Sunday, June 24, 2012

David, meet Baseball Dad !

I started All Tribe Baseball nearly four years ago and David, from Indian's Baseball Cards , was one of the first bloggers I got to know. We don't do a lot of trading with each other as our collections are very similar, but we do keep in touch and and send an occasional package.

David, originally from Pittsburgh, became an Indians fan as a youngster since his grandparents lived in this area. He and his family decided to come back home on vacation and a side trip to Cleveland was inevitable. Especially since he had never seen "The Jake" . Or Progressive Field, as some people like to call it.

As soon as I heard the news that he was attending a Tribe game I knew we had to hook up !

It was a Monday night game in Cleveland. June 18th, Asdrubal Cabrera bobble head night !
I don't usually don't go to games during the week if  have to work the next day because it's about midnight by the time I get home. But my son and I wanted the bobble head too, so it was well worth it.

 Although at I wasn't so sure at first !

Late Monday afternoon the clouds started rolling in around Sandusky where I work, about an hour west of Cleveland. I was changing clothes about 3:30 pm and all h--- broke loose ! It was raining sideways and tornado warnings were sounding. A funnel cloud had been sited at Cedar Point, about a mile from where I work !

Just like the postal workers, undaunted by the weather,  Josh and I headed out in the storm. We got soaked just trying to get to the van. We headed east on Rt 2 where traffic was moving at about 40 mph and almost everyone driving with 4-way flashers on, which allowed us to identify the lanes of traffic. The storm was moving on a south easterly path and as we got closer to Cleveland things were looking better. 






The tarp was being removed as we arrived the field. It hadn't rained nearly as hard in Cleveland and the game would only be delayed by a few minutes.


We had our bobble head and were ready for the game to begin. I had been in phone contact with David but we hadn't met yet.


Now we are getting underway with the game.
Go Tribe !!


The start of the Hot Dog Race! Always a fun part of the game. It starts as a virtual race outside of the ball park, shown on the video portion of the scoreboard. Then they enter the field through a door in the left field corner and race around the edge of the stands to the finish line just past 1st base. The Redbird mascot, who used a football block to take out "Ketchup", was subsequently taken out by Slider !


Then my phone rang and it time to meet up with David. This was really a great moment ! I feel like I know a lot of you bloggers out there but it's really special to meet in person.

David took notice of my shirt. You probably can't read it, but the bottom line says Cooperstown, New York. Actually, "Baseball Dad" has been around a lot longer than my blog. Back in the early '90's when my boys and I started collecting, we dicovered the Topps and Upper Deck web sites. They always want usernames to join the site and Baseball Dad just made sense to me at the time. A few years later we were visiting Copperstown, the vacation Mecca for baseball fans ! On our last day there, we were making one more pass along the shops that line the streets and I stopped dead in my tracks. I saw this shirt in the window and knew I had to have it ! So that's the story of  "Baseball Dad" !


The victory celebration !


As you can see from the box score, it was a very exciting game. 19 runs, 27 hits with 5 HR.

By the way, David, I'm sending you a copy of the Plain Dealer sports page for that game !


One portion of Progressive Field, that is a must see,  is Heritage Park.


It is located behind the trees beyond center field.



They recently created this Bob Feller tribute area.


A Jim Thome statue is also in the works.


This portion of one wall has a plaque for each of the topp 100 Indians of all time.









This is a special monumant in honor of Larry Doby, the first African-American to play in the American League.



Sockalexis, a tremendous American Indian player for whom the Tribe got it's name.


A chance to meet David, a Tribe victory and a new bobblehead !  What a GREAT day !!

Saturday, June 16, 2012

Cartoon of the day


It's been a lonnnnnng time since I did one of these !
I just got home from work, read the paper and now it's almost time for the Tribe game, so this is all you get for now.



Thursday, June 14, 2012

Tradin' Boxes back from Chunter and Blue Batting Helmet

I love my Tradin' Boxes !  Actually I love trades of all kinds. Well, all kinds of baseball cards that is. I can just imagine some of the thoughts out there! This blog is approved for all ages.

But then again, I think all of us baseball card collectors are really just kids at heart !


These are the two Tradin' Boxes.

The one on the left is from sirrah at Blue Batting Helmet.
The one on the right is from Chunter at Chipp 'n' Dale.

One from a Cubs fan in Il. and one from a Braves fan in Al.
The amazing thing is there were very few, if any, duplicates among the two boxes.
Both were full of a great selection of Tribe cards from many different years and brands.

I picked a few of my favorites from each box to share .

First up, in no particular order, is Blue Batting Helmet.



Phil Niekro. Born in 1939 so he was 47 when he came to Cleveland ! A little past his prime years but still pitched 210 innings in 34 games.

Steve Olin. A very promising career cut way too short.

I love the way someone put "quotes" around Fausto Carmona's name !


Nice shot of Mark Whiten grabbin' for the bag.

Miguel Dilone. Had a breakout year with the Tribe in 1980.
  .341 - 82 runs - 180 hits - 61  SB.

Asdrubal Cabrera. Current, hard-charging SS playing in his 6th year with the Tribe.Hopefully there will be many more !

Jerry Browne. The Guv'nor. Led the Tribe in 1989 with a .299 avg. Can't miss him on that bright yellow '91 Fleer.

Very cool Man Ram 1999 Upper Deck Holo GrFX.

Carlos Baerga. Two consecutive years with 200 hits, 20 HR's, 100 RBI and .300 avg.
Only other 2nd baseman to do that.....Rogers Hornsby. (5 times !)


Brook Jacoby. You can see exactly where that delicious piece of gum was !


These last two are a couple I'm pretty sure I need in my collection.

And now for Chunter !
When he first contacted me about the Tradin' Box he was a reader but had no blog.
He has since opened up Chipp 'n' Dale.
If you haven't yet, check it out !


Jody Gerut Power Up ! Interesting set for fun. He led the " powerhouse " 2003 Indians with 22 HR's !

Albert Belle. 10 years earlier had 38 HR's. Very intimidating stature at the plate.

Ah, the 2012 Gypsy Queens. Really, whose idea was it for the border color and more than that, who OK'd it !  Oh well, still a couple of great Tribe players.

The Tribe is stealing some bases this year but no one quite like Kenny Lofton.


Cool ! Some more 1991 Fleer. I do like this shot of  Alomar.

Maybe, if we could only get some of Cy Young's and Tris Speaker's DNA .....


Grady Sizemore flying through the air making one of his spectacular catches !
If only he could stay healthy.

Well, I had one more photo, but Blogger doesn't seem to like it for some reason.

Chunter also sent two 1994 Topps Paul Sorrento cards.
One base and one gold parallel. Sweet, love the gold !

Thanks very much to the both of you for the great trades !

If anyone else is interested just let me know.
I'll send you a box full ( 50-75 cards) of cards of your favorite team.
You refill it with Tribe cards that you feel are about equal and send it back !
It's as simple as that.









Monday, June 11, 2012

Do you remember Bluegrass Smoke Signals ?

If you do, you've been around the baseball card blogs for a while, and you'll be glad to hear that he is still alive and kicking. At least as of a couple months ago.

Kentucky Harold, as he went by, was another displaced Indians fan. We once met in Columbus,Ohio to take in an Indian minor league game.He still emails me once in a while.He gave up blogging about 3 years ago.

We once made a mega trade. He wanted to get rid of some minor league sets and I had a lot of newer duplicates so we traded about 400-500 cards. You can see what he got here. And what I got here !

Well, Harold wanted to get of some more so he sent me these :


Here is a sampling of some of the cards Harold sent me.
There were 52 sets and a little over 1500 cards!


1993 Classic Gold Man Ram at bottom right.





Now I am searching for newer  team sets to send back to him.

Sunday, June 10, 2012

Fan of Reds - Sometimes the break gets you,sometimes you get the break !

This is a long overdue post and involves a lot of great cards so there may not be too much commentary.

Some people don't like trade posts anyway but I feel if someone sends me cards, whether I buy or trade for them, they deserve a post !


Most anyone who is reading my dribble surely knows about Fan of Reds' Trade stacks.

I have requested several of them in the past and this is what I received in my last one.




The above cards and poster were all part of the stack I chose. However, I have no interest in any of them so if anyone is interested, just leave a comment.




This is the card that made me pull the trigger !

Not really sure why, but I like promo cards.

There were 8 different promo phone cards produced.They were given out at the Classic booth, at the 1995 All-Star game Fanfest, when you gave up a ticket stub.
You also received a pack with a useable $10 phone card inside.
There were 57 different phone cards available. Cal Ripken Jr. had 5 variations including an
autographed version.

When I see a box break from the late '90's and early '00's I take notice. To me, these are the "magic years" for modern Indian baseball cards.

This had to be one of the best Indians break I have ever been in on !
And this was the other !

I asked Fan of Reds to save me a wrapper from each box and this is what I received :






This was a great time for the Indians and their baseball cards.



 Jim Thome base and pinstripe parallel.





 All-Star inserts #'d to 2950.








David Justice red on top  #004/299



 Richie Sexon base and blue parallel




Nearly 70 Tribe cards plus a dozen duplicates!

And, everyone got a random team also.
After agreeing to a three way trade, I ended up with the Brewers.

Glad they weren't my primary choice as there was a very limited number of cards.

These are all available if anyone is interested.







 Thanks to Fan of Reds from Nachos Grande  !

He also has a great break going on right now. Check it out here !