Catching up on some mail on MLK Day

I don't blog about about politics or religion  but on this day we have to reflect on the United States and the world on what Dr. King meant and still means for us. Above is a simple graph that shows exactly what, for many of our citizens, it was like before and after Dr. King and the Civil Rights Era.

I spent the last two days sorting and filing away the last two years of Topps, non-vintage, pickups. An amazing amount of time. But none the less I am good for another year or so. I now have some time to catch up on mail. My man Ray of at All Cardinals All the Time hooked me up some excellent cards long before the New Year. First up three Fox Sports Midwest "oddballs" from 2015. Mark, Trevor, and Kolten. I have a couple of these from other years and I really enjoy the clean fronts. I couldn't "borrow" any images from  Google so the scratches are actually from my penny sleeves. Soon it will be time for Danny, Al, Rickey, and Tim to get on the air. The reverse are pretty busy in sense they have mucho player information along with a nice ball lace motif.

Ray also sent me my first Seung-Hwan Oh card a Topps 2016 Chrome. Fantastic looking card-I think the 2016 Chrome may have been Topps best effort-a 34 year-old Korean free-agent signed by the Birds in 2016 . He performed very well for them.  He was 6-3, 1.92 ERA, 103 Ks and 18 walks! He finished with 19 saves and he may be the catalyst for the Birds to either convert Rosenthal back to a closer or trading him. 

Ray also included my first Aledyms Diaz card. Diaz a 25 year-old Cuban with one year left on his contract performed very well for the Birds-though  I think his defense was so-so his offense was very good, and before he was hurt and missed much of the season he was a legit contender for ROY. I hope he sees a full year-don't know if they will extend him or not-I am sure they would have a better idea had he not been hurt for so long. This the Winter Walmart Snow Flake card-since we don't have a Walmart near us I haven't been able to get a box. Though I have to say it freaks me out to see his gum, yuck. But great card. 

The package from Ray was full of firsts-he also included my first Paul DeJong auto-Bowman 2015. Paul a 22 year-old infielder who progressed up to Springfield (AA) in 2016 where he played in 132 games-his strike out rate when through the roof and not surprisingly his batting average decreased as well. He will need to get those Ks under control. 

Many thanks to Ray!