A 'lil HooHaa

Messing with the blogging world since 2005

baseball cards

Notes from my Noodle: Sept. 20 edition

It’s been a while since I went out for a first-to-find run.

So when three new ones popped up in the area — all within 7 or 8 miles — in the early evening, I was tempted. Still, going out on a FTF run by myself isn’t always the most fun thing in the world. So, I put it aside and figured maybe I’d hit them later in the week.

Then I got a message from Craig of Team-Ducky, who noted that he might be willing to head over and join me for the hunts. A self-professed FTF hound, it didn’t shock me that he was willing to travel the 20-25 minutes over as he’s gone distances a lot longer.

It was a nice evening, so I figured what the heck.

Thirty-five minutes later or so, we were off and searching.

The first one didn’t take too long. It was a micro and a park-and-grab. A good hide. Same with the second one. The third one was a little tougher, especially with the mosquitoes humming away. Soon, the smaller lock-n-lock container was in hand and we signed away.

I haven’t done a lot of caching recently. Heck, outside of July, I haven’t done a lot of caching at all. There are a bunch of local caches I haven’t found yet, so it’s probably time to try and grab them and scratch them off the list.

It only took about an hour total to get them, so it was a nice getaway for a little while.

***

Processing photos is a long, well, process.

I shot a wedding a couple weeks ago and I am about halfway through the images. I usually just give the couple a CD with all the processed images, so it’s easy in that regard that I don’t have to do proofs and prints. Still, it’s a long, drawn-out process as you want to make the photos look as good as you can for the couple.

It’s probably why I don’t do weddings often.

Still, I love looking through these images. I’m really happy with the photos I got and I hope the couple is as well. There’s some really cool moments captured.

***

It would appear that I didn’t get the gig I had hoped I would have a shot at. A recent interview, which I thought went so-so, didn’t end up going anywhere. I figured because I hadn’t heard back at all in a while that I wasn’t moving on in the process.

I’ve received word that the position has been filled, but I haven’t heard officially. Hopefully I’ll get some word to make it official as I always hold out hope that I have a chance until I get that official note.

***

I’ve been peeking at my baseball cards recently. Part of the reason is I plan on giving some of those that I have doubles of (autographs, game-used) away in upcoming contests.

I was also looking to see about landing some reprints of any cards for players I am writing about for the HooHaa 9.

That also gave me a chance to check out some of the players I collect and made me realize that I am still missing a handful of cards for each person. Of course, at this moment, I won’t be purchasing cards. But it’s nice to know I can work on getting the list so once I’m gainfully employed again, I can hit up a show, eBay or Beckett and try and get the final cards.

***

Speaking of contests, the next one will be announced this Sunday. Make sure you check it out and enter!

***

Front of the shirt.

Our softball team party is this weekend.

Back of shirt

Being we won our second straight championship this year, we opted to get championship shirts. They are supposed to be in by Friday, which is good. I can then collect the money from the guys and send the payment. But it will be nice to get everyone the shirt. It’s kind of like our “ring ceremony.”

The front of the shirt won’t be fully covered by the above graphic. Instead, it will be a little smaller, centered in the middle of the chest.

The back of the shirt will have the info. I went through different things with this. Originally, I had the back-to-back part up top. I also had records, which looked out of place (for the record, we were 16-2 in 2010 and 19-2 in 2011).

The roster is the 2011 roster. I probably could have (and maybe should have) added the few people who played for the 2010 team and didn’t play this year (especially being it’s not like they played elsewhere. Two moved away and two just didn’t play). Alas, that would have made for some confusing spacing. I could have probably done something, but it’s too late now as it’s printing. I didn’t actually think about that until writing this post, however.

That being said, there were some changes this year with a second sponsor and everything else. So it’s all good how it came out. I’m happy with the shirts. If we three-peat next year, I’ll make sure everyone from the past three years are on the shirts. Nothing will be guaranteed, however, as we had some stiff competition in the finals and expect we’ll be seeing that team next year along the lines, too. Also, there were some good, young teams, so hopefully the league will keep getting stronger and stronger.

Either way, I’ll look forward to having these shirts at the team party this weekend in our final celebration of 2011.

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog [at] gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook by clicking the button on the right side of the page!

Contests, contests, contests!

Contests are coming to a ‘lil HooHaa.

Over the past several months, I’ve been putting aside things I knew I could give away in contests. They might be things I’ve picked up elsewhere, won at events or something else. Some people have donated things to me, knowing I’d be having some giveaways.

Some of the items I will be giving away might include:

  • Geocoins
  • Pathtags
  • T-shirts
  • Disc golf items
  • Autographed/game-used baseball cards
  • Signed photos (mainly mine)
  • Author-signed books
  • Geocache containers (such as micros etc.)

I am working on other things, too. I might get some gift cards for things like iTunes or something else. I believe I have a couple of DVDs I have put aside, too. I am working on a few other things.

The reality is, many of these items will be random and can be of interest to a wide variety of people. So I hope, no matter what the prize, you, the readers, will get into these contests and join them.

The best part for you? It’s free!

There will be several ways to enter and win. Many will include working the social media (twitter, Facebook, your own blog) or commenting on my posts. Some might require doing something else — though none will be too hard. I don’t want to scare people away. I want to attract new and old readers to visit my blog on a regular basis. There will usually be a small task to do to enter the contest (usually something in the comments section), but after that there will be easy ways to earn more entries into the contest.

I am going to aim to to a contest once every two or three weeks (depends on my supply of things to give away!). The rules will be quite simple. The time frame will be from noon on a Sunday (the post will be published at noon) and will run until the following Sunday at 12:01 a.m. (In other words, just after midnight!) That gives me time to figure the winner (and any runner-ups if there is more than one prize) and have a blog post ready by noon on Sunday to announce the winner.

The times will be strictly enforced. People will have a full week to do whatever they need to do. I would encourage you to do things early, however, so you don’t forget!

Once the contest ends, I will have use a random way of selecting the winner (it might be a video of me pulling a name out of the hat or it might be me using something such as Random.org, which allows one to put a lot of names in and it randomly picks the winner.

Some notes:

  • If you are someone who would like to donate something to the contests, I would love the donation. It can be anything. If you have ideas on the contest to go with the item, I would be more than happy to listen to the idea.
  • I will be paying for all shipping charges. Some of the smaller things (geocoins, pathtags etc.) will be open to everyone and anywhere. But if I have larger items, I might make it for the United States and Canada only, just because it might be cheaper on the wallet and worries.
  • Full rules will be in EACH contest post. I might change little things, pending on the contest. So make sure to look at the rules!

The first contest will be announced this Sunday. Make sure to check back here. Better yet, like the blog on Facebook to get updates! (There is a Facebook “like” button on the right side of the page, toward the top).

I am also always taking ideas for these contests. With a lot of things to give away, I’d like to make sure I have some cool contests. Keep checking back for your chance to win!

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog [at] gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook by clicking the button on the right side of the page!

Is collecting still a good hobby?

I’m curious.

In the age of the Internet and everything else, it doesn’t seem like a lot of people collect things anymore. When I was a kid, I collected a lot of different things. Of course, a lot of those things didn’t stick so I soon grew bored with the items.

But, as an adult, I have a few things I enjoy collecting.

That being said, it seems like a lot of people don’t collect much — well, at least people I know.

I once worked with someone who was still into collecting stamps (something I did when I was younger). I love stamps. It’s one reason I really like postcrossing as you get to see some wild stamps from around the world.

But the new U.S. stamps seem like they would be a bore to collect because they are the self-sticking kind.

Coins were neat. I did that before. But now, I only have one coin and I keep it in my wallet. When my dad died four years ago, one of my friends came to the calling hour and handed me a dime in a coin holder. The date of the coin was 1937 — the year my father was born. That is the one coin that really means something to me and I keep it with me as I walk through life.

But what do kids collect? Anything?

Adults?

I still collect baseball cards. But it’s so much different than when I was a kid. When I was younger, we’d get an allowance and go to Maxwell’s Gas Station and buy a couple of packs for 25 cents each. We’d chew the gum, then see what cards we got. We’d play flip or trade or whatever. But the cards were so cheap and affordable.

Then it became a business.

Card shows. e-Bay. Online sellers. Many card companies. Individual rights. Exclusive contracts.

The card industry has taken off. Though packs can be found at an affordable $1.99 at places like Wal-Mart or Target, many packs go upwards of 5-10 bucks. There are boxes of cards that sell for hundreds and hundreds of dollars.

My collection is based on personal things — usually authentic autographs or game-used cards of players I’ve covered in my newspaper career or players from the Philadelphia Phillies.

I do still like to open packs sometimes, but it’s expensive. And if you don’t get a “hit” (game-used, autograph etc.), you’re almost disappointed.

The funny part is, I’m not sure I could even tell you my favorite card. It might be my Mike Schmidt autographed card. Or my Robin Roberts auto card. I have autos of most of the current Phillies, as well as many game-used cards. I love getting auto cards of the players I covered when they were in the minors. By the time they get the authentic cards, they are usually several years past Oneonta, so it’s always neat to get one when they’ve climbed the ladder.

I also have a Jenny Finch autographed card, which is really sweet!

The only other thing I really collect is geocaching signature items. I like to trade for mine when I find them in caches and I keep them stored in an ammo can. Eventually, I’m going to take photos of each one — as well as each of my personal geocoins and pathtags — and make them into a coffee table book for myself. I consider pathtags and geocoins that I collect part of this broad topic of “signature items.”

I do keep the postcards I receive from Postcrossing, but it’s not really collecting.

That’s it though.

How about you guys? Collect anything? How did you get into it? Any story behind it?

Or if you have kids, do they collect anything? Most kids I see don’t collect anymore. I know I’ve seen some at card shows with their parents, but are the kids really collecting or are their parents?

I know there are still things to collect, but is it something that is kind of slowly starting to disappear?

I’d like to hear what some of you have to say. I hope there are some cool collectors out there with some cool items. For those who do collect — what’s your favorite item?

Hopefully collecting isn’t a dying hobby. I look forward to seeing what you all might collect!

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog [at] gmail.com.

Baseball cards and Rapid Robert

In honor of opening day, I thought it would be a good day to share the rest of my stories from the baseball card show I went to last Sunday.

Yes, I know that Thursday was the official Opening Day for baseball, but today is when the Phytin’ Phils open, which, to me, is opening day!

When looking for baseball cards, I’ve come to the conclusion there are basically two types of people — the collector and the investor. A collector can be split off into a couple different versions — one looking for certain players, teams, types of cards etc. But for the most part, the collector knows what he or she wants, has a certain price in their head and can walk away from a deal if needed. After all, eBay is a wonderful friend to the card collector.

Then you have the investor. These are the people who usually buy things with the idea of reselling, or something along those lines. They spend a little more freely. They want to be able to turn things around into a bigger profit, or have the chance to do so.

Me? I’m a collector.

When I go to a show, I usually am looking for a few things — cards of a player I am collecting (though I do most of that on eBay), players on the Phillies (game-used/autograph), players I used to cover in the minor leagues, or something quirky that really catches my eye.

Being I hadn’t been watching things a lot lately, my goal this past weekend was to pick up a few players and see if I could find something kind of fun.

But before I get to the cards, allow me to show something that was incredibly cheap — 15 bucks — of something I’ve wanted for a while. A signed photo of Bob Feller. For those who don’t know, Feller, or “Rapid Robert,” was one of the best pitchers of all-time and one who gave away four years in his prime to serve the United States of America in World War II with the Navy. This is something he often spoke about as his proudest moments.

I got to deal with Feller twice during my time at the local daily newspaper — both during Hall of Fame events. I found him to be an extremely amazing individual. He spoke candidly and honestly. He had his views and his thoughts and stuck with them. His memory, too, was impeccable. The first time I sat to speak with him, I told him where I was from and the first thing he did was ask me about the former owner of a local minor league team. Incredible.

But, in the line of being a newspaper reporter, you can’t (and shouldn’t) ask for autographs. Most of the people I covered, I took the memories of that and went with it.

Dealing with Feller was quite amazing. Though I got to see him throw to a couple of batters in the Legend’s game at the Hall, I can only imagine what it would have been like to see him in his prime. He went 266-162 with a 3.32 ERA and 279 complete games. He had three seasons with 25 or more victories and six total with 20 or more victories. He finished with 2,581 strikeouts, including 348 in 1946. He was an All-Star in eight of his 18 seasons.

At this card show, however, was a wonderful signed photo of Feller. It was certified, so I felt like it was worth and it listed for just $15. (Even though Bob died this past December at age 92, his autos might not be worth as much as some because he was an avid signer. His autograph is readily available, which is a wonderful thing for a Hall of Famer to do).

Here’s the photo:

Bob Feller autograph

That started the day. What a way to start, eh?

I already blogged about my Konstanty find, so here are a few others.

Rauuuuuuuuuuuul!

Raul Ibanez is one of the only Phillies starting eight (not including pitchers) that I didn’t have an autograph of, so when I saw this I had to nab it as quick as I could. What an ugly autograph though, eh? He’s in the final year of his contract with the Phils and I’ve always been a Raul fan, so hopefully he can have a solid season and help the Phils to another World Series title.

Chase and his bat

Though Chase Utley is starting the season on the disabled list, I have a hard time passing up a sweet Utley card when I see it. This one was really nice and was a really good price, so I nabbed it. Hopefully, Chase will be back in the lineup as quick as possible (as long as he’s healthy) and help the Phils to their fifth straight NL East title!

A quirky find

As I said, I like certain things.

I have seen these before and wanted one. It really didn’t matter the player and this one was, I believe, five bucks. I liked that it was the patch and the autograph. Jeff Kobernus is in the Nationals organization, so maybe it’ll be worth money some day if he makes it big, eh?

Speaking of quirky…

Joe Pepitone!

I’m not a Yankees fan.

Never have been, never will be. But I love the history and tradition of the team. And there’s something about Joe Pepitone. I don’t know if it’s the name, the way he played or what, but I like Joe Pepitone. And I loved this card. Add to it that it was in a half-off bin and I ended up making a bargain to get two cards from that bin for $10 instead of $12, and I was a happy camper!

I picked up a few other cool cards at good prices, too — including two game-used cards of Mike Schmidt and Cole Hamels.

As per normal, too, I broke a box at the show. Me and Rod went half-and-half on a box with three guaranteed hits. Unfortunately, the hits were all game-used and nothing major. Would have been nice to get something really sweet out of it. It’s the 2010 Allen and Ginter, so there were some interesting cards. One in particular I was really happy to get, but I’m going to save that for another time as its own post.

Anyway, the Phytin’ Phils are about to start their season and I’m going to settle into some baseball. Go Phils!

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog [at] gmail.com.

A Phantastic Phind

1950 Bowman Jim Konstanty

The image above might not mean a lot to many people. But, it was part of my day Sunday as two of us traveled to White Plains for a baseball card show. These shows are held at this spot every few months, but I’ve been hitting the March one for the past three or so years as my yearly intake of baseball cards. I was a little more strapped this year, so I was just kind of looking for things that caught my eye a little.

Jim Konstanty pitched seven seasons with the Phillies, including being part of the 1950 Whiz Kids. A reliever, Konstanty had 22 saves that season — as well as 16 victories! He also started Game 1 of the World Series against the New York Yankees, but lost, 1-0. The Phils were swept in the Series but Konstanty was named the National League’s Most Valuable Player.

That regular season, he pitched in 74 games and finished 62! He even had a 2.66 ERA over 152 innings — which some starters these days might not reach! And he was a reliever!

I know of Jim Konstanty because I’m a Phillies fan. I also know because his son is a prominent lawayer in our area and I covered his grandson, who also went on to play professional baseball, when he was in high school.

I’m usually not a collector of old baseball cards. First, because they can be quite expensive. Second, because it’s tough to get what you want, usually. Anyway, as we strolled around the card show Sunday, we came upon a table selling a lot of old cards. I’ve wanted to get a few old cheaper cards, just to have as they are really wild, I think.

I peered into the one box and saw several Phillies cards.

So, I started looking through to see if there was a card or something that really drew me in. As I flipped, I saw this one. I knew right away who it was and I was interested. Then I saw the price.

$6.

Holy cow!

I immediately had to buy it. It’s not in mint condition, as you can probably see by the scan. But it’s in pretty solid shape. The colors are still sharp. My worry is that this might have made me want to do something with Jim Konstanty cards.

See, a lot of collectors go after one or two players. I’ve done it in the past with a few such as Larry Christenson, Tom Brookens and Bill Monbouquette. Christenson was my favorite pitcher growing up and I covered Brookens and Monbouquette, so that drew my interest. I have a couple of other smaller collections of players I covered, but their card selections aren’t too massive.

It’s hard trying to collect every card a player has.

With Christenson and Brookens, I have the bulk of their cards. Same for Luis Quinones, another player I collect, and someone I used to cover. Monbouquette is another story, as his cards are older, thus making things a bit more expensive. When I look sometimes, I’ll find something a bit affordable and I’ll grab it. But I knew his cards were going to take time to collect.

And then I had to find this little gem of a card in this 1950 Bowman Konstanty.

*sigh*

I’m a subscriber to Beckett, a monthly guide aimed at the card collecting market. On their website, you can do custom setups for card collections. According to Beckett, this 1950 card is Konstanty’s rookie card. But, also, he has 39 cards listed with the database. Some could be very tough (for example, he has a 2009 SP Legendary Cuts signature numbered to 5… that could be rough!) to get, but I might try.

Why not, right?

I almost had a second card of his at the show. It’s a 1952 Topps. Beautiful card. Clean, crisp… and $42.

In my current situation, I don’t think $42 for a vintage card would have been smart. So I’ll peek around eBay and the Beckett Marketplace. While I’m at it, I think I should pull out my other player collections and see what I’m missing. Maybe I can fill in some blanks.

I’ll have another post or two this week about the card show as I have some things I want to share. But for now, I’ll leave you with the back of the Konstanty card.

According to Beckett, this is his rookie card, but it seems like there were a few before the 1950 card.

More later!

2009 SP Legendary Cuts Legendary Cut Signatures #LC48 Jim Konstanty/5 Buy Pricing Buy Pricing
Item image of 2010 Topps Heritage 1961 Buybacks #479 Jim Konstanty MVP 2010 Topps Heritage 1961 Buybacks #479 Jim Konstanty MVP