How much this a 'very good' condition mid-career card of Hall of Fame legend worth these days - probably not much more or maybe less than the $2 I paid, but I don't think I've got a lot of cards from 30 years back to flip through and show off.
It may not be the best looking card [with an airbrushed New York Yankees cap on Mr. October's head] - there was something compelling me to pick up this first New York Yankees card of the prodigious slugger, not from my youth.
I think I feel a little buyer's remorse because I bought the card for a dollar but I had to pay another $2.50 for shipping / handling - late in 2010, I wasn't able to trade for a Bowman Chrome retail Green refractor and wanted some kind of refractor of the Los Angeles Dodgers' farmhand.
I just had to have the Platinum retail Purple refractor when I first saw it - even though I had the base version already.
From looking at Sands' minor league stats - he maybe the type of player who emerges from relative obscurity to contribute at the Major League level as a rookie star or be the next Billy Ashley FWIW.
Jimmy Key c/o home address - signed one card in blue Sharpie and returned the other card I enclosed in my request unsigned.
I sent my autograph request to Key late in December 2010 and got it back earlier this week - looking at his stats, he had a long Major League career, though my perception was he was strictly a finesse guy who relied more on guile instead of pure stuff coming out of his left hand.
Bill Swift c/o home address - signed several cards in a 'weird' colored Sharpie and kept three for himself.
Swift had a serviceable Major League career, though he wasn't the most durable pitcher - he enjoyed his best season in 1993 when he won 21 games and pitched in a career high 232 innings, teaming up win 22 game winner John Burkett to give the Giants a one-two punch at the top of their rotation.
I sent my autograph request to Swift late in December 2010 and got it back earlier this week - the card I needed signed for my set was from a 2004 Upper Deck USA 25th Anniversary boxed set.
I wish I could show you an actual certified autograph card of recent Hall of Fame inductee Roberto Alomar, particularly a card I picked up back in 2007 - but Upper Deck went with using cheap, synthetic ball material with their Sweet Spot products and all I'm left with in 2011 is what you see pictured.
I kind of like the Bert Blyleven card I got signed in-person since it features him early on in his Major League career and towards his last three seasons - as an Angels' player.
I picked up a hand-collated set [around $25 shipped] of 2010 Bowman Draft and while there are Mike Stanton, Stephen Strasburg, Jason Heyward and Buster Posey cards in the set - Topps has already rolled the presses on releasing various basic, non-autograph MLBPA rookie cards of these guys and the basic cards from the set are only worth a couple of bucks each.
Maybe the most redeeming if not exactly noteworthy feature to the set - is Topps decided to include non-auto base cards of the guys who do have Bowman Draft Chrome autographs in the set, like Manny Machado of the Baltimore Orioles, Zach Lee of the Los Angeles Dodgers or Zack Cox of the St. Louis Cardinals.
For an in-person or through the mail autograph collector, Topps almost gets a thumbs up - except for the foil stamped facsimile signatures [not like Peter Tago's card, which doesn't have the facsimile signature] on the cards .
A signed 2010 Bowman Draft card with a foil stamped fascimile signature is probably not going to look as good autographed in-person / through the mail - particularly when the facsimile is stamped across the card. 
I realize Bowman Draft is a prospector's product where gripes about aesthetics aren't always valued as long as there is a good crop of signed Bowman Draft Chrome cards and corresponding parallels - however some of the Photoshop work is off in trying to show the draft picks wearing Major League uniforms, particularly the doctored 'in-action' shots of particular players in high school or college.
Like other casual collectors getting into collecting baseball cards for the first time, there was a misconception anything old was going to be valuable - but really anything old [say 1973 and before] is just old unless it was almost in pack-fresh condition [no using the cards in-between bike spokes] and these days, professionally graded.
Still, I picked this card up of Albie Pearson for $2 shipped because with the Angels' 50th Anniversary this upcoming year - there will be probably be an opportunity to see him in-person and get his autograph.
While an old friend had gotten him through the mail years ago - I believe he refuses mail sent to him these days.
The card is worn down, beaten up but has survived for at least 50 years - for rank-and-file vintage cards, there is some collecting value as a relic from decades past, even if it doesn't always picture a Hall of Famer like a Mickey Mantle, Willie Mays, Hank Aaron or Ted Williams.
I don't know how I've evolved as a collector over the last 10 years, but there is just something about collecting that makes me want to go on - to buy more stuff to sort through because I like baseball cards in general.
The reality is I don't always have the money to spend on any sorts of cards on a whim - however as a collector, it doesn't mean I should completely refrain from regularly feeding my hunger of cardboard with various baseball players pictured on them.
To get newer cards in my collection, trading maybe the most important collecting aspect I want to engage in this year - even if I have a long ways to go before getting a competent trade list going and perhaps getting in touch with other willing traders.
I just have to pick my spots and look for about 10-15 blog trades - trading for the cards I may need.
My goal in 2011 for the blog is to have at have double digit posts per month on this blog - everything seems to have been blogged about and sometimes I feel I'm lagging behind other bloggers who have simply been more prominent.
However, it doesn't mean I should go idle for a period of time and just spit out two, three or four random posts a month - why not go for 10, 15, 20 random posts to see if I can generate some reaction and also get some response from other collectors.
I may have been the last person on Topps Million to find I actually had trade offers for cards I have in my collection - I ended up trading the 1956 Topps Glen Gorbous I had for a 1958 Topps Don Cardwell and a 1961 Ted Lepcio.
I don't know the logic I used in accepting the trade offer - while Gorbous was the oldest card I have at Topps Million, all three cards involved in the virutal trade were not worth much at all, so why not trade a single 1950s era card for two cards [one card still from the 50s and one card from the 60s].
The Topps Million Card Giveaway promotion ends in about a month or so - I wish I had a Stephen Strasburg or Mickey Mantle Topps card I could attempt to get in-hand, but oh well.
If I did want to get the cards I have in my collection in-hand however - what is the difference getting the cards from eBay instead of Topps?
If I actually wanted my Cardwell and/or Lepcio in-hand, I might as well snatch them up on eBay - it isn't like I'm going to be getting better condition cards through the Topps Million promotion.
I pulled two Million Card Giveaway code cards from my last Topps blaster box break from the previous post and was going to hold off since the cards are fun to redeem if you are looking for a couple of minutes of boredom to kill - I did get the itch to put the codes into the system sooner than I thought, even though it looks like it was spitting out crap cards [well at least crap cards from the last 20-25 years instead of cards from the last 35 years or so].
My first card was a 1986 Topps Gary Carter - he is the only Hall of Famer I have in my collection at Million Card Web site, though the card is still an 1986 Topps card and I picked up a few 1986 Topps star cards [Ryne Sandberg, George Brett, Mike Schmidt] a show for a dime each several months ago.
My second card was a 2002 Topps Rico Brogna - I thought I was actually looking for a Brogna card, though it is a 2001 Fleer Tradition card that may not actually exist, so scratch that notion.
For Christmas, my brother actually bought me some baseball cards - a blaster box of Topps Series II [with two Throwback packs] and a retail version of the 2010 Topps USA box set [the $9.99 retail versions contain just the base USA set with no hits compared to the 'hobby' version with about 10 various game-used / autographs hits per box and around a $120 SRP].
Commemorative Patch Card
MCP 54 Rod Carew - 1967 All-Star Game commemorative patch; the manufactured patch card commemorates the last time the Angels hosted an All-Star game before this past season, so it is a nice pull [even though former Angels' star Rod Carew was still a Minnesota Twins' player at the time of that particular All-Star game].
The rest of my packs were a usual mix of inserts and base cards - I did get another Rod Carew insert, a The Cards Your Mom Threw Out insert original back of his second-year 1968 Topps card.
I was surprised to see this box of USA set, though it is marked $9.99, so it must have been made to be purchased at Target / Walmart type stores - kind of disappointing there was not one token hit inside, but I guess that is how it goes. Actually, I got an extra base card of George Springer [#USA-41] in the set, so maybe that is my 'token hit.'
The best card in the base set maybe Anthony Rendon - he spent only three days with the U.S. National team in 2010, before injuring his ankle.
After putting it off for so long because I thought the task might be daunting - I recently only started to 'dig through' my box of 2001 Fleer Tradition autograph setters and list the cards in a database.
After picking up a complete factory set in 2001, I decided to get as many of the cards autographed either in-person or through the mail - I think Angels free agent pick up Scott Downs' autograph was acquired in-person, likely at an Angels / Toronto Blue Jays game in Anaheim.
I basically want to have an idea of the cards I've gotten signed so perhaps I have an idea of the challenge still there to get as many of the cards from the set signed - what color ink / type of pen, how the cards were signed [in-person / through the mail], which players do I still need on any 2001 Fleer Tradition cards, any missing unsigned 2001 Fleer Tradition cards and also if there are cards I'll keep in mind to 'upgrade' if possible.
OK, so I guess Sattler isn't technically an Angel yet [or might not be at all] - but the organization did pick him up from the Oakland Athletics in the AAA phase of the 2010 Rule 5 Draft.
After seemingly just missing out on Carl Crawford, it is just awesome to learn this guy is your favorite team's latest pick up - I'm hoping against hope that bouncing around a little bit in professional baseball gives Sattler an opportunity to get to the Major Leagues and help the Angels in the bullpen in 2011.
I busted two jumbo packs of 2010 Topps Update and pulled an off-center Stephen Strasburg rookie card, which seem to be an otherwise common pull - among the other cards were a couple Million Card Giveaway code cards [one from each pack].
I don't know much about Glen Gorbous but his 1956 Topps card is the oldest out of the six I redeemed this year - he apparently was a journeyman outfielder [deceased] from Canada who holds the record for the most longest throw of a baseball.
Don Baylor was a decent player who won the American League MVP in 1979 with the then California Angels - he has also gotten a little bit of experience in the Major Leagues as a hitting coach and manager. Baylor was named by Kirk Gibson to be the hitting coach for the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2011.
I've had these cards for a couple of years as my friend gave them to me in anticipation of the 2009 World Baseball Classic - now Iwakuma is trying to get to the major leagues after the Oakland Athletics won the bid to be able to negotiate a contract with Iwakuma for about 30 days.
Apparently other Japanese players are itching to join Iwakuma - looking to cross over into Major League Baseball and hopefully be paid well to have some success.
The San Francisco Giants match up well against the Texas Rangers - except they don't have the middle of the order bashers like Josh Hamilton, Nelson Cruz and Vladimir Guerrero.
Shortstop Juan Uribe has sort of been a fan favorite in San Francisco - even though he is a player statheads don't like because he makes too many outs.
However he is a key player for the Giants even with his feast-or-famine ability at the plate - his bat got the Giants to the World Series, so he must have done some good things for his team this season.
The rest of the Giants' hitters have to show up with rookie catcher Buster Posey needing to have a big series - most 'baseball experts' and Giants fans have been clamoring for this guy to play all season long and he's proven them right even through the postseason.
Now, he has show up his former mentor [Bengie Molina] and has to compete [at the plate as well as behind the plate] - to see which guy leads his team to a World Series title.
I don't think anyone feels bad for Barry Zito, who signed a $126 million contract to pitch for the Giants - but imagine being once counted upon as the ace of the pitching staff, only to watch your team reach the World Series without your contributions.
I thought some sentimentality would at least play out in finding a World Series roster spot for Zito - but I guess his performance doesn't merit being given an opportunity to appear in the World Series.
The Giants are a good team that reached the World Series - believe they will give the Rangers a fight and perhaps upset another supposed title contender in the making.
I don't know what this guy's deal is, but it was funny watching him punk Chris Rose, who seems like the most genial, wholesome sportscaster - I didn't realize how good this guy has been as a closer in the past year either.
I have no rooting interest in this World Series, though I'll say what has been said countless times recently - I'm glad the Philadelphia Phillies and/or the New York Yankees are not one of the representatives to chase after a World Series title.
The New York Yankees can spend $125 million on Cliff Lee this upcoming off-season and might as well be in the World Series again in 2011 - while the Philadelphia Phillies were supposed to steam roll the San Francisco Giants in the National League Championship Series.
However the Phillies were outhustled by the upstarts from the Bay Area - perhaps there is less luster associated with a team that was supposed to be a juggernaut.
It will take a big effort from mashers like Nelson Cruz, Vladimir Guerrero and Josh Hamilton to lead the Rangers to a World Series title - the most important qualities to their team is the ability to pitch, play defense and run the bases.
I think the narrative fits, where it took Nolan Ryan's vision to make pitching more of a priority with the Rangers - however the pitching was only part of the equation, where Ron Washington's vision was to make sure the Rangers played 'small ball' the right way.
The man-love for Hamilton would elevate him to iconic status if the Texas Rangers won the World Series - if he has a monster series [think Barry Bonds circa 2002], then he can do whatever, wherever he wants with everyone on their knees to service him.
It seems like the Rangers have the perfect mix of talent - that they should walk over the Giants regardless of any obstacles and win their first World Series in franchise history.
A 2010 Donruss Elite Extra Edition Kaleb Cowart autographed card serial #'d 4/100 [$10.99 plus $2.50 s/h on Ebay] arrived in the box Saturday - I felt compelled to pick it up for my Angels collection because I want to get early cards of future Angels' players.
Cowart was a pitcher / infielder from a high school in Georgia - but looks to be a switch-hitting position player as a professional.
I've been tinkering with the Google Docs spreadsheet as an alternative to Excel - I wanted to work on listing various collecting topics cards [I've picked up in 2010] in my collecting topics file /database.
However the mouse on my desktop computer has gotten wonky and it is easier working from my laptop - even though it doesn't have any of the Microsoft Office programs like Word and Excel.
I imported a copy of my Excel collecting topics file to Google and there is about a 1MB limit when doing so - the size of my file is less than 1MB but I assume I'm probably going to export my file back to Excel once I reach the 1MB mark.
Besides worrying about the file size limit, I was having a problem sorting the rows in descending or ascending order - because the field names on the header row would be sorted along with the data I'd put into the spreadsheet.
What helped me figure things out was figuring out how to freeze the header row - as noted on this Web site.
Now the header row with the various field names stay on top - with the actual data being sorted.
Hopefully with the help of Google Docs, I'll get a little more motivated to update and list more cards in the database - I really feel like I'd gotten away from the database work I'd been doing my collecting topics cards during the past several years.
San Francisco's Tim Lincecum, Jonathan Sanchez and Matt Cain are about as good as the Philadelphia Phillies trio of Roy Halladay, Roy Oswalt and Cole Hamels - the key for the Giants having any chance in the National League Championship Series is for their lineup to heat up and hopefully score enough runs.
Outfielder Pat Burrell was a Tampa Bay Rays castoff but was essentially a Phillies player for most of his Major League career - it will be interesting to see how he tries to help the Giants try and beat his old team.
The Phillies are a juggernaut but stars Jimmy Rollins and Ryan Howard need to get it going - for all the talk of the Phillies' success lately, the duo seems to get lost in the mix but a good series for both would make the Phillies that much more dangerous.
Second baseman Chase Utley was pretty banged up in 2010 - but he is solid All-Star caliber second baseman who gives the Phillies good at-bats and ability to hit for power.
The San Francisco Giants are not going to win the series against Philadelphia but hopefully they don't just fold in the NLCS - to make this Phillies' run to the World Series a little tougher than expected.