Christmas Cards, a Few Months Late

I seem to always be trying to catch up, so here's some cards that arrived sometime in December, from ATBATT's 3rd Annual Operation PWE. There's something about an envelope of mostly different players and sets that just brings joy to opening the mail.

1991 Topps #343 Jose Oquendo
1992 Pinnacle #381 Andres Galarraga
2015 Topps #220 Shelby Miller
2015 Topps #336 Matt Carpenter
2015 Topps - Archetypes #A-11 Mark McGwire
2016 Topps Heritage #89 Trevor Rosenthal

I'm bad at staying on top of acquiring the Cardinals inserts when new sets come out. That Mark McGwire is a card I definitely should have already had, but didn't. As always, I'm surprised when I don't already have junk-era cards I receive, because it seems like I have so many cards from those years. But both the Oquendo and Galarraga fill holes in my collection.

1988 Topps UK Minis #72 Ozzie Smith
2016 Topps #254 Matt Holliday

I like these UK Minis, and I actually have a couple copies of the Ozzie card now. All the more reason to chase down the Vince Coleman and Willie McGee cards from that set. Then there's Matt Holliday, who just won't seem right in a Yankees uniform this year.

Thanks to Stealing Home for the PWE!

All-Star Winnings, Part 14

Way back in July 2012, I won a contest at Cards On Cards. The premise was to pick the Cardinals player who would have the biggest impact on the game, determined Sabermetrically. I picked the right player, and got a pile of Cardinals for my trouble. They've been sitting in that same pile, haunting me, for quite some time, so now is the time to show them to you.
Part [ I | II | III | IV | V | VI | VII | VIII | IX | X | XI | XII | XIII ]

Guess what? This is the last post in this series. And I'll finish it off with some Ozzies, and a relic.

1993 Leaf - Heading for the Hall #10 Ozzie Smith
1993 Stadium Club #548 Ozzie Smith
1993 Triple Play - Action #3 Ozzie Smith
1995 Topps D3 #58 Ozzie Smith
1996 Fleer #556 Ozzie Smith
1997 Fleer #452 Ozzie Smith

What happened here, did my scanner give up halfway through? No, when I sorted these cards by year the bottom 3 just happened to be the less bold 1996-97 Fleer, and a 3D set called Topps D3. The Triple Play Action card actually unfolds and has a little scratchoff game inside, played much like card-based tabletop baseball games. I didn't scratch it, of course. Despite the scanned appearance, I like 1996-97 Fleer, and it presented a very different look from what was currently on the market when it came out.

1993 Fleer Ultra - Top Glove #6 Ozzie Smith
1988 UK Minis #72 Ozzie Smith
1988 King B #4 Ozzie Smith

Between a horizonal card, a mini, and a round meat snack insert, there was no good way to do this scan. The King B "card" brings a childhood memory flooding back, as I found a similar card featuring Andres Galarraga (on the Rockies, so 1993 or later) on my gradeschool playground. I kept it for a long time, but I have no idea where it is currently. I wouldn't be surprised if I still have it, though.

2007 Upper Deck - Game Materials #UD-SR Scott Rolen

Finally, we have the cornerstone of the prize, a Scott Rolen relic card. I've mentioned this before, but I was at Rolen's first game in St. Louis after we traded for him, and he was such a huge part of our offense and defense for so long, that a Rolen relic is a great addition to my collection.

I want to say thanks one more time to madding at Cards on Cards for being so generous with his contest prizes. And to everyone else, Vote Yadi for All-Star Catcher.