A Brain Buster

What do these three men have in common?



Enjoy the Memorial Day weekend everybody!

A Proud Halladay Collector

Well I was going to post something else, but the breaking news of Roy Halladay’s perfect game has priority first. And unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past 12 hours, you know that Halladay pitched the 20th perfect game in MLB history on Saturday night when he dominated the Marlins 1-0. The Phillies’ only run would be unearned. The tall, bearded pitching god was extremely effective, needing only 115 pitches to complete his masterpiece. He did an excellent job of mixing his pitches and had perfect chemistry with catcher Carlos Ruiz all night. He struck out 11 and went to a 3 ball count only a few times in the game. The perfect game would improve Halladay’s record to 7-3 with a miniscule 1.99 ERA.

As a big Halladay fan and a collector, I’m more than thrilled. No other pitcher in baseball deserved it more than him. He is the hardest working man in the game and prides himself in everything he does. Off days are non-existent to him. He is a team leader in the clubhouse and when he’s on the mound, despite his stoic personality. While Halladay has had an excellent career thus far, the perfect game will be the cornerstone of his soon-to-be Hall-of-Fame career.

The only negative about all this is that his cards will start selling like hotcakes. The prices might jack up for a brief period, but hopefully they will fall back to their normal range. Until then, I will keep basking in the perfect game glory. Congratulations Doc, this will only cement your legacy as the greatest pitcher of our generation.

State of the Blog Address

Yes, I ripped off that title from Grand Cards.

First and foremost, I would like to apologize for the lack of posts as of late. You’d think with all my major testing done I would have more time for the blog. Alas, that is not the case. Summer jobs and pretty women are calling, and it’s hard to ignore their siren songs. But, I would like to update all my fellow readers (all eight of them) on future posts and events on For Cards Sake and beyond.

Instead of focusing on just trade posts and box breaks, it’s time to expand my repertoire and introduce some new, fun reoccurring post themes. First will be the quite humorous “Unintentional Hilarious Cards” where I showcase some cards that were meant to be funny, but truly are. I’m sure the idea has been kicked around, but I haven’t seen it recently on anyone’s blogs… so it’s mine for the taking! The next theme will be “Tales from the Dugout”, posts about baseball stories that I’ve read from a book titled Tales from the Dugout: The Greatest True Baseball Stories Ever Told written by reporter Mike Shannon. The collection of anecdotes was published in 1997, so it’s not that recent, but it has many stories about baseball stars, mascots, managers, and more. I’ll post a short story from the book periodically.

Also, I’d like to mention my Rookie Card Challenge once again. This is a great way to get some great prizes and crack open your collection to find your favorite rookie card. You can read more about in the link. Along with the Rookie Card Challenge, I will be writing for 30-Year Old Cardboard more frequently and trying to expand my audience through there. Check out my first post about my Alexander Hamilton collection. Finally, I started a new blog called Bury My Heart in Walt Disney World, a Walt Disney World blog about various topics surrounding the great vacation kingdom. Posts will pick up over there as well. If there are any Disney fans out there, please follow!

One last thing, I have been listening to Billy Joel’s 12 Gardens Live non-stop since Friday. Go buy it. Now.

1999 Bowman Chrome Series 1 Box Break

Ah, old school Bowman Chrome. I love busting this more than the newer stuff. There are more inserts, less parallels, and tougher pulls. It definitely keeps me on my toes. In keeping with the 1999 Bowman theme (madding is currently busting a box of regular Bowman over at Cards on Cards), I busted a box of 1999 Bowman Chrome Series 1. Let’s dive in.

Pack 1:
#157: Danny Klassen Who? As we all know, Bowman Chrome is usually hit or miss with the players. Klassen hasn’t played since 2003.

#134: Jason Tyner (RC)
Bowman Chrome Diamond Aces DA-9: Pat Burrell Believe it or not, Bowman Chrome once had subsets. It’s good to see that 2010 Bowman brought back some inserts. Diamond Aces is one of the two inserts in the set.

Gold #156: Terrence Long Gold! This is one of the gold parallels that are found in 1999 Bowman Chrome. They’re seeded one in every twelve packs.


Pack 2:
#136: Phil Norton (RC)
#204: Chris Enochs
#111: Julio Ramirez
#87: Mike Frank


Pack 3:
#217: Brent Butler
#140: Brad Penny Yeah, I’m laughing too.

#113: Eric Valent (RC)
Refractor #93: Scott Elarton Refractors are shiny, folks. Like the gold parallels, these are inserted one in twelve packs.


Pack 4:
#202: Wade Miller This face is just priceless. Here's a close up for your entertainment.

#118: Jared Sandberg
Troll favorite Jared Sandberg is sporting the old Rays uniforms. The Rays are still leading the Yanks in the standings, and both teams have yet to play a lot of games at home. It looks to be a two-team race for now.

#112: Jake Westbrook
#151: Sean Spencer (RC)


Pack 5:
#81: Seth Etherton (RC)
#83: Manny Aybar
#117: Jason Grilli
Bowman Chrome Diamond Aces Refractor DA-10: Mike Piazza Damn… this card is sexy. Considering the odds of pulling this card (1:84) and Piazza’s dominance during the decade, this would have made any collector pee his pants in 1999. Actually, I kind of peed my pants in 2010.


Pack 6:
#93: Scott Elarton
#150: Scott Schoeneweis My dentist always likes to tell me stories about Schoeneweis because he used to coach him in high school. I would like to respond to these stories if his fingers weren’t shoved in my mouth.

#80: Jason Rakers
Bowman Chrome Scouts’ Choice SC2: Ryan Anderson The other insert in Bowman Chrome. It’s not as aesthetically appealing as Diamond Aces.


Pack 7:
#159: Ron Belliard
#82: Jeff Urban (RC)
#166: John Curtice
International #60: Mike Mussina This is the International parallel that’s pretty fun to pull. If I wasn’t collecting Halladay, I would probably collect Mussina. I always liked him when he pitched for the Yankees, even though he was quite stubborn towards his final years. He has a good shot at the Hall, but if Blyleven isn’t voted in, Moose probably won’t be either. It’s a shame, both pitchers are deserving.


Pack 8:
#167: Clayton Andrews (RC)
#73: Jack Cust Billy Beane screwed Cust over big time. How do you demote a player that not only has a big bat, but has been loyal to the team for years?

#110: Cesar King
International #41: Bernie Williams Bernie and parallels make a great mixed drink. I didn’t notice it until I turned over Bernie’s card and found out the back is written in the native language of the player’s home country.


Pack 9:
#191: Chuck Abbott (RC)
#154: Milton Bradley
#183: Calvin Pickering
International #38: Jeff King What ever happened to Jeff King? Well, nothing ever did. He had two seasons with 25+ homers (they were probably PED invested) and fell of the face of the earth in 1999. This would be his last Bowman Chrome card.


Pack 10:
#123: Michael Barrett
#71: Bruce Chen
#122: Corey Lee
#163: Chad Hermansen


Pack 11:
#125: Mitch Meluskey
#22: Vinny Castilla The cards with veterans on them receive a red border instead of a blue one.

#155: Josh McKinley (RC)
#142: Aramis Ramirez The Pirates trading away a good prospect before reaching his full potential? No way!

Pack 12:
#104: Joe Lawrence
#95: Pat Cline
#177: Chris Jones (RC)
#98: Ruben Mateo


Pack 13:
#161: Ramon Hernandez
#91: Arturo McDowell (RC)
#148: Russ Branyan
Gold #104: Joe Lawrence


Pack 14:
#65: Raul Mondesi
#103: Jack Cressend (RC)
#116: Juan Melo
Refractor #188: Octavio Dotel


Pack 15:
#135: Mark Osborne
#178: Kevin Witt
#96: Ryan Anderson
#77: Adam Everett (RC) One of the few recognizable rookies in Series 1. Series 2 features rookie cards of Alfonso Soriano, Adam Dunn, Carl Crawford, A.J. Burnett, and C.C. Sabathia. Clearly, Series 1 was a cheaper box.


Pack 16:
#72: Adam Kennedy Kennedy is a solid player, and I’m surprised not many teams were interested in him. I would have been quite satisfied if the Yanks signed him to back-up the infield.

#160: Armando Rios
#144: Mamon Tucker (RC)
Bowman Chrome Scouts' Choice: Carlos Beltran Beltran would win the 1999 AL Rookie of the Year, so I guess the scouts got their choice right.


Pack 17:
#27: Andres Galarraga
#5: Cal Ripken Ripken rounding third…

#208: Nate Bump (RC)
#201: Alex Gonzalez


Pack 18:
#152: Odalis Perez
#176: Jeff Yoder
#127: Tony Torcato (RC)
#126: Freddy Garcia


Pack 19:
#162: Jason Conti
#180: Billy Koch
#173: Chip Ambres (RC)
#214: Alex Escobar


Pack 20:
#64: Mark Grace
#46: Jaret Wright How in the world did Jaret Wright receive veteran status? How in the world did he even receive a card in this set?

#206: Marlon Anderson
#102: Rick Elder (RC)


Pack 21:
#94: Vernon Wells
#171: Mario Encarnacion (RC) I originally thought that Mario was related to either Edwin or Juan Encarnancion, but after some research, no family history. Encarnancion’s career was short, playing in only 21 major league games. Unfortunately, the young hitter died from a congenital medical condition in 2005.

#153: Joe Fontenot
#76: Darnell McDonald


Pack 22:
#109: Jason Dewey
#85: Onan Masaoka
#215: Jason LaRue
International Refractors #79: Mark Quinn (RC) I didn’t recognize this card at first. The refractors for the International parallels are pretty good snags, seeded one in every 76 packs.


Pack 23:
#52: Ken Griffey Jr.
Awesome card. Enough said.

#205: Fernando Seguignol
#200: Austin Kearns (RC) Wow, I was a bit excited by this. Kearns is one of the other big rookies in Series 1. He is currently with the Cleveland Indians.

International #101: Ricky Ledee


Pack 24:
#114: Roosevelt Brown
#175: Pat Burrell (RC)Hell yeah! A Pat Burrell rookie card! Oh wait, Burrell sucks.

#124: Lariel Gonzalez
#143: Christian Guzman


Thus ends the adventures of 1999 Bowman Chrome Series 1. Not a bad box, considering what I had to work with (a Pat Burrell rookie, seriously?). Once I finish my 2000 Bowman Chrome set, I’ll probably work on this. Oh, and...

No Need to Move the All-Star Game

With the controversy over the new immigration law passed in Arizona, a lot of players and coaches are demanding the 2011 All-Star Game be moved from Chase Field in Phoenix. Commissioner Bud Selig, however, is ignoring pleas to move the game and he says it will remain in Phoenix.

Now, I understand the issues this causes for many foreign players in the league, but the All-Star game has nothing to do with the immigration law. You want to take a stand? Do it at the Capitol building, not at Chase Field. Don’t punish baseball fans, especially Arizona fans that haven’t seen excitement in the desert since 2001. Ozzie Guillen already said he wouldn’t participate in next year’s All-Star game if it wasn’t moved (not that he had a good chance of attending, anyway). What do you guys think?

Some Halladay Business

These are some recent Halladays I picked up from trades and eBay. I need to start picking up the pace on my collection. It’s time I start going after his nicer stuff (autographs, dual-piece, etc).

2008 Upper Deck Heroes Jersey Black #169 (Numbered to 125)

2004 Upper Deck Play Ball Artist’s Touch Jersey #HA (Numbered to 50)

Only one more AP test and I’m free! That is, until finals in June. Sigh, school just isn’t fun.

Thorzul's Offering Part Deux

I received the Yankee cards from Thorzul’s box break about a week ago and wanted to showcase some of the highlights from the big bundle.

In exchange for the top of my 2007 UD Masterpieces hobby box, Thorzul sent some additional Yankees, including this sick Bernie Williams card. There is a stripe in there folks.

Big thanks to Thorzul for the group break and the supplementary Yanks!