November Card Show Part 2

As noted in my previous post, this past weekend was the monthly Urbandale American Legion Card Show. As always, I almost always find some really nice Padres cards.

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For starters, here's a 1998 Skybox Dugout Access Dishwashers Kevin Brown, 1992 Ultra All-Stars Gary Sheffield, 1993 Topps Gold Jose Melendez, 1996 Bowman Ken Caminiti, 1996 Select Ken Caminiti, 1995 Ultra Second Year Standouts Joey Hamilton.

 

You have to love the back of that Select Caminiti card and the fact Pinnacle included this particular picture on the card. You have to wonder, though,  whose hand that is...

 

 

November's show also provided me the opportunity to load up on 2014 San Diego Padres cards.

Here's 2014 Bowman Chrome cards of Austin Hedges, Huston Street, Andrew Cashner, Ian Kennedy and Everth Cabrera. I know San Diego gave up Street to the Angels clear back in July, but all the same, it's a bit weird seeing Street in this team set, wearing Padres colors;

I've always enjoyed the Bowman Platinum product, and here's four cards from the 2014 set, including Austin Hedges, Max Fried, Nelson Liriano, and Hunter Renfroe.

 

2014 Donruss Everth Cabrera, Ian Kennedy, Tommy Medica RC,  Jedd Gyorko, Andrew Cashner and Chase Headley.

 

2014 Topps Rene Rivera, Joaquin Benoit, Troy Patton, Jeff Francoeur, Seth Smith and Alexei Amarista. Francoueur and Rivera, who I've always liked behind the plate, we saw play in Des Moines when the Chihuahua's were in town. Patton, a left-handed reliever the Padres picked up from Baltimore in the Nick Hundley trade, was recently suspended 80 games for amphetamines. He was also suspended for the first 25 games of the 2014 season after taking Adderall just four days before the end of the 2013 season. In September, San Diego outrighted him to Triple-A El Paso. and Patton refused the assignment becoming a free agent. Lots of luck with that, Troy.

 

 

And finally, how about a 2014 Panini Prizm Reymond Fuentes RC, 2014 Bowman Chrome Fire Diecut Refractors Austin Hedges and a 2014 Topps Chrome Tommy Medica RC. I really like those Bowman Chrome fire diecuts.

There will be yet another card show December 21 and I hope to be there yet again. Hopefully, there'll be a full complement of dealers in attendance that close to Christmas.

November Urbandale Monthly Show Part 1

Being it was about the second weekend of the month, this past weekend was the monthly Urbandale American Legion Card Show. I always enjoy hitting this one-day show. Not only do I find some really nice Padres cards, but I always track down a few good hockey cards and some pretty awesome trade bait.

 

Unfortunately, a few inches of snow fell across the state the night before (I know, snow in Iowa in November? Who'd have thought...), so several of the regular sellers were missing on this Sunday. Among those missing in action were a couple of my favorite sellers, including one who has some really nice hockey and baseball nickel boxes.

 

As I've stated before, I've been there often enough, that I've even gotten to know several of the dealers. Just last month, dealer Myron had a bunch 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. To me this was a fantastic find. He also mentioned he'd start sticking Padres aside for me whenever he came across them.

 

Myron didn't disappoint, as he had the following Padres "oldies but goodies" for me.

 

1973 Topps Fred Norman, Clay Kirby, Mike Caldwell, Fred Kendall, and Leron Lee. 1974 Topps Leron Lee and Dave Roberts. 1972 ToppsTom Phoebus and Johnny Jeter. He also had some hard-to-find Tony Gwynn Tek cards, as well.

 

 

There were still a couple of dealers at the show with the inevitable 5 cent and 10 cent boxes. So, I took the opportunity to load up on these 2011 Topps Heritage Minors  cards. Featured from the Lake Elsinore set are 3B Edinson Rincon, P Jerry Sullivan, P Matt Lollis, OF Reymond Fuentes, 3B Jedd Gyorko, SS Jeudy Valdez, and C Jason Hagerty.

 

There were still plenty of 2011 Topps Heritage Minors card for San Diego's affiliates, including Fort Wayne Tincaps cards of P Kevyvis Sampson and P Adys Portillo, San Antonio Missions cards of P Casey Kelly and OF Blake Tekotte, and a Tucson Padres card of P Simon Castro.

The last cards I'll feature in this post are the 2013 Bowman Draft Draft Picks Silver Ice Hunter Renfroe and Dustin Peterson and a 2014 Pacific Coast League Prospects Burch Smith.

While there may be a love/hate relationship with minor league cards, I've always liked them. For many players, it may be the only cardboard of their professional baseball career. Just imagine your grandkids finding your minor league cards in the attic one day, realizing that you DID actually play professional baseball. It's especially cool when that player goes on to more than just a cup of coffee in MLB. It's fun to see their young, impressionable expressions, especially since they have their entire career ahead of them.

Gwynn and other goodies from COMC

As most of you are aware, I hit up the COMC website on occasion and earn a few free cards through their COMC Challenges. I do them a favor by helping inventory their cards, and they repay my efforts by rewarding me with $1 towards cards for every 1,000 points I accumulate.  

 

While it's been a while since I've ordered cards from them, I've earned enough points/dollars that I was able to find 15 that I just felt I had to have for my personal collection.

 

Being the die-hard San Diego Padres fan that I am (this is "Bleedin' Brown and Gold" after all), I'll start out with the 10 Friars cards I picked up.

 

While rumors abound that Andrew Cashner is quite possibly on the Padres trading block, I thought he did a heck of job with San Diego. So, I picked up his 2013 Topps Tier One On the Rise Autographs S/N 340/399 and 2014 Bowman Blue S/N 14/500. I also found a card featuring the best mascot in MLB, San Diego's Swinging Friar, ala his 2007 Topps Opening Day Gold S/N 1761/2007.

 

At the September Urbandale American Legion card show, I had a dealer give me a great deal on Topps' 1974 "Washington Nat'l League" Padres cards. That year Topps included 15 cards 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 since it appeared that San Diego was going to be sold and moved. They also released those same cards with the regular San Diego title.

 

I was able to add the Fred Kendall and Dave Hilton Washington cards, as well as a Vicente Romo San Diego card.

 

Of course, any Padres baseball card collection is just a pile of cardboard, without the inclusion of "Mr. Padre," the late Tony Gwynn. Here's his 1994 Fleer All-Stars, 2013 Upper Deck National Convention and a 1999 Upper Deck PowerDeck Auxiliary. I thought it was rather nice (albeit belated) that MLB recognized Gwynn during the 2014 World Series.

 

My last Padres purchase was this 2008 Topps Heritage Black Back Trevor Hoffman. While I don't normally collect football, I've been a Packers fan since I was a wee lad and only pick up cards for players from the Lombardi era, so getting this 2001 Topps Gallery Bart Starr was a no-brainer.

 

Hockey is my only other card collecting vice. And yes, I am a hockey geek - we have season tickets for the Iowa Wild, help out as goal judge or statistician at Iowa State Club hockey games and I still occasionally play roller hockey. The first card, the 1993 Classic Pro Hockey Prospects Autograph Dmitri Kvartalnov S/N 3387/4000 combines my love for San Diego with my passion for hockey. We used to watch the Mariners play in the old World Hockey Association (WHA) at the San Diego Sports Arena, but have yet to catch a Gulls game. Once a semi-pro team, the Gulls are now a junior hockey team playing at the Ice Plex in Escondido.

 

My other hockey cards include a 2011-12 Panini Contenders Jonathan Toews, 2010-11 Zenith Crease is the Word Corey Crawford, and a 1996 Zenith Champion Salute Joe Sakic. I started collecting the Zenith cards about six months ago and already have half the set, including the hard-to-find Mario Lemieux card.

 

 



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.