2013 Topps Museum Tim Raines Autograph

I am getting close to pulling the plug on my Topps Museum Collection cards for the year, but I had one major target left to pick this past week.  I have had my eyes on picking up a Tim Raines autograph the last few months, I had one specifically in mind, but I was happy to see a really nice on-card autograph of the former Major League All-Star in the Museum Collection set.  Raines has a really nice autograph and has signed plenty of on-card autographs since he has retired from baseball.  While I would prefer an Expos autograph, Raines still looks mighty nice in this White Sox jersey.

2013 Topps Museum Collection Tim Raines Autograph

If you have not added a Tim Raines card to your collection, I believe he is one of the more undervalued players from the 80s and early 90s.  I'd go as far as saying that Raines should receive consideration from Hall of Fame voters and if I had my way I would go ahead and put "The Rock" in Cooperstown.  Let's get this out the way first:  The biggest fault of Tim Raines is that he played his great years in Montreal in front of tiny crowds.  There are not a ton of baseball fans who would put Raines on a list of great players from the 80s and the matter is further complicated by the fact that the organization has moved to Washington D.C. and the Nationals do little to recognize their history north of the border.

The Nationals do have a Ring of Honor where Raines, Dawson, Gary Carter, and Rusty Staub are all recognized, but I do not think the Nationals would (or do) campaign for their players the way the Cubs did for years with third baseman Ron Santo.  The case for Raines is pretty simple: He started his career by leading the National League in stolen bases four consecutive years and stole more than seventy each of his first five seasons.  He scored more than 100 runs in three of his first five seasons leading the league twice during his career.  Raines also won a batting title in 1986.  I realize that a great five or six years of baseball is not enough for the Hall of Fame, but Raines did a lot more than just steal bases and win a batting crown.

One of the best parts of Raines career numbers is his On Base Percentage.  Raines was great at drawing walks and would frequently draw 80 to 90 walks in a year.  He had several seasons where he owned a OBP over .400 and ended with a career mark of .385.  He also ranks 5th all-time in steals, is near 3,000 hits, and also ranks in the top 100 (63rd) in Offensive Wins Above Replacement Average.  His JAWS Score (A measure used to measure Hall of Fame worthiness) ranks him seventh all-time as a left-fielder behind names like Bonds, Ted Williams, Rickey Henderson, and Yaz.  He also ranks higher than Manny Ramirez, Billy Williams, and Ralph Kiner.  $10 for an autograph of a great player?  Steal.  

Pacific Cramer's Choice Cards

One of the card shops that I used to frequent outside of St. Louis has a big cabinet on the back center wall of the store.  The shop owner had a few nice autographed items, Heartland statues, old bobbles, and a whole bunch of oversized Pacific Cramer's Choice cards.  I always really liked the cards and would often stop and look at the giant die-cut beauties.  Of course, as I remember, the cards always priced out over $25.  While I really liked the cards, I would have rather put the $25 towards a box or an autograph.

After moving away from St. Louis I kind of forgot about the cards.  I would see one pop up every once in awhile, but it would be an item in someone's collection that they were showing off, or a version from another sport.  At some point I ended up with an Albert Belle.  Don't remember how, but it is here.    However, last week I had two Cramer's Choice cards pop up in a photo album of one of my trading partners.  Both cards were Cardinals and I knew my moment had come.  I asked about price and found a few nice relic cards to offer back picking up my first two jumbo die-cut Cramer's Choice cards.

1998 Pacific Cramer's Choice Award Mark McGwire 

1999 Pacific Cramer's Choice Award J.D. Drew

There are not too many Cardinals that appeared in the Cramer's Choice Awards set during their run between 1998 and 2000.  McGwire appeared in all three sets, J.D. Drew appeared in the 1999 set, and Rick Ankiel appeared in the 2000 edition.  If I add in players who appeared for the Cardinals, but are not a Cardinals card in the set, I would have to add a Larry Walker.  Sounds like a good challenge for the next few weeks.  I can find four cards and post them, right?  Go Team!

2013 Topps Triple Crown Miguel Cabrera Jersey Card

This has got to be one of my favorite cards that I have picked up in 2013.  I will wait until the end of the calendar year to declare it the best of the year, but it's the leader in the clubhouse so far.  Topps actually has a pretty long history of issuing single cards and sets to honor the accomplishments of different record setting players and teams.  One of my favorite in recent years was the 1999 Topps Mark McGwire 70 home run cards.  Of course, Topps also issued a similar Sosa card in the 1999 Topps set.

1999 Topps McGwire Home Run #11

The 1999 Topps McGwire and Sosa cards were printed as a part of the regular base set, but the McGwire card had 70 different variations, one for each of his 70 home runs in 1998, and Sosa had 66 variations.  Topps followed suit in 2002 by issue a similar run of cards after Barry Bonds broke the home run record again.  Take a spin around Ebay and you can find dozens of other sets and special cards Topps has issued over the past decade to celebrate different teams and players.  Which brings us to the question of how Topps did recognizing the Miguel Cabrera Triple Crown.  So, here's a look at the card: 

2013 Topps Triple Crown Miguel Cabrera Jersey Card

First, I really like the design of the cards.  The die cut is cool and I love the blue and orange colors with the centered picture of Cabrera with the triple crown design at the top on the rounded part of the die cut.  There are a total of 10 different jersey cards and 10 different autographed jersey cards.  Both were inserted into packs as redemptions, but the jersey cards have obviously been mailed out by Topps.  I am excited that Topps decided to put out an autographed version of these cards and will be curious to see whether the cards are signed on-card or on stickers.  I guess it will be cool in either case.

Overall, the best part of the Cabrera Triple Crown cards is the fact that the cards are inserts and are a good challenge to find.  While the McGwire, Sosa, and Bonds cards have still maintained some value and collectability with fans, I believe the fact that they were inserted into the regular base set has caused their value to pull down over the past decade.  I would guess that the Cabrera Triple Crown cards will run dry pretty quickly and will be hard to find past the year without a nice price tag, or some seriously competitive bidding.  Well done set of cards by Topps.  

2007 Bowman Chrome Peter Kozma Autograph

The Cardinals made Peter Kozma their first round draft pick during the first round of the 2007 amateur draft.  Kozma, or "The Wizard of Koz" was a high school shortstop from Oklahoma and was not thought of as first round talent.  Fans were upset at the pick and wanted the team to pick New Jersey prep star Rick Porcello instead of the shortstop.  Of course many thought the Cardinals, like other teams, avoided Porcello because he was represented by super agent Scott Boras.

Kozma spent several years toiling in the Cardinals minor league system often drawing the ire of the fan base.  He often struggled to hit and was seen as a glove first, no hit future utility man.  Finally last season the Cardinals brought Kozma up to the Majors after Rafael Furcal was injured and unable to play.  Again, fans groaned that the shortstop position was manned by a .250 hitter who was almost released by the Cardinals "five times" during the 2012 season.  Then Kozma actually did something  during the National League Divisional Series against the Nationals last October.

Kozma delivered two big hits against the Nationals helping the Cardinals move past the favored team in the best of five series.  He hit a big home run in the second game of the series and followed it up with the go-ahead two-run single in the ninth inning of the deciding fifth game.  This season, Kozma continues to hold down the shortstop position this season.  While he's nothing spectacular, he is certainly a steady player.

2007 Bowman Chrome Peter Kozma Autograph 

I will admit that I was skeptical of the Kozma draft pick over the past few years.  In the initial years after the Kozma draft pick, I watched players like Rick Porcello successfully advance his way through the minors and advance to the majors.  I also tracked players like Sean Doolittle and Andrew Brackmann, both drafted after Kozma, successfully start their minor league careers.  Of course, five years later all of these players have generally flamed out.  Sure, Sean Doolittle made the Majors, but only after the A's moved him from first base to the pitchers mound.

After watching the Koz for the past year and half, I am not sold that he is the shortstop of the future for the Cardinals, but he's what the team has at the moment.  I decided to set aside my displeasure with the Kozma draft pick and acknowledge the fact that he has helped the team during his time in St. Louis.  I am happy to add this Bowman Chrome autograph of the Cardinals shortstop to my collection.

I entered the Kozma card game late, but was surprised to see that almost all of his cards are still below $5 including the autographed cards.  Kozma has several different autographed cards floating around, but this card is one of the only on card autographs that he has signed.

2012 Bowman Platinum Jay Bruce Jersey/Autograph

I am not a huge Reds guy, but this is the second decent autograph I have picked I have picked up from a Cincinnati player during the last month.  Earlier this month I added a nice Joey Votto autograph and was offered a chance at a Jay Bruce autograph shortly after posting my Votto autograph.  As a Cardinals fan I have not really liked the Reds the past few years and do not hold the team in the same esteem that I have held other rivals in the past.  For example, I always liked when the Cardinals beat the Astros out for the division, or in the NLCS, but did not mind seeing players like Jeff Bagwell, Craig Biggio, and Lance Berkman getting a shot at the playoffs or the World Series.  

Dusty Baker.  Cannot stand him.  Johnny Cueto.  Can't fight.  Scott Rolen.  Cry baby.  

Despite having a few issues with some of the players on the Reds they are a very talented team and there are a few respectable individuals in their dugout.  I love watching Votto, but there are a few others I will check out from time to time.  One of those players is right fielder Jay Bruce.  He seems to be a pretty steady performing and a sure bet to put up 25-30 homers a year with close to 100 RBIs.  

2012 Bowman Platinum Jay Bruce Jersey/Autograph 

The newest addition to my collection was actually originally in packs of Bowman Platinum as a redemption.  Scan the secondary market sites and you will still see the redemption cards floating around.  Luckily, I found a card that had already been redeemed and did not have to wait through the hoopla of redemptions at Topps.  A few years back the market for Jay Bruce autographs was pretty healthy, but his cards have been drifting slowly downwards and can now be found for around $10 cash or trade.  Not a bad autograph for that price point.  

2000 Fleer Club 3000 Lou Brock Relic Cards

I picked up a pair of Fleer Club 3000 cards this week featuring Cardinals Hall of Fame left-fielder Lou Brock.  These cards were released across several 2000 Fleer products and came in several varieties.  The most common cards were the base cards with no relics, followed by the single relic cards, and the most difficult to pull are the multiple relics.  I always really liked these cards and know several other collectors who have a pretty nice stash of these cards.  Surprisingly, the single relic cards in this set are often quite inexpensive despite the popularity of the set and the quality of names appearing in the set.  Both of these cards cost me less than $20 together.

2000 Fleer Club 3000 Lou Brock Jersey Card

First up this morning is the jersey card.  I love the powder blue jersey patch on this card.  Definitely a Cardinals road jersey from the late 70s.  The card is limited to a mere 680 cards, which is not very impressive by today's standards, but I am sure was probably really low in 2000.  

The bat card is a generic bat piece and is not serial numbered on the back, so I can only imagine how many of these are floating around.  More importantly, these two Lou Brock cards have helped me complete my set of Cardinals relic cards for the Club 3000 set.  I am going to probably dedicate a little space sometime during the next week or two to post pictures of my Gibson and Musial cards and show off the complete set together.  

2000 Topps Stadium Club King of The Hill Game Used Mound Dirt

You read that title right.  Earlier in the week I posted a "unique" relic card feature a piece of wall from Pittsburgh's Three Rivers Stadium.  To make the card a little bit stranger Donruss, the manufacturer of the card, decided to attach the wall piece to Dodgers/Mets catcher Mike Piazza.  I came across the Piazza card when I ran into a collector specializing in oddball relics.  I've met plenty of collectors who enjoy oddball cards, but I actually had a lot of fun looking at a few of the unique relic cards.  Besides the Piazza, I also decided to make a trade for a cool looking oddball relic of Red Sox pitcher Pedro Martinez.

2000 Topps Stadium Club King of the Hill Game Used Mound Dirt

Topps actually made a whole set of these for the 2000 Stadium Club featuring both dirt from several pitchers mounds and batter boxes.  I am not sure how authentic dirt can be, but if nothing else the card is a good discussion piece.  I am not sure whether the dirt came off the mound during the 1999 or 2000 season, but they were both pretty spectacular years that that resulting in the Red Sox right hander winning the American League Cy Young Award.  

Similar to the game used wall card of Piazza this card also features a relic from a common area on the baseball field.  I am sure that the dirt probably is from the pitchers mound in Fenway Park, but who really can quantify the use of dirt on a pitchers mound.  Needless to say, the concept of the game used dirt card did not make it past the 2000 Stadium Club set.  However, I will say that I am going to find a copy of the McGwire batters box dirt card from this set.