Featured autograph - Grant Green

I've seen Green at the Arizona Fall League in 2011 and 2012, but got a couple of new cards [2013 Topps Pro Debut and 2013 Panini USA Champions] signed in-person about a week or so - before the 25-year old rookie got traded to the Angels in exchange for Alberto Callaspo.

Hopefully Green, can figure things out sooner than never and maybe in a few years - be another Mark DeRosa, a useful guy who can play a couple of positions with a decent stick at the plate.

As for the Angels, I have to be a fan, but the product on the field is unwatchable - there is a 'what you see is what you get' quality to the Angels, which is to say the way the team has been built over the last three years, there hasn't been the ability to go out and get players that add depth to the pitching staff or among the position players.

I don't know how much further the Angels will have to fall before hitting rock bottom, but seemingly each loss is worse than the last - the 'go for broke' trades during the middle of the year and big free agent signings of the last four or five years have torpedoed the ability for the team to bounce back as a legitimate contender.

I was for the Albert Pujols signing a couple of years ago, even when he is hobbled up now - but the Angels should have built a rebuilt a team through three or four players instead of throwing out money to Josh Hamilton last off-season.

The other odds and ends from the card shop

I might not have found anything specific I was looking for - but I splurged on picking up 53 assorted cards as depth in addition to the seven I picked up for fun.

2010 Bowman Chrome Prospects Zoilo Almonte #BCP 148 - x3
2010 Bowman Draft Chrome USA Marc Brakeman #BDPP 94
2010 Bowman Draft Chrome USA Zach Green #BDPP 99 - x2
2010 Bowman Draft Chrome USA Nelson Rodriguez #BDPP 107 - x3
2010 Bowman Draft Chrome USA Nick Travieso #BDPP 110 - x2
2011 Bowman Chrome Prospects Conner Crumbliss #BCP 147
2011 Bowman Draft Chrome USA Tyler Alamo #BDPP 92
2011 Bowman Draft Chrome USA Nick Ciuffo #BDPP 94
2011 Bowman Draft Chrome USA Dany Toussaint #BDPP 108
2011 Bowman Draft Chrome USA Riley Unroe #BDPP 109
2011 Playoff Contenders Blake Swihart #RT 30
2011 Topps Heritage Minors Jonathan Singleton #154 - x2
2011 Topps Heritage Minors Stetson Allie #201 - Baseball America All-Stars SP
2011 Topps Heritage Minors Austin Romine #230 - Baseball America All-Stars SP
2011 Topps Heritage Minors Mike Foltynewicz #231 - Baseball America All-Stars SP
2011 Topps Heritage Minors Miguel Sano #234 - Baseball America All-Stars SP
2011 Topps Heritage Minors Alex Wimmers #242 - Baseball America All-Stars SP
2011 Topps Heritage Minors Christian Yelich #243 - Baseball America All-Stars SP
2011 Topps Heritage Minors Peter Tago #250 - Baseball America All-Stars SP
2011 Topps Heritage Minors Arodys Vizcaino #46 - Blue Tint parallel serial #'d 492/620
2011 Topps Heritage Minors Mike Montgomery #30 - Blue Tint parallel serial #'d 123/620
2011 Topps Heritage Minors Simon Castro #77 - Blue Tint parallel serial #'d 445/620
2011 Topps Heritage Minors Carlos Martinez #64 - Blue Tint parallel serial #'d 504/620
2011 Topps Heritage Minors Brian Cavazos-Galvez #79 - Blue Tint parallel serial #'d 338/620
2011 Topps Heritage Minors Julio Rodriguez #10 - Red Tint parallel serial #'d 603/620
2011 Topps Heritage Minors Brett Jackson #21 - Red Tint parallel serial #'d 443/620
2011 Topps Heritage Minors Tyler Matzek #26 - Red Tint parallel serial #'d 293/620
2011 Topps Heritage Minors John Gast #117 - Red Tint parallel serial #'d 132/620
2011 Topps Heritage Minors Asher Wojciechowski #186 - Red Tint parallel serial #'d 261/620
2012 Bowman Chrome Kevin Chapman #BCP 214 - x3
2012 Bowman Draft Chrome Eddie Butler #BDPP 103 - x2
2012 Panini Extra Edition Andrew Heaney #3
2012 Panini Extra Edition Rio Ruiz #77
2012 Panini Extra Edition Tom Murphy #91
2012 Panini Extra Edition Alex Wood #30 - x2
2012 Panini Extra Edition Jake Barrett #40
2013 Bowman Jin-De Jhang #BP 23 - blue bordered parallel serial #'d 102/500
2013 Topps Derek Norris #334
2013 Topps Chris Nelson #427
2013 Topps Zach McAllister #513 - x2
2013 Topps Allen and Ginter Tommy Hanson #301 - SP

Odds and ends from the card shop

The last things on my mind when rummaging through cards is going through ones featuring mostly a non-sport theme or picking up ones picturing deceased subjects - but I picked these cards out of a stack of 2013 Panini Golden Age for whatever reason.

2013 Panini Golden Age Woodrow Wilson #16

2013 Panini Golden Age George "Spanky" McFarland #36

2013 Panini Golden Age Branch Rickey #49

2013 Panini Golden Age Elizabeth Montgomery #70

2013 Panini Golden Age Eva Gabor #91
2013 Panini Golden Age Johnny Carson #123

2013 Panini Golden Age Lyman Bostock #144

2013 Bowman Platinum blaster recap

I was looking to see if I'd pull an autograph or something even though I still say I'm paying way too much [about $20 plus tax from a Target] - to pick up 32 random cards per box.

An idea for Topps is to perhaps label the backs of the cards to identify which parallel sets they are from - the base cards are shiny and maybe confused for parallels but besides that, I have to guess and look up cards I pulled if I suspect if they are more than just base cards.

Pack one
#BPP 99 Luis Sardinas
#41 Gio Gonzalez

#36 Stan Musial - Blue Sapphire insert
#53 Freddie Freeman

Pack two
#BPP 91 Michael Wacha

#4 Norichika Aoki - Ruby parallel
#84 Jackie Bradley Jr.
#BPP 25 Anthony Rendon

Pack three
#BPP 93 Richie Shaffer
#BPP 55 Adrian Beltre
#CES-JM Joe Mauer - Cutting Edge Stars insert
#BPP 42 Kyle Zimmer

Pack four
#66 Salvador Perez

#BPCP 13 Taijuan Walker - Chrome parallel
#97 Chris Sale
#BPP 23 Carlos Correa

Pack five
#BPP 43 Tyler Austin

#63 Jason Heyward - Gold parallel
#8 David Freese
#BPP 31 Albert Almora

Pack six
#BPP 5 Zack Wheeler
#BPP 72 Billy Butler
#TP-TW Taijuan Walker - Top Prospects insert
#BPP 9 Billy Hamilton

Pack seven
#BPP 62 Kyle Gibson
#2 Mike Trout - Blue Sapphire parallel
#15 Carl Crawford
#BPP 17 Danny Hultzen

Pack eight
#81 Derek Jeter

#BPCP 5 Zack Wheeler - Chrome parallel
#29 Mariano Rivera
#BPP 92 Gavin Cecchini

Autograph request through the mail received: Andy Dirks

Andy Dirks c/o Detroit Tigers - he was having a breakout year in 2012, so I sent an autograph request towards the end of that season.

In March 2013, the Detroit Tigers returned one of my two cards my unsigned with a form letter in their own envelope - my SASE and my other card were not returned.

I haven't counted on getting through the mail requests back for at least several years but I saw one of my SASEs after checking my mailbox on Aug. 10 - I wondered who responded to me and inside the envelope was a signed card from Dirks, which surprised me since I'd counted him off as an apparent failure.

Featured autograph - Mike Piazza

I told my friend I was going to drop a ball on Piazza at the Inland Empire 66'ers game Sunday night until I realized it wasn't that Mike Piazza - in all seriousness, it's not that confusing to figure out that 44-year old former MLB superstar catcher Mike Piazza would not be pitching [much less doing anything else] for a Single-A team in the California League, though seeing the name does throw people off for a moment.

The younger Mike Piazza is old to be a serious prospect in any MLB organization, but the Angels have held onto him for parts of five minor league seasons - so perhaps if he continues to show something [maybe as a swingman], he may get an opportunity to reach the Major Leagues at some point, even if it's only for a cup of coffee.

Featured autograph - Neal Cotts

When the Texas Rangers were in town, I was able to get his autograph on a card - he said he had to go or his group [Geovany Soto and maybe a bullpen catcher and a another guy] would leave him after the game, so he relented to only signed a couple of autographs.

I still have an autograph card of Cotts somewhere in my room and getting to sign something was no really big deal - still, his comeback from oblivion is worth mentioning if you are a Rangers fan or someone who is interested in MLB human interest stories.

Featured autograph - Jack Morris

His prime through the 1980's was way before my time as either a baseball fan or card collector - I just remember him through various junk wax appearances [particularly late in his playing career] and maybe reading about him through the early 1990's.

Right now, his status as far as a potential Hall of Fame inductee is in the air and maybe he is more of a marginal candidate than a guy you have put in with the greats - the numbers guys seem to marginalize his career as far as snubbing him for the HOF while the so-called old school guys have cited his Game 7 performance in the 1991 World Series and his overall workmanlike efforts through the 1980's as reasons as why he should have a plaque in Cooperstown.

As far as the autographed card, I've associated Morris with the Minnesota Twins but never have seen him in-person until the Toronto Blue Jays visited the Angels a couple of weeks ago - I was able to spot him through the crowd and was the first to end up getting his autograph.

Featured autograph - Steve Delabar

Delabar was the last guy I needed to complete my 2012 Topps Heritage multiplayer card and I got him to finally sign the card a couple of weeks ago in-person - I was hoping to get Delabar at some point during the 2012 season, but he ended up being traded from the Seattle Mariners to the Toronto Blue Jays.

It was a little awkward getting the card signed since Delabar was knocking out the other cards I had for him - but left me hanging as far as signing the card with the three other guys' autograph on it already.

I had to point the card out to him and maybe he thought he signed it already - he said it maybe the first time he's seen one of the cards [completed].

When it comes to PEDs and suspicions

I'm more inclined to listen to the kooks and the guys who speak out about it in an unadulterated way - Jack Clark may have been talking out his ass and promtly got canned for it, but because he's been out of professional baseball and maybe bitter about his circumstance, he's not afraid to piss people off.

Does that mean what he is saying is true [?] - I have to sift through the details he is relaying for each player he sort of puts out there on the firing line to see if it's BS.

Clark probably went off on Justin Verlander's numbers taking a dip after getting his big contract - since Verlander is on his fantasy team and is wondering what happened to the ace pitcher of a couple of years ago hitting just about 100 MPH late into games.

I don't see as much harm into what Clark said about Verlander - however, Clark's story about a trainer building up a good but hardly well known amateur into this beast of a prospect through chemical engineering is more than a little compelling, especially when Albert Pujols turned out to be the best player of his generation.

My only question is why bring it up now [?] - I see where Pujols isn't always painted as the most accomodating or gracious but he seems like a different beast than the A-Roids or Barry Bonds or Roger Clemens of the world.

Maybe long after it all matters, Pujols is found to be on PEDs he was using for a prolonged period of time for parts of his baseball career - however, I'm tempted to say Clark must have some ulterior motive to out Pujols in a way that smears what he has been able to accomplish on and off the field.

As for Clark's innuendo about Shawn Green's apparent bacne due to possible PED use - it maybe one of those things that you can look at as far as Green's numbers [looked like a good player coming up, had some fine power numbers in his prime and then his power numbers just dipped] are concerned, but then after the fact, it is what it is.

When it was apparent what was going on before my very eyes

I had to see if I could get some footage of some poor schlub getting gang tackled by Angel Stadium security - for jumping into the field during the last moments of an Angels game back on July 24.

2013 Topps Allen and Ginter's hobby pack recap #2

Pack one is over here

#130 Pele
#11 Robin Van Persie
#35 Kevin Harvick

#266 Henry Rollins

#AGA-TCG Tony Cingrani - Topps Allen and Ginter autograph card insert

#102 Ian Kinsler - A&G mini parallel
#ATY-JW Jered Weaver - Across the Years insert

2013 Bowman Platinum Value Pack recap

I guess I'll buy my share of unopened packs / blasters but I hate paying retail to the tune of $10-$20 for so little cards - ideally I'd prefer hand collated sets or even lots I can find on eBay perhaps.

Purple Refractor pack
#BPCP 74 Lucas Giolito
#BPCP 85 Trevor Story
#BPCP 11 Mike Zunino

Pack one

#BPP 48 Kaleb Cowart
#64 Joey Votto
#DIR-BV Breyvic Valera - Diamonds in the Rough insert
#BPP 76 Austin Hedges

Pack two
#BPP 77 Matt Davidson
#CES-FH Felix Hernandez - Cutting Edge Stars insert
#91 Darin Ruf
#BPP 68 Hak-Ju Lee

Pack three
#BPP 28 Jorge Soler
#BPCP 75 Daniel Vogelbach - Green parallel serial #'d 222/399

#TP-GP Gregory Polanco - Top Prospects insert
#54 Josh Hamilton

Scott Kazmir and Ubaldo Jimenez

The Cleveland Indians might be contenders this season because of the resurgence of Kazmir and to a certain extent, Ubaldo Jimenez - it's scary to think the Indians will look upon these two guys to help them contend for the rest of the year, but I hope they can continue what they've been doing.

Lately, Kazmir has looked like the way he was when he pitched in Tampa Bay - though he took the Angels for a ride and had to sort of rebuild his career, including playing for an independent league team in 2012.

When the Indians signed him in the off-season, I thought this guy wasn't going to make the MLB roster - no matter what he did, I'm always expecting him to fail because of how he sucked so badly with the Angels.

If Kazmir hadn't gone through a hiccup in his career - maybe he's just another good MLB pitcher, but there is something interesting and maybe inspiring when a professional athlete fails and has to find a way back to where he once was.

Maybe I'm warming up to the Scott Kazmir comeback story of 2013 - though I wonder how long he can keep it up and whether he's found new life.

Jimenez will probably be never be better than a No. 4 starter but he has put up more serviceable, if not great numbers this year - it remains to be seen how many 'dud' starts both he and Kazmir have left and how many starts they have left, where the results mimic some of their early MLB successes.