One Man's Thoughts on Sports Card Collecting

Saturday, March 28, 2015

Fantasy Baseball Draft Live Blog

I decided to try something new and live blog my fantasy draft. We do a hybrid auction/draft, with everyone using $100 fake dollars to get 5 players via auction, and then we switch to a 20-round snake draft.  12-team league, weekly head-to-head matchups.  Categories are 6x6 - Batting average, Runs, HRs, RBIs, Stolen bases and OBP for offense; Quality Starts, Ks, ERA, WHIP, Saves and Holds for pitching.

 The Donora Lefty Legends are coming off an awful season in 2014 (5-17), so we cant do any worse!

Here we go!

I am targeting Altuve and either Gomez or McCutcheon in the auction.

Update 1 - oh, and GO BADGERS~!

Lots of huge bids going around. Trout and Kershaw both go for over $70. Unfortunately I lost out on McCutcheon, as I wasn't willing to go to $62 for him.  Still have Gomez and Altuve out there.

Almost picked up Anthony Rizzo, but ended up letting him go at a low price. Couldn't bring myself to have a Cub be my first player. :-)

We're on the board!  First player - Jose Abreu.  I couldn't pass up the deal he was going for. Planning on laying dormant now until Altuve or Gomez comes up.

(60 seconds later) - wow, that was fast. Gomez comes up and I got him. Dont let me down Go-Go!!!

Dammit!!! I got outbid for Altuve by the only guy left who could outbid me. Sonofa......

I pick up Madison Bumgarner for a steal.  Didn't really expect to get a pitcher here, but i'm ok with it.

I rounded out the auction segment with Jose Reyes and Anthony Rendon. Rendon is eligible at both 2B and 3B, so that is a nice bonus. I'm feeling pretty good about the core i've put together. If you believe Rotowire I got 4 of the top 31 overall.

Picking 9th in the snake draft now. Probably going to target starting pitchers or closers first.

Ok I lied. I picked up Hunter Pence first,  loved the value there. Took Dodger closer Kenley Jansen on the rebound.

Just realized Jansen is hurt and out for at least a couple weeks. Fuck.

Picked up Pirates closer Mark Melancon and Ryan Zimmerman. Looks like I have locked in a path - we are going to win with offense, saves and holds, and starting pitching is going to be a crapshoot.

Next another closer, Steve Cishek.  And then Marlins OF Marcell Ozuna. I am REALLY trusting my magazines on the Ozuna pick.  Both are VERY high on him.  If they are right I got huge value here. I am hoping Neil Walker makes it back to me.

Badgers back to the Final Four! Woot woot!

Aaaand Walker makes it back! I get Walker and the shockingly still available Justin Morneau.

If nothing else, this team is going to MASH.

Next up, Toronto closer Brett Cecil and finally starting pitcher number two, Wily Peralta. Very surprised and happy Peralta was still there, since this is a room full of Brewer fans! It was a choice between Peralta and former Brewer Alcides Escobar, hopefully Escobar and his much-needed steals make it back around.

Escobar made it, so I snatched him up. Then I rounded out my offensive starting lineup with catcher-eligible Evan Gattis. Again, this. Team. Will. MASH.

Other than a fourth OF, it's gonna be all pitchers from here on out.

Mike Fiers is next. STUNNED he was still available here. I am a big believer in him, LOVE this pick.  Followed that up with Nationals pitcher Tanner Roark. Trusting the magazine again on that one.

Time for a pair of Holds guys who are also potential closers - Danny Farquhar of Seattle and Jordan Walden of the Cardinals.  I am hoping Nori Aoki is there for my next pick. He's a favorite of mine and also would be a nice source of steals.

I got Nori! And my final two picks went deep into the starting pitcher list - Kevin Gausman of the Orioles and Jason Hammel of the Cubs.

I am PUMPED about this team. I made an extra effort to prepare after last year's debacle and I think it really paid off. I think the offense is very good, as is the relief corps. If I can get anything at all from the starting pitchers (or pick up a couple off waivers during the season) I really think this team will contend.



Friday, March 27, 2015

You've Been.....THUNDERSTRUCK~!

I miss 1990s-style inserts.  So much great stuff from back then.

Case in point, the newest addition to my Griffey collection:

(I used the COMC pic to save some time)

I fell in love with this card the moment I saw it on eBay.  It doesn't come through well in the picture, but the lightning bolt is sparkly foil, not just printed on the background.  Fleer Ultra had "Thunderclap" as an annual insert set for several years, so I will definitely go looking for the Griffeys from other years.

1997 Fleer Ultra Thunderclap Checklist:
1 Barry Bonds
2 Mo Vaughn
3 Mark McGwire
4 Jeff Bagwell
5 Juan Gonzalez
6 Alex Rodriguez
7 Chipper Jones
8 Ken Griffey, Jr.
9 Mike Piazza
10 Frank Thomas

On an only slightly related note - can we all agree that the opening of AC/DC's "Thunderstruck" is one of the best guitar riffs of all time?