You've Got Mail #33: Wes (jaybarkerfan) - Part 1

I'm still sorting through the epic yard sale find from a few weeks ago so while I'm doing that, I've got a few Supertrader packages left in in the backlog so I'll plow through those before showing off the yard sale goodies.

JBF sent not one, but two packages out before stepping down as the team rep for the Braves in the Supertraders group (quick aside: someone needs to hit me up via email with the contact info and address for Johnny's Trading Spot please). There was so much madness and chaos contained within that it'll be hard to contain it to one post.

So, with this post, it'll be focused on the "hits" included, next part will just be base cards.

The scan of this card got all messed up but you get the general idea. It's a Giovani Bernard shadowbox style RC numbered 32/50. I'm looking forward to seeing how the Bengals bounce back this fall after a disastrous, self-imploding exit from the playoffs last year.

This Cueto card is pretty sweet. It's still strange to see him in a different uniform, especially for the dreaded Giants. I think the Reds could have definitely afforded him if they hadn't wasted a giant amount of money on Homer Bailey.

Some more Bengals hits. Yeah, the Mario Alford is another one of those shadowbox style cards, but my favorite has to be the Tyler Eifert card. Yes, it's just a normal plain white swatch but I really like the background design on it. Sometimes the beauty is in simplicity.

Another batch of Reds hits. Heisey never really got going as a reserve outfielder and has bounced around a bit since the Reds traded him off to the Dodgers for Matt Magill. The Sauer card not only my second card that has a Crosley Field relic in it but it's also my second Hank Sauer card. The Votto card is from this years Donruss, which so far is my favorite release this year.

Finally, Wes had offered up a bunch of cards for the taking earlier this year and I claimed these Wally Szczerbiak cards. While I'm not much of a basketball collector, I will grab cards I think are cool here and there. Szczerbiak went to school and was a college star 20 minutes down the road from me at Miami of Ohio, so I claimed these since he's a local guy.

Part 2 of the awesome envelope coming up soon!

You've Got Mail #15: Highly Subjective & Completely Arbitrary

My first official trade package as part of the "Super Traders" group that Wes (aka Jaybarkerfan) put together (and graciously included me in) arrived in the mail the other day. It just happened to be from the gracious soul known as Brian from Highly Subjective and Completely Arbitrary and proved to pack a huge punch in a small package.

It started innocently enough with these two nice cards from Upper Deck's last baseball set in 2010.

It also had these random cards included within ... mid-90's Reds cards are always a plus.

Here's where things started to get interesting ... this Drew Stubbs autograph was unexpected. Even though he wasn't the greatest lead-off guy, he could make contact and had a monster year in 2010.

This 1972 Topps card of Ross Grimsley posing in a field with a bullpen jacket on looks innocent enough, right?

But then I flipped it over and BOOM! It's a blank back! I had no idea that this even existed!

I've saved the best three for last.

First, we have a very nice 1950 Bowman of Reds Hall of Famer Ewell Blackwell. Nicknamed "The Whip", he was one of the Reds best pitchers of the late 1940s and early 1950s. His best season was 1947 with a 22-8 record and 2.47 ERA over 33 starts. The same season he also boasted 23 complete games, 193 strikeouts, and 6 shutouts in 273 innings pitched.

Going backwards, there was also this 1949 Bowman of Hank Sauer. I'm not too familiar with him but the back boasts him as one of "baseball best sluggers" and apparently won the 1952 NL MVP award as a member of the Cubs. A quick check of his bio on Baseball Reference says that he was traded to the Cubs by the Reds for Peanuts Lowrey and Harry Walker.

Finally, there's the gem of the whole batch and a card I wasn't familiar with. This is a 1939 Play Ball card of Billy Myers, shortstop for the Reds and part of the back-to-back NL pennant winners in 1939-40 and member of the 1940 World Series champion team. His stats aren't all that impressive but he did manage to get inducted into the Reds Hall of Fame in 1966.

A big thank you to Brian for sending this my way and who outdid himself on this PWE. I'll dig up some Twins in return for you!