Featured autographs - Cal State Fullerton alumni baseball game

2017 Bowman J.D. Davis #BP 81

2017 Topps Heritage High Numbers Chris Devenski #608

2015 Panini Contenders Thomas Eshelman #90

2017 Bowman Draft Chrome Scott Hurst #BDC-126 - refractor

2012 Topps Allen and Ginter Brett Pill #192

2017 Bowman Draft Chrome Connor Seabold #BDC-77 - refractor

TTM autographs received: Royce Lewis

The No. 1 overall pick last year personalized and signed my two cards in blue ink in about three weeks - I was glad to get this back since he's been pretty consistent about returning mail requests sent to him and I didn't want to miss out if and when he stops doing the TTM thing.

One thing that seems obvious with just about all the IP/TTM successes I've seen posted online is Lewis is personalizing everything - except perhaps for autographs he has signed at organized signings / paid events.

Comments about a fictional HOF ballot

On the heels of the card bloggers fleshing out the players they believe should be Hall of Famers and maybe guys who shouldn't get there this year or ever - here are the 10 players on my 'what if I had a HOF vote' ballot.

Likely going in

Chipper Jones - judging from of his tweets, this guy is literally a no-brainer as far as a guy going into the Hall of Fame, but he was the golden boy prospect who became a good ol' boy for the Atlanta Braves for years.

Besides being a franchise legend, there is also a little 'fame' involved when he embraced the idea of playing in New York and being jeered by opposing teammates in the biggest city - there was a sense that he played for the moment, besides just being some bumpkin.

Jim Thome - I wouldn't give him credit for a 'clean' slugger who played in the steroid era, but the fact is that he has no such PED taint and he gets credit for a guy who wouldn't look out of place as an old-timey slugger from the 1950s-1960s.

Vladimir Guerrero - I loved him for years as an Angel with his ability to see ball, crush ball wherever it was pitched, he is 'my guy' as far as the guys who will probably be inducted.

Trevor Hoffman - because of the debate about the merits of a closer for the Hall of Fame, there is some doubt for every guy looking to get in Cooperstown as a short reliever.

Hoffman has been a guy who has snuck up as far as guy going in, but I could see where he just did his job for years where it's just enough - though he wasn't simply a one franchise guy, he probably gets credit for being with the San Diego Padres all of the years he was with the team.

Six others I'm dwelling on - all have some sort of PED taint and while I don't like the idea of the Steroid Era as an unsavory time for players doing all sorts of things to get over, all I can do is suspect whether a player did something, as opposed to penalize any number of them outright.

Barry Bonds - I loved the show he put on late in his career and obviously a no doubter if he wasn't the face of the PED taint; he was a perpetual a-hole, but at least it wasn't like he was trying to put on a public face; he had a certain arrogance, a certain confidence that made him more of a fascinating figure.

Roger Clemens - he was as much of an a-hole as Bonds was and maybe it's partly due to the rage but he was a little more accommodating to the media, so I still don't think he was as villified; the only thing odd is his late career surges in his late 30s through early 40s should be more suspect as a 'gotcha' if the everyone and their mother was doing it with Bonds' late career power surges.

Manny Ramirez - he's the guy who failed multiple tests and the writers didn't like the 'Manny being Manny' antics in the first place, but he was a great hitter that I'd probably pick him over Larry Walker though the experts would say Walker had the ability to be a 5-tool player [could hit for average, hit for power, field run, throw] while Ramirez was just kind of self-centered tool.

Gary Sheffield - he probably doesn't get the support because he wasn't afraid to speak his mind, but I'd probably pick him over Edgar Martinez; last I checked Sheffield has more than 200 home runs on 'Gar' and while the experts would probably throw the 'bad fielder' juju on Sheffield, at least he took the field over a guy who collected the bulk of his numbers as a DH.

Sammy Sosa - no pity parties for Sosa here, but after Bonds and Clemens are inducted, maybe there is some consideration for Sosa; from raw athlete to city icon to pariah, Sosa has come full circle but there doesn't seem to be any let up, any thaw for a guy who slugged 609 home runs and was once the toast of baseball.

My notable omissions would be Edgar Martinez, Larry Walker, Curt Schilling, Mike Mussina and maybe Billy Wagner - at some point, Schilling is going into the HOF on his on field accomplishments, but bless his heart, I have no problem making him wait for as long as he will have to.

A couple of random shiny cards of minor leaguers

2017 Panini Elite Extra Edition Jose Miguel Fernandez #145 [$1.50 plus $1.00 s/h] - a base card is serial #'d 133/999, this features a Cuban who played at AA last year, then released by the Dodgers and picked up by the Angels this off-season.

2017 Panini Elite Extra Edition Jonah Todd #196 [$1.50] - this Purple parallel card, serial #'d 137/200 features a minor leaguer in the Angels' system.

A 6th round pick out of Auburn - Todd made his pro debut last year and may play in the Cal League this upcoming season.

Featured autographs - Daniel Robertson event

At a fan fest of sorts organized by Tampa Bay Rays player Daniel Robertson's family foundation - I got some random professional/MLB players to sign their cards, including a couple of Powell cards given to me by my friend.

Powell kind of checks off a couple of things in my book as a mini-collection guy, so I was glad I got a couple of actual cards - there is the 'Boog' nickname he shares with the longtime Baltimore Orioles first baseman of the 1960s through 1970s, so that sort of makes him unique [cult baseball player / cult feat], even if it's kind of random.

This current day Powell also is a local Orange County California guy - attending Mission Viejo High and then Orange Coast College before being drafted by the Oakland A's in the 20th round back in 2012.

2016 Topps Heritage Minors Daniel Robertson #77

2017 Topps Update Chrome Ryon Healy #US241

2017 Topps Heritage Minors Josh Staumont #161

2017 Topps Update Chase De Jong #US135

2015 Bowman Draft Bubba Derby #141

2013 Bowman Jeff Gelalich #BP15

2015 Panini Elite Extra Edition Cody Ponce #56

2015 Topps Heritage Minors Rio Ruiz #81

Trade with Baseball Cards Come to Life!

I got over 300 assorted cards from Bo at Baseball Cards Come to Life! as sort of a blind trade - on my end, the most important thing was getting a mini-collection 'boost' at the end of 2017 when I thought I'd accounted for all the cards I was going to get.

Besides all the mini-collection adds, including ones knocked off my wantlist and others I tacked on for 2017, I may have counted out 140 miscellaneous cards - regardless of the substance, I think it's fun to go through a jumble of cards like these once in a while, even though I probably needed to pace myself, so I didn't get burnt out being preoccupied by all the randomness.

I like trying to make sense out of the cards as I sorted them out - selected other cards were added as mini-collection ‘haves,’ where I might have had the card or a card for a player pictured, but felt I might as well list them as part of a particular mini-collection.

Other cards went into my various ‘loose card’ interests including:

School ties - I have a multi-sport collection of alumni players from a selected number of California colleges.

Cards of MLB/MiLB coaches - usually former players who maybe currently working or have worked for a MLB organization in 'recent' years.

Cards for team boxes - I have a collection on the side featuring assorted cards from all the 30 MLB teams.

A-Z archive filler - the least I will do is see if I could file these cards away 'as is.'

My favorite cards out of the box include the following:

1991 Topps Stadium Club Alex Cole #392 - pictures Otis Nixon; this made me do a double take when I saw the nameplate because I thought it was Nixon's card...Nixon has a more pronounced, weathered face [to put it kindly] while Cole always wore those goggles.

1992 Fleer Rookie Sensations Phil Plantier #19 of 20 - the butt shot captures his unique stance perfectly; Plantier was indeed a rookie sensation with the Boston Red Sox in 1991, hitting .331 with 11 home runs in 175 at-bats, but just wasn't destined to be a star.

Images courtesy of COMC.com

1992 O-Pee-Chee Premier Mike Bordick #5 - pictures Scott Brosius

1992 Donruss Triple Play Greg Vaughn #122 - I love how Vaughn’s cap is flying off as he checks if he has made the catch at the wall; a couple of teens along the railing above him check to see if they possibly have a beat on the ball as well.

1996 Pinnacle Denny’s Kevin Seitzer #26 of 28 - I bought this set years ago so I have this card somewhere, but to have it in-hand at the moment is nice; I don’t know if the holographic animation of the player shown was ever such a big deal, but I like shining the image up to the light and playing around with the card.

1996 Upper Deck Charlie Hayes #436 - I like how he is playing with a camera with a big lens.

1998 Fleer Tradition Ben McDonald #40 - this image sticks out as Fleer immortalized the longtime American League pitcher's only big league at-bat during the first year of Interleague play in 1997.

FWIW - the Milwaukee Brewers moved from the American League Central to the National League Central the year after.

2016 Donruss The Famous San Diego Chicken #151 - is this the most recognizable baseball mascot of all-time?

1975 Topps Robin Yount RC #223

I added another old school rookie card to the personal collection and while this was more of an impulsive pick-up as opposed to a priority at the top of a wantlist - there is some lingering nostalgia over this card, especially when paired up with George Brett's rookie card [#228] from the same set.

While Brett's playing career was a bit more larger than life and his rookie card seems to be held in higher regard than Yount's - both players are one-team franchise legends who each got their 3,000th hit in 1992 and were part of the same Hall of Fame class in 1999.

While I was superficially aware of Yount as a HOF legend with all these accomplishments - I had to dig through his numbers to see how his playing career evolved since I somehow believed he was more of a compiler as opposed to being a dominant player at various points of his playing career.

Getting to the big leagues as an 18-year old really helped boost Yount's counting numbers - maybe if he'd come up at 23 or 24 like a more typical big leaguer, his playing career would be more like J.J. Hardy's than Derek Jeter's.

But what changed my perspective about about Yount's 20-year career is when he became an impact offensive player in his prime - for a 4-year period through the mid 1980s, Yount established himself as one of the best players in all of baseball, checking off all the boxes as far as a guy who could hit for average, hit for power, steal bases and be a good defender at shortstop.

If somehow I'd be aware of baseball when Yount was really putting up the numbers, he would have been a fun player to follow, reminiscent of offense minded shortstops who would come of age in the late 1990s - guys like Jeter, Alex Rodriguez and Nomar Garciaparra.

2017 Topps Gallery blaster box recap 2 of 2

Artist proof parallel pack
#28 Sean Newcomb
#146 Gerrit Cole
#8 Steven Matz
#19 Carson Fulmer

 Pack one
#32 Gregory Polanco
#25 Bryce Harper

#HOF-19 Jim Palmer - Hall of Fame Gallery insert
#62 Yasmani Grandal

 Pack two
#140 Anthony Rizzo
#67 Kyle Seager
#113 Andrew Toles
#13 Carlos Correa

 Pack three
#15 Yoan Moncada
#12 Max Kepler

#156 Nelson Cruz - Artisans SP
#141 Yoan Moncada

 Pack four
#38 Tyler Glasnow
#139 Jake Lamb

#MP-21 Nolan Ryan - Masterpiece insert
#98 Salvador Perez

 Pack five
#17 George Springer
#97 Ketel Marte

#HOF-12 Joe Morgan - Hall of Fame Gallery insert
#147 Brandon Finnegan

 Pack six
#101 Cole Hamels

#100 Clayton Kershaw
#45 Matt Kemp
#128 Greg Bird

 Pack seven
#80 Freddie Freeman
#54 Jose De Leon
#42 Alex Bregman

Dan Bergren - Featured Artist info card
#106 Robert Gsellman

2017 Topps Gallery blaster box recap 1 of 2

Go figure I was able to pick up a couple of blaster boxes online as opposed to fruitless in-person searches through some random Walmarts - I feel the one or two Walmarts I may be able to go are spotty as far as having specific brand of trading cards at any one time.

The last incarnation of Topps Gallery came out in 2005 and while it was a product I'm not sure I even bought a single pack of in my collecting life - in general, I liked the artsy-fartsy trading cards because they came off as a little bit more classier than just something designed to be regular old baseball cards.

Artist proof parallel pack
#120 Corey Seager
#5 Carlos Rodon
#13 Carlos Correa
#141 Julio Urias

Pack one
#131 Matt Harvey
#32 Gregory Polanco

#HOF-1 Ken Griffey Jr. - Hall of Fame Gallery insert
#138 Luke Weaver

Pack two
#28 Bryce Harper
#140 Anthony Rizzo

#30 Trevor Story - Gallery Heritage insert
#119 Buster Posey

Pack three
#67 Kyle Seager
#113 Andrew Toles
#12 Max Kepler

Mayumi Seto - Featured Artist info card; maybe it's just odd, but I found her card [and the other Topps Gallery artist's card, Dan Bergren] more interesting than any of the base cards.
#123 Carlos Gonzalez

Pack four
#15 Yoan Moncada
#38 Tyler Glasnow

#HOF-22 Reggie Jackson - Hall of Fame Gallery insert
#8 Steven Matz

Pack five
#139 Jake Lamb

#17 George Springer
#97 Ketel Marte
#19 Carson Fulmer

Pack six
#101 Cole Hamels
#100 Clayton Kershaw

#174 Chris Archer - Apprentices SP
#84 Trey Mancini

Pack seven
#45 Matt Kemp
#80 Freddie Freeman

#MP-23 Mark McGwire - Masterpiece insert; YMMV, but I found the base cards to be a bit of a snooze and would prefer something centered around these inserts.
#115 Justin Verlander