2005 Donruss Diamond Kings Chone Figgins

Who is this? Angels jack of all trades Chone Figgins.

What is this? An autograph card from 2005 Diamond Kings, card number 7. The card is serial numbered 155/200.

Where'd I get it? Flea market dude.

How much did it cost? Seven bucks if I recall correctly.

Why is this so special? It's an autograph, bat and jersey piece card, that's pretty special I guess. Figgins is a pretty good player, a 60 steal guy in an era where speedsters are rare, and can play just about anywhere on the field. I've been a fan of Chone for a while, he's from Georgia and I was following his career early on when I picked up a couple of his rookies cheap. These kind of cards stuffed with relics and a signature are commonplace now, but this is the first one that I picked up. There were rumors that he might have been traded to the Braves to replace Andruw floating around for a while this offseason, but nothing ever came of them. It's still a nifty looking card even if it has been rendered dirt common by legions of hundred dollar and up per pack products. I dig Chones' C-squiggle-F-squiggle-dot-dot signature too. You can see a smiling face on the right if youuse your imagination. The most special thing about this is that I have managed to post a card every day this month. Hooray for me!

2002 Playoff Absolute Memorabilia Terrence Long

Who is this? A's outfielder Terrence Long.

What is this? An autograph card from 2002 Playoff Absolute Memorabilia, card number AI-53.

Where'd I get it? A blister package advertising one jumbo pack and a relic card for ten bucks.

How much did it cost? $10.

Why is this so special? Terrence was the first found pick of the Mets in the 1994 Draft, but he made his impact with the A's after New York traded him for Kenny Rogers in 1999. Terrence will always have a special place in my heart just for bringing the Gambler to New York in time for the playoffs. The next year Terrence had his best year in the bigs and came in second to Kaz Sasaki in the Rookie of the Year voting. After three more years of declining production and rising salary, the A's traded him to San Diego where he had one more decent year. Terrence finished out his career with a season with the Royals and a few games with the Yankees. I pulled this card when I lost my mind and bought one of those "Fat Pack + a Memorabilia card" things from Target. I not only beat the odds and pulled an autograph, but it's an amazing looking one at that. I never knew Terrence signed in Elvish. Terrence isn't one of the greatest players ever, but he indirectly made me a happy camper in 1999 and has a fantastic signature.

1985 Fleer Alvin Davis

Who is this? Mariners first baseman Alvin Davis.

What is this? An autographed 1985 Fleer card, number 488.

Where'd I get it? Big auction lot.

How much did it cost? Less than a buck.

Why is this so special? Known as Mr. Mariner Alvin was the first - and pretty much only - star the Seattle Mariners had before Junior showed up. Alvin was the Rookie af the Year in 1984 and manned first for the M's for 8 years. His stats don't look spectacular nowadays, but 20 homers a season and a lifetime .280 average was pretty good for the dead-ball 80's. Alvin retired in 1992 after only 9 seasons in the league and a brief stay in Japan. He's still a fan favorite in Seattle though and he was the first member of the Mariners' Hall of Fame. Alvin knows his bible verses too as he has his signature inscribed with 1 Timothy 2:5: "For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus" Alvin's an 80's star and a nice guy it seems.

1997 Donruss Signature Series Michael Tucker

Who is this? Braves outfielder Michael Tucker.

What is this? An autograph card from 1997 Donruss Signature Series, Millennium Marks serial number 0300.

Where'd I get it? Who knows?

How much did it cost? Couldn't have been that much.

Why is this so special? Michael Tucker was hot as anything in 1993 or 1994. I remember seeing his rookie cards all over the place. He was the Next Big Star! Him and Mike Kelly. I ignored him because he was a Royal and bought up all the Mike Kelly cards before he became a Star. Mike flopped and Tucker was traded to the Braves in 1997. So of course I snagged as many of Michael's cards as I could get my hands on. He had a good year with the Braves in 1997, an ok one in '98 and then got shipped off to the Reds with Denny Neagle. The only problem with this is that we gave up Jermaine Dye to get Tucker, and received Bret Boone from the Reds in return. OUCH. And this wasn't the 37 homer Mariners Boone, this was the hitting .252 stinkerooni Boone. So yeah, that didn't work out too well. Tucker had a decent career although he never came close to the star status predicted. He still lasted 12 years in the bigs as a platoon outfielder and had one last hurrah with the Mets in the 2006 NLCS. Plus he's fondly remembered by Royals fans apparently. I'm not sure where I got this, I probably paid too much for it in any case. It's still a Braves auto with a nice sig with the uni number inscription. It's got numbers stamped on the back too, wheee!

2008 Upper Deck Joel Peralta

Who is this? Royals pitcher Joel Peralta.

What is this? An autograph card from 2008 Upper Deck, card number SS-JP

Where'd I get it? Sports Card Alley.

How much did it cost? Two dollars.

Why is this so special? I got this card for 2 reasons: I thought it was a rookie auto, and it was from 2008 so if the guy was stuck in low A-ball or something there would be time for him to improve. Boy was I wrong. Joel is actually a 32 year old middle reliever for the Royals and he's kind of stunk up the joint this year. He was optioned to Triple-A Omaha after blowing a couple of saves but pitched well and got called back up on the 23rd. That doesn't change the fact that he's a middle reliever for the Royals. This is a nice freaking signature though, featuring a little swirly flourish encapsulating Joel's uniform number.

2005 Donruss Yadier Molina

Who is this? Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina.

What is this? A 2004 Studio autograph card inserted into 2005 Donruss. I'll explain later. Card number is 241 and it is serial numbered 083/100.

Where'd I get it? Not entirely sure.

How much did it cost? If I got it from a pack, three bucks. If not, who knows.

Why is this so special? In 2005, Donruss inserted 50 2004 Studio 'update' cards into their base brand packs. The cards had 2004 Studio stamped on them as well as a 2004 copyright date. The only way to distinguish these update cards from the regular '04 Studio cards is by the card number. [edit- I goofed] Numbers 1-200 are from 2004 Studio, 201-250 are the '05 inserts. There was a parallel autograph version called "Private Signings" and this is one of those parallels. They are sneaky, even the authentic signature impression on the sticker reads 2004. I got fooled the first time I posted one of these cards, thinking it was from 2004.

Everyone in St. Louis and half the people in New York know why Yadier is special. His home run in game 7 of the 2006 NLCS sent the Mets packing and put the Cardinals in the World Series. He's only hit 27 other homers in his 5 years with the Cards so he definitely has a good sense of timing. His brothers Bengie and Jose are also catchers in the majors and like Yadier have earned World Series championship rings. Yadier got absolutely hammered in a collision at the plate with Eric Bruntlett in a game on June 15th, but he's already back in the lineup for the Cards. Catchers are tough sonofaguns. This would be a dream card for any Cardinal fans, with the playoff hero posing with the Gateway Arch in the background. Like our buddy Miguel Montero (and Abe for that matter) Yadier has a pretty cryptic signature. m0_y0. It looks good though, I wish I had a funky signature like that.

2005 Sweet Spot Classic Phil Niekro

Who is this? Philip Henry Niekro, the finest knuckleballer to ever knuck a ball.

What is this? An autograph card from 2005 Sweet Spot Classic, card number PN.

Where'd I get it? Champion Sports Cards.

How much did it cost? $16.

Why is this so special? The scan sucks, but the card looks great. That's supposed to be copper foil on the front but after three scans I gave up on it looking like anything but mud. The ball is white, the stitches are red and there's a nice blue ballpoint signature right on the sweet spot of course. The ballpoint is key here as anyone who has ever watched their hero sign on a leather ball with a sharpie can attest. This is my third Knucksie auto on a ball, One is on an American League ball and the other was signed in blue sharpie in person so I don't mind the smudge. Phil was my favorite pitcher when I was a kid so Knucksie autos always welcome in my house.

I got this at the local card shop today. There wasn't anything I was really looking for, if I wasn't out running errands in the area already I probably wouldn't have gone. I found a Chipper card I didn't have, picked up the Trading Card History giveaway cards for the week an looked through the wax. Topps series 2 - meh. UD series 2 - I like retail better. SPX - $19 a pack, oh joy. They had Chrome packs for three bucks each or 6 for $17. The box of Chrome was was sitting on the autograph case so I absentmindedly looked in the case. They had a Brooks Robinson auto card for $18. Shameful, concidering the Chrome autographs of nobody prospects hiding in the box will book for at least that. I saw Phil and did a double take. Knucksie apparently got promoted from the Braves ghetto into the top shelf of 'good' autograph cards. the price tag said $20 and there was a 20% off sale. Sooo... I could get a pack of SPX or a handful of Chrome and chase an auto of God knows who, or get the signature of my childhood hero. Tough choice.