Dedmon to Freeman (Amaro Project Update & More)
The last couple weeks have been fruitful as well as busy. Potty training the 3yr old is going well, so much so that he has been virtually accident free (yay!). The 10yr old has started his youth league football season, his very first season and they've already decided to make him the starting quarterback. So between work and kids sports I've been trying to get my duplicates and other cards I don't need or want sorted and cataloged on TCDB for trading. I am brand new to trading but had the privilege of completing my first trades the past couple weeks. I big shout out to the following TCDB traders for being patient with me and guiding me with proper etiquette:
If your looking for trade partners on TCDB I would recommend all of them, Thanks guys!
Now on the the Ruben Amaro project updates, I've updated the wantlist here as I've recently been able to pick up a few of the needed cards.
Jeff Dedmon was a relief pitcher who appeared in parts of six seasons (1983-1988) for the Atlanta Braves and Cleveland Indians. He was traded to Cleveland in 1988 for a PTBNL (Timmy Kurczewski) and ended the year with a 1-0 record and 4.54 ERA over 21 games. He had no cards issued in a Cleveland uniform other than this 1988 Gatorade SGA Team Issue set.
Another player from the same set was Bill Laskey. He signed as a free agent with the Indians prior to the 1988 season. He only appeared in 17 contests to the tune of a 1-0 record and 4.28 ERA. Bill played from 1982-1986 with the Giants and Expos. In 1987 he signed as a free agent with the Tigers but never saw action with the major league club. He signed with Cleveland in 1988, which would end up being his final season. Laskey would also have no other cards issued in a Cleveland uniform other than this SGA set.
We still have one more from the same set. Dan Schatzeder is a pitcher who played from 1977-1991 and played for quite a few teams (Expos, Twins, Phillies, Astros, Tigers, Royals, Mets, Giants, and Indians). He only ever spent more than two seasons with one team, the Expos from 1977-1979, 1982-1986. In 1988 however, he signed as a free agent with Cleveland and saw action in 15 games. He owned a 0-2 record with a 9.56 ERA. He was known to be a pretty decent hitting pitcher though, with a .240 career batting avg. with 25 HRs, 29 RBIs, 18 BBs, and a .351 SLG%. And you guessed it, this would be his only baseball card appearance in a Cleveland uniform.
I have to thank TCDB trader BLWinborn40 for the next two additions to this project.
Mike Freeman is a journeyman second baseman and shortstop who has played in parts of six major league seasons now between 2016-2021. He has suited up for six different teams over that span (Diamondbacks, Mariners, Dodgers, Cubs, Indians, and Reds). He signed with Cleveland as a free agent in 2018 and played in parts of two seasons from 2019 and 2020. He accumulated a total of 99 games over those two season with 58 hits over 215 at bats, to the tune of a .270 AVG. He was purchase by the Reds in 2021 and granted free agency at seasons end. He is currently serving as Manager of the Arkansas Travelers (AA affiliate of the Seattle Mariners based in Little Rock, AR). This 2020 Topps Heritage card is the only release featuring Mike in a Cleveland uniform.
I have some other names from my list to cross off but have not received them yet, so stay tuned for more updates
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In other projects I have continued to add to the Cleveland Indians/Guardians PC which has been complete team sets. Recently I've been focused on the SGA sets of the 80s/90s. Recently I was able to pick up the 1987 & 1988 Gatorade sets in their entirety. They two were issued to attendees of games on team photo/baseball card day of their respective years. They were perforated sheets with the teams photos also attached.
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While not part of any of my collections regarding Cleveland. I do want to give a shoutout to Crocodile Sports Cards and showcase his generosity. He hosted a recent giveaway on his blog for a set of 1993 Post Cereal cards. I'm a sucker for oddball sets and was excited receive these. He accidently forgot me and to make up for it he also sent me a bonus, a set of 1990 Starline Long John Silver cards. Both of these sets scream 90s, but they are pretty sweet. If you haven't you should definitely check out his blog, linked if you click his name above.
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Lastly my 10yr old and I have recently started a joint project of completing a set of the 2023 Topps base set. To date we've completed 80% through a mixture of megaboxes, blaster boxes, and a few trades with fellow collectors. We are finished with series 1 with the lone exception of #31 Riley Greene RC, all the other missing cards are from series 2, which we just started earlier this week with the purchase of a megabox. This has been a fun project because it has allowed us to connect on something we both enjoy while spending time together. We are putting a single set together in a binder and he gets to keep any duplicates he wants and any remaining duplicates we are using as trade bait to get any missing cards. We haven't really hit any inserts of note, although we were both excited to pull a royal blue parallel of #62 Aaron Judge.
That is all for this update friends. I'll post again soon.
Thank you
Love the fact that you are doing this with your son. I've started putting together sets for my two grandsons who are too young to help right now. I hope that it's something we can do together in the future. Let me know what you need and maybe we can make a trade on TCDB.
ReplyDeleteHe is really enjoying the hobby so far. Hes got a Pokemon collection as well, but his sports cards seem to be his priority. He doesn't know this yet, but I just picked up another box of 2023 Topps series 2 to rip on Monday when we are both off. After that I'll update our wantlist and let you know. Thank you.
DeleteThe Gatorade sheets are really neat, and probably even more so for a fan of the team that's represented on them.
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