2006 '52 Topps Rookie Card Yurendell De Caster

Who is this? Pirates third baseman Yurendell De Caster.

What is this? An autograph card from 2006 '52 Topps Rookie Card, card number 52S-YD

Where'd I get it? That same eBay guy with all the penny cards.

How much did it cost? One one thousandth of a ten dollar bill.

Why is this so special? Ok, so I probably overpaid for this one. Yurendell's entire major league career to date consists of two at bats in three games for two strikeouts. The Curacao native has played for the Dutch national team (including the 2007 European Championship gold medal winners) so we might see him again in the 2009 WBC. We won't see him with Pittsburgh because he's with the Nationals organization now, stuck in Triple-A Columbus. His realative anonymity still didn't keep some goober from videoing him looking over the DVD rack in Wal-Mart. Yurendell has an elegant minimalist signature on this card. I don't mind someone signing their name as Y d Ct when their name is 17 letters long and he's given a space smaller than the cap on a Sharpie to sign.

1999 Team Best Jason Standridge

Who is this? Devil Rays pitcher Jason Standridge.

What is this? An autograph card from 1999 Team Best.

Where'd I get it? El cheapo eBay Auction.

How much did it cost? One cent.

Why is this so special? Standridge was a first round pick of the Devil Rays in 1997 but only pitched 21 games for them before bouncing around to Texas, Cincinnati and Kansas City. He signed with Fukuoka of the Japanese Pacific League after being waived by the Royals. The Alabama native has dropped off the earth since then as I can't find any info for 2008. I used to be active in several simulation leagues that ran off of Front Page Sports '98, and Jason was in my bullpen for one of those teams. That's the reason I picked up his autograph, because of a computer game I played about 6 or 7 years ago. Hey, it cost a penny. Jason has a nice out of control signature with a bold J and a last name that looks like it's trying to eat itself. There's an inscription underneath that looks kind of like a bible verse, but I can't tell what it is. The Book of Squiggle 4:13. Actually, it might be Philemon. That kind of looks like Phil, right? No , there was no apostle Phil. It's a dude that Paul wrote a letter to. Actually now that I looked it up there is no Philemon 4:13 at all. So uh, yeah, I don't know what that is down there. Maybe Jason was going out with a Christian chick at the time and she was watching him sign these cards so he started putting random bible verses on there to make her happy. Maybe I should go to church tomorrow and ask the priest what the heck verse this is.

2004 Upper Deck Etchings Randy Winn

Who is this? Mariners outfielder Randy Winn.

What is this? An autograph card from 2004 Upper Deck Etchings, card number ET-RA. The card is serial numbered 36/100.

Where'd I get it? Who knows?

How much did it cost? Ummm...

Why is this so special? I have no idea where or why I got this card. It's kind of neat looking with lots of foil, maybe that's why. It sort of looks like a steampunk trading card with all the gears. I think the Etchings set was riffing on a currency theme in a not-so-subtle reference to the value of cards. The other neat thing about this card is that it has a sticker auto, but it's a paper sticker instead of a plastic one. There's an annoying "Uppper Deck Etchings" microprint all over it but other than that it looks good and scans great. It's also nice porous paper so the ink sticks to it nicely. I'm not sure I've seen this on any other auto card, too bad it's not used more often.

I don't have a whole lot to say about Randy. He's an average outfielder who is currently manning right field for the Giants. His main claim to fame is that he was the compensation The Davil Rays paid to Seattle for signing away Lou Piniella for their manager. Randy did a hell of a lot better in Seattle than Lou did in Tampa. It's a shame the matte sticker is marred by such a blah autograph. I don't know what that's suppsed to say but it ain't Randy Winn. More like DPW7 with a dot in search of an i. At least it's serial numbered... hooray.

2000 Topps Traded Tony Pena Jr.

Who is this? Braves shortstop Tony Pena Jr.

What is this? An autograph card from 2000 Topps Traded, card number TTA39.

Where'd I get it? Same eBay seller as the Klesko.

How much did it cost? $1.29

Why is this so special? This card kind of illustrates the danger in interweb shopping sprees. Ok, it's a Brave, he did actually have a cup of coffee with the team in 2006, I like his pop as a player, but good lord, it's Tony Pena Jr. Mario Mendoza is worried about losing his relevance with Tony starting in KC. To wit: Chipper Jones would have to go 0 for 331 in order to drop to Tony's batting average. Great Googely Moogely. Still, you have to be a pretty damn good player to keep your job while hitting about .150. Or maybe he has photos of David Glass shopping at Target, who knows. It was cheap, I like this autograph set, it's an on-card autograph, and most importantly, it's a Brave. Plus Tony can't his any worse this season, can he?

1993 Team Stadium Club Ryan Klesko

Who is this? Braves first baseman Ryan Klesko.

What is this? An autographed 1993 Team Stadium Club card, card number 26.

Where'd I get it? EBay auction.

How much did it cost? One penny.

Why is this so special? As I stated over here, I've gone on some real eBay binges lately. One such binge recently netted me four cards for this blog. Here's how it happens: I'm looking for something completely unrelated, often not to buy but for a blog post. I find a cool auction and click on the seller's other auctions. I find something I ABSOLUTELY MUST HAVE. Then I look through the rest of the listings to see if I can combine shipping and save some money by spending even more money. I discover in the fine print that if I buy 10 or more auctions, I seve even MORE on shipping. Now, I'm buying the store because I am an idiot. I ended up with a ton of cool stuff though and it was all under 15 bucks. Gotta love penny auctions. That's where I got this card. Here's the disclaimer from the listing:

I GOT THIS CARD IN A COLLECTION I BOUGHT. IT LOOKS LIKE A GOOD SIGNATURE BUT I CAN'T GUARENTEE IT, THIER'S NO PROOF EITHER WAY,BUT I'VE LOOKED AT COA AUTO'S BY HIM AND IT LOOKS PRETTY GOOD.

So yeah, it's an autograph card with no COA and dubious provenance of a player that could be described as a 'minor star' if you're feeling generous that day. Who freaking cares? It cost me a penny. The signature doesn't look a whole lot like my other autograph card of him, but it does look like the signature on another '93 Stadium Club card. I remember clearly that these exact cards were signed, placed in a blister pack and sold in Wal-Mart and book stores in the early nineties with a COA, so this could be one of those cards. Or it could be a total fake. Again, it cost me a penny. Ok, plus 50 cents for the shipping. Where else could you get such a thrilling mystery for 51 cents? Maybe a used book store in the bargain section. I'll save my money for the cards and read up on the mysteries online.

2004 Upper Deck Yankee Classics Phil Linz

Who is this? Yankees shortstop Phil Linz.

What is this? An autograph card from 2004 Upper Deck Yankees Classics , card number AU-24.

Where'd I get it? Flea market.

How much did it cost? The price sticker says $15, and I bought it either half off or 65% off. Half off is $7.50, 65% off is $5, let's split the difference and say $6.25.

Why is this so special? Two words: Harmonica. Incident. As immortalized in Jim Bouton's Ball Four, after a tough loss to Chicago in 1964, Phil was on the back of the Yankee team bus practicing on his harmonica. Manager Yogi Berra didn't think playing "Mary Had a Little Lamb" was appropriate after losing a game so he told him to knock it off. Phil was wrapped up in his playing and asked Mickey Mantle what Yogi said. Mickey's response? "Play louder". One harmonica slapped out of Phil's hands later and the press had a field day giving incompetent Yankee management their excuse to fire Yogi at the end of the season. The Yanks lost the World Series in game 7 to the Cardinals, Yogi was fired unfairly and the Yankees entered one of the most dismal stretches of their existence. Poor infamous Phil finished out his career with Philly and the Mets. Phil and Yogi were good sports about it though. Phil credits the incident with keeping his name in public's mind after all these years. "All my jobs have been because of that; people remember me because of that one incident". Phil currently works for a Title Insurance Company in New York City who are kind enough so sponsor Phil's Baseball-Reference page. This is a nice looking signature from Phil, and is a great addition to the collection of any Yankee fan, anyone who loves Ball Four, or any harmonica aficionados out there.

2006 Bowman Originals Jason Marquis

Who is this? Braves pitcher Jason Marquis.

What is this? An autograph buyback card from 2006 Bowman Originals, 2000 Bowman Chrome card number 12. The cards is numbered 14/16.

Where'd I get it? Flea market dude.

How much did it cost? Ten bucks.

Why is this so special? This is a situation where I went looking to buy an autograph card no matter what and ended up paying more than I planned for a player I don't like. It's a Brave, it's short printed and it's purdy so no big deal. Bowman Originals was a high-end product where Topps bought back a bunch of old Bowman cards, got them signed, serial numbered them, slabbed them and stuck 'em two per pack with a few base cards to fatten up the box. They weren't quite as expensive as these packs, but they weren't cheap either. There was only one card numbered to 25 or less per every 8 boxes so believe it or not Jason here was the case hit. I still got it for ten bucks and I still think I paid too much.

Jason is a solid pitcher but he's rubbed me the wrong way from his time with the Braves. He always seemed to underachieve with the team and it didn't help that he got into Bobby and Leo's doghouse frequently. Then he gets traded to the Cardinals in the JD Drew deal and immediately wins 15 games. Meh. Now he's pitching for the Cubs. Double meh. But, like I said before, it's pretty, low numbered and a Brave. Interesting choice by Jason on the signature location. He squished it up next to the facsimile signature and it looks a bit like an unkempt squiggle.