Collecting Cleveland Indians Topps team sets from 1952-present, as well as post-war minor and major league autographs.
I got this autograph as part of a bulk consignment deal back in 2014. Dylan Cease was drafted out of a Georgia High School by the Cubs in the 6th round of the 2008 draft. He was a bit of a lottery pick due to injury concerns, but it paid[…]
Brandon Duckworth…this is an exciting one! Back in 2000, Brandon Duckworth was one of the Phillies biggest prospects. He was undrafted out of Cal State Fullerton but after a strong season in AA-Reading in 2000 (13-7, 3.16 ERA) he put himself on the prospect map. He followed it up with[…]
Ah, forgot this one! Also acquired at the MLB Japan All-Star Game practice yesterday. Not really a huge Royals fan, but I do really like Whit Merrifield. I got to see him play plenty this past season since he is in the same division of the Indians. He had an[…]
Crowded event. Luckily while there were plenty of people, the vast majority of them were kids or nice collectors. Never got contentious. Gates opened at 11 am and practice ran from 1:00-2:00pm. Gates opening at 11 implied that there would be…something…happening inside by that time. Using that we figured players[…]
There are 750 jobs for players on major league baseball teams. Unfortunately there are roughly 7,000 minor league players fighting for those positions. Competition is fierce and any number of variables can ruin a players chances to make it to the games highest level. This series of posts is about[…]
Edwin Jackson was a 6th round pick of the Dodgers in 2001 and made the majors in 2003. He has had an interesting career. He has never been a lights-out pitcher, but he has been consistent. From 2007-2014 he averaged 184 innings with an ERA+ of 92. He never won[…]
This was acquired late in the season while the Indians were in Tampa Bay. The Indians traded for Josh Donaldson in a desperate attempt to fortify their offense in preparation for the playoffs. Unfortunately to gamble did not work–the Indians simply had too many holes in both their line-up and[…]
Adam Ottavino was drafted in the 1st round (30th overall) out of Northeastern University by the St. Louis Cardinals in 2006. His junior season at Northeastern he was fantastic. Over 93.2 innings he only allowed 71 hits while striking out 120, good for a 2.98 ERA/1.11 WHIP. I remember writing[…]
Despite being contenders in 2018 the Athletics starting rotation was, for the most part, a dumpster fire. In an effort to help fortify the rotation down the stretch the A’s traded for Mike Fiers. Fiers was having a decent season with the Tigers–but most importantly was a warm body who[…]
Brandon Barnes was the Astro’s 6th round pick in the 2005 draft and has spent parts of six seasons in the majors. He signed with the Indians as a free agent this past November. He spent most of 2018 with the Indians AAA affiliate but was called up in September for[…]