Index card inscriptions

A lot of autograph collectors prefer index cards as their item of choice to be adorned with a signature. I prefer cards, although have nothing against index cards. I just like a little more going on than a plain white background.

That's not to say I haven't accumulated a few over the years. In fact, a few bloggers have sent me some, and I'm always willing to take them off anyone's hands.

When I was starting out with TTMs in the late '90s, I frequently sent index cards. Often, I didn't have an actual card to send. In 2017, I can just go make a card on the rookies app, or find one quickly on a variety of retail sites. But times were different 20 years ago, and index cards were readily available and cheap, especially for a teenager.

In digging through a box of old collectibles I have, here are a few signed index cards from the late '90s I found:

This one is pretty cool, signed by Frank Crosetti. He also sent a signed black and white photo, which I still have.

Enos Slaughter. I wish I had gotten him on a card, but as a youngster I never dreamed I'd own cards from the '50s one day.

Gil McDougald had an amazing signature. He was a great TTM signer too.

Here are a few more modern players:

I didn't have any cards of El Duque yet when he was a rookie, so he signed my index card. I actually sent a picture from the newspaper too, which he signed. Old school!

Here are two former Yankees prospects both traded to the Reds:

Ed Yarnall was the lefty the Yankees originally obtained for Mike Lowell. That trade looks awful now, of course. But at the time it was pretty even. Lowell didn't have a spot in NY because of Scott Brosius, so he was flipped for Yarnall, one of the top pitching prospects in the game at the time. In fact, he was previously traded from the Mets to the Marlins in the Mike Piazza trade. Obviously Lowell went on to have a great career for the Marlins and Red Sox. Yarnall pitched in seven games for the Yankees and was sent to the Reds for Denny Neagle. A good reminder for us Yankee fans right now...not all top prospects pan out!

One of the other pieces of the trade for Denny Neagle was Drew Henson. The Yankees then used Wily Mo Pena, autograph pictured above, to reacquire Henson. Pena had a ton of power, and had an ok career. I sent him a bumper sticker to sign as well, but he actually signed the BACK of it. Ooops.

Not a bad batch of autos. Perhaps I'll commission Gavin to make a few custom cut signature cards.

SuperTraders #20: The Angels in Order

While it’s been a little hard to keep up, I will say that #SuperTraders has allowed me to trade with some collectors I haven’t traded much with in the past. I had a healthy stack of Angels, so I was happy to send those along to Tom of Angels in Order. Tom also sent me a great batch of Yankees from some sets that I definitely hadn’t seen before, which is always fun.

One card of note was from Upper Deck Flyball. I certainly hadn’t heard of this product. Baseballcardpedia tells me it was an interactive set issued in 2005. I was a senior in college then, so I definitely missed a lot of sets around this time.

Here is the back of the card. Do you ever notice how confusing baseball card games seem to be?

Another set I hadn’t seen were these Toys ‘R’ Us issues. From what I can tell, each card was either a future star, young star, or rookie star. They got Bernie’s right!

Again, an oddball I hadn’t seen, this time from 2001 Topps along with Post cereal. I’m surprised El Duque was included as the Yankees representative in this 18-card set, although I am a big fan of his, so no qualms from me.

Salt Lake Bees baseball cards! What a cool looking set! I’m not entirely certain why Yankees are featured on this. Does any know? I think they are great, and clearly a promo item.

Topps Turkey Red are some of the coolest cards out there. The vintage backgrounds look great. This is actually a shiny, glossy version, which I didn’t know existed.

These are so bad they are awesome. Not the card, the photos! Check out the school pictures of these 1991 Yankees draftees.

1993 Upper Deck. The best!

Tom, did you secretly collect Matsui?

I’ll end with a Yankees Wacky card. This one is kind of perfect for me. My name is AJ…apple juice…on a Yankees card? It works!

Tom, thanks for a great package!

Napkin Doon defaces the card of the year

Napkin Doon has defaced the Card of the Year ™, a crime punishable by banishment from the blogging community. However, he hasn’t done a blog post in over two years, so I guess that isn’t going to work. Next worst punishment: being featured on my blog.

Why he did it, we’ll never know. Actually, I do know. He is a Rangers fan, and hates Jose Bautista. He hates him so much he asked me to get him an NY Post from the day that Rougned Odor punched Bautista in the face. I obliged, and Napkin Doon sent me some cards in return.

Outside of this custom work of art, there were great Yankees in the batch:

Three Jose Canseco Yankee cards for my Unofficial Jose Canseco Yankees PC. I needed these.

My favorite card of the bunch is easily this framed Gypsy Queen Gary Sanchez. Little did Nap know he was sending me a cool parallel of a one day AL MVP.

Here is another future MVP, Jorge Mateo, on yellow Bowman parallel. His prospect status has cooled down a lot, but I’m still going to gobble up his cards.

Wow, another MVP. This time, MVP of the 1999 ALCS. This is not one of the cooler insert sets of the 1990s, although I’m sure Adidas would disagree.

I like Oscar Gamble. A lot. He had some goofy hair. But why can’t I get Tino in an Archives set?

Speaking of Tino!

Boom. Love this vintage. Elston Howard, one of the most underrated Yankees of all time.

This Bernie is sweet. Eat your heart out, Mike Trout.

And the best of the rest!

Napkin Doon, next time put your high-end artistic skills to work in a more positive way, ok?

Take me back

Like a song, a certain card or player can take you back to a particular time in your life.

There are songs that remind me of college. Or a roadtrip with my cousin when I was 13. Or that my high school soccer team and I listened to Nelly's "Ride Wit Me" during our magical run through the state playoffs in 2000. These songs don't need to have anything do with those events, but more likely it was just on the radio frequently at the time and you associate it with that memory. We've all got songs like this.

I've got baseball players and cards like that too. The 1997 Bowman Jose Cruz Jr reminds me of taking a trip to the Pocono racetrack with my Dad, and I had a Beckett I read in the car that featured that card (it was a big card at the time! Remember? Him and Travis Lee).

I still remember El Duque's debut for the Yankees. I had just had a Babe Ruth league game that night, then went to my old middle school for an event that my mom was working. I was still in my powder blue uniform, but remember vividly begging her to go home so I could watch the game. I also remember that it was just after I finished 8th grade, and I met a few of the girls who attended my soon-to-be new high school that night at the function, and I remember thinking "man, that's what high school girls look like?!"

I definitely made it home for some of the game and got to see that crazy leg kick in action. El Duque would go on and be a vital part of that 1998 Yankees team. Everytime I get a card of him, I can't help but think of that random June night.

This card doubles as a memory lightening rod because of the wacky '90s design, which certainly brings me back to my heyday of collecting. I picked this up for about a quarter (with free shipping!) on eBay, and I'm glad I did. It's loud, its bright, it's ugly, and it's glorious. I feel old these days for various reasons, but every now and then, I appreciate a card taking me back to simpler times.

Card bloggers, keeping the USPS in business

Ok, so I don't know if it's solely card bloggers keeping the USPS in business, but damn, we're helping, right?

I especially can't believe when other bloggers send me flat-rate boxes, but it happens. In this instance, John from Johnny's Trading Spot dropped a nice bomb on me, and it was chock full of cards that felt like they were straight from my '90s childhood. Four stacks worth!

It was an absolute blast to go through. I could have scanned like 100 cards, but here are some of my favorites.

There aren't many cooler sets than HolyGRFX. Man, it's easy to miss Upper Deck sometimes.

These cards are more trippy than they scan. I always liked the name Fleer "Brilliants." It felt appropriate for these cards.

The '90s had something for everyone. Everybody complains about too many sets, and I get it, but there was a set to satisfy everyone's tastes. Some people like cards. And comics. Is there any better mixture than this? It's like Coney was the Terminator.

There may never be a better card that captures El Dugue's unique windup.

I never noticed the Tino cameo in this Mike Stanley! Safe or out?

Mike Lowell signed this card for me TTM way back in the 1990s. I don't think I ever replaced it in non-signed form. Now I have one!

I don't just miss Upper Deck. I miss Pacific too. Seriously!

Here are a couple of more from some random sets that I enjoy.

I show the back of Nick Johnson's card to show what a beast he was. Being a Tino fan, I hated Nick Johnson lurking. But holy crap, his minor league numbers were INSANE. I can't imagine a prospect with this numbers right now. I just didn't understand at the time how good of a hitter Johnson was.

I could have gone on and on, but you get it. John, thank you so much!

I'm a dirty bird

A few weeks ago, Cardinals fan Kerry from Cards on Cards hosted a free group break with a box of 2014 Topps Mini. Missing the Yanks by about 10 seconds, I did something I'm still not proud of...I claimed the Red Sox! Ahhhh, I can't even type that. I still feel DIRTY. But hear me out. I trade with so many Red Sox fans, that I have about zero Sox cards right now. Literally. I have like a 1989 Topps Clemens to my name. I saw it as an opportunity for a little tradebait. I just feel bad that Sox fans missed out on claiming their team.

So I did come away with a decent amount of Red Sox, which will go directly to new homes. I'll only show one, this pink Matt Thornton. He spent some time with the Yanks last year, so I don't feel as awful about showing him. The pinks are #'d to just 25.

Kerry, being the generous dude he is, sent a bunch of Yanks too, so I felt a bit better about myself, although still not great. Here is an assortment. I love that Tanaka Power Players insert from 2014 Topps. I definitely didn't have it. Also, an El Duque RC from 1998 Fleer Update! I only had his Bowman RC, so this is sweet. I have an irrational love of El Duque. 

 

Thanks, Kerry! I have some stuff headed your way.