And now

For Game 4 of the 1990 Baseball World Series

From Your Cincinnati Reds

Batting Lead Off

1991 Donruss
No. 471
Shortstop Barry Larkin
Barry was 4th in hits in the N.L. in 1990 with 185. Barry scored the tieing run in game 4 of the World Series.
The card shows him squaring off for a bunt against Mike Scott of the Astros. One of the teams who were behind the Reds for the whole season. The card front has the typical early 90's fashion of bright lines and speckly things. Not that I ever wore anything like that. Something I did not realize is that if you put two cards next to each other the name line and position line have no break on the right side and flow into the next cards picture.

How cool is that? I never noticed that until I started scanning them. If you know of any other sets that do this let me know.

Important Info for ALL REDS FANS

This posting comes from the pages of OMGreds.com

http://tinyurl.com/28gzcj

I do not know how much to thank these guys in helping to plan ahead for my trip to Cincinnati to see the Reds.

Someone with better Reds luck than White Sox Cards

You buy one pack of resealed cards and what do you get:

http://tinyurl.com/2ra94n

enough Home Run Legends to shake a Louisville Slugger at.

Conrats go out to Jeremiah at Topps Trader.

A Late Thank You

Thank you to the people at Topps

Thank you to the people at Donruss

On August 29, 2005 my life changed.

At about 10 AM I watched as white caps formed on the road in front of my mother's home. For those who do not know what white caps are it is a term used to describe the white foam on top of a wave as it crests and breaks. Why is this unusual? I was one mile from the shore and 28 feet above sea level. That is what it was like when Hurricane Katrina came through. In under 10 minutes it went from water on the road to 6 foot in the home. I managed to get the six people there to safety quickly and save some artwork but all else was lost. My mother was lucky.

My home of two weeks that I had wanted to buy for as long as I remember was washed away. Along with 25 years of collecting and a lifetime of mementos. All the Reds cards, photos, autos and stuff I had made a special room for (I was single) were gone. It was tough but you move on. About two weeks later various card companies had sent packages. Topps and Donruss had sent cases of baseball, football and basketball. I have scanned in some of the better pulls from the boxes I was able to crack open in the midst of the uncertainty.

2005 Topps
No. 645 Reds Team Card
The Greatest Professional Baseball Team

2005 Donruss
No.151 Barry Larkin

2005 Donruss
Power Alley Insert
Ken Griffey Jr.
Sereil Numbered 572 / 2500

2005 Topps Bazooka
4 - in -1 Sticker Insert No. 3
Austin Kearns / J.D. Drew - A former Brave for certain blogger / Torii Hunter / Juan Pierre
How often do you have a card with 4 players all on other teams so soon?

2005 Topps Heritage
No. 57 Adam Dunn

2005 Finest
No. 95 Adam Dunn
Green X-Fractor 11 / 50

Home Run Dunn is watching the ball fly off of a Clemens mess up into the bleachers at Minute Maid Park. A fantastic ball park if you ever get the chance. And hot dogs are waaaaay less expensive that Turner Dogs.

2005 Topps Total
No. 53 Cin 5 Paul Wilson
Remember when this guy was on the Mets and was supposed to be the next Maddux? He did a good job with the Reds and was a good coah for the younger guys.

2005 Donruss Diamond Kings
No. 75 Danny Graves
Autograph 93 / 100
The autograph is well placed and the artwork is great! This is my favorite DK set. The card layout, the colors blend well and the portraits are the best of any set. The sticker is recessed in the card and not on the surface. I am beggining to like this way of doing it.

2005 Donruss Studio
No. 80 Bubba Nelson
Private Signings Autograph Silver 72 / 100

This was one of the best gifts someone like us collectors can receive in such circumstances. It was a very bright spot in my life at the time. The great feel of the packs in the hands and to hear the rip of the foil.

Notice the one company not mentioned (Fleer was bankrupt). They wrote a form letter to Matt that had in it "Sorry we cannot help with your project/charity" and "Good luck with your project/charity and remember us in your purcahsing future." I understand they cannot answer to everyone but that is cold. And I have never purchased another UD product new again. I am not saying never buy new Upper Deck, just letting you know why I do not.

Yankee Douche Fan Says:

I have a friend we shall name Yankee Douche Fan. He is a good guy at heart. But if this says anything about his thought patterns his favorite teams are :

The New York American League Baseball Club

The Los Angeles Lakers

The Dallas Cowboys

Tiger Woods


Need I say more?

Y.D.F. had this to say about todays card:

2002 Fleer Genuine
Touch 'em All Insert
Game Used Base Relic
Serial Numbered 23/ 350

"Man. They coulda done better than that."

This coming from someone who never bought any cards as a kid. Someone who's only retort is "Yeah? Well your team sucks!" And I agree. With his statement about the card that is. The card is just plain. This is not what The Beach Boys had in mind when singing "Good Vibrations." It isn't even red. It's rosy. Not quite pink and not quite red. The piece of the base used is about a half inch. Junior looks like he is scared he might have to face Randy Johnson. The photo is small by card standards. It just does not make me feel good. As for the back. Well, have a look for yourself.
The image of the base is just as big as Ken Griffey Jr. What up wit' dat? The man deserves better than that. Maybe Fleer was mad Upper Deck had him as an exclusive. I do not know. There is even no mention about anything Griffey. Talk about a disappointing card.
Glad I only paid $1.50 for it.

On Loction at Shea Stadium

Dare I say "Met's Fan" anyone?

No Relation to the Phillie Phanatic

No. None at all.

This is Gapper.

The ballpark mascot of the Cincinnati Reds National League Professional Baseball Club. A huge furry mascot. Red fur believe it or not. Gapper wears his Reds cap backwards. Just like Junior! He wears a Reds home jersey. Just like me! Although Gapper's midsection is a tad larger. He like to make kids cry. Just like me! According to the card back, Gapper grew up on a remote island of blue furry creatures who loved soccer. But Gapper loved baseball and fled to Cincinnati. The greatest baseball city in America! Good for him!
You cannot help but enjoy a card like this. Who does not want to pull a Gapper instead of an A. Rod parallel of Home Run No. 534?

Run Freel! Run!

Well here we are. Monday. I hope no one has a bad case of the Monday's.
If you do here is a card to cheer you up:

2007 Upper Deck First Edition
No. 197 Ryan Freel

It appears Ryan has been driven in by Felipe Lopez on April 5th at home against the Cubs. Griffey coming to bat and giving him the congrats. The championship banners taunting the Cubs by Freel's arm. The lone fan celebrating by the Upper Deck Logo. This is a nice card. A great photo. Horizontal layout. Minimal borders. Small but noticeable name of Ryan Freel, Theft Machine. Notice the dirt on his Reds jersey from the head first slide into second on a double off of Rusch. The card feels good also. Heavier, no gloss cardboard. A little tougher than 1981 Topps but has the same rough feel. The back is smoother thanks to less ink. I hope Ryan's season is a good one. Not the best in the field but versatile. And nice when he gets on the base path.

Reds and White Sox trade Update

A trade was recently triggered between the Reds (fan) and White Sox (fan).

Reds get Bip Roberts, Ron Gant, Adam Dunn, Brandon Phillips, Eric Davis, Joe Oliver, Kyle Lotzkar and Austin Kearns in exchange for over hyped White Sox players Frank Thomas, Magglio Ordonez, Carlos Lee, Paul Konerko and 12 players to be named later.

Steve from White Sox Cards sent me this fine batch of cards. I got the cards in the mail on Saturday and am glad I did. I did not look like this when I opened my mailbox. So without further ado I present to you:

Card 1
2005 Donruss Team Heroes
No. 89 Eric Davis
One of the most gifted players ever in the Reds organization.

Card 2
2007 Topps Turkey Red
No 355 Adam Dunn
Red Border Parallel

Card 3
2006 Bowman Heritage
No. 142 of a Series of 300
Brandon Phillips

Card 4
1995 Sp
Platinum Power insert
PP 3 Ron Gant
Nice looking card. I like die cuts. Shows imagination.

Card 5
1993 Triple Play
No. 88 Bip Roberts

Card 6
1994 Donruss
No. 249 Joe Oliver

Card 7
2007 Prospects Plus
No. 13 Kyle Zotzkar

The other cards are posted at Austin Kearns Cards. So keep a lookout at White Sox Cards as Steve will (I am sure) be overjoyed at being able to post the cards I sent to him. Thanks Steve!

Completion of a trade

Way back in the early days of two thousand aught eight I was happy to send a card to Joey at sqeezeplaycards.com he needed for his Ivan Rodriguez collection. On Friday evening I was welcomed home by a bubble mailer from Texas. Inside were enough cards to light up my face with a big ol' smile. Texas big. Joey sent to me:

2007 Ultra Swing Kings insert SK-AD Adam Dunn
This is my favorite card of the bunch. The front is well paned and laid out. Plenty of artsy stuff. The back has a great little blurb on Dunn. Not just stats. I knew Dunn was had 11 inches in height on me. I just did not know he had 100 lbs on me. That may be why he is on the Reds and I am not. Just sayin.

1982 Donruss Pride of the Reds
Johnny Bench and Tom Seaver. Two of the all-time greats on one card.

1982 Fleer No. 57 - Johnny Bench
Here Johnny is letting everyone know he is the No. 1 catcher of all-time.

1982 Topps No. 401 - Johnny Bench In Action
Bench is getting ready to slap another dinger it looks like.

2003 Leaf passing Through Time insert - Ken Griffey Jr.
First time I have seen this card and I like it. Check out the back.


2003 Bowman Heritage
No. 258 Knothole Gang Ryan Wagner
Ryan must see his days are numbered with the Reds. Hence the sad face.

And six cards from 1999 Flair Showcase. A nice looking set I did not collect the first time around and will for sure finish now.
Greg Vaughn Row 3 seat 59 Showdown

Greg Vaughn Row 2 Seat 59 Showpiece

Greg Vaughn Row 1 Seat 59
Numbered 1,175 of 3,000 Showtime

Barry Larkin Row 3 Seat74 Showdown

Barry Larkin Row 2 Seat 74 Showpiece

Denny Neagle Row 3 Seat 105 Showpiece

That is it for now. I hope you look forward to trading in the future after seeing the possibilities out there.

So Famous she is IN-FAMOUS

Thank you Infamous Tatiana!

Last week I saw her pleading and groveling for new Derek Jeter and Hanley Ramirez cards. So I felt the need to be an enabler in this hobby of ours. I contacted Her (so I thought) and proposed a trade (through Mario). Trade was accepted (with a Canseco thrown in). I got a few more cards than I thought I would. But this not an unhappy post. This is a post of rejoicing! Below is the part of the treasure trove of Reds I have received over the past three days. Thursday brought me these from The Infamous (Mario) Tatiana:

To see the Austin Kearns cards please go to Austin Kearns Kards.

For my Reds Collection I was traded
2007 Goudey Heads Up No. 265 - Ken Griffey Jr.
2007 Goudey No. 139 - Brandon Phillips

2007 UD Spectrum No. 61 - Aaron Harang

2007 UD Spectrum No. 59 - Ken Griffey Jr.

2007 Topps Turkey Red No. 21 - Adam Dunn

2007 SP Authentic - Authentic Speed insert - Brandon Phillips

2007 Topps Rookie '52 No. 78 - Jon Coutlangus

2007 Topps Rookie '52 No. 90 - Homer Bailey

2007 Topps Rookie '52 No. 116 - Brad Salmon

2007 Topps Rookie '52 No. 137 - Marcus McBeth

2007 Topps Rookie '52 No. 203 - Phil Dumatrait

2007 SP Rookie Edition No. 256 - Josh Hamilton

2007 SPx No. 60 - Adam Dunn

2007 Finest No. 70 - Ken Griffey Jr.
Refractor!

2007 SP Authentic No. 13 - Josh Hamilton

2007 Bowman Chrome No. 29 - Brandon Phillips

2007 Bowman DPP Gold No. 11 - Kyle Lotzkar

2007 Bowman DPP Gold No 31 - Scott Carroll

2007 Topps Turkey Red Josh Hamilton Game Used Bat

2007 SP Rookie Edition Josh Hamilton Auto

So once again, thanks Infamous Tatiana for the plethora of cards!