One More Post from eBay

As many of you know, I decided to start a second blog to indulge myself in a bit of cataloging and, at the same time, in a bit of history and oddball love. My new blog, "Collecting the 1980s: Remembering the Oddballs from the Best Decade in Cards," focuses on the fun, offbeat, and forgotten cards from the 1980s. Of course I call it the best decade in cards because that is when I was a kid and cards are always best when you're a kid. I'd sure appreciate it if you would stop over there and read some of those posts and comment.

All that said, I'm trying not to neglect this blog more than I have already. I mean, my purchases are still focused on the Brewers as are my (dwindling) trades with other people. But y'all know how it is sometimes -- you need a little bit of extra spice in your life. That change or twist to keep things exciting and interesting. That's what the new blog is, really -- a new twist for me to keep writing about things I enjoy while paying little attention to new issues other than to note them for future checklists. 

So, I still surf on eBay looking for deals. Sometimes, it is just for a Topps Now card -- to pay $5.99 for a card that Topps would charge me $9.99 to get. I'm not super excited about that "deal" -- I mean, it's still one card for $6 -- but it's better than a $10 card. Other times, I can find the random lots that have cards I need. Today's post is one of those times. 

Powered by the prog-rock timeline at Strawberry Bricks, let's dig in.

Strawberry Bricks calls itself "a record guide to music of the progressive era of rock music." As is the case with a lot of genres of music, the timeline for prog rock starts with the Beatles -- here, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. It is incredible to think about all the different genres of rock music that the Beatles influenced. Everything from the prog rock of Pink Floyd and Yes to the grunge sound of Nirvana (Kurt Cobain was heavily influenced by the Beatles) to the blatant worshipfulness of 90s Britpop from Oasis is descended directly from the Beatles. And that is just a quick run.

This song, "A Day In The Life," has been called the 28th greatest song of all time by Rolling Stone and, then, in a list of just Beatles songs, it was called the best song by Rolling Stone. I'm not sure how that is squared other than different writers at different times looking at different things. 

 

One of the impetuses for buying this lot were the Prince Fielder cards that I needed for my Fielder collection. Other than the one of him signing autographs -- which I think goes into my team set -- all of these were needed for the Prince book. As you might be able to see, the 2009 Upper Deck A Piece of History parallels are both serial numbered -- the blue one is 184/299 and the gold one is 48/50 -- and so is the 2009 Upper Deck Icons Future Foundations, which is numbered 750/999. 

Last year, I posted some Braves cards accompanied by jazz. One of the songs I included was "Blue Rondo à la Turk" by Dave Brubeck. The Nice, a London band from 1967 formed by Keith Emerson (later of Emerson, Lake & Palmer), performed this prog-rock cover of the song and titled it simply "Rondo." 

Emerson is the keyboardist here -- as he always has been in his other bands prior to his death on March 11, 2016 -- but rather than using all kinds of different types of keyboards as he did later in ELP, he focused almost exclusively on using a Hammond organ. No less a music luminary than John Peel was an early champion of The Nice and infamously referred to ELP as "a waste of talent and electricity."

I'm hoping that these three guys don't end up as wastes of talent and electricity. There are troubling signs for each, however.

Gilbert Lara -- a die-cut card from the 2014 Elite Extra Edition set serial numbered to 200 -- does not turn 20 years old until October 20 of this year. He moved up to full-season Wisconsin this year and has struggled -- 7 BB and 73 Ks in 210 plate appearances, slash of .189/.219/.269 is not good even when you are 2 years younger than the average age in the league. Fangraphs has Lara rated as a 40 Future Value player and notes that "the quality of his at-bats is resoundingly poor, he looks tense and uncomfortable in the box, gets visibly frustrated when he struggles, and hasn't tapped into his considerable raw power in games, even in the hitter-friendly Pioneer League." Not good.

Nathan Kirby was drafted in the second round in 2015 out of the University of Virginia. Prior to that college season, he was seen as a potential top-10 talent. Injuries (strained lat) cost him much of that 2015 season, and he slid into the second round where the Brewers selected him #40 overall. He went to Single-A Wisconsin, threw 12-2/3 innings, and was promptly sidelined by a torn ulnar collateral ligament leading directly to Tommy John surgery. This year, he came back in spring training only to suffer from ulnar neuritis -- leading to ulnar nerve transposition surgery which will keep him out to at least the end of this month. He'll be 24 next year and really needs to do something as a pro pitcher next year.

Braden Webb was an oddball of sorts himself. He graduated high school in 2014 and had Tommy John surgery even before he graduated. Despite being old for his high school class -- he turned 19 prior to graduating high school -- he sat out and stayed out of college entirely in 2015 before enrolling for one season with the South Carolina Gamecocks. Due to his age, he was draft eligible after that season, and the Brewers picked him in the third round of the 2016 draft. As was the case for Webb in college, he is struggling with his control at Single-A Wisconsin this year -- walking 5 men every 9 innings. 

One thing you can count on from prog rock are super long, overly indulgent (at times) songs which seem to go on and on and on. Often, that is not a bad thing. This is especially true when the men (and in prog rock, it is almost entirely men) who are playing are virtuoso in their playing ability. 

This song, "Bare Wires Suite," is by John Mayall's Bluesbreakers and comprised the entire first side of the album called Bare Wires. Embedded within this suite are seven individual songs: "Bare Wires," "Where Did I Belong," "I Started Walking," "Open Up A New Door," "Fire," "I Know Now," and "Look In The Mirror." Unlike some of the other prog rock here, there is a bluesy feel to this song. You can hear the blues chord changes flying by in each of the songs by listening to the bass line, the rhythm guitar, and, at times, the keyboards. Any jazz band member will tell you that the bass line is literally the most important sound within that jazz ensemble -- along with the drums -- because it sets tempo and key. Everything else from there is icing on the cake.

Before this season began, I expressed some concern that Arcia had the potential to turn into Rey Ordoñez 2.0 due to the significant questions about his ability to hit at the major league level. All indications from scouts were that Arcia would be a plus-plus fielder -- and that has definitely been the case. As it stands currently, he leads the NL in total zone runs, range factor per nine innings, double plays turned, assists, and putouts at short. Yes, he's committed 11 errors, but that happens when you get to a ton of balls.

The question was going to be his bat. This concern was highlighted after his .219/.273/.358 slash line last year (an OPS+ of just 66). Thankfully, he has improved significantly this year. He hit a low-water mark on May 17 with an 0-for-4 performance against the Padres that left his slash line at .208/.261/.352 (eerily similar to 2016). Since that game and over the past 7 weeks, Arcia has hit .356/.388/.494 with four homers and four steals. 

Sure, he's not walking a ton (10 walks in 170 plate appearances) and his contact hasn't been great (30 Ks) but he has been hitting 8th for much of that time, meaning that walks generally do not come into play with the pitcher hitting behind him. That burst has put him just about right at being an average NL hitter. With his glove, that makes him a very valuable player. 

And all of this has been done before he turns 23 years old on August 4. If he can stay at being a league average hitter for his whole career and fields as well as he has, he could quite literally end up being more Ozzie Smith 2.0 (career OPS+: 87) than Rey Ordoñez. I'm not making him a PC yet -- I'm still feeling a bit burned by Jean Segura's hacktastic ways -- but he will be soon enough if his development continues.

Before the band added Phil Collins and lost Peter Gabriel, Genesis was very much a prog rock band instead of singing pop songs like "Sussudio." The song "The Silent Sun" was Genesis's first-ever single from its first album, From Genesis to Revelation, and it was released in 1968. The album was not released until March of 1969 even though the single was released on February 22, 1968. 

If you listen to this short song -- it's only a little over 2 minutes long -- you will hear nothing that sounds either like anything Genesis or Peter Gabriel released in the 1980s. It's very much a piece of its time in the late 1960s.

And finally: lots of Ryan Braun. The fact that much of this lot is Braun-focused is appropriate since it seems nearly every set by every card issuer these days includes Braun and maybe Arcia and that's about it. Somehow, I'd missed that Topps issued Gold Label again last year -- it must have been an online exclusive or something -- so this lot helped me by getting me the parallel/variations of the "Class 2 and Class 3." There's also a 2008 Upper Deck Baseball Heroes Silver parallel serial numbered to 399 in there as well along with one of what is Panini's best set every year -- Diamond Kings from 2017. I'd still prefer hatless players from Panini rather than no-logo, but at least there isn't a fake autograph on it.

All of these cards fit well into my collection either for team sets or for my player collections. The great thing about this purchase was that I got a total of 38 different Brewers cards, including a couple of relics, a few autographs, and several serial numbered cards, for just $7.12 total with shipping included. Basically, that's less than 50 cents a card. For what I got, that seems like a good deal to me.

Thanks for stopping by and let me know if you want to trade.

Cards from The Lost Collector

AJ a/k/a The Lost Collector is one of the good guys in the hobby. There are plenty of people who are nice to others, and, frankly, there are a fair number of complete trolls unfortunately. 

By trolls, I'm not talking about people who just complain all the time -- I mean, why would I call myself a troll? -- but rather I mean the people who feel the need to denigrate others and what they collect. I complain too much about Topps and especially about Topps Now, but it's not because I don't want Yankee collectors like AJ to get 35 cards in every set Topps produces. Well, actually, that is why I complain -- I want a little more equal time for the Brewers. 

The people I am talking about are those who call others names, make unwarranted claims about people's collecting, or, as one person did, say that a good guy like AJ is only in the card collecting hobby for money. Stuff like that actually annoys me. If given the opportunity with a card with value, I'll sell something. I do it very rarely, and I haven't done it in a couple of years -- choosing, instead, to send whatever I get out to folks in trade rather than selling. Plus, if AJ is only in this for the money, how can random troll explain all the money AJ spends on postage and supplies to send out packages -- as he did recently -- to people like me?

I'm in a theme music mood today, so let's get Lost with the Lost Collector and the cards he sent to me.

Getting lost in the shuffle with Drivin' N' Cryin', first of all. I've mentioned in the past that I listened to Drivin' N' Cryin' a lot during college -- especially their album Mystery Road, but also their "big" album called Fly Me Courageous. I listed to both albums enough to know all the words to all the songs back in the days when I actually had to listen to CDs rather than streaming music. "Lost in the Shuffle" always felt a bit like a filler song to me. It isn't bad, but it isn't nearly as good as other songs.

Now, I'm not saying that any of these cards are "filler" cards. But, there's a bit of "filler set" about the "First Edition" sets Upper Deck put out as well as the "Opening Day" set that Topps puts out every year. Same goes for those parallels that came out for a while that were exclusive to a particular store. I view those as ridiculous.

Brendan Katin in a prospect set like Bowman Heritage was definitely filler, though. Katin never made the major leagues -- not even for an at bat. He got closer to setting records for the Nashville Sounds than he should have. As this article from 2011 noted, he was within 24 homers and 47 RBIs at the beginning of the year to set career records in each for the franchise. 

Sadly for Katin, he was denied even that bit of fame, as hit hit only 11 homers and drove in just 25 in 34 games for Nashville that year before knee injuries and knee surgery shelved him. In late 2011, this story noted that his knee was so bad at the time that he might have to get a partial knee replacement. He is known now more for the fact that he appealed a 2007 drug suspension successfully than anything else.

I enjoyed finding a version of Top Gun with Spanish subtitles. This scene is weird on so many levels -- not the least of which is that the song makes no sense to sing in an effort to pick up a woman since it's a breakup song. I did enjoy hearing Leah Remini's story about Tom Cruise apparently serenading Katie Holmes at their wedding with this song too. 

Of course, Tom Cruise is weird.

1990s cards are weird too. Even the cool ones like Stadium Club went down paths that are best seen only in the context of what everyone else was doing -- like that Pinnacle Aficionado card that I thought, at first, was completely coming apart. 

Strange days indeed. And, the less said, the better.

The song "Lost On You" is by LP -- the stage name for singer Laura Pergolizzi. The model in the video is Laura Hanson Sims.

I had never heard of either before writing this post. But, I wanted something new to go with three new cards that AJ sent.



The Topps Bunt physical cards were a very good idea by Topps. Sure, they bear a resemblance to some cards from the 1990s, so design-wise we may be going back to that crazy era. But the reason these were a good idea is because kids play on their parent's phones and their own phones constantly. Tying a physical card product to the successful app that it has already is a great way to get at least a few kids to cross over into physical cards. 

At least I hope so. I want cards to continue being issued.

For the next set of cards, I needed something appropriately 1990s. It's not that these next cards are the weird crazy cards from the later 1990s, either. No, I needed grunge.



1990 was the last year that Topps issued its "big" cards. By the look on Bill Spiers face, you can tell that some fatigue had set it by that point with the cards. I'm still trying to figure out, though, who thought that Paul Molitor should be given a portrait that makes him look somewhere between psycho killer and annoying little brother.

And, finally:

Yeah, Bastille is pretty morose at times but their moroseness is couched in such catchy songs that I can't resist their music. Plus, they are so very English. That's worth a lot to me too, oddly enough.

I don't think that the song really relates to the cards below, other than the cards and this song both being from the recent past.

The highlight here is the Gilbert Lara green refractor parallel serial numbered 3 of 99. Seeing this card reminded me that if the Brewers do follow through on reports and trade Ryan Braun for Yasiel Puig (which is an interesting idea, but the Brewers must get more than just Puig), then I will not have any current Brewers players or prospects as PCs. 

I have a thought on a guy I'd like to develop as a PC, though I almost don't want to mention his name. The guy is Isan Diaz. Diaz was the real gem in the Jean Segura trade to the Diamondbacks (well, other than getting 3 months of Aaron Hill and the only Topps Now card for the Brewers in the first half of the season). Diaz is Puerto Rican and went to high school in Springfield, Massachusetts. He was the D-Backs second round pick in 2014. In 2015, he put up video game numbers in the Pioneer League -- in 312 plate appearances, he hit 13 HRs, stole 12 bases (but caught 7 times), and slashed .360/.436/.640. Yes, you read that right.

I have two fears about Diaz, though. He is still a ways away from Milwaukee, having just finished up his first full-season experience in A ball in the Midwest League. Granted, he did incredibly well again -- 20 HRs, 75 RBI, 11 SB (out of 19 tries...) and slashing .264/.358/.469 at the age of 20. But, that's a long ways away. 

The other fear is that his doing this well over the past two years -- and being likely to be named the Brewers Minor League player of the year this year -- will cause his cards to go skyrocketing upwards in cost. Heck, I may be too late for that already based on looking at eBay.

But, hey, if you guys want to send me his cards, I'll definitely take them.

And, speaking of taking them, I am glad that AJ sent me these cards and that the card package did not have an invoice. I mean, after all, he's supposedly all about the money.

Long Weeks and Bubble Gum

We all have those weeks where, no matter what you do, work and life kicks your butt. This week has been one of those weeks. I certainly didn't mean not to post since Monday's astronaut post, but here we are.

Today, though, I have a little work to do but otherwise it's a card day. My wife has a board retreat for one of the nonprofits she works with, so I get a quiet day to flip channels for various soccer games (currently flipping between Tottenham v. Watford and Eintracht Frankfurt v. Stuttgart and throwing in Atletico Madrid v. Eibar on BeIn Sports Espanol). I am thankful for the respite, definitely.

I am also thankful for a great envelope that showed up on Wednesday at my house. Jeff from Wish They Still Came With Bubblegum sent a bunch of cool stuff -- some oddballs, some Chrome, some inserts, and a program.  Let's dig in and see what he's sent...and to do so, how about I take random stuff off Jeff's Twitter timeline!

@andrewhirsh let it out pic.twitter.com/zEOvZZHUfB

— Jeff (@jonesbwp) December 13, 2015

Well, don't mind if I do for just a moment. So, Jeff used to be a Georgia Bulldogs fan. Then, he relocates to the State of Florida. Rather than remaining true to his roots and being an upstanding, moral, decent person, instead Jeff became a Florida Gators fan.

It's okay, in the end, I suppose, because that means that Jeff occasionally sends me cards like these two:

Now, other than both going to Georgia and both being Pro Bowl honorees in their respective rookie years, A.J. Green and Todd Gurley also share the distinction of both having been suspended in their final season at Georgia for profiting off their likenesses -- Green by selling his bowl jersey to a nefarious agent-wannabe for $1000 and Gurley selling his autograph to some bastard Florida fan.

By the way, Jeff, where were you during the fall of 2014? You better not have been near Athens...

Build a WALL!? Kidding me? pic.twitter.com/jtexkBkL7g

— Jeff (@jonesbwp) August 7, 2015

What could possibly go with one of the, well, dumbest ideas in the presidential campaigns -- Donald Trump's claim that he would "force" Mexico to build a border wall ([/rant]: please note: I don't like Trump, but that's also true for about everyone in the campaign currently on both sides of the aisle. What I mean is, I don't like the primaries and I'm not a big fan of politics generally...there's too much b.s. and not enough well-thought-out statements of policy based on actual evidence as to what works and what doesn't...[/endrant])

Well, how about these:



I never really understood these buttons, whether when I was a kid or now. I mean, I like them as oddballs, of course, but there is just no good way to display or store these things. Of course, since they show major league baseball players clothed as Milwaukee Brewers, I feel compelled to collect them. 

So, I guess that I am the dumb one in the end.

We're still over .500 AND we get to play Philly this weekend #tweetthepositives #Braves pic.twitter.com/vi2i2R95Pn

— Jeff (@jonesbwp) April 23, 2015

Sure, the Braves ended up trading anything that moved away by midseason and then falling into an abyss deeper than the Marianas Trench.  The worst part of the season for the Braves was a stretch starting August 17 and ending September 6. In that timeframe, the Braves sported a 1-19 record. The lone win was a 5-3 win over Colorado on August 24, which broke a 7-game losing streak and preceded a 12-game losing streak that included a 15-4 loss and a 20-6 loss to the Yankees and a 15-1 loss to the Nationals.

At least the Brewers started out last season badly so there never was much hope to begin with. Both teams are looking toward the future with their transactions now, and Jeff sent some great cards of some of the younger guys.



Former Alabama Crimson Tide pitcher Jimmy Nelson is in the majors already. Coming in to 2015, Tyrone Taylor was the Brewers second-best prospect according to John Sickels at Minor League Ball. Monte Harrison was third, and Gilbert Lara was number 14.  

Thanks to the Carlos Gomez trade, the Gerardo Parra trade, the 2015 draft, and development (either by these guys or by guys in the 2014 draft), those numbers have changed. Lara is now number 6 thanks to his decent showings in two short-season leagues at the age of 18. 

Harrison is now number 9 after a poor Midwest League showing and an injury (though Sickels says Harrison is a high-risk, high-reward guy with an Andrew McCutchen-like physical ceiling...I'd take that). 

Taylor dropped all the way down to 18. Sickels says he is the low guy on Taylor, not seeing him as much more than a fourth outfielder at this point. Taylor slashed at .260/.312/.337 in Double-A as a 21-year-old in 454 at-bats with 10 steals, 31 walks, and 55 strikeouts. He's still young, certainly, but the outfield situation in Milwaukee has gotten much deeper.  

And Sickels's ratings were done on December 2 -- before Adam Lind was traded (for 3 minor leaguers), before Garin Cecchini joined the organization, before Jason Rogers was traded (to add Keon Broxton and Trey Supak), before Rymer Liriano was acquired, and before Tyler Wagner joined Jean Segura in the Arizona trade which brought Isan Diaz to the Brewers.

So, yeah, the organization has changed a lot in that two-month period.

Classic JUp "@MLBGIFs: Wall ball. pic.twitter.com/TCBAncYn1s"

— Jeff (@jonesbwp) April 17, 2015

 A fun Gif of Justin Upton seeing the dead leaves and the dirty ground in Wrigley Field eating up a baseball.  It has literally nothing to do with the highlight of Jeff's envelope to me, but I liked the gif. 

That highlight?

Just a Brewers Program from 1990 featuring Robin Yount alongside fellow Hall of Famers Hank Greenberg and Stan Musial. At the time, I believe that these three were the only three players in baseball history to have won the MVP at two different positions. For Musial and Greenberg, it was first base and outfield. For Yount, it was shortstop and outfield.

It's hard to believe that 1990 was 26 years ago now. But, it is.

Jeff, thank you very much for the great cards and the program -- even the ones I didn't highlight here. And, be careful what you Tweet...I might just use it against you!