One of My Favorite Cards - 2011 Bowman Platinum Michael Choice - Certified Autograph

Picked this card up for a couple of bucks.   I told you I was dabbling in prospects!   Michael Choice is another player I have picked up for my dynasty fantasy baseball team.   His power potential intrigued me as he worked hard in the A's organization last year.   The A's made another great run in the fall and Michael had an effective impact while he was called up for coffee towards the end of the season.

Choice was traded to the Rangers this winter and is competing hard for a starting slot on the roster under the careful eyes of Ron Washington -in fact, Mr. Washington has even noted that he expects Choice to have an impact on a daily basis.   Which is great but from a fantasy perspective......we'll have to see.   With Choo and Rios' arrival in Texas, it looks like Michael will have to compete with Leonys Martin for that final spot.   

Hopefully, he'll get his shot.   He comes with a record of both power and patience, a rare combination.   According to his card below, he went deep seven times in thirty games during his debut.   That's pretty stellar.

It will be exciting to watch and while this card might not last in my collection forever, I'm enjoying it for now.

Thanks for reading!

Ryan

Whew!

I've always loved this George Jorge Bell card.   It was one of the first "old" cards (pre-'87......received in '87 or later!) I ever obtained and it fit nicely into my "star players" binder.

It's a little off-center, but I care about as much about that now as I did then.   No - it's the simple picture of Bell that I love so much on this card.   I like to think that this was taken towards the end of the game or practice that was towards the end of the day that was towards the end of the season/pre-season.

The end of something.

The look of exhaustion with a sly grin is exactly how I feel this week.   The baseball season has come to an exciting end.   It was a great ride for 162 games and tonight we get to start enjoying our first dose of play-in wild card games and then, soon thereafter the rest of the postseason.   I can't wait!   After 6 months of daily roster adjustments across two fantasy baseball leagues.....I'm ready for some baseball-watching that is singular in impact :)

A singularity event?   Fellow nerds UNITE!

My Yanks have snagged the AL East title again and it was with some particularly delicious salt in the wound that was the Bobby Valentine experiment in Boston.   I will definitely MISS that guy.   What a disaster.

Some underdogs have risen to the top and while my affinity for their success will stop at some point, it has been great to see the A's and the O's fight their way into the picture!   Perfect games, and a FREAKING TRIPLE CROWN!!!!!   Congratulations, Miggy!

The hobby year is winding down, too.   This may be the final year where I truly put forth so much effort and capital into new releases.  It's time-consuming, expensive and, it seems, ever expanding.   Tough to keep up with but always enjoyable.   Update hit the streets this week and I will definitely try some out as I wrap up the final "hand-collated" sets for my son's future collection.   But still - I feel like this is the end of something in a lot of ways.   Things change.

I need to leave this one short (and, rather incomplete as I gaze up at the three or so paragraphs....) but there will be more to come.   In the meantime, enjoy the changes in your own kingdom.   The regular season is complete.   Fall is here.   The champions trudge on towards immortality.   Let's grab a cold one, Jorge!

BLING!

I'm ready to 'lace' this work week!

Thanks for reading!