Cards I Aspire To One Day Own

When it comes to cards, I can be a bit greedy. I have so many, yet I want more and more and more. Unfortunately, my cards are not organized and are in boxes without any rhyme or reason. So, I am currently, in the midst of organizing my cards, slowly. Since there are so may cards, this will take a lot of time. Especially since time is limited for me right now. But as I go through them, I uncover a few gems I had forgot I had, so it's turning into a fun time.

Fuji over at The Chronicles Of Fuji, is doing the same thing I am is is discovering he has some real nice cards. Check out his blog post at:http://sanjosefuji.blogspot.com/2014/07/yeah-thats-ticket.html

Like Fuji, I am finding gems, but I am also working on various player PC's. Some I've been working on for a while, like my Pennington, Teixeira, Tino and Ewing and others I'm starting work on like my Jeter and Curtis Martin. Working on my PC's got me thinking about cards I'd love to add to my various collections. Maybe one day I can own some of these.

1973 Topps Roberto Clemente

I had this card. I remember trading about 10 of my prized Yankee cards for it back in the early 1980's. It somehow disappeared from my collection and wound up in a friend's pile. Of course, he claimed it was his, which was a bold face lie. It was a wreck at that point, so I didn't argue with him. I want it back now. Not because it was his last Topps card, but because it was my first Roberto card I ever owned.

1993 SP Derek Jeter

Now, I have only started putting all my Jeter cards in a binder and I have a lot of Jeter cards. More than I originally thought. I also have quite a few of his rookie cards. But I don't own THE rookie card and that would be the 1993 SP card. This one is the expensive card. I see these cards on eBay go for $99.00 to $150.00 raw. There was a dealer asking $479.00 for a slabbed one, graded BGS 9.

1986 -87 Fleer Patrick Ewing

Funny thing, I am not really a rookie card collector. I don't break open packs of Bowman, looking for that high dollar card. To me, that's not what collecting is about. So I never went looking for rookie cards. Now, I am regretting that. I have another rookie I would love to have in my collection.

I've been a Ewing fan ever since I watched him with Georgetown. When the Knicks won the number 1 draft pick and grabbed Ewing, I was elated. Ewing has been my all time favorite Knick and for me not to have his rookie card is a crime (at least to me). Thankfully, it's not too expensive, so I should be able to pick it up sometime soon.

1969 Topps Mickey Mantle

I don't own any Mickey Mantle cards. OK, let me rephrase that. I don't own any vintage Mickey Mantle cards. For me to own just one would be a big deal to me as I am a Mantle fan. I don't have a Mantle PC, but I still want to own a Mantle card. I picked this card only because it's relatively affordable. I can pick up a nice card for under $100.00, unslabbed. Slabbed, I'm looking to drop $150.00 large and up. Not too bad for a Mickey Mantle card. Better than dropping $200-$400 dollars for a 1959 Topps card.

Going through the cards I already have and finding lost gems is already making a good collection even better. I hope that I can one day add these cards and make my collection even better. I will never stop looking for cards to add to my collections, but that is the life of a collector, isn't it. Always on the hunt for those precious cards to add to various collections. But, it's also fun to own a piece of sports history. I may never have seen Roberto Clemente throw a runner out at third from the warning track or seen Mickey Mantle launch one of his famous tape measure home runs. But I feel owning their cards is just as good. Owning their cards is almost like owning a piece of Americana.

Yankees 2014 Topps Series One

I recently participated in a case break of 2014 Topps Series One with my group of team collectors. I had the Yankees and the Rays. I decided to send the Rays to our Rays collector as well as a set of Yankees as I had gotten triples of each card I got.

So, what did I get?

I was pleased to get Jeter since it will be his final season. I know that there will be other Jeter cards made well after he retires, but I will make it a point to enjoy each Jeter pull during his final season as an active player. I've watched Zoilo Almonte since his days with the Staten Island Yankees and also got a Gardner.

One current Yankee and two former Yankees. Logan's in Colorado and Wells is still available, I think. He played well for the first couple of months of 2013 then teetered off.

Hoping that Soriano continues to play well this season. He will be the DH this season. Assuming the Yankees keep Ichiro, that will be the only spot Soriano plays this season. I would assume that Ichiro and Almonte will be the back up outfielders.

I'm betting that Murphy will start the season in Scranton since the Yankees seem to want Cerveli to back up McCann. I'm not a Cerveli fan, but as long as he is not the starting catcher then I'm fine with it. Just keep the hot dog antics to a minimum. I feel Nunez needs to step it up this season and hit more constantly as well as keep the errors down. I'm seriously going to miss hearing "Enter Sandman" and seeing Rivera come out to save another game.

My favorite moment of last season. Watching Jeter and Pettitte come out to get the ball from Mariano and seeing him cry on Pettite's shoulder was very emotional for most Yankees fans, myself included.

Got some very nice Jeter inserts. I love the look of the "Before They Were Great" cards.

More Yankee inserts of Donnie Baseball, Cano and Joe D. I love the vintage picture of Dimaggo as well as the picture of Mattingly they used for these cards. I watched Mattingly from the very beginning of his career and that is how I remember him. Peppering balls all over the place and making outstanding plays at first. People say Keith Hernandez was the premier first baseman in the 80's, but Mattingly was just as good, in my opinion.

I love the 1989 mini's. This will be a fun set to chase.

Got Red Hot Foils of A-Rod, Jeter and Wells. These are not numbered.

My lone Gold parallel, which is numbered to 2014.

Pulled a Andy Pettitte Game Used Jersey card.

I even scored a couple of Roberto Clemente cards for my Clemente PC.

I really love that Rookie Class Of 1955 Pin card. I'm really glad to have it.

I liked this years Topps release, although I think the design looks more "Bowman-like" than a classic Topps design. I really like the inserts in this years set, especially the "Before They Were Great" cards. I will have to chase the inserts I am missing like the "Super Veterans" set on comc.com or through trades. I was a bit disappointed that we did not get players such as CC Sabathia, Mark Teixeria or David Robertson in this series. Also, no first Yankees cards of Jacoby Ellsbury, Brian McCann or Carlos Beltran. Oh well, I guess you have to leave something for Series 2.

The Start Of My Roberto Clemente PC

As a Puerto Rican American, I am fully aware of big baseball is in our culture. In Puerto Rico, Baseball is king. The first Puerto Rican born player in the Majors was Hiram Bithorn, who pitched his first game for the Chicago Cubs on April 15th, 1942. Since then, Puerto Ricans have played and flourished in the Majors. Players like Bernie Williams, Jorge Posada, Ivan Rodriguez, Roberto Alomar, Carlos Beltran, Orlando Cepeda, Edgar Martinez and the catching Molina Brothers. But to me, and most Puerto Rican baseball fans, the man is and will always be Roberto Clemente.

Clemente is widely considered to be the greatest Puerto Rican born baseball player who ever lived. Clemente is the first Hispanic born player to win a World Series as a starter, win a MVP award and a World Series MVP. He was a 15 time All Star, won 12 Gold Gloves and was a 4 time batting champion. He had a rocket for an arm and had 3,000 hits during his 18 year career, all with the Pittsburgh Pirates.

With all the accomplishments Clemente has on the baseball field, it's his charity work that I respect more. Clemente was very active in various charities and when he heard that supplies that were intended for the victims of a massive earthquake in Managua, which is the capital city of Nicaragua, never made it to them, he went on a charity mission to personally make sure the supplies would make it to the people who needed it most. Unfortunately, the plane, supplies or Roberto never made it to it's destination as the Douglas-DC7 that was carrying Roberto crashed into the ocean almost immediately after take off on New Years Eve 1972. Roberto's body was never recovered. He gave his life to help others and that is why Clemente deserves all the accolades he gets to this day and I feel his number 21 should be retired around the majors, but that's another discussion for another time.

I grew up idolizing Clemente, despite never seeing him play a baseball game, he died when I was just 1 year old. I read all the books that came I could get my hands on, I watched any documentary about him I saw on TV. At times, I would root for the Pirates when I watched Mets games, just because Roberto played for them. I even traded 10 baseball cards for a 1973 Topps Roberto Clemente card, which mysteriously found it's way into a former friend's baseball card collection, denying any wrong doing of course.

When I got back into collecting cards, one of the things I wanted to collect was Roberto Clemente. Of course, as I always do, I got side tracked building my Yankees, Jets, Knicks collections as well as my various player collections. Plus, prices for Clemente cards are pretty high. But I think I can build a really nice Clemente collection without spending a great deal of money. Here is what I have so far:

I bought this Clemente McFarlane figure when it was released. Unfortunately, the packaging was crushed under a heavy box. Stupid me. But this will be opened and displayed on a Clemente shelf I am planning on building.

Now, the cards. The cards I have are from recent releases, so I don't have anything mind blowing. But, they are very nice cards nonetheless:

I see Topps used the same picture twice. I'm sure that is not the only time they pulled this stunt.

What did I tell you?

This card is my prized possession in my Clemente Collection. I pulled this card myself from a pack of 2005 Donruss Greats. You couldn't get card off me at no price. It's not worth much, monetary. But it's priceless to me.

I hope to one day be able to add the following in the upcoming months:

- A Mitchell & Ness Clemente Jersey
-Some vintage Clemente cards, if I can find them at a good price
-Some of the Clemente SGA bobble-heads and statues. I have seen some nice figurines and bobble-heads that the Pirates have given away over the years that are affordable. I would love to add them to my collection.

That is just the beginning of what I hope to be a wonderful tribute to a man who gave us his all. It's been 41 years since he left us way too soon. Not a day goes by when I hear his name being mentioned by a sports announcer, a player or someone who is just talking sports. Clemente left behind a terrific legacy, both on and off the field. One that lives to this day through the Roberto Clemente Award, through the Hispanic born players who cite Clemente as an influence and through fans like me who knows a great man when they see one.