A dry week to say the least

Today ends the 45th week of the 2nd year of this blog.  In the previous 96 weeks, I cannot remember a time where I went an entire week without purchasing at least one card.

Nothing.  Nada.  Zip.  I didn't even look at cards on eBay this week.  Didn't check my want lists, didn't look to complete any sets on sportlots, didn't handle any of my collection at all.

Dry?  I guess you could say that.  Does it concern me at all?  Not in the least.  Between the pressures of work this week (shorthanded every day, less than half staff the last 2 days..), and finding other things to do (Pirates/Tigers series was a great one to watch), my collection and the blog world pretty much took a back seat.

To be honest, it probably wouldn't hurt me to take another week or 2 off from purchasing cards.  Would it be tough?  You better believe it, because one of the things I've enjoyed doing on Saturdays is heading out in search of cards, whether it be at a card show, or the local big box store. 

Maybe the lack of interest in collecting is a sign that it's time to get what I have collected organized and put away.  I've said that many times before, but the clutter has gotten out of hand.

Maybe as I put them away, I will be able to find some cards that are post worthy, such as this Patrick Roy card:

They may not do well in Colorado next year, but with Roy behind the bench, it sure will be interesting.

Maybe I can find cards of teammates such as these two Pirates:

Both of these guys had streaks ended this evening against the Reds, but it appears to be even more promising this year in Pittsburgh than years past.

Or how about a playoff hero of the past who has another chance at glory this year...

I'm not so sure that if LA gets a 3-1 lead over Chicago in the upcoming western conference final that they will let Chicago off the hook like Detroit did.  All I know is, with Pittsburgh, Boston, Chicago and LA remaining, all potential Stanley Cup Final match ups will be very entertaining. 

Let the search begin...

Thanks for reading, Robert

Blue and White Monday: Roger Clemens, Hall or Nothing

Sometimes you just never know when you'll stumble across a post topic.  While listening to the Pirates post game show today, the commentators (one is Kent Tekulve, a name you may remember from the late 70's/early 80's Pirate teams) brought up the subject of Miguel Cabrera and whether he is a lock for the Hall of Fame.

I thought it might be a little early for that kind of talk when it came to Miggy, but the discussion triggered my memory of a card I had received in the mail a while back. 

The parallel is kind of uncanny.  This card from the eX 2000 release in 1997, Roger's 14th season in the majors.  Miguel is currently in his 11th season, so the comparison is close.  The back of this card states that Roger would eclipse the 200 win mark in 1997 (his 8th win did that), and that he would reach 3000 K's in 2008 (which he did as well).

Cabrera needs another 123 hits this season to hit the 2000 mark (has a good shot at that if he stays healthy), and at age 30 he already has almost 400 doubles (needs 1 more) and 350 HRs (needs 15).  If he plays another 8-10 seasons, his numbers could reach marks that we haven't even talked about in quite some time (3500 hits?--700 doubles?--650 HRs?)

Now, even though the numbers that Clemens had were quite good, it would have been still a little presumptuous for anyone to say he was a Hall of Famer.   I'm sure that nobody could have predicted him pitching another 11 seasons in MLB while winning another 150 games. 

I think it's going to be interesting to see how the voting plays out over the next few years for the players such as Clemens, McGwire, Sosa, Palmeiro and Bonds.  37.6% of the vote with the incredible numbers that Clemens put up during his 24 year career have obviously been tainted by the allegations of steroid use.   It also makes me wonder if all these players on "team alleged steroids" that are eligible for the Hall have affected the voting on other players, such as Biggio, Raines, Trammell, etc.  I know that it shouldn't, but you gotta believe that there are going to be some writers that are just going to say screw it, and send in empty ballots in disgust.

I'm curious to see if the end result for Clemens' winds up being "or Nothing".  The Rocket has 14 more tries.  I hope I'm still breathing to see the outcome.

Thanks for reading, Robert

Serial Insanity cards 833-836

Gonna start to expand the posts for the serial insanity cards for the next little while.  Have about 40 cards that I have to post, so I'll step up the number of cards in order to accommodate them all.

Here we go then, 4 cards for you today, #'s 833-836, courtesy of Cory at the Rectangle Men blog.

Card 833:  Juan Perez

Serial Number:  1415
Team:  Pittsburgh Pirates, #29 out of 50

A September call up in 2006 scored Juan Perez an appearance on a Series 2 card in 2007.  Last pitched in 2012 for the Brewers, but a WHIP of 2.000 isn't going to earn you many opportunities the following season.

Card 834:  John Lannan

Serial Number:  1001
Team:  Washington Nationals, #39 out of 50

Lannan in 2007 had the distinction of being the first major leaguer in over a decade to be thrown out of his first major league game.  Hitting Chase Utley (broken hand) and Ryan Howard will do that for you.   I guess the Phillies forgave him, as he's a member of their staff now (on the 15 day DL)

Card 835:  Ty Wigginton

Serial Number:  1313
Team:  Philadelphia Phillies, card #24 out of 50

Well traveled would be an appropriate description for Wigginton, as he's now on his 8th big league roster in 12 seasons.  Wasn't he supposed to be the next big thing at 3rd base a few years back, or am I remembering wrong?

Card 836:  Rafael Soriano

Serial Number:  418
Team:  Tampa Bay Rays, card # 30 out of 50

Wow, was the 2010 season an amazing one for Rafael!  45 saves, 0.802 WHIP and a 1.73 ERA.  Those stats didn't even get him the most Cy Young votes on his own team, as David Price had a great season (19-6).  Rebounded from an off year in 2011 to post 42 move saves as a replacement for Mariano Rivera in NY. 

Thanks for reading, Robert

Anyone ever write a post before coming up with a title?

I'm definitely not in attack mode right now.  I tried to get interested in 2013 Bowman, but it just wasn't happening.  I don't have a great deal of money to go out and hunt for the key cards I need to complete my '64, '73 and '75 sets that I'm working on.

So, as you saw the other day, I bought a "best of 2012" repack box.  I promised to show the rest of the box in my next post, so here you go!

First, the Gypsy Queens:

Pack 1, outside of the Frank Robinson moonshots insert, nothing to see here.

The Albert Pujols mini is a straight cut back, and I like the Future Stars card of Starlin Castro (must be that it's blue...something about that color with me....not sure why....)

Again, not a whole lot to see here.  The Johnny Bench mini is also a straight cut back variation.  If you need any of them, don't be shy, let me know.

The Topps Archives release in the end turned out to be a product that didn't particularly excite me.  It makes me wonder if they are just testing future Heritage releases to see if they'll work (I'm sure they will).  I think part of my reason for the lack of interest in this set is that it's kind of small at only 200 cards +SPs. 

The Singleton in the middle is a SP, card #204.  There might be somebody out there still trying to get all the SPs.

Starlin Castro seems to be another name that I keep pulling, no matter what the brand.  The floating head Mickey Mantle is pretty cool, and up for trade if any Yankees fans are in need of it for their collections.

The 2012 Heritage set was something that I swore off, and amazingly for me, I did.  I don't recall for sure, but at most I think bought about 1 blaster, and maybe a handful of rack packs. 

 

The only thing that I found interesting in this pack was the arm patch on the Vlady Guerrero card.  I can honestly say I have never seen it before, and to me it looks like the Orioles trying to copy the Ravens logo. 

Hey kids, guess who that is in the center again?  Yep, Starlin Castro was in each of the products I showcased today.  I wonder if that is somebody somewhere trying to tell me something.  The Ricky Romero Chrome in the lower left goes into the Blue Jays collection, as the serial number is not one I needed for the Serial Insanity set.

Anyone ever write a post before coming up with a title?  I just did....

I promise it will get better....at least I hope it will...

Thanks for reading, Robert

Lightning never strikes twice in the same place

I'm back after a much needed couple of days away from the computer at home, and everything associated with it.  I was able to get some rest the last couple of nights, a necessity in order to recover from my 10 day vacation.

"Lightning never strikes twice in the same place" is probably a motto that I should remember when it comes to buying cards.  Especially the repack boxes.

I decided on my last day off, this past Monday, to buy another of the "Best of 2012" repacks at Wal Mart.  While the box wasn't a total bust, I didn't score anything as good as the numbered A&G mini that I pulled at the beginning of the year.

I figured I'll do a quick run down of the packs that were in there.  They consisted of 4 Bowman, 3 GQ, 2 Archives and 2 Heritage.  An interesting find among them were the sealed packs of 3 insert cards you would have found in rack packs of Bowman(purple borders) and GQ(brown framed).  While the Bowman cards were nobody that I recognize (yet), the 3 GQ cards were of Smoltz, Reyes and Utley.  Not bad there.

Let's have a little fun and do a pack by pack run down....been a while since I did a couple of these.

Starting off with 4 packs of Bowman...

Pack 1:

48.  Zach Greinke
161.  Jason Heyward
BCP107.  Joe Ross
BCP70.  Luis Heredia
63. Alex Rodriguez Gold Parallel (wonder if we'll see him doing anything like this in 2013)

38. Paul Konerko Bowman International Parallel

Would definitely not turn away any Blue Jay parallels in the Bowman International series.  I think the Konerko card looks pretty good.

BP23.  Jake Marisnick
BP110.  Daniel Norris (2nd rd pick for Toronto in 2011, not doing too well in the minors right now...)
89.  Brian Wilson...the beard
49.  Albert Pujols---has anyone heard from him this year?

Pack 2:

180.  Michael Young
148.  Rickie Weeks
69. Alexi Ogando
BP34.  Matthew Szczur (say and spell that last name 10 times fast)
BP51.  Brett Krill
118.  Alex Gordon gold parallel
BCP70.  Luis Heredia (yep, same card in the first two packs)
BCP55.  Jose Vinicio
175.  Starlin Castro  (currently holds longest NL active streak for games played)
160.  R.A. Dickey

Pack 3:

101.  Miguel Cabrera

Heaven help the Tigers if this guy gets hurt.  Seems to be trying to prove that last year's Triple Crown wasn't a fluke, leads the AL in batting average (.387) and RBI (52).  Oh, and he's one behind Chris Davis with 13 HR's. 

144.  Salvador Perez
216.  Brad Peacock
96.  Jose Reyes -- was liking the AL to the tune of a .395 average before he got hurt...
BP83.  Jacob Anderson (the packs have been good so far for Blue Jay prospects)
BP12.  Rafael Ortega
130.  Cory Luebke gold parallel.  He's in his camo uniform, gotta show it...

BCP79.  Josh Bell  Pirates 2nd rounder in 2011
BCP77.  Clay Holmes
215.  Joe Benson

Pack 4:

156.  Mark Trumbo  Angels are doing their best to fit him in anywhere in the lineup...10HR and .280 avg helps.
14.  Pablo Sandoval
BP24.  J.R. Graham  (went 12-2 in 2 stops in the Braves minor league system last year...)
BP43.  Rookie Davis 
BBP22.  Will Middlebrooks Bowmans Best parallel.

Middlebrooks seems to be the name I pull a lot so far this year.  I guess I could do worse??

177.  Ubaldo Jimenez gold parallel
BCP13.  Tyler Gagnon  (he's a winner...)
92.  Miguel Montero
107.  Ian Kennedy
204.  Jeff Locke

I will admit it.  Seeing him on the opening day roster for the Pirates this year surprised me.  Locke's time in the bigs in 2011 & 2012 was rocky to say the least.  His first start against the Dodgers he was knocked around the ball park a lot, and winced every time a Dodger hit the ball.  I was worried.  Boy has he turned it around.  4-1  2.73 ERA, and 1.158 WHIP numbers have proved my doubts to be incorrect.  Everyone was high on Charlie Morton in the big deal the Pirates made with the Braves for Nate McLouth.  Looks like Locke may turn out to be the better pitcher.  Time will tell...

Not a whole lot of difference between the 2012 Bowman and the 2013 sets.  Maybe that's why people are tired of it? 

I'll post the other packs tomorrow...not a great deal to speak of  but who knows, there may be something in them that somebody can use.  

Thanks for reading, Robert

BBB

I'm sure that at least one or two of you have seen those initials in the past.  In the past, I had several ways that I could interpret the acronym "BBB"

Better Business Bureau--probably the most commonly known usage of the 3 B's

Bed Bath and Beyond--not until I started working in the transportation industry was I aware that BBB could have stood for the housewares giant.  Every December, I end up seeing these initials in nightmares...nuff said.

There are others that involve portions of the female anatomy. I'll just let your imagination do the rest of the work.

During the last couple of weeks, BBB has kind of taken on a new meaning here for me.

Bored Bowman Buying.

Yep, I've been kind of bored, and when perusing the card aisle at Wal-Mart, I've ended up with packs/blasters of Bowman in my cart.  For some reason, they've piqued my curiosity this year more than in years past. 

I've noticed a couple of different things in the packs I've opened so far that I thought I would share.  First, I am certainly behind in the alternate jersey department, because I can't say that I've ever seen the Reds wear the uniforms shown on the Shin-Soo Choo card below...

Spring training duds? 

Another interesting aspect of the Bowman cards was something I didn't notice until P-Town Tom commented on the Yovani Gallardo post from last week.  In case you need a refresher, see here..  The logos for the current major league players all appear at the bottom of the picture (some of them in spots that are, well unflattering to say the least), while the prospects cards don't have the team logo at all.

I like how this Silver Ice card scanned

Licensing issue for prospects?  Seems weird, because team logos appear on the uniform that they wear, but not on the bottom of the card similar to the major league players.  Would love to know why that is...

Another thing I've noticed is that there hasn't been a whole lot written about the cards.  I've seen a smattering of posts here and there, but the malaise in general is interesting. 

I guess everyone is waiting for A&G?  Sure looks that way to me....

Thanks for reading, Robert

1977 Topps: My top 20 5 through 1

The final 5.  I'm sure that there are some people that have looked at #'s 20 through 6 and thought that I could have made better choices.

I like what I like.  Enjoy the top of the crop....

Card #5:  #277 N.L. Championship 

This is another card that I've featured on the blog in the past, and it's probably the second best "action" card in the set.  Pete Rose rounding 2nd heading for 3rd, passing Larry Bowa on the basepaths while Bake McBride throws the ball in from the outfield.

Like I said in the past, I still hear the train whistle when I see Rose running on this card.  Mike Schmidt better be ready....

Card #4:  #6 1976 Strikeout Leaders 

Probably the two greatest pitchers of my lifetime featured on the same card.  You bet this is going to be in the countdown.  All the strikeout pitchers seemed to be on the same team in both leagues...

The top 2 in the AL were Ryan and Frank Tanana, both on the Angels, while 3 of the top 8 strikeout pitchers in the NL were on the Mets (Seaver, Koosman, Matlack).

Card #3:  #295 Gary Carter 

Name me a guy who enjoyed baseball more than Gary Carter did during his time in MLB.  Tough to do, isn't it?  Love the catchers pose, with the bags of equipment lying on the grass behind him.  Just reminds you of little league, doesn't it?

It's a shame that we had to lose Gary so young.  It's also sad that he was appreciated more after he was gone. 

Card #2:  #500 Dave Kingman 

Another first overall pick, Kingman was taken by the Giants in the 1970 draft.  The very next season, Dave hit the first of his 442 career HRs , a grand slam off of Pittsburgh's Dave Giusti.  I can almost see him admiring the flight of the ball on this card, I'm sure that one of his 37 HRs from 1976 is pictured here.

You don't mess with "Kong", or at worst, you didn't throw him a pitch in the middle of the plate, unless you wanted it sent into orbit.

Card #1:   #640 Carlton Fisk 

Is it the fact that he's tagging out a Yankee (Willie Randolph) in the photo?  Yea, that's a big part of it.  But for a set that doesn't have a large amount of action photos, to have this card among them easily makes it the top of the list, at least in my view.

Of all the career stats that Fisk obtained, the 24 seasons, 376 HRs, 11 All Star Selections, Rookie of the Year, etc etc, I would like to meet the over 100 people that left him off of their Hall of Fame ballot. 

I hope that you enjoyed my top 20 countdown of what I thought to be the best '77 Topps cards. 

Go ahead, have your fun, ask me why I didn't include a particular card.   I'm sure I'll have a reason for you.

Thanks for reading, Robert

1977 Topps: My Top 20: 10 through 6

We hit the top 10 today, I hope you've enjoyed numbers 20 through 11 so far.

Three of today's 5 feature uniforms as part of the reason the cards are in the countdown.  Here we go:

Card #10:  #273 Eric Soderholm

Another card featuring the great uniforms the Sox had at that time.  I probably went overboard putting two of these in my top 20, but for some reason, these uniforms really work for me.  For those of you who didn't know, Soderholm was a first overall pick of the Twins in the '68 draft.  Eric hit his first major league homer just 3 years later off of Diego Segui.

After doing a little more research, it's interesting that Soderholm had a card in the '77 set, since he missed the entire '76 season with a knee injury.  Soderholm was AL comeback player of the year in '77 with 25 HRs and a .280 average.

Card #9:  #514 Cliff Johnson

I've had some fun with Cliff Johnson on the blog in the past.  This card sums up several of his different issues, Cliff looking at the catcher, and almost daring the umpire to call a strike.  The rainbow Astros uniforms were great back then, and would be something I would welcome back on a regular basis.

Would you want to call a strike on this man?

Card #8:  #550 Randy Jones

Combine the classic mustard and brown uniform, with one of the greatest hair styles on a ball player back then, and you have a great card.  Jones had just come off a 22 win season the year before and earned the Cy Young award.  Imagine a pitcher completing 25 games this year.  Can't do it, can you?  Randy did that in '76 and pitched 315.1 innings. 

Those days are gone for sure.

Card #7:  #600 Jim Palmer

When they coined the term "in the stretch position", I'm sure that Jim Palmer was the one they had in mind.  I didn't do this on purpose, but Jim's '76 campaign almost mirrors Randy Jones.  22 wins with 315 innings pitched earned him the AL Cy Young award.

The reddish orange jerseys didn't hurt this card either.  Where have all these great styles gone?

Card #6:  #347 George Foster

 

Even better than the look on Cliff Johnson's face a few cards back is the menacing stare of George Foster on this beauty.  '77 would be George's career season, hitting 52 HRs while knocking in 149.  George also led the National League in runs scored with 124 and OPS with 1.013.

I'm guessing that this photo was taken in spring training, because I don't remember old Riverfront Stadium being natural grass.

Tomorrow, the final 5.  Hope you're there...

Thanks for reading, Robert

1977 Topps: My top 20, 15 through 11

For your amusment, here's the 2nd group of 5 cards in my top 20 1977 Topps card countdown.

Enjoy.

Card #15: #648 Jim Spencer 

The first "action" shot of the countdown, featuring what appears to be Bill North striding back to 1st base on a pickoff attempt.  So what you say?  I'll tell you why I have this card in the countdown.

The all black uniforms.  Fantastic.  What brings out the uniforms more for me is that the White Sox are the team that my Blue Jays faced on April 7, 1977, day 1.  They wore the all blacks that day, one that will stand out in my mind as long as I live.

See, told you a lot of memories created this countdown!!  There's still one more of the vintage all black uniforms to come in the countdown.

Card #14:  #120 Rod Carew

I found it highly ironic that one of the greatest hitters that I watched during my youth, is featured in this set in a fielding pose.  The '77 season for Carew at the plate would be his greatest.  .388 average, 239 hits, 16 triples and 100 RBI's would all be career highs for Mr. Carew, and '77 would be his only MVP season as well. 

Card #13:  #60 Jim Rice 

Don't let the gentle look fool you, this guy was a killer at the plate.  '77 was the first of 3 consecutive 200 hit seasons for Rice, which surprised me considering I always thought of this guy as a power hitter. 

Someone has to help me out though, I see that Rice is wearing his home uniform, but I'm sure that he's not standing in Fenway Park for this photo.

Oh, and it's high time that the Sox bring back the red caps.

Card #12:  #180 Dave Lopes: 

Another blast from the past for me here.   Remember when guys used to use two bats to warm up in the on deck circle?  I'm sure a lot of you don't.  Today's hitters have donuts and metal tubes for extra weight to loosen up. 

You didn't have that in the 70's.  Davey shows you how...

Card #11:  #355  Lou Brock 

What's the difference between #12 and #11 you ask?

Come on!!  Striped helmet, of course!  Someone bring back the powder blue road Cardinal uniforms please. 

#'s 10 through 6 tomorrow night...

Thanks for reading, Robert

1977 Topps: My top 20 20 through 16

I waited a long time to complete this set.  The first set that I ever collected as a boy.  And now, that I have all 660 cards in hand, and have had a chance to look at them all in their glory, I've decided to try and rank them.  I looked them over, and found 20 cards that I felt were better than the others.

This is totally based on my tastes, with a lot of the reasons that I ranked them as such based on a yearning for the past.   A poor reason I'm sure, and no doubt there are a lot of people out there that will disagree with some of the cards I've chosen.

But while the cat's away, the ranks are here to stay.   I hope you enjoy the countdown, which I will split up into 4 posts, one for each day that I'm on vacation.

Card #20:  #384  Darrel Chaney

I'm sure you all are thinking "why in the world would this card be in a top 20 countdown?"  If I were a baseball player, such as Darrel was back in the late 70's, I'd be happy as hell like he was.   Why not show it on a baseball card?

I also don't recall the old style scripted "a" on the Braves caps, so that helped the card hit the top 20.

Card #19:  #147  Jackie Brown

Combine the red Indians unis from the 70's with the name of an unheralded Quentin Tarantino movie (see here if you don't remember), and then add in a pitcher doing a pose that looks like it should have been on the "20 minute workout" show in the 80's, and for me you have a card for the ages.

Welcome to the 70's friends...

Card #18:  #33 Wayne Garland

More 70's greatness here on Mr. Garland, A hairstyle of a poodle, combined with one of the best porn mustaches on a baseball card, and you have the next card in my countdown.

This hairstyle reminded me of my buddy Chuck, his hair wasn't as bushy as Wayne's, but close enough.  The airbrushers did their best to get rid of the Orioles colors on Wayne's jersey, alas they didn't do a very good job (at least from where I sit...).

Card #17:  #454 Andy Etchebarren 

The 70's version of Wally Moon.   Moving on....

Card #16:  #518 Chicago Cubs Team Checklist

The first multi player card in the countdown, and the only team checklist featured in the top 20.  The floating heads still freak me out, but combine 31 floaters with a manager named Herman Franks (where's Billy Beane when you need him?), and you get a classic card that deserves a place in the countdown.  There's a few names on the back you might recognize, Bill Buckner, Manny Trillo, Bill Madlock and Ray Burris to name 4.  The '77 Cubs finished right at .500, but still were 20 games behind the East division champion Phillies.

Hopefully I haven't lost any of you out there... 15 through 11 tomorrow

Thanks for reading, Robert

If you were Yovani Gallardo?

If you were Yovani Gallardo, would you be?

A) mad because Bowman included this card without showing your face
B) mad because your secret on how to achieve the perfect spitball is out
C) mad because everyone thinks you're imitating John Cena's "you can't see me" routine
D) happy knowing that your picture was still better than the rally squirrel on Skip Schumaker's card from 2012.

A little humor for your Thursday morning (I know, very little...)

thanks for reading, Robert

How do you build sets? Start with a cheap lot...

I'm going to miss my monthly mall card show.  It really is nothing big to be honest, about 20 tables, but the dealers for the most part are first rate, very friendly and willing to chat you up about anything sports related.

Small wonder I look forward to it huh?

Zach from the Underdog Card Collector blog actually left me a comment recently, wondering if I could write a post about how I collect sets.

As far as older sets go, I usually get lucky.   Case in point, my "big" purchase from the last show.

The sticker that was next to it?  "Boxed starter sets, 1/2 price"

300 1974 cards for $7.50??  Duh...yes!!  It was from Ray's table (my vintage guy) as well, so I knew that this was a no brainer.

First card inside of the box that I see when I open it?

Not too shabby.

How about the card right underneath it?

After going through the box, it certainly didn't contain 300 commons, with names such as Singleton, Lopes, Luzinski, Pinella, Torre all in there as well.

The cards were also in great shape, not the beat up tired looking cards you usually find in boxes such as these. 

There were quite a few of the "Traded" cards in there, which are part of a separate set, but still will be something worth collecting.  The traded cards were interesting to look at, having only seen them pictured on other blogs in the past.

For the most part, any of the older sets that I've started to collect have begun with "starter sets" such as this.  I even use eBay with the search term "starter set" to go through older cards, looking for cheap lots to get a heads up on building these sets.

I've also been lucky, I've had other great bloggers out there help me out with some great trades/donations towards my '73, '75 and '77 sets. 

Newer sets are the exact opposite, usually built through packs and trades.  Maybe I'll try and find a way to build one from scratch without buying any packs.  We shall see....

Thanks for reading, Robert

Serial insanity set cards 830 through 832

Cory from the Rectangle Men blog is responsible for these 3 cards, which bring the total to 832 out of 1500.  55.47% complete.

Enjoy!

Card 830:  Juan Morillo

Serial Number:  488
Team:  Colorado Rockies, card # 21 out of 50

After struggling over 4 seasons in the bigs, Morillo has landed this year in the Mexican League with Laguna.  He's only 29, so who knows, he may make it back to the bigs...

Card 831:  Billy Butler

Serial Number:  684
Team:  Kansas City Royals, card # 26 out of 50

How can you not like a guy with the nickname "Country Breakfast" (that reminds me, I haven't eaten yet...).
Seems to be struggling a bit in 2013, I'm sure over time he'll get it together and hammer out 20+ HRs and his typical near .300 average...

Card 832:  Ronnie Belliard

Serial Number:  901
Team:  Washington Nationals, card # 38 out of 50

Ronnie is the one Belliard that inherited the power stroke.  While Ronnie hit double digit homers in 7 different seasons, his cousin Rafael played in the bigs between 1982-1998, and hit a grand total of 2 HR's in 1155 career games. 

thanks for reading, Robert