2008 upper deck documentary chris perez

who is this? cardinals' closer in waiting chris perez

what is this? an autograph card from 2008 upper deck documentary aka the worst issue of 2008

where'd i get it? from the hobby box i busted before i knew that documentary was the worst issue of 2008

how much did it cost? one of 300 cards in the box, so maybe a nickel.

why is this so special? well, i don't really care for this issue. i had such high hopes, too. however, i do like this card for the arm angle and the way his arms look like mirror images of each other. the colors are nice - good placement of the team logo - and perez seems to be a decent closer prospect.

the autograph itself is a sticker auto. nice blue sharpie, but it seems cramped.

it still carries the stain of documentary, though, so i probably won't be keeping this one.

1990 donruss bob tewksbury

Who is this? bob tewksbury

What is this? an autographed 1990 donruss card

Where'd I get it? perhaps the tewks fairy? i really don't remember. in person at twinsfest or through a trade, most likely.

How much did it cost? not much, i am sure.

Why is this so special? i really like this card. the red border complements the red in the cardinals uniform, and the signature is strong in blue.

bob tewksbury pitched for the twins in 1998, and i saw him go against the cardinals one stormy day in the metrodome. this was during mark mcgwire's home run chase, so the dome was packed. tewksbury had been quoted as saying he was not afraid to use the eephus pitch, and sure enough, he threw it to mcgwire. i think mcgwire grounded out.

he was also part of the 96 padres, who, led by ken caminiti, beat the dodgers for the nl west title. but i won't hold that against him.

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 Playoff Absolute Memorabilia Marty Marion

Who is this? Cardinals shortstop Marty Marion.

What is this? An autograph card from 2005 Playoff Absolute Memorabilia, card 158. The card is serial numbered 107/150.

Where'd I get it? Champion Sports Cards.

How much did it cost? $7.50

Why is this so special? Not to be confused with Marion Motley, Marty Marion was the St. Louis Cardinals' All-Star shortstop during the 40's. Marty was a key player on three Cardinal championship teams including his MVP year of 1944. Marty was a fantastic fielder at short and although his stats don't look that good to modern fans, was a good hitter for a shortstop of his day. Marty wasn't voted into the Hall of Fame, but he got a serious look from the Veteran's committee before they decided to stop letting anyone in. Marty was also part of a double play combination with the man with my favorite name ever, Creepy Crespi. I got this card last week when I went in the the local shop looking for a couple of packs to tide me over until Heritage came out. I found out they had a sale on autographs so I scrounged through their box and found Marty. I couldn't pass it up, and I still don't understand why I got an MVP from the 40's for less than a lot of Double-A scrubs on a "rookie" card. The card looks great, especially as it's a Spectrum holographic parallel, but the signature itself is just fantastic. It's unique, you can read every single letter and it has that brilliant giant dot of the i in Marion. After looking through my collection the past couple of months and seeing a whole bunch of scribbles and hieroglyphs from whippersnappers who couldn't hit a major league curveball if all of Western Civilization depended on it, seeing such a gorgeous autograph is incredibly refreshing. This is instantly one of the prizes of my collection. Thanks Marty!