2008 UD Baseball Heroes Ryan Theriot

Who is this? Chicago Cubs shortstop/second baseman Ryan Theriot.

What is this? An autograph card from 2008 Upper Deck Baseball Heroes numbered 025/150.

Where'd I get it? Out of a pack of UD Heroes I purchased a few months ago.

How much did it cost? Maybe $4.50 or $5 for the pack.

Why is this so special? Ryan "The Riot" has been a pretty solid middle infielder for the Cubs these last few years. I've always seen him as a throwback kind of middle infielder with good contact and very little pop in his bat. He doesn't fit in with today's shortstops and second basemen - guys like Utley, Uggla, Kinsler, and Hanley Ramirez, each of whom has at least as many as Theriot's 14 career home runs just this year. Despite the lack of pop, you can't argue with Theriot's .307 BA and .387 OBP last year. The Riot should be a pretty solid player for a long time.

Upper Deck tells me that Ryan Theriot signed the sticker that they have conveniently placed upon my Heroes card, but I could swear that it was signed by somebody named B Uit 2. I'm pretty sure that the 2 is for his jersey number, but that's the only thing that makes sense out of this auto. The signature could be much better, or even recognizable as Theriot's.

2007 Sweet Spot Travis Buck

Who is this? A's outfielder Travis Buck.

What is this? An autograph card from 2007 Sweet Spot, card #139. 

Where'd I get it? In a trade with The Nennth Inning.

How much did it cost? Got it in a trade.

Why is this so special? I like Travis Buck. Mainly because in almost every photo I've seen of him he has this great big goofy smile on his face and his hair is flying all over the place out of his cap. His 2007 Bowman Heritage card is an excellent example of this. He missed a lot of last season due to injuries, but he's having a good spring training so maybe he'll have a bounce back year for the Athletics. I want to see Travis have many more cards featuring unkempt hair and goofy grins so I'll be rooting for him. I got this card from Bailey at The Nennth Inning in exchange for some Tim Lincecum cards he needed. I think I sent him about 8or 9 Lincys for two Sweet Spot autos and two jersey cards. You can get good deals from player collectors blowing out excess inventory. 

These Sweet Spot prospect autos are pretty neat looking. I think they were modeled after the rookie helmet autos in Sweet Spot's football product, but the concept didn't transfer over very well. The most obvious difference is that the signature is on the card and not on the helmet. This might be because fothe weird way the helmet is in the card. The card itself is really thick, but about 2/3rd of the card is hollow. The helmet itself is a square piece of plastic molded to make the helmet part be raised in 3D. The plastic would still look like a square with a bump in it, so the plastic is placed inside the hollowed out area and the front of the card is die cut in the shape of the helmet. You can see the indentation on the back for the hollowed out part and the die cut on the front is just hanging above the helmet so you can see inside the card at the rest of the square. This gives ample opportunity for damage and the point next to the thing that is supposed to look like an earflap is pretty trashed on this one. It still looks good enough though, and I don't really care if autographed cards are beat up. The design on these cards are pretty nice as long as you don't mind the recessed plastic bump helmet motif. The entire card is very glossy except for the dark wood area at the bottom right corner for the signature. It's not the biggest area for the signature, but it's bigger than the helmet and has a matte finish for good signing. Travis' auto looks great, with his T~ Bk sig fitting perfectly inside the signature space. I like the card weirdness and all, and I'll have to keep an eye on Travis so see if he can produce in the outfield for the A's.

1993 Topps Dana Stubblefield

Who is this? Former 49er, Dana Stubblefield.

What is this? An autograph card from the 1993 Topps set, number 64.

Where'd I get it? At a free autograph signing around 1994.

How much did it cost? Whatever a pack of '93 Topps cards cost.

Why is this so special? This card is special because it is featured on Auto-Matic for the People. All of us (including me) have been slacking of late (we are probably too busy buying up all of the new '09 baseball cards). So, I figured that I should post something.

As for this card, I got it signed at one of the local car dealerships in 1994. Luckily, one of my neighborhood friends heard about it on the radio and we were able to snag a ride over there to get some signatures. I got this card signed (it was the only one I had of him) and I got a 1994 University of Kansas schedule-poster signed. The signing was free.

Stubblefield had a great rookie season in 1993. He notched 10.5 sacks that year and was the Defensive Rookie of the Year. His sacks steadily dropped for the next three seasons. Then, in 1997, he had a 15 sack season. He was awarded the Defensive Player of the Year Award. He then went to Washington via free agency. In his three years there, he never had more than 3 sacks. He played three more seasons in San Francisco and Oakland but could not rekindle his old glory.

His name came up in the BALCO investigations and he is currently serving a two-year probation. He also appeared in the movie "Reindeer Games".

I hate the photo on this card. He was a first round draft pick and I would have preferred a photo of him playing in college. Instead we get a training camp photo of him warming up in shorts, without shoulder pads on, and with his last name on the front of his helmet so all of the coaches will know who he is.

john wooden - through the mail success

Who is this? the wizard of westwood, former ucla basketball coach john wooden

What is this? an autographed photo from coach wooden

Where'd I get it? through the mail

How much did it cost? 4 stamps

Why is this so special? my son's school is using coach wooden's book "inch and miles, the journey to success" as the basis for their character education theme this year. coach wooden developed a 'pyramid of success' that is built with 15 different character traits that the students will try to emulate.

i thought it would be cool if coach wooden were to send my son a photo for him to share with his class as they go through the school year. i procrastinated, waiting until february to send the letter requesting the photo. it took only one week for me to receive the personalized, signed photo which was accompanied by another signed item - a 'pyramid of success' graphic.

coach wooden, of course, won 10 national titles in 12 years while coaching the ucla bruins from 1948 to 1975. he also won a national title as a player at purdue in 1932. he is widely regarded as the greatest coach in the history of sport, and he has continued to be a teacher into his 99th year.

my son and i both appreciate the photo and the chart, as well as the attention coach wooden has given to character development. thank you coach!

2009 upper deck adam (andy) laroche

Who is this? good question. the card and auto sticker say adam laroche, 1st baseman for the pittsburgh pirates. the picture tells a different story

What is this? an autograph card from 2009 upper deck baseball

Where'd I get it? in 1 of 4 hobby packs i picked up a couple of days ago

How much did it cost? packs were $5.99 each. 20 cards per.

Why is this so special? i suppose i could call it an error card. the picture is of adam's little brother andy, who was involved in the manny ramirez trade last july. seriously, upper deck. where is the quality control? it's reminiscent of the 95 topps juan lebron/carlos beltran bait and switch.

it's a sticker auto, by the way.

actually i would rather have a card of andy than adam, but that's just me.

2008 Bowman Chrome Jason Heyward

Who is this? Braves prospect Jason Heyward.

What is this? An autograph card from 2008 Bowman Chrome, card number BCP121. The card is serial numbered 306/500.

Where'd I get it? Trade with Heartbreaking Cards of Staggering Genius.

How much did it cost? Got it in trade.

Why is this so special? Man, I haven't posted in a long time. I need to get on the ball. I've got all my 2009 pet projects more or less up and running so expect more posts in February.

Simply put, Jason Heyward is a Freaking Beast. He's the #3 overall prospect on Keith Law's top 100 prospects list and after the year he had in Rome last year, I'm not surprised. He's been compared to Cliff Floyd and Fred McGriff and some even say that Golden Boy Jeff Francoeur is just keeping his right feild spot warm for when he arrives in Atlanta. Yeah, he's that well thought of. He's also another local prospect, from Henry County, GA. Do not be surprised if he is in Atlanta very soon. I had been hunting for an affordable autograph of him since his cards started coming out in the fall of 2007 and Heartbreaking floored me when he sent this card in a trade. I've got a big surprise waiting to sent to him, but as anyone knows who's traded with me before, I'm kind of slow. I'll get to it soon though. I have to say of all the cards I got in 2008, other than the Florida Agriculture Mark Lemke card, this is my favorite.

Topps Finest: Hong-Chih Kuo.

Who is this? Hong-Chih Kuo (Pinyin: Guō Hóngzhì).

What is this? A Topps Finest autograph card.

Where'd I get it? Our favorite card shop in Albuquerque.

How much did it cost? A few dollars, can't recall the exact amount.

Why is this so special? A ding in the toploader makes it seem as though one of the robots from The Terminator is grabbing Hong-Chih's right leg. Also, the card is shiny. Also, red is a good luck color. Also, we forgive him for pitching 3 and 2/3 scoreless innings in one game against the Mets last May (without giving up a hit) and striking out 8 of the 12 batters he faced.