Junk Wax from The Astrodome

A week or so ago, I found a few spare minutes to read a couple of blogs. In the past, that was not a rare event.  Indeed, since I started this blog back in February of 2014, I've had a lot more free time than I really should have had.  By that, I mean that my job in 2014 was incredibly slow, and trying to develop my law practice in 2015 took a lot of energy, but I still had a fair amount of free time.

Not any more.

Work has buried me.  For the first time in at least 3 or 4 years, I have so much to do at work that I almost feel bad not getting in earlier (today, 7:20) and then for leaving when I do (tonight, at 6:30). It's because it feels like I'm still behind.  Because I am.

But, I have to be honest -- it's a good feeling as well.  It's stressful, no doubt, but it's also a great challenge too.  

So, back to the set up. I had a few minutes to read some blogs and saw that Bru from Remember the Astrodome has a post called "Free Junk Wax!"  I swear, seeing that declaration was not all that different than being hungry in the morning and seeing this sign:

It's tough to turn those down.

Okay, I'll admit that despite the fact that this month marks the 20th anniversary of me moving to Georgia, I'm very much more of a Dunkin Donuts fan than I am Krispy Kreme...

But I digress.

Bru was kind enough to fill some 1989-1991 Upper Deck needs for me.

The great thing is that, other than the two Brewers error cards in the 1989 Upper Deck Set (the "upside down" SS on Gary Sheffield's rookie card and the photo of Ronn Reynolds on the back of Bill Schroeder's card), these four cards combined to complete my 1989, 1990, and 1991 Upper Deck sets.  And, as an aside, I'm only four years of sets away from having that Upper Deck Want List completely populated.

To me, that would have been a great PWE if Bru had stopped there. Instead, he was kind enough to throw in a few cards from this year that I did not have.

I haven't opened many packs this year. I decided against it. Perhaps the one set that I miss most as a result, though, is Allen & Ginter.  Everyone else is moving on to talk about 2016 Topps or the Chrome set that is coming out, but I just got my first 2015 A&G!

Of course, these two cards are reminders of why the Brewers are where they are this year. Frankly, karma in giving a two-year, highly overpriced contract to a closer who has a history of domestic violence dictated that the Brewers should suck.  Here's more on how K-Rod is a nimrod. If you believe in karma, that is.  

I don't put Ryan Braun's steroids in this category -- he just cheated and now he's about to pass Robin Yount for the all-time franchise lead in home runs.  But, let's be clear -- Braun doesn't beat up people.

Then there's this year's version of Marco Estrada -- Kyle "Tater Tot" Lohse. Lohse was good in 2013 and 2014 for the Brewers, but this year -- thankfully in the final year of his contract -- he's been brutal.  Every single one of his 87 runs allowed have been earned.  That's because runs allowed on home runs are earned (he's giving up 1.8 HR per 9 innings). But, hey, he's a Brewer on this card so I'll put him in my collection.

Finally, Bru sent me a card that was a lot less depressing:

I barely know when Topps's release dates are, so I have no chance with Panini. I'm guessing that I missed the 2015 Prizm release at some point in May or June.  Of course, let's be honest, I wouldn't have bought it. 

Also, is this the exact same design as last year, or is that just my eyes and prejudices deceiving me? But it's great to add a new card to the Lucroy collection while the Brewers still have him on the roster.

Thanks a ton, Bru, for the finished team sets and the 2015 cards as well -- I appreciate them!

Cards from the Papoy

Last week, a package arrived from France. 

Packages also arrived from Italy and Idaho, in case those fine gentlemen were wondering (and yes, I'm bad about telling folks that stuff has arrived...I need to get better at that).

Back to this one, though. If you are talking about packages arriving from France and the package contains baseball cards and one, single Justin Bieber card, then you are talking about a package from Kevin -- The Card Papoy.

Let's get Bieber out of the way first:

I don't like Justin Bieber's music. I've never like teen pop music, to be fair -- when everyone else was listening to "Thriller," I was listening to The Clash. In fifth grade. 

Still, the best thing that Justin Bieber ever gave to us was the Justin Bieber Roast on Comedy Central.  For some not-safe-for-work language being used, put on your headphones.

If you haven't watched Martha Stewart make a reference to shanking a woman in prison, you should watch it. But don't watch it if strong language offends you, because you'll be offended.

None of that, though, has anything to do with the Brewers cards that came my way.  Here are a few of the highlights:

This is the first Fleer Tiffany from 1996 that I have ever seen or added to my collection. The Fleer 1996 set is actually one I sort of like for NOT being a glossy set.  But, to be fair, with glossy stock and foil on the front, this card looks pretty sharp.  I am a sucker for the full-bleed cards.

It's refractor mania! That's a Finest Refractor and a Chrome Refractor from last year and two X-Fractors from 2013. 

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Sorry, all the shininess mesmerized me there for a minute. Refractors are parallels made for Chrome-y cards, so how about regular parallels?

Gotta whole lotta Lohse.  This year, that is a horrible thing. For the low, low price of just $11 million, Kyle has dredged up the ghosts of Navarros past, currently in the lead in the National League in losses with 9 and earned runs allowed with 60, and he's second in home runs allowed with 17. And the great thing is that the Brewers keep sending him out there -- he's tied for first in games started too.

He has fallen off the table so badly that even with no further contractual obligations being required, no one will trade for him.  I wonder if, perhaps, the Brewers could send him to a team with cash for "future considerations" and mean that the future considerations are that we'll never have to see Kyle Lohse in a Brewers uniform again.

That would be nice.

Okay, now we're into the "Holy crap that is a great card" portion of the box.  That's especially true of that Robin Yount Relic from the SP Legendary Cuts set from 2006.  It's not serial numbered, but who cares? It's a great addition to the Yount collection -- which now numbers 712 strong.

And finally, last but not least, some shiny serial numbered goodness:

That's a Finest "blue" Refractor, serial numbered to 125.  It doesn't look any bluer than the regular Finest card, though it is a bit shinier, but hey -- throw a serial number on it and I'm a happy man! 

Kevin, thanks for the great cards and the opportunity to reference Martha Stewart shanking a woman in prison!

A PWE from All Trade Bait, All the Time

One of my earlier blog trades was with Dodgers fan Stealing Home from All Trade Bait, All The Time. SH is a genuinely nice guy to trade with and talk to by e-mail.  He recently went on a PWE-sending spree, and I was one of the lucky folks to get one.  Here are the cards he sent to me:

This Kyle Lohse card is just an opportunity for me to point out that once again the current "throwback" uniforms have a design error.  Everyone who is a Brewers fan from the 1980s knows that the hat with the yellow panel on the front was the away hat -- the team wore a solid blue cap at home.

Just as this 1986 Topps Ben Oglivie -- about to take batting practice on the road in his baby-blue road uniform -- proves.

I miss having a leadoff hitter who actually got on base.  Actually, I miss having a team that didn't hit like it was a Triple-A team.  This year to date, the team has scored 170 runs in 45 games -- 3.78 runs per game -- while allowing 221 (4.91 runs per game, so yes, pitching is a problem too).  But, the Brewers have scored 10 or more runs in 4 games this year (and lost one of them...again, pitching is a problem).  Remove those four games in which the Brewers scored 43 runs, and the team over the other 41 games are averaging barely 3 runs per game -- 3.098 per game, to be super exact.  The team has a slash line of .227/.285/.378 (taking out pitchers, it's .234/.293/.392).

Now I'm depressed...

That's better.  The Clash always bring a smile to my face.  Okay, back to the cards!

Khris Davis is not known for his defense, but his card from both last year and this year show him making defensive plays.

Finally, the piece de resistance for this PWE.  I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that my grandfather probably was convinced that Johnny Logan was the best player on the Milwaukee Braves in the 1950s.  Perhaps the 1950s baseball fans were as enamored with great shortstop play as a lot of us bloggers seem to like catchers -- or perhaps that reflects more about bloggers tending to be more cerebral than the average fan and appreciating all the thought, hard work, and intelligence that goes into being a catcher.

At any rate, Stealing Home sent me this card with the note that it clearly belongs with me due to the fact that Logan was such a bad ass in my grandpa's eyes.

I have to say that this reason for getting a card is perhaps the best reason I have ever heard.  My memories of being a kid growing up pretty poor in Wisconsin (my mom, my brothers, and I lived with my grandparents as I grew up) were filled with stories of past sportsmen to come through Milwaukee.  My grandpa and I bonded in the mornings by reading the game stories in the Milwaukee Sentinel of the previous day's Brewer game, or Packers game, or Milwaukee Bucks game, or even the Milwaukee Admirals games. I'd then get ready for school and head off, not realizing that those days would be ones I'd look back on now with a fondness for how innocent those days were -- and how lucky I was to have a grandfather who indulged my sports fanaticism.

Thank you, Stealing Home, for that reminder.