Woo Hoo Look at me!!

Not too long ago while doing the Finest Fleer reviews, I got a comment from Nick saying he had this 2007 Fleer card I needed.

Guess what showed up in the mail today? that's right the Travis Chick card I needed. Also in there were some other nice Mariners goodies including this beauty:

While I'm not a big relic, auto or fancy stuff kind of guy, this thing is sweet! That would be the All-Star Game that Ichiro hit an inside the park home run and won the MVP. Definitely a keeper! Thanks to Nick at For Cards Sake for sending me over the great cards, and I hope you enjoy the little bit I sent you.

Also of good news, was getting the news that thanks to the great randomizer, I did win this 1973 Topps Roberto Clemente card I coveted from Vintage Sportscards' Contest.

I don't know if it was a premonition that I would win, or just dumb luck. I can't to get my hands on this card in the mail. I have wanted one for many years due to the historic nature of it, but didn't want to pay the prices I saw for it. Thanks again to Chris for holding the contest, and I will make sure that Roberto is given his proper place in my collection.

A Prime 9 Triple Play

I recently got an e-mail from one of my readers Ron. We had done a trade long ago, and he said that he had another stack of cards I might be interested in. Me being one to never say no to cards I need, I said I was game. Once I opened the box of cards Ron sent, I was a happy boy to say the least. On top was these three beauties that were all on the Prime 9 list:

Now added to the list: 1981 Fleer Murphy and 82 Donruss Murphy

Of course as everyone knows, me being the biggest Tony Gwynn fan I know, Ron included about 25 other Gwynn's including these older cards I didn't have:

Not to be forgotten, Ron also sent some Mariners cards new and old. Some of these guys were well known, some not so much. Some were here for a blink of an eye(Bobby Thigpen), and some were long timers(Ichiro, Edgar). Not to be forgotten, I found about 6 cards that I was able to scratch off the Super Set wantlist. That now brings it down to 516 cards I need to finish off that big bad boy. Please take a look and see if you can help, I would like to get down to needing less than 200 by the end of the regular season.

Thanks again to Ron, you need to start your own blog to show off some of the great cards you own. And to all my fellow collectors if you get an e-mail from Ron about a trade, go for it he won't disappoint you.

I guess maybe, I don't know...

Reports came out yesterday that there may be a possibility of a Mariners trade brewing. Some say the trade would be Chone Figgins for Kevin Kouzmanoff straight up, or the A's may throw in a pitcher. If I could have my way, I want the A's to throw this guy in to sweeten the deal.

Dallas Braden is a bad-ass in my opinion

One sticking point is that Figgins has a limited no-trade list, and Oakland is on it. Although Vernon Wells had the Angels on his, but approved the trade. I wonder if Sooz of A Cardboard Problem would be happy to see her boy Kouzmanoff in Mariner blue? I would be more than willing to trade Figgy if we can get some good pitching to go in the deal too. I can't wait for Spring Training and Opening Day, even though I know it's going to be a long season here in the Northwest.

Where were you?

It is hard to believe that it was 25 years ago today. On this morning, the space shuttle Challenger carrying mission STS-51L lifted off of Pad 39B from Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, FL at 11:40 AM EST. Unfortunately, only 73 seconds after liftoff, the shuttle exploded claiming all seven lives on board. I was in my second period class in my freshman year of highschool. It was a shock to all of us. Lost that day were Commander Dick Scobee, pilot Michael Smith, Judith Resnik, Ronald McNair, Ellison Onizuka, Gregory Jarvis, and teacher Christa McAuliffe. Here is hoping their memory will not be forgotten.

Do you remember where you were when it happened??

Who wants some Vintage goodness??

Chris the great proprietor of Vintage Sportscards has recently reached 50 followers. Thanks to reaching that great number, he is giving away some cool vintage cards. Would you like to win this 1973 beauty?

How about a 1955 Bowman?

Maybe you would be interested in this 1978 gem?

All you have to do is leave him a comment on this page to enter. Don't be sad if you don't win the '73 Clemente, that has my name written all over it.

G'day Mate!

I wanted to send a Happy 27th Birthday to my favorite now ex-Mariner Ryan Rowland-Smith. I really wish the Mariners would have re-signed him for this year to see if he could bounce back. I hope the Astros fans will take good care of him in Houston. He is a good pitcher, and a great guy off the field. Let's just hope he doesn't have to spend the season in Oklahoma City instead. Happy Birthday Mate!! You'll always be my favorite Aussie.
Update: As an apology to Jonathan @RGB Cards, I will clarify that RRS is my favorite Aussie baseball player. You will always be my favorite Aussie blogger.

What would you give?

To own an autographed card from a Hall of Famer? How about 2 minutes of your time. Ryan over at the Great Orioles Autograph Project is giving away an Earl Weaver auto and some cards for your team. All you have to do is leave a comment, follow his blog, and let everyone know to get more entries. If you like shiny stuff, do it now.

History lesson

If you would like to know a little more about the history of baseball, and one of it's most important players, you need to go here. Chris the proprietor of Maddux, Glavine and Smoltz is giving this book away in his contest.

This book will be a very good history lesson into the economics of baseball as it is today. Curt led the fight to get baseball to let the players have the ability to move teams nowadays with free agency. Head over to Maddux, Glavine, and Smoltz to enter the contest. While you are there give a look to all the cool Braves stuff that he has.

Getting so close,

But yet I feel like I have so far to go to complete my Super Set. While looking for some cards for some trades I'm working on(Sorry guys, I'm slow), I tried to make sure of what I had for myself. I was finishing updating mt spreadsheet checklists and working on getting the cards in their binders. I decided to work up the numbers and see how close I was to completing this monster. I have to say with help of a few buys here and there, the generosity of the blog world, had really helped me on this.

 

If my math is right, for just base and traded sets from the five big makers (Donruss, Fleer, Score, Topps, and Upper Deck) there is 3,211 Mariners cards available from 1977 to 2010. As of last night I counted myself as owning 2,689 of those cards. That means I only need 522 cards, not counting what comes out for 2011, to finish this masterpiece. Of course there is the small task of also still trying to collect the 18 Seattle Pilots cards I need from the 1969 and 1970 Topps sets.  I'm sure with the help of you great guys and ladies out there, I might actually get this done this year.

Looking for a green card

If there were some in the cards I got recently it would be perfect. I just got a package from the Great White North. Dennis from Pictures of Men sent me a package of Mariners cards to help out my habi..collection. He sent a variety of M's new and old...

Also included were some cards of Murph, and a guy who playing days were at the Murph:

And finally the piece de resistance was this absolute beauty:

While Kanekoa only spent a short time in 2010 with us here in Seattle, this baby is only 109/199 AWESOME!! Big thanks again go out to my new favorite Canadian, Dennis. Just to let you know Dennis, I'm almost done getting your package together. I should have it out to you next week.

How awesome is that?

Last night the San Jose Sharks were desperate for a back up goalie. Where else would you turn for a goalie for an NHL Game? How about a local college? That's just what the Sharks did yesterday. The team signed  22 year old Jordan White from the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds to a one game amateur tryout. While he never saw any ice time and won't get paid, he was sitting on the bench opening the door for stars, and holding the clipboard. The only thing he will get to have out of it is a story and his jersey from the Sharks, but that's still not a bad way to spend a Thursday night. Congrats to Jordan, and here's to hoping you can continue your way towards the big leagues...

Good on him

I was glad to see the news that former Mariner and Royal Gil Meche has decided to retire. I don't feel that way because he was lousy or I didn't like the guy. I proud of him for walking away and looking at his long term health. He decided at age 32 to give up the shot at $11 million this year. Not only does he insure himself later in life, but maybe gives a chance to a young guy like he had here many years ago. I wish Gil well in retirement, and continued health and success.

Why am I not surprised...

It ends up Milton Bradley was arrested yesterday on the suspicion of making a threat that could result in great bodily injury or death. This is a felony in the state of California. Milton posted a $50,000 bail and has to go to court on February 8th now. I really hope there is some language in his contract that will allow the Mariners to void it and get rid of him. Obviously the help he wanted and was give to him last year for his mental health didn't work. We need to get rid of this guy before he ruins some of the kids on the team. I'm sorry Milton, I tried to like you and give you a chance, but it just isn't working for me...

Tip of the Cap

I wanted to send out Congratulations Patrick Marleau of the San Jose Sharks.

Yesterday against the Phoenix Coyotes, Patrick became the 259th player to reach 1000 career NHL games. Patty played for the Seattle Thunderbirds in his early career. He was the 2nd overall pick in the 1997 draft.

While he never saw a day in the minors, he came in right away and started to help the Sharks become a dominant team. He has spent time as the captain of this team.

He is the first Sharks player to play all of those 1000 games in a Sharks sweater. Congratulations Patrick, keep making us Sharks and Thunderbirds fans proud of the person and player you are.

Organization skills

Thanks to having done the recaps of all the major players in card making, I got organized. I was already fairly organized with my Mariners cards, but now I'm starting to actually get on the right track. As I was finding cards to show you guys, I was able to binder many of the cards that have come to me in trades in the last year. The next step of the process was to finish and update my checklist spreadsheets. Mission accomplished last night.

Now comes the decision of what to do with extra Mariners cards, and what do with cards that are from oddball makers, subsets, inserts etc. What would my fellow bloggers do? Would you binder them, would you put them in boxes in chronological order and set them aside? I really want to get my Mariners cards finished organized and then work on trying to organize the rest of my cards by team to ease the hassle of finding cards when I trying to set up trades with everyone. Let me know what everyone thinks they would do in my predicament, I'm open to all suggestions...

Earn Everything

That has been the Seahawks motto this year, EARN EVERYTHING. Today is the day to earn it. I really think that they can do it in Chicago. I know they are still 8-9 but they are getting hot at the right time. I think Hasselbeck will have a good day, and Beast Mode will be able to run the ball effectively. If the defense comes to play, they will frustrate Cutler and that will start to be his downfall.

Wear a little BLUE today,wave that 12th man spirit and bring next week's NFC Championship game back to the loudest stadium in the NFL-- QWest Field.

Besides, what would you rather see on the sidelines next week when the Packers come to town? I personally would much rather see this:

Than have any part of this invading my television screen.

GO HAWKS!!

Ultimate Upper Deck 2004-2010

Here we come to the end of the countdowns. It's not like revealing a number 1 song, but it's the best I could find.

2004 Randy Winn

I like the look on Randy's face from the missed play at second, and the American flag on the outfield wall looks great in the background.

2005 Raul Ibanez

Obviously the Mariners got a win. The horror comes on the side of the card reminding me that Scott Spiezio was once on this team!

2006 Jeremy Reed

Nice photo to get the flat out dive. I wonder if it hurt to hit the ground?

2006 Carl Everett X2

The forgettable Carl Everett got not one but two cards for the Mariners in 2006.

2007 Kenji Johjima

Did they have Glamour Shots come from the mall to take these pictures? I mean the sunset in the background is kind of different.

2008 Richie Sexson

No matter how long there and pout Richie, the umpire called you out and need to go back to the dugout.

2009 Adrian Beltre

I always worried when he would ask for a ruling on his own check swing. Don't get a strike on yourself unless the catcher asks the 1st base umpire.

2009 Ryan Rowland-Smith

Just a bonus card of my now former Mariner. Take good care of him Astros fans, he a good pitcher and a great guy.

If anyone had this card, I'm open to a trade.

2010 Safeco Field

I really did like the look of this last year's set. The ballpark cards were nice especially this one with the sunset. I wish they would have shown just a little more of the ballpark.

This brings us to the end of my favorite cards from each year for each maker. Now I guess I need to think of a new gimmick to get us to Spring Training, and also something to get you guys to continue to keep reading my blog that isn't much.