U-S-A...U-S-A

I picked up a jersey card of Cody Satterwhite on Listia for about 700 credits.  This is a Team USA issue from Upper Deck.  Satterwhite is now a prospect in the Mets minor league system.  I'll be impressed when he hits the bigs.  I'm not a big fan of the Team USA cards.  It seems like most of the players turn out to be duds.  My favorite Team USA card has got to be the 1985 Topps Mark McGwire rookie card.  That was a cool card. 

Pack Break: 2007 Upper Deck

Here’s a quick pack break.  This is a 2007 Upper Deck pack of just 5 cards.  It came out of a repack at some point.  I pulled Jeremy Accardo, Jason Frasor, Mike Jacobs, Johnny Estrada, and Delmon Young.  Meh.  I hate the dark Blue Jays uniform.  At least a poisonous lizard didn’t emerge from the pack and attack me.  That’s a positive. 

Andruw Jones Game Used Jersey Card

For just 75 cents, I picked up this jersey card of Andruw Jones.  This is from 2002 Upper Deck 40 Man.  It features a plain gray swatch – probably the Braves road uniform.  Back in 2002, Jones was still a stud for the Braves.  Last year, he played for $3.5 million in Japan.  I always view a player moving from MLB to the Japanese leagues as a demotion.  These players are too good for AAA but no MLB team wants them.  I would rather play in the minors than leave my home country to play.  But I guess the money talks. 

eBay Mailbag: Nick Swisher

I picked up a 2009 Upper Deck card of Nick Swisher for just a few cents on eBay.  The photo is a cool staged shot of Swisher that must have been taken right after he came to the Yankees.  I can’t help but to be a Nick Swisher fan despite the fact that he has left the Yankees.  He just always seemed like a cool guy. 

2008 Upper Deck Pickups

I bought 2 2008 Upper Deck cards on eBay of two of the worst pitchers in New York: Daisuke Matsuzaka and Phil Hughes.  Both pitchers have gone from the penthouse to the outhouse.  The Red Sox paid over $100 million for Dice-K.  He spent most of the year in the minors for the Indians and Mets.  Hughes has been terrible this year.  He has been relegated to the bullpen.  I doubt that the Yankees will re-sign him this winter.  So I figured that both cards couldn’t be worth less than they are right now. 

It's an Insert Card!!!

I don’t make a habit out of buying Red Sox cards, but it happens from time to time.  I picked up this 2010 Upper Deck Baseball Heroes insert card of Jon Lester recently.  It cost me 6 cents on eBay.  I bought it because it’s an insert card.  I don’t know if that means anything these days.  Inserts used to be a big deal.  Now, it seems like every other card is an insert.  Just the same, I couldn’t resist. 

Yankee Game Used Relic

I bought a 2007 Upper Deck game used jersey card of Johnny Damon on Listia.  It only set me back 804 credits.  The card has a small crease in it but on the plus side the jersey swatch has a Yankee pinstripe through the center. 

Listia Mailbag: Jesse Crain

I won a 2006 Upper Deck Game-Used Jersey card of Jesse Crain on Listia for just 560 credits.  The jersey swatch has a nice stripe through the middle of it.  I remember Crain as a reliever for the Twins a few years back.  Nowadays, he is with the White Sox.  For some reason, I just don’t hear much about him anymore. 

Another Injured Yankee

I bought this 2009 Upper Deck card of Kevin Youkilis for just 6 cents on eBay.  Youkilis is one of the many Yankee injuries right now.  The team has done a good job of fielding a competitive lineup though.  I don’t have any cards of Youkilis as a Yankee yet.  I will probably have to wait for Topps Update in the fall.  This will do for now, although I am not a big fan of the final Upper Deck years. 

Clay Buchholz's "Rookie" Card

I picked up a 2008 UD First Edition “rookie” card of Clay Buchholz on eBay for 6 cents shipped.  First Edition is the cheaper cousin of the regular Upper Deck set.  So far this season, Buchholz has been a stud.  He has a tiny ERA and 4 wins to show for his efforts.  This will change if history tells us anything. 

2009 Upper Deck: Kevin Jepsen

I purchased this 2009 Upper Deck rookie card of Kevin Jepsen for 6 cents on eBay.  I don't really care for the landscape photo.  I never know how to put these cards in my binder.  This was the last year of Upper Deck using team logos.  Jepsen is still a reliever for the Angels.  His numbers aren’t horrible either.  Who knew?  The west coast teams really don’t get the same coverage as the east coast teams due to the time difference. 

A Robinson Cano Addition

I bought this 2008 UD First Edition card of Robinson Cano on eBay.  The price was 6 cents shipped.  I am a Yankee fan so that was a pretty good deal.  I was surprised that I won this card for so cheap.  First Edition is the equivalent of Topps Opening Day.  It is non-glossy and no frills.  But that’s OK with me. 

More Garrett Atkins Goodness

I picked up this 2008 Upper Deck First Edition card of Garrett Atkins for only 5 credits on Listia.  That’s about one cent and change.  I posted recently about a Garrett Atkins autograph that I also purchased on Listia.  To my surprise, Atkins had virtually disappeared from baseball.  That may explain why his cards seem to be on sale. 

Listia Mailbag: Kevin Youkilis

My latest Listia purchase was a 2009 Upper Deck Starquest card of Kevin Youkilis.  I couldn’t resist buying this Red Sox card at only 8 credits.  It was a bit easier to make this purchase knowing that Youkilis is no longer on the Red Sox.  In fact, he is a free agent this offseason.  Last year, he managed only a .235 average with the Red Sox and White Sox.  That’s a disappointing performance in a free agency year. 

Autographs from 2006 UD Future Stars

My latest eBay score was a lot of 10 2006 Upper Deck Future Stars Autographs.  I bought this lot mostly for the Russell Martin card.  He is in a Dodger uniform on the card, but he is still a Yankee.  I have been meaning to get his autograph for a while.  I put the rest of the cards back on eBay to recoup some of the cost.  Whatever I cannot sell on eBay will go into the personal collection.  I didn’t realize this at the time I purchased this lot, but much of these cards are clear.  The clear parts actually appear to be white on most scanners.  As you can see from the photo, the lot included some decent names. 

Listia Mailbag: Jorge Posada & Andy Pettitte

My latest Listia purchase was a pair of Yankees cards from 2008 Upper Deck.  I received a Jorge Posada card and an Andy Pettitte card for only 12 credits.  Both photos were taken at Yankee home games.  You might notice the #10 patch on Posada sleeve for Phil Rizzuto.  As an added piece of unrelated trivia, I have exactly 16,000 page views.  Thank you blog-goers. 

Kenji Johjima

I purchased this 2006 Upper Deck jersey card of Kenji Johjima on eBay for only 65 cents shipped.  The auction title simply read “Kenji Johjima” (like the title of this post) with only a blurry picture to explain the auction.  This was quite unclear.  Was I bidding on the services of the real Kenji Johjima?  I thought he was busy playing for the Hanshin Tigers.  I don't really need any catching done right now, but maybe he could mow my lawn or wash my car.  It turns out that I only won the card.  But it’s a pretty decent card for the price.  It probably does not help the value that Johjima no longer plays in this country.  Let this auction serve as a lesson eBay sellers. 

Cards from Cards on Cards

I recently completed a trade with Kerry from Cards on Cards. I sent over a bunch of my 1993 Upper Deck duplicates in exchange for some Topps Heritage card of varying years. By the way, if anyone needs any 1993 Upper Deck, let me know. I have plenty. Anyway, here are the highlights of the trade in what I think is chronological order.

The neatest card may be the expired redemption card. A little research reveals that a timely submission would result in a Pablo Sandoval Red Hot Rookies card. Time makes fools of us all though. I ended up with a pretty good haul. Thanks for the trade.

Derek Jeter Rookie Cards and More

I bought an interesting lot on eBay recently. I paid $13 shipped for the entire lot. I received a 1993 Topps Jeter RC and a 1993 Upper Deck Jeter RC. I bought the lot to get those two cards. I love the 1993 Upper Deck card. I have about 8 of them. I also got a Manny Ramirez Upper Deck RC, a Michael Jordan baseball card, and a Huston Street base card. But wait, there’s more. I received three game-used jersey cards of Kerry Wood, J.D. Drew, and Pee Wee Reese. I think I got a good deal when you consider the other cards that I received. I will probably keep the Jeters and trade/sell the others.

Pack Break: 2008 Upper Deck

I picked up a pack of 2008 Upper Deck Series One cards for 51 cents from an eBay seller. There are 8 cards per pack. So what did I get? Here is the loot.

Joe Mauer
Damion Easley
Jeff Keppinger
Jim Leyritz YSL
Carlos Lee Starquest Common

So where are the other three cards you ask? Well, here is the rest of the pack.
Derek Lowe Game Used Jersey

How cool is that? I pulled a game-used jersey card out of a 51 cent pack that is two years old. I know its only Derek Lowe but still? I think I got my money’s worth.