The Stadium Club Experience - Part 2

Part 2 of my 2016 Stadium Club experience, this time with the retired player content.

The scoreboard is so distracting. I suppose I could spend an hour or two at baseball-reference finding out which game this card photo originated from (Let's see, a 9-7 Yankees win against what looks like the Twins, a Baltimore/KC postponement and Koufax pitching a road game).

Thursday, June 4, 1964 looks right. You've got that score on a Yankees/Twins game. You don't have a Baltimore/KC game, but that would have been the 4th game of that series, and there was a double header later in the season, and Koufax was on the hill in Philly, throwing the third no-hitter of his career.

A quick cross-reference with gettyimages...

Los Angeles Dodgers Sandy Koufax mound during game vs Philadelphia Phillies at Connie Mack Stadium. View of scoreboard. Koufax pitches third no-hitter of his career. Walter Iooss Jr. F32 )

That would have been a lot easier if they'd just used the entire photo.

And it took about 10 minutes to work out the source.

There were cards in my first post where the stadium and/or its surroundings were the real stars of the card. This time, while it is a nice photo of Ford that I can't recall seeing on a card before, Yankee Stadium steals the show.

And as a Mets fan, that's about as complimentary as I'll get to a Yankees card.

Amazingly, the two first cards shown were the only ones in this group that were from in game action. I have more batting practice from this shipment than game shots. Mind you, these are all pretty interesting, running the gamut from a sold out stadium to a sparse pre-season game.

Players in suits! Nice try Frank, but last year's card of the Eck was a far nicer card (or at least more interesting card) with somebody's likeness sharing the bill.

No suit, but a perfectly framed card nonetheless.

It really wouldn't be a Stadium Club post without some more B&W images.

And one more, this one another one that could have been cropped a little wider.

But that is such a minor complaint for a set that offers so many great chase cards among the base. There are about a half dozen more that I'd like to add, but those can come whenever, as they sit on the outside of my most wanted list.

When I pull the trigger on those, they'll probably get a post of their own as well.

The Stadium Club Experience

The experience remains the same as it has for me over the past releases. Buy a couple packs, then scour ebay for images of the cards, pick my favourites, and order them from justcommons. It is a very effective methodology.

Like with last year, I'm breaking my posts into 2 posts. One for current players, and one for retired players.

My second straight post featuring a Derek Norris card. Not only do I have another contender for my favourite Norris card from 2016 releases, this one actually continues the photo series from the flagship release. While the first made it look that Reed would be out at the plate, this photo seems to confirm that.

Whether minor league,

or major league, it is appropriate that at least a couple of cards make the stadium itself the star of the cards.

Failing that, you can also make the landmarks visible from the stadium the star as well.

Mets content!

More Mets content.

And a few more random cards to wrap it up. All great, though.

Common and Random

Time to continue on and show even more of the goodies that came in the justcommons order. While 1 part was 2/14 guys, and another was the Franchise Flashbacks subset from Opening Day, these are the remnants that didn't fit into either category.

I'm just going to admit I bought this because I'm immature.

And this one as well can me attributed to me maturity level even though it really isn't as juvenile as the Matt Morris photo, but my reaction to Jeff's fashion choice certainly is. Still, this one isn't the most horrific shirt choice in my collection.

This is here for the pure cool photo factor. Pitcher at the plate and a broken bat.

And a very interesting card, my second from the same Bowman set in this post. Firsty, it is a great photo of a guy I collect where he's signing autographs. But, interestingly, and somewhat meta, is that the anonymous Expo on the program is also pictured signing an autograph. I've seen cards where there is one autograph being signed, but 2. Trippy.

And finally, here are some Mets. Rich Becker for the obscure Mets factor and Dave Telgheder because it reminded me of this Red Green bit.

And that's most of the "None Of The Above" from justcommons, although some will also show up on other blogs once the mail arrives.

Nothing Just Common About These 2/14 additions

So, with the last of the money I got frm selling the Sparkle of Mike Trout that I got from my first pack of '15 Flagship, I hit up Just Commons to add to my PCs. Probably enough to get three posts out of the deal worth as well. And here's the first, highlighting some big, and some small additions to the collection.

First up, the newest card in my collection, both in terms of binder arrival and production - this just about a month old Derek Norris. It is my first card of him as a Padre, albeit a photoshopped one.

And almost as old were these two cards. But, they lack the necessary photoshopping to reflect Derek's move to the Padres (which given the photo used, would have been easy) and Clippard's move to Derek's old stomping ground in Oakland. Still, given the slightly smaller checklist, I'm just happy to see Tyler make an appearance in this set.

The biggest addition was this group of 10 John Marzanos, which doubles my collection of his to 20. And yes, that's a Topps Micro lurking around the bottom.

But, even with that move to 20 cards (with a 21st on the way) John still trails Scott Scudder for the overall lead. This is his 24th card. And yes, this one is yet another 1991 Topps Micro. Both of which now take over from some Ginter/GQ minis of Derek Norris as the smallest cards in my 2/14 collection.

But for me, there are no small cards in the collection, which now totals 999. #1000 will show tomorrow, and it will be a new face!

Not Just Common to Me! Part 4 - And The Rest!

Let's wrap up yet another bubble envelope of goodies!

Yes, I picked up a card from an umpire set. Because why wouldn't I? And if I'm going to do such a thing, I might as well go all in and get a two for one umpire card saluting a family of umpires. A third Runge was also an umpire in MLB until a year or so ago.

And you even get a write up on the back! I'm now upset I didn't get more of these!

Otis Nixon always seems to make the lists when people list some of the ugliest people ever to play baseball. Someone in a Herb Tarlek suit should be hanging out at county fairs trying to lure you into a booth simply to look at his cards. "And you can see Serpentina, the Snake Lady, too! Cmon! It's only a dollar! I'll even let you take one his 1987 Topps home!"

So, does this Hannibal Lecter helmet make things better by obscuring his face? Or does it amp the nightmare factor up tenfold?

Either way, sleep tightly!

At least the back features a bunt photo!

I didn't pick up this Conlon card for the subject matter on the front...

but for the story of the spitball on the back.

A throwback uniform!

And to end things, here's just 3 cards out of 2003 Upper Deck. There are a good number of interview shots out there. I don't think there could be a better one for the subject than an interview after winning the World Series. There's a whole lot of butt on Odalis' pitcher at the plate card, and the stadium and the city behind is the real star of the Mike Cameron card.

Not Just Common to Me! Part 3 - I Love The (Mid) 90's!

Time to reach back into the COMC and pull out some more cards. The only ones left that I can combine into some sort of theme is a small collection of 1994 Topps and 1995 Pinnacle.

Definitely not a major acquisition when it comes to 1994 Topps. Mainly, it was a quick look through COMC for a few interesting photos in the set, and add a few cards into my shopping cart that intrigue me. I think those two cards are among the top cards when ranked in terms of the number of batting helmets visible in a card. A throwback uniform makes an appearance. We can google around and trace this to a game from August 1, 1993. Roger Mason picked up the win that day.

In terms of non-set building volume, 1995 Pinnacle was the leader in terms of cards for a set build. First up were these standard vertical cards. I love the inset use on the Belle. It almost looks like he's dreaming about at bats. The Ken Hill is an interesting perspective. The Otis Nixon might be the most photogenic he has ever appeared on cardboard. There's a great aftermath of a PATP on Alomar. I would have rather had the Todd Ziele base card for the clearer photo, but I still like the perspective on the play at third. Jeff Granger must amuse easily. There's my second 'donning the tools if ignorance' card in this justcommons run, and how could you not want a card with Pedro Martinez enjoying a lollipop?

But there were also a three-pack of horizontal cards as well. Autograph signings. Donuts. And they couldn't have superimposed John Burkett's head in a better place to give a view of The Ballpark.

And there's another 15 cards from that envelope.

Not Just Common to Me! Part 2 - Am I Not Stadium-y enough for the Stadium Club?

I hope I am stadium-y enough, since much of this bubble envelope consisted of a significant addition of card under the Stadium Club banner being moved into my misc. interesting photo binder.

The earliest S. Club card in my envelope was this one from 1995. Just one, but is the only card in my collection featuring a player catching sunflower seeds in his mouth. At least I'm hoping that's what they are.

In terms of volume, the big addition was 1997 cards.  There's a couple of Mets cards in there, including a Gilkey that makes Shea Stadium a costar on the picture. The empty stadium is also the star on the Jaha. Thankfully, the photo on Keith Lockhart was snapped a split second after a moment that would have made the card much more than a double play shot to those who are juvenile. Actually, the bunt practice on the Gilkey is as offensive as these get, as the rest of these game-used are all defensive plays.

1998 cards were next, and there's at least one blog famous one there with the laptop photo. Plus, we've got a pitcher at the plate, someone donning the tools of ignorance and an appearance of the on-deck circle. But, despite the rare appearance of said circle, the stadium is once again the star of the card.

Another gorgeous overhead shot in this release as well, joining an Omar Daal with a similar photo from the same year's release. I wonder if they were snapped the same day. There's another entry in the great cardboard legacy of Jose Lima. A throwback uniform, and a pair of batting pitchers round out 1999. And that Ashby wild flail is exactly what I expect from a pitcher at bat.

And here are a pair of Pirates cards from 2002. Looks like someone is going to get a memorable souvenir courtesy of Jason Kendall.

And finally, here are some of this year's Stadium Club cards. I think that might be Curtis Granderson's non-photoshopped Mets debut on cardboard. That Gattis speaks for itself as one of the stranger entries ever. The only way that the David Ortiz card could be better is if they used the actual selfie as the card. And to wrap things up with a couple cards that wrap things up, the farewells of Todd Helton and Roy Halladay. I'm not sure what game the Helton was from, but the Halladay was from where he tossed out the opening day pitch. Both are absolutely perfect choices for the last cards of a player's active career.

2 more posts to go to wrap up this envelope!

Not Just Common to Me! Part 1 - Adding to my PCs

It has been a few weeks since this package showed up - seems like a good time to finally show some of the contents off. Much of the cards were of the set building variety, but I did add some cards to my personal collections, grabbed a small pile of Stadium Clubs from various years for my "neat photo" collection, and then still have some misc. cards for the rest of the bubble envelope.

To start, here's one of the newest cards that I could add to my Joe Carter collection. Surprisingly, he hasn't shown up in any Topps product for a bit, so it is off to Panini for one of his cards. At least this one doesn't need any airbrushing. And by "for a bit", I mean that his last card in a Topps product I can find at sportlots is 2005 Pristine.

Off to the 2/14 collection, and this is the card that leaves me only 2 base cards away from having all of perfect 2/14 match Damaso Marte's solo base cards. Only 2003 UD 40-man and 2005 MLB Showdown remain.

I'm a little further out from completing Larry Milbourne's base card collection, but many of those are Topps Tiffany and local giveaway releases, so I'm not incredibly concerned about adding those.

And here's a nice 8-pack of Carlos Delgado cards There's a good variety of stuff here. From a bilingual Pacific release, to an incredibly loud 1998 Thunder card to a nicely subdued 2002 Upper Deck flagship release. I think that Zenith is a dupe, though. I really do like the design on the 2000 Victory cards, and that's my pick for favourite card with that.

So, there's a 15 card dent in my justcommons package.

Decisions. Decisions.

Coming across this card made me wonder about something. If I were to send this to Nick @ Dime boxes, which mini collection would it be under?

A) Autograph signing
B) Kids on cards
C) Throwback uniforms

In order to prevent frustration, I might just keep the card for myself.

Collector's Choice 1995 - I Choose You! Part 2

Another quick post as I'm still up to my arse in COMC Challenges. I've got 130ish cards in my inventory. That should be enough for me to finally hit ship on the thing, right?

So, if you hear something about a hunchbacked mailman over the next while in Ontario, it's my fault.

Hunchbacked mailman? Oooo! Scary stuff kids! Oh boy!

Tonight's movie on Monster Chiller Horror Theatre is a remake of The Thing With Two Heads! It stars Brian Jordan, and some other guy. It doesn't matter. I'm sure it will be scary stuff.

OK. Enough with the silly. If this was a bunt, it wasn't a very good one. But, Kirt's a good defensive catcher chasing it down no matter what. If it is a fielding attempt after a dropped third strike, it is a rather rare baseball play featured on a card.

Not quite as rare, but pitchers fielding doesn't show up that frequently.

So rare, it bumps a pitcher at the plate to the back.