Break up the Padres!

So after suffering through some roller coaster performances this year, with the Padres going on 10 game winning streaks then losing 20 out of 25, I'm ready for anything. What a great series they just had with the Reds, sweeping them and showing off their young talent for the future. Mat Latos was awesome throwing 7 innings of one hit ball, showing a sharp fastball that he is not afraid to throw. His secondary pitches could use a bit more command, but that fastball gives him some wiggle room. I've also been very happy with Kyle Blanks' performance. He looks effortless when he pounds a ball 430 feet, it's like he isn't swinging hard. It is very similar to how Adrian Gonzalez's home run swings, just very smooth, effortless, but with some incredible load.

Hopefully they can keep this going through this weekend's series against the Brewers. Excited to see Trevor again also. With these deals I'm hearing rumors on with A-Gon and Heath Bell (my current favorite Padre), I've got to say I think they need to take them. Getting basically the entire Red Sox minor league top 5 list is a haul that you can't say no to. You stick Bucholz and maybe Masterson into the 2010 Padres rotation and you've got something strong. Lars Anderson can be trade bait or maybe even play himself into 1B and keep Blanks in the OF. I'd really like to see a 3B get acquired. Headley isn't going to cut it, I'm now convinced. Kouz is great but the team seems intent on dealing him or replacing him at some point. I wish the Padres could pick up Josh Fields cheap from the White Sox and see if he can revitalize his once bright career here.

Slow Mail Week!

It's been a slow mail week. Since my successful card show trip last weekend, I've had less need to cruise eBay. I've got a ton of TTM autographs out, but was in a slump. Until yesterday. I got my first returns from 2009 Allen and Ginter. Didn't get any of the baseball players from 2009 Allen and Ginter though.

As a huge fan of King of Kong, I was thrilled last year to see Billy Mitchell was included in 2008 Allen and Ginter. I wrote him, and he signed my card and sent back a hand written note. This year, I was equally thrilled to see Steve Wiebe was included in this year's set. I immediately looked up his address on the White Pages and found him. Sent him a card last week, got a return yesterday.

I also sent a card to John Higby, yo-yo champion. He also sent back the card in about a week and a half, signing it "John". He also drew a yo-yo picture on the envelope and the back of the card. Very cool. I also thought his card's photo and design was one of the year's best to start with. Here are the two cards:













Let's hope for more mail this coming week!!!

Trade Needs / Haves

This will be continually updated to reflect my current needs and haves. Feel free to offer me a trade. I think book value/Beckett is stupid and doesn't reflect reality.

Updated 4/24/2010

I have an account on Zistle if you use that. My user name is Wackysoft. I generally enter everything I've got into that and you can see what I need and have.

I just finished logging in my 2010 Topps into Zistle to see what my needs are but it's way too many to list here right now. You can always check out my Photobucket to see what relics/autos/inserts I have for trade.

NEEDS:

2009 Allen and Ginter:

Base SP: 301, 302, 303, 304, 305, 308, 309, 310 ,311, 312, 315, 319, 322, 323, 328, 330, 331, 332, 335, 337, 339, 340, 341, 346, 348

National Heroes: 1

National Pride: NP4, NP57, NP58, NP60, NP68


2009 Goudey

Main: 208, 215, 219

Sport Royalty: 249, 250

Heads Up: 263, 298


2008 Upper Deck Timeline

Base: 7, 57, 58, 75, 84, 93, 133, 136, 137, 146, 147, 163, 169, 173, 218, 222, 223, 224, 227, 232, 237, 251, 252, 265, 266, 276, 279, 280, 293, 304, 305, 307, 308, 310, 315, 316, 318, 324, 333, 334, 336, 341, 345, 362, 376, 384

HAVES:

2009 Allen and Ginter

Base: 1, 3, 15, 19, 23, 26, 27, 31, 32, 37, 38, 43, 44, 45, 49, 62, 65, 68, 67, 69, 85, 88, 89, 90, 97, 105, 109, 123, 129, 131, 132, 133, 135, 145, 156, 158, 159, 161, 162, 167, 169, 174, 180, 182, 186, 189, 190, 204, 209, 211, 211, 214, 217, 224, 228, 230, 236, 241, 242, 246, 249, 251, 254, 255, 257, 258, 263, 266, 268, 273, 274, 275, 277, 279, 286, 297, 298, 299, 300

Base SP: 336, 350

Hoodwinks: 1, 2, 11

National Heroes: 3, 6, 13, 17, 18, 21, 25, 26, 28, 31, 32, 33

Black Minis: 75, 209, 217, 220, 294, 313

Minis: 11, 16, 19, 33, 40, 51, 54, 76, 119, 137, 145, 157, 164, 165, 173, 177, 197, 209, 217, 238, 247, 275, 291, 314, 339

Minis A&G Back: 10, 12, 18, 28, 161, 178, 215, 223, 226

National Pride: 25, 26, 27, 28, 30, 32, 34, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 46


2009 Goudey

Base: Many, don't feel like listing them all

Sport Royalty: 226, 228, 236, 237, 244, 256

Tons of the 4-in-1s in various colors


2009 Topps

Have a slew of them


2009 Upper Deck

Also have a slew of them

Card Show Success!

The DC area doesn't seem to have a very thriving card scene. There are a handful of stores that are mostly overpriced, tiny and few and far between. Blowoutcards.com is located in the outskirts, but it's not like I can drop in and buy stuff there. Luckily, there is a near monthly card show in Tysons Corner, Shoff Promotions. Went there today to try and fill my 2009 Allen and Ginter set needs. With my trusty checklist in hand, and after powering up with a Taco Bell lunch of champions, I was ready. After hunching over boxes for an hour or so, I've now completed my Hoodwinks set, am one away from completing my National Heroes set, completed the Highlight Sketches set, and now need about 20 more base to complete the 1-300 set. I didn't want to pay a buck a card for the short prints, so hopefully this blog will help me find some trading partners.

Also picked up the Robin Yount short print 2009 Goudey, so now I only have a handful of cards left on that set's 1-300. It seems like no one is selling Goudey, so maybe I'm the only one collecting it?

PLEASE HELP ME COMPLETE THESE SETS!!!!!!

Padres in town to get crushed by the Nationals! UGH!

I had the joy of going to Nationals Park on Friday to watch a rare Padres victory against, as we've learned by the end of the series, the vastly superior Washington Nationals. It was the first time I've been able to go early to a game and catch batting practice. Luckily, with Padres fans being so sparse around these parts, it was relatively easy to meet the players. Jake Peavy, Heath Bell, David Eckstein and Mat Latos in particular were very accessible. Peavy spent about 10 minutes meeting fans. I was lucky enough to get this:

Mat Latos, who was starting that night, was also friendly, although he told us that he "doesn't do pictures". He does do autographs though. Check out this crappy autograph I got on a too-glossy card:













Anyways, the Padres totally destroyed the Nationals. The Nationals blundered their way to 4 errors, and it felt great that the last 7 games I've seen the Padres play in DC, they've won. Unfortunately they got smoked Saturday, and despite a heroic Kyle Blanks bomb, lost in extra innings to... awful Austin Kearns.

Thanks to all the Padres that were nice enough to chat with fans and sign autographs (Peavy, Latos, Brian Giles (who was looking awfully tan), David Eckstein, Will Venable, Mike Adams, Heath Bell, Chase Headley, and saw Kouz signing for some servicemen).

Here are some more photos of the pregame:

Welcome To My Misery

I am a lifelong Padres fan. It has been hard. I've been suffering for the majority of my life as a result. Obviously, there have been moments of glory. 1998 was great. Until we got to the World Series and got swept. A string of NL West championships in the past few years was nice except we kept getting owned in the 1st round of the playoffs. Regardless, I still watch as many games as I can on MLB.TV and in person at Nationals Park (local stadium). Then I get depressed and crawl into a ball after our putrid middle relief blows another game. Or when Josh Geer gives up 4 bombs in 4 innings. Whatever, a fan is a fan. I'll say Ugh, Padres, and then I'll be right back in front of the screen watching the next night's game. A real glutton for punishment.

More recently, I've gotten really back into baseball card collecting, which will be the focus of this blog. Obviously I love collecting Padres cards, and it's nice being on the East Coast where no one cares about the Padres and Padres can be picked up cheap. I am also super into set collecting, am active on Sports Card Forum, and read as many baseball card blogs on my Google Reader as possible. I love the community of bloggers that support each other and look forward to joining in. Too bad I'm too late to take part in Gint-A-Cuffs!

Hopefully you find plenty of value in this blog, or at least enough to check periodically or add me to your RSS reader. Look forward to talking with many of you!