Collecting Cleveland Indians Topps team sets from 1952-present, as well as post-war minor and major league autographs.
The Card: 1972 Topps Jim “Mudcat” Grant Being a fan of both the Cleveland and Oakland organizations, it’s nice when a player plays for both franchises at some point. It’s even better when that player was good, and Mudcat Grant was certainly that too. Mudcat Grant made the majors in[…]
Luis Arraez was never ranked as one of the Twin’s Top 10 prospects as he was moving up through the system. This is insane when you consider what he has accomplished at the major league level.
I really liked Texas Rangers-era Mark Teixeira. During his rookie season, he was on a Rangers team that was filled with players that are some of my all-time favorites, including Einar Diaz, Alex Rodriguez, Hank Blalock, Ryan Christenson, Juan Gonzalez, and Ryan Ludwick. That was a fun team.
I was a fan of Jeremy Sowers while he was pitching at Vanderbilt, and was excited when Cleveland drafted him with the 6th overall pick of the 2004 draft.
Logan Allen was Cleveland’s 2nd round pick in the 2020 draft, out of Florida International University. This season Allen is pitching at AA Akron and is having a fantastic campaign, going 5-3 with a 3.33 ERA and 104 K’s in 73 IP. In fact, he is so good that just[…]
Justin Verlander is when it comes to autographs, an unpleasant person. But gosh, he sure is a good pitcher.
I got this autograph through the mail years ago, and it is one of my favorite pieces in my collection. Ballpoint has a bad habit of smearing when you sign cards like this, so I have no idea how he managed to sign it perfectly, put it back in the envelope, and it still comes out perfect.
I’m not a huge Phillies fan, so I sometimes fail to appreciate what a great pitcher Robin Roberts was.
The 2007 Cleveland Indians were a good team. They won 96 games, and beat the Yankees in the ALDS, but could not quite get past the David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez-led Red Sox in the ALCS. The Cleveland rotation had a good rotation, with two 19-game winners in CC Sabathia and Roberto Hernandez, and a 15-win season from Paul Byrd. But it is tempting to think what would have happened if Cliff Lee would have been a productive member of that rotation.
Is this Sandy Alomar’s first card? Oh gosh no. Alomar’s first minor league card is 1984 Spokane Indians Newspaper #22. I have never even had a chance to buy this card. It’s a bummer. But this is his second minor league card, so it will have to suffice until I can get his Spokane card.