Look back: 2012

Man, I've been blogging for awhile now. As we enter our fifth year, it's time for our annual "Look back" post.

I didn't lay out much in the way of goals in our "Look ahead: 2012" but I have good news. I met my one and only goal! The blog is still alive!

We hit a few roadblocks throughout the year. October saw an all-time low number of posts for a month. This will be our 244th post this year. Another all-time low for a full year.

On the plus side, I'd like to think my blog has evolved a little in 2012. Thanks to the other bloggers in the blogosphere I have a new appreciation for baseball cards that I haven't had since I was a kid. For the past decade or more cards were only something for me to get autographed. I've liked certain designs more than others ( 2002 Fleer Tradition, 2006 A&G ) but ultimately I didn't really care what the card looked like.

This year, I've gotten more serious about our two player collections ( Luis Aparicio and Daniel Hudson ) and even started collecting any and all Diamondbacks cards. I'm still going after the 2008 Topps set of course but it's these other things that have kept blogging fun for me.

I hope everybody is having a good New Year's Eve. I've spent mine scanning cards and watching Seth Rogan movies. Man, I'm cool.

D-Backs from Drew!

I completed my first trade with Drew from Drew's Cards. He sent me some great D-Backs cards. They're all newer but I didn't have any of them. There's some good stuff here too like a few GQ mini's and a gold bordered Chris Snyder.

Thanks, Drew! See ya!
 

Luis Aparicio Collection - Autographed Bat

With my wife's permission, I bought myself a Christmas present. I now own an autographed Luis Aparicio baseball bat. I had been thinking about getting one for awhile and finally did. I wanted a black bat with a Hall of Fame inscription so this one was perfect.

I'm not a huge fan of autographed bats ( they take up too much space to have tons of them ) but I do have about a dozen or so. This is probably now my favorite.

2012 Topps - Daniel Hudson Red Border Parallel

It's almost Christmas and the Diamondbacks did a little shopping yesterday by picking up outfielder, Cody Ross. I didn't see that coming at all. I'm not really sure what this means four our outfield situation. Rumor has it we'll probably trade Jason Kubel. Kevin Towers was also quoted as saying he has approval to enter next season without trading anyone so who knows.

There has been a lot of scrutiny towards the D-Backs deals this off-season. It's nice to see we're at least trying to make the team better. Hopefully these moves translate to more wins and a division title.

Here's a red border parallel of Daniel Hudson we picked up for our DHuddy collection. These are the ones randomly inserted into retail packs at Target stores.

# 266 - Ryan Doumit

Yes! Third 08 Topps post in a row!

This one is of former Pittsburgh Pirates catcher, Ryan Doumit. Ryan left Pittsburgh at the end of 2011 as a free agent and signed with the Minnesota Twins.

This one came to us from the same guy who hooked us up with the Steve Pearce we posted yesterday.

# 266 - Ryan Doumit

Progress: 501/990
 

# 127- Steve Pearce

Two 08 Topps posts in a row? Whaaaaat? I couldn't possibly make it three tomorrow could I?

I picked up this Steve Pearce signed 08 Topps card from a friend on SportsGraphing.com earlier this year. It just fell through the cracks and never made it's way to the blog.

After spending a few years with the Pirates, Steve found his way to three different teams in 2012. He played on the Orioles, Astros, and Yankees. Around the end of September the Orioles claimed him off waivers from the Yankees and he is currently back on their roster.

# 127 - Steve Pearce

Progress: 500/990
 

# UH 329 - Jeremy Sowers

Former first round pick of the Cleveland Indians, Jeremy Sowers, signed a card for our set. Yes! Despite all of the non-08 Topps posts lately we're still working on the set.

# UH 329 - Jeremy Sowers

Progress: 499/990
 

2011 Bowman Chrome - Chris Owings Purple Refractor

Good news! I've still got more junk from Jaybarkerfan's Junk to post about!

Mixed in with a bunch of base D-Backs he sent me in that large flat rate box were a few inserts.

I know a little bit about about Chris Owings. I know he's one of the D-Backs top prospects. MLB.com currently has him listed at # 5. He was supposed to be our shortstop of the future but that was before the Didi Gregorious trade. I guess if Didi doesn't work out, he'll be our guy. A move to second base is possible too.

This purple refractor is from the 2011 Bowman Chrome set. It's numbered 074/799 on the back.

2010 Topps - Dan Haren Copper Parallel

Good news! I've still got more junk from Jaybarkerfan's Junk to post about!

Mixed in with a bunch of base D-Backs he sent me in that large flat rate box were a few inserts.

I thought this Dan Haren 2010 Topps card was pretty cool. It's a copper parallel and is numbered 017/399 on the back. 

Hall of Fame Junk from Jaybarkerfan

I came across a post on Jaybarkerfan's Junk a few weeks ago. Wes was looking for someone to swap junk with. His large flat rate Priority Mail box full of cards for your large flat rate Priority Mail box full of cards. I already had some cards ready to go so I figured why not.

Earlier this week a 20+ pound box showed up with thousands of cards inside. He sent me a bunch of cool stuff.

I've slowly been trying to downsize some of my older cards. By older I mean 80s, 90s, and early 00s. While sorting through the good and the bad, I've made myself a box with cards of just Hall of Famers.

Wes sent over a bunch of Hall of Famers in the flat rate box too including some of my favorites like Ryne Sandberg, Andre Dawson, and Nolan Ryan.

Thanks for all of the legends. They've already got a new home in my HOF box!

Cardinals Junk from Jaybarkerfan

I came across a post on Jaybarkerfan's Junk a few weeks ago. Wes was looking for someone to swap junk with. His large flat rate Priority Mail box full of cards for your large flat rate Priority Mail box full of cards. I already had some cards ready to go so I figured why not.

Earlier this week a 20+ pound box showed up with thousands of cards inside. He sent me a bunch of cool stuff.

Next up are a ton of Arizona Cardinals cards. I like football cards but I've never really bought too many over the years. When I sorted through the flat rate box I was glad to see a healthy stack of Cards cards.

I didn't have a single Cardinals card that Wes sent. There was lots of nice ones of players like Larry Fitzgerald, Jake Plummer, and Kurt Warner.

Thanks for all of the football goodness. Now if our team could just end this horrible losing streak. I saw a stat on Twitter the other day that pointed out that the Diamondbacks have won more recently than the Cardinals. The D-Backs last win was on October 2nd and the Cardinals on September 30th. Yikes!

D-Backs Junk from Jaybarkerfan

I came across a post on Jaybarkerfan's Junk a few weeks ago. Wes was looking for someone to swap junk with. His large flat rate Priority Mail box full of cards for your large flat rate Priority Mail box full of cards. I already had some cards ready to go so I figured why not.

Earlier this week a 20+ pound box showed up with thousands of cards inside. He sent me a bunch of cool stuff so be on the lookout for some blog posts over the next few days.

First up are a ton of Diamondbacks cards. I really didn't pick up many D-Backs from the early 2000's so all of this stuff is a welcome addition to my Diamondbacks collection.

The scan below doesn't even scratch the surface of what he sent. There were easily 200 D-Backs cards. I found some great names from the early days like Tony Womack, Andy Benes, and David Dellucci as well as some newer stuff of current players like Miguel Montero, Ian Kennedy, and Paul Goldschmidt.

Thanks for all of the teal & purple! I had a great time looking through these. 

2000 Topps Tek - Josh Hamilton

I've mentioned a few times on here that Josh Hamilton is one of my favorite players. I've been fortunate to meet him a few times and get his autograph. The first time was back in 2001 when he was playing in the Arizona Fall League.

He signed this 2000 Topps Tek card for me. It's pattern 38-5 in case you're curious.

He didn't play much if at all during the Fall League that year and he was sent home after about 2 weeks. I saw him two or three times before he left and each time he always took time before the game to sign autographs for everyone. I even saw someone hand him about a dozen baseball cards. He signed them all and then asked the guy if he had anymore. That was enough to make me a fan.

Over the next few years I followed his struggles. Doing the occasional Google search to see if anything new was going on. There was nothing bad news until the Cubs picked him up in the Rule 5 draft. I remember my Dad and I watched on TV as he made his MLB debut with the Reds. It was Opening Day 2007. According to Wikipedia, he was given a 22 second standing ovation. During that quarter of a minute I got chills and was very proud of a guy I didn't even know but felt some type of connection with.

Yesterday, Josh reportedly signed a HUGE contract with the Los Angeles Angels. Once again, I'm happy for him and wish him the best of luck with the Halos.

2001 Fleer - Randy Johnson Relic

Wow! What a week. We found out that Storage Wars is fake, the Diamondbacks traded Trevor Bauer, and I didn't write a single blog post.

I'm getting back on track with a D-Backs legend. This Randy Johnson jersey card came from the 2001 Fleer set. 2001 was a pretty good year for the Diamondbacks. Hopefully our new shortstop, Didi Gregorious, can help lead us back to the World Series. 

2004 Topps Cracker Jack - Brandon Webb Auto

Free Shipping Friday is back with another nice pick up for our D-Backs collection!

We stole this 2004 Topps Cracker Jack Brandon Webb autograph for $2.55 shipped. A great deal for an on card signature of a Cy Young Award winner.

I read on MLBTR earlier this week that Brandon is going to try to make a comeback in 2013. It would be cool to see him pitch again and I wish him the best of luck.

# 222 - Felipe Paulino - Chrome Bronze Refractor

Most of the players on the checklist from the 2008 Topps Chrome certified autos haven't had much of an impact in the big leagues. Felipe Paulino is one who is still hanging around.

He missed some time last year after Tommy John surgery but the Royals recently signed him to a new contract. There's a good chance he'll be back in 2013 sometime after the All-Star break.

This is the first bronze refractor parallel auto for our 2008 Topps collection. We also have Felipe's blue refractor version but we're still missing his base and regular refractor.

I grabbed this one for $3 shipped. Not bad for a card numbered to 50.

# 222 - Felipe Paulino - Chrome Bronze Refractor ( # 26/50 )
 

2002 Upper Deck Pepsi - Danny Bautista

I came across this 2002 Upper Deck Pepsi Danny Bautista card on eBay recently. I ended up winning it for 15 cents shipped. Great deal for a nice card that I have never seen before.

I have a few Pepsi Diamondbacks cards from various years but I have never seen the 2002 version. These are really nice. I like the overall design and the use of the 2001 World Champions and World Series logos. If anyone has any of these or knows where I can get some more at a reasonable price, let me know. 

# WMDP4 - David Ortiz - Dick Perez Insert

Back in 2008, Topps and Wal-Mart struck a deal to include a bonus pack of 3 Dick Perez art cards in their 5 pack series one blasters. I've acquired a few of these over the past few years but didn't have much interest in them until recently.

I saw someone got an autograph TTM from Dick Perez so I dug out my David Ortiz card and sent it off to him. I also dug out his 1983 Donruss card. A few weeks later they both came back signed.

The more I think about it, these are really cool. After all, Dick Perez is kind of a legend in the baseball card world. He supplied the artwork for all of the great Donruss Diamond King cards from the 80s.

Thanks, Mr. Perez! 

  

2012 Topps - Paul Goldschmidt 1987 Topps Mini

I recently participated in Thorzul's trade me anything event. He sent me this 1987 Topps Mini Paul Goldschmidt and I sent him a few miscellaneous Brewers. Check out his recap here. 

I didn't go all crazy for the 1987 minis like I thought I might when they were first announced. I have a few of them but haven't gone out of my way to get any extras except this one. I like the retro "Future Stars" graphic.