Featured autograph - Chris Sale

I was able to get the young pitching ace when the Chicago White Sox played the Angels a couple of weeks ago - he was pretty accomodating signing after the gam, though it seemed like the regular autographers were probably somewhere else the afternoon I got him.

I can't really say much more about a guy who carved up the Angels this season - Sale struck out 19 and walked three in 16 2/3 innings in two starts against the Halos, allowing only 4 hits and a grand total of 0 runs.

Collecting topics focus No. 1 - the facial hair guys

I'm not prone to collect baseball cards [except to try and get autographed], but I still like flipping through all sorts of cards, especially with a unique focus - in recent years other collectors / card bloggers have been more proficient in hoarding and showcasing a variety of baseball cards that showcase a unique, sometimes quirky view of the game through baseball card images.

If I feel a little behind on all things related to actual baseball card collecting, I like the idea I can still build up my collecting topics collection - even though right now I'm trying to focus on only cards of players / coaches with facial hair.

This means for an indefinite period of time, I'm basically keeping an eye out for facial hair cards I've added this year - as well as trying to figure out if I have 100 percent of the cards listed in my database in-hand.

Once I figure out how to keep all the facial hair cards I have together - then I'll move into another collecting topic to swim in for a while.

My official position as far as cards out I don't have in my collection is I don't have to have them all - but I'd like to be able to discover and add 'new' cards here through pack breaks, quarter box digs, et al.

Featured autograph - Rusty Kuntz

Rusty Kuntz may not be a memorable player on merit but his unfortunate name makes him sort of a cult baseball player - I've always wanted a 'Rusty Kuntz' autograph for my collection and was finally able to get the Kansas City Royals coach to sign a card for me when his team came to play the Angels this year.

Image grabbed online and added 6/12/13 - see what I mean about his name being a punch line? LOL

Dollar Tree repacks - the dinged corners edition

I was looking for a cardboard fix at a Dollar Tree discount store - I picked up a couple of 'Ultimate Super Jumbo Pack - Vintage Series' repacks for a dollar each; I'd busted a couple of packs last year and wanted to see what I could unearth.

One pack had 33 cards - most of the cards from the two packs had dinged corners, which shouldn't be surprising because they are repacks banging around in a flimsy bag, in a neglected gravity feed in a dollar store that specializes in about a thousand other things besides trading cards.

1991 Pacific Nolan Ryan #117
1989 Bowman Andy McGaffigan #356
1985 Topps Dale Berra #305
1995 Bowman Joey Hamilton #283
1996 Bowman Ron Villone #172
1990 CMC Andy Stankiewicz #210
1987 Topps Juan Bonilla #668
1989 Bowman David Cone #375
1987 Topps Steve Lyons #511
1987 Topps Johnny Grubb #384
1989 Bowman Gregg Jefferies #381
1978 Topps Enos Cabell #132
1989 Bowman David Cone #375
1987 Topps Jose Oquendo #133
1996 Leaf Ramon Martinez #198
1993 Pinnacle Select Terry Mulholland #127
1989 Bowman Manny Trillo #308
1985 Topps Sid Monge #408
1989 Fleer Lance Parrish #578
1989 Fleer Pedro Guerrero #451
1989 Fleer Matt Nokes #140
1998 Score Todd Greene #71
1989 Fleer Andres Galarraga #376
1992 Fleer Dave Cochrane #431
1995 Bowman Joey Hamilton #283
1987 Topps Mark Huismann #187
1989 Fleer Jose Canseco #628
1989 Bowman Carlton Fisk #62
1991 Upper Deck Jimmy Key #667
1997 Leaf Jose Valentin #60
1992 Upper Deck Jeff Bagwell #276
1993 Bowman Danny Jackson #514
1995 Bowman Kirby Puckett #280

One pack had 32 cards
1988 Topps Tony Gwynn #402
1985 Topps Gardner's Brewers Jim Gantner #7
1992 Topps Jeff Robinson #137
1987 Topps San Diego Padres Leaders #81
1985 Topps Gardner's Brewers Bob Clark #3
1985 Topps Gardner's Brewers Pete Ladd #10
1994 Upper Deck Pedro Munoz #302 - Electric Diamond parallel
1985 Topps Gardner's Brewers Bob McClure #12
1977 Topps Bill Greif #112
1984 Topps Dave Rucker #699
1987 Topps Walt Terrell #72
1989 Donruss Dave LaValliere #244
1985 Topps Gardner's Brewers Bob Clark #3
1984 Topps George Vukovich #638
1994 Upper Deck Mike Kelly #338 - Electric Diamond parallel
1985 Topps Gardner's Brewers Jamie Cocanower #4
1989 Bowman Willie Ansley #332
1992 Upper Deck Minors Todd Van Poppel #75
1992 Upper Deck Minors Chris Seelbach #94
1991 Topps Tom Brookens #268
1985 Topps Gardner's Brewers Bob McClure #12
1987 Topps Mike Fischlin #434
1992 Upper Deck Minors Domingo Jean #307
1985 Topps Gardner's Brewers Moose Haas #8
1987 Topps Tony Fernandez #485
1987 Topps Jim Gantner #108
1991 Upper Deck Dante Bichette #712
1991 Upper Deck Mike Marshall #681
1992 Upper Deck Minors Ray McDavid #256
1987 Topps Steve Balboni #240
2001 Topps Ricky Ledee #654
1998 Donruss Jim Edmonds #44

2013 Bowman blaster recap

2013 Bowman blaster [$19.99 at a Target]

Pack one
#21 A.J. Pierzynski
#153 Carlos Beltran
#BP 12 Collin Wiles
#BP 100 Carlos Correa
#152 Shin-Soo Choo - gold
#BP 69 Anderson Feliz - International
#BCP 80 Alex Meyer - Chrome
#BCP 91 Gabriel Guerrero
#26 Darwin Barney
#68 Zack Cozart

Pack two
#55 Lance Lynn
#184 Johan Santana
#BP 19 Carson Kelly
#BP 27 Cory Vaughn
#197 Delmon Young - gold
#CC-SDP 2 Rymer Liriano - Mini Chrome Refractor
#BCP 54 Chris McFarland - Chrome
#31 Michael Young
#209 Jim Johnson
#36 Alex Rios

Pack three
#51 Evan Longoria
#49 David Price
#150 Bryce Harper
#BP 39 Brett Gerritse
#BP 47 Michael Taylor
#56 Matt Cain - gold
#BDP 63 Andrew McCutchen - Blue Sapphire Continuity Program insert / reprint of 2005 Bowman Draft
#BCP 20 Darwin Rivera - Chrome
#81 Cliff Lee
#39 Dylan Bundy

Pack four
#133 Anthony Gose
#132 Adrian Beltre
#BP 60 Yordano Ventura
#BP 77 Jorge Bonifacio
#BP 88 Dorssys Paulino
#140 Jose Bautista - gold
Bowman Prospect Challenge code card
#BCP 11 Jamie Callahan - Chrome
#BCP 17 Mitch Nay - Chrome
#171 Paco Rodriguez
#217 Brock Holt

Pack five
#142 Matt Kemp
#101 Paul Goldschmidt
#BP 101 Ronny Rodriguez
#BP 110 Sam Selman
#10 Johnny Cueto - gold
#25 Dan Uggla
#BCP 67 Travis Shaw - Chrome
#BCP 81 Gabriel Encinas - Chrome
#43 Ryan Wheeler
#175 Ali Solis

Pack six
#16 Ryan Vogelsong
#62 Raul Ibanez
#149 Yasmani Grandal
#BP 71 Pedro Ruiz
#BP 70 Casey Stevenson
#BP 50 Rafael Montero
#52 Jacoby Ellsbury - gold
#BTP 38 Allen Hanson - Bowman Top 100 insert
#BCP 89 William Oliver - Chrome
#77 Jaime Garcia
#207 Eric Hosmer

Pack seven
#195 Aaron Hill
#188 Howard Kendrick
#BP 36 Jose Peraza
#BP 26 Cory Hall
#91 Clayton Kershaw - gold
#BP 82 Yeicok Calderon - Silver Ice parallel
#BCP 84 Luis Sardinas - Chrome
#BCP 53 Steven Moya - Chrome
#73 Angel Pagan
#72 Ike Davis

Pack eight
#138 Jayson Werth
#181 Dexter Fowler
#BP 16 Tyler Gonzalez
#BP 7 Jesse Hahn
#46 Wei-Yin Chen - gold
#CC-MT 3 Oswaldo Arcia - Mini Chrome Refractor
#BCP 69 Anderson Feliz - Chrome
#113 Mat Latos
#155 Mike Moustakas
#154 Hunter Pence