SANTA!!!!!

I saw the Portland Address and immediately thought that it was Gavin.  I even emailed him saying I got his Secret Santa package.

Then he hit me with this whammer of knowledge I had no idea about...other people live in Portland...and they blog too.

Rod I apologize.  I didn't see your name on the side of the box immediately.

I opened the package and saw some delightful pink peanuts to keep the package from shifting along with some Paw Patrol (?) wrapping paper.

I have no idea what could be inside, but the smaller package has to be cards I thought.

I immediately went for that...

Roberto Clemente on the top?  This looks promising.  Not much is better than Clemente cardboard.

Well except when you get MULTIPLE new Clemente cards.

Then I went to the oddly shaped package.  When I ripped the wrapping paper, I immediately went into lil kid mode.

I can't believe 1)you found this unique Cutch item and 2)you got it for me.

This is fricking sweet.  Pretty sure I will never use it or remove it from it's packaging to "unlock the pro in mobile game".

One thing I particularly like about this "kid's toy" is that Cutch has his cross armband still being worn.  I wonder if in order for the artwork to be approved by Cutch it had to have that armband.

Here is a closer look.

Rod wasn't done though.  He also included a pair of McCutchen holiday cards.

Thank you so much Rod!

Secret Santa is aMAZing

My secret Santa went the vintage route in delivering me a truly aMAZing gift.

With so much focus on adding new Cutch cards to the collection and really starting to increase the number of my Clemente cards, I have completely neglected my vintage needs.

The beauty of vintage though is that for the most part, the cards will always be available to get.  You don't have to worry about missing out on that silver blue dress variant numbered to /25 copies.  If you collect vintage because of the nostalgia and not about the grades you can always find some great pieces of cardboard.

Kevin of Card Papoy hooked me up with two aMAZing cards that I needed.

Bill Mazeroski was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2001 and while many question his validation of being a Hall of Fame player here is some interesting stats.

Only Roberto Alomar and Ryne Sandberg have more gold glove awards at 2B then Maz.

Sports Illustrated ranked the 1960 Walkoff HR in Game 7 of the World Series the 8th greatest moment in All Sports in their top 100 moments in sports history.

Bill James wrote an article in 205 about how elite Maz was on defense.  He truly was in a league of his own.

Now let's get to the cardboard.  Santa surprised me with two Bill Mazeroski cards.

1960 was a pretty memorable year for Maz.

1969 saw Maz on the twilight of his career, but still contributing to the team.

Thank you so much for this great gift Kevin.  I wish you and your family a very Merry Christmas.