Set Appreciation Post #22 - 2001 Donruss Classics

Upper Deck had Century Legends and Fleer had Greats of the Game. Donruss Classics was not quite as good as either, but it's still had solid product. The largest fault being the inclusion of rookie cards on the checklist, but we will get into those details later in the post.  

Here is the base card design....

Lots of gray. I do not always love card designs that are overrun by neutral colors, but I really like the looks of these cards with the color photo offering contrast. I also like the Donruss Classics logo on the top of the card with the player name, jersey number, and player position on the front. It seems like a lot, but all the different design elements are well-placed and spaced out on the front. My only qualm is the team name being split across the top on both sides of the Classics logo.  

Very well done. Here is the back of the card.  

Nice write-up with easy-to-read stats and biographical information. I find it interesting that write-ups on these cards reference events from within the 2001 season even though they are a 2001 release. Not a usual practice in the baseball card biz, but really cool to see considering that the majority of baseball cards are released later in the season.  

Donruss Classics is a product supposedly focused on veteran and Hall of Fame players, but the base set also includes 50 rookie cards, which do not really seem to fit with this product. The rookie cards are serial numbered to 585 copies. Two biggest rookie cards are Pujols and Ichiro.  

This might seem silly to complain about a Pujols rookie, but Playoff/Donruss made a ton of different baseball card products during the 2001 calendar year. There were plenty of opportunities to make cards of Pujols and Ichiro, including them here seems off-brand. The inclusion of the rookie cards diminish the overall checklist of Donruss Classics. I understand that rookie cards can be all the craze, but the equivalent Upper Deck, Fleer, and Topps products to Donruss Classics all were able to do just fine without having a bunch of Triple A players in the set.  

Wait. 

There are even more cards on the checklist, but they actually fit the product.   

There are another 48 cards after the rookie cards that are "Legend" cards. The Legends cards came one per box, or one per two mini boxes. Yes, this had boxes inside of boxes. The Legends cards have a cult following. There are plenty people who love these cards and collect them. Actually fairly affordable if you can track down all 48 of them. They are serial numbered to 1,755 copies, but a few of them can be hard to find. I like the gold/sepia color on these cards. The player photos are a mix between black and white, sepia, and color depending on the age of the player. 

Good looking cards.  

So, let's do a few favorites.  

My favorite Cardinals cards are the Pujols shown above, along with the Rick Ankiel.  

I love the red and white home uniforms against the gray background of the card.  

Favorite former Durham Bulls player is Ryan Klesko with his lamb chop sideburns.  

 

My favorite odd card is Hideo Nomo on the Red Sox.......

Hideo Nomo played on the Red Sox???  

Apparently, Hideo Nomo was on four different teams in four years, but that included a no-hitter with the Red Sox. I remember him with the Mets and Brewers, not so much with the Tigers and Red Sox. I need to start using him when I play Immaculate Grid.  

There are also autographs.  

The Hall of Famers are one of the big highlights of Donruss Classics.  

The checklist for the autograph set is deep with good names and they are on-card autographs.    

There are also rookie autographs, but.......

They have ugly silver stickers and are players like Brandon Larson. 

Just stick with the old guys.  

One last thing. Let me tell you about the benches from the dugout in Three Rivers Stadium.

Playoff/Donruss bought one of them at some point in the late 1990s and used it to create a insert set.   

Roberto Clemente and Willie Stargell have cards in the set, which is cool, but Vlad Guerrero in Three Rivers Pack? I don't care if he hit two home runs in a game against the Pirates, this is a reach.  

So, how does Donruss Classics rate? 

Out of 5 Wool E. Bull's?  

Solid set, but not as good as its competitors.  

It's Seemed Like Small Change, But...

A post on San Jose Fuji's page last month sent me scrambling through some of my boxes to look for some of those coin cards that Topps seems to put out every year.  I am not sure what year, or set, that Topps started making the coin cards, but the Currency set from the 2003 Topps Gallery product has to be one of the earliest.

After seeing the Sasaki card on Fuji's blog, I knew that I had a few of these Currency cards hanging out somewhere, and that these might be worthy of a project.  I found a big handful of the cards including....

Musial, Willie McCovey, and even a Jackie Robinson.  There are a few others that I didn't list.  I like this Vladimir Guerrero, so this is the card I went with for my post.  That Centavo is sweet.  Seemed like a good start.  I also had a few things coming in from COMC, so I picked up another two cards on the cheap.

I picked up a Kaz Sasaki card with a Yen.....

and a Rodrigo Lopez with a Centavo.  This is a Centavo of the Mexican variety.  

After looking around on COMC, the most expensive card that I found was a copy of the Musial, which I already own.  Most expensive card checked off, the whole idea of making this set into a project was seeming like a really good idea.  

and then I did something that I usually do at the beginning of setting out on a project.  Check Ebay and looking at a checklist.  I have been using COMC a lot lately, staying away from Ebay, so the search results on Ebay were a little bit disappointing.  Namely......

a $60 Babe Ruth card.  Also there is a.......

$75 Lou Gehrig card too. 

Damn Yankees.  

When the odds are sayin' you'll never win

That's when the grin should start

Pretty doubtful my wife will be grinning if I spend $135 on two Yankees cards with coins.  Welp, I have a few nice coin cards out of the whole thing, but this is not going to be a project.  

If I Had A Hall Of Fame Ballot...

I do one of these posts every year, so let's look at this year's Hall of Fame ballot.  There are 33 former Major League players on this year's edition of the ballot.  Every voter can put a maximum of 10 on their ballot.  If I had an actual ballot, not just a blogger site, I would work backwards from 33, eliminate 23 players, and have 10 Hall worthy players at the end.

So, let's start getting rid of those 23.  

1.  Brad Lidge 

2.  Isringhausen 

3.  Aubrey Huff

4.  Hideki Matsui

5.  Kerry Wood 

6.  Billy Wagner  

Let's pause at Billy Wagner for a second.  He was a great relief pitcher for the Astros, Phillies, and Mets.  Threw really hard, struck a ton of people out, was everything that you'd want out of a closer.  He never really gets any love for the Hall of Fame like Trevor Hoffman does even though their WAR, WAR7, and JAWS are basically identical.  Between the two, Wagner actually has a better ERA+, more strikeouts, and a better K/9 ratio.  Hoffman has saves.  That's it.  One stat.  

7.  Trevor Hoffman  

Since it will probably cause a stir, here is a Trevor Hoffman baseball card.  Not sorry.  

8. Carlos Lee

9. Kevin Millwood 

10. Orlando Hudson 

11. Livan Hernandez 

12. Chris Carpenter 

Which gets me a little more than half way to 23.  I will take a pause here at Chris Carpenter to say I wish he had stayed healthier during his career.  Carp had Hall of Fame type seasons, but just not enough of them to get my vote.  

13.  Zambrano 

14. Omar Vizquel  

I could probably list a dozen shortstops, whose careers intersected with Vizquel's career, who are better than Vizquel.  Let's try.

Vizquel played from 1989 through 2012.

Ozzie Smith, Barry Larkin, Alan Trammell, Tony Fernandez, Cal Ripken, ARod, Jeter, Nomar, Jimmy Rollins, Tulo, Miguel Tejada, and Andrelton Simmons.

I know that there are people who always talk about Vizquel as being a Hall of Famer, but I simply do not see it.  Not to say that Vizquel was not an excellent fielder during the prime of his career.

15. Jamie Moyer 

16. Johan Santana 

17. Fred McGriff 

18. Jeff Kent 

19. Johnny Damon 

Which brings us to the point where I actually have to start making some hard decisions.  

20.  Andruw Jones 

Jones had a great career and was a very good player on one of his generations best teams.   He has more than 400 home runs, almost 400 doubles, more than 150 steals, and 10 Gold Gloves.  I liked Andruw Jones a lot.  He was a fun player to watch, but I have always thought he was in the second tier of center fielders from the 1990s and early 2000s behind players like Ken Griffey Jr., Jim Edmonds, and Kenny Lofton.  Andruw gets a baseball card in the post.  Also a former Durham Bulls player, but not a Hall of Famer.  

21.  Gary Sheffield 

I could possibly support Sheffield being in the Hall of Fame, but there are 10 players on the ballot this year who are better than him.  500 home runs, 250 steals, and almost 3,000 hits are all nice numbers.  So many good right fielders from the 1990s/early 2000s on this year's ballot (Sosa, Guerrero, Sheffield, and Walker).  

Sheff gets a baseball card.   

22.   Sammy Sosa 

There might be a point at which I might put Sosa in my Top 10.  I am not against him being in the Hall of Fame, but he's not one of the ten best players on the ballot.  In fact, it always surprises me when I go and look at his numbers how he is not actually a complete slam dunk.   As a Cardinals fan, I remember Sammy well and have a great appreciation for his good years.  My biggest problems with Sosa are the fact that he wasn't as good as people think he was before he started hitting all of the home runs and once he started hitting home runs he lost a lot of his other positive attributes.  He walked less and less, ran the bases less and less, and did not field as well.  

Sammy can have a baseball card and I will bunny hop during a kickball game at work between now and the end of the school year.  

Sammy's autograph should be in the Hall of Fame.

23. Mike Mussina

I like Mussina and I would like to vote for Mussina.  However, there are more than 10 players on the ballot who belong in Cooperstown.  It makes it really hard to figure out who should get votes and who should be skipped over for another year.  In a perfect world, there would be 10, or fewer, deserving Hall of Famers on the ballot and I could give players like Mussina, Sheffield, and Sosa a little more love.  As for Mussina, he pitched his entire career in the tough N.L. East, in offensive ballparks, and all he did was win.  He ended his career at 270 wins and was at 2,800 Ks.  I know those are both short of the slam dunk 300 wins and 3000 strikeouts, but he's really close. I hate arbitrary numbers too.  His metrics are in line with Tom Glavine and Nolan Ryan, so I say put him in.  Well, if I had more than 10 votes.

Moose gets a baseball card.

Which brings us to the Hall of Famers, or at least in my opinion.  I am going to go the opposite direction on the 10 players I would vote for, assuming that I had a ballot, from most deserving to least deserving.  Some of my slam dunks don't have a lot of explanation, my later choices have a bit of salesmanship.  My Hall of Famers are......

1.  Barry Bonds 

The Hall of Fame is not a Hall of Morals.  There are plenty of players in Cooperstown with all sorts of flaws.  I do not care about steroids, perjury, or anything else that you think Barry Bonds did wrong over the years.  He's supposedly not the friendliest person and I could care less.  Here is what I do know about Barry Bonds..... He's the best player that I ever watched in person.  700 home runs, 500 steals, the single season home run record, and a career slugging percentage north of .600.  I would vote for Barry Bonds any year that he's on the ballot.  End of story.

2.  Roger Clemens 

350 wins, 4,500 strikeouts, and two World Series rings makes Roger Clemens another shoe-in for the Hall of Fame.  Why is he not in yet?  Not sure he's the best pitcher I ever saw in person, but I am not sure that the old guy who pitched for the Astros was the best version of Roger Clemens.  Still a very very good player.

3.  Chipper Jones 

Should easily be the second Durham Bulls player to get into the Hall of Fame behind Astros/Reds/Phillies/A's second baseman Joe Morgan.  Chipper had more than 450 career home runs, 500 doubles, and 2,700 career hits.  One of the beset third baseman I have ever seen in person.  I know the Braves went to the playoffs every year for the first decade of his career, winning only 1 World Series in 1995, but he did a lot of damage in the Postseason too.  In roughly 300 career postseason at bats Jones hit 13 home runs, 18 doubles, drove in 47 runs, and had a .287/.409/.456 slash line.  Put him in. 

4.  Curt Schilling 

3000 strikeouts and a great Postseason resume.  I know the 216 wins bother a lot of people, but lets not forget that he spent a long time playing for some pretty bad teams.  He won more games in the 8 years he pitched for the Diamondbacks and Red Sox, good teams, than the 12 years he pitched for the Phillies, Orioles, and Astros.  Schilling has got an 11-2 Postseason record with a World Series Co-MVP in 2001 with the Diamondbacks.   Again, I am not voting on morals.

5.  Jim Thome 

600 home runs with a .276/.402/.554 slash line.  Pretty hard to argue against 600 home runs, does not matter whether he hit them as a first baseman or a DH.  Thome is a pretty one dimensional player, which I have no problem voting for if they are really good at what they do.  Thome had 9 seasons with more than 35 home runs with a high of 52 in 2002 with the Indians.  That's a lot of dingers.  I know he's second all-time in strikeouts just under Reggie Jackson for the all-time mark, but that list is littered with modern players.  Adam Dunn, Mark Reynolds, Jose Canseco, etc.  Put him in.

6.  Larry Walker 

Larry Walker was one of the best all-around players of the 1990s.  I know the phrase "5-Tool Player" gets tossed around fairly often, but Walker was an actual good example.  He won three batting titles in a four year stretch starting in 1998, led the National League in home runs in 1997 with 49, had several seasons with more than 20 steals, and frequently registered double digit assist totals as a right fielder for the Expos, Rockies, and Cardinals.  The biggest problem with Walker's Hall of Fame resume is counting numbers.  He's barely above 2,000 hits, even though he's got almost at 1,000 walks, only got 383 home runs, and 471 doubles.  A lot of his metric numbers are actually really close to Reggie Jackson's totals, Walker has 72.6 career WAR versus 73.8 for Jackson.  Walker has a career OPS+ of 141.  Jackson finished his career at 139.  The biggest difference between the two players is that Jackson played 2,820 games and Walker player 1,989 games.  Almost 1,000 games difference there.  If you compare Walker and Jackson's slash line, Walker has an advantage in every category.  Walker has .313/.400/.565 and Jackson has .262/.356/.490.  You don't like Coors?  Great.  Larry Walker, on the Expos, hit .281/.357/.483, or right in line with Reggie Jackson.

7.  Scott Rolen 

Rolen has some of the same problems as Larry Walker with longevity.  Plus, there were two halves of his career:  There was the player who played for the Phillies and a three and half years for the Cardinals before he messed up his shoulder and there was the Scott Rolen who played two seasons with the Cardinals after messing up his shoulder, had a brief stop over with the Blue Jays, and finished his career with the Reds.  If you just look at the end of his Cardinals career, the year and a half with the Blue Jays, and the final four years with the Reds you would have a hard time putting him into the Hall of Fame.  However, his 1996 season through the middle of 2005 were worthy of Hall of Fame consideration.  He won the Rookie of the Year in 1997 with the Phillies and posted a .282/.373/.504 mark with the team in five full season with 150 home runs, 200 plus doubles, and 500 RBIs.  That's about 30 home runs a season, 40 doubles, and 100 RBIs.  His first few seasons on the Cardinals were also Hall worthy with his best season coming in 2004.  He was probably the third best Cardinals player on the team that year with 34 home runs, 32 doubles, 124 RBIs, and a slash line of .314/.409/.598.  Again, his counting numbers do not match up to players like George Brett, Adrian Beltre, Mike Schmidt, and Chipper Jones, but everything else is right there.  I know there is a good chance he's going to be done after one year on the ballot and that stinks.

8.  Manny Ramirez 

I know there were steroid issues with Manny, he failed drug tests, and a lot of people think he's a really weird guy.  I can go with weird, but he could hit the baseball.  I know there are a lot of baseball fans who credit Thome and Roberto Alomar with being the players who really made the 1990s Indians teams good, but Manny was the best player on those teams and it's not even close.  So, here is what Manny has going for him: He hit more than 500 home runs, had more than 500 doubles, 2,500 hits with 1,300 walks, and a .312/.411/.585 slash line.  There are not a lot of modern left fielders in the Hall of Fame, and the ones who are there are very good (Rickey Henderson, Bonds should be), so it's somewhat hard to look at Manny in that same class.  He's not that good, but still a Hall of Famer.  He fits in well with Willie Stargell with slightly better counting numbers and a high batting average.

Plus rookie cards photos were taken on Duke's campus.

9. Edgar Martinez 

How did Frank Thomas get in the Hall of Fame so fast, but Edgar Martinez is still hanging out on the ballot?  500 doubles, 300 home runs, and a .312/.418/.515 slash line.  He walked more than he struck out over an 18 year career.  He won two American League batting titles.  Yes, he spent most of his career as a designated hitter on the Mariners.  Yes, he spent the prime of his career playing in the shadows of Ken Griffey Jr., Alex Rodriguez, and Randy Johnson.  Being the fourth best player on your team still sometimes means that you are a Hall of Famer.  I've seen several comparisons of Edgar and Harold Baines, not a Hall of Famer, but very good.  Edgar is a lot better than Baines.  I go back to Frank Thomas from the top of the blurb.   He's actually a little different player than the aforementioned Frank Thomas, less power, but great ability to get on-base, hit for average, and drive the ball.  Edgar's were doubles, Frank's were home runs.  Edgar is a Hall of Famer.

10.  Vladimir Guerrero 

Last one is a little tougher sell than some of the other players on my list whom I put in, and those I would like to put in.  It actually looks like Vlad has a really good chance of making it sooner than later, which also makes some of the doubt with Larry Walker and Scott Rolen a bit of a head scratcher.  So, here goes.  Guerrero spent most of his career playing for the Expos and Angels.  He ended his career with almost 450 home runs, almost 500 doubles, and a .318/.379/.553 slash line.  Vlad did win an MVP with the Angels in 2004, but didn't win a batting title, career high was .337 with four seasons above .330, or significant statistical category at any point during his career.  His  numbers though were always very good.  His OPS+ has him as an above average player every single season he played full-time in the Majors save for his final year with the Orioles.  I like WAR, which doesn't make Vald seem like a slam dunk, but his OPS+ does measure up well with Hall of Famers, or players who belong in the Hall.  With an OPS+ of 140 he's in line with Reggie Jackson, Larry Walker, and Gary Sheffield and slightly ahead of Tony Gwynn, Roberto Clemente, Dave Winfield and Al Kaline.

If I Had A Hall of Fame Ballot I'd Vote with Baseball Cards

I have done this type of post a few times in the past, trying it again this year.  The Hall of Fame ballots are out and everyone on Twitter, Facebook, or baseball fans elsewhere has some sort of opinion about who belongs in Cooperstown.  I like a good argument as long as it doesn't go too far.

The Hall of Fame voters are allowed to vote for up to 10 players on the ballot, which has become sort of a problem recently with the backlog of steroid users.  So, while normal Hall of Fame voters are restricted to ten, I am going past that number since I am not an actual voter.  A few other things here before he begin.

If I did have a Hall of Fame vote....

• I would not be the moral police.  
• It still takes talent to hit or throw a baseball even if you are taking steroids
• There are not many relief pitchers that I value.  In case you were wondering, since I am not going to bring it up down below: Wagner > Hoffman.  

Here are my 10 (+2) in no particular order.  I'd be happy to see any of these players in the Hall of Fame, but only a few will actually make it.  

Tim Raines - Raines has more than 2,600 hits, 800 stolen bases, and an on base percentage of .385.  There is not a lot of hardware in the trophy case, but he did spend the end of his career with the Yankees and won a World Series ring in 1996.  The Expos had some good players at different points during his time in Montreal, but I wonder if Raines would have stuck around on the ballot this long if he had played somewhere else during the first half of his career. He led the National League in stolen base in his first four seasons, probably would have run the streak to seven or eight if it weren't for Vince Coleman, and scored more than 90 runs 6 of his first 7 full seasons.  Slam dunk this year.  

Manny Ramirez - Ignore all of the behaviors that people took exception to, and the steroid stuff, Manny could hit.  I first saw Manny at an Interleague Game the Cardinals played against the Indians in 1997.  The Tribe were loaded, but Manny Ramirez was really impressive.  I dabbled in his cards over the years and always enjoyed watching him play.  Maybe not the 2004 World Series, but the rest of the time was good.  He ended his career with more than 550 home runs, 1,800 RBIs, and a .312/.411/.585 slash line.  Again, ignore the drama, just look at the numbers.  The guy should be a no doubter.  I think there is little chance he gets in this year.  

Jeff Bagwell - There was no hitter in the NL Central I feared the Cardinals playing more than Jeff Bagwell.  The guy could hit, and if he did not play in the steroid era, would have been in the Hall long ago.  He's not in the Hall for all the same stupid reasons that Piazza sat around for a few years.  Bagwell ended his career with more than 400 home runs, 400 doubles, and 1,500 RBIs.  His overall slash line was .297/.408/.540 with an OPS+ of 149.  He took home the 1994 NL MVP.  I have seen a few people complain about the length of his career, 15 years, but he was really good throughout those years.  I have high hopes he gets in this year.  

Roger Clemens - I am not even going into numbers here.  I don't care about steroids, put him in the Hall.  I had my doubts about Clemens ever making it into the Hall, but I am starting to think that there is hope.  I am going to say he does not make it this year, but is in within the next year or two.  

Bonds - Just reread the Clemens paragraph, but substitute in Bonds where it says Clemens.  

Curt Schilling - Schilling seems like one of the really heated deabtes around the Hall candidates at the moment.  I don't do politics on this space, but again I am not a moral police kind of a person. When I look at Schilling's career the biggest problem is that there are a lot of lost years.  He had a few good years in chunks, missed time and games with injuries, and then would bounce back and have a few more good years.  216 wins is not very many, but if you are going to argue counting numbers, he did cross 3000 strikeouts.  Schilling also had four really good postseasons with the Phillies in 1993, DBacks in 2001, and Red Sox in 2004 and 2007.  I'd put him in, but I also know there are people who are down on him for baseball reasons and non-baseball reasons.  His vote totals are shrinking, no chance for awhile.  

Larry Walker - I have heard people talk about Walker as a Coors Field hitter, but that's a pretty weak argument.  Before he ended up on the Rockies, Walker was a really good player on the Expos.  In his 6 years in Montreal Walker had an OPS+ of 128 and was a true five star talent.  Walker hit for power, was an elite fielder and won Gold Gloves, and also had speed and stole bases.  By the time his career had ended Walker won three batting titles and ended with a .313/.400/.565 slash line.  I saw Walker several times throughout his career in person, but I watched his final two years with the Cardinals closely.  He was old, and his neck didn't allow him to hit for power anymore, but in two seasons in St Louis he had a 134 OPS+ and almost put up a 3 WAR season in 2005.  Busch Stadium is not a nice place for hitters, so that tells you a lot about the "Coors Field Hitter" argument.  Walker gets into the Hall at some point, but its at least a few years away.  

Mike Mussina - I am not always a huge costing numbers person, but lets start out with 270 wins and almost 3,000 strikeouts in 18 years all pitching in the American League East which was a tough division throughout Messina's career.  Also remember that 10 of those seasons were played in Camden Yards, which is a pretty stadium, but also a band box.  Similar to Raines, Mussina does not have a lot of hardware, but unlike Raines, Mussina did not get a World Series ring out of his time with the Yankees.  Here's where I put Mussina into the Hall: If you follow the WAR7 stat with Jay Jaffe, Mussina is a little short for peak years compared to pitchers like Schilling, but he's still ahead of a few of the 1990s Braves who are in the Hall like Glavine and Smoltz.  His overall career WAR is actually higher than Nolan Ryan, as well as his ERA+.  Mussina makes it at some point, wait a few more years.  

Sammy Sosa - Sammy never failed a drug test.  Sammy has 600 home runs.  Sammy hit more than 60 home runs 3 times.  Sammy belongs in the Hall, put him in.  Sammy gets in after Bonds and Clemens, but that's not far away.  

Edgar Martinez - I know a lot of people who feel the same way about DHs as I do about relief pitchers.  First, let me start by saying that I don't care about being just past 2,000 hits when the player has a career .418 on-base percentage.  That's one argument I have read multiple times about Edgar.  Walks, hits, whatever.  When Edgar did swing the bat though good stuff happened.  His career slash line was .312/.418/.515 with more than 300 home runs and 500 doubles.  The JAWS rankings on Gar are a little bit off since Jaffe lists him as a third baseman, but the last time he played more than 50 games there in a season was 1994.  No comparable really, just a good hitter with some great stats.  

Vladimir Guerrero - Not a really long career, but Vlad was good almost the entire time.  He was an incredible player in Montreal, but I am not sure that very many people saw him while he was playing there.  I first saw him during the summer of 1997 and was really impressed by his defense at the time, but he was also a great hitter.  I think it's the 50 Cent gif where he swings at the bad first pitch and gets a double, but there is this really bad vibe that he swung at everything and was not on base often.  Not true.  Vlad's career OBP is .379 with a .553 SLG and more than 450 home runs and doubles.  Loads of Silver Sluggers and All-Star Appearances, as well as the 2004 American League MVP Award help make up for the fact that he did not get any postseason hardware.  Not a difficult argument here, Vlad is in not in this year, but will be very soon.  

Ivan Rodriguez - As a Cardinals fan I really enjoy watching Yadier Molina.  I did not get to see Pudge very often, but he had that same sort of defensive dynamic to the game.  Teams did not run on him, he called a good game, and he also did a good job handling the bat.  Not always true of Yadier, but Rodriguez has about seven or eight years with a .300+ batting average, pretty good on-base numbers, and good extra base hit totals.  For his career he ended with a .296/.334/.464 slash line, more than 300 home runs, and almost 600 doubles.  He's the all-time dWAR leader for catchers and should be a no brainer for the Hall.  There are some steroid rumblings here, he still should get in soon.  

Vlad Currency

I have always really liked the currency cards that Topps has put out.  It seems like they have increased in popularity since the card company has included them into their Gypsy Queen product and limited the pieces to small print runs of 5 or 10 or 25.  Very limited.  While I like the look and appearance of the new currency cards, I am not sure I like the idea of paying 25 dollars or more for a coin card.  There are lots of cool autographs you can buy for that much money.

However, the original Topps currency cards, which came from the 2003 Topps Gallery set, are extremely affordable and not really all that limited in cost.  They look fabulous and have many of the same attributes of their modern relatives in the Topps Gypsy Queen sets. 

The front of the card features a nice picture of Vlad in his Expos uni and a Centavo from his native Dominican Republic.  I am guessing that this coin is worth like a 5 cent Tootsie Roll (chocolate flavored wax) from Walgreens, but looks really cool.  I have never collected coins or anything, but always think they are cool to look at.  Other places have cool money.  The only improvement I could have suggested for this card is to have the Vlad picture feature him swinging at some really ridiculous pitch that is five feet off the plate or on top of his shoelaces. 

I do not do the backs of cards very often, but the coin cards definitely have cool backs......

Honestly, it's not that much different from the rest of the "hit" cards that card companies produce, but there is something about the fact that you can see both sides of the coin that I find really cool.  Various card companies have done this with jersey and bat relics in the past and I really think it gives the card a cool look.  I mean, besides slapping a giant "Congratulations" across the top of the card, what can you put on the back of a card like this to spruce it up?  The little Topps slogan at the bottom of the card is not making me want to run out and buy more cards this morning, but that coin face looks sweet. 

2000 UD Ionix Vladimir Guerrero Autograph

It's amazing how quickly collectors forget about really good players.  Vladimir Guerrero did not play last year, not because he did not want to, but he's more or less retired due to lack of interest.  The end of Vlad's career was a steep drop off from going from a 4.9 Wins Above Replacement in 2007, to a 3.0 WAR in 2008, and finally falling to a woeful 0.8 WAR in 2009.  He would bounce back and post a 2.0 WAR for the Rangers in 2010, but his career would ultimately come to an end the following season as an Oriole.  There are a lot of people people who remember the fragile Guerrero trying to play right field for the Rangers in the 2010 World Series, or remember him as an Oriole and not the All-Star right fielder for the Angels and Expos.  In fact, last week I surprised to find an autograph of Vladimir Guerrero for under $10.

2000 UD Ionix Vladimir Guerrero Autograph 

Not that long ago an autograph of Vlad would have cost a collector a pretty penny, but today they are easy to find for less than $10.  I was honestly really surprised.  I guess I do not check the market on his autographs that often, but I counted at least a dozen autographed Vladimir Guerrero cards that sold on Ebay for less than $10.  Not just the cheap Royal Rookies autographs, but certified autographs from Donruss Signature Series, SP Signature Edition, Playoff Absolute, SPX, and others.  There was even an Upper Deck Century Legends that closed for less than $10.

When did this happen?  I am not sure, but I do encourage collectors to take advantage of the low low prices on Vladimir Guerrero autographs.  Take a spin around the Impaler's Baseball Reference page and you will see that he was not only the 2003 AL MVP, but also is a Hall of Famer as measured by three out of the four indexes used, and his career and age comparisons are littered with Hall of Famers like Willie Mays, Duke Snider, Willie Stargell, Jim Rice, and Albert Pujols.  It's hard to find a Hall of Fame autograph for less than $10, but this is your chance.

30 Year Top 50: 1995 Bowman

#20- This set was a huge part of the Bowman prospect craze of the mid to late 90s.  While it did not have the ridiculous $125 value guarantee of some of the later 90s Bowman sets, it was one of the more valuable sets of Bowman cards since it's rebirth in 1989.  Like most Bowman sets, the value and popularity of the center centered around a few key rookie cards in the set.  While the set has lost much of it's value and luster, as some of the key rookie players have aged and not lived up to their hype, the set will still run north of $40.  The key rookies below are also in the chromier/shiny looking Bowman's Best.

1995 Bowman Vladimir Guerrero

The most important card in the set is the Vladimir Guerrero rookie card.  The card has always been a pretty popular rookie and has ranged above $50 at times.  I am not sure that Vladimir's final years really helped him in the baseball card world since you can now find nicely graded copies around $20 and raw singles for less than $5.  I will honestly admit that I liked watching Vladimir play, always kept track of him, and have dabbled in his cards.  I think he's a Hall of Fame player, not on the first ballot, and his cards are easy to find and inexpensive.  I am not saying that they will have a ton of value, but there are plenty of really cool ones.  

1995 Bowman Foil Scott Rolen 

The next best card in the set, in my opinion, is the Scott Rolen rookie.  The card is apart of the Foil subset, which was short printed (I believe), and can be a little bit more condition sensitive then the other rookie cards.  I spent a few years watching Rolen as the Cardinals third baseman and spent time collecting his cards and know that this is a pretty popular card.  Despite it's popularity, it can be easily found for less than $5.  I am not sure that Rolen is a Hall of Famer, but he's probably pretty close given how many Gold Gloves he has won and his offensive numbers as a third baseman.

1995 Bowman Chris Carpenter 

I know that some who are reading this post are probably a little surprised that I put Carpenter down as the third key rookie card in this set, but keep reading and I will get to the other rookie card.  Carpenter seems to miss a lot of time, but when he's healthy he's a great clutch pitcher.  I credit him for being one of the major reasons the Cardinals won the World Series in both 2006 and 2011.  This is not a very valuable card, probably never will be, but it's a great card to throw into your collection just for the sake of owning a nice rookie card of a really good pitcher.  

1995 Bowman Andruw Jones 

This is one of my least favorite baseball cards ever.  It's always been completely overrated, but then again, Andruw Jones has always kind of been that way.  I understand that it was really cool the Braves called him up when he was 19, made the World Series, and hit two home runs in a game.  He had five or six good years and has been a bench player since he left the Braves.  Despite all of that, I still run into people that have crazy opinions of this card.  I have heard everything from people hoarding them, because he's a first ballot Hall of Famer to Andruw is working out this winter and will be back out in centerfield next year...he's one Gold Glove away from being the next Willie Mays.  Last summer, a fellow trader tried to trade me a copy of this card, straight up, for a Buster Posey rookie.  Apparently they were using a Beckett from 1997.  Ironically, last week I traded for a Rick Ankiel autograph and got this card as a throw-in.  

Like the 1995 Bowman set?  Not in my Top 50 is the legendary 1995 Topps Traded set.  This great 1995 set also featured a few key rookies, but the had some issues.  I am still not sure which card people value more, the Carlos Beltran card of Juan LeBron or the Juan LeBron card of Carlos Beltran.  I picked up both just in case.  

1995 Topps Traded Carlos Beltran/Juan LeBron

1995 Topps Traded Juan LeBron/Carlos Beltran

I have always really enjoyed these two cards and consider it one of the better error cards of the past twenty years or so.  I know that Topps makes all kinds of goofy intentional errors now, but I am sure that aside from a few people in the Royals organization and Baseball America employees, few probably knew the difference between the two players in 1995.  Beltran has obviously had a far more successful career than LeBron who never reached the majors.  

1995 Topps Traded Hideo Nomo 

There is also a rookie card of Dodger pitcher Hideo Nomo that was pretty popular back in the day.  I actually got a chance to see Nomo pitch during the summer of 1995 in St. Louis and am pretty sure that this picture was taken during that game.  The crowd isn't wearing much red for a Cardinals game, but the low green wall seems very Busch Stadium like.  Plus, I wouldn't wear red if Tripp Cromer and Chris Sabo was the right side of my infield.  I love how Nomo is looking sideways and the ball is out of his hand.  Crazy.