Well, it has officially been close to (if not more than) two months since my last post. In it, I mentioned that I had a death in the family that sent me into a tailspin and I needed some time to get my sh*t back together and become a productive member of society again. Somehow, I accidentally deleted that post. I'm not sure when/how I did that.
I guess now is the time that I get going again. Though I haven't been blogging, I have still been collecting. I've mentioned in a few posts that I have been participating in some group breaks with a particular breaker. During my sabbatical, I participated in a few more breaks, mostly for Panini's Stars and Stripes product. This set is focused on the various Team USA baseball squads.
Why this product, you ask? Well, Steven Gingery is in the set. Who is Gingery, you ask? Gingery is the ace of the Texas Tech baseball team...at least he was entering this season, but he tore a ligament in his elbow and had to have Tommy John surgery early in the season.
Regardless, Gingery went in the fourth round to the Cardinals in the 2018 MLB Draft. I'm hoping he shows up in the Bowman Draft product later this year.
Anyway, let's get to some cards. Some cards are packed up, so I only have a few to share.
This is the base auto in the set. Though there are a few players that feature a sticker auto, most are on-card - including Gingery.
However, the dreaded sticker auto makes an appearance on these Silhouette relic/autos. To make matters worse, the signature goes off the sticker. Oh well, such is life, am I right?
This is perhaps my favorite card from the breaks I have participated in. It's numbered to 25, and all of the patches are awesome!
I will be all-in on next years Stars and Stripes, as well. A friend of mine - who I met in the card shop in Lubbock - will almost certainly be in the product. Josh Jung (pronounced like "Young") is Tech's starting third baseman. He was selected to play on the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team this summer, as soon as Tech is finished at the College World Series (hopefully winning their last game!). Josh is predicted to be a first-round pick in next year's draft, also. Regardless of how things play out, it's been cool to have him as a friend, and I am beyond happy for him and all of his successes!
