Trade Bait

I have several MacFarlane figures that I no longer in interested in keeping in streamlining my collection so each Friday I will put one up on the blog and for a week I will take offers.  On the following Friday I will decide which offer to take.  Consideration will be given for things that I need as part of my collection or that pertain to the things I collect.  One thing I am looking for now is the Gwynn MacFarlane that just came out.  I will and keep a wish list updated.  Thanks for your assistance. Here is the first figure, the late, great Pistol Pete Maravich.

Bruce, Dave and Dennis Kinney

Bruce Edward Kimm played for 4 years in the major leagues, he was the personal catcher for Mark Fidyrich for 2 years. He also played a year for each of Chicagos' teams.  He has managed and coached all over the majors and minors in several organizations. Mr. Kimm signed this Mothers Cookies card through the mail.  I have all the other coaches on other cards.  David Arthur Kingman fits in two parts of my collection, he is from Oregon, having been born in Pendelton and having played for the Padres.  He only played in 56 games for the Padres in 1977, out of a total of 1,941 games in a 16 season career.  In 1977 he played for the Mets, Padres, Angels and Yankees, making him the only player to play in all four divisions in one season, he also hit 26 home runs that season making him the only player to hit home runs in every division in one season. The card is one that I made and sent to Mr. Kingman, I sent him two and asked him to sign one and keep the other.  He signed and sent it back very quickly.  Dennis Paul Kinney played for 4 major league teams but only one complete season, he played in 50 games in 1980 for the Padres.  He played in the Indians organization before San Diego, then Detroit and Oakland afterwards.  I believe that I bought the card off of ebay.

2010 Finest Pack Break

On Saturday I and my son went to a friends card shop and came home with 57 Bip Roberts cards and I will go back again to puruse the inserts and parallels in a couple of weeks.  I also came home with 3 packs of 2010 Finest Baseball, I put two of the packs away.  One to open on September 13 for my birthday and the other to put in my Christmas stocking (otherwise I won't get any cards on either occasion).  I opened the other pack and this is what I got, I had heard of 4 of the players anyway.  I was not really impressed with the design.  The Granderson looks like they photoshopped it over one of Detroits turn back the clock uniforms.  I you want one of the cards be the first to respond that you  do.

From Coast to Coast

Yesterday when I got home there were two pakages, one from the Troll bipping me with Baldelli and one from Night Owl.  Night Owl was kind enough to send me some cards that I didn't have and had never even seen before.  The Cammy cards is especially cool.  Thanks Owl. 

Bip Baldelli

The Collective Troll returned some Bips that I had sent him before I had decided to collect Bip as a PC.  Thank you for the return.  He also sent me a card that will be the beginning of a new collection for me.  He sent me a Charles Dickens mini from A&G, I noticed that this year A&G has a set of authors also, so I am going to start collecting cards of authors, Topps Heritage also has authors in it, so I should be able to find some good cards.  If you have spare authors feel free to send them to me.  Lastly the always classy troll bipped me with Rocco Baldelli.

The Catchers' 3

Fred Lyn Kendall played 10 years in the majors, and 8 of them for the Padres.  He was drafted by the Reds in 1967 and then the Padres drafted him in the expansion draft.  He was traded in 1976 to the Indians, where he played for a year, before being traded to the Red Sox.  After one year in Boston he was released and resigned with the Padres for his final two major league seasons.  Mr. Kendall signed through the mail.  Terrance Edward Kennedy played longer with the Padres than I thought, I always have thought on him as an Oriole, put that was only two seasons and after he played 6 seasons with the Padres.  Maybe I can get him to sign some cards later today at the Beavers game.  William G. Killian was drafted by the Padres in the 3rd round of the 2004 draft.  He was traded to the Rangers with Adam Eaton for Adrian Gonzalez, Chris Young and Termel Sledge.  He has only played in the minors since then with the ChiSox and last year at Frederick for the Orioles.  I got the card off of eBay, I have sent multiple cards to Billy with no response. 

let the K's begin

Sean Frank Kazmar was drafted by the Padres in the 5th round of the draft in 2004.  He has worked his way up to AAA last year and this, he did play 19 games in the majors in 2008.  I got this card signed through the mail a few years ago.  Hopefully I will get to see Sean play this Tuesday when I go to my first Beaver game of the year.  Gregory Charles Keagle was drafted by the Padres in 1993, he played in the organization until September 1995 when he was sent to Seattle as part of the deal that sent Andy Benes there for Marc Newfeld and the much traveled Ron Villone.  In December of 1995 he was chosen by the Tigers from the Mariners in the Rule 5 draft.  He played from 1996-1998 for the Tigers, with a 6-16 record.  I got the card signed through the mail.

Too Much TTM Success

I had sent out some cards to be signed  and one of them came back in just 4 days, but then it only had to go to the other side of town and back.  I sent a card to Greg Burke with the Beavers and he signed it and sent it back, kept the ones that I said were for him.  I also sent a card to Yefri Caravajal and asked him to sign one and keep the other 11 that I sent him.  I even wrote in Spanish on the package that the cards were for him to keep.  I also bought a Jeudy Valdez from ebay.  I had sent Jeudy cards to sign last year and he signed the soft sleeve, so I have a soft sleeve signed by him, but I decided I wanted an on card auto of him, I got it for just a couple of dollars and it looks like the one on the penny sleeve. 

When I send out cards to be signed I send a letter, a self addressed stamped envelope, a sharpie and some extra cards.  Most of the Padres I am able to pick up lots at a very low price so I offer the players the opportunity to have some cards.  Last year Edgar Gonzalez sent me a note thanking me for the cards and this year Clayton Richard said thank you on the inside of the envelope.  Maybe I ought to have my brother help me translate the letters into Spanish for the Hispanic players.  With the packages of cards I usually slip a little note in that says Thank you!  These are for you. or Muchas Gracias! Para Tu!  I don't know what to do cause this is what Yefri did.

He signed all 11 of the cards that I had intended for him to have.  He signed with two different sharpies since some are red and some are black.  I had only erased the gloss on the one that I wanted him to sign, which is up at the top.  So all the rest of the them have some level of yuckiness to them.  If you want a Yefri Carvajal on card auto let me know I have a couple of them.

I was gone last weekend to the Oregon with my wife and five other couples for a get away.  It was one of the best weekends in a long time and this week has been spent getting ready for an 80th Birthday open house for my mother this Sunday.  I hope to post more regularly next week, I am taking the day off for my Moms' birthday on Tuesday and going to my first Beavers game of the year. 

View My Shopping Cart

Blog Bat Around has come along and it has been awhile since I took part, but this topic intrigued me.  What if I had $50,000 to spend on eBay.  Since I collect the Padres there is not a lot of vintage out there for them.  When I think of vintage I think of stuff that is from the same era that I am.  Since I was born in 1957 that means vintage is really old stuff.  The first item to go in my shopping cart is a 1950 Cuban card of Artie Wilson, one of the greats of the Negro Leagues.  Artie and his double play partner Piper Davis were often called the best double play combination in the Negro Leagues.  Artie played in 19 games for the New York Giants in 1951 before the Giants called up a kid named Mays, because of the quota of African American ballplayers, Artie was sent back to the minors and never made it back to the majors.  He played in the PCL and settled in Portland.  My wife sews for Arties' wife so I have gotten to spend some time with Artie and talk baseball with him.  Next up is a signed Willie McCovey bat for $2,495.  Willie was one of my favorite players before the Padres came along and then I got to see him play for the Padres in my first ever Padres game.   While I was in Navy boot camp we got to go to a Padres game and see Big Mac and Dave Roberts play.  For $200 I found a 2010 Padres jersey autographed by the whole team.  Since I was born in 1957 I thought I would pick up some 1957 sets, I found a 57 baseball set for $9,600, a basketball set for $1,000 and a football set for $500.  The basketball set is extra cool because it has a player in it named Kenny Sears who my Dad played high school ball with.   I found a couple of other cool '57 items a unopened cello pack for $10,000 and a uncut sheet with Mickey Mantle on it for $2,250.  Then I found three signed items I would like to have, for $200 I could get a bat signed by the immortal Bip Roberts, for $13,000 a document signed by Dwight David Eisenhower who was president of the U.S. when I was born.  To me the two most beautiful women are Liz Taylor and Ann Margret, for $1,750 and $130 I can get signed photos of both of them.  That all comes to just over $43,000, I would use the rest to buy tickets to a Padres game, some Bip Roberts singles and as many 1957 Topps Hit Stars as I could to go with the Gene Kelly and Liz Taylor cards I already have. 

Welcome to Wally World

Wallace Keith Joyner was part of the Padres 1998 World Series.  He had been traded from the Royals to the Padres for the immortal Bip Roberts in 1996.  He played four of his 16 seasons in San Diego.  He was also the hitting coach for the Padres for a year before resigning because of a difference in philosphy with Sandy Alderson.  My wife and I flew to San Diego in 1998 using my flight benefit, when I worked under the Alaska planes, and we were given a sign from the local paper that said "Welcome to Wally World", I still have that sign.  Wally signed this card through the mail.

Keeping with the Jones, Part III

Randall Leo Jones is barbecue specialist, he caters, sells bbq sauce and has a bbq stand at Petco Park.  He also won the Cy Young award in 1976 while going 22-14 for the Padres.  He was drafted by the Padres in 1972 and made his major league debut in 1973 and pitched for San Diego for 8 years before being traded to the Mets for a couple of no-namers. Randy didn't actually play for the '81 Padres although he is pictured on an '81 Topps card.   I think I got this signed through the mail.  Ruppert Sanderson Jones did actually play for the '81 Padres.  In 1980 Randy Jones was traded to the Mets for John Pacella and in early '81 Pacella was traded to the Yankees for Ruppert Jones.  I guess you could say the Jones were for traded for one another.  Ruppert played for the Padres for three years before being released, then he signed with the Tigers and became part of the team that defeated the Padres in the 1984 World Series.  I purchased the card.

Gifts from my Wife

Just because she likes me my wife stopped on the way home and bought me 10 packs of the Topps Pro Debut baseball.  She did alright picking out the packs, I came up with a whole bunch of All-Star cards, two blue cards numbered to 259, my first two Padre farmhands, an autographed card numbered to 199, it is a sticker auto inset into the card.  Also in the bottom left hand corner is a West Michigan Whitecap card that I found interesting .  Pitcher Erik Crichton appears to be wearing a jersey with jigsaw pieces on it.
All the cards are available for trade except for the Padres.

Much More Than A Baseball Book

The Bullpen Gospels, Major League Dreams of a Minor League Veteran by Dirk Hayhurst; 2010; 340 pages; Citadel Press, New York, NY;  978-0-8065-3143-4; Purchased; 4/1-4/6
Saying this is a baseball book is like saying that Signs is about an alien invasion, like saying that Field of Dreams is about baseball, The Great Santini is about the Marine Corps.  This is one of the best books that I have ever read.  This is more about a young man coming to terms with his life.  Dirk is one very insightful and self aware young man.  The book covers his 2007 at Lake Elsinore and San Antonio.  This is not a expose or whistle blowing, this book has more in common with Catcher in the Rye than it does with Ball Four. I will recommend this book to all of my friends who like to read not just baseball fans.  Grade-A++

Keeping up with the Jones, Part II

James Condia Jones pitched a one hit shutout against the Astros in his major league debut.  He was the first pitcher since HOF member of Juan Marichal to debut with a one hitter.  He played three years for the Padres, I think this picture was taken at Wrigley Field.  He also played for the Mets, Astros and Expos.  Jimmy is currently the pitching coach for the Peoria Padres.  I got this signed through the mail.  Kennard De'Airis Jones is the son in law and brother in law of a couple of players already featured on Padrographs.  He was drafted by the Padres in 2002 and worked his way up to AAA.  He also played in the Baltimore organization, and for the last three years has played in the independent Atlantic League for the New York Revolution and the Newark Bears.  I got this from eBay.  Who do you think he is related to?

Keeping up with the Jones, Part I

Robert Joseph Jones was one of two Bobby Jones on the Padres in 2002.  He was right handed and Bobby M. Jones was left handed, they had previously been teammates on the Mets, and had faced each other when Bobby J was with the Mets and Bobby M. was with the Rockies.  He spent 8 years with the Mets before finishing his career with 2 years with the Padres.  I have never seen a card of Bobby M. Jones with the Padres, but would like to have a matched pair of Bobby Jones autographs.  I got this signed through the mail a couple of years ago.

Christopher Carlos Jones played 32 games for the Padres in 1997, he made into the Padres' Mothers' cookies set.  These were some of the coolest sets issued through the '90's and then Keebler took over through 2002.  I wish that Team Total and 40 Man were still around, so that we could get some of the lesser known players on cards.  I got this signed a few years ago when Chris was managing in the minor leagues.

Daryl Wayne Jones was drafted by the Padres in 2004 and played Rookie ball and A through 2007 before  playing for the Edinburg, TX Coyotes in 2008. I got this off of eBay a couple years ago.

2 Pack Pro Debut Break

On Saturday I went and visited two Local Card Shops that I know of.  I traded a bunch of stuff at one picked up a Rudy Fernandez auto card for my son and some decals for our car.  When I went to the shop really close to my house I picked up 4 packs of Topps Pro Debut, hoping to get some of the Padres farmhands.  I set two packs aside for my Birthday and Christmas.  I didn't get a single Padre or even anyone I heard of.  I like the cards except for most of them you can't tell them who the player is affiliated with.  It is real small print in the data box.  Here are the two packs, if there is anyone you want let me know.  

Spring Training TTM Success

I had sent lots of cards out to Padres spring training and last week I got two more back.  One was Clayton Richard, one of the key parts of the Jake Peavey trade. 

It is interesting that he signed in two different colors, I had sent him the brown Sharpie.  Whenever I send out autograph requests I enclose a Sharpie, a self addressed stamped envelope and some extra cards if I have them available.  I had sent Clayton some extra cards I had, he sent me back a note thanking me for the cards.  When I looked at the front of the envelope there was some kind of writing inside the envelope.  When I opened the envelope to take the cards out I found the note.

I also received the one card that I sent Joe Thatcher and he signed it with the green Sharpie I sent him.  It is easier to see in the scan than it is in person. 

A Prospect and an Author

John Seth Johnson was drafted by the Padres in 2005 and has worked his way up I-5 from Eugene to Portland.  He played in 2009 he played for San Antonio and Portland.  I got this card in a trade a few years ago.

J

John William Johnstone played in 75 games for the Padres in 1979.  He is better known as a Dodger and Cub.  I have read several of his books.  What strikes me as ironic is that Johnstone was in the Marine Corps Reserves, along with Rick Monday, during the early sixties.  He was born on the exact same day as Monday and they both played for the Cubs and Dodgers.  I got this signed through the mail years ago.