Scary Stuff and 2024 WS Champs

Quick real-life scary story for Halloween: On Monday, my wife lost her wallet on her way to work. Making matters worse: along with her driver's license and credit cards was her Passport card (featuring her SSN)-- which she normally wouldn't have with her if not for some pending work-related reason that she temporarily needed it handy. She figured the wallet popped out of her jacket pocket on the Max (commuter train) into downtown. Plenty of creeps around there and definitely not where you want to leave an Identity Theft Starter Kit for a bad person to play with. So then came the stressful exercises of placing various holds and being on high alert for fraud. After a miserable 48 hours expecting the worst under the guillotine, joy bloomed anew when my wife got a Facebook message that the wallet had been found and that a nearby convenience store was in possession of it. Aside from the cash, everything was still there, so it was pretty close to a best-case scenario conclusion to the whole ordeal.

It made for a hectic week here at Baseball Card Breakdown HQ. But yeah.. Happy Halloween!

The Dodgers won the World Series last night and I'm not exactly thrilled about it-- Remember how the Padres almost beat them! Huh?! Remember?!!-- But hey, I collect some of those guys, so I thought I'd show off some of my best cards of today's Dodgers to make myself feel better about the final outcome of the 2024 MLB season.

I got a small seat on the Walker Buehler hype train early in case he became the next Kershaw. Hasn't exactly reached that station yet, but he's at least still chugging along. While he had a shaky year overall, he's the lucky dog who got to victoriously close out the World Series for his team.

The 2015 1st Bowman parallel was a terrific card show pickup circa 2016 for like a buck, while the refractor rookie auto was an eBay pickup from early 2020. I remember waiting a few months for one to land in my price range, stubborn to hold out for a refractor rather than base. And I'm glad I did, even assuming his card prices probably haven't risen much since then thanks to all the injuries.

A few more RCs, parallels, etc. Funny how Buehler shares that multiplayer rookie card with Alex Verdugo, whom Buehler struck out to hand the Yankees their final out. Can you think of any other instances with a World Series-ending match-up like that sharing a rookie card? (I'm too lazy to dig into it, but maybe somebody else?)

- - -o

My Shohei Ohtani PC is only like 20-something cards deep, sadly, but I've at least got these pretty decent half-dozen I can proudly show off.

-  - --o

I was active collecting Mookie Betts back in his Red Sox days. I fell short in my efforts to land a 1st Bowman auto (preferably refractor-- better yet, color refractor) back before he blossomed into a star, but at least I was able to score his earliest certified autograph: 2013 Panini Prizm Perennial Draft Picks, plus a nice Stadium Club rookie auto.

No auto here, but hey, got these solid 1st Bowmen (sic).

Other rookie-year Mookies of mine. Glad I got that 2014 Update RC back then, as it's become a sought-after card as he's continued putting together a HOF caliber career.

A pair of long-odds pulls here to close out the Mookie section, with a 2015 Topps "Sliding" photo variation (another cheap card show all-timer for me) and a 2015 Stadium Club "Crystal Ball" insert with a cool 3D effect going on (thiiick card), numbered 17/30.

-  - -o

Ha, I almost finished the post before remembering my guy, Gavin Lux.

Another World Series ring for guys named Gavin! We've come a long way, baby. lol

Above are all my Gavin Lux autographs, all purchased before his MLB debut, I believe. (Not pictured is the "Sign Here" 1st Bowman refractor which I've shown off several times already.) The Bowman's Best card (top middle) is the card where his autograph changed. He signed his full name up to that point, but halfway through signing his 1st Bowman's Best auto cards, he dropped the first name from his signature, and has used the shorter version since (as far as I know). Not saying I blame him, just funny to notice. Oh, and those blue autos in the middle row aren't dupes (per my rules) because one is the 12/25 "Christmas Card". (Holidays just around the corner, guys!) And speaking of...

Found from a 2019 post. I did not win this card, needless to say. Geez

Sure, if I could go back in time, I might be tempted to liquidate my early Gavin Lux autos back when his top prospect status was at its peak... but oh well, I'm not in the hobby to make money, I'm in it to collect and hopefully have some fun in the process.

If I wanted to extend his post, I could dig out some of my best Clayton Kershaw cards, but I'll be lazy and not do that since he didn't pitch in the World Series. But here's an old link to my best Kershaw, a 12/25 auto, for good measure. Perhaps surprisingly, I've never really collected Freddie Freeman much, though I think I've got a few decent RCs of his kicking around. He really wrote himself into the record books this year.. wow.

Anyways, congrats to the Dodgers and their fans. :/