Featured autograph – Mark Trumbo

I would have never guessed Mark Trumbo would have better numbers than teammate Albert Pujols at this point of the season – Angels fans love this guy and in just his second full MLB season, he’s producing just right at his prime.

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2012 Bowman three pack blister [$9.49 each at a Target] – the white borders in this year’s Bowman base set make the set look a little less claustrophobic. The metronomic black borders that was a trademark of Bowman had gotten stale and it’s nice to cha…

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I wish I could say I was there to watch Albert Pujols’ first home run, but I’d tagged along with my buddy to a card show instead of staying to watch the game on Sunday – so I had to go see the moment on TV instead of in-person. At least I was able to s…

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My friend had a couple more cards [he always has a 'couple more cards' of minor league guys he needs to get signed] from the stash he gets from his card pimp overseas – so when we went to a minor league game in the California League last weekend, I go…

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I don’t know if I could pronounce or spell this guy’s last name to save my life – but the Angels traded a couple of prospects [Alexi Amarista and Donn Roach] to get him from the San Diego Padres.Frieri might only throw in the low 90s but looks like he’…

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I was hoping to make out to Angel Stadium for Wednesday night’s game, hoping if Jered Weaver pitched well, maybe he’d sign autographs after the game – I think tickets were less than a buck on StubHub through early Wednesday. I guess I picked the wrong …

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Baltimore Orioles rookie Wei-Yin Chen signed this baseball a couple of weeks ago – I didn’t really know much about him, except he’s a Taiwanese import who played in Japan to start his professional baseball career. Who knows how he’ll hold up but he’s …

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I got this card signed in-person during the last Angels homestand – Kendrick has been a pretty good signer before Angels home games, though depending on the crowd lined up along the rail, he might not be able to sign for everyone. The Angels are my t…

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My best guess was Young was in his own world, probably inebriated – a panhandler was cloying around his space, unsavory, un-PC things get said when people are under the influence and things happen. When bystanders try to break things up, he gets in a b…

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Barry Zito has enjoyed a string of resurgent starts in the first month of the 2012 season – its not like I’ve followed his playing career religiously, but I remember him as part of the ‘Big Three’ [with Tim Hudson and Mark Mulder] for the Oakland Athle…

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Minnesota Twins fan and card blogger Rhubarb_Runner saw my 2012 Topps Tribute pack break on my blog and wanted the Joe Mauer base card – he wanted to do a bigger deal though I was stumped, wondering what other card I really have for trade? MAYBE THIS…

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I wasn’t expecting to get every current Angels player autograph, but 2012 Angels Fan Fest seemed like a disappointment because not every current player actually made an appearance to sign autographs – assuming I have something to get signed in the firs…

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Adam Jones c/o Baltimore Orioles [spring training] – I sent an autograph request to the Orioles’ centerfielder on 2/25 and got a SASE back with one card signed in blue ink on 4/7/12. The other card I sent wasn’t returned [an 2011 Donruss Elite Extra Ed…

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I want to say I remember a ‘fond’ memory of Jason Isringhausen – who has survived the cut and will likely be in the Angels bullpen on 2012 Opening Day.When he was with the A’s in the early 2000′s, he was leaving the stadium – not that he was any s…

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I hit the casino card shop I go to and while most of the time I’m the guy looking to make ‘dinky’ purchases out of the quarter box – I was looking to make see if the shop still had a certain baseball card product [2011 Playoff Contenders] and when the …

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It was about a week ago I bought Out of My League by Dirk Hayhurst for $11.99 on iTunes – since I’m sort of a luddite, so I need to continue to use my ancient iPad [the very first one] on a regular basis, before I even start thinking of getting the lat…

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I don’t think the comeback of Kendrys Morales has been entirely fascinating for me – I think it’s just another guy who caught the unluckiest of breaks and has been stuck in limbo for the last two years.Now he’s actually played in a game [a spring train…

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2012 Topps Heritage 16-card jumbo pack [$5.29 each x2 at Target] – I’m tempted to look for Heritage when it first comes out ecause it’s popular with collectors as [as a set-building baseball card product] and I don’t want to miss out [even though I’m n…

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I’m not in a card collecting funk but ‘fatigue’ for whatever reason may set in and it’s evident by my lack of posts – 2012 Topps seems kind of ‘meh’ to me, I don’t think I like the idea of a non MLB licensed, prospect heavy product like 2011 Playoff Co…

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2001 Topps Archives Bobby Grich #172I was reading through a trade ‘report’ at All Trade Bait, All The Time and correctly answered the question about a tribute patch the Dodgers wore in honor of Tim Crews – I sent ‘Stealing Home’ my address and he sent …

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I picked a blaster of 2012 Topps Series I from Target though I keep saying to myself – ‘even though I’ve ‘sworn off’ eBay during the last several months, I can probably pick up different assortments of 2012 Topps cards [complete sets, complete insert s…

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The Man likes Ryan Braun, as do I, but for guys who find themselves in the news in dubious ways – I can’t think of two other athletes in Major League Baseball who have been handled with such kid gloves like Braun and the one-time crackhead in Texas who…

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I don’t know if I’d set out to go out to look for something specific in mind when I finally got a chance to go to a card show where they sometimes still sell cards – this one vintage dealer with a booth uncharacteristically has some assorted nickel and…

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2010 Donruss Elite Extra Edition Mark Canha certified auto [$2] – this random pick up quietly finishes off the first group of cards I’ve purchased and shipped from Check Out My Cards.I picked this card because it was cheap and I saw he hit 25 home runs…

Continue reading about COMC mail day Part 4 of 4 – 2010 Donruss Elite Extra Edition Mark Canha »

2003 Topps Pristine Garret Anderson Gold refractor [$4] – a shiny, numbered card of a former Angels star whose name is listed prominently among the top of the team’s all-time offensive categories.2011 Topps Hope parallel of Torii Hunter #’d to 60 [$4.9…

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My third ever purchase on COMC was a Salmon 1998 Donruss Crusade insert #’d to 250 for $14.50 – I probably overpaid for this card, but the retired Salmon is my favorite Angel and at times I’m tempted to go pick up random cards of his for my personal co…

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My first Check Out My Cards shipment arrived in a little more than a week – eyeballing the 14 cards I had shipped through their bulk shipping option, there were no obvious problems with any imperfections that may have been caused by shipping.The cards …

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I want to make a joke that I’ve lost track of where former Angel phenom Casey Kotchman is going to be playing in 2012 – it looks like he’ll be playing for the Cleveland Indians after a ‘bounce back’ season last year.I like the 2012 Topps card because i…

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I picked up a 72-card box of 2012 Topps and this was what I redeemed with my one per box Golden Giveaway code card – hopefully I’ll be able to redeem a future code card for an actual card I can have delivered.

Continue reading about My first 2012 Topps Golden Giveaway card – a Wade Boggs digital coin »

Sean Casey c/o MLB Network – signed my cards in blue Sharpie in about a month or so.I have set cards put aside for the Casey, but ended up sending random cards, I could afford to lose in the mail – I think I have a Mitch Williams request I sent c/o MLB…

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I don’t have recollections of Gary Carter as an active player except from highlights of the 1986 World Series replayed from time to time and maybe through random baseball cards I’ve had through the last 20 years – I was fortunate to get his autograph i…

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Very intermittent and inconsistent WiFi and access to Internet cafes during a three week vacation to the Philippines had sort of allowed me be updated on baseball card stuff like 2012 Topps having come out – though without the ability to go to a store …

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Bought one at Target for $14.99 and it was devoid of anything – since the Topps site was down, I had to enter my code cards on vacation and I ended up with 1987 Topps cards of Don Sutton and an Ozzie Smith All-Star subset card.

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It’s great that Prince Fielder finally signed with a team – as a baseball fan who likes to read the occasional baseball forum or Web site, I was tired about reading the doubt generated by skeptics about how the free agent market had shrunk for the fat …

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I’m not sure what to make of Ayala’s talents as a baseball player but I guess his routine works – and maybe a guilty pleasure as he spoofs the gestures of Latin American ballplayers in professional baseball.He appeared at a home run derby to benefit fo…

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