I figure if I'm going to attract sports card blog readers to my blog again, I should post some stuff featuring more conventional stick-and-ball sports. I've been feeling a little rudderless when it comes to those sports, though, and haven't been buying much in the way of sportsball cards. My focus has been elsewhere, with a lot of wrestling and racing cards in the mix. A lot of my budget and focus has also gone toward hunting and camping gear, as I've been chasing elk and antelope with my coworkers, and in October my dad and I traveled to Kazakhstan to hunt Ibex together. But I still gather the occasional baseball or basketball card to add to my collection.
One player I started a collection for is retired pitcher Jamie Moyer, mostly through a large lot of cards bought on eBay in 2014. A week or so ago I got a wild hair and decided to see what Moyer had in the way of rarer stuff, like parallels and autographs. His career mostly straddled the junk wax era, so I wasn't sure if I'd find anything like that for him. There wasn't a lot available, but I did turn up this 2005 Donruss Elite Turn of the Century parallel, numbered # / 750.
The back of this card discusses Moyer's chase for 200 wins. He would eventually end his career with 269 wins, good for 35th all-time. There aren't a lot of active pitchers on pace to reach that mark, with the closest being Justin Verlander at 257. Gerrit Cole could get there with just over 8 more 15-win seasons. Most other guys are too old or don't have enough wins to get there.
Here's a picture of me and my dad in Kazakhstan with our hunting guides. It was a pretty wild trip to a remote area of the world. I'm glad I had the opportunity to go.
Thats how I went about with my eli manning search, went for the numbered stuff
ReplyDeleteThere are probably a lot more numbered Eli Manning cards than there are numbered Jamie Moyer cards, but it helps to add some focus to a collection sometimes.
DeleteVery cool photo of you and your father. If you ever need writing material, that trip would make a very interesting post.
ReplyDeleteIt was a pretty interesting trip, but a lot of it involves hunting stuff. Not sure this is the right audience for it.
DeleteI collect Jamie Moyer too. Though, I almost always forget to look for his stuff when I'm doing an order somewhere. Is your collection of his very extensive?
ReplyDeleteAnd wow, Kazakhstan! That's really exotic. I'm not a hunter, but do love the outdoors, and can only imagine the sights you must've seen. Are those your trophies in the picture?
P.S. It looks like you've gone full-on Grizzly Adams during your absence. I dig it :)
My Jamie Moyer collection is not that extensive, mostly consisting of a lot of cards I purchased on eBay several years ago.
DeleteThe stag skull is my dad's trophy, and the ibex skull is just one they had in camp. The ibex I hunted was a bit smaller. I lost feeling in two of my toes for a couple of months after that trip, I think the stirrups on the saddle irritated a nerve in my leg. I didn't take very well to the horse riding, but I was able to do enough of it to get through the hunt.
I stopped shaving and cutting my hair when I retired from the Army in early 2023. Not sure how long I'm going to let it get, but I am enjoying having hair for the first time in my life.
I second Fuji...I would enjoy reading up on the Kazakhstan adventures!
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