Baseball Pickups & Black Monday- NFL Style

BASEBALL PICKUPS/PULLS & NFL BLACK MONDAY

First of all, I hope everyone is having a great holiday season. As I wrap my last article before the new year, I wanted to show everyone my new baseball PC (personal collection) pickups and give my thoughts on the Black Monday that is coming up in the NFL.  First, let's start with the pickups.

Baseball Pickups & Pulls
My family has a tradition of going out to hit the stores early before the post-Christmas rush comes. My sister had been waiting all week to get a giant Lego Friends set. Anyway, we went to Target to look for the set. I picked up three 2014 Bowman Platinum rack packs. I really wanted to open this product but never had a chance to. I was looking forward to opening that later. Then, we went to a local baseball collectible store called Fan HQ. I recommend checking it out if you live in the Eastern Minnesota region, the owners are very nice & reasonable with their prices. Anyway, I wanted to buy something nice because I saved up and had some Christmas money to spend. I immediately went to look at the autographed baseballs & their game used collection. I saw some nice baseballs and it took me a while to decide, because I wanted to decide if it was the right purchase if I was going to buy a mid to high end value baseball. I also was going to buy something else a little smaller, but not sure what I was going to get. I ended up getting one small item and a HUGE item. The smaller item was a Nick Gordon signed draft day 8 x 10, and the big one, well the picture can describe it for you.

BOOM! A Cal Ripken signed HOF baseball w/HOF 2007 inscription! It also was a bonus that it was double authenticated from Ironclad Authentics and MLB Authentication. The picture doesn't do this ball justice, We went home after that and I opened the three Bowman Platinum Rack Packs. The first pack, BOOM! I hit a Michael Ratteree Refractor Auto. Then, nothing for seven more packs. Last pack, I hit a Scott Schebler Refractor Auto. Those and the Dominic Smith green refractor base (016/399) were the hits. Here are the pictures of the BP autos and the Gordon 8 x 10.

Now, I'm going to cover the NFL Black Monday that is tomorrow. Black Monday, for those who don't know, is the day where NFL teams fire coaches and start fresh for the next season. Everytime there is a Black Monday, there is always one or two teams that will surprise the league. I will cover the teams by division. Teams in BOLD will be the ones I predict that will have changes. Let's start with the AFC:

AFC East:

1. New England Patriots
2. Buffalo Bills
3. Miami Dolphins

Joe Philbin will not be canned this year, but don't expect that they won't be making any moves. Their last playoff appearance was after 2008. They need major overhaul this year to satisfy the Miami fans.

4. New York Jets

This is a guarantee lock. Rex Ryan tells media outlets he expects to be fired and is already cleaning out his office. Expect the Jets to clean house and start fresh for the 2015 season.

AFC North:

No changes here. I would be surprised if anything happens.

1. Cincinnati Bengals
2. Pittsburgh Steelers
3. Baltimore Ravens
4. Cleveland Browns

AFC South:

1. Indianapolis Colts
2. Houston Texans
3. Jacksonville Jaguars
4. Tennessee Titans

AFC West:

1. Denver Broncos
2. San Diego Chargers
3. Kansas City Chiefs
4. Oakland Raiders

The Raiders will have to find their 19th head coach. Dennis Allen is still head coach, but it's inevitable that he'll be canned. The Raiders need to get a grip, because this will mark Oakland's 3rd losing straight season.

NFC East:

1. Dallas Cowboys
2. Philadelphia Eagles
3. New York Giants
4. Washington Redskins

NFC North:

1. Detroit Lions
2. Green Bay Packers
3. Minnesota Vikings
4. Chicago Bears

Expect the Bears to completely revamp everything. Coach Marc Trestman and the other coaches already know that they'll be fired. The Bears haven't had a losing season since 2009 and the GM and President will need to implement major changes for next year.

NFC South:

1. New Orleans Saints
2. Carolina Panthers
3. Atlanta Falcons
4. Tampa Bay Buccaneers

NFC West:

1. Seattle Seahawks
2. Arizona Cardinals
3. San Francisco 49ers

Pretty easy call here. Harbaugh is expected to take the Michigan job with a huge $48M dollar contract. It is expected he will confirm and his family will go to Ann Arbor on Tuesday.

4. St. Louis Rams

Please comment if you disagree or if you have any questions or if you're interested in any of my pickups.Thanks! Also, I'm taking items for Twinsfest on SUNDAY ONLY. If you're interested, please shoot me an email- charlie.cowan29@gmail.com and we can keep a correspondence. I also have an interview in queue that should be up by the end of the week.

130 Day Update w/Maxx Tissenbaum- Down Under

A few months back, I interviewed Rays catching prospect Maxx Tissenbaum in the first week of July (if you want to see the original interview, click here). Around late August when the Arizona Fall League rosters came out, a select few individuals were chosen from each team to participate in an alternate fall ball league called the Australian Baseball League. Maxx was selected to play on the Brisbane Bandits. If you have any questions on this interview, please comment below! Let's begin!

1.​Who are some of the toughest pitchers you’ve faced so in the Australian Baseball League?

We've only played 5 games so far, so it's a little tough. We faced a left handed reliever on Melbourne- Kazuki Miyata , and he had an awesome slider. It was really late breaking so it was hard to pick up on.

2.​Where was your first Australian home run and who was it against?

My first home run was in our third game of the year against Adelaide. It was a 3-2 pitch and I got it pretty good. Our ballpark isn't very deep so when I hit it I knew it was gone.

3.​Do you wear batting gloves and do you wear one under your glove when you are fielding?

I wear batting gloves when I hit, but not when I catch. I prefer to feel the glove on my hand.

4.​What is the biggest stereotype about Australians?

Tough one, I'm not really sure I've found any about them. Normally it's the Aussie guys making "American" jokes.

5.​Favorite thing about Australia is…?

THE BEACHES!

6.​What are your goals for the Australian Baseball League?

Get better as a catcher. I'm trying to bring my receiving blocking and throwing up to speed before spring training.

7.​Funny story about the Australian Baseball League?

Our third game of the year the announcer called our team onto the field and our starting pitcher wasn't ready yet. We stayed in the bullpen while the whole team was on the field.

8.​How far do you think you’ll be up this year?

It's way too early to tell, I just want to go back an compete for an every day job defensively. I DH'd a lot last year and I want to show that I can catch regularly.

9.​How have you adjusted to the time change?

I set my phone clock to Brisbane time a few days before I left, and made sure to try and sleep on the plane according to Brisbane time.

10.​Projection for the Maple Leafs this season..

Anywhere but last? It's been hard to follow so far because the Internet cuts in and out some times.

11.​Where do you see yourself in 10 years?

10 years? I don't know where I'll be next week, 10 years is a long time. I'm focused on shorter term goals.

12.​Weirdest thing about the Australians…?

Some of the words they use aren't exactly "okay" in the USA.

13.​When do you come back to North America?

Depends on the outcome of the year. Could be as late as February 8 if we win Brisbane its first ever Claxton Shield.

14.​Do you live with a host family or do you room with anyone in Australia?

We actually got apartments, so I'm living with Tommy Coyle from my team this year. The other two Rays guys live two doors down.

15.​What differences are there between the ABL and the MiLB?

Biggest one for me is the schedule, both over the season and day to day. During the season we play every day, here we play Thursday to Sunday or Friday to Monday only. On game day it's different in that we don't have major locker room facilities here, so we show up, get changed and play. It's much more similar to a college summer ball schedule day to day.

My Recap of the Smurf Turf

BOISE STATE VS. FRESNO STATE RECAP

I recently took a trip out to Boise, Idaho about one week ago and was fortunate enough to see a Boise State vs. Fresno State football game! It was an incredible experience and I'll recap it for you. I'll rate each part from 1 to 10.

Pre-Game

An unique attribute about Boise State is that they have a different theme on what the fans should wear each home game. So this game, it was a orange out. We (meaning me, my dad, cousin and uncle) showed up about a hour early. I made the assumption that we wouldn't have very great seats, because my aunt said that they weren't going to be very good seats. On the contrary, they were great seats. In the beginning, Fresno State's offensive linemen gathered by the end zone to do O-Line drills. It was also neat to see them stretch also about half an hour prior to kickoff. My rate for the pre-game:
9.5/10

The Game

The Boise State-Fresno State rivalry is one of the biggest rivalries in the Mountain West Conference, with Boise State leading 12-5 all time. The rivalry looked like it would come to an end in 2013, when there was spectulation that Boise State would move to the Big East Conference. The game itself was controlled by Boise in the first half, then Fresno State picked up some steam in the second half, but Boise State won 37-27, regaining the Milk Can for the 2014 season. My rate for the game:

9/10

The Atmosphere and Food

The atmosphere at Albertsons Stadium was electrifying. I liked it especially since there was no alcohol served at the stadium. It prevented the fans from being stupid and making irrational decisions. I could tell some fans got drunk before the game and it showed. One guy tapped me on the shoulder and said, "Y'all seen my eyedrop? It looks like a waxing crescent. Let me know if y'all find it because my boys gonna win and I wanna see it." That was one example of a drunk fan. The food prices were very reasonable. You could get a meal for around $8 (at a Twins game that would buy you two beers). My rate for the atmosphere and food:

9/10

Conclusion

In conclusion, I would love to go back to see another game. It was a great experience and a plus that the Broncos won. My overall rate of the game would be a:

9.5/10

As part of my blog goals, I would love to get to 4,000 views by Thanksgiving (if possible). Please recommend to your friends, colleagues and who ever would be interested. Thank you for reading!

TEASER FOR NEXT TIME

My interview with.....?

Autograph Successes- #162,163,164,165 and 166 on the year- Carl Erskine and Rosell Herrera

I received two TTMs in the past couple of days.
-Carl Erskine, Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher signed 4/4 from me with 5 inscriptions on each.
-Rosell Herrera, Colorado Rockies #6 prospect and World Team representative in the Futures Game.  I have about 13 of the Team World's autographs. Please comment below if you want to see more of my successes or anybody in particular.

Thanks!

End of Summer

As I start school tomorrow, I have a blog post just to say a few items of discussion.
1. I won't be blogging as much because I have school and I fall baseball coming up.
2. Yes folks, I have another interview lined up. I'm not going to reveal it, but here are two clues: It has something to do with kangaroos and a maple leaf. Hmm...

Please comment below if you want to see anything new with my blog or if you want to see anybody in particular interviewed. Let me know.

-Charlie

Padres vs. Twins In-Person Autograph Recap

I went to the Padres vs. Twins game today. It was an awesome day with the Padres coming on top in extras. Here is what I got:
Sorry for the hard to see autographs in the first picture
Tyson Ross was very nice and signed 2 8x12's for me and so did bullpen catcher Griffin Benedict.

Tyson Ross (lower right hand corner) and Griffin Benedict (left of the logo)

Selfie with Griffin Benedict

Ross and Benedict

Thanks for looking!

MLB Trade Deadline- Cespedes to the Sox

As you most of you know by now, the A's are going all in. They traded their best player and HR Derby champ, Yoenis Cespedes, to Boston for Jon Lester and Jonny Gomes. Let's just pretend that this was the only trade of the day (we'll analyze the other trades later). In my opinion, I think Cespedes will thrive in Boston. In fact, I think he'll do even better Boston because of the shorter dimensions. Look below: Here is a couple of spray charts for Cespedes. This will provide a power bat to the desperate Sox lineup as he has hit more home runs then the three outfielders of the Sox combined (14 homeruns while Cespedes has 17). Graphs are courtesy to FanGraphs.

 Yoenis Cespedes' average home run was about 382.8 feet in O.co Coliseum. Cespedes will do even better within the hitter friendly confines of Fenway.

Now let's analyze the Athletics side of the deal. Acquiring Lester and Gomes will certainly help the A's already bolstered starting rotation and Gomes will be #5 or #6 in starting lineup with big shoes to fill in Cespedes.  WINNER: Athletics. They strengthen their rotation and get Gomes, but Gomes' WAR (Wins Above Replacemnent) is -0.8 and I'm not sure if the Athletics can afford Lester's high salary if they sign him to a long term deal. More to come on this hectic day..