Zistle Trade #31

With this trade post, I'm all caught up with Zistle, because I've been extremely inactive there for the last few months.

1992 Fleer #596 Todd Zeile
1997 SkyBox Metal Universe #230 Ron Gant
1997 SkyBox Metal Universe #231 Brian Jordan
1997 SkyBox Metal Universe #232 Ray Lankford
1997 SkyBox Metal Universe #234 Tom Pagnozzi
1997 SkyBox Metal Universe #235 Todd Stottlemyre
1998 Fleer Ultra Main Set #295 Todd Zeile

I liked the sparkly set that was 1997 Metal Universe, and bought several packs when it was new. Before this trade I only had one uniformed Cardinal, John Mabry, which came in a prize package. Now I've got 6 with the addition of these 5, leaving me Alan Benes,  Andy Benes, and Dennis Eckersley to complete the team set. I also picked up 2 Todd Zeiles, one featuring his time with the Marlins, where he arrived with a much higher-profile star, Mike Piazza. Piazza of course was quickly sent to the Mets, and Zeile would go to the Rangers at the trade deadline, and the following season, rejoin Piazza on the Mets. I guess I never realized before they played together for both of those teams and Los Angeles.

Bowl Pick 'Em Contest Winnings, Part XXVI

College football will be here again before we know it IS HERE, so I've got to get my prize from last season's Bowl Pick 'Em contest at Cards on Cards posted! My prize for a second place tie was a very generously sized box of cards, so I felt a bit overwhelmed even sorting through them. I finally sorted them out by player, and, as usual, I'll plan to post them all eventually, but I might quit halfway through, we'll see.

Part I II III IV V VI VII VIII IX X
XI XII XIII XIV XV XVI XVII XVIII XIX XX
XXI XXII XXIII XXIV XXV

We're just about into Bowl Season again. Will I get these done anytime soon?

1986 Topps Traded #82T Jose Oquendo
1990 Sportflics #85 Jose Oquendo
1991 Topps Stadium Club #190 Jose Oquendo
1991 Topps Stadium Club #366 Felix Jose
1991 Topps Stadium Club #481 Jamie Moyer
1992 Donruss - Diamond Kings #DK-13 Felix Jose

St. Louis was Jamie Moyer's 3rd team, and yet he retired 21 years after he left the Cardinals.

1992 Fleer - All Stars #1 Felix Jose
1996 Donruss #87 Brian Jordan
1996 Donruss #153 Tripp Cromer
1996 Donruss #234 Jose Oquendo
1996 Donruss #282 Mike Morgan
1996 Pacific #228 Jose Oquendo

I got a nice handful of Felix Jose and Jose Oquendo cards, among others. Both of them were on the 1992 team which was the first I ever watched. Oquendo had a long coaching career with the Cardinals as well, but has opted to just be a spring training instructor for now. He's no Hall of Famer, but I think the Cardinals should retire #11 for him, for combined playing and coaching contributions to the team.

Bowl Pick 'Em Contest Winnings, Part XV

College football will be here again before we know it IS HERE, so I've got to get my prize from last season's Bowl Pick 'Em contest at Cards on Cards posted! My prize for a second place tie was a very generously sized box of cards, so I felt a bit overwhelmed even sorting through them. I finally sorted them out by player, and, as usual, I'll plan to post them all eventually, but I might quit halfway through, we'll see.

Part I II III IV V VI VII VIII IX X XI XII XIII XIV

1992 Donruss Rookies - Phenoms #BC-14 Brian Jordan
1992 Upper Deck - Scouting Report #SR11 Brian Jordan
1994 Donruss Triple Play #63 Brian Jordan
1994 Leaf #272 Brian Jordan
1996 Leaf #142 Brian Jordan
1996 Topps Laser #9 Brian Jordan
1997 Leaf #116 Brian Jordan
1997 Score #55 Brian Jordan
1998 Score #184 Brian Jordan

Since I stick a little notecard in my card storage boxes to mark the start of each set or insert set, I take special notice each time I have cards from a set new to my collection. This time that includes 1996 Topps Laser and the Phenoms insert set from 1992 Donruss Rookies.

1996 Select #90 Brian Jordan
1996 Topps #126 Brian Jordan
1995 Collector's Choice #192 Brian Jordan

I believe that's Todd Zeile in the Collector's Choice card. Most likely warning Brian not to let the Cardinals move him out of his natural position for some young up and comer.

Bowl Pick 'Em Contest Winnings, Part IV

College football will be here again before we know it, so I've got to get my prize from last season's Bowl Pick 'Em contest at Cards on Cards posted! My prize for a second place tie was a very generously sized box of cards, so I felt a bit overwhelmed even sorting through them. I finally sorted them out by player, and, as usual, I'll plan to post them all eventually, but I might quit halfway through, we'll see.

Part I II III

1992 Fleer Ultra - All-Rookies #10 Donovan Osborne
1992 Studio #95 Donovan Osborne
1992 Upper Deck - Scouting Report #SR19 Donovan Osborne
1993 Fleer - Rookie Sensations #10 Donovan Osborne
1994 Fleer Ultra #269 Donovan Osborne
1994 Fleer Ultra #563 Brian Barber
1994 Fleer Ultra #265 Rich Batchelor
1996 Upper Deck Collector's Choice #24 Brian Barber
1996 Pinnacle #167 Brian Barber

Once again I'm always surprised how many Cardinals I'm missing from relatively common sets. These were all new to my collection, even the Donovan Osbornes that I was sure I've seen before.

1992 Upper Deck #702 Brian Jordan / Donovan Osborne / Mark Clark

Horizontal cards are always a pain when trying to put like cards together because there's no nice way to scan them together. So this one stands here alone, staring you down like these three menacing Cardinals rookies. The 1992 team wasn't really that good, though.

Zistle Trade #26, Part II

[Part I]

This half of the trade has a lot more Ozzies.

1982 Fleer #582 Ozzie Smith
1983 Topps #24 Steve Mura
1983 Topps #74 Julio Gonzalez
1983 Topps #650 George Hendrick
1990 Donruss #663 Rick Reuschel
1990 Donruss - Bonus MVP's #BC-14 Julio Franco
1990 Score #220A Mike Aldrete
1990 Score #662 Paul Coleman
1992 Donruss #423 Ozzie Smith

I'm continuing to chip away at 1990 Donruss, and I'm down to error variations for the most part. This Rick Reuschel card is the corrected version. Donruss printed a bunch of the all star cards with All Star stats but with a header implying they were regular stats, and the corrected versions say All-Star stats. It's a subtle and mostly meaningless difference, but I figure, the cards aren't rare, so why not track them all down? Mike Aldrete's card is another error card, which says he's #25 on the back. As you can see from the photo, he was #24. Mike was the assistant hitting coach and then bench coach for the Cardinals a few years ago, so I've decided to collect his cards even though he never played for St. Louis.

The big cards from this trade are at the top of that scan, though, a nice 1982 Ozzie Smith, and 3 1983 Topps Cardinals. I collected every Ozzie Topps flagship base card many years ago, but it's good to start filling in the other brands.

Also, I was sure I've posted a Paul Coleman card before, but I don't have any post tagged with his name. He might be one of the Cardinals worst draft decisions. They chose him one pick ahead of Frank Thomas, yet he never made it to the majors.

1993 Leaf #229 Brian Jordan
1993 Leaf #297 Ray Lankford
1993 Leaf #328 Ozzie Smith
2013 Topps - 1972 Topps Mini #TM-99 Ozzie Smith

I really like these 1993 Leaf cards, so I'm not sure why I didn't have them yet. Now, I do. I was also glad to get a one of the modern Ozzie inserts, the 1972-style mini from 2013 Topps.

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.

Tis The Season Winnings, Part V

Sometimes, I procrastinate posting and sorting some cards. Normally I don't pay too much attention to how long a particular item has been sitting on my desk, but given that this one was the Tis the Season contest from 2013, I've probably had it in my possession for a little over a year now. But, even with the long delay, I still want to throw Jeff at 2 by 3 Heroes some referral traffic while I show off my prize.
Part I II III IV

Today I've got even more of the miscellaneous Cardinals, Red Sox, and Yankees.

1992 Leaf #152 Scott Sanderson
1992 Score #420 Kevin Morton
1992 Stadium Club #522 Scott Terry
1992 Topps #724 Kevin Morton
1993 Select #142 Kevin Maas
1994 Collector's Choice #592 Jeff Reardon
1994 Collector's Choice #550 Roger Clemens
1998 Pinnacle #54 Hideki Irabu
1996 Topps #131 Tom Pagnozzi

In somewhat of an odd coincidence, I just posted another copy of the Score Kevin Morton card last week, and now I have a second copy of it, and another Morton.

Scott Terry wore my favorite number with the Cardinals, #37, a number which has almost always belonged to a pitcher on the team since Keith Hernandez left in 1983.

1992 Topps #498 Gerald Perry
1994 Upper Deck #223 Brian Jordan
1994 Collector's Choice #296 Bob Wickman
1994 Collector's Choice #432 Melido Perez

Here we have the horizontal cards from this bunch, two Yankees pitchers, and two Cardinals. Perry's stats don't look all that impressive from his Cardinals years, but I remember him as a key bench player. And Brian Jordan was one of the most talented athletes I've ever seen play in person. He could hit, steal, and field pretty well too. I even bought a Jordan jersey t-shirt in late 1998, which naturally was right before he ended up leaving for the Braves. I still have that shirt and wear it from time to time, along with my #4 Fernando Vina I picked up at a thrift shop looong after that number was handed over to Yadier Molina.

All-Star Winnings, Part 6

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 ]


Today we'll go all the way back to the 1990s. Come to think of it, that's where a large portion of these cards and posts go anyway.

1993 Triple Play
#62 Brian Jordan
#114 Felix Jose

2 Cardinals RFs from the same year can only mean one was going to be pushed out, and Felix Jose left after 1992. Oddly enough, Brian Jordan is only 2 years younger than him, but 1992 was his rookie season due to his time with the Atlanta Falcons.

1994 Upper Deck #223 Brian Jordan

1994 Score #201 Brian Jordan
1997 Donruss Limited #146 Brian Jordan
1999 Pacific Crown Collection #230 Brian Jordan

Jordan was one of the players victimized by my Jersey/Shirsey curse. It seems that usually, whenever I buy a jersey or one of those jersey-look t-shirts with a current player featured, he leaves shortly thereafter. I'm much more judicious these days, and only bought my Scott Rolen shirt from a thrift shop long after he left.

1992 Classic Draft Picks - Foil Bonus #BC11 Sean Lowe

I was all ready to dig into another lost prospect story, but apparently Sean Lowe pitched a few games for the Cardinals in 1997 and 1998, then for some other teams. I must have been too caught up in the McGwire-mania to notice.

1992 Pinnacle #589 Rex Hudler/Roger Staubach

Finally, this is the first Rex Hudler card on my blog, according to my tag history at least. And he's very tiny on the card. That's Roger Staubach in the background. There's very little information on the back of the card linking the two, except that Rex Hudler's favorite athlete is Roger Staubach.

182 Packs Giveaway, Part I

When I claimed the Cardinals - and Mark McGwire and Todd Stottlemyre - in the pack-per-day giveaway held at TribeCards, I had no idea just how many cards I'd wind up with, and how many different players. So that I can tag all of the sets and Cardinal players, I've broken this up into a series of who knows how many posts. Thanks for all the cards, David.

1996 Leaf
#2 Dennis Eckersley
#70 David Bell
#98 Sandy Alomar, Jr.

I guess the Eckersley and Alomar were randomly assigned to me as duplicates, or no one claimed the A's and Indians. Even so, Eck is definitely a player I liked even before he got to the Cardinals, so that's a great card to me.

1996 Leaf
#142 Brian Jordan
#212 Alan Benes

Two more from 1996 Leaf, Brian Jordan, and the middle Benes brother, Alan. The Cardinals once had all 3 Benes brothers in their system, but Adam only made it up to AA Arkansas.

1997 Pinnacle
#41 Brian Jordan
#81 Ron Gant
#122 Ozzie Smith

1997 Pinnacle
#136 Gary Gaetti
#185 Dmitri Young

1997 cards bring me good memories of the Cardinals resurgence from mediocrity in the mid 90s, to make the playoffs in Tony LaRussa's first year in 1996.

1998 Stadium Club
#114 Alan Benes
#232 Gary Gaetti
Checklist 2 of 2

Here's another Alan Benes and Gary Gaetti from 1998, as well as...

1998 Stadium Club #74 Todd Stottlemyre

Todd Stottlemyre! Of course, I would have gotten this card even if I only claimed the Cardinals, but I wanted to be covered in case any of his Blue Jays or A's cards came up.

1998 Stadium Club - Royal Court #RC5 Mark McGwire

And here's another of my favorites, Mark McGwire, in an extra sparkly Stadium Club insert. Since he's a Cardinal, I double-claimed this one too.

That's it for now, look for this series to end sometime in mid-2015.

Random Cardinals from Josh, Part I

I won a little contest at Royals and Randoms, just for doling out an opinion. The randomizer fell my way, and here's what showed up in the mail.

1983 Topps #734 Steve Braun

 The oldest card of the bunch, nearly as old as me. I must admit I don't think I've heard of Steve Braun though.

1987 Sportflics #173 John Tudor

I'm not sure why I even scan Sportflics cards. They never look nice like they do in person.

1991 Classic Game
#29 Joe Magrane
#173 Todd Zeile

Now we're getting to the guys I remember.

1991 Fleer - Team Stickers - Cardinals 

I wish I wasn't so hung up on keeping my cards in good condition so I could stick these stickers on things.

1995 Flair #410 Brian Jordan

 This is my first 1995 Flair card, I think, unless there are some in my unsorted boxes.

2005 Turkey Red #39 Preston Wilson

I like all of the Turkey Red sets, so I've got most of the Cardinals (and former/future Cardinals) on my wantlist. This knocks one more of them off, which is always appreciated.

More next time...

A Trade Post is in Order, Part III

[Part I]
[Part II]

Thanks to my obsessive need to scan and post every insert card I receive, I got an email from The Angels, In Order about the Tyler Chatwood in this contest win post.

Here's the final part of my trade.

1997 Donruss Preferred
#45 Brian Jordan

I need one of these pullover warmup jerseys from the 90s.

2002 Upper Deck Victory
#599 Chuck Finley

Chuck Finley in the now seldom-seen Sunday home cap. It used to just be the Sunday cap.

2005 Topps Update
#UH117 Reggie Sanders

2005 NLDS cards in a 2005 set. I wonder how late these had to come out to manage that.

2011 Heritage
#26 Josh Thole
#328 Raul Ibanez
News Flashbacks #NF-10 Robinson Enshrined in Cooperstown

 My 2011 Heritage wantlist is quickly dwindling, so even 2 base and an insert are exciting at this point.

2012 Heritage
#147 World Series Game 6
#331 World Series Foes

I don't think 2012 Heritage is on my wantlist yet, because I'm still planning to buy some more, but I can always use 2 more cards commemorating last year's great World Series, especially game 6, which I stayed up for and found out the next morning most of my friends had given up on and went to bed, thinking we lost.

Then Albert left for the Angels. Though I'd transfer anywhere you wanted me to go for that kind of money, so I can't hassle him really.

Thanks to The Angels, In Order for the trade, and go follow his blog while you're reading so close to the helpful link I've left you here.