The new math mixed with a bit of the past

I recently completed a trade with Ryan from "O" No!!! Another Orioles Blog.  From the package that I received from Ryan, I do believe that he is a purveyor of the new math, because when I was a kid...

12=81 would be an equation that would have been marked wrong on any of my math tests. 

For trading purposes, however, Ryan saw fit to make that equation work.  While I was able to knock a few cards from his '12 Series 2 want list, Ryan knocked a whole bunch of cards off of a couple of my lists, and threw in a few Chrome Blue Jays just for fun.

Ryan first sent me a bunch of '86 Topps, you know the set that the blogosphere is trying to prove to me that you can complete without ever having bought a pack of....

Some random cards from the stack....

Blue Jay fans will remember this pair, because back in the '85 season, Bell charged the mound and kicked  Kison after Kison hit him with a pitch.  George Bell was a helluva player for the Jays, but he was as loose a cannon as you were going to find on a baseball field. 

They say a picture is worth a 1,000 words.  How about a scan is worth 10,000 hits?

A Rose between two Hall of Famers

How about 3 more classic players from the 80's? 

Ozzie Smith hits that HR in '85 that prompts Jack Buck's call "Go crazy folks, go crazy".  Speaking of crazy, how about Reggie's relationship with Billy Martin in the 70's?  Or, maybe a crazy stat for you...Ron Guidry in 1983 pitched 21(!) complete games.  James Shields of the Rays last year pitched 11 complete games, which was the first time that a pitcher hit double digits for complete games since 1999 (Randy Johnson, 12 for Arizona).

To top it off, Ryan sent me a couple of GQ Variations + some Chrome Blue Jay goodness

The Chromes are an absolutely wicked temptation that I must resist this year in order to complete a still long laundry list of other sets that I have on the go.  I've only bought one rack pack for myself so far, and that's where it will stay.   The variation cards for GQ were unexpected but greatly appreciated.

Ryan, thank you very much for the trade, the great lot of cards are really more than expected, and of course very welcome as well.

Thanks for reading, Robert