March Card Show Autograph

I'm still catching up on posting all my autographed balls, so here's one I got last March. My last post was from last December's show, and I didn't attend the shows in January or February, although I can't recall exactly why now. Either the signers were ones I already had, or I had other plans. Anyway, in March, I got to meet Tom Niedenfuer.

Tom Niedenfuer

Niedenfuer spent most of his career with the Dodgers, but he spent his final season in St. Louis in 1990, making 52 relief appearances. My only requirement to be a part of my collection is to have ever played for the Cardinals, so a full season definitely qualifies.

eBay Wins #243

Let's see some more of the thinnest major-brand cards in history (probably), 1989 Donruss, until I run out of space to tag all the Cardinals.

1989 Donruss
#236 Glenn Davis
#237 Frank Viola
#238 Kevin Seitzer
#239 Gerald Perry
#240 Dwight Evans
#241 Jim Deshaies
#242 Bo Diaz
#243 Carney Lansford
#244 Mike LaValliere

Gerald Perry and Mike LaValliere were both Cardinals, and Carney Lansford coached on Tony La Russa's staff for awhile.

1989 Donruss
#246 Roberto Alomar
#247 Jimmy Jones
#253 Steve Lyons (x2)
#258 Mike Krukow
#261 Scott Bradley
#263 Pete Smith
#265 Roger McDowell
#266 Bobby Thigpen
#267 Jim Clancy

To me, part of the fun of older cards like this is seeing players who later became better known in other areas. Steve Lyons was a broadcaster by the time I started watching baseball. It still works if I knew the player as a player first, but I tend to feel a little more critical of them in the booth for some reason.

1989 Donruss
#269 Mike Dunne
#270 Dwight Gooden
#271 Mike Heath
#278 Lance Parrish
#282 Tom Niedenfuer
#284 Jose Guzman (x2)
#286 Charlie Puleo
#287 Joe Orsulak
#288 Jack Howell (x2)

Tom Niedenfuer finished his career with the Cardinals in 1990, and Mike Heath was one of 3 different players to wear #5 for them in 1986.

1989 Donruss
#290 Jose Lind
#292 Cecil Espy
#293 Bill Wegman
#294 Dan Pasqua
#295 Scott Garrelts
#297 Ed Hearn
#298 Lou Whitaker
#302 Mike Brumley
#304 Curt Young (x2)

Would the ESPY awards still be called that if Cecil Espy was still playing?

1989 Donruss
#305 Jody Reed
#306 Bill Doran
#308 Ron Robinson
#310 Julio Franco
#311 Jack Clark
#316 Mike Davis (x2)
#320 John Farrell
#321 Franklin Stubbs
#322 Kurt Stillwell (x2)

It's interesting to me that Jack Clark became primarily a DH the year after leaving the Cardinals for the Yankees, but then returned to the NL for 2 seasons in San Diego. It seems like DH is primarily a last stop these days. John Farrell is another future manager card in this post.

1989 Donruss
#323 Shawn Abner
#324 Mike Flanagan
#326 Pat Tabler
#328 Rick Honeycutt (x2)
#330 Rey Quinones
#331 Johnny Ray
#332 Bob Welch
#334 Jeff Parrett (x2)
#337 Ken Williams

Rick Honeycutt and Jeff Parrett both played for the Cardinals in their final season, though Jeff Parrett was released and finished up in Philadelphia.

1989 Donruss
#364 Tim Flannery
#370 Jeff Robinson
#372 Mike Witt
#376 Joe Price
#400 Checklist (x2)
#403 Jeff Russell (x2)
#404 Pat Perry
#405 Jose Alvarez
#406 Rick Schu

Pat Perry's the only Cardinal in this scan. More interesting to me is Jeff Robinson, which is the second guy named Jeff Robinson in this set. The first was actually in my last eBay post.

1989 Donruss
#407 Sherman Corbett (x2)
#408 Dave Magadan (x2)
#411 Bob Brower
#412 Chris Bosio
#413 Jerry Reuss (x2)
#414 Atlee Hammaker (x2)
#416 Mike Macfarlane
#417 Pat Sheridan
#418 Pedro Guerrero

It's always good to get a Jerry Reuss card. And an in-uniform Cardinal finally shows up with Pedro Guerrero.

1989 Donruss
#419 Allan Anderson
#420 Mark Parent
#422 Mike Gallego (x3)
#423 Bruce Hurst
#424 Dave Meads
#425 Jesse Barfield (x2)
#426 Rob Dibble
#427 Joel Skinner
#428 Ron Kittle (x2)

I now have so many Mike Gallego cards from the big lot of A's I bought. including 3 of his card in this set.

1989 Donruss
#429 Rick Rhoden
#430 Bob Dernier (x3)
#431 Steve Jeltz (x2)
#432 Rick Dempsey
#433 Roberto Kelly
#434 Dave Anderson (x2)
#435 Herm Winningham
#437 Jose DeLeon
#438 Doug Jones (x2)

Jose DeLeon is my second uniformed Cardinal.

1989 Donruss
#440 Jeff Montgomery
#441 Dickie Thon
#443 John Fishel (x2)
#444 Jerry Don Gleaton
#445 Paul Gibson
#446 Walt Weiss (x2)
#447 Glenn Wilson
#448 Mike Moore
#450 Dave Henderson

Finally, there's another pre-manager card, Walt Weiss.

This time I fit in 11 scans for 99 cards. 23 had doubles or more, and 2 had triples, for a grand total of 124 cards. Again, these were out of the half-cent box, costing 62 cents. I should cross below the 1.3 cent mark with the next post.

eBay Bargain Tracker
Total Cards Bought	4549
Total Spent	$59.37
Per Card	1.305 cents
Change	-0.023 cents

eBay Wins #218

Now I finish off my pile of 1987 Topps with the last 52 cards. 48 are scanned here because there were 4 doubles.

1987 Topps
#499 Bruce Ruffin
#504 Mickey Hatcher
#505 Bryn Smith
#519 Curt Young
#521 Rick Reuschel
#525 Phil Bradley
#528 Ken Dixon
#536 Terry Mulholland
#538 Tom Niedenfuer

Tom Niedenfuer and Bryn Smith both eventually came to the Cardinals after these teams.

1987 Topps
#539 Reid Nichols
#541 Rafael Belliard
#549 Bob Melvin
#551 Frank Wills
#552 Larry Sheets
#553 Mike Maddux
#568 Earl Weaver
#574 Manny Lee
#592 Chris Welsh

I like manager cards, like this Earl Weaver, and future manager cards, like Bob Melvin.

1987 Topps
#604 Fernando Valenzuela
#614 Roger Clemens (x2)
#617 Al Nipper
#619 Jerry Reed
#623 Kurt Stillwell
#636 Darren Daulton
#641 Domingo Ramos (x2)
#650 Hubie Brooks
#655 Jesse Barfield

I didn't mention it before, but some of these cards were actually from 2 unopened packs I had in among my bargain purchases. The second Roger Clemens was one of those from the unopened packs.

1987 Topps
#658 Robby Thompson
#670 Jose Cruz
#682 Jerry Reuss
#685 Jerry Hairston
#689 Darrell Porter
#702 Greg Gross (x2)
#703 Dave Schmidt
#706 Rick Manning
#713 Tom Brookens

I can't seem to get cards from the 80s without picking up a Jerry Reuss.

1987 Topps
#714 Dan Quisenberry
#722 Bob Knepper
#734 Bill Madlock
#735 Rickey Henderson
#737 Floyd Bannister (x2)
#738 Jorge Orta
#748 Mike Flanagan
#762 Gary Ward
#768 Dennis Lamp

I'm always happy to get a Dan Quisenberry card, since I modeled my pitching motion after his. This was only for pickup games, of course. I'd bet any kids' team's coaches would probably discourage that style.

1987 Topps
#778 Jack Morris
#785 Terry Francona
#789 Dan Schatzeder

And we finish off with another future manager, Terry Francona.

Once again, these were in my half-cent box, so they add 26 cents to my eBay purchases.

eBay Bargain Tracker
Total Cards Bought	3749
Total Spent	$54.65
Per Card	1.458 cents
Change	-0.013 cents

eBay Wins #214

Today I start to pay the piper for all the small eBay posts I made by splitting all my penny cards into lots by set. This isn't even all of the 87 Fleer I have to post, but there are too many Cardinals in the full stack to tag them all.

1987 Fleer
#153 Willie Hernandez
#165 Walt Terrell
#202 John Franco
#385 Joaquin Andujar
#386 Doug Bair
#387 Dusty Baker
#388 Bruce Bochte
#390 Chris Codiroli
#391 Mike Davis

As I said, there are Cardinals scattered through this post, even though the teams pictures are almost all A's and Dodgers. Joaquin Andujar is the first.

1987 Fleer
#392 Alfredo Griffin
#393 Moose Haas
#394 Donnie Hill
#395 Jay Howell
#396 Dave Kingman
#397 Carney Lansford
#398 David Leiper
#399 Bill Mooneyham
#400 Dwayne Murphy

Carney Lansford was a coach on Tony La Russa's staff in 1997 and 1998, so I sort of count him among Cardinals.

1987 Fleer
#401 Steve Ontiveros
#402 Tony Phillips
#403 Eric Plunk
#404 Jose Rijo
#405 Terry Steinbach
#406 Dave Stewart
#407 Mickey Tettleton
#408 Dave Von Ohlen
#409 Jerry Willard

Dave Von Ohlen started out with the Cardinals before moving to the A's.

1987 Fleer
#410 Curt Young
#436 Dave Anderson
#437 Greg Brock
#438 Enos Cabell
#439 Mariano Duncan
#440 Pedro Guerrero
#442 Rick Honeycutt
#443 Ken Howell
#444 Ken Landreaux

Pedro Guerrero is a Cardinal I actually remember, even though he only played 43 games in 1992, the first year I watched baseball. Rick Honeycutt had quite a long career, spanning 21 seasons with his last 2 in St. Louis.

1987 Fleer
#445 Bill Madlock
#446 Mike Marshall
#447 Len Matuszek
#448 Tom Niedenfuer
#449 Alejandro Pena
#450 Dennis Powell
#451 Jerry Reuss
#452 Bill Russell
#453 Steve Sax

Niedenfuer and Reuss are two more players to play for the Dodgers and Cardinals.

1987 Fleer
#454 Mike Scioscia
#455 Franklin Stubbs
#456 Alex Trevino
#458 Ed Vande Berg
#459 Bob Welch
#460 Reggie Williams
#491 Joe Cowley
#493 Bill Dawley
#494 Jose DeLeon

Not a Cardinal, but I enjoy cards of managers as players, like Mike Scioscia. Bill Dawley and Jose DeLeon, both White Sox here, were also Cardinals.

1987 Fleer
#501 Bob James
#504 Gene Nelson
#505 Dave Schmidt
#509 Jim Acker
#510 Doyle Alexander
#511 Paul Assenmacher
#512 Bruce Benedict
#513 Chris Chambliss
#514 Jeff Dedmon

No Cardinals players here, but Chris Chambliss was their hitting coach from 1993-95.

1987 Fleer
#515 Gene Garber
#516 Ken Griffey
#517 Terry Harper
#518 Bob Horner
#519 Glenn Hubbard
#520 Rick Mahler
#521 Omar Moreno
#522 Dale Murphy
#523 Ken Oberkfell

Finally, both Bob Horner and Ken Oberkfell played for the Cardinals.

I mostly post penny cards here, but I've purchased some lots for less than a penny each. In order to keep tabs on this (because why not), I put an appropriate number of them into a "half penny" box, so that in the end the total amount I spent is correct. So if I buy 11 cards for 10 cents, 2 go in the half cent box. Go ahead, work it out on paper, I know that sounds wrong at first. Now, I will swap cards in and out, keeping the right amount in the box, though I try to keep "junk" in the half-penny box, since more often those are the sets I wind up paying less for. In short, I count these 72 as costing me 36 cents.

eBay Bargain Tracker
Total Cards Bought	3556
Total Spent	$53.67
Per Card	1.509 cents
Change	-0.021 cents

eBay Wins #206

Today's eBay lot is 1986 Fleer, and I've got a whole page worth this time. Two are Yankees, and 7 are Dodgers.

1986 Fleer
#116 Dave Righetti
#117 Andre Robertson
#124 Bob Bailor
#128 Carlos Diaz
#137 Mike Marshall
#138 Len Matuszek
#139 Tom Niedenfuer
#141 Jerry Reuss
#146 Bob Welch

Jerry Reuss started out with the Cardinals in 1969, and Tom Niedenfuer finished with them in 1990. In the middle, they met in LA. Dave Righetti wasn't a Cardinal, but he did appear in the original RBI Baseball for NES, which always boosts my desire for a player's card just a bit.

eBay Bargain Tracker
Total Cards Bought	3416
Total Spent	$52.63
Per Card	1.541 cents
Change	-0.001 cents

eBay Wins #140

Today I have the set I generally consider the ultimate Topps junk wax set, 1989. This might not beat 88 or 89 Donruss for the overall junk set champion. But, with the 25th anniversary parallels in 2014 flagship bearing the 1989 design, maybe now is the best time to sell. I bet I could get twice my money back! "My money" was just 60 cents for 60 cards, of course.

1989 Topps
#5 Orel Hershiser
#8 Dave Eiland
#30 Doc Gooden
#42 Jim Eppard
#44 Jim Snyder
#45 Kal Daniels
#80 Cory Snyder
#89 Dave LaPoint (x2)

Two Daves don't make a right, right? At least that's what I always told my two friends named Dave in college.

1989 Topps
#105 Ron Darling
#110 Paul Monitor
#129 Terry Clark
#131 Dave Otto
#139 Mike Flanagan
#190 Mike Witt
#196 Denny Walling
#197 Neal Heaton
#200 George Brett

Fun fact, which is only relevant to this particular arrangement of cards: George Brett's first Hall of Fame Ballot was also Mike Witt's. Brett got 98.2% of the vote. Witt got 0.

1989 Topps
#206 Roberto Alomar
#209 Jeff Bittiger
#210 Dale Murphy
#253 Jose Alvarez
#267 Jeff Robinson
#275 Danny Tartabull (x2)
#330 Eric Davis
#339 Scott Bailes

1989 Topps
#340 Kirk Gibson
#367 Johnny Paredes (x2)
#387 Ryne Sandberg (x3)
#390 Darryl Strawberry
#408 Greg Walker (x3)

As a Cardinals fan, I feel like I'm supposed to have this hatred for the Cubs, but I just can't muster it. I think part of the reason is that when I was first starting to watch baseball, the daycare I attended would let us turn on WGN in the afternoons and watch the Cubs day games. I got to know several of their players well, especially Ryne Sandberg. So this Three-of-a-kind of Sandberg isn't cringe inducing to me, as it might be to some St. Louis fans.

1989 Topps
#410 Jack Clark
#427 Eric Show
#449 Carmelo Martinez
#485 Hubie Brooks
#488 Kevin Coffman
#502 Duane Ward
#527 Dave Henderson
#531 Dave Hengel
#536 Joel Skinner

Jack Clark is all over these late 80s/early 90s posts.

1989 Topps
#571 Billy Ripken (x2)
#584 Randy Velarde
#588 Luis Alicea
#604 Paul O'Neill
#624 Jack McKeon
#651 Tom Niedenfuer
#693 Pat Borders
#704 Carlos Quintana

Here we have a decidedly unfamous Billy Ripken card, relatively speaking, and a Jack McKeon's magnificent mustache. Also a former, current, and future Cardinal as of the printing time of these cards, Tom Niedenfuer, Luis Alicea, and Pat Borders.

1989 Topps
#736 Jeff Hamilton
#744 Roger Craig
#750 Bret Saberhagen
#751 Ken Oberkfell
#579 Astros Leaders
#669 Dodgers Leaders

This last scan is brought to you by laziness and miscounting, but it worked out alright in the end. I thought I only had 59 cards and thus would have a row of vertical and a row of horizontal cards for the last scan. Thanks to the miscount, I discovered my scanner is almost exactly (2 card widths + 1 card length) wide.

Right now I would need about 2000 cards for $1.47 to get my average to 1 cent per card. That's not a particular goal of mine, but that is an interesting round number to help put the change values into perspective.

eBay Bargain Tracker
Total Cards Bought	3194
Total Spent	$50.47
Per Card	1.58 cents
Change	-0.011 cents