bdj610's 2026 End of Year MLB All-Star Teams...The Starting Pitchers

 Yesterday, I named the bullpens for each of my 2026 End of the Year All-Star Teams. Now it's time to name the starters.

To recap, here is my American League relief corps:

• Bryan Baker, Rays
• Aroldis Chapman, Red Sox
• Tyler Rogers, Blue Jays
• Cade Smith, Guardians
• Louis Varland, Blue Jays

and the National League bullpen:

• Jhoan Duran, Phillies
• Raisel Iglesias, Braves
• Trevor Megill, Brewers
• Mason Miller, Padres
• Adrian Morejon, Padres

So, who would they be relieving???

Starting with the American League six-man rotation, we have (in alphabetical order):

2026 Topps Drew Rasmussen #64

• Dylan Cease, Blue Jays (11-6, 2.40 ERA, 239 K's, 1.10 WHIP, #547)
• Sonny Gray, Red Sox (18-5, 2.72 ERA, 149 K's, 1.15 WHIP, #US199)
• Nick Martinez, Rays (15-6, 3.10 ERA, 109 K's, 1.09 WHIP, #US336)
• Drew Rasmussen, Rays (16-5, 2.67 ERA, 174 K's, 0.91 WHIP, #64)
• Cam Schlittler, Yankees (14-6, 1.95 ERA, 239 K's, 0.92 WHIP, #111)
• Gavin Williams, Guardians (14-8, 3.76 ERA, 248 K's, 1.11 WHIP, #254)

Honorable mentions go out to (meaning, if I had more space, I'd would have added) Taj Bradley of the Twins (12-6, 3.73, 205 K's), and Parker Messick of the Guardians (12-9, 2.56, 193 K's). I really was struggling between Bradley and Nick Martinez, but Martinez had the better year. 

In the National League, my All-Star six man rotation includes:

2026 Topps Jacob Misiorowski #10

• Chase Burns, Reds (15-3, 2.86 ERA, 185 K's, 1.17 WHIP, #312)
• Jacob Misiorowski, Brewers (16-5, 1.80 ERA, 252 K's, 0.80 WHIP, #10)
• Eduardo Rodriguez, Diamondbacks (16-7, 2.89 ERA, 143 K's, 1.24 WHIP, #417)
• Chris Sale, Braves (14-9, 2.16 ERA, 200 K's, 0.98 WHIP, #427)
• Cristopher Sánchez, Phillies (18-7, 2.91 ERA, 231 K's, 1.20 WHIP, #325)
• Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Dodgers (14-9, 2.53 ERA, 182 K's, 0.87 WHIP, #90)

After the year he had, how could you NOT put The Miz onto this All-Star Team??! Sale was also on the 2014 AL team, so he's the second bridge player between the 11-year gap (along with Aroldis Chapman). Honorable mentions go out to Braxton Ashcroft of the Pirates (14-6, 3.65 ERA, 173 K's), and Jesús Luzardo of the Phillies (14-5, 2.86 ERA, 221 K's). 

So the pitching staffs are done. Next, we'll get to the position players. The first step is to ensure that every team has a representative, regardless of what position he plays. At this point, ten AL teams and eight teams from the NL need to have a player. I have a few people in mind. Who will they be? Tune in some time tomorrow and find out.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

bdj610's 2026 End of Year MLB All-Star Teams...The Relief Pitchers

It's been forever and a day since I last did one of these (I believe the last one I did was in 2014). The reason? As ridiculous as it sounds, I lost my spreadsheets saved on a flash drive and it was too much work (from 1988 to 2014, so 26 years worth of work) to get it up and running again. So I stopped. A childhood dream that grew with me was somehow lost. 

I plan on making up for that. Eleven seasons worth of it. Eventually.

But I digress.

But for now as the first set of wild card playoffs go into full swing tonight, why not resurrect what was my favorite time of the year, the naming of bdj610's End of the Year All-Star Teams.

If you want to know what the heck I'm talking about and why I have created All-Star Teams for both leagues since I was 12 years old, please review the introduction and brief history (ahem...brief???) as to why I did this every year for the 26 years.

Quick rules on how I comprise the teams:

• Two teams, one American League team, and one National League team
• There are 36 spots on each team (three first basemen, three second basemen, three third basemen, three shortstops, nine outfielders, three catchers, six starting pitchers, four relief pitchers/closers, one relief pitcher/set-up, and one DH)
• Every team gets a representative. No exceptions. If a player gets snubbed by a guy who is only there because a team needed a rep, then that's sadly the way it goes.

Things that happened when I last did this (in 2014):

• The Cubs won a World Series!!!
• The Cleveland Indians were renamed the Cleveland Guardians
• The Oakland Athletics existed (they're currently just the Athletics until they move to Las Vegas)
• The DH is now in both leagues (When I last did this exercise, only the AL had a DH position, and the player I selected as the DH for the NL was the best hitter who didn't make the team at any other position).
• Some guy managed to hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases in a season (and in 1988, 40-40 was a relatively new concept).
• I could go on and on, but...

Back to the point.

This is going to be a four-post process. Today, I will announce the bullpen staffs for each team.

Why start with the bullpens?

Because it's relatively simple. The top four guys with the most saves are automatically on the teams. Usually.

So let's start with the American League closers. On this year's team are (with their 2026 Topps cards...including Update Series):

• Bryan Baker, Rays (4-2, 1.44, 41/44 in saves/opportunities, #US287)
• Cade Smith, Guardians (1-3, 1.44, 41/46 saves/opportunities, #622)
• Aroldis Chapman, Red Sox (3-4, 1.92, 35/37 saves/opportunities, #656)
• Louis Varland, Blue Jays (5-6, 1.27, 35/37 saves/opportunities, #US210)

2026 Topps Cade Smith #622

These four players led the American League in saves, (the fifth was David Bednar, who had 35 saves as well, with a 7-3 record, and a 2.47 ERA). Chapman was on my 2014 NL All-Star team, so he's a bridge between the last time I made one of these and now. Others I had considered were actual 2026 All-Star Jacob Latz of the Rangers (3-4, 2.13 ERA, 30/34 saves/opportunities, 0.73 WHIP) and Josh Hader of the Astros (4-2, 1.01 ERA, 26/26 saves/opportunities).

The National League closers for the 2026 team are:

• Mason Miller, Padres (5-2, 1.67, 38/41 saves/opportunities, #179)
• Raisel Iglesias, Braves (1-2, 2.55, 34/37 saves/opportunities, #396)
• Jhoan Duran, Phillies (2-6, 1.82, 33/35 saves/opportunities, #83)
• Trevor Megill, Brewers (3-3, 2.63, 30/33 saves/opportunities, #141)

2026 Topps Mason Miller #179

These four have a combined WHIP ((walks + hits)/innings pitched) of 0.964! When given the opportunity to save games, these guys were almost unhittable). Others almost considered were Riley O'Brien of the Cardinals (3-9, 4.08, 38/46 saves/opportunities), Tanner Scott of the Dodgers (1-6, 2.69, 25/29 saves/opportunities), and Emilio Pagán of the Reds (5-1, 3.38, 25/28 saves/opportunities).

When I first started naming players to All-Star teams, I only considered closers for the bullpen roles. Since then I've added middle relievers, the guys who barely ever get any baseball cards, to the squads. They've been an important part of any All-Star bullpen (and even in the World Baseball Classic, bullpens consist of really good middle relievers to go complement the closers). So many great pitching performances this year by so many different players, it's just so hard to choose just one player to fill this spot. But one spot is available on both sides for a middle reliever. When all was said and done though, the two players I selected were more than qualified to make it onto the respective teams.

The AL Middle Reliever for the 2026 team is Tyler Rogers of the Blue Jays (#US117). He tied for the AL lead n holds with 33, earned a 2-3 record, had an ERA of 1.77, struck out 40 batters, and even saved 4/8 games in 71 innings of work. Others up for consideration included Rays reliever Kevin Kelly (6-4, 2.44 ERA, 63 K's, 0.90 WHIP, 33 holds), and Hunter Gaddis of the Guardians (6-3, 2.98, 57 K's, 32 holds).

The NL Middle Reliever for the 2026 team is the Padres' Adrian Morejon (#US154). His 28 holds were good for second in the NL, but a 9-3 record (which also means that he kept opposing teams down before the Padres would rally), along with a 2.83 ERA, 107 strikeouts, 3/8 in saves/opportunities, and a 1.08 WHIP was more than enough to get him added as the middle reliever. The only other pitcher in consideration for this spot was Dylan Lee of the Braves (6-1, 3.09 ERA, 77 K's, league leading 31 holds).

So right now, we've named the bullpens for each team. Who will fill out the rest of the rosters? Tomorrow, I will name the six starting pitchers that will round out the pitching staffs on each team.

By Thursday, every team will get a representative as I announce just some of the players who will take spots on both leagues' rosters.

And finally on Friday, I will round out the rest of the rosters and introduce the complete American and National League teams.

Wait and see. It's going to look good I promise.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

2026 Topps Update...Ready for Round 3??!

 

Image of the 2026 Topps Update Series Retail Box

It won't be long now before the 2026 MLB season comes to a close and the hype over the Update Series begins. And there is a lot to unpack.

2026 Topps Update Travis Bazzana #US75

The checklist for the end-of-the-year set came out earlier this week, and well...

The player selection is great, I'm not against that. Topps is even bringing back the update series SP cards, akin to the SP rookie additions in series 2, in the form of Tarik Skubal and Adley Rutschmann (definitely will get my hands on these once they hit the Bay). What I don't get, however, is the format of the base checklist.

To wit...

The checklist, for the first time ever, is broken down into categories:

• Veterans I
• Veterans II
• Rookies
• Rookie Debut
• Veteran Combos
• Season Highlights

The Veterans I section, includes (doing a quick count...) 96 players. Veterans II consists of (doing another quick count, which is just me copying and pasting the .pdf to an Excel spreadsheet) 99 players. Going down the line, you have 85 Rookies, 40  Rookie Debut cards, 16 Veteran Combo cards, and 14 Season Highlights cards. That's 350 cards in the base set. Which is great and all...but...

What's the difference between Veterans I and Veterans II??!

2026 Topps Update Walker Buehler #US213, part of the Veterans II group.

I had first thought that the Veterans I section included players who were in either Series 1 or 2, and the Veterans II section consists of players who wasn't in either series. But that isn't true because while players such as Mauricio Dubón (191 in S1, US8 in Update) and Alex Bregman (135 in S1, US25 in Update) appeared earlier on cards earlier in the year, players such as Miguel Amaya, Antonio Senzatela, and even Zac Gallen did not. 

The 99 players in the Veterans II section? Just from a sampling based off the 2026 MLB All-Stars who didn't have cards prior to the game in July, Max Mayer, Bryan Baker, Jacob Latz, and Louis Varland all are part of this group. Later additions such as Iván Herrera and Nick Martinez are part of this group as well. But both Willson Contreras and Tristan Peters are in this group as well, and they had cards in the main set (under different teams, so it's no surprise they're here too). 

So that can't be it. With that said, was there a real reason why the 195 veterans were grouped off in this way? Maybe someone who has knowledge way above my pay grade can explain. 

Or maybe I'm making too much of a big deal out of it...I don't know...

Beyond the base set, let's go over the insert sets whose cards will be distributed throughout the packs and boxes of Update Series.

Among the basic insert sets coming to Update will be the 25-card Stat Stars, a newly-titled 35-card playoffs-themed set called Autumn Ascensions (I think...only because rookie card subjects Munetaka Murakami, Travis Bazzana, and JJ Wetherholt are in this set and as far as I can tell have yet to make the playoffs in MLB), Topps Black Gold returns for another end-of-the-year appearance, 25 cards in all. The Hobby/Jumbo exclusive Mystical set returns as well with another 25 subject set. Fifty players from the All-Star Game are featured in the annual All-Star Game insert set. Which is great and all, but if Shohei Ohtani wasn't even in Philly for the festivities, why is he part of this set? Same for Vladimir Guerrero, Jr.

First Pitch concludes with five more celebrities, including someone many Filipinos outside of the Hobby will jump at the chance to acquire, boxing legend (and senator) Manny Pacquiao. The celebration of 1991 Topps baseball also concludes with another 50-card set. The ever popular Stars of MLB set concludes with another 26 cards (funny enough, no Titans of the Game in this one).

2026 Topps Update 1991 Topps Munetaka Murakami #U91-22

The Costco sets will return for the first time in Update Series. So expect another 90-card Flagship Collection and 10-card Bulk Order to appear in bonus packs. There is also a 10-card Rookie Sensations set that is exclusive to the "Club Box", but there is at this time, no way to tell if this is going to be an SP insert set or a basic one.

The product goes live on October 14, 2026, less than four weeks from the day this post goes live. I can't wait to get back into the swing of things.  The chase for 593 cards will begin then. As of now, the 6-inch binder is 2/3rd's full and just needs the SP Rookie Variations (Kevin McGonigle, JJ Wetherholt, Carson Benge, and Justin Crawford) to finish out Series 2. 

Then the fun will begin.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Twenty-Five Years Ago Today...

I wrote this post on September 11, 2018. It is now eight-years later. The memories of where we were and what my wife and I were doing on what had started as a regular Tuesday morning with a newborn daughter are still there. Faded due to time, but still there.

It's almost an afterthought.

I say almost because for many, the memories are still fresh in their minds. They're haunting. And I can only imagine that some still do not look forward to this day on the calendar.

It's Tuesday. The same day it happened seventeen years ago. Most seniors in high school now weren't even born when it happened. For most of us, life has definitely moved on. We knew where we were when it happened. I was on my way to work, my wife and daughter were getting ready for another day at home...maybe going shopping. We had the news on as we normally did before switching to PBS kids when images of the first plane hitting the World Trade Center first appeared...then the second. Let's just say not much work was going to be done that day...and we were preparing for a food show.

But I think about today. My daughter, just over a year old when it happened, starts college next week. I am typing this up while on break from orientation now. My son, now a junior in high school, wasn't even born.

In school, they learn about the events of September 11, 2001. It's a history lesson for them. They learn about what happened based on what is written on a page, what they see on a video, what they read online. It is sad yes. The chain of events, the heightened awareness, security at the airport, the news, all of it, is normal to them.

But prior to what happened seventeen years ago, it wasn't.

We weren't always at war. We didn't need to take our shoes off at the airports. We didn't have to worry about our safety to that extreme.

I wrote the words below in 2011. For that article, and when I re-ran the story since, I used the total number of people I had heard to have died due to the events of that day, not including those who heinously perpetrated the attacks. That number was 2,974. Depending on where you read it, it could have been 2,977. Tallies since then have brought the number up to 2,980. But regardless of the number, that's too many lives lost.

Every year, I try to come back and honor the memories of the people for whom this country still mourns, and think how the events on that fateful day changed the course of American history, seventeen years since. By the time this posts goes live, it is nightfall...seventeen years after that the final plane crashed in a field somewhere in Pennsylvania.



Two thousand nine hundred seventy-four.

2,974.

That's the number of people who lost their lives when everything was finally taken into account. Countless lives were affected by this national tragedy. Even if you didn't know anybody on those planes, at the World Trade Center, or the Pentagon, you grieved along with those who did. You stood there in shock, in a daze, just glued to the television or radio.

Our lives have not been the same since. My daughter, now eleven, asks what we (her parents) were doing that morning. "We were just going about our lives," was my reply. "We watched the morning news, getting ready for work, and couldn't believe what we were seeing on the screen." She was just over a year old. She couldn't have understood what was going on then. But she will learn that what she sees as "normal" now, really wasn't before that Tuesday morning.

Two thousand nine hundred seventy-four. It is the number of reasons why we never forget what happened seventeen years ago today.

On this day, the seventeenth anniversary of the September 11 attacks, my family and I send our prayers to those who lost loved ones that Tuesday morning. We pray, and will continue to pray for:

the children who lost their parents that day.

the children who would never meet their fathers because of the events of that day.

the firefighters and policemen and women who risk their lives doing their jobs, running into the face of dangers as many are running in the opposite direction.

those servicemen and women fighting for our freedoms away from home, whether or not we agree with the conflicts they battle.

for our leaders, regardless of their affiliation, that they make the right choices to keep the citizens of our country, and others, safe.

And finally, we pray for peace. Peace amongst ourselves as family, as a community, as a nation.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Adventures in Selling: Wait...Not a Trade??!

Last week, I was perusing Facebook, as you do, and came across a post on one of the "Topps Facebook Trade/Buy/Sell" group page (not the actual name of the page...please don't look for it) saying that he was looking for singles from 2009, 2010, and 2013 Topps. Not necessarily expensive rookies, or key players from these sets, but, in his words:

My PC is Topps base cards from flagship and update (any card with stats on the back - no AS, LL, etc) for Hall of Famers, Stars, or Hall of Very Good. Focusing on all guys 1980-present first, then wil collect more vintage guys.

Hey, I'm always in the "collect whatever you like" camp. He has his categories, and he's out to collect them specifically. Some of the players on the list are some of the big names of that era, and a couple of Mantle cards to boot. I told him to give me a few days as it would take some time to dig out the boxes, and this was around the time of the National and my wedding anniversary, so it would take a few days. He said not to hurry. Below is the list.

It did take a few days and two separate messages letting him know what I found. On the first message, I reported that I found 24 cards:

• 2009 Topps: 355, 367, 490, 575
• 2010 Topps: 15, 48, 50, 56, 60, 70, 242, 243, 300, 320
• 2013 Topps: 15, 19, 27, 33, 36, 37, 105, 122, 206, 227

In my "organization" it appears that I had separated series 1 and 2 from all of these years. And in my initial hunt, I found boxes that contained 2009 Series 2, 2010 Topps Series 1, and 2013 Topps Series 1. It would be a bit more before I could find more (and I really need to write the years on the boxes so I'd have an easier time to find everything).

After more digging, I found more boxes and 24 more cards:

• 2009 Topps: 7, 24, 41, 135, 185, 224
• 2009 Topps Update: 1, 50 ,93, 174, 200
• 2010 Topps: 354, 403, 650
• 2010 Topps Update: 13, 100, 114, 266, 300
• 2013 Topps: 52, 454, 506, 519

After responding with the cards I found, I asked him how much he was willing to pay for everything, instead of me giving a price for how much I wanted.

Let me explain why.

In the past, I've had collectors ask me if I had cards from a certain set, or year (for inserts). For example, when I was uploading a list of 2013 Topps inserts into my trade/sell list, a collector asked if I was interested to sell some cards to him. He gave me a list, I responded with what I had (at least 30 cards) and a price that I thought would be fair for everything, I think I had quoted $65.00. His response was that the price I was asking for was too high and where I got the prices from? I responded a combination of sources: eBay, Beckett, Sportlots. I thought it was reasonable considering. I also asked him how much he would have offered to buy the cards for. In many cases, I would have agreed to whatever price he would have thrown at me (within reason...if he had said $1.00, forget it). 

But he never responded. I was ghosted.

A similar situation happened again earlier this year. A member at the TCDB sent a request asking if I could "be kind enough to quote a price" on 36 cards that I had on my trade/sell list. Beckett pricing alone for the 36 cards ranged from a low $40.05 to a high of $102.25. I believe I quoted him at least $60.00. 

His response? "Sorry, but I'll have to pass because I believe that to be way over-priced."

I answered him back, "I'm curious as to how much you were willing to spend for these cards plus shipping? If you had led off with an amount that you were willing to pay, I would have been more than happy to work with you for a price that would work well for both of us."

He didn't answer the question, just asked another one "Where did you obtain your prices from?" After saying the combination of sources...he withdrew the transaction. He didn't even counter-offer. Just ended the conversation. Well, his loss.

So I'm miffed. I decided from that point on, if someone is going to offer to buy cards, I'm going to let them dictate the price first. In this instance, for 48 base cards, I asked him how much he was willing to spend. He said $45. I said, "Sold!" PayPal information was given, the money was sent, and the cards were mailed the following day.

With the money burning a hole in my PayPal account, I started to think about what I should do with it.

If you recall, after the National, I was down to 17 cards left for my Series 2 insert want list. After sending trade requests to people on the TCDB, I was fortunate enough to get 9 cards from the want list, completing the Glove Works set and needing 4 cards each from the 1991 and Crooked Numbers set.

It was off to eBay. I found sellers who had all the cards I needed, which is good, because buying cards from different sellers will jack up the shipping charges. And for good measure, while I did not find an auction or BIN for the series 2 version of the 2026 Topps Bulk Order (the exclusive insert set from Costco Flagship Super Boxes), I found two 5-card lots that somehow managed to include all 10 cards. 

At the end of my eBay haze, I was left with $1.80 in my PayPal balance. 

Mission accomplished.

I found another collector on Facebook looking to complete his 2017 Topps set. All series 2. All just base cards. I have an idea of how much I'd be willing to sell...

But maybe I'll let him give me a price again first. This approach seems to work.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Live Blogging At The National!!!

Update: 5:22 pm CST

It is truly time to call ot a day. Spent 10 bucks on supplies and am now outside waiting for my ride.

Thoughts: it used to be easy to find dealers who sell inserts in groups. Nowadays, it seems many dealers throw random cards into boxes in the hopes of keeping people at their booth longer. This is not helpful for the set collector. If you're a team collector, I am sure any card of any player from your team will do, so this arrangement could work. If you are a player collector? Not so much.

I brought $400. Spent $116 on cards, $10 in supplies, and $30 on the ticket in. Total spent: $156. Total left: $244.

Overall, I had a good time. Seeing every kind of collector looking for cards to add to their varied collections gives me hope that this Hobby will continue to thrive and grow. If the museum's message is correct, then the Hobby will continue to evolve.

My wife and I will be going out to dinner soon. We plan on visiting the restaurant that hosted our wedding reception 28 years ago. Should be fun.

Thank you for following along on my trip around the National. It is returning here again in 2027. I will try and do this again then. 

Update: 4:24 pm CST

Found the "Museum." I am going to spend some time here first before going back downstairs and buy supplies and then call for my ride home. Should be fun.

The Man, The Myth, The Legend!!!

This is not me, I swear.

Update: 3:29 pm CST

Walked through many booths and none...NONE...had any designated spots for inserts from this year. I swear my patience and desire to complete sets can sometimes be a blessing and a curse at times. Because if I was more patient, I'd take my time looking for insert cards from years gone by and be successful in finding them. Looking for these remaining 17 cards at the National is like looking for a pin cushion in the middle of a haystack. I say this because you CAN certainly find one solitary pin...but try finding a cushion with 17 pins...and you get the idea.

Anyway. Lots of other things to see here.

There is a huge display of Star Wars movie memorabilia being displayed by Heritage Auctions.

And some He-Man stuff as well. 

I am going to go upstairs one more time, and then probably call it quits.

Just realized I haven't eaten anything since breakfast. Will have to fix that.

Update: 1:29 pm CST

I am now at the Topps booth. It's set up like a stadium with a lot of interactive events going on, including a 30-person competition to find a golden ticket and win an actual card. The last person won a graded 3 Walter Payton Rookie.

Passing by what appears to be the "rip a pack, get a National Exclusive" line, Topps has displayed their Topps 75 iconic cards. They're the cardss presented on their Ripped blog earlier this year. Don't get why Ohtani's 2018 Topps Update Rookie Debut card is among them instead of his rookie card from S2, but I didn't make the picks.

I did find another booth with insert cards, but their 2026 cards were lacking. I did spend a buck on a Chase DeLauter 1991 card, so the want list is down to 17.

Will hang here for a bit. 

Update: 12:26 pm CST

Success. Found my favorite dealer from the regular Chicagoland Sports Spectacular. One of the few people left who will open product and keep everything organized by set. This is my kind of dealer. Of the 65 cards in my Series 2 insert want list, he had 47 of them. For $115, I have now completed both the First Pitch and 1991 All-Star sets, and now only need 6 of the 1991 cards, 6 Crooked Numbers, and 6 Glove Works.

Now the challenging part: finding other dealers who might have these available. This is going to be interesting. 

Update: 11:30 am CST

Just watched a few minutes of the Women who Collect panel on the second floor. Friend of the blog Sooz (Susan Lulgjuraj...aka yanxchick...aka...one-half of A Cardboard Problem) was on the panel. 

Other than that, second floor had some interesting booths. The Lids booth had loose S2 cards including a couple of 1991 All-Stars mixed in. Unfortunately, I have both, so the hunt continues. On to the main floor.

Update: 11:00 am CST

Paid my 30 bucks and have my bracelet. I'm good to go. I brought $400 with me. I don't pman in spending all of it. But I know what I am here for. If anyone is actually reading this and want to find me. I am wearing a black Homage Topps 75 Diamond shirt with a blue shoulder bag. Time to go.

It's Showtime!!!

It is now 10:51 AM Central standard time and I am walking through the Donald Stevens convention center getting onto the escalator to stand in line and buy my ticket to the Greatest Show on Earth.

No, not the circus...although the atmosphere here is circus-like. But the National Sports Collectors Convention. 

Better get into the cash line. The lines are long but moving quickly. There are already boiths up here on the second floor. I'll check these out first. Wish me luck.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama 

Preparing for the National Sports Collectors Convention

It's been a hot moment, hasn't it?

Catching up to all the work that was on my desk when I returned from Texas took a bit (and I'm still digging through). But it also means I haven't posted in more than a week, and while there was so much material I had for writing (more trading adventures), there just wasn't enough time in the day.

But tomorrow is an important day. 

First, my wife and I will have been married for 28 years tomorrow. I love my wife. Through good and bad (and there has been a lot of both), our marriage has remained strong. And while we've gotten older (and are feeling this, trust me), it has evolved to something that is...not going through the motions per se...but because the kids are now adults (mind-blown), the adventures we had when they were younger are now memories and we look forward to time at home instead of running around following either or both of their schedules.

Now that doesn't mean that we've stopped that...heck no. But we can now be a bit more selective as to when, where, and how quickly we can get ready than before.

Back to the point.

So while tomorrow morning, my wife and I will have breakfast somewhere, after that is done, she is dropping me off...

AT THE NATIONAL!!!

The National Sports Collectors Convention that is. For the second year in a row, the convention is down the street from the house. And I took the day off, not just to spend time with my wife, but to go to see the sites, sounds, and atmosphere of what is the biggest event of the Hobby.

I do plan on buying cards at the show as I still have 65 insert cards left on my wantlist for 2026 Topps Series 2:

• 17 1991 Topps
• 13 1991 Topps All-Stars
• 10 Crooked Numbers
• 3 First Pitch
• 22 Glove Work

And then there are any other cards that catch my eye, but are not high on the priority list. The chances of finding any of those are not the best as many vendors at the National don't focus on current stuff unless it's still sealed and the few that do have their cards thrown in random places. Maybe a handful of booths will separate their cards by year, but good luck finding them in the chaos.

I do plan on stopping by the Topps booth (I have to...) along with the "Museum" that I happened to see on a YouTube (or was it Facebook) video. I love that kind of stuff and will take pics of those displays. But beyond eBay, I might steer clear of the corporate area. 

I will be there wearing the black Topps 75 shirt so I fit in with the crowd. If I can find my old Topps baseball cap, I'll throw that on too (although the last I saw it, the thing needed a wash). 

Before, I'd carry a bag with boxes of recent year base cards. But the bag was always heavy, and any plans of trading at the show would come up empty. So this year, I'll probably pack lightly, bringing a small binder with just the insert sets so I can add new cards to it right away. Maybe bring this year's extras in the event I am able to find people willing to trade (or buy...I'm not picky). Maybe I'll bring in the box that has all my relic and auto cards to see if I can unload some of them. Maybe I'll bring along my box full of unopened 2018 packs...maybe not...

I can't wait for the show. I do plan on live-blogging the experience. 

And maybe...just maybe...I'll find everything I need to complete Series 2. 

Wish me luck.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama