Babe Ruth 1/1

Found this as I was snooping about on the interwebs today.

Man, that is one nice card.  I cannot even imagine the value on that thing.  

Just thought you all might want to take a gander at this little beauty.

Anyone Want To Buy A David Ortiz Sweetspot?

Now, this isn't particularly a blog about the day-to-day goings on within the world of baseball.  However, I believe it is important to note, and tip our caps to, the Boston Red Sox...this year's World Series Champion.

The Sox beat the Cardinals four games to two in the best of seven.  St Louis just looked overmatched, to me.  It was nice to see some of the young guns of the Cards, though.  Wacha looked pretty good the entire postseason.  There is just a gaping hole at shortstop in St. Louis.  The management there will surely fill this need in the offseason.

So, another series down and another hot stove league warming up.

Oh yeah.  David Freakin' Ortiz hit over .700 during the series.  Can you believe that crap?  Amazing.  The guy was locked on the whole way.  Ortiz is the engine that drives that team in Boston.  How many more years does the big guy have left?

I'm just glad I picked up a Steiner David Ortiz SS a few years ago on a steal.  Yes, a steal from Steiner. You just have to be lucky and shrewd to find them.

Sweet Deal Alert

The good folks at Mill Creek Sports have put up a great deal on their "Specials" page.

Stan Musial.  Sweet spot Rawlings Official Major League baseball.  Free shipping and certified by PSA/DNA.  

Mill Creek Sports is legit.  This might be too good of a deal to pass up.  Just thought I would let you know!

2013 Bowman Chrome

So, I let this release pass me by because I had been so low on cash.  But, I felt it was time to dig into the ol' pocketbook for some spare change and buy a few packs.  I bought four.

There are only four (fuckin' FOUR) cards in every pack.  What a ripoff.  Good thing this is an excellent product with high resale value on the cards.  Otherwise, you could feel real cheated.

I'm not going to go off into particulars on this product.  Look it up.  There are tons of great hits in the Bowman Chrome, for sure.

So, here's how I did.  I will list them all because I didn't get that many cards.  Four in a pack?  Come on Topps, don't do me like that.

Jimmy Nelson, Torii Hunter refractor, Luis Merejo, Mike Trout, R. Zimmerman, Tzu-Wei Lin, Carlos Tocci auto, Ian Kennedy, Gerrit Cole rc, Erik Johnson, Mauricio Cabrera, Jose Reyes, Rob Brantly, Jake Lamb, Tyler Heineman blue refractor, Saxon Butler.

So, out of sixteen cards I got a low-level auto and a blue.  I guess I shouldn't be too despondent over this buy.  But, I am.

Four per pack?  Fuck me.

2013 Panini Hometown Heroes

It's been awhile.  Sorry about that.

Anyway, I was in the LCS a week ago and was looking for something new to tell you all about.  I ran across this Panini product I had never heard of called Hometown Heroes.  So, I bought a jumbo pack to give you all the scoop.

First, the basics.  There are 300 cards in the set, overall.  With the last 60 being short prints.  So, very doable for the set collector guy (or gal).  There are a few, not overly many, insert sets in here as well.  Not too bad.  Panini didn't over do the inserts...which is nice.  And, they brought back the discs.  You know, the little round guys.  I like 'em.

There looks to be a good mix of autographs in the product.  Old timers and new, there is a little of both.  Myers, Profar, Bundy all line up with Clemens, Ryan, and Molitor in the auto department.  So, a good mix is good for the soul.

The cards themselves look vintage.  Which avid (or casual) readers of the blog know that I like.  They seem like they'd be good to have signed, whether you are an in-person or ttm collector.  So, props for that Panini.

No logos, of course.  This is a Panini product, after all.

Overall, I'd say go for the Hometown Heroes of baseball.  It's a nice little side-set to collect while you are waiting for your Topps or Bowman to come through.

My pack contained whole mess of commons (did I mention they only make the product in jumbos?), a Hyun Jin Ryu disc, a Victorino Nicknames  card, and a Pete Rose curtain call.  No biggies but there were stars in the commons.

Trending Up: Sonny Gray

Hey, it's a trending up that isn't a Tampa Bay Rays player!  But, seriously, A's pitcher Sonny Gray could be one of those guys that is really flying under the radar of collectors.  He's only been with the big club for a little over two months, has only made ten regular season starts, and he pitches out west.  These are a recipe for an under-the-radar collecting prospect.

Could Gray be great?  Likely not.  But, he will probably be a serviceable number two or three starter in the majors for many years to come.  Is his autograph going to be worth hundreds?  Likely not.  I'm thinking more in the ten to twenty five dollar range.  But, now is the time to buy...remember what I always say:

"Buy Low, Motherf**ker!"

Right now on the eBay I can find Gray signed items for:

1. Fifty bucks for a sweetspot baseball.
2. Eight to twelve bucks for a low level certified card.
3. Upwards of a hundred  for a scarce signed rookie.
4. Five bucks for in-person signed cards.

That card is probably still for sale on Check Out My Cards (comc.com).  That site is awful.  It used to be great, had a great interface and was really easy to use.  Now...not so much.  Go back to the old format comc!