Let's Go Mets! ...and Angels, Giants, Yankees and Phillies?!?!?

As I mentioned in a previous post, my final stop at Showtime Sports Cards was a brief stop between dropping my sister off at the airport, and heading to an Arizona Fall League game.


Along with the football cards that I've shown, I went through two rows of a Mets monster box just trying to grab some cards to use for my Opening Day Starting Lineup Project.

I bought about 60 cards, and could use three quarters of them, so I was pretty happy with that. It was funny that I grabbed cards of players like Mike Bordick, Fernando Tatis and Lastings Milledge because I couldn't remember if they had ever started for the Mets on Opening Day or not. They hadn't.

Beautiful day at the ballpark

I feel the just above freezing weather that I have outside and wonder why I don't live in Arizona with my mom. I'm getting warm just looking at this picture and remembering sitting outside for the game.


I was at the game cheering for the Scottsdale Scorpions, a team consisting of prospects from the Mets, Angels, Giants, Yankees and Phillies. Players would wear their own team uniforms but everyone wore a Scorpions cap. (It is black with a red scorpion on it. I bought one but forgot to take a picture of it for this post. Maybe I will add one in later.) They were playing the Peoria Javelinas, consisting of Padres, Orioles, Braves, Mariners and Reds.

Of course, as a football fan, and a Mets fan, I wanted to see Tim Tebow. I had read a lot of reports on his play, but wanted to see him myself in person.

His first At-Bat

Tebow singled up the middle in his first At-Bat.

I took this shot because the First Baseman is Chad Wallach, son of Tim Wallach who I saw play in Montreal many times. Wallach made a few really nice defensive plays at first.


Tim Tebow batted twice, reaching base the second time on a Fielder's Choice - he beat a double play ball out at first. He then tried stealing second with a little bit of an awkward slide, and was thrown out. He reached for his knee a bit as he stood, and after a discussion with a trainer was removed from the game.


Tickets were General Admission seats and only $8.00. The announced crowd for a Monday 12:30 game was 504 people. But, man, do I wish I could have attended more games. I'll have to consider visiting my mom in the Fall more often.


Another Mets player in the game that really impressed me with his speed was Champ Stuart.

He stole three bases during the game, including second and third in the same inning. And he wears his pants/socks properly. I'll have to keep an eye on him and may drive down to Binghamton to see him next year if he starts in AA.


Anyway, here are the Mets cards that I picked up.

Top (l-r): 2006 Fleer Greats of the Game #58; 1993 Fleer #89
Bottom (l-r): 1985 Topps #170; 1986 Topps #520

Cards are not always committed to any given spot, but I'll definitely use cards as placeholders to fit different years where I need a player.


The Mazzilli card is being slotted into the CF spot of 1978, and the Howard Johnson into the 3B slot of 1985. The Foster and Hernandez cards are being used for their proper years.

Top (l-r): 1989 Topps #9 and #480
Bottom (l-r): 1992 Upper Deck #362; 1992 Donruss #288

Both 1989 cards are being slotted into 1987. The Upper Deck McReynolds is going to 1987 while the Donruss one is going to 1990. The cards being added to 1987 complete that page.

Top (l-r): 1992 Upper Deck #114; 1995 Collector's Choice #316
Bottom (l-r): 1997 Pinnacle #20; 1998 Topps Chrome #324

The Hubie Brooks card is being placed into his RF slot for 1991, while the Vizcaino goes to the SS slot in its appropriate year of 1995, completing that year.


Both of the bottom cards are being used for the set from a year earlier, Johnson for CF in 1996 and Olerud for 1B in 1997. It could be that the card pictures were taken from those seasons.

Top (l-r): 1998 Finest #122; 1997 Topps Gallery #22
Bottom (l-r): 1998 Finest #12; 2001 Fleer Triple Crown #242

The Butch Huskey card is going into the 3B slot for 1997, while the Lance Johnson card goes into CF of the same year. I really like the Topps Gallery card.


The Brian McRae card fits into CF of its proper year of 1998, while the Derek Bell card slots into RF for 2000.

Top (l-r): 2005 Upper Deck First Pitch #132; 2001 Fleer Triple Crown #132
Bottom (l-r): 2000 Topps Chrome #378; 2002 Upper Deck Vintage #222

The Zeile (at 1B), Hampton (P) and Hamilton (CF) cards also go to the page for 2000. The Ventura card is being placed in the 1991 page.


I can see that I would really enjoy the Upper Deck Vintage baseball cards too. Great photo.

Top (l-r): 2002 Playoff Absolute Memorabilia #99; 2002 Fleer #409
Bottom (l-r): 2003 Finest #39; 2000 Ultra #168 

Filling up the P and SS page of the 2002 starting lineup are the Leiter and Ordonez cards. The Floyd (LF) and Cedeno (CF) cards are being used for the 2003 page.

Top (l-r): 2002 Playoff Absolute Memorabilia #103; 2003 Upper Deck 40 Man #625
Bottom (l-r): 2003 Upper Deck Honor Roll #96; 2007 Bowman Chrome #118

These cards are being used for Jeremy Burnitz as the starting RF for the 2003 team that also had Ty Wigginton at 3B.


The Cliff Floyd card is being used for his LF spot in the 2004 starting lineup, while Pedro Martinez only started one Opening Day for the Mets, and this card is being used to represent that start in 2005.

Top (l-r): 2005 Bowman Chrome #51; 2006 Topps Co-Signers #51
Bottom (l-r): 2007 Topps Allen & Ginter - Dick Perez Sketches #18; 2008 Topps Allen & Ginter #181

The Kaz Matsui card is also going into 2005 at 2B, while the Lo Duca card slides in the Catcher position for 2006. I recognize the Co-Signers design from football sets.


A couple of Allen & Ginter cards for the 2007 lineup, with Reyes at SS and Alou in LF.

Top (l-r): 2009 Topps Chrome #37; 2008 Topps Updates & Highlights #UH224
Bottom (l-r): 2010 Bowman Platinum #40; 2008 Upper Deck Spectrum #59

The top two cards jump into the 2008 starting lineup page while the bottom two go into the 2009 page. I really like the way the Upper Deck Spectrum card scanned.

Top (l-r): 2009 Topps Allen & Ginter - National Pride #NP65; 2010 Topps Allen & Ginter #278
Bottom (l-r): 2010 Topps Allen & Ginter #83 and #50

The box had quite a bit of Allen & Ginter that I grabbed. All these cards are being used in their proper year.


A nice shot of David Wright. Although I would like to see it as a close up, I think it works fine in this set.

Top (l-r): 2011 Bowman #217; 2008 SP Authentic #26
Bottom (l-r): 2011 Bowman Platinum #84; 2008 SP Authentic #67

Went a little out of order with this scan. I'll be slotting the Lucas Duda rookie card into the 2016 starting lineup spot, while the Reyes card will go into the 2011 page. The bottom two cards slid into the 2012 lineup page.


Again, I like how the Davis card looks in the scan.


All in all, this brings my project just over the 50% mark. It is something fun, simple and cheap to do for now.

Digging through some dollar boxes

Once again, continuing my purchases from Showtime Sports Cards in Tempe, here are some cards that I found in their football dollar boxes in a short period of time between dropping my sister off at the airport and making my way to an Arizona Fall League baseball game.


As with before, I didn't get through all the boxes, and I didn't have access to my collection lists so I was just pulling things that I thought I needed and hoping for the best. Well, okay, there were quite a few that I knew that I needed, but my memory still isn't as good as I would like it to be.


On the dollar boxes, there was a sign that the cards were also 12 for $10. Knowing that I would have more than that, and also from dealing with the owner on the Friday, I suspected I would get a better deal than that, but I figured even if the cards did wind up at those prices I didn't mind since they would be in hand and I wouldn't have to worry about any shipping. As it turned out, in the time I had, I wound up with 53 cards, and when I went to pay he said that he would reduce the price to $0.50 a card. I was pretty happy with that and it just reinforces that I will definitely want to go back to that store the next time I am visiting my mom. I ended up needing 35 cards.




Top (l-r): 1999 Upper Deck HoloGrFX #72; 2000 Donruss #209 (#/1325)
Bottom (l-r): 2001 Donruss Classics #142 (#/475); 2001 Pacific - Retail LTD #21 (#/299)

Some needed rookie cards, and I hope that I didn't leave any other of those Retail LTD cards behind in the box. I don't know if I really noticed the SN and the holographic overlay of "RETAIL LTD" that goes left to right on the front of the card through both players' pants. It would have been really easy for me to miss out on what I thought were regular 2001 Pacific cards.

Top (l-r): 2001 Upper Deck Rookie F/X #282 (#/750); 2002 Fleer Focus #148 (#/1850)
Bottom (l-r): 2002 Leaf Rookies & Stars #212; 2004 Leaf Rookies & Stars - Longevity True Blue #24 (#/249)

I remember the roles that Andre Davis and William Green played with the Browns, but I didn't remember Darnell Sanders playing in 26 games over two seasons with the Browns. He caught 15 passes and 2 TDs in those seasons.


The Longevity True Blue card is pretty sharp looking.

Top (l-r): 2003 Bowman Chrome # 165 and #178
Bottom: 2004 Topps Chrome - Premiere Prospects #PP9

Some more rookie cards, and a rookie year Winslow insert.


After being a 2nd round pick in the 2003 NFL Draft, Chaun Thompson played five seasons with the Browns. Other than on Special Teams, he didn't make an impact during his rookie season, playing all sixteen games and finishing with 10 tackles. He wound up playing five seasons with the Browns, and playing in all 16 games in each of those years. His best season was 2005 when he had 62 Tackles, 5 Sacks, and 2 Forced Fumbles.


Lee Suggs was a 4th round pick in 2003. He played in 25 games for the Browns from 2003-2005, and finished with just under 1600 combined yards in his Browns career. (1048 rushing, 204 receiving, 318 kick returns)

Top: 2004 UD Diamond Pro Sigs #121
Bottom (l-r): 2005 Topps Turkey Red - Red #191; 2007 Topps Chrome - Refractors #TC113

I'm sure that I wasn't the only one surprised when Charlie Frye won the starting QB job in 2007, was pulled in the first half in a loss in the season opener against the Steelers, and then traded to Seattle two days later.


The funny thing is that with Derek Anderson, they went on to finish the year 10-6, their last winning season. After that Week 1, I didn't see that coming.


Top (l-r): 2005 Donruss Throwback Threads - Throwback Collection TC-8; 2005 Topps Turkey Red - White #200
Bottom (l-r): 2009 SP Authentic #156; 2008 Donruss Elite - Teams Black #ET-11 (#/800)

I found a lot of Braylon Edwards cards that I needed, and almost all were horizontal inserts.

Top Left: 2006 Donruss Elite - Passing the Torch Green #PT-3 (#/250)
Top Right: 2008 Donruss Classics - Membership Silver Holofoil #M-7 (#/500)
Bottom Left: 2009 Donruss Classics - Sunday's Best Silver #9 (#/250)
Bottom Right: 2009 Donruss Classics - Monday Night Heroes Gold #12 (#/100)

He wasn't the only star of horizontal inserts that I found.

Top Left: 2008 Donruss Classics - Sunday's Best Silver Holofoil #SB-2 (#/250)
Top Right: 2008 Donruss Elite - Zoning Commission Red #ZC032 (#/200)
Bottom: 2012 Panini Prestige - NFL Draft Tickets #3

I've always liked the Draft Tickets inserts. It is interesting to see what looks like a general template with the information typed on it. The back of the card was slots to type in the Name, Team, Height and Weight and another check box for the position.

Top: 2006 Donruss Threads - Retail Blue #192 (#/200)
Bottom (l-r): 2006 Playoff Contenders - ROY Contenders #ROY-21 (#/1000); 2006 Topps Chrome #170

Some rookie cards of D'Qwell Jackson. He was one of my favorite Browns during his period with the team, and I think they could still use him as a veteran with their defense now. He was let go after the 2013 season, and has played well for the Colts since.


I was a little surprised that I needed the base Topps Chrome card, but grabbed it because I know that I still need quite a few rookie cards as they seem to not be included in a lot of the random lots that I have bought off eBay over the years.

Top: 2007 SP Authentic #114 (#/1399)
Bottom (l-r): 2011 Topps Prime - Gold #148 (#/699); 2014 Bowman - Rookies Gold #74 (#/399)

Wow, only 1399 of those Charles Ali cards out there and I now have one! Woo hoo!


Seriously, though, here are a few other rookie cards or rookie parallels that were in the box. I've got so many cards of Greg Little wearing the 00 at the rookie premiere event, or whatever it is where all those photos were taken.

Top (l-r): 2007 Bowman Chrome - Refractors #BC124; 2008 Topps Chrome - Refractors #TC94
Bottom (l-r): 2010 Topps Chrome - Anniversary Reprints; 2014 Topps Triple Threads #95

I'm sure that I've mentioned on my blog before how much I appreciate it when the card companies identify their refractors as such. It is nice and easy to see on the back of the top two cards right underneath or beside their card numbers.


It is unfortunate to have that light line going across the chrome Jim Brown reprint but it isn't as noticeable in person, and I'm sure I'll see another some day.


It is always nice to pick up higher end cards like those from Triple Threads, and I like the Josh Gordon photo on the card. I just wish that he gave himself a chance to play. I hope that he stays clean and that someone gives him a chance at a new start if the NFL reinstates him. I think the Browns will move on from him no matter how talented he is.


Outside of the dollar bins, I also picked up some other football cards on that trip.


As I did a final look through the store, and noted some old junk era boxes that I may pick up next time, I noticed a starter pack for the 2001 NFL Showdown game, and a package of black and white replacement cards that were to be given out to players of the game whose machines had trouble reading the foil cards. Now the Browns only had one foil card, Tim Couch, but I knew that it was in there and that I needed it. When the owner gave me a nice inexpensive price for both, I picked them up. There was one Browns card that I needed in the starter pack.

L: 2001 NFL Showdown 1st Edition #102; 2001 NFL Showdown 1st Edition - Monochrome #103

The great thing about the game is that they had a wide selection of players for each team, with 14 Browns in the set. This becomes the only Browns Stalin Colinet card that I own. He only has two - the second is from the following year's NFL Showdown set.


The Monochrome cards have blank backs. If anyone is interested in the cards for their team, send me an email and if I still have that team I'll send them along. Click here to see the checklist.


I still have one more Arizona post to go, and then I'll move on to other recent additions to my collection.

Digging through monster boxes

Continuing on the cards that I picked up from Showtime Sports Cards in Tempe, the following are cards that I found while digging through a handful of monster boxes labelled "Football".


About a wall and a half of the store is lined with shelves that contain monster boxes. The baseball monster boxes are sorted by teams, the others seem to be sorted by sports. Elsewhere there were boxes of cards that were marked as dollar boxes (or 12 for $10).


The big flaw to my going to this store was that I didn't have a wantlist with me, or a list of my collection. I had my tablet, but there was no Wi-Fi to access. I was going to be operating by memory as to what cards I had or needed. I knew that I would wind up with some doubles, I just hoped it wouldn't be too bad.


I had about two hours to spend before I had to leave to meet friends for dinner on Friday night. I can't remember how many monster boxes I went through in that time, but I know there were plenty more that I didn't get to that I will have to look at on a future visit to my mom in Arizona, likely at Christmas.


I ended up pulling just over 100 cards from the monster boxes, and upon getting back to my mother's place and checking them off against my collection, I found that I needed just under a third of them. I think that I was given a price of just under $0.15 a card ($15 for the lot), so the ones that I needed came out to around fifty cents each, which I am fine with.


Let's take a look at these new additions to my collection.


1992 Upper Deck Comic Ball 4 #83 and #84

See Porky Pig? Browns card.


The best Hallowe'en costume that I ever saw was a guy that dressed up as Pepé Le Pew and acted out the part with every black cat he came across. Think about it? How many black cats do you see women dressed up as at Hallowe'en parties? Yeah. And they ate it up! Even those there with their boyfriends. Man, I wish that I had thought of that.


1992 Upper Deck Comic Ball 4 #161 and #174

I know that I haven't read the whole story from the various cards, but I'm slowly whittling my way down the ones that have Porky in his Browns uniform.

1994 Stadium Club - Frequent Scorer Points Vinny Testaverde #4

This was interesting to find. I'm always thankful to people that saved their contest cards from various sets. This is the first of the five Vinny Testaverde cards to join my collection.


If you want to read the rules for the contest, here you go:

According to the records that I keep on the Trading Card Database, I already own the redemption card for Testaverde.

Top: 1995 Pro Line #189
Bottom (l-r): 1995 Pinnacle Dial #DC 24; 1996 Topps #395

I knew that I needed all three of these cards when I looked at them, but I had no clue that the Mark Rypien card even existed. It was a pleasant surprise.


These are the only cards that I found that I needed from the old Browns. The rest are from after the Browns returned in 1999.

Top (l-r): 2000 Collector's Edge Masters #41 and #43
Bottom: 2000 Collector's Edge Masters #44

Are these supposed to represent the computer age for Y2K? I'm not sure, but they don't have the most attractive backgrounds. The photos are fine, the printing on them is great and easily readable, but that background. Ouch.

L-R: 2000 Pacific Private Stock - Silver #22 (#/330); 2000 Playoff Momentum - Star Gazing #SG100

Here are two players that are linked together with the expansion Browns. A lot was expected of them after their rookie seasons as you can see on the back of Kevin Johnson's card.

Also from 2000 were these double-sided cards that I had no clue were double-sided until I got them home. I hope that I didn't miss some other cards with a Browns player on the back.

L-R: 2000 Playoff Absolute - Tag Team Tandem #TTT-15; 2000 Playoff Momentum - Rookie Tandem #RT-10

Backs of the above cards

Now, as you can see, the Errict Rhett to the left makes that card a Browns card on both sides. The Northcutt card shares it with a Bronco. From looking at a checklist online, the Momentum set definitely has at least one Browns player on the back side of the card. I'll have to be more aware of that in the future.

(L-R): 2000 Quantum Leaf #66; 2001 Donruss Elite #21

Top (l-r): 2002 Topps Debut #110; 2007 Bowman - Gold #274
Bottom: 2011 Topps Rising Rookies - Combine Competition #CC-BL

Top (l-r): 2009 SP Authentic #90 and #143
Bottom: 2011 Panini Totally Certified #24

Along with D'Qwell Jackson, here are some cards of various players the Browns have had on Offense over the years. (I was going to say offensive players over the years but thought that could be misinterpreted.)

2002-03 UD SuperStars #262

Here is another card that I had no idea existed. The funny thing is that I already had a Tim Couch card from the set, but I wasn't aware that there were two other Browns on split cards with players from other sports. Now I'm missing Andre Davis with Rick Nash of the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Top (l-r): 2002 SAGE #10; 2009 Upper Deck Draft Edition #121
Bottom: 2008 Playoff Prestige #176

Here are a few Browns draft picks in their college uniforms, and I'll close with a player in his college uniform that I always forget to grab when I look for Browns draft picks.

Top (l-r): 2011 Upper Deck - Class Of #CO4; 2011 Upper Deck College Football Legends #36
Bottom (l-r): 2011 Upper Deck College Football Legends - All-Americans #AA-CW; 2012 Upper Deck #12

Charles White won the Heisman Trophy in 1979, and was drafted with the 27th pick in the first round of the NFL Draft by the Cleveland Browns.


In four seasons with the Browns he rushed for just under 1000 yards, and he was released before the 1985 season. He has admitted to having a cocaine addiction during his period with the Browns.


Following his release from the Browns, he signed with the Los Angeles Rams where he played for his old college coach and led the league in rushing in 1987.


Although I can see why I forget about his as a Browns running back, as one of their draft picks cards of him in his college days belong in my collection.

2016 Panini Prizm Browns cards

While in Arizona over the weekend, I popped into Showtime Sports Cards in Tempe, a store that I had been to last Spring with Corky from the Pack War blog.


I did a quick walkthrough of the store before digging into various boxes of cards. On the counter were a few piles of 2016 Panini Prizm Football, a set that had just been released. I asked if the cards were for sale, and picked out one of each Browns card that I came across.

Top: 2016 Panini Prizm #128
Bottom (l-r): 2016 Panini Prizm #138 and #148

The cards look similar to Panini's previous years with clean writing and good pictures. Sadly, though, they have a tendency to pick up fingerprints and dust. It might also be nice to include the player's position on the front but that is a minor quibble.


Here is a card back:

As you can see, the most current season along with career stats. For Isaiah Crowell it is a two-year career. It might be nice to show how many seasons are included in the NFL Totals line.


The card lists height, weight and birthday, but doesn't include college or draft position. (In Crowell's case, Undrafted from Alabama State.) I know different Panini sets list different things, but it is still information that I like to see.


The back picture is the same as on the front of the card but the background shows up cleaner.


The player's position is listed under the players name, underneath the team logo, and the card number is nice and clear in a good position at the top left of the card.


I liked the write-up on the back.


All in all, I like the card backs.

L-R: 2016 Panini Prizm #158 and #168

This completes the veteran Browns players from the base set. Interesting enough, all the cards end in 8 and are in intervals of 10. I haven't checked a checklist but assume that Panini has done that for the other teams as well.


One of my pet peeves is getting cards late in the season of players that didn't make the team. Brian Hartline was released by the Browns on May 23, 2016. I guess the lead time for sets is over five months with the end of October release of this set. No matter, it is still a Browns card for my collection, and I do like the photo that they used.


I didn't come across any Prizm versions of any of the Browns veteran players, but I soon realized while looking through the cards that the rookies only came in Prizm form.

Top (l-r): 2016 Panini Prizm - Prizms #207 and #213
Bottom: 2016 Panini Prizm - Prizms #248

After not drafting any wide receivers in 2015, the above three wide receivers were all drafted in 2016, including Corey Coleman with their first round pick, number 15 overall. He is expected to come back from a broken hand this week.


In Coleman's absence, Ricardo Louis has been seeing a lot of playing time, and has made some nice catches but has to work on not dropping as many balls that he has.


Higgins has had limited playing time so far this year.

L-R: 2016 Panini Prizm - Prizms #256 and #265

I'm not sure, but I think that DeValve may have caught his first career pass last game.


Ogbah, the Browns second round draft pick this year, has looked pretty good and is leading the team in sacks at this point of the season.

You can see that the Prizm backs are marked as such, and that the rookies' cards include the same points of information as the regular veterans' cards with the most current college year being shown along with their collegiate career total.


I ended up picking up five of the seven Browns rookies cards, still needing quarterback Cody Kessler and  wide receiver Jordan Payton.


The store didn't have any other Browns parallels, inserts or autographs so I'm sure that I still have plenty of cards to chase for this set.

Some pre-vacation cards

Last night I got back from spending five days in Arizona for my mother's birthday. I had a great trip, hit one card store, and have a bunch of things to create posts with, but first I want to deal with some random cards that I had picked up between my mailbox and a local store and posted about before I left.

(L-R): 1995 Excalibur - Rookie Redemption Gold #15; 1995 Action Packed - Quick Silver #110

I'm probably going to get confused as to where each card came from, but I believe the Excalibur card was from an eBay auction, and the Action Packed card was from the local store. I had the base cards for both and am happy to add the parallels to them.

Top (l-r): 1999 Playoff Prestige SSD - Spectrum Blue #174 (#/500); 2002 Bowman's Best - Blue #49 (#/300)
Bottom: 2000 Pacific #95

I would try to keep remembering where the cards were from but really, I would probably get it wrong so there is no point. The important thing is that they are all needed for my collection.


The funny thing with that last sentence is that I then picked up the same card at the Arizona store over the weekend. Oh, well, it can join my very large pile of Browns doubles.

Top (l-r): 2008 Topps Rookie Progression - Veterans Gold #PV-BE (#/199); 2009 Topps National Chicle - Mini #131
Bottom: 2009 Donruss Certified - Certified Potential #20 (#/1000)

The Browns have spent many high draft picks on wide receivers over the years. Edwards was a first round pick in 2005, while Robiskie and Massaquoi were both second round picks in 2009.

L-R: 2011 Bowman Sterling - Refractors #42 (#/299); 2012 Topps Chrome - Blue Wave Refractors #BW-43

Two ex-Browns still playing in the league - Sheard with the Patriots, and Benjamin with the Chargers.


I like the different color bordered Topps Chrome refractors but the Blue Wave ones really stand out.

(L-R): 2013 Panini Prizm - Prizms #14; 2013 Topps Chrome - Xfractors #13

More shiny parallels, but without the colored borders. Not that they are shown here, but I do like that both cards are identified on the back as parallels with the printing of "Prizm" and "Refractor" by the number.

Top: 2014 Panini Certified - Sky's The Limit Red #SKY29 (#/249)
Bottom (l-r): 2014 Panini Prizm - Orange Prizm #158; 2014 Topps Chrome #55

Going through my cards I was surprised to see that I was missing the base card for Josh Gordon in the 2014 Topps Chrome set. Maybe that is because the refractors weren't marked as such and when I looked in my binder I realized I had two refractors...  Sigh.




Top: 2015 Bowman - Rookies Rainbow Gold #82 (#/399)
Bottom (l-r): 2015 Panini Contenders Draft Picks #53; 2015 Panini Contenders Draft Picks - School Colors #15

Well, there's the Vince Mayle sighting among these college uniformed cards but it doesn't have any logos - he was a Washington State Cougar. You can see the Baylor Bears and Miami Hurricanes represented on the licensed Panini cards.

Top (l-r): 2015 Score - Scorecard #122; 2015 Score - Scorecard #401
Bottom: 2015 Topps - Pink #474 (#/499)

A few more parallels. None of the players above are still with the Browns.


I figure that I might as well end with this Vince Mayle card since I don't think I picked any up in Arizona so it could be a while since we see another one.


It should be fun watching the baseball tonight. As a neutral fan it is great seeing a series go seven games. One fan base will be really happy to see their team finally win. I'll be very happy for that fan base as I understand what it is like to have your team not win in your lifetime. (And as a Browns fan a title seems so far away - I just want to win a game this year!)