TTM autographs received: Cris Carpenter

Carpenter signed my cards in about two weeks c/o the high school he teaches at in Georgia - because he played in the junk wax era, I was superficially aware of him as a relief pitcher who spent most of his 8-year big league career with the St. Louis Cardinals.

Featured autograph - Chris Coghlan

I picked up a junk auto of the current Chicago Cubs outfielder to add to my award winners collection - the autograph is fairly clean and I like the cutesy design of these framed tobacco sized cards.

Coghlan was the 2009 National League Rookie of the Year and while his numbers have generally been an up-and-down - he has played parts of 8 MLB seasons and seems relatively viable as a semi-regular type for a contender.

Featured autographs - junk auto sluggers

I picked up Durazo and Willingham certified autograph cards even though these are basically junk autos - while strictly rank-and-file types, both guys were relatively productive MLB hitters with pop.

I may have seen both players as ‘harder to get’ autographs in-person / TTM when they were active - so there is a little 'ownage' after the fact, even if these guys are pretty much obscured by history.

Ranking the 30 MLB teams on my watch - Florida Marlins #30 of 30

I'm going to try and rank the 30 Major Leagues on my perceptions - if there is a game on TV featuring these teams or if they are playing my 'home team,' what maybe the first things to come to my mind whether it's good or bad? What makes a team particularly compelling, interesting or just meh?

Star rookie pitcher Jose Fernandez and star outfielder Giancarlo Stanton maybe worth the price of admission, but the Marlins organization suffers from ownership really having a bad reputation - as an east coast team, the Marlins are naturally a little less relevant, but even if I lived in 'Marlins country,' I'm not going to be too excited about watching a team that maybe wrecked apart on a whim.

My purchase - a 2010 Bowman Draft set

I picked up a hand-collated set [around $25 shipped] of 2010 Bowman Draft and while there are Mike Stanton, Stephen Strasburg, Jason Heyward and Buster Posey cards in the set - Topps has already rolled the presses on releasing various basic, non-autograph MLBPA rookie cards of these guys and the basic cards from the set are only worth a couple of bucks each.

Maybe the most redeeming if not exactly noteworthy feature to the set - is Topps decided to include non-auto base cards of the guys who do have Bowman Draft Chrome autographs in the set, like Manny Machado of the Baltimore Orioles, Zach Lee of the Los Angeles Dodgers or Zack Cox of the St. Louis Cardinals.

For an in-person or through the mail autograph collector, Topps almost gets a thumbs up - except for the foil stamped facsimile signatures [not like Peter Tago's card, which doesn't have the facsimile signature] on the cards .

A signed 2010 Bowman Draft card with a foil stamped fascimile signature is probably not going to look as good autographed in-person / through the mail - particularly when the facsimile is stamped across the card.

I realize Bowman Draft is a prospector's product where gripes about aesthetics aren't always valued as long as there is a good crop of signed Bowman Draft Chrome cards and corresponding parallels - however some of the Photoshop work is off in trying to show the draft picks wearing Major League uniforms, particularly the doctored 'in-action' shots of particular players in high school or college.

Considering the Hall Candidates - Andre Dawson

Andre Dawson

Pro - he was a multitalented outfielder who was the 1977 National League Rookie of the Year with the Montreal Expos.

An eight-time Gold Glove winner, playing in Montreal diminished Dawson's abilities because apparently Astroturf was fake, synthetic grass layered over cement - it did much damage to Dawson's knees and hindered his ability to run and field over time, despite finishing with 314 stolen bases in his playing career.

Dawson and his agent apparently negotiated a 'blank' check after 10 years in Montreal and signed on with the Chicago Cubs - despite playing for a last place team, Dawson hit 49 home runs and had 137 RBIs in his 1987 National League MVP season.

Dawson was four-time Silver Slugger winner who hit 20 or more home runs in 13 of 21 seasons in the Major Leagues - finishing with 438 home runs and 1,591 RBIs.

Con - a player with a .323 on-base percentage may have been a little more patient and take his walks but one lone number shouldn't define the type of ballplayer Dawson was.

Yes/No - I would lean towards 'yes.'

Citing his on-base percentage seems to marginalize Dawson's relevance when he was an active player - he found a way to succeed despite his .323 on-base percentage and being one of the best all-around outfielders during his time, he cannot be denied longer.

Featured player: Hanley Ramirez 2008 Bowman gold parallel #66 - Ramirez, the 2008 National League all-star starter at shortstop, went 5-for-6 on Thursday night, including hitting the game-winning home run in the 11th inning, giving the Florida Marlins a 5-4 win against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Stat wise, Ramirez is probably the best hitting shortstop in the game and I've heard Ramirez compared to an early version of Alex Rodriguez - with his ability to hit for power and ability to steal bases, Ramirez is pushing for a '30-30' season with 23 home runs and 22 stolen bases. He is currently hitting .312 with a .390 on-base percentage and a .569 slugging percentage.

Congratulations for hitting your 600th home run
Featured player: Ken Griffey Jr. - I got on the Ken Griffey Jr. bandwagon when I found out his 1989 Donruss rookie card [obviously not pictured] was worth around $8 [of course in 2008, they are still worth about $8 slabbed in a PSA '9' holder today].

I think it was in a stack of scrap cards my cousin had and I had to have it - it was probably the greatest thing that a baseball card that I had in-hand could be worth some money. This was probably after handling all those worthless commons found in random packs, starter collecting sets, et al through the late 1980s.

Though pretty much what I had was worth nothing to start with - I came into collecting during an era where this card could be worth something, this card probably isn't worth anything and this card maybe worth something.

It was probably handled a few times, so it wasn't in great condition. It also wasn't the 1989 Upper Deck, but I think it was the first time I'd objectified Junior Griffey as someone to collect otherwise - I also remember going to a card shop [maybe the same day, but who knows] and getting a 1989 Donruss rack pack. I ended up pulling a 'pack fresh' version of the card I got from my cousin and probably look back upon the pull as why this collecting thing was so great for me.

Also, I think it was my sister had bought a poster [again, not pictured] of Junior Griffey from a bookfair type deal and it hung on my wall for a while through the late 1990s - I think I still have the poster somewhere, showing Junior Griffey swinging the ball.

Around 600 home runs and 20 years later, Junior is a shadow of what he once was, and what he never could be again - yet he still has the majestic swing and maybe for mere moments at a time, the ability to capture our imaginations as baseball fans.

Featured cards: Scott Pose 1993 Upper Deck Scott Pose #762 and 1998 Fleer Ultra Scott Rolen #70 -

Though Pose made it to the Major Leagues as the first batter in Florida Marlins' history, he seemed to be strictly expansion draft fodder. Still his 1993 Upper Deck leaps out at you because it frames the action succintly. You can see Pose has already dirtied his uniform up and you can see the tension in his face as he is trying leg out a triple. He doesn't know where he is going, but he knows the only way to get there is through 100 percent hustle.

Scott Rolen was the 1997 National League Rookie of the Year and while things haven't always been good for the third baseman, he's enjoyed an otherwise successful career as a Major League star. He's played hard and he's played hurt. He's won a World Series and depending on how he finishes his career, is probably in the borderline Hall of Fame class. The card is symbolic of his successful career, though it has been a while since he has starred for the Philadephia Phillies.

These two cards will never be someone's showcase cards in their collections, but these two have probably become my favorites because of how the photographers were able to capture compellings image of these two players to put into a little hand-held piece of collectible cardboard.