I Lost Ray, But I Got.... Part 1

Last week I shared the bidding insanity that I ran into in trying to win a copy of a Ray Lankford card from the 1998 Donruss Crusade set.  I was completely crushed that the card went far beyond my spending limit and was lost.  This was just way too ridiculous...

There did not seem to be much of a positive take away in the immediate moments after being completely outspent on a card that I really wanted to add to my collection.  However, I clicked on the Ebay seller profile, checked out the seller's other items, and found some really cool items floating around for not so much money.  In fact, I ended up buying six of his items, and five of them cost me less than $5.  I will share them all this week.  First up:

Like many sellers on Ebay, this person had a bunch of similar cards up for sale.  This guy had a whole slew of 1998 Donruss Crusade cards.  This card is a green version which is serial numbered out of 250.  $5 might seem like a lot for a Juan Encarnacion card that is serial numbered out of 250, but this set is extremely popular with collectors and the cards can drift high (see the Ray Lankford picture above).  Back of the card below....

  

Encarnacion does have a Cardinals connection that many people may not remember.  He was a member of the 2006 World Series Championship team, but had his time diminish towards the end of the year after the Cardinals brought up Chris Duncan and signed cast off Preston Wilson.  Sprinkle in a few innings of So Taguchi defense and you have a guy that some people forget.  Encarnacion missed the beginning of the 2007 season, but returned to play 78 games before his career ended after he was hit in the eye while standing in the on-deck circle.