Eric Owens O'Wednesday!

The other day, I shared a list of fan favorites I'd love to see featured with autographs in 2015 Archives. Out of the guys I listed, I realize the biggest longshot to be given any post-playing days love is Eric Owens. On paper, his career numbers won't impress you much, but he was always exciting to watch. The Padres were pretty crappy in 1999 and 2000, but Owens was one of the few bright spots, often being the spark that ignited what few wins the team had those couple years. Sort of a latter day Bip Roberts. Great plays on the field and a constant threat to run on the basepaths, his scrappiness defined him as a fan favorite. Any highlight reel of San Diego's all-time moments would have to include his electrifying straight steal of home, still one of my favorite baseball memories. The baseball fan populous in general might not remember him very well if at all, but if you were a fan of the Padres at the turn of the millenium, he no doubt won a place in your heart.

So yeah, I've got a modest PC for Eric Owens going and now I'm going to show it off.

Let's start with some Fleer. One of those on the bottom is a gold foil parallel or something along those lines.

Some various stuff from his early days in the minors and as a Red.

Here's a closer look at the certified auto, #'d 4015/5750. Nice. He has a handful of certified autos out there, with this particular issue being the cheapest. I got it for a couple bucks.

Here's the Topps family contingent. That stretch-tastic 2004 flagship card would prove to be his sunset / final tribute card featuring complete career stats, with Eric not making it back to the bigs after the 2003 season. He's currently coaching in the minors.

And finally, the crown jewel of my Eric Owens PC...

Yep, it's Eric's original extension agreement with Topps from 2002.

1/1 certified auto! Legal Signature Edition! The B stands for Blake!

This didn't get any bids during its original auction, and was then re-listed as Buy-It-Now. I kept my eye on it and when I won a different Topps Vault auction (which I'll show off another day), I threw this in my cart to take advantage of combined shipping. It's my first of these contracts, though I have bid and lost on a couple others. Topps Vault lists many of them and occasionally they go for a lot of money, such as a Randy Myers contract recently (Randy Myers is a notorious prick about signing autographs). Though I try to limit my card collection to cards, from time to time I snag a non-card item like this and that Dick Allen match print photo I got a couple months ago.

Since it was in effect through the 2005 season, and Eric was out of affiliated ball by then (he finished his career playing in Mexico in 2005), it's safe to say this is his final contract with Topps. Sunset contract! Actually, reading it closer, it's saying Topps already had him under contract through the 2005 season, and this contract is extending that through the 2006 season. Looks like Topps threw away that $75, since again, Eric was out of the game by then and his final card was in the 2004 set. Well, at least they eventually made $9.95 of that deal back thanks to me.

Numbered hologram slapped on the back, so don't even think about producing any counterfeit Eric Owens 2002 Topps contracts!

And so there you have my Eric Owens collection. He's got plenty of cards out there that I'm missing, so please get in touch if you can fill some holes and want to trade. Thanks.