Brewer Cards As Black As My Mood...

It has been a bad 6 months to be a Milwaukee sports fan.  First, the Brewers had their 6-week death march where they managed to miss the playoffs entirely after leading the division for 150 days.  And then today we had....whatever the hell that was that the Packers did.  Without hyperbole, both were HISTORIC collapses in their respective sports, and both squandered golden opportunities at having a truly special season.  

In light of all that, now seemed like a fitting time to post some nice Brewer cards I picked up for my team collection - a set of 9 black background cards from the 2011 set.

I hadn't seen any of these in person until now. They are pretty cool, the blackout effect really makes the player photo jump off of the card.  I especially like the Gomez, Hoffman's 600th save, and team card celebration shots.

This group also includes a guy who may not be a Brewer for long - it appears the Crew is trading Yovani to the Rangers.  Oddly, no one seems to have any idea what we are getting in return yet,  One reporter speculated that the team might be clearing room to make a run at James Shields, which would be SWEET, but I doubt it's true.

Welp, time to start counting the days until Pitchers & Catchers Report Day.  "Hope springs eternal" and all that.....

Catching Up On Some Old, Old Trades

Today I've got a couple of looooooooooooooong overdue thank yous for a couple of my fellow bloggers.

First up, a package from Jeff at Cardboard Catastrophes.  For reasons that even he didn't understand, he picked up this oddball Griffey at a card show:

I loves me a good oddball card, so when he offered it to me I was happy to give it a good home.

He also sent along a few 2011 Topps Heritage to check off my list:

Thanks Jeff!  I'm sure I'll find something good to send you back.

The second round of thanks goes to Kyle at Juuust A Bit Outside.  A while back I sent him a stack of 2011 Topps Stickers for his son's collection, and he ended up sending me back a nice stack of Brewers for my team collection:

Thanks Kyle!

When the Diamond Giveaway Gives You Lemons....

...make Robin-ade~!



(That's an actual product by the way.  Good stuff.)

But seriously, my luck with the Diamond Giveaway codes wasn't great this year, there were few pre-1970 cards to be found in my stack.  But when I found out that I was going to get free shipping (for 25 cards, at least) thanks to reaching the 45-ring mark, I got an idea - why not work the trade wires and convert all these random cards into random Brewer cards??  By the time I was done, I had a collection chock full of Milwaukee Brewer history! Unfortunately no cards of Mr. Yount though...

This one is my personal favorite of the lot.  That mustache makes a statement, and that statement is that this man is most definitely Randy and Ready.

Another favorite pickup was this 1977 Brewers Team Card:

And of course I really like my two Diamond Die Cuts.  The scan really doesn't do them justice:

Sadly I had a third diamond die cut of Chris Young from the Diamondbacks, but I was unable to convert that card into a Rickie Weeks diamond die cut.  Available for trade for any Arizona fans out there!

And now, the rest!:

1973 Topps #74 - Billy Champion



1974 Topps #12 - Dave May
1974 Topps #525 - Clyde Wright
1974 Topps #574 - Bill Parsons
1975 Topps #305 - Jim Colborn
1975 Topps #456 - Bob Coluccio
1976 Topps #244 - Bill Sharp
1976 Topps #479 - Bobby Mitchell

1977 Topps #307 - Gary Sutherland

1978 Topps #77 - Ed Kirkpatrick

1978 Topps #51 - Charlie Moore

1978 Topps #24 - Don Money

1978 Topps #474 - Jim Slaton

1978 Topps #95 - Jamie Quirk

1979 Topps #285 - Don Money

1979 Topps #243 - Buck Martinez

1979 Topps #213 - Bill Travers

1979 Topps #133 - Bill Castro

1979 Topps #108 - Eduardo Rodriguez

1980 Topps #24 - Jim Slaton

1980 Topps #579 - Charlie Moore

1980 Topps #357 - Bob McClure

1980 Topps #668 - Brewers Future Stars: Danny Boitano, Willie Mueller, Lenn Sakata

1981 Topps #183 - Dick Davis

1981 Topps #25 - Sixto Lezcano

1982 Topps #378 - Mike Caldwell

1982 Topps #466 - Randy Lerch

1983 Topps #10 - Gorman Thomas

1984 Topps #298 - Jim Gantner

1985 Topps #317 - Jack Lazorko

1986 Topps #137 - Charlie Moore

1986 Topps #662 - Bill Schroeder

All told, I picked up 36 Brewers for my team binder.  Not too shabby at all!

Previous Trivia Question:

Who delivered the famous "The Giants win the pennant!" radio call for Bobby Thomson's "Shot Heard 'Round the World"?

 

A:  Russ Hodges was the voice behind this famous moment in baseball history.

 

Today's Trivia Question:

 

What stadium served as the home of Philadelphia baseball for 67 years beginning in 1909?

Diamond Sparkle SPs - Finally An Answer!

Ever since I first saw one of these "Diamond Sparkle" short prints I've been wondering if the sparkle is something shiny or just part of the image.  I could never get an answer at my local card shop, so when I saw my current favorite Brewer had one of these cards I decided to go out and get the answer for myself.  The latest addition to my Brewer binder:

It only took me all year, but now I know that the sparkle doesn't actually sparkle.  This means I might have easily missed one while busting packs.  Great, now I'm going to have to go through all my Topps base cards from this year...

Previous Trivia Question:

 

What franchise became the first team to lose 10,000 games in 2007?

 

A: The Philadelphia Phillies recorded their 10,000th loss with a 10-2 drubbing by the Cardinals.  To be fair, the franchise has been around since 1883, so it shouldn't be surprising that they have lost that many games.

 

Today's Trivia Question:

 

Who delivered the famous "The Giants win the pennant!" radio call for Bobby Thomson's "Shot Heard 'Round the World"?

It Came From the Card Closet~!! - Part 1

With my Mom trying to sell her house I've had to finally go through my old closet full of baseball cards.  Among the piles and piles of 1992 Donruss, 1988 Topps, and 1993 Score (along with plenty of other junk wax sets) I've come across some interesting stuff that I had forgotten I even had.  I plan to put up a series of posts chronicling the forgotten, cool, and in some cases just plain odd things I find as I get everything into something resembling order.

Today, I have the first of a few different sets of cards I got as fan giveaways at Brewer games years ago.  This group of 4 marked the opening of the Brewers Walk of Fame that now lines the sidewalks around Miller Park.  They began with the 4 players that have had their numbers retired by the organization:

Hammerin' Hank Front

And Back

Since starting with Aaron, Fingers, Molitor, and Yount they have added over a dozen  others, including fan favorites Cecil Cooper and Gorman Thomas, legendary broadcaster Bob Uecker, and also Milwaukee Braves greats Warren Spahn and Eddie Mathews.

Previous trivia question:

The original Milwaukee Brewers, one of the American League's 8 charter franchises in 1901, eventually turned into what current big league team?

Answer: The original Milwaukee Brewers left town after just one season, becoming the hapless St. Louis Browns.  After 52 seasons in St. Louis the team moved again, and they became the Baltimore Orioles in 1954.

Today's trivia question:

In July 1993, Ken Griffey Jr. tied a big league record by homering in 8 consecutive games.  What other 2 players also accomplished that feat? (hint: one of them just became the manager of a major league team)