So...

My computer died, again. This time it seems that the motherboard crashed, after I dropped $350 to get a complete repair by the Geek Squad.

I wanted to blog about those Spectrum Autographs of the Kim Kardashian and other girl from Playboy. I think they fucking suck. They are the most prized possession out of the lot, but why? Because they've been seen naked or because they are good looking? Pretty fuckin lame if you ask me.

The Tribe traded Cliff Lee and a 4th OF'er today. We got 4 prospects. One of which is Knapp. Meh. I understand the reason the trade was made and to be honest, I fully agree with it. Although I think we could have gotten better players, not on a level of Kyle Drabek, but at least other areas of need.

Another tangent I don't understand is about the Tribe is why did we have Garko even try and play LF this year? He's a 1B by nature. Choo-Dellucci-Sizemore-Francisco is your OF. Throw in Derosa, Crowe, Carroll, and then Laporta. Dellucci is gone (thankfully). Derosa is gone, unfortunate but it was his last year and we weren't going to keep him around. Crowe is in AAA. Carroll might not even be able to play the OF, I have no idea. Garko is gone (thank god again). And Laporta is being groomed for 1B? What?

We aren't going to compete this year, and we aren't going to compete next year. 2010 is going to be exactly like 2002 where we evaluate talent and see who we have and what our strengths are. With all the potential talent being built up, I honestly feel that 2011 is going to be a solid year. And this feels weird since I'm the most pessimistic Cleveland fan.

Also, please dear god hire a real development staff for our pitchers because something isn't translating from AAA to the Majors. Reminds me of 2004 when Eddie Murray was our hitting coach. You remember that? Yeah, I tried to block it out too.

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Last note, for those of you guys going to the National, I will be there bright and early on Sunday, the only day I do not work. Hope to meet some of you and possibly do a case break? Make some trades? Let me know if you are attending!

Would you buy more cards?

Nearly all credit card companies now have a Rewards Points System in place. Whether it's spend x amount of dollars and receive points to spend on vacations, merchandise, gas, or even money back. I'm personally very fond of this idea and if I had a credit card that gave me points towards rewards or cash back I'd put every purchase on it.

Now take this idea and apply it to the Sports Collectibles World.

What if Upper Deck, Topps, Donruss/Panini, or Razor did this?

First, you'd sign up online and probably pay a nominal fee to receive the card. The card comes in the mail a few weeks later, and when you go to your local hobby shop you buy a box of cards and scan the company issued card prior to your purchase. The amount of points you receive is a direct kick back of how much money is spent. Once you have acquired enough points you can go online and redeem the points for percent off a hobby box, receive free cards or memorabilia.

Or perhaps, to help ensure that your local card shop stays in business, the stores who are affiliated with the companies can work in partnership with the brands and allow for discounts or redemptions in-store so that they will generate more revenue (possibly).

The only problems that I have with it right now is that this points program would be geared towards the higher budgeted collectors rather than the average collectors.

Broke the duck

I did it. Finally caved in. I purchased my first pack of 2009. A Bowman Jumbo pack. 32 glorious cards.

My "hits" were Daniel Murphy of the Mets. It was a Blue Parallel /500. James (other blogger who never blogs) said he is similar to Ryan Garko. I don't really know how he gets these comparisons. After he said that I decided to read the back of the card, something I rarely do.

Here's what it said:

Resume: Member of 2008 Eastern League All-Star squad, swatting .308 for Binghampton..Called up to Mets in August and ripped 11 hits in 1st 21 AB's.

Skills: Looks like he'll be a .300 hitter for a long time...Great balance of patience and aggressiveness...Hits to situations...Shows an instinct for the RBI.

Evolution: Not even going to bother.

This is really the crap they put on cards now? His resume sounds nice. Although he had 11 hits in his first 21 AB's, he's currently hitting .241/.310/.353 in 77 games for the Mets.

And where exactly does the writers of these cards find the player's "skills"? I mean, I know most of it is made up, but still, are they on some Bill James abstract non-sense to figure out he'll hit .300 for a long time? And what exactly is a long time? 10 years or 3 weeks? Also, most guys who are coached are told to hit to situations, that's just a stupid sentence.

The kicker, "shows instinct for RBI". Incredible. What if nobody is on-base, how do you get your RBI? Hitting a homer? In 355 MLB AB's he has 7 homers. 7 more than I'll ever have, but still, 7 homers.

At least the card was enjoyable. Other than that I got crap like Aaron Rowand (who I don't like at all). Got a David Price Rookie, which is nice. Then a bunch of WBC guys whose name I cannot pronounce.

Pulled an Esmil Rogers /599 Refractor. Guy is touted as the #7 Prospect in the Rockies System. Currently posting an 8-2 record 2.48 ERA and 83K's to 19BB's in 94.1 IP. Not bad.

2001 Fleer Greats of the Game

I've got a new life collecting goal:

Complete the autograph checklist for the 2001 Fleer Greats of the Game Baseball Set. 93 Cards. A daunting task by any means. I didn't expect there to be 93 cards in the auto set, at all.

I've been meaning to try this for a few years now. I've always been in love with the one autograph I do have. I pulled it back in 2001 at Easter. I received a few packs of cards in my basket (yeah, I still got a basket), and received a redemption. It was for the Killer, Harmon Killebrew. I had never heard of him, but my dad told me all about him and even pulled out his autographed ball of Harmon.

I don't think any card I have ever seen has come close to the solid design of the 2001 brand. Very basic yet fancy looking. Just having a few and displaying them would be really neat.

The only task I have right now is to try and find a checklist of the 93 guys. All I know right now is that I need 92 more.

Real Life GM?

I decided I'd like to try my hand at prospecting. And by prospecting, I don't just mean that I'll be buying all the hot rookies or mid level rookies. I decided on about 7 players right now who I'd like to give a go at.

My parameters are that I'd research the player a bit. Then check his stats. After this, I'd see the level he is at followed by his age. Depending on these indicators, I go to Ebay to see how much the cards are going for. My only problem as compared to other collectors, is that I really don't have money due to where I'm at in life right now. So if I could give myself a club to align with, I'd say I'm much like the Pittsburgh Pirates. I just hope I have some decent amount of luck and don't go after all the "Creech-lings".

I don't really intend on making any money, this is more about picking guys who I think might be decent and then follow them. If they are scrubs, well then I've got quite a collection of the guy. It's not much of a problem since most of the auto's I've gotten in the last year haven't been anything special.

I also joined FreedomCardBoard's Forum under the name Hold Steady.

Looking for....

a good sports card message board.

Basically, I don't want to go to Beckett and have to sift through 10+ pages of nonsense just to find one decent post. I've somewhat glanced at a few and really didn't make up my mind as to which I'd like to join up at. What do you guys suggest?

Topps Sucks

Over at the Beckett Blog, they ran a story yeterday of the 5 Promotional cards being given away at the National. The cards look amazing. I'm a huge fan of any 1950's or 1960's design. Baseball back then seems so much purer than modern day baseball. It was more about the game than the players.

Photo Credit to Beckett Blog

The only glaring issue I have is that there isn't a regional player issued in this set. The dual Mantle cards, I understand. Mickey will always have a huge command in the collectibles business. Campanella and Maris are also good picks. But Jackie being issued in a Giants uniform? Why bother?

Back to the regional player issue. I've brought this up before, but where is the love for Larry Doby? While he wasn't the superstar that Jackie was, he did break the color barrier for the American League. I'd really love to know why he doesn't get a nod in more retro sets. Does his family own his rights and not want to give them out? Or did the Tri Star Marketing staff learn that Cleveland players aren't worth their time to print cards of on a national scale?

I remember in 2007 that Topps gave out Promotional cards with their Allen and Ginter release. I received both regular and mini version of Grady Sizemore.

It just seems to me that Doby is completely overlooked in releases that feature Hall of Famers. If there is anytime and place to test the market with Larry Doby it'd be with Promo cards at a National featured in Cleveland, Ohio.

Wedgie Watch™

12 of the last 14 have been losses.

The All Star Break couldn't come soon enough. And to be fair, it's only a break from this horrendous season, round 2 starts right after.

Why does Josh Barfield not get any playing time? Why is he still on the Indians 40 man? What purpose does he even serve as an Indian if he isn't being utilized? Can we please trade him for some prospects? Milwaukee, will you call Mark Shapiro and take Barfield off our hands, please.

Oh yeah, Eric, you've got a mutiny amongst your crew.

Photo Credit: Cleveland Blog.