Big League Auto

Alomar appeared in an autographed insert set for Topps Big League in 2020.  That was kind of an outside-the-box appearance.  This is the base version and I noticed something kind of interesting about his signature.  The number 15 is written in one of the loops of his signature.  This is not something that is always present, but is on this card.

Throwback Thursday

For the second time, Sandy Alomar Jr. appeared in one of the Topps online-only Throwback Thursday sets.  The first time was during the 2016 World Series when he appeared along with Mike Napoli on a card celebrating past and present of the teams in the Series.  This time, he appears alongside his Hall of Famer brother Roberto, once again.  This set celebrated family members who played in the Majors.  The only surprise is that it did not include their father Sandy Sr.

Another Top 15 Hit

I can't remember where on the Top 15 list this card was, because I adjusted it a long time ago after receiving this card.  Anyway, this was weirdly hard to find.  It's the blue parallel from Topps Rookie Cup and it is serial-numbered to 50.  So, not exceedingly rare.  Nevertheless it took a few years to find it.  So, another card off the Most Wanted List.

Rookie of the Year Recollection

One of the Recollection autographs from Donruss I wanted the most was the 1991 Award Winner card.  The Award Winner was the very first Sandy Alomar Jr. card I ever got.  The lighting is a little off on it, making everything a lot darker than it should, but that is part of the charm of the card.  I still need to find the elusive Diamond King card though.  This was the #10 card on my Top 15 Most Wanted list, so time to cross another one off.

Hero Decks Playing Card

 

I am not really sure why I never came across this card before.  I was aware these sets, a playing card set with players from each team on them.  I have one of the sets for the Red Sox and there were updates over the years with some more recent players added.  Alomar is of course one of the top catchers in Cleveland team history, so it only makes sense he would appear in a set commemorating the best players in team history.  As the card says, he was a Rookie of the Year and six-time All Star.  He also won a Gold Glove and an All Star Game MVP.  He likely could have been the World Series MVP in 1997 had the Indians held on.

2020 Topps Rookie Card Retrospective

I am a little surprised that Alomar was included in the 2020 Topps Rookie Card Retrospective insert set.  There have been a lot of sets over the last few years that he could have been in, that he was not.  Particularly stuff involving All Star Game MVP awards, Rookies of the Year, etc.  But, here he is.  This is a thick card, recreating his 1989 Topps card with a metal RC logo embedded in it.

There were parallels as well, and I was able to get the black version.  This is serial-numbered to 199.

 

1990 Donruss Recollection Autograph

I have still been attempting to track down the Donruss Recollection Collection Autographs.  At one time there was a guy that offered several of them up to me at once, but he kept flaking out on working out the deal.  One of my big disappointments in this collection.  I still have a ways to go, including the card that I want the most: the 1991 Diamond King card.  

I did manage to get this one though.  This is the 1990 card with black ink.  I particularly like to track down the Padres cards from this set.  I have tons of Indians autographs.  Not nearly as many with the other teams.

Let's Catch Up

I have added a number of new Sandy Alomar Jr. cards to my collection since the last post.  I have not been blogging much at all.  Now, I want to catch up.

Up first is this:

I showed the base version of this Topps Now card awhile back.  This is the game-used base version with autographs of both Sandy Alomar Jr. and C.C. Sabathia.  Alomar continues to be the Cleveland first base coach.  Of course, Cleveland is now known as the Guardians.  I am wondering if he is waiting on Terry Francona to retire and become the team's manager.  For some reason I do not see his name in consideration for too many managerial positions lately.  That seems odd.