All Trade Bait, All the Time

Oscar from All Trade Bait, All the Time sent me some awesome cards a while back and here they are.

This was the card that sparked the trade, Oscar pulled it right when GQ dropped so that shows you just how behind I am with trades/everything card related. I am almost done reorganizing everything out in the garage after losing my card room/office to my son. 

This is by far my favorite card in the package. Mr first ever baseball game was at old Atlanta Fulton County Stadium.

2 classic Braves sluggers on cards I didn't have. Aloha!

Freddie is having a pretty good year despite the big league clubs results lately. 

I want to thank Oscar once again for sending these. To all of my trade partners who are still reading, I have a ton of cards to pack up tonight for the first wave out of the garage. Wish They Still Came with Bubblegum is not dead I say!

It's Opening Day Y'all! - Crappy Prediction Time

It's here guys, Opening Day is today with three games being played including a World Series rematch. What better time to share my terrible predictions with you all. I did my fantasy draft last Sunday taking the above Josh Donaldson with my first pick at fifth overall and with the Braves looking like they might lose 100 games this year I may be paying more attention to my fake team and the Braves minor league affiliates by the All-Star Break. Speaking of which has anyone ever subscribed to MILB.TV wondering if it's worth it to catch guys like Dansby Swanson and Max Fried down on the farm. Anyways enough babbling let's get to the picks....

NL East: Mets
NL Central: Cubs
NL West:  Giants
Wildcard 1: Nats
Wildcard 2: Pirates
Best Record: Cubs

Sorry Dodgers and Cardinals fans these here bubblegum predictions don't see you in the playoffs!

AL East: Red Sox
AL Central: White Sox
AL West: Astros
Wildcard 1: Rays
Wildcard 2: Rangers
Best Record: Astros

Same for you Yankees and Royals fans. Leaving the defending champs out is probably not a wise move but I like the White Sox chances.

I'm not gonna pick every round but I think the Mets will repeat as NL champs and face off against the equally young Astros in the World Series.

With the Astros coming out on top. Quick tell me how wrong I am NOW!

NL MVP - Paul Goldschmidt

AL MVP - Mike Trout (duh)

NL Cy Young -  Gerrit Cole

AL Cy Young - Chris Sale

NL RoY - Seager

AL RoY - Buxton

I left the Blue Jays who many are picking to win the whole thing completely out as well as the evil Cardinals. All that really matters though is that baseball is back and I have something to look forward to when I get off work every night again!

Card Show to Steinbrenner Field - Roadrunner!

I had a baseball packed day yesterday, Tampa Card Show and a game to go to. I made it to the card show at 9:00 sharp and wanted to make it across town to Steinbrenner Field for Braves batting practice at 11. Which left me with only an hour and a half at the card show...

Mission accomplished,  I'd already been in various Targets this week looking for these bad boys and found a guy who had just busted a box.  He had put all 36 packs back in the wax so it was almost like I busted the box myself but for much cheaper. 

This is the one card I was really looking for and it was tucked in the last pack I looked at.  Ah, sweet relief.

I guess I truly have a cardboard addiction as that Folty was the only new Brave on the checklist and I'd been looking for these like a madman. Nice to see they actually used a different image for Julio's base card though. 

Grabbed this Freeman insert for a buck.

Completed the team set, these 3 are the same image as Series 1 however. All told these plus a couple others I grabbed ran me 6 bucks.  I grabbed a bunch of other stuff in the short time I was there but this was the last box I looked at before realizing it was time for me to go. 

It wasn't until I got in the car that I noticed the huge storm that had planted itself over the entire state of Florida. There was an hour plus rain delay but the tarp did finally come off and the game went on...

Not before this happened though, Ralph Garr popped out of the clubhouse during the delay and signed for the fans braving the rain. 

Including me! Pretty cool to see the Roadrunner unexpectedly like that, I just wish I had brought one of his cards with me.

I may not be the biggest Fredi fan, but it's still cool to get the skipper of your favorite club to sign his card. 

Right before the game started I spotted Jason Hursh heading out to the dugout and called over to him. He came over and signed my card and took off. The Braves drafted him as a starter out of Oklahoma State in the first round of the 2013 Draft. He's been converted to the bullpen partly due to subpar play and partly due to the glut pitching prospects in the system. Hopefully he can help the club out of the pen someday.

All told it was a great day full of baseball despite the rain. Thanks for stopping by.