OPENING DAY 2021:Have Any Superstitions?

*opening day is here, coffee is poured and its....well...it's snowing. At least I can see green grass and sunshine on TV*

 

The sweet sound of a bat smacking a ball, the team comradery, the smell of hotdogs and popcorn fill the air. The excitement for every fan knowing their team is 0-0 and could have a shot at winning the World Series this year, even you Royals and Pirates fans, all starts today. 

THIS IS OPENING DAY.

*takes another sip realizing I may need to apologize to Royals and Pirates for hinting that they are the leagues two worst teams*

I don't watch as much baseball as I used to, but I try to make Opening Day a day of doing so. As a Yankees fan, more from afar now, I am feeling pretty good about their chances this year. The offense should be able to score some runs, (a healthy Judge and Stanton would be huge in that) and hopefully help out the pitching staff anchored by Gerrit Cole along with a couple of new faces in Kluber and Taillon. I don't know how I feel about their pitching staff quite yet.

Today the Yankees take on the Toronto Blue Jays who appear could be their biggest competition in the AL East. Of course you can never count out those pesky Tampa Bay Rays either.

Whether the Yankees win or not could depend on what they eat pre-game. At least it's that way with some of the players.

*for me it would be a pre-game drink, I bet it wouldn't take you guys too long to figure out which drink that would be*

 

From Stan Musial to Justin Verlander and more, some players have certain pre-game food routine superstitions they stick by to "give" their teams the best chance to win.

I am sure fans probably do as well as they hope to be apart of something special in a teams victory.

For me, I don't have any baseball pre-game food superstitions, but for football, I do. Every Game Day, pepperoni pizza is a must have. Whether I buy a frozen one, have it delivered or a make it homemade (this is what I do most of the time), it has to be served. I also have the football jersey/football hat superstition where I wear it to start a game but if they are losing at halftime or in the 4th quarter I will take it off. It has pulled off some miracles before. Remember Super Bowl 42? Yeah, that was because of me.

*takes a sip before finishing up today's short porch, sorry baseball terms came to mind, short post*

What are some of your baseball superstitions involving food?

Also, Happy Opening Day.

Dare To Tear

I gotta admit, some of my biggest influences for what I purchase or trade for comes from other collectors. Just when I think I have my mind set on finishing up a project, I will see a card or hear a whisper and I jump. So instead of finishing up or trying to head that way with a project, I continue to create more projects than I can handle. But, isn't that the fun of the hobby?

This happened to me just a month or so ago when Mario from The Baseball Card Blog and Wax Heaven fame, tweeted out about 1998 Zenith baseball and its Dare To Tear program and my 90's radar went off. I had to look up the product as I didn't remember what was involved since it has been over 20 years since I had opened a pack.

In every pack of 1998 Zenith, there were three 5x7 cards. Inside of each of those cards embedded was a standard size card and there you have FIRST EVER RIP cards in the hobby industry. Move over Allen and Ginter. It was up to you whether you wanted to keep the jumbo card as is, or explore and rip it open to see what treasure could be hiding inside which included multiple inserts and levels of them.

The fact alone I have always wanted a RIP card and it being from the 90's, I had to grab a pack at least. But, looking for a pack actually ended up landing me a whole box. Yup. I went crazy.

The problem was, once I got the box in hand, I couldn't figure out how I wanted to approach having these packs. Did I want to open them all? Keep some sealed for the memories? Keep them all sealed as a collectible? Well, I decided in the end, I had to at least open a pack. I had to dare to tear the pack open.

Here's my rip,

 

In every pack of 1998 Zenith baseball, you found three 5x7 cards with each one having a card inside of it.  Packs in the 90's went for $5.99 each. Mine was definitely under that cost.

Here is the back of the pack with all the odds info

First card, Larry Walker. You can see/feel the card embedded within.

Second card is Jeff Abbott

Final Card was Tony Gwynn. So not a bad RIP.

Now the question becomes, did I DARE TO TEAR.......

 

Here is the DARE TO TEAR program paper inside

  

Followed by the tear instructions on the back

After much deliberation, I decided I had to keep the card intact. I just simply cannot destroy a card even though the thoughts of possibly finding a Z-Team or a Epix insert eat me up on the inside. What happens if it's a Griffey Jr need??! 

For now, I did not Dare To Tear. Could I down the road, well, maybe.....or maybe not.

I did mention there were some Bonus cards that came with the box.

A Nomo standard size Z silver parallel card from a ripped one

Bichette standard size base card

Then four 5x7's

 

 

All of these appeared to be unripped.

Cool extras :) just in case by some miracle I decided to rip one.

Some collectors at the time of this products release didn't even RIP the cards as instructed, they used a blade on the back of the card and made a slit long enough to remove the inside card. I don't think my hands are careful enough with my arthritis to try such an adventure. Once again, that would be damaging the card and I wouldn't want to do that.

This kind of technology is why I loved the 90's. We had the first acetate, the first cards on wood, the first RIP cards, holograms, and even the first cards in a can. We even had game used jersey cards...GAME USED. Not to mention all  ON CARD AUTOGRAPHS. This is why I will continue to explore cards from my beginnings more than cards from today. The mid to late 90's had some of the greatest cards around.

Stay tuned as I have another break of another Pinnacle 90's product soon.

Blast From The Past:1995 Flair Baseball Series 1 Pack Break

In 1999, a flick with Brendan Fraser and Alicia Silverstone called Blast From The Past came out. It was about a scientist named Calvin Webber who was played by Christopher Walken, that took his pregnant wife in a deep underground fallout shelter in 1962 when he thought a nuclear war was imminent. During that time, their son Adam played by Fraser (who seemed to had been in every late 90's movie) was born and was exposed to only the culture of 1962 in the shelter such as the music and TV shows of the time. Life was accustomed to not being at the surface. 

Fast forward 35 years later, their supplies and food was running low so someone would have to come above ground and take a risk to get new products. That was supposed to be Calvin, up until he was ill from stress from his one visit to the surface. So his son Adam would have to venture out in a world he had never met.....

This segment takes a look at products that may have been hidden in a underground fallout shelter for over 20 years and now just coming back out to be rediscovered....by me. Guess you can call me Adam even though my name is Matt. These are products I opened when I was first collecting and is a Part Of My Past, but may not have a memory or a Origins story to attach to them. Most products I post on here will, but some won't and those will be covered in this new segment.These products will be between the years of 1995-1999 only.

Let's just hope my experience with these breaks is better than Adams first visit to the surface.

So let's take a Blast From The Past with a one pack break of 1995 Flair baseball Series 1!

 

Each pack of 1995 Flair baseball comes with 9 cards. I landed this pack for less than $1 in a pack lot I won that actually included two of these. One I am keeping sealed.

Here is a blast from the past, the card back with odds.

I bought a lot of Flair back in 1995. Between the 1994 and 1995 design, I was sold on 1995. I didn't buy much baseball though as my focus at the time was on football but I did pick up a few packs just simply for the design alone. I still have a few of those cards kicking around so these will add to it.

Let's take a look if I had any success pulling any inserts.

Tommy Greene played for three teams between 1989-1997. He currently is a post game analyst for the Phillies and finished 38-25 with a 4.14 ERA.

Trevor Hoffman played for 18 seasons for a multitude of teams including 15 for the Padres alone which is where I know him from best. He was 61-75 with a 2.87 ERA.

Raul Mondesi played for 7 teams including my Yankees over a 13 year career. He hit .273 with 271 career dingers.

My arch nemesis Pedro Martinez pitched for five teams in 17 seasons. He was most known to me as a Red Sox pitcher who always started up trouble against the Yankees. but, he was very good. Went to multiple All Star games, led the MLB in ERA many time, led AL in ERA and won a World Series title. 219-100 and with an ERA of 2.93 is how he finished his career.

The Crime Dog Mcgriff played for six teams in 18 seasons. He was a five time All Star, World Series Champion and a 2 time Home Run leader. He batted .284 and fell just short of 500 home runs with 493. I think he should un-retire just to get to 500.

Karl Tuffy Rhodes didn't play in the majors long. It's probably the 13 home runs and the .224 batting average that didn't help.

Mike Munoz was 18-20 with a 5.19 whopping ERA

Reggie Sanders played for 8 teams in roughly 16 plus years. But, for me he wore this Reds uniform and that's where I know him best from. He was an All Star in 1995 and won a title in 2001. He had 305 Home Runs and a .267 batting average.

 

And finally, Tony Longmire who had a short career with a 3 home runs and a .285 batting average.

Overall, Pedro, Hoffman and Mondesi carried the worth of the break. Well, besides the most important part to me, the nostalgia. Nostalgia runs deep with both the designs, smells (who doesn't smell the cards?), and players. I don't always recognize all of the names in baseball as my collecting back then was football focused, but quite a few I do still.

Hope this Blast From The Past brought you back as well. There are many more to uncover in this series.

Museum Musings:3D Crystal Pieces

Back in March, I held a contest taking suggestions on what kind of stuff you guys would like to read more about on the blog. Many of the suggestions were toys to non sports to non card items. Well, to please the crowd I will do my best to post those kind of items in this new segment.

Over the years, I have accumulated so much junk. A good portion of it including most of my Starting Lineups and any figures were traded off. I also had a bunch of autographed items I was just looking to downsize with and traded half of those off as well. I still have some to go in that area.

Most of the items I acquired over the years were from purchases in online catalogs, local outlets, department stores, gifts from family, and from a few contests I won. I originally really wanted these items, but as time has gone on and I have gotten older and what feels as my house getting smaller, I decided it was time just to collect cards now. No more adding those markdown McFarlane figures just for the fun of it.

There are some pieces however, I plan on keeping forever. These pieces I will showcase on here.

Today's pieces were a hit about 16 or 17 years ago and still are around to buy today. They are crystal with laser engraving in the middle giving it a 3D appeal. These also came with a stand that lights up under them and gives them a beautiful glow. Sadly I couldn't find the stands they came on right now so I had to post them without. Unlike the thick durable crystal, the stands were made pretty cheaply and I believe one is actually broken.

I ended up buying three of these from a catalog when they came out. My first one is Tony Stewart. I haven't touched much on this here yet, but I was a huge NASCAR nut for a few years in the late 90's early 2000's and Tony Stewart was the man I collected and watched. I will touch more base on my once NASCAR love and more items in a later post.

The coolest one I think out of my three pieces is this baseball one. Just a player swinging at a ball but in hand it is really beautiful when you turn it around especially under the colorful lights.

And my last one was this piece from 9/11 in remembrance.

 

I currently have these displayed in a glass case on my wall. They don't take up a lot of space and fit nicely in the small case.

How many of you owned any of these or have at least seen them?

(also a shout out to @Jake1725 for helping me create a name for this series)

A Very Grady Mail Day Part 4 0f 4: SHINY STUFF!!!

I think the title says it all....OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHH SHINY STUFF!

There is just something about shiny stuff in this hobby that attracts me like a moth to a light bulb. It has been that way for years. It doesn't matter the player, team, sport or product. Shiny stuff just straight up rules in my collection. A lot of the time I would take shiny stuff over hits. The only exception to that rule is if the hit is also shiny stuff. Oooooooo.

Now that I have shown my love for shiny stuff, it's time to show off the final part of my mail day.

I hadn't seen any of these up close yet. Pretty cool. My pictures don't showcase the rainbow refractor goodness these present.

I love Crusade inserts. I wished Panini would release this as a straight up product.

Bowman Platinum is one of my favorite releases.

Topps Chrome is the main fault for my shiny addiction. It got me hooked in 1996.

The Bowman flashback inserts with the sparkle look incredible.

And who can forget Prizm? Some great Camo inserts here with two for the Yankees PC with CC and the Grandyman.

Basketball Prizm parallels. The Green Karl Malone is pretty sweet. I enjoyed watching the "Mailman" deliver in the 90's.

 

To finish up this mail day, some Prizm hockey green and blue Prizms or as I call them, refractors.

Overall, another top notch Grady mail day.

A big thanks goes out to Grady for this mail day as I really enjoyed digging through what I consider is a treasure box. I hope you enjoyed the one I mailed you as well. I have begun saving stuff out for you again and hopefully in the next month or so can have another ready for ya!

If ya haven't yet, go give my buddy Grady a follow on Twitter. You can find him @RUFUSRUFFCUTT

HOBBY TOPIC: 2015 Elite Baseball

This series is all about you, the readers. My opinion is mum on every subject, however, you guys have the open mic per say on here. So without further ado, here is today' topic:

BREAKING NEWS! I am going to add Hobby Topic more often throughout the week when more products are previewed or released. That way you can leave your opinion on each of these products along with other hobby topics as well. I have also changed the POST TITLE and added what the topic is about. I have also added info on the products when the topic is about them. This should be fun!!

What are your guys thoughts on Elite Baseball 2015? Do you like the design? Do you like the fact they added some veterans in their college uni's in the base set? What's your favorite thing about Elite in general? Or any other thoughts you have on it leave em below!

Here are some images and information for you to nibble on to help with this discussion.

 

 

 

  

2015 Elite Baseball will have a 200-card base set that includes veterans, rookies, retired legends and 15 current stars in their college uniforms. And in typical Elite fashion, it has plenty of die-cuts and six parallels numbered to 199 or less. Each hobby box carries five cards per pack and16 packs per box while also delivering four autograph or memorabilia cards.

Grady M. Mail Day Part 2: The Shiny Stuff

In Part 1, I showed you INSERT MADNESS! Not that I don't consider Part 2 more insert madness, but there is just something about "shiny stuff" that I must separate it. I mean, it's shiny. I react to shiny things like the dog in Up reacts to squirrels.

SHINY! Yup, my head just whipped around.

So here they are. I know my mind is focused on staring at these in which I suspect you are as well.

The Holliday is actually my first newer Finest card and it's a sick looking numbered refractor!

CHROOOOOOOOOOME!!

Never have seen one of these before...it's a beautiful card

Now onto some Prizm. I know a lot have a love/hate relationship with this product, many who dislike the product try to compare it to Chrome too much and this is not that, but I am a fan. I really like how Panini did the parallels.

SHINY...

MORE SHINY....

END OF SHINY..

Great stuff overall. Fit many PC's adds all in one box.

A big thanks goes out to Grady M for another amazing mail day. Don't worry buddy, been setting some stuff aside for you as well so in the future you need to be on the lookout!