Posting

For the first few days I will be posting an inventory of my Oliver Perez collection. I probably wont have much time to write about anything else - but I look forward to writing about just about everything.

From my new Sprint HTC Touch phone, the development of my 2 year old son, how I wish more players would take steroids and HGH so I have a more enjoyable product to watch on the field, to how Ollie fairs when Pitchers and Catchers report in just a few weeks.

I am excited to post - even if absolutely no one is reading. Because blogging is just a diary that you make public for the world to see - and since there are several billion to choose from - it is important to remember you are writing for yourself not the reader. I know full well I might get a few hits a day if I am lucky. Isn't that what blogging is all about?

2002 Bowman Draft Picks

Bowman is one of the most popular sets for rookie cards. With all of the variations it can mean a lot of the same card to buy. Some are serial numbers, and some are not. It makes organizing these cards fairly difficult - but if you follow baseball cards at all - these also tend to be the most valuable - especially the Chrome Variations. I am currently bidding on a lot of 4 Chrome versions on eBay, and I will not count those cards in this inventory. If I win this cards, I will post an update when I receive the shipment!

2002 Bowman Draft Picks

# BDP113

Shandard Version: 10

Gold Version: 6

Chrome Version: 33 including 3 graded - (1) PSA 10, (1) PSA 9, (1) BGS 9.5 - 10, 9.5, 9.5, 9.0

Chrome Refractor: 8 including 2 graded - (1) PSA 10, (1) PSA 9 - Serial numbers XXX/300 - 044, 053, 112, 152, 155, 170, 211, 248

Chrome X-Fractor: 5 including 2 graded - (2) PSA 9 - Serial numbers XXX/150 - 040, 101, 106, 112, 138

Chrome Gold Refractor: 2 - Serial numbered 05/50 and 24/50

2002 Upper Deck - Ultimate Collection

This card was also one of the most coveted rookies of the 2002 sets for a while (mostly in 2004 after Ollie's huge year). It was on the Beckett hotlist for a long time - and is just a real nice looking card.

Only 550 were produced and autographed.

2002 Upper Deck Ultimate Collection

#117

Currently own (11)

Serial numbers - ###/550: 008, 133, 138, 242, 246, 355, 374, 484, 541, 542, 546

My Oliver Perez Collection - 2002 Upper Deck SPx

This is one of the more desirable cards from Oliver's 2002 releases. There are 825 in existance, and was not released with the normal set. In 2002 Upper Deck released a product that provided updates for each of the sets it produced that year. In these boxes you could find the SPx, Authentic, Diamond Collection, etc. updates for the set.

2002 SPx

Card # 235

Of the 825 produced, I currently own 15

Serial numbers: ###/825: 022, 158, 203, 320, 341, 410, 501, 528, 550, 649, 682, 723, 733, 795, 812

My Oliver Perez Collection - 2002 Leaf Rookies and Stars

I guess I chose this card to be next for the same reason as I chose Donruss the rookies for the last one. One of the Auto's is the next card in the to be sorted pile!

2002 Leaf Rookies and Stars
Card #354

Current Inventory:
Standard Version - (1)


Longevity Version - (1) Serial # 02/25 (creases in scan are the tape on the hard case)

Auto Version - only 175 made, no serial #'s - (9) - one of which is BGS graded 9 (10, 9, 9, 9) with an Auto grade of 10

My Oliver Perez Collection - 2002 Donruss

I chose this card to be my first post on my Ollie Collection. Reason? There is no reason. This just happens to be one of the most recent cards I have purchased, and it is on the top of the two be sorted pile.

2002 Donruss the Rookies

Card #75

Current Inventory:

(23) of the standard card

Donruss put out at least one variation, actually only one that I have - but there may be others:

There is an autograph version of this card, and there are only 25 in existance. I now own 3 of the 25. The 3 I own have the following serial numbers: 05/25, 19/25, and 24/25 respectively.

First Post

Where to begin?

I am a huge baseball fan, always have been since my first time watching games in the early 80's with my dad. I remember watching a game and being in awe of the talent of Dave Winfield - The Hall of Fame Outfielder. He made an incredible catch with the Yankees - reaching back into the 3rd or 4th row. From that moment on he was my favorite player. In the mid to late 80's I started collecting baseball cards. By the age of 12 I had a NYS sales tax ID and was selling cards at local shows. I did it mostly to be able to afford more cards! In 1995 I graduated High School and went to College at the University at Albany. My favorite team - the Yankees - had just completed a 7-10 year period of mediocrity, I had no money for baseball cards - and although I was still a huge fan - I stopped collecting.

In 1998 I was turned on to internet fantasy baseball - on a now defunct site called smallworld.com. We had a lot of fun! The next year we moved our league to sandbox.com and we haven't looked back.

Sometime in this area I began collecting again - although not as fervently as I had as a child. Combine this with my addiction to fantasy baseball, and I started to root more for players instead of teams. The yankees are still my favorite team - but I need my players to do well - so I can win my league.

In 2002 a 19 year old rookie was promoted to the majors for the San Diego Padres - and based on his monor league performance and his age, I took a shot on him. Throughout the end of 2002 Oliver Perez made me a fan. He struck out 16 rockies in one of his first games! I started collecting his cards then, but just a little.

In 2004 after being traded to the Padres - Oliver looked like the next greatest thing. Players compared him to a shorter Randy Johnson - Barry Bonds said he was the hardest to hit against in the league. I bought a bunch of his cards at this time.

In 2005 and 2006 - I followed him pretty strongly as he remained on my fantasy team - but I didnt really buy anything. If you look at his record you will see why. It seemed to me like he was a flash in the pan. A Steve Avery of the 2000's. That kid that pitched too much too early and was going to fade into history as a could have, should have, didn't.

In the second half of 2006 - a pitcher for the mets (Duaner Sanchez) was in a taxi cab accident - and the mets needed a reliever for their post season run. The mets almost instantly made a trade with the Pirates for Roberto Hernandez. Omer Minaya being pretty shrewd - asked the pirates to throw in Oliver - whom they had given up on and sent to the minors.

This gave Perez the opportunity to get a fresh start, and work with "The Jacket" - Rick Peterson, the mets pitching coach famous for working with young pitchers (sich as the big three in Oakland in the late 90's). Oliver made progress - and showed much poise in a few post season outings - including the game 7 of the NLCS that the Mets lost to the eventual World Series champ Cardinals. Oliver pitched well enough to win giving up only 1 run - but the mets bullpen blew the game. This strong outing convinced me that he would succeed in NY, that Rick Peterson could turn him back to what he was before, and made me start heavily collecting his cards again.

This Blog will be updated everytime I have something to say, about anything really. It will mostly focus on Oliver's performance. It will provide links to articles about him. I will show off my collection of his cards, and talk baseball in general.

Since I am a Yankee fan you will see posts on that subject as well. My Fantasy addicition will sometimes have me post on other stuff happening in baseball. Following Oliver makes me follow the mets, so Mets fans may find some interest as well. I work in the wireless phone industry so some technology stuff might be thrown in as well.

I like to type fast, and I probably will not be spell checking - so expect typos. If those bother you - then don't read the blog!

I hope everyone enjoys reading my thoughts as much as I expect to enjoy posting them!

Bill