Getting Stoned with Greg Maddux

I'm not sure what came over me yesterday. A sense of childlike giddiness? Is that a word? But it was fun.

More on this later in the post.

But I'm here to tell you, there's something else. A somewhat-normal post. I don't have anything great for you today other than some recent arrivals. There is some awesomeness in this post, though!

Did you go to the Phillies/Braves game on August 11, 2007? Of course you didn't!

 Neither did I!

But if I had, or you had, or you knew someone who had, you would have known about this:

 That's right! A team card pack! But no team card pack would be complete without some sort of advertisement. Since this is sponsored by Majestic, how about a deal at the Majestic Clubhouse Store?

 Too bad it expired nearly four years ago. On to the cards!
The base design:

 If you don't recall my obsession with Geoff Geary from a couple months ago, his appearance in this set was the whole reason for buying it. I'll get to add a couple cards to the Cardboard Zoo while I'm at it. Does the design look familiar? Yeah. Recycling the same year's Artifacts design.

Here's the card back:

 At least the set is identified properly on the back.

 What's this? Vintage Phillies? It's part of a 10-card insert set, added one per pack. There are autographed cards inserted randomly as well. I didn't luck into any of those.

This is one of those sets that doesn't appear in a database, and without chancing upon it you wouldn't know it exists. It's great to have this set, because it's two more cards towards the Zoo, and one more for the Geary Collection.

A few cards from the weekend:

 I believe Fleer did a Headliners insert set that looked very much like this. It's an attractive design. Too bad these are unlicensed cards from the early '90s. They have a bit of a curl to them, like Chrome, except backwards.

 Bruce Ruffin had a great rookie year, and not much else. His son Chance just had his MLB debut this July.

Tyler Robertson was promising around 2008, but has slipped lately. He worked completely in relief, mainly as a closer with AA New Britain this year, managing to earn a 10-3 record with 16 saves.

Both of these (supposedly) signed cards are available for trade. I don't want much at all. Really, I'm easy. I can't guarantee their authenticity, but it is my belief that the autographs are authentic. The same goes for the 2007 Phillies set - I'm keeping the Carlton, Geary, and one other card (who it is doesn't matter to me), but if there's anyone else from the 2007 Phillies you're interested in, let me know. I'll even trade the whole team away for a few nice cards in return.

Now for the grand finale, this card from the start of the post:

Why is this blurry? Because the case it's in is literally as big as an iPhone, and my scanner can't focus beyond the glass. It's one of those Leaf Best of Baseball "cut signature" cards. The cut signature isn't cut from anything. It's a piece of wall tile glued to a baseball card. Everyone's calling it a stone (hence the post title) but it really is like a tile sample. I knew what I was getting going in, so I'm not really complaining, but I have to be honest - I'd much more prefer a fake cut autograph on a piece of paper, or an on-card signature. But beggars can't be choosers, so this is a great autograph to add to my collection. Maybe in a few years I can upgrade it to something less massive. 

Going Postal: Rookies, Fans, and a One-Legged Man

Wednesday was a busy day! I kicked off my contest, Topps Series 2 came out, and I received several packages in the mail. What kind of awesomeness camed wrapped in bubbles? Let's find out!

First, some stuff that came earlier this week:

Sisler and Smith finish off my Series 1 insert needs - Sisler's in the CMG Reprints set, while Smith is a Cards Your Mom Threw Out 60 Years Of Topps.

Twinkle, twinkle little star... This little gimmick came via a simple one-for-one trade with Ted of Crinkly Wrappers. One more card for the sampler collection!

 Now for Wednesday's arrivals. First, a lot of Bowman inserts. Above are some international parallels. I'll keep the Rubinstein, and the rest are for trade.

 Next, some of those beautiful Bowman's Best inserts. I'm keeping the Felix unless someone offers me something nice for it, and Crawford heads to the sampler collection. Halladay is for trade!

 Last, and least interesting, four Topps of the Class inserts. I'll keep Chavez, since he has such a strange name, for the sampler collection. The rest are for trade!

 Next up is a lot of Fans of the Game, purchased from Sportlots. I'm getting closer to completing the set, although there was a new group of cards issued in a hockey set this year that I need to get my hands on when prices get a little lower.

 Now some cards from my main man, Geoff Geary. The three above covers his flagship Upper Deck run.

And here we have a one-legged man. Poor Geoff must have lost his leg in a horrible hunting accident. I believe this is his only Topps card. The text on the back of the card isn't that nice: "Philadelphia re-signed Geary for 2005, but he'll  need more consistency before he can be trusted in high-pressure situations." Madson was described as Philadelphia's setup man for 2004, and winner of the Phillies Most Valuable Pitcher.

Speaking of not having legs (no pun intended), ESPN's Sportscenter app sent an alert notifying me that two paralyzed players were drafted this year. I know it's one of those "feel-good" type of moves, especially since at that point in the draft teams have pretty much filled their spots, but kudos to the Rangers and Astros. Maybe Topps will put them in Bowman Draft Picks and Prospects.

Just Your Average Major Leaguer

Baseball history will always remember a couple greats from each generation. Ruth and Gehrig, DiMaggio and Williams, Mantle and Mays, Fisk and Bench, Brett and Ryan, Griffey and Bonds, Jeter and A-Rod. Sure, there's more, and those of us who follow baseball can name off hundreds more, most of whom are either in the Hall of Fame or headed that way.

And then you have your local heroes, the day-to-day players who filled a position for years or were a part of a championship team, like Will Clark and Kevin Mitchell, Sid Bream and Otis Nixon, Lou Whitaker and Alan Trammell. These players may make the Hall of Fame, but even if they aren't headed to Cooperstown they're remembered in local Hall of Fames and stories.

And then there are the never-weres. Thousands of players who may have had a sip of coffee, or maybe saw the Starbucks from the interstate but never got to stop. While most are never even noticed by anyone other than the most studious farm-following fans, a couple become big names. This is where players like Todd Van Poppel and Brien Taylor land. Every once in a while, flipping through an old stack of cards or newspaper articles, you come across a name and say, "Hey, I remember that guy. He was supposed to take over for George Brett. I wonder what happened to him." Maybe you do a little research on the former rookie star and find he later worked as a groundskeeper in the Mets minor league system for a couple years.

Somewhere in between the day-to-day players and the ones who barely get a chance to dig in at the plate are the forgotten scrubs. The guys who work their way onto a team, work hard every day, and maybe sit on the bench, hoping to step in at a moment's notice. These are the utility players and backup catchers. The platoon players who see a game once or twice a week. The players who are just filling a spot because there's no one better. These are the middle relievers - not groomed to be the closer, maybe not even the set-up man, but still needed when things go bad.

These players can be considered to be your average major leaguer. Somewhere between good and bad - the players who get a chance, earn a spot on the roster, but never hold a permanent spot on a team or with its fans.

One of these players is Geoff Geary.

Drafted in 1998 by the Phillies, Geary toiled through the minor leagues before being awarded Phillies Minor League Player of the Month in June 2003, where in AAA he worked as set-up man, starter, and closer. Called up at the end of the year, he saw action in five games. He saw occasional action throughout 2004 and 2005, with a 2.70 ERA after the '05 All-Star Break. Geoff's best year with the Phillies came in '06, with an ERA of 2.96 in 91 innings. After the 2007 season, he was traded to the Astros in the deal that sent Brad Lidge to the Phillies.

His best year was 2008, with an ERA of just 2.53 in 55 games. 2009 would be the last time he saw action in the major leagues, as he posted an ERA of 8.10 in 16 games before going on the DL with tendinitis. He would spend the rest of the season with the Triple-A Round Rock Express. Geary spent 2010 in the Rangers and Dodgers minor league systems, and signed a minor-league deal with the Padres earlier this year. Geoff Geary was released on March 26.

Through his seven year major league career, Geary compiled a 16-10 record with a 3.92 ERA, striking out 230 in 351 innings. Most people probably don't remember him.

But Geary is one of my favorite players. This is a strange thing for me. I'm not a Phillies or Astros fan. He isn't from my hometown and I'm not related to him. We didn't go to school together. I didn't bump into him on the street (if I did I probably wouldn't know it). I think I only saw him pitch once - seven pitches to one batter (a strikeout). I don't remember him for his pitching skill, though. I remember him from batting practice.

It seemed like half the Braves games I went to in the mid to late '00s were against the Phillies. I always go to the park early to watch batting practice and maybe snag a ball. The pitchers are always out shagging balls, and they fall into one of two categories - ignorers or interactors. Ignorers may toss a ball into the crowd, but they rarely look at the stands. Geary was an interactor, talking back to the fans who would yell at him for free little souvenirs. He would banter with them, and get on their case when they didn't catch one of the balls he'd toss to them. I'd seek him out at every game just for the show. Instead of some guy with a two-digit number on his back, he had a personality, he was unique.

Geoff Geary was never a star. For seven years he had a job, and he got the job done. He may have been just your average major leaguer, but he had class.

Never labeled as a hot prospect, and never put in a standout role, Geary has a very small number of cards for a recent player. His cards start in 1998, with releases through 2010. As far as I can tell, he has a total of 53 releases. Sixteen are 1/1 printing plates (eight from 2005 Topps Total, a card he shares with another player). Ten cards are minor league issues, most issued before 2005. Only one of his cards is a team issue. This leaves 26 cards issued by major manufacturers. Three of these are autographs (all parallels from 2004 UD Diamond Pro Sigs). Only eight of his cards (including the base autograph) are base card issues, with the rest being parallels.

Thirty-seven cards. I want them all. None of the cards have a print run less than 10, so I think it's possible. The list of his cards is located here. This will be my first full player collection since an attempt at Tony Gwynn and Nolan Ryan in 2003. If you have any Geary cards I don't have (check the spreadsheet, I have all his major release base cards but need the minor leagues, team issue, and parallels), feel free to send them my way!