Recent Pick Ups

I still get a kick out of collecting rookie cards.But why?What's the psychology behind It?I could tell you why I did It as a kid.In price guides ,rookie cards were always worth the most.So naturally,rookie cards were what I looked forward to pulling when opening packs upon packs of 1989 Topps. I couldn't get enough of those Future Stars cards.Even though  I sometimes hoped my  more prominent rookie cards  would accrue value over time,I lived In the present ,concentrating more on what kinds of immediate returns I could get via trades with friends and other collectors.

As I got older I became more of a prospector.I'd pick up lesser valued rookies In hopes of them making an impact In the majors.That only worked once for me.I picked up a 1990 Topps Major League Debut Sammy Sosa card for  fifty cents ,years before the home-run barrages.Note to self-Find my 1990 Topps Major League Debut  Sammy Sosa card.I'm sure It's still floating around somewhere In my dilapidated collection.

Today ,the RC  Is still my favorite kind of card to collect.That's a good thing  seeing as how Topps has decided to slap the RC logo on EVERYTHING!It's whatever ,I guess. I don't prospect anymore.I'm kind of a front runner waiting to see If a player develops into something good  his first couple of MLB seasons before  snatching up their rookie cards.My most recent pick ups will attest to that.

I'm way late to the Ohtani party.That's cool,though,because showing up to the party late means smaller crowds and less raucous. Juuust how I like it ;)

What Is It with Philly and their influx of stud first baseman?I knew Hoskins would be something special  early In his career.Ironically ,I have him paired up with division rival and newly acquired Met Marcus Stroman. 

Ya Know What I Miss..?

1984 Topps Andy Van Slyke

Those of you who collected baseball cards post 1980's will never know about the investigatory process that took place every time a new wax pack got ripped. Take today's rookie cards for instance.You know when you pull a rookie card because of  the "rc" label ,right?Such was not the case back In our days.No siree !Most 80's Topps rookie cards looked just like the base card of a 12 year veteran.Occasionally you'd get a future stars card depicting three of the teams/leagues brightest rookies ,but that didn't stop Topps from giving first year players their own ,individual cards.And that's when the profiler In all of us kicked In. Hmmmm?Who Is this guy?I've never heard of him.He's not an established star.He looks rather young.I need answers.I'd better flip the card around.And that ,my friends,was how we would ultimately come to the realization that the card we held In our hand was ,indeed ,a rookie card.The backs of our baseball cards told the story.The list of minor league seasons followed by that solitary major league season  was all the evidence we needed.If his career numbers matched that one major league season on the card back stat roll  then BINGO,we had ourselves a rookie card!Assuming you knew the difference between minor and major league teams (you don't know how many kids got shafted that way).That ,to me,was always a fun part of the hobby.The digging.Investigating.I miss that.

The Bruce Is Loose!

I'm happy to see Bruce come back to the  Mets .I felt like his departure to the Indians came right when he was beginning to mesh with N.Y. , the fans and teammates. He's a gamer and a nice spark in the middle of a lineup that shouldn't have a problem scoring runs this year. Bruce Is also an asset to guys like Conforto and Dom Smith.Can't wait for February .And when February finally comes ,I'll be longing for April.

C.C. Sabathia

Immediately after C.C. was given  the Cy Young  award in '07 ,I took to Beckett marketplace to snag up  his rookie card.He was already lighting up the league years before that '07 season and I had taken notice.In fact ,C.C. won 17 games In his rookie season, coming In second in the ROY voting.Some guy named Ichiro took the league by storm that  year and won the honors.Still ,Sabathia was and has been  quite effective over his 17 year  span of  Major League service.Tonight he'll have his hands full.Here's to another solid start from Sabathia!Go git em' C.C.

FY & RC - (C)

Nick Markakis

Nick Markakis was a guy I wanted the Mets to pick up a long time ago.He's a disciplined hitter who churns out more doubles than a lady pregnant with twins,twice.I wanted to gobble up all of his rookie cards back in '06 and '07 but at the time ,the price tag on most of his XRC were through the roof.Well,not so much through the roof,maybe like 20 bucks a pop.But still,that's a lot to be paying for a single card I think.Since then,Markakis has suffered from a recent power outage ,failing to reach double digits In home runs In over 650 plate appearances last year ,and has only 2 going into today.He's still a solid hitter and outfielder to boot,but as a result of his more down to earth numbers,his card prices have plummeted. Looks like I'm finally going to be able to pick up that '03 Upper Deck Prospect Premiers after all ;) As of now,these are the only Markakisissiz that I own.

I'm really digging the beard , though.