Predicting the World Series with Cards - Game 3

So far this idea of using random cards to predict the 2015 World Series has gone terribly.  First the experiment was accurate, when I didn't want it to be.  Then, when I actually liked the results for game two, it was inaccurate.  Go figure.  At this point I'm committed to seeing it through, so let's try this again...

Best out of three here, let's see what random card from my collection I'll be looking at for each team first...

We'll be kicking things off with the 202nd card in both my Royals and Mets collections.  The Royals will lead off here...

A solid start for Kansas City in this best of three match-up, with this 1993 Flair Tom Gordon.  This has been one of my favorite '90s sets since I first opened a pack (well, box) that probably cost north of $5 back in 1993.  I finally completed the base set earlier this year, and have just a few Wave of the Future inserts to track down to complete a master set.

Gordon had a really long MLB career, and played for the Red Sox which earns him some points in my book.  Let's see what Mets card gets pitted against this one in today's contest...

Snooze.  1992 Upper Deck is a pretty great set, but this card is far from the best it has to offer.  A relatively standard shot here, nothing to really write home about.  I hate to do it but there's just no contest here, Kansas City takes round one.

For round two we're looking at card(s) 225...

Man this is not going well for the Mets.  2008 Upper Deck was a beautiful set in my opinion, probably my favorite set of 2008 period.  This is about as boring as that set gets though, both in terms of photo and player selection.  After his time in New York was done, Aaron was signed to about 17 different teams but played for only three of them.  It's not going to take a lot to outdo this one...

Yup, Kansas City is going to take today's match-up.  I'm sorry but this card is just 100 times nicer than the Upper Deck Heilman.  The design is better, the photos are better, and Perez is a much better player who's currently a huge part of the Royals' roster.

Even though the best of three has been decided, let's do the final round anyway...

Random number generator gives us 127...

Royals get this 1982 Topps Traded Dennis Werth.  Don't know the first thing about this guy, but apparently he's Jayson Werth's step-father, for whatever that's worth (ba-dump-bump!).

An awesome Gypsy Queen Tom Seaver mini means the Mets take round three hands down.  Unfortunately it's too little too late, and according to the cards the Royals will be up 3-0 and on the verge of a sweep come this time tomorrow.  Again, I really hope this is wrong but we'll see...

Predicting the World Series with Cards - Game 2

What a start to the World Series last night (and this morning)!  Unfortunately, the Shoebox Legends World Series Predictor Machine (patent pending) was indeed accurate with yesterday's prediction that the Royals would take the first game.  In fact, it's pretty scary how accurate it was, given that an Eric Hosmer card came up in the randomization, and he drove in the game-winning walk-off RBI in the 14th.

Without hesitation, let's get rolling with game two's prediction.  After all, we're not far out from the first pitch here...

To start off we'll be comparing card 272 in my Mets and Royals collections on Zistle.  To change things up, let's start with the Royals this time around...

A weak start here for Kansas City if I'm being honest.  Just a standard edition '84 Topps card of UL Washington.  I don't know a whole lot about UL, who retired from professional baseball when I was just five years old.  Apparently the UL doesn't stand for anything, dude's birth name is literally just UL.  I guess he was also known for having a toothpick dangling from his lip during play, whether in the field or at the plate.

Will those random facts be enough for Kansas City to take round one?  Let's see what card registers at number 272 in my Mets collection...

It doesn't take a keen eye to notice that this is most definitely not an original '77 Topps card.  The photo is way too crisp, and they didn't have to use a ridiculous trademark symbol after the team name back in the '70s either.  Nope, this one's from 2012 Topps Archives.

Nonetheless, as a player I'm much more familiar with Dave Kingman than I am UL Washington, I like the photo selection better on this card, and as an added bonus this is a short print in the set, for whatever that's worth.  Round one goes to the Mets!

The random number generator has given us 399 for the second round of today's contest.  Mets first...

I'm sure that the few people who actually read this post may be cringing right now at the site of 1990 Topps (though I know at least one other collector who appreciates it as much as I do!).  As ugly as it is though, this was really the first Topps baseball set I collected heavily as a kid.  What can I say, you can't control when you're born!

If you can ignore those obnoxious borders for just a second though, this is actually a pretty great card.  By 1990 standards that's definitely a half-way decent photo or better, plus we've got a cameo appearance by the Topps All-Star Rookie Cup!  A strong effort from New York in round two!

Well, it turns out in this round we've got the first set I ever collected vs. the set from my birth year.  I have always liked the '82 Topps set, but again Hal McRae is a player I admittedly don't know a ton about.  Like UL Washington, he retired from pro ball when I was all of five years old.

Hal seems like a pretty cool guy, overcoming a very nasty leg fracture early in his career to put up some impressive stats in nearly two decades at the MLB level.  He barely lost the 1976 AL batting title to teammate George Brett (in the final game of the season), and unfortunately he's losing the second round of this contest to Gregg Jefferies.  Mets on top 2-0.

Let's look at card(s) 95 and see if the Mets can go for the sweep...

Even though I just explained that I actually enjoy 1990 Topps, I'm not a big fan of this Gerald Perry.  It's not me being biased against Kansas City in this meaningless little competition here.  This is a '90 Topps Traded card, which I did not have any of 25 years ago as a kid collector.  The glossier surface and brighter back just feel foreign to me, '90 Topps is supposed to be about fuzzy photos and card backs so dull that they're barely readable in low light.

This is really turning into a route for New York, let's see who will be pitted against Gerald...

Our first card in today's post that doesn't use a design from a Topps flagship set, this Keith Hernandez hails from 2005 Upper Deck Past Time Pennants.  This is a small set, but one that I'm very fond of.  I picked up a retail box not long after returning to collecting back in 2007 and have liked the cards ever since.  I'm a total sucker for full-bleed photos.

All-Star, World Series champ, MVP, batting title winner, Gold Glove winner, and Silver Slugger.  Is round 3 even a contest? 

Mets sweep!  If this proves accurate again things will be knotted up at 1-1 by tomorrow morning.  Here's hoping that's the case!

Predicting the World Series with Cards - Game 1

As every baseball fan knows, the 2015 World Series kicks off tonight.  The Red Sox didn't even make the playoffs, so I have to confess that I haven't been paying as much attention to post-season baseball this year as I should have been.  With that being said, I'm rooting for the Mets over the Royals.

With the bulk of my collection organized digitally on Zistle, I thought it would be fun to use a random number generator to pick out some cards from each team from my collection.  Here's how it will work...I have 436 Royals cards cataloged in my online collection, and more than that for the Mets.  So, I'll generate three random numbers between 1 and 436.  I'll search my collection of each of the teams on Zistle, show whatever card number comes up for each team at that random number, and decide which one I like better.  Whoever wins best out of three will be my prediction to win the game.

Let's get started!

First up, card #140.  Let's lead off with the Mets...

Wow, what a start here for New York!  This beauty from the 2007 Upper Deck Masterpieces set pays tribute to the 1969 Miracle Mets team.  Just an awesome card, I can't imagine I have too many Royals cards that I'd like more than this one.  Let's see what Kansas City card rings in at #140 in my collection...

1977 Topps Mark Littell.  Not a whole lot to say here, Littell was done pitching by age 29 thanks to bone spurs, and is probably most remembered for giving up the walk-off home run to Chris Chambliss in the 1976 ALCS.

The first match-up goes to the Mets in a route!  This is a best of three though, so let's see what the next random number brings...

Oddly enough, we're moving just a few numbers down to 134.  Let's start with the Royals this time...

Well this is certainly an improvement over the first card for Kansas City.  Not that this card is anything special, but Hosmer was a huge contributing member to this year's Royals team and figures to be an impact player in the World Series.  I've always enjoyed the design of the 2013 Topps flagship set as well.  Let's see if the Mets can compete here...

Hmm..this 1986 Topps Randy Niemann is nothing too special, but it is from the Topps Traded set so that's something at least.  Randy pitched only 35 games for New York between 1985 and 1986 (all bullpen work save a single start in '86), but he did go on to work for the team in a coaching capacity for many, many years.

It pains me to do so, but I have to give the edge to Hosmer and the Royals here.  Let's do one more round and break the tie!

Number 328, we'll start with the Mets again...

Ouch, tough draw for the Mets in the final round, as Ike Davis was sent to Pittsburgh in 2014 for the dreaded "player to be named later".  The Pirates apparently weren't too impressed either, as the Oakland A's ended up picking up his contract for 2015.  Ike got into around 60 games for the Athletics this year at first base, but swung a rough .229 with just 3 home runs, 20 RBI, and on on-base percentage barely above .300.

Not going to take much to unseat Ike here, let's see what Royals card rings in at #328 in my collection...

We've got a nice portrait from '84 Donruss of catcher Don Slaught!  1984 was Don's final season with Kansas City, and he handled the bulk of the catching duty that season starting over 100 games at the position.  Don enjoyed a better season in 1984 than Ike Davis did in 2011, plus the '84 Donruss set is one of the best of the '80s in my opinion.  On top of that, Don Slaught is just a cooler name (though barely) than Ike Davis.

For those reasons, as much as it pains me to do so, I have to give the third round, and the best of three overall, to the Kansas City Royals.

According to the cards, KC should be up 1-0 after tonight.  I hope this experiment turns out to be inaccurate...

Perpetually Behind - Shlabotnik Delivers Edition

I seem to be perpetually behind when it comes to trade posts.  Every few weeks I get through the entire backlog of packages on my card desk, but inevitably I check the mail and find more cards.  This is an awesome problem to have, and one of the latest people to contribute to this "problem" is the one and only Joe Shlabotnik of The Shlabotnik Report.

Joe's PWEs are always a welcome reprieve from the bills and other detritus that generally fills up my mailbox (like the Spanish-language magazines that my wife receives in the mail simply because of our last name; is that some form of racial/name profiling?). 

This latest envelope did not disappoint, as it delivered numerous cards off of my Zistle want list, like the classic 1994 Topps Roger Clemens that lead off this post.  I don't know how I never managed to track down a copy of this, but I sure am glad Joe had an extra.

How about a pair to get me a little closer to a 1994 Triple Play team set?  Another Rocket...

...and infielder Scott Cooper.  Just a few of these left to track down now.

Going all the way back to the '70s here with a nice sunny day shot of Rick Miller.  Random fact that I had completely forgotten, Rick won a Gold Glove in 1978 (the year that all three Gold Glove outfielders belonged to the Red Sox!).

Joe knows I appreciate a good minor league baseball card, and this Line Drive Brian Conroy certainly counts.  That is one awkward stare!  The New Britain Red Sox team actually spawned out of Pawtucket, Rhode Island, and their reign in the Red Sox system ended when the Sox became affiliated with the Trenton Thunder in 1995.

This package showed some real variety, straying away from the Red Sox and attacking some other parts of my want list, like 2015 Topps flagship...

...and these pesky 1972 Topps mini inserts, which unbelievably are already two plus years old.

I've got nearly all 50 from Series 1 now, after the trio I found in this package I'm missing just one or two more (plus most of the 50 from Series 2, ugh).

A couple of new soccer cards came my way courtesy of 2008 Upper Deck MLS.  My limited soccer card collection has really been picking up some steam lately, and I've still been enjoying as much Premier League soccer as my schedule will allow (like yesterday's extremely frustrating 1-1 draw for Liverpool).

I don't know much about Kenny Mansally, but apparently "Kenny" was an Americanized nickname that was dropped a couple of years ago, and he now goes by his birthname of Abdoulie.  I never saw him play, judging by what I've read and his stats he was a mediocre forward at the MLS level.  New England eventually cut him, and he signed with Real Salt Lake.

Kheli Dube is from Zimbabwe, and was drafted by the Revolution after playing his college soccer at a smaller school in Kentucky.  He had a great rookie year in 2008 for New England, finishing second in Rookie of the Year voting, and even registered a hat trick in MLS play the following season.  Eventually, the Revs moved on and Kheli is apparently playing in Africa these days.

Lastly, Joe has been supplying me with a steady stream of these awesome 1982-83 Topps Hockey Stickers, and this time I got a pair of Bruins.  Recognize this player?  I had to look it up, I confess, but I don't feel too badly since I was born the year these were printed up.  This is Keith Crowder, a winger who carved out a 10-year NHL career, with the first 9 of those seasons spent with Boston.

How about the other one?  Any idea?  This is Mike O'Connell, and if you're a younger Bruins fan you may associate him more with the front office than with the "on ice product".  After his playing days were done he worked his way up through the ranks within the organization, culminating in a multi-year stint as GM at the turn of the century.

During his time at the helm, there was of course some controversy, most notably his decision to trade star center Joe Thornton.  With that trade now a decade in the rear view mirror at this point, does it really look so bad?  I know the players the Bruins got back turned out to be insignificant, and I know Thornton is a point-scoring machine...in the regular season.  But how many Cups have the Sharks won?  Hell, how many playoff series have they won?

I'll choose to remember the more positive aspects of O'Connell's time controlling the team, like the fact that the team drafted both Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci during his tenure (and could afford to keep them both around long-term without Thornton's contract on the books).

Alright, I'm going to stop here before this turns into a long, drawn out Bruins post that few people care to read.  Thanks for the cards Joe, they are much appreciated and were a great motivator to get me posting again here...

Quarter Box Quartet - Dukes, Teemu, Ainge & Mr. Met!

Just a quick one today, a quartet of cards plucked from the quarter boxes at Central Sports Cards in Pawtucket, RI...

Since I've been on a minor league kick the past few months, I snapped up this Ramon Martinez card from the 1989 ProCards set.  I'm fairly certain this is the first Albuquerque Dukes card to enter my collection.

I've always been a fan of newspaper-themed cards, and when you combine that with one of my favorite hockey players of all-time sporting an obnoxious Mighty Ducks sweater I'm sold!  I got the Fedorov card from this set in a trade and have been on the lookout for others ever since, so I was very happy to land Teemu here for just 25 cents.

A Danny Ainge rookie card for a quarter?  I'm not sure how I went so long without picking up this iconic card of the current President of Basketball Operations for the Boston Celtics.  Not that I've ever chased after one specifically, but I always figured it would set me back at least a buck if and when I did find a copy.

Lastly, perhaps my favorite of this small bunch, an awesome Upper Deck flagship card from 2004 featuring Ichiro and Mr. Met.  I wasn't collecting at all in 2004, so had no idea this card existed, but it was one of those were the photograph is interesting enough that I happily threw it into my stack.

If I had to choose between these four cards and a candy bar, which is about comparable in price, I'd take the cards any day!  You can keep your Snickers bar, give me Mr. Met!

A Doozy

A "doozy". One word, multiple connotations.  In the negative sense, it pretty well describes how the past week has gone for me.  You may or may not have noticed that I went six days without a post, which I think is my longest post-free stretch of 2015 so far.  Between work and getting my house in order (by "in order" I mean "ready for Old Man Winter to kick New England's ass again") I've had little time or money for cards of late.

In a positive sense though, I could use the word "doozy" to describe the card I'm posting today in an attempt to get me out of my blogging funk.  Been sitting on this one for over six months now, it's time for this card to have its day in the sun on the blog...

Bill Carrigan here represents my fourth Red Sox card from the 1914/15 Cracker Jack sets, and my fifth example in total.  There's not a whole lot I can add here that I haven't already said about this set when I've posted the cards in the past.  Quite possibly my favorite pre-war vintage baseball card design, period.  I just wish they weren't so rare, or expensive, but I guess that's also part of the allure.

Bill is pretty beat up after 100+ years on this Earth, and is probably tied with the Al Demaree I posted earlier this year for worst condition of the cards I do have from this set.  You really can't be a stickler on condition when it comes to cards this old; it's difficult enough finding these regardless of what kind of shape they're in.  Hell, there's only one of these Carrigan cards available on eBay right now, and while it's in better shape it's going for way more than I paid for this one.

Carrigan is actually a local New England guy, having been born in Maine.  This is the second pretty significant card of his that I've landed this year, as his 1909 Philadelphia Caramel was one of my big finds at the large card show I made it to back in April.  As a Red Sox fan, how can you not like a guy who played his entire MLB career with Boston, and was nicknamed "Rough"?!?!

All of my previous Cracker Jack cards were printed in 1915, this is the first from the 1914 printing.  There are two main differences that I notice.  First, the language at the bottom of the card back is different (did they really print 10 million of these?).  Secondly, the card back is right-side-up relative to the front, whereas on the 1915 cards it's upside down.

That's all for today, hopefully my schedule frees up and my motivation increases so that I can start getting through the half dozen trade packages I have sitting on my desk waiting to be processed...