A Very Ranger Christmas

Over the past two months, I have been the fortunate recipient of cards from Rob/Spiff at Texas Rangers Cards. Being that I'm really bad at reading comprehension and, occasionally, at clicking through links, it took me literally until TODAY to discover Rob's very comprehensive want list site at Spiff's World.

So, despite admonishing me "No Return Needed", I'm going to try to put something together.

The second package from Rob was yet another large stack of Brewers cards. These have been great to get because it means less typing on my Want List Pages (now complete from 1970 through 1990!). Here are the highlights from the Ranger Christmas speetacular:

A 1990 Bowman Jim Gantner. I am using this card to remind ya'll that were loading up on cards in the early 1990s that a few of us sat that time in the hobby out. Instead of collecting baseball cards, I was learning marching band drill at Vanderbilt.

Ted Williams set card of Cecil Cooper from 1993. I'm not sure if I like this card yet. Coop rightfully does not get as much recognition as either of his Hall of Fame teammates Robin Yount and Paul Molitor. Yet, I think I'd prefer this card if it had just one photo on the front.

Big Rob Deer. He was always a very intense man as a player.

The Ignitor.

These four Sheets cards were cool to get. I like the Bazooka cards, but I have yet to understand why card companies think selling to kids means an apparent dumbing down of cards. Most kids are dying to grow up fast, and emphasizing their being kids will make them ignore you. It might work to get a 5-year-old into cards to have cartoony graphics and fonts, but the 10-year-olds will stay away from the Kids stuff.

Yes, there were a lot of 1990 Bowman in this package. That's a good thing, because I think that Robin Yount might have been my only card from that set before this Spiffying up.

I have read a fair number of people complaining about the Upper Deck Baseball Heroes parallels and sets generally. I guess I haven't gotten into those enough to hate them. I'm sure I will.

Greg Vaughn was everything he was advertised to be. It's too bad that the Brewers traded him away just as he started hitting fifty home runs. It couldn't have been that he was using PEDs, right? I mean, read the Mitchell Report (written by the law firm at which I have worked for the past 9 years, DLA Piper) -- it has plenty of former Brewers in it (aside from the obvious current perpetrator of course). But DLA Piper...that's a story for another time.

I'm certain that Spiff would like to see big Prince back on the All-Star team this coming year. From my perspective, I'd like Fielder to rebound from the injuries. I hate seeing guys miss parts of their prime for any reason.

The only player for whom I have any minor league cards in my collection is Cal Eldred. Now I have two Cal Eldred minor league cards.

I have had a Chrome version of this card for several months, so it threw me off to find out that I needed the Heritage base card. My memory works in such a way that I tend to remember photos and sites pretty well, so often times I purchase cards based off what I recall having or not having. It works about 85% of the time at avoiding duplicates.

Apparently, it fails 15% of the time with endless parallels.

A Rickie Weeks Ultra Gold Brought to you by Old Spice or Fleer or something like that. At some point, I'm going to start remembering all these parallels.

Black borders are good. 1971 -- good. 1985 Donruss -- good.

Finally, despite being on a Bazooka card, I cannot tell you whether he is Forever Blowing Bubbles like fans of West Ham United.

Rob/Spiff, thank you very much for the two great packages. I'm glad that I finally came across where your want lists are too, so that hopefully I'll be able to send you some packages after the new year. May you and your family have a Very Ranger Christmas!

Then again, after all the injuries the Rangers had last year, let me amend that: May you and your family have a very SAFE and Happy Holiday season and a joyous New Year!

Texas Rangers Cards

A few weeks back, Spiff from Texas Rangers Cards left a comment on my blog saying that he had some Brewers that he wanted to send my way. Always being up for a blind trade, I said in response that I'd be happy to give those Brewers a good home.

A week or so later, a package came containing several cards that I needed for my player and/or team collections.

Let's start with the Topps Update that Spiff sent my way:

We get two K-Rods and a Lucroy. Sadly, Topps was too busy chasing "prospects" and including Juan Francisco -- who didn't make it to Opening Day with the club -- to include Francisco Rodriguez in either of the first two series in any way.  So, as a result, K-Rod gets the two angles on his pitching motion look.

As for Lucroy, I defy anyone to explain to me how or why Yadier Molina and his 110 games played got the Gold Glove over him. It's not like Molina had a better year with the bat either.

More catchers -- Johnny Estrada, whose final full season in the major leagues came in his 120-game stint with the Brewers in 2007, and Jason Kendall, who replaced Estrada in 2008 and 2009. Thank God Jonathan Lucroy hit the majors in 2010. Neither of these guys were helping at all at the plate.

Here, we get two recent relievers. First, it's John Axford, who's cut off the mullet and trimmed back the fu-manchu mustache significantly as of late for Movember. Then, it's Brandon Kintzler, who was excellent in 2013 but was not as excellent in 2014 thanks to losing 2 strikeouts per 9 innings.

Strangely enough, I needed this Rob Deer 1989 Bowman Is Too Big card for my Brewers team set.

Nick Bucci is a Canadian from Sarnia, Ontario, whom the Brewers drafted in 2008 out of high school. He made it as high as Double-A Huntsville as an 18-year-old for 4 innings in 2009 before the Brewers tried to find a level he could master. He was released in 2013, a year after he and his 2011 Pan American Games-winning teammates were inducted into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame. He was inducted in the same Canadian Baseball HOF class as Brewers GM Doug Melvin.

Mat Gamel -- the guy the Indians really wanted for CC Sabathia. Not pictured: Michael Brantley, the guy whom the Indians still have from the CC Sabathia trade.

Another card that, oddly enough, I needed. I needed this one for my player collection, though.

BJ Surhoff, Catcher.  Fielding a ground ball at third base.

More Score 1991. For a guy who was on the team for just one year, there sure seems to be a lot of Dave Parker as a Brewer cards.

Two more cards I needed for my team collection. I think that the Kuenn finishes off the "Brewers only" portion. Kuenn looks a bit like my grandfather did in about 1984 in that photo.

Finally, a Cooper 1988 Topps card. I've gone through all my major release cards through 1989, and I'm embarrassed to report that I need a lot of cards from that time. I guess I really didn't collect all the way through high school.

Spiff, thanks a ton for these cards and the others you sent to me. I will be putting a Rangers package together for you soon!