Starting Lineup Talking Baseball and Jose Vizcaino's Cleats
In my ongoing effort of playing catch up, here's another week-old mail day post. Thank you very kindly for all of my trading partners for being super patient with me. It worries me a bit how far behind I was after just three days out of town at the Cubs Convention, and my Spring Training trip will have me away for six days.
Alas, I am working to better prep for Spring Training than Cubs Convention and have already begun pulling cards for autographs and prepping my binders. It is exactly one month from this writing that I will be in sunny Arizona. Baseball is around the corner, friends.
Todd sent a package of more than 25 Cubs baseball cards that included a Luis Montanez autograph. Montanez was the Cubs 1st round draft pick (3rd overall) in the 2000 Major League Baseball Draft. He climbed the minor league ranks in the Cubs farm system reaching Triple A in 2006, but went into free agency and signed with the Baltimore Orioles. He did reach the big leagues with the Orioles in 2008 and spent parts of three seasons in Baltimore. It came full circle for Montanez when he signed with the Cubs as a free agent ahead of the 2011 season, and made his big league debut for the team that drafted him on May 24, 2011, at Wrigley Field. Montanez started in right field and hit seventh in the lineup against the New York Mets. He went 2-for-4 with a double, walk, and RBI in his Cubs debut. The 2011 season was the last year in the big leagues for Montanez.
The 2013 Leaf Perfect Game set has a diverse checklist, and can be found on sale at Blowout Cards and other baseball card retailers. I picked up several boxes on sale last year, and it was a fun and cheap rip. A few former Cubs minor leaguers are in the set including Dylan Cease (now with the Chicago White Sox).
Cease was drafted by the Cubs in 2014 and later traded to the south side with Eloy Jimenez for Jose Quintana. Albert in Washington D.C. sent a pile of Cubs cards that included a couple Leaf Perfect Game cards, including a hit. Alex Lange was the Cubs first round draft pick in 2017 MLB Draft, and traded last July with Paul Richan to the Detroit Tigers for Nicholas Castellanos. This is my first Cubs autograph from the Leaf Perfect Game set from 2013.
Nick in Ohio sent a couple boxes of Cubs cards that totaled nearly 1,400.
It's funny that out of all the great cards that he sent, the one card that got the most reaction out of me: Jody Davis. Specifically, it is a 1988 Starting Lineup Talking Baseball Jody Davis card. There were also a couple other Starting Lineup cards in this package.
Kris Bryant rookie cards are great, and here's the 2015 Allen & Ginter rookie card.
It seems as though I'm on a run receiving Topps Now cards, and that's awesome. Another Topps Now that is new to my collection is from 2016 and it features Kyle Schwarber from the World Series. This card commemorates Schwarber's double in the October 25 World Series game against the Cleveland Indians.
Nick also included an autographed card of Jose Vizcaino. It's a through the mail (TTM) auto of Vizcaino's 1991 Bowman card.
Ironically, right next to my mini photo booth are (of course) Cubs items. One of those items is a pair of game used cleats of....Jose Vizcaino.
Greg in Louisiana sent a box of more than 550 Cubs baseball cards. A bunch of recent Topps cards were included.
Thanks for the trades! More to come!