1998 Skybox Thunder Edgardo Alfonzo

Who is this? Former New York Mets infielder Edgardo Alfonzo
What is this? An autographed card from the 1998 Skybox Thunder set
Where'd I get it? Alfonzo signed it before a Newark Bears game this summer
How much did it cost? A quarter?

Why is this so special? Edgardo Alfonzo remains one of the best players in Mets history. He ranks among the top ten career leaders in team history in most offensive categories. Alfonzo won a Silver Slugger in 1999 and was an All-Star in 2000.

After leaving the Mets, he had some decent seasons in San Francisco and brief stops with the Angels and Blue Jays. He left Major League Baseball with over 1500 hits, 146 home runs and 744 RBI over a 12 year career.

Over the past few years, he's played in Mexico and Japan, as well as independent league baseball in the U.S. After a disappointing 2010 season where Alfonzo hit .154 (12-for-78) in 26 games for the Newark Bears, I wonder if he's finally ready to retire.

Alfonzo's signature has remained fairly consistent throughout his career, but I've never quite figured out why he compresses his last name together the way he does.

1998 Donruss Signature Ryan Klesko

Who is this? Braves outfielder Ryan Klesko.

What is this? An autograph card from 1998 Donruss Signature Millenium Marks, numbered 1032.

Where'd I get it? Received in a trade with Cincinnati Reds Cards.

How much did it cost? Received in trade.

Why is this so special? Klesko was one of the big group of Braves Rookies that panned out in the early nineties along with Chipper, Javy and others. He was a slugging first baseman/outfielder that was better with the bat than the glove early on. He got in Bobby's doghouse frequently which is why he had a hard time holding down a full time job until he left the Braves. Klesko is prominently featured on the Sports Illustrated cover for the 1995 World Series, which is apparently not as Iconic as I thought since I can't find it online anywhere. He was traded to the Padres after the 1999 season for Wally Joyner, Reggie Sanders and Quilvio Veras, none of which had even close to the impact that Klesko had with the Padres. Ryan Played for the Giants last year where he was Barry Bonds' hunting partner, oddly enough. Ryan is currently a free agent and has not signed for 2008. This is the Millennium Green version of Donruss Signature, which according to SCD the first 100 signed were blue, the next 1000 were green and all the rest were Red. This is actually his most common colored signature from the set, as he signed only 1500 total cards (100 blue, 400 red). The card and auto both look great. This came in a group of cards from Joe at Cincinnatti Reds Cards.

1998 Donruss Signature Aaron Boone

Who is this? Reds third baseman Aaron Boone.

What is this? An autograph card from 1998 Donruss Signature.

Where'd I get it? A card show at the now defunct Venture Mall in Gwinnett.

How much did it cost? I got a handful of autograph cards from a dealer for about 20 bucks.

Why is this so special? This was the last product Donruss released before going belly up in 1998. Aaron spent most of his career with the Reds, but is best remembered for one at bat with the Yankees. He spent only 54 games with that team before screwing up his knee in the offseason and missing all of 2004. He has a couple of lackluster seasons for Cleveland before becoming a role player for the Marlins last year. He signed with the Nationals this winter and will come off the bench for them in 2008. This card is being sent to Joe of Cincinnati Reds Cards to complete a trade for tomorrow's autograph card. This was an excellent signature set, and Aaron's auto looks nice on the card.