Collecting Cleveland Indians Topps team sets from 1952-present, as well as post-war minor and major league autographs.
This is one of my Top 50 favorite autographs in my collection–I wrote the J.D. Martin a bunch over the years, and for whatever reason it was not until late in his career I was finally able to snag one TTM. JD Martin was the Indians 2001 first round pick,[…]
Homer Bailey was a huge prospect while he was coming up with the Reds, and many had him pegged as a future ace. While he had a very nice 14-season career in the majors, he never was able to find the consistency to be a true #1 starter. He 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[…]
Corey Jolks was one of the Top 500 players from the 2017 draft, and would be taken that season in the 8th round (241st overall). He is currently in AA-ball, hitting .272/.320/.412 with 2 HR. Why I like him He is not really a prospect anymore, but he does hit.[…]
JT Brubaker went to college at the Univerity of Akron–near my hometown–so I was very happy when he was drafted by the Pirates in the 6th round of the 2015 draft. I wrote to him in college but never got anything, but I was able to get him in 2015[…]
I got this Ozzie Albies autograph from a signing that was held last month. For whatever reason, Albies’ autograph always comes out streaky. My hope was that this would not be the case at a private signing. All things considered, I am very happy with the results. Standard Batting Year[…]
Will Saxton is a junior LHP for Florida International. During the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, he transitioned from the pen to the rotation. He started four games, and over 15.1 innings allowed 14 hits, 8 walks, and 13 K’s–good for a 1.17 ERA. He limited hitters to a .233 AVG. He[…]
Russ was drafted by the Phillies in the 19th round in 2017 out of Houston Baptist. He has developed into a legit relief prospect—BA ranked him the Phillies #24 prospect in 2020.
Shogo Akiyama signed a 3-year, $21M deal with the Cincinnati Reds this past off-season. The 31-year old veteran has spent his entire nine-season career with the Seibu Lions the Nippon Professional Baseball Organization. He was very good. In Japan, he owns a career line of .301/.376/.454 with 116 HR. Five-time Pacific[…]
Ryan Conroy was drafted by Orioles in the eighth round of the 2018 draft out of Elon University. He was a very effective starter in college, a role that Baltimore looks like they will try to keep him. In 2019 Conroy saw time at three levels, from Low-A to High-A,[…]