Cheese and Beer: Life Before The Strike #10

Once again, I am thankful for the information age that we live in. Namely, Al Gore's "Internet". Craigslist is an amazing site. Less beaurocracy than eBay, it's like an up-to-the-minute classified ad for anything and everything. Sometimes when it's slow at work, we'll all jump on craigslist and read aloud really stupid things people are offering for sale, or in the "free" section. On Adam Carolla's morning radio show, they have a weekly segment called "Who the 'F' Sells this 'S" in which they find an ad on craigslist for something really obscure (a collection of 4 blank VHS tapes for $7, for example) and then they call the person. They take this opportunity to perform a "Dr. Phil" session on them, pretty much implying that there are some underlying problems in the person's life, that they would be intent on selling such crap on the site. It usually is pretty funny, and most of the time they do indeed offer to purchase the items from the person.

I have been using he site to find folks interested in getting rid of baseball cards in bulk, for a relatively low price. This morning's research landed me on the doorstep of a uniform/shoe/used clothing/card shop across town...some nice old ladies who recognize the inherent sentimental value of every single baseball card. I had to call them to verify the correctness of their ad...2,400 assorted cards from various years and manufacturers for $20. The kind woman verified that yes, the ad was written correctly.

I won't judge the small gathering of overweight, twenty-something bearded guys in japanese trading card t-shirts that were at the store, sharing cards on the table and involving themselves in card games that involved mythical creatures or hybrid cartoon characters from Japan who have special abilities and odd names, for I am sure there are those who would judge this author for continuing to collect baseball cards into his late twenties.

At any rate, I went through some of the cards this afternoon and picked a few I'd like to share.

1995 Upper Deck Minor League #92 Deshawn Warren
Warren was at one time the top prospect in the Angels organization, eventually finding himself playing in the Brewers farm system his last of 5 seasons in the minors. I was sure this was the lone baseball card of Dwayne Wayne, but in '95 he was already teaching in Tokyo.

1989 Topps #167 Steve Searcy
He was the International League pitcher of the year in the minors, but his major league career didn't amount to much, carrying a 5-year career ERA of 5.38. Having never seen him pitch, I'm sure the scout that found him had to really talk the Detroit brass into his abilities, and...personality.

1993 Upper Deck #204 Mike Perez
The wizards at Upper Deck have once again confused the sh*t out of me.

Notice the card in his hand...

...and then zoom out again and look at the whole card...then at the small card again. HOW DID THEY DO THIS?!?!?!?!?!

1989 Topps Big #74 Mike Maddux
Currently the Brewers' pitching coach, I have found myself collecting his cards as of late...plus the Topps Big cards were cool.