Thank You Bulldog

When Bulldog of Nothing If Not Random said that he had some cards for me, I was thinking, at most one of the one hundred or two hundred count storage boxes. Instead, yesterday, this monster eight hundred count storage box arrives at my doorstep filled to the brim with White Sox cards and an '88 Donruss card of Mel Hall. If I were playing Sox Or No Sox, I'd say it was a narrowly avoided trap card, but Mel was three and a half seasons removed from his time with the Cubs by 1988.

Out of the box flowed the stuff that my childhood dreams were made of. A vast array of White Sox cards covering 1982 through 2019, with a few late '90s years not represented. Those are the years I didn't buy any packs! It was like this box came out of my house!

The first act I did was sort through the box and separate everything into years for the most recent cards and decades for the older ones. I'd break those down into years later, but I ran out of space. TV trays don't hold as much as they used to.

This actually played very well incorporating into a larger project I've been working on. I separated a stack of cards that needed the same treatment into those piles and I was off, furiously working cards I lacked into my collection and organizing doubles.

I lost track at the amount of times I smiled and actually called out players names with giddy delight. From the Frank Thomases to the Jim Essians. The Chris Sales to the Rusty Kuntzes. It was a joy to handle each card. 1990 Upper Deck had a much different feel than later Upper Deck cards. It whisked me away to buying packs of 1990 Upper Deck from Gennaro's, a local drug store back then, which has since shunned pharmaceuticals and turned into a liquor store. I would go there for comic books, their awesome selection of candy, Garbage Pail Kids and baseball cards. It used to be a one stop shop for me.

Carlton Fisk, Luis Robert, Brent Lillibridge, Kevin Hickey, Greg Luzinski, Albert Belle, Robin Ventura, Bobby Thigpen... all flooding my mind with memories from grade school to last month. This was nostalgic by design. The best thing was that among all the great memories, there were cards that I needed for my collection.

Thank you, Bulldog! I had a blast with this box! I can't thank you enough.

Thanks Jay!

Another awesome batch of cards came from Jay at Buccos.com. This time Jay sent over autographed cards of Hoyt Wilhelm, Thad Bosley and Donny Lucy.

Thanks a lot, Jay! These are great additions to my growing collection!

Some Old School Cards

A little while ago John from Old School Breaks contacted me about unloading gifting some White Sox cards. I do have many people who unload their unwanted White Sox cards on me, and that's cool, but these were specifically set aside for me. These had been sitting in a pile for awhile. I'm as guilty of that more than most, so I can completely understand how these things happen.

Real life had intervened John's card collecting days. In this case, I can report that it's for fantastic reasons. Nonetheless, I reluctantly agreed to take the White Sox cards off of his hands. People come and go from this hobby. That's a fact of life. It's sad to see card collecting friends move on to other endeavors, but there is almost always a happy story attached to it.

As I was thumbing through the Sox cards that John sent over, I was amazed at some of the selections. There is no junk wax to be found in this pile of cards. Not that there's anything wrong with junk wax, but it is a refreshing sight to see. All of the cards were either hard to get parallels or mid-level to high end base cards. A couple of autographs and a few numbered cards rounded out the stack.

The two autographed cards were of Ruddy Yan and Kris Honel. Surprisingly, they are both still playing. Yan is playing for the Camden Riversharks this year. Honel threw a no-hitter in 2010 for the Chico Outlaws and is playing for the Somerset Patriots this year.

A 1995 Select Certified Edition Gold Team card of Frank Thomas was a nice surprise. As were cards from three different classes of 1998 Topps Gold. The first two rows of Robin Ventura's 1998 Flair Showcase cards were interesting to see. More nineties goodness followed. As well as a few parallels from 2008 Topps Co-Signers. An Iguchi 2006 Topps Finest x-fractor and a few other cards rounded out the thoughtful package.

Thanks, John! I appreciate the thought and I love the cards!

My Friend Went To Tampa...

... and all I got was this awesome and thoughtful 2011 Tampa Bay Rays team set!

Johngy's Surprise

It's always a special treat when I get a package from Johngy. Usually, whatever is dropped off is full of wonders and pesky cards that have eluded my keen detection skills. Most are from my want list, which is always appreciated, and those cards are more often than not ones that either escape my clutches or ones that I haven't been able to see a decent price available. In most cases, the latter is true.

Most sellers see cards before 1981 and automatically inflate the price. The farther back you go, the worse this practice gets. I find it difficult to find cards before 1977 at a decent price, cards before 1970 are more difficult, cards before 1961 are next to impossible, and cards before 1950... forget it.

Every once in awhile, I get lucky with a find, but mostly, other collectors, fans and readers have found it in their hearts to be generous. While my finances are in a state of flux, these people have stepped up and allowed me not to invoke the sanity clause in my collecting contract.

"You can't a fool me, there ain't no sanity clause."

Well, there's no collecting contract either, but my collecting goals do bring me some assemblance of peace during uncertain times. That's good enough for me.

Usually, Johngy, or an associate of his, drops off a box or a bag off on my front porch, waiting for accidental discovery. This time, since he hasn't been around my area, he sent an envelope through the mail. Let's see what arrived.

1969 Topps
34 - Gary Peters
179 - Don Pavletich
248 - Bob Priddy
363 - Russ Nixon
465 - Tommy John
527 - Al Lopez
548 - Bob Locker
622 - Dan Osinski

1992 Pinnacle
334 - Craig Grebeck

1992 Studio
154 - Lance Johnson

1994 Finest
12 - Jason Bere
26 - Alex Fernandez
376 - Roberto Hernandez
440 - Scott Ruffcorn

1995 Finest
125 - Alex Fernandez
168 - Lance Johnson
187 - Tim Raines
233 - Jim Abbott
284 - Mike Devereaux
319 - John Kruk

1995 Studio
76 - Alex Fernandez
137 - Jim Abbott
148 - Tim Raines

Thanks, John! Thanks to you, I can finally put that pesky 1992 Studio set to rest and I can put serious dents in some other sets. I am finally just three cards away from completing the 1969 Topps team set. You are awesome, as always!

Cards From Buccos

Recently, I was asked to do some freelance work involving custom cards. After Jay of Buccos.com fame, saw my Cards That Never Were creation of Coot Veal's non-existent 1962 Topps card, he asked if I could create a few Pirates cards for him. The first project was a 1973 Topps Pirates card of Jerry McNertney, who hung out for a few years in my original blog banner.

Today, my payment came in the mail. A bubble mailer full of White Sox cards. Most were from between 2000 and 2003, but the crown jewels of the package were Fritsch One Year Wonder Series one cards. Both Ross Grimsley and Hal Trosky were there, so another pesky TCMA series has been completed.

Thank you, Jay! It was a joy to work on your Pirates cards. It was a lot of hard work, but it was also a lot of fun. The cards are just icing on the cake.

3rd Anniversary Swag: Orioles Card "O" The Day

Steve,

Congratulations on your 3-year anniversary of blogging! I picked this up for you in August at the National, and I guess I was saving it for a special occasion. This would certainly qualify! Here's to many more years of blogging excellence.

Kevin
Orioles Card "O" The Day
The Great 1965 Topps Project

Thank you Kevin! This has to be one of the most unique gifts I have ever received! I missed out on attending the National this year, but I'm sure this is what I would have picked up.

It's quite an amazing sight, seeing all the White Sox regular issue Topps cards, from 1952 through 1987, in one place. I was going to scan a few pages, but I was afraid that the binding would crack. Instead, you'll just have to imagine it.

The book gives a summary of each season, then follows with glorious color reproductions of each card, in alphabetical order. For some odd reason, 1986 features the 1985 Topps Traded cards, alongside the regular 1986 counterpart cards. No other Topps Traded cards were in the entire book. Just a weird little anomaly, I guess.

There's even a special article on Carlton Fisk at the back of the book! I've always wondered what these Surf books were all about. I'm very impressed! I wish there were update books for the seasons after 1987.

3rd Anniversary Swag: Night Owl Cards

Between my mysterious leg pain and a long time friend's hospitalization for his own leg pain (not related pain, but in the same leg), posting has been erratic. Come to think of it, when is it not on this blog? The holiday also played havoc with the blog.

Two packages arrived in the past week. The first to arrive was a package from Night Owl. It was chock full of goodness!

The first card to capture my attention was a minor league card of former White Sox phenom, Dave Gallagher. I noticed it because he was in a Maine uniform, which I did not recognize as a White Sox minor league association of the mid-eighties. It turns out that this card was a minor league All-Star card from 1985 and that Maine was the AAA affiliate of the Cleveland Indians. This isn't a card that I would ever seek out for myself, since it isn't a White Sox affiliate and doesn't fit into a player category, but the card itself is so cool, that I am really proud to have it in my collection.

Even that was trumped by the card of the package; a 2010 Topps Carlton Fisk short print card! That finally completes my team set! Yay!

An interesting array of cards followed. Many shiny cards and tricky parallels were beyond. Even a small cache of Tom Seaver Pacific cards. Really top notch stuff!!
Thanks, Greg! These were awesome! Someday, when you least expect it, there will be cards from me in your mailbox.

The Baseball Card Bandit Has Struck Again!

At least that's what everyone in my household said today, as someone else found a plastic case full of cards somewhere on the porch this afternoon.

When mysterious packages of cards show up after the mail already arrived, there can only be one person responsible... Johngy! Unless I have a team of Keebler elves dropping of assorted vintage cards and other neat card surprises on my doorstep, I think I have the mystery solved. Then again, if the Keebler elves can convince Judd Hirsch to build a weapon to use against Snap, Crackle and Pop, they are capable of anything.

In one fell swoop, another good chunk of 1970 Topps disappeared from my want list. So did a good portion of 1972 Topps. The 1978 Topps and 1982 Topps sets came to completion. Plus, some more 1992 and 1993 Topps Gold cards vanished from the list.

Thank you so much, John! This was a great unexpected surprise!

A Canadian Gold Rush From Johngy

I found another box on my doorstep today. There's only one person who dares to drop off boxes in the middle of the day... Johngy!

This time there was a little prior warning and the only clue I had was that some old OPC cards would be involved somehow. The best part about it? All the OPC cards were from before I was born. All of them were from 1976 or before!

In the middle of all the Canadian goodness came a surprise. A 1970 OPC autographed Ron Hansen card! As you can see, the signature is big, bold and readable. It's nothing like most of today's signatures.

To top it all off, there were a plethora of cards from 1992. Many cards from the Bowman set that I had not yet completed and a small stack of gold Topps cards. Simply amazing!

Let's see what John sent over!

1965 Topps
146 – Ron Hansen

1968 OPC
172 – Walt Williams

1969 OPC
34 – Gary Peters
123 – Wilbur Wood
173 – Bob Christian, Gerry Nyman
179 – Don Pavletich

1970 OPC
35 – Joel Horlen
51 – Bob Christian
91 – Rich Morales
123 – Don Gutteridge
146 – Danny Murphy
217 – Ron Hansen
217 – Ron Hansen (auto)
239 – Ken Berry
263 – Duane Josephson
274 – Gerry Arrigo
299 – Buddy Bradford
342 – Wilbur Wood
368 – Ed Herrmann
395 – Walt Williams
444 – Billy Farmer, John Matias

1971 OPC
37 – Rich McKinney
169 – Ed Herrmann
186 – Bob Spence
191 – Mike Andrews
227 – Floyd Weaver
267 – Rich Morales
292 – Jay Johnstone
311 – Lee Stange
373 – Tom McCraw
413 – Pat Kelly
436 – Wilbur Wood
458 – Ron Lolich, Dave Lemonds
489 – Luis Alvarado
506 – Bobby Knoop

1972 OPC
15 – Walt Williams
73 – Steve Huntz
98 – Chuck Tanner
126 – Bart Johnson
146 – Steve Kealey
207 – Tom Egan
233 – Jay Johnstone
240 – Rich Allen
248 – Tom Bradley
381 – White Sox Team

1975 OPC
82 – Pat Kelly
137 – Terry Forster
161 – Stan Bahnsen
243 – Jim Kaat
327 – Jerry Hairston
348 – Tony Muser
422 – Brain Downing
446 – Bart Johnson
504 – Buddy Bradford
579 – Skip Pitlock

1975 Topps
554 – Rich Gossage
579 – Skip Pitlock
614 – Jack Kucek (Dyar Miller, Vern Ruhle, Paul Siebert)
619 – Nyls Nyman (Benny Ayala, Tommy Smith, Jerry Turner)
634 – Cy Acosta
653 – Lee Richard

1976 OPC
47 – Jesse Jefferson
80 – Jim Kaat
131 – Bill Stein
237 – Dave Hamilton (2)
258 – Nyls Nyman
282 – Dan Osborn
333 – Bob Coluccio
391 – Jerry Hairston
413 – Pete Varney
426 – Bob Forsch
437 – Terry Forster
464 – Ken Henderson
488 – Claude Osteen
597 – Jack Kucek (Don Aase, Frank LaCorte, Mike Pazik)
607 – Rich Hinton

1992 Bowman
2 – Kirk McCaskill
36 – Bobby Thigpen
69 – Wilson Alvarez
153 – Charlie Hough
201 – Alex Fernandez
204 – Rock Raines
208 – Lance Johnson
210 – Derek Lee
275 – Robin Ventura
309 – Chris Howard
325 – Greg Hibbard
469 – Steve Sax
605 – Jack McDowell
614 – Scott Cepicky
655 – Robin Ventura

1992 Topps Gold
129 – Melido Perez
231 – Brain Drahman
701 – Scott Radinsky
736 – Lance Johnson
755 – Alex Fernandez

1992 Topps Gold Winners
36 – Scott Ruffcorn
107 – Dan Pasqua
153 – Ron Karkovice
176 – Ramon Garcia
191 – Charlie Hough
273 – Craig Grebeck
355 – Warren Newson
426 – Rock Raines
452 – Wilson Alvarez
477 – Greg Hibbard
505 – Bobby Thigpen
532 – Mike Huff
615 – Matt Merullo
648 – Scott Fletcher
667 – Roberto Hernandez
784 – Ken Patterson

Thanks, John! Wow! I only had two pre-1976 OPC cards in my collection. Now I am swimming in them! Once again, I have to say that you are the best! Time and time again, I am shocked by your generosity.

A Shot Of Novocaine And A Stack Of Baines

Welcome to the Harold Baines refuge!

Yesterday, I had a tooth pulled, which is why I did not post anything. Two packages came in the mail to brighten my day though.

I'll talk about the first one in this post. When I get the other package sorted out, I'll post about that one.

This package came from a reader named Charley. He decided to downsize his collection and that meant that Baines had to go. Charley e-mailed me a short while ago and wondered if I would be interested in making a good home for the Baines cards.

Being the kind and thoughtful person that I am, I agreed to take the refugee Baines cards into my collection.

Let's see what Charlie sent over!

1988 Score #590
1990 Bowman #501
1990 Topps #345
1991 Donruss #748
1991 Upper Deck #562
1992 Stadium Club #536
1992 Triple Play #34
1993 Donruss #725
1993 Upper Deck #81 (3)
1993 Upper Deck #765
1994 Donruss #486
1994 Pinnacle #408
1995 Fleer #2
1996 Pinnacle #241
1997 Pinnacle #87
2000 Topps #471

Thanks, Charley! These have found a great home over here. Please let me know if I can send you anything for your collection.

Let's Hear It For The Red And Blue!

Among all the Halloween madness that occurred, I received a message from John of Johngy's Beat that he was dropping off another package soon. All he would hint at was that I would be seeing a lot of red and blue.

Immediately, that got me very excited! Red and blue from John could only mean seventies goodness! Boy was that ever worth the wait.

I slept in this morning and missed the Sox/Royals trade that may or may not have happened. I also missed a stop by John. When I awoke, I found a package for me on the coffee table.

In my eagerness, I ripped open the package and found Rich Hinton staring back at me. I was taken aback for a second. What were these? Could it be? I think it might be. Yes! SSPC!

Nearly a full team set!

134 - Bill Gogolewski
135 - Dan Osborn
136 - Jim Kaat
137 - Claude Osteen
138 - Cecil Upshaw
140 - Lloyd Allen
141 - Brian Downing
142 - Jim Essian
143 - Bucky Dent
144 - Jorge Orta
145 - Lee Richard
146 - Bill Stein
147 - Ken Henderson
148 - Carlos May
149 - Nyls Nyman
150 - Bob Coluccio
151 - Chuck Tanner
152 - Pat Kelly
153 - Jerry Hairston
154 - Pete Varney
156 - Rich Gossage
157 - Terry Forster
158 - Rich Hinton

Thanks, Johngy! This was an awesome surprise! Only Wilbur Wood and Bill Melton remain elusive to me now. The back of the cards say 1975, but I've heard that these weren't available until 1976. Either way, they are standard size. That shocked me, considering the puzzle backs were much larger.

I am very glad to have these cards in my collection. I have been hunting these down for awhile now. The hunt is almost over. Oh yeah, the card featured is Cecil Upshaw. Just in case you were in the dark.

A Care Package From Andy

A few days ago, Andy of Traded Sets, caught wind that I was in a financial snafu. To make a long story short, the snafu is better, but led to postponement of various life changing activities that I had planned for later in the year.

To ease my card suffering, Andy put together a little care package for me and sent it on its merry way. I've been spending my time with his excellent Shopped Cards contests to help keep my mind off of recent events. Let me tell you, one can get lost in those puzzles. I spent last week helping other people win.

I was told by Andy that a care package was on the way and the next day, it shows up in my mailbox. How's that for speedy service?

Without any further delay, here's what Andy sent out.

1996 Upper Deck All-Star Supers
300 – Frank Thomas

2005 ESPN
23 – Frank Thomas

2008 Topps
86 – Scott Podsednik
96 – Sam Fuld
144 – Jerry Owens
224 – Mark Buehrle
248 – Jose Contreras

2008 Topps Moments & Milestones
3 – Frank Thomas (188 HR) 067/150
3 – Frank Thomas (335 HR) 070/150
3 – Frank Thomas (367 HR) 139/150
3 – Frank Thomas (406 HR) 120/150

2008 Topps Updates & Highlights
UH324 – Ken Griffey Jr.

2009 A Piece Of History
23 – Ken Griffey Jr.

Thanks, Andy! This package really perked me up! I was amazed by the sheer size of the Frank Thomas All-Star card. The Cubs card was a hoot. Plus, I can knock a few off my crazy Moments and Milestones Frank Thomas quest. Good stuff!

And for those of you who might be curious as to why Andy sent a Cubs card... this is why.
A defaced card pointing out the suckiness of certain players in blue. Also, pointing out the questionable hotness of a spectator. While it may not be PC, the added notes on the card got a chuckle out of me. It's too intentionally done to put on Things Done To Cards, but the joke still deserves to be shown.

The Writer's Sox Journey

Earlier this week, Jason, from the excellent blog The Writer's Journey, contacted me about a few cards that he ran across. There were four cards all together. Three White Sox and one Frank Thomas Blue Jays card. I already had two of them, so I e-mailed back and told him that I still needed two of the four.

Jason wrote back and told me that they would be in the mail. The cards arrived today.

2008 Upper Deck 20th Anniversary Hobby Preview
UD-55 - Frank Thomas (Blue Jays)

2009 Topps Ring of Honor (2005 WS Champion)
RH16 - Jermaine Dye

I'm normally not a big Frank Thomas collector of cards that don't show him in a White Sox uniform, but this seemed like a cool card. My instincts were right. There's a nice big picture of Frank looking a bit surprised that he is seen in a Toronto road uniform. On the back there's (Upper Deck aficionados will not believe me) a completely different photo of Frank in a Blue Jays uniform! It mentions an August 4, 2007 game, where Frank hit two home runs to lead the Jays to victory.

I really like the Ring of Honor cards. I've been waiting patiently for some White Sox cards to come out of the series. My patience has finally paid off. The card mentions that Jermaine is the lone MVP that the White Sox have in their entire history. It makes you realize that the title of World Series MVP hasn't been around as long as you might think. In the 2005 World Series, Jermaine went 7 for 16, homered off Roger Clemens and drove in the only run of the clinching game.

Nice cards! They both will be in my collection for the foreseeable future.

After a disappointing loss tonight, I get an e-mail from Jason. You see, he was at the game in Cincinnati against the White Sox Friday night. In the e-mail he explains that he didn't actually get to the game until the seventh inning, but he took several pictures of a certain player that I favor. I downloaded the attachment and found 13 pictures, including these gems.

Harold having a brief conversation with Reds first baseman, Ramon Hernandez.



Harold standing diligently at first base, patiently waiting for a runner to appear.

Thanks, Jason! You have gone above and beyond. Thanks for thinking of me while you were at the game. This makes two games that I have candid shots of Harold coaching. Very cool!

Heartbreakingly Awesome Free Cards

I'll be the first to admit it. I tend to be forgetful sometimes. I need a gentle poke or a friendly reminder sometimes. Sometimes this results in trades being dragged out forever.

With so many card sites out there right now and so many cool stuff happening on those sites, it's getting harder and harder to keep track of everything. Things slip by. If they pertain to me, someone is usually kind enough to give me a heads up. Thank you to those who have performed that service over the years.

I'm convinced that there is a lot going on within the community, when I signed up for free cards and then completely forgot about them. That just so happened with Matt of Heartbreaking Cards of Staggering Genius.

Back in April, which seems like a lifetime ago, Matt bought a box of 1997 Stadium Club Series 2 and a box of 2000 HOLOGrFX for a reasonable cost at a show. He was only interested in a few cards and offered the rest, split up by team, to anyone who asked nicely enough.

Of course, I requested White Sox cards. These are what arrived.

1997 Stadium Club
213 - Frank Thomas
227 - Albert Belle (2)
258 - Jaime Navarro
293 - Ray Durham
317 - James Baldwin
347 - Wilson Alvarez (2)

2000 UD HOLOGrFX
84 - Frank Thomas
85 - Magglio Ordonez
86 - Carlos Lee

Thanks, Matt! These were awesome freebies! The HOLOGrFX cards nearly blinded me when I slipped them out of the package. I'm too lazy to look up the answer, but I'm thinking that I might be close to a team set in the HOLOGrFX cards. I'll look it up later.

Thanks for the cards and keep up the fantastic work on your blog!

A Heavenly Surprise

Much like this Carlos Quentin card depicts, I felt like I was backed up against the wall last week. This week is so much better. Like Carlos, I came out of a potentially bad situation and wound up with the ball in my glove.

A few packages helped to elevate my mood last week. One I already wrote about a few days ago. Today, I'll write about the second, which came with no warning.

This unexpected package came from Mario at Wax Heaven. Mario doesn't need any publicity from me. He's already one of the most widely read card blogs out there. Instead, I want to give thanks.

Mario was one of the first bloggers to contact me, when I started this juggernaut in 2007. We formed a friendship over Jose Canseco, before he was Wax Heaven. A further bond was created over Carlos Quentin, who Mario thinks will be the next Canseco. I can see exactly what he means. I'm just hoping that Carlos takes everything that was good about Jose and leaves out the flaws that had his only playing option be the Newark Bears.

Out of this package, there were plenty of 2009 cards and a really cool 1997 card. Of course, there was an abundant amount of Carlos Quentin cards. Let's see what exactly Mario sent over.

1997 EX2000

14 – Ray Durham 006/299

2009 Bowman

108 – Jermaine Dye

121 – Mark Buehrle

127 – Paul Konerko

169 – Carlos Quentin

173 – A.J. Pierzynski

2009 Finest

90 – Carlos Quentin

109 – Gavin Floyd

124 – Jim Thome

149 – Jason Bourgeois

2009 Finest Refractor

109 – Gavin Floyd

2009 Goudey

48 – Jim Thome

47 – Nick Swisher

49 – Jermaine Dye

50 – Alexei Ramirez

51 – Carlos Quentin

2009 Spectrum

24 – Jim Thome

2009 Topps

70 – Jermaine Dye

149 – Juan Uribe

154 – A.J. Pierzynski

306 – Javier Vazquez

337 – Bobby Jenks (2)

365 – Mark Buehrle

375 – Carlos Quentin

488 – Ozzie Guillen

506 – Paul Konerko

516 – Brian Anderson

548 – John Danks

577 – Jose Contreras

585 – Alexei Ramirez

625 – Jim Thome

2009 Topps Heritage

150 – John Danks

240 – Orlando Cabrera

360 – Gavin Floyd

365 – Carlos Quentin

2009 Topps Toppstown

TTT19 – Carlos Quentin

2009 Topps Turkey

TR12 – Jermaine Dye

2009 Upper Deck

80 – Jermaine Dye (2)

83 – Joe Crede (2)

87 – Mark Buehrle

88 – Bobby Jenks

90 – A.J. Pierzynski

493 – Carlos Quentin CL

580 – Jerry Owens

582 – John Danks

583 – Carlos Quentin

584 – D.J. Carrasco

587 – Brent Lillibridge

592 – Bobby Jenks

Wow! Thanks, Mario! This package came out of left field and it couldn't have come at a better time. That's certainly a bunch of 2009 cards. I'll have to make a separate post about the Ray Durham card. There's something that I noticed on it that deserves its own post.

The Gift Of Shame

I love unexpected packages! They seem to be packed with the most amount of joy because the package comes out of nowhere. It usually means that someone thought of me enough to take the time to scour their cards and hand pick some gems just for me. Then they had to dig out my address, copy it on an envelope and make a special trip to the post office. That's some real thoughtful stuff there. Some days I don't want to venture out to the post office, so I have respect for those who do.

The package that came out of left field arrived on Friday. I had just spent an entire day out in the rain, dropping my dog at the groomers. The shop that we use, The Barker Shop, is located about a half hour away. If Tess is just in there for a basic grooming, it doesn't make sense to drive all the way back home just to turn back around again.

I killed time window shopping at Target, Half Price Books, Best Buy and Dollar Tree. It was a steady rain that poured down the entire time I was waiting for the call to pick Tess up. I stopped by McDonald's to be a dollar menuaire, or whatever they're calling it now, only to be told that the double cheeseburgers are no longer being offered for a dollar. Instead, I am told to order a McDouble. I inquired as to what the heck the difference was. I was informed that the McDouble only had one slice of cheese instead of two. Big deal. Gimme the dollar sandwich. Weirdly, it just didn't taste the same. Maybe it was the power of suggestion.

I gassed up at BP and got the call to pick up Tess. I brought her home and miraculously the clouds parted and the sky cleared. Good grief! Now it looks nice, just like when I left.

I browsed my mail. All three items of mail were totally unexpected. One was a booklet on Rock N' Roll Hall of Fame vacations, which turned out to be very informative and very cool looking. I've always wanted to go, but I never signed up for anything. Weird. The second was a package from Pearl Jam. I let my membership lapse sometime last year, so I wasn't expecting the newsletter. Not only did I get the newsletter, but I received the vinyl 45 Christmas single from 2008. Better late than never.

The last piece of mail was a package from Thorzul. I wasn't expecting anything, but there was something wrapped in a Target circular. Hmmm... they have the same crap on sale up in Milwaukee too. I thought it was strange for Thorzul to send a Target sale paper until I looked inside. There was a small plastic case and a yellow Post-it note with writing on it.

Steve,

I scoured your want lists and found some stuff for you. Keep up the good work!

- Thorzul

There was also some mention of the Sox/Brewers series this year. It seems Thorzul will be going in June and welcomes civilized Chicago fans in town. I hope one of those games will be in throwback uniforms. I loved the old Brewers uniforms.

I looked at the case and was greeted by a Frank Thomas Post trading card. The case was overstuffed with cards and I was joyful. Let's see what Thorzul sent over.

1991 Cracker Jack
Frank Thomas (sealed)

1991 Studio
32 - Carlton Fisk

1992 Post
24 - Frank Thomas

1993 Flair
185 - Roberto Hernandez

1993 Select Traded
43T - Rodney Bolton
81T - Jason Bere
118T - Ivan Calderon

1994 Topps Gold
601 - Frank Thomas

1996 Stadium Club
321 - Robin Ventura
398 - Dave Martinez

1996 Stadium Club Extreme Players Bronze
285 - Frank Thomas

1997 Collector's Choice All-Star Connection
10 - Frank Thomas

1997 Pinnacle
102 - Frank Thomas

1998 Topps Opening Day
158 - Albert Belle

1998 Upper Deck
60 - Albert Belle

1999 Topps Opening Day
52 - Albert Belle

2007 Topps First Edition
173 - Rob Mackowiak

Thanks, Thorzul! That was an absolute delight to open up! I think I'm going to leave the Frank Thomas in the Cracker Jack wrapper. It seems better that way. I like the 1993 Select Traded much better than the regular Select that year. The black goes well with that style. The regular green... not so much.

Since you were so generous with unexpected delights, I'm going to share something with you.

Stickers!

I asked Tracey which page in my sticker book looked the most shameful. She picked out the back page. There was something not quite right about animated ice cream cones with a come hither look, all lined up in a row.
You see, you're not the only one with sticker shame in your past. There's something ultimately disturbing about a chocolate ice cream cone fluffing its own ice cream head. The same goes for a strawberry cone holding one hand out with its tongue sticking out. Or even a sundae cone winking at me with a cherry on top.

The other three non ice cream cone stickers feature a baseball inside a glove with the saying, "You're a Hit!" on it. I thought a hit involved the baseball staying out of the glove. Anything goes in the world of stickers I guess. The one that's semi-unreadable reads, "Official BLIPS Sticker - Accept No Substitute". It had something to do with Atari 2600 games and the popularity of arcades. The final one is Heathcliff trying to catch a fish in an old timey fishbowl.

The sticker book has seen better days. I only found it a few weeks ago, while cleaning out a closet. So there you have it. Free gifts, rain and a shameful past. See what Thorzul has wrought?

Free Gift From Ohio

Every once in awhile, free gifts from fellow bloggers pop up in my mailbox. I've been enjoying a free compact disc full of baseball related songs during the past week. The generous blogger who has provided me all of this enjoyment is none other than Baseball Dad over at All Tribe Baseball.

The CD is full of classics like "Take Me Out To The Ball Game", "Who's On First?" and "Casey At The Bat". Some of these songs, I hadn't heard since I was a kid. A free spelling lesson from Danny Kaye and funky tributes to Hank Aaron and baseball cards are priceless.

Along with the music and sound clips came a few White Sox cards and a scratch off baseball game featuring a White Sox logo on the back. Pretty neat!

1992 O-Pee-Chee
648 - Scott Fletcher

2003 Donruss Super Estrellas
20 - Magglio Ordonez
21 - Carlos Lee

2004 Ultra Gold Medallion
285 - Paul Konerko

2006 Fleer Tradition
188 - Paul Konerko

2006 Topps Chrome X-Fractor
5 - Tadahito Iguchi

2009 Upper Deck
77 - Alexei Ramirez
87 - Mark Buehrle
463 - Jim Thome

Thanks, Jack! This was a great surprise! I thought I was spoiled with the Crankshaft comics. This certainly takes the cake. I know I'll be listening to that CD for years to come!

Johngy Strikes Again

I knew it was coming eventually. It still caught me by surprise when I arrived home yesterday. Another awesome package from Johngy!

I saw a box on the coffee table, when I walked in the door, after a hard day of learning the intricacies of drywall patching. It was a welcome site indeed.

"This was on the windowsill. Are you sure you should open it? It just has your first name on it".

Without hesitation, I grabbed the box and took it to a safe place, away from curious onlookers. In seclusion, I slowly opened the box. Inside were innocent enough looking cards. I sat with a puzzled expression on my face.

Then I flipped the first card over. It was a 1980 O-Pee-Chee disguised as a 1980 Topps doppelganger. Then I looked at each card, one by one. They was Canadian goodness after Canadian goodness. If only my Canadian relatives were still here. They left last Saturday.

Then the pièce de résistance, a whole slew of 1990 Coke cards! I was literally in seventh heaven as I looked card by card. This was on impossible set to find, at a semi-decent price, because of the Sosa and Thomas rookies. There were a few cards missing from the set, but I am so grateful for the ones that are here. These were on my secret double probation wish list for years!

Let's get into specifics here.

1980 O-Pee-Chee
58 - Francisco Barrios
91 - Greg Pryor
133 - Bill Atkinson
197 - Kevin Bell
261 - Rich Wortham
299 - Ken Kravec
309 - Chet Lemon
317 - Alan Bannister

1981 O-Pee-Chee
104 - Ron LeFlore
194 - Tony Bernazard
242 - Chet Lemon
364 - Steve Trout
366 - Lamar Johnson

1984 O-Pee-Chee
20 - Greg Luzinski
24 - Richard Dotson
47 - Rudy Law
97 - LaMarr Hoyt
132 - Tom Paciorek
177 - LaMarr Hoyt AS
197 - Harold Baines
257 - Julio Cruz

1986 O-Pee-Chee
6 - Rudy Law
233 - Richard Dotson

1990 White Sox Coke
1 - Ivan Calderon
2 - Wayne Edwards
4 - Scott Fletcher
5 - Dave Gallagher
6 - Craig Grebeck
7 - Ozzie Guillen
8 - Greg Hibbard
9 - Lance Johnson
10 - Barry Jones
11 - Ron Karkovice
12 - Eric King
13 - Ron Kittle
14 - Jerry Kutzler
16 - Carlos Martinez
17 - Jack McDowell
18 - Donn Pall
19 - Dan Pasqua
20 - Ken Patterson
21 - Melido Perez
22 - Scott Radinsky
24 - Bobby Thigpen
26 - Jeff Torborg
30 - Coaches (Barry Foote, Sammy Ellis, Walt Hriniak, Terry Bevington, Dave LaRoache, Joe Nossek, Ron Clark)

Thank you so much, John! You have no idea how long I've been searching for some of these cards. The 1990 Coke cards were a trip down memory lane. I still can't believe the amount of Canadian cards that you manage to run across.

I didn't realize how many Expos players the Sox got in the early eighties. Seeing them in an Expos uniform with the little blurb, "Now with White Sox", like some additive, is eye opening. For some reason it had me exclaiming things in German and French. That's a rare occurrence.

Generosity Is... Tribe Cards

You see, David has been battling a problem for awhile now. It's called giveaway addiction. No, David isn't addicted to entering giveaways. It's much more serious than that. David is addicted to giving away cards. And we are all the beneficiaries of that addiction.

David, of Indians Baseball Cards. And Then Some..., regularly gives away cards without asking anything in return. He is definitely one of the most generous bloggers in this community.

I had signed on late to this latest giveaway, but I was given the OK by David to participate, because he's cool like that. When the big recap post was online, I didn't see my name among everyone else. I saw someone else with White Sox cards and decided that I must not have made the final cut after all. I was alright with that. Why should I hog all the White Sox card giveaways? There are other fans of the team that deserve a turn at it.

When I received a decent sized box in the mail, I was clueless. I looked at the return address label and started to grin. I was in the giveaway after all! I think the experience of reserving myself to not being in the giveaway made me appreciate the package even more.

Let's see what goodies came in this box!

1981 Donruss
280 – Rich Dotson (2)

1982 Fleer
352 – Greg Luzinski

1984 Topps
667 – Vance Law

1985 Topps
78 – Scott Fletcher
221 – Ron Reed
543 – Mike Squires
749 – Julio Cruz

1986 Topps
64 – Floyd Bannister
364 – Reid Nichols

1986 Topps Mini Leaders
10 – Britt Burns

1987 Donruss
306 – Russ Morman
507 – Neil Allen
552 – Joe Cowley (2)

1987 Topps
299 – Joel Davis
685 – Jerry Hairston
737 – Floyd Bannister
772 – Harold Baines

1987 Topps Tiffany
149 – Ray Searage

1988 Donruss
409 – Jim Winn
532 – Steve Lyons
580 – Ron Hassey

1988 Donruss Rookies
7 – Dave Gallagher
21 – Melido Perez
48 – John Davis

1988 Fleer
396 – Richard Dotson

1988 Score
462 – Jim Winn
539 – Bill Long
582 – Daryl Boston
589 – Dave LaPoint
590 – Harold Baines

1988 Topps
158 – Tim Hulett
511 – Joel Davis
613 – Bobby Thigpen

1988 Topps Big
105 – Greg Walker

1989 Donruss
101 – Carlton Fisk
371 – Ivan Calderon
384 – Dave Gallagher

1989 Score
67 – Ken Williams
177 – Gary Redus
289 – Jack McDowell
331 – Ivan Calderon (2)
489 – Jerry Reuss

1989 Score Rookie & Traded
47T – Scott Fletcher
97T – Ken Patterson (2)
102T – Donn Pall (2)

1989 Topps
156 – Dave Gallagher
162 – John Davis
486 – Jack McDowell
512 – Donnie Hill
558 – Dan Pasqua
585 – Harold Baines

1989 Upper Deck
151 – Jerry Reuss
628 – Fred Manrique

1990 Bowman
306 – Bobby Thigpen
317 – Daryl Boston
318 – Craig Grebeck

1990 Donruss
28 – Robin Ventura
101 – Melido Perez (3)
135 – Ozzie Guillen
294 – Ivan Calderon
413 – Ron Karkovice
455 – Scott Fletcher
503 – Jerry Kutzler
606 – Donn Pall (2)
619 – Shawn Hillegas
651 – Steve Lyons

1990 Fleer
531 – Scott Fletcher
540 – Carlos Martinez
543 – Donn Pall
551 – Greg Walker

1990 Leaf
438 – Carlos Martinez

1990 Score
22 – Ron Karkovice
152 – Barry Jones
311 – Melido Perez
354 – Greg Walker (2)
369 – Greg Hibbard

1990 Score Young Superstars II
20 – Greg Hibbard
25 – Sammy Sosa

1990 Topps
79 – Ron Kittle
169 – Richard Dotson
243 – Barry Jones
524 – Daryl Boston
717 – Ron Karkovice
751 – Steve Lyons
786 – Eric King

1990 Topps Debut ‘89
109 – Jeff Schaefer

1990 Upper Deck
543 – Greg Hibbard
651 – Eric King

1991 Bowman
342 – Bobby Thigpen
353 – Bob Wickman

1991 Classic Best
418 – Larry Thomas Jr.

1991 Donruss
103 – Dan Pasqua
589 – Shawn Hillegas

1991 Donruss Highlights
BC-13 – Melido Perez

1991 Fleer
117 – Alex Fernandez

1991 Leaf
340 – Jack McDowell
375 – Joey Cora
413 – Tim Raines
428 – Dan Pasqua
515 – Ron Karkovice

1991 ProCards
43 – Johnny Ruffin

1991 Score
27 – Jack McDowell
69 – Craig Grebeck
115 – Barry Jones
132 – Donn Pall
157 – Lance Johnson
401 – Bobby Thigpen AS
560 – Phil Bradley
749 – Jerry Kutzler
751 – Matt Stark

1991 Stadium Club
199 – Lance Johnson
311 – Scott Radinsky
382 – Matt Merullo (2)
579 – Charlie Hough

1991 Studio
31 – Alex Fernandez

1991 Swell Baseball Greats
121 – Wilbur Wood

1991 Topps
278 – Alex Fernandez
420 – Bobby Thigpen

1991 Topps Debut ‘90
59 – Craig Grebeck

1991 Topps Traded
58T – Bo Jackson (2)

1991 Ultra
84 – Bobby Thigpen
86 – Robin Ventura

1991 Upper Deck
75 – Len Brutcher
321 – Scott Fletcher
323 – Jack McDowell
601 – Steve Lyons
645 – Alex Fernandez (2)
679 – Greg Hibbard
697 – Wayne Edwards
773 – Tim Raines

1992 Bowman
282 – Greg Perschke
380 – Donn Pall

1992 Classic Best
253 – Jason Bere
259 – Glenn DiSarcina

1992 Donruss
56 – Donn Pall
374 – Ron Karkovice
457 – Ken Patterson (2)
495 – Wilson Alvarez HL
509 – Melido Perez (2)
543 – Carlton Fisk (2)
546 – Craig Grebeck
579 – Mike Huff (2)
630 – Wilson Alvarez (2)
658 – Ramon Garcia (2)
668 – Warren Newson
708 – Bobby Thigpen (3)
743 – Steve Wapnick (3)

1992 Front Row
4 Tim Moore (2)

1992 Leaf
149 – Ozzie Guillen (5)
217 – Steve Sax
237 – Lance Johnson (5)

1992 Pinnacle
178 – Tim Raines
291 – Jack McDowell SL
535 – Esteban Beltre

1992 Score
517 – Rodney McCray
532 – Ron Karkovice
570 – Bobby Thigpen
734 – Brian Drahman
745 – Ramon Garcia (2)
760 – Wilson Alvarez
770 – Jeff Carter (2)
806 – Scott Ruffcorn
863 – Steve Wapnick (4)
874 – Roberto Hernandez

1992 SkyBox Pre-Rookie AAA
281 – Chris Cron

1992 Stadium Club
224 – Bobby Thigpen

1992 Studio
151 – George Bell
153 – Greg Hibbard (2)
155 – Kirk McCaskill
158 – Bobby Thigpen (2)

1992 Topps
57 – Donn Pall

1992 Ultra
34 – Craig Grebeck
39 – Ron Karkovice
42 – Melido Perez

1992 Upper Deck
285 – Bobby Thigpen
440 – Ken Patterson
575 – Tim Raines
592 – Donn Pall
743 – Steve Sax

1993 Donruss
433 – Jack McDowell
491 – Dan Pasqua
519 – Carlton Fisk (2)
535 – Robin Ventura
595 – Este Beltre
672 – Brian Drahman

1993 Leaf
173 – Bobby Thigpen
252 – Ellis Birks

1993 Pinnacle
108 – Frank Thomas (3)

1993 Stadium Club
330 – George Bell

1993 Triple Play
26 – Frank Thomas
82 – Kirk McCaskill
179 – Robin Ventura

1993 Topps
41 – Alex Fernandez
94 – Lance Johnson
230 – Carlton Fisk
344 – Jack McDowell

1993 Ultra
181 – Frank Thomas
527 – Jason Bere

1993 Upper Deck All-Time Heroes
21 – Don Buford

1994 Fleer
91 – Dan Pasqua

1994 Fleer Atlantic
23 – Frank Thomas

1994 Leaf
300 – Darrin Jackson

1994 Score
541 – George Bell

1994 SP
190 – Alex Fernandez

1994 Stadium Club
118 – Mike LaValliere
434 – Scott Radinsky

1994 Stadium Club Team
133 – Craig Grebeck

1994 Studio
207 – Jack McDowell

1994 Topps
270 – Frank Thomas (2)
356 – Scott Ruffcorn (2)
392 – Jack McDowell (Maddux) AS (3)
500 – Bo Jackson
538 – Ellis Burks

1994 Topps Archives 1954
216 – Al Sima
218 – Fred Marsh

1994 Upper Deck
468 – Roberto Hernandez
549 – Eddie Pearson

1994 Upper Deck Minors
59 – Ray Durham
245 – James Baldwin

1995 Classic Phone Cards
13A – Frank Thomas (2)
14 – Robin Ventura

1995 Fleer
113 – Joey Cora
124 – Norberto Martin

1995 Fleer Update
U-36 – Tim Fortugno

1995 Pacific
95 – Tim Raines

1995 Stadium Club
420 – Roberto Hernandez
457 – Jason Bere
480 – Scott Ruffcorn

1995 Topps
343 – Craig Grebeck
444 – Jason Bere
605 – Mark Johnson

1995 Ultra
31 – Ron Karkovice

1995 Upper Deck Michael Jordan One On One
4 – Speed
8 – First Homer

1995 Upper Deck Minors
36 – Jimmy Hurst
193 – Mark Johnson (3)

1996 Collector’s Choice
507 – Mike Cameron

1996 Collector’s Choice Silver Signature
499 – Dave Martinez
510 – Harold Baines

1996 Dannon
2 – James Baldwin
3 – Harold Baines
7 – Alex Fernandez
8 – Ozzie Guillen
14 – Darrin Lewis (2)
20 – Jose Munoz
27 – Larry Thomas
28 – Robin Ventura

1996 Pinnacle
133 – Jason Bere

1996 Score
499 – Chris Snopek

1996 SP
59 – Alex Fernandez

1996 Topps
272 – Tim Raines
310 – Robin Ventura
405 – Roberto Hernandez

1996 Upper Deck
42 – Alex Fernandez
231 – Chris Snopek
304 – Roberto Hernandez

1997 Circa
123 – Mike Cameron
215 – Tony Phillips

1997 Donruss
97 – Danny Tartabull (2)

1997 Leaf
114 – Ray Durham

1997 SP
47 – Roberto Hernandez (2)
49 – Harold Baines

1997 Stadium Club
27 – Tony Phillips
43 – Robin Ventura

1997 Topps
81 – Ron Karkovice
232 – Roberto Hernandez

1997 Ultra
500 – Jeff Abbott

1998 Pinnacle
56 – Robin Ventura

1998 Score
99 – Lyle Mouton

2000 SP Authentic
36 – Magglio Ordonez

2000 Upper Deck MVP
205 – Mike Sirotka

2001 Pacific
102 – Mike Sirotka

2001 Topps
130 – Mark Johnson
256 – Greg Norton (2)

2002 Upper Deck Victory
202 – Jose Valentin

2005 Donruss
145 – Magglio Ordonez
276 – Jose Contreras

2005 Upper Deck Flyball
64 – Paul Konerko
182 – Aaron Rowand
193 – Jermaine Dye

2006 Topps Heritage
358 – Dustin Hermanson

2006 Topps White Sox
CWS10 – Bobby Jenks

2006 Ultra
169 – Tadahito Iguchi

2006 Upper Deck
566 – Pablo Ozuna

2007 Allen & Ginter
70 – Jermaine Dye

2007 Bowman
220 – Josh Fields

2007 Fleer
331 – Josh Fields

2007 Topps Opening Day
175 – Josh Fields

2007 Upper Deck First Edition
11 – Ryan Sweeney
74 – Bobby Jenks

2007 Upper Deck Masterpieces
39 – Frank Thomas

2006/2007? White Sox Kids Club
Rob Mackowiak

Wow! That's a lot of punch for a smaller box! I even came across cards that I did not know exist. If they happened to be on any part of my want list, it was because I saw the text referring to that particular set.

I had not heard of the White Sox Dannon cards until David mentioned them on his blog. Now, I have many of them! The mystery card is the Rob Mackowiak. It figures that it would be of someone I knew. The card is part of some Kids Club set, but I have no idea which one. I've narrowed it down to 2006 or 2007, but honestly, I couldn't find any info on the set. The card doesn't even have a date on it. It only says that Rob is signed through 2007.

Thanks, David! Sorting through these cards the past few days has been a blast. There were many that I didn't have. The phone cards are something unique that I will cherish for years. There has been mystery and intrigue in every part of this box. For that, I am grateful.