A bunch of McClanahan’s and Caminero’s

 I had a pretty busy last few days. It all started Wednesday. I rushed through work so I could get out at a decent time and meet Karen at her work. She had a work party in Tampa, and we had to get there around 6. Karen took 2 of her staff, and we all took the drive down to Tampa. Leaving from Daytona (where I-4 ends), we almost drove the entire highway (got off at exit 2). Her company’s ownership rented a yacht for the party, so we got to the hotel, changed clothes, and headed to the dock. 

The party was your typical work one. Food, some mingling, and an award ceremony. They had a bar, and I drank pretty good. Had a Modelo, Landshark, some IPA in a green can, and then a strawberry lemonade ale, and some berry cocktail at the hotel bar. The food was decent. Some really good potatoes, and a cheesy chicken. 

The award ceremony turned me off a little. You could just tell the ownership only cared about making money and wasn’t all about their staff, unlike the previous ownership. It did end on a good note, as Karen won the Executive Director of the Year award. I stood up, gave her a hug, and cheered like crazy when they called her name. Probably one of the greatest moments I’ve had this month. 

We got back to the hotel, spend an hour at the bar, and then went to bed. The hotel was huge, about 2 floors high, and was right across the street from Amalie Arena, home of the Tampa Bay Lightning. 

Amalie Arena behind the parking garage. 

We were up at floor 11 of 20. 

The view of the first floor from the 11th floor. 

View from the glass elevator. 

I’ll have to stay at a nice place like this for my 50th birthday. 

The plan on Thursday was to drive back to Daytona, and I was off, so I figured I would hit up K n T’s Sportscards in nearby Ormond Beach. 

The drive home was a headache for me, as the GPS took us on a few different roads instead of I-4, and I feel like it took longer. Then, the girls decided they wanted Starbucks, and they got some bad directions, and it added another half hour to the trip. I got to the shop probably 2 hours later than I wanted to, but still had time to dig through maybe 6 dime boxes, and the Rays and Marlins section of the dollar cards. Before I left, I went through a few piles of 5 dollar cards. I had about 15 dollar cards, 3 5 buck ones, and 91 of the dime ones at the end. He charged me 25 for the dollar and 5 dollar ones, and gave me the dime stack for free. I had my wantlist with me, and ended up leaving it there, but John from Johnny’s Trading Spot said that the owner has it, so he will either get it next time he’s there, or I’ll have an excuse to come back. 

The dime cards had a few binders that were organized by team, and that really helped me out. There were some good cards in them, too, as there were a handful of ‘98 Topps Minted in Cooperstown parallels. I found 3 Shane McClanahan rookies, including a ‘21 Topps rainbow parallel. If he can come back from injury this year, he could be a 20-game winner. The autograph came from the 5 dollar box, and was numbered to 50. I think the Arozarena rookie was from the dollar box. Man, I miss him already. 

Most of the Bowman refractors were from the dollar box. Caminero 1 was a ‘23 Prism from the dollar box. The ‘24 Chrome was from the dime boxes, and I got pretty close to getting the Rays set. 

The last 2 5 dollar cards were Johnny DeLuca and Osleivis Basabe autographs. DeLuca has a lazy autograph. I wonder what earlier ones look like. Caminero’s 2 and 3 are from ‘24 Optic, and a ‘24 Bowman insert. TCDB says I have 18 of his cards (plus some from my SportsLots order that I will add to the site when I get them shipped). I could’ve spent a lot more time (and money) at that box, but one of the owners kids was there and kind of in the way, so I took that as a sign that I needed to finish up. 

The Tigers cards helped me get more cards of their prospects. One of my favorites from this group was the ‘23 Donruss Sparky Anderson parallel. The blue, coupled with the colors of that era’s Tiger uniform are just great. 

I got close to finishing the ‘24 Chrome set of Tigers as well. 

I got some nice cards of some favorite players. DeLand native Nick Fortes had a number of cards in those dime binders, so I scooped them up. Stetson University alum Patrick Mazeika had a card in the dime box, which I needed. I was stoked to find the ‘99 Upper Deck checklist of Rolando Arrojo. The card highlights the Rays first win, and I almost picked it up on eBay after seeing it. After collecting cards since 1989, I figured I would’ve known this card existed, but the first time I saw it was on eBay a month or so ago. Now I have one in my collection. I wasn’t sure if I had the Quinton McCracken Minted in Cooperstown parallel, but I took a gamble, and it turns out I needed it. I might be able to complete the Rays team set of the parallel, as I have probably 6 or 8 of them already. McGriff and Boggs might be the toughest and most pricy, but it’s definitely doable. 

The Ryan Howard just snuck in the photo, as it was part of a stack of nearby cards I was putting into boxes. 

While not in my catergories of Rays, Tigers, favorite players, or Topps base cards that I usually collect, the last 3 cards were part of the (free) dime box cards, and I felt they were worth more than a dime. The Nola is a black and white parallel, which are always good trade bait on TCDB. Heaton Kjerstad could turn out to be a nice player, and a Chrome rookie is always a nice card to have of a player. When I saw the Robertson card, it just felt like something special because the photo was not your normal Topps photo, so I figured it was an SP or something. I flipped it over, and the all gold back revealed it was a Golden Mirror variation. Another nice trade bait card in the dime box. 

That covers it for the shop cards. On the way home from work on Saturday, I needed to pick up Christmas lights, and ended up going to both Target and Wal-Mart to find them. It was a good situation for me, as I picked up a Topps Holiday ball from Wal-Mart, and a ‘23 Panini Prism blaster from Target. The best card from the Holiday ball was a Cedane Rafela SP, along with a base Yandy Diaz and a foil parallel of him as well. The Prism box gave me an Alan Trammell base card, a Drew Jones base card, and a Blue Ice Jones parallel. I believe the Jones cards were rookies. 

Next 2 days at work are going to be the 3rd and 4th toughest days of the year, but I have a good team around me I believe, and I think I’ll get the help I need this year. Going in at 2 AM tonight and midnight tomorrow night. It works out for me, as practice for our Christmas Eve service at church starts at 2, and I’ll get out early enough to not only make practice, but maybe get a short nap. Maybe I’ll video some of the songs. The last one has the potential for a nice piano solo. 

I’m honestly looking forward to putting this year to bed. The appointment with the New Jersey doctor for Karen is January 9th, and I’m hoping the surgery will get scheduled soon after. If it can just go well and fix her breathing, that’s just going to be such a help. She can put all her effort into whatever she does, work, helping out with the house stuff, and we just won’t have to worry about if she can handle a full night out shopping, going on a date, or whatever. I hope she can recover very quickly, and after that, it might be enough to convince Karen’s mom that she’s not needed, and for the love of God, she might move out. If those few things can happen, my year would be 100 times better than last year, and I would give up getting any cards in 2025 to have that happen. 

I’m hoping for a nice 2025 Topps design. From seeing the ‘vote for card #1’ advertisements, I think I might have a little clue to what the design might look like, and if I have a free day off in the next week or two, I might try my hand at making a mock up of what I think it will look like, and we can see how close I was when the design comes out. 

I hope everyone has a merry Christmas and a happy new year. Thanks for checking out my latest post. 

-Jeremy