Package According to the Rule.

Ruben Sierra seems happy on card 355 of the 1990 Upper Deck set. Kind of a rare thing, to see Ruben Sierra smiling.

This card was part of a stack of Rangers cards sent my way by Adam over at Infield Fly Rule. The package made me smile like Ruben. Hopefully not as rare an occurrence as with him but one that was needed nonetheless.

Along with Sierra, Adam sent 35 other Rangers cards. He managed to hit several holes in different team sets. Most importantly, Adam gave me a smile.

Many thanks Adam. I really appreciate the cards and the thought. Hope to be able to return the gesture sometime soon.

They're Back!

The boys are back! Pitchers and catchers report today! Baseball has returned and the world is a better place.

Former Rangers catcher Ivan Rodriguez, shown here on 1990 Upper Deck card 245, is one of the special instructors working with Rangers catchers this spring. Hopefully some of his talent will rub off. Catching seems to be a weak area in Arlington at the moment.

Texas heads into Spring Training this year with several interesting story lines to follow. Of course, everyone is waiting to see if Yu Darvish will be able to make a complete comeback from his Tommy John Surgery. The answer to that will have to wait until later in the year though since Darvish is not expected back in the rotation until May. As such, the team finds a need for somebody to hold down Darvish's spot in the rotation. That competition is wide open.

The composition of the bullpen is also far from set. There are a number of arms looking for a spot in the Texas pen but a final decision on who's in and who's out is likely to wait until the final few days before the start of the season.

For the most part, the starting lineup is set and nobody is really expecting huge roster battles in that area. There is room for surprises however. Rougned Odor and Delino DeShields had good seasons last year. Both are young though and have not yet completely nailed down their starting jobs. Odor could face a challenge from a finally healthy, and still unproven, Jurickson Profar. Outfield prospects Lewis Brinson and Nomar Mazara could also mount challenges if DeShields shows any weakness or if Josh Hamilton turns out to be less than healthy. Of course, Joey Gallo is always lurking in the wings as well.

The Rangers are also hoping to extend third baseman Adrian Beltre's contract for at least another year before the team breaks camp. 2016 is the final year of Adrian's contract and Texas would like to keep him at the hot corner. Apparently Beltre is open to the possibility but with Scott Boras involved there is no way to tell if the two sides can reach an agreement.

However these various stories work out, I think we can all reach an agreement that it is very good to have baseball, and the boys of summer, back.

FanFest, 2016 Recap.

Well, I've had time to recover from the Rangers FanFest last Saturday. Time to offer a recap and review.

Spiff Jr and I got to the ballpark just about 0800 to get in line for the 0900 gate opening. It was a bit nippy standing in line but at least this year there was no wind. Surprisingly, the gates opened about twenty minutes prior to the start of the FanFest. That allowed most folks to get in before things got started.

Unfortunately programs and schedules were not handed out until after entrance. That robbed us of our normal planning time and made the beginning of the day feel a bit rushed as we tried to absorb and process the information we needed to plan our attack. Checking out the autograph schedule gave me the first let down of the day. Jose Guzman, Pete O'Brien, and Eric Nadel were on the schedule. None had been in the list of names released by the Rangers and so I had nothing other than generic Rangers stickers and hologram cards for them to sign. Pete O'Brien was a real kick since he won't sign through the mail and I would like to have him for a couple of team sets I am working on.

This year the autograph sessions did not start until 1100. Initially I was not impressed with this but, the more I thought about it, the more I liked it. With a couple of hours before guys started signing, we had time to get in a few things without feeling like we were missing out on autograph chances.

Headed up to the Rangers Foundation sale. Missed it last year but in 2014 they had some great deals. This year they were crammed into the Jack Daniels Club along with the Rangers Futures signings. Made for a very cramped space but folks were good about it all. Picked up a Prince Fielder bobblehead, 2015 Media Guide, a Rangers cereal bowl, and a couple of other small items for $20. Not too bad. If I didn't already have more than enough jerseys I would have grabbed one or two of the $25 ones they had for sale.

After the sale we met up with some friends, checked out the Rangers Hall of Fame museum, and headed down to the visiting clubhouse for the autographs. Got in line for Toby Harrah, Bobby Jones, and Kevin Mench about twenty minutes before they started signing. Good thing too. Unlike previous years, the staff was very prompt to cut the lines at 250 people this year. We ended up making every session except the 1400 one featuring Rusty Greer, Tom Grieve, and Dean Palmer. That line was already full and cut when we finished getting signatures from Jeff Russell and Mike Adams. We went ahead and got in line for the final session, to feature only Darren Oliver. Much to my surprise, not only was Oliver signing but Eric Nadel had been moved down from the previous session and John Wetteland was making an unannounced appearance. I had no card for Wetteland and ended up asking him to sign the Upper Deck Rangers hologram card featured above.

Made a couple more quick stops once the final autograph session ended then stopped by Duane's Sportscards after leaving the park. I needed to replace the 1972 and 1973 Topps Toby Harrah cards I pulled out of team sets for him to sign.

The delayed start of the autograph sessions worked out better than I expected, we got autographs from 13 former players and current coaches, and spent some quality father-son time visiting while waiting in lines. The biggest area to improve next year would be a more complete listing of players who might sign. I would rather have a list, pull cards, and have a player cancel than end up without something for a player to sign. All in all, it was a great day and I am looking forward to going back next year.

Father's Day tragedy.

Most of you have probably already heard that former Ranger Darryl Hamilton was killed this past Father's Day in his home in Texas. Hamilton, shown here on card 467 of the 1996 Upper deck set, played for the Rangers in 1996.

MLB.com's article doesn't have a lot of detail about Hamilton's death but there are two things that stand out to me as particularly tragic.

The first is that Darryl was apparently shot and killed by the mother of his young child before she turned the gun on herself. Again we see a circumstance where someone is killed by a loved one. This should not be so.

The second thing that I noted in the article is that the couple's young child was in the home at the time and was unharmed. Physically that is. This youngster will have to deal with the loss of Dad and Mom, as well as the tragic circumstances of their deaths, for the rest of their life. That's a heavy burden and one that nobody should have to bear.

I don't know much of the story and can't pretend to know what brought this tragedy about. I can't even say who the aggressor was. I do know that home and loved ones should be safe, not a source or scene of violence. We see too much family violence in this day and age it seems. If you know someone suffering domestic abuse; man, woman, or child, take a minute and do something. Make a call, offer a safe place, give support. Don't let a worse tragedy unfold.

He's back.

So the Rangers ran their win streak to six yesterday to make their record 6-1 on this road trip. The 10-8 victory also puts them to within one game of .500. They've moved into third place in the American League West and scored more runs than anyone else in May.

Along with the rest of the offense, Prince Fielder's power has returned. He's been hammering long balls like it's going out of style. The bullpen also appears to have solidified some and the starting pitching has been surprisingly good.

Is any of that what folks are talking about? Not really. The topic of conversations seems to be the return of Josh Hamiltion, shown here on card 94 of the 2008 Upper Deck A Piece of History set. For several weeks Rangers fans have been getting regular updates on Hamilton's progress during his rehab stint in the minors. Over the weekend it was announced he would be re-joining the team when they arrived in Cleveland. Sunday evening there were in-game reports that he had arrived in Cleveland. Yesterday he was in the Rangers lineup for the first time since 2012. He went 0-for-3 with two strikeouts, a walk, and a run scored against the Indians.

Not the most earth-shaking return for Josh, but maybe that's a good thing. If he can come in and help the team while avoiding the spotlight that would probably be best. If he can put together some good numbers on this road trip that would be better. Might help ease the return to Arlington. It's going to be interesting to see this play out though. Hopefully this move helps the Rangers and Hamilton.

Early musings.

Just because. Dean Palmer on a signed 1992 Upper Deck card. Got this one back in the mail after sending it off to Mr. Palmer.

Well, the Rangers have lost two of their first three games in the 2015 season. Both losses have come in starts by pitchers brought in over the off season to bolster the starting rotation. The offense has yet to hit a home run and have only one extra base hit.

Not the most encouraging start to the season. It's only three games though and the Rangers have always struggled in Oakland. The lamented Yu Darvish has a losing record there I believe. If the guys can pick up a win this afternoon they will split the series and head home with an acceptable road trip. Things would be looking up in that case. That's the fine line separating a decent start from a terrible one.

There's a lot of fans who seem to be sounding the alarm already. Perhaps that's due to overly high expectations. Perhaps it's due to a desire to get rid of Jon Daniels. Maybe people just like to gripe. It's hard to tell and really doesn't matter. At this point a few more games are needed before any conclusive opinions can be reached. At least two starts by Gallardo and Detwiler would be nice to get a grasp on how they will perform. Bats get cold, a little time to let them get hot is not out of line.

I'm not saying this is a championship team. It may not even be a contender. It's just hard to tell for sure right now. Let's put the cover back over the panic button and take a second look.

Fantastic surprise.

Apparently with Spring Training under way there's a lot of bloggers out there unloading cards on other people. I've received several unexpected packages lately from generous folks.

The most recent bubble mailer arrived the day before yesterday from Superduperman over at Fantastic Catch. It contained 12 random Rangers. Included was this 2009 Goudey card of former Ranger Ian Kinsler, number 190 in the set. I haven't had time yet to get the cards checked but it looks like I probably need at least half of them or maybe more. Pretty good results from a blind lot.

Thanks a lot for the cards Super. I'll see what I can do about getting some Cardinals together for you. I have quite a few that need a good home.

Spring Training in full swing.

Well, so far Spring Training seems to be going well for the Rangers. The worst news to this point is that Jurickson Profar will be undergoing shoulder surgery and missing another season. The surgery is related to the same injury that caused Profar to miss last season. Looks like Roughned Odor will not have as tough a time as expected in nailing down the second base job.

The other news out of Surprise is related to how Matt Harrison is progressing and the fact that all players are now in camp. Of course, Yu Darvish is getting mobbed by the Japanese media again this year.

Michael Young, shown here his 2006 Upper Deck Artifacts AL Artifacts #AL-MY card, is also in camp. This time as an instructor rather than player. Ivan Rodriguez should also be putting on an appearance at some point to work with the catchers. A few other former Rangers will probably be in and out as well.

So far so good, it seems. I still have my fingers crossed but can't help hoping for a bounce-back season and possibly a contending team. Anything with the majority of the team healthy would be a welcome improvement though.

2006 Upper Deck Artifacts AL Artifacts #AL-MY

I got nothing.

Since I have nothing to write about I am just going to post this 2001 Upper Deck Ultimate Copper game used jersey card of Ivan Rodriguez. Hopefully it will help you pass one more day of the off-season. After all, each day that passes is one less that we have to do without baseball.

This particular card is numbered 24/24. What makes it interesting to me are the two visible lines in the fabric where some kind of stitching was pulled loose. Not sure if that was a seam or if a piece of trim used to run along those lines. Either way it's a different look from the normal uniform swatches on these types of cards.

Random Rangers and free cards.

Not much going on in Ranger land recently. Been pretty hectic in my world though and I apologize for the lack of recent posts. The lead-up to Christmas has begun and my time seems to be disappearing before my very eyes. Doesn't look like things will be slowing down anytime soon either.

With the lack of activity on the Rangers front, I opted for a random Rangers game-used card today. Hank Blalock got the call on this 2004 Upper Deck Matinee Idols card featuring a swatch of Hank's jersey.

I could use some help from my readers (if my lack of posting hasn't driven them all off). The Christmas giveaway was a success, even if I would have preferred to send out more packages. Space was cleared enough to allow me to sample the upcoming 2015 releases. Then a very nice problem. I was given a defunct collection. Mostly Indians. Enough to fill up the empty space and then some in the American League box. Enough other cards to take up most of the empty space in the National League box.

I need an Indians collector willing to take free cards. A Giants collector would also be appreciated since I am reaching critical mass on the black and orange. Of course, any space cleared would be good. If you missed the Christmas giveaway please let me know. Include a couple of teams you would be interested in (in order of preference). Email me at rmatlack3 at juno dot com with your name, address, and team list. If I have cards left from any of the teams you list I'll get some out to you in the next couple of weeks. Free cards. Can't beat that can ya?

Walking the Plank.

I know, this isn't Thursday and I don't normally post two game-used or autographed cards in a row. The reason for me posting this 2008 SP Legendary Cuts Destined for History card of Michael Young isn't a normal reason though.

A couple of weeks back I was trolling through the various blogs linked from some of my regular reading. I came across Bob Walk the Plank. BWP is a great Pirates-oriented blog. I left a comment asking the owner, Matt, to send me his address so I could drop some random Pirates cards on him.

One of the reasons I don't buy a lot of packs is the lack of space to store the non-Rangers teams. I have to keep the other clubs down to a manageable level. Several teams have a bad habit of building up (looking at you Giants) and the Buccos were one of these teams. Any time I can find a good home for the non-Rangers cards I have built up I consider it a win-win. Somebody gets cards of their team and I get that much closer to an excuse to buy some packs. I dumped a small lot of random Pirates on Matt and cheered the new space. I was sure to tell Matt he did not need to return anything.

Matt's definition of not returning anything was a small bubble mailer that arrived in my mailbox within days of him receiving the cards I sent. Inside was this Michael Young along with two more Young game-used, a Hank Blalock game-used, and a Matt Harrison certified autograph. Wow and wow again.

There's no way what I sent Matt called for anything close to what he sent in return. Thanks a ton for your generosity Matt, hopefully I can return it someday.

Royal rumblings.

Last night Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City saw post-season baseball for the first time in 29 years. The Royals hosted the Oakland A's in the American League Wildcard game.

I was a little conflicted about this game. I have a brother who is an A's fan but a good friend lives and dies with the Royals. He's also got tickets to games three and four of the ALDS if the Royals get that far. Of course, I'm also a sucker for teams making a run who've had a hard time in recent years. The Royals match that description.

As I pondered who to pull for in the game, a package arrived on my porch from Mark the Royals fan. I hadn't made any recent trades with Mark or even sent him anything. Apparently he decided now was a good time to off-load some Rangers goodies on me. The package included a 300 piece Rangers jigsaw puzzle shaped like a pennant, a 1993 Sports Card Price Guide Monthly magazine with then Ranger Jose Canseco on the cover, and a small stack of Rangers cards including this 1995 Upper Deck Special Edition card of Nolan Ryan. Magazine, puzzle, and Rangers cards off my wantlists? All right! Go Royals!

By the eighth inning I was about to send my condolences to Mark. 7-3 A's. Then the comeback and extra innings. Another A's lead and another comeback in extras then the Royals walk-off in the 12th. Amazing game and an awesome start to the 2014 post-season. The Royals have served notice to the rest of the American League that they are not going to die easily. Hopefully they can keep the magic as they start their series with the Angels tomorrow. No bribery needed there - I'm all in for KC against the Halos.

Random (sort of) Rangers game-used.

Not much going on with the Rangers right now. The losing continues and their magic number to avoid 100 losses remains at 10. They've now set a franchise record for the number of players used in a season and may be looking at a Major League record before long. Not exactly the type of happenings to inspire blog posts.

Decided to post a random Rangers game-used card today. Well, not totally random. I did decide it would be a random card of Ivan Rodriguez. This 2001 Upper Deck Legends Legendary Lumber card won the randomness.

This card is fitting in several ways. First, Pudge really is a legend. He's still revered in Texas and just the site of him or mention of his name will raise a cheer in The Ballpark. Two, Ivan's wearing the red uniform here. I know, the Rangers won in red. The Senators also did a lot of losing in red before the team moved to Texas. Right now the team is playing more like the red-wearing Senators than the teams of the late 90's.

Perhaps the best reason to post this card is to remind folks that I still have several Ivan Rodriguez game-used cards left on my tradelist. This one isn't one of them and none of them area of him in a Rangers uniform but if you are a Pudge, Tigers, or Marlins collector you should check it out. Let me know if you see anything you like. I'm always looking to pick up Rangers game-used cards so I'm sure we could work a deal.

Catching up and looking for trades.

So I am sure the vast majority of my readers have been wondering where I've been the past week or so. For those two folks, the Spiff household had company for most of last week and I've been working some odd shifts at work the first part of this week.

Mark the Royals fan and his family came for a visit last week. We had a good time and did some trading. The families went to the Rangers game on the 27th. I couldn't get off work that day but they had a good time and Mark's wife donated her Rangers giveaway fedora to my collection. Spiff Jr was actually able to get a couple of autographs before the game. Jerome Williams is a good one but probably not from a long-term Ranger. Nick Martinez is another matter and I am thinking Spiff Jr will be glad he got the signature when he did.

Last Wednesday Mark, Spiff Jr, and I made the trek over to Duane's Sportscards in Arlington. I filled several more gaps in my Senators team sets and picked up a few Rangers. This 2007 Upper Deck Exquisite autograph card of former Ranger Chris Stewart was one of them. Hard to see in the scan but it's numbered 123/150. Spiff Jr picked up quite a few Rangers cards as well. Mark managed to find some Royals and a few cards from his set wantlists. He pronounced himself impressed with the shop.

Since the trip to the shop I've gotten my want and trade lists updated. Looking to get back to regular posting and maybe even some trades. If you're interested, drop me a line. Mark's got me cleaned out of Royals but I've got a few other cards listed to trade.

Working on the lists.

Spiff Jr and I made our trek over to Duane's Sportscards today. Both of us have been putting back a little here and there for several months in anticipation of the trip. It did not disappoint.

Got to the shop without much trouble and arrived just as they opened at 1100. For most of our visit we were the only customers in the shop but a few others did drop in.

I left Spiff Jr to do his own browsing while I looked around and then picked up some supplies. Time to get out the checklists and start looking. I had two main goals, work on my Senators sets and try to pick up some cards of guys on the current roster for future posts.

Starting with the Senators I hit several vintage boxes. Duane's has a great selection of older cards if that's your game. A lot of card shops don't anymore and it's a delight to get to one that does. Managed to pick up a few Senators from 1965 - 1969 Topps. Made major headway on the 1970 Topps team set.

Moving over to the modern team I managed to grab some 2014 Bowman of a few of the current guys and a smattering of other brands. I also picked up this 2008 Upper Deck X Die-Cut card of Josh Hamilton which I thought was fitting. The card is cut in the shape of an X and I was busy crossing cards off my checklists. A 2012 Topps Gypsy Queen card of Bob Gibson rounded out my purchases.

Almost two hours after getting to the shop, Spiff Jr and I were on the way home. He seemed happy with his purchases, sitting in the back seat thumbing through the cards he picked up. Pudge, Blalock, Ryan, Fielder, a 1963 Topps Chuck Hinton, Choo. Choo? Where did he find that one? In a Rangers uniform? Yep. Augh! Out-searched by a nine-year-old. I never saw any Choo cards in a Rangers uniform.

Oh well, gives me a reason to go back as soon as my finances are recovered.

Looking for company.

Feeling pretty frustrated by all the injuries the Rangers are facing this year. Looking at this 2003 Upper Deck Ultimate Collection dual game-used jersey card helps a little.

Looking at Hank Blalock I am reminded that an injury, or a series of them, can be career threatening. Hank had his career derailed by repeated injuries. At least most of the players the Rangers are currently missing are expected back.

Former Ranger Mark Teixeira is on the disabled list right now for the Yankees. It's a reminder that the other teams are also struggling with their share of injuries to key players. The Rangers aren't alone in the American League.

The Angels are going to miss Josh Hamilton for 6-8 weeks with thumb surgery. The A's don't have A.J. Griffin, or Craig Gentry. The Blue Jays are doing without J.A. Happ and Jose Reyes. The Orioles are missing Manny Machado. Jeremy Hellickson and Matt Moore aren't pitching for Tampa Bay. Boston is short Will Middlebrooks and Shane Victorino. Detroit is doing without Jose Iglesias. The Yankees are missing Mark Teixeira and I just saw a headline that indicates Jacoby Ellsbury may be following him to the DL.

While the Rangers seem to be among the hardest hit, it does help a little to take a glance around the American League at the other teams losses. I guess misery does love a little company now and then.

Walking away with a win.

One of the areas I would like to improve in my Rangers collection is having more game-used or autos of current players. With the recent turnover of the roster that's a tall order. Going to have to be something I look into on my next trip to a card shop. Until then I will have to live with posting cards that don't always match the topic, like this 2001 Upper Deck Legends Legendary Jerseys card of Ivan Rodriguez. At least Pudge is still with the team in an instructor role.

I have to admit, the injuries in Spring Training had me dreading the start of the season. Opening day didn't do much to alleviate that feeling. The past two nights have helped though.

Following up on Martin Perez's strong start night before last, Texas got a little shakier start out of Robbie Ross Jr last night. Ross wasn't terrible but he did give up three runs in five innings. That's not great but it is promising for a young pitcher making the move from the bullpen to the rotation. Much better was the second night of scoreless relief by the bullpen.

The Rangers managed scratch one run across in the seventh but entered the bottom of the ninth two runs down. The Phillies brought in closer Jonathan Papelbon and I figured the Rangers were off to a 1-2 start to the season. Instead they managed to score two runs to tie the game up and Shin-Soo Choo headed to the plate with the bases loaded. He worked a walk to push in the winning run. Second straight walk-off win.

Great way to end the game. Who doesn't like walk-offs? They're great so long as they go your way. Just not a good thing to make a habit of. Still encouraging to see the team overcome the injuries and last-minute roster changes to get the season started off well. The team's off tonight and playing the Devil Rays tomorrow. Hopefully they can keep the train rolling.

Random auto.

Got a short turn around at work today so things are pretty tight time-wise. Since real life is interfering with my blogging you will have to settle for a random game-used or autograph.

A quick trip to the GU/AU box nets this 2007 Upper Deck Spectrum autograph card of former Rangers prospect Jason Botts. As you can see from the front, the card is numbered 155/199.

I've got a couple of Botts' autographs and I like the way they look. I have no idea how you get Jason Botts out of that but it flows well and isn't obviously cramped. Of course Botts never panned out so the demand on his signing hand probably wasn't as heavy as on some other players. At some point I would like to get a through the mail or in person autograph from Jason but this one isn't leaving my collection anytime soon.

Best Seasons: Akinori Otsuka - 2006.

Well, good news on Matt Harrison. Apparently the MRI showed no major issues or damage. He'll be behind in his prep now but hopefully will still be able to pitch this year. That's going to be a huge relief to a lot of Rangers fans.

Speaking of relief, Akinori Otsuka shows up at number 44 on T.R. Sullivan's list of the Top 50 Seasons in Rangers History. Texas obtained Otsuka, shown here on card 228 of the 2007 Upper Deck set, in January of 2006. 2006 was his first season with the club and the season for which he makes Sullivan's list.

The Rangers started 2006 with Francisco Cordero as their closer. He stumbled coming out of the gate and lost the job to Otsuka in April. Akinori took advantage of the situation. He came out of the bullpen 63 times during the season and finished 48 of those games. Over the course of the 59.2 innings he pitched he struck out 47 batters while walking just 11. Those numbers helped him post a 2.11 ERA and a 1.073 WHIP. He ended the season with 32 saves.

Otsuka had a great season in 2006. It's even better when you consider the unexpected change of roles he dealt with and the fact that the team he was pitching for went 80-82 on the season. In addition to bringing relief, Otsuka was one of the few bright spots on the Rangers pitching staff.

From the Owl's nest.

When I arrived home from work last night I found a small package waiting for me. I have to admit it raised my spirits just seeing the return address of the famous Night Owl over at Night Owl Cards. Mrs. Spiff asked if the package was part of a trade. No, just a nice gesture on the part of a real class act.

Inside the bubble mailer I found a stack of Rangers cards and a note from the man himself. He hoped I needed a few of the enclosed cards. Yes, I did. The cards of current Rangers were especially valued with the 2014 season rapidly approaching. There were also a few older cards that hit some holes in various team sets. This 2002 Upper Deck MVP card of Chan Ho Park is one such card. I was able to check card 70 off the list of cards I'm looking for to complete the team set.

Thanks a lot for the cards Night Owl, and perhaps even more for the thought. It's a real encouragement to get such a nice surprise in the mail.