Something familiar - a card show trip?

I feel like I've been mostly out of collecting, but the idea of going through the most random of cards still hits the spot - I like cards and I'll continue to engage in picking up 'new' ones here and there.

I watch videos on YouTube occasionally and influenced by a YouTube card collector, I might as well see if his LCS [which is actually a card show] is viable as my LCS as well - as far as I'm concerned, my shop has been closed when the original owner retired and I've got to get my fix somewhere else.

1994 Leaf Limited Gold Ken Griffey Jr. #11 of 18, serial #’d 09132 out of 10,000 - this might have caught my eye, where I was going to see if I could pick up a few more cards from a seller who showcases mainly vintage cards

I would never mistake this person's booth as having anything 'here and now,' though there maybe some surprises in this person's 'poverty' boxes - the newest of these dollar cards is just about 25 years old, but my current interests be damned, I find myself going back through the years for certain players and cards that catch my attention.

1988 Upper Deck Wally Joyner promo #700

1994 Score Select Crown Contenders Greg Maddux #CC2 - regardless of the idea this card is worth a dollar and not any more, this card should add a certain shine to my random binder collection of his cards.

1997 Fleer Tiffany Cal Ripken Jr. #13

1996 Upper Deck Cal Ripken Jr. Ripken Collection #7 - inking it up find for my mini-collections.

1992 Upper Deck Ted Williams hologram #HH2 - not pictured

Best binder page - my starting nine

My best binder page represents nine cards that stick out in my collection - for better or for worse.

2001 Fleer Tradition Albert Pujols #451 - ever since he made his MLB debut in 2001, he has always been a guy to universally collect though the Pujols the Angels have is just not the same guy that played for the St. Louis Cardinals.

1987 Donruss Greg Maddux #36 - I never really noticed Maddux until he won his first Cy Young Award in 1992 and I had to pick up his key rookie card, which might have been going for about $6.

Because the card came out during junk wax era, the card maybe worth $3 these days - but between the wisp of facial hair he sporting and the Cubs uniform he is wearing sort of coming together with the design [with the Rated Rookie subset banner too], the card has grown on me.

1990 Leaf Frank Thomas #300 - it was either him or Ken Griffey Jr. battling it out for the top spot of Beckett Baseball Card Montly Magazine's Hot List back through the mid 1990s.

Thomas was a dominant offensive force and even though his numbers took a dive in his 30's - he still had his moments and has Hall of Fame plaque to show for his numerous achievements.

I'm not really sure what I paid for this card but I think I bought it 10-15 years ago - the price was likely less than the $30 I spent for a Sammy Sosa rookie card from the same set.

1987 Fleer Barry Bonds #604 - I prefer the juiced up version rather than the great all-around baseball player through the 1990's because he just didn't give a hoot and at least on the field, it was fun watching him portrayed as the biggest heel of the Steroid Era.

I was eating up all his theatrics and I probably paid about $60 for this card - like the Maddux rookie, it was a junk wax era card, but I was to hoping to possess the best mainstream rookie card of an all-time great.

Bonds might have been easy to ignore if he was an average ballplayer augmented his numbers and kind of faded away - but Bonds was already a superstar talent who managed to propel his numbers to historic heights.

While he is now trying to make inroads back into the game as the Florida Marlins hitting coach - Bonds is probably not going to be inducted into the Hall of Fame anytime soon and my once prized card is worth about $3.

2011 Topps Update Mike Trout #US 175 - it's a no brainer to have this guy's rookie card in the mix, even though there is a tinge of disappointment, just because I never got one of his 'big money' first-year autograph cards.

1994 Flair Alex Rodriguez #340 - ever since he had his first big season in 1996, he's always been a guy to universally collect.

Whatever he's done has always captured my interest, though the luster had finally faded after he was suspended by Major League Baseball in 2014 - as is, he had a quiet and successful 'comeback' run in 2015, though it remains to be seen if he can sort of leave the game on his terms.

I probably paid $40 for this card and now it's worth about $5.

1989 Procards Keith Comstock #14 - I have to throw this 'fun card' into the mix.

1993 Topps Derek Jeter #98 - he has always been a guy to universally collect and while I think this is a boring card from a boring set, it features a guy who put up some pretty good numbers, a 5-time World Series winner who always put on a good public face.

1989 Donruss Ken Griffey Jr.#33 - I was more or less just starting to collect 25 years ago when this card caught my attention in a loose stack at my cousin's house and I thought it was a big deal it was going for $8...during the same time, I think I bought a 1989 Donruss rack pack from a card shop and pulled another copy of the card.

Dual bat card of a couple of HOF pitchers

I picked up this 2001 Upper Deck Pros and Prospects Greg Maddux / Randy Johnson #PPMJ for my pitchers hitting mini-collection - when looking at various card pictures online, sometimes I'll find memorabilia / autograph cards that fit my esoteric interests.

Perhaps it's more of a challenge finding memorabilia / autograph cards with unique images because a card company is just looking to make up a card - that will contain a swatch of memorabilia and/or be autographed.

Just 5-10 years ago, I thought memorabilia / autograph cards were still worth something - so I felt I couldn't really pick up the ones that featured a star player or two.

As is, there isn't as much interest in common memorabilia cards and to have some fun - I can add a few of the ones that pique my interest into the back end of random online purchases.

Assorted card shop pick ups

Wasn't as geeked up digging around a particular card shop I can only really visit maybe a few times in the fall - but found some loose odds and ends to put away in my pocket.

I paid $5 for a 2014 Panini Prizm Evan Longoria #65 - serial #'d 10/42; maybe a $1-$3 card on eBay but I suppose adding s/h costs even things out.

When digging for random singles, maybe I have a 'handful' of guys whose cards to look for - Longoria might be one of those MLB players that pique my interest from time to time.

The rest of the cards were a dollar each - I like numbered parallels when I can find them.

1993 Fleer Ultra Top Glove Greg Maddux #1 - an old insert featuring him wearing batting helmet, so I might as well grab the card now for my pitchers hitting collection or else I might as well forget it.

2002 Upper Deck Plus Mike Hampton #UD 99 - serial #'d 0142/1125; Hampton is not a player whose cards I'd usually find as keepers, but it's neat to find cards of him as a hitter.

2012 Topps Heritage Minors Matt Den Dekker - black border parallel serial #'d 61 / 96; I'll grab serial #'d cards all day even if the players aren't quite notables.

2012 Topps Pro Debut Garin Cecchini #23 - gold parallel serial #'d 24/50; maybe I've been on a numbered cards kick and it's fun to look for them, even though they aren't worth as much as I'd assume.

2012 Topps Pro Debut Tyrell Jenkins #130 - gold parallel serial #'d 08/50.

2013 Topps Update Series Ryan Kalish #US 108 - Camo parallel serial #'d 60/99; a seemingly limited card featuring awesome outfield action is a keeper.

2014 Panini Prizm Alex Gordon #42 - serial #'d 39/99; for the 2014 World Series, I'm hopping on the Kansas City bandwagon unless the San Francisco Giants snuff the Royals' World Series championship run out rather decidedly.

Congrats Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine and Frank Thomas

Obligatory Greg Maddux retirement post

Greg Maddux signed this autograph in-person when he was still with the San Diego Padres a couple of years back - his autograph has never been much, but I was glad to get him anyway.

In the last part 10 years of his career Maddux has seemed to be under the radar, but with Roger Clemens' career 'tarnished forever,' Maddux maybe considered the greatest pitcher of his generation - it says something that Maddux was at his very best when offense in Major League Baseball was booming and Clemens was sputtering in last four or five seasons with the Boston Red Sox.

Pitching hitting: Helping their own cause
The posterboy for a pitcher being able to handle the bat is Arizona's Micah Owings. He is probably known for his hitting ability as much as his pitching ability. The St. Louis Cardinals' Rick Ankiel also has a feel for hitting the ball, though he is strictly a position player these days and it is almost too painful to learn how he got to be where is he as the Cardinals' starting center fielder.

Over the years, a pitcher hitting or a pitcher doing a 'non-hitter' thing have been captured on various cards. Unless they were two-way players at some point of their baseball lives, I think a lot of pitchers' hitting ability to swat a baseball has to do with luck, since it isn't their main focus. They have to do the little things, like be able to get the bunt down and move the runner over, but it isn't like you would pay to watch pitchers hit during BP as a whole.

Not even Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine's best efforts will take attention away from those who hit long balls for a living. Even if these hitters' home run numbers are riddled with mental asterisks.

Has it been 10 years already?