I own a couple of thousand autographs, the majority have never appeared on my blog. Here is a random autograph that I have never posted.
Today: 2001 Bowman Autographs Felpe Lopez
Why Do I Own This Card?
Seemingly few Cardinals players find their way to Durham and vice versa. The number is more than I can count on one hand, but two hands might be a stretch. One of the lesser known Cardinals who found their way to Durham was Felipe Lopez.
Felipe was a toolsy infielder who played roughly a decade in the Majors and was on eight different teams during that time. You may best remember him as a Red or National, but in 2008 and 2010 he ended up on the Cardinals as a utility player. In 2008, Felipe Lopez had a great 43 game cup of coffee with the Cardinals hitting .385 with 14 extra base hits. His second appearance on the Cardinals in 2010 was less eventful as he only hit .231 for the season and the Cardinals ended up releasing him in the middle of September.
In 2011, he was signed by the Rays on a Minor League contract. Felipe spent the first part of the season in Durham where he was really good. He hit over .300 with power and earned a call-up to the Rays, where he did not hit and was sold to the Brewers.
To answer the question, I own this card because Felipe Lopez was on the Cardinals and the Durham Bulls. Believe it or not, I have multiple Felipe Lopez autographs. I like this one the best.
When Did I Get This Card?
I believe I picked it up off of COMC when he started playing for the Bulls.
Back of the Card
The "Congratulations" message and the information blurb run together, which stinks. Topps, Bowman, or whoever created this set should have just done without the extra information on the back of the card. Bowman typically has really good card backs that are full of information. I am sure they did a good job of describing Felipe's skill set on his base card, no need for it to also be on the autograph.
Felipe Lopez's Teams in a Haiku
Jays, Reds, Nats, and Cards
DBacks, Brew Crew, Cards again
Red Sox, Rays, Brewers (again)
Not familiar with this guy... but I remember the Felipe Lopez who played for the Vancouver Grizzlies. I opened a lot of 1998-99 basketball in search of Vince Carter, Antawn Jamison, and Jason Williams rookie cards... but always seemed to pull Lopez instead :D
ReplyDeleteFelipe Lopez is a high school and college basketball legend. Did you ever play college slam on Super Nintendo? St. John's was nearly unstoppable because of Felipe Lopez.
DeleteI don't mind the back, although I've never been very impressed with those little foil stickers.
ReplyDeleteI never understood why Topps needed both the authentication stickers and the authentication statement. Redundant.
Delete