Bad Wax

With very little fan fare, the 2008 Team USA Baseball was announced and as many people already speculated, there were a lot of names that played in the USA side of the XM Futures game. This year you will have a chance to see this potentially potent team in action, but only if you are willing to travel to the Triangle in North Carolina. They have 4 games in the area, one in Cary at the USA training complex and three at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park. If you at all follow minor league ball you are probably very aware of the names on this list. If you aren’t then you should get to know them. These guys are going to be in the majors very soon and quite a few of them are going to make one hell of an impact. Here is the USA roster:

There are so many top 100 prospects on this list it makes my eyes hurt. I definitely plan to be at a least two of the games, trying to get some autographs. What I would really like to do is try to get some interviews for the website. I am curious to know what you guys think about this list of players and what you think their chances are in medaling. Also let me know if you are going to any of the games, it would be fun to finally meet some of my readers and fellow bloggers.

Well they did it again, of course not to the extent of the Tim Beckham and Kyle Skipworth signings, but Razor apparently has some dough to throw around as they went and signed the 106th overall draft pick, David Adams. Currently David is with the Staten Island Yankees and is not performing quite as well out of the gate as the Yankees were expecting.

He is 0.223/0/8/2 thorugh his first 86 at bats. As I know he will continue to improve, I think this is a good signing for Razor Entertainment. I just am wondering how many signings they are planning and when is the first set coming out? Or will this be more of a memorabilia deal? Where they will only sign memorabilia for Razor? It will probably be a mix of the two.

David was a former college player (University of Virginia) where he is currently set to play SS in the majors. In college during his 2007 season, he went 0.372/5/43/10, in 2008 he regressed a bit going 0.286/6/51/15. I am not sure how that will translate to the big leagues, but apparently Razor feels he is going to be a well sought out player. I am curious what Razor has in store for card collectors though.

Post update - Just finished with a email response from the president of Razor, Brian Gray, that more information will be released very soon, so stay tuned.  Very mysterious if you ask me.

As promised I am going to do a write up of the World roster for the All Star Future Game. There is a lot of talent on this team as well and this should be a fairly even match up (unlike in previous years). I feel the level of talent in the minors has gotten so much better. It’s almost like every pitcher can throw 90+ MPH and every hitter is at least a 2 tool player (speed or power being the second tool). The last time I remember a minor league level as high as it is currently is back in 1999. Serious talent was coming to the majors in 1999 - 2001. The best pitching prospects seem to be Phillippe Aument, Julio Pimental, and Hector Rondon.  The World team is absolutely stacked with hitting talent.  Elvis Andrus, Luke Hughes, Juan Francisco, Fernando Martinez, and Gorkeys Hernandez.

Just a reminder, this game is on July 13th at 12:37pm and will be broadcast on ESPN from 12:30 - 3:30. Since the game is sponsored by XM Radio, look for it on the MLB channels.  This is a must watch game if you want to see all these great prospects.

Pitchers

Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

The following players were replaced on the roster due to a Major League promotion:

Yesterday was the single busiest day for Badwax. I posted the schedule for the New York City All Star Fan Fest at the Jacob Javits Center and I had tons of people visiting the site for the first time. I have no idea if they will ever be back but I thought about giving you an update on the direction of the blog.

First let’s start with the current contest. I need a logo and banner for the website. So far I have had two logos submitted, but since I wanted this to be an actual contest I need some more. The two current contenders are:

Both are excellent but I want a few more before we all vote. The Prize for winning the logo and banner contest is an autograph, a game used and some bad wax. There are separate prizes for each contest.

The second thing I wanted to talk about is my current special for purchasing cards at the autograph card store. Buy just one pack and I will send you out a set of bad wax (It’s so bad it’s good!). All you have to do is enter the code BWX during the checkout. If you are unsure of where to enter it, send Rusty an email. To let him know you bought it through Badwax. If you haven’t seen the cards, they look as good as the pictures on the website and are as thick as regular cards. I have already gotton some autographs on them and they hold up really well.

Finally, I want to talk about the blog for a bit. You may have noticed a subtle change in the direction of the blog. Focusing more on prospects and undervalued players. I collect on a budget, so it’s very important that I get the right card for the right price. I know there are plenty of people out there just like me who can’t even afford a hobby box of Topps Series 2. So I decided to share my research of players, some of the cards I found online. I also am going to share addresses to send cards to players to have them sign (TTM - through the mail). I will still work on Operation Topps but since each post takes about 2 - 3 hours to complete, and I want this to be a daily blog, it’s going to take a back seat. At most I’ll do it three times a week.

Mario from Wax Heaven went through the same thing with his blog, which was originally a Jose Canseco blog. Where he was going to try and get every Canseco card. I want the blog to stay fresh and to be as informative as possible. If there is a player you want to see dissected on here, please email me at chemgod1000@yahoo.com. I like to think of this as collecting on a budget, or how to build a great collection of good and very good players for the price of a pack of cards. I hope everyone will enjoy the new content.

One final note, I have placed RSS feeds of my favorite blogs on the side bar. I am considering dumping the blog roll for this. If you are on my blog roll and don’t appear on the sidebar, please send me the link to your RSS feed and I will list you on the side bar.

Thanks again for helping me make this blog so successful!

Mike

This one goes out to my dad who alerted me about this amazing event.  This July 11 - 15 at the Jacob Javits Center in New York City, there will be an event called the DHL All Star Fan Fest.  For $30 a day you have a chance the get the autogrpahs of the following players:

2008 DHL All-Star FanFest: Legends Signing Schedule
(Subject to change)

Upon checking my email last night I stumbled across the 2nd entry for the logo contest!  This one is from Scott.  The gloves have been dropped and this is now officially on.  Here is Scott’s interpretation of the logo for this site:

It’s a fun take on the 80’s Topps wrapper (as if you didn’t know that).  I like it just as much as the rookie cup from yesterday.  Still no banners as of yet but the contest goes on for another 2 weeks so I’m not too worried.

In other news, this blog was mentioned in NJ.com, memories of Morris Plains, for me that is exciting being I grew up in NJ (Red Bank). So when I get a shout out from NJ.com it puts a smile on my face.  Yesterday the all time high of 372 hits was achieved, so for that I want to thank all of my readers.  I do try and make the site interesting, giving you a chance to read daily takes on bargain products.  I’m glad there are so many people out there like me, just looking to add to their collections without breaking the bank.

I have some new columns I am going to introduce over the next few weeks and we’ll see how they will take off.  I’ve gotten some great feedback about the Undervalued Wax columns which will continue.  I am trying to diversify the content on the site but it will continue to focus on cheap cards, boxes and sets.  Also as you know I am a bit of an autograph hound.  If you know of any free signings, please let me know so I can put it on here.  I found out about the Jim Rice signing about 5 hours before it happened, I’d like to be able to let people know days or weeks in advance.  Everyone likes a free autograph.

So that’s it for now, but check back later today as I will have an Operation Topps post as well as an Undervalued Wax column.  Have a great week for all of you who are lucky enough to have the week off.  I’ll be sweating it at work for the next few days.  I do however had the weekend off, maybe I’ll have some good stuff to post then.

I have had a few emails regarding this.  The first logo has come in and I like it! I’ll keep the contest open for a couple more weeks (since there is a holiday). Also don’t forget I need a banner as well!  Remember one autographed card, one memorabilia card, and some bad wax to the winners of the logo and banner contests.

This one is from Dan:

Thanks for your input Dan!  Looks great.  Just keep them going and email your entries to chemgod1000@yahoo.com.

I am not an artist, in real life I am a research chemist. I have no qualms telling you that I haven’t an artistic bone in my body and anytime I try to be artistic I flop. So after cleaning out my closet I have a ton of stuff I want to give away as prizes. First off I need a logo. I don’t care what it looks like, as long as it doesn’t break trademark infringements. I’ll put it out there for a couple of weeks. Send me your best efforts and then we will all vote on it. Secondly, I need a banner. Something that will mesh well with the rest of my page. The prizes are:

One autographed card of your choice (team or player)

One Game used card of your choice (team or player)

Some awfully wonderful bad wax of the late 80’s and early 90s.

There will be one set of this awarded for the logo and another for the banner. Winners will get their packages immediately because they are ready to be shipped. So please give me your best efforts and I thank everyone for helping me out with this in advance.  Email logo’s and banners to chemgod1000@yahoo.com.

Old logo:

If you have never read the JV’s blog, Treasured Never Burried, you are missing out.  He manages to learn about the meaning of life through his cards.  A truley gifted writer, I can only hope that one day I can write half as well as he does.  The post that inspired me to write this was about a card that will forever bond him to his father.

Sports and card collecting was introduced to me in 1978. I was 7 years old and started to learn the basics of baseball and I just fell in love with the sport.  It was a way for my dad and I to spend time together, a way for us to bond.  Every day after school when he came home from work I wanted to play catch and every day he did, he took me out and we threw the ball around, teaching me how to throw and catch and I got better over time.

He also started me on collecting baseball cards at that time.  My uncle and cousin were very big card collectors.  They eventually opened a card store in Morris Plains called Gordon Sports Collectibles.  I think it has gone out of business since.  I remember though the first cards I ever got were from the 1978 set.  My dad bought the whole set and then we put them in 9 card sleeves and in a binder. I still have that binder, it was from my dad’s work and everytime I see that binder a flood of happiness rolls over my body because I remember that day like it was yesterday.  Working in tandem with my dad to get it all into a binder.

Years went by and another brother and sister and my time with my dad was split by a third, but he always went out and get boxes of cards for me and him to open.  I remember how excited he always was to get these cards.  I think sometimes he was more excited than I was.  I remember we would go to Collingswood flea market in NJ and by set after set of cards.  We would go to the National Card Convention in Atlantic City and he would give me my allowance and tell me to go buy cards that I thought were going to be worth money.

We bought lots of cards, but he never kept any for himself, he always gave me and my brother the cards to keep.  I think my brother has unloaded a few of his autographs and cards.  But I kept them all.  Mainly I don’t want to get rid of them since they all remind me of the great times I had with my dad growing up.  I can’t put a price on any of the items, because if I got rid of them I feel that would be like getting rid of my childhood memories.

As I get older (I will be 37 in September), A year younger than my dad was when he introduced me to cards.  I now understand my he did what he did.  I have a lot of cards and someday I won’t be around anymore and right now I have no children but two nephews (too young to collect).  But someday I too will have to pass down my cards and bond with my son (when I have one), knowing that I may never be the perfect dad, much like my dad was never perfect as well, but atleast he will always remember the good time we had when he was younger.  Because the times I had with my dad when I was younger will be memories I will treasure forever.

So in the end, never underestimate the power of collecting cards and using it to bond with your children.  Those memories might be the strongest and earliest I still remember. This might be a couple of weeks late, but this is my father’s day give to my dad.  Thanks to JV for stirring up those memories for me and please don’t miss his blog, it is tremendous.

First off it was sweltering yesterday in the Triangle as the heat index soared to 103 by 4 O’ Clock. Being a fair skinned white boy, I get sun burned very easily, sometimes I feel like the kid from Powder. I Hunter was brave though and drove the 10 minutes (in traffic) to get to downtown Durham and go to the Team USA game versus the Chinese Tai-Pei team. I got there at about 5:45 (gates opened at 6) and already the autograph hounds were waiting. One guy had a box full of 08 UD USA cards, others had pictures and balls to get signed. Me, after a long day of trying to locate a wooden Rawlings Big Stick bat on the cheap (KMart for $17.99), I had a nice 34 oz wooden bat for the to sign. So here is a breakdown of what happened, Good, Bad and Ugly style.

Good:

Got the following players to sign:

Starters:

Ryan Jackson - SS - Miami (Fl)

Christian Colon - 2B - Cal St. Fullerton

Josh Fellhauer - RF - Cal. St. Fullerton

Hunter Morris - 1B - Auburn

Matt den Dekker - CF - Florida

Andrew Oliver - P - Oklahoma St.

Micah Gibbs - C - LSU

Reserves:

Mike Minor - P - Vanderbilt

Tyler Lyons - P - Oklahoma State

Kevine Rhoderick - P - Oregon St.

Kyle Gibson - P - Missouri

AJ Griffin - P - San Diego

Blake Smith - OF - California

13 total autographs out of 20 players. Also I got to park right next to the stadium (for free) since I got there early and I drive a Saturn (Saturn is the main sponsor).

Bad:

Players that didn’t sign:

Kentrail Davis - This sucks since he might be the best player on the team. Was in the middle of an interview the whole worm up time.

Mike Leak - Again not good since he might be a top 5 guy next draft.

Derek Dietrich - SUCKS! The main guy I wanted to get. Ran out of the dugout too fast and didn’t sign.

Kendal Volz - Just didn’t sign for anyone.

Chris Hernandez - Came out of lockeroom late.

Stephen Strasburg - Ditto

Ryan Lipkin - Bullpen catcher who was warming up pitcher.

Ugly:

It started to rain at 5:50pm let up at 6pm just in time for gates opening, I got down to the dugout and got 2 players right off the bat and then the rain just came down in sheets. This went on for about a half an hour, ten I went back down to the dugout to get some more autos. I really thought that getting autographs was going to be a wash since BP was not going to happen. I got very lucky though.

Next:

I’m going to go to the game versus team Canada in the beginning of August to see if I can get the remaining guys and guys that were on either Georgia or Fresno St. (Since they were in the college WS, they were left off the roster). So let’s see how that shapes up.

Picture of the bat: