30 Day Baseball Card Challenge

Friday, April 24, 2015

Ten Years and Two Hundred Dollars

Ten years ago... I missed the boat on 2005 Topps Heritage baseball, because I was four years removed from the hobby and three years away from jumping back in.




Ten years ago... Andre Ethier went 0 for 5 for the Midland RockHounds, while Eric Chavez, Erubiel Durazo, and Jason Kendall each went 0 for 4 in Oakland's 0 to 1 loss to the Anaheim Angels.


Ten years ago... Frank Thomas was on the disabled list and missed the first 50 games of the 2005 season.


Ten years ago... Albert Pujols hit his 165th home run of his career against the Houston Astros.

Ten years ago... Chipper Jones celebrated his 33rd birthday by walking twice and scoring once.  Unfortunately he left the game early with a bruised left foot and missed the next three games.


Ten years ago... Ryan Klesko had a double and a home run against the Arizona Diamondbacks.  Unfortunately the Padres lost after Brian Lawrence gave up seven hits, walked two batters, and allowed six runs in 2.1 innings pitched.


Ten years ago, Greg Maddux had the night off.  However the day before he threw for eight solid innings while only giving up four hits and two earned runs in a loss against the Pittsburgh Pirates.


Ten years ago... Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz both hit home runs in Boston's 11-3 win over the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.


Ten years ago... Brad Wilkerson went 4 for 5, scored three runs, drove in two runs, and came close to hitting for the cycle against the New York Mets.  If it's any consolation, he actually hit for the cycle a few weeks earlier against the Philadelphia Phillies.


Ten years ago... Derek Jeter also fell short of hitting for the cycle after he had a single, double, and a home run against the Texas Rangers.


Ten years ago... Carlos Lee hit two home runs and drove in four runs against the San Francisco Giants.  In the other dugout, Omar Vizquel celebrated his 38th birthday with a single, double, and a triple (yup... the third person of the day to fall short of hitting for the cycle).



Ten years ago... Ichiro Suzuki went 2 for 4, scored two runs, walked once, and drove in a run in Seattle's win over the Cleveland Indians.


Ten days ago... I bid $200 on a 2005 Topps Heritage baseball set (complete with SP's and variations) and won.

I realize that many of you think that I'm insane... and maybe I am.  Two hundred dollars is a lot of money for a non-vintage, non-autographed, or non-relic set.  But with boxes selling for over $100... this was the route I decided to take.

If I never add another Topps Heritage set to my collection, I'll be content...  because I have the one and only Heritage set that honors the greatest baseball card design in the history of trading cards:


Okay... it's your turn:

Ten years ago... were you collecting cards?  Were you collecting the same kind of cards or has your collection evolved?

Happy Friday and sayonara!

17 comments:

Zippy Zappy said...

Ten years ago I picked up the first pack of cards I'd ever opened (2005 Topps Series 2) but I wouldn't get into the hobby for another six years.

Ten years ago I was too busy listening to Modest Mouse, Franz Ferdinand, Weezer, Gorillaz and various crunk songs to be into sports.

Nachos Grande said...

Ten years ago I was graduating college (in about a week's time from now)... Baseball cards weren't high on my priority list though I did buy a few packs here and there (including two or three packs of Heritage)!

Anonymous said...

Awesome, if somewhat expensive, purchase!

Ten years ago I was collecting largely the way I am now, but in a less discriminating way... In 2005 I bought many packs of Topps, Heritage, Total, Bazooka, Donruss, Fleer Tradition and some packs of Leaf. By contrast, this year I'm buying packs & blasters of Heritage, I'll probably buy some Archives until the liberties they take piss me off, and I'll buy a factory set of Topps.

2005 was the year that Heritage changed the way I looked at the original set. The more 2005 Heritage I bought, the more I appreciated the design, and then I went back at 1956 cards and said "OMG! These are incredible!" ...Not that I didn't appreciate 1956 at all beforehand, but 2005 Heritage made me really look at the cards and appreciate them.

JediJeff said...

10 years ago my collecting was a mess of nothing with any order. I was picking here and there at stuff and missing out on some cool stuff.

The Lost Collector said...

10 years ago I was a junior in college. Definiteky was not collecting.

Tony L. said...

Ten years ago, I was listening to the same music as Zippy Zappy, but throw in more Flogging Molly, The Streets, and pretty much anything else that my little XM Radio receiver played on "Ethel" Channel 47.

Ten Years Ago, I was too busy drinking beer/wine, reading tons, working, and playing FIFA '06 to care about cards.

Swing And A Pop-up said...

Ten years ago I would buy a pack here and there, but didn't really get back into collecting seriously until 2008.

Matt said...

10 years ago I was more heavily collecting than I am now. Picking up things left and right. I was however at the end of collecting both baseball and football heavily and moving more just onto football. My collecting has evolved also recently into more 90's stuff as well.

Barry said...

10 years ago i was collecting MLB (SGA) Bobbleheads and a few Bronze age comic books.

Mark said...

I think it was well worth the money. That Chavez KC A's SP is awesome.

Ten years ago I was finishing up my Junior year of high school, and more concerned with girls and thinking about college than cards. I was collecting Jack Wilson and Pirate certified autos, but my entire PC at the time probably fit in two shoeboxes. The out of control monster I call a team collection wouldn't really start to bloom until the next year.

Mark Hoyle said...

Ten years ago I would buy the occasional card. Spent more time at the LCS and a few shows because my sons were collecting

Man said...

Worth every cent. Buying boxes is like playing the lotto-you might win once in a while. Just cut to the chase and buy what you want.

Big Tone said...

At that time the Mets were starting to get hot but i wasnt buying packs,just singles and rc's of Wright and Reyes.2006 would mark my first pack of baseball cards since childhood, Fleer Tradition!

Big Tone said...

Oh,and i was listening to Blackilicious,Souls of Mischief,Lord Finesse,Akinyele,Showbiz and A.G.,Kool G Rap,Big Daddy Kane ....too many to mention.

Fuji said...

Love the responses... especially all of the music related ones. Can't believe the number of guys here who were in high school/college. I had already been out of college for nearly a decade and in the classroom full-time for eight.

night owl said...

10 years ago, I was just returning to collecting, trying to complete the 1975 Topps set. And, yeah, I was done with college in the '80s, Fuji. You know, REM, Husker Du, Siouxsie and the Banshees, The Cure, The Smiths, New Order, Psychedelic Furs. THOSE were college bands.

GCA said...

A decade ago, I was just getting back into the swing of collecting again after stopping in 1985. I bought the factory set of 2005 Topps and had only found a couple shops in my area (including the one I went to since the '80's). I was just about to learn what grading, relics and autographs, ebay, and online trading was all about....I would go on to expand my collection to many more oddball 70's items, turn of the century T-206's, and other sets I never would have imagined I could find or afford back in the 80's.