1996 Upper Deck Epic Ozzie Smith Jersey

Like Dave Winfield, Ozzie Smith just looks better in Padres colors. While I like Ozzie, I don't think he was a very deserving Hall of Famer. He was a mediocre hitter that made highlight reel plays in the field. He is basically a Web Gem HOF'er. Regardless, I love having cards of him in the Padres uni. My childhood was full of watching Garry Templeton who we got in the trade for Ozzie. Garry hit better, and made his fair share of great plays for the Pads. I loved hearing Jerry Coleman announce the great Oh Doctor plays made by "Tempy". Garry is still around managing various Golden Baseball League teams around California.

This card is good looking, and is numbered to 145. It is purple because it is a variation I think. Anyways, it will look great in the display case.

1996 Leaf Signature Joey Hamilton Autograph

As part of my effort to collect autographs of the 1998 Padres, I got this Joey Hamilton autograph from the 1996 Leaf Signature set. It was only $1. Joey was a key part of the Padres rotation for 4 years or so. He was one of our first round picks that worked out during those days, and was one of the top prospects in baseball. He was a key part of the Padres rotation in the 1998 season, and got a great number of strikeouts. He gradually gained weight, and was traded after the World Series season for Woody Williams, which worked out great for the Padres.

Joey was the start of the Padres distaste for Scott Boras, as he held out after the draft. Joe McIllvaine said he would have never drafted him if he knew he was represented by Boras (how did he not know?!?!?!).

I've now got 3 of the 5 starters from 1998, although I suspect Kevin Brown in a Padres uniform is going to be tough to track down.




















I love that this set is so cheap, and that the autographs are on card.

Brian Lawrence Autograph

During the Padres darker days in the early 2000's, Brian Lawrence was one of my favorite players on the team. B-Law had a rubber arm, threw a sinker that got a lot of ground balls, and was an all-around good guy. Thinking back to that period, I think B-Law anchored the rotation for a while. He wasn't anything exciting, and didn't throw hard, but he got the job done. While that time was pretty miserable for Padres fans, it was good to see players that cared and played well. Lawrence eventually ran into some arm problems, was traded to the Nationals for Vinny Castilla, was released, played for Phil Nevin in the Golden Baseball League, was picked up by the Padres last season and then released, and he's now playing AAA in the Marlins organization. I wish him the best as he works his way back to the Majors. Always underappreciated, but always a good guy.















It's a shame it's a sticker auto, but it's nice nonetheless. Good to see some non-marquee Padres get recognized in sets with autographs.

Checkoutmycards.com Pickup - Greg Vaughn 1999 SP Chirography

With the Padres on such a roll (1st place!), I got in the mood to buy some Padres autographs I've been wanting. With no new sets having come out for a while, I was forced to use Check Out My Cards for the first time. It ended up being a pleasure, and much cheaper than eBay. Over the next few posts I'll go over some of these great purchases of great Padres.

The first is one I've been wanting for a long time. I've toyed with the idea of collecting autographs of all of the 1998 Padres (the greatest Padres team assembled in my opinion). I've already got Andy Ashby, Tony Gwynn and Sterling Hitchcock, so what's another 25 or so autographs. This one was hard to find as I don't think he signed much. It is none other than our slugger, Greg Vaughn. Picked up in a trade at the 1996 trade deadline, it was one of the few times Kevin Towers picked up a marquee player at the deadline to help the playoff run. I don't remember anyone striking out as often as Greg, but he could hit it far. He was OK, not great in 2006 and 2007, but in 2008 he busted out with a 50 HR season. With him and Ken Caminiti, we had a formidable middle of the order. I seem to recall he had a great throwing arm also. After the World Series run, he got traded for Reggie Sanders and Damian Jackson. I guess that was OK, as both were semi productive for a few years and Greg Vaughn kind of fell off the map. I was sad to see he got no Hall of Fame votes and fell off the ballot. Not even one vote?!?!




















He had a nice signature, that's for sure. And it's on-card.

Another TTM Return! Clayton Richard

After losing hope on a lot of the TTM requests I sent out at the beginning of Spring Training, I finally got another back. Hopefully the ones signed at the end of Spring Training will start trickling in. This one is from none other than the Padres current #4 starter, and only productive piece (so far) of the Jake Peavy trade: Clayton Richard.

I've also heard Clayton Richard is picking up a lot of the slack from Kevin Kouzmanoff as new Padres heartthrob with the ladies. Good for him. He is one of the very few lefties on the Padres pitching staff, and honestly, with this mediocre Spring, that is probably what got him the slot in the rotation.

I know it seemed to be an accepted assumption that Clayton was going to be part of the rotation, but I'm not sure why. I'd assume the Padres brass wants to show that they are getting something out of the Peavy haul, which is more important since vaunted prospect Aaron Poreda is being pushed back to AA to start the season (as opposed to AAA where he was last year). I'd love for Clayton to establish his presence in the rotation, but he seems pretty susceptible to the "blowup" inning where he just tires or loses focus or something. In all honesty, I thought Wade Leblanc and Tim Stauffer looked much better at the end of last season and during the Spring than Clayton. Oh well, gotta have a left hander I guess...

I will say that Clayton is a better signer than Wade Leblanc who ignored my request last year to Portland. So he's got that going for him. Which is nice.

All the best to Clayton this year, and cheers for signing my card. Hopefully he can put everything together and we can have the first real lefty presence in the rotation since David Wells' semi-good year (or maybe going back to Sterling Hitchcock).

Anyways, here is a scan of Clayton Richard's signature - please note his dreamy eyes that are captivating San Diego county's women.

Lull in Collecting

I've felt like the releases are coming slower this year. With Upper Deck out of the picture (and Goudey canceled), I think that my interest has waned with less new product to ogle. My TTM returns are coming slower than usual. The product that has been released, hasn't been that interesting to me (TOPPS HERITAGE!). Hopefully Gintermania can come soon. For now, I'll concentrate on my older sets I need to complete. Again, if anyone has any Timeline or 2009 Goudey cards I need, let me know!

I'm even running out of items on eBay to randomly bid on. This is a sad time. At least I'm getting some time to catch up on collating and entering items into Zistle.

Plus, the Padres young talent is really looking good in spring training. Any idea who will win the 5th spot in the rotation? Right now, I honestly think Latos and Wade LeBlanc are our best options. Sorry Clayton Richard...

TTM Returns!

I just received two more TTM autos from the Padres spring training camp. Aaron Poreda and Tony Gwynn Jr. were nice enough to send these back. Luckily, both also have outstanding autos. Poreda so far has really stunk in camp, but I think with some seasoning he will still be at least a great reliever.















He'd better be at least, since he was the centerpiece of the Peavy trade. Tony Gwynn Jr. is a sentimental favorite, but I'm just not sure how great will be. He really seems like a quick, good defensive outfielder with little ability to get on base. Still, as a Padres fan, it would be great to have him mature and grow and become a valuable part of the team.




















I've still got quite a few TTMs out there, and hopefully I get some more responses. Still waiting on Trevor Cahill, Mariano Rivera, Scott Hairston, Nick Hundley, David Eckstein, Ed Whitson, Andy Benes, and Trevor Hoffman. Will keep you updated.

Another Mailday and Chase Headley Discussion

Kevin Kouzmanoff was a real favorite of mine. His defense was underappreciated, his hitting was powerful but untimely. As much as I liked him, and I've heard he's great to the fans, his on-base skills were horrendous, and he had a real penchant for hitting into double plays or striking out with runners in scoring position at key points of the game. For these reasons, while I was sad to see him go, I was pleased that 3B was now open for Chase Headley to give it a try. Chase was the Padres #1 prospect a few years back, but I always thought that was more due to the putrid Padres farm system rather than Chase being that outstanding. When he got called, the sports talk stations were hyping it up to be a turning point. In reality, Chase has been a solid but unspectacular player. Here's hoping that a switch to 3B, his natural position, will help his production at the plate.

With Kouz gone, it seems like Chase is the defacto Padre for the card manufacturers to use for the token Padres relic or auto in their sets. Especially since Adrian has blown up and I assume gotten more expensive, it seems like Topps and Upper Deck are concentrating on using Chase, and maybe Heath Bell. At least I know they'll be on the team for a while.

I picked up this 2010 Upper Deck Signature Sensations for a total of $3 on eBay including shipping. It's a sticker auto, but it blends in better than a lot of other Upper Deck sticker autos. Sadly, after looking at some checklists for upcoming Topps sets, this might be the last auto for a while from a bonafide, everyday Padre. Topps has deemed Luis Durango and Cesar Ramos as the token Padres rookies to use in their insert sets. Last year it was Will Venable, Matt Antonelli and later on, Everth Cabrera. Couldn't they have at least picked one of the Padres with actual potential like Jaff Decker or Mat Latos? Ugh. Oh well, here is the new Headley auto!

2010 Topps Heritage - Waste of Money

I'm a set collector at heart. There is no better collecting feeling than finally finishing a set you've been working (see my year long quest for 2009 Goudey). For this reason, I should really be into Topps Heritage, but it's something I just haven't been able to do. I think the main reason is because in a lot of ways, it's a set that's almost impossible to actually complete due to recent years' implementation of stupid super short printed error cards, as well as just a preponderance of short prints in general. It is just too cost prohibitive to finish this set. Usually you can offset some of your costs with the included hits, but Topps Heritage's hits really aren't worth much at all.

My recent purchases on eBay prove this point pretty well. I bought these days after the set's release, when their value should be at their peak. I really only wanted the Chase Headley relic (the token one Padre relic offered) but saw that with combined shipping for $.25 per additional card, I could pick up tons of these for a net $1.24 each from the case breakers. I ended up buying 9 of them for a grand total of about $13. Understanding there is additional value in a Heritage box such as SPs and refractors, this poor case breaker made back $13 for NINE boxes worth of hits ($720 of boxes!!!!). I posted about this over at I Am Joe Collector, where he cited my comment in agreeing with me.

I mean, I'm not complaining. I mainly bought them so I can have a bit of trading fodder, sometimes I get a little Padres top heavy. Now I've got a variety of teams' players to offer - that Edinson Volquez looks tempting, doesn't it Nachos Grande?




















So, anyone up for trading for some of these 2010 Heritage relics (everything but the Headley)?

Mail Day - Trade with Democratic Overkill

When I saw Democratic Overkill had a few Goudey short prints I needed to finish my master set, I jumped at the opportunity. At the same time, this blog had its first official trade in the baseball card blogosphere. What a shining achievement!

I traded some duplicate Goudey SPs I had, as well as some 2009 Goudey minis over to Duane. I also threw in some random Toronto Blue Jays cards I had on hand. In return, he sent me two Goudey SP's (I already put them in my album, so no scans.), as well as some 2009 A&G short prints and some National Pride A&G's I needed:









All in all, it was a great trade for everyone. As I've mentioned before, the chief goal of this blog is to create connections in the card blogosphere for trading purposes. If you see anything of interest in my Photobucket let me know, as I am always up for a trade. Check out my want list in the top left corner of this blog.

Thanks to Duane and Democratic Roadkill!

TTM Return - Kyle Blanks

As I mentioned last week, I sent a whole heap of TTM requests out a few weeks ago. With a blizzard happening here in DC, I had pretty much nothing else to do. I'd sent out a mix to former retired Padres as well as current Padres in spring training, not to mention a few longshots (Mariano Rivera/Trevor Hoffman). I got my first spring training request back today.

I sent a T206 to Kyle Blanks for his autograph. For those not in the know, Blanks is pretty much the Padres great hope for the 2010 season. Other than Adrian Gonzalez, no one has more raw power than Kyle. Hopefully he can provide Adrian more protection in the lineup than Kouz did. Another great aspect of Kyle is his amazing fro from spring training last year:














Quite impressive. I'm glad we have some characters in the clubhouse these days.

Here is the autographed card:



















Anyways, thanks to Kyle Blanks for his expedient return of my request. I'm really hoping for big things from him this season.

eBay Mail Day - Ryno Time!

I received a card I've been salivating over for a while. I've bid probably 4 or 5 times on this card, which I'd assume was in low demand. I was wrong. There must be a lot of Ryan Klesko collectors out there! Klesko was a player I loved to hate when he was on the Padres, even though he was one of the "stars". He always seemed to hit into double plays in critical times. But, he was a great guy. A fan favorite. His towering home runs to right were spectacles to see, as were his admiring of the moon shots. One of my favorite parts of his game was the year he stole over 20 bases. It was great seeing hulking Ryno swiping a base. Anyways, this 2004 Sweet Spot auto will go up in Padres wall display, joining my Giles, A-Gon, and Chris Young Sweet Spot a
autos.















Look how great that soul patch was! Now I just need the rest of my recent eBay binge to finally get here! To be discussed later...

TTM Return

So, as I mentioned yesterday, I sent out a huge batch of TTM requests. Most of them went to Spring Training camps, but I sent 3 to some early 90's Padre starting pitchers. I got one back already. Of course, it was one I knew I'd get back. A slam dunk. Only one of the key pitchers on the 1998 World Series team, and one of the sweatiest men on the mound you'll ever meet. None other than Pittston, PA's own Andy Ashby!














Of course I've already got 2 Ashby certified autos, 2006 and 2008 Leaf/Donruss Signature Series cards. But, I needed a good, high probability one to start off this TTM season. And none better than a pitcher I really looked up to. From everything I've heard, he is a great guy. And a great signer!

Spring Training TTM

I am a big TTM'er. I love getting autographs back in the mail. I've had tons of success with the Allen and Ginter non-sports figures. I love my Steve Wiebe, Billy Mitchell and Joey Chestnut autographs. I've had less success with my baseball players (thanks David Eckstein, Phil Nevin, Chase Headley, Wade Leblanc and Matt Antonelli for ignoring my letters!!!) For the first time, I'm trying to send to Spring Training hoping for better results. I sent out ten packages last week to time it with the reporting dates. Packages went out to:

David Eckstein
Scott Hairston
Nick Hundley
Tony Gwynn Jr.
Trevor Hoffman
Mariano Rivera
Andy Ashby
Andy Benes
Ed Whitson
Trevor Cahill

I also am planning on getting packages to Aaron Poreda, Clayton Richard and Kyle Blanks. Maybe new Padre Aaron Cunningham.

I'll keep the blog up to date with what comes back!

New Card/Comics Store - Victory Comics, Falls Church, VA

Northern Virginia does not have a great variety of card and comic stores. The ones that are here are fine for supplies, but cards are grossly overpriced (like charging book value for early 90's junk singles), and the people are pretentious and unfriendly. Our best card store is blowoutcards.com, which of course has no physical storefront. At the Shoff show, there were fliers for a new card store in Falls Church, Victory Comics. They were offering 4.95 off the first purchase, and it was on the way home. So, my friend and I stopped there.

It is a nice new store, very bright and spacious. Very unlike a lot of comic stores in that there is room to walk and browse. Their card counter was quite weak, populated with wax boxes of early 90's junk, although they were all appropriately priced (low). They did have some 2010 Upper Deck and Topps hobby packs. I opted to buy 2 hobby packs of UD. It led to a first time milestone for me since I restarted collecting last year:














I PULLED MY FIRST HIT FROM A PACK!!!!!!! At least my first hit from a pack that wasn't part of a box I bought.

Granted, it is Barry Zito. And it is these non-descript looking 2010 UD jersey cards that as I found out at the Shoff show, are being sold for less than some 2010 Topps non-relic inserts.

I also pulled this:



















Granted, it's JJ Hardy, but I always like pulling these numbered UD Gold cards. I pulled a Hunter Pence last year from a pack from Target, and was able to get it to a player collector on Sports Card Forum. Unfortunately, I'm not sure how many JJ Hardy fans or player collectors are out there.... BUT, it's available for trade!!!! Act now!!!!

I also pulled a Buster Posey base "Star Rookie" for what it's worth. Also for trade.

Not bad for 2 packs at 5.95 each, with a 4.95 discount. And I finally got the excitement of pulling a hit out of a pack!!!!! Not bad, even if it's stupid Barry Zito on the stupid, stupid, terrible Giants.

Card Show Sunday

I hadn't been to the Shoff Promotions card show in Tysons Corner, VA in probably 4 months. I finally made it out, hoping to grab some 2010 cards, as well as various bargains I found. I'd say it was a great success:

First off, they are practically giving away the 2010 Upper Deck jersey cards. It might be because they are so bland looking, it might be because you get so many per box, who knows. But I got both of these for 5 bucks total. On another note, I'm sad that Kevin Kouzmanoff got traded because he was one of the few Padres I could count on being included in sets, especially as a jersey or auto hit. Hopefully someone can pick up the slack once Adrian Gonzalez gets traded (assuming...).

Next...

















































































I scored these cards out of a huge pile of game used/autographs that were going for $2.50 a piece, or 5 for 10 dollars. Considering these would go for that price PLUS shipping on eBay, I jumped at the opportunity to clean him out of Padres. It's sad to see Trevor Hoffman with another team name, but at least he is wearing the camos. Plus I scored a nice Hall of Famer jersey in Gaylord Perry. I'd kill for the 2003 Finest Gaylord Perry that Beardy pulled. I've failed so many times on eBay to get this at a decent price and would love to have it as it's one of the few that pays homage to his years as a Cy Young award winning Padre.

I also picked up a slew of random Padres singles out of the 2010 sets, as well as some lingering 2009 ones. I did pick up Latos, Everth, and Blanks rookies out of the nice looking Exquisite set.

I'll also mention that the show owner announces door prizes every few hours. He called out a winner who didn't run up to him fast enough so he pulled another one - mine. We both got up to him about the same time. He was nice enough to write us both 10 dollar gift certificates since we both got called. Very nice of him. I obviously turned that $10 into cards. I'd pretty much cleaned out the show of Padres hits. I was stumped as to what I should spend it on. Then I saw this:















None other than Nails! The now destitute, piece of trash that is living in his car, but who created the finest looking dip stain on the Veterans Stadium turf that ever there will be. Not really sure why I opted for this, but it is definitely up for trade.

That's about it for this show. We did get a coupon for a new comic/card store in the Northern Virginia area which we hit up on the way home. I'll post about what I got in the next few days.

Restarting the Blog

So I follow probably 20 baseball card related blogs on my RSS reader. I feel like such a lurker. But at the same time, I'm so jealous of all the bloggers and their community. I'm also jealous that they basically have a "storefront" to post about what they've acquired, and to set up trades. Because trading is really the most fun part of collecting: making others happy with your unwanted scraps, receiving cards that others felt were important to you.

And so, after the first aborted attempt at a San Diego Padres related baseball card blog (Ugh, Padres...), I've renamed the blog San Diego Cardres to more reflect the focus on the cards.

Clearly, I collect Padres cards. But I'm a collector in general. I love set collecting. There is no collecting related feeling better than finally completing a set, short prints and all. I'm hoping this blog helps me in those endeavors as it will open a lot of new possible trading partners.

There will be more frequent posting hopefully, and hopefully more traffic from fellow baseball card bloggers and collectors. I am always open to trading, just let me know.