Generosity In All It's Forms

It's a well known fact that card collectors are among the most generous of any hobby group. What's more, they express this generosity in many ways:

 

Take for instance Tom (Batting Out Of Order). He recently held a giveaway on his blog for anyone to take advantage of. I of course took part. Nabbing the Red Sox cards was an obvious choice for me, as was a vintage Sabres card. The rest, to be honest, were cards I just liked for one reason or another. (Except for the Big Red Machine Combo card - I actually wanted the card next to it, but wrote down the wrong number in the comments! No matter - it's still a cool card! I should probably double check and see if a certain Larkin super-collector needs it...)

 

 

Favorite Card: 1977 Hostess #148 George Scott  

 

Sometimes generosity comes in the form of some extra cards in a trade. That's what Bo (Baseball Cards Come to Life!) did with our most recent Time Travel Trading trade. He included these extra cards for my collection:

 

 

Favorite Card: 2002 Upper Deck #597 Johnny Damon

 

Random unexpected cards are wonderful, but sometimes a collector will contatc you, see if you need specific cards and then hunt them down for you. That's what Stuart (S.R. '75 Cards) did when he asked if I needed the two Japanese variations of Daisuke Matsuzaka's 2007 Topps card. He sent both of them my way, along with an unexpected autograph:

 

Favorite Card: 2026 Topps Heritage - Real One Autographs #ROA-KCA Kristian Campbell (AU) 

 

My sincerest thanks to Tom, Bo, and Stuart for their amazing generosity!  

Repack Haiku #472 (Wyatt Langford)

Fourth pick in the draft

Jumped four levels in three months

Joined Rangers next Spring

 

2024 Topps
#700 Wyatt Langford (RC, VAR)

Langford was the 4th overall pick in the 2023 MLB Draft. He signed quickly and made his pro debut July 18th for the Rangers' rookie league team. On August 2, he was promoted to their High-A affiliate. After 24 games there, he was promoted again to AA for the final 12 games of their season. When that season ended he joined the AAA team to finish out their season. The following year (2024), he made the Opening Day roster for the Texas Rangers. 

 

Also, in all my years buying repacks, this is the first SP variation card I think I ever pulled!  

More Than Manny - A Side Of Rice

Last Monday, I showed off a buffet of Manny Ramirez cards sent to me from blogger and card collector extraordinaire John (Johnny's Trading Spot). This feast of Manny cardboard wasn't all he sent however. Along with the main course, he included a side of Rice! 

 

 

Favorite card from this group: 2023 Panini Chronicles - Zenith #15 Jim Rice

 

Favorite card from this group: 1992 Sportflics Kellogg's Corn Flakes All Stars #8 Jim Rice

 

Favorite card from this group: 1986 Topps #320 Jim Rice

 

That's a lot of Rice! Now, some of you may be wondering why I didn't show off my TCDB ranking and how much it changed as a result of this bundle. Truth is, out of the 32 cards listed here, only a dozen were new to my collection. That wasn't going to move the needle very far I'm afraid. 

 

Dessert Time!

 

Also included were a few extra Red Sox power hitters:

 

 

Those two J.D. Martinez did not improve my standings on TCDB by the way. That 2007 Topps Ted Williams insert set is on a short list of sets I'm thinking of chasing.

 

Thanks for the cards Johnny!

TCDB Trade Recap: Cards From Minneapolis, MN

Time to catch up on some little trades. A recent one came from Tim via the TCDB. What made this particular transaction stand out was the envelope itself:

 

I recognize these as the stickers from Fleer's 1988 set. I'm not sure if there was a particular reason for choosing Expos or if he was just randomly decorating the envelope. Still, it was amusing to see!

 

As for the contents within, the Montreal theme continued with some bonus cards:

 

I didn't set out to trade for Expos though. This trade was made with the intent to whittle down some cards for a particular set build:

 

I'm in the home stretch! Only 6 more cards until the 1977 set is complete! If time permits, I'll try to scroll through the TCDB and try and trade for them. Then again, with just a half dozen to go, I may just buy the final ones and be done with it! 

 

Thanks for the trade Tim! 

Repack Haiku #471 (Dylan Moore)

Now with the Phillies;

Debut occurred overseas

With games in Japan

  

2022 Topps #567 Dylan Moore

 

After bouncing around the Minors with 4 different organizations, Moore made the Opening Day roster for the Mariners in 2019. That allowed him a unique moment, as his Major League debut came in special series held at the Tokyo Dome in Japan.

Climbing The Ranks With Manny Ramirez

Johnny (Johnny's Trading Spot) has been culling through his collection and shortening the list of players he collects. He's been generously sending out those cards to other collectors. Back in March, he sent me a whole bunch of cards featuring J.D. Martinez. This time around, I received a package of cards primarily featuring former Red Sox legend Manny Ramirez.

 

As I mentioned before, I'm not specifically a player collector, but I do appreciate some players more than others. Ramirez is a former player I can look back at fondly, but only if I compartmentalize his off the field issues away from the many highlight reel moments he had during games. He should be a Hall of Famer, but too many bad decisions on his part have keep him out. 

 

Just like I did with Martinez, I thought it would be fun to look at my Manny collection before/after. According to the TCDB, I had 72 Manny Ramirez cards prior to this gift. 

 

 

Those 72 cards are close to the same starting point I had with Martinez (70). However, Manny was a mega-star and has over 8,000 more cards than Martinez does. That means my meager 72 cards was only good for 439th place on the TCDB list of collectors. I jumped 101 places after entering in all those J.D. Martinez cards. Will I see a similar jump with Ramirez? Let's find out!  

 

 Group 1

 

Favorite card from this group: 2002 Fleer Focus Jersey Edition #190 Manny Ramirez

New cards to my collection: 8

Total Manny Ramirez cards: 80 

 

OK, a 55 place gain with only 8 new cards! As for my favorite of the bunch, you'll soon see there aren't many cards of Manny fielding a ball. It was not his strongest skill set...

 

Group 2

 

Favorite card from this group: 2003 Bazooka - Comics

New cards to my collection: 10

Total Manny Ramirez cards: 90

 

 

Exactly 55 more places gained! For a player with over 14,000 cards, it's interesting to see how tightly grouped collectors are. I only added 18 new Ramirez cards so far, and I've moved 110 places. It doesn't take much!

 

Group 3

Favorite card from this group: 2003 Ultra

New cards to my collection: 10

Total Manny Ramirez cards: 100

 

Exactly 100 Manny Ramirez cards! If I were a player collector, that sounds like a good arbitrary stopping point. (OK, maybe 99 if I was going to put them all in a binder...)

 

Group 4

Favorite card from this group: 2005 Merrick Mint Colorized Statehood Quarters

New cards to my collection: 7

Total Manny Ramirez cards: 107

 

This batch includes a couple of cards celebrating the Red Sox 2004 postseason run. I bet a lot of  non-Red Sox fans forgot Manny was the MVP of that curse-breaking World Series.

 

Group 5

Favorite card from this group: 2008 Upper Deck

New cards to my collection: 8

Total Manny Ramirez cards: 115

 

 

I received 58 Manny cards, and 43 of them were new to my collection! Those 43 cards allowed me to jump an impressive 206 places. Despite the volatility of  these lists, I doubt I'll crack the Top 100 anytime soon - I'd need another 100 cards to reach the level where the big boys play!

Thanks again Johnny! You're awesome!

Trapped In Time: Remnants Of The 201st - 205th Trades

I started doing these "Remnant" posts over 4 years ago, mainly because I felt the Time Travel Trading stack was getting too big, and it was a good time to clear out some of the stagnant cards that no one seemed to want. We're through the first 200 trades now, and well over 200 cards have been cleared out. The size of the stack however, has more than doubled since that first post. I've accepted that fate, it's the cost of doing business with a generous community that routinely gives more than it receives. Still, I press on, as there are many many cards who have been hanging around unclaimed for over 3 years...

 

Trade #201 John (Adventures Of A Baseball Card Collector)

Traded 10/19/22: 1959 Topps #9 Paul Giel, 1959 Topps #251 Clete Boyer, 1960 Topps #548 Don Mincher (RC), 1984 O-Pee-Chee #16 Omar Moreno, 1985 O-Pee-Chee #21 Dave Concepcion, 1989 ProCards Triple A #544 Jay Buhner, 2000 Topps #228 Mariano Rivera (WS), 2008 Topps New York Yankees #8 Jason Giambi, 2015 Stadium Club #15 Adrian Beltre

 

Received 10/24/22:

• 2004 Fleer InScribed #56 Chase Utley (See Trade #212)
• 1991 O-Pee-Chee Premier #6 George Bell (See Trade #211)
• 1983 Card Collectors 1953 Bowman Color Reprint #61 George Kell (See Trade #212)
• 1982 Dover Publications Reprints National League #15 Robin Roberts (See Trade #342)
• 1980 Cramer Baseball Legends Series 1 #16 Jimmie Foxx (See Trade #212)
• 1975 Topps #597 Winston Llenas
• 1959 Topps #385 Sherm Lollar (See Trade #377)
• 1957 Topps #211 Camilo Pascual (See Trade #252)
• 1939 Wills's Garden Flowers by Richard Sudell #46 Sweet Sultan

We start things off with a pair from John (Adventures Of A Baseball Card Collector), including a beautiful card from 1939! I mean, look at it next to the 1975 card - I don't know what ink they used back then, but it's impressive! As I usually do with pre-WWII era cards, in the very likely event no one comes forth offering an older card in return, the Sweet Sultan will remain in the stack as a reminder how cool it really is that we can still enjoy things from so long ago.

 

Trade #202 - No Remnants!

 

Trade #203 Brendan Hart (The View From The Third Floor)

Traded 10/24/22: 1977 Topps #231 George Brett (RB), 1981 Topps (football) #487 Rod Martin (RC), 1981 Topps (football) #520 Fred Dean (AP), 1982 Topps (football) #44 Cris Collinsworth (RC), 1982 Topps (football) #171 Joe Klecko (AP)

 

Received 10/24/22:

• 1981 Donruss #124 Jerry Mumphrey
• 1981 Donruss #147 Danny Darwin (See Trade #313)
• 1981 Donruss #170 Fred Patek
• 1981 Donruss #386 Doc Medich
• 1981 Donruss #419 Derrel Thomas
• 1981 Donruss #428 Terry Kennedy
• 1981 Donruss #439 Jorge Orta
• 1981 Donruss #450 Scott Sanderson
• 1981 Donruss #474 Sammy Stewart
• 1981 Donruss #478 Steven McCatty (See Trade #313)
• 1979 Topps #177 Ron Reed
• 1979 Topps #271 Rawly Eastwick
• 1979 Topps #336 Bobby Thompson (RC)
• 1979 Topps #653 Warren Brusstar
• 1968 Topps #112 Woody Fryman (See Trade #341)
  

 

You know how I mentioned generous collectors you send more than they receive? That's Brendan Hart (The View From The Third Floor) to a "T" - He always adds a few extra cards to the stack. I'm pretty sure at least a quarter of the cards currently available in the Time Travel Trading project have come from him. Maybe if I'm really bored some day I'll do the math, but for now let's see if anyone will rescue these poor cards from 1981 Donruss and 1979 Topps.

 

Trade #204  - No Remnants!

 

Trade #205 Alan (TCDB)

Traded 10/28/22: 1993 Post Cereal #18 Darren Daulton, 1993 Post Cereal #29 John Kruk, 1988 Topps (football) #233 Eagles Team Leaders - Randall Cunningham (TL), 1976 Topps #101 Pete LaCock, 1976 Topps #255 Fritz Peterson, 1976 Topps - Traded #28T Dusty Baker, 1976 Topps - Traded #58T Ron Reed, 1976 Topps - Traded #380T Bobby Bonds, 1976 Topps - Traded #528T Dock Ellis, 1976 Topps (football) #481 John Bunting (RC), 1958 Topps #36 Ted Kazanski

 

Received 10/29/22:

• 1980 Topps Baseball #477 Buck Martinez (See Trade #329)
  
• 1980 Topps Baseball #711 Bob Galasso (RC) (See Trade #329)
• 1978 Topps Baseball #428 Joel Youngblood
• 1975 Topps Baseball #69 John Odom (See Trade #254)
• 1975 Topps Baseball #95 John Mayberry (See Trade #254)
• 1975 Topps Baseball #121 Bill North (See Trade #254)
• 1975 Topps Baseball #169 Cookie Rojas (See Trade #254)
• 1975 Topps Baseball #184 Jorge Orta (See Trade #254)
• 1975 Topps Baseball #227 Bob Watson
• 1975 Topps Baseball #262 Rowland Office (RC) (See Trade #254)
• 1956 Topps Baseball #89 Norm Zauchin (VAR: Grey back) (See Trade #216)

Finally, a couple of cards from a leftover TCDB trade. "Youngblood and Watson" sounds like a 70's cop show, doesn't it? 

 

These card will be retired if no one wants them. It's up to you now to give them happy new homes!