Batteries refreshed

I took a few days away from blogs and blogging (and just about everything computer related) after I got back from my road trip. Along the way I bought a few items including some Stadium Club. I realize that SC is now old news since Topps has released about four sets since then but whatever. It was new to me.

I'm just going to post the cards that are not plain old base cards that I got.....plus one or two that I liked.

Here's a gold foil Jeff Bagwell posing in Busch Stadium II (or was that III?).

Nolan Arenado reflector/refractor/3D version. 

Sc always has some neat pics of old school guys like this. Here Willie McCovey is waiting his turn to launch a few baseballs into downtown Phoenix during Spring Training.

Gold foil Todd Frazier.

I like catcher cards of catchers doing catcher things. And I like Stephen Vogt even though I never know how to pronounce his name.

This is a black foil card. One of these two guys is Danny Santana.

Washed out Brian Dozier card with bronze foil. I liked the old time babe Ruth set with the sepia photos. These modern pics done that way leave me cold.

Finally here are the SC and my '16 Topps Now cards of Joe Musgrove. I picked up the TN version when I nabbed him for my fantasy team last year. Interesting that they used the same pic. I don't look at many TN cards but I haven't seen this happen other than here.

So there you are, one and done for Stadium Club. It's easily my favorite Topps current set. I may pick up a few orioles here and there but as far as buying more retail I don't think so.

Next post...my disillusionment with repacks.

Back to Baseball

After a few non-sports posts I thought it was time to throw something together about baseball. I was at the local hotel show this past Saturday and did something I rarely if ever do at a show...buy packs of current cards. I also picked up some vintage sports and non-sports stuff (the trip wouldn't be worthwhile if I didn't) but a good bit of that is already out the door in PWEs.

As you can tell by the top card I bought a couple of packs of Stadium Club. I got my first and only Oriole from that set. Stealth pie-thrower Adam Jones came with gold lettering on his card. One of my few beefs with this set is that the front lettering is too hard to read. At least I find it so. I wish Topps would have used black as the font color and let silver be a special insert color like gold is. Now get off my damn lawn. 

A secondary reason for the baseball post is that I went to Minute Maid Wednesday night to see the Astros play the Blue Jays. I went with my wife, my sons and their significant others. Watching baseball is fun with a group and despite the outcome (a 3-1 loss) we had a great time. 

I was hoping the 'Stros could help out my Birds but their pathetic line-up came up dry. Currently the Astros either get production from Jose Altuve or they get nothing at all. Speaking of Altuve..... 

That appears to be a playoff win celebration from last year. Their bats better rebound or a repeat is unlikely. But that's a pretty cool card, no?

The Jays got three dingers, two by this guy...

Joey Bats hit one as well. The Astros were down two in the eighth, put runners on second and third with one out and had Altuve and Correa coming up. Everyone was excited. But Altuve lined out and Correa struck out looking.

On the plus side (for some) was the fact that it was Pokemon Go night.

Luckily (or not) we missed the pregame silliness that had grown up game players chasing Pikachus and whatnot on the field. As I looked around the crowd during the game it seems that more than half the folks near us had their faces planted in their phones most of the night. I'd like to think they were checking scores or stats but I'll bet not.

I got this card of Kole Calhoun and noticed something that is probably very old news to everyone but me. The Angels are just called the 'Angels'. Not 'Anaheim', 'Los Angeles', 'LA Angels of Anaheim' or anything else. How long has this been going on? I feel dumb for not having a clue about this.

I got this Mike Trout insert out of Archives and checked just to confirm that it's done across the whole Topps line. Yup.

I dug thru COMC and went back to 2004 before I found this:

I didn't check every set between then and now but it seems like it's at least a decade long policy. OK, now I know. I don't understand it, but at least I'm aware of it.

My final Stadium Club to be scanned is this black lettered one.

Again, much easier to read than the standard SC. And it's another nice one. I've bought one blaster and a few packs of SC this year. I'm not going to try to chase it. I tried last year and I'm still lacking a bunch and not too inspired to go after them. Not that it's not a great set, it certainly is, but I have too many other things higher on my list.

Oh, my one other gripe is collation. With just the few packs I have of 2016 SC I've some packs that seem to mirror others. Four or five dupes from one pack to the next. That's discouraging. But it's still my favorite contemporary set.

More Picking the Best Card

While I await the discovery of a mystical cure for my scanner woes I present a few more cards from my Fantasy baseball binder and the cards they bumped. I had these scanned for my original post but they didn't make the cut. So please ignore the fact that you are getting second string scans.

Here is what I said in the first post a few weeks back:

I put one card of each of my players in my binder. I have certain criterion in mind when I hunt up a player's card. I prefer a vertical card, one that shows the player on the correct team, and one from a year I had him. The whole thing forms a hierarchy with a card fitting the above description at the top, and a horizontal, multi-player, die-cut, minor league, different organization card from a previous year at the bottom. But I'll ignore all that to add variety or to spice up the binder with a card I really like. 

I had this minor league card of Freddy Galvis in the binder. I had Galvis a couple of years ago and he only had minor league cards so I had to overpay for one.

It's not bad as MiLB cards go but it gives no indication of his MLB team so it got the boot....

 ...for a 2015 Topps. The weird number of the back makes me think it was from one of those team sets that you see on cardboard hangers in stores. Wrong year but it shows him in the Phils' gear.

Nearly the same holds true for Yasiel Puig. I don't make many smart moves in fantasy baseball but drafting him before he made the Dodgers was one. He hasn't turned out to be the second coming of Willie Mays but he really made a nice impact on my club when he broke in two seasons back.

This card wasn'y hugely expensive but it cost more than the card I replaced it with for sure. No Dodger logos? No good in the binder!

I waited for a nice card to come along and this year I liked the Archives Puig. So there ya go.

But my Archives Maikel Franco which I picked up when I claimed him made way for a better '15 card.

I just got this one in a couple of weeks back. Stadium Club > Archives, at least in this case.

Kyle Seager on a Bowman card. I don't remember when I had this guy but that Bowman card, even if it was from the correct year, yuck. Dark and unreadable.

'15 Stadium Club, wrong year, better card!

But SC doesn't trump all. I really like this next one. James McCann chats behind his glove with his pitcher. Unique and really cool. But I can't get around the fact that either of them could be the card's subject. Aesthetically, it's a sweet card. But for the binder it's like a two player card. Unacceptable.

2015 Topps gives it the bump.

Finally we have the case of Jordan Zimmermann. I like the 2012 Archives. that's even the year I had him.

But I bounced it for a '15 Stadium Club. And I'm having second thoughts. I may switch back. that Archives may not be as pretty but it is from the right year, right team and it's the only one of that set in my binder so it ticks the 'unique' box. I need to think more on this.