All It Takes Is Patience

I have really started considering making a To Do List for my baseball cards.  We are winding down towards the end of the 2014 calendar year and I have had a great time collecting cards this year.  I have added all kinds of new cards to my collection.  Still, I get to the end of the year, look around and can always find a few things that I meant to get around to, but just never quite made it happen.  I talked about it a bit in my last post about baseball cards.  I guess the feeling is lingering through the whole weekend.  

I had a few players from the International League that I really enjoyed watching this season.  Probably my favorite player I saw in person this year at a Durham Bulls game was Nationals outfield prospect Stephen Souza.  I might have liked watching Souza play more than any Bulls player.  He's neck and neck with Mikie Mahtook.  Seriously, Souza is a better player.  It hurts to say as a Durham Bulls fan, but it's true.  

Souza was a force in the IL this year and rightfully won the MVP award with a .350/.432/.590 line with 18 home runs, 25 doubles, and 75 RBIs in 96 games this year.  I saw Souza play a few games for the Syracuse Chiefs and also saw him in the Triple A All-Star game.  He does not have a ton of cards, but he did have an autograph in the Topps Heritage Minor League set a few years back.  I have had the card on my radar, but it kind of fell through the cracks.  

In the meantime, Souza got called up to the Majors (did I mention he's been in the minors for 8 years) and struggled with the Nationals with his bat.  However, sometimes it only takes one play to make a name for yourself.  I am sure that Nationals fans will not forget the name Stephen Souza for awhile.....

It was a great play on the part of Souza.  As a fan who has watched him all year long I was not surprised that Souza made a great catch on that ball.  I have seen him make several nice plays in the outfield this year including a great sliding catch in the Triple A All-Star game.  I still was missing that Souza autograph.  However, I found another one......

This was a rather inexpensive pick up off of Ebay and I am really happy that Topps included Souza in their Update set.  While this is not even remotely the most expensive card I have added to my collection this year, it is a card that I am extremely happy to add to my collection.  I am just hopeful to see Souza get a chance to play in 2015 and see more of these cards in the future.  

As for that other Souza autograph from the Topps Heritage Minor League Set?  I have got that off my list.  Maybe I will put it up sometime next week.