From deep in the heart of Texas

I like the recent trend of cutting down nine-card sleeve holders and using a folded, single row, three-card sleeve holder as padding in bubble-wrap packages.

I received just such a package in the mail awhile ago from one of my favorite bloggers, Marcus, over at All the Way to the Backstop.

In a July blog entry, Marcus posted about how he was torn about Chase Headley, "because I'm not sure what he is. I went to Spring Training in 2012 and 2013, and Headley was the only Padre who signed autographs for us both times. And he was easily there longer than any other Padre, signing and taking pictures. Really down to earth, humble, personable guy."

This was posted after Headley was traded to the New York Yankees for IF Yangervis Solarte and P Jose De Paula. Solarte saw considerable time at 3B for the Padres, while De Paula was released by both the Padres and the Giants last year.

In any case, Marcus has been amassing a rainbow collection of Headley cards and decided to pass along some purple, blue, red, gold and sparkly Headley cards to yours truly.

Chase Headley's 2008 Topps Heritage, 2013 Topps Chrome Purple Refractors, 2013 Bowman Chrome Blue Refractors S/N 227/250, 2013 Bowman Gold, 2013 Topps Target Red Border and a 2012 Topps Gold Sparkle.

While this made for a very nice addition to my Chase collection, Marcus didn't stop there. Also stuck within that three-card holder were these goodies (this package was more like a clown car of Padres cards).

2007 Bowman Chrome Prospects Autograph Will Venable, 2014 Bowman Prospects Jordan Paroubeck, 2010 San Antonio Missions Grandstand Nathan Culp, 2012 Topps Gold Sparkle Carlos Quentin, and a 2012 Topps Gold Sparkle Cameron Maybin. By the way, the Paroubeck card is the first I've seen of him. As for Culp, always love me some minor league ball.

While I've been remiss in sending out any cards myself in recent months, I really appreciate these goodies that Marcus, deep in the heart of Texas, sent along my way.

Autographed I-Cub baseballs

The minor league baseball season has finally wound down and we were happy to say we were able to make it to about eight Iowa Cubs  games this year. While they didn't make the playoffs, we had the opportunity to see several up-and-coming Cubbies like Kris Bryant and Javier Baez. The team even finished 74-70, their first winning season since 2010.

While I'm not a huge Cub fan, it's a chance to watch professional baseball, see some decent AAA baseball talent and have an opportunity to watch San Diego's AAA affiliate play here every-other-year.

Traditionally, Iowa gives away autographed baseballs at their next-to-last home game of the season, and this year was no different. This year, however, the balls were sponsored by Hupy and Abraham, the personal injury lawyers whom William Shatner shills for.

Last year, fans were handed  a plain brown paper bag with an autographed ball inside once you passed the turnstiles. This year, you had to go through the mezzanine, all the way by the outfield on the first base side, where your ticket and hand were marked. You were then handed a plastic bag with the ball, complete with Hupy and Abraham advertising (but no William Shatner).

This year, we received autographed balls from RHP Blake Parker and pitching coach Bruce Walton.

Drafted by the Chicago Cubs in the 16th round of the 2006 draft, Parker was a pitcher with the University of Arkansas. Chicago granted him Free Agency in Nov. 3, 2012, but resigned him four days later. He made his major league debut with the Cubs on May 17, 20212, 

While he's been up and down between Iowa and Chicago several times this year, Chicago recalled him from Iowa on Sept. 1, where he's been serving as a middle reliever. He last pitched Sept. 18 against the Dodgers, giving up one hit in an inning of relief. He currently sports a 4.38 ERA while pitching 12.1 innings for the Cubbies, with 16 strikeouts and two walks.

Walton pitched in the majors from 1991-94 for Oakland, Montreal and Colorado. He compiled a 2-0 record over that time, with an 8.21 ERA, 18 strikeouts and a 1.76 WHIP.

He began his coaching career as Toronto's pitching coach from Oct. 2009 to Nov. 2012 and has served as Iowa's pitching coach since Dec. 18, 2013.

During last year's give-away, we received baseballs autographed by Brad Nelson (now a member of AAA Rochester -Twins), Ty Wright (Somerset, independent Atlantic League) and J.C. Boscan (Los Angeles Dodgers - September call-up).

Another nice thing, they also provide a Certificate of Authenticity with each of the balls. It's a really nice inclusion - 1) You have autograph authenticity for your autograph and ball, and 2) It's nice to see who actually signed your ball, rather than having to guess who's scribble you have.

1999 Keebler Cookies San Diego Padres

During a recent raid on E-Bay, I came across yet another unique San Diego Padres card food issue set. This time, it was a complete, 28-card, 2000 Keebler San Diego Padres set.

 

I don’t know why I enjoy food sets so much. Maybe it’s because they’re so unique and/or regional, much like the Randy Jones discs. Maybe it's because, originally at least, you could only get them through food purchases, such as Post or Kellogg’s cereal, Hostess Twinkie boxes, or even bottles or cans of Coca-Cola. In any case, I really enjoy researching and then going out and finding these oddball sets. 

But first, a little background on this most recent addition.

On Aug. 1, 1999, Keebler Cookies sponsored a kids’ trading card day at San Diego’s Jack Murphy Stadium. Every fan, 14 and under, received a 28-card envelope of San Diego Padres cards.

What made this set so interesting is, of the 28-cards, seven were duplicates of the same player. Fans were expected to trade those copies among themselves in order to complete the set.

 

In fact, those instructions are actually printed on the envelope. “Each trading card pack starts with 20 DIFFERENT players cards plus 8 cards ALL ALIKE of an additional player. You must trade 7 of your duplicates away and get the 7 other cards needed to complete your full set. Have fun and help each other. Good luck.”

What a concept, eh? Trade your copies to other collectors to make a complete set. Fortunately, I was able to get this complete set without having to trade seven duplicates. I w onder if they came out with packs with seven Tony Gwynn copies?

Each of these 2-1/2 x 3-1/2 cards had a borderless player photo, with the player name inside a blue bar, complete with San Diego's Fat Friar logo (Gotta love that chubby, little Padre).

The first six cards of the set include manager Bruce Bochy, OF Tony Gwynn, 1B Wally Joyner, P Sterling Hitchcock, C Jim Leyritz and P Trevor Hoffman.

  

The next six are 2B Quilvio Veras, 1B/3B Dave Magadan, P Andy Ashby, IF Damian Jackson, P Dan Miceli, and OF Reggie Sanders.

SS Chris Gomez, OF Ruben Rivera, C Greg Myers, P Ed Vosberg, OF John Vander Wal and P Donne Wall.

OF/IF Eric Owens, P Brian Boehringer, P Woody Williams, P Matt Clement, P Carlos Reyes and P Stan Spencer.

 

And finally there's 3B George Arias, P Carlos Almanzar and C/IF Phil Nevin. The 28th card posted then-current Padres coaches Greg Booker, Tim Flannery, Davey Lopes, Rob Picciolo, Marv Rettenmund and Dave Smith on the front inside an orange bar and included the entire 28-card checklist on the back.

 

As the Tony Gwynn card demonstrates, the backs of these cards included the Keebler Elf logo, San Diego's 30th Anniversary logo, as well as the player's name and a bit of personal info.

Los Angeles and San Francisco also issued their own Keebler 28-card team sets that year.

I can't wait to find what comes across my oddball radar next.

Finding the 'Holy Grail' at the Urbandale Card Show

Sunday was the monthly card show at the Urbandale American Legion Hall. Naturally, I was stoked, since I wasn't able to attend the show last month, nor will I be able to attend next month due to National Guard drill weekend. I also figured it'd help kick start my blog once again after a rather chaotic month.

So after church and a quick lunch. it was off to Urbandale.

I have to admit I was a wee bit disappointed when I first arrived. There were only five or six dealers present, instead of the usual 10 or so.

I've gotten to know most of the dealers, especially since I always wear my "lucky green" Padres hat I picked up a few years ago at the Iowa Cubs shop at the stadium. I figure it never hurts to let people know who you're rooting for when it comes to card shops or card shows. Or anyone else, for that matter.

While thumbing through a few boxes of nickel cards, I struck up a conversation with another collector about the Padres. Myron, one of the vendors, came over and asked if I was interested in a Tony Gwyn jersey card. I told him, "Sure," as I'm always looking to add to my Gwynn collection.

He couldn't find the Gwynn jersey card and the Gwynn cards he did find, I already had. He then said he'd go through some of his other boxes and see what he had for Padres. I told him I'd stop by after I was done.

Boy, am I ever glad he went looking. When I finally completed my nickel box dig, I walked over to his table, where he had six of the 1974 San Diego Padres/Washington, Nat'l League cards. He said he'd gotten them in a box at an estate sale and was willing to let me have them for $1 each.

In 1973, it appeared that Joseph Danzansky was going to buy the San Diego Padres from C. Arnholt Smith. In fact, a May 1973 story in the Washington Post reported “Baseball’s Back! San Diego Padres Play Here in ’74.” Fortunately, Ray Kroc, the founder of McDonald's, then stepped in an bought the club, keeping the team in San Diego.

In it's 1974 baseball card release, Topps included 15 cards with players with the yellow San Diego padres uniforms and caps, but with "Washington," in the top left corner and "Nat'l Lea." in the bottom right. The cards included Padres players Johnny Grubb (32B), Fred Kendall (53B), Rich Troedson (77B), Bill Greif (102B), Nate Colbert (125B), Dave Hilton (148B), Randy Jones (173B), Vicente Romo (197B), a team card (226B), Glenn Beckert (241B), Willie McCovey (250B), Dave Roberts (309B), Cito Gaston (364B), Rich Morales (387B), and a 1974 Rookie Pitchers card with Greg Shanahan (599C).

I've always felt those 1974 cards are more or less the "Holy Grail" of San Diego Padres card collecting. I  check for them every so often on E-Bay, but they seemed rather expensive (if you can find them at all). I know of other collector's who've had success in putting together the entire Padres set, but I've just never had any luck in getting them.

Now, I can say I have a very good start on completing this set.

Myron also found these Padres cards to add my collection for about a buck each - A 2011 Topps Heritage Minors Clubhouse Collection Relics Rymer Liriano, a 2011 Topps Heritage Minor League Edition Blue Tint Reymond Fuentes, and a 1998 SP Top Prospects Auto Gary Matthews, Jr. 

 

Myron told me that any time he comes across any Padres cards now, he's going to put them aside for me. All I have to do is look him up at the next card show, and he'll have them set aside for me.

 

Of course, I found plenty of other cards to temporarily sate my never-ending Padres addiction, but I'll save those for another day.

A mess of Marcus cards from a messy room

Slowly, but surely, I'm wading through the mess that makes up my "collectibles" room in the house. Yes, there's still boxes and cards everywhere - hockey, baseball and the little bit of basketball and football that remains - but it's kind of like an Easter egg hunt, I never know what I'm going to find. Or where, for that matter.

 

For example, these cards were part of a package sent to me a while ago by Marcus Pond, scribe of the cool blog, "All the Way to the Backstop." Marcus, a teacher in the Texas school system, is a fellow Padres collector who still makes annual trips to America's Finest City to visit family and friends. (Hopefully, Jan and I will be able to head that way next year, as Ocean Beach is calling...).

 

Anyway, I knew these cards were back there somewhere (I also have packages from another collector or two that I have yet to come across again). I finally found them the other day and one thing you have to admit, when you swap cards with a collector who enjoys the same team and players as you, any new package of cardboard goodies is a great treat.  

 

And, as usual, Marcus is not one to disappoint.

 

 

I'll start with the certified cards, like the 2009 Donruss Elite Extra Edition auto Brad Boxberger S/N 442/500, 2003 Leaf Clubhouse Signatures Bronze Brian Lawrence, 2013 Topps Tier One On the Rise Autographs Yasmani Grandal S/N 330/399, 2003 Upper Deck National Pride Memorabilia Carlos Quentin, 2001 SP Game Bat Edition Piece of the Game Phil Nevin and 1998 Best Autographs Signature Series Buddy Carlyle

Topps Tifany has always been a rather cool set. I've only had one other opportunity to get a Topps Tiffany card I had bid on and won, but it looked nothing like these. So, let's continue with a fine batch of 1986 Topps Tiffany, including Roy Lee Jackson, LaMarr Hoyt, Terry Kennedy, Dave Dravecky, Kurt Bevacqua and a 1984 Topps Tiffany Andy Hawkins. Marcus also included a 1986 Topps Tiffany Bruce Bochy. These are the first true "Tiffany" cards I've seen and I can now proudly claim I own some rather nice Tiffany cards, courtesy of Marcus!

 

 

Cookies, anyone? Here's some 1993 Padres Mother's Cookies cards of Kerry Taylor, Jeff Gardner, Dan Walters, Frank Seminara, Darrell Sherman, Greg Harris, Dave Eiland, Gary Sheffield, and Manager Jim Riggleman. I can't help but like the Mother's Cookies baseball cards - the rounded corners and sharp photography are what makes them so cool. I have the complete Padres 1985 set, but these '93 cards are a step in the right direction towards building another complete set. Ok, it's now official - Mother's Cookies Padres team sets are now on my list of things to look for. But then, it was only a matter of time, anyway.

 

And finally, you always have to enjoy what I call, hand-jammed (in-person) autographs of athletes. It's always fun to think of that player actually taking the time to look you in the eye and give his autograph while you're standing there next ot him, to say nothing of what it took you to get into that position. I really appreciate this batch of autos, which inlcude a 1989 Score Rookie/Traded Mike Pagliarulo, 1989 Topps Traded Bruce Hurst, 1989 Fleer Update Mark Parent RC, 1988 Topps Eric Nolte, and a 1990 Score Phil Stephenson. The final card, a 1994 Signature rookies Draft Picks Signatures Dustin Hermanson is actually a "certified" signature, of 7,750.

Marcus, sorry for taking so long to post, but I can't thank you enough for the Padres kindness you have once again shown.

Who knows what else I might come across in the mess that makes up my collecitbles room.

Hey, A.J., how about briinging back the brown and gold!

I'm probably a hopeless romantic, but when my wife and I first moved to San Diego, it began our long-standing love affair with the Padres baseball team. At that time, the Friars shared a cozy, intimate, little stadium with the San Diego Chargers, called “Jack Murphy.” Players, such as Brent Strom, Bob Owchinko, Dave Winfield, Willie McCovey and Willie Davis graced the Padres roster, while Randy Jones was putting together a Cy Young award-winning season.

But perhaps what we remember the most, is the fact the Padres unveiled brand new baseball uniforms that year -- Brown, with mustard-colored sleeves, numbers and team-name.

Just in case you haven’t caught on yet, I loved those brown and yellow, and later, brown and orange uniforms. I mean, my blog is entitled “Bleedin’ Brown and Gold” for goodness sake. My very first Padres jersey was a Tony Gwynn brown and gold Cooperstown Collection.

I'm probably in the majority when I feel the Padres are facing an identity crisis with today’s blue uniforms, After all, the Toronto Blue Jays wear blue. The Seattle Mariners wear blue. Oh, and by the way, so do the Kansas City Royals and gasp!, the Los Angeles Dodgers.

I’m also not the only one who feels that way about those great, old brown uniforms. Sports Illustrated writer Lee Jenkins (a San Diegan, don’t you know) recently wrote a great piece entitled, "A San Diego Padre by any other uniform color just isn't as sweet." You can read it at http://www.si.com/mlb/2014/07/25/san-diego-padres-uniforms-lee-jenkins-my-town-my-team

According to Jenkins, "The Padres have changed their ­primary uniforms 12 times since the franchise was founded in 1969. They’ve worn brown and yellow, brown and orange, brown and yellow and orange, blue and orange, blue and white, blue and tan. They’ve experimented with two colors of pinstripes, several shades of camouflage and a beige earth tone called sand. Their sartorial crisis started early: They tweaked their look in ’72, ’74, ’76, ’78, ’79 and ’80. Sometimes the alterations were subtle (adjusting script, adding buttons, erasing the SAN DIEGO over the PADRES), and sometimes they were as severe as gold pants. When the Pads won the ’84 National League Champion­ship Series, they could not celebrate simply with a commemorative T‑shirt. They overhauled their wardrobe again. “They are the all-time champion,” says preeminent baseball uniform historian Bill Henderson, “of changing everything."

Jenkins even quoted one “rabble rouser from Poway by way of San Diego State: “How many teams have blue? How many have red? But none of ’em have brown. ...I just thought there was something neat about that. I just thought it looked beautiful. More than just beautiful, I liked the sentiment behind it of, ‘This is who we are.’” That firebrand was Tony Gwynn, two years ago, to former Padres beat writer Tom Krasovic.”

MoreWhen questioned clear back in May, Padres team chairman Ron Fowler had stated San Diego would not bring back the brown uniforms anytime soon, citing research from fans who wanted the team to stick with the blue and white. However when pressed, Fowler said he wasn't able to divulge any of the teams’ "research," since it was still an on-going process.

“Baseball people, and that includes myself,

are slow to change and accept new ideas.

I remember that it took years to persuade them

to put numbers on uniforms” -- Branch Rickey

 "Who in their infinite wisdom decreed that Little League uniforms be white?

Certainly not a mother -- Erma Bombeck.
 

There may even be a plot afoot. As part of its “Baseball Night in San Diego,” the Padres actually gave fans a brown and orange 1984 Padres Replica Retro Jersey on May 24 vs. the Cubs. The jerseys, presented by Fox Sports San Diego, were part of San Diego’s 1984 National League Champions celebration and considered by many as one of the team’s best giveaways of the year.

So, hope springs eternal. Especially since the Friars have finally hired a new general manager to replace Josh Byrnes. One can only hope that A.J. Preller will be more receptive to fan desires. What better way to reward fan loyalty and enthusiasm than by tapping into San Diego’s own unique, tried and tested, brown color scheme?

There's even a facebook page dedicated to bringing back the brown uniforms, entitled, "The San Diego Padres belong in BROWN uniforms.” If you’re interested in signing this petition for the Friars to bring back brown for their uniforms, got to https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-San-Diego-Padres-belong-in-BROWN-uniforms/121502057874146

In any case, the Padres need to reassert their own unique personality. Let's hope it's not too long before the Brown and Gold is back!

My San Diego Padres ouroboros collection

Like most team collectors, I've come to the realization that the best I can ever hope to achieve with my Padres card collection, despite my best efforts, is to attempt to gather the largest group of ex-Padres I can find.

I think it's the nature of the beast.

I guess it's kind of like being a head coach - you're literally hired so you can be fired.

Over the past couple of weeks, San Diego has made some trades, generating a trio of former Padres to add to my burgeoning ex-Friar collection.

For starters (or in this case, closer), Huston Street, along with fellow right-hander Trevor Gott were traded July 19 to Anaheim for 2B Taylor Lindsey, RHP R.J. Alvarez, SS Jose Rondon and RHP Elliot Morris.

Less than a week later, the Padres traded away another player, this one an eight-year San Diego veteran. You can say I was ever so happy to see Chase Headley go to New York. After all, the 30-year-old Headley was only batting .229 with seven home runs and 32 RBIs so far this season. A classic San Diego under-achiever, I feel he should have been traded a couple of years ago when his perceived value was much higher.

You wonder why Headley's smiling? Becoming a member of the New York Yankees may have something to do with it. Chase's 2013 Topps Archive Day Glow and 2012 Topps Allen & Ginter SP.

While the Yankees also received $1 million in cool cash, San Diego got 3B Yangervis Solarte and RHP Rafael De Paula. In his five games as a Padre, Solarte has gone seven for 21 (.333), with a RBI in each of his first five games.

A case of addition through subtraction? Perhaps, but however you look at it, there's another three Padres that have now become ex-Padres. By the same token, I now have another six players who are new members of the Padres family.

I'll now have to start collecting cards of them in San Diego Padres uniforms, enter them into my massive Padres card database, and then write up a new tab with their name, for one of my 5,000-count boxes, where he'll join the rest of my Padres, as they make their way up the Friars' talent pipeline.

Or, you can always consider it another way. I now have another six players that will eventually be bound for the ex-San Diego Padres part of my collection.

It's a vicious circle.