Saturday, March 1, 2014

Blue Border Binder Beauties #1

The Typhoon Haiyan Charity Break was a huge success, and I'm so happy it's come and gone. Packages were shipped out Thursday for all but three. They'll be sent out early in the week. I'll post our grand total raised as soon as the last payment arrives, and I can't wait to share it with you guys! 

Now that it's all over, I can tackle another one of my New Year's resolutions, finding my niche. I've been slowly accumulating blue bordered parallels over the last couple months and have put together a semi-complete frankenset of 330 cards. Here are the first three random entries.

Card #101



2011 Topps Update US101 Scott Downs 
Did it Make the BBB?: Yes
Opposition: 2014 Topps #101 Chris Nelson
Can it be Upgraded?: You betcha
What's to Love?: First off, it doesn't take much to beat out a 2014 Topps card in my book. The 2011 design is one of my favorites of the modern era. Scott Downs is just one of those guys who you hear about once or twice a year and say "Oh, is he still playing?" The answer is yes, he is. In fact he's still playing pretty damn well. He was traded to Atlanta last year from LA and played a key relief role for the team. This offseason the White Sox signed him to a 1 year $4 million deal. Not too shabby for a 37 year old journeyman. I'm pretty sure this is a "night card" too, which is appropriate since Night Owl's Awesome Night Cards inspired me to find my niche. 

Card #81



2013 Bowman #81 Cliff Lee
Did it Make the BBB?: Yes
Opposition: 2014 Topps #81 Anibal Sanchez, 2012 Topps #81 Liam Hendriks, 2013 Bowman Draft #BDPP81 John Costa, 2013 Bowman #BP81 Gabriel Encinas
Can it be Upgraded?: Probably
What's to Love?: Cliff Lee is a helluva pitcher who deserves more respect than he gets. Perhaps that's because he's been nicknamed "The Human Trade Rumor". He also has some pretty disgusting fans. I really liked 2013 Bowman and I'd take the blue paper parallels over just about any card design released last year.


Card #247  



2011 Topps Update #US247 Zack Cozart
Did it Make the BBB?: Yes
Opposition: 2014 Topps #247 Anthony Gose
Can it be Upgraded?: Maybe
What's to Love?: Cozart was pretty crappy last year at the plate, but his fans will brag that he led the league in sacrifices last season. Big whoop, he led the league in giving the other team an out then for a minimal reward. I subscribe to the sabermetric mindset, so I'm not fond of small ball. That makes being a Royals fan especially hard. I couldn't overlook this gem though. Zack appears to be taking advantage of the "anywhere close" rule that SS's get when tagging second. What's most interesting is that the ball looks like it's being thrown from deep within the infield since it's coming from the inside of the runner advancing to second. It'd be ironic if the master of sacrifices' rookie card showed him making an out on the lead runner after a sac bunt. Who knows?

1 comment:

  1. Received my package today! Thanks for organizing and running this charity group break.

    ReplyDelete