A PWEdnesday Post

Let's open the mailbag! Jeff from Wax Pack Wonders sent over an envelope, hitting both vintage and local hero needs. Since it is in the news, I'll offer my very lukewarm take on team names. To me, nothing is sacred about a sports team name or logo. It might be easy for me to say living in an area where the oldest major sports teams started in the 60s, so it's not like there's a huge extended legacy of any of those team names. If any of these teams change their names or logos, it won't make me any less likely to support them. One thing I will say - there are teams that we have these conversations about every few years, and teams we likely never would need to. So, what does that tell you?

Anyway, off the soapbox and into the shoebox with these Minnesota-centric guys. Neal Broten was one of the last members of the "Miracle on Ice" 1980 U.S. Hockey team to play in the NHL. Aaron Sele was born in MN, but went to High School in Washington. Buster Rhymes is from Miami, but what a great card. It's funny, I sent my brother my only copy of this card a few weeks ago, so it was awesome to see Card Karma repaid so quickly!

There are some awesome facts shared on the back of these - for example, Brent Burns had (has?) a pet shark!?! 

Bringing it all back around again, here's another 1976 Topps card from Jeff's envelope- thanks again!

Nick, the king of the Dimebox and the low-key master of the oddball discoveries, recently had this card one of his Free stuff posts. Steinbach was born in MN, went to the U of MN, and finished out his career as a Twin. I'm a big fan of the 1959 Topps design.

Aquino is officially a guy I collect - I have always thought of the Reds as my National League team, and I thought Aquino was a fun story last season. He was compared to Kevin Maas on twitter recently, which, yeah, I can see it with their stats side-by-side. My hope is that he just keeps getting better.

Rounding out the envelope from Nick are several more Twins, Kirilloff might be playing the big leagues this year, as he was placed in the Twins' 60-player pool. It remains to be seen just how many guys will need to get COVID ahead of him, but so far Miguel Sano and Willians Astudillo have caught the bug. Kirilloff is an outfielder with a sneaky good bat, it will be fun to see what he can do. Thanks again for sending these over, Nick!

You might be asking - why would Bo from Baseball Cards Come to Life! send me a Pirates card? Well, look close - this is a bat rack card! Always a treat to find one that I missed. I recently opened a box of this set, 2003 upper deck Victory, but totally missed noticing the bat rack in the background!

Bo also loaded this mailer up with vintage 70s goodness.

Jerry Bell has a bit of a Hugh Jackman/Wolverine look to him! This Jerry Bell is not the same Jerry Bell that is in the Twins Hall of Fame as a long-time executive in the front office during the Twins two World Championships, and helped convince the City Counsel to bill the people of Minneapolis to build Target Field! Snarkiness aside, the Brewers Jerry Bell is a cool looking dude.

1973 Topps has some interesting ideas about action and landscape photography. Hey, I can dig it!

Last but definitely not least, Bo included this Hall of Fame / all-time Great Brooks Robinson! The back references his nickname as the human vacuum cleaner. 

The final envelope in this post comes from SCC of the Sport Card Collectors! I don't think Mascot cards should be inserts / short-prints in Opening Day, to me that release should be for the kids! Nonetheless, it's fun to add TC Bear to the roster. 

Who is going to miss Brusdar Graterol more this year? The Twins, or the Red Sox?

Speaking of Pink parallels, the only parallel (besides 1/1s) that I haven't seen yet in my Rosie Rainbow quest is the Mother's Day Pink parallel numbered to 50. I messed up yesterday and didn't check the eBay auction for the Independence Day Parallel. I put a bid in, with the intention of increasing it later, but forgot. I thought I was being clever by bidding $17.76, but now that I think about it, I am kind of happy I was outbid. Hopefully another one will pop up soon, and I can get it for less than that!

A big thanks to everyone sending cards and everyone reading the blog! 

Many Happy Returns

In addition to the stack of 2020 Heritage, there was another stack of cards from Nick when he sent me a mailer last week. As is his usual method, there was a great variety of eras and oddballs!

Even though MLB is continuing to hold out hope for a partial 2020 season, I can't help but think of the things we've already lost - Luis Arraez was going to start his 2nd full season in Minnesota, and Nelson Cruz was looking at the final year of his Twins contract. Will Cruz retire after the 2020 season? Does this lost season change the decision making process at all? Yadier Molina has already said he wants to play in 2021, even if the Cardinals choose to not bring him back.

Some of the lesser seen releases from Topps, including National Baseball Card Day exclusives, the Home Run Challenge insert (Max Kepler was probably not going to hit as many this year, now that Trevor Bauer is in the National League), and a couple of Topps Stickers.

I flipped over the Nelson Cruz sticker for a surprise! I have added Aquino as a player I collect, will be interesting to see what his career trajectory will be.

Nick always includes some fun odd releases - Brian Harper is part of a set of All-Stars, and the two Orlando Rays were future Twins. Sorrento was one of a long line of potential Kent Hrbek replacements.

Some sweet Harmons and a Donruss pop up All-Star insert of Manager Tom Kelly.

These manufactured patches are fun. I was hoping the player's Players' Weekend Nickname would be on the card, but the patch itself is a neat addition. John Castino was probably the Twins' best player in 1981, and he was the guy added to the mix whenever Topps was looking for even representation of the teams. The 1981 Topps Scratchoff game came in Panels. There were 108 total panels, Castino was one of 3 Twins in the checklist.

Thanks again Nick, always fun to see what you've put together! Everyone, go vote for the 2nd Dimebox Champ!

Putting Your Best Stamp Forward

Nick of the World Famous Dime Boxes Blog reached out last week to confirm my address, then sent over this stuffed plain white envelop overflowing with Twins.

Most impressively, all of these cards were sent with just one stamp! Let's Get It On. What's Going On in this PWE?

Max signed a contract extension during spring training with the Twins, and he's been tearing the cover off the ball all season long. He's on the bench tonight after taking a fastball off his elbow, but he'll be back soon.

As always, Nick combines new cards, vintage cards, junk wax, stars, legends, etc in every trade.

Some great finds from 2019 Big League, including the fan favorite Willians Astudillo, who recently returned from a temporary stay in AAA. He's primarily a catcher, but tonight he's playing in left field. Jake Cave will be his opposite number in Right Field, with Buxton still recovering on the IL. Cave was tearing up AAA himself, and is getting another chance to stick with the big league club for the moment.

Shifting gears was this oddball of should-be Hall of Fame hurler, the 16X Gold Glove winner, Jim Kaat. This is a 1969 Milton Bradley card from their baseball themed board game. Johnny's Trading Spot recently found the game itself, if you're curious what the board and some more of the cards looked like.

Continuing on the vintage theme, Nick added these three Twins (triplets?) to my collection. The note in the envelope asked me to be sure to check the backs:

sacré bleu ! O-pee-chee!

Here's 4 more Unusual Twins, taken from the 1990 and 1991 Baseball Card Price Guides / Magazines.

I didn't know that Harper was a converted pitcher! Learn something every time you trade with Nick. If you're counting, that's 17 cards in one envelope! One Stamp! Thanks very much Nick, these were a blast to go through.

Sweet Treats

Nick from the fantastic Dime Boxes Blog sent over a package of Twins including this sweet Saint Paul, MN native Tom Johnson. Johnson didn't reach the heights of other Saint Paulites like Dave Winfield, Paul Molitor, Jack Morris, or even Joe Mauer - - but he was a decent relief pitcher. In 1977 he won 16 games and didn't start a single one! He also notched 15 saves, so he ranked in the top 10 in the AL in both categories.

Nothing wrong with some high quality reprints!

The genuine article is pretty great as well! Tony O is looking good here, making yet another All-Star squad.

Jim Perry, less famous than his HOF brother, still managed to win 20+ games in two straight seasons for the Twins, winning the AL Cy Young in 1970 for his efforts.

A healthy dose of Big League came through too!

The 90s are alive and well in Minneapolis!

Nick also provided a hit! "Pronk" and Morneau were the AL Central's heavy hitters for several years in the 2000s.

Thanks so much, Nick!

Time to Celebrate a Dime Box Delivery

Nick from the fantastic Dime Boxes Blog sent over a mailer full of gems - as always, great care went into this eclectic mix of cardboard greatness!

Every era of Twins baseball was represented, and every level of the organization, including this great Denard Span minors card that I'd never seen before!

While I will talk incessantly about Joe Mauer's 2000th hit last night, the other storyline was Jose Berrios making the White Sox look silly for seven shutout innings. Berrios struck out 11 batters and allowed just three hits. After three super long marathon games against the Astros, it was a welcome change of pace for Berrios coming in and blowing through the Sox lineup in a couple hours.

I'd never seen this Puckett Glow Stars Sticker before either - and both Carews are new to me.

Nick brings the new hotness with cards from 2018, Kepler was the Hero on Wednesday, hitting 2 loud line drive home runs including the game winner.

Some horizontal heroes! The Killebrew card is embossed / 3-D with his floating head sticking up and jumping off the card.

There were of course tons of parallels too! I love the foil palm trees jutting out over Cristian Guzman's head.

And some vintage too!

Whenever I get cards from Nick, I see stuff I've never seen before. It's always a treat! Thanks so much Nick, I should have some cards headed back your way soon!

Cards from a Greater Dime-nsion

A fantastic PWE arrived in my mailbox from Nick of the Dimebox Blog. I don't usually pay much attention to stamps, but Teddy Ballgame warrants a second look!

Nick hit my sweet tooth with this Hostess Tony Oliva - I will feature this card again for another post I am working on...

Some more excellent food issues, this time from Post.

Torii two Is with a couple more oddly shaped cards... the one on the right features a patch for Kirby Puckett on Torii's sleeve.

There were standard size offerings as well. I am excited to see what Berrios will do his second time in the big leagues.

Robbie Grossman didn't make any end of year lists, but he was perfectly suited as the Twins' 4th outfielder. His .386 on base percentage was in the top 20 in the majors, consistently giving the team quality at bats at the bottom of the order. 

Thanks again, Nick!