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.
Just 26 years old, Ty Hensley continues to grind in his effort to get back into pro baseball. This past year, he spent time with the independent ball Utica Unicorns, an awesome team name. Zippy Zippy made me aware of this a feature on Ty last week by the Detroit News. You can read it HERE.
As always, I'm on the prowl for new Hensley cards, and during the last COMC sale, I was able to pick up two different autographs, both numbered to 5:
Nice cards. Not particularly new, as I have the less-rare versions of both of these, but still nice to check them off the list.
I'm proud of Ty and how he continues to fight for his dream, and I wish him all the best in 2020 as he takes another step closer to a big league mound.
Recently, Fuji showed off his favorite relic card. Fuj, I'm going to steal your image:
I really like when Upper Deck used to brand a bat relic piece with a team logo. It added a nice looking element to an otherwise pretty boring piece of wood.
Recently, I picked up this Dave Winfield bat relic. I was emptying my COMC account of credits, and had around $2 left, and search for a "Yankee memorabilia card" to spend the remaining funds on. This one was probably the best of the bunch with was left, so I figured a card like this of a HOFer was worth it.
It may not be a press conference-used table cloth, but still a pretty cool card for a small price, and I do appreciate the extra step to make the relic look a little less bland.
With the three cards featured in this post, my scanned folder is empty. Zilch. No cards waiting to be written about (aka "showed and telled" because let's be honest, that's what my posts are).
This won't be the case for long. I have a few purchases currently en route. I have a bunch of cards from my childhood waiting to be scanned and discussed. I have an organization project which I'm actually making progress on. But for now, it's a funny feeling to look in the folder and see zero cards left.
So what do we have? Three of the last cards from my COMC Black Friday order.
At this time last year, Gary Sanchez cards were all the rage. While he's still a tremendous player, he's getting overshadowed by a few of his teammates, and his card prices have fallen into a much more manageable range, especially for base cards and non-rare inserts. Here are two that set me back a dime or so a piece, which was impossible to say last off-season.
The last is one of the many Tyler Austin cards featuring RC logos in 2017. This season is pretty much make or break for Austin. He'll play most of it at age 26, but really needs to 1. stay healthy and 2. HIT! in order to find meaningful at bats this season. I'm still a fan of his, but I also know the Yankees aren't going to wait around forever for him to contribute.
I like him a lot, and hope he finds a niche with the team, as he seems like a very good dude that is well-liked. He also just got engaged, so congrats to him!
The COMC Black Friday sales gives me an excuse to do what I normally don't: browse without an agenda. Many card price are slashed so greatly that there are often tons of great deals, especially on cards you didn't even know exist.
Towards the end of my order, I find myself just looking to fill up my card even more, so I'll type in random searches. In this instance, I search for Yankees 2017 and sorted by memorabilia cards, hoping to find a cool relic or two at a great price.
This popped up for less than $2.50, and I figured it was worth it to add a dual-relic of a Hall of Famer. This particular card is from 2017 Panini Diamond Kings, a set I don't follow very closely. Sure, no logos and whatnot, but I like the design and the photo of Winfield getting ready to uncork one of his powerful swings.
I like that both jersey swatches are different too, although admittedly it's not specific to whether or not they are from Yankees uniforms.
I've never opened a pack of Topps Heritage Minors, but I do enjoy the set. I like seeing minor league players on some iconic designs of the past.
This year, I threw two cards from 2017 Heritage Minors into my shopping cart during COMC's Black Friday weekend.
The first is an on-card autograph of Nick Solak. While I've gotten him TTM before, I didn't have a certified autograph.
Currently, Solak finds himself ranked the Yankees 8th best prospect, according to MLB.com. He was the Yankees 2nd round pick in 2016 out of Louisville. All the guy has ever done is hit. In his first full season of pro ball, he hit .297 between High A Tampa and AA Trenton. He also hit 12 homers, so he's got a little pop despite being a contact guy.
The second pickup is a Clubhouse Collection relic of former #4 overall pick Dillon Tate, who the Yankees got from Texas in the Carlos Beltran trade. He lost his groove a bit in Texas' system, but rebounded nicely last year while mirroring Solak's season in A+ Tampa and AA Trenton. Overall, he went 7-2 in 13 starts with a 2.81 ERA. It'll be interesting to see if he can build upon that in 2018 at AA.
Two cards as part of throw-ins to my larger order, and two guys I'll be paying close attention to this season.
One of my goals for ages has been to organize my Derek Jeter
collection. I don’t think I’ve purchased more than 10-15 Jeter singles since I got back into collecting. Nearly
every trade package from my blogging friends tends to include a Jeter or two,
and as a result, I’ve accumulated several hundred. For that, I thank all of you!
I don’t have the final numbers yet, but it’s been a great
first use of my new card sorting tray!
During my COMC Black Friday order, I decided to take a quick
browse for some cool looking Jeters I knew I didn’t have. I added two to my
cart:
The first one was what really caught my eye. It’s a 2001 Fleer
Focus insert called Focus Pocus. Fun! The card itself is very shiny. I knew
without checking that I didn’t have it.
The second was from 1997 Circa. The insert itself is from
the Circa Boss set. It’s got some texture to it and the text is a bit raised
and bumpy. Sort of like an old Goosebumps novel. However, I admit I was disappointed by the card itself. It looks
better in the photos than it does in hand. It just felt a little lackluster.
Still, it was just a throw-in to a large purpose, and was a card I didn’t have,
so I’m happy.
I don’t see myself really buy more Jeters outside of the
eventual autograph, but it’s not a bad strategy to throw a few into large COMC
orders. However, hopefully my blogging friends will continue to include Jeters
once in a while in trade packages. That’s where my collection has grown most!
I know I mentioned it at the time, at least on Twitter, but back in March I had the good fortune of briefly meeting Cardinals top prospect Alex Reyes at the Newark airport.
I had just landed from a flight from Los Angeles and was awaiting for an Uber. Next to me was a young, athletic looking guy with a huge Cardinals duffle bag. It wasn't the kind of bag an everyday fan would be carrying. It looked like it had to be something team-issued.
Standing next to the guy, I asked if was with the team and he said "yeah." I asked him is name and simply said "Alex." Knowing a bit about top prospects, it then struck me and I said "Reyes?" He looked surprised to be recognized in NY in an airport, but then he said "yes!"
After briefly chatting, he disclosed he had had TJ surgery just a few weeks back, which I remember hearing about. So he was about 6-weeks post-recovery at that time.
He was very pleasant to chat with when he didn't need to be, and I certainly took a liking to him. I hope he comes back in 2018 unfazed by the surgery. He's one of the top prospects in the game - still #1 for the Cardinals and #15 overall by MLB.com - so the talent is certainly there.
I made a deal with myself to pick up an autograph of his, especially since prices had cooled following the injury. I waited until COMC Black Friday and got the one above for just a few bucks.
I'll certainly be keeping an eye on his career, and I hope he's 100% healthy in 2018.
One of the best things happening to the Yankees is that all
four of their ML outfielders are performing at a high level. There isn’t anyone
struggling to the point where people are calling for the promotion of Clint
Frazier. Whereas Gleyber Torres is getting moved quickly to take over at 3B
later in the season, Frazier can focus on developing and improving his game,
which he has done since the beginning of the season.
Currently, he’s hitting .257 with 9 HRs and 16 doubles. While
those aren’t particularly dominant numbers, it’s important to know that he’s cut
down on his K% and increased his BB% since last season. That’s good progress. He
also got off to a bit of a slow start (hitting .224 in April), and has hit .286 over the last 30 days
with 6 HRs. It should also be known that he’s playing in a very pitcher-friendly
park, which even affected the power of Gary Sanchez and Aaron Judge while they were there.
My guess is that if Clint gets really hot, we might see him
in late July or August for the stretch run, but it’s more likely that he’ll earn a September call-up,
assuming he isn’t needed as an injury replacement before then.
Not everyone needs to make an impact right away, and as long
as he’s progressing and developing as a hitter, he’s had a positive first full
season in the Yankees Organization.
I've been a little slow picking up Frazier cards, but the above is a mini that I snagged in my last COMC order. I'm still waiting for my first card of him featured as a Yankee.
My Tino collection is slowing way down lately. I haven't lost enthusiasm. It's quite the opposite.
I'm just rarely finding ones I need.
It still surprises me that there are base cards I need, but those are becoming fewer and fewer. In my last COMC order, I did snag a couple.
These two are from Pacific Invincible. The first is 1998 Pacific Invincible Gems of the Diamond. I definitely just bought the cheapest one on COMC and did not notice that it was off-center. I'm not a condition stickler, but it annoyed me that I didn't take a closer look.
Returning to Pacific Invincible for 1999, here's a base card I didn't own. The area behind Tino's head is transparent, which is kind of cool.
Lastly, I was missing this 2000 Topps Stars base card. Johnny recently sent me the metallic blue, and it made me realize I didn't even have the base.
With these three cards, I'm now at 789 Tinos. I'm getting there!
One of the greatest trades in Yankees history occurred on June 29, 2000. Instead of waiting for the trade deadline, Brian Cashman struck early. He sent Ricky Ledee, Zach Day, and Jake Westbrook to the Cleveland Indians for David Justice. I remember hearing about the trade on the Yankees pregame show because no Twitter, and hearing Ken Singleton say, "Wow, I didn't realize he already had 21 HRs on the season."
Justice would go on to hit 20 more HRs for the Yankees, finishing the season with a career-high 41. He was a true force in the lineup, and went on to win ALCS MVP for two massive HRs that he hit in the series, notably the 3-run shot he hit in Game 6 versus Seattle:
It didn't take long for Justice to become a part of Yankees lore, and for that, I've always enjoy picking up new Justice cards. One of the first game-used bat sets, and in my mind, one of the finest, was
2001 Upper Deck SP Game Bat Edition Piece of the Game. It was probably the first game-used Tino bat card I owned, and I'm pretty sure I paid about $25 for it at the time. Oof.
However, I recently discovered Justice was part of that set, so I figured I'd snag it on COMC for a few bucks. I'm glad I did!
The Yankees have a great checklist in this set - Tino, Justice, O'Neill, Bernie, and Canseco. I believe I only need the O'Neill from that group. I'm on it!
Man, this stinks. The Tommy John Surgery bug has struck top
Yankees pitching prospect James Kaprielian.
It’s sad. He’s got so much talent, and he’s basically going
to lose a year and a half of development. Considering he lost all of last year
as well, this is not good. It feels like Ty Hensley all over again.
Will Kaprielian make it back? Time will tell. I’d rather he
arrive late than never, but who knows. His makeup is off the charts, so I know
he’ll try his best. I’ll also tell ya, the Cubs strategy of focusing on position
players in the draft versus pitchers sure sounds good.
In a recent COMC order, I did pick up a few Kaprielians. I expected
his cards to shoot up this year, but I’m guessing they will be pretty easy to
come by due to the injury.
