I Forgot

Willy Adames spent two years playing for the Durham Bulls.  I collected quite a few of his cards during that time, and continued to track down a few once he got called up to the Rays last season.  I think my favorite was his Topps Living Set card. 

I have a few Minor League cards of him too, also a few autographs. 

The beginning of the year was not kind to Willy, and with plenty of other former Durham Bulls players on the Rays I set my sights elsewhere.  Well, I mainly collected Blake Snell cards, but there were a few other Rays players who made an appearance in this space during this baseball season too. 

Willy did not. 

Then the second half of the season happened.  Willy improved his OPS by more than 100 points, played Gold Glove caliber defense, and helped the Rays get into the playoffs.  He even hit a pair of home runs in the ALDS against the Astros. 

So, maybe it is time to find a few new cards of this former Durham Bull.  His cards have gotten a lot less expensive, so I was actually able to pick up two of his cards rather than the one that I had originally set out to find.  

First up.  

This is from Topps Heritage High Numbers.  The autograph looks a little smudged, but there are other copies of this card with a similar appearance.  Perhaps this was not Willy's best effort on signing cards.  The card cost a few dollars, so I am not overly worried about the the slight smudge.  Just happy to own an Adames autograph from this set.  Always one of the best every year.  

Next.  

This is from this year's Archives set, the autograph is on card, and the design in borrowed from the 1994 Topps set.  When I saw this card, I was reminded that the original 1994 set had different shortstop prospect that was on my rooting interest.......

No autographs from Tripp "Homer" Cromer, but I hope that Willy Adames turns out a little bit better in the long run.