The Baseball Stories


Here is a list of links to the baseball related stories that have appeared on Four Baggers. This would be the Four Baggers side, with a little of the Foreclosures side here and there. I tried to separate these stories into categories, but in many cases, the subjects covered may fall into several categories. So they are filed under where they best fit.

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Baseball Card Set Specific



On  a whim, I bought a wax box off ebay, just to see what ripping 1981 Donruss was like.


In the interest of fairness, I also bought a wax box off ebay, to compare it to 1981 Fleer.


One of the most iconic set in my collecting timeline.



This story was linked in a very popular thread on Reddit, making it (by far) my most read baseball story.


Bowman's first full bleed photo set, one of my all time favorites under the brand.


An underrated and very nice set, put out by a card company no one has much respect for.


A eulogy for my cat that had to be put down, with an extended look at a set many people have forgotten about.

Post 276 - 2002 Topps Total

Ripping a box of 2002 Topps Total, while on vacation in Delaware! (And Washington DC...)



Short appreciation of a set that tried to tickle the nostalgia vibes, but whiffed on the details. However, it did lead to one of my best pack rips I've ever had.


A look at the incredible luck I had with just a handful of packs of a forgettable Upper Deck brand. Mixed in with the failed re-lauch of an iconic Minneapolis newstand/card store.

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And the newer stuff...

These are stories dedicated to covering new product, as I bought it. Some may or may not have additional card stories mixed in with the "current" subject matter.









I bought the same packs from Target, then WalMarts, and compared the results.







Post 123 - 2019 Donruss








Post 162 - 2020 Bowman

Post 166 - 2020 Topps 2
















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Montreal Expos


My favorite team. And they don't exist anymore. 


An explanation of why, was posted when 4 Baggers was less than 50 hours old.



Reviewing a team set.


Reviewing a team set. This one stings. Most of the 1994 Expos roster, with a gold 1995 World Series stamp on it. Which was won by the Atlanta Braves. And you know how I feel about them.



Interesting find at a sports card shop that just rubbed me the wrong way.

Post 109 - Expos ExMess

Laura gave me a bunch of cool Expos stuff for X-Mess.



Looking at the 2019 Topps Archives Expos insert set, cast against our vacation to (partially) Washington DC. The Nationals had not yet won the 2019 World Series, when this was posted with my fingers crossed.



A big catch all mix of new card additions, headlined by an autographed Todd Zeile Expos card. When just weeks prior, I was unaware of ANY Todd Zeile Expos cards.


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Minnesota Twins


The team I grew up watching, and am back watching. Source of baseball love and frustration, fed by the angst of it being my backup after the Expos. A second dagger comes in the form of Minnesota Twins ownership 2001 suicide pact with the Expos under MLB's full support. Yeah, I follow the Twins... 

But the Twins are the abusive partner.


Looking at the game program and scorecard, filled out on the final game of the 1961 season, against the Detroit Tigers. Mixed in with my incomplete 1961 Topps Twins team set.


Looking at the game program and scorecard, from a game in 1961 season, against the Oakland Athletics.



Looking at an old team issued card set of retired Twins players. 


Looking at an old team issued card set of the 1987 Minnesota Twins. Issued to salute their World Series victory. MLB forced them to cease sale as they conflicted with something legal. I blame Topps.



My third story was intended to be a recurring feature about getting autographs at the Metrodome, before and after late 1980's games. I never wrote any additional stories.



Team issued set promoting the 2003 AL Central winning team, and promotional drawings of the new stadium model they had developed. There are some similarities to what Target Field ended up being. 

There's a few stories about individual players.






Post 211 - Royce Lewis

And a few stories about the actual games. 



We attended an inconsequential game against the Kansas City Royals and nearly saw a Perfect Game.


Post 215 - Twins vs Rockies

A Colorado Rockies appearance at Target Field, with baseball cards and Sesame Street. 


Laura and I sat in the right field home run porch for a game against the Angels, in September 2022. Getting to see both Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani. Mixed in with recent card purchases


Post 242 - Twins vs Padres

Laura and I sat in the front row between third base and left field home for a game against the Padres. Thank you Fernando Tatis for close a play at third, while I'm eating a Target Field cheeseburger.

Which was pretty good.

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Colorado Rockies


While the Colorado Rockies are also a poorly run organization, with them, I never took it personal. Sadly, they because hard to support and easier to mock. I lived in Denver between 1996 and 2018, so I watched a lot of Colorado Rockies baseball. They were entertaining, but not always in the intended way.



Some batting practice photos from a Colorado Rockies exhibition game against the Twins, in the Metrodome. Days before they'd play their first ever MLB game, in 1993. 


Don't take this seriously, just having fun...



Long sought after team set.

Stories about particular Rockies players:



Post 149 - Larry Walker HOF

Larry Walker became the Rockies first Hall of Famer. I whatever his top 33 Rockies and top 33 Expos cards.

Post 182 - Nolan Arenado



Todd Helton became the Rockies second Hall of Famer. Along with some former Minnesota Twins guy...


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Miscellaneous Baseball Stories


Stories that cover multiple baseball subjects...

Post 13 - 2017... Meh...

How I felt about 2017 baseball cards.


Post 14 - The Big Sort

A summer 2017 update on sorting progress.

Does it ever end?


Ranking the best cards I've ever pulled from retail packs.

A list that would be drastically different today, vs 2017...


2017 Stadium Club blaster to celebrate a month of not smoking cigarettes.

Yeah... That lasted...



Went a bit Expos, Rockies and Twins team set wacky on ebay. 

Post 80 - Happy May

A story about driving around Denver, taking pictures, with new card purchases mixed in. This was a month before we left Colorado, and I was trying to pack in as much future writing material as I could.


A related story from a couple weeks later. This time a different part of town and some actual 2018 Bowman retail packs.


An autograph that I didn't know I wanted until I pulled it.



A vintage buying spree at the LCS.     


The ex-Expos are world champions!


A look at a copy of Topps Magazine, found in a box of stuff from my parents house.


Post 171 - Beckett Almanac

A book report on the massive annual Beckett book of everything baseball cards. Say what you want about Beckett, this is a valuable resource.


Review of 2020 baseball card releases and what I got from them.


Review of 2022 baseball card releases and what I got from them.


Sorting old cards and buying new cards, in the summer of 2023.


Post 164 - 2020 MLB Draft

Watching the 2020 MLB Draft, hoping to match picks to Panini product.


Another live MLB Draft watch and Panini mash-up.


My third live MLB Draft watch with Panini matches.



Saluting Wasted Quarter's very own cartoon farting duck, with baseball cards of players named Bob.


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Sports Card Stores


Stories about card stores I've visited and/or frequented


A sad Upper Deck Sweet Spot autograph from Unfriendly's Dickish Collectables.


I traded about 22,000 stars, semi-stars, rookies and inserts to Mike's Stadium Sports Cards, in Aurora, Colorado. I received a nice stash of Expos, Twins and Rockies cards in exchange.


A look at the new Expos, Twins and Rockies cards from this now closed card store, in Roseville, MN.


Post 100 - Duluth part 1

Post 101 - Duluth part 2

Laura and I took a vacation in Duluth, MN. Part of which was hitting up Globe News, in Superior, Wisconsin, for a big bunch of new Expos, Twins and Rockies cards.


How about some new Expos, Twins and Rockies cards from St. Cloud, MN.

I lost my LCS in November 2023. It was less than 2 miles from where I lived since we moved from Colorado, back to our hometown. Pal's Sports Cards was a major contributor to my collection from 2018-2023. Since that was the time frame that coincides with 4 Baggers, it was written about a lot.


Cards purchased during our November 2017 drive from Denver to Minneapolis and back. And what an unmitigated disaster that became.





Opening a "pack" of 1955 Bowman, and some other card shop purchases.


Post 258 - Pal's Closes

Eulogy for the store. Pushed out in the name of Kung Fu.


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The Junk Wax Prospector


A series about prospects I collected during the Junk Wax Era. The cards I have and how they turned out.














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Random Top Loader


Another series where I use a complex formula involving my old Dungeons & Dragons dice, to choose a random card stored in the Top Loader boxes.










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MLB Players

Stories about one specific non-Twins, Expos or Rockies player




So stupid...


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Card Shows


Stories about baseball card shows I've attended.





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Repacks


Sometimes you just want to throw some money at a random baseball flashback... You're not getting rich on repacks, but they can be a lot of fun!










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Jay Buckley


An ongoing series of baseball stories, from attending Jay Buckley's Baseball Tours, between 1992 and 1996.







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Non Baseball Card Stories


A small smattering of card related, non-baseball stories.












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