A draft of Padres duplicates

You have to love our fellow sports card bloggers. Awhile back, Marcus Pond, author of "All the Way to the Backstop," proposed an interesting offer for us Padres card bloggers.

“As you might imagine, in my almost-year of having a card blog,” he wrote, “I've been able to accumulate quite an amount of great Padre cards. I've even come across some that are awesome but that I don't really want, or others that are great but I have doubles of. ..Well, I've got a semi-decent stash of Padres that I'm looking to send to all three of you, but I don't know what you want.”

His proposal – Listing 30-some of his extra cards and then having us rank them in order of our priorities. He then held a snake-draft to disseminate the cards.

 What I love about him, was his last part – “This one is completely free, because what’s a few cards among friends?”

What a guy. It’s been awhile since this has gone down (that’s how behind I am on things), but what a great idea (he says he borrowed the original concept from Jaybarkerfan).

Some of the cards, I already had, so I didn’t list them. Some of the cards, I really could use for my collection. However, what’s cool about a draft, as evidenced by the many fantasy sports drafts I’ve participated in, is you hope for the best and get what you get.
 
Needless to say, I was very happy with the cards Marcus sent. 

I was able to get my first five picks.

 

 

The Chris Young jersey was a no-brainer. Jersey cards are always fun (although autos are much better), and since I didn’t have any GU for Young, that was my first selection. The 2013 Topps Emerald Tom Layne was another nice selection. At the time I didn’t have any of the Padres emerald cards, so it was another nice option, As for the 1978 Topps Mike Champion, A) I didn’t have any of his cards; and B) I’m still in the process of accumulating some of the Padres’ earlier cards, so I was very happy with this pick.

 

Other cards I enjoyed receiving were the 1984 Topps Bruce Bochy – Isn’t it way cool to have a former player come back to the team as a coach? Bochy not only came back to skipper the Padres, he also earned the National League Manager of the Year award in 1996 and led the Friars to the 1998 World Series. I’ve always loved Trevor Hoffman and the playing of “Hells Bells,” in the ninth inning. You have to love the concentration on the face of Archi Cianfrocco on his 1993 SP card. Despite the sun, you can just feel the intensity as he tracks down the ball.

 

Hats off to Marcus for a wonderful draft. As soon as I get the time, I want to try and hold one of my own. I have plenty of Padres duplicates, and “what’s a few cards among friends?”

Minor League Monday

Since finding those boxes of minor league cards in my basement I've added a whole mess of junior Friars to my Padres collection. Along with the new additions, I decided to begin posting "Minor League Mondays" in honor of those players who were part of the Padres family, but yet never had a "cup of coffee" with the parent club at Jack Murphy or Petco.

The first player to grace this weekly feature, while a minor leaguer who never made it to San Diego, still played a large role in Padres history. You may even say his influence is still being felt within the Padres, even today.

Pitcher Kevin Towers was was the first Padres pick in the 1982 MLB June Draft-Secondary phase from Brigham Young University. He pitched eight seasons, compiling a 29-40 record, with a 4.64 ERA, before elbow injuries ended his career in 1989. A promising right-hander, he was a Texas League All-Star while pitching for AA Beaumont in 1984.

Recognizing his pitching abilities, the Padres named Towers as their A-level pitching coach at Spokane, before he moved up to the scouting ranks. In 1991, he served two years as a Pittsburgh Pirate scout, before returning to the Friars as their scouting director in 1993.

Towers was named the Padres' seventh general manager in 1995, succeeding Randy Smith (who moved on to the Detroit Tigers). As a Padres fan, you should know the rest of the story - the Padres posted a 1,107-1,160 record during this time, winning four division championships, the club's second National League championship, and a trip to the 1998 World Series, where they were swept by the New York Yankees. As for wheeling and dealing, he may be best known for trading 2007 Cy Young winner Jake Peavy to the Chicago White Sox for four pitchers - Clayton Richard, Aaron Poreda, Adam Russell and Dexter Carter. The deal reportedly saved the Friars some $56 million in payroll.

Towers' reign ended in October 2009. Despite being the longest-tenured GM in MLB (14 years), he was fired by then-new owner Jeff Moorad and replaced with Jed Hoyer. At the time, the Padres were 74-85, on the tails of a 99-loss season in 2008.

He is currently serving as the GM for the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Minor League, minor consideration?

I'm on vacation this week, so tonight I started cleaning out the back basement as part of my "Honey-Do," list. I got about a quarter of the way through, when I found a box of minor league baseball cards I forgot I had. Inside were 1993 Classic/Best, 1994 Fleer Excel, 1992 and 1994 Upper Deck Minors and 1989 Star cards, just to name a few.

Whenever I get new Padres cards, the first thing I do is inventory them, by player, so I know exactly which cards I have of each player. Each year, I go to the San Diego Padres official website and download the current list of every player who's ever played for the Friars.

And that, my friends, is where my dilemna lies...



For example, here's three Padres players who moved up through the Friars' minor league system, eventually earning a spot on the major league roster. The Derrek Lee card is from the 1994 Classic/Best Gold. Lee, a number one pick in 1993 for the Padres, only played one year for San Diego (1997), before being traded to Florida for Kevin Brown. Darrell Shipman, from the 1991 Classic/Best set, was another Padre one-year wonder, wearing a Padres jersey during the 1993 season. Sherman played in 37 games in April and May during that season, and never appeared in another MLB game. He played for the Rockies and Marlins AAA affiliates for the next two years, until 1996, when he finished out his career playing in the Mexican leagues.

Tim Worrell, meanwhile, proved to be the "Mr. Longevity" of this trio, playing from 1993-1997 in San Diego as a reliever, This card is from the 1992 Upper Deck Minors set.

After further digging through this minor league box, I came across these three players.

While all three played in the San Diego farm system, none of them ever advanced to play at Jack Murphy. 1B John Kuehl made it as far as the High Desert Mavericks (Class A+, California League), and played for Oakland's farm teams. A three-time minor league all-star before injuries abbreviated his baseball career, he went on the be a regional scout and minor league manager for the A's. Steve Peters came to San Diego, along with Alex Cole, from St. Louis in return for Omar Olivares. Assigned to Las Vegas, he would find himself in the Ranger minor league system a year later. Bill Meury, a 20th round Padres pick in the 1990 MLB June Amateur Draft, got as far as AA Wichita, before leaving baseball.

So back to that dilemna - while the latter group never had the opportunity to don a Padres major league uniform, do I include them in my sacred roster of Padres sports cards? Yes they did play for, and/or were drafted by the Padres, but since they never made the MLB roster, should their cards be part of my Padres card collection.

I'm curious. What's your opinion?

1991 Topps Superstar Stand-Up Tony Gwynn #18

Since I'm always on the watch for the different and unique, especially when it comes to Tony Gwynn, I recently added yet another oddball item to my Gwynn collection.
 

 

The 1991 Topps Stand-Ups Tony Gwynn, #18, was part of a 36-piece test issue. Measuring 2-1/16 inches wide and 2-9/16 inches tall, they consist of a hard plastic case filled with baseball-shaped, sweet tart-like candy. Some folks say they're formed in the general shape of a head and shoulders, but to me, they just look like a baseball on a pedestal.
 

Stand-Ups were sold 36 "dispensers" to a box, each in its own color-printed paper envelope. There were 36 players within this set, ranging (alphabetically), from Jim Abbott to Robin Yount. I have no idea what the collation may have been like.

 

Being a member of the National League, the Gwynn Stand-Up is green. While American League players featured a red case, there was also a rarer clear, or non-colored, plastic container created for all 36 players in the set.

 

The label attached to the front has the player’s photo with his team name in a banner above and the player’s name in a strip at the bottom. The backs feature a baseball design, and since they were issued in 1991, they include the ever-present Topps 40th anniversary logo at the top center of the baseball.

 

The back also included the player's name,  team and position (color bars at the bottom), along with the dispenser (card) number at left. Located within the center, was the player’s height, weight, birthday, batting and throwing preference, and the year and number of his Topps rookie card.

 

The candy dispensed from the bottom. My "dispenser," doesn't have a single piece of candy in it - it's just an empty shell.

 

It's probably just as well. Can you imagine what the candy would taste like now, 22 years later?

 

Hitting the Padres mother load, 25-cents style

Last Sunday, I hit the Urbandale American Legion monthly card show. I mentioned how I amassed a mess of Padres cards from the dime box, building my own "Leaning Tower of Padres," at one dealers' table alone.

Howver, as I mentioned, much to my wife’s displeasure, I wasn’t done yet. The last table, with the  two, 5,000-count boxes full of 25-cent cards had a plethora of Padres pleasures.

 

 For starters, I found a whole mess of 2012 Bowman Sterling, including these Purple Refractors< I was also able to add a purple Jonathan Galvez, as well. There were also some 2012 Bowmans Best Padres, as well as some Bowman Chrome that I was a little deficient in.

2012 Bowman Sterling Top Prospects were also among the order of the day. I was also able to stock up on these young Padres - Spangenberg, Sampson and Erlin - and was quite happy with them.

Finally, I found a group of 2012 Panini Prizm Padres, including a Joe Wieland RC and this Chase Headley card. I also was able to pick up a few 2012 Topps Chrome Orange Refractors, including this Kyle Blanks. The thing I love about this card, is it reminds me of a Joe DiMaggio shot, taken in front of his homefront crowds. However, in this case, there's no place like Petco!

I was also able to collect the whole Padres team set of 2012 Topps Chrome Gold Sparkles, as well as almost all of the Padres 2012 Bowman Sterling team set, including some nice RCs.

Despite my love of all things Padres, I was also able to pick up some trade bait. As much as I hate to admit it, Man cannot live on Padres, alone!

All-in-all, Urbandale, as usual, was a great experience. And well worth the visit.

Just don't ask my wife for her opinion of the trip...

 

Hitting the Padres mother lode

Last Sunday was a great day. I was able to catch the last game of the Iowa Cubs – Tucson Padres series, had brunch at the ballpark, and best of all, was able to indulge my sweet tooth for Padres cardboard at the Urbandale American Legion monthly card show.

Between this show and the one at the mall, I enjoy this one much, much more. The vendors are friendlier, they’re more talkative and they go out of their way to help you find what you’re looking for, whether it’s a particular team, player, or card set.

I hit the mother lode at the very first table I stopped, as there were about a dozen, 5.000-count boxes full of dime cards, each row marked by team. I started salivating when I saw the whole row of Padres cards eagerly awaiting my searching. There were 2007 Topps ‘52, 2004 Playoff Prestige, 2009 Topps Ticket to Stardom, 2011 Bowman Futures and 2009 SP Authentic, to name just a few.

A few of the nicer cards I found...

 I really like the drawings on the Topps National Chicle. You can't help but love the Brown and Gold uni on Adrian, while Blanks looks like he's getting ready for the Kiss Cam video promotion. As for Randy Jones, he's one of my favorite Padres, so it was indeed kismet, when I found this 2004 Topps All-Time Fan Favorites.

Digging a little further down, I kept finding more and more cards I didn't have, so my pile became higher and higher, which I soon dubbed, "The Leaning Tower of Padres." I soon came across this 2010 Allen and Ginter Headley SP, a 2008 Upper Deck Timeline Josh Banks RC, and a 2007 Just Autographs Wade LeBlanc. You can never have enough nice, young players in your collection.

Within less than an hour, I had gone through his entire Padres collection. I think Topps Heritage is one set that really does things well. I love the wooden borders on the 2011 Topps Heritage set, so I added Aaron Harang (his soul patch really sets this card off) and a few other Pads to the pile. I was also lucky enough to find a few Gwynns for my collection, including this 2005 Leaf Sportscasters Teal Fielding-Ball #24/45. There are so many different print runs and colors to this set, it was nice to find another different card to add to the Gwynn gathering.

When I was done pawing through the Padres box (emptying it of about three-quarters of the cards), I joked with the dealer that I didn't want to spend all my allowance at the first table I came across. He laughed and then brought out a 2,000-count box, this one full of 2012 Topps Heritage Minor, so I was able to load up on a bunch of Padres minor leaguers – Austin Hedges, Casey Kelly, Rico Noel, Jace Peterson, Abys Portillo, Kevin Quackenbush, Donn Roach and Cory Spangenberg. I also picked up plenty of copies for trade/gifts.

Oh yeah, he also threw in a 2011 Limited Draft Hits Signatures Cory Spangenberg #18/149, for $2.  

Much to my wife’s displeasure, I wasn’t done yet. The last table I stopped at, had two, 5,000-count boxes full of 25-cent cards. The joys found within these card boxes, however, I’ll save for my next column.

A Grandal sighting in Des Moines, Iowa

There was a Yasmani Grandal sighting in Des Moines, Iowa over the weekend. And I don't mean the Gypsy Queen autographed jersey card I almost bought at the Urbandale card show on Sunday...

 

In reality, I mean Yasmani Grandal back in a Padres uniform, albeit a Tucson Padre uni. Apparently Grandal's 50-game suspension is up, becuase he nade an apperance at Sunday May 19th's Tucson Padres - Iowa Cubs game at Principal Park in Des Moines. After warming up RHP Nick Vincent in the Padres bullpen, Grandal dumped his equipment and raced to the Tucson dugout.

 

 

He then pinch-hit for Vincent to lead off the 9th inning, While he didn't look uncomfortable at the plate, he still ended up striking out in the final game of the four game set.

 

 

While we weren't able to attend Friday or Saturday's games, it seems Grandal played his first game of the season on Saturday, playing catcher and earning two hits in four at bats, including a RBI, singling to center and bringing home LF Mike Wilson. Tucson has since departed Des Moines, opening up a four-game series in Omaha. My wife and I did enjoy the pair of games we saw and yes, we did take a bit of good-natured guff for wearing our Padres gear. While the Padres split the four-game series with the I-Cubs, losing the two games we were at, one of the biggest disappointments was the  Classic Baseball Cards giveaway on Sunday. I was hoping to get some nice minor league cards (even if they would have been the I-Cubs), but instead, my wife received a package with 39, 1986 Topps cards and I received 25, 1990 Fleer baseball cards. At least mine had five Padres cards - Eric Show, Mark Parent, Carmelo Martinez, Mark Grant, and Joey Cora.