It Just Fell Into My Lap

 Instead of a want list I have switched to a bucket list. They're cards that I'd like to own at some point in my life. I'm not quite sure if I'd want to keep them for a long time afterwards but they're cool enough cards that yes I would like to have them.

One card I didn't put on there but I never thought I'd ever have the chance to get just fell into my lap.

HELL YES.

That's a Japan-fractor autograph of Kyle Freeland from 2014 Bowman Sterling. It's limited to 5 copies and is a card I never thought I'd see, let alone own.

When I made my initial 14 cards of Freeland post, I made a note that the one parallel I wanted was the Japan-fractor. At the time the only thing available was the non-autographed parallel. A year later I got the autograph! For $10 cheaper too because the hobby is weird like that.

Unfortunately this card being as affordable as it was is more of a indicator on how far Freeland's fallen. In 2018 when he looked like he was finally going to be the first pitcher in history to figure out how to pitch in Coors Field this would've at least gone for triple digits. Unfortunately that time has long since passed and Freeland's gone from future Cy Young contender to ace-by-default on a Colorado Rockies team that is more of a "bonus" perk of the Coors Field experience more than an actual Major League Baseball team at this point. Although good on them for continuing to invest in their own players (congrats to Ezequiel Tovar on his extension). 

Fun to have both now

Still, when he's on he does show flashes of vintage Freeland, the guy who demonstrated that one of the best ways to pitch in Coors is just pounding the zone with elevated fastballs and getting swings and misses. As evident by how the Rockies' pitching staff is full of arms that can't throw strikes and melts down every other day because of it.

As always thanks for stopping by and take care.

Thonks

 There's a lot that's been written and discussed about social media and the current state of the internet. How it's all just one gigantic blob of content consumption. Whether we want to or not, the only six websites that still exist are just there to bombard us with content. Some of it is tailored to us, a lot of it is tailored against us, and it's really easy to get burnt out quickly.

That current content consumption landscape is also pretty much the backbone for sports fandom and sports content on the internet. Makes sense, in sports cool shit can happen at any given moment spontaneously. There's no greater rush than seeing a bunch of people (anonymous and unknown to you or not) be caught up in the moment. It makes people who spend their days feeling nothing (read: everyone born after 1993) feel something.

As such there's this constant need for things to be going on all the time. Every five picoseconds that go by without any activity means "ded sporp f". This past winter wasn't a dud because the Scott Boras clients signed at the 11th hour, it was a dud because there were no "PASSAN BOMBS" with league shattering moves every other day. Folks were down bad enough to track a flight from California to Toronto.

But baseball in the regular season is where there's so much baseball happening every night. To the point where we don't even need it all if we're being honest. The 2024 MLB regular season hasn't even been in full effect for a month but already we've cycled through like 5 different headlines. The part I'm not proud of is that I kind of have/had thoughts about each.

- The see through pants and uniforms

I saw someone remark that every manufacturer in the world is in a different stage of not having to give a shit about what they make and that's about the best way I can describe it.

- The Ippei Mizuhara Gambling Scandal

I always thought Ippei was an asshole because he got paid money to hang out with Shohei Ohtani and speak the same two languages that I speak everyday for free.

- The Oakland A's situation

If you think about this for longer than 5 seconds the most cynical side of you completely takes over. Not remotely fun to think about anything related to this.

- The pitching injury epidemic

Gee, who would've ever thought that the league where everyone just copies what the Tampa Bay Rays are doing would end up going through arms before realizing they don't have an army of nameless, faceless pitchers ready to go in triple-A.

- Whatever Jeff Passan/Ken Rosenthal/Evan Drellich writes about next week

I am outraged and indifferent at the same time.

These topics and my thoughts on them are not what I want to talk about though, because these come and go.

No, the thing that made me want to write this post is how I bothered to have opinions on all of these. And how I'll continue to form thoughts and reactions.

Why?

Well this is an unfortunate side effect of having a brain and thoughts. Also this ties back to that spiel at the top about constant content consumption. On the most basic level all of this is content that I consumed. Then during the digestion process I formed thoughts on it but these poisoned me and my body forcefully shat out anyway in a muddied not fully formed state. Because like all of us in 2024, my brain is broken and this is how I "exchange" ideas with others.

But then I took another step back and wondered, are these genuinely my thoughts?

I did think these sure, but how much influence did other people and their reactions have in my thoughts being molded before coming into being?

Often times my first introduction to a topic is someone else's reaction to it. Maybe it's a quote tweet, maybe it's one of those roundtable discussions done on podcasts and discussion panels, whatever. How much do the reactions color my perception before I even know what the main thing is even about?

Probably a lot, especially if I deem that the topic isn't that important and just steal someone else's opinion so I don't have to waste time forming my own.

Or alternatively, if I hear one opinion, there's a high likelihood I want to adopt the other opinion just to be contrarian. Especially for a lowstakes nothing burger topic like sports.

Thinking all of this does not make me feel particularly great. It just makes me feel like a dolt.

It also opens up more questions. Am I alone? Do other people think like this at a subconscious level? What constitutes as someone's genuine thought?

Blah. No more.

I think the best solution is to just take breaks from social media altogether but doing so would hinder my ability to find titties on the internet. Twitter is just swamped with totally real women who are definitely not bots with nudes in their bios these days.

In conclusion, less thinking with my brain. More thinking with my dick.

Goodnight. Take care.

First Trade(?) of 2024

 At this point I don't "trade". I don't like going through lists and seeing if anything on it tickles my fancy, nor do I have lists of my own for people to look through. Such things take time and effort, neither of which I am willing to put in for this hobby.

But the nice thing is that every now and then it's good to have friends who you can ask for small things.

Base Front

Case in point, I actually reached out to The Lost Collector and got the base card of Kyle Freeland from 2024 Topps. It's spiffy and really nice thanks to a combination of the 2024 Topps design and Freeland rocking the City Connects jersey. A jersey I'm on record previously saying I think is so bad it's great.

Technically TLC's son pulled the Freeland, TLC mentioned he traded his son a Jazz Chisholm card for it but I later sent a Francisco Cervelli autograph just to be make sure. I still stay up at night worried that it wasn't good enough.

Base Back

In a lot of ways this was as ideal a transaction as I could hope for. Saved me so much time and money compared to going on eBay and seeing if anyone is selling base cards anymore at $1 with free shipping. Plus it was with an old friend who I've traded with since, well, basically the beginning.

But as nice as it was to get the Freeland base, in 2024 it's no longer just about the base. There's another reason I wanted that.

Yup, got the "Golden Mirror" image variation shortprint too.

So I'm going to go a little bit on a tangent here but we'll come back to this card.

2023 Variation

Freeland's shortprint in 2023 Topps is one of my favorite Freeland cards in my collection. It's so great that I've proudly placed it on my blog when viewed on browser mode as the replacement for what used to be the signed Luis Torrens superfractor. That's how much I like it.

2024 Variation Front

The 2024 shortprint is not nearly as good to me for some reason. It's a unique pre-game shot of Freeland chilling in the sunlight for sure, but it's just not hitting the same. Maybe it's the way this card looks like more an Xfinity ad, maybe it's the empty stands, maybe the 2023 SP just raised the bar that much higher because that was a good shot taking inside the dugout and not on the railing next to it. Whatever the reason this card is one of those gray areas where I'm glad I have it but it's more just because I wanted to say I have it as opposed to really wanting it.

Edit: TLC pointed out in the comments that this variation is actually likely a picture of Freeland in an airbrushed Denver Nuggets jersey (maybe Nikola Jokic). Pretty interesting factoid, the way there's just this airbrushed void left is kind of a good reflection of how I'm feeling towards seeing this.

Source: Getty Images, taken by Rachel O'Driscoll

A quick Getty Images archive search proved that theory correct. And not going to lie, if this picture had been left intact, this SP would've been so much better.

Which is to say that if there ever comes a time when I pull the plug on the Freeland collection, this card is definitely going out the door.

2024 Variation Back (we don't need to squint and read codes anymore!)

But right now I have both the base and variation from 2024 Topps flagship. As someone who's built rainbows before I feel like this is a lot better (and feasible) as a compromise than trying to assemble a giant lot of cards that all look the same but just come in different colors.

I'm not sure if Topps will continue to do these short print image shenanigans in 2025 and beyond for Freeland's cards, but I may have just set myself up to obligate myself to continue assembling them for as long as they continue. Maybe thinking I have to do this is why I wasn't thrilled with this 2024 SP in the first place.

Both are City Connects shots now that I look closer

Then again I might not do it anyway given how I'm, well, me.

Maybe I'll realize the idea of owning these cards appeals to me more than actually owning them for real and I lose interest as I tend to do with 90% of stuff that enters my possession.

Either way thanks to TLC and his son for the assist :).

As always thanks for stopping by and take care.

I Always Wanted One of These

 Wow, we're already in March. Time moves so fast.

A couple of months ago I did my annual goals and grades post where I also showed off my best pick-ups of 2023. During that haul there was one really glaring omission that I really wanted to add but decided to save so it could get its own blogpost all to itself. I also wanted that blogpost to be after I made the "big" announcement.

Even though I've been collecting since 2011 this is the FIRST ever jersey letter patch relic thing I'd ever held. On top of that I can now call it mine!

In the time since I'd been collecting almost none of the other players I collected ever got cards like this. The prospects I rooted for never got these cards, even after they got to the big leagues they never got these cards. I was hoping they would at some point but I got tired of waiting.

That Kyle Freeland In The Name jersey patch card comes from 2021 Topps. As you can all see it's the letter "L" in his name, a very unfortunate letter to bestow upon a pitcher but whatever, I'd wanted a proper 1/1 for a while now and now this replaces my Blank Back eBay parallel from 2021 Topps Heritage.

After my last post went up, some folks asked me if Kyle Freeland would be my next focus. Let me just say right now, no. I don't want to do a player collection ever again. I am also not going to be actively collecting Colorado Rockies that much longer, mostly because they're a poverty franchise.

The fact of the matter is that I'm a spot where I've gone back and gotten a lot of stuff I wanted that I missed out on the first time (the blogposts are still being worked on). On top of that I don't really want a "collection" in general anymore. Because collecting is just another word for accumulating, which is the opposite of what I really want to do which is to tear as much of what I have down to like a single box housing everything and only make scant, carefully calculated purchases every once in a while when the mood strikes me.

Unrelated Scan (though that's clearly the same pic of Freeland)

The thing about the Freeland cards is that last year, after a decade of prospecting and being relegated to pre-rookie stuff and niche fan favorites, it was a good way to get my hands on some of the stuff given to the biggest names in the sport.

Well okay, Freeland isn't on the same level of superstars who get like a thousand different cards each year but he's at least a notable enough name for a Rockies team that is devoid of any real star power that he got the token Rockies treatment and has a really nice cardboard resume. Which was good enough for me.

Emphasis on was. I already got almost everything I wanted from Freeland's catalogue (up until this point), except for one very specific card which has no copies available on eBay or COMC.

So nice I'm showing it twice!

So for now we've reached the end of the Freeland accumulation era of this blog too. Maybe in the sets to come Topps/Fanatics dishes out some super cool Freeland cards that even I have to immediately whip out my credit card for, but I am very happy with where it is now.

A few of the remaining Freeland pick-ups have yet to make their blog debut, those might just get thrown in as unrelated scans. But as far as actively adding goes, I was able to cap it off with my first letter patch. Perfect place to stop and take a breather for now.

As always thanks for stopping by and take care.

Nearly Burned Out, Needed Cards to Heal

 Last week I was feeling severe burn out at work. I needed to really relieve some stress. I did a couple of things. I slept, exercised, drafted angry emails, became really passive aggressive with coworkers, vented on social media, anything to keep me sane in the moment. At the risk of being over dramatic that brief moment was pretty overwhelming and I needed a coping mechanism bad.

The most dangerous but also what ended up being my favorite outlet was just going hogwild on watch-list hits on eBay.

This Kyle Freeland 2014 Bowman Chrome blue refractor autograph was on my want list for weeks. Mine.

A Todd Helton autograph in general was on my want list for months, and after using rewards points to shave off most of the price, I managed to bring it down to $7. Solid deal for a future Hall of Famer. Mine.

Okay I don't want to repeat that same description ad nauseam so here's a bunch of scans.

In some ways this is basically a smorgasbord of stuff I've been known to collect. Just missing Luis Torrens and some Yankees prospects somewhere.

This is also just the baseball stuff.

Also quick shout-out to my former local card shop American Legends. I was in my old neighborhood for errands and stopped by to purchase supplies. I went ahead and purchased the T206 Chase in that store too. It reminded me how underrated it is when you're able to physically hold and inspect the card I want before committing to buying. Also y'know, not refreshing the tracking number every other hour and being worried the USPS is going to send to the wrong address or something.

As always thanks for stopping by and take care.

Full Circle

 My Kyle Freeland collecting experience is starting to enter the stage that all collections of mine inevitably enters, slowing down. I've assembled what I think is a solid collection of his cards and I'm pretty content with how it is right now. There are a few other cards of his out there that I think would be nice to get but they're kind of rare and I think I'm good for now.

Among the last few cards of his I added, there was one that took me back to where I originally was in 2014 when this blog was first starting out.

Yep, an all too familiar design.

It seems forever ago that I was once working on both the New York Highlanders team set and also sending people T206es to form "Club T206". Good times, but little did I know that it would be dead and gone by 2016 as prices for vintage started inflating in a hurry. A decade ago the beat up T206 commons could be had for anywhere between $10 to $20. Nowadays you'd be lucky if you got a deal around the $30 to $50 range for T206es for the same, or maybe even worse, condition.

Maybe I can use whether or not T206es are overpriced as a benchmark when responding to polls asking me if I think America is in a recession.

Being the sucker that I am, I picked up a vintage T206 at these higher prices a little after Freeland to help beef up this post a little more. The Ray Demmitt is the first New York Highlander I've acquired in quite a while and it cost me about 1.5x what beat up copies of this card I had on my watchlist all those years ago were going for.

 

Also picked up a non-Highlanders T206 of Frank Arellanes too. It doesn't help my Highlanders set but having T206es lying around is never a bad thing. Especially when it's a Boston Red Stocking and also a very rare Mexican-American player from this time period.

Maybe one day I'll revisit the T206 Highlanders project, given my collecting habits I'll either go nuts and assemble the rest in like a week, or get bored and move onto some other random thing.

Even so, no matter how much my mind wanders from that project I still do get a kick out of how I've got these little pieces of cardboard from over a hundred years ago before baseball was even considered a noteworthy sport.

To this day, Jack Chesbro is still one of my favorite legends in the game, and someone who's routinely given me a great score in Immaculate Grid whenever the Pirates, Red Sox and Yankees are involved.

Man, who'd have thought that Freeland would be sending me back into a headspace I hadn't been in since 2015. It was nice, and maybe just a teeny bit surprising given how overused the T206 design is in recent times, but unfortunately none of the other players I've collected these past few years made it to these designs. At least not yet.

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

First Were the Patches...

 ...now for the actual jersey.

BEHOLD!

For the first time since like 2012 I got myself a new jersey.

This is just a run of the mill replica you can find in the team shops. Originally I wanted the City Connect jersey for the Colorado Rockies (the green ones) but the tragic flaw is that I wasn't able to customize it to the player I wanted it to be.

That player being Kyle Freeland. But I didn't mind too much since these purple jerseys are also just as neat because very few professional baseball teams use the color purple.

Note: I'm aware that there are probably are sites that would let me get a City Connect replica jersey of Freeland but I did not want to bother putting in more effort beyond clicking a few times from the Rockies homepage. I still do not.

Accompanying the jersey were a pair of Rockies shorts and a new Rockies fitted hat to replace my very worn down and sun-bleached NY Rangers hat. My transformation to a Rockies fan is nearly complete. 

Now all that's left is for me to like or care about the team. I have a separate post going into my recent fascination with the Rockies in the works but here's a spoiler, it sure isn't because I think they're any good or will be any time soon.

To end off this post I'll share some Rockies related things that are good though, cards!

Freeland's Bowman Chrome auto prices are all over the place but when I can get parallels for under $10 shipped, I pounce.

Daniel Bard unfortunately doesn't have any autographed Rockies cards (not the certified variety anyway) but I was able to pick up this ToppsNow card commemorating his incredible comeback and return to an MLB mound after he got the yips. A comeback so great the Rockies extended him as opposed to trading him last year. As great as Bard and his story is, that move is a clear sign the org has no clue what its doing.

Mmm, speaking of the Rockies not knowing what they're doing...

What's done is done I suppose, but why the hell did the team throw in $51 million to move Nolan Arenado?

At least these cards look fantastic and I was able to add Arenado to the collection of "notable Rockies I have a patch card of".

At some point I might need to look into the likes of Jhoulys Chacin and Ubaldo Jimenez. Guys who really carried the franchise even though most people can't remember how to spell their names.

As always thanks for stopping by and take care.