Junior Junkie's Generosity, Part VIII

Part I II III IV V VI VII


Today, it's still McGwire time.

1997 Donruss #270 Mark McGwire
1997 Donruss #413 Mark McGwire
1997 Upper Deck SPx #SPX38 Mark McGwire
1998 Upper Deck #150 Mark McGwire

I always finish off my posts with horizontal cards, like they're second-class or something. But I like them, there's usually just less of them. The only second-class thing about this SPx card is how difficult it is to square up with other cards to scan.

1997 Upper Deck Collector's Choice #57 Mark McGwire/Andres Galarraga
1997 Upper Deck Collector's Choice #190 Mark McGwire
1997 Upper Deck Collector's Choice #330 Mark McGwire (x2)
1997 Upper Deck Collector's Choice - Stick 'Ums #25 Mark McGwire
1997 Leaf #38 Mark McGwire
1997 Pinnacle #52 Mark McGwire
1997 Donruss Studio #8 Mark McGwire

There are 5 cards out of 1997 Collector's Choice, with 3 distinct ones from the base set. That's actually two copies of the same card in the upper right, but one has a slight dent in it that, I guess, changed the angle just enough that the scanner got a totally different color out of the shiny background. There's also studio, one of my favorite sets from when I really started collecting in earnest. One of these days I'll have to dig around and see if I have all of the 8x10s from that set. I believe I do.

1997 Upper Deck #297 Randy Velarde
1998 Upper Deck #9 Mark McGwire
1998 Upper Deck #205 Mark McGwire
1998 Pinnacle #63 Mark McGwire
1998 Topps Stars - Bronze #135 Mark McGwire #4269/9799
1998 Pinnacle Plus #196 Mark McGwire

After a McGwire cameo on Randy Velarde's card, we've made it to the Cardinal years. As you may or may not know off the top of your head like I do, McGwire was traded to the Cardinals at the trading deadline in 1997. He finished with a ridiculous-at-the-time 58 total HRs on the season, and broke the record with 70 in 1998.

eBay Wins #168

I'm progressing rapidly through my eBay wins, with the last post representing all of 1996, and this one starting 1997. However, I've got more on the way from the junk wax era, so I'll just have to start this process all over again. Eventually the cycles will get shorter, I think.

1997 Donruss #127 George Arias

Here we've got George Arias in uniform during the last year of the California Angels, before they became the Anaheim Angels. That move was around the time I was collecting caps from each MLB team, and I was thoroughly frustrated by their logo change. Now I just embrace changes, as they just make my current hat a throwback.

eBay Bargain Tracker
Total Cards Bought	3275
Total Spent	$51.25
Per Card	1.565 cents
Change	0 cents

Turkey For Me, Turkey For You II: Electric Boogaloo

There are no turkeys today, but these came in the package with the Turkey Red cards, so I'm completely justified in ripping off the greatest sequel subtitle of all time.

Part I

1994 Stadium Club #63 Brian Jordan
1997 Donruss #67 Ray Lankford
2001 SP Authentic #53 Rick Ankiel

I still sometimes think I must have dreamed the game where Ankiel threw 5 wild pitches - and another that would have been called, but the catcher saved it - in an inning, but then I go look it up on YouTube, and sure enough, it happened. Then he came back and hit home runs for a while. What an odd career path for a modern player.

1996 Topps #431 Jaime Bluma, David Coggin, Steve Montgomery, Brandon Reed
2013 Topps Chrome - Refractor #119 Michael Wacha

That's a nice shiny Wacha Refractor. It looks so nice I was ready to go buy some 2013 Chrome, until I realized it wasn't a base card. Still, I may do so, just for the few refractors I'll get.

Steve Montgomery raises an interesting question for my collection, and my blog. He was drafted by the Cardinals, thus his image above wearing the STL cap. However, he stayed in the minor leagues until he was traded to Oakland for Dennis Eckersley. So, do I officially collect his cards? That would mean I would tag him in my blog posts. And if I do, do I also consider Coco Crisp a Cardinal? Since he's actually wearing the hat on this card, I think he gets a tag, as would any future card of his I get. By extension of that logic, Coco Crisp will also, from now on.

Tenet of Wilson #3: Once a Cardinal, always a Cardinal, for collecting purposes.

Donuts from Johnny's Trading Spot

Several weeks ago, I read a post at Johnny's Trading Spot titled Instant mini collections up for grabs. "Up for Grabs" always gets my attention, so I threw my name into the mix. They were supposed to be randomly assigned, but through a lucky draw and one trade, each of the winners wound up with exactly what they originally wanted most. For me, that was cards with batting donuts.

In a lot of the photos, I wouldn't have even noticed the donut right away. Luckily the ones featuring a donut only on the back side were flipped appropriately when they arrived.

1998 Fleer Tradition #169 Ray Lankford
1998 Fleer Tradition #234 Bobby Higginson
1998 Fleer Ultra #267 FP Santangelo
1999 Skybox Thunder - Rant #191 Bobby Higginson
1999 Skybox Metal Universe #87 Bobby Higginson
2000 Upper Deck Victory #122 Todd Hollandsworth
2003 Topps #175 Terrence Long
2006 Upper Deck #192 Jeff Conine
2009 Topps #331 Luke Scott

1996 Fleer Ultra #463 Hal Morris
1997 Donruss #29 Rondell White

I've got more to scan and post. I like to sort things logically, so I split them up by year. These are the latest cards from the package, and I've got about another 20 years backwards to cover.