Marlin's Beard!

If you can believe it, the Marlins might be worse than that pun.

Thanks to some pre-season trades, and...drunk boating, sad to say, this is a Marlins team without an identity, and without a sole reason to succeed. The only player making any positive process is J.T. Realmuto, and it's become clear that he won't be staying on the team for much longer. The entire team is just full of rookie trials, aging veterans that can't function anymore, players that were fine last year that are tanking now, and just a large cloud of pessimism. And of course there is- with Derek Jeter now running the team, it's become clear that he's not putting his best ideas forward, and the team is suffering because of it.

Caleb Smith was called up this year, and has become a major part of the rotation, solely because the majority of the rotation, including Trevor Richards, Dan Straily and Wei-Yin Chen, have been slumping. With only Jose Urena doing marginally alright, the Marlins are calling up people like Caleb Smith, Jarlin Garcia and Elieser Hernandez in order to strengthen the rotation, and it's working with all three, even if they are sort of inexperienced. Garcia is heading up the rotation, solely because Jose Urena's pitching poorly this year.

I'm not sure what can become of this Marlins team, or if this new breed of rookie pitchers will give way to another breed of rookie pitchers, and if the cycle continues until Jeter sells the team to some Montreal businessman who moves the team there and ends this colossal strife, but...I'll try to keep optimistic.

Coming Tonight: Speaking of inexperienced pitching staffs, the sole promising arm from a trashfire of a team.

Abandoned Outfielder Demands Answers

It's become apparent that the Marlins aren't going to win many games in 2018. New owner Derek Jeter has unwittingly taken the approach of his predecessor in taking everything good about the Marlins and trading it all away. This happened after the World Series, it happened after 2005, it happened after the dealing didn't work in 2012, and it's happening now.

The main problem is that, with emphasis on other luxuries, the Marlins can never afford to be too good. They may have a fancy stadium, they may have funky uniforms, and they may have two W.S. titles in their short...[sigh] 25-year history, but nobody's coming to games, the payroll is small, and the big stars aren't amounting to wins. So this purge is happening, and it's not even entirely Jeter's fault (though I'm not gonna lie and say he has nothing to do with it).

It can be argued that the only reason we're at this point NOW is because the pitching dried up (and the only reason that's happened, as I brace myself for the death threats, involves a boating accident). Once the pitching staff completely bottomed-up, regardless of how well the offense was doing, the Marlins were DOA. As of now, Giancarlo Stanton, Dee Gordon, Edinson Volquez and Marcell Ozuna, some of the most important vets on the squad, have all been dealt.

What's more, the people still left on the Marlins have realized that it'd make no sense for them to stay as well. J.T. Realmuto has openly asked to be traded, and the Marlins are listening to offers. Christian Yelich, who would have to be the team's flagship star if he sticks around, has openly stated that he'd like some answers, and that he's a little hurt by all of his teammates being traded.

I really don't know what else the Marlins can do. If Yelich, Realmuto and Bour go, they'll have no stars left, and it'll be very tricky for them to do the whole 'there's youth in waiting' thing that got them through the 2006 season. This is a team that is damned if they try to compete, and damned if they play to lose. And I really wish it hasn't have gotten to this point.

The New #2??

Yeah. We're talking about this. If the diehard Yankee fan says we need to talk about it, we need to talk about it.

Carlos Correa broke into the MLB last year like wildfire, and made his already-airtight team even stronger, culminating in a playoff run, and an even stronger team for 2016.

He's also an incredibly versatile young shortstop who is hitting beautifully, playing awesome defensive ball, and making a striking presence just by existing as an Astro. Because he's so amazing, and young, and a shortstop, all the Derek Jeter comparisons are coming flooding in. And I think half of them actually hold some water.

I saw Carlos play shortstop last year, in a game against the White Sox. The second he got up to bat there was something I liked about him. The swing is there. The power is there. The run is there. He's got the makings of a pretty perfect ballplayer right here. His shortstop skills are there too. I knew it. My dad knew it.

The Sox ended up winning, but we knew we were watching someone very special. His first few games this season, he's been flat out pounding. He's got a knack for killing Yankee pitching, which may not be good news for me, but it generally good news for the rest of the league.

I'm not sure if he's gonna have the career Derek Jeter had, but he's definitely got the makings for the kind of athlete Jeter was.

Coming Tomorrow- One of the astonishing young pitchers in Queens.

Saying Goodbye is Hard

It's hard for me to believe that after this month, somebody else will have to play shortstop for my team.

For as long as I can remember, it's been Derek Jeter. For as long as I can remember he's been a consistently solid, all-American hero of a ballplayer. Which is why it's crushing me that he's down to his last few games.

I still have my Jeter jersey from five years ago, when they won the whole thing. The sleeve still has the 'Champs '09' emblem on it. I wear it proudly now that I'm in Yankee territory. And, of course, I'll be wearing it Sunday, when he plays his final game ever, which is also gonna be really sad.

I'm glad Jeter had a great night last night, knocking in a game-winning run against the Orioles, and being the hero in the Bronx one last time. He deserved it. People can talk all they want about how they think David Robertson fudged it for him. I don't care. I'm just glad he had the hit anyway. That's the way you want to end your career at home.

I'm kind of pissed they didn't make the playoffs, but it's fine. Jeter's been in enough playoff races that he earned another year off. It would have been heartbreaking if they made it to the Wild Card round and lost. That wouldn't have been the greatest sendoff for Jeter.

I guess I'll end the post the only way I can. I saw Cal Ripken play at Camden Yards in his last season. I saw Jim Thome play for the Phillies in his prime. I saw Mariano Rivera save a game. But all of those guys mean nothing to the fact that every time I went to Yankee stadium, I saw Derek Jeter play, and he was fantastic.

Well done, Derek. New York will never forget you.

Don't Make Me Hate the Hero

I'm going to begin this post about Derek Jeter by talking about one of my least favorite teachers.

In eighth grade, I had this history teacher. In terms of teaching, she was great. She was thorough, she was informative, and I got an A in her class. However, her personality infuriated me greatly. It's very, very hard to describe, but just picture someone who enjoys what they teach, yet always seems to not be very happy with the whole 'dealing with fourteen-year-olds' part. I'm not gonna go into detail about some of stuff I went through with her, but I am going to tell you about one. Thankfully, it's one that this teacher won't sue me for, because it's true, and non-incriminatory.

On one of the last days of eighth grade, she devoted a class period to have the students ask her just about anything about her, about high school, about life, etc. She said would answer every question honestly, and to her credit, she did. However, someone asked her if she had ever met anyone truly famous. And she answered 'well, as a matter of fact, a while ago I won a sweepstakes package, and I got to have dinner with Derek Jeter'.

In my head, an alarm sounded. Oh my gosh, this teacher I'd braved through a year of being with had spent time with one of my favorite players. And she shared food with him. So I was very quick to ask her what the great Derek Jeter was like.

And I think that she saw how interested I was in how Derek Jeter was as a person. Because she proceeded to tell the class how dissatisfied she was about her dinner with Derek Jeter. She said that he wasn't very interested to be there, and the conversation wasn't very enthralling, and that he just didn't seem very genuine.

Right there, my eighth grade teacher was breaking a cardinal rule in my eyes: She was trying to get the entire class, and especially me, to hate Derek Jeter. She was trying to turn me against my favorite player. And that was not cool.

In my eyes, nothing could make me hate Derek Jeter. But this teacher was trying. Now, all these years later, Derek Jeter's legacy could be facing a new spoiler, and that is overexposure.

People all around the country seem to generally respect Jeter, even if they hate the Yankees, which most of them do. But after the All Star Game, where the coverage of Jeter was greater than the coverage of Mike Trout, the game's MVP, people are beginning to turn on him. Jeter, when he ran out onto the field, was given a good 30 seconds of screentime before they announced the next player. Usually the gap is like 10 seconds.

Plus, when Jeter finally left the game, at the beginning of the fourth inning, FOX took 2 minutes out of, you know, the game, to record Jeter leaving the field, fiving every last coach and player, and sitting down. Even a Jeter worshipper like me can call that excessive.

In some cases, this is taking away from the legend. Some fans have been calling the attention that Jeter has been getting excessive, and people are losing respect for him because the cameras cannot stop circling him.

Look, if you're gonna blame anybody, don't blame the legend. Blame the people who can't stop talking about the legend. Blame Joe Buck. Blame Tim Kurkjian. Blame Chris Berman. They should get the blame. For a second there ESPN was talking about Jeter more than LeBron James. FOR A SECOND.

This is just another silly way to tarnish the reputation of a legend, who has played the game with class and dignity for nineteen seasons. He's not asking for the attention. It's not like Barry Bonds, whose goodbye tour was prodded out with obnoxiousness and overblown home run promises. This is Derek Jeter. He's one of the greatest shortstops of all time. People are going to talk about him quite a bit. That shouldn't damage his reputation, the amount of coverage he gets.

I don't want to hate Derek Jeter. This overexposure is too petty for people, or me, to lose respect for him over it. And for those who have gotten tired of Jeter: relax. It'll all be over soon.

Finality

Last year was bad enough.

Last year, four players that I had been following and collecting since I got into the hobby all announced their retirements. And they were four big ones. Todd Helton, Andy Pettitte, Roy Halladay. And all of those three were bad.

But the worst part was losing Mariano Rivera. Every year of my life thus far, Mariano Rivera has been the Yankees' closer. As an eighteen year old, I cannot remember a time when Mariano Rivera was not our closer, and 2012 does not count. So to have somebody that valuable, somebody that you can't survive without cheering for, team notwithstanding, just leave after that long, hurts.

Well, I'm gonna hurt for two damn years in a row.

Today, I heard the official news that 2014 will be Derek Jeter's last season. And boy, if I thought I'd be lost without Rivera, I'm gonna feel really lost now.

Jeter's always been my favorite player. Even when I rooted for A-Rod, there was still Jeter primarily. Jeter was never NOT good at his job. No steroids, no serious injuries, no slumps ever took away his abilities, especially in his prime. The man has five World Series rings. Five Gold Gloves. Thirteen All Star Game appearances. Only sad part is that he never got an MVP award, though he came very close in 2006. You can blame Justin Morneau on that one.

I don't think there will ever be another player as beloved as Jeter in New York. People are going to come close, but they will never surpass. Him and Rivera, really.

It's going to suck in 2015. No Jeter, No Rivera, A-Rod'll be depleted further, Tex'll be gone. The team's likely headed for another decade-long drought, and I don't know if they'll be able to stop it.

Still, I think I'm really gonna miss Jeter, and I'm gonna enjoy watching him completely rock his final season.

Five Years (What a Surprise)

 

(This post was supposed to be for yesterday. However, I had half the post written, and then I went to watch the Beatles 50th Anniversary thing, and forgot. I'm awful at this remembering thing. But oh well).

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Five Years ago today I was a young, thirteen year old baseball card collector, racking up cards from everywhere and wanting to share it with the world. I had no idea that I'd get into customizing, Stadium Club, or any of the stuff I've immersed myself in now.

The custom above was my first-ever custom, from June 2009, after many failed attempts at blog series'. I figured it'd be nice to put new players in old designs, so I followed a tutorial, threw Derek Jeter into a 81 Topps design, and posted it. Now, honestly, compared to the stuff I've been producing lately, it's really subpar. Like, for example, here was a 1981 custom I made last year:

Better cropped, better photo, better condition, better gradients and filters. I started simply putting more effort in, and pretty soon I made a name for myself as a customizer.

But, as today's the blog's fifth anniversary, I wanted to look back at the five previous years of the blog, and all the things I was talking about back then.

2009: The First Year

You'll see it in my writing, in my customs, and in my content that I clearly had no idea what I was doing. I was a kid, I was too young, and I banked so much on the fact that nobody was reading, so I felt like I had so much freedom. Around the end of the year I got some followers, and a few trade offers, so I was beginning to get big.

A lot of the posts this year are just me trying hard to be funny, or reporting one-sentence long news stories, or something. The content isn't great, and it's cringeworthy by today's standards.

The only thing that stayed constant were the customs. I didn't use too much filter on them, so they're just the straight photos, but in terms of doctoring the original cards, I had the right idea. The ones I did for 'Year by Year' and the postseason are honestly some of the best of that year.

This was also the year that both my teams played each other in the World Series, and I got to go to Yankee Stadium to watch them. It was an okay first year of blogging, but it was nice to be a part of the sphere, and have people like Dayf, Canuck and Night Owl occasionally comment on your posts.

 

2010: Finding the Knack

First of all, that logo. I dunno what I was thinking. I thought it looked pretty cool, and I thought it was a swell enough idea. Some bloggers weren't amused.

2010 was the year that I became more of a regular blogger, and did more of the normal blogger stuff. I made trades. I ranted. I took part in a blogger worst-autograph tournament (thanks Drew!)

I also started doing a lot of open ended editorial-type posts, which took on some pretty nice topics, like the uselessness of Bowman,  the addictiveness of ToppsTown,  and the fact that everyone despises my team.

My customs were more improved, as I added more filters and just did more work on them. The quality of my writing improved as well.

By the end, I was talking about heartbreak as a fan of two teams unceremoniously booted from the playoffs within two days. I think that the moodier I got back then, the better my posts were.

Like with last year, some of the best stuff was during Year by Year.

2011: Finding the Sweet Spot

I think that 2011 was the year I really settled into the blogosphere. I had an ill-prepared blog contest, bought and ripped some vintage Stadium Club, had some trades with big time bloggers, and started churning out better posts.

One of the more viewed posts of the year was one about how pretty much every team had its haters, so the Yankees weren't free of blame. It soon became an omnibus of all the bloggers' teams of hatred. Reminds me, I should probably update that post.

I started accumulating some pretty nice fans in 2011. One in particular, a Dodger fan, gave me a lot of ideas for customs, as detailed in this post. That same fan ended up leading me to Brent Lillibridge, the first (and only, that I know of) actual ballplayer to actually like one of my customs. He made a custom of mine his Twitter photo. I will take that to my grave.

I had some nice road trips in 2011, going to Indians, Pirates and Nationals games, as well as staying in Meredith, New Hampshire for a week. Also, I went to the Super Bowl, but that's another story.

I think this was the peak of my popularity before I went back to being a regular fringe blogger like I am now.

2012: The Consistent Year

Overall, in 2012 I think I finally hit my stride, and started writing and customizing the way I do now. I learned to control the filters so that I stopped having so many overdone customs. Also, I had more well-written posts, and more well-formed ideas.

2012 was the year that Archives came back, but basically just as a way of copying my set. I had a very angry rant here about how they were stealing my idea. I also had an angry rant about the 2012 Topps gimmicks, which was even more hate-fueled than the Archives one. I had a lot of emotional posts this year, as you can see.

2012 was my biggest year in terms of customizing, as I produced more customs in 2012 than I did any other year. None were real newsmakers, though the Chipper Jones one is a favorite.

I won a contest over at Thorzul's this year. Honestly, I'm drawing a blank on anything else that happened that year.

2013: Making my Mark

Toward the end of this year I was buying Stadium Club boxes, and customizing football players. I was tussling with Topps and still making great baseball customs. Everything I really wanted to do, in my blogging career, I ended up doing in 2013, so it was really a success in my eyes.

You could argue that it was a lot of the same stuff. Making customs, going to lake George, buying cards, telling the world how awful Topps is. For a month I kept getting boxes of football products from a mysterious contact to rip. I think I ripped more actual hobby boxes of products in 2013 than I did in any other year.

2013 was a great year for me even though it wasn't really too different than the other ones. But it really exemplified how I write more than the other years. I think I'm in in my prime, unless in five more years I become as good a blogger as Night Owl or Dime Boxes or something like that.

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To make a long story short, I never did anything on this blog for popularity, for accolades, for followers. I did it mostly for myself, but also for the rest of the world to see my opinions. And I didn't think it would last this long. I didn't think it would last a month.

I'm just glad it lasted part March 2009, and into February 2014.

Will the blog last ten years? Who's to say? Certainly not me. I have no idea what's going to happen to me a year down the line, let alone five. I'll blog until I'm done, and I'll know when I'm done.

Thanks for sticking with me, by the way. For reading when I had nothing to say. And, thankfully, when I had too much to say. I really appreciate it.

Five years, stuck on my eyes
Five years, what a surprise
We've got five years, my brain hurts a lot
Five years, that's all we got...









P.S.- If you were expecting me to pick my favorite custom in all my years of making them, I'll say this-  I'm not one for picking favorites...




....but this one

What I'm thankful for, albeit a bit late

This may be very late, but I figure that I should do something resembling a meaningful Thanksgiving post, even if it ends in two hours. I don't care. Doing it anyway.

So, what the hell am I thankful for?

First of all, my family. My mom, and my dad, who've done a very good job of not screwing me up (though I never said it was a perfect job). This extends to my extended family, including my cousin Dylan, who's eventually going to take me to my first Mets game, my uncle Gary, who usually celebrates the holidays by giving me an unopened wax box from under his bed, and my cousin Kyle, who appreciates the boys in pinstripes as much as I do. Of course, thanks must be given to my Mariners fan Uncle Don, my cousin-ish Pete, the Red Sox fan, and everybody else, baseball or no baseball.

I'm thankful for my friends, as plentiful as they are, and as abundant as they will be. Most especially, I'm thankful for my girlfriend, who is quite possibly the most awesome non-card-related thing to enter my life in the past 365 days. Yes, she beats out the McCutchen game used. And like the aforementioned card, I hope she sticks around for awhile.

I'm thankful for good health, which goes for mine and my family's. A shame it couldn't reach to the Yankees.

I'm thankful for the Packers and Raiders, for at least giving some effort today.

I'm thankful for the radio stations, for laying off the Christmas music until at least tomorrow. Thanks guys. Knew I could count on you.

I'm thankful for the entire community of bloggers, for making my fifth year of blogging one of my most successful, and my most viewed. I'm thankful for my influences in blogging, most of whom are no longer blogging/only blogging sometimes/completely mailing it in. I'm thankful for the people who still read and comment on my blog, and I'm thankful for everyone who still trades with me, which reminds me, there are one or two things I need to get in the mail.

I'm also thankful for the invention of cardblogging, for giving me so much of a good time, and so many ideas to throw onto the interwebs.

Most of all, I'm thankful for baseball. I'm thankful for the New York Yankees, the Philadelphia Phillies, the Baltimore Orioles, and, yes, even the Red Sox at times. I'm thankful it's still as strong of a passion that it was when I started in 2009.

So yeah. I'm thankful for a lot of things. And I'm glad I could share this one too.

Custom Card of the Day: Jeter Edition

The last time I made a true, actual Derek Jeter custom, not a recobbled one, it was 2010. I haven't made a Jeter custom since their thrilling heartbreak in the playoffs. Not that one, the other one. So finally, I've made a pretty awesome custom of Derek Jeter playing shortstop, making the routine throw to first, doing what he does best.

However, the Yankees will be finding out how tough it will be to do what they do best in 2013. Their stars injured, their pitching improved slightly, their infield aging, their replacements uncertain. What seemed like a bonafide lock for 2012 has turned into a questionable 2013 team, which is sad.

All I hear lately, about the Yankees, is that this is gonna be the year. This is gonna be the one year where they stop being good, and give everyone else a chance. This is gonna be the one year the Yankees don't win everything. And the more I hear that, the more I keep denying the fact that it might be true. Youkilis could fail, the lineup could buckle, the pitching could weaken, and so on, and so on. Though misguided, these common fans do have a point: The Yankees aren't going to be as good as they used to be.

That doesn't mean the Yankees are out of it for sure, though. Like the 2012 Phillies, hidden beneath the injuries, the questionables, and the doubt, there is hope. I think that when Granderson, Teixiera and maybe even A-Rod and Pineda get back, the team will be stronger, and go on an absolute rampage. I think that a team's fate can't be decided 13 days before the season starts. I think that the Yankees are going to do well SPECIFICALLY because everyone thinks they're NOT going to do well, just like the Blue Jays are going to end up in third because everyone thinks they'll be in first.

Yeah, I said it. The Yankees will not be terrible in 2013. And I'll yell it from the rooftops.

Coming Tomorrow- That was a good run, wasn't it? Now I need to make more customs. Any requests? Is there anyone I've never, ever made a custom of in my five year run, who deserves one?

Defeat Again

It sucks to be a Yankee fan when everybody wants you to lose. Last night, Alex Rodriguez was the goat for us, and couldn't seem to even hit the damn ball. I'm a little mad at the team right now, because we HAD IT. We were very close, and now we've been knocked out first round. By the Tigers, of all teams. It feels embarassing.

It's not to say that the team won't overcome. Hell, we might sign some free agent pitchers, trade for some new pitchers, and make sure our aging stars are backed up. We should have gone farther than this. And it pisses me off.

For the next month, my hope rests on Philadelphia.

Thanks Derek

You may not be an All Star (Waddaya mean you wanna rest? You've been resting for a month!), but you still can make your fans happy. Congrats on your 3000th hit, Derek. Cooperstown Awaits.

Offseason Minute

I haven't had a lot of time to address the following signings, so I'll report on them now.

Jeter resigned with the Bombers for 3 years and a ton of money. I feel safe knowing my hero's back where he belongs. I just can't see that guy in any other uniform. Not even Philly.

Jose Lopez has been traded to Colorado. Seattle fans everywhere go into a collective "Meh".

I already reported that Adam Dunn signed with Chicago. Good for them. AJ Pierzinksi resigned with Chicago. That's nice.

Juan Uribe signed with the Dodgers. They do need some power in the lineup, since I didn't see any when I saw them in July.

Lance "Fat Elvis" Berkman has signed with the Cardinals. Eh...he wasn't too good for us anyway. I guess St. Louis better enjoy the guy.

I'm not gonna make this official yet, since the trade hasn't been completed, but Adrian Gonzalez might be going to Boston. This isn't very smart, since they already have a fine first baseman, and he can hit, but are they just doing it for star power, for hits? In that case, why bother? You already have a bunch of excellent hitters- why ask for more?

And finally, and this is a headscratcher- Jayson Werth signed a 7 (!!!) year deal with the Washington Nationals. And to Washington, I say this. Enjoy Werth. He is one of the most fun to watch outfielders you're ever gonna see. Plus, he looks like a mountain man. So now that you're lost Adam Dunn, at least you have a new superstar in Washington. Enjoy him.

The Captain's Orders

I realized quite recently that I hadn't posted a Derek Jeter custom this year, along with a lot of other big stars. Nevertheless, as I just made a bunch of obvious ones in Photoshop, the rest of this week will be "DUH! Week", as you might see other big stars I forgot to customize. Like Stars that are having a tremendous season, stars that I still love even though no longer a Yankee, and, of course, a few Phillies.

Jeter, it's no doubt that he's my favorite player. I mean, to be a hyped superstar that not only lived up to the hype, but one upped it. He's probably going to be a first ballot hall of famer, unless of course a few Red Sox fans are casting blank votes.

Matter of fact, when I was in Williamsport, one of the players in the Challenger league game that I witnessed, I heard that her favorite player was Lance Berkman, and her favorite team was the Yankees. The fact was that she loved Berkman so much, she wanted to root for any team she was on. And when he got traded, she would not just root for a Berkmanless Astros.

I'm saying this because if and when Jeter gets traded, I'll still root for him as a player, because my favorite team will always be the Yankees. But if Jeter is no longer one, I will root for him alone, not the team he's on...unless he's traded to Philly.

Tomorrow- Waddaya mean Joey Votto's having an MVP season? I GOTTA make a custom of dat guy!

Why this is going to be the biggest World Series Ever

A- No Dodgers, Red Sox, Mets or Cardinals

B- Kendry Morales will be at home degreasing his glove

C- Joe Girardi will get up to meet Uncle Cholly and realize how dead he looks in comparison.

D- We will finally have a series where this guy

plays against this guy.

Awesomeness is expected.

Wednesday Night- THE TURNPIKE SERIES!!!

Custom Card of the Day- Rookie Fridays

This was the only image I could find of Snider here, but it doesn't completely suck. This was another easy one except for the baseball in the top right corner. I made that another layer and shopped in back in later.

The reason I didn't post yesterday is that I was trying to get a certain card up for a Gehrig/Jeter post. My scanner, once again, was going buggy and I just shopped the Snider which was already in my computer. Still, there will be a Gehrig/Jeter post on this blog soon.

Last night you can bet your behind that I watched the 1st NFL game of the season. I saw Pittsburgh crush the Titans, which is a good thing. Rothliesberger seems hot again this season, and maybe it'll be two straight championships...until the Eagles come from behind and kick their butts. Hey, a guy can dream, can't he?