Collecting Cleveland Indians Topps team sets from 1952-present, as well as post-war minor and major league autographs.
Joe Blanton had a very nice 13-season career. I will always remember him most as being part of those amazing mid-2000’s Oakland rotations that included the likes of Tim Hudson, Barry Zito, Mark Mulder, Dan Haren, Rich Harden, and Kirk Saarloos. I got this autograph right after he was drafted,[…]
Santiago Casilla spent 15-seasons in the majors, most of them very good.
Tyler Soderstrom was drafted by the Oakland Athletics with the 26th overall pick of the 2020 draft. He was considered one of the best prep catchers in the country, with a plus-plus bat that projects to hit for average and power.
This Eephus League Baseball scorebook was signed by Sean Doolittle in 2012, while he was with the Athletics and they were visiting Cleveland for a three-game weekend series. Doolittle has had a great career. Since making the majors in 2012, he has had four seasons of at least 22 saves,[…]
Catcher Gerald Laird spent 13 seasons in the major leagues (2003-2015) with almost a half dozen teams. He was never really a full time starter, and only got into 120 or more games twice in his career. He retired following the 2015 season with a career line of .243/.305/.353 and[…]
Nick Allen was drafted in the 3rd round of the 2017 draft out of Francis Parker HS in San Diego. He has become one of the better prospects in the system, and opened the 2021 season as Oakland’s #6 prospect. I am thinking he will be in the top[…]
Cole Irvin was purchased by the Oakland Athletics from the Philadelphia Phillies in early 2021. Irvin saw some time with the Phillies in both 2019 and 2020, but he didn’t pitch particularly well in either the starter or pen roles he was handed. But the A’s inserted him into their[…]
I was very happy to get this Barry Zito autograph in 2015, his final season in baseball. Zito is on my shortlist of all time favorite pitchers, mostly for his time as one of the Oakland “Big Three” that included Tim Hudson and Mark Mulder. While in Oakland, Zito was[…]
Ramon Hernandez had a 15-season career in the big leagues. He debuted in 1999 with the Oakland Athletics, by the time he retired following the 2013 season he had a career line of .263/.327/.417 with 169 HR and a 96 OPS+. He was selected to the 2003 All-Star team, his[…]
Mike Blowers had a nice 11-season career. I remember him best for his 1998 season with Oakland when he hit .237/.302/.386 with 11 HR as the team’s primary third baseman as the team transitioned away from Scott Brosius and moved into the Eric Chavez-era at the hot corner. He would[…]