INSPIRED BY DIVAS HOCKEY INK aka `07/`08 ITG O CANADA TRIBUTE

                  Thanks to Divas Hockey Ink a couple of days ago they had posted their cards from the `07/`08 ITG O CANADA & I made a comment of maybe I should show pictures of the ones I have in my collection. Well they commented back they would like to see them so without further Ado I decided to show what I have gotten in my collection of these cards including 4 stamped 1/1 that I got from cracking open 4 boxes of the O Canada at the National Sports Card Convention in Chicago at the time when these cards were released. 

I have included the list of the cards featured in the pictures in the order they are shown 

OLIVER FORTIER ITG O CANADA JRSY

DELANY COLLINS ITG O CANADA JRSY

LELAND IRVING ITG O CANADA JRSY

KENNDAL McARDLE ITG O CANADA JRSY

JAMES NEAL ITG O CANADA JRSY

JOHN TAVARES ITG O CANADA JRSY

JOE THORNTON ITG O CANADA JRSY

ERIC LINDROS ITG O CANADA JRSY

KEVEN VEILLEUX ITG O CANADA EMBLEM

MARC-ANDRÉ CLICHE ITG O CANADA EMBLEM

CASSIE CAMPBELL ITG O CANADA EMBLEM

BRADEN HOLTBY NSCC #’d 1/1 ITG O CANADA NUMBER

BRANDON SUTTER NSCC #’d 1/1 ITG O CANADA EMBLEM

JOE SAKIC NSCC #’d 1/1 ITG O CANADA EMBLEM

PETER STASTNY NSCC #’d 1/1 ITG O CANADA FORMIDABLE FOES JRSY

I've included all the autographs I pulled as well again I placed them in order in how they appear 

The autographs are as follows.

Alex Grant 

Bryan Little 

Colton Gillies 

Colleen Sostorics

Delaney Collins 

Jayna Hefford

Kim St-Pierre

Vicky Sunohara

Yves Bastein

Zack Torquato

                     When I first bought these boxes my local dealer at the time really didn't want to sell the product cause of not many people were warming up to the idea of this product that was around the time of the NHL Lockout season plus being from Michigan there wasn't much of a fanfare for them cause not many Red Wings were featured in the set. Other than Henrik Zetterberg for Team Sweden,Dominik Hasek for Team Czech Republic, Chris Chelios for Team USA all represented in the Formidable Foes part of the set with Steve Yzerman being the highlight for the host Canada Grads other future Red Wings like Darren Helm had his first card featured in this set along & another future Red Wings player of Mike Modano in the Formidable Foes but the hockey collectors in my area weren't to excited on these me on the other hand was glad my dealer had these boxes & for a great price at $30 a box back in the day. I was hoping to pull the Yzerman Jersey or autograph or even Hasek & I would have been happy but you see what I was able to get in the boxes with the exceptions of the 4 that were stamped with the 1/1 THE NATIONAL CHICAGO shown here more closely.

           I got those 4 at the National Sports Card Convention in Chicago that year after opening 4 boxes I was lucky cause they were the last 4 boxes the local dealer had & he was set up at the National & he heard that ITG was going to do something with them so he held back the boxes for me to pick up at his booth. So I could get the exclusives but had I lucked out & pull an Yzerman or Hasek Autograph or Game Used I would given my local dealer the card as a thanks for allowing me to get them but as you can see I didn't luck out but my streak of getting the hated rival Colorado Avalanche by getting Joe Sakic. The funny thing is I didn't get to pick what 4 exclusives I would get I had 4 raffle tickets that sealed my fate on them the last 2 digits on the ticket were the way they were redeemed.  I had to reach in a hockey helmet worn by Dr. Price himself wore it in a beer league game to make it fair so I couldn't look into the helmet & have knowledge of what #'s I would want. Regardless I am just happy with the ones I did get especially with a small & I mean small well......ya could say Itty~Bitty white on the Sakic card that was made into a 2 color emblem.  Well there you have it my slapshot from the center line back in the net via 5 hole with an assist coming from Divas Hockey Ink giving me the go ahead goal with this post so tell me what you think. Would ya be interested in a deeper look of the 2 Game Used sets I made the choices are the 2001 Upper Deck Decade 1970's Single Bat cards shown here.

The other option my 2010 Upper Deck Game Used Jersey cards. Another choice is see what hockey cards are in my 2 Row PC Box similar to the what was in my PC 5000ct box. Let me know in the comments below until then I am reminded of Rogers Hornsby once said about signing Autographs "Any Ballplayer who doesn't sign autographs for little kids ain't an American, He's a Communist."

IF I KNEW IT WAS THAT EASY PART II

 

                     Last week Monday I discuss about how easy its been for me to make the 1968 Topps set I have 76 cards(As of the date of this post) remaining to get for it to be complete but still I can't believe how close I am compared to the 1967 set. So I decided to show you the break down I have on teams still to get according to the TCDB.com site. Please note that some of the cards that feature more than 1 team like the League Leaders as well the World Series cards & combo cards like that of this card

are counted left to find for that team should someone like to send me the complete team set based on the TCDB.com site. Some of the teams had 1 which surprised me that I am close to having all of that team & 1 team which you see has a lot to find still I can only hope that I don't have to deal with the crazies of that team fan base in finding them if I am lucky to attend the National Sports Card Convention this year after getting fired last week from Dollar General. So without further ado here's the lists of the teams mind you back then there were only 20 teams combined 10 teams in each league which is why after if you saw how close the 1967 American League Pennant came down to the final week of the season & why they decided to split up the leagues into 2 divisions during the 1969 season to create the League Championship Series Games plus 4 expansion teams entered to play.

Atlanta Braves=3
Baltimore Orioles=4
                       Boston Red Sox=15 (Most of any team what ya expected from this "Impossible Dream")
California Angels=1
Chicago Cubs=6
Chicago White Sox=3
Cincinnati Reds=6
Cleveland Indians=1
Detroit Tigers=9
Houston Astros=4
Los Angeles Dodgers=1
Minnesota Twins=4
New York Mets=4
New York Yankees=4
Oakland Athletics=1
Philadelphia Phillies=1
Pittsburgh Pirates=6
San Francisco Giants=8
St. Louis Cardinals=9
Washington Senators=5

              So what teams shocked you that I lack that many of them still let me know in the comments below. While doing the research on the break down the 4 teams that I only lack 1 player still to locate was the shocker to me & you already read my comment about the team that has the most. With that said I hate to make this a short post but if I am going to attend this years National I best be looking for a new job instead of not making money so I can continue to look for these missing gems still until then I am reminded of what Rogers Hornsby said about signing autographs "Any Ballplayer who doesn't sign autographs for little kids ain't an American, He's a Communist."
 

TIME TO CHOOSE!!!!!!

 

                    I don't want to take a title from someone like fellow Blogger Bo of "Baseball Cards Come to Life" when it comes to choosing something like his Cake or Gum thanks to me his new series Burger or Gum so instead I went with Time to Choose. What are you choosing for me is simple I need to know which card should I use on my 1968 Spine of the notebook to identify it better the choices are as follows the card you see on top of the one shown here.

                Normally I would use the team card or an MVP of the sports winner of the previous year championship as you can see on my basketball binders I put either Michael Jordan or Bulls card to help me identify that set better.

So I ask you do I use the Team card or the Celebration card for it let me know in comments below thanks sorry for the short post but I am on the fence with this topic until then I am reminded of Rogers Hornsby once said "Any ballplayer who doesn't sign autographs for little kids ain't an American, He's a Communist."

DOLLAR GENERAL NO MORE!!!!!!!

             

                 Well I am no longer employed at Dollar General as of Wednesday. I got the word of my firing once I clocked in when our new store manager asked me to follow her to the back room. All I can say is I knew that it would come but not this soon. This comes after working 7 out of the last 9 days the only 2 days I didn't work were last week Monday & this week Monday. I came in worked when I wasn't scheduled cause the flu-bug was going around & I was the only healthy worker that came in working for the store manager when she was throwing up & pulling her hip out of socket & then another co-worker asked me to cover his shift cause he had Diarrhea & he would cover my shift the next day then call me then next day apologetically saying he couldn't do it & I had to do my own shift then cover for him on last week Friday which I did. Then on Saturday get called early in the morning by the assistant store manager to come in relieve her which I proceeded to do so cause she couldn't get a hold of the store manager or the district manager via texting & she had no one else to ask for help so I came in relieved her worked from 7:30 to 1pm only to have the store manager relieve me cause she thought she had enough strength to make it through the night shift even though she was still throwing up herself & before I left the store on Saturday I mentioned to her that if she couldn't finish Ill come back in & close which I ended up doing & this was even after I drove all the way to my folks cottage which 1 way is 99.9 miles away from where I work just to drop off my mother so she could spend the night with my father at the cottage soon as I left the store at 1pm only to return back to work at 5pm. 

                       The reason why I got fired was cause my productivity I didn't stock shelves when I was working alone in the store even though it's against store policy to work alone in the store & its impossible to run the register & stock the shelves at the same time. I have 2 jobs my other job is working at an elementary school but that's only for 1.5 hours & that's not going to help pay bills now I was suppose to be full-time & yet I was treated like I was part-time I would work at other locations just to get hours some of the times but that didn't matter. I rarely would ask for time off only for my trip to either to visit my friend Greg from The Collective Mind Blog or to attend the National Sports Card Convention or I had plans for my birthday or other family functions but like Cal Ripken Jr I would show up work even if I was under the weather myself I still made it in. I would even come in as I mentioned when it was my day off or if someone was sick or even in mid-shift I get called to relieve someone so they could get better very rare did anyone have to do that for me. Anyways as you read this I am on my way to file unemployment for the first time in my life not counting the time during the pandemic back in 2020 & to try to find another job so I can pay bills & continue my pursuit to complete my sets as well get cards & well Matt from Cards Over Coffee I hate to burst ya bubble but I haven't gotten any 2026 cards yet so your not the last one to get them. I am sorta glad I am not working at Dollar General cause the store was opened 364.25 days of the year the only day they weren't was Christmas cause the pardon my French FUCKING CEO TODD VASOS!!!!!!(He makes $2.1 Million a year nice to be that FUCKING RICH!!!!) believes we need to be open that much while some of us working in bad conditions earn a misely mid wage if anything.                             
                        Anyways I will continue with updates on my new job hunting as well hopefully give some more insights on cards I apologize for this non-card related post but I had to keep my loyal readers an update on my situation with my job capacity. Maybe just maybe if a card shop owner would like to hire this 50 year old to buy collections in the state of Michigan & get paid for doing it let me know Ill come work for ya or if the people who run the company COMC would like to hear a proposal from me let me know I have an idea that could work if out for both me & COMC until then keep reading my blog & I am reminded of the great Rogers Hornsby once said about signing autographs for little kids "Any Ballplayer who doesn't sign autographs for little kids ain't an American,He's a Communist."

A 43 YEAR OLD ROOKIE RETURNING TO DETROIT

 

                 Last month I was surprised when I got flooded with texts from my job at Dollar General about the new procedures we have to do now making my job more difficult to enjoy while I am working as well getting my insider news about a 43 year old Rookie by the name of Justin Verlander returning back to where he started from in Detroit. Am I happy that Verlander is back yes you could say I am. The reason I am hoping that Justin can find his old ways again this year & still be dominate like when he was a rookie back in 2005/2006. Last year when Clayton Kershaw retired from the game leaving Justin & his former teammate & good friend Max Scherzer in the hunt to become 300 career win pitchers. Clayton left with 77 wins away from the magic number of 300 career wins & Max is about 79 wins away. That leaves Justin 34 wins away going into the 2026 season. Randy Johnson remains the last pitcher to get over the 300 win amount. I hope that Justin can make the milestone cause fewer & fewer pitchers will reach it the way pitch counts are as well numerous Tommy John surgeries & lot of young arms a burning out fast. 

                      Another reason I am looking forward to seeing what Justin still has in his arm cause I like to see him win at least 17 games this up coming year & then have the Tigers offer him another year contract & in-between get Tarik Skubal to sign for another 4 years at least with an option for a 5th year contract so he can be mentored a little bit by Justin this year as well in 2027. Plus seeing Justin get #300 would be nice since the Tigers haven't gotten any pitchers who played in their career to have 300+ wins in a career the most famous teams of ex-players who gotten 300+ wins either played for the Yankees or Red Sox. I kid you not go through the list of the names sorry I'm doing this post via through my phone. By the way I have the card that featured on top of this post but mine is #'d 519/700 & its one of early pictures of Justin wearing his break out rookie #59 which he only wore during the 2005 season for the 2 games he pitched & not his familiar #35 & I am hoping that if Justin does it that the Tigers will retire #35 in honor of him anyways that's my take on this tell me my readers do you see Justin doing it or not let me know in the comments until then remember what Rogers Hornsby once I said about signing autographs "Any ballplayer who doesn't sign autographs for little kids ain't an American, He's a Communist."

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300 win club

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In Major League Baseball, the 300 win club refers to the group of pitchers — 24 as of 2009 — who have won 300 or more games. While the "300 club" is an informal group, becoming a member is among the highest accomplishments a starting pitcher can achieve. Several members retired soon after winning their 300th game; two retired with exactly 300 victories. All eligible pitchers with 300 wins have been elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Many observers expect the club to gain few, if any, members in the foreseeable future.

Contents

• 1History
  • 1.1Recent history
• 2Members
• 3Closest Active Players
• 4See also
• 5External links

History

The first player to win 300 games was Pud Galvin in 1888. Six pitchers entered the club in the 19th century, with a seventh, Cy Young, joining in 1901. Early in the history of professional baseball, starting rotations of two men were commonplace, giving the best pitchers far more chances to earn wins than in today's game. Conversely, the rigor required for a two-man rotation meant that most pitching careers didn't last more than a decade or so (Young being the major exception). In addition, the medical treatments then available were minimal; if a pitcher 'blew out his arm' then his career was over. Four more pitchers joined the club in the first quarter of the 20th century.

However, only three pitchers scored their 300th win between 1924 and 1982: Lefty Grove (1941), Warren Spahn (1961), and Early Wynn (1963). For Grove and Wynn it was the final win of their careers and each struggled in his last season to achieve it. This dearth of 300-game winners may be explained by the offensive explosion following the abolition of the spitball in 1921, changes in the ball itself, World War II military service (in the cases of Bob Feller and Red Ruffing), the growing importance of the home run in the game, and the lowering of the pitching mound following the 1968 season. As the home run became commonplace, the physical and mental demands on pitchers dramatically increased, leading to the use of a four-man starting rotation.

Then, in a mere eight years, between 1982 and 1990, the 300-win club gained six members — an increase of over 40%. This may be partly explained as a consequence of the era of free agency that began in the mid-1970s. Free agency led to unheard-of player salaries, which encouraged older pitchers to stay in the game longer than they might have in the past. Another part of the explanation is the increasing sophistication of training methods and sports medicine (such as the Tommy John surgery), which have allowed players to maintain a high competitive level for a longer time. Examples include Phil Niekro, who was still under 200 wins at his 40th birthday, went on to win a record 121 games after his 40th birthday and finished his career, at the age of 48, with 318 wins and Randy Johnson, who has won more games in his 40s than he did in his 20s. Many of the pitchers who reached 300 wins in this era, such as the aforementioned Niekro, Nolan Ryan, and Don Sutton, each had just a couple of 20+ win seasons and achieved the 300 mark by pitching well into their 40s.

Recent history

Changes in the game in the last decade of the 20th century have made the 300-game winner an endangered species again, perhaps more so than during the mid 20th century. The four-man starting rotation has given way to a five-man rotation, which gives starting pitchers still fewer chances to pick up wins. The physical and mental demands on starting pitchers have also increased yet again, thanks to the explosion in offense that has taken place since the 1990s. As a result, managers are much quicker to put in relief pitchers than in the past, particularly after the starting pitcher has thrown more than 100 pitches, even when the starting pitcher is winning the game. This increases the likelihood that a pitcher not get a win because of circumstances beyond his control. The 2006 season was the first time that no pitcher won 20 games in a non strike-shortened year.

Members

Out of all the members, only Roger Clemens is not in the Hall of Fame.

Pitcher	Wins	Date of 300th	Teams
Cy Young	511	July 3, 1901	Cle (NL), Bos (AL), Stl (NL), Bos (NL), Cle (AL), Bos (NL)
Walter Johnson	417	May 14, 1920	Was (AL)
Grover Cleveland Alexander	373	September 20, 1924	Phil (NL), Chi (NL), StL (NL)
Christy Mathewson	373	June 28, 1912	NY Giants (NL), CIN
Pud Galvin	365	September 4, 1888	Buf, Pit (Amer. Assoc.), Pit (NL), Pit (Players League), Stl (NL)
Warren Spahn	363	August 11, 1961	Bos/Mil, NY Mets (NL), SF
Kid Nichols	362	June 13, 1900	Bos, StL, Phi (NL)
Greg Maddux	355	August 7, 2004	Chi (NL), Atl, LA (NL), SD
Roger Clemens	354	June 13, 2003	Bos, Tor, NY (AL), Hou (NL)
Tim Keefe	342	June 4, 1890	Troy, NY (Amer. Assoc.), NY Giants (NL), Phil (NL)
Steve Carlton	329	September 23, 1983	StL (NL), Phil, SF, Chi (AL), Cle, Min
John Clarkson	328	September 21, 1892	Worc, Chi (NL), Bos (NL), Cle (NL)
Eddie Plank	326	September 11, 1915	Phi (AL), StL (Fed. League), StL (AL)
Nolan Ryan	324	July 31, 1990	NY Mets (NL), Cal (AL), Hou (NL), Tex (AL)
Don Sutton	324	June 18, 1986	LA (NL), Hou, Mil (AL), Oak, Cal
Phil Niekro	318	October 6, 1985	Mil/Atl (NL), NY (AL), Cle, Tor
Gaylord Perry	314	May 6, 1982	SF, Cle, Tex, SD, NY (AL), Atl, Sea, KC
Tom Seaver	311	August 4, 1985	NY Mets (NL), Cin, Chi (AL), Bos
Charles Radbourn	309	May 14, 1891	Prov, Bos (NL), Bos (Players League), Cin
Mickey Welch	307	August 11, 1890	Troy, NY Giants (NL)
Tom Glavine	305	August 5, 2007	Atl, NY Mets (NL)
Randy Johnson	303	June 4, 2009	Mtl, Sea, Hou, Ari, NY (AL), SF
Early Wynn	300	July 13, 1963	Was, Cle, Chi (AL)
Lefty Grove	300	July 25, 1941	Phi (AL), Bos (AL)