Greatest Gavins 2021 Recap

It's that time of year again that I try to do these annual posts checking in with the lesser-known active players I collect. I did the 2021 season recap for guys who went to my high school back in October, now I'm getting around to the guys who share my name.

Gavin Lux is still looking for his breakout year, but he's an important part of the current Dodgers team. His season was up and down (all the way down to the minors for a while), but he bounced back from a forgettable 2020 to hold his own. Defensively versatile, he played everywhere but 1st base and catcher in 2021. With Corey Seager leaving via free agency, he might be given more opportunities for steady playing time in 2022 as he looks to establish himself in his age 24 season. [This post is written under the assumption baseball will be back with a full season next year, though I personally wouldn't put too much faith in that.]

(I haven't gotten any new Lux cards this year, so figured I'd revisit this auto/patch/Christmas Card I've had for years. Unlicensed Leaf stuff like this doesn't really go up in value much, but still kinda cool when you can pick up a card like this for a good price. The rest of the cards in this post are recent pickups.) 

Meanwhile in the AL, Gavin Sheets became just the 4th player named "Gavin" to play Major League Baseball when he debuted June 29, 2021. All told, he got into 54 games and impressed with a 123 OPS+. Topps gave him 4 or 5 cards as a "call-up" in Topps Now, but withheld his "RC" designation until next year, so expect to see his rookie cards flood Topps products in 2022 (though technically he exceeded rookie status already). He turns 26 in April, so there probably won't be a ton of investor hype with his cards. But yeah, hopefully he keeps performing well.

Gavin Cecchini followed Gavin Floyd as the 2nd "MLB Gavin" years back, and while it looked like the former first-rounder's injury-plagued career had come to a close last year after struggling in Indy ball, 2021 saw him resurface in the Angels organization. He ended up batting .288 in triple-A, so who knows, there might be some life in his career yet. I'd love to see him get another gasp at the top level.

Before we take a trip down to the farm, one more mention is due. With the Negro Leagues now considered Major Leagues for most intents and purposes, there's technically a new Major League Gavin.

Just one career appearance for this player known only as Gavin: an inning pitched for the Brooklyn Eagles in 1935 where he gave up 4 runs (3 earned) on 5 hits and a walk. He may possibly have played in other games that've had their stats lost to the winds of time (along with the rest of his name), but at least he got his foot in the door for a baseball-reference page. Can't really add him to my card collection-- a very simple custom with no picture would be the best I could do; hardly seems worth it-- but figured I should at least give the man a head-nod here on the blog. Even assuming it's just his last name, still a true pioneer for Gavins everywhere!

Minor League Gavins

Man, we've hit a dozen active Gavins trying to crack the bigs. 

Gavin Collins (2014-2021)

The 2021 Columbus Clippers (AAA, CLE) included not only a guy named Gavin, but also a guy who went to my high school (Trenton Brooks)-- a team tailor-made for my fandom! Collins struggled to hit but was solid behind the dish, focusing only on catching after splitting time at the hot corner in years past.

Gavin Collyer (2019-2021)

20-year old Collyer pitched well for the Wood Ducks. (I'm going to keep most of these short.)

Gavin Conticello (2021)

Conticello, a 3rd baseman, is was a 2021 8th round pick by the Diamondbacks out of high school.

Gavin Hollowell (2017-2021)

Hollowell pitched well in the depths of the Rockies system.

Gavin Jones (2019-2021)

Jones is an infielder in the A's org.

Gavin LaValley (2014-2021)

Ah, a guy I've got a lot of cards of! LaValley was released by the Reds after the 2020 minor league season was cancelled. He found himself with the independent Kane County Cougars in 2021 and had a solid season, batting .270 with 12 home runs in 79 games. I'm rooting for ya, Gavin!

Gavin Sonnier (2017-2021)

Baseball-reference is counting college stats in their active years here, which is kind of confusing. Anyways, Sonnier is an undrafted player who pitched for an indy team after college.

Gavin Stone (2018-2021)

Stone is a starter in the Dodgers chain who pitched well in 2021.

Gavin Stupienski (2014-2021)

Oh wow! After not being in affiliated ball since 2017, Stupienski resurfaced in the Royals organization in 2021. Good for him! Got a nice TTM return from him with an assist from his cousin, former cardblogger "Bubba" (Matt) years back. After looking good in high-A ball, Gavin made it up to AA for a game.

Gavin Tonkel (2021)

The Phillies' 9th round pick of the 2021 draft, Tonkel is an outfielder out of high school.

Gavin Weyman (2017-2021)

An undrafted pitcher who has played for Indy teams in recent years.

Grant Gavin (2014-2021)

Honestly I was thinking about not doing this post this year, as I've got plenty of other stuff in my mental "to blog about" list and with so many active Gavins out there now compared to only a few years ago, this annual exercise might have run its course. But then I saw the recent news that Grant Gavin had been selected by the Padres in the minor league Rule 5 draft and I got pretty excited that San Diego has their first Gavin (even if a last-name Gavin isn't quite the same, but hey, close enough). Grant pitched well this past season, with his K/9 rate of 11.1 ranking fifth-best in the Triple-A East league (minimum 70 innings). Hope to see him take the mound at Petco Park before long.

So there you go. Best wishes to all Gavins everywhere!

Thanks for reading and have a great weekend.

Big Ol' Trade Post

Hey, here are a bunch of cool cards that I've received over the past couple weeks from friendly collector folk.

Holy heck, check this out! Giancarlo Stanton 2010 Topps Chrome rookie refractor autograph! It may be off-center and have some surface scratches, but still a "big card" and not the caliber of card that typically shows up in your mailbox without some wheeling and dealing beforehand.

But yeah, the incredible Matthew Scott has been working on his big, mostly-Pirates collection and decided Giancarlo didn't really have a place. He asked if I was still collecting him. Yep! Maybe not with as much fervor since his trade to the Yankees, but still definitely a guy I collect. And this rookie auto is a nice crown jewel for my Stanton PC.

Numbered 104/499. Sweet! While I'm not rooting for the Yankees, generally speaking, I do hope Stanton has himself a great comeback season.


And if that RC auto wasn't a big enough boom on its own, along with it was this..

Wow! This 2013 Topps "Chasing History" auto ain't nothing to sneeze at either! The number of Giancarlo Stanton autographs in my collection tripled thanks to this mailing.

Bob Walk the Plank is still on hiatus for the most part, so you guys didn't get to see all the neat Pirates I mailed him a while back unless maybe you caught some highlights on Twitter. But yeah, I always try to sniff out good Pirates cards for Matt (and some left over for my other Bucco trader buds), and will hope to gather more for him before too long. Huge thanks again, Matt!

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Friend o' the blog Alex T. and I have been back to our routine where I help him out with some custom card projects and he returns the favor with cards. Here's a nice run from Mark Fidrych's playing days, including a pair of rookies.

And a couple Upper Deck factory sets! I already got '91 UD just a couple months ago from The Diamond King, but Alex had the '90 set I needed plus a '91 he didn't need and since there was room in the flat-rate box, he offered to throw it in for the heck of it. If anyone needs it, I'd be willing to sell it for just a smidge above the postage cost (or a trade equivalent). Otherwise maybe I'll open up the wrap and raid it for my many PCs; there are probably a few that are lacking '91 UD cards, believe it or not. But yeah, I'm excited about the 1990 set. I ripped a fair amount of that in my first year as a collector, but never came anywhere near completing it. I really need to thumb through this set sometime soon and let the familiar cards take me back to those days.

Alex surprised me with this Padres batting practice jersey. There's no name on the back, and he says it's unlikely to be player-worn (sorry I'm too lazy to relay the full background story he shared), but still cool. Size XL, it's too big for me, but if/when the Padres win the World Series, I might have to don this anyways. (I'll probably have filled out enough to fit into it by then, lol.)

Alex's collection has a focus on minor league cards. He knows I collect Tim Blackwell and so he hooked me up with some team sets featuring that marvelous mustache. Even if I already have some of these singles, it's pretty cool to have the full team sets, too.

A nice lot of early 90s black gold!

Here's a sealed '92 Topps pack with a multiplayer "Top Prospects" card showing on top that features a couple guys I collect, Ryan Klesko and Dave Staton. Neat!

Some more cards highlighted by a Dick Allen oddball I needed and the classic Bevacqua bubble card from 1976 Topps.

Alex was downright apologetic for including these customs he had made through a Topps promotion a few years back, but I think they're awesome. I already have a little minicollection of bloggers' cards going, so it's easy to stretch that into including blog-readers' cards too. Made sure to get his approval before posting them for privacy concerns.

Then if all that wasn't enough for the little project he had me working on (several copies of a custom minor league card for a friend of his), he sent a nice PWE on top of it shortly thereafter...

Another oddity for my Tim Blackwell PC, a Floyd auto I didn't have, a Templeton oddball I needed, and a pair of Rafael Garcia signed oddballs sponsored by Carta Blanca, a mexican beer (one of which intended for Rod if he has any interest). Also known as Ralph Garcia, he pitched in a few games for the Padres in the early 70s and is in the Mexican Baseball Hall of Fame.

Thanks, Alex! Good stuff! I'll drop your customs in the mail by the end of the week.

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Here's another PWE full of '88 Fleer needs from reader David G., our third light swap along these lines. A cool thing about getting cards from David is he uses magazine cologne ads to wrap them in, so the cards come out smelling lovely and you get a bonus air freshener! Thanks, David! I'll send you back some Cardinals soon.

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Brett the Hoyt Wilhelm superfan graciously offered to send me a copy of Hoyt's 2020 Topps insert.. heck yeah! Always love adding new Hoyts to the PC. Thanks, Brett!

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And here's the last one for today. It's a package from Bob at the Best Bubble.

Big lot of pack-fresh 1976 Topps! These needs take me up to 36% complete with the set. Funny thing, these cards are all found around the back end of the set. So if you look at my '76 Topps wantlist, you'll see my haves are pretty sparse at first, but I'm in better shape once you hit #400.

More late 70s Topps needs including a few solid names. I'm really close with '79 Topps now, down to just 6 more needs to finish the set:
6 Strikeout Leaders - J.R. Richard / Nolan Ryan
115 Nolan Ryan
313 Dyar Miller (Dyar Miller?!)
369A Bump Willis (Blue Jays error variation)
412 Hank Aaron / Hack Wilson ATL RBI
610 Mike Schmidt (this one looks to be set aside for me already)

And still a ways to go with '78 Topps, but those few needs take me past 81% complete. Not too bad.

I've already got most of these Gavins, but at least a couple I didn't have. I just looked into what Gavin Cecchini is up to these days. He had gone to spring training with the Arizona Diamondbacks on a minor league deal, but they released him a month or so ago. And before that he had moved to Australia to play baseball there, but then fled the country after the crazy brushfires decimated much of the continent. Not sure what's next for him, but wish him the best of luck.

Finally, Bob threw in a few ladies on cardboard. Always a nice touch.

Thanks, Bob! I'll try to round up a return package for you soon, but you might need to have some patience...

Gonna be a busy rest of July for me. Between the usual work craziness, and now trying to raise a tiny puppy who needs constant supervision, and plus my close friend from way back is going to be in town staying with us next week. So it'll likely be a while till I'm able to spend much quality time with cards.

Oh, I also got a nice box of cards dropped on my doorstep last week by Padrographs Rod, but this post is already pretty long, and I still need to sort that stuff out a bit, so I'll save that for another day.

Thanks for reading!

Drunk on Cardboard

I know I said I wasn't going to be posting much for the next few weeks. And you guys are probably thinking, "How can we miss you if you don't go away?" But it would be rude of me not to acknowledge incoming mail from the cardsphere.

First up is a contest win (?) from Johnny's Trading Spot. I don't know exactly what happened, but he posted asking me and AJ to pick between blue and green, then a week or so later I received a PWE from him.

Yes! I'm pulling away from the pack for the title of #1 Luis Torrens collector! This 2013 Panini Elite Extra Edition - Status Emerald #'d 04/25 gives me an "insurance run" over the collector with the 2nd most Torrenses.

Nice.. Glow Stars are always appreciated regardless if I already have them. The same cannot be said for Gavin Floyd cards, but I'm John's designated Gavin depository, like it or not. LOL. And I'm not sure if those Celebrity Predictions cards were intended for a particular avenue of my collection (if so, help me out, John.. I'm at a loss) or were just some randomness to spice up the envelope.

Regardless.. Thank you, John!

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Next up is friend of the blog Larry P. coming through with a hefty stack of 1992 Leaf Black Gold for my setbuild. Love these! This lot takes me from about a quarter complete way up to nearly scratching at the halfway point now. Thanks, Larry!

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Last one for today is a terrific surprise package from Brian over at Highly Subjective and Completely Arbitrary. I included him in my small holiday mailblast back in December, sending over a few decent Twins cards I had accumulated for him over the prior months. He hit me back with a vengeance.

Speaking of the holidays... These ornament cards are fun, and it's always nice to add a new Gwynn to the PC.

1964 Topps needs! I've been slacking on this setbuild the past year or two, so it's very appreciated when a trade buddy can help breath life into the quest with a few needs. Highlighted by the Batting Leaders card featuring Yaz and Kaline, this lot brings me to 73.68% complete, with 155 cards remaining.

Wow, a trio of early Gavin Cecchini autos! The former Mets first-rounder is currently in camp with the Diamondbacks on a minor league deal. I hope he's able to regain his form and make it up to Chase Field this season.

The festive Trout is nice, and I'm pretty sure that's my first certified auto of Chase Headley. Pretty cool.

A couple impressive José Ramírez cards! Hoping he bounces back to have an all-star 2020.

Ok, it's now last call. Let's close things out with a strong Beer...

Boom!! Christmas Card autograph of a current top prospect! That's what I'm talking about!

The Astros chose to draft Beer in the 1st round (28th overall) in 2018. Next thing you know, Seth hops over to the Diamondbacks org last summer, part of the package bringing Zack Greinke to Houston. The 23-year old chugged his way to a robust .897 OPS in the minors so far in his professional career and is ranked as Arizona's #4 prospect at the moment. I'll drink to that!

This is my first Bowman Next AFL card. I'm not sure how these things were distributed, but I assume it's an "online exclusive" type of deal (Looks reminiscent of Topps Now). As you can see, it's encased.. and no, I don't plan to crack open this Beer anytime soon. (I might need to PC this guy for the beer puns alone!)

Awesome stuff. Big thanks, Brian! I'll have to hit you back with a few more cards soon to try balancing the scales.

Dennis trade post

Seems like trading has been drying up for me on the cardsphere, without much action lately (and no nibbles on my latest trade bait post). But it's nice to still occasionally receive unexpected cards from a trader buddy, like this recent package from Dennis at TMV.

I sure do love 2004 Topps Chrome black refractors! I needed this Armando Benitez, and am now at 170/487 in my foolish quest for a parallel set.

Pretty sure I've already got these Super Giles Bros., but I appreciate the thought. (Correction: I did need the Brian!)

A funky-shaped addition to my Michael Sam collection.

The rest of the mailing was a nice bunch of Gavins. That golden Cecchini looks good. I wonder how he's been doing this season. [Looks up his numbers.] Welp, he apparently hasn't played at all in 2019 yet. Back in January, he was DFA'd to clear a spot on the Mets' 40-man roster. He then cleared waivers and was outrighted to the minor leagues. I can't find any news stories on it, but he apparently got injured or something, as again, I'm not seeing any 2019 stats for him anywhere. Hmm. That's a bummer.

And a bunch of Gavin Escobar hits. Last we heard from him, he was with the San Diego Fleet of the AAF, but was placed on injured reserve not long before the league folded during its inaugural season.

I haven't counted, but I'm confident I've got more Escobar autos in my card collection than any other player by a decent margin. So that coupled with his disappointing professional career makes it hard for me to get too excited about his cards anymore, but I really like the look of this shiny auto/relic.

Thanks, Dennis! I'll get a return out to you soon.

Have a great weekend, everybody.

Mailday Before Christmas

Good stuff under the tree to recap from Collecting Cutch, Fuji, and Too Many Verlanders.

I was thrilled to win this awesome Harold Baines card from Brian the other day. He had a contest post of predicting where Andrew McCutchen would end up. I pulled Philadelphia out of my ass, and wow, a few hours later, it was announced that he did in fact sign with the Phillies!

I've always liked Harold Baines and was pleasantly shocked at the news of his HOF election. This is a great card to ring in the occasion in my card collection. Panini Flawless cards are always classy. No logos, but there's enough going on to where you don't really notice, between the two impressive patch bits and his crazy autograph. Harold doesn't have the most visually appealing signature, but still much better than a lazy squiggle. The low serial number is a nice feature, too.

And I won this pink parallel in Brian's wonderful Save The Boobies event back in October. Victory was mine in this instance thanks to my lucky pick back in September that J.D. Martinez would hit the first double of the 2018 World Series. Sure enough that prophecy was fulfilled a month later in Game 1! For my nostradamus-like abilities, I scored this Giancarlo Stanton / Aaron Judge "award show" checklist from Series Two #'d 42/50. I collect both these guys, though I'll likely throw this in the Judge PC since I already have well over 100 Giancarlo cards and I'm still getting there with Judge.

Always down for bonus Cutch cards thrown in for the ride.

But the real surprise punch of the package was this Adrian Beltre bat relic #'d 60/99. Heck of an addition to the ol' Beltre PC.

Thanks for the contests and the bonuses, Brian! Very generous of you.

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Next up is Fuji. I figured we were square, but somehow I was still on his "hit list", and hey, I'm not going to object to receiving cards in the mail.

The 2015 Chrome George Springer is a refractor.. nice! And Fuji was just a little late on getting me that '82 Jack Morris I needed for my set, beaten to the punch by Turrdog, but still appreciated.

The meat of the package was this pair of Mad Dog Madlock relic cards.

Awesome stuff! Thank you, Fuji!

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Lastly, Dennis from Too Many Verlanders graciously included me in his blast of holiday mailings.

Kicking off with a neat pair of blue Gavins.

Some Pads from the Past I collect, Gwynn Jr, Nevin, and a golden Giles.

Wow, now this is a Christmas package. These ornament cards from Pacific are a blast.

But the "Christmas Cards" that really get my attention are 12/25 cards. I'm always happy to land a card of any player with that yuletide numbering.. but a guy I collect? That's a bullseye for my collection! HOFer Greg Maddux and Guy From Granite Marcus Giles, both top tier dudes I collect.

Big thanks, Dennis! I'll hit you back with a return soon.


Merry Christmas, Brian, Fuji, and Dennis! Your generosity brightened my holidays.

And Happy Holidays, all. Thanks for swinging by.