Time Travel Trading Update #29

"You're out of your mind! I'm staying, and your going!"

"Forget you, you no talent hack! I was here first!"

"No talent hack? You realize what garbage is coming out of your mouth?"

The bickering had been going on for almost an hour. On one side, Clete Boyer argued his case. Opposing him...Clete Boyer. Paul sat back and watched as a man born 82 years ago argued with another copy of himself. Stanley the security guard leaned over. "You want me to break them up,  boss? They're about ready to make this fight physical..."

"No, I'm actually curious on how this will play out." Paul really was too. Would an injury to one result in a similar injury to the other? Never before had the time machine brought back the same man from the same point in time. Usually duplicates of any ballplayer were separated and not allowed to even see each other, but in this case both Clete Boyers showed up too quickly. Now here they were, aware that one has to go back, arguing on who gets to play meaningful baseball again.

Amusing as it was, Stanley was right. One had to go back, and unless he interjected, the Boyer twins would just keep on fighting. Paul dug into his pocket as he approached the two men.

"Gentleman, this has gone on far enough. We'll flip a coin to determine who stays and who goes."

**********

I apologize in advance. This is a very long post! I probably should have broken each trade into it's own post, but I'm just too excited for what came in. It's worth it however, as there a great deal of new cards to show off.

I've said this since the beginning, but this little project of mine would not have grown and flourished as it has without the amazing generosity of the people I traded with. More often than not, I've been on the receiving end of extra cards that well exceed the value of what I sent out. Look at the trade stack and at least 70% of the cards you'll see have come from two traders. These two guys are my unofficial "patron saints" - they just keep initiating trade after trade, and they always give more than they receive.  Both of these guys came through for me yet again recently.

First trade comes from a TCDB member named Gary. He originally offered up a trade for a 2018 Topps Instant Impact insert of Nomar Garciapara.

This was the original offer for Nomar - a great coin from 1964!


But of course, Gary couldn't just send that singular item. He had to include an amazing stack of cards, including some recent stuff...


...some not so recent stuff...


...tons of 70's goodness...


...including a 2nd 1971 Clete Boyer...


...as well as an icon of rock...


...some vintage football...


...oh, wait, even more baseball...




...a few checklists...


...and finally some hockey and basketball!


Holy cow that's a lot of new cards, and that's just from the first trade!

My other "patron saint" is Bo from Baseball Cards Come To Life. From my notes, we've completed a record 5 Time Travel trades, and Bo always sends good stuff my way. This time around, I sent him a 1960 Topps card and the rest of the 2019 Topps cards. What did I get in return?

Well, he started off with some 70's Red Sox cards (an always welcome addition!)...




... a whole stack of 1973 Topps...






... and some other great vintage as well, going all the way to 1959!


I'll save you the trouble of counting - that's 64 new cards added to the stack, and 159 total cards available!

Who's next? You don't need to be my next patron saint, you just need to be willing to trade me an older card than what I'm sending you! See something you like? Comment below or send me a trade through the Trading Card Database (User Name: Kep75)! 

The Time Travel Trade Stack:

2018 Topps
#502 Xander Bogaerts

2017 Bowman
#12 Trea Turner 
#15 Buster Posey

2017 Topps 
#380 Albert Pujols 

2008-09 O-Pee-Chee (hockey)
#128 Tim Thomas

2001 Upper Deck - e-Card (golf)
#E-TW Tiger Woods

1998 SP Top Prospects
#119 James Manias

1996 Upper Deck 
#202 Alex Rodriguez

1993 Classic Draft Picks (basketball)
#33 Will Flemons
#67 Bennie Seltzer

1990-91 Hoops (basketball)
#168 Glen Rice (RC)

1990 Upper Deck
#626 Frank Viola

1990 Pro Set - Theme Art (football)
#10 Super Bowl X Pittsburgh Steelers / Dallas Cowboys 

1989 Fleer
#29 Bob Welch

1989 Score
#495 Larry Parrish

1986 Sportflics
#122 John Tudor

1986 Topps
#5 Rose Special '75-'78
#6 Rose Special '79-'82
 #401 Fernando Valenzuela (Turn Back The Clock)

1985 Topps
#694 Joe Carter

1982 Donruss
#NNO Checklist 545-653

1982 O-Pee-Chee E.T. The Extraterrestrial (non-sport)
#15 Among Elliott's Toys

1981 Topps 
#100 Rod Carew (AS) 
#210 Jim Palmer

1980 Topps
#143 Bruce Bochte
#157 Willie Wilson
#290 Steve Garvey (AS) 
#671 A's Future Stars

1979 Topps
#130 Bob Watson
#214 Boston Red Sox (TC) 
#465 Reggie Smith
#680 Carlton Fisk (AS)
 
1978 Donruss KISS (2nd Series) (non-sport)
#99 Paul Stanley

1978 Topps
#63 Don Zimmer (MGR)
#131 Bert Blyleven
#295 Bill Lee
#373 Jim Willoughby
#482 Rick Miller
#706 Rookie 1st Baseman (Cage/Cox/Putnam/Revering) 

1977 Topps
#524 Rowland Office

1976 Topps
#50 Fred Lynn (ASR) 
#78 Cecil Cooper
#193 '75 NL Home Run Leaders
#597 Rookie Pitchers (Aase/Kucek/LaCorte/Pazik)

1975 Topps
#310 '74 Victory Leaders
#378 Derrel Thomas
#402 Bob Tolan

1974 Topps
#38 Don Kessinger
#67 Tommy Helms
#158 Jack Billingham

1974 Topps - Team Checklists
#NNO Montreal Expos

1973-74 O-Pee-Chee (hockey)
#53 Richard Lemieux

1973 Topps
#18 Leroy Stanton
#29 Tony Taylor 
#30 Tug McGraw
#36 Steve Barber
#68 1972 Leading Firemen (Carroll/Lyle)
#75 Vada Pinson
#79 Jim Willoughby (RC)
#80 Tony Oliva
#85 Ted Simmons#98 Dick Woodson
#99 Carl Taylor
#116 Ralph Houk (MGR)
#145 Bobby Bonds
#225 Albert Oliver
#232 Ken Singleton
#240 Bobby Murcer
#258 Tommy John
#325 Boog Powell
#329 Ed Kranepool
#365 Rico Petrocelli
#368 Bill Buckner

1972-73 Topps (hockey)
#8 Stanley Cup Trophy

1972 Kellogg's All Time Greats 
#1 Walter Johnson  

1972 Topps
#43 Rick Wise
#52 Harmon Killebrew (IA)
#109 Jerry May
#437 Maury Wills
#438 Maury Wills (IA)
#450 Mickey Lolich

1971 Topps
#16 Ken Singleton (RC)
#63 AL 1970 RBI Leaders (Howard/Conigliaro/Powell)
#71 AL 1970 Strikeout Leaders (McDowell/Lolich/Johnson)
#90 Joe Pepitone
#95 Luis Tiant
#105 Tony Conigliaro
#146 Ralph Houk (MGR)
#183 Gil Hodges (MGR)
#195 AL Playoffs Game 1 - Powell Muscles Twins!
#208 Billy Martin (MGR)
#270 Rico Carty
#290 Tony Oliva
#374 Clete Boyer
#374 Clete Boyer
#385 Maury Wills
#388 Al Oliver
#626 Freddie Patek

1971 Topps (football)
#22 Ken Avery (RC)
#110 Floyd Little (AS)

1970-71 Topps (basketball)
#16 Bob Weiss 

1970 Fleer World Series
#1 1903 World Series Pirates vs Red Sox  

1970 Red Rose and Blue Ribbon North American Wildlife In Danger (non-sport)
#32 Polar Bear

1970 Topps
#47 Bob Miller
#56 Phillies Rookies - Joe Lis/Scott Reid (RC)
#103 Frank Reberger
#509 Montreal Expos (TC)

1970 Topps (football)
#135 Paul Warfield 

1969 Topps
#66 Orioles Rookies
#139 Andy Kosco
#412 Checklist 426-512 (Mantle) 

1969 Topps - Deckle Edge
#13 Mel Stottlemyre

1969 Topps (football)
#73 Bennie McRae
#115 Randy Johnson
#154 Sam Baker
#175 Joe Morrison

1968 Topps
#4 1967 AL RBI Leaders (Yastrzemski/Killebrew/Robinson)
#209 Tim Cullen (ASR) 
#222 Jim Hardin (RC) 
#309 Ken Henderson
#348 Larry Colton/Dick Thoenen
#449 Gene Oliver

1968 Topps - Game
#15 Steve Hargan

1968 Topps (football)
#7 Earl Gros

1967 Philadelphia (football)
#109 New York Giants (TC)

1966 Topps
#154 Chuck Hiller

1966 Philadelphia (football)
#104 Rams vs. Browns

1965 Philadelphia (football)
#193 John Paluck

1964 Philadelphia (football)
#172 Ken Gray (RC)

1964 Topps
#76 Checklist 1st Series 

1964 Topps - Coins 
#7 Frank Malzone

1963 Fleer 
#47 Roger Craig

1963 Topps
#155 Bill Stafford

1961-62 Fleer (basketball)
#32 Willie Naulls 

1961 Topps
#32 Ray Sadecki
#38 Bob Lillis
#96 Billy O'Dell
#165 Gino Cimoli
#258 Jack Sanford
#267 Norm Siebern
#273b 4th Series Checklist

1960 Topps
#118 Bob Bruce (RC,RS)
#289 Willie Jones

1959 Topps
#424 Ken Aspromonte

1959 Topps (football)
#80 Joe Perry

1958 Topps Zorro (non-sport)
#83 Rude Awakening

1957 Topps
#66 Brooks Lawrence
#235 Tom Poholsky
#249 Dave Pope
#371 Bob Lennon
#406 Bob Hale

1956 Topps
#21 Joe Collins
#103 Willie Miranda (white back)
#156 Johnny Antonelli

1956 Topps Flags of the World (non-sport)
#70 Jordan

1955 Topps
#126 Dick Hall (RC)

1954 Bowman
#73 Don Mueller

1952 Bowman
#57 Clyde Vollmer

1938 Church & Dwight Useful Birds Of America Tenth Series (J9-6) (non-sport)
#2 Black-throated Green Warbler

The Time Travel Trading Project is simple in concept. I started out with a random pack of 2018 Topps Series 1 baseball cards. My aim was to trade every card in that pack for something older. Each card I receive in turn is then made available for trade, with the goal to get the oldest card I can get.

Number of trades completed: 33
Unique trading partners: 24

Number of cards mailed out: 89
Year of oldest card mailed out: 1956

Number of cards received: 232
Year of oldest card received: 1938

Who's #100 Contest

This is it! The final clue! (At least the final posted clue...)

Clue #1: He's a former All-Star.
Clue #2: He was once traded for a former Cy Young Award winner.
Clue #3: He was almost traded for a Hall of Famer.
Clue #4: He was drafted by Texas Rangers. 
Clue #5: He has never played for the Boston Red Sox.
Clue #6: He has played in both the American and National Leagues.
Clue #7: He was born in Northern California.
Clue #8: He once struck out 21 batters in a minor league game.  

Here's your 2-point clue:

Clue #9: He has three World Series rings, but none of them from his playing days!

The subject of the 100th Repack Haiku gets revealed on Wednesday! This is your last chance to enter, or change your guess if you've done so previously. You can also earn bonus points by guessing the year and brand of the card. Comment below!

Red Barn Battle - 1996 Stadium Club Vs 2010 Topps

Time to wrap things up with the last two packs I picked up on my Spring Training trip. Topps beat Stadium Club earlier, so let's see if this time will be any different.

The last battle worked out well because both packs had the same number of cards in them. That's not the case with these two, so I'm going to do something different. I want to see which deck packed the most star power, so I'm going to look up the career WAR of every player (as of 2018), and take the average per card. The more stars, the higher the average WAR, right? I'm also going to compare the total number of All-Star appearances for the players.

I'll start out with the pack of 1996 Topps Stadium Club Series 1, showing off two cards at a time.

#175 Tyler Green (-0.5 WAR, 1 AS)

#46 John Mabry (-2.3 WAR, 0 AS)

OK, so Stadium Club is not starting off strong, giving me two players who finished their careers with negative WAR values. At least Green breaks the All-Star bubble with one selection to the Midsummer Classic. (Totals: -2.8 WAR, 1 All-Star selection)

#211 Jay Buhner (23.0 WAR, 1 AS)

#76 Steve Parris (5.0 WAR, 0 AS)

That's more like it! Wait, Jay Buhner only made one All-Star team? I'm rather shocked by this. But Buhner and Parris get Stadium Club out of the hole and provide a good foundation. (Totals: 25.2 WAR, 2 All-Star selections)

#42 Tony Clark (12.4 WAR, 1 AS)

#123 Derek Jeter (72.4 WAR, 14 AS)

Boom! Stadium Club may have just ended this battle early with a non-rookie card of the 1996 Rookie of the Year and future Hall of Famer. Even a Red Sox fan like me can appreciate the fact this card makes the pack worth every cent. (Totals: 110.0 WAR, 17 All-Star selections)

#9 Juan Gonzalez (38.7 WAR, 3 AS)

#18 Bill Pulsipher (0.5 WAR, 0 AS)

Juan Gonzalez keeps the party going! (Totals: 148.7 WAR, 20 All-Star selections)

#43 Bill Swift (20.8 WAR, 0 AS)

#18 Bill Pulsipher (0.5 WAR, 0 AS)

Wow, Stadium Club, way to throw a double of Bill Pulsipher at me to wrap things up. (Totals: 170.5 WAR, 20 All-Star selections)

1996 Topps Stadium Club Series 1

170.5 WAR (Ave: 17.05 WAR)
20 All-Star Game selections

It's 2010 Topps' turn now! Can Topps overcome the mighty Jeter?

#515 Seattle Mariners - N/A

#650 Dustin Pedroia (52.1 WAR, 4 AS)

Right off the bat the Topps deck forces a judgement call. How to score this one? On one hand, it's a team card. However, since I'm judging by star power, you can't do much better than these two Hall of Famers. The combined WAR of Griffey, Ichiro, and Pedroia would already exceed the total for the entire Stadium Club deck. In the interest of keeping this battle somewhat fair, I'm not going to count team cards at all. Pedroia is still an excellent start though! (Totals: 52.1 WAR, 4 All-Star selections)

#657 Chris Young (17.3 WAR, 1 AS)

#590 Ryan Howard (15 WAR, 3 AS)

Ryan Howard only accumulated 15 total WAR? Wow...for comparison, Mike Trout's seasonal high was 10.5! (Totals: 84.4 WAR, 8 All-Star selections)

#485 Jesus Flores (0.9 WAR, 0 AS)

#428 Baltimore Orioles - N/A

Another team card, this one commemorating Cal Ripken's legendary streak. I'm glad I decided against counting team cards, but this basically takes away Topps' two card advantage. (Totals: 85.3 WAR, 8 All-Star selections)

#554 Ramon Hernandez (21.9 WAR, 1 AS)

#417 Dallas Braden (5.0 WAR, 0 AS)

More unexpected WAR craziness - Raise your hand if you would have swapped Ryan Howard straight up for Ramon Hernandez in 2010. Yet Hernandez by virtue of defense had a better WAR. (Totals: 112.2 WAR, 9 All-Star selections)

#T1 Ryan Braun (46.4 WAR, 6 AS)

Lance Berkman (52.1 WAR, 6 AS)

Topps puts this battle away for good with a pair of 6-time All-Stars. (Totals: 210.7 WAR, 21 All-Star selections)

#546 Bud Norris (5.3 WAR, 0 AS)

#627 Jeremy Hermida (2.7 WAR, 0 AS)

Fun fact: I have 4 or 5 degrees of separation with Hermida. My wife's aunt is married to one of Jeremy's relatives. ( I forget exactly how, a cousin or something I think.)  Not a bad way to wrap things up, if I do say so myself! (Totals: 218.7 WAR, 21 All-Star selections)

2010 Topps Series 2

218.7 WAR (Ave: 21.87 WAR)
21 All-Star Game selections

Topps wins, and sweeps the two game series!

Who's #100 Contest

We're getting down to the wire! Only one more clue after today!

Clue #1: He's a former All-Star.
Clue #2: He was once traded for a former Cy Young Award winner.
Clue #3: He was almost traded for a Hall of Famer.
Clue #4: He was drafted by Texas Rangers. 
Clue #5: He has never played for the Boston Red Sox.
Clue #6: He has played in both the American and National Leagues.
Clue #7: He was born in Northern California.

Here's your 3-point clue:

Clue #8: He once struck out 21 batters in a minor league game.

That should narrow down the field a bit! You can probably guess the position he played now. Remember, you can also score points by correctly guessing the year and brand of the card. Those extra points could be the difference maker!