2015 In Review

Well it was the second year of this blog.  I took a long break from it for several months when I grew tired of blogging.  But I kept collecting during that time.  There have not been nearly as many cards added to my collection this year, but that is more due to the fact that there were not as many left and those that were left were much more rare.

You may recall that on the first day of the year I made some goals for my collection.  I am happy to say that I accomplished all of those goals.

Here is a refresher:

1. Knock five items off of my current Top 10. Obviously I move new cards in every time I knock one off, so I want five off of the current list, which is as follows:

1. 1998 Topps Tek #27 (I still need these patterns: 6, 8, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 20, 21, 27, 34, 40, 51, 54, 55, 66, 70, 71, 78, 83, 84, 86, 87, 88)
2. 1997 Flair Showcase Masterpiece #115 (any version)
3. 1999 Prism Red #41
4. 1997 Topps Stars '97 All Stars #AS20
5. 1997 Pacific Baerga Softball #4
6. 1989 BYN Puerto Rico #105
7. 2006 Upper Deck Special FX Blue #677
8. 1998 Donruss Crusade Red #20

9. 2002 Topps Chrome Traded Black Refractor #T68
10. 2005 Topps Rookie Cup Blue #75

I picked up 13 Tek patterns from the #1 spot, leaving me with 11 to go.  I did pick up #3, 6, 7, and 8 and I have one other one that I just received.  I am counting it but I won't spoil the secret as to what it is.  It will be posted on January 9.

2. Get to 1,000 different cards. I have 883 now, so this is certainly possible, though it will be challenging.

Currently, I stand at 1,049 cards.

3. Get a signed 8x10 of Alomar with the Mets. I want photographic evidence of Alomar with the Mets, since there will likely never be a card of him.

I did get this item early on.  I also found a team card that he is clearly on, so I had to add that card to my collection.

4. Get the elusive bobblehead that I see on Ebay frequently.

I bought this item as well.

All told, it was a very successful year for this blog, and a fun one as well.

Let's take a look at a few odds and ends.

CARD OF THE YEAR:

Tough to beat this one.  I have gotten a few cards that were more rare, but none that were quite as impressive visually as this one.  The Crusade cards are beautiful.  The Red Crusade is the rarest of the three, serial-numbered to just 25 and are in very high demand.

BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENTS:
1.   I was sure that Alomar would be a manager going into the 2016 season.  Unfortunately nothing has changed and he will once again be the first base coach for the Indians.

2.  No new cards this year.  Not even any buybacks.  Ugh.

3.  The biggest disappointment is that I was not able to work out a deal that I had been working at for several months.  An Indians collector contacted me asking for a price on a bunch of very rare Alomars, including six Recollection Autographs and two 1/1s.  I think my offer was good, but he kept telling me he would think about it and get back to me and I would never hear back.  Occasionally he would get back to me, ask me for my offer and the cards I wanted again, then disappear again.  Very frustrating.  Maybe some day he will get back to me again, but I'm not counting on it.

What is This?

Recently, a member on a forum approached me to tell me about this Sandy Alomar Jr. promo he had found when buying a Ken Griffey Jr. promo.  He described it as a blank back version of Alomar's 1990 Classic Update card, but with a yellow border.  Not having ever heard of such a thing, I agreed to buy it.  Here it is:

And yes, the back is blank.  I have no idea what the story behind this card is, but I am very happy to add it to my collection.

For reference, here is the regular version:

So yeah, different-colored borders and a blank back.  This is a very intriguing oddball item.

Card #335: 1996 Fleer Indians #1

YEAR: 1996
BRAND: Fleer
SET: Indians
NUMBER: 1
SUBSET: NA
INSERT: NA
TEAM: Cleveland Indians

The mid 1990's saw a trend of companies re-issuing team sets as a new product.  They were mostly regional issues and were not much different from the base sets.  The 1996 Fleer team sets were pretty much identical to the Tiffany versions but with different numbering.

All the Sets Alomar Could Have Appeared in This Year

I did this some time last year looking at the last few years.  Well it is another year and Alomar has not appeared in any sets this year either.  Roberto Alomar appeared in a number of sets this year, many times as an Indian.  It is not really all that fair to compare the two.  Roberto is a Hall of Famer while Sandy fell well short.  But Sandy was a fan favorite type player and there were a number of such players to appear in other sets, like Orlando Hernandez, Deion Sanders, and Vinny Castilla.  I won't discuss too many of the base sets, but there will be one or two mentioned.  This is more for the insert sets that could have included Sandy Alomar Jr.

DONRUSS SIGNATURE SERIES:
This insert set featured a number of rookies, current stars, and former stars.  I did not plan on including this until I saw that the former stars included such luminaries as Jeff Conine, Kevin Millar, John Franco, Steve Finley, and Rob Dibble.

LEAF 25TH BUYBACKS:
Leaf celebrated the 25th anniversary of its 1990 set and included a number of buyback autographs from that set.  Alomar was not included.  But Carlos Baerga, Jerome Walton, Jim Leyritz, Juan Samuel, Lonnie Smith, Mike LaValliere, Pete Incaviglia, Tom Herr, and Von Hayes were among the signers.  Come on, LaValliere?

TOPPS ARCHIVES:
Once again, Alomar should be the type of player to appear as one of the Fan Favorites autos or short-printed cards.  You know who did appear?  John Olerud, Rob Dibble, Jose Cruz, Vinny Castilla, and Jose Vidro.  Autographs included were Al Leiter, Bucky Dent, Dontrelle Willis, Edgardo Alfonzo, Fernando Vina, Jose Cruz and Jose Cruz Jr., Jason Kendall, Joe Oliver, Jose Rijo, Mike Bordick, Marquis Grissom, Oscar Gamble, Sid Bream, and Scott Hatteberg.  Seriously, how does Sandy Alomar Jr. not appear in this set?  Even if you can't get him to do a bunch of autographs, which I believe might be part of the problem, you can still include him in the non-autographed cards.

TOPPS ARCHIVES SIGNATURE SERIES:
This was a set made up of buyback autographs.  Topps released a wide range of cards, but had a limited number of players.  Those players included Jim Abbott, Vinny Castilla, David Cone, Eric Davis, John Franco, Andres Galarraga, Luis Gonzalez, Livan Hernandez, Orlando Hernandez, Howard Johnson, John Kruk, Fernando Valenzuela, and Mookie Wilson.

TOPPS HOT STREAK:
This 20 card insert set celebrated players who had an impressive hot streak.  Nomar Garciaparra, who is one of my favorite players of all time, is in the set due to his 30 game hitting streak.  Sandy Alomar Jr. also had a 30 game hitting streak in 1997, yet is not in the set.  His streak is probably more impressive since catchers are not expected to put together such hitting feats.  Livan Hernandez and Vinny Castilla are also in the set.

One of these years Topps will probably start including cards of Sandy Alomar Jr. and then he will be everywhere.  That seems to be their modus operandi.  Look at how many times Vinny Castilla and Livan Hernandez appeared above. 

It Pays to Look Closely at the Pictures in Ebay Auctions

I recently saw a Sandy Alomar Jr. lot for sale on Ebay.  I have made it a habit of looking over the pictures carefully in these items because you never know what you might find.  This inexpensive auction paid off in a big way.  The lot was advertized as having a number of inserts and parallels, but I was shocked when I came across this Ultra Platinum Medallion.  These cards are not easy to find.  This one is serial-numbered out of just 98.  It may be a long time before I find something else like this, but you can bet after this one I will be checking every lot.

Card #334: 1996 Circa #31

YEAR: 1996
BRAND: Fleer
SET: Circa
NUMBER: 31
SUBSET: NA
INSERT: NA
TEAM: Cleveland Indians

Fleer took their design from 1995 and expanded on it to release the Circa set in 1996.  This was a loud and garish-looking set aimed towards younger collectors.  Oftentimes, the cards featured quotes by the player or about the player.  This card features your standard, "I only care about winning" quote from Alomar.

Status Report

This is the 1998 Donruss Elite Status Parallel.  I already had the Aspirations parallel, which is significantly more common.  The Aspirations card was numbered to 750 while this Status card is numbered to just 100.  I really like this parallel.  The yellow foil actually looks pretty nice and I always liked die-cut cards.

This card was a little more expensive, but cards numbered to 100 or less from the late 1990's are not easy to come by anymore.  Just another reason I had kept this collection going all along.

Card #333: 1995 Fleer Revco #1

YEAR: 1995
BRAND: Fleer
SET: Revco
NUMBER: 1
SUBSET: NA
INSERT: NA
TEAM: Cleveland Indians

The Fleer Revco set was a regional 20 card set of Indians cards.  The cards are not superficially different from the base set, using the same design and pictures as 1995 Fleer.  The only real difference is numbering.  Alomar is #1 in the Revco set instead of #130 as in the base set.

You Have to Look Carefully

I recently became aware that there was another minor variation in the high number Upper Deck card from 1990, similar to the 1989 Topps rookie card.  You have to look closely to find it.

This is the variation that I picked up recently.

This is the regular version.

Give up?

I don't blame you.

It is is in the position.  The "C" on the variation is off-center somewhat.  There are enough of them out there to know that this was somewhat common.  It is not the most exciting error card in the world, but there is a precedent for cards like this bringing in a premium.  I am not saying this is a high-dollar card by any stretch.  But it is an interesting thing to have.

Card #332: 1994 Collector's Choice Silver Signature #34

YEAR: 1994
BRAND: Upper Deck
SET: Collector's Choice
NUMBER: 34
SUBSET: NA
INSERT: Silver Signature
TEAM: Cleveland Indians

1994 was the first year for Collector's Choice.  I think Upper Deck basically had Collector's Choice take over the base Upper Deck set and the base set would then be more of a higher-end set.  This is based almost exclusively on the white borders on the Collector's Choice cards which were typical for Upper Deck through 1993.  They did release two parallel sets though.  The Silver Signatures came one per pack.  It took quite a bit longer to get the Gold Signature.

Yay, More Tek Progress

Tek cards have been few and far between lately.  But on two different forums, people approached me with a pattern to offer.  These are patterns 14 and 84 and bring me down to just 11 more patterns to get.  Unfortunately it seems less and less likely that I will be able to get the rest of them by the end of 2015.

Card #331: 1993 Ultra #182

YEAR: 1993
BRAND: Fleer
SET: Ultra
NUMBER: 182
SUBSET: NA
INSERT: NA
TEAM: Cleveland Indians

Each year early on Ultra featured Alomar in his catchers' gear and 1993 was no different.  Here he is dusting off the plate after a run scored or he tagged a runner out.  Kind of an interesting shot and one not seen too often.  The design in 1993 was only slightly different than 1992's design.

Some Other Items It Took Me Awhile to Add

These are some random parallels that I always meant to get, but just never got around to.  Yes, the Diamond King is that large compared to the other two.  It is the Super Diamond King, which was a box topper, I think.  Alomar should have been a Diamond King at least one other time, but that is a topic for another day.  The Gallery card is an auction points card.  I had the 50 Points card, this is the 25 Points card.  Many collectors may not distinguish the cards, which I understand, but do consider them different.  Finally, the Topps Traded card is the grayer back version.  The retail cards had a darker back while the factory set versions had lighter-colored backs.  Again, some collectors may not consider them different and again, I understand but respectfully disagree.

Card #330: 1991 Classic II #T68

YEAR: 1991
BRAND: Classic
SET: II
NUMBER: T68
SUBSET: NA
INSERT: NA
TEAM: Cleveland Indians

I always liked the Classic cards.  I know when I started collecting, I read a letter from Beckett magazine where the Editor said they should not be considered cards as they were game pieces.  I never fell for this.  I always considered them cards and they were always fun oddball items.  I just wish they kept making them after 1992.

Merry Christmas, Here are Some Random Alomars I Got this Summer

Sorry, I don't have anything terribly interesting planned.  I am trying to catch up here.  So, here is the order I received from Southpaw Cards recently.

The two Pacific cards are both after-market embossed cards from various shows.  Pacific had a deal where if you brought some cards to their table at big card shows, they would stamp the cards.  So here are two such cards.  I pick these up occasionally when the price is right, but they are not high on my list to buy.  The Panini sticker is the French version, hence why Alomar is listed as a Receiveur.  Finally, the Upper Deck card is the gold hologram available only in factory sets.  So, some nice, rarer parallels.

Card #329: 1996 Metal Universe Platinum #42

YEAR: 1996
BRAND: Fleer
SET: Metal Universe
NUMBER: 42
SUBSET: NA
INSERT: Platinum
TEAM: Cleveland Indians

This is the parallel of the quintessentially 90's set from Fleer, Metal Universe.  Unfortunately with the Platinum parallel, you can barely see the design in the background which is what made the Metal Universe set so interesting in the first place.  So, this is one of the times when I actually prefer the base card to the parallel.  The parallel is just a silver, textured pattern with not enough details.

It Doesn't Look That Special Until You See the Back

It looks like just another 1990 Donruss card, doesn't it?  But it is not.  Look at the back:

Yes, this is the Aqueous Test version of the 1990 Donruss card.  It is believed that only about 2,500 of each card was made, a far cry from the 1990 Donruss production numbers.  So these are pretty rare.  There was one person I knew of that had this card on the Beckett forums, but I could never get into contact with them to see about making a deal.  So, when this one showed up on Ebay, I had to try and get it.  Besides, it is one of the rarest Padres cards and one of the few that I still needed.

Card #328: 1996 Pacific #295

YEAR: 1996
BRAND: Pacific
SET: Crown Collection
NUMBER: 295
SUBSET: NA
INSERT: NA
TEAM: Cleveland Indians

I generally like Pacific cards, mostly because of the fact that they often produced cards of lesser known players in their base sets.  Obviously this does not apply to Sandy Alomar Jr. since he was a star player, or at the least a popular player.  I wish Pacific would have stuck around throughout his career.  I have no doubt that they would have produced cards of Alomar every year, including in 2007 when he was with the Mets.  This is not one of their most interesting designs, though I do like the effects in the name foil.

Unreleased Crusade Cards? Really?

Earlier this year I acquired the Crusade Red card.  I thought that was it.  I am vaguely aware of a proof set of the same Crusade cards that were released with serial numbers made up of X's.  I thought that would be the next challenge.

Then, these showed up on Ebay.

Donruss went into bankruptcy in 1998.  Apparently the company was going to release a second series of the base set as well as some other sets.  They were going to expand on the Crusade set with players that had Call to Arms cards getting base Crusade cards, and vice versa.  So, these Call to Arms cards were produced as a second series to the Alomar cards.  But they were never released due to the bankruptcy.  Afterwards, someone acquired a bunch of the stuff that was never released and started sending them out into the market.  I have no idea how many of these cards are out there, but here is the Green and Purple cards.  They are possibly one-of-a-kind cards.  I asked the seller if he knew whether there was a Red, but he had not heard of one.  He did have Red parallels of other unreleased cards though, so it may be out there somewhere.

These are rather amazing cards to add to my collection.  There is no official record of them existing, so they make great additions to my collection.

Card #327: 2001 Topps Opening Day #96

YEAR: 2001
BRAND: Topps
SET: Opening Day
NUMBER: 96
SUBSET: NA
INSERT: NA
TEAM: Cleveland Indians

Topps Opening Day was a lower-cost alternative to the base Topps sets and arrived earlier in the year.  The sets had different colors but mostly the same photographs.  Alomar was never subject to altered photos so this card looks identical to the base card from 2001 other than the color change and the foil Opening Day logo.  I do like this shade of blue better than the green color of the base set, though I don't really mind that color either.

Diffractor #4

I had missed out on a couple of diffractors over the summer.  People are hitting $50.00 Buy It Now prices, which is kind of insane.  Beckett values have not been keeping up with these at all.  The Diffractors are in high demand and often sell for high prices.  So I paid more than I wanted for this.  I now have four Diffractors, meaning I only need 86 more to get them all.  Yikes.

Card #326: 2000 Upper Deck Victory #151

YEAR: 2000
BRAND: Upper Deck
SET: Victory
NUMBER: 151
SUBSET: NA
INSERT: NA
TEAM: Cleveland Indians

Here is another Victory base card.  The magnified picture in the lower-left corner of the same larger picture calls to mind the 1994 Upper Deck set.  I don't really understand the point quite honestly.  A different picture would have been better.  Otherwise, I quite like the design.

Finally, Another Recollection Buyback

Topps Archives is doing a bunch of buyback autographs this month in their Signature Series.  Donruss did this several years ago with 2004 Donruss Timelines.  Sandy Alomar Jr. is, annoyingly enough, not in the Topps Archives set, so I have to go back to these 2004 cards to get buyback autographs.  Unfortunately they don't pop up too often.  I still need many of these cards, but I was able to add this 1995 card recently.  I now have nine of these.  Still 16 to go.  Ugh.

Card #325: 2000 Topps #155

YEAR: 2000
BRAND: Topps
SET: Topps
NUMBER: 155
SUBSET: NA
INSERT: NA
TEAM: Cleveland Indians

Topps was very boring in the late 1990's.  The sets were much smaller, meaning fewer overall players available.  The designs were simplistic, the colors were boring.   Even a lot of the photography was uninspired.  So that brings us to this card.  Boring design, boring photo.  At least Alomar was in the set though, so there's that.

The Last Black Label

I mentioned before that I have been on quite the run lately with the Gold Label parallels.  This card means that I have all of the Black Labels from both 1998 and 1999.  This is the Class 2 Black Label.  I recently came to the realization that you can tell which Class the cards are by the name at the bottom.  The Class 1s have regular gold foil, the Class 2s have silver foil, and the Class 3s have shiny gold foil.  I am probably way behind in just now figuring this out, but oh well.

Card #324: 1999 Upper Deck Victory #120

YEAR: 1999
BRAND: Upper Deck
SET: Victory
NUMBER: 120
SUBSET: NA
INSERT: NA
TEAM: Cleveland Indians

Victory took the place of Collector's Choice in the pantheon of Upper Deck's annual releases in the late 1990's.  The photography was not quite as much fun as the Collector's Choice but it was a low-cost, decent-sized set.  This is not a bad picture due to the full catcher's gear.

Pacific Emerald

Well, I completed 2001 Pacific's parallels, but I still have a little ways to go with 2000.  This Emerald Green parallel showed up on Ebay over the summer with a little bit of a high price, but I had to pick it up.  There are still a few of the 2000 parallels out there that I need.  Pacific parallels have been few and far between in general.

Card #323: 1999 Stadium Club #172

YEAR: 1999
BRAND: Topps
SET: Stadium Club
NUMBER: 172
SUBSET: NA
INSERT: NA
TEAM: Cleveland Indians

One of the best things about collecting a catcher is the play at the plate shots.  And Stadium Club is well-known for its exceptional photography.  So when they do a play at the plate shot, you know it is going to be good.  This is quite possibly one of the best play at the plate shots I have ever seen.  It is simply an incredible action shot.  That looks like Doug Mientkiewicz of the Twins attempting to score and Alomar is just waiting for it.  He looks like he clearly has him out.  This is easily one of my favorite photos in my Alomar collection.

Black Diamond Quadruple

This is another card that I jumped on as soon as I saw it.  I had the Double first, with the red background.  Then I got the base card.  Then the Triple, with the yellow background.  But this was the first time I had seen the Quadruple for sale.  I had seen it in the sold items on COMC but it popped up on Ebay as part of a lot with the Double and Triple, and I had to pounce.  These do not come around too often.  The green color is awesome.

Card #322: 1999 Skybox Molten Metal #49

YEAR: 1999
BRAND: Fleer
SET: Skybox Molten Metal
NUMBER: 49
SUBSET: Metal Smiths
INSERT: NA
TEAM: Cleveland Indians

I have no real recollection of this set existing.  I never bought any packs and I don't even remember it on the shelves.  I don't really understand what the Metal Smiths label on the top left corner is supposed to mean.  This was just kind of a forgettable set ultimately.  It is kind of a neat-looking card.  I just don't remember anything about the set.

The Last 2001 Pacific Parallel

This is the last 2001 Pacific parallel card that I needed.  This card is numbered out of just 45 and showed up on Ebay over the summer.  It did not take me long to decide to jump on it right away.  Just another set to cross off the list.

Card #321: 1999 Paramount #70

YEAR: 1999
BRAND: Pacific
SET: Paramount
NUMBER: 70
SUBSET: NA
INSERT: NA
TEAM: Cleveland Indians

Not a very impressive design.  Paramount used to be full-bleed, but in 1999, Pacific went with the plain white border.  It looks more like an early 90's Upper Deck card.  Not really much to say here.  The parallels really drove this set.

Stadium Club Silver

In 1996, Stadium Club released two versions of its base cards: silver and gold.  These were not parallels.  One was for hobby release and the other for retail release.  I believe the silver was for retail and is generally harder to find.  I still needed the Alomar for quite awhile until I found it on Sportlots one day.  The problem is that most of the time, sellers do not bother to tell which version they are selling, so I generally assume it is the hobby version to avoid needlessly wasting money.  Luckily, this seller knew there was a difference.

Card #320: 1999 Bowman #4

YEAR: 1999
BRAND: Bowman
SET: Bowman
NUMBER: 4
SUBSET: NA
INSERT: NA
TEAM: Cleveland Indians

This is one of many cards that I received from Baseball Dad early on in my obsession with this player collection last year.  He sent a package of dozens of cards I needed.  This is a nice shot of Alomar after an attempt to catch a runner trying to steal.

Finest Refractor

This card was weirdly hard to find.  I have had the gold refractor from 1999 Finest for over a year now and I was just able to find the regular refractor over the summer.  Strange how that happens sometimes.  I like the picture here of Alomar in full catchers' gear.  Those are always my favorite photographs.  I have always liked getting catchers and it is why some of my favorite players over the years have been catchers.  I just like seeing the equipment.

Card #319: 1999 Aurora #51

YEAR: 1999
BRAND: Pacific
SET: Aurora
NUMBER: 51
SUBSET: NA
INSERT: NA
TEAM: Cleveland Indians

I always thought these cards looked vaguely like Studio cards.  You have the portrait of the player with the background of the player in action.  Aurora was not a set I was heavily into, though I did collect it some.  It is a reasonably nice-looking set.

Is Alomar a Victim of Racial Discrimination in Managerial Hiring Practices?

Kind of a heavy topic for me, I know.  I don't generally like to discuss negative things on this blog.  It should be a more positive thing because it is about a baseball card collection, but this is something that I have been thinking about a lot lately.

Alomar is currently under contract to remain with the Cleveland Indians as their first base coach. There were a number of managerial changes this offseason, but Alomar was not even interviewed for any of them.  The only time I heard his name come up at all was for the Padres position, but again, he was not even interviewed.

Baseball has a rule in place, known as the Selig rule, that requires teams to interview one minority individual for any managerial or general managerial position.  Unfortunately, teams seem to be skirting that rule with some creative methods such as appointing an in-house individual as a interim manager and then quickly removing the interim tag, such as what the Brewers did with Craig Counsell and the Marlins did with Dan Jennings.  It is interesting to note that neither of those two had any managerial experience prior to being appointed in their positions.  Jennings's lack of experience showed and he was ousted by the end of the year.  The other problem with the rule is that a lot of teams simply play lip service to it and interview token minority candidates that they have no intention of actually hiring.  Currently, the only racial minority managers are Fredi Gonzalez in Atlanta, Dave Roberts in Los Angeles, and Dusty Baker in Washington.

Alomar is one of several Latin American players that seemingly has a bright future as a Major League manager but can not seem to get the opportunity, along with Omar Vizquel, Alex Cora, Ivan Rodriguez, and Jose Oquendo, among others.  Alomar has been interviewed for positions with Cleveland, Toronto, Boston, Arizona, Minnesota, and both Chicago teams and has been a finalist for many of those teams.  But time and time again, he eventually gets passed over.  Cleveland was particularly surprising as he had just finished a stint as interim manager for the Indians at the end of the 2012 season and was 6-6.  But Terry Francona was available and the Indians ended up hiring him and keeping Alomar as a first base coach, something of a demotion after he had been the bench coach under Manny Acta.

Teams have recently started hiring individuals with no prior managerial experience, or much experience of any kind as their managers.  Scott Servais, Robin Ventura, Brad Ausmus, Paul Molitor, Kevin Cash, Matt Williams, and others have all been hired, despite having no Major League managing experience, or even much coaching experience.  Many of these managers also seem to struggle early on, with some already being dismissed and others on the chopping block.

Alomar should be a candidate for any team's opening.  He was a catcher for 20 years, learning pitching staffs and played for a number of quality managers.  After that, he spent two seasons as a catching instructor for the Mets before going back to Cleveland to be their bench coach.  He was the interim manager of the Indians for 12 games in 2012 and has been the team's bench coach or first base coach since 2010.  Next season, he will once again be the first base coach.  He had a rumored opportunity with the White Sox to be their bench coach, but out of respect for Ventura, he declined to be interviewed.  He is truly a selfless individual.  He should be some team's manager soon.

I do not know if Alomar is a victim of any racial discrimination.  I do not work for any team and I do not claim to know what is happening in those offices.  I only know what I see and read.  Alomar seems to me to be a good candidate.  It annoys me that he has not been given the opportunity.

A Very High-End, Rare Card

This is the Bowman Chrome Golden Anniversary Refractor card and it is serial-numbered 5/5.  I decided to splurge on it to add a very rare card that has not been seen by too many collectors.  Note the gold tint and the gold lettering.  That's really it.  For such a rare card, it is not really all that impressive looking.  But not too many people can say they have one for their player collection, so it is the idea more than anything.

Card #318: 1998 Pinnacle Performers #80

YEAR: 1998
BRAND: Pinnacle
SET: Performers
NUMBER: 80
SUBSET: NA
INSERT: NA
TEAM: Cleveland Indians

This was just kind of a filler set.  Nothing terribly exciting, but I do like the picture.  It is a different angle and shows Alomar in full catchers' gear and the hockey-style mask.  Kind of a fun card, if an unnecessary set.

Yet Another Red Label

I have had a bit of a nice run checking off the Gold Label parallels lately.  This is the Class 1 Red Label card from 1998 and it is serial-numbered out of 100.  I really like the background picture as it shows Alomar with the hockey-style mask on.  Not enough cards show that mask.

Card #317: 1998 Donruss #24

YEAR: 1998
BRAND: Donruss
SET: Donruss
NUMBER: 24
SUBSET: NA
INSERT: NA
TEAM: Cleveland Indians

This was the last regular base card of Alomar by Donruss.  The company went bankrupt in 1998 but then later returned in 2001.  Unfortunately, Donruss sets were much smaller and focused only on stars and rookies when they returned and Alomar never received another base card by the company.  Too bad.  This was one of Donruss's uglier designs.

My First Crown Royale Parallel

The Pacific parallels are kind of hard to find these days.  I don't think a lot of collectors really enjoyed Pacific as much as I did and the parallels were often ignored.  That just makes them easier to get when they pop up.  This is my first Crown Royale parallel and it is the Limited numbered to 99.  I liked this set quite a bit because of the die-cut base cards, but I never really got too many of them.

Card #316: 1998 Collector's Choice #18

YEAR: 1998
BRAND: Upper Deck
SET: Collector's Choice
NUMBER: 18
SUBSET: Cover Glory
INSERT: NA
TEAM: Cleveland Indians

I always liked Collector's Choice.  It was a low-cost, fun set, the kind of set that just is not made much any more.  It always had a lot of subsets and 1998 saw that number rise higher than normal.  This subset detailed some stories in baseball during the 1997 season and focuses on the sibling rivalry between the Alomar brothers.  Sandy had a great season and the brothers played each other in the postseason.  Sandy helped the Indians win a World Series game on his father's birthday.  Just kind of fun information.

One of the Last Remaining Padres Cards...

I am going to start catching up on all of the new cards I have gotten in the last several months.  Up first is this large Publications International Hottest Rookies sticker.  Cards of Alomar with teams other than the Indians are starting to dry up considerably.  I would see this card occasionally with three others, including Will Clark, for exorbitant prices on Ebay.  One finally came around for a lower price and I snatched it up.  There are only a few rare Padres cards still out there for me to get, which is okay, as Alomar only played eight games with the Padres.  I would really like it if there were more White Sox cards out there.  The Padres will remain the team that I have the second-most cards of in my collection, even though he played fewer games for them than for the White Sox, Rockies, Rangers, and Dodgers, and just as many games with the Mets.  Obviously Alomar was a top prospect while in the Padres system and that explains a lot of it, the rest is because there just were not as many sets making complete teams in the years he played for the other teams.

Card #315: 1998 Bowman's Best #28

YEAR: 1998
BRAND: Bowman
SET: Bowman's Best
NUMBER: 28
SUBSET: NA
INSERT: NA
TEAM: Cleveland Indians

Bowman's Best was Bowman's attempt to make a higher-end card capturing the foil and chrome craze.  They did start making Bowman chrome as well, but Bowman's Best came first.  This was definitely a 90's thing, with the bright colors and gaudy designs.  The cards looked decent, and the refractors were definitely cool, but these cards don't really stand the test of time.

Card #314: 1998 Bowman International #44

YEAR: 1998
BRAND: Bowman
SET: Bowman
NUMBER: 44
SUBSET: NA
INSERT: International
TEAM: Cleveland Indians

This was the second year Bowman released the International parallel set and it is my personal favorite because it is significantly more personal to the player depicted.  You can't really see it well because the cards do not scan well, but there is a map with a circle showing the player's hometown.  So, in this case, we can see Salinas, Puerto Rico.

Card #313: 1997 New Pinnacle #114

YEAR: 1997
BRAND: Pinnacle
SET: New Pinnacle
NUMBER: 114
SUBSET: NA
INSERT: NA
TEAM: Cleveland Indians

There are a few cards featuring Alomar holding unusual objects in his hands.  This is the first of a number with him holding a camera.  It is kind of a bizarre semi-trend.  I don't really get it, but it is interesting enough.  I don't really know why Pinnacle released this set as "New Pinnacle".  Just kind of a bizarre decision.

Card #312: 2003 Fleer Tradition Update #U194

YEAR: 2003
BRAND: Fleer
SET: Tradition Update
NUMBER: U194
SUBSET: NA
INSERT: NA
TEAM: Chicago White Sox

I am disappointed, but not surprised that Alomar did not appear in the regular set of Fleer Tradition.  It would have been nice to have another card of Alomar with the Rockies, since there are so few.  That is one of my general complaints about the way cards were going by the early 2000's.  Players who changed teams were held out until Series 2 or Update series.  Alomar does not really have a ton of White Sox cards either, but he has fewer than 10 with the Rockies.  I would have liked to see him represented with other teams more often.

Card #311: 1999 Topps #245

YEAR: 1999
BRAND: Topps
SET: Topps
NUMBER: 245
INSERT: NA
SUBSET: NA
TEAM: Cleveland Indians

1999 is one of my least-favorite years for Topps.  Most of this has to do with my feelings as a team collector though, so my Sandy Alomar Jr. collection is not as badly influenced by my feelings about the set.  This card is perfectly fine.  Fairly simple, Alomar is likely returning a warmup pitch.  I would have liked the picture better if he had been wearing the hockey-style mask.