Sunday, May 26, 2019

Weekend Countdown: My Top 10 College Baseball Cards

The NCAA Baseball tournament will be starting up this week, so I thought it would be fun to take a look at some college baseball cards this weekend.  Of course, the cards are going to be from predictable schools if you have followed along here for any length of time. 

Here are this week's rules:  

  • Cards have to show the player in their college uniform, no airbrushed out logos from Leaf, or other non-licensed products

  • No USA Baseball cards, or Perfect Game cards.

  • No Tar Heels or Jayhawks. Both have had cards on my blog, not on this post.  

  • The cards have to be currently in my collection.  Sorry, not sorry Buster Posey.  




Honorable Mention: The other dozen Donruss Elite Collegiate Patch cards that are in my collection, but not in this post.  

Let's Go.


10. 2008 Donruss Elite Collegiate Patches Sean Doolittle Autograph - My favorite relief pitcher who used to play first base at an ACC school, and also at USA Baseball.  I don't even remember him looking like that while he was at UVA.  Convinced the card designer went to Virginia Tech.  





9.  2008 Donruss Elite Collegiate Patches Alan Dykstra Autograph - He won the home run derby when the Durham Bulls hosted the Triple A All-Star Game.  He would later play for the Durham Bulls.  I like Alan Dykstra, but the Deacon is a tad bit creepy.  




9. 2015 Panini Contenders Michael Matuella Autograph - My favorite Duke player not named Marcus Stroman.  Matuella was a first round, pick one type of talent, but he had a bunch of injuries.  Still got drafted by the Rangers, and is currently playing for the Down East (Kinston, NC) Wood Ducks.  That's the Carolina League for those inquiring where a team named the Wood Ducks could be found.   




8. 2009 Donruss Elite Collegiate Patches Brad Boxberger Autograph - I saw him pitch the last two outs of a no hitter for the Durham Bulls.  Also attended my least favorite Pac 12 school, which is a two way tie if I am sitting next to a UCLA fan talking about basketball banners their school won fifty years ago.  




7. 2016 Panini Black Gold Trea Turner Autograph - It seems like Panini made a bunch of cards of Trea Turner that look really similar to this one.  Considered making this one the sixth best card.  



6. 2016 Panini Black Gold Trea Turner Autograph - because they did.  Considered making this one the seventh best card, but I will leave it at number six.  



5. 2010 Donruss Elite Jordan Swagerty/Magic Johnson Autograph - How did a Magic Johnson autograph get onto a Jordan Swagerty card?  I have seen some funny stories over the years, not sure if any of them are true.  Before you say, "but the stickers are just switched", remember that there is a patch version of this card with a Sun Devil on it. 



4. 2017 Panini National Treasures Max Scherzer Autograph - Pretty nice card of a pretty good pitcher.  I got this Mizzou card because there was not a Parkway Central card of him.  




3. 2007 Donruss Elite Collegiate Patches David Price Autograph - One of my favorite former Durham Bulls players.  This cards used to be a bigger deal than it is now.  Still a pretty nice card.  



2. 2007 Donruss Elite Collegiate Patches Max Scherzer Autograph - Last card from this set.  Promise.  



1. 2015 Panini Contenders Collegiate Connections Russell Wilson/Trea Turner Autograph - There are some really not great things about this card, but it is Russell Wilson and Trea Turner.  One of them is a starting NFL quarterback with a Super Bowl ring, the other is a starting shortstop on the Washington Nationals.  Awesome players.  What is wrong with the card?  See below.  




1. Turner and Wilson never played on the same team.  Wilson's final season in Raleigh was 2010, Turner was a freshman in 2011.  Russell Wilson did play baseball in 2011, but he was in the Rockies Minor League system.  

2. Russell Wilson appeared in 106 baseball games at NC State in three years.  He pitched in 10 games for a total of 12 innings, all during his junior season.  Somehow Panini has at least two cards of him playing for NC State and pitching.  

That's all I got.  

4 comments:

  1. Woah I love that Wilson/Turner card.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Easily my best college card, and I was excited when I landed it a few years ago. Figured that Russell Wilson was going to be too expensive to add to my collection, but I got lucky with an EBay auction.

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  2. Damn... didn't realize there were so many cool college baseball cards out there. Love the Collegiate Patches... but the Wilson/Turner at #1 takes the cake.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The Donruss Elite patches from about ten years ago are great, as well as some of the more recent Panini products. The more recent cards can be high in price, but I have always been able to get them at something decent just through patience.

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