I am old enough to remember........

 when Pacific made Spanish language baseball cards.  

I really miss that company, I was fortunate enough to find a really cool Pacific Ray Lankford card this past weekend that was missing from my collection. There aren't many that aren't 1/1s or serial numbered to something less than 25.  

This is a First Day Issue card from the 1999 Pacific Invincible set.  

The card is serial numbered out of /69 copies. That number is lower than the typical Pacific Opening Day parallel set print run, which ran in each of their products and typically to 99 serial numbered copies. Invincible was a little higher-end for Pacific. The circle on the card is translucent, the scan does not really do the card justice.  

Here is the back of the card......

Spanish language text at the top of the card with the translation on the bottom right-side. Again, the scan does not do much for the translucent circle. 

105.

This is the 105th Blake Snell autograph in my collection.  

I have actually been waiting to add this card from the 2024 Topps Series 1 to my collection for a few months, but the price has always been outside of my comfort zone for Blake Snell autographs. Almost immediately after Series 1 hit the shelves, this card was north of $50, that includes the base (non-red) variations too. 

I waited patiently, also lost a few auctions on Ebay, but I finally found a copy at a comfortable price.  

Love that brown and gold patch-piece on the front of the card. This is a sticker autograph, but very well blended by Topps.  Serial number is in the bottom right-hand of the card, just two off his jersey number with the Giants.  

Back of the card.  

The typical "CONGRATULATIONS!" message with the usual small print.  

Famous Last Words

I stopped by my local card shop a few days back. The shop had moved across the parking lot to a larger storefront a few weeks back and I was excited to see the new digs. Needless to say, it did not disappoint. I probably should have taken some photos inside the shop, but my mind was on cards.  

Here are the latest pickups at Triangle Area Trading Cards.  

First up......

You see a great card from your childhood and it's cheap, it's really hard to pass up. The card is off center and there is some chipping on the edges, but this is a great card. Could not pass it up.  I need to post my first Rickey Henderson rookie on here one of these days, because it's a really good story from my childhood.  

Luken Baker has hit a ton of home runs the last two years with the Cardinals Triple A team. They've left him in the Minors most of the time, given the Cardinals track record, it's only a matter of time until Baker is a really good player on some other team.  Decent autograph, cheap card. Go team.  

I spent some time in Michigan this summer, which included watching a decent number of Tigers games. I had been meaning to pick up a Reese Olson card all summer long, but never got around to it.  He's a really impressive young pitcher, think this will be a good pickup in the long-term.  

An old Archives autograph for cheap. Yes, please.  

A newer Archives autograph for cheap. Yes, please.  

Esteban played for the Durham Bulls a few years back.  He's spent most of his career playing in Mexico, but spent time in the Minors with the Red Sox, Rays, and Phillies with a cup of coffee in the Majors with the Cubs. Lovable player, spark plug type. I am glad that someone gave him a baseball card and had him sign a few autographs.  

Zack Gelof is having a terrible year, but I still like him. I saw him play in college while he was at the University of Virginia. He was also on my fantasy baseball team last year. Let's hope for a better 2025.  

Next up, Luis Arraez. I loved the Silver Slugger cards when Topps made them back in the early 2010s, this one is not as thick, but still a really nice card. Serial numbered to just 10 copies, but it's on the back.  Sorry, no back scans today.  

A little bit quicker......

Masyn Winn, Junior Caminero Finest RC, and a cool Taj Bradley Chrome parallel.  

Cal Raleigh RC, Willy Adames RC, and another Masyn Winn.  

Shiny Big Mac, Xavier Issac should be the Durham Bulls first baseman next year, and a Jordan Walker.  

Shiny cards of Yordan Alvarez, Willson Contreras, and a Satchell Paige with the Browns.  

Last, let me tell you about the blaster box I bought. I saw the 2024 Donruss packs and boxes at the counter, decided why not. Let's try a few packs. Ninety-nine percent of the box was terrible and I am not going to waste my time scanning the cards, nor waste your time reading about the terrible cards. 

It was the last thing I said as I was checking out. "Let me get a box of 2024 Donurss"

Famous last words and it turns out that 1% of the box was pretty spectacular.  

This Isn't Your Best Work

I have had really bad luck with scanners and printers over the years. It all started during my final week of graduate school at NC State. I had to assemble a portfolio of work from a year-long internship. I did a good job of keeping up the portfolio during the school year, but the final week a bit of a mad dash to make sure everything ended up in my file crate. Lots of emails, documents, and other assorted articles were printed and filed.  

On the Thursday night before my Friday final, my printer died. I went to the local Office Max, picked out a printer that was on-sale, and finished my work in the wee hours of Friday morning. That sale printer would last me roughly a year before dying and was replaced in similar fashion. Its replacement would also only last a year or two. 

I bought my current printer on a Saturday morning in October of 2016. My parents were in town to visit my newborn daughter.  I was taking my father to the Duke/Virginia Tech football game, needed to print off paper tickets, and could not get my printer to work.  I went back to the Office Max and bought a printer that was not on-sale. I also checked the internet for reviews and found that Canon made excellent printer/scanners.  

Virginia Tech won. 

Every card that has appeared on this blog during the past eight years has landed on the scanner of that printer and I have generally been happy with the results. 

Well, not this morning. 

This is my latest Blake Snell card.......

This is a picture of my latest Blake Snell card......

This isn't your best work, Cannon printer/scanner, but I am willing to forgive and forget. 

Not $400.

I am old enough to remember when boxes of Topps Finest Baseball cards were not $400.

Looks like I am also now old enough to remember when they were $400.

Greedflation at its finest.  

Luckily, for us collectors on a budget, there are people who buy $400 boxes and sell the single cards on Ebay. Finest comes with two autographs per $400 box, so I started out trying to find a nice pair of autographs for less than $400.  I ended up find 3 autographs rather than two. The total cost of the three cards was less than $20 after shipping. All three cards fit perfectly into my little collection of baseball cards.  

First, an autograph of Giants catcher Patrick Bailey. 

I have several other cards of Bailey in my collection from his time playing at NC State and USA Baseball, but this is my first autograph of him since he turned pro a few years back. Patrick has shortened his signature down considerable over the years.......

but I still love this Finest autograph. Beyond attending NC State, Patrick Bailey also was the Giants catcher for Blake Snell's no-hitter. I really need to post some more Patrick Bailey autographs. Maybe next Monday......

The Bailey autograph was the majority of the not-quite-$20 I spent on these three cards.  

Next up is a pair of Durham Bulls players, one current and one former.  

Curtis Mead is a consensus Top 100 prospect with Baseball Prospectus ranking him highest at 42. Mead actually spent several weeks up with the Rays, but struggled with his bat before being demoted back to Durham. I am a big fan of the Australian third baseman and think he has a bright future somewhere. 

Last card. 

Tristan Gray was on the Durham Bulls the past three seasons. He hit a ton of home runs for them, but never got much of a chance with the Rays. Gray is an older prospect at this point, late twenties, and was traded to the Marlins in the off-season.  I am kind of surprised that he is not on the Marlins on all of his 2024 cards, although I think it's a bit of a surprise that Topps included him in any of their products. 

Anywho, his cards are very inexpensive and I enjoyed watching him play for the Bulls. 

Monday Morning Autograph - Johnny Field

 

Today's Autograph: 2014 Bowman Chrome Johnny Field 

Why Do I Own The Card: I first saw Johnny Field play at USA Baseball while he was a college baseball player at the University of Arizona. I ran into him again a few years later after he was drafted by the Rays and ended up playing with the Durham Bulls. In fact, beyond owning a bunch of Johnny Field baseball cards, I also own a game-used Johnny Field baseball bat.  

It's autographed.  

Back of the Card: 

Johnny Field's Career In A Haiku:

U of A Baseball 

Team USA, Tampa Bay Rays

Real Estate Agent (seriously) 

This Is Not A Taj Bradley Blog

For the second time this week, I am posting more cards of Taj Bradley. I won't start giving each new Taj Bradley autograph it's own post at this point, like I do Blake Snell, but it's under consideration for the future. Since this blog post is also part of an afternoon long procrastination from lesson planning for class next week, it's going to be somewhat short.  

Ten minutes on the timer.  

Two new Taj Bradley autographs, first up......

This is from the 2023 Donruss Optic set, which I think is the Panini equivalent to Topps Chrome.

The card is essentially the same as his 2023 Donruss card, outside of the Chrome finishes on the card. Perhaps Chrome is not the right word. Glossy? Let's use that word instead.  The Optics card has a high gloss finish and a slightly different photograph with tighter cropping.

Both cards are photographs from Bradley's time with the Durham Bulls. 

The scratches and dust bunny looking things on the Optics card are on the sleeve or on my ancient printer scanner, not on the card. 

Next.  

This is Taj Bradley's Signature Series card from 2024 Donruss. I did not even realize that there was a 2024 Donruss set until I found this card. I thought Panini had completely vanished from baseball after last year.  

Maybe not. 

That only took seven minutes.