I've got cards coming out the wazoo!

*If cards continue out the wazoo for more than four hours, please consult your physician.

But seriously, people out there have been really generous lately. Like, shockingly generous (if that is possible).  Stuff is just showing up out of nowhere.  I needed to acknowledge them and figured I would combine them into a mega-generosity post (as is the style of the time). 

First cards up, Jon from Pennysleeves hit me up with these two -- I had requested the Stenerud from him, but he knew of my collection of (and affection for) Korver and tossed in the Prizm parallel.  Mega props to Jon!

Next up is Madding from Cards on Cards.  He had offered up spots in his recent break of "Topps of the Class", and I was happy to get the Ryan O'Hearn from that set.  However, his envelope included several other awesome (and shiny!) Royals cards for me.  Merci!

Third up is a completely unexpected envelope from an awesome guy on TDCB, avsbruins65.  He sent me a FAT PWE and inside was a nice letter thanking me for being part of the card community and a whole bunch of Random cards from my wantlist -- a full page, double-sided.  I loved all of these, but I'd have to say my favorites were Buck O'Neil and the Tim Blackwell minor league manager card.  That is a mustache for the ages, ladies and gentlemen.  Major thanks to avsbruins65 for his kind words and generosity.

I also have a page of scanned pictures (space cards, Salvador Perez, MLK) that were sent to me some time ago that I intended to turn into a post, then never did.  I think they might have been from Night Owl or Colbey, but I honestly can't remember.  Sorry. Thank you to whoever it was.  The coronatide months have not been great for me -- my work this spring was more stressful than it has ever been in my 10+ years at my company.  Luckily, the worst of that is over and I am starting a new job in two weeks.  Hopefully my energy for blogging and card trades will improve from here on out.

For those still reading this, and not just scanning through for pretty pictures, here's a little easter egg for you.  The rest of the cards below here in the post are up for grabs.  A true pile of randoms.  It's free stuff Thursday (yes, that's a thing).  Claim in the comments.  I will send these out as PWE, so please email me your address if you make a claim.  I'll set the max at six cards apiece (or four cards + one jersey) just so I know they'll travel on one stamp. Hopefully there is something in this stack you need.   I still owe some of you cards I've promised, and I'm working on those, too.  So long, until we meet again!

The Hazel Green Hit Hero

The end of the month brought with it another end -- the blogging career of Area 40 / JBF / Wes Moore.  From his send-off card cornucopia, he sent me one hit...it's a jersey card of my favorite baseball player.that I had never seen before.  Nice, strong photo.  Awesome die-cut jersey window.  Description of the jersey on the back.  I know it sounds like I am keeping my calm, but THIS IS KIND OF A BIG DEAL AND IT MAKES ME VERY HAPPY. 

Enough about the card - just a quick message to Wes on his way out.  My wife and I came up with a family "mission statement" a few years back about what we wanted our family to be like.  It was a bit aspirational, but one main characteristic we said we wanted was to be generous.  I say this is aspirational because my natural inclinations are to hold onto things, money, and comforts too tightly.  However, if I want to be truly generous, I have to work at it -- to relinquish those things without bitterness for the good of another person.  So to help me figure this generosity thing out better, I go looking for examples -- people doing it already so I can see what it looks like.  I can think of no better immediate example than looking at the card-blogging community and seeing what Wes has done for so many "random" others through his generosity, and I am in awe.  I have thought about this more times that you can imagine and it is flat-out inspiring to me.  So from one collector to another - thank you.  Not just for the cards, but for a model of something truly important.  That is what I will take from this.  Au revoir!

Top 10 Countdown - Cards I Won't Throw Out

I recently got a stuffed mailer from JP at Cards My Mom Didn't Throw Out.  If you have Diamondbacks cards to spare (especially Steve Finley, Paul Goldschmidt, and Luis Gonzalez) make sure you drop him a line and get a trade going! 

Anyway, 4 full team bags later, I pulled out some favorites to show off here (in descending order).

Honorable Mention:  The Absolute Memorabilia Sweeney shown above.  Any new Sweeney will make me a happy camper.  However, there were even BETTER Sweeneys in this very package, so keep your eyes peeled.

#10) I already have this Bo Jackson card, but it's the "Grand Slammers" version of 1990 Donruss, showing Bo ready to crush one. 

#9)  Just an unassuming Kevin Seitzer, right?  Non!  It is the O-Pee-Chee version. 

#8)  I sent CMMDTO a few Goldschmidt "Chipz", and he returned the favor with a Salvy chip I didn't have! 

#7)  Gil Meche -- the only guy who would retire and forego $11 million on the last year of his contract because he didn't feel like he had earned it.

#6)  I don't know if any non-Royals-fans remember Mark Teahen, but he was a bit of a fan favorite during the lean years.  Which "lean years" am I talking about (there were so many)?  He was worth 6.0 WAR between 2006 and 2007, but never had another good season in the majors after that, despite hanging around in MLB through 2011.  Here's a chrome Bowman of his.  Maybe he has some of these on display in the new wine bar that he owns in Arizona. 

#5) An auto of Royals farmhand Nolan Watson...originally was a high draft pick, but has not progressed much.  He's was recently promoted to High-A Ball at the end of June.

#4)  Just a cool-looking Mondesi here. 

#3)  I can't believe a Sweeney memorabilia card only made it to #3, but that's how the cookie crumbles sometime.  This "Leather and Lumber" Sweeney is numbered only to 100.  When I pulled it from the package I thought I already had it since it looked so familiar.  But upon checking, what I actually had was the base version with no jersey swatch. 

#2)  The penultimate card is a 2016 Chrome prism refractor of Lo Cain with a very prominent Russell Martin.  Wonder what makes this play special?  Oh, it was only Cain scoring from 1st on a single in the Playoffs.  The Royals coaches KNEW that Bautista would sometimes throw to 2nd on a play like this, so they were ready for it when it actually happened. 

#1)  And, the #1 card in this countdown is....

So graceful.  It's like a ballet..."Sweeney Lake," perhaps?  👦

And with that, I extend one final "Thank you" for all these cards.  Much appreciated!!!

Did any of you have a favorite out of these cards?  Did I get the order wrong?

Night Owl Confuses Me

Well, it's more like Topps confuses me.

All of these cards came from the one, the only, Mr. Night Owl in two packages -- one last summer, and one recent one.  He included the above monstrosity.  This flips the traditional traded-player display of "new logo/old uniform" on its head, by showing James Shields in his new uniform (KC), but with his old logo (TB).  Chalk this one up to a mistake -- whoever was maintaining the player database at Topps never updated it with the correct logo.

Night Owl sent a bunch of other good stuff, too.

And he finished it out with a #/99 double-jersey card of Raul (Adalberto) Mondesi.  This will definitely be Mondesi's year to show what he can do in the big leagues.  He's got to start hitting better if he is going to stick around.

Thank you, Night Owl -- all of these were needed and are very much appreciated!

-Josh D.

Bombs Away - #6 - Sweeneyriffic

If I'm being bombed, what should I do?

How does it make you feel?

How does it make you feel when someone sends you something off your want-list?

Thanking the heavens!

2004 Upper Deck - Mike Sweeney

Below is one (of many cards) that I needed which Roy-Z from Plain Grey Swatch sent my way last October.

2012 Allen and Ginter - Historical Turning Points - #7 - Printing Press

This was part of my "History Want List."  I am still looking for the balance of those inserts from that set and from "Minds that Made the Future."

A Bronco, A Cardinal, and a Guy Named Mike

I made another Zistle trade with the SuperDuperMan from Fantastic Catch.  He and I traded just a few months ago, so it was fun to see that we already had enough for another trade.  The three best cards (in my opinion) that I got were these:

I'm always happy to get a Sweeney, and this is a very slick, horizontal design from SP.

My favorite subset from 2011 Topps Football was the Game Day insert set.  I'm slowly collecting those and Larry Fitzgerald escaping an Eagles tackle is a great shot.  Too bad his talents were being wasted down in Arizona last season.

TEEEEEEEEEEBOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWW!!!!

This is Timmy T. on a 2011 Topps Rising Rookies card.  He looked GOOD in the Orange and Blue.  I think the missing Tebow storyline was a reason why this season has interested me less than 2011 did.

Thanks, SDM!  I'd recommend you all go out there and make a trade with him if you can.

What the heck are you DOING? Sketchy or Classy?

Whenever you book a hotel online in a strange city, you never really know if it is going to be a gem or if it is gonna be super-sketchy.  You might be right by the museums, shopping, and fine restaurants -- or you might be by the all-night liquor store with a view of the sewage treatment plant and the red-light district.  

It's the same with card trading.  Whenever you get a trade package, it's tough to know if it is going to be a high-class trade, or a super-sketchy trade...or both.

I just made another zistle.com trade -- this time with a user named jkgrice.  In exchange for a bunch of Tom Glavine cards and some miscellaneous Ginter, let's take a look at what I got.

1996 Pinnacle Bob Hamelin

WHY ARE YOU STARING AT ME OVER THAT SIGN, BOB HAMELIN????  Could you BE any more creepy about it?  And why do you even need a sign?  Anyone should know that that is Bob "The Hammer" Hamelin.  They should just give him a hammer to take to all photo shoots and then he could carry that around, and he wouldn't need to look up and show his chubby, bespectacled face to the rest of us.*

Maybe we can find someone else to make this a little less sketchy.  You there!  Good sir!  Ahoy!  Please let us see if you are a distinguished gentleman...

1982 Fleer Dennis Lamp

Biker 'stache......check.
Tinted Aviator sunglasses.....check.
Satin Jacket....check.
Van behind the drugstore where he offers kids free candy.....check.
 I love Dennis Lamp quite a bit....but if we're looking for "classy," he ain't it.

What about this young man?  Just a Rookie!  Surely he is not yet jaded by the world. 

1996 Score Mike Sweeney Rookie

I love the baby-face there...so bright-eyed and bushy-tailed.  Speaking of babies, Mike Sweeney's newest baby fits inside a baseball glove:  Nothing says highbrow like a baby in a baseball glove.

Well....we're definitely getting more classy as we go along.  Is there anything else we can add to spruce this place up?  Add a little glitz?

Yes.  ROYALTY.

2011 Allen and Ginter - Royal Wedding - Price William and Kate Middleton

All of a sudden I find myself craving crumpets, listening to the BBC, and wanting to invade the Falklands.  WE JUST GOT CLASSY UP IN HERE.  Despite Kate's recent troubles with the French media...everything around here just got fancy-fied.  I guess I have jkgrice to thank for that!  :-)

* I can say things like this because I am chubby and bespectacled.