john wooden - through the mail success

Who is this? the wizard of westwood, former ucla basketball coach john wooden

What is this? an autographed photo from coach wooden

Where'd I get it? through the mail

How much did it cost? 4 stamps

Why is this so special? my son's school is using coach wooden's book "inch and miles, the journey to success" as the basis for their character education theme this year. coach wooden developed a 'pyramid of success' that is built with 15 different character traits that the students will try to emulate.

i thought it would be cool if coach wooden were to send my son a photo for him to share with his class as they go through the school year. i procrastinated, waiting until february to send the letter requesting the photo. it took only one week for me to receive the personalized, signed photo which was accompanied by another signed item - a 'pyramid of success' graphic.

coach wooden, of course, won 10 national titles in 12 years while coaching the ucla bruins from 1948 to 1975. he also won a national title as a player at purdue in 1932. he is widely regarded as the greatest coach in the history of sport, and he has continued to be a teacher into his 99th year.

my son and i both appreciate the photo and the chart, as well as the attention coach wooden has given to character development. thank you coach!

2009 upper deck adam (andy) laroche

Who is this? good question. the card and auto sticker say adam laroche, 1st baseman for the pittsburgh pirates. the picture tells a different story

What is this? an autograph card from 2009 upper deck baseball

Where'd I get it? in 1 of 4 hobby packs i picked up a couple of days ago

How much did it cost? packs were $5.99 each. 20 cards per.

Why is this so special? i suppose i could call it an error card. the picture is of adam's little brother andy, who was involved in the manny ramirez trade last july. seriously, upper deck. where is the quality control? it's reminiscent of the 95 topps juan lebron/carlos beltran bait and switch.

it's a sticker auto, by the way.

actually i would rather have a card of andy than adam, but that's just me.

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.

1972 topps ron cey (with ben ogilvie and bernie williams)

Who is this? the penguin, ron cey

What is this? an autographed 1972 topps rookie card

Where'd I get it? from kit young sportscards mail order catalog about 14 years ago

How much did it cost? i think i paid around $20

Why is this so special? ron cey was the third baseman for the long lasting dodger infield of my youth, that's why. actually, the penguin was arguably the dodgers' best player during his tenure. he was the los angeles dodgers career home run leader until eric karros came along.

this card is his rookie card, a high number to boot. plus it features ben ogilivie and (not that) bernie williams. notice that he is listed as an outfielder. the entire dodger infield were converted from different positions - garvey from 3rd and russell, lopes and cey from the outfield.

cey would appear on another group rookie card in 1973, this time as a 3rd baseman with some guy named schmidt.

the auto itself is pretty nice - strong blue sharpie with cey's uniform number "10" inside the loop of the "R". pretty standard cey auto.

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.

2004 upper deck legends timeless teams mickey hatcher

Who is this? mickey hatcher

What is this? an autograph card from 2004 upper deck legends timeless teams

Where'd I get it? ebay

How much did it cost? about $6

Why is this so special? mickey hatcher is one of the stunt men. the backups, pine-riders, role players - whatever you want to call the guys who come of the bench and/or spot start. in 1988, he got the start in left field when kirk gibson couldn't play in game 1 of the world series. all the hatch did was hit a 2-run homer in the bottom of the first, and almost overtake steve sax on the basepaths.

mickey came up through the dodgers' organization. i remember listening to the game he made his major league debut in - i believe his first at bat was with the bases loaded. a chance to do something special. he walked.

traded to the twins for ken landreaux, hatcher missed out on the dodgers 1981 world series championship. then, he was released by the twins and signed with the dodgers prior to the 1987 season. this means, of course, he missed out on the twinkies' first championship, too. so it was nice to see hatcher get his ring in 1988 after just missing out twice.

now a coach with the angels, i had a chance to meet him at spring training this past season. a nice guy all around.

the auto here is nice and clean, on the card and pretty darn cool looking. i love this set, and am glad upper deck is using it again in their current timeline release.

1999 upper deck retro inkredible steve garvey

Who is this? steve garvey

What is this? an autograph card from 1999 upper deck retro

Where'd I get it? ebay

How much did it cost? i don't remember. i may have overpaid.

Why is this so special? steve garvey was my favorite player. he is the "g" in "gcrl". he led the dodgers to 4 world series in 8 years, was the national league mvp in 1974, won gold gloves (meaningless, i know) from 1974-1977, a ten-time all star and a two-time all star game mvp (again, meaningless), and a two-time nlcs mvp. he was, by all appearances, the all-american guy. i have a ridiculous number of steve garvey cards, inserts, variations, autos, relics, etc.

plus, this is the first card i ever purchased on ebay.

as for the card itself, the little photo of garvey leaves a lot to be desired. there is such a huge space on the card for the autograph, it's almost as if upper deck expected steve to write a short paragraph on why he irritated so many of his teammates.

the signature, while off-centered on the writing surface, is crisp, blue, and on the actual card. no stickers back in the 20th century.

1990 topps lance parrish

Who is this? lance parrish, catcher for the (then) california angels - better known as the catcher for the 1984 world champion detroit tigers

What is this? an "in person" autographed base card from 1990 topps aka (in my opinion) the ugliest topps set to date

Where'd I get it? in a trade i made with a co-worker about 12 years ago

How much did it cost? a lot. i traded a bunch of star wars stuff - the original stuff - figures, vehicles, etc. for a bunch of cards. i got a lot of cards, including a 1989 ud griffey jr and a 1971 topps nolan ryan, but i think i got the short end of the trade as time has passed

Why is this so special? is it special? lance did play in the dodgers organization late in his career, but never played in a game for the dodgers. he was a big part of the 1984 tigers, so he has that going for him.

here is my only lance parrish story. in 1989, i was living in orange county. i went to an angels/red sox game - jim abbot vs. roger clemens. i had clemens on my fantasy team, along with lance parrish. bottom of the first, parrish takes clemens deep - part of a 5 run first. clemens gets the hook after 2, and parrish goes hitless the rest of the way. turned out to be jim abbott's first career shutout.

corey koskie has a message

Who is this? former twins third baseman corey koskie

What is this? A 2001 topps base card signed by koskie

Where'd I get it? this was a through the mail success (took about a year, though)

How much did it cost? i think i got the card in a hobby pack, so i'm going to say about $0.20 plus a couple of stamps

Why is this so special? my son was born in 2000. i took him to his first game on july 1, 2001 - tigers vs. twins at the metrodome. we got there a little late (hey, i'm from southern california), and the twins were already at bat in the bottom of the first. the first batter we saw was corey koskie, who promptly hit a home run.

i have to admit that, even prior to the game, i felt a certain kinship to koskie, a manitoban, as my parents are both canadian. afterwards, i thought it would be nice to have a koskie memento from the game, and so i mailed a couple of cards to him at the metrodome. about a year later, he returned both cards. they were both signed, with an extra notation - matt 11:28-30.

the autograph itself is not so nice, in fact, the scripture notation is clearer on both cards. this is due, in part, to the cards i chose - there is a darkness to the background that makes the pen difficult to see.

corey had his best season that year, going 20/20 with over 100 rbi. after a few more years with the twins, he went on to play for the blue jays and the brewers before suffering a concussion in 2006 on a freak play. he hasn't played since, which is too bad. the last time i saw him was at twinsfest last year - not as a former player signing autographs, but as a father with his kids enjoying the activities on the field of the metrodome.

i have to admit, i still haven't looked up the scripture. sorry corey.