Google Sheets glitches

I can fake working on spreadsheets and Google Sheets files in particular to account for the cards in my various collections - it makes me feel good to feel like I'm curating and cataloging all sort of cards in the files I've created, but maybe I'm doing something wrong.

As I'm trying to list out my last 'runs' of awesome action collecting topics subset adds for the year - I've discovered numerous instances where either Google Sheets or 'user error' is causing the information I've added to cells [to further classify cards in my Google Sheets file] to be displaced or disappear entirely.

There maybe instances where information is added in the right place where my 'batting' cards are grouped as such - but why do I find instances where the 'batting' tag is under subsets, when they should be grouping tags.

Bear with me, but everything listed under the subset column should be under the grouping column - I don't know if I'm putting the information in the wrong place all this time, but I feel like there are gremlins messing around with my Google Sheets file.

It maybe a case where the file is bloated with all sorts of entries from at least 15 years ago- so when I try to load the file, it lags and somehow jumbles things up.

What I've resorted to doing is seeing if I can copy over the main file and see if the apparent mess ups show there - I'd really like to see if I can just work on adding to a previous version where I feel like things are intact [through a certain point].

The nuclear option was to create new related files for a fresh start - even if it means breaking up the bulk of the listings of different mini-collections under my 'awesome action' umbrella.

I hope using separate files will be easier to look at and add listings of cards into without the worry about mushrooming file size - but it maybe a case where the transition will begin some time in 2022.

collecting topics - AA - pitching - 12-6-21

collecting topics - AA - fun - game - personality - 12-6-21

collecting topics - AA - unique perspectives - 12-6-21

collecting topics - AA - fielding - 12-6-21

collecting topics - AA - batting and baserunning - 12-6-21

collecting topics - AA - celebrations - confrontations - curtain calls - 12-7-21

collecting topics - AA - strictly other sports - 12-7-21

A mini-collections boost thanks to Bob

A fellow collector named Bob from The Best Bubble left a comment he wanted to trade cards and had around 50 off my collecting topics wantlist to send - he mailed the cards off relatively quickly and I actually something to look at sooner than later.

I went through the cards and it looks like a nice mix of mostly late 1990s UV-coated stuff and stragglers from other years - not exactly from the junk wax era but maybe as the years go by, cards that I might not get to pick up outright.

I'd just updated the yearly totals on my 2019 collecting topics count - but this late-year trade gives me more cards to list up and tally up before the year is over.

Go figure, the trade allowed me to knock out a chunk of cards off my wantlist - which has been neglected for the longest time i.e. I don't even look at it as and maybe I've never thought about posting a most wanted, so people's attention can focus on a smaller group of cards.

Maybe just as a 'reference guide,' I'll look to add that 'Top 10' or 'Top 15' most wanted - but also look to add cards that I can end up looking for myself, instead of letting things go stale.

I counted out about 65 cards and a sample of the cards I received are posted - thanks again Bob!

2018 Topps Stadium Club Anthony Rendon #61 - majestic / panoramic.

1991 Topps Stadium Club Shane Mack #259 - I'm not sure if this is a staged photo shoot or if Mack is standing in as a batter during a pitcher's bullpen session.

1995 Topps Stadium Club Larry Walker #148 - I've added 'posed' images to showcase artsy-fartsy looking cards.

1997 Fleer Ultra Sammy Sosa #169 - dirt fetish; I love this card.

1997 Topps Stadium Club Mark Grudzielanek #44 - dirt fetish

1999 Fleer Ultra Jim Thome #95 - dirt fetish

1996 Topps Lenny Dykstra #261 - dirt fetish; after the fact, there was nothing admirable about the man, but he always knew how to get his uniform dirty.

1991 Topps Stadium Club Walt Weiss #49 - in the air

1997 Topps Stadium Club Rey Ordonez #48 - dirt fetish

1997 Topps Stadium Club Harold Baines #70 - he gives some high fives back to his teammates as a little tribute as opposed to an outright celebration for whatever he just did before someone snapped his picture.

1997 Topps Stadium Club Moises Alou #80 - dirt fetish

1996 Topps Stadium Club Tony Gwynn #301 - Ozzie Smith's appearance makes this a 'star on star' cameo of then active players who were destined to be Hall of Fame legends.

1997 Topps Stadium Club Jody Reed #285 - in the air

1997 Topps Stadium Club Joey Cora #149 - in the air

1994 Upper Deck Rickey Henderson #60 - on a random note, maybe 1994 Upper Deck was a bit of a bore, but UD never really wavered in photo selection.

1996 Topps Stadium Club Edgar Martinez #300 - posed

1994 Topps Ryan Thompson #98 - I collect 'batting' cards which may not be hard since every other image on baseball cards maybe of someone hitting; a distinction I make for my 'mini-collections' is I got to feel the image is showing a little extra dimension like this tight, up close shot of Thompson taking.

1997 Topps Stadium Club Mark Lemke #322 - baserunning

Another screen shot of a Google Sheets file

As far as I know, I've mostly gotten specific cards from my awesome action collection jammed together - it may have been the only thing I've thought about as far as collecting cards go.

I added a column to the Google Sheets file where I could 'tag' listed cards I had in-hand according to a sport - I'm always a 'baseball first' guy, but I want to account for cards from basketball, football, hockey, etc.

As far as cards from other sports, I'll have cards I'll physically add to the end of specific classifications / groupings that were made for my baseball collection - but there will also be a stand alone collection of cards for each sport.

Basketball - actual on court action - in the air; stick this with my baseball ‘in the air’ collection

Football - skill players - quarterbacks, receivers, running backs, tight ends

Football - special teams - running backs, defensive backs

Football - offense - kickers, linemen

Football - defense - cornerbacks, linebackers, linemen, safeties

Football - unique perspectives - celebrations

Hockey - actual on ice game action

Hockey - unique perspectives - celebrations, photo ops

Classifications / groupings for my stand alone cards may be just a little different from my baseball ones - I was trying to think of some unique themes for the football cards, but stuck with trying to arrange them by position.

Awesome action projects - classifications and groupings

I'm all about trying to stretch my interests out as far as playing with my cards and off what I'd started last year, there has been a push towards trying to see where specific cards off my awesome action collection can be jammed together - for the longest time, my awesome action collection was a mashup of assorted cards, but maybe I've been influenced by other cards bloggers to get even more specific as far as pooling together cards that show similar, unique images.

I added a column to the Google Sheets file where I could 'tag' listed cards I had in-hand according to a classification - I might have around 1,000 cards listed in my main awesome action collection and so I don't get overwhelmed, I'm only grabbing a certain number of cards at a time [like all the cards of players with the last names A-B, B-C, etc] to get through the year.

To dig a little deeper perhaps, I added a grouping column where I want to label cards within the main awesome action subset and classification - so far, I only have my A-B cards off my main collection and awesome action cards I had in my temporary setups to classify.

I’ve tried to conjure up groupings that come up as I’ve played and listed out cards in a specific classification - as is, it was a little confusing to sort what I had all over again, going in different directions, trying to herd into one place, that might fit better in another place, etc.

I worry the names of the groupings sound too basic, where there isn’t really have a ‘bite,’ but the cards that are tagged under an occasional boring sounding grouping - were collected within the awesome action umbrella.

Actual on field game action - baserunning, batters bunting, batting, celebrations, confrontations, curtain calls, fielding, in the air, making the throws and pitching.

Dirt fetish - maybe not as specific as long as I see dirt

Fun cards - goofing off, gum cards, having fun, mascots, mugging it up, oddities and props

Game face cards - focused, men at work

Personality shots - fired up, tributes

Unique perspectives - angles, event captured, horizontal, interviews, lounging around, majestic / panoramic, multiple-exposure manipulation, posed photo shoots and signage.

Maybe by the end of the week, things got more clear cut - where I was able to organize by classification and grouping, though it is just the start.

I wish I didn't care as much or at all

The boxes to the center and to the right are where I store a part of my mini-collections - I've mostly been working on listing out [and physically putting away] collecting topic subset cards for the past couple of weeks.

I maintain a loose box of cards to stash 'adds' to count towards my year end achievements and a stash of 'haves' that may have been loose cards otherwise already in my collection - it's kind of 'grunt' work to empty the box but I get the satisfaction of playing around with my actual cards and making sure they are 'officially' part of my collection as opposed to just not giving a hoot.

I’ve started to put away some cards for the following but I think I’ve got to stop somewhere - there has to be a time where I can say I’m done with something at the moment, where I can catch my breath and pat myself on the back.- I’ve got to stop somewhere and there has to be a time where I can say I’m done with something at the moment, where I can catch my breath and pat myself on the back.

I can take myself through a ‘trip’ as a collector flipping through cards that belong to particular themes perhaps - but it feels irrelevant, where I’ve objectified strangers’ [regardless of their status as professional athletes] cards [like having a snapshot of someone else’s personal achievement] that mean bupkis to my life.

It’s because I’m a collector and one-time in-person autograph hound that thinks chasing ink got me closer to the game than it actually did - going through the cards or scrutinizing them because a bit more important because I was looking to get them inked up.

Not to get too dramatic, but maybe through collecting, I’ve kind of marginalized my own life where I wonder if trying to do something with miscellaneous cards are a waste - once in a while, maybe it’s peculiar to see ‘dead cardboard’ I flipped through and passed over at one time ‘archived to oblivion’ like commons from 10-15 years of once ‘current’ players that have moved on [when I haven’t].

Sorting things out - a couple of random cards

I tried filing away some loose inserts squirreled away in loose blaster / mega boxes into a 3,200 count box I have for my archive of insert cards - I pulled a couple of cards to go into a couple of mini-collections and if I can use a card in another collection, I should be proactive in grabbing pulling it because it would get lost.

My A-Z inserts collection maybe designed - as a final destination for miscellaneous finds or pulls.

I saw I had doubles of a Erik Goeddel certified autograph - I pulled one and went out and bought another, not realizing I had a copy already.

I added one to my bloodlines collection since his brother Tyler plays professionally - Erik has bounced around a little bit and ended up with the Los Angeles Dodgers this year.

The relief pitcher looks like he has posted decent numbers, though he is more of a long relief / mop-up guy - as opposed to having a more prominent role out of the bullpen.

Tyler was also picked up by the Dodgers this year and is currently playing in the minors - Tyler was a rule a Rule 5 pick by the Philadelphia Phillies in 2015 and spent the 2016 season in the major leagues.

I also set aside a Team USA jersey card of one time minor leaguer Hayden Hurst - professional baseball didn’t work out for him and now he is a rookie tight end in the NFL.

Trade with Baseball Cards Come to Life!

I got over 300 assorted cards from Bo at Baseball Cards Come to Life! as sort of a blind trade - on my end, the most important thing was getting a mini-collection 'boost' at the end of 2017 when I thought I'd accounted for all the cards I was going to get.

Besides all the mini-collection adds, including ones knocked off my wantlist and others I tacked on for 2017, I may have counted out 140 miscellaneous cards - regardless of the substance, I think it's fun to go through a jumble of cards like these once in a while, even though I probably needed to pace myself, so I didn't get burnt out being preoccupied by all the randomness.

I like trying to make sense out of the cards as I sorted them out - selected other cards were added as mini-collection ‘haves,’ where I might have had the card or a card for a player pictured, but felt I might as well list them as part of a particular mini-collection.

Other cards went into my various ‘loose card’ interests including:

School ties - I have a multi-sport collection of alumni players from a selected number of California colleges.

Cards of MLB/MiLB coaches - usually former players who maybe currently working or have worked for a MLB organization in 'recent' years.

Cards for team boxes - I have a collection on the side featuring assorted cards from all the 30 MLB teams.

A-Z archive filler - the least I will do is see if I could file these cards away 'as is.'

My favorite cards out of the box include the following:

1991 Topps Stadium Club Alex Cole #392 - pictures Otis Nixon; this made me do a double take when I saw the nameplate because I thought it was Nixon's card...Nixon has a more pronounced, weathered face [to put it kindly] while Cole always wore those goggles.

1992 Fleer Rookie Sensations Phil Plantier #19 of 20 - the butt shot captures his unique stance perfectly; Plantier was indeed a rookie sensation with the Boston Red Sox in 1991, hitting .331 with 11 home runs in 175 at-bats, but just wasn't destined to be a star.

Images courtesy of COMC.com

1992 O-Pee-Chee Premier Mike Bordick #5 - pictures Scott Brosius

1992 Donruss Triple Play Greg Vaughn #122 - I love how Vaughn’s cap is flying off as he checks if he has made the catch at the wall; a couple of teens along the railing above him check to see if they possibly have a beat on the ball as well.

1996 Pinnacle Denny’s Kevin Seitzer #26 of 28 - I bought this set years ago so I have this card somewhere, but to have it in-hand at the moment is nice; I don’t know if the holographic animation of the player shown was ever such a big deal, but I like shining the image up to the light and playing around with the card.

1996 Upper Deck Charlie Hayes #436 - I like how he is playing with a camera with a big lens.

1998 Fleer Tradition Ben McDonald #40 - this image sticks out as Fleer immortalized the longtime American League pitcher's only big league at-bat during the first year of Interleague play in 1997.

FWIW - the Milwaukee Brewers moved from the American League Central to the National League Central the year after.

2016 Donruss The Famous San Diego Chicken #151 - is this the most recognizable baseball mascot of all-time?

1991 Fleer Alex Cole #365

As something to do, I'm trying to go through loose cards in my collection and pull the ones that might not be relevant - but can be listed and put away in some sort of mini-collection.

The junk wax Cole was probably a repack pull, so it was in limbo, not yet squirreled away in my main A-Z archives of commons - I thought it may have been a reach to add this as an 'awesome action' card, but I've always liked the image of speedster Cole take a lead off first base, with his eyes on the pitcher.

With its garish yellow borders, 1991 Fleer was the poster child of the junk wax era - there just isn't a whole lot of lingering nostalgia for a set that didn't take much imagination to design.

I dug up a big book of baseball cards from 1991, which profiled players with snapshots of their mainstream cards and considered their profit potential - back in the day, the book was a guide to learn about players and helped figure out which was the card to get, maybe the best looking and/or potentially valuable [lol].

In addition to the Fleer, which was chosen as the best out of his five cards, I like Cole's 1991 Upper Deck [#654] issue - where Cole shoos his bat away after collecting a walk.

2017 collecting topics achievements

I've tallied up all my mini-collection adds for this year - from 2016, it looks like I've picked up 202 less cards, though with a month to go, the numbers are subject to change

My cardboard of doom - organizing inserts

Presumably my collecting life will be over at some point - so what would someone make of the remains of what animated me?

Would the snapshot be of someone who managed to have some cool stuff and knew what he was collecting or would the picture be less flattering - where I built upon scattered interests that have left my collections incomplete, unfinished and abandoned?

I may have good intentions, I may have a plan but maybe the focus isn’t there - things fall kind of flat and I end up feeling like a hoarder at times, which maybe the truth.

At the most basic level, I want to be able to go through the cards I've collected and feel like I'm not such a hoarder at times - as is, one of the things that bug me are the countless inserts I've pulled over the past five or six years.

I don't really think I bust enough of anything to have all sorts of inserts - but I may have assorted cards 'all over the place,' maybe squirreled away to give them the most minimal of protection, but otherwise loose.

Which ones I do list out in their own A-Z archive of sorts to be jammed away in a box and which ones can I just add to my 'binder collection' of decade stars - I think the most common inserts associated with a particular decade star can be stored with the players' other cards because it's not like I'm going to need some random, cheapo insert.

Anything that ends up falling under 'misc' where it's kind of a more notable card nicer than a common insert and/or base card - can be listed in a Google Sheets file and put away.

I guess the biggest benefit of having a list and also keeping up with the physical collection is for trade purposes, which I don't really do because the hobby is really self-absorbed for me - still, in order to feel a little bit more organized, to be a 'pro' if you will, I'd like to harp on accounting for inserts coming into my hands.

Sorting my cards - finding Elian Herrera

Spring training is around the corner and perhaps I'm looking into updating my stash of cards I'm trying to get autographs on otherwise - Herrera’s name came up as a guy who maybe in camp with the Los Angeles Dodgers, but in case I wanted to send him a TTM request or something, it became a joke I had no idea where to find his cards,

I wondered if the cards were buried in a rubble of loose cards somewhere never to be unearthed - the misplaced cards maybe about a dime each, but I don’t want to feel incomplete and distressed about my collections not being in order to the point where I can't find the most obscure cards.

I may have squirreled the cards away in one of my ‘silly’ loose card projects like perhaps my off-season transactions mini-collection - maybe in a random group cards I've pulled to list as part of one of my mini-collections.

The Herrera cards were just not in the obvious places, but I ended up flipping through random cards I stuffed in a 3200 count box of cards - when I actually spotted Herrera’s cards in a small, miscellaneous grouping of loose cards and found the following, one 2012 Topps Update Series #US38, the two 2012 Bowman Draft #51 cards I was originally whining about and a 2014 Topps Update #US-30.

Setting up assorted files on Google

For the card related projects I’m working on, I’ve gotten a little crazy trying to create and/or update Google Sheets and/or Google Docs files - I think it gets the ball rolling as far as getting organized and seeing what I have / need.

• Angels autograph wantlist [Google Docs] - trying to list out players I still need...will create a Google Sheets file to account for the autographs I already have.  
• 2016 collecting topics worksheet [Google Docs] - place where I list out the cards I can pull from my collection and also ‘new’ cards I can seek out.
• To do list [Google Sheets] - I’ve probably sought to create various incarnations of a ‘to do’ list, but I want to look at something like a concise ‘set of plays’ to run through.
• Regional collections [Google Sheets] - consists of my team A-Z singles and my PC cards.
• A-Z singles [Google Sheets] - I want this file to use as a spot to list out applicable cards.
• Angels Opening Day starters [Google Sheets] - I’ve gathered some assorted cards and intend to list them out.

Heavy lifting with lil pieces o' cardboard

I have to figure out where cards have to go sooner than never - I'm trying to eliminate situations where things are not in order and I end up feeling like I'm missing cards.

As the baseball off-season rolls on, I should be worried about MLB / MiLB related transactions, but in-between moving my nickel and dime cards to 'new homes' as players move on - I'm focused on trying to deal with some of my collecting topics cards.

I feel like I need to go over my collecting topics cards for the longest time since I might be missing something - which makes me feel uneasy because I'm supposed be on top of at least the cards I collect for fun. THIS SOME SERIOUS BUSINESS HERE.

Right now, I'm listing all my additions from this year as 'achievements,' though there is still a little bit of time to add some assorted cards - I'm physically putting the actual cards into collection stored in boxes and fixing any discrepancies between what I may have and what is actually listed on a file in Excel.

1.) For any particular cards missing or otherwise loose somewhere in the wild, I tried to highlight the listing in red meaning so I have some peace of mind to say - 'OK, I do not have this card among this group of collecting topics cards, but I should be able to account for where it is.'

2.) I deleted listings of particular cards even though it fits among a similar group of collecting topics cards - if I can get particular cards autographed in-person, those take priority over stuffing a particular card in a box of my collecting topics 'sets.'

I WANT TO MAKE ANYTHING HIGHLIGHTED IN RED 'DISAPPEAR' SOONER THAN LATER - so it's best to delete the listing of the card just so I don't have to worry about it.

3.) At times I've listed the same cards twice, so if I have dupes, I just note it in one listing and delete the other, especially if it's a card I've had in my collection prior to the current year - don't want to duplicate the general number of cards I ended up counting out through my database as far as my current year achievements are concerned.

4.) Collecting topics I officially collect - many of these consist of cards I've seen on other blogs throughout the past five years, though I think back to the Pinnacle and Triple Play subset cards from the 1990's as my primary inspiration [at least in name] as well as the advent of better baseball card photography and premium quality card sets [maybe starting with 1989 Upper Deck].

Tools of ignorance - done 11/29
Broken bat shots - done 11/29
Facial hair - done 11/29
Awesome outfield action - done 11/29
Nations - done 12/2
Shades - done 12/1
Hats off - done 12/1
Pitchers hitting - done 12/5
Interesting backs 
PEDs - done 12/4
Bonus babies - done 12/2
Local [OC] guys - done 12/4
High socks - done 12/4
Inking it up - done 12/4
Infamous - done 12/4
Awesome action - done 12/5
Retro uniforms
Grips
Cult baseball players / feats
Beyond the glory
Bloodlines
Two-sport stars - done 12/5
Uncorrected errors - done 12/5
Players smiling

Playing with my cards and maintaining upkeep

My ongoing collecting mind runs a mile a minute every time I go through my loose cards - while I may or may not have real life issues going on, collecting autographs / baseball cards are the default hobbies that animate me like some others may think about fantasy sports.

While I really only have a finite number of opportunities to actually get myself out somewhere to get stuff signed - the consumption of baseball cards [to try and get autographed] and building up a decent number for as many different subjects as possible maybe a year round thing now.

I'm looking to 'game plan' for spring training, the regular MLB / MiLB season and whatever else may come up of interest - maybe at times I feel overwhelmed and aimless when I spend money on more unsigned cards i.e. maybe singles, a set or a lot of cards.

But I've got to keep up or else I feel I'm behind - not as much when I'm trying to get established player's autograph at MLB games, but more when I take a detour to hunt for prospects and other non-MLB players.

Maybe the most important aspect of my collecting endeavors is maintaining upkeep, so it's not just one big mess of loose cards I have to swim through - easier said than done when at times I'm focusing on the next thing.

I have to know where cards are so I can go and prep for an outing to get my cards signed - maybe arrange for a way to have cards of upcoming teams in a way where I can get to them instead of having to dig for cards at the last minute.

How do I maintain upkeep of random things like my transactions box - keeping track of various moves so I can a little mini set of loose cards and so my team boxes for autograph hunting are updated?

A.) Changes/expansion/realignment due to overflow of cards - a space crunch may have me leaning on making a temporary A-Z box as a semi-permanent place to store random cards from my A-Z archive stored in three 3,500 count boxes.

I don't want overstuffed team boxes and A-Z archives - I want to keep the cards together as much as possible and don't want to deviate from how I've arranged things, but maybe some tweaks are in order.

B.) How do I pack my A-Z archives with cards from recent years [so it feels more relevant as opposed to being strictly a cardboard morgue] and how do I keep track of the most random cards [maybe one or two cards] from those boxes - so I can hit on the right cue to find ones, 'on demand?'

Maybe purchase a new 3,500 count box for my A-Z archives - rearrange A-F, G-M, N-Z arrangement if cards are packed too tight.

Maybe pull 'extraneous' cards to give away and discard otherwise - maybe about 200 per box to give away somewhere; I need a good, diverse archive of cards from many years, but the foundation of my A-Z archives have been built on cards I won't bother to try and get autographed.

C.) Have something to do with cards each day - sounds simple enough where I work on something just to chip away, so I don't feel like I'm getting away from what is supposedly leisurely activities for myself.