One of the first things I do when the Cardinals add a new player is to run out and find their cards. Sometimes I am happy with just adding a token autograph, but there are other times I feel obligated to go beyond just find a few cards.
Mark McGwire. I was all in from day one.
Jim Edmonds. Token autograph to start, all in by the middle of his first year.
Scott Rolen. All in right away.
Matt Holliday. All in right away.
Those four players seemed to work out well for the Cardinals on the field and were fun for me as a baseball card collector. Still, there were a few other players who did not work out as well beyond the aforementioned Kip Wells, his friends call him "Kipper", and Adam Kennedy. There was also this guy....
I loved the idea of the Cardinals trading for Mark Mulder. The tall left hander was a great pitcher for the A's and seemed to be just the thing to put the team over the top after losing in the World Series to the Red Sox. Within months of the trade I had all sorts of Mulder cards. He has a ton of autographs, but my collection started with this 2003 Donruss Signature which I actually pulled out of a pack of cards when the product was released a few years prior.
Mulder has been a pretty generous signer over the years and I had a lot of fun picking up his autographs along with other cool looking base cards and inserts. Really fun player to collect, but unfortunately a shoulder injury wrecked his career. Every collector has some player, or set, in their collection that they totally missed on. Mine was Mark Mulder, but I do not regret it for a minute. Find new players to collect is one of the best parts of the hobby. Even when they do not pan out.
Who was your favorite collection flame out?
I guess he could still turn it around, but Jon Jay is mine. It's not like I've spent big money, but I have like 12 autos of his.
ReplyDeleteI have some money tied up in Jay cards too, but he has been a pretty good player for the Cardinals. That's not a bad one.
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