plain gray swatch : One, Two, Three Puerto Ricans (From Washington!)

29 October 2012

One, Two, Three Puerto Ricans (From Washington!)

Don't worry - there's no racial profiling in this post. Three of my four favorite baseball players of all-time are Puerto Ricans - Carlos Delgado (via Aguadilla), Ivan Rodriguez (via Manati) and Roberto Alomar (via Ponce.)

There's also a song by The Wallflowers called "Three Marlenas". Listen to it and you might understand the post title a bit more.

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A week or two back, the awesome Kevin of the rock solid blog The Diamond King offered up a stack of Delgado cards that for SOME reason he didn't want cluttering up his collection.

Being the great guy he is and the mooch that I am, he offered up the stack without asking anything in return - but I like to pay it forward. There will be a nice manila packet trying to outrun a hurricane later this week (hopefully.)

Now onto the Puerto Ricans that made there way her from Washington over the weekend:

(L to R): 1997 Leaf | 1999 UD HoloGrFX | 1997 Finest

Trying to pick three Carlos' out of this pile was tougghhh. There were some dandies. 1997 Leaf is one of the best looking sets....ever. 1999 holoGrFX...not so much - but still super awesome. You here often, I am sure, that a scan doesn't do a card justice. This is like a deep-fried nuclear reaction dusted with creatine. HoloGrFX lasted one year. The 1997 Finest is an absolute beauty - but it begs the question:

Is you have a Finest card in your personal collection and you keep it in a penny sleeve and top loader - is it "ethical" to remove the protective coating?

1996 Pacific Prism | 1993 Fleer Second to None | 1992 Stadium Club

Since my return to blogging in September, the Robbie Alomars have come rollin' in. These three were quite exceptional. The Prism is a holofoil version (I think). The Fleer from 1993 was one that was in my COMC cart, waiting for me to make an offer on it, and I was sure glad to see it in this package.

The third is from 1992 Stadium Club - one of my favourite sets, and cards like this are why. It's a legit action shot, but unlike 90% (at least) of baseball cards, it does not feature a player in blasting sunlight. The field is wet and the day is dark - just like most of the days when I played.

1994 Fleer | 1993 Stadium Club Member's Choice | 2000 Revolution On Deck

Pudge! America! (Puerto Rico is America, jerks.) And Revolution! The cards on the end are great, but the '93 Stadium Club takes it all. What a card. It's Pudge. It's low-light, and he's geared up. Unreal.

Thanks for the winners, Kev.

Oh, and of course: