I'm here, but not completely

Am I back? I never really left, but I wouldn't say that I'll be posting everyday. Life has been a journey lately to say the least. I have watched my son make it to Varsity baseball in high school last year as a freshman. He has since gotten his driver's license, and now as a sophomore earned hos first varsity letter in golf. I found out this summer after much denial on my part for a long time that I am on the Autism spectrum having Asperger's Syndrome. I'm really glad that I went and found help to slowly work on being more social and working through the difficulties of it. The best part of getting help and admitting to myself that I could be on the spectrum is that it might have saved my marriage of 21 years. While my wife is a very upbeat and outgoing person that loves to interact with people, it is very difficult and stressful for me. We are starting to work on me slowly becoming more social and interacting and it is a long road. Sometimes I do great and sometimes I have a hard time with conversation. Everyday is another work in progress but eventually I will win and be able to work with my condition and be the person I want to be.

I am still going to be collecting my Mainers. How could I not after all the work I've put into my favorite team. As most know, I'm only doing the base cards for them. I did make a recent purchase to get myself all up to date through the 2014 cards. I hope that my fellow bloggers will remember me when the itch to start buying 2015 Topps comes calling soon with your extra Mariners cards. I have been slowly working on two of my three player collections. Two smiling faces that I don't need too many cards of now. If you have any of the cards listed below their smiles please let me know.

 

Alvin Davis

 

1985	Fleer	488
1985	Topps	145
1986	Fleer Leaders	9
1986	Fleer Stickers	29
1987	Donruss OD	115
1987	Fleer Stars	13
1987	O Pee Chee	235
1988	Fleer Record	8
1988	SportFlics	52
1989	Mother's	2
1989	O Pee Chee	57
1989	Score Hot 100	78
1989	SportFlics	33
1989	Upper Deck	105
1990	O Pee Chee	373
1990	Score	205
1990	Upper Deck	364
1991	O Pee Chee	515
1992	Donruss	124
1992	OPC Premier	183

 

 

Dale Murphy

1978 Topps	708
1979 Topps	39
1981 Fleer	243
1983 Donruss	47
1983 Topps	502
1985 Fleer	335
1988 Donruss	78
1988 Fleer	544
1988 Sportflics	170
1989 Donruss	104
1989 Fleer	596
1989 Sportflics	110
1990 Fleer Update	46
1990 Sportflics	189
1991 Upper Deck	447
1992 Bowman	684
1992 Studio	79
1993 Fleer	496
1993 Topps	445
1993 Ultra	353
1993 Upper Deck	706

 



Another year of a great

I know it's late in the day. I wanted to wish a Happy Birthday to one of my favorites. Dale Murphy turns 56 today. Dale grew up a few hours away in Portland. I loved watching Dale and the Braves on the old SuperStation WTBS. Big Birthday wishes to a Braves great and one of my favorite players to collect.

Purple Rocks in the Emerald City

Have you ever noticed when you made deals, you are surprised that people are nowhere near their teams? I've seen it quite often with many of the bloggers that I've made deals with. While some of us are near where our teams call home, some are halfway across the country, some are on opposite coasts, and some are on totally different continents. Is it because they grew up with a team and moved, or is it just a love affair with a team that started at a young age?  I recently found another who is removed from his team. Johnny(aka hiflew) of the great Cards from the Quarry is a big Rockies fan. He is based nowhere near Denver, which is cool to find a Purple fan. I sent some assorted Rockies, and I got a package all over the map to help many needs.

How about some cards from a side project that has been taking a nap? Johnny sent me about 10 cards to add to my Angels in the Desert project. Do you have some 70's and 80's Angels laying around that might fit the criteria for the collection?

What is a trade with a Mariner fan without some Mariners? A '92 Score for the Super Set, and some Canadian Mariners. Also some nice Laser cut Topps. While I'm not a big fan of this overkill kind of cards from the 90's, I will definitely add them to the great pile of Mariners.

As you may have seen recently, I have been working on trying to bump up the few player collections I really want to make look like collections. One of those players is the should be HOF'er Dale Murphy. Johnny was nice enough to send some Atlanta Murph love to add to the binder. Why can't he get more of the vote to get in?

The last few cards I'm sure made him happy to get rid of. As a Rockies fan, I'm sure he's not too high on players from other NL West teams. As you may have seen, my son has become a big fan of Tim Lincecum. Johnny was also nice enough to send along a few cards of the Freak for him. Big thanks again to hiflew for helping me along with many collections. It is too bad that his team wasn't around for the 1979 Topps set. It would have been fun to see the colors and how they would have fit in back then.

Chopping down some Murphys

For many summers, I would come to Seattle to spend the summer with Grandma. It was awesome because she got the SuperStation WTBS on cable. I got to watch almost every Braves games at 4:05 PM everyday. I fell in love with the team and instantly was a huge fan of #3. I still think it is a crime that one of the best players of the '80s and 2 time MVP isn't in the Hall of Fame. I have decided to try and really bump up my collection of the Dale Murphy cards. Here's a look at what I need. Any oddball, small maker, insert, or subset cards are also always welcome if they aren't listed.

1978 Topps 708
1979 Hostess 121
1981 Fleer 243
1983 Donruss 47
1983 Fleer 142
1983 Topps 401
1983 Topps 502
1984 Donruss 66 
1984 Fleer 186
1984 Topps 126 
1984 Topps 133
1984 Topps 391
1985 Donruss 66
1985 Fleer 335
1986 Donruss 66 
1986 Donruss 60
1987 Donruss 3
1988 Donruss 78
1988 Fleer 544
1988 Fleer 639
1988 Score 450
1988 Topps 549
1989 Donruss 104
1989 Fleer 596
1989 Upper Deck 672
1990 Bowman 19
1990 Fleer Update 46
1990 Topps 750
1990 Upper Deck 533
1991 Donruss 484
1991 Donruss 744
1991 Fleer 409
1991 Score 650
1991 Stadium Club 243
1991 Studio 220
1991 Upper Deck 447
1992 Bowman 684
1992 Donruss 146
1992 Pinnacle 124
1992 Pinnacle 284
1992 Score 80
1992 Stadium Club 280
1992 Studio 79
1992 Ultra 249
1992 Upper Deck 127
1993 Fleer 496
1993 Pinnacle 479
1993 Pinnacle 503
1993 Score 597
1993 Select 103
1993 Stadium Club 572
1993 Topps 445
1993 Ultra 353
1993 Upper Deck 706

Chop down this list!!

I started not too long ago to try and collect one of my childhood favorites, Dale Murphy. If you are Twitter, give him a follow at @DaleMurphy3.

After looking through what cards I have of Murph, it's pretty slim pickins. Here's a list of the base cards I need of his, inserts, autos, and relics are just icing on the cake.

Topps
1977 #476 (not expecting anybody to send me his RC)
1978 #708
1983 #401 All Star
1983 #502 Team Leaders
1984 #126 Team Leaders
1984 #133 RBI leaders
1984 #391 All Star
1986 #456 Team Leaders
1986 #600
1986 #705 All Star
1987 #490
1988 #90
1990 #750
1992 #68
1993 #445
2010 #532B
2011 #135B

Donruss
1983 #299
1983 #47
1984 #66
1985 #66
1986 #66
1987 #3 Diamond King
1987 #78
1988 #46 All Star
1988 #78
1989 #104
1990 #168
1991 #484
1992 #146

Fleer
1981 #243
1982 #443
1983 #142
1984 #186
1985 #335
1986 #640 NL West Sluggers
1988 #544
1988 #639 All Star
1989 #596
1991 #409
1993 #496

Score
1988 #450
1990 #66
1991 #650
1992 #80
1993 #597

Upper Deck
1989 #672 Team Card
1990 #533
1991 #447
1992 #127
1993 #706