?  I’m realizing now I’m a greedy collector.  I want one of every card, and this makes it even harder to accomplish that goal.  After all, most short prints are ridiculously hard to track down at a decent price.  Do I really want to pay $10-$15 for a 2010 Morgan, or spend that on a nice 1966 card instead?  Heck, I could probably pull off the Morgan 70’s collection for that price.  Vintage still rules, after all.

So what’s a set collector to do?  Well,  for this one, it’s the same thing that I did for last year’s.  Put ‘em on my wantlist and let them sit there.  Wait for someone to offer them up and see how bad I actually want them then.  Until then, I’ve got plenty of other cards to chase.

My first 2010 Topps card is…

As I mentioned before, I picked up four packs of the new stuff from the local Target.  The pictures this year are a lot safer than last year, and mostly full body in action shots.  The design itself is a lot less intrusive than I thought it would be and lets you focus on the player itself, which would be even better if the picture itself was a little more interesting.

I’ll show some more later on, and I’m taking requests if you want to see a particular team or card that I may have pulled.  Just leave it in the comments.

Oddly, it’s the back that has me asking more questions than anything else now.

For example, on the back of this Orlando Hudson card, why does Topps refer to the Dodgers as, “the Club” with a capital “C”?  And what does that say down at the bottom in the fine print?

Tracking info? What the heck does that mean? I looked all over the Topps website to see where I could enter this tracking number (mine’s the same on every card), but no luck.  Does everyone have the same code I do?

2009/10 OPC hockey (finally)

I headed over to my local box store today to check out their collection of 2010 Topps.  As I made my way to the card section, I started shaking a bit and my hands got tingly.  They knew what was coming.  I haven’t personally bought cards in months, and that itch would finally be scratched.

I was overwhelmed.  First, 2010 Topps was there.  I grabbed two packs, and then two more.   I couldn’t put them down.  I tried to convince my hands to do it, but they weren’t listening to me, no matter how loud I yelled.  And lord knows I didn’t want to make a scene, so I made peace with it quickly and moved on.  Then I grabbed a pack of Bowman Chrome.  Never had one of those before.  And then Bowman Draft Picks and Prospects.  Oh yeah, it felt so good.

Then I saw this guy starting at me from the hanging rack:

“What’s that look of disgust for, Wayne?  I’m not used to seeing you like that.”

“BoChrome and Draft Picks?  Really?  Are you ever going to chase those sets?”  He asked, still glaring.

“No.  Probably not.  I just thought the fun of-”

He cut me off.  “Remember seven months ago when you were excited about OPC hockey?”

“I guess so.  But there’s too many cards.  And I’ve got another kid now.  A 600 card set is a pipe dream.  Especially with short prints.”

“But you always complain about all the loose packs of cards you have lying around taking up space, don’t you?  Look, I’m not called ‘The Great One’ for nothing.  Trust me.  You’ll love us.”

How can I argue with logic like that?  Down went the BoChrome and DP and P.  Into my hands went the OPC rack.

This morning I finally opened it up, and…

… man, I can’t tell if that’s beautifully ugly or just plain ugly.  Maybe Upper Deck could have invested in some teal instead of whatever blue-green color choice that is.  A pity, too, because all the other teams seem to have their border colors match pretty well.

See what I mean?  A pretty close match if you ask me.  I know he signed his five-year extension a few seasons ago, but you have to wonder if he’ll be a career Flame or not.  With the financial troubles in Calgary what they are I just can’t see that happening, and to be honest it’ll be quite awkward to see Jerome in any other jersey.

Nice looking card of “The Boogeyman” there.  He currently has the longest active streak for games played since scoring his last goal.  No one watches Derek on the ice to score goals, though.

I did pull a Ranger, but it’s Michael Rozsival, so I’m not going to waste the energy.  No retro parallel, either, which once again are the cards to chase from the set.  Those fall 1:3 of these rack pack things.  As do these cards:

The Legends and Rookie short prints return this year as well.  In fact, as I noted in the preview, it’s pretty much the same set as last year.  But why would Upper Deck screw with such a good thing?

Boxes are currently on eBay for $53-$72, plus shipping.

3T618

It’s a math joke, folks.  Get it?

My kids bought me some loose packs for Christmas since I had hinted I’d be interested in the set.  I realize the mad rush for T206 has mostly come and gone, and we should all be blogging on “The Only One’s!” first exclusive release.  More on that later, I suppose.

But first, another of last year’s nails in Upper Deck’s coffin of baseball.

My favorite card of the bunch, and not just because I’m lucky I got him cheap in a fantasy keeper league.  I think 2008 and his 3.41 ERA was the anomaly, and 2009’s 4.60 ERA is a bit high.  We’ll see what 2010 has in store.

Two things bother me with the card itself, though.  First, the goofy Topps 206 logo in the corner.  Distracting from the overall beauty of the card.  Second, his name’s at the bottom of the card, so when you look at the picture the right way it’s not at the bottom.  I suppose I’d complain either way now that I think about it, so I should just be glad Topps didn’t do both and make one a stealth insert short print to try and drum up interest on the set, I suppose.

Here’s what I don’t like about the set.  David Hernandez looks like he’s got a bad case of vitiligo here, and the bottom of his face is all washed out into his mouth.  I’m not even sure he has a bottom row of teeth.  Either there’s an extraordinary amount of baseball players with this disease, or Topps needs to work on this for the next  time they reinvigorate the T206 corpse.

Topps also made some odd color choices.  That orange-yellow is awful in the background of Mr. Schafer, though maybe Topps caught him on a day the sun exploded.  Otherwise, a nice looking card that makes me want the set.

The backs.  I haven’t read a lot of the reviews, but does anyone like the faux staining that Topps put on the cards?  You can see it here by “University” and “record.”  Plus, it was a fun way to share a Will Farrell fact.

I pulled no Reds in the packs at all, which was a little disappointing, but I did get this:

A Tommy Hanson’s tongue regular back mini!  And no, it’s not horribly off-center, my scanner’s just drunk.  I think it’s taking the rest of the afternoon off.

Will I be collecting more of these.  Well, to be honest the budget is not what it used to be, so this one will probably get past over for now unless I find some super sweet deal.  But if you want to swap some Reds for something I’ve got, shoot me an email or leave me a comment.

People I get tired of hearing about, NHL edition

Sidney Crosby.

Watching my first NHL game in weeks until my son wakes up, Chris Conner has the Penguins up by a goal early with a smart wrist shot, and all the announcers want to talk about is Crosby. *yawn*

I’m sure Brett Farve is in this category for NFL fans.

Oh, and everyone on the Yankees.

Anyone else?

Placez l’accomplissement (sort of) – 1990/91 Upper Deck

Finalement !

Twenty years after buying a cheap-o box at a card show in Evansville, Indiana, I can finally cross 90/91 Upper Deck hockey off my list.  Well the low series, anyway.  For all that it’s worth, I’m still waiting for someone to hand me the high series just so they can get rid of it.  No takers yet.

Let me say, too, that I love cards featuring teams that no longer exist.  Here, its Les Nordiques de Quebec!  Magnifique! And it’s really gotta suck for your team to start to improve, have it sold away to another city, and then have that team win a Stanley Cup upon its arrival in their new home.

You could certainly argue that cup would have never happened in Quebec – after all, would the Canadians really have traded Patrick Roy to a Canadian and division rival?  Probably not.  Could the Quebec have gone all the way with Jocelyn Thibault between the pipes?  Probably so.  Would it have been enough to save the sinking ship that was the Nordiques?  I’m not quite sure on that one.

Instead Colorado got a Stanley Cup winning ready team.  No struggles.  Nothing to overcome, really.  Just a Cup.  And it’s for that reason I dislike the Avalanche.  That and they didn’t have the decency to honor the retired numbers of the Nordiques after the move.

But enough of that.  How about a colorful baseball card instead:

I’m not sure which surprises me more:  the fact that I’m still three cards away from my third complete set or the fact that I’m even bothering to complete that third set in the first place.

At one point I was going to focus on this set and this set alone just to get it finished.  I gave up on that in a month.  Thank goodness for it, too, or I’d never have completed that 90/91 hockey set.  Thanks to Lowry, Fielder, and Bautista, I’m tantalizingly close to knocking this set off the list as well.  There will be much rejoicing when it happens.

These cards, by the way, showed up in the mail while I was on hiatus.  I think they were part of a trade that my brother engineered, but I honestly don’t remember at this point.  I’m just happy to have them.