Tuesday, March 11, 2008

The 400th Post

I've decided to highlight a card that I recently received in a trade with dayf. There are many things that I love about this card. First off is the drawing of Thomas. I come from an art background and cards like this are like my art version of Jolt cola and Pop Rocks. It's a volatile combination.

It also reminds me of when I thought Frank Thomas would live each day as a member of the White Sox. That fantasy died in Oakland and continues in Toronto.

On July 25, 2003, Frank Thomas hit his 400th home run in Tampa Bay. He has never hit a milestone home run in his home park. In fact his first home runs and his 500th, were both hit in Minnesota, albeit on different teams.

Frank would end up hitting 448 home runs for the White Sox. It's still a team record. The man who replaced Frank hit his 500th home run last year. So, I guess the Sox swapped out 500 home run hitters. Frank's last milestone home run with the White Sox was number 400, so that's why he is here.

Milestone posts give me a chance to see about the state of the blog. Everything seems to be going fairly strong. Many trades have been highlighted recently. A box break result was posted. A contest was realized. There are many positives to mention.

I've met new bloggers. I've even started recapping actual games. It's nothing in depth, but shows the high points and low points of each game. The card spotlight feature is still going strong. The uniform number project is winding down, hence the less frequent posts. The set reviews and player profiles have slowed as I have focused on other areas. There will be more coming shortly.

I've also branched out a bit. I've started another blog called Things one To Cards. It's updated on an infrequent basis, but so far, it's been several times a month. I've joined A Pack A Day and started to play Sox Or No Sox on that site. I've joined the Bad Wax forums and The Bench trading post. I'll be a contibutor to Baseball Legends, which will feature articles about Hall of Famers and make cases for who should be included. I'll even be featured as a source in an upcoming MSN Sports online article about baseball cards. When it goes live I'll provide a link.

I feel like the site and my blogging abilities have grown since my first post back in November 2007. I used to be the one asking a bunch of questions. Now, I get asked the questions. I hate to admit it, but it feels nice. I'm honored that people would actually want to seek out my specific advice about baseball cards and blogging.

Thanks for reading!

6 comments:

capewood said...

Steve,

Congrats on the milestone. I've been collecting baseball cards for a long time and it only occurred to me last month to wonder if there were any baseball card blogs. Sure enough there are. I'm up to reading 15 a day. Thank God not all of them have a new post everyday. Yours is on my daily list. After reading these blogs I decided to start my own but with a broader focus and I thank you for featuring a link to me on your blog.

I loved those Pinnacle Aficionado when they first came out. They were pricey ($4 for a 5-card pack) and I only own 10 of them. I liked the graphics, the texture, the firmness of the cards, and best of all the smell. My big Beckett catalog says they had a 'special bubblegum scent'. It didn't smell like bubblegum to me but I liked the smell. 1996 was the only year they were issued.

Cliff (Capewood)

Steve Gierman said...

Cliff,

Thanks for the info on the card. That was issued during my "lost" period.

Fleerfan said...

Steve,

Keep up the great work! I don't know how you manage to keep multiple blogs going at once, but you're doing a great job. Your posts are always an enjoyable read, and daily required reading.

Congrats on # 400!

Jon

Captain Canuck said...

you keep writing..

I'll keep reading...

Tragik007 said...

Congrats! Keep up the great work you are one of the best!

Steve Gierman said...

Thanks to everyone for the kind words.

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