If You Build It, They Will Come

 So I post a couple of weeks ago that I was starting to play around with TCdb.  I've been a loyal Beckett user for years now, and have become more down on it lately.  For collectors like me, it seems that TCdb has gathered a pretty decent sized following and positive reviews.  But how will it work for this collection?  Here's what I found. TCdb Pros Cost You can't complain about the cost (free!).   Its like some of the other big services I use for my collecting, mainly wikipedia and [sport name]-reference.com in that they provide so much information but I just don't know how they do it well.   The Checklists The database is very comparable to Beckett.  Beckett does have some cards that TCdb doesn't have, and visa-versa.  Notable for this blog, Beckett does not list the 2017 Panini Iowa set, and TCdb doesn't have all the Iowa Hawkeye Football team sets from the late 80's, early 90's.   Rankings! After I enter in my card for...

 So while my flat rate box was a bit of a dud on the Iowa Connection side, I did ok on my Fuzzy Iowa Connections.  Fuzzy Connections (FC) are typically players who played for one of the minor league teams in Iowa.  As of today, I try to collect at least one card from each of these players. There are three levels for the FC card: 1. Have - I have a card of the player, and the card has nothing that relates to their Iowa Connection.  Here are two from this box.  Jorge Perez played in the Quad Cities in 2013 and 2015.  Gaither Bumgardner played for Burlington in 2015. 2. Good - I have a card of the player and it mentions their Iowa Connection.  As you can see on the backs of these two cards, Ryan Yarbrough played for Clinton in 2015 and Kyle Barraclough played for the Quad Cities in 2012.   Come on Topps, it sure looks like he's putting out a fire by...well we'll say hose. 3. Perfect - This is a card with the player in their Iowa Connection jerse...

  Profile Keaton McKinney was a pitcher from Ankeny who was drafted by the Mets in the 28th round of the 2014 MLB Draft*.   Keaton opted for college**, and he attended Arkansas for three years before retiring with arm issues. * Mitch Keller was taken in the 2nd round this year ** Apparently he had a high asking price and slipped this far.  We always applaud those who bet on themselves, but sometimes it doesn't work out as you intend.  I hope he has found a nice career now.  Heck, he might even be doing better than bouncing around the minor for a while. Personal Notes So Leaf put out these 2013 Perfect Game cards, and I'm not totally sure who the market is for them.  Well, me obviously as I needed this McKinney, but its got to be focused on prospectors.  But it takes years before you know if these guys hit, and the payoff seems pretty bleak.  The top player may be Jack Flaherty, and his card will cost you $4.00.  Even his auto is only $50...

 I'm a child of the 80s and 90s, and when you collected cards during that time, you probably had a Beckett magazine.  (Or Tuff Stuff, but really that was the Go-Bots to Beckett's Transformers).  You'd look through the articles to see what cool cards were coming out, read the back for the card shows in your area, and flip through the prices to see what cards were going up in price, and which had the dreaded down arrow.  There would always be a month where the community had collectively given up on a prospect and his cards went spiraling downward, think Ryan Leaf. Well, once I got back into collecting in my adult years, I naturally led my way back to Beckett, and have built up a pretty substantial Organize. All my wants and all my trade bait in one place.  I still didn't do pricing, because that was pretty expensive, so I'd use the free organize and then I'd use the print magazines for prices.  Because besides current year cards, most cards are generally pret...

 So like most of you, I missed going to card shows in 2020.  Being able to dig through dime boxes and pulling random cards that someone thought of as worthless that is priceless to my collection is just awesome.  But like so much, COVID took it, and I was left scrambling. Well, off to Target to pick up some boxes....except there are none there.  Hobby boxes have skyrocketed as collectors chase those high priced signatures.  Where could I find cards? For my birthday, my brother sent me a flat rate box with my gift.  But it didn't fill the box, so he just filled it with a bunch of cards he didn't want anymore. I loved digging through those, as I found a bunch of stuff for my collection. So then, I found out that you can just buy boxes like this on eBay (of course).  A wide variety of cards can be found.  Baseball, football and basketball cover most of them.  Some are just a mix of whatever, some are boxes of "I just opened a ton of Bowman, so h...

Even more last minute roster changes, as Taylor Rogers gets the call and makes it to the festivities one hour and 22 minutes later (Rogers lives in Colorado).  Joining Rogers is Andrew Kittridge from the Rays Name, Team, Year(s) Taylor Rogers, Cedar Rapids, 2013  (New!) Andrew Kittridge, Clinton, 2012  (New!) Whit Merrifield, Burlington, 2010 Taijuan Walker, Clinton, 2011 Salvador Perez, Burlington, 2009 Mike Trout, Cedar Rapids, 2009/2010 Teoscar Hernández, Quad Cities, 2013 Carlos Correa, Quad Cities, 2013 Jared Walsh, Burlington, 2016 Lance Lynn, Quad Cities, 2008 Kris Bryant, Iowa, 2014/2015/2018 Max Muncy, Burlington, 2012 Kyle Schwarber, Iowa, 2015/2017 Chris Taylor, Clinton, 2012 Josh Hader, Quad Cities, 2013 Craig Kimbrel, Iowa, 2019

As with every All-Star game, players drop out due to injury or whatnot.  So we have replacement players, and we have more Fuzzy Iowa Connections.   Name, Team, Year(s) Whit Merrifield, Burlington, 2010 (New!) Taijuan Walker, Clinton, 2011  (New!) Salvador Perez, Burlington, 2009 Mike Trout, Cedar Rapids, 2009/2010 Teoscar Hernández, Quad Cities, 2013 Carlos Correa, Quad Cities, 2013 Jared Walsh, Burlington, 2016 Lance Lynn, Quad Cities, 2008 Kris Bryant, Iowa, 2014/2015/2018 Max Muncy, Burlington, 2012 Kyle Schwarber, Iowa, 2015/2017 Chris Taylor, Clinton, 2012 Josh Hader, Quad Cities, 2013 Craig Kimbrel, Iowa, 2019

Profile Merton Hanks was an All-Pro safety with the San Francisco 49ers who played nine years* in the NFL.  Hanks was a All-Pro twice, and won the Super Bowl with the 49ers.  He played corner for the Iowa Hawkeyes and was drafted in 1991**, and now is a high level executive with the Pac-12. * 8 with SF, and one with Seattle.  I wonder if he has a Seattle card (scans...), nope.  But he does has a bunch of new cards from 2018-2020, all serial numbered below 100.   ** A fifth round pick as scouts thought he'd be too slow in the NFL Personal Notes Merton Hanks was a fun player.  Everyone who watched the NFL in the 90s probably remembers his chicken dance when he made a big play.  He falls into this category of random players (though pretty good) who play non-skill positions who normally get forgotten, but he'll be remembered because he played on those very important 49ers teams.  Fox showed the 49ers a lot, and we saw them in the playoffs a bunch...

I don't know if I've posted a definitive definition of my Iowa Collection, mostly because its very fluid and still always changing.  What constitutes an Iowa Connection?  What about an Iowa Fuzzy Connection?  Can someone fall off the list?  I'm going to answer these for you (and somewhat myself) here.  As I said, everything is fluid (as you will see below). What is a Iowa Connection? As it is currently, a person could have been born in Iowa, gone to school in Iowa, or lived in Iowa.  I suppose the idea that a person's time in Iowa forged something in them that made them great.  Or greatness seeks out Iowa, for those who moved there later. Born in Iowa is the typical connection. When local news talks about someone representing Iowa, they are typically talking birth place.  When SI does a story about the best athletes from Iowa, they are talking birth.  So think Bob Feller, Kurt Warner and Dan Gable.  But this also includes guys like Darre...

 It's 4th of July weekend, which means we are getting close to the MLB All-Star game.  This years game features tons of first timers and old-timers, but does not feature a single Iowa Connection.  Iowa hasn't produced much elite baseball talent over the years, and this year continues the same trend.  However, we do have a bunch of what I will deem "Fuzzy Connections".  An Iowa Connection typically consists of one of three things: Born in Iowa, Lived in Iowa, or went to school in Iowa.  (Yes, all three typically mean live in Iowa as well.)  But sometimes a player has a connection to Iowa that isn't exactly a choice. (Yes, I know that Born in Iowa isn't a choice either).  Baseball players are sent to minor league teams at the discretion of their major league clubs, and typically spend a few summer months there one year and are off.  They may not have a residence there, but crash at a host family or maybe a hotel.   So, I don't count i...

  Canadian Football League HOF The Canadian Football League Hall of Fame is located in Hamilton, Ontario and is home to just over 300 members.  Here's the best list I can come up with of Iowa Connections in this HOF. Iowa Hawkeyes Ken Ploan (QB) Willie Fleming (RB) Frank Rigney (OT) Drake Bulldogs Johnny Bright (RB) Iowa Barnstormers Bobby Jurasin (DL) Born in Iowa Leo Lewis (RB born in Des Moines) Tom Wilkinson (QB born in Ottumwa)

Profile Mike Sample was a defensive lineman for the Drake Bulldogs, become a Kodak All American* his senior year.  He was drafted by the Atlanta Falcons in the 1973 Draft**, but ended up playing his career in the CFL, become a multi-time All-Star. * I don't know where Kodak All-American falls in the line of All-American honors, but none the less its pretty good ** 13th round he was selected, out of 15 rounds!  Personal Notes When reading about defensive players from 1970s and earlier, you don't get a ton of information as they just didn't keep stats.  Today we can track the number of feet a soccer plays runs for a game, but in the 70s we don't even know if Jack Lambert had a tackle!  The only stat tracked was interceptions.  For Mike Samples career, only the last three years were stats collected, so while his official CFL records have him with 13.5 sacks, he definitely had more. Collection Notes I have 1/3 (33%) cards in my collection.

Profile Dan Johnson was a 1st baseman in MLB playing most famously for the Tampa Bay Rays and Oakland A's.  Dan played his way up through college as well, starting at Butler and ending up at Nebraska after a stop at Iowa Western*.  He was drafted in the 2001 MLB Draft.** * Mentioned in his Wikipedia page as "a junior college".   ** My favorite note on the 2001 draft is that 2 UNI Panthers went back to back in the 12th round.  Like one team drafted one and the next team was like, "Oh yeah, forgot about UNI.  Totally drafting one now!" Personal Notes Longish career means that Dan has a few cards under his belt, just under 400.  However, I was late to the game in discovering his Iowa Connection, so I literally have 2.  And this picture is not one of them (although I do have the gold version of this one).  Collection Notes I have 2/380 (1%) cards in my collection.