30 Day Baseball Card Challenge

Monday, February 17, 2020

Better Late Than Never

If you're not early, you're late.  That's the philosophy my parents raised us with... and the one I tend to live by.  Well... usually.  I always seem to be a few steps behind with hobby related items.

The evidence is all over the place.  On Saturday, I was one day late with my Valentine's Day post.  I'm over a year behind on delivering care packages.  And today's post covers two events that took place two days ago.

First and foremost was hearing about the loss of Tony Fernandez who suffered a stroke while dealing with kidney issues.

Although Ripken was the perennial MLB All-Star Game starting shortstop for the American League back in the 80's, Fernandez (along with Alan Trammell) seemed to be his resident backup... which made him a household name in our hobby.

2013 Hometown Heroes City Hall Signatures #CHTF

The first team I associate him with are the Toronto Blue Jays and rightfully so.  He spent the majority of his career there.  I remember treasuring my copy of his 1984 Donruss rookie card, which was most likely sold off when I purged my collection in 2001.

2016 Topps Archives All-Star Signature Edition Buybacks
1992 Bowman #293

He played for six other MLB teams, but the San Diego Padres are the only one that really stand outs to me.  Fernandez was part of the blockbuster trade that sent Roberto Alomar and Joe Carter to the Blue Jays back in 1991Fernandez and Fred McGriff both played well during their time in San Diego, but they were both shipped out by management within a few years with little compensation in return.  That's why I prefer to remember his career with the Blue Jays where he helped them win their second World Series Championship in 1993.

Rest in peace Mr. Fernandez.

On a lighter note, I received a text from Ryan (SumoMenkoMan) on Saturday informing me that it was National Hockey Card Day here in North America.

One look at my blog's banner reveals my love for the sport... especially the San Jose Sharks.  Sadly... most of my hockey related posts receive only a handful of views, which is why I typically stick to writing about baseball cards.

But today I thought I'd showcase some of the best hockey signatures sitting in my collection.  Let's kick things off with some of the legends of the game:

2000 Upper Deck Hawaii Trade Conference #GH
2013-14 Trilogy Signature Pucks #SP-BO

1997-98 Pinnacle Beehive Signatures #61

Next up three of the greatest players from my childhood:

1996-97 Donruss Canadian Ice Scrapbook Signature #NNO
1996-97 SPx Tribute Signature #GS1
1995-96 Upper Deck Be A Player Autograph #S197

Plus two of the greatest goaltenders from the 90's:

2002-03 Upper Deck Game Jersey Autograph #SGJ-MB
1998-99 Topps Autographs #A8

And I'll wrap things up with two future hall of famers:

2015-16 UD Ultimate Collection Signatures #US-AO
2007-08 UD Sweet Shot Signature Shots Puck Signings #SSP-SC

Sorry about my tardiness, but I started this post with a popular saying, so I'll leave you with another oneBetter late than never.

What about you?

Are you usually a punctual person?

Any fond memories of Mr. Fernandez?

Do you collect hockey cards?

Do you avoid writing certain posts because you know the majority of your readers aren't interested?

2017 Upper Deck Goodwin Champions #1

Happy President's Day and sayonara!

15 comments:

Baltmoss68 said...

I don’t get to comment much but....
I’m usually right on time
I was a fan of Tony Fernandez but only have his Donruss rc
I collect older hockey cards. Very envious of your awesome autos!!
I don’t blog bu t I read yours and a few others on a weekly basis

Matt said...

My whole family has trouble being punctual to point where my siblings and I constantly joke about it. I personally prefer this quote from LOTR: "A wizard is neither late nor early. He arrives precisely when he means to!" (A like to swap out the word wizard with my family name!) Love that Hasek auto! I miss watching him play!

Billy Kingsley said...

That's some impressive hockey stuff! You should write more about them.

RunForeKelloggs said...

I'm almost always early, like one of my kids. The other two at home are never on time. Hockey wasn't on local Chicago TV when I was a kid so kids in my area weren't into it or the cards.

Fernandez was known enough that even my wife knew who he was.

Some/many of my posts are intended for me so I'm not always worried about readership. Having the post keeps me from having paper notes about my collection. I can always access these posts if I am at a card show.

Johnnys Trading Spot said...

I stick to my family tradition, if you're not 15 minutes early you are late and BTW, you're fired. For entire working life I showed up to work on average an hour early, and stayed an hour afterwards too. The blessing in that was I left work at the door.
RIP Tony!
I don't collect hockey, but I do have a handful to send to you. And lastly, yes I so wanted Trade me Tuesday's would be a great blog theme to get rid of FB and BKB relics and autos, but it's a dud.

SumoMenkoMan said...

The earlier the better in most instances. Nice run of cards there. I don’t believe I own any hockey cards except the ones they gave me for NHCD on Saturday.

defgav said...

I'm often tardy. I like to cut it close and hate waiting around if I'm early.. Feel like wasting time if I'm not there exactly on time or a little late.

Loved Tony F. when he was in San Diego. A joy to watch field. Seemed like a really sweet guy.

Hockey makes up a very small percentage of my collection, but I do have some. Even got a few "big name" autos, but Gordie Howe is one I still need.

Yeah, sometimes I don't bother writing a post that people won't care about. but sometimes it's freeing to just post what you want and not worrying about if anybody reads it.

Sean said...

When I was in high school Tony Fernandez was my best friend's favorite player, at least until he got traded to the Padres. Great player. He also played in Japan for a year, I got to see him play during his season with the Seibu Lions in 2000.

The Snorting Bull said...

1. I am punctual if I am going somewhere myself. If I am going with my kids, it is really a challenge to be on time.

2. I did not get to see Tony Fernandez play much in person, since he was mainly in the American League. I did buy an autograph of him last year, but it was a Padres card. That's the only team I remember seeing him play in person for. Best memory was him hitting during the 1993 World Series, pretty good numbers.

3. I taught a few hockey player kids back in the day when I lived in St. Louis. I picked up a few of their cards.

4. I write what I want to write about, if people read it cool. If not, I will live.

sg488 said...

Yes,Yes,Yes and Yes.

Base Card Hero said...

1. I hate being late.

2. I honestly don't remember a lot of Fernandez. I think I was a tad too young.

3. I collected hockey heavily in the early to mid 1990's, then again in the early to mid 2000's... and again today (just not as heavy).

4. I really avoid a topic on my blog if it brings "low" traffic. I just want to show off my cards.

Great hockey autos too.

night owl said...

1. Usually

2. My first knowledge of Tony Fernandez came watching the NBC Game of the Week when Fernandez first arrived with the Blue Jays. Broadcaster Tony Kubek raved about Fernandez every chance he got. He absolutely loved him. Kubek was known for being critical so you really noticed when he talked up someone.

3. I have hockey cards but I don't care enough to buy them. I certainly don't care about hockey autographs -- although every Hasek card is nice.

4. Sometimes. But I refuse to not publish trade posts. If you don't appreciate trade posts enough to read them, that's on you.

NPB Card Guy said...

1. I try to be

2. Nothing specific but I remember his playing days

3. Nope

4. My entire blog is a niche subject so I really don't worry about whether anyone else is interested in a particular post.

GCA said...

I got a rep for being 15 minutes late or less every day when I had my dog. Since then I've been 90% on time, and have handed the chronically late tag to another co-worker.
I recognize Fernandez, but can't tell you much about him. The 90's were a blur as far as baseball. Guess I just watched the Orioles if anything.
I have 21,000+ hockey cards and 150+ GU/autos, mostly from the early 2000's. I'm starting to check off the 70's sets, and will fill in sporadically in between. I also casually collect Capitals, Goalie gamers, and Sergei Fedorov. Have only bought boxes of the last couple Parkhurst or OPC offerings. Not a fan of Upper Deck flagship. But I buy even less new football since about 2016.
I still feel like I complain too much in my posts, and wish I could come up with more concepts of things I discover and enjoy about cards and collecting. My readership would probably double if I jumped on the Rookies Are All That Matter train, but I'll never have any reason to do that. I'll write about set building and player/team collecting until I'm done.

Fuji said...

baltmoss68 - thanks for taking the time to read my blog. much appreciated.

matt - lol. sounds like my sister should start using that quote. the rest of us are very punctual, so she hears it from us all of the time

billy kingsley - thanks. i'll try to write about hockey, football, basketball, and other sports a little more. but baseball will be my bread and butter posts.

runforekelloggs - it's a shame fernandez started playing baseball after the kellogg's lenticular years. i used to write primarily for myself... and i still kind of do. but i also really enjoy the interaction with other bloggers too.

johnnys trading spot - that's a great family tradition. that's how my parents raised us. i'm just not sure why my sister didn't learn it. she's always late. we still love her though. as for work... i'm usually one of the first teachers on campus and i usually stay at least one hour after the bell. and just like you, i don't usually bring any work home because of those hours. sorry to hear about the trade me tuesdays. maybe you can move them on tcdb or something

sumomenkoman - thanks for the nhcd headsup. i'll have to check the nhcd checklist to see if any sharks were included this year. if they based the checklist on the way they're currently playing, i doubt it ;)

defgav - after watching some of his highlights, fernandez seemed to be so smooth on the field. i used to not care about whether or not people read my posts... but i really love the interaction in the comment section. but every now and then, i'll throw something out there just because i need to document it for my hobby time line

sean - didn't know about his time in japan until i started reading for this blog post. then i saw that he had a card in the 2000 ud ovation set, so i'll have to dig that card out of my collection at some point

the snorting bull - i've heard kids can impact punctuality. and i didn't realize his playoff numbers were so good. surprised he didn't win an mvp award. wow... that's pretty cool. anybody famous? greg hawgood's son attended the preschool i taught at back in the mid 90's. and i wish i could snap my fingers and go back when i blogged the same way as you

sg488 - the "yes" quadfecta!

base card hero - i loved collecting hockey in the 90's. these days my focus is mainly just adding cheap sharks relics and autographs and key hall of fame autographs i'm still missing

night owl - i enjoy reading people's trade posts... and i always write about the care packages i receive. they typically receive less views than average posts, but still attract more comments than my basketball, hockey, or football posts :)

npb - i admire your ability to write about what you're interested in. i used to be that way when i started the blog, but things have changed over the years

gca - i had a buddy who was a big time federov collector. i'm pretty sure i still need to add his signature to my collection at some point. i don't know what i could do to improve my readership, but i'm happy with the correspondence i receive from the people who currently take the time to check out my posts.