A Week In Phoenix Is Yielding Results

My two older sisters live in the suburbs of Phoenix, which explains why its so easy for me to see as many Spring Training and Arizona Fall League Games as I do. The Phoenix area is ringed with superb baseball facilities and stadiums, and the sisters live near many of them. Of course, there are many other reasons why I enjoy traveling to the Valley of the Sun, in addition to seeing Susan and Nancy. 

It’s the baseball cards. Living in San Francisco as I do makes it difficult to get to Target and Walmart, because the city is not big-box store friendly, and I don’t own a car to drive to outlying regions of the bay area.  These stores sell Topps cards in vast quantities, including “Jumbo” packs containing cards with blue and red borders. On the right is one of the wrappers from a pack that I bought. The presence of parallel cards is spelled out in bold, black letters near the bottom of the pack.

I agree with Forest Gump who said that life is like a box of chocolates; you never know what you’re gonna get. Baseball card packs are like that, too. It’s always a good idea to buy “Jumbo” packs because you’re highly likely to get some very desirable cards among the thirty-six cards in the pack.

My collecting has taken a new turn of late. I’m concentrating on Giants cards that will be used in our upcoming fundraiser for Bryan Stow. In addition, I’ll keep any Bryce Harper card I run across because I love his style of play. My favorite player ever was Tom Seaver, so I’ll grab any cards of him I can find as well. As for the other cards, it’s anything goes, and I can either keep or trade them.

Trading baseball cards is easy now that I’ve made so many friendships with other card collectors. Corey in Philadelphia collects the Phillies. Chris in Berea, Ohio is an Indians man. I’ve traded with two Red Sox collectors, Chip in San Francisco and Mike in Florida. Mike is a veteran collector whose inventory is the envy of many. Eric and Andrew are Brewers collectors who know each other. While that’s not unusual, it’s not that common, either. I’ve been gifted with a trading pal across the bay in Oakland by the name of Henry. He’s a gracious young man who breathes orange and black. All of these traders have contributed mightily to the growing stack of Giants cards we have on hand for the Bryan Stow Fundraiser.

Here are some of the cards I got from a variety of Topps and Topps Opening Day packs from the stores I visited:

I really like the blue border Joe Mauer and Danny Murphy cards, not only because of the contrasting border but because they’re great hitters, too. The red border on the Mitch Moreland card appeals to me because it brings out the red on the Rangers uniform. As for the autographed Rangers Captain card, let’s just say that it was a big surprise. I got a great many other color-border cards, which I’ll post on my Grubby Glove Facebook page.

While in Phoenix I went to Chase Field where I caught a Diamondbacks game. That experience will be the topic of my next post.