Blog Bat Around: What I Collect (inspired by Night Owl Cards)

To follow up my rather late review of 2018 Topps, I've got a post that's reasonably on time. All throughout the Cardsphere this month, collectors have been sharing the specifics of "What I Collect", a theme started by none other than Night Owl Cards. It's been unbelievably busy at work this month, and next week will be no exception, but I wanted to carve out some weekend time to join in the Blog Bat-Around fun. I previously hopped on the Kevin Bacon train, but this one's a lot more involved, and I got to pick and choose cards from all over my collection.

We'll lead off with a subject that will surprise absolutely no one.

1. Rockies

2007 Topps #150 Todd Helton

I wasn't always a team collector. I still don't really fully identify as one, as you'll see by the remaining content of this post. It's just so easy to be one in this community. Everyone wants a place to send their unwanted cards, and since there are just 29 teams besides yours, you don't have to look too hard to find a home for them. Unless, of course, we're talking about the Marlins.

Whoever eventually proclaims themselves as a Marlins collector will no doubt be buried in an avalanche of cardboard the likes of which even Wes couldn't match. I have my stack of Marlins extras safely tucked away like the rest of you, waiting for the day they'll have a home. I also have a few spare Royals cards nearby, if anyone wants to claim those.

So I collect Rockies. For better or worse, they are my team. They are my team in the #SuperTraders group, if that's still a thing. They are my team in pretty much every group break I buy into. They are my team when most of you trade with me. They are my team when I go to the ballpark. They were my team a decade ago when my sister and I went to Spring Training in Tucson. They are especially my team during the rare occasion when they make the playoffs. And they're very often my team when I write about baseball cards, as you can see from over four years of this blog's existence.

And who better to represent the Rockies than the face of the franchise, Todd Helton? The only Rockie with a retired number was my entry in a previous Blog Bat Around started by Collecting Cutch. That 2007 Topps card above was #11, the final reject that didn't make my Top Ten list. It hits one of my mini-collections, which we'll get to, but that card has been patiently waiting its turn on this blog since last year. To my knowledge, no better card exists that shows Helton's Mantle-esque post-swing pose, and the black borders and facsimile signature give the Filmstrip Set a retro feel.

2. Sets

2016 Stadium Club #105 Bryce Harper

They're less of a focus these days (see section 1), but if there's a set I like, I still go after it. I usually don't have the patience to build sets by hand (1993 Fleer being one exception), so when I do end up with a full set, it's usually because I just bought the factory set. It's easy, less expensive, and I like the pretty boxes. I've been doing that with Topps for quite some time, and my collection of complete Topps base sets goes back to 1986. I even have a whole blog tab dedicated to the sets I've completed, which is a helpful reference when visiting the discount table of a LCS.

Of course, I realize that not all sets come factory-sealed. In fact, most don't, something that bugs Heritage collectors year after year. But even if not, like Stadium Club, I'll still get a blaster or two, or at least some value packs. And I'll be sure to keep my eyes peeled at card shows.

It's hard to quantify exactly what makes me like a set. A sense of nostalgia goes a long way, like with 2011 Topps Heritage (based on the '62 set). Once in a while I stumble across an old gem like a box of 1993 Leaf and I'll have one of the series done in one fell swoop. Anything on that blog tab that's a single series was probably done that way. Sometimes I just like a set, period. 2011 Topps Lineage is an example of that. But generally, design and photography will seal the deal, which is why I've been such a fan of Stadium Club since its resurgence in 2014.

Topps has been raiding the Getty Images archives for some time now, and they've come up with lots of memorable shots. Bryce Harper under the lights at his home park results in a great night card from a favorite brand of mine. Not only that, but this is one where we're given enough detail in the scoreboard to date this to July 7th, 2015. The Nats lost that day, facing the Reds and Johnny Cueto, who ended up with a complete game shutout. But as Harper waited his turn on deck in the bottom of the 6th, there was still plenty of time to stage a comeback.

He struck out, but that's just one at-bat out of many. He's had many successful at-bats, so many that the "34" in his uniform number just might be the first two digits of a nine-figure contract he's expected to sign when he reaches free agency.

Who wouldn't want more of this set?

3. Inserts

2015 Topps Opening Day Hit the Dirt #HTD-03 Billy Hamilton

I'll get more specific, I promise. This isn't just a review of what types of cards exist in the baseball card hobby. The super-high end autograph sets aren't going to have a place here. But interesting insert sets from the basic brands you can buy at Target have a place in my collection. There are so many insert sets year after year that it's hard not to find a few to like. Stadium Club of course gives us great ones, and Topps Opening Day is usually good for a few too, like this one of Reds speedster Billy Hamilton. I'll be buying my annual blaster of Opening Day soon, and I expect to see a few more like this.

Which insert sets I chase are often determined in the same way as which main sets I chase. Sometimes they just catch my eye at a card show and I'm hooked. 2013 Topps Chasing History comes to mind, as does 2011 Topps 60. And we mustn't forget the Mascots set that Opening Day gives us every year.

I seem to have a knack for pulling NL Central inserts from my Opening Day blasters. There were Pirates galore last year. The NL Central is well-represented on this 2015 card, offering a rare shot of someone stealing third base.

I hope base stealing doesn't become an oddity like knuckleballs. As it is, Dee Gordon is basically a lock to lead the league in the statistic. I just don't want him to be one of just three or four guys still doing it, like the Niekro brothers and Charlie Hough.

4. Parallels

1994 Topps Gold #287 Mike Lansing

I'm a little bit pickier when it comes to parallels. I don't chase every color in the rainbow that Topps is doing these days, especially now that they got rid of borders. Purple borders are nice, especially on Rockies cards, but with the demise of Toys 'R' Us, the exclusive retailer of purple parallels, those won't be around anymore. Other coincidental color-coding is pleasing to look at, but they're more of a curiosity. What really interests me is when there are just one or two parallels to be found. Stadium Club First Day Issues, for example, 1994 Upper Deck Electric Diamond, and Opening Day Blue cards.

But what first comes to mind when I think of parallels is Topps Gold. These were the first ones I chased, and I still enjoy running across these. I'll never pass one up at a card show. I also jumped at the chance to get a bunch from Matt at Summer of '74 recently. The above Mike Lansing card has been in my collection for longer, and there's no parallel set better represented in my collection than 1994 Topps Gold.

The horizontal layout makes this example stand out, as does the oddly-placed Topps Rookie Cup logo. It's partially obscuring the Giants catcher, possibly Kirt Manwaring, who had another cameo in 1994 Topps on Dante Bichette's card. On the other hand, that could be Jeff Reed, the Giants' backup catcher, because his black mitt is different than the tan one Manwaring wore on both Bichette's and Darrell Whitmore's 1994 cards.

Either way, they'd all end up being teammates on the 1998 Rockies. Well, except for Darrell Whitmore.

5. Overproduction

1992 Fleer Ultra #383 Darryl Hamilton

I came of age during the tail end of the baseball card bubble, and the earlier parts of my collection reflect that. Many of my overproduction cards are simply there because of pure abundance. I'm sure that is true for many of us. My first-ever packs were of 1987 Topps and 1990 Fleer. When I got a little older, the local Wal-Mart had a great supply of 1991 Topps, 1993 Fleer, and more. Even Toys 'R' Us was a good source for cheap cards like 1991 Score. 1988 Donruss still seems to sneak its way in whenever you're not looking, and 1991 Fleer can practically be seen from space.

It's everywhere.

I collected so many of these sets at so young an age that they're seared into my memory for the rest of time. There is no time period of cards, not even cards released mere months ago, that I remember as well as some of these sets. Case in point: I can tell the difference between 1992 Ultra and 1993 Ultra in a split-second glance.

Darryl Hamilton, the late ex-Rockie, got a great bunting shot in 1992 Ultra as a member of the then-AL Brewers. The bat itself has an interesting woodgrain pattern, and we can see the hollowed out top of the bat as we stare down the barrel.

Yes, I am completely certain this is 1992 Ultra as compared to '93. The team and position banner extends all the way to the border, the team's city is present, there is less gold foil, and most obviously, the marbled area at the bottom is a jade color, compared to the tan color in '93. That's about all there is to go on, but it's enough.

Just don't ask me to place a Bowman set any more accurately than plus or minus five years.

1990 Fleer #363 Larry Walker (RC)

Overproduction cards are so abundant that they've earned a second card in this section, this one from the aforementioned 1990 Fleer.

As a Rockies collector, I don't see a whole lot of this era via trade. Other than two or three cards from 1992, it took most brands until Series 2 of 1993 to give us any Rockies cards. So most of these that I don't already have tend to come my way in various 5,000 count boxes that dealers unload for peanuts as card shows wrap up.

But they're often a source of conversation, because that was when everyone else collected. Once someone knows I collect, the question about what their '80s cards are worth isn't far behind. Nick wrote all about this last month. One recent day at work, our regional VP asked me about his complete '82 Topps Football set and some late-'70s Pete Rose cards. I told him those are old enough that there might be a little value if they're in good shape, a few bucks. But earlier this week, Larry Walker's rookie card came up.

We were beginning a week-long training series for an upcoming system change. The trainer wanted us to go around the room for introductions and share a fun fact about ourselves. When it got to me, what else could I say besides, "I'm Adam K, <various info about my career>, and I write a blog about baseball cards." The next day when I sit down, a coworker sat down across from me who had a slight gleam in his eye. The conversation went something like this:

"So I have Larry Walker's rookie card."

"Oh? What was that, 1989 Fleer?" [my mistake, off by a year]

"Yeah, what's that worth?"

"About ten cents."

[hangs his head in disappointment] "What about like Randy Johnson..."

"Yeah, cards from that era aren't really worth they paper they're printed on, other than Griffey's rookie. That might go for about $25."

It's tough bursting people's bubbles, but I'm sure we've all had to do it. Anyway, I have Walker's rookie card too. And it's not even centered all that well.

I did have a friend who asked me about a 1948 Leaf Jackie Robinson once, and I referred him right to SGC. But that is definitely the exception.

6. Coors Field

2014 Topps #379 Gerardo Parra

So far, my collection probably isn't terribly different from yours. But there are a few things that make it mine. Primarily, that would be my Frankenset of Coors Field cards. I've attended nearly seventy games at the ballpark, I've sat in every area, I've seen many wins, many losses, a few Hall of Famers, and many, many home runs. I know the park like the back of my hand, and I can pretty easily spot it when it's on a baseball card. This Frankenset currently stands at 143 cards, with about 60 more on the wish list (discovered thanks to many of your blogs), and another 25 or so that I rejected due to card number overlap.

Clearly, they don't even have to be Rockies to make it in. Many teams are represented, including the Expos, who had quite a few of their photos taken in Denver. I guess the photographers didn't want to schlep all the way up into Canada to get their images for 1997. For obvious reasons, the other NL West teams appear frequently, most commonly the Diamondbacks.

Gerardo Parra is now a Rockie, but he was a divisional rival from 2009-2014, and that puts him in the third-base dugout sometime in 2013. The press box and retro architecture behind the plate are visible in the background, but the purple "Coors Field" banner on the front edge of the dugout roof is one of the key telltale signs I use to locate a card to 20th and Blake. That banner used to be green (see Helton's card in section 1), and in the early days, it wasn't there at all.

A clear but rare shot of the stadium's architecture itself is a dead giveaway. Sometimes you have nothing more to go on besides a Rockie who is wearing pinstripes, but even that can be deceptive, as their road jerseys also had pinstripes in the early 2000s. Other notable features are the right field out-of-town scoreboard, the forest in front of the batter's eye (but don't confuse this with Cleveland or Anaheim), segments of chain link fence under the yellow line in various spots along the outfield wall, and of course Dinger.

If there's anything that makes my collection mine, it's this.

7. Shiny

2011 Topps Lineage Platinum Diamond #76 Roberto Alomar

I'm a sucker for shiny cards, whether it's gold foil, chrome, dufex, or just lots and lots of sparkly facets, like this Roberto Alomar card from 2011 Topps Lineage, a set I mentioned in section 2. I tend to prefer the obvious ones like Topps Finest or maybe Pinnacle Certified over something like Stadium Club Rainbow cards, which you have to hold up to the light just right to see what's going on.

Topps went a little overboard with this in 2011 for their Diamond Anniversary, and the Hall of Famer Alomar looks a bit fuzzy in this photograph. But shiny is shiny, and the large blue area of the outfield wall takes on a striking deep sapphire color when given the sparkle treatment.

Shiny cards tend to scan quite terribly, but in person they're always a sight to see. Once in a while the scanner gets it right (like this time), but more often than not, they look a lot darker and flatter than they really are.

There's a holy grail set out there in the land of shiny cards, which are the ultra-rare 1993 Finest Refractors. That's something missing from my collection, and a gap I'd like to remedy one day. Even the common cards are not cheap, probably $20 minimum, and for a name like Griffey, you'll be looking at a couple grand.

8. Serial Numbers

2003 Topps Chrome Gold Refractors #84 Derrek Lee /449

The first time I saw serial numbers on a card was at a card show in 2003. This card itself may have been purchased at that exact show, since I remember the 2003 Topps Chrome set quite specifically. I was astonished that I was holding something so rare in my hands, especially as someone who wasn't too far removed from buying packs of 1991 Score at Toys 'R' Us. To this day, these are one of my favorite types of cards to collect, and I even have the extra rare ones (less than about 50 copies) in toploaders kept in a two-row box along with my autographs, relics, and a handful of special favorites.

This particular Derrek Lee card is a Gold Refractor, noted as such in tiny print next to the card number on the back. Topps has gone back and forth on that many, many times, but in 2003 they were happy to specify what we were holding. The serial number is 042/449, not exceedingly rare but still worth mentioning. Like many of my favorite cards, it falls into a few of these categories. No one will question a Gold Refractor's shininess.

I'm a bit ticked at Topps for removing serial numbers from Opening Day Blue parallels, even though they're supposedly given a print run equal to the calendar year. Hopefully that returns someday, if it hasn't already in 2018.

9. Green

1994 Finest #185 Paul Sorrento

Finally, the last thing I'll mention are green cards. There's something about the color that just works when it's on a card. Maybe it approximates the field of play so well, reminding us that baseball is a summer sport, when the trees are in bloom, the sunlight lasts forever, the birds are singing, and the ballpark smells like fresh-cut grass if you sit close enough. It's one of my favorite colors anyway, but when it's on a card, it really stands out and compels me to linger just a little longer.

1994 Topps Finest was my first exposure to green cards, particularly a preproduction version of Andres Galarraga's card. I was hooked ever since. And even though they're not really my team, I've considered collecting Oakland Athletics cards to increase this portion of my collection, at least the cards from color-coded sets.

Paul Sorrento, the subject of the common card I pulled from a large stack of 1994 Finest, has the claim to fame of getting the first hit at Camden Yards, and just a couple days later hitting the first home run there. And that's appropriate, because Camden Yards was the first retro classic ballpark, the one that so many others emulated and brought a dark green color back into the setting of Major League Baseball games.

Picking this card was basically at random, and Topps could have given us any number of Finest Moments in Sorrento's career. But one about a brick-and-green ballpark is oddly coincidental. I'm not necessarily the type to believe in coincidences, but my dad would point that out as "a signpost that you're on the right path."

Of course, there are other parts to my collection, including a handful of vintage cards, some minis, the occasional relic or autograph, a couple dozen pins, and a complete run of Rockies pocket schedules. But I could fit all that into a pretty small space, and it's not where my focus tends to lie. If money were no object, I'm sure I'd chase some of the 1950s classics, and Nolan Ryan's rookie card is one of the first things I'd buy if I were to win the lottery. But what you see above is where I tend to spend my time and money when it comes to card collecting.

It's a diverse hobby, and I'm sure many answers will be different. Some will be very different. I hear there are even other sports. I'm one of only a couple Rockies guys in the community, so my chosen team sets me apart from the bloggers who follow the major market teams like the Dodgers, Cubs, and Yankees. But my niche is just right for me, and I'm glad you're along for the ride.

The Trading Post #106: I Need New Hobbies (Part 2: Not as Shiny)

When Scott at I Need New Hobbies reached out to me after a while to do a trade, this was the card that opened negotiations, so to speak.

2017 Topps Gypsy Queen Green #85 Raimel Tapia

Trevor sent me the autographed version of this card early this year, and Scott found this green version for me, always a favorite color around here. Compared to the autographed version, the Rookie Card logo lost its color, while the photo area gained a bit more space. The centering is actually not that great, but it's good enough to show the old-timey border that GQ is so well-known for. And this is one of those situations where I have a few varieties of a card, but lack the base card itself.

I really couldn't put non-shiny cards like these in the same post as some of the beauties from Part 1, opting instead to split this trade into two posts. Not only are they not shiny, some of these aren't even glossy.

2008 Upper Deck Goudey #65 Troy Tulowitzki

Yes, I know that Goudey cards still have the Upper Deck hologram on the back, which looks pretty out of place on actual cardboard. But that's only on the back. The front gives us a retro look, one of the best bat-barrel shots you can find, and a gratuitous picture of Ken Griffey, Jr., which is found on all the National League cards in Goudey that year. Derek Jeter was the equivalent on American League cards, but neither superstar actually seems to have anything to say about these players. The design certainly seems to suggest that we're getting a quote from The Kid about Troy Tulowitzki, but the paragraph on the back is just your run-of-the-mill baseball card caption.

Upper Deck did this concept correctly in a 1993 insert set featuring the thoughts of Reggie Jackson.

1993 Upper Deck Clutch Performers #R1 Roberto Alomar

In addition to a gold foil facsimile signature from Reggie, complete with his uniform number 44, the back has a small black-and-white headshot and the following paragraph about Roberto Alomar:

"Arguably the best player in baseball. He can beat you every possible way. In 1992, Alomar was the best performer in late innings, and at only 25 years old, he is just scratching the surface of a great career."

It might have been edited a bit, but I can believe that Reggie Jackson actually said something to that effect. The Goudey cards are just too normal-sounding, and don't seem to have a style any different between the AL and NL cards.

1998 Ultra #57 Andres Galarraga

I never snagged one myself, but Andres Galarraga is frequently seen signing autographs for adoring fans. 1998 Ultra shows the same, and this time he's actually signing a card. The blue pen he's using evokes the raised foil on the front of this 1998 Ultra card, but I can't quite tell which card he's signing. Presumably, it's a Fleer product. The few times I've seen this, it's always from the same card company. Rey Sanchez' 1994 Topps card comes to mind. I just can't place which of the Big Cat's cards this is. It's from his days as a Rockie, it appears to be a full-bleed card, and it looks like he's about to field a foul ball.

Anyone recognize it?

1998 Sports Illustrated Then and Now #138 Larry Walker

Larry Walker's textbook swing is shown on this horizontal card, co-branded by Fleer and Sports Illustrated. Just look at how he's turning over his wrists. It reminds me of one of the top ten Todd Helton cards I picked. The back has a similar vibe to the Alomar and Tulowitzki cards, as Fleer brought in legends Harmon Killebrew, Lou Brock, and Brooks Robinson to rate members of this set on Power, Speed, and Fielding. I trust that I don't need to specify which is which.

Larry Walker earned five out of five baseballs on Power and Fielding, missing a perfect score only on the Speed rating, where he got four out of five. There were a few Fleer/SI sets in 1998, but this is my first time seeing this one. I'm not entirely clear on the scoring system, though. One baseball means "Fair", but two means "Below Average". I'm not sure which of those two is supposed to be better. It's sort of like today's credit card offerings. The old Platinum, Gold, and Silver are obvious enough, but when you start throwing Diamond, Sapphire, Titanium, etc... in the mix, it's pretty unclear what the ranking is.

2003 SP Authentic #88 Larry Walker

It's hard to believe that SP was ten years old in 2003. Perhaps it's harder to believe that the inaugural 1993 SP set (and the Rockies, for that matter) will be a quarter-century old next year, but that's a different story. But a decade of SP had passed when this was printed, leading Upper Deck to include a little 10th Anniversary logo in the lower right. It's a clean design, just a bit of gold foil, some color coding, a green patch with just a hint of textured lines, and a crisp full-length photo.

One disappointing thing about that 1998 Sports Illustrated set is that it doesn't rate players on contact hitting. Tony Gwynn got some pretty low ratings in that set. And while Walker had much more power than Gwynn, he could still hit for average. Despite the slew of batting titles won by Rockies in their existence, only Larry Walker is a repeat winner, and three times at that. This card tells us that his 1999 mark of .379 "remains a Rockies single-season record", a fact that holds true to this day.

Unfortunately, SP is no longer around to keep tabs on Rockies batting titles, but it's possible MLB will sign up another manufacturer and take Topps' exclusivity away in 2020.

1993 Flair #40 Joe Girardi

The baseball world got to see lots of Joe Girardi in the 2017 Postseason. He led the Yankees as far as Game 7 of the ALCS, but didn't quite get the job done. The Yankees let him go at the end of the season, announcing Aaron Boone as their new manager a few days ago. Boone knows a thing or two about Game 7 of the ALCS. But Girardi did fairly well as a Yankees manager. They won the 2009 World Series with him at the helm, won the Wild Card a few times, and came very close this year.

Of course, he got his start as a catcher, being drafted by the expansion Rockies in 1993. That's shown on this 1993 Flair card, about as premium as it got in 1993. This particular card has a bit more curling than I tend to see from that set, but it looks great in a 9-pocket page.

The gradual transitions you see from one photo to another on 1993 Flair work better on some cards than others. The action shot of Girardi finding a foul pop in the sun is fine, but the top half of the home plate umpire is edited out, leaving us with an awkward set of pant legs topped by a stack of Gatorate cups. It's almost as bad as that infamous Manny Ramirez card.

1994 Upper Deck Electric Diamond #76 Joe Girardi

This Upper Deck Electric Diamond parallel (shiny, but not shiny enough to be in Part 1) again shows Joe Girardi doing his catcherly duties, observing a Cincinnati Red down at the plate. That looks to be second baseman Juan Samuel, judging by that uniform #8. The Reds visited Denver twice during that inaugural season, but I couldn't find anything in the box scores regarding a play at the plate involving these two players.

And that's where it gets interesting.

Girardi missed about half of the 1993 season due to an injury, which coincided with the Reds' first trip to Denver. That leaves the final three home games of the Rockies' season. Again, no plays at the plate, but then I took a closer look. The ball is nowhere to be found, the coach is nonchalantly leaning on the dugout railing, Girardi is still holding his mask (which he would not do if trying to catch a ball incoming from the outfield), and Samuel looks a bit distressed.

Maybe it's a hit by pitch.

I dug a little deeper, and there was indeed such a situation, where Juan Samuel was hit by Armando Reynoso in the top of the 4th inning on September 26th, 1993. That was the only day game of that three-game series, and the final home game of the Rockies season. Which can mean only one thing.

I was at this game!

I don't recall this exact situation, even though I said a few months ago that I remembered this game "like it was yesterday." Memory is not as reliable as we think. But aside from Topps Now or UD Documentary, I finally found a card of a game I attended!

Incidentally, Samuel ended up being the third out anyway, thanks to Armando Reynoso's league-leading pickoff move.

2016 Donruss #114 Dexter Fowler

I'm not quite sure how to top that, so let's move on to the very specific category of "Past Rockies Center Fielders playing for Chicago Teams". First up is Dexter Fowler on an unlicensed Donruss card. There are a lot of red teams out there, but I'll go with this being a divisional game against either the Cardinals or Reds...er... St. Louis or Cincinnati. This would probably look better as a horizontal card, but that's not something Donruss really (ever?) did.

One thing Donruss always used to do was give us the player's full name. That trademark seems to have gone by the wayside, as he's just Dexter Fowler on both front and back, forcing me to head to Wikipedia to learn that his given name is William Dexter Fowler. But I do like that Panini ventured away from referring to the team only by its city, calling the Cubs the "North Siders" in one spot on the back.

1994 Score #431 Ellis Burks

Fowler headed to Chicago after he was a Rockie, but Burks was there before. He was just on the South Side a year before he joined up with Colorado and got his first taste of the National League. Score lauded him as a "tremendously talented athlete who has sizzling speed and graceful moves". He'd probably do pretty well on the Sports Illustrated ranking, likely edging out Walker on the Lou Brock Speed rating.

This is a very 1990s photo. I hardly ever see flip-down shades anymore. Odds are this is being played on astroturf. And there's a nearly life-size elephant pictured on the outfield wall, the logo of the Oakland Athletics, back when team logos from around the league used to dot every stadium. This card is a perfect opportunity to finally learn why the Athletics have anything to do with an elephant, and it goes way back to the early days of the American League. John McGraw, manager of the New York Giants, referred to the newly-created A's as a "White Elephant." Connie Mack proudly adopted it as manager, and it figured into the behind-the-scenes aspect of the 1905 World Series.

And that's why Ellis Burks has a giant elephant on his 1994 Score card.

1994 Topps Gold #468 Dante Bichette

Those Giants would eventually move out West to San Francisco, and their catcher (and future Rockie) Kirt Manwaring got a cameo on Dante Bichette's 1994 Topps card. Of course, this isn't just any Topps card. This happens to be the one-per-pack Topps Gold parallel, a set that was a real hot ticket in my collection as a 10-year old. I still gravitate toward them all these years later. Electric Diamond cards are nice, but these were the ones I chased.

1994 Topps had plenty of horizontal cards, and this one is another good candidate. both Manwaring himself and Bichette's bat are cut off, but we do get a good look at the swing and follow-through. It's the perpetual trade-off of a photographer choosing an aspect ratio.

The card back is horizontal, and it has his complete Major League stats (remember those?). However, I think there might be an error. We're told that his 1993 mark for runs scored was an expansion team record, and that his batting average of .310 (of course) was second-best by a hair-splitting .00007. But I think Topps meant to say third-best. Andres Galarraga had a whopping batting average of .370 that year, so whomever edged out Bichette must be in second place, putting Bichette in third.

1997 Pinnacle X-Press Swing for the Fences #9 Dante Bichette

Contest cards seem to be a thing of the past. These were all the rage in the 1990s as the numerous competing card companies tried to outdo each other. I rarely did anything with them, though I did enter a Score contest once and got a shiny Alex Rodriguez card.

I just saw a card from this set earlier today on The Angels, In Order, featuring Carlos Delgado. Winning the contest itself seemed to be quite a long shot, and an expensive one at that. There was nothing in the fine print about "No Purchase Necessary", so you had to stock up on retail and hobby boxes of Pinnacle to get the proper game cards for entry.

To win, you had to pick each league's Home Run leader, as well as their final number of home runs. It was a sixty-card set, and who knows exactly how many dingers there would be. And with that many contestants, there were some in this set that had no prayer of winning the home run crown. Tim Naehring didn't even get out of the single digits.

The final winners for the 1997 season were Larry Walker and Ken Griffey, Jr, with 49 and 56, respectively. Mark McGwire's card was also deemed a winner, as he split an MLB-leading 58 across both leagues. Bichette had an off year, topping out at 26.

Sometimes I wonder what would happen if I sent something like this off to the listed PO box. Probably nothing, especially since it seems hard enough to get redemptions for current sets. Would it come back as undeliverable? Does the person who now has this PO box see contest entries show up on occasion? It would be a fun experiment, and wouldn't cost more than a few stamps.

2002 Fleer Showcase Legacy #10 Todd Helton /175

Fleer Showcase was midway through its six-year run in 2002, and Todd Helton could be found as the Rockies entrant in pretty much any set. It's a nice design for a framed set, though the nameplate is a bit unreadable. But it does remind you of a fancy frame you might see in an art gallery, complete with a brass plaque.

If you flip this one over, you'll find the words "Legacy Collection", and a serial number to 175 copies. You'll also see that Helton had a .334 average after four full seasons and a late-1997 callup. He was awfully close to 200 doubles, and had just wrapped up that all-important age 27 season.

2003 Fleer Showcase Legacy #20 Todd Helton /150

Helton's equivalent card from the following year is a variation on the same theme. The nameplate is more readable, Helton is taking a swing in Wrigley field, and the Rockies' 10th Anniversary patch is visible on his right sleeve. Check the back and you'll find more of the same. His career batting average dropped just a point, his doubles count was up to 230, he had just won his third of four straight Silver Slugger awards, and Fleer lowered the print run on their Legacy Collection parallels by 25 copies.

Of the two, I'd say I prefer the front of 2003 and the back of 2002. But they're both easily recognizable as the same set, assuming you can differentiate the vast multitude of sets that Fleer was producing during that era.

2015 Stadium Club #261 Jake Odorizzi

Scott was kind enough to throw in a half-dozen cards from 2015 Topps Stadium Club, a set that is always welcome. One that caught my eye is this horizontal card of Rays righty Jake Odorizzi, a guy that I've picked for my Fantasy squad a time or two.

I've developed a good eye for spotting commemorative patches on cards, partly thanks to trading with Brian, who keeps those as a mini-collection. This one on Odorizzi's shoulder caught my attention, because the Rays are far too young a team to be celebrating a 75th anniversary of anything. It took a bit of digging, but that patch was worn league-wide on July 4th, 2014 to honor the 75th Anniversary of Lou Gehrig's retirement speech at Yankee Stadium. This briefly-worn patch escaped my attention at the time, but I clearly remember the ALS-related Ice Bucket Challenge, which went viral right around the same time.

That means we have a second card we can date. However, Odorizzi didn't start on July 4th, but rather in Yankee Stadium on July 2nd. That doesn't line up with the date the rest of the league wore the patch, but the offcial MLB press release on this topic notes that the Yankees commemorated this event a couple days early, while they weren't on the road. It's a scheduling issue that Peter Gammons took issue with on Twitter (with predictable results), but it's captured on this card nonetheless.

2015 Stadium Club Gold #183 Travis Ishikawa

Finally, here's a third that I'm confident in narrowing down to an exact date. Travis Ishikawa bounced around the Majors like a pinball, but ended up on the San Francisco Giants at just the right times to earn World Series rings in 2010 and 2014. That 2014 championship was partially thanks to his walkoff home run in the NLCS against the Cardinals, an Aaron Boone moment from someone who was definitely not a superstar.

I'm pretty sure the final moments of that game are captured on this Gold parallel, as Ishikawa flung his batting helmet to the ground in elation after sending his team to the World Series. Lots of helmet flinging happens in AT&T Park, apparently. I never saw him play as a Giant, despite living in an NL West city, but I did see him play for the Triple-A Sacramento River Cats in 2015, where he hit two homers in a win over the Salt Lake Bees. As best I can recall, his helmet remained on his head.

Stadium Club gives us plenty of awesome photography, that much we know. But if you know what you're looking for, it's easy for a fan to get even more out of the set.

The Most Overproduced Set Ever. Probably.

When you hear the word "overproduction", or its more derogatory cousin "junk wax", what do you think of?

Those words probably conjure up images of sets like 1991 Donruss, maybe 1990 Topps, or perhaps one of the earlier Upper Deck sets. It could be one of the color bombs like 1991 Fleer. 1987 Topps is a strong candidate, but it's just too iconic to be lumped in with some of the others. Maybe you know the sets from that era so well that the only one it doesn't make you think of is 1990 Leaf.

But for me, I think the best example is 1988 Donruss, also one of the worst-collated sets ever. Maybe one day I'll break down and buy the factory set, but I feel like I've been on a perpetual quest to complete it since I was a kid.

On the same day I drove that Ferrari, I stopped by the Colorado Mills mall afterwards. Inside a sports memorabilia shop filled with autographed bats, jerseys, and other things of that nature, I found a box partially filled with sealed packs priced at a buck apiece. I selected the five packs from 1988 Donruss, swiped my card, and instantly added to my collection.

As an aside, what's the proper slang equivalent for "swiping" a chip card? "Inserting?" Too technical. "Chipping?" Maybe. We'll probably still be "swiping" our chip cards in much the same way we "dial" an iPhone or "roll down" a power window. Or even "text" over iMessage, which isn't entirely correct.

Let's get to the cards.

1988 Donruss #309 Darren Daulton

If nothing else, opening up some overproduction packs gives you a look at some minor stars that haven't had cards in ages. Darren Daulton participated in the 1993 World Series, and had a pretty good season in 1992, earning a spot on the All-Star team and finishing sixth in MVP voting. "Dutch" was one of the Wild Bunch 1993 Phillies, coming up just a bit short that year, thanks to Joe Carter's walkoff home run in Game 6.

1988 Donruss #238 Bobby Bonilla

Bobby Bonilla, a six-time All-Star and near-MVP (second only to teammate Barry Bonds) ended up being a journeyman player later in his career, though he was a Marlin in 1997, winning his first and only World Series ring. But in recent years, he might be most famous for the financial deal he worked out with the Mets. As part of a deferred payment plan, the Mets will pay him about $1.2 million annually (every July 1st, in fact) until 2035, when Bonilla will be 72. The contract makes the Mets an annual laughingstock, but much has been written about how it's not as bad a deal as everyone makes it out to be.

And yes, Bernie Madoff indirectly had a hand in all that. Sort of isn't that surprising that the Mets re-signed Jose Reyes to a minor-league deal after the Rockies waived him.

1988 Donruss Bonus MVPs #BC-15 Kirby Puckett (SP)

Sadly, Kirby Puckett passed away about ten years ago. But he won two World Series, was elected to the All Star team every season besides his first two, and was a fan favorite in Minneapolis for quite a while. The MVP logo in the upper left signifies that this is an insert card, or what Donruss that year called "Bonus Cards". According to BaseballCardPedia, this card, from the second half of the Bonus Cards insert set, is very slightly harder to find than the first half. I'd have never thought a phrase like that would be said about 1988 Donruss, but apparently there are a handful of short prints out there.

Maybe those go for two cents instead of one.

Despite its alleged scarcity, this card is an example of the primary gripe I have with 1988 Donruss. It's dark. And yes, I do realize that Mr. Puckett is African American, but many of the photos in this set are quite underexposed.

1988 Donruss Bonus MVPs #BC-24 Will Clark (SP)

Camera flashes can only do so much. Depending on their power and a few other factors, they're pretty much useless beyond about thirty feet. And action shots in sports are not done with a flash. But photographing a guy under a helmet in direct sunlight just doesn't give you the best results. Another Bonus Card, this one of Will Clark, demonstrates this.

I didn't pull his card in these five packs, but one of the worst underexposures in the whole set can be found on Nelson Liriano's card #32. Flip through your stacks of '88; you'll see what I mean. And who doesn't have stacks of 1988 Donruss?

1988 Donruss #324 Rafael Palmeiro

Perhaps the most glaringly obvious thing about 1988 Donruss (and most 1988-ish sets) is that steroid use hadn't taken over the league. Maybe Jose Canseco, but that sort of goes without saying. Rafael Palmiero, one of the asteriskiest players with an asterisk, was a bit more on the Regular Human end of the athletic spectrum when this photo was taken, in sharp contrast to cards from later in his career.

1988 Donruss #1 Mark McGwire DK

Same goes for this Diamond Kings card of Mark McGwire. He looked a lot different during his home run chase of 1998, and not just because of the facial hair. But his rookie year was good enough to earn Card #1.

Dick Perez did what he could, but this still looks a touch dark to me. When it comes to Diamond Kings cards, the painting always looked creepy enough that I never really noticed the tiny action shot in the lower area. Even on a set like this you can still spot new things.

1988 Donruss #326 Barry Bonds

One can't bring up steroid use without mentioning Barry Bonds. For the longest time, he was my least favorite player in the league, but I did start warming up to him a little bit once his greatness became undeniable. And say what you will about his steroid use, he stood head and shoulders above the league when almost everyone else was using PEDs, too.

1988 Donruss #34 Roberto Alomar (RC)

1988 was almost 30 years ago. Players that are now in the Hall of Fame were once baby-faced rookies, or Rated Rookies if Donruss thought particularly highly of you. Alomar had no major league experience at this point, but went on to have a stellar career, even leading the league in sacrifice flies in 1999. Plus a slew of stolen bases, and even a couple hundred home runs.

Of course, the back of the card is sure to mention the rest of the Alomar family, father Sandy and brother Sandy, Jr.

1988 Donruss #657 Gregg Jefferies (RC)

Looking even younger is Gregg Jefferies, who had one of the hottest cards in the whole set. The 1988 price of this card could have paid for these packs twice over. It's slightly disappointing to know that it's worth pennies today, but there is something about having cards that were totally out of reach back then.

I still need to find a Griffey rookie, though. It's a glaring omission in my collection.

1988 Donruss #88 Jeff Reed

Jeff Reed is probably the least recognizable player thus far. It's been a lot of Hall of Famers, and a few more that should be in the Hall. But Expos cards are few and far between these days, plus Jeff Reed played behind the plate as a Rockie for several seasons in the late 1990s.

Still, pretty underexposed.

1988 Donruss #638 Bob Melvin

Mostly I've been featuring younger players, but in 1988 there were lots from the old guard still in the league. Melvin has spent the last decade or so as a manager for a few Western teams, including his current tenure as skipper of the A's. Melvin actually only had a few years' experience by 1988, but he had a relatively short career, and didn't play past 1994. He was one of numerous players whose career was ended by the strike.

1988 Donruss #401 Tommy John

Tommy John had been in the league since 1963, and was nearing the end of his career at the not-quite-Jamie-Moyer age of 45. He never won a World Series, as he always seemed to be on the wrong side of the Yankees-Dodgers rivalry in the late 1970s and early 1980s. But of course he is known for the surgical procedure he underwent on his elbow in 1975 that now bears his name, and lesser known for the dubious distinction of being the only player to commit three errors on one play. Still, he came pretty close to 300 wins, and was an All Star in three different decades.

1988 Donruss #305 Bob Boone

Tommy John's career predated the Designated Hitter by quite a bit. I'm sure he got plenty of plate appearances, but I doubt he was the type to wear batting gloves. Melvin and Bob Boone above also don't use any fancy batting gloves, and it didn't seem to hurt anything. In addition to lots of underexposed shots, there are plenty of "bats resting on shoulders" shots. He might be in the on deck circle, but that's one of the most casual postures I've ever seen on a card.

Like the Alomars, the Boones are a longtime baseball family, in fact one of only four to have three generations in the Big Leagues. Ray Boone played as postwar baseball cards were becoming what we know today, Bob you see here, and sons Bret and Aaron played until quite recently. Aaron, of course, won the 2003 ALCS for the Yankees with a dramatic extra innings walkoff home run.

1988 Donruss #249 Paul Molitor

Even the great Paul Molitor can't escape 1988 Donruss. But he's a batting glove guy, apparently.

1988 Donruss #641 Stan Musial Puzzle

Donruss' big selling point were all the puzzle pieces. Every year, they'd pick another baseball legend and create a 27-card puzzle. Technically it's 63 pieces but I've heard of no one that's ever split each card up into its constituent three pieces. At least, I never have. They make enough of a mess of tiny paper shreds just taking them out of the border.

So we'd know what the final product looked like, Donruss always included a card showing the completely assembled puzzle. I've completed a few of them, but I'm still a few short on Stan Musial's 1988 puzzle, even after these five packs. I've seen this card a few times, but didn't quite notice the old-style black and red Cardinals logo before yellow crept its way in.

I have a bit of sorting to do on this set. I just have too many to keep it in binder pages anymore, so I'll probably be moving it to a box soon. But don't be surprised if a few 1988 puzzle pieces make it onto my Eight Men Out list so I can complete this beauty of Stan the Man.

And all that for a mere five bucks. I even found a few commons.

Antique Mall Mystery Pack: Blue Jays

I'm sure most collectors my age subscribed to Beckett as kids. Maybe some of us still do.

For a while, they had a feature where readers would add humorous captions to various baseball cards. Something along the lines of "He's at lunch. Can I take a message?" on one of those call to the bullpen cards.

1994 Score #43 Roberto Alomar

And I always wanted to caption a card like this as "Hurry up and take the picture! I can't hold this pose much longer!"

Comedy gold when you're ten.

Anyway, another one of my Antique Mall Mystery Packs from the Brass Armadillo jogged that particular memory, even though this pack was a bit less interesting than the Mets or Pirates.

1994 Score #427 Paul Molitor

In fact, there was quite a bit of Score product in this pack. I recognize these guys from the 1993 World Series, the last time the Blue Jays were in the postseason. Especially after that Tulowitzki trade, I'm pulling for them this year, but their prospects for advancing are not looking great, as they're down three games to two to the Royals and headed back to Kansas City.

Night Owl wrote a post last week about the prevalence of "hatless" players in some early Topps sets, but a good mix of that and action shots like Alomar's make for a pretty good set. Of course, these dark blue borders are seriously fragile (note the damage on the left edge), but that doesn't stop 1994 Score from being my favorite of their whole run.

1993 Score #602 Tom Henke

1993 wasn't bad either, and I remember getting a pack or two of this product from my dad for a Hanukkah present. The font's a little hard to read, but it is a surprisingly bold design for being so minimal.

I've worn glasses since before I was 5, so seeing a pro ballplayer wearing them was always cool. And I'm not talking about crazy goggles like Alex Cole or Chris Sabo, just plain old nerdy glasses. Greg Maddux wore them from time to time, too.

1994 Topps Gold #511 Devon White

This is totally a trip down memory lane, which is exactly what antique stores are selling, I guess. One-per-pack 1993 and 1994 Topps Gold cards were prized treasures of my early collection, and 1994 Topps was the first factory set I saved up enough to purchase. I've seen this card plenty, though this Gold parallel is a new addition.

Devon White was an important part of the Blue Jays' back-to-back World Series wins, and judging from all that mail, he was quite the fan favorite.

1993 Upper Deck #425 Carlos Delgado

Carlos Delgado had yet to make his mark on the majors the last time the Jays were a contender, and he looks so young in this photo! The back of this card details how he was tearing up the minor leagues in 1992, well on his way to wielding the wooden tools in that bat rack to hit darn near 500 home runs before he retired.

1993 Upper Deck #339 Duane Ward

I don't remember Duane Ward as well as some of these other guys, but it's a perfect example of the legendary awesomeness that is 1993 Upper Deck. Pre-game stretching while on the road? Might as well blow a bubble.

I didn't really have a good appreciation of the closer role (when are we just going to break down and call it a "position"?) until I started playing Fantasy baseball in 2005, let alone an understanding of a "save situation". Still, Ward was good for 45 saves in 1993, and even got the W in the final Game 6, thanks to this next guy.

1994 Score Gold Rush #73 Joe Carter

One can hardly say a word about the Blue Jays, especially this time of year, without mentioning Joe Carter. His home run in Game 6 of the 1993 World Series was only the second time anyone won the whole darn championship in walkoff home run fashion, other than the (in)famous Bill Mazeroski. There have been plenty of walkoff home runs in World Series history, names you're sure to recognize, like Kirk Gibson, Carlton Fisk, and Derek Jeter. But only Carter and Mazeroski got to raise the trophy immediately after rounding the bases.

It's a tall order for the Blue Jays at this point, but if there was ever a team to add to that list, its the 2015 Jays and their stacked lineup.

Up next, the Houston Astros, which will be the last Mystery Pack of a 2015 Postseason team.