Collecting Cleveland Indians Topps team sets from 1952-present, as well as post-war minor and major league autographs.
Andres Galarraga was a very good player. Galarraga spent 19 seasons in the big leagues and retired with a line of .286/.347/.846 with 399 HR and 31.7 WAR. He was selected to five All-Star teams, won two Gold Gloves, two Silver Sluggers and was the 1993 batting champ with a .370 AVG.[…]
I am really bummed out about the Yandy Diaz trade. This season he hit .312/.375/.422 over 109 at-bats–good for a 115 OPS+. I know that he was not a traditional power hitter because of his low launch angle, but considering his exit velocity it’s not like he is having to[…]
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[…]
Adam Rosales was drafted in the 12th round (362nd overall) by the Cincinnati Reds in 2005 of Western Michigan. Coming out of college he was projected to a utility player in the majors. He didn’t have any plus tools, but his value lied in him being able to hit his weight[…]
I got this autograph in-person back in 2014 while the Dodgers Low-A team was visiting Lake County. Joey Curletta was originally a 6th round draft pick of the Los Angeles Dodgers back in 2012. He has been traded twice since then–being sent to the Phillies in 2016 and Mariners in[…]
Back in the day, I lived within a couple hours of the Cubs AAA affiliate. I didn’t go to many games, but I followed them close enough to know when a good player was in town, either with the Des Moines Cubs or a visiting team. In the process, I[…]
Josh Donaldson was traded to the Indians last night. Not sure how I feel about it. I have been a fan of Donaldson since he was drafted. I even wrote to him when he was in college. You can see the autograph I got above. Donaldson[…]
This was signed in Spring Training. Khris Davis was the 7th round pick of the Brewers out of Cal State Fullerton back in 2009. He was a decent prospect moving up through the Milwaukee system, rating their #29 prospect in 2011 and #16 prospect in 2012. He made the majors[…]
I’ve seen Keston Hiura twice in Hawaii, in 2016 and 2017. He was always very cool. The autograph above is from his 2016 visit to the islands. In 2017 he was projected to be a 1st round pick in the draft, though questions about an elbow injury were tamping down[…]
This was my last consignment of 2017, snagged when the Indians were in Seattle. I am…still in shock that he is gone. Santana seemed like a dude that was going to spend his whole career in Cleveland. He is joining a very young, but very talented, Phillies team. So I[…]