Christmas Haul 2012

-
My haul for First Christmas 2012

I think it's safe to say that I am the only person in the United States this past week who received a Juan Gonzalez Starting Lineup and was happy to receive it.

I actually received both a Juan Gonzalez and a Frank Thomas Starting Lineup, both, of course, were members of the CMC set.

The Starting Lineups were part of my larger haul from what my wife and I billed as First Christmas 2012. For the background on that, read back a few posts. With that, we decided to wait until New Year's to open our presents.

It was worth the wait, mainly because I recently discovered a cool local card shop and spent an afternoon going through the place for my Christmas list. That's where I found the Starting Lineups, both in the dollar bin.

I also found the cool Classic travel edition game from 1990, also in the dollar bin. (I guess I'm cheap to buy for) That'll be fun to go through at some point here.

Also at the shop, I went through stacks and stacks of cards, finding some cool cards of CMC set members. And some packs, on my list were packs of 1992 Donruss The Rookies and 1990 Leaf. Both were there.

There was a 1987 Topps rack pack there, too. I had my wife get me a box three years ago now. This one was significant because one of the cards showing was a card I could never seem to pull from a pack as a kid, and also couldn't pull from that box. It's the Rafael Palmeiro Future Stars card.

Showing on the front? CMC set member Ronn Reynolds. (Reynolds' feature from March 2011)

Speaking of 1987 Topps, there's the 1987 Topps Traded set. That's cool because, while I was very familiar with the base set as a kid, I never actually had the traded set. So the cards are all new to me, except the Andre Dawson, his first appearance as a Cub. I definately had that as a kid.

And speaking of Dawson, my lovely wife went off the list and spotted an old Dawson Expos pin in the store, one that I missed. Picked that up, as well. I love her.

The last baseball thing for First Christmas: One of our roadtrips for 2012. That road trip is to Pawtucket. I gave my wife a list of holiday packages and she selected that one. Came with a baseball and a mini bat.

So that's my cool haul for First Christmas 2012. And, for eagle-eyed readers, I did also get a banana phone extension for my iPhone and bacon toothpaste. I asked for the first one. The second one was just a bonus.

Browse By:

-Player Name
-Player Team
-Date Featured

Players A to Z

Popular posts from this blog

Marsalis Basey played minors baseball, college basketball

-
Image
Marsalis Basey started his pro baseball career in 1990. But, after one game, he went home, homesick, The Tucson Citizen wrote later. "It was a big difference from what I was used to," Basey told The Citizen in December 1992. "And I wasn't used to being away from home - at least not that far. But they told me I could leave and come back when I wanted to." The occasion for the interview was Basey's visit to Arizona as a member of the West Virginia University Mountaineers basketball team, where he played four seasons . Basey did return to the baseball field. He ended up playing over four seasons in the Astros system. He topped out at high-A. Basey's career began in 1990, taken by the Astros in the 16th round of the draft out of Martinsburg High School in Martinsburg, West Virginia. With the Astros, Basey got into that one game in the rookie Gulf Coast League . He went 0 for 5. He then returned home to West Virginia and joined the Mountaineers . He got...
Read more

Features from the 1990 minor league sets (By Date)

-
Image
What happened to your favorite minor league team in 1990? Find out here. Since late 2009, the players of 1990 have been featured at Greatest21Days.com, one at a time. Here, they've been ordered here by the date published, newest first.  Every player has a story. With the help of contemporaneous newspaper articles, find that story here. Most recent players added Dec. 1 ,  2024 Features in order of when the y appeared: February 2025  -  Doug Bair  did his job in major leagues over 15 seasons , 2/23/25  -  Nick Belmonte  played, managed, broadcast Florida games , 2/22/25  -  Mark Brewer  amassed coaching experience over long career , 2/21/25  -  Dan Shwam  had long independent league managerial career , 2/15/25  -  Jim Schifman  dreamed of pros, made it for eight games , 2/11/25  -  Steve Keighley  worked to hit over 4 seasons, made high-A , 2/9/25  -  Jim Doyle  helped Sal...
Read more

Samir Jarad played over two pro seasons, six pro games

-
Image
Samir Jarad was good enough to see two pro seasons, just not necessarily good enough (or healthy?) to spend much time on the field. Jarad's career proved limited to just six games across those two seasons .  He played all six of those games in the rookie Gulf Coast League. Jarad's career began in 1990, signed by the Astros as an undrafted free agent. Baseball stat sites lack references to his college or home origins. In fact, the limited nature of Jarad's career appears to have contributed to the lack of information about it.  Google searches, as well as searches at Newspapers.com, uncover no extra references to Jarad's brief career, including anything that fits with him prior to him turning pro. Jarad's first season consisted of a single game spent as a 19-year-old in the GCL. He's credited with three plate appearances, no hits and one strikeout. He isn't credited as playing in the field. From that brief appearance, Jarad appears to have still had enoug...
Read more

Jeremy McGarity played decade as pro, then became pastor

-
Image
Duluth-Superior staring pitcher Jeremy McGarity went the distance in this July 1997 win, giving up just six hits in the 9-3 win, The Sioux City Journal wrote . Afterward, McGarity spoke to The Journal about pitching with the lead. "It seamed like I started loosening up more as the game went on," McGarity told The Journal . "It was hot out there, but I prayed to God for more strength." McGarity pitched that year in his ninth season as a pro. He saw one more . He topped out at high-A. McGarity, though, referenced his faith in that game, something he'd later say came to him during his playing days. That has shaped his post-playing days, which he has spent in the ministry. McGarity's career began in 1989, taken by the Cardinals in the 13th round of the draft out of El Capitan High School in California. McGarity started with the Cardinals in the rookie Arizona League . He saw 14 outings, 12 starts. He went 4-5, with a 3.98 ERA. He moved to rookie Johnson City ...
Read more

A to Z: 1990 Minor League Players, Baseball Profiles

-
Image
What happened to your favorite minor league team in 1990? Find out here. Since late 2009, the players of 1990 have been featured at Greatest21Days.com, one at a time. Here, they've been ordered here alphabetically.  Every player has a story. With the help of contemporaneous newspaper articles, find that story here. Most recent players added Dec. 1, 2024 List of 1990 minor league players featured, in alphabetical order: Total: 4,457 A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z A  -  Bill Abare  got big hit at Dunedin, saw three pro seasons , 10/31/13  -  Glenn Abbott  saw bigs over decade, later turned coach , 7/27/14  -  Kurt Abbott 's first ML hit went for homer, saw 9 seasons , 3/22/15  -  Kyle Abbott  saw time in four major league seasons, Japan , 10/4/17  -  Paul Abbott  returned from injuries, made 11 ML seasons , 5/23/11...
Read more

Tommy Mitchell saw six pro seasons, never wanted to leave game

-
Image
Tommy Mitchell 's career didn't go the route of his brother Kevin Mitchell's, but Tommy Mitchell kept playing, The Reno Gazette-Journal wrote . He even went into semi-pro ball, before getting pulled back to the pros by his manager at short-season Erie and high-A Reno, Mal Fichman, The Gazette-Journal wrote . He played when he didn't have to. "The guy has played hurt all season," Fishman told The Gazette-Journal in August 1991. "He has torn cartilage on both sides of his right knee. Most other guys would have spent the entire season watching soap operas But not Tommy. He never wants to leave the game." Mitchell by that point had seen time in six pro seasons. That season at Reno proved his last. He topped out at high-A . Mitchell's career began in 1983, signed by the Astros as an undrafted free agent out of his native San Diego. Mitchell was also credited as Thomas Mitchell. Mitchell started with the Astros at short-season Auburn . He saw 70 gam...
Read more

1990 CMC Pre-Rookie Set

-
Features of each member of the 1990 CMC Pre-Rookie Set. Click the names to read about the players. Features were posted from 2010 to 2012. Cards Featured in the 1990 CMC set: 880 Players/Coaches Featured: 891 Number Who Made the Majors: 608 Never Made the Majors: 283 5+ Seasons in the Majors: 271 10+ Seasons in the Minors: 163 1990 CMC Pre-Rookie Set 1 - Stan Belinda , No Comparison, 9/22/11 2 - Gordon Dillard , Reasonable Success, 5/1/11 3 - Terry Collins , Life in Baseball, 2/7/12 4 - Mark Huismann , Way To Break In, 7/28/10 5 - Hugh Kemp , Big Story, 10/24/10, Interview 6 - Scott Medvin , Best Shot, 3/9/11 7 - Vicente Palacios , He Did, 9/8/11 8 - Rick Reed , Another Chance, 12/19/10 9 - Mark Ross , Got to Stay, 7/8/11 10 - Dorn Taylor , As Good, 6/21/12 11 - Mike York , New Start, 10/21/11 12 - Jeff Richardson , Family Man, 1/27/11 13 - Dann Bilardello , Big Moment, 6/24/10, Interview 14 - Tom Prince , Clean Hit, 4/2/10 15 - Danny Sheaffer , Uniform t...
Read more