Tradeaway #2: Two Duffys and a Duncan

I have no idea why the goofy scan saved as a GIF, let alone why it is sooooo small... Yeesh. Guess that's what I get for blowing away Windows yesterday to reinstall everything... I digress.

Tradeaway #2 comes from Bart in Missouri!

Getting: 1975 Topps Frank Duffy, 1975 David Duncan, and a 1976 Frank Duffy.
Giving: Dan Uggla (Red), Aaron Rowand (Red), Ramon Hernandez (Green)

First of all, this trade adds ANOTHER "David" into the mix. I'm telling you, there are strange things afoot at the Circle K...

Frank Duffy always reminds me of Clint Eastwood in Clint's very young days. No, I have no idea why. Though, perhaps it is some other actor I'm thinking of, or perhaps just some figment of my imagination altogether! Remarkably, both Duffys come with "customization." The '75 has a "B" written in ballpoint pen in the upper left corner of the back, and the '76 has something written VERY lightly in pencil across the back.It's hard to say if some youngster was practicing forging Frank's autograph or if it just some random doodle of a yet-to-be-discovered Rembrandt. His claim to fame on the back of the '75 is that in 1972, he hit .330 in September, going 30 for 91. Is it just me, or does that not say a lot when your "fast fact" is a stat from three years ago?

Dave Duncan also sports some "customization." On the back of his card, there is a "B" but it is located mid-center on the left side at the top. When the Duffy and the Duncan sit atop each other, I envision a stack of 1975 Topps, all with "B"s on them, arranged in such a way that should the bearer of the stack flip the cards rapidly, the "B" would make its way from one side to the other in classic flip-animation form... :-) Dave's claim to fame is his '72 World Series pick-off of Joe Morgan. Again, three years earlier. How many other Tribers saw their peaks in '72?

As for the Goudeys, Rowand looks like he just might whack you with that bat he's holding. Uggla looks like he is trying so hard to pose that he comes off appearing extremely constipated. Hernandez looks like he is willing to use his bat to defend himself against Rowand's attack, but really, he'd rather talk it out first...

Sidebar: Bart's box number is 122C, which by any other count seems harmless. However, before Emergency 911 service in our area, my box number was 221C... That's kinda cool. But, add to that, Bart's city is Rich Hill, MO. Growing up in Western PA, I went to school with a guy named Rich Hill... Yeah, I know, it's a lot like the whole Kennedy/Lincoln thing - some people will the connections, while others will simply shake their heads, smile, and wait for their cards... :-)

Tribe Tradeaway #1 and a question answered

My very first Tribe Tradeaway comes from David in Ohio! Before I get into descriptions, I just wanted to say that not since the days of "Kids in the Hall" have I seen so many "Daves" in one place! David A sends cards to David H, and in return, he receives not one but TWO randomly drawn Davids... That is just weird....

Getting: 1977 Topps Jim Kern and 1977 Topps Duane Kuiper
Giving: 2007 Goudey David Wright (Red Back) and 2007 Goudey David Eckstein (Red Back)

It appears that Jim Kern could have been foreshadowing the "Billy Ripken incident," though instead of a curse word, Kern simply has his name on his glove. I am curious as to why he would feel as if he HAD to have his name on there at all... Then again, perhaps, when his Mom heard that he was in the bigs, she made him put his name on everything... "Just in case." The back of the Kern card is where things really shine, though! Get a load of that gum spot! I feel sorry for the kid that had to peel the card away from the gum, though he/she did a good job not to take any of the paper backing with the gum!

Mr. Kuiper demonstrates the "perfect" batting pose. Not "stance" mind you, but "pose." To be more honest than I need to be, I am going to admit that for the longest time, I had mispronounced Kuipe's name. My version was something not quite resembling "cue-ooper." In fact, when I finally did his hear name, it took me a while to connect that name with this player! Well, it's a funny story in MY head, anyway... As for the backs of the 1977 Topps, I kinda like the "billboard" design. It conjures up mental pictures of teams traveling along the highway, reading the signs as if they were Burma-Shave ads... "Duane tied" ... "for Tribe club record" ... "with 19 stolen bases" ... "in 90 games" ... "1975" ... Talk about your close shaves!

I decided that since this was the first tradeaway, I would try my best to honor the request enclosed on the accompanying note. However, since I don't have any duplicate Indians Goudey cards, I am enclosing a "surprise" card with this trade. Hopefully, it will be one David A does not already have. :-)

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To answer a question posed to my last post regarding my eBay purchases:

The 1995 Classic Phone Cards were actually bought on eBay when I kinda 'stumbled' onto them. I was looking for something else (and now cannot recall just what), when I came across a seller offering three unopened, sealed boxes of the phone cards. I did a quick check in some of the guides I had, and decided that I would snag them up for the Indians I could get out of them. I held on to the other cards until they were simply taking up more space than I cared to provide for them, so I decided to sell them on eBay for whatever I could get. :-)

The other lots that I have purchased recently are about 6000 cards in each lot. Based on the listing, I have a good handle on what I'm getting, though I also realize that when I buy lots in that size, there will be commons and such, too. I am by no means a dealer myself, at least not a professional one. I would eventually like to become one, so that's probably where my random "big lot" purchases come into play. I have bid on 50,000 and 100,000 card lots as well, but those quickly grow way out of my price range... :-)

Now, because I collect Tribe cards almost exclusively, I do often buy large lots of Indians-only cards because I have found that I can usually find little nuggets in those that I cannot seem to locate by other means. Much to my wife's chagrin, though, it means I have boxes and boxes (ad infinitum) of duplicate Indians cards stacked in the closet (or next to the computer).

Now You Know... :-)

1995 Classic Phone Cards

As I mentioned earlier, I have been selling 1995 Classic Phone Cards on eBay. Some are doing/have done pretty well (Travis Fryman went for more than $40). Others don't sell at all. Oh well, nature of the beast. Aside from sales-related conversation, I think the idea of baseball card-like phone cards is pretty cool. Plus, I'm sure it gave Classic a new use for the tons of photos they WEREN'T using on their trading cards.

There are five Tribe Phone Cards, and I have three of them: Manny Ramirez, Kenny Lofton, and Eddie Murray. I am missing the Carlos Baerga and Albert Belle. In all honesty, I have not put much effort lately into completing the set, but I will take up that challenge once I get through my latest purchases (a couple of "dealer went out of business" lots).

As for the cards I do have, I debated long and hard with myself (mainly because I am the only one that will listen when I start talking cards) whether or not to break the cards away from their factory hanging stock. Ultimately, I decided to open up the cards and let them join their brethren in my binders. Okay, yeah, I have pocket pages that would have accommodated the whole thing, but ever since watching "Toy Story" many moons ago, I just have an uneasy feeling about leaving things in their "original boxes" as it were... My cards are not meant to be museum pieces, necessarily. I do put them in pocket pages, and you can bet your butt I am not about to let my five year old handle my 1909 T206's, but just the fact that they aren't "all wrapped up" and that, at least for a little while, they were held "in hand" brings out what card collecting was always "supposed" to be.

Edited: In the giving spirit (The Trippin Tribe Tradeaway)

11/24/2007 - I have had a couple people email me and tell me they do not have any vintage Indians cards, nor do they have oddball Triber cards, but they would still like to participate in the Tradeaway. Well, I am not one to prevent folks from the season of sharing, so I am amending the "rules" a bit.

I am a big fan of "Tipton" cards (What's a Tipton!?). So, if you have any "Tiptons, (from ANY team/player)" I will gladly accept those in trade for 2007 Goudeys in my Tradeaway. What's that? You don't have any Tiptons either? How about ANY baseball oddball card(s)/item(s) you may have laying around?

If you are still not able to come up with a viable trade, email me and we'll figure something out! :-) After all, this is the season of giving!

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In the spirit of other sites which have started giving away cards for other cards, I have decided to do the same. Yeah, I know the name is corny, but that suits me pretty well. Though, because I am more specific in what I collect, I will also be more specific in what I'm looking for.. :-) So here's the deal:

Send me your Tribe cards, and I will trade you 2007 Goudeys for 'em. I've got about 75 of the 2007 UD Goudeys up for random trading. So, what are the rules?

1. You send me an email (davidinark -at- yahoo -dot- com) and I will send you my mailing address.
2. Once you get my address, you send your card(s) along with a SASE.
3. I am looking for Tribe cards from 1977 or EARLIER only (any brand) - Any condition!
4. Exception: Send me ANY Tribe oddball card or oddball item, and I'll accept that for trade.
5. I will send you ONE (1) randomly-selected 07 Goudey for each Tribe card you send.
6. I am not responsible for lost cards, torn envelopes, etc.
7. The Tradeaway will end once all my 2007 Goudeys are gone.
8. I will post scans of trades as they happen/as I can.
9. If you ask nicely, I may consider requested teams/players depending on availability. If I can't fulfill the request, you get a random Goudey.

So, there ya go! :-) Tribe cards for Goudeys - how can you go wrong??

Indians sign Kobayashi

The name Kobayashi may sound familiar to you, but the Tribe did not sign THIS one:


They signed THIS one:


According to the Indians web site, Shapiro said, "The signing of Masa Kobayashi marks the first contract ever signed by a Japanese professional baseball player into the Cleveland Indians franchise and, more importantly, accomplishes one of our primary off-season goals of adding depth to the back-end of our bullpen."

Let's hope that breaking this "new" ground helps us back to the ALDS, ALCS, and ultimately, the WS! :-)