The trade bug

I think I've come down with a case of trade-itis lately.

It's been similar to the one Night Owl described in a post a while ago.

I've received a few emails lately from fellow readers/bloggers offering up a trade. While I always appreciate those, I just can't seem to get overly excited about them.

I'm not quite sure why that is, though. Best I can guess, it's a combination of lack of time (with school and all) and not a lot of new sets on the shelves. (I'll be trading my heart out once Topps Update is released.)

So, if you've sent me an email inquiring about a trade within the last week or so, I promise I'll get back to you very soon.

Right near the start of my self-described case of trade-itis, I received a nice package from fellow blogger Tom, author of the great blog "The Angels, In Order".

One of his recent posts made me want to go to a bookstore...right now. He found a dime box in a bookstore!

How awesome is that?

In the time following his remarkable book store card conquest, the two of us managed to come to terms on a trade. He mentioned that he had some extra Vlad and Casey Kotchman doubles to send my way.

I'm always up for those.

Although I already had it, one of my personal favorites that Tom sent me was the above MLB Showdown Vlad.

I know it well.

Back during my MLB Showdown apex, I dropped a good amount of cash on the 2002 MLB Showdown All-Star set. But it was worth it.

So many of those players found their way onto both mine and my dad's "big league" teams.

Unlike the real All-Star game that year, there still hasn't been a tie in MLB Showdown history.

Here's a rare case of a card back being more intriguing than the front.

This "In the Zone" Vlad insert from 2007 Fleer is a pretty neat piece from an otherwise unspectacular set. (Here's what the front looks like, in case you were wondering.)

I'd never seen a card with circular text before.

Be careful, or you might get hypnotized.

This was a welcome surprise, a "hit" to my remaining 2012 A&G insert needs.

Although I was a little lukewarm about them at first, I'm liking these "What's In A Name?" inserts more and more with each passing day.

Plus, a card of "Stan the Man" makes any trade package about ten times better.

It's not often that I'm stuck at home on a Saturday night, as was the case yesterday.

Still, I'm kind of glad I stayed in. After all, I got to catch what turned out to be a great game between the Yanks and Orioles last night. (I even got to see Lew Ford homer...but you'll probably hear that name again on this blog in the near future.)

It's probably no surprise that I'm pulling for the O's to win the AL East. I've got nothing against the Bronx Bombers.

I've just always been a fan of the "underdogs" in this game.

From what I've seen, Mark Reynolds is one of the hottest players in the league right now, responsible for a good chunk of the O's recent surge.

I couldn't stop myself from picking up this liquored-up card of the O's star.

Tom was nice enough to include a few random dime box-like cards in the trade as well. The Puckett was one of those.

Which brings me to a quick trivia question.

What do Tom Gorzelanny and Kirby Puckett have in common?

I'll give you a minute.

...

They're both alumni of Triton College, located a short drive from where I live. (Gorzelanny was drafted out of Trition, while Puckett transferred to Bradley College, after which he'd be drafted by the Twins.)

A lot of my friends go there. I've only set foot inside the college on one or two occasions, but I'll bet they have some sort of shrine devoted to Puckett and/or Gorzelanny in there somewhere. (A few other big leaguers went to Triton as well.)

Sadly, the college I'm at right now doesn't even have a baseball team.

Maybe I'm missing out on the next Gorzelanny or Puckett.

A big thanks to Tom for yet another great blogosphere trade!

Hopefully, my case of trade-itis will subside in the near future. I think it will. After all, I can't go without the beautiful sight of a card-filled mailer in the mailbox for very long.

The withdrawal symptoms start to come back after a while.