Random Pittsburgh Pirates Card of the Day

Wow! It's the third Random Pittsburgh Pirates Card of the Day post this week! You guys are so lucky!
Today we're looking at a 1995 Flair Denny Neagle card. Now, I have to say - Flair was one of my favorite sets. I remember when I first saw it, I was really impressed. I thought it was so cool. The cards were printed on extra thick, heavy stock. The photography was good and the design was really nice. The cards just looked very classy, if you can say that about a baseball card. Denny's 1995 Flair card is no exception. I'm not sure if it comes across in the scan, but these cards are great. The action shot of Neagle probably isn't the best one, but oh well. It kind of looks like he's in pain. It's tough being a major league pitcher. Denny didn't last too long with the Pirates. He was dealt to the Braves, I think. I'd look it up, but it's not that important. What is important is that you all remember how nice the Flair sets were and go pull yours out of storage and admire them anew. Just try to ignore the fact that the different years kind of look the same.

2008 Goudy - again

Time to rip open another pack of 2008 Goudey. I said it before, I'll say it again. I like the set, it's just not stunning. It's a nice looking set with a simple, clean design and decent artwork. The little Griffey and Jeter blips at the bottom are starting to annoy me, but beyond that it's a decent set. I don't know that I'll try to complete the set. I guess it's not a terribly large set so it wouldn't be too difficult, but I'm just not completely sold on it yet. We shall see.
Let's see what we got:

1. Tom Glavine
2. Shane Victorino
3. Ryan Braun
4. Marlon Byrd
5. Wladimir Balentien
6. Pedro Martinez
7. Matt Holliday
8. Alfonso Soriano

This pack kind of makes me go "eh." Nice looking cards though.

Random Pittsburgh Pirates Card of the Day

Wow. Today's Random Pittsburgh Pirates Card of the Day really showcases what can go wrong when a card company says "Screw it, we're putting out the most butt-ugly cards we possibly can." I'm not sure if this post is more about the Pirates card, or more about 1995 Fleer. Talk about a disgusting card design. If there were much more happening on the front of this card, my eyeballs might explode. I'm not sure if Fleer was trying to get ahead of the late '90s internet crazy by trying to make their cards look like a physical embodiment of some sort of theoretical idea of technology, but dang. That's one nasty looking card design. (As a side note, 2 sentences back there is an appalingly long and inelegant sentence. I'm sorry. It's my blog though so I can write bad sentences if I want!)
On to the card:
This one features Lance Parrish. He had an OK major league career. Nothing spectacular, but nothing to scoff at, either. At this point in his career, he didn't have much power left, although the back of this card does show 320 major league home runs - not terrible at all. I feel like maybe I'm not respecting Lance Parrish and his awesomeness enough, but I just can't get over the absolute ugliness of this Fleer set. One positive: Lance Parrish is rocking a solid 'stache.

2008 Goudy

I was at Target yesterday and I wanted to pick up my first pack of 2009 cards, but, lo and behold, they were all out. So I settled for a couple packs of 2009 cards, which I'll be ripping and posting up here in the next couple of days. Here's the first:

2008 Goudey

1. Larry Dobb
2. Brandon Webb
3. Jorge Posada
4. Aaron Rowand
5. Carlos Pena
6. Ryan Howard
7. Kosuke Fukudome
8. Alex Rodriguez

Anyone that's ever read this blog could probably guess that I'd really like this set. And I do. Not as much as Turkey Red or even Heritage, but I think it's a cool set. I'm not a huge fan of the Jeter says...or Griffey says...at the bottom of the card, but oh well. You take the good with the bad.

Random Pittsburgh Pirates Card of the Day

Today's installment of Random Pittsburgh Pirates Card of the Day takes us all the way back to 1986. In April of this wonderful year, I was 4 years old, the Chernobyl disaster happened, and Johnny Ray was named the National League Player of the Month! We're looking at a 1986 Donruss Highlights card. You gotta love the classic horizontal striping on this beauty - I think it really highlights Johnny's scraggly beard. As for Johnny Ray, he hit a monstrous .380 in April of '86 and also knocked in 18 RBI's. Not too shabby for a second baseman. Way to go, Johnny!

2008 Topps

Let's rip open a pack of 2008 Topps and see what happen...

1. B.J. Upton
2. Jacoby Ellsbury
3. Grady Sizemore
4. Paul Maholm
5. Bobby Crosby
6. A.J. Pierzynski
7. Mike Gonzalez
8. Ryan Braun 50th Anniversary Topps All-Star Rookie Team
9. Ryan Theriot
10. Kyle Davies
11. Fred Lewis
12. Hanley Ramirez

All in all, an OK pack. I picked up a Pirate, so that's a bonus. I don't mind the design. I don't love it, but it doesn't make me want to throw up, so that's a good thing. Anyone else have thoughts on this?

2009 Upper Deck "hits"

Mario over at Wax Heaven has a post up about the hits in 2009 Upper Deck. Based on this small sample size, I would agree with him that one box would probably be enough for me. Although I would take that Chris Duffy autograph...it'd make a nice addition to my Pirates collection.

Pinnacle Mint

What does everyone think of the Pinnacle Mint cards? When I was younger I came across a Barry Bonds Pinnacle Mint card. It had the coin and was in close to perfect condition. Of course, I snapped up this card for my Barry Bonds collection. Recently I found this card again and I realized that I don't like it very much. It was a pretty cool card when I was young but now I'm not a fan. Anyone out there like these cards?

If you ever want to waste $7...

...then here's the craigslist listing of your dreams!

$7 for a crappy old Bobby Bonilla card? I bet I have approximately 435434345078996 Bobby Bo cards sitting in a box somewhere. Anyone wanna pay me for them? I didn't think so.

Time to open a pack of Heritage

Let's rip open a pack of Topps Heritage and see what happens, shall we?

Great start - Jeff Francoeur, Hanley Ramirez and B.J. Upton. All right.
Verlander black card. And finally.......Alaska! (You should say that in a high pitched, annoying voice.)

All in all I like this set. I think it's pretty cool, I'm always a sucker for a throwback, vintage-looking set. I could probably do without the state cards, but oh well. Not too bad overall.

Turkey Red is missed

Turns out, I'm not alone in missing the Turkey Red set. Mario over at Wax Heaven recently wrote about how he misses the set. Topps - bring it back for real!

Anyway, at the top of this post are some sweet Turkey Red cards. I think these are pretty much from 2005. What a sweet set.

As a side note, you'll no doubt notice the Alex Rodriguez card in there. What the heck do I do with all my A-Rod cards now? Is everyone still collecting him? Has he lost all appeal? Is it too early to tell?

2008 Topps Allen & Ginter Mini Cards

Just thought I'd post a picture of some sweet Allen & Ginter Mini cards. I really enjoy this set, although not quite as much as Turkey Red. Anyway, here you go!

Random Pittsburgh Pirates Card of the Day

The latest installment of our Random Pittsburgh Pirates Card of the Day brings us Jack Wilson's 2006 Topps base card. Jack is mostly known for his solid defense, and this card highlights just that by showing him preparing to field a ground ball. Kids, take notice of his form: weight is shifted to the balls of his feet, eyes focused on the ball, his body is positioned to keep the ball in front of him and he's using two hands! With technique like that, it's no wonder Jack has held down a job as a starting shortstop in the major leagues for the last few years. In 2004, Jack tied for the league lead in triples, with 12. Keep it up, Jack!

In other news, this is the 50th post here at Beer and Baseball Cards! Thanks for reading, random internet readers.

Zistle.com - check it out

So I just found out about a new site that any card collector will love. It's called Zistle. It's completely free and allows you to track your collection and view other collections. It even allows you to set up trades with other uses if there are cards that you need or want to get rid of. I just checked it out and it looks pretty sweet. Go sign up today!

Random Pittsburgh Pirates Card of the Day

Welcome to a new series here at Beer and Baseball Cards. Every once in a while I'll be posting a picture of a random Pittsburgh Pirates card from my collection under the heading of Random Pittsburgh Pirates Card of the Day - creative, I know. It won't be every day. Sometimes I'll just put a picture of a card on the blog, as if to say "Here you go, enjoy this random Pirates card." Other times I might include some witty commentary as a bonus to you, the reader. You're welcome.

Let's get started.

This first Random Pittsburgh Pirates Card of the Day is a 1972 Topps Luke Walker. Luke was a pitcher for the Bucs in the late '60s and into the '70s. His best season, according the back of this card, was in 1970. That year he went 15-6 with a 3.04 ERA and 124 strikeouts. Not too shabby. Those kind of numbers would definitely get him a spot in the current Pirates rotation. It's possible that he had a better season than that after 1972, but I don't feel like looking up the stats right now, so that's all you're gonna get. I like the font used on the Topps set this year - it looks like it's coming right at you! I do not generally like photos from spring training to be used on baseball cards, and this one is no exception.

So there you have it - the very first Random Pittsburgh Pirates Card of the Day. There will be more to come. Maybe I'll expand it beyond the Buccos at some point, we'll see. Stay tuned...

Storage

Today I'm thinking about storage for my card collection. Currently, my cards sit in a tall closet with shelving in it, from Ikea. It works pretty well, but it was $10 from Craigslist and one of the legs is about ready to fall off. I'm wondering what everyone else does for storage. Do I use boxes and store them in a closet? Do I keep my collection where I can see it and display some items? What's best for the cards? I know I should keep them out of direct sunlight, protect them, etc. but what about temperature? Does that matter? We are starting to look at houses and there is a possibility I could have much more space for my collection...what should I do? Hmm...

Good posts from other blogs

Here's the latest installment of posts I've enjoyed from other card blogs:

From Wax Heaven:
Are young collectors going the way of the dinosaur? I hope not, I started collecting when I was a kid.
The chronicles of Flair - one of my favorite sets ever.

From Cardboard Problem:
A post about random cards that we like - everyone has 'em. What are yours?

From Cardboard Junkie:
Deconstructing Mayo - I'm a sucker for vintage sets. What can I say?

From Joe Collector:
Looks like someone else is looking forward to 2009 Finest...

From Ballcard Mania:
I'd love to have this card...
Now starting at third base.....Eric Lindross!

Finally, from Stats on the Back:
Something to make you laugh

Collecting in 2009

With all of the previews of 2009 sets coming out recently, it's time for me to think about what I'll try to collect this year. I think I'm probably going to limit it to Topps, Finest, and maybe a little bit of a really high end product, if I'm feeling dangerous.
We shall see, but I think that will do just fine for me. Especially with the recent news that Turkey Red will be an insert in the 2009 Topps set, Topps will probably be getting most of my attention this year. I love me some Turkey Red.

Player collecting - Bonds, Griffey and Williams?

Since I was in about 6th grade or so, I've collected a few players. Mainly Barry Bonds, Ken Griffey, Jr. and, for unknown reasons, Matt Williams. I think I probably just had a lot of Matt Williams cards so I decided to collect them for a while. Out of those players, Barry Bonds was the one that I most seriously collected. I'm not sure how many Bonds cards I currently have - more than 10 but less than 1000. Anyway, I'll try to catalog my Bonds collection and see exactly what I have there in the near future. Here's the kicker - I don't particularly care for Barry Bonds anymore. After BALCO and everything that happened with him, I can't really respect him or his accomplishments very much. He was one of the most talented ballplayers to ever play baseball, but he had to go and screw it up by cheating. I don't get it. Anyway, I need to decide what to do with all of my Barry Bonds cards. Do I keep them? Do I try to trade them? Sell them? I don't think I could get very much for them anymore. If I had tried to unload my Bonds collection a few years ago, I probably could have gotten a tidy sum for the collection. Ahhhhh....what to do, what to do. Any ideas? Anyone want a bunch of Bonds cards? Trade?

Turkey Red!

Well, it appears that someone at Topps has heard my cries and decided to bring Turkey Red back into my life! Mario from Wax Heaven left a comment on my post about 2009 Topps Finest letting me know that Topps has decided to included Turkey Red as an insert in their 2009 set! I couldn't be happier. In my opinion, this is one of the best new vintage sets to come along and I was kind of bummed that Topps decided to cancel it. Looks like I know what set I'll be collecting in 2009! I wasn't sure, but Topps just made up my mind for me. Thank you Topps!