My Freddie Freeman Collection - 2012 Topps Tier One Relic #3/399

Here's one of the few relic cards I've been able to add to my Freddie collection over the past year or so.   It's a standard Tier One relic offering from Topps - a release that I truly don't have much access to beyond picking up singles in the after-market.

While the jersey swatch is a plain gray, the card itself is pleasantly designed and constructed with a nice, thick card stock.   The colors are bold and match up very well with Freddie's sleeves while contrasting sharply with the red and white of the home Braves uniform.   I believe all Tier 1 cards are numbered, and this one is #3 out of 399.   Nice low number, I suppose.   Here's the back:

I really like the write-up that Topps went with on this one.   We are denied enjoyable facts on most relic cards in exchange for the generic statement about authenticity and relic anonymity, "We have no idea what this piece of equipment was from....but we know it's legit."

This one is different, though, and.....perhaps this is a bonus feature of the pricey Tier 1 release?   Can anybody confirm?   Either way, we get to enjoy this one, which highlights the tumultuous tenures of Atlanta first basemen prior to Freeman's arrival.   It also draws a parallel between Freddie and the Baby Bull by citing their record-setting hit totals as first baseman who were 21 years of age or younger.   For the record, Cepeda notched 371 hits before his 22nd birthday.   Yo!?!

A welcome addition to my Freddie Freeman Collection!

Thanks for reading!

My Braves Collection - 2014 Topps Tribute Evan Gattis Autograph (#d 28/40)

El Oso Blanco!

Every true baseball fan is required to at least respect the story behind Evan Gattis and his baseball journey....but I am sure the love fest may end right there for many.

Mine continues, however, and I'd like to continue it right now....in honor of his first HR of the season, just moments ago!   A Gattis autograph!

Huh. Another award-winning photography effort from yours truly.   Sorry!

It's a glorious on-card autograph in striking blue sharpie, surrounded by one of the weirdest color combinations that Topps could have possible gone with.   I don't get it, but I still love this card and am very happy to add it to my growing Gattis collection.   It is also numbered 28 out of 40, however I am not entirely sure if that's a good thing or not?

Don't really care.

Welcome to the Braves collection!

Keep Collecting -

Ryan

My Kimbrel Collection - 2013 Panini Pinnacle #60 "Artist Proof"

(sigh)

I'm a free market kind of guy, so I rarely have bad things to say about different baseball cards - but I feel compelled to comment on this Kimbrel.   I am very happy to add to my Kimbrel PC, but this is a prime example of a poor photo/design choice by Pinnacle.

Pinnacle has some great stuff in their portfolio.   I can remember some favorites from Collecting Period I in the early 90's and I'm sure they had some stellar releases during my Hobby Ice Age.   And even today, I've picked up some BEAUTIFUL cards from Panini.

But this just ain't one of them.

The black card design that is engulfing a Craig Kimbrel that appears to be wearing an all-black, no logos (I know, licence) uniform really kills what might have been a cool "coming right at you" type of baseball card.   The "Artist Proof" foil label just pours salt in the wound here.   It's like he's suited up for the Night's Watch or something.   

Sorry - totally geeked out on you guys with a Game of Thrones reference there.

Here's the card; what do you guys think?   "Or am I being obtuse?"

Shawshank reference. On a roll here.....

Thanks for reading!

My Braves and Hall of Fame Collection - 1998 Donruss Greg Maddux Statistical Standout #'d 23/2500

I collect vintage baseball cards, build a set every once in awhile....sample new releases here and there and chase after cards of my favorite teams and players.

Some of my collecting focuses on the collecting years of my youth - '79 through about '93 or so.....okay, my birth up through my youth.   I call it my FIRST collecting period.

Then, I began rediscovering the hobby in 2011 upon the discovery that I would be having a son.   It only seemed natural and I've really enjoyed it.   Every second of it.   A little TOO much, sometimes.

That leaves a gigantic hobby gap for my collection in the cardboard universe - nearly two full decades!   What happened during these years?   What were the cards like?   What did I miss?   I enjoy reading about and viewing cards from this 'missing' era of mine.   They usually range across the entire collecting spectrum - from horrible, silly and over-cooked to foily-sweet and action-packed.

I don't know the rules about when to use a hyphen.   Any tips, Night Owl?

Every once in awhile, I get the chance to add a card from this era to my collection.   I will usually ensure that it fits into one of my team or player collections or portrays a Hall of Fame player.   In this case, I was able to fit into two of those categories: 

As many of you are painfully aware, I am a Braves fan.   The Braves were the "local" (5.5 hours) team for me as a kid growing up in the Redneck Riviera and it was a BLAST!   Games tickets were cheap, the Murph was THE man and I was able to enjoy the "Bums to Pennants" transition that kicked off in 1991 with a Sid Bream slide.

Therefore, I'm a Maddux fan.   He wouldn't join Atlanta until '93 but the following 10 years resulted in some of the finest team pitching I've known in my lifetime.   I began watching Maddux in Fulton County Stadium whilst sucking down cokes and sighed heavily as he headed back north to Wrigley in 2004.   From starting high school to being underwater in a submarine.   That's quite a journey and Greg was a part of it when I combed the sports pages.

When I saw this 1998 Donruss-Leaf-50th-Anniversary-Statistical-Standout card, I knew I had to have it.  IN fact, I might have to find MORE of these cards!   I think they're fabulous.   The black and white (sepia?) background photo of a glove with a ball is perfection.   Yes, it has the worst looking Maddux signature EVER scribbled across it....but it works for me.   The "Leaf" and "Statistical Standout" foil stamps are just enough and placed just right on both sides of our post-delivery and colorful hurler.

How about the back?

Out of 2500 :)

Okay, the mug shot is a bit meh, but the Don Mattingly-jersey-number-serial-numbered-out-of-2500 aspect of this card makes me happy.   Illogically so.   20 walks in 1997!?!?   And there's that glorious ball & glove again....

Love this card.   Sorry I missed it the first time around, but that's what's great about our hobby - when it comes to cardboard, time is on our side.

Thanks for reading!

2013 Prospect Parade Continues - Zack Wheeler

The combination of my fantasy baseball research and improved dedication to simply following the game we love has allowed me to follow the wealth of prospect debuts this season.

The Year of Shelby Miller, The Rise of Oso Blanco for the Braves, The Wonder of Wacha, The Legend of Puig, The Colossal of Cole and the......Zest o' Zunino?

:)

They've been a lot of fun to follow and, no matter what uniform they wear, it's easy to cheer for a player as they realize a dream they've worked so hard for, for so long.

The prospect parade continues today with the major league debut of the much anticipated, potential ace for the New York Mets, Zack Wheeler.   I have been very closely following Zack's progression since I have him on the staff of my dynasty fantasy baseball team.   He'll take the bump in game 2 of the doubleheader today at Turner Field in Atlanta.

And there's a problem right there - he's playing the Braves!   Oh, the agony......how about 8 innings of no-hit ball with ANOTHER (did you see Freddie last night?!) Freeman walk-off in the 9th inning for the no-decision?   Is that too much to ask?

In all honesty - good luck, kid.   And congratulations.

I've been lucky enough to pull a couple of Wheeler's cards over the past couple of years.   Here's the first one I pulled - his 2012 Bowman Platinum Prospect card:

Shiny. Is this a ___fractor?

Pretty standard, shiny card.   I didn't think much of it when I pulled it from Platinum last year.   I was undoubtedly hoping for autographs and such.....but now, this card has some cool meaning.   Cardboard appreciation!   I'm not sure if I'll hang on to it permanently.   Here's the back:

The "Platinum Report" makes me chuckle.   Sounds like a Gentleman's Club newsletter!   Good news, Mr. Wheeler.....you compare to Phil Hughes.   WHAT?   I didn't know he came to New York from the Giants?  Was it the Beltran deal?   Quick google check.....yep.   The Beltran deal.   Winner TBD.

Here's the other card of Wheeler that I've pulled from a pack - his 2013 Bowman Cream of the Crop Mini (subset of Yasiel Puig fame).   It's a sharp looking little card but, again, pretty standard:

And here's the back....let's see if it mentions Phil Hughes:

Awful lighting.....but I can vouch that there is no mention of Mr. Hughes.   Perhaps the stars are aligning for Mr. Wheeler after all?!

First pitch in about 6 hours.   Good luck, Zack!   Just not today.   You'll have plenty of time for your first career win next week.

Thanks for reading!

My Kimbrel Collection: 2012 Topps Chrome #2 Purple Refractor

Have I even shared a Kimbrel card with you guys yet?

Shame on me!

No better time to start than now - here's a recent pick-up from the Bay of E.   I realized that my focus on cards of Mr. Kimbrel had been a little lazy of late so I decided to take some bargain-hunting action.   For the price of a coke, I snagged this refractor of Craig from last year's Chrome release.   Purple is not my favorite color and it certainly doesn't tie in with the colors of my Atlanta Braves.....but this card is pretty sweet!

No justice with this picture

Do you guys like these refractors?   How about these purple versions, in particular?   Lost Collector - I know you dig 'em....or was that the orange flavor that you prefer?   Yikes.   I never would have thought I'd be discussing refractor rainbow preferences.

Back to baseball!

This is a superb photo selection by Topps, depicting the now-famous pre-pitch Kimbrel crouch.   Craig's perfection ran into some challenges earlier this season as he allowed more home runs and blew more saves than, I believe, he had ever done before......EVER.   Folks panicked in both the real and fantasy baseball worlds but I knew the Braves' closer could remain effective and, thus far, he's back on track.  

Kimbrel currently has 18 saves, placing him alone in 4th place across both leagues.   Here's the back of the card:

A Forrest Gump reference - seriously?

I love that Topps paid tribute to Kimbrel's record for Saves in a rookie campaign.   That season of his was amazing to watch and played a pivotal role in my selection of him as a PC for my collection.   Oh, and just in case we were all wondering - yes, this card is a refractor.   Because it says it right there.....on the card....r-e-f-r-a-c-t-o-r.   Makes me smile and shake my head.

But so does this card - I'm glad to have it as a part of my Kimbrel Collection!

Thanks for reading!

Group Break Winnings: 2013 Topps Archives '83 All-Star Darrell Evans (83-DE)

Sorry about the long title, folks!   I chalk it up to some of my OCD-ness shining through.....labeling is very important :)

I like this Darrell Evans card.  Is it a different stock than the base cards from Archives?   It was pulled for me by @SportsCardBreaks during an on-line box break of 2 '13 Archives hobby boxes.  I randomly won the Giants and Rockies as my two teams in the break (any Rockies or Giants collectors need anything?!).   Nothing too sexy in the way of winnings, but this Evans card is interesting.   Topps decided to also use Evans as the subject for one of their SP cards from the set which depicts Evans as an Atlanta Brave (my preference, of course) - thought the selected picture is really kind of terrible.   That SP card also comes in a Fan Favorite Autographed version......which I kind of dig and can be had fairly cheaply.

I like this '83 All-Star version because I've always enjoyed the design of the '83 set.   The picture depicts a very happy mug shot of Darrell's big grin while a bat rests on his shoulder - I like that a lot.   It gives you a sense that he really enjoyed what he was doing......and the back is very easy on the eyes.   Something that also gets me weirdly excited.   I'm such an old fart.

I was surprised to find the back of the card told a "Great All-Star Moments" tale about.....the 2007 All-Star game?   I guess it's better than nothing; as you know I am a huge fan of knowledge being placed on the back of cards for our consumption.   But I just think it would have been fitting for Topps to have listed something about the 1983 All-Star game or from Evans' big year.

Darrell played for the Giants from '76 to '83, earning the All-Star selection during that final season in San Francisco.   He slugged 30 HRs and had 82 RBI that season, batting .277.   He would also finish 14th in the MVP voting.  

And what about that All-Star game appearance?  

Darrell went 0 for 1, lining out to center field in the top of the 8th.   'Ol Whitey Herzog had finally put him in the game to replace Al Oliver at first base.   Nothing too great, but that half frame was a 1-2-3 inning for the junior circuit's Matt Young.   Johnny Bench popped it up to the shortstop for the first out and then Pedro Guerrero struck out looking.   So a liner to center field doesn't look so bad now, does it?

Keep smiling, Darrell!

Thanks for reading!