Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Expanding the baseball playoffs?

Oh, sure, for several years now some people have been crying for an expanded playoff session for baseball.  Well, now it seems thing are moving beyond the talking phase.  Some players (and fans, and maybe even an owner or two) say that baseball has the lowest team-to-playoff percentage of all major professional sports.  Granted, it is a true statement.  Half the hockey teams and half the basketball teams make it to the playoffs.  "Only" eight baseball teams make it to the playoffs.

I am not in favor of expanded playoffs.  To me, the fact that so many teams make it in hockey os part of the reason I have become disenfranchised with NHL in general (though, yes, I will watch the Pens if they are on).  Frankly, why bother even watching the regular season if HALF the teams are going to be in the playoffs anyway?  Oh, and then the playoffs seem to last just as long as the regular season.  No thanks.

I'm not a baseball purist by any stretch (I am completely in favor of expanded instant replay), but I see no reason to stretch the playoffs any more than they already are.  Though, I suppose if they were expanded to include more teams, surely they would be reduced to best-of-three.  Please!!  Seriously, best-of-5 is bad.  Best-of-7 is ludicrous.  Frankly, I think it should be like football.  You have one game that decides it all.

Oh, I know, "But what if a team just has a bad day?"  Well, I say they picked the wrong day to have a bad one.  Sorry, boys. Better luck next year.

Thoughts?

BTW, more info: http://www.sportingnews.com/mlb/story/2010-10-26/baseball-union-would-consider-expanded-playoff-field

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Turfdiggers Tuesday

The Tribecards Turfdiggers continue their free fall to the bottom, dropping TWO spots this week to 5th place in the Super Secret League.  There is no doubt that pulling Darren McFadden was a crucial error in judgment by the manager.  He scored more points by himself than SIX active players on the team. The future of the Turfdiggers management could be in jeopardy.

The big question for the Turfdiggers is whether or not their manager can find the rhythm to stop the free fall.  Based on previous fantasy league records, it does not look good. 

Next week's game pits the team against the Gold Sox who are in 7th place.  They've won their last two whereas the Turfdiggers are now coming off their 4th loss in a row.  Will momentum for both teams continue?  Will the momentum shift?  The Turfdiggers are hoping for the latter.

The league-leading Red Grange Halls and the Florida Vikings (with records of 5-2-0 each) are both on a two-loss streak.  The TN Roadkill, Seymour Bengals, and Gold Sox are all on multi-win ladders.  Looks like things are starting to shake up and shake out in the Super Secret League. 

Monday, October 25, 2010

Nacho Mariner Mojo Monday






As I mentioned in a previous post or two, I joined the multi-box break over at Nachos Grande (http://fanofreds.blogspot.com).  I chose the Mariners since I was a late-comer to the party and the Tribe were long accounted for.  I contemplated the remaining teams and the approximate date of the boxes being opened and figured the Mariners would be a good bet, probably scoring a few Ichiro and Griffey Jr cards.  Well, turns out I was right to a certain degree.  Though this Bazooka was the only "mojo" in the Mariners section of the break, I ran away with 41 base cards and 15 inserts! 

Now, I just have to remember with whom I was trying to work a Mariners/Indians trade... Hmmm....

Sunday, October 24, 2010

Nightmares on Cardboard III is Closed... Swing and a miss for Tribecards

I wanted to participate.  I had several ideas floating through my head.  I even started a card for the Nightmares on Cardboard III contest being held at http://thorzul.blogspot.com.  I missed it.

I spent much of October's spare time fretting over my first-ever author appearance.  I wasted my time doing so, and thus missed yet ANOTHER year of Nightmares. Well, that gives me a year to concentrate and work on the 2011 contest (always assuming there will be a 'next time').

I hope the other entrants do well, and I'm looking forward to seeing this year's cards!

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

PunkRockPaint'd

(Note: The pictures uploaded in some weird reverse order or something, so the text does not quite match up.  I tried to fix it, but only made it worse...  I am blaming my watching of "1408" while I posted this as the reason.)

As mentioned in my post of the cards WhiteSoxCards sent me, Mr. Peterson (aka PunkRockPaint) also sent me a package that was truly packed with Tribecards.

There are more than 100 cards easy. I figured it would be fun to break each photo into a particular thought/idea. So, lets start off with an array of brands: Fleer Futures, Topps Archives, Topps, UD Masterpieces, Fleer Ultra, UD Starquest, Topps Chrome, Donruss Signature Series, Fleer Showcase Wave of the Future, Fleer Brilliants, Metal Skybox, Topps Allen & Ginter, UD SP Top Prospects, Donruss Regular, UD Ionix, Topps Gold Label, Topps Stadium Club, Fleer Regular, Bowman Chrome, Pinnacle Museum Collection, UD Diamond Collection, Donruss PressProof, Topps Turkey Red, UD Sweet Spot Classic. And, that's just in the first stack:

For the next group of cards, let's talk about players: Bob Feller, Ryan Drese, Travis Foley, Victor Martinez, Albert Belle, Casey Blake, Fason Beverlin, Russell Branyan, Paul Byrd, Sandy Alomar Jr, Roberto Alomar, Jaret Wright, David Huff, Tom Brookens, Manny Ramirez, Frank Robinson, Cory Snyder, David Winfield, Tim Drew, Roger Maris, Eddie Murray, Ryan Mulhern, Orel Hershiser, Satchel Paige, Nathan Panther. Again, those are just the guys in the second stack:

Let's talk about the "mojo" factor, since this next stack (er, I hope, since I am typing this without knowing which images are really being shown where as I write) has a couple worth noting: Fleer Showcase Sticks Game-Used Bat from Roberto Alomar, Fleer Premium International Pride Game-worn jersey of Ivan Gonzalez. Other stacks have serially numbered cards, limited parallels, etc.

How about die-cuts, autographs, and such? SP Marquee Matchups, Donruss X-Ponential Power, UD PowerDeck CD, Pacific Christmas Ornament, Fleer E-XL Legion of Boom, Fleer eX E-Xciting, UD UR2K Blue 2353/3500, UD UR2K silver 150/250, UD Authentic Memorabilia Game-Used CC Sabathia Jersey, Bowman Signs of the Future Trevor Crowe and Adam Miller. A great mix of unique cards!

And how about some of the greatest names to have donned a Tribe uniform? Jim Thome, David Justice, Bartolo Colon, Manny Ramirez, Omar Vizquel, Early Wynn, Leon Wagner, Lou Boudreau, Bob Feller, Stan Coveleski, Kerry Wood, Tris Speaker, Joe Carter, Larry Doby, Travis Hafner, Grady Sizemore, and more!

And last but no way least, here are more Indians cards of random greatness:

There are GREAT cards in here!! I can't tell you how much I appreciate this package of cardboard collectible goodness!!

THANK YOU, Travis!!

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Turfdiggers Tuesday

The Tribecards Turfdiggers solidified their 3rd place standing with another loss this week.  That put the Turfdiggers at 3-3-0 and 3 straight losses.

I opted to put Chris Cooley in at TE instead of Tony Gonzalez and that single move not only cost me the match-up this week, but also cost me the high points earner spot.  I really can't complain too loudly since I am usually hovering somewhere near the bottom instead of the top.  At least Manning put on a good show for me this past week.

The Colts have a bye in the next week, so this will be my first foray into the world of Orton.  Let's hope things work out well for the Turfdiggers.  Of course, it also means Addai is going to sitting at home enjoying the weekend off.  I hope my alternates can pull up the slack in Week 7 against the Stumbling Blox.

The Stumbling Blox, TN Roadkill and Tribecards Turfdiggers all share third place with records of 3-3-0.  Perhaps "solidified" my place in third was a misnomer.  The Red Grange Halls and Florida Vikings share the lead with records of 5-1-0 each.

I'm not sure how things will pair up against the Blox, since they haven't disclosed their final starting players yet.  We'll just have to wait and see.

Sunday, October 17, 2010

Gift Pack cards from WhiteSoxCards

A while ago, I received a gift pack of cards from Steve over at WhiteSoxCards. I finally got a chance to snap a couple of pics of the cards to post on here. No fretting, Mr. Peterson, your gift pack will be posted soon!

Steve went all out here!  There are cards back to the early 70's and up to this year's offering!  He even threw in a Wedge card (who has moved across the country to Seattle, I understand) along with Acta, Sizemore, Pronk, a Sportflics Cory Snyder and more!  The 1970 Topps features Sam McDoweel, Mickey Lolich and Andy Messermisth.  There's also a 1973 Jack Heidemann thrown in for good measure!  I am also enjoying the "logoless" 2010 UD cards. 

Here, we've got some more great Tribe cards!  I love all the Classic brand cards!  Are you old enough to remember the 90's when licensing was handed out to anyone and everyone that wanted to make cards?  Ah, the good ol' days!  Lots of good stuff - how can you go wrong with a Slider card!?

Again, thank you so much, Steve!  I appreciate this so much!

Friday, October 15, 2010

What I've Been Doing

I am at a training in Conway, Arkansas, so my card-related posting is a bit 'off' for the week.  In the meantime, I have been watching the breaks over at Nachos Grande - mainly because I'm in for Mariners since the Tribe were taken.  Plus, I figured I'd score a few Ichiros and Juniors.  Turns out I also scored a game-used Bazooka. Nice!  Check it out: http://fanofreds.blogspot.com/

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Turfdiggers Tuesday

For the second week in a row, the Tribecards Turfdiggers suffered a loss.  That is the polite way of saying, "The Turfdiggers scored the fewest number of points in the league this week."  The team was riddled with last-minute injury changes.  Darren McFadden and Steve Smith were essentially questionable up until game day.  Add to that the Steelers' bye week (the Turfdiggers have two of the 'burgh boys), and the picture starts to become clear.  Of course, those factors do not tell the whole story this week.  The final nail in the coffin comes in the way of Peyton Manning's mediocre (at best) performance.  I debated back and forth about keeping Manning in or swapping him out for my other QB, Kyle Orton.  In the end, Orton scored 18+ points while Manning fell short of 3 points.

Because of the bye week and McFadden's gameday removal from the lineup, I had ZERO points in the RB position.  That is never a good thing.  The other disappointment comes in the way of McCluster, who seems to have a great week followed by a collapse followed by a great week.  This was his off week, mustering up a measly 0.90 points.  Also because of the bye week, I used my alternate defense (San Diego) which was essentially a joke.

Meanwhile, the superstar team of the week were the Seymour Bengals, who racked up nearly 95 points this week!  Great job!  The Gold Sox, unfortunately, have yet to find a winning combination and remain at the bottom in the league at 0-5. 

The Turfdiggers fall to 3-2 with 354.53 points, putting them in 3rd place because of their win/loss record, but they remain in 2nd place in points (leading league 2nd place team Florida Vikings by just .92).  The Red Grange Halls continue their domination of the league with a record of 5-0 and 409.53 points.

What's ahead in Week 6?  The return of the Steelers along with Big Ben should help boost Hines Ward's stats.  The Turfdiggers face the East TN Roadkill and the match is projected to be a close one.  The big question is which QB to put in.  Do I keep Manning or do I switch to Orton?  I haven't made up my mind yet.  We'll just have to wait and see.

Monday, October 11, 2010

Mojo Monday

This week's mojo is an extension of last week's in that it also comes from Steve over at WhiteSoxCards!  I don't know what constitutes 'mojo' for most folks, but for me, it means anything that is game-used, autographed or serially numbered.  Sometimes, if the card is the only one in a subset/parallel, then that could be considered pretty mojo-esque as well.

Tonight, though, I present a serially numbered Grady Sizemore Moments & Milestones Silver (serial #122/160).  The card represents Sizemore's 22 home runs and 22 stolen bases in 2005:

Sunday, October 10, 2010

1010, statistically speaking in baseball

Well, since today is "42 Day" (that is, 10/10/10 in binary being 101010 which translates to 42 in decimal), I thought it would be fun to look up some stats related to 1,010.  And here they are for your "enjoyment:"

Roberto Hernandez pitched in 1,010 games in his career.
Woody Fryman gave up 1,010 earned runs during his career.
In 1931, Carl Hubbard had 1,010 BFP's (Batters Faced by Pitcher).
In 1987, Mike Scott had 1,010 BFP's.
Jim O'Rourke had 1,010 RBI's in his career.
In 1974, Don Gullet had 1,010 BFP's.
Frank Baumholtz had 1,010 hits in his career.
Jim Lemon batted in 1,010 games in his career.
In 1997, Jeff Fassero faced 1,010 batters.
In 1983, Shane Rawley had 1,010 BFPs.
In 1963, Jim Maloney had 1,010 BFPs.
Jimmy Key gave up 1,010 earned runs in his career.
In 1983, Tommy John faced 1,010 batters.
John Smoltz committed 1,010 base-on-balls in his career.
In 2008, Kevin Youkilis had 1,010 CH (I tried to find out what CH means, but came up empty - anyone?)
1994, Mark Grace had 1,010 Total Chances (TCs).
Willie McGee score 1,010 runs in his career.
In 1963, Tim Harkness had 1,010 total chances.
In 1957, Moe Drabowsky had 1,010 BFPs (I know the girls at Dinged Corners will appreciate that)
In 1993, JT Snow had 1010 Put Outs
Al Leiter gave up 1010 earned runs during his career.
In 1982, Ray Knight had 1010 total chances.
In 1928, Dolf Luque had 1010 BFPs
In 1915, Rube Foster faced 1010 batters
As of 10/10/10, Aaron Rowand had 1010 games started in his career.
Bernie Carbo batted in 1010 games.
Al Fitzmorris face 1010 batters in 1975.
Dave Pagan faced 1010 batters in his career.
Alan Ashby had 1010 hits throughout his career.
In 2002, Brad Asmus had 1010 total chances.
Ed Sprague had 1010 hits in his career.
Randy Milligan had 1010 CHs in 1991.
Ted Abernathy recorded 1010 holds in his career.
In 1973, the California Angels had 1010 Strikeouts total.
As of 10/10/10, Adam Dunn had batted in 1010 games.
Eric Hillman had 1010 BFPs in his career.
Geronimo Pena had 1010 at-bats during his career.
Joe McClain had 1010 BFPs in his career.
Steve Renko walked 1010 batters on balls throughout his career.
Carl Mays recorded 1010 outs in 1921
In 1954, Robin Roberts recorded 1010 outs
Johnnie LeMaster played the field in 1010 games over the course of his career
Walter Johnson recorded 1010 outs in 1915 for the Senators
Elbie Fletcher recorded 1010 put-outs in 1939
Adolfo Phillips had 1010 put-outs during his career
Debs Garms played in 1010 games throughout his career
In 1911, Lew Richie had 1010 BFPs
Cy Barger recorded 1010 Holds throughout this career.
Woody Williams had 1010 assists in his career.
Jack Coombs recorded 1010 outs in 1911
Arthur Irwin had 1010 hits during his career
Julio Moreno recorded 1010 outs as a pitcher in his career
Sun Woo Kim also recorded 1010 outs as a pitcher in his career
Dave Fultz had 1010 total chances in his career
Pete O'Brien had 1010 CHs in his career
Jack Warner also had 1010 CHs during his career
Joe Dolan had 1010 Assists in his career
Through 2007, the Reds had lost 1,010 times against the Dodgers.

*Note all these stats are from www.Baseball-Almanac.com, and were posted on that site as of 10/10/10.

Friday, October 8, 2010

Cloudy with a Chance of Tribecards


When I got home from work today, my daughter met me at the door with a "poster" she had made.  On the back, it says, "Cloudy with a chance of cards."  On the front? Well, as you can see, there are TRIBECARDS falling from the sky!!  My daughter sure knows how to put a smile on the face of her old man! (You will notice she even put my hair only on the sides of my head.  Thus, she also knows how to keep her old man humble!)

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Turfdiggers Tuesday

The Tribecards Turfdiggers (much like the boys from the 'burgh) suffered their first loss of the season, falling to 3-1-0 after getting beaten by the other undefeated team, The Red Grange Halls.

The Turfdiggers scored 68.94 points this week.  The Halls scored 74.92.  The difference is just 5.98 points.  How big of a deal is that?  If the Turfdiggers had put in Cooley (Was - TE), they would currently hold the only undefeated seat in the league.  Cooley scored 7.85 points on Sunday.  Instead, the Turfdiggers held on to Hines Ward (Pit) (.70 points) and Santana Moss (Was) (.25 points).  The decision not to play Cooley was a tough one.  I figured Moss was going to be a no-brainer while Ward was a tougher decision.  I knew he would not get many touches since the Steelers were too busy running the ball (thus Mendenhall's great season thus far), but I figured he would get more since Big Ben would be heading up the next Steelers game.  It's a critical error that booted me out of the top spot.

Overall, the points separation is tight.  Only 11.11 points keep the Halls and Turfdiggers apart (well, and the fact that the Halls are undefeated).  When we look at the 3rd and 4th place battle, the Florida Vikings trail the East TN Roadkill by just 5.78 points.  The Vikings have a better record (coming UP to the same 3-1-0 record as the Turfdiggers), and thus hold the third place slot after Week Four.

I had planned to pick up Ben after the games on Sunday and forgot!  Instead, the Roadkill snagged him up.  Since I have Manning, I wasn't necessarily going to play Ben, butmainly keep anyone else from getting him. Ooops. Ah well.

Looking ahead, the Turfdiggers face the Vikings in Week 5.  Once again, we have a "one must fall" situation.  The Steelers have a BYE in Week 5, so this will be a nailbiter for the Turfdiggers.  According to the Yahoo! match-up, it is going to be a close game for the 'diggers and the Vikings.

Let's hope I can pull off a win!  Or did week four begin the annual descent into fantasy football oblivion?

Monday, October 4, 2010

Mojo Monday - WhiteSoxCards Edition

You may recall, about a week ago I received a package from Steve over at WhiteSoxCards. Well, one of the items included was the #/5 limited custom blog-worn jersey card! Wahoo!! I got 3/5, and I have to say, this thing is very cool! Sorry for the bad pic, but the lighting in my living room doesn't fair too well for Photo Booth on my MacBook. Nonetheless, as you can see this card ROCKS!

And, since it has a blog-worn jersey cut from a Led Zeppelin shirt, it REALLY ROCKS!! Man, this a great gift!!  It's even an autographed, blog-worn card!  Thanks a TON, Steve!!

wRappers Finish 8th

In the "Card Collector's" league, the consolation games are over, and the Bums and wRappers ended up tied, splitting the score 5/5.  Favor goes to the Bums, however, so they took 7th place and the Tribecards wRappers end the season in 8th place.  While this might sadden, frustrate or even anger other managers, I am happy just not to be in last place this year (as I have been in the past).

If invited next season, I hope the wRappers will continue to show improvement.  The major difference this season was NOT picking only/mainly Indians players for the fantasy team.  While it may seem against the general idea of who I like to root for, the simple fact is that variety is the key.  Well, that and picking the right players to begin with.  I'll work on that for next year.

In the meantime, congrats to the Aniballers for winning the whole shebang!

Sunday, October 3, 2010

Nightmares on Cardboard III is open! Wahoo!


Oh, yeah!!  Okay, folks, Thorzul has officially opened the gates to his annual horror-based baseball card contest!  This year, the only "rule" seems to be that the card must be based on a design of Topps between 1970-1990.  Anything else goes.  Sweet!

Here are the gory deets: http://thorzul.blogspot.com/2010/10/its-october-and-that-means-its-time-for.html

Hackenbush Holds Convoluted Contest

David over at "Can't Have Too Many Cards" is holding one of the more convoluted contests I've seen in a while - and it's worth checking out!

In honor of his 500th post (a milestone in any blogger's life, I don't care who you are!), he is giving away over 300 cards, including some sweet rookies and Hall of Famers.  The easiest entries come about in the form of leaving a comment on his contest post (link below) and posting a link to the contest.

From there, it takes a serious curve and participants can try to guess which kid he is in an old school photo, how many of his friends' names he remembers, and what year the pic was taken for additional entries. 

This sounds like a contest I would have!  Excellent fun!  Here's how you get there:
http://canthavetoomanycards.blogspot.com/2010/10/hackenbushs-500th-post-contest.html