Contest Registration

Registration for the First Contest of 2009 will be open from 4PM EST until Sunday, February 1st at midnight. We are leaving a large window because of the Super Bowl, people getting ready for that, and it's the weekend.

To register simply leave a comment saying you're in, or something like that and we will write your name down for Monday.

Don't miss your chance to win one of ten FREE cards from us on Monday at 3PM EST.

Yankee Stadium Legacy Memorabilia Auction

What is this person thinking? I mean honestly, who has this much money to spend on cards when some of these aren't even selling for $10? I just had to show everyone this because I saw it as I was scrolling through my search and exclaimed, "YEAH, RIGHT!" followed by a hearty chuckle.

Complete Set of Yankee Stadium Legacy Memorabilia cards

Conservation of Cardboard & Cash

Just like everyone else out there, I am doing my best to not purchase anything. I had one moment of weakness last weekend with luvbubby on eBay, but otherwise I have been good. I have been slowly opening a hobby box of 2008 Upper Deck Timeline, one of the last boxes I have been hoarding from Christmas.

I know a lot of you can't keep sealed wax laying around, and normally I like to open stuff also. I used to keep a bunch of blasters laying around for snow days and boredom, but I don't have the money for it now on top of the fact that there really hasn't been anything around to buy and hoard.

I was clawing at the walls last night itching to open something so I opened that box and picked the top 4 packs and opened them. Nothing exciting, but a Yankee Stadium Legacy card of Roger Clemens. I will scan a couple of cards for the sake of making this entertaining. I don't really care for this product one way or the other anymore, but it's here and I have an addiction.

I'm going to open some more tonight since I am home and bored out of my mind. Also please check out the previous post about our contest that is coming up.

First Contest of 2009

We are celebrating what we hope to be the first of many milestones this year for us, and the blog. We have reached 10,000 hits for the month of January and want to celebrate it with all the readers who made it possible.

The contest will be announced tomorrow in full detail with a 24 hour registration window for all who wish to enter. We are going to show you the prizes now, this way we can get you all salivating with anticipation of adding one of these bad boys to your collection.

Now if you lose, you have to send us Jeter and Pujols cards. (I'm kidding!)

All the cards to the left are going to be prizes. We are giving away 3 cards in total.

The contest will be posted Monday afternoon at 3pm EST.

Make sure to come back on Wednesday

By Wednesday, we should have the 2009 Topps Jumbo case and we plan on doing a live case break, starting at 4 p.m. Upper Deck comes out the day before, but this is our first official endeavor into the 2009 products.

Some of the highlights for the the jumbo boxes include: one auto and two game-used relics per box. One Legends of the Game nicknamed jersey patch in every jumbo box, along with turkey red inserts, sketch cards and other fun stuff.

However, there could be a small kink in our plans. Marie needs to drive down to the Hot Rod Farm (that's where I live) next week and apparently the weather pundits are calling for a snowstorm in the Northeast on the days that the new 2009 products are to arrive.

The snow could mean one of two things that could happen.
1. The shipping gets delayed and we have to wait one or two days.
2. Marie can't get down here because of all the conditions.

Let's all hope that snow stays away for another day because I'm sure Marie won't mind getting stuck at my house for the weekend.

Jeter Steals Sign

Yes, you read that correctly. He stole a sign, not second base. According to Yahoo! Sports Derek Jeter has finally come clean on what he "stole" from Yankee Stadium. He took the sign that reads, "I'd like to thank the Good Lord for making me a Yankee," a quotation from Joe DiMaggio.

Towards the end of the season many players were asked what memento they would like to take from the Stadium, and most of them were honest. Take Moose for example, he wanted the flag pole from Monument Park. Why? I have no idea. Another player, who I want to say was David Cone, wanted the scale Babe Ruth used to weigh himself on. (Could have been another player my mind is a little jumbled.) Jeter though, said the whole time, "I can't tell you," or "you'll have to wait and see". There weren't many things I could have seen him taking. This makes perfect sense for him to take. This is the same sign he has touched before every single home game of his career, what else could a guy want?

Trading Time

One of our readers, Greg, e-mailed me that he had a bunch of Yankee Stadium Legacy cards for trade. After I did a short jig, I e-mailed him back with some banter and cards to try and seal the deal. We worked it all out and he sent me a whole mess of cards including some Pujols, and a couple for Sooz.

These are the YSL cards I got, I copied and pasted this list from the e-mail so hopefully this is what was there, lol.

Game 2179 Joe DiMaggio
Game 2154 Johnny Mize
Game 6076 Derek Jeter
Game 2124 Joe DiMaggio
Game 860 Tony Lazzeri
Game 5237 Jim Leyritz
Game 5212 Kevin Maas
Game 5908 Joe Torre
Game 1861 Yogi Berra
Game 2149 Johnny Mize
Game 3595 Joe Pepitone
Game 3545 Joe Pepitone
Game 2234 Joe DiMaggio
Game 2209 Allie Reynolds
Game 4339 Goose Gossage
Game 391 Urban Shocker
Game 4140 Reggie Jackson

I now have 808/6661. I can't wait to see how long this actually ends up taking me.

The other thing I wanted to mention to everyone that has e-mailed me for cards in the past, and will in the future is THANK YOU!! I enjoy talking to new people about cards, and I like trading. Trading saves everyone some money, and we all get what we want. I invite you to e-mail me and let me know if you have anything I might be interested in because I have plenty of cards that I have no interest in to trade.

And another thank you to everyone who stops by and reads the blog. We have written quite a few this month and are hoping to keep it going into February.

(Photo courtesy of Upper Deck, though I did see this in person at the Fan Fest over the summer.)

Pinstripe power?

Pinstripes have a way of slimming, but also have a way making things expensive. For baseball card collectors, pinstripes always usually equate to extra dollars.

The New York Yankees are some of the most sought after cards and its players are hot commodities on the card market making a guy who has never thrown a pitch in baseball, worth hundreds of dollars - for each card. The market for Joba Chamberlain was crazy before he even got to wear a Yankee uniform.


One of the most expensive players to collect is current short stop Derek Jeter. If you look at his numbers compared to others of his price range (Albert Pujols, Alex Rodriguez), it's not even comparable. He doesn't have the same statistics, but he does a winning a smile and that NY that he has donned his entire professional career.

So what does becoming a Yankee do to the value of a player in the card market.The two newest Yankees (AJ Burnett doesn't count) are CC Sabathia and Mark Teixeira.


Look at this completed auction of Teixeira. A 2001 auto, his rookie card season, sold for $46. Notice the word 'Yankees' in the title auction. This complete auction went for $69 and another PSA 9 went for a BIN of $134.


Sabathia's 1999 Topps Traded auto sold for $89 and a BGS 9 went for $170.


Now, we come to Beckett's monthly hot list. While there are opponents out there of Beckett, it is the only source out there that is giving this type of information, which is why I am using it.

The top card on Beckett's hot list is Teixeira's 2001 SPx auto, which, according to Beckett, is up to $90-$150 book value range. Teixera makes the 20-card list, three times. Sabathia just once and Burnett even makes an appearance. All the cards on the hot list weren't even on it last month.

However, those aren't the only Yankees to make the list. Prospect Jesus Montero is there as well with the 2008 Bowman Sterling Prospects game-used jersey/autograph card.


Twenty percent of the hot list includes Yankees. Would any of those cards be on the hot list if they didn't have a future in pinstripes? For the record, not one of those players has even played a game for the Yankees. The closest they have gotten to wearing the uniform was on their signing day when they took the obligatory pictures.

When it comes to favorite players do you want to see your player end up in a Yankees uniform?

Find Us On Facebook!

For all of you that are on Facebook we have created a page and look forward to chatting with you. We can talk all day and you'll never get your work done. I know you're excited about that.

Show us what you got!

Random Cards That I Like

We all have these types of cards in our collection. The kind that are cool for some reason or another, yet mean nothing to us. I got these cards right out of the packs years ago, and they are 2 of my favorites.

Both cards came from the 2005 Fleer Classic Clippings Set. The Marcus Giles card is cool because there is dirt on the swatch, and I like that. This is the only card I think I have ever pulled, that actually looks like it was "game-used". The Brian Giles was my first ever patch card, so I think for that reason alone it has a special place here.

Anyone else have random favorite game-used cards? Or remember the first one you ever got? Shout it out and entertain me.

My venture in prospecting

I've tried my hands at prospecting twice. The first time was around 1998 or 1999 and I was looking for the hottest newcomer. There was one name that stuck out for me - Erubiel Durazo.

I bought several of rookie cards off eBay thinking, perhaps I can add something good to my collection. Instead, I've ended up bookends or something.

My second attempt at prospecting was more expensive. This time I decided I would go for a Yankees prospect because what better way to start a new player collection is to get all his prospect cards from the beginning. I checked eBay, Naxcom, sportlots, everything to find all the cards I can on this guy.

Jose Tabata. That was guy. Over the last two years he was one of the highest touted prospects for the Yankees. He was projected to be the Yankees centerfielder in a few years, possibly 2010.

Even though he was only in Tampa, scouts couldn't stop talking about him.

Then, he went to Trenton.

Him and Austin Jackson were side-by-side and Jackson outshined Tabata.

Instead, Tabata -- once an untouchable -- nearly had a nervous breakdown. He left the field one night in Trenton and wanted to go home.

The Yankees ended up trading him to Pittsburgh for Xavier Nady and Damaso Marte.

Now, I stare at my Tabata cards and think, now what?

The Torre Story

I know most of you are already aware that there is some controversy surrounding the book, "The Yankee Years." From my own understanding, it's a third-person narrative with Sports Illustrated's Tom Verducci. The book has interviews from some of Torre's former players such as David Cone.

The controversy is that supposedly Torre said that teammates in the clubhouse were calling Alex Rodriguez 'A-Fraud'. Torre denies making such a comment in his first public statement on the book. What I did take from this article is that Torre makes no statements that are not already floating around within the media about Rodriguez's clubhouse etiquette. He "craves attention" and he sometimes "presses to hard to impress people or satisfy the fans." These are things most people can tell, or have heard before.

Why is this a big deal? Because he is saying it?

Torre is not the first person, and certainly won't be the last. He seems to merely suggest the change in the clubhouse upon A-Rod's arrival, and I have to say I don't see the problem with it. A-Rod is the highest paid player in baseball, and that subjects him to more criticism and controversy than most other players.

My feeling on this whole situation goes back to a simple saying many of us use on a daily basis, "don't judge a book by it's cover." When people read things, they tend to take them in the context they understand them and that is fine. But just because one report found that Torre was critical, or leaking out the information of the Yankees clubhouse, doesn't mean that is what the book is about.

Before all these websites, newspapers and TV shows report these things they should actually read the book. I have a hard time believing Joe Torre, the quietest and least confrontational personality seen on TV in the most pressure-filled position in sports -- and maybe the industry, would want to put himself in a position of ridicule or make a spectacle of some of the best years of his career in baseball.

As for me, I will make a judgement once I get to read it. Torre has helped create many of my best Yankee memories so he will get the benefit of the doubt.

2009 Baseball Icons Preview

The Beckett Blog has a first look preview of 2009 Baseball Icons, a new product that is going to be released this upcoming season, which is set to come out in July.

According to the blog, each 10-pack box will have five serial numbered inserts and parallels, including two Letterman cards, two memorabilia cards and one auto.

Each 12-box case will include two Lettermen autograph cards numbered to 99 or less and one Upper Deck 20th Anniversary memorabilia card.

The standard set will include 100 regular cards, 30 rookie cards numbered to 999 and 30 autographed rookies numbered to 600 or less.

Also included will be Celebrity Lettermen and Immortal Lettermen SignaturesSigned Lettermen patch cards from active and retired stars.

One of the preview pictures released was a David Price auto to get all the prosepcting, Tampa Bay and rookie collectors excited.

What do guys think of the design? There are pictures available on the Beckett site that I linked at the top. It's a very basic design and doesn't add anything that I haven't seen before.

Granted, that's difficult these days with baseball cards because so many designs have been used, but I've just been looking for that wow factor when it comes to new sets.

If I'm rating my wow factor from one to five, I'm going with a 2. I don't hate the cards, but i don't see myself looking for anything out of this more than a Jeter card. Also, if the set is called Icons, why is there an auto of David Price? I wouldn't put him at that level.

Here are a few more pics:

New and Improved Robinson Cano

According to reports, Robinson Cano has apparently lost 5 pounds in the off-season and has been working with a personal trainer while playing winter ball in the Dominican Republic. This is great news for the Yankees who seemed to have some doubts this past season about his abilities. Cano ended up benched at one or two points for mental errors in the field, and his batting wasn't helping to keep him in the line-up.

Cano is looking forward to playing in the World Baseball Classic for the Dominican Republic, and Yankee fans should as well. Cano typically starts the season slow, not coming around until late May or even June. For whatever reason, he needs time to get into the groove, despite Spring Training. He had a great Spring last year, but still could not get off the ground once the season started. Hopefully, by Cano playing competitive ball in the WBC that will work out any kinks he might have in April or May.

If Spring Training helped Cano for the season he should have a monster season every year by definition, but Spring Training is not very competitive, and as we have seen in the past with Cano, it doesn't translate instantly into a great start.

Cano could be one of the games best second basemen. He has power at the plate, he just needs patience. In the field, he has good range and he makes many difficult plays look easy, however, sometimes he makes mental mistakes that make him look bad or like he is not hustling. Yankee fans need to give the kid a chance, there is a good reason why the Yankees are keeping him around and working with him.

Is this necessary?

I know we already talked about the first guy to complete the YSL set, but did we know he was getting his own baseball card because of it? I saw this on a press release today and shook my head.

Upper Deck has recognized Baxter's feat by producing a special "Historic First" insert card of Tommy and his YSL cards that will be part of the company's fast-approaching 2009 Upper Deck Series 1 Baseball release. The product is scheduled to reach store shelves on Feb. 3, 2009.

Catch a picture of our boy here.

Welcome Home Andy

And might I start by saying, thank God he is not a Met. How brutal would that have been? I might have hated him just a little bit.

Pettitte refused a deal earlier in the off season in which the Yankees offered him $10 million for one year. Now the offer that they agreed to is one year, $5.5 million, plus a nice group of incentive bonuses which could end up paying him $12 million by season end if he reaches those goals.

I would offer to paraphrase this and come up with something of my own, but I am lazy and someone else got paid for this story on Yankees.com. Here is that story:

Pettitte holding onto his pinstripes
Veteran left-hander agrees to incentive-laden, one-year deal

By Bryan Hoch / MLB.com
Andy Pettitte's 2009 base salary is $5.5 million, but he could earn up to $12 million with incentives. (AP)

NEW YORK -- Andy Pettitte never needed to hear the offers that might have awaited him in free agency. He had decided that by the time winter turned to spring, he would have somehow wound up back with the Yankees.

It took longer than expected, but Pettitte has finally crossed the finish line. The veteran left-hander agreed Monday to a one-year, $5.5 million contract with the Yankees, with incentives that could push the total value of the deal to $12 million.

"There was no other team ever brought into the equation," Pettitte said. "My mind never changed. I wanted to come back to the Yankees, and in my mind, I was going to be back."

Discussions between Pettitte's representatives and general manager Brian Cashman had continued for weeks, with both sides insistent that they wanted to work out a deal. But, as Cashman said at one point, it had grown more complicated.

"Andy said every step of the way that he wanted to be a Yankee," Cashman said. "I remember him telling me at one point in this process, 'Cash, if you guys want me back, we will find a way to get this thing done.' He honored that."

While the negotiations were described as cordial, the two sides had one major stumbling block to get past. The 36-year-old's agents, Randy and Alan Hendricks, advised Pettitte that the Yankees' initial offer -- one year at $10.5 million -- represented too large of a pay cut it represents from the $16 million he earned in each of the last two seasons.

Pettitte said that he believed Cashman's word that the Yankees wanted him back, and once he had decided to pitch in November, he decided that it would only be for the Yankees.

He did check in with Joe Torre at one point about possible relocation out west, but even the Dodgers manager expected Pettitte would eventually hammer something out in New York.

"I felt quite sure that one way or the other, we were going to get something worked out," Pettitte said. "I'd be lying if I didn't say, 'Heck, is this going to ever get done?' It was taking so long. I was very impatient, and it tried my patience. But I just trusted that things would work out."

Though Randy Hendricks said that he was certain Pettitte could have found more money in free agency, he was tethered to his client's wishes of pitching for only the Yankees. Pettitte isn't thrilled about the pay cut, but the end destination is what he was more concerned with.

"I guess it does take a shot at your pride a little bit," Pettitte said. "But when you put all that aside, I wanted to play for the New York Yankees. That was the bottom line. I wanted to be there and play in that new stadium."

The Yankees remained unwilling to budge from the neighborhood of their original offer, exhibiting tight wallets in harsh contrast to the $423.5 million in combined commitments that wooed CC Sabathia, A.J. Burnett and Mark Teixeira.

Hot Stove
After the Yankees inked Teixeira to an eight-year, $180 million deal two days before Christmas, even Pettitte began to wonder if there would be anything left in the organization's coffers for him.

Had Pettitte not agreed to get creative with the structure of his deal, there might not have been. After completing business at the Winter Meetings in Las Vegas, Cashman met with Pettitte face-to-face in Houston on Dec. 11, a detour that set the negotiations back on track.

There, Pettitte informed Cashman that he had "absolutely no problem" with the idea of an incentive-based contract, a concept that the Steinbrenners signed off on. With less than three weeks remaining before Yankees pitchers and catchers report to Tampa, Fla., Hendricks called Pettitte and informed him that the club had made its last offer.

"I think Cash and I both knew that if we don't get it done now, we'll probably never get it done, and time will pass this by," Hendricks said. "We just made a committed effort to roll up our sleeves and put a pencil to everything."

Pettitte said that, having heard the final parameters, his response did not require much thought.

"We were at the end of the line and I needed to make a decision," Pettitte said. "I'm extremely happy to be coming back."

Hendricks was asked if his camp had any regrets in not taking the original flat offer of $10.5 million, which would have represented a $5.5 million cut. Instead, Pettitte is taking a gamble by decreasing his base pay by $10.5 million.

"I think time will tell," Hendricks said. "If in fact Andy does in 2009 what he's done before, he'll actually make more money, so in that case we'll have no regrets. If things go wrong, we might be in a position to say we should have taken the left fork in the road."

If Pettitte remains healthy and performs to caliber, an increase should be reachable. Last season, Pettitte was 14-14 with a 4.54 ERA in 33 starts last season and has logged at least 200 innings in four straight seasons.

But he was hampered by a shoulder injury that forced him to falter down the stretch last year, going 2-7 with a 6.23 ERA over his last 11 starts. The Yankees ordered a medical exam on Pettitte late in September and were pleasantly surprised when it came back clean, with only rest needed to restore Pettitte's strength.

Pettitte slots in as the likely fourth starter in a rotation that will be headlined by Sabathia and Burnett. Chien-Ming Wang is expected to serve as the No. 3 starter, coming back from his season-ending foot injury, and Joba Chamberlain rounds out the rotation as the No. 5 starter.

"I'm very excited about it," Pettitte said. "With every signing that we did, for me, it was, 'OK, I'm coming back. I want to be part of this.' I just think that we're going to have an unbelievable staff."

TTM Time

It's almost time for pitchers and catcher to report to Spring training, which means almost time for me to get my custom made TTM cards ready to go out. I am wondering if I should send hand written letters, or type them. I obviously would prefer to type them, but I feel like hand writing them looks more personal. What has everyone else done in the past?

In case anyone didn't see the cards that I got in a trade with topher, here they are:




I am not sure if I will send the Pujols card though. I don't really see myself actually getting that back without sending a note written in crayon with some made up story as to why I need that signed. I may just keep it in my binder, though I would really love to get it signed. Should I take my chances in Spring Training or just keep it?

I think I am going to break a box later that I have had here since Christmas. It's been asking me to open it for a while now.

It's Your Fault

No, really it is. To the people who mentioned bargain packs or shopping to me in the comments yesterday, and you shall remain nameless I went and bought packs. Though it's really only half your faults because I still had my $4.00 left today from not spending it yesterday.

After I worked out, I went to the rip-off card store around here to grab some packs. They have a box with packs that are half price, so I like to rummage and see which ones are marked for less than the rest of the same packs and buy those. I grabbed 3 packs of 2001 Victory because they were $1 (marked $2), then found a pack of 2003 Topps Series 2 Jumbo marked $2.99 instead of $4.99 like the rest and took those for $1.50, and while flipping the rest I saw one 2003 Topps Chrome Series 2 marked $1.99 instead of $3.99 like the rest, and finished the day with that $1 pack. I spent a whole $5.50 plus tax.

I opened the Chrome pack first, and it sucked as far as I'm concerned. Sooz will beg to differ because this is what she got for my $1:


The rest of the cards in that pack were Quentin McCracken, Eric Brynes, and Felipe Lopez.

The 3 Victory packs weren't great, but they scratched the itch. I scanned a couple of the better cards for the blog, the rest are too many to list (and most of you would not care, trust me).






Now for those of you who are still with me, here is where I thank the people who tempted me to look for sale packs of cards.

The 2003 Topps Series 2 Jumbo pack for $1.50....


That was enough for me. That card made my whole trip worthwhile. I did get about 12 team picture cards (snooze), and some others I scanned for your viewing enjoyment.




They also had some 2002 or 2003 Topps Gallery packs marked $4.99, but I couldn't see them really being worth $2.50 a pack. Maybe I'm just cheap. There were 2002 SP Authentic marked $5.99, and I couldn't bring myself to spend $3 a pack on those either. I would have liked to have bought a couple of those, but I'm happy with Cole.

Thank God I Fixed My Hair Today

I ended up doing nothing on the poll. Never got to the bank or the card show. I ended up having to work this morning. However, I am not complaining because I definitely got my baseball fix in.

I'll give you a hint as to what I did today:

Fantasy Baseball 2009

The following people are confirmed for the league:

-Grand Cards
-Fielders Choice
-Captain Canuck
-psad21
-madding
-Todd Uncommon
-me and Sooz

There are still 4 remaining spots since the other 4 have not confirmed, nor denied. Please let me know asap, and if I do not have your e-mail address please e-mail me with it so I can send a group one out this weekend.

A Trade From A Tribe Fan

I met another great person through this blog this week, Jack from All Tribe Baseball, otherwise known as Baseball Dad in the comments. Jack started writing his blog in November of 2007, but has been a Cleveland Indians fan forever.

Jack e-mailed me with a list of Pujols cards that I did not have, and I was drooling at my keyboard at the idea of a bubble mailer with all those cards. After a few e-mails back and forth we were able to hammer out a nice deal for all the Pujols cards in exchange for a variety of Tribe cards that he did not have (along with some extras that I didn't tell him about).

I went to the post office today and there was my glorious package of Pujols! I
barely made it home and was ripping it open. To my surprise, there were a bunch of surprises inside, as well as one for Sooz which I didn't open. Jack also threw in a few extra cards that were delightful, including a Gold 2008 Cano card and some Tulo, Joba, and Cano cards that I didn't have. Here is what I ended up with:



2002

Donruss Originals ‘88 - 366 (SP)
Fleer Tradition Update Curtain Call
U-368
Fleer Tradition Update Diamond Standouts U - 276
Gallery - 56
Stadium Club - 5
Topps Ten Doubles - 16
Victory Stat Leaders C-list - 300



2003

Bazooka - 1
Donruss - 391
Fleer Tradition - 171
Fleer Tradition Update Tale of the Tape
U279



2004

Bazooka Red Chunk - 50
Flair - 15
Leaf 2nd Edition - 182
Playoff Absolute Memorabilia - 179
Topps - 40
Topps Batting Ave. Leader - 343
Topps Sporting News A/S - 723
UD World’s Series Heroes - WS-41



2005

Fleer - 82
Fleer NLCS MVP - 332
Topps Heritage - 31 (Red Cap)
Topps Rookie Cup Reprint - 123
Ultra Follow the Leader - 2 FL
UD Team Leaders - 287
UD All-Star Classics - 1



2006

Topps Update - UH-229
Ultra Gold Medallion - 37

2007
UD Goudey 233 Green back

2008

Bowman Gold - 160


I want to thank Jack for his kindness and generosity, and hope that some of you stop by his blog and help him out with some Tribe cards.

Sleep? What's that?

Oh riiiiiight... It's that thing I never seem to do at night. I am a night person, plain and simple. I have no interest in mornings. Zero. I feel like my brain works better at night, if I get up too early I'm a spaz all day long.

I thought about going to bed soon, but then the K-Mart comments have me thinking about going there. Not enough to go to bed and get up early and go there, but enough that I am wishing they have something fun if I make it there before they close tomorrow.

I am also sitting here pondering what I can trade away for some more Pujols cards. That's another thing that has been fun lately, trading. I just made another trade deal with Peter from Dropped Third Strike for some more Yankee Stadium Legacy cards, and I'm thrilled. If I could be a "night trader" in the same way there are "day traders" I would be a millionaire. If anyone wants to hire me to negotiate trades, I have spare time. Mostly that time where I should be sleeping.

Then there's the fantasy baseball... still waiting on some responses... I did not forget and will get those e-mails out this weekend with the info for payment and draft dates.

I'm going to go watch a little tv, then try and go to bed before I start searching for things on eBay.

Almost....

I was going to go to Shoprite because I had 4 singles in my wallet and they have a vending machine of baseball cards.

Rather than do that I decided to beat up on my car, floor it then drift, skid and slide my way home. Now the whole neighborhood smells like burnt rubber, but I still have my 4 dollars.

Be back shortly with a normal blog. Just wanted to show people I have a little self control sometimes, not sure if tearing it up in the car equates to self control though.

Anyone buy anything today? I got a sweet trade to talk about later.

I'm bored

Here's the lull between cards. When there are no more 2008 cards I'm interested in and the 2009 cards aren't out yet.

I got nothing to do, but work. And though I love my job, there is only so much time I can go about enjoying that. I need a new product. I need new cards. I thought the White Plains baseball card show last weekend would fill me up long enough for the 2009 Topps case to arrive.

It's two weeks away and I am going to stir crazy.

I have to drive up to Toms River tomorrow. There are two options to do when I get there (besides going to the bank, which is my destination). I can go to the card show that is being held in the Ocean County Mall or visit The Back Stop, home of Dr. Wax Battle.

What a dilemma! Vote in the poll below to help me decide. I'm waking up at 8:30 a.m. to take care of business tomorrow.

Sincerely,
Sooz

Yankee Stadium Legacy Travels From Singapore

I received an e-mail from Aik Sheng a while ago telling me that he had some Yankee Stadium Legacy cards for trade if I was interested. It took me a couple of days to get back to him, but thankfully he still had them and was still willing to talk shop with me. He collects Ken Griffey Jr. and Nick Swisher so we worked out a deal for some of those cards for 9 Yankee Stadium Legacy cards.

The cards arrived today in perfect order. I got the following games:

-5103 Tommy John
-5128 Don Mattingly
-5153 Dave Righetti
-5689 Joe Torre
-6261 Roger Clemens
-6286 Andy Pettitte
-6311 Mariano Rivera
-6336 Hideki Matsui
-6361 Jorge Posada

So for all of you out there that are apprehensive about trading overseas, this guy is okay. I can't pronounce his name to save my life and I am not going to pretend I can and end up insulting him. However, if anyone has some of those 2 players and need to unload them I can link you up, I am sure he would be interested in getting some new cards from reliable traders.

I do have another trade or two to acknowledge and I will try to get to those at some point tomorrow. I went from working in the store one day to 3 straight somehow and just haven't been home. Sorry if the entertainment around these parts has been slacking in the past few days.

I encourage all of you to keep me posted on YSL cards that are available, I will be more than willing to negotiate.

My Secret Stash

It's not something I proudly admit. I like to look at it when I'm feeling a little blue - sad blue. But I have this secret stash of baseball cards that only my boyfriend and Marie knows I collect.

Now, you.

As you have realized by now. I'm a woman. I have eyes and I can't help what I see. So that one fateful night while working at The Sports Authority as a 17-year-old girl when I picked up that issue of Muscle Fitness that fell on the floor changed everything.

There was Gabe Kapler, ripped muscles and all. It was the baseball issues with him, Brad Fullmer and, I think, Royce Clayton.

So, I did the only thing I knew now as a girl with a crush.

I collected his baseball cards. I probably have over 100 of his cards right now. I recently bought a huge lot of them on Beckett, but haven't logged them in yet.

Kapler's was the first auto I bought off eBay when I finally got a job to promote my habit of cardboard.

He used to come often to Yankee Stadium and play right field. I used to scream at him and had my (male) friends yell to him since they were louder than me. It didn't even matter when he went to Boston.

I joined the Gabe Kapler fan club back then too. Apparently, it was an unofficial fan club, but won a signed photo of his. I still collect his cards as you can see by the photo. That card just came out in the Heritage High Series.

There's a good chance after reading this, you think I'm a tad bit crazy. But even though I love sports and baseball cards, I'm still a woman. I have eyes.

2008 Topps Heritage High Series Packs 13-24

I was only going to open 6 more, but then the last 6 looked lonely... and I was bored.

Here is what I thought of the rest of the box: ZzZzZzZzZzZzZz

I am not making the effort of listing the rest of the cards because there was nothing exciting really. I may make a list of all of them later, or log them into Beckett for reference. I scanned the Chrome cards, and the Refractor that I got as well as some inserts. That's all. It was snoozetown on the remainder of the box with no Yankees, and no one that really interested me. I pulled about 4 Shoppach cards and the same on Dellucci. Great!

For now they are all in numerical order awaiting the verdict on where they will end up.