11/26/2010-Anthony Mason In Store Apperance

Today former Knick Anthony Mason made a rare apperance at Last Licks in NYC. All autographs at this apperance was FREE! Since I need a Mason auto in the Knicks PC (and one of my mottos is if it's free, give me three) I ventured to Manhattan for the apperance.

When I got to the store, there was a small line formed and the session had already started. I wandered around, looking for something for him to sign. Originally, I want to get a mini basketball, but could not find any in NYC (Big Shock there) and I didn't know about the regular size balls, I settled for an 8x10. If anyone knows where I can get mini basketballs, please let me know. And not the generic kind either. I'd rather get the ones that look like the actual NBA ball and not the ones that have the Nike Swoosh.

When I got on line, there was only two people ahead of me, so I was able to get to Mase pretty quickly. He was very nice and asked if I wanted to make the signature out to anyone. I gave him my name and I now have a nice signed 8x10 of Anthony Mason in my Knicks PC, personalized. (Note: if you meet Anthony Mason at anytime and shake his hand. Be warned, he has a grip on him)

I was very happy to meet one of my favorite Knicks and it got me thinking, why do we not see any former or current Knicks doing any signings in NY? As a die hard Knicks fan, I would love a chance to meet the guys who donned the orange and blue and build my autographed Knicks collection in the process. I know Walt "Clyde" Frazier does apprances, but what about players like Willis Reed or Bill Bradley? What about Earl Monroe or Jerry Lucas? Or John Starks or Allan Houston? Im sure the Knicks fans would line up for a chance to meet these great players.

I'm not one to wait outside an arena or at a hotel for players and coaches to sign. My only chance to meet some of my favorite Knicks would be at an apperance. Gallinari is doing a signing in a week or two, then that's all. I hope the former Knicks will be doing more apperances. It was pretty cool to meet Mason and I hope I have the opportunity to meet more players in the near future.

My Yankees Wishlist

The Holidays are quickly coming upon us. Kids are starting to write their lists to Santa and dreaming of opening gifts on Christmas day. While most are dreaming of Playstation 3's, iphones or money, my wishlist shows something diffrent. And this list is not for my personal enjoyment either. No, I'm not greedy. I would be more than willing to share, provided the Yankees can put these players under my navy blue and white themed christmas tree:

1-Cliff Lee-Seriously, did you expect me to say anyone else? The man is one of the top 4 pitchers in baseball and would look great in pinstripes. The Yankees almost had him in the summer, but Texas jumped in last minute and gave up Justin Smoak for him (I wonder if the Mariners are rethinking on passing Jesus Montero), which worked out great for Texas as he pitched them to their first world series appearance. Dispite being on the shelf, he went 12-9 with a 3.18 ERA, 1.00 WHIP and averaged 7 k's per nine innings. A top three of CC, Lee and Hughes looks pretty nice.

2-Resign our own- Not that I expect them to leave the South Bronx, but resigning Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera are musts. Dispite being 40 years old, Mariano Rivera still posted great numbers going 3-3 with a 1.80 ERA, 33 saves and a 0.83 WHIP. Players know what's coming and still can't hit the cutter. That being said, I would be fine if the Yankees go year to year with him, like they do with Andy Pettitte. A 2 year offer is probably more likey though.
The Captain did show signs of age last year, posting his lowest batting average in years, hitting .270, but did hit 10 home runs in the lead off spot with 67 RBI's and 18 stolen bases while winning another gold glove. His value is immersurable to the Yankees and only the Yankees. I honestly think they will over pay to keep him, but quite frankly, he's earned it. He has one 5 world titles as a Yankee and will become the very first Yankee to collect his 3,000nd hit around June. When most people think of the Yankees, Derek Jeter is the player that pops into their heads.

3-Fix The Bullpen-For starters, the bridge to Mariano has been filled with holes and was very rickity. Kerry Wood, of all people, came in and provided a stable bridge when Joba Chamberlin could not. Mind you, Joba is coming into his third full year into the majors and now knows his place is in the pen. While I am hoping beyond hope that he finds what made him a cult hero before bugs took away his aura in Cleveland, I wouldn't be opposed to trading him either. His value is low, so for now, I'd keep him. Damaso Marte looks like he is out for the year. The Yankees pen will have a returning Alfredo Aceves, Boone Logan, David Robertson, Joba and not much else. For a while, Robertson looked like he was going to be the 8th inning guy, but that didn't happen. Maybe this will be the year he grabs a hold of it. Until then, I wouldn't mind the Yankees sniffing around Brian Fuentes, who was the Angels closer until a mid season trade to Minnesota and didn't allow a run during his time up there or Iron Man Pedro Feliciano. I also think another lefty is needed, so how about Scott Downs? He only held lefties to a .152 batting average. Grant Belfour is another 8th inning option.

4-And Finally, Coming Off The Bench-With Marcus Thames looking more and more like he is going to be playing in Japan next year, the Yankees will have a spot open on the bench. The possibilty of using Juan Miranda in this role is appealing, but highly unlikely. Instead, I would like to see the Yankees sign Bill Hall. He can play almost every position, batting .247 with 18 hr's in 344 at bats. I'd take that from a part time player, although the sentimental side wouldn't mind seeing Melky Cabrera come back either. Maybe coming back and playing along side his best buddy, Robinson Cano, will re-energize the Mellk Man and he can regain the playing form he exhibited as a Yankee.

So, here's to hoping Santa Cashman checking my list and going over it twice, cause another season of Javier Vasquez ould certainly not be nice.

Per Request....

I got a comment from Dodgerbobble yesterday. If you don't know who he is, he writes a great Dodgers blog, I highly recommend it. Like me, he is a collector of bobble heads and asked if I picked up any new ones since I last posted.

Have I got any new bobble heads?

Well, feast your eyes on these beauties.

I realized when I downloaded the pics that it really has been a while since I posted pics of my adds. I added 9 bobble heads since I last showed any off. I will start with this Yogi Berra Bobble I won off eBay.

It was a SGA from the Columbus Clippers when they were still the Yankees Triple A team. This was given away back in 2003 and is a real beauty. I love AGP bobble dobbles.

Next I have a Tino Martinez 2002 SGA given away by the Yankees (Hal, if your reading this, please start giving away bobble heads at Yankees games again.) at the old Yankee Stadium. The give away was sponsored by Hormel as they had that summer with other bobble head give aways with the Yankees. Tino is one of my all time favorite Yankees and I had been trying to add a Tino to my bobblehead collection for quite some time. Very pleased to have it.

I also picked up a 2009 Mark Sanchez bobble head which was given away by PC Richards at a New York Jets game. Well, actually from what I have heard they gave away a certificate to go and pick the knucklehead bobble up at a PC Richards store. So, most fans would jump into their cars and race all around New Jersey/New York looking for a store that had them. Seems a funny way to have a SGA, but I'm not too familiar with NFL give aways. I have only been to one and they gave away Shrek ears cause at one point, as former head coach Herm Edwards said, they won Shrek ugly. And yes, I did wear my Shrek ears at the game, thank you very much. A Jets win over Cincinnati.

I also picked up a Ken Daneyko SGA bobble head which was given out by the Devils on Ken Daneyko Night, when they retired his number. The giveaway was at the Continental Airlines Arena, which is now called the Izod Center, which before that was the Brendan Byrne Arena. Whew! Anyways, this one was done by AGP as well, although it looks different then the others I have. I almost mistakenly took this for a Forever bobble head.

I finally was able to add the NJ Devil bobble head to my Devils collection. He was a SGA at Continental Airlines Arena back in 2003. This bobble has been wily and elusive, evading my grimy hands on more than one occasion. Usually, this is a 50-75.00 bobble head. I managed to get it for a lot lower than that. Jeez, look at my desk. I'm shocked my boss hasn't hired a maid to clean it up.

And finally, I grabbed these guys, just cause I love Marvel superheroes

Although they are plastic, I think Funko did a great job with these. I found these at a Big Lots in update NY for 5 bucks each. I couldn't resist snagging them. No Spidey though and he's my favorite superhero. Him and Batman. I did put Wolverine back. Oh well, next time Logan. Avengers, Assemble!

Thoughts During My Lunch Break

First, before I go on, I'd like to take this opportunity to wish all of our vets a Happy Veteran's Day. This country is a free country thanks to the efforts of all you great men and women. I'd also like to say a special prayer to those who have made the ultimate sacrifice for this land.


I was doing doing a bit of thinking today. Has any of you ever felt like your collections were getting out of hand? Like you were spreading yourselves out a bit too thin? I have as of late. I have tried to add hockey, basketball and football to my collection as well as bobbleheads and figurines as well. Unfortunatley, my Yankees collection has been ignored, almost to the point where I really haven't added anything to it in quite sometime. I was looking at ebay this morning and I realized I am missing so much from this year's Topps. I'm pretty sure I do have most of the base cards, but I have none of the game used and autos. I'm really digging the manucatured bat barrell cards as well. So I have decided to go concentrate on my Yankees collection only for the time being. Unless I can make a trade, I will put all efforts into adding more goodies to the Yankees collection. I may actually post pics of what I own already so everyone can see the collection, which I think is pretty darn impressive.

I'll let you know what I add in the weeks to come.

November 10th, 2010

I'm going to change this blog up a bit. I have been wanting to for a long time now. I didn't want to just write a blog about new stuff I was adding to my collection. I wanted to make this blog a bit more personal than that. I just didn't know exactly what to do because I wanted to keep this a sports collecting blog and not really change that. Then, it came to me...



Why not write about myself a bit more? Maybe make it a bit more personal. Let you guys get to know me just a little bit. Granted, there is always the fear that you guys might find me boring and not read my blog anymore. But the more I think about it,the more it makes sense to me. See, there are days when I don't have any mail or really don't want to go off on a tirade on my teams and give my "opinons" on what they are doing wrong. Some days I just want to write how my day went and maybe vent a bit or share a special moment with you guys. I mean, I'm still going to talk sports and show off my goodies, but I want this blog to be more than that. I would like it to be a not so private diary about who I am.



So, let me tell you a little bit about who I am. I'm a 39 year old New Yorker. I currently reside in the Bronx, home of the world famous Bronx Zoo and New York Yankees. Where I live, well,to call it a dump would be an insult to actual dumps. It's a rough area. Anything and everything goes down around here and it's usually not good. As long as you mind your p's and q's, go about your business, your fine. Plus, my family has been in this building since 1974, so the natives know us and we are not bothered. Heck, the young holligans actually hold the door to my building open when I come in. As long as you say thank you and show respect, they'll do it all the time. Currently, I'm sharing the apt with my youngest sister as she is in college. I'm the bread winner. I pay everything here, which doesn't leave much for anything else. My sister's ok although I feel she takes advantage at times. I have had to pay far too many $200.00 electric bills than I'd care to remember.



I work in Manhattan as an accounts payable clerk for a background check company. I pretty much do all the grunt work for the finance dept. I spend my days faxing, scanning, filing, entering expense reports, cutting checks, taking phone calls and emailing the messages to our out sourcing spot in Mumbi and fixing/creating accounts. You know,the exciting stuff. The pay stinks, I only make in the low 40's, haven't had a raise in 2 years dispite my company buying up other company's and I'm pretty much treated like the bus boy of the office. I one time handed the CFO a check for his signature and he kinda threw it back at me after signing without looking up. At least I have people I kid around with and talk sports with. If I didn't, I might have walked around like a zombie the entire time.



I know times are tough. I should be thankful I have a roof over my head and a job that barely pays all the bills and I really dont want to turn this into a woe is me blog. I just feel that there is something better out there for me. I don't want to hate my job, my living situation or my life. I feel I can get more out of life the question is how? I feel stuck. Stuck in this apt and stuck in my boring 8:30 to 5:30 job, with no way out. Another question is, what can I do? My experience is limited to menial office duties although I have worked in call centers (ever talk with a guy who actually asks "who be this?" Not so fun).



I guess my ideal life would be going to a job I love, doing something that I love doing. Living in a nice place in Westchester (I am dying to get out of the city. I want to be a suburb man.) and having a nice car. Maybe even having a girlfriend. It's been a while for me,but I stay alone because until I clear up my issues, I'll never make anyone happy. I've been in too many crummy relationships. Time to have a great romance for once. And being able to bust boxes of cards whenever my geeky heart desires :D



Well, I guess that's all for today. It's 11:30 pm here. I want to watch Family Guy before I pass out and start another day in this wonderful life.



Thanks for reading.

Yankee Announcing

A great come from behind win by the Yankees put me to bed with a smile on my face. My favorite player, Mark Teixeira crushing a pitch over the Right Field fence which gave the Yankees back the lead and ultimately the game had me giddy like you wouldn't believe. However, something about that home run made me queasy. In fact, the whole game kinda bored me and it had nothing to do with the actual game it's self.

TNT had the brilliant idea to put Ernie Johnson, it's in studio basketball host, to be the main play by play announcer during it's coverage of the playoffs and, lucky me, he gets to work the Yankees-Twins series with John Smoltz and Ron Darling. Now, on paper, it's an upgrade from last seasons announce team of Chip Carey and Ron Darling. Darling was not the issue. He's quickly surpassing Tim McCarver as the best color guy in the game. I enjoy listening to him and will on occasion, watch the Mets so I can listen to him, even if I have to deal with the ramblings of Keith Hernandez. Chip Carey, on the other hand, was nauseating. I intentionally went to bars to watch the games, just so I couldn't hear him speak. when I heard that TNT fired him, I was beyond pleased. Then I heard Ernie Johnson speak. Now I'm wishing I was deaf. The home run call of Teixeira sounded like he was either not paying attention or just didnt care. I'm not asking for John Sterling over the top home run calls, but jeeze, it came at an important part of the game, at least make it seem like it. I wanted to reserve judgement on Johnson for another game, but it got me thinking about the Yankee Broadcasters.

If you watch, or listen to a Yankees game on either YES Network or the Yankees Radio Network, you will probably know that Yankee broadcasters are not really considered top notch. I miss the days of Bill White, Phil Rizzuto and Frank Messer when Yankee games were enjoyable to listen to. Bobby Murcer was a good one too, God rest his soul. The some of the announcers the Yankees have arent easy to listen to. If I owned the Yankees, heres who I would have doing the games:

TV Broadcasters

You can't go wrong with having Bob Costas as the lead announcer. He doing basball games for MLB Network now and is doing a great job. I always enoyed his announcing from when he was calling NBC Games of the Week. He's a Yankees fan since his childhood and it makes perfect sense for him to call the Yankees. He's the only one I would give a blank check to and work around his schedule, even if it means him calling only Yankee home games

If Costas turns me down then Kenny Albert would be my next choice, followed by Gary Thorne.
Yes, I will admit, it took me a while to warm up to Ken Singleton, he of monotone voice. But once I got past that, I realized he's a terrific color man and knows the game very well. He's also good for a fill in as play by play guy when needed.

Another who is one of the games better color men, Al Leiter is one I always enjoy listening to. I enjoy how he explains the game from a pitcher's view and often shows the views how a pitch is thrown. He is the perfect third man for my TV Booth

Radio

Michael Kay is currently the Yankees main TV guy. My problem is I feel he's a radio man, trying to be a TV announcer and it just doesn't work for me. I liked Kay when he was calling the Yankee Games on the Radio and that's where I'd stick him, but as the main guy, not John Sterling's sidekick.

Paul O'Neill is getting better as an analyist as each season goes on. I like his knowledge, humor and the chemistry that he and Kay have together. That's why I would stick O'Neill in the booth and hope that he continues to grow as a broadcaster.

I would keep the studio with Bob Lorenz (just keep him away from calling a game. Those of you who watched him fill in on games in Toronto and Seattle this past season know what I'm talking about) and Kim Jones/Jack Curry as roving reporter. I would love to hire Rachel Nichols to replace Nancy Newman as Lorenz's fill in and move John Flathery as in studio anylist.

I would let go of John Sterling and Susan Waldman. Frankly, I have had enough of the cheesey home run calls and missed calls. Waldman would be a hard decision, only because she has been with the team for so long and is a NYC staple, being she was on WFAN and worked Knicks games on MSG. Maybe I can give her an interview sgement for pre and post games on the radio. If not, then I would let her go as well. Originally, I also had Flathery going out the door as well, but watching him as in studio analyist, I think that would be the way to go with him.

I think this lineup works. It's not perfect, but I think it's a serious upgrade over what we currently are subjected to every year. And if it doesn't work, I'll be in cemetary's looking to bring Mel Allen back from the dead.

A New Blog Name and Random Thoughts

I finally came up with a new name for this blog. It's one I had originally thought of for it, but went with the previous one instead. Makes sense though. I collect cards and live in New York City. Why not just go with it. I admit, it doesn't have the comedic zing that Mike's Box of Junk has, but I think it fits pretty good.

Well, now that the Yankees made the playoffs, my only question is, how often will we see this sight? I'm not feeling too confident in this team right now. Seems that they have made too many mental errors on the field, the timely hitting hasn't been there and the pitching after CC and Hughes in the rotation has not left me with much confidence.

So, what am I hoping for during this first round?

1-This team is going to need the Alex Rodriguez from last years post season. It seems that since Johnny Damon, Hideki Matsui and Melky Cabrerra left this team, we haven't had that come from behind magic like last season. Granted, Marcus Thames and Nick Swisher has come through with some big hits when we have needed them, but I just don't feel confident that if the Yanks are down by 2 in the late innings that they will pull it out, like last year. A-Rod showed last season that he's capable of carrying this club when it mattered and he going to some how need to find that player and just demolish the Twins pitching.

2-We need Mr.November. Derek Jeter has never had as bad a season as he had this one. Batting just .270 durimg the regular season, he's going to have to step it up a notch and show that it's just an abberation and not a sign of serious decline. He's in his walk year and if he is going to be able to get the contract he wants as he matches toward 3,000 hits, he has to show he's still the man when the spotlight is at it's brightest.

3-AJ Burnett shouldn't be making a start until the ALCS. Seriously, does anyone have confidence in him right now? I sure as heck don't. He gave up we over a hit per inning, seems like his head is not in the game once he's hit and gets frustrated way too easily. Unless Pettitte's back is not good enough to go, Burnett needs to be in the pen. I have even less faith in Javier Vasquez, so he needs to be left the post season roster all together.

4-Joe Griardi needs to show some guts. I don't care what anyone says. He did not want to play Texas in the first round and managed for the wild card. How else do you explain Dustin Mosley pitching in yesterdays season finale with the AL East title on the line. If he really wanted that title, Phil Hughes would have been on the hill instead.

That said, I still think the Yankees will beat Minnesota. Won't be the dominating sweep like last years ALDS, but they will move on to the ALCS. My prediction, Yankees in 5 games.