Da Albertross...I mean Albert.

I have done a little writing about Albert Pujols in the past two years since he left the Cardinals for the Angels.  Like most Cardinals fans I would have loved to have seen Albert end his career with the birds on the bat, but for $240 million dollars and the performance he has put up for the Angels in 2012 and 2013, I am doing just fine with Allen Craig, Matt Adams, and Carlos Beltran filling his spot in the Cardinals offense.  Who would have thought the Cardinals would have played more playoff games in Los Angeles than Albert Pujols? 

Like many Cardinals baseball card collectors I decided to part ways with a fairly significant chunk of my Albert Pujols collection towards the end of the 2011 season, when his re-signing started to look murky at best, through the spring of 2012 when Angels fans were going crazy trying to find all the Pujols cardboard they could get their hands on.  And now? 

Just like Albert has become an albatross (I prefer Albertross) to the Angels winning much of many thing for the next decade, Angels collectors have suddenly found themselves stocked with Pujols cards that are plummeting in value.  Many are starting to try to get out from underneath their cards before they fall much further.  The resulting purge of Albertross cards has left the market on his cards considerably lower than when I last did much checking around Pujols cards in 2011. 

So, I recently pulled off swapped out some "garbage" with an Angels collectors to help them move out from underneath two of their Pujols autographs.  Garbage meaning, cards I figured to take a significant hit during the next year in terms of value.  It was a nice package of a Ryan Braun auto, a pair of ARod autos, a Prince Fielder, and a Brian McCann, and package of Darin Erstads.  I also had to part a Jim Edmonds.  It had been awhile since I had pulled off a big trade, but here's what I got back in return:

2003 Topps Albert Pujols Autograph

I have always loved this Pujols autograph.  On card from the base Topps set, but I either could not find one when I had the money and cards to buy or trade for one, or I found one and did not have enough to buy or trade.  I actually found a few of these on Ebay while I was working on the trade and was shocked to see that these cards have a really hard time pushing the century mark in auctions.  In fact, all most every non-premium autograph of Pujols is finishing under a Ben Franklin.  Premiums still catch some good bucks, but not nearly as much as you would think. 

One of the last cool low-print run Pujols cards I sold in 2011 was this cool 2008 Topps autograph card which was numbered out of 25 and was a sticker autograph. 

 

At the time, I was able to sell the card for $250.  Pretty nice price at the time, but it still was not the top of the line for Pujols cards.  It was not hard to find Pujols autographs from his rookie year and extremely high end brands fetch another $100 over that price.  In fact, most of his rookie autographs were much closer to the $500 range two years ago.  Not anymore.  My other new Pujols autograph:

2001 SP Chirography Albert Pujols 

Surprisingly while working on this trade I found several copies of this card that barely crept over $200 which is considerably lower than the price the card used to sell for a few years ago.  I never owned a copy of this Pujols rookie card, but am happy to add it to my collection for the price I picked it up at.  

Honestly, as poorly as Pujols has played the past two years for the Angels, and the likelihood that his 10 year contract with Angels is likely to end, he is still a future Hall of Famer.  Pujols had a great decade long run for the Cardinals and whatever happens during the next eight years with the Angels will have very little effect on the fact that Albert is going to have a plaque in Cooperstown at some point during his lifetime.  

While many collectors are still pointing to the fact that Pujols could fall further, I think we are honestly to the point where his cards are getting to be really good bargains.  There have been plenty of baseball players who played too long (Willie Mays and Rickey Henderson) and while collectors and baseball fans might occasionally talk about Rickey Henderson on the Dodgers or Willie Mays on the Mets, most remember the good points of those players careers.  

At some point Pujols will retire and time will wash away whatever becomes of the Angels years.  I would guess that he will mend fences with the Cardinals at some point and we will see Cardinals fans reengage with Pujols.  It may take a long time, but if Vince Coleman can get a bobblehead after leaving the Cardinals for the (at the time) hated rival Mets, than Pujols can work his way back in too. 

My Top 50 On Cardboard- #28 Clayton Kershaw

Top 50 On Cardboard
#28
Clayton Kershaw

I have had several entries into my Top 50 On Cardboard Countdown headed in the wrong direction.  Tonight's entry will likely be much higher when I revisit this countdown again in the future.  Clayton Kershaw is the best pitcher in baseball at the moment and is still only 25 years old.  He seems like one of those players who's been around forever, but still probably has another good decade of baseball on him. 

2006 Bowman Sterling Clayton Kershaw Autograph

Kid K has several rookie cards, but most of his rookie cards that are a must have for your collection show up in 2006 products.  I believe the "official" rookie cards for Kershaw are technically in the 2008 releases, but I have officially found that people do not care about technicalities with rookie cards.  2006 happened before 2008 and I would recommend any of his Bowman products.  I own a copy of his Bowman Sterling, but it's a sticker autograph.  Meanwhile his Bowman autograph is not.  If you are looking for a regular, non-autographed, rookie card of the Dodgers southpaw I would recommend the Bowman Original.  Kind of a hidden treasure.  Buy one. 

Hobby Impact-
Kershaw is a really really good player.  We'll get into that in a few minutes below, but given the level of player he is on the field he is really really under-appreciated in the baseball card biz.  First, the Dodgers have a really good collecting fan base.  There are plenty of good Dodgers fans with good money to spend on cards of Dodgers players.  Kerhaw is a favorite, so those collectors will often drive the price up on Kershaw cards.  However, in my opinion Kershaw is starting to gain recognition in the hobby, and with that increased popularity and scarcity in finding tough Kershaw cards.  Also higher prices. 

It's taken the hobby awhile to catch on to Kershaw's value on the field.  After the 2010 season I managed to pick up my second Kershaw autograph, beyond his rookie Bowman Sterling autograph, at a small card shop outside of St. Louis.  At the time Kershaw was basically a .500 pitcher with twenty some wins to his name after three seasons.  He had also doubled his autographs over his first three seasons, stuck out more than a batter per inning, and posted two seasons with an ERA+ over 130.  All of that at the age of 22.  Of course, the Cardinals fans had a cool Colby Rasmus autograph in the 2007 Bowman Sterling set to track down at the time, so the card store owner didn't mind parting with this Kershaw autograph for a mere $15.

2007 Bowman Sterling Clayton Kershaw Jersey/Autograph

It's a sticker autograph again, but it's a low run Kershaw autograph for under $20.  Most base Kershaw autograph now sell for the $20 neighborhood, but the premium autographs sell for much more.  Better yet is the fact that Kershaw has several on-card autographs, including several Allen & Ginters, floating around on the secondary market.  Relics of Kershaw are an absolute steal with jumbo pieces available for less than $10, if you are willing to sit around and wait to bid on them.  Ignore the $50 Buy It Nows on Ebay. 

On The Field Impact-
Has anyone gotten into the EloRater on Baseball Reference?  I've always been a little bit curious about what it means, but I recently took a little bit of time to read up on the rankings system and kind of dig the whole concept behind the rankings.  To summarize, players are given point values based on their overall statistics.  The players are then paired up where they face off and wins and rankings are created.  Here's what you need to know about the EloRaters ranking of Kershaw:

• He is the 7th Best Active Pitcher

• He is the only pitcher on the list under 30, with Captain Crunch Sabathia (33) checking in as the second youngest

• Given the six pitchers in front of him all have uncertain futures (Halladay, Hudson, Oswalt, and Santana) or have retired (Rivera and Pettitte) it's not unrealistic for him to be the best active pitcher on this list before 30

• Kershaw already ranks as the 129th all-time best pitcher and is closing in on passing Hall of Famers Jim Bunning and Catfish Hunter.  

If you like the JAWS system I have been using on my other posts, they actually rank Kershaw slightly lower as the 211 best starting pitcher of all-time, but that's a 25 year old.   He should start catching up to the back end of the Hall Fame pitchers on that list soon too.  If you just like numbers Kershaw has 4 season with more than 200 strikeouts, three ERA titles, one Cy Young Award with a second place finish and another probable Cy Young on it's way soon.  Kershaw has also posted on ERA+ of 161, 150, and 194 the past three seasons.

By the way, he already has the second highest ERA+ of any active player and is already 8th all-time behind guys like Walter Johnson, Pedro Martinez, Mariano Rivera, and Lefty Grove.

Favorite Card-
I really like Kershaw the player.  I wish he had been around for a little bit different era of baseball cards, so my favorite Kershaw card is....

2013 Bowman 1992 Bowman Reprint Clayton Kershaw

One of the classic Bowman designs and a popular one for Dodgers fans.  I also love that the card was taken in Busch Stadium with Red Schoendiesnt's number 2 and Stan Musial's number 6 behind this future Hall of Famer. 

The Wizard of Manus

The stream of 2013 Topps Update cards has slowly begun to flow into my mailbox after a few weeks of holding out and resisting.  I knew it was a matter of time before I found a few cards that I liked and I am slowly coming around.  Slowly.  Late last week I checked out the Manupatch products from the Update set and found some pretty slim pickings and a few weird cards.  One of them was an Ozzie Smith.  I bought the card despite it's oddness.  Let's take a look...

2013 Topps Update Record Holder Rings

I guess the concept behind this set of cards was giving Championship Style rings to some of Major League Baseball's record holders.  I guess the concept seems alright on the surface, but I am not sure I really like the style of the cards.  First, Topps has made other manupatch ring cards in the past and they have been a much higher quality than this card.  The piece of "ring" in the middle of the card feels cheap and undersized compared to past issues.

Second, why break from the award theme started in earlier series of 2013 Topps baseball and make-up cheesy rings to give players.  Topps did Silver Sluggers and MVP awards in Series 1 this year and Rookie of the Year Awards in Series 2.  Why not give out Gold Gloves or Fielding Bibles, more MVPs.  Something cooler than this.

It's been a good year for the Manupatches in the 2013 Topps cards, but the Record Holders cards are a little bit of a let down at the end of the year.  I am not going to turn down many Ozzie Smith cards, but this card would be awesome with a giant metal Gold Glove attached in place of the slightly crooked thin cheap ring currently there.

Buy Local Part 2: Dick Groat

A little Duke flavor for my second Buy Local post features the greatest Duke basketball player to appear in a Major League Baseball game.  I understand that the average sports fan in this country cannot stand Duke and they are one of those teams that attracts all sorts of fair weather fans and all kinds of hate.  Locally, there are plenty of alumni around North Carolina and as a school with billions of dollars in endowment money, they do a lot of good around the community.

As a graduate of the red North Carolina school, Duke is about ten times better than the other blue Carolina school which has problems with agents working as assistant coaches on the football team, football players plagiarizing papers, fake classes, parking tickets,Tyler Hansbrough reading like a third grader, and I could provide four links for P.J. Hairston.  Poke fun at Duke and Coach K all you want, they run a clean program.  If you don't like Duke, click here, and skip the video below.  If you like Duke basketball, click below and enjoy. 

Before the current run of the Coach K lead Duke Blue Devils, the team still had some really good players and some really good NCAA tournament runs.  One of their really good players during the early fifties was Dick Groat.  

Groat was an All-American for the Blue Devils in 1951 and 1952 and his jersey hangs in the rafters of Cameron Indoor Stadium.  He also played a little bit in the NBA for the Fort Wayne Pistons after they used the third overall selection in the 1952 NBA draft to select the guard.  Of course, many people know Groat like this...

1954 Topps Dick Groat

Groat was one of the first North Carolina I took an interest in collecting when I moved here in 2006.  Sure, he's not really from North Carolina, but the connection to Duke makes him quite popular locally.  Basketball fans love him and baseball fans too.  While Groat was a very good baseball player his cards are quite affordable.  Most of his early cards can be pricy if you are looking for great condition, but otherwise they are quite reasonable for 1950s Topps cards.

Groat spent the majority of his career with the Pirates where he made three All-Star teams and won the 1960 National League MVP, but also appeared for the Cardinals and Phillies during the second half of his career.  Of course, I try to pick up the Cardinals cards, which are all under $5 on Ebay, but still really love to dabble in the 50s Pirates cards.  

2000 Fleer Greats of the Game Dick Groat Autograph

Groat has also been a very good signer, especially for some of the early Greats of the Game and Archives releases.  He has a nice signature and the prices of his autographs are quite reasonable.  Groat also signs while he is at work broadcasting basketball games for the University of Pittsburgh.  While I have several baseball autographs of Groat as a Cardinal and Pirate, I do not own a copy of a Duke Blue Devils autograph.  I am hoping to remedy that missing piece of my collection soon. 

My Top 50 On Cardboard- #29 Hideo Nomo

My Top 50 On Cardboard
#29
Hideo Nomo 

1995 Select Certified Hideo Nomo RC 

Nomo actually had several different rookie cards that I could have put in this spot, but I have always liked this one where he is unwinding from his very unique delivery.  People will argue that Nomo was not the talent of some of the other players on my list, but he was the second Japanese player to make the Majors and the first to appear in more than 30 years when he appeared for the Dodgers in 1995.  If you are looking for a high end Nomo rookie card I suggest checking out his 1995 Topps Finest Refractor or tracking down some of his earlier cards issued in Japan.

Hobby Impact- 
There was Nomo-mania followers who went everywhere the Dodgers went in 1995 to see the Japanses right-hander pitch, but the term could also be used to describe the instant popularity of his cards in the hobby.  Nomo rookie cards were issued before wax got too high end, but it had also started to expand out from just a few brands with a set or two.  Instead, 1995 saw several brands issue many sets, and with it, we as collectors have many Hideo Nomo rookie cards to choose from for our collections.

Nomo-mania never really went away.  For a player who ended up having a pretty ho hum career his cards are shockingly popular and sell for way more than what you would think if you took a minute to view his stat sheet.  Basically, anything that is a low print, serial numbered, or hard to find is going to be expensive if Nomo is on the front of the card.

I have owned a few relics of Nomo over the years and have never had a problem moving the cards when I wanted to trade them or sell them and I cannot think of a single time that I was disappointed in the haul of cards or cash the card brought back.  My key for a good Nomo card, relic or non-relic, is for him to be in a Dodgers uniform.  Nomo bounced around a lot during his career, still liked watching him play, but I am not fond of his Brewers, Tigers, Red Sox, or Devil Rays years.  The year on the Royals should just be deleted.

Autographs of Nomo are out of sight.  There are very very few of them floating around and the best of the bunch is a 2000 Fleer Fresh Ink.  The autograph is on-card, but it also picture Nomo as a Tiger.  Not one of the finest moments of his career.  There was a Certified Materials autograph put out in 2005 and the card pictures Nomo as a Dodger, but it's a sticker autograph.

On The Field Impact- 
The first time I ever saw Nomo pitch I was in high school and I watched a Cardinals/Dodgers game on television.  The game was in Dodger Stadium.  Nomo had electric stuff.  Lots of strikeouts, lots of walks, not many hard hit balls.  I believe he ended up only pitching a few innings, but I was really impressed at how unhittable his pitching was, even when he was walking people.  Later that summer,  I actually got a chance to watch Nomo in person, and would describe him as the same:  Great stuff, lots of strikeouts, lots of walks.  The first two seasons of Nomo's North American career were very good, after that he had a lot of struggles.  The good version of Hideo Nomo looked something like this:

Nomo experienced a sharp decline in performance after his third season and would spend a few years bouncing around between the Mets, Brewers, Tigers, and Red Sox.  There were always some bright spots during those years, pitching a no-hitter for the Red Sox, but he was not a really good pitcher.  Nomo had a brief resurgence in the early 2000s after returing to the Dodgers, but he went back to bouncing around to a few teams ending his time in the Majors with the Devil Rays and Royals.  

The last time I saw Nomo pitch was one of those sad Minor League moments which is difficult thing to see, but there are always a few players who hang on a little too long.  I had experienced my first summer of Durham Bulls baseball in 2006 and got to see some incredibly talented players in the International League that year.  At some point that summer I attended a Bulls game against the Charlotte Knights (White Sox-AAA) and got to see Nomo throw a side session before the game.  It was not pretty.  

Still, Nomo's success in Major League Baseball started a steady stream of Japanese players that seem to show up every year and contribute positively to their team's success.  Many fans used to complain that the Japanese players were often over-hyped and were rarely as good as advertised.  However, after almost two decades of Japanese players in MLB there have been several that have lived up to their billing and then some.  In particular, Ichiro and Yu Darvish.  

Favorite Card-

Ask anyone who ever watched Nomo in person what they remember about the pitcher and they will likely tell you about his crazy wind-up.  I am actually tempted to put several cards here, but I will play by my own rules and narrow it down to one.  I like coming across Nomo cards where he is pitching, and specifically, I like cards where he is winding up.  I could have gone with his 1998 Stadium Club here, but this card shows the wind-up a little bit better...

2001 Topps Chrome Hideo Nomo 

If this card were in a Dodgers uniform it would be perfect, but its a really good look at that Nomo windup.  The 1995 Pinnacle Zenith is another really good card with a picture of his windup.  

2013 Topps Traded Cards: 3

Do you remember the beginning of Ferris Bueller's Day Off when Cameron is laying in bed and cannot motivate himself to get out of bed?  I have been having this very same feeling during the past few weeks about buying anything from the Topps Update set.  

I want to buy some Topps Update cards.  They're are staple of the card calendar year.  I've eyed the price of boxes, sets, insert sets, autographs, and anything else that might be cool from this year's release.  The variation thing is still just really bothering me, but I am trying to move past it and just buy the set for the sake of completing my run of Topps baseball cards for the thirtieth year in a row.  Not many people can say they've done something thirty straight years, so I am a little sad that this year's set is so disappointing that I am having trouble being motivated to complete a task that should be an automatic.  

I finally picked up a singular Topps Update card last week when I picked up a Bob Tewksbury autograph from Ebay.  In the middle of the week I added a Ruben Sierra (The Village Idiot) autograph and included it in a post yesterday.  I have been fortunate enough to add another cool card from the Topps Update set.  Did you see...I said cool card and Topps Update set in the same sentence.  I am coming around.  

2013 Topps Update All-Star Stitches Yadier Molina Jersey 

You can never go wrong with a Yadier Molina card and finding a jersey relic or autograph card is just icing on the cake.  Molina is not a big signer, but also does not have a ton of relic cards floating around either.  They are usually limited somehow, disappear quickly, and rarely reappear for resale.  I managed to add this card for $5.  Go search the Completed Items on Ebay and you will find that price is a bargain for a Molina jersey.  

The relic piece itself has a cool texture and is obviously a piece of the warm jersey worn by Molina the night before the All-Star game during the Home Run Derby and other festivities.  Since Molina was not a participant, he really just sat around on the side of CitiField wearing this jersey, but I am still cool with that.  Feeling pretty good about my newest card and getting a little bit closer to pulling the trigger on some more 2013 Topps Update cards.  

1990s Yankees: The Best of the Rest

I have put up two posts about the Championship teams the Yankees put together in the late 90s.  The first day I started out with a few of the mainstays like Paul O'Neill, Bernie Williams, and Jorge Posada.  Yesterday, I posted a second group of Yankees who were some of my favorite veteran additions to the team.  Players like Tim Raines, Wade Boggs, and Mike Mussina were not necessarily the stars of the Yankees teams they played on, but they were key contributors who filled a role an important role for the Yankees. 

There were plenty of other cool names that popped up on the Yankees while they were putting together a string of four World Series titles over a five year period.  Here's a few of my other cool Yankees to look out for on cardboard. 

1982 Topps Chili Davis

Chili Davis
There are not many Jamaicans in the Majors, but Chili was one of the few to make the show.  I first ran into Chili Davis as a Giant when he dubbed St Louis a "Cow Town" which prompted 50,000 people to show up at Busch Stadium with cow bells for the 1987 National League Championship Series.  Jeffrey Leonard took most of the heat for the comment for some reason, but I was not a huge fan of Chili to start.  He moved to the American League later in his career where he hit a lot.  During the 1991 and 1992, playing for the Twins, Chili posted an OPS+ of 141 and 130 helping the Twins to the World Series crown over the Braves in 1991.  During the seven game series Chili hit 2 home runs and drove in 4 runs.  He filled a role with the Yankees, but definitely had some good moments.  His rookie card is pretty inexpensive, but he has signed almost nothing.  A hard autograph to find.   

2004 Upper Deck Yankees Classics Jimmy Key

 

Jimmy Key 

Jimmy Key was not a great pitcher, but was a good pitcher for a long time.  He had a few great seasons along the way, specifically the 1987 campaign with the Blue Jays where he posted a 17-8 mark, but led the American League in ERA, WHIP, H/9, and ERA+.  He also posted a 7.8 WAR that season.  Key came over to the Yankees from the Blue Jays in 1993 and was one of the team's bright spots in the mid 90s.  During the strike shortened season of 1994, Key led the American League in wins and came in second during Cy Young voting.  Key appeared on the 1996 World Championship Yankees team as a starter.  The regular season was so-so for Key, but he started and won the clincher for the team in the 6th game of the World Series.  Key's rookie card is one of the better cards in the 1985 Topps set and he has signed a lot of cards since retiring.  Many are on card.  He signed in the 1997 Donruss Signature Series cards while he was still playing, but the card features him as an Oriole which was brief stop at the end of his career.  

2013 Topps Archives Darryl Strawberry 1983 All-Star

Darryl Strawberry

A big name, but he was past his prime by the time he joined the Yankees for his second stint during the 1996 season.  He was a part-time player for the 1996, 1998, and 1999 World Series Championship teams.  His bat added some nice pop in 1996 adding 11 home runs in 200 at-bats and again in 1998 when he posted 24 home runs in about 250 at-bats.  Straw had his hot streaks and was a nice player after the bench for the pinstripes.  He has a pretty big following with cards.  Popular rookie cards in the 1983 Topps Traded set and 1984 Topps sets.  The Straw man has signed a lot, but his autograph is still pretty valuable and still highly sought after.  

2013 Topps Update Ruben Sierra Autograph

Ruben Sierra
He had a couple of nice seasons early in his career playing for the Rangers, was traded for Jose Canseco, flopped, and then ended up playing for almost (it seems that way) every Major League Baseball team under the sun.  Tony LaRussa once dubbed him "the village idiot" while he was playing for the A's.  Sierra played for the 1996 Yankees where he swung hard and hit home runs.  One of the bigger names to sit on the pine for the 1990s Yankees.  His cards are really affordable and he has a really nice looking autograph. 

1987 Topps Mini Mariano Duncan

Mariano Duncan
You're thinking why?  You remember when October rolled around and Mark Lemke popped up and did something.  Mariano Duncan was a the Dodgers and in the playoffs, the 1990 Reds World Champions, the 1993 Phillies, back to the Reds in 1995 for another playoff run, and then somehow ended up playing second base for the Yankees in 1996 along side Derek Jeter during his first full season in the bigs.  I know you are thinking he was just filling the hole next to Jeter on the infield, but Duncan had an out of nowhere season that year which really boosted the 1996 World Series Champions.  During the regular season Duncan posted a .340 batting average which is pretty spectular when you consider he was a .267 career hitter.  He also managed to bat .313 in the divisional round of the 1996 playoffs against the Rangers before remembering he was Mariano Duncan.  Cards are cheap, autograph is spectacular.  I don't own one, but I have seen several.  High quality. 

1998 Fleer Orlando "El Duque" Hernadez RC

Orlando Hernandez
I always thought of El Duque as a really good version of Dontrelle Willis.  Crazy windup and the guy would throw all kinds of pitches.  I am not sure that he always knew what he was throwing.  It some ways it was like watching a backyard wiffleball game.  He'd throw something up and sometimes it got hit and other times not.  El Duque played for the 1998, 1999, and 2000 World Champions before playing for a lot of other teams.  Here is throwing an eephus pitch to ARod: 

Orlando Hernandez has some pretty nice cards out there.  Nothing expensive, but also not many certified autographs.  Like Mariano Duncan, not much out there, but he's got a nice signature. 

A tip of his authentic Babe Ruth hat to 1998 Yankee starting pitcher David Wells....