Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Boston Red Sox - 2013 World Series Champions

 
Can You Believe It?
 
This is not your father's Red Sox.
 
To the 2013 Boston Red Sox, thank you for making this fan very, very happy.
 
Boston Strong.

Miscut Misfits

When I was a kid, I thought that miscut cards were cool. Especially the ones where you got half of one card and half of the other. I remember it being fun trying to figure out from the picture what card the bottom half was. 
 
Fast forward a couple of decades (ok, maybe more than a couple), and one thing I've realized while trying to complete my late 70's sets, is that there are a lot of miscut cards!
 
Try finding an Ozzie Smith rookie that doesn't have "Padres" almost chopped off. Both of mine look exactly the same, and all the ones I've seen at shows look like mine.
 
So I've decided to every now and then bring out some of my favorite miscut cards to share with everyone, and if I can remember a story that shows how much of a knucklehead I was when I was a child, I'll include that as well.
 
These aren't from when I was a child however, these are from 2010 Upper Deck. I got these from a 1500 ct box of assorted baseball cards I bought from my LCS.
 
NOTE: These cards have been enlarged to show texture.
 
 
Have you ever seen this type of miscut?  
 

Here's the back. You can see the extra "white" on the bottom of the card.


Here's another, just like the first.


They're also miscut at an angle as well. Are these miscut error cards? Miscut SP's?

I hope you're all kicking back watching game six tonight. You may hear from me again before the night is over.

Monday, October 28, 2013

The 5 Most Influential Cards Of All Time (To Me)
Number 4 - 1978 Topps Lyman Bostock

Four out of the five cards on this countdown have some sort of humorous or feel-good type of background behind it. This card however, has a different reason for it being so important to me.


Lyman Bostock was an outfielder for the California Angels in 1978. Prior that season he had signed a 5 year, 2.25 million contract with the Angels which back in 1978 was one of the most lucrative contracts for a baseball player. He was coming off of a strong 1977 season while with the Minnesota Twins, where he finished second only to teammate Rod Carew for the batting title. So even though at the time I didn't know who he was, he was beginning to put together quite the resume.

Now I don't remember ever seeing him play. Red Sox games were on channel 38 in my area, which was UHF. That meant it came in very crappy on my TV, so I spent a lot of time listening to games on the radio while laying in bed or looking at my cards. In fact I think the first footage that I've seen of him play, I just watched a few minutes ago on YouTube.

Of course you probably all know he was tragically killed in September of 1978. But for me, he was the first player I had a baseball card of who was not alive anymore. I remember staring at the card, not being able to process the fact that this man was dead. Baseball players were superheroes to me, they didn't die. My aunt had died the year before, but I could comprehend that. She was old. Really old. And in a nursing home with lots of other old people.

As I got older I realized dying wasn't just for old people. Many active players had died previously and many have died after. But the passing of Mr. Bostock has had an effect on me that no other tragic figure has.

And the card you see above is the very same card I used to stare at when I was a child.



I promise, the rest of the countdown will much happier.

Sunday, October 27, 2013

Introduction To Verbal Reasoning...(Sort Of)

When you reach your 40's, most often your career path has been pretty much determined. Both my parents at this age were pretty much working in the same field they were when they were in their 20's. Not so much the same job, but the same field. My dad was in the military, and my mom was the town librarian (then she became the librarian at an elementary school).

However in today's world, this is no longer the case. At this point in my life, I don't really have a career, I have two part-time jobs that pay the bills. So to try to better my situation, I've begun studying for the GRE (Graduate Record Examination). In a nutshell, it'll let me know whether or not I'm cut out for graduate studies.

If you haven't done any academic work in some time (like in my case), it can be quite a shock to your system. Both my jobs require very little brain activity, so there isn't much complex thinking happening.

One of the key components to this test is what is called "Verbal Reasoning", which is the ability to analyze the relationships between words and sentences as they are used in context. (I will relate this to baseball cards, don't worry.) One of my problems is that I read too fast, occasionally missing important details or thinking something was there when it actually wasn't.

Needless to say, my first practice test wasn't too impressive. Eighteen wrong out of sixty questions.

That would be 70%. Ouch.

So how does this relate to baseball cards, you ask? Well, I won a Listia auction some time back. As usual, I read the listing really quickly and I could have sworn it said free shipping. I was so excited to see a lot of nine 1982 Fleer Cards with such a low bid that I did not "analyze the relationship between the lack of words that were not used in context", or something like that. Nor did I even check to see if I even needed them.

So for 46 cents (I sent a stamp) and 57 credits I got the following:

 
Turns out I needed four of them.
 
I'll take it.
 
But next time I'll analyze the relationship between.....
 
Never mind, it's cards. I want 'em.

Monday, October 21, 2013

The 5 Most Influential Cards Of All Time (To Me)
Number 5 - 1977 Topps Pete Broberg

One of the things that I enjoy reading on other blogs are the "countdown" posts, where someone lists their favorite or not-so-favorite cards, sets, etc. I figured it was about time I did one of my own.

So here are the "Top 5 Influential Cards Of All Time (To Me)" countdown. These are the five cards that bring back the most memories of my childhood collecting era. So all five will be between the late 70's - early 80's which was when I collected initially.

One of the reason I enjoy reading other bloggers countdowns is the reason the card is special to them. I can guarantee that my reason for liking any of these five cards will be different than any of yours (that's assuming that you a fondness for that particular card as well).

So the questions that you are probably not asking (but will get the answers to anyways) are:

How is a 1977 Topps Pete Broberg influential?
 
And how the hell is it number five?

 
Here's the front of the card. This was the Mariners inagural year and at the time I had no idea who Pete Broberg was. 
 
 
You can see that he was drafted from the Brewers by the Mariners on November 5th, 1976. He also was the only A.L. pitcher to defeat the Red Sox four times in 1975 (I love how they are called the "loop champion"). That part's depressing, but not the reason it's influential.
 

Now here is his 1978 Topps card. Note that he is now with the Cubs.

 
Now look at the back of the card. In 1977 he was with the Cubs. I thought he was with the Mariners! How did Topps get a picture of him with the Mariners when he never played for them?
 
Now in 1978 I am nine years old. There is no internet, so I cannot go to baseball-reference.com and find out what happened. I don't remember if I glossed over the information at the top of the card that he was traded to the Cubs in April of 1977 or not, but for years I had no idea how that 1977 Topps card was possible.
 
The answer of course, is that Topps airbrushed the card. I'm sure the original photo had him in his Milwaukee Brewers uniform, but when I was a child I had no concept of what airbrushing was. I also had no older brother to tell me I was an idiot and inform me the card was not as it seemed. I did have two younger brothers who were more than qualified to call me an idiot, but they didn't know what airbrushing was either.
 
Now some of you may feel that there was a bit of empty space inside my head when I was a child.
 
Let me confirm such accusations.
 
I also thought that because some players had "On Disabled List" instead of stats for a particular season, that there was a card in the set that featured a list of all the disabled players.
 
I wish I was joking about that.
 
That's why I love these late 70's sets. Every time I see Pete Broberg and his fake hat, I feel like I am eight years old again. Fun stuff (for me).
 
 
 
 

Sunday, October 20, 2013

What A Difference Thirty-Five Years Makes

Well, the Red Sox have reached the World Series again. It seems since 2001, every year one of the four Boston teams (Red Sox, Patriots, Bruins or Celtics) reaches the finals for their sport. This is quite a difference from decades past where not only did Boston teams not reach the finals, if they did, they lost in some horrifying fashion.

Now we expect Boston teams to not only be competitive, we expect them to win.

That's why last year was so brutal as a Red Sox fan.

It's easy to get spoiled by all of the success, but if you were a Red Sox fan growing up during the 70's, 80's and 90's, the post season was mostly for watching other teams play.

But what a difference thirty-five years makes.

Back then David Ortiz probably would have fouled out to the third baseman.

Any maybe today Yaz would have hit a home run.

 
Boston Red Sox  - 2013 American League Champions!

Thursday, October 17, 2013

Trading Thursdays - Philadelphia Phillies Edition

As I've mentioned on this blog before, one of the things I enjoy most about the blogosphere is trading with other bloggers. I don't make it to too many card shows, and it's often times very tough to find the cards I need to complete the sets I'm working on.

I've gotten closer to some sets thanks to the trading I've done, and hopefully I've been to help other bloggers with their collecting goals as well. So I've been thinking for a while about how I can help initiate some trading with other collectors/bloggers that I may not have connected with yet. Of course, I'm certainly up for trading with collectors/bloggers that I've traded with before.

So every Thursday I post a collection of items representing a specific team. It will generally consist of mostly cards from that team, but it could also include a media guide, a yearbook, a pack of cards with a player from that team on the wrapper, etc.

If you are interested in it, either comment on the blog or email me at swingandapopup@gmail.com, with what you want to trade for it. No reasonable offer will be refused, however it does have to be off of my want list. I need to finish these sets! Trade me a dozen cards, trade me a hundred cards, trade me one card, but help me finish these sets!

I only have a small percentage of my "wants" uploaded. This is a huge work in process, and I am adding new want lists up weekly. I also keep track via a sidebar on my blog letting readers know what lists have been added in the past week. There are also some "junk wax" sets on there that I haven't finished. I know some of you are sitting on some '88 Score, 92 Leaf, etc., and this could be a chance to unload some of it to someone who needs it!

This week I feature the Philadelphia Phillies.

So here's what up for trade this week:


1979 Topps Bake McBride


1978 Topps Warren Brusstar


1984 Topps Purina Pete Rose


1987 Topps Milt Thompson


1993 Leaf Danny Jackson


2010 Topps Raul Ibanez


1991 Topps Update Wally Backman


2007 Topps Heritage Ryan Howard


2007 Topps Chrome Jimmy Rollins


2007 Topps Update Francisco Rosario


1995 Bazooka Len Dykstra


1994 Topps Finest Len Dykstra


2012 Topps Chase Utley


1998 Upper Deck Midre Cummings


1996 Upper Deck Jim Eisenreich


1996 Topps Stadium Club Sid Fernandez


1996 Bowman Scott Rolen


1995 Fleer Emotion Charlie Hayes


2013 Topps Archives Cliff Lee


2013 Topps Chasing History Roy Halladay


2012 Topps Jim Thome


1990 Topps Coin Von Hayes


1975 Topps Mini Willie Montanez


1976 Topps Bob Boone


Here's what the view looks like from my deck. A beautiful day here at the Swing And A Pop-Up compound.

A great day to do some trading.

So if you are interested in trading for all of this, either leave a comment or email me at swingandapopup@gmail.com with what you wish to trade. First person to contact me wins the entire package of Phillies.

Don't forget to check the sidebar to see what other team packages I have available for trade. Click on the team and it will take you straight to the posting!

Thanks for reading and let's trade!

Tuesday, October 15, 2013

The Encouraging Dozen

A few weeks ago, I introduced a new sidebar on my blog titled "The Discouraging Dozen". I wanted to highlight some of the sets that I am really close to completing by featuring twelve of the cards I need from those sets.

Almost immediately, Tom from The Angels In Order sent me four of the twelve!


2008 Upper Deck First Edition Update Justin Upton


2012 Topps Josh Collmenter


2012 Topps Garrett Richards


2012 Topps Hank Conger

He also sent me four cards off of my 1989 Donruss want list.



You'll now find four new cards that have been promoted to the "Discouraging Dozen".

1993 Score # 194 Paul Sorrento
1993 Score # 396 Sid Bream
1993 Score # 608 Ruben Sierra

(I thought I had finished the 1993 Score set. Imagine my dismay when I realized I hadn't.)

1983 Topps # 217 Tim Stoddard

(Another set I thought I had finished. Who was in charge of this when I was younger????)

Thanks Tom! The cards I promised you are on the way!

Saturday, October 12, 2013

Some Notes Of Community Interest

You may or may not have noticed that I've only posted a couple of times in the past few weeks. It's not due to boredom of card collecting or getting tired of blogging, in fact it's quite the opposite.

I've been spending more time trying to get caught up with making want lists, organizing, sorting, etc., than I have been blogging about it.

However, this past week I haven't done much of anything. According to my doctor, I popped a joint in my lower back. If any of you out there have an opportunity to pop a joint in your back....don't do it.

It is extremely painful.

I've pretty much been in bed since Monday night.

On the plus side, I'm able to take a bunch of really cool drugs that I can't pronounce and watch a lot of the baseball playoffs. In fact, I'm watching the Dodgers - Cardinals right now.

So if you've contacted me about trading and you haven't heard from me in a while, now you know why. I'm still interested in trading and I will doing my best to put together trade packages worthy of what y'all have offered.

Although this isn't baseball related, is anybody doing the Archives football set? I managed to get a bunch in a box of commons I bought recently. I've gotten probably half the set, but I've got a bunch of dupes as well.

Also, if you've sent me cards recently, I've gotten them and will be thanking you and posting about them soon. I owe a few bloggers cards as well and will get them out as soon as I can.

Thanks for your patience and a shout-out to whoever invented painkillers.

Monday, October 7, 2013

70's Scenario

Another weekend...another card show (and a Hall & Oates reference in the title).

I made the drive down to Massachusetts on Sunday for the monthly card show. This one was an autograph show and the guest was Ken Hodge. So as you may imagine, the hockey cards were out in force. Unfortunately, I'm looking for baseball today.

So I didn't do as good as I was hoping to do, but I still ended up with some good cards for not a lot of money.



Still pecking away at my 1979 Topps set.







I also grabbed a few more from the 1976 Twinkies set. These were all pretty cheap, the Stennett and Bowa were only 50 cents each, and the rest were a buck each.



One of the dealers asked me if I was the one who bought all the Red Sox last time. I said I couldn't remember what I had bought. He informed me that he had gotten a bunch of Red Sox cards since the last show, so what you see above is what I picked up. All set needs, and welcome additions.


I also found a dealer seeling a bunch of sets for $5 each. I found the 2008 Bowman Propsects 110 card set (which I've gotten a bunch of through repacks, etc.) which I snatched up. One less set I have to put together, and what I had accumulated so far goes into one of my dupes boxes.

So not as much of a haul as usual, but when most of it comes from the 70's, it's all good.