Right now, he gets to be a teammate of his son Patrick and while his stint with a team called the Cleburn Railroaders probably doesn't lead anywhere - maybe the occasional highlight helps him get back in the news where the 53-year old gets a second look, even if it's for cheap thrills, a novelty.
Through Instagram, I found out about a 66-card rack pack set of USA cards offered through Team USA Baseball - I clicked onto their IG stories [as directed] which took me to a link to buy the cards.
The random foil pack contained five cards - at first I thought it would be my autographs, though I would have thought they would be inserted in the rack pack.
#26 Evan White
#17 Alex Lange
#42 Ryan Vilade
#35 Logan Allen
#27 Kyle Wright
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.
It maybe difficult to go back and forth, between modern and vintage, especially I’m can't throw serious money towards either genre - as a card collector, there is something about changing things up about any particular finds.
At times, the ‘latest and greatest’ takes precedence, but when I’m mindful enough or get inspired - there maybe an attempt to pick up a vintage card, as a nod to something old-school, a relic from an era that maybe foreign to what I've known, but something intriguing.
I haven't been to my nearest, twice a week card show in a few years but my buddy said he was going to pick me up and take me there before we headed to a baseball game - I was hoping for better but for ‘sports stuff’ like cards, the set-up is pretty much the same.
I suppose I might be able to find just what I need, but then it seems like it is still the same sellers - so many booths, so much foot traffic but it's more focused on pop culture items, autograph signings, gaming cards, toys, video games, etc.
As is, I ended up at a booth that I remember being at a different spot my last random stop there - I don’t know if the dollar boxes ever changed, so that was what I was most familiar with.
I dug around and pulled some cards in dusty old top loaders - looking for the right combination of random cards to pick up on a relative budget is still a thing.
The story about the player and his performance has been fascinating - but the worst case scenario that Ohtani needs Tommy John surgery and won't finish this season and will not pitch for a significant part of 2019.
As a collector, I believed in the talent, so I went 'all in' to secure at least one nice card off the bat - which was his 2018 Topps Heritage Action variation card [#17].
I don't know how it all plays out now, but I'd gotten when I pulled his 2017 Bowman Mega Box card - I tried grabbing his 2018 Topps Now issues and his 2018 Living Set card.
I couldn't afford any of his pack pulled autographs - but was interested in looking for some MLB licensed pack pulled cards to supplant the Topps Now issues I've bought.
I've probably settled into looking for very good-excellent vintage rookie cards - so this copy isn't one of those high-end examples serious collectors or auction houses may showcase.
Still I'd like to think there is more value in any particular purchase involving sometimes notable old cards - regardless of apparent quality.
Carlton was one of the greatest MLB pitchers of all time - yet it's more interesting to me to discover he may be some sort of kook with some unique, if radical views about the world.
Against all odds, Venters made it back to the majors leagues in 2018 with the Tampa Bay Rays - regardless of what happens, the occasional comeback story of an individual player is something to get sentimental about.
Through the early 1990s, I was familiar with Belcher as a junk wax guy with the Los Angeles Dodgers - after playing for the Dodgers, he bounced around a bit and was an innings eater when healthy.
By the time Belcher pitched in his last two MLB seasons with the Angels - his right arm was toast and was immortalized in a peculiar brawl with Chan Ho Park.
I remember the old-school / junk wax era years of picking up cards of guys labeled as future stars, thinking you were going to have a gold mine in hand - in 2018, the definitive 'must have' cards of any young rookie are simply out of reach unless willing to spend hundreds and/or thousands of dollars on prospect cards.
On the other hand, it's fun to pick up a pair of rookie-year cards [$5 and change each] featuring the newest New York Yankees rookie sensation - since he could be a all-star talent in pinstripes for the next 10-15 seasons.
I tend to think that even if there might be 50,000 cards printed of this card - it will be absorbed by collectors and others for future considerations.
On a larger scale, it does make my head hurt when I stumble upon certain discussions on whether guys are superstars or not - there maybe a divide between the guys who account for more of the 'it' factor [does a guy look like a star, does he play the part of just kind of shies away from the attention] to qualify a player as a superstar vs. the experts who just throw out all the fancy, new age stats that are supposed to win the conversation.
MLB players seem to be more conservative, less flashy and because of how the game is structured around traditional values, there might not be that in-you-face guy that is going to be a household name - there is a big consideration as far as the guys who put up the numbers.
I'm just spitballing things out, maybe making this as a glorified slideshow to see which players capture my attention - which current guys I'd continue to collect or generally look for as far as cards go, even if most of these guys don't play for my 'home team.'
He's also kind of arrogant, which probably rubs some people the wrong way at times - but because he's been the next great hope ever since he was in high school, he gets a pass otherwise for the occasional tantrums he throws.
For the numbers guys, his stardom has rested on his age and his OPS/WAR totals compared to legends and icons - he has the fame, but it's going to be interesting to see if can maintain an elite level of performance for a prolonged period of time.
Verlander won a World Series championship in 2017 and this year, has been as good as he's been since his prime years with the Detroit Tigers - it doesn't hurt he is married to a supermodel and can be quite the Twitter personality.
Smart, right baseball fans love this guy and it's got to be more than the fact his on-base percentage is well north of .400 - I personally see some of his antics as a bit boorish, though at least he is a very good player.
Not quite there, but just about, knocking at the door
It helps that he is very athletic and is probably quite strong - despite being listed at only 5'9" and 180 pounds.
Kendall is a prospect in the Los Angeles Dodgers farm system - in 42 games so far at the Class A Advanced level, he is hitting .232 with 19 stolen bases and a .333 on-base percentage.
Because it’s an ongoing set, I just don’t know if there will be any sort of completion or closure - but maybe a plan is to pick up Topps Living Set cards of Angels players when they pop up.
I'm afraid as the years pass and new players sprout, there will be less guys to count - but it's fun to go back and remember times when I've gotten someone like Ichiro's autograph in-person.
Now, the all-world hit king is stepping away for a bit away for a bit, likely maybe forever as a player - despite the feel good aspect of Ichiro signing with the Mariners in spring training, the team just couldn't carry his corpse any longer as one of the guys on the team's 25-man roster.
I don't exactly play the game I've seen fans do [through occasional posts on Web sites] where when someone accomplishes a feat, leaves the game as a player or gets into the Hall of Fame - they do a mental calculation whether if they've seen him play in-person.
Too many times where I'm at a game and the last thing I'm paying attention to is the action on the field - as odd as it may sound, it maybe harder to get into a MLB game in-person because there is just this huge separation from the cheap seats to the field.
