Five Years

The last time Luis Torrens got a minor league team issued card was in 2014. As the title would imply, that means that five years later, we got another one.

This is Torrens' lone MiLB-issue from this year and it's quite snazzy.

There's a lot to like about this card. From how it's part of the inaugural Amarillo Sod Poodles team sert, to the way you can see into part of the dugout, to Luis himself looking ready for action in his catching gear.

BTW, here's my hot take. Collecting Torrens would not be nearly as fun if he wasn't a catcher and if the bulk of his cards didn't show him in catching gear.

The back is pretty standard. Nice headshot of Torrens there with a special little nod to his unreal stint as a Staten Island Yankee in 2014.

Technically the custom Gavin made for me earlier this year depicting him as a Lake Elsinore Storm could fill his Storm-era gap. But then I'd need one card depicting him as a Charleston Riverdog (that cursed team never bothered to make one for the GOAT), and one card depicting Torrens as a Red. Gavin, I'm having ideas again. Don't be surprised if I bomb your DMs again with non-porn inquiries this time...

Oh Gavin, if only you knew that this kind gesture would only lead you down a rabbit hole of misery for the completionist part of me.

No matter. For now that doesn't take away from how cool Gavin's custom or Grandstand's newest addition to my Torrenterion Collection is.

Still going strong folks.

As always thanks for stopping by and take care :).

Forgive Me, I've Sinned

Yesterday was my first Staten Island Yankees game in a week. When I said I was cutting back on games, apparently that meant going to one like once a week.

Yesterday's game was between the Staten Island Yankees and the Lowell Spinners. This is my second such encounter with the Spinners and the second time this season where it was a double header (the first time was in Brooklyn earlier last month).

Autographs

The reason I went to the game was mainly to nab Josh Smith (no not the former NBA player).
Smith was drafted by the New York Yankees in the second round of the 2019 MLB Player Draft. The shortstop drafted out of LSU is a solid all around player who at least is someone said to have "no real holes" according to MLB Pipeline. Basically he's a got a good hitting abilities, good power, a good glove, good speed and good arm. Everything's good, not great. And honestly, that's perfect for a second rounder. The Yankees have taken a lot of highly capable middle infielders in the draft and through international free agency over the years, hopefully Smith can etch his name in stone as the newest member of that scene.

Now, about the title. Like last time it alludes to this autograph.
No, not anything Josh did. But what I did.

1). I got multiple copies signed at once!
2). I cannibalized a piece of cardboard to turn into a signing board!

I've long held off on converting notebooks into these card holders or any of that type of stuff. Mainly because players (and other bystanders) see that and go "RESELLER ALERT!".
That isn't always the case obviously (not every binder user is a reseller) but the stereotype persists for a reason.

I decided to go against my rules (two of them) this time because of morbid curiosity and to quench my thirst for power and knowledge.

Needing to know if I could do such a thing is what I wanted to prove to myself. Could I convert a piece of cardboard into this type of monstrosity. At some point I didn't think about if I should anymore.

I also wanted to do three at once. Those binder hounds have like eight signed at a time. I have a limit of three. So why not juuuuust go up to the limit?

So I did. But what did that achieve? And at what cost?

Well it got me three Josh Smith autographs. It also marked one of the first times I've given the players a solid (as in hard) writing surface right off the bat to sign these cards with. To pieces of a cardboard box can form quite a surface.

And the cost was maybe 40-mins of handywork. I just cut the corners off of penny sleeves I don't use and taped them onto the boards.

Now that I know that I can. I think I should stop. I already have three Smith autographs. I'm golden! Also, I gave some of my extras to the other autograph collectors (who I know to be cool based on past interactions with them). Hope that counts for something.

Anyway, enough monologuing about scribbled ink. Onto...

The Games

Yes, games (plural). This was a double-header.

I missed most of the first game. It was a 4-5 loss (BOX SCORE). Sucks.

I watched most of the second game. It was a 2-3 loss (BOX SCORE). Sucks.

Look, the Staten Island team FINALLY got some reinforcements in the form of Josh Smith and Pat DeMarco, but it came at the cost of Oswald Peraza being promoted to Charleston and Everson Pereira getting hurt and being out for an indefinite period of time. The lineup went from Duran-Peraza-Pereira-Sanford to Duran-Smith-Sanford and whatever else the team can string together. It doesn't look like help from Pulaski's coming (don't see an Antonio Cabello or Anthony Volpe promotion) but hey, maybe this team can still fight to the end now that DeMarco and Smith are here. We'll see. The way its best players keep getting promoted to Charleston (good for them tho) is troubling.

And that was my latest MiLB game and moral quandary where I betrayed myself and lost sight of who I was in the process.

As always thanks for stopping by and take care :).

2019 IP Auto Count: 28

3 Cards (Vol 44)

So after my trip to Japan I brought back a big stack of cards. There were so many cards in that stack that I had no idea where to start when blogging about them. So instead of condensing them all into a big post (which most of you will only read a quarter of), I decided to blog about them at a rate of three cards at a time. Maybe some of them will make for interesting material, maybe they won't. Let's find out.

Card #1

Back to BBM again, ugh.

At least we're going with the good players route though.
Tyrone Woods was originally drafted by the Montreal Expos in the fifth round of the 1988 MLB Player Draft. He was noted for having power but not much else in his career. His power only got exemplified when he went to go play in the KBO and the NPB. In Japan he played with the Yokohama BayStars for a bit before signing with the Chunichi Dragons. During that NPB stint he was a three time All Star, a three time Best Nine Award recipient, a Central League HR leader, and won a ring with the Dragons in 2007 when they won the Nippon Series.
After the 2008 season ended his career came to an end and he's returned stateside. I don't have any legit sources for this but apparently he work(ed) as a volunteer fire fighter.

Card #2

In the NPB there are very few "short-term stops" as my friend Nick calls them, unless it's a veteran going to the Giants just to say they were on the Giants. But one of the few I can remember in recent times that actually happened to the Dragons is Michihiro Ogasawara there.
Ogasawara was originally drafted by the Nippon-Ham Fighters in the third round of the 1997 NPB Player Draft. Prior to turning into a Fighter he'd spent some time as an amateur playing for NTT (a telecommunications company) in the industrial league. Originally he was a bit of a utility guy as he manned both the outfield and catcher positions. He actually made it NPB ichigun/big league debut in 1997 too and would later go on to be a mainstay for the Fighters. In 1998 the Fighters were starting to realize they had a legitimate bat on their hands and at a premium position (catcher). In 1999 they converted him into an infielder to keep him healthy (preserving the bat in the process). The move worked out because in 2000 he'd go on to lead the league in several offensive categories. He was noted for his speed early on and eventually for his power. In 2001 he became the second player in NPB history (the first being Ichiro Suzuki) to record over 180 hits in multiple seasons. With the Fighters he'd accomplish a lot, a Nippon Series championship ring in 2006 being the icing on top at that.

I usually don't comment on appearances but I dig the distinguished samurai beard look Ogasawara's got going on. Even with a baseball cap the vibe just comes through.

Anyway following the 2006 season Ogasawara signed on for a four year deal with the Yomiuri Giants. Typical Giants stealing the good players away from other teams using their money. He and Alex Ramirez would form a powerful core that made the Giants downright unbeatable at times. Also in 2009 he was a key member of the Team Japan squad that won the 2009 WBC Championship. Then the 2010's started and after 2011 he'd see reduced playing time due to injuries. He signed on with the Dragons for the 2014 and 2015 seasons but he was used primarily like Jim Thome was in the tail-end of his career, a powerbat off the bench to provide some pinch hitting. He did pretty well in 2014 FWIW but the writing was on the wall.

He retired following the 2015 season and immediately became a coach for the Dragons' minor league team.

Card #3

My track record with notable Dragons rookies I've pulled myself is pretty dismal, which is why this rookie card of Dragons mainstay Ryosuke Hirata is something I appreciate more and more.

Hirata was drafted by the Chunichi Dragons in the first round of the 2005 NPB Player Draft. He made his ichigun NPB debut in 2006 as a rookie and later earned a starting role in 2007. In the 2007 playoffs he had some big moments and was a part of the Nippon Series Championship team. Despite that it wasn't until around 2011 that he became a mainstay for the Dragons. Mainly due to injuries. But after he did become an everyday outfielder for the Dragons, he made the most of it. Turning into a solid player who could (at worst) be considered a player on the Dragons that an actual contending team would play. This was especially true in 2018 when he earned a trip to his first NPB All Star Game even as the Dragons continue to turn into ass around him. Though that said, injuries took away a big chunk of his first half this year so the Dragons' terribleness is starting to infect him. Which is why the SoftBank Hawks should trade for him by giving the Dragons two-to-three big name prospects.

And that was another edition of three cards.

As always thanks for stopping by and take care :).

3 Cards (Vol 43)

So after my trip to Japan I brought back a big stack of cards. There were so many cards in that stack that I had no idea where to start when blogging about them. So instead of condensing them all into a big post (which most of you will only read a quarter of), I decided to blog about them at a rate of three cards at a time. Maybe some of them will make for interesting material, maybe they won't. Let's find out.

Card #1

Hell yeah. For the first time in months we're back to the wonderful stadium exclusive cards!
And who better to greet us back to that line than Mr. Chunichi himself, Masahiko Morino?! I've talked about Morino in the past. He's one of my favorite Dragons players of all time. To me he's the face of the Dragons franchise (or at least the face of all Dragons franchise hitters) and I'm glad to say I have a small but modest collection of his.

This is an interesting stadium giveaway. In that it's a lot more generic than the ones I previously blogged about. The ones I blogged about way back in the early parts of this series' run were scratch off cards/tickets where lucky fans could win prizes. But this is just a regular baseball card, sans the stats. It features Morino's profile information, the Dragons logo, and the Nagoya Dome logo. So this really is a trading card. It doesn't serve any addition purpose beyond being a normal card.

Card #2

This is a "Hero Interview" shot featuring former Dragons reliever Takuya Asao.
I've talked about Asao before, you can read my writeup here. This is a checklist card from a Calbee set so the back ain't shit. But this front is everything to me. It's Stadium Club level photography. A full bleed photo with something in the frame to make it fun (the Doala theme mic) and artsy (the out of focus background). Apparently this interview took place in front of fans on April 3rd, 2009.

Card #3

Closing us out with our first EPOCH One card in a while (and also our last for a while).

It features card of Joely Rodriguez setting the record for fasted pitch thrown by a southpaw in the NPB.

The back mentions that it happened on September 15th, 2018. Rodriguez came into the game in the seventh inning against the Hiroshima Carp (in their ballpark, Mazda Stadium too). He threw a 159 heater and recorded the fastest pitch every thrown by a southpaw in the NPB. He racked up three K's that innings and dominated.

Also peep the "Limited Edition of 49" sentence. That means that this one out of only 49 total copies that exist. Woof!

And that was our first BBM-free 3 cards post in a LOOOOONG time. Feels great!
Unfortunately that brand will come back into the picture soon, but hey, it felt good to have this breath of fresh air again.

As always thanks for stopping by and take care :).

Roughly 24 Hours Later

I got some new cards to get signed, so I took a trip to Staten Island yesterday.

Yesterday was a matchup between the Staten Island Yankees and Vermont Lake Monsters (Oakland A's affiliate). Boy was it hot (though according to the forecast today's going to be even worse, yay).

Autographs

Yesterday I got four autographs. Before we start, let me just explain what the title of this post means as it ties into my autographs. A few of the guys in the recently released 2019 Charleston Riverdogs teamset were in Staten Island. I ordered them on Monday. They got to me on Thursday. Roughly 24 later, they were all signed. Woof.

Starting us off is Mitchell Robinson.
Robinson was drafted by the New York Knicks in the second round of the 2018 NBA Player Draft...
wait, that's not right.
Robinson was drafted by the New York Yankees in the 21st round of the 2018 MLB Player Draft. Robinson is a Canadian third baseman who was drafted out of the University of British Columbia (in Canada). Prior to the draft he was given reps at 1st and catcher, but since turning pro he's been used pretty much exclusively at third. According to PinstripedProspects he grew up a Blue Jays fan who considers Vernon Wells and Brett Lawrie to be two of the players he looks up to.

Next up is the versatile right-handed pitcher, Anderson Muñoz.
Muñoz is a Venezuelan pitcher who's been used both as a starter and as a reliever this season (often depending on how the rest of the pitching staffs look). Muñoz was originally signed by the Minnesota Twins as a non-drafted international free agent, but he was released in early 2018. The Yankees then scooped him up. According to PinstripedProspects he has to the potential to be another Jonathan Loaisiga type (another guy another team gave up on pretty quickly) thanks to his fastball, curveball and changeup.

Next up is one of my personal favorites on this year's squad, Aaron McGarity.
McGarity was drafted by the New York Yankees in the 15th round of the 2017 MLB Player Draft. Robert Pimpsner of PinstripedProspects had him pegged as one of the five under-the-radar type prospects that stood out in minor league spring training. Mainly because McGarity's curveballs can be really nasty. Personally I like him because he's one of the cool members of this year's bullpen (they're all really cool TBH), and though him repeating SI worries me, I just hope he can really take off using 2019 as a spring board.

Finally we'll end on a guy who even I had barely heard of before he got assigned to Staten Island (I'm a terrible prospector). Much to my detriment because Pasteur's a more interesting prospect than that first sentence gives him credit for.
Isaiah Pasteur was drafted by the Yankees in the 13th round of the 2018 MLB Player Draft. Pasteur is an outfielder who was more of an infielder prior to turning pro. Drafted out of George Washington University, Pasteur is a solid hitter with slightly above average speed. He was also noted for his defense (hopefully that translates to the OF too), and Mike Axisa of River Ave Blues (RIP) noted that he was one of the most intriguing college senior position players in the 2018 draft class. Although Everson Pereira's injury has kept him in Staten Island, he's prime promotion material back to Charleston if there's another OF shakeup in the middle levels.

And that wraps up the autographs. I honestly liked this four-man haul because A). it was enough for me to get all four in one game, and B). I wanted to know more about these guys in particular and this gave me a great excuse to delve into that while also getting to introduce all of you to these guys too.

The Game

Alright so the game itself... whoo boy.
Okay so the biggest positive is that I got to see another major leaguer in the flesh.

This time it was former Colorado Rockies pitcher/current Yankees org pitcher, Rex Brothers.
Brothers was signed as a free agent by the Yankees and has been used as relief depth stashed away at triple-A Scranton should the Yankees ever need him (and given how shitty Holder/Cessa looked that didn't seem like a stretch). Unfortunately Brothers suffered a bit of an injury and he was starting his rehab back to Scranton last night. He pitched one inning (the first inning actually) and only needed 14 pitches (eight of which were strikes).
And no, I didn't have any cards of his (I think I sent out everything I had as a TTM request in Spring Training), so I didn't even try with an autograph.

The Yankees deploying the Opener strategy seemed to work before it very well didn't. After Brothers, Wellington Diaz came in. His first time through the order was just fine. He allowed some contact but for the most part he was okay. Then his second time through the Lake Monsters came and he ended up getting chased out of the game after letting up five runs in the fifth inning. I like Diaz so I hope yesterday was just an anomaly. Doesn't help that the humidity made RCBB surprisingly dinger happy for once.

All in all the Yankees lost to the Lake Monsters by a final of 8-5 (BOX SCORE). Sucks, hope they win tomorrow.

And that was the latest game I went to. I'm still surprised getting the four done was that easy. Woof.

As always thanks for stopping by and take care :).

2019 IP Auto Count: 25

Two Notes On Shipping

One transaction that's absolutely unavoidable when you deal with trading/buying/selling cards online is having to deal with postage. Anything short of meeting the other person face-to-face or living close enough that you can just drop an unstamped letter into a mailbox means that you're going to have pay a delivery service to mail stuff out. I could go into the usual qualms that people commonly have about them, but I've had two loose thoughts about the "topic" for a while now, so here's a whole post about them.

Carelessness will cost you at the post office

It's 2019, Bezosization automation is affecting several industries and businesses. The post office is no exception. 

In recent times you may have seen these automatic kiosks around your local post offices. In the NYC-based post offices I frequent, they're a staple. As long as you're not technologically-illiterate, these can be quick, fast and easy to operate for all of your shipping needs.

I usually just use these to buy stamps for TTM purposes. In the process I've run into situations where people are really careless.

Namely that they forget to end their transaction. When you operate these things, you have to keep in mind that there are TWO screens asking you if you want to do anything else beyond what you just did. The first screen is seen above and the second screen is seen below.

ALWAYS remember to press "No" both times to finish the transaction.

If you don't then what happens is that you're considered to still be undergoing another transaction, and because these kiosks allow transactions (plural) up to $50 total, nothing is going to stop whoever uses the machine after you to buy shit on your card.
NOTE, when I went back to the post office to use these machines again this time I only needed to press no once. So either USPS updated everything so you only have to press no once, or they vary by machines.

I'm not entirely sure if the machine asks you for your PIN number again if you used a debit card, but what I do know is that if you paid with a credit card then you don't even need to put in a zip-code or whatever to make another transaction. How do I know this? Because I've seen people print stamps on the previous person's card without any inputs.

So please remember to press "No" twice when you're done with whatever you did at the Kiosks. Stay at the machine until you see the screen go back to the general welcome-screen. Even if there's a line behind you and people are angrily glaring at you for not getting out of the way. It's never bad to be thorough. Because at the end of the day, even if you can dispute a charge to your credit card company or whatever, it's a total pain to get those kinds of things sorted out.

2). This cool display

The other day I stopped by a post office and there they had this neat Motown themed display. Obviously it's an ad for stamps commemorating Marvin Gaye and various other music legends, but it's still cool to see.

So there were some loose thoughts on shipping.

As always thanks for stopping by and take care :).

The Best Final Movie Installment of 2019

A lot of franchises are going through the final phase of their biggest movie line/TV show this year. The Avengers, Star Wars and Game of Thrones chief among them.

But the one I've enjoyed the most, is the conclusion of Disney's Star vs the Forces of Evil. But that's another topic for another day. Right behind SvtFoE is the third and final How To Train Your Dragon movie.

Yes, here in 2019 How to Train Your Dragon 3 came out.

While writing this post I found that trying to have a meaningful post about the movie is... difficult. I'm trying to take this post in a direction where I can say something about why I liked it/them. Because I did. A LOT.

Okay for starters, I personally loved all three movies and I'm glad to have some form of closure on the story of Hiccup and Toothless.

That's an opinion I have, but that's too bland. Need more.

I'd love to say that How To Train Your Dragon is the movie franchise I grew up with. My version of Toy Story to people born in 1988-1992, BUT I can't. Because I didn't watch the first two until my junior year of college. I've also yet to see the animated series. I knew about HtTYD because it was a pretty big hit in 2010 (as it should've been because it's wonderful!), but I didn't see it at the time because I was a dumb dumb who thought he was too cool for "kids" movies.

At the same time I'd like to think that there is something to me growing up with the franchise though. Even though I saw the first two films later than probably intended, they still entertained me. I was in college but my inner 11 and 14 year old selves were/are still with me. Fast forward to 2019, I'm really pushing the young-adult label (at this point I'm an adult now, which again is harrowing) and then this movie comes in. Right when I'm starting to think about the next post-college chapter of my life, so too does the movie in it's own way. Hiccup is all grown up now, just like I am (in theory). He's moving on with his life too.

I felt something there. Something that I wish I could articulate a lot better.

That said, I know that this concept isn't novel. This isn't the first series to do such a thing and won't be the last. But it's the one that struck ME personally. This is my coming of age story (sort of).

I guess that's the best I can do because anything else I have to say just amounts to me liking the movie on its own merits.

Toothless is as cute as ever and seeing where he ended up was really heartwarming.

The world in this franchise is as amazing, vast and beautiful as ever. I used to think very poorly of CGI animation but this series especially showed me just how much can be done with the medium. The colors, the atmosphere, everything. It was practically like I could even feel the air and actually be there. This is was one of the few movies I'd seen that I wish I had seen it in 3D.

Unfortunately Topps didn't release a card set for the movie this time around. Shame. So I just ended up buying more cards from the second movie. A lot of these are hard to find so I need to snatch these up when I can.

Now to find a Toothless plush doll.

As always thanks for stopping by and take care :).

A Little Pre-Pre-Game

In the past when I referred to "pre-game" autographs I had usually meant autographs I got during the little hour between when the gates open and when the game starts. But this year I've developed another form of pre-game, something I'll call "pre-pre-game" because I am dumb.

This is something I've only done twice thrice. Which is, stand by the employee entrance several hours before the game starts right when the players are arriving/about to go in. I did this for Luis Torrens and Everson Pereira, I just did it this morning with Ethan Hankins.

Hankins was the Clevelands' first round/compensation round pick in the 2018 MLB Player Draft. He was drafted using the pick Cleveland got when they lost Carlos Santana to the Philadelphia Phillies in free agency.

Hankins is armed with an "electric" fastball that MLB Pipeline stated was the best among all of the 2018 draft eligible pitchers. His fastball sits in the mid-90's but can reach 98 mph at times. He's also armed with a curveball, slider and changeup. All of which are work in progress pitches but could go on to be powerful weapons at his disposal. Hankins is currently 19 (dude was born in 2000!) and has done exceptionally well so far in the New York-Penn League (where the average age is around 21). It'll be interesting to see just how much better Hankins can get as he hones in on his breaking pitches as he matures and fills out a little more.

After I got Hankins' autograph I went home. I thought about seeing the Cyclones-Scrappers game, but the weather report didn't look great at all. Plus just getting Hankins was enough to justify the two hour train rides and the $5.50 I spent on subway tickets getting to BK.

Lastly here's a statue of Jackie Robinson and Pee Wee Reese that's located just outside MCU Park. Meant to take a shot of it the last two times I was in BK but I kept forgetting. Not this time.

And that was my latest IP autograph. Thanks to Hankins for the autograph! And as always thank you (the readers) for stopping by :).

Take care.

2019 IP Auto Count: 21

Post-Shake Up

Yesterday I went to my first Staten Island game this month.

Don't have much to say for an intro, so let's just get to it.

Autograph

My lone autograph (singular), was courtesy of Jake Agnos. Told you I'd go to a game if they added him to the roster.

Agnos was the Yankees' fourth round pick this year and is armed with a low-90's fastball that can reach as high as 95 mph. He also has a devastating curveball. He occasionally mixes in a work-in-progress changeup as well. With his fastball-curveball combo alone many see him being a reliever who can rise quickly through the Yankees farmsystem. The Yankees have been able to find and make great use out of their fourth round picks over the years, Agnos seems like he'll continue that trend.

I was fortunate enough to get Agnos right around the time the gates opened and he was just about to head back to the dugout. It felt good to get the one guy I needed done immediately because it gave me time to just dick around and take videos/pictures of other players.

TJ Sikkema Time

In terms of pure name value, yesterday's Staten Island lineup featured five of the Yankees' best prospects currently on the SI Yanks. Everson Pereira, Ezequiel Duran, Oswald Peraza, Jake Sanford and T.J. Sikkema. Sikkema was the Yankees' Competitive Balance Round A pick (the pick the Yankees got in the Sonny Gray deal) in this year's draft and along with Agnos is one of the newest pitchers to keep an eye on in the org. Sikkema is armed with a low-90's fastball, a plus slider and a changeup. Best of all he's left handed.

Thus far the Yankees have been careful with their first-ish rounder. They've eased him into pro ball by putting him on a strict innings limit. Yesterday was no exception. Sikkema went three innings pitched and only needed 30 pitches (21 of which were strikes). His fastball and slider kept fooling the Connecticut Tigers hitters.

Bullpen Time

Eventually the fourth inning rolled around and that's when the game was handed off to the relief core. Austin Gardner, Justin Wilson, Rodney Hutchison and Aaron McGarity threw the last six innings.

Much like the last few times I was there I gave the bullpen guys some Hi-Chews before the game started and they gave me a ball in return. They didn't have to, but they considered it a trade. Thanks guys! Best of all, this was a new ball to boot. Both in terms of how it wasn't even used in a game, and because it's one of those new "Minor League Baseball" balls. In yee olden times the balls would specify what the league was (I have a New York-Penn League brand baseball to prove it).

That's one way to make friends I suppose. Feed them candy!

Looking For Some Offense

Offensively the Yankees generated two runs. One of which was a solo dinger by Everson Pereira. Pereira's off to a rough start in Staten Island, but then again he's a teenager playing a 20+ league. The other run came on a passed ball. The Yankees had a prime chance to score some runs in the bottom of the eighth inning with the bases loaded and zero outs, but unfortunately that rally was squashed.

Unfortunately for the Yankees their offense only generated two runs while the Tigers offense generated three runs. Ending in a 3-2 loss. Sucks.

Though one interesting (to only me) thing to point out was that former Yankees draft pick Zach Hess (now with the Tigers) closed out the game.

What's Next?

Now that I've gotten Agnos, I'm not sure when I'm going to go a game next. As of now I'm waiting for Josh Smith to sign with the Yankees so he can be assigned to SI, but I'm not sure if/when that would happen. Doesn't look like Anthony Volpe is getting a promotion or that Anthony Seigler is getting a demotion anytime soon either. There is a real scenario where I only go to a game for an opposing player, or until the team sets are released.

And that was my latest game to SI. It was fun.

As always thanks for stopping by and take care :).

2019 IP Auto Count: 20

The Bonus Cards

So the first half of 2019 has come and gone. It all happened so fast right? A lot happened in that time but one of the more notable things I've noticed is that there were an abnormally large number of cards distributed outside of the usual pack/box/case medium. Not just baseball cards mind you, but a large variety of trading cards.

Today I thought I'd go through the special bonuses that I've encountered. Conveniently enough they're all different entities/genres entirely.

Pokemon

Leading off will be the first of these that I picked up. A few months ago you could get packs of Pokemon cards with specially marked boxes of General Mills cereals. A sequel of sorts to how you could get them with Fruit Roll Ups in 2018.

There were two types of packs. One type was pretty much standard, but the other one had an additional card in the checklist, a foil Bulbasaur. For the record my starter Pokemon was always Bulbasaur. I loved green things as a child and eventually I became a grass/psychic-type based trainer.
Unfortunately I didn't pull a Bulbasaur.

Instead I pulled two Cubones. I like Cubone but Pokemon needs to stop depicting it being so sad. I get it. It's one of the few Pokemon in the game that shows that it's existence signifies that its mother is dead. I don't need to be reminded of how it's lonely and sad all the time.

I did like how I pulled a Cubone and Kangaskhan in the same pack though. Because there used to be this theory when I was a kid that Cubone's dead mother is really Kangaskhan. Since they look so similar and Kangaskhan was the only mother Pokemon in the game at the time. I don't really believe it but it's a fun theory to reminisce on.

Basketball

Michael Jordan and Hanes team up for a set of trading cards using screenshots from commercials MJ did before his services became ungodly expensive.

The gimmick here being that you could get a pack of MJ-only basketball cards if you purchased specially marked Hanes brand underwear or T-shirts. Who knows, you might even pull an autograph of his?

Unfortunately I didn't pull the autograph. But instead I got the first five MJ cards I've ever owned. Including two parallels.

I needed to buy some underwear (boxers) anyway so this was a fun little addition to my purchase.

That said, I firmly think LeBron James is better than Michael Jordan.

Baseball

Topps and Utz team up to give collectors more diabetes and cards within specially marked packages of Utz brand potato chips.

I didn't buy any because instead of spending $5+ on these generic chips at Stop & Shop I opted for discounted $1.88 Cool Ranch Doritos bags from Walgreens (it gave me a headache but it tasted good). But thanks to Once A Cub, I got my hands on two Yankees cards from the set.

At the time this was my first Jonathan "Johnny Lasagna" Loaisiga card, and I also got former-staff ace Luis Severino. With this kind of help from my friends, I can experience the joy of food-issues without having to eat the drivel we tolerate as "food" because it's cheap.

Soccer

Here's a really fun one. I was walking through Target and I noticed this.

What? Topps? MLS? Cutout cards? Am I in a bad Twilight Zone episode?!

Nope. Turns out that MLS and Post Cereal teamed up and gave the world four special Topps brand cutout cards featuring MLS players.

I thought this was cool. As a guy who still eats sugary kids cereals well into his 20's, I gladly bought some.

This gave me my first ever MLS cards, and one of a NYFC player at that. Woof!

I feel like this made the collecting experience richer for me because these are the first cards I've gotten that I had to physically cut out (excluding my customs). Luckily my dad had this guillotine paper trimmer, making it so I wouldn't have awkward lines caused by scissors.

It's been an interesting year so far for bonus cards. I started the year with potato chips that came with a Yu-Gi-Oh! card, now I'm finding that that wasn't just an anomaly. Neat!

As always thanks for stopping by and take care :).