Insert clever title here

I remember back when I used to buy cards and immediately log them into an Excel spreadsheet then put them away.  Nevermind, that was all a dream.  I used to buy piles of cards, boxes of cards, and let them pile up to the high heavens and then work on putting them away.

Who cares?  Yeah, that's exactly my point.  I have been back into buying cards since last summer or so and they have been accumulating on my desk since.  I have a stack of McDonagh cards and various other Rangers in a stack, and on my floor an empty binder that was purchased who knows when to put them in.  Collecting is work as much as it is fun, unless of course you don't care about wasting money buying doubles and triples of things because you have no record of what you have.

A couple of weeks ago Sooz and I went to see Dave at the Baseball Card Store in Midland Park, NJ, and I bought a bag of cards.  They are still in the bag.  I haven't even looked at them.  I feel like this makes me a "bad" collector or that I waste my money since I clearly don't get the same enjoyment out of the work part.  

Surely I can't be the only one who does this all the time.  I wish I had an elf to help me.  Even if he was an angry elf.

That's all.

P.S. I am bored at work and this is what I am thinking about.  Stay tuned, I may have more random thoughts soon...

Fun-filled weekend in Atlantic City

OK, so I live near Atlantic City and can get there whenever I want, but I had two reasons to go this, which had nothing to do with poker (you know who I'm talking to - EVIL EYES).

On Sunday, I went to the Borgata to see Conan O'Brien. That was a ton of fun. I laughed so much and at times was literally holding my stomach from laughing so hard. The comic dog made a video appearance. Andy Richter was there and the band sans Max Weinberg.

He did some bits and sang some songs. At the very end, I was a total girl. After singing a song, Conan said goodnight and left the stage. But you know there is always an encore at every show. At this point, a bunch of people left though thinking the show was over.

But I didn't move.

Conan came back out with the band. He told everyone in the back to move forward. Forget the people that left on their comped tickets and for the real fans to come forward. Then, they sang The Weight, which is a song I absolutely love. Then, he jumped into the crowd and was hugging and giving people handshakes. I got all mushy and even had a tear in my eye.

Here are some bad pics from my camera phone.

This last picture is pretty funny. Before the show, I was telling my boyfriend that the last show I saw at the Borgata was Meatloaf (Yes, meatloaf).

This bat in the picture is apparently the bat that is blown up during Meatloaf's concert when he sings Bat Out of Hell. I was cracking up and said, "See, it's cyclical. It all comes together."

Overall, great show. I had a great time and laughed a lot.

On Monday, Darryl Strawberry was doing a free autograph session at the Showboat. One of my friends down here is a big Mets fans, so we planned on going so she can get his signature for her and her dad. Even though my boyfriend is not a sports fan, we dragged him a long, which turned out to work in our favor.

We got there about a half hour early and went to stand in line. In casinos, the better rated club card you  have, the better treatment you get. I don't gamble or play cards much, so I'm just a lowly gold card at Harrah's properties. However, my boyfriend is a Diamond card, which is the third tier (Harrah's doesn't even tell you about that top tier on their website because only high rollers ever get there).

There was separate line for Diamond members and we got to stand on that line. We were about 10th in line and got our autos fairly quickly. You were allowed only one piece at a time, which was free. If you wanted something else signed, you had to go back in line. If you wanted a picture taken with Strawberry that was an extra $10, which my friend got.

Here's Strawberry signing. 

I ended up getting a baseball signed. I went on a scavenger hunt to find an official MLB baseball Monday morning too. I went to six stores before I ended up at The Sports Authority. No other store had any - all sold out, they said. Then, I go to TSA and they had about 30.

Here's my signed ball.

Despite the fact that I'm sick, I had a really great weekend. No sinus infection/flu/cold can hold me down. However, when I got home on Monday afternoon, I passed out on the couch and didn't move for the next few hours.

What would you buy?

I know that we are all aware of the Strasburg Superfractor, but at the present moment it has 75 bids and is at $15,000. It has gone up 3 times since I looked earlier this evening.

I find this absolutely INSANE. I would really like to hear from some of the bidders if they stumble across this post. For this kind of money you can buy so many other things, like a 1952 Mantle, a car, down payment on a house, school tuition, etc.

Maybe there is someone out there that can explain the logic in plunking down $15,000 on this card. Though, I don't think it will make it make sense to me even if I had the money. Obviously the people that are bidding on this card have disposable cash or income that will afford them this card, and maybe because I don't have that kind of money laying around is why I don't understand this.

I collect one of the most expensive players in baseball, and even his rookie card doesn't come close to selling for this amount of money. Pujols is arguably the best player in MLB, and Pujols AUTOGRAPHED RC doesn't touch this.

What do you guys think of the price of this card? Would you ever consider spending this kind of cash on a card, prospect or PC related?

This is one of the most watched items on eBay right now so for anyone questioning the popularity of baseball card collecting or prospecting, you can rest assured this is not a dying breed of hobbies.

How do you keep up with your want list?

I'm pretty sure my system for updating my want list sucks. I attempt to do so every 2 months, or when there is something I remember to put on there. I updated it tonight and realized I hadn't looked at it since January 6th, which is terrible.

I don't know if it's because collecting Albert Pujols is complicated with 54 variations of most of his cards, or just because I am lazy that I don't update more often or more completely. I have been saying for probably 2 years that I am going to go back and add all the early years of Pujols, as well as the older cards of all the players I am after and I never do.

How do you guys who collect a player keep up with the want list saga? Do you have a way to import their checklists directly into your list or blog and not have to do it manually? I have been doing mine manually in case the lack of updates didn't clue you in on that. Does anyone use a card collecting software?

A few weeks ago I went and put every Pujols card I own into an Excel file and I feel like maybe rather than compose a want list, I can basically just say I want anything not on the have list....

I am definitely interested in hearing how you guys do your lists, and then you can all make bets on how long it takes me to actually fix mine.

One of my favorite pics

Photo courtesy of the NY Daily News.

I haven't picked up any packs lately, but have been to many hours of cold baseball. Right now I am sweating like I am on the mound pitching for the Yankees. I will throw up some game pics from games 1 and 2 a little later. I have accomplished nothing in the past 4 days, no blogs, no homework, not a damn thing. Be back later.

Jeter vs. Gehrig

I'm not sure where the confusion is for some people on Twitter and elsewhere but no one is saying Jeter is/was a better player than Gehrig. I have yet to read someone stating that as an opinion. Maybe there are people saying this, and I just missed it. Jeter is not the powerhitter that Gehrig was and Jeter has also been quoted as saying he doesn't care if he ever hits another homerun again when asked about him being the 8th man on the roster to reach 20 in the season.

The following of Jeter breaking the Yankees all-time leader in hits and putting Gehrig in the same sentence is based on the Yankees all-time leaderboard which is no indication of him being an MVP or anything like that. Jeter has a place in Yankees history whether some of you like it or not, and he will be one of the greatest Yankees ever despite playing longer than Gehrig and whoever else.

Here are the Yankees all-time leaders so you can see for yourself. Yes, Jeter has had more AB's and plate appearances than Gehrig but what is the big deal? This stat is meaningless to everyone outside of the Yankees fan base, so why all the hate if you don't like the Yankees? It's a franchise record and by no means an indication that he should be MVP or that anyone should be saying he is the best player that ever lived. If someone can show me another player who has meant what Jeter has to the Yankees, and brought that many championships to a team in the same years that Jeter has been playing, by all means tell me.

A tale of two teams

Recently I stumbled across a friends picture on Facebook and they were wearing a Mets hat. Now, if they were a Mets fan then it would be great. This person swears to be the biggest die-hard Yankees, I bleed pinstripes, Yankees are Gods type of fan yet was wearing a Mets hat because they wanted to "blend in" at Citi Field. Honestly, that's a bunch of horse sh**. Anywhere I have gone to see a game I was wearing my Yankees gear including Fenway Park. You couldn't pay me to wear a Mets hat. They also wear it to Mets games because their significant other is a Mets fan, and it supposedly "makes them happy" and there is no difference because the "Mets suck anyway who cares".

Separate incident, I was at Starbucks a few days ago and I saw a friend of mine sitting outside drinking coffee so I went over to say hello... Another one wear a Mets hat. They claimed that their Yankees hat was wet from sitting in the rain at the game the night before. Well, either wear a different hat or don't wear one. Furthermore, why do you even own a Yankees hat? "I wear it when my company goes to Mets games." What? Really, another bunch of B.S. that makes no sense to me.

In my world you are either a Mets or Yankees fan, you are not both. You do not root for both when they are not playing each other. If the Yankees are not in the playoffs I would root for whoever is playing the Mets on principal since their fans are such a**holes. Same thing if you are a Giants fan around here, you do not ever root for the Jets. Ever.

Now, what I want to ask you guys is this: Where you live, if there are 2 MLB teams can you be a fan of both? I know perhaps some places might be different although it seems like in California the Dodgers and Giants fans hate each other (rightfully so if you ask me). Anyone think being a fan of both teams is possible? If you are a fan of two teams within the same state I would like to hear about it.

Don't get me wrong, if you like a bunch of teams or players from all over that's cool. I love a bunch of random teams/players and have a bunch of different shirts I like to wear representing my favorites. Not one of them is a Met.

Happy Father's Day!

I wanted to wish all the Dad's out there a Happy Father's Day and ask how many of you were lucky enough to get some baseball cards from your children? The more important question here is how many of you have started collections for your young children, and gotten them interested in continuing their collections as they got older? I'm sure some of you have children too young to collect on their own, but there are others that probably have children old enough to decide what they like buying or collecting.

As a kid I was always taught about baseball, who played what position, and to root for the Yankees, of course. My dad took me to tons of games as a kid and even a Mets (boo) game or two in there, and we saw a Marlins game way back when they played at Joe Robbie Stadium. For Christmas my parents got me a complete set of Topps every year for a while, until I told them that it was boring not being able to open them and look at them. They wised up and started letting me get packs of cards here and there during the year, for report card rewards, being good for mommy in the store (I still use that one to this day), and then other family members got into spoiling the kids with cards. There was nothing like a pack of cards and rock solid gum peeled off the last card to chew on the way home.

If (big if here) I have children, they will definitely be collecting cards up until they tell me they hate it (which they won't), but if they do... more for me! I think it is very important today to give kids a positive hobby, and something that will bring them a little fun for a low price (relative to products purchased). Whenever I see little cousins or my friends nephews I always give them baseball cards. I'm the crazy adopted aunt that gives kids weird things. One of my friends nephews are Mets fans, so I happily put a few cards in a team bag and bring them when I see them. I brought Frankie, Sooz's nephew a bunch of Jeter's and Yankees for his birthday- we are trying very hard to make him like collecting and baseball.

If anyone wants to share a story, feel free. I will be going out to dinner with the family, and hopefully the restaurant has a tv to watch the Yankee game. I hope you all have a great day with your families.

Yankees vs. Mets

Sooz and I will be going to the game tonight, and I'm leaving shortly to go meet her. I promise, promise, promise I will have something fun posted tonight. I meant to showcase some mail last night but Sooz and I went to the movies (more on that later), and when I finally got home I passed out shortly thereafter.

Keep an eye on twitter because I am sure we will both be tweeting, and possibly posting some pics (which we probably won't be in because that is just how it usually goes).

If anyone else is going to be there tonight let us know.

I need help

I know what you are all thinking, but no not mental help this time. I am wondering if anyone purchases supplies online, and if so where. I need to pick up a couple of binders, some hinge cases to send out trades, team bags, etc. I was purchasing stuff on eBay from Columbia Sports or something like that, and was wondering if anyone consistently purchases from one seller or one website.

I also feel like it is my duty to track down all Pujols cards from the Goudey set. So you can add that to the list of things I need help on. I found a couple of 99 cent cards on eBay ending tonight so I am crossing my fingers that no one bids. Slim chance, but I can dream.

I have no new cards since Target and K-mart didn't have any new products in the last week or two. It is killing me that they have nothing, but I should be glad because I really don't have the money to be spending. I want to take a ride to the hobby shop that one of our readers suggested in Midland Park, NJ as soon as I figure out where it is on Mapquest. We never made it to the card show this weekend, which was a bummer but it will be back in a month or two so it's ok.

I got a bunch of YSL cards in the mail today from Matt over at HBC (Heartbreaking Cards), thanks s bunch!! I will be getting myself motivated tonight to find you some cards, I'm a little slow...

(A little Burnett for all the pies he has been making...)

Good Old Johnny Damon

Leave it to Johnny Damon to set this one up. For those of you that don't know who Kim Jones is, she is one of the YES networks puppets for asking questions the Yankees brass wants answered without doing it themselves. She also appears on the Mike Francesa show during the day on the YES network.

Sooz's editor was actually the person to find this clip, he didn't know who she was and just happened to click on this youtube video to find out.



Just a little laugh to break up the day.