*The first person who can successfully identify the reference made in the post title will win a team bag of cards from their franchise of choice.... GO!!*
Today marks the most magical day on the calendar (aside from Christmas and the day upon which I was born onto this dimension), pitchers and catchers have officially reported to camp for the Chicago Cubs. Baseball season is finally and officially back upon us!
Additionally, an extra pitcher reported to camp for one of the leading contenders for the NL crown; today, the Cubs signed former Royals relief standout Aaron Crow to a minor league deal with an invitation to Major League camp.
Luckily, I have this beautiful, reflective card from the 2011 Topps Diamond Anniversary parallel set on hand, just in case Crow flies high above the competition and successfully picks his way into the bullpen. I'm sure it's all been said, ad nauseam, but this might be the best parallel idea in the history of the concept - so beautifully shiny.
Secretly, I have my fingers crossed that Mr. Crow makes an appearance at the Major League level, just so I can add this lovely card to my CATRC binder; however, the odds are very much stacked against him.
The 29-year old joins a crowded competition for the last bullpen spots. A key part of the pen from 2011-13, he unfortunately scuffled in 2014, with his strikeout and groundball rates & velocity plummeting. KC didn't like what they saw and traded him to Miami, where he underwent TJ surgery before ever taking the field for the Marlins.
A potentially healthy Neil Ramirez and prospect Carl Edwards, Jr. will be amongst Crow's closest competition.
If his undesirable results from the 2014 campaign were linked to his eventual need for TJ, perhaps now that he is healthy he can rediscover his lost form and step to the forefront in an already exceptionally crowded race to be a Cubs reliever.
If successful, he'll have truly beaten the odds and have something to "crow" about. *ba dum tiss*
Alright, on that note, I'm outta here. I'll be here all week - don't forget to tip your waitress.
The other day I went to Portillos. If you're not from the Chicagoland area, this is a rather popular local eatery chain that's basically a retro-themed hot dog/burger stand, but as a sit-down restaurant. The atmosphere they typically try to replicate is that of the mid-20th century - aka the 1940's and 50's. As such, there is a large amount of fascinating WWII propaganda and memorabilia hanging on the walls.
Amongst the gems that I noticed that night was this particular poster:
Can you imagine what this kind of paranoia would be like today, with advent of instantaneous communication and social media? I don't know that the country could continue to function without some 1984-esque "Big Brother-ing."
Anyway, I recently completed a trade with a guy who got a hold of me on Twitter; so, social media ain't all bad. Furthermore, the assault on my want lists was too great to keep hidden under my Stetson.
The name of the new trade partner? He goes by the name Andy Stetson... see what I did there?
Mr. Stetson is a Cubs fan who hails from Nebraska, one state west of Iowa. As such, he's made his way across the state line to catch some Iowa Cubs games in the past year. In the course of these games, he picked up a 2015 team set of the 2015 AAA affiliate. From here, a declaration of war was made:
This card in particular marked the start of battle. Donnie Roach made a one-game cameo as an injury replacement for the Cubs last year before being sent packing. That being the case, I didn't think there was any chance he'd get a card in a Cubs uniform. This, however, gets the job done in my eye.
While I do love that Orem Owlz card, I love a Cubs card much, much more. That Pro Debut card will slot nicely into my "Cubs as minor leaguers" binder,
Initially our proposed swap included only this card; but, it began to grow when more cards from this same set (clearly inspired by 2008 Topps) were made available:
Here we have three more Cubgrades of guys who were barely here and my very first card of Rafael Lopez. Medina was a lottery ticket acquired in the Welington Castillo deal who didn't even get us a menial $2 back; meanwhile, Valaika and Teagarden both saw time in the Windy City as injury replacements. Teagarden's name has been in the news lately for being a part of the same HGH scandal as Peyton Manning, except Taylor is actually shown on camera admitting to shooting up.
"Coffeelawn" as Mr. Stetson calls him, is quite screwed.
As for Lopez, he got a cuppacoffee in 2014 as a September call-up, third-string catcher. With that being his only MLB action and his lack of prospect status, his cardboard presence is pretty much limited to MiLB team issues. Until Andy stepped in, Raffy was the most recent man to suit up for the Cubs whose card I did not own; I'm very much ecstatic to correct that.
Now, if anyone could help me out with Lendy Castillo (pitcher, 2012), that'd be great!
On that note, if the package had run empty here, I would have been more than content. However, the war waged on:
With my luck having been so poor in my sole blaster of 2016 Topps, Andy took it upon himself to build up my team set. Much has been said about this product and I don't really have anything to add; well, except that for a guy known more for his bat than his fielding, if you only knew Chris Coghlan from his Topps cards, you'd think the man was a perennial Gold Glover.
I mean, he's a very versatile defender and more than adequate; but, jeeeeeeze, look at him go!
Also included were the two key names from the Cubs portion of the checklist:
This marks my very first licensed, non-oddball card of the prodigy known as Kris Bryant. His regular, ol' base cards gets pumped up to $10 around here - damn hometown markup!
By my count, having already pulled Arrieta, I only need a Jon Lester, Anthony Rizzo and a Jason Hammel to nail down the complete set. What a healthy boost!
Mr. Stetson didn't call it quits at base cards though - he gifted me a few gems from, by far, my favorite insert set of the year. Although, do I consider the Musial and the Ruth Cubs cards due to the Wrigley connection? I think I'm going to, but I guess it could be up for debate.
Also, this marks my first card of the Cubs new-ish mascot. Still kind of weird to think that the franchise has a mascot for the first time since the teens; but, you gotta appeal to the youngin's somehow.
Here we've got a couple of top prospects to be filed away for potential inclusion in the CATRC should the make the ultimate ascent. It's hard to bet against either guy making the Majors; that said, Gleyber might end up doing so for another organization, as the infield situation at Wrigley is pretty well blocked up for a while.
Additionally, he threw in a few more miscellaneous Cubs items. Any new to me Sosa is a good Sosa in my book.
While my baseball want list was already taking a beating, that wasn't the only sport that Stetson leveled an attack against. My football needs were also due for heavy assault:
Six new names were added to my Bears All-Time Roster Collection binder. For that matter, I think Andy knows my collection better than I do at this point because I honestly didn't realize I was lacking a Shaun Gayle card. As a key contributor to the larger than life 1985 Bears squad, I sort of figured that I'd already acquired him somewhere.
Silly me.
In addition to the entirely new names, there was a bonus upgrade included too:
The late Craig Heyward played for the Bears briefly, just a single season in 1993. That being the case, tracking down a Bears card of the guy is an impressive find, in my eye.
At this point, you'd think Andy would be fatigued from this all-out war. Yea, you'd think so; but, he just kept on coming, like a squadron of kamikaze pilots. My NASCAR collection was the next want-list to sustain heavy fire:
More drivers in my quest to obtain as many cards of different NASCAR drivers as possible. Elton Sawyer is much more notable for his successful career in NASCAR's second tier; however, he made a few runs at the Cup level as well.
Meanwhile, you might be saying to yourself, hey, Richard Childress is a team owner. While that is true, before he sat behind a corporate desk, he sat behind the wheel as one of the sports most incessant independent racers. After running 285 races from 1969 to 1981 without a win, Richard became a front-runner when he stepped out of the cockpit and let the likes of Ricky Rudd and Dale Earnhardt take the wheel.
Harry Gant was NASCAR's Jamie Moyer, a guy who didn't really emerge until his later years and was still winning into his 50's. He holds the record as the oldest driver ever to collect his first career Cup victory (42 years and 105 days) and as the oldest driver ever to win a Cup series race (52 years, 219 days).
Three more names bite the dust.
*Tangent Alert* Due to a mysterious picture tweeted out by Xfinity Series champion Chris Buescher recently (since deleted), rumors are swirling that some company has finally picked up the NASCAR licensing, which has been ignored since Press Pass went belly-up. Everybody cross their fingers!
Why else would one have to sign so many stickers?
It was here that the battle seemed to be slowing down and maybe, just maybe, I'd be able to catch my breath. However, like an atomic bomb, there was one last weapon to be discharged:
Hot damn - a relic featuring none other than the Schwarbs. His cards are going for a premium after his exceptional rookie campaign; to get a relic, manufactured or not, depicting Schwar-bomb is a major coup!
Is it just me, or does the design of this particular commemorative team logo pin card remind anyone else of Leo DiCaprio's Great Gatsby?
What a way to close out an already top-notch trade package. Now you see why there was no way I could keep this communication under my Stetson!
To my knowledge, Mr, Stetson does not have a blog; however, he can be reached on Twitter (@stetsonaw). He's trying to build up a strong collection of Chicago Cubs cards - I highly suggest you reach out and offer some help; as you can see, he's quite generous with the return care. Currently, he's focused on the Cubs of the 2000's and MLB stars of the 90's, with some of his targeted players including Kerry Wood, Alfonso Soriano, Greg Maddux, Aramis Ramirez and John Baker.
Thanks again, Andy! I don't know that my want-lists will ever properly recover from this all out assault with a more than worthy opponent. That said, this is one war that I would love to wage again.
I know a fair amount of us card bloggers have fallen into the trap of those 100 card (75 for football) Fairfield repacks, usually found at your local drug store or big box retailer. Sometimes the current products just isn't doing it for ya and you have to scratch that damn itch to rip open some cards.
Plus, who knows what could be waiting in there for you? The mystery is damn near intoxicating.
Another factor, at least for me, is the allure of that promised 1:4 pack hit. Sure, it's bound to be of some no-namer who never did squat; however, it might be a no-namer who never did squat for my team!
Well, I've bemoaned on this blog before about how I've purchased way more than four of these repacks for baseball, football and hockey and yet I've never walked away with so much as a plain white swatch. What gives Fairfield?
That is, until now.
When I bought my first (and more than likely only) blaster of 2016 Flagship a few days back, I also grabbed a hockey Fairfield mix-up; something to cleanse my pallet with should the new stuff be disappointing. Of course, it was a lackluster blaster and I'm glad I grabbed the hockey stuff because this fell out:
Woo-hoo!! I finally found the 1 out of 4 with a hit! It only took several years, but I finally did it.
As expected, it's of a guy who has done pretty much nothing in the NHL. Da Costa has had a few brief auditions with the Senators since 2010-11; however, he spent most of his time stateside in the AHL. He migrated over to Russia to play in the KHL last season and does not appear to be playing in any country this season.
Still, it's always cool to land a hit. Any Sens fans out there who like to claim this John Hancock?
Beyond that, there were also several cards that actually do fit into my collection to be found within this box, including the card on top:
Anyone recognize that man? I'll give you a hint, he's been an integral part of the Blackhawks dynasty since his signing as a free agent going into 2009 and he's currently on the injured reserve list after suffering a nasty hit against the Ducks a couple days ago.
That's right - it's the one and only Marian Hossa! I knew that having this guy right in the front would be a good omen. He's shown skating for the Senators here (Senators hot pack?); but, I like Marian enough to overcome that fact.
To go with the Hossa, there were also a few more former/future Hawks wearing the wrong sweaters:
Eddie Olczyk is the big name here. The local boy played most of his career elsewhere; but, he bookended his time in the NHL with a three-year stint from 1984-87 and a two-year stint from 1998-2000. Furthermore, he's transitioned smoothly into the booth as an expert color-commentator on the Blackhawks broadcasts.
We like Edso 'round here.
One of these non-Blackhawk, Blackhawks was a guy I needed for my All-Time Roster Collection of the franchise:
Skalde was a hockey nomad who skated with 8 teams in the course of his 9 year career, including a brief 7 game cameo in Chicago in 1997-98. No matter how brief his tenure, I still needed his likeness represented in my binder. Seeing as he was barely in Chicago long enough to grab a deep dish pizza, let alone a Blackhawks card, this'll do just fine.
Beyond that, there were a handful of actual Blackhawks cards that were new to my collection:
Some fine junkwax and an Upper Deck single of some 90's names. Pretty much exactly what one would expect from a repack.
Then, there was something completely different (at least to me):
I'd ever seen one of these before; but, it sure does appeal to my love of the oddities!
As for information on the set, the card itself was no help to me since the back is entirely in French. Thankfully, we live in the 21st century and I was able to scour the internet for clues. From what I can gather, Arena Holograms decided to class up (or get around licensing issues) with a box set of NHL draftees sporting tuxedos - appropriate, since many of them weren't too far removed from Prom.
This oddball is my first card of the long-time NHL center. McAmmond was drafted by Chicago in the first round (22nd overall) in the 1991 Entry Draft. He played in five games that season before being traded and later came back for a second stint from 1998-2001.
As such, he's easily the classiest looking guy in my Blackhawks binder.
That was it for stuff that fit into my collection; time for the best of the rest:
Like most repacks, this one was chock full of Pro Set and Bowman junk; that said, there was still a few intriguing, relatively recent singles tucked within too.
Some junior hockey was represented by these WHL cards - two guys who never made it into the NHL and a team card for Les Draveurs de Trois-Rivières, who are now known as the Sherbrooke Phoenix after several relocations and name changes.
More Prom cards!
My first card of "the Great One"
And an obligatory pack of 2011-12 UD Victory. The last two times I went the hockey route with Fairfield, the promised +1 pack has been this same product.
Who'd I get?
Trade bait - that's who I got.
Thus wraps up my most recent dalliance with a Fairfield repack. I got my long-promised, but never seen promised hit, two new names for my Blackhawks All-Time Roster Collection, a handful of other assorted cards for my collection and some more trade bait. All in all, not bad for five bucks, right?
Much better than I did with that damn $25 blaster of 2016 Topps, that's for sure.
If anyone is interested in what you see here, especially that Stephane Da Costa autograph, please feel free to claim in the comments below. The only cards I'm wed to are the Skalde and the McAmmond and I doubt anyone is banging down the door to get to those.
That aforementioned Topps blaster might have been outshone; but, it wasn't a total loss. I was able to spin that Buster Posey manu-relic and some other stuff for an EXCELLENT return that I'll spotlight on the blog tomorrow.
In the meantime, I'll just bask in the glory of an overdue, but now fulfilled promise.
