Saturday, April 29, 2017

Collecting Goldschmidt and Webb

When it comes to bloggers with player collections, I can't think of anyone with a more impressive collection than Brian of the blog Collecting Cutch. His Andrew McCutchen collection is AMAZING!

I remember feeling accomplished trying to get to 200 different Brandon Webb cards. Collecting Cutch has nearly 1700 different McCutchen cards!

And it's not just quantity. He has over 100 1/1 cards, bat knobs, booklets, nameplates, logoman patches, superfractors, etc. Just take a look at this post to see some of his favorite cards and while you're at it you can enter his contest for a chance at some awesome cards!

I feel lucky to have been able to find a McCutchen card at my LCS that wasn't already in his collection. Brian returned the favor in a big way sending me some awesome cards for my Goldschmidt and Brandon Webb PC's.

Check out this 2016 Triple Threads. It looks very similar to the card that Robert from $30 a week habit sent me recently. The only difference is the color of the jersey swatches, but I love it.


Next up is another Triple Threads card of Goldschmidt. This "Goldy Knocks" card has long been on my radar. First because as a Goldschmidt fan I had never heard this phrase before seeing this card and then it just grew on me. Super excited to add it to my collection!


Brian asked the question that everyone wants to know.


This "low numbered Webb" is numbered out of 10! Dang!


Here's another Webb auto! This time it's numbered out of 50! It's an Upper Deck Buy Back! 



Along similar lines of the Upper Deck Buy Back, here is a 2017 Rediscover Topps card of a 2005 Topps Brandon Webb card. 

Webb hasn't had many, if any cards in recent years, so this is awesome!


Brian also included a couple of these Pirates Charities cards for my boys. These are really cool! I wish the D-Backs had more of these types of cards!






Thank you so much for the cards Brian! Love them all! 

Sunday, April 23, 2017

3-3 with 4 walks

Trivia Question: Has any MLB player ever had 3 hits and 3 intentional walks in one game?

Answer: Yes, Paul Goldschmidt on May 31, 2015.


The back of this 2016 Topps Triple Threads cards tells us Goldy also had a fourth walk as well. So he went 3-3 with 4 walks. 


This awesome Goldschmidt numbered out of 18 came to me courtesy of Robert, of the blog $30 a week habit for winning his recent contest. 

It was really more of a giveaway rather than a contest. He gave away 5 cards to everyone that commented with the only stipulation being that you write a 100 word post about the cards (which was harder than it sounds) and then he picked two winners from everyone who participated. I was one of those winners.

He also sent me this Rubby DeLaRosa 2017 Topps card as well, which is awesome because I need 1 for my D-Backs team sets and 1 for my 2017 Topps set and Rubby is a great ttm signer as well. 


Thank you Robert! Please make sure you are following $30 a week habit. Robert is at 199 followers, so it would be great to get him over 200!

Monday, April 17, 2017

Goldschmidt cards from CMMDTO

As a Diamondbacks collector and specifically a collector of Paul Goldschmidt, I often get Goldy cards as part of packages.

So when Jared, of the blog Cards My Mom Didn't Throw Out (CMMDTO) sent me and my boys a package filled with D-Backs cards it wasn't a surprise to find some Goldschmidt cards.

The surprise was that Jared sent 22 Goldschmidt cards. But an even bigger surprise was that of the 22, I needed 11 of them.

Note that I emphasized the word package. I did that because Jared didn't send a bubble mailer, he sent a box of awesome D-Backs. The Goldschmidt cards were only part of the goodness that was found inside the package.

With these 11 Goldschmidt cards I moved past my goal of adding 50 new Goldschmidt cards to my collection this year and have 271 different Goldschmidt cards.

Thank you Jared!











Sunday, April 9, 2017

Last week was busy, but awesome!

It's been a busy week. Last Sunday was Opening Day and the Diamondbacks hosted the San Francisco Giants at Chase Field.

Zack Greinke vs. Madison Bumgarder.



















Bumgarner put on a show; not just on the mound, but at the plate as well. Mad Bum took a perfect game into the sixth inning and homered not once, but twice.

The Diamondbacks battled back against Bumgarner and the Giants bullpen and ended up winning 6-5.

I mentioned in a previous post that I was given a half season ticket package from the D-Backs. Here is the view from our seats.



The World Baseball Classic trophy was on display at the D-Backs Authentics shop.


Tuesday I took some time off work and pulled my two oldest out of school to attend the dedication of Paul Goldschmidt field. The Diamondbacks and APS (local power company) have partnered over the years to build fields all over Arizona for youth baseball and softball.

Paul Goldschmidt Field is the 39th such field and is located in Goodyear, AZ. It will be one of the fields that my kids will play their Little League games on.

We got there early and had a great time. We knew Goldschmidt would be there, but Luis Gonzalez also attended.


They were handing out D-Backs hats, so we got him to sign a couple.


Former closer J.J. Putz was also in attendance.


After all the speeches, a ceremonial first pitch and the unveiling of the scoreboard, Goldschmidt sat down and signed for everyone. I got my season tickets cover signed. Hoping to add Greinke, A.J. Pollock, and David Peralta at some point.


Goldschmidt posed with all the kids that were there in front of the scoreboard that bears his name.


Wednesday my two oldest and I went to the D-Backs game. We walked in and a D-Backs employee came over and asked which one of them wanted to be the Play Ball Kid and which one wanted to be Relish in the Hot Dog Race.

My oldest was the play ball kid. He got to go on top of the dugout and yell "Play Ball" to start the game. While we were waiting down by the dugout we had to stand up and let Dick Vital go by to his seats.


My middle son was Relish and while Ketchup won that night, he did great!




Friday my oldest had a game at Paul Goldschmidt Field. I believe this was the first game and he was the game's first batter. He did great! He went 1-2 with a walk. His hit was a double to deep center field. He played catcher for three innings (his favorite position) and third and first base. 


Right after his game we changed and headed to the Suns game. We got there right after halftime. The Suns played the Thunder. Russell Westbrook was going for an NBA record 42nd triple -double, but ended up two assists short. The Suns dominated and won 120 - 99. Devin Booker took it personally that so many people in the arena were rooting for Westbrook and he put on a show scoring 37 points.

My oldest has now been to an MLB, NFL, NHL, and NBA game. Took me a lot longer than that to accomplish that.


After the game, all kids 16 and under were invited on the court to shoot a free throw. My son stepped up to the line and knocked down the shot.



Saturday morning my youngest had a Little League game at Goodyear Ballpark where the Reds and Indians play their Spring Training games. I'm an assistant coach so I was able to get some pictures of him on the field. 

Saturday afternoon we headed to Chase Field early for Jake Lamb Bobblehead night.


I didn't have tickets to the game as part of my half season ticket package, but I was able to get tickets from my work for the game, so we sat right behind the pool. 

We came away with two baseballs; one from BP and one from the dugout after the game. 

Tuesday, April 4, 2017

TTM Tuesday

I haven't gotten a lot of ttms recently, but I am really happy with the two that have come in over the past few weeks.

I sent Brooks Robinson two cards and a few index cards as well as a donation.

He signed both cards and added the "HOF 83" inscription.


The turned out great!


I asked that he personalize each index card to my boys and add his nickname "Human Vacuum Cleaner" and he did! 


My second return was a 4 x 6 photo that I had gotten signed earlier this year by Buck Showalter. I sent it to Jason Alexander (George from Seinfeld) and he signed it as well. If you remember, George worked for the Yankees during a couple of seasons of the hit tv show.


Sunday, April 2, 2017

2017 Topps Opening Day - Let's Trade!

I bought a box of 2017 Topps Opening day a week or two ago.

I had hopes of pulling something nice even though deep down I know the odds were not in my favor.

There are relics, autos, variation short prints, tough inserts, numbered parallels, and printing plates in Opening Day, so it could happen, right?

Wrong.

I didn't pull anything out of the ordinary, but I did get the entire 200 card base set and there are a couple of insert sets that I'd like to try to complete, so it wasn't that bad.

I'm going to save my Mascots and the Incredible Eats cards. Let me know if you have any that I need that you'd be willing to trade.

Mascots

M-1 Paws, Detroit Tigers
M-2 Billy the Marlin, Miami Marlins
M-3 Rally Monkey, Los Angeles Angels
M-4 Mr. Red, Cincinnati Reds
M-5 Mr. Met, New York Mets
M-6 TC Bear, Minnesota Twins
M-7 Braves Mascot, Atlanta Braves
M-8 Slider, Cleveland Indians
M-9 Dinger, Colorado Rockies
M-10 Royals Mascot, Kansas City Royals
M-11 Phillie Phanatic, Philadelphia Phillies
M-12 Pirate Parrot, Pittsburgh Pirates
M-13 Swinging Friar, San Diego Padres
M-14 Mariner Moose, Seattle Mariners
M-15 Fredbird, St. Louis Cardinals
M-16 White Sox Mascot, Chicago White Sox
M-17 Athletics Mascot, Oakland Athletics
M-18 Raymond, Tampa Bay Rays
M-19 Rangers Captain, Texas Rangers
M-20 Blue Jays Mascot, Toronto Blue Jays
M-21 Hank the Ballpark Pup, Milwaukee Brewers
M-22 Orbit, Houston Astros
M-23 Clark, Chicago Cubs
M-24 Wally the Green Monster, Boston Red Sox
M-25 Brewers Mascot, Milwaukee Brewers

Incredible Eats

IE-1 Italian Sausage, Boston Red Sox
IE-2 Peanuts, Milwaukee Brewers
IE-3 Fresh Popcorn, Atlanta Braves
IE-4 South Philly Dog, Philadelphia Phillies
IE-5 Cheesy Corn Brisket-acho, Kansas City Royals
IE-6 Chicken and Waffle Cone, Houston Astros
IE-7 Classic Pastrami, New York Mets
IE-8 Foot-Long Hot Dog, Colorado Rockies
IE-9 Nacho Bowl, Milwaukee Brewers
IE-10 Soft Pretzels, New York Yankees
IE-11 Cotton Candy, Boston Red Sox
IE-12 Corn on a Stick, Washington Nationals
IE-13 Hot Dogs & Onions, Chicago Cubs
IE-14 Broomstick Hot Dog, Texas Rangers
IE-15 Bacon Mac & Cheese, Texas Rangers
IE-16 Kayem Fenway Frank, Boston Red Sox
IE-17 Cracker Jack & Mac Dog, Pittsburgh Pirates
IE-18 Buffalo Cauliflower Poutine, Toronto Blue Jays


Pretty much everything else is up for grabs. Hoping to trade for any D-Backs inserts (I did pull the Diamondbacks Opening Day insert) from the set as well as any of the Mascot and Incredible Eats cards I still need.