State of the (trade) union

The debut of the trade map worked pretty well. I ended up completing a trade with someone from Virginia finally, and I filled in another state.

Now, if I can find someone from the Rocky Mountains (come on Helton fans!), I will consider this map a REAL success.

Ryan, from "O" No!!! Another Orioles Blog, responded to the map call, which is kind of fitting, because when I found out what team he collected, I might have said, "'O' No!!! Another Orioles Collector." Obviously, Ryan has a sense of humor considering his blog name, so I thought I'd humor him and try to dig up some Orioles.

Amazingly, my mom was right. I WAS surprised by what I could find when I look for things. I actually turned up some Orioles for Ryan. And I didn't grumble nearly as much about it as when I was a kid.

Days and days have gone by since I received his corresponding cards in the trade. It's about time I feature a few items here. At the very least it's a reminder that: Hey, you, from Mississippi, if you trade cards with me, your cards could be featured here!!!!

If that isn't incentive, I don't know what is.

Here are the cards:

I'm featuring my favorite one first. Back in the days when people read magazines, I thought it would be a great idea to put sports magazine covers on baseball cards. Then, along came Fleer in the late 1990s and STOLE my idea. They were so sneaky that they did it during a period when I wasn't collecting cards. So it took me 10 YEARS to figure out that they took my idea, and then, you know, the statute of limitations on the rights of a collector's unspoken plans had expired. Bummer.

But I thought of it first, Fleer.

It's a great card. Of the New Mr. October. That's right, Reggie. Your reign is over.

If you collected just cards that featured Raul Mondesi gritting his teeth, I think you could become pretty successful at that. Possibly even fill a shoebox.

Penny went on the DL after hitting a grand slam. That really sounds like something a Dodger would do. He must still have some Dodgerness in him.

Ryan sent a lot of Bowman Dodgers that I didn't have. This is from 2000, the last time Bowman did not use a black border on its cards. They used TV sets for the Chrome and something completely different for the regular set.

A gold parallel Nomo from 2003 Bowman, which may or may not be known as the red-border tombstone set eventually.

This is what prevents me from buying a box of Bowman, or a blaster, or even a rack pack. It's a 1999 array of Dodger never-did-muches. Only Prokopec and Crosby made a slight dent. So much of Bowman is a pure waste of cardboard.

I remember ripping Geovany Soto for his marijuana suspension issues. Oops.

This is the face that I wore all night at work last night. Yeah, it was pleasant.

On to happier subjects. McGriff in a Dodger uniform! What could be happier?

Yes,  I'm still collecting these things. No, I don't know why. Other than I Must. Fill. Holes. In. Pages.

Last card. Just showing it because I like the photo. Although if it's a batted ball, Young appears to be out.

Thanks for filling in another state on the map, Ryan. I don't think I'll ever get to fill the whole thing, but if I had to guess, I think Colorado might be the last one left. They're always so slow there.

(Yes, that was another desperate cast of the net for a Rockies fan).