Thank You All

I started this blog back in September, because I had no choice. My language arts teachers made all her students start a blog, and we had a to have a certain number of posts for each month. When I first made a post in September, I had no idea that my topic would go from writing about baseball, to baseball cards. Of course I still like to write about baseball, but now it's mostly about baseball cards, with an occasional random post. The first baseball card blog I saw, was Drew's Cards. I don't really remember how I found it, but he was the first blog I started following. Then came Nick, at Dime Boxes, and then Dodger Penguin, and so on. Before I started the 2014 school year, I had no intention of starting my own blog, but I loved to write, and I loved baseball. In the 10 months of owning my blog, I've had a blast meeting and talking to all of the wonderful people on here. I've really enjoyed writing almost every day, and hearing responses. In November, when I had my surgery, I spent most of my time off from school watching baseball, and blogging, with my two pets, Monster Truck, and Corona. Without blogging, I'm not really sure what I would have done to occupy my time. 

I've really enjoyed my 10 months on the blogosphere so far, and I look forward to many more years! 

The dog is Corona, and she's a pug. The cat is Monster Truck, and he's (obviously) a cat.

It looks like it was snowing that day. 

Thank you all for making my time on the blogosphere amazing! A special thank you to Drew, William, and Matthew for helping me out in my short time on here. I met Drew back in January, and he helped me out with the details on an autograph signing, William was extremely kind and sent me a Buck Showalter signed baseball without any notification (That made my day), and Matthew has helped me out with my BGS submissions. Thank you to those three, and everyone who has read my blog! I've said it before, and I'll say it again: I've really enjoyed my time on here, and look forward to many more years! 

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Thank you for reading! 

The Second Mini Box From My Box Of 2015 Topps Finest - Jeter!

If you remember from yesterday, I bought a box of 2015 Topps Finest, and pulled this card:

To say I was shocked is an understatement, and I wasn't really expecting anything from the second box. I didn't really care what was in the second mini box... But I did pull something pretty nice.

This card is beautiful looking, and I'm pretty sure It's a case hit! I wasn't sure If it was numbered of not, since the regular cards aren't numbered, but when I flipped the card over...

Numbered 21/25! There are a bunch of different variations of this card, but I happened to get one from his speech at the last game at Old Yankee Stadium. This card was definitely a nice little surprise after pulling a Bryant autograph! This card will most likely go to Beckett for grading, but I'm not so sure how It will do since it's a die cut, and the surface isn't the best. For now, this card will stay in a magnetic in my collection. I seem to have a knack for pulling Derek Jeter inserts, but I'm not complaining at all!

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Thank you for reading! 

Ninth Card Of My First BGS Submission - Derek Jeter

The only non autograph or relic in this lot, is this Derek Jeter TEKtonics parallel /50! I pulled this myself from a box of Topps high tek, along with a Jose Abreu base autograph. Edges and corners are fine, but the surface on tek cards isn't the best, so I'm hoping it doesn't affect the overall grade that much. I think this card is worthy of a 9.5, if not, definitely a 9! 

The first memory that comes to my mind when I see this card, is Christmas. I pulled this card from a box of 2014 Topps High Tek that I got for Christmas, along with a Jose Abreu autograph. Not being able to walk, I sort of put the card on the coffee table, and waited until the next day to get a top loader for it, but that must've worked! I'm really pleased with the overall grade, considering I'm a Yankees fan, and of course the card being of Derek Jeter. Topps Tek has had surface issues, since the card is plastic, but the surface got a 9.5, as did the overall grade.

Everything earned a 9.5, except for the edges, which earned a 10. 

I'm not a fan of the back, and the two sentences they put on the back, but the grade and numbering makes up for it. 

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Congratulations Alex Rodriguez...

I made a post about this when Alex hit his 660th home run, and I'll do it again, and as many times as I need to. Coming into the 2015 season, Alex was getting absolutely no respect, not even from many Yankees fans. Coming into spring training, nobody knew what to expect from him, considering he had two hip surgeries, and hadn't played in almost two years. Coming into the 2015 season, Alex Rodriguez was a nobody. He wasn't the 600 home run hitter, the 2,500 hit player, or even one of the best players in MLB history. Being a Yankees fan, I hated Alex coming into the 2015 season, and I was the happiest person when Chase Headley signed a four year deal, so Alex wouldn't have to play at third base anymore. To be honest, all I wanted was to have Alex Rodriguez off the Yankees, and for him to retire, and not get payed all the bonuses. The first move that Alex made to make me trust in him more, was to write a letter of apology, and sign his name with Alex, not A-Rod, or some other name, just Alex. After almost 20 years of mistakes, Alex has finally realized that he has tainted the game he loved, and has been a disgrace to not only the MLB, but every baseball fan that's out there. When he got his 660th home run, you could see it in his face, that he was thinking about all the mistakes he made, and even though he has made 15 years worth of mistakes, he realizes that he can make it up to at least the Yankees fans, by doing well. He hasn't just done well, he has overachieved since nobody expected him to play everyday, and nobody expected him to hit over 10 home runs, or even have a hit. 

Fans still have no respect for Alex, and hate him, which doesn't make a whole lot of sense. People make mistakes. Of course they do, absolutely nobody is perfect, and everybody makes mistakes.

Alex Rodriguez is one of the best players to ever play the game, and he has definitely made terrible, unforgiving mistakes. He will always be remembered for his mistakes more than his milestones, and I'm not sure that's the way it should be.

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Congratulations to Alex Rodriguez on reaching yet another milestone. 

My Hot Streak Continues! With 2015 Topps Finest...

I'm pretty much done with school for the year, except for one last shortened day on Monday, but I'll celebrate today. I haven't acquired any cards in the past two months or so, and I was really looking to buy a couple of packs, or a box, of cards. When I first got to my hobby shop, I wasn't really sure what to buy: I was stuck between Topps Finest, Topps Archives, Topps Tier one, or Topps Series 2. They were all around the same price, and after a few minutes of deciding, I decided I would go with 2015 Topps Finest, since Bryant was in it. If you remember, back In April I pulled an awesome Greg Maddux autograph from 2015 Topps Museum Collection from the first pack that I opened in the car. I remembered opening the first pack in the car from last time, so I thought why not try my luck again? Before I get to the first pack though, I'll show some base cards and inserts from the first mini box. 

First off is this base card of 2014 World Series MVP Madison Bumgarner! When I took a first look at the design, I thought it was terrible, and their was too much going on with it. Every time I look at a card, I like it better and better, and now I'm starting to like the 2015 design better than last years finest design. The only problem I have with the design, is the name. It's extremely hard to read...

Justin Verlander will be pitching tonight for the Tigers, which is why I scanned this card. Maybe he'll be the one to give up Alex's 3,000th hit...

I remember getting a bunch of these inserts from last years Finest, and I'm not a huge fan of them. They look very plain and boring. To me, It almost looks as if Topps tried to make the inserts look colorful, but ended up looking very dull. 

Another one, of David Wright...

I think these Finest First cards are sort of cool, since they have a different design then the regular rookie cards. 

These are my favorite inserts from 2015 Topps Finest. Topps had a similar insert last year, but I think I like these a little better. The design is interesting, and I really like how Topps uses older players on these cards. 

Greg Maddux.

I really like the colored refractors from 2015 Topps Finest, and unlike last years, you can actually tell the difference between colors. Corey Kluber won the Cy Young Award last year, and is one of the best pitchers in the game! The green parallels are numbered /99.

I'm not really sure who this is, but the card looks great! 

Now for the redemption. The first pack I opened, I saw a redemption, and immediately thought, this could either be really good, or really bad. More often than not, the card is going to be bad. I wasn't really sure what to expect, but I was either expecting some really bad rookie, a mystery redemption, or Kris Bryant. I slowly revealed the redemption...

Good start! Finest autograph blue refractor of?

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KRIS BRYANT!!!!!!!!! I was REALLY shocked when I got this card, as I wasn't expecting it at ALL. Now for the real decision: To sell and use that money towards the National, or hold on to the card because it's Kris Bryant? I'm not really sure what I should do, but I'm more inclined to selling it, since Bryant's prices will most likely go down. I'm still in shock that I pulled this card...

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Thank you for reading! 

Eighth Card Of My First BGS Submission - Quad Patch

I pulled this card from a box of 2015 Museum Collection, and it looks flawless. Okay, maybe not flawless, but good enough to earn a 9.5. Let's hope for a 9.5 on this card! 

I normally wouldn't grade a relic card, but just like the Chipper Jones button, this card is awesome. It features Stanton, Trout, McCutchen, and Donaldson, all on one card, with patches, from a great looking set. Not to mention, it's numbered only out of 75. 

I pulled this card out of one of my two boxes of 2015 Topps Museum Collection, and I don't really think I could have asked for a better quad relic. I love Andrew McCutchen as a player, but haven't picked up any of his autographs, so I guess I'll just have to settle for this quad patch. Stanton speaks for himself, and the only reason I like Donaldson is because he seems like such a nice guy, plus he collects baseball cards. I like Trout as a player, but I can't stand listening to people talk about how amazing he is. To me, Mike Trout is just your everyday great center fielder. Anthony Rizzo, Paul Goldschmidt, and Giancarlo Stanton are all just as good, if not better, than Mike Trout. So what's the difference? MIKE TROUT PLAYS FOR A BETTER TEAM!!! Maybe, I'll save that for another post...

As you can see here, everything but the corners earned a 9.5 or above, which I sort of expected since it's such a thick card. Like I said a month ago when I wrote my predictions, I was hoping for a 9.5, and that's just what I got! 

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Thank you for reading! 

Seventh Card Of My First BGS Submission - Giancarlo Stanton

This card hasn't been taken out of the top loader yet that Topps sent it in, so I think this card will get a 9.5. The surface, corners, and edges all look very sharp. I honestly have no idea about the centering on any card, since I don't think that should be a sub grade. Their is a small smudge on the autograph, so it will definitely not get a 10 on the autograph. Overall, I think this card will get a 9.5/9.

Right on target! This card came in as a redemption from Topps back in March, which came in a trade which included a Julio Urias oversized purple ice autograph. I traded the Urias away To Dodger Penguin about a month ago, but I still have this awesome Stanton in my collection:

Giancarlo Stanton is one of the most exciting players to watch, even though he's only batting .261 on the season. But he hits home runs, and when he hits home runs, he doesn't just hit home runs, he hit's home runs. Do you follow?

The overall grade earned a 9.5/9, just as I predicted, and if you don't notice anything wrong with the autograph, it has a slight smudge right at the beginning. I'm really happy with the grade, and didn't expect anything more from this card. It's numbered only /35, and it's a great looking card! Now, It looks even better with a gold label! 

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Sixth Card Of My First BGS Submission - Mariano Rivera

Probably my favorite card in my collection, this was the reason why I was going to do the submission. Then 1 turned into 2. Then 3. Then 16. The autograph is flawless, and I'm thinking this card is going to get a 9/10. The corners aren't the best, but that may just be me. Hopefully this card can pull off a 9.5/10 

I wasn't getting my hopes up on this card, mainly because the corners aren't the best, and I was expecting a 9/10, and most likely not a 9.5/10. The card is beautiful, and I was just sending it in so I could get it incased, and had to intention on selling this card. I originally got this card from a box of 2015 Topps Museum Collection, and this was the very last card of the break. I remember seeing the Yankees hat, and immediately thought of the one Yankee that's in every product, which is Mike Mussina. Nope! 

Rivera has one of the best looking signatures, and this is the 4th I have of his: One on a ball, one on a jersey, and one on a game used pitching rubber. The numbering on the card is 17/25, and if you add those two numbers, you get 42 which is another interesting fact about this card.

The only grade that didn't earn a great grade was the corners, which as I said before, didn't look the best. If the corners earned a 9.5 or 10, than this card would have gotten an overall 9.5/10, but I definitely can't complain! Besides, this is the last 9 of the submission, so it's only 9.5's, and 10's from here on!

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Thank you for reading!

Fifth Card Of The BGS Submission - Byron Buxton

I just got this card today, and It's great since I'm already sending cards to BGS, I might as well throw this one in too! The autograph is flawless, and the edges and corners look pretty good to me. I have no idea about the centering, and I haven't checked out the surface, and won't be checking the surface since I don't want to take the card out of the top loader. 9.5/10 Would be great on this card! 

I was really hoping for a 9.5/10 on this card. How did I get this card? I spent $200 on a box of 2015 Topps Museum Collection that I got at the usual hobby shop that I go to. I usually have great luck at the shop, and the first pack that I opened, I got this awesome card:

I regret getting rid of this card every second I think about the next chrome autograph that I'll be showing you... I loved this card, and it was by far the best pack pulled card I have ever gotten, and what did I do with it? I Traded it for $150 and a Byron Buxton 2013 Bowman Chrome autograph. My plan was to grade the Buxton, use the money that I got to grade some other cards along with it (which I did), and sell the Buxton when it came back a 9.5/10. Oh well.

As you can tell by the picture, it grade a BGS 9/10, but it only missed a 9.5/10 by 0.5! That's really disappointing, and I think I'm just going to hold onto this card until he gets called up, and sell it, or wait and see if he does well in the majors. If I were to sell the card, I could easily get $150 for it, but I hate dealing with all the eBay fees. 

So close to a 9.5... Darn! 

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Thank you for reading!

Fourth Card Of My First BGS Submission - Chipper Jones

I usually wouldn't grade a relic card, but it's a button, how could I not grade it? The corners actually look great, considering it's so thick, and it came from a product from 2008. I would be happy with a 9, but a gold label is always great! Maybe, just maybe, I could get a 9.5 on this card. Hopefully! 

Well, I got what I wanted, and I can't complain! I wouldn't have been upset with an 8.5, and I was pretty sure that this card wasn't earning a 9.5 anytime soon, so I'm happy with a 9! I originally wouldn't grade a relic card, since it's sort of pointless (at least in my mind) to grade a relic card, but how could I not grade a button card of a potential future Hall Of Famer? Chipper never reached 3,000 hits, OR 500 home runs, but he came extremely close to both milestones. I think he should definitely be in the Hall Of Fame considering he was such a great all around player. In 2017, I'm really hoping he can find his way to Cooperstown, because he definitely deserves it! 

The design of the card is beautiful, and it's numbered only out of 5. If I still have this card in 2017, I'll be even happier if he makes the Hall Of Fame, so I can add it to my HOF collection! 

I had to get a closeup on the button. 

As you can see here, the centering earned a 10, and than it's 0.5 off of each grade from there, earning an overall 9. Like I said many times before, I'm very happy with the grade, considering it's such a thick card.

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Thank you for reading! 

Third Card Of My First BGS Submission - Paul O'Neil

Five star has always had corner issues, but this card looks pretty good. Not worthy of a 9.5, but I think this card will get a 9/10. I'm really hoping this card gets a gold label though! 

When I first came up with the idea of sending some of my favorite cards to Beckett for grading, my immediate thought was to send one of my O'Neil autographs, since he is my favorite player (and announcers, of course). 2013 Five Star has always been one of my favorite sets, since all the autographs are on card, and the cards look really sharp. Even though some of the cards are extremely high numbered, I still really enjoy collecting autographs of some of my favorite players from the Five Star set. So far, I've managed to get 3 O'Neil autographs in my collection, one of them being this Five Star autograph:

It graded a BGS 9/10, and I'm actually really happy with the grade since all the other graded five star cards are a 9, so this will definitely fit in perfectly with the others! Five Star looks great, but it looks even better when it's incased, especially with a 9 on the front, and a 10 on the back.

As you can see here, the centering earned a 10, the edges managed a 9.5, the surface scored a 9, and the corners got an 8.5. I expected a low grade on the corners, and like I said a month ago, I was expecting a 9/10, so this card is all that I wanted! 

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Thank you for reading! 

Second Card Of My First BGS Submission - Henderson Alvarez

I'm not really sure what this card is going to get, but I'm hoping it get's a 9.5/10. I'm always hoping, that a card gets a gold label, but this card is right in the middle. 

I didn't write much about this card at the time, and I'm not really sure why to be honest. The edges and corners looked great on this card, but the corners and the centering are what brought this grade down. I was really surprised by the surface of this card, as it got an 8.5. I'm not really sure why, but the surface and centering of the cards are the two sub-grades I don't check when I review a card. I was really pulling for a 9.5/10 on this card, but I'll definitely take a 9/10, especially considering it's such a thick card, although I would have loved a 9.5/10! 

The card is numbered only /5 which is nice, and the patch is really cool also, even though I'm pretty sure it's from an all star game workout jersey. Back in 2013, Alvarez threw a no-hitter, but it wasn't just an, "everyday," no hitter, it was one of the coolest no-hitters you'll ever see. He held the Tigers to 9 no hit innings, but neither team had scored any runs. With the bases loaded, and 2 outs in the

bottom of the 9th inning, with one wild pitch, the Marlins walked off the Tigers. How cool is that? Of course there are better no-hitters out there, but in my mind, that's awesome! 

A better look at the grade. I'm really surprised that the edges earned a 10, since it's such a thick card, but a 9/10 overall is definitely not a bad grade in my mind. 

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Thank you for reading! 

Part 1 Of My BGS Submission - Reggie Jackson Autograph

This was the one Reggie Jackson autograph that I was going to grade, since It's in much better condition then the Topps Tier one autograph. I'm expecting a 9.5/10, mostly because the corners and edges look good, and the autograph is clean for the most part. It has a tiny tiny tiny smudge at the beginning of the "J," but I don't think that will affect the autograph grade.

Wow, it's felt like forever since I submitted my 16 cards to Beckett for grading. I was originally going to put the Biggio strata first since it couldn't be graded because of it's thickness. I couldn't really think of anything to write about it, so I decided to just forget about it. I was very happy with all my grades, since only one card got an 8.5, a few 9's, and the rest 9.5's and 10's which was awesome. Before I get into anything, I want to thank Dodger Penguin for helping me with my first submission. He really helped me out! 

Now onto the cards. As you can see by what I wrote about this card a month ago, I was expecting a 9.5/10. Boy was I wrong about that! I'm a little shocked about the grading on this card, and although I don't really mind having one 8.5/10, this was probably my, "least disappointing," bad grade. The other cards certainly make up for it though! 

Taking pictures of the cards was a little hard because of the glare, but I don't think I did too bad with this picture. The card looks great in the case regardless of the bad grade. 

You can see here that the centering earned a 10, but the corners and edges really brought the overall grade down. If it weren't for those two sub-grades, then the overall grade probably would have been much better. The other Reggie definitely makes up for the fact that this card got a 8.5. 

Just another picture if the other one wasn't good enough. I'm going to keep mentioning it, but I'm more than pleased with the results of the submission, and in my mind, it was definitely worth it. I don't have to worry about my cards being damaged, and it'll go well for a little project I'm working on.

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Thank you for reading, and look out for the next 14 parts! 

Use The Power Luke...

Baseball was all about home runs back in the 90's, but since then, the amount of home runs being hit has come down. Mark McGwire isn't around so he can't 70 home runs, Jose Canseco can't hit 40 home runs, and Barry Bonds and his 762 home runs aren't around anymore. Last year, Nelson Cruz led the majors with 40 home runs, which doesn't even come close to 70. Of course, that was only one year, and there are still many players with a ton of power. Giancarlo Stanton is still very young, and already has over 150 homers. The Astros have a ton of young players that can hit the ball out of the park such as...

George Springer is still only 25 years old, and even though this is only his second year in the majors, he hit 20 home runs in only 78 games last year, and 2014 was his first year playing with a major league team! That leads him to about 40 home runs in a season, and eventually when he gets a little older, he will have already learned how to hit for average while still hitting over 40 home runs. Springer will definitely be a fun player to watch once he gets a little older, and will be hitting 50 home runs a season. 

Prince Fielder leads the majors with 75 hits, but 10 of those hits have gone for home runs. Back when he was with the Brewers, he was a true power hitter, hitting as many as 50 home runs in a season. He still hits home runs now, but not as many as back when he was with the Brewers.

Adrian Gonzalez never lead the league in home runs, but he has always been extremely consistent when it comes to hitting home runs. 30 home runs in a season isn't bad at all, especially when you can invite a high average to the party. Even at 33 years old, Gonzalez can still get it done! 

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Thank you for reading! 

Joe DiMaggio Or Ted Williams Or... Matt Holiday?

Today I was watching High Heat, and they mentioned Matt Hollidays 45 game on base streak. Christopher Russo also brought up the fact that he thought that a hitting streak is much better then an on base streak. Then, he asked Brian Kenny who he would rather take in situational hitting, Ted Williams or Joe DiMaggio? Russo said DiMaggio and Kenny said Williams. I can understand why someone would choose DiMaggio since he was a power hitter, but he also would get on base a ton. Williams is one of the best players of all time, and he finished his career with an OBP close to .500. That's insane! So if it were the bottom of the 10th, the game tied at 4, and their were no outs, would you rather have DiMaggio or Williams come up to the plate? It's very close, but if I were to choose, I would probably rather have DiMaggio. However, I would rather have someone get on base for 84 games instead of a player have a 56 game hitting streak. Why? Because if you're down two run sin the 9th inning with one out, you can't expect to tie the game with nobody on base, so you need someone on base before that's able to happen. Matt Holliday is more then halfway to Williams on base streak of 84...

I pulled this card about 2 years ago from a box of 2007 Bowmans Best that I got for Christmas. Matt Holliday was definitely one of the names I was looking to pull, and I got just what I wanted! It's a sticker autograph, and his signature is a little messy, but Holliday is one of the best players in the game, and is looking to reach 85 consecutive games of getting on base! Hopefully Holliday can pull through, keep doing what he's doing, and get on base for the next 41 games! 

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Thank you for reading! 

Paul Goldschmidt Pickup

I'm having minor surgery tomorrow, and I have some money to spend, so why not buy myself a little present? I was surfing ebay for quite some time, before I came across a nice Tom Glavine booklet from 2014 Topps Five Star for $40, which seemed like a steal. I was all set to buy the card, but I wasn't really looking to spend $40 since the National is jut around the corner, and I need to save up some money. I was watching the MLB Network, and they mentioned Paul Goldschmidt, who is having a monster year with the D-Backs. He is also one of the most underrated players... In my mind, he's just as good as Mike Trout, but his autographs sell for $15 instead of $200. That also goes for Anthony Rizzo who had a fantastic year last year. Back in January, I sold my Goldschmidt autograph from 2013 Five Star for whatever reason, so I knew I needed to find a new one. An on card autograph would also be nice, so why not find one from 2014 Topps High Tek? Topps did a fantastic job with Topps High Tek last year, and the cards are great looking. Not to mention, the autographs are all on card! 

They're so many different parallels, but this one is called the disco diffractor, which is #ed /50. The card looks great of course, with a clean on card autograph. I'm very happy to add an autograph of one of the best players in the game! 

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Thank you for reading!