Baseball Player and Celebrity Look Alikes

As I was sorting through some cards today I came across this 2001 Bowman Heritage card of Gabe Gross.

The card reminded me of Matt Lauria (I had to do a Google search to find out his actual name) from the TV show Parenthood.

My wife and I watch the TV show Parenthood together pretty much every Tuesday. We don't have a ton of shows that we both like, but this is one of them. Matt has been in several different tv shows including Friday Night Lights, The Chicago Code, and now Parenthood.

What do you think? Do they look alike?

This goes along with my Dimitri Young, Cedric the Entertainer post from a few years back.

Trifecta Tuesday: Brandon Webb

Over the next few Tuesdays I'm going to be showcasing some of my trifectas. Drew of the blog, DREWSCARDS invented the card trifecta so I have to give him credit. First up, I'm going to feature Brandon Webb. I have almost 250 different Webb cards and have multiple RC's, game-used, and autographs so I had to narrow it down to just one of each. I picked his 2003 Bowman Chrome rookie card, because when I think of rookie cards I think of Bowman and Bowman Chrome. I choose the 2004 Diamond Kings relic card because it not only featured a game-worn Jersey and game-used bat piece, but the jersey piece matches the jersey that he is wearing on the card. I choose the 2003 Sweet Spot Auto because I love Sweet Spot autographs on the ball.

 

Contest Plug for MC's Autograph Signings

Matt, of the blog MC's Autograph Signings, is new to the blogosphere and is having his first contest. To be entered you need to follow his blog and follow him on twitter and answer a trivia question. Here are the prizes.

Go check out his contest here. Matt collects cards and autographs from all sports and has a great blog!

Memorabilia Monday #1

I'm going to start a new feature called Memorabilia Monday. I'll feature various pieces of memorabilia that I have. It might be a ticket stub, program, autographed baseball, bobblehead, etc. The only limitation is that it's not a baseball card.

First up is this commeorative coin from the 2000 All-Star Game in Atlanta. Honestly I have no idea how or when I got this, but it's kinda cool...right? If anyone wants this, it's up for trade. Just let me know.

My 10 Favorite Baltimore Orioles Base Cards

I've been sorting my cards by team and decided to do a Top 10 post featuring my 10 favorite base cards from every team. I'm going to start with the Baltimore Orioles.

 

Now keep in mind that their is really no ryme or reason why I picked the cards that I did other than I liked them. So some of the cards I choose might leave you...

...scratching your head, just like Curtis Goodwin here.

 

#10 - From the look on his face I'm guessing he was out, but it looks like he gave it everything he had.

 

#9 - Very basic, but I like it!

 

#8 - I give kudos to Upper Deck for capturing Mussina getting his first Major-League Hit.

 

#7 - Always amazed when multiple pitchers combine for a No-Hitter!

 

#6 - He's staring right at the camera and yet he still flexed his muscles.

 

#5 - Great card featuring Ripken hard at work. This card reminds me just how gruling the shortsop position is and he did it for 2,632 consecutive games.

 

#4 - I think Bobby Bo just saw a spider!

 

#3 - Just a great looking card! I'll never forget Alomar spitting in the umpires face as an Oriole and this card features Dan Wilson as the catcher. Bonus!

 

#2 - This Jamie Moyer card reminded me of Uncle Rico from Napoleon Dynomite.

 

 

#1 - Great card featuring two Iron Horses!

Griffey and Piazza

In 1990 I was 9 years old and had a very tough decision to make. I had been collecting baseball cards for two years but didn't have a favorite player. I remember narrowing it down to two players, Robin Ventura of the White Sox and Ken Griffey Jr. of the Mariners. After careful deliberation, I decided Griffey was my man. Over the next 10 years I picked up every Griffey card I could get my hands on that I could afford. My favorite team was the Dodgers because Arizona didn't have a team at the time and so in 1993 I started collecting cards of Mike Piazza, and he and Griffey became the focus of my card collection.

Game-used and autographed cards didn't hit the market until the late 1990's and when they first came out they were extremely pricey, especially for a kid in high school. I took a two year break from card collecting from the middle of 2000 to the middle of 2002. When I returned to collecting there were Griffey and Piazza game-used and autographs available, but these were two popular players that still commanded a fair amount of money for memorabilia and autographed cards and I was a broke college kid trying to figure out what I was going to do with the rest of my life. I did pick up a few higher end Griffey and Piazza cards, but then I stopped collecting again for a while when I got married and we started having kids. I would pick up a few cards here and there but it wasn't like before.

In 2008 I started collecting again at a serious level, but by then Piazza had retired and Griffey was just heading back to Seattle to finish up his career. I still have my Griffey and Piazza collections, but I have never really showcased them on my blog before. One of my 2012 Card Collecting Goals was to organize my collection. I've been sorting through box after box of cards over the past several months and have come across my Griffey and Piazza collections and have pulled out any Griffey and Piazza cards that I've gotten over the past 4 years.

On Saturdays I'm going to start showing off my Griffey and Piazza collections on my blog.

It took me over 10 years before I was able to pick up the coveted 1989 Upper Deck Ken Griffey Jr. rookie card. I got this one from my LCS back in late 1999 or early 2000 and if I remember right I paid $150 for it. To me the card looked perfect and I sent it off to get graded by Beckett. I was disappointed to have it come back an 8.5 at the time and 10 plus years later I am even more disappointed every time I look at it. I think I'm going to break it free and enjoy it in a magnetic going forward.

Hall of Fame Friday: Ty Cobb

 

 

From the Baseball Hall of Fame website: "Ty Cobb may have been baseball's greatest player, if not the game's fiercest competitor. His batting accomplishments are legendary -- a lifetime average of .367, 297 triples, 4,191 hits, 12 batting titles (including nine in a row), 23 straight seasons in which he hit over .300, three .400 seasons (topped by a .420 mark in 1911) and 2,245 runs. Intimidating the opposition, The Georgia Peach stole 892 bases during a 24-year career, primarily with the Detroit Tigers."

Here is my baseball card collection of Hall of Famer Ty Cobb.