The 30-Day Baseball Card Challenge: Day #19

Tony, the wonderful writer of the “Off Hiatus Baseball” blog, started a fun activity based off the “30-Day Music Challenge” that Twitter users were taking. The list of challenges looks like this:

Today, we’ll continue with Challenge #19 A favorite card from a country other than the United States.

I wish I had a really cool card for this challenge. I wish I had a card from some really obscure country that you didn't even know printed cards. Or, even, if I had grabbed a Daisuke Matsuzaka card from Japan when I was thinking about it. But, they were too expensive when I wanted one, and now that they're cheap I don't really need one. So, I had to go pretty local with the challenge, and pick this card.

Yes. It's yet another card from my almost entirely stagnant Phil Plantier player collection. (In fact, this whole exercise has me thinking that I should get that PC up and running again. I bet it could be fun.)

I like this card, as I did at the time, because it helps work towards the 1992 Topps rainbow...even though I didn't know it at the time. But, I did always know this card looked pretty neat on the page with the regular Topps and the Topps Gold. (Oddly, I don't have the "winner" variety...yet.) Made you do a double take when you realized that the cards weren't all the same.

Which definitely qualifies this as one of my favorite cards from another country.

Still should hunt down a Dice-K, though.

Blog Bat Around: Why Do I Collect Who I Collect?

I’m not sure I’ve ever participated in one of the blog bat arounds before. Not really sure why (or if that’s the case) but I thought I should give it a whirl this time.

P-Town Tom of the wonderful Eamus Catuli blog offered the topic this time: What is the reason for collecting the players you collect?

It was an interesting question, one that I wasn’t sure I had an answer for. I think, like most people, that reason has evolved over time.

When I first started collecting cards there was no real organization involved. I kept my limited inventory sorted by team in the Topps Sports Card locker that my aunt gave me for my birthday.  Eventually the collection outgrew the locker, and moved into boxes sorted by set. But, when I started finding friends who also collected, and who wanted to trade cards, I needed to be better. So, binders were introduced pulling out star players that my friends might want to trade for. While the binders were now sorted by player, I wouldn’t call them player collections quite yet.

The only two players that somewhat stood out at that point were Jim Rice and Pete Rose. Jim Rice was the fading star of the Red Sox, and my favorite player at the time. Pete Rose was an “old time star” who was on his way to breaking the all-time hits record. Plus, he was a player-manager. That was pretty weird, and a unique feature to collect.

But, while those two players had their own pages in the book, so did lots of other players. I didn’t really do a lot to actively collect either one, and don’t actively look for either of their cards today.

Juan Gonzalez was the first player to really change that. I started to actively seek out his cards. He was a hot-shot rookie hitting all those home runs. He also had that fun Donruss error rookie card that looked fun when displayed. It was also during a boom in baseball cards shows. So I had lots of opportunities to easily add to a budding player collection. But, when he started to fade as a player, my desire to collect him faded as well.

He also faded because another player came to take his place. I mentioned that my Phil Plantier collection formed almost by accident. Sure, he was my new favorite player. But, it seemed like I didn’t even have to try to get his cards, Every pack of 1991 Donruss I opened, it seemed, had Phil’s card in it. Again it was the card show era, so hunting down more of his cards was fun and easy. I was getting everything I could find. It’s the first player I’ve mentioned whose player collection still resides separated from the team in its own binder. I’m also still adding to it as I find cards I was never able to track down back in the day.

After Phil left the Red Sox, player collecting hit a bit of a snag. Then, along came Nomar Garciaparra. If you were a Red Sox card collector in 1997 and didn’t have a Nomar player collection, you were doing it wrong. My collection was given one big boost to get it started. I pulled a rare Hideo Nomo card from one of those packs in the late 90’s with the million parallels. Can’t even remember which one at the moment. But, it was about $150 book value. For some reason, I agreed to trade it via the AOL boards for a stack of Nomars. Like 100 or so. Looking back, it was a ridiculous idea to trade one $150 card for 100 $1 cards. But, it worked out for me, and I don’t really regret it. Even if my Nomar player collection has since been resorted into the team binder.

Which leaves Pedro Martinez. He is the only other player with a separate binder housing his collection. (Well, technically he’s in the same binder as Phil Plantier but you get the idea.) The best pitcher in at least a generation was the highlight of the Red Sox at the start of the 21^st century. He was something unique and special. Not only do I collect his cards, but he has his own shelf of collectibles. It’s a true player collection, even if it’s not as active as it could be. But after years of saying “Nomar’s my favorite player, unless Pedro’s pitching” or “Manny’s my favorite player, unless Pedro’s pitching” I realized that by saying that I was declaring Pedro as my favorite player. In the years since, his legend has aged like a fine wine. Time and again the Sox would have a star pitcher that would only prove how amazing Pedro was. Beckett’s amazing postseason, Sale’s dominating start? Bah. Pedro had an entire career better than those hot stretches. 

How could I not collect him?

The 30-Day Baseball Card Challenge: Day #6

Tony, the wonderful writer of the “Off Hiatus Baseball” blog, started a fun activity based off the “30-Day Music Challenge” that Twitter users were taking. The list of challenges looks like this:

Today, we’ll continue with Challenge #6: A card you bought in person, and the story behind it.

Feast your eyes on this beauty!

Yup. You're right. And, yes. You're right again.

That's not a Red Sox card. That's a 1991 Juan Gonzalez card, still in a screw down protective holder.

Anyone else have one of those?

Back in the day, I was a big Juan Gonzalez fan. Not too surprising. He was an incredible hitter who just burst onto the scene. I bet lots of people gobbled up his cards. But, then he crashed. For whatever reason, his career took a nosedive, and he was nowhere near the star he once was.

But, I still had this card.

That fact made me realize something. I no longer wanted this card. A has been from another team? I didn't care about him anymore. I didn't have a personal connection. Phil Plantier? Him I still had a connection to. I remembered cheering for him. Juan Gonzalez? He was just a star from another team. A hired gun, really. I paid a LOT more for my Phil Plantier 1991 Stadium Club card than I did for this Juan Gonzalez. Now that they're both worth about a penny? I'm MUCH happier to still have the Plantier.

For that reason, it was this card (well, really, my Juan Gonzalez PC in general) that made me morph into a Red Sox collector. Why was I buying cards of stars from other teams? Even if they kept their star bright, they never shined brighter than the Red Sox cards. I was much happier with them.

So, I shifted my focus. I am now almost exclusively a Red Sox card collector. I don't have any cards of Mike Trout in my collection. Or Bryce Harper, unless they happen to show up on a card with a Sox player. Chris Sale's cards were insignificant until this year. Even Pedro's cards stopped existing in 2005. In their place, I have plenty of Shane Victorino and David Ross cards. And Rocco Baldelli and Blake Swihart.

And I couldn't be happier about that.

The 30-Day Baseball Card Challenge: Day #5

Tony, the wonderful writer of the “Off Hiatus Baseball” blog, started a fun activity based off the “30-Day Music Challenge” that Twitter users were taking. The list of challenges looks like this:

Today, we’ll continue with Challenge #5: A card you spent more than $10 on.

I'm slightly ashamed to say that this card qualifies.

In fact, it would still qualify if the required value was increased by 50%.

I know. What the heck was I thinking? Well, if it helps...it was 1991 when I was thinking this.

I just recently told you the story of Phil Plantier. In 1991, he was the next Red Sox superstar. He was going to lead the franchise for years to come. Mo Vaughn would help him win more games than we could imagine over the next few years. 

And, here was a fantastic rookie card of his. Not just a rookie card, but a rookie from that really fancy new "Stadium Club" set! This was going to be the card to own. The prize in any collection. Before I bought this card, the most I had ever spent on a baseball card was $9 for a Cal Ripken Donruss RC. This one cost me twice that, but there was no mulling it over. It had to be done. There was no ceiling on this card. It was either drop the $17 now, or pay twice that later. Or three times? Who knew?

So, this card became the pinnacle of my Phil Plantier player collection. Every time I flipped through the Plantier binder, I could smile.

Which, is exactly what I do.

The 30-Day Baseball Card Challenge: Day #4

Tony, the wonderful writer of the “Off Hiatus Baseball” blog, started a fun activity based off the “30-Day Music Challenge” that Twitter users were taking. The list of challenges looks like this:

Today, we’ll continue with Challenge #4: A Rookie Card of one of Your Favorite Players

Hmm. This was a tough one. Mostly because, as usual, I made it hard on myself. As you probably know, my favorite all-time player is Pedro Martinez. I’m sure I’m not along in that. Pedro was one of a kind. But, the problem with his rookie card? Not only is it not the most exciting card, but it shows him as a member of the LA Dodgers. How on earth can I feature a Dodgers card in this topic? I then thought about another former Dodger, Nomar Garciaparra. He came up through the Red Sox system. But, his first card has that pesky Team USA designation. That wouldn’t do at all.

It kept going this way. Manny Ramirez? An Indian on his rookie card. David Ortiz? The Twins. I supoose that leaves my with the new core. But, do I want to feature Andrew Benintendi’s rookie card from the current year? That’s not much fun.

Then, it was so obvious that I’m annoyed I didn’t think of it earlier. Phil Plantier. Plantier joined the Red Sox in 1990 like he was shot out of a rocket. He was the next start for the Red Sox. It was obvious. Thankfully, most card companies were able to include him in their 1991 products. But, which one to choose? This one was an obvious choice. 

Like many people, I bought a lot of 1991 Donruss. To my never-ending delight, I always seemed to pull a Phil Plantier rookie. They were coming out of every pack. When does that ever happen? Sure, getting 5-10 cards of some guy over the course of a year isn’t anything spectacular. But to pull 10 copies of a card you really want? Of the newest hotshot rookie of your favorite team? Of your clear choice for favorite player? The pull those cards over and over? That never happens. 

But, it happened with the 1991 Donruss Phil Plantier.

Favorite Font from Favorite Players

I don’t know how closely you’ve been paying attention, but I’ve made a change to the font the last couple posts. I got a new laptop not too long ago with a smaller screen than I was used to. It made the print on the blog seem really small. I didn’t know if other people were having the same problem, but figured that I should try to fix it. The problem is, blogger doesn’t seem to give you a lot of choices when it comes to font sizes. (Or, I’m clueless when it comes to figuring out font sizes on blogger. Both explanations are equally possible.) I had been using the “normal” sized font. For the last few posts, I switched to the “large” font. Of course, now, in comparison the font just looks enormous! I feel a little bit like the kid using the biggest font he can find so it’s easier to write his one page book report. But, I don’t know. Maybe the larger size works for people.

So, I need your help. I’m going to write this post using a different font/size combination for each paragraph. Maybe the different sizes work better with the different fonts. If you can let me know which one you like, and or any other comments you have on font size, it would be appreciated. As content for this post, I’m going to talk about the evolution of my favorite Red Sox player by decade.

The eighties were really my first decade of fandom, although it’s probably only the second half. Even still, my favorite players at the time were carryovers from the seventies. When I wanted the Red Sox, I was a big fan of Jim Rice and Dwight Evans. Probably not a huge surprise. They were pretty much the best players on the team in their prime years. Each of them had a special player collection in my baseball card binder. For some reason I never grabbed onto Boggs or Clemens, despite their obvious appeal. (Arial Normal)

The nineties saw a change. Rice and Evans were gone, and I was in need of someone new. Thankfully, the Red Sox had two promising rookies come right in to take their place. Mo Vaughn and Phil Plantier. Both of them became my favorite players because of what they did at the plate. Phil Planter, of course had that squatting batting stance. You knew it was him at the plate just by seeing that. Of course, he also burst onto the scene with one of the best Septembers I can remember. He was my guy. Player card collection number two. Unfortunately, he didn't stick around very long before heading to San Diego. Mo, on the other hand, stayed a bit longer. His batting stance was all intimidation. He just looked t the pitcher over his shoulder like he knew he was going to hit the ball really hard. And, he usually did. It didn't take much to make Mo my newest player collection. (Arial Large)

By the end of the nineties, Mo was gone too. Thankfully, the Red Sox had another player come and take his place. Nomar. he was everything. He could hit for power. He could hit for average. He did that crazy thing with his gloves in the batters box. What more could you want? Nomar would be come my largest player collection yet. Along with Nomar, the Red Sox added Pedro Martinez. My standard answer at the time to who my favorite Red Sox player was, "Nomar, unless Pedro's pitching." I doubt I was alone in that. There's never been anything like Pedro, and there's really nothing more I can saw. If you don't know, then i can't explain it to you. At the moment, Pedro is my only "active" player collection. After all, it's Pedro. (Times normal)

At the turn of the century, I liked Manny Ramirez in Cleveland. When I saw that he signed with the Red Sox, I was beyond elated. Still am. He created a nice Red Sox favorite "trinity" if you will. My standard answer changed a bit to "Manny and Nomar. Unless Pedro's pitching." Oddly, I never started a Manny player collection. Maybe because he overlapped the Pedro and Nomar so much. But, he outlasted the two of them, and for three years, Manny stood along as my favorite. Possibly the only time that's happened. (Times Large)

Which brings us to the 2010's. And, I really don't know what to say. Since Manny left in 2008, I've been a little bit in Limbo. Papelbon was fun for a while. But, can a closer be a favorite? I never really attached to Lester or Beckett. Looking back at the moment, I can't think of one player that has grabbed me. Yes, I know. Ortiz has been on the team that whole time. While I can't deny he's an amazing player, there's always been "something" about him. I've just never latched on as a "favorite player" type thing. I liked Adrian Gonzalez a lot, but that didn't last long. I always knew Ellsbury was leaving soon. Sure, I loved the 2013 team. But, as a team. None of the players had that certain draw. No idea why. (Georgia normal)

Going forward? I think like most people, I'm enjoying the youngsters. Love Xander Bogaerts and Mookie Betts. I know. Going out on a limb there. But, they'd definitely be the ones that I'd pick, with the slight edge to Xander if I had to give one. Either way, it looks like I'm set for a couple more years, at least. Hopefully for much longer than that. (Georgia large)

So, what do you think? Does one of the fonts work better for you? Leave a comment with your favorite. Or, with another helpful suggestion. Or, a comment on to content of the post itself. Or, heck, all three!

Thanks for the help!