Jim Thome card #67 1996 Collectors Choice Silver Signature #120

• I never noticed until tonight the "All Star" notation in the upper left corner of the card.  
• Is it bad that I have the silver signature parallel of this card, but not the regular base card?  This might be the only card I have of Thome where this is the case.
• After all the years of the sub standard efforts that Opening Day has mustered, does anyone else miss CC?

- Robert

Jim Thome card #66 1996 Collectors Choice #392

• Great write up on the back of the card about Jim's HR in game 5 against the Braves in the World Series.  It also reminded me that Orel Hershiser played for the Indians at that time, which I had totally forgotten.
• I would love to know if the photo on the front was actually taken during the World Series.  
• Jim went 4 for 19 during the '95 World Series, with a double, homer and 2 RBI.  The Indians lost in 6 games to the Braves.  '95 would also be the first of 5 straight seasons that the Indians would reach the postseason, where they would advance as far as the World Series twice, losing to the Braves and the Marlins.

- Robert

Jim Thome card #65 1996 Stadium Club #357

• I never really thought much of the "TSC" logo that Stadium Club used for a few years.  It may be the only thing I ever say negatively about Stadium Club.
• Good photo of Jim heading out to catch a pop up, not sure why he doesn't have his shades down if he's looking up....
• The base set for '96 TSC lists for $60, not bad for a 450 card set.  I'm guessing Jim would be an unlisted star, which would put this card at 75 cents.

- Robert

Joe Sakic card #68 1993-94 Score Dream Team #14

• The horizontal design makes the card work.   The head shot looks a lot better than if the card was vertically oriented.
• This card still lists for $8; I remember the dream team cards being a hot commodity when they first came out over 20 years ago.   There are still a few that list for over $20.
• It's not too often you see two officials on a card.  It appears as if they're well behind the play...

- Robert

Jim Thome card #64 1996 Leaf #169

• Wow, what a horrible scan.  The foil border did not take too kindly to the scanner's light, causing a grainy, dirty look.  You can barely see Jim's name in the lower right, and the "Cleveland Indians" name in the circle is almost non-existent.
• Something not seen very often on a baseball card--batting gloves hanging out of a guy's back pocket.   I've always wondered why players put them in their pockets, wouldn't it be easier to leave them in their batting helmet at the bench?
• Home runs #64 & 65 were hit in the same game, against the Brewers on 5/21/96.  The Indians won the game 6-5, but what struck me was the box score at the end of the game.   Jim's OPS at game's end was 1.137, an incredible number.  But it wasn't even the best on the team!  Albert Belle had a 1.185 OPS at that time.  
• Jim was still hitting 6th in that lineup by the way, showing you just how deep the '96 Indians were.

- Robert

Jim Thome card #63 1996 Leaf Preferred #57

• Can't say that I like the "LP" on the left hand side.  When I first took a good look at the card, I thought the letters were "ID".  Any card that features the Indians logo on it can't be all bad though.  
• This is already the 5th different set from 1996 that I've shown for Thome, and there are plenty more where this came from.  It might be July before I hit 1997 Thome cards...
• The '96 Leaf Preferred set is listed at $25, and for a 150 card set, that's not too bad.  
• Thanks to baseballcardpedia.com, I learned something today.   The Press Proofs for this set can only be spotted by the foil on the front, which is in gold.  There is nothing that indicates serial numbering or the words press proof in any way.   Crazy....

- Robert

Andrew McCutchen card #7 2010 Topps #110

• Same photo on this card as was on the National Chicle card that I showed a few weeks ago.  
• I only remember gold rookie cups on cards.  I can't say that I remember the silver ones, especially on this set.  Was I just not paying close enough attention?
• The bio on the back has some very complementary words from teammate Ross Ohlendorf.  Pirates fans, doesn't it seem like an eternity since Ohlendorf was a Pirate?

-Robert

Brett Lawrie card #21 2012 Topps Mini #462

• I'm still looking for this card's parallel cousin, the mini gold parallel serial numbered out of 61.  COMC's cheapest copy is currently at $15.  I'm not looking at that price...
• I haven't taken a good luck, but I believe that this is the only mini card that I own among my 5 player PC's.   On second thought, there's a bunch of A&G mini's to come so scratch that.
• Career homer #21 was the first of the 2013 season for Brett, and was hit off of Huroki Kuroda of the Yankees.  It was a solo homer that came in a 5-3 loss on 4/25/2013.

- Robert

Jim Thome card #62 1996 Bowman #41

• I like this card, even though the border for lack of a better word is quite geometric.  The foil lettering for Jim's name scanned well and is easy to read.  Dare I say it?  The border reminds me a little bit of  '68 Topps.
• The back of the card breaks down stats vs. each team for the '95 season.  Jim hit a solid .412 against the Twins with 2HR, while struggling against the Yankees with just a .208 average.  The only team he didn't go long against was the Mariners.
• Just 2 copies of this card on COMC.com   One lists for 85 cents, the other lists for $1.  
• The 395 card '96 Bowman set lists for $50.  Best RC in the set?  The ageless Raul Ibanez--$5

- Robert

Joe Sakic card #67 1993-94 Donruss #282

• Background noise:  I'll be at 50% in identifying players on the bench on this card.  I'm positive that Owen Nolan is on the left holding his stick straight up.  That may be Mike Hough on the right, but I can't be sure...
• I like the design of the card.  Simple, full bleed photo, and I think that the team logo works a lot better than spelling out the team name would have.
• Talk about dirt cheap.  510 card set lists for just $25, the Sakic single just 60 cents.  COMC has 4 of these listed, priced anywhere from $1.99 to $2.74.   Yikes...

- Robert

Jim Thome card #61 1996 Upper Deck #54

• I like that the nameplate isn't in gold foil.  I'm sure that if the name/team/position was in foil, it would have been impossible to read.
• By the looks of the swing and the body position, along with the facial expression, it appears that Jim is hopeful that the ball he just hit is going out of play.
• The '96 season saw Jim win his first Silver Slugger award.  He hit .311 with 38 HR and 116 RBI.  Jim also walked 123 times, one of 9 seasons that he had more than 100 walks.  What was surprising for me is that '96 also saw his career high for hits in a season, with 157.  I thought that Jim might have come closer to 200 hits in a season at least once, but apparently not...

 - Robert

Joe Sakic card #66 1994-95 Leaf #165

• I know my early 90's Leafs, that is Dave Ellett in the process of covering Sakic in front of the net.
• Not much really to the design of 94-95 Leaf, the foil on the front can be difficult to read if you're not looking at the right angle. 
• This may be one of the rare cards from the early 90's that had the picture taken in Canada.  I even recognize the Royal Bank logo on the boards.
• 94-95 Leaf is quite inexpensive, the 550 card set lists for just $35, and the Sakic card is just 60 cents

- Robert

Jim Thome card #60 1996 Leaf Signature Series #71

• It'll be cool to be able to compare this to a card that well, you know, has an actual signature on it.
• Not a bad design, nothing that overpowers the eyes.  The oval that contains the Leaf Signature Series is actually easier to read on the scan than in person.  Weird...
• Jim 60th career home run came 5/10/1996 against the Angels.   Jim would hit a homer during each game of the series as the Indians took two out of 3 vs. the halos to go 11 games over .500

- Robert

Andrew McCutchen card #6 2010 Bowman Chrome #20

• Sleeveless jersey are something that I really would never tire of.  I would love to see some teams use this look again.
• One thing about Bowman is the design is never overdone.  The black border with the thin red stripe as an inner border really works for me.  Nothing flashy, just solid.
• Career homer #6 for Andrew came 8/1/2009, and it was the 3rd of 3 home runs he hit that day against the Nationals.  Andrew batted lead off that day, and was 4 for 5 with 4 runs and 6 RBI in a 11-6 win for the Buccos.

- Robert

Brett Lawrie card #20 2012 Topps Finest Finest Moments #FM-BL

• Was an absolute nightmare trying to keep this straight on the scanner.  At the end I finally said "close enough" and left it as is.
• I'm sure someone may have noticed, but I have the total card count for Lawrie correct now.  I stupidly posted two straight cards for Brett as #18.   That has been fixed.  
• Career homer #20 for Brett was his 2nd of the series against the Yankees in September 2012.  Both homers also drove in the same guy, Anthony Gose.  Phil Hughes was the victim of #20, but sadly the Jays gave up 7 runs in the final 3 innings to lose 9-6 to the Bronx Bombers.

- Robert

Joe Sakic card #65 1993-94 Stadium Club #32

• Love this card.  Great faceoff shot coupled with the timeless Stadium Club borderless design.  Fantastic.
• Career totals for Joe against the Capitals?  31 points, 14 goals in 36 games.  An ugly -17 as well.
• Current value of this card in Beckett, 50 cents.  The set is very reasonable at $40 for 2 series of 250 cards each.  

- Robert

Jim Thome card #59 1996 Bowmans Best #47

• This is the first of 26 cards that I have of Thome from the 1996 releases.  Twenty-six, and only one is a parallel (and I don't have the base card, go figure).  Overkill baby!!
• I get the idea that the open area of the background is in the shape of a baseball diamond.  I think the rest of the card (the stripes) kind of takes away from the design.   But that's just me.
• Home run #59 came on April 30, 1996 against Kevin Tapani.  The solo shot tied the game at 3-3, and the Indians would go on to score 2 more runs in a 5-3 win against the White Sox.  I didn't even remember that Tapani spent a season on the south side before moving to the north side of Chicago to finish his career.

- Robert

Joe Sakic card #64 1993-94 Parkhurst Emerald Ice #169

• I remember what a big deal it was to find a star like Joe back in the day when the emerald ice parallels came out.  Now, not so much...
• The base Sakic lists for 50 cents, with the emerald ice having a 4x multiplier.  There are 3 emerald ice parallels like this listed on COMC, ranging from $1.48-$1.70.  Reasonable...
• Career goal #64 for Joe came 3 games after the Hartford game, against Toronto.  Joe had 2 goals and 3 assists in an 8-5 win over the Leafs, which sent the Leafs to an 0-4 start.

- Robert

Joe Sakic card #63 1993-94 Parkhurst #169

• Maybe my favorite design of any of the 1990's Parkhurst releases.  The oval isn't large as it was the previous couple of years, and the player's name and team on the right hand side don't' take away too much from the photo.  
• I'm getting in the habit of making multiple posts on the same day when I have a parallel or parallels of a certain card.  So you'll see the Emerald Ice version of this card later today.
• Joe's 63rd career goal was his first of the 1990-91 campaign.  10/4/90 vs. Hartford, Joe is in on all 3 of Quebec's goals in a 3-3 tie with the Whalers.   Both of his assists in that game were for goals scored by Hall of Famers, Guy Lafleur and Mats Sundin.  

- Robert

Jim Thome card #58 1995 Sportflix UC3 #37

• Hard to say what I think of this card design.  The baseballs floating in the background are kind of eerie to me.  
• Checked out COMC.com to see if there were any of these on there.  There are actually 6 of them, priced at $1.23 or $1.24.  A little too pricey if you ask me...
• Jim's 58th career Home Run was a 3 run shot, 4/24/96 against the Yankees Scott Kamieniecki.  The Indians were down 10-2 to the Yankees at the time, but the comeback fell short as the Yanks won 10-8.

- Robert

Joe Sakic card #62 1993-94 Fleer Ultra #242

• I definitely prefer the older style of Ultra cards.  When they started using cursive letters for the player's name, it took some of the luster away from the set for me.  
• I took a look at the players behind Sakic on the bench, and the player on the right with the number 4 on his arm looked familiar.   I'm almost positive that he is Gino Cavallini, who wore #44 for the Nords in 92-93.
• As with many other early 90's sets, 93-94 Ultra Hockey can be had on the cheap.   A complete set of 500 cards (2 series of 250) lists for just $40, with the Sakic itself listed at 60 cents.

- Robert

Jim Thome card #57 1995 Skybox Emotion #39

• Not the first time that this particular card has had it's own blog post.  Take a look here to see what The Angels in Order says about Thome.
• Wonder what could have been...if there was a border on the card and the word surprise appeared in the border instead.  
• Career homer #57 came 4/22/96 against Baltimore's Scott Erickson.  It broke a 3-3 tie and propelled the Indians to a 6-3 win over the O's.

- Robert

Brett Lawrie card #19 2012 Panini Prizm Rookie Relevance #RR9

• 3rd card featuring Brett as part of the Toronto baseball club.  I decided to take a quick look to see just how many cards of Brett were released by Prizm in 2012.  Believe it or not, there are 15 total cards from that year, I still need 12 more
• Even without the logos, I like this card.  There's something weird about Prizm that makes it hard for me to hate it.  Must be the shiny...
• Career hit #19 for Brett was a triple, his 2nd of the 2011 season.  It drove in Edwin Encarnacion in a 4-2 win over the Royals.  Luke Hochevar was the victim.

- Robert

Felix Potvin card #2 1991-92 Parkhurst #398

• The old helmet and cage combo.   You don't see these anymore.  There are a few more cards I have of Felix in the pre one piece mask days...
• Does anyone else miss when goalie equipment was a little more understated like this?  Now goalies wear a suit of armor.  I'm looking forward to what the NHL is going to change this summer as far as equipment goes.
• Felix only played 4 games in his first taste of the NHL during the 91-92 season.  Game #2 was a 2-2 tie against Chicago, with Felix making 29 saves.

- Robert

Jim Thome card #56 1995 Donruss #200

• A "hero" card number for Jim!  I don't think that any of the cards that I've posted so far have had a 100, 200, 300 etc.  I can remember one for Joe Sakic that was #150...
• I like this card.  The 2nd photo inside of a miniature home plate looks all right to me.  The one minor detail I could do without is the 7 stars above the position.  Kind of unnecessary to me...
• Career home run #56 for Jim was his first of the 1996 season, a 2 run shot against Jamie Moyer and the Red Sox in a 14-2 win.  Jim went 2 for 5 with 4 RBI's in that game.

- Robert

Joe Sakic card #61 1993-94 OPC Premier Black Gold #15

• This was part of a 24 card insert set.  One of my other PC players, Felix Potvin, has a card in this insert set as well.  I don't have that one as of yet.
• Topps Premier also came out with a 24 card Black Gold set that year, with a few different players mixed in.   Sakic was not part of the Topps 24 card set.  
• The big difference in the two sets?   The prices.  The OPC black gold set single commons are $2.50 compared to 50 cents for Topps.   The OPC Gretzky card lists for $20, while the Topps counterpart lists for only $8

- Robert

Jim Thome card #55 1995 Fleer Ultra #42

• Wasn't exactly sure what I had when I first picked up this card.  I'm so used to Ultra having silver or gold foil that when I saw the blue, I wondered if it was some different kind of parallel.  
• Don't look now Jim, but it appears that you're about to muff that grounder!
• Career HR #55 was the final homer of the 1995 season for Jim, an opposite field solo shot off of the Twins Erik Schullstrom.  The Indians won the game 9-6 to go 32 games over .500

- Robert

Joe Sakic card #60 1993-94 OPC Premier #10

• The only difference between the OPC and Topps versions of this card?  Of course it's the bilingual bio on the back.  
• Game #60 for Joe was a tough one, a 5-2 loss to the rival Canadiens.  Joe took a -3 out of that game...
• Tomorrow will be the 20th anniversary of Joe's 2nd career OT playoff winner.  Joe scored at 4:33 of the 3rd overtime in a 3-2 win over the BlackHawks.  That was part of Joe's 34 points in 22 games Stanley Cup run which would earn him the Conn Smythe trophy as playoff MVP.

- Robert

Joe Sakic card #59 1993-94 Topps Premier #10 Gold parallel

• I remember buying a jumbo box of Premier many years ago.  I think the gold parallels came 2 or 3 in a pack in the jumbos, and I was happy to pull this Sakic.  I'm sure I have a ton of gold parallels from this set somewhere.
• Checking out COMC for this particular card, there are 7 on the site currently, ranging in price from 97 cents to $2.75.  Beckett lists the card at 40 cents with a 6x multiplier, so the range on COMC is definitely reasonable.
• I still need the cousin of this card, the OPC Premier gold parallel.  I haven't picked up any cards for any parts of my collection for the past few weeks.  Maybe on my next COMC order I'll grab the OPC version and get that out of the way.

- Robert

Joe Sakic card #58 1993-94 Topps Premier #10

• A little mini marathon of Sakic posts today.   Have 3 cards that are all similar on the front, but differ slightly.  
• I noted this on the main blog before, but it's interesting to see Michal Pivonka appear on a couple of other Joe Sakic cards as well.
• Game #58 for Joe was an 8-2 pasting of the Buffalo Sabres.  Joe recorded just one assist despite the Nords having 7 different goal scorers that night (Peter Stastny potted 2).

- Robert

Andrew McCutchen card #5 2010 Topps Turkey Red #TR57

• I really do like the Turkey Red style of card.  I wish I had more of them in my collections..
• May 5, 2015 saw McCutchen go 0 for 4 against the Reds to see his batting average drop to .185.  Despite this, McCutchen would bat .330 for the month of May to raise his batting average to .275  
• Checked out COMC to see what was up with this card.   Not too bad really; 7 cards for sale ranging in price from $1.15 to $2.  The card lists in Beckett for $1 to $2.50 so the COMC prices for once are right on point.

- Robert

Brett Lawrie card #18 2012 Bowman blue parallel # 191

• This is the 4th of 7 parts of the 2012 Brett Lawrie Bowman rainbow.  I still need the orange, silver ice and red silver ice parallels to complete the rainbow.
• This card is serial #'d 131/500, part of the reason I picked it up off of COMC is that the #13 is part of the serial number.
• Speaking of COMC, there are 6 copies of this card currently available on the site, ranging from 50 cents (reasonable) to $7.25 (absolutely ridiculous).

- Robert

Jim Thome card #54 1995 Pnnacle Zenith Sample #51

• Thanks to baseballcardpedia.com, I learned that this Thome card was part of a 9 card promo set released to dealers and hobby media before the set release in the summer of '95.  Other players include Ripken, Jr., Nomo, Bichette and Mark Grace.
• Still looking for the base card from this set to compare the sample with.  I'm guessing it's the same.
• May 4th, 1997.  Jim would have a day off after going 3 for 4 with 2 doubles, 2 runs scored and 2 walks in a 10-8 win over the Tampa Bay Rays the night before.

- Robert

Joe Sakic card #57 1994-95 Pinnacle Northern Lighs #NL4

• I love the look of this card.  The visage of the wilderness on the left representing the Northern Lights, the foil with the Pinnacle logo and Joe's name. The photo of Joe I'm guessing is him heading on the ice for pregame warmups.  
• I actually skipped ahead a year, as I have this card on the same page as some 1993-94 cards of Joe.
• May 3rd, 1996.  Joe was on a day off after losing to the BlackHawks in game one of the conference semi-final, 3-2 in OT.  Joe had a goal in game 1, and scored 6 goals in a game 6 victory in that round.

- Robert

Jim Thome card #53 1995 Sportflix #85

• This card, despite the mediocre scan, is actually quite good.  You can see Jim swinging/following through on the screen here.
• The logo might be a little on the large side, but it doesn't take away from the photo in my opinion.
• May 2nd, 1995, Jim goes 2 for 3, 2 runs scored a homer and 3 RBI's in a 11-1 beating of the Tigers.  Jim also walked twice that day, which saw his average climb to .353.
• There are 3 copies of this card on COMC...65 cents is the cheapest copy.  Sportlots has all but one copy at 18 cents.  

- Robert

Joe Sakic card #56 1992-93 Pinnacle #150

• A rare card with Joe featuring the home whites; most of his cards feature the road blues.
• Career goal #56 came in a 7-3 loss to the Bruins on 3/22/90.  Current Bruins president Cam Neely had a hat trick in that game.
• This card currently lists for 60 cents in Beckett.  A quick search on COMC shows just 2 of these for sale, one for $1.74, the other for $2.  Sportlots range is between 18 and 50 cents.  This is why I've moved to using Sportlots for base cards, the range is much more reasonable.

- Robert

Already 4 months down--April review

My how time flies.  It seems like just a couple of weeks ago I decided to start this blog, and already there's been 4 months passed by, and I've completed a post every single day but one (kind of ironic the day that I missed was tax day). That'll teach me to check the calendar before doing posts ahead of time!

The blog is still going well.  As of this writing on Saturday morning, April saw 356 page views and 33 posts, another solid month.  There were no new followers, but most of the posts are getting anywhere from 7-9 views.   To those who are taking a quick peek, thank you!

Still averaging 12-13 posts a month for the 2 main PC's of Thome and Sakic.   Both players have had over 50 cards displayed, and both have a long way to go. 

I've also obtained a nice start to an Andrew McCutchen collection, and just announced my 5th player PC on Saturday, Felix Potvin.  I've stuck with the once per week posting of Brett Lawrie.  Lawrie's collection now has 17 posts, about a third of the cards I have in my Lawrie collection.

Post #150 will come sometime during May, and I'm hoping to gain one more follower to get the blog to 5.  Most importantly, I'm still enjoying posting my PC's, one card at a time. 

thanks for reading, Robert