PWEs from Two Great Friends

I feel like I need to write tonight. I'm behind on posts, behind on trades, behind on returns... it's very discouraging sometimes. Yesterday, I spent nearly 7 hours in the office preparing for depositions for tomorrow. Today, I was in meetings all day doing the same. 

When I had free time, I watched two utterly disappointing soccer games -- Manchester United's typically wasteful performance against Bournemouth (where Zlatan Ibrahimovic was shockingly bad) and Atlanta United's tough but entirely foreseeable collapse against the New York Energy Drinks -- where ATLUTD's conceding two goals in the final 15 minutes was completely expected thanks to the dead legs that the defenders had to have. As the ATL game reached the 65th minute, I was thinking, "man, why haven't we put in some fresh legs into the game?" Then I saw Kenwyne Jones stagger onto the field, and I realized that fresh legs might not help.

Anyway, my desire to write over the weekend was outweighed also by the desire to work on getting inserts/parallels into binders. I'm working on my Topps inserts and parallels and oddballs right now -- up to 1995 already! -- so I'm doing a lot of placeholder making and not a lot of cataloging. But, it means I'm getting closer to having "true" want lists. 

Today, though, to break my non-writing streak, I have two PWEs I got in the past month.

First one came from Peoria. Tom sent me a Rangers player and a Yankee.

In fairness to Tom, he couldn't have known that the Yankees would sign Chris Carter. I'm thinking that Chris Carter is what Aaron Judge might turn into -- a strikeout-prone slugger whose minor league stats make him look like a potential OBP machine but, in reality, his value is tied entirely to his homers. 

Now, in fairness, Judge being an outfielder makes him have more value than Carter. But keep in mind: Aaron Judge is 2 months older than Manny Machado and 7 months older than Bryce Harper. He's also 6 months older than Mookie Betts and 5-1/2 months older than Xander Bogaerts. Judge is almost 25 years old. The likelihood that Judge becomes a star is significantly depressed by that fact alone. Don't buy his cards thinking he's a Hall of Famer in the making though -- that is just not likely.

As a cautionary tale, let's look at Will Middlebrooks. By the time Middlebrooks was the same age as Judge, He'd already completed two (partial) seasons adding up to 169 games and 660 plate appearances in the major leagues. Stat line? 32 HR, 103 RBI, 7 SB...33 BB, 168 Ks, and a slash of .254/.294/.462. Now, Middlebrooks never has had the walks that either Judge or Carter had, so it's not a straight comparison. But still -- Middlebrooks is an NRI in Texas and Carter had to wait for the scraps to fall from the Yankees' table. Should we really expect all that much from Aaron Judge?

Okay, time to jump off my soapbox about Aaron Judge, Yankee prospect, and thank Tom for the 2017 Topps.

The second PWE came from 1995 Fleer hater, Peter Steinberg.

Peter sent me some 2017 Topps as well. Chris Capuano and Scooter Gennett were basically inserted to protect the Robin Younts, I think.  

Peter was busy at spring training drinking beer this past weekend. 

You can't blame him for that, but come on -- give some love to Victory Beer's complete logo, Peter.

Apropos of this, here are three random beers I enjoy:

1. Ommegang Brewery's Three Philosophers Ale: Ommegang is a brewery that should be close to baseball fans' hearts. It's located in the Cooperstown area, and the beer is Belgian and beautiful. Three Philosophers is a 9.8% ABV beer, but, as the link points out, it is much less bitter and less hoppy than most dark strong Belgian-style ales. This beer is just wonderful -- and with its alcohol content, it will make you the fourth philosopher quickly.

2. Delirium Tremens by Brouwerij Huyghe in Belgium. Yes, another Belgian strong ale. What can I say -- I like Belgian Ales. This one, too, drinks smoothly and with a reasonably high ABV (8.5%).

So, why do I like Belgian ales? Because while I appreciate hoppy beers, I tend to prefer beers that do not leave my palate cringing and begging for mercy. 

I also say that from talking to a man with experience. My wife's uncle was brewmaster at Miller for many, many years. While we won't get into whether that should qualify him to speak as to what good beer should taste like, he make a very good point with respect to hoppy beers. You see, the reason that many brewers like to make super hoppy beers is simple: if you make mistakes in how you brew the beer, the hop flavor will cover up the mistakes. It's much more difficult to make a good ale that tastes great, isn't so bitter that it makes you cringe, and isn't so hoppy that the consumer feels like they have fell into a vat of hops.

I realize that many folks love hoppy beers. I have my moments when I like them too. But the bitterness is occasionally overwhelming.

3. Funky Buddha Beers. If any of y'all are heading to Florida for spring training, you owe it to yourself to look for Funky Buddha beers. It's a brewery with a brewpub near Boca Raton, and its beers are excellent. I went there two years ago, and I still think about the "Morning Wood" beer -- a maple bacon coffee porter aged in bourbon barrels.  Crazy good, if a little sweet, but so damn tasty it's crazy. Their hoppy beers are also quite good too. 

Thanks for stopping by for random thoughts from me and great cards from Peter and Tom!

#WalletCard Went to Boca

It's been a while since Robert Edwards The Wallet Card got to see the light of day.  To be fair, that's entirely on me.  I sometimes forget he is there.  Other times, I decide to keep Robert in my pocket rather than unleash his magnetism and power on an unsuspecting populace.  More to the point, though, I just haven't done anything terribly cool or fun or different than just going to work, coming home, or going to yet another networking event.

But, two weeks ago, I got a reprieve from the every day.  I went to Boca Raton for a week for a meeting.  It sort of reminded me of this:

Sort of.

Robert Edwards The Wallet Card made it clear that he needed to be freed from the dark confines of my wallet.  I swear I heard the card muttering about the insurance cards making fun of him and telling him he needed to get a check up.  So, I got Robert out in the airport:

Robert then started making comments about how the couple on the wall look like they stepped out of American Gothic, just dressed up for the 2010s...I can see that.  

Thankfully, the pitchfork was left at home.

Boca Raton -- and the resort at which I stayed -- is a very upscale, old-person-type place. The resort where I stayed is pretty fancy.  My room was just okay, though, and the view out my window, well, it left something to be desired:

From that view, it looks like I was staying at the zoo, or in a tropical rainforest.  And I suppose I was.

The first full day I was at the resort was the only day during which I did not have a lunch included in the price of my seminar.  My wife does not like sushi -- she has very few flaws, but that is one of them -- so I took the opportunity to get some sushi.  The hotel/resort has a famous chef sushi restaurant.

If you don't know who Morimoto is, perhaps you have heard of Iron Chef America?

I love that clip above for having fellow UGA grad Alton Brown in a parka for his commenting role on the show.

Anyway, the sushi at Morimoto's restaurant at the resort was very good and not so terribly priced as to cause me too much consternation when I got the bill.  Robert said he'd pick up the check, but then remembered that he had forgotten his wallet.

Later that afternoon, it was meeting time for me.  I spent the afternoon in a planning session for the subgroup within my organization where I spend most of my time and effort.  After a very productive three hours, a few of us decided to head out to a local brew pub called The Funky Buddha Lounge and Brewery.  I didn't get a photo of it myself, so I'm borrowing one from another website:

The food was decent, and the beers were excellent.  Right, Robert?

The beers there were very good.  If you find yourself in Boca Raton, you should check it out. I mean, if you are a beer drinker, check out their list of beers here...some crazy flavors and combinations there.

I didn't bore Robert -- and I won't bore you -- with photos from the rest of my time at the seminar.  The only time I should have taken him out of my wallet was on our catamaran ride.  

But then again, does this view require a baseball card to be enjoyed?

Thanks for reading.  May your favorite NFL team draft well tonight, but not as well as Green Bay does!