February's Urbandale American Legion Card Show

This month's Urbandale American Legion card show was rather ho-hum, to say the least. There were probably about three of the regular dealers who were missing, and a first - I don't think there were any tables with dime boxes. Unfortunately, I didn't have a great amount of time in which to look to be totally sure of that fact.

 

Due to time constraints, I had only an hour to shop. I'm a track and field official, and we had our officials training for April's Drake Relays set up for that afternoon. It was originally scheduled two weeks ago, but a rather nasty winter snowstorm forced cancellation. There are other track meets I work, but the Relays are always special, due to the world-class athletes we always attract.

 

Like my wife joked, God forbid I'd miss the monthly card show.

 

Trying to shop smartly, however, I did find some nice Padres cards within the many 25-cent boxes found at most of the dealers' tables. One dealer had a $1 per card box marked down to four-for-a-dollar. Through these, I was able to find a few Padres bargains, as well as pick up some nice Jedd Gyorko cards. 

 

 

Let's start out with a little color, like a 2013 Bowman Gold Casey Kelly, 2013 Topps Chrome Orange Refractors Jedd Gyorko, 2012 Topps Chrome Orange Refractors Cameron Maybin, 2011 Bowman Prospects Purple Nate Freiman, 2013 Bowman Prospects Purple Max White  (oops, actually a Colorado Rockie, scanned by mistake and headed to a certain Rockies collector), and a 2009 Topps Unique Mat Latos S/N1275/2999.

And then there were the hometowners, die-cuts, serial number cards and of course, another Gyorko. 2013 Bowman Prospects Hometown Matt Stites and Matt Wisler, Elite Extra Edition Aspirations Mallex Smith S/N 75/200, 2008 Topps Moments and Milestones Adrian Gonzalez S/N 110/150, 2013 Topps Making Their Mark Jedd Gyorko, 1999 Topps Power Brokers Greg Vaughn.

As I'm digging through the boxes, I find, "squirrel"...2012 Topps Gold Sparkle Brad Brach, 2007 Topps Chrome Refractors Brian Giles, 2011 Topps Update Cognac Diamond Anniversary Anthony Rizzo, 2007 Topps Chrome White Refractor Brian Giles S/N 490/660, and a 1982 Donruss Diamond Kings Ozzie Smith.

Lastly, I was able to find a 2013 Topps Chrome Rookie Autographs Jedd Gyorko at a very nice price. These 2007 Fleer Crowning Achievement cards of Greg Maddux and Trevor Hoffman were the first I've seen of these, and I must say I rather like them.

By the way, did you know that "If a javelin breaks during the throw, or in the air, it shall not count as a trail and a replacement throw shall be awarded."

I am so ready for spring, spring weather and track and field season.

Kudos and an apology to All the Way to the Backstop

Us Padres bloggers are a relatively close-knit fraternity. We know what we like, who we like, and share a wealth of knowledge and experiences regarding our brown and gold, and now blue-clad, ball players. We also share all those wonderful memories of having lived in "America's Finest City," even to the point of discussing which is better, In-and-Out Burgers, or Hodad's.

 

Marcus, over at All the Way to the Backstop, was the first blogger I contacted, once I decided to start up Bleedin' Brown and Gold. Since then, we've had some really wonderful trade opportunities.

 

What's funny, is the first time I received a package from Marcus in the mail, he listed his name on the return address as "M. Pond." My wife (who's been a Dr. Who fan since the David Tennent-era), said, "Ooh, you got a package  from Melanie Pond." If you're a Dr. Who fan, you'll get this.

 

Unfortunately, while I'm usually well-organized when it comes to my card cataloging system, whenever I get a package from Marcus, I set it aside with the best intentions of getting the cards inventoried, scanned and put up on my blog. In reality, with his last couple of packages, the cards have gotten mixed into my huge general Padres stack and I have a hard time telling which is which.

 

However, I recently received another wonderful package from Marcus, with yet another awesome stack of Friars. This time, rather than do Marcus a great injustice, I actually got them inventoried and scanned and here they are.

 

Let's begin with some sweet 2004 Upper Deck Sweet Spot, LF/1B Ryan Klesko (he's now a pre- and post-game analyst with the Atlanta Braves), Utilityman Phil Nevin (manager of Arizona's AAA affiliate Reno Aces), and OF Brian Giles (can you say "naked Padres hug?" and no, that's not a Valentine's Day reference). While this set is best known for its red and blue, and black-stitched autographed cards, I like the base card design. There's something about the "broken mirror" design that's kind of catchy. Their one drawback, they were about $9.99 a pack when they first came out.

 

What can you say about the great 1995 Flair cards. Do you like them because the 432-card set was designed as a horizontal card? Do you like them because the fronts featured an etched foil surface? Or do you like them because they had two player photos, one of which is an action shot, on the front. I like them because of all of the above. Here's Padres pitchers  Donnie Elliott and Bryce Florie, as well as catcher Brian Johnson.

Here's 2001 Studio Rickey Henderson, 2001 Topps Gallery Trevor Hoffman (Did you know he had a kidney removed when he was a newborn) and a 1995 SP Foil Raul Casanova. I really like the "painted" card sets such as the 2001 Topps Gallery and today's Allen and Ginter cards. I like the die-cut Casanova card, plus what better name to display for Valentine's Day.

2008 Topps Heritage Tadahito Iguchi, 2007 Bowman Heritage Prospects Cedric Hunter, 2002 Upper Deck Year of the Record Rickey Henderson 2,248 runs scored. Of his many records, the one gracing this card was from 10/4/01, against the Dodgers, when Henderson passed Hall of Famer Ty Cobb on the all-time runs list. Henderson smacked a third-inning round tripper and slid into home for the 2,248th run of his career. He also erased Babe Ruth's record for career walks earlier that season.

2011 Topps Heritage Corey Luebke RC, 2002 Donruss Best of Fan Club Phil Nevin, 1989 Topps Cap'n Crunch Jack Clark. I really like the "oddball" cards for some odd reason, and this Cap'n Crunch really fits the bill.

Again, I want to thank Marcus for a really wonderful bunch of cards. And I also want to apologize for not giving your past great contributions the merit they truly deserve.

Just my luck to win NBA D-League shorts

While I await the glorious start of baseball season (Padres pitchers and catchers report Feb. 13), we still have the winter sports (as well as the Olympics) to occupy us.

There's a dozen games left with our Iowa Wild before the AHL playoffs begin. Currently they're five games behind Rockford for the final playoff spot in the Midwest Division. Sometimes it's a close race between which sport I like best -- baseball or hockey.

And then there's basketball. My wife won a pair of tickets from a local radio station to attend an Iowa Energy basketball game at Des Moines' Wells Fargo Arena, The Energy, which plays in the NBA's Developmental League, are affiliated with the Chicago Bulls, Denver Nuggets, Minnesota Timberwolves, New Orleans Pelicans and the Washington Wizards. The team actually won the NBA Developmental League Championship in 2011.

As I've stated before, I'm not a huge basketball fan, especially when it comes to the pro game. The tickets were free, however, so I figured "what the heck," lets see how the other half lives.

I can sum up the NBA Developmental League in one word -- "Booooooooooooooooooooring!"

If they tried to work the ball inside, the defender would literally lay on top of the offensive player's back with his forearms. The home team missed three lay-ups and a pair of dunks, even with the refs letting them take four steps without a dribble. Rather than work the ball inside, it was mostly three-pointers, with hardly any of them going in.

Needless to say, we left before the start of the fourth period.

Like most organizations, the Energy had drawings for giveaways. Even though it's basketball, I can't pass up a possible freebie. I joked with my wife that I'd probably win season tickets or something.

Actually, I won a pair of Iowa Energy player shorts.

They're just like the Energy away shorts, except for the team logos on the right leg, and the "NBA D-League" stitching on the back. They even have the drawstrings and the rubber waistband to keep their jerseys from pulling out. Oh, yeah, it even has the 2+ inseam, so they go below your knees. To me, those aren't shorts, just short pants. I'll NEVER wear them.

So, what do I do with them? I'm thinking about putting them up on E-Bay, but they're not cheap shorts, they're a NBA-quality uniform piece. If anyone is interested in these, please let me know. I also thought about having a buddy get them autographed, if it'd help me to get rid of them.

Thank goodness, baseball season is almost upon us!

Let's start a new Christmas tradition

While I personally feel it's better to give than to receive, I did get a couple of nice thank you gifts in the mail this past week. These have been largely a result of my sending Christmas cards with sports cards to my fellow bloggers over the holiday season.

 

According to the personal note I received from Chris, over at Nachos Grande, "Thanks for the Christmas card and the LEGO mini figure! It was a fun surprise and I ended up with one of my most wanted figures. I found a couple of Padres for you..."

 

While I'm glad I was able to help Chris with his Lego collection, it was fun picking out specific baseball and hockey cards (as well as a bobblehead) for my blogging "family" over the Christmas holidays. I was just taking part in what I believe is the true spirit of Christmas.

 

But back to Chris. Among the goodies he sent, was this 1997 Collector's Choice Jason Thompson with its ubiquitous surfboard (so far, I've found three Padres cards with surfboards on them. In fact, when Mark Kotsay retired, one of his parting gifts from the Padres was, you guessed it, a surfboard). Also included was this pair of Tony Gwynn cards, his 1998 Sports Illustrated and 1995 Collector's Choice cards. While it's always nice to see Gwynn prowling the outfield at Jack Murphy (he was a five-time golden glove winner, after all), it was at the plate where he truly excelled, as evidenced by his sweet swing on the Collector's Choice card.

In the spirit of Fuji at The Chronicles of Fuji, Chris added a custom card that a buddy of his made for him. I really need to get me one of these custom cards with my little toad on it. Hey, it could happen.

I also received a nice stack of cards from Bill at Thorzul will Rule.

Include in his package was a 2010 Lance Zawadzki Topps Chrome Rookie Autographs, a 2013 Carlos Quentin Topps Gold S/N 767/2013, and a 1995 Homer Bush SP Top Prospects. Even though Bush had the opportunity to play football at Missouri, the 2B Homer (what a great first name) was a seventh round pick by San Diego in 1991. Despite earning minor league player of the year honors for the Padres organization (1993 at Low A Waterloo), Bush never played a game for the parent club. He was traded to the Yankees in 1977, along with P Hideki Irabu, for OF Ruben Rivera and P Rafael Medina. Bush would earn a World Series ring with the Yanks, and later played with the Blue Jays and Marlins.

And how about some sweet early Padres, circa 1976 Topps -- P Dave Freisleben, 2B Hector Torres, P Alan Foster, P Randy Jones, P Dave Tomlin and OF Wilie Davis.

 

While I want to thank everyone who's sent me some rather nice thank you gifts as a result of their Christmas cards, it's really not necessary. I would, however, like to see a few more of my blogging brethren continue this custom during the next Christmas season,

 

I did participate in a blogger Secret Santa,  and it was indeed a hoot, but I really had the most fun in picking out specific cards and gifts for my fellow bloggers, and it's been great reading your reactions once you received your card.

 

Next holiday season, remember, it's better to give, than to receive. Especially when it comes to Christmas cards. Let's start a new tradition.

Another oddball find -- 1983 San Diego Padres sticker set

Well, I managed to find yet another oddball San Diego Padres set. This time it was the nine "card" 1983 Topps Baseball Stickers San Diego Padres set.

 

The 1983 set consisted of 330-stickers, which included 28 foil stickers, record breakers, playoffs and World Series stickers. The stickers, which cost a quarter for a pack of six, were 1-15/16-inches wide by 2-9/16 inches tall.

 

You could also purchase a separate sticker book to place your stickers in. Topps first began printing baseball stickers in 1981. 

  

An added bonus, at least to me, was the fact the Padres players were photographed in their yellow and brown uniforms. Say what you will about them, I'm still in love with those unis and am awaiting their glorious return as the San Diego home and away colors.  

 

Top Row -- P John "The Count" Montefusco, RF Sixto Lezcano, P Eric Show. Middle Row -- CF Ruppert Jones, a foil C Terry Kennedy, OF Gene Richards. Bottom Row -- SS Garry Templeton, 1B-RF Broderick Perkins, and P Tim Lollar. Unfortunately, there's no Tony Gwynn, but he did start the '83 season on the DL after injuring his wrist in Puerto Rico playing winter ball.

One thing I found rather amusing on the back of the stickers, is the phrase, "Topps Baseball Cards, The Real Ones -- a baseball tradition." While Topps is indeed an American institution, why are their 1983 baseball stickers then "Made in Italy?" By the way, you earn an extra point if you deduced these same stickers were produced by Panini under a sub-license from Topps.

As you can probably tell, I really dig these oddball sets and have been going out of my way to find the odd, the unusual and the arcane when it comes to Padres collectibles. Who knows what I may find next week?

Diamonds in the rough from a 2008 collector

I got a great package in the mail this weekend from Larry over at 2008 Topps Set. And no, they didn't include a bunch of Padres cards from the 2008 Topps set. Judging from this package, I'd say that Larry was a well-rounded connoisseur of exemplary cardboard goodness.

Let's start out with a 2003 Bowman's Best Bernie Castro RC (#BC), a 1999 Flair Showcase Row 1 Ruben Rivera (#90) S/N 1924/3000, and a 2002 Finest Xavier Nady (#100). Nady, the Pads first position player since 1989 to go directly into the Majors following the draft, signed a minor league contract with the Padres. It'll be interesting to see how that turns out. An OF-1B, he's not a bad insurance policy and will, more than likely, be the first one in, should the injury bug hit the Friars again this year.

A 2002 Donruss Rookies Jake Peavy (#26), 2001 SP Top Prospects Dennis Tankersley (#77), 2002 Upper Deck Ovation Phil Nevin (#53). I like the border on those SP cards and the raised surface of the Padres logo really makes that Ovation card pop.

2001 Royal Rookies Barnstormers Junior Herndon (8), 2001 Upper Deck Minors Centennial Jake Gautreau (#2), 1996-97 Score Board Ben Davis All Sport (#67) (How can you not like catchers, especially when wearing full regalia). Davis may be best known, however, for his drag bunt against Curt Schilling and the Diamondbacks on May 26, 2001. Schilling had a perfect game heading into the eighth inning, when Davis bunted. Despite the fact the D-Backs went on to win 3-1, it generated a bit of hate and discontent between these two teams during the next couple of years.

Another career Padres minor leaguer in three flavors. Kevin Eberwein's 1999 RC in Topps Traded (#T41), Bowman (#405), and Bowman Chrome (#405). He had a strange career progression, moving to A, A+, AA (2 years), A+, AAA, A+, AAA, and then released. He's  now a Mortgage Consultant/Team Leader with FirstCal Mortgage in Las Vegas, Nev.

And finally, a parade of brown of yellow from 1979 and 1982. Top Row -- 1979 Topps P Mickey Lolich, OF-1B Gene Richards and OF Oscar Gamble. Bottom Row --  1982 Topps P Juan Eichelberger, P John Littlefield and C Steve Swisher.

 

Thanks for a great package, Larry. I hope you enjoyed your goodies as much as I did mine!

We'll miss you Bill Center

While I’m not a huge San Diego Tribune fan (I do follow my Padres through them, though), there is one facet of the paper I’m definitely going to miss.

After 47 years at the San Diego paper, Padres beat writer Bill Center officially retired on Friday.

 

Besides his great Padres articles, he provides an insightful two-hour chat every Friday.

Friday’s chat began, “I'd like to start today's chat by saying thank you to every last one of you. Since we started doing the chats in 2008, these two hours each Friday have been some of my favorite times. For the moment, the chats and some other things will continue. Officially, this is my last day with the U-T . . . ending an official 47-year run. Again, thank you.”

I loved these Friday afternoon chats and actually began following them about two years ago. They usually began about 2 p.m. San Diego time (4 p.m. Iowa time) and I’d follow them at work. If I wasn’t able to catch it on Friday, you can always go back and catch the transcripts of it.

I think I even had one of my questions answered, about the Padres catching situation with Hundley and Rivera and the inevitability of Grandal’s return.   

Where else can you gain such tidbits of knowledge and first-hand experience about our beloved Pares? Especially from such a font of knowledge.

After joining the San Diego Union staff in 1967, Center began his Padres coverage in 1983, serving as the team’s number two writer from 1906 until he became the lead Padres writer midway through the 2009 season.

A San Diegan since 1950, as well as a San Diego State alum, Center admits to being one of the 23,000 fans in the stands for the Padres first major league game. Among his many Padres highlights was viewing a Padres game at Lane Field, the Padres first game at Westgate Park, the last game at Westgate Park, the first and last Padres games at San Diego Stadium, the first and last major league Padres games in Mission Valley and the first Padres game at Petco Park.

“I must admit I am a Padres fan,” Center said. “I once sold popcorn, ice cream and sodas while walking the stands as a concessionaire at Westgate Park. I don't regret a minute.”

Thanks for a great career, Bill. Hopefully the Tribune will let him continue these chats for many more years to come.