1980-2026 is finished and Go Rays!

Yesterday I recieved my SportLots package. It was helped finish a number of sets and a goal that I have had for a while. With the help from a majority of the cards in the box, I was able to finish my run of complete Topps/Topps Traded sets from 1980-2026, just in time for 2026 Topps Update to come out in a week. 

While most of the package were the missing cards from a few 1980-2026 sets, I also snagged some cards from the 2001 Topps Archives set, which will serve as cheap versions of more expensive Topps cards in various sets, as well as some Tigers and Rays. 

I'm not sure how I found the 1998 Topps Rookie Class Travis Lee refractor, but it was a cool, cheap card of the former phenom, so I added it to my cart. I was 4 cards away from finishing the 2026 Topps Stars of MLB insert set, so I got the Arrenado and 3 other cards. I have never really finished an insert set, but I was able to finish the 2026 Topps Stars of MLB and Titans of the Game insert sets from Series 1 and 2. I have a feeling I will try to finish the 2026 Topps Update set from getting packs, and I may go for the Stars of MLB set as long as I'm pretty close. The Archives Aaron probably saved me at least 20 bucks and is just as good as the original version. I never knew that 1993 Triple Play had cards of the Rockies and Marlins ballparks, so I picked up copies of those cards. I will have to add the card of Jay Bell milking the cow to my random things found on cards series (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3), as it technically replaces the 1996 Collector's Choice Rex Hudler as the earliest version of a cow appearing on a card. 

The card of Jim Beckett was a no-brainer. I would love to hear his thoughts on the Beckett debauchle. The Leo Durocher was a cool card. I feel like he should be in more vintage sets, but you don't really see his cards appearing in many sets. I had a chance to meet Sam McDowell a few years ago at a card show that I went to with my friend Jim. He signed a few cards for me, and I had a chance to talk with him about how his grandson Kevin McDowell won me a $25 gift card at Harry's Seafood when I picked him to be the player of the game at a Lakeland Tigers minor league tilt. Sadly, Sam passed away today.  There were a few cool manager cards in the '01 Archives set, and I picked up a few others like the Mickey Vernon and Casey Stengle.  

The Whitey Ford World Series card looked like a regular 1963 Topps reprint, but the back was done on a 1962 Topps design with a totally different number than the original 1963 verison. I guess I will file this card with the 2001 Archives Yankees. I added a few guys I found out were Type 1 Diabetics to my Favorite Player Collection in Scott Alexander and Adam Duvall. I've wanted a Diamante Foil Nick Fortes from 2026 Topps, and SportLots had a cheap on that I snagged. While I am nowhere near finishing the 1969 Topps Tigers team set, I added a few, including some World Series Highlight cards. 

I wanted to finish off some early 1997 Rays team sets, and with the '97 Bowman Chrome and Bowman Chrome refractor cards, I finished off both of those sets. I must've missed some Series 2 1998 Bowman Chrome cards, because I thought I had finished off that Rays set, but found I was missing a few as I put them into TCDB. There weren't many rookie cards I added with the order, but I did get the Travis Lee and Kerry Wood from '97 Topps Stars. 

My Rays have put me into a difficult situation. I am thrilled that they are up 2-0 on the Yankee$, but I respect the heck out of them, as well as the White Sox. I have a feeling that being up 2 games, that with a game of Fried vs Martinez, the Yankee$ could win. That would set a Cole vs Rasmussen game, which could go either way, and then maybe a Game 5 of Schlittler vs Peralta, which could be bad news for Tampa. Lets say that Tampa gets past the Yankee$. I have a feeling Cleveland is done, and I just think the Rays have the experience in the postseason and veterans to get past the White Sox. That puts them in the World Series. I have wanted to go to a World Series game in Tampa since 2008. I was living in Montgomery, AL, and it was just out of the question financially at that point in my life. In 2020, they made it back, and COVID was around, so the game was played with few spectators in Arlington, TX. This could be the best chance for me to see a Rays World Series game for the next decade or so. I just have a feeing tickets are going to be at least 500 bucks each, and at 3 tickets, plus a hotel probably, I just don't know if we could swing it right before going on a cruise. Does anybody know someone with connections to World Series tickets? 

I really hope anybody besides the Dodger$ make it for the NL. Milwaukee will be tough, but I think the Rays stack up well against them, and really Misiorowski is the only pitcher that will be difficult to hit. If LA makes it, Tampa may have a shot, but it's going to be very difficult. It's amazing what happens when ownership spends money. $tu $ternberg would have never pulled the trigger on getting Hicks or Peralta, and he would've never added the lights and technology that the new group added for the playoffs. Fans are showing up, and they will show up in droves with a new park in Tampa that is more accessable to Central FL. Sign Camineiro to a long term deal, and watch the season tickets start to sell. 

I've made a few purchases besides cards for the music stuff. Mainly an extranal CD drive for my laptop, which will allow me to upload a few original songs I have recorderd to CD, which I will send to my brother-in-law to do the AI stuff to. I also got a few 1/4 inch to headphone jack adapters so I can record some piano into my laptop. That will probably get done tomorrow or Wednesday night as I will spend the rest of tonight putting away my new cards. 

Thanks for checking out my latest post.

-Jeremy