Catching Up

I'm a bit 😎 ok..really far behind in posting some stuff I've received over the past month or so from other bloggers, both in the mail and in person. Time to fix that.

I can always count on Joe Shlabotnik to remind me that, for better or for worse, I'm an Orioles fan. And these days it's for worse but that's OK. I'm far enough along in life to realize that the outcome of games isn't all that important. The sun still rises every day. But enough schmaltz, let's look at cards.

I was happy for Chris Davis when he finally got the huge monkey off his back last month. He handled the whole hitless streak about as well as any player could. He seems like a very good guy and it's nice to see that he's even begun to swing the bat better and have some luck as well. He deserves it.

Nothing says 90s baseball card like gold foil. That's actually the front of the Norm Charlton card.  The 'Online' bit reminds me of my mother-in-law who uses that term for everything internet-related. As in "Can you come over and see why my online isn't working?" and "Can I see the online on my phone?" Hmmmm.

I had no idea who Bryan Bass was but his card has some nice bronze foil. It's from 2001 but UD was still in 90s mode.  BTW...Bass was a prospect out of Florida who banged around the Orioles chain for about seven years. His career, which began in 2001, came entirely during my time away from paying attention to baseball.

Speaking of my time away from baseball...

I came in at the end of Brian Roberts' career.  I had seen him play in Baltimore in 2005 in my first trip to Camden Yards and it was a 'who are these guys?' night.

Joe included some really great cards of recently and not-so-recently departed Orioles...

Has anyone gone from good guy to dispised as quickly as Manny Machado?  That's OK, I'm still a Machado guy.

I watched a bit of an Arizona game the other day. Looked odd with Adam Jones in that terrible dark gray uniform.

With modern card designs that mimic old designs nowadays, I frequently have to turn them over to see if they are actually older cards. This Leaf Eddie Murray is original.

Well, obviously this Heritage one is modern.

Did Topps sue UD over this.....

Either way, UD did a nice job of mimicking the '71 design.


There were plenty more baseball cards in Joe's envelope but let's skip to hockey and another of my teams that is in a rough patch, the New York Rangers.

I don't think I've scanned cards that were partially clear plastic before. These two Upper Deck cards didn't scan half bad but they are much nicer in hand.

And let's wrap it up with the most fun card in the bunch...it's my favorite mascot, Orbit!

All that adds up to about a third of what Joe sent. I'm getting some stuff together for a return and I'll try not to procrastinate much longer.

I'm heading to Charm City!

It's been ten years since I attended a game at Camden Yards. I'll fix that with a visit at the end of July. I'll be seeing the Tigers come through Baltimore and I expect to make it out to at least two of the three games they play while I'm there. Hopefully all three. I just hope my recent terrible record of seeing my teams in person can be turned around.

The Texans lost each of the games I went to in 2014, my Houston Cougars lost more than they won in all three of the sports I watched live. The Orioles have gone 2-6 in games I've seen them play in Houston and the Rangers won five in a row before I drove up and saw them lose to the Stars in January. They had another win streak after that game. So it's not promising.

But I'll be there nonetheless. Should be fun. To get me in the right frame of mind I'm posting some Orioles cards sent my way by Shane of Shoebox Legends. I love Shane's blog and he seems like a really nice guy. The cards he sent are pretty much all new to me. Of course with my serious lack of modern cards it's not hard to hit something I don't have.

I looked up Brandon Snyder and read that the Orioles signed him to a minor league contract this spring. He's in the low minors, still chasing the dream. Good for him.

I had forgotten that Sam Horn was a Red Sox player before he was with the O's. I thought it was the other way around. I was losing my hold on big league ball about then so he's really just a name to me.

That's an Archives on the left and a Wilhelm Heritage on the right. I love any shot of Hoyt in an O's uni and this is a pic I haven't seen on a card before.

Hunter Harvey is one of the O's top pitching prospects. He's sidelined with arm issues right now. That's not good. The KMart Ripken! Oh that retail boxed set era. KMart no longer exists anywhere I've been in recent years but that was my go-to store when I was on my own for the first time. KMart furnished my first apartment.

Here are four horizontal ones I scanned together. The Brooksie is a 2015 Topps. If you look in my garage you'll see a file cabinet I used to use in my home office. I covered it with stickers like the Fleer stickers that Shane sent.

If I have one regret as a result of not following the Orioles (or baseball at all) very closely for a stretch it's that I missed out on most of Brian Roberts career. And that's a shame.

Thanks for the cards, Shane. I always appreciate your posts and look forward to many more.