COMC mail #3 FIN - the rest of the mess

Mini-collection cards #1 - I'm sure there are other cards that look like Mike Jackson does on his 1975-76 Topps card, but I've wanted it for the past 2 or 3 years just because the giant afro he sports is symbolic a different era of pro sports, where it was big hair, facial hair for baseball guys, afros for many of the pro basketball players through the 1970s.

At some point last year, I was hunting for more oddball mini-collection adds and I found some Venezuelan Winter League cards - the card pictured shows a manager arguing with an umpire, so that added 'awesome action' is a nice touch on a type of card that wouldn't register in my mind.

I grabbed the 2020 Topps SP Photo Variation of Xander Bogaerts because I'd passed up another copy of the same card in-person and while not worth much - it's a nice picture where Bogaerts in a tux looks like he's at a party somewhere looking classy.

I grabbed the 2020 Topps SP Photo Variation of Rhys Hoskins because gum card images are harder to find - I always make them keepers regardless of player.

2007 Topps Chrome Mickey Mantle Story - I'm ambivalent over Mantle retro cards where they fairly plentiful and not that hard to find, but this particular insert has him playing the violin, so that's a fun card to add to my oddities collection.

Mini-collection cards #2 - I saw the 2019 Topps X Vlad Jr. “The Legend” Vladimir Guerrero Sr. off another card blogger's post and was inspired to grab one for inking it up collection; off the same set came the Lourdes Gurriel Sr. card, which ended up being a keeper for my bloodlines collection because he was a Cuban baseball legend who is the father of two big leaguers in Yuli and Lourdes.

More Venezuelan Winter League cards, featuring guys inking it up this time around - it's always nice to have a little change of pace, when my collections consist of mainstream branded MLB cards.

The last oddball card was a 1984 7-Up Chicago Cubs team issue of Tim Stoddard - it may have been a misfit purchase, but I've had on my mind as a 'bonus baby' card since Ryne Sandberg is supposedly the player lurking in the background.

Go figure, I end up finding a complete set, with Stoddard and all at a card show and paid $4 for the entire set - I might have grabbed the Stoddard for about $0.65.

Pitchers hitting photo variations - for potential mini-collection additions, it's a mini challenge for myself to grab cards off COMC featuring players I'm not really emotionally attached to.

I don't know if Noah Syndergaard will hit any home runs in 2022, whether there will be a normal MLB season or if the universal DH will come to play - I'm hoping his arm is sound to pitch in at least 150 odd innings for the Angels.

Maybe needlessly, I actually spend time wondering whether I should pick up these misc cards - where it gets especially harder when I only have so much left in my account [at one time] where I really play around whether I can still grab something at the dollar and under mark.

The 1973 Luis Alvarado seems like a card blogger cult favorite - though I actually grabbed the O-Pee-Chee version, so it's a little odder than his actual Topps card.

The 2017 Topps Museum Collection Roger Maris may not be a type of card that hard to find - but I wanted to find a keeper of an eternal fan favorite and a retro card from a higher end set might just hit the spot.

2019 Bowman Heritage Chrome Prospects Joey Bart - I'd grabbed this cheap chromed up parallel of a top prospect since I thought it might have been a nice find on the down low.

2020 Topps Home Run Challenge Mookie Betts - Betts seems like a type of player I wouldn't go out of my way to collect, but he's that nice, all-around player where I would pick up random cards if I saw them out in the wild.

I don't think the winner cards end up being worth much, but they might be nice oddballs - for the 2021 version of the challenge, I had some fun playing and guessing correctly some winning dates where players would homer.

Scratch that Shohei Ohtani day

I grabbed this card at the beginning of the season and got it delivered in-hand about a couple of weeks ago - today was supposed to Ohtani's scheduled start against the Tampa Bay Rays' ace Tyler Glasnow, but Ohtani was scratched after getting hit by a pitch on his elbow on Sunday.

It's been refreshing to see Ohtani be in the lineup as a DH for much of the season - though I'm still concerned what he does as a batter and baserunner will lead to possible injury or fatigue, affecting his ability to pitch on a regular basis and at full strength through the rest of the year.

I guess I can flip things around to make this into a Glasnow post, who has been that stud pitching talent with a big arm peaking at the right time - several weeks ago, I put together a page with his cards as an addition to my decade / binder stars collection just to acknowledge his ascencion to stardom.

Featured autograph - Jim Kaat

The former MLB pitcher who made his debut in 1959 and pitched through the early 1980s signed a pair of cards blue Sharpie for a $10 donation - I went on a two week vacation to Venice and Milan in February [just before the COVID-19 pandemic rocked those places hard] and this was a successful request waiting for me when I got back home.

I got Kaat's autograph in-person 25 years ago when during the pre-Internet days, I might get a glimpse a guy on TV and bring his card to my local big league ballpark in case he might show up with a particular team [Kaat was a broadcaster with the visting New York Yankees] - I don't think I ever saw him again, but must have gotten another autograph [through the mail] in the early 2000s.

I'd gotten Kaat's 1973 Topps card from COMC [?] because few vintage pitchers hitting cards exist otherwise - I don't think 'image dominant' mini-collection cards particularly need an autograph, but I thought I might as well send my card to the 81-year old, who presumably is still able to sign in the here and now.

New pitchers hitting pick ups for me

The Darvish and Tanaka were part of lots I found on eBay - I thought I might have bought the cards from a local stateside seller, but the cards looks like they were actually mailed from Japan.

They are only really checklist cards but it's a novelty to see these big league pitching imports at bat in games - for the teams they played for before coming over to the United States.

The other cards were part of my BaseballCardStore.ca acquisitions - the 1986 Fleer Classic Miniatures Gooden [#19] is sweet while the other two were nice finds as well.

Pitchers hitting collection - a visual guide

I grabbed 18 'pitchers hitting' cards for my mini-collection sampler and the collecting topic subset is kind of a catch-all - for pitchers who have bats in their hands but aren't exactly hitting in a game, wearing batting helmets, bunting, practicing and finally, pitchers whose cards show them on the basepaths.

Seeing pitchers act the role of hitters or baserunners can be such a peculiar thing - so it is another neat, easter egg deal to find cards with 'action shots' of pitchers not doing the usual pitching.

Looking at the cards on the page, I realized the Nolan Ryan cards in the center are from the pre-DH days of the American League - in his lone season batting in the AL without a DH, Ryan was 13-for-96 with five doubles and one triple.

The Hall of Fame pitcher's slash line as a batter in 1972 was .135 / .153 / .208 - which is probably comparable to the career numbers opposing batters have put up against Ryan on the mound.

COMC - pitchers hitting relic cards

I picked up eight cards of pitchers who are pictured hitting as a late year push to boost my mini-collection totals - a wrinkle is that they feature relics.

When I think of bat cards, I associate them with position players who go to the plate 500 times a year - however, if card companies had access to purchase bats supposedly used by the players pictured, why not make them into cards?

While no particular card might not hard to find, it’s not like I can go to card shops or a card show on regular basis - to piece together a handful of these obscure themed cards.

It's kind of a treat when I'm casually browsing through listings on an online site like COMC and find relics of pitchers hitting - I might as well grab them on the cheap, so even if there are more cards to seek out, these ones have been accounted for.

Because they are junky and were never considered legit hits, I suspect they maybe buried in a stash somewhere or maybe the repack companies have hoarded the cards - to put them in their future releases.

2001 Fleer Game Time Lumber Kevin Brown #KEBR - I didn't want to pick up any cards of Brown, but this card isn't bad looking at all.

At times, collecting is literally about what the cardboard represents, rather than the player pictured - to me, it's another card for a mini-collection, not an endorsement of any particular player.

Admittedly, Brown had a successful big league career, but seemed like a salty guy who was the big money free agent with the Los Angeles Dodgers in the early 2000s - his career ended with a whimper and after the fact, he had a cameo in the Mitchell Report.

2001 Fleer Game Time Lumber Randy Johnson #RAJO - his best season as a hitter came in 2003, when he hit .194 in 36 at-bats, launching his only big league home run.

2001 SP Game Bat Edition Milestone Piece of the Action Bound for the Hall Greg Maddux #B-GM - anytime he is pictured as a batter, Nike's Chicks Dig the Long Ball commercial of the late 1990s always comes to mind.

2001 SP Game Bat Edition Piece of the Game Kevin Brown #KB - maybe his best year with the bat was in 1998 when he hit .207 and had 10 RBI.

2001 SP Game Bat Edition Piece of the Game Randy Johnson #RJ

2002 Upper Deck Ultimate Collection Ultimate Game Jerseys Tier 4 Mark Prior JR-PR - serial #'d 69/199

2004 SPx Winning Materials Mark Prior #WM-MP

2009 SPx Winning Materials 2 Jake Peavy and CC Sabathia #WM2-PS

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.

1956 Topps Harvey Haddix #77

I picked this up because Haddix is shown as a baserunner and it's a vintage addition to my pitchers hitting 'catch all' mini-collection - which include cards showing pitchers at-bat, running the bases, wearing a batting helmet, goofing around with a bat and doing things a batter is associated with.

I was digging through a box of assorted Bowman and Topps cards from the 1950's - the card shop owner had to dig through a price guide before setting a price of $3 for this card, which gave me a bit of pause, since the card was an impulsive find.

Going through other 1956 Topps cards in the box, I may go to town on hunting down other cards for my mini-collections - though the larger card size and the relative cost per off-condition card may limit my enthusiasm in chasing down more cards.

Overwhelmed at the card shop

I just started digging through quarter boxes from past years and I couldn't stop picking out cards - even when I had to cut down the number of cards I wanted to pick up, there were a few others that replaced the ones I'd put away.

Awesome outfield action

1999 Fleer Ultra Willie McGee #58 - he was a very good ballplayer for a long time and it looks like he stuck it out as a fourth outfielder / semi-regular type in his last four MLB seasons.

1999 Fleer Tradition Rickey Henderson #133 - in his late 30's, he was still as spry as he was in his prime.

2003 Upper Deck Dave Roberts #189

2002 Fleer Ultra Chris Singleton #160

1999 Fleer Ultra Andruw Jones #25 - he was an athlete in his prime, too bad he got fat in his 30's.

1999 Fleer Ultra Carl Everett #22

1999 Topps Stadium Club Vladimir Guerrero #80 - the ball is actually by his feet.

1999 Topps Stadium Club Jose Canseco #32 - by this point, his athleticism was gone and all he had were his bat and his roids.

1998 Topps Orlando Merced #119

1999 Fleer Ultra Tony Gwynn #59

Awesome action - these were the silly cards

1992 Upper Deck Minors Adam Hyzdu #244 - juggling

1992 Upper Deck Minors Jimmy Haynes #168 - has some odd frisbee thing

1999 Topps Stadium Club Chan Ho Park #112 - I love this card

Awesome action and misc

1999 Upper Deck Encore Jeff Cirillo #50 - I wonder what he is putting into his water cup.

1992 Upper Deck Minors Juan De La Rosa #73 - losing his bat

1999 Fleer Ultra Mike Lansing #8 - looks like a play where he grabs the ball and gestures to the umpire to perhaps record the force out at second base.

1999 Fleer Ultra Otis Nixon #44 - love the face guard

2002 Fleer Ultra Ryan Klesko #148 - on a knee

1992 Upper Deck Minors Tarrik Brock #189 - x2

Bonus babies - cards where a star player appears on a more common player's card,

1999 Upper Deck Choice Damion Easley #86 - Rickey Henderson

1999 Upper Deck Ray Durham #66 - Rickey Henderson

1998 Topps Kevin Polcovich #79 - Larry Walker

1999 Topps Vinny Castilla #199 - shares the card with Dante Bichette and Todd Helton

2002 Fleer Ultra Bret Boone #120 - Ivan Rodriguez

1999 Fleer Ultra John Wetteland #3 - Ivan Rodriguez

Star on star cameos - a new collecting topic?

1999 Fleer Ultra Albert Belle #78 - I want to make a distinction whenever I find a card of a star player [like Frank Thomas does on Belle's card] popping up on another star's card.

Inking it up - seeing pro ballplayers sign autographs affirms the belief that it is still a thing, even if reality dictates it's harder to have a moment with any number of them.

2003 Upper Deck Mike Cameron #313

2003 Upper Deck Sean Burroughs #466

2003 Fleer Ultra Jeffrey Hammonds #187

1999 Upper Deck Encore Eric Davis #75

Pitchers hitting

2003 Upper Deck Vicente Padilla #237

2002 Fleer Ultra Mike Hampton #69 - I count cards showing pitchers running bases, having bats in their hands and basically pitchers doing 'hittery' things in this collection.

2003 Fleer Ultra Mike Hampton #26

1999 Topps Stadium Club Rick Reed #31

2003 Fleer Tradition Update Glendon Rusch #U136

1999 Topps Stadium Club Kevin Tapani #101

1999 Topps Stadium Club Andy Ashby #133

Tools of ignorance and misc

2002 Fleer Ultra Brandon Inge #75 - maybe symbolic of the early 2000's Detroit Tigers teams

1999 Topps Stadium Club Brady Anderson #127 - looks like a play at plate where the catcher has to apply a hard tag on a incoming runner [Anderson] who doesn't slide.

2003 Fleer Ultra Ivan Rodriguez #152

2003 Fleer Tradition Update Jason Simontacchi #U11 - x2

1992 Upper Deck Minors Skeets Thomas #95 - broken bat shot

2013 Topps Prime football Jimmy Graham #74 - I think because he was doing it so much, dunking a football over the goal posts now result in a penalty.

First collecting topics cards added in 2010

1991 Pacific Nolan Ryan # 40 - pitchers hitting

2005 Topps Cracker Jack Roger Clemens #70 - pitchers hitting

2003 Fleer Patchworks Jeff Bagwell #74 - bonus baby / cameo by Barry Bonds

By the end of 2009, I hope to have picked up 500 new collecting topics cards featuring various characteristics - I'm looking for cards with personality because there is nothing like finding a 'fun card' with a unique image or characteristic that is not going to cost much more than a nickel or a dime.

A.) Bonus babies – cards featuring star players who make cameos on mostly common players' cards.

B.) Inking it up – cards featuring players signing autographs.

C.) Unique shots/awesome action – baseball, basketball, football, hockey. Can be posed.

D.) Awesome outfield action – cards featuring players leaping, diving, jumping to grab the ball. Can be posed.

E.) Tools of ignorance – cards featuring catchers, maybe the hardest working players on the field.

F.) Facial hair – cards featuring players who are wearing beards, goatees, porn-mustaches, et al. 

G.) High-toppers – cards featuring players players sporting high-top socks.

H.) Grips – cards capturing pitchers' grips during their delivery. 

I.) Unique backs – cards detailing something a fun fact or a feat. 

J.) Two-sport stars – cards of professional athletes who've been known to have played in other sports. 

K.) Cult baseball players/unique feats – cards of baseball players who were considered quirky, a good quote, a little kooky, looney, attracted a unique fanbase, some notoriety or have actually done something unique on the field.

L.) Hats-off – cards featuring players without their hats on.

M.) Players smiling – cards featuring players smiling or hamming it up for the camera.

N.) Pitchers hitting – cards featuring pitchers hitting, running the bases or wearing batting helmets, about to step up to the plate.

O.) Retro uniforms – cards featuring players wearing turn back the clock jerseys/uniforms.

P.) Broken bat shots – cards featuring hitters breaking their bats. 

Q.) Beyond the glory – cards featuring players who have battled addictions, battled career threatening injuries, mental problems, et al.

R.) Uncorrected errors – virtually worthless, but still unique to have a card with a name mispelled or a card with the wrong player pictured, et al. 

S.) Steroid Era / PEDS – cards of players who were busted, suspected, reported, outed, et al. 

Collecting topics that can go on forever – 

A.) Bloodlines [actual and loosely related] – cards featuring players who are related to another player as a cousin, father-son, stepson, wife, odd bloodlines [a player is related to someone in another sport or non-sport endeavor], et al.

B.) Local players [Orange County, California] – cards featuring players local to the county, high school or college. 

C.) Nations – sorted by country

D.) Infamous – all sorts of professional athletes who have been known [or not known] to have done something notable in their careers.

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?