My all-time Top 100 cheap azz keepers collection - 45-37

45. 1989 Upper Deck Nolan Ryan #774 - from Upper Deck's inaugural set, I wanted the Houston Astros 3D Ryan from the Low Number Series and the Texas Rangers football Ryan from the High Number Series paired together in my Top 100.

I bought back the football Ryan specifically for a Top 100 collection and also had a copy of the 3D Ryan - however since the 3D Ryan was in my decade stars / binder, I didn't want to pull the card and move things around.

Go figure I started a dig through some older bubble mailers and did not realize I had both a copy of the football Ryan and a copy of the 3D Ryan - set aside as 'unique cards' long before I started my Top 100 collection.

I already had a pair of Ryans teased towards the back end of my Top 100 so maybe the number of cards for one player in my Top 100 gets redundant- I'll probably save the 3D Ryan for another all-time Top 100 cheap azz keepers collection.

44. 1991 Donruss Studio Jeff Kunkel #126 - I'm a gum card afficionado though I realize at least one other collector does it better about rounding up cards with notable bubble gum imagery.

I remember trying to play in a winter league version of Little League in junior high - it might have been a practice where someone left a bubble in the dugout somewhere.

One of the assistant coaches took a good look at it and said "dang, that looks like an old man's sack."

43. 2021 Topps On Demand Yogi Berra #CC-4 - as part of on-flight programming available during a trip overseas in late January, I watched It Aint Over, a 2022 documentary devoted to Berra's life and playing career.

I gave myself a pat on the back where I already had a couple of his cards slotted as Top 100 material - Berra was an unconventionally unique individual who was a great catcher [3 MVPs] and a larger than life personality based on his Yogi-isms.

43. 2021 Topps On Demand Josh Gibson #CC-4 - go figure during a trip overseas in late January, I was able to watch another baseball related docuomentary, The League, devoted to early black players in pro baseball, the formation of the Negro Leagues and players like Gibson, who never got a chance to play in Major League Baseball.

Besides a celebration of the style of play and a look back at the ugly things like segregation - there was a business aspect as far as running the league and individual teams.

There were would be player movements as owners wanted to the best players - where the owners would resort to trying to poach the biggest stars from one team to theirs.

42. 1994 Score Bob Welch #547 - the cameo of presumably Welch's son batting against his dad makes this late career era card of a pitcher [R.I.P.] outright fun.

41. 2021 Topps Allen and Ginter Chrome Alyssa Nakken #285 - I saw a Topps Now Nakken in another collection [Twitter / X] like the one I've built and was inspired to add a card of a woman trying to put her work in MLB, coaching in a professional sport dominated by males.

40. 2021 Topps Allen and Ginter Kim Ng #226 - I also felt inspired to squeeze in a card of the first woman general manager in the big leagues, may she get another opportunity.

Maybe I wanted to get diversity into my Top 100 collection - by adding cards featuring women, player of color and at least a couple of foreign born subjects.

39. 1975 Topps Herb Washington #407 - I found a pair of these Washington cards for a dollar each, where I made one copy part of my Top 100.

38. 1965 Topps Masanori Murakami #282 - I was happy to find the rookie card of the first big league player from Japan for $2.00.

37. 1995-96 Pinnacle Olaf Kolzig #134 - one of the really oddball standouts of my Top 100, taking a closer look at the hot dog in Kolzig's hand, he has his name written in mustard.

Redemption fulfilled - Woodrow Wilson certified cut autograph card

I was dreaming about something as I slept on the couch - I heard the faint ringing of a doorbell and knock on the door. I ran as fast as I could to the door, so I could sign for the package.

All I cared about was securing what I assumed - was my redemption from Upper Deck in my hands.

It looks like a bubble mailer was mailed from Upper Deck's offices in Carlsbad - I had thought everything they did was in Nevada.

I was hoping to get someone infamous [maybe Richard Nixon] or someone iconic [maybe John F. Kennedy] - I'm not sure if Woodrow Wilson, the 28th United States President can be squarely pidegonholed into either category, but his cut autograph card [serial #'d 05/22]was the one that popped out of the bubble mailer, housed in nothing but a thick-card top loader.

What stuck out in getting this particular certified cut autograph card is during a time when the United States has taken one step forward in having its first African-American President in Barack Obama - Wilson was probably the symbol of 'institutionalized racism' in the United States during the first part of the 20th century. Even today as the United States is more a melting pot, it gets to be a volatile one due to racial issues. Wilson's views and actions may not be at all flattering or qualities to admire his life for, but something part of his legacy as a United States President.

I'll be busting 2009 Topps and 2009 Upper Deck soon enough - nice to see Upper Deck on the ball and sate my collecting impulses by fulfilling my redemption in a short time.

I initially thought I'd be getting a more common cut from this list of baseball players - but then my mouth started watering when I saw this and this. It was a mystery redemption, where all I knew was I was going to receive a certified cut autograph card of a former United States President.

I don't know if the redemption ended up as a 'holy crap' pull that is a collection centerpiece [anyone have a 2009 Topps Vladimir Guerrero super patch card]? - but there is definitely a lot of history behind the cut autograph and hopefully it will be in my personal collection for a long time.