BaseballCardStore - Baseball Pick-ups

The last of the baseballcardstore.ca order, the baseball cards, starting with a couple of the better photo selection for the Rockies from the last couple years.

TCDB Trade #13

Short on fancy titles today, just a trade post from TCDB. As I update my wantlist and tradelist a few more things are coming up, including this trade with a lot of different things going on. Starting of with some 2017 Bunt. I always expect Bunt to be a boring, low-end set not worthy of much attention, but I am really digging the parallels here

Check Out Everything Else

I already went through the Basketball and Rockies card, so here is the rest out of the scan folder. If you are will to put some serious time in trading you can get some decent card from the Upper Deck e-pack program, this Tokarski is the Gold version, I really don't want to do the math, but 10 Base = 1 Blue, 5 Blue = 1 Red, 5 Red = 1 Gold.

COMC Spring Cleaning 3: Everything Else

On to part 3, everything else. I have been looking for a Yogi Berra bat card for a while and this is one of the nicest ones I have seen design-wise. The relic is very small, but I am still very happy to add this card to my catcher bat card collection.

Minor League Mailday

It's always interesting to try a new source for cards, after having the above Chris Iannetta high on my want-list for a while I decided to try out www.gosportscards.com, a site specializing in minor league singles to knock off the last Iannetta minor league card I needed. The cards came in standard bubble mailer, but inside each card was inside a penny sleeve that was inside a Card Saver II that was inside of a team bag. I am always happy to get something from someone who obviously cares about packing. It's just one order by I cannot recommend this site enough.

Congratulations to Andrew Albers

It took over 20 years and a strange path, but Saskatchewan has a representative in major league baseball again. Andrew Albers make his debut last night, becoming the 8th Saskatchewan born player, and the first since Terry Puhl retired in 1991, to play in the majors. Albers came within two outs of a complete game shut-out, pitching 8 1/3 scoreless innings before being removed after 109 pitches, winning his MLB debut 7-0 against the Royals. He becomes the first Saskatchewan born player to win a MLB game since Reggie Cleveland in 1981.

Albers, a 27 year old native of North Battleford, was drafted out of high school by the Brewers in 2004, but chose to attend the University of Kentucky, and was then drafted by the Padres in 2008. He was assigned to the Rookie class AZL Padres and pitched in 5 games in 2008, but then missed all of 2009 with Tommy John surgery and was released. The comeback trail started in 2010 with Quebec of the independent Canadian-American Association, going 3-0 with a 1.40 ERA and 17 saves over 40 games. The Twins signed him as a minor league free-agent in 2011 and Albers moved through the system quickly, and was converted to a starter in 2012 with the AA New Britain Rock Cats. He would be named to Team Canada in the 2013 World Baseball Classic and then the AAA All-Star team before making his MLB debut.

Ed Bahr 1984 TCMA Playball 1946 Mini #40

One of seven major league baseball players to be born in Saskatchewan, Ed Bahr played for the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 1946 and 1947 seasons. Bahr was born in the town of Rouleau (the town that the T.V. show Corner Gas was filmed from 2004-2009), but was raised in Washington State and served in the U.S. Navy in World War 2. Upon being discharged because of an injured back he spend 1945 pitching for the Kansas City Blues of the American Association. He made his MLB debut in 1946 and pitched in 27 games, starting 14 with a 8-6 record and a 2.63 ERA over 136 2/3 innings. Also on the 1946 Pirates was Aldon "Lefty" Wilkie who was born in Zealandia, Saskatchewan. On June 2, 1946, both players would pitch in a 10-3 loss to the Phillies marking the only time two players born in Saskatchewan would play on same major league team. Bahr would only spent one more season in the majors finishing 1947 with a 3-5 record and a 4.59 ERA over 19 games, including 11 starts and ending his career with 11 wins and 11 losses.

1978 Topps #553 Terry Puhl

I recently got this 1978 Terry Puhl rookie card in a trade and added it my collection of Saskatchewan major leaguers. Terry Puhl was signed as a 17 year old amateur free agent in 1973 after leading his hometown Meville teams to Provincial and National championships. Puhl played in 1,531 games over 15 seasons in the majors, 14 of them with the Astros. He retired after the 1991 season and is the most recent Saskatchewan born player appear in the major leagues. When he retired he was the Canadian all-time leader in games played and stolen bases, but has since been passed in games by Larry Walker and Matt Stairs, and in steals by Walker. He was named to his only All-Star team in his second season, 1978, not playing in the game, but becoming the first and only Saskatchewan born player to make the All-Star team. His career .994 fielding percentage as a right fielder is still the MLB record. He is a member of the Saskatchewan, Canadian and Texas Baseball Halls of Fame, and received one vote for the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1997.

1971 Topps #216 Reggie Cleveland / Luis Melendez

This card is part of my collection as part of the 1971 set, and part of my Saskatchewan ball players collection. The Saskatchewan collection is much smaller. This is Reggie Cleveland's second year card after sharing a 1970 Rookie Stars card with Cardinal pitchers Sal Campisi and Santiago Guzman. Shared rookie cards are the one thing I really dislike about vintage.

Reggie Cleveland is one of six players from this province to play in the majors. He was discovered in his home town of Swift Current by a carnival operator who told his friend, Cardinals manager Red Schoendienst, to to sign him. Cleveland was signed as a 17 year old in 1965 and pitched in the minors for 4 season before making his MLB debut in 1969. In 1971 he went 12-12 for the Cards and was named the Sporting News National League Rookie of the Year. Traded to the Red Sox after the 1973 season, he would become the first Canadian pitcher to start a World Series game, taking the loss in game five of the 1975 series. He finish his career with a 105-106 record over 428 games, including 203 starts from 1969-1981. Cleveland would go on the be inducted into Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in 1986.