Card Draft II Countdown Part 2: 15-6

Hey y’all!  We’re jumping right back into the Card Draft Countdown, taking it down just shy of the top-5.  Light it up and go in hot.

#15

1974 Topps Traded Ron Santo..

This one is a little bittersweet.  Your best friend only moved across town, but you still get the sense that it’s the beginning of the end of your friendship.  Everything changes and life goes on, but it’s sad in the moment.  And you know that career is coming to an end when the team they’ve been with for their whole career lets them go.  But still, you gotta remember the good times, and Ron Santo was great.  So this is a bittersweet keeper.

#14

1974 Topps Al Kaline..

Another late-career card of a Hall of Fame slugger.  It is beat to hell, which is why it’s so low on the countdown, but still a fine card nonetheless.  I’m willing to trade this one away though.  Not my team, not my town.

#13

1974 Topps JR Richard..

And now for the “what could have been” I mentioned in the previous post.  JR Richard had the stuff to be an all-time great, but he flamed out probably not even halfway to immortality.  But the little we got was just crazy electric amazing.  This badass card is a keeper.  I’m working on a single page of him, and was able to score a couple more for the page in Card Draft III.

#12

Harold Baines RC..

A RC of the 2nd or 3rd best more-or-less pure DH of all time.  If Edgar Martinez is getting into the Hall one of these years, which seems like a very real possibility, then Harold Baines belongs there too.  Edgar has a better slashline .312/.418/.515 to .289/.356/.465.  But Harold has him in hits 2866-2247, 384-309 in home runs, and 1628-1261 in RBI, all of which Edgar would struggle to reach if given the extra 3+ seasons Harold played.  You would have to tack those years on at the beginning and/or end of his career, and he did all his best work from age 32-40 (dude never hit over 18 HR in season before that), so only the hits would maybe be in danger.  You can complain about accumulating all you want (and Harold Baines was unquestionably an accumulator), but if you put up 2866 hits, 384 home runs, and 1628 RBIs together, that’s Hall of Fame-worthy career, DH or not.

In other news, I completed a Harold Baines trifecta earlier this month thanks to landing this card in the draft.  I got the auto late last year, this in Card Draft II: The Search for Son of Curly’s Electric Boogaloo, and finally the relic courtesy of eBay.  Being that Harold Baines is probably my dad’s favorite player, all three are currently displayed on the parents’ entertainment center.

#11

’61 Moe Thacker..

An early ’60s Cub?  Of course I’m going to to take it.  I don’t really team collect anymore, but I have a binder for cool Cubs stuff I like that doesn’t fit into a specific player collection or set or single page.  There’s a place in it for vintage, rookies/prospects, inserts/parallels, hits, and certain oddballs and things.  So yeah, this be a keeper.

#10

1986 Topps 1000 Yard Club..

What better way to jump into the top-10 than with the greatest running back of all-time?  I have several cards from Sweetness’ playing career (including his RC!), but nothing from about 1981-86, so this starts to close that sad gap in my collection a little bit.

#9

Dock In Action..

Another ’70s pitching great with a dedicated binder page the card drafts have started to fill up.  I only had a single Dock before this, from epic time suck that was the Diamond Giveaway.  It should’ve been two though, Topps.  Thanks for screwing me out of the ’75, the only card from his playing career that could top this card and the next on the countdown.

#8

Dock not in action..

My ordering might’ve gone off the rails in this part of the list, but that’s okay.  It’s hard to beat a ’72 for anyway.  This was early in the era where I argue Topps peaked (from 1971-1985, they simply didn’t make a bad looking set, and ’71, ’72, ’75, and ’83 are all-time greats), and while the design is way… oh, let’s say flouncier, than ’71, it still positively reeks of the same kind of class as the straight black ’71s.

#7

Upper Deck Ovation Future Forces Ray Allen..

From the height of Topps powers to the height of Upper Deck’s, this is one of those scan doesn’t do the card justice types.  These days Ray is the most prolific 3-point shooter of all-time and a future Hall-of-Famer.  Amazing then that he might only be the fourth best player in his draft class!  Kobe, while kind of a douche, is unquestionably the best of the class, Allen Iverson is 6th in NBA history in points-per-game at 26.7 (from a guy not even legitimately 6’0″ tall!), and Steve Nash is a 2-time MVP and one of the greatest point guards in NBA history.

What a draft that 1996 class was.  4 Hall of Fame locks (the above mentioned Kobe, AI, Nash & Allen), 4 of the better all-star/Hall of Very Good journeymen ever (Antoine Walker, Shareef Abdur-Rahim, Stephon Marbury, Peja Stojakovic) and several significant contributors and long-lasting role players (Kerry Kittles, Marcus Camby, Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Derek Fisher, Jermaine O’Neal).

Oh, and I guess this card is available, but only reluctantly.

#6

Aramis Ramirez 2012 BowChro Blue Refractor #’ed /250..

This card is so so pretty with that deep blue border and surprisingly decent for a Bowman product design (although 2013 is pretty decent too).  The only thing keeping it out of the top-5 is the Cubs’ next Hall of Famer having moved on to the Brew Crew after the 2011 season.  Usually I stop actively chasing players when that happens, but I finally officially went over 100 Aramis Ramirez cards early this year and am still going strong, if mostly focused on using my own money to get his autograph cards right now.  I figure when I get back into trading again, the lower-tier Aramis base cards and inserts will start filling out some more.

Well, there you go.  I might even be questioning my list myself, but those are my 15-6 from Card Draft II.  That’s all for this one, lonely souls.  Thanks for stopping by and reading my rambles and looking at my cards.  Check back next time for the top-5!

Next time, Gadget…

Diamond Giveaway Orders 2-4: By the Numbers

Wow, where does the time go?  Life distracted me I guess.  It wasn’t for bad things for once at least though, so no worries.  Just beautiful distraction… Anyway, my last three orders of Diamond Giveaway cards have arrived.  So,  here’s a quick breakdown by year.

1960: 3- 13 Wally Post (Keeper), 60 Gus Triandos (Keeper), 241 Albie Pearson (Keeper).  Condition: Acceptable.  All three are a bit off-center & have a lil edge wear/corner dingage.  Triandos is scratched up & might be my worst condition ’60 so far, but I know it could’ve been much, much worse.

1964: 1- 372 Howie Koplitz. Condition: Similar to the two better ’60s.  By far the worst problem is centering, so I can’t complain.

1965: 1- 270 Milt Pappas (Keeper).  Condtion: Decently loved.  Bit of creasing, well worn edges, maybe a lil weathered(?).  Worst condition so far, but again, I’m not grading too harshly.

1966: 5- 8 Floyd Robinson, 49 Woody Woodward, 192 Vic Power (Keeper), 283 Jim Perry, 393 George Brunet.  Condition: Woody is the best by far, reasonably well centered & only relatively minor corner dingage.  Floyd & Vic have maybe a similar level of issues, but in different ways, and the last two… well, they kinda suck.  Perry seems to be stained & has a crease running the length horizontally near the bottom.  Brunet is stained, pretty creased up, has well-worn corners, & is centered worse than everyone amongst the ’66s, save Vic Power.  Brunet is by far the worst condition card now.

1967: 8- 27 Bob Saverine, 71 Camilo Pascual, 107 Joel Horlen, 117 Darrell Brandon, 145 Larry Brown, 269 Don  Nottebart, 291 Jim Hannan, 416 Roger Repoz.  Condition: Mostly great!  Repoz is the only legitimately bad one.  Horlen & Nottebart are a little more worn than the rest, Hannan is stained, & Larry Brown is hilariously off-center.  The other three are very nice though, and overall these guys are worlds better than the ’66s.

1968: 2- 28 Ted Uhlaender, 336 John Purdin. Condition: Uhlaender is pretty rough, but Purdin would probably grade out decently.  Not much damage and near perfect centering.  Very nice if you need him for the set or something.

1969: 11- 14 Al McBean, 129 Bill McCool, 154 Jim Britton, 158 Joe Gibbon, 264 Bill Landis, 281 Ted Kubiak, 316 Hal Lanier, 322 Jose Vidal, 337 Marty Martinez, 374 Bob Tillman, 474 Tom Murphy.  Condition: McBean is by far the most damaged.  A few others or worn or weathered, but not much creasing going on.   Tillman & Marty Mart have centering issues, but minimal damage, the former have almost none at all.

1970: 1- 52 Bruce Dal Canton.  Condition: Absolutely beat to hell.  Gives the awesome ’53 Hank Sauer Heartbreaking Cards sent me out of nowhere recently a run for it’s money, without the charm of being from the early ’50s.

1971: 2- 48 Dave Baldwin, 505 Ollie Brown.  Condition:  Pretty nice for ’71s, especially Ollie.  Dave has scratches across his face, though to a much lesser extent than the Triandos & somewhat rough corners, but nice centering.  Ollie isn’t quite centered as well, but is easily my 2nd best conditioned ’71 (after a super off-center but virtually undamaged Hoyt Wilhelm).

1972: 3- 73 Steve Huntz, 240 Dick Allen (Keeper), 258 Randy Hundley (Keeper).  Condition: No complaints.  Huntz is easily the worst, & mostly just looks a little weathered and feels kinda… weird.  Filmy, I guess?  On both sides.  Allen & Hundley don’t have much wrong with them.

1973: 3- 88 Mickey Stanley, 310 Dick Allen (Keeper), 444 Ken Brett.  Condition: Mickey’s seen better days.  Very rough.  Allen looks a little weathered & is off-center, but doesn’t seem to be that beat up or anything.  Ken’s in pretty decent shape.

1974: 2- 22 Cy Acosta, 528 Bill Bonham.  Condition: Cy is a little rough, particularly the corners, but is well-centered.  Bonham is noice.

1975: 5- 283 Steve Foucault, 301 Dave Roberts, 305 Jim Colborn, 579 Skip Pitlock, 588 Rick Auerbach.  Condition: Foucault & Colborn are the roughest, Pitlock is a lil scruffy, the other two are fine.

1976: 8- 12 Richie Zisk, 15 George Scott (Keeper), 227 Oscar Zamora, 351 Randy Hundley (Keeper), 359 Rick Reuschel, 391 Jerry Hairston, 455 Dick Allen (Keeper), 545 Sparky Lyle.  Condition: Nothing too bad.  Just some dinged corners mostly.  Sparky has this slight… tear(?), on the lower left edge, but it isn’t something I’m going to lose it over.

1978: 3- 93 Bobby Cox MGR, Henry Cruz, 380 Ted Simmons. Condition: Cruz is a little beat up, but again, nothing too severe here.  Most of my other ’78s are in worse condition than the Simmons & Cox at least.

1979: 3- 145 Rick Rhoden, 216 Wilbur Wood, 720 Expos Prospects (Jerry Fry/Jerry Pirtle/Scott Sanderson.  Condition: Looks like just the slightest of corner dingage here.  I have game-used that have come out of the pack looking worse.

1980: 1- 117 Dock Ellis (Keeper).  Condition: We’re in the ’80s now.  Expecting better than… multiple poke spots(… The hell?), and weird scuffy/stainy lines.

1981: 1- 310 Vida Blue.  Condition: Scratchiness by the hat in bottom left, lil edge wear on bottom, & a dinged corner.  Pfft.

1982: 1- 721 Greg Luzinski In Action.  Condition: Not quite perfect.  Meh, close enough.

1983: 1- 177 Harold Baines (Was going to be a keeper, might just be trash).  Condition: Crap.  Creases, scuffiness, corner wear, a lil warpiness?  WTF?!  I’m actually kind of genuinely pissed off by this card.  It’s seriously one of the more beat up cards in the entire lot.  You couldn’t get ahold of an ’83 semistar less beat up than this?!  C’mon, man!

1984: 3- 171 Frank Robinson MGR (Keeper), 276 Angels Batting/Pitching Leaders Rod Carew/Geoff Zahn (Keeper), 390 Tim Raines All-Star (Keeper).  Condition: Best shape of any of the ’80s cards so far, though none are quite minty fresh.

1986: 2- 254 Ozzie Guillen RC (Keeper), 760 Andre Dawson (Keeper).  Condition.  Ozzie is in line with the ’84s and thus good enough, but Hawk is somewhere between Luzinski & Vida Blue…

2011 Diamond Die-Cuts: 4- DDC-16 Justin Upton (Keeper), DDC-60 David Wright, DDC-94 Marlon Bryd, DDC-119 Kurt Suzuki.  Condition: Nothing wrong here I guess.

N/A: 1- 1975 Dock Ellis.  The only card I didn’t get.  We’ll see how it looks whenever it gets here.

Overall Grade:  The condition of the ’60s & ’70s mostly met or exceeded expectations, and only the 1970 the Bruce Dal Canton was probably unacceptably awful.  But I was expecting a lot better of the ’80s stuff.  I give the overall condition a B-.  That Harold Baines hurt bad.

I think I got all my keepers labeled.  Most of the rest is up for trade.  Sorry about the lack of pictures.  I’ll try to get them all scanned and posted before the week is out (no guarantees of course).  Thanks for stopping by!

Happy trails to you…

Million Card Giveaway Haul

Forgot about this until I saw them amongst some undownloaded scannage still sitting in my inbox.  Here’s what I ended up with:

1983 Cubs Team Leaders Leon Durham/Fergie Jenkins, 1984 Ge(J)orge Bell, 1985 Ryne Sandberg, 1972 Roger Freed, 1960 Al Schroll, 1976 Davy Lopes

Pretty nice haul considering how little I had to work with.  No complaints about condition either.  Only the ’60 and ’72 had any damage, but except for a certain 1965 card from a recent-ish trade and some pack fresh ’83s, I don’t know that I’ve ever even seen anything from before the junk wax era that was minty fresh.  Hell, a lot of current cards don’t even seem to come out of the pack minty fresh.  So yeah, these are fine, even centered nicely.  Davy Lopes is only has the slightest corner ding, otherwise he’s in perfect condition.

I didn’t have much luck with the MCG, either pulling them from packs, or turning them into vintage once on the site.  In fact, I’ve already pulled more Diamond Giveaway chances than I pulled MCGs all of last year, and with better vintage success (close to 50%).  Freed and Schroll were the only two pre-1975 cards from the MCG I scored myself without have to trade for.  Schroll was was great to get myself as a Cubs fan, but he was the only pre-1970 card I hit at all.  I’ve already somewhat duplicated the vintage Cubs feat this year, hitting a 1970 Don Young, that I will most likely be keeping, and hit have hit two pre-1970 cards (both ’69s, one I traded for a ’67) so far.

I really enjoy the idea of these “giveaways”.  They definitely haven’t perfected it, but it’s a fun way to score some random vintage cards (and other goodies), and really, who can argue with random vintage (and other goodies)?

The backs..

Freed and Lopes are available for trade.  Seeya.

Vintagevintagevintagevintage, its… VINTAGE.

COMC Order #2

Vintage 2: Son of The Search for Curly’s Electric Boogaloo Returns

Yeah, let that sweet vintage goodness wash over you and cleanse your soul...

These are all Hall of Famers (except the card-sharing Downing and the Cobra, who is fairly close to Hall-worthy), and they are all keepers this time.

Is that ’72 not glorious?  1047 wins represented on that card!  And those two early-mid ’80s Carews probably don’t qualify as vintage yet, but they’re getting way too close for comfort.  That is depressing, because I will become vintage only one year later.  Not cool, man, not cool. 😦

On that disheartening note, the next post will be short, in more ways than one, as we somewhat seamlessly segue out of vintage and into the next section.

Oh, and Merry Christmas and Happy Universal Non-Denominational Holiday Celebration to all!

Now I have a machine gun.  Ho-ho-ho…