Andy Makes Time to Send Me Cardboard

Hobbies take time. Whether your hobby is flying an airplane, reading, building models, racing cars, or collecting baseball cards, one must have some leisure time to engage in the hobby. After all, the very definition of a hobby is "a regular activity that is done for enjoyment, typically during one's leisure time."

Driving that point home is the new blog from Andy, a gentleman I have interacted with on Twitter, who named his blog "Ain't Nobody Got Time For Cardboard." Andy collected at the height of the junk wax era -- 1988 to 1992 -- so dumping Cubs on him from times other than that should be a thrill for folks like, well, me. So many Cubs collectors who blog are pretty well full up on 1980s cardboard, so putting a package together for Andy this past weekend was a true joy for me.

Anyway, Andy beat me to the punch in getting enough time to send out cards. I will highlight the ones that caught my eye.

Minor League Madness

Sid Roberson pitched at the University of North Florida. He spent 26 games, including 13 starts, with the Brewers in 1995 and then never pitched in the major leagues again. Sid had a 5.76 ERA and a 6.22 FIP, walking 37 and striking out 40 in 84-1/3 innings. Being a small man -- only 5'9" tall and 170 pounds -- apparently took a toll on him, as he had to have two rotator cuff surgeries. He's now working at Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Florida in Jacksonville (where UNF is located) as the Director of Major and National Accounts -- a position he's had since 2011.

Archer never made it to the Majors, topping out in Triple-A in 1995 and 1996. Bo Rosny at Baseball Cards Come to Life said that Archer was, in 2012, a sales rep for Western State Design.

Boze also reached the big leagues in just one season -- 1996 -- at the age of 25. He got knocked around to the tune of 7.79 ERA/6.88 FIP and a WHIP of 2.227 thanks to 47 hits and 25 walks (against 19 strikeouts) in just 32-1/3 innings. In 2001, he actually pitched in the Alaska Summer League in one game while spending the summer working as a pipefitter for VECO near Anchorage. It appears that he also has the distinction of being the first Alaska-raised player to make the major leagues; while he was born in Arizona, he was raised in Kenai, Alaska.

Stickers!

Yes, stickers. One of PC member Carlos Gomez, and then three of the sort-of Wacky Package stickers. I am guessing that those Wacky-Package-wannabes probably had to be scaled back dramatically to make sure that they weren't offensive or disgusting. After all, Topps probably would like to renew its exclusive license with MLB, and having a Brewers logo with some dude puking from drinking too much Milwaukee's Best or getting food poisoning from a bad oyster being shucked probably wouldn't help that process.

Heritage

It's the second day in a row that Scooter Gennett's half-smile, half-sneer stares out at everybody. Of the rest of the guys on these cards, Ariel Pena pitched on opening day, faced 11 hitters, and allowed 5 runs (including 3 homers) and was promptly designated for assignment. He cleared waivers and was outrighted to Triple-A Colorado Springs. 

Nevin Ashley got 12 games in last year in September, but he's not a prospect. He turns 32 this year, and he's actually in the New York Mets system now. So, it appears that card appearance for him is really meant to troll me and my continued pointing out of the fact that Topps forgets that there are teams other than the New York teams. 

Segura obviously was traded. 

Will Smith is on the disabled list after spraining his lateral collateral ligament taking off his shoes in spring training. No kidding. He's rehabbing right now to determine if he can avoid surgery. Before that happened, he was slated to share closing duties with Jeremy Jeffress.

Great Player Collection Cards

What a great group of cards to go into my various PCs!

It was great to add that Yount card in particular, because it allows me to vent for just a moment about what Panini does incredibly wrong with Donruss. I don't think Panini gets it. 

If they want Donruss to be their version of Heritage or Archives, then they need to work more at getting the design correct. The 1982 set did not have that massive "D" in the corner. In fact, I don't think any Donruss product did.  The year is way too large too -- so large as to be obnoxious and intrusive. Further, does Panini have to destroy the uniform colors now in an effort to avoid being sued for trademark infringement? Frankly, that Brewers uniform looks more like the 1978 Cubs:

Than it does any version of the Milwaukee uniforms:

Does Panini have to turn all the yellow to blue? Really? If so, then just stop making the cards that have guys in full jerseys. Get head shots, get home jerseys, but don't destroy the away blues the way that that 1982 wannabe card does.

Okay. Back to happiness. How about a song that I hear in my head every time I see Andy's blog's name?

Andy, thank you for the great cards you sent my way -- and especially for the opportunity to get that whole dissertation about Panini's unwarranted destruction of the Brewers' uniforms of my youth off my chest!

Monster Package #6: Winnings from Fuji

Back in April, the incredible San Jose Fuji had a 1000-hour contest in honor of his 1000th post. Considering I have yet to reach 200, I'm in awe of getting to 1000 posts.  Heck, I'll be lucky to last 1000 days as a blogger. Well, actually, I'd better last that long considering I still have another 697 cards to go in the 1982 Topps set that I started blogging about back in March.

I was lucky enough to fall as the number 2 person on Fuji's winning list for his giveaway for my post about how the doldrums of summer had become the doldrums for bloggers, which I made on May 31. Thank God that the comment wasn't some banal "Great card Fuji [read as: blatantly ensuring that I comment on each post to enter the contest!]".  I fear that I go in spurts sometimes with commenting -- a lot of comments at some points, barely any at other times.  I mean nothing by it other than I don't have anything to add to the discussion most of the time if I don't comment!

Back to the mail from Fuji -- my prize was to get a lot of Brewers cards (and a few Gary Carters) from Fuji. I think I'll present these by player because I'm still shaky on sorting by year, and I scanned and sorted these into my collection already!

Gary Carter
For those of you who don't know or are new here, Gary Carter was my favorite non-Brewer player as a kid. I was a catcher from age 8 until age 15, so catchers always are represented disproportionately among my favorites. This is the reason that guys like Charlie Moore, Ted Simmons, B.J. Surhoff, Dave Nilsson, and Jonathan Lucroy end up as player collections for me -- at least in part; the other part is that they were either good players or Brewers for a long time.  Heck, I had to edit myself so as not to include Buck Martinez, Charlie O'Brien, and Ray Fosse in my collections.  

But, Carter was my favorite catcher in the league. He seemed like the nicest guy, the most friendly, and the best overall player as a catcher of all of the guys in the league at that time. In other words, to me, he was the Anti-Fisk. I really disliked Carlton Fisk -- who seemed obnoxious, mean, and played for the White Sox which made him obnoxious and mean.

Anyway, here are the Carters from Fuji:

That Kaybee Kings card is just a fine looking card. I miss the days of walking into a toy store and finding a set of cards made especially for the store.

Okay, I can't write nearly as much about everyone else as I did just there -- I scanned nearly 100 cards in individually.  It will take a while to get through them, so they are presented without comment.

Corey Hart

Paul Molitor

Robin Yount

Charlie Moore

Ted Simmons

Yovani Gallardo

Rickie Weeks

Jonathan Lucroy

Ben Sheets

Carlos Gomez

Yeah, the team card is technically Braun, Gomez, and Hart, but you can see Gomez's face. I suppose I should chase three more of this card though -- one for each PC and one for the Brewers collection.

Bill Wegman

Ryan Braun

Once again, it's a two PC card, meaning I need two more of this card -- one for the Prince PC and one for my Brewers collection. And, is Topps foreshadowing Braun's steroid conviction by calling him a "bash brother"?  HA!

Greg Vaughn

Chuck Crim

Dan Plesac

Gorman Thomas

This card is a good reason why I just have a problem with the unlicensed cards. That uniform looks like no uniform the Brewers ever wore.  Not road, not home, not 70s, not 80s, not even in the off-season softball league. I have the same issue with the Ted Higuera jersey below on his Hometown Heroes card -- it's one thing to airbrush the logos out, but these uniforms are unrecognizable. 

Would MLB Properties sue them if the jersey looked remotely like a real Brewers jersey? If so, perhaps Panini should go with either current photos (to make all of us feel old) or they should find and use headshots -- no caps, but full color, sharp photos that are head shots. I think that is what bugs me about the unlicensed cards -- the retouching is so extensive that the photo quality is affected.  Since MLBPA licenses those cards and their players benefit, then those players should pose for the photographers hatless.

-- end unsolicited advice --

Ted Higuera

Geoff Jenkins

Jim Gantner

Jim Slaton

Bob McClure

Moose Haas

Cal Eldred

Dave Nilsson

Jeromy Burnitz

Like I said, Fuji sent me a haul.  And I haven't even played "Boulevard of Broken Prospects."

Today's version features a guy that, in my opinion, was never a prospect and a guy who was the 13th overall pick in the draft in 1998 and played fewer games in the majors than the non-prospect.

First, the non-prospect: Willie Lozado.

Lozado got to play in the big leagues in 1984 because Paul Molitor had his right elbow reconstructed.  

Then, there's the kid whose injuries prevented him from ever developing as anyone hoped. After all, TINSTAAPP (There Is No Such Thing As A Pitching Prospect).  J.M. Gold:

The final card I'll feature is the true superstar of the package -- Fuji himself:

While I know this was a "prize" package, you outdid yourself Mr. Fuji! Thank you for the contest, and thank you for the always entertaining blog!