Sunday, August 17, 2025
To the card show I go!
Tuesday, August 5, 2025
A tub full of Ghostbusters and my 50th Sportlots order
Work, work, and more work. Lately, my wife and I have had differing schedules. I work usually from 8am-4pm and my wife will work sporadically throughout the day and most nights until 8pm. It's the life of a therapist, I guess. So, it's my duty to be with the kids when she can't be. Some nights we have a blast, but others, well, it's a struggle. My youngest son is usually the one to make things difficult. He hates to get in the bathtub. This duty falls on me because I'm the only parent around every night. I have been using my old Ghostbusters toys minus my broken Winston - he was my favorite as a kid, his arms and legs are ready to fall off, so I don't let him take him in the bath. So, with the toys in there with him, he's ok with getting a bath. Usually after I'm done washing him, he wants to play with the toys in the water, and I let him do his thing while I get trapped in thought because I can't shut my mind off - ever.
Peter, Egon and Ray getting soaked.During a bath last week, I was wondering how many Sportlots orders I have actually had over the years. When I checked on my phone while my son was splashing around, I saw that I was at 49. So, I decided that night to change things. While my wife was typing up her notes from her sessions with clients, I was on my laptop looking at all the shiny things that were flying into my Sportlots cart. Now, sometimes I have had some decent luck with Sportlots, but other instances, like my 50th, I had some issues. Don't get me wrong, I love a good Sportlots order, but as most of you know, there are times where things don't go slightly as planned. After about 6 days, a few envelopes came my way. One in particular was supposed to contain 4 Billy Beane 1986 Donruss Rookies. When I opened the package, only 1 card was in the envelope. I looked at the packing slip to make sure I didn't make a mistake, but no, there were definitely 4 cards ordered. So, I had to click the old wrench icon and submit an issue. After a week or so, the seller finally responded and said he was on vacation, and he'd make it right. Yesterday, I received the 3 missing Billy Beane cards. WHEW.
(4) 1986 Donruss Billy Beane RC's
I always end up grabbing so many parallels and refractors when I'm on Sportlots. Order #50 was no different. I paid no more than $.27 for any of the following parallels and refractors below. Insanity!
Refractors...
Refractors...
More Refractors...
1996 Select Eddie Kennison, Alex Van Dyke and Stephen Davis Artist's Proof RC's
Also, I can't leave Sportlots without looking to see if there are any Collector's Choice Gold Signature cards or Platinum Player's Club cards. Of course, there was a seller that had 14 Platinum Player's Club cards at $.20. I did pay $.35 for the "Big Flabby" Dan Wilkinson card though, which is quite alright with me. The Gold Signatures I found were baseball and they cost me roughly $.50 each. I did get a Jeff Blauser Gold Signature, but someone bought it at my garage sale I had a few weeks back, so I never got to scan the thing. Here is the haul:
(14) 1995 UD Collector's Choice Platinum Players Club
1994 UD Collector's Choice Gold Signature Mo Vaughn & 1995 UD Collector's Choice Gold Signature Tom Glavine
I was also searching in the inventory of the guy who I bought the Mo Vaughn and Tom Glavine from for a few more cards since his $1.50 shipping price was for up to 5 cards. I decided to upgrade a few vintage cards I had since he advised his cards were in Nrmt condition. When they showed up, they weren't too shabby at all! So, here are my upgrades:
1978 Topps Tony Peters RC & 1973 Topps Rick Reuschel RC
The 5th card I added was a refractor of a former Pittsburgh Pirate. It cost me $.62 and I'm pretty happy with it:
1996 Topps Finest Refractor Bobby Bonilla
The next card I purchased was a card I had been wanting for a while now. This player is not to be confused with the player with the same name who happens to be Patrick Roy's brother. Stephane Roy was a QMJHL #1 overall selection back in 1993 by Val-d'Or Foreurs. His junior career was stellar which saw him rack up 239 points in 202 games played. He was even awarded the QMJHL Humanitarian of the Year award in 1993-94. He was selected by the St. Louis Blues in the 3rd round back in 1994 at 68th overall but would never make the NHL. I remember when I was a huge Blues fan, I wondered if I would ever see him suit up for them and it never happened. Due to trades, Roy was the Blues first pick in that draft, and I figured maybe at some point he'd make it. Since I found out he had an autograph that was numbered I had been on the lookout for one cheap. This one was the cheapest I have found at $.40. The shipping for this card ran me $.70, so all in all I'm in $1.10 on this card. Not bad.
1995 Signature Rookies Stephane Roy Auto RC 657/7750
The next 3 cards came from the same seller. If you have been reading, you noticed I bought some Billy Beane rookies from a seller. Well, I finally got around to reading the book Moneyball. My wife, kids and I went on a beach vacation this summer out to the Outer Banks. My parents have a house out there and asked if we wanted to spend a week out there with them. So, we all piled in my wife's new SUV and left at midnight on a Friday night at the end of June. When the kids and my wife fell asleep, I put on the audiobook of Moneyball. When it got to the 2002 MLB Draft, I chuckled quite a few times and basically really enjoyed the book as a whole. After I finished the book (which took me almost the whole week), I was on Sportlots looking up some of the names I had heard from the book. I ended up grabbing 3 Jason Isringhausen rookies from a seller (one came completely damaged) and also grabbed an Eric Davis Rookie Card to maximize my shipping cost of $1.40.
1985 Fleer Eric Davis RC & (2) 1994 Bowman Jason Isringhausen RC's
When I said I was looking on Sportlots for Moneyball names, I wasn't kidding. I really wanted a Jeremy Brown card, but the card that I wanted was a bit pricey. The seller wanted $20 for the card that I wanted. I have only used the Best Offer option a few times on that site, which means I don't usually buy higher priced cards on there. This particular Jeremy Brown card did have a Best Offer option, so I decided to send an offer of $9 (yeah, I'm cheap, so what). I also added in the text box that I was going to add another card he had for sale that was $2 if my offer was accepted. I waited about 7 hours and later that night I checked Sportlots to see that I had the envelope icon at the top of the screen. When I clicked, it showed that the seller had accepted my $9 offer! WOWZA! So, being a man of my word, I added the other $2 refractor that I said I would buy if my offer was accepted. After I received this Brown card, I even bought another on eBay, so now I have 2! Here is my Moneyball haul from Sportlots:
2002 Bowman Chrome John McCurdy Refractor RC /300 & 2002 Bowman Chrome Jeremy Brown Gold Refractor RC /50
I have found great deals on Sportlots, some have been ridiculous. This may fall into the ridiculous category. I was looking for a nice Simeon Rice rookie. There were a few nice ones, but there was a Bowman's Best Refractor RC that seemed too good to be true. Was this thing really only $1.25? Had to be a typo or something, right? Maybe the seller was selling just the base version and passing it off as the Refractor? I had no idea but figured I would add it to my cart along with a $.20 card and see if it really is the Refractor. Well, it showed up and it was the Refractor!
Monday, March 24, 2025
He played there? Baseball Edition: Part 4 - The finale
Thursday, January 16, 2025
He played there? Baseball Edition: Part 3
Hello all! It's time for another installment of “He played there?”
I'll start it off with a Hall of Fame, World Series winning pitcher. I always liked players who had nicknames growing up. Goose Gossage was a guy who as a kid I was fascinated with, but only because of his nickname. A few years ago I was reading something about Gossage where a friend of his didn't like his nickname of "Goss" and started calling him "Goose" because of the way he walked and how his neck would bob or something like that and the name stuck. Anyways, Gossage did plenty of traveling during his long career with stops with the White Sox, my hometown Pirates, Yankees, Padres, Cubs, Giants, Rangers, A's and eventually retiring in 1994 with the...Seattle Mariners? This is one I didn't remember at all. That season with the Mariners, Gossage would suit up in 36 games, have a perfect Win-Loss record of 3-0 and had 1 save. I was lucky enough to own a card commemorating Goose's last year in the majors when I pulled it from a Presstine Marketing re-pack that I bought during the pandemic.
How was he acquired? Goose Gossage signed a 1-year contract with the Seattle Mariners on April 3, 1994.
1994 Upper Deck Collector's Choice SE Goose Gossage #126
The next player is one probably everyone will remember, but some may not. Vlad Guerrero was a fan favorite everywhere he played. The guy played hard. He was a 9-time All Star, an AL MVP and also like Gossage, a Hall of Famer. Vlad played 16 years in the Majors and for some strange reason, I was never lucky enough to pull any of his cards. Granted, baseball isn't the main focus of my collection, but I occasionally bought packs. Crazy to think he played 16 years, and I never owned a card of his. When setting out to write these posts, I changed that. A random Tuesday when I was doing "internet research" on COMC, I stumbled across a Vlad Guerrero card where he was in a Baltimore Orioles jersey. I only ever remember him as an Expo, Angel and Ranger, so this was a new one for me. Then it all made sense. The year Vlad was an Oriole was the hardest year of my life, 2011. While Guerrero was hitting .290, 13 dingers and 63 RBI's, I was trying to fix my house. When I left for California, I rented my condo out to a "family friend" who then trashed the place. When I came back, there were holes in the walls, my 1987 Detroit Pistons Championship Cup had an inch of beer with multiple cigarettes in it and I was devastated. Needless to say, that year was spent mostly on getting my condo back in order and I would spend a lot of my free time painting, sanding, building walls, etc. By the end of September of that year, I had moved back in but also spent very little time watching sports, so that is why I had no idea about Vlad's season spent with the O's.
How was he acquired? Vlad Guerrero signed with the Baltimore Orioles on February 18, 2011.
2012 Topps Vladimir Guerrero All-Time Dominican Hits Leader Checklist Red #424
When I was little, my brother and I would watch baseball on TV. It was then that I associated Managers just as, well Managers. I didn't realize they actually used to be former baseball players themselves. However, when your 6 or 7 years old, that's not something that you would really think about. I think I was 8 or 9 when I realized Frank Robinson actually played baseball and wasn't just a manager. My brother and I were browsing a man's card display at a card show and I saw a Frank Robinson Rookie Card. I said, "Look Jer, is that the Manager from the Orioles? He played baseball?" My brother looked at me like I had pantyhose over a party hat on my head. He said, "Are you serious? You had to know the Managers actually played the game of baseball." That's when I felt completely stupid. I hadn't ever seen a Sparky Anderson card before, or Jim Leyland when they were players. How the heck could I have known that? Well, Frank Robinson did play, and he was a great player. The gentlemen let me see the Frank Robinson that was in his case so I could study the card, and he told me a little bit about him and his playing days. I was just flabbergasted. Robinson, as most of the readers of this page know is a Hall of Fame player who has almost 600 Home Runs on his resume (586 to be exact) and almost 3,000 hits (2,943, but who's counting?) Robinson played for 5 different teams in his career (Reds, Orioles, Dodgers, Angels and Indians). When I first saw this card below, I had to have it. I bought it a while ago at a card show for $2. Not a bad buy at all considering I'm actually using it now for a blog post. Robinson also had a short stint with the Dodgers, but when I totaled it up, he actually suited up for less games with the Cleveland Indians than the Dodgers (103 with the Dodgers and 100 with Cleveland). Frank Robinson also retired as a Cleveland Indian. Pretty crazy note there. His final season in the majors came in 1976 where he played 36 games for the Indians before hanging up his cleats as a player.
How was he acquired? Frank Robinson was traded by the California Angels to the Cleveland Indians for Ken Suarez, cash and a player to be named later (Rusty Torres) on September 12, 1974.
1975 Topps Frank Robinson #580
The next guy up is a player with another nickname with an animal in it. Fred McGriff or "Crime Dog" as everyone likes to call him. A lot of Hall of Famers today. Younger Bryan was a big fan of McGriff when he was a Blue Jay, Padre and Brave. When the late 90's hit, I was so engulfed in girls, playing ice hockey for my high school, teaching myself how to play guitar, joining a punk band and hanging out with girlfriends and friends that I forgot or didn't care that Crime Dog had played for the Devil Rays. However, that's not the team I am talking about with this post. Fred McGriff actually had an 86-game stint with the Los Angeles Dodgers. It's true! Back in 2003 McGriff played there and hit .249 with 13 Home Runs and 40 RBI's. Thankfully, I found a card on COMC that was relatively cheap, and I snatched it up for this post to show you that it totally happened. The card also notes that McGriff was "Signed by the Devil Rays on 2/10/04." So, after his season in LA, he then went BACK to the Devil Rays for the 2004 season to retire. Who can blame the guy? Lots of people I have known from church did the same thing, not signing with the Devil Rays, but retired in Florida.
How was he acquired? Fred McGriff signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers on December 31, 2002.
2004 Donruss Elite Fred McGriff Turn of the Century #113 /750
Another player with a nickname? Really? Well, yes! Gary Carter "The Kid" was one of my absolute favorite players growing up. I even had his Rookie Card that I purchased from a guy at a card show for $7. Idiot me though sold it a few years ago to a guy who kept bugging me about it. So, it's back on my list of things to replace. When I think of Gary Carter, I think of him as a New York Met. I was a fan of those Mets teams of the 80's and early 90's. If you were a kid back then, you loved them too. If you were an adult back then, unless you were from that area, you probably didn't like most of them. They were a pretty rambunctious group. The card I'm about to show is one I had in my collection just hiding out waiting to see the light of day. I had a small box of mostly football commons, but it also had a bunch of 1991 Upper Deck baseball in it. There's where I found this card hiding out. When flipping through the stack of Upper Deck baseball I came across this card and stopped and said, "I don't remember this..." I really had forgotten about Carter's stop with the San Francisco Giants in 1990. The internet told me he only played 92 games there which was his lowest total with any team (Dodgers came in a close second at 101). At 36 years old, Carter left the Mets to become a Giant. I guess Doc and Darryl probably drove him nuts, but his old pal Darryl would reunite with him in 1991 in LA. Crazy.
How as he acquired? Gary Carter signed with the San Francisco Giants on November 5, 1990.
1991 Upper Deck Gary Carter #176
Dipping back into my childhood favorites with this next guy. Eric Davis was always a player I admired. I used to always try to mimic his batting stance in my front yard, and I'm pretty sure I had it down. I was pretty good at Phil Plantier and John Wehner too! Davis' bat always looked small to me when I'd watch him bat on TV. Maybe that's just me, or how low he would hold it. It never looked like it was big enough for him though. Anyways, I took a trip up to my LCS to grab some team bags to do some shipping of eBay orders and decided to browse around their bargain bins. I found a few nice Young Guns for my collection but then decided to look at baseball. I grabbed a nice Gregg Jefferies Refractor for $1, but then saw this card and said, "What the heck?" The guy who was working was like, "Can I help you with something?" My reply was just, "Please tell me how many games Eric Davis was a Detroit Tiger." After some clicking and typing, he said back to me, "It says here 60 games and 227 plate appearances." I thanked him for that and asked how much the card in my hand was, and he said, just give me 50 cents for it. DONE. Davis played for the Reds, Dodgers, Tigers, Orioles, Cardinals and Giants in his career. The only stops I could not remember was the Tigers and Cardinals. His Tigers tenure was short due to injuries and in 1994 after the strike shortened season, Davis announced he was going to retire once the Tigers granted him free agency. However, after sitting out a year, Davis decided he was healthy enough to resume his career and signed back with the Reds in 1996. Currently, Davis has an autobiography out called Born to Play which I intend on reading.
How was he acquired? Eric Davis was traded by the Los Angeles Dodgers to the Detroit Tigers for John DeSilva on August 31, 1993.
1995 Score Gold Rush Eric Davis #406
I still remember where I was when "Gonzo" hit the game-winning bloop single that scored the winning run for the Diamondbacks in 2001 off Mariano Rivera. My friends and I were watching the game at Buffalo Wild Wings that night, but a few of my friends said they had to work early in the morning and weren't going to stay out watching the game and decided to leave. It was just me and my friend Derek left at the table, and he said, "Let's just head out." So, we left too. On my drive home, I found the game on an AM radio station. I decided to stop at the local grocery store to grab a bag of chips to eat while I watched the game at home (since I figured it would go into extra innings). Then, it started to happen, the bases were loaded, and Luis Gonzalez had stepped up to the plate. Finally, I parked my car in the parking lot of the grocery store, and it started to snow outside. My windshield is getting covered while I'm listening to every word. Then, I heard a knock of the bat and the announcer went wild. He did it! He won the World Series for the D'Backs! I got out of my car and started jumping up and down. A man filling up his truck at the gas station right next to the grocery store yelled over to me, "Hey jackass, you're going to fall, it's snowing!" I didn't care; I went into that grocery store bouncing. I was so revved up. Back to Luis Gonzalez, anytime I think of this guy, I think of that memory. Gonzalez carved out a 19-year MLB career with 2,591 Hits, 354 Home Runs and a career Batting Average of .283. Not something to bat an eye at really. When researching players to add to this list, I honestly had no recollection of Gonzo playing for the Florida Marlins. In 2008, Gonzalez finished his 19-year career in Florida suiting up for 136 games before calling it quits at age 40.
How was he acquired? Luis Gonzalez signed with the Florida Marlins on January 31, 2008.
2009 Upper Deck Luis Gonzalez #146
This next player wasn't my favorite. When he spit in umpire John Hirschbeck's face while he was playing with the Orioles, I pretty much wrote him off, but he's a Hall of Fame baseball player. In fact, he's the only player who is a member of the Hall of Fame and also on the MLB's permanently ineligible list due to his allegations of sexual misconduct. I'll keep this one brief. In 2004, Alomar actually played for the Arizona Diamondbacks. Yeah, I vaguely remember this, but I wasn't really paying attention to this guy much then anyways. I even would remove him from my draft lists in fantasy leagues. He suited up in 38 games for the Diamondbacks before being shipped off to the Chicago White Sox where he would retire at the conclusion of the 2004 season.
How was he acquired? Roberto Alomar signed with the Arizona Diamondbacks on January 6th, 2004. He was then traded by the Diamondbacks to the Chicago White Sox for Brad Murray on August 5, 2004.
2004 Topps Chrome Roberto Alomar #456
We end this post with probably the most iconic of all "He played there" players. Kids love superheroes. I was a big fan of Batman when I was 3 until the Ghostbusters came along at age 6. That same year the Ghostbusters were ruling my daydreams; I was also trying to be like Bo. Bo Jackson was a superhero. He was the reason why I rooted for the Royals (other than George Brett). I owned a Los Angeles Raiders shirt, and I lived in Pittsburgh at 7 years old. I even begged my parents for his cross-trainer shoes. Of course, my parents never bought them for me, but I still tried. The guy was superhuman. Then his hip injury happened, and his stardom faded out with most people. Then there was me, with a Bo Jackson poster on the wall until I was about 15 years old, and hockey and pop punk bands mattered more to me than childhood heroes. Of course, everyone probably knows this one, but I found out recently that a few of my old coworkers had no recollection of Bo Jackson playing for the California Angels. In 1993, after an 85-game season where Bo hit double digit Home Runs, he spent his last season in 1994 with the California Angels. Luckily, I've had this card since 1995. After hockey practice one early morning, I went into the small card shop that was located inside the hockey rink where my practice was and bought a pack of Collector's Choice baseball cards and pulled this Bo Jackson out of a pack. I must have felt some sort of nostalgia because this was found in a 6 x 6 JC Penny box in my "keepsakes" bin in my storage room in my basement. If you're reading this Jon, I actually did remember where this card came from LOL. It was one of the last times back then that I thought about Bo Jackson before I probably took down his poster that was up on my wall for almost a decade. Bo would end that final year of professional sports by batting .279, 13 dingers and 43 RBI's.
How was he acquired? Bo Jackson signed with the California Angels on January 31, 1994.
1994 Upper Deck Collector's Choice SE Silver Signature #36
I have 1 more baseball post of "He played there" to make and then it's on to the hockey portion of these. I hope you have enjoyed these posts so far. They have been fun to make.
As usual, thanks for reading!