2022 trade package #3: Bob Walk the Plank

This evening's trade package comes from a guy who blogs maybe slightly less than I do--I mean, come on, it's March already! Matt, who used to blog at Bob Walk the Plank, and now can be found more commonly on Twitter, hit me back in our longstanding back-and-forth dealing by directly shipping a package of goodies from COMC. They even arrived in the same year he requested his shipment! (Seriously, they do seem to be getting better on that front.)

Matt surprised me with some quality stuff (as usual) including a couple deep cuts that show how much he pays attention to the players I collect.

Here's two pages of some outstanding additions to my collections!:

Scan #1 opens with six cards from Brett Adcock's 2016 Bowman/Chrome Draft rainbow. Adcock, a P drafted by Houston in 2016, never made it beyond AA and was seen pitching in indy ball last year. He has just 31 cards to collect according to TCDB (making him today's deepest cut), with five of those being minor league issues and 10 more that are 1/1s, so my collection of 11 is pretty solid (#1 on TCDB, baby!). Up here you can see the Blue Border /150; Chrome Gold /50, Green /99, and Purple /250; and Gold Border /50 and Green Border /99. The remaining five I need for the rainbow are #d /150, /25 (x2), and /5 (x2). Well done, Matt!

Next up is a lone Hal Morris, but given that I'm at 302 of his 469 (#1 on TCDB, baby!), anything new is a good find. Better yet, this is a numbered '90s insert: 1997 Circa's Rave parallel, which is limited /150 copies, quite rare for the time!

Right after him is another pitcher, though one that's not quite as obscure as Adcock. Murray pitched for the Padres, Tigers, and Indians, and trades like this one keep me inching toward his 39 cards. Thanks to these I have 29 (#1 on TCDB, baby!), including his '97 Bowman Blue Ink auto and '98 Bowman Chrome International Refractor. The latter's especially nice as, besides being a Refractor, it's a somewhat tougher find given the era. I need to track down two more of his '97 Bowman signatures and another '98 Refractor /5 to sew up his non-minors (and others, including a buyback) collection, which is pretty cool.

Scan #2 beings with a bit more baseball before veering off into other sports. First up is card #218 in my collection of former Mariners/D-Backs closer J.J. Putz (#1 on TCDB, baby!) a surprisingly rare 2014 Topps 1st Edition. Hit the link to see how those were inserted and you'll see that just 10 copies were made of each card! They're not serial-numbered but at least have the obvious logo up front. This is a very rare card I was unlikely to get myself so it was perfect for this envelope.

Speaking of rare and former Michigan pitchers, next is a numbered pair of Clayton Richard, who's near a milestone at 147 cards (#1 on TCDB, baby!) out of his 437. On the left is a beautiful 2008 Bowman Draft Chrome Gold Refractor /50, and its diminutive partner is the Pink parallel /25 from 2019 Topps Mini. Very cool cards of the former QB-turned-pitcher.

Speaking of QBs, heading over to the gridiron I was very happy to see a new Chad Henne for one of my larger football PCs. I currently count 313 cards of the former UM gunslinger in my collection (#2 on TCDB...CRAP!) and few are as rare as the 2014 Rookies & Stars Longevity Black (#d /10) parallel you see above. Then again, I do have a cyan plate to go with that. Well, I did say "few", didn't I? This is certainly a nice addition to one of my favorite PCs.

And next we have a pair of talented college wideouts in David Terrell and Amani Toomer. The Terrell is card #157 in his collection (also #2 on TCDB...for now), a 2002 Pacific Adrenaline base with a "Pacific Nights Special Edition" stamp and digital serial numbering /10, making it one of the rarest cards in his bunch. I don't know much about that promotion that looks to have appeared across a number of Pacific's products, but I love the rarity and am happy to have the card.

Meanwhile, Toomer's card, #318 (good for a distant 3rd on TCDB, maybe I should stick to baseball) is somewhat similar, from a set called 2002 Playoff Honors Player of the Week Panelists. The backs are numbered, also to just 10 copies, and the write-up about each player's qualifications is pretty nice, if Amani's card is any indication:

Hail, hail, indeed!

And we'll finish up on the ice as Michigan Hockey heads into conference tournament play before hopefully securing a #1 seed and eventual Frozen Four appearance. One guy who was no stranger to those was former WolverWing and head coach Red Berenson. My 39 cards (tied for second on TCDB by just one card!) of the Wolverines legend include this amazing pair. On the left is a 2004-05 In the Game Franchises US East card depicting him with the Rangers, one of his four NHL teams, albeit the one he spent the least time with. It's #d /10 with a Chicago National Convention stamp that seems to be more accepted than some of the random ones you'll see pop up at times. That's joined by a card from one of the cooler hockey products in recent memory: 2012-13 In the Game Motown Madness. The Gold parallel you see of the five-year Red Wing isn't numbered but is said to be limited to just 10 copies. Sweet!

Last up this evening is a technical Michigan uni card of a goalie who almost took the team all the way to the top in 2011. Shawn Hunwick was out of his mind that year and eventually made an emergency appearance for Columbus in the pros, leading to a few cardboard appearances. I own 37 of them (hey, #1 on TCDB, baby!), and the one you're seeing today is a Sapphire parallel #d /85 of his 2012-13 Upper Deck Artifacts RC. It's been tough sledding finding his cards at reasonable prices so I really, really appreciate Matt including this one as much as anything else in this envelope.

Matt, thank you once again for a very thoughtful mailer that clearly shows how much effort you put into finding some great cards for my Michigan PCs, even chipping in towards the ones where I'm clearly #1 on TCDB (baby!). I always love our deals because we both value sending some top notch stuff to each other, and I promise that'll continue from my end after I build up enough to send a package your way.

Up ahead: lots more trade packages and eventually cards from TCDB deals!

11/1/19 card show report: keepin' it real (cheap)

I once again took a Friday off yesterday with the express purpose of getting over to the monthly show in Taylor as I would be home today on a Michigan Football Saturday.  Speaking of the Wolverines, they looked just fine while thumping Maryland 38-7, and now they get to head into a bye before welcoming the Michigan State Penitentiary Spartans.  I don't know what I'll do during the bye but I'll figure it out.

As for the show, it was one of those where I didn't spend a whole lot or come home with much as the kind of stuff I generally like was few and far between.  But that's fine since I like hanging out there and digging through bunches of boxes for hidden gems.

The $15 I spent can be broken down as follows:  40 dime cards at 20/$1; 30 quarter cards at five/$1; eight $0.50 cards; and three $1 cards.  Most of those will be heading for trade packages, but I have a small group of fun stuff to show off:

We'll start as usual with the baseball side.  I was pretty happy with this trio of Tony Gwynns, all of which were $0.50 or under, I think.  #1 is a '95 Zenith All Star Salute insert, which lists him as "All-Star Hit Man" on the bottom of the difficult-to-read scan.  An apt title, Panini!  Upping the ante and bringing out my beloved "90s inserts rule" tag is 1996 Upper Deck Hot Commodities.  While the '97 version looked kind of cool, the orange foil die-cut original from a year earlier can't be beat!  Last up is the second year of Topps Chrome, 1997, which parallels one of my all-time favorite Topps designs, though I appear to be in the minority on that.

Next up is a duo of Barry Larkins:  his '92 Bowman foil base card, on which he's defying gravity while turning a twin killing against the Cubs, and a 2011 Gypsy Queen Framed Paper parallel (#234/999).  I have no idea why this version was called "paper" so I'll just chalk it up to Topps' goofiness.

Greg Maddux keeps the insert-heavy theme going with 2001 Ultra Decade of Dominance and a 2013 Hometown Heroes States parallel.  Greg's dominant decade included four straight Cy Young awards and a World Series ring in '95.  He was actually born in Texas but the Hometown Heroes product doesn't interpret the term literally.

Last up is an interesting pair.  One is a Pudge insert from 1997 UD called Rock Solid Foundation that I remember quite well.  The rainbow foil design looks great and between that and the fact that Rodriguez is a HOFer and former Tiger, I happily grabbed this card.  And then we have the one $1 card I kept for myself--an IP auto of former Michigan P and PC guy Heath Murray on his '97 Topps issue.  What was I gonna do, spend just $14 and leave this one at the show?  No way!

The football side of things was also largely a celebration of all things inserts.  Harbaugh is the only exception--as shiny as that pair is, they're actually a different version of '96 Summit called Premium Stock, which is a bit thicker than the regular set and featuring foilboard fronts.  Funchess's appropriately colored parallel is a 2018 Donruss Blue Press Proof.  While I tend to prefer that insert to be numbered, I think this one was only a dime or quarter, and the color's certainly a plus.  Navarre, a guy I don't add too often since he's either hard to find or prices are too high, can be seen on a Rookie Gold version of UD's goofy 2004 Diamond Prosigs set (#004/249).  Denard is much more common around here, and there he is on a 2013 Prestige Prestigious Picks Gold insert, which is apparently named for the foil color of the insert title since the background is silver.

Switching over to the horizontals we have two more numbered cards.  One of those is tackling machine David Harris, who shares a 2007 Playoff Contenders Draft Class insert (#0144/1000) with fellow '07 pick Darrelle Revis.  That's quite a productive pair!  By the way, here's a reminder that outstanding Wolverines LaMarr Woodley and Harris went back-to-back in the second round three picks after the Lions opted for MSU QB Drew Stanton.  This is why you suck, Lions.  Speaking of QB busts, million dollar arm/ten cent head signal-caller Ryan Mallett popped up on a 2011 Absolute Memorabilia War Room insert, and I'll be fine continuing to add stuff of the transfer as long as he's pictured in a pro uni--e.g., nothing with Arkansas.  He's joined by a fellow transfer, RB Jon Ritchie, who's today's last card:  a 2001 Ultra Gold Medallion (#131/250).  I was surprised because I didn't recall that parallel being numbered.

That's it for this month's usual show, though there's a small chance I may hit up one more before my attention turns to COMC around Black Friday/Cyber Monday.  Until then it'll be back to the well with Sportlots until I get all of those posted.

2018 Sportlots purchases: Motown and Cin-City

I managed to hit a large number of players among my copious PCs on this latest Sportlots jaunt, and in many cases that resulted in a stray card or three.  Since I don't consider those enough to warrant their own post I decided to lump some together in a pair of them.  For this one I even came up with a theme:  former Tigers and Reds.  The 47 cards of 13 players (see what I mean?) below cover guys who had some affiliation with either team or even both in a couple cases.  A mix of oddball and mainstream and variety of number of new cards (from one to 15) should make this a pretty interesting compilation:

Steve Boros was a Tiger for four seasons and Red for two so he's a double-dipper for this theme.  He's pictured here with the latter team on a 1978 TCMA 60's I issue, and you'll see that brand a bit more throughout this post.  I completed his regular checklist a while ago so this was a fun optional addition.

Bill Freehan, of course, was a Tiger for all 15 seasons of his excellent career.  This 100% oddball pair includes a repeat of the TCMA 60's set above along with a 1989 Swell Baseball Greats issue that's a bit of a rarity as a Freehan card released during that decade.

Next up is Kirk Gibson, this post's only non-Wolverine, whose two stints in Detroit added up to 12 seasons.  You may recall that in this series' second post I showed off a 1981 Kellogg's hologram of Gibby's teammate Alan Trammell.  I'm happy to be back today with a 1982 version of another of my favorite Tigers in Gibson.  To that I added a couple more oddly sized cards: 1990 Dodgers Target (the first of four you'll see in this series), which is a set you've surely seen on more than one Dodgers-centric blog, plus the oxymoronic 2013 Topps Archives Mini Tall Boys.  These are definitely appropriate for a guy that was anything but standard in his heyday.

Former two-sport star Drew Henson is a bit of a technicality as he never suited up for the Reds after joining them in a trade with the Yankees, and then he returned to the Bronx for all eight games and nine ABs in his bust of an MLB career.  But as they say, my blog, my rules, so here's an early 90s trio I added to his PC.  A 2001 Fleer Tradition base is my third RC of the ex-Yankee, and that's joined by one of Drew's two appearances in UD's fun 40-Man product from 2002, plus a Mini from Topps' 2003 Bazooka.

Barry Larkin is definitely the outlier in today's post as he clocks in with 15 new items, three of which were throw-ins from an apologetic seller.  One of those appears after I got Larkin to join in on the Sportflics action (1990) in the form of a '91 Topps Cracker Jack four-player card that appears to be an uncut version, something I hadn't seen.  Some higher end Topps--'95 Finest, '99 Chrome, and '01 Gold Label Class 1, add to the fun along with a couple parallels--'92 Topps Gold Winners and '97 Score Showcase Series--plus an '02 Heritage base.

Donruss' Leather and Lumber product was fairly forgettable, just the opposite of last year's Contenders Draft Picks which again brings the fun of college action to baseball collectors.  Then we have a pair of horizontal '96s with a Stadium Club subset and Upper Deck checklist that co-stars fellow HOFer Chipper Jones.  Those are joined by another throw-in, a '91 Panini Sticker, and slightly larger '03 Fleer Double Header base.

All in all it was a nice purchase for Larkin whose total vaults up to 717 items, second only to fellow SS Cal Ripken Jr.

Former Michigan QB Rick Leach was a Tiger for the first three seasons of his career but today you'll see him with the Jays and Giants.  The first three are fun oddballs from Blue Jays Fire Safety sets made in 1984, '86, and '87.  Meanwhile, card #4's product should look fairly familiar to a number of you:  Mother's Cookies from 1990.  Those rounded cards are pretty solid food issues and are always fun to collect.  Last up is an item for which I finally caved and added to my cart:  a 1991 Leaf error that was supposed to depict San Fran P Jeff Brantley but actually stars Leach.  Once again I can call his collection complete!

1990 Dodgers Target card #2 is of Don Lund, a Brooklyn Dodger for parts of three seasons who was also a Tigers OF for four.  His BB-R entry notes that the Michigan alum is buried in Ann Arbor's Forest Hill Cemetery where several former University presidents as well as legendary coach Bo Schembechler are interred.

Outfielder Elliott Maddox was a Tiger for just one season a couple years after Detroit drafted him in the first round in '68, but that's good enough to include him today!  Here he is on the first card I've acquired since completing his checklist, another SSPC piece, in this case from 1975.  By the way, Maddox never did appear on a card with the Tigers; his '71 Topps RC shows him as a member of the Senators, another of his one-and-done clubs.

As with Leach I scored both oddballs and needed checklist cards of Hal Morris, a guy who played for both of the teams featured in this post but of course known mostly as a Red.  The top three cards you see are Columbus Clippers issues from 1988 (CMC and Police) and '89 (ProCards) from his time in the Yankees system.  It warms my heart every time I think about the 80s/90s Yanks suffering a World Series drought thanks to getting rid of guys like Hal.  The other two are 90s parallels from '96 Metal Universe (Platinum) and '98 Topps--the Minted in Cooperstown stamped cards that were, well, what it says right there.  I appreciated the small dent in Morris' checklist as I get closer to 75% of his run.

Pitcher Heath Murray was part of both systems I'm covering today but never played for the Reds.  He did appear in 14 games for the abysmal '01 Tigers (who'd get even worse in '03) which is why he's here today.  While I didn't land any of the five cards I need to complete his collection I did come up with a couple "others" to add from '94 Signature Rookies and Best's '96 Double-A All-Stars, with the latter being light years better in terms of design.

As I did with Maddox I was able to find a couple more cards to add to a completed PC, which in this case is late pitcher Ross Powell, a one-time Red.  He's shown with a couple of Cincy's Minor League clubs here:  the AA Chattanooga Lookouts (1990 Grand Slam) and AAA Nashville Sounds (1991 Line Drive AAA).  Minor League cards don't always have the greatest designs but they're fun to collect thanks to the many fun team names and the fact that they're sometimes the only way to get a player on cardboard.

OF Leon Roberts, who I just learned hit a grand slam off of fellow Michigan alum Geoff Zahn in 1978, is another guy whose collection I've long since completed--noticing a trend here?  But I always like to add more cards to a PC when I can, so I came up with this interesting quartet.  #1 is a return to the '75 SSPC set made during Roberts' second and final season with Detroit, the team that drafted him.  I also found him on a 1987 ProCards minor league issue as the manager of the Tigers' AAA affiliate in Toledo--another new fact I learned!  And you know what else I was previously ignorant of?  How about the Senior Professional Baseball Association, a 35+ league that featured a number of former stars that ran from 1989-90.  Leon appears here on 1989 cards representing this association from T/M and Topps.

Last up today is very well known Reds 3B Chris "Spuds" Sabo, and all three of these were checklist needs, so that was pretty exciting.  #1 is an '89 OPC base that leaves me five short of his run from the 80s, and I was glad to grab that because the brand sometimes carries a price premium on this side of the Canadian border.  Second is another junk wax era offering, 1990 Donruss Best NL, made a couple years after his NL ROY campaign.  And last up is a Gold Rush parallel of his 1994 Score Rookie/Traded base that shows him as an Oriole after he signed with Baltimore that year (before eventually returning to the Reds).  This trio gives me exactly 150 cards on his checklist out of the 210 I'm chasing, so it really feels like I'm making progress there.

Stay tuned for one more post like this one packed with a bunch of players, then three more solo posts featuring some very popular PCs!

2017 trade package #12: Cards on Cards

Kerry from Cards on Cards is a guy I don't trade with often, but since we're fairly similar collectors--we both chase MLB and college teams--our deals are always great.  The last time I posted cards from him on this here blog, not quite a year ago, I was the happy recipient of a buttload of useful Tigers and a plethora of new Ripkens.

The man who calls himself Madding took things to another level this time by doing major damage to my player collections, hitting a ridiculous 13 of them.  "Hope you can use some of these!" said the guy who, in addition to another buttload of Tigers (seen below), flipped me 19 PC cards, an outstanding 16 of which were new to me.  And I'm not talking a dime card here and a common there, either.  Can I use some of these?  Has Topps disappointed me for 10 years running?  Hell yeah!

Jake Cronenworth 2015 Bowman Chrome Draft Blue Refractor (#030/150)

Tampa's seventh-rounder out of Michigan two years ago, Jake's off to a pretty good start in high-A ball.  This lovely Refractor is my ninth card of his out of his run to-date, all of which comprises a 19-card 2015 Bowman/Chrome Draft rainbow.  For a Wolverine alum you can't do better than blue!

Chris Getz 2014 Topps Camo (#32/99)

This parallel of Getz is one I could have sworn I had, so I was glad I needed it after Kerry went to the trouble of sending it my way.  It features one of the best photos on a Getz issue and is my 10th card from Chris' 17-card sunset season rainbow (and #81/106 overall).

Ken Griffey Jr. 1993 Hostess

Ken Griffey Jr. 2003 Fleer Showcase

I think you all know I don't supercollect Griffey--I'm not made of money--but I'll happily take anything I can get of one of my favorite 90s/2000s stars, like this interest pair that spans a decade.  Oddballs like the Hostess food issue are always interesting to me since I usually know so little about them that I'm generally unable to peg the year or brand at a glance.  And Showcase is one of Fleer's better mid-end issues, with Griffey's card a textbook example of a classy and pleasing design.

Rich Hill 2016 Topps Rainbow Foil

I can't say I've ever received what I'd call a bad trade package, but whenever Rich Hill appears in one I'm more than happy to call that envelope a winner as he remains my favorite guy to PC.  This Rainbow parallel is my eighth of his 18 2016 flagship...uh...rainbow cards, featuring one of the dumber choices in photograph.  What can I say?  Topps gonna Topps.  Anyway, this marks my 259th of Hill's 374 cards I have checklisted, and #276 overall.  Good luck to Rich on a return to health and effectiveness for the Dodgers!

Ryan LaMarre 2016 Topps Allen and Ginter Mini

Ryan LaMarre 2016 Topps Rainbow Foil

LaMarre made what I thought was a surprising appearance in last year's flagship and A&G sets, the former with his second team, the Red Sox and the latter with the Reds, the team that drafted him.  Since then he's signed with the Angels and then been flipped to Oakland, with whom he's appeared in three 2017 games.  I actually landed the Cyan plate of the A&G mini before I landed the card above, my first of his six from the product (besides two from A&G X).  The Rainbow parallel makes its second appearance today as my sixth of Ryan's run from last year's flagship.  Kudos to Kerry for helping me cross the 50% mark as I own 28/54 of his issues so far.

Heath Murray 1998 Bowman Golden Anniversary (#13/50)

This was a package full of surprises, and few of the items were as surprising as this limited parallel of Murray, a guy who's not exactly obscure but appeared on just 30 cards, 24 of which I already owned.  Two of the five I now need also hail from this product, the Chrome International Refractor and Chrome Refractor version of this card, limited to just five(!) copies.  I tip my cap again to Kerry for digging up a need like this.

Michael O'Neill 2014 Bowman Chrome Prospects Series 2 Blue Wave Refractor

The best part about getting this card, besides the fact that it's a Refractor and another one to knock off the checklist, is that it got me to look up O'Neill and realize that he's now with the Rangers after signing a minor league deal with them a few months ago.  Hooray for not having to collect more Yankees if he gets to appear on more cards!  And hooray for a new Refractor, my 10th of his 42-card 2014 Bowman Chrome/Mini rainbow and 30th of 85 overall.

Jim Paciorek 1993 BBM

If the Murray was surprising, the inclusion of this foreign Paciorek issue was straight up jaw-dropping!  A much more obscure former Wolverine, Jim's career consisted of 48 games in 1987 along with two cards from that year:  Fleer and its Glossy version.  After nabbing those I hadn't even looked into other Paciorek card possibilities.  As it turns out, Jim played six seasons in Japan:  four with the Yokohama Taiyo Whales and two with the pictured Hanshin Tigers, as depicted on this card out of the pretty well-known BBM brand.  What a fun card to dig out of a trade package!

J.J. Putz 2008 Topps Triple Threads Emerald (#103/240)

J.J. Putz 2008 Topps Triple Threads Gold (#70/99)

Kerry's no putz as he managed to send me two new '08 Triple Threads parallels of Michigan native J.J.  Besides an All-Star patch card and five multi-player relics, Putz appears on a base card and five parallels, and of those six I now own four (the base and Sepia are the others).  With the retired pitcher unlikely to make any future cardboard appearances hopefully I can continue making some headway towards his 327 cards; I currently own 193 (and 205 including 1/1s and others I don't count toward his mainstream checklist).

Cal Ripken Jr. 2002 Upper Deck AL Centennial Memorabilia jersey

This sweet Ripken jersey relic from 15 years ago (seriously?) was another huge and much appreciated surprise.  I've sent Kerry a few decent Cardinals and Ducks hits over the years but nothing that I'd assume would warrant something like this of a HOFer I love to collect!  It serves as a nice history lesson as well as the younger of the two leagues began in 1901 with eight teams, including my Tigers.  As for Cal, this serves as my 10th relic (two of which are manufactured) and 12th hit overall.  Nice!

Alan Trammell 1991 Topps (#389)

Speaking of All-Star shortstops that are should-be HOFers, this '91 Topps subset of Alan Trammell is one of just three PC cards that wasn't new to me.  Not that I'm complaining about getting any dupes of half of Detroit's famed double-play combo!

Justin Verlander 2013 Topps Chasing History (#CH88)

Justin Verlander 2017 Donruss (#95)

Justin Verlander 2017 Donruss Dominators Blue (#135/249)

And speaking of Tigers dupes, I thought the Chasing History insert was a new one for my Verlander collection but was mistaken.  Again, no complaints since I'm happy with any JV card new or old!  The others from this year's Donruss product (hell yeah!) were most definitely new additions, though.  As usual I like the look of the base design while its lack of MLB logos barely registers on my radar.  The numbered Dominator insert is great too, with a design that doesn't remind me of previous iterations.  Nice job by Kerry to pay his respects to this here blog's namesake!

Lou Whitaker 1988 Score

Lou Whitaker 2005 Topps Retired Signature

Last up for my PC guys is a sweet pair of Lous; you can't have Tram without Whitaker and vice-versa!  The card on the left from Score's debut is another fun dupe for me, but the Retired Signature card is a huge get for a couple reasons.  First, as I'm under 50 cards to go in my pursuit of his collection, it's getting harder to find stuff that's new to me.  And just as importantly, some base cards like that one tend to attract unreasonably high asking prices for some reason.  That makes it a big deal for me, besides the fact that I like seeing the combination of older photos with some of the newer designs.  

You got to see three guys in Tigers (well, Detroit Tigers) uniforms up there, but they weren't alone as they were bundled up with a hoard of other Tigers, pretty much all of which I can use, Kerry, believe you me:

This first group could be called "The Killer C's" as future HOFer Miguel Cabrera (Heritage Chrome Refractor!) and maybe-not-as-awful-a-human-being-as-people-thought Ty Cobb book end Nick Nicholas Castellanos, who seems to continue to improve.

Another nice group is headlined by 2016 AL ROY and Tigers ace(?) Michael Fulmer, an insert focusing on Jose Iglesias' glove, and Mr. Tiger Al Kaline.  Those are joined by a pair of RCs of CF Jacoby Jones, who should be getting more looks in the Detroit OF this season.

Donruss Elite!  If anybody on Detroit should be give that title it's All-Star 2B Ian Kinsler, seen here on a card numbered 934/999.  Recuperating-turned-resurgent slugger J.D. Martinez makes a couple appearances courtesy of Opening Day and Topps Stickers.  And I loved the inclusion of the '86 Topps leaders card featuring Lance Parrish, a catcher who might just feel at home in today's game.

Sanchez has been a tire fire this season, Scherzer is unfortunately gone, and Zimmermann's results have been mixed at best, but Upton has been a nice story this season, putting up some pretty good numbers early for a change.  My hope is that he does well enough to opt out of his contract so Detroit can put that money to better use.

Here's one last bunch of Tigers that don't really fall into the group I collect by player but deserve to be shown off anyway.

And last up is one more hit, a Signature Rookies autograph of former #1 pick (11th overall, 1995) Mike Drumright, a pitcher who cracked Baseball America's top 100 prospects the two years after this card was made.  Although he never panned out--no surprise, pretty much nobody did for Detroit in the 90s--he's got a very nice signature, though I'm probably lucky not to have received one from closer to the end of the 5000(!)-card print run.  Nice find!

Kerry, once again big thanks to you for an amazing trade package that did lots of damage to my PCs and will beef up my Tigers box.  I actually have a few things set aside for you and on the way so I'll be happy to be able to respond a bit, though maybe not in a way that's worthy of this envelope just yet!