Taking a stroll down Eutaw Street with The Diamond King

Off-topic anecdote: I worked at Blockbuster through college, and one of the things we would do to pass time would be combining movie titles to make a sentence or whole story. It gets boring sitting around in an empty store during the midday lull. That talent hasn't been wasted, though, as I now use it to write long titles that only make sense when you read the post. So enjoy!


I want a corn dog.


Three trade packages arrived yesterday in the major mail drop, all with their own special blend of cards for my collection. The first was a package from Kevin, The Diamond King, who sent a royally large stack of 2011 Topps cards for my set:

 What is it with Topps and catchers fielding their position this year? I also notice several middle infielders shot in the midst of a double play.

 I am over alternate hats, jerseys, and such. It probably comes from teaching in a school where many of the kids wore one of the 100 different variations of a team baseball cap with the size sticker still on it. They lose their novelty when they're overproduced. I still enjoy throwback uniforms, though. One of my students wore a Rollie Fingers jersey to school once, and when I asked, he had no clue who Rollie Fingers was.

 More catchers as fielders! I wonder if there are any catchers shown batting, other than Joe Mauer.

 Horizontal pitchers look better when shot at a low angle. You can show off the visiting dugout and even some of the stadium that way.

 The Pirates lone All Star.

 Series 2 has been slower going than Series 1 at finishing the set, especially with the inserts. I haven't bought as much this time, either, partly because I haven't been in Target as often. Those little action guys on the bottom are kind of neat, even if they have no faces.

I wonder if for 60 Years Of Topps series 3 they'll bring back the Alex Gordon card that "never was." Wouldn't that be fun? Thanks Kevin!

Now it's time to peek down Eutaw Street, with a nice stack of '09 Upper Deck to help me finish that set:

 It looks like Mora took that ball on the palm. If that's a line drive, it certainly didn't feel good. Widevision may be the only way to properly show Ortiz on cardboard.

 You would think that Upper Deck would be able to capture a better image of Pujols. That Fukudome looks like a night shot.

 More horizontal awesomeness. The Dickerson is such a good shot, you can see the dirt clumps falling off his pants from the slide.

 It looks like Kelly Johnson is going to get those fingers in the way of the ball. At least he's using two hands. That was such a tough thing to get those 9th graders I coached to do.

I don't care much for these Team Leaders cards.So I'll say thank you to Kirk at Eutaw Street Cardboard for the awesome cards!

Last, but not least, a trade from reader Morgan. He's a Braves fan who recently got back into collecting, and I was able to find some stuff he needed, and he provided some cards I can use for my collections.

 This UK Mini Canseco can go to the player collection. The backs of these cards are much nicer than the fronts, similar to Topps Big or Topps Kids. Sorry, I didn't scan it.

 This 1994 Fleer/ProCards Karchner is from a Barons team issue, and minor league team issues are the hardest to pick up at reasonable prices, so they're always welcome!

 Jim Sundberg won a few gold gloves, and it appears in this scan that his glove is in 3D. What's up with that? Another Awards/Leader card down!

 This Rickey can drop into the player collection. I like the '97 Fleer set, even though it's a major pain to sort.

 This Ellis Burks looks much better in person - the foil didn't scan well. He won a Gold Glove that I need a card to represent, and this fits the bill nicely!

 Leyland won Manager of the Year three times. The Pirates haven't been the same since the '92 NLCS.

 Oh, Darling! Please believe me! I'll never do you no harm! Believe me when I tell you, you're going into the Gold Glove collection! Every time I see his name, all I can think about is that Beatles song. I like the Beatles.

 Doh! You'll see tomorrow that these two cards are just a little too late. Not Morgan's fault - I end up with this situation more often than I'd like since I don't keep up with my lists until the card is actually in my possession, so I have occasionally have the same cards coming from two places. I even do it when buying things online.

Last, another one of those Upper Deck cards, of Orlando Cabrera. He too won a Gold Glove, and this card fills that need!

Thank you again to Morgan, Kirk, and Kevin for some awesome cards! I hope you're all happy with what you received in return.