Recent Mail from Around the Blogosphere!

Hey guys, Drew back here! I know I haven't been around in a while, but I hope all of you had a nice Thanksgiving! I've been trying to savor my holiday break, but unfortunately tomorrow will be the start of the pre-Christmas school stretch. It won't be fun, but hopefully if I keep it up, I'll have more money to spend on the hobby! Around a month from now, I'll be beginning to sell pieces of my collection on Check Out My Cards, and I'll be sure to provide a link when my store goes live. I'm just trying to get rid of stuff that I don't personally have a connection with, so I can buy a few higher end cards for my collection. 

Anyhow, for now, check out the mail I've recently received from a few awesome members of our blogosphere:

William just never seems content with the amount of cards he's sent me over the years. A few weeks ago, he sent me a nice small box filled with mixed cards of the players and teams I like. Most of the cards were from the late 80's, and I probably have all of these laying around somewhere, but I'd prefer not to hunt through binder after binder for them. This is much easier, so thanks man.

As usual, he also caught me up a little bit with what I've been missing since I've basically given up buying products. The cards are awesome, however I prefer buying cards for my PC's over spending $20 on a blaster box or $10 on a rack pack. Money doesn't grow on trees for me, and I think I finally realized that. With that said, I love the All Star cards from 2012 Topps, which I finally got to see courtesy of my good friend. And nothing is cooler than getting my first Ichiro card in a Yankees uniform, although it's most likely photoshopped. He was a great asset to the team last year, and I would love to see him back this upcoming season.

Next, I received a small package from Larry of My 2008 Topps Set Blog, which I have to admit is one of my favorite blogs to read these days! He included his blog card in the package, which was really cool as well (I need to do that one of these days). 

A few weeks ago Larry posted this Topps Update SP card of CC Sabathia to his blog, asking if anyone was interested in it. He wasn't asking for a whole lot in return, so I decided to put an offer in, and we agreed to a nice small deal. CC sat out this year's All Star Game, as did Matt Kemp, so they had plenty of time to talk. 

Lastly, my buddy James (or Chunter as many of you know him by) of Chipp 'n' Dale felt it was necessary to hook me up with a nice addition to my collection, out of the kindness of his heart! He emailed me recently telling me he had a nice card to help me out with a trifecta collection, which completely shocked me considering I've been as close as dead on this website as possible the past few months. Sure enough, a small package came in, with these nice extras on top of the main event:

Out of 1977 Topps, a very nice Rick Cerone rookie card to add to my Yankees collection. Sorry, bad joke. The Dale Murphy rookie card has been a card I've pursued ever since I met him in person a couple of years ago! Finally, thanks to a Dale Murphy collector, I have my own copy of his rookie card to put towards my Murphy trifecta! I may need to go get a relic, because when I met him I had him sign a relic card, which looks fantastic by the way. A trifecta should consist of three cards, so I'll have to fulfill that, but for now, I want to thank James for doing this for me! It takes a lot for me to give up my Yankees cards for other people, so I know it couldn't have been all that easy for him. But, it means a lot, and it's in good hands.

A big thank you to William, Larry, and James for all of the awesome stuff! I'm glad to see that I'm still in the back of some collector's heads even though I'm knee deep in the most difficult year of my life.

Have a nice Sunday everybody! See Ya!

TTM #102... or Juan02

Hey guys, Drew back here. While the season is over, perhaps one of my favorite times of baseball is just beginning. I've always been into sports business management type-jobs, so the idea of free agency is very interesting to me. I'm looking forward to seeing what the Yankees will do, even though I'd prefer for them to hold off a little bit. However, I recently got a TTM success from someone who will most likely be staying put in Philadelphia this winter. Take a look:

None other than MLB Memes legend Juan Pierre signed two cards for me! Pierre will go down as one of the best speed threats of this generation, swiping 591 bases in 13 years! He's bounced around quite a bit since his rookie season in 2000, but has contributed everywhere he's gone. He also has just over 2000 career hits and a career average just below .300! I'd easily consider him one of the most underrated players in my short lifetime, and I'm really happy he took some time out to sign for me. In addition, Pierre added the Bible Inscription Psalm 37, which basically explains to trust the Lord and not be envious of those who commit crimes and wrong-doings. 

Along with the autographs, Juan threw in this pretty sweet Bible card, entitled "Beast Mode, 24.7.365". While I'm not necessarily an overly religious person, I really enjoy receiving throw ins from players. It seems like Pierre is a very faithful Christian man, and I have nothing but respect for someone like that.

Thank you to Mr. Pierre! Juan post down, many more to go!

See Ya!

Moneyball Sequel Star Pickup!

Hey guys, Drew back here! Snow is falling like there's no tomorrow, and it isn't even December 21st yet. So far here in New York, we've got about 4-5 inches of snowfall since this afternoon, which is just more of a hassle for those in the City. I'm outside of the city area by quite a ways, however the devastation in our big city really has been tough to experience seeing on the news every day. I wish the best to all who have been affected by Hurricane Sandy, and I hope New York is restored to what it was as soon as possible!

Anyways, I received a little more eBay sweetness the other day, when this beauty came trickling into my mailbox:

Out of this year's Topps Finest, I picked up this beautiful green refractor rookie autograph of Oakland A's outfielder Yoenis Cespedes! Cespedes was a controversial signing by Oakland prior to this season, however, his 4 year, $36 million deal turned out to be a nice steal! He's right in the middle of his prime, and for 9 million a year, they couldn't have gone wrong with his acquisition. In his first season in American baseball, Cespedes batted .292 with 23 bombs and 82 RBI, which earned him a nomination tonight for American League Rookie of the Year. While it's very doubtful that he'll top super rookie Mike Trout, it's safe to say he had a fantastic rookie campaign!

I'm really glad I bought this one, even if it was a tad bit out of my normal eBay price range. Hopefully my investment will pay off, but if not, at least it's a great looking card!

See Ya!

Back to Back MVP Candidate eBay Pickup!

Hey everyone, Drew back here. Next week will finally wrap up the first quarter of this school year, and thus far, it has not been easy, as expected. The work load is pretty heavy, and with working out, learning to drive, and sleeping in my free time, I have had just about zero time to put towards my collection. However, once in a while when I get the chance to check eBay, I've treated myself to some nice stuff. This one was certainly one of them. Take a look:

Out of 2009 Allen & Ginter; here is a pretty sweet on card autograph of last year's National League MVP, Ryan Braun! I paid just under $30 for the card, and I feel like it was worth every penny, considering he had another MVP caliber season that could possible make him a back to back champion when the winner is announced. His 2011 MVP winning season was great, although he was questioned for performance enhancing drug use. This year, Braun proved that unless he's on some strange substance that slips through the testing systems, he's completely legit. He batted .319 with 41 home runs and 112 RBI for a worse Brewers team, so you could argue his 2012 campaign has been his best yet.

Anyway, it's a sharp card as are most all Ginter cards, and I'm glad I was able to add it, despite the controversy surrounding the legitimacy of his statistics. Until he's proven guilty, I like him.

See Ya!