Another Contest, Another Last Place Finish

Quite some time ago (June of last year, actually), Dennis at Too Many Verlanders held a contest and
as usual I came in last....last of the winners that is.

So here is my winnings:

The entire one hundred and fifty card base set of 1998 Skybox Dugout Access. I had gotten a few of these cards out of the monster boxes of commons that I buy on a regular basis. This was a set aimed at kids and it failed miserably, so it was discontinued after this issue.

Also included was the complete one hundred and eighty card 1997 Donruss Update set.

Yes, I asked for some 1988 Donruss. I did not have all twenty-six MVP cards (and I wanted to). Call me crazy.

2007 Topps Draft Picks And Prospects Prescott Burgess Senior Standouts Jersey Relic Card.

I was surprised to find out that he was on the Patriots for a brief moment in 2009. He was drafted by the Ravens in 2007 and was traded to the Patriots on September 22nd of 2009 for a conditional seventh round draft pick. He was inactive for the next game, then waived on September 28th. The Ravens ended up not getting their draft pick because it was on the condition that he was active during his tenure with the Patriots. He was then signed to the Patriot's practice squad on the 30th of September. Practice squad players are considered free agents and can be signed to a team's 53-man roster at any time during the season. However, in this instance the Ravens could not sign him off of New England's practice squad because they were the Patriot's next opponent.

On October 5th (the day after the game, which the Patriots won 27-21), he was signed off of the Patriot's practice squad. He last appeared in the NFL in 2011.

Finally, a very cool auto of former Patriot Shawn Crable. He was drafted in the third round of the 2008 NFL Draft. He spent his first two seasons either inactive or on IR. In his third season for the Patriots, he played in six games, registering four tackles and a half sack. He was waived on November 16, 2010, and hasn't played in an NFL game since.

A very belated thank you Dennis!

2014 Bowman Chrome Bowman Scout Top 5 Mini Refractors

Well, that's quite a long description of these cards. I won a couple of these off of Listia for only 101 credits.

Danny Hultzen was the second player selected in the 2011 Major League Draft but hasn't pitched since 2013 because of shoulder injuries and rotator cuff surgery.

The back of the cards show the top five players in the organization.

The Washington Nationals selected Karns in the twelfth round of the 2009 draft and he spent some time with the big club in 2013. He was traded to the Tampa Bay Rays in early 2014 and started two games for them, with a record of 1 - 1.

Now you know why I got these for so cheap.

Have You Seen Me Lately?

I've been absent. Really absent. I haven't posted nor read very many blogs in the past month. Like most of us out there, there are times in your life when there are other things that you want to take care of, and you simply run out of time to do other things (like posting to your blog). 

One of the things that I've been doing is trying to improve my health. Your may or may not know this, but I am a Type II diabetic and while it's for the most part, not that serious, if I don't start taking better care of myself, it will be. I've also battled knee problems for the past decade and according to my MRI, I have a ruptured cyst and a torn meniscus in my right knee. Plus I have a couple other things which would fall under the "too much information" category, so if you add up all of those doctor/therapy/nutritionist appointments, you will understand why I have designated 2015 as the "Year of the Co-Pay". 

I've also been helping my wife pursue her life-long dream of being a photographer. She used to do it for a bit before she met me, but she says she's never had anyone encourage her like I do. She wants to focus on nautical type photography, and living where we do, the opportunities are endless.

So what has happened in the past month?

1.) My blog had a birthday. I've been doing this for two years now, and since I missed celebrating the first anniversary, why not be consistent and miss the second one too!

2.) I had a birthday. One year closer to middle age...or so they say. However, since the average male in the United States lives to be about 75, technically I passed middle age about a decade ago.

3.) Snow, snow and MORE SNOW!

A lot of it has melted since these pictures were taken, but the snowbanks were so high, you could barely see street signs. 

4.) But most importantly, I'm almost done with my Topps 1979 set!

Has anyone ever seen an Ozzie Smith rookie that doesn't look something like this?

I've been slowly trying to complete the sets from when I was a kid. I've only completed 1980 and 1983 Topps from that time period, but now for my '79 set I only need fifteen cards!

A few of them are big ones, though.

650 - Pete Rose

610 - Mike Schmidt

369 - Bump Wills (Rangers)

358 - Alan Trammell

244 - Pittsburgh Pirates Team Card

212 - Carney Lansford

200 - Johnny Bench

165 - Frank Taveras

140 - Don Gullett

82 - New York Mets Team Card

60 - Mickey Rivers

55 - Willie Stargell

30 - Dave Winfield

24 - Paul Molitor

1 - 1978 Batting Leaders

So if anybody out there has dupes of these, I'm sure I could send something your way that is comparable.

See you next month!

(Just kidding....I hope.)