eBay Wins #249

I'm tired today. So here's a wall of cards with no commentary!

1989 Topps
#284 Jim Leyland
#285 John Candelaria
#290 John Franco
#292 Jim Corsi
#293 Glenn Wilson (x2)
#294 Juan Berenguer
#296 Ron Gant
#298 Chris James
#299 Steve Ellsworth (x2)

1989 Topps
#301 Charlie Leibrandt
#303 Felix Fermin
#306 Tracy Woodson
#307 Lance McCullers
#309 Mario Diaz
#316 Walt Weiss
#322 John Smiley
#323 Gary Thurman
#327 Mark Lemke

1989 Topps
#328 Rick Honeycutt (x2)
#337 Calvin Schiraldi
#340 Kirk Gibson
#341 Jim Deshaies
#350 Andy Van Slyke
#357 Jerry Reuss (x2)
#366 Herm Winningham
#368 Brian Holton
#374 John Wathan

1989 Topps
#375 Terry Pendleton (x2)
#379 Tim Flannery
#384 Mark Salas (x2)
#388 Bobby Bonilla
#392 Andy Van Slyke
#398 Julio Franco
#414 Jim Fregosi
#420 Joe Carter
#423 Brian Fisher (x2)

1989 Topps
#424 Luis Polonia
#425 Jay Howell
#430 Mark Gubicza
#433 Albert Hall
#440 Bobby Bonilla (x2)
#446 Rob Murphy
#448 Eric Plunk
#453 Tom Prince
#454 Paul Assenmacher (x2)

1989 Topps
#456 Tim Belcher
#462 Jose Guzman
#474 Bob Rodgers
#475 Dave Parker
#477 Dick Schofield
#478 Doug Drabek
#482 Steve Peters
#483 Mickey Hatcher
#488 Kevin Coffman (x2)

1989 Topps
#504 Bob Walk
#512 Donnie Hill (x2)
#513 Jesse Orosco
#514 Chet Lemon
#522 Randy Kramer
#523 Andres Thomas
#527 Dave Henderson
#537 Pete Smith
#547 Mark McLemore

1989 Topps
#551 Randy Ready (x2)
#552 Greg Cadaret
#564 Russ Nixon
#566 Al Pedrique
#569 German Jimenez
#571 Billy Ripken (x2)
#575 Juan Samuel
#576 Greg Minton
#580 Harold Reynolds

1989 Topps
#581 Gene Nelson (x3)
#582 Mike Marshall
#586 Joe Boever
#588 Luis Alicea (x2)
#592 John Cangelosi (x3)
#598 Ken Gerhart
#599 Tom Candiotti
#605 Bob Welch
#606 Rick Dempsey

1989 Topps
#607 Willie Ansley
#621 Rick Mahler
#622 Stan Javier (x2)
#634 Marvin Freeman
#641 Curt Young (x2)
#653 Tommy Barrett
#658 R.J. Reynolds
#678 Dion James (x2)
#681 Jeff Robinson

I scanned 90 cards, and there were 19 duplicates and 2 triplicates, for a total of 111 cards. For you math whizzes out there, at a penny each that's  $1.11.

eBay Bargain Tracker
Total Cards Bought	4972
Total Spent	$62.09
Per Card	1.249 cents
Change	-0.005 cents

eBay Wins #247

Here are the rest of the 1989 Fleer cards from my eBay bargain hunting. As you can see, they were mostly from team lots, including Pittsburgh and Atlanta, and LA and Oakland in the last post. Since I usually sort my cards by number, I appreciate a set that keeps teams contiguous.

1989 Fleer
#214 Jose Lind
#215 Junior Ortiz
#216 Vicente Palacios
#217 Tom Prince
#218 Gary Redus
#219 R.J. Reynolds
#220 Jeff Robinson
#221 John Smiley
#222 Andy Van Slyke

Andy Van Slyke started with the Cardinals, and Vicente Palacios nearly finished with them, except he played in Mexico for 3 years after St. Louis and came back to play in San Diego for part of a season.

1989 Fleer
#223 Bob Walk
#224 Glenn Wilson
#283 Mark Gubicza
#385 Dennis Martinez
#421 Jody Davis
#547 Mario Diaz
#584 Milt Thompson
#585 Jose Alvarez (x2)
#586 Paul Assenmacher

1989 Fleer
#587 Bruce Benedict
#588 Jeff Blauser (x2)
#589 Terry Blocker
#590 Ron Gant
#592 Tommy Gregg
#593 Albert Hall
#594 Dion James
#595 Rick Mahler
#596 Dale Murphy

It's hard to believe Ron Gant only played in St. Louis for 3 years, but he was here when they returned to making playoff appearances in 1996.

1989 Fleer
#597 Gerald Perry
#598 Charlie Puleo
#599 Ted Simmons
#600 Pete Smith
#601 Zane Smith
#603 Bruce Sutter
#604 Andres Thomas
#605 Ozzie Virgil
#637 Cannon Arms (Chris Sabo/Bobby Bonilla)

In this photo, Gerald Perry, Ted Simmons, and Bruce Sutter were all Cardinals, as were both of Chris Sabo and Bobby Bonilla.

1989 Fleer
#647 Prospects (Randy Kramer/Miguel Garcia)
#649 Prospects (Jim Corsi/Bob Milacki)
World Series
#4 Dramatic Comeback
#5 Gibson Steals the Show
#10 Series Caps Award-Winning Year
#12 Dodger Blue, World Champs

I'm not sure if the World Series cards were inserts, or were just as common as the base set cards, but I got quite a few of them since two of the lots were LA and Oakland.

1989 Fleer
World Series
#1 Dodgers Secret Weapon
#2 Rookie Starts Series
#6 "Bulldog"
#7 One Swing, Three RBI's
#9 Sax's Speed Wins Game 4
Stickers
Atlanta Braves
Los Angeles Dodgers
Oakland Athletics
Pittsburgh Pirates

And it finishes off with the rest of the World Series cards, and some team Stickers. I've got a lot of these around, I should really peel them and put them somewhere around my desk at work or something.

There were only two doubles in this post, which is a good number for my eBay purchases. By my count, that's a total of 53 cards, which rang up 26.5 cents out of the half penny box. See, I told you it would even itself back out.

eBay Bargain Tracker
Total Cards Bought	4765
Total Spent	$60.45
Per Card	1.269 cents
Change	-0.008 cents

eBay Wins #245

To finish off my big cheap pile of 1989 Donruss, I have the most primitive of inserts, Donruss's MVP cards.

1989 Donruss - Bonus MVPs
#BC-2 Mike Scott
#BC-10 Andy Van Slyke
#BC-12 Kevin Gross
#BC-17 Alan Trammell
#BC-21 Wally Joyner
#BC-22 Will Clark
#BC-24 Gerald Perry
#BC-25 Alvin Davis (x3)

I had 8 unique cards, 3 of which were Cardinals. I didn't even have the Cardinal representative in this one-per-team set, Ozzie Smith, nor Andres Galarraga.

Like the other 1989 Donruss cards these came out of the half-cent box, so all ten set me back a nickel. In total I had 318 cards from the set.

eBay Bargain Tracker
Total Cards Bought	4645
Total Spent	$59.85
Per Card	1.288 cents
Change	-0.002 cents

eBay Wins #223

Continuing with 1988 Donruss, I've got 122 more cards today from my half-cent box. Only 90 are unique. so again I haven't scanned the duplicates and the one triplicate. The Cardinals were a little less dense in this bunch, allowing me to post more before running out of tag space.

1988 Donruss
#233 Dick Schofield (x2)
#234 Jose Oquendo
#235 Bill Doran
#236 Milt Thompson (x2)
#238 Bobby Bonilla
#243 Phil Bradley (x2)
#253 Bob Welch
#257 Mitch Webster (x2)
#258 Brian Downing

Although, there are 3 Cardinals in this first scan; Jose Oquendo, obviously, along with Milt Thompson and Bobby Bonilla.

1988 Donruss
#260 Carlton Fisk
#261 Billy Hatcher
#264 Randy Ready (x2)
#265 Kurt Stillwell (x2)
#266 David Palmer
#267 Mike Diaz
#268 Rob Thompson
#270 Lee Guetterman
#278 Pedro Guerrero

Pedro Guerrero is another former Cardinal. I remember having this specific card, or at least seeing it, when I was very young, and thinking he must be wearing football pads for some reason. Now, I'm just assuming his arms are slightly raised, like maybe he's leaning against the batting cage.

1988 Donruss
#280 Kevin Seitzer (x2)
#281 Mike Davis (x2)
#283 Devon White
#284 Pete O'Brien
#286 Kevin Bass
#287 Carmelo Martinez
#288 Juan Samuel
#289 Kal Daniels (x2)
#290 Albert Hall (x2)

1988 Donruss
#291 Andy Van Slyke
#299 Mickey Hatcher
#304 Pete Incaviglia
#306 Bill Long
#309 Darren Daulton (x2)
#310 Tracy Jones (x2)
#312 Mike LaValliere (x3)
#314 Glenn Hubbard
#320 Kent Hrbek

Andy Van Slyke makes another appearance in this set, along with the catcher he was traded with, Mike LaValliere, whose card had 3 copies in my bargain box.

1988 Donruss
#325 Jeff Dedmon (x2)
#327 Jeffrey Leonard (x2)
#332 Larry Anderson
#333 Jack Howell
#334 Ken Williams
#335 Bryn Smith
#339 Mike Greenwell
#340 Claudell Washington (x2)
#341 Jose Gonzalez (x2)

I only know Bryn Smith as a Cardinal from the several cards I've had of him for a long time showing him in a Cardinals uniform, but I don't really remember him as an active player.

1988 Donruss
#342 Mel Hall
#344 Tony Bernazard
#348 Thad Bosley
#352 John Shelby
#356 Gus Polidor
#358 Danny Darwin (x2)
#359 Lance Parrish
#360 James Steels
#361 Al Pedrique

Al Pedrique would be an important part of a mini collection of mine if I ever had the time to put it together. He was the NL All Star at SS in RBI Baseball, because Ozzie Smith was already on the Cardinals. He wasn't actually an All-Star at all during his career, so I'm not sure why he was chosen.

1988 Donruss
#362 Mike Aldrete
#364 Len Dykstra
#365 Luis Quinones
#366 Jim Presley
#367 Lloyd Moseby
#371 Dave Schmidt
#372 Mark Clear
#373 Dave Bergman (x2)
#374 Charles Hudson (x2)

Mike Aldrete is another case, like Carney Lansford in the last post, of a player who would one day put on the Cardinal uniform, but never actually played for the team. He was a bench coach from 2012-2014.

1988 Donruss
#375 Calvin Schiraldi
#376 Alex Trevino (x2)
#379 Mike Gallego
#385 Don Carman
#389 Rick Mahler (x2)
#390 Mike Dunne (x2)
#402 Brian Holton
#405 Dwayne Murphy (x2)
#406 Jeff Parrett

Mike Gallego and Jeff Parrett both came to the Cardinals later in their careers, oddly enough right as the Cardinals started getting good again.

1988 Donruss
#410 Dave Smith (x2)
#413 Nick Esasky
#414 Damaso Garcia
#415 Brian Fisher (x2)
#423 Matt Young
#424 Steve Balboni (x2)
#425 Luis Polonia (x2)
#431 Gerald Young
#432 Rick Schu

Gerald Young was briefly a Cardinal in 1994, brief enough I've apparently never posted one of his cards before.

1988 Donruss
#435 John Cangelosi
#437 Gerald Perry (x2)
#441 Greg Gagne
#442 Jesse Barfield
#445 Ed Nunez
#448 Rafael Ramirez (x2)
#449 John Smiley
#450 Atlee Hammaker (x2)
#451 Lance McCullers

And we finish with Gerald Perry, the player who caused me to learn what a platoon was, and to realize you can't play every "good" player every day, but it's good to have a serviceable backup. As I recall he was used pretty often as a pinch hitter, and would sub in at first base from time to time.

Those 122 cards cost me 61 cents, bringing my bargain hunting average down just a little more again. I'm nearing 1.4 cents per card, and also nearing 4000 total cards.

eBay Bargain Tracker
Total Cards Bought	3963
Total Spent	$55.73
Per Card	1.406 cents
Change	-0.029 cents

eBay Wins #222

I've got another giant stack of cards as a consequence of splitting up my eBay wins by set, so here's the first group from 1988 Donruss, until I run out of space to tag the Cardinals players.

1988 Donruss
#3 Benito Santiago
#10 Julio Franco
#13 Shane Rawley
#14 Kal Daniels
#18 Andy Van Slyke
#22 Glenn Hubbard (x2)
#24 Bob Welch
#28 Mackey Sasser
#30 Mike Campbell (x2)

Let's see if every scan has at least one Cardinal. First up is Andy Van Slyke. He counts, despite his Pirates uniform.

1988 Donruss
#35 Shawn Hillegas
#38 Jose Lind
#39 Kirt Manwaring
#45 Vicente Palacios
#52 Pat Clements
#53 Fernando Valenzuela
#54 Mark Gubicza
#55 Jay Howell (x2)
#58 DeWayne Buice

Fernando Valenzuela and Vicente Palacios represent the Cardinals in scan 2. This is the first Vicente Palacios card I've posted, according to my blogger tags.

1988 Donruss
#59 Jose DeLeon
#60 Danny Cox
#63 Tom Browning
#65 R.J. Reynolds (x2)
#66 Kevin Mitchell
#67 Ken Oberkfell
#70 Scott Bankhead (x2)
#78 Dale Murphy
#79 Doug Drabek

Jose DeLeon, Danny Cox, Ken Oberkfell...this one might ruin it for the others.

1988 Donruss
#80 Scott Garrelts
#81 Ed Whitson
#84 Greg Mathews
#87 Donnie Hill
#97 Curt Young
#101 Bobby Witt
#103 Mickey Tettleton (x2)
#106 Mike Scioscia
#111 Bob Forsch

Greg Mathews, Bobby Witt, and Bob Forsch keep the streak alive.

1988 Donruss
#115 Bob Kipper
#121 Mark Eichhorn
#123 John Franco
#130 Ken Howell (x2)
#133 Gene Nelson
#138 Bob Knepper
#143 Ozzie Virgil
#144 Felix Fermin
#147 Scott Bradley (x2)

And, the dream is over.

1988 Donruss
#154 Wayne Tolleson
#155 Mariano Duncan
#156 Julio Franco
#158 Terry Steinbach
#165 Bruce Ruffin
#166 Ron Robinson (x2)
#167 Zane Smith (x2)
#168 Junior Ortiz
#176 Steve Sax

Two Cardinal-free scans in a row. At least there's a Terry Steinbach, who played my favorite position for my second favorite team.

1988 Donruss
#178 Carney Lansford
#186 Bo Diaz
#187 Stan Jefferson
#188 Sid Bream
#190 Dion James
#198 Rey Quinones
#202 Ken Griffey
#203 Tommy Gregg
#207 Von Hayes

I always debate with myself, but ultimately decide Carney Lansford counts, since he wore the uniform as a coach with the Cardinals.

1988 Donruss
#209 Craig Reynolds
#212 Vance Law
#213 Ken Gerhart
#218 Franklin Stubbs (x2)
#221 Tony Phillips
#224 Steve Buechele
#225 Frank White
#226 Alfredo Griffin
#229 Mike Marshall (x2)

No Cardinals to finish off this post, but there's a Frank White, one of the top Royals of all time.


This post had 72 unique cards, but with 12 doubles mixed in I didn't bother to scan, for a total of 84 cards, out of the half-penny box, costing me 42 cents total.

eBay Bargain Tracker
Total Cards Bought	3841
Total Spent	$55.12
Per Card	1.435 cents
Change	-0.021 cents

Zistle Trade #8 Part A

I recently completed a trade on Zistle. I like getting random Cardinals from fellow bloggers contest prizes or throw-ins for trades, but there's something immensely satisfying about checking off something from my want list on every single card in a package.

1989 Donruss - Bonus MVPs #BC-24 Gerald Perry
1992 Topps - Gold #645 Deion Sanders
1992 Topps Kids #28 Lee Smith
1992 Donruss - Diamond Kings #DK-9 Andy Van Slyke
1993 Topps - Gold #700 Nolan Ryan
2011 Topps Heritage - News Flashbacks #NF-7 Mariner 2

Gerald Perry, Andy Van Slyke, and (obviously) Lee Smith were on my want list because they were all Cardinals. I'd like to complete the 1992 and 1993 Topps Gold sets, so all the remaining cards from those sets are on my list as well. These were no commons, though. In fact, both are Hall-of-Famers...though Deion's in the football hall of fame. Finally, much lower on my priority list, but still there, is an insert from 2011 Heritage.

There are actually slightly more cards to this trade, but I like to be able to search out my cards using blogger's tags, and I'm out of space for this post. So instead, I'll share a mildly amusing anecdote.

A family member of mine who was a bit older was, for some reason, trying to come up with Deion Sanders' name. I don't recall why exactly, probably because he had made a play in a recent game against the Cardinals and we were talking baseball. He kept saying "you know" and "uh" and was getting increasingly frustrated and the name that was on the tip of his tongue. He finally blurted out "you know, Fancy Pants!", referring to Neon Deion's flashy ways. We were in the middle of a restaurant at the time, and everyone had only heard him say "Fancy Pants" rather loudly. We got a few weird looks, but we all laughed it off. I'm pretty sure I'm the one who figured out who he meant, too. So from then until today, Deion Sanders is always "Fancy Pants" in my mind.

I'm Not Superstitious

If I was, I wouldn't be writing this trade post. At the start of the day, the Pirates were a mere 0.5 games behind the Cardinals for the NL Central, and, more importantly, the right not to play in the wildcard sudden-death play-in.

Of course, a little friendly competition is no problem for fans of opposing teams with baseball cards on the brain. I made a small trade with Zistle user BucCollector, who, as his name would suggest, collects Pirates. I sent a few cards from the late 90s he needed, and got this little old '84 Fleer in return.

1984 Fleer #339 Andy Van Slyke

Even though that picture was taken in 1983 or so, it still reminds me of what Busch Stadium looked like in the early 90s when I started watching baseball. The bright green turf, almost no dirt on the infield, the dark green outfield with team logos all around. All of those things went away with a significant remodel in the mid to late 90s, and subsequently the new Busch Stadium in 2006

So, not only did I trade with a Pirate fan, but in return I received a player best known as a Pirate.

...

If the Cardinals go into a free-fall starting tomorrow, the rest of you Cardinal fans can blame me.