Proxy shopping

Before I started this blog, I was pretty selfish when it came to card shows.

Digging through boxes upon boxes of cardboard was fun, of course, but I only shopped for myself. I didn't give a minute of thought to picking up anything for other people.

Nowadays, I can't imagine a show without a little proxy shopping. Though I still get my fill of keeper cards, I'm constantly on the hunt for others. I get a great deal of pleasure finding something I know another blogger will enjoy.

Heck, I've even tried to bring the entire local card show experience to Ethan, a blogging buddy who lives halfway across the country.

Recently, though, I was on the receiving end of some proxy shopping. When Jim (aka "gcrl"), longtime friend of the blog and author of the terrific "Garvey Cey Russell Lopes", offered to go hunting for others at his local show, I specifically asked if he could look for a couple cards for me.

As luck would have it, he found them both. Although sending just the pair would've been more than enough, Jim generously decided to build a whole trade package around them.

For now, then, we'll save the two proxy hits for last and focus on the rest of the goodies Jim sent my way.

I can see why he included this Valentin in the mix. It's a quirky piece that fits well into my random ways.

I don't have a good explanation as to how a shot like that wound up on a baseball card, though.

Jim always seems to find great '90s cards to send me.

I think I may actually have requested the Henderson when he posted it on his blog a while ago. It's an unofficial quest of mine to own every single card of Rickey in Angels gear. I never knew that Donruss Preferred one existed before Jim came along.

Pinnacle Inside may not have made much of a splash, but they can lay claim to producing the only sunblock-themed card I've ever seen.

These are both Tom Glavine cards, believe it or not.

The one on the left comes from 1993 Triple Play's "Little Hotshots" subset. It's always fun to see cards of future stars as little tykes.

On the right is yet another unconventional card of Mr. Glavine, as it features him legging out a bases-loaded triple in Game 7 of the '96 NLCS. He also threw seven innings of shutout baseball in that contest.

Not a bad game, I'd say.

If you don't like 1993 Upper Deck, I don't know what to say.

Maybe this fantabulous page will help convince you. All of these were a part of Jim's trade package.

As if that weren't enough, the nine-pocket page that these are housed in also came courtesy of Jim. He graciously threw in a few extra pages he had lying around.

For binder guys like me, Rule #1 is pretty simple.

You can never have too many pages.

As has become apparent from past packages, Jim is a legend at hitting mini-collection needs.

Both of these fit nicely into my "pitcher at the plate" and "autograph" themes. The Kile is probably about the 2,748th card of his that I've received as a blogger. 

Except for maybe Vlad, Darryl Kile has been the most common suspect in trade packages during my time here in the blogosphere. I mentioned my Kile collection in passing once and people have been showering me with his cards ever since.

Hey, I'm not complaining.

Keep 'em coming. 

Also present were a couple hits to my "award show" and "turn ahead the clock" mini-collections.

The Gwynn/Murray combo certainly makes for one of the more star-studded cards in history.

Jim sent along the Gold Reserve parallel of Jermaine Dye's 2000 UD issue. I picked up the base version in a Just Commons order not long ago.

My apologies go out to those who said they never wanted to see those awful Royals jerseys again.

Now that is a "bat barrel" shot.

What a thing of beauty.

Despite the laughable airbrush job on "Eck" here, seeing a Hostess card fall out of a trade package was quite exciting.

Between this beauty and that massive Hostess binder I picked through at my local show, I've certainly had my fill of candy-coated cardboard lately.

I couldn't be happier.

As great as the other items were, the two best cards from Jim's mailer were the proxy pickups he found for me.

Both have quite a bit in common. Perhaps most importantly, both were cards I'd coveted for a long time.

Mr. Pepitone here was the first of the pair. The 2001 Topps Archives reprint of this very card had been staring up at me from my Cubs binder for what seems like forever.

Though he closed out his career with the Cubs and Braves in 1973, Topps didn't issue a card of him the next year.

As a result, this semi-high number from '73 Topps is indeed Joe Pepitone's "sunset" issue.

Or, as Jim would fittingly say, his "final tribute".

The same can be said about this great piece.

Like the Pepitone, the 2001 Archives reprint of Frank Howard had been mocking me from my Tigers binder for years. As another semi-high number from '73 Topps, I had yet to track down an actual copy.

Also similar to Mr. Pepitone, "Hondo" did play in the bigs during the 1973 season, yet didn't have a card issued the next year. That, of course, makes it another "sunset" piece. On top of that, it's the only card I know of that pictures him with the Tigers.

Howard's tenure in Japan makes for one of the more interesting anecdotes in the annals of baseball history.

After not receiving an offer to play in the bigs after the '73 season, he went across the Pacific to play for the Taiheiyo Club Tigers of the Japanese league. In his very first at-bat in Japan, he struck out, wrenched his back, and never played professional baseball again.

Needless to say, it was a rather inauspicious end to Frank Howard's career.

For years, I've been dreaming of the day I could own the real versions of these two cards. Thanks to Jim, that moment has finally come.

I just didn't think I'd add them to my collection on the same day.

That's another testament to the joys of proxy shopping, though.

If you're not doing it already, I highly recommend adding it to your next card show experience.

Blogger boxes for life

Some older readers of this blog may remember the big "blogger box" craze that swept through Dime Boxedonia a while back.

For no apparent reason, card-stuffed boxes full of glorious cardboard started hitting my doorstep. They came from quite a few generous bloggers around the country. One even made the trip all the way from Australia.

Although it caused me to get way behind in sorting and organizing, that was undoubtedly one of the most awesome points of my blogging career.

Just as soon as it started, though, the blogger box craze seemed to evaporate. Though it did allow me to get caught up with my sorting, I missed it.

Every so often, however, I'm reminded that the mystical blogger box will never truly die. While it doesn't happen nearly as often as before, I still find one of them in my mailbox every so often these days.

Reader Michael recently hit me with not his first, not his second, but his third jam-packed box of awesome cards. He's undoubtedly a blogger box Hall of Famer.

It's great to know that people think of me when they see fun cards like this one of "The Great Bambino". From the all-Ruth 1992 Conlon checklist, this one features "The Babe" having some fun with former outfielder Kiki Cuyler.

It's also one of the few cards you'll see of Ruth during his short stint as a Dodger first base coach.

From the stack I found in this blogger box, I could tell that Michael knew about my love for minor league cards.

It's always fun to see future big leaguers during their days playing for peanuts. Plus, I'm sure I'm one of the only Calvin Pickering collectors in the world.

He is one of the few players from the Virgin Islands, after all.

Sure, Calvin Pickering may not be all that well-remembered these days.

But guys like John Olerud should be. Though I don't mention him as much as Vlad or Ichiro, Olerud is probably one of my top five favorite players to collect.

Michael found an obscure new one here.

I honestly didn't know Olerud ever played for the US National Team.

Rule #2,743 of my collection...

You can never go wrong with Pacific.

The Pacific brand never really struck a chord with most collectors, but I've always been a big fan. More than perhaps any other company in cardboard history, they sure weren't afraid to take risks.

The pair you see above are probably two of the more tame releases in Pacific's catalog, which is saying something.

One of my dreams is to find a box of heavily-discounted '90s Pacific at a card show someday.

Now that would be a blast.

As any blogger box is bound to include, Michael sprinkled some mini-collection madness into this one.

Double dip cards are always fun.

Horizontal double dips are even better.

Horizontal double dips with a Rickey Henderson cameo are about as good as it gets.

Let's have some fun with 2009 Topps.

Like the bunting shots, I've never officially declared "bubble blowing" as an official mini-collection of mine. I guess now is as good a time as any to finally say it.

I collect cards of guys blowing bubbles.

There you go.

Here's a couple from the "at the wall" and "play at the plate" variety.

I'd be willing to bet that 1993 Upper Deck has more mini-collection hits than any other set in history.

I seem to find new ones with each passing day.

More mini-collection insanity.

If memory serves me right, I have yet to find a pre-1982 "interview" shot.

As if this blogger box couldn't get any better, Michael decided to throw a couple "Dime Box Dozen" nominees into the mix.

The Lopes had been a huge need of mine ever since my man Ethan sent me the OPC variation of it not too long ago. Now that both versions are in my collection, I can live happily ever after.

I've known about the existence of the '03 Heritage Gordon for a few years now, but didn't get around to making it a "Dime Box Dozen" need until recently.

Besides the fact that it awesomely lists his first name as "Flash", it's the only card I know of that features him as an Astro. He spent all of 15 games in Houston in 2002.

One of these days, I'll have to go back and see how many "Dime Box Dozen" needs I've speared so far.

With the help of great people like Michael, I know it's quite a few.

Michael also picked up on an interest of mine that I haven't mentioned too much on this blog.

Leaf branched out into its own brand in 1990. What we sometimes forget, however, is that it basically served as an OPC version of Donruss before that.

Just like O-Pee-Chee, '80s Leaf was released in Canada and have French on the backs. On top of that, they look awesome next to their Donruss counterparts in a binder.

I'm still on the fence about whether I consider them oddballs or not.

There's no denying the oddity of this one, though.

I've long been a big Bud Harrelson fan. Like many baseball fans, I first learned about him through his infamous brawl with Pete Rose in the 1973 NLCS.

However, I eventually learned that he was a terrific shortstop a vital part of those great Mets teams of the late '60s and early '70s. Plus, at 5'11" and 160 pounds, Harrelson and I are about the same size, which boggles my mind.

This would've been a neat oddball regardless.

But for what I really liked about it, though, we have to flip it over.

Behold!

This beauty was given away at the 5th Annual National in 1984. The very same National that's still going today. The very same National that I've attended on two different occasions.

I knew the big show had its origins in the late '70s and early '80s, but I had no idea there were any sort of giveaways back then. I'd always assumed that was a more recent thing.

Apparently, though, some lucky collectors got their hands on this terrific card back in 1984. Now, thirty years later, it has a home in my collection.

How cool is that?

I can't thank people like Michael enough for keeping the blogger box thing going. It's been a pleasure to dig through all the hand-picked cardboard people have sent me during my time here in the blogosphere.

You just never know what the blogger box gods will have in store.

Tales of the unexplained

The world of baseball cards can be a mysterious place.

Despite my years of experience in the hobby, I know there's a lot left to be learned. Although my dime box travels have taught me well, I'm still constantly finding cards that leave me in the dark.

Take the Ty Cobb piece you see above, for instance. I snagged it from a dollar bin at a card show I recently attended without much of a second thought. It's a great oddball that needed to be in my collection.

There was just one problem.

I didn't know what the heck it was.

I said as much in the post I composed on my finds from the day. Extensive research still left me with nothing.

I guess I should've known that the great people of the blogosphere would help with the investigation. Thanks to the work of quite a few readers, I finally found the history behind Mr. Cobb. He hails from the playing card-based 1953 Brown and Bigelow checklist.

So, in short, I scored a 1953 Ty Cobb card for a dollar. I never would've known that without the help with a few kind-hearted souls here in the blogosphere.

Case closed.

Like the Cobb, some tales of the unexplained ultimately end up with a resolution.

For years, I wondered why almost every shot from the 1969 Topps checklist seemed to be outdated.

Jim "Mudcat" Grant is one of the worst offenders. Though the card labels him as an Expo, he's clearly wearing Indians gear. And, since his last games with the Tribe came in 1964, this shot was at least five years old by the time '69 Topps hit the shelves.

I was baffled.

As I recently found out, however, the up-and-coming players' union tried to get Topps to pay more for photo licensing rights at the time. As a result, they simply chose to use old pictures for many of the lower-numbered cards in the checklist.

That's just Topps being Topps, I guess.

Some issues, however, will probably be mysteries forever.

Cards like this one are simply puzzling. Like the Cobb, I picked it up at the recent card show I attended a couple weeks ago for a quarter.

It's a terrific action shot of former Dodger Charlie Neal swiping second base in the '59 Fall Classic. That's why I bought it.

Still, take a look at the final score of this game. The Sox clubbed the Dodgers 11-0 in Game 1 of the series, yet Topps used a shot of a Dodger to highlight this particular contest.

Say what?

Then there's the mysterious tale of Johnny Cueto and his baffling signature.

Heck, it's not even a signature. Those are clear-cut print letters right there. And it wasn't a one-time happening, either. I have a few other Cueto cards that feature the exact same thing.

From what I know, the signatures used for these facsimile autographs are taken directly from each player's Topps contract. I guess no one told Mr. Cueto that he actually had to sign the form, and not just print his name.

At the very least, though, it certainly makes for a wacky baseball card.

Ah, finally a bit of normalcy.

Nothing wrong with this shot at all. Mr. Reyes is in the process of laying down a drag bunt here. Let's not forget the terrific Mets throwback jersey, either.

So, then, what's it doing on this list?

For the answer to that, we have to flip it over.

On the surface, the back looks fairly standard. Bio, stats, date of birth, the whole enchilada.

Take a look all the way to the right, though. See those mysterious markings near the borders? In case you can't tell from the scan, it reads "000/000".

I smell a screw-up.

My guess is that Reyes suffered through some kind of printing flaw, but I can't be sure. I don't know if every version of this card has the same markings, either.

I'm completely in the dark.

I've been desperately trying to come up with an explanation for this one.

As of right now, I've gotten absolutely nowhere.

After his offseason signing with Pittsburgh, Ryan Church was photoshopped into a Pirates jersey for his 2010 Heritage issue. Nothing strange there. We see this sort of thing all the time in the hobby, after all.

The puzzling part, however, is that Topps left the original photo of Church as a Brave intact for the chrome version of the very same card. 

Why one and not the other? Was it laziness or simply an error on Topps's part?

Beats me.

As we all know, "Shoeless" Joe Jackson was banned from baseball with the rest of the Black Sox for his alleged role in throwing the 1919 World Series.

That, as a result, barred him from any type of relations with the game in the future. No officially-licensed MLB product can ever feature Joe Jackson.

Or so I thought.

Though most of the "Shoeless Joe" singles I own are from oddball sets, Upper Deck somehow slipped a card of his into their 2004 Sweet Spot Classic checklist, one that was fully licensed by MLB.

It's not the only one, either. He even has a game-used bat card in 2001 SP Legendary Cuts, another fully-licensed product.

I remember reading about this particular issue in a Beckett long ago. (Yes, I used to own Becketts. I'm not proud of it.)

Even they, the so-called "experts", didn't have a good answer for this mystery.

  

Perhaps the ultimate "Huh?" card, however, is this one.

If you ask me, it's one of the more interesting pieces released in the last 20 years or so. If not ever, for that matter.

With this card in 2008 Stadium Club, Topps was able to catch the "Manny-wood" craze that hit baseball after his midseason trade to L.A. that year. Ramirez is clearly sporting a photoshopped Dodgers jersey there.

Again, photoshopping pretty much the norm these days. I don't see anything wrong wi...

Wait.

If the jersey isn't real, then why does that look like Dodger Stadium in the background?

And why is there a clearly fake advertisement for the Ninety-Nine Restaurants chain on that billboard?!?!

And why is there no umpire?!?!?!?!

What kind of a card is this, Topps?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

I guess some things are better left unexplained.

Short Term Stops: The All-Brewers Team (Pt. 2)

Shortstop

2004 Fleer Tradition #388 Royce Clayton

Short Term Stops Brewers Accolades:

Royce Clayton (2003 Brewers, 146 games)

In continuing with Part 1 of the all-time Brewers "Short Term Stops" roster, we have one of the more well-traveled players in big league history. 

Royce Clayton played for a grand total of eleven different teams during his 17-year career. The fifth of those eleven stops was his tenure with the 2003 Brewers, hitting just .228 in 146 games with the club.

While he's not quite in Kenny Lofton or Octavio Dotel territory, Royce Clayton is certainly a "Short Term Stops" legend.

Honorable Mention:

Cesar Izturis (2012 Brewers, 57 games, half-year stint)

Third Base

2007 Upper Deck #794 Corey Koskie

Brewers Accolades:

Corey Koskie (2006 Brewers, 76 games, sunset season)

Here's a blast from the past.

I tend to gravitate towards Canadian ballplayers for some reason, which explains my Corey Koskie collection. The former third baseman enjoyed his best years with the Twins before calling it a career after his stint with the 2006 Brewers.

Though he posted a marginal .261 average in Milwaukee, his official "sunset" card from Upper Deck is anything but. 

Upper Deck's 2007 design may have been forgettable, but they hit a home run with Koskie's finale here.

Outfielders

1972 Topps #12 Jose Cardenal 

Brewers Accolades:

Jose Cardenal (1971 Brewers, 53 games, half-year stint)

In terms of personal favorites, the Brewers may well have the greatest "Short Term Stops" outfield in history.

My appreciation for Jose Cardenal has been well-documented in the past on this blog, which made his inclusion on this roster a no-brainer.

The flaky outfielder was sent from the Cardinals to the Brewers in a deal midway through the 1971 season. Cardenal hit .258 in 53 games in Milwaukee and would be traded to the Cubs during the offseason.

Once he made it to Chicago, both his batting average and his 'fro began to bloom.

1974 Topps Traded #485T Felipe Alou

Brewers Accolades:

Felipe Alou (1974 Brewers, 3 games, sunset season)

I go nuts for anything featuring the Alou brothers.

Felipe, the oldest of the bunch, was the first to call it quits in 1974. His "sunset" card features either a horrible airbrush job or a strange glow-in-the-dark Brewers cap that has somehow eluded me this whole time. (I'm inclined to go with the former.)

Not until recently did I realize just how brief Alou's stint with the Brewers actually was. His time in Milwaukee consisted of exactly three at-bats in three games. Alou never even reached base with the franchise.

Despite that, a card still exists of him as a Brewer.

The hobby works in mysterious ways sometimes.

1977 Topps #159 Bernie Carbo

Brewers Accolades:

Bernie Carbo (1976 Brewers, 69 games, half-year stint)

Though I've already talked about this card at length in the past, Mr. Carbo here was a white whale of mine for a while.

I didn't even know he was a Brewer until fairly recently. And it took me a little while after that to find out that Topps actually issued a card of him in Brewers gear. He spent part of the '76 season in Milwaukee, hitting .235 in 69 games with the team.

At that point, I had to have it. I'm a big fan of "Famous for 15 Minutes" types of guys, and Carbo fits into that mold. Without his dramatic three-run homer in the eighth inning of Game 6 of the '75 World Series, Carlton Fisk would've never hit his iconic extra-inning dinger that forced a Game 7.

Eventually, I was able to land Carbo's 1977 Topps issue out of an innocent little dime box.

Dime box white whales are especially sweet.

Honorable Mentions:

Candy Maldonado (1991 Brewers, 34 games, half-year stint)
Frank Catalanotto (2009 Brewers, 77 games)

Designated Hitter

1976 Topps #550 Hank Aaron

Brewers Accolades:

Hank Aaron (1975-76 Brewers, 222 games, sunset season in '76)

Although 222 games might be a longer stint than most "Short Term Stops" nominees, I doubt many others look as strange as Hank Aaron did in a Brewers uniform.

"Hammerin' Hank" famously spent 21 of his 23 big league seasons with the Braves, becoming the all-time home run king in the process. 

His final two years, however, were spent in Milwaukee. Aaron hit the final 22 of his record-breaking 755 career dingers with the Brewers.

Plus, in one of my favorite pieces of baseball trivia, he joined a rather star-studded group of players who ended their careers in the same cities in which they started, but with a different team.

Aaron began his career with the Milwaukee Braves and retired as a Milwaukee Brewer. You may have heard of a couple other guys who did the same thing.

Willie Mays broke in as a New York Giant and called it quits as a New York Met. Babe Ruth first made it to the bigs with the Boston Red Sox and retired as a Boston Brave.

Baseball can be a funny game.

Honorable Mention:

Dave Parker (1990 Brewers, 157 games)

It still doesn't look quite right to see a DH on the Brewers "Short Term Stops" roster. I've only known them as a National League team.

I guess I'm still fairly young in comparison to a lot of other baseball fans out there.

Short Term Stops: The All-Brewers Team (Pt. 1)

I think today's era of baseball fans can be separated into two distinct categories.

There are those who exclusively remember the Milwaukee Brewers as an American League franchise. The idea of the Brewers as an AL club continues to flabbergast these people. As you might guess, these are the ones that tend to have a few years on me.

Then, there are the fans that equate the Brewers with the National League without much of a second thought. Seeing as how the Brew Crew moved to the NL when I was five years old, I'm obviously a part of this group.

I grew up with the Brewers and Cubs constantly facing each other in fierce NL Central battles. The contests aren't quite as fierce these days, but I still catch quite a few Brewers-Cubs games every year.

Plus, along with the old Busch Stadium in St. Louis, Miller Park is the one of two ballparks I've been to outside of Chicago. I must say, it's one of the more shockingly nice palaces in all of baseball. If you're relatively near Milwaukee, I'd recommend catching a game up there.

I've always had somewhat of a soft spot for the Brewers because of their ties to the old Pilots franchise. Some car dealer named Bud Selig bought the team from Seattle and moved it to Milwaukee in 1970.

While the team has yet to win a World Series, they've built a respectable "Short Term Stops" roster along the way.

Pitchers

1999 Upper Deck #409 Jim Abbott 

"Short Term Stops" Brewers Accolades:

Jim Abbott (1999 Brewers, 20 games, sunset season)

We begin with not only one of my favorite "Short Term Stops" nominees of all-time, but with one of my favorite cards of all-time as well.

After successful stints with the Angels and Yankees, Jim Abbott went a forgettable 2-8 with a 6.91 for the 1999 Brewers before retiring in July of that year.

What makes his stint in Milwaukee notable, however, is that it was the only one he spent with a National League franchise. Which, of course, meant that he had to hit for the first time in his career.

Abbott collected two hits in 21 at-bats (with a pair of RBIs) that year, which is remarkable considering he was born without a right hand.

This is one of just two cards I own of Abbott as a Brewer, and I've had it for as long as I can remember.

It's always been one of the centerpieces of my collection.

1999 Fleer Tradition Update #U-139 Hideo Nomo

Brewers Accolades:

Hideo Nomo (1999 Brewers, 28 games)

Mr. Nomo joins Jim Abbott as a fellow '99 Brewer on this roster.

Most fans prefer to remember Hideo Nomo for the "Nomo-mania" he brought to the league in 1995. What most forget, however, is that he fell on some pretty tough times just a few years later.

In a five-year stretch between 1998 and 2002, Nomo changed teams six times. After splitting his '98 season between the Dodgers and Mets, he latched on with the Brewers in 1999. He had a respectable season, going 12-8 with a 4.54 ERA for Milwaukee.

From there, he'd move onto the Tigers in 2000, the Red Sox in 2001, and back to the Dodgers in 2002.

I wouldn't be surprised if he made a few other "Short Term Stops" rosters down the road.

2008 Stadium Club #10 C.C. Sabathia

Brewers Accolades:

C.C. Sabathia (2008 Brewers, 17 games, half-year stint)

This stellar rotation closes out with one of the more memorable "Short Term Stops" candidates in recent years.

In the biggest trade deadline swap of the 2008 season, the playoff-contending Brewers landed C.C. Sabathia from the Indians for a few prospects. In hindsight, it was a trade for the ages.

I remember Sabathia's 2008 stretch run well. He went 11-2 with an amazing 1.65 ERA in 17 games with the Brew Crew. He completed seven of those games and tossed three shutouts as well, leading the Brewers into the playoffs.

Unfortunately, he struggled in his only postseason start that year, losing Game 2 of the NLDS to the Phillies. The Brewers would fall to the eventual world champs three games to one.

Still, I'd bet most Brewers fans are proud of the swap to this day.

Honorable Mentions:

Al Downing (1970 Brewers, 17 games, half-year stint)

Eric Gagne (2008 Brewers, 50 games, sunset season)

Guillermo Mota (2008 Brewers, 58 games)

Catcher

2007 Bowman Heritage #142 Johnny Estrada

Brewers Accolades:

Johnny Estrada (2007 Brewers, 120 games)

Remember Johnny Estrada?

I can't say I'd blame you if you don't. He had a few good years with the Braves before toiling in relative mediocrity for the rest of his career.

He spent the entire 2007 season with the Brewers, hitting .278 with a low .296 OBP in 120 games with the franchise.

He'd hang up his cleats after 23 games with the Nationals the following year.

That's really all I have to say about Johnny Estrada.

First Base

2012 Topps Update #US-205 Travis Ishikawa

Brewers Accolades:

Travis Ishikawa (2012 Brewers, 94 games)

This is basically a spot where I didn't have a whole lot of great nominees.

Still, it gives me an opportunity to mention that I may be the only person in the world who collects Travis Ishikawa. I honestly couldn't tell you why I'm a fan of this guy, but that doesn't stop me from hoarding his cards.

Ishikawa hit .257 with four dingers in 94 games with the 2012 Brewers. He played all of seven games in the bigs last year, by the way. Six with the Orioles, one with the Yankees.

Oh, and here's something you might not have noticed. Ishikawa was the starting first baseman for this year's Pirates on Opening Day. He went two-for-three on Monday, which means he's currently hitting at a .667 clip.

I'd wait a while before adding him to your fantasy team, though.

Second Baseman

2009 Topps Heritage #69 Ray Durham

Brewers Accolades:

Ray Durham (2008 Brewers, 41 games, half-year stint, sunset season)

I kind of wrote off Ray Durham as an afterthought when composing this roster.

It took me a while to realize just how great of a "Short Term Stops" candidate he was. 

For one thing, I don't remember his tenure with the Brewers at all. On top of that, he has the hallowed "half-year" and "sunset" combo. Just thirteen days after the big Sabathia deal, Milwaukee picked Durham up as a little insurance for their playoff hunt.

The swap proved to be another success for the Brewers, as he hit .280 with a sparking .369 OBP down the stretch. Unfortunately, he also struggled in the playoffs, hitting just .125 in three games against the Phillies in the NLDS.

Durham would call it quits following the 2008 season. In what was possibly the last truly exciting Heritage release until this year's '65-mania, Topps sent him out in fine fashion on the 1960 design.

You're a deserving "Short Term Stops" nominee, Mr. Durham.

Honorable Mention:

Willie Randolph (1991 Brewers, 124 games)

Part 2 will be coming your way later tonight.

Jumping the shark

I haven't been a huge TV guy in recent years, but one of my favorite shows ended last night.

How I Met Your Mother called it quits after nine seasons. Although I only started getting into HIMYM (as the fans call it) last year, it's quickly climbed up my TV show ladder.

In all honesty, though, nine years may have been stretching it a bit. Most fans will agree that the more recent seasons haven't been as great. While I don't think HIMYM ever "jumped the shark", as they say, it was definitely time to put the show to bed.

This is one topic that involves virtually all areas of entertainment. Did there really need to be a Major League III? Did the Ramones really need to release any of their last few unremarkable albums?

Probably not.

By now with this blog, you should probably know that I'll be trying to weave this discussion into the world of cardboard. While many actual players hung around the game for a few years too long (ahem, Steve Carlton), the same can be said for certain brands of baseball cards as well.

For lack of a better term, some sets did indeed "jump the shark".

Some may argue that Upper Deck was one of them. I personally don't think so. While their 2007 and 2009 releases may have been forgettable, '06 and '08 UD were nothing short of spectacular.

Plus, even with the no-logos barrier, I happen to think that 2010 Upper Deck was pretty darn nice.

On the other hand, some major brands didn't know when to call it quits.

I probably don't need to tell you how awesome Leaf was in its prime. Their 1993 release is still one of the more beautiful sets ever created.

Though there were a few breaks in the brand's history, Leaf's final Flagship checklist hit the shelves in 2005. I often forget that it lasted that long. Or maybe I just don't want to remember.

Many of Leaf's later designs looked awkwardly similar. Like a lot of once-great bands tend to do, I think Leaf was existing on the name alone near the end. (Think R.E.M. here.)

By 2005, it was painfully obvious that Leaf was a mere shadow of its former self.

In 1988, Score produced what might be the greatest inaugural set ever.

I've never been able to find many problems with their first Flagship checklist. The same can be said about a lot of Score's earlier releases.

In contrast to that, though, I constantly find myself mixing up a lot of their later sets. That is, if I can even remember what they look like in the first place.

Exactly a decade after their terrific inaugural set hit the streets, Score went out with a whimper in 1998.

It was a shame to see such a great brand end so forgettably.

Often times, the novelty of a certain set wears off after a while.

I personally think that's the case with Topps Chrome. It jumped the shark a long, long time ago.

When the brand debuted in 1996, chrome was still a relatively new technology in the hobby. I'm sure the reaction to a lot of pack-busters at that time was something along the lines of "Oooh...look at all the chrome!".

I happen to like the chrome versions of some '90s Topps sets (including '98 Topps) better than the regular Flagship singles. I'm not sure whether that's because the chrome was that interesting or if the designs were simply that bad, though.

These days, Topps Chrome is likely on its last legs. While there seem to be a few people that tolerate the brand, there doesn't seem to be a ton of excitement surrounding it anymore. It's just kind of there.

Topps Chrome deserves better.

The novelty can wear off fairly easily with retro-themed sets.

After all, you can only do the same thing for so long. Topps released some truly great tobacco-themed sets in the early 2000's. While I'm not sure how the 205/206 brands were received by collectors at the time, I've always thought it was a great idea.

For some reason, two more Topps 206 sets were released in 2009 and 2010. The latter had to rely on a gimmicky "men without hats" concept for its base checklist. (All of the SPs, meanwhile, feature guys in caps.)

They both just felt like, well...old hat.

I mean, you can only take the tobacco thing so far.

Someone needs to tell that to A&G.

Others may disagree with me here, but I think Allen and Ginter is about to jump the shark. That is, if it hasn't already done so.

Their earlier releases were new, clean, and true to the original. A&G was a shot in the arm to what was a fairly drab few years for the hobby at the time. I used to get insanely hyped for each coming release.

Nowadays, I seem to walk into my local Target at one point over the summer and say, "Oh, I guess A&G is out now."

There's little to no excitement anymore.

Though 2013 was perhaps one of the brand's better releases in the past few years, it was a far cry from the original A&G. All I can say to Topps is to tread lightly.

It may just jump the shark this year.

Topps Flagship may have had its peaks and valleys over the years.

Even after 63 years in the hobby, though, it's still going strong. That's quite a remarkable feat if you stop and think about it.

I doubt you can find another TV show, movie series, or band that can say they're still around after 63 years. (Although the Rolling Stones sure seem to be getting close.)

In that regard, Topps Flagship is in a class of its own.

I don't see it jumping the shark anytime soon.