TTM and Ebay autos

 Never heard of this guy until I saw this on eBay the other day.  He is 6 ft 9 in tall and weighs 280.  He was drafted by the Padres in 2009 and has made it to High A ball and spent some time in the major league camp in spring training.  It cost me $5.51 with free shipping.  It is somewhere in the high 700's for number of Padrographs I have.

I got this in the mail on Wednesday, I had mailed it to Kevin during Spring Training.  He was signed as a free agent before Spring Training and released by the Padres in March of this year.  He then signed with the Phillies and spent time at three different minor league levels. 

I have 24 of these

Jeff Pendergraph is my sons favorite NBA player and we were able to pick several of these up.  They are numbered out of 499.  We have managed to pick up 24 of them and are trying to get as many as we can.  If you have a line on one or more of these let me know and I will trade you for something you want.  I have found some really cheap on eBay and at check out my cards.   I have seen some really expensive ones on Beckett Marketplace.  There are also 25 Prime cards which we have one of us. 

The Joy of a Completed Page-1957 Topps

1957 Topps Hit Stars, that is.  This is an 88 card set of recording artists and movie stars.  I started with having 3 cards from the set, Gene Kelly, Burt Lancaster and Elizabeth Taylor.  This is the second time I have tried to build the set.  I have never gotten as far as I have this time, as of today I have 67 of the 88 cards.  There are two cards of many of the stars and there are four cards of James Dean, who died just two years before the set came out.  There are many people that I have never heard of such as Chris Conner, Vaughn Monroe, Charles Gracie and Warren Belinger.  I have three of the four James Dean cards.  I still need The Teenagers, Screamin' Jay Hawkins, Little Richard, The Crickets, Jerry Lee Lewis, Sammy Davis, Jr., and one of the Jerry Lewis cards.    There is a want list on the want list page. 

Some New Padrographs

Anthony Rizzo was one of the most important parts of the trade of Adrian Gonzalez with the Red Sox.  He spent a little bit of time with the Padres this year, he spent 49 games with the big league team.  He spent the rest of the season at AAA Tucson.  I got this in the mail, I made it and sent it to him before he had any cards from Topps.

 Brian Guinn was drafted by the Padres in 2010 and spent this season at A Fort Wayne.  I got this signed Pro Debut card off of Ebay. 

Jose Dore was drafted by the Padres and spent 2010 with the AZL Padres.  He split 2011 between Ft.  Wayne and Eugene.  My wife and I went down to Salem, OR to see a game between the Volcanoes and Eugene Emeralds and get some autographs.  Dore was the only player for the Ems with a card in a Padres uniform.  I got a bunch of the other guys on cards that I made. 

The Joy of a Completed Page

I just finished this page in my new theme notebook.  It is not the first page completed in the notebook but it is the First page in the theme.  The first person who can tell me what the theme is and why I chose it will receive a Large Flat Rate box filled with stuff and even some stuff that they would want of their team. 

Gint A Cuffs

Well Here goes again, I posted this last night and at some point it lost it's pictures and the last 3 packs.
N43 +5, no extra for being Aroldis Chapman

Pack 1
Jason Heyward (+2 someones favorite player, +2 for short print #335)
Ozzie Martinez mini (+2 A&G ad back)
Florence Nightingale (+2 Minds that Made the Future)
Pack Total:8/Box Total 13

 Pack 2
Omar Infante (+2 mini A&G ad back)
 Jacoby Ellsbury (+1 Hometown Heroes set)
 The Human Cannonball (+3 Step Right Up Mini)
Pack Total: 6/ Box Total 19

 Pack 3
 Mike Pelfrey (+2 #342 SP)
 Jordan Zimmerman (+1 Hometown Heroes)
 Bobby Abreu (+3 #218 black bordered mini parallel)
Homo Sapiens Sapiens (+1 Ascent of Man)
Pack Total 7/Box Total 26

Pack 4
Travis Hafner (+1 Hometown Heroes)
Cody Ross Bat Relic (+10)
Pack Total 11/ Box Total 37

Pack 5
Kevin Kouzmanoff (+2 #336 SP)
HMS Devastation, I can't think of a better name for a warship (+2 Floating Fortress insert)
Brian McCann (+2 #245 A&G Ad back mini)
Pack Total 6/Box Total 43

Pack 6
Gaby Sanchez, (+2 #334 SP)
Alexander Graham Bell (+2, Minds that Made the Future)
Red Wolf (+3, Mini Animals in Peril)
The Lizzie Borden House, (+3, Mini Uninvited Guest)
Sarcoptergypii(+1 Ascent of Man)
Pack Total 11/ Box Total 54

Pack 7
Andrew McCutchen(+1 Hometown Heroes)
Mark Rogers (+3, Black Bordered Mini)
Phil Hughes, (-1 Damm Yankee)
Dicky V(+1)
Pack Total 5/Box Total 59

Pack 8
Alex Gordon (+1 Hometown Hero)
Francisco Rodrigue (+2 A&G ad back mini)
Mark Reynolds (+2 #321 SP)
Pack Total 5/ Box Total 64

Pack 9
Kristi Yamaguchi (+3 Ginter Code Card)
Stephen Drew  (+1 Hometown Hero)
Kasper Hauser (+3, Worlds Most Mysterious Figures)
Mike Gellner (+5 Portraits of Penultimacy,)
Pack Total 12/ Box Total 76

Pack 10
Cole Hamels (+2 Favorite Player of someone)
Miguel Montero (+3 Ginter Code Card)
Kyle Petty,(+1 Son of the King)
Geno Auriemma (-1, enemy of Pat Summit)
Twins open new stadium (+3 Baseball Highlight Sketch)
Ryan Zimmerman (+3 Mini SP)
Manny Ramirez (+1 Hometown Heroes)
Pack Total 12/ Box Total 88

Pack 11
Kevin Youklis (+2, Favorite Player)
Texas Rangers (+3, Baseball highlight Sketch)
Bachelors Grove Cemetery (+3 uninvited guest mini)
Chase Utley(+1 Hometown Heroes) from the same town as me Long Beach, CA
Pack Total 9/ Box Total 97

Pack 12
Felix Hernandez(+1, Favorite Player)
Orlando Hudson(+1, Favorite Team)
Adam Dunn(+1, Hometown Heroes)
Pack Total 3/Box Total 100

Pack 13
Scott Rolen(+1 Hometown Hero)
Captain Charles Johnson(+3, Worlds Most Mysterious Figures)
Brent Morel(+10, Auto Card AGA-BMO)
Pack Total 14/Box Total 114

Pack 14
Martin Prado(+2, Someones favorite player)
Delmon Young(+1, Hometown Hero)
Greater Bamboo Lemur(+3 Animals in Peril Mini)
Pack Total 6/Box Total 120

Pack 15
Cory Luebke(+1, My Favorite Team)
Nick Markakis(+2, someones favorite player, +2 SP #314)
Markhor(+3 Animals in Peril mini)
USS Merrimack (+2 Floating Fortresses)
Pack Total 10/ Box Total 130

Pack 16
Mariano Rivera(-1, Damm Yankee)
Trevor Cahill(+2, SP #322)
Mountain Gorilla(+3 Animals in Peril mini)
Mahmudiye(+2, Floating Fortresses)
Hominina(+1, Ascent of Man)
Chase Headley(+1 , My Favorite Team)
Pack Total 9/Box Total 139

Pack 17
Brett Wallace(+1, SP #318)
Jake Peavy(+1, Hometown Hero)
Bobby Danks(+2, A&G Ad Back Mini)
Jon Lester(+2 Someones Favorite Player, +2 SP #320)
Troy Tulowitzki(+2 Someones Favorite Player)
Pack Total 10/Box Total 149

Pack 18
Alex Gordon(+2, SP #329)
Jason Kubel(+1, Hometown Hero)
Black Eyed Susan(+10, Flora of the World Mini) Thanks for bringing me flowers
Pack Total 13/Box Total 162

Pack 19
Alex Rodriguez(+2 Baseball Highlight card of a Damm Yankee)
Lance Berkman(+2 Someones Favorite Player, +1 Hometown Hero)
Alcatraz(+3 Uninvited Guest Mini)
Pack Total 8/Box Total 170

Pack 20
Justin Upton(+1 Hometown Hero)
Daniel Bard(+2 A&G Ad Back Mini)
Heath Bell (+4, My Favorite Player +1 favorite team)

Chuck Woolrey(+1 accompanied by boxer Ana Julaton & Angel Pagan)
The Bed of Nails(+3, Step right up mini) damaged but the commish has ruled that I shouldn't be penalized for Topps incompetence.
Pack Total 12/Box Total 182

Pack 21
Matt Kemp(+1 Hometown Hero, +2 Night Owls favorite player)
(+1 Ascent of Man)
Storen (+2 SP)
Bumgarner (+3 SP Mini)
Pack Total 9/Box Total 191

Pack 22
Mickey Mantle (-1 Damm Yankee Great)
Rick Porcello (+3 Ginter Code Card)
Elvis Andrus (+3 Black Bordered Mini)
Brian McCann(+1 Hometown Hero)
Pack Total 7/Box Total 198

Pack 23
Mark Teixeria(-1, Damm Yankee)
Aimmee Mullins(+1, good looking, an athlete and differently abled)
CC Sabithia(-1 Damm Yankee, +2 SP=+1)
Gregor Mendel,(+2 Minds that made the Future)
Adam Jones(+2 Favorite Player)
Igor(+3 Portraits in Penultimacy)
Pack Total 9/Box Total 207

Pack 24
Ryan Howard(+ 3, Baseball Highlight Sketch)
Dustin Pedroia(+10, Relic Bat Card)
Danks (+1 Hometown Hero)
Pack Total 14/Box Total 221

That looks like third place.  Ambushed by the Damm Yankees at the end.  Wait til next year

Dancing and Partying in the Streets, Everywhere

Over at Jaybarkerfan's Junk.  It sounds like a lot of fun and jocularity, as Father Mulchay would say.

I am trying to get back to blogging on a regular basis, I have been moving a my stuff and it is almost done.  I am working on my Gint a Cuffs box, a couple of sets and I went to a game in Salem and got a bunch of autos.

Cheap Card Collecting is also having a contest at his place.  We will try and fit everyone in a VW Bug.

The Daily Dimwit is giving stuff away also.  After the party there we will going over to Katy Perry and Rebecca Blacks homes for some Friday fun.

A & G Warm up

I went to the LCS  yesterday and picked up my box of A & G for my first time into Gints A Cuff.  I also picked up three packs, I opened 1.  I save packs for my birthday and Christmas since no one in my family buys me any thing for holidays.  Today I picked up a rack pack and a retail pack at the closest Target store.  These are the highlights of what I got out of the packs I opened.  I am waiting to open my box until the commissioner posts the rules.  Being the FNG to Gint a Cuffs I want to be sure that I know what is going on before I start.  Everything here is for trade, I am looking for Padres, autos or relics of Padres or Guy Fieri, Stan Lee, Dirk Hayhurst and Rafer Johnson.  Once  I open my box I will be trading most of them also. 

What about Jason Donald?

Nobody’s Perfect, Two Men, One Call, and a Game for Baseball History by Armando Galarraga, Jim Joyce and Daniel Paisner; 2011; $24.00; 246 pages; Atlantic Monthly Press, New York, NY; 978-0-8021-1988-9; Checked out from Multnomah County Library, Gresham; 7/5-7/6

Why did I pick this up? Because this was an part of baseball history and I wanted to know more about it.  The umpire, Jim Joyce, lives in Portland and I had gotten his signature years ago.

What is the story? Armando Galarraga had a perfect game until the umpire blew the call on what should have been the last out of the game.  What made this blown call different than any other blown call is the umpire’s admission of having blown the call, the gracious way Armando Galarraga accepted the umpires decision and the way the men came together.  The story is told my Galarraga and Joyce in alternating chapters telling how they each arrived at that crucial point, how their lives led them to that encounter.  They each tell of their memories of the incident and then of afterwards also.  It is really a very frank book and each man should be congratulated for their integrity and graciousness.  This is a game that will be remember far longer than the two perfect games that preceded it in 2010.

Did I like it? Yes, along with Mr. Paisner each man was able to capture their feelings and memories and share them with us.  They are a couple of gentleman that I would like to share a dinner table with.

Grade-A

What is with the title of the review? Jason Donald was the player for the Cleveland Indians who was the runner in the infamous last not out of Armando Galarraga’s not perfect perfect game.

Vacation

I will be vacationing in Medford, Oregon for the next week.  Medford is the former home of the Southern Oregon Timberjacks a minor league affiliate of the A's

This book made me do something I haven’t done in a long time

Willie’s Boys, The 1948 Birmingham Black Barons, the Last Negro League World Series, and the Making of a Baseball Legend by John Klima; 2009; $25.95; John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, N.J.; 978-0-470-40013-5; Interlibrary Loan from Tigard Public Library; 5/19-5/25

Why did I pick this up? I am old enough to remember Willie playing.  The first card I remember pulling out of a pack of baseball cards was a 1968 Topps card of Willie Mays.  Also a member of the 1948 Birmingham Black Barons was Artie Wilson, whom I was privileged to spend some time with over the past few years.

What did I learn? The men of the 1948 Black Barons took the very young Willie Mays under their wing.  In ’48 Willie was a sophmore in High School and Piper Davis, Artie Wilson, Ed Steele, Johnny Zapp and others showed him how to play and become a man.  Willies’ father Cat insisted that Willie finish High School and get his diploma before playing professionally.  There were all  kinds of back room shenanigans going on in the race to sign Willie.  There was all of kinds of racist bullshit also going on and that prevented some exciting teamings.  Racism kept Mays from ever playing with either Ted Williams or Joe Dimaggio.

Did I like it? Yes, this is much more than a sports story.  This is the story of a team that knows most of them don’t have a future in white man’s ball and they pull together to elevate one of their own so that his future in insured.  They even sacrifice at times to make the dream come true for one of their own.   The author is able to express the feelings and the dreams of these men.   This team is much more than a team, they are family in many ways.

Grade-A+

What is with the title of the review? There is a passage on pages 282-283 that so moved me that I came home and read it to my wife, something I haven’t done in a long time.

George Stablein

George Stablein was once a contestant of the Dating Game and then was featured on the Newlywed Game, I don't he ever made it to Divorce Court.  It was like a 80's reality show.  Ok, Ok, I made all that up.  Now I am going to go check references. 

We might have been better off going with what I made up.  George was born in October of 1957, which makes him a month younger than me.  He went to West Torrance High School in Torrance, CA.  Then he went to Cal State Dominguez Hills.  He was drafted by the Padres in the third round in 1978.  He played in the garden spots of Reno and Amarillo in 78 and 79.  He got called up in 1980 and pitched in 4 games, with an 0-1 record and an ERA of 3.09.  He then played in Hawaii for the rest of 1980 and 81 and 82.  In 1983 he split time between the Padres Beaumont club and the Brewers Vancouver, B.C. team.  Then he was done.
I got Mr Stablein signature through the mail with an address from Harveys list.

Ed Sprague

The only thing I remember about Ed Sprague off the top of my head is that he is married to an Olympic gymnast, Julianne McNamara I think.  Time to go to Wikipedia and Baseball Reference.  Be back in a couple of minutes.

Okay I'm back and wondering whom I have Ed mixed up with.  He is married to Kristen Babb, who was an Olympic Gold Medalist in synchronized swimming.  His Dad, Ed Sprague, pitched in the majors from 1968-1976.  Junior won two College World Series at Stanford, and a Gold Medal in baseball in the 1988 Olympics.  He played for the Padres in 2000, he played 53 games for San Diego was traded to the Red Sox, played 33 games for Boston, was released.  He resigned with the Pads and finished the season with San Diego.  He also played for the Jays, A's, Mariners, and Pirates.  He admitted using PEDs and admitted hitting one run with a corked bat.  He led the league a couple of years in HBP.  He is currently the head coach at the University of the Pacific in Stockton, California.  I don't recall how I obtained this signature. 
P.S.  Julianne McNamara is married to Todd Zeile. 

Breakfast with the Boys

One of the volunteers at the book store  I manage is also a waitress at a local restaurant, McMenamins Tavern and Pool.  She told me there was a group of gentleman who had breakfast together on the third Wednesday of each month.  She asked if I could come and have breakfast with them sometimes and they said yes.  These are men in their 70's and 80's who grew up together in NW Portland, near Vaughn Street, where the Portland Beavers first played.  One of the men is Dick Benevento, son of Rocky Benevento.  Rocky was the longtime groundskeeper for the Beavers.  I sat this past Wednesday with Vince Paveskovic, you may have heard of his brother, Johnny Pesky.  Breakfast was just a couple of days after Harmon Killebrew passed away and Vince told a story about Johnny and Harmon.  It was advice Harmon gave Johnny when they were both with the Senators, keep your head down and be good to the people.  I am looking forward to joining the guys for more breakfast and stories. 

Hey Welcome Back

            Hey I know you were all awaiting breathlessly for me to post something.  Well here you go.  I just read a history of the Pacific Coast League Padres and reviewed it.  Today I did yard work, took my son to work and picked up dinner for my wife (where I had to wait for 1/2 hour for her break).  Read a little bit in Willie's Boys, the story of the 1948 Birmingham Black Barons and the last Negro League World Series.  It is a fun read because I have always been a fan of Willie Mays and one of the players on that team was Artie Wilson.  I got to spend some time talking with Artie before he passed away last Halloween.  My wife sewed for Arties' wife and when Ruth had something to pick up or drop off I would often go over and talk with Artie.  It was great to hear stories of Josh Gibson, Jackie Robinson, Cool Papa Bell and be introduced to Piper Davis. 
             A couple of years the Multnomah County Library, whom I work for applied for the right to host an exhibit from the National Baseball Hall of Fame, titled Pride and Passion, the African-American Baseball Experience.  When they began to write the application Amy, who was writing the application was told to talk with me about it.  I gave her some input and she sent in the application, and the library was granted the right to host the exhibit.  We will be hosting the exhibit November 30, 2011 to January 27, 2012.  Cindy who got the assignment when Amy left is working to fill 12 display cases with cards, posters, scorecards and all kinds of other things to fill the gallery space.  I am loaning some of my Negro League stuff, which centers around Artie for the exhibit.  I know some of you collect Negro League stuff, if you would be interested in loaning some stuff for the exhibit please let me know.  It would be mailed insured and insured while on display and returned to you upon the end of the exhibit.  There will be security on the exhibit at all times, the gallery is in the Central Library in downtown Portland.  If you want more information contact me at Padrographs at live.com or call me at five oh three eight nine one one six six one. 
             I am going to try and post more regularly, but unless the Padres improve some I may still be to depressed to post at all.  I have to clean up my mancave also so that I can find some stuff, as I clean I may be sending some stuff out.  I just found a Penguin that will be going to New York.
              Even though I haven't been posting I have been reading all of your blogs and keeping up with things.