All Trade Bait, All The Time...

Calling All Dodger Bloggers

2012-05-31T22:19:00.000-07:00

you know who you are...

GCRL
Greg from Plashke's Sweater,
Roberto, who's got the best homeboy of 'em all,
Dodgerbobble,
Speigel,
little 'ol me (Stealing Home),
and the king of all bloggers - the mighty Night Owl.....

whew ! when bloggers from other teams say there are a lot of us, they aren't kidding !

and that's just the guys i can think of from the top of my head, and THAT'S just the ones i see around the baseball card blogs.

i know there's a bunch of others that i read from time to time who don't even blog about cards, but use their blogs to sing the praises of the Dodger Blue Nation, or break the latest Dodgers news or rumors, like mike scioscia's tragic illness and his cohorts. i wonder if they look down upon us card geeks and our 'silly hobby', while they write serious blogs about serious matters. yes, sometimes we even specialize in ranting about the unique frustrations of being a die hard Dodger fan - doncha miss Dodger Blues?

anyways, now that i've got your attention, i wanna make a pitch about an idea Dodgerbobble hatched after we met the other night at The Infield bobblehead night. I'm suggesting the First Annual Dodger blogger night out at the Ravine.

it's a chance for us to meet over a beer, take a few pics, whip up some good blog material, and cheer on our favorite team. sounds corny? hell yeh, it does. that's why it just might work. i'll bet half of you are already season ticket holders and you'll be there anyway.

before we start getting ahead of ourselves with choosing what game to meet at, and where to have a beer pregame, and so on...i just wanna put out this feeler and see if i can get a couple of you interested. just drop a comment here if you're down for this idea, perhaps suggest a game or two for options, and then we'll go about getting shite organized. i know you're on the least coast, Night Owl, but i also know you'll be there in spirit. THAT"S how impossible this improbable idea is.

Besides, i need something to get my mind off this losing streak funk that we're in...

The Bobblehead Game Part 2

2012-05-30T21:25:00.002-07:00

hey everybody,

...and a pleasant good evening to you, wherever you are. here's the second part of my photo post from 'The Infield' bobblehead game. let's get to it...

there goes Bill Russell, Ron Cey and Steve Garvey after tossing out thier first pitches. Davey Lopes, who coaches first base for the Dodgers, has already dashed off into the dugout.

here comes the first pitch of the game ( it was a STRIKE!)

here's Tommy Lasorda sitting with (we thought) recently fired angels batting coach, Mickey Hatcher. over in the front row, you can see the back of Magic's head.

what do you think ? is that the back of Mickey Hatcher's head?

there's Lopes coaching at first. I love the way this photo captures everybody - including umps - dashing into position for the play.

Kemp's first at bat on returning from the DL. although as i write this, there's a chance he's headed back to the DL again. dang it !

OK...so here comes the 'is it racist?' portion of the night. I'm mostly joking, but check it out. here's the scene: 3rd inning. the know-it-all gesturing in the photo below was a couple of rows behind us loudly pontificating to everyone within earshot about 'The Infield', and how he grew up watching them play. oh, they were the most classic Dodgers of them all, and they were HIS team ... and blah, blah, blah.

and i quote: "there they are, all on one bobblehead...Ron Cey, Steve Garvey, Bill Russell, and...Pedro Guerrero." really? the non-white guy is Pedro Guerrero? LoL please, enlighten us further, master.

I almost forgot to mention, the meeting of the bloggers. Since this game was special, i sent a feeler out to Dodgerbobble to see if he was coming out as well. Turns out he was, so we met during the 6th inning, right as Andre Ethier was hitting a double to cut the brewers lead down to 2-1. Joshua was very cool and friendly. i didn't get a pic because i left my camera back at the seats. maybe next time. It was a real pleasure to meet you, Joshua.

9th inning, we're losing 2-1. Matt Kemp trying to get a rally going. He hits a full count double !!

next man up - Andre Ethier gets hit by a pitch.

9th inning, two men on......double play :(

last chance Loney comes up. two out, Kemp on third....

Loney grounds out. *sigh* Mattingly shoulda gone with a pinch hitter.


game over. we lose. proof my brother-in-law is a jinx. good night, everybody !

I Met A Bobble At Bobblehead Night

2012-05-30T08:30:00.000-07:00

hey everybody. i went out to the ballgame last night. had to, as it was the bobblehead giveaway and special night to honor the HOF Dodgers infield i grew up with; the great iron infield of Ron Cey, Steve Garvey, Bill Russel and Davey Lopes. i shot some great pics and got to meet a fellow Dodger blogger, Dodgerbobble.

Let's go the ballgame...

rolling in from the east. here we come...(i know, my brother-in-law needs to wash his van)

the friendly neighborhood ticket scalpers. everybody's got 'em.

a beautiful sight indeed

this is why Dodger chicks are the bomb. check out this car we followed into the lot. erica's got mini-dodger helmets in the rear window, and her bug is Dodger Blue !

here comes a crew of Dodger choppers. as if loud ass harleys aren't enough, the last chopper had his sound system super loud playing East LA oldies. I love it !

we had seats on field level, but they were a bit far out, so we decided to try out some open seats behind the plate.

these seats will do. we had a great view of Steve Garvey and ex - Dodger manager Bill Russell (in the Brooklyn Dodgers shirt). when Russell got the managing gig, that forced Mike Scioscia over to the angels, and we dodger fans know what happened after that. WS angels. *sigh* the only good thing about that was watching jinx manager dusty baker's bay boys blow it.

when i met Dodgerbobble later during the game, he mentioned Garvey is a very tough auto to get. This night i noticed Garvey signing autos for just about everyone.

here he is telling somebody (for the thousandth time) how he came THIS CLOSE to owning the Dodgers.

then i noticed Matt Kemp over by the left field wall signing autos. i dashed over there and got a few shots.

of course, there was a ton of people down there

i returned to the seats and decided to check out my prize of the night - the great bobble head. here's a shot of the box.

here's the backside. i wonder where Garvey was signing these boxes?

presenting, the bobblehead

heres the boys taking to the field to throw out the ceremonial first pitch

The Infield circa 2012

the pitch ! well, a second after the pitch

then the boys gathered round and saluted Vin Scully up in the pressbox

Scully smiled and gave them a thumbs up

then, as thier final act together as a group, they announced Vinny's nightly welcome to the crowd, "It's Tiiiiiiime For Dodger Baseball !"

next post: the game and 'is it racist' ?

A Moment Of Silence

2012-05-28T09:04:00.000-07:00

For all of those who gave the ultimate sacrifice...THANK YOU

Group Break Trade Bait

2012-05-27T22:43:00.000-07:00

hey everybody,

happy memorial day eve. before i talk about miniscule stuff like baseball cards, i wanna take a moment to acknowledge and thank all of our men and women in the service, past and present, who paid the ultimate sacrifice of life and limb for all of us. THANKS ! a million thanks...

now, some cardboard i picked up in a group break over at, where else would one get some fine cardboard, Cardboard Collections. i grabbed a couple of teams that i don't usually, because the checklists were showing some great autos i was hoping to catch. the way things turned out, i didn't get any autos, but i'm sure i can trade away at least one of the teams - the hated yankees. i'm not gonna post what i pulled in from them, because i'm pretty much just setting those cards aside for the dutch card guy.

my second team was the red sox. although i've seen a couple of red sox bloggers out there, i haven't got a designated red sox trader, so here comes a post hoping to pimp out these cards. check em out...

HOF, AL MVP, retired number #14 by red sox

major league moustache

Won Loss record 78-77 scoreboard, baby !

if you squint your eyes just right, that red sox logo looks like it's bouncing right through buckner's legs.

this cool donruss set was included

i didn't even know david cone played for the red sox

i also caught a couple of great extra cards...

a cool numbered card

a very cool die cut. i always seem to get these from other teams, so i'm stoked to finally get a Dodger.

here's my new super cool nomo card ! fantastic !

it was a great break. everybody get over there for the next affordable group break. THANKS for a fun break and the great extra cards !

A Crackin Giveaway and Grande Trade

2012-05-25T22:52:00.002-07:00

Hey everybody,

Happy Friday out there. Hope your past weeks were good and the upcoming weekend will be even better.

Recently I participated for the first time in a great - and super generous - program over at Crackin' Wax. Why is it so great, you ask ? because topher over there at CW simply opens packs and then gives those cards away to the rest of us - just for the askin ! if that aint cool, then what is? let's check out what i claimed for meself...

most of you who read ATBATT know that besides the Boys in Blue, my next collecting passion is HOFers. I've long collected the Ryan Express and here's one more for the binder. way to rock them old school nikes and stirrups, fireballer.

picking up this cool Gherig makes me feel like...like..the luckiest...luckiest...trader in the world...world...

5 WS rings, 8 time all-star, cy young winner, a friggen PERFECT GAME, his number 27 retired by oakland - and - wings of hair.

pulled in my first tony gwynn card. i secretly fear we're gonna trade gwynn and he's gonna blossom into an awesome center fielder for another team. till then - go gwynn ! p.s. BOO ! for that orange and black lurker.

and now for something almost completely different, a trade. a couple of months ago nachos grande posted an awesome relic card that i absolutely hadda have. we worked it out, and i'm one happy trader...

besides the ryan express and the iron horse, i also collect the greatest catcher ever. here's bench delivering one more souvenir into the outfield seats.

.
..and finally...the cool card that sparked the trade....

speaking of HR blasters, presenting reginald martinez jackson. when nachos posted this, the first thing that caught my eye was that totally awesome gold swatch. as nachos knows, i don't really dig the minis like fellow bloggers night owl and the daily dimwit. but man oh man, this card was calling out to join my reggie collection. when i opend my trade package, i saw a cardboard beauty. it's now one of my favorite relic cards.

THANKS for the cool free cards and the great trade, gentlemen !

next post: trade bait

Vintage Trade Bait

2012-05-22T23:09:00.000-07:00

hey everybody,

i was gonna post this a lot earlier, but i couldn't stop watching the AWESOME comeback by the Dodgers tonight ! at first down 5-0, and then 6 -1, we kept clawing back to win our 6th game in a row. what a game, what a team. every night a different hero steps up. dee gordon got back into the lineup tonight, after being benched a few games by the skipper, mattingly. although he didnt do much with his bat tonight, we saw that great defense that we (of the Dodger Blue persuasion) know he has inside, including his turning an incredible double play throw sideways - in midair - to seal the win. absolute sweetness. :D

back to trade bait business...

as i mentioned in my last post, i'm gonna be putting up some vintage for trade. although i don't make any crazy claims like we see on ebay that all of this trade bait is nm/mint, i can safely say you're not gonna see many chewed up, origami cards . however, i make no claims against chewy scans.

while lots of my blogging brethren sing the praises of 'well-loved' vintage, and despite the fact that i'm starting to understand those praises, most of my vintage collecting goals have centered around a mantra similar to the real estate version of "location, location, location". for vintage collecting, i'm generally a believer in "condition, condition, condition".

how about three - count em - THREE HOFers on one card. imagine being a national league pitcher facing these guys in the all star game. but then again, we had Don Drysdale on our side, and he got the win.

\i don't have the kind of budget that's gonna allow me to even look at the cards under the glass case at the card show. however, when i get the chance to hit the show, it's my pleasure to find some vintage in pretty nice shape for an affordable price.

Rookie of the year, 2,766 hits, 506 stolen bases, 13 times all-star, 9 gold gloves. need i say more?

let's face it, while most of us don't collect as an investment, we all understand old-time vintage of old-time HOFers is only gonna increase in value - and that aint a bad thing, right?

like i said...chewy scans are a definite possibility. don't worry too much about the washed out appearance. the card's sitting inside a thick screw down case (screw visible right-hand side). if anybody asks, i will certainly take it out and rescan it.

hey look, they were called the nationals in the old days too! ramos pitched for 15 years, but maybe his big claim to fame is serving up the pitch that mickey mantle famously banged off the top deck facade of (the old) yankee stadium.

does it look to anybody else like randolph is rockin a 'terminator x' baseball cap?


(i consider cards from 1980 downward to qualify as vintage) on to molitor: First ballot HOF, .306 lifetime batting average, over 3,000 hits, 1,300 ribbies, 506 SBs, WS MVP, brewers retired his #4.

didja know: rod carew was born in the panama canal zone, on a moving train. he was delivered by a doctor (named rodney) who happened to be on that train. his mom then named him rodney, after that traveling doctor. the cobra, big dave parker (as vinny called him) was the first player to get a contract that paid a million every year. he won the home run derby in 1985.

who don't like floating heads?

how cool is it to be named 'dutch'? oh yeah, the dutch card guy knows.

finally, the chewiest one of the bunch, but the closest i can get to affordable vintage from teddy ballgame. what can i tell you baseball lovers about williams that you dont already know? so i leave you with a reminder of what he did in his final at bat...what else, the greatest hitter of all time blasted a home run.

look for more vintage trade bait coming up...

Late Night Vintage Trade Bait Preview

2012-05-20T23:08:00.000-07:00

hey everybody,

how did your teams do this weekend? I'm glad to say the Dodgers passed another test and SWEPT - yup - SWEPT last year's WS champs, the st. louis cardinals.

I was wondering what would happen when these guys rolled in to Chavez Ravine, as they were leading thier division, they score a ton of runs, and our team was steadily making the local medical and rehab industry rich(er) with our mounting injury list.

in case you missed it, our pitching in the first 2 games of the series absolutely shut their butts down. today, despite our number 2 starter who pitches like a number 5 starter, chad billingsley's efforts to throw the game away (doing as he does so well, turning a 2-0 lead into a 5-2 deficit) the Boys in Blue stepped it up as a team, stopped the bleeding of runs, and came from behind with an awesome pinch hit 3 run home run to retake the lead 6-5. the bullpen then took charge, stopped the cards and the sweep of last years champs was complete. who's next ! ??

that all said - i've decided to try and drum up some card collecting funds by moving some cards on ebay - or maybe comc - but before i do that, i wanna give my blogger buddies and loyal readers the first shot at trading for some of it. i'd rather trade to improve my collection, and i want my cards to go to you all out there rather than some speculative e-buyer.

presenting here a small preview, because it's late and most of you bloggers on the least coast are sleeping.
here's a couple from a subset that's near and dear to my heart. in honor of the Babe's jersey selling today for $4.4 million, who better to start off with than the Bambino....

this subset was found in '62 topps. the cards featured the Babe's early beginnings up through his fabulous career and into his twilight seasons coaching with the Dodgers, and his final appearance at yankee stadium. a great subset we should all own.

i bought the whole set from a local card shop for the incredible price of $20. no, the cards were not chewy or 'well-loved'. they were/are in very nice condition. to this day i can't believe that score. these are leftovers from when i was chasing it one card at a time.

next post: more vintage !

And The Trades Just Keep A Comin'...

2012-05-19T11:59:00.000-07:00

...which is the greatest thing, because that's exactly why i hatched this blog. i had no expectations beyond a vague hope there's other people like me who are into baseball cards and wanna trade to build our collections.

as a number of us have pointed out here before, it takes all kinds to fill our world. the cool variety of collectors, posters, readers and cardboard aficionados i've encountered since i first launched ATBATT was something i had no idea was waiting for me out here in the blogoworlds. a cool surprise indeed.

my latest trade was made with marcus over there, all the way to the backstop. marcus is a fan of the Dodgers division rival san diego padres. if you're not linked to it yet, git over there and check it out. homeboy truly loves his team. too bad he chose the wrong one, but nobody's perfect.

his blog still has the showroom smell, that's how new it is, but he's already established himself as a great trader, and generous at that. let's check out what he sent over to me in our latest trade. leading off with cool G.Q. action...

dig this: kershaw bringing it. framed version.

dig this: the greatest catcher ever. davey concepcion lurking. 2 HOFers on one card.

dig this: of course, no intro needed. check out the bat speed blur on the end of the bat. i'm gonna submit this as my entry into the 'card with the most people in it' challenge. there's even a row of standing room only people up at the top there.

those G.Q,'s were the cards that i requested for trade. even though marcus is a die hard padre fan, this is a good thing, because he's gonna have Dodgers cards to move along, same as i have padre cards to banish (unless it's a cool tony gwynn insert). marcus tossed into our trade a handful of extra Dodgers cardboard from a few sets. here's a sampling....

the straw's stay with the Dodgers was short-lived and semi-eventful at both ends of the definition for 'eventful'. he was the hometown boy returned from frosty new york, who was supposed to be a franchise player with his bat and glove. aside from a few sporadic highlights, he didn't give us much. at the wrong end of eventful, he made huge headlines and wore out his welcome when he and eric davis drove a golf cart through innocent Dodgers fans whilst tossing firecrackers at them.


was the LA Times talking about a certain light-hitting, error-prone Dodger's shortstop? oh, you weren't referring to jose O-fer-man? who remembers this one.. Q: How do you spell 'offerman'? A: Oh - eff - eff, and a then a whole buncha 'e' s.

pedro's bad-ass brother, the ace of the staff.

jay howell was an awesome pitcher who famously got caught cheating (?) in the '88 championship series against the mets. (see: pine tar) THAT was a hard fought series just to GET to the WS against the A's. A great series with more Gibby heroics, Scioscia HR's. It was an action packed, nail-biter series. much harder to win than that WS in my opinion.

here's a great shot of old time Dodger Stadium with the old 76 ball there in the background

dig this: the 'k' boys

THANKS for a great trade, marcus, and have a great weekend, everybody !

Trade at the Plate !

2012-05-16T14:58:00.003-07:00

hey everybody,

it's a very nice day outside here in warm LA. how's everything in your state/country/hollow?

following up today with a trade with Brian over at Play At The Plate. our trades don't overflow with tonnage, but they do have focus, and that's very cool as well.

I'm not collecting this year's heritage, but kaline definitely falls into the HOF players that i collect. this is the card that caught my eye and got our trade started.

being the cool trader he is, brian included a few more. since i'm not buying 2012 topps, these are great extras that are very much appreciated. the ryan express being another one of my favorite players to collect.

diggin' that 1939 patch on joe d's sleeve. let's all give a tip o' the cap to the dude who sealed the deal with marylin monroe. atta boy, joe.


finally,my nomination for induction into the MLB Hall Of Infamy. mr. bat to the head marichal. first he hunted heads with his fastball, then with number 32 ash. BOO!

which leads me to a proposal for a posting or comment bat-around. if you'll take up the offer, fellow bloggers and readers - Who do you propose for induction into the Baseball Hall Of Infamy ? choose your own criteria and write on....

THANKS for the great cards of some great HOFers, Brian. looking forward to our next trade.

Grote Handel ! :)

2012-05-15T21:03:00.002-07:00

hey everybody,

whew ! finals week is over !! i can breathe a bit and get back to devoting some time to my humble little blog. while some of you MUST write - as evidenced in the last bat-around under that theme - i don't exactly fall into that category. I can't weave columns around cardboard like some of you, nor can i deconstruct years and cards like another some of you. heck, i don't even use proper capitals and punctuation half the time. that said, i gotta admit, the past week, i really missed updating and sharing what's going on in my collecting world with all of you.

first up is a bit of news for a couple of my trading partners who are fans of division rivals, arpsmith and marcus all the way over at the backstop. i was swamped last week, guys, but i dropped your packages in the mail this afternoon. check yer mailboxes soon.

So here comes a couple of posts about my most recent couple of trades. first up was my second trade across the oceans, with my new european friend, The Dutch Card Guy. He posted a cool Gary Sheffield card that began our trade talks. i got that Sheffield and a hunka cool Dodgers cards. Let's check em out...

here's a great shot of The Master Of The House peering in and getting the sign.

the Dodger's stats guys tell us we've had something like 30 third basemen (now 31?) since beltre left us. *sigh*

here's the card that started this trade rolling. simple, but cool card design. i've got a bat relic and now a swatch. i guess i just need an auto for a trifecta, right?

i'm not so sure about this jeff kent card. it kinda looks like he's playing 'dance,dance revolution', but i just can't see grumpy ol' kent cooperating with those light squares at all.

of course, even the guys over there in the land of the windmills know that i love me them cool nomo cards. this scan doesnt come close to showing off the nice 90's shine.

here's a cool close up of nomo's focus. i'm digging the ROY foil, but notsomuch the side of the swimming pool effect.

only mama can truly appreciate this one. here's the real story: what's with that rustic farmhouse in the background?


these cards look pretty sharp. i'm becoming a fan of this SP brand.

next post: my trade with play at the plate. THANKS for reading !

The Hated Ones Arrive

2012-05-07T20:27:00.000-07:00

So here it is...the orange and black set foot in chavez ravine for the first time in 2012.
while rushing home to catch the game on the tube, i received a text from my old lady. it read "you got cards in the mail !" yet another reason for stray dogs and little old lady drivers to stay outta my way !

i missed the first inning, but i did find packages from Brian at Play At The Plate and The Dutch Card Guy. Sweet :)
this isn't the official trade post...but within thier packages they sent me a couple of sweet cards that i can feature here in this post to celebrate the first of the Dodger STOMPS over the friscos.

what a beautiful card of some guy from the hated ones. BOOOO! this is courtesy of Play at the Plate.

awesome sheffield card, coutesy of the dutch card guy. this is the pose the Dodger hitters will be striking over the next 3 games as we pummel that team from the bay.

PLAY BALL !!

Weekend GQ Trade Bait Part Dos (and Pimpiology)

2012-05-06T10:52:00.002-07:00

happy sunday, everybody. here's the rest of the GQ trade bait, with a couple of blog news tidbits in between...and don't forget to stay till the end of the post, to see the awesome bonus i got in the group break...

newsbit 1. if i recently made a comment on your blog requesting cards for a trade, this weekend i sent emails out to follow up and make offers.

newsbit 2. if i commented about proposing a trade and i have not followed up, please let me know, it's possible i forgot.

newsbit 3. Putting on my LA pimp hat, i'm letting you all know there's a very cool, very free contest over at 30 Year Old Cardboard. it's in celebration of HALF A MILLION blog hits ! aint that cool? git on over there and join the fun.

mini sliding stars

newsbit 4. in my last GQ post, Dimwit laid claim to all my available minis. (that's GREAT!)
so dimwit, i'm giving you first dibs on these here minis, but i don't wanna just assume you want all of them, so i'm requesting you claim them (if you want em) in comments. thanks, bro.

these are all miiiiiiinnnnnnniiiiiiis:

mini SP photo variation


straight back mini RC

newsbit 5. i mentioned yesterday how the first half of the break wasn't the best for me, but the second half really made up for it. i didn't post any of my keepers from the break (this time), and there were some beauties. however, included in my package from cameron was an awesome bonus. he pulled this during the break, and he told us it would be randomly inserted into someone's package who had not received a hit. i won it !

wooo - hooooo a very cool win :)

THANKS for the great break, cameron. THANKS for reading everybody ! have a great sunday..
10 minutes till first pitch, Dodgers and cubbies....

Yet Even More GQ Trade Bait

2012-05-05T16:47:00.000-07:00

hey everybody. how's the weekend? the Dodgers have already won today over at the friendly confines, but i missed the first 6 innings. i gotta remember tomorrow's start on TV will be early for us out here in LA.

i was in a pretty darn good break that cameron hosted over at cardboard heaven. i say pretty darn good because it was a two box break, which usually bodes well. two boxes, double the chances, right? after the first box was done, i felt my team was sputtering (3 cards), while all the other teams around me were mad scoring.

the second half of the break definitely locked me in and i ended up with a nice fistful of cardboard when all was said and done. hmmm....i'm claiming that name right now for my next blog..." A Fistful Of Cardboard". don't that sound grand?

i think you'll agree there's some tasty trade bait in here, and the best part of the break, was a bonus that i got bcuz only cameron rocks his bad-ass breaks like that. you'll see what i mean later.

i had the A's for my second team. Here's a few for you A's collectors, or set builders...

young Regggiiieeee !!

he looks like his line drive just nailed a rabbit in the outfield

how about a coupla Dodger trade baits !!....

tomorrow: part 2, plus miiiinnnniiiiis !

My Work Space Sports Palace

2012-05-04T10:45:00.002-07:00

Last month (turns out it's a month ago today) Fuji posted in his Chronicles about bringing the hobby into his classroom. i don't quite have a 'personal' classroom like fuji, but i do have an office where i can display my love for baseball and the Dodgers.

after seeing fuji's post, i made a note to myself to show my fellow blogeros and treasured readers what i have in my office, so in the words of my man, the immortal otis day, "here tis"....

office door - oops, i covered the room number

before we enter, you can see the man who hit the greatest home run in LA Dodger's history, Gibby. can't you just hear vinny..."high fly ball to right field...she iiiizzzzzz......GOOOOOOOONNNNNE !"

top shelf...two bad-asses who need no introduction, mr. koufax and nomo-san.
the koufax was a Dodger Stadium give away a few years back. the nomo is group break loot. you see the tin which holds my awesome nomo 3D video card. p.s. never mind the dust. i just can't bring myself to ask my student assistant to dust my shelves.

zoom out, shelf view. in case you're curious, the curios are a variety of gifts from past students.


i know it's not baseball, but it's sports, and it's my team - the RAIDAHS !

this is a very cool original pencil drawing that i won on the annual road trip to the game up in oakland. there's a BBQ joint up there that makes awesome BBQ, E&J's, situated in jack london square. thier 'Q' is absolutely the best. the night before the games, the Raiders radio show broadcasts from E&J's back dining room. i won the door prize - that drawing !

upper-right corner is the cover of the Dodger's Line Drives magazine. the cover commemorates the best game i EVER attended at Dodger stadium. it was the night of the back to back to back to back homers, and shows nomah touching the plate after winning the game with yet ANOTHER homer in the bottom of the 10th ! Best Game Ever.

office, south wall, zoom out.

upper left-hand corner above the Raiders drawing: a photo from the LA Times commemorating the Dodgers vs. Red Sox game at the LA coliseum. if you could see it close enough, you can see i've actually circled myself in the stands in the photo. you can see the word "me!" next to the brown envelope. my ticket stub is attached.

in the center (Play Ball!) is a gift from a korean student that i suspect she ripped out of a magazine. each position lists a record held by a player from that position.

office wall - Stones poster

i tossed this in as it covers both of my loves - rocknroll and baseball. it's a poster from my favorite band and the night i saw them play at angel stadium. attached is my ticket stub. hey moreno - see the city listed on the poster?

desk shot

here you can see a couple of items to let everyone know this is Dodger's territory. a soft, squishy ball (LoL) with the Dodger's logo, and a gift from my man inside Dodger Stadium, a Dodger base replica.


wall shelf

finally, this little gem. it's a gift straight from japan. this is a box of matsui cookies - minus the cookies, of course, as i ate those long ago.

hope you enjoyed this little tour around my office space. THANKS fuji, for sharing your place with us, and inspiring me to do the same.

Gypsy Queen Trade Bait (Part Deux)

2012-04-29T12:17:00.001-07:00

happy sunday, folks. the Dodgers won a heckuva game last night. it was a straight up pitchers duel between strassburg and bills, there was yet another play at the plate, and wunderkind harper got a nice hit. but i gotta say, the kid's got one ugly-ass haircut. my apologies if any of you out there are rocking that bryce harper look yourselves. anyways - Bison won the game with a first-pitch HR blast in the 10th. so, better luck in your next debut, davy crockett.

here we go with part 2 of my GQ trade bait. yesterday potch claimed a couple of the minis, and dimwit claimed the rest. dimwit claimed 'any and all' minis, and that's cool. i'm posting one last mini today; the rest are regular size GQs.

say what you will, GQ detractors, these cards are beautiful to me - though i do tend to agree the surfboard is too large. let's check em out...

last mini

TRADED All The Way to The Backstop :)

Happy Trading....

Gypsy Queen Trade Bait (Part1)

2012-04-28T16:26:00.001-07:00

happy weekend, everybody. the much anticipated 2012 Gypsy Queen boxes have hit the shelves, the reviews have hit the blogs, and the GQ group break loot has begun arriving at our mailboxes. i picked up some stuff from a great GQ break over at JABO's, and i bought a blaster myself. that's where the following trade bait will be coming from. the orioles cards came from the JABO break. i think you'll agree there's some cool O's up for trade.

i'm currently in a GQ break over at Cardboard Heaven which is absolutely killing me ! one box is done and i scored one kershaw, one bills, and one lilly. *insert sarcastic yay! from me* there's one more box to go in the break, so i hope i can get some traction going in box 2.

here comes the trade bait with minimum commentary *insert relieved yay! from the peanut gallery*
now if y'all will kindly excuse me, i'm off to a beer tasting at the world famous Boat...

Here comes some miiiiiiinnnnnniiiiiiiissssss.....

green frame

hosmer is gypsy queen back

straight cut back

utley is straight cut back (whatever the heck that means)

next post: Part 2

A Royal Trade With Random Extras On The side

2012-04-27T17:51:00.001-07:00

hey there, fellow bloggers and cool readers. i've been perusing y'all's trade bait pages and drumming up some trade action. recently i got one going with josh over at royals and randoms. i picked out some good stuff from his trade lists and then he proceeded to blow me away with some additional awesome randomness of the vintage variety. let's see what josh sent over...

matt kemp. nuff said.

in the year of Dodger Stadium's (TM) 50th anniversary, i gotta have this card.

i've got about 2 GQ cards from 2011. i'm fixin' on fixing that in 2012


these were at the heart of the trade. a nice stack to get me rolling deeper into the set. did you whipper snappers know that mickey mantle was named after mickey cochrane? good thing he didn't inherit those ears as well.

when we were discussing this trade, josh tells me he's got a buncha 70's vintage if i'm interested. are you kidding? ABSOLUTELY !! what josh put together was a very nice tour through 70's baseball according to topps. (this is a sampling, in no particular order...)

here's a jersey patch to remind us all that they were once the california angels

hey, marichal. i got a message for you from my friend, johnny r.

this year's set is full of fun cards. how much do you think those seats back there cost? about $10 bucks? hot dogs were probably free !

yeh, dodgers rocked 'staches too back in the day

played the best third base i EVER saw in a world series. absolutely killed us.

i dig ANY card from this '65 set.

how about this uni ? not to mention the 'tude.


here's an addition i tossed in as an homage to super-blogger night owl's recent super-post about same name ballplayers. here's one more for that group, buddy...nope, he don't run with mick and keith.

THANKS for an awesome trade, josh ! awesome.

A Grande Break and Bait Post

2012-04-24T22:11:00.001-07:00

hey fellow bloggers and dear readers, how you doing? Here comes some trade bait that i picked up in a group break over at nachos grande's He runs some great breaks and you might wanna get on over to his place, as he's currently pimping out a seriously grande break with SEVEN boxes ! go sign up, and then come back to my post. nachos will be able to fill another slot, you'll be in on a great SEVEN box break, and my post will get another click when you return. it's a grande win, win, win.

my random team in the break was the oakland A's. so here's hoping there's some A's collectors out there...

let's start with a leather and lumber insert numbered 525/2499

i used to love zito's rainbow curve

these are the leather and lumber base cards

gaudy and flashy. that diamond legacy is a very nice card in person.

it's RICKEYYY !!

not every card was tradeable. some are cool keepables...

a sweet mondi

...and i got a couple more nice nomos

diggin' this one

g'wan, get in one of nacho's breaks. you just might get one of these super cool stickers...

See you in the SEVEN box break, Nacho's !!

Trade Bait from JABO's Group Break

2012-04-22T21:53:00.002-07:00

hey everybody. happy late sunday night. hope you all had a great weekend. as just about everybody knows, good ol' jabo is running group breaks over at his place faster than we can sign up, and that's a good thing for we who are addicted to collecting.

this break had a smattering of assorted boxes and even some original vintage packs thrown in. i got some cool Dodgers cards, but you all wanna see the trade bait, right? it's mostly the late 90's, early 2000's cubbies that i remember watching on wgn broadcasts as harry carey called em. they were also the favorite team of my roommate at the time. there's a few vintage and prospect cards following the cubs...

the hawk

got a few of these kinda 3D cards


who remembers 'wild thing'?

i really like the design on these. just the right amount of shiny behind the name and around the baseballs

anybody chasing 78 topps? here's a couple

the guy over at 'bad touch baseball' might have a good time making a prostate exam joke from this one. the ball's gotta be in his mitt...just what business has he got back there?

here's a coupla glossy prospect cards.

it was a fun break JABO ! next jabo post will be my GQ loot...

Tradin With Diamon' Kings 'N Dime'n Boxes

2012-04-19T20:44:00.000-07:00

hey folks...
here's a post about a couple of trades. one big 'n one small. i say small because we didn't exchange a whole lotta cards. however, if a trade is only a one-for-one - both sides obviously wanted that one card - so it's not really 'small', is it?

first up is a trade with the the Diamond King. he sent me these super cool jackie robinsons which i originally intended to post on this past jackie robinson day. well, here they come at ya, albeit a little late, but certainly no less cool (kinda like how i arrive for dinner dates) hehe...

sweet, sweet cards

the other cards i got from el DK are this complete 30-card 1999 SPx Star Focus insert set. back when kevin posted these, he said the highest lowball offer gets it. seemed like a fun challenge, so i went through DK's want lists, put together an assortment and pitched an offer of lowball trade bait. DK bit, and this set is now mine. unfortunately, they don't scan any better for me, so you'll have to trust me that the cards are cool, and the checklist is even cooler...

checklist includes: ripken, jeter, cheater mcgwire, griffey, gwynn, chipper, the big hurt, thome and more. what a nice trade ! THANKS, kevin !

Last ups goes to the first trade between me 'n nick, over at dime boxes. sorry bout mangling the name of your blog in the post title, nick. it was my attempt at making a witty post title like my other blogger brethren and sistren (?) out there.

it's a reprint, but oh, whatta card...

it's the boys from Brooklyn, and look who's in the center there...yup, heya jackie ! Game 1 featured home runs from pee wee, the duke, and ..yup...jackie.

THANKS for the great trades, nnnnnnnick n kevinnnnnnnn !!!

FREE LOOT from Community Gum

2012-04-17T22:10:00.000-07:00

wow !! those dang brewers (barely) pulled out a win in the first game against the Dodgers. on the bright side, they definitely knew they were in a dogfight tonight, and they felt it in their own house.

wow #2. my trades have kept rolling onward and i'm growing a back-up of trade posts. if we traded recently, no worries, i'll get em up and posted soon.

today's post covers my totally FREE loot from the great guys over at Community Gum. they ran a contest that only required we follow their blog and answer 5 hidden questions within their posts. they don't really have to bribe us to follow because they run a great blog (and they also comment in our blogs as well), but bribe they did.

the prize was opening a box of 2003 leaf, and we got the cards FREE from the team we chose. somebody quickly beat me to the Dodgers, so i settled for the red sox. not bad as it turned out...

no - maaaahhhhh ! when nomar played for the Dodgers, his at bat song was 'lowrider' by war. hey, red soxers out there, what was his song at fenway?

here's some kinda sample for leaf certified. nice looking card

here's a manny story. my man on the inside of Dodger stadium was once sent with a driver to manny's pad to pick him up and take him out to the stadium for early batting practice. he said manny was super-cool and super friendly. when they got to the stadium, he even let my friend step in the cage and use one of his bats to take a few hacks. nice.

this is a cool insert. the backside is a reprint of the leaf rickey henderson card from 1993 (with the A's)

until this box break, i had not realized how many ex-sox played for the Dodgers !

THANKS for a cool contest and some great trade bait - er - cards, jon and andy !

Happy Jackie Robinson Day and some Group Loot

2012-04-15T10:08:00.000-07:00

today MLB honors Jackie Robinson. In a great tradition, every player in every game is gonna wear number 42. Thanks for everything, Jackie ! here's to you....

joined my first break over at cardboard collections. i didn't get a lot of cards for my Dodgers, but what i didn't get in volume, the break made up for in coolness. i got the following tin and card featuring 'The Tornado', bad-ass Hideo Nomo. the card features Nomo's trademark wind-up. when you move the card you can see his entire wind-up and delivery. it's a high quality video clip that you really have to see in person to appreciate. the tin itself is very nice. totally awesome.

the inside of the tin has some black foam that's pre-scored for display. when i get this up in my office, i'll post a pic for everyone.

the vid clip is a night game at Dodger Stadium

next up are the other cards from the break. a fernando, an eddie murray, and a coupla mo vaughns.

I'm Saying It Now...

2012-04-11T22:35:00.000-07:00

before the season all those prominent sports writer types picked our bad-ass team to finish third, fourth...certainly well behind the az snakes.

i'm saying it now: THIS DODGER TEAM WINS THE PENNANT.

these guys are learning early on how to have everyone through the lineup and on both sides of the ball contribute to get a win. this is HUGE because the real mvp doesnt have to save us every night. thus, he relaxes. look out for a relaxed bison.

mattingly's gonna steer us steady...and we win the pennant...to say the least.

we do need one thing. fixing the hole in the lineup named juan uribe. package that guy with loney, trade for a consistently batting corner baseman, and we have one helluva lineup.

i say the deciding factor is gonna be the lights out kid, javy guerra. he's got ice for blood and nothing rattles him. he's gonna be our saves beast and later, he's gonna come up big in october. mark my words. (or is the world series in november now?)

L.A. Home Opener 2012 (some pics)

2012-04-11T06:47:00.001-07:00

it's the home opener - here we come :)

our tiny, but beautiful downtown. Dodger Stadium to the right !

word was out that we get to tailgate today. really? tailgate at the stadium ??? well, not exactly.

entering the lot for the first time in 2012 ! this is the backside, behind the outfield bleachers.

we got there at 10:58, two minutes ahead of schedule. immediately we noticed cops EVERYWHERE

i think every cop in LA was deployed to our lot.

our men and women in the service were well represented

there were cops on horseback

mounted police HO !

did i mention cops were EVERYWHERE? you can't hear it, but there was an LAPD chopper circling overhead the whole time. how much do you think that cost? wouldn't it be cheaper to build some crow's nests and deploy cops with binoculars?

back to baseball. not a cloud in the sky. it's perfect weather for opening day

Dodger Blue was everywhere

once inside...crowds galore

first cold one of the season. a nice pour !

here's the view from our seats. that concrete butress in the upper left is the next level of seats above us. down there by home plate are the beach boys.

brian wilson was there. we got a nice rendition of 'little surfer girl'

oh - weee - ooooohhh

after team introductions, they unfurled Old Glory and shot off fireworks

the beach boys also sang the national anthem

we got a fly over from a pair of F-18s. those tiny specks above the light tower are our jets coming in.

then they introduced the players from the 1962 Dodger squad. Their opening day was 50 years ago to the day. i was really pleased to see so many surviving players. coming down the line greeting his teammates is HOFer, maury wills. waiting at the end of the line (in the blue sweater) is tommy lasorda.

PLAY BALL !! the first pitch from kershaw (ball)

7 innings later, score tied 1-1, andre ethier comes to the plate with 2 outs.

BAAAM !! sheeee iiiiizzzz GONE !! we go up 2-1. the stadium home run lights flash, the crowd goes bonkers, and the scoreboard says 'happy birthday' to 'dre. what a day!

9th inning. in comes 'lights out' javy guerra.

this is the final pitch to mccutchen, who guerra gets to hit into a DP to close, save, and WIN THE GAME !

the guy in the hat is pointing to show us the Dodger outfield is coming together for the big bump.


congrats all around as WE WIN !

a couple of notes on the side: one sobering moment was the pregame announcement that vin scully was not here ! he was home sick. wow. vinny missing opening day is like old faithful not going off. for a second there, as the news sunk in, the stadium fell silent. get well soon, vinny !

as noted here before, the 'think blue' sign was gone from the hills beyond the bleachers. i miss that sign. :(

also missing this year - walk-up music for the batters. ALL the batters. was the music guy home sick also, or is the music gonna be gone all season? personally, i like it without the music. it's kinda pure this way.

all in all, it was a great opening day. good times!