1998 Topps Tek David Justice

During my "vacation" at the beginning of the month I managed to add a few more of the Topps Tek cards I was still trying to track down to finish off my set.  As of last week I was down to a David Justice and a Jason Kendall.  Two cards from a set with no short prints does not sound too bad at all, but it is proving to be most challenging.  After looking for the past month and a half for the two cards, one of them finally appeared in an Ebay auction.

1998 Topps Tek David Justice

That one auction was the first time I had seen this card during that time on Ebay, COMC, Amazon, Facebook, Twitter, or anywhere else on the internet where cards are available for sale or trade.  I called several card shops around Raleigh, Charlotte, St. Louis, and other destinations too.  Nothing.  Basically, when I saw the card post I knew that if I did not win the auction I might not see another copy of this card for a long time.  I ended up winning the auction, but also paid almost $10 shipped for a base card of David Justice.  Pretty steep.

Finding this card has narrowed my list of 1998 Topps Tek cards needed down to just Jason Kendall.  Similar to the David Justice card, there are no 1998 Topps Tek Jason Kendall cards anywhere.  In fact, for a week or two I was wondering if the card even existed.   However, there is a picture of one, ONE, on Google image search.  While there are no short printed cards in this set, there are some Jason Kendall super collectors somewhere with a giant stash of these cards.  I just need one.

2012 Panini USA Baseball National Team Jerseys Trea Turner Autograph

The NCAA basketball tourney is beginning this afternoon, but I am taking a little break to post my latest baseball card.  I am actually going to stick with the college sports theme of the day and post an autograph of a baseball player from my alma mater, and NCAA basketball participant, the North Carolina State Wolfpack.  While the Wolfpack have a nice history on the basketball court, they are trying to make a name for themselves on the diamond too.  Last year the team advanced to the NCAA Super Regionals where they battled SEC powerhouse Florida.  This year, they are ranked in the Top 20 and have some great talent that is worthy of your attention.

2012 Panini USA Baseball National Team Jerseys Trea Turner Autograph

One of my favorite players on the Pack baseball team during the past two seasons has been infielder Trea Turner.  Turner's main asset is his wheels.  In many ways he seems like the kind of player that would have fit in great on some of the Cardinals teams that I grew up watching in the mid 80s.  In fact, he led the ACC in steals last season with 57, just missing the conference record of 63 set by former UNC (and Orioles) second baseman Brian Roberts.  While he was stealing bases he also managed to hit .336 and was named to the Freshman All-American team by Baseball America.   

Now, I have actually been on the lookout for a Trea Turner autographed card to add to my collection since last fall.  At first there were a few autographs and they always ended quickly on Ebay, or they would be traded for something ridiculous in trade groups.  Look up completed listings on Ebay and you will see that they started out around ten dollars in January, then trickled into the mid teens, and last month around $20-$30.  This month the cards are crazy.  One had an asking price of $499 and it sold.  Hmm.  Maybe it has something to do with the fact that Turner is hitting .464 this season, or the fact that he hasn't been caught stealing yet either.  Anyway, if you see one at a reasonable price, this might be a good player to spend a little money on for the future.  

2013 Topps Cut To The Chase Set

I have finished up another one of my projects from the 2013 Topps Series 1 set during the past two weeks and have not had a chance to share some of my cards in this space.  I had originally mentioned the sweet looking die cut cards in my initial glance at the 2013 Topps set and then later again shared a Ken Griffey Jr. card that I picked up from the set.  It took a few more weeks, but I have now finished the whole insert set.

2013 Topps Cut To The Chase Stan Musial 

As mentioned before, the cards remind me a lot of some of the insert cards that Pacific put out in the late 90s which I loved to collect.  While these die-cut cards are not nearly as difficult to track down, and are seeded at a much higher rate, they are clearly among the more difficult cards from the 2013 Topps set to find cheaply.  The Ebay auctions for the Cut To The Chase cards tend to be very competitive and they do well in the trade market too.  The majority of the set has excellent player selection with my two personal favorite cards being the Stan Musial and Lance Berkman cards.  There are a few head scratchers.... 

2013 Topps Cut To The Chase Lance Berkman

I am slightly puzzled why Berkman makes so many appearances in the 2013 Topps set when he was injured and unproductive for most of 2012.  Not that I am complaining about Berkman cards, but the Cut To The Chase set does not appear on the literature for the second series of Topps meaning that this set is stopping at one set of 23 cards.  Perhaps Topps could have put in a Matt Holliday or Yadier Molina if they were looking for a modern Cardinals player to add to the set.  

2013 Topps Cut To The Chase Nelson Cruz 

The most puzzling card in the set is the Nelson Cruz card.  By my account he was probably the fourth or fifth best player on the Rangers last year and here is sits with a cool insert card.  Now, Topps did put a Josh Hamilton card in this set, but still Nelson Cruz?  Adrian Beltre hit way more than Nelson Cruz, is not afraid of walls, and was one of the top fielding third baseman in the league.  I guess they could have also picked Mike Trout, Miguel Cabrera, Prince Fielder, maybe even Albert Pujols.  All better than Nelson Cruz.

Bizarro World: 2010 Topps Sterling Bernie Williams Autograph/Quad Jersey

Social media is a funny place.  I am on Blogger, Twitter, and Facebook.  I've dabbled with Instagram and Tumblr and a few others along the way too.  The funny thing about the card world on social networking sites is that you generally have a group of people you can trade with, know their card interests, and can get some trading done.  Then there are always a few lurker-bys.  You know, people that are on your Twitter feed/Facebook friends, but they have an odd niche collection or they just congratulate people on cards.  A few of them make ridiculous offers on the high end cards that you pull or trade for.

So, this week I actually made a trade with a person I've never trade with before on Twitter.  I've noticed the person's handle and they've made a comment or two on a few cards I've posted.  It all started last week when I made a fairly harmless Tweet about pulling a Hank Foiles card out of a box of Topps Heritage.  It was during my vacation.

2012 Topps Heritage Hank Foiles Autograph

Hank Foiles is an okay autograph.  I looked over the checklist for the vintage guys in Heritage this year and would have loved a Stan Musial or a Dick Groat, but an autograph is an autograph.  I snapped a picture and posted it up on Twitter.  Literally ten seconds later I got a Direct Message from a follower identifying themselves as the biggest collector of 1960s Angels cards anywhere.  I posted my only other 60s Angels autograph of Jim Fergosi (signed in person) and was offered a trade package that wasn't very inspiring which happens sometimes with niche collectors.  They only have what they collect and if it's unique enough then it's hard to price.  Like Ray Lankford.  So, I was forced to look at his best card, which he apparently just got and he moonlights as a Yankees fan.  Hmmm.

2010 Topps Sterling Bernie Williams Autograph/Quad Jersey

Now, normally I can get pretty snarky about just taking cards for the sake of taking cards.  I also understand that the Foiles autograph is his only certified autograph and has actually been a pretty busy card on Ebay, but I was offered this Bernie Williams card for the two aforementioned Angels autographs along with a Troy Percival/Scott Shields dual autograph and a Tim Salmon jersey card.  Not even a Bernie Williams fan, but I took the card.  After sending my cards out and receiving my new Bernie Williams I received another DM telling me that I've been wiped out of 60s Angels cards and then unfollowed.  Definitely a win on your part buddy.  Thanks for the card.  

  

1997 Donruss Signature Andres Galarraga Autograph

Every good Rockies hitter over the twenty years of the franchise's existence has undergone the same scrutiny over whether they are a thin air hitter or a hitter everywhere.  Dante Bichette was a Coors Field hitter and so was Vinny Castilla.  There are also players on the Rockies that hit everywhere.  Larry Walker, Todd Helton, Matt Holliday just to name a few.  One of my favorite early Rockies players was Andres Galarraga who signed with the Rockies after a disappointing stint as the first baseman for the Cardinals. 

1997 Donruss Signature Andres Galarraga Millennium Marks Autograph

To be fair, Galarraga actually broke his wrist after being hit by a pitch during the home opener playing for the Cardinals.  He sat a couple of weeks, rushed back to the field and hit a whopping .186 with 2 home runs before the All-Star Break.  After a few days off at the break, Galarraga would hit .296 during the second half of the year with 8 home runs.  Sure the power numbers were off, but Galarraga would end up catching the eye of Cardinals hitting coach, Don Baylor, who ended up managing the Rockies.  The Rockies signed Galarraga as a free agent that off-season, while the Cardinals traded for batting helmet tossing HOF Gregg Jefferies.  During the following season in 1993, the Big Cat would pace the National League with a .370 batting average, 22 home runs, and 98 RBIs.  Galarrage would go on to have five or six more solid seasons playing primarily with the Rockies and Braves, but he bounced around to the Giants, Rangers, Expos, and Angels.

Of course, I added this Galarraga autograph primarily because he appeared with the Cardinals, but I also always enjoyed watching him play.  He was a great hitter during his prime and was a really good defensive first baseman.  Probably not a Hall of Famer, but he's not that far away in my opinion.  Galarraga has several autographs floating around with most costing less than $20.  

2000 SP Chirography Jose Lima Autograph

Jose Lima, or LimaTime, was one of the biggest personalities in baseball during the late 90s and early 2000s and a decent pitcher to boot.  During his career Lima will probably best be remember for his time on the Astros, but also made stops with the Tigers, Royals, Mets, and Dodgers.  Ultimately Lima would fall just short of winning 100 career games and a career ERA over 5.  However, most of bloated ERA came from a few years in the AL Central with the Tigers and Royals.

2000 SP Chirography Jose Lima Autograph

Lima's best years were the 1999 and 2000 seasons which were spent with the Astros.  During those two seasons, Lima won a total of 37 games, pitched almost 500 innings, and struck out over 300 batters.  Lima also starred around the National League as a national anthem singer before games and released a few merengue CDs.  Lima died in 2010 of heart disease, but was a great and gracious signer during his career leaving plenty of autographs floating around for collectors.  Most can be found for less than $10 and are always signed the same.  Lima has one the best autographs around and always took time to sign every ball and card the same.  A great addition to the collection.  

2013 Snorting Bull Blog Contest Winner

I announced a few weeks ago a contest for my readers giving them the opportunity to win a sweet Stan Musial card from the 2013 Topps set.  Entrance into the contest was simple.  Contestants simply needed to follow my blog on Blogger, Facebook, or Twitter.  I has originally planned on announcing my winner last week, but my job and a nasty cold got in the way.  After taking a little bit of time off from the blogging world I am ready to announce my winner of this beautiful Stan Musial manu card.

The winner of this years Snorting Bull blog contest is Twitter follower: Paul Woodin.  Congratulations and thank you for following along with my baseball card collection.