Jeff Bagwell Should be in The Hall!

I have some bias on this subject but I'm sure anyone who watches baseball, specifically from the 1990's through 2006, agrees that Bagwell should be in the Hall of Fame. He never reached the 500 HR benchmark and he didn't have much playoff success. If you look at his numbers though he was one of the best first basemen of his era. 

Bagwell doing what he does best, looking cool.

He was Rookie of the Year, a 4-time All Star, an MVP, a Gold Glover, a 3-time Silver Slugger winner AND he accomplished most of his feats while playing in the Astrodome! According to Jayson Stark, Bagwell is the only first basemen to hit 400 homers and steal 200 bases over his career. Bagwell and Gehrig are the only two first basemen to have an OPS-plus of 130 or better in 12 straight seasons.

Two things may hold Bagwell out of the HoF for awhile. One of those is that he played in Houston where not a lot of people outside of the NL got to see him play. This can easily be overcome if voters would just look at his numbers and see that it's an impressive resume when compared to those who've come before him. 

The second and most irritating roadblock facing Bagwell is the suspicion that he used steroids or other PED's during his career. Bagwell has never tested positive for steroids/PED's, he wasn't named in the Mitchell Report and other players never mentioned his name along with steroids. Was Bagwell buff? Yea he had muscles but nothing freakishly large or abnormal. If you look at his rookie cards and compare them to the more recent cards you see a normal growth. In this article David Schoenfield mentions that Bagwell's stats take a pretty normal trajectory. 

I know the odds of Bagwell getting into the HoF this year are slim but there is hope. If he doesn't get in this year maybe he'll get in the same year as Biggio but I doubt it since the ballot that year is stacked. Bagwell provided Astros fan's with 14 years of pride and excitement. It would be a disservice to Bagwell, the Astros and Major League Baseball if one of it's best players of the 1990's was kept out of the Hall. I don't think it's fair to keep Bagwell out over speculation but if he gets in eventually that's all that matters to me.

Texans and Bearkats...Oh my!!

Today's post is dedicated to two teams that are near and dear to my heart. One is my Alma Mater and the other is a team I'll cheer for till I die. Today the Sam Houston State Bearkats play in the FCS National Championship game which is a pretty big deal up in Huntsville, Texas. Following the Bearkats game will be the Houston Texans playing their first playoff game in franchise history against the Cincinnati Bengals. 

This is the only Sam Houston State card I own. I pulled it out of a PressPass discounted blaster last year. Rhett Bomar isn't the Bearkats QB but he'll have to do for this post since my options are limited. The Bearkats have a high powered offense and they'll need it today but I'm confident they'll bring home the win.

The next two cards I'm going to show aren't my best Texans cards but they're special for another reason. On New Year's Eve I was visiting family up in small town Texas when I noticed my 5 and 6 year old cousins had 2011 Topps Football cards. Being the Texans fan I am I told them that if they had any Texans I'd buy them from them for $2 a card. I know I overspent offering $2 a card but I at least wanted them to be able to grab another pack for giving me theirs. So long story short I bought 2 little base cards for $4.00 BUT my cousins went home a little richer.

If you would have told me at the beginning of the year the Texans would win the AFC South I'd have agreed with you. However, nobody saw the Texans making the playoffs with a 3rd string rookie QB coming in towards the end of the season. Yates hasn't played perfect but he hasn't been horrible in the few games he's played this season. Just making the playoffs is a big deal to Houston fans but we're hoping they can at least win their first game.

This is the guy who'll have a huge weight on his shoulders today. Arian Foster is the key to the Texans having a successful game. TJ Yates has to play a mistake free game but he doesn't have to make all the plays, Ben Tate can run for 100+ yards we know, Andre Johnson (when healthy) is a top 3 receiver in the NFL, Brian Cushing and the rest of the D seem to answer the call when it matters most but the rhythm and the momentum of the game relies on what Foster can do with the ball. Foster is talented, he's fast, he's determined and he still plays with that chip on his shoulder from being undrafted. Those are the reasons I think he'll have a great game and lead the Texans to their first playoff win.

Am I being optimistic with my predictions? Of course I am. Am I being unrealistic with them? Not at all. It's about time Houston area sports succeed at the next level and I can't think of a better day than today to start. 

Bulls On Parade!!!

Eat 'em Up Kats!!!

Best Mailday in Awhile

I am really adding a decent amount of young Astros to my collection and the next two cards are some of the best. Both came via eBay thanks to a giftcard I got awhile back.

2011 Bowman Platinum Triple Auto CWJ 53/89

I'm a huge Jason Castro fan and I hope he stays healthy so he can become the longtime catcher for the Astros. I bought this card mainly for Castro but it's a nice bonus to get Brett Wallace and Chris Johnson's auto. I almost bought this card months ago when Platinum first came out but was hesitant because they were all redemption's. Topps must have had these cards waiting because within a few weeks the redemption's on eBay turned into actual physical copies.

2008 Bowman Chrome Bud Norris Auto Refractor 232/500

If you think this card looks familiar then you're kind of right. I have the regular version that I posted a few months ago and now I have the refractor! I love Bud Norris and it's been fun to watch him grow. There is something really attractive about on-card autos, even when they're crooked like this one. Next up for me is the X-Fractor version and then eventually the Orange. 

I've had more cards come in this week so I'll be posting a few more maildays this week. Looking forward to the Texans first playoff game this Saturday. Bulls on Parade!!!!

I don't think Bowman Sterling is for me.

I stopped by my LCS this morning to pick up some binder pages and a handful of Astros commons. While I was there I decided to spend some Christmas money on a mini-box of 2011 Bowman Sterling and a jumbo pack of 2011 Update.

After busting open the box I realized I may have had more fun and better results busting 3 more discounted A&G blaster than this product. (Speaking of which I did buy one more blaster yesterday but that'll be for another post) At least with A&G I could continue building my set. You live and you learn, at least I can use the pulls as trade bait hopefully. Here are the noteworthy cards from both the Topps Update and Bowman Sterling.

The Jimmie Foxx is my second Diamond Anniversary SP (the other being the Gehrig I pulled).

X-Fractor 105/199

The Panik is probably the best pull of the mini-box. I don't know much about him but what I've read they say he's got a bright future with the Giants.

As always these cards are for trade if anyone is interested. If you've got a decent baseball card fund then Bowman Sterling may be for you but I don't think I'll be chasing this set anytime soon. I've realized I like the fun of collecting a set with multiple interesting inserts and if I'm going to drop $50 I want more than 5 cards.

2010 Bowman Chrome on Sale

While I was at Walmart picking up that second A&G blaster I saw that 2010 Bowman Chrome was on sale for $12. I didn't start collecting until the Spring of 2011 so I missed out on the original release of  2010 Bowman Chrome. Having never busted packs of the product I took my chances and bought the cheap blaster. I did ok but here are the better cards of the box.

2010 Bowman Chrome Rajai Davis Refractor

2010 Bowman Chrome Austin Jackson RC Refractor

I think the card gods want me to start an Austin Jackson PC because I have pulled so many refractors of him this year. Let's see how 2012 plays out because I do have a decent headstart if I decide to PC him.

2010 Bowman Chrome Eric Young Jr. RC Blue Refractor 108/150

 I was really surprised and excited to pull a blue refractor out of a discounted blaster. I know they aren't crazy rare since there are 150 of each blue refractor but still it's a nice pull. I actually like what I've seen from Eric Young Jr. so that's an added bonus.

If you haven't already and want a cheap but fun blaster break you should check out your local Walmart to see if they have any of these 2010 Bowman Chromes on sale.

Discounted Blasters are Addicting...

I couldn't resist and decided to buy the other discounted blaster of 2011 A&G. I did alright on this blaster and I promise it's my last A&G blaster of 2011. I just couldn't resist when I saw it sitting there all alone.

 

 SPs:

318 Brett Wallace

330 CC Sabathia

336 Kevin Kouzmanoff

342 Mike Pelfrey

Hometown Heroes:

HH1   Buster Posey

HH29 Rick Porcello

HH33 Austin Jackson

HH73 Mark Teixeira

HH87 Jeremy Hellickson

HH89 Todd Helton

Minds That Made the Future:

MMF13 Carl Linnaeus

Floating Fortresses:

FF18 HMS Devastation

Ascent of Man:

AOM14 Haplorrhini

Baseball Highlight Sketches:

BHS-5 Albert Pujols

Minis:

26 Edwin Jackson (A&G Back)

82 Scott Rolen

124 Chad Billingsley (Black bordered)

223 Chuck Woolery

327 David DeJesus

AP-25 Black-footed Ferret

UG5 Amityville Haunting

SRU7 Snake Charming

Once again I got a "hit" out of the A&G blaster. Luckily this time it's a PC item due to the recent trade between the Astros and Red Sox. 

The relic looks a little dirty too so that's always cool. I'm really hoping Lowrie can stay healthy and hit his stride with the Astros. We all know they could use a good SS during this rebuilding phase.

Also, I promise I'll be buying a new scanner soon and I'll try to scan more when I'm visiting my mom's house where my old scanner is. Any suggestions for a cheap scanner would be welcome, don't want to spend too much on one.

Discounted 2011 A&G Blaster

I was at Walmart and decided to check out the card aisle for any recently reduced blasters. I saw a couple of 2011 A&G for $15 so I bought one. I did alright but nothing earth shattering. Here are the cards worth noting.

SPs:

304 Madison Bumgarner

305 Justin Morneau

311 Ian Stewart

319 Jon Niese

Hometown Heroes:

HH14 Carl Pavano

HH16 Dan Uggla

HH21 Jon Lester

HH52 Ian Kinsler

HH60 Alex Rodriguez

HH88 Roy Oswalt

Minds That Made the Future:

MMF34 Archimedes

Floating Fortresses:

FF15 USS Cairo

Ascent of Man:

AOM24 Homo Sapiens

Baseball Highlight Sketches:

BHS-25 Ichiro

Minis:

63 Neil Walker

82 Scott Rolen (A&G Back)

89 John Axford

108 Roy Oswalt

343 Drew Stubbs

AP-23 Red Wolf

UG3 Waverly Hills Sanatorium

SRU2 Fire Breathing

The best card in the blaster was....

I always love getting autos in blasters and this David DeJesus is no exception. I know this may not be an amazing auto to pull but I really like his signature. Plus the A&G framed autos always look really nice. Not a bad box for only $15. Now I must fight the urge to go back and buy that last blaster on the shelf. 

If you need anything I listed or any base let me know and I'll see what I can do.