I Gots Some Reds Cards

And You Aint Got None!

At least none from Cardboard Junkie. I contacted Ol' Dayf (as his closest friends know him) about a certain card. I wondered what it would take to pry it from his warm, live fingers and we swapped auto cards. He also included this smorgasborg of extras.

A near complete Team Set of 1988 Topps Big
If anyone has card 167 Nick Esascky let me know.
I like this set. Just a smidge bigger than normal but cool back and good photos of both portrait and action shots on front.

No. 20 Eric Davis
No. 48 Kalvoski Daniels
No. 74 Barry Larkin
No. 96 Tom Browning
No. 144 Dave Concepcion
1982 All-Star Game M.V.P.
No. 214 Jeff Treadway
No. 232 John Franco

2 Holgram Stickers from Upper Deck

2003 SP Legendary Cuts
No. 40 Ernie Lombardi
Ernie was a Hall of Fame catcher before there was such a thing. A good hitting catcher who was great defensively. Runner did not run on him often and he was known as a great game caller. A key member of the Reds 1940 World Series team and 1938 M.V.P. The card itself shows Ernie warming up before a shutout of the Chicago National League Team on July 9, 1938 at their own field. 11 - 0. The card itself is ho hum and too dark for my liking.

1989 Topps Sticker Cards
No. 65 John Franco
No. 47 Eric Davis
Both cards have no stickers on the back.
They must be on Junkie's English notebook next to the I love (Wife's name) drawing.

A 2002 Bowman Heritage of
NOOCHIE!
Man I wanted Noochie Varner to make the big leagues. The name alone would have made him a star. Alas it was not meant to be. He was traded in 2002 to the Tigers I think and has not made it. Plus I have a friend who everyone calls Nootchie because he says Nootchie Rats instead of Nutria rats.

You down with O-Pee-Chee?
Yeah you know me!

A Hockey Stick Set Card
No. 427 Ron Oester

1983 Topps No. 554 Mike Vail.
This guy is one of the variation cards in 1981 Donruss. Good luck finding both versions.

Vintage 1987 Woodgrain Set
No. 412 Eric Davis
Is it just me or he have a look of "Who the heck does this Larkin kid think he is? Autograph a ball for is Mom?

1997 SP
No. 54 Hal Morris
Hal was born in Fort Rucker, AL.
I once drove through there. On my way to someplace nice.

1988 Topps
No. 282 Pat Perry
What kind of career have you had when after 4 seasons in the majors the highlights on the back are that you played Little League and American Legion ball, Has a wife and 2 daughters and was traded by the Cardinals?

1994 Leaf
No. 426 Erik Hanson

1994 Pinnnacle
No. 510 Bret Boone

1990 Topps
No. 176 Luis Quinones

2001 Topps
No. 570 Sean Casey
No. 593 Ken Griffey
How much does Topps dislike Griffey to give him No. 593?
Isn't that kind of card number reserved for a Cub?

Eh? You want more Canadian cards?
1986 Leaf
No. 179 Tom Browning

2003 Topps
No. 18 Jason LaRue
No. 30 Ken Griffey Jr.

2003 Game Face
No. 33 Aaron Boone

2000 Stadium Club
No. 30 Barry Larkin
Gaze in awe at the effortless Larkin Leap over Barry Bonds to complete the double play.

2004 Donruss
No. 251 Ken Griffey Jr.
I miss Donruss. They may have had 200 parallels per card but they made some nice ones

2005 Topps Cracker Jack
No. 49 Adam Dunn
Look at Dunn as he shows just how bad the Cubs sluggers are. Notice that it seems they barley get it to the outfield? OOOOOOO. It looks like Adam fears them about as much as facing Kerry wood fresh out of rehab. Again.

1986 Topps
No. 54 John Franco
Who was writing card backs for Topps in 1985?
This is the third card I have come across that says someone walloped a Home Run.
What up with that?
Might have to do an All-Time Wallop card countdown.

1996 Pinnacle Aficondio
No. 177 Steve Gibraltar

I like these cards. They are like an early 2000 Fleer Gamers with the silver textured foil and a good smooth photo on the front together. They could have done a better job of making his name fit on the front. Looks out of place and off center. Like a Cubs fan.

For Austin Kearns Cards click here. I am enjoying this blog. I have met plenty of great people. Made some good trades to rebuild the Reds collection and have had a lot of fun writing this. Thanks to all who check me out and feel free to contact me about ant trades or offers. Especially if you play for the Reds or live in the Cincinnati area. I would like to hear from you.

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.

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.

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!

This Week's Closer

Danny Graves
Relief Pitcher

The only Major League Baseball player born in Saigon, South Vietnam.

Danny was one of those players you root for. Not because you know anything about him. In fact it was because the only thing I knew about him was he was one of the best the Reds had for a few years in relief. He was not flashy. Come in. Get 3 outs. Go back to the bullpen for the next game. But he had some good stuff. His slider truly slid. The curve would bend and his fastball would sometimes break. Danny never really put up great numbers but he did his job for the most part. You were never quite sure if he would get the save and always sure after he did. His best year (2004) was good, great, good. Slow start. 14 saves and one win in April. All-Star selection. 14 saves the rest of the season. Good enough to hold onto the job until Spring Training.

Today's Reds Card Review is of a 2005 Donruss Classics.
Signifigant Signatures
Silver Parallel No. 167
Serial Numbered 28 / 50

This is not a bad sticker autograph card. The sticker does not take away from the overall design and the silver background blends with the foil. The font is a favorite of mine. I believe it is ITC Anna for the Sig. Sigs on the bottom. and Broadway for the names. The design of the card has an art deco feel to it with the lines and spacing. The photo shows Danny Graves throwing in a save against the Rangers in June. That slider comin atcha Teixeira! For a popout.