New Hall of Famers for 2026

I have a loose card project for Hall of Famers and each year as a chance to add new cards to the mix - where I end up picking one random card per player / subject to induct into my collection.

With Jeff Kent being elected through a committee at the end of 2025, maybe it was a validation for a player who may not have been a well loved guy - but the slugging numbers as a second baseman couldn't be denied.

Kent has had a bunch of cards from the tail end of the junk wax era onward - I grabbed his 1999 Topps #330 as the card to add to my Hall of Fame collection, but the 1997 Bowman #65 sort of ends up a color match with the black borders.

Maybe Carlos Beltran was on shaky ground for a little bit as he got exposed as the supposed ringleader in the Houston Astros cheating scandal - but despite any sort of resistance from the peanut gallery now, his playing career has him a Hall of Fame legend.

Maybe I had the 1999 Upper Deck SP Top Prospects #15 in-hand as the card for my HOF project - but the 2006 Bazooka Blue Fortune #150 parallel kind of pops [even for a more basic, non-glossy, non-foil card] and has a one-time teammate [and Hall of Famer] Jeff Bagwell as a star-on-star bonus.

I did not think Andruw Jones would ever get enough support to be a Hall of Famer, where I was still looking at how his career fell off after leaving the Atlanta Braves - in my mind, he was destined to languish in the hall of very good at best

Maybe I still feel like he could have finished the last portion of his career better - but the momentum really built up where the numbers guys really did their work to shift the narrative, where Jones may have been one of the best all-around centerfielders of all time, rather just another guy who played the position and has some good years.

Maybe the Jones card on the left ends up my pick to click as far as being added to my HOF collection - though I wanted to show off a Japanese era card I dug up from a card shop bulk bin while I was in Japan last November, where he was someone I recognized as a foreign player and a one-time MLB star.

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.

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.

TTM autograph received: Larry Waker

The Hall of Fame slugger signed my card in about a couple of months - while he does various formal signings for a memorabilia company like Tristar or a trading card company like Topps, he responds to TTM requests where personalizes ['To Your Name'] and inscribes ['Best Wishes'] items sent to him like the card I sent.

TTM autograph received: Goose Gossage

The longtime MLB relief ace from the 1970s through the 1990s signed my card in about a week - whether it's on baseball or anything else, Gossage's views seem disagreeable most of the time where there might be a rant that comes out every couple of years or so the [New York] media might pick up on.

Even after all these years however, I have to give him credit - where he has always been an accomodating signer either responding TTM or in-person where he has dutifully signed autographs and taken pictures.

On the mound, Gossage had a distinguished career, where in his prime, he was a multiple innings fireman out of the bullpen - compared to the modern one-inning closers, who get maligned at times for dictating their usage rather than being on call as needed.

A card show trip recap - feat. Tim Raines

Went to a card show and it was sort of a blur with all the foot traffic and commerce going on - I nearly had an anxiety attack because the room was packed and it was getting stuffy, especially spending too much time at one table trying to conjure up the right combination of cheap-o cards making up the bulk my '3 for $1' and '6 for $1' finds.

I stumbled upon one last table with some boxes of various odds and ends [autos / relics / otherwise 'hit' cards] - maybe a couple of other collectors were going through the other [non-baseball] boxes and giving the seller cards they had flagged.

The seller was literally pricing cards out and telling them to come back in an hour [to presumably finish their purchase] - maybe I'd stop at a table, grab the cards I wanted and see about paying for them right there and then.

Though it may be standard operating procedure, I find the concept of stacking cards for later somewhat odd - maybe I need to actually get to know the seller first before having a relationship where I can pull cards to reserve them.

The seller was looking on dealing for a handful of cards from this one guy [$500-$600 range] and I don't even know if I would be interested in anything - I found a Tim Raines certified autograph for $20 sticker and while Raines isn't quite that popular Hall of Fame legend, it maybe a no brainer picking up a HOF auto on a acetate card printed to be a little more unique.

Besides finishing his big deal, the seller was looking briefly at other cards that some flippers were showing him - he also finished up another deal where he was looked up a card on eBay and charged another collector $3 for a random card pulled from one of the boxes.

When I finally showed the Raines to the seller, he might have looked at for a moment and asked $15 for it - I relented to dig out the required cash out of my wallet and pay up, being able to take this card home for less than a blaster.

1953 Topps Minnie Minoso #66 find

At a show I went to, I ended up leafing through this seller's bargain bin boxes sitting off to the side - I've seen the person wandering around at other shows and while he seems to do a lot of wheeling and dealing, he seems to be more of a private collector where he might not have a physical shop. 

Maybe his off-condition vintage boxes piqued my interest, despite the idea I didn't know if I was willing to spend anything - I spotted this card of Minoso for $5 and while the condition isn't great, it's a 60-year old card of a 'new' Hall of Famer. 

I might have had other things in my mind however, but as I ended up going through a $3 or '2 for $5' box at another table - I gave up where I couldn't pair up a couple of cards together.

I took a breather outside and thought I should circle back to the table with the playing era Minoso - where it might be a no brainer keeper compared a different combination of cheap-o cards.

I let things be where I might have lingered other tables while seeing another person going through the boxes - when I finally got to coming back around, was able to find the Minoso card again. 

However, the seller was in middle of a big time deal / trade where he might have been getting back a few cards and the other person was getting back a whole box collection of assorted slabs and other various cards - here I am waiting my turn to show the seller the card I wanted and once he was done, I was finally able to get his attention for a moment to make my purchase.

Featured autograph - Minnie Minoso

I don't think Minoso registered for me other than a MLB fan favorite who had the feat of appearing in five different decades - I picked up this 8x10 photo from the 2006 National for about $20 [or less] just because it represented a little bit of diversity out of the autograph photo choices from a dealer's table.

With his election to the Hall of Fame along with other greats like Jim Kaat and Tony Oliva - it might be time to give them a second look.

Hunting for various binder material Pt. 2

These were from a card show, where it's more of testament to the types odds and ends cards I can find off a seller that has become a show lifeline - even if it strictly more a transaction at the end of my rummage, maybe it's just nice to go through all these cards with the idea I can take a number of them home.

Stuff maybe perpetually be picked over but I'm bound to find something or a run of things - because there is just too many cards.

A trio of guys who made their debut in the 1980s, these guys are rubber stamped as decade stars in my book - though Tony Gwynn is probably a personal favorite here, while Craig Biggio and Mark Grace are a little more 'meh' in my eyes.

The 1985 Topps Gwynn is the Tiffany version, though it has a crease that maybe more obvious in-hand, on the back of the card - I don't expect these loose cards to be 'gem mint,' but if at all possible, I hope to avoid picking up anything with blemishes like creases, centering and soft corners.

The 1992 Donruss Studio Gwynn is a preview card, so that's a little more unique - over his base card from the actual set.

While probably 'junk wax' just the same, the rookie year Biggios seemed like nice 'oddball' finds - while the only cards I have of Grace are his assorted big league issues, so a minor league issue adds a little 'pre rookie' card to the mix.

An assortment of cards featuring guys who made their debuts in the 1990s - I've never had the Pacific Net Fusion inserts in-hand [featuring Jeff Bagwell], but I'm disappointment knowing that the material was not likely from an actual foul pole netting from a stadium [if that was possible in the first place], but from a simulated material.

On the downlow, any Adrian Beltre issues are now keepers in my eyes [except cards from his Seattle years] - especially if it's more of a parallel and/or insert that kind of pops.

Edmonds is a 'top guy' for me, more as an Angel - but I do realize he had his peak years after leaving the team for St. Louis.

Aramis Ramirez and Moises Alou aren't necessarily 'my guys' by any stretch of the imagination, but their random relic cards - maybe added as binder material to whatever cards I have for each player.

Garret Anderson is rubber stamped as one of the top guys as far as Angels go - it's nice to find a serial numbered card of his to make as a keeper.

I don't heavily collect Trevor Hoffman, but he is a Hall of Fame closer, so I'll show some love - I think the card I picked up is serial #'d on the back, though it's only worth what I paid.

I don't heavily collect Bernie Williams either, but he was a great player for the New York Yankees, so I'll show some love - with a minor league card that's more of an oddball, even though it was released a couple of years after his big league cards came out already.

Finally, some rookie cards of guys I might not be too high on to collect outright - but if they are there for the taking, might as well be keepers.

Hunting for various binder material Pt. 1

More from a card show, where I ended up grabbing a bunch of cards and maybe there was some buyer's remorse just as far as quantity goes - while no one card is worth much, these cards were probably what I built my finds upon and I may have had a time figuring out how to make it where I took what I wanted.

Whether or not Derek Jeter was someone I seriously could collect over the past 25 years, he was a national superstar to gravitate to - it's fun to go back and grab assorted cards dating back to 20 years and older, notably when the newly minted Hall of Famer was still a top prospect through his early big league years.

I think about this 'Torren Up Cards post every time I find a Ken Griffey Jr. card - but despite how self-conscious I may get about aging where my heroes creep closer to 60 than to 20, it's still about trying to objectify these larger than life players, trying to squirrel away a run of Griffey Jr. cards for ownership sake.

It's awkward coveting Barry Bonds cards in 2021, but despite the media making him the face of The Steroids Era where he is more of a pariah than celebrated legend - during his late career peak, he lived rent free inside my head where all the controversy was must see TV somewhere.

The bulk of George Brett's career was played before I was even aware of what baseball was but he played through the junk wax era and his last active playing cards were made through the early UV era - there might be this random thing in my book, where there is a little faux nostalgia in elevating him above some of his peers.

After the fact, it's probably due to the Pine Tar incident and the story about having the runs in Las Vegas due to bad crab legs - but Brett still comes off smelling like a rose because he was a hard nosed, prime time player who helped elevate his Kansas City Royals teams to contention from the mid 1970s through the mid 1980s.

TTM autographs received: Juan Marichal and Juan Guzman

Marichal signed my two cards in blue Sharpie - I worried I’d have to wait for this one, especially when I enclosed $20, but it only took about a couple of weeks for a successful response.

I’ve had successes trickle in from requests I’ve made in January and maybe TTM is a thing again - maybe getting a Marichal motivates me to try my luck with some of the guys that require a small fee to sign cards [without going through an 'official' middle-man of sorts].

Guzman signed my cards [1997 Fleer pictured] in about two weeks - he had a good debut run back in 1991 and I remember his rookies released the following season meant something for a little bit as he looked like a star in the making.

While his final career tally doesn't look so bad, the former Toronto Blue Jays star never was able to replicate his early successes - due to a number of reasons, the middle of his career was up-and-down as he turned into 'just a guy.'

2020 Hall of Famers - Larry Walker and Derek Jeter

While never linked to any chicanery, I tend to think of Walker as a product of the era he played in through the mid 1990s and a Coors Field star - Walker also never struck me as a relatively healthy player, appearing in 145 or more games only once in his big league career [though after the fact, him playing in so many games a year maybe a little arbitrary, when he had legendary seasons regardless].

I thought those warts would prevent him from getting inducted in his last year on the ballot, but the most important thing to remember is when the modern analytics groupthink gets churning, it usually goes one way - there maybe something about a guy's numbers not getting any better once he retires, but I was resigned to seeing Walker get that one final push with the new age focus on viewing a player's career achievements.

Having a more nuanced, refined way to look at the advanced stats available is the norm vs. merely looking at the counting numbers, milestones and narratives - I tend to feel like the 'experts' can slice and dice a player's career to sell the public a bill of goods, but it's always for the guys they want inducted, the guys that fit their personal narratives.

Regardless of my personal opinions about certain 'borderline' guys, once a player like Walker is announced as a Hall of Fame inductee - it is a moment where his career is validated and maybe it's time to get clued-in on the things he was able to accomplish.

There might be a manhunt for the lone voter who prevented Jeter from being unanimous - it says more that only one person didn't find it in their mind to vote for Jeter than the idea it is some kind of injustice that 'Jeets' didn't end up following in former Core Four teammate Mariano Rivera's footsteps.

Maybe the fascinating thing about Jeter was how he was a No. 1 pick and a future star as soon as he turned pro - but while there were growing pains in the minors [with his defense in particular], the narrative was about how he always kept himself in check and mapped out his own blueprint to be the player he would become.

I found grumblings about his defense a little weird, but maybe it was a thing that emerged from early career scouting reports - but mushroomed to ridiculousness as people who didn't particularly like the attention showered on Jeter took him to task for his shortcomings.

1976 Topps Dennis Eckersley RC #98

With the help of $10 and change in eBay Bucks, maybe picking up this graded [PSA-5] old-school rookie card was more palatable than going modern - I wanted a 2019 Topps Update Gold Keston Hiura #150, but the chance of getting one before spring training starts might be over.

I ended up settling for Eckersley since it was on my watch list, which may help guide me towards alternatives to think about - though a card added to ‘my list’ might not be available anymore or perhaps ‘my list’ may not reflect what I might want at the moment.

Eckersley wasn’t exactly ‘one of my guys’ or someone I seriously considered a ‘national star’ but I was vaguely familiar with Eck’s narrative - as a guy who battled substance abuse problems and was a floundering veteran starting pitcher before coming under Tony La Russa and Dave Duncan’s tutelage in Oakland during the mid 1980s.

While Eckersley was a goat a few times in postseason play [1988 World Series and 1992 American League Championship Series] - he was one of the GOATS for the run he had as a dominant, one-inning closer through the early 1990s and maybe Eckersley getting to the Hall of Fame made me take a second look at how he turned things around.

Long affiliated with the Boston Red Sox as their TV broadcasts color guy, Eckersley has had run-ins with Jackie Bradley Jr. and David Price because he doesn’t have a filter at times - I didn’t know Eckersley has a brother in prison and also an adopted daughter who is otherwise homeless.

Featured autograph - Marvin Miller and Ted Simmons

I was digging around to look for a Simmons autograph card I thought I'd gotten and found a Miller autograph card rummaging through a random binder - I got this card signed through the mail 10-15 years ago, though the card came back creased in the middle and it looks like my card was signed in ballpoint.

I looked through all my assorted binders and I don’t even know what I’m looking for, so maybe I didn’t get Simmons after all - though I remember it may have been a 1984 Topps AS subset I got signed.

I thought I'd gotten at least one during the 2007 spring training time frame when he was a coach with the Milwaukee Brewers - as far as I was concerned, the newly minted Hall of Fame catcher was just another retired player to get an autograph from.

I thought the autograph card wasn’t in the A-Z box I tried to create as an archive for autographs - because I'd looked through a pile of loose cards with the last name 'S' and Simmons wasn't there.

What I didn't realize was there was another grouping of 'S' cards that was actually in the box - I did some digging and I finally found my Simmons card sandwiched around other common autographs from 10-15 years ago.

From the bits and pieces I've heard, Simmons generally isn’t good about signing [he’s done paid signings, but it seems like he just doesn’t like to do it] - maybe I'd seen him a few times as a 'scout' in the Arizona Fall League, where you knew not to ask.

He'd give you a quiet "no thank you” like Eddie Murray [from my personal experiences] - where the person wouldn't make a big scene but basically refuse to pick up a Sharpie for you when approached.

Featured autograph - Satchel Paige

I wanted an autograph of Paige for my personal collection because it's pretty neat to own an autograph of a larger than life personality from the history of professional baseball - I picked up this yellow HOF postcard signed by Paige and while they don't exactly 'pop,' there was some familiarity with the postcards once being mainstream items to get signed longtime HOF autograph collectors.

There was a 15% promo [POPUPSAVINGS] on eBay and I decided to pool together some Christmas money and some funds out of my pocket - to grab this one up in December, in case something came up past the new year that complicated things [knock on wood].

When more borderline HOF guys get their call

As a baseball fan, I'd probably be more of a big hall kind of guy - but I thought it was a joke when I found out through scrolling through a social media post that apparently Smith and Baines were elected to the Hall of Fame through the 2019 Today's Game Era Ballot.

Baines' election to the Hall of Fame will probably cause just about every numbers oriented analysts' heads to explode - I won't begrudge or bemoan his induction to the Hall since there are too many writers messing around with someone's actual accomplishments in the guise of being objective.

Personally, I consider Baines in the middle of the pack as far as a Hall of Very Good guy, but in a roundabout way - Baines probably got some extra consideration for the 134 hits he didn't get towards that 3,000th hit club he missed out on.

The last card I touched featuring Baines was his 1991 Upper Deck [#562] - it went in my awesome action collection as a game face card; I like the image of him on the on-deck circle, about to swing while doing his high leg kick.

As far as Smith, though he once held the all-time saves record, I've always thought of him as mostly a junk wax era journeyman reliever - however, with Trevor Hoffman getting into the Hall of Fame recently and with Mariano Rivera on the way, someone had to fit Smith in-between the two in order to have a little run of modern era closers.

Maybe an obvious non-Rivera candidate in the next several years will likely be Billy Wagner - depending on who is on the ballot.

My favorite Smith card was his 1996 Upper Deck card [#266] because while it obviously shows him with the Angels - it was also a seemingly more elaborate image setup compared to a typical baseball card picture.

Featured autograph - Vladimir Guerrero

At the end of July, I wanted to see if there were any Topps Now cards I was interested in and saw that Guerrero had autographs listed on the Topps Web site - not that I’ve been tempted before, but by the time I usually see see anything autographed offered, the listings are marked out of stock or the prices are a bit too extravagant to begin with.

I had to put an order for a copy of this card, because it was still available and it pictured a universally loved [if not universally collected] player - who was the centerpiece player for the Angels for much of the 2000s.

The card arrived in about three weeks, inside a BCW magnetic with Topps seal - I’ll probably leave the card in the holder as is, as opposed to breaking the seal and trying to move the card into a newer magnetic.

I want to say I was worried about the autograph quality but the autograph looks fairly clean on the card - up close, there maybe points where the stroke was light, but that is how it is with the Lumocolor pens I assume Topps used.

1982 Topps Traded Cal Ripken Jr. 98T

I picked up a copy of this card because Ripken Jr. was a star who was on the verge of an iconic milestone when I was really getting into baseball fandom through the mid 1990s - this is probably his best mainstream rookie-year card and maybe the adolescent in me would be really impressed to have this in my personal collection.

When I started really collecting as a kid, I remember 'finding' Ripken Jr.'s 1982 Donruss RC during a visit at an acquaintance's house - afterwards, I had to tag along with my parents to look for carpeting in what would be the family home.

I was bored and I took some tape off a dispenser I was playing and stuck it on a part of the card - I peeled the tape off and just like that I'd damaged a card worth a whopping [at least to me] $8 at the time; maybe it was simply karma for a little youthful indiscretion on my end.

In the early 1990s, I was just starting to get into baseball fandom as Nolan Ryan was knocking down achievements [5,000th strikeout, 300th win, 6th no-hitter] as an elder statesman of MLB - I never got Ryan's autograph when I first started to get autographs in-person, but I was able to meet Ripken Jr. a few times when the year after he broke Lou Gehrig's record for consecutive games played.

2001 Upper Deck Albert Pujols #295

I don't think I actually saw many Pujols rookie cards in his rookie year, so after all these years, I guess I'd like to add at least a couple to my PC - the 2001 Upper Deck and 2001 Bowman [#264] were the most 'widely' available rookie cards from Pujols' rookie year even though all his cards were in demand all season long.

While Pujols rookie card and rookie year issues were pumped out in mid through late season products, but I never had a chance to own but maybe two or three - including a factory set rookie year card from the 2001 Fleer Tradition, maybe an ugly Team Leaders subset card [#435] from 2001 Fleer Platinum RC Edition, a 2001 Topps Traded Pujols / Ichiro subset card [T99] and a 2001 Topps rookie card I bought at a card shop for a quarter maybe in 2002.

I remember finding the Topps Pujols in the particular card shop, when the quarter boxes were color coded with tabs - because the store owner was selling certain rows of cards on consignment.

The Topps rookie had a soft corner and I'd foolishly sent it to Pujols as a TTM autograph request - of course after 17 years, it never came back, even as a failure.

In recent years, the 38-year old Pujols hasn't been as relevant and still has at least 3 years left to go to play out his Angels contract [on the field] - however, Pujols' baseball accomplishments [short of a PED scandal] can't be taken away by what he has done away from St. Louis.

Featured autograph - Rickey Henderson

The number of Henderson certified autograph cards are fairly plentiful since he seems to sign regularly for pay - he's not the easiest in-person autograph get however and I wanted at least a pack pulled autograph to pair up with a rookie card I purchased some time ago.

This card might not be one of the real fancy ones, but it's a pretty nice card - this card has a dual bat / jersey with a blue ink sticker autograph, which can turn off other collectors, but it's fine to me for this particular card.

Obviously there are no logos on this card [Henderson is identified with Oakland] - which is fitting because he ended up playing for nine MLB teams.

The best leadoff hitter in the history of the game - there is still a fascination with the player and the personality.