You Never Know!

Greetings and salutations, my friends!   I've missed you all over the past.........well, it's been too long.   And before that, too few and far in between posts.

But no moping because there's no crying.....in......you know how it goes.

It was a great baseball season and, even though none of my personal favorites contended in the Fall Classic - it was a powerful finish for the Black and Orange.   Hats OFF to them and congratulations to my fellow bloggers who are Giants fans through and through.   It must have been a great roller-coaster ride!

Of course, one of the best highlights from the series for most of us was the historical performance by Pablo Sandoval in Game 1.   It set the tone for the Giants' ultimate victory and places a guy we all call "Panda" in some pretty esteemed World-Series-Game-Home-Run-Hitting company.   How cool is that?   I watched it unfold on TV as Mrs. Ryan's Pitch sat nearby.   I caught her attention to clue her into what was going on.   She's not a baseball nut like me but she enjoys the game and understands my obsession.   We both marveled at the moment...

Continuously checking my twitter feed and adding in my own 140-character nuggets as "@RyansPitch", I suddenly looked off into the distance.

"Wait a second...."

I ran plodded down to the basement and began a reckless search for a piece of cardboard that I had suddenly been inspired to think that....maybe, just maybe.......I actually had in my collection.   I scattered boxes and binders and loose-card stacks all over while I looked for a certain box.    Along with the original epiphany of this particular card, a new theme began to cultivate in my synapses:

"Organize your damn collection, lazy!"

I promised myself that I would.   Later.

AH!

Found it.   YES!   I knew it to be true.....I had pulled this card out of a blaster during my "Ryan's Spring" in 2011 when I dove back into our hobby.   It was awesome, simply because it was an autograph and autographs on cards in packs was a complete revelation to me as a born-again collector (can I say that?).   But it was of a player I wasn't that crazy about.....he didn't wear pinstripes or do the Tomahawk Chop....so it went in its top-loader and was placed into THIS stack instead of THAT stack and eventually forgotten.   Doomed to rest in peace until it was handed over to my son one day with a, "Behold.........my son."

But I had to wake it up and enjoy its....new found importance in the collection.   Cards have stories to tell.  Sometimes it's the picture on the front.   Other cards tell their best stories through stats on the back or a hand-written scribble by some kid from decades past.   Mostly, our cards will speak to us about the players they depict - the inherent purpose for their existence, after all.   And now, this card's story - like the man who signed it - will have an even sweeter story to tell.

We all love "pulls" and it's kind of neat when a "pull" enjoys an increase in "mojo" over time.

Enough words in quotation marks.   Here's The Panda:

Loopy On-Card Greatness

Man, I miss 2011 Gypsy Queen.   It was the release that brought me back into the collecting fold.  I thought it was pretty damn cool and as it turns out......it still is.   I hope Topps can re-capture what they had because further review of the sophomore release only heightens my disappointment and "meh" attitude towards it.

Pandas and GQ aside - it's great to be back.

Thanks for reading!

Indiana Jones and the Emerald Panda

Ha!   I couldn't resist.   That title totally works though, doesn't it?   And it would probably be WAY better than Kingdom of the Crystal Skulls or whatever that was......what a bomb.

Anyways, I tried my luck at some 'ol Bowman Platinum again, this year.   I told myself not to after last year's dabble - but you know me.   There's just that craving to rip some crinkly wrappers that is inescapable.   I also saw everyone posting beautiful relics and signatures on the blogs and Twitter so I figured I should go and remove some of the non-hit packs from getting in their way.

I succeeded, as always.

BUT, I still pulled some decent "non-hit" cards.   The cards are very reminiscent of last year's Platinum.   Yes, they're beautiful - but they just don't seem like baseball cards to me.   Oh well.   I'm an old fuddy-duddy, I guess.   They DO still come complete with that sweet maple-syrup scent, though.

Here are a few of the highlights.   I also pulled my FIRST Manny Banuelos card but couldn't find the top-loaded Manny for a picture......I'll snag him later.   (If you wanna see you some Manny, I'm sure The Lost Collector can satisfy your need!   Tell him Ryan sent you.....)   Manny has been out for most of this season with elbow trouble.   I'm hoping it resolves itself.   Ah-hem......here are the other cards of note, in no particular order:

He's dirty, you can see the ball and he's blowing a bubble.....Pablo Sandoval, everybody.

Funny.   The further along in the season we get, the less and less excited everybody is to pull a Yu card.   I like the card, though.   It's a perfectly balanced photo of Mr. Darvish with a great look at the Texas flag on his sleeve and a tidy little "RC" logo in the corner, just so there's no confusion.   In today's world of infinite variations, it's nice to know when you have a rookie card of somebody.

JP has cooled off a wee bit lately, along with some of the other young, A's pitching sensations.   But their collective talent as a whole, along with Mr. Parker's, is unmistakable.   I kind of hope that Oakland keeps these guys together and that the A's can make a return to greatness.   While I am a Yankees fan through and through, the A's were my other favorite team as a kid.   The Bash Brothers, Rickey, Dave Stewart, Eck.....loved 'em.   So seeing this staff and their brethren in the field (Cespedes, Reddick, etc.) would be great.   This card is another winner, too.   Great balanced shot with the ball hurling towards you and the RC logo in the corner.   This one might be TTM worthy, yes?   How do signatures handle on the Platinum glossy finish?   Any advise or warnings?

I think this one is a special chrome version or something?   All I hear about every day is how many SB's Billy Hamilton has on the season.   Probably because he has....as of today, 8/10/2012.......FREAKING 133 SWIPED BAGS THIS YEAR!   The record is 13 away, set by Vince Coleman in 1983.   Rickey Henderson set the major league record of 130, which could certainly be in danger one day after Billy is called up.   Wow.   Hamilton also had a great showing in the future star All Star Game.   I think he will do great things for the Reds and is a nice compliment to the power of Votto and [not lately] Bruce.   If Latos and Bailey and Chapman and all the others get the pitching together.....Cincy could be a Big Machine for many years.

SO, I'm glad to pull this (yet again) well-balanced, shiny, nice looking card of Mr. Hamilton.   I'll tuck it away and we'll see what happens.   I just wish I knew whether or not it was a rookie card?

:)

So there's some Platinum for you.   Everybody have a great weekend.   I'll be heading to the coast with the family tonight for a few nights of guaranteed fun.   I have, with great fortune, managed to land a pass to Sunday's final round of the PGA Championship at Kiawah.   I will go watch golf while Mrs. Ryan's Pitch drives the wee ones back home.   Let me be clear: I love her and she is perfect.

As far as the PGA is concerned, I am hoping for Bubba to win his second major of the year - though at +3 after yeaterday's 1st round, it's not looking good.   My other wish is to smoke a fine cigar and eat M&Ms with John Daly in the parking lot while sipping Diet Coke out of the Wanamaker Trophy.

Take away Daly and the Trophy and it could happen.

Thanks for Reading!