Whiteyball, Moneyball, and Matt Adams.

Topps Archives came out a few weeks back.  

The base cards that are in Archives, I don't actually collect them, but I do appreciate the autographs.  

I bought a few. 

First up, the White Rat.  

I was surprised to see his name appear on the checklist and even more surprised that his signature is still this nice at 90 years old. I am half his age, I get paid to write in front of people, and my signature is not this nice.  

I like the black and white photo on the left side of the card.  That's pretty sweet with the satin jacket and sunglasses.  

While we are here, Topps did a really good job with the back of this card. Nice run down on Herzog's career as the Cardinals manager. Definitely better than the standard "CONGRATULATIONS!" 

Although, there is nothing here about Garry Templeton giving the crowd at Busch Stadium the double bird and getting traded to the Padres for Ozzie Smith. That was a definite highlight.  

Very nice addition to collection.  

Next up is Carlos Pena. He is the Rays, or Devil Rays, all-time home run leader. 

I am not sure what has happened to his autograph over the years, but it has really gone down hill.  

You can't play him at first tonight, because he's been traded to Detroit. Carlos Pena had a .346 on-base percentage, but where are the Scott Hatteberg cards?  

I think Scott Hatteberg was actually in Topps Archives in the past year or two.  I'm killing this blog post with reference to baseball movies that aren't Bull Durham.  

Last up is Cardinals rookie Juan Yepez.  

I have high hopes for Yepez in the coming years for the Cardinals. 

The guy can hit.

I also like that he made the Majors after being traded to the Cardinals from the Braves for Matt Adams. At the time of the trade, Yepez was in A-Ball and not considered much of a prospect. Five years later, Yepez is playing in the Majors and Matt Adams is doing something that's not playing baseball.