By the page: 2003 Donruss Champions

Before somebody sent me a bunch of these a while back, I will admit that I'd never seen (or heard of) them before.  2003 Donruss Champions was a 309 card set that featured a few decent RCs (Victorino, Weeks, Matsui) and some old timers (Brett, Yount, Whitey Ford). 

A couple of the cards listed as part of the Jays team set featured players in other team's uniforms.

Top row:  2 rookies and a prospect

At least Josh Towers' card featured him in a uniform with a bird on it.  Orlando Hudson (O-Dog) was a favorite of mine while he was with the Jays, largely because of how well he played defensively.  Kevin Cash was in Toronto for just 3 seasons, and spent most of his 8 year career as a back up catcher, hitting above the Mendoza line only twice.

Middle row:  2 rookies and a prospect, part 2.

Jason Dubois was a rule 5 draftee by the Jays in December of 2002.  He was returned to the Cubs in March of 2003.  Never saw a regular season game in Toronto.  Vinny Chulk lasted 3.5 seasons in Toronto before being traded to the Giants in 2006 for Jeremy Accardo.  Josh Phelps had a decent run in Toronto, hitting 47 HR in 3 seasons before being traded to Cleveland.

Bottom row:  Leaders

With all the great hitters that the Jays have had over their existence, Stewart's 202 hits in 2001 represents only one of 5 times that a Blue Jays player has amassed 200+ hits in a season.  Vernon Wells on the right holds the Jays record for hits in a season (215).   Delgado holds many other Blue Jay records, and I'd really like to see his #25 be the 2nd number retired by the Jays.

I doubt I would have ever collected this set back in the day, the design is kind of bland and the American League logo is probably unnecessary. 

These 9 more cards bring the total out of the box to 139.   Progress, slowly but surely.

thanks for reading, Robert