Re-Drafting the Orioles - 1999

     Welcome to my brand new series that I'm very excited to bring to the blogosphere.  I will start off by saying that this is not my own idea but one that I am borrowing from Johnny of Cards from the Quarry fame.  His blog is one of my favorites since he comes up with so many innovative and original ideas.  He also does a great job of creating a custom card for each and every player in his Quarry Unlimited set each year.
   
     I became quite interested in the draft around the year 2000.  I was in high school at the time and playing varsity baseball.  I knew several of my friends had a chance to be drafted as well as players/friends on rival teams in our district.  Some of my buddies went on to play ball in college after we graduated in 2002.  That year my HS team battled another team in the district who had a hotshot junior pitcher by the name of Harold Mozingo.  Our team beat him 3 times in 2002!  I even had a few hits off of him.  Trust me, standing in the batters box with somebody chucking low 90s heat is not easy.  I've been there and done that.  Harold went on to be drafted in 2003 by the Mets.  He didn't sign but went to Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) and was drafted by the Royals in 2006.  He played several seasons for them in the low minors.  So that's my claim to fame, I hit off of a minor leaguer!

Anyways, back to my other claim to fame, this blog, I hope you enjoy reading what I've put together.  I'm going to re-evaluate the draft picks the Orioles made in certain years and see how those picks turned out.  I'm sure that the picks the Orioles made at the time were the correct picks and some look bad now.  But some turned out great.  The draft is a crap shoot.  I'm going to stick to Johnny's template pretty closely.  Only players that were drafted within the next 10 picks of the Orioles pick are eligible to be swapped out.  I won't swap out players from the 46th round into the 3rd either.  it just wouldn't have happened then so it won't happen now.  Most of the cards that I will be scanning will be ones from my collection.  There will be a few exceptions overall and I will get the images from COMC or other sources.

I'm going to start out with the first draft I remember.  1999.  The Orioles had a whopping 7 picks in the first round.  The Free Agent compensation was much different back then than it is now.  Teams who signed free agents had to surrender draft picks to the team that the player came.  There wasn't a qualifying offer back then either.  Just about every player that was a free agent had draft pick compensation attached to them.

So without further ado:

1st Round, Pick #13: Mike Paradis, RHP, Clemson University

While picking 4th year college pitchers is usually a safer bet, drafting pitchers in general is a risky proposition.  Looking at Paradis's college career, he looked like a sure thing to make an impact in Baltimore.  Sometimes things just don't work out.

New Pick: Jason Jennings LHP, Baylor University (Drafted by the Rockies with pick #16)

I think it's fitting that I steal Johnny's idea for posts and then I steal his pitcher.  Jennings was a fairly average pitcher in Coors Field.  I think I heard that he was a groundball pitcher somewhere though I could be mistaken.  Either way, I dare to say that he might have had better success in Baltimore than the thin air of Colorado even though both ballparks are notoriously hitter friendly.

1st Round, Pick #18: Rich Stahl, LHP, Newton HS, Covington GA (Pick surrendered by Cardinals as compensation for signing Eric Davis)

Drafting HS pitchers is the most risky pick teams can make.  They are more susceptible to injury since they haven't grown into their bodies and they lack the tutelage of college pitching coaches.  There usually is a huge learning curve switching to pro hitters.  Most dominant HS pitchers just blow away the hitters with pure gas and don't have to really "pitch" to be successful.  Pro hitters are pro hitters for a reason!

Back to Stahl, injuries plagued this guy.  When he was on the field, he was pretty decent.  Just staying healthy was a challenge.

New Pick: Alex Rios, 3B, San Pedro Martin HS, Guayanbo, PR (Drafted by the Blue Jays with pick #19)

Yes, this is the same Alex Rios that is still active today.  Most of us have heard of Rios before.  He has gone onto a solid career so it's not hard to see why he would be a better pick here.  Bonus Fact: I've been to Guayanbo, PR on a business trip!

1st Round, Pick #21: Larry Bigbie, OF, Ball State University (Pick surrendered by Rangers as compensation for signing Rafael Palmiero)

I think I am going to keep this pick.  Bigbie had a couple good years in Baltimore and then kinda faded away.  He was named on the Mitchell Report and that hurt him big time.
Bigbie is the first player I really followed through the minors when I was in my formative years.  I was learning about the draft and college players and how the whole farm system worked.

1st Round, Pick #23 Keith Reed, OF, Providence College (Pick surrendered by Cleveland as compensation for signing Roberto Alomar)

Reading the back of several of Keith's baseball cards, it seems he had tons of raw power and overall athleticism.  The Orioles have been drafting these types of players for a long time and more times than not they haven't panned out.  In his case however, I think it is Baltimore's fault for not giving him more than a shot in the majors.  He got 6 ABs with the varsity squad in 2005 and that was it.  If I was Baltimore and I had this guy in the minor leagues for 6 years having some decent success, I'd certainly have given him more than a cup of coffee.  It will always be a mystery to me why and for my own selfish reasons I'm keeping this pick because of what he might have become.  Sure Mike McDougal and Mr. Jennie Finch were drafted within the next 10 picks but Reed is my man here.

1st Round, Pick #34 Josh Cenate, LHP, Jefferson HS, Charlestown, WV

Not having a card in my collection of Cenate doesn't bode well for this pick.  Another high school hurler that injuries hammered.  He missed 3 full seasons and then had 2 cameo batting appearances in 2003 in SSA- ball.  Poor guy.

New Pick: Colby Lewis, RHP, Bakersfield College (Drafted by the Rangers with Pick #38)

I had my pick between Lewis and Jerome Williams who have gone on to have decent success in the majors.  Lewis has had trouble staying on the field where as Williams disappeared for a couple years before resurfacing with the Halos a few years ago.

1st Round, Pick #44 Scott Rice, LHP, Royal HS, Simi Valley, CA (Supplemental pick for losing Eric Davis to Free Agency)

This guy has been around for quite some time.  He's the ultimate underdog story since I was surprised to see that he made his major league debut last April 1st, 2013 (no fooling!), nearly 14 years after being drafted!  Congratulations to Scott for chasing his dream!

New Pick: Chris Duncan, 1B, Canyon del Oro HS, AZ (Drafted by the Cardinals with the 46th pick)

Duncan has Baltimore ties because his dad played for the O's in the 70's.  I think injuries derailed his career and forced him to retire but he had a few good seasons for the Cardinals before that.

1st Round, Pick #50 Brian Roberts, SS, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

I don't think I really need to explain why I'm keeping this pick.  Roberts will more than likely be in the Orioles Hall of fame.  I could probably hand this section over to my buddy William and let him explain it a little more though he's still a little mad at him for joining the Evil Empire for 2014!  It's kinda crazy that a player like Roberts fell this low in the draft.  For every Matt Bush there is a Mike Piazza and every Johnny Bench there is a Matt Bush.  The draft is so much like scratch-off lottery tickets!

There are several interesting players drafted in the next 10 after Roberts.  Carl Crawford, Brandon Phillips, and Ryan Doumit are all solid players but not comparable to what Brian Roberts means to the Orioles.

3rd Round, Pick #104 Jon Kessick, C, Ball State University

I would guess that the scout that was watching Larry Bigbie also found Kessick since they were teammates at Ball State.  Looking at his minor league numbers, he was probably a catch and throw guy with a below average bat even though his caught stealing percentage was only 21%.

New Pick: Hank Blalock, 3B, Rancho Bernardo HS, San Diego, CA (Drafted by the Rangers with Pick #105)

Blalock was picked right after Kessick and would have benefitted from playing his home games with the short right field porch at Camden Yards.  Texas isn't too bad of a place to play in regards to hitting however.  I find it hard to believe that Hank was out of baseball after 2009 not even yet turning the big 3-0.

6th Round, Pick #187 Erik Bedard, LHP, Norwalk Community College, Norwalk, CT.

A great pick for Baltimore in a round where the talent starts to drop off in regards to how many players make the majors.  He was the ace of the staff for a few years until he was traded to Seattle before 2008.  That trade fetched the O's Adam Jones, Chris Tillman, George Sherrill and 2 others.  Bedard was good while he was here and set the O's up long term when he was traded.  It's a shame that he's battled injuries since the big trade but that's baseball I guess.

7th Round, Pick #217 Dave Farren, RHP, Texas HS, Texarkana, TX

A HS pitcher that had middlin' results in his time with the Orioles organization.  I don't know much about him.

New Pick: Coco Crisp, 2B, Los Angeles Pierce College (Drafted by the Cardinals with the #222 pick)

Coco has gone onto have a pretty good career.  He might be better known for his 2014 Topps base card.  I think it's interesting that he was a 2B in college!

The next few rounds were pretty much a wash for the O's.  Nobody stands out as a much better pick.

The 13th round is where Albert Pujols was picked with the 402nd pick, 5 after the O's picked Drew Hassler at #397.  Whoops! Thirty teams had at least 12 chances to draft him and the Cardinals were the team that took a chance on him.  I think it turned out pretty well for them!

Other Orioles Draft picks that year to make the majors were:

Aaron Rakers (23rd rd, #697)

Willie Harris (24th rd, #727).


Side Note: When I went digging through my 2003 Topps set to get the Chris Duncan and Alex Rios cards for the scans, the whole set was stuck together in one complete brick. I've heard of cards sticking together when they've sat for a while.  As you can see, both cards have "battle damage" from me pulling them apart.  I'm pretty upset that it seems like the whole set is ruined because if I pull them all apart, the paper loss will be on every single card.

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this little look back at the 1999 MLB draft through my eyes.  I really did have fun putting this post together and I'm looking forward to doing more posts like this.  Doing the research and digging through cards to scan really invigorated me in regards to blogging.  Hopefully I can keep the flame burning!

Trade with Adam of Thoughts and Sox

The fruits of my labor are beginning to trickle in.  This was a quick 1 for 1 trade with Adam from Thoughts and Sox.

This Brian Roberts Black Bordered mini from 2009 Goodwin Champions arrived at my house yesterday, which is the same day the Orioles traded Robert Andino (last years starting 2nd baseman) to the Mariners.  More importantly, there was also an entry on Steve Melewski's blog about the health of Brian.  He came all the way back from a herniated disk in his back and concussion issues only to tear the labrum in his hip this season.  He's been working out at his home in Sarasota and hopes to be 100% come the beginning of Spring Training.  Let's hope so O's fans, as we're all pulling for him!

Trade with blog reader Brendan

As I am officially back on the blogging train, that also means I am back, open for business in regards to trading.  Brendan, a reader of mine who doesn't have a blog (that I know of), contacted me again and offered up some cards that I could not resist.  This is my second trade with Brendan:

This card was actually not in our original trade agreement.  He put this card in as a surprise and it was a good one.  I've had my eye on this particular card on COMC and Ebay for a while and never pulled the trigger on it.  I guess the cardboard gods had planned for Brendan to send it to me in a trade.

This card was one of the original cards that he sent me a scan of.  Poor Brian Roberts.  This guy can't catch break.  He's had a myriad of injuries the last couple of years including a bad back, concussion issues and now a torn hip ligament or something.  Hopefully he'll be back at full strength for Spring Training 2013 and he can contribute like he used to.  I'm sure as frustrated as the O's fans are with his body breaking down, he's probably more disappointed that anybody on the planet.

Brendan also sent me a pile of semi-vintage cards for the sets I am slowly working on.  A couple 74's, 76's and 80's Topps commons.  I had a hard time trying to figure out which card to scan because there were several Pirates, Yankees, Phillies and Blue Jays cards in the lot.  Pirates from the 70's are the devil (for O's fans, think '71 and '79 World series), Yankees are always the devil, and the Blue Jays and Phillies just bug me for some reason.  I guess the Brewers are the least hated of the quintet of teams even though they did knock the O's out of the playoffs the last day of the '82 season.  I'm not sure if Bob McClure had anything to do with that days loss or not.

Thanks Brendan for the great cards and conversation pieces that you sent over!

My 2012 NSCC Experience

I think I am finally officially back in blogging mode now since several things have have been resolved with the old and new house and we officially have internet at the new house!  This will make the process of scanning and writing much more convenient and easy.   Not a moment too soon either as my day at the 2012 National (Saturday) wrap-up will only take this one post.  I got a ton of cool Orioles cards that I won't bore everybody with since they are really only of interest to me and my team set binders.  I didn't make a ton of purchases but the ones I did make were pretty awesome.

I'm just going to get this out of the way.  I bought a 1957 Topps #328 Brooks Robinson rookie card!  This was the #1 priority wantlist item that I wanted and it was a long search for it.  I probably asked about 75 different dealers if they had one and I got the answer of "no"from 70 of them.  I think I wasted a lot of time looking for the right one but I'm very happy with the results.  There were several near mint copies that I saw that just weren't the right card for me.  When I was going to drop about half of my budget on 1 card, I was going to make sure it was the right one.  I got a great deal on it and spent about 15 minutes talking to the dealer that sold it to me.  It has a little bit of paper loss (near his ear), the corners are a little bit fuzzy and the centering is a bit off (the scan cut the bottom border off a bit) and there's a wax stain on the back.  This is what a vintage card is supposed to be (IMHO, of course!).  It's such a great card that I'll treasure always, especially since my wife gave me some money towards it as an early 1st wedding anniversary gift (she got a new puppy out of the deal, so everyone is happy)!

Moving right along to my next purchase is this triple GU card of the Orioles brightest stars in 2010.  It's number 9/18!  Adam is haveing a great season, Roberts can stay on the field long enough to contribute and Nick just came off the DL and is hitting like a crazed animal.  No matter the on field performance, this is a sweet card!  I've seen a few of these on ebay but was always outbid.  I got this card for an Andrew Jackson. The only way this card could have been better would be an Orange background instead of a green one.  This card will definitely be sitting on my desk so I can stare at it.

While on my search for the Brooks RC, I walked by a table that had tons and tons of Japanese baseball cards and memorabilia.  Since I have an interest in Japanese baseball because of my own heritage, I had to stop and check it all out.  There was a lot of cool things there including a bargain bin of unopened packs 5 for 10 bucks.  I rifled through the bin and found 3 of these showing Yu Darvish and Tsuyoshi Shinjo.  These are from the team set so there was an increased chance of pulling a Darvish card.  I didn't get one but it was neat to rip these packs.  I also got the one pack that was from the 2006 Tokyo Yakult Swallows team set since I actually saw them play in person that year.  I also grabbed a pack of 2009 Baseball Magazine First Edition because Darvish is on the front.

I bought myself a box of 2012 Topps Series 2 since during all the moving and painting, I almost totally ignored the set.  I'll be busting that box in the near future and posting up the results.

I also had a dumbass attack and bought 2 boxes of 100 ct. 1 pocket pages (for holding 8x10s in binders).  I didn't realize my mistake until I got home Saturday night.  If anybody needs them I'm willing to trade them to you since they do me no good.  I really needed some 9 pocket pages so I'll just have to wait til next time.

I perused a lot of bargain bins at the show and filled a bunch of holes in some of my O's team sets.  I even met up with Julie from It's Funner Here at one of the dime box tables.  We kept running into each other throughout the day exchanging pleasantries and showing our latest purchases to each other.

I also met up with fellow Orioles Blogger Ryan S. from The Great Orioles Autograph Project in a chance meeting while walking through the cardboard jungle.  We talked for couple minutes about the team and about our respective collecting goals.

And I can't forget my good buddy William from foul bunt.  He stayed at my house Friday night and we stayed up way too late looking through cards.  I appreciate him putting up with my scheduling conflicts and my random sense of humor.  It's always fun going to a card show with someone you know and being able to "geek out" with a person with similar interests.

Overall, I had a good time at the show.  I'm already looking forward to the next card show!

Orioles @ Tides IP Autograph #17

It's IP autograph weekend here at "O" NO!!! Another Orioles Blog.  I'm featuring each and every in-person autograph that I obtained this past Wednesday when the Orioles played an exhibition game against their AAA affiliate, The Norfolk Tides.

#17) BRIAN ROBERTS


I had a feeling he'd be with the team since he's supposed to take in the sights and sounds of Camden Yards as the next step in his concussion recovery.  I love the way the autograph looks on this Sweet Spot card!  I'm really pumped to get his autograph in person!

Trade with David of "e rayhahn, rayhahn"

Wow, it's been a week since my last post.  I've been playing a lot of Xbox lately since Mass Effect 3 came out.  That doesn't mean I've been completely ignoring my card collection though.  Things have been slow this early spring since series 1 came out. There have been 4 new products come out since then (Opening Day, Heritage, Stickers, and Tribute), and I haven't even bought a pack of either one.  Neither of these sets has really inspired me to go out and buy any.  I'm interested in the Orioles from the sets but that's about it.  I haven't bought any packs since the beginning of February.  That's probably a new record since I returned to the hobby (for the 4th time) in late 2009.  Another reason things have been slow around here is because my Spring Training TTM's have just been a big disappointment.  I sent to some longshots but also to a bunch of safer bets.  I've only gotten 2 back this spring.  I might be seriously reconsidering if Spring Training TTMing is worth the time and effort next year.  I'm still holding out hope that a couple more will come back with the exhibition schedule wrapping up next week..

Luckily for me though, to break me out of my cardboard doldrums David from "e rayhahn, rayhahn" contacted me about a week ago about some Twins relics I had on my trade list.  Of course, I was happy to trade with David again since the first one was awesome.  Here's what he sent me in return:

My scanner hates this card but it really looks pretty cool in person.  I was wondering what had happened to Mr. Rodriguez until Kevin from Orioles Card "O" the Day made a post just yesterday about him.  Not all players who make the majors particularly belong there.

This is a nice relic card from 2007 Topps Heritage.   All of the Clubhouse Collection cards I've seen from Topps Heritage releases look pretty classy with a nice vintage touch.
On a side note Mr. Tejada reportedly still wants to play ball this year but only with a contending team.  At this point in his career, and as bad as he played for the Giants last year, beggars can't be choosers.

Here's a nice jersey card of Brian Roberts from 2007 Upper Deck.  This relic design is probably my favorite of Upper Deck's flagship sets.  This one goes great with my Melvin Mora and Erik Bedard cards from the same set.  It looks like I got a bit of a seam on this swatch too so that's a bonus!  

I'll close with this awesome Boog Powell card.  I don't have too many of his cards (heck, there aren't that many anyways) but this is one of my favorites.  The 70's were a great time for the Orioles franchise.  One of these days we'll have a team that can play to a .500 record or better.

Thanks David for the awesome cards!

Card Show Wrap Up: Part 1

I went to the Chantilly card show last weekend and I am just getting around to posting up the results of what I was able to pick up. I'm going to show my top 10 favorite cards over 2 posts (the second post will be tomorrow). Without further ado:

10. 2008 Bowman Sterling Prospects Zach Britton. I've been looking for this card for a while now and I found it in none other than a bargain bin for a quarter. That's right Bowman Sterling for a quarter. It makes me wonder why "collectors" will pay so much for a "box" of cards and end up selling the base cards for peanuts. I personally will never pay more than 5 dollars for a pack of cards no matter what.

I feel bad for Zach though. He was demoted to double-A which he was none too happy about. I was expecting this sort of move by the Oriole front office at some point during the year to stave off his free agency another year (like the Rays did with Longoria and Royals with Hosmer and Moustakas this year.) The Orioles officially say that it was performance related (he has been getting knocked around the park lately) but O's fans are smarter than that. The O's front office wasn't going to bring him to the big leagues until late April/ early May just for the reason of keeping him under team control for another season. I think McPhail was just waiting for Zach to have a bad outing and use that as an excuse for a demotion. The mid-summer circus has truly arrived in Baltimore and won't be pulling out until the end of September.

9. 1967 Topps #1: THE CHAMPS. I did pay a little more for this card but it is totally worth it. This card really is a classic combo card. Not like the garbage of Jose Reyes and Hanley Ramirez standing around in the outfield with their hands down the front of their All-Star warm up jerseys.
8. 1954 Bowman Dick Kryhoski. I like 1954 Bowman better than the 55 version. Period. It just seems more classy than the woodgrain TVs.

7. 2010 Bowman Chrome 18-U USA National Team Manny Machado. This is one of my Top 10 Most Wanted Orioles cards. I haven't figured out a replacement for this one on the list yet.

I'm trying to get in on the ground floor with this guy before he really turns into the mega-prospect all the scouts think he'll be. I picked up a few other of his cards at the show and you might see him later on in this countdown.

6. 2001 Upper Deck SPX Brian Roberts Rookie Card. I have other Rookie cards of Brian but not as nice as this one. It has a low serial # which is cool but not like it matters. It was a little pricier but I'm happy with the purchase.

There are 2 schools of thought on Brian right now. There are a lot of people saying he is done and others say he still has some fuel in the tank. I'd like to say that I think he still has some good years left in him. Injuries have totally messed up his last 2 seasons but when he gets fully healthy(and stops sliding head first into 1st base) he will be fine.

Stay tuned tomorrow for the conclusion of my card show report.

Surprise Package from Crinkly Wrappers

I was just thinking about Ted of Crinkly Wrappers the other day and I received a surprise package from him the next day. I don't get many surprise packages but I think that Ted accounts for most, if not all, of them! Lets get right to the goods.

These two cards really stand out to me because they are from 1954 Topps! Ted has been working on the set and we in bloggerville are along for the ride. '54 Topps is the pinnacle of Orioles cards because of course that was the first year they existed!

I really like the nice shiny Brooks Robinson from this years 2010 Topps Tribute. I never realized that Topps Tribute cards are as thick as they are. I've never held any Tribute in my hands before now because I refuse to pay over $5 a pack.

I have seen tons of the 2007 Ultra retail packs in the "Power Packs" box at Target but this is probably the first card from the hobby version. I didn't even know they had a hobby version of this product until I started doing a little more research.

I am now only one blue parallel away from the team set of 2010 Topps Opening Day Orioles. Yay for me! If anybody has the Adam Jones, let me know.

This David Crouthers card just strikes me funny because at FanFest this past weekend (last reference, I promise! Maybe..), some guy was walking around with an official (not replica) Crouthers Orioles jersey on. It was no way him, but it could have been his father! It could be this very jersey Dave is wearing on this card because it did have #70 on the back.

Thanks Ted for the nice package of surprise cards! I hope I can get something heading back your way real soon!

Orioles FanFest 2011 pt.3

I'm going to finish my experience at Orioles FanFest in this post, I promise! I'm going to show off the 8 x 10's that I had autographed. The first one I want to show is this one:

Nolan Reimold burst onto the Orioles scene in May of 2009. Due to his excellent play and a walk-off homer against Toronto late that month I started to take a liking to him. He played well for the O's for the rest of the season. Last year he kind of hit rock bottom. Hampered by the recovery from his achilles surgery in the off-season and some not so nice off the field issues he pretty much sucked and was demoted to Triple-A. He returned in September and hopefully he will stay with the big club for the rest of his career.

Brian Roberts was sitting right next to Nolan at the autograph station and he penned this nice autograph on my 8x10. He also handed me a business card with information about his new charity he started.

This Nick Markakis 8x10 is the crown jewel of the day for me. Nick is my favorite current player on the Orioles and I'm looking for him to have a big season this year. His normal numbers were there last year except the absence of homeruns. Opposing teams pitched around him last year so he rarely saw pitches that he could yank out of the park. I was pretty excited to meet him even though I was a bit starstruck and couldn't muster any words.

I also had this 8x10 of Chris Tillman signed. The black sharpie doesn't show up very well on this particular picture but it is easier to see in person. I had already met Chris last year at FanFest. If you are interested in reading about that experience check out one of my very first posts in the archive. Chris is still very much a prospect. He just hasn't gotten the extended period of time in the majors to figure it out.

All of these signed photos proudly join my rapidly growing collection of Orioles 8x10. They Cal, Brooks, Jim Palmer, Eddie Murray, Frank Robinson, Earl Weaver, Boog Powell and Rick Dempsey.

Trade with Spiff of Texas Rangers Cards

While doing my normal daily blog reading lately, I read one of Spiff's latest posts about him posting all of his wantlists. I am a sucker for wantlists. I guess I just really like helping other bloggers by finding cards they need to reach whatever goals they may have. After a few emails, we had a trade hammered out. I was able to help him out with his Rangers need and he sent me some Orioles I needed. Here's just a few of the great cards he sent me:

This 2004 Fleer Tradtion card of Brian Roberts is one of his earlier issues. While his rookie season was 2001 he really didn't stick in Baltimore until 2003. I really enjoyed the design of 2004 Fleer Tradition. I can't really put my finger on it but I think it's just the simplicity of the card design.

My Pacific collection is slowly growing. While most of the photography from the 1994 Orioles team set is pretty vanilla, I couldn't help but notice the goofy expression on Gomez's face. It's kinda like he's saying. "I can't believe I popped up! Again!" I'm very surprised that he isn't wearing his trademark oversized spectacles I've seen him wear on many other cards!

That's right Roberto, the second time you were on the HOF ballot you made it. I know it's a little late but congrats to Roberto Alomar for being elected. Even though he spent on a short time in Baltimore, I still enjoyed watching him play here.

Thanks to Spiff for the trade. Check out his blog for his wantlists. Maybe you can help him out. While you're at it you mind as well check mine out too!

Trade with Scott of Smed's Baseball Card Blog

While looking at some of the great blogs I follow, I stumbled upon Scott of Smed's Baseball Card Blog's wantlists on his site. I emailed him and before I knew it I was tearing through my commons boxes pulling out tons of cards that he needed for his sets. As a fellow set builder I have tons of cards left over from the sets I've built and was happy to help him out. Here are just a small sampling of the great cards he sent back to me:

The Patterson Autograph is my first of him. His whole first name is decipherable but his last name after the P is just a straight line. Bedard has become the man made of glass in the great Northwest since he was traded there a few years ago. The normally healthy Brian Roberts had his issues with illness and injuries this year but I'm sure he'll bounce back this year.

This is my favorite Ultra Iron Man insert of the 50 that are in the set. Family Ties is what I will call it. I have more than half of the 50 card in the insert set so if you have any for trade, I'd love to hear from you.

This Pacific card of Roberto Alomar is kind of a revelation of sorts. I used to despise, even HATE Pacific cards for some reason. I just never liked them. Recently I have done a 180 and have really started to embrace Pacific for some reason. I have next to no Pacific Orioles in my collection so check out my wantlists if you think you can help!

This Millwood card is a Blue Parallel from 2010 Topps Opening Day. I thought these Blue Paralleled Oriole cards only existed in fairy tales because I had not seen one until now. I only need 3 more to complete the Team set ( Brian Roberts, Nick Markakis, Adam Jones).

These are only a few of the great cards Scott sent me but believe me, there were tons of others! I highly recommend Scott as a trader so get on over and check out his blog already!

Group Break Recap: Cardboard Collections

I ponied up the cash for Colbey's November Group Break and got some great cards! I really like Colbey's Breaks because they don't break the bank and he always adds in some extra cards of the team you pick! It's a nice touch on his part. Here are the goods:

These are the 3 Cal Ripkens he pulled and they are all new to my collection. I can't say I've ever seen a Stars and Steel card in person and they are made of real steel! The Starstruck Ripken is nice because it has a rainbow sheen to it. I like the Embossed card to. I ended up with the golden version in one of my recent eBay wins.

Here are some of the extras he threw in. I'm digging the 1991 Topps Cracker Jack cards. I know I said I need more mini Orioles but these seem to be about half the size of A&G minis. Also a nice Brian Roberts insert I didn't have and the Melvin Mora Goudey card completes my base team set!

Thanks to Colbey for holding the group break. I'm already looking forward to the next one!