Dave Winfield 2002 Topps American Pie – ‘Perseverance’ – FAIL!!!!

Dave Winfield 2002 Topps American Pie – ‘Perseverance’

I bought this card ‘On The Blind’. 

What that means is that I purchased it from www.sportlots.com without knowing what it looked like.  I was drawn in by the price tag, and I should have taken an extra few minutes to see what it actually looked like.

Because, as much as I value Dave Winfield and his spot in baseball history, I do not need a card that looks like this in my collection:

From now on, it is only Padres and Yankees for this Winfield collector.

Lesson learned.

And That Makes Four…

And That Makes Four…

Tonight my mission was to clean up my desk a bit.  The desk is ‘shared’ between me and my wife, but I will proudly admit that I clutter up most of it with the baseball cards I am working on.  She’s just going to have to deal with it…

Anyways, I was noticing as I  was putting some cards away that I have more and more cards in which the exact card front has been replicated in modern issues.

My first case is Dave Winfield’s rookie card from the 1974 Topps baseball card set.

To date, I have 4 cards that feature the exact front from his ’74 debut.

Here they are:

1 – 1974 Topps – Rookie Card

2 – 2001 Topps Archives  Reserve

3 – 2010 Topps ‘Cards Your Mom Threw Out – original back

4 – 2010 Topps ‘Cards Your Mom Threw Out - CYMTO back

I am going to see how many more variations I can go after.  Personally, I find this more neat than annoying.

I will also try to spend some time digging through my other player collections to see if I can find a card in my collection that I have more than four versions of.

How about you?  Do you have anything like this in your collection?

If you do, please share!

Thanks for reading.

Dave Winfield 2010 Topps ‘Cards Your Mom Threw Out’

Dave Winfield 2010 Topps ‘Cards Your Mom Threw Out’

Ah, Dave Winfield…

Dave Winfield is one of the first players that I decided to collect when I got back into the hobby close to four years ago.

Winfield was one of the original five, joining Billy Williams, Fergie Jenkins, Andre Dawson, and Rickey Henderson.

And while that original collection of Winfield cards was completed a few years ago, I still enjoy picking up new cards of ‘Big Dave’ when I can.

Here is the latest pick-up:

From the 2010 Topps ‘Cards Your Mom Threw Out’ subset, this card features Winfield’s very popular 1974 Topps rookie card.

I have the original and several variations.  And as a Winfield fan and collector, I enjoy each and every one of them!!!

Baseball Card Show Purchase #9 – Dave Winfield Kellogg’s 3-D Super Stars

Baseball Card Show Purchase #9 – Dave Winfield Kellogg’s 3-D Super Stars

Like many collectors our there, I like oddball baseball cards.

And for me, ones that were issued in the 1970s and 1980s are the ones that I really go ga-ga for…

So, when I found this 1983 Kellogg’s 3-D Super Stars card of Dave Winfield in a $0.50 bin, I quickly pulled it out with the intent to buy.

I love these old Kellogg’s cards, and I am building up a pretty nice selection of Hall of Famers from these issues.

Dave Winfield 2002 Topps T206 – Base & Mini

Dave Winfield 2002 Topps T206 – Base & Mini

I am really starting to like this T206 set issued by Topps in 2002.  Even if some of the photography/artwork features questionable shots, the look is one that this collector really likes.

And I also like when the cards take be back, way back, way back to when Dave Winfield was honing his skills as a young player in the San Diego Padres organization…

Man, I love that old helmet!!

Dave Winfield 2004 Topps – So Many Things To Like About This One!!!

Dave Winfield 2004 Topps – So Many Things To Like About This One!!!

The title says it all, so let’s get right down to it…

Here is the card:

And now on to the many reasons that this card is ‘winning’:

1. Old school Padres uniform and logo – Winfield started his career with the Padres, but is more known as a Yankee because of the attention he got in New York and in Toronto for winning the World Series.
2. Great team-themed framing – sometimes that is all it takes to set a card off right, and this one contains perfect Padres coloring around Winfield’s photo.
3. Silver accents – sometimes they are too much, but in this case they offer nice accents and look great against the White background.
4. Logo-man in lower-left hand corner – it matches the same stance of Winfield and compliments the card very well.

There you have it – did I miss anything??

Dave Winfield 2004 Upper Deck Legends – ‘Timeless Teams’

Dave Winfield 2004 Upper Deck Legends – ‘Timeless Teams’

I love this brand of cards, but sometimes their image choices left a little to be desired.  And this card of Dave Winfield is a good example.

Have a look:

The card celebrates Winfield’s 1985 baseball season.  And that fun-filled year consisted of 174 hits, .275 batting average, 34 doubles, 6 triples, 26 home runs, 19 stolen bases, 105 runs scored, and 114 RBI.  Winfield was an All-Star, Gold Glove winner, and Silver Slugger winner in 1985 too.

Great season!!

1980 Headline: Dave Winfield Becomes The Richest Man In Baseball

1980 Headline: Dave Winfield Becomes The Richest Man In Baseball

On this day in 1980, Dave Winfield signed the largest contract in professional baseball’s history.  As a free agent, Winfield signed with the New York Yankees for 10 years and $23 million dollars.  In today’s age the Yankees got a bargain to land a player of Winfield’s ability for just $2.3 million per season.  But, back in the 80′s this was big news!!!

In 1980 the average baseball salary was $143,756.  Now you can see why this was such a big story almost 30 years ago.  In 2002, baseball’s average salary was what Winfield was getting on this contract – $2.3 million.  And for the 2008 season, the average was $2.925 million per year.

It can easily be argued that Winfield was worth the money the Yankees invested in him.  For the next 5 seasons ‘Big Dave’ finished in the Top 12 for the MVP.  He was selected to 8 consecutive All-star teams as a Yankee and won 5 Silver Slugger titles as well.

By comparison, there are 2 players that in 2008 made MORE money than Dave Winfield did over the course of this 10-year contract.  In 2008, Alex Rodriguez earned $28 million dollars and his teammate, Jason Giambi, earned $23.4 million.  Winfield’s deal looks like a steal now doesn’t it???

Dave Winfield 2004 Upper Deck Legends ‘Timeless Teams’

Dave Winfield 2004 Upper Deck Legends ‘Timeless Teams’

When I think of Dave Winfield, I think Yankees and Padres.  And I don’t believe that I am alone with that thought process.

But, when it comes to championships, it was the Toronto Blue Jays with which Winfield tasted his lone success.

And this card celebrates that.  The headline reads, ‘Key Double Gives Blue Jays First Title’.  Winfield’s hit in the 11th inning of Game 6 is the one that clinched the championship for the Jays.  And to this day, I remember being so happy watching him celebrate – I am certain that he played that exact moment out on his head thousands of times as a kid!!

2008 Upper Deck Heroes – Charcoal – Starring Don Mattingly, Dave Winfield, And Reggie Jackson

2008 Upper Deck Heroes – Charcoal – Starring Don Mattingly, Dave Winfield, And Reggie Jackson

I had this card as a ‘roll over’ from when I was posting a Reggie Jackson card a day throughout the whole month of October.

It’s a nice card, and features three Yankees greats.

What I find interesting about these three players is that they were never teammates at the same time.  And for clarification, I mean all three of them.  Reggie was teammates with Winfield and Winfield was teammates with Mattingly – but never Reggie and Mattingly together….

Have a peek:

Two of my favorites – and one that is very close to making that list as well.