Good luck, Rays!!!

 On the eve of the 2026 World Series, I figured I would post about the Rays. They are making their 3rd Fall Classic, losing in 2008 against the Phillies and 2020 against the Dodgers. I think they should’ve won both of them, but you can’t go back and change time. They will have their hands full with the Brewers, and with the amount of bandwagon Brewers fans I have seen lately chirping on baseball sites, it makes me want the Rays to win even more. 

I have been a Rays fan since the beginning, and just wanted to show off some of my Rays stuff from the beginning until now. Better than seeing a 3rd year in a row of Dodgers stuff after a title from Night Owl, right?  All joking aside, I think most fans are happy that a new team will win a title, and that both teams were the best in their league. 

I couldn’t start the post off without a picture of 2 priceless pieces of Tropicana Field that I have. These will be proudly displayed in my man-cave as soon as I can have one. On the bottom is a piece of turf from Tropicana Field. I purchased it in 2024 at the Trop after they beat the Cubs a day before my birthday. 

The white on top is a piece of the canvas on the roof that fell of during Hurricane Milton. Anytime the storm is mentioned, it still brings back memories of seeing the stadium get ripped apart and seeing all of the terrible flooding in the Tampa/St. Pete area. We had a little flooding in DeLand, but nothing like Tampa, and I would love to see the Rays win for the area. 

Next up is the first ever Rays card. It comes from the 1996 Upper Deck Series 1 set. Kudos to UD for making a card with the logos of the new expansion teams just months after they were announced and still a year away from when they had the expansion draft. 

I hope that card makers do something like this (along with cards of expansion draft players) during the next round of expansion, instead of doing what I think they will do and doing an exclusive Topps NOW set. 

This is the only copy of the 1998 Inaugural Rays schedule. I wish I would've grabbed more at games that season. I can name these players by heart. Boggs, McGriff, Wilson Alvarez, Roberto Hernandez, Paul Sorrento, Kevin Stocker, Davey Martinez, Quinton McCracken, Tony Saunders, and Mike Kelly. 

This 1998 Rays team photo was difficult to find. I believe I finally found a copy in 2023. 

This 2010 Topps card pictures one of the most important moments in Rays history, where Akinori Iwamura stepped on 2nd for the final out of the 2008 ALCS, sending the Rays to the World Series for the first time. I sent the card to Aki when he was with the Pirates, and he sent it back signed. I don't have a card with Longo hitting his HR in 2011, but this card will do until I can find a signed copy. 

Another iconic moment in Rays history was when Brett Phillips had his game-winning hit in the 2020 World Series. I found this signed version on eBay. If I can't somehow score World Series tickets, I hope to run into Brett at the Trop in 2027 (or 2028), and get some other cards that show the play signed in person. 

I got this card signed in 2022, I believe. Raymond, the Rays mascot, signed it for me, and signed a picture of him and Kyler that I got the previous season. Raymond acted surprised to see himself in the photo with Ky. 

This is probably one of my most prized Rays cards. Randy was a force in the 2020 postseason, and he was the heart and soul of the Rays during his time there. He was just about the only player that $tu $ternberg invested any money in during his time as owner, creating the 'RandyLand' promotion. I got this card signed by Randy in 2024, his last season with the Rays. 

Here are some random tickets from Rays games in the late '90's and early 2000's. The first is from a game in 1999 where Tony Saunders pitched a no-hitter for 7.1 innings before giving up a hit to Mike Bordick. The next 2 are from the inaugural 1998 season, the 2nd one signed by HR allowing reliever Esteban Yan. Next is one signed by Twins hurler Joe Mays. He signed a ton, but I had nothing of him until like 2004. The others incude one from Opening Day, and one near closing day.

Now we get to current Rays. Let me be the first to say that you can probably find some posts in the spring of this year on MLBTradeRumors where I bash the Rays for signing Nick Martinez, Steven Matz, Cedrick Mullins, Gavin Lux, trading away Brandon Lowe, Josh Lowe, Shane Baz, and others, and for signing a ton of outfielders. I thought Chandler Simpson wouldn't hit for average, and that Martinez would have a 5.00 ERA. I was sadly mistaken, and the Rays actually put together a great season, taking the AL's best record, and showing heart in the playoffs to win 3 games against Cleveland after being down 2-1. Now don't get me wrong, I'm scared of starting Martinez in Game 1, and nervous that the hitters won't hit, but anything can happen. I may not make it to a World Series game, but you can bet your ass that I will be at the championship parade as long as it's not during our cruise on November 2-6. I pulled a numbered Blue Refractor of Drew Rasmussen from 2023 Topps Chrome. For guys like Martinez, Matz, and Seymour, they are all new, and I really don't have any thing Rays-wise for them. For Bryan Baker, I have nothing. Zero. Pepiot signed his 2026 Topps card ttm this year, and I wish he was pitching. Same with McClanahan, but even more. I'm kind of hoping after Woodruff was talking about pitching for Milwaukee that Shane will have a fire lit under him and try to convince Cash to let him play. I had a rainbow foil 2025 Topps of Joe Boyle, and pulled another 2023 Chrome Refractor of reliever Kevin Kelly. Hopefully there will be more Rays represented in 2027 Topps and I can add some to the current roster. 

I had to add 2 cards of C Nick Fortes, as I collect him and have met him before. He won't start, but is a solid backup behind Liam Hicks. Hicks (as well as Victor Mesa, Jr.) are guys I don't have any Rays cards of. I got the Yandy Diaz auto from eBay. Hopefully he can stay hot. Jonathan Aranda has been pretty hot lately. I think I found this 2023 Bowman parallel at K n T's. I have a love-hate relationship with Taylor Walls. He can't hit worth a crap, but is stellar on defense. Not sure what set the Caminero and Williams autographs are from, but I got them from eBay after waiting for a good deal. I really hope Junior shines during the next 7 games, gets an extension, and hits 60 HRs in 2027. I wanted Carson Williams to get tons of playing time in 2026 and push Walls out, but I guess he will get a shot in 2027. I hope he can hit. Gavin Lux was injured. He and fellow 2026 Topps Diamonte subject Ben Williamson will get some shots in the infield in 2027. Williamson has been a solid utility guy this year. 

Cedric Mullins has been a nice pickup for the Rays. His 2026 Heritage Chrome blue refractor is one of the few Rays cards I have of him. Chandler Simpson has made teams crazy with his speed. I think I got this 2025 Stadium Club red parallel at the last card show I went to. 

The Palacios is a 2025 Topps team set card. I think 2025 is the last year Topps made the team packs in the blisters. They need to bring them back. Richie will be a nice utility guy/infield starter during the World Series. This 2023 Topps Chrome autograph of Johnny DeLuca was another K n T pickup. I would love it if DeLuca can show up in the World Series. 

That is really all of my special and current Rays stuff. I plan on getting a ton of Rays gear should they win the World Series. I don't know if I'll get anything shoud they lose, it would just bring back bad memories. I just really don't know if the Rays can pitch to these guys in the Brewers lineup. If they get lucky and split the first to Misiorowski games, I would think they could get 1 of the 2 Rasmussen games. Realistically, they split the Peralta games, and that leaves a final game 7 with the Miz vs. I would guess Martinez on a short leash and Rasmussen with short rest. Peralta would probably be available as well, and it might work, but the game isn't played on paper. I just hope the Rays strike early in Game 1, win it, and get momentum to win Game 2. Coming home up 2-0 is almost the perfect formula to win the series. I guess we'll all know in a week or so. 

I am 7 shifts away from being on vacation. With work not being nearly as bad as it has been, the only thing I am looking forward to is really not getting up at 3 AM ever morning. I plan to eat a ton of food on our cruise, hopefully do some fun things with the family, and have almost a week away from the mother-in-law. Karen's birthday is tomorrow, and it's going to be a litte weird as she has a doctor appointment, and will be cheering Kyler on in music Jeopardy finals before I get home from work. Then we will be driving to Daytona to pick up some new glasses and have a checkup on Kyler's new pair, and I assume going out to eat wherever Karen wants to go. It will be a fun day, and at some point, I might play her a song I wrote about her that I started when we first me and finished recently. The rest of the schedule before going on vacation is hit or miss. Some days have appointments or places to go, with a few that have nothing. My last day of work is next Friday, and I'll have a few days to pack and get everything ready. Can't wait, and hopefully I can wear my Rays shirt on the cruise as a fan of the 2026 World Champions. RAYS UP!!!!!

1980-2026 is finished and Go Rays!

Yesterday I recieved my SportLots package. It was helped finish a number of sets and a goal that I have had for a while. With the help from a majority of the cards in the box, I was able to finish my run of complete Topps/Topps Traded sets from 1980-2026, just in time for 2026 Topps Update to come out in a week. 

While most of the package were the missing cards from a few 1980-2026 sets, I also snagged some cards from the 2001 Topps Archives set, which will serve as cheap versions of more expensive Topps cards in various sets, as well as some Tigers and Rays. 

I'm not sure how I found the 1998 Topps Rookie Class Travis Lee refractor, but it was a cool, cheap card of the former phenom, so I added it to my cart. I was 4 cards away from finishing the 2026 Topps Stars of MLB insert set, so I got the Arrenado and 3 other cards. I have never really finished an insert set, but I was able to finish the 2026 Topps Stars of MLB and Titans of the Game insert sets from Series 1 and 2. I have a feeling I will try to finish the 2026 Topps Update set from getting packs, and I may go for the Stars of MLB set as long as I'm pretty close. The Archives Aaron probably saved me at least 20 bucks and is just as good as the original version. I never knew that 1993 Triple Play had cards of the Rockies and Marlins ballparks, so I picked up copies of those cards. I will have to add the card of Jay Bell milking the cow to my random things found on cards series (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3), as it technically replaces the 1996 Collector's Choice Rex Hudler as the earliest version of a cow appearing on a card. 

The card of Jim Beckett was a no-brainer. I would love to hear his thoughts on the Beckett debauchle. The Leo Durocher was a cool card. I feel like he should be in more vintage sets, but you don't really see his cards appearing in many sets. I had a chance to meet Sam McDowell a few years ago at a card show that I went to with my friend Jim. He signed a few cards for me, and I had a chance to talk with him about how his grandson Kevin McDowell won me a $25 gift card at Harry's Seafood when I picked him to be the player of the game at a Lakeland Tigers minor league tilt. Sadly, Sam passed away today.  There were a few cool manager cards in the '01 Archives set, and I picked up a few others like the Mickey Vernon and Casey Stengle.  

The Whitey Ford World Series card looked like a regular 1963 Topps reprint, but the back was done on a 1962 Topps design with a totally different number than the original 1963 verison. I guess I will file this card with the 2001 Archives Yankees. I added a few guys I found out were Type 1 Diabetics to my Favorite Player Collection in Scott Alexander and Adam Duvall. I've wanted a Diamante Foil Nick Fortes from 2026 Topps, and SportLots had a cheap on that I snagged. While I am nowhere near finishing the 1969 Topps Tigers team set, I added a few, including some World Series Highlight cards. 

I wanted to finish off some early 1997 Rays team sets, and with the '97 Bowman Chrome and Bowman Chrome refractor cards, I finished off both of those sets. I must've missed some Series 2 1998 Bowman Chrome cards, because I thought I had finished off that Rays set, but found I was missing a few as I put them into TCDB. There weren't many rookie cards I added with the order, but I did get the Travis Lee and Kerry Wood from '97 Topps Stars. 

My Rays have put me into a difficult situation. I am thrilled that they are up 2-0 on the Yankee$, but I respect the heck out of them, as well as the White Sox. I have a feeling that being up 2 games, that with a game of Fried vs Martinez, the Yankee$ could win. That would set a Cole vs Rasmussen game, which could go either way, and then maybe a Game 5 of Schlittler vs Peralta, which could be bad news for Tampa. Lets say that Tampa gets past the Yankee$. I have a feeling Cleveland is done, and I just think the Rays have the experience in the postseason and veterans to get past the White Sox. That puts them in the World Series. I have wanted to go to a World Series game in Tampa since 2008. I was living in Montgomery, AL, and it was just out of the question financially at that point in my life. In 2020, they made it back, and COVID was around, so the game was played with few spectators in Arlington, TX. This could be the best chance for me to see a Rays World Series game for the next decade or so. I just have a feeing tickets are going to be at least 500 bucks each, and at 3 tickets, plus a hotel probably, I just don't know if we could swing it right before going on a cruise. Does anybody know someone with connections to World Series tickets? 

I really hope anybody besides the Dodger$ make it for the NL. Milwaukee will be tough, but I think the Rays stack up well against them, and really Misiorowski is the only pitcher that will be difficult to hit. If LA makes it, Tampa may have a shot, but it's going to be very difficult. It's amazing what happens when ownership spends money. $tu $ternberg would have never pulled the trigger on getting Hicks or Peralta, and he would've never added the lights and technology that the new group added for the playoffs. Fans are showing up, and they will show up in droves with a new park in Tampa that is more accessable to Central FL. Sign Camineiro to a long term deal, and watch the season tickets start to sell. 

I've made a few purchases besides cards for the music stuff. Mainly an extranal CD drive for my laptop, which will allow me to upload a few original songs I have recorderd to CD, which I will send to my brother-in-law to do the AI stuff to. I also got a few 1/4 inch to headphone jack adapters so I can record some piano into my laptop. That will probably get done tomorrow or Wednesday night as I will spend the rest of tonight putting away my new cards. 

Thanks for checking out my latest post.

-Jeremy

 

Cards from S.R. '75 Cards and KnT trip

Almost 2 weeks ago, I received my side of a trade with Stuart of S.R. '75 Cards. I sent him a bunch of basketball cards that didn’t really fit my collection, and he sent me a nice binder full of Tigers and a few Rays. I enjoy getting cards in binders in trades because I can use the pages and binders, and I want to store all of my cards in binders. I am currently in the process of putting my loose cards into binders, and I would love to finish it by the time 2027 Topps is released. So far, the Diamondbacks, Braves, Cubs, Reds, Rockies, and Marlins are finished, and even those all have some new cards that probably won’t go in binders for a while as they are from either the ‘70’s or ‘90’s, which happen to be in the beginning of the first binder, and my cards are sorted by years. I’ll be able to add cards from 2024 and later pretty easily, as that won’t take much reorganizing at all, and I will probably have to do that before the 2026 Topps set comes out, as I anticipate getting some stuff from 2025 Topps Holiday, Update, maybe Chrome Update, Archives, and perhaps Allen & Ginter. 

This is the stack of cards that Stuart sent me. They will probably be in one of the last binder updates I do, as the Rays, Tigers, and favorite players will probably be the last 3 I do since I acquire so many and they make up a good amount of my collection. It would be interesting to see how many cards they make up as a percentage. 

There were so many good cards among the keepers. I love any card of Joe Coleman, the longtime Lakeland Tiger pitching coach, right next to the former Lakeland manager for many of those teams, Larry Herndon. I swear I had that 1996 SP Justin Thompson, but TCDB says it is new. The 2000 Gallery Eric Munson card would’ve been coveted when it came out, and I really wished I would’ve had it back in the day, because I got a ton of Munson cards signed, and I’m sure this one would’ve been towards the top of my list to get signed. Stuart found a Tiger I had never heard of in the 2001 Prospect Premieres Matr Coenen, which is a very hard thing to do, even with career minor leaguers. I would’ve loved to have the ‘02 Chrome Traded Franklyn German refractor to get signed, as I had a ton of cards signed by him as well. 

Same with the 2004 Bowman Chrome Joel Zumaya rookie. From about 2002-2010, I spent 90% of my free time either at church, going to ballgames getting autographs, at a card store, playing with bands, playing video games, going to concerts, or at my piano. It was a pretty easy life back then. The ‘06 Fleer Zumaya is a sepia parallel, which must’ve been tough pulls, as I opened a number of packs of the set and never pulled one. Another Zumaya  parallel shows up with a 2006 Upper Deck gold foil parallel. I was happy to get the 2008 Heritage Clete Thomas because I collect him. 

Getting to more recent stuff, I was happy to find some Stadium Club cards, and especially some Heritage Minors and Pro Debut cards, since I barely have any of them, and for one of my favorite teams, that just shouldn’t be. I think the one I was happiest about was the Dillon Dingler Pro Debut rookie. He could be a cornerstone catcher for Detroit. I hope he can sign a long term offer with Detroit and maybe have a shot at a title. It’s too bad management didn’t offer Skubal a decent extension offer and go all in at July. With Skubal, Mize, and maybe a decent 3b, SP, and a reliever or two, this team could’ve made some noise in the post season, and not had to deal with playing Tampa/Boston, Yankee$ until the ALCS. I just hope Tampa Bay doesn’t eff it up and somehow the Brewers or somebody can oust the Dodger$.  

Other sets that aren’t well represented recently are Finest and Chrome Platinum, but Stuart made up for it with the Baez and trio of ones from the 2024? Chrome Platinum set. The Heritage Rays were nice adds to my Tampa collection. The last 2 were religious cards that players sometimes add to autograph requests (at least that’s where I’ve acquired all of mine). These are my first 2 for the Tigers, so I may add them to the back of my binder since I can’t nail down the exact year they were produced. Thanks, Stuart, for the great cards in the trade!

A few weeks ago, I went to K n T Sportscards to see what they had in the dime boxes. I was expecting to find a few additions to the Rays, Tigers, player collections, and maybe a few other gems, but what I didn’t expect was a number of singles from the 1977 and 1978 Topps sets. I had my list of Topps needs with me, and I probably added 100 or so cards to the ‘77 set. 

I opened a ton of packs of 2002 Bowman, but never pulled the Lyle Overbay from the set. There were a few stacks from that set in the boxes, and I pulled players that interested me when I saw them. Ozzie Timmons is a Rays coach, and I try to have cards of all of the Rays coaches for autograph opportunities. We looked at perhaps getting playoff tickets for the ALDS, but decided to hold out for the World Series. Unfortunately, the way the Bankee$ looked last night, they could have a cakewalk to the Fall Classic, and we could have Manfraud’s dream of an LA/NY World Series instead of the Brewers/Rays Series everyone else wants. I also found a number of cards from the 1996 Upper Deck set, which is an extremely underrated set as far as from a design standpoint. I picked up any subset I didn’t have, as well as any from players I liked. 

Josue DePaula’s name has been mentioned frequently lately, so I figured I would pick up his card. Same with Zyhir Hope, one of the scraps that the Tigers got for Tarik Skubal. I hope he turns out to at least be a starter, cause the whole direction of Detroit’s franchise turned with this trade. The McGwire was from a 2026 Finest insert set. I really wish I would’ve picked up a box the one time I saw them at Walmart because they had some pretty neat looking cards from what I’ve seen online. 

John O’Donoghue sent me a nice note with an autograph request one time, so I was happy to see one of his cards in the bin. I actually met Tyler Cropley 2 years ago at a Stetson baseball game. Tyler went to school with the Iowa Hawkeyes, and got drafted by KC, playing with them in 2023. He got released in the spring of 2024, and then returned to Iowa as a coach. He got in the 2024 Topps set, and when Iowa came to Stetson for one of the first games of the season in 2025, I gave my buddy Jim a copy of the 2024 card to get signed. I figured if Iowa ever comes back to play Stetson again that the 2024 Heritage Cropley would make a good card to get signed. I found it crazy to have a player basically retire, get on a card a few months after playing your final season, and then get that card signed less than a year after it came out. I’ve always liked Orlando Palmeiro. He was really fan friendly when I saw him in Spring Training in the late 2000’s with the Astros. He was asking a few fans if they wanted a foul ball, and I told him I would rather have an autograph. He kind of kidded me for wanting an autograph over a ball, but came over and signed my card anyways. There were a few Predictor insert cards from the ‘96 UD set thrown in as well and I picked up all that I found. 

Any time I see a Jim Abbott card that I think might be a tad hard to find, I snag it, as I know a few people collect him. I found a few nice cards for the Favorite Player collection, including Chase DeJong and Carson Fulmer. Guys like those are tough for me to find new cards of just because they didn’t play long, don’t have too many cards, and because I have most of their major cards. While not technically acquired at K n T’s, I have always admired hoopster AC Green, and found some of his cards while going through some basketball cards I had at home and added them to the photo. There were some nice Casey Mize cards at K n T, and I made sure to snag them. I wish he were still with Detroit, but maybe Illich will resign him. 

There were a good amount of Tigers and Rays that I added, including some Bowmans. I love the postseason Arozarena card. He was just lights out in the 2020 playoffs, and I will go to my grave saying that they got screwed out of that title. 

There were some nice rookies that I found, including a 2002 Bowman Francisco Liriano. From about 2006-2011, that card would’ve been on many collectors wantlist. There were a number of 2025 Topps parallels, and I picked up a few. 

Where the dime boxes really hit for me was Heritage SPs. Before I went, I made a page in my wantlist where I listed out each year of Heritage, the design it mimicked, and what the SP card numbers were (400-500, 700-750, or whatever). This helped me immensely in picking out which ones were SPs (especially with the 2024 set where it was 1-100 and not 400-500. 

This is a photo of the reference list that I made for Heritage SPs. It has the year of the Heritage set, the card number ranges that are SPs, the year of the set it is designed after, and any other notes. Some sets like  2003-2007 and 2026 have random numbers as the SPs, but other than that, this has helped me greatly the one time I used it at a card shop. It helped me with the 2024 set that has the 1-100 cards as SPs instead of the usual 401-500. Some of the high number SPs also have unusual numbers where they start like 686 instead of 701, so my list has helped with some of the earlier ones as well. Feel free to use the list I made or modify it so it fits your collection needs and you can get some of those SPs that might be hiding out in dime boxes. 

I have my SportLots box pending shipping, and once it arrives, I anticipate my 1980-2026 Topps run to be complete. There are probably some gremlins lurking, as I feel like I am missing some Red Sox from 1999-2000 and maybe some Giants that got lost while sorting, but if I can’t tell without having to go through a checklist, I’ll consider it done. Right in time for 2026 Update to come out. 

In non-card news, I will finally be going on vacation in November. I saved up most of my time, and we finally decided to go on a cruise from the 2nd to the 6th. I’m hopefully going to get plastered at least once, and just enjoy some time away from the grind of work, relatives, and just the normal everyday stress of being an adult. Speaking of work, the boss that I have been wanting to quit/get transferred/get promoted finally was given the boot a little over a week ago. All it took was a new store manager who actually listened to concerns, and to top it off, it was because of me coming forward with some issues, and he actually got de-moted to assistant bakery manager because of what happened. Definitely a little vindication for me in all of this, and hopefully this job can be less stressful with no up-and-down emotions with our new manager and we can just work as a team to do the production and go home at the end of the day. It has definitely been a nice change in the week we've had without the old boss. 

Things have been looking up ever since the beginning of the year. I had 3 things I really wanted to happen in the future that would just make my life a lot less stressful. My boss to leave, Karen's health to get more stable (the breathing has since the surgery in NJ last December, and we have a new doctor we saw a few days ago who has some ideas on why her nausea is so prevalent and why she is producing so much insulin, and that would solve a lot to get it cleared up), and finally, for us to get our own place and get a little distance from Karen's mom. That one is tricky, but I know if I can get my boss out of my life and Karen's health stable, anything is possible. Life ain't going to be simple or easy as pie, but it shouldn't be crazy difficult. All in all, I have had the best year I have had in a long time, and the friends, memories, and baseball cards I have gained along the way are just icing on the cake.

I have also been talking with my brother-in-law JT about recording a serious music album. He has been making some stuff with AI, and he has edited some rough recordings we made of a few of my originals about 15 years ago. I have a few rough recordings of some more of my originals that are on a CD. Only problem is that I don't have a CD drive on my current laptop, so I have no way of sending JT those songs. I will probably get an external CD drive and get those songs on my laptop, email them to JT, and get him the 2-3 songs he needs to finish the album. All in all, if things work perfectly, we will have 5-6 of my songs (Plan B, Strength, Why do you do the thinigs that you do?, Come and adore Him, I am your peace, and maybe a song about Karen called Worth the wait). Hopefully I can play piano on each track of the album, because that would mean almost more to me than having some of my originals out there. If AI does the piano, I would still be happy that I wrote the piano part, but it wouldn't feel the same. As with everything I do lately, it is probably going to be a slow process, but maybe it will get done sometime in 2026. It's hard to believe the year only has about 3-4 months left, but there is still time to finish some projects and get more cards. 

Thanks for checking out my latest post.

-Jeremy

I finally joined 'The Club'!!

 It's been a little while since I've last posted. Nothing too earth shattering has happened since then. I did, however, get to join a select club. 

In 1991, Topps Stadium Club was the biggest thing. I was in 2nd grade back then, and mainly had some 1989 Donruss, Topps, and Bowman cards in my collection. Add in a pack of 1990 Donruss from Grandma DeJong for my birthday, and that was about my whole collection back then, and Stadium Club, let alone regular Topps, wasn't really on my radar. The next year, 1992, I got a ton of 1992 Topps, a pack or two of 1992 Donruss, and a pack or 2 of Pinnacle and Ultra. I also dipped my hands in Stadium Club for the first time. We were in Michigan for a family reunion (it may have actually been 1993), and we stopped at Meijer's grocery store. There were packs of cards by the checkout, and I asked for 2 packs of '92 Stadium Club, and my mom, like usual, told me I could only have 1. I whined, and for some crazy reason, she gave in, and I got 2!  The only time in my life I remember it happening. I enjoyed the cards, especially the back, with the rookie cards. So many designs I had never seen, including the MLB Debut ones from '90-'92. The BARS charts were neat as well. 

I believe I got one of those info cards that told you how to join the official Topps Stadium Club. Something like sending them $20 or $30 bucks check or money order, and you would get your official membership card back, and a special 30 card set. I never did it, and always wondered what everything looked like. Well, with the help of the internet, I am now finally part of the Topps Stadium Club around 35 years too late, and for only about 10 bucks. 

This is the first of 3 cards that I ordered. I'm actually not quite sure what it is, and maybe a veteran collector can help me figure it out for sure. 

So the set that you got for joining the club appears to come in a box, and along with it, you got a gold Nolan Ryan card, a keychain, and this Nolan Ryan membership card with your club number and Charter Member designation. I'm not sure what the card could get you. Perhaps a discount at the Topps mail order or telephone store if you give them your membership number?

The back of the card looked like that basic back of a credit card, and an address for you to return a lost card to. I wonder if it is still around. 

The card is almost the size of a regular card.

The confusing thing happened when I looked at a few other listings. There was one for an almost identical membership card, but it had the members name on the card instead of Nolan Ryan's. Perhaps this card came when someone joined the club but didn't get the 'Charter Member' set? 

Another listing, which I won, included a 1991 membership card with the members name on it, and a 1992 membership card with the members name. I guess you had to renew every year, and this member must have done that, and it looks like they had the same number as in 1991. I'm not sure if the club continued into 1993, but in 1991 and 1992, it seems like it was going strong. 

I am kind of drawn to odd things from important card sets. The 1991 Stadium Club set was a historic set, with full gloss photos, no borders, gold foil, and rookie cards and the BARS system on the back. It paved the way for more super premium cards. I feel like the membership cards are nice pieces of that set that aren't too common. I also got a promo sheet from the 1996 Topps Chrome set. '96 Topps Chrome was a parallel set that paved the way for Bowman Chrome, and the Topps Chrome sets that we know and love/hate 30 years later. Lastly, I have a promo sheet from 1997 Bowman Chrome. This set added so much value to card that would be worth maybe 1/3 to 1/2 as much as the Chrome version. If the '97 Bowman Chrome set had never become a thing, just 4 years later, we wouldn't have had a Bowman Chrome autographed card of Albert Pujols. A regular Bowman card with Pujols signature and a 'Certified Topps Autograph' stamp would still have tremendous value, but if money was no object, I would get the Chrome one every time. This set opened up the floodgates for high value Chrome autographed cards with Bowman. 

I also have had some Donruss autographed cards come in. I purchased a blaster of 2026 Donruss, 2026 Elite, and a hanging pack of 2026 Donruss. Out of those packs, I got cards that gave me 400, 400, and 250 Panini points. I almost wonder if Panini is still printing 2026 Donruss, putting them on shelves to satisfy demand, and maybe they have been running low on autographs and are putting the 'points cards' in the product. I think that instead of putting points into packs to redeem for old autographed cards, maybe Panini should focus on collation. Topps as well.

Anyways, I redeemed them for 5 cards, basically 2 Rays, 1 Tiger, a cool Dodger, and a Cardinal who is a borderline Hall of Famer. Not bad for my point total. The thing that got me was the shipping. 20 bucks!!!  For 5 cards!!!  I will admit that the cards went from TX to FL in 3 days, and that it was packaged pretty quickly (I expected the process to take a month or so), and that was surprising. I will mess up the Elite years, but here goes: 2015 Elite Extra Edition Daz Cameron, 2022 Mosaic Scripts Luis Patino, 2017 Elite Extra Edition Ronaldo Hernandez (which I couldn't find on TCDB), 20178 Donruss Signature Series Andrew Toles, and a 2025 Donruss Signature Series Jim Edmonds. I got Toles, because I liked his story of how the Dodgers kept him on the roster so he could have insurance to help his mental health, and I've always thought Jim Edmonds was a borderline Hall of Famer. I wasn't sure if my Cardinal-autograph collecting friend Jim had an Edmonds autograph (he did), so I figured it was a decent pickup. 

Tomorrow will be the 25th anniversary of the 9-11 attacks. I was 18, away in college at the Univeristy of Mobile. I didn't understand the gravity of the attack, as I wasn't into history and hadn't traveled much, but you knew by how everyone acted around campus and how everyone was glued to the TV that this was something big that we were witnessing in real time. Karen's mom worked in the pentagon at the time, and they know people who were supposed to work in the towers that day who didn't go in for whatever reason. I didn't know anyone who worked there, but did manage to get an autograph of a victim who did around 5 years before 9-11. 

Marty Boryczewski played for the Lakeland Tigers in A-ball for a few years in the early '90's. Being the baseball fan I was, I went to a few Lakeland games then, as well as many Spring Training games. I usually had a ball and some cards to try to get signed every game. I must've gotten Marty a few times, because I found his autograph on a ball and a pennant while going through stuff a few years ago that will go in my future man cave. 

Marty started working as a trader after his baseball career, and was in the North tower on 9-11. I am grateful to have these 2 autographs of him, but if any of his family happens to be reading this, please reach out to me and I will be happy to send them to you. 

While I have never visited the towers pre- 9-11, and haven't got to see the memorial as it was being constructed in 2007 when I visited NYC, I did go past Ground Zero, and got a piece of cinder block from the area. While I am not positive that it was from the towers, I think there is a good chance that it was from the rubble, and although not a part of my baseball collection, I might put it by the autographs of Marty if I ever get a man cave going. Hopefully, we as a country never go through something like that again, and may we always remember how the country came together that day. 

On a more positive note, I will have some 'alone time' after work on Saturday, and I pan to stop over at K n T Sportscards in Ormond the minute I get off, and dig through dime and dollar boxes until they kick me out of the store. I also hope to hit up Orlando Sportscards with Jim at some point in the future, hoping to dig through their cheap '70's boxes. 

I am still waiting on 3 cards to get delieverd to my SportLots box, and once they get there and are shipped, I will have the 1980-2026 Topps sets complete (I guess until 2026 Update comes out). It will feel good to basically have all of the cards I need to update my binders, and then comes the process of actually doing it and finding time to do so. So far, I have the Diamondbacks, Braves, Cubs, Rockies, and Marlins done. I have the Reds binders and loose cards out, but have just been doing other things on evenings when Karen is working. Tonight, I have mostly done this blog post, but might have a chance to do so starting on Tuesday night. Hopefully I will have a ton of cards from Saturday to add. We will see. 

Thanks for checking out my latest post.

-Jeremy

Topps rookies without the RC logo

A few months ago I needed to find a card of Ryan Howard, as my friend Jim was going to help me get his autograph. While thumbing through cards, I was reminded that Ryan is one of a select few guys who have a rookie card without the ‘rookie logo’ during the ‘Topps rookie rules’ era. I am talking about 2006 through the present, where MLB changed the rules for card sets and only allowed players who had played an MLB game in a set, basically did away with Draft Pick subset cards, and had the ‘official MLB rookie logo’ on rookie cards. Here are a few pages that really break down what everything means. 

There were some players who had instances of having a draft pick or prospect Topps card with a Topps ‘rookie card logo’ before 2006, and then had the ‘MLB rookie card logo’ on a 2006 Topps (or later) card. Justin Verlander ('05 and '06), Ryan Zimmerman ('05 and '06), Andrew McCutchen ('05 and '09) were a few I could think of off of the top of my head. I know Walter Young had a 2003 Topps and 2006 Topps card which both had rookie logos, and there were at least 1 or 2 others who had a rookie logo card in a pre-2006 set and a rookie logo card in the 2006 issue

. 

Our case of Ryan Howard falls somewhere in between. Howard had a major card as early as 2001 with his Upper Deck Prospect Premieres rookie card. 

He had a 2003 Bowman’s Best card, but no 2003 Topps Traded card. He really should’ve had one in 2002 Topps Traded in my opinion. In 2004, there was again no Howard card. Finally, in 2005, he appears on a 2005 Topps prospects subset cards along with Cole Hamels. 

Hamels, in fact, is another odd case, as his rookie card was a 2003 Topps Draft Pick subset card, but without the Topps first year logo.

He appears with Howard in '05 with no logo, but then 

he does have the rookie logo on his 2006 Topps card. 

Back to Howard, no rookie logo on the prospect card in 2005, and none on his 2006 card. 

I decided to try and find all of the ‘Topps rookie cards’ that didn’t have a RC logo in it. If you are expecting to find more big names, I hate to disappoint you, but there aren’t many, but there are a few people you have probably heard of in the 2010s. Most of the cases are just guys who had decent seasons after spending a few in the Majors, and got their first Topps card after having a few years under their belt, perhaps justifying the ‘no rookie logo’ treatment. 

I will try to list each player by year, with their first Topps card, which will have no rookie logo. 

2005 Topps #589 Ryan Howard/Cole Hamels

Not sure why Howard didn’t get a card in ‘02-‘04, but his first Topps card comes in 2005 and has no rookie logo. 

2006 Topps #107 Mark Teahen 

Mark had a few solid seasons with the A’s and the Royals. I pulled a Bowman card of him in 2002, but nothing with Topps until 2006, with no rookie logo. 

2007 Topps #578 Dustin Pedroia

Pedroia came up fast through the minors and made the Red Sox in 2006, but had no ‘06 Topps Update card. He got into some 2005 Bowman branded issues, and first Topps card came in the 2007 set with no rookie logo. 

2007 Topps Update #140 Ryan Spillborghs

Ryan had a few nice years with Colorado, and somehow missed out on a 2006 Update issue, perhaps because he wasn’t a big name prospect. He probably got an ‘07 card to get snuck into the set after doing well with the Rockies, but didn’t get the rookie logo on it. 

2008 Topps  #397 Brian Wilson

Wilson was a guy you either loved or hated. I never cared for his antics, especially when his lousy Giants beat my better Tigers team in the 2012 World Series, but I respected him as an athlete. I have a 2006 Upper Deck card of him with the rookie card logo, but nothing on his 2008 Topps issue, which was his first from the company. 

2009 Topps #176 Jeff Samadrdzjia

Jeff cruised through the minors pretty quickly, perhaps explaining why he had a 2008 Topps Heritage High Number rookie card with the rookie logo, and no ‘08 Topps Update card. 

His first Topps issue, from 2009, doesn’t have the rookie logo. 

2009 Topps # 416 Pablo Sandoval

Another one of those nasty Giants, Sandoval got a starting shot and became a household name pretty quickly, possibly too quickly to make it into the ‘08 Update set with a rookie logo. His logoless 2009 Topps card, instead, got to be his Topps rookie issue. 

2011 Topps Update #237 Ryan Roberts

While researching Roberts, I saw that he had a card in the 2006 Topps ‘52 Rookies set with the rookie logo. 

He didn’t become a regular until a few seasons after that, and finally got his first Topps card in the 2011 Update set. The card features a great photo, but no rookie logo. 

2011 Topps Update #251 Justin Turner 

Another guy I don’t care for, because he didn’t mask up and took a team photo in 2020 during the World Series after testing positive for COVID. His outspoken attitude kind of drives me nuts as well. He has become a good player over the years, but took a while to find his stride. I pulled a 2010 Upper Deck card of Turner, featuring their rookie logo. 

His first Topps card in the 2011 Update set features no rookie logo, but at least they got him early in his career and didn’t wait until he was in LA. 

2012 Topps #405 Nathan Eovaldi

Eovaldi bounced around a little before settling in with Boston, but he was on a few cards before that. Not sure why he missed out on a rookie in 2011 Update, but his ‘12 Topps version doesn’t have the logo. 

2014 Topps Update #40 Stephen Vogt

Vogt got his first Topps card in the ‘14 Update set but never got a 2013 ‘true’ rookie. He was good enough to have a 2011 Bowman issue, but maybe just slipped under the radar enough to miss out on the first year rookie, so we have to settle with the 2014 Topps Update no rookie logo card being his Topps rookie card. 

2015 Topps #354 Kyle Hendricks

Hendricks missed out on a 2014 Topps Update rookie card with a rookie logo. I don’t remember him being a heralded rookie, so perhaps that’s why he has the second year Topps card in 2015 with no rookie logo. 

2015 Topps Update #117 Enrique ‘Kiki’ Hernandez

This card was a nemesis for me. I’m not sure why it is such an expensive card. He was on a few championship teams, but it wasn’t like he was a superstar or anything. No rookie logo, but it is technically his Topps rookie, and I believe the cheapest version I could find was for 15 bucks. It was a needed card for my ‘15 Update set, so I got it. It is one of the few instances of a non-rookie logo card that people know is a rookie, and is priced accordingly. 

2016 Topps #584 Adam Duvall

Duvall put together a few good seasons once he hit the Majors, but I don’t remember him being a prospect that got very much hype. He could’ve had a 2015 Update card with a rookie logo, but Topps was really on the Kris Bryant bandwagon that year, giving him like 3 cards in the set. Duvall ends up with a 2016 non rookie logo Topps rookie. On a side note, while researching Duvall’s cards, I found out he is a Type 1 Diabetic, so I have to add his cards to my favorite player binder as I will be collecting him now. 

2018 Topps Update #237 Carson Kelly

I feel like somewhere between 2015 and 2020 that rookies started getting pumped into Topps sets like they were steroids going into Nelson Cruz. Somehow Kelly missed out on a 2017 Topps card with a rookie logo, didn’t end up with a logo or logoless 2018 regular issue, but ended up with a logoless 2018 Update card. 

2019 Topps #415 Zach Eflin

The third to last card I found in the research, Zach is a former Ray, as are the last 2 guys. Eflin had a number of 2014 issues, like Bowman and Pro Debut, he had a 2016 Heritage card, but his first Topps issue didn’t come until 2019. 

He didn’t really pitch much until 2018, but he could’ve had a rookie logo card in the 2018 Update set. By 2019, he was no longer a rookie, which probably explains why his 2019 Topps rookie doesn’t have the logo. 

2024 Topps Update #102 Jason Adam

Jason pitched for a few years with little fanfare, coming up to MLB in 2018, but when he had a good year in 2024, Topps got him into the Update set. I actually saw him at the Trop that year, and got his only Rays card at the time, his 2023 Topps Rays team set issue, autographed. 

I figured if he got a 2023 team card, which I believe came out before Series 2, that he should’ve had a 2023 Update rookie logo card. The 2023 team set card, like his 2024 Update one, doesn’t have the logo. Since he first debuted in 2018, I suspect that is why he didn’t have the logo. 

2025 Topps #265 Ryan Thompson

The last guy I found in my research, Ryan either collects cards, or just wanted to be on one, as I remember reading that he wanted to be on a Topps card and hoped his pitching would help him get on a set. He pitched well enough with the Rays to deserve one, but had to wait until 2025 to get on one, years after making the Bigs for the first time in 2020. I had the chance to see him on Opening Day in 2023 at the Trop, and he signed a 2023 Topps custom that I made of him, and I gave him a few, helping him hold out until he got into the 2025 Topps set, albeit without the RC logo. 

Well, that about does it for rookie cards without the RC logo from 2006 to now. I may have missed some or erroneously listed guys that did have RC logo cards, so I would love to hear any corrections or additions I need to make. 

Be on the lookout for some of these cards. You might be able to get a cheap rookie of a guy because the RC logo is missing. Not that any of these guys are stars, but some are household names.

On the other hand, there are ones like the '15 Kiki Hernandez rookie and the '07 Pedroia rookie that people know are technically rookies, and are priced at a premium. 

I hope you enjoyed this post on wierd Topps rookies that don't have the rookie logo. 

Thanks for checking it out.

-Jeremy