Random Cards from My Collection #66

Card #41999
1998 Upper Deck #138 Dennis Eckersley

Comments on the card/player: Perhaps the ugliest subset card from the 1990s. It was called "Define the Game". The brown background, the blue tint of the player and the silver foil all add up to a massive fail. 
How/When acquired: Don't know.

Card #36002
2003 Topps 205 #315 Johan Santana

Comments on the card/player: From an ugly insert to one of my favorite sets of the 21st century.
How/When acquired: I paid $0.55 per card for a hobby box of Topps 205 Series 2 in December 2010.

Card #36724
2006 Ultra Rising Stars #4 Felix Hernandez

Comments on the card/player: This was a 20-card insert to Upper Deck's first (of two) seasons of Ultra in 2006. No question that King Felix was on the rise in 2006.
How/When acquired: I paid $0.25/card for a blaster of Ultra in June 2006.

Card #3652
1987 Donruss #83 Shane Rawley

Comments on the card/player: 1987 was Rawley's 4th season with the Phillies (80-82 for the season). He was 17-11, his best year in baseball. In his last year with the Phillies, 1988, he will be 8-16 and by the end of 1989 his ML career will be over.
How/When acquired: Don't know.

Card #36624
2012 Topps Pro Debut #205 Nolan Arenado

Comments on the card/player: Arenado was the Rockies #2 pick in 2009 and made his ML debut on 4/28/13. A 3rd baseman, he was a serious contender for Rookie of the Year on 2013. He also won a Gold Glove in his rookie season. 2014 was an even better year for him.
How/When acquired: Paid $0.30/card for 185-card hobby box of Topps Pro-Debut on eBay in January 2013.

Card #2141
1993 Topps Traded #88 Fred McGriff

Comments on the card/player: The Braves got Crime Dog from the Padres in July 1993 for basically nobody. In 5 years in Atlanta, he hit .293, with 130 home runs and 446 RBIs.
How/When acquired: Don't know.

Card #13652
2009 Topps Update #260 Ryan Howard

Comments on the card/player: Sorry, seeing a 2009 Ryan Howard card makes me choke up for what used to be.
How/When acquired: Paid $0.14/card for a hobby box on eBay in October 2009.

Card #18941
1989 Donruss #547 Hensley Meulens

Comments on the card/player: Meulens had a career that spanned 10 years (1989-1998, only 7 actually in the majors) in which he played in 182 games.
How/When acquired: This card (in fact a whole box of 1989 Donruss) was part of a large box of baseball related items I paid $50 for at a church bazaar in October 2009.

Card #19899
2010 Topps 206 #172 Kid Elberfeld

Comments on the card/player: Not one of Topps' better retro sets. Elberfeld was an infielder who played from 1898 to 1914. Elberfeld was know as "The Tabasco Kid" because he seems to have been an out of control hot-head.
How/When acquired: Paid $0.45/card for 3 48-card blasters at Target in September 2010.