2012 Summer Clearance Trade - Results #2

My Blue Jays cards went to Nathan at Canadian Cardboard. Not only does he collect Blue Jays cards but any cardboard which features a Canadian.

Here's some of what I got from Nathan.

1994 Fleer Sunoco #15 John Kruk

This was a 25-card (including a checklist) set produced by Fleer and presumably available at Sunoco gas stations. I was collecting cards in those days but don't remember seeing these. Of course I didn't generally buy my gas at Sunoco.  The cards have the same basic design as 1994 Fleer, but feature different photos. I already had two cards from this set (Bagwell and Dykstra).

2011 Topps Diamond Anniversary #460 Cole Hamels

Always happy to pick up a Phillie or Astro I don't have from this parallel set.

2011 Topps Diamond Anniversary #586 Carlos Lee

 And here's an Astro (or I should say former Astro) from the set.

2011 Topps Cognac Diamond Anniversary #32 Chris Johnson

I only had one Astro from this set.

2011 Topps Cognac Diamond Anniversary #219 Carlos Ruiz

Nathan sent 4 Phillies from the set which I didn't have. Only two of them are still with the Phillies. Ruiz and Conreras.

2011 Topps Cognac Diamond Anniversary #267 Jose Contreras

The other two are Lidge (#242) and Werth (#325)

2012 Topps Opening Day Elite Skills #11 Roy Halladay

Halladay's "Elite Skill" is covering first base. I think the Phillies signed him more for his pitching abilities.

2005 Astros - Where Are They Now

I try to follow both the Phillies (my birth city) and the Astros (where I live now). The past few years my two teams have gone in the opposite direction. In 2005, the Astros were in the World Series but it's been all downhill since then. The Phillies finished 2nd in the NL East in 2005 and, except for this disappointing season, have been a great team.

The last player from the 2005 team remaining with the Astros this year was Wandy Rodriguez. Wandy was 10-10 with the Astros that year. There were no major league cards of Wandy from 2005. He was traded to the Pirates in July.

 I thought it would be fun to look at that 2005 Astros team and see where they are today.

2005 Donruss #201 Brad Ausmus

Brad was an 18-year player who retired in 2010. He spent 10 years with the Astros, in two stints. He won 3 Gold Gloves as the Astros catcher. Although 2005 was not a Gold Glove year but one of his best years offensively with a .258 batting average.

2005 Origins Old Judge Materials Jeff Bagwell

Jeff missed most of the 2005 season after shoulder surgery before the season. He returned to the club late in the season but had limited playing time in the post season. He attempted to come back for the 2006 season but retired during spring training.

2005 Leaf Century Material Fabric Position #117 Lance Berkman

 

 Lance hit .293 for the 2005 season with 24 home runs. He had a great postseason. His best days seemingly behind him, the Astros unloaded him to the Yankees in 2010. He's been with the Cardinals the past two years. He was the NL Come Back Player of the year in 2011.

2005 Leather and Lumber #30 Craig Biggio

 Craig was in his 18th year with the Astros in 2005. He had a pretty typical year for him, batting .264 with 26 home runs and 98 runs scored. After 2 years of playing the outfield, the Astros moved him back to second base in 2005.  He retired after the 2007 season.

2005 Topps Total #66 Eric Bruntlett

One of the Astros part time players in 2005, Bruntlett appeared in 91 games mostly as a pitch hitter or late game replacement. He was traded to the Phillies after the 2007 series and got back to the World Series with them in 2008 and 2009. He retired after the 2009 season.

2005 Donruss Team Heroes #137 Chris Burke

 Burke mostly played outfield and sometimes spelled Biggio at second. He hit .248 for the season. Chris was in the running to be the baseball coach at his alma mater University of Tennessee last year but didn't get the job.

2005 Flair Row 2 #29 Roger Clemens

Roger started 32 games for the Astros in 2005 with a record of 13-8 and an ERA of 1.87. He played again for the Astros in 2006 (after teasing them for months about whether or not he'd come back). He signed with the Yankees in 2007. He is currently trying to rebuild his reputation after being cleared of contempt of Congress charges from drug hearings.

This card is a 1/1 that I pulled from a blaster box.

2005 Topps Heritage #138 Morgan Ensberg

Ensberg had a career year in 2005, hitting .283 with 36 home runs, 101 rbis and an All-Star berth. He was a big part of why the Astros made it to the post season in 2005. He was never able to repeat anything like that in future years. He was traded to the Padres in 2007 and then bounced around from there to the Yankees, the Indians and Rays, who released him before spring training in 2009.

2005 Topps #242 Adam Everett

Everett was a first round draft pick of the Red Sox in 1998, who never really lived up to his potential. He'd been with the Astros since 2001. He was a free agent after the 2007 season and played for the Twins, Tigers and Indians. He was released by the Indians in June last year. He's currently working in the Indians front office.

2005 Topps Cracker Jack #133 Phil Garner

Scrap Iron managed the Astros from 2004 to 2007. He led the Astros to an 89-73 record and a wild card spot in the playoffs only to lose 4 straight to the White Sox in the World Series. The Astros were 82 and 80 in 2006, missing the wild card spot by several games. The Astros replaced him in late 2007 with Cecil Cooper. They had a 58-73 record under Garner. He's currently a Special Adviser to the A's.

2005 Fleer Tradition #266 Mike Lamb

Mike mainly played first base for ailing Jeff Bagwell in 2005. A .236 average and 12 home runs were not exactly Bagwellian. He was a free agent after the 2007 season and is currently playing for the Scranton/Wilkes Barre Yankees.

2005 Studio #133 Jason Lane

Jason, in his 4th year with the Astros was a pretty popular player in town. He also had a career year, hitting .267 with 26 home runs and playing in 145 games. He was traded to the Padres in 2007 and has been with 6 other teams since then but has not played in the majors since 2007. He last signed a major league contract with the D-Backs and made one spring training appearance in 2011 as a pitcher. He later signed with the Sugar Land Skeeters, a non-aligned minor league team playing in the Houston area.

2005 Zenith Brad Lidge

Lidge had an "up" year in 2005. He was third in saves with 42 and an ERA of 2.29. Lidge has had 2 great years in his career, 2005 and 2008 when he helped the Phillies win the World Series. He signed with the Nationals for 2012 but was released in June.


2005 Reflections #35 Roy Oswalt

Roy O was a 20 game winner for the Astros in 2005 after winning 20 games in 2004. He won 3 games in the playoffs and was the NLCS MVP. The Astros traded him to the Phillies in 2010 where he went 7-1 and helped the Phillies into post season play again. In recent years he has suffered from injuries. The Phillies did not sign him after the 2011 season. He recently signed with the Rangers. After going 4-2, the Rangers have apparently assigned him to the bullpen.

2005 Ultimate Collection #8 Andy Pettitte

Andy was 17-9 in his second of 3 years with the Astros. He was another big factor in the Astros reaching the World Series. He went back to the Yankees in 2007. After retiring after the 2010 season, he's back with the Yankees in 2012.

2005 Topps Update #83 Willie Taveras

Willie had a cup of coffee with the Astros in 2004 but played a full season in 2005. He hit .291, scored 82 runs and had 34 steals. He was runner-up to Ryan Howard for Rookie of the Year. The Astros traded him to the Rockies in December 2006 for pitcher Jason Jennings, who was a total bust for the Astros in 2007. Taveras stole 68 bases for the Rockies in 2008. Willie seems to have burned out early and hasn't played in the majors since 2010.

Movie Review - Total Recall

Those who read my movie reviews know that we're suckers for this type of movie. We'll go see any Science Fiction/Adventure movies as long as the trailers are fun and we've not been warned off by atrocious reviews. Even then we might still go see it.  The trailers for this looked great and I only read one review, which gave it a so-so rating.

First off, I'll say, that we (by we I mean my wife and adult daughter) liked it. It's pretty much non-stop action, sometimes over the top action. The one big action scene you've already seen in the trailers is the hover car chase. It looks much better in the movie than in the trailer. I thought the trailer shots of this looked unfinished but the movie version is top notch.

If you saw the original with Arnold you know the story. Douglas Quaid (Colin Farrell, the Schwarzenegger character in the original) is a working class schlub who endures the daily commute from Australia to Great Britain to his assembly line job in the synthetic policeman factory. I'll come back to the commute later. He feels that something is missing from his life (hey, don't we all?). He decides to try the local Total Rekall (that's how it's spelled in the movie) franchise and see what everyone is talking about. "We can remember it for you wholesale" is their slogan (and the title of the original Philip K. Dick story which provides the thin basis for both movies).

He sits in the chair and decides to try out the secret agent simulation. Then all hell breaks out. The movie has the same basic storyline as the original with the colony being in Australia instead of on Mars. Whereas the original was played with tongue planted firmly in check, this version is pretty grim. Hardly a quip to alleviate the tension. The director does a decent enough job with the plot and telling a story you already know. Is it real or just an implanted memory? The movie doesn't really care.

In movies like this there are some things you just overlook. Like bodily injury. Both the Farrell and Jessica Biel character (Melina) take an enormous amount of punishment which doesn't even slow them down. You usually have to overlook the technology, stop asking yourself, is that really possible?  Some characters have phones built into their hands. When you get a call, stuff lights up under the surface of your palm. Cool. Who cares if it's possible when the story takes place aome 80 years in the future?

For me there were two problems with the movie.

Kate Beckensale plays Lori, Quaid's pretend wife. I already mentioned Jessica Biel as Melina, his rebel girlfriend. In the original, Lori was played by Sharon Stone and Melina was played by Rachael Ticotin. Stone very blond, Ticotin, very not blond. Beckensale and Biel are practically twins and at times it was hard to tell who was who. You may have noticed this in the trailer. I wasn't sure if there was one woman playing a schizophrenic character or two women playing twins.  But this is a minor problem.

The real problem I had was a major plot device in the movie. I mentioned that Quaid commutes daily from Australia to Great Britain. How is this possible? Supersonic aircraft? Star Trek transporter? Telecommuting? I'd have easily accepted any of those. What the movie chooses to do is posit a tunnel through the earth (right through the core). A giant capsule is loaded up with people at one end and it's dropped in the hole. It hurtles through the earth and pops out the other side. If I heard correctly, the trip takes 17 minutes. The earth is approximately 8,000 miles in diameter. 17 minutes means it moves at about 470 miles an hour, with no propulsion. They just drop it. In fact the thing is called "The Fall". The biggest question I have is why does it come out the other side and not just stop in the center? Any physics majors out there?

2012 Topps Allen & Ginter - Second Look

I posted some cards a few weeks ago after I had bought two blaster boxes of A&G. I've since acquired a hobby box. Here are a couple more inserts and few new cards.

2012 Topps Allen & Ginter Guys In Hats #7 Mortarboard

This 10-card set features guys in hats! Other cards have a bowler, a boater, a fedora, a fez, a pith helmet, a top hat, a flat cap, a garrison cap and a bigorne. I'm glad I pulled the mortarboard because this isn't just any guy in a hat, it's Nobel-Prize winning chemist Linus Pauling. Don't believe me? Check out the Wikipedia entry for mortarboard.

2012 Topps Allen & Ginter Mini Musical Masters

Mozart was only 35 years old when he died.

The hobby box promised 3 "hits".

2012 Topps Allen & Ginter Framed Relics Bobby Abreu

The framed relics look pretty much like they have since 2006. The frame this year is a dark brown with an ornate border similar to the borders on the cards. I got a home jersey here.

2012 Topps Allen & Ginter Framed Relics Rick Porcello

An away jersey here.

2012 Topps Allen & Ginter Framed Relics Max Scherzer

And another home jersey and another Tiger. If anyone is interested in one of these Tigers I'll entertain a trade for a Phillie Jersey card from the set. I'll also entertain a Phillies autograph card since I didn't get any autos in the box.

And here's a few base cards.


2012 Topps Allen & Ginter #247 Hank Aaron

I haven't made any attempt to check but my impression is that there are more past players in the set this year. This is the first appearance of Hank Aaron in Topps Allen & Ginter.

2012 Topps Allen & Ginter #345 Nolan Ryan

Ryan's first appearance in A&G since it's inaugural year in 2006. He appeared as an Angel in that set. In 2006, A&G was going for 26 cents/card. This year I've paid 46 cents/card. I really like this card because of the colorful Astros uniform from when Ryan played for them.

2012 Topps Allen & Ginter #283 Dale Webster

It wouldn't be Allen & Ginter without some goofy looking character. The back identifies him as the "ultimate California surfer dude". He holds the record for surfing on consecutive days, 10,407. I'll do the math for you, that's over 28 years!  It's also my impression that there are fewer non-baseball players in the set.

2012 Topps Allen & Ginter #232 Katie Upton

 It also wouldn't be Allen & Ginter without at least one babe card. You can hardly do better than the 2012 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue cover model. She is probably not related to the baseball Upton brothers (B. J. and Justin) who, on the night I'm writing this post, both hit their 100th career home runs on the same day.

2012 Summer Clearance Trade Results #1

I featured the cards I was trading away in team order so I'll try to feature the cards I got for each team is order as well. There are still some trades outstanding and I'll circle back to them as they come in. I'm not going to get into how many cards I got in each trade because that doesn't matter. Overall, I'm happy with all the trades. I'm going to feature the best (by my definition) from each trade.

Tom over at The Angels, In Order, wasn't the first to bite, he missed the Angels posting when it went up. But he did get in on the action.

2003 Fleer Tradition Update #257

In 2003, Wagner led the league in appearances with 67 and saved 44 games. His ERA was 1.78.  He had 105 K's and only 23 walks. The strikeouts and saves were career highs for him.

2004 Bowman Heritage #47 Bobby Abreu

 I have very few cards from this set, a set I like a lot. So I was happy to see this.

2004 Bowman Heritage Black and White TV #259 Mitch Einerston

This was a parallel to the base set, 1 per pack. The only Astro I have from this parallel set. I never heard of this guy. He's still in the minor leagues after 8 years.

2005 Bowman Heritage Mahogany #52 Bobby Abreu

I don't know why but I didn't buy a single pack of 2005 Bowman Heritage. I have a handful of Phillies and Astros which I've gotten in other trades. I didn't even know of this parallel until I saw this card. Not a really hard to get parallel as it was inserted 1 per pack but I'm happy to have it. I'm not quite sure I understand the point of this parallel but I like it.

2012 Topps #43 Brett Wallace

Nothing really special about this card except that I've pulled very few Astros cards from packs this year.

2012 Topps Opening Day #130

And for good measure, he sent me the the Opening Day version as well.

2012 Topps #280 Ryan Howard

Howard missed most of the first half of the season, recovering from a broken foot he suffered in the playoffs last year. He's not hitting well since he's been back, which is just one of the many reasons that it is highly doubtful that the Phillies will make it to the playoffs this year.

2012 Summer Clearance Trade - It's Over

Well, thanks to everyone who participated in the great 2012 Capewood's Collections Summer Clearance Trade. The last cards were mailed out last Saturday. It was the largest trading event in the baseball card blogosphere (as far as I know), involving 23 trades in just over 5 weeks and thousands of cards changing hands. There are still three teams left which will be available for a limited time. They are:

A's

Rays

Royals

This post will highlight just a few of the cards I received. I intend to feature each trade in a future blog post but that will take some time. I'm still going through the cards I received and I'm waiting for cards from a few of the trades. Later posts will feature links back to my trading partner's blogs.

This also happens to be my 1,000th post. I've been doing this since early 2008. Sometimes it gets hard to keep going, but trading events like this remind me that there are a lot of great cards I have that I only have because of the great contacts I've made through the blog. So the posts will keep coming.

1976 Topps Traded #68 Ron Reed

I have most of the Phillies cards from the 1970s but Larry managed to find 14 I didn't have, including most of the 1979 set.

1982 Topps #636 Pete Rose/Steve Carlton

This was the last 1982 Topps Phillies card I needed. Thanks Scott.

1985 Topps #760 Nolan Ryan

I'm not really too interested in pre-1995 Astros cards but a Nolan Ryan card I don't have is always welcome. And I have a soft spot in my heart for 1985 Topps since it was the first year I started collecting. Thanks Max.

1990 Classic III #8 Wes Chamberlain

 I've only ever seen one card from this set before and I had to pay for it on eBay. Thanks Greg G.!

1993 Select #79 Mitch Williams

 The Wild Thing, one of the improbable stars of the improbable 1993 Phillies. Thanks Greg A.

1996 Metal Universe #172 Jeff Bagwell

This metal foil monstrosity is from one of the most bizarre sets from the mid-1990s. Another thanks to Greg A.

2002 Absolute Memorabilia #67 Lance Berkman

I don't believe I ever saw these cards for sale anywhere in 2002 so I only have a couple of them. Thanks, John.

2005 Bowman Draft Picks Chrome #86 Tommy Manzella

 I had the gold version of this card. I still don't have the regular version. This guy hasn't made it to the major yet. Thanks, Jeremy.

2006 Upper Deck Kids Mascot #2 Phillie Phanatic

The last, and obviously the most important, card I need to complete this 3-card set. Thanks Larry.

2009 Topps 206 Mini Piedmont #39 Jayson Werth

Werth may not be a Phillie any longer but we loved him when he was. Thanks Kerry.

2011 Topps Diamond Anniversary #460 Cole Hamels

Instead of unloading Hamels, the Phillies signed him to a big long term deal. Thanks for the card Nathan.


2012 Topps Archives #7 Cole Hamels

Another great card from Greg G. Thanks!