Road Trip Ending and Epilogue

It was fitting that my road trip with Q ended at Wrigley, the same stadium that had been our entire reason for making a similar baseball road trip several years earlier. The big difference is that now Wrigley is the closest MLB stadium to where I live, rather than the furthest (in terms of other stadiums we visited on our original trip).

So here is a pic from the game that ended our 2010 road trip:

It was a very good game against Milwaukee, though as so many Cubs games this year it ended in a 3-4 loss for the Cubs. We did get to see Thomas Diamond pitch 5 and 2/3 while striking out 10, which was pretty exciting.

Now the funny thing is, I've been back to Wrigley twice since that game. In fact, I was back at Wrigley that Sunday for a Cubs Reds game thanks to some free tickets my wife and I scored.

This one was interesting because it rained before the game, but the day turned out to be beautiful. Though the Cubs got blown out 11-4, I did get to see Votto and the Reds, the potential MVP and potential Central Division Champs, for a second time. Here's a pic of the field crew taking the tarp off the field before that game.


We also got to see Carlos Zambrano pinch hit, which is always fun.



Then, on Monday another friend who had never been to Wrigley was in from out of town. This time the Cubs were off, but my wife suggested a tour of Wrigley. I was a bit skeptical at first, but after reading the description which said that those on the tour would get to be in the press box, in the Cubs locker room, and ON THE FIELD I was intrigued. I must say, it was really fun!

View from the Press Box:


The Cubs locker room:


View from the Field:


So, if you are ever out in Chicago I highly recommend giving Wrigley a visit whether or not the Cubs are home.

PS: There was some sort of non-professional game going on at the field while I was there.

Card(s) of the Week & New Layout

First off, I got a new layout which I like a lot better than the old one in part because of the translucence of the foreground in this template that I think matches well with my blog's concept. Now if I could only figure out how to use my own background picture rather than using one from blogger's selection I'd be set.

Anyway, in celebration of the new layout here are two cards of the week. I'll show them both together first to give you some appreciation of their respective sizes (the smaller one is the size of a normal baseball card).


So these are both from Topps Gallery's Gallery of Heroes subset. The 1998 and 2000 versions. They are both made of acetate, which I have already described here. The great thing about these is that they are made to look like stained glass. The larger 1998 version was a box topper in 1998 Hobby Boxes of Topps Gallery and does an amazing job of replicating the feel of the famed Tiffany Stained Glass.

If you are a fan of Tiffany Stained Glass or Stained Glass in general, I highly recommend the Museum of Stained Glass which always offers free admission at Chicago's Navy Pier. They do have some sports related stained glass there including a Michael Jordan window, but unfortunately nothing as nice as either of these.


The textured look accomplished by modifying the acetate is incredibly cool, and cannot be done justice by these scans. So, these are some of my favorite cards because 1. They are clear and made of an alternate material (acetate) and 2. They are made to look like a second material (glass) of which I am also a big fan.

Card of Day #1

Todd Hundley E-X2000 1997 #85
Construction: Cardstock frame with blue sky style translucent plastic window


So why in a blog entitled "Clear Cut Cards" do I choose a card that is not really clear at all as my first choice?

Well, for one eX was one of the first brands that I became aware of as using non paper based materials well in card construction and I was hooked right away. Unfortunately, I did not have the means to purchase packs at the time, so I stuck to a few reasonably price singles such as this one. Happily, several of eX's subsequent releases continued to up the ante when it came to using plastic as the card's base.

Another reason is because Hundley, definitely my favorite Met of his era, worked in New York during the most productive part of his career while being from the Chicagoland area and I find myself in the opposite situation: being from New York while working in the Chicagoland area. So, I guess part of the reason for this selection is in way of an introduction. Hi!

Oh, here is the back of the card. You can tell that the card certainly has its flaws (missing thumb and cut off brim to the helmet), but it is interesting!

I hope to be updating the list of cards I have in the coming weeks. I decided to start with my Piazza collection, probably the largest of any player I own.