Top Ten Things I've Been Doing When Not Blogging...

It's almost the end of August, and this post that you've decided to read is the eighth post I've written this month.  And for anyone that is still making his or her way to this blog, I apologize for the lack of posts.  Between vacation (the pictures are still on the front page), and work, and adjusting to the kids going to TWO schools (my daughter is now in middle school...sigh...), the blog has taken a bit of a backseat to life. 

It happens to the best of us.  I can use the season that my NL Chicago team has been having as the reason why I've lacked any kind of motivation to follow what's been happening in both MLB and the Hobby.  I knew that this wasn't going to be the year, but until that good run in the first half of August, it's been a bitter pill to swallow watching them play this year.  But by the time I create my post for the End of the Year All-Star Teams, even with as poorly as they've been playing, there will most likely be more than one Cub named to the team.  Chicago Bias?  Perhaps.  But I've been doing some analyzing of stats going into September, and compared to players in similar positions, the Cubs will not be a team with one player being named.  That team on the other side haven't been much to hoot and holler about either.  But there is still a month to play, so anything goes.

So I thought that now is a good time to review what it is exactly I've been up to so I can justify not writing as much as I said I would.  Here is a Top Ten List, from the home office in Des Plaines, IL:

• 10.  Mowing my lawn.  I know that the weather has been crazy lately in the east coast, but here in the suburbs of Chicago, we've had record heat, record rains, and my lawn has experienced record growth.  I only have time to mow the lawn on the weekends (so don't get on me about during the week). But when I'm free to mow, it rains.  The ground becomes too wet, and my lawn mower (bless it's little engine) clogs and dies when the ground/grass is wet.  Then, when I have other things to do, the sun is out, the ground/grass is dry, and I'm not home to mow.
• 9.  Vacation.  Did I mention that I went to the Dells of Wisconsin? And did I also mention that pictures are most likely on the first page of this blog?
• 8.  Work. It's been busy.  And I won't get into that here.  I am grateful for the job I have and this is not the place to discuss it.
• 7.  Housework.  I'm actually starting to take time and clean up the table that's been full of cards, boxes, penny sleeves, top loaders, books, team bags, magazines, and other things that my better half calls "junk."  Then again, she has her craft supplies, beautician supplies, and other supplies all over the place too.  Add my kids toys, video games (Zelda is still being played...will get to that shortly), and the house has that "lived-in" look.  I wouldn't consider this house a disaster area (it certainly isn't going to make an appearance on "Hoarders"), but at least we have a place for us and our belongings.
• 6.  Meeting the neighbors.  We've had new neighbors since last fall, and we never got around to introducing ourselves to them until these last two months.  And I think we've spoken to them more in the last three days than we have in the last nine months.  They're really nice.  And they make killer barbecue.
• 5.  Video Games.  We've finally completed The Legend of Zelda:  The Wind Waker and are now playing it again, just for kicks, the Gallery (take pictures of EVERYBODY, and some guy makes statues), and we're just going around looking for Triforce pieces.  We're even doing things this second time around that we didn't do before.  So it's been a bit more fun to explore the game.  But it's been taking a lot of time out of the day.  And now that the kids are back in school, the rule of "No Video Games until the Weekend" is back and being enforced.
• 4.  Delivering Doughnuts.  I may have mentioned before that my family just bought an established doughnut shop back in June.  And while I'm not an actual employee of the place, I did get conned into helping my dad deliver the fried/baked goodies to gas stations and supermarkets.  I say "conned" because the phone call I got said "accompany dad to a delivery in (name of town here)."  What I thought was going to be a three hour trip turned into a nine hour run all over the western suburbs.  I thank my dad for the trip...I don't get to hang out with him enough...but I had a few choice words for my brother (the guy that thought I would make a good navigator).
• 3.  Rediscovering cards that are NOT in my official collection.  The number on the sidebar includes cards I have in my binders on my bookshelfs of completed sets and inserts.  If I were to add all the other cards in my collection, we'd be just shy of 100,000 cards.  This fall and off-season, I plan on getting back into the trading business.  Whether it's on the good old Topps Message Boards (which by the way, I just found out that although the boards as I knew are gone, the eTopps boards that replaced them now has its own non eTopps Baseball Message Board.  This seems to be where all the guys and gals from the old place are now hanging out.  I've visited, not yet posted anything.  But it's starting to feel like home), or on other blogs (yes, I'm going to start looking into the want lists of other bloggers to see if I have anything they need in exchange for what I want.  The Hobby Blogging Community as a group is very generous when it comes to trading.  And I realized that many of the new blogs (which you can find on the Sports Card Blogroll), trade with each other.  They don't put a certain Topps Baseball Card Blog on their sidebar (okay Ego, that's enough), so I figure introduce myself and who knows.
• 2.  Twitter.  If I'm not blogging, you can find me on the 140 character or less posting site (@bdj610 if you want to follow me). 
• 1.  Getting Ready for 2011 Topps Update Series and 2012 Topps!!!  You've seen the sell sheets. Let the hype begin.

I did have things to say about my trip to the National, the upcoming 2012 Topps product, more of the now almost-out-of-time 2011 Topps Archives Project, the Topps 300 site, and more.  I even want to get my 2010 All-Star Game simulation in soon.  Maybe even do the 2011 Topps card back tributes again.  And maybe fire up the Randomizer again.

Or maybe all that can wait until September (kidding...am I???)

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Top Ten 2006-2009 Topps Team Sets Cards

To satisfy the promise I made to bring in more baseball card related posts...

I finally finished going through all 30 team sets for 2009. I can't wait to put them in sheets and into a binder. The cards look terrific, even the ones of the players who changed teams and now have the uniforms of said new teams photoshopped onto them (although the Matt Holliday Athletics card shows a bit too much green...) With that in mind, today on this humble little blog, I present to you my top ten (or Topps Ten...get it...) cards that could only be found in the 14-card team sets. Now they're not necessarily the best cards because of aesthetics, or because of the picture used. They are on the list for various reasons, and I will explain why on each.

So without further ado...

"From the home office in Chicago, IL. The category is the Top Ten Cards from the 2006 to 2009 14-Card Sets. Here we go:

10. 2006 Topps Devil Rays Team Card #TDR9


Now the D-Rays of 2005 (the team depicted here) finished 67-95 and finished 5th in the AL East. If the team was this bad, why include it in the set. Wasn't there another player good enough to make the cut? Were there only 13 good players and the rest not? Well, the only reason why Topps put this card in the set is because they were not able to put a card of their original choice, Bossman Junior, aka B. J. Upton, in the set.

9. 2009 Topps Yankees Mickey Mantle #NYY15


Dear Mr. Anama:

You said that the Mickey Mantle #7 card in 2009 Topps was NOT A SHORTPRINT OR AN ERROR CARD...then What Card is This???

Anonymous

Well, it does have Mantle's position as an outfielder. But alas, this card is from the Yankees' Team set. The bonus card no less. I'm pretty sure that this card was printed in lesser quantities than the card in the eponymous Topps set. And boy does the Mick look really happy to sign whatever is being literally in his face. I just hope that the three guys didn't fall into the dugout.

8. 2007 Topps Yankees Derek Jeter #NYY1


When this came out, people on eBay started hawking it as the "corrected" version of Jeter's infamous #40 card (the one with Mantle in the dugout and Bush waving in the crowd). Uh, no. Although Topps did include the card without the photoshop work in their factory sets, this was not, or should never be, considered the corrected card. Funny thing is that Topps used the same photo on this card for their 55-card Yankees gift set.

7. 2009 Topps Rays Evan Longoria #TBR1


Looks just like the original card in series 1. It looks like he is trying to make it to third (my guess anyway) by trying to beat the tag by extending his arms in front. I don't know if he made it in safely or not. The defending AL Rookie of the Year, he was named to the 2008 Topps All-Star Rookie Team. But you probably wouldn't know that if you saw this card. You see, all the other nine guys who made the team (Votto, Ramirez, Aviles, Bruce, Span, Murphy, Soto, Ziegler, and Lannan) are all on their respective teams 14-card set and each of them have the Rookie Cup trophy printed on them. This is the only card that doesn't have it. And it's a glaring error. (WHAT??!)

6. 2009 Topps Red Mr. Redlegs (with Rosie Red) #CIN15


A nice touch this year was including the mascots of some of the teams into the sets as the bonus card. And unfortunately for the girls at Dinged Corners, Topps didn't include the Mets baseball-headed superstar as the bonus card for the Mets set (opting to go with Citi Field instead). So that leaves Mr. Redlegs (and the pictured yet unmentioned Rosie Red) as the only mascots with baseballs for heads to have a card in the products. Where did the Gapper go???

5. 2007 Topps Mariners Jose Guillen #SEA10


A previous "What Card is This?" subject, this the only card with the 2007 Topps design that actually depicts Guillen. All other cards are of Yuniesky Betancourt.

4. 2008 Topps Mets Johan Santana #NYM1


Forget card #661, and although he was included as card #330 in the U & H set, this was truly Santana's first Topps card as a New York Met.

3. 2009 Topps Dodgers Joe Torre #LAD14


Another issue of "didn't the Dodgers have a player good enough that he couldn't have been included here???" Joe Torre just left the Bronx for Hollywood and he was somehow added to the Dodgers Team checklist. He had to have bumped out somebody...only problem is there was never an announcement. He is the only manager to appear in the 2008 sets.

In 2009, Torre and a few other managers (Cox, Gaston, Scioscia) are added as the bonuses. Ozzie Guillen, the manager of the White Sox, was added to the "14 man roster." I guess that's all right, especially since the bonus card in all White Sox packaging is of the President of the United States.

2. 2009 Topps Mariners Ken Griffey, Jr. #SEA8


Previously discussed here. Again, it just looks like all is right in the world now that Junior is now back with the M's. He recently hit his 400th HR as a Mariner.

And the number one card from the 2006 to 2009 14-card team sets:

1. 2006 Topps Mariners Kenji Johjima #SEA14


Previously discussed here. He is the reason why the insanity started.

These are really nice sets to own, and if you are a team collector, they are must haves. If you're a set collector however, and want all 30 sets to add to your collections, I suggest therapy. Then go for it.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Top Ten Things That Happened to Me in the Hobby in 2008.

As 2008 comes to an end, and another binder full of Topps cards has been put to bed, I am looking forward to what should turn out to be a great 2009 for Topps card collecting. With an awesome looking base set, and the promise of being able to collect cards of legendary players like Ruth, Gehrig, and the other CMG players, I'm already preparing for another long, and hopefully wonderful, journey.

With that said, I can't help but look back and think about the things that made 2008 a great year. I've compiled my list and am putting it in a Top 10 (or should I make it Topps 10...pardon the pun...it's 2:18 AM CST, and I'm not fully awake yet) format. These should be the reasons why 2008 was a fun year for me in the Hobby. (Cue introduction)

"From the home office in Chicago, IL. The category is the Tops Ten Things that Happened to Me, JayBee Anama, in the Hobby in 2008. Here we go:

10. Got to go to the National with my daughter. Seeing my kids starting to grow up and enjoy my Hobby. Isn't that what life is all about???

9. Toppstown. Another way to get my kids involved in the hobby, albeit online.

8. The chase for the "Infamous Series II Six" And realizing that, yes, I am crazed.

7. Kazuo Uzuki. I knew I should have learned Japanese. The fact that there were some people (all right, me included) that thought that this kid was for real (okay, I'm not that gullible) made this one heck of a chase card.

6. Acquiring a complete set of 2008 Topps Allen & Ginter, including a NNO Kosuke Fukudome card. If ever there was a second set for me to collect, this one is it.

5. Being able to capture all six cards from the "Infamous Series II Six" (Arnold Schwarzanegger 2012?, Al Gore, Johan Santana #661, WBC Fukudome, Ramirez, and Yabuta). If I can only get my hands on a Palin card...

4. My name finally appears in Beckett, along with the long quest for a 2005 Topps Barry Bonds MVP card to complete the seven-card set.

3. Both the Cubs and White Sox making it into the playoffs for the first time together since 1906. They may have both lost their playoff series, and yes, the Cubs are now 100 years removed from their last WS win, but it was one heck of a ride. I can only hope they can repeat and improve on the success of the last two years.

2. Completing my 2008 Topps set (series I, II, and U & H) along with all the insert sets (except for the U & H Target and WalMart sets still in progress).

And the number one thing that happened to me in the Hobby:

1. Starting this blog, and sharing my collection with the Hobby blogosphere.

I can't believe it's only been 8 months since I started this humble little blog, and I've at 18,000 page hits (many of them probably my own), and near 9,000 viewers. Now compared to a bunch of other blogs that talk about this great hobby of ours, my numbers may be low. But I know that over time, they'll grow. I feel like I've been accepted into the blogging community, and have enjoyed reading and commenting on many of the great blogs out there.

Next year, the goal is to improve and go back to what I wanted to do for the blog in the first place: talking about, and sharing with the world, my collection of Topps Baseball Cards.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama