Monday Morning Autograph - Doug Glanville

I own a couple of thousand autograph cards, the majority have never appeared on my blog.  Here is a random autograph that I never posted before:

Today: 1999 SP Signature Edition Doug Glanville 

Why do I own this card?  

I got this card out of a $10 pack of cards back in the day and I am sure I was angry that I landed Doug Glanville. Somehow, someway this card was never stuck on Ebay and just lingered in a box of cards for the past twenty plus years. However, it has gained some significance over the past two years.  

My daughter loves music. For years, I drove her to daycare and the soundtrack to my mornings was music from Disney Princess movies and other kid-friendly albums such as the Trolls World Tour. She would frequently sing along and talk about the movies. The songs were not my cup of tea, but it made my daughter's drive into daycare more enjoyable. 

Two years ago, she graduated preschool and began Kindergarten at the school where my wife teaches. We no longer commuted together, so I began driving my oldest to middle school every morning. In fact, I transferred my own teaching job to a school that was just a few minutes away from his middle school. My oldest does not mind music, but as a kid on the autism spectrum he enjoys things that are a little more low key on his morning commute.

Often, he reads books and talks me through what he is reading about and we listen to podcasts about baseball. One of our favorites is the Tuesday ESPN Baseball podcast, which features Doug Glanville and Jayson Stark. It's typically an hour plus show, so it lasts us a few commutes. We both really enjoy Glanville on the podcast whether he is interviewing someone, sharing his stories about his time in the game, voicing opinions, or trying to answer trivia questions. Always a good listen.

Over the past two years of listening to Glanville, my appreciation for his work has grown, and with it a better appreciation for his baseball cards. If you have never heard Doug speak, here is an excellent piece he did on Dusty Baker after he finally won a World Series with the Astros......

A Haiku About Doug Glanville 

Sunday night baseball 

Starkville podcast, Penn alumni 

Phils, Cubs, Rangers too 

Card back. 

Back of the Card Bonus Trivia?  

What player is the other DG card in the autograph checklist of the 1999 SP Signature Edition Set?

Clue- Think late 1990s hyped-up prospect who may have hit over .400 during a brief stint in the Majors thanks to some mile-high air.  

Pujols Post - 2023 Stadium Club

I picked up a few packs of 2023 Stadium Club last week. It's always one of my favorite products every year with the great photography. I was also lucky enough to land a copy of the Albert Pujols card. It was one of the reasons I took a chance on opening a few packs. My expectations for this card were pretty high prior to pulling it from the pack.    

Here is the front.  

I like that we have a picture of Albert Pujols tipping his cap on his final Stadium Club card, but Topps already used a similar photo for his final card in the 2023 flagship set.  Here is the front of that card.....

While they are different photographs, it's the same concept for both cards. Honestly, it feels like a huge letdown. Pujols is such an iconic player over the past two decades, so I am sure that there are some great photos out there that have not been overused that would have looked great on this Stadium Club baseball card.  

Heck, I would even take overusing a classic Pujols photo like him staring down his 2005 NLCS home run against Brad Lidge.  I do not know a single Cardinals fan who gets tired of this one......

Copyright, someone. There are so many copies of this photograph floating around on the internet that I am not sure who to credit. It's one of my favorites.  

Back of the card.  

Solid write-up on the part of Topps to summarize Albert's final season in the Majors. I wish the same level of effort that was used on the back of the card was also used in finding a photo for the front of this card.  

Monday Morning Autograph - Brian Stokes

I own a couple of thousand autograph cards, the majority have never appeared on my blog. Here is a random autograph that I have never posted before:

Today:2007 UD Spectrum Brian Stokes 

Why do I own this card? 

Brian Stokes was a starting pitcher on the 2006 Durham Bulls. He went 7-7 with a 4.11 ERA in 23 starts with the Bulls. The Rays called up Stokes in September 2006, he made 4 starts with the team, and went 1-0 with an ERA of 4.88.  There were better players on the 2006 Bulls, but Stokes seemed like a solid pitcher and his cards were cheap.  

You might be thinking, he had an ERA over 4 in Triple A, that does not seem solid. 

It was the Devil Rays, not the Rays.  

When did I get this card? 

I guarantee you this was an EBay dumpster dive. The Rays were still a few years away from making the World Series and being considered good. When I first started collecting Durham Bulls players in 2006 and 2007, outside of Delmon Young and BJ Upton, the majority of prospect cards were just a few dollars.

Brian Stokes Career Teams In a Haiku 

Amateur Free Agent

P-Rays, Blaze, River Dogs, O-Rays

Bulls, Rays, Angels, Mets

I really hate when the only thing on the back of the card is a "Congratulations" form letter, unless it's from Richard McWilliam, then it's alright. As the kids would say, McWilliam is the "OG" of the Congratulations form letter. Plus, when you were opening packs of Upper Deck cards, anytime you saw that signature, you knew you were about to have your day made.  

46 To Go

I had no idea who Earl Torgeson was before I bought this card a few days ago, but was intrigued when I Google Searched him and the bio from his SABR page started out with this sentence: 

"In a 15-year major-league career filled with great stories and accomplishments of various stripes, Earl Torgeson was well known for getting in brawls."

The card was sold before I could read the second sentence of his bio.  

Here is the card.

This is my first Red Man card with a tab.  

A few facts I learned about Earl after reading his full SABR Bio:

-His nickname was "The Earl of Snohomish" after his hometown in Washington. The nickname was shared with Indians Hall of Famer Earl Averill who was from the same town. In fact, Torgeson grew up playing at Averill Field in Snohomish.   

-Prior to his rookie season he faced assualt charges in Washington for beating two men who had used vulgar language in front of his wife. Torgeson was found not guilty after the judge agreed with his actions.  

-Torgeson was in dozens of fights during his Major League career. After breaking his glasses in his first MLB brawl, he infamously would slowly remove them before charging pitchers or players to fight. 

-He chain smoked cigars

-The majority of his baseball career was spent with the Braves and White Sox, but he also appeared for the Phillies, Tigers, and Yankees. 

-After baseball, he was a County Commisioner representing the Snohomish area.    

I need 46 more cards.  

2024 Blake Snell Autograph Count: 4

This is the 94th Blake Snell autograph in my collection and my first from a Topps Dynasty Collection product. If you are not familiar with Dynasty, it is basically a one pack per box autograph product that costs upwards of $200 dollars. The cards are generally an on-card autograph with a large patch piece. Blake Snell has signed for the product several times over the years, but I have never forked over the money to purchase one of these cards.  

Even the really good Blake Snell autographs with cool patch pieces and really low serial numbers sell for way less than $200. More common patch pieces are typically under $50. When I set out to find a Dynasty autograph, that was the top end of my budget for this card and I did not even spend it all. I have no idea why someone would buy a pack/box of Dynasty, but their loss is my win.  

Here is the front of the 2019 Topps Dynasty Blake Snell autograph card, which is encased by Topps.  

The blue is patch material and the white is jersey material, making this a Rays home jersey. Too generic of a jersey piece to figure out where on the Rays logo this was cut. The serial number is also on the front with this card having a print run of just 10 copies. The autograph is Snell's standard form and effort.  

This is the most high-end Snell autograph in my collection by product, but I am not sure it would even rank in my Top 20 in terms of style, design, and collecting appeal. It's just a card with a high SRP, that's it.

Honestly, a little disappointing now that it is in my hand. I guess it's cool to own one Topps Dynasty card, but I think this is likely my last. Although, I imagine the person who pulled this $40 card out of a $200 box of cards was even more disappointed than I might be feeling.  

I am surprised that the back does not have a huge "CONGRATULATIONS" stamped across the top. I actually like that they mention his first Cy Young, as well as Snell leading the American League in a bunch of different statistical categories. I would say the back is better than expected.  

Monday Morning Autograph - Rex Hudler

I own a couple of thousand autograph cards, the majority have never appeared on my blog. Here is a random autograph that I have never posted before:

Today: 1996 Leaf Signature Rex Hudler 

Why do I own this card? 

Rex was briefly a Cardinal in the early 1990s. The team would not spend money on pitching, but there was money in the budget for a colorful utility player.  

When did I get this card? 

At some point in college. It's actually one of the first certified autographs that I owned. Not a pack pull, but a really cheap card store pickup. I would guess this came from 1,000,000 Baseball Cards in west St. Louis County.  

Good Rex Hudler story?

Tom Pagnozzi, Lee Smith, Frank DiPino, and a bunch of other Cardinals players gave Rex Hudler a stack of 100 dollar bills to eat a bug off of his hat.  

Card back. 

Look at this gem. Card companies did not need a filler with some giant "CONGRATULATIONS" note. It's Leaf Signature, you already know you are getting an autograph. Nice little paragraph of Rex Hudler playing all over the field and his career batting stats. I would have guessed lower than .257 for his career average. Maybe Rex was better than I remember.  

47 To Go

I picked up two more cards for my 1952 Red Man Tobacco set project over the past weeks. No big names, but this is a small set, so every card helps. Plus, it's fun to learn more about the 1950s players as I go through and find their cards.  

First up, three time World Series winner Murry Dickson.  

The Missouri native (Kansas City area) actually started his career with the Cardinals and won two World Series playing along side Stan Musial and Red Schoendienst as an spot starter and long reliever early in his career, but would end up being a mainstay of the rotation by the mid 1940s. Dickson started two World Series games for the Cardinals in 1946 when they defeated the Red Sox. 

He spent the middle part of his career on the Pirates where he led the National League in losses three years in a row, but also made the All-Star team and had an ERA in the 3s. I looked around the 1952 Pirates Baseball Reference page and found the team hit .231 and had a .331 slugging percentage. If Ralph Kiner did not hit a home run, they did not score.  

Hard to win that way.

His career ended in the late 1950s with the Yankees where he won a third World Series ring.  

This card is in good condition outside of the corners, which are worn. It's hard being a 70 year-old piece of cardboard. 

 

My first American League card out of the Red Man Tobacco set is Tigers outfielder and first baseman Vic Wertz. As the card describes, Wertz was a very good hitter, lots of home runs, doubles, and RBIs. He played in a bunch of All-Star Games over his career, but is more a Hall of Very Good Player than Hall of Fame.  Wertz ended up getting traded at the end of the 1952 season to the Browns where he was on their final team in St. Louis and their first team as the Baltimore Orioles. He also played for the Indians and Red Sox before ending up back on the Tigers at the end of his career.  

I need 47 more cards.....

National League 

5. Murry Dickson 

16. Stan Musial 

19. Al Schoendienst 

23. Eddie Stanky 

American League 

22. Vic Wertz