Some Luke Jackson Color

With no desire to purchase any new product until Bowman Chrome streets, my monthly cardboard budget has been going towards acquiring the missing pieces of my Jackson & Choice project. I've been focusing on the autos, as the color parallels should be easier to get.

Such is the case these last couple of weeks. I have added two colored refractors to the Jackson collection:

This is the black refractor, numbered 73 of 99. The signature is nice - hard-pressed with no serious flaws. There is one minor flaw, the drop-down at the beginning of the "L" (yes, that's an "L"). I'm wondering how that will affect the auto grade.

Here's the orange refractor auto. It's numbered 18 of 25.  The only concerns I have with this auto is in the finishing leg of the "L". For whatever reason, it appears that the pen kind of gave out. It is light and not a solid blue line. We'll see how it grades.

So that's it.  A brief post, but one I wanted to put out there before I forgot about it!

Mail Day Nets A Surprise From Raz!!!

A couple of days ago, I found a nice surprise waiting for me in my mailbox: a bubble mailer from Raz! He obviously knows me well....

First up, a mini refractor of Rangers catching prospect Jorge Alfaro. He's said to be the best catching prospect the Rangers have had since Pudge...those are mighty big shoes to fill. I hope he does.

The second card was this guy:

The Bowman Top 100 insert of Joey Gallo. Now, I don't agree that he is the seventy-fifth best prospect in the minors, but I may be biased.

I've been so caught up in working on the Jackson/Choice project that I have completely neglected getting these cards. So, Raz, I thank you! This was a big help to me!

I've also snagged a few more Bowman cards over the past two weeks. When the product hit, I decided that at the very least, I was going to get the base autos of the Rangers that were featured. For those who aren't aware, the Rangers had five autos: Chris Bostick (Chrome), Yohander Mendez (Chrome), Luke Jackson (Chrome), Michael Choice (Chrome) and Isiah Kiner-Falefa (retail paper).

I have officially obtained all of the base autos:

The Mendez and Kiner-Falefa I have, but didn't scan (they are at home - I forgot to scan them). There are a couple other autos, as well. A couple weeks ago I posted about the Lewis Brinson Under Armour card from 2012 that was in this year's product (I still bought a copy):

There is also a Bowman Black card for Chris Bostick, but I haven't been able to snag a copy yet. I am having a problem spending that kind of money on a card of a player who I really know nothing about.

o there you have it! An update on my newest additions from Raz and eBay!

We Need To Talk

No, no...this isn't the "It's not you, it's me" talk. It's the "Let's talk baseball" talk. But before that, I have a question for you.

I'm most likely going to be visiting Boston in mid- to late-July. I don't know where to stay or what to visit (other than Fenway and Harvard, of course). So, do any of you that are familiar with the city have any suggestions? Hotels seem pricey, so I've looked into this whole AirBnB phenomenon. I'm not certain how to feel about it. (To be honest, I more concerned about offending the host, as I will be visiting with my cousin who is about to begin Naval Officer School in nearby Newport, Rhode Island, so we will most likely be drunk in the evenings) Any advice would be much appreciated!

Now onto the meat of the post. On my drive home yesterday, I was "fortunate" enough to listen to the local ESPN station (which just so happens to be Dallas), which featured Tim Cowlishaw. He and his temporary co-host were debating the designated hitter. As with everything Tim Cowlishaw, the debate was boring. So I thought I would open it up here in this blog for comment.

Personally, I hate the DH. You take a one-dimensional player (i.e. David Ortiz) and overpay him because he might be a productive hitter. He can't play defense to save his life, and if you make it to the World Series, he becomes a serious liability (i.e. Vlad Guerrero for the Rangers in 2010).

Now, the exact same argument can be made for those in favor of the DH. Pitchers today can't hit to save their lives. All they seem to do is bunt. Don't believe me? Going into yesterday's game, the Mets pitching staff was 1-for-72. That's a staggering .014. That isn't a typo.

However, most pitchers are multi-positional players until they reach their later years of college ball or the minor leagues. The pitchers that are exceptional hitters are moved to a fielding position - my guy Joey Gallo was a pitcher in high school with a heater that touched 98 mph - and those that are not exceptional hitters are discouraged from hitting, instead being taught the fundamentals of bunting and jogging.

Pitchers haven't always been like this. Some pitchers were exceptional professional hitters (think Babe Ruth). So to me, the answer is simple: the DH needs to go. Pitchers need to take regular batting practice like every other player. If he doesn't hit .300, that's okay. But don't take the bat out of his hands and make him bunt, or worse, replace him with an old man who can still hit for power occasionally. It just isn't right.

Odds & Ends

Posting over the last few weeks has been...sparse...to say the least. Truth is, between work, sleep my narrowing focus on my collection, I haven't had much to blog about. There are a few things I want to mention, so let's know this out in list format.
--------------------
I have added a link to the right side navbar of the blog for my break. You can click on kit to see the status of the break. My 2014 Bowman Chrome signup is coming along, but not quite as fast as I would have hoped. So, to speed that process up, I am going to offer $20 off one team slot to someone who refers someone else to sign up. All you have to do is post about it and ask your reader to mention they found out about the break from your blog when they sign up. Be sure they sign up on this page; it is the only page that will count. When the remaining eight spots are filled, I will take all of the names that have been mentioned as referrers, randomize the list and give the discount to the person who comes out in spot #1. If three people sign up and mention your name, you will have three entries.
--------------------
Also on that right navbar, you will notice that I have put up a new picture. It is the 2014 Bowman Orange Wave Auto of Michael Choice. If you click on that picture, it will take you to my newest project page, my 2014 Bowman Jackson & Choice project. I am working to pick up the entire parallel rainbow for these two players - autos, refractors and paper parallels - and I am going to need your help. It is quite a massive undertaking. Brian from PATP was kind enough to offer a trade for the green refractor auto he got in a group break. I hope you all can help as well, as there are tons of cards that I need for this.
--------------------
Speaking of 2014 Bowman, you may remember my post about this card:

It's the paper parallel black auto of Astros prospect Mark Appel. I had it on eBay a little while, then took it down thinking I wanted to keep it...but now I want to offer it up to you. I am more than happy to trade this to someone who can help me with my quest mentioned above. I only ask that in return, an auto (or autos) of equal value be included in the trade. Hopefully someone out there can help me out!!!
--------------------
Lastly, I still want to gather enough cards to send in to Beckett for grading to qualify for a discount. No one expressed any interest last time it was mentioned, but I am going to give it a go again. So, if you are interested in having some cards graded, leave a message below. I will get back to you with more information regarding costs, times, etc.

Bobble Ron Gets Some Company

Sunday, the Rangers were offering a free Prince Fielder bobblehead to the first 15,000 fans through the gates. Since I had nothing to do, I was game. 

The first thing I noticed, however, was how odd Fielder looks in the picture on the side of the box:

The helmet looks about three sizes too small.

Of course, the helmet on the bobblehead looks massive....

Yup...still looks pretty massive from the side...

Finally, Bobble Ron has some company on my desk at work.

Lastly though, let's get the view from a $13 ticket at Rangers Ballpark:

Go ahead and click on the picture to make it bigger. There really is no bad view in this ballpark.

My Best Bowman Hit So Far

Today, I was supposed to just lay on the couch and be a bum. Unfortunately, that didn't happen. In my line of work, you sometimes have meetings that pop up and can't wait. Such is the case for me.

After the meeting, however, I decided to stop at Walmart and buy a blaster of 2014 Bowman, just to see if I could pull anything.

I pulled the best hit I've had so far this year (and possibly since I jumped back into collecting):

A Mark Appel black paper parallel auto! (The dots are from my scanner, the card is pristine)

This baby is numbered 20 of 25!

It's already on eBay. Sorry to be brief, I have actual work to do, but I just had to share.

Hope everyone is having a good weekend!

A New Blog Post!!! (From My Other Blog)

I finally got around to posting for my other blog, The Infield Grass, this morning. It's a post about the Rangers, but it doesn't involve baseball cards. If you would like, you can go here to give it a read! Apologies if it seems disjointed...it took me a while to write it (a lot of thinking to be done before finger was set to keyboard) and when I finished, I didn't feel like proofreading. That will happen later today.

Thanks!