Got some free cards from The Diamond King.
- My second Skenes. 2024 NL Rookie of the Year.
- My third Cowens. 1973 NBA MVP. 8x NBA All-Star.
- My second Gervin. 9x NBA All-Star and 3x ABA All-Star.
- Two upgrades for frankenset slots and a keeper for my Pirates collection, which is pretty good considering the Skenes isn't frankenset eligible.
Three people picked the best RB in the league, two picked Jason Kelce's brother, and one picked a guy who couldn't handle the pressure of the Super Bowl.
Looks like I need Poison75's address.
morganyud at protonmail dot com
Another batch from COMC. Mostly hockey.
- 5x All-Star. Coached Grand Canyon to the NAIA title in 1988.
- Been wanting a Larsen card for a while. Perfect game in the 1956 World Series.
- Silver medal in speed skating at the 2014 Olympics.
- Slim Reaper
- Jalen Carter
U.S. addresses only.
Playing for a PWE of football cards.
Deadline: Kick-off
Give me the official Super Bowl MVP.
Tie Breaker: Final Score
- Two World Series rings as a pitcher. Two more as the Blue Jays' team physician. Royal Canadian Air Force. Number retired by MLB.
- 2x All-Star. I was watching the 1984 NLCS with my cousin, a Cubs fan, when Garvey hit the homer. Awkward moment.
- Phillies legend and key piece in the Von Hayes trade with the Indians. 3x All-Star. Five Silver Slugger Awards. Subject of a Paul Simon song.
- Married to Tawny Kitaen. 5x All-Star.
- All-American placekicker for Cal Sate Fullerton football. 2001 All-Star as a Padre.
Let's look at the 3 guys who made it in first.
C.C. Sabathia: I had him as a yes.
Ichiro Suzuki: I had him as a yes. Weird career, with 10 really good years followed by 9 meh years. He did enough to be worthy. People acting like he's Willie Mays when he had a 107 OPS+ is annoying though.
Billy Wagner: I had him as a no. One of several Phillies legends on the ballot, due to the team being so awesome. He had the 422 Saves. But he doesn't compare favorably to Eck, Rivera, Hoffman.
Now let's look at the other guys I had as a yes.
Andruw Jones: A tough call, but 454 Home Runs and 10 Gold Gloves is an impressive combo. Not as impressive as 548 Home Runs and 10 Gold Gloves, but still impressive.
Carlos Beltran: 70 WAR, 435 Home Runs, 312 Steals, 9x All-Star, 3 Gold Gloves.
Chase Utley: This is the Phillies legend I thought deserved it. 6x All-Star, 4 Silver Sluggers. Better 7-year peak WAR than the average Hall of Fame second baseman. Better WAR per 162 games than the average Hall of Fame second baseman.
Now for the final cuts, other than Wagner.
Bobby Abreu: 60 WAR, 288 Home Runs, 400 Steals, 1363 RBI, 1453 Runs, .291 BA, .395 OBP, 128 OPS+. Phillies legend. But only a 2x All-Star, 1 Gold Glove, 1 Silver Slugger, and he never finished higher than 12th in MVP voting. It hurts, but no.
Felix Hernandez: 2010 AL Cy Young, 6x All-Star, 2 ERA titles. He also finished 2nd twice, 4, 7th, and 8th in Cy Young voting. I remember him as a stud for a mediocre team, and I wonder what his W-L would be like if he spent his prime years on a contender.
The PED guys are a no from me. This includes anybody above who was a PED guy without my knowing it.
Jimmy Rollins was the other Phillies legend on the ballot. 2007 NL MVP, 3x All-Star, 4 Gold Gloves, 231 Home Runs, 470 Steals. But that 95 OPS+ just wasn't good enough.
Omar Vizquel and Torii Hunter were defensive stand-outs who didn't do enough with the bat. I thought David Wright was better than he was, for some reason.
Bought some cards at a yard sale. They were mostly in clear plastic pouches, so I could see the top card and the bottom card in each one but not the rest.
Anyway, let's peruse the highlights.
