The stache

rwa12, really nice cards! I like the Younts especially. I want to get more of his autographed cards, but right now I'm starting on his vintage cards. I'm looking for a nice PSA 8 or 9 1975 Yount to upgrade over my raw (which is still pretty nice): http://imageshack.us/a/img22/1682/75toppsryount.png I'm really wanting to get more heavily into high value vintage. The new cards are a little too much, as it seems a new line comes out every week. Too much saturation (why I stick to just Bowman Chrome for the most part). But as far as I'm concerned, no modern card touches the charm of the old vintage cards: http://imageshack.us/a/img542/9800/71toppsrclemente.pnghttp://imageshack.us/a/img29/9007/61toppsemathews.png When I get my safe at the end of the month, I'm going to start filling it with vintage graded like this: http://imageshack.us/a/img685/6275/53bowmancolorsmusial.png Not the most expensive vintage card I'll own (it only cost me about $60. The Mickey Mantle I want will cost me $600), but I sit there and stare at this card for seemingly hours on end. 1953 Bowman Color is my favorite set of all-time. As somebody who has an absolute passion for the history of the game, this is a connection to a bygone era, before my time.

pitchleague-95% of the cards I have I buy directly, either from Ebay, comc.com, or from another collector on one of the forums where trading/selling is done (sportscardforum for one). I will still open an occasional box because it's fun, but getting a really high end card is more the exception than the rule. It's far most cost effective to buy individually. I can see the card I'm getting, and look it over. It takes chance out of the equation. You can easily spend $70-100 or more on a box, and get nothing of high value. As far as how much I pay for these cards, it really depends on a number of things-who it is, which set the card comes from, the condition of the card (either raw or graded), and the scarcity. Then there's other factors, like the card having an artifact (part of a game worn uniform or jersey patch, bat, button, shoe, laundry tag, etc), or does the card have a certified autograph (and is it on a sticker, or on card). The 2011 Bowman Chrome Khris Davis gold refractor I bought cost me about $55. There were 50 of those cards made. He's not a really high profile prospect yet, so this is a good time to jump in. The Tyrone Taylor 2012 Bowman Chrome auto next to it cost me about $15. There's no serial number on the card. he's not real well known yet, and they're widely available. Most of the ones I've posted here are pretty affordable, with the 2005 Bowman Chrome Ryan Braun and 2005 Bowman Sterling Ryan Braun being the most expensive at a little over $100 each. The Wily Peralta Topps Chrome atomic refractor (third card from the left in the second row) cost me about $80. Only 10 of those cards were made. The Segura 2011 Bowman Chrome blue refractor auto I got the day he was traded to the Brewers for Greinke. I think it cost me $45. When you start looking at the more high profile prospects, they're much more expensive. I bought a 2009 Bowman Chrome Mike Trout base auto before the start of last year for $100. Now they're selling for $5-600 raw. My most recent high end expenditure was $400 on a 2011 Bowman Chrome Bryce Harper base auto, Beckett graded 9.5 out of 10, with a 10 auto, and all 9.5 subs (centering, edges, corners and card surface). Of course if you start looking at the rarer auto cards, like blue refractors (typically 150 made), gold (50 made), orange (25 made), red (5 made) or a superfractor (1 made), you're looking at a lot more money. Those can go into the thousands easily. I typically buy Bowman Chrome prospects more than anything, working on Baseball America and MLB.com's top 100 lists. Average price I spend? On lesser known prospects, $20-25. Higher end prospects, $100 plus easily. For more established stars like Clayton Kershaw, Matt Kemp, Joe Mauer, a nice Chrome base (non serialized) auto can go $150 or 200. I typically stick with base, refractors (serialized to 500 cards), and occasionally blue refractors. If you go much higher than that, they start getting really expensive. chadomac-Topps bought out Bowman, so both Topps or Bowman line cards will have the MLB license (meaning the cards can depict the team logos). Other card companies, like Panini (used to be Donruss), Upper Deck, etc cannot. They might have an agreement with the MLBPA (players association), but without the MLB license, you're going to see a lot of pictures of players cropped so you don't see their uniform, or cap. Those are less appealing, obviously. You can still buy packs, just know in advance what the odds are of getting a particular card, and set your expectations accordingly. If you buy something like Topps Triple Threads, you're guaranteed to get a few relic cards, or relic + autograph cards. They can be really nice, and they're not restricted to current players. You can get really high dollar cards, with relics from players like Williams, Clemente, Ruth, Gehrig, Foxx, etc. Those are typically 1 of 1's, or very low productions (like /5 or /10).

Nice stuff guys! jrodbrewcrew-I've been wondering for a while where that Peralta superfractor went. Now I know. I got really lucky finding the atomic. I looked everywhere for it, couldn't find one to save my life. On the off chance, I brought up sportsbuy.com, and one was on there. I couldn't buy it fast enough. I've got most all of his 2009 Chromes-the base, refractor, xfractor, blue and orange refractors. I'm looking to pick up one of the golds now, and I'm always on the lookout for a red. I also need to pick up a couple Hellweg chromes. I think he's going to be a big time reliever for us. I need to add an Odorizzi or two, also. Most of my funds have been going to my Bowman Chrome prospect auto collection. I just picked up a 2011 Bowman Chrome base Bryce Harper auto, BGS 9.5 with a 10 auto, and all 9.5 subs. That cost me a pretty penny. Do any of you guys keep your graded cards/high ends in a safe? I'm shopping for a fire safe right now, and looking for suggestions. I want at least an hour protection against fire, and water proof. I'm getting my collection insured, but I want to keep the cards at home, and not have to drive to a bank to see them in a safe deposit. I might end up doing that for the vintage cards I buy.

I don't see Mark ever going into "rebuild" mode. That would entail selling off the pieces we have, and starting pretty much from scratch again. See the Marlins. So long as we have some of the guys we do now (Braun, Lucroy, Hart, Weeks, Gallardo), we're going to be looking to mix in complimentary pieces via trades/free agency (Greinke, Marcum, Lohse), while finding the majority of the roster from players we develop. Ryan's only 29. He's entering his prime now, and can realistically stay at the top of the game for at least the next five years (maybe longer, as he stays in incredible shape) before he starts to slow. During that five year window, Yovani will still be in his prime, and assuming he stays healthy, we've got a strong #1/2. Corey and Rickie are 30 and 31 right now, and with the report that Hart will be resigned, I think we can expect both to be here for that 5 year period. Jean Segura is young, and is going to be great. Jonathan Lucroy is 26. Carlos Gomez is 27. Nori Aoki is 31. These players make up a core that will be here for at least the next half decade. I fully expect that Wily Peralta will develop into a strong 2/3. Michael Fiers and Tyler Thornburg are pieces to the puzzle. They will be starters, or bullpen guys. I think eventually Taylor Jungmann and yes, Jed Bradley, will factor in as back of the rotation guys (forget Bradley's disastrous 2012). Hunter Morris will be here full time next year. Khris Davis figures to be in the mix, and I wouldn't be surprised if Mat Gamel is still here if he can get healthy. Then with Clint Coulter, Victor Roache and Mitch Haniger, some bats will be here in the next two years or so. Expect the Brewers to be competitive, vying for a playoff spot, for the foreseeable future.

I've been back collecting sports cards (baseball and football) for about two years, concentrating on prospects in baseball. I'm about to expand my collection to include vintage greats of both games, but my Brewer and Packer personal collections will continue to grow no matter what else I do. Reillymcshane suggested to me a while back that I share some of my collection, so I'm going to do so here, posting some of my Brewer certified autograph collection. I'd like to see what you guys have collected over the years, either Brewer baseball cards, or sports memorabilia. Some of these guys are of course members of the team now; most of them are in the minors working their way up to the Majors. I'm just getting started out, but now that my car and my medical bills are paid off, I have more money to play with for my hobby. Eventually, I'm going to rescan all of these without the magnet cases. The gold refractor Khris Davis auto I have at the end looks much better as there are no scratches, or imperfections from the plastic case to interfere with the scan. I just got that in a few days ago. I'll start it off with Wily Peralta. I hope you all enjoy my little collection. http://imageshack.us/a/img706/4214/12tchromewperaltasepiar.pnghttp://imageshack.us/a/img221/1807/12tchromewperaltaref456.pnghttp://imageshack.us/a/img685/8056/12tchromewperaltaredref.pnghttp://imageshack.us/a/img195/4098/12tchromewperaltagoldre.png http://imageshack.us/a/img201/4876/12tchromewperaltabluere.pnghttp://imageshack.us/a/img32/7086/12tchromewperaltablackr.pnghttp://imageshack.us/a/img27/7982/12tchromewperaltaatomic.pnghttp://imageshack.us/a/img17/4644/12tchromewperalta.png http://imageshack.us/a/img213/404/07elitejlucroy.pnghttp://imageshack.us/a/img521/6582/11chromekdavisref.pnghttp://imageshack.us/a/img268/7747/10chromesgennett2.pnghttp://imageshack.us/a/img593/2436/2011bowmantthornburgblu.png http://imageshack.us/a/img191/6789/1008contendersmgamel.pnghttp://imageshack.us/a/img7/2452/12eliteccoulter.pnghttp://imageshack.us/a/img29/9774/12chromemhanigerref.pnghttp://imageshack.us/a/img845/8733/11chrometjungmannref.png http://imageshack.us/a/img213/937/11chrometjungmann.pnghttp://imageshack.us/a/img14/598/11chromejbradleyref.pnghttp://imageshack.us/a/img705/1995/11chromehmorrisref.pnghttp://imageshack.us/a/img515/7985/10chromesgennettref.png http://imageshack.us/a/img571/9835/08threadstgreen.pnghttp://imageshack.us/a/img90/7154/03chromerweeks.pnghttp://imageshack.us/a/img594/3390/05sterlingrbraun.pnghttp://imageshack.us/a/img208/2299/04eliteygallardo.png http://imageshack.us/a/img833/9181/04chromemrogers.pnghttp://imageshack.us/a/img827/5479/02chromemrogersxfractor.pnghttp://imageshack.us/a/img820/4214/11chromejseagurablueref.pnghttp://imageshack.us/a/img23/223/05chromerbraun.png http://imageshack.us/a/img32/151/11chromekdavisgoldref.pnghttp://img838.imageshack.us/img838/8765/12chromettaylor.png http://imageshack.us/a/img443/820/99spsigryount.pnghttp://imageshack.us/a/img339/3236/12platinumvroacheref.png http://imageshack.us/a/img826/8457/11platinumlschafer.pnghttp://imageshack.us/a/img708/2575/07exquisiterbraunagordo.png

I see more gifs incoming! /thumbs up

Oh, and at the gifs. This thread has to be archived. Instant classic.

Maldonado catching. Lucroy at first. Profit.

http://www.williamgregory.net/images/pool.gif

So, we overspent to get a decent pitcher in his mid 30's, and had to get in bed with the anti-Christ once again to do it. I feel dirty. And I just got out of the shower.

Yet somehow, Rogers has managed to strike out 52 Major League hitters in 49 innings, and has a career WHIP of 1.122. It's a small sample size, but he was able win his last three starts, even if they were against Chicago and Houston. Milwaukee can't afford to be dumping pitchers right now. Check him out, let him work through it.

/David Ortiz slips Ennder a $100.

http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_ldfuhxeXPc1qea18x.jpg "Oh oh oh, Scotty's crying." I'm so happy to hear that this colossal dickwad is upset. As a matter of fact, I want to fly out to New York, take Rob Manfred to Scores, and get him a lap dance or three.

The guy's going to be 26 in December. How many more of his prime years are we going to waste trying to figure out what to do with him?

There's nothing wrong with the line of reasoning whatsoever. First base is already completely in flux with Hart and Gamel being out. Should we throw center field into that mess, too, because some kid we have in the minors might be the answer? Signing Gomez to a short contract is a good idea. If Schafer is able to play at the Major League level, he'll show it, and we'll have attractive trade bait. But I'm not for letting Gomez get away in the interim.

Everybody please stop singing the praises of Logan Schafer like he's the second coming. I like the kid, too, a lot, actually, and think he could be a good player in the Majors. But a little perspective here. Carlos Gomez is already a Gold Glove caliber center fielder who would have approached 30 home runs and 50 stolen bases had he played all of the season. His OPS in 2012 at the Major League level was .768. Logan Schafer's OPS at AAA last year was .770. Now, is Gomez going to do that again? Maybe, but likely not. But at least he's done it at the Major League level. Schafer has not. If Gomez plays the entire 2013 season, 15-20 homers and 40 + stolen bases is a good bet, with excellent defense. Compare that to what BJ Upton did statistically last season. He only had a .298 OBP, and a .752 OPS. He did hit 28 home runs, and stole 31 bases, but the last four seasons, Upton has regressed. He's hitting .242 with a .316 OBP and a .736 OPS from 2009 to 2012. And he's going to make $12.5 mil in 2013. Upton had 181 more plate appearances than Gomez. Yet he scored only 7 more runs than Carlos did. I think these two are headed in opposite directions. I think Carlos is finally starting to live up to some of his immense potential, and if he even approaches what he did last year, we got a bargain.

MLB.tv premium has the Brewers on Monday against the Dodgers, Wednesday against the Diamondbacks, and Sunday against the Dodgers again. Here's the remainder of the preseason schedule for MLB.tv premium. 7 Brewer games in total. http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/official_info/broadcasts/spring_mlbtv.jsp?&affiliateId=mlbMENU

I will do my best to get some extra seating at the ceremony for BF members. I'm sure she'll have all of her hot super model friends coming. That's good, though, as the catering bill won't be that much.

We all know everything we read on Twitter, or the intrawebz, is true, right? http://img703.imageshack.us/img703/7696/stashtweet.png

I know this is more site related than MLB related per se, but the thread I discovered on the "issues and events" board didn't seem to catch the eye of anybody in a site developmental position (though it appears a mod did respond). So, I figured I'd try here. Hey guys, the brewerfan.net homepage features an interview with 20th round draft pick Shea Vucinich from June of 2010. Could we please get somebody to update that home page? I bet we'd get a lot more Brewer fans in here if they didn't think the site was inactive. And the surest way to dissuade somebody from exploring a website is to have material on the homepage that is nearly three years old. I absolutely love this website. This is the best place I've ever found to discuss the team I love, and the sport I am so passionate about. I want other Brewer fans out there to know that it exists, and that it is thriving. The members here are extraordinarily knowledgeable, intelligent, and friendly. Also, I very much appreciate that this forum is moderated. The childish antics that are so prevalent on other sites are nipped in the bud here, and it allows members to relax and focus on the game. I am in the midst of developing my own site, and will be blogging pretty much every day on the Brewers and MLB once the season starts. Because of issues with my back, I have a lot of free time. I've got MLB.tv Premium now on my Roku, a Baseball America subscription, an ever growing baseball card collection (both modern and vintage), and I have been a student of the game I love for well over three decades. So if it's a lack of people willing to step forward and provide content, I would gladly volunteer my time to write articles for the site. If it's a matter of needing somebody with the technical skills to maintain the site, I am proficient in HTML, CSS, learning PHP and have been using Photoshop for over 7 years. I will do anything I can to help Brewerfan.net out. But please, let's at least blow the dust off the homepage, and crack the doors open, so to speak. Thank you!! William

Good to see he was successful hitting on Jamie Lynn, because he sure as hell hasn't been any good trying to hit a baseball. Congratulations, Meadow...er Jamie. Way to bounce back from that disastrous first wedding. You went from having a daddy trying to avoid prison on TV to having a real-life father-in-law doing 8 to 10. /golf clap. Jamie Lynn-Sigler is going to be the new Elizabeth Taylor. I give this train wreck of a relationship 1 year tops.

http://imageshack.us/a/img577/6301/workingp.gif

PrinceEatMeat, check out this bomb from Manny Ramirez. I don't know which is more impressive. Both just amazing bombs. http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=25596005&c_id=mlb

It was a Rubbermaid container, and no, it was not placed in any refrigerator, or cooler, per Laurenzi's own statement: http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/7625756/statement-dino-laurenzi-jr-collected-samples-ryan-braun-case

The Roku requires MLB.tv premium, which I'm fine with. The added features are worth the $20 or so. Having the option to watch the home or away feed, as well as overlay Bob Uecker's calls over the TV, makes it a no brainer. I got the Roku on Thursday, hooked it all up, and have been watching HBO Go. The picture is spectacular. I've got some better HDMI and ethernet cables coming in from monoprice.com, so I'll be ready to go when I buy MLB.tv. I can't wait for the season to start.