Wednesday, September 30, 2015

SHOW: Part 4 (Final) - Inserts, Oddballs, and Thickness

Man, I'm still posting show stuff. A most excellent haul, it seems.

2015 Topps 1st Home Run Medallion Adam Dunn. Super thick. Super heavy. I'm not huge into manufactured 'relics', but this was from the guy just sick of new stuff who was unloading everything. Good for me. And good for my Dunn PC.

More thickness from various Topps high-end products. I don't even understand why they make base cards for products like this. People just buy them for mega-hits, right? These inevitably end up in bargain boxes. which is kind of a shame, because they are indeed very nice cards.

Ooh, is that a 2014 Upper Deck baseball card? Sneaky sneaky. The rest of these are equally odd. Some gold UD hologram thing, some playing cards, a Broder Sabo, and whatever The Colla Collection is.

Inserts, inserts, and more inserts. The Seaver is serial numbered out of a couple thousand. The Griffey is awesome. I don't even know what the deal with the player-less UD Past Time Pennants is, but it says 'Reds' on it, so it was worth the dime.

More inserts still. The dimensions of the Stephenson throw me off. It's a new 2015 Bowman insert. I hadn't seen one until this one.

Speaking of miniature cards, nabbed a couple baby Gypsys, and the last non-star '75 Topps Mini I needed. Fun facts: Denny and Kern would eventually play for the Reds and Juan Ventidos translates to John Twenty Two.

And I'll close 'er down with a 1981 Topps Super Tom Seaver. White back variation. It's huge.

Go Reds.

Tuesday, September 29, 2015

SHOW: Part 3 - Base and Bengals

More show goodies? More show goodies. Today is a bevy of base cards from one of the million different sets out there that I needed. You know. As much as any of us can 'need' some random common from 2004 Fleer Whatever. Roll 'em out.

2014 Bowman Chrome Mini. Pretty sure this is the entire team set. Ten guys on their first card and a Billy rookie for good measure.

Buncha Reds greats. I think that Junior Starquest is the 'uncommon' version, according to the back. Also, that Stadium Club Griffey duo is a long overdue addition to the ol' collection.

Good grief, how many sets were produced during the 18 years I stopped collecting? It's awesome that I'll always find stuff I don't have buried in dime boxes across this land, but more than a bit futile.

Couple of 'wrong jersey' cards, from each end. I was somehow one card short of the 2014 flagship until now. That's done. And these SPX cards are neato burrito.

Dust collectors. Check.

Oh what the heck I found some Bengals for my 'One and only one card of every Bengal ever' binder. Because I need more colelcting outlets, apparently.

And more. I had to snag the two Super Bowl cards even though, well, you know, they lost. To stupid Joe Montana. Both stupid times. Stupid.

Go Reds. And Go Bengals. 3-0, baby.

Saturday, September 26, 2015

Championship Match in the NTNBRVT

Awww yes. You Red Cardboard faithful have worked hard to get here, and the title match is huge. We have a sneaky 13-seed vs. a stalwart. The 1955 Red Man Gus Bell didn't get the votes in the pre-bracket seeding rounds. Perhaps it got lost in the piles. But head-to-head we all saw it's superiority. And as for the 1941 Play Ball Frank McCormick, well, it's just been kicking ass from the beginning. Iconic set. Reds Hall of Famer coming off his MVP season. Huge.

One more vote for you all. Let's make it count. Check the brackets here to relive the drama. Voting closes Wednesday at noon. Go Reds.

Title Match - #13 1955 Red Man Gus Bell vs. #3 1941 Play Ball Frank McCormick



Friday, September 25, 2015

SHOW - Part 2: Vintage and Two Autos

More from the show. Giddy up.

I'll start off with the coolest item from the haul. A 1934 Diamond Matchbook Chick Hafey. This is my 4th from the set, but my first of a Hall of Famer. Hafey played the final 5 years of his 13 year career with Cincy, which included representing the Reds in the first ever All Star game. A lifetime .317 hitter, he was inducted into The Hall in 1971 by the Veterans' Committee.

One dude had a dime box of 1960's Topps. A DIME BOX OF 1960'S TOPPS! Crazy. I plucked these for my Reds not Reds binder, which is currently overflowing.

Three more from the same binder, and a few newer guys. The Reds not Reds remaining are getting pretty tough. I'll have to invent another stupid project soon.

Yet more vintagey goodness. Good ol' SSPC. A thousand dollars if you can identify these former/soon to be Reds players. Ok, less than a thousand. Probably zero.

2014 Bowman Prospects Refractor Autograph Juan Silva #'d/500. I already have the non-refractor version, but this was too cheap to pass up.

2014 Bowman Prospects Refractor Autograph Ben Lively #'d/500. Same deal here. Good looking pair of cards, honestly. I've always like the fade for the auto on cards like this.

More to come, kiddies. Last day to vote in the NTNBRVT as well. Go Reds.


Thursday, September 24, 2015

SHOW - Part 1: Parallels

Yeah, I'm at a loss for a clever title. There was a big ol' show a few weeks ago and I dropped a few bucks. Y'all know how it is. Let's check out all sorts of parallels, whatchasay?

2014 Bowman Platinum Various Colors and Players. These are the rare style of card that look better in scans than in hand. The backgrounds really glimmer in the scans, which is nice.

2015 Bowman Chrome Prospects Refractor Amir Garrett #'d/500
2014 Bowman Chrome Prospects Refractors of People You've Never Heard Of.
2014 Topps Chrome Refractors of People You Have Heard Of.
Shibby.

Here's some various golden cards. Standard Topps Golds, some Ultra Golds and a 2008 Topps Gold Foil Matt Belisle which I think was a hobby-only thing. Love the Disco Desclafani.

2015 Bowman Chrome Prospects Blue Wave Refractor Jon Moscot. Only my second Moscot. He got 3 starts this year, thanks to our bevy of injuries/trades, and had a respectable 4.63 ERA.

Let's see here. A Bowman International from some year. A wonderfully-named Turkey Red Red from some year. A Fleer Tradition Gray parallel from some year (with a THRILLED Ryan Freel). And a friggin sweet 1993 Stadium Club 1st Day Parallel of my boy Barry.

We gots a new Diamond Kings red framed, an "old" Diamond Kings red framed, a Bowman Hometown, a Topps Total Silver. a couple of Bazooka Blues (never seen these. Me like), a UD MVP Silver Scropt, a Topps Rainbow Foil, and a Topps Update Red Foil. Goodness. Credit where credit is due: I will never run out of Reds cards to collect.

I have probably three more show posts in me. Decent. Decent.

Go Reds.

Wednesday, September 23, 2015

Get To Know Your Reds: Part 44 - Dante Bichette

According to Baseball Reference there have been 1,891 different players who got into a major league game as a Cincinnati Red/Red Stocking/Redleg as of the end of the 2014 season. So I threw them all into a randomizer and off we go.

Get To Know... Dante Bichette

Born: November 18, 1963, West Palm Beach, Florida
Drafted: 1984, by the Angels
Debut: 1988, with the Angels
Reds Debut: 2000
Reds Stats: 1 season at RF, 125 games, 514 PA, 16 HR, 76 RBI, .295 BA
Final Major League Season: 2001, with the Red Sox


3-time All Star (1994-1996, 1998).
Silver Slugger 1995.
League leader in HR, RBI, Hits, SLG, Total Bases in 1995.
3x Player of the Month, 7x Player of the Week.
274 career home runs, 1141 career RBI.
Son, Dante Bichette Jr. is a top MLB prospect.


Number of cards: 1299
Number of cards as a Red: 47
Number of cards in my collection: 11 (23%)


Go Reds.

Tuesday, September 22, 2015

Tourney Final Four! Have a Vote.

We're down to the four best Non-Topps Non-Bowman Reds Vintage cards in all the land. And by 'all the land' I mean my own meager card collection in the spare bedroom at my residence in Columbus, Ohio. Three chalk and one dark horse are all that remain. Check out the progress here.

As always, vote for your favorite. Voting closes Saturday at noon. Go Reds.

Semi-Final Match-Up 1: #1 1911 T205 Dick Egan vs. #13 1955 Red Man Gus Bell

Semi-Final Match-Up 2: #2 1964 Kahn's Bob Purkey vs. #3 1941 Play Ball Frank McCormick

Sunday, September 20, 2015

Opening Day Binder - Part 2

Five more pages from the new binder. Hit it.

1976
April 8, 1976, Riverfront Stadium: Reds 11 Astros 5. Ken Griffey and Joe Morgan with 2 SB each, Tony Perez with 4 RBI. W - Gary Nolan, L - J.R. Richard. Also appearing: Pedro Borbon.

2015
April 6, 2015, Great American Ball Park: Reds 5 Pirates 2. Todd Frazier and Jay Bruce home runs, 7 shutout innings from Johnny Cueto. Also appearing: Chris Dominguez, Kevin Gregg, Manny Parra, Jumbo Diaz, Aroldis Chapman.

1988
April 4, 1988, Riverfront Stadium: Reds 5 Cardinals 4 in 12 innings. Kal Daniels home run and walk-off RBI in the bottom of the 12th. W - Pat Perry, L - Bob Forsch. Also appearing: Paul O'Neill, Lloyd McClendon, Dave Collins, Jeff Treadway, Rob Murphy, John Franco, Pat Perry, Jose Rijo.

1994
April 3, 1994, Riverfront Stadium: Cardinals 6 Reds 4. Reggie Sanders home run. W - Bob Tewksbury, L - Jose Rijo. Also appearing: Scott Ruffin, Jeff Brantley, Thomas Howard, Brian Dorsett, Lenny Harris, Jeff Branson, Willie Greene.

1981
April 8, 1981, Riverfront Stadium: Reds 3 Phillies 2. 8 innings and 1 run for Tom Seaver. Dan Driessen with a walk-off walk in the bottom of the ninth. W - Tom Hume, L - Sparky Lyle. Also appearing: Mike Vail, Tom Hume.

Go Reds.

Saturday, September 19, 2015

New Thing: Opening Day Binder - Part 1

I'd referenced this a while ago. In desperate attempt to find use for my Reds doubles, I've started a new binder with a page dedicated to the Opening Day starters for as many years as I can muster. I've decided that I love this project. I've been filling in gaps at a nice pace. Fast enough that I can go ahead and make it a running theme. Here is a random smattering of five pages, with accompanying Opening Day results. You'll note the layout of the page is as close as I can get to an aerial shot of the field arrangement. I like it.

2000
April 3rd, Cinergy Field: Reds 3 Brewers 3. Yes, an Opening Day tie due to a 3 hour rain delay after 5 1/2 innings. Boo. Home run from Michael Tucker. Also appearing: Scott Sullivan.

1986
April 7, 1986, Riverfront Stadium: Reds 7 Phillies 4. Eric Davis, Dave Parker home runs, 1 earned run from Mario Soto. W - Mario Soto, L - Steve Carlton. Also appearing: Eddie Milner, Ron Robinson.

2014
March 31, 2014, Great American Ball Park: Cardinals 1 Reds 0. Todd Frazier gets 2 of Reds' 3 hits. W - Adam Wainwright, L - Johnny Cueto. Also appearing in the game: Chris Heisey, Manny Parra, Logan Ondrusek, Roger Bernadinha.

1993
April 5, 1993, Riverfront Stadium: Reds 2 Expos 1. Chris Sabo home run, 8 shutout innings from Jose Rijo. W - Jose Rijo, L - Dennis Martinez. Also appearing: Cesar Hernandez, Tim Costo, Rob Dibble.

2010
April 5, 2010, Great American Ball Park: Cardinals 11 Reds 6. Joey Votto, Scott Rolen home runs, 2 RBI from Brandon Phillips. W - Chris Carpenter, L - Aaron Harang. Also appearing: Drew Stubbs, Miguel Cairo, Juan Francisco, Johnny Gomes, Mike Lincoln, Daniel Ray Herrera, Nick Masset.

Go Reds.

Friday, September 18, 2015

Holy Crap, It's the NTNBRVT Quarterfinals!

Please, oh, please forgive my salty language, but we're down to 8 cards in the silly, silly tourney and I'm all aflutter. Six chalk cards made it alongside two sleepers. Check the entire brackets here, if you wish.

Vote for your favorite. Voting closes Tuesday at noon. Go Reds.

Match-Up AU: #1 1911 T205 Dick Egan vs. #8 1909 T206 Ed Karger

Match-Up AV: #13 1955 Red Man Gus Bell vs. #5 1953 Red Man Ted Kluszewski

Match-Up AW: #2 1964 Kahn's Bob Purkey vs. #7 1922 W573 Cliff Markle

Match-Up AX: #3 1941 Play Ball Frank McCormick vs. #11 1977 Kellogg's George Foster