Collecting Cleveland Indians Topps team sets from 1952-present, as well as post-war minor and major league autographs.
Outfielder Lew Ford. Back in 2004, filling in for an injured Torii Hunter, Ford hit .299/.381/.446 with 15 HR for the Twins. He finished 24th in MVP voting. It was his second season in the majors, and it seemed like the Minnesota had found a hidden gem in the 27-year[…]
OF Adam Engel was drafted by the White Sox in the 19th round of the 2013 draft out of Louisville. From 2014-2017 he ranked one of the White Sox Top 25 prospects, topping out at #10 coming into the 2017 season. He made the majors in 2017, and has filled[…]
From 2013-2018, OF Dylan Cozens was one of the Phillies Top 30 prospects–ranking as high as #10 following the 2017 season. I was at the 2016 Eastern League All-Star game and people were falling over themselves for his autograph. It was so bad that I never got him, and decided to not even go back the next day.
SP Zac Gallen went 4-10 this season with the Diamondbacks. That might not look great, but his numbers were actually not that bad.
Catcher Gerald Laird spent 13 seasons in the major leagues (2003-2015) with almost a half dozen teams. He was never really a full time starter, and only got into 120 or more games twice in his career. He retired following the 2015 season with a career line of .243/.305/.353 and[…]
Infielder Alay Alago is a really interesting player. Since 2018 Alay Alago has been playing Indy ball in the American Association, and has been one of the best hitters in the league. In 2019 he won the American Association batting crown while playing for the Sioux Fall Canaries, hitting .339/.386/.531[…]
Jose Tena is one Cleveland’s biggest prospects coming into the 2022 season. He opened the season as the Guardians #20 overall prospect Tena spent the season in High-A, and as one of the youngest players in the league hit .281/.331/.467 with 16 HR. Then, in the Arizona Fall League, he[…]
Nick Allen was drafted in the 3rd round of the 2017 draft out of Francis Parker HS in San Diego. He has become one of the better prospects in the system, and opened the 2021 season as Oakland’s #6 prospect. I am thinking he will be in the top[…]
Mark Canhan had a very nice 2021 campaign, hitting .231/.358/.387 with 17 HR, good for an 111 OPS+. He has been a steady source of offensive for Oakland since making the major leagues in 2015, and its going to be weird not seeing him in the outfield for the A’s[…]
Micah Pries was drafted out of Point Loma Nazarene University, a D3 school, by Cleveland in the 19th round of the 2019 draft. 2021 was his first professional campaign, and he was just fantastic