Contest Winnings from Bob Walk The Plank

Living in the internet age is a blessing and a curse.  When I was younger, I loved it and I knew everything about the internet, but then as I got older, or perhaps as the internet became more expansive, it passed me by.  I still love reading random history and news, thanks to the internet, though I am in no way a history buff.  I like geography much more than history to be honest.

The reason I bring this up is because on Friday I got a package in the mail.  Well, I got three to be honest, but one was one from Bob Walk The Plank.  I recently won  a contest on his page, and Friday was when I got the booty.  Before I started writing this I thought I would read about pirate history and read some stuff on walking the plank and the pirate code.  To be honest, I was a little bored with it so I started to read Pittsburgh Pirates history, and enjoyed it much better.  I always liked Three Rivers Stadium, and since I started watching baseball, I always liked the Pirates.  One of my first memories of baseball is game 7 of the 1992 NLCS.  I had watched baseball before, but that is a moment that stands out.  Their Black & Gold colors are the same as the Missouri Tigers, which is something I dig.

Anyways, nobody wants to hear me rattle on, you want to see some cards.  So that's what I'll show you.  As I opened the package, I thought of reading other people's blogs and how all were in agreement that Matt is one of the best traders and have the best contests on the internet.  In a nutshell, I was not disappointed in the least.

We will start with the Alex Gordon card.  I already have this card, but a second one works great for me.  I love the design though, and it would be a great card to get signed.  I'm thinking about going to the Royals Fan Fest in January and this would be the perfect candidate if I ran into Alex. 

The first thing that fell out of the package was something I knew immediately- a K-Mart set!  I had some of these as a kid and my dad had some sets.  I have the Royals cards from the set still, so I don't have to open this. Plus I've never seen a sealed set before with the wrapper still on it.  It has found a nice safe home now, thanks!

Next is the framed A&G Billy Butler relic card.  I've always said I'm not a big fan of mini's or A&G, but I have spotted these a few times and was curious.  These things are awesome.  This might also get me into liking mini's too. The piece of the jersey is from a road uniform.  That's pretty cool too.

The next card I love!  Zack Greinke was always one of my favorite Royals.  While most people were mad he wanted to be traded, I totally understood where he was coming from, and while I didn't like the people we got from Milwaukee, in the end it worked out great (we got Alcides Escobar, Lorenzo Cain, Jeremy Jeffress, and Jake Odorizzi, we also sent Yuniesky Betancourt, who eventually came back to KC for a while).  I have followed him since he has left KC, and while I don't care for the Dodgers, I hope he does well in the playoffs.  I've always wanted to get a Greinke autograph, and planned on getting one in the next couple years, so this is superb.

The next card has me a bit conflicted as it fits in two of my collections- Royals and Mizzou.  Luckily, my friend gave me an autographed Aaron Crow card for my birthday that fits in my Mizzou collection, so this one can safely go into my Royals collection.  Aaron Crow isn't the most loved pitcher by the Royals fanbase, but I still like him.  I think the biggest complaint against him isn't really fair.  When compared to dominant pitchers like Greg Holland and Wade Davis, Crow's numbers aren't the best, but I think they are ok.  I hope he can improve next year.  Even if he doesn't this is a fine addition to my collection.

Next we transition to another Mizzou player, Ian Kinsler.  He is another player I was planning on getting an autograph in the next couple years.  I enjoyed rooting for Kinsler when he was on the Rangers, but now since he is with the rival Detroit, I can't root for him as much.  Though it is nice seeing him play more often (more games against KC that is), and it's never bed seeing him and another former Missouri Tiger, Max Scherzer, on the same team.  This card is really nice look, and I like the card stock.  It's more cardboard and no gloss. I like how it looks bordered too.

This last card left me speechless.  I might have even shreiked.  Before I even saw who all was on the card I loved it.  I don't have a quad relic card.  The closest I have is a dual relic card of Joey Gathright.  This card blows that one away.  Obviously he chose it because Kinsler is on it, but let's look at the other players on it first.  I don't follow Adrian Beltre or Elvis Andrus a whole lot, but when I play MLB on Xbox, at some point or another, I usually sign Andrus or at least trade for him.  I wouldn't mind having him on the Royals in real life.  The piece of jersey is nice, as I don't think I have any jerseys with stitchings.  The Beltre jersey is really nice too, I actually forgot Texas wears grey jerseys too.  The fabric looks similar to the Yu Darvish piece, but its a little different.  I collect some Yu Darvish cards, so this gives me another reason to collect more of his stuff.

The Kinsler relic is a piece of bat.  It feels more like cork than other bat relics I have, so that is pretty cool too.  Overall this card is undoubtably the best card I ever received.  It also means I need to step up my game some in collecting more relics, I don't want these to get too lonely.

Thank you again Matt, I think since starting my blog, he has been the most welcoming, which really makes me feel welcome into the card blog brotherhood.  I hope I can return the favor, and I already have some cards ready to ship so I can start a trading partner.

Thank you all for reading, and have a great weekend.  A quick note, I was surprised the other day when I was looking at my stats and noticed my viewership skyrockted with my Major League post.  I sent a link to a Royals fan page, and they posted the link and I got almost 10x the readers.  while it may not have equated to additional followers or comments, it put my name out there, and I hope some of them stick around.  Thanks to all of them for reading, but also thank you to all the loyal readers, because you are the guys that keep me wanting to write.  Have a great weekend.