The 30-Day Baseball Card Challenge - Day 2

"A card with more than one player on it."

2001 Upper Deck Hall of Famers Mickey Mantle #90 - The Hall of Records subset.

I picked this card up because I like the idea of this trio of baseball icons on one card - Mantle actually looks kind of odd [if still dapper in 'street clothes'] out of a baseball uniform, but he's sandwiched between Willie Mays and Hank Aaron, likely doing some sort of pregame interview with the NBC microphone in-hand.

Who was the greatest player out of the three [?] - Mantle and Mays were neck-and-neck as far as being a 5-tool player with God-given ability, but maybe Mantle didn't take care of himself and his injuries ultimately allowed Mays to be the bigger standout with 660 home runs.

It has to be said however, that besides strictly the counting numbers - Mantle represented much more to all the baby boomer generation because he was the face of the New York Yankees from the early 1950s through the 1960s.

Hank Aaron seems to have flown under the radar at times - but he hit 756 home runs and seemed to produce monster numbers year after year.

2016 Topps Update Series #US159

I found this Edwin Encarnacion all-star subset card and I had to pick it up for my star on star cameo collection - the card is pretty transparent, featuring an image from the 2016 MLB All-Star game where Robinson Cano of the Seattle Mariners and Jose Altuve of the Houston Astros show up.

However, I feel a little conflicted about the card now since it looks like the Angels guy pictured - is grabbing or adjusting something on the fly as he's about to give the one-time Toronto Blue Jay a high five.

Hunting for some star on star cameos

1987 Classic Bret Saberhagen #116 - a quick glance at this card shows Cal Ripken Jr. playing behind the one-time Kansas City Royals' ace of the 1980s and I figure the image used was from the 1987 All-Star game in Oakland.

I was going to put this card in my 'bonus babies,' though Saberhagen was a star in his own right - so this is an add to my star on star cameos collection.

1994 Donruss Will Clark #33 - looks like 'Will the Thrill' scurries past second base with Hall of Famer Ryne Sandberg right by the bag.

1994 Donruss Ozzie Smith #35 - I like this card because it features two eventual Hall of Famers, though in the early 1990s, I probably thought of Biggio as just another player who was moved from catcher to second base to prolong his athleticism and longevity.

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.