Collecting Cleveland Indians Topps team sets from 1952-present, as well as post-war minor and major league autographs.
From the Field: Travis Fryman, if, Cleveland Baseball … Travis Fryman. Years ago, when he was managing Cleveland’s low-A team in Mahoning Valley, I drove down there three nights in a row trying to get him. I assumed, as a manager, that he would not be difficult. He was. And[…]
This 2000 Fleer Tradition Jose Ortiz ranked #107 on Beckett’s 2005 All-Time Hot List. It’s also a personal favorite of mine. … In 2001, the Oakland Athletics were in the middle of the Moneyball Era. Their top prospect coming into the season was infielder Jose Ortiz, who in 2000 was[…]
Part of my collection is acquiring the first card–generally, the first minor league issued–cards of prominent Cleveland Guardians players. I was happy to add these two over the weekend. Mostly happy.
Despite the rain–which has been a theme almost every time I have ventured out to a prep game this season–I was able to finally get one of the best players in the state, Iolani’s Chase Thompson. @chase.hawaii A two-way player, he is widely regarded as the best player in the 2027[…]
Charles Nagy is one of the few players whose first card is a Topps base card (1988 Topps Traded #74T). So those were the only Nagy cards I had in my collection until I added these 1989 Star cards, which are his first minor league issues. And since my collection[…]
In 2019 Beckett rated the Top 80 cards of the 1980’s. This 1982 Topps Cal Ripken Jr. #21 (rookie card) came in at #12.
C.J. Kayfus @ckayfus was drafted by Cleveland in the 3rd round of the 2023 draft out of the University of Miami. He is also having an amazing start to the 2023 season.
Remember Jason Stokes? He was a big deal for a hot second.
This 1998 Fleer Update #U100 J.D. Drew ranked #49 on Beckett’s 2005 All-Time Hot List.
This 2001 Donruss Elite Victor Martinez rookie is one of the three or so Cleveland cards that Beckett ranked in its 2005 “All-Time Hot List” cards. And it’s the only one of the Cleveland cards that’s worth anything. What bugs me? This card wasn’t cheap, and I didn’t notice the[…]