COMC order placed, a quick wantlist, and #42

First things first:  I finalized all my purchases and clicked the "ship" button on COMC, so hopefully that package will show up real soon; I have a bunch of cards to ship out to some outstanding traders!

All told, I spent $230.04 (I had $0.04 left in credit from my previous purchases) on 136 cards, including one duplicate because I'm an idiot.  Combined with my other purchases for the month that put me over my $300/month spending limit (and $200/month average), but not by much, and I did it with the intent that I wouldn't have to order from COMC again for a while.  The $300 limit is there for me mainly so I don't spend around $400 in a given month and then have to take a future month off from spending.

I grabbed the usual assortment of Michigan hits to bolster those PCs, but this time I focused much more on my baseball player collections.  And, as I said previously, this was the first time I've spent this much on COMC for cards I purchased for trades.  Lots of those will be sent out as thanks for the outstanding packages I received in December, but a few of them are going towards new trades, and I know doing it this way assured that everyone would be happy.

So that's the good news for all of you.  I just have one quick request:  I declined to purchase the following cards in part because I didn't have enough funds and prioritized other stuff first, but also because I figure there's a chance some of you may have them, so if you do, please keep me in mind!:

2006 Upper Deck:
-#799 J.J. Putz

2011 Topps:
#376 Clayton Richard

2012 A&G:
-#167 J.J. Putz

2012 Topps Heritage:
-#307 J.J. Putz

2012 Topps Mini:
-#148 Chris Getz
-#339 Clayton Richard
-#480 J.J. Putz

Ok, now on to the most important topic of the day.  As daily sports birthday blogger hackenbush of Can't Have Too Many Cards so helpfully reminded us, today is baseball pioneer Jackie Robinson's 94th birthday.  Although many also celebrate his legendary accomplishments on the anniversary of the day on which he broke baseball's color barrier for good, (April 15, 1947) there's no such thing as an inappropriate day to take a look back, especially when it's his birthday.

Not that you'd know it if you were reading ESPN, of course.  Fortunately, Google's main page doodle has you covered:

That's pretty freakin' cool.  Anyway, as always, take some time out to remember the bravery, toughness, resilience, and baseball skill that went into laying the foundation for many of our past and current favorite players to succeed.  Racism and ignorance haven't gone away, but thanks to the actions of Jackie and Branch Rickey, the league is what it is today:  a place where all men can play regardless of race.

I'm very much looking forward to 42, a movie about Robinson which will be opening just a few days before the 66th anniversary of his first game.  The film stars Harrison Ford, and Jackie will be played by hitherto unknown-to-me actor Chadwick Boseman.  I hope it proves to be a rousing success for all involved and a hot topic for the younger generations (like mine) that never got to see him play but should be reminded of his greatness and realize the significance of his career relative to the era.

Back with more regular posting tomorrow or Saturday!

Triple trouble, or, why the media can blow me

OUTSTANDING CD from a great group, by the way--check it out!

Last night Miguel Cabrera earned MLB's first Triple Crown in 45 years.  Hold on, I'm gonna let that sink in for a minute, because I don't think enough people are paying attention to the fact that MIGUEL CABRERA JUST EARNED THE FIRST TRIPLE CROWN IN 45 YEARS.  Do people somehow not realize that this is sort of a big deal because it's happened just 16 times since 1878, and just four times since the 1950s?  Show of hands:  how many of you were alive when Yaz did it in '67?  And now how many of you were actually old enough and interested enough to follow baseball then?

This is simply one of the greatest individual batting accomplishments I've seen since I've been alive.  There have been others, to be sure:  two grand slams in one inning (which will NEVER be broken, maybe not even tied), 50-70 HR in a season (with, um, varying degrees of, you know, um, "assistance") and a new single-season hits record.  But can you really grasp how great of a season you have to have to lead the league in HR, RBI and AVG?  Not one of those stats implies a player is adept at doing well in another, especially nowadays when most sluggers are given a free pass on striking out 150-plus times because at least it's not a double play!

I can't help but admit that I'm very biased about this because Cabrera's playing for my hometown team, but, man, this is the biggest East Cost Bias incident ESPN is guilty of since every other day of their existence.  I mean, Detroit capped off a shaky season with a second consecutive playoff berth, and almost all of that is due to Cabrera overcoming his alcohol issues and selflessly moving to a tricky position, then putting up one of the greatest offensive seasons ever.

I guess I'm frustrated as much because I know if Josh Hamilton had won the thing (which he's certainly capable of, no argument there), everybody would be fawning over him and saying what a great story he was.  This is Josh "My anti-drug is God...and MORE DRUGS" Hamilton.  I think Cabrera deserved every bit of criticism and loss of respect for his multiple embarrassing arrests, but it looks like he finally has things under control and has been a rock solid, model teammate who's embraced his responsibility as the team's major run-producer.  So clearly I don't understand the apparent prejudice against the guy, but maybe he's just a victim of playing his home games in "flyover country."

Ok, that's my "The media can blow me" rant, so now it's time to celebrate!  Well, where to begin?  How about, WHAT AN ACCOMPLISHMENT!  We knew Cabrera was capable of putting up above-average numbers in any of those three categories, but man was he just dominant this year.  Considering he held the average and RBI titles by reasonable-to-comfortable margins, his Sherman's March Through the South home run tear was especially impressive--even more so because it came at a time where Detroit needed every run from him it could get during a pressure-filled playoff push.  I am nothing short of impressed with everything he's done this year, and if he isn't handed the MVP in a few weeks, it'll be a travesty.  Congrats on your individual and team accomplishments this year, Miguel, and I hope you'll cap this year off the way you did in 2003!

GO TIGERS!