Featured autograph - Tim Salmon

Had an opportunity to get several items signed by Angels franchise legend Tim Salmon when he was doing a promotional appearance at Angel Stadium for Can-Am Spyder - a roadster of sorts originating from Canada.

Salmon is my favorite player and probably recognize him as the greatest Angel to put on the uniform as far as a guy who was drafted and developed in the organization - sorry to the more prominent and nationally recognized former Halos [i.e. a Nolan Ryan, a Reggie Jackson, a Rod Carew] who started their careers somewhere else.

At his appearance, he made his way to do a meet-and-greet with the Spyder owners - before actually coming over to sign for the rest of the people who showed up to get his autograph.

He was pleasant and took the time to take pictures with everyone who wanted one - as the line to get his autograph died down, I did overhear him say he probably could sign autographs all day long, but what got kind of tiresome was getting up from the table and posing for pictures. I think that tidbit was interesting to overhear, but I think he was just telling it like it was from his standpoint and didn't mean anything malicious.

A package in the mail with goodies

When I got home [on Monday], I saw there was a box - I knew it a box of cards for me, all for free. I really haven't been a beneficiary of all sorts of goodies [random or not] through the world of baseball card blogging, but I was able to happen to stumble upon a blog giving away free cards.

I counted out 171 assorted cards - besides two cards [1998 Score Jim Leyritz and a 2005 Topps Update Home Run Derby subset card of Troy Glaus], all were 2000 Topps. It was kind of odd because I thought I'd be getting a box of strictly Angels' cards.

A number of them were cards of all-stars, superstars and stars of the past 10 seasons, though what I paid attention the most was any cards I could funnel into my collecting topics collection - I was able to find a handful of cards fitting various topics, so getting different cards [these were free] sort of paid off. Short of being a junkie, I like going through as many assorted cards as possible as long as they aren't 1988 Donruss or 1989 Topps.

After going through the 'other cards,' the 'second part' of the box featured 115 assorted Angels cards - including a bunch of the cards of the team's star players over the last 15 years like Vladimir Guerrero, Tim Salmon, Chuck Finley, Chili Davis, Brian Downing, Jarrod Washburn, Adam Kennedy, Gary DiSarcina, Darin Erstad, Garret Anderson, et al.

I spent much of Monday night sorting 286 total cards - in the end, I didn't know what I was doing, but I'm silly like that. The least I could is play with the cards. I cut a Garret Anderson up to crudely mimic what I saw done to make a card appear '3D' at the blog Things Done to Cards.

My least favorite card was 1989 Topps Mike Witt with an imprint of a gum stick - reminding me my bad old days of collecting an overproduced, crappy Topps brand featuring wafer-like stick of gum that took the strongest of teeth to break down and chew.

There was also a note about the box - it was apparently used to ship a vintage card of Roy Campanella purchased 16 years ago. I know a box doesn't have anything to do with the contents inside, but it is still interesting to read the note.

Featured Card - Tim Salmon/Mark Langston

I picked this 'oddball' card up for a nickel in a '20 for $1' commons bin. It features two California Angels' stars of the early 1990s, Tim Salmon and Mark Langston.

I remember Salmon being a favorite because I found his 1991 Bowman rookie card when it was a quarter back in 1991/1992 and I think I 'traded' for it, just because he was an Angels' player [though relatively unknown and still in the minor leagues].

Some time later, Salmon was annointed the Angels' top prospect and had an American League Rookie of the Year winning year in 1993. I most certainly believe I officially jumped on the bandwagon and became a 'frontrunner' as someone had said to me.

Salmon became the face of the franchise, providing the up and [mostly] down Angels' teams with a powerful middle of the lineup presence through the rest of the 1990s.

Salmon, who was a very good player during his 14-year career in the Major Leagues was very productive, but at times not healthy. It seemed like the last several years of his career, his bat hand slowed down as well as his range in the outfield.

While he never made the all-star team, considering everything he's done, the pinnacle of his career was winning the 2002 World Series, when he helped lead the Anaheim Angels defeat the San Francisco Giants. He hit .346 with nine hits in 26 at-bats, including two home runs and five RBIs. His on-base percentage was .452 and his slugging percentage was .615.

He fell short of hitting 300 home runs for his career and I think Angels' fans were kind of disappointed he didn't get the milestone home run to close out his playing career. He is a franchise legend, though probably falls just a notch below being a player considered to be a borderline Hall of Fame candidate.