A Rookie Contest Win, Part 2

[Part 1]

In Mid-June I won a contest at all the way to backstop by going 3 for 3 in guessing the Rookie cards in his big stack. My prize: the stack, and some other cool stuff he picked out for me.

I can tell my wantlist was well-searched, because I also received 7 cards of one of my favorite players, and a distant cousin, Todd Stottlemyre.

1991 Score #39 Todd Stottlemyre

1992 Donruss #263 Todd Stottlemyre

1992 Fleer #342 Todd Stottlemyre

1992 Pinnacle #240 Todd Stottlemyre

1992 Fleer Ultra #153 Todd Stottlemyre

1993 Fleer Ultra #293 Todd Stottlemyre

1994 Collector's Choice #269 Todd Stottlemyre 

Also from my wantlist, 1993 Topps Gold cards. And some base cards to boot.

1993 Topps #425 Joe Girardi

I've gotta show former Cardinals, no matter how brief a stint they had in St. Louis. Here are the rest of the base cards:

425 Joe Girardi
562 Bob Zupcic
598 Rico Brogna
606 J. Owens
613 Joel Adamson
622 Ben Rivera
699 Chad Curtis
732 Travis Buckley
747 Carl Willis
773 Cliff Brantley
790 George Bell

1993 Topps - Gold #483 Brian Griffiths

Not to be confused with Brian Griffin

1993 Topps - Gold #787 Mike Matthews

I'm trying to complete a set of 1992 and 1993 Topps Gold, and maybe 1994 as well. I haven't organized them all into my have and want list, but I don't have too many so there's a good chance any I get are unique for now, and a quick check of my "to enter in Zistle" box says these two bring me 2 cards closer to the 825 card set.

Once again, thanks to all the way to the backstop for the great cards.

A Rookie Contest Win, Part 1

In Mid-June I won a contest at all the way to backstop by going 3 for 3 in guessing the Rookie cards in his big stack. My prize: the stack, and some other cool stuff he picked out for me.

First, the promised stack, starting with some 2011 Topps:

2011 Topps - Cognac Parallel #143 Jeremy Jeffress

Base cards:
80 Desmond Jennings
83 Greg Halman
117 Brett Sinkbeil
213 Brandon Snyder
285 Hank Conger
368 Brian Broderick
401 Michael Crotta
418 Zach Britton
446 Brandon Beachy
461 Eric Sogard
503 Nathan Adcock
604 Joe Paterson
605 Brandon Belt
633 Aaron Crow

Next, some 2011 Update

2011 Topps Update - Cognac Parallel #US288 Eric Thames

2011 Topps Update - Blue Parallel #US194 Jason Kipnis

2011 Topps Update - Topps 60 #T60-142 Tyler Chatwood 

2011 Topps Update #US114 Lance Lynn

2011 Topps Update #US39 Eduardo Sanchez

Base cards:
US9 Jose Iglesias
US24 Rex Brothers
US39 Eduardo Sanchez
US47 Paul Goldschmidt
US56 Ryan Adams
US66 Andy Dirks
US73 Juan Nicasio
US103 Josh Collmenter
US112 Lonnie Chisenhall
US114 Lance Lynn
US117 Michael Stutes
US132 Jose Altuve

US136 Brandon Crawford
US151 Cory Gearrin
US152 Julio Teheran
US155 Eric Hosmer
US159 Alex Cobb
US165 Al Alburquerque
US174 Jacob Turner
US177 Rene Tosoni
US179 Michael Pineda
US180 Daniel Moskos
US184 Tyler Chatwood
US186 J.D. Martinez
US203 Juan Nicasio
US213 Louis Coleman
US231 Charlie Blackmon
US254 Dustin Ackley
US282 Brad Hand
US308 Kyle Seager

Then, some 2012 Topps, including Series 2.

2012 Topps Golden Moments Parallel #95 Chris Parmelee

2012 Topps Golden Moments Parallel #36 Michael Taylor

The Gold overlay on all the green in this card makes it look pretty awesome in person.

2012 Topps Blue-Border Parallel #134 Stephen Lombardozzi

2012 Topps #90 Adron Chambers

2012 Topps #559 Brandon Dickson 

And, as usual, the base cards:
9 Jesus Montero
40 Tom Milone
41 Devin Mesoraco
42 Drew Pomeranz
79 Austin Romine
90 Adron Chambers
198 Matt Dominguez
202 Andrew Carignan
218 Kyle Hudson
235 Joe Benson
252 Dellin Betances
274 Alex Liddi
275 Brad Peacock
338 Jose Costanza
432 Wei-Yin Chen
559 Brandon Dickson
570 Zack McAllister
604 Juan Abreu
615 Luis Marte

And here's two Mark McGwire's he threw in off my want list.

1994 Leaf Limited #61 Mark McGwire

1996 Upper Deck SP #140 Mark McGwire

Not only did I get all this, but there's more for my next post as well. Once again, thanks to all the way to the backstop for the great cards.

eBay Wins #36

I won another big bunch of cards for a penny apiece. This time it was 2005 and 2006 Bowman Draft. I actually didn't realize until I started writing this post that it was Bowman Draft and not Bowman, but no matter. I have a huge hole in my collection from 2000 to 2010, so anything in that range I can get cheaply is new to me. Since it's now 6 to 7 years later, these are mostly the leftover cards of players that didn't pan out, though not all of them.

2005 Bowman Draft #BDP21 Brad Thompson

2005 Bowman Draft #BDP31 Mark McCormick

30 of the cards were 2005, and all came from the base set. I bid on a few doubles and triples because I couldn't beat the price. Here's the listing:
21 Brad Thompson (2)
22 Jorge Cantu
28 Chris Young
31 Mark McCormick (3)
33 Beau Jones
35 Zach Ward (2)
40 Kyle Winters (2)
45 Ryan Mount
50 Eric Fowler (2)
58 Eli Iorg (2)
70 Reid Engel (3)
75 Henry Sanchez
89 Mike Costanzo
96 Jon Egan (3)
97 Drew Thompson
115 Brent Cox
118 Steven Johnson
152 Kevin Thompson (2)

2006 Bowman Draft - Future Game #FG2 Joel Guzman

I got 3 cards from the Futures Game insert set, which is fitting for this All-Star week.
FG2 Joel Guzman
FG17 Edgar Martinez (no, of course not that Edgar Martinez) 
FG40 Joaquin Arias

2006 Bowman Draft - Draft Picks #DP15 Charlie Yarbrough

I'm a little confused by the Draft Picks subset, since the set is Bowman Draft, but oh well.
DP15 Charlie Yarbrough
DP18 Tyler Robertson
DP28 Brandon Rice
DP31 Bobby Henson
DP44 Brett Logan
DP50 David Christensen
DP65 Brett Sinkbeil

2006 Bowman Draft #BDP11 Mike Rouse

And finally, just two of the 2006 cards were from the base set.

BDP11 Mike Rouse

BDP31 Kevin Thompson

In all, I got 42 cards for 42 cents, and 2 new sets I'll now feel enticed to complete.

eBay Bargain Tracker
Total Cards Bought	1992
Total Spent	$38.18
Per Card	1.917 cents

I Won Play at the Plate's June Contest

Hey, it's only July 6, I've been way further behind than this before. The June Contest was for a blaster of 2012 Topps Series 2, so I won a whopping 81 cards. Here's what I got.

Base cards:

There were 51 base cards, 2 of which were Cardinals, and one of which is a guy from my hometown (or at least my home megalopolis of connected towns), Mark Buehrle.

2012 Topps #612 Carlos Beltran

2012 Topps #559 Brandon Dickson

2012 Topps #355 Mark Buehrle

And the rest:
332 Jose Reyes
337 Glen Perkins
338 Jose Constanza
342 Kosuke Fukudome
352 Julio Teheran
355 Mark Buehrle
369 Huston Street
371 Jim Thome
378 Brandon League
381 David DeJesus
382 Wandy Rodriguez
384 Sean Marshall
385 David Murphy
386 Ryan Zimmerman
389 Alexi Casilla
390 Taylor Green
406 Juan Rivera
410 Jeff Locke
420 Barry Zito (Really Topps? This isn't a little too on-the-nose for you?)
421 Heath Bell
428 Jordan Schafer
432 Wei-Yin Chen
438 Juan Uribe (one of my worst Fantasy Baseball pickups this year)
442 Johnny Giavotella
443 B.J. Upton
449 Shane Victorino
460 Thomas Field
465 Michael Schwimmer
481 Matt Harrison
493 Ryan Madson
523 Jim Johnson
526 Casper Wells
538 Wilson Betemit (As he's a Wilson, I feel like I should start a collection)
545 Randy Wolf
553 James Darnell
559 Brandon Dickson
564 Jose Valverde
568 Jason Castro
572 Hiroki Kuroda
580 Tony Campana
582 Shin-Soo Choo
596 Freddy Garcia
604 Juan Abreu
611 Neftali Feliz
612 Carlos Beltran
622 Daniel Hudson
623 Clint Barmes
637 Brad Brach
641 Derek Jeter CL
650 Prince Fielder
658 Juan Pierre

Blue-Bordered Parallels:

Because this was a Wal-Mart blaster, there were 2 full packs of Blue-bordered Parallel cards out of the 10 total packs, 12 cards in all because there were inserts in the packs as well.

2012 Topps - Blue Border #574 Kerry Wood

And here are the rest of those:
373 Carlos Gonzalez
401 Kenley Jansen
418 Jarrod Parker
515 Willie Bloomquist
534 Hector Gomez
541 Jack Hannahan
546 Matt Thornton
574 Kerry Wood
586 Daisuke Matsuzaka
603 Lonnie Chisenhall
625 Tommy Hunter
644 Andy Dirks

Golden Moments Parallel:

More parallels! Inserted 1:4 packs, I should have expected 2.5, and got 3.

2012 Topps - Golden Moments Parallel #348 Alfonso Soriano

2012 Topps - Golden Moments Parallel #554 Raul Ibanez

2012 Topps - Golden Moments Parallel #610 Cody Ross

Golden Moments:

Yeah, I'm confused too. I'm pretty sure the above are in fact called Golden Moments Parallels, while these are just Golden Moments. Also inserted 1:4 packs, I got 2. That's much better than 2.5 of each.

2012 Topps - Golden Moments #GM-22 David Wright

2012 Topps - Golden Moments #GM-28 Joe Mauer

1987 Topps Mini:

For some reason I like when Topps uses old designs with current players, and I think lots of collectors do, too, but I hope they don't overdo it with Heritage, Archives, the 1975 Minis that were in 2011 Lineage, and now these 1987s. These were also 1:4, so I got an extra half again.

2012 Topps - 1987 Mini #TM-57 Jacoby Ellsbury

2012 Topps - 1987 Mini #TM-66 Cole Hamels

2012 Topps - 1987 Mini #TM-85 Michael Pineda

A Cut Above:

Now to the rarer inserts, at a scant 1:6 packs. These are die-cut and hard to get into sleeves, but cool looking. Also they seem to feature Hall of Famers based on my small sample. I got 2 instead of my promised 1.67.

2012 Topps - A Cut Above #ACA-14 Willie Mays

2012 Topps - A Cut Above #ACA-20 Johnny Bench

Gold Futures:

Another 1:6, but features young guys this time. I got 2 again, I'm on fire!

2012 Topps - Gold Futures #GF-32 Drew Storen 

2012 Topps - Gold Futures #GF-29 Chris Sale

Gold Standard:

I have a feeling all these gold names are going to get confusing when traders are emailing back and forth. Here's another 1:6 of which I received 2.

2012 Topps - Gold Standard #GS-38 Paul Molitor

 I love that Jays uniform, I'm glad they brought something similar back.

2012 Topps - Gold Standard #GS-48 Lou Gehrig

Career Day:

What an arbitrary accomplishment to celebrate. Dustin Pedroia is only the second player since 1919 to get 5 hits, 3 home runs, a double, and a walk in one game. Another 1:6, but sadly my luck has run out and I only got 1.

2012 Topps - Career Day #CD-14 Dustin Pedroia

Golden Giveaway:

I wish they'd make these more like real cards, because they're numbered and I still feel compelled to collect them. This one features "The Old Man" as I jokingly refer to him to my friend who lived in Baltimore for a bit. These were also 1:6, and I got 1. I haven't redeemed the few of these I have yet, and I think I may try to trade the codes off soon. Watch for a post on that if anyone's still reading this far down.

2012 Topps - Golden Giveaway #GGC-18 Cal Ripken, Jr.

Mound Dominance:

Here's a 1:8 insert, the rarest of the common. This one celebrate Tom Seaver No-hitting the Cardinals June 16, 1978. Booo. But hooray for me for getting a cool card.

2012 Topps - Mound Dominance #MD-1 Tom Seaver

Retired Number:

After seeing may bloggers post the Historical Stitches cards, I was hoping I would get one of those for my patch card, but that was before I saw the Retired Number cards. To me, these are better looking than the alternative.

2012 Topps - Retired Number #RN-GC

Now for a little math diversion. Skip to the end if you loathe math. I was wondering if I got something near what was promised on the box as far as inserts. Of course, those odds are across the entire run, so certainly a little variation is acceptable.

Set	Rate	Expected	Actual	Difference
Golden Moments Parallel	1:4	2.5	3	+0.50
Golden Moments	1:4	2.5	2	-0.50
1987 Topps Mini	1:4	2.5	3	+0.50
A Cut Above	1:6	1.67	2	+0.33
Gold Futures	1:6	1.67	2	+0.33
Gold Standard	1:6	1.67	2	+0.33
Career Day	1:6	1.67	1	-0.67
Golden Giveaway	1:6	1.67	1	-0.67
Mound Dominance	1:8	1.25	1	-0.25
GM Wood	1:31k	0.0003	0	-0.0003
GM Platinum	1:31k	0.0003	0	-0.0003
			Total	-0.08

In conclusion, I was shorted 8% of an insert card. How awful, Topps!! I'm kidding of course, I don't think it'd be possible to get any closer than that.

Well that was a long post, so in case you've forgotten, I owe a thanks to Play at the Plate for another awesome contest. He runs them monthly and always had some cool prizes.

eBay Wins #35

Sometimes I do a search on eBay and come up with dozens and dozens of cheap cards, and sometimes hundreds. Rather than examine each auction individually, I just go into zombie/robot mode and bid on them all, since it takes at least a few seconds each and otherwise it'd take me all day. This time I won 20 individual auctions for 1986 Topps cards, and for 20 cents got them all shipped. Here's the closest to highlights in the bunch.

1986 Topps #561 Bob Lillis

1986 Topps #666 Rangers Leaders (Charlie Hough)

They were all Rangers and Astros, and I literally did not recognize a player on any card except Charlie Hough. Here's the full list.

22 Duane Walker
79 Dave Schmidt
105 Gary Ward
142 Bob Jones
169 George Wright
189 Mike Mason
238 Larry Parrish
328 Pete O'Brien
371 Bill Stein
434 Curt Wilkerson
504 Denny Walling
559 Tommy Dunbar
561 Bob Lillis
586 Greg Harris
590 Bob Knepper
616 Glenn Brummer
618 Jim Pankovits
666 Texas Rangers Team Leaders
691 Mike Madden
784 Alan Bannister

I'm sure some of my Texas- and Houston-fan bloggers know some of these names, especially if they were older than the toddler I was in 1986, but for me, these are squarely in the commons pile.

But all was not lost, because prior to this purchase I had 69/792 for 8.7% of the 1986 Topps set, and now I have 88/792, 11.1%, or a full 1/9 of the set.

eBay Bargain Tracker
Total Cards Bought	1950
Total Spent	$37.76
Per Card	1.936 cents

My Autographed Balls

It's time for the next question from Fuji's contest: Do you have autographed balls in your collection? If so, do you have a favorite? Why is it special?

Oddly enough, I actually mentioned in My Favorite Childhood Player that I didn't have an autographed ball of Mark McGwire. However, I do have a few Hall of Famers, and a few not so famous Cardinals as well. Here's the entire collection in one glamour shot.

Left to right, here's what we've got:

• Lou Brock, which I acquired in person at a store opening, a Sears I think.
• Ozzie Smith. I've gotten autographs from him on a few occasions, but I think this was at an event at his restaurant.
• Gary Gaetti on the sweet spot, because he's the first guy I got to at the Cardinals Winter Warm Up. I only brought one or two balls with me that day, so also on the ball are Ron Gant, David Bell, Ray Lankford, Royce Clayton, and Scarborough Green.
• Kyle McClellan, who was signing for free at a local college open house last fall. He was really nice, even to the people who handed him 4 balls to sign (a bit much I think), and happily signed with the blue pen I provided.
• Bob Gibson, also from a Cardinals Winter Warm Up.
• And on top, not quite a ball, but close enough, is a T.J. Oshie puck. I think this technically belongs to my wife as her sister got it for her. Even so, it sits with the rest of my collection.

Other than the Oshie Puck, I actually acquired each of these in person. I don't think I'd be opposed to buying an autographed ball of a player I really liked, but it's also cool to have the memory of meeting the players, even if some of the memories are a bit fuzzy now. I haven't been to the Winter Warm Up since my return to collecting, but writing this post makes me really want an Oquendo, McGwire, Matheny, and La Russa ball now. Some other favorites of mine have moved on to new teams, but maybe after their retirement I'll be able to find Scott Rolen or even Albert Pujols at a local event.