Card show pickups - miscellaneous finds

I stumbled upon a table with random $2 bins I started digging through, but wasn't counting on pulling potential keepers - where the bins were a mixed bag of different sports.

I found a 2001 Leaf Rookies & Stars Dress For Success Darin Erstad bat / jersey #DFS-23 to hang onto - so maybe it was on as far as finding other odds and ends to build on.

The Vlad is a numbered Angels card, so while $2 might have been too much - it was another no-brainer keeper for me as well.

I could have been content to pick out three others cards and spend $10 where the quality wasn't particularly unique, but I relented to splurge - trying to make a game out of scrutinizing my probable keepers and cards I can put back.

Some 'junk autos' I flagged for fun and games - a rookie year Adam Eaton pack pulled auto doesn't mean much in 2023, but I guess he was a solid MLB player.

Even though it's an Arizona Diamondbacks card, it gives me an autograph to add to my Angels all-time autograph collection - without have to try and dig up cards I might have gotten signed in-person.

Jose DeLeon and Christian Arroyo might have been promising prospects at some point - but I never got an opportunity for either player to sign for me when they were coming up the minor leagues.

DeLeon came up with the Los Angeles Dodgers, but maybe injuries derailed his big league career - where he has bounced around the pro ranks as a journeyman pitcher.

Arroyo might have been a future star for the San Francisco Giants, until he wasn't in their long-term plans - he bounced around for a little bit, but has stuck in the major leagues as a rank-and-file utility guy of sorts.

I thought Richie Shaffer would be a player who would reasonably have a longer MLB career, but he lasted for only parts of two big league seasons - I picked up his card, because it's after hitting his first MLB home run, where he is playfully ignored by his teammates.

This last quartet ends up giving my stack some breadth as far as legendary players go - the Tom Seaver game card was 'scratched' but I like the fold out inserts and adds some vintage kitch to my pile.

I thought I found a nice Clemente insert from 15-20 years ago, that might be harder to find - but it's from a more recent Topps Pristine release.

I grabbed a parallel #'d to 99 of Roger Clemens and a #'d insert of Mark McGwire from the late 1990s - despite their sketchy PED histories, there is still is some lingering sentiment over their playing careers as a whole.