Collecting Cleveland Indians Topps team sets from 1952-present, as well as post-war minor and major league autographs.
I absolutely loved Jason Stokes when he was coming up. I was able to get him once through the mail, though the card he signed did not turn out. He is–in my experience–impossible through the mail now. Why did I like him? He was a huge prospect. For seven seasons[…]
I was really happy to add this autograph to my collection this week– it’s one less guy that I have to stress out about getting this coming season. Richie Palacios is one of the Indians better prospects. He was drafted in the 3rd round of the 2018 draft out of Towson[…]
Barry Bonds was a very good baseball player. Maybe one of the best ever. So good that I imagine if he was not such a dick during his playing days people might be willing to overlook his PED use and he would already be in the Hall of Fame. Looks[…]
Bobby Bonilla‘s son Brandon Bonilla pitched here in Hawaii a couple years ago. He was the closer of the Hawaii Pacific (D2) team that plays right down the street. He was a very good pitcher and ended up getting drafted by Baltimore in the 13th round of the 2016 draft.[…]
I got this autograph in 2016. At the time Daniel Zamora was playing with the Pirates A-ball team in West Virginia. He was having a very nice season pitching in relief, allowing only 23 hits while striking out 39 in 33.1 innings. The numbers are great, but what I really[…]
Mitch Keller was a 2nd round pick of the Pirates back in 2014. He was a high school selection out of Iowa. Baseball America rated him the Pirates #12 prospect coming into the season. And he will probably be higher on the next list. This season, spent mostly between AA[…]
I got this autograph in 2016 during the Eastern League All-Star game. I remember it was one of the few that I was able to snag at that nightmare event. Jorge Alfaro has been a prospect for a long time, ranking as one of baseballs Top 100 since roughly 2014.[…]
I got this autograph in 2016 from a Texas League All-Star game consignment. At the time I did not know too much about Paul DeJong. I was sorting some cards this weekend and found it. He made the majors in 2017 and was fantastic, hitting .285/.325/.532 with 25 HR for[…]
Eddie Basinski spent three seasons in the major leagues. From 1944-1945 with the Dodgers and 1947 with the Pirates. He was never a full-time player and he would slash .244/.292/.319 with 4 HR over 602 at-bats–good for an OPS+ of 68. But don’t let anyone tell you he was not[…]
Brandon Nimmo is a really good player. This season–his third in the big leagues and first as a full-time player–saw him hit .263/.404/.483 with 17 HR, good for an OPS+ of 150. Nimmo was a first-round pick back in 2011 and has generally been considered one of the better hitting[…]