Blog Bat Around: All Autograph Team

Prepare thyselves for the most underwhelming Auto team assembled!

Well... My outfield might be decent... 

I was leery about doing this one because of a couple reasons.. 

First: I didn't think I had enough autographed cards to cover a team

Second: Any autos I get I have to either buy through COMC or First Row, as I can't really do TTM and I don't buy much in the way of new product. 

But what the hey.. Nothing ventured, nothing gained, right??

Catcher

First Base

Yeah I know he's an outfielder on the card, but he also played first for the Expos. 

Second Base

Jose played with the Expos and moved with them to Washington. He played a couple years in Seattle as well.. 

Third Base

Shortstop

One I'm very happy I was able to pick up. Tony Fernandez

Left Field

I had to fudge things a little here.. Lloyd Moseby is a left fielder here. 

Marquis Grissom

A wonderful Grissom card here. 

Right Field

Terry Puhl makes the team as well. 

It's an in person auto I got in a trade. It's easier to see in scan than in person, but I like it.

Bench/Honorable Mentions

Anthony Alford

Brad Fullmer

Ryan Goins

Adam Lind

Carlos Perez

Dalton Pompey

Rich Butler

David Segui

My pitching staff is three deep.. Total..

Rheal Cormier

Daniel Norris

Paul Spoljaric

Kind of interesting that all three pitchers I have are left handed.. 

Anyway.. This is my team... 

Surprise in the Mail

I recently got a package from TCDB member dilemma19 that I wasn't expecting. 

There was a note stating he checked through my want lists on TCDB and found a bunch.. 

He wasn't kidding...

There were actually two of the Carter.. It's one of those "heat the card to show the rest" things.

More Hometown Heroes, including Justin Morneau and Fergie Jenkins. 

That Classic card is a three in one that's serialed to 8000. This particular one is 1/8000

Lots of 1992 Studio. I've mentioned many times how much I love the early Studio sets. One thing that was a pleasant surprise was getting some Heritage Series inserts from the Studio set. 

1992 Donruss Diamond Kings round out here. Carter and Ripken. 

Greg Swindell and Fred McGriff show up here as well. 

Classic Minor League! 

Some of these guys I've heard of.. Angel Martinez, Ugueth Urbina... BJ Wallace... Some I haven't. But that's what happens with minor league cards. 

One reason I love minor league cards is seeing the uniforms the players wore in the minors. I like creating uniforms for Out of the Park Baseball, so minor league cards become a valuable resource for past teams. 

I like how the Indianapolis Indians uniforms were a mirror image of the Expos at the time. 

I'm interested in the uniform Curtis Pride is wearing in his card. 

I kind of remembered the Jays minor league clubs using the same colour scheme and lettering as the Jays.. I hadn't really seen the Hagerstown uniforms from this time though. 

Syracuse Chiefs uniforms are quite nice. 

Some later cards for the team binders. 

Finally, a Michael Saunders card.. This one will go into the team binder.. I'll need to find another one at some point to put in the Canadians binder. 

Thanks, dilemma19! You mentioned that if there's sets/players I'm looking for in particular you'll check to see what you have.. .I'll keep that in mind. Thanks again!

Updates and Announcements

Well, first I wanted to mention that I haven't forgotten about this little corner of the blogsphere. I've just been so completely out of tune with everything I haven't done much of anything. 

My headspace isn't right at the moment.. I don't know why.. I just know that writing is more of a chore than anything right now.. Even after the first couple days of working on getting my want lists updated on here, I've found myself at a standstill. 

I have a couple trade packages I need to get out, but I'm not stressing out about those right now, since I know the people I'm sending to aren't those expecting things yesterday.. (yay some growth and improvement!!!) 

But all this roadblock and just not wanting to do anything is the perfect time to take on a new project right??? 

Right????

Right.. 

A few other collectors/bloggers are doing a Million Cards project. There's a Cubs one going.. In fact I think his is the inspiration for others to bandwagon behind. 

I've seen a Dodgers one start, a Yankees one start, and most recently, a Twins project... 

So why not.. Why not start my own quest for a million?

So today, I announce my quest...

That's right.. Expos... That team from La Belle Province that left for the swamps of DC in 2005. 

So.. Anything that is Expos related from 1969-2005, and whatever scraps they've released since then are more than welcome at my doorstep.. Once I actually get an idea of what I have, I'll update my starting position. 

Because I need a card to post... Let's go with Ken Hill.. Because reasons.. lol

More Catching Up on Trades

Today was a snow day for me, as the Wintry Hell doesn't seem to want to go away.. 

All weekend we had freezing rain.. Today we had snow and rain. Somehow, I wouldn't be surprised to find I'm not working tomorrow too.. 

Anyway... Enough of that.. Baseball cards! Sunshine! 

I have four acquisitions to show today. 

The first is from TCDB member forester7.

1989 Donruss. It's one of those sets that's grown on me.. Kind of like a fungus. 

These were for the most part second copies for my team binders. I think some made it to the set.. 

Jeff Musselman at quick glance, reminds me of Alberto Del Rio. 

1990 Score. I think all of those ended in the set aside from Mark Gardner. I may need a second copy of that Candlestick card for my stadium card collection. 

Can't go wrong with Leaf. I really liked the designs they used. 

1991 O Pee Chee also shows up. The giveaway is the "Now with Expos" on the Calderon card. 

Ahhh OPC when OPC would have their brand where Topps goes. 

A couple 1989 Score and another 90 Score with Yount. 

1991 Studio! I absolutely love those early Studio sets. They gave some insight into the person behind the stats. Yes, they did give a written breakdown of the guy's career, but where else would you find out in 1991 Dwight Gooden liked fishing and Nintendo??

1992 Ultra. Another set I really like the look of.. It's one of those that was heavily influenced by Stadium Club, I feel, with the full bleed photos and foil stamping. 

More Ultra and some 1993 Pinnacle. I loved the 1992 Pinnacle set but it was expensive when I was younger and hard to find. 1993 was impossible to find. So now I'm retroactively trying to complete both. 

The second one came via a blog post and email. This one came from Ryan at https://basecardhero.com/

Some recent Jays including a red Stroman rookie card. Paul Molitor as a Jay. Some nice Encarnacions as well. 

Tom Underwood buyback! I believe in the TCDB filing, it's classified as the year the card was originally issued, but notate the buyback part. 

Those Museum Collection cards are interesting. 

The third package is from TCDB member pezNpirates.

Four cards from the Young Superstars or something from Score. They had Young Superstars, Rising Stars, and a few others around that time. 

I don't think you can really say any of them became "Superstars" though. 

Stadium Club. The first couple years were hard to tell apart from the other. Coupled in with the "Stadium" set they put out and it was sometimes tough to figure out what you had. 

Some more Jays and Expos here, along with a Kirk McCaskill. 

Aren't they lovely? I really have nothing else to say about them that others haven't said repeatedly. 

The Final Package was from Therion on the Team Collectors Forum. 

2013 Hometown Heroes Jesse Barfield. I believe this is the "Zipcode" variation. Of course, because Canada, they have the leaf and ON for Ontario.

The only thing about this card though... It seems like Panini took a Barfield Yankees away photo and threw it on this card. 

The Marco Estrada Red Dagger variation! 

It was nice to see these. 

Thanks to all who traded with me

Another Surprise in the Mail

The same day I received the package from First Row Collectibles, I also received one from Erek, who I follow on Twitter @ediddy416

He had a few things that he thought I'd like so he sent them off to me. 

Some recent year Jays.. The last couple years between just not wanting to go to Walmart and not having the money to get in the window they're available, 2016 and 2017 were not very well represented in my collection. 

Some 2018 rookies. 

I think he had the Urena card available and I mentioned I wanted it. It was either the Urena or Rowley.. I can't remember. Either way I have both 

Finally, the full 1993 Toronto Blue Jays Fire Safety set. 

Absolutely love seeing these. They have all the players from the team, plus the coaches.

We also have a mix of Spring Training and season shots here. 

Thanks for the cards!!

First Row Collectibles Trade and Extras

About mid March I made a trade with Curtis from First Row Collectibles. Between having to wait to mail out and Easter, it took a little longer to get than normal. I sent him a bunch of old wrestling cards and some hockey and in return, he sent me a nice batch of cards I wanted.. 

I mentioned to him that the 1st was my birthday and he threw in a little extra for it. 

One of the few times I've been happy to see a Tim's card.. lol 

Haven't seen a Toronto themed one before, so it was nice to get this one. As an added bonus, it came unloaded, so I won't forget about it, spend it, and leave it.. lol 

Let's see if I remember what I asked for in return and what was thrown in. 

I believe I asked for the Greene and the Delgado cards aside from the Bowman's Best.. 

The Best were throw ins and... Aside from the weird numbering on them... They're... Different..

Again, Paul Molitor as a Jay is a little strange. Carter and Alomar, though.. Not strange at all. 

I asked for the Pompey, Alford, and Fullmer autos shown. I can't remember if I asked for the Martins or if he threw them in. The Halladay cards were throw ins. 

Halladay as a Phillie is another strange sight. 

Joey Votto! Clarence Gaston! Paul Molitor in more familiar togs. 

The Rangers team set is from 1978. I needed it for the set. 

It's interesting.. Cito Gaston didn't start being called Cito on cards until he was coaching/managing in Toronto. During his playing days it was always Clarence. I just find that interesting. I wonder why the change. 

Anyway.. I wanted to thank Curtis at First Row Collectibles. I really enjoy dealing with him and interacting with him on Twitter. 

You can follow him there.. @FirstRowCollect

His website is https://www.firstrow.ca/

Check him out!