More Marp

It's a shame that Matt Carpenter only has one certified autographed card.  I made it a point to pick one up last year when he signed for the Topps Gypsy Queen set.  At the time of the autograph's issue the Carpenter was a former utility player trying to make the transition to everyday second baseman for the Cardinals.  While the card was initially popular, the value of the card sunk gradually as the summer progressed.  However, towards the end of last season's card calendar, the value of the Carpenter cards picked back up after no other autographed cards hit the market.

Carpenter also had a few nice moments during the second half of last season including an All-Star Game appearance and that at-bat when he broke Clayton Kerhsaw. 

Kershaw had a rough rest of that inning and Puig threw the ball all over the yard.  He was just having fun.  Needless to say, like other Cardinals fans, I am a pretty big fan of Matt Carpenter.  I had a chance to pick up another copy of the Gypsy Queen autograph this past weekend and managed to snag a copy in exchange for a copy of an Andre Dawson autograph (Expos card) and a pair of relics.  

Daniel Descalso. Cue Sad Trombone.

We all have players on our favorite teams who we sometimes wish to be someplace else.  Mine is Daniel Descalso, although Mike Matheny is rapidly catching up to the utility infielder.  .175 batting average, .214 on-base percentage, .250 slugging, .464 OPS.  That's Daniel Descalso's stat line so far in 2014.  Please explain to me how DD is in St. Louis and not hanging out in Memphis with the Cardinals AAA team.  It's not like Descalso is just going through a bit of a cold stretch.  His 2013 line was .238/.298/.366 and his 2012 line was .227/.303/.324.  His highlight from the last three years was this ejection versus the Cubs.  Note Matheny gets tossed too.  

Since Descalso is somehow broken, of course Topps has decided that he should appear in this year's Gypsy Queen set as a relic card.  I am trying to put together the Cardinals set, but spending money on DD seems to be a painful proposition.  How much is too much for a .200 hitter?  I set a budget at $2 to $3 on Descalso and managed to find a copy in that range.  

There haven't been too many Descalso relic cards over the years and I am not sure he's exactly the most popular player, so I am going to chalk this card up to being a leftover.  Two weeks ago the leftovers were cool when it meant that there were All-Star jerseys in the set, but now that it involves a scrubby player like Descalso I am not sure of their coolness.  At least I have this card crossed off my checklist and found it at a basement bargain price.  Now, let's call up someone from Memphis. 

Collecting the Durham Bulls: Enny Romero

One of the more promising prospects on the Durham Bulls is hard throwing right hander Enny Romero.  This is the first full season that Romero has spent in Durham, but as of this afternoon it may not really be a full season.  The Rays called up Romero to make a spot spot this week against the Mariners.  Not entirely clear why Romero is making the start, but the Rays obviously like the upside on the left-hander.  This is actually the second time that Romero has made a spot start for the Rays who also used Romero for a game in September last year against the Orioles. 

Romero went 4 2/3 in his debut giving up 1 hit, and walking 4.  Romero is a very harder thrower with a moving fastball sitting in the mid 90s topping out around 97 to 98.  I have seen Romero several times during the past year with the Bulls and am always really impressed with how lively his arm is and how much movement his pitches have on them.  Just 23 it is pretty clear that the Rays have big plans for Romero in the future.  In my opinion he is probably the best arm I have seen in Durham since David Price pitched for the team in 2008 and 2009.  In fact, if the Rays make the playoffs this year it should surprise no one if the team uses Romero much like they used Price during the team's run to the 2008 World Series.  

Card wise the selection of Enny Romero cards is pretty deep and is also pretty affordable.  It seems that many collectors are sleeping a little bit in terms of value on his cards.  Basically, Romero is a raw Top 100 prospect, but has card prices like he's a fringe prospect.  I have seen every pitcher in the Rays rotation come through Durham and can promise you that the prices on Enny Romero cards are too low.  Let's start with his rookie card.  

 

Romero's first appearance on a certified piece of cardboard came in the 2011 Bowman set.  As we all know the Bowman sets are always driven by rookie cards.  Bundle a few nice rookie cards together and the set tends to take off.  There are plenty of big names in the set: Bryce Harper, Francisco Lindor, Dylan Bundy, etc.  Romero will be one that you will want in your collection sooner than later.  Right now his rookie cards from the 2011 Bowman set are an afterthought and are often $2-$3 shipped.  Low prints and serial numbered cards too.  Bargain bottom prices for a top prospect, but there's more.  Romero also has a few autographs and relics floating around too.  

 

Enny Romero has a relic card in last year's Topps Heritage Minor League set and also has one from a Future's Game appearance in the 2012 Bowman Draft set.  Neither card is particularly splashy, but they can both be found for less than $5 and are extremely easy to find.   The Futures Game relic can be found in patch form, but the patch pieces tend to be small and I have not seen one in a long time.  Dry market for those cards.  

 

Romero also has two certified autographs from Bowman.  The one above is his 2011 Bowman Chrome Prospects Rookie Autograph.  Not the best signature, but I still love the card.  Romero also suddenly reappeared as a signer for Bowman this year and has an autograph in the 2014 issue.  Both cards are easy finds for less than $5.  Romero also has photos on his Twitter account from a signing he did for Panini America at the end of March.  

 

 I guess we are going to get to see another Romero autograph in this year's Prizm release which comes out next week.  I am probably not going to open any wax from that product, but I will have to keep my eye out for some of Enny's cool looking cardboard from the set.  That shirt is cool too. 

Finest Waino Graph

There are way too many players who sign for brief periods during their career and then suddenly stop.  It's kind of a bum deal when it happens and really limits the type of collection that card enthusiast of that player can assemble.  For example, Yadier Molina had a fair number of signatures in 2004, 2005, and 2006 before he seemed to completely disappear off the radar in terms of certified autographs.  Luckily, Molina seems to have returned to the scene this year with several different autographs in a few of the Topps releases this year. 

Unfortunately for Cardinals fans ace pitcher Adam Wainwright also seems to fit in with this crowd.  He has plenty of signatures from 2006 and a few in 2007.  Wainwright was a rookie relief pitcher with the Cardinals that season and managed to end up being the team's closer during their run to the 2006 World Series.

The few cards that were credited to Wainwright during the 2007 calendar year were sticker autographs, so it is probable that they were actually signed with the batch from the 2006 season.  Apparently it's a pretty common practice in the baseball card biz.  See all the Gary Carter autographs or last year's Topps Silver Slate Autographs.  

Needless to say that it a little bit disappointing that Wainwright has not signed in eight years, but I am sure there is a really good reason.  Perhaps like Yadi, maybe Wainwright will reenter the world of certified of autographs.  In the meantime collectors are left tracking down autographs of the Cardinals ace from the mid 2000s.  I recently stumbled upon a copy of Wainwright's 2006 Topps Finest autograph.  

 

I already own a copy of this card, but could not pass by a chance to trade for another copy of this awesome card.  The Adam Wainwright Finest autograph is one of the few Wainwright autographs from the mid 2000s which has several variations.  Older Finest sets do not have all of the color variations that the current Finest sets have, but there are still several different versions with different serial numbers.   While it would be nice to have several more Wainwright autographs to chase down, I am still happy to have a few out there to find. 

Legendary Yaz Autograph

I used to love the Team Topps Legends autographed cards.  About a decade ago I really enjoyed finding these cards.  I have a whole bunch of them and am really not sure how close I am to putting together a set of these cards, but they consist of great players on classic Topps cards.  All of the autographs are on card which is an added bonus.  Last week I stumbled upon a collector looking to trade a copy of the Carl Yastrzemski autograph, which I already own, but could not pass up a great deal on an awesome card.

 

One of the trickiest part of finding these cards is the fact that they were packaged into different Topps products over a three year period.  Most of the Yaz autographs were thought to be in the 2002 Bowman Heritage, Bowman Draft, and Topps Traded boxes, but Topps never confirmed the exact distribution on these cards.  If you enjoy collecting older players and are looking for a well designed set of autographs I highly recommend you spend a little bit of time to check out the Team Topps Legends sets.  

Guerrieri Graph Gamble

Taylor Guerrieri is a top prospect in the Rays organization, and depending on the source of the list, might just be the best player in the team's Minor League system.  Before the 2013 season Guerrieri ranked in the Top 50 of Baseball America's Top 100 rankings making the list at number 48.  He still ranks in the Top 100 this year at 72.   However, the talented right-handed South Carolina native has not thrown a pitch for a Ray minor league team since last fall when he was suspended 50 games for a positive drug test. 

It has been widely reported that the drug test failure was due to marijuana use and not a PED positive.   Either way, it was his second violation of baseball's drug policy and has landed him on the restricted list to begin the 2014 season.  I am guessing that he is hanging around extended Spring Training.  While there are clearly some issues surrounding the Rays former first round draft pick, there is also plenty of talent still waiting to be harnessed. 

Guerrieri has pitched in parts of the 2012 and 2013 seasons posting an ERA of 1.04 in 52 innings in Low A during the 2012 season and a 2.01 ERA in 67 innings in High A last season.  Add in the fact that he's also kept his WHIP below 1 at both stops and has 96 strike outs versus 16 walks and it seems that the Rays still have the makings of a good pitcher. 

Guerrieri had a few nice rookie autographs floating around after he was selected in the first round of the 2011 draft, but his card values has tumbled with his drug suspension.  Patient collectors can find them in the figurative Ebay dumpster around $0.99.  If you get really lucky you can find a $0.99 listing with free shipping.  Seriously, if Cardinals General Manager John Mozeliak were shopping for Taylor Guerrieri autographs he would label him "low hanging fruit".  I recently pulled off a 2012 Bowman autograph for $0.99, but I piad $1.50 in shipping.  Steeeep. 

Still for $0.99 starting bid, and likely closing bid, you could search out some 1996 Leaf Signature cards of Gregg Colbrunn and Jon Nunnally, or you could go find a Taylor Guerrieri.  Only one of those players has any upside left to their hobby value.  It's a bit of a gamble, but if the Rays can help Guerrieri right the ship he should be a pretty good pitcher with ice card value. 

With the 249th pick in the NFL Draft the St. Louis Rams select....

I picked this card up a few weeks ago and was waiting for this day to post my copy of this awesome card.  While I am an NC State alumni and openly cheer for my Wolfpack I spent a few Saturdays growing up watching my the only Division I football program in my home state of Missouri.  The Tigers were not very good while I was growing up, but they've been fun to watch over the past decade and have produced tons of good players: Chase Daniel, Jeremy Maclin, Aldon Smith, Brad Smith, Sheldon Richardson, and many others. 

This past year was a good one for Mizzou in their second year in the SEC.  The team lost one regular season game to South Carolina in overtime, made it the SEC Championship game, and won the Cotton Bowl against former Big 8 and Big XII conference foe Oklahoma State.  One of the best players on this year's edition of the Missouri Tigers was defensive end Michael Sam who was the SEC Defensive Player of the Year, First Team All-SEC, and a unanimous First Team All-American selection.  During the run up to the NFL Draft Michael Sam did an interview with the New York Times. 

The reaction to Sam's announcement was generally positive.  There were dozens of current and former NFL and college football players who came out in support of the Mizzou star.  With the NFL Draft taking place this weekend, many were curious about where Michael Sam would play professionally.  Happy to say that he will be staying in Missouri:

Thank you to the St. Louis Rams and the whole city of St. Louis. I'm using every once of this to achieve greatness!! pic.twitter.com/QESdOJVzsw
— Michael Sam (@MikeSamFootball) May 10, 2014

It's a huge event to say the least, and while I am not always the biggest NFL guy, I am going to make sure I check out a few more Rams games then I normally do.  They should be a fun team to watch next year if the offense shows up.  In the meantime, a few Michael Sam cards have started to pop up.  

Not that I know anything really about football cards, but this seemed like a really cool card and a fun buy and collection addition.  I miss Upper Deck cards and I never realized they made college football cards.  This is a sticker autograph, but it is really well done and barely noticeable.  I am not sure what Michael Sam will do with himself in the NFL, but this card is keeper all the way.