COMRCs!

It's been a little while since I've done a post where I showed off some of the better baseball RCs in my PC.  The last time I did, I had dug up this Matt Kemp I unknowingly owned for an unknown amount of time.  Well, over the course of the last few weeks, I spent a lot of time digging through my various boxes of stuff while sorting out what I wanted to give away/trade, and I came up with a few more good ones.  Please note that I decided to do this independent of Arpsmith's Saturday post, despite the first scan you'll see in a moment, which both posts have in common.  The difference is that I didn't have a newborn daughter to show off--congrats, dude!

Ok, on with the new RC additions:

Bruce Sutter 1977 Topps RC

I've sat on this card for quite a while (not literally, though I'd understand if you'd asked in all seriousness given its condition) and decided that now's a good time to show it off.  Sutter was an early example of what a dominant closer could look like thanks to his mastery of the spllitter.  His HOF page has a very interesting note of which I was previously unaware:  "Bruce Sutter is the first Major League pitcher elected to the Hall of Fame who never started at least one game?"  Very cool!  Welcome to the RC PC, Mr. Sutter.

Buster Posey 2010 Bowman RC

I bet the Giants are still kicking themselves for taking Posey fifth overall in 2008 considering they could have had Jemile Weeks, who only lasted a few more picks.  JEMILE WEEKS, PEOPLE!  A guy who might be my generation's Johnny Bench (or maybe even his own person entirely), Gerald "Buster" Posey has accomplished a ton in his four seasons (one of which was marred by a play at the plate):  he was the 2010 N.L. Rookie of the Year for a Giants team that won it all, then somehow improved upon that in 2012 by winning the N.L. MVP, that league's batting title, AND another ring.  When this guy wins awards, good things happen to San Francisco fans.

Clayton Kershaw 2008 Topps Update RC

Here's another cool Dodgers RC I didn't realize I had:  I remember buying a few packs of 2008 Update, but never ended up pursuing a box or the complete set, though I think I'd like to have one eventually.  Anyway, Kershaw is way too good to leave out of this PC.  Hell, maybe I'll make him the focus of my baseball collection.  Yep, from now on, consider me the #1 Clayton Kershaw collector among bloggers (wait, who?  What in the hell is a PLASCHKE?)

Jay Bruce 2005 Bowman Draft RC

Consider Bruce a probationary choice for now, but he's had a pretty good career, so at this point I feel like he belongs.  It's probably a good sign that his top two similarity scores are Carlos Quentin and Bo Jackson.  For more optimism, have a quick look at his 162-game average, which paints a portrait of a fairly productive outfielder, who's still young enough to improve his numbers.

Matt Cain 2002 Bowman Draft RC

Cain doesn't always get the headlines that tend to go to his haircut-needing teammate, but he's quietly put together a few nice seasons in a row.  At least, he WAS quietly putting up nice numbers until he threw an outstanding perfect game this year.  Of course, that paled in comparison to the ultimate highlight of his year:  appearing on an episode of Mythbusters.  Oh, and then his team won some games in October or something...

Matt Kemp 2006 Bowman RC

Kemp is the only player in this post who's already included in my RC PC--the 2005 Bowman Draft card I linked to at the top of this post.  I happened to dig this one out recently, and after it finally clicked in my head  that this one is from 2006 and the other one came a year earlier, I just shrugged my shoulders and said "Chalk up another one to the ridiculous rules of baseball cards."  Nobody agreed with me because I was alone at the time.  So I decided to let it stay, especially since Kemp is such an outstanding player, not to mention the true 2011 NL MVP.  You know what?  Forget Kershaw, I don't have much of him anyway, but I've got a great start on a Kemp PC, so I'm gonna be HIS #1 collecto--WTF IS A ZAKWIN?

Hey, that's two Matt's in a row, so for the hell of it (and since I have a tag for him), here's Matthew Lesko, who wants to know if YOU WANT FREE MONEY?!

Ok, back to serious business...

Zach Greinke 2002 Bowman Draft RC

And we close things out with a "Z."  Greinke just cashed in big-time with the Dodgers, but then again, who hasn't these days?  I've never been a big fan of the guy, and I'm definitely still not, but all the same, it's nice to see him out of the AL entirely.  Also, I suppose it's really nice to have an NL version of the Yankees to laugh at when their ridiculous spending blows up in their faces.

That's it for this time, but I'll keep my eyes peeled for more nice RCs to show off here, and if I hit up a show and find my vintage guy next month, you can be sure I'll have at least a couple new ones to add.

Look what the Kemp dragged in

So today as I was flipping through my various boxes in trying to pick out some stuff for a potential trade with another blogger, I was perusing my box of almost-complete and sort-of-started sets.  The almost-complete ones are all on my set wantlist while I left the latter there to have them together in case I decided to pursue them later.  As I was sorting through a small stack of Bowmans, I noticed I had put a couple in penny sleeves, as I occasionally do when I know a rookie is worth enough to try to keep it in good shape.  Who was this mystery RC, a card I had totally forgotten I had?

None other than Greg Z.'s man-crush, Matt Kemp!  This is, of course, his 2005 Bowman RC.  Now that I know I have it, I'm reserving it for the prestige of my baseball RC PC.

My pre-trade sorting wasn't just lucrative because of the Kemp, though--I even found three 2009 Bowman singles I need towards that set, which is pretty cool since I already needed just a small handful.  If I've taken anything out of this, it's that putting in the effort to find some cards to trade is good karma.  As opposed to being symbolic of the worst parts of the hobby and screwing over Greg, which is definitely bad karma;  Chris Olds, may every football box you bust from now on contain nothing but Bilal Powell and Akili Smith!