Random claims from an online purchase - Part two

1980s stars whose cheap cards I still like to make keepers in various ways - Sandberg was a pillar of the decade, so it was a moment for me seeing the posts on social media where he had passed, R.I.P.

Guys like Brett, Schmidt, Winfield and Ryan will be sorted according to the decades when they made their MLB debuts - but I wanted to show how their playing careers overlapped through the 1980s and the mid 1990s.

I'll probably add the 1987 Topps Clark rookie to a junk wax era themed curated set I'm trying to get off the ground - while pairing it with a newer faux version for comparison sake.

McGwire's card has been added as part of my mini-collections - where players are tipping their caps to the crowd.

1990s stars whose cheap cards I still like to make keepers in various ways - I actively collect Vladimir Guerrero [Sr.], where for other notable players, the lingering sentiment comes and goes.

I like the father and son duo card - though for now, I don't collect Vladimir Guerrero Jr. cards like Vladdy Sr.

2000s stars whose cheap cards I still like to make keepers in various ways - I'll pick up the unique insert or base card, but I like the idea of letting things be, where former players from previous decades might be out sight, out of mind.

2010s-2020s stars whose cheap cards maybe worth making keepers in various ways - Jose Ramirez maybe a player I am trying to catch up on collecting in catch-all sort of way.

Maybe I'm obligated to appreciate the metronomic consistency to a non-geographic star - that has been under the radar for so long.

Six years into the current decade and I'm still trying to figure out who are the players that are going to have some lasting power on a national level - Henderson and JRod have shown flashes of stardom, so maybe they are two players to think about as long term stars.

GOATS - I'll make keepers out of the random cards of legendary and/or iconic players, even if I've never had their original vintage issues in-hand.

A pair of stragglers to finish off the portion I'll end up showing off - I don't know what I find more appealing about the Arraez card, either the throwback [Florida] Marlins uniform or the idea it's caked up with dirt.

Nootbaar is not a star by any means - but there is still novelty in the idea that he played for Team Japan in the WBC three years ago.

2024 Topps Stadium Club Lawrence Butler RC #265

I picked this card up because it pictures the Oakland Athletics star rookie attempting to track a fly ball down by the wall - I love the signage pictured of Rickey Henderson Field, where the playing surface at Oakland Coliseum is dedicated to one of the all-time great players in MLB history.

For a moment, I think about the idea of the Oakland Athletics not existing anymore - where a team destined for Las Vegas for 2028, will be playing their games in Sacramento for the next three seasons.

With Henderson just passing [R.I.P.] at the age of 65, maybe it makes it hurt so much more where a fan base in Oakland has not only lost a team at the end of 2024 - but also an all-around guy lionized as a larger than life figure both on the field and as a character of the game.

TTM autograph received: Whitey Herzog

In early March, I sent out some TTM requests in anticipation they would be returned when I finally came home from some overseas travel - one of the requests I sent was to the Hall of Fame manager, with $5 and a vintage Topps card I fished out of a dollar box last year.

While on the other side of the world, I'd read that Herzog had passed and for that matter, another TTM signing great in Carl Erskine - for a moment I was wondering what I would get back, but it looks like I was able to get my request within the window where my card was inked up.

Featured autograph - Brooks Robinson

I was thumbing through '2 for $1' old school / vintage bins of a seller I stumbled upon at a card show - I thought this might be just another card, but took a closer look and it looked like it was faintly scribbled on.

It looks like an autograph of Robinson, who passed away on Sept. 26 - maybe it's a testament of how generous he was about signing, where I might find an autograph card of his in a relatively unlikely place.

Featured autograph - Claudell Washington

I would have thought Washington was a longtime California Angels player when flipping through his 1990 junk wax era cards with the team - but the outfielder, who recently passed away only really spent the 1989 season and part of the 1990 season with the Angels.

It seemed like years ago, but only earlier in January, where I went through my miscellaneous box of cards featuring Angels players I don’t have an autograph of - I had some unsigned cards of Washington, but sending one through the mail may have cost at least $15, through a glorified middle man.

I might have been bored and adding a little bit of spending money to my COMC account, relented to pay $6 for a random signed card of Washington - particularly on an Angels card likely supposedly certified by a third party authenticator that I’m not really familiar with at all.

Maybe I should have paid the premium for the secret address to send Washington TTM but I'll take my chances that the autograph I did get is otherwise authentic - there is a seal affixed on top of the semi-rigid holder and according to the fine print information printed on the back, if it is ‘tampered with or broken,’ the certification [spelled certiification on the label] becomes invalid.

Once I get the card in-hand, I’ll probably risk 'decreasing the value' by taking the card out of the holder - to add the Washington autograph with my other signed Angels all-time cards.

Image courtesy of COMC.com

Rest in Peace Kobe Bryant 1978-2020

I'm not going to mention every person that passes on and the idea of death is inevitably awkward, but it does seem to mean a little bit more when someone relatively notable passes like professional athlete or celebrity - maybe because they are in the spotlight and as far as Kobe goes, someone who was supposed to be larger than life.

A player's untimely passing makes me think for a moment about the times I've objectified these players as performers on the field, generating statistics I pore over on a day-to-day basis and guys whose autographs I have or don't have in my collection - at the end of the day, professional athletes are just like anybody else with their own lives.

I never collected his cards seriously or actually got his autograph in-person and maybe the closet thing I got from him was a glare when trying to take his picture leaving a baseball game with family - Kobe was the biggest deal for the longest time, even through his mess ups and feuds with a notable teammate on his own.

2018 Choice Trenton Thunder Chace Numata #18

I didn't know anything about this minor league catcher, but grabbed a card of his when I saw a Tweet where his organs were donated to save five lives - as it goes, despite the fatal circumstances of his passing, he's been immortalized in my collection as someone who was able to help those in need.

Rest in Peace Tyler Skaggs 1991-2019

I'm not going to mention every person that passes on and the idea of death is inevitably awkward, but it does seem to mean a little bit more when someone relatively notable passes like professional athlete or celebrity - maybe because they are in the spotlight and as far as a MLB player goes, someone who is supposed to be at their athletic peak in their late 20s.

A player's untimely passing makes me think for a moment about the times I've objectified these players as performers on the field, generating statistics I pore over on a day-to-day basis and guys whose autographs I have or don't have in my collection - at the end of the day, professional athletes are just like anybody else with their own lives.

I got my last Skaggs autograph is spring training this past year and he always seemed to be linked at the hip with teammate Andrew Heaney - for the most part, it hasn't been Mike Trout or Albert Pujols that end up doing the most 'fan service,' signing autographs and taking pictures with fans, but Skaggs and Heaney.

My card shop died and the hunt for the Honus Wagner of junk wax?

I dropped in at my LCS, but someone else was running the shop - I'm looking around absentmindedly trying to figure out if there was some kind of change, feeling like I’m in the Twilight Zone since things were just different.

The fact was, my long time LCS was actually bought out [my last visit was in December] and now a new guy owns the place - the longtime shop owner finally made his play to get out of the owning a card shop, that seemed more like a sparsely attended library.

While I wasn't actually on a first name basis with the previous shop owner, I've used my LCS as an outlet for the miscellaneous cards, supplies and loose packs I might purchase every other month or so - who knows if I’ll be back any time soon and wonder if this new incarnation of the shop will last over the next couple of years.

The most familiar card shop to me is an out of town one I may visit only a couple times a year - on a sightseeing trip, I had the opportunity to stop by recently, but was a bit overwhelmed.

I made the trip after a long day and while I feel like I wanted to go to town - I just didn’t know where where to start.

I had looked at the ‘junk wax / junk sets’ display near the entrance - a part of me wants to be tempted by a cheap single box or set purchase, though it’s more crap I’m going to actually pay to take home instead of the other way around.

I picked up a 1990 Fleer factory set for $6 because of a peculiar Jose Uribe [#74] card - which has become infamous because it has been listed on eBay for outrageous sums [from like $25,000-$758,000].

Some people say the card is being used for money laundering purposes - regardless, the notoriety may have driven the card value to like a few bucks [or not].

I fancy myself as a collector who can appreciate the weird stories that may circulate - about the baseball cards I collect.

There were two types of sets available at the shop - the set in the ‘holiday’ box was $15 but I settled for the ‘brown box’ factory set without the full color, graphics.

I thumbed through the set afterwards at Starbucks since was my friend was hanging out there while waiting on me - I was thrilled to find the Uribe, though it was a little off-center, so that jarred me back to reality.

Featured autograph - Hideki Irabu

I got Irabu to sign this card during his stint with an independent league baseball team back in 2009 - as much as I'd like to say he was this import from Japan who turned into an ace quality MLB pitcher, his professional baseball career in the United States became a sore disappointment, if not an outright joke.

As is, I don't really know if there was more to his life off the field - however, reading this Sports Illustrated story does paint a bleak picture of a guy who never belonged and was kind of a tormented, aimless soul.

Jose Fernandez - when it's it, it's it

I only knew of him as a star pitcher who had a God given right arm, so my big takeaway from Fernandez' death last Sunday is that you have to enjoy the run - because even for guys we put on a pedestal, watch on TV and have on fantasy teams, life can be fragile and unforgiving.

Fernandez was a 24-year old who had already endured and survived to be one of the world's best baseball players - he wasn't a guy who would have taken anything for granted, though it was still a somber moment for me to see the headline that he'd passed.

Besides the legacy he leaves as a big league player maybe his personality, his bravado and love for the game is what is going to be missed - if you didn't know much about the guy, I think those qualities is what will stand the test of time, combing through the highlights and the accounts of Fernandez's relatively short life.

Dave Henderson - rest in peace

I was able to go to a Seattle Mariners home game back in 2013 and brought cards for Henderson to get signed in case I saw him - I did see him, got my cards signed and took a picture of a guy taking a photo op of Henderson with a fan.

When I heard about Henderson's recent passing, I knew he had a son with a genetic disorder to take care of [actually obscured in the photo op photo] - it's hard to think that his adult son Chase won't have his father to lean on.

As an Angels fan, there is no way not to hear about the home run Henderson hit in the 1986 American League Division Series - that not only derailed the Angels' pennant hopes but perhaps started the fatal downward spiral for the Halo pitcher that gave up the home run.

As is, I really remember Henderson more as a 'junk wax guy' who was more of complimentary player type on the Bash Brothers Oakland A's teams of the late 1980s-early 1990s - he wasn't a star compared to Jose Canseco, Mark McGwire or Rickey Henderson, but I always heard about how 'Hendu' always smiled and had the right attitude out on the field.

Featured autograph - Yogi Berra

I was fortunate enough to get Berra's autograph in-person just a few times over the last 15 years, including this 8x10 glossy picture - may the former New York Yankees great and one of Major League Baseball's iconic characters rest in peace.

2008 Upper Deck Timeline Nick Adenhart #321

I busted a couple of 2008 Upper Deck Timeline some time ago and it didn't look like I had the Adenhart among the partial set of cards I'd put together - so for my Angels frankenset, I picked up this card picturing the one-time Angel who was among three people killed by a drunk driver in 2009.

I like how the card design mimics the 1993 Upper Deck SP Premier Prospects subset - I was looking at images of the Adenhart online and thought the card scanned too dark until I realized the card was designed to highlight the player's image with a muted background.

It's a shiny card which is appealing - though it's not exactly refractor shiny where the image pops off the card like a firecracker.

Featured autograph - Ernie Banks 1931-2015

I got him to sign a reprint of his rookie card years ago - the last time I saw him was at the All-Star break in 2010; he seemed kind of spacey and had a drink in his hand.

I'm pretty sure I tried asking him to sign something but he was evasive and as he was getting into a vehicle he was driving - he tried to give the empty glass to me.

R.I.P. Stuart Scott 1965-2015

He wasn't an athlete on the field, but he made as big of an impact as some of the ballplayers who have entertained me in pro sports - there were others of course, but Scott always kept me tuned in to SportsCenter, because it seemed he was having the most fun, sharing his love of sports with audience.

It was refreshing to watch highlights with all the catchphrases that would come out from his mouth [that I'd find myself repeating and smiling about when appropriate] - boo yah!

Don't hate the playa, hate the game

You don't got to go home, but you gotta get the heck up outta here

Cool as the other side of the pillow.

Gettin' his freak on! (or ...his schwerve on!)

I ain't sayin' nothin', but that ain't right.

When other ESPN sportscasters had their schticks, I realized Stuart got the most blowback for what he did on the air and it kind of bothered me - as much as I enjoyed him personally, there were sports fans who didn't care for what he did, because it was too urban and maybe just too black.

R.I.P Ryan Bolden 1991-2014

I had six cards of Bolden in a discard pile, not knowing what to do with cards of a failed Angels prospect - last week, I learned that he was shot and killed over a kids' argument about candy; now his life cut short, the cards I have are headed to my 'beyond the glory' mini-collection as sort of a tribute to the young man.

Damn

Top prospect Oscar Taveras and his girlfriend killed in a car accident.

Jim Fregosi commemorative card

I don't think I've bought any new cards recently, but this odd sized card is sort of a new addition to be put away - a stadium giveaway by the Angels as part of the pregame tribute to one of the franchise's stars.

R.I.P. Tony Gwynn 1960-2014

I took this photo of him back in 2009 while he signed a couple of Hall of Fame postcards for me - he had a long time partnership with a Ford dealership in El Cajon California and it was always news to So. Cal collectors when an autograph signing appearance date would pop up.

I only knew about the signings in the last 15 years and managed to attend several of them - towards the end of his playing career, it would really be crazy getting to the car dealership early and staking out a spot in line.

As Gwynn retired, the appearances seemed to get a little more low key and manageable to attend - sometimes Gwynn would be grumpier than other times, but he would always to take the time to sign.

I'm not sure he did this all the time, but he'd usually extend the signing time an hour extra - a funny thing he always did do was bust the balls of 'collectors' who would line up a second time.

Gwynn was savvy as far as sniffing out the pros and at these signings and there maybe at least 20 of them that he regularly saw [plus everyone else who might have gotten back in line] - he'd make them wait in a separate line if he knew he'd sign for them already and make signing for fans who hadn't gotten an autograph a priority.

Maybe if he felt like he was done with everyone among the general public who made time to attend the signing - someone would need to give him a good reason before he relented to sign and finish up with the pros that stuck around.

A Hall of Famer who played much of his career in the 'junk wax era,' there was no doubt I first learned many of Gwynn's exploit through cardboard - I want to say he's a 'baseball card hero,' where I might not have actually seen many of his accomplishments as a player, but was aware of his reputation because of what was printed on the back of his baseball cards.