1997 Topps #532 Bucky Buckles/Eric Dinyar/Roy Halladay Prospects

Today's card is a prospect card of 2 guys who should've made the Majors but got injured, and a guy who I think would've been a Hall of Famer if he wasn't injured and played maybe 4 more years.

Bucky Buckles is a guy in my Favorite Player Collection. I followed him in the minors, got his 1995 Topps card out of a pack that year, and besides having a cool name, he was a nice closer.
I actually saw Dinyar pitch a few times in 1996. I was 13, so I didn't pay attention to stats and players as close as I should have, but I went to enough Lakeland Tigers games that year that I'm sure I saw Dinyar pitch, and I probably have his autograph about 5 times between baseballs, a pennant, and random checklist/team cards (if I didn't have a card of a certain player when I first started getting autographs, I would have them sign a checklist card or a team leaders or team logo card).
Halladay is one of a select few players to throw 2 no-hitters in a season, and he is one of only 2 players to throw one in the playoffs. I saw the tail end of both of them. It's a shame that he didn't win a World Series with Philly, and although he was dominant, I don't think he will get voted in to the Hall because he was closer to 2000 K's than 3000. If he wasn't injured and played a couple more full seasons, I think he'd be a lock for the Hall. Maybe the voters will consider this and vote him in, because he was dominant for a 10-year stretch.

I've added some new names and a new template to the 2001 Topps Page, and did a ton of customs for the 1994 set today. Finished all of the season/postseason highlight cards, finished the All-Star cards, and did a few random ones as well. I think I'll probably work on some more '94 cards tomorrow and also try to add a team or two to the 1999 Topps Page. If things keep going at a steady pace, perhaps my goal of every player in the '90's getting a card will happen sometime in the next 5 years. Thanks for checking out my latest post.
-Jeremy

1996 Topps #534 Eric Dinyar/Bucky Buckles/Todd Revenig//Ryan Dempster

Today's card features 4 players, 3 of which put up great stats in the minors, and 1 who put up great stats in the Majors, and who could be seen pitching just a few weeks ago for team Canada in the 2017 World Baseball Classic.

Eric Dinyar appeared in the last post featuring a single card, and as mentioned there, in 1996 set a Lakeland Tigers record with 27 Saves. I got a few autographs of Eric on baseballs while seeing him pitch in Lakeland in '96.
Bucky Buckles has one of the greatest names ever, and had some decent seasons in the Minors for the Rangers organization. He had 18 and 16 Saves during his first 2 years in pro ball, The next 2 years, he didn't close, but did make it as far as AAA before getting hurt. He started back in rookie ball, and made it to AA before being released. I was fortunate enough to get an autographed cards of his online a few months ago. If anyone is interested, he does have a Twitter page.
Revenig made it to the Majors in 1992 with Oakland, and had some mind blowing stats in the minors. In 1990, he had a 0.81 ERA in 44.2 Innings, and in 1991 he had a 0.96 ERA in 47 Innings. In 1992 his ERA skyrocketed to 1.70 in 63.2 Innings, but he did have 33 Saves. He was injured in 1993, but came back and tried to make it back to the Majors 2 seperate times, but never did. He signed a card for me through the mail, and added an extra one for me in 2007.
Dempster pitched in the Majors from 1998-2013 with the Marlins, Reds, Cubs, Rangers, and Red Sox. He won the 2013 World Series with the Red Sox, and had career single-season highs of 17 Wins and 33 Saves. I got an autograph of him through the mail sometime between 2004 and 2011.
Topps could've made this card for us collectors in 1996 and give us a look at 4 guys who put up some great seasons, and who if not for injury, could've had a good shot at reaching the Majors.

I haven't really did much with customs lately, just because of commitments and work. Work has been hell the last 3 days, but I just got to get through tomorrow, and get everything baked as quick as I can, and then I get a nice day off and it won't be crazy for at least a week or two before the Mothers Day sale starts. I'll probably work on a few more 1994 customs tonight and maybe try to work a little more on the 1999 checklist. I'm also going to a Daytona Tortugas game in a week and hope to try to get a few autographs. If Brody Koerner is able to make the trip in a month or so (he's currently on the 7-day disabled list, don't know what for), then I'll probably try to see him play in Daytona as well.
Thanks for checking out my latest card.
-Jeremy

1995 Topps #669 Bruce Hurst

Bruce Hurst played in the Majors for 15 seasons. He pitched for the Boston Red Sox from 1980-1988. He signed as a free agent with the Padres, and pitched with them through the middle of the 1993 season when he was traded to the Colorado Rockies. He played his final season in the Bigs with the Texas Rangers in 1994. He finished his career with a 145-113 record, 1,689 strikeouts, and a 3.92 ERA with 23 shutouts.

Hurst got his first Topps card in 1980 on a 3-player rookie card, and got another 3-player card in 1981. He got his first Topps card to himself in 1982, and appeared in every regular Topps set through the 1993 set. He also got a 1989 Topps Traded card. Bruce is only missing a 1994 Topps card to complete his career Topps run after this 1995 Topps sunset custom that I made.

I recently ordered some cards online to beef up my player collection. With a 3-month old here, the money for cards just isn't in the budget sometimes, so I figured I would use some money from our tax return to help add some autographs and jersey cards of guys in my player collection. I mainly got some stuff from eBay, and I'll probably place an order on COMC in a week or two when we actually get the check in the mail. I think once I get all of the cards I will do a post of everything. On top of that, my boss at work recently found out that I collect cards. He goes to a flea market almost every Wednesday, and the last 2 times he went, he came back with some cards for me. Nothing too special, mainly junk wax stuff, but I actually need some of it.  I have always tried to get cards autographed at games, and I did the through-the-mail autograph thing from 2004-2012. I got a ton of junk wax cards signed during that time, and when I sold a good chunk of my autographs in 2013, I got rid of all of the junk wax ones, so now, I need new ones to replace the ones I sold. The first week, I got a rack pack from 1987 and 1988 Topps and got a few guys I needed, and this week, he got me 2 packs of '87 Topps, cards #700-800 of 1991 Upper Deck (which included a Jeff Bagwell rookie I didn't have), and a complete 1990 Topps set (no Frank Thomas No Name on Front, but I did get the regular one). I have a feeling that in a few months that I will have a ton of cards that I will need to put into binders (and I just organized all of them a few months back). I'll have to take a picture of all of the binders in my man-cave, but to give you an idea, I have at least 50,000 cards, probably closer to 100,000. My boss can bug me at times, but how many bosses get you cards?  I think I'll keep him. I have the custom stuff going (I'm still making cards, the 1995 checklist is almost done, and I'll probably work on getting the names of coaches for a few sets on Tuesday while my wife is getting cataract surgery on her eyes), and the real cards going with the cards coming through the mail and from my boss, and with all the stuff going on in my life besides that (work, wife, baby, dogs, housework, playing in the band at church), I don't think I'm going to have much free time. It's all good. The cards and customs help me relax and so does the blog. Thanks for reading.
-Jeremy

1994 Topps Season Highlights Jose Canseco

This is another cool Season Highlights card that Topps missed out on in the early '90's. On May 29th of 1993, Jose convinced his manager Kevin Kennedy to let him pitch an inning in a blowout. Canseco ended up injuring his arm and missing a decent amount of time in 1993, possibly costing him a shot at 500 Home Runs in his career. Score highlighted the moment ok Jose's 1994 Score base card with a photo of him pitching in the game.

This card was pretty simple to make. I used a 1994 Topps preview design which is different from the '94 regular set because of the brown background behind the player name instead of green. I've made a few other season highlights cards for other teams in this set, and they look pretty cool.

I am almost completely finished with the templates for every team from 1989-2001. I just have the NL teams in the 1997 set, and I will be finished. After that, I may do some easy copy and paste sets such as 2007 and 2008, but I'll probably take a break from templates and actually do some customs after that. I also want to possibly work on finalizing a checklist for the 2016 Topps set since Topps has templates on their website and those are pretty easy to make. Plus, I would think those designs could be taken off of the page sooner than later, especially with the 2017 set coming out in a month or two. I remember when Topps first started offering the customizable trading cards that they had the 2007-2009 designs available, and now those templates are nowhere to be found.

I put up a page for the 1998 Topps set, and after I finish the '97 templates, I'll put up pages for the other sets that are missing pages up through 2001. It's a bunch of pages, but I feel that's the best way to go. That way I can put templates up with each set, and the main page won't be as long as Santa's naughty list. Thanks for checking out my latest post.
-Jeremy

1990 Topps #813 Buddy Bell

Buddy Bell was a decent player, and his skills kept his in the Big Leagues for 18 years. He played with the Cleveland Indians from 1972-1978, the Texas from 1979- the middle of the 1985 season. He was traded to the Cincinnati Reds, and stayed with them until the middle of the 1988 season when he was released. The Houston Astros picked him up for the rest of the season, and he played his final season in 1989 with the Rangers. After his playing career, he coached for many teams. Wikipedia says he coaches with the Reds for many years, but I have checklists made for every coach for the 1989-1992 seasons, and I don't see Bell anywhere for the Reds. He coached the Indians from 1994-1995. In 1996, he became the manager of the Detroit Tigers. He got fired from them in 1998, then became manager of the Colorado Rockies from 2000-2002. He coached the Cleveland Indians again from 2003-2004. He managed the Kansas City Royals from 2005-2007 before retiring.

Buddy appeared in every Topps set from 1973-1989. He also got into the 1988 Topps Traded set. His only missing card from his playing career is his sunset 1990 Topps card, so with this custom, his complete playing career Topps run is finished. Buddy has manager cards from the 2001, 2002, 2005 Update, 2006, and 2007 Topps sets. He is missing cards from the 1995,1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2003, 2004, 2005, and 2008 Topps sets.

I've been working on a few templates lately, and have actually made some cards. I keep telling myself that once the rest of the templates are done (1989-2001), that it will be worth it and I can just crank out customs, but it is nice to actually make customs and not templates every once in a while. I also have some cards fro Richard that I need to post one of these days, so I'll have a busy week with stuff to do with customs, but it will be fun, especially if I can finish the 1994 set.
Thanks for checking out my latest post.
-Jeremy 

1993 Topps #833 Brian Downing

Brian Downing played for 20 years in the Majors. More impressively, he only played for 3 teams during that time. He came up in 1973 with the Chicago White Sox, and stayed with them until the end of the 1977 season when he was traded to the Angels. He remained with the Angels for the majority of his career, only spending the last 2 seasons of his career with the Rangers in 1991 and 1992.

Brian got Topps cards in every set from 1974 to 1992, missing only his sunset card from the 1993 set. He also got into the 1991 Traded set. This 1993 Topps Custom completes Brian's career Topps run.

Some interesting things I learned when researching for this post are that Brian played himself in an episode of 'The Jeffersons' in 1985, and that Brian has some cool cards with him wearing huge glasses in the 1977-1979 Topps sets. I might have to get them on my next COMC order.

I'm hoping to make a page for the 1989 Topps set at some point on Saturday. I'll post the complete checklist as well as templates. Next up is probably the 1990 set. I think I figured that there are at least 80 possible border combinations, with 5 colors (blue, green, orange, purple, and red) for the outside border, and 4 different varieties with each color (dark square on top left, top right, bottom left, and bottom right). When you get past that, then there are 5 colors for the team name and the box with the player name (blue, green, orange, white, and yellow). Each team only has 1 color, but it is still confusing. I think I may just stick with 2-3 different versions for each team. It's amazing the things you learn when making templates. Thanks for checking out my latest card.
-Jeremy

1998 Topps Mickey Tettleton

Mickey Tettleton played his last game in 1997 with the Texas Rangers. He recieved his last card in the '97 Topps set, missing out on a sunset card. The only brands to give him cards in '98 sets were Collector's Choice and Upper Deck.

Mickey was on of my favorite Detroit Tigers while he was with the club from '91-'94. I got his 1993 Topps Black Gold card out of a 500 count card box that year, and had always wanted to get it signed. I lived in Lakeland, Florida at the time (I was about 10), and I would usually got to a Spring Training game and see the Tigers (they train in Lakeland) every year. I never did get the card signed, but I think had I been old enough to drive and seen more games and really knew what I was doing, I could've got it signed.

He moved on to the Rangers in '95 and put up decent numbers until he retired in '97. I got his '98 Upper Deck card that year, and it always fascinates me when I look at the back that he had 3 Home Runs in '97, but only 4 RBIs. He very well could've got his only RBIs that year off of Home Runs and it's strange to think that he played till June and didn't get more RBIs even though he was still a decent power hitter at that point.

His missing '98 Topps card was pretty easy to make. The foil for the name is the biggest trouble spot in the '98 Topps set. For teams like that Rangers, it is easy to see because of the lighter color used underneath it. For other teams, you can barely make it out, as you will be able to see in some future cards.

Thanks for checking out my latest card.

-Jeremy

Favorite Player Collection: 1999 Topps Mike Simms

Mike Simms didn't become a part of my favorite player collection until after he retired. I probably saw him play a few times on TV while he was with the Texas Rangers, but never really tried to add his cards to my collection. 

Fast forward to 2005 or so. I started collecting autographs through the mail. When I saw that Simms was a good singer, I decided to send him a few cards to get signed. While choosing the cards, I looked at some of his minor league stats, and he had some great power numbers in the minors. So I sent 3 cards along with a letter with a Bible verse at the end, and a few weeks later, I got an envelope back. Mike signed the cards and wrote a nice note with the cards. After that, I decided to collect Mike Simms cards. I have added a few more to my collection over the years thanks to COMC, and now I can add this 1999 Topps card to my collection. Topps didn't have any Simms cards after 1992 if I'm correct, so they missed out on his final years as an Astro, his career season with Texas in '98, and missed out on making his sunset card (2000).

Hope you enjoyed this post on one of my favorite players. I will be adding many more cards of favorite players in the future. Later this week, I'll post a card that many bloggers have wanted made and Braves fans in particular will be able to cross it off of their want lists. Thanks for checking out my post.

-Jeremy

1994 Topps Nolan Ryan/Robin Ventura Highlight

In 1993, Nolan Ryan was playing in his 27th and final season. His Rangers were playing the White Sox on August 4th, and Ryan, who had a few grudges against Ventura and the White Sox, hit Ventura with a pitch. Ventura started walking to first, and then turned and charged the mound. Ryan managed to get Ventura into a headlock, and started wailing on his head before teammates came along and the fight got broken up. I remember hearing about it on the news for the next few days.

I decided to do a highlight card of the famous fight. I used a 1994 Topps pre-production card of Ryan for the front. The area above the color bar underneath the name is brown on this card, unlike the regular cards in the set, which are green. I think I might stick with that design if I end up making more 1994 Topps highlight cards.

Thanks for checking out my custom cards.
-Jeremy

1995 Topps Kenny Rogers Highlights

Topps didn't make Season Highlight cards from 1985 up through 1996. This is my take on what a 1995 Topps Season Highlight card would look like.
Kenny Rogers pitched a Perfect Game on July 28, 1994 against the Angels. I remember being 11 and hearing all about it on the news the day after. A few years later, in 1998, I went to a Tampa Bay Devil Rays game and got to meet Kenny. He was playing with the Oakland A's, and they were playing the Rays, and after the game, Kenny went to the third base side and started signing autographs. I had his 1994 Pinnacle Museum Collection card, and had it ready to be signed, when this lady got my attention. It turned out to be Kenny's mom, and she had never seen the card I had, and offered to trade it for one of the cards of Kenny that she kept in her purse. So I traded his '94 Pinnacle Museum Collection for his '90 Upper Deck card, and got him to sign that one instead. It was kind of neat. I'm sure not many people have traded cards with a ballplayers Mom, and I was happy to give her a card that she hadn't seen before.

Like this one, a few of the last cards in Series 2 will be Season Highlight cards. The next 2 are from 1994, and I'm not sure how to change the fronts, but I think I have some ideas. Stay tuned for them in the next few days. Thanks for reading my blog.

-Jeremy