All-time Top 100 cheap-azz keepers VII - (52-35)

52. 1998 Upper Deck Barry Larkin #65 - giving a high five to a youngster on the field.

51. 2015 Topps Stadium Club Adam Jones #215 - pie to the face victim

50. 1997 New Pinnacle Cliff Floyd #11 - the [Florida] Marlins teal stands out as well as Floyd wearing face covering, where presumably he is pretty cold.

49. 1993 Upper Deck SP Joe Girardi #221 - the veteran catcher was one of the Rockies on the first year club in 1993, so he had a name tag, maybe a joke to get to know each other.

48. 1996 Pinnacle John Olerud #225 - maybe part of my all-time sets are trying to add mini-collection cards as highlights; one of the my mini-collections is cards that tease some signage somewhere on the image.

That USPS Express Mail signage is just too hard to avoid on this Olerud card - elevating it from mini-collection fodder to a part of an all-time set.

47. 2012 Topps Chrome C.C. Sabathia #44 - maybe I would like to build on a micro-mini pattern of [signage] cards within my larger all-time set, this time with the MLB Network logo behind Sabathia.

46. 2020 Topps Opening Day Spring Has Sprung Aaron Judge #STS-12 - more signage with Budweiser, Hess, Spectrum, Bank of America, etc.

45. 2016 Topps Update Series Brandon Moss #US199 - another theme I have is the home run trot card, where they picture players presumably rounding the bases after hitting a dinger.

44. 2018 Topps Stadium Club Ian Happ #218 - another home run trot card [I think].

43. 1996 Upper Deck SP Ken Caminiti #158 - multiple exposure image

42. 1995 Topps Stadium Club Turner Ward #495 - I collect awesome outfield action cards, sometimes the posed ones are fun.

41. 2003 Topps Stadium Club Stadium Shots Shawn Green #SS4 - I like the view from the most expensive seats in the house or something like it, where you are just about at field level with the players.

40. 1996 Pinnacle Brian McRae #109 - but I like the pictures where players are shown relaxed on the field, probably as they stretch, before taking batting practice.

39. 2023 Topps Stadium Club Bryson Stott #208 - maybe this isn’t a recent card anymore, but something I am thinking about is setting aside newer or recent cards, so for as long as I continue collecting, I’m not just talking about unique cards that came out 30-35 years ago.

38. 1998 Topps Kenny Lofton #175 - a personality shot of a guy who liked to…steal a lot of bases.

37. 1997 Upper Deck Collector’s Choice Alex Rodriguez #332 - this was never a high brow card but reminds me A-Rod was young baseball royalty, where any cards were worth making keepers of.

36. 2003 Upper Deck MVP Mark Grace #13 - I want to find more oddities like this nearly 25 year old card, where it’s a position player being called on to pitch by a losing team after the game has long been decided.

35. 2020 Topps Stadium Club Frank Thomas #257 - he’s known more for his Nugenix supplement commercials, “and she’ll like it too,” than being a great baseball player that was neck-and-neck in popularity with Ken Griffey Jr. through the early 1990s.

All-time Top 100 cheap-azz keepers VII - (70-53)

70. 1994 Pinnacle Museum Collection David Hulse #162 - at times, a regular card probably illustrates the action [a seemingly odd exchange where a baserunner hand a ball to a fielder to say “here you do something with this”] better than a parallel, but obviously a parallel is a little jazzier, even one over 30 years old.

69. 2015 Topps Gypsy Queen Curtis Granderson #241 - maybe a stationary image of Granderson posing, but the Bartolo Colon cameo on the Jumbotron amuses me.

68. 2000 Upper Deck David Wells #256 - I like the random cards with players making odd expressions, where Wells might rolling his eyes, calling BS.

67. 1994 Leaf Manny Manny Lee #372 - a more dated common than timeless classic from the UV era, it looks like Lee loses the handle and maybe it’s a fun card.

66. 1993 Upper Deck Mark Leiter #95 - I like to say I feel the way Leiter looks on this card more often than not.

How unique is it for a pair of brothers who pitched in the big leagues as the case for Mark and Al - to have their own sons [Mark Jr. and Jack] who have followed their footsteps.

65. 2012 Leaf Pete Rose #22 - I like the image used of The Hit King in a suit, probably at a banquet somewhere trying to show what he does best.

64. 1995 Upper Deck Collector’s Choice Curt Leskanic #442 - Name tag 371426300, maybe a more dated common than timeless classic from the UV era, I wonder what it says when I make such a card a part of an all-time set.

63. 1992 Pinnacle Dwight Smith #293 - a classic junk wax era favorite, Smith is pictured singing the National Anthem, R.I.P.

62. 2003 Fleer Platinum Ryan Klesko #76 - a unique shot of Klesko looking over broken bat, didn’t realize I have this here already, when I saved another copy for a future all-time set build.

Come to think of it, Klesko was probably one of my favorite junk wax era prospects - didn’t quite turn into superstar slugger for the 1990s era Atlanta Braves teams, he had a fine career.

61. 2002 Fleer Ultra Luis Gonzalez #167 - cards with a kid pictured are undeniably unique.

60. 2004 Upper Deck Shigetoshi Hasegawa #447 - cards with a kid pictured are undeniably unique.

59. 1990 Upper Deck Rob Murphy #461 - a classic junk wax era favorite, now that I am working on one ore more JWE themed curated set (s), I might be on the look out for another copy.

58. 1994 Topps Stadium Club Orel Hershiser #400 - trying to find context for this card, I assume maybe a farm themed cow milking contest at the ballpark.

57. 1995 Pinnacle Bo Jackson #208 - one of the countless perks of being a notable pro athlete is getting to hang out and presumably fly with The Blue Angels.

56. 2014 Topps Stadium Club Roy Halladay #21 - he passed away under tragic circumstances and reading about the supposed behind the scenes of his addictions made this metronomic ace pitcher's life story a little more real.

55. 2001 BBM Prime Time Player Hideki Matsui #PT13 - on a short list of Japanese big leaguers who was an impact big league bat, it was a novelty to pick up a Japanese era card during a card show rummage.

54. 2022 Topps Chrome Heart of the City Miguel Cabrera #HOC-2 - I cannot be bothered to keep up with the countless inserts that end up more filler material, but may cling onto a few that catches my eye through a particular year.

53. 1998 Fleer Tradition Jermaine Allensworth #424 - I liked when card pictures of rank-and-file guys actually had personality, rather than your normal hitting, pitching, fielding, baserunning cards.