Another Meaningful Materials Post

I mentioned that I had another Meaningful Materials relic from 2017 Museum Collection on the way. After yet another USPS SNAFU, I finally received it:

Jurickson Profar is featured this time, with a sweet patch. I don't know whether to call this a three-color patch with gray swatch - OR - a four-color patch. It's definitely a patch on gray jersey material...but I'm not an expert and I've seen Twitter battles over less. So call what you want, and I will call it awesome. 

Profar, on the other hand, is not awesome. He may be the most infuriating player the Rangers have had in a while. He was called up for the first time in 2013, where he was widely labeled as the "number one prospect in all of baseball." Two things: I really hate prospect rankings, as I think it puts undue pressure on the kid; and second, this just goes to show how useless prospect rankings really are. Profar has never delivered in the big leagues in a manner even remotely close to what was expected of him. He was looking good this spring until the WBC game where he was picked off first after seemingly forgetting that he was playing baseball. Then he does well. He was called up last week to fill in for Elvis Andrus (who was on paternity leave) and has played pretty well. I don't know what to think anymore. 

Anyway, keep an eye out for future posts about these Meaningful Material relics, as I am sure this won't be the last time I get one! I hope everyone is well!

My First 2017 Topps NOW! Purchase

I like the idea of on-demand sports cards. I find it kind of neat that I can see something happen and then have a card of that event in a couple weeks. What I don't care for is the $9.99 price tag for a single card.

Therefore, when a Toppsn NOW! card drops that I want, I generally go to eBay and purchase one from one of those sellers. This was the case for Joey Gallo's first walk-off home run:

This set me back a whopping five bucks. Anyway, short, one-card post.

I hope everyone is well!

A Quick Question

I know a few guys make their own custom cards. I'm interested in doing the same - to send out to players for autographs. I have zero interest in selling them, as I want them for my collection.

My question is this: for those of you that do make your own cards, do you use Adobe InDesign or some other program? Any help would be greatly appreciated!

A Quick eBay Mailday

Another quick post. I would apologize, but you probably prefer the short and sweet posts. I can't say that I blame you. Earlier, I mentioned how much I really like the 2017 Topps Museum Collection Meaningful Material relics. I managed to snag another:

The relic isn't an awesome patch like the Hamels relic was, but it  isn't a plain white swatch, either. I'm thinking that this probably came from the sleeve of the Rangers' alternate red jerseys. They piping would certainly fit with that.

I have at least one more on the way, so this isn't the last time you will hear about these cards!

I hope everyone is well!

Gavin Is A Talented Man

A while back, I commented on one of Gavin's posts over at Baseball Card Breakdown. He was sharing the contents of a Box of '17 Archives he opened, and I let him know that I was interested in a Rougned Odor parallel he pulled.

Fast forward to last week. I arrived back to my place after taking a last minute, two week journey to Omaha and South Dakota (where my Alma Mater is) to spend time with friends and visit the College World Series. I opened my mailbox and found two thick bubble mailers, the first of which was from Gavin. 

He sent me the card I requested...

These are classified as "peach" parallels, evidently. When companies get to the point that they no longer use common colors, I think we may need to have a conversation about going overboard on the parallel cruise. I would have been happy if that was all that was in the package. But there was more!

Along with several team set needs, Gavin also included some PC wants. For example, he sent this Prism Juan Gone:

Interesting side note: when these cards were released, they came in three-card packs. These were the "base" set cards; however, to protect the "prism" part of the card, inserts from a set call "Gems of the Diamond" were placed on both sides of the "base" card. This led to the insert set being larger than the base set. Weird.

Gavin also included this beautiful Rusty Greer Gold Label. I wish the current Gold Label product was as beautiful as this one. 

This Ivan Rodriguez Upper Deck Legendary Lumber relic also found its way into the package. It's my understanding that this is an actual piece from a game-used bat, but I don't understand their need to place stitching on the "ball." Regardless, it's a Pudge relic that I didn't have before, so I am grateful!

Lastly, Gavin included a couple of customs. The first hit my main PC:

Matt Harrison! How awesome is that?! My first custom for the PC!

The second was one that I had seen before on his blog, and it gave a great smile:

This sketch card was featured on BCB back in March when Gavin recapped a couple of packages from Night Owl and myself. I remember reading the post and then getting a pretty good laugh from the sketch. Now I know how Jerry Koosman feels...but I won't complain. I'm honored to be on a card with the certain first-ballot hall-of-famer. Gavin, I can't thank you enough. This may be my favorite card in my collection.

Thanks for reading, and I hope everyone has a great weekend!

A Nice TTM

Quick post today. Over the weekend, I received another TTM from the 1972 Topps cards that I sent out. Maybe you heard of this guy:

In case you don't recognize him, maybe this will help:

It's Bobby Valentine! Of course, the second image is from June 6, 1999, when Valentine was tossed from a game but re-entered the dugout in "disguise." Needless to say, he didn't fool anyone.

I appreciate Mr. Valentine taking the time to sign my card and return it to me. I have a handful of these 1972 Topps, and I'm thinking I may send more out to get signed. 

That's it for today. I hope everyone is well!

A Hall of Fame TTM

I received another TTM the day before I left on my trip to the upper-Midwest. This one left my hands shaking when I opened it. 

I'm certain you saw the inscription and thought to yourself, "That doesn't look like any of the men elected to the Hall of Fame in 2014." You're right...and wrong.

As a kid, I lived out in the country. My closest neighbor was a few miles away. We had three television stations by antennae broadcast, but Texas Rangers baseball wasn't on any of them.

We did receive the games on the radio, though. That's where I would get to hear Eric Nadel call the games as I hoped to hear his signature "That one is history!" call for a home run. It seemed to happen a lot in the mid-to-late 90's and it has made its way back to the mainstream during the last decade.

In 2014, Nadel received the National Baseball Hall of Fame's Ford C. Frick Award, which acknowledges the game's great radio broadcasters. It was his fourth time being name a finalist for the award. This makes him a Hall of Famer, though many people forget about the Frick Award when thinking of the Hall. 

Nadel has essentially provided the baseball soundtrack of my lifetime. While the Rangers have a great (in my opinion) television color commentator in Tom Grieve, Nadel is on a level few ever reach. He doesn't have the national name recognition of Vin Scully, but you wouldn't be disappointed if you ever tuned-in and listened. The man calls a game flawlessly.

He began calling games for the Rangers in 1979 made a few television appearances in his early career. Recently, it has been solidly radio with his partner Matt Hicks. The duo was awarded "Best Broadcast Team" by Fangraphs in 2016.

I've cried twice listening baseball. The second time was when the Rangers lost the World Series to the Cardinals. The first, however, came as I listened to these words driving along Interstate 20: