A blog update

Fooled ya!  I think there have been just about enough "updates" around here.  I mentioned yesterday that I spent $40 on myself for Christmas.  The first $20 went to the Topps repack box from yesterday and the other $20 went to 2012 Topps Update blaster.  Or mini blaster.  Those boxes are almost tiny now. It's about time Topps went green.  Yea right. 

I'm not really going to do a pack by pack breakdown on this, but I picked out a few cards to discuss.  

I'm old school.  By that I mean Jonathan Braxton and players like him shouldn't be wearing pajama pants to play baseball.  I see women, 40 year old women, at the grocery store wearing pajama pants and that's bad enough.  I don't want to see ballplayers wearing baggy pants on the field. 

Now that's a uniform.  I can't even hate this Cardinal card because the powder blue is rockin' and Edward has his socks up high the way a real ballplayer should. 

Uh oh, two Cardinals in a row and that's ok 'cause Joe Kelly is geekin' in his old school Wild Thing glasses (even though I'm sure they are some kind of high tech polycarbonate shatterproof whatzit). 

I cried when I saw this card.  It's that ugly. 

I didn't cry when I saw this card, but I did when I saw yet another fake "gold" coin show up in my portfolio.  Yay me. 

I still can't believe I was at the game where Josh Hamilton hit four homeruns.  That's because I wasn't at the game.  Bummer. 

I like minis.  I just think this picture would look better on the 1975 design. 

I only scanned this card because I thought it was one of those SPs.  It's not.  It looks like Dee Gordon (is that Dee Gordon?) is trying to pull A.J. Harris' head off. 

The little "blaster" had one of those ultra rare manu-patches that come only 1 per box.  I can't find the "dripping with sarcasm font" so you'll have to bear with me. 

So there you go.  Nothing too exciting, but at least it was cards.  I did get two packs of the blue parallels, but I didn't show them because I'll be putting them in with some packages that I'm looking to get out during the first week of the new year. 

An honest to goodness, drama free, baseball card post

I decided the best way to break out of the blogging/collecting doldrums was to bust a few packs.  It doesn't fix all the real life stuff that's going on, but it was a really nice distraction for all of it.  I happened by the card aisle for the first time in quite a while and dropped $40 on a couple of Christmas gifts for myself. 

The first one was some "Best of 2012 Topps" repack box that had 11 packs.  It was 6 packs of Ginter, 3 packs of Bowman Platinum and 2 packs of Chrome.  No, I didn't really need anything from these packs, but it sure was nice to open some packs again.  There's an underlying theme here as well and we'll see if you can figure out what that is when we get to the end. 

I'm just going to give you a one card highlight from each pack.  I know you've seen these before, but writing is therapeutic so let's get to it.

Pack 1 started off with a nice Sandy Koufax card.  I'm on the fence with all these retired player cards.  I
never saw Koufax play, but I've always looked upon him in a reverential way.  Sort of like he's one of the baseball gods.  I don't want to see him diminished by appearing on so many new cards that he becomes another Mantle.

Pack 2 was pretty boring, only giving up one card I might keep.  That would be this Brian McCann mini, but I'll probably just send it to Canada instead. 

Pack 3 had a mini SP and this Colby Lewis SP.  The theme of this little break could have been "Look at all my former Rangers", but Colby is still with the team.  Sort of.  He'll be back eventually as he's scheduled for a June return from surgery. 

Pack 4 gave up the second copy of some raquetball player and this black bordered Brooks Robinson mini.  I think that mini will make some O's fan happy. 

Pack 5 didn't have much, but there was new Ranger Joakim Soria.  Like Lewis, he's coming off surgery so he won't be pitching for awhile. 

Pack 6 had current Ranger Mitch Moreland, but this Curly Neal was the best card in the pack.  I loved the Harlem Globetrotters when I was a kid and got to see them in person once.  It was great stuff for a kid and I spent hours trying to do some of those trick shots. 

Next up are the three packs of Bowman Platinum.  Platinum might just be the biggest waste of cardboard around.  Next to anything Panini does.  Ok, that's not fair.  I sort of liked Triple Play. 

Pack 1 had a Yankee, a Met a Padre and a Athletic.  You know you've got a bad pack when the best card is from a division rival of your favorite team. 

Pack 2 revealed former Ranger and what I can only hope is future failure as an Angel Josh Hamilton.  Not that I want him to fail, but I do want the Angels to fail.  And I mean in an EPIC FAIL kind of way. 

Pack 3...well, pack three rubbed salt in the would with former Ranger Mike Napoli.  I liked Napoli and his blue collar ways, but there's no way I would have given him 3 years for $39 million.  No Way. 

The last two packs in the box were from one of my perennial favorites, Topps Chrome.  These weren't the best two packs of Chrome I ever opened. 

Pack 1 was pretty weak.  Eric Hosmer wins because the other cards in the pack were an Athletic (Division rival), a hated Giant (see 2010 World Series) and a hated Cardinal (see 2011 World Series). 

Pack 2, the last pack in the box, reminded me how the highs and lows of being a baseball fan.  Michael Young, my former favorite Ranger and current favorite non-Ranger, was the best card in the pack.  

That was fun.  I should write about baseball cards more often.  

Twenty hours...and nothing

I worked twenty hours over the weekend.  Twenty hours in which I really didn't do much work.  I spent a number of those hours reading your blogs and sitting in front of a blank screen trying to write something...anything at all about baseball and baseball cards. 

I could have written about the Rangers losing Mike Napoli, Mike Adams, Koji Uehara, Michael Young and Josh Hamilton.  Surely I could come up with a post about Josh Hamilton for goodness sakes. 

Nothing.  I want to write about baseball, but I can't do it. 

We have another crisis in the PATP household.  I don't want to talk about it.  I don't want to think about it.  I know you don't want to read another excuse for why I'm not writing here on a daily basis. 

But I have to write something.  Soooo...if you want baseball, I'm sorry, you'll have to read someone else's blog for now.  If you don't want to read personal junk, I understand, so stop reading here.






I took my wife to the ER on the 7th.  She's having severe unexplained stomach pains every time she eats.  The ER trip was a waste of time and money.  Except of course the bloodwork showed she doesn't have cancer.  BIG RELIEF.  She has an appointment with a gastroenterologist on the 19th.  Until then, we're in a holding pattern.  Life is weird.  I was down, we were very down, we were very, very up and then this. 

I'm tired.  I'm just tired. 

And God willing, I'll be back to writing about baseball, baseball cards and other things that don't really matter compared to real life, but are still important for our sanity. 

Heaven knows I need the distraction. 

All of these things are just like the others

These are all examples from my life, but what do military life, teaching, blogging and baseball teams have in common? 

They are all transient ways of life.  It's one of my least favorite things ever. 

In the Navy, people transfer from duty station to duty station and you make friends and boom, one of you is transferred to the next place.  I taught 6th grade for four years and there wasn't one single year where a fellow teacher I really liked didn't move to another school.  As we have experienced so many times in the 3+ years I've been blogging, good bloggers, trading partners and I daresay even friends, have fallen by the wayside. (I'm hoping not to fall into that category by the way.)  Our favorite players do the same thing. 

Sometimes they move on to another team and eventually they retire altogether.  It sucks. 

I remember how excited I was when my favorite player ever signed with the Rangers.  The five years Will Clark was here were some of my favorites as a fan of the team.  You know, right after those two World Series runs.  I hated when he signed in Baltimore and then moved on to St. Louis and eventually retired.  I still miss watching him play and be all crazy intense. 

I think I'm about to go through the same thing again.

It appears that talks are getting serious with the Phillies regarding a trade for Michael Young.  Young is my favorite current Ranger and has been since injuries forced Rusty Greer to retire.  I know Young had an off year last year after a great 2011.  I know he's overpaid for what he can give a team at this point in his career.  I'll still be sad to see him go if he does get traded.  It's not my money so I'd rather see him get paid here to do what he can to help the Rangers in 2013. 

Moving on is not something I'm good at or something I look forward to....ever.  It's just not in my nature. 

A little serial for breakfast

Things aren't always fun around here.  Let's make a list.

Doctor visits for me.  And my wife.

A moody pre-teen.

Bills.  Lots of bills. 

I have to buy Christmas presents for how many people???

A car that needs to be replaced. 

Had enough?  Thought so.

On the other hand, some things are still very fun. 

Watching whole seasons of shows on Netflix in a week. 

A pre-teen who is having a good day.

Losing weight. 

Collecting cards.

Blogging...most of the time.

Getting packages in the mail.

Sort of like the great package I got from Julie over at the fine blog Funner Here.  

It all started when she posted this 2012 Update Ryan Dempster gold parallel that I just had to claim.

She didn't stop with one serial numbered card.  She sent what I'm fairly certain is the only serial numbered team checklist in my collection.  Its a 2005 Donruss Career Stat Line Alfonso Soriano #19/162.  The 162 is for games played.  Hmm. 

I'll bet you're green with envy over this 2011 Bowman Mitch Moreland green parallel #320/450. 

Let's all go to the Museum and check out Ian Kinsler looking to his left and apparently throwing the ball the other direction.  It's #16/299. 

How about a pair of twins.  Not Twins, but nearly identical Michael Young 2009 Triple Threads.  This one is #310/1350. 

This one is #594/1350.  Only 1348 more to go. 

A bittersweet best for last card.  Bitter because it's Mark Teixeira.   Sweet because it's #6/25.  I have a Teixeira 1/1 from this set, but that's not saying too much because there are only like 250 1/1s for every player.  At least it seems that way. 

Julie, I'm looking for more cards for you because that one Frank Howard isn't enough for all these great cards.  I'll get something headed you're way soon.  Thanks!!

Yu're not from around here son

I'm not quite the adventurer I used to be and sometimes I miss that guy.  He was pretty fun.  Back in the early 90's, I was in the Navy and one of the stops we made was Yokosuka, Japan.  Now I wasn't one of those stereotypical rowdy, let's get drunk, I've got a girl in every port kind of sailors.  In fact, I didn't really know many guys like that.  Sure, we cut loose now and then, but it wasn't like we were in the bottle all the time. 

Anyway, a group of 5 or 6 of us decided we would go to Tokyo Disney.  The ringleader of the group was from southern California and had a goal to hit every Disney park and I had never been to one so I was game.  It was about an hour and a half by train from where we were to the park so we headed out early.  It was actually a pretty fun day and we headed back to the boat pretty late.  The rest of the guys decided to hit a bar, but my buddy and I had duty the next day so we needed to get back and grab some sleep.  That's where we hit a snag.

Being the brains of the group, I was in charge of getting us to the park and getting us back.  I thought I had a perfect plan to do just that by "drawing" the names of the stations we used and then just backtracking at the end of the day.  I say "drawing" because I attempted to make the Japanese names of the stations.  Well, it was a disaster and could have ended badly for the two of us.  The train we were on was getting less and less crowded and finally pulled into a station where everyone got off.  We just sat there.  A very frail older lady carrying a bag of groceries noticed us and finally made it clear that this was the last stop for the train that night.  The problem was we had no idea where we were or how to get where we wanted to go.

The lady motioned for us to follow her and we thought she was taking us to some transit employee for help.  This lady looked every bit of 70 and as I said, was carrying a bag of groceries.  She proceeded down the steps of the station and down the street, two big dumb Americans in tow.  We offered to carry her bag, but she wouldn't have it.  She walked us about a mile to another station, took us up the steps and put us on the right train, making sure we knew how many stops we had to go.  We offered her money, but she just shook her head, smiled and disappeared into the night. 

It was one of the kindest, most selfless gestures I've ever experienced. 

Like a number of you, I was on the receiving end of another kind gesture from Japan recently.  Ryan from This Card is Cool sent out a bunch of packages, spreading hobby goodwill from the other side of the world. 

Ryan didn't skimp on the Japanese Yu Darvish cards.  This is a 2007 BBM card, 2nd version.  Whatever that means.  It's pretty cool to have some Japanese cards of Yu.  Not you...oh, Yu know what I mean. 

Here is the 2008 BBM version of Yu.  It must be an insert because it says Prince of Power Pitch. 

On to 2009 and the Game Masters edition.  It's big Yu vs. little Yu.  My money is little Yu.  He looks feisty. 

Ryan included a whole stack of these...umm..."hot girl who is contemplating the world" cards.  Interesting, but my wife may not approve. 

Let me go on record as saying the Rangers do not need cheerleaders at the Ballpark, but I'm not opposed to cheerleaders in general.  Like these Nippon-Ham Fighters Girls for instance. 

My first Japanese play at the plate!  I wish I could see the player coming in to the plate, but This Card is Cool.  So is Ryan.  Thanks Ryan, you rock. 

Well well, look who's being a spaz again

I can't seem to get on an even keel, blogwise or in real life.  I'm trying, but it's a daily struggle.  If this blog was a football team, it would have one false start penalty after another.  Sort of like the Cowboys. 

I'm thankful for the fact that I'm still around to even be worried about all this stuff.  I'm thankful for all of you bloggers and readers.  I'm going to make a solid effort to get out all my overdue packages next week, including some contest winnings from September...I think.  I'm thankful for everyone's patience. 

I'm just thankful...and I hope you all have a great day of being thankful too.