Rickey Henderson 1987 Fleer “Baseball’s Exciting Stars”

Rickey Henderson 1987 Fleer “Baseball’s Exciting Stars”

Ah, the oddball baseball card.

How can you not like these gems from the 1980’s?  As every kind of company under the sun was trying to capitalize on the baseball card boom of the 1980’s, both Topps and Fleer were also creating limited edition products with their own branding with the goal of keeping fish around the boat.

And result was a lot of 30 and 40-card sets, and a ton of cards for player collectors to chase down as these small sets were released.

This card of Rickey Henderson is from the 1987 Fleer ‘Baseball’s Exciting Stars’ set.

 

And yes, Rickey Henderson was as exciting as it could get!

Reggie Jackson 2001 Upper Deck UD Decades ‘Decade Dateline’

Reggie Jackson 2001 Upper Deck UD Decades ‘Decade Dateline’

Yeah baby, another sweet 1970’s themed baseball card that features Mr. October – Reggie Jackson.

 

This card comes courtesy of the 2001 Upper Deck UD Decades set and is part of the subset tagged as ‘Decade Dateline’.  I like that the card appears to be showing a picture of Reggie from the 1978 World Series in which he starred and single-handedly captured the win in the series clinching game.

As I slowly wind down my tribute to Reggie for the month of October, I would say that this is my favorite new addition that specifically comes from the game in which he earned the moniker, ‘Mr. October’.

Dustin Pedroia 2014 Panini Elite – Series 2

Dustin Pedroia 2014 Panini Elite – Series 2

I love action cards that feature Dustin Pedroia making plays at second base.

For me, he is one of the most exciting infielders in the game simply due to the way he treats each and every at-bat against his club.  He is truly invested in the game and helping his team win.

This card of Pedroia comes from the 2004 Panini Donruss Elite Series 2 release.  And as you can see below, the card features a nice shot of #15 as he appears to be heading towards a grounder that was hit to his right.

 

I do wish that we got to see more of the action though..  It’s nice to get what we got, but I would love to see the ballpark behind him as well as how close to the ball he is..

Still, as I mentioned with the Bryce Harper card from this set that I featured last week, I do like the oversized ‘E’ in the background.

1975 Topps Set Card 302/660 – #579 – Skip Pitlock, White Sox

1975 Topps Set Card 302/660 – #579 – Skip Pitlock, White Sox

Progress: 302/660

Card Number:  579

Player Name:  Skip Pitloc

Team:  Chicago White Sox

Position:  Pitcher

Image Style:  Posed Pitching

Years In The Major Leagues: 3 seasons, 1970, 1974-75

Notes From His 1975 Season:  Skip Pitlock faced one batter in 1975.  He gave up a hit during that at-bat.

Notes From Career:  Skip Pitlock appeared in 59 games during his three-year career.  He had a record of 8-8 with 1 complete game and 1 save.  Pitlock threw in 192 innings during his career, allowing 196 hits and 106 runs en route to a 4.53 ERA.  He struck out 124 and walked 103 in that time.

Andre Dawson 2014 Topps ‘Rookie Class Of 1976’ Commemorative Class Ring Card

Andre Dawson 2014 Topps ‘Rookie Class Of 1976’ Commemorative Class Ring Card

When it comes down to it, I guess that I really don’t mind the manufactured relic cards that puzzle so many other collectors.

I find them to be kind of neat, and a nice way to commemorate a player or event.

What does puzzle me about these kinds of cards is how some of them continue to demand top-dollar while others can be had pretty inexpensively.

I have been able to snag a handful of manufactured relic cards over the last few years.  And while I know that the player being featured on the card is what ultimately drives the price and interest level of the public, I have been able to grab some great ones very affordably.

Like this one here of Andre Dawson from the 2014 Topps Series 1 ‘Rookie Class’ set.

 

 

I love it!  The card features a sweet, vintage photo of ‘Hawk’ from his early days in Montreal.  And the ring-looking metal insert is a nice touch for the ‘Class Of’ theme.

It took me a while to grab one of these for my collection, but my patience paid off and I was able to land one for my collection in my price range.

A great addition to my Andre Dawson PC.