My Favorite Baseball Card of My Favorite Baseball Player

Peter at Baseball Every Night is celebrating his one-year anniversary as a blogger. To mark the occasion, he is holding a contest: write a post of any length, content, or whatever about your favorite baseball card of your favorite baseball player.

If you haven't interacted with Peter before, you should at least follow him on Twitter. Well, you should so long as you appreciate erudite conversation in which he discusses the ins and outs of game theory as it relates to Sylvia Plath.

No, not really.

But you should follow him if you appreciate discussions of good beer, a dislike for the overkill of love shown to David Ortiz last year by Topps, and a complete hatred of 1995 Fleer cards. From time to time, I've been known to ruffle Peter's feathers by saying that, contrary to reality, he actually loves  1995 Fleer. Believe me -- he really does. Not. I mean does not.

So, it should not be a surprise that his contest rules state clearly that:

Any entrants selecting a card from 1995 Fleer will be automatically disqualified. But please do still post as I'll then forward your entry to a psychiatrist so that you can get the help you need.

I can see his point. There's very little to like about that card set. I've stated my dislike for it in the past. But then, it got personal:

Any entrants that select a 1995 Fleer card that I deem is intentionally trying to get disqualified (Tony L.) will be re-entered into the contest and will have their name added to the randomizer 18 times.

Whoa. It sounds like I can tip the scales in my favor in a major way here! But I hate 1995 Fleer. What's a guy to do?

How about a custom "card"?

 

It's just a prototype for Peter's very own 1995 Fleer card, featuring his position of Blogger and Sylvia Plath Scholar and highlighting the baseball that he stole from a crying 7-year-old kid. Or, rather, that he got by beating out a surly 13-year-old kid. One of those two.

In reality:

The reality is that most cards of my favorite players are cool but never really approach the level of being "THE" favorite. Yet, every time I think of my favorite card literally in my entire collection, I always seem to come back to the same one:

I come back over and over again to the Cardsphere Hero custom card from Christmas of 2015 that came my way courtesy of Gavin at Breakdown Cards. Gavin has a far more popular and much more interesting blog than mine -- I mean, come on...I'm a one note wonder and his collection is as eclectic as it comes -- and he's a much more talented artist and card maker to boot.

Gavin deserves the thanks and praise that all in the blogworld give him. And I haven't thanked him enough yet for this incredible card that remains my favorite baseball card almost 18 months after I received it.

Thanks go out to Peter for both the contest and for being a good sport for putting up with my chicanery and once again to Gavin. And, also, thank you for reading -- I appreciate it.

Breakdowns

I'm in the mood again for a good theme post.  Late last week, I received a package from Defgav at Baseball Card Breakdown with some great cards for my Brewers collection. Since I love music and discovering new music, I thought, "hey, I'll see what comes up when I try to find songs called 'Breakdown'".  

There were five cards that I scanned in the envelope, so five songs called "Breakdown" will go with these cards.

Thusly I spake unto him that a card blog theme post was born.  And it was good.

I hope.

1.  Super Junior-M, "BREAK DOWN"

So, who's up for a Chinese-South Korean boy band (a/k/a Mandopop)? This song was released on SJ-M's second studio album also called Break Down.  The Chinese version of the album hit number one on the Billboard World Album chart and number forty-nine on the Billboard "Heatseekers" Album Chart (I think that's the "Top 200 Albums").  

In case you don't listen or watch, it's a strangle melange of Mandarin and English with Korean subtitles that occasionally show up in English too.  It's a super-catchy, poppy song. If you're not careful, you'll get it stuck in your head.  

Its card equivalent?

A Bowman Gold Parallel of Zack Greinke. Why? Well, the gold catches your eye.  It's flashy -- almost catchy -- and having Zack on the Brewers appears to be a strange melange as compared to the current team.  I mean, to have a real pitcher on the team?  Nearly inexplicable.

If you're not careful, the thought of the Brewers being good might get stuck in your head!

2.  Jack Johnson, "Breakdown"

I saw Jack Johnson in concert once. One of my work seminars took me to Palm Springs, California -- I know, tough life, someone has to do it -- and to the incredible La Quinta Resort.  I had been in the Middle East the week before in Dubai (to see if I wanted to move there...two words: Hell. No.) so I was all out of sorts. 

It took until Thursday for me to find out that the Coachella Music Festival was going on that weekend.  If I had known that, I'd have stayed the whole weekend.  Instead, I could go only on Friday.  So, I did.  It was excellent, too -- saw The Verve, The Raconteurs, Serj Tankian from System of a Down...and Jack Johnson.

I remember two things from that concert.  One of my friends got completely baked, and I ended up tracking him -- not babysitting, mind you...just tracking him.  The other thing was the fact that nearly every woman in the crowd knew every word to every song that Jack Johnson sang -- including this one.  To me, they all sounded the same.  

His music is innocent enough.  It's harmless. I don't actively avoid his music, but I don't seek it out either. I just am not that big of a fan.

Sort of like Bowman Chrome and its X-Fractors. It's harmless and innocent enough.  There are a ton of people who just love the stuff. And, as with Jack Johnson, it's not that I actively avoid the cards -- I just am not that big of a fan.  

I was surprised to learn that this Cole Gillespie is the same Cole Gillespie that played for the Diamondbacks a few years ago and continues to play in the Miami Marlins system this year. The dude is Quad-A through and through -- too good for Triple-A, not good enough for the major leagues.

Sort of like Jack Johnson.

3.  Noisestorm, "Breakdown"

I know a lot of people like triphop/dubstep/techno/electro/whatever the hell this is called. I don't mind it, for the most part.  Honestly, it just gets boring to me after a while. 

Then again, I never understood the allure of jam bands until I took a hit of a hippie's pipe at a Bela Fleck and the Flecktones show at Music Midtown in Atlanta.  When I emerged from haze I found myself in, I felt like I'd lost a day -- but I knew Bela Fleck was the coolest act ever.

So, I just haven't taken the right medications, I suppose, to make this make sense.

On the other hand, I'm not sure there are enough medications to make Danny Klassen make sense.  Let's just move on before I roll a spliff.

Not that I could, mind you.

Ahem.

4. Seether, "Breakdown"

I thought I needed drugs for that last one?

Yikes.

Seether is a very earnest sounding alt rock band who have songs that I've thought were decent in the past -- Remedy is pretty catchy and all -- but this one sounds like 2009.  It just does.  

But it has that throwback feel about it too.  It's new, but it feels like mid-90s rock.  

Likewise, the Topps Archives 2001 set were new, but they felt old.  Like this reprinted 1981 Topps Sal Bando, mocking Brewers fans for (at that time) the futility of the 1990s under Bando's watch as the Brewers General Manager (until August 12, 1999, when he finally resigned his position and the equally inept Dean Taylor took over).

Sal was very earnest about his position as well, to be fair. He loved Milwaukee, became a paragon in the business community, and really seemed to want the best for the team.  

But it was like the Green Bay Packers in the 1980s -- only after the team threw off the shackles of past glories (such as, for Green Bay, hiring first Bart Starr and then Forrest Gregg as its head coach) could the team succeed.  

5.  Tom Petty, "Breakdown"

This is a classic off Petty's first album, performed here live in 1978.  I picked this because the versions with the album cut are literally the song playing with a single PowerPoint slide saying "Tom Petty - Breakdown" on it for the whole song.  

This is almost certainly the best known song called Breakdown, at least to me. It is the one that I could sing along with, certainly.  

I actually like it.  I hate to say that about anything from Gainesville (other than Johnny at the Trading Spot), but I like this song.

Nothing, though, can approach this Bronze Topps Clubhouse Relic from 2004 serial numbered to 99.  I had the base of this relic in my collection previously, but I did not have this one.  

Trust me when I say that it's far better than Tom Petty in my book. 

Let me close by saying I echo the thoughts of Defgav's cable company, as set forth on the advertisement to protect the cards enroute:

Thank you, Gavin, for these great cards.  I think some Reggie Jacksons might have to come your way!

Post #100, Part III: To the Victors Go the Spoils

Everyone has let me know what they wanted out of the Treasure Chest.  So, to milk one more post out of this contest, let me entertain you with announcing what each person has selected. With the NFL draft coming up, I decided to liven this post up by using videos of draft picks where possible.

With the first selection in the Off Hiatus giveaway draft, the Boston Celtics select:

The Celtics selected Lucas Nogueira and his Coco-Crispy afro last year in the first round of the NBA draft, and promptly traded Nogueira away to the Atlanta Hawks.  In the Treasure Chest draft, the New England-based Swing and a Popup selected:

Here's hoping that this 2014 Topps Museum Collection Signature Swatches of Felix Doubront fares better in the Northeast than Nogueira did.

With the Second Selection in the Off Hiatus giveaway draft, the Los Angeles Lakers select:

The Lakers have not picked a player in the first round since 2009, and they traded that guy away immediately after the draft for a second round pick the next season.  So, we're stuck with a second round pick from Duke, Ryan Kelly, for this selection...because I am not going near the Clippers situation right now. Or ever, for that matter.

The real upside here is that Oscar from All Trade Bait, All the Time selected a real gem of a card:

This 1978 Topps Andre Dawson card will be making its way out to California.

With the Third Selection in the Off Hiatus Giveaway, the St. Louis Rams select Tavon Austin, WR, West Virginia:

While the Rams have nothing to do with the Big Apple, Keith is a big West Virginia football fan, so he gets Tavon Austin as his introduction.  And, hopefully he likes the card he selected as much as he likes Austin:

Apologies for the crappy scan, as I am in my office at work and not next to my cards to scan in the actual card Keith will be getting.

With the Fourth Selection, the Los Angeles Kings select:

What is it with Los Angeles teams getting rid of their first round picks?  I guess it's that they have to win now, so they mortgage the future for the present.  Anyway, the LA Kings did not have a first round pick in the 2013 NHL Draft last year, so they selected LW Valentin Zykov, an 18-year-old Russian who is currently playing in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.

I guess it's appropriate that the person who is probably the youngest one to win something would be feted with a guy who had just turned 18 when he was drafted, so tell us, Alex from Chavez Ravining, who are you selecting?

In the end, this pick was probably easier for Alex than it was for the Kings.

With the Fifth Pick in the Off Hiatus Giveaway Draft, the New England Patriots select:

Another team that usually does not have first-round picks is the New England Patriots, but this fact is usually because they have traded down 7 times to get half the fourth round selections and two first round picks in 2021.  

New reader Mark Hoyle got his second pick as well, since he wanted that Felix Doubront relic.  So, instead, he gets:

The Xander Bogaerts 2014 Topps Turkey Red. Again, apologies for the scan, but it's what I could find online right now.

With the sixth and final selection of the Off Hiatus Giveaway Draft, Baseball Card Breakdown selects:

Gavin gets the strangest video of all -- William Perry singing something -- because he has a Perry ProSet card on his Desperate Dozen list.  

As was the case with the previous pick, Gavin did not get his first pick-- the Bogaerts Turkey Red -- but he does get his second selection:

The Paul Goldschmidt Topps Heritage logo variation short-print.  

Thanks to all of you who participated.  I'm updating the Trade Bait list now to show those cards that have been claimed, but please contact me about a trade.  I am much more interested in trying to get cards I need than in getting "fair value," so let me know if you see something in the Trade Bait that tickles your fancy.

Breaking Down a Trade with Baseball Card Breakdown

Fellow bloggers last year voted Baseball Card Breakdown as the Best New Blog of 2013.  As I was just getting into the blogosphere at that point, I am not sure what the criteria for that vote were. But, I'm pretty sure that the award was deserved under whatever criteria were used.  Gavin is a very good writer, he is creative, and he's generous to a fault.

He and I exchanged trade envelopes after he posted a Nyger Morgan Sliding Stars card from the Gypsy Queen set that I did not have.  Here's that card:

Along with this card of the departed Tony Plush -- who used to be a great character on Twitter when Morgan's baseball career was going well; now, it's just a photo of Morgan with his hockey gear on (and yes, he played at a pretty high level once) -- Gavin included a number of great Brewers cards including the 1991 Topps Traded Brewers team set:

A lot of folks forget that Dante Bichette was a Brewer before the Rockies selected Kevin Reimer from Texas in the expansion draft and then traded him immediately to Milwaukee for Bichette.  Bichette became a Brewer by way of a trade with the Angels for Dave Parker, of all people.  All four of these players are probably better known for playing elsewhere -- Stubbs as a Dodger, Maldonado as a Giant, and Randolph as a Yankee (though later as a Brewers manager).

The next fun card from Gavin was this super shiny, rainbow-ish card from Pacific of Dave Nilsson which takes its place immediately in my player collection of the Australian catcher:

Nilsson teamed with Graeme Lloyd to form the first all-Aussie battery in major league baseball history back in 1994.  Nilsson was also the first ever Australian to be named to the All-Star team in 1999 -- and then, at the age of 29, he quit major league baseball to focus both on playing in the 2000 Sydney Olympics (back when baseball was still a sport in the Olympics and skateboarding was not) and owning an Australian baseball league.  It didn't hurt that his knees were nearly shot already after years of catching, but he was a guy who left major league baseball a bit too soon -- and it certainly couldn't have hurt that Bud Selig was successfully running the Brewers directly into the mantle of the Earth by that point.

I'm digressing a bunch here, clearly, so, in light of my short attention span and the fact that I can't wait to get to the highlight of this entire trade, let's get to the highlight of the entire trade:  Gavin sent me a Robin Yount 1 of 1:

I don't know that anyone could top this card in any trade.  I mean -- a personally drawn glow-in-the-dark card?

This is as good as my photography skills could get with getting the effect of the glow-in-the-dark card to show up on camera.  It gives a feel -- but doesn't do full justice -- to the hard work that Gavin put into this awesome card.

I know there will never be another like it -- thanks Gavin!