10 Cent Bin - The Rookies

This is the last of the posts of what I was able to acquire after a few hours looking through commons boxes - Some nice rookies!

1989 Topps Gary Sheffield - Sure he's a surly dick, but he's a dick who can knock the cock of the ball - Hall Of Fame? A case could be made - gotta love the Gold Fronts.

1992 Topps Chipper Jones - I didn't pick this one up for Manny Alexander, thats for sure - this like the Sheffield is a card I have many of, but for 10 cents, why not? Chipper is first ballot HOF no doubt.

2009 Allan and ginter BobbyParnell - Yeah he sucks, but this is pretty

2001 Topps Grady Sizemore - If you were to ask someone this year who would be the biggest prospect, I'm not sure who they would have said - but I dont know if anyone would have predicted that one day Grady Sizemore would be the face of his franchise - If this dude would just learn how to hit .290 - he could be a perennial All Star

2001 Topps Adrian Gonzalez - I remember a bit of hype of this guy when he was Texas and is now tearing up the league with the piss poor Padres. One could argue although he is not as good a player that he might have higher trade value than Albert Pujols due to his contract being so affordable.

2001 Topps Roy Oswalt - Grabbed this one at first to look and the failure that is Pat Strange, but then noticed Mr. Oswalt hanging out on the left -gotta love a guy who has a bulldozer as part of his contract demands. He's a pretty damn good pitcher too.

2003 Topps Mark Teixeira - This fucker is nasty. Thats really all there is to say. Hank Blalock is not so bad either.

Tales From the 10 Cent Bin - Rockers

Now I have no idea what set these are from - well I guess I do - it seems now that I look that they are a part of 2008 Football Heroes - that would make these the first "football" cards I have bought since I had pubes - sweet I guess.

Anyway - I'm not really a fan of any of the bands these dudes play for, but I just thought they were too cool to not get for a dime a piece - I will post the write up for each dude below.

Toni Iommi - Black Sabbath

Widely regarded as the creator of the heavy metal genre. Toni Iommi co-founded Black Sabbath in 1969 along with schoolmates Terry "Geezer" Butler, Bill Ward, and Ozzy Osbourne. Iommi's gloomy, thunderous, guitar riffs combined with Osbourne's haunting vocals drove the quartet to international superstardom and paved the way for countless hard-rock acts to follow.

Steve Vai -

Like jimi Hendrix and Eddie Van Halen before him, Vai is not only one of rock guitar's all-time great virtuosos, but one of the genre's most influential innovators. His Unique signature style fuses jazz, classical, and rock influences into an incendiary mix that has inspired countless guitarists and made him one of the most celebrated musicians of all time.

Justin Hayward - Moody blues

As the voice, lead guitarist, and primary songwriter behind classic rock's legendary The Moody blues, Hayward led the British supergroup to stardom in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s with a string of hit singles. Hayward's multi-textural compositions on such classics as Tuesday Afternoon, Your Wildest Dreams, and the bands signature classic Nights in White Satin helped the Mood Blues sell over 60 million albums worldwide.

Tom Morello - Rage Against the Machine

Morrelo's unique style and radical politics have made him of the most original and innovative guitarists in rock. In Rage Against the Machine, he fused hard rock and hip hop, and in Audioslave he continued pushing the boundaries of the guitar. Morello currently performs firebrand folk music as "The nighwatchman".

These were pretty cool - I might need to grab the whole set.

Tales From the 10 Cent Bin

As some of you already know - Robin Ventura is my favorite player. Ever. I know he had a short lifetime as a Met, but I always like him when he was with the Sox, and was the first Yankee I actively rooted for. While helping my buddy Joe root through commons boxes to help finish out some sets - I made sure to pull at least a few cards aside for myself - this is part 1 of a 3 part series - And off we go with all the Robin Ventura cards I could find.

Below we have

88 Topps Traded
2 89 Toppps
91 Toppps
2 92 Toppps
93 Topps
03 Topps
03 Topps Traded

99 Topps
98 Bowman
95 Studio
2 96 Toppps


Of all of these, my favorite are the 88 Topps Traded, and the 96 Topps - These are pretty sweet and I'm happy to add any Robins to my collection - if anyone out there has any that they are not attached to, then I am your man! Tomorrow will be some rock and rollers.

1992 Upper Deck CHallenge - Who Are They?

So since there is nothing inherently exciting about ripping a pack of 1992 upper Deck High numbers I thought it would be fun to play a little game - there is no prize, but this will be good way to kill 5 minutes - I promise

So what i did is I went ahead and scanned each card missing something - the players names - so what I want you to do is too look thought and see if you can figure out who they all are! Just leave it in the comments - an no peeking - lets see what you ya'll can do on your own - I'll give the winner a little love and who knows, maybe I will throw something together for them - I didnt get enough sleep last night to be able to determine it all this morning.

Some will be very easy

Others - not so much -

So let's see what you've got!

09 Chrome Pack 2 (W/Hit)

So here we are with my 2nd pack ever of Topps Chrome - this of the 2009 Variety

Joakim Soria - he's good - love the power blue unis - they don't translate well in chrome though I don't think

Adam Dunn - I've grown to like him this year thanks to owning him in a fantasy league for the first time ever. He hits it far a lot.

Mariano River - I hate that he is the best ever - and with only one pitch which makes it way more impressive

And we have the hit - a Will Venable Auto Refractor 334/499 - I don't know much about this dude except that he is one of the Padres top prospects - he's got a sweet sig too -

All in all pretty happy with my 2 packs - might be inclined to pick up a few more someday if I've got some extra dough - wish it was more than 4 cards a pack though.

New Addition to Autograph Collection

Recently while I was a cripple mess Ike Davis - Mets 1st round pick in the 08 draft did a signing at the local card shop - LJ (owner/pusher) was kind enough to have Ike sign a photo for me in my absence - I think it's a nice shot and I'm stoked to get a frame for it some day (I'm way too lazy to assume it will be anyday soon) and hang this duder up - Just thought I would share!

Brad Holt was supposed to be there to but didnt show up with some BS excuse apparently - rumor has it he is not very fan friendly - your nobody yet Brad - let's not get too big for your own britches yet.

09 Topps Chrome Pack Rip

Yesterday I swing by my card shop to grab a few random packs - the only 09 stuff he had that was 1)in my price range and 2) something I had not ripped before were Chrome and Icons.

Now he had the hobby Icons - which was $11 bucks - no thanks, if I get the urge, I'll go retail - so I grabbed me 2 packs of Chrome and went on my way - these are the first 2 packs of this product from any year that I have ever ripped - this pack was okay - but I was able to pull a hit out of the 2nd pack which should be up in a day or 2. From worst to first - here we go

Nick Swisher - I hate this card - hated it in the Topps base set - hate it now too - this is not a card that will be staying in my collection very long.

Walter Silva RC - This was the dude they signed after the WBC - turns out he sucks - but since it is a rookie he beats out Swisher for worst of the pack

Vladimir Guerrero - a legitimate superstar but who really cares? He's not the player he was, and is just one slide away from losing his career.

Joe Nathan Pink 16/25 - Finally the hit of the pack - my wife liked it - I do too I guess - trade bait most likely though.

The next pack will be better - I promise

4/5 Of A Pack of 1986 Sportflics, Some Trivia, Some Art

So my man Bird came over a few weeks ago with a few random packs of cards to drink a few random cans of beer and play a few random songs on rock band - A good night if you ask me! Now bird is a very casual sports fan who really loves wrestling and beards. So - the reason this is only 4/5 of the pack is that Bruce Sutter went home with him. Bird is also an artist - you should check some of his shit out here (he also likes to do a lot of 80s wrestling and basketball stuff - there are a few classic Charles Barkley/Godzilla drawings. I'll scan a picture he did for me below - if you are in the NYC area keep an eye for his shows - hes a cool dude.

So here we go with the 2 cards left in the pack - on the right is Dennis "Oil Can" Boyd and on the left is actually three different people - Richard Dotson, Juaqin Andujar, and Doyle Alexander. All three of those dudes ad a very sexy 1984 season - Rich was 22-7, Juaqin 20-14, and Doyle 17-6.

Has anyone figures out a way to scan a sportflic so you get each image? I think it may be impossible.

Next up - we have the 2 trivia cards - I'll let you guys leave the answers in the comments - I won't even give what the choices are- let's see what you can do off the tips of your heads.

What player holds the record for most RBIs in one season?

What Current player (in 1985) shares the record for consecutive seasons leading the majors in runs scored? Who is he tied with?

And a random basketball player slam dunking a ton of tits. Enjoy!

He Certainly is Average- Take My Word For It

So a few weeks ago - yes weeks - James Fuller of The Average Joe made good of his promise to help fill out some of my want lists - here are the spoils (if you can call these cards spoils - I'd like to think that I love All cards equally, but, I dont)

First we have 3 2008 Topps Series 2 cards - Brian Bass, JJ PUTZ (pronounced as in "he's a fuckin' Putz who is hurt all the time and cannot throw strikes), and Randy Winn - one laziness subsides - these will find their way into their respective pages - please if you have a moment - check out my 2008 Topps want lists because I am very very close t finishing those dudes out! Thanks!


We have some 1989 Donruss cards of Tommy Gregg and Keith Brown - They both suck!



Next up we have one of the ugliest sets ever, 1991 Fleer - they really did struggle in the early 90s didnt they? We have

Scott Bankhead
Bob Boone
Ken Oberkfell
Craig Wilson
Andy Van Slyke (ive always heard he's an asshole... is this true?
Ken Patterson
Beau Allred

Wow - I really meant to write more but its fucking hot up here - sorry kids - I'm far too obese for the upstairs w/o the AC these days

Some 92 UD - thanks dude!

A Tasteless Joke and an Update

What are Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett getting for Christmas?






Patrick Schwayze!





Went to see the surgeon today for some x rays - he's calling it severe back spasms - is very confident we can beat it with - physical therapy and some weight loss - so thats that - there will be good days and bad days - Today happens to be a good one - but im not home to scan or post anything of significance -

Thank you all for the kind words and well wishes - they are greatly appreciated and really did cheer my up quite a bit when I saw them!

Reason For My Absence

Hey All -

Sorry about the lack of posts - I'm afraid it is a situation that may persist for a little while.

2 years ago (approx) I had a herniated and 2 bulging discs fixed in my back - on Wednesday - it started feeling like it did exactly then - I'm still waiting to get into to see the neuro surgeon who did the surgery to let me know what is up - but sitting in a computer chair is not where I want to be. I am doing this from work right now - where I have no choice - but at home - its the recliner for me. So I'm still here reading (Sun - Wed 1-midnight) but other than that - I'm nowhere near a computer until it stopps hurting. Take care -

Hopefully I'll be back up and writing sooner than later.

Pack Break - 1988 Fleer - Pretty sweet pack

Reaching back into the repack case for a break of 1988 Fleer. I know that this set is ugly - but I love it - I can't explain why - but when I reached into the repack case (I had forgotten what packs were in there) and saw this I was very happy - and really, I can't imagine a much better players being pulled from any pack in 1988 - this one really was (is?) star studded

First of course - the sticker - I should put this on my lunch box

Get ready to see a star at every turn folks

Mike Maddux
Greg Gagne
Don Mattingly Headliners

the Mattingly was the first Headliner card from this set that I had ever pulled or owned - that was exciting on its own - so now in the first 3 cards we have a perennial All Star that all Yankee fans think is a HOFer - not really quite there, but a very nice player and card nonetheless


Tried and True Sluggers - Mike Schmidt and Gary Carter
Barry Larkin
Joe Carter

ok, 3 cards, 2 Hall of Famers , one of the 10 best shortstops of all time, and a feared slugger with a World Series walk off homer - not too shabby


Andre Dawson
Fred Manrique
Dave Meads

I think Andre is HOF bound next year - just a hunch


Dave Valle
Tom Glavine
Rob Deer

A nice everyday catcher - an all or nothing slugger - and a future first ballot HOF - again - not bad

Carlos Martinez
Kirk Gibson
Eddie Milner

its not too bad when out of every three cards pulled that the worst "best" card is of Kirk Gibson who was a great slugger in his era



See what I mean? Really from a pack from this era - this really was a great pack - I would have been thrilled to rip this when I was 7.

The Cy Young Winners

Moving on to the 1985 TMCA Cy Young winners now - only the MVPs to follow!

Catfish Hunter - 1974 - Took the award by going 25-12 with a 2.49 ERA - Catfish started 41 games that year with 23 of them complete pitching 318 - yes - 318 innings. Can you imagine someone having that season now?

Sandy Koufax - 1963 1965 1966 - Lets take a look at his lines

1963 - 25-5 1.88 306k
1965 - 26-8 2.04 382k
1966 - 27-9 1.73 317k

As a younger fan who knows a bit about the players - but I never really ever go back and look at their numbers so when I do - I really see the greatness - Is there anyone out there who actually got to watch Sandy pitch during these years? What was that experience like?

Vernon Law - 1960 - Vern led the Pirates to the pennant in 1960 with a 20-9 record over 271 2/3 innings and a 3.08 ERA - he only walked 40 batters - thats like Bob Tewksbury control.

Denny McLain - 1968 1969 - The back to back winner (who tied Mike Cuellar for the award in 1969) put together 2 magnificent seasons in a row.

1968 - 31-6 1.96 in 336 innings
1969 - 24-9 in 325 innings with 9 shutouts

Warren Spahn - 1957 - Spahn and Sain and pray for rain - The modern era leader in career wins for a lefty Warren went 21-11 with a 2.69 era to take the Cy Young in 1957. He has an all time record of 363-245 with a 3.09 ERA and 13 twenty win seasons

Anything you like? Let me know.