Packs That Just Showed Up #7

Forty-three posts in 2024?

Unacceptable.

That was the lowest annual total since this blog began.  Things are going to change in 2025, and that change starts today.

This is the final pack that just showed up, and it's from the set with the earliest release date of all the packs.  Fleer released its 2007 Ultra set that July.  That's over 17 years ago, a few months after I started my card blog.  It's a small pack, only five cards, so let's try this.  I'll do a little digging and try my best to find out what each player is currently up to.  Should be interesting.

#226 Travis Buck

Assistant coach of the Loyola Marymount baseball team.  Look him up, he still has the mile-wide smile, but I'm a bit disappointed by the Key West barfly-looking haircut.

#152 Adam Wainwright

Came back for a 19th season in 2024, finishing the year with a 6-32 record, but won all five decisions against the Milwaukee Brewers.  In those games he held the Crew to a .072 batting average without giving up a single run.

Just kidding, he's a Fox Sports commentator now. 

#184 Ian Kinsler

Special Assistant to Rangers GM Chris Young.

#91 Francisco Rodriguez

Not a lot of information available, but it appears that he was named manager of Venezuela's U-15 National Baseball Team early in 2024.

#43 Bronson Arroyo

Wikipedia says that Arroyo was on season 12 of "The Masked Singer" in 2024, and that fellow pitcher Barry Zito was his "Mask Ambassador."  I don't know exactly what this means, but I assume it's what you do after baseball if you don't want to sell cars or insurance and you're not as smart as Chris Young.

So, who ya got for the best post-baseball gig from this group of five?

Trade Me Anything XVIII: #4

This is one of those trades that I look forward to each year.  Every time David shows up for TMA, you know you're in for a treat.  His trade package is usually simultaneously eclectic and practical.  I always end up getting a book in the trade, and it's always something I enjoy reading.  Let's not prolong the suspense.

 

Giving:

#US156 Jack Leiter Gold (0513/2024), #MYS-19 Jung Hoo Lee Mystical

Getting:

Your House Will Pay by Steph Cha

My wife and I have recently booked a vacation to Mexico in June.  I look forward to reading this by the pool.  I have the feeling that the cover will make other guests think, "I'm leaving this guy alone, he looks pretty serious about his reading."

A small drawstring bag

What's inside of it?

It's... something.

Perhaps a tealight holder?  It's made of earthenware, maybe something to put plants into?  Or maybe it's something for smoking that I'm just not cool enough to know about.

An empty Topps Inception box

Well, not totally empty, because it's holding...

Some cards!

Some interesting didn't-quite-make-it Brewers in that bunch.

Two Robin Younts and a Prince Fielder

I believe these are all new to me, and will be going in their respective binders.  Woo-hoo!

A San Diego Padres camo can koozie

Much of my brother's wife's family now resides in the San Diego area.  One of these days we will get out there and take in a game.  I'll definitely impress my dude Keshav when I bring this with me.

High Rollers Dice Game

It's a five-die poker game.  Looks easy and fun.  Another thing that might be fun poolside.

Carlos Correa Topps Heritage Puzzle

I was all set to throw this in an envelope and give it to my brother-in-law as a gift.  He's a big Twins fan and would probably appreciate it.  We were all set to head up there Saturday morning, but my wife and I got miserably sick.  I've blown my nose at least five times while typing this post.  The flu sucks.

UC-Irvine Law School Luggage Tag

People seeing this on my suitcase will think I have a law degree and I'm smart.  Joke's on them, I have two master's degrees in education because I'm dumb.

California State Parks 2025 Calendar.

Majestic beauty.

What can I say, this trade brought it once again.  Thanks, David, wishing you a Happy New Year!

Packs That Just Showed Up #6

My archive of posts tells me that the last time I wrote about one of these packs it was July.  If you want to refamiliarize yourself with the origin of this series, here's the link.

This time around we have another pack of 2019 Topps Series 1 Baseball.  Will cards from the correct set be inside?  Will there actually be 16 cards, as the wrapper promises?  It's always an iffy proposition with these.

#231 Joc Pederson, #51 Michael Brantley, #304 Michael Lorenzen

Let's see, Pederson just signed a deal with the Rangers, Brantley retired last January, and Lorenzen reportedly might hit and pitch for the White Sox, though nothing is official yet.

#59 Zack Godley, #179 Jackie Bradley, Jr., #335 Ervin Santana

All landscape format cards.  Odd.

#99 Aroldis Chapman 150 Years of Baseball Parallel

Is it snowing in this picture?

#SSB-100 Kyle Tucker Stars of the Game

#RA-9 Ronald Anuca, Jr. Ronald Acuna, Jr. Highlights

I don't know what else to call this insert set.  Redundancy required.

#202 Sweet Life Checklist, #347 Kirby Yates, #189 Khris Davis, #130 Blake Snell

#39 Richard Urena, #10 Clayton Kershaw, #38 Kolby Allard

Of these last six player cards, only Snell and Kershaw are officially attached to a 2025 MLB roster.  They'll both be on the Dodgers because the Dodgers get to have whoever they want on their team until the end of time.

 

That was a pretty decent pack, especially because it was free.

Trade Me Anything XVIII: #3

Just like Mrs. Arbuckle says that it just wouldn't be Christmas if the family put the star on the tree before the rest of the ornaments, it just wouldn't be Trade Me Anything if gcrl didn't send in a trade package.  Let's check out the goods.

Giving:

A bunch of All-Stars in their universally-agreed-upon shabby-looking uniforms

#89US-2 Ozzie Albies 1989 Topps 35th Anniversary, #89US-30 Mickey Mantle 1989 Topps 35th Anniversary, #US97 Jackson Holliday

So gcrl made a really crafty offer and checked back to TMA 2023 to comb through the leftovers.  I applaud this tactic.

#MVP-DMA Don Mattingly 1985 AL MVP Commemorative Medallion

#US300 Cody Bellinger Gold (1851/2023), #AA-63 Dwight Gooden All Aces, #T88CU-6 Bernie Williams 1988 Topps 35th Anniversary Refractor

Getting:

Baseball: Our Game by John Thorn

Small-format book, perfect for reading in the smallest room of one's house.

Ton of (Mostly) Recent Brewers

That Turang is niiiiiiiiice.  With any luck, he will pissant himself into the hearts of Cardinals and Cubs fans.

2012 Leaf History of Baseball Jim Colborn Cut Signature

First Brewers 20-game winner.

Some various set needs

Lot of 2024 Topps Update Series Set Needs

It still frosts my shorts that you used to be able to get a full set out of a hobby box, and now you're easily a third of a set short.  Madness.

2012 Great Rivers District Camporee Boy Scout Patch

I was never a scout, but my family went camping a lot.  I'd call that another win for Mary.

Cheesehead Pencil Topper

I definitely used to have one of these.  It feels good to have a replacement.  I look forward to being the star of my next IEP meeting.

 A really thrilling set of stuff, gcrl.  I'll wave when I pass the Woodbury exit in a few days.  Have a happy new year!

Merry Lynchmas!

 

And lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round them: and they were sore afraid.

 

2024 Card-vent Calendar: December 24

December 24, 2024:

2000 Upper Deck #FT11 Nomar Garciaparra Five-Tool Talents

This is kind of a weird card to end the calendar on.  There's nothing Christmassy about it.  It's just Nomar pointing at a pop-up.  Whenever Nomar is mentioned, I always think about this book.

This was a book from, what, TWO reading series ago?  For those of you not in the biz, this is called a leveled reader.  Back when we used this Houghton Mifflin series, each main story in the reading book would be paired with three different leveled readers.  These were stories that matched the main story thematically and incorporated the same vocabulary.  Each reader was written at a different difficulty level, either at grade level, below grade level for struggling readers, or above grade level for kids who needed something more challenging.

 

Our current reading series is a piece of shit.  We're using HMH Into Reading.  Same company, shittier product.  The basal reader is fairly decent, has interesting stories that the kids seem to enjoy.  But the leveled readers are garbage.  They're just random sets of books that have no relation to the main stories, either in theme or vocabulary.  They're kept in these blue burlap totes that are falling apart despite remaining untouched for most of the year.  I keep them on a shelf for display purposes in case a bigwig with a do-nothing job walks into my classroom carrying a clipboard.  (Guess what, motherfucker?  I carry a clipboard everywhere I go, too!  Your not-working-with-children, haven't-been-a-teacher-since-1999-looking-ass wants to take some notes, I'll take some notes, too.)  Every summer I pick them up and store them on a different shelf, and they leave behind these piles of blue powder that have been shed from the totes.  It's a bit alarming that they're decomposing as such.  I wonder how toxic that stuff is.  During the school year, the children like to put their candy wrappers in the totes as an alternative to throwing them away properly.  I like where their heads are at, putting garbage among other garbage, but I officially discourage this practice.

In any case, I just wish we could have books like Mia and Nomar back.  Not this Rigby Reader crap.

And tomorrow... a savior.

2024 Card-vent Calendar: December 23

December 23, 2024:

2000 Collector's Edge Masters K-Klub #K21 (1272/3000)

As I'm typing this, I'm watching the Packers dismantle the Saints on Monday Night Football.  Playing on Monday night is not the same as it used to be, with the NFL expanding to more night games over the past 20 years.  Still, it's fun to see your team deliver an ass-whuppin' in front of the whole country.  Our receivers played particularly well tonight, and it's not hard to see shades of Antonio Freeman in some of the stars.  Wicks and Reed in particular shined brightly tonight. 

This is a cool see-through acetate card.  Back when there were more licenses, cards were better.  There is no disputing this.  Sure, this may not have been the leading company back then, but they were trying out new stuff.  I just wish that cards were for collecting, not investing.  I don't want to play a stock market, I want to create a scrapbook.