Blog Bat-Around: We need a catcher, not a belly scratcher

I'm caving into peer pressure and joining Zippy Zappy's Blog Bat Around 

I'm not much of a TTM/IP collector, and some of the autographed items I do have are buried in a closet somewhere. (I've scheduled a vacation week in May for some serious spring cleaning.)

You may have already seen some of these on my Sports Card Tour, where I discuss some of my favorite cards, players, and teams in a city-by-city review (my Houston post is here) I will likely repeat some items you see in today's post, but I couldn't pass up this great idea.

Like some other bloggers, I won't exactly be following ZZ's guidelines. This is a matter of necessity, not an act of defiance. I really tried to build a bullpen, honest. But I'm lucky I have one guy that can maybe close out games. And my catching situation is ..well, you'll see.

Behold! The best lineup I could make out of autographed cards in my collection.

Leading off...the Left Fielder. Number six. Stan Musial. 

Bought this on eBay a year or two before he passed.

Batting second...the Right Fielder. Number six. Al Kaline. 

 Pulled this out of a tin I bought from Dave and Adam's.

Batting third...the Designated Hitter. Number thirty-four. David Ortiz. 

 Snatched this up on COMC during a Black Friday sale.

Batting cleanup...the Center Fielder. Number seven. Mickey Mantle.

My mom gave this to me a few years ago. I don't remember how or where she got it, but she had it in her closet since at least the early 90's.

Batting fifth...the First Baseman. Number three. Harmon Killebrew.

 Bought this for $30 sometime around 2003-04 at a card shop in the mall.

Batting sixth...the Third Baseman. Number seventeen. Kris Bryant. 

 Bought ungraded for about $200 in December 2014. Submitted to BGS via COMC.

Batting seventh...the Second Baseman. Number fifteen. Dustin Pedroia. 

 I have five Pedroia autos in my collection. These two were acquired on COMC.

Batting eighth...the Shortstop. Number nineteen. Robin Yount. 

I also have an 8 x 10 auto which I promise to find before my Milwaukee post. 

Batting ninth...the Catcher. Number twenty-three. Blake Swihart.

Yes, Swihart finally gets to play. No, he does not belong with these legends.

On the mound...the Starting Pitcher. Number nineteen. Bob Feller.

One of my first major purchases on COMC.

My bench would look like this:

This Duke Snider ball was a pack war prize. (I'm too lazy to take a better photo.)

Matt (Bob Walk The Plank) sent me this Jim Rice Cooperstown card.

I bought this Nomar Garciaparra on eBay a few years ago.

I pulled this Tony Oliva from a tin I purchased at a card show about eight years ago.

This Omar Vizquel auto was a $5 impulse buy at a card show I attended last month.

Can't recall where I got this Bill "Moose" Skowron auto. eBay maybe?

The rest of my pitching rotation..and one relief pitcher:

Jim Palmer signed this for me at the East Coast National a few years back. 

I bought this Johnny Podres auto for $10 at the same show that Palmer signed my photo.

Last but least...my closer. Tremble in fear before the Bard!

To be fair, Daniel Bard was a solid setup man...for about three seasons. But that's the best I've got. I don't even have an autographed card of a relief pitching prospect. Guess I'll have to hope that The Mick, The Man, and Big Papi can out-slug our opponents.


This was fun. I think I might do one for hockey, if that's okay. My lineup will be much more balanced.


Thanks for reading, and thanks to Zippy for the great BBA idea!


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