Blog Bat Around #5

The extra day was worth it as I got one more post in under the wire. It's time to post the results of the fifth Blog Bat Around so the night owls can read tonight and the cube dwellers have something to get them through their Friday. Great stuff all around, so get a-readin'!

Rain Of Error

Mad Guru recalls many of the times he was able to pick up a special card for his Dave Righetti collection and lets us know what eventually became of them all.

White Sox Cards

Steve talks about his friend Tony and the value of a really good hobby shop.

Tribe Cards

David does some serious detective work tracking down the place where he bought his very first Tribe cards.

Sports Cards Uncensored

Adam recalls camping out for a chance to get autographs from some Twins stars, and ended up getting a bonus signature out of the deal!

Baseball Cards Come to Life!

Bo is a big fan of the interwebs, plus he tips me off on a place to check out the next time I visit my in-laws!

PunkRockPaint

Travis proves that when looking for a good deal it's not how much money you have, it's whether you know a good contact on the inside.

Stats on the Back

Mark shows off some goodies bought at his first card show in 1985.

Paul's Random Stuff

Paul is true to the title of his blog and tells about his very first Met, a few sets, his first TTM auto and two cracked bats.

Hall of Fame Cards

Jeremy recalls a childhood memory where he met a hero, and a more recent memory where he got back into the hobby.

The Other World

Dan relates four tales of cards that brought him joy.

garvey russell cey lopes

Jim, has three stories: One about Rose, one about Garvey and one that reminds me of an underrated Dead Milkmen album.


Night Owl

Greg once had a whole mess of vintage card fall right into his lap.

Mark's Ephemera

Mark fools us with a no look pass and tells a story of a basketball player and his favorite book.

Cheese & Beer

Dubbs' 100th post tells the story of how he got his first MLB baseball at his first MLB game.

Wrigley Wax

Paul shows off the very first ten card he ever got, including his first Cub.

Cincinnati Reds Cards

Joe remembers the generosity of others in times of trouble. I want to hear about Johnny Bench and The Chicken though.

Dinged Corners

Lunchboxes, autographs and a Moose.

Achiever Card Blog

Why am I not surprised that Mr. Kramer wrote about the time he almost had his toe cut off? (read for the toe, stay for the 1st edition mint in box OH MAH GAWD)

Grand Cards

A grand story that can be summed up thusly: The quest for Al Kaline’s Autograph.

Maddux Glavine Smoltz

Chris remembers grocery bags full of cards and the time he spent sorting them with his father.

The Easy Life

Steve describes this better than I could - "this is just story of a high school boy meeting the girl of his dreams... and he was too chicken to tell her he's seen her naked."

Bonus: The longest anonymous spam post EVAR

Card Junkie

When mothers trash their sons' treasured card collections, sometimes they go to people like Jeffrey.

bdj610's Topps Baseball Card Blog

Jaybee spins a bittersweet tale of a Friendly card shop.

But Dayf, where's yours? Sorry I got caught up in reading all of these and forgot to write it. Maybe this weekend. Anyone wishing to host Bat Around #6, shoot me an e-mail.

Fifth Blog Bat Around

Ok, it's that time again. The Fifth Blog Bat Around is ready to roll. If you aren't familiar with the Bat Arounds, here are links to the first four:

Inaugural Event

Bat Around Part Deux

Third Time's A Charm

Once... Twice... Four Times a Lady

Ok, look over those and read every single post because this material will be on your final exam. Once you're done with that, you can check out the topic for this go around:

What is the best experience you have had acquiring cards or memorabilia?

I've left this one purposely vague so you all can riff on it. I'm basically looking for those times and places where you've really enjoyed picking up some cards/a card/an autograph/memorabilia/whatever else you collect. You can focus on your most favoritest memory or write about a whole bunch of different times. Doesn't matter when or where or how, it could be any of these examples:

That junky hobby shop with the old dude who called you 'Skippy' and would give you a Coke to drink while poring over his common boxes

That time online where the dude from Taipei tried to snipe you but you totally sniped him back with 1.8 seconds to go

That TTM letter to your boyhood hero that came back 17 years later

That time you chased down your favorite player in the parking lot of a Dairy Queen and he traded you his jersey for a Peanut Buster Parfait

That time at the flea market where that dude was selling vintage stuff he cleaned out of his barn dirt cheap

That birthday gift from auntie Helga where she threw in uncle Shlomo's card collection along with the bushel of socks that she normally gave you

That amazing deal on a case you got at AmazingDealsOnCases.com that was even more amazing than normal

That one time where you slipped a pack into the jacket pocket of a pack searcher at Target and hung around so you could watch the security alarm go off

Or any other time where a prized collectible fell into your lap. This is more about the whole acquisition experience rather than just an individual part in the collection. Write as much as you want, post it on your blog and paste the link in this post. (or you could e-mail me instead if you're a brave soul) The more memories the better, feel free to rattle off a 20-pager like I normally do. And now the fine print:

Here are the rules established by Gellman, which Dave modified slightly, and then were subsequently cut and pasted by me:

• This is an open forum, and anyone can participate at any time. I will not discriminate, nor will I leave you out if we don’t agree. Heck, even the bloggers at Beckett can participate if they want to!
• Please make your post at least semi-relevant to the topic. You can be as creative as you want, but keep the general topic in mind. You don’t need to answer all of the questions in the topic, but your post should address what kinds of products you’d like to see the card companies produce.
• Keep your post PG or PG-13, I won’t censor it, but this is necessary since we’ll have a vast audience, which might include kids.
• Give us something to read, so don’t just write two sentences and call it a day. Make this a normal post, as you would want your readers to see it as a normal part of your blog. Given the great entries that we’ve seen in the past, I don’t think this will be a problem.
• Please give your post a title, and mark it so it’s easy to find when you give me the link. If you want your full name included and not just your blog title, put it in there somewhere.
• Please comment on this post or email me the link to your post so that I’ll know about it.

Ok, that's about it, write 'em up and make sure I get a link. Deadline is:

Midnight Tuesday, March 24th

I'll post 'em all on Wednesday. First one to give me a link gets on the top of the post, the rest will be listed in the order received. Above all, have fun kiddos!