Random Listia Autos - Part 9

It's been a while, but here is another batch of random autos sent to me by a Listia seller I buy from once in awhile. The guys has amazing cards, and has been nice enough to throw in a bunch of autos for me. If you've missed previous installments, check them out below. There are a ton of autos from some great names.

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4 
Part 5
Part 6

Part 7 

Part 8

First up, a 1953 Bowman reprint of Bubba Church. Bubba, or Emery Nichols, played six seasons in the Bigs from 1950-1955. His best year was 1951, when he won 15 games for the Phillies. He then played for the Reds and Cubs, but never could replicate the success of his 1950 and 1951 seasons. He passed away in 2001 at the age of 77.

Fan favorite Jose Oquendo makes an appearance! How do I know he's a fan favorite? Well, because he's always featured in Topps products as a fan favorite. He broke into the Majors with the Mets in 1983, but spent his most memorable years with the Cardinals from 1986-1995, teaming with Ozzie Smith to make a very slick-fielding DP combo. Otherwise, he was a jack of all trades and played all over the diamond. He was light-hitting, but did handle the bat fairly well, and hit in the .290s a few times. He had a good eye at the plate as well. Appropriately, he's now the Cardinals' third base coach, a position he has held since 1999. That's a long run!

These Topps Turkey cards look really nice signed! This one just happens to be former Royal Mark Teahan. He officially retired from baseball this past year, but had a decent little career. His best season came as a 24-year-old with the Royals, where he hit .290 with 18 HRs. He seemed destined for bigger things, and followed that up with a .288 average in 144 games, but his power disappeared. He put up two more decent seasons with the Royals, then was dealt to the White Sox. Overall, in seven seasons between KC, Chicago, and Toronto, he hit .264 with 67 HRs and 332 RBIs.

The Crime Dog! This is certainly one of the best autos to appear in the generous package. McGriff had an incredible career, and really should get more HOF consideration than he does. He lead both leagues in HRs over the course of his career (1989 with Toronto and 1992 with San Diego), and finished his career with 493 bombs. You have to wonder if he'd be in by now had he gotten to 500 HRs (keep in mind the strike-shortened 1994 and 1995 seasons). He wasn't just a power hitter, as he owns a career .284 BA and a .377 OBP. He has an impressive career OPS+ of 134 as well. Sadly, he was always overshadowed by other 1B, but I can't imagine Braves faves would have wanted anyone else during their dominant 1990s teams. He was as steady as they came. It felt like he was a Brave for a lot longer than he was from 1993-1997. He might not be a HOFer, but he's better than the 12.9% of votes he got last season. It's surprising he doesn't have more support, as the numbers back it up.

All-Star catcher Russell Martin is a nice addition on an early Dodgers card. I loved Russ on the Yanks, and wish he was brought back a few years ago when the Yanks wouldn't offer the contract he deserved. He then went on to help Pittsburgh get back to the post-season, and this season is returning home to Canada as a member of the Blue Jays, inking a new 5-year, $82-million dollar deal. Yikes! He's a very good hitter and is widely considered one of the best defensive catchers in the game. His pitch-framing skills are always spoken very highly of as well. I really admire the way he plays the game. He's a very hard-nosed type of player, and I loved when he said he didn't like the Red Sox while he was on the Yanks. It'll be interesting to see how he does in Toronto.

I think Night Owl threw up in his mouth a little when he saw this card. Kevin Brown in the middle of a Don Drysdale/Sandy Koufax sandwich? Is this wrong, Dodger fans? There's no denying that at the height of his game, Kevin Brown was as good as anyone. He just never could stay healthy. He had several very notable seasons, including 1998 with San Diego, when he was the ace of the NL Champs. He put up an 8+ WAR in three different seasons, which is impressive, and his 1.89 ERA led the NL in 1996. After an All-Star 2003 season (his final in LA), he was acquired by the Yanks for Jeff Weaver...and just wasn't very good. He started the darkest day in my baseball life...Game 7 of the 2004 ALCS. Sigh.