Saturday Night Five: Hometown Heroes

I have live in the Bay Area my entire life and in San Jose since I was two years old.  And when it comes to collecting sports memorabilia, one of my favorite things to collect are athletes who are from my hometown.

Tonight... in honor of Daniel Cormier who successfully defended his title against Anthony Johnson... I present to you a few athletes who spent some time in San Jose.

#1:  Dave Stieb

I remember one of my Little League coaches talking about playing baseball with Stieb.  Later on, I'd discover that he graduated from the high school I would eventually attend.  By that time, Stieb was becoming a perennial all-star who would eventually have the 2nd most wins among starting pitchers during the 80's.

I'd love to start collecting his cards, but honestly he doesn't have a lot of stuff out there.  I'll keep searching though.


#2:  Mark Grieb

There are only a handful of guys I attended high school with who eventually went on to become professional athletes.  Grieb was by far the most successful.  He led the San Jose SaberCats to three ArenaBowl titles and is one of the most successful quarterbacks in AFL history.


#3:  Ken Caminiti and Mark Langston

I'm proud that I graduated with my bachelor's degree and teaching credential from San Jose State University.  But as a sports memorabilia collector, they just aren't known for their sports programs outside of maybe judo and golf.

Caminiti and Langston are the two biggest names in SJSU baseball history.  I guess I should be happy that I had the opportunity to watch both of them play.

#4:  Jeff Garcia and James Jones

Here are two more SJSU alumni.  Garcia had a fairly successful career with one of my least favorite teams in the NFL (the San Francisco 49ers), while Jones had a fairly successful career with one of my favorite teams in the NFL (the Green Bay Packers).


#5:  Andre Carter

Rounding out the list is the another guy who attended the same high school as me... albeit he was there a few years after I graduated.

Carter was a beast.  My friends and I went back and watched him play a few times and everyone knew he was going to end up being something special.

Although he won't be getting enshrined in Canton, he did finish his career with 80.5 sacks.  That's gotta count for something.

???:  Joey Chessnut and Matt Stonie

Do you consider professional eating a sport?  If so, the top 2 professional eaters are from San Jose.  I felt they deserved at least some recognition.

I'll wrap up this post with the man of the evening...

Daniel Cormier isn't from San Jose, but he currently trains out of here.  In fact, he trains right down the street from my place.  Tonight he submitted Anthony Johnson for the second time in two years to retain the Light Heavyweight Championship.

Overall... it was a pretty solid evening of sports for me.

The Oakland A's beat the Texas Rangers.  The San Diego Padres beat the San Francisco Giants.  The San Jose Sharks beat the Calgary Flames.

And Chris Wondolowski scored in the 90th minute as the San Jose Earthquakes tied the Seattle Sounders.

Before I forget... I want to give a shout out to Gavin over at Baseball Card Breakdown.  He inspired me to write this post after he wrote about the same topic earlier in the week.  Thanks defgav!

Happy Saturday and sayonara!

Fact vs. Fiction: GSNHOF Card Edition

Fact:  Tim over at The Great Sports Name Hall of Fame sent me a nice package of cards that contain some very low serial numbers, several autographs, and a beautiful patch for my Padres collection.

Fiction:  I hate patch cards.

Fact:  Tony Gwynn and Dave Winfield are the only guys who have played more games in right field for the San Diego Padres in franchise history.

Fact:  Brian Giles is in the top ten of almost every offensive statistical category for my beloved Padres.

Fiction:  Casey Kelly is the next Jake Peavy.

Fact:  Kelly was once a top ranked prospect, but he's been working his way back from Tommy John surgery for over a year now.

Fiction:  Arena football is dead.

Fact:  The San Jose Sabercats are 4-0 and the cow bells are ringing.

Fact:  There aren't a lot of them floating around, but I have a small collection of Sabercats memorabilia cards and autographs.

Fiction:  I stopped collecting Devin Setoguchi when he was traded to Minnesota in 2011.

Fact:  Although I don't go out of my way to purchase Seto... I still enjoy adding cards of him to my collection every now and then.

Fiction:  I'm a huge NBA fan.

Fact:  I don't really watch basketball anymore, but I definitely happy for the Golden State Warriors and their fans.

Fact:  I totally appreciate this awesome care package from Tim.

Fact:  I'll be scraping some singles for your cool, interesting, and unique PC's.

Happy Sunday and sayonara!

Flea Market Finds #41: Baseball Card Sets & Football Figurines

I'll keep this post short and simple.  Last weekend, I hit up two flea markets and purchased two sets, two football figurines, and one autograph.

Here's the breakdown...

When: Saturday, July 6th

Where: De Anza Flea Market
What: A Baseball Card Set, an Autograph, and a Football Figurine
How much?: $20

Purchase #1:  1989 Bowman Baseball Factory Set $5

The baseball card gods are definitely watching over me.  Early Saturday morning, I left the following message on one of Night Owl's posts:

And less than 12 hours later, I came across one at the flea market.  I know that these Bowman's are a pain in the butt to store, but at this price I'm willing to suffer.


Purchase #2:  Bill Bergey Autograph $5

If you collect football cards, then you're probably familiar with 1997 Upper Deck Legends autograph set.  I won't go as far as saying I'm building this set... but I'll pick up singles from time to time if they're affordable.

Purchase #3:  2002 Memory Company Figurine $10

I thought that this was a bobble head, but discovered it's a figurine with an oversized head. Oh well... it's still a pretty cool item for my Green Bay Packers shelf.

When: Sunday, July 7th

Where: Capitol Flea Market

What: A Baseball Card Set and a Football Bobble Head

How much?: $7

Purchase #1:  1993 Upper Deck Baseball Set $5

It's actually more like a 1993 Upper Deck starter set, because it's missing 40 cards.  If anyone out there has extras laying around, I need the following:

I had a feeling it wasn't complete when I purchased it.  But I made sure it had the one key card before I handed over the five spot:

Purchase #2:  Clevan Thomas Bobble Head $2

Yeah... I collect San Jose Sabercats bobble heads.  So what?  I've been looking for a Thomas for awhile now to stand next to my Barry Wagner, Mark Grieb, James Roe, and Ben Nelson bobbles.

Happy Thursday and sayonara!