You can't spell "Jingle Bells" without J. Bell! Number 12 in our countdown is Jay Bell, though it might be hard to read with his name, being xfracted as it is.
Bell was among the game's better middle infielders during the 90s. Kinda weird for me when a guy I remember from when I was a kid in the overproduction era-- a non-star at that-- sticks around long enough to also have Xfractors and the like. Jay got a ring with the '01 D-backs and wrapped up his career in 2003 with the Mets. He didn't get any "final tribute" cards in 2004, so 2003 is his swan song for playing-days cards.
Mixing it up with some non-baseball. I like my Christmas Card Collection to be diverse, after all. Colby Jones and Julian Phillips are the basketball duo. Not familiar with either of them, but I got it for a few bucks in a recent combined-shipping eBay purchase. But the hockey card I targeted because the guy is named Gavin Brindley, and I sure love scoring a double bullseye of a guy named Gavin on a 12/25 card. (A rare triple bullseye is coming up in a moment, so get psyched for that! lol)
Are you ready for some football? I'm not-- haven't given much attention to pigskin for several years now-- but I'm omnivorous when it comes to my card collection. Another couple combined-shipping throw-ins. BJ Ojulari is a kinda fun name and Zach Charbonnet is representing my "local" team up here in the PNW. These are numbered on the back, so let's take a look...
Gah, sorry about the blurry photos. Like I said last post, I'm hoping the light box I asked for got this Christmas helps sharpen up my photos on the blog (elsewise I guess I should maybe try scanning more, but I tend to prefer the quickness of snapping photos.)
Another basketball guy in Villanova's Mark Armstrong, plus a soccer guy named Michele De Gregorio.
12/25 on the back.
Another Gavin makes it into this year's countdown. A first round pick in 2022, Cross has spent the past couple seasons in Double-A with middling results, so his cards have been more affordable than back when he was a hotter prospect. Might as well pick up a cheap 12/25 auto when the opportunity presents itself.
Here's the triple bullseye I mentioned. Card numbered 12/25, of my favorite team, of a guy who went to the same high school as me.
I've had a big Trenton Brooks post drafting for a while now, but I haven't published it because I keep adding parallels and always seem to have another one in the mail, so I wait for that, but then there's another one also coming, and it goes on like that. LOL But no, sometime soon I'll stick a fork in that post and show off a bunch of modern parallels-- really my first taste of "rainbowing" in the Fanatics era. But for now, here's the lone Christmas Card of Trenton Brooks I've scored so far.
I wanted to kick up my Stephen Strasburg PC with a nice card, and this Ginter refractor fit the bill. He's looking like he just saw mommy kissing Santa Claus underneath the mistletoe, and he's not sure how to process it. The 12/25 serial number is in the lower right. He's another local "went to the same school" guy, but SDSU this time, and a rival high school from my conference. His pro career was hampered by injuries, but he had a few strong seasons including a big 2019 when he helped lead the Nationals to a World Series Championship.
Pete Alonso brings some star power as we near the end of the post. This 2024 Tier One parallel looks great with Mets colors. I picked this one up over the summer, back when the Mets were in the playoff picture, before things fell apart and the team got dismantled. Best of luck to the Polar Bear in Baltimore.
Bobby Witt, Jr. has been putting together an impressive career and he's still just 25 years old. Took me a while to find a nice auto and land it in my price range. Happy with this Five Star Christmas Card featuring enough rainbow foil to help it pop.
There you have it. Again, Merry Christmas and/or enjoy your 12/25 this year!
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