In the mail 4/6/10

I love getting mail, especially bubble mailers filled with baseball goodness! 3 packages today to open. 1 for my wife and 2 for myself. Let's start with the wife's bubble mailer.

I'm so glad that Brooks Conrad made the Atlanta Braves team this season for several reasons, but the one main reason is now perhaps Topps will get him on a card in a Braves uniform. He had a 6 game stint in the majors (2008) when he was with the A's organization...but the wife doesn't want those cards. Even though Brooks was called up late last season I don't know of any MLB cards so for now we'll have to settle with minor league Braves stuff.

2009 Choice Marketing Gwinnett Braves #10

Since I wasn't buying baseball cards in the 80's I missed out on a lot of those releases, but thanks to eBay I've been able to pick up some Braves team sets for not a lot of coin. We'll start with the 1982 set that arrived today.

1982 Fleer
Bob Horner, Dale Murphy, Phil Niekro, Gaylord Perry

I knew the Braves uniforms were ugly, but boy do these cards do a good job of showing these off. I also have to mention the horrible photo quality. I know that digital cameras didn't exist in 1982, but couldn't have Fleer done a better job? The poses of some of the cards are also horrible. I was surprised at how little there are of action shots. Most of the pictures are of the players just standing around @ spring training or at practice. What fun is that?

And my last package was full of baseball "cards" from Panini? I didn't even know these existed!

1989 Panini Stickers
Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium, Jeff Blauser, Ron Gant, Dale Murphy, Tom Glavine

These are small stickers designed to fit inside an album I do believe. They are a little bit smaller than a traditional baseball card. The backs are rather plain just featuring a number and the cartoon knight logo of Panini. The Braves logo and stadium have that silver prismatic like background. I could care less for that effect, but seeing a picture of the old Fulton County Stadium brings back lots of memories when my late dad and grandfather would take me to games. I love odd ball cards and sets so I was very pleased with this purchase.

2009 Triple-A All-Star Brooks Conrad #24

During my wife's pregnancy last fall she watched a lot of Braves baseball. At some point during the season she became a fan of Brooks Conrad during his late season call up to the Majors. I was reminded of her "crush" a few weeks ago when the Braves Caravan strolled into Charlotte. Brooks was one of the players in attendance at the Wild Wing Cafe. I've looked and looked for a card of Brooks in a Braves uniform, but none of the major card companies depicted him as a Brave...but I was able to find this minor league card. So if you are reading this honey, act surprised when you open this envelope!