CC: The Phantom Zone

 It's no secret that I'm always trying to find new CC Sabathia items to add to my collection, and the other day I found some new ones.  Baseball is 2020 had its #FakeSeason.  The entirety of the playoffs was illegitimate, and a fraudulent champion was crowned.

That being said, it did create the opportunity for some interesting memorabilia.  This year was the 50th anniversary of the Milwaukee Brewers' first season, and to commemorate the milestone, special tickets for season ticketholders were created.  These tickets contained images of memorable moments from the team's first 50 years.  Among them was the 2008 Wild Card run.

2020 Brewers Season Ticket (4/1/20)

 Some notes about this ticket.  

*First of all, it looks damn good.  The blue and the brighter yellow that the team adopted this year absolutely pop.  

*My eyes kind of bug out at the $140 ticket price.  I don't even know how close this gets you.  Inside the dugout, probably.

*Having a ticket for a phantom game is pretty cool.  Usually these are for playoff games that never happen, but this is the rare year where all of the regular season games were cancelled, at least in their original form.

*There are theoretically dozens of different ticket dates, but I'll be stopping at this one.  Good enough.  It would be hard knowing where to draw the line.

From the Archives: A 1982 Topps Melodrama

 Spring Training, somewhere in Arizona, 1981:

 

Hey Billy...

What, man?

Last night I had a date with Sally Owchinko.  Things went well.  I was givin' it to her, like this.  Ooooooooooooh.

Man, don't bother me with that sheeyit.

What are you two guys talking about?

Sally Owchinko.

Yeah.  I was givin' it to her, like this.  Ooooooooooooh.

I hear it, but I don't believe it.

Yeah, it really happened.  I was givin' it to her, like this.  Ooooooooooooh.

What's going on over there, Bob?  They look like they're talking about something of interest.

I don't like the looks of it.  You know how Jon gets.

Let's go over there anyway, check it out.

So I was givin' it to her, like this.  Ooooooooooooh.

Told you.

So let me get this straight.  You said you were giving it to her.  How, exactly, did that play out?

Let me show you.  I was givin' it to her, like this.  Ooooooooooooh.

Oooh.

No, I was givin' it to her, like this.  Ooooooooooooh.

Oooooh?

No, Ooooooooooooh.

Ooooooooooooh.

You got it, m' man.

I think I know the girl y'all's talkin' about.

Did you give it to her, like this?  Ooooooooooooh.

You betcha.  Yup, that's her alright.

Please describe her hair to me.  In detail.

I was givin' it to her, like this.  Ooooooooooooh.

Pretty nice day out here today, fellas.  Ought to be a good game today, between two quality teams.  Best of luck.

By the way, what are you all talking about?

 

Sally Owchinko.  I was givin' it to her, like this.  Ooooooooooooh.

 That's a lie mister.

Ooooooooooooh.

A damn lie.

I was givin' it to her, like this.  Ooooooooooooh.

This ain't over.

Golly, I feel all sorts of tingly inside.

 

Fin.

 

CC: On-Card

 2020 Topps Archives AUTO #76TA-CCS

Bunch of firsts with this card.  To get my soon-to-be-Snickers-and-candy-corn-stained hands on this card, I had to go through some unfamiliar channels.  Yes, this is a redemption card.  Looking at my account, the last time I redeemed anything from Topps, it was for a set of 2011 USA Baseball refractors.  I have absolutely no recollection of this.  I'd have to look to see if these cards are still in one of my monster boxes, but I'm guessing I sold these?  No idea.  And before that, my last redemption for a 2011 Lineage Buster Posey AUTO.  I sold it for $113.  It was a rare instance of me selling at the apex of a card's value.  All copies currently for sale and recently sold have prices far below that.

This card is also Sabathia's first on-card AUTO as a Milwaukee Brewer.  His only other Brewer autos were stickers on the high-end Sterling product.  The signature on this card looks better in person, and of course without those annoying scanner lines.  I am very happy to have this card, and I was pleased with the turnaround time on the Topps redemption.  So much better to receive in the mail than the stacks of political ads I'm currently getting as a resident of a battleground state.

CC: Poppin' the Cherry

 CC Sabathia is a bad motherfucker, and so is this card.

2020 Topps Now Turn Back the Clock #154 Cherry Parallel (1/7)

Aside from the 1/1's, this is the lowest numbered card I have come across on this collecting mission.  Apparently when you buy a Topps Now card directly from the manufacturer, there's a chance that you'll get a parallel.  With the wood grain '87 Topps border, it's only natural that these were made with a different "stain" of lumber.  You can probably find this card in eBay's completed items listing, but I am glad to say that I paid nowhere near the asking price.  The quest continues...

CC: Wood, Jerry... Wood

 An embarrassment of riches.  The floodgates have officially been opened after years of dormancy.  

 

2020 Topps Now Turn Back the Clock #154

When was this card released?  I have no idea.  I'm sure I could look it up somewhere, figure out what I was doing and why I missed it.  No matter.  Topps Now is not aimed at me, so I pay it no mind.  At some point this year, Topps doubled down on the CC recognition, this time to commemorate his near-no-hitter against the Pirates.  At the time I thought it was in bad taste to whine about the missed call that turned an error into a hit.  We were still in the chase for a playoff spot, an ordeal that would last until the final day of the season.  Tempting the baseball gods would not have been wise back then, but in retrospect, I wish he had been credited with the no-hitter.

The Turn Back the Clock design isn't quite the same as the '87 Topps originals, but the important wood grain element is what counts.  The backs of these cards are cool, with a sheer coating that contains a holographic Topps logo.  Good looking card and great addition to the collection.

UPDATE: So I did the research, and I suppose that this card was released on 8/31/20, same date as the event in 2008.  Also, print run of 247, relatively low.

 

 

 

CC: Here We Go Again

So I had to check to make sure, but it's been seven years since there were any new cards released of CC Sabathia as a Brewer.  (Those would be from 2013's Panini Hometown Heroes.)  It makes sense, given CC's success and retirement as a New York Yankee since then.  It was brought to my attention recently that he was being featured on some inserts in this year's Archives set.  Oftentimes these things have a tendency to burn hot for about two weeks, with lots of examples available on eBay, then fade away once the marks move on to the next new product.  Luckily, his cards have been easy to find and priced right.

2020 Topps Archives 1976 Topps Traded #77TT-320

I agree wholeheartedly that Sabathia's 2008 Brewers run is worthy of a card like this, but why wait until the... 12th anniversary?  That being said, I'm glad it exists, and I've been tracking down some of the autographed parallels that have been released.  The '76 Traded is a set I've completed, and as far as trades go, Milwaukee hasn't made too many to rival this one.

By the way, you should check out Sabathia's baseball podcast, R2C2, on The Ringer.  He's super likeable and apparently enjoys cussing a lot. 

The Case of the Mysterious Mailday

Yesterday (Saturday) morning, I put a few outgoing envelopes in my mailbox for the mail carrier to pick up during the day's delivery.  It so happened that I had not collected Friday afternoon's mail yet.  It was a small amount, just one piece of junk mail and a plain white envelope addressed to me.

I was expecting a card that I had recently bought.  (Allow for a little diversion here.  I am normally the farthest thing from a prospector, but I have recently started stockpiling Dare Ogunbowale cards.  This former Badger had a hard time breaking onto a gameday roster, but last year actually got a bunch of receptions and carries and scored two touchdowns in short yardage situations for the Buccaneers.  On the off chance that Dare gets targeted by Tom Brady, his cards should quickly go up in value.)  The card I was expecting was not what had arrived, though.

Upon opening the PWE, I found this.

A 1984 Fleer Enos Cabell #79, signed in blue Sharpie.

Now, I have received unsolicited cards plenty of times, but this was something different.  It's a cool card, especially from a guy who, according to one source, is a pretty tough get.  (A TTM success rate of 33%.)  However, it's not something I really collect.

Time to go full fuckin' Fenton (Hardy) here and investigate.  I put a call out on Twitter for the anonymous benefactor to step forward, but none did.  See, the one clue available to me was a return address on the envelope with a Rochester, NY, location.

What could have happened, boxcar children?  I have a few theories:
1. The Kind-Hearted Gentleman
Someone I've traded with in the past just want to pay forward some favor.  Nice.  I like that.
2. The Accidental Switcheroo
I found it odd that the address on the envelope sent to me is an exact, though handwritten, match for the return address stamp I use when sending cards out.  It's possible that someone had this card intended for a Detroit Tigers fan, and they were working from some old packaging to find the address, and mine got mixed up with another.  It happens.
3. The Drawing of the Four
The only other thing I can think of is that this is a veiled invitation to a proto-Satanic gathering involving bloodletting, human sacrifice, and discussion of how Pacific Trading Cards forever changed the norms and expectations of intra-box card collation.  There's a small blue dot on the toploader holding this card.  Is it some sort of additional clue?  Am I to gather with a group of other recipients and assemble by colored dot?  "I am lower-right light blue, looking for top-left light blue to begin the mission."  I await further instructions.

Whatever the case, if you sent this card, purposely or in error, please get in touch.  I can forward the card to the proper owner if need be.