A Gift From Gavin

Last week, I got home and noticed that I had an unexpected package in my mailbox. Not knowing what to expect, I pulled it out and quickly saw that it was from none other than perhaps the most creative man in baseball blogging, Defgav, a.k.a. Gavin, from Baseball Card Breakdown. Gavin is one of my favorite bloggers because he always seems to have an incredibly unique point of view when he writes about cards, and I always learn something when I read his posts. 

Gavin was kind enough to send some cardboard my way for the holidays, all fo which I needed and am grateful to include. Let's take a look.

First up, a Luke Jackson base from 2015 Opening Day and a Colby Lewis base from 2015 Update. I love both of these guys. I'm stoked the Cobra signed another one-year deal to return to the Rangers, though I wish they would have given him at least two years. Jackson was the centerpiece of one of my old PCs, and I wish I was still working on it. The kid is a heckuva pitcher, has amazing hair, and has an amazing relationship with his faith. 

Next up, a Neftali Feliz Rookie Sensation insert from '15 Chrome Update and a Prince Fielder insert from '14 Chrome. I really wanted to love Feliz. He had an amazing fastball, but he just never seemed to care. Once he started getting rocked, he just didn't have that bulldog mentality to fight back so he just gave up. Fielder, on the other hand, essentially took 2014 off to recover from neck surgery. Evidently, that's what he needed, as he was a key addition to the Rangers playoff team from this past season. Stoked to have him back to somewhat normal.

Also included were these two Topps Gold Label cards, which I have never heard of. However, they are beautiful! Can't go wrong with a Pudge card, and it's nice to see a card of Kap as a Ranger. I think most people forget that he played here.

I've been eyeballing these two cards on eBay for a bit now. Fortunately, I have yet to pull the trigger on wither of them. Gavin must have known....These are what I believe are called "pulsar" refractors, at least that's what it seems everyone is calling them. DeShields quickly became one of my favorite Rangers. The dude can fly. Sadly, a bit before the Rangers selected him in the Rule 5 Draft from the Astros, I traded a printing plate of him that I pulled to Bru over at Remember the Astrodome. It is one of the few cards I traded away that I wish I would have kept. Then there's Chi Chi....everytime I say his name I giggle a bit. 

Perhaps that best part of the entire package was the quick sketch and card Gavin included:

I got a good laugh, and I have already put the card into a larger toploader (made for magazines). I truly appreciate the cards and the thoughts Gavin. I am putting something together to send back your way, but it may be after Christmas before I have it all. Thank you again, my friend.

So, I Guess It's Time For Another Blog Post...

I can't believe it has been more than a month since my last post. The end of the semester got here and I buried my head in the books. I wanted to pull a 4.0 this semester, so I devoted myself to studying the material. It worked, for the most part - I received all "A's" with the exception of one "B", which my Theory professor was more than happy to send my way. I can't complain too much, keeping high grades in a PhD program is commendable, right? Okay, I apologize for the blatant call for reassurance. I'm really not that needy.

Okay, back to cardboard. When I last posted, I was talking about how I was noticing a trend of Joey Gallo cards appearing in my collection. Well, that still holds true. I snagged a couple more. 

This is the action photo variation from 2015 Heritage High Number. I've wanted one of these since they came out, but they were always priced well above what I wanted to pay. Fortunately, I found one that was priced at $3 last week, and I immediately scooped it up. The card looks better than the scan, and I think I may send it in for grading (which I will probably do with all of my Gallo rookie cards). I'll let you know what I decide.

This guy hails from the 2015 Heritage 1951 Collection. It's pretty awesome, based on its namesake set. This is the base version, which means...

It has a red back. I know there are other parallels (black, blue, green, and perhaps more), but this is the only I have gotten my hands on. Hopefyully I can snag a few of the others soon.

But Gallo isn't the only player I've been grabbing lately. Before last season, the Rangers shipped lefty reliever Robbie Ross to Boston for Anthony Ranaudo. I don't know why, but I like him. His numbers this year weren't outstanding, but they weren't terrible. I think he has a bright future as a back-end starter, and I hope I'm right. Either way, I've been looking out for his cards, and I've managed to snag some for a very cheap price.

First up, this Future Stars gold parallel from 2015 Topps Chrome. This one ran me all of 50 cents, plus shipping. Numbered to 50, this is one of those cards that looks way better in-hand than it does in the scan,

This is the black refractor from 2015 Heritage High Number. Numbered to 66, it cost me more than the above gold refractor, but still came in at a whopping $3. It also looks better in-hand; as a matter of fact, I would venture to say this card is beautiful. Glad to have it.

So there it is, my first post in a month. Feels good to get something out there. Now perhaps I will stop losing readers...you guys deserve content, and I am glad to once again give it to you. So if you have any Gallos or Ranaudos, hit me up, let's make a trade and then I will have more content to post about!