Thursday Trading Post / Jeudi Comptoir Commercial

This trade comes from Canada, where both English and French are spoken widely. The French Canadians knew a thing or deux about making trades! Douglas of Sportscards from the Dollar Store and I have executed a flurry of transactions recently, and here is the latest.

Minnesota remains "The State of Hockey" even though one NHL team left and the other has been trying to compete with the MN State High School tourney for ice time ever since they arrived.

Baseball card collectors can have a little hockey, as a treat.

The Vikings are completing their annual agony tour, attempting to twist the Viking Horn deeper into the hearts of their fans by upsetting the Saints to set up a potential NFC championship matchup with long-time rival Green Bay. It's just as likely neither NFC North team will be in attendance at that game, but I'm sure they'd love nothing better than to inflict maximum psychological torture on fans by improbably managing to reach the championship again, playing just well enough to give people hope before ripping the football away like Lucy holding a field goal attempt for Charlie Brown.

This is a really cool card of high flyer Zach LaVine. The Wolves are having a mess of a season this year, and yet still sit near the final playoff spot along with 7 teams hovering just below .500 in the West. This card shimmers in the light and is numbered to just 60 copies!

I've been saying it every year since I started this blog, but if Buxton has a full, healthy season, there's no limit to what he can do. I'm pulling for him again this year, and Twins fans are going to be sad to see him go. Hopefully later than sooner! Thanks again for the trade, I've always got an eye on that list of 10 most wanted!

A Vintage Bo-nanza

Bo of Baseball Cards Come to Life! and I completed a trade recently, and Bo came through with a life affirming cavalcade of cardboard excellence. I am thinking about how I'd like to build my copycat Hall of Fame binder (stolen from P-Town Tom via Red Cardboard), and this Lou Brock is probably the #1 contender from his playing days to make the cut.

Luis Tiant is one of those guys on the outside looking in to the Hall - he had a brief but brilliant peak to his career, which came after some lean years.

The trade that brought Tiant to Minnesota sent Nettles to Cleveland. He'd get recognition for his superb defense once he made his way further East to New York.

As you can see, Bo shredded my vintage 70s wantlists, working from year to year.

Maybe I've been too tough on the 1973 set? There are some great cards to be found in it.

An upgraded Alou!

Tiant and Vida Blue were in the middle of some serious dominance of opposing hitters. Dick Allen had a fantastic season on the South Side, and Ken Griffey was about to be a World Champion 2X running for the Reds.

Speaking of the Big Red Machine, a fantastic Johnny Bench card coming through the dusty trail. I really love the shot of the Kauffman Stadium scoreboard for the Royals. Pretty good action shots in the 1976 set.

Seriously, this is just scratching the surface of the haul from Bo - a ton of vintage.

Without overloading the servers, there was also a big stack of 90s cards as well.

and Hockey! Believe it or not, this was actually the spark that prompted the trade. Bo emailed me and said he had some Stanley Cup cards, and tossed in a huge lot of Minnesota North Stars / Wild to beef up my NHL collection.

And there you have (again just a sample) the reason for the trade in the first place, The Stanley Cup is getting some serious love from the various card companies.

Thanks again for the trade, Bo! The cards you sent were fantastic and much appreciated!

Trading Up North Again

Douglas from Sportscards From The Dollar Store surprised me with a nice stack of cards this month.

As has been the custom from our trades, the four major North American sports were all represented!

In Hockey, both the expansion Wild and the (much earlier) expansion North Stars were included. 1990 Bowman was so terrible for baseball, but for hockey I don't mind it at all - maybe it's the inclusion of more on-ice action and less portrait shots.

The Wolves will be trying again to make some progress in the talent rich Western Conference, but without Rose and Jimmy Butler. Butler is somewhat of an enigma - he does really endear himself to his new team, but is seemingly quick to spoil a good thing. He's also pretty good at burning bridges, I doubt the Wolves will be trying to orchestrate a reunion.

Back to Hockey, I thought this was the coolest one- a clear acetate card reminiscent of a freshly zamboni'd rink.

And a hit! Jordan Greenway was a 2nd round pick of the Wild back in 2015 out of Boston University. He played in 81 games last season, scoring a dozen goals and assisting a dozen more. He'll be looking to increase his production this season, as he's in the final year of his rookie contract. He's a big dude, 6'6" to be exact, and the Wild will be counting on him to provide a physical presence in the offensive zone, probably on their 3rd shift.

Speaking of talented youngsters, the Twins are well stocked. Alex Kiriloff made Lewin Diaz expendable in yesterday's Sergio Romo trade, despite the fact that Diaz was projected to be MLB ready as soon as 2020.

Recent first rounder Royce Lewis was just promoted to AA taking Lewin's roster spot. He will most likely take over at Short, with someone else shifting over to be the everyday 1B. It won't be Willians Astudillo, who remains with the Big League squad, albeit on the IL for the forseeable future.

A couple more hits! Jose Berrios is the team Ace, and Twins fans will be hoping for a strong finish to 2019 from the young right hander, who just made his first All-Star squad.

Last but not least is the speedy Jake Cave. He was sent down to AAA this week, as Byron Buxton returned from injury. Given Buxton's history and the grind of the full season on all the outfielders, chances are Cave will get another shot to contribute to the Twins in 2019.  

Thanks so much for these, Douglas! I don't have a great package to send you - yet. But I'll have something headed your way as soon as I do!

A (Belated) Boxing Day Bonanza

Douglas from Sportscards From The Dollar Store surprised me with a hefty mailer from Canada! Football, Basketball, Hockey and of course Baseball were represented. Did you know that after his career as one of the Vikings' "Purple People Eaters," Alan Page became a State Supreme Court Justice? He was a Justice the Minnesota State Supreme Court for nearly 30 years, retiring in 2015 (MN has a mandatory retirement age of 70 for its court). Owen Nolan was a surprising name, I actually recognized him from my youth! He was a member of the San Jose Sharks in one of my favorite video games of all time, NHL '95. I didn't realize he played for the Wild as well.

There was variety of cards new and old, including a stack of minor league cards. Rochester is the Twins' AAA Affiliate, and Fred Costello is their organist - that's a very cool card. Topps should feature organists in the Opening Day set, that would be a fun subset.

Royce Lewis was the Twins' #1 Overall pick, Brent Rooker came later on, but both will be forcing their way into the major league plans in a few years.

Here's a group that's even closer - Kiriloff has been compared to Christian Yelich, and might debut by September. Nick Gordon (Dee's Brother and Tom's Son) has an outside chance of being a regular in the Twins' lineup soon. Stephen Gonsalves already made his MLB debut last season, and has a possible spot in the rotation this season. Brustar Graterol is making a name for himself, and looks to debut in 2020 or 2021.

There were some "traditional Twins" as well, with a very cool Bowman Platinum of Joe Mauer. In the most obvious move of all time, the Twins announced that Mauer's #7 will be retired at some point in the 2019 season.

A Hit! Zack Granite has one of the great baseball names, and he's still on the fringes of the Twins' 40 Man roster. The uncertainty surrounding Byron Buxton's development and injury history has left the door open a crack for Zack.

And a ton of hockey cards! The Mikko Koivu in the middle is one of those clear acetate cards. I'm pretty sure all of the cards in the hockey stack were new to me.

Thanks so much Douglas! I'll be getting a package out to you soon.

Zapped!

I just got ZAPPED!  Kenny from Torren Up Cards launched a power packed PWE in my direction this holiday weekend - it was a nice shock!

Kenny is the king of Prospects, and these guys here are some of the Twins' best prospects of recent years.

These guys were considered prospects at one time as well, some more highly touted than others. Sorrento was Hrbek's heir apparent, but he wasn't able to take the crown. Ben Revere rode into town seeking Denard Span's job in Center Field, but they'd both be heading off into the sunset in exchange for even more prospects.

Kenny is such a good prospector, he found gold! Mauer and Morneau were the Twins #1 and #2 prospects back in 2003, now they are both enjoying retirement in the Twin Cities.

Minnesota is known as the "State of Hockey" though it is mostly for its robust High School and College ranks, less so for the current and former NHL franchises. Nothing to sneeze at, though!

Kenny, thanks so much for this unexpected jolt!

Trading Up North

Friends. Unless you've been under a rock for the last couple weeks, you may have noticed that I've been under a rock for the last couple weeks. Crazy work and home schedules have kept me from blogging again. Keeping up has been tough, but I didn't want to delay any longer in acknowledging the great trade package from Sportscards from the Dollar Store!

Take a look at this sweet 1975 O-Pee-Chee! Roof may seem a little off-center, but the card is otherwise pack fresh. Underwhelming at the plate, Roof was tremendous behind it. Most of his career was spent as a backup, though he was the number one catcher for the Brewers in 1970.  Phil became a manager after his playing days, spending over a decade with the Twins' triple A Affiliates, finishing with over 1,000 wins.

More minor league greatness! The Twins have a good problem on their hands in the minors, as several young arms are making their case to join the big league club, despite a bit of a logjam already at the top once Ervin Santana returns.

Even more Twins from all over the map. I read recently that Topps renewed its exclusive license with MLB, so there will be a tougher road for start ups like Honus Bonus, but I hope the non-Topps card companies don't give up.

Norm Green gave up on the State of Hockey and moved the North Stars to Dallas, and I'm still "not mad" about it. The Minnesota Wild were better this past season than they've been in a while, so there's hope for the future. And who doesn't love a name like Nino Niederreiter?

Douglas sent some hits, too! Tyler Duffey is in that mix with several other pitchers at AAA trying to make a case for a big league job. He might be there now if the Twins hadn't invested in so many free agent arms this winter.

Max Murphy was a 9th Round selection by the Twins, and was Player of the Year in Low-A Elizabethton. He made yearly promotions, but was injured in late 2016. This spring he signed up with the independent Northern League Saint Paul Saints, staying close to his home of Robbinsdale.

Maxx Williams is another Minnesota native, son of New York Giants' Center Brian Williams (member of the Super Bowl XXV champs). His grandfather was a Quarterback at Notre Dame.

Maxx was also sidelined by injury in 2016, and found himself fighting for a spot on the Ravens' roster in 2017. He will again be in a battle this season, as Baltimore drafted another TE high in the draft.

Thanks for the cards, Douglas!

Something Wild From North of the Border

 Douglas from Sportscards from the Dollar Store sent over a packet of cards that covered all the major Minnesota Teams, past and present. The original home of the Twins and Vikings, Metropolitan Stadium!

 Speaking of Stadiums, the Vikiings have a new one starting this season, and it looks like.... Well, I don't really know what it looks like :

There you go.

 All four of these guys were first round picks of the Timberwolves - Rubio is still with the team, and is one of the more exciting playmakers in the league.... when healthy.

 Hockey! Goalie cards are awesome - I don't actively seek out hockey, but these are always nice!

 And of course there were lots and lots of Twins.

This is just a small taste - Douglas send two bricks of cards, with a ton of Twins inside.

Thanks for the #Supertrade, Douglas!