Guys Who's Rookie Cards I Though I Was Lucky To Own V.2

Fernando mania!No,not Valenzuela but Martinez.F-Mart,The Golden Boy...yeah ....uhm....no.I don't think Martinez ever hit higher than .240 In any one major league season.The guy looked the part ,played some decent outfield but never turned out to be anything but a trade chip.I think he plays In the Mexican league now.

The legend of Felix Pie!Oh man ,did I hunt this card down relentlessly!I have this thing where I think a player will be a star just by looking at him.The name Felix Pie had hall of  famer  written all over It.That last name,Pie.It means foot In Spanish and a form of pastry In English.This meant he was going to be a fast runner and a sweet hitter.I had It all figured out.It was settled.The Cubs had hit the jackpot with this one and so did I when I pulled this chrome beauty out of a box I ripped  back In 2006.Truth be told,Pie flopped In the majors.But this Is still Is one of my favorite cards In my collection.  

The Freak!Back to back Cy Youngs In '08 and '09. Four time All-Star.Then things took a turn for the worst with trips to the DL mixed In with a couple of back to back losing seasons.Add to that the marijuana controversy and this once brilliant Tim Lincecum Bowman Chrome RC has lost alot of that shine.  

Uh-Oh,another Cubbie!So that's Dwight Smith ,Felix Pie and now  the infamous finger pointer- "I did not inject myself with any  kind of PED's whatsoever.......I couldn't reach so I let my friend do It for me :) " This guy put up numbers that could have landed him in the HOF three years before he ended his major league career.I say let him In.Let them all In,damn it!    

Guys Who's Rookie Cards I Thought I Was Lucky To Own V.1

We all know the feeling.You go out of your way to track down the rookie card of that guy who lit It up the year before,and was sure to do it again for years to come.He was going to be the next Koufax, Mantle or Willie Mays and you were going to be the proud owner of that guys rookie card when he's  inducted into the Hall of Fame 20 some odd years later.I'm big on rookie cards.I like how popular they are and It's cool to look at a guys first year card to compare  and see how much older and grizzled he looks now.But I'm also guilty of jumping on a players bandwagon after only a week of  consistent,above par play.Heck,a guy gets called up and goes 5 for 5 In his first big league game and I'm all over eBay,looking for his Bowman prospect cards.In fact I'm pretty sure I over payed for that Matt Duffy I picked over the winter.I'm a total loon.Below are a few examples of guys who's careers started off with a bang and ended with a small thud.Volume 1....

I could have easily went with Jerome Walton here but at the time I was sure that Smith was going to be more of an impact player than the 1989 ROY award winner.He did come In second.He was a sweet hitting lefty who hit .324 In close to 400 AB's In his first year In the bigs. And who could forget his famous singing of the national anthem at Wrigley.Dwight Smith Is gonna be the next Tony Gwynn/ Luther Vandross!

Brandon Inge didn't really heat up until the middle of his career but that was enough for me to place him on a pedestal with the likes of Lou Whitaker and Alan Trammel.He was actually pretty consistent for decent span.Inge probably shouldn't even be on this list but what the hell.

Zito was good but could have been great.I think he got caught up with marijuana at some point and was unable to get back to form.   

What happened to Conor Jackson?Anybody know?

Aley,Aley,Aley,Aley!The 8 game wonder!Great first  outing,shellacked In his next start by the D- Backs,great next couple of starts and then shellacked again by Boston. Aley was shown the exit shortly after. 

Delmon Young was a solid major leaguer ,but never really reached his full potential.He came In second to Dustin Pedroia In the ROY voting .Solid,albeit  controversy/injury filled seasons would follow.Good but not as good as he could have been.He's currently a free agent   and could end up helping out a contender down the stretch.Time will tell.