My First Ozzie Smith Auto

The title says it all. 

As you may recall, I ran into a rare bit of luck recently and pulled a nice Michael Conforto auto. While my eyes initially turned to dollar signs like one of those greedy guys in the old singing frog Looney Tunes cartoons, I was quickly presented with an offer I couldn't refuse. Deep down, I'm in this for the fun of it, and it's honestly more fun to send someone a valuable card (on the rare chance that I get one) who really wants it rather than sell it to some random person I'll never interact with outside of a financial transation. Gavin of Baseball Card Breakdown was the one to pounce, and he presented me with my very Ozzie Smith certified autograph, along with a bunch of other cool Cardinals stuffs. (My apologies for the scan, but I wasn't about to bust the thing out of its case and spill some beer on it or whatever.)

1994 Collector's Choice is firmly in junk wax territory even though it came out after I stopped paying attention. That said, the silver and gold signature parallels can be a tough find, especially the gold ones.

Some years ago, some kind blogger interviewed me via email and asked me some questions about the then-current state of the Cardinals. Of all of the players I could've chosen from at the time, I thought I'd sound smart and say that Daryl Jones was the big up-and-comer. I was not right. Gavin sent over this Topps Pro Debut card of the former DJ Tools, along with a pile of other Pro Debut cards that I didn't have. I love minor league cards, I really do. So much promise... and strange names. Daryl's name is pretty ordinary, though.

Just gonna say... '90s style mushroom trip?

Luke Weaver status report: still on the minor league DL with a busted wrist. Could be back soon, though?

This is the real Archives deal. For the cards released from 2012-present, Topps should have just stuck with the Lineage name because they're not at all the same thing as the old Topps Archives. Also, I have to say, I'm not much of a jersey wearing guy, but I would love to own a Cardinals jersey like that one.

Apparently there's an early '90s oddball Orioles set commemorating past players, and they couldn't actually find a Baltimore picture of this guy? Well, he goes in my Cardinals binder. Sorry, O's fans.

Shelby has super duper struggled with the Diamondbacks this year, a season after he was an All-Star with Atlanta who had the strange distinction of going 6-17.

My first Cardinals game seen in person happened to be So Taguchi's MLB debut back in 2002 in Seattle. The Cards are back in Seattle this June for the first time since then, and I've got plans to make it to the entire series.

Fernando "2 Grand Slams in 1 Inning" Tatis has a signature that would make most doctors envious.

Long before there was Panini's Prizm, we had Pacific's Prism. This card is really, really bright!

Finally, Gavin sent over two customs of The Wizard, including this '91 Upper Deck style from Ozzie's memorable trip to the void of Simpsons existence, the dreaded Mystery Spot. Actual real life ballplayers who I'd wish would take a trip to the Mystery Spot: Bryce Harper, Jonathan Papelbon, Brandon Phillips, Kris Bryant, pretty much all of the Cubs roster...

Go crazy, folks! You may have also heard that Gavin caught a little heat for selling some of these great creations of his, so I want to stress that these were sent to me completely free and without any financial incentive. (Not that, uh, we should feel all that sorry for Upper Deck for all their past shenanigans.)