White Plains Card Show Recap 3/27/11! Part 4

Hey everyone, Drew back here. It's been a long, grueling battle to get myself back to this blog lately, with all of the baseball and school work going on. I've had this long term science project to do on Extinction Level Events for the past few weeks, and it has been by far the most boring stuff I've ever had to write a paper on. Also, I had a scrimmage for my town league yesterday, and I ended up going 4-4 with 3 singles, a walk, 2 RBI, and a huge triple over the left fielders head. I also got my opportunity to pitch, and I went 2.1 innings of scoreless baseball in relief of my starter. I struck out 3 and allowed 2 hits and 2 walks. Late last night, I was playing manhunt at my friend's house, and I ended up hurting my back by turning it funny, so I'm pretty sure I pulled a muscle in it. Nonetheless, here I am now, finally ready and able to finish off the final post on the White Plains Card Show. Without further adieu, let us continue!

After Dad, Mike, and I got some quick lunch at Nathans, the indoor mini fast food restaurant the Westchester County Center contains, Mike and I jumped in line. We began to start talking to a fellow collector in line, who was familiar with our school, and actually looked pretty familiar. He ended up being the father of a girl in our freshmen class, and we didn't even know that until he notified us of that just a minute or so before we began to meet some players. It was pretty cool to see a local collector at a card show, especially one with as many cool collecting stories as he did.

So, the first player I met was former pitcher Luis Tiant! Tiant was a 3 time All Star throughout the mid 1960's to the early 1980's, and he was best known for his stint with the Red Sox. A famous moment etched into Yankees lure is when Bucky Dent hit his memorable home run, which was actually given up by "El Tiante". He also pitched for the Yankees in 1979 and 1980, and is subjected in the 2009 ESPN film "The Lost Son of Havana", displayed in Cuba, where Tiant was born.

I went up to Mr. Tiant, who must have been battling a cold, because outside of the few seconds he took to shake my hand and sign my card, he couldn't go without holding his tissues and sneezing right in front of me!

I didn't get to say a whole lot to Mr. Tiant, but I did walk away with this very nice looking signed Yankees custom I made of him. Tiant has a pretty cool looking signature, and it is now my second autograph of his in my collection, after I bought a triple autograph of Ron Guidry/Goose Gossae/Tiant a while back.

As I walked down the line of former players, the next I met was former Yankee Ron Blomberg. Blomberg began his career in the late 60's, but played until the end of the 70's. He was a solid player all around, but he was most known for being the first player to play the Designated Hitter position in MLB history! Blomberg was a really cool guy and he really liked the looks of my custom I made for him to sign. While he wasn't the biggest name I met, I'm pretty sure he was my favorite one of the day!

Here's a scan of my card signed by Blomberg. I really struggled to find a good picture of him, but I don't think this one looked too bad.

As a special bonus to buying tickets for both Tiant and Blomberg, you could receive this 8x10 photo of the 2 of them together for free! It would've looked nice signed but I had other intentions with the autographs anyway, so I'm good with just the picture. Tiant had actually been the first pitcher to face a designated hitter (Blomberg) in history, so it was a cool little piece of information.

Next was Steve Garvey, the player I spent the most $ to meet that day. Garvey had been a 10 time All Star, 4 time Gold Glover, and the 1974 NL MVP back in his day for the Dodgers. He had been a part of one of the best infields of all time, the infield consisting of Dodgers: Garvey, Bill Russell, Ron Cey, and Davey Lopes. With 2,599 hits, 272 home runs, and a lifetime batting average of .294, in my opinion I think he should have a plaque in Cooperstown. Anyway, he was a very nice man, and he seemed like he was a fan of my custom. It was hard to tell how much he really wanted to be there, but I think he was fairly content with signing for the fans.

I took advantage of the "1 Free Inscription" deal, and got Garvey to write "74 NL MVP" under his autograph and number. It looks fairly good, maybe it would have been better if he used sharpie instead of just a plain blue pen.

Following Garvey, we took a little break, but then headed in line to meet 2 more guys, the first being the freebie of the day, former Cy Young winner LaMarr Hoyt. Hoyt used to rock a huge beard during his hey day in the 1980's, but since then it has all disappeared. He didn't really say much, but he wasn't a jerk, so I'm fine with that. Dad found me an extra autograph ticket laying around on the ground earlier, so I was able to also get an 8x10 signed along with the custom.

Outside of the awesome looking White Sox uniforms, there is nothing overly exciting with this guy. He had actually been arrested 4 times due to drug problems throughout his career, but since he's been drug free. I must say though, I don't get that autograph at all, because it looks like it says "Don/Son Hoyt" rather than LaMarr. Still nice adds to my collection though.

Finally, the last player we met was former All Star pitcher Tommy John! While of course he is well known for the surgery named after him, frequently now given to pitchers that had similar arm problems to him, he was a heck of a pitcher from the 1960's to the late 1980's. He won 288 games, the 26th most of any pitcher in baseball history. He made 4 All Star teams, and pitched for the Yankees in 2 stints in the 1980's. He is often found in the same boat with former pitchers Jim Kaat, Bert Blyleven, and now Mike Mussina and Andy Pettitte, in the group of pitchers that have good stats but perhaps not good enough for the Hall of Fame. The borderline guys. Blyleven of course made it into the Hall this past year, so maybe it'll soon be John's turn.

John was a fairly nice guy, but he seemed very caught up with signing 8x10 photos for something, maybe the mail order or something. He looked up quick to talk to me about my card and shake my hand, and took a picture with Mike and I, but other than that, he was signing his hand off. It seemed like a lot of the guys from the show had their hands full that day. However, the custom looks great and I was really happy to be able to meet him.

But that's not all! Outside of the 5 guys I had the opportunity to meet that day, I also sent in a mail order request to get a card signed by someone signing the previous day. I would have preferred to go on the Saturday rather than the Sunday, but dad had to work Saturday so I was in desperation to get one of the guy's autographs. When I was getting ready to send it out, I checked the website one last time and realized that the card needed to be at the place by the next day or else it wouldn't get signed. So, I had to pay 20 bucks extra on shipping just so the card could get there in time. Unfortunately, I had to pay a ton just for a single card to get signed, but now that I have it, I don't have to worry about getting his autograph again!

The card was signed by Reds Hall of Famer Joe Morgan! Morgan may be one of the most awful announcers of all time, but when he was a player, he was terrific. A ten time All Star, 2 time World Series champion, 2 time NL MVP, and a 5 time Gold Glover makes him perhaps the best 2nd baseman of all time! He was a tremendous player all around, and could hit for power, a very often hard to find feature in a second baseman. Today, it's very hard to find a second baseman that will hit some home runs, so it goes to show how good of a player he is.

Morgan had never been much of a TTM signer, so I knew that when I had an opportunity to get his card signed, even for the price, I knew it was worth it. He is now the 8th player in my Hall of Fame set, joining: Feller, Doerr, Snider, Bunning, MacPhail, Irvin, and Kiner!

All in all, even though I came home dirt broke, with not a dime in change, I bought a lot of really nice cards and met some former great players. We all had a blast and as always, can't wait for the next one!

See Ya!

White Plains Card Show Recap 3/27/11! Part 2!

Hey guys, Drew back here. Today we continue the mini series of White Plains card show pickups that I got last Sunday. This time I'm going to show you some of the newer cards I picked up as well as sharing the stories behind them!

2011 Topps Heritage Nick Swisher Green Refractor SP

This card cost me $5, which I thought at first was very steep for an insert card. However, I looked at some of the listings for this card, and it seems like the price I paid was somewhat fair. This was my only Swisher pickup at this show, but its a really nice card. Sometimes picking up a card without a bat or jersey relic or a scribble turns out nicer.

2007 Tristar Autothentics Blue Elvis Andrus Auto /250

I bought this card as well as the next card from the same seller. He seemed like a fairly nice guy, so I wanted to buy a little off of him. Andrus may not be Jeter, but he's turning out to be a great young shortstop. Plus, he has a really cool autograph! From counting, I think there's a good 17 or 18 loops in that entire autograph, and I feel bad for him because signing like that so many times has to hurt after a while! This is a nice card in person, but if it was on card I would like it more, since the sticker auto seems to be dirty on the corners and takes away from the appearance of the card.

2004 Upper Deck Legends Graig Nettles Autograph

Over the years, I've managed to pick up quite a few Yankees autographs, especially of players from the 1970's era. However, a few always eluded me, and this was one of them. Graig Nettles is one of those Yankees that should have been given more of an opportunity at the Hall of Fame. Had Brooks Robinson, possibly THE best 3rd baseman of all time, not scooped up all the Gold Gloves at the time, Nettles would've won a few Gold Gloves more than the 2 he owns today. He was an All Star, a Yankee captain, a strong power hitter, and a World Series champion, and I'm happy to finally add his auto to my collection, especially on a card that describes him so much.

1994 Classic Cream of the Crop Derek Jeter RC

The seller who sold me the previous 2 cards threw this in for free, and while it's not overly valuable and comparable to his top rookies, its a nice card of Derek Jeter before he began to make millions of bucks. The countdown to 3,000 hits begins Thursday, and I never could be more excited for the newest season!

2008 UD SPX Dan Uggla Autograph

Dan Uggla's been one of those players I've grown a lot of appreciation for over the past couple of seasons. I took him on both of my fantasy baseball teams this year, after he hit an incredible year last year for my team. He hits a lot of home runs and drives in a lot of runs, which is rare to find in a second baseman. He might not be as good as Robby Cano, but I think with one more good season Chase Utley will no longer be the 2nd best second baseman in the game.

2008 Topps Triple Threads Andre Ethier Triple Relic Auto /99

When this guy is healthy, he sure can hit! He was on my fantasy team last year, and when games counted, he always showed up. If he can limit injuries and stay consistent, he could have an excellent season this year! His autograph sure is atrocious but the card looks nice, and is only numbered to 99. It's been a while since I got a card from this set, so I felt like it was about time to get another.

2008 UD SPX Andy Pettitte Patch /99

Mike had a really fun time at the show, especially when it came to patches. He bought 2 patches himself and hopefully I can get a picture of them to show off on here. But, this one I had to claim dibs on, and I'm so happy I did. For a nice price of $8 from my favorite dealer at the entire show, a guy named Hunter, I got this 3 color patch of Andy along with a small jersey piece with a pinstripe! Talk about all in one! Even though he's not shown as a Yankee and the patch is clearly from an Astros uniform, it will safely rest in my Yankees collection!

2005 Upper Deck Heroes Wade Boggs Auto /99

My final pickup of the day was a good one. It took me literally an hour of pacing around the show with about $30 on me, trying to decipher what I wanted most. This Wade Boggs autograph was the one I walked home with, and I couldn't be happier. Again, I bought the card from Hunter, my favorite seller of all of the ones I've dealt with, and I couldn't have found a better place to give my money to. Boggs was an outstanding player, maybe more notably for Boston, but he won a World Series with the Yankees in 1996, something the Red Sox could never deliver their All Star. He retired with over 3,000 hits, and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2005 along with Cubs second baseman Ryne Sandberg.

What do you think of my/dad's pickups? We've got a little more to come still, so stay tuned for that!

See Ya!

White Plains Card Show Recap 3/27/11! Part 1!

Hey everyone, Drew back here! Today, as I mentioned in my previous post, I went to the White Plains card show. Mike, Joemama, and I made the trip to the Westchester County Center, to meet some players, spend some money, and have a great time. We did all 3. Well, the day had its ups and downs, but majority were certainly ups. Over the next week or so, I'm going to highlight to you some of the things I got at the show. I'll start small with pack breaks, and end big with the players I got the opportunity to meet! For now, between Dad and I's pickups, here are some of the packs we bought:

In the dollar bin, dad picked up 2 packs each of 2002 Upper Deck World Series Heroes, and 2002 Upper Deck Ballpark Idols. We'll start with Ballpark Idols.

The cards not shown in the scan are Kevin Appier and Brandon Duckworth. Overall I've never seen this set, pretty much since it was mixed in with the thousands of random releases Upper Deck made around this time. For $1 each you really can't go wrong but there really was nothing exciting in these.

Again, not shown are Jose Rijo and Matt Williams. Click on the scan if you're curious to see a closer up shot of the cards. Anyway, from the 2002 World Series set, here are 8 fantastic cards of some great players. I've always liked this set, but never got much of it. Rickey Henderson and David Wells' cards are my favorite of the ones I pulled though.

After those 4 packs, I also bought myself 3 packs of the all new 2011 Topps Heritage baseball series. I've seen too much of this stuff already and I'm really liking the way Topps went about the set this year. One thing I've noticed is that the disgusting gum you normally get in these packs are resting in peace for the year which is an improvement, especially when they added one more card per each pack as a replacement.

Pack 1 was a great pack in my opinion. The 1 card not shown was of David Aardsma, but none of you guys care about him so I figured you didn't have to see his bald head. While I like the CC Sabathia and Brian McCann cards, my favorites of the pack are the A-Rod New Age Performers card and the Halladay Perfect game highlight card. I really think Topps hit a home run with the way they did the inserts this year, because they look great.

Pack 2 didn't have the insert flair of Pack 1, but I'm still happy because I got 2 more Yankees for the collection, in Andy Pettitte and Mark Teixeira. I also like Chris Perez now since he spent some of his contract money to buy the cut autograph booklet card of the 1927 Yankees team recently found in 2010 Topps Tribute.

The final pack contained some more very nice cards. It was thicker because I ended up pulling a Jake McGee chrome rookie card numbered to 1962, which I liked a lot. Also got a Jeter insert as well as one of those cool Babe Ruth special cards. The card highlights his time spent with the Dodgers as a coach before his retirement. Ruth apparently always wanted to manage a team, but he never got the opportunity in his life.

The final part of this post, is about some mystery packs I bought from one seller. He was selling $3 packs, each containing one auto or game used card and some other cards alongside the hit. I bought 1, and dad bought 5 of them, for $10. Let me tell you, we could have done a lot better, and I'm not going to bother show anything but the 6 relics we ended up pulling.

First off was this Shin-Soo Choo jersey relic from 2009 Upper Deck Sweet Spot. In my opinion, he could be the most underrated player in baseball, since hardly anyone knows how good he actually is. Last year, he batted .300 with 22 home runs and 90 RBI. Shin-Soo WHO?

This guy pitched for China in the World Baseball Classic. And theres a piece of his jersey. Wooo.

Next was a Brian Stokes relic. He was a Met after his stint with the Rays, and then became a free agent. I hope that explains the jist of how good he is.

Now we have Carlos Beltran. He was good, but now he's old and the Mets really shouldn't be relying on him this year to play in their lineup. We'll see though. By the way, I love Allen & Ginter, in case you didn't know!

From 2010 Topps Pro Debut, here's a Trevor Reckling jersey card. This has to be the largest swatch I've ever gotten in my collection, and it's numbered to 139. He's a pitcher in the Angels organization, and I don't know much else about him. Still a cool card though.

The final card was my 1 hit in my bag, a Hunter Pence manufactured patch numbered to only 10! The guy is convinced that the thing is a real jersey, but anyone that knows anything about Upper Deck Premier knows that this thing is fake. It's a really nice card though, my first from the set.

Well, that'll just about do it for the first post in the series! Stay tuned for the second part, coming soon to drewscards!

See Ya!

Tomorrow's Big Show! White Plains Anyone?

Hey everyone, Drew back here, but I won't be tomorrow! As some of you know, tomorrow there is a baseball card show down in White Plains, New York, which is a little ride from my house. I've been to about 4 of these shows in the past, and never left disappointed at all! I always save up a lot of money, and I'm able to not only add a bunch of nice cards to my collection, but also I get the opportunity to meet some former players. Tomorrow I will be meeting 5 different players, if the time works out on my side, and will have 5 signed customs to come home with! Mike is also coming along to the show, for his 3rd time, and as always Joemama! We can't wait any longer.

I have the wantlist ready to go, customs printed, as well as one more big item that I will be taking over to the show. I don't want to spoil anything, as always I have a tendency to want to surprise you guys more than just telling you what I'm going to do.

So stay tuned everyone! And PLEASE comment if you're going tomorrow! I would love to know!

See Ya!