Random Cards From My Collection #48

Card 13086
2009 Topps Allen & Ginter #350 Jimmy Rollins

Comments on the card: A&G's third year and, I think, the first time they included the horizontal action cards.
When acquired: July 2009
How acquired: Paid $.42/card for a hobby box on eBay
Player's season: Although he led the league in plate appearances and at bats, Jimmy's overall performance slipped some in 2009. He only hit .250, his lowest average since his sophomore season of 2002. The Phillies did get to the World Series for the 2nd year in a row, but lost to the Yankees.

Card #1811
2001 Topps Traded #1 Sandy Alomar, Jr.

Comments on the card: Topps 50th anniversary year with the gold foil anniversary logo. I was a bit disappointed that Topps didn't have a special anniversary logo in 2011, as they did in 2001 and 1991.
When acquired: September 2001
How acquired: Paid $.23/card for a hobby box on eBay
Player's season: Sandy was a free agent signing by the White Sox in 2001. The long slow slide to retirement had already begun. He only appeared in 70 games, hitting .245.

Card #25520
2011 Topps Heritage #283 Danny Valencia

Comments on the card: Based on the iconic 1962 Topps wood-grained set. Don't you love the enormous All-Star Rookie Cup?
When acquired: March 2011
How acquired: Paid $.28/card for 2 blaster boxes
Player's season: After batting .311 in 85 games in 2010, the Twins gave him a full-time shot in 2011. He responded by batting .246 in 154 games and hasn't been a full time player since.

Card #31212
1984 Topps #305 Larry Bowa

Comments on the card: Nice 1980s design
When acquired: Don't know
How acquired: Don't know
Player's season: In 1982, Larry was involved in one of the worst trades in baseball history, when the Phillies traded him and Ryan Sandberg to the Cubs for Ivan de Jesus. In his 15th year, Larry was still a full time shortstop in 1982.

Card #12127
1993 Select #13 Darren Daulton

Comments on the card: This was the first year (of 4) for Select. It was published by Score, meant as a premium card compared to the base Score set. Complicated design with lots of green. No gloss, no foil. That will come in 1994.
When acquired: Don't know
How acquired: Don't know
Player's season: As did many Phillies, Dutch had a great year in 1993. He led the Phillies to the World Series for the first time since 1984. It was really has last good year. Injuries will sideline him in 1994-1996.

Card # 12814
2009 O-Pee-Chee #535 Josh Hamilton/Justin Morneau/Miguel Cabrera

Comments on the card: Upper Deck was pretty much circling the drain in 2009 when they came up with this design pretty much ripped off from Topps. These cards show up a lot in repacks.
When acquired: July 2009
How acquired: Paid $0.22/card for two blasters.
Player's season: As the back of the card says, these guys were 1, 2, and 3 in RBIs in the American League in 2008.

Card # 30990
2002 Stadium Club #6 Bret Boone

Comments on the card: The release of Stadium Club was always anticipated by me each year. This was the next to last year, except for a brief resurrection in 2008. I really think Topps should either bring back Stadium Club, or institute a new full-bleed card.
When acquired: February 2002
How acquired: Paid $0.25/card for a hobby box.
Player's season: Bret had the three best years of his career from 2001-2003. 2002 was the weakest of the three but he still hit for a .278 average and 25 home runs.

Card #35085
1982 Fleer Stamps #109 Pete Rose

Comments on the card: I never saw one of these before seeing an auction on eBay.  They were sold as 10-stamp strips to a package. There were 242 stamps to the set.
When acquired: August 2012
How acquired: Paid $0.03/stamp for 34 strips, some in original wrappers.  Got 204 of the set.
Player's season: I'm guessing that this is from the 1981 All-Star Game. Pete was among 4 Phillies on the '81 NL All-Star squad along with Mike Schmidt, Manny Trillo and Dick Ruthven. I'm pretty sure that's Dave Conception sitting next to Rose. I think there were only 2 Astros on the team, Nolan Ryan and Bob Knepper. Any guesses? Phil Garner was also on the team but would have been as a Pirate. He wasn't traded to the Astros until after the All-Star break.

Card # 4085
1996 Collector’s Choice #276 Barry Larkin

Comments on the card: I had just gotten a new pair of glasses with plastic lenses with an antiscratching coating on them in 1996 when these cards came out. Due to some interaction between the coating and the lenses, these Collector's Choice fantasy team cards looked three dimensional to me. The red color would pop right out of the card.
When acquired: Don't know.
How acquired: Don't know.
Player's season: Barry would have been a good choice for anyone's fantasy team in 1996. He batted .298, hit 33 home runs, had 89 rbis and stole 36 bases.

Card #22091
2011 Topps Update #279 Trevor Plouffe

Comments on the card: Pretty good action shot of Trevor breaking from the batter's box.
When acquired: October 2011.
How acquired: Paid $0.06/card for two 500-card hobby boxes on eBay. The reason the cards were so cheap is that I really only ordered 1 box but the seller sent me 2. I let him know and he said, no problem, keep the second box. Even with 1000 cards I still didn't get the whole set.
Player's season: It's ironic that this 2011 Plouffe card came up. He played 81 games at mainly at shortstop and 2nd base. In 2012, he replaced Danny Valencia (above) at third for the Twins.