Moyer gets win # 250

Congratulations to Jamie Moyer for earning his 250th win today . . . some of us remember a younger Moyer wearing the big red "C" on his blue cap and pitching for the Chicago Cubs.

Moyers' major league debut AND first victory was on June 16, 1986 against the Philadelphia Phillies. Interesting enough win # 250 on May 31, 2008 he is wearing the colors of the Phillies.

You have come so far and it all started in Chicago . . . Congratulations Jamie Moyer !

Night(Owl) hits another homerun

as generous bloggers go NIGHT OWL is right up there with the best of them.

A surprise package arrived in my mailbox a few days back (actually on May 16 my birthday, though Greg did not know that). I was extremely pleased to find this bubble mailer / surprise birthday present filled with Cubs cards galore.

Some of my favorites include the Sammy Sosa Christmas 2000 card (second from left in top row with red bow), the 2008 Goudey Kosuke Fukudome Rookie card (fourth card in top row) and two 1992 BCM cards depicting the 1970 style of Matt Williams and the Astro Rookie Stars; Bowen and Juden (fifth and sixth cards second row) .

I have to admit that since my scanner has not been working recently and my camera skills are less than adequate the above does not reflect the true appreciation of what was sent. Over 25 cards from 2008 Heritage to 1988 mini to to 1997 Pinnacle to 2009 UD. A great selection.

As birthday surprises go, it was the best. Thank you Night Owl !

my Bad(Wax) Luck

in honor of a quarter million hits, BadWax held a rather random contest a few weeks back. Anyone could leave a comment and had to indicate the exact hit number we were at the time of our comment and share our most favorite post. In shear luck and randomness I won.

My luck and a most generous award was sent to me; the entire base set of the 2008 Allen & Ginter's includng SP's (350 cards) as well as the 50 state cards. Naturally I was and still am shocked yet very pleased.
This first picture showcases 11 inches of A & G (I was going to title this post "the 11 inch gift" but opted not to). These cards for those who are not familiar are an extra thick off-white card stock depicting artwork of every player.

A few of my favorite horizontal cards are the "Babe Ruth HR point" of Jim Thome, "leading off" of Ryan Braun, the "bat behind the back stretch" of Justin Morneau and the "airborne catch" of Eric Byrnes.

Most of the cards are actually the vertical style like "why are my eyes glancing to the left" from Greg Maddux, "in full gear" Jason Varitek and a nice "look over my shoulder" Edwin Encarnacion.

This set is extra special for a number of reasons and one of those are the non-baseball cards within the set. Such as top row of: Pablo Picaso, Jeff King (of Iditarod fame), Benjamin Franklin
and the bottom row of Billy Mitchell (Pac-Man champion), Joey Chestnut (hot dog eating champ) and Frank Morris (Rubik Cube fame).

A & G also had several sub-sets and one of the most popular are the state cards of which BadWax included. These cards are of even a heavier card stock than the base set and boast of a player from each state.
Three of special note are: Illinois - Curtis Granderson (I lived in Illinois for 42 years); Florida - Lastings Milledge (currently live in Florida) and Alaska - Curt Shilling (I never knew Alaska even had baseball).

This set is now going into a special binder, centered in my binder shelf and will be forever treasured as a most special set from a most generous "quarter million" blogger. Thank you BadWax !

in a class (post) by himself

I know I could have made one looooooong post about the cards I received from Ryan at Ryans Memorabilia Blog but Ryne Sandberg deserves to be in a class (post) by himself.

The first card is his 2008 Upper Deck Masterpieces (my newest favorite set); a great Sandberg card, with his stats from 1990 on the back: showcasing his career high and league leading 40 HR to go along with 30 doubles, 100 RBI's, a .306 BA and leading the league in runs scored with 116 and total bases with 344.

Other Sandbergs in this package were: a grimace ( 1996 fleer checklist # U249), an MVP card (1991 Leaf #404) and a triple action photo of him turning a double play (1994 Topps # 300).

Thanks again Ryan . . . as Ryne Sandberg is always in a class by himself and deserves a post all to himself.

Cards from Ryan

I received a great assortment of Cubs cards from a new blogger named Ryan (check out his blog: ryans memorabilia blog.wordpress). He being an Orioles fan should see his package of "vintage" O's arrive shortly.

Included in this group is my first jersey card: Fred McGriff - Stars of 89 from the 2002 Upper Deck.

While I have heard about these cards (and the even newer"pants" cards) this is indeed my first official jersey in my collection. It is somewhat interesting to me to note what other bloggers have also noticed; that being that McGriff is shown as a Cub, the Cubs logo is on the back but the "Congratulations!" clearly states this: "authentic piece of jersey worn by Fred McGriff in an official Blue Jays MLB game". That's right a Blue Jay jersey is what I have.

Nonetheless, I like having my first jersey card - I will just have to keep it front side up and ignore the back.

Also included in this package was another first for me; a 1997 Pinnacle Mint Bronze card of Sammy Sosa 17 / 30. I do like this card, the contract between the color photo and black and white (or in this case bronze and white) really has a nice look. The look on Sosa's face reminds me of his courtroom look.

Ryan also sent me a few of my "new" favorite cards; 2008 UD Masterpieces. I am now on a mission to collect the entire Cubs set of these cards. I like the large picture, the heavy cardstock and the gold thin line border.

Thanks Ryan for sending me two firsts and two favorites. More of what Ryan sent will be featured in a future post.

I collect cards because . . .

. . . . I enjoy baseball (watching, talking about, playing, reading, learning and now blogging about) and baseball cards are the small piece of history that can turn memories into stories, generation after generation.

Where else can a 2 1/2" x 3 1/2" piece of cardboard span over 50 years and tell so many tales. I love the fact that any one single player can appear on a card for so many years after one plays the game and still provide fans of the game of baseball a glimpse into their careers once forgotten.

For me "Mr. Cub" brings back many memories . . . Ernie Banks Topps 1957; my oldest card of "Mr Cub"Ernie Banks Donruss Threads 2008; my most recent card of "Mr Cub"

The Greatest Year in Sports ?

This is the time of year that debates will occur across this nation among sports fans: Was 2008 the greatest year in Sports ever ? I will remind everyone that I am a Chicagoan and more specifically a Chicago Cub fan so you may already gather where I said on this topic but none the less . . .

This past year began by bringing us the Giants victory in Super Bowl XLII, the amazing escape by Eli Manning to go along with the even more amazing catch by David Tyree and their victory over the heavily favored Patriots – what a way to start the year, if you are a Giants or football fan. The Philadelphia Phillies winning the World Series over the upstart Tampa Bay Rays. Olympic moments by eight time gold medal winner Michael Phelps, a Boston Celtic basketball championship after 22 years and college football madness that would have exciting games and remarkable victories every week. Not too mention the “greatest” golfer of all time winning the US Open on one knee with an extra 19 holes played on Monday. 2008 was truly a remarkable year in sports.

Many might argue that 1969 was better. The Miracle Mets (who overtook the Orioles and my Cubs), Namath’s AFC Jets and then there was Rod Laver in tennis winning the grand slam. 1972 was not half bad with the undefeated Dolphins, Mark Spitz seven gold medals and seven world records in the Olympics and Olga Korbut (who can ever forget her).

And 1980 will always be remembered for the “Miracle on Ice” as the USA Olympic Hockey team wins gold and the Phillies break a 97 year draught and win the World Series. And some even believe 1998 was the greatest year in sports; the year McGwire and Sosa fought bat-to-bat for the most homeruns (yes the steroid era will diminish this); Cal Ripken Jr ended his iron man consecutive game started streak at 2632 and the Chicago Bulls attained a “three peat repeat”.

All that said, 2008 will go down in history as one of the greatest years in sports ever.

For most, this debate is a generational argument; depending on your age, favorite sport, who we watched in person or on tv and what we consider to be our greatest memory in sports. For me the greatest year in sports will be when the Cubs finally win the World Series, whenever that may be or no matter how old I may be. I would love to hear from all of you. What is your take on this, what is your vote for the greatest year in sports ever ? For us Cub fans we just say “wait til next year” . . .