Monday Morning Autograph - Albert Belle

 

Today's Autograph: 1999 SP Signature Albert Belle 

Why Do I Own This Card?

Albert was a pretty incredible player. His career was too short for him to make the Hall, or so it would seem, but he was a scary hitter. I remember him getting 50 home runs and 50 doubles in a season when I was in high school, I followed along that summer with the box scores. Been a fan every since. Sure, Albert had his faults, but he could absolute hit a baseball. I have other cool Albert Belle cards, there might be a bonus at the end of the post.  

P.S. - Remember that time he got hit by a pitch, but he didn't want the free base?

Back of The Card

Haiku About Albert Belle Running Over Fernando Vina with Video 

Ground ball to Vina

Albert Belle Runs Him Over 

Let's Get Some Water 

 

Bonus Card:

Goal Number 1, Part 1

Way back at the end of 2023, I made a few goals for my 2024 card collecting year. My first goal was to find more Blake Snell insert and parallel cards. It's now the middle of September and I have not posted a single one of these cards. I actually worked on the goal during my blogging break this summer, but never got around to posting any of the cards until today.  

I decided to put heavy emphasis on parallels to start. I made them brand specific, which you will see as you continue reading this post and future posts about this card goal. Plus, there are tons of parallels these days and they are easy to find. I am a long-time Snell collector, but I am a little late to the party when it comes to non-autographed cards.  

For today, I am going to post several parallels I have picked up from Gold Label sets.  Always liked the looks of these cards....

First up is a 2019 Gold Label card. It's a Class 1 card, so it has higher serial numbers. I believe each class of the three classes of cards has a few different parallels, which all have different serial numbers. This card is out of /150 and cost me less a few dollars on COMC. The pictures on the card also change by class. Thinking facial hair versus no facial hair here? That's not actually a thing.  

The next three are all from the 2016 Gold Label set, which make them all rookie cards.  

All red parallels.  

The middle card is photoshopped from a Durham Bulls game.  The tall, dark blue wall is from the left field corner and the sign to the right his head is from a local orthopedic office. The bottom card is the obvious prize of the post with a serial numbered print run of just 25 copies. 

Overall, a nice start to my my first goal of the year, even if came a little bit late.  

Two Terrific Tajs

The Taj Bradley collection has crossed into double digits, but the blogger posts are still not numbered. At least, not for the moment. At what point should I start numbering them? I think I am getting close. Anyway, I picked up two more terrific Taj Bradley autographs for the collection during the past week.  

First up, an autograph out of the $425 per box Topps Museum Collection. Cost of this card was north of $10 making it one of the more expensive Taj Bradley cards in my collection. I appreciate all the people who open up boxes, so very much.  

I couldn't do it without you.  

I was somewhat hopeful that the orange patches were connected to the Durham Bulls when I first bid on this card, but after doing a little research, it appears this is likely from Bradly's appearance at the Futures Game a few year's back at Dodger Stadium. The orange seems slightly muted compared to photographs from the game, but there are patch cards that match this jersey.  

 

What I would do to get a Durham Bulls patch card......

One day. 

Last card for a quick post.......

Bradley signed for the 2024 Topps product, but was a short-printed autograph with just /199 serial numbered copies.  Seems like a player who would not be on the short-print list, but here we are.  The serial number is on the back of the card and this is a quick post, so you can imagine it's there.  It says "087/199". 

This is one of the first autographed cards I have purchased out of 2024 Topps, and while I have not been rah-rah about the product this year, this is a really well-blended sticker autograph. You can barely tell on the scan.  

I am old enough to remember........

 when Pacific made Spanish language baseball cards.  

I really miss that company, I was fortunate enough to find a really cool Pacific Ray Lankford card this past weekend that was missing from my collection. There aren't many that aren't 1/1s or serial numbered to something less than 25.  

This is a First Day Issue card from the 1999 Pacific Invincible set.  

The card is serial numbered out of /69 copies. That number is lower than the typical Pacific Opening Day parallel set print run, which ran in each of their products and typically to 99 serial numbered copies. Invincible was a little higher-end for Pacific. The circle on the card is translucent, the scan does not really do the card justice.  

Here is the back of the card......

Spanish language text at the top of the card with the translation on the bottom right-side. Again, the scan does not do much for the translucent circle. 

105.

This is the 105th Blake Snell autograph in my collection.  

I have actually been waiting to add this card from the 2024 Topps Series 1 to my collection for a few months, but the price has always been outside of my comfort zone for Blake Snell autographs. Almost immediately after Series 1 hit the shelves, this card was north of $50, that includes the base (non-red) variations too. 

I waited patiently, also lost a few auctions on Ebay, but I finally found a copy at a comfortable price.  

Love that brown and gold patch-piece on the front of the card. This is a sticker autograph, but very well blended by Topps.  Serial number is in the bottom right-hand of the card, just two off his jersey number with the Giants.  

Back of the card.  

The typical "CONGRATULATIONS!" message with the usual small print.  

Famous Last Words

I stopped by my local card shop a few days back. The shop had moved across the parking lot to a larger storefront a few weeks back and I was excited to see the new digs. Needless to say, it did not disappoint. I probably should have taken some photos inside the shop, but my mind was on cards.  

Here are the latest pickups at Triangle Area Trading Cards.  

First up......

You see a great card from your childhood and it's cheap, it's really hard to pass up. The card is off center and there is some chipping on the edges, but this is a great card. Could not pass it up.  I need to post my first Rickey Henderson rookie on here one of these days, because it's a really good story from my childhood.  

Luken Baker has hit a ton of home runs the last two years with the Cardinals Triple A team. They've left him in the Minors most of the time, given the Cardinals track record, it's only a matter of time until Baker is a really good player on some other team.  Decent autograph, cheap card. Go team.  

I spent some time in Michigan this summer, which included watching a decent number of Tigers games. I had been meaning to pick up a Reese Olson card all summer long, but never got around to it.  He's a really impressive young pitcher, think this will be a good pickup in the long-term.  

An old Archives autograph for cheap. Yes, please.  

A newer Archives autograph for cheap. Yes, please.  

Esteban played for the Durham Bulls a few years back.  He's spent most of his career playing in Mexico, but spent time in the Minors with the Red Sox, Rays, and Phillies with a cup of coffee in the Majors with the Cubs. Lovable player, spark plug type. I am glad that someone gave him a baseball card and had him sign a few autographs.  

Zack Gelof is having a terrible year, but I still like him. I saw him play in college while he was at the University of Virginia. He was also on my fantasy baseball team last year. Let's hope for a better 2025.  

Next up, Luis Arraez. I loved the Silver Slugger cards when Topps made them back in the early 2010s, this one is not as thick, but still a really nice card. Serial numbered to just 10 copies, but it's on the back.  Sorry, no back scans today.  

A little bit quicker......

Masyn Winn, Junior Caminero Finest RC, and a cool Taj Bradley Chrome parallel.  

Cal Raleigh RC, Willy Adames RC, and another Masyn Winn.  

Shiny Big Mac, Xavier Issac should be the Durham Bulls first baseman next year, and a Jordan Walker.  

Shiny cards of Yordan Alvarez, Willson Contreras, and a Satchell Paige with the Browns.  

Last, let me tell you about the blaster box I bought. I saw the 2024 Donruss packs and boxes at the counter, decided why not. Let's try a few packs. Ninety-nine percent of the box was terrible and I am not going to waste my time scanning the cards, nor waste your time reading about the terrible cards. 

It was the last thing I said as I was checking out. "Let me get a box of 2024 Donurss"

Famous last words and it turns out that 1% of the box was pretty spectacular.