Tier One Bison

I am a little disappointed in the season posted by Matt Kemp so far this year, but we are only a quarter of the way into the 2014 season.  Last year was a lost season for the Dodgers All-Star outfielder, but many fans and collectors expected a strong bounce back season this year.  Kemp has been hobbled with injuries since he started off the 2012 season looking like the National League MVP.  During the first half of the 2012 season "The Bison" posted a .355/.444/.719 line with 12 home runs and 28 RBIs.  That's only in 36 games.

There is now some discussion of the Dodgers turning Matt Kemp into a bat off the bench.  It seems hard to believe that Kemp has gone from MVP candidate to the bench in Dodgers Stadium in just a year and a half.  I am still a big fan of Kemp and still really enjoy collecting his cards, even if he is riding the pine. 

Kemp's cards have come back to Earth a bit over the last 36 months, but still remain pretty popular.  At the beginning of the 2012 season Kemp was not signing for card companies.  Sure, there were a ton of redemption cards for Kemp autographs inserted into card products, but the actual autographs were a long wait.  I have been working on picking up a few of them over the past few weeks and managed to track a few down.  My first comes from the 2011 Topps Tier One. 

This is a really great looking card with an on-card signature.  I love the simple gold design around the edges of the card.  Really awesome card picked up for less than $20.  More Kemp cards will posted soon.