four for 10

i took a quick look through a couple of auto/relic discount boxes at the card show on friday.  i found a certified cesar izturis auto (who knew?) but couldn't find two other items to make the 3 for $10 worth my while.  i suppose i could have purchased the auto on its own, but...meh.

later on, i came across a box with autos and relics priced at 4 for $10 and had slightly better luck.  i found this ivan dejesus jr. jersey card from 2012 topps

and had to have it since it looks like it's from a game where the dodgers wore those baby blue brooklyn uniforms.  first impression?  awesome.

speaking of awesome, i found a hong-chih kuo relic.  who knew such things existed?  this one is from 2008 upper deck ballpark collection

and features kenji johjima of the mariners.  kuo is taiwanese and johjima is japanese, but there must be a common thread, right richard p. mcwilliams?  anyway, i saw the other day that the mariners released kuo which is too bad because he had some lights out times for the dodgers.  i suppose i better go ahead and showcase the ttm success i had with him sometime last year as the chances of him landing with some other team is probably pretty slim.

kuo signed his 2010 topps update base card

 and his 2010 topps update all-star card

for me, along with one of his 2011 topps cards.

thank h-ck!  now back to the relic box.  i found a shiny vladdy from 2010 topps tribute

i feel for the guy who bought a pack for $40 or whatever and had to sell the relics for essentially $2.50.  vladdy go boom on that guy's balance sheet.  still, my appreciation of this wanes, and although i was a big fan of vladdy's over the last 10 years or so, this card is available if anyone wishes to trade for it.

the fourth card i snagged from the box was a 2003 bowman auto from pirates' closer joel hanrahan

his certified auto looks a lot like the one on my 2002 topps traded card that i sent to hanrahan a couple of seasons ago,

so that makes me feel good.  just like finding cards in bargain bins.  even the shiny ones.

oh, furcal-ing out loud - or - all i want furcal-smis is a healthy shortstop

just when you think he is gone, ned pulls him back in. furcal for 3 years at $30 million. this is the only furky card i have scanned at the moment - a 2008 ud ballparks six swatches. shown with fellow brave/ned free agent fiasco andruw jones and recent send-off takashi saito.b/w those angels of anaheim vlad, howie and jered.now back to the issue at hand. an infield of loney blake furcal dewitt. not as catchy as gcrl, but oh well. the main thing that bothers me about all this (besides the fact that dayf is upset) is that he missed most of last season. we did ok without him. the one thing that made a difference in the lineup was a big right-handed bat.losing one of our top starters and that big bat may mean that even with a healthy furcal we will fall short. i mean, is hu not ready?would he not be able to do as well as berroa did? can't this money go towards a bat?

the other thing that bothers me is that raffy's agent was quoted as saying he didn't want furcal to make a decision based on emotion, as raffy was really excited to return to the braves. who's best interests are at the forefront here?

don't get me wrong - i like furcal. i am glad he is on my team. i just hope he stays healthy. and i hope ned knows what he is doing. at any rate, welcome back, raffy.

what would hee seop do?

apologies to lennon/mccartney...

when i find myself in times of trouble, hee seop choi comes to me, speaking words of wisdom, let it be. and in my hour of darkness he is standing right in front of me, speaking words of wisdom, let it be.

thanks hee seop. adios jeff kent. i don't blame you for striking out looking in your final at bat. it was a bad call. but you won't be missed. you'll be back chad - you'll get another shot. tim mccarver knows not of what he speaks, matt kemp. give it a ride everytime. to end, i was really bothered that fox synched the gibson homerun video to the radio broadcast audio. i would rather have heard vin scully's tv call than jack buck's radio call. i wonder if having joe buck in the booth was the reason for the swap. stupid fox.

it's [currently] sunny in philadelphia

i had hoped to post this card as a lead-in to a dodgers/brewers series, but the brew crew didn't get it done. oh well, it's a 2008 upper deck ballpark quad swatch featuring prince fielder, ben sheets, matt kemp and james loney. enjoy it anyway.



now i know you aren't here for a playoff preview, so i won't go into any detail, but let's hope that manny knocks a foul ball back in the booth and takes out tim mccarver a la roy hobbs and robert duvall's character in the natural. other than that, i hope bowa doesn't get too much thrown at him tonight, and i hope davey gets a decent response from the dodger fans in game 3.