'Are You Drunk!?!?'

Henderson Alvarez was tossed out of the game today. After giving up 3 home runs in a row, he had a 2 & 2 count on Ian Kinsler. There were two out. The next pitch was inside to Kinsler & the ump tossed him. No warning, nothing...just thrown from the game. Why he would throw at the guy, with a 2-2 count needing only 1 more strike is beyond me.



J.P. Arencibia sums it up nicely.

Staying up late so you don't have to.

Some time ago...perhaps during the Paleolithic Era (or maybe it was just last month), I sent some Clayton Kershaw & Ron Cey type things to Greg Night Owl. He was kind enough to send some Birds of a Blue Feather to me.


Roy Halladay cards are great. But this just might be the greatest & my personal favourite Roy Halladay card. It's 1000% badass. Night Owl recognizes this Badassity as evidenced by the header of his blog.


This card & pretty much any 1971 Topps card or '71 knockoff / tribute is good by me. Awhile back I started down the path of completing the '71 set...managing to knock off a decent number of the key cards...but ultimately it was a bit too daunting a set to contemplate-for now anyways. Night Owl is not so easily intimidated.


There's just so much right about the '71 design. One of the biggest reasons I dig sets like Heritage & Archives is that I can finally see Blue Jays players on those classic designs. I'm slightly jealous of collectors of older teams...their team collections often span many decades, whereas Blue Jays collectors can only go back as far as 1977. I suppose in a way it's a bit of a blessing...but still.

And hey, whaddyaknow. Here's one of those ancient '77 Blue Jays cards now! And it's a card I didn't have to boot. Good stuff!


Adam Lind - what happened guy? Seeing or hearing about Adam Lind these days give me a tinge of sadness. You know the feeling...when an established, home grown player slumps to such a degree that he gets shipped to the wilds of the Minor Leagues. Riding the suffer bus. It's a part of sports & being a fan...but damn. Adam Lind's soul was in darkness this year. It was tough to watch. Hopefully he's able to regain some semblance of the player he was. The very early returns in AAA are good but there's lots & lots of work to do. Good luck Sleepy.

Thanks Greg!

Trade with The Dutch Card Guy.

Not long ago I was contacted by Jeroen (The Dutch Card Guy) at European Baseball Card Collector and POOF!...a trade was hatched. My first trade with an overseas collector. I feel like whenever there's a First of this sort, something momentous should occur...perhaps along the lines of whatever that thing is at Marlins Park:



Yeah...that's what I'm talking about. The rest of this post may have to wait awhile....can't.stop.staring.at.that.thing...

Ok. Gotta get it together.

I sent Jeroen three cards from my Trade Bait page - A Yogi Berra relic, a Yankees prospect auto and a Tim Lincecum chrome card....oh & some Yankees pitchers for his PC's. In return I got some great Blue Jays cards - including that super nice Ricky Romero relic you see up top there.

Here are some other things Jeroen sent:


David Cooper is a Jays First Base prospect playing at AAA Las Vegas. He played a few games for the Jays last year & even won himself the Pacific Coast League batting title. Sadly, his future does not look to be in Toronto as he didn't get the call when the Big League team demoted Adam Lind. Baseball is tough like that.



In the early nineties, I remember snapping up cards of hot shot Cubs prospects Jerome Walton & Dwight Smith. Well, here is a shiny blue refractor of Dwight Smith's kid....Dwight Smith Jr. I feel old.


I am old but here is Carlos Delgado looking young. Donruss Studio cards...so wacky.



I can't say I recall Felipe Crespo...but I now know what he might look like on a Dollar Bill. The rendering of him on the left side of this card is pretty interesting...it has quite a gritty texture. I can't say I've seen this 'dollar bill effect'done on a card.

Thanks so much for the trade Jeroen!

35 years of awesome.

No...my 35th birthday was last year.
But Happy 35th to my favourite ballplayer & noted Red Beard, Roy Halladay.

To celebrate, I've scanned some of my Halladay collection & added them to my PC page....which you can check out Here. I'll try to add some more images to the page later.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ROY!
MAY YOU CONTINUE TO BE GREAT & DOMINATE YOUR IRKSOME FOES!

Vlad The Impaler.

Vladimir Guerrero is fun.

I don't know if there will actually be a Vladdly sighting in Toronto this summer, but I hope so cuz Vlad rules. Seeing him step in the box in a Blue Jays uniform would be a sweet sight. Not that I think Vlad has a heck of a lot left in the tank....I'm inclined to think that 37 year old Vlad is a shell of his former self. But on the off chance he can still contribute and be a productive bat off the bench - sign me up for that.

NO BATTERZ GLOVES! SMILE A LOT! SWING AT EVERYTHING!
FUN!

My first look at Bowman. Likes & Dislikes.

Everyone kinda gets the deal with Bowman. They have a formula...they stick to the formula. Simple, rarely deviating designs, Rookie Cards out the wazoo, some Chrome, And Black borders. Always with the black borders. That's what you get...and you'll like it (unless you don't).

WAT!?!?!?? A white border? Is this the first time Bowman has gone with something other than the standard issue black border? My goodness. So confused right now. A real...ahem...Game Changer. I'm kinda impressed.

Oh, and hey Albert - while I've got you...it wasn't real nice to hit your first big fly of the year off this unheralded rookie here. That was selfish man. Pick on a Bonafide Big Leaguer whydontcha.....not some newb making his 4th start.

Here's a couple of those bonafide big leaguers (NL East Edition) wearing some sweet throwback uni's. I dig it.

Bowman's Bread & Butter. Prospects!

In my head right now is Allan Iverson - "We talkin' bout Prospects Man!....We talkin' bout Prospects!...". And hey & it was the 10 year anniversary of Iverson's legendary 'Practice' rant, two days ago.

PRACTICE!



I'm no 'Merican...but I really like the looks of this card. Sharp.



I also like the Bowman's Best cards. Last year's were definitely nicer...but this is still a good look. What is not a good look is the Mark Teixeria face that Ryan Braun is making. I don't like the Mark Teixeria face.

Texas is very good at baseball. That guy on the left...he's great at baseball. I mean, I hit 4 home runs nightly in my dreams...but in real life? Not so much.

I don't like Bryce Harper's haircut but I like getting his cards & I quite enjoy watching him play. Hits hard, runs hard, throws hard. Fun stuff. I'm happy that he's going to be around for awhile. He mixes it up. It should be interesting.

Psst....Astros...

Hey Astros, I understand that you might be adverse to rocking the hell out of the uniforms that Drabek, Biggio & Bagwell are sporting here.  I get it. 

But please, please please change your uniforms to this.  They're everything right.  I can't fathom a reason not to make a permanent switch.  You'll take the ....American League by storm.  The colours, the hat & uniforms are all so right. 

Do what I tell you.  Thanks.