Dimwit Does (w)Right

Okay, so between my scanner and my own inability to read filenames, the pictures in this post are actually in something of a random order.  Go figure, and welcome to my world.  You know, the world in which I am supposedly some kind of "tech geek" yet can't quite figure out the technology I use almost every single day?  Yeah, that's me.

Alas, I digress, as I often do.  Sam, over at TheDailyDimwit held a group break recently in which participants got to pick a team (three guesses as to which one I picked) and then were assigned a team at random.  My random team was the Mets.  And, I have to say that if I were a Mets fan, I would have done pretty well by this break.  As it is, I am an Indians fan, and I did VERY well (as you will see later, since the Tribe cards actually ended up at the end of the post - see above regarding technical aptitude).

So, what's up with the post title?  How about more David Wright cards than you can shake a stick at.  Well, okay, maybe not.  I suppose it would depend on just how large the stick was, and if, in fact, you were holding it in order to shake it.  But, it appeared that every other card was a Wright (in retrospect, there are four. Maybe I need some more caffeine).

The first cards here are 2009 Upper Deck Piece of History.  We've got Santana, Parnell, and Wright.  I like the design of these in that they appear to have marble borders. Classy with a touch of gold-ish trim around the player.  I miss Upper Deck baseball.

Next up, Niese, Niese, and a "Cut from the Same Cloth #02/25) Martinez and Santana.  Okay, so one of you gets to tell me why the second Niese card is more tan than grey.  I assume it is a parallel of some kind and I am too lazy to look it up.  Well, I did look at a list from UD, but still didn't see anything that explains what it is. 

The next cards from the 2007 Upper Deck "MLB Artifacts" set.  These feature Reyes, Beltran, and Wright.  I know these are supposed to look like they have some kind of dark marble or something on the border, but to me they look like Cocoa Pebbles or Archway Holiday Cookies.  Then again, maybe I'm just hungry.

Phil Humber rounds out the last of the Mets Artifacts cards.  Now we switch to  2009 UD SP Authentic Baseball.  Here you see Reyes and Delgado.  The cards are crisp white with colorful accents.  I think they could have trimmed the borders a bit and made the photos bigger.

More SP Authentic include Santana, Wright, and Beltran.

Sheffield finishes out the regular Authentic cards, which leads us to the final David Wright card in the pot:  SP Authentic Faces of the Game.  Now, THAT'S a card!  I love close up shots of the players.  What a great idea for a subset!  The last card in this trio is a UD 20th Anniversary Retrospective of... the Wilkins Ice Shelf.  More to the point: "Global Warming" and the ice shelf.

Ah, and now that the Mets are out of the way, we can get to the real reason you came: MOJO!  The "hit" of the break for Indians comes in the form of a 2009 UD SP Authentic "By The Letter" manufactured patch card of Trevor Crowe.  It's autographed to boot!  And, it is the letter "H."  H?  Let's see, and it is yellow.  A yellow H?  I dunno man, I just collect 'em.  The next two are from "A Piece of History" and feature Victor Martinez and Scott Lewis.  For whatever reason, when I saw this, I thought of Mark Lewis from Tribe days gone by.  I don't know why that should be.

Next up, a couple of Grady's - "A Piece of History" and a "MLB Artifacts."  Add to that a V-Mart to round out the triplet.

In the SP Authentic break, I received Choo and Sizemore.  I love the Sizemore card.  It seems as though the ball is just off the card and he is determined to snag that puppy at any moment!

The final card in the break is neither a Mets nor an Indians card.  Rather, it is the "Disasta Named NAFTA:"*

I have to say a big THANK YOU to Sam for hosting this break! 

*For the record, I don't know if NAFTA is a disaster or not. It rhymed. It sounded funny to say. Save all the political arguments and justifications for your local tavern.

I sought, I bought, I'm OK With It

I ran into Wal-Mart the other day to pick up a few things (which I don't even recall right now), and stopped to look through the cards.

I saw Topps Lineage "bonus" packs hanging there in front of me.  My first thought: "Since when does 'BONUS' mean a total of 14 cards!?"  Me next thought: "Okay, I'll bite."

I picked a couple packs off the hanger and noticed something... If you press the wrapper against the cards, you can make out at least one card on the front and one on the back.  I sought.

Yeah, that's right, I became a pack searcher.  Though, probably not for what most searchers would be seeking. Was I looking for some telltale sign of autographs or swatches?  Nope.  I was looking for Indians logos.  And, sure enough, one of the packs featured a ghostly Chief Wahoo peeking through the white wrapper.  I bought.

Yeah, that's right, I bought it.  I didn't even stop to look for other Indians-filled packs, either. I found one and ran for the hills... er, checkout.  (Digression: For those that immediately thought of another discount department store when you saw the word "hills," I applaud you.  Does Hills even exist anymore? Man, we used to go there all the time when I lived in the 'Burgh.  Okay, digression over.)

The card I saw on the back, by the way, was some guy named "Cobb."  Ever heard of him? Yeah, I thought you might have.  In any case, packs with memorabilia have 12 cards in them instead of 14.  My pack had 14. So, you know I did not come up with the chicken dinner. (Digression: "winner, winner! Chicken dinner!"  Though I've never understood just why the winner was getting a chicken dinner.  Granted, not too many other dinners would scan in the rhyme... Digression over.)

So, what *DID* I pull?  Let's take a look:

Lou Gehrig, Mike Schmidt, and Lance Berkman.  Wow! Not a bad way to start a pack of cards.  Speaking of cards, I absolutely love the design of these.  They remind me of some older set that I cannot quite place and yet feel totally modern.  Excellent work, Topps.

Next up: Ryan Braun, Paul O'Neill, and Vernon Wells.  The Braun card is written in Spanish on the back (#TV20).  I have not done any checking to see just what that's all about.  I opted to show the back of the Wells card, so you could see what it looks like in case you hadn't seen one of these yet.  Again, I love the design - brightly colored, big spot for name/info, and a neat paragraph to go with it.

The last card in the first half is Michael Pineda.  Sorry, but I have no idea who he is. Carlos Santana was the top card in the bottom of the blister pack, and it was his helmet that I could make out the logo.  He was the reason I bought the pack. Not too shabby!  Adam Wainwright followed.

Then, we have Roy Oswalt, Gordon Beckham, and Shin-Soo Choo.  Am I the only one that thinks Oswalt looks weird in anything but an Astros uniform?  Probably. How awesome that this bonus pack had TWO Indians players in it!? Wahoo!!

The last two cards (since my pack was not a dinner-procuring pack) were Chipper Jones and Ty Cobb.  Not a bad way to end the pack at all!  Great start and a nice finish with two Tribers sandwiched in between!

Overall, as I said, I love the design of these Lineage cards.  The photos tend to be a tad saturated, but I can't help wonder if that is intentional.  If not, it works anyway.  If it was intentional, then it works as intended.

Night Owl strikes again!

When I got from work the other day, I found a bubbleope on the island in the kitchen.  Inside were cool cards from Night Owl himself!

First up, we have 2011 Topps Opening Day Carlos Santana.  I love the vibrant green against the dirt here. Photography classes will tell you to "never" take a picture such that the image is divided in half (vertically or horizontally).  Of course, one can really say "never" - especially when one wants the effect intentionally:

He also included a couple Sizemore cards: a 2011 Opening Day and a 2011 Bowman.  Each card features one of his characteristics - hitting and fielding, respectively - that is, when he isn't sidelined by injury:

Next up a 2011 Topps Heritage "Rookie Parade" featuring two tribers: Josh Tomlin and Jeanmar Gomez.  He also sent a 2011 Allen and Ginter Shin-Soo Choo!  I actually like these A&G's a lot this year.  i like the team logo in the lower corner. Nice effect:

Lou Mason comes to us on another 2011 Topps Heritage, plus we have a 1983 Fleer "Big Chiefs" card with Toby Harrah and Andre Thornon! I loved these 'inserts' as a kid. Well, I suppose by '83, I was a bit bigger than a kid.  The next card is a 1990 Topps Traded Carlos Baerga:

The Indians card fun doesn't stop there, either!  How about a 2009 UD O-Pee-Chee Scott Lewis, a 1989 Classic Greg Swindell, and a 2008 Topps Heritage Kelly Shoppach.  The Shoppach card is the same I used a couple years ago for a "custom" version I made (see below):

And now, for the team-collector's conundrum. Do you, as a team collector, add cards to your collection where the player is in a team uni but listed with another team (or in which the player is in another uni but listed with the team you collect)?  I am adding this to my collection if I don't already have it: 2009 UD Spectrum CC Sabathia.  Night owl threw in a "Sarge" Connally from the Conlon Collection, too:

The last two cards feature a 1994 Fleer Charles Nagy and a 2009 Topps Historical Commemorative Patch card of Duke Snider with the 1954 All-Star game patch:

A **HUGE** thank you goes out to Night Owl for these cool cards, and a trip down custom card memory lane to boot!  That is a bonus in my book. Thanks again!

*The custom Shoppach card was posted in 2009: http://www.tribecards.net/2009/02/ultimate-utility-player-for-madding.html

I'm Redeemed in the Choo Crew

Some time ago, I received my "loot" from the Cardboard Problem T206 break.  One of my items was a redemption for an autographed Shin-Soo Choo card.  According to the site, I would receive the card no later than December 21, 2010.  They were right!  It came in the mail *today!* Wahoo!

Big League Choo!

Shin-Soo Choo is batting .350 on the season so far with an OBP of .500.  He's averaging an RBI per game (12 games, 12 RBIs as of today).  He's also got 14 hits, 10 runs, 3 triples and 4 homers.  Oh, he's also stolen a base or three for good measure.  In a season where the fans are furious with management, dissatisfied in general with the club, and trading seats for packs of cards (okay I made that up), it's nice to see a shining star peeking through the clouds.

*For the record, my Paint skills are no where near those of PRP, especially on the MacBook.