Hobby Q&A: Matt Strahm on MLB, collecting & Stadium Pulls

He's not a rookie on the field (hit 2017 boxes for his RCs) and he's certainly not a rookie collector, but San Diego Padres pitcher Matt Strahm is a bit of a newcomer to break videos ... but his are a little different than others out there.

His breaks? Well, they're done at the ballpark -- and part of a YouTube series called Strahm's Stadium Pulls that launched on Thursday.

The break of 2020 Bowman Sapphire was up first and was teased on his Twitter account before we caught up with him for some basics about his background in collecting and more in this Hobby Q&A.

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What kind of kid were you growing up?
I would say growing up it was baseball 95 percent of the time and the other five percent was every other sport. I was ultra-competitive in everything I did. As far as baseball went, growing up I was never interested in watching just always wanted to be playing.

Who was your favorite player/who did you collect?
I collected mostly Darin Erstad stuff when I was growing up. He was my idol. He grew up about an hour from my hometown, so rooting for him and the Angels just came natural. I remember having a baseball field frame where you could put a card in every position on the field and all nine of my spots were different Erstad cards. I mainly collected North Dakota guys Travis Hafner and Rick Helling. But 80 percent of my stuff was Erstad. I remember going to our local card shop at the time, Big Nick's -- I don't know if it’s still open or not -- and always check the cases for any new Erstad stuff.

What else did you collect?
I never really got into sets so much as a kid but my favorite collection I put together was a Mark McGwire home run series. I remember watching that summer and kinda being bummed he beat Roger Maris, but after homer No. 65 I was on edge to see if he’d get to 70. His 70th home run gold crown card was one of my favorites as a kid. It hung above my bed with all the other Erstad cards.

What cards are you looking for now?
For my personal collection right now, I’m looking to add my own Superfractor along with the Red and Orange to complete the rainbow. So anyone out there that may have info to track those down we can work out a finder's fee. As far as people I PC now, I keep it on the down-low cause again I’m super-competitive and I don’t want players thinking I think they are good and giving 'em more confidence. I’m already going up against the best in the world, so they don’t need extra motivation. But I will say I’m keeping every Bobby Witt Jr. I pull.

What's your opening schedule going to look like?
With Stadium Pulls, I'm looking to open in every ballpark I visit this year. I want to grow this to get other players involved in the hobby and bring the card collectors a different view of openings. With COVID and all the restrictions we are facing this year, I'll do my best to bring y’all different views of every park. Hopefully in 2021 we go back to some form of normalcy and I’m able to give you guys much more content.

So, where can we find you?
I’m looking to do most of my openings on my YouTube channel but occasionally will be popping on Instagram Live or Twitter to maybe crack some things with fans or teammates. I’m open to all options and want to entertain y’all the best I can. By no means am I a YouTube sensation like Phil Hughes, but I’ll do my best for you guys.
Instagram -- @MattStrahm
Twitter -- @MattStrahm
YouTube -- Strahm's Stadium Pulls

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