Wednesday, November 20, 2024
Tuesday, December 28, 2021
Ragged Rookie Review Randall
I'm writing this on my phone. I didn't have to say that, but it seems to have become a liability statement these days. "I wrote this on my phone so please excuse my grammar and spelling and lack of writing ability." Who has time to get a computer out these days when there's starving kids on TikTok.
I'm currently sitting on a bench in the cold while my daughter is in an art class. I'll spare you the details of why. However, I find myself in a weird combination of having free time while not free to move anywhere. The cold and the metal bench are in a race to see who.can make my ass go numb first. If you see any periods where there should be spaces as above with "who.can", it's because the space bar on the phone isn't wide enough, and I have the thumb control of a Mortal Combat button masher. And to hell with going back and fixing it.
I've now killed 1/9 of my wait time. Here's something fun: my next sentence will be created completely by the suggested words on my phone. Perhaps you have to go back and see if it was the first time you had a Merry Christmas or something like that. Profound.
Anyway here's a card:
Wednesday, April 21, 2021
X's and O's
Before I knew it, along came 2020 and 2021, a flummoxing pair of years. Suddenly I didn't have to go anywhere or do anything, so I could play with cards again. I also wasn't spending money on eating out and other things, so the bank account was feeling antsy. Yay, the hobby is back for me! Things are great! I can go to the store and buy retail again! (I'm not a smart man). On a side note, is there a better first name for a last card than Lastings?
The idea that in 2021 a Vlad Guerrero was the last card I needed to complete a master set and I didn't have to shell out ungodly amounts of money is pretty amazing. Glad it was the old fart.
Monday, February 22, 2021
RIP the pack
Reconciling expenses at the end of the month, I'd put the $33 Wal-Mart entry in the "grocery" tab. I knew full well I'd spent the better half of that charge on baseball cards. That's the cost of sending me to the grocery store, I suppose. Doing this in the winter was always the best. It was cold enough outside that I didn't have to worry about perishables as I sat in the parking lot ripping into the more satisfying portion of the purchase.
Inspect the pack. Do I open it from the top? Maybe I'll just tear the flap on this one. Yeah, that worked.
These days, my Wal-Mart purchases lean further to milk-and-eggs than wax-and-cardboard. I no longer have to catch up with my family in the Target housewares section after browsing the card shelves. I don't have to invent justifications when my wife wonders why "a pack" turned into "a blaster". Good thing she didn't catch my sleight of hand as I slid two rack packs beneath the most concealing wares in the cart.
Slide the wrapper off, trying not to peek at the back card. Square the cardboard stack with my fingers. Turn them to reveal the top card. Here we go.
There are no packs. The shelves are emptier now than when they used to be empty. They used to be empty with Topps Lineage or Panini Triple Play or Upper Deck Documentary. Now, they're just empty. The display boxes have been reversed, flipped upside down, or even discarded; each of those three configurations perhaps more fitting than the one before it. I just want a pack.
It's Joey Votto, the best player that no one cares about. Second card is an Indian or a Cub, or a Cub who was traded to the Indians. No one cares about that guy, he's probably card #236. Three more cards until the insert. No one cares about them.
The absence of packs may be the straw that broke the camel's back. My humps are much more pronounced now than they were when I started this blog 10 years younger. My back can only support so much. I suppose the pack drought is just an inevitable step in the waning of my hobby existence. Scott Sizemore, David Wright, Michael Cuddyer, and BJ Melvin BJ Upton are retired. I sold my Justin Verlander collection. I'm using the proceeds to eradicate my want lists. I focus my time on other things. I discovered Pokemon last year and have been sharing that with my daughter. Of course, the buying fury has come for Pokemon as well.
A no-name, a rookie no-name, and a Yankee. The insert is David Wright. I needed it. Now, I have it. The last six cards are probably fine. Who cares. I got the card I wanted. This pack was perfect. The Wright goes in a binder and the I-don't-cares get carefully sorted into a box. Secretly, I care about them.
Maybe I'm just aging. Maybe it's just stress. Maybe it's shifting priorities. Maybe it's an unprecedented time in history. Maybe it's definitely all of those. For the first time in my life, I have all of my non-personal-collection baseball cards sorted. I want them, but I don't want them. I want to put them back on the shelf, but I want to hand them off to someone else's storage space. I want to cherish them, but I don't even want to look at them. I'm probably going to part with them. I'll still have plenty of cards that I love and want to thumb through and share with others.
I think it took writing this to be at peace with the decision to reduce my cardboard footprint.
I also think I'll hang on to at least one empty box. You never know when you'll find some groceries.
Friday, July 10, 2020
I bought a pack of cards
Wednesday, April 10, 2019
2006 Topps Allen & Ginter #250
Friday, September 21, 2018
Gint-A-Cuffs X - Packs 17-24
Alright, this is it, the last hurrah. We have one hit left. My point total stands at 93.5.
Pack 17 |
Montgomery, Yankee |
Harper, Nationals, FP (+1+4) |
Contreras A&G Back Mini |
World’s Greatest Beaches |
Pack Score: 8 |
Box Score: 101.5 |
Pace: 132.176470588235 |
😀 Bryciepoo! |
Pack 18 |
Riley Mini, -1 |
Ripken Fantasy Goldmine |
Pack Score: 1 |
Box Score: 102.5 |
Pace: 127.666666666667 |
😦 Riley strikes again. After Jackie Robinson, Ripken may have the best modern cards. |
Pack 19 |
Indigenous Heroes |
Baseball Equipment of the Ages |
Pack Score: 4 |
Box Score: 106.5 |
Pace: 127.421052631579 |
😐 |
Pack 20 |
Larkin, FP list |
Betts Framed Mini Relic |
Carew World Talent |
Pack Score: 10 |
Box Score: 116.5 |
Pace: 134.4 |
😁 Good, my last hit had a frame. A&G frames are the best. I also love when folks pick the old school players for their favorite. |
Pack 21 |
Magnificent Moons |
Pack Score: 2 |
Box Score: 118.5 |
Pace: 131.571428571429 |
🌚 That's no moon. Ok, so it's a moon. The Moon. And it's magnificent. but not that magnificent of a card. It's a not-so-magnificent Magnificent Moon Moon. |
Pack 22 |
Torres, Yankee |
Bruce Homerun Challenge |
Moustakas A&G Back Mini |
Gehrig Fantasy Goldmine, Yankee (+2-1) |
Pack Score: 3 |
Box Score: 121.5 |
Pace: 130.090909090909 |
😐 Damn yankees. |
Pack 23 |
Folio of Fears |
World’s Greatest Beaches |
Pack Score: 5 |
Box Score: 126.5 |
Pace: 130.826086956522 |
😏 Ok, ok, ok. |
Pack 24 |
Sanchez World Talent, Yankee (+2-1) |
Pack Score: 1 |
Box Score: 127.5 |
Pace: 127.5 |
💩
Welp, that ended with a thud. Or a turd. Or a Yankee. Potato Puhtahtoe.
The hot box bonus may be the only thing that saves me, but I'm not too hopeful. Probably just enough to get me in the Top 5 but not the Top 1.
Anyway, final score: