More from 1975

Here are three more cards from 1975 for your viewing pleasure:

Photo taken just before nap time...

Can't really make any jokes here. Decent-for-the-era (bullpen) action shot and a disturbingly perfect border color-combination. Also, Chuck Taylor is about the badassest name there is.

I see your Schwartz is as big as mine...

Oh, I should mention, all of these cards (except Fergie) from 1975’s finest acid trip are available for trade for Cubs from the same year (I have none, so all are on the table right now).  And there are still two left, including a Hall of Famer.  Call ya shot.

Now can I go to sleep please?

Comedians should mention baseball cards more often.

eBay Winnin’s 2: The Legend of Curly’s Gold

Here’s some more pretty pictures of stuff I won on eBay, and almost all of it is up for trade.

Oh yes, it’s time for trade bait.  A whole mess of Bowman Baseball up for the tradin’.

Game Used goodies...

Jesus Delgado, Brent Lillibridge, Max Ramirez, Jeff Niemann, Matt LaPorta, Ramiro Pena, Brian Bocock game-used base (#ed to /135-ish, don’t remember for certain off the top of me head), Andrew McCutchen

Contemplating keeping the last two, but make an offer if you want ’em.  I’m willing to deal, for the time being anyway.

Maybin Mania!

Cueto’s going to JD’s Daddy, but the Maybins are available…

Random dudes are random

Longoria RC, Brian Barton, & Melky Cabrera and Scott Van Slyke Gold Parallels

Huzzah!

I guess I got case break leftovers or something...

A Porcello will also be going to JD’s Daddy, but everything else is available.

Shinies

Gallardo is another one going to JD’s Daddy, but the rest are available. Zach Jevne is #ed to /500 and Michael Bourn & Hank Blalock are #ed to… something. /250 maybe?  Cannot remember, don’t have ’em handy to check.

Finally, the autos...

I think Pie is with the Orioles now (poor fella), so if there is an O’s fan that wants it, I can give it up.  And the Phillies dude is Jason Knapp.

There ya go.  Aside from the three (Gallardo, Cueto, & one of the Porcellos) going to JD’s Daddy over at JD’s Wild Cardz, all are available until further notice.  Peace.

Does it sound wrong when I say besos?

A Little More ’75

Here’s a quickie with a lil’ more topps ’75 goodness.

White Sox wearing red? No, that's not confusing at all. The '70s sure were weird... -.-;

What is he staring at?...

Dude, lemon-lime border?... Seriously?

There ya go.  Peace & stuff.

~Seeya soon…*besos*

All I Can Do is Smile…

For you see, someone out there has painstakingly taken all those little incomplete, fractured thoughts and misgivings that I can’t quite properly express or factually back up on my own, that gnaw at me when my mind comes to rest on the thought of performance enhancing drugs in baseball.  I have mentioned before that I’m “over it” as far as steroid/PED drama was concerned, and (I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned this).  Please check out the link I’m dropping at the end of this post (will also be permanently linked on the side of my blog), and maybe have your mind blown.

I will say that if your mind is so thoroughly made up against PEDs, rational thought may not be able to reach you.  Disappointing, but it happens.  Regardless of how deep your bias runs, I ask you this: Of all the anti-PED sentiment out there, what/who has actually backed up their rhetoric with anything more than hearsay and vague stories/claims/etc?  Who has ever presented scientifically-tested data and the words of noted experts to back up their often vitriolic anti-PED stances?

This is one of the key problems I have always had with this subject.  I just cannot seem to find more than, at best, anecdotal evidence to support the dangers of performance enhancers (in adults).  And as far as the moral and ethical reasons I’ve heard for how PEDs damage the credibility of the game, I don’t really buy into them all that much.  At the very least they are infinitely debatable, and it really ticks me off when writers and politicians and even common fans shout from their soapboxes like they have any kind moral highground here, when they can’t back it up with anything but a chorus of people saying the exact same thing, nobody providing a good reason for it.  It’s just a vicious cycle of BS, and to me it all rings hollow.  And that’s a real good way to turn me off of what your selling in a big way real fast.

So we find ourselves here today.  I happened upon this great lil website that has taken it upon itself to look at all the reasons performance enhancing drugs are being taken to task, and thoughtfully break every last one of them down into the quivering mass of lies, misconception, ignorance, and logical fallacies that ultimately rest at the heart of each issue.  And glory be, does it ever cite it’s sources, they really did their homework, quite ably discrediting the misconceptions and lies surrounding steroids and PEDs and their negative effect on baseball and a person’s physical wellbeing, not to mention giving some useful opinions from people who have the background to give said opinions real weight on the ethical quagmire that performance enhancers in sports create.

As an added bonus, it also nicely illustrates just how incredibly screwed up our society is. 🙂

So yeah, if you see me smiling a little more wryly than usual, I might be feeling a little validated right now.

With that all tediously (depending on where you fall on the issue and what you think of my writing) said, here’s the link: Steroids, Other “Drugs”, and Baseball

Note of caution, there is a TON of stuff to take in over there.

If you give it a fair shot (or even if you don’t), please let me know what you think.  I most definitely want to hear what y’all have to say about this.  Like I said, I was basically reading my own personal thoughts on the subject and getting the proof for my misgivings that I didn’t have within me to seek out on my own.  Agree or disagree, let’s get some intelligent discourse going.

You’re not going crazy, chum.  You’re going sane in a crazy world!

Old Skool ’75

Wanting to do a post of some substance, but I’m pretty out of it (been up since 2:30-ish in the morn), so I’ll just post an awesome card.

Rangers uni-Smangers uni. Keeper!

A good card to go to sleep on, if I do say so myself.  G’night.

zzzzzzZZZzz…

Post Fail & a Poll

Damn, I had at least two more posts planned for the weekend, but my furkkin’ computer arbitrarily decided “No more editing scans for you, Mr.”  So I got nothin’.  But seeing the Benchwarmers still up there gives me an idea to try out for a poll.

If the results are favorable, maybe Benchwarmers on Saturday mornings might become a regular thing here, like Waxaholic’s cheerleaders on Sunday.  Well, till I run out of new cards in 4-6 weeks. 😛

He gone!

Selling Out for the Blog Hits: eBay Winnin’s #1

Yaharr, when I scanned the half done sketch cards, I also (at the risk of being b*tched out, no less) scanned some of the eBay stuffs from recent weeks to share with y’all.  Hawt chicks & Aramis Ramirez & trade bait ahoy!  This is #1 of about a gazillion, btw.

First, the hawt chicks.  Bring on teh Benchwarmers!

I... I don't know who she is. Sorry.

Think clean thoughts, chum. 🙂

Hey cool, someone sorta recognizable. Probably why she was 2/3 of the cost of these cards.

Okay gents, how’s that for a kickoff to your Saturday?  Are y’all awake now?  It’s card-related at least, right? 😛

More of this to come, mayhaps…

You Like Shiny?

Shiny!

I have no idea how those holograms turned out so awesome… :O

(Edit: In case you are wondering, no, I didn’t have to tweak any settings to get the holograms or Goku to shine like dat.  Crazy huh?)

Another To-Do List

There is more trady business I need to be doin’.  This is The To-Do List, sponsored by Subway & Tristar (just kidding… someday I will get a consistent and large enough amount of hits per day to be sponsored by card companies & people who want stuff reviewed though).

• Send another SASE to Mario (never even got the first one sent, d’oh!) for three quite frankly (Get it, cuz Frank Gifford is one of ’em? Laugh with me!) awesome football relics from a recent box break.  This one goes on top because I’m on the clock here.  I’m going to send some extra top loaders too.  I think I’ve got somewhere around half a 60 ct. box of off-brand ones that I picked up at Toys ‘R Us when I was probably still in my teens that should work well for his shipping style.

• Get a replacement package together for JD’s Daddy.  Someone jacked most of my first trade somewhere between here & there.  Ya know, for my $7.62 (it was a pretty big package), you’d think I could rest easy knowing it’d make it in one piece with no trouble whatsoever.  Whatever mail piratin’ f***head stole it, I hope they get paper cuts from the cards.  I could’ve bought a pack of oh so misleadingly named Legendary Cuts for roughly the same price.  At least when I got screwed over that way, I’ll be getting a few cards, not losing well over 100.

Oh well, I can get rid of my Max Scherzers now at least. 😛

• Working on something with Brian for my Texas Rangers hits.

• Wicked Ortega has some more Maybins & M. Cabreras & Manny bat card and probably a Greinke auto coming to him.

• I still owe Da Rook some ’08 & ’09 UDX and maybe some ’06 topps, and of course there will be Braves.

• I have a Kershaw to send Night Owl.

• Still gotta send Dayf some cards.

• Shot Not Taken… I’ve got most of what I already had for you together.  I can send out what I’ve got and wait do the TNA cards later if you want.

• Cardboard Problem~

Marie, you are officially getting the Pujols Ticket Stub for the Ramirez & Sandberg jerseys.  Also, did you ever get my email about the cards I have of the other guys you collect?

And for Sooz, I guess all that is left is for me to get around to finally coming to a final conclusion on which Ichiros I need from your list.  At most, I only have a half dozen I think (it was four last time I checked, but I think I may have pulled one or two more since then).

• I still have some ’09 A&G regular minis & mini SPs to send Nachos Grande for some clunkers & stuff.  I think I will just see that they are sent out in short order and mess with sending him some Reds later.

If I have missed anybody, and I’m sure I have, please let me know.  When I reach my 5000 hit anniversary, we’re gonna have my first real contest.  5000 hits is the uncirculated anniversary, you know. ;3

My unrelated notes for this post are as follows…

Did Braylon Edwards just have the ultimate falling up experience or what?  Beating up LeBron’s little buddy got him shipped off from the sucktastic Cleveland Browns to the quite possibly legitimate contender Jets?!?!  How is that punishment?  Granted, it sounds like there is a small chance of him getting suspended for a few weeks, but dude, UP-FREAKIN’-GRADE.

Also, what is up with the Eagles backups?  EVERY SINGLE TIME McNabb goes out with injury, his backups play like freakin’ superstars without exception.  It’s hard to have sympathy for a rich & famous QB with ridiculous athletic ability & lots of endorsment deals, but sometimes it’s hard not to feel bad for him.  Dude’s been nothing less than a great player and a class act, but fate seems to have been conspiring against him in Philly ever since he got drafted.

I’ve been stuck in that sick-but-not-quite-sick mode for the past couple of days.  It’s almost somehow worse than being full blown sick.  You don’t feel bad enough to be completely out of commission, but you don’t feel good enough to go about life like normal.  It kinda sucks.

That’s all for this one.  There is a sketch card project and sleep to catch up on.

Until our next…

The Lonestarr Personal Collection #7

Coming off an 86 hit day for my blog, I think I should try to keep it going.  So here’s a little personal collection goodness for your viewing pleasure:

I actually pulled this from a pack myself!

It’s true, I pulled this from a pack!  A pack of 2005 topps Pack Wars… wait wut?  If you are confused, don’t worry, so was I when I pulled it.  I even wrote the dude I got the pack from, asking about it.  He didn’t even know.  I’m not sure how I found out what the deal was, but I was eventually steered in the right direction.

In the odds on the back of the pack, in 1:59 packs falls a retired player autograph.  It’s vague and easy to overlook.  This is what you get.  Leftover 2003 topps Fan Favorites autographs.  It’s more awesome than you think.  I mean, that was a pretty great set, with lots of regionally legendary Hall of Very Good players amongst the Hall of Famers.  It’s not a high priority, but I would like to get ahold of some more someday.

As for this card itself, there is so much going for it:

• One of these years, Lee Smith is going to get into the Hall of Fame.

• The auto is on card, which is always nice.

• His sig is also nice.  Pleasingly loopy.

• The design is 1983 topps, quite possibly the most perfectly designed cards ever made.

• Lee’s smile in the little head shot makes you fear for your life.

There you have it, one of the cooler pieces of my personal collection.