2015 trade package #24: Canadian bakin'

Blog favorite trading partner Doug of Sports Cards From the Dollar Store and resident of the great white 3 1/2 hours northeast of me sent me another fantastic two-part trade package a couple weeks ago, and now I'm finally getting around to showing off the goods:

First up:  a trio of terrific Topps Tigers from twenty fifteen.  Temporary Tigers ace David Price, who'll hopefully lead the resurgent Jays (one of Doug's teams!) over the tiresome Yankees, is first up with a nice base from this year's Heritage that mimics the '66 set.  Minor league signing diamond in the rough J.D. Martinez and Alfredo "We traded Eugenio Suarez for him?!" Simon, meanwhile, represent the about-freakin'-time (plus a year) return of Stadium Club.

Nick Castellanos 2014 Bowman Inception Rookie Autographs Blue auto (#65/75)

And then there's the real highlight of this side of the package:  an Inception auto of young 3B Nick Castellanos, a guy who's slowly improved a number of his stats from 2014.  Nick has a fun signature with lots of loopage going on, and I like that he took advantage of the large signing area on this super on-card auto.  It's now my fourth of Castellanos (you can see all of them here), and I believe all of them have come from Doug or from Matt at Bob Walk the Plank.  No surprise--that's a pair of extremely generous traders there.

To see the rest of what Doug sent me, including a 1/1(!), please head over to TMM.

Thanks a ton for the great stuff, Doug.  I've got a few things for you in-hand with more on the way, and it probably won't be much longer before I'm hitting you back, eh?

2014 Tigers game report #2: vs. Minnesota 9/28

Well the Tigers may have been swept out of the 2014 playoffs by a very good Baltimore club, but a week ago today I went to my second in-person game of the year (my first was against Oakland back in June) as Detroit hosted the Twins for game #162.  The Tigers' magic number to win the division was 1, and the White Sox had already proven they were of no help to Detroit as they gave in to the Royals, who went on to take the wild card, so it was a must-win for the home team.

A co-worker of mine had offered me a ticket just a couple days earlier, and we ended up in the right field balcony, a view I enjoyed while planting my butt in some of the most comfortable stadium seats I've ever seen.  I snapped a few pics, but first we'll take a quick run through my scorecard:

1.  David Price was Detroit's starter for this all important game, and he proved to be the right guy, going seven-plus innings while allowing just four hits. He also struck out eight, which allowed him to finish with the league lead in that category with two more than Cleveland's Corey Kluber. Dude was ON! I was also happy to see my fifth different Tigers pitcher going back to last year (Verlander, Scherzer, Fister, Sanchez).
2.  Ian Kinsler was the other star of this show. From my vantage point in right field I watched as the 2B hit a beautiful arc of a homer to left in the third. He singled in the sixth, then doubled home a run in the 8th, amassing 75% of the team's hits and 67% of its RBIs.
3.  With one out and Kinsler on first in the sixth inning, Miggy came up to face Twins starter Kyle Gibson for the third time.  The righty hard mostly held the Tigers in check to that point, but Cabrera had already seen him twice, and sure enough the slugger absolutely tattooed a ball to center that kept going, and going, and going...into CF Aaron Hicks' glove at the warning track.  A bit to the left or right and that goes out for a big hit!
4.  Extremely light-hitting SS Andrew Romine keyed the eighth inning rally with a one-out walk and a steal.  Young OF Ezequiel Carrera also chipped in a walk, and both of those guys came around to score a pair of key insurance runs.
5.  I loved that Price lasted as long as he did, getting the first out of the eighth, but based on his pitch count it made sense to go to the (awful tire fire of a) bullpen.  I really don't care for any of our relievers, but Joba may be my least favorite.  Still, he managed to induce two quick grounders for a hold.  Joe Nathan then got three popups, the final caught by catcher Alex Avila, to end it.  To say this was the pen's last hurrah would be putting it lightly.
6.  We stayed for a while to enjoy as the fans and players celebrated, the latter of whom came back out of the clubhouse to douse a good portion of the third-base line with champagne.  The scoreboard made sure to note that this was Detroit's fourth straight division title.  I'm old enough to know I shouldn't take that kind of success for granted--after 1987 we didn't sniff the playoffs until 2006, so that was definitely worth remembering!

Now here's a few shots I took from my seats:

My view from right field.  The seats were a swivel, meshy kind of thing, and came with a table in front and full service.  Not bad for $34!

Torii mans RF.  The fans in this corner of the park simply love him, and it's fun to see him return that love with a wave.

I snapped a quick pic of Romine and Carrera on the bases in the 8th with Kinsler up, and not long after we were up two runs.

Detroit may be done for 2014 but I had a blast at this game, which put me at a 2-0 record for the season.  The Tigers face some big decisions in the offseason as they seek to shore up a complete disaster of a bullpen, but the second half proved that the David Price acquisition was an excellent move.  I look forward to next year, and now I'll turn my playoff rooting interests primarily towards the Cardinals, though I'm really not rooting against anybody this year.  Good luck to your team if it's still in it!

Three up, three down: at a low Price

This is something new I've been meaning to try:  a feature where I cover three positive and negative events in the hobby and my favorite sports.  Let's see how it goes.  Look, I even did up an MSPaint for the occasion:

I'll start with the negative first since it's nicer to end on a positive note.

Three down:

1.  Panini comes out on Topps:  Looks like football cards will be a Panini-opoly starting in 2016.  For those of you who know how much I bash Topps, don't assume I'm in favor of this--less competition is always bad (coughISPscough), and you would think the NFLPA would have learned from the massive mistake made by the MLBPA to hand Topps the keys to the kingdom.  Good luck finding any positives here, other than maybe some laughs when Topps inevitably posts some hypocritical comments about the ills of exclusive licenses!

2.  Repack products are re-ripoffs:  This Blowout thread from a few weeks ago showed a break of yet another repack product, this one called "Super Deluxe Box Breaker Edition."  The discussion centered on the breaker pulling pretty much the best hit in the product, a Jose Abreu Superfractor, and how much of a hit to the wallet collectors take when purchasing the product and not pulling that winning lottery ticket, especially with the exorbitant price of the box (apparently around $7000 for 10 hits with lots of other useless gimmicks).  These products really don't add anything to the hobby, at least not for collectors, but I'm sure the manufacturers are laughing all the way to the bank while breakers chase a few extremely high-end hits.

3.  Tony Dungy avoids distractions, except when they're convenient:  Jeez, what's the deal with the NFL right now?  Ray Rice gets a slap on the wrist from the league for assaulting his wife while comparatively minor drug offenders suffer much harsher penalties, and then previously-respected coach and commentator Tony Dungy says he wouldn't have drafted Missouri DL Michael Sam, the All-American SEC DPOY, because he could be a "distraction."  "Things will happen," he explained.  "Things" such as an openly gay player being part of the league, causing an uptick in purchases of fainting couches, apparently.  Is he worried about the locker room, maybe?  I don't think he should--this excellent piece from ESPN's Body Issue makes sports locker rooms sound extremely homoerotic in a frat boy sort of way.  No, this is obviously Dungy's sour grapes because the GayRoller is coming for him and the rest of America.  You may as well just come out and say what you mean--that's what's so great about free speech.  Also, for people who aren't backwards-thinking hypocrites (that "distraction" theme seems awfully familiar when it comes to sports...), it makes it easier to identify people you can safely tune out.

Three Up:

1.  Gint-a-cuffs II:  The Second One:  I know this isn't really the second year of Gint-a-cuffs, I just wanted to make what will soon be a dated reference to the Sharknado sequel.  I have exactly zero interest in Topps' A&G product for a multitude of reasons, but I recognize how great this blog national holiday is for the hobby, so I welcome it with open arms, even if I'll never participate.  Enjoy, guys, and good luck!

2.  Baseball Hall of Fame lives up to its name:  This year, Cooperstown welcomed six new plaques to its famed Hall, and the list of names is mind-boggling:  Frank Thomas, Tom Glavine, and Greg Maddux, as well as manager trio Bobby Cox, Tony LaRussa, and Joe Torre.  Other deserving names aren't on that list, but hopefully those wrongs will be righted next year, and for now we should enjoy this impressive sextet.  I don't know that collectors needed any further incentive to collect any of the three star players, but Hall entry usually provides a nice boost, and those guys clearly deserved it.  As a child of the 90s, I applaud this monumental induction enthusiastically--congratulations to all!

3.  The Tigers pay a low price for a high Price!:  This is probably the one you knew was coming.  2014 proved to be one of the more exciting trade deadlines (and months of July) in recent memory, especially with the A's making multiple blockbuster trades.  Tigers GM Dave Dombrowski appears to have skunked everyone else, though, with an amazingly bold deal that brings Rays ace and #1 deadline prize David Price to Detroit in exchange for Austin Jackson, Drew Smyly, and a minor league SS prospect.  I came to admire Jackson when I finally came around on the Granderson trade years ago, and I'll fondly remember him, but I won't necessarily miss his maddeningly inconsistent bat, plus he's a free agent after 2015 and likely wouldn't have fit in the budget anyway.  Smyly's a bigger long-term loss since he's so cheap and under control for several more years.  But the immediate fact is that Detroit's rotation is scarier than standing between Prince Fielder and a buffet, and the team was able to be creative in landing Price despite a dearth of quality prospects.  I'll likely continue to collect at least Jackson's Tigers hits, and I don't know about Price because he may be gone after 2015 (or sooner?), but in terms of the on-field team, I'm very excited about the playoffs now!