Redbird Randomness

I helped a fellow collector from one of the Facebook card groups I belong to fill a few holes in an a late 1990s set and got a few random Cardinals autographs back in return for a the help.  I actually do not have any of these cards, so in some way they filled some holes in my collection too.  Although I do not expressly have some outrageous goal of getting every Cardinals autograph card or anything, I do try to get as many of the players as I possibly can.

Keeps the amount of money and quantity of cards within reason.  So, here are the three new cards....

First up is Cardinals pitching prospect Jake Woodford.  He's in the top 20 prospects for the team, but he seems like he's not going to be on the fast track to St. Louis or anything.  The Cardinals are usually pretty big on taking college pitchers at the top of the draft, but used a sandwich pick on Woodford.  He big, he throws pretty hard, but for everything out there on him he has a ways to go to get to the Majors.  Could be a Lance Lynn type of innings eater or a middle reliever.  Pretty wide range of opinion there.  Regardless, I like his autograph.  Very nice signature.  

Not a Cardinals card, or even a player who was on the Cardinals for very long.  However, most Cardinals fan have a pretty fond opinion of Spiezio after his performance in the 2006 Postseason helped the team defeat the Mets in the NLCS and the Tigers in the World Series.  He also had this gem for the Angels in 2002 against the Giants.  

Last one.  

I was happy to see Hazelbaker get a shot with the Cardinals at the beginning of the 2016 season and it was nice to see him play well for awhile.  I had seen him play several times over the past few seasons with the Paw Sox.  Not a serious prospect, but the guy gave a lot of effort and was an enjoyable player to watch.  Some Cardinals collectors went crazy for some of his cards during the first half of the baseball season.  I simply could not bring myself to spend the money or trade the cards to land one of these during that time.  

Hazelbaker ended up shuttling between Memphis and St Louis during the back half of the season and his autographs cooled a bit.  Glad to have landed one at the right price.  

2002 Topps Heritage Set

I have been uber productive tonight with my baseball cards.  Sorting, filing, putting away cards, trading cards, mailing cards.  I have done it all.  The best part was I treated myself to sitting down and spending a little bit of time with one of my favorite sets from the not too distant past.  Here's my quick take on the 2002 Topps Heritage set.

The set was the second issue of the Topps Heritage line and was based on the 1953 Topps cards.  The base set copied the 53 version minus the old players.  The low numbered cards were generally the commons in the set, with a few scattered short prints.  Overall, I love the appearance of this set and the look of the cards.  

Of all the Heritage sets that Topps has put out since 2001, I have them all, this was the easiest one to assemble.  The short prints are the last 70-80 cards of the set, but there is not a real marquee rookie or veteran to make the set difficult.  You can generally find assembled copies of the set pretty cheap, compared to other Heritage sets, or you can find a few big lots and mix and match together a set.  Here's a look at the front and back of a short print:

Of course Topps threw in some other cards beyond the base set.  There are the normal inserts featured in Topps Heritage like the Now & Then set, Classic Renditions, etc.  There are some really good autographs in the set which all collectors should check out.  There is a Willie Mays.  It's expensive.  Everyone else is totally affordable, but solid.  The most expensive autographs past Mays are ARod, now less than $50, and Yogi Berra.  While Yogi Berra sounds like it might be expensive, they are relatively easy to find and often for right around $50-$60.  Also recommend Jim Edmonds, Red Schoendienst, and George Kell.  If you want solid, but affordable check into Brian Giles or Senor Triple.....

  

I also spend a lot of time harping on the variations in Topps cards, but the 2002 Heritage set actually has a pretty cool variation.  Note the previous sentence refers to the variation.  Singular.  The took all of the cards in the set and made a night version of the cards.  They look pretty cool.  

The night version cards are pretty inexpensive too and can be bought in big lots.  I do not have the whole set of night cards, but I have not really tried either.  I know several people who love the Heritage sets and were able to assemble the complete night version set.  

Co-Signers Oddball

I had the chance to pick up a cool card with the signature of two former Cardinals on it this week in the form of a 1999 Topps Stadium Club Co-Signers Scott Spiezio/Tony Womack autograph.  I really love some of these Co-Signers cards and have a bunch in my collection, but scratch my head at times over the combination of players Topps put together on some of the cards.  This card is one of them. 

1999 Topps Stadium Club Co-Signers Scott Spiezio/Tony Womack Autograph

At the time the card was issued Spiezio was a utility infielder for A's at the time with a little bit of pop.  Nothing to write home about and I am a little surprised at the time that Topps would even put him on an autographed card.  Womack was the real star of this card which might be hard for some to believe.  At the time of the cards issue, Womack had just been traded to the Diamondbacks and was on his way to his third stolen base crown in a row.  More importantly, Womack would play a few seasons in Arizona and pick up two huge hits which helped the Diamondbacks win the World Series in 2001. 

The first came in the tight NLDS series against the Cardinals.  The Diamondbacks and Cardinals went to a decisive five game in the first round and were tied at 1 in the ninth when Tony Womack came up against Steve Kline.



Womack had an even bigger hit in game 7 of the World Series that year.  Most people remember the Luis Gonzalez blooper which won the game for the Diamondbacks, but the Yankees actually entered the ninth inning of that game ahead by a run.  Before Gonzo could win, Womack tied the game up of off Hall of Fame closer Mariano Rivera.



Womack would go on to win the National League crown with the Cardinals in 2004 before bouncing around to the Yankees, Reds, and Cubs his last couple of years in the league.  Womack had a really good year for the Cardinals in 2004 posting a .307 batting average and a career high .349 on-base percentage, but it's hard to top the contributions he made for the Diamondbacks in 2001.

Spiezio helped the Angels win the World Series in 2002 with this huge home run:

and later helped the Cardinals win the 2006 World Series.  The times before and after each World Series appearance for Spiezio were very forgettable and riddled with poor play and bad behavior away from the field.  His career ended after he drank himself off the Cardinals in 2007.