2012 Quarry Cards #'s 26-34

Here we go with the Grouping 4 of 6 for my 2012 Quarry Cards.  Hope you like what you see.

#26 Matt McBride

Chance he will be on the 2013 Rockies - 85%

Yearly Performance Grade - D

#27 Guillermo Moscoso

Chance he will be on the 2013 Rockies - 35%

Yearly Performance Grade - D+

#28 Jamie Moyer

Chance he will be on the 2013 Rockies - 0%

Yearly Performance Grade - C+

#29 Chris Nelson

Chance he will be on the 2013 Rockies - 85%

Yearly Performance Grade - A-

#30 Juan Nicasio

Chance he will be on the 2013 Rockies - 90%

Yearly Performance Grade - C+

#31 Wil Nieves

Chance he will be on the 2013 Rockies - 0%

Yearly Performance Grade - C+

#32 Rafael Ortega

Chance he will be on the 2013 Rockies - 95%

Yearly Performance Grade - B

#33 Adam Ottavino

Chance he will be on the 2013 Rockies - 80%

Yearly Performance Grade - B

#34 Josh Outman

Chance he will be on the 2013 Rockies - 20%

Yearly Performance Grade - F



I mentioned yesterday about showing off 2 of the 3 worst offseason additions for the Rockies in Jeremy Guthrie and Ramon Hernandez.  Well, here is the third in Guillermo Moscoso and Josh Outman.  The Rockies traded Seth Smith to the A's for these two who promptly proved that Oakland's stadium makes mediocre pitchers look good.  Moscoso will probably be back, but Outman might get non-tendered hopefully.  Chris Nelson really proved to be a nice surprise with his regular playing time at third base.  He was the Rockies 1st round pick in 2004 (the year before Tulo), but had never been given a real shot at the big league level.  Rafael Ortega was called up during the final week of the season and made his MLB debut in 2 games for the Rockies.  In my card collection, he will always be known as "Mr. 300" because he is officially the 300th member of my One of every Rockie collection.  It was tad anticlimactic because I already had his cards before he made his debut.  Finally, we have Jamie Moyer who was a great story not only for the Rockies, but for baseball in general.  Unfortunately, he was a much better story than pitcher and was cut in June.

As far as photos, surprisingly (aside from one) the best of this lot are all pitchers which usually make for the most boring cards.  I like the Moscoso just because it is an angle that is not usually shown on cardboard.  It is a bullpen shot, just in case some of you were wondering how they got over the mound.  The Moyer photo shows off the fielding of a pitcher, something that is very underrepresented with cards.  I also love the Nicasio simply because of the light "aura" that surrounds him.  It really seems to be somewhat of a supernatural type card (well maybe that's a bit of overselling).  However, my favorite of the group is without a doubt the Chris Nelson.  I love a good photo of sliding into the base, especially this close up. 

Just 17 to go and this year's Quarry Cards output is finished.  What do you think so far?  Any favorites here?


Thanx for reading.

2012 Quarry Cards #'s 18-25

It's time for the 3rd grouping of 2012 Quarry Cards.  Have a look.

#18 Jason Giambi

Chance he will be on the 2013 Rockies - (2% as player) (10% as manager)

Yearly Performance Grade - D-

#19 Carlos Gonzalez

Chance he will be on the 2013 Rockies - 98%

Yearly Performance Grade - A-

#20 Jeremy Guthrie

Chance he will be on the 2013 Rockies - 0%

Yearly Performance Grade - F

#21 Will Harris

Chance he will be on the 2013 Rockies - 5%

Yearly Performance Grade - F

#22 Todd Helton

Chance he will be on the 2013 Rockies - 95%

Yearly Performance Grade - D+

#23 Ramon Hernandez

Chance he will be on the 2013 Rockies - 75%

Yearly Performance Grade - F

#24 Jonathan Herrera

Chance he will be on the 2013 Rockies - 45%

Yearly Performance Grade - C-

#25 D.J. LeMahieu

Chance he will be on the 2013 Rockies - 80%

Yearly Performance Grade - B-



This group could easily be called CarGo and the Disappointments, because aside from Carlos Gonzalez (and D.J. LeMahieu to an extent) everyone here had a 2012 that was disappointing at best.  At the head of the disappointment list are 2 of the 3 horrible offseason acquisitions by the Rockies, Jeremy Guthrie and Ramon Hernandez.  Guthrie, now a former Rockie, is a good guy but was a horrible fit with the Rox.  Coupled with the fact that Colorado traded 50% of Baltimore's playoff rotation to get him (in effect once Matt Lindstrom was flipped for Joe Saunders), it was one of the biggest disasters in team history.  Honestly, Hernandez wasn't much better.  Brought in as a mentor for young Wilin Rosario, Hernandez ended up being hurt and/or extremely ineffective.  The pair of veteran first basemen, Giambi and Helton, also had rough injury-plagued years.  It could be the end of the line for both of them, but I hope Helton will have a farewell tour in 2013.


As far as photography, there are some epic pics here.  The Todd Helton is a great moment-in-time shot that shows his pinch-hit grand slam against the Mets.  I really like the Carlos Gonzalez photo as well, but as good as that one is, there is going to an even better one co-starring Pirates catcher Michael McKenry later.  The Jonathan Herrera would have to be my favorite of this grouping though.  The colorful background, the look on his face, and of course the flying third baseman combine to create a very memorable photo.


How is this group?  Are you bored to tears yet?  Hopefully not, because I am only halfway through.

2012 Quarry Cards #'s 9-17

Here we go with round 2 of the 2012 Quarry Cards set.  Let's take a look.

#9 Tyler Colvin

Chance he will be on the 2013 Rockies - 95%

Yearly Performance Grade - B+

#10 Michael Cuddyer

Chance he will be on the 2013 Rockies - 75%

Yearly Performance Grade - C-

#11 Jorge de la Rosa

Chance he will be on the 2013 Rockies - 99%

Yearly Performance Grade - D

#12 Mike Ekstrom

Chance he will be on the 2013 Rockies - 2%

Yearly Performance Grade - D

#13 Edgmer Escalona

Chance he will be on the 2013 Rockies - 95%

Yearly Performance Grade - D+

#14 Tommy Field

Chance he will be on the 2013 Rockies - 20%

Yearly Performance Grade - F

#15 Dexter Fowler

Chance he will be on the 2013 Rockies - 60%

Yearly Performance Grade - A-

#16 Jeff Francis

Chance he will be on the 2013 Rockies - 65%

Yearly Performance Grade - B-

#17 Christian Friedrich

Chance he will be on the 2013 Rockies - 90%

Yearly Performance Grade - C



Mike Ekstrom is the first (but not last) former Rockie so far in the set.  He filed for free agency right after the season and it's quite unlikely for him to return.  This group also contain three of the best surprises from the disastrous 2012 season for Colorado.  Tyler Colvin was acquired in a bust-for-bust deal with the Cubs and, all of a sudden, forgot he was a bust in the first place.  Dexter Fowler, in a mild surprise, became a very consistent player.  He is very close to being a star.  The biggest surprise, by far, was the return of the prodigal son Jeff Francis.  He ended up being arguably the most reliable starter for the Rockies.  Of course it says a lot about the Colorado pitching staff that their most reliable starter was released by the Reds' AAA club in June.  However, the biggest impact of this group on me personally was the MLB debut of my former schoolmate Christian Friedrich.  He flashed potential away from Coors, but at home he looked awful before a stress fracture in his back prematurely ended his season.

Photo-wise, this group definitely has some winners.  There are four or five of these pics that I would qualify as great.  My top three in descending order would be the Friedrich, the Fowler, and #1 by far the Michael Cuddyer.  That isn't just a photo, that is fine art.  On the downside of the pictures, this group also contains the only photo that is not from the 2012 season.  Tommy Field only appeared in 2 games this year and 1 was as a pinch runner.  I couldn't find a single photo from this year, so I went with his September call up from 2011.


How does this group look?  Your favorites?

Thanx for reading.

2012 Quarry Cards #'s 1-8

One of my favorite things to do with this blog is creating my own cards.  With my recent financial situation, creating cards is even more important.  Rather than giving up the hobby until things turn around, I can at least keep up somewhat even without purchasing new cards.  With this year's Quarry Cards offering, I decided to go with a completely unique design of my own.  Unlike last year's mixed design, this year the cards are completely made up of landscape-oriented photos (horizontal cards).  It was inspired by several sets including: 1991 Score, 1960 Topps, and 2001 Fleer Tradition, along with my own imagination.  There are 51 cards in this set and I will be showing them over the next six days in an 8-9-8-9-8-9 format.  I hope you guys enjoy the work.

#1 Matt Belisle

Chance he will be on the 2013 Rockies - 95%

Yearly Performance Grade - B

 #2 Rafael Betancourt

Chance he will be on the 2013 Rockies - 90%

Yearly Performance Grade - A

#3 Charlie Blackmon

Chance he will be on the 2013 Rockies - 60%

Yearly Performance Grade - C

#4 Rex Brothers

Chance he will be on the 2013 Rockies - 100%

Yearly Performance Grade - B-

#5 Andrew Brown

Chance he will be on the 2013 Rockies - 5%

Yearly Performance Grade - D

#6 Edwar Cabrera

Chance he will be on the 2013 Rockies - 25%

Yearly Performance Grade - F

#7 Jhoulys Chacin

Chance he will be on the 2013 Rockies - 100%

Yearly Performance Grade - C

#8 Tyler Chatwood

Chance he will be on the 2013 Rockies - 97%

Yearly Performance Grade - C-


Like in 2011, I chose to number the set alphabetically by last name.  Unfortunately, that led to some unmemorable photos to start with, but that tends to happen when it is a group of mostly relievers.  They only tend to have their photo taken when they give up a big hit or something bad happens so the choices are not very plentiful.  Of this group, I think that the Chatwood is the best just because the photo really matched well with the available space.

All of these players are under contract or are arbitration-eligible for the 2013 season.  The reason the percentage is so low for Brown and Cabrera is because I expect them to be at AAA in 2013 although Brown could easily be released.  Blackmon is hard to figure.  He is in the same situation as Eric Young last year.  I could see him being a starting OF (after a couple of trades), a backup OF (after 1 trade), being traded in a package deal, being swapped for another prospect, or going to AAA.  I honestly have no clue what the Rockies plan for him is.  That will not be the last time I write that sentence for this team.  The rest I expect to return unless they are traded.  I hope they aren't traded because the bullpen is one of the Rockies biggest strengths right now.  Although, it was used very poorly in 2012 by Jim Tracy and Co.


Which one of these cards is your favorite?  What do you think of the design?  How could it be improved?

Thanx for reading.

I'm Back Yet Again...For a While Anyway

A couple of months ago, less than a week after I posted last, I experienced something that I had not experienced since 1997.  I was forced to live without the Internet for an extended period of time.  Finances alone forced that difficult decision.  It was not nearly as bad as I expected it to be.  I read the morning paper for news and box scores much as I did prior to 1997.  Surprisingly, life went on exactly as it used to without the information superhighway.  I didn't have instant access to any needed information anymore, but I learned that it wasn't necessary to have the information that instant anyway.  But I digress.

I was able to get my Internet access re-enabled due to a nice birthday windfall.  (Oh, by the way, today is my 36th birthday)  I got it back at the beginning of October and spent the last couple of weeks on a massive project that will appear on this blog throughout the winter, but more on that in a few days.


I want to take a little time to comment on a few happenings since I was last here.

1. The Rockies complete their worst season in history at 64-98.
All I can say is ugh.  Injuries were devastating in Denver this year, but that is no excuse.  Of all the 2012 offseason acquisitions, only Tyler Colvin performed better than expected.  Everyone else, from Cuddyer to Guthrie to Moscoso, was average (Cuddy) to horrid (Guthrie).  This season was just horrible and I have to hope that the Rockies have hit bottom.  If not I foresee the trading of both Tulo and CarGo (and probably more) next year to have a complete reboot of the franchise.  I don't think it is time for that now though.  Another 90 loss season in 2013 and it might be necessary.

2. Jim Tracy resigns as Rockies manager following the 2012 season.
Glory, glory hallelujah.  I have always hated the way that Tracy managed a game and the Rockies have steadily gotten worse since he started in mid-2009.  That being said, I would have preferred the franchise taking a stand and firing him rather than letting him resign.  This way makes it look like the Rockies ownership is cheap (which is probably true) and that Tracy was not really at fault for the poor performance (not true although it wasn't completely his fault).  I think it is time to get a first-time manager in Denver preferably from outside the organization (i.e. not Tom Runnells or Stu Cole).  I am holding out hope for Ryne Sandberg, but Sandy Alomar would be great as well.

3. The first images of 2013 Topps are released.
My first reaction was that I liked it, but it could be better.  The lack of positions on the front and a little bit too much border are the downsides in my mind, but it is still better than the average Topps set.  At least so far.  The pink and camo parallels tell me that it is time something new in cards.  The parallels have jumped the shark.

4. The story break that relic cards may not be what they appear to be.
I don't care in the least.  All of my relic cards have a picture of said player on the card along with a piece of cloth, wood, whatever.  As long as the player's picture is still on the card then it is what a baseball card has always been.  A photo of a major league baseball player.  Anything else that is added I consider part of the design anyway.  I understand why some folks feel cheated, but relics never meant that much to me anyway.

5. Blogger Chris Stufflestreet passes away way too young.
Obviously this is horrible news.  I did not know Mr. Stufflestreet personally, but I did enjoy reading his vintage blog.  I have never been as big on collecting vintage cards, but I always enjoyed reading the stories about the sets from long before my time.  I wish I had the chance to know him better because he had more knowledge of a subject that I love than just about anyone.  The world is a sadder place with one less card collector in its midst.


I don't want to make this a long winded post (well more long-winded anyway), so I will say that the 2012 edition of Quarry Cards featuring the complete 2012 Rockies roster will start as of tomorrow.  I have been working on it since spring training and was practically finished at the time of my Internet loss.  The design is 100% my own this year, after borrowing from the Topps site last year, although I was inspired by several sets.  49 players were active members of the Rockies roster this year along with a manager card and a team card for a total of 51 in this year's set.  I will start tomorrow with the first eight cards from this year's Quarry Cards.  I hope to see you then. 

Thanx for reading.