Grandpa Roy Column

Hey guys, Drew back here. First off, I want to wish everyone a Happy Memorial Day, and a thank you to everyone who has served our country. I'm so proud to live in America, and I'm glad that so many people have the guts to go out there and support our country in the military. God Bless America!

Anyway, Grandpa Roy and I talked on the phone yesterday about many possible future questions to be used for the Column, so we should have some good stuff for you guys over the next couple weeks. Here is today's question for you:

Which Major League player hit the most home runs in their career without appearing in the World Series? How many home runs did he hit?

Answer: Ken Griffey Jr. , 630 Home Runs


Guessed by: The Diamond King


Alright, with this question, just leave the comment with your answer. Please use your very brilliant minds rather than online references, which kill the purpose of this game. Have fun everyone! And Good Luck!

See Ya!

Get Well Soon Gary!

Hey everyone, Drew back here. 2011 has been an absolutely horrible year for the Hall of Fame, even though we're only 5 months in. Over the past couple of years, we've lost many legendary players such as Sparky Anderson, Robin Roberts, George Kell, Bob Feller, Duke Snider, and recently Harmon Killebrew, due to various illnesses and diseases. Immediately following the sad news about Killebrew's death from esophageal cancer, news came out about Hall of Fame catcher Gary Carter.

Carter was found to have 4 tumors on his brain, after complaining about having frequent headaches. Yesterday, after running a biopsy on him, doctors discovered that the tumors are malignant, and he's going to have a surgery at Duke University soon. He is only 57 years old, and he's going to go to chemotherapy and radiation soon, in an attempt to remove the tumors.

Sure, he wasn't a Yankees player, and he's not as big of a name as Killebrew, but anytime I hear the news of someone with a nasty disease like this, it's horrible news to me. He was the catcher for the famous 1986 Mets World Series team, and was an 11 time All Star in his 19 year career. He's considered a hero in New York, and Mets fans absolutely love him. In fact, the Mets are soon planning on honoring Carter by retiring his number 8 at Citi Field.

So, I send all my thoughts and prayers to the Carter family, best of luck with this horrible situation.

See Ya.

Great Addition to the Yankees Collection!

Hey guys, Drew back here. It's been a good day for me, why you may ask? Because, I'm prepared to take on a wonderful 3 day weekend! Not only that, but I also don't have anything to do this weekend, other than preparing for finals and hanging out with some friends. Sounds so great to me that I just had to put it in words to relieve all the horrible stress I've had lately! 

So, a week or so ago, I was surfing eBay for something new while talking to my good friend and fellow blogger William, and I found something I liked extremely fast. Usually when I use eBay I go to the Sports Memorabilia/Fan Shop section and update it by "Ending Soonest". This card literally had only 10 seconds left, and the current bid price it had just left me shocked. There was no way I was gonna pass up that deal! I quickly clicked on the auction, bid on it and snatched it up in a heartbeat. At this point, I'm so addicted to eBay that this purchase was very half-hearted and I didn't even question if I should bid on it or not, until, obviously, after I bid on it. But I won, and there was nothing I could do except erase some money from my allowance (the allowance pretty much is considered eBay credit at this point), and own a sweet new autograph...

From 2002 Topps Team Legends, I picked up this sweet Don Larsen on card autograph, for about $4 in total! The card is a reprint of Larsen's 1956 card, obviously, the year he threw his famous World Series perfect game against the Brooklyn Dodgers.

Unfortunately, it took me a minute to realize that there obviously had to be something wrong with this auction, because the end price was far too cheap for a perfect auction and perfect card. I then realized that the left side of the card is damaged, almost looking like someone put 2 pieces of tape over the top left and bottom left corners and peeled it off. However, by reading in the description box, the seller said the card was pulled out of the pack in this condition. I don't know if that is true or not, however, I don't care, because it still looks awesome, and an autograph that cheap can't possibly be complained about.

All in all, the card still looks incredible, and it is now my second Larsen autograph in my collection. My plan is to send him a photo and custom for a TTM in the future, which would be really cool.

If you were in my spot, would you have bought this card knowing of the damage taking away from overall quality of the card?

See Ya!

TTM #67- Tigers Legend!

Hey guys, Drew back here. Today was a nice mailday for me, receiving 2 new TTM successes! For time's sake, I'll post them one at a time. Starting off with the first one I opened, here is the newest addition to my Hall of Fame series!

None other than Detroit Tigers legend Al Kaline signed a card for me in about 9 days! It took me a while to actually get this custom out in the mail for some reason, as it was sitting on my desk for months. But a little over a week ago I realized that it was about time I try and get his autograph! I included $10 in the envelope and sent it off, hoping and I praying that it would come back. Sure enough, it did, and it looks great! For Kaline, it may have been a little sloppy, but every letter is still readable and I think it looks awesome.

To say that Kaline was worth the $10 is a definite understatement. The former 18 time All Star outfielder, known as "Mr. Tiger" to the fans in Detroit, was one of the best all around hitters in baseball history. He collected 3,007 total hits in his 22 year career, along with 399 home runs, and a lifetime batting average of .297! In the field, he was incredible, winning 10 Gold Gloves in his career patrolling Right Field in Tiger Stadium. In fact, Cooperstown decided he was so great that he was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1980 after his first appearance on the ballot.  

I surely am glad I was able to add this awesome piece to the Hall of Fame set today, but it hopefully won't be the last. So far in my set I have autographs of the following: Bobby Doerr, Bob Feller, Monte Irvin, Duke Snider, Lee MacPhail, Joe Morgan, Jim Bunning, Brooks Robinson, Ralph Kiner, and now the aforementioned Al Kaline. If anyone has any suggestions of guys to go after next please comment and let me know! Thanks guys!

See Ya!

Possible 2011 NL MVP eBay Pickup!

Hey guys, Drew back here. First off before I show off the newest addition to my PC, I just wanted to thank everyone for participating in the last Grandpa Roy post. You were able to nail all 4 pitchers that threw at least 2 no hitters in the same season (Virgil Trucks, Nolan Ryan, Allie Reynolds, Johnny Vander Meer), which was great! Of course, Roy Halladay could have been considered for this group since he threw 2 last year as well, but the question concerned the regular season pitchers, not including postseason play.

So, whenever a player gets hot, I always look on eBay to see how well their cards are selling, in fear that if I don't capture an autograph right then, I might be screwed when their prices go up. I picked up a few cards last week, and I got the first one in today, of one of the league's best all around 5 tool players!

This one, from 2010 Topps Tribute, is an autographed relic card numbered to 75 of Dodgers All Star Outfielder Matt Kemp! Kemp has been absolutely on a tear this season, currently batting .316 with 10  home runs, (oh wait, he hit another one today!) 32 RBI, and 12 Steals. He is almost a perfect baseball player, being able to hit for contact, power, steals bases, and is a great fielder, which are all of the most necessary tools. Even though he had an off year last year, I still feel like he will be one of the top players in the league for many years.

Anyway, the card is absolutely awesome looking, even though it doesn't really fit in with the rest of the cards in the set (minus Nick Markakis), because the rest feature the silver Topps stickers for the autographs rather than the clear ones. Regardless, the blue parallel always looks great on Dodgers cards, and all around, I'm pretty pumped with this new addition to the collection!

One by one I'm knocking the All Stars down, which is great! What do you think of Kemp?

See Ya!