Featured autographs - rank and file guys

Chris Colabello - he had a card in 2013 Topps Update Series; had a good start in 2014 but then turned into a pumpkin; I got him to sign a couple of cards someone provided and I kept one.

Danny Farquhar - the guy who has had the most success and has stuck around the big leagues all year long, Topps made a card of him this year and I was able to get two or three signed when the Seattle Mariners played the Angels.

Ed Lucas - Topps made a card of him this year and I was able to get the lone one I had signed when the Miami Marlins played the Angels.

At the end of last these season, I wanted cards of these players - even though as is, they might not really stick in the major leagues.

The last guy I wanted a card for was minor league veteran Doug Bernier - he was up with the Minnesota Twins in 2013 and I got him to sign a ticket stub when he got his first MLB hit.

However, Bernier didn't stick around long enough to have a card out - he has spent the 2014 season in the AAA and even if Topps made a card of him, I don't know if I'd see him or not.

Random cardboard picked up

2014 Bowman Platinum Jonathan Gray #BPP 12
2014 Bowman Platinum Henry Owens #BPP 25
2014 Donruss Austin Jackson #293 - Silver Press Proof serial #'d 083/199

2014 Donruss Mat Latos #284 - Gold Press Proof serial #'d 64/99
2014 Donruss Salvador Perez #299 - Stat Line serial #'d 232/292
2014 Donruss Trevor Rosenthal #340 - Stat Line serial #'d 094/263
2014 Donruss Avisail Garcia #278 - Stat Line Gold serial #'d 134/289

2014 Donruss David Price #344 - Stat Line Gold serial #'d 075/400
2014 Donruss Yan Gomes #13 - Elite
2014 Donruss Evan Longoria #48 - Elite
2014 Donruss Bryce Harper #56 - Elite 
2014 Donruss Bryce Harper #2 - Elite Series serial #'d 120/999
2014 Donruss Chris Sale #10 - The Elite Series serial #'d 127/999
2014 Donruss Adrian Beltre #1 - Elite Dominators serial #'d 168/999
2014 Donruss Eric Hosmer #9 - Elite Dominators serial #'d 187/999
2014 Donruss Miguel Cabrera / Chris Sale #7 - Face 2 Face serial #'d 067/999
2014 Donruss Johnny Cueto / Troy Tulowitzki #11 - Face 2 Face serial #'d 625/999

2014 Topps Finest Eric Hosmer #67

2014 Topps Finest Justin Upton #96
2014 Topps Inception football Manti Te'o #83
2014 Topps Pro Debut Hunter Harvey #66
2014 Upper Deck SP Authentic golf Paula Creamer #6
2014 Upper Deck SP Authentic golf Natalie Gulbis #15
2014 Upper Deck SP Authentic golf Paula Creamer #66

Losing Garrett Richards

I cringe as I imagine the lack of starting pitching options available to the Angels after losing Richards Wednesday night - while I'm hoping the beat goes on, it's going to be a wild ride watching the 2014 Angels try to win the American League West and/or get into the playoffs through the wild card without their ace.

Richards doesn't look to be back this year, so I just hope he can bounce back and be an effective pitcher at some point - maybe it's just me, but with the fragility of pitchers' careers, sometimes the guys on the mound just don't make it back.

250 card Fairfield baseball cube

By picking this up instead of two of those 100 card hanger repacks - I got 50 more loose cards along with two random [junk] packs as well as a plastic box I can reuse.

The cube wasn't sealed by a clear plastic sticker / tape - like previous cubes, just shrink wrapped.

2012 Topps Gypsy Queen
#64 Jason Kipnis
#169 Melvin Upton
#88 Erick Aybar
#SS-EA Elvis Andrus - Sliding Stars insert
#200 Felix Hernandez - mini
#GS-DV Endy Chavez - Glove Stories insert

2013 Topps Update Series
#US 256 Luke Scott
#US 95 Eric Chavez
#US 158 Erasmo Ramirez
#US 127 David Phelps
#US 205 Prince Fielder
#US 33 Garrett Richards
#TM-45Stephen Strasburg - 1971 Topps Minis insert
#US-125 J.J. Hardy
#US-226 Michael Cuddyer
#US-56 Kyuji Fujikawa
#US-255 Alex Wood
#US-16 Alex Gordon

2011 Topps Gregory Infante #223
2007 Upper Deck Kevin Cameron #513
2011 Bowman Draft Chrome D.J. Lemahieu #56
1990 Fleer Pat Sheridan #71
1988 Donruss Roger McDowell #651
1986 Topps Alfredo Griffin #566
2004 Topps Jeff Kent #140
1992 Fleer Ultra Todd Hundley #233
1992 Fleer Dante Bichette #173
1990 Upper Deck Jeff King #557
1980 Topps Jack Morris #371
1990 Score Charles Nagy #611
1991 Topps Greg Brock #663
1992 Donruss Scott Livingstone #675
1986 O-Pee-Chee Larry McWilliams #204
1983 Donruss Bruce Bochte #127
1989 Donruss Brian Meyer #640
1989 Donruss Bill Schroeder #644
1993 Topps Jose Uribe #201
2007 Topps Jermaine Dye #FF-11 - Flashback Fridays
1982 Topps Joe Pettini #568
1987 Topps Jim Leyland #93
1988 Score Kevin Romine #644
1990 Score Rookie/Traded Jeff Reardon #17T
1982 Topps Kent Tekulve #485
1993 Donruss Anthony Telford #789
1990 Topps Mike Jackson #761
1987 Topps Jim Pankovitz #249
1991 Topps Matt Sinatro #709
1989 Fleer Update Ken Hill #U-119
1986 Donruss Zane Smith #565
1989 Upper Deck Julio Franco #186
1994 Upper Deck Collector's Choice Derek Lilliquist #175
1994 Topps Greg Harris #738
1992 Donruss Joe Slusarski #626
1989 Topps John Tudor #35
1987 Topps Jeff Dedmon #373
1988 Fleer Dave Meads #453
1989 Topps Jose Lind #273
1990 Topps Henry Cotto #31
1988 Topps Wally Backman #333
1990 Fleer Danny Darwin #227
1989 Donruss MVP Darryl Strawberry #BC-6
1990 Leaf John Candelaria #492
1983 Fleer Paul Householder #592
1991 Leaf Gary Varsho #500
1989 Donruss MVP Andy Van Slyke #BC-10
1986 Fleer Famous Feats Red Rolfe #18 of 22 - the card doubles as a team logo sticker, but that was peeled off...
1990 Score Tom Foley #32
1985 Topps Tony Fernandez #48
1978 Topps Tim Blackwell #449

1999 Skybox Autographics Damion Easley - autographed insert
2011 Topps Ruben Tejada #625
2011 Topps Ryan Sweeney #493
2011 Topps Fernando Rodney #581
2011 Topps John Buck #296
2011 Topps Evan Meek #125
2011 Topps Jason Motte #538
2011 Topps Gaby Sanchez #312
2011 Topps Chris Volstad #127
2011 Topps Seattle Mariners team card feat. Felix and Ichiro #589
2011 Topps Matt Lindstrom #222
1994 Score Rod Correia #594
1991 Score Greg Swindell #110
2010 Upper Deck Gold Reserve Paul Konerko #111
1992 Donruss Bill Sampen #571
1997 Circa97 Trevor Hoffman #287
1989 Donruss Traded Chris Brown #T-9
1999 Topps Tim Wakefield #333
1994 Upper Deck Collector's Choice Julian Tavarez #274
1987 Topps Dave Smith #50
1999 Skybox Metal Universe Chuck Knoblauch #76
1999 Upper Deck MVP Scott Brosius #142
1992 Leaf Harold Reynolds #38
1997 New Pinnacle Reggie Sanders #22
1986 Sportsflics Bert Blyleven / Jerry Koosman / John Denny #64 - Tri-Stars subset
1993 Donruss Jay Buhner #111
1987 Topps Ed Olwine #159
1985 Topps Bruce Kison #544
1996 Score Chris Gomez #142
1993 Leaf Pat Borders #157
1992 Pinnacle Carlton Fisk #361
1993 Donruss Frank Tanana #599
1998 Pinnacle Paramount Bobby Estalella #211
1986 Topps Tony Pena #260
1990 Score Glenallen Hill #601
1988 Topps Jay Aldrich #616
1991 Fleer Ultra Brent Mayne #150
1992 Classic Four Sport Michael Tucker #232
1990 Score Maurice Vaughn #675
1993 Donruss Andy Ashby #743
1995 Upper Deck Greg Vaughn #300
1987 Topps Randy Bush #364
1988 Topps Jim Acker #678
1989 Fleer Nelson Liriano #239
1993 Leaf Bill Krueger #348
1989 Score Gary Pettis #26
1994 Fleer Ultra Eric Young #190
1990 Score Albert Belle #508
1991 Fleer Mackey Sasser #160
1990 Fleer Ramon Martinez #402
1982 Donruss Ron Reed #399
2008 Upper Deck SP Authentic Dontrelle Willis #77
1991 Upper Deck Don Carman #288
1988 Score Zane Smith #410
1992 Fleer Ultra Dan Plesac #388
1988 Donruss Cal Ripken Jr. #26
1988 Topps Jose Lind #767
1992 Topps Ryne Sandberg #387
2006 Topps Bobby Madritsch #113
1988 Topps Mike Marshall #249
1989 Donruss Tim Crews #486
1988 Donruss Dale Murphy #78
1980 Topps Larry Christensen #161
1989 Donruss Jose Lind #290
1990 Topps Phil Stephenson #584
1991 Topps Jeff Huson #756
1989 Donruss Orel Hershiser #197
1992 Donruss Randy Johnson #207
2007 Upper Deck Jose Garcia #517
1987 Topps Bryn Smith #505
1996 Score Jason Bere #409
1994 Donruss Troy Neel #520
1988 Donruss Will Clark #21 - x2
1991 Upper Deck Cecil Fielder #83
1999 Topps Ryan Minor #293
1988 Score Marc Sullivan #271
1987 Topps Paul Zuvella #102
1989 Donruss MVP Will Clark #BC-22
1989 Topps Jeff Pico #262
1991 Leaf Mike LaValliere #15
1988 Topps UK Joe Carter #12 - maybe a repack staple, cards aren't bad looking, but they are odd.
1986 Topps Leaders Bert Blyleven #23
1988 Topps UK Mike Dunne #21
1988 Topps UK Nolan Ryan #62
1988 Topps UK Eddie Murray #53
1988 Topps UK Dave Winfield #85 - x2
1988 Topps UK Will Clark #14
1988 Topps UK Dale Murphy #52
1988 Topps UK Pedro Guerrero #28
1986 Donruss Burt Hooton #300
1993 Upper Deck Luis Aquino #711
1993 Topps Guillermo Velasquez #724
1989 Topps Hipolito Pena #109
2013 Topps Update Series Brian Wilson #US 254
2008 Upper Deck Yankee Stadium Legacy box set Clete Boyer #40
2010 Topps New York Yankees Baseball 27 World Championships Red Rolfe #YC-8
2013 Topps AL Runs Batted in Leaders feat. Miguel Cabrera, Josh Hamilton and Edwin Encarnacion #194
2013 Topps Eric Hosmer #135 - Emerald Foil parallel
1989 Topps Cap'n Crunch Kirby Puckett #20
1991 Upper Deck "1917 Revisited" #617
1990 Upper Deck Bobby Rose #77
1991 Upper Deck D.J. Dozier #3
1993 Topps Traded Jim Converse #40T
1988 Donruss Dave Smith 3410
1992 Score Luis Mercedes #826
1993 Fleer Final Edition Rodney Bolton #F-193
1993 Fleer Final Edition John Cummings #F-268
1990 Donruss Eric Yelding #123
1991 Leaf Carmelo Martinez #160
1992 Fleer Mo Vaughn / Cecil Fielder #705
1993 Topps Larry Walker #95
1992 Upper Deck Doug Drabek / Craig Biggio / Jeff Bagwell #475
1991 Fleer Eric Yelding #520
1993 Topps Buck Showalter / Jim Fregosi #510
1990 Score Jose DeJesus #587
1993 Score Derek Bell #122
1986 Topps Cecil Fielder #386
1989 Donruss Eric King #535
1990 Score Pat Borders #288
1991 Topps John Olerud #168
1992 Fleer Ultra Jacob Brumfield #481
1990 Score Donald Harris #661
1991 Score Bobby Bonilla #315
1990 Score Gary Redus #14
1993 Topps Stadium Club Duane Ward #382
1988 Topps Mike Stanley #219
1988 Topps Bob Patterson #522
1992 Topps Ron Gant #391
1991 Topps Bill Swift #276
1992 Fleer Wilson Alvarez #74
2000 Topps Alex Gonzalez #201
1994 Pinnacle Bob Hamelin #404
1986 Donruss Mike Laga #578
1997 Bowman Chrome Fred McGriff #84
1997 Bowman Chrome Raul Mondesi #39
1997 Bowman Chrome Lance Johnson #80
2002 Topps Total Chad Fox #959
1988 Score Andy Hawkins #347
2008 Topps Updates and Highlights Dan Haren #298
1984 Topps Mike Proly #437
1990 Bowman Chuck Knoblauch #415
2000 Topps John Thomson #371
1987 Donruss B.J. Surhoff #28
1999 Upper Deck Greg Vaughn #347
1986 O-Pee-Chee Greg Harris #128
1997 Upper Deck Collector's Choice #79
1987 Topps Bill Almon #447
1994 Topps Stadium Club Chris Bosio #103
1992 Donruss Triple Play Bo Jackson #164
1994 Upper Deck Stan Javier #384
2001 Upper Deck Jesus Colome #298
1989 Topps Gary Carter #680
2008 Topps Braves Team Set Tom Glavine #ATL 1
1990 Topps Traded Ben McDonald #70T
1978 Topps Bobby Winkles #378
1992 Leaf Roger Mason #454
1993 Fleer Jack Morris #697
1993 Fleer Final Edition checklist #F-300
1989 Upper Deck Tim Burke #456
1993 Topps Stadium Club Alex Arias #741
1992 Upper Deck Chris Donnels #44
1992 Upper Deck Minors Joe Randa #325
1990 Upper Deck Jesse Barfield #476
1992 Upper Deck Roberto Alomar / Sandy Alomar Jr. #81
1995 Topps Mickey Morandini #2
1986 Topps Fernando Valenzuela #630
1990 Donruss MVP Mike Greenwell #BC-17

1991 Score Greg Harris #109
1992 Topps Leo Gomez #84
1991 Fleer Ellis Burks #89
1991 Upper Deck Ray Lankford #346
1988 Fleer Tony Gwynn / Vince Coleman #634 - x2
1987 Topps Traded Danny Tartabull #120T
1986 Topps Don Robinson #731
1993 Topps Traded Brent Gates #91T
1990 Bowman Travis Fryman #360
1987 Topps Marvell Wynne #37
1989 Upper Deck Les Straker #83
2013 Topps Update Series Torii Hunter #US 276
1992 Upper Deck Minors Marc Newfield #36
1992 Upper Deck Brian McRae #157
1993 Donruss Tim Costo #270
1999 Pacific Ricky Gutierrez #191
1992 Upper Deck Jose Canseco #649
1991 Score Ben McDonald #645
2013 Topps Update Series Corey Kluber #US 105
1993 Score Select Rookie/Traded Frank Tanana #127T
2010 Topps Allen and Ginter Mark Reynolds #213
2005 Topps Kazuo Matsui #225
2009 Topps Juan Castro #99
2009 Topps Nate McLouth #15
2009 Topps Brandon League #239
2010 Topps Update Series LaTroy Hawkins #US-246
2010 Upper Deck Matt Garza #492
2010 Upper Deck Ballparks Milwaukee #556
2010 Upper Deck Ryan Sweeney #356
2010 Topps 206 Koji Uehara #205
1990 Starline Long John Silver Tony Gwynn #29
1981 Topps 1980 Earned Run Avg Ldrs feat. Rudy May and Don Sutton #7
2004 Donruss Roberto Alomar #317
2010 Topps Joey Votto #48

2014 Bowman Platinum Value Pack recap

I picked up another pack of this to supplement another repack purchase at a Target - another repack bust will be posted, but I was also looking to mix something 'new' to what presumably will be an act of leafing through an assortment of older, discarded cardboard.

Three card retail purple refractor bonus pack
#BPCP 77 Marco Gonzales
#BPCP 93 Hak-Ju Lee
#BPCP 99 Nick Travieso

Pack one
#BPP 93 Hak-Ju Lee
#BCCP 48 Lucas Sims - X-Fractor parallel
#11 Manny Machado
#CES-YD Yu Darvish - Cutting Edge Stars insert
Arizona Fall League contest card

Pack two
#BPP 51 Rougned Odor
#BPP 47 Marcus Stroman
#41 Madison Bumgarner
#43 Jon Lester - Gold parallel?

Pack three
#BPP 73 Luis Heredia
#BPP 77 Marco Gonzalez
#34 C.C. Sabathia
#45 Hanley Ramirez
Arizona Fall League contest card

Jim Fregosi commemorative card

I don't think I've bought any new cards recently, but this odd sized card is sort of a new addition to be put away - a stadium giveaway by the Angels as part of the pregame tribute to one of the franchise's stars.

2014 Topps Finest - a quick glance

For 'pure card collectors' who still care about collecting base cards, building sets or just flipping through cards - opinions on this year's Topps Finest set will probably be polarizing since the base cards look like they were inspired by 1995 Fleer.

As is, I think the cards look pretty garish and funky looking - however when these is only one manufacturer of MLB licensed cards, designs tend to be conservative and consistent.

Even if the finished product doesn't look like it's something that is going to stand the test of time - perhaps a radical change is appreciated, rather than just going with a design that card collectors have sort of been conditioned to like otherwise.

So instead of perhaps dismissing the set as just another release, maybe the design makes collectors do a double take - perhaps younger collectors who seem to be enamored by anything new and shiny.

Featured autographs - Drew and Sal Butera

As a mini-collection idea, I thought about gathering cards of MLB players who came off the bench as back ups, defensive replacements, or pinch hitters - maybe I wanted recognize certain MLB players' roles as 'working actors' who provided bench strength as opposed to the better known starting players.

As is, maybe I just make mental notes of certain guys that fit this category, whenever I bust a pack of cards or go through loose cards - one of those players is the younger Butera, who has followed in the footsteps of his father Sal as a big league backup catcher.

The elder Butera played in 359 games in parts of nine seasons in the major leagues in the 1980's - he had two stints with the Minnesota Twins and was part of the 1987 Twins World Series champion team.

The younger Butera was drafted by the New York Mets, but started his MLB career with the Twins like his father - before getting traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2013.

Unintentional cameos - 1991 Score Jack Howell #842 and 2014 Topps Jose Altuve #210

It was probably my friend who gave me this random Jack Howell card as an extra to get signed at a minor league game at least several years ago - current Angels third base coach Gary DiSarcina makes a cameo and only recently was I finally able to get DiSarcina to sign this particular card.

"That's not me," he said before he realized he was on the card. "Oh there I am."

For the most part, I prefer one autograph on one card of a player [regardless of any random cameos] unless it's a dual player card [where both players are listed on the card] - however, when I can pull it off, I like the novelty of having two players sign a card both make an appearance on.

I like anticipating the reaction of the player making a cameo, wondering if he would taking a harder look, seeing it's not really his card I'm having him autograph - I also wonder how the cameo player will be able to fit his autograph on the same card that has already been signed.

Wouldn't it just be something if I can get Jose Altuve's 2014 Topps card signed by him and the guy sliding into him - I don't think that is going to happen with the player making a cameo, though I'm tempted to try.

2014 Bowman Platinum Value Pack recap

I got $1 off from my Topps / Target coupon book, so that sort of knocks off the sales tax from my purchase - I'm looking for 'new' prospect cards and this break was kind of redundant since all of the prospects I pulled have appeared in various Topps / Bowman products over the last several years.

Three card retail purple refractor bonus pack
#BPCP 6 Gary Sanchez
#BPCP 35 Mike Foltynewicz
#BPCP 63 Chris Taylor

Pack one
#BPP 97 Courtney Hawkins
#BPCP 32 Justin Nicolino - refractor?
#94 Christian Bethancourt
#TP-LM Lance McCullers - Top Prospects die-cut insert

Pack two
#BPP 53 Rosell Herrera
#BPP 1 Francisco Lindor
#58 Francisco Liriano
#69 Prince Fielder - maybe a Gold parallel, hard to say though it looks just a little different than a base card.
Arizona Fall League contest card

Pack three
#BPP 50 Javier Baez
#BPP 64 Joey Gallo
#78 Billy Hamilton
#65 Edwin Encarnacion

Featured autograph - Kevin Brown

I ran into a long time collector who was selling some extra autograph cards and in his portfolio book, I spotted a Kevin Brown signed card - I saw the autograph was on a 2004 Topps Cracker Jack, so I relented to pick it up for $5.

I've been trying to get cards from the 2004 Topps Cracker Jack set signed in-person / through the mail for the past 10 years - as is, there are holes in the set I'll probably will never fill, but it's nice to add another random card to what I have signed already.

The Brown is signed in black but I'll take what I can get since in his day, Brown was surly in-person and not someone who would sign in-person most of the time - I know I got a signed card TTM either in 1997 or 1998 and got him once in-person back when he played with the Los Angeles Dodgers.