Congratulations to the Junior Junkie!

I think anyone who knows of T.J. -- the Junior Junkie -- knows that he and his wife recently had a child. 

Brand new #Griffey fan! #walletcard @UpperDeckSports pic.twitter.com/gMzLjjogRM

— The Junior Junkie (@Teejnola) March 23, 2016

To celebrate and in recognition of the fact that time will not be easy to find over the next few months, T.J. sent out a bunch of packages around the blogosphere -- including one to me. Now, I'm a little disappointed that I did not receive one of his badass personal blogger cards on the 1987 Topps design. You know, this one:

For a while in the 1980s, I thought about trying to collect the entire 1987 Topps set in autographed form -- mainly because I like the woodgrain a lot.  I know many disagree, but tough luck -- it's what I liked. 

You know, like this O-Pee-Chee version of Robin Yount that T.J. sent my way.

I have since thought better of that, mainly because there are way too many cards to try to get signed.  So, I would have loved to have gotten one of these. Maybe next time.

Still, it was pretty awesome to get one of those packages from T.J. So, let me help him out a little bit with some ideas for making his child a true Griffey fan.

1.  Nike Air Griffey Max 1 Preschool Shoes from Kids Foot Locker

Sweet looking kicks that keep your child looking stylish and, at the same time, giving props to the first Seattle Mariner in the Hall of Fame.



To go with those badass Nikes, let's go with some Bowman Chrome parallels. We have a Green Axford, a Blue Khrush Davis, and a straight refractor of Johnny Hellweg. None of these guys are with the Brewers any more, as Axford and Davis both are now members of the Oakland Athletics and Hellweg -- who came to Milwaukee as part of the Greinke trade to the Angels -- was released last fall and signed with the Padres.

2. The Requisite Seattle Mariners Onesie

Every baby needs onesies. They are low maintenance, generally, and they are much easier for parents than regular clothes when it comes to changing diapers and getting the little one dressed. Now, I don't have any children, but I was 11 years old when my younger brother was born. So, I have changed my share of diapers and helped little ones get dressed -- and onesies are so much easier than anything else around for the "up to age 2" crowd.





I view these cards as a collecting equivalent of the onesie. They look good in the card sheets, though they don't blow anyone away as being the height of fashion. But a Brewers collector has to have them, just as any parent really has to have the onesie for their kids.

3. Griffey Money?



No, really. A "Junior" dollar that you can buy on Amazon from "Kev's Toys" in Florida for the low price of $11.99 plus $4.49 shipping. I mean, sure, your overall transaction has you paying $16.48 for $1 of value, but you can use the Griffey money to teach kids how to save money. 

"See, son, this is what we call 'a money grab'."



Topps is guilty of engaging in conduct that can charitably be called a money grab. Whether it is endless parallels in every dadgum product that gets put out these days -- like these two Gypsy Queen parallels of Yovani Gallardo from last year -- or their affixing foil stamps to old cards, all of this really does feel like a money grab.

But, yes, I need them and yes, I'll take them and yes, actually, I appreciate these greatly -- especially the silver mini parallel numbered to 199!

4. Moby MLB Edition Wrap Baby Carrier

T.J. will be missing a great opportunity to have his wife represent the Mariners if he doesn't buy this awesome Seattle Mariners teal baby carrier from Bed Bath & Beyond. Only $50!



Every one of these cards is sort of like that baby carrier to me. You won't know you need them till someone points them out to you. Granted, I feel like that baby carrier might be a bit overpriced at $50, so that's why the Prince Fielder Topps Tribute card shows up here -- I have yet to feel like the high-end sets are anything but overpriced hype. 

Sure, some like Tribute, Triple Threads, and Museum Collection -- the ones with base cards included -- tend to be pretty nice cards generally. But, in those products, the base cards always seem like letdowns or afterthoughts to someone trying to buy cards for "value" rather than for "collecting."

5.  Salvino's Baby Bammers Griffey Bear

Another item available from Amazon, but this one is available for just $10.95 with free shipping if you have Amazon Prime! It even comes with an Edgar Martinez bear!

Now, this is something for the real hardcore Mariners fan. It's from 17 years ago, and even then it was really only a knockoff of the real Beanie Babies. I'm not even sure what a Baby Bammer is. I always thought that that term would describe this:

Anyway, the best card to put with this hardcore item for a Mariners fan is to have an item only a hardcore Brewer fan could really appreciate.

An autographed 1974 Topps card of Brewers all-time wins leader, Jim Slaton. As I have mentioned in the past, the Brewers' history with pitchers is not exactly a good one. Slaton has the most wins in franchise history with 117, and he is the only pitcher in club history to throw more than 2000 innings in a Brewers' uniform with 2025-1/3 innings. 

If Slaton had pitched only for Milwaukee, that total would be good enough to put him 427th all-time in innings pitched, 1/3 of an inning behind Johan Santana and Vern Kennedy. Slaton pitched another 658-1/3 innings with other teams, so he's actually 197th all time. That should tell you that the Brewers either don't keep pitchers around generally, or they don't keep the ones they do keep around healthy (see Ted Higuera, for example, or Ben Sheets).

Still, to add a clearly authentic autograph of a guy who is a player collection for me is just awesome.

Thanks, T.J., for the cards and congratulations again on the addition to your family!

Catching Up with a Trade Post

Back on post #300, I put out an offer to everyone: comment with your collecting interests, then e-mail me your mailing address, and I would send out cards.  That post got a great response and led to me getting rid of a bunch of cards and getting a bunch of Brewers in return (even though I did not ask for a return package).  

One of the people from whom I heard was Jared from Catching Up with Collecting. Jared's interests in collecting are diverse -- everything from catchers Carlton Fisk, Gary Carter, Jason Varitek, and Jason Kendall, to his favorite teams -- he has five -- to a ton of Boston Red Sox stars.  I can relate to the love for catchers -- having played the position myself for a long time growing up, as my knees some days can attest -- so sending a package to him for me was relatively simple.

Jared then sent me a great stack of Brewers cards. Thankfully, the Brewers are not among his favorite five teams, so he sent me an awesome mix of cards.

We start with a passel of Robin Yount cards, including the card carrying Paul Molitor's praise for Robin as a teammate from the Panini Cooperstown set.  The bottom card is from the 2002 Topps Gallery set Heritage inserts.  At some point and between Cynical Buddha and me, we need to count up both the number of times that the 1975 rookie card gets used and, also, that photo of Yount from the 1988 season (with the H/K patch on his left arm to honor former manager Harvey Kuenn) that has been used so many times that I think it's the only photo Topps has of Robin.

While initially I liked this photo, it was because I was looking past the fact that a good third of the card is dominated by the out-of-focus arm of a first-base coach.  Now that I've really noticed it, I can't unsee it.  Dang it.

Topps Gold, circa 2013.  Hellweg came over to the Brewers from the Angels in the Jean Segura/Zach Greinke trade.  Hellweg is a graduate of St. Dominic HS in O'Fallon, Missouri. He had been rehabilitating from Tommy John surgery since early last year, and the Brewers used up his fourth and final option this year to let him continue his rehabilitation in Colorado Springs.  Before the injury, he -- and not Jimmy Nelson -- was probably the Brewers' top pitching prospect.

I'm not sure what's going on under Rob Picciolo's (pronounced "PEACH-uh-lo") eyes here. It might be the scan, or I just never cared enough to look at Rob Picciolo's 1984 Donruss card before. The very antithesis of a "Moneyball" player, Picciolo walked 25 times in 1720 career plate appearances.  

This card is proof that, in the 1980s, the card companies made cards for literally everyone who appeared in a major league game.  To wit, in 1983, Picciolo played in 14 games and came to bat 29 times.  No, he did not spend any time in the minor leagues that year.  In fact, because of his 1 sac fly in 1983, his OBP was lower than his batting average -- a .222/.214/.333 slash line.  

Josh Prince currently has more cards in the 2013 Panini Prizm set (10, including all the parallels) than he does major league plate appearances (9, racked up in 2013).  Prince was on his way back down the Brewers' chain after that high point in 2013 -- appearing only in Double-A Huntsville in 2014.  He's now a Double-A player in the Detroit system with Erie.

Tyler Wagner pitched for the Runnin' Utes of Utah in college before the Brewers drafted him in the fourth round in 2012.  He has worked his way up in the system step by step.  In 2014, he pitched very well as an age-appropriate player in the Florida State League, and he has started off well with the Biloxi Shuckers this season.  

As an aside, the Brewers moved their Double-A team from Huntsville, Alabama, to Biloxi, Mississippi, in the off season.  The only problem: the Biloxi stadium will not be ready for the team to occupy it before May at the earliest.  As a result, the Shuckers opened their "home" season by playing five games in four days last week against Jacksonville in Jacksonville. They will also be playing "home" games in May 6 against the Mississippi Braves at the Braves' home stadium in Pearl, Mississippi and the team will reappear in Huntsville for some home games starting on May 16.

In case someone with the Shuckers is reading blogs, please remember I am both a Brewers fan and a construction lawyer with good connections in Mississippi.  No, I'm not advertising, I'm just saying.

These Hometown Heroes cards with the dark blue uniforms are not nearly as offensive-looking to me as the powder blue one that Robin Yount is wearing.  Note that the Sheets parallel is the elusive "ZIP Code" parallel, as Panini shows off its knowledge of major league zip codes.  The great thing is that I believe I need all of these for player collections.  

Martin Maldonado is now the Brewers starting catcher as Jonathan Lucroy heals up after suffering a broken toe.  Maldonado has never been much of an offensive force.  Even after spending parts of 2004 through 2012 in the minor leagues -- a total of 1965 plate appearances -- he totaled only 31 home runs and 71 doubles for a .333 SLG.  But, he has one hell of a cannon behind home plate:

The guy threw out Billy Hamilton on a pitch he had to short-hop out of the dirt.  It's his defense that keeps him in the league, but he's stretched if he has to play regularly.

I'm still thinking, though, that Panini needs to do the "Catchers of Major League Baseball" series.  No logos needed!

And, if Panini did a set like that, I guarantee that both me and a certain Jared from Catching Up With Collecting would go for the complete set.

Thanks, Jared, for the great cards!

Being Zippy Zapped!

It's a busy time of year for everyone, but that does not excuse my inactivity here. I've been working on various projects related to my card collection and in real life and, as a result, my blogging here at the Hiatus has suffered. I hope to be a bit more prolific in terms of blogging here (I have some ideas, now, for posts that are not just recounting packages received) but, too, I need to catch up once again on sending out packages to fellow bloggers.

Last week, a package -- literally, an envelope wrapped in packing paper -- arrived in my mailbox from the New York City metropolitan area. It was entirely unexpected. But when I opened it, I was pleasantly surprised:

Being Zippy Zapped is always a pleasant surprise. But what does he mean about that I "might need this toploader"?

I mean, inside the package appeared what looked like your average pack-searched version of an Allen & Ginter Value Pack. Taped together, beat up...the usual for the pack searchers.

Why would Zippy Zappy send out something like that?  Alright. I'll bite. Let's open it up.

Wow. Pack searchers gone wild. Pre-RIPPED packs of cards? I'm sure this will turn out well, though -- I trust in the Zippy Zapping.

As I opened up the package further, I found six packs of cards, rather than the three plus one bonus promised on the package. Well, actually, there were three A&G packs inside...and a bonus...and a Chrome? And a Bowman Platinum? What kind of wizardry is this?

Since I could see a purple Peralta peeking prominently from one clear pack, let's peruse that pile posthaste.

Here's the purple Peralta from Platinum. And then:

I guess Zippy Zappy was concerned about a mailman walking out the door at Target with my package and not paying for it.

Now I can see why he was concerned. Card #56 in my Warren Spahn collection is this 2001 Topps Noteworthy insert. Happy Warren means Happy Tony.

And then, the final card in the bonus pack -- a 1994 Ted Williams Card Co. Joe Adcock! Just my fourth item in my Joe Adcock Player Collection. Sometimes, being very good but not a superstar means that people don't bring your cards to shows to sell!

If he had stopped there, this package would have been excellent. But that's just pack 1 of 6. What else is in there? Let's check out the Chrome pack.

There are Chrome cards in the Chrome package. Yes! At least there is some truth in advertising.

Scooter Gennett is penciled in as the starting second baseman for next year's Brewers. Brewers fans have been chattering amongst ourselves about whether the team needs a platoon partner for Scooter in light of his struggles against left-handed pitchers. The team appears to be sold on letting him play every day to see if he can work things out. I hope he can.

The next card out is also a Chrome card, but it is serial numbered!

I'm not going to try to figure out which one of the 57 Bowman Parallels this one is.  I know it is a Mini of Johnny Hellweg, whom the Brewers obtained from the Angels with Jean Segura in the Zack Greinke trade in 2012, and it is serial numbered as number 117 of 250. Hellweg underwent Tommy John surgery at the end of April, so the hope is that he will be ready for spring training this coming season.

Holy crap! I don't have the foggiest idea again what parallel this is, but it is a Ryan Braun serial numbered 3 of 99. It doesn't matter what it's called -- it's still awesome to me! It is item number 227 in my Ryan Braun collection, also. That's a pretty incredible number of cards/items to have amassed for a guy whom I had exactly 5 cards for -- all from 4 hobby boxes of 2010 Topps Series 1 that I bought, opened, and then let sit in a closet at some point in 2010 or 2011.

A serial numbered Eddie Mathews? Yes please! This is from 2014, and it is the 33rd Mathews card in my clutches.

I think I had this card before, but when you're ripping packs, you sometimes get a couple of cards you may have already. No matter -- I can use it for my team collection or, if all else fails, to make sure that my desk legs are even.

Let's dig into the three packs of "Allen & Ginter" now. Here's pack 1.

Two 2014 Topps Update cards, two 1973 Topps cards -- including the incredibly miscut Billy Champion, a 2010 Topps checklist of Braun and Fielder, two Corey Hart cards, and a Prince Fielder "Hot Commodities" insert from 2008 that, if the logo on the helmet were airbrushed away, would look perfectly proper in an unlicensed set.

I'm pretty sure I needed the Harts and the Fielder insert, and the other cards will work nicely in other collections or, perhaps, will inspire me to create another subset of Brewers collecting.

Maybe, for instance, that Skip Lockwood card should start a "Taken at County Stadium" subcollection. I always loved Milwaukee County Stadium. It was an incredibly flawed venue -- lots of poles obstructing views, lots of uncomfortable wood chairs and wood bleachers in the outfield from which you'd get splinters from time to time, small bathrooms, etc. But, it had character. My favorite place inside of County Stadium was the Hank Aaron exhibit. Other than a uniform and a bat, the other item of interest included in the display were some flip-flops that Hank wore as shower shoes. Seriously.

More ballparks these days need displays of players' shower shoes.

Okay. On to Pack 2.

Another eclectic mix of cards, and nary an Allen & Ginter among them. Everything from Rickie Weeks's impersonation of Medusa's hair to a 1990 Edgar Diaz being the utility baseball card to a couple of Tickets to Stardom (one wonders what Bill Hall's "Ticket" to stardom was, since his 35 HR season in 2006 was just 17 HR more than his next highest HR output in a season) to a Finest Nelson of the University of Alabama.

And, as Shaun Marcum shows us, Zippy Zappy was more concerned about the postman stealing these cards from Wal-Mart and not from Target.  As he should be.

Okay, let's see the final Allen & Ginter pack:

183/250

Now that was a hot pack. Four cards from the 2014 Bowman Chrome -- my first four cards of 2014 Bowman Chrome, in fact. I like the fact that Topps did not repeat the Bowman checklist and photos for Chrome. I also like the little diagrams on the back.

As cool as those are, however, they don't quite reach the level of the Orange parallel Corey Hart -- numbered 183 of 250 -- or of the Press Proof Ryan Braun numbered 15 of 199. As much as I hate gimmicks and all the parallels, a few parallels are not bad. I kind of like the Donruss one, even if it is unlicensed.

And Ron Theobald. That has to be Spring Training.

Now, remember what Zippy Zappy said about needing that toploader? I do. I haven't seen why, as of yet, that I might need it. I guess I need to open this last pack.

It starts with....theft protection?

What the deuce?

What's this? Oh, I DO need the Toploader. Do I ever!

That is one awesome patch auto serial numbered 10 of 50 of Corey Hart.  And it is THICK. Yup, that is going into the toploader!

Zippy Zappy, thank you very much for the great cards and the first packs I have ripped this year where I liked and wanted literally every single card in the pack!