Jon Jay. One More Time. Last Time?

The 2013 season is winding down and I am ready to watch the postseason drama.  I have a break coming up from work, so I am going to have a great time staying up late and checking out some of my favorite teams in the postseason.  The Cardinals are my main cheering interest, but I will also watch all of my favorite ex-Durham Bulls on the Rays and will also keep up with the Tigers for my family in Michigan.  I have learned to expect the unexpected over the years during the postseason, so I am not going to play the role of prognosticator in my blog space.  I pick which ever team is hot.  See last year's Giants, 2011 Cardinals, 2010 Giants, etc, etc.

Heading into the postseason, there seems to be a lot of future change hovering over my teams of interest.  I guess the Rays situation with David Price is the most intriguing, but I am going to save that one for another post.  The Cardinals situation is interesting too.  The team currently is playing Jon Jay, Carlos Beltran, and Matt Holliday as their regular outfielders, but they have also mixed in Allen Craig to give Matt Adams at bats at first base.  Throw in top prospect Oscar Taveras in Triple-A Memphis and you've got a crowded outfield.

Who stays and who goes?  Beltran is a free agent, but he's hitting almost .300 with over 20 homers and 80 some RBIs.  Pretty good production for an old guy with shaky knees.  I honestly think they bring him back.  Considering the Cardinals had played Taveras in centerfield this year leads me to believe that we are likely at the end of the road with Jon Jay.  I would guess that the team mixes Taveras, Beltran, Holliday, and Craig in the outfield next season.  Don't get me wrong, I like Jon Jay and can appreciate the fact that he was a key contributor to the 2011 World Championship team and the NLCS team last year.  This was one of my favorite Jay catches.

   

I will be happy with Jay as a Cardinal beyond this year, but I do not see why the team would choose to keep him around given the other options they have on the Major League club an in the farm system.  Collection wise Jay has always been a pretty fun to collect, a great and frequent signer, and an inexpensive Cardinals player with lots of cardboard.  I would guess that Jay will not have an autograph in Triple Threads or any of the remaining Topps products which means that his Tier One Autograph is likely his last Cardinals autograph.  

2013 Topps Tier One Jon Jay Autograph 

This Tier One autograph is one of the easier cards to find from the set at almost 300 print runs.  The autograph is an on card signature with Jay trademark JJay 'graph.  Most copies of this card run less than $5.  Here's hoping for a few more Jon Jay autographs, doubting that he's a Cardinal past this card.  

My Top 50 Players on Cardboard #43-Sammy Sosa

My Top 50 Players on Cardboard
#43
Sammy Sosa

1990 Leaf Sammy Sosa

Hobby Impact-
The first steroid guy on my list of players.  Ten to fifteen years ago Sosa would have easily been on the top half of this list, but time has changed how many view the home run hitters of the late 90s and early 2000s.  Most within the hobby have followed suit and jumped of the bandwagons of players like Sosa. Sosa may have more valuable cards than the players on my list up to this point, he may have more than players listed in the coming days and weeks, but Sammy's demand and popularity have taken a nose dive.  Of course, with Sammy, it was sometimes more than just steroids that made him look bad...




Sosa cards are still fairly collectable and nice graded copies of rookie cards and his autographs will cost collectors a pretty penny.  Anything beyond those two items is usually a slow mover and has dropped significantly in value.

At one point I had a pretty nice Sosa collection.  I started adding some of his cards after the 1998 Home Run race and held onto them past the 2003 season.  Sadly, I sold many of the cards at a loss which was a smaller loss than if I tried to sell the same cards today.

On The Field Impact-
I should just post a video of Sosa hitting a home run....



Please note the trademark bunny hop.  Sammy hit home runs.  That's all.  On to my favorite part of my Sammy Sosa post...favorite card.  Really good.

Favorite Card-
What can I say about my favorite Sammy Sosa card?  If the Louvre had to display one autographed baseball card as artwork a Sammy Sosa autographed card could possibly be picked.  I was trying to find a video of Sammy Sosa actually signing an item and could not actually find one.  I have seen Sammy sign something in person.  It takes awhile.

2001 Upper Deck eVolve Sammy Sosa Autograph 

Back to the top of the post.  Sosa card values have plummeted. When I redeemed this card in 2001 I am pretty sure that I could have easily sold it for more than $100.  By 2004, not so much.  It looked really cool though, so it stayed in my collection.  Today, collectors with lots of patience can easily find a Sosa autograph for around $50.  If you have to have one now then it might run somewhere in the $60-$75 range.  Pricy autograph, but a tip of the cap to Sammy for signing things the right way.

FYI-Sammy's at-bat walk up music of choice: The Pointer Sisters.  Here's what it sounds like when Russian people cover I'm So Excited.

Impressive Ray

I made a post last week about a pair of new Rays I was thinking about collecting with a strong leaning towards pitcher Enny Romero.  A few marathon games against the Orioles this weekend actually landed the young phenom a starting gig in this afternoon's series finale in Tampa.  I was excited to watch the game, but the awesomeness of the Major League blackout rules prevented me from actually viewing.

The ESPN Gamecast helped me keep track of Romero's four and two-thirds innings of shutout baseball which helped keep the Rays in the hunt for the American League Wild Card race.  The game also made it nearly impossible for the Orioles to make a return appearance to the post season.  Given the impressive performance this afternoon by Romero I am going to go ahead and post my latest pick up from the Rays rookie left-hander.

2011 Bowman Chrome Enny Romero Autograph 

As I said in my previous Enny Romero post, he has very few "hit" cards out on the market.  Before this week he basically had two relics cards and an autograph card.  Topps did release their Minor League version of Heritage this week which does feature another Romero relic card as a Montgomery Biscuit.  Obviously I really the autograph card the best, but it also does not hurt the card to be from the 2011 Bowman set which is a really strong autograph list.  

Romero seems to have a really inconsistent signature, but I think a lot of it has to do with the pen he used to sign the cards.  Hand sign items on Ebay seems pretty strong and consistent, but his Bowman autographs are a little bit streaky looking and the loop seems to fade on cards.  I am happy to own this card, but might have to look around for another copy with a better signature.  

My Top 50 Players On Cardboard #44 Don Mattingly

My Top 50 Players On Cardboard
#44
Don Mattingly

1984 Topps Don Mattingly RC

Hobby Impact-
He's a Yankee who was a pretty good player.  That is always worth quite a bit around the world of baseball cards.  Growing up, the Don Mattingly rookie cards were always pretty good cards to own.  For years I had a copy of the 1984 Topps card, but the bottom left corner had a tear over his picture.  Sometime in college I found a cheap box of 1984 Topps cards and busted them open.  I was pumped to land a good copy of the Mattingly rookie.  I've added the Donruss and Fleer at some point over the years too.  Mattingly rookies are not the most valuable cards in the world, but they are pretty darn popular.

Mattingly's popularity in the hobby extends beyond his rookie cards.  He's one of the few 80s stars whose base cards will sell slightly above junk wax prices and there is good demand on some of his 90s inserts.  In fact, his 90s inserts not only sell, but they actually draw a pretty good price.  I remember trying to put together the 1994 Flair Hot Gloves set a few years back.  Last card I need was Don Mattingly.  Hard to find.  Expensive to buy.  The set is complete, but just know you are going to pay for hard to find Matttingly cards.  His 1993 Finest Refractor is one that frequently crosses triple digits.


1994 Flair Hot Gloves Don Mattingly

On the Field Impact-
As a Cardinals fan I could always identify with Don Mattingly.  Cardinals fans always have their fan favorites and they are always completely overvalued.  For example, there is a huge crowd of people who think that Willie McGee should have his number retired.  McGee had a few nice seasons, but he's not Red Schoendienst, Ozzie Smith, or even Ken Boyer (the only retired Cardinals number of a non-Hall of Famer).  Mattingly might be closer to Ken Boyer than Willie McGee, but in my opinion he's not a Hall of Famer.  Sorry Yankees fans.  He's a really nice player and had some spectacular seasons, but there was not much there when he was not healthy.  Which was often.

Now, the 1980s Yankees were not as bad as everyone made them out to be.  Sure they went a whole decade without a World Series title, but there were some good teams around them.  1983 they won 91 games, but finished third behind the Tigers and World Champion Orioles.  1984 they won 87 and were in the same division as the Tigers.  1985 they won 97 games, 1986 they won 90, 1987 they won 87, 1988 they won 85, and 1989 they were actually really bad.  Through all of those just misses Don Mattingly was the best player on the team.  I like the 1980s Don Mattingly and will readily admit that if the production shown below had continued for a few more years I would support Mattingly for the Hall.

I will spare Yankees fans a screen shot of the 1990s Don Mattingly numbers.  They aren't ugly or anything, but they are not Hall of Fame.  Outside the numbers it seemed Mattingly was a blue collar player, hustled, worked hard, and really cared about the team winning.  I think those qualities as a player earn him a lot of love from Yankees fans and really push some of the Hall talk around the former first baseman.  The plaque in Monument Park is cool and more than enough recognition.  Sideburns.

  

By the way, he's a pretty good manager too.

Favorite Card-
I am going off the radar a little bit with my favorite Mattingly, but also sticking with the miniature theme from the Eck post.  I am going to go with the 1989 Topps Sticker Back Card of Donnie Ballgame.  I always really liked this set.  Pretty cool little wrinkle thrown in with the sticker books too.


1989 Topps Sticker Backs Don Mattingly

Thank Mr. Pujols

There are mornings where I have to pinch myself that Albert Pujols is no longer a member of the Cardinals.  Seemed like he would always have the birds on the bat across his chest, but we all know how that turned out two off seasons ago.  While I was initially bitter at the fact that Albert took his services to Orange County, I am pretty hip to the fact that he is gone now.  I am sure there are many other Cardinals fans who went through the dame grieving process.  

Now that Albert is hanging out with the underachieving Angels for the next eight years, the only piece of Albert left around St. Louis are the two draft picks the Cardinals received from the Angels for signing "Da Albertross".  

First, the Cardinals received the Angels first round pick, the 17th overall in the 2012 MLB draft, and they also received a sandwich pick in between the first and second rounds, which turned out to be the 36th overall pick.  The Cardinals used the picks to select two college players: Texas A&M pitcher Michael Wacha and Stanford outfielder/3B Stephen Piscotty.  I decided to spend a little time checking out their cards this past week and added one of each.  Let's start with Wacha.

2013 Bowman Bowman's Best Refractor Die-Cut

  

I landed this cool looking Bowman's Best Refractor insert of the Cardinals pitcher which came out of this years Bowman set.  The card is serial numbered to just 99 and I love the cool shape of the die cut.  Topps has done some good work recently with some of their die-cut cards and the Bowman's Best cards are some of the sharpest looking of the bunch.  Wacha seems like he's going to be a good Major League pitcher for a long time.  The Cardinals have put him into the rotation recently and he has pitched very well.  I am eager to see what he can do over a full season of starting and not shuffling between the Majors, AAA, and the bullpen.  Here's a sampling of his work on the hill....

Piscotty has not made an appearance yet for the Cardinals, but had a really good year playing for the Cardinals Double-A team in Springfield and High A team in Palm Beach.  His total line for the season included a .295/.355/.466 line with 15 homers and he also walked more than he struck out.  He has some pretty good reviews around different Minor League sites.  He ranked as the 10th best prospect on the team before 2013, but with Rosenthal, Miller, Wong, and Matt Adams graduating to the Majors I think he will be a top 5 prospect next year.  Here's my new card of the Redbirds prospect....

2013 Bowman Inception Stephen Piscotty Autograph

This Piscotty autograph comes from the Bowman Inception set.  Great looking card.  I've started wondering about putting together this set.  Back on track... Piscotty actually had an autograph last year, but the card has one of those awesome Topps airbrushing jobs.  How do you get a Stanford uniform to turn into a Cardinals road jersey?  Not very well.  He also has a card out in this year's Bowman Chrome set which is either not airbrushed, or done by someone not in seventh grade.  

I am very happy with my two newest Cardinals cards and owe a big thank you to my favorite Anaheim Angel of Orange County, California USA Albert Pujols.  I know your wheels are bad...how's that elbow feeling?

My Top 50 Players On Cardboard #45-Smoltz/Glavine

My Top 50 Players On Cardboard
#45
John Smoltz/Tom Glavine

1990 Donruss MVP John Smoltz-Tom Glavine Error

Hobby Impact-
Before I moved to North Carolina I was not sure if there were any actual Glavine and Smoltz collectors.  Are there two better players who fly under the radar more than Glavine and Smoltz?  Their rookie cards are from the junk wax area, which means they are worth next to nothing, and their base cards are easy to find in the cheapy bins in card stores.  There are not a lot of inserts of the two and few autographs and relics too.  I've picked up an autograph of both players and surprisingly played less than $20 for both autographs.  The prices and availability of Glavine and Smoltz cards seems to suggest that there is little to no market for the two future Hall of Famers, but it's far from true.  Loyal and dedicated Braves fans are typically in on both players and really value their cards greatly.

On The Field Impact-
The combination of Glavine and Smoltz, teamed with ace Greg Maddux allowed the Braves to dominate the National League for all of the 90s and the first part of the 2000s.  They only won the World Series once, in 1995 against Cleveland, but they were a force to be reckoned with every single year.  My worst memory of the duo, I guess this is good from their perspective, came in the 1996 National League Championship Series when the Cardinals had the Braves down 3 games to 1 with the trio of Smoltz, Maddux, and Glavine taking the hill for the final three games.  The Cardinals scored 1 run against the trio and lost the series (The Braves scored 32 runs the finals three games by the way).  Smoltz started the comeback in Game 5 with a seven strong innings and Glavine capped the series off in Game 7 with seven shutout innings.

Glavine ended up with more than 300 wins.  Smoltz ended up with more than 200 wins, but also spent a few years as a closer where he accumulated more than 150 saves, paired with more than 3000 strikeouts.  Both will end up in Cooperstown in the not too distant future.

Favorite Card (s)-
I am not sure that I really have a favorite Smoltz card.  Maybe the 1990 Donruss card.  I also kind of dig his Upper Deck rookie.  Smoltz has a lot of base cards, a few inserts, but nothing that ever really caught my eye.  If I HAD to list a card, I would go with his 2004 Upper Deck USA Baseball autograph.

2004 Upper Deck USA Baseball John Smoltz Autograph 

At some point back in the day, I decided it would be a good idea to own a Smoltz auto.  He's a good player and does not sign a lot of stuff.  I wish it weren't a sticker autograph, but still a nice card to own. Smoltz has become a good signer since his retirement, so maybe I will have to check out adding another autograph of his to my collection.  The Gypsy Queen one looked nice last year.

My Glavine card speaks for itself:

1988 Topps Tom Glavine

Pretty much the coolest looking Glavine card ever printed.  There are so many things that are going on in this picture...so many.  One last cool bonus card.  If you are a fan of the 90s/2000s Braves you must pick up the incredibly cool Smoltz/Glavine dual bat card from Topps Fusion.  Pretty cheap and easy to find.

2001 Topps Fusion Double Features John Smoltz/Tom Glavine Dual Bat 

New Rays? Maybe.

I am in the market for a new player to collect.  A new Rays player, or Cardinals player...something different.  Tonight I am going to share a pair of Rays players on my radar to add to my collection.  In fact, I recently went out and picked up a card of each player to start the juices, marinate, and determine my interest in each player.  Let's take a look:


Candidate One: Kyeong Kang

2010 Topps Debut Kyeong Kang Futures Game Jersey

Kyeong Kang is a Korean National, but was drafted out of a High School in Georgia by the Rays in 2006.  Last year Kang hit 15 homers in just over 100 games, showing very good pop, but this was also his third season playing for the Rays Double A team in Montgomery.  Kang has some pretty high strikeout totals, but has also shown the ability to take a walk with an On Base Percentage above .350.  I am curious to see if Kang will be bumped up to Durham next year, or if he will linger another year in AA.  He is also eligible to become a minor league free agent, so it will also be interesting to see if he stays with the only organization he has ever known.  Still intriguing.  The Rays always have some older guys in Durham who play a lot and play well.  See Dan Johnson, Steve Cox, Kevin Witt.



Candidate Two: Enny Romero

2013 Topps Pro Debut Enny Romero Jersey

Romero is a little bit more of a traditional prospect.  He's sure to pitch a significant number of games next season in Durham after starting 27 games this season in Montgomery with an ERA under 3.  During the final week of the season Romero started a game for the Bulls and went eight innings while pitching a shutout.  The Rays have done well with developing quality starting pitchers and I have no doubt that Romero is a player the team views as a future contributor in the Major League rotation.  So, really this seems like a no-brainer.  What's there to think about?  Well, in order to collect a player they need cards.  Romero has two relics cards and one autographed card.  Not a really big catalog.  Maybe Topps will make more.  Maybe they will make more Alex Cobb autographs.  Maybe.