Rockin' Retro Group Break the Second (Part 2: Mets)

Just when I think I'm staying ahead of trade packages from Nachos Grande, he sends another one. Trade Stack 93 arrived in my mailbox yesterday, and I haven't even had a chance to cover Part 2 of the second Rockin' Retro Group Break. So let's waste no time in getting to that. Part 1 covered the Rockies and lots of Larry Walker cards, and in Part 2 we'll meet the New York Mets, starting with the always-shiny Topps Gold Label.

2001 Topps Gold Label Class 1 #86 Todd Zeile

There were a lot of sets in this break, and I figured I might as well show them in the same sequence as Part 1. There is still lots of shininess to come, and this was my favorite from the several Class 1 cards from Gold Label. The Mets color scheme makes the stitching-and-cloth appearance on the lower portion of the card a little easier to see than on the Rockies versions.

Appropriately for this journeyman's career, this is his third appearance on the blog, and with his third team. He first showed up here as a Rockie, then a little while later as a Marlin. That type of career often means you wear whichever uniform number they'll give you, but he did favor #27. He had that number in 2004 as a Met, his final year in baseball, but they gave him #9 during his first stint from 2000-2001, when he also saw his only trip to the World Series.

No awesome relics on the NL East side of things, but that's fine; I already had a "hit" this break.

2002 Topps Total #419 Jay Payton

Next on the list of Mets who were also Rockies is outfielder Jay Payton, lunging into Wrigley Field's ivy in left-center field. There really is no such thing as a bad baseball card featuring the ivy, and there's even a little bonus when you can see the basket above it.

Payton and Zeile were teammates on both the Rockies and Mets in the early 2000s, but I did not know that Payton actually wound his career up as a Rockie with a brief second stint in 2010. No cards exist of that, but there are plenty of him as a Rockie. Maybe even some of him back in Wrigley.

2002 Topps Total #174 Jason Bay (RC)

When 2002 Topps Total was released, Jason Bay was still a prospect, albeit a "legitimate" one, according to the card back. It took another year for him to get to the big leagues, followed in 2004 by Rookie of the Year honors as a Pirate. Many of us remember his big free-agent deal with the Mets that was largely a bust, and I had him as a Fantasy player when he was still a Pirate. But he did briefly spend some time in the Mets' farm system before being traded to San Diego, where he began his career.

I would consider this rookie card a zero-year card, since Bay didn't play for the Mets within many years of this card's printing. But it wasn't entirely wrong. It was just early.

There is a tiny bit of damage on the front of the card, as it must have been stuck to another card after so long in the pack. But that gorgeous woodgrain in his bat makes up for it.

2002 Topps Total Total Topps #TT35 Mike Piazza

When I showed Larry Walker's card in Part 1, the 2019 Hall of Fame class had yet to be announced. Walker ended up with 54.6% of the vote, far below the required 75%, but still trending in the right direction with one year left. He shared a spot in this shiny 50-card Topps Total insert set with Mike Piazza, and I am still holding out hope that they'll soon share a spot in Cooperstown.

The card back heaps praise upon Piazza, calling him "one of the most decorated catchers and feared hitters in history." He put together quite a string of .300 seasons, impressive for a catcher. He was a regular fixture in the All-Star Game, and this card is sure to mention his 1996 All-Star MVP award, which invalidated a particular Dante Bichette redemption card. It was one of many things that led to Piazza's Hall of Fame induction, and he'll soon be joined by Mariano Rivera, Roy Halladay, Mike Mussina, Edgar Martinez, Lee Smith, and, ah, Harold Baines.

Congratulations to the winners, especially to Mo, the first-ever unanimous selection.

1998 Paramount #208 John Olerud

Pacific clearly had Wrigley Field staked out in 1997, snapping plenty of photos for use in their 1998 sets. Bichette and probably Jeff Reed's cards from Part 1 were taken in Wrigley, as was this one of John Olerud. This is Olerud's third appearance on the blog, and it's always been as a Met, despite his tenure with the Blue Jays, Mariners, and a couple other AL teams. His card from 1998 Collector's Choice is one of my favorite Coors Field cards of all time.

Flip it over and you can see Olerud's trademark batting helmet, the older style without ear flaps or the extra plastic in the back to protect the base of the skull. Olerud always wore a helmet in the field after experiencing a brain hemorrhage and aneurysm during his college career. He had a highly successful Major League career after that, something that should bring comfort to Danny Farquhar, who suffered a similar (and serious) health scare with the White Sox a couple years ago but is ready to make a comeback with the Yankees organization.

1998 Paramount Copper #209 Rey Ordoñez

Olerud's card was the base silver foil, but I also got a copper parallel for the Mets as well as the Rockies. Pacific made the trek out to Shea Stadium for this one of Rey Ordoñez, complete with a tilde on the foil. Don't worry, though, The photo on the back is still in Wrigley. Both photos clearly show his uniform #0, something guys with "O" last names seem to like. Adam Ottavino, for example, is about to become the first player in Yankees history to wear the number 0. But their crosstown rivals checked that box a while ago, actually in 1991 with Terry McDaniel.

1998 Paramount Team Checklists #25 Todd Hundley

Pacific always did die-cuts pretty well, and this Team Checklist insert card is no exception. Olerud and Ordoñez are listed right there on the card back, concluding ten total Mets pleasingly arranged in both alphabetical and numerical order. Fleer used to arrange cards that way too, and I absolutely loved when sets did that. It made sorting so easy.

Blue foil is always pretty cool, especially when it's nice and readable on a black background like this. And that woodgrain in the crossed bats is almost as cool as on Jason Bay's card. A neat little detail is that Todd Hundley's name and position are "embossed" (really just printed) on one of the bats when you flip it to the back. And the photo on the back even shows the two-time All Star catcher holding his own bat.

1995 Score Summit #76 Bobby Bonilla

Moving down the list of sets, we arrive at 1995 Score Summit, the strike-shortened set that breaks out 1994 stats by month. The card back has one of those fun baseball-glove-as-hat photos. And at least Bobby Bonilla got a little playing time in August 1994, unlike Andres Galarraga. But the front is a different story, as he looks like he's grimacing on this card, clearly displeased by whatever ball he just hit.

Regardless of the outcome of that play, he's got to be happy about his annual payment from the Mets every July 1st, also known as Bobby Bonilla Day. The infamous deferred payment structure has ties to the Bernie Madoff scandal and everything.

1995 Score Summit #106 Bret Saberhagen

It's been a while since we've seen Bret Saberhagen around here. but several years ago, he was popping up left and right. He had yet to sign a free-agent deal with the Rockies, and I sometimes wonder what would have happened to guys like him and Hampton and Swift had the humidor been in place earlier in Coors Field's existence. He might not have won a third Cy Young award, but his time in Colorado maybe wouldn't have been a blemish on his career.

I do have to appreciate this design. It works pretty well with the Mets' pinstripes, and it sort of has that 3D effect since he isn't constrained by the photo's background.

1995 Score Summit #135 Edgardo Alfonzo

Another card from the Rookie subset turned up, although the left half of the card makes it a little hard to read the top of the card. A little white outline might have helped, but that could spoil the simplicity of this design. The Venezuelan infielder stayed in the NL nearly his whole career, except for a handful of games in the AL in 2006 before his retirement.

You don't see flip-down sunglasses much anymore, so bonus points to this card for that.

2016 Donruss #170 David Wright

We're skipping over the 1953 Archives set, since there were no Mets to be found, and the only card I landed in the break we saw in Part 1. But don't worry, there were a few in the trade stack that began my weekend, so we'll see more someday.

Returning to the near-present with 2016 Donruss, we can see that David Wright eventually took over uniform #5 from John Olerud. It's even factory-labeled on the bottom of his bat, rather than hastily scrawled on with a sharpie like Ordoñez'. Wright was a career Met, and one of their best-ever, so I expect they'll retire his number one day in Citi Field. His final two games at the end of the 2018 season made for an emotional occasion.

David Allen Wright (come on, Donruss, put that middle name on the back) did his best to stage a comeback in 2015 and 2016, but after being diagnosed with lumbar spinal stenosis, the same ailment that cut Lenny Dykstra's career short, he decided to retire early.

2016 Donruss '82 #D82-39 Jacob deGrom

The Mets haven't dominated the Rookie of the Year list like the Dodgers have, but there are a few, like last year's Cy Young winner Jacob deGrom, who won it in 2014. So did Tom Seaver, who is mentioned on the card back. Both deGrom and Seaver struck out 13 batters in a postseason game, Jacob doing so on October 9th, 2015.

Panini gave us some great photo selections on these 1982-themed inserts. Nolan Arenado's card has him at the bat rack, and here we see the lanky pitcher at the plate. He throws right-handed, but bats from the left side. Further investigation of the card back reveals that he hails from DeLand, Fla., the same town as Chipper Jones.

deGrom had an amazing year last year, one of the best pitching seasons of all-time. Yet he only built a 10-9 record off of a microscopic 1.70 ERA and an amazing 24 straight quality starts. Good pitching beats good hitting, but you need at least a shred of run support to get the W.

2016 Donruss Studio #S10 Michael Conforto

Donruss also revived the Studio brand for a small 10-card insert set. They used black-and-white photography as with the first couple years of the brand, but there's no fun interview on the back where we get to learn the player's favorite sports announcer and hobby. We are told, however, that Conforto's mother is Tracie Ruiz, a three-time Olympic medalist in synchronized swimming.

The Studio brand would be a great set for Panini to develop further in this monopolistic era, since there are fewer logos to have to cover up in a non-action shot like this.

1998 Fleer Tradition #492 Carlos Baerga

Carlos Baerga is best known as a Cleveland Indian, but he was involved in a trade for Jeff Kent, joining the Mets in 1996. The card back tells us about his game on June 24th, 1997 against the Braves. He tied the game in the 8th with a two-run shot, then the next time through the order, he drove in Todd Hundley for the game-winning run.

This card photo is not from that game, as that cameo is a Royal, not a Brave. I believe that is Hal Morris, who signed a one-year deal with the Royals before returning to the Reds, his longtime team.

Fleer undoubtedly used photos from the 1998 season in series 2, making me more confident in my guess about Dante Bichette's card in Part 1. At first, I thought this was some early evidence of interleague play, but the Mets and Royals never squared off during the 1998 regular season. It's likely another spring training shot from when the Royals still shook the rust off in Florida. They and the Rangers both moved to Arizona for spring training in 2003.

Spring training box scores are a bit tough to come by, so I'm not sure of the specifics, but this is definitely around March 1998. Regardless, it's also a preview of the 2015 World Series, even earlier in advance than Jason Bay's zero-year card.

1998 Fleer Tradition #537 Bernard Gilkey

The last time I mentioned Bernard Gilkey, it was for a six degrees of Kevin Bacon blog-bat around. Then, he was a Cardinal, which is the team I most associate him with. That's my biggest takeaway of all these late-'90s cards. I doubt players moved around much more than they do now, but their overproduction-era teams are just so cemented in my brain.

Anyway, in case you missed that blog bat-around, Bernard Gilkey was the Mets outfielder who observed a UFO passing over Shea Stadium toward the end of 1997's Men in Black as a fly ball hit him in the head, Jose Canseco-style. An even smaller detail from the movie is that the Braves were the visiting team on that fateful day when galactic war was narrowly averted, maybe even the same day as Baerga's heroics.

It was one moment when Gilkey was not depicted as "an outstanding defensive player", which Fleer tells us on the back. He also had a great arm and was a team leader in outfield assists, one of the most exciting plays in baseball. I haven't found a baseball card that mentions his movie cameo, so Fleer really missed an opportunity on this card.

No word on whether he was ever neuralyzed.

1998 Fleer Tradition Vintage '63 #106 Rey Ordoñez

The '63 parallels also arrived in Mets form, giving us a second look at Rey Ordoñez. We can barely see that the Mets put the tilde on Ordoñez' jersey, but Fleer simply omitted it entirely. MLB has embraced the tilde for a while, but there's been a push by Latino players to also include accent marks. I'll admit that I have been bad about doing that on this blog, but I try to be mindful of the true proper spelling.

The inset player's outline that varies by position (see Darryl Kyle's card in Part 1) is pretty detailed, and while it's something we associate with 1973 and 2004 Topps, it looks like Fleer came up with that idea a decade before Topps.

1998 Fleer Tradition Vintage '63 #97 Mike Piazza

Mike Piazza's outline is different still, and the card back proves what an incredible player he was. We're told that while he was still a Dodger, he accounted for over 30% of all the Dodgers runs in 1997. He also had the Rockies' number with his power stroke, as he hit a home run completely out of Dodger Stadium off of short-time Rockie Frank Castillo. He also once held the record for longest home run at Coors Field, a 496-foot monster (probably longer) hit less than a week later off of current bullpen coach Darren Holmes. Giancarlo Stanton holds that record now, but let's just say that Piazza's trade to the NL East was a good thing for the Rockies.

There's no mention of his five-game stint with the Florida Marlins. For more on that, the 30 for 30 episode on sports radio hosts Mike and the Mad Dog has a segment on it.

1997 Donruss Limited #72 Scott Rolen / Edgardo Alfonzo C (Reverse)

We're down to the final set, 1997 Donruss Limited. I had much better luck on the scarce subsets with the Rockies, but a couple base Mets cards turned up. Edgardo Alfonzo had passed his rookie status by this time, and was a regular fixture in the Mets lineup. As this card tells us, the utilityman started at three different infield positions throughout 1996, which translates to everything but first base. He's primarily listed as a third baseman.

I didn't intentionally pick third basemen in both parts of this post to show Counterparts cards, it just sort of happened that way. But now that we've already seen Vinny Castilla and Matt Williams, any guesses as to who Alfonzo is playing second fiddle to?

1997 Donruss Limited #72 Scott Rolen / Edgardo Alfonzo C

It's Scott Rolen, then a "Rookie Slugger" for Philadelphia. Donruss picked well here, as Rolen went on to win the 1997 NL Rookie of the Year award. The 7-time All Star and 2006 World Series champion was just getting his career off the ground back then, which lasted until 2012. He's in his second year on the Hall of Fame ballot, and he earned a few more votes than Todd Helton. We'll still be hearing his name for a while, but all those guys got their starts somewhere.

Posts with this many sets to cover tend to turn into beasts, but I quite enjoy these trips down memory lane. And despite covering a similar era as the Mystery Packs from years ago, there wasn't a whole lot of player overlap. Nachos Grande, if you have another one of these planned, I'll buy a slot!

The Trading Post #34: Highly Subjective and Completely Arbitrary

This is already the fourth trading post I've done for cards received from Brian at Highly Subjective and Completely Arbitrary. He is a great trader and consistently does a fantastic job of finding great cards for me.

2014 Topps Chrome Black Refractors #190 Carlos Gonzalez /100

When I tell people what I collect, I usually say something along the lines of shiny, serial numbered, or Rockies. Brian hit the trifecta with a low-numbered colored parallel from 2014 Topps Chrome. The refractor finish really pops on a black-bordered card, which is thick enough and well-coated enough to probably not chip, unlike the 1992 Pinnacles and 1971 Toppses of the world. The only thing that could make it better is if CarGo were wearing the Rockies black alternate jerseys, like Jeff Baker on my previous post.

In addition to that gorgeous rarity above, Brian sent a little bit of everything, starting with a brand that wouldn't be out of place in one of Nick's horror movies.

2014 Topps Gypsy Queen #9 Nolan Arenado

There's something unnatural about the way they process photos for this brand. It's probably some kind of HDR treatment, perhaps a bit of rotoscoping. But they make the shadows look extremely shadowy, and it just gives the card kind of a creepy feel.

I feel like these tobacco-era reproductions have gotten a bit long in the tooth, although this year's Gypsy Queen is a strong effort.

2001 Topps Heritage #147 Masato Yoshii

But when Topps Heritage first hit the shelves, it was a brilliant idea. Of course, Topps has since applied the usual gimmicks to the product, but when they repurposed the iconic 1952 design to launch the brand, I think we all knew it had staying power.

I usually find facsimile signatures completely distracting and interfering, but in the '52 set, there's a perfect little spot for them. And the first-ever Japanese player to suit up for the Rockies gives us one of the most interesting facsimile signatures of them all.

Brian was sure to include some mid-1990s cards decked out in gold foil. Of course, pretty much every card from that era had gold foil, but Topps Gold arguably kickstarted that trend.

1993 Topps Gold #606 Jayhawk Owens

Then, as now, the gold-on-gold lettering is pretty hard to read, but we can at least see that Topps elected to just use Jayhawk Owens' first initial, rather than his unusual name. I've heard a few explanations for this, ranging from Owens' own embarassment about his name, to Topps simply not believing that he went by Jayhawk.

1997 Pinnacle Inside #147 Neifi Perez

By the time Coors Field had a season or two under its belt, gold foil had taken the hobby by storm. Neifi Perez wasn't my favorite Rockie of the time, as he had a tendency to choke in the clutch, but he was a solid middle infielder.

One fun fact about Pinnacle cards that I learned quite recently is that they have an anti-counterfeit measure. We all know about the Upper Deck hologram, but Pinnacle did something similar starting in 1991. Flip almost any Pinnacle card over (or even Score, if you move a few years forward in your collection), and you'll see a small, gray rectangle with very narrow black lines.

1997 Pinnacle Inside #147 Neifi Perez (Reverse)

Assuming you are armed with an official Pinnacle Authenticator Lens, a card-sized piece of plastic that is ridged on one side, (sort of like a Fresnel lens), you'll be able to ensure that your haul from the dime box is the real deal. Picture a transparent version of a Sportflix or Opening Day Stars card, and you've got the idea. Align the ridges horizontally over the gray rectangle, and you'll see alternating rainbow colors. Do so vertically and you'll get some lettering like "Pinnacle", "Score", or on the card above, "PBI 97", for Pinnacle Brands, Inc.

I'm sure this could easily be defeated with the high-definition imaging tools we have today, but it was a clever and hopeful idea to implement as the baseball card bubble inflated.

Die cut cards may have been a bit less clever. There's really not much you can do with them besides cut a fairly boring curve or two, or just go completely nuts and give it more facets than a cut diamond. There's not a lot of middle ground.

2000 Crown Royale #45 Rolando Arrojo

My girlfriend thumbed through this stack when the envelope came. She seemed to enjoy a few of them (though wasn't so wild about '95 Fleer). When she got to this one, she said, in her best little-kid voice, "Who's the princess?!"

Seriously, Pacific.

Although, if anyone cared enough to send off a card like this for grading, finding a Gem Mint 10 with that many opportunities for flaws seems next to impossible.

2004 Ultra Gold Medallion #179 Rene Reyes

My collection of Fleer Ultra cards is heavily weighted toward the pre-strike era. After 1994, it drops off precipitously. That's why I had no idea that the gold medallion parallels from 2004 were die-cut. Yes, the upper left corner is curved, which reminds me of 1989 Topps and its related die-cut mini insert set from 2014. It's nice, but if all you're going to do is just round off one corner, why cut it at all?

Die cuts are usually interesting to look at, but they're pretty delicate, and are pretty tough to put in a 9-pocket page without dinging at least one of their many edges. Maybe I'll change my tune a bit if I complete one of those hexagonal triumvirates combos from 2014 Stadium Club.

1993 SP #153 Bret Saberhagen

Apparently I have a Bret Saberhagen player collection now.

This (literally) Super Premium set from 1993 gives you that aforementioned Upper Deck hologram in gold, as well as the usual legendary Upper Deck photography, and a bit of color-coding, to boot.

I'm guessing he wasn't pitching that day.

1995 Fleer Lumber Company #7 Fred McGriff

We'll wrap things up here with what might be the tamest card to be found in all of 1995 Fleer. I'd have been totally on board if they made this the base set, then saved the LSD-inspired craziness for an insert set.

What's extra special about this card is that it was from my Eight Men Out list! This particular card of the Crime Dog happens to be the last one I needed to complete this 10-card insert set, and it's the third time Brian spent the time and money to pick up a specific card on my behalf. The Eight Men out list has already been a huge success, and I have bloggers like Brian, as well as my family, to thank.

The Trading Post #22: Dime Boxes

Yes, it's Super Sunday, and it will be time for "The Big Game" (to keep the NFL's intellectual property SWAT team happy) in a few hours. And what better way to spend some time during pre-game than blogging about baseball cards?

My buddy Nick over at Dime Boxes sent over a stack of cards recently, and I have to admit, I had a really hard time narrowing down what I'd scan for the blog. He's kind of the king of mini-collections, and he did a pretty good job finding some great Coors Field cards for me.

I've written a couple times recently about pinpointing the date a baseball card photograph was taken. One of the cards that Nick sent probably provided enough information for me to do that.

1997 Upper Deck #59 Walt Weiss

However, in a stroke of genius, 1997 Upper Deck frequently just flat-out told us on the front of the card. Just to be sure, I did pop over to baseball-reference.com to verify, and it does indeed check out. So there you have it. April 27th, 1996. That was easy.

The prior year's UD set didn't have the specific date listed, but this one's nearly as easy.

1996 Upper Deck #65 Andres Galarraga

That is from the final game of the inaugural Coors Field season on October 1st, 1995. The Rockies beat the Giants to win the NL Wild Card, which marked both the first postseason appearance for the Rockies, as well as the first year of the expanded playoff structure. Lucky for the Rockies that the Wild Card exists at all. They've never won their division, so all three of their postseason appearances were earned on Wild Cards.

I remember that game and the victory lap the Rockies took in their brand-new ballpark. And here's another Fun Fact: though it just opened in 1995, it's already the third-oldest ballpark in the National League.

Looking at 1996 and 1997 Upper Deck side-by-side, I never really noticed how similar these sets are. UD logo in the upper left, copper border on the bottom with silver foil above it. Even the backs have a pretty similar layout, though I do prefer the shift to full career statistics on the 1997 cards, rather than just a few recent seasons of stats that appeared on prior sets.

There's still a bit more Upper Deck to cover, starting with the second and final year of one of their most beautiful sets.

2008 UD Masterpieces #30 Matt Holliday

UD Masterpieces only existed for two years, 2007 and 2008. They were small sets, too—only 90 base cards and a few short prints. But they're stunning. Makes you wonder what this hobby would look like if the glossy trend hadn't started. This card documents part of the historic run the Rockies made in September and October 2007. Including the postseason, they won 21 of 22 games to make it to the World Series, and Matt Holliday cranked out quite a few home runs during that span.

Longtime readers know that I'm a sucker for serial numbers. And this trade package didn't disappoint.

2009 UD A Piece of History Blue #116 Dexter Fowler /299

Dexter Fowler was one of my favorite Rockies in recent years. There's just something about the speed and range of a Center Fielder. He was traded to the Astros last year, and he'll be playing for the Cubbies in 2015.

Like Masterpieces, the "A Piece of History" set only existed for a few years. However, it's a bit unusual, in that 25% of the checklist consists of "historical moments" from world history.

2009 UD A Piece of History #175 Smallpox Eradicated

Such as a card commemorating what might be humankind's greatest achievement, the eradication of smallpox. As you likely know, vaccines and the diseases they prevent have been in the news lately. My choice from the Historical Moments subset should say all I need to say about my position on that matter.

Back to baseball, another serial numbered card came from 2013 Opening Day. The numbered blue parallels are one of the few places to find foil in the Opening Day brand, and it's just in that tiny date above the opening day logo.

2013 Topps Opening Day Blue #79 Tyler Colvin /2013

Coincidentally, this one just happens to be #1000. Round numbers are just so pleasing, aren't they? The purple "sea turtle" clashes a little bit with the blue background, but into the collection it goes!

2013 Topps Emerald #449 Michael Cuddyer

Green.

2012 Topps Stickers #273 Dinger

There were two or three of these stickers, which is yet another set I had never seen before. I don't really recognize this size either. It's got some odd dimensions, too: 1 13/16" x 2 5/8". No idea how they came up with that, but Dinger cards (and mascot cards in general) are some of my favorite ones to find.

2011 Topps Allen and Ginter Mini Bazooka #131 Chris Iannetta /25

These narrow A&G minis are a bit more recognizable, but Nick put this one in a penny sleeve with a note to "check the back!"

2011 Topps Allen and Ginter Mini Bazooka #131 Chris Iannetta /25 (Reverse)

This is the rare Bazooka back variation, and unlike most serial numbers which are embossed in foil, this one is handwritten in blue ballpoint pen. I can honestly say that I never expected to see that. And irony of ironies, though it's written on, that makes it more valuable.

Nick loves the oddball cards, and while these aren't my cup of tea as much as some other collectors, they do mix things up a bit.

1988 Donruss Pop-Ups #8 Bret Saberhagen

Regardless, I am pleased to see that the Bret Saberhagen portal my girlfriend opened up on Christmas is still open.

Throughout its existence, Pacific straddled the line between mainstream and oddball. 1998's Pacific Online set was definitely a bit more on the oddball end of that spectrum.

1998 Pacific Online #238 Jason Bates

This one with gold foil is the base card; there's also a red foil parallel. Pacific was weird like that. Either way, that ugly white URL bar is still up at the top, and it still gives you a 404 error. There are a few remnants of it on Archive.org, and it looks pretty much like you'd expect for a website built in 1998 that ends in ".html".

I could easily pick another three or four cards, but this has been a long post and it's getting close to gametime, so the last card I'll show today is pretty similar to a relic card I blogged about last week.

2013 Topps Chasing History Holofoil Gold #CH-97 Troy Tulowitzki

That's nearly the same Tulowitzki card that I got in trade from Andrew's Baseball Cards, though without the baseball bat relic. Instead, that's the Holofoil Gold parallel (yes, a parallel of an insert, I know); basically a refractor. Now that I have the two rarest varieties, going for the rainbow of this card wouldn't be too difficult. It would just be two more cards; the base and the silver holofoil. Perhaps I'll work my way backwards in terms of scarcity.

Just a quick note to wrap this up. In my opinion, Nick's blog is the best one around. The number of new blogs I see that mention Dime Boxes as an inspiration (my own included) is quite high. He's a great trader, has an encyclopedic knowledge of the hobby, and I don't think this community would be what it is today without him.

Thanks, Nick, and you'll find a return shipment headed your way shortly!

The Trading Post #17: The Junior Junkie

Continuing with more of "The Trading Post" theme, the third of three trade packages that arrived on Christmas Eve was from The Junior Junkie, complete with little Mariners logos hand-drawn on the box. I've already covered the first two, from The Angels, In Order, and Nomo's Sushi Platter.

Remember how I said that my girlfriend and I opened all three on Christmas Eve? Well, I didn't quite give you the whole story on that.

1996 Collector's Choice #130 Bret Saberhagen

My girlfriend had a childhood friend who had a "thing" for Bret Saberhagen. Right around the same time that the baseball card bubble was at its highest, she started buying packs here and there to see if she could pull a Saberhagen card for her friend. She didn't ever find one, and eventually stopped looking that carefully. Unopened packs started to end up in the back of the proverbial shoebox, long forgotten.

Forgotten, that is, until stocking-stuffer season rolled around. She asked her mother if any of those old cards were still tucked away. Sure enough, her mother found six unopened packs (1991 Score, 1990 Fleer, 1989 Donruss, etc...) and a few other loose cards, all of which ended up in my stocking on Christmas morning.

I wouldn't be able to leave packs unopened that long any more than I could not finish my chips with a lunch sandwich.

Anyway, on Christmas Day, the morning after a few Saberhagen cards fell out of The Junior Junkie's trade package like the one above, take a look at what I finally liberated from the second pack I opened:

1990 Fleer #116 Bret Saberhagen

After all those years.

Of course, now they're just starting to show up everywhere.

1995 Collector's Choice #441 Mike Kingery

Just like the 125th Anniversary patch, which I've pointed out in numerous recent posts. Here it is on center fielder Mike Kingery diving back to first base.

I wonder if these commemorative patches are starting to turn into a mini-collection. This next card from Ellis Burks caught my eye because of one.

1996 Fleer Tiffany #361 Ellis Burks

That's the Rockies 1995 patch, commemorating the opening of Coors Field. The arch part of the logo replaces the "Colorado" lettering with green-colored girders matching the stadium's architecture. Saberhagen is wearing one too, at the top of this post.

There was plenty of great photography to be found, and it wasn't just in Coors Field.

2008 Topps #607 Ryan Spilborghs

Outfielder Ryan Spilborghs did a good job in the Rockies outfield, and he's now a commentator for the team on the Root Sports cable channel. I even snapped a picture of him when the Cubs were in town in 2007. But this one is from Turner Field in Atlanta. That #44 banner on the outfield wall (right-center, to be specific) is of the Home Run King, Hank Aaron.

Let's take a look at one more arm patch. It's small in this image, but very important.

2008 Upper Deck First Edition #350 Garrett Atkins

Yes, that's the 2007 World Series patch! Garrett Atkins is shown here facing Red Sox relief pitcher Hideki Okajima in either Game 3 or 4.

I was really hoping to pinpoint the date of this card. Trouble is, Atkins faced Okajima in both games, so I can't be sure. Atkins hit a home run off of Okajima in Game 4, so it's likely that this is that shot. However, I was really hoping that I could point to Game 3, because that's the game I was lucky enough to get a ticket to!

Yes, I've been to 50% of all World Series games that have taken place in Denver. Unfortunately, the Rockies were swept that year, but the appearance itself was pretty special!

2012 Topps Opening Day Fantasy Squad #FS-7 Troy Tulowitzki

Tulowitzki was a participant in the 2007 World Series, but this card is a bit newer. It's an insert card from a brand that does a pretty darn good job with insert sets, Topps Opening Day. There's a nice amount of green on this one, and foil too (only the "Fantasy Squad" lettering), but nothing that distracts from readability. There's even a little bit of the "surfboard" design element that was the major theme of 2012 Topps. In fact, it looks a bit like the McLaren logo, for those of you who follow Formula 1 or supercars.

When you're sent this many Rockies cards, you're sure to get plenty of photos from Coors Field, like this one of my favorite Rockies player, Nolan Arenado:

2013 Bowman Chrome #24 Nolan Arenado (RC)

It's not that shiny for a "Chrome" card, which is a little disappointing, design-wise. It also has a bit of that gravity-defying curl, though nowhere near as bad as 2010 Topps Chrome. Arenado appears with the left-field wall over his shoulder, clearly earning that Gold Glove while covering third base.

Last but not least (last but most?) is my first card from the 2014 Finest set, and it's a beauty.

2014 Finest #30 Carlos Gonzalez

The colors really pop on this design, as do the bright accents on the right. The vertical nameplate isn't my favorite, but the subtle concentric lines around the border give it an interesting frame. And I don't know if it's just me, but I see a lot of this design in the upcoming 2015 Topps base set, which I can't wait to see in person.

I have to thank The Junior Junkie for my first taste of 2014 Finest; as well as the whole small flat-rate box full of Rockies!

And Bret Saberhagen.