The Masters

By far, this is my favorite event of the year in professional golf.  

In fact, I would even venture to say that it may be my favorite sporting event of the year, overall!

I wasn't fortunate enough to obtain passes for this year's tournament, so I'm currently on an 0-2 streak there.   But that's okay, these are tough, tough tickets - and very expensive, particularly this year with Tiger's return to strength.

I can't wait to make it back, though.   I love Augusta National.   Last year's tournament was a true treat, as my old high school and junior golf circuit nemesis Bubba Watson earned himself his own green jacket.   When it comes to amazing "what ifs" and vicarious athletic dreams from high school glory days, I can't see how it gets much better than last year's experience.

But the tournament is THAT great - it marches on, creating new history and legends each year.   When I DO get back, my first stop will undoubtedly be the "spot" in the woods on #10 where Bubba fashioned that hooked wedge onto the green, securing his place in history.   Good stuff.

One of my favorite memories from my two trips to Augusta was when I was able to attend the Wednesday practice round and Par 3 competition.   I believe this is THE best day to attend The Masters other than Sunday's final round (which I haven't attended, yet).   The mood is festive, friendly, anticipatory and pure.   And let me tell you - for us memorabilia & autograph hounds, Wednesday at The Masters has no equal in the game of golf.   The best in the sport are THERE and they are, traditionally, in a very good, generous mood.   The Par 3 competition allows patrons to get very close to the players for an up-close look at our heroes and even some great signing opportunities.   It's practically a tradition, which is what Augusta is ALL about.

When I visited, I had a tremendous autograph experience during the Par 3 competition.   Historic.   Epic.  Once in a lifetime kind of thing......I'll definitely share the results of that experience at some point on here, but not today.   No, today, I want to share a great moment that occurred after the competition was over.   In fact, it happened after all play was done for the day and the Augusta grounds crew had begun to swarm the course for final preparations before the opening round.  

I was with my dad, brother and cousin.   My brother and I were enjoying a couple of cigars that a fellow patron had offered to share (he was nearby for a part of my epic moment) and we were quite content.   "Life was good" as we strolled by the pines and azaleas, heading back to Amen Corner for a final gander and moment of zen before heading for the parking lot.   We sat there in the shade, sending soft puffs of aromatic goodness into the pine-coned canopy above.   We recounted the day's experience, comparing notes about what we saw and what we liked.   At some point, I got up and walked towards the edge of the woods at the actual "corner" boundary of patron access.   This was the closest point to #12's green, my favorite part of the course.

It was then that I heard the voice.

THE voice of my sports-watching childhood.   Whether is was the NCAA men's basketball Final Four, The Masters telecast itself or just the weekly PGA tourney......this guy delivered the shot-by-shot recaps, summaries and glorious introductions.

Mr. Jim Nantz.

He was speaking to a young man in a golf cart - HIS golf cart, as the name plate explained -  recounting some great stories of individual shots at Amen Corner and tales of tournaments gone by.   Barely above a whisper, I stood nearby and listened to the master weave his tales.   His voice was just as it sounds on TV.

After a few moments, I couldn't help myself and decided to give it a shot.   I didn't want to impose myself into a private moment, but hey - I was there and so were they and, well, we were all "patrons" to some extent.

"Mr. Nantz?   I hate to bother you but I couldn't leave without introducing myself and thanking you for all of the memories you have provided over the years.   I'm a huge fan of yours and a fan of the game.   This is my first time at Augusta.   My name is Ryan LaMonica."

"It's great to meet you, Ryan," he said as he shook my hand.   "Thank you very much for your kind words - it's been my pleasure."

"Could I trouble you for your autograph?"   I held out my Masters Guide Book and a sharpie (of course!).

"Sure thing.   Thanks again and enjoy the tournament."

"Thank you, Mr. Nantz."

"A tradition like no other....."

Awesome experience that really capped off an amazing FIRST time at one of my favorite sporting events!   Augusta National is a special place and I look forward to our chance as fans to 'visit' every year, in person or on TV.

This year is no different.   Thank you again, Mr. Nantz.   Enjoy the Masters, everybody!

Thanks for reading.

Gypsy Queen 2012 - First Look!

I've filibustered enough about my anticipation of this year's Gypsy Queen release........how about some looks at the real thing?

Let's DO this.   Here we go!

First, let's take a look at the base card design, front and back, with some Yankees legends!

Joe D and the Mick - you can't go wrong.  Love this shot of Mantle!

The front design of this year's edition works nicely in my opinion!   It's soft and under-stated, working quite well to compliment the mini works-of-art displayed for each player on ever card.   I prefer the bottom location of the "Gypsy Queen" name over last year's header, although I feel like the player's name and team might have been better above the logo.   That's okay, though.   The lines and slightly floral borders are simple enough for me and do a great job of framing the card.   Great job, Topps!

Sticking with what works.

The backs look very similar to last year's and I couldn't be more satisfied.   Sure, there's no stats - but this is the RIGHT way to pull off a simple card back.   I hope you're paying attention, Lineage!   Let's move on to the inserts:

I'm thrilled to pull the Babe while Albert would be thrilled to have a Moonshot in '12!

Let's get my least favorite part of this year's release out of the way first, shall we?   I don't care for the design of these "Moonshots" cards at all.   These cards should have been a dark blue or gray and featured some kind of design that incorporated.....wait for it.....the moon.   The premise of having a "Moonshot" subset?   Awesome!   But the purple color, tilted flowing ribbon and asymmetrical corner GQ logo just doesn't fall in-step with the classic and artistic feel of the rest of the set.   Scrap this purple dye, Topps.  

Ah-ha!   We're getting better.   I thought that last year's "Wall Climbers" and "Sticky Fingers" subsets were really innovative ideas and well designed.   Sure - you picked up a lot of them as they were each only 10 cards - but the idea was fresh.   I see this year's "Glove Stories" and "Sliding Stars" picking right up where 2011 left off.   This Josh Hamilton is a great card!   Great picture with a matching write-up on the back that captures the moment from last season.   The brown color chosen for this set 'synchs' well with the subset's theme and is easy on the eyes.   The GQ logo takes up a bit too much room at the bottom but at least it is at the bottom.  

Emphasis on FUTURE, eh Mike?!   (sigh)

The "Future Stars" subset makes a return from last year.   The design is actually fairly similar, so it's not very exciting - but at least Topps didn't use Barney as a muse for the color choice.   The blue border from these inserts might have worked well for the "Moonshots" cards, don't you think?   The GQ logo is identical to the footer version featured on the "Glove Stories" - still too big, but acceptable.

Willie & Mickey

"Hallmark Heroes" takes the place of the "Great Ones" insert set, featuring some of our all-time favorite ballplayers.   This design works for me just fine.   It's pretty simple and is a bit more attractive than the all-brown border of the "Great Ones".   I think if I could change two things, it would be to emphasize the "Hallmark Heroes" header a bit more and, once again, find a way to minimize the the GQ medallion at the bottom of the card.   I would also expand the picture a bit on this one - too much border covers up what appear to be some great old pictures.

YES!   I love these "Sliding Stars" cards!   I haven't pulled any of players I personally love (I pulled two other Sliding Stars cards of two players from that chicken & beer outfit) but this design is perfect.   Great shots, fantastic sideways orientation (appropriate for sliding, naturally) and a well-balanced symmetrical border that completely emphasizes the vibrant color sketch/photo.   Well done, Topps!


Of course, Gypsy Queen also provides us all with plenty of mini's.   I know a lot of you out there went into hot pursuit of these miniature cards and crafted some great completions of team sets, franken-sets and even a couple of complete parallel mini sets!   That's pretty impressive!   I will undoubtedly pursue mini's and mini variations of my Yankees and Braves but will probably put most of the mini's I pull up for trade.   I'll sort out my '12 GQ goals soon and have a WANTS/NEEDS page soon, I'm sure!

There are variations to the mini's again this year and, to be honest, I'm not even sure that I understand them all quite yet.   But here's a look at what I was able to pull from my small sampling:

Right off the bat, you can see here that the Brian Wilson is some sort of 'green' mini parallel.   The Fab High-Fivin' Freddie Freeman represents the standard, base mini parallel.   Standard-base-mini-parallel.......sheesh!   Love pulling the Freddie, though!   He just hit his FIRST home run of the season, too.   Looks like that day of rest may have done him some good and I hope he keeps it up!   Okay, here's a look at the backs:

AH!   Wait a second!   That Freeman wasn't the standard mini parallel after all - it is a "Straight Cut" back variation.   Kind of cool, I guess.   The Gypsy lady replaces the team logo at the top.   Some more mini's:

If I'm gonna love a mini, it's much easier for me to love mini's of some great players and these miniature versions of Jackie and Willie are no exception.   Great shots and the standard-size version of the Jackie is just as beautiful.   Let's take a look at the backs to see if Topps can mix it up even more:

Well, of course they did!   Here we see that the Stargell is a "Red" back variation and the Robinson is another "Straight Cut" variation.   As a collector, I can definitely see how the pursuit of some or all of these miniature variations gets some folks VERY excited.  It IS kind of cool.   Good luck to you guys!   I look forward to helping you out once I figure out which ones I want to hang on to.......are we done with mini's?  Not yet!  

Zack Attack.   Lego Maniac?

Black mini parallels!   Sharp little cards and, if I understood some blog posts over the past few weeks, these are tougher to find than they were last year?   Somebody set me straight if I'm off the mark here!   Let's flip 'em over:

More black.   Onward!   How 'bout them headache-causing SPs?   Topps switched it up with this release by making the SPs photo variations of certain base cards from the standard set.   same design, same back, same number.....different picture.   And sometimes, not even that different!   Sneaky Topps.   I haven't found a photographic checklist of what the SPs look like.   I know there are some for sale on the Bay of E but I am not sure how much I trust those listings that don't include a side-by-side comparison.   Part of my suspicion is the "?" included on a majority of the SP listings.   I DID however manage to pull both versions of two cards in my sampling.   Ironically, I am not even sure which version is the SP!   I'm sure we'll all k now soon enough, though.   Here they are:

 

See what I mean?   Not all that different.   Was very happy to have these two great ballplayers as my example, though!   Reggie and the Freak.

How about some HITS?

Gypsy Queen afforded me the most hits during my trials and tribulations as a hobby-returnee last year.   It always seemed to deliver some ink or a relic or a numbered card while other releases never produced.   I know - it's just luck and more than likely, some kind of placebo effect.

But it works for me.

This year has started off no differently!   No hits yielded by the flagship or by Heritage but GQ has come through.   There's some irony, though, potentially some karma coming around to bite me in return for all of my 'chicken and beer' ragging.   Honestly, I chuckled out loud when I pulled this.   Sure I would have preferred one of my Yankees....or one of my Braves.......or.....ANYBODY else.  

But that's what trading is for!   Who wants some Big Papi?

Give David a napkin, will you, Rod?

Two jersey relics!   One framed-mini and one standard jersey relic.   Pretty standard design,   They work JUST fine for me!   Sure, these are of the base model "plain white swatch" variety but these represent two more relics than I've pulled from EVERYTHING else so far.   NO, 2011 Lineage - you don't count.   Like I mentioned, the Ortiz is definitely up for trade if anybody manages to pull a non-beer & chicken guy.

:)

The Carew may be too, but I might hold on to it as well.   You can't beat a piece of memorabilia from a Hall of Famer!   Here are the backs - pretty standard.

We're almost done!   Here are some more highlights of other base cards that I was fortunate enough to pull:

Mark - there's a chia pet on your arm!

El Capitan and 'Mo

Mr. Saves and Mr. Needs To Start Hitting

Albert.   Home runs.   Now.

Yadier, you 'da man!

Whew!   I'm exhausted.   Very enjoyable, though.   Great ripping!   There were definitely some parts of this set that fall short of what I had expected but overall I am very excited to start chasing this set for my collection.   The basic design works very well and the thick stock feels great.   The pictures are pretty cool, too.   Any of these qualify as GREAT candidates for autographs, by the way.   I will be chasing all of the insert sets (even YOU, Barney Moonshots) but I am not sure if I will pursue the photo-variation SPs like I did last year's #300-#350 SPs.   The mini's make my head spin with all of the variations.   I think I will focus on my teams and favorite players.   I loved the autographs from last year's release and I can't wait to pull a few this year!   Here's hoping!

Some other quick odds and ends observations:

- There are no numbers for the insert sets.   They use the player initials.  Meh.
- There are no rigid all-white dummy cards in the packs.   Drats!   Those things were AWESOME for shipping trade packages!   Grrrr!
- Notice there were no green-framed parallels or gold-framed parallels for me.  Last year, I am certain there would have been several.   I am supposing that means the framed cards are more rare this year?
- No checklists.   Not complaining.   Just noting.   I'm sure THAT comment will come back to haunt me.
- No Yu

What do you guys think of 2012 Gypsy Queen?   Will you be collecting this set or certain parts of it?   Did Topps regress, improve or coast along with the status quo on this one?   Is it "mini's" or "minis"?

If you're still with me - thanks for reading!   

First Return for the 1st Annual Spring TTM Experiment

I knew it.

I just had a feeling that there would be one of those glorious little SASE's waiting for me on the counter when I got home from work today.   An inkling, perhaps?.....(cheesy pun TOTALLY intended)

And there it was...

Don't worry - I was the animal that caused THAT tear!

Who could it be?   Probably one of the lesser-known players, right?   Somebody who might have had a little more time, maybe a bit more patience or excitement about receiving TTM requests in the first few days of their first or second time at camp.

I let the cards inside gently slide out into my hands.

"My God..."  I whispered to no one in particular.   Here's what dropped out:

500 Saves is SO 100 Saves Ago

My Kind of Art

                



















Thank you, Mr. Rivera!

That's right - the most successful closer of all time spent a few moments to sign my cards.   This wasn't supposed to happen.   I focused most of my efforts on preparing requests for the more 'probable' responders off of the Bombers' and others' spring rosters.   I had sent to Rivera before, during the off season in late 2007.   I had mailed off a Game Program from Yankee Stadium that I had held on to since my first and still ONLY visit to the Bronx in 2000-ish.   Mo was on the cover - it was going to look AWESOME.

It never came back.

That's okay.   I knew Rivera was a 'big name' and that the volumes of mail he probably received would be working against me.   So it was that I finished his letter a few weeks ago, with that "...might as well, because you never know" eternal optimism that I seem to be cursed/blessed with.   The cards I chose were kind of random, as you can see.   My choices were slim as I hadn't been back in the hobby long enough to amass too many Mo's for the collection.   But I liked the layout, background and balance of the Peak Performance card from 2010.   It marked a pretty solid milestone and it would look pretty cool with a signature across the front.

Same thing for the Gypsy Queen green-border parallel.   I am normally indifferent to parallels but I was enamored with almost all aspects of the GQ release last year, these greenies included.   This Rivera was beautiful to me as an artsy rendition of his classic delivery with a border and background color scheme that just worked.   It too would look fairly solid with some ink across the middle......if I ever even saw these cards again, that is.

But here they are, and I think they turned out beautifully!   These are my first autographs of Mariano Rivera.

This might very well be Mo's last season in the game he has dominated so effortlessly.  Ironically, he might be handing the reigns of Yankee Closer to my latest favorite player and PC quest - David Robertson - or somebody else, at the end of this year.   So this might have been the last shot before years of potential chance run-ins at shows or auctions.   How poetic!

Thank you, Mr. Rivera.   Thank you for your contributions to the team I live and die with every season.   Thank you for your contributions to the game of baseball and all of those epic moments in your career that are memories for me.   Let's make a few more!

Okay....I'm done with my drama  :)

The first return for STTM1 is in the books, ladies and gentlemen!   Who will be next?

Stay tuned and thanks for reading!    

Do You Smell That?

It's almost here.

That time of the year when we all receive some fresh hope, some warmer temps and maybe get the hankerin' for some sunflower seeds as we maneuver our way through the peculiarities of Flagship Series 1.

Spring Training!

I know that the Marlins kicked off early - but if my memory serves me right, I believe pitchers and catchers for most clubs are set to report in about 6 days or so......

So what does that mean?

Time for Ryan's 1st Annual Spring Through The Mail (STTM1).

Better make 'em "forever" stamps - just in case!

I've always been a huge fan of TTM autograph seeking.   I discovered this joy in 2007 and have been going at it from time to time ever since.   I've had some amazing returns and crushing non-responses.   $450, Willie?   Really?   I can't wait to share some of those stories here.

But it's always a good time for a new crop.   As my beautiful wife always says, "MORE baseballs and autographs?"

Yes, babe.   MORE.

What exactly is STTM1?   I'm not quite sure yet.   But it's going to be epic, of course.   Success or failure?   THAT is the question.  

More details to follow but I'm starting to get ready around here.   It's time to get writing and time to get stamping.

And the occasional, early offering to Jobu for a little luck never hurts.

Add caption

Here goes nothing.   Thanks for reading!