2006 Topps '52 Rookies Joe Winkelsas

Who is this? former Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Joe Winkelsas

What is this? An autographed card from the 2006 Topps '52 Rookies set.

Where'd I get it? Winkelsas signed it for me before a Newark Bears game earlier this year.

How much did it cost? About a quarter

Why is this so special? After Winkelsas made his major league debut in 1999, he quickly went back to the minors. There he stayed until 2004, when he suddenly found himself in independent baseball. Winkelsas persevered and earned another shot at the bigs with the Milwaukee Brewers in 2006, appearing in 7 games.

Winkelsas briefly retired, but came back in 2007. He spent two more years in the minors before apparently hanging it up again. This year, he tried to make one more comeback by pitching for the Newark Bears. As far as I know, Winkelsas has now retired from baseball.

Again, his autograph isn't much to look at. Instead of a Bible verse, Winkelsas added the phrase, "Read God's Word and live it out loud."

2005-2006 Topps Carmelo Anthony

Who is this? Nuggets Forward Carmelo Anthony.

What is this? An autograph card from 2005-2006 Topps, card ME-SM.

Where'd I get it? A pack I picked up at QuikTrip because they had no baseball cards.

How much did it cost? $1.99 for the pack.

Why is this so special? I blew it yesterday, so you get a special two-fer today. I used to pick up a pack of cards or two when filling up at the gas station. The past few years they have been kind of erratic with their cards though and they've finally stopped selling them altogether. A lot of times they didn't have baseball cards at all and I'd have to grab some other pack to get my ripping fix. One time I grabbed a pack of Topps Basketball for the heck of it. I opened it up and pulled this card. Not only that, I also pulled this card. That's right, a Carmelo Anthony and Shawn Marion autograph both in the same pack. What are the odds? I almost fell out of my chair when I pulled a Carmelo autograph, especially when there was another autograph in the same pack. A couple of years before I watch some guy drop literally thousands of dollars ripping tins of some high end product trying to pull a LeBron James or Carmelo Anthony autograph, and I just got one for two bucks when I filled up my tank and got a soda. Melo is holding some trophy in his photo, but I'm not exactly sure what it's for. I don't have a hell of a lot of basketball autos in the first place, and I find it amusing that I pulled two All-Stars out of a base product pack from a gas station. Carmelo's signature is simple and concise, and looks good on the hologram sticker.

2005-2006 Topps Shawn Marion

Who is this? Suns forward Shawn Marion.

What is this? An autograph card from 2005-2006 Topps, card ME-SM.

Where'd I get it? A pack I picked up at QuikTrip because they had no baseball cards.

How much did it cost? $1.99 for the pack.

Why is this so special? I blew it yesterday, so you get a special two-fer today. I used to pick up a pack of cards or two when filling up at the gas station. The past few years they have been kind of erratic with their cards though and they've finally stopped selling them altogether. A lot of times they didn't have baseball cards at all and I'd have to grab some other pack to get my ripping fix. One time I grabbed a pack of Topps Basketball for the heck of it. I opened it up and pulled this card. Not only that, I also pulled this card. That's right, a Shawn Marion and Carmelo Anthony autograph both in the same pack. What are the odds? I was most excited about Melo when I first opened it, but The Matrix is a pretty damn good player in his own right. Shawn was recently traded to the Heat in the Shaquille O'Neal deal. Shawn's signature it atrocious, there isn't even a hint of a S or M in that squiggle. The sticker it is on is different from the other Topps stickers I've see as well. It is gold and blue instead of the holographic silver they normally use. I'm not sure if this is a parallel or what, other than the sticker color it is no different from the Carmelo card.