Master Archivist of Cardinals Autographs Not Necessarily In Cardinals Uniforms

Beyond the Delino DeShields autograph, there were four other autographs in the 2013 Topps Archives set of Cardinals players from the past.  While they do not all appear in Cardinals uniforms in the set, they all appeared on the Cardinals for at least half a season.  Two of the autographs were first time certified autographs that I was excited to add to the collection.  The other two were good additions too.  Let's start with the first time signers:

2013 Topps Archives Bob Tewksbury Autograph 

Tewksbury played for the Cardinals for several seasons in the early 90s.  He was the best pitcher on those teams, which were not really that good.  Tewksbury won double digit games every season he pitched for the Cardinals and was also successful pitching with the Twins, Padres, and Yankees.  His pitching style can best be described as extremely slow.  Only once during his 13 year career did he strike out more than 100 batters.  In fact, one of Tewksbury's most memorable career moments was when he threw Cardinals first baseman a 44 MPH pitch with the Twins.  McGwire did not get a hit that game.  

2013 Topps Archives Chuck Finley Autograph

 

Finley only appeared for the Cardinals during the second half of the 2002 season.  The Cardinals traded Coco Crisp, he might have been Covelli at that point, from the Indians to replace deceased pitcher Darryl Kile.  Finley won half of his starts for the Cardinals during the regular season and struck out almost a hitter per inning.  He also picked up a win against the Giants in the National League Championship Series.  This is Finley's first certified autograph which should be pretty popular with Angels and Indians collectors too.

The last two cards are players whose autographs already appear in my collection:

2013 Topps Archives Lee Smith Autograph

Lee Smith actually has a pretty healthy supply of autographed cards out on the market.  A fair number of them appearing in a Cardinals uniform.  While Smith had some good years as a Cardinals player, he also had some really rough years wearing the birds on the bat.  While I am certainly not a Cubs guy, this is how I best remember Lee Smith.  Just not against the Cardinals.  

2013 Topps Archives Gary Gaetti Autograph

Last, but not least, is a new autograph of "The Rat".  Gaetti played part of two seasons for the Cardinals at the end of his career and was not all that great.  He did hit a grand slam against the Braves in the 1996 National League Championship Series, but I think that was his lone Cardinals highlight.  Gaetti also won two World Series with the Twins and later went on to be a first base coach for the Durham Bulls.  Currently, he is managing the Sugarland Skeeters.


I'd also like to take a moment to wish my alma mater, North Carolina State, the best in their appearance at the College World Series.  GO PACK!  Go To Hell Carolina!

2013 Topps Archives Delino DeShields Autograph

I saw the checklist for the 2013 Topps Archives set I knew I had to pick up a Delino DeShields autograph.  He's never had a certified autograph before this card and honestly he is such an interesting person to so many different fan bases.  Why would you not want a Delino DeShields autograph?  Maybe if your a Dodgers fan you could live without the memories of Delino DeShields.  So, besides having a cool name let's look at the card and some different motivations for owning an autograph of this former Major League second baseman.

2013 Topps Archives Delino DeShields Autograph

Montreal Expos Fans- I am always surprised at how many people collect Expos cards.  It's surprising that there are several out there, but I will admit, they are really cool cards to look at.  DeShields started his career north of the border with the Expos in the early 90s when they were bringing up players like Larry Walker, Marquis Grissom, and Wil Cordero.  Throw in a few nice veterans like Dennis Martinez and you have got a good team.  Of course, the best reason for loving DeShields is the fact that the team traded him to the Dodgers for a young Pedro Martinez.

Los Angeles Dodgers Fans- Read the last sentence of the Expos paragraph.  Let that soak in.  Every team has their bad trade.  This is the Dodgers.  Batting average under .250, OBP under .330, and an OPS under .700.  Yikes!

St. Louis Cardinals Fans-My reason for getting this autograph is that he actually put on the Birds on the Bat for a game.  Of course, while DeShields played terribly for the Dodgers he had two great years for the Cardinals.  Batting average in the .290s, OBP in the .360s, and an OPS over .800.  Add in the fact that he spent a year and half of his time in St. Louis getting on base in front of Mark McGwire.  Add all of that up and this is a pretty good card for any Cardinals collector.  Although I question him having the first five seconds of an En Vogue song played as his at-bat music for two years straight.  It still ranks as the all-time worst at-bat song in Cardinals history.

Baltimore Orioles Fans- As a resident of the middle Atlantic region I run into many Orioles fans in these parts.  I am often told the tale of their terrible owner.  First, he signed free agents that did not work out.  Then he went cheap.  DeShields was a free agent that did not work out.  In three seasons with the Orioles he played well for one season where the Orioles were terrible and was injured and below average the other two seasons.  Coincidently, the Orioles were terrible the two seasons that DeShields played poorly.  Orioles fans do not like to hear that.  

Chicago Cubs Fans-How do these types of players usually work out for the Cubs?  This was not any different.  DeShields was somewhere around the player that he was on the Dodgers and Orioles.  Not good.


Summary-DeShields was a solid Major League player who is remembered by many fans for having a cool name, wearing a double flapped batting helmet, and having terrible at-bat music (I am not letting it go).  If you were an Expos fans and Cardinals fan you probably remember DeShields helping out your teams with some good solid second base play for several seasons.  Throw in decent defense, a few stolen bases, and a Pedro Martinez trade.  Cubs, Orioles, and Dodgers fans....not so much.

Besides being a former Major League Baseball player, Delino DeShields also has extremely talented children.  Even if one of them is a Tar Heel.

2010 Topps Tribute Johnny Mize Jersey Card

Small post to start off the week.  I had the good fortune to pick up a card of a Cardinals Hall of Famer at the end of last week.  I am not sure exactly what hat Johnny Mize is wearing on his Hall of Fame plaque, but he started off his career as Cardinal.  I think that many people associate him with the Giants and Yankees, but card companies have issued a few nice pieces of cardboards with him pictured as a Cardinal.

Mize actually played his first six seasons in St. Louis during which he won a batting title, two home run titles, led the National League four times in slugging percentage, and three times in OPS.  The Cardinals traded Mize to the Giants where he missed a few years because of World War II, but still had a couple above average to great seasons before closing out his career with the Yankees.

I guess the Mize factoid that always sticks in my mind was that always sticks out to me was the fact that he held the Cardinals single season record for home runs (with 43 in 1940) until Mark McGwire's record breaking season of 1998.  That season now ranks 6th on the Cardinals all-time single season home run list behind McGwire's 1998 and 1999 seasons (70 and 65 home runs) and three Pujols seasons (49-2006, 47-2009, and 46-2004).

 As for the card, this is my second Mize card that I have added to my collection and the best one yet.  I like the jersey piece on the card since it is an actual old piece of jersey and not something he wore in some Old Timers game twenty years after he retired.  Upper Deck put out a few nice Mize cards around 2004-2005 and Topps put out several different cards during the 2010 and 2011 seasons.  I've got my eye on another Mize card, so hopefully I will have another one to post in a few weeks.  

Trio of Sweet Tribute Cards

I picked up three new 2013 Tribute cards this week in a trade.  Each of the new cards is equally cool in it's own way, but I am always happy to add a nice new autograph from a great set like Tribute that features on-card autographs.  So, let's get started with the first only non-autographed card in this trade.

2013 Topps Tribute Green Yadier Molina 

This card actually started this trade.  My brother in-law pulled this card out of a pack of Tribute and we started working on a trade.  It can be tough to find cool Molina cards since he longer signs autographs and rarely has any new relic cards.  There are a few floating around here and there, but there is a definite premium on the cards and a serious lack of supply.  Of course, there are always parallel cards.  This card is limited to just 75 prints on really nice card stock and features a picture of Yadier in his catcher's gear.  It's been awhile since I have picked up a Yadi card, so I decided to go ahead and trade for this card which helped me land two more nice autographed Tribute cards.

2013 Topps Tribute Andy Pettitte Autograph 

I think at one point I owned a 1996 Leaf Signature Andy Pettitte autograph, but it has been awhile.  Pettitte, in my opinion, probably is one of those Hall of Very Good players and not a Hall of Famers, but he has been around forever and won a lot of games.  In fact, he picked up his 250th win yesterday.  Outside of his win total, I am not sure what Pettitte does really well.  His Baseball Reference comparables page is filled with other really good pitchers, not Hall of Famers, like David Wells, Mike Mussina, Kevin Brown, and Charlie Leibrandt.  

Despite being a little short on Hall of Fame credentials Pettitte has some pretty good and valuable cardboard floating around.  He's a definite fan favorite in New York, you can find an occasional Astros fan, and his cards are in pretty high demand.  Hall of Very Good Player with Hall of Fame prices.  It happens.  

2013 Topps Tribute Matt Moore Autograph 

Last, but not least, is one of my favorite former Durham Bulls.  Matt Moore is off to a really good start this season in Tampa sitting at 8-1 with an ERA just below 3.  I picked up a bunch of Moore autographs last year, but this is my first of 2013.  Moore has a great signature and his autographs have come down a little bit from last year making them a little bit more affordable.

2010 Topps Tribute Justin Upton Dual Jersey Autograph

Apparently I have been collecting the wrong Upton the past few years.  After watching B.J. Upton spend a little time with the Durham Bulls a few summers back, I decided that I would collect his cards.  I've even featured a few of them during the past year on this space.  All the while I was aware that there was another Upton roaming around the Majors, but I just never got a really good feeling watching Justin Upton.  Silly reason not to pick up a card of someone, but I am usually pretty good at this sort of thing.

Never went crazy on Delmon Young even though he was a number one overall pick and a Durham Bull.  I ran away from Tommy Hanson cards the first few years he was in the bigs.  Josh Hamilton?  I've owned at least fifteen different Josh Hamilton autographs.  They only I've actually kept is one copy of his 1999 Topps Traded autograph.  That's it.

I am not sure what has always bothered me about Justin Upton, but at least part of my worry in picking up one of his autographs has always been justifying the price.  While he cards are not the most expensive autographs in the world, there hard to find for less than $10-$15.  He also has a lot of early, low print run cards that can cost a pretty penny too.

I thought his cards would pick up some steam with his trade to Atlanta and his perceived great start in a Braves uniforms.  While the younger Upton is hitting home runs in bunches this year in Atlanta, he still appears to be a very similar player to the one I did not really like in Arizona.  However, he is playing much better than his brother, not hard to do at this point, and he is in a better baseball town.

Well, we've all got to spend our Ebay Bucks somewhere and it never hurts to do a little combined shipping and pick up a few cards that you are looking for and not just the one.  I was actually looking for a few other things and stumbled upon this card:

2010 Topps Tribute Justin Upton Dual Jersey Autograph 

The card would be way better if it weren't a sticker autograph, but I guess I can now say that I own a Justin Upton autograph and that I did not grossly overpay for it.  The card is limited to 50 print runs and comes from a premium Topps product.  I am going to go ahead and put this in one of my boxes of autographs, but might consider flipping it around to some lucky Braves fan if Upton goes on a good tear once it gets hot in Atlanta.  

Complete Set: 2013 Topps Archives

I am amazed at how quickly I can assemble a set sometimes without busting open a pack of cards or winning a single Ebay auction.  I managed a few trades with a couple of friends that like to participate in case busts and put together my very own 2013 Topps Archives set.  I put this set together last year and really enjoyed see all of the designs of the past Topps sets.  While I wonder at times if Topps rehashes some of their old designs a little too often, I like that the Archives set uses a few of the less used card designs in this years issue of Archives.  So, let me tell you a little bit about the set and show off the card designs in this years set.

2013 Topps Archives Mike Trout 

The most recent of the four reused designs in this year's set comes from the 1990 set.  While the actual 1990 set is generally missable, I do kind of dig the design used on the cards.  I am not not sure why I like the style of these cards, but I do.  I guess it is not a black or white border, which is hard for Topps to see beyond sometimes when they issue their base sets.  Of all the 1990 cards issued in the Archives set this year I kind of dig the Trout card the best.  

2013 Topps Archives Robin Yount

The Topps Archives set also features several players from the past throughout the set.  Names like Musial, Ted Williams, and Jackie Robinson are common historical cards in Topps sets and again make appearances in this new release.  While I like that Topps incorporates a little bit of history into the base set of Archives I really like the cards that fit the original era of the cards.  For example, as a Cardinals fan I love that Musial is in the set and featured in the 1990 designed part of the set.  However, cards like this Robin Yount and the Reggie Jackson below seem to fit the card design a little better since the players where active during the actual release of the original set.  

2013 Topps Archives Reggie Jackson 

Overall, I think that the 1982 design is my favorite in the set.  While I started collecting cards in 1983 and missed the 1982 cards as a kid, I have assembled the set (several times) as an adult collector and I really enjoy the cards.  My favorite two cards in the 1982 design are the Shelby Miller "rookie card" and this cool Reggie Jackson which is actually similar to the 1982 Topps Traded Reggie Jackson card.  Mr. October actually is pictured on the Yankees in the base set, but the traded set featured Jackson in his Angels digs sporting his tinted glasses.  

2013 Topps Archives Chris Davis 

Lastly there is the 1972 designed cards.  I am kind of indifferent about this set.  I think I have picked up a bunch of the Cardinals cards from this set, but I do not go out of my way for them.  I guess a lot of people like it for the Fisk rookie, but I like the 1971s better for my fun 70s card set. 

Overall, the 2013 Topps Archives base set is a pretty nice looking product.  I like the set designs that Topps put in the product and I like the selection of players they used filling the set with a good mix of current and vintage players.  My one improvement would be to have the vintage players match up a little bit better with the card designs, but I understand that Topps also wants to fit some of classic players into the set that do not necessarily fit into the same time period of as the card designs.  I will be making a follow up post for the Archives set to show of my favorite part of the Archives release.   

2012 Panini Elite Seth Maness Extra Edition Autograph

Starting off the weekend with a small pick-up from the past week.  While Panini is not necessarily my favorite card company I continue to be impressed with the wide selection of players that they have sign for their different products.  This season the Cardinals seem to be flying through players, but almost every minor leaguer brought up to St. Louis has some sort of card in a Panini product.  A good handful even have a signed card of two floating around on the secondary market.  I have been really impressed and over looked the fact that the cards are unlicensed and do not feature any uniform logos.

2012 Panini Elite Seth Maness Extra Edition Autograph

Maness has been up for a with the Cardinals for a few weeks now and has pitched in 15 games heading into tonight's game against the Reds.  His numbers are pretty average, but he already has 4 wins.  He's done a nice job of helping the team through a rough patch with some injuries and players underperforming.  Besides pitching for the Cardinals, Maness also pitched in college for the East Carolina Pirates and is originally from Pinehurst, North Carolina.  Always good to support some local kids in the show and East Carolina has been a pretty good baseball team as of late.  This is the only autograph card that Maness has out on the market, but there are 722 of them floating around.  They are inexpensive.