Playing 52-pickup with "My Two Tony's."

Over the weekend, I did something interesting....I dumped my entire "My Two Tonys" box onto the floor. You see, I have a 2,000 count box in which I keep my Tony Gwynn and Tony Esposito cards, incuding duplicates. I was putting some other cards away in my hobby room, when I bumped the box with my elbow, and viola, I had to play a modified game of 52-pickup!

What made it so bad is, I had each of my Gwynn and Esposito cards divided by year, and then in alphabetical and numerical order.

I have to admit, however, that I did enjoy perusing my Tony Gwynn collection again, since it's been a while since I've actually added anything to it. It's been pleasantly surprising to see what Gwynn cards I actually have.

For example....how about his 1982 Hawaii Islanders TCMA card.

In 1982 Gwynn played 93 games for the AAA Pacific Coast League, Hawaii Islanders, hitting .328 in 366 at bats. He also had minor league stops in Walla Walla (Class A, Northwest League, 1981) and Amarillo (Class AA, Texas League, 1981). He played for Las Vegas, San Diego's new AAA affiliate in 1983, just before being called up to San Diego, but this was his only minor league card.

 

How about these two 1999 Pacific Omega Gwynn Cards, No. 8 and 6? The first one, numbered 2678/3000, is entitled, "An American Hero." I think it may have been a little more appropo for the flag to be in the background (instead of the fireworks), rather than around his shoulders. But then, that's just me. The second card, numbered 2530/3000, is aptly entitled, "Pitcher's Worst Nightmare." Even though it's a posed shot, you can definitely feel the attitude, as you look down the barrel of the bat. One thing I loved about Gwynn was his humility. It was great when he and Ripken were inducted into the Hall of Fame together. It was justly deserved, as those were two players who played the game the right way!

I've always enjoyed the Studio series and Gwynn's 1991 Studio #245 is no exception. To me, this is the quintessential Gwynn pose, the boy next door. As far as his 1984 Fleer #301 card goes, what can I say, I love the old yellow and brown uniforms.

 

I have to admit, I have rather enjoyed reorganizing my Gwynn cards while taking a stroll down memory lane. Who knows, maybe I'll pull them out later and give them another loving look.

2013 Bowman Chrome Case Break

Yesterday, RyansCardz, one of my favorite brick-and-mortar card stores had a 12-box case break of 2013 Bowman Chrome. Each team was on the bid board, with prices for each based on what the possible expectations for each team were.  For example, the Twins went for $15 (no bids) and the Angels bidding ended at about $160, thanks in large part to the possiblility of a Puig auto. The Padres opening (and only) bid was $30 (which I won).

Besides the basic autographs, most players also have colored autographed refractors, including plain refractors (#/500), Gold (#/50), Orange (#/25), Purple (#/10) and Superfractors (#/1). San Diego autograph expectations feature first autographs of Yeison Asencio, Jeremy Balz, Aldys Portillo, Matt Wisler, as well as a Casey Kelly autograph.

 

As far as the Padres went, I ended up with 31 cards, 19 of which are copies, and one hit. I'll start out with three San Diego Pares stalwarts - C Yasmani Grandal, 1B Yonder Alonso and the ever-present in every card set 2B Chase Headley. Last year Grandal was a Bowman Chrome Draft RC.

 

I also received some Bowman Chrome Prospects - Matt Wisler (4 copies), Jeremy Baltz (5 copies) and RHP Adys Portillo (3 copies). Portillo is currently playing for the Peoria Javelinas, the Arizona Fall League team that San Diego shares with Houston, Seattle, Philadelphia and Kansas City.

 

I received a Bowman Chrome Prospect of P Zach Elfin (4 copies), as well as Jed Gyorko and Casey Kelly RCs. I was excited by the Gyorko card and would of loved to of had him in a refractor, since his auto wasn't available in this set. My apologies, I forgot to scan one of my five Yeison Asencio Prospect cards.

 

As for my only hit, it was a purple refractor P Max Fried (#73/199). Next to it is Fried's prospect card (5 copies.) Fried was the Padres' 7th overall pick last year, out of Harvard-Westlake High School. In 2012, he was ranked as the Padres' second best prospect and 46th best prospect overall by Baseball America, and to have the best curveball in the San Diego system. At 19 years of age, he appears to have a wealth of potential, putting together a 6-7 record, 3.49 ERA 100 Ks and 59 BBs, at Low-A Fort Wayne. He appears to be doing well against his peers, and I'm looking forward to him stepping up to pitch A-level ball next year.

 

Overall, this was a fun case break. Did I feel that the Friars cards I receveid were worth the $30 I invested? Not particularly.

 

What did I learn? I still believe, dollar-for-dollar, that Bowman Chrome is one of the best sets out there, especially if you're looking for younger players with huge upside and definite up-and-comers. This particular case had an awful lot of color in it, rewarding the Braves, Diamondbacks and Twinkies. According to Topps, there's suposed to be one auto in eveery box and every third box will have two autos. If that's the case, we were shorted an autograph. It'll be interesting to see if Topps customer service will make good on that or not.

 

We also had the hit of the day -- a purple auto refractor of Puig, numbered #9/10. I've seen these on E-bay already going to $3,500+. Despite now having all the Padres base cards, I'll definitely be picking up some packs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

October Sports Card Forum Baseball Card Traders

As I've noted before, I've been a long-time member of SportsCardForum. One of the great things about it, is belonging to a group such as the SCF Baseball Card Traders. Actually, it's a pretty sweet deal -- there are six different groups, with at least three traders per group, each seeking cards from a specific team. Each month, each of the groups are paired up and each trader must send at least a minimum of 10 cards.

 

I usually try to throw about 25-30 cards, including a few serial-numbered cards, as well as some nice inserts. If I have a decent auto or game used card for that team, I'll try and throw that in, too. I figure it certainly provides for some good karma.

Among the cards I received this month were these three 2004 Reflection RC cards of Jason Szuminski, Chris Oxsping and Freddy Guzman. These Upper Deck cards are indeed reflective, to say nothing of being shiny and flashy, with an interestingstream background made up of the Padres logo. Really nice cards, easily forgetable players.

 

 I also received a pair of 2006 Finest Jake Peavy cards. The first one is an X-fractor numbered 206/250, while the right one is a Refractor, numbered 7/399. Peavy, a 15th round pick in the 1999 draft and a Padres homegrown player, was truly a joy to watch. In 2004, with a 15-6 record and a stellar 2.27 ERA, he became the youngest pitcher to win an ERA title. His best season as a Padre was yet to come. In 2007, he became San Diego's fourth Cy Young Award winner (behind Randy Jones (1976), Gaylord Perry (1978) and Mark Davis (1989)). Not only that, but he was the 10th NL pitcher to unanimously win the award.

The final pair include the 2008 Topps 50th Anniversary All Rookie Team Ozzie Smith and 2010 Upper Deck Portraits Heath Bell. I know, I know, the Wizard spent the majority of his career with the Cardinals and that's how most people remember him, but damn, did he carve a big swatch as a Padre, especially during his rookie year. During that first year, he stole 40 bases, finished second among all NL shortstops in assists, putouts and double plays and finished second in Rookie of the Year voting to Atlanta's Bob Horner.

I also discovered that Ozzie was playing in a semi-pro league right here in Iowa (Clarinda), when he was initially drafted by the Detroit Tigers. The next year, he'd be a fourth-round pick of the Padres.

Now, I just have to get my packages in the mail. There's only three weeks until the end of the month, so it'll be interesting to see who I'll have as trading partners next month.

 

I'm in love with my mailbox!

You know, there's days when you just can't wait to come home and find out what's in the mailbox.

Of course, you can't help but know when the mail truck arrives at our house. Our dogs, Shetland Sheepdogs, better known as Shelties, start barking and spinning in circles. Since we live on a corner lot, they know it's an opportunity to go outside and sniff out who's passed by in the past few hours.

The past couple of days have been especially nice. Uh, I mean as far as what I've found in the mailbox.

Yesterday, I found an envelope from Tom, over at the "Waiting 'til Next Year" blog. I recently sent him some nice Cubbie cards, as well as programs from the local AAA Iowa-Cubs, that I've collected over the years (like I tell my wife, there are actually people out there who wants the stuff I collect along the way...).

In any case, according to Tom, "I found a couple vintage "semi-hi #'s" at my last card show. Thanks again for the programs and all the great Cubs cards."

Talk about some great cards. Since the Padres are a "relatively" young club, having come into being in 1969 with the the Kansas City Royals, Seattle Pilots and Canada's first MLB team, the Montreal Expos, they don't have the long vintage card history of a club like the Chicago Cubs. I'm always excited when I can get "older" Padres cards, such as these 1971 Topps cards of C Chris Cannizzaro and SS Rafael Robles.

 

Cannizzaro, a native Californian, may of had the most interesting career of these two early Friars. He became a Padre in March 1969, coming to San Diego from Pittsburgh, with Tommie Sisk in return for Ron Davis and Bobby Klaus. He became San Diego's first All-Star after hitting .245 with two home runs in the first half of the seaon. The Mets' Casey Stengel, who managed Cannizzaro in the early ’60s, had said, “He’s a remarkable catcher, that Canzoneri. He’s the only defensive catcher in baseball who can’t catch.” Following his MLB career, he became a baeball coach at the University of San Diego, later becoming their Director of Baseball Operations.

 

Robles was the Pads' 51st pick in the 1969 expansion draft from San Francisco. Despite playing only 47 games for San Diego, he's ensured a place in Friars history as being the very first Padres player to come to bat. On April 8, 1969, he also became their first baserunner (reaching first base on a Joe Morgan error) and their first base stealer, after nabbing second. He passed away in New York at the age of 50.

 

The 2013 Bowman Prospects Hometown Matt Stites was just icing on the cake.

 

Like I've said before, it's not a contest when I send out sports cards. With two great, local brick-and-mortar card shops with fantastic dime and quarter boxes, and a really nice monthly card show, I don't mind sharing the wealth, picking up cards that I know my blogging brethern will love.

 

The other item in the mail, was a recent E-Bay purchase, a Jedd Gyorko signed, mini home plate, measuring 4 3/4 x 4 3/4. The guy made this piece out of wood, and then had Gyorko sign it. Gyorko, who's one of my favorite players among the current Padres, was just named to the Baseball America 2013 Major League All-Rookie Team. Despite missing 30 games to injuries, Gyorko hit .249  with 23 home runs and 63 RBIs in his rookie season. He led all  rookies in home runs (23), was second in RBIs, third in doubles (26) and fifth in hits (121). What a great piece of memorabilia!

Now, I can't wait to find what's waiting in the mailbox on Monday....

Happy 62nd Birthday, Dave Winfield!

Today is St Paul, Minn. native Dave Winfield's 62nd birthday.

To say that Dave Winfield was a stud, is an understatement. As a Minnesota Gopher (I can't  help but think of groundskeeper Carl Spackler, Bill Murray's character in the movie Caddyshack), his basketball team won their first Big Ten championship (1972) in 53 years. He averaged 10.3 points and 6.7 rebounds in 40 Minnesota Gophers basketball games and posted a 19-4 pitching record on the diamond.

In 1973, he was the fourth overall pick by the Padres, as well as the NBA's Atlanta Hawks (5th round) and the ABA's Utah Stars (6th round). The Minnesota Vikings also made him their 429th overall pick (17th round) that year as a tight end.

 

Despite going directly from college to the big league diamond, completely bypassing minor league play, he batted .277 in 56 games during his first season in the brown and yellow. In 1978 he became the Padres team captain, batting .308 with 34 home runs and 118 RBIs.

Here's Dave Topps American Pie Timeless Classic Relics #BBTC45 (a reprint of his 1980 Topps #203RBIs leaders card). I think the 2003 Padres Carl's Jr. set was a great grouop of Padres cards, and Winfield's #13 was certainly no exception, with great photos and great layout. Putting the Swinging Friar on the front certainly doesn't hurt either.
Once he became a free agent, you could see the beginning of the Padares dollar dynamic - they could no longer afford him. He was immediately snatched up by the New York Yankees, signing a $23 million, 10-year contract. After wearing the Yankees pinstripes (1981-1990), he went on to play for the  California Angels (1990-1991), Toronto Blue Jays (1992), Minnesota Twins (1993-1994), and Cleveland Indians (1995).

When he retired in 1996, his 23-year career spanned 2,973 games, where he garnered 3,110 hits, 465 homers and 1,833 RBIs, enroute to 12 consecutive All-Star games. He also won seven Gold Gloves and six Silver Slugger Awards. And when it came time to vote him into the National Baseball Hall of Fame (was there any doubt), it's no wonder he was a first ballot inductee with 84.5 percent of the vote in 2001.

Best of all, when he entered the National Baseball Hall of Fame, he did so as the Padres' first inductee. In 2001, San Diego officially retired his jersey.

There's nothing wrong with these three cards, as they feature Winfield in the brown and gold. He just looks so young in these 1981 cards -- Donruss #364, 1 Kellogg's #21 and Fleer #484

Happy 62nd Birthday Dave, and thanks for the Padres memories.

 

Welcome back Cabrera

The Padres reinstated Everth Cabrera to its 40-man roster today, after the shortstop completed his 50-game suspension. He and catcher Yasmani Grandal, the Padres poster boys for the Biogenesis scandal, served matching suspensions that bookended San Diego's 2013 season - Grandal served his over the first 50 days of the season and Cabrera the final 50.

 

Its fairly safe to say that Cabrera has always "wowed" since becoming a Padre as a Rule 5 draftee from the Colorado Rockies in 2008.

 

Just consider his rookie season. On one hand, he led all NL shortstops with 23 errors and sat out two months due to a hand injury. By the same token, who can forget his grand slam that beat the Mets on Aug. 7, 2009. After striking out in his first three plate appeareances, he nailed Francisco Rodrigurez's 3-2 offering in the ninth to give the Padres a 6-2 win. The talented Nicaraugan hit .255, stole 25 bases and scored 59 runs, all in 103 games. 

 

In the meantime, he continued to flash his potential and fragility. In 2010, a hamstring injury limited him to 76 games. In 2011, he separated his shoulder while playing at AAA Tucson. In 2012, he became the first Padre to lead the NL in stolen bases with 44 thefts.  In 2013, he played 69 games before going down with another hamstring injury. Later, he would become an All-Star and become the answer to a Padres trivia question -- who was the player who  collected San Diego's 60,000 hit?

 

And then came the Biogenesis report. In his apology to fans, Cabrera admitted fault, saying he took an unknown  substance to help recover from his 2011 left shoulder dislocation.

 

 

Cabrera in happier times. At bat in those great Camo unis, from 2010 Finest, followed by a picture of yet another steal (third base?) from his 2013 Topps card. Finally, a nice head and shoulders shot from his 2013 Topps Heritage.

 

A fan favorite before his suspension, and despite positive fan reaction to his Biogenesis apoplogy, it remains to be seen if Cabrera continues to "wow" his fans. With Cabrera's return, catcher Chris Robinson was designated for assignment.

 

All in all, this off-season should be quite interesting.

Ode to Mark Kotsay

Today's Padres game, at San Francisco's AT&T Park, marked the end of CF Mark Kotsay's 17-year baseball career. Except for the dramatic eighth inning, it wasn't much different than his last home at-bat, sad to say. After getting his last start in center field, Kotsay lined out, flied out and then grounded into a force out before coming to the plate with two outs in the top of the eighth inning, with the bases empty.

Giants coach Bruce Bochy brought in Barry Zito, who was also playing in his final game, to face Kotsay.  Was Kotsay able to get one last hit,  the 1,785th of his career?  Actually, you could probably have foretold the outcome, Kotsay struck out on three pitches, looking at the first two and swinging at the final one.

In his last act of his professional career, he  followed an old baseball tradition of leaving all his batting gear at the plate for the last time. Zito, meanwhile, was getting a standing ovation from the Frisco fans.

Eighteen years ago, Kotsay was the stud outfielder who led Cal State Fullerton to the College World Series in 1995 while being named the National Player of the Year. Florida drafted him the following year with their ninth overall pick. A Golden Glover, he was traded to the Pads in March 2001, along with Cesar Crespo, for Omar Ortiz, Matt Clement and Eric Owens, and moved to center field.

Two years later, San Diego sent him packing to Oakland for Ramon Hernandez and Terrence Long. After stints with Atlanta, Boston, the White Sox, and Milwaukee, he ended up back in San Diego in November 2011, signing on as a free agent.

In his five years as a Padre, Kotsay collected 482 of his 1,784 hits and 183 of his 720 RBIs.

The Friars gave him a great send-off during his final home game last Thursday, vesus Arizona. After reveiving a custom surfboard from Trevor Hoffman, Kotsay was penciled in as the starting center fielder. As he took to the field, the rest of the team remained in the dugout, allowing him to savor the home twon fan's adulation one last time.

What was even more heartening, was seeing his entire family at both his last home game and during his final game today at San Francisco. The San Diego feed on MLB.tv even showed his youngest son, in a full Padres uniform, shagging flies earlier this season with his dad in Arizona. After dad caught the ball, his son threw it back into the infield. That kid didn't have too bad of an arm, either.

It was nice seeing Kotsay heading off into the sunset. It would have been even nicer, however, if the Pads had won.

Kotsay won't be the only change the Padres face in the up-coming months. Chase Headley has already told the front office they're going to have to pay market value to keep him signed - he's not going to take the "San Diego Discount." "You have to at least understand where you are positioned in the market," Headley said, "It doesn't benefit myself or the other players to go out and sign a deal just to sign a deal, without it being a good deal.

Oh brother! In any case, this should be an interesting off-season. Hopefully, this will not be the winter of our discontent!