The 2nd Annual Stale Gum Trade

For the second year in a row, Chris of Stale Gum fame, has sought me out for a trade. We'll go want list hunting and reach some sort of an agreement on card exchanging.

For the second year in a row, I've been lucky enough to score a 1/1 authentic Chris Harris autograph. Very cool indeed!

I'm glad I only trade with Chris once a year. I don't have the back stock of cool stuff to send his way. It takes me all year to compile a worthy enough package to send over. Some of you know this fact a little too well. Sorry about that. I'm still working on some packages to send out to a few of you.

Without any further delay, let's see what Chris sent over!

1992 Baseball Enquirer
9 - John Smoltz
37 - Len Dykstra (Chris Harris auto 1/1)

1994 Leaf Limited Rookies
23 - Norberto Martin

1995 Finest
161 - Roberto Hernandez

1995 Leaf
69 - Alex Fernandez

1996 Bowman
2 - Ray Durham
54 - Frank Thomas

1997 Pinnacle New
12 - Albert Belle

1999 Metal
174 - Mike Caruso

2001 Bowman Heritage
223 - Joe Borchard

2001 Topps Stars
26 - Paul Konerko

2001 Ultra
255 - Jon Garland

2001 Upper Deck Ovation
65 - Joe Crede

2003 Upper Deck Game Face
121 - David Sanders

2005 Cracker Jack
151 - Paul Konerko

2005 Ultra Gold Medallion
135 - Frank Thomas

2006 Bowman Chrome Draft Picks
BDP7 - Brian Anderson
DP14 - Justin Edwards
DP59 - Tyler Reeves
DP60 - John Shelby
FG12 - Josh Fields

2008 Baseball Heroes
42 - Jim Thome

2008 Baseball Heroes Charcoal
32 - Carlton Fisk
42 - Jim Thome
43 - Jermaine Dye

2008 Topps Gold Foil
293 - Gavin Floyd

2008 Topps Heritage Black Back
301

2008 Topps Heritage High Numbers
588

2008 Topps Heritage High Numbers Black Back
541

2008 Upper Deck StarQuest
SQ-54 - Paul Konerko (uncommon)

2009 Allen & Ginter
12 - Jermaine Dye

2009 Allen & Ginter Mini A&G Back
265 - Paul Konerko

2009 Allen & Ginter Mini Black
167 - Jim Thome

2009 Bowman
BCP23 - Tyler Flowers
BCP84 - Steven Upchurch

2009 Bowman Blue
169 - Carlos Quentin

2009 Bowman Gold
108 - Jermaine Dye
127 - Paul Konerko
169 - Carlos Quentin

2009 Finest Refractor Gold
56 - Mark Buehrle (33/50)

2009 O-Pee-Chee
474 - Mark Buehrle
489 - Wilson Betemit
503 - White Sox Team Checklist

2009 Topps Attax
Mark Buehrle
Orlando Cabrera
Jermaine Dye
Bobby Jenks
A.J. Pierzynski
Jim Thome

2009 Topps Attax Silver Foil
53 - Jim Thome

Thanks, Chris! These cards were awesome! I look forward to next year's trade! Hopefully, I'll be able to hit more from your want list by then.

A Writer's Journey Trade

Sometimes the best trades don't seem like trades at all. That is how the latest trade with Jason of the Writer's Journey felt like.

There was no haggling over what was sent. It just happened. I saw JT left a comment about the Reds cards from a set I had purchased on the cheap just to get the White Sox cards. So I gathered the few meager Reds cards that were in the set and shipped them off, with a few extras thrown in for good measure.

I received a package shortly after from Jason. Inside were a few White Sox cards and 44 cards for my friend. I won't mention what cards, just in case my friend stumbled upon this post. Long time readers should know what I'm talking about though. Let's just say that the 44 cards hit right on the nose.

The White Sox cards in the package:

1988 Donruss Baseball's Best
11 - Harold Baines
25 - Ivan Calderon
67 - Carlton Fisk
81 - Ozzie Guillen
123 - Dave LaPoint
137 - Dan Pasqua
179 - Melido Perez
193 - Greg Walker
235 - Bobby Thigpen
249 - Ken Williams
291 - Steve Lyons

1989 Upper Deck
711 - Ron Kittle
715 - Steve Rosenberg
790 - Eddie Williams

Thanks, Jason! If I had any holes (too lazy to check right this second) in the 1988 Baseball's Best, I'm sure they are filled now. My friend will be excited when I finally get everything together. Thanks for helping!

1949 Bowman

This is an iconic set, but that doesn't mean that it wasn't filled with bad choices. The cards are ugly, but they aren't as ugly as the 1941 Goudey set. They do come close to that level of ugly.

The players are hard to identify sometimes and team affiliations occasionally do not match the uniform on the front of the card. Still, this is one of the best known sets to come out of the forties.

If you count all the cards picturing or listing the player as being a part of the White Sox, there are a total of thirteen cards. If you choose only to follow the team listing on the back, there are ten cards. If you choose to follow the pretty pictures, there are eleven cards.

12 - Cass Michaels
28 - Don Kolloway
44 - Dave Philley
87 - Randy Gumpert (pictured in a Yankees uniform/back lists White Sox)
96 - Taft Wright (pictured in a White Sox uniform/back lists Athletics)
103 - Joe Tipton (pictured in an Indians uniform/back lists White Sox)
119 - Floyd Baker
133 - Aaron Robinson (pictured in a White Sox uniform/back lists Tigers)
141 - Tony Lupien (pictured in a White Sox uniform/back lists Tigers)
159 - Glen Moulder
175 - Luke Appling
191 - Joe Haynes
217 - Marino Pieretti

Players being out of sync with their uniforms is nothing new to the hobby. This was happening sixty years ago. Information flows much faster than it did back then. There really isn't much of an excuse for this in a modern card set. In 1949, this would have been perfectly acceptable.

The mismatches are sort of endearing to a vintage set like this. Bowman also couldn't decide whether or not to issue the cards with names on the front. Some cards have the name on the front (usually the higher numbers), some do not have the name. Then there are the rare few where both versions can be found of one card. No card affiliated with the White Sox has two versions.

Mailbox Joys: 50 Proof

2008 Stadium Club Photographer's Proof Gold #65 - Nick Swisher 33/50

There's a reason why I haven't reviewed this set for the blog yet. Even after being available for over a year, the set is still confusing. Retail and high end hobby versions. First day and photographer's proof parallels. Some cards in the set only seem to be available in either the high end expensive hobby product or the cheaper bare bones retail version.

That being said, the photography is the key here. Some of it is simply stunning. Even Nick Swisher making a routine play on this card looks beautiful and important. I wish Topps would have treated this set as such.

So much potential was lost in this product. That does make it a bit easier to pick up cheaply on the secondary market. This was my first photographer's proof card from this release and I couldn't be happier with the result. The gold foil shines in person. Unfortunately, it shows up as a dirty copper color blob when scanned.

This card makes me pine for a Stadium Club set done right. It even makes me forgive Swisher for being such a two faced pouty jerk of a player. Well, almost. I still like him as a person, since he has a good heart. His baseball side is a lot like this set. It looks good on the surface, but when you dig deeper, you see it needs a lot of work.

Cards That Never Were #12

1968 Topps - Bill Skowron

It would be easy to ignore Moose's 1967 season. He got off to a poor start with the White Sox and was quickly traded to the Angels for Cotton Nash and cash. Life in California was slightly better, but not by much.

Bill finished out the year with the Angels before being released shortly after the season was over. Considering Skowron won five World Series championships (four with the Yankees and one with the Dodgers), you would think that he would be deserving of a final card. You would be wrong. Even his six All-Star Game selections didn't sway Topps to issue a 1968 card.

According to Topps, Moose's last team was with the White Sox and his last card was in the 1967 set. Let's correct that oversight right now. Here is Bill Skowron's proper final card.

Card Spotlight: 11-27-09

2006 SP Legendary Cuts #62 - Sloppy Thurston

When I first got back into collecting cards in 2007, I tried to make up for thirteen years of absence by sampling every product I could get my hands on. The second hobby box I purchased from the local card shop was 2006 SP Legendary Cuts.

I instantly fell in love with the product. If I was thinking clearly back then, I probably would have finished the set. Instead, I showed great restraint and only collected the White Sox cards in the set. I sold the rest through eBay.

Back then, I solely focused on the White Sox cards in each set. Since then, I have expanded that original criteria into chasing one complete set and a few players that I admire. Mainly, I have stuck to my guns.

I'm a sucker for cards that feel retro without actually "borrowing" from a classic design. If a company fills a set with retired players that normally don't get a lot of "card love" nowadays, I will usually gravitate towards that set. If I ever get into a lull in my card collecting, I may decide to chase this set.

The design is sharp and it looks even better in person. The scan does not do the card proper justice. It even feels different. It's printed on very solid stock and at first glance reminded me of porcelain.

Last year, the unexpected happened. SP Legendary Cuts turned into some type of hybrid product which featured mostly current players. It was not one of my favorite releases of 2008. 2009 continued that trend. If you are intrigued by baseball history and love collecting retired players, you can't go wrong with this set from 2007 or earlier. It's a shame that card companies tinker with a winning formula. I can still concentrate on the earlier sets. So I got that going for me.

Happy Thanksgiving

Getting ready for dinner and still recovering (in a good way) from the Dreams concert last night. This is beginning to be an annual tradition!

Just When I Thought It Was Safe...

... Topps pulls this variation card out of their hat. In what seemed like minutes after I had opened my mouth and claimed that I would be frustrated if the White Sox had a stupid "variation" parallel, I run across this card staring me in the face.

Ugh!

Topps should really have their license pulled for crap like this. It's not cute anymore. It stopped being cute the moment I saw a squirrel with his own baseball card, along with a cutesy name that made me want to vomit.

Can someone please organize an intervention for Topps? One is long overdue.

Welcome Andruw Jones

Next up on Kenny Williams' wishlist from 2000 is Andruw Jones. Andruw is expected to be a bench player, who will pinch hit, play a little outfield and DH. With this signing, the White Sox bench should be feared. Why does that make me a little bit afraid?

We will see how these moves will pan out during the season, but I hope Kenny Williams is focusing on the 2010 team and not fulfilling his decade old dream team.

Either way, it should be an interesting sight to see on the South Side next year. Jones signed a one year contract for $500,000.00. It's a low enough commitment that if this doesn't work out, it shouldn't be taxing the budget too much. Hopefully, Andruw will have a bit of a resurgence here.

Welcome to Chicago, Andruw! You'll love it here.

2009 Topps Heritage High Numbers

For the second year in a row, Topps has continued the Heritage set with a high numbers release. Basically, they are exploiting the fact that some of their older sets came in different series throughout the year and created this release to add an update set onto the existing retro set.

I don't have a problem with an update to the Heritage set. I love the idea! I have a problem with how the retro update set is marketed. In order to get around the pesky rule of only having a certain number of sets per year, Topps latches this onto the Updates & Highlights set and treats this as an insert set.

Even someone with a transorbital lobotomy can figure out that if six out of the eight cards in a pack are from the Heritage High Numbers set, that is probably the main set of the pack. I would think that licensing would have been pulled from Topps instead of Upper Deck for this type of mockery.

From the base set, there are four different White Sox cards, including a short print card of Gordon Beckham.

516 - Bartolo Colon
569 - Alex Rios
682 - Scott Podsednik
699 - Gordon Beckham

This isn't a bad addendum to the set earlier in the year. In fact, this set really compliments the other. It is a natural progression to the first release and I feel very good recommending this update set. I'm still not a fan of the way it's distributed, but I certainly can't complain about the product itself. With only four cards to pick up (as far as I can tell at this early juncture), this should be a fairly easy set to finish for the White Sox team collector.

***UPDATE***
There is now photographic proof of a gimmick card of Alex Rios featuring a black & white photo instead of the color. I haven't seen one for sale yet, but just the thought of it existing is another slap in the face by Topps.

Cards That Never Were #11

1969 Topps - Rocky Colavito

Rocky's last card was in the 1968 Topps set as a member of the Chicago White Sox. The only problem is that Rocky spent the first half of the 1968 season with the Los Angeles Dodgers and the second half with the New York Yankees.

By the 1968 season, Colavito was well past his prime. He still managed to appear in 79 games between Los Angeles and New York. While with Cleveland, and to a lesser extent Detroit, he put up fantastic numbers. One would think that this would justify a final card for Rocky. This was sadly not the case.

Forty years later, Rocky Colavito will finally get his final card.

2009 Topps T-206

The year is winding down and there is yet another retro set on the market. Topps, who already put out a 206 set in 2002, has decided to mark the 100th anniversary of the original tobacco set with this tribute release.

The cards themselves look smart and somewhat faithful to the original design. Purists will complain that the set feels forced and doesn't retain the look of the original T-206 set. I would have to agree to a degree.

If you want a true faithful rendition, purchase 2009 Goudey. This is not what's on display here. This set reminds me of the spectacular Obak release from a few months ago. The only differences lies in the backgrounds and the licensing of team logos.

There are eleven cards featuring White Sox players. That number may fluctuate slightly, as I see examples of every card. Jim Thome is still stuck in a White Sox uniform. I was wondering if Topps would sneak Thome into a Dodgers uniform, but that doesn't appear to be the case.

3 - Carlos Quentin
80 - Jim Thome
97 - Gavin Floyd
108 - Alex Rios
161 - Jermaine Dye
174 - Gordon Beckham
191 - Paul Konerko
193 - Jake Peavy
238 - Mark Buehrle
255 - A.J. Pierzynski
284 - Alexei Ramirez

Overall, the Topps T-206 base set is a winner. I have seen examples of sticker autographs as inserts and that feels completely wrong for a retro set. There is a Gordon Beckham short print back variation out there, which has "Rookie American League" and nothing else.

There are the usual mini parallels and back variations for every card in the set. Refractors, printing plates and other unnecessary evils of modern card collecting are present too. The exact information on all of that jazz will slowly leak out, as more boxes are opened. Going to the Topps website for help on any complete set checklist is a complete joke. The one thing that's not a joke? This excellent looking set!

Welcome Omar Vizquel

The White Sox signed Omar Vizquel, who will be 43 in April, to a one year deal today. He will be used as a backup middle infielder.

The White Sox have a knack for high profile Venezuelan shortstops. Although it would have been nice to have Vizquel ten or twenty years ago, Kenny Williams seems to prefer high profile stars in the twilight of their careers.

Hopefully, Omar will bring a much needed spark to the lineup and stability in the middle infield. He did a decent job as a backup player with the Rangers last year, so there is no indication that the Sox can't expect more of the same.

Welcome to Chicago, Omar! You'll love it here.

Memories Linger

Memories are something that no one can take away. I have vivid memories starting around two years old. One of my best memories was from July 5, 1981. I was a few months shy of five years old, but there I was at my Uncle Jack's house playing catch with him in the backyard.

I can remember feeling so much joy in that one simple act. Playing catch with my uncle may have only lasted a few minutes, maybe less, but at that age, it seemed like an eternity. I was in complete bliss.

I imagine that we were at some type of barbecue, since it was the day after the fourth of July. I also remember that I chose not to watch my favorite movie that had just started on cable, The Blues Brothers (which I had all of the dialogue memorized by that time). Instead, I went out in my aunt and uncle's backyard to play catch.

My uncle saw how much I enjoyed playing with the baseball, so he inscribed it for me. He spelled my first name out on the sweet spot and underneath he wrote, "FROM UNCLE JACK 7-5-81". I still have that ball today and whenever I want a quick smile, I'll pull that ball out and reminisce.

My Uncle Jack passed away on Wednesday in Florida. He was in the middle of playing golf, so I can take comfort that he was doing something he loved in his last moments.

I didn't see him very much over the years. My dad's side of the family only gets together for weddings and funerals, mainly. I did get to visit him when I got my driver's license. He sold me my first auto insurance policy. He shook my hand and offered his congratulations.

It's those little moments that I will always remember. If this blog is lacking in the new post department over the next few days, now you know why. This weekend my mission is to find a ball holder for that ball.

Card Spotlight: 11-20-09

1992 Pinnacle #227 - Dan Pasqua

Once upon a time, there were a plethora of baseball card companies in existence. Each had many different releases. Sometimes the sets were so diverse, that one could not distinguish which cards came from which company without looking at the tiny print.

2009 is a much simpler time, in that respect. There are only so many places where cards come from today. By 2010, there will only be one card company that will be fully licensed to produce cards. That company would be Topps. As of next year, only Topps will be able to produce images of players with logos. Any other company will need to get creative.

Back in 1992, only card sets that came with baked goods and cereal had to airbrush logos out. Pinnacle has long since ceased production of baseball cards. Still, the memories of this age are fresh in my mind. It may have been the overproduction era, but there were so many choices.

Innovations in how cards were presented were born out of healthy competition between card companies. Where will the Dan Pasquas of today find a home? Today's Dan Pasqua is someone like a Nick Swisher, with one difference. Dan Pasqua would not showboat or complain about where he ended up on the field. Dan Pasqua would play wherever the manager assigned him.

He did not fuss or cry foul if he wasn't in the lineup. He came to the park ready to play and did his job to the best of his ability. There was no flash, yet Dan occasionally had a flair for the dramatic, when he would hit a mammoth home run. His numbers may not show it, but I felt confident every time that Dan came up against a right handed pitcher.

I, along with many other collectors, miss Pinnacle. I miss all of the other fallen brands too. There was a feeling I would get when I went to the card shop and had a smorgasbord of packs to choose from. Pinnacle always stood out when I was in a pinch. Dan Pasqua stood out to me when the Sox were in a pinch. Whenever I run across a Pinnacle card in my collection, I always think about this card of Pasqua and collecting as a teenager. Looking back, I wouldn't trade either memory for the world.