4 Boxes Worth of Ginter Hits

We all know that through 4 boxes I was nowhere near a complete base set. I've already made a few trades, so at this point it's unclear what the actual percentage was that I got out of the four. If you read all my Gint-A-Cuffs posts, then you already know what I pulled in boxes 1 & 4, but what came out of the other 2?

Well, I'm gonna break down the "hits" box by box.

Box #1:

AGR-DW Dontrelle Willis jersey relic

AGR-RL Ryan Ludwick jersey relic

Delmon Young Cloth Card #08/10

AGA-RB Ryan Braun autograph redemption

Box 2:

AGR-PF Prince Fielder bat relic

AGR-MO Magglio Ordonez jersey relic (from Topps, the famed "missing hit")

AGA-CO Cat Osterman autograph redemption

Box 3:

AGR-FL Fred Lewis bat relic

AGR-RZ Ryan Zimmerman bat relic

AGA-BW Blake DeWitt autograph

Box 4:

AGR-TL Tim Lincecum jersey relic

AGR-DW David Wright jersey relic

AGR-MC Miguel Cabrera jersey relic

Aramis Ramirez No Number Back mini #35/50

John Higby No Number Back mini #29/50

EA2 Extinct Creatures Dodo mini (1 per case?)

So there you have it, 4 boxes worth of "hits". It's pretty obvious why I chose the first & fourth to use in the competition, as both contained more than the guaranteed 3 "hits". No complaints here about my autographs either. I could complain about the DeWitt, but it hardly seems appropriate after the 2 pretty nice redemptions.

I've definitely got some relics for trade, if anyone is interested. The 2 no number minis are also available.

I Saw Adam Jones On Sportscenter

And all he did was talk about how great it was to meet Yankees players at the All Star Game, specifically Jeter and Rivera.

What up with that?

I know the running joke with every good young player is that someday in the not too distant future they'll be donning the pinstripes. The very thought of Adam Jones as a Yankee saddens and depresses me.

Wish List Card #6

2007 Upper Deck Goudey Cal Ripken Jr./Brooks Robinson dual auto

What better day to feature an amazing Upper Deck card then the day it's announced they will not be getting a new MLB license next year. I stumbled upon this card while trollin' the 'Bay tonight, and instantly fell in love. Naturally it's a 1/1 dual autograph of Baltimore's finest, and the autos are on card which is always a plus. It's already up to $85.00 with a little over 2 days to go, and I for one am curious how much it'll sell for. If I had some cash to spend, I'd totally take a run at it, but it's probably out of my league and is truly a card that will remain on my wish list indefinitely.

You can check out the auction HERE.

Old School Orioles

I don't actually think any of these cards actually qualify as "old school", but they are from John at Old School Breaks, which has to count for something. He contacted me a couple of weeks ago, and said he had some O's for me. Seeing as he is a Yankees collector, and I absolutely abhor the evil empire, we worked out a trade, and I was able to pawn some unwanted Yankees cards off on him. John sent over about 10 cards, most of which are of either the game used, serial numbered, or refractor variety.

2008 Upper Deck Brian Roberts Game Jersey

If you read my ramblings on a regular basis, you'd know that my appreciation for Roberts is growing, right along with my collection of his cards. This is one I did not already have, and even though it's just a regular ol' jersey card from a regular ol' base set release, I like it none the less.

2007 Upper Deck SPx Cal Ripken Ironman insert

A man who needs no introduction at all whatsoever. When I first started this blog, I had maybe a handful of Ripken cards, and now thanks to the power of the blogosphere, I have more of his cards than I do of Markakis. The 2632 on this card represents the number of insert sets produced commemorating Ripken's record consecutive games streak. At least it's numbered to 699, which I assume is the number of cards in this particular insert set. I'm just sayin', there are an awful lot of special insert sets commemorating Ripken's achievement. Not that he isn't worthy of every one of them.

2002 Donruss Classics Eddie Murray

Based on Eddies expression here, I am going to assume he is admiring a ball he just crushed over the right field fence. It looks like he's saying "Ooohhh Weeee!" or "Hot Damn!" in his mind. It has been scientifically proven that orange wristbands increase your power output. Remember that kids.

2007 Upper Deck Melvin Mora game worn jersey

This guy is not in any Oriole fans good graces right now. In this picture it looks like he's taking a weak swing at a ball in the dirt, which is a scene I am all too familiar with. He'll be a Royal next year, and he deserves to be.

2002 Upper Deck SP Authentic Future Watch Steve Bechler auto

This is a bit bittersweet, considering Bechler's premature passing in 2003. It's a nice auto, and a more than welcome addition to my collection. Who knows what kind of a pitcher Bechler could have become?

1998 Topps Finest Jeffrey Hammonds refractor

When you're holding this card in your hand, it's sort of difficult to even tell it's a refractor, but there's only 1 type of card that scans like that, and you're looking at it. I remember liking Hammonds a lot while he was here. I know the O's drafted him in the first round, and I think the overall consensus was that he didn't quite live up to the hype.

2007 Topps Chrome Nick Markakis Xfractor

For some reason I love xfractors. They have to be the ugliest cards around, but for some reason I am drawn to them instantly, and they seem so much cooler than a common refractor. This is a Markakis I didn't previously have, so score another one for the player collection.

2007 Topps Chrome Miguel Tejada Xfractor

He who hath bringeth thine PEDs unto thine team tis nary an admirable fellow. I'm not blaming Tejada exclusively, but I also don't buy the B-12 shot story. I don't hate him that much though, he was my fantasy team waiver wire short stop replacement for Jose Reyes, and has done a fine job. He was all the O's really had there for a couple of seasons, but you could tell he didn't want to bee here.

2002 Bowman Chrome Joel Crump refractor

Never heard of this guy, but then again, he was an Orioles prospect pitcher during my "lost years", so I shouldn't have heard of him. His Baseball Reference page reveals the true reason I have no idea who he is. 3 seasons in the minors... that's all.

That's also all for this post. Thanks for the great cards John! Sorry it took me 2 weeks to show them off.

Another Selfish Post

I am posting this to get my 3rd and final entry into THIS contest over at Voice of The Collector. You should enter too! There's some great prizes being given away, and winning stuff is always cool.

Make sure you thank Rob for giving away some of the cool stuff he got while attending "The National".

Hey Melvin Mora... SHUT UP!

If you're not familiar with the situation, click here and here. I think the first link really sums up this whole enchilada. Melvin Mora sort of sucks, and sort of always has. He had 3 big seasons, from 2003-2005 (ironically when the whole Oriole team was reportedly juicing), and really is a borderline starting 3rd baseman to begin with. He was signed as an amateur free agent in 1991, which makes him no spring chicken, at 38 (might not even be his real age). If you subtract his unusually high batting averages from his 3 best seasons, which in my opinion are suspect, considering the roided up gutter trash he shared a clubhouse with for those 3 years, then his batting average is at least 10 points lower than the .278 career mark he currently carries. I personally wanted him gone at the end of '05, despite the great numbers he was able to post last season. I'm sure there are a lot of O's fans who will disagree with my feelings towards Mora, and I've got no problem with that. The only reason he has looked even remotely decent over the course of the last 10 seasons is because the Orioles system had been so weak for so long that he was about all we had. You put him on a team with a truly deep roster, and he's a 6th or 7th place hitter at best.

I will say in Mora's defense, that he has been loyal to Baltimore through some of it's roughest seasons in recent memory, and has blossomed into a pretty good defensive third baseman in the process. His skills however, are clearly on the decline, and in a way I sort of feel bad for him. The writing has been on the wall for at least 2 seasons now that this is a team going through a bit of a youth movement, and clearly re-building. What makes him think he can bat .256 with 3 home runs and 25 RBIs through 100 games and still be in the starting lineup, batting 5th every day? Get a freaking clue, and shut your damn mouth. Did you not just see the Orioles trade George Sherrill for a 3rd base prospect? How much clearer can we make it Melvin?

Old School O's From Alfredo

Holy crap it's August already! The 3rd in fact, and I haven't posted since July. You could say I'm a slacker, for which I'd resent you, even if you are correct, which you would be. Even though I've been busy checking out possible wedding venues (Zzzzzzz...) and riding my new bike, no new posts in 3 days is inexcusable. My slacking this past weekend was so severe that I managed to mess up my "cards to be scanned and posted" piles, and as a result, I have received cards in trade from people who may not receive the proper recognition, because as of now I am unsure who sent me what. If you happen to catch me giving credit to someone incorrectly, for cards that they sent, feel free to correct me, and call me a jaggoff. Once again, you would be correct.

As luck would have it, I do know for a fact that all of these cards were sent to me by Alfredo, of My Past Time... I Love It fame. He sent over a fat stack of O's cards, spanning various decades. Here are some of my favorites, presented in chronological order:

1975 Topps Don Baylor

I remember seeing Baylor play towards the end of his career, with the Red Sox, and then with Oakland. If I'm not mistaken, he was in the Red Sox lineup for the greatest baseball video game ever made, RBI Baseball. Even though Baltimore was still great in the 70's they seem to have done the same thing to Baylor as they did with all thier promising prospects of the 90's & 00's. By that I mean they gave him a few years to mature, and then promptly traded him away so he could break out and become an All-Star with another team. 1975 was Baylor's last season with the O's and statistically his best year with the club.

1978 Topps "Record Breakers" Brooks Robinson

Not much to really say about this guy that hasn't already been said. 1977 was Brooks' 20th with the Orioles, and the final year of his illustrious career. You just don't see that kind of loyalty anymore, at least not commonly. Jeter comes to mind, but he's about the only modern example I can think of. That's a sweet hat Brooks is sporting!

1978 Topps "1977 Victory Leaders"

Check out my man Jim Palmer! 1977 was the third season in a row he had been a 20 game winner, winning exactly 20 in '77, which was good enough for at least a share of the league lead. He wouls go on to win 21 in '78, which would give him 4 straight 20 win seasons, for the second time in his career. Pitchers now aer sissys! When was the last time someone registered even back to back 20 win seasons? Palmer is another guy who spent his whole 19 year career with the Birds. He's sporting a fine cap as well, and what appears to be a throwback uni. This has to be an old picture, because I don't think they wore those in the 70's. Perhaps the all Orange unis were so ugly Topps refused to immortalize them on cardboard?

1979 Topps "Record Breakers" Sammy Stewart

Motherscratcher's favorite Orioles convict is back! I see from reading this card that Sammy fanned 7 straigt batters in his first Major League game. They must have been focusing on his eyebrow(s) and not ball. Can't really say I blame them. For those of you who don't know, ammy is currently serving an 8 year prison sentance for being an "habitual felon". According to wikipedia he has been charged with crime 46 times since 1988. Not exactly a lightweight. I'm only joking Sammy, please don't kill me.

1980 Topps Denny Martinez

Lock it down like El Presidente! That's exactly what Denny did while winning 100 games in both the A.L. & N.L. I remember this guy from my childhoood, and always thought he an Tippy Martinez were brothers, which in fact they are not.

1980 Topps Dave Skaggs

Brother of Boz, cousin of Ricky. Played 4 years in the bigs, and was pretty unremarkable for all 4 of them. There is however nothing unremarkable about that trash stache.

1980 Topps 1979 Victory Leaders

Look at Ol' Flanny! Long hair and super sweet mustaches must have been a running theme for the 1980 O's. It's cool to see both of the Niekro boys together on this card as well. Flanagan won 23 games in 1979, the most he would ever win in a single season. In fact, he never even cracked the 20 win barrier ever again.

1981 Topps Steve Stone

1980 Cy Young Award winner, former Cubs & current White Sox color commentator, ladies man.

1981 Topps Eddie Murray

Mutton Chop Eddie is my personal hero, and this is a great shot of them, in all their glory. Would you mess with that guy? I sure wouldn't. He means business.

1981 Topps Orioles Future Stars

I'm running out of things to say. Those sure are some sweet caps! I guess this is Mike Boddicker's rookie card. He was awesome in the postseason of '83, and has a World Series ring to prove it. He was eventually traded to the hated BoSox for Brady Anderson & Curt Schilling. It's really too bad Baltimore didn't hang on to Schilling for just a few more seasons. I don't think they even knew what they had till it was too late. Floyd Rayford was the guy who Cal Ripken Jr. replaced in the first game of his historic consecutive games streak. He appears to be puzzled by the decision. Mark Corey I know nothing about, but 2 out of 3 ain't bad!

1989 Fleer Randy Milligan

Forget Mike Mussina, this guy is the original "Moose". Milligan was my favorite Oriole for a little while. It was right after Eddie left, and he was my choice to fill the void for some reason. Randy wasn't terrible, but he was nothing to write home about either.

2006 Upper Deck "UD Game Materials" Rafael Palmeiro

This is the card that pretty much sparked this trade. Alfredo picked it up for me at a card shop, without even knowing that I would want it, which was awfully nice of him. Who wouldn't want a game used card of a disgraced Italian slugger? Would you believe people actually believe I'm serious when I refer to him as an Italian? I got crap for it in the comments on one of Mario's posts recently. I mean c'mon guys, being named after a famous Rennaisance reptilian pizza loving artist does NOT make you Italian, and neither do steroids. Remember that kids.

2008 Upper Deck Sweet Spot Nick Markakis

Getting a Nick the Stick card that isn't already in my collection makes any trade package instantly better. This just happens to be the last card, chronologically. I didn't do that on purpose or anything.

Alfredo, thanks a lot man! Your cards went out on Friday, so they should arrive soon. It was a pleasure trading with you, and thanks a lot for all the 70's & early 80's cards.

I also made some Ginter trades last week, with JD's Wild Cardz and Sharpe Since '92. These trades helped get me a little closer to finishing this year's Ginter set before the first snowfall arrives. My wantlist can be found on the top right of my sidebar or HERE, and is freshly updated. I also still have a fat stack of doubles available to trade away, so please contact me if you'd like to work out a trade.