How Much Do You Love Your LCS?

I worked a half-day today. I used my free time to run over to one of my local card shops, Hometown Sports. The owner has always taken care of me, and I haven't stopped in in a while, so I dropped in.

I needed a few supplies and I wanted to buy a few packs. (I always seem to pull hits when I buy packs for him) I asked for some Topps Chrome. He actually opened a fresh box for me because he knew that both hits had been pulled from the box he had open. How often does that happen? So, if you are in North Richland Hills, stop by Hometown Sports and drop a few dollars on the counter.

So, I bought eight packs of Chrome, randomly selected. I was fortunate to grab both autos in the box. The second auto I opened was this one:

Yup, the man with the best name in baseball, L.J. Hoes. It's a base auto, non-refractor....it's going to sit in my collection for a bit and I may trade it later, not sure.

My first auto wasn't really any auto at all. It was a redemption. I wish you could feel my heart flutter when I saw "Washington Nationals" across the redemption card. (EDITOR'S NOTE: Looking back at the card, nowhere is "Washington Nationals". I guess my mind played a trick on me, because I swear I read the team name on the card!) Then my heart kind of sank when I saw it was not Bryce Harper. However, I am pretty excited with what I will be receiving:

After the let down of not being Bryce Harper, I got pretty excited to have Anthony Rendon in my collection soon. Then the shop owner pointed out that not only was it a variation, but it was also a Sepia Refractor. I am pretty pleased with this.

However, I noticed something else about the eight packs I bought. There were four refractors in the eight packs. Every single one was an XFractor. I'm disappointed by that. Then I went back and did the math on the last three blasters I bought: I had four base refractors in the last blaster alone. What the hell?

Speaking of that last blaster...I bought it today. Coming off my Rendon sepia auto high, I stopped at Target and bought a blaster. It was a good buy. I pulled two cards for my collection - a Bryce Harper purple refractor and a Nelson Cruz XFractor - and then this guy:

Carter Capps Black Parallel, numbered to 100 (I've already put it away and I can't remember the number!). It's the first black parallel that I've pulled. Like most of my other parallels, this one is up for trade!

Blame Canada! (For Knocking Out Some Team Set Needs!)

I received some help on my Texas Rangers Team Sets projects last week from one of our neighbors to the North, Mr. Rosenort. I sent him a few Rockies cards I thought might interest him, and he repaid me with this stack of Texas Rangers goodness.

Also included in the package was this:

Rosenort's business card! This thing is awesome. As I've started working more and more trades, I've noticed that many of you that I trade with have awesome business cards that you use for your blog. If I have traded with you, you know that I am the king of the sticky note. It's embarrassing. I need to step my game up and get on your level!

More Blaster Success

I am swamped today, so I must be brief. After leaving a meeting today, I stopped by the local Walmart in Wichita Falls to grab some cards. I decided on a blaster of 2013 Chrome.

It was a good decision.

That's a Zack Wheeler Blue Sapphire Refractor Auto numbered 194 of 199. Beautiful card. It's already on the eBay - I'm hoping it will bring me a little to put towards my next break.

I Won!!!

Have you ever been listening to the radio when an announcer comes on and offers a prize to caller 10? You pick up the phone, dial, only to get a busy signal. That was the story of my life.

Until this week.

Wednesday, I was listening to 103.3 ESPN Radio while sitting in my truck, waiting for a meeting. I heard the commercial, dialed, and BOOM - I won the contest! (The guy onn the other end started laughing pretty hard when he told me I was caller 10 and I replied with a "Holy Sh*t!!!")

I won four VIP passes to an exclusive "Mavstoberfest" autograph signing.

I took my cousin and a good friend from high school. I ended up giving the fourth pass away at the event. So, we got there, waited outside in the heat for an hour and a half, then finally were allowed in. At the direction of the guy from ESPN, we went strait to Dirk's table and the line was ridiculous. Fortunately, we were close to the front.

I was being pushed through while trying to snap a picture of Dirk, hence the blurry picture.

After grabbing Dirk's autograph as well as the other four guys at the table with him, we proceeded on to two other tables before the event was ended. We missed out on one table of five players. Here is the ball:

Let's highlight a few signatures, shall we?

The Big German, Dirk Nowitzki - A sure first-ballot Hall of Famer

The Matrix - Shawn Marion (I don't know how you get his name out of that)

Vince Carter (He was kind of a jerk)

Newest star to join the team, Montae Ellis

I'm pretty excited to have had this opportunity. However, I'm not that big of a basketball fan, and the thought of selling this thing has crossed my mind. I wouldn't begin to know how much to sell it for, however, and I don't know if anyone would be interested in buying it with out CoA on the signatures. Regardless, I think I am content with this on my shelf at home.

Saturday Mail Update - TTM Successes

As I'm sure you know, I've been working on getting every manager's card from 2013 Heritage signed. After a slow start, the collection has been progressing. Today brought me two more cards for the project.

Bruce Bochy was the first, followed by:

Clint Hurdle.  Hurdle will only sign if you include a donation to his charity, which I did. But I also received a letter saying tht they couldn't find the check and were afraid that it may have been misplaced. That stinks, but I can put a stop-pay on the check. I am going to send them another check, however. Charities are always good to support, and I've liked Hurdle since his days with the Rangers, so I definitely want to contribute.

The Biggest Mailday I Have Ever Had

I'm begging you to sign up for my 2013 Bowman Chrome Break!!!  Please!!!

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I went to the mailbox today with no idea that I would receive anything (I had forgotten about a few things, as you will see). When I opened it up, the very first thing I saw was...well, Kate Upton on the cover of SI with BJ and Justin Upton. But after I pulled that out, I found a truckload of bubble mailers and a couple of sweet PWE's. So, without further ado, let's dive into it all.

First, Marcus from all the way to the backstop sent me over some of the missing pieces to my 2013 Allen & Ginter set. A couple weeks ago, I sent him a few cards that I thought he would enjoy, and this was his way of repaying me. Very much appreciated Marcus!

Next up, I took part in the 2013 Topps Chrome Box Break that Ryan, the man behind "O" No! Another Orioles Blog, hosted last week. It was probably the best break I've participated in to date, in terms of the cards I got. After seeing the sell sheet, I decided that I wanted to take the Nats - the inserts featuring Harper were pretty slick! So, when the dust settled from the break, here was what I took home:

I'm Angry (And You Should Sign Up For My Break)

First, I'm hosting a two- or three-box-break of 2013 Bowman Chome. Why two or three? Well, read my break announcement here to find out AND to sign up. Still TEN spots open!

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Now that that's out of the way, let me tell you why I'm angry. I'm angry that the Rangers played this poorly this year. Sure, April was hot and July was nice, but every other month seemed to be terrible for the Rangers, with the month of September being absolutely horrendous. I cannot honestly remember another month that looked so bad - and that is really saying something.

Hitting was nonexistent. A major-league outfield should have at least two legitimate power hitters. Nelson Cruz was one, until he was suspended. Leonys Martin and Craig Gentry definitely do not fit that definition. Alex Rios was a nice addition, but his numbers didn't really come along until the last two weeks of the season. Our first baseman, Mitch Moreland (who I love, by the way), hit .230 this year. .230!!!!! I really like AJ Pierzynski - I feel that he brought the leadership lost when Michael Young was traded - but he and Geovany Soto definitely didn't do as well as they could have.

How about the pitching? Well, Yu Davish was amazing for a while, then looked like a third starter for a while, then looked good for a while. The ace of a staff has to be an ace every time out. Darvish didn't have that level of consistency needed in an ace. Dutch looked good in the later half of the season, but he is still prone to getting beat up and going off the rails. Martin Perez looked like he has potential to be a legitimate number 2 starter in the near future, but he needs to mature mentally (i.e. stop letting little things get to him) before he reaches that next level. Matt Garza...I don't even know what to say about you really. I guess "adios" would probably be appropriate, because I don't think there is any way that the front office will give you the kind of money some other team is going to throw at you. Matt Harrison will hopefully be 100% and ready to go next year. Colby Lewis will probably get a veteran's minimum contract to come back, and my guess is that he will be in the bullpen.

The only consistently good aspect of this team this year was the bullpen. Scheppers took a huge step forward in his development, and even though he stumbled briefly, he looks to have the stuff to be a legitimate closer one day. Speaking of which, Joe Nathan was just about as consistent as they come. The team holds an option on him for next season, but language in his contract allows him to void that option. Neal Cotts was a pleasant surprise, as was Jason Frasor. Robbie Ross was the only relief pitcher who seemed to take a step back, but he also showed moments of brilliance.

So what does all of that equal up to? A thoroughly disappointing season. If you are a Rangers fan, you should be disappointed too. I've already heard others say "Well, we were better than we were a few years ago." That doesn't cut it anymore. A team that expects to be a contender does not look at its past and find comfort in the fact that they had a winning record. From here on, any season that doesn't end with playoff baseball in some form or fashion should be viewed as a failed season. "Well, they gave it all they had," you say. Too bad, that isn't enough. "Injuries held them back." Too bad, the next guy up has to get the job done. No excuses anymore!

I could go on for hours, but....

End. Of. Rant.