Been a little while....

Well, sharing one computer throughout the household is kind of tough.

Before, it was easy for both me and the wife to get online, usually at the same time and do whatever it is we do on the internets. Now, well, it's a ;itt;e more difficult. We have to realize itnernet time is now two times as long as it used to be.

So, that is the primary reason haven't posted in five days or so.

But, today, we have a reason to be posting. I had two very important maildays on Friday (though, no scans, so I will be eBay borrowing for the sake of my blogdom) plus my workday Monday involves ample travel and the chance to eat at an American restaraunt (fast food places just aren't the same in Germany, so nothing has made me feel like home yet).

Anyways, on to the mail. I recently won two cards on eBay I needed for my auto'ed letters project:

I now only need two U's and another A to complete the project. Lucky for me, I have both of the U's on their way in the mail as we speak, so now I am only searching for that last A to complete the name. I am SO pumped about that.

As for work Monday. The Executive Officer of my troop and I will be heading on a trip to Mannheim to pick up some equipment for our entire squadron and then meeting three other from our troop in Rammstein to turn in a ruined M-4 weapon. After all that is done, we plan on stopping by the $10 million hotel, shopping center and food court area. There is a Macaroni Grill and Chili's on post and we plan to eat at one of them (most likely, Macaroni Grill). And, since I have never eaten at a Macaroni Grill, I have been promised the food is fantastic. I will definitely report back on that.

In other news, the Tennessee Titans are 0-2 abd look like they are on their way to 0-3 if they cannot come back to defeat the NY Jets. On a positive note, the Texas Longhorns are undefeated and have a bye week next week, to rest up and begin to prepare for their matchup with OU in three weeks.

Until next time, take care everyone.

Indians, Baseball Cards and Random Wax

Well, David over at Indians, Baseball Cards and Random Wax has been giving away cards through his random randomness and I was the recipient of one of his random packages.

And, well, random it was.

I will start off with the first card I saw in the package (and it was a package, I mean seriously it had eight "packs" and a few oversized cards on both sides) and probably my favorite in the whole thing:

Yep, that's THE Data, from one of the greatest 80's movies, The Goonies. One of my favorite 80's characters, Data (or Short Round, as you Indiana Jones fans may know him as) provided many laughs and great contraptions throughout the movie. If it wasn't for Corey Feldman, he would have been my favorite person in the movie.

Next, this group of cards caught my eye:

Not sure what set this is or what product it was in, but I really like the looks of them. Thee Tri-Fold "BAT" cards are really awesome, showcasing great players and great moments in the history of baseball. Anyone with more info on them, please drop me a line, as I would like to get a complete set for a little cardboard project I have in mind.

Now, here is the center of my burgeoning new collection focus:

Yes, Checklists. These 8 checklists now bring me up to, wait for it, as it is a staggering amount, EIGHT checklists. Ok, they are my first ones in my collection, but still. I mean, who really collects these? I could totally corner the market on checklists before anyone notices. Yeah.

This package wouldn't have been complete without:

Country Gold. Your country favorites turned collectible favorites. Some real greats in this set. I am havign a tough time finding a box or cae of this stuff, so I can really chase after some of the hard to find cards, so I can have the COMPLETE set of 40's to early 90's country music legends.

No package would be complete without some random game used and autos and David provided me with a nice little handful:

I am really digging the RJ/Schilling one a that year was one of my FAVORITE World Series I can remember. LuGo, Schill, RJ and the like brought real joy into my life (especially when they lit up Mo Rivera). Not to mention the fantastic Tom Lampkin auto. A catching legend if you ask me.

And, to end the package, my ssecond favorite card in the package and now my favorite looking modern (post-90's) baseball card:

Seriously, how great is that. Stealing bases AND he looks like a thief? Seriously, great idea Topps. Seriously.

Anyways, thanks again David for the fantastic random package. It really brought a smile to my face and made for a fantastic day searching through the package.

My Old Computer

So, the computer I had been using to write my blog was this crappy refurbished one that was running Wimdow 2000 on it. During the TT-UT game last night, it took a crap on me.

The external battery and plug basically seperated when a part of the wire was lacerated somehow and it cut through all the cords that mattered.

So now I have to wait and see if I can find the right fuse for my desktop and get that fired up again.

Until then, I will post occasionally using my wife's laptop, but probably not too often.

I will try to keep up to date with everyone's blog and will try to post at least twice a week, to keep everyone interested ;)

So, until then, just check back occasionally, as you probably won't miss anything if you wait a few days.

Running Blog: University of Texas Longhorns vs Texas Tech University Red Raiders

Just a little heads up, but I am SIX hours ahead of the Eastern Time Zone, so I will be listing my times in Central European Standard Time, as it will be much easier for me that way.

1:47 am: I get to watch the game on Armed Forces Network (AFN). In order for the 13 or so AFN channels to be free, they are not allowed to show real commercials. So I just saw a commercial on stopping your battle buddy from committing suicide. I can only hope he stopped a Texas Tech fan from harming himself (morbid, I know).

1:51 am: Quick editors note: I will be scanning in cards and uploading them to photobucket throughout the duration of the game. If I lag behind on things, well, I apologize. Photobucket slows my internet down :(

2:00 am: Bathroom break. Gotta get it out of the way before kickoff. Then, stopping in the kitchen to grab two Ripits, the last piece of pizza and something else to eat during the game.

2:11 am: Just found out that both of the starting QB's in this game (McCoy and Potts) grew up AND attended high school just an hour away from where I grew up in Texas. McCoy in Tuscola and Potts in Abilene. Hmm.

2:14 am: Texas kicks off. Holding call on the return on Tech. Potts is a 6'5" behemoth, but TT needs you to be more than just big and strong to run the offense. JaMarcus Russell need not apply.

2:18 am: So far the Tech offense has looked pretty flawless. Outside of a penalty, every play has netted positive yardage. Potts has hit FIVE different receivers already. Franks with a great catch while being hit and then falling down. Probably gonna review the play, just for safety's sake.

2:22 am: The Tech offense did fairly well. Penalties hurt their drive, with three penalties setting them back enough to let the Longhorns defense get a solid 3rd down stop. A Tech field goal opens the scoring for the game. 3-0 Red Raiders.

2:26 am: Anyone notice how soothing Brent Musburger's voice is? With all the year's he has been on the Saturday Night Game on ABC, his voice has never changed. Even in crushing defeat (like any OU-UT game that ends in an L for the good guys), Musburger's voice still makes you feel good. Not sure how I feel about Kirk Herbstreit yet. Will make a decision by half time.

2:28 am: Didn't know it, but Nate Newton's son is a running back for the 'Horns. He is considerably smaller then his father. Quite surprising, honestly.

2:31 am: First Texas drive ends in a punt. Amazing punt for Texas, as they down it inside the 5. Seemed like it hit a Red Raider's helmet on a bounce, might be seeing the ball awarded to the Longhorns at the Red Raider 1 yard line when we come back from the break.

2:34 am: Well, it was early contact by a TEXAS defender. Oh well. First play of the drive, false start on the offense, 1st down from the three yard line.

2:36 am: Texas Tech 3 and outs, so they have to punt. Punt returned by Jordan Shipley.....46 yard touchdown return for Shipley. 7-3 Texas :D

2:42 am: Penalties, Penalties, Penalties, Penalties. That's 4 penalties on TT so far. Last year Texas was holding down the negative yardage, seems the role is reversed. Hoping this Raider misfortune continues throughout the game.

2:46 am: Add another penalty to the Tech side. 5 in the first quarter? That does not bode well for a team who NEEDS this win to make any headway in the Big 12. I must also note that Arkansas currently leads a high ranked Georgia team in the 2nd quarter.

2:49 am: Another Texas Tech offensive drive, another punt.

2:54 am: Tech shut down Texas and now Texas came back and shut down Tech. 3rd and 9 and the Texas defense forces a Potts fumble, which is then recovered THIRTY-TWO yards BEHIND the line of scrimmage at the Tech 14. Time for a Tech punt, which is three drives in a row now.

2:56 am: Musburger just drops that today is "National Talk Like a Pirate Day". He uses no pirate jargon, thanks god. *UPDATE* For all those Astros fans and anyone who owns Hunter Pence in a fantasy league, Pence just homered in the Astros/Brewers game.

3:05 am: Texas FG, 10-3 Texas. Nothing too exciting happened, just a nice long catch. Other than that, ho-hum college football.

3:09 am: What's that Ref? Another penalty on Tech? Oh, thought maybe you had something different to say. Make that SIX now.

3:12 am: Fumble. Roosky. Texas ball. Just great defense all around on this drive. D-line is really getting to Potts and the back 7 are really getting after the ball carriers.

3:16 am: Damn. First mistake by McCoy leads to a tipped ball and an interception. Tech ball going the other way. Here's hoping for another big stand by the Texas defense.

3:19 am: Another Texas Tech possession, another punt.

3:20 am: Editor's note: I don't think this live blog will last past the first half. Hard to enjoy the game as much as I want to and blog at the same time. In fact, expect my last update probably after the current Longhorns possession, as this has been too much typing already.

3:25 am: Texas tried the Wildcat formation. Fumbled snap. Really gotta watch the mistakes with the game still being so close. Very impressed with the Tech defense.

3:33 am: I sound like a broken record. Texas Tech offensive possession, Texas Tech punt. Sucks for them, good for the Longhorns. Now, if only they could capitalize on offense and open up their lead some.

3:37 am: Will Texas score again before the half? Did ANYONE see such a defensive first half between these two teams? I mean, seriously, can we see some fireworks in this game?

3:45 am: My last update of the game, until maybe the end. Looks like we are going into the half with the score still at 10-3 in favor of Texas. Here's to hoping for more points being scored in the second half (and Colt McCoy will hopefully look a LOT better as well).

Running Blog

No, not a blog on running.

But a running "LIVE" blog.

I am going to attempt a running blog during the Texas Longhorns vs Texas Tech Red Raiders game in about an hour and 45 minutes.

Feel free to hang around, email me, instant message me (anicolausk on YIM, xxprojectmayhemx on AIM) or post comments.

I will be responding to EVERYTHING posted, emailed or IM'ed, most likely on the blog.

So, if you feel like 15 minutes of shortlived fame, feel free to stop by and shoot a question, comment, concern or wacky idea at me.

My Auto'ed Letter Project

When the By The Letter autos came out over the last few years, I noticed some people able to get the complete run for some players (I have seen the complete Chad Billingsley and Hunter Pence runs from 07 SPA on the FCB boards) or just some sweet names spelled out.

This past Spring, I started my own auto'ed letter project: spelling out my sons full name with autographed letters. Whether it be from SPA, Finest, Razor, what have you, I wanted to spell his whole name; first, middle and last.

His full name: Hunter Nicolaus Kates, named after Hunter Pence, of the Houston Astros. So, obviously, I have and still aim(ed) for BTL autos of Pence, but they can be pretty pricey compared to others.

So far, I have these letters:

I have an S, just didn't scan it by itself for some reason.

I also won an N and an A recently on eBay, so those should be here soon. Plus, I have been waiting on a trade for some time now from The Bench (thebenchtrading.com) that has an auto'ed U in the deal. If I get those three in, I will only have the two letters left (A, U) and then I can begin to work on the second half othe project.

I am going to work on getting a really sweet photo of my boy swinging his little baseball bat (he is only 19 months old) in a uniform onesie he has and then getting it blown up into a 16x20. Then, I will put all the letters in the same type of holder and have the letters and the picture professionally framed. And then hang it in his own bedroom, next to the Tennessee Titans banner and Hosuton Astros metal baseball.

So, if anyone happens to have an autographed U or A, PLEASE let me know so we can work out a deal.

Blue Refractory Goodness

Ah yes, the vaunted Blue Refractor from Bowman Chrome. Some like the Gold, some the Red, others just the super elite Superfractor.

Me, personally, I prefer the Blue Refractor all day everyday.

What better blue refractor to show off then my Hunter Pence autographed blue refractor:

 

For some reason the scan just NEVER seems to do these justice (though, it may also just be my scanner that causes them to look this bad). But take a look at it. Look at how the blue auto just pops with the all blue border. It seems as if it even brings out the Astros uniform. Those of you who own/have owned one of these bad boys (any kind of Bowman Chrome blue refractor) know what I am talking about.

They look even better when associated with teams who wear blue. The Dodgers, Rangers and Cubs blue refractor cards look PHENOMENAL when it displays a player from one of those teams wearing their blue uniform variation.

If you do not have one of these blue bad boys, I highly suggest you find one and pick it up.

These should be highly cherished. They are not as super exclusive as the 1/1 Superfractors, but also not as widely available as the regular refractor or even Xfractors. Which makes them an easy to find, aesthetically pleasing add to any personal collection.

6 in 30: The Only Binder I Have

So, I am a little late on this, but it is tough for me to get to my scanner on a regular basis.

The girls over at Dinged Corners came up with this idea, to grab a binder and pull out 6 cards at random in 30 seconds or less.

As I only have one binder with cards in it, I only had one to choose from. So, without further ado, but:

1990 Topps Craig Biggio #157

You know what I love about this card? It shows Biggio playing his original position, as a catcher. As an Astros fan, I tend to think if Biggio would have stayed behind the plate, he would have been the greatest catcher to ever don the Astros star. Instead, he is the greatest 2nd baseman in team history. Not too bad, huh?

 

2003 Topps T205 Javier Vazquez #113

To start off, this is a card of my favorite pitcher, Javier Vazquez. Secondly, I love the look of these "remake" sets, to go along with A&G, Cracker Jack and the like. It's too bad he has jumped around so much between teams, as he has always been pretty damn dominant while he has been in the National League (as he is proving again this year).

 

2001 Upper Deck Decades Jose Cruz, Sr. #45

Just look at that hair. Such a majestic flowing mane on Jose. Not to mention the slightly confused look on his face. Is he constipated? Is he considering smiling or just thinking. Maybe, he is just truly confused. One may never know.

2002 Fleer Tradition Lance Berkman #477

Here's another one of those awesome cards I like so much. Not so much a remake as a reminded of when cards were truly great. A great photo of Berkman and one of my favorite card designs of the last decade.

 

2001 Fleer Tradition Richard Hidalgo #394

Possibly my favorite Astros player in the history of the team, I love that this card showcases the Hidalgo swing that probably resulted in another one of his long blasts. Not to mention, it drops mention of him being a league leader in home runs.

 

2006 Topps Allen & Ginter Roy Oswalt #37

I absolutely LOVE A&G and to top it off it is a card of my favorite Astros pitcher, Roy Oswalt. He is quite possibly the most underrated starting pitcher of the past decade in pro baseball.

Well, that was my 6 in 30. Check out some of the blogs in my Roll Call section to see others who have done this, even though it was done much earlier this week.

Longhorns, Titans and the opening weekend of the NFL season....

Now, I know I try to keep this blog strictly to baseball and baseball cards, but my second sports passion is football.

Growing up in Texas, I was surrounded by football. From my crappy high school team (was in the book Friday Night Lights and the movie, San Angelo Central) to the Dallas Cowboys to the Texas A&M Aggies.

But the two teams that have ALWAYS had my loyalty have been the University of Texas Longhorns and the Tennessee Titans aka the Houston Oilers.

Add in my love of fantasy sports and dedication to reading, watching and learning almost TOO much about sports and you have a life long addiction to my teams.

Texas did open their season last week with an easy win against a patsy, something I assume they will do this weekend as well.

The Titans didn't fare as well, losing 13-10 in overtime to the defending Super Bowl champs, Pittsburgh Steelers. I tough way to lose the season, especially after forcing a fumble with 54 seconds left and not even ATTEMPTING to get the ball down field, but I still see them finishing with about 11 or 12 wins and a high playoff seed.

As for the fantasy aspect, I decided to scale my amount of teams this season down to one Yahoo league and two serious ESPN leagues.

I will only bore you with the roster from the Yahoo league, as it is a keeper league. The league stats that are different then a normal league is that we count receptions and use individual defensive players, which adds a different dynamic to the league entirely.

On to my team roster:

QB- Donovan McNabb, Chad Pennington
RB- Chris Johnson, Brandon Jacobs, Kevin Smith, Rashard Mendenhall, Earnest Graham, Fred Jackson
WR- Roy Williams, Lance Moore, Anthony Gonzalez, Vincent Jackson, Josh Morgan
TE- Dallas Clark
K- Robbie Gould
LB- Demeco Ryans, D'Qwell Jackson, James Farrior
DT- Shaun Rogers
DE- Richard Seymour, Trent Cole
S- Gibril Wilson
CB- Chris Tillman, Chris Gamble, Leon Hall

I have already made one trade, sending LaDainian Tomlinson, Marques Colston and Michael Griffin for Brandon Jacobs, Anthony Gonzalez and Vincent Jackson, which I think REALLY helped my WR core out better.

Anyways, keep a look out in the sidebar, where I will be keeping my overall record and other tidbits every week for the team.

9/11.....the day that changed America Forever

I can still remember exactly what I was doing when I found out what happened 8 years ago today.

As usual, I was walking to school for another day in my Sophomore year. As I was walking towards my first class (JROTC, ironically), my buddy Brian pulled up next to me and told me to hop into his car. He then told me that a plane had hit the first tower.

Few seconds went by before it was announced on the radio that ANOTHER plane had hit a different tower. And then we heard about the plane in Pennsylvania and the plane that hit the Pentagon.

I remember that the only thing going through my mind was about all the people in the buildings. I wondered if ANYONE could get out of the higher levels alive and why it had happened. Then, we found out it was terrorism.

I remember being filled with hatred. Hatred of the men who flew the planes. Hatred of the men who had them crash the planes. And hatred of those who supported these men.

That was the day I determined I would join the Army. Only, it took 6 more years before I could. When I joined, I knew what I was getting into. I knew I would deploy. I knew I would have a target on my back. And I knew that I would be defending the millions of people back in the great country of ours, but I knew even more that I would be fighting for the people who lost their lives that day and have lost their lives since, because of that terroristic act.

I deployed to Iraq last year, though near the end of my units deployment, as I got there in the middle of it. But while I was deployed, the FOB where we were was attacked three times. I still remember the fear I felt the first time. And I remember the pride I felt the last, when I helped roll out a convoy carrying members of the Army I was in, to get them the medical attention they needed to survive.

So, today, of all days, thank your firemen, policemen and military members. Hug your neighbor. Tell your parents you love them. Never forget what happened and always remember the people lost.

They say freedom isn't free and as long as we let terrorists affect our lives, this will be true.

As for my thanks, I want to thank everyone who has supported the soldiers, the men and women, fathers, mothers, sons, daughters, husbands and wives that have served before me, with me and those that will serve after me. Without your support, what we do would be much, much harder.

If you read this, feel free to drop a comment about where you were and what you were doing that day. Everyone has a memory to share, emotions to show.

To read a few personal stories and comments, take a look at these posts by some other great bloggers:
Sully Baseball
bdjg610 Topps Baseball Blog
Indians Baseball Cards
Enough Already
Dinged Corners
NIght Owl Cards
A Cardboard Problem

Thanks everyone.

The Javier Vazquez Collection

 My Javier Vazquez player collection was the first player collection I ever really dove into. I had collected various other players when I was younger (Bagwell, Piazza, Bonds, Chipper) but those were short lived as I got older and realized they were VERY expensive players.

I chose Javy because he is always an underrated pitcher and his stuff is very cheap. Not to mention he has plentiful autos, inserts and great looking base cards. Plus, he has the whole multi-team career going for him, so I can go after multiple of his jerseys. Makes a memorabilia collection look even better with the sheer volume of different stuff I can get of him.

Sadly though, it seems as if that player collection of mine gets neglected the most. I find myself mainly chasing after Richard Hidalgo and Hunter Pence and kind of leaving Vazquez on the back burner. I guess things can be cyclical, so I am sure I will hop back on the Vazquez train and try to get a ton of his Braves stuff.

Anyone else kind of get into a player collection "rut"? Where you aren't really seeing anything you really WANT for the collection, even if you are missing a TON of base yet you just don't pick it up?

Blah.

77 years old....and still rollin' hard

I was going through my cards the other day and happened upon the oldest card in my collection-

                   1933 Goudey Johnny Vergez

 

Though not a superstar, fan favorite or Hall of Famer, this card holds a special place in my heart.

In his 6 seasons in the big leagues, Vergez never stood out for doing anything better than the next guy. His career high in home runs was 16 and his single best batting average was .278. He spent the first four years of his career with the New York Giants and finished his last season split between St. Louis and Philadelphia.

But those aren't the reasons why this card is so special. It is special because it was my first vintage card and because it is the oldest card I have ever held in my possession. I always hoped one day to add more Goudey's to my collection, as I believe it is one of the most gorgeous sets around.

I know it would be damn near impossible to complete as I doubt I would ever have the funds for some of the more expensive stars in the set, but maybe grabbing a handful of other '33's would make ol' Johnny feel a little less lonely next to the modern technology of Chrome and swatches of fabric on cards.

One day Johnny, we shall find you a friend.

Goodwin Case Group Break

Want in? Join at Baseball Card Nirvana.

Maybe you will be the lucky one to get the case hit, like some dinosaur DNA or something.

The '69 Miracle Mets: Tainted by the Koos?

It seems Jerry Koosman didn't have use the professionals at H&R Block to do his taxes every year.

As was broken over at the Core Contrarian, it seems that ol' Koos did his own research of tax laws and decided that he met none of the criteria to pay the government required taxes.

He was recently sentenced to 6 months in prison for non-payment of his taxes, according to Reuters.

So as to not steal his thunder, go read more about it from the Contrarian. His post is much wittier than mine would be.

1985 Topps....the last great Topps set?

Ok, probably not the LAST great set, but it was great because that is the year I was born :D

The reason I bring this up is that I recently picked up three of the bigger rookies from the set and it has sparked an interest in me to build the complete set. I have never attempted a set this old and I have never completed any set I have tried to start.

The three rookies I picked up were the USA McGwire, the Clemens and the Puckett, three current or SHOULD be future HOFers, steroid and PED allegations aside.

The '85 Topps McGwire. 10 years ago it would have cost an arm and a leg to acquire one of these cards. McGwire was at his ultimate peak after the home run record race with Sammy Sosa in the summer of '98. Now, you can grab multiple copies of this card for less than the price of admission to any modern movie.

Kirby Puckett was always a fan favorite in Minnesota, even after his playing days were over. You have to think he would have put up even better numbers had he not been struck by disease at such a young age. I don't remember watching him play much, but I have seen some of the highlights of his career and must admit I am saddened by the fact I never got to see him play in his prime.

Roger Rocket. A man who has turned his back on not one, not two but THREE teams during his playing days. He screwed over the Red Sox, left false hope in Toronto and lied to the Astros. Hell, he was never really considered a Yankee either. And what does he have to show for all that? Time in front of a grand jury, no friends, labeled a liar, a fraud, a dick, bad team mate yet never labeled a friend. Still to this day I regret ever cheering for him while on the Astros. And yet, I had to get his rookie card, just because he had to make his debut the year of my birth.

I will be going through my collection soon to see what I have from this set. If you have ANY '85 Topps cards, please drop me an email so we can work out a deal. I will be posting all my '85 Topps maildays and keeping everyone in the card blogosphere in the loop on the set.

Generosity in the baseball card world......

I have been on the receiving end of generous gifts or "freebies" in this little world of ours and I have also been the sender of gifts. But sometimes a gift can come out of the blue and really make you happy.

A buddy of mine on the FreedomCardBoard.com forums sent me a little package today. I had contacted him about a card he had that I was VERY interested in, but he regretted to inform me that he was intending on trading it to someone else for a Felix Hernandez auto he needed for his personal collection (he's from Washington, big M's fan, even bigger King Felix fan). But he also had a printing plate of an Astros prospect that he said he had intended to send me earlier, but had no address.

Fast forward to yesterday. I was talking to him on the boards and he mentions to me if I had gotten a package in. I hadn't checked the mail that day, so I didn't know.

Roll forward to this afternoon, shortly before lunch. I take an early lunch and run by the post office to see if I had anything important. A little junk mail, a bill or two and a padded envelope, addressed from Alex.

I crack that bad boy open, and see a personal, handwritten letter in there (so rare these days):

What's Up Anthony,

So, I was trying to snag a few Letterman Autos to complete your project but couldn't get any. Instead, I thought you would be more than pleased with these two goodies. It's been a pleasure getting to know you bud, keep having fun during the off work time with family & friends. I'll see you around hombre.

Alex (metallicalex777)

Behind that little note was a 2009 Bowman Rene Garcia CYAN Printing Plate, my fourth plate. Wrapped in a piece of paper behind that is a 2008 Allen & Ginter Hunter Pence AUTOGRAPHED CARD!@!@!@! This was the card I was originally interested in. I am guessing his deal for the King Felix fell through, so he sent it to me instead.

So, I just want to throw a quick shoutout to my buddy Alex in Washington for the VERY generous freebies. I will get scans up sometime in the next two days to show off these beauties.

Anthony

From last to......Fifth

So, over the last 7 weeks of the fantasy baseball season I clawed my way up from 11th of 12 into 5th place and one of the 6 playoff spots.

I was probably more lucky then anyone, was I had 4 winning weeks and 3 weeks where I was tied. A streak like that RARELY happens in competitive leagues, as I feel my dynasty league is very competitive. I finished last season 1st in the standings and 2nd overall (in the championship two weeks my team went cold while my opponents team went outrageously HOT).

Anyways, if anyone cares, here is my line up for playoffs. Derek Holland has ALREADY hurt me for this week, so I hope the rest of my guys can resuscitate my pitching stats:

C-Matt Wieters
1B- Lance Berkman
2B- Dustin Pedroia
3B- Clint Barmes
SS- Erick Aybar
CI- David Ortiz
MI- Jose Lopez
LF- Josh Willingham
CF- Angel Pagan
RF- Matt Diaz
OF- Vlad Guerrero
UTIL- Jason Bay
UTIL- Shin Soo Choo
Bench- Orlando Cabrera, JJ Hardy, Eugenio Velez
DL- David Wright, Nate McLouth

SP- Rich Harden
SP- John Lackey
SP- Zack Greinke
SP- Joel Pineiro
RP- Bobby Jenks
RP- Andrew Bailey
RP- Mark Lowe
P- Jose Valverde
P- Trever Miller
P- Peter Moylan
Bench- AJ Burnett, Clayton Richard, Derek Holland
DL- Erik Bedard

Throughout the season I was easily the most active trader, pulling off about 80% of the leagues trades, plus being extremely active on the waiver wire. Add in my deep farm team (which I was able to pull quite a few guys off of and then trade) and I was able to make my run to the playoffs.

Hopefully I don't fall on my face like I did last year.

I will keep everyone updated on my journey through the playoffs. I will also be listing my top 100 keepers for next year sometime by the end of the week, so keep that in mind.

As always, questions, comments, concerns, rambles, email me: anicolausk@yahoo.com