When is kiss is not just a kiss

As posted on The Dugout Doctors…

By now you’ve seen the video by now of 18 year old uber-prospect Bryce Harper watching a deep home run, rounding the bases, and blowing a kiss towards the pitcher as he rounds third base. If you haven’t seen the video, here you go.

You say he’s arrogant and that he doesn’t “get it.” You argue that he’s immature and needs to embrace his status as the future of the Washington Nationals and therefore learn to lead by example.

Harper is displaying an arrogance unseen since the days of Rickey Henderson, and perhaps it’s exactly what baseball needs to be exciting again. You can rip a guy like Barry Bonds all you’d like, but don’t pretend for a second that you’ve never mimicked him (or Ken Griffey Jr., or David Ortiz or whoever is your favorite slugger) by admiring a home run in your back yard.

The cockiness is certainly more exciting that than the alternative: the play-it-safe, “my-performance-only-matters-if-the-team-wins” façade put on by most superstar athletes these days.

Screw that. Flip the bat, watch your home run, and walk halfway to first base.

Forgive me for not understanding the general outrage over the incident. When did baseball become a game for stuffy old men and statistical geeks? It’s no wonder nobody cares about baseball anymore. It’s boring. It’s slow. You’re apparently not allowed to have fun. Know when people did care? When Barry Bonds was mashing 500 foot home runs in to the San Francisco Bay remaining in the batter’s box until he saw the ball splash.

And what’s with the double standard among sports? We laugh at touchdown celebrations and criticize the NFL for often being too strict about them. We cheer the NASCAR driver as he spins doughnuts on a track’s infield after winning a race. Yet we scream “unprofessional” when Jonathan Papelbon screams after closing a game or when Giants closer Brian Wilson does his whatever-you-call-it with his arms at the end of each game.

But when Bryce Harper, an 18 year old kid, has a little fun of his own, the world stops spinning. Lighten up.

In other baseball related news

If you don’t check my site more than once a month, you haven’t noticed the disgusting lack of new posts on any sort of consistent basis.  What was once a daily updated site became three times a week… became twice a week… became weekly… became sometimes, maybe.

Turns out, the “Hey, this isn’t as time consuming as everyone said it’d be!” mentality that I had towards the initial months of parenthood was WAY off – parenting is most definitely time consuming.

But at heart, I enjoy writing.  I will continue to update The Priceless Pursuit on occasion, but in the mean time, you can find my work somewhere else:  The Dugout Doctors.  I expect to contribute to this site much more frequently, so click my link incessantly.  All the time.  20 times a day.

My personal blog on the page can be found here.

I won’t copy/paste the entire articles here, because that’d keep hit counts low, don’t ya know, but my first piece is about stats sucking.  No, not the ‘traditional’ categories like wins and losses, but rather all of the new garbage that is too convoluted (and time consuming) to understand.

Go check it out.

Happy Holidays!

To my subscribers, occasional readers, and accidental passers-by:  Happy Holidays!  Whether the year has been good or bad to you, there’s no better time than now to look back and be thankful for everything you do have.

I will be spending the rest of the year with close friends and family, and the Priceless Pursuit will return in the new year with new content, fresh ideas, and even more blasts from the past.  I’ve got a whole closet full (and then some) of oldies but goodies ready to be unleashed.

Happy Holidays!

It’s finally mine (EARMUFFS!)

Eyeball earmuffs, that is.

There are a handful of cards that I consider “must own”, the list of which can be seen here.  I recently added one of them to my collection:

A couple of months ago I purchased a box of 1989 Fleer from my card shop with the sole hope of pulling this specific card.  I was set on busting the box, one or two packs at a time, until I found the freakin’ Billy Ripken “error” card.  Turns out, it was seeded only six packs in, so I’ve still got a nearly full box of ’89 Fleer on the shelf in my MCCS.

Sure, I could’ve easily purchased this card on ebay, COMC, or any number of other places, but cards like this simply must be pulled from a pack, don’t you think?  And besides, the cost of the box was probably equal (or close) to what I would’ve paid for the individual card, anyway.  And now I can say that I have, in fact, pulled one of these beauties.

Guess the package!

Three clues:

1. It’s baseball cards
2. It’s from Blowout Cards
3. It’s a jumbo box of 2010 Topps Series 2!!!!!

I also picked up some supplies.  I could’ve either preordered at $87.99 and paid for shipping, bringing the total close $98, or I could’ve added $12 in supplies and received free shipping.  I chose the latter option, essentially getting five or six packs of top loaders for $2.

I’ll have a nice three day weekend to clear enough space in the man cave card shop for the box.

What do these guys have in common?

What do these guys…

And these guys…

… have in common? They’re all beginning to report to Spring Training today!  Gloves will be popping, bats will be cracking, and small market teams and fans everywhere can begin their pipe dreams of playoff runs and World Series championships.

‘Bout time!

Pro Debut confuses me

2010 Topps scans are hitting the internet, and it already it’s seems if it’ll be a love-hate relationship between Topps and collectors.  I’m sure a box or two will make it’s way into my home at some point, perhaps sooner than later.  For now, I’m looking ahead to flagship Topps’ little brother.

I was checking out upcoming card releases and came across a product I think I remember reading about a couple months ago, 2010 Topps Pro Debut.  It’ll be a minor league set, hobby exclusive, with two autographs and one relic per 24 pack box.  Not too shabby, but will this set be a big deal?

What will it do to something like Bowman, which is already laden with minor leaguers who are years from making their MLB debuts?  Do minor league sets hold any sort of long term value?  Aren’t there minor league sets already out there, or will be this be different since it’s backed by Topps and will use the same design as the flagship product?

I’ve worked in minor league baseball and have always had a soft spot for the game’s lower levels, but I’m not feeling a box of this stuff, at least not at this point in time with a pre-sell price in the $60 range.  I see this mostly as card shop fodder: something I’ll get at the hobby shop to feel like I’m being somewhat productive with my money.

Curious to hear your thoughts on 2010 Topps Pro Debut.

Support your local card shop

It’s no secret that the best deals on cards are found online through one of the many mega warehouses.  Prices on boxes are  so low that there’s really no good reason to buy a hobby box anywhere BUT the internet. However, nothing on the internet will ever replicate the feeling of an afternoon in a card shop, wandering the same aisle(s) you wander on every visit, looking at the same assortment of packs, the same singles, and the same boxes, updated only when new product is released.

I don’t think the hobby is dying, but it is most certainly changing.  While the warehouses can afford to advertise through some of our blogs and on various message boards and forums, the “little guy” doesn’t have a budget for anything more than the lighted sign on the outside of the building.  So why don’t we all take a minute to spread the word about our own favorite local card shops?  What we like, what we buy, etc.

Before I go any further, let me be clear that I’m getting anything in return for my “endorsement”, nor am I expecting anything.  Plus, my endorsement is pretty much worthless anyway.  In fact, I’m going to leave out the shop’s name altogether, and if you’re interested and live in my area (San Diego), I’d be more than happy to pass along the name.  Good?

My shop is located in the rear of a tiny “strip mall” on a not-so-traveled road connecting two not-so-central towns in my county.  You have almost zero reason to take this particular road unless you’re trying to get to that store that sells everything in jumbo sizes and massive quantities, and even that would be if you don’t feel like taking the highway to the jumbo box store that’s probably actually closer.  And I use the term “strip mall” loosely.  I can’t even remember the names of offices around it.  There’s a Mexican restaurant and a tax place, I think.  And my shop’s name isn’t even on the main sign at the front of the complex!  I’d actually driven by the shop a handful of times without ever knowing it was there, and even when I first found out about it I almost drove right by – and that was after knowing the address.  It’s very easy to overlook.

There are two distinct halves in the store.  One half is baseball and supplies, the other is everything else.  You first walk in and are greeted by an absolutely glorious table of junk wax from the late ’80s and early ’90s.  Also on this table are boxes of oddball issues (Mario Kart cards come to mind), Kenner Starting Line Up figurines, and more.  To the right is an entire wall of packs, something of almost everything from the past five years or more.  It’s quite expansive, and they’re all unsearched – I know because I’ve pulled a few really nice hits from individual wax.

Straight ahead from the door is the ‘main’ wall which runs the length of the store, absolutely loaded with unopened boxes and high end packs of Sweet Spot, Ball Park Collection, etc.  About three quarters of the way down it switches over to football and maybe basketball – I’ve never been interested enough to look.

The wall opposite the “baseball pack wall” at the far end of the store is all basketball and football packs, and perhaps some hockey.  Again, because of a general lack of interest on my behalf (not others, I’m sure) I’ve only been to this side of the store a couple times.

The wall adjacent to the door – which is behind you after entering – is all oddball boxes.  Star Trek, Star Wars, Garbage Pail Kids, stuff like that.  In the corner, where the “odd ball wall” meets the basketball/football wall, is a shelf of supplies.

The center “island” is almost entirely supplies, piled high with various thicknesses of top loaders, sleeves, pages, etc, along with more figurines and various collectibles.  And you’re not in cardboard overload by now, all of the counters are more than just plain ol’ counters.  They’re display cases which are mostly consignment!  Lots of old singles can be found behind the glass, not to mention the pseudo famous bargain relic bin.  (Quick thanks to whoever prices their relics at three for $2; keep ’em coming!).

Good stuff.  I’m sure there’s a lot more to be discovered, and it’s my fault for not going to the shop more on weekends when I’d have more than a lunch hour to look around.  It’s shops like these that make me think the hobby will still be around for quite a while longer.  The experience of the shop is almost as priceless as anything I could ever pull from a pack.  And come to think of it, I haven’t been in a while.  A shopping spree is in order next week!

Now it’s your turn to tell everyone about YOUR shop!  Use the name if you’d like, or not.  And feel free to leave a comment or create a post of your own.  The only thing I enjoy more than reading about peoples’ cards is reading about peoples’ card shops, and I have a feeling I’m not alone.

The times they are a changing

I recently had a chance to visit my local card shop with my favorite card collecting partner, the guy who introduced me to the sport of baseball and the hobby of card collecting: my dad.  I vividly remember the days when he’d pick me up from pre-school (it was usually my mom who had the duty), because I knew we’d stop at Grand City in Brunswick, Maine, and we’d each pick out a couple packs of 1987 Topps.  I was absolutely hooked on the hobby, because I now owned cards of the very same guys I saw playing on TV!  Granted, I was only in pre-school and can’t remember getting excited about any particular player, but I knew dad liked the Yankees, so I figured those must be good.  I was probably the only collector on the planet excited to pull a Steve Balboni.

After our recent card shop visit, my dad couldn’t help but remark on how much the hobby has evolved since his days as a young collector.  He left a comment saying that I should tell the story of him looking up his ’62 Topps set, on the internet, on a phone, in a card shop.  Who ever would’ve thought?  Of course, since I’ve only recently jumped back in to serious collecting, this is the hobby I know.  He, the guy who’s collection is far more valuable than I can ever hope mine will be, is the one with some catching up to do!  I invited my dad to write about his thoughts on the hobby’s growth through the years, so enjoy this special guest entry.

Having collected baseball cards for nearly 50 years it struck me recently how much the hobby and the world has changed.  As I was visiting my son in San Diego we made a point of taking some time to go to a card shop so that I could look for some “commons” for my 1962 Topps collection.  I have my cards cataloged on the Beckett site but it is virtually impossible to print an inventory.  As I was fumbling through several sheets that I did print I asked my son if I could use his iphone to go to the Beckett site.  Of course it worked like a champ… so there I stood looking for 1962 baseball cards using an iphone and the internet.

Why do things have to get so big, so fast, so technically advanced as time goes on?  Card collecting in the 1960s and earlier was as innocent a hobby as there could be.  Topps were the main sets available.  Sure, there were some others, but they were few and far between.  A typical pack of cards cost five cents and came with a flat stick of bubble gum.  I felt like a big shot if I had a quarter or 50 cents… imagine 5 or 10 packs of cards!!  There was no such thing as buying a complete set if memory serves.  I would put the cards in boxes and asked my Mom to please leave them alone (in other words – don’t throw them out….we have all heard those stories).  I would take the doubles (duplicate cards) to school and we would scale them toward a wall… the goal was to get the closest to the wall to win all the others that had fallen short.  The ultimate was to get a “leaner”: a card that ended up leaning upright against the wall.  Many kids also used the cards as noise makers for their bicycles.  This was done by clipping a card to the wheel support so the card laid against the spokes, so as the wheels turned the spokes vibrated the card making sort of a roaring noise (maybe why, to this day, I’d love to have a Harley).  I would bundle my cards by team, neatly wrap a rubber band around them, and store them in a shoe box.   Occasionally I would glue them in to a photo album (bad move – so I learned later).  There were no plastic sheets,  baseball card binders, or protective cases.

Now I said that I would buy 25 or 50 cents worth of cards…at the card shop???  No, there was no such thing.  I went to a corner soda fountain/candy store – Sam’s (no – not Sams Club – that did not exist then) in Bloomfield, New Jersey.  There the box or boxes would be sitting and, much like today, I’d try my luck. Maybe I’d get a Mickey Mantle or a Willie Mays!!  It seemed as though the cards were released by number as the baseball season went on – you would never get card 500 in April nor card 15 in October.  Every now and then my mind would drift and I’d think about having a son of my own some day and getting him interested in the hobby.

As the years went on the hobby grew.  Many card manufacturers came to be.  Many different styles of cards went in and out of vogue.  Baseball cards shops and shows started to appear, and then came along son number one, daughter number one, and son number two.  Son number one is the creator of this blog so I’ll focus on him.  He was really interested in baseball from a very early age, and it was a thrill for me to take him to a ball game.  I think he was about two years old for the first one when we went to Candlestick Park to see the Giants play.  His interest in baseball grew and grew through high school and college and many, many military changes of duty stations.  Then, not too long ago two big things occurred.  First, he established this blog!  I had no idea his card collecting had become a passionate past time, a priceless pursuit.  The second big deal was the news of his first son, my first grandson whom we pray will be joining us in a couple of weeks.  So there I was back in the San Diego card shop, iPhone in hand with my baseball card buddy, savoring the moment. But the card shop – I was amazed to see the quantity of cards and card related action figures, etc… it was simply overwhelming.  I was able to remain focused on my 1962s, though.  I made my picks and as we were about to leave I saw what to me had been a dream as a young collector: a complete set of (2009) Topps cards, which are now safely stowed in the nursery waiting for my Grandson to arrive to join Dad and Grandpa in our “priceless pursuit”.

How will YOU pass the the time?

The baseball season is over for most teams, and one more will join the club after this afternoon’s Tigers-Twins one game playoff.  This undoubtedly – and understandably – leads to a waning interest not only in the sport but baseball card collecting, too.  I’ve noticed a slowdown in posts and entries around the blogosphere over the past couple weeks and got to thinking, what will you do to get through the winter?

This is the first off-season in which I’ve been an active card collector in a long, long time.  In fact, I didn’t re-start collecting until a couple months into the ’09 season, so I’m not sure what I’ll be doing for the few relatively cold months in southern California until baseball kicks back up in March.  I hope all of you continue to blog – I know I surely will – but I’m interested to hear where you’ll be spending your money, what you’ll be collecting, what you’ll be waiting for, etc.

Will you finish off any sets you’d started in the past month or so?

Will you pursue the various update sets yet to release?

Will you hold out for holiday sales from your card shops or online warehouses?  Are there any mega-sales from online warehouses around the holidays?

Will you turn to football and/or basketball cards?

Will you do nothing and start saving for next season?