The Beginning Of Marcell

At some point during the summer of 2013 I decided to take a chance on picking up a card of young Marlins outfielder Marcell Ozuna.  He had actually played locally in Greensboro, and several of the collectors who are in a local Facebook group spent a fair amount of time raving about his potential.  I decided to check it out and I picked up one of his 2012 Bowman cards.

At the time, I was really happy about owning this card.  It seems like an even better card now that he was traded to the Cardinals this offseason for a package of Minor League prospects.  

It's been awhile since the Cardinals have a had a player with some star quality.  As a collector, I had noted several times over the last two or three summers how the Cardinals seemed to be stuck in this malaise.  Sure, the team looked okay in the standings, lingering near the playoffs, but not actually being able to close the deal in the end.  

Their baseball cards felt the same way.  

I like Carlos Martinez cards, but Michael Wacha, Matt Carpenter, and Kolten Wong?  All fine players, just not rushing out to find their cards.  Certainly not spending a lot of effort to chase them down, nor spending a lot of money to add them to my collection.  

Enter Marcell.  

Seems like a player worthy of some excitement.  Sorry about that highlight Blake Snell.  I still like you, but that was a terrible pitch.  

So, my good Marcell cards while playing for the Cardinals count has jumped from zero to two.  I am really happy to see these two show up in my mailbox and into my card collection.  First up, I added a cool Minor League card of the new Cardinals left fielder.  

Not any real connection to the Jupiter Hammerheads, but if you have visited this page long enough, you know that I enjoy Minor League cards.  It's not the Durham Bulls, or a local North Carolina team, but I am still generally a fan of these cards.  The Hammerheads actually play in the same stadium that the Cardinals use for their Spring Training games.  The facility is shared with the Marlins. 

This card is from the 2013 set which is from the good old days when Topps put a larger, stand alone logo on their Minor League patch card, as opposed to the small pennant cards they have used the last year or two.  

Next up.  Really nice card.  

Marcell Ozuna appeared in the 2013 Topps Heritage set as an autograph signer.  Not exactly the set you think of when you are trying to find an autograph of a younger player, but this card is spectacular.  There are plenty of different autographs of Ozuna that have been put out over the years, many appear in some very nice products, but this is perhaps the best autograph of the new Cardinals left fielder on a baseball card.  

When Ozuna was traded to the Cardinals, and I started researching what was available, this card was at the top of my list.  Really happy to cross it off my list right away.