Give him the heater!

I love "Major League" and that quote seemed fitting for this particular post. I finally picked up my first printing plate a few weeks ago, and it's a doozy if you're a red's fan! Behold, an Aroldis Chapman 2012 Bowman Chrome yellow printing plate. I've decided to persue a trifecta (rookie card, autograph, and 1/1) for the Cuban Missle. Back to the printing plate. I was thrilled that I could pick this up for a little less than the price of a blaster. I'm in the process of grabbing an amazing rookie card to boot. I'm still trying to find the perfect autograph card, but I'm hopeful to have this completed before the end of the year.

1962 Cincinnati Reds Scorecard

Last week I grabbed another piece of memorabilia for my Reds collection, a scorecard from August 18, 1962 when the Reds played the Los Angeles Dodgers. I was thrilled that I was the only bidder for this, probably due to the fact that the seller misspelled Scorecard as Scorecad in the item description, but I'm not going to complain. I like seeing names like Frank Robinson, Vada Pinson and Chico Cardenas as well as the old beer advertisements (Burger beer....mmmmmmm beer). Now that I have my first scorecard, I'm excited to add more to my collection.

Another Piece of Piedmont

This past week I picked up another card for my Reds collection, a T206 Ed Karger. I've been on the lookout for the past eight months for this card that was in decent condition at a price I thought was reasonable. This marks the fourth T206 card in my collection and the first tobacco card depicting a batter. With the purchase of this card I'm now halfway through my 2013 card collecting goals.

Most Ridiculous Baseball Cards of All Time

I found a slideshow today over at Bleecher Report, and while it is more than a year old, it was a very intriguing slideshow. They showcased 30 various baseball cards that they termed "Ridiculous" and while that may be true to some, to me they're standouts. My favorite is a 1989 ProCards Keith Comstock where it looks like he was nailed in the twig n berries. I just might have to track down this card. http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1055430-30-most-ridiculous-baseball-cards-of-all-time/page/14

Danny Graves Bobblehead

There was a time when the dominant closer for the Reds didn't have the last name of "Chapman". This closer was a lights out kinda guy who you could call up from the bullpen with the game on the line as you nursed a one-run lead with the tying run at the plate and not worry about blowing the save. That is until he started having issues with getting guys out (after some solid seasons of success), the fans lose confidence in him and start to boo as he jogs out from the bullpen, and finally said closer gives the one finger salute to the fans thus ending his stay in the Queen City. I was always a fan of Danny Graves due to the fact that being the closer has to be the toughest job of any ballplayer. You're either the hero or the goat and there's a very fine line separating the two.
This past week I was able to cross off another bobblehead from my wantlist, bringing my collection of nodders to 29. The Reds gave out 10,000 of these nodders on August 17, 2001 as they took on Milwaukee. Needless to say, Cincinnati lost that game 5-1 with their only run being a Griffey RBI in the bottom of the fifth. It's interesting to note that Jose Rijo pitched the last two innings of the game for the Reds and didn't surrender any runs to the Brewers.

1953 Topps

Last week I was FINALLY able to start making a dent in my 1953 Topps Cincinnati Reds team set. I have mixed feelings for the 1953 set when I compare it to the 1952 set. While the photos seem so much more alive with color than 1952, I'm a little disappointed that Topps placed the signatures on the back of the card, sort of as an afterthought, instead of having them front and center on the front. I do find comfort in the fact that every single Reds card in this set has settings from the ballpark in the background instead of just a plain background color that was on some Cincinnati cards in the 1952 set. I will say that this is one of the better designs of the 1950s that Topps put out, IMHO, compared to the 1954, 1955, and 1958 sets. Besides, you really can't go wrong with vintage cardboard now, can you.

Another Goal Put to Bed!

For the past few months I've been neglecting my card collecting goals for the year by opting to chase after some bobbleheads and a World Series ticket that I had always wanted. This week, however, I decided to take a break from the nodders and chase after some vintage Topps cards that I had been eying for a while but just never pulled the trigger on. I'm very happy to announce that I have now completed my 1954 Topps Redlegs team set. One of the last remaining cards in the set was this Ted Kluszewski card. I was also able to grab my first 1953 Topps Reds cards in the process (which I will be posting about next week). Not everything was rainbows and unicorns this week as I found out that I had missed a card from my 2011 Topps Reds team set. Card #198 is MIA and has been added to my wantlist. The regular version of this card is Buster Posey, but I'm not after that one. Nope, instead I found out that there's a short print 198 that's none other than a Johnny Bench parallel. These short print parallels will be the death of my collecting!