Seyanora, Teixeira

As strange as it seems, the most fond memory that I hold of Mark Teixeira isn't his walk off in 2009 or his walk off grand slam just last week, it's him busting it down the line to beat out a double play in the 9th inning. Mark was nursing an injured calf, but there were runners on 1st and 3rd with only one out, the runner at 3rd being the tying run. Even though he hits a little dribbler to the second baseman, he hustles down the line despite the calf injury and makes a headfirst dive into first to avoid hurting himself furthermore. He can't believe that he's called out, and the emotion he displays just shows how much the game meant to him. The funny part is, the title of the video is Yanks lose on close play. I didn't know being safe by a yard was considered close! I couldn't download the video to this post, so I left the link below.

http://m.yankees.mlb.com/chc/video/topic/47149716/v24614295

To me, that sums up his career in 2 minutes. 400+ home runs, lots of gold gloves, a career full of injuries, and a heart set to play the game he loved. Now with Teixeira leaving, it's like all the players that I watched growing up are gone with the exception of Gardner and Sabathia. 

It won't be the same!

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And That's The Season

The season didn't exactly go as planned for the Yankees; Alex Rodriguez was forced out of baseball, Carlos Beltran was traded for a hard throwing 22 year old, Andrew Miller was traded for 22 year old outfielder with lots of upside, and Aroldis Chapman was traded for a 19 year old shortstop. Lots of changes made for the New York Yankees. It will be a long 181 days until next April...

The postseason starts in 2 days, and hopefully I'll be watching the Orioles beat the Blue Jays in Toronto. Or in a perfect world, Jose Bautista would go 0-5 with 5 strikeouts. Either way it would be nice of the Orioles to send the Jays home early. If there's one team that I'd have to root for this October, it would probably be the Indians, especially since they are up against the Red Sox. If not the Indians, I think it would be fun to see the Cubs win it all. Speaking of the Cubs...

Here's the newest addition to my collection! Last years National League rookie of the year has put up   very impressive numbers this year, and it looks like he will be the MVP of the National League. I got this card for a very good price, and just in time for the postseason. I had always wanted a Kris Bryant autograph in my collection and I seized the opportunity to get one. It's not 2013 bowman chrome, but it's a cool card to have nonetheless. My plan is to hold onto it, but if the price keeps rising during the postseason and if the Cubs win the World Series... Well... Then I may change my mind. I can definitely see the price of this card rise if Bryant does well throughout the month of October. I'm really looking forward to October (and November) baseball!

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Down To The Wire...

Tomorrow is the final day of the long 162 day regular season. It seems like just yesterday I was freezing on opening day at Yankee Stadium. With the regular season ending, that means postseason baseball! Even though the Yankees didn't make the playoffs, I'm still really looking forward to watching the games (as always). I was able to pick up two bowman chrome autographs of players on postseason teams, one being on the Nationals and one being on the Cubs.

First up is this Trea Turner bowman chrome autograph BGS 9.5/10! Trea Turner has quietly put up a great season for the Nationals, and now he has a chance to lead his team through the playoffs. The Nationals could be a dangerous team if Harper and Murphy get it going again. I'm looking forward to watching the madness that will take place 3:00 tomorrow!

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The Future Of Judge

When Judge came up to the big leagues on August 13th, he was the center of attention. After hitting 2 home runs within his first 2 games, including a first at bat homer, he seemed to be swinging at air. In 84 at bats, he struck out 42 times. I understand that he's young and this is his first year in the majors, but even for a young hitter a 50% strike out rate can't be too good. It was painful to watch. Hopefully next year he can turn the page and have a better year, because the Yankees are going to need his bat next year. I know one thing though, I don't want to watch a player that strikes out 50% of his at bats. While Judge was all hyped up, I pulled the trigger on this card that was on eBay:

This 2016 Bowman inception Aaron Judge 1/1 cost me a pretty penny, but at the time I thought it was worth it, and my offer was accepted. Right now though the price that I paid seems to be a tad high, but this card is staying in my collection so the price isn't what bothers me. I'd love if Judge didn't strike out 50% of his at bats! Next year the AL East won't be as tight (at least in my opinion) so I think the young Yankees have a chance at the division. Judge, Bird, Sanchez, Severino, and possibly Frazier will all play a large part in determining the outcome of the Yankees season. Tonight is also the last Yankees game I'll be attending this season.

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Playing Catch Up

With the start of high school I haven't had any time to do anything besides baseball and school. Repeat that cycle 7 times a week and that leaves me with not much time. I don't think I've blogged since Miller, Beltran, Nova, and Chapman were traded, but as a Yankees fan I'm glad those moves were made. Gary Sanchez proved that he's the real deal, Aaron Judge proved that he can strike out every other at bat, and Tyler Austin... Well he's in the unknown. I haven't done much with my collection with the exception of moving my Clint Frazier bowman chrome autograph and Jorge Mateo gold autograph. I was hesitant at first about moving them, but prices always drop in the offseason and I feel that Mateo might be traded sometime in the near future.

I went out and acquired 3 new cards, one of them being this Ken Griffey Jr national treasures printing plate autograph! This is the only Panini card I have in my collection, but it's also one of the most unique in my collection. Unless something that I fall in love with pops up on eBay, this will most likely be going nowhere. Hopefully I'll still be able to post once or twice a week.

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Happy 100th To Nolan!

At the age of 25, his fourth year in the big leagues, Nolan Arenado now has 100 career home runs. Also 3 gold gloves (soon to be 4), and a 2 time all star. Not too bad at the age of 25. Nolan Arenado is projected to have 43 home runs this year, which would give him 85 in the past two years. So I thought it'd be a good time to show off my Arenado haul from The National.

This one was a gift from Will, which I do not yet have in my collection!

This one was also a gift from Will, this awesome all star stitches relic card

Prior to The National, I had the regular autograph parallel /844, but this die cut was one of the autographs that I didn't yet have for my collection. I was able to trade for this one, so it was in the budget!

This was one of the first cards that I saw at The National, and it just so happened to be a bowman sterling autograph of Arenado that I didn't have. This one is numbered /125, and I'm pretty sure it's the green parallel.

This was one of the last purchases I made at the show, except this Arenado sterling autograph is numbered /99. I now only need the regular refractor autograph /150, the blue /25, purple /10, canary /3, and of course the superfractor. I've seen the blue on eBay, but I'm still hunting for the 3 lowest numbered autograph parallels. Maybe one of these days...

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Newest Cards Of The Yankees Top Prospects

One of the main goals while I was at The National was to try and pickup some autographs of some of the Yankees top prospects, such as Judge, Frazier, Torres, etc. There was plenty to choose from (not all of it was at a very good price), but I was able to find some cheaper autographs of some of the Yankees top prospects. I probably overpaid for a bunch of them, but it's too late now. I'll have to enjoy what I have:

James Kapreielian seems to have a bright future with the Yankees, even though he has had some elbow issues in the past.

Some more Kaprielian...

Gleyber Torres was recently acquired in the Chapman trade, and is ranked the #24 prospect, which makes him 2nd in the Yankees system.

And now onto Clint Frazier, the Yankees #1 prospect, ranked 22 overall. Frazier has struggled so far in AAA with the RailRiders, but hopefully he'll be able to recover from the bad start in AAA. The Yanks had to give up Miller for Frazier, but I think it'll be worth it come 2017 or 2018.

And then there's Aaron Judge. With A-Rod retiring on Friday, I have a feeling that Judge will be entering Yankee Stadium on Saturday.

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Present From Andrew

4 days into the National and I still haven't found something I've absolutely loved. But I was able to pick up some nice cards, including this nice Starlin Castro Topps chrome that Andrew gave me. I already had the Bowman chrome refractor auto with is graded a 9.5/10, and now I have this Topps chrome refractor auto which will fit in nicely alongside the bowman chrome auto! There's still one day left of The National, and even though I don't think it's as good as Chicago or Cleveland, I'm still having a great time. 

Thank you Andrew for the gift!

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WELCOME BACK ADAM

As all of you probably heard, the Yankees sent superstar reliever Aroldis Chapman to the Cubs in return for the #24 prospect Gleyber Torres, outfielders Billy McKinney and Rashad Crawford, and ex Yankee Adam Warren. That's a pretty good haul for someone that only has a few months left on his contract. Not to mention the Yankees likely wouldn't have been in contention, and most likely wouldn't have had any use for Chapman. For a closer that the Cubs will just rent, the Yankees got: a top prospect at a premier position with power and speed, an outfielder with potential, and a reliever/starter that was terrific for the Yankees in past years. Not only can Warren give the Yankees length, he's also very good. If I recall correctly he had a sub 2 ERA in the bullpen last year for the Yankees. Chapman's ERA is above 2 this year. So not only did the Yankees replace Chapman in the bullpen with Warren, they got a top 25 prospect and a top 100 prospect. I absolutely love this deal as a Yankee fan.

I think Yankees fans forgot how good Warren was for us, and if Warren can get back to his old self, the Yankees will be just fine without Chapman.

I liked the Warren+Ryan/Castro trade, but Warren was one of my favorites. Making his major league debut in 2012, pitching terribly, and coming back the next three years and being a key part in the bullpen for the Yankees. So the Adam Warren+Brendan Warren for Castro trade basically turned out to be Brendan Ryan for Starlin Castro.

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Nolan Arenado Is Now An All Star!

Nolan Arenado did not surpass Kris Bryant in votes, but he still managed to make it to his second straight all star game. Well deserved too: 23 home runs, 69 RBI's, a .290 batting average, and to cap it off 1 stolen base. Kris Bryant has a lower batting average but has 2 more home runs than Arenado. Bryant got more votes than Arenado EVEN THOUGH he has double the amount of strikeouts, AND has made 8X the errors. 8 errors compared to Arenado's 1. There's no doubt that Kris Bryant is a great player, but it's a shame that Nolan gets no love. Oh well. I thought it was an appropriate time to show off some of my most recent cards of the games best third baseman.

First up is this 2013 Topps finest autograph BGS 9.5/10. I already had the base and green version, but was happy to get this with a gold banner. I won this card in a razz (raffle), and I was more than happy with the win.

A few weeks ago I wrote up a post about a Mike Trout bowmans best red autograph /5 that I acquired. I ended up trading it for a pair of bowman chrome autographs of Nolan Arenado, one being a refractor. This is the first bowman chrome autograph of Arenado that I was able to pick up, but hopefully it's not the last. I remember when these were selling way below $100; now it's tough to find one below $150.

This bowman chrome refractor autograph BGS 9/10 was the other card in the deal. The National Sports Collectors Convention in Atlantic City is coming up in a few weeks, and I'm hoping to acquire the blue parallel. Unfortunately it'll probably be very expensive, but it's a card I've been trying to acquire for awhile now. And every time I try, it goes up in price. I'm also missing many Topps chrome autograph parallels, including the blue, sepia, and gold, so hopefully I'll be able to hunt them down. Only a few more weeks!

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Quickest Redemption Turnaround

A little over a week ago, I pulled a Sandy Koufax archival autograph sepia redemption from a box of 2016 Topps museum collection. A fews day after pulling it decided to redeem it, and boy am I glad I did. I redeemed it on May 30th (give or take a day) and received it today (June 7th). I was a little skeptical of redeeming it at first, but the card looks beautiful in person.

Behold...

WOW! I've never seen the sepia version of this card until now and needless to say it is stunning. I've been thinking about sending this to BGS to see if it can't pull off a 9.5/10 or not, but I'd rather sell or trade it since it's not a Yankee or Nolan Arenado. This card is beautiful though, and it'll be difficult for me to get rid of either way.

Here's a better scan for the card, except for the Topps sticker which I will not remove. The autograph is extremely clean, and the card itself is stunning. If it's not sold by The National, it will probably be graded by BGS and kept safe in my collection. It's nice to have an on card autograph /5 of one of the greatest pitchers of all time. I wish I knew a little more about Koufax, so I guess I'll have some research to do!

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A Post Dedicated To The Yankees Backup Catcher

This title of this post, and the idea of this post, both came before Austin Romine got injured in the 9th inning of yesterdays game as Aroldis Chapman was warming up. He said he was ready if the Yankees needed him today, so the injury must not have been that serious. Brian McCann is back behind the plate, so Austin Romine is done starting for then next few games unless McCann gets injured again, which I wouldn't mind happening... As terrible as that sounds.

I bought this card off of eBay a few years ago, and it is still in my possession. Now that Romine is an active major leaguer, I plan on collecting him more. He's a cheap and fun player to watch, so collecting him won't be nearly as expensive as collecting Nolan Arenado. I guess your prices aren't super high when you don't hit 40 home runs a season...

Here's another card that I've had for quite awhile. I bought this off of eBay a few years back and it hasn't been moved since. I don't plan on selling any of my Romine autographs, even if his time as a Yankee (or a major leaguer for that matter) is limited. 

The final Romine autograph in my collection is this topps finest x-fractor relic. I bought this at a card show a few years back, and it hasn't been removed from the screw down holder since. Mostly because I've been too lazy to take it out... Maybe some day I'll take it out and put it in a magnetic instead.

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Fishing For Red Trout

In my last post, I showed the Carlos Correa bowman chrome autograph that I got in return for selling my Ichiro booklet. The Correa wasn't the only card that I got with the Ichiro money. I was also to pick up another autograph of one of the games biggest stars, if not the best player of the past few years. The Yankees have still been doing absolutely terrible, and there aren't many current Yankees that I want to collect. The only player that I have interest in collecting is Austin Romine, the Yankees backup catcher. A player that has spent the past 8 years fighting to get to the majors, and has really struggled previously in the majors. He's been up and down, but in AAA for the most part. Romine is batting towards .300 with a pair of home runs. Not only that, but he has also been the most consistent on the Yankees. The rest of the Yankees team has looked like trash; it's really frustrating to watch. So yeah, my favorite player on the Yankees is their backup catcher. Now onto the main card of this post...

Mike Trout 2015 Bowmans Best red refractor autograph /5! The only other Trout autograph I've owned is a Topps Supreme /5, but it's definitely not as nice as this. This card is beautiful. There's nothing else to say about this card. It's going to be tough for me to move this card, but it's in the cycle of never ending cards, and Trout isn't a Yankee. Most cards I keep are of either Nolan Arenado, or a Yankee. Too bad Mike Trout isn't on the Yankees... Maybe he'll bear pinstripes sometime in his future...

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I Said I Wouldn't Sell My Ichiro, And Now Here I Am...

You know the Ichiro that I posed about last week, the one that I said I wasn't going to sell? I got an offer that I just couldn't refuse, and he even paid for the extra shipping charges since he lived in Japan. If I had been offered any less for that card, I wouldn't have sold it, but the offer was too strong for me to decline it. Instead of owning a card of a 42 year old superstar soon to have 3000 hits, I now own a card of a player half the age of Ichiro. He was AL Rookie Of The Year last year, so I'm sure you all know who I'm talking about now.

You guessed it, Carlos Correa! Correa is only 21 years of age, and has many more years in the MLB. It will definitely be fun to watch the young shortstop throughout his career! Possibly an MVP in his future...? Who knows what the future holds for him. This is a card that I hope to hold onto for a long time, as I see Correa as a future superstar/MVP. Seeing how high Harpers and Trouts bowman chrome autographs go for, I think this will be a fun card to hold onto. Of course I said wanted to keep the Ichiro, but that certainly did not happen... Maybe this will be the first time I actually keep a non-Yankee, non-Nolan Arenado, or non-Hall Of Fame card!

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Gone But Not Forgotten

Visiting Some Of My Favorite Cards Of The Past!

I look at this card every time and think to myself, why in the world would I trade this... The truth is, I don't know. This was by far the coolest card I've ever pulled, let alone owned. If I ever came across this card again, I'd pay a pretty hefty price for it. Sadly, I contacted the person who I traded it to, and he said that it was safe with someone who collected Maddux... It makes me feel a little better I guess. This is by far the #1 card that I regret trading/selling.

I had this card for quite some time, until I thought it was time to pick up a cheaper Carlton autograph. It's a beautiful card, but I'd rather have something Yankee related.

I bought this card at the 2015 National, but about 6 months later I decided it was time to move it and put that money towards an autograph of the Yankee great.

I bought this Wright off my friend, but sold it quickly afterward.

This was part of the Wright deal, but just like the Wright I also sold it.

I had won a box of 2015 Bowman draft for $24 (I believe it was around that price), and pulled an autograph of the #1 overall draft pick! Not being into prospects, I quickly sold the card and put it towards something I'd appreciate more.

It's hard to believe I bought this card for $16, and is now closer to $100 than it is $16. This card is safe with Dodger Penguin though!

Another card that I sold because of my lack of liking prospects.

This Miguel Cabrera deca booklet /10 was definitely a cool card, but it was a hassle to store and it was only a couple relics.

I bought this card off of eBay, but traded it a few months later towards the Reggie Jackson 1/1 Dynasty that I still own. This was supposed to be a replacement for the Maddux I pulled, but it's hard to replace that card.

This is one of the main reasons I like Panini; because they come out with awesome cards like the Bradley that I owned. Topps on the other hand, does not.

I had this Jackson for over a year before I finally decided to sell it to make room for the 2014 Topps dynasty Jackson that I now own. Although I did love this card, I think I love the dynasty one better.

I bought this Kolek at a low price, graded it, then sold it! Woo!

I bought this at The National, graded it, and then for whatever reason I decided to sell it. Hm.

This card was numbered /10, but I wasn't really a fan of the design so I quickly sold the card to a Rivera super collector!

I was never really a fan of this card...

To be honest, I have absolutely no clue where this card went. All I know is that I either trade or sold it.

The design of this card was just flat out awful. Not to mention the grade.

If it weren't for the grade I would have kept the card. I'm still on the hunt for another Bo Jackson autograph.

If it weren't for the grade, I would have kept the card.

Same story with this card.

I bought this at The National, but sold it to help fund the Biggio 1/1 which I still have in my collection.

I traded this because the design was simply awful.

Here's a story I do not like to tell. I bought this at The National, and had absolutely no intentions of selling it. Ever. A month later, I found myself having to pay off quite a bit for the Biggio, so I sold this for $75 (I think it was that amount of paypal) and a Julio Urias refractor autograph and Tyler Kolek blue wave autograph /10, which was well over what I payed for the Williams. I had plans of selling the Urias and Kolek to help fund a cut of Mantle or DiMaggio, but the Urias and Kolek ended up getting lost in the mail... So I ended up selling the Williams for $75.

This card makes me much happier. I bought a box of 2015 Topps Finest at my local hobby shop, and I started to open it in the car. I pulled this card as a redemption, and for many months I tried to sell it. I was unsuccessful, so I ended up redeeming it after the shop owner told me it was live. I had planned to sell it when I got it, but it looked so good that I decided to send it to BGS for 2 days while I was at camp. While I was in the car back from Boy Scout camp on Friday, I got the email, which let me know it was a 10/10! It wasn't a black label, but I was more than happy with the 10/10! I sold it at The National in Chicago.

This is another one that I really regret trading, but I traded it to Dodger Penguin which makes it a little less painful.

No idea who this guy is, but the card was pretty. I ended up selling it at The National in 2015.

I traded this and cash towards a Bo Jackson sweet spot autograph, which I ended up selling due to the 6.5/10 it received.

I had absolutely no clue who this guy was, so I traded it for an Arenado platinum autograph!

I pulled this in the same box as the Bryant blue redemption, but ended up selling it at The National.

I pulled this on Christmas day in 2014, but sold it at The National the next year after grading it.

Don't get me started on this one...

Another card I ended up trading towards the Rivera leaf autograph which I sold because of the terrible design and scratched up BGS case.

I'm not really sure where this went, but I acquired it by trading the Maddux for this Buxton and some paypal...

Just another card that I regret selling on this long list... I traded this at The National for the Mattingly five star 9.5 that I still have, and a couple other cards.

Where did this go...?

As much as I regret trading this, I felt that I got an incredible deal. I got a Cespedes booklet /3 and some cash in return, which both helped pay for the Biggio dynasty that I still own.

It doesn't hurt as much as this one though. I acquired this from Dodger Penguin, and then traded it. Why? I don't know.

This one really hurts too.

I sold this card, which helped me pay for the Biggio dynasty.

I sold this after acquiring the five star Biggio.

I bought this at the White Plains show two years ago in November, but sold it a few months later after redoing my entire collection.

Same story with this card.

I pulled this out of a box of 2014 Topps finest, but traded it to help me acquire the Cain and Kemp 1/1's. I definitely regret trading this card...

I also bought this at the White Plains card show.

I probably paid a little much for this card, but at the time I thought it was a solid deal! Triple threads patches always look nice.

I pulled this from a case of 2014 Topps finest, but I traded it to Drew a while back.

Another card that I bought at the first White Plains card show I went to.

I won this and the Clemens card on box busters, but sold both as a lot.

I probably would have kept the Clemens if he was in a Yankees uniform.

I'm pretty sure I pulled this card in a case of 2012 Panini Prime Cuts, but all I know is I no longer have it!

I bought this card as redemption at the 2015 National, but later traded it for a Craig Biggio dynasty autograph which I no longer have.

I bought this at the 2015 National, but later sold it.

I pulled this from 2 packs of 2015 museum collection, and even though it's not the most expensive pull, it's still cool to pull something like that from a pair of packs of museum collection.

I pulled this in a box of five star, but just like all the other cards on this post, I sold it.

I used to collect Rose, but eventually sold everything that I had of him and focused solely on Nolan Arenado. This was probably the coolest card of Rose I owned, but it was leaf, not Topps.

Another one of my Rose autographs, except I pulled this one.

I'm not sure about this one.

I pulled this card from my first box of 2014 Panini immaculate baseball, which I actually traded for at a card shop. I pulled this as a redemption, and traded it for quite a bit. Since then, Abreu had really died down so I think I won that trade.

I pulled this from a box of 2014 Topps finest baseball

Pulled on Christmas in the year 2014.

I got this card in a trade for the Abreu I owned, but just like the Abreu, this was a redemption. I later traded it to Matthew for a few five star autographs.

I bought this card for $65 on eBay... Those were the days when Bryce Harper wasn't a superstar...

I pulled this card in a box of Five Star baseball that I won for less than $50.

2012 Panini prizm was one of the first boxes that I ever opened. I broke it back in 2013 in November, and was ecstatic when I pulled it as a redemption. I got the card in about a months time, and kept it for quite some time. I'm not sure why I decided to sell it, but I did.

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