I call Tino Martinez's three seasons away from the Yankees "The Lost Years." He spent 2002 and 2003 with the Cardinals and 2004 with the DEVIL Rays before returning to the Yanks for one final season in 2005. He was obviously my favorite player and I hated to see him go after 2001, but he was getting older and the Yankees needed a shiny new toy...Jason Giambi. Tino signed with St. Louis to replace Mark McGwire, trying to fill another set of legendary shoes just as he did when he was brought aboard as Don Mattingly's heir in 1996.
This 2002 relic of Tino clearly has a Yankee swatch despite showing the BamTino in a Cardinal uniform. The back of the card states this as well. Tino's reaction over this is similar to mine:
I collected baseball cards from the late '80s through 2002. Then I went to college and when I came out, I was lost. There were too many brands, sets, choices, relics, autos, parallels, variations. It was a turn off. However, I slowly made my way back. So here is my attempt to venture back into the hobby. I'll buy a few packs of cards here and there, comment on some cards I have, send out some TTMs, and follow the progress of my Topps Yankees Project.
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