2020 trade package #32: Scribbled Ink

Baseball's over, with the Dodgers finally claiming the World Series they were cheated out of in 2017, and they no longer have to worry about being the NL version of the Indians, winning a number of pennants in a few years but not a ring.

That certainly doesn't mean the baseball cards have stopped coming in, though! Buddy of the blog and former fellow Michigander Paul of Scribbled Ink let me know a couple weeks ago to expect a PWE, and not long after it arrived. He also informed me that this envelope, and I quote, "...make make [me] a bit uncomfortable." Interesting....

I pulled it out of my mailbox and immediately noted how well protected it was thanks to a good amount of cardboard, then removed the contents. First cardboard piece:

I mean, I dunno, recycling seems like a good thing, no?

Second piece:

👀 I don't think this is what the kids mean today when they say they're "vibing" but I'm probably too old to know. This was definitely good for a laugh, and I'm glad I didn't have to try to explain this to anybody, unless someone decides to go through my trash. Well done, Paul!

Anyway, here's the cards he sent, all seven of them:

Junior Griffey is certainly a nice start. He was still playing in 2010 when that A&G base was made, and that would be his sunset campaign, while the stats on the back cover his 2009 return to the Queen City. He'd hit the final 19 of his 630 career homers in '09, and he'd do it looking like the kid who made his debut 20 years prior. And 10 years after his penultimate season, Topps would produce an Archives card of him with the '75 design, giving us another look at the backwards-hatted Junior.

Next up is one of my favorite Tigers mashers as a kid, 3B Dean Palmer. His '96 Finest base was a need, from one of my favorite designs that came out of that product. In fact, the 1996-97 run is probably my favorite two-year pairing they came up with. Dean-o played in only 36 games during the strike-shortened '95 season, but in '96 he'd go off for a career-best 38 bombs, a number he duplicated in his Motown debut in '99. I hope to keep pulling in as many of his cards as I can find and I appreciate Paul shooting one my way, likely because he found it on my TCDB wantlist!

HOF SS Tram never got to play on the left side of the infield with Palmer because 1996 was his last season, a year before his '97 Score Premium Stock card came out. The Topps-level cropping is a bit weird but I like the horizontal photo otherwise.

Then we have two (many) Verlanders, both of which were new to me, always a difficult task. Up top is a 2019 Topps Sticker where he's paired with former Mariners closer Edwin Diaz, who was shipped to the Mets in a hilarious lopsided deal (a.k.a. business as usual for that New York franchise). The other looks just like the 2013 Heritage base I've received a ton of, except for one thing:

it's the Venezuelan version! These are immediately obvious thanks to the black backs and actually fairly decently short-printed. Not a bad addition at all to the (too) many other Verlanders I own.

And last up today is a bit of a surprise in the form of a basketball card: a 2019-20 Illusions base of former Wolverines basketballer Duncan Robinson. A solid contributor in college, nobody expected him to do much in the NBA after going undrafted, but don't try to tell him that. In just his second season he was a big part of the Heat fighting all the way to the Finals before losing to the LeBron James-led Lakers superteam. It was fun watching him drain some big threes in the highlights I saw, and I hope this season leads to a long and satisfying career for the Michigan man.

Here's some backs, including the Venezuelan Verlander you already saw. Hey, remember when Michael Wacha was a thing? Stay away from the Mets, kids.

Paul, thanks a ton of some great cards well protected by some X-rated materials! With any luck I'll get to a show next weekend and come up with a few items to send back your way, though I don't know that I'll try my luck one-upping you in the packaging department. If I do make it up to Taylor Town I'll definitely be thinking of you if I get surrounded to the point of molestation by smelly, sweaty guys digging through boxes.