Exceeding Expectations

I have to admit it,

Bowman's inserts

weren't half bad this year.

Man, a lot has happened today

RIP Irving Kershner, director of the best Star Wars movie.

Man, today has been awful death-wise. I fear for Abe Vigoda. Hang in there Abe!!!

Topps released their 2010 Rookie Cup team and J-Hey made the cut. I may have to do some MSPainting this evening to commemorate the event.

The 2011 Hall of Fame ballot is officially live. Right now some eminently qualified BBWAA member is trying to decide whether to send in a blank ballot or to go ahead and vote for Bobby Higginson because Bobby played golf with him once back in 1998. For the love of Christ, go ahead and elect Blyleven and Alomar this year so we can get that out of the way, please.

Related: will the Veteran's committee please elect Marvin Miller this time? You know, to avoid the horrific embarrassment should he be inexplicably passed over? Again?

It's Cyber Monday which means we all have to go insolvent buying stuff for the good of the nation. The Infinite Card Set is selling sets for the Holidays. Also don't forget Ben Henry's Casey at the Bat Poster. And somebody buy something from TeamSets4U already.

Dropped in the mail today:
Thorzul's Trade me anything package
Some Topps Super packs for Play at the Plate that I promised him a couple months ago
Random schtuff for The Troll
Two Plain White Envelopes with Staiving Struusbowrk Update cards that were claimed after offering them up in this post.

I goofed, and ended up sending both so now I have no gimmick card. I am pleased with this result. Since it went well, here's another offer.

I picked this up at the card shop this afternoon. It was a buck, and I was pretty sure I had it already but not 100% sure and it was only a buck so what the hell I got it. Yep, I have it already. Since I don't need it, I'll give it away to anyone who will give it a good home. Comment here and send me an e-mail with your address and I'll send it to you in a PWE. Don't worry about condition, some kid tried his hand at origami with this card many years ago. Somebody claim it quick so I'll be inspired to put together some more overdue packages tonight.

RIP Leslie Nielsen

Enrico Palazzo has joined the choir invisible. They'll probably kick him out of the choir once they hear this.

Leslie's death trade to the Cubs for Reggie Jackson hit me pretty hard this morning. Naked Gun is the funniest baseball movie ever and the baseball scenes aren't even a quarter of the film.



I feel like I might cry now. I think I'll watch Spaceship. Then I really will cry. So long, not funny man. You were the unfunniest of them all.

People don't want my Cookie anymore, now they want my...

Dick. Kelley.

Ok, a couple of people still want my cookie.

BUT YOU AIN'T GETTIN' IT!!!!

MAH COOKIE! NONE FOR YOU!!!

I did accept one trade...

That's as blockbuster as you can get folks.

Finally, WTF?

What are the odds?

The Kid Who Could - Page 14

It's a national holiday, so instead of doing anything productive I'm going to post a comic of Ozzie doing his wizardry. If you have no idea what this is because it's been weeks since I posted a page from the comic just click here and read from the beginning.

Ozzie fields!

Ozzie hits!

Ozzie smiles!

Ozzie does all these amazing things but the only thing I see on the page is Tony's lumpy, misshapen head in the bottom right corner of the page. I never knew Tony the Tiger had that many chins. Too much sugary cereal I guess.

Heritage Blaster League Results - Ike's Cards

I goofed and overwrote Ike's stats with Madding's. I fixed everything but the updated standings.

Ike's player stats:

Hitting:

                       HR RBI  SB  OBP
C  Jarrod Saltamacchia  0   2   0 .333
C  Kevin Youkilis      19  62   4 .411
1B Albert Pujols       42 118  14 .414
2B Chase Utley         16  65  13 .387
SS Miguel Tejada       15  71   2 .311
3B Gordon Beckham       9  49   4 .313
OF Ryan Braun          25 103  14 .365
OF Matt Holliday       28 103   9 .390
OF Ichiro               6  43  42 .358
CI Prince Fielder      32  83   1 .401
MI Alcides Escobar      4  41  10 .286
OF Grady Sizemore       0  13   4 .297
UT Ryan Howard         31 108   1 .353
   TOTALS             227 861 118 .362

Pitching:

                 W   S   SO   ERA
Felix Hernandez 13   0  232  2.27
Zack Greinke    10   0  181  4.17
Cliff Lee       12   0  185  3.18
Wandy Rodriguez 11   0  178  3.60
Jair Jurrjens    7   0   86  4.64
Andy Pettitte   11   0  101  3.28
Andrew Bailey    1  25   42  1.47
TOTALS          65  25 1005  3.33

Ike pledged this as his ante for the league:

2008 David Ortiz A&G Jersey Relic

2008 Matt Cain Topps Co-Signers #’d 179/200


2008 Upper Deck X Evan Longoria Die Cut


2009 Topps Heritage Vladimir Guerrero Chrome #’d 944/1960


2009 Topps Target Throwback Greg Maddux
 

Here's the raw stats so far:

HR RBI SB OBP W S SO ERA 
AdamE 177 771 145 .354 93 0 1216 3.02 
Thorzul 265 881 74 .340 63 43 844 3.86 
Mmosley 217 862 219 .352 69 3 921 4.03 
Ernest 221 894 99 .343 97 0 1300 3.27 
Don 273 1050 119 .352 77 43 956 3.96 
Ike 227 861 118 .362 65 25 1005 3.33
Madding 259 948 121 .349 70 25 966 3.81

And current standings not counting bonuses:

Don 43
Madding 36
Mmosley 32
Ike 31
Ernest  28
AdamE 27
Thorzul 26

Here's the bonus standings so far:

Team with the most wins:
Madding: Minnesota Twins 94

Ernest of Canada: Giants 92

Mmosley: Red Sox 89

AdamE: A's 81

Manager with the least losses:
Madding: Ozzie Guillen 74

AdamE: Jim Leyland 81

Ernest of Canada: 82

Mojo points:

AdamE: 4 pts (Dice game card)

Ernest of Canada: 6 pts (Dice game and Relic card)
Madding: 6 pts (Stamp card)

Heritage Blaster League Results - Don

Heeeeere comes aaaaaa...NOTHER one...

Don's player stats:

Hitting:

                    HR   RBI  SB  OBP

C  Joe Mauer         9    75   1 .402

C  Brian McCann     21    77   5 .375

1B Adrian Gonzalez  31   101   0 .392

2B Howie Kendrick   10    75   5 .312

SS Stephen Drew     15    61  10 .350

3B Scott Rolen      20    83   1 .356

OF Nelson Cruz      22    78  17 .373

OF Vernon Wells     31    88   6 .331

OF Adam Jones       19    69   7 .324

CI Aramis Ramirez   25    83   0 .294

MI Troy Tulowitzki  27    95  11 .380

OF B.J. Upton       18    62  42 .321

UT Ryan Braun       25   103  14 .365

   TOTALS          273  1050 119 .352

Pitching:

                 W   S   SO  ERA

P Joakim Soria   1  43   71 1.78

P Dan Haren     12   0  216 3.91

P Tim Hudson    17   0  139 2.83

P Mark Buhrle   13   0   99 4.28

P John Danks    15   0  162 3.72

P Aaron Harang   6   0   82 5.32

P James Shields 13   0  187 5.18

  TOTALS 77  43  956 3.96

Don pledged this as his ante for the league:

2010 Topps DBacks Gold card

Chrome Stephen Drew

1954 Topps Jim Delsing in Gem Mint 11 condition

Here's the stats so far:

HR RBI SB OBP W S SO ERA 
AdamE 177 771 145 .354 93 0 1216 3.02 
Thorzul 265 881 74 .340 63 43 844 3.86 
Mmosley 217 862 219 .352 69 3 921 4.03 
Ernest 221 894 99 .343 97 0 1300 3.27 
Don 273 1050 119 .352 77 43 956 3.96

Here's the bonus standings so far:

Team with the most wins:   

Ernest of Canada: Giants 92

Mmosley: Red Sox 89

AdamE: A's 81

Manager with the least losses: 

AdamE: Jim Leyland 81

Ernest of Canada: 82

Mojo points:

AdamE: 4 pts (Dice game card)

Ernest of Canada: 6 pts (Dice game and Relic card)

Heritage Blaster League Results - Ernest Of Canada

Keep on postin...

Ernest of Canada player stats:

Hitting:

                     HR  RBI SB   OBP

C  Jorge Posada      18   57 3  .357

C  A.J. Pierzynski    9   56 3  .296

1B Mark Teixeira     33  108 0  .365

2B Jose Lopez        10   58 3  .270

SS Asdrubal Cabrera   3   29 6  .354

3B Alex Rodriguez    30  125 4  .341

OF Matt Holliday     28  103 9  .390

OF Grady Sizemore     0   13 4  .299

OF Ichiro Suzuki      6   43 42  .358

CI Derek Lee         19   80 1  .347

MI Felipe Lopez       8   37 8  .308 

OF Adam Lind         23   72 0  .287 

UT Joey Votto        34  113 16  .424 

   TOTALS           221  894 99  .343

Pitching:

                     W S   SO  ERA

P Felix Hernandez   13 0  232 2.27

P Cole Hamels       12 0  211 3.06

P CC Sabathia       21 0  197 3.18

P Josh Johnson      11 0  186 2.30

P Ricky Nolasco     14 0  147 4.51

P Chad Billingsley  12 0  171 3.57

P John Lackey       14 0  156 4.40

                  97 0 1300 3.27

Ernest pledged this as his ante for the league:

Ichiro Shiny

Flyin Hawaiian Shiny

Fat Elvis Joisey

Pitching Jesus Rookie

Here's the stats so far:

HR RBI SB OBP W S SO ERA 
AdamE 177 771 145 .354 93 0 1216 3.02 
Thorzul 265 881 74 .340 63 43 844 3.86 
Mmosley 217 862 219 .349 69 3 921 4.03 
Ernest 221 894 99 .343 97 0 1300 3.27

Ernest tried for both bonuses and received mixed results. Here's the bonus standings so far:

Team with the most wins:   

Ernest of Canada: Giants 92

Mmosley: Red Sox 89

AdamE: A's 81

Manager with the least losses: 

AdamE: Jim Leyland 81

Ernest of Canada: 82

Mojo points:

AdamE: 4 pts (Dice game card)

Ernest of Canada: 6 pts (Dice game and Relic card)

Heritage Blaster League Results - Mmosley

Yes this shall take forever...

Mmosley player stats:

Hitting:

                      HR  RBI   SB  OBP

C  Russell Martin      5   26    6 .346 

C  Bengie Molina       5   36    0 .293 

1B Albert Pujols      42  118   14 .414 

2B Ian Kinsler         9   45   15 .380

SS Alexei Ramirez     18   70   13 .310

3B Alex Rodriguez     30  125    4 .341

OF Carl Crawford      19   90   47 .355

OF Curtis Granderson  24   67   12 .322

OF Jayson Werth       27   85   13 .388

CI Lance Berkman      14   58    3 .368

MI Yunel Escobar       4   35    6 .332

OF Shane Victorino    18   69   34 .327

UT Michael Bourn       2   38   52 .337

TOTALS            217  862  219 .352

Pitching:

                    W   S   SO   ERA

P AJ Burnett       10   0  145  4.48

P Yovani Gallardo  14   0  200  3.84

P Ryan Dempster    15   0  208  3.85

P Bronson Arroyo   17   0  121  3.88

P Homer Bailey      4   0  100  4.46

P JA Happ           6   0   70  3.40

P Joba Chamberlain  3   3   77  4.40

  TOTALS           69   3  921  4.03

Mark pledged this as his ante for the league:

2009 Goodwin Jeremy Bloom Auto

2003 Playoff Absolute Josh Phelps Hat #115/125

1986 Donruss The Rookies Barry Bonds

Bowman Scout Mark Wilson Auto

Here's the stats so far:

HR RBI  SB  OBP   W  S   SO  ERA

AdamE 177 771 145 .354  93  0 1216 3.02

Thorzul 265 881  74 .340  63 43  844 3.86

Mmosley 217 862 219 .349  69  3  921 4.03

Mark tried the team bonus and is currently in the lead. Here's the bonus standings so far:

Team with the most wins:   

Mmosley: Red Sox 89

AdamE: A's 81

Manager with the least losses: 

AdamE: Jim Leyland 81

Mojo points:

AdamE: 4 pts (Dice game card)