The end of the road
May 27, 2009 at 12:27 am | In Blogs | 33 CommentsA few people have been asking me about the future of the blog, so it is about time that I officially addressed it. After a lot of thought and consideration, I’ve decided that my days of blogging are now over. It was a fun ride while it lasted, but all good things must come to an end at some point.
In a way, I’m surprised that I was able to keep up with it as long as I did. I first started reading sports card blogs in early 2008. I was very entertained by what I read and I thought that it would be fun to start my own blog, but I knew that it would be a challenge to find the free time to do it. Of course I eventually decided to start my own blog anyway. It was a fun experience. I love to write and share my opinions with people, so the blog was a natural outlet for me. Along the way, I was able to share my experiences as I jumped back in to the baseball card hobby and share my thoughts about the Rays amazing run to the 2008 World Series. And I was able to interact with many like-minded collectors all over the country and the world, including several people who I now consider to be friends.
But it was always difficult to find the time to blog. I have a relatively busy job and a wife at home. It was common for me to stay up for several hours after my wife went to sleep to either write blog posts or try to keep up with my collection. I wasn’t getting enough sleep and it would take a toll on me. And as my blog grew, the responsibilities that came along with it grew too. There was an increase in the number of comments on my posts and in the emails that I received. I tried to keep up with them all, but ultimately I failed. And then there were the trade requests. Looking back on it, I should’ve never started trading cards through the blog. I reached a point where I was getting multiple trade offers through email and several packages in the mail every day. Sometimes cards would arrive out of the blue from people who already had my address. I struggled and failed to keep up with it all.
By early 2009, it got to the point where keeping up with the blog and all of the responsibilities that went with it seemed like a second job. I’d spend all day working at my real job, and then come home and work all night blogging about cards. It wasn’t fun anymore. I’d set unrealistic goals for myself, like writing at least one blog post per day and trying to get to 100,000 hits in the first year – and those goals would only increase the pressure and decrease my level of fun.
At the same time, I became somewhat disenchanted with the card industry itself. The shenanigans that are going on internally within the card companies and at Beckett are well documented all over the internet. On a personal level, I’d buy multiple hobby boxes of cards per month, some of them simply so that I could video tape my breaks and write about them, and I’d almost always be disappointed with the cards that I received. And then the 2009 baseball card products started coming out, and I felt that every single one of them was totally unoriginal and uninteresting. I completely stopped buying new boxes and packs of cards, and now the only cards that I buy are singles (mostly of Evan Longoria) on eBay.
That’s not to say that every aspect of card collecting is negative. There are many positives too, and I’ve adapted my collecting habits to focus on the things that I enjoy the most. I loved collecting baseball cards when I was a kid, and I loved it when I resumed the hobby as an adult. I think that I’ll always stay somewhat involved in the hobby, even if it’s only to buy new Evan Longoria cards. But I’m never going to let card collecting dominate my life the way that it did while I was actively maintaining this blog. For me, reading about cards and spending about an hour a day looking at card listings on eBay and organizing my collection, is reasonable. Spending five or six hours a day on it is too much when there are other priorities in my life that are much more important.
Anyway, I first started to realize that I needed to cut back sometime in February. I somehow wrote 47 blog posts in January and 39 in February, and that was a pace that I knew that I could not maintain. By early March, I started to feel burned out, and I cut back. On the blog, I mentioned that I was busy planning a vacation, and that was true, but as you can see that was not the only reason for my decrease in posts. After I returned from my vacation at the end of March, I only wrote a few more blog posts. I began to think a lot about what the future of the blog would be. Originally, I thought that I’d continue blogging but just post a few times a week. But the more time I spent without blogging, the more I realized how much better I liked my life without the burden of my “second job”.
And so I recently decided to stop blogging altogether. Sure, there are topics that have come up that I’d really like to write about. But I have a feeling that if I started posting again, I’d get sucked back in and it wouldn’t be long before it was dominating my life again. It’s possible that I might start blogging again at some point in the future, but it won’t be any time soon. The blog itself will stay up, and anyone who has enjoyed my writing can continue to visit it and read my old posts. And who knows, maybe someday you’ll come back and find that I’ve started writing again.
I’ll finish this up with a heartfelt “thank you” to everyone who has read my blog posts, left a comment, sent me an email, traded cards with me, linked to the blog, or interacted with me in any other way since I started writing. It is because of you that my experience was enjoyable. You can continue to stay in touch with me through email or facebook. And of course, I’ll continue to read many card blogs, and you’ll still see comments from me on some of them. And now, in the immortal words of Porky Pig … “that’s all folks”!
I love it when this happens!
April 25, 2009 at 5:50 pm | In Football | 10 CommentsI am so happy right now. My favorite NFL team, the Buffalo Bills, just used their #1 pick to draft the best player from my college alma mater, Penn State, Aaron Maybin! Maybin was a red-shirt sophomore for PSU last year, and emerged as one of the most dominating players in college football after being given a chance to start for the first time. Maybin’s season was, in my opinion, the top season by a Penn State defensive end since my freshman year of 1997. That includes Courtney Brown, the #1 overall pick in the 2000 draft, Michael Haynes, and Tamba Hali, who were also first round picks.
This comes two years after the Bills drafted Paul Posluszny, one of the all-time greatest Penn State linebackers. Coupled with the addition of T.O., I am starting to get very excited about the upcoming football season! Hey, with the Rays getting comfortable in last place in the A.L. East, I need something to look forward to…
You can bet that I’ll be scouring eBay for Aaron Maybin autographs to add to my collection soon.
I’m sorry for the lack of posts recently. I’ll explain my absence and the future of this blog soon.
Overjoyed!
April 10, 2009 at 11:53 pm | In Baseball, Rays | 7 CommentsToday, I went to one of my favorite places in the entire universe, Durham Bulls Athletic Park, for the first time in 2009. The Bulls were supposed to play the Norfolk Tides, but unfortunately the game was rained out. But I’m not upset about the rain out, mostly because of an unexpected surprise. It turned out that the William Harridge Trophy that was awarded to the Rays for their 2008 American League Championship was present at the ballpark! Of course I posed with it, and here I am with the official symbol of the Rays championship:
Seeing the trophy in person was definitely one of the happiest moments of my life, and this immediately becomes one of my favorite photos. It was awesome for the Rays to share the trophy with their growing legion of fans in North Carolina. William Harridge, by the way, was the president of the American League from 1931 to 1958.
Due to the rain out, I’ll be attending tomorrow night’s game between the Bulls and the Tides. David Price, who was supposed to pitch tonight, will be pitching in that game. It’s the second time that I’ll get to see Price pitch in person this year. I also saw him pitch in the spring training game that I attended in Port Charlotte. And yes, the post about my spring training experience is coming very soon. Anyway, the Tides are the Triple-A affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles, so I’ll also get to see Matt Wieters in action. It’s tough to beat seeing the top two prospects in baseball playing in the same game. And as an added bonus, I’ll get to meet another card blogger in person. Pete from Dropped Third Strike will also be at the game, along with his girlfriend Kim.
Farewell, Jason Hammel!
April 6, 2009 at 12:52 am | In Baseball, Rays | 4 CommentsSince their amazing run to the 2008 World Series, the Tampa Bay Rays have parted ways with Cliff Floyd, Eric Hinske, Rocco Baldelli, Jonny Gomes, Edwin Jackson, and Trever Miller. Today, they said goodbye to another member of the 2008 team, Jason Hammel, who was traded to the Colorado Rockies for a promising 21-year old minor league pitcher, Aneury Rodriguez. Hammel lost the battle for the 5th spot in the starting rotation to Jeff Niemann, who does have a much higher upside. Niemann was the #4 overall pick in the 2004 draft, he’s finally healthy after overcoming several injuries, and he’s proven all that he can in the minor leagues. However, he’s just keeping the #5 starter role warm for David Price.
Anyway, it’s sad to see Jason Hammel go. He’s responsible for one of my best all-time baseball memories. First, here’s some background. Hammel was the Rays’ 10th round pick in the 2002 draft, and he quickly emerged as one of their top pitching prospects. By 2005, he was dominating in Double-A for the Montgomery Biscuits, and other than the injury-plagued Niemann, he was the Rays’ top pitching prospect. He completely overshadowed James Shields in the Montgomery rotation that year. He was promoted to Triple-A Durham at the end of 2005, and I remember excitedly making a trip to Durham Bulls Athletic Park to watch him pitch for the first time.
However, it was during the 2006 season that Hammel created the memory that will stay with me for many, many years. It was July 16, 2006, exactly two weeks after my wedding. My wife and I had recently gotten back from our honeymoon in St. Lucia, and we were busy sending out thank-you notes for wedding gifts and trying to return to normalcy after our whirlwind wedding and honeymoon experiences. I suggested that we go to the Bulls game that day, and we invited two friends of ours to come with us. The Bulls were playing the Columbus Clippers, who at the time were the Yankees’ Triple-A affiliate. I remember that it was a beautiful day for a baseball game. It was about 85 degrees with the sun shining, and we had great seats on the first base side. And Jason Hammel was on the mound.
Hammel was pitching brilliantly, and the Bulls took a 4-0 lead over the Clippers. Around the 4th inning, I commented that he hadn’t given up any hits yet, and I explained what a no-hitter was to my wife. I told her how rare it was and that I’d never seen one in person. The innings continued to go by, and Hammel continued to not allow any hits. I was beginning to think that this could be a truly special day. By the 8th inning, Hammel’s pitch count was getting high, and I could tell that he was laboring a bit more, but he continued to not give up any hits. After getting one out in the 9th, Bulls manager John Tamargo needed to take Hammel out of the game. After all, he was a highly regarded prospect, and this was the minor leagues. The Rays organization doesn’t like to take chances with potential injuries. Although many fans grumbled, Hammel got a loud standing ovation as he walked back to the dugout. Juan Salas entered the game in relief. Due to a combination of walks and errors, Salas did give up a run in the 9th, but he didn’t give up any hits. The Bulls won the game 4-1, and the no-hitter was complete! I was absolutely thrilled to have seen a no-hitter in person!
Hammel got his first shot in the major leagues at the end of 2006, and he split 2007 between Durham and Tampa Bay, becoming a fixture in the Rays starting rotation by the end of that season. In 2008, he was in the big leagues for good, starting out as the #5 starter, and then becoming the long man in the bullpen after Scott Kazmir and Matt Garza returned from the D.L. He proved to be an effective long reliever, but my favorite Hammel memory from 2008 came on September 10, in the heat of the pennant race at a game in Boston. The game went into the 14th inning before Carlos Pena hit a home run in the top of the 14th to give the Rays the lead. They exhausted the bullpen, using seven different pitchers, before giving the ball to Hammel in the bottom of the 14th to save the game. Hammel was accustomed to being a long reliever, but he was effective and picked up his first career save in an extremely crucial game.
I wish Jason Hammel nothing but success with the Rockies. I hope that he finds a way to pitch well in the thin air of Colorado. Here are some of my photos from that glorious day back in 2006…
Jason Hammel on the mound
B.J. Upton at bat for the Bulls
The final scoreboard - 0 hits for Columbus!
Jason Hammel is interviewed by the Durham media
The starting lineups for the game
I took the picture of the starting lineups as I was leaving the stadium. I figured that it would be interesting to look at the lineups years later to see who was in the game. The Bulls lineup was headlined by B.J. Upton, Delmon Young, and Elijah Dukes, and it also included future Ray, Ben Zobrist. But take a look at who was hitting third for Columbus – Carlos Pena! Pena had fallen on hard luck after a few decent seasons in Detroit. He had been with Columbus all year, and he’d be released by the Yankees later that summer. He then signed with Boston, and he played for both Triple-A Pawtucket and the Red Sox at the end of the season before they released him too. The Rays picked up up from the scrap heap before the 2007 season, and he just barely made the team after an injury to Greg Norton. He went on to hit 77 home runs and drive in 223 runs for the Rays in 2007 and 2008, making it hard to believe that back in 2006, he was stuck in Triple-A on a team that was no-hit by his future teammate Jason Hammel!
2009 MLB Predictions
April 5, 2009 at 11:48 pm | In Baseball | 10 CommentsSo here we are, the night before Opening Day for the 2009 Major League Baseball season. This is the first Opening Day that I’ve had a blog. I always make predictions about every new baseball season, and it’s fun to have a public forum for posting my predictions for the first time. Now, at the end of the season, everyone will know exactly how incredibly horrible my predictions turned out to be…
American League East
1. Tampa Bay Rays
2. Boston Red Sox
3. New York Yankees
4. Toronto Blue Jays
5. Baltimore Orioles
The A.L. East is obviously the division that I follow most closely, and the one that I care about the most. Strangely enough, my predicted standings are exactly the same as the final standings in 2008. I’m sure that everybody knew that I’d pick the Rays to win it, but honestly, they’re still a young, improving team. I expect to see better seasons from Scott Kazmir (now that his his out pitch – his slider – is back), B.J. Upton (with a healthy shoulder, he’ll hit for much more power), Carl Crawford, and Carlos Pena. Evan Longoria is only going to get better, and I expect David Price to give a boost to the rotation in May when he returns from Durham. I think that Matt Garza may break out as a Cy Young candidate, and I’m predicting that he’ll throw a no-hitter last year (he came close twice last year). I also think that the bullpen is improved with a healthy Troy Percival, and the new additions of Joe Nelson, Brian Shouse, Lance Cormier, and Jason Isringhausen (when he’s activated from the D.L.)
I believe that Boston is the second best team in MLB, and they’ll easily win the Wild Card. It’s going to be another great division race between the Sox and the Rays, and I wouldn’t be surprised at all if Boston ends up winning it. They’re likely to get at least some good contributions from all of their free agent signings (most likely from Saito and Penny) and they’ve got a ton of impressive young players. Look for Jed Lowrie and Justin Masterson to break out. Clay Buchholz should also make an impact when he’s called up.
I’m less impressed with the Yankees. Sure, they added Teixeira, but now A-Rod is hurt, so the lineup isn’t improved – at least til A-Rod comes back. But that demonstrates a key point about the Yankees. Their roster is filled with old players who are injury prone. Lots of guys are going to spend significant time on the D.L. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Sabathia and Burnett on the D.L. either. Burnett seems to get hurt almost every year, and Sabathia has thrown more innings than anybody over the last two years.
I’m picking Toronto for 4th, even though I really like the direction that Baltimore is going. Toronto quietly gave up the fewest runs in the A.L. last year, but they lost Burnett, and Shaun Marcum and Dustin McGowan are both hurt. Their rotation is very thin, but their bullpen is still very good. I’d take Baltimore’s lineup over Toronto’s, but I still think that Toronto’s pitching is better. Baltimore has some nice pitching prospects in the minors, but in the majors, their pitching staff is awful. Look for Matt Wieters to have a huge rookie year for the O’s and Travis Snider to have a huge rookie year for the Jays. They’ll be 1-2 in the Rookie of the Year voting.
American League Central
1. Chicago White Sox
2. Minnesota Twins
3. Cleveland Indians
4. Detroit Tigers
5. Kansas City Royals
Chicago’s still the best team in the Central in my opinion, but it’s a very weak division. Top to bottom, I like their lineup better than anyone else in the division, and they have pretty good pitching. John Danks could have a huge year. Minnesota has great pitching, but I’m not impressed with their lineup besides Morneau and Mauer (who is hurt for the first month of the season). The rest of the division is really, really bad. I’m picking Cleveland for third, but I don’t think they’ll win many more than 70 games. Their starting pitching is really bad, especially if Cliff Lee comes back down to earth this year. Two of their key players on offense, Victor Martinez and Travis Hafner, both seem to be on the down side of their careers. Detroit is similarly unimpressive, with a weak pitching staff and a lot of old guys in the lineup. Kansas City has some decent pitchers, but their lineup continues to be horrible. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Alex Gordon have a break out season, but that would still give the Royals only one really good hitter in their lineup.
American League West
1. Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
2. Oakland Athletics
3. Seattle Mariners
4. Texas Rangers
The Angels are a worse team than they were last year, after losing Teixeira and having injury issues with three starting pitchers, but they’re still head and shoulders above the rest of the division. Oakland is an impressive young team, and the lineup looks pretty good with the additions of Holliday and Giambi. Their pitching is very young, but they have a lot of upside. Seattle is another team with some upside. They’ve got some good young pitching, and Erik Bedard can make a huge impact if he’s healthy this year. Texas continues to not have any good pitching, and I’m not as excited about their lineup as most people. Remember that Josh Hamilton saw a huge drop in production after the All Star break. Unless he returns to his first half form, their lineup looks a little weak.
American League Award Winners
MVP – Evan Longoria
Cy Young Award – Roy Halladay
Rookie of the Year – Matt Wieters
National League East
1. New York Mets
2. Philadelphia Phillies
3. Atlanta Braves
4. Florida Marlins
5. Washington Nationals
The Mets can’t possibly collapse for a third year in a row, can they? With their significantly improved bullpen, I’d be surprised if they didn’t clinch the division a few weeks before the end of the season this year. They’re loaded with talent, and I think it’s about time for them to return to the playoffs. The Phillies are still a very good team, but I’m very unimpressed with the addition of Raul Ibanez, who’s a bad fielder, and yet another lefty in the middle of their lineup. Their starting pitching behind Hamels is pretty suspect, but that didn’t hurt them last year. I’m picking the Braves for third, mostly because the teams below them are pretty weak. I think they’ll be about a .500 team. They spent way too much money on an aging Derek Lowe. The Marlins have some underrated pitchers, but they’re still pretty young all around, and they’re a couple years away from contending. The Nationals are even further away, although Adam Dunn is a nice addition to their lineup. Their main focus should be signing Stephen Strasburg, and then building their team around him.
National League Central
1. Chicago Cubs
2. Cincinnati Reds
3. St. Louis Cardinals
4. Milwaukee Brewers
5. Houston Astros
6. Pittsburgh Pirates
The Cubs still have the most talent in the division, and it’s tough to see them not repeating. I think that the Reds will be much-improved. Their pitching looks pretty strong, and I really like a lot of their young players, especially Jay Bruce and Joey Votto. I believe that they’re good enough to win the N.L. Wild Card. I’d be very surprised if they don’t have a very good season. St. Louis is a solid third place team. There are some question marks in their starting rotation, but they’re an all around solid team. Milwaukee’s starting rotation looks pretty weak to me without Sabathia and Sheets, but Braun and Fielder lead what’s still a pretty good offense. Houston is old and fading, while the Pirates should be better. I give Houston an edge for finishing in 5th, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see Pittsburgh finish as high as fourth if enough young players step up for them this year.
National League West
1. Arizona Diamondbacks
2. Los Angeles Dodgers
3. Colorado Rockies
4. San Francisco Giants
5. San Diego Padres
I really like the Diamondbacks. As the Rays’ expansion brother, they’ve always been one of my favorite N.L. teams to watch. Webb and Haren are probably the top 1-2 punch on any starting rotation in baseball. The rest of their rotation and their bullpen is solid too. And their lineup includes many improving young players. I think that this is the year where Justin Upton will break out as a star, and I like Chris Young, Stephen Drew, Conor Jackson, and Chris Snyder. Remember how good the D-Backs were last April? That’s how good I think they can be all year. The Dodgers will finish in second. They’re still a good team, but Manny can’t possibly be as good as he was at the end of last year, and their pitching isn’t that great. I like Billingsley and Kershaw, but there’s not much after them. The Rockies should be about a .500 team in 3rd place. The Giants have some nice pitching, but their lineup is a complete joke. The Padres are in rebuilding mode. With Peavy and Young in the rotation, they won’t be horrible, but I still think they’ll finish in last.
National League Award Winners
MVP – David Wright
Cy Young Award – Johan Santana
Rookie of the Year – Dexter Fowler
Postseason
American League Division Series:
Rays over Angels
Red Sox over White Sox
American League Championship Series:
Rays over Red Sox
National League Division Series:
Mets over Reds
Diamondbacks over Cubs
National League Championship Series:
Diamondbacks over Mets
World Series:
Rays over Diamondbacks in the battle of 1998 expansion teams!
So there you have it. Now everyone can laugh at me at the end of the season when I’m proven dead wrong. Or shower me with praise if any of my predictions come to fruition…
What’s up
April 5, 2009 at 10:49 pm | In Personal, Random | 5 CommentsTo all of my readers, I’m sorry for the lack of updates recently. I’ve been back from vacation for more than a week, but so far my only new post has been a solicitation to get people to join one of my fantasy baseball leagues. It’s true that I’ve been busy at home and at work, but the biggest reason for my lack of updates recently has been a decline in my interest in the baseball card hobby. I wish that I could point to a specific reason for this, but really it’s a combination of things.
For one, the release calendar for 2009 is filled with baseball card products that I could care less about. The only sets that I really care about at this point are Topps Heritage and Allen & Ginter, and I’m less enthused about even those products than I was last year. Over the last month or so, all that I’ve really cared about is adding to my Evan Longoria collection. I’m pretty sure that I’m done buying any boxes or packs of cards for the year, with the exception of Allen & Ginter.
Another factor is that my collection is literally a mess right now. Because I’ve spent so much time blogging, buying new cards, and making trades, I’ve spent virtually no time organizing my cards in the last several months. So I’m not very interested in making the mess worse right now. I need to spend a lot of time organizing the cards that I have, and probably getting rid of many cards that I don’t really want. I’ve started to realize the wisdom of collecting quality and not quantity.
So for the foreseeable future, I’ll only be adding Evan Longoria cards, and some cards of other Rays, to my collection. I’ve also decided to take down the “Trade Corner” page from my blog. I don’t want to make any more trades. I’ve lost most of my interest in building sets, and when people send me Rays cards, it seems like 90% of the time, it’s cards that I already have. Also, I simply don’t have the time anymore to put together packages of cards to send out to people. There are about 20 people out there who know this very well because they’ve been waiting a long time to receive cards from me. I do apologize to everyone who has been waiting to either receive cards from me or to receive responses to emails about card trades. If you’ve already sent cards to me and you’re waiting to receive something back, or if you’ve already sent me email to propose a trade, I will still send the cards that I owe you. I don’t want to screw anyone over. But in the interest of maintaining my sanity, I don’t want to make any new card trades at this point in time.
As the new baseball season starts, I think that you’ll start to see some significant changes to the blog. Expect to see less content about baseball cards, and more posts about the actual baseball season and fantasy baseball. I am very excited about the new season, and I’d much rather write about the actual games than about cards right now. When I do write about cards, it’ll be mostly about Longoria cards that I’ve added to my collection or other Rays.
I’d like to thank everyone out there who reads this blog, especially the people who have kept coming back over the last month even though there’s been very little new content. I hope that you’ll keep reading the blog in the future, even if I don’t write about cards as much as I have in the past. I think that it’s important for any blogger to write about the things that they’re most interested in and passionate about, and that’s what I intend to do…
I’m back – and a quick plea for help…
March 30, 2009 at 3:12 pm | In Fantasy Baseball, Random | 3 CommentsHey all – I returned from my trip to Florida over the weekend. I’ll have a post up about my experiences at spring training very soon. I had a great time, and I wish that I was still on vacation. In other news, the Fielder’s Choice Blogger Fantasy Baseball League had its draft last night. I’ll write a post about that too – and in the mean time, you can check out all of the team rosters here.
But the reason for this post is that I need some help. I have another ESPN fantasy baseball league with a draft set for 9:15 PM EDT tomorrow, March 31. The league includes a bunch of my friends who aren’t card bloggers. However, a few people backed out of the league and we only have 6 of the 10 slots filled. If you’re interested in playing fantasy baseball and you’re available for the live draft tomorrow night, please contact me as soon as possible so that I can invite you and we can fill up the league!
The league is set up the same as the blogger league. Here are the details:
- It’s a traditional 5×5 scoring league, meaning that the statistical categories will be: Batting Average, Home Runs, RBI, Runs, Stolen Bases, Wins, Strikeouts, ERA, WHIP, and Saves.
- The format is head-to-head, meaning that every week, each team will play directly against another team and they’ll get a win or loss in each of the statistical categories.
- There are 10 teams in the league.
- The player universe is all of MLB (not just A.L. or N.L.)
- Each team will have a 25-man roster (C,1B,2B,SS,3B,CI,MI,OF,OF,OF,OF,OF,UTIL, 9 pitchers, 3 bench slots, and 2 DL slots).
Vacation!
March 20, 2009 at 1:44 am | In Personal, Random | 4 CommentsVacation time is finally here! That’s great news for me, but bad news for my readers. It’s unlikely that I’ll be able to post anything new until at least March 28, when I return home. Here are my plans:
- My wife and I are leaving Friday morning 3/20 to drive from our home in Apex, North Carolina to Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Arrive in Fort Lauderdale Friday night.
- Attend the Tampa Bay Rays vs. Baltimore Orioles spring training game on Saturday 3/21 in Fort Lauderdale. I’m planning to meet two of my favorite bloggers at the game: Brian from 30-year old Cardboard and the legendary Mario from Wax Heaven!
- We might go to the Florida Panthers hockey game on Saturday night against the Columbus Blue Jackets. If we go, that will mean that I’ll have been to every arena in the NHL’s Southeast division. I’ve been to the RBC Center in Raleigh many times. The others are the Verizon Center in Washington, Philips Arena in Atlanta, and the St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa. Of course, I’ll be rooting hard for the Blue Jackets to win in order to help Carolina’s playoff chances.
- Saturday night, we’re driving across the state to Port Charlotte, the Rays new spring training home. We’ll be attending the Rays vs. Yankees game on Sunday. I’ll get to meet one of my readers and his son at the game, and they’re both fellow Rays fans.
- We’re driving Sunday night from Port Charlotte to Orlando, and checking in at Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort.
- We’ll be at Disney until Friday 3/27. We’ll be celebrating my wife’s 28th birthday on Thursday 3/26.
It’s been a hectic week trying to get things done before the trip. I was hoping that I’d find some time to mail out some card packages to people that I’m working on trades with, but I never did find that time. So unfortunately, I won’t be able to send anything out until I return. I definitely appreciate the patience of everyone who is waiting on something from me (and the list is getting pretty long).
Of course, I will be back in time for the Fielder’s Choice blogger fantasy baseball league draft on Sunday 3/29.
The only bad thing about the trip is that Evan Longoria was just added to the United States roster for the World Baseball Classic, replacing the injured David Wright and Chipper Jones at third base. That means that I won’t get to watch him play in the two games that I’m going to see. But despite that, it’s going to be a great time and I can’t wait to get down to sunny Florida!
When I get back, I should have some good pictures and stories to share about the games.
My last trip to Disney World, July 2005
A reason to Re-Joyce!
March 15, 2009 at 12:19 am | In Autographs, My Cards, Trades | 2 CommentsI know that I am very far behind in posting about recent card trades; if you sent me something in the last month or so and I haven’t posted about it yet, rest assured that you’re on a list and I will be posting about it soon. But I received something this week that I really wanted to post right away. It was the first time that someone has obtained an in-person autograph and sent it to me. Justin from Tampa Bay Sports Wasteland is a fellow Rays fan (although he’s an Orioles fan too) and we’ve made a few card trades in the past. He attended the Rays Fan Fest at Tropicana Field a few weeks ago and he was kind enough to get a 2009 Matt Joyce card signed for me!
That was a totally awesome thing to do! Joyce, as you may know, hit 12 home runs in 242 at bats for the Tigers last year, and he was traded to the Rays for Edwin Jackson. He grew up in the Tampa Bay area and he was thrilled to become a Ray. Unfortunately he hasn’t been able to play in spring training yet, due to tendonitis in his lower right leg. Because of that, he’s likely to start the season in Durham where I’ll get to see him play in person. But it’s only a matter of time before he takes over Gabe Gross’ role as the lefty in the Rays right field platoon. I think that he has the potential to be a big contributor to the Rays for many years to come.
As if that weren’t enough, Justin threw in a few other cards too. The best one is this Upper Deck Cam Ward jersey card:
This is a card that even my wife is excited about. Cam Ward is her favorite hockey player. We attend a lot of Hurricanes games together. For the third year in a row, the Canes are battling for one of the last playoff spots in the Eastern Conference. Hopefully they will succeed in actually making the playoffs this year, for the first time since 2006 when they won the Stanley Cup. If they do, Cam Ward will need to be at the top of his game in the net.
Justin also sent an Evan Longoria Documentary card that I needed, three 2009 Topps cards (Longoria, David Price, and the Longoria/Price dual card), and a Wade Boggs card and Jonny Gomes card for my collection of old Devil Rays.
Thanks again Justin, for your awesome generosity!
Amazing card acquisition – Part 3 (or maybe not so amazing)
March 13, 2009 at 12:43 am | In My Cards, Upper Deck | 7 CommentsYou can check out Part 1 of my “amazing card acquisitions” here and Part 2 here.
This post has been in draft mode for a while now. Check out my third amazing acquisition:
Stan Coveleski is a name that is familiar to most baseball fans. He’s a Hall of Famer, but not many people know much about his career – at least I didn’t until recently. A little over a month ago, I had just finished watching the 3rd inning of Ken Burns’ Baseball documentary on MLB Network (covering 1910 – 1919) in which Coveleski was mentioned. I had trouble falling asleep that night, so I walked over to my computer and started looking at eBay auctions that were about to end. This card was one of them. The only cut signature card that I owned was the Enos Slaughter that I pulled from Sweet Spot Classic (see it here) and I thought that it would be cool to add another cut signature of a Hall of Famer to my collection. I had seen many cut signatures sell for well over $100, so I was very pleased to be able to get this one for $43.57.
Coveleski was a Polish kid who grew up in the Pennsylvania coal mines. He made his major league debut for the Philadelphia Athletics in 1912, but he had his best years with the Cleveland Indians between 1916 – 1924. The highlight of his career came in the 1920 World Series, in which he had quite possibly the greatest pitching performance in World Series history. He pitched three games, completing all of them, and giving up only two runs in 27 innings. He won all three games and had an ERA of 0.67 for the Series, a record that still stands today. He was a master of the spitball, which was outlawed after 1920, but Coveleski was one of several pitchers who were still allowed to throw it until their retirement. After his tenure in Cleveland ended, he went on to pitch for the Washington Senators and New York Yankees, retiring after the 1928 season.
Coveleski wasn’t one of the elite pitchers of his era – that group includes Christy Mathewson, Walter Johnson, and Grover Cleveland Alexander – but he was definitely in the second tier of great pitchers. He was finally elected to the Hall of Fame in 1969, and he passed away in 1984.
I think that it’s awesome to own a signature of a legendary Hall of Famer who pitched almost 100 years ago, and who passed away 25 years ago. However, in light of the recent allegations about card companies, including Upper Deck, allowing fake cut signatures into some of their products, the card has lost a little bit of its luster for me. The wording on the back of the card that the signature was “independently authenticated by a third party authenticator” doesn’t inspire much confidence. I think that there’s a pretty good chance that the signature is real, if only because counterfeiters would probably be focusing their efforts on bigger names than Stan Coveleski, but it’ll always be a question mark in my mind. I probably won’t buy any more cut signature cards in the future, unless the card companies do something significant to give collectors more confidence that they’re completely authentic.
As you can see, the card pays tribute to 1920, when Coveleski had his amazing World Series performance, but a photo on the front of the card would’ve been nice – especially since many collectors probably have no idea what he looked like. So I present to you a photo of Hall of Famer Stan Coveleski in action:
Watch out for Part 4 of my amazing card acquisitions, featuring a player who played even before Coveleski…
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