2011 Bowman Platinum Starlin Castro Jersey/Autograph

I have been expecting Starlin Castro's card value to come down.  Any day now.  Seriously.  It's not just because he is a Cub and I have a strong dislike for the team.  There is something about him that I just do not like watching.  For some reason I find several collector's who agree with me and have a Starlin Castro autograph of some variety they are willing to part with at a low cost.  I always take them up on the trade because as sure as I can find a Starlin Castro autograph, I can find someone who will pay full value in cash or trade for the card.

2011 Bowman Platinum Starlin Castro Jersey/Autograph

Perplexed, I have decided that for once I will hold on to this Starlin Castro autograph.  This is at least the fourth or fifth one that I have owned over the past two years.  Am I missing something that with him that I should be impressed by on the field?  I decided to consult my good friend baseball-reference.com.

A quick glance at his year to year stats show that his power production has risen and he might have also finally mastered the concept of throwing the ball to the first baseman and not some dude sitting behind the dugout.  However, there are some serious alarm bells there too.  Examples, 16 walks in 400 plus plate appearances, an OBP of .305, and a stolen base percent hovering in the 60s.  His comparables, at 21, are still favorable.  There are four Hall of Famers on the list including Rogers Hornsby.  However, if one removes the age restrictions his similar hitters include Mike Aviles, Mike Caruso, and Cliff Pennington.  Yikes.

The gap between Cliff Pennington and Rogers Hornsby is pretty steep and if Castro turns out to be ordinary many card collectors will be out some nice change or cards they traded for Castro.  I am going to join everyone else in owning a Castro card.

2005 Topps Fan Favorites Ron Gant

I really enjoy collecting the Cardinals and am especially fond of the 1990's Cardinals.  The team didn't win much during that decade, but I really enjoyed watching the teams play and attended a ton of games.  It was also a point in my life where I really took off with my baseball card collection.  Since that time I have slowly tried to amass as many Cardinals autographs as possible.

Sometimes the process of acquire Cardinals autographs is painful.  For example, Tino Martinez played for the Cardinals.  Tino Martinez also really wanted to play for the Yankees while he was playing for the Cardinals, couldn't hit home runs without the right field fence in Yankee Stadium, and excelled at rolling into double plays.  Now, a goal is a goal.  He wore the birds on the bat, so I need an autograph.  Luckily, I found one that was damaged and cost me under $5.  Job well done.

2004 Upper Deck USA Baseball Tino Martinez Autograph 

Which brings us to a card that I picked up this week on the cheap.  It's a Ron Gant.  In 1995, Ron had a really good season with the Reds and lead them to a playoff appearance.  It was a nice story coming off a motorcycle accident.  Gant signed with the Cardinals that off season and hit 30 home runs in his first season while missing about thirty games due to injury.  He helped the 1996 Cardinals get to within one game of the World Series.  Nice start.  In 2007, Gant hit .229 with 17 homers and 162 strikeouts.  In 2008, he hit .240 and managed 26 bombs.

Fortunately, in between the 1998 and 1999 seasons the Cardinals traded Gant to the Phillies for Rickey Bottalico and Garrett Stephenson.  I still needed a Ron Gant autograph.  Check.

2005 Topps Fan Favorites Ron Gant Autograph

Facebook Trade

It's been a busy July and my trade volume has been down this month due to vacations, trips, and the beginning of the school year.  I still had time to complete a trade two weeks ago with Jeremy, a collector from Arkansas, who runs his own Facebook Trade Group.  His group is one of the better and trusted groups around on the internet.  If you are looking for a good place to trade you cannot go wrong there.

I posted a few Nolan Ryan cards last month and had a few other nice Ryan pieces I have been sitting on for a trade.  Jeremy is a big Nolan Ryan collector and had plenty of cards to offer up for trade.  I ended up getting five nice cards in return for my lot of Ryan memorabilia cards.

First up, is a 2004 Flair Albert Pujols patch card.  This is a two color patch featuring a large piece of yellow and a small strip of blue.  The yellow is clearly part of the bat from the front of the Cardinals uniform.  While Pujols is not a Cardinal anymore, it is still a great addition to my Cardinals collection and I was really happy to get the card.

2004 Flair Hot Numbers Albert Pujols Patch

I also received a sweet 2009 Topps Sterling Ernie Banks 5 piece relic in the trade.  I have traded for several other Topps Sterling cards over the past few months.  The cards always look great and they are a fantastic way to get an affordable premium relic card of a Hall of Fame player.  This card is serial numbered to 25 and has two pieces of pin striped jersey, one white piece of jersey, and two pieces of bat.  

2009 Topps Sterling Ernie Banks 5 Piece Relic 

The other three cards were also very nice.  I received a Topps Tribute Ozzie Smith bat card, a Triple Threads Evan Longoria Triple Bat Card, and a Topps Heritage Carlos Beltran bat card.  

2002 Topps Tribute Ozzie Smith Bat Card

2010 Topps Triple Threads Evan Longoria Triple Bat Card

2011 Topps Heritage Carlos Beltran Bat Card

July Baseball Card Contest Winner

The winner for my July baseball card contest is Steven Drennen from Brooklyn, New York.  He correctly identified all ten cards from the pictures.  Congratulations and enjoy your card!

2008 Upper Deck Masterpieces Brandon Phillips Jersey/Autograph

I was trying to complete a trade a few days back for a really small card.  A 1999 Fleer Premium Joe McEwing Autograph.  Joe Mac is kind of a cult hero around St. Louis for his phenomenal half season performance that year.  McEwing batted .305 in the first half of the season along with 4 homers and 30 RBIs.  Some even talked of "Super Joe" being in contention for Rookie of the Year.  The second half of the season appeared and McEwing disappeared hitting .223 with a .303 on base for the second half of the year.  The next spring training he was traded to the Mets for Jesse Orosco.

Anyway, I ended up with the card and helped a fellow collector complete a 2001 Topps HD set.

1999 Fleer Premium Joe McEwing Autograph 

While I was working on the trade I noticed the collector had a really nice Brandon Phillips autograph in the background of a picture.  The collector gave me a nice scan of the card, but didn't seem to really like the card too much.  Brandon Phillips is slightly unpopular in the metro St. Louis area.  Here's video proof.  Despite the fact, I still really enjoy watching Brandon Phillips play and consider him to be one of the better second baseman in the game.  I put a few more cards into the trade and walked away with a great looking on card autograph of the Reds All-Star.  

2008 Upper Deck Masterpieces Brandon Phillips Jersey/Autograph

Prior and Maddux Prime Patches

I picked up a pair of 2005 Prime Patches cards last week.  I really enjoy these cards and was excited to get both of these cards even though they are both Cubs.  The first card is a Greg Maddux dual jersey card.  This card features a piece of his jersey from both the Braves and Cubs.

2005 Prime Patches Greg Maddux Dual Jersey

The second Prime Patches card I picked up is pretty sweet too.  The card features four pieces from Mark Prior.  The pieces include a bat, hat, shoe, and fielding glove.  The hat is the highlight for me since the piece shows the New Era logo from the inside of his hat.  

2005 Prime Patches Mark Prior Quad Relic Bat/Hat/Shoe/Glove

Road Trip

The past week my blog has been quiet while I have been traveling.  There aren't many card shops in northern Michigan, but I still got a little baseball fix.  On my way to Michigan I stopped for a night in Cincinnati and checked out a Cardinals/Reds game.

I had great seats and really enjoy attending games at Great American Ball Park.  The stadium was pretty full and crowds at Reds games are usually pretty enthusiastic.  Definitely worth a trip if you live in the Midwest.  

I also got to attend a Tigers game with my father-in-law, brother-in-law and aunt.  I was really impressed with Comerica.  Nicer than Great American by a hair.  I got to boo Pujols and see Miggy and Trout hit home runs.  

I also picked up a couple of minor cards this past week which included three 2012 Tier One jersey cards and a pair of 1998 Donruss Signature autographs.  The three jersey cards were Ryan Zimmerman, James Shields, and Adam Wainwright.  The Donruss Signature cards were Ismael Valdes and Luis Ordaz.  

2012 Topps Tier One Adam Wainwright Jersey Card

2012 Topps Tier One James Shields Jersey Card 

2012 Topps Tier One Ryan Zimmerman Jersey Card

1998 Donruss Signature Ismael Valdes Autograph 

1998 Donruss Signature Luis Ordaz Autograph