I’m sure not many people have noticed, but for the first time in almost 3 years, I missed a few daily pack breaks.  Sometimes life comes at you hard and certain low priority things like opening up packs of baseball cards need to be put on the back-burner for awhile.  Anyways, I’ll try to catch up on the pack breaks when I get some spare moments of free time.

Also, I’d like to thank Community Gum for commenting and suggesting a way to fix my recent spam problems.  Normal commenting is back while I assess if Askimet is strong enough to keep the hordes of spam at bay.

Due to some massive spamming to this site, I’ve closed commenting for any post older than a day.  If the hundreds of spam comments coming in continues, I might have to close all commenting for awhile until I figure out a way to stop them.  Spammers ruin all the fun for everyone.

Each year I select a new player whom I feel is one of the greatest players of the past 25 years.  Last year it was Albert Pujols.  This year it’s John Smoltz.

John Smoltz is most well-known for his 16 seasons in the Atlanta Braves starting rotation and 4 seasons he spent as the Braves’ highly effective closer as he was recovering from Tommy John surgery.  As a starting pitcher, Smoltz went 207-147 with a 3.39 ERA and 2784 Strikeouts in 3187.2 innings pitched.  As a closer, Smoltz compiled a 2.65 ERA while making 154 Saves and striking out a batter per inning on average.  His 3,084 career Strikeouts, 8 All-Star selections, and 1996 Cy Young Award should be enough credentials to eventually put him into the Hall of Fame.

Check out my John Smoltz history told in baseball cards.

Hey, lookie what I got for less than $20 on eBay!

1998 Bowman Certified Blue Autographs #46 Miguel Tejada (Autograph)

2005 Finest Autograph Refractors #FA-AS Alfonso Soriano (Autograph)

2006 Bowman Heritage Signs of Greatness #SG-BW Brandon Wood (Autograph)

2006 Topps Co-Signers #104 Francisco Liriano (Autograph)

2007 Bowman #235 Elijah Dukes (Autograph) (Serial#144/500) (Rookie Card)

2010 Topps Peak Performance Autographs #PPA-TS Travis Snider (Autograph)

2008 Topps Moments and Milestones Rookie Autographs #RA-DB Daric Barton (Autograph)

2010 Topps Peak Performance Autographs #PPA-CM Cameron Maybin (Autograph)

1991 Topps:

1. #766 Jeff Robinson
2. #739 Russ Swan
3. #787 Checklist 6 of 6 (Checklist)
4. #663 Greg Brock
5. #436 Scott Bankhead
6. #26 Luis Sojo (Rookie)
7. #487 Rafael Belliard
8. #465 Ken Griffey
9. #420 Bobby Thigpen
10. #264 Dave Hollins
11. #123 Greg Harris
12. #118 Tom Edens
13. #580 Dave Stewart
14. #384 Gerald Perry
15. #35 Greg Maddux

It’s pretty cool to see Ken Griffey Jr.’s dad in a Mariners uniform!

I got a complimentary pack of 2009 Upper Deck Series 1 from Dave & Adam’s Card World with the purchase of my 2010 Topps Series 2 Jumbo box:

1. #26 Jeff Francoeur
2. #89 Brian Anderson
3. #54 Hideki Okajima
4. #158 Ty Wigginton
5. #116 Todd Helton
6. #179 Torii Hunter
7. #144 Andrew Miller
8. #438 Adrian Gonzalez/Jake Peavy/Brian Giles (Team Leaders)
9. #469 Alex Rodriguez (Highlights)
10. Historic Firsts #HF-7 Don Wakamatsu
11. #288 Ivan Rodriguez (20th Anniversary Retrospective)
12. #415 Conor Gillaspie (Rookie Card)
13. #270 Ian Kennedy
14. #253 Oliver Perez
15. #287 Jack Cust
16. #299 Cole Hamels
17. #315 Adrian Gonzalez
18. #351 Skip Schumaker
19. #332 Felix Hernandez
20. #400 Jesus Flores

“Like it is in America, baseball is a big deal in Asian countries.  But it wasn’t until 2008 that an Asian-American found himself managing a Major League Baseball team.  Enter Don Wakamatsu, the former bench coach of the Oakland Athletics and now skipper of the Seattle Mariners.  Wakamatsu’s grandparents were actually sent to live in an internment camp during World War II, so this is definitely a special moment for them.  Whether Wakamatsu can lead the Mariners to post-season glory has yet to be seen, but his recent appointment in the Emerald City is viewed as a victory for Asian-Americans everywhere.  ”If I can set a future stepping stone for Japanese-Americans and adjust the equality in baseball, I’m glad to bear the torch,” he said.”

Don Wakamatsu’s managerial record so far is 124-142, an improvement over the 61-101 record the Seattle Mariners had in 2008.

Last month I announced that I had received a 2009 Topps Red Hot Rookie Autograph variation card of Gordon Beckham.  Since I am not a fan of Gordon Beckham, I decided to sell it on eBay and use the money to buy autographs of players that I do like. Well, the deed is done.  My card sold for $76.

I couldn’t believe how many autographs I could buy with that money.  I bought 12 autographs of (players I believe to be) future stars with the money.  Here’s what I got, and the prices I list include the shipping costs:

2008 SPx #105 Clay Buchholz (Autograph) (Rookie) $8.08

2008 TRISTAR PROjections Autographs #370 Carlos Triunfel (Autograph) $7.88

2010 Topps Peak Performance Autographs #PPA-CK Clayton Kershaw (Autograph) $7.75

2007 TRISTAR Prospects Plus Farm Hands Autographs #FH-MM3 Mike Moustakas (Autograph) $7.05

2010 Upper Deck Signature Sensations #SS-CH Chase Headley (Autograph) $6.63

2008 Finest #155 Steve Pearce (Autograph) (Rookie) $5.76

2008 Just Autographs Signatures #26 Austin Gallagher (Autograph) $5.70

2008 Stadium Club #167 Travis Denker (Autograph) (Rookie) $5.24

2009 UD A Piece of History Rookie Autographs Violet #116 Dexter Fowler (Autograph) (Rookie) $4.96

2008 Topps Highlights Autographs #HA-DY Delwyn Young (Autograph) $4.25

2008 Donruss Threads Diamond Kings Signatures #DK-22 Taylor Teagarden (Serial#176/475) (Autograph) $4.24

2009 Upper Deck Spectrum #104 Angel Salome (Autograph) (Rookie) $4.20

Total price for these 12 cards including shipping costs:  $71.74

Totally worth the “trade” in my opinion, since most of these cards are now displayed proudly in my wall display case.  I will enjoy these cards for years to come as I watch some of the players grow into stars and others become duds.  It’s much more enjoyment than a single Gordon Beckham card can ever give me.

The real winners here:  The United States Postal Service and eBay.  More than half of the money that changed hands here went to those two groups.

Phungo just posted a Phungo 5 featuring 25 Years of Baseball.

I suppose I was a bit over-optimistic in my predictions, but over-optimistic predictions are a lot more fun than over-realistic ones eh?  I stand by them until proven wrong.

Go check it out now.