Trade With BA Benny, Plus A Really Cool Contest from the Daily Dimwit

Well, it was a trade over two months in the making (actually, I just sent me end of the deal out today), but it was definitely worth the wait. I struck up a deal with Mike who writes at BA Benny's Baseball Card Buffet for a few 2010 Topps Baseball inserts along with an Eli Manning and Drew Brees from my Classics box break. I sent him some really cool cards and I absolutely got what I wanted in return, including a card that has some backstory with me, but means nothing to most baseball fans out there.

There were plenty of cool Cubs cards, including two Chrome Sorianos. What makes all of these cards below really cool is that as many as I already have, these are all new to me. 

Along with a few Texans cards, I also got a couple of Ryne Sandbergs, including one of my targets, a 2008 Upper Deck Masterpieces card. For one, it's a great looking card and two, I love recent issues of retired players. It allows us to keep updating our player collections, plus they have the high-quality modern look of today's cards. He also included three 1952 reprints from the 2002 Topps set for my Brooklyn Dodgers collection. My dad, upon seeing the Jackie Robinson, said "Hey, I have that card. Maybe you'll get it next Christmas." <Fingers crossed>

The big hits of the trade were game-used bats of Mark Grudzielanek and Nic Jackson, as well as a Zach Hamill jersey card he won in a contest a few months ago, but the big pull of the trade for me was the auto of Jordan Tata. This is a card that would be a waste of a hit for most people out there, but it's a card I've wanted from Mike since I saw it on his blog last year.

In college, I majored in journalism at Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, TX and did my internship at the local newspaper, the Huntsville Item. One of my duties was covering the SHSU baseball team. In addition to us beating college baseball powerhouse Rice University and getting our butts handed to us by future Astros all-star Hunter Pence, I not only interviewed Tata after numerous games he pitched, but also wrote the local story on him when he got drafted. He may not have done too much in the bigs, but he did make it and it's always cool to have such a card of someone you've had some personal interaction with before they made it.

Finally, if anyone has the time, Sam at The Daily Dimwit is running an awesome contest for a box of Diamond Cuts Baseball from Tri City Sports. Tri City is an up-and-coming brand which features cut signatures of baseball legends, present-day all stars and even some Hollywood actors and actresses. The company is a brand-new sponsor of Sam's blog, so he would really appreciate any help to let Tri City know that their investment in him is a worthwhile one.