Accidentally Left Out

Friday's post celebrated The Collector's 10th Anniversary.  I didn't have time to open up the 1986 Topps rack pack he included in the care package.  Today we resolve that issue.  However before I show off the highlights from that pack, let's check out three lefties that were also part of the care package:

While organizing and sorting Chris's care package... I set these three cards to the side and accidentally left them out.  Then I read Jim's post about International Lefthanders Day and was reminded of the two lefties Chris had sent my way.  As a fellow lefty, I decided a few years ago to collect left-handed athletes.  Randy and Clayton are two of the greatest from my lifetime.  

2026 Topps #22

I was especially excited to see Kershaw's 2026 Topps card, because it shows off statistics from his entire MLB career.  Topps drops the ball a lot these days, but kudos to them for giving him and his fans a proper sunset card.

Okay, let's take a look at the contents of that 1986 Topps rack pack...

I'm pretty sure Chris chose this specific rack pack for me, because I need this Garvey for my set build:

1986 Topps Glossy All-Star #13

One card down.  One card to go:

When it comes to collecting, 1986 Topps holds a lot of nostalgic value to me.  One one hand it reminds me of stolen cards and the end of a childhood friendship.  But it also reminds me of a time when I'd open up packs of cards, look them over, and sort them in a variety of ways.

Sometimes I'd sit down and try to build the best team out of the cards pulled in my pack.  

Here's my starting nine:

Since this was a rack pack with forty-nine cards, I decided to only use regular base cards (no subsets) to build my squad.  If you're wondering why I used Jose Cruz in center when he spent most of his career patrolling left... it's because Oglivie had dibs on that position.

1986 Topps #583

I considered putting Al Bumbry in centerfield, but ultimately I'd rather have Cruz out there playing out of position.

However like Kershaw... Bumbry gets to be in the spotlight today, because his 1986 Topps card is his sunset card.  Here's a look at his career stats:

Bumbry is a huge fan favorite among Baltimore Orioles fans, but this card captures his lone season in San Diego.

I'll wrap things up with Al's manager in 1985 and a few other familiar names from the rack pack:

Thanks again Chris for this generous care package.  It was cool to see some sunsets.  And this rack pack took me back to my middle school days in more than one way.

Happy Sunday and sayonara!

It's a Celebration Sensation!

School trumps sports cards... especially at the start of the school year.  There just aren't enough hours in the day.  So if you see a blog post published here during the work week, there's a pretty good chance I wrote the post over the weekend and scheduled it.

Not this one.  Today we're celebrating a special occasion.  It's Chris The Collector's 10th Anniversary... which he celebrated by busting open boxes and building special gift packages for supporters of his blog.  I was fortunate to be one of the recipients.

The padded envelope he sent included several team bags stuffed with cards and packs.  It took me just under two hours to sort and scan, so without further ado...

Let's start things off with a nice stack of A's cards:

He was able to get his hands on some popular products like Topps Chrome Platinum Anniversary.

As you can see, he sent me singles from each of the first three sets in the product line.  As much as I love these cards, the Rickey Henderson 1955 Rails and Sails insert is my favorite card in the lot.

2010 Sportkings Series D #180

I was also excited to see this uncirculated Gwynn card.  Technically I already own this card, but this particular copy is still in the original top loader pulled from the pack.  In other words... I'm considering this to be a variation and keeping it.

He also sent me some nice shiny cards for my two favorite football team collections:

Plus four San Jose Sharks:

Thornton, Pavelski, Couture, and Burns are 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th on the Sharks all-time points leader board.  Anyone know who's #1?

He also sent me a four pack of Japanese baseball players, including the very popular Munetaka Murakami:

I don't write about them often, but for decades the Los Angeles Lakers were my favorite basketball team.  This guy was a big reason I became a fan:

1981-82 Topps #20

Kareem would go on to play eight more seasons with the Lakers and score over 12,000 more points than depicted on the back of this trading card:

This is arguably the coolest card in his anniversary package.  It's kind of hard to see, but this card has a wax stain on the front.  Back in the 80's, I would have been bummed to pull this card out of a pack.  Four decades later, I consider it to be an under-appreciated parallel.

Speaking of parallels, check out this color-matched Elway for my Stanford PC:

2024 Prizm Draft Picks Ruby Wave #37

And here's my latest addition to my Ray Lewis PC:

2025 Donruss Optic Light It Up #17

He also tossed in a pair of Joe Montana cards:

2009 Topps National Chicle Mini #C46

2024 Topps Chrome 1974 Refractor #74TF-18

These may or may not have been intended for my students, but both went into the Montana section of my hall of fame binder.

Rounding out the gift package were three unopened packs.  The first two will be added to my rainy day pack stash:

1991 Stadium Club 2nd Series Pack

2025 Topps Chrome Platinum Anniversary Hobby Pack

Back in 1991, this Stadium Club pack would have been a very hot commodity... as collectors were ripping into them in hopes of pulling Jeff Bagwell or Phil Plantier rookie cards.  Today... the 2025 Chrome Platinum Anniversary is the much hotter product.

Chris also included this 1986 Topps rack pack:

1986 Topps Rack Pack

It may seem like just a random pack, but he sent this specific pack to help me get one step closer to completing my 1986 Topps Glossy All-Star set:

Okay... technically I haven't opened it up.  Like I stated earlier in the post... my free time during the week is limited.  But don't worry... I'm going to tear into this pack on Sunday and when I do... I'll show off the highlights.

And after reading Jim's post this morning, I realized that I accidentally left out some left-handed pitchers.  Sorry about that Chris.  Don't have time to scan them before getting ready for work, so I'll show them off on Sunday with the Garvey.

Until then...

Happy anniversary Chris!  And thank you for this very generous giveaway.  Although I think it's sad that you made the decision to retire from collecting cards at the end of the year... I understand that we all must make big decisions that are best for ourselves and our families.  I'm glad that you plan on keeping your blog alive... as I always look forward to reading the different series you written.

Happy Friday and sayonara!

A Sweaty Sunday Sort

It's hot here.  Too hot.  The kind of heat that makes me skip the farmer's market and grocery shopping.  That means more time to clean the house and sort some cards.

Today I targeted three packages Rod over at Padrographs sent me back at the start of summer.  I thought it was gonna take me a few weeks to get to them, but it ended up taking a few months.

There's obviously way too much to cover in a single post, so I decided to focus on what he's best known for: autographs.

Let's start with some familiar names...

2011 Topps #178

It's been over a decade since Bell sprinted onto the field at Petco, but I'm guessing most Padres fans can picture it in their head.

Let's take a trip back to the 80's...

1985 Mother's Cookies Padres #1

Dick Williams was the manager of the Padres when I started rooting for them during the 1984 World Series.

1985 Fleer #30

If you followed baseball back in the 80's, then you're familiar with Dravecky's story.  If not and you're interested, click here.

What you might not know is that his signature changed after he had his left arm amputated.  If you ever see a signed ball, photo, or card of his with his first and last name on the same line, then it was before his surgery.  These days, he's signs his last name below his first.

1990 Donruss #302

Did you know that Mark Davis is one of five pitchers to win a Cy Young Award while representing the Padres?  He was also part of the trade that sent Dravecky to the San Francisco Giants.

I wish I could write about all of the autographs that Rod sent my way, but it's getting late and I really want to publish this post tonight.  But feel free to check them out... and offer any comments on any of these guys down below:

Not all of the autographs from Rod were of the TTM or IP variety.  Here are the pack pulled autographs:

2013 Leaf Perfect Game Showcase Jersey Auto #JA-JN1

When I saw this card, his name sounded familiar.  Then I looked him up and was reminded of the time he broke into someone's house, got kicked in the face, and tasered.  On the brighter side, he's still playing pro ball in Mexico.

2013 Bowman DP&P Autographs #BCA-HR

2020 Bowman Platinum Top Prospects Auto #TOP-59

2022 Prizm Draft Picks Signing Sessions #SS-DM

Rod went big and sent me this really cool Topps buyback autograph of Goose Gossage:

2024 Topps Archives Signature Series (1987 Topps #380)

This is only my second Gossage autograph featuring him with the Padres... and my first with him signing across his face.  I was very surprised to see this card slide out of the small flat rate shipping box.

But I was even more surprised to see this framed and matted signature:

Yup.  That's a cut signature of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar... one of the greatest basketball players of all-time.  When I turned it over and saw it, I was left speechless.

He also sent me an autograph of this lesser known Laker:

2012-13 Absolute Rookie Auto #182

Not gonna lie.  I've never heard of Mr. Johnson-Odom.  But he does share the last names of two famous and popular Lakers legends:  Magic Johnson and Lamar Odom.

Let's wrap things up with the final two autographs he sent me...

1991-92 Score Canadian Bilingual #554

Brian Hayward was one of the Minnesota North Stars players chosen by the Sharks as part of the special dispersal draft in 1991.  He's credited as being the goalie in the first win in franchise history. 

A few years ago Rod sent me a relic card from Harmon's NCIS days.  It was one of my mom's favorite television shows.  And now I have an autograph to go with it.

If you're wondering why he's featured as a quarterback for UCLA, that's because he was their starting quarterback in 1972 and 1973.  The thing I mainly remember him for is his role in Summer School.

Obviously there's a lot of other stuff I need to cover in regards to Rod's care packages, but it's already Monday in some parts of the country, so I'm going to wrap this up here.

Thank you Rod!  And thank goodness the temperature has finally dropped into the 70's.

Happy Sunday and sayonara!