30 Day Baseball Card Challenge

Friday, November 3, 2017

Burnt Out

I'm officially burnt out.  I love my students and classes this year, but I'm counting the days until Thanksgiving break.  I seriously need to recharge my batteries and spend some time with my collection and this blog.

Speaking of that... I apologize for the lack of posts.  In between watching the MLB playoffs and catching up on The Blacklist and The Walking Dead, I've been more interested in reading your blog posts instead of writing my own.

I've also been busy building long-overdue care packages that will be shipped out in the very near future.

In the meantime... here are a few cards from my collection that crossed my mind after watching Wednesday night's game...

2016 Five Star Silver Signatures #FSSS-JA

I jumped on the Astros bandwagon as soon as the A's and Padres were eliminated, which was fairly early in the season.  Why?  Well... pretty much to support one of my favorite players in the game who hopefully wins the 2017 AL MVP Award.

After Verlander took home the ALCS MVP Award, I was really hoping Altuve would win the Willie Mays World Series MVP Award.

2011 Bowman Draft Picks and Prospects #81

But after seeing Springer's first two at-bats on Wednesday, I knew he had locked up the award if the Astros could hold onto the lead.

2012 Topps Archives Fan Favorites Autographs #YD

Yeah... I was rooting for the Astros... but Darvish was one of the Dodgers that I was quietly rooting for and I was excited to see him get the Game 7 start.  Sadly Springer ended his evening very, very early.

2013 Topps Update Rookie Commemorative Patch #TRCP-14

On the other hand, it was awesome to see Kershaw bounce back and pitch four solid innings in relief for the Dodgers.  He kept them in the game, but their offense missed out on numerous chances to put runs on the board.  I would have been pulling my hair out if I was an LA fan.

2015 Bowman's Best Hi-Def Heritage #HDH-CC

I'm sure Astros fans were nervous too, since both teams proved that they could bounce back from a three run deficit in Game 5.

But in the end, the Astros held on and celebrated their first World Series title.  It was really cool to watch the celebration and witness Showrrea propose to his girlfriend.

Congratulations Carlos!  Congratulations George!  And congratulations to the rest of the Houston Astros franchise and all of their fans!

Happy Friday and sayonara!

12 comments:

CaptKirk42 said...

Love The Blacklist. James Spader is perfect as Red. I would love to see a behind the scenes of the casting or just see the names of who was shortlisted for that role. Maybe he was the original choice and they only went through the motions of looking at other actors. I like knowing about the "almost cast" for popular shows and movies.

RAZ said...

I was pretty excited to watch the Astros win the World Series, even though I'm surrounded by Dodgers fans at the moment. You chose some nice cards to show off. I hope the upcoming break affords you plenty of time to recharge and refresh.

Trevor P said...

Ahh, November through December...the black pit of teacher burnout. It's funny that no matter how long you teach, it never seems to go away. It's a good thing that we have a good hobby like cards to keep us sane!

Commishbob said...

I really feel your pain, Fuji. Classroom teaching can really be a grind. The next person that tells me about how easy we have it, summer vacations, short hours is gonna get punched.

I'm counting the days, too. I have 28 class days left before I retire. I didn't think I'd feel this way but the year so far has been miserable.

I was pretty happy about the Astros, too. But to be honest I felt the Yankee series was the WS. I'm still adjusting to considering the Stros as an AL team. I was especially happy for my sons. They are true born and raised Houston sports fans. They are on Cloud 9.

Commishbob said...

Just re-read my comment...I wasn't implying the Dodgers series was easy...just that I had to keep reminding myself it wasn't an NL playoff.

defgav said...

Nice Darvish auto! I'd like to pick up one of those sometime.

Matt said...

I can drop you a PWE sometime but need an addy. Might help with that burnout feel

Man said...

retirement my friend you gotta be close

Collecting Cutch said...

I too am awaiting the end of Thanksgiving since I work in the supermarket industry. I was 100% rooting for the Astros and thought this was one of the best World Series ever.

I have to ask though, why didn't you give Charlie Morton any love in your post? He is the first pitcher to win a Game 7 for an ALCS and World Series ever. He's like the Rodney Dangerfield of pitchers. He can't get any respect. Lol!

I got some cards heading your way soon so maybe that could inspire a post.

Anonymous said...

I think "The Blacklist: Redemption" proved that there's very limited appeal without James Spader.

I have to say, though, I do miss Mr. Kaplan.

Fuji said...

captkirk42 & shlabotnikreport - i'm a big spader fan. can't imagine another actor playing that role. he's about 70% of the reason i watch the show.

raz - congratulations raz on the win. i was excited too... even though i kept thinking the dodgers would come back.

trevor p - love that end of november through the beginning of january time period. for some reason those three weeks between breaks seem to fly by too. it's amazing.

commish - 28 class days? that's awesome! congratulations! sorry to hear that this year has been miserable. are you going to sub after you retire? congratulations to your sons and the whole city of houston.

defgav - they're much cheaper now than back in 2012. my guess is they'll be even cheaper now.

sport card collectors - thanks. email sent. reply with your add and i'll get a pwe out to you as well.

brady - i'm thinking i have another 20 years :( but that's okay. by then i'll have my house paid off and enough retirement saved up. lol. well... at least that's the plan.

collecting cutch - honestly... i thought of him, but i don't have any cards featuring him in an astros uniform. but he was fantastic in both of those game 7's

Bulldog said...

Love that Altuve card! The break will do ya well. Just a few more weeks - hang in there. Good post.