A (Zippy Zap) Blast From the Past!

 

One of the worst things about taking so much time away from posting is that I neglected to properly thank folks that have sent cards to me over the last several months. Kenny gave me a shock by sending cards by proxy - these actually were included in the last Transatlantic Triple Break package that Matthew sent my way from West Virginia. 

One of the best things about these packages from Kenny is that even when I know they are coming, I still have no idea what might be in them. Someone who knows more about gaming / tabletop card games can probably tell me more about that card in the center, for instance- but it was definitely a fun surprise to find in the pack! The two green 2003 Topps cards are from the Kanebo Gum set released in Japan. 

Kenny brings all the major sports to play, and I have been the beneficiary more than once of his extra stickers! Josh Okogie is probably my favorite current Timberwolf, so that was a great card to find as well. He's one of those high motor / spark off the bench guys that probably won't show up at an All-Star game, but still finds a way to become a fan favorite.

Luis Arráez is a pretty interesting guy - if you've ever seen him in the batter's box you know what I mean. He's got a stance that looks a bit like Carew, a swing a bit like Oliva, and he takes pitches like no one else in the league. He'll shake his head aggressively and you can sometimes hear him say "no no no no" when he takes a close pitch outside of the zone. I don't think I've seen him get one wrong yet. Plus he hits for a pretty healthy average. Even after a slump and knee injury that he struggled with in the first half of 2020, he still finished with a .321 average for the season.

As usual, Kenny included a little bit of everything! I apologize for taking so long to acknowledge it, but thanks very much Kenny!

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!

Zapped on National Baseball Card Day

Kenny got me good with a surprise zapping. Wrapped in packs of Star Wars and Bowman were some sweet custom made Twins hot packs. I wasn't able to make it to a card shop this weekend, so it was great to be able to open some cards anyway on National Baseball Card Day.

I finally finished logging all of my Twins cards, so I can tell you that you're looking at my 4th unique Travis Harrison card, my 6th J.C. Romero card, 66th Frankie Liriano, and 116th unique Chuck Knoblauch card. It's great to know what I have and what I am still looking to collect!

These 4 were all new to me as well, shocking to me that I still needed an 84 Topps card, but sure enough, I didn't have this Billy Gardner.

I feel like I opened about 100 packs of 2017 Topps, but this Glen Perkins wasn't in any of them!

This black refractor of Miguel Sano is very shiny in person, a really cool card!

Last but not least, Kenny threw in this early 90s gem of Yankees' owner George Steinbrenner hiding in an Iowa corn field during his suspension. Fun Stuff indeed!

Thanks so much Kenny, I am working on getting some return packages out to you and to the other recent generous trade partners!

A Shocking Development

I've Been Zapped! It was a surprise zapping from Zippy Zappy over at Torren' Up Cards .

 Ben Revere, leading the league in smiles!

It's kind of hard to read the name in the scan, but the prospect on the top left is Will Hurt. Would be a great name for a linebacker. Looks like he played in rookie ball for three seasons and as of 2015 was no longer in organized ball.

 The Future and present Twins were well represented - Kenny knows how to pull the prospects!

 The local paper had a clickbait article from one of its regular fly in the ointment, armchair psychologist, hot air balloon meatheads this week- and all this dingus wanted to do was complain about the Twins celebrating a win too hard. I don't recall the guy being appointed Chief of the Fun Police! In addition, he specifically called out the Twins for not developing high school pitcher Kohl Stewart fast enough. The 2013 first rounder was just promoted to AA, and is 21 years old. I guess the problem is he's not in the majors yet? I don't know- it was pretty weak and it pissed me off. There are lots of reasons why the Twins are bad. Being happy about winning a game and being in AA at the age of 21 (3 years younger than the average player) are not among them.

 Hey Look it's Joe Nathan! Chicago is taking all the last chances for Twins this year - the Cubbies signed Joe, and the White Sox have added Justin Morneau. Best of luck to both of those guys, I was thinking "Morneau to the White Sox" ever since LaRoche retired.

Nice! 1960 Topps All-Star Rookie Pitcher Jim Perry! He was the winningest active righthander in the American League at the time this card came out, so put that in your pipe and smoke it!

Kenny, thanks so much for these cards! I should have the return package heading your way this week.

I've been Zapped

Zippy Zappy zapped me good.

He was interested in some Target Red Parallels, and so he contacted me and sent along this package in trade:

 This is my first Joe Mauer card in a foreign language! Zippy Zappy says that the back mentions the legend that Mauer never struck out in High School - close - he only struck out once

It's a pretty cool card regardless of any fanciful tales of derring-do.

Ooh, Shiny and Sign-y:

The best thing the Twins have going for them these days is their farm system, and Zippy hooked me up with the very best:

Buxton, Sano, Rosario, Berrios (who started the Futures Game in 2014), Mitch Garver and Oswaldo Arcia, who's been up with the Twins for awhile. These guys are all fantastic prospects, it has a lot of Twins fans excited for 2016.

There was a little taste of some vintage as well

I just got Zapped and it was pretty fantastic.

I've packed up and shipped out a return with those red parallels and maybe a little something extra?

Thanks Very Much!