What's Kenny Listening To, Part II

Here's part two of the Kenny/Zippy Zappy appreciation post.

Supertramp, "Goodbye Stranger"

Supertramp was a staple of 1980s classic rock stations -- at least the ones that I heard in Milwaukee in the 1980s. I don't know if they still get radio play any more or not. In fairness, I'd pretty much forgotten this song existed, but once the first notes started playing, my memory was quickly jogged.

Of course, in typical 1970s classic rock fashion, this song lasts about 2 minutes longer than it really needs to last.

Similarly, I'd pretty much forgotten that Michael Reed played with the Brewers before getting this card from Kenny. Of course, that forgetting is much less forgivable than forgetting about a 40-year-old classic rock song, since Reed played for Milwaukee as recently as 2016 and was still in the Brewers system through 2017.

of Montreal, "Paranoiac Intervals/Body Dysmorphia"

I've heard all kinds of buzz for of Montreal for a few years now. I'm very disappointed in myself for not having done any looking into them before this.

of Montreal originated in the best city in the whole wide world -- Athens, Georgia, of course. The band is fronted by Kevin Barnes, who added Derek Almstead and Bryan Poole upon his arrival in Athens in 1996. Almstead and Poole both were/are members of noted Athens band Elf Power, whom I know I saw at least once in the mid-1990s during law school.

For a while, of Montreal was on the legendary Athens record label called Kindercore alongside bands like Japancakes, Kitty Craft, and The Mendoza Line. I feel like I can recall that the label's formation was pretty big news in town back then. But, I might be projecting memories of being cooler than I actually was when I start having memories like that.

On the other hand, Yasmani Grandal -- even though he is shown playing for the Bakersfield Blaze -- is far cooler than my memories. Here's hoping that he'll stick around in Milwaukee for one or two more seasons.

Soccer Mommy, "Cool"

Soccer Mommy is Sophie Allison, a Nashville native by way of being born in Switzerland and after attending two years of college at NYU and dropping out. Wikipedia says that she cites Mitski, Taylor Swift, and Avril Lavigne as influences, but my ear on this song picks up an influence that may have come from touring with the man -- Stephen Malkmus and Pavement. 

It's a good song. It's one of those songs that will get stuck in my head if I listen a few more times -- lots of hooks and very catchy.

Joe Alexander was the Milwaukee Bucks first round pick in the 2008 NBA Draft, and boy did the Bucks screw up this pick. Alexander was the eighth pick overall in the 2008 draft out of West Virginia. Every single other first round pick other than the very last pick of the first round (J.R. Giddens out of New Mexico) played more games and more seasons in the NBA than Alexander did. Alexander appeared in 67 games over two seasons in Milwaukee. Players selected after Alexander included Brook Lopez, Roy Hibbert, and, in the second round, DeAndre Jordan. Alexander was last seen playing in Turkey for Besiktas. 

Denzel Curry, "ZUU"

Curry is a Miami rapper whom I've never heard of before. Curry just released his new album, also called ZUU, on May 31, 2019. This song is short -- barely 2 minutes long. I like it, though. There's not a ton here lyrically, but the beats are good.

Plus, I give the guy props for wearing a throwback Marlins jersey. 

Jones emerged last year as the best running back the Packers had on the roster. After the Eddie Lacy pick went from golden to Golden Corral with Lacy successfully eating his way out of the NFL, the Packers went from converted WR (Ty Montgomery) to 4th round pick Jamaal Williams to 5th round pick Jones over the past three years. 

It might also help if Aaron Rodgers would stop checking out of running plays because he thinks he's the best offensive coordinator in the stadium.

Twin Shadow, "Slow"

Kenny says that this song sounds like She Wants Revenge or Joy Division to him. Yup, definitely that 80s New Wave/00s Renew Wave sound going on. Twin Shadow a/k/a George Lewis Jr. sounds to me is even more influenced vocally by Morrissey. Again, that fits into that genre quite well, since New Order and The Smiths were contemporaries in Manchester in the 1980s.

It's not the sound I was expecting, to be fair, but I'm a fan. Definitely.

I am surprised at how nostalgic I feel toward the Heritage set this year, what with it being 1970 and all. As a kid, I used to love the 1970 set for having the Seattle Pilots in it even though the team became the Milwaukee Brewers that season. I don't know why that is -- perhaps it was a reflection of my enjoyment of Ball Four or perhaps it was because the 1970s were the decade I was born and felt much closer in time to me than anything from the 1960s. 

This is why this card is such a good analog for the Twin Shadow song. I wasn't expecting to like this year's Heritage as much as I have, but I'm a fan.

Eladio Carrion, Khea, Cazzu, and Ecko, "Mi Cubana (Remix)"

As Kenny's blog said, this is a trap song entirely in Spanish. Interestingly, Eladio Carrion is actually from Kansas City. No kidding. That kind of deflates the song for me. Sure, the other three are all Argentine, but finding out that Eladio Carrion is from Kansas City is just disappointing. Maybe that's just me, though.

Kenny Clark is going into his fourth season as a defensive tackle for the Packers. Clark is a good player, no question -- getting 6 sacks in 13 games from defensive tackle is no mean feat -- but the next time Kenny Clark starts 16 games will be the first time. Yes, he played 16 games in 2016, but he only started 2 and only racked up 21 tackles -- he was a special teamer for much of the year.

I have not been impressed with the Packers most recent drafts. I feel like they don't take enough SEC players. Sure, I'm biased toward the SEC in that regard, but I thought taking the best players in the draft was the idea. Maybe that's just me, though.

Joywave, "True Grit"

I have heard of this band before thanks to their collaboration with Big Data on the song called "Dangerous" from about five or six years ago. This song is only okay to me. It just doesn't grab me. Maybe it's the mood I'm in today or what have you, but it just isn't something I want to hear again.

Similarly, while Keon Broxton is an excellent defensive outfield to my eyes, advanced metrics for him are all over the place. Add in his terrible inability to make contact on anything approaching a regular basis, and you can see why he's on his third team this year already. Granted, the Brewers got him for basically nothing from the Pirates a few years ago, so we are already ahead on that equation.

Well, folks, that's it for the Kenny Appreciation post for 2019.

Now that we know what Kenny is listening to these days, I would be interested to hear what everyone else has filling their ears. Are you a country music fan? Do you dig disco? Is New Wave your jam? Tell me what you're listening to!

And Kenny -- as always, thank you very much. You're a good man.

An eBay Seller Comes Through

A couple of weeks ago, I had a problem on eBay. I won a small auction for a Brewers lot containing a couple of decent autographs and a low serial numbered card, but I kept getting errors every time I tried to pay for the lot. Because I got the lot for literally the minimum bid, I was concerned that this problem resulted from an unsavory seller.

Thankfully, that concern was misplaced. After a couple of messages with the seller -- who also could not figure out what was going on -- I contacted eBay customer service. We got it all worked out without a problem.

So, a nice little story, right? Well, this seller did one better and gave me some extra stuff as well in the envelope to thank me for my patience with the issues. Fast forward a month and I'm finally getting around to posting these cards.

I just got back from a planning retreat in Park City, Utah for the American Bar Association group for which I am in leadership. On our last night there, a few of us met randomly together and just blew it out. I'm usually a pretty buttoned-down person to anyone who is observing from the outside and does not know me that well. The reality is that I draw lines like most people and tend not to show a lot of my crazier side to people with whom I interact in a business setting.

What did I do? I showed my attention-hog side and started showing off my lyrical knowledge of random songs...while all of us were in our hotel robes drinking wine on this large patio. Yup. So, it was everything from "U and Dat" by E-40 to "Pompeii" by Bastille and "Funky Cold Medina" by Tone Lōc. It inspired me to hit some old rap songs from my college days to accompany this post.

We didn't sing or even listen to "Pop Goes The Weasel," but we should have. In preparing for finding songs for this post, I looked at some old Billboard rap charts and saw this song had topped the Rap chart in 1991. 

If you have never heard the song, take a listen and watch the video as well. It features Henry Rollins dressed as Vanilla Ice (seriously) and 3rd Bass basically was ripping Vanilla Ice and MC Hammer (among others) for being weasels who "go pop." The base sample track should be familiar to many of you as well, as the band built the song on the horns and bass line from "Sledgehammer" by Peter Gabriel.

My purchase on eBay started with these three cards. Yeah, K-Rod is uninspiring to many including myself. But I am a sucker, after all, and when a Brewers cards serial numbered 2 of 25 is packaged with two autographs for $0.99 plus $3 shipping, I'm probably going to buy it. 

Jason Rogers, of course, was a part of the Great Pirate Robbery of December 2015. The Brewers received minor league pitcher Trey Supak and current starting centerfielder Keon Broxton for Rogers in a trade that probably seemed like a good idea at the time to the Pirates -- turning some outfield depth into a potentially useful first baseman. The problem was that Rogers was neither given a chance by Pittsburgh in the majors and, then, struggled when he did get 33 plate appearances (.080/.303/.160). The Pirates released Rogers on Friday from his minor league contract, and the report out of Pittsburgh was that Rogers will sign with the Hanshin Tigers in the Japanese Central League.

Monte Harrison has moved steadily down the list of top Brewers prospects as the Brewers have acquired more organizational depth and players closer to the majors in trades and the draft. Harrison was promoted to the High-A Carolina Mudcats the day after the Midwest League All-Star game. He was the star of that All-Star Game: he hit two homers in the game the night after finishing second in the home run derby(oops, no he didn't). He did all kinds of weird things in that game, including hitting a home run while batting out of order and swapping jerseys with his first-base coach during his home run trot. It's good to see him having fun and fulfilling some of his massive potential. Before his promotion, he was hitting .265/.359/.475 with 11 HR and 11 SB in 261 plate appearances (though he is still striking out too much).

What's that you say? You haven't heard of the song "U And Dat"? Let's rectify that. I only wish this was the uncensored version.

Before I met my wife, I lived in Midtown Atlanta. No suburbs for me. My next door neighbor was an African-American guy named Bob who is one of the nicest people I have ever met in my life. Bob and I bonded over college football and sports generally, but we also talked a lot about music too. He introduced this song to me, and I really liked it. I used to crack him up by knowing all the words to it and being able to sing along with it.

I would imagine it would be humorous to see a blond, white, 35-year-old guy singing this song. 

As I mentioned, the eBay seller threw in some extra autographs for me. Man, did he come through. First up is that Wei-Chung Wang Panini card. I absolutely love the fact that he signed his autograph using the Chinese characters of his native Taiwan. I'm not sure why he wouldn't sign like that, but I like it nonetheless -- it looks sharp.

Wang, of course, was a Rule 5 pick after the 2013 season. The Brewers plucked him from Pittsburgh's rookie league roster, stashed him for a year in 2014 while using him sparingly, and then were able to sneak him through waivers. Wang has had great success this year in Colorado Springs working out of the bullpen, and I would not be surprised to see him up later this year in the Brewers pen. Also, I think that is probably where his future major league career will take him. He is only 25, so he has a little time.

Michael Reed, on the other hand, is struggling a bit this year. He has fallen behind the hot prospects in Colorado (Brett Phillips, Lewis Brinson, and Ryan Cordell) as well as the guys in Milwaukee already (Domingo Santana & Keon Broxton). To make matters worse for him, he's not making good contact in Double-A Biloxi -- .215/.352/.367 in 193 plate appearances. He's showing more power this year, but he probably needs a change in scenery soon. Maybe a minor deadline deal to shore up the bullpen?

Finally, there is the card about which I was more excited than any of the other cards I got in this deal -- the Ben Sheets autograph serial numbered 46 of 49. Too bad it is a Panini product and that Sheets apparently pitched before color photography was invented. In all seriousness, that Hometown Heroes product was (in my opinion) Panini's best product. It was ruined by the lack of licensing and discoloration issues resulting from that, but including the players they included in the set made it a winner.

Thanks for reading!

Quick Walk Down the Plank

One of my fellow 2014 rookies in the blog world, Matthew Scott of Bob Walk the Plank, is much more on top of getting trade packages out to people than I am. He reached out to me recently and told me he had an incredible Jeromy Burnitz parallel to send my way, so I was immediately excited.

It took a week or so to arrive after he told me about it. Or maybe it didn't. I can't recall -- it's been 6 weeks now. I'm terrible. I know.  

At least The Murmurs put out a song about me.

That's the clean version. Be glad for that. 

At any rate, I owe everyone who has sent me cards recently that big apology -- that I suck and have slacked at posting lately. I've been enjoying my time away from daily blogging the past couple of weeks by getting my Topps inserts organized. I'm all the way up to 2010 right now. It feels good to get those finally into a book and for me to know what I am actually missing.

Back to Matt, though. I hope soon to send him some beer soon, or to have the opportunity to grab a beer in person together. 

But, until then, trading baseball cards will have to suffice. And while Matt teased Jeromy Burnitz, he actually topped himself when he sent me cards. 

How? 

Well, let's start with the least impressive of the cards I got from him:

I've written about Michael Reed before, in particular that he is has a good batting eye but not much power. Reed has had the misfortune of being in the wrong organization in 2017. In both 2015 and 2016, Reed spent a little time with the Brewers in the major leagues. This spring, however, he found himself getting optioned all the way down to Double-A Biloxi. He's been passed by a host of OFs, included Domingo Santana, Keon Broxton, Lewis Brinson, Ryan Cordell, and Brett Phillips, among others. 

Rather than plant Reed in Colorado Springs behind that last trio, he finds himself in Double-A. Since he was drafted 6 years ago this year, I would not be surprised to see Michael Reed coming soon to a waiver wire or Rule 5 draft near you -- unless Slingin' David Stearns can turn him into a pitching prospect.

Speaking of Brett Phillips...this one totally blows Reed away. The only thing that would make this card better would be if it had a multi-color patch in it.  Or maybe logos. Either one.

This has quickly become one of my favorite Panini cards, though. 

Phillips does need to show that his 2016 was a fluke and that he can make sufficient contact to be a major leaguer. He had problems with that in Double-A, but the Brewers still moved him up anyway. He slipped down the prospect list some this year due to that.

Okay, now, onto the Burnitz card Matt promised:

Okay, this one is well worth the hype. It is a 1999 Skybox Premium Rubies serial numbered 2 of 50. Seriously, to get a card of that rarity from 18 years ago is pretty damn cool -- and to be a guy that I collect just makes it better.

Matt, many thanks to you for the great cards! And everyone else -- please forgive me. I know I suck.

Dollar Stores 101 #SuperTraders

For a while in November -- while everyone was still shocked that the Earth kept rotating on its slightly tilted axis despite the fact that the Chicago Cubs won the World Series -- I was getting concerned about my collecting. Trade packages had dried up. That was entirely my fault, since I have been very blasé about collecting generally lately. The time I have available for collecting had dried up too, as the real world of work and Thanksgiving and wanting to spend time with my wife all came together to make my card time limited.

Then, just after Thanksgiving or thereabouts, packages just started rolling in. My desk is a mess now of cards needing to be cataloged, sorted, scanned, marked off want lists, and added to player collection lists and binders. I have at least six or seven packages waiting to be scanned right now.

I do have one package that I scanned a while back and which I just haven't gotten around to posting. Probably two or three weeks ago now, I got a package in from Sportscards From the Dollar Store. It was an eclectic mass of Brewers cards, but I only scanned a few of them. Now, whatever else was in the envelope is somewhere on my desk...gah....

In honor -- or should I say, in honour -- of the envelope from the Dollar Store, I thought about dollar stores generally. There seem to be different stores of this nature all over the place. So, here's a few I know of being around where i live.

1.  Family Dollar

Dollar stores often have good deals on items that you buy every day. It's just that most of those stores tend not to be places you go every day. For instance, the Family Dollar near me has $1 rolls of wrapping paper, 88-cent 2-liter bottles of Canada Dry Ginger Ale, and $3 tubes of Colgate toothpaste. Not bad prices. Maybe I should shop at this dollar store?

Appropriately slow in starting out here -- because, well, I'm slow starting today anyway after a 3.5 mile run/walk in 37 degree weather (I know -- I've gotten weak having lived in Georgia for 21 years) -- let's go to 2010 Upper Deck. It's too bad Upper Deck had its license stripped by MLB. Cards like this -- even if it is a typical pitcher-grimacing photo -- remind me how good a simple design can be...unlike pretty much anything Topps has done since it got an exclusive license.

2.  Dollar Tree

I just realized that I have three Dollar Tree stores within three miles of my house and 21 stores within 10 miles of me. Crazy. D

Dollar Tree has the same kinds of deals as Family Dollar -- $1 rolls of wrapping paper seem to be a dollar store staple. Dollar Tree also has the always good 4.5-oz. bag of Cheez-Its for $1. Mmmmm....Cheez-its...

I feel like stores like Dollar Tree have taken over from what Sears and JC Penney used to be -- the local department store where people did all their shopping, including everything from tires to appliances. The reason that they have taken over is that Sears and JC Penney have floundered about trying to position themselves as better than Wal-Mart or as equivalent to a mall department store like Macy's.



Within my Dollar Store package, I got a Topps Chrome and a Topps Update of two pitchers who should be available at a dollar store. The two Italians did not cover themselves in glory in 2016. Capuano came back to the Brewers as a sort of elder statesman innings sponge, but he failed in that role when he got hurt after just 16 appearances and 24 innings in the first two months of the year.

Garza signed for a four-year, $50 million contract after the 2013 season. He's got one year left on that albatross...er, deal. Garza started the year on the DL and did not make his debut until two weeks after Capuano was done for the year. Garza pitched acceptably on occasion -- his first two starts over 10 innings yielded just one earned run, and his last six starts (33-1/3 innings) provided a good run of results as well (2.97 ERA, Opponent's BABIP of .299 means that was right on too). The problem was that those 8 starts bookended an 11-start stretch (58-1/3 innings) of a 6.02 ERA (opponent BABIP: .309...again, nothing out of the ordinary there).

Between Garza and Ryan Braun, the Brewers will spend over half their payroll on two players. Together, they may have a WAR of 0, with Braun's positive negated by Garza.

3.  Dollar General

I have to admit -- I get confused by all these different stores. With these names, you can see why. Unlike Dollar Tree and more like Family Dollar, Dollar General tends to have more items that cost more than $1 a piece or don't cost exactly a dollar. For instance, looking to my favorite gin mixer of ginger ale, two twelve packs of cans of Canada Dry Ginger Ale cost $5 here. Like the other stores, wrapping paper starts at a buck. But, you can also get a Star Wars coloring book here for $1. Can you do that at Family Dollar?

Well, probably. I don't know.

Speaking of Ryan Braun, here's an orange parallel from 2011 Bowman. This reminds me that the reason I have stacks of cards on my desk to sort is also caused by the fact that I got bogged down in 2013 Bowman parallels and ran out of steam on cataloging. 

I guess I should try to get my police cards into sheets instead.

4. five Below

I've gone into this store once about a year ago. I had to stop at the Office Depot next door to pick up some supplies for one of my wife's charity activities. I found some packs of 2015 Topps Series 1 in what might have been a retail or hobby box -- I didn't take a close look. The problem was that half the packages had actually been opened and rifled through. If there were any inserts in it, they were long gone. 

There's pack searching, and there is outright thievery. That was clearly the second.




Putting Molitor and O'Leary together may seem to be a weird thing. But it makes sense here because, under Sal Bando's management as general manager and in Bud Selig's eminent ass-hattery, both O'Leary and Molitor were simply discarded like those commons in the packs at Five Below. And, just like those commons, Bando and Selig made no effort to stop the thievery -- they just watched it happen as their pockets were picked.

This O'Leary card, though, reminds me that I am going to put together a real want list for all Brewers minor league teams. The first step is identifying them. Sort of like admitting that I have a problem.

5.  Ollie's Bargain Outlet

While Ollie's does not have that magic "dollar" word in their name, Ollie's is a big-time closeout store. They buy up huge lots of random things that other retailers can't sell or that the manufacturers or middlemen get overstocked and then sell them at cut prices. Thing is, though, that most of their deals are ones that you just have to go to the store to see. 

I wouldn't be surprised to see them start selling those awful 2013 Panini Triple Play cards soon. I mean, if Dave and Adam can't get rid of cases of them for $44.95 (suggested retail price: $475.20) or a 24-pack box for $3.95 (suggested: $23.76), it would seem that Ollie's is the next step.

Michael Reed played most of his 2016 season at the age of 23 in Triple-A Colorado Springs. He has appeared in 159 games at Triple-A, and in 640 plate appearances, he's slashing at .248/.363/.369. He is a singles-hitting outfielder who, as a prospect, is the equivalent of putting along in the right lane on the interstate driving five miles per hour under the speed limit while the Porsches and Maseratis and Lamborghinis in the left lane (model names: Lewis Brinson, Brett Phillips, Corey Ray, and Trent Clark) go blowing by him so fast that all he feels is breeze. 

I mean, Reed is still listed as the 27th best prospect in the Brewers organization. It's just that there are eight other outfielders ahead of him (add in Monte Harrison, Ryan Cordell, Demi Orimoloye, and Tyrone Taylor to those other guys) just on the prospect list and Domingo Santana and Keon Broxton in the majors. 

So, maybe someday soon, you too can find a Michael Reed blowout sale at your local dollar store.

Many thanks go out for the great cards.

Okay, Fine, Here's "Get Outta My Dreams (And Into My Car)"

A few months ago, I received a PWE from Gavin of Baseball Card Breakdown. That is nothing out of the ordinary -- Gavin is great at sending out PWEs to people in the blog world, and his generosity is awesome. Knowing my predilection for blogging with music, though, Gavin became the first blogger -- and perhaps, to date, only blogger (note: Zippy Zappy wondering what he did wrong to get Nickelback does not count) -- to make a musical request for the cards he sent.

Gavin specifically requested Billy Ocean and Tears for Fears. I obliged, embedding "Caribbean Queen," "Shout," "Everybody Wants to Rule the World," "Loverboy," "Sowing the Seeds of Love," and "When the Going Gets Tough, the Tough Get Going" into that post. In the comments, he said, "Next tradepost, we need to work in "Get Out of My Dreams (And Into My Car)" somewhere."

Well, I forgot to do that the next time Gavin sent something. He even tried to set me up, giving me a little Chuck Carr sketch card to work it in. 

Yeah, not so much.

This time around, his hint was less subtle than Chuck Carr:

Thanks, Gavin -- sometimes, I need that obvious help to wake up and remember. I figured I'd lead off with the song so that he wouldn't miss it. So, here it is:

Wait, that's not Billy Ocean. That's Gwar!

Crap. Now I have to find Billy Ocean again.

As always, though, Gavin sent this PWE wrapped in his junk mail -- this time, for Proactiv. He personalized it, though, in a way that really made sense:

Of course, the girl with clear skin always roots for the Brewers. 

To thank Gavin for the cards he sent to me, I thought -- hey, how about I expand Gavin's collections around his hometown and his old schools even more by pointing out some potentially obvious additions that should be made?

Let start with a supercollection that he should start -- the Girl from Granite Hills collection.

Indeed, Gavin's been holding out or, else, he doesn't check Wikipedia as religiously as I do when I'm looking for ideas on themes for a post. Because when I read the entry for Granite Hills High School, I learned that "model" and "actress" Julia Schultz was a member of the class of 1997 from GHHS. 

Julia Schultz?

Julia Schultz. Well, she is Mrs. Brett Tomko (so there's your baseball angle), and she went to Gavin's high school. That card can be yours for just $2.99 plus $0.99 shipping! Act now!

In terms of her acting career, she appeared in the movie Tomcats, where she simulates fellatio on Jerry O'Connell (you can find it yourself if you Google her name and click on Videos....I'm going to stay away from linking to it, though). She was also in Rush Hour 2 as "Tex's Girlfriend". She appeared as herself in a few Playboy videos and on the Howard Stern show.

So, what can match up with the beauty of Julia Schultz?

Nothing, really. Maybe Stadium Club?

Gavin was kind enough to send me the three Brewers he got in his Stadium Club box that he opened from this year along with two from last year.

I am appreciative to Susan Lulgjuraj a/k/a Yanxchick a/k/a Sooz for picking a Ryan Braun photo that did not feature bulging eyes Braunie -- it is a nice change. 

As a few of us dissected on Twitter, that Yount photo came from the same photoshoot that spawned his 1992 Pinnacle "Sidelines" card of him riding his motocross bike.

Reed gets on cards this year thanks to making 6 trips to the plate last year in September at the age of 22. He's in Colorado Springs right now, and he appears to be whatever a three-true-outcomes guy is when that guy doesn't hit home runs. He's hit a total of 470 times in Triple-A over last year and this year, and he's slashing at .246/.366/.348. In other words, pitchers will just give him something to hit in the majors knowing he can't hurt them -- he's not going to hit for power.  He just won't -- he's hit a total of 15 homers in 2217 plate appearances. 

Okay, let's move on.

Next up on the list is a New York Times Best Selling Author K. Bromberg a/k/a Kristy Schilling Bromberg, who appears to have graduated from Granite Hills in 1994. 

Ms. Bromberg's books are described on Amazon as "novels that contain a mixture of sweet, emotional, a whole lot of sexy and a little bit of real." In other words, her books fall into that "50 Shades of Grey" genre without being fanfiction for Twilight. Oddly, her books are published both in English and German. 

Which reminds me of this:



Which reminds me of these:

Panini Prizm just never seem to look right, and it's not just the lack of logos. Well, that helps a great deal toward these cards not looking "right," but it is not the only reason. The other reason is the way they are presented -- guys floating in a silver space of nothingness. 

I envision the card designers at Panini saying to their computers, "just one background. Or one Logo. Either one. But, please, just one!"

Oh well. Sorry Gavin.

Two more here. These last two are Girls of Grossmont College rather than Granite Hills, but I think, for both of them, an exception can be made.

First, let's start with Stephanie Nicole Garcia-Colace. Y'all know her better by another name.

That's right -- Nikki Bella is a Girl of Grossmont College. She walked on to the soccer team at Grossmont, and later claimed that she was being recruited by a professional league in Italy. Instead, she and her sister acted some, modeled some, and then tried out for the WWE, signing with Florida Championship Wrestling back in June of 2007. More to the point and as that link above the photo shows, Nikki has 209 cards in the Trading Card Database currently. 

It's a natural collection to start, Gavin!

Perhaps it would be natural for me to start up a PC of one of the Brewers many prospects, such as Monte Harrison. I hate to say it, but I'm pretty risk averse in that regard -- I want these guys to make the majors and then do something before I commit. The last time I fell for that "hot young player" schtick, I got a Jean Segura right upside my head (although thanks must go out to the Diamondbacks for giving the Brewers 20-year-old Isan Diaz, who is playing very well in the Midwest League this year). 

And, finally...

There is one final "Girl of Grossmont College" that Gavin should consider collecting. 

That would be the lovely and talented Rachel Bilson. Yes, she only has two cards available currently according to Trading Card Database (both from the 2008 PopCardz set), but she is a fairly well-known TV and movie actress. I'd argue that more people know who she is than anyone else on this page. 

Only one card that Gavin sent could go with this:

It's the amber parallel of the 2013 Topps Triple Threads card of Robin Yount, serial numbered 70 out of 125. There's no other way to end this great PWE from Gavin than with this card.

Gavin, you win. Here's the real version for you.

Thank you for the great cards, and maybe I've inspired you to start a Nikki Bella collection!

A Cool Package from "My Life in the Sports Card Hobby"

At some point in early November, I received a comment on one of my blog posts from an unfamiliar name to me saying that the commenter, a Yankees fan of all things, wanted to send me some cards. Frankie was kind enough to stick with me during my periods of busyness and not having much time for email, and he was even kind enough to make sure that my cards went out even though he had surgery in November and spent time in the hospital where he lives over Thanksgiving.

Seriously, that's crazy.

What's crazier is the fact that Frankie is a middle schooler! His blog, "My Life In the Sports Card Hobby" is a paean to all things Yankees, and Frankie collects Reggie Jackson, Pete Rose, Paul O'Neill, Tino Martinez, Aaron Boone, Jorge Posada, Andy Pettitte, Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera, Hideki Matsui, and Bernie Williams.  Sounds like he has about 10,000 cards a year to try to get.

At any rate, I was pleasantly surprised at the great cards that showed up from Frankie because, quite honestly, I haven't sent him anything yet.  But I will be soon.

Here's what he sent to me.

First off, it's an unfortunate fact that most sets just don't have a lot of Brewers in them. Well, it's actually fortunate, because it saves me money. But, it's unfortunate because a lot of collectors just don't have as many cards to send my way.  Frankie had three:

This 2013 Bowman Chrome mini orange parallel of prospect Michael Reed is serial numbered 8 of 15. Reed just turned 22 in November, and his 2014 season showed that he has a little bit of work to do to hit for power, but that his speed is decent and his batting eye is excellent. At High-A Brevard County in the Florida State League, he slashed .255/.396/.378 -- striking out 79 times and walking 78 times in 457 plate appearances. 

The second Brewer that Frankie sent to me isn't quite as exciting as a SN15 card of a pretty good prospect. It's an autograph from 2009 Upper Deck's 2008 Season Documentary of Hernan Iribarren. Upper Deck had to try to get that photo (probably a spring training remnant, to be fair) as Iribarren played in 12 games in 2008 for Milwaukee, coming to bat 15 times. Since his last appearance in the major leagues in 2009, Iribarren has bounced around in Triple-A from Nashville (Milwaukee) to Oklahoma City (Texas) to Colorado Springs (Colorado) to, in 2014, Louisville (Cincinnati).  Things were desperate either for Iribarren, for Louisville, or both this past year, since Iribarren took the mound in 6 games (walking 1, striking out no one, and giving up just one hit in 5 innings).

The final Brewer card from Frankie was of a guy who needs to get moving to have a major league career as anything more than a fourth outfielder -- Michael Ratterree. Okay, it might be an exaggeration to say that, but he's going to be 24 at the start of the 2015 season, and he's played a total of 7 games above the Midwest League in his minor league career. He's a low-average three-true-outcomes-type player who has not quite developed enough power quite yet -- 19 homers in 567 plate appearances in 2014.

The rest of the cards that Frankie sent to me are available to whomever would like them. They aren't Brewers, but there are a number of nice cards.

Serial Numbered 19 of 75

Number 304 of 999

466 of 999, in case you can't make that out. And it's Carl Crawford as a Ray

Thank you very much, Frankie, for the excellent Brewers and the excellent trade bait. And to everyone who has not checked out his blog, take a read and help a younger collector out!