COMC Haul 1: New Sergio Santos PC

One of my goals for my most recent of COMC order was establishing a player collection of Sergio Santos. Sergio has a pretty unique (though, becoming less unique) history in professional baseball.

So, as the cards come out, I'll give some history:

Sergio hit .388 for his high school team in Hacienda Heights, CA in 2002. He was subsequently drafted in the first round of the 2002 draft (27th overall) by the Arizona Diamondbacks as a shortstop after also slugging well and stealing a few bases along the way in his senior year.

In the Skills section of his 1st Bowman Card (read: rookie),  he is compared to Alex Rodriguez. That's a bit of a stretch, as at the time of the printing of this card, Alex was one of the greatest players on the planet, before he pissed it away and destroyed his body and credibility with PEDs. There was one telling bit on the back of the card, though: "big league arm." Sergio never played a game for Arizona, and was traded along with Troy Glaus to the Toronto Blue Jays for Miguel Batista and Orlando Hudson.

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Sergio never impressed as a batter in the minor leagues for the Blue Jays, nor was he a particularly strong defender, and in 2008 was selected by the Minnesota Twins off of waivers, granted free agency that winter, and signed with the Chicago White Sox.

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The White Sox had the great idea of turning Sergio into a relief pitcher in 2009 - sending him back to A-Ball, trading him to the San Francisco Giants, trading for him again 10 days later, and putting him through 4 leagues and 4 teams in 2009, grooming him as a reliever.

(Breathe.)

In the Spring Training of 2010, Sergio killed it. Enough so that he was added to the ChiSox roster to start the season, and by the end of 2010, he had his first career save.

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In 2011 he was just plain dirty. 30 saves, 1.3 WHIP and a respectable 3.55 ERA. He also set the ChiSox record of 120k's in his first 100 innings, opening the year with 20 1/3 scoreless innings.

...and then the Silent Assassin swooped in and stole him from the White Sox for a torn bag of baseball and a half-eaten ham sandwhich (Nestor Molina.)

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Sergio missed most of 2012 with some mostly unexplained elbow issues for the Blue Jays. From a fan's standpoint, it looked like he was trying way too hard out there. Settle down, tough guy, the Jays have you until 2017, but in 2012, we'll need you the most.

First Trade in Two Years

...and it's a good one.

When I returned to card blogging....12 posts ago or so, I knew I wanted to get a quick trade off and maybe attract some new readers into trading and taking away some cards others may love more than I.

Once I saw Daniel from It's Like Having My Own Card Shop was still around, I knew he'd be a great counterpart for trade number one.

I sent an email his way about a Brandon Webb relic he may be interested in, and he countered with the final card in this post. However, he sent the package out, and it arrive here (across the entire country, almost, before I finished packaging his side of the loot.

So Daniel, sorry your package may be a bit lagging, but it's on it's way, and thanks for these beauties:

Sparkly Dotel

Believe it or not, this is my first Diamond Anniversary card. First! I left blogging and collecting at the end of 2010, so I pretty much missed everything from 2011. Here is an Octavio Dotel in full gaudy glory, sporting a truly dreadful photoshopping from a Pirates(?) Spring Training uniform to Blue Jays in-season away drag. Giveaways: undershirt, #35, cap. 

AlvaRED

Another example of Topps Photoshopping, or as I may begin to start calling it: PhotoToppsing. This is a Red parallel, which I am clue less to it's origin, I just know it's not a regular Topps card. I dig Alvarez, though, and the black undershirt actually looks kind of awesome. The Nue Jays logo on the black cap, however...well, they could have tried a little harder.

Bowman's Best, Travis d'Arnaud

This doubles (embarassingly) my Travis d'Arnaud collection, and it's a doosey. I would have accepted this outright for everything I plan on sending in return. Next up: refractor rainbow!

Goldmember YEScobar

I love me some Yunel Escobar. He's slick, streaky, moody, but really looks like he enjoys the game. He's like a diet Robinson Cano. And here he is, in gaudy Topps gold enshrinement. For some reason, Topps didn't PhotoTopps this uniform. So it goes. Yunel rocks the new digs, for what it's worth. Just ignore the eye black.

 K'dro Relic

From the golden age of overproduced jersey cards, nameless rookie autos and parallels out the backside comes what we decided one for a trade centerpiece. In my return to blarging, I decided to pursue Expos cards rather than Rockies as before (except Dexter Fowler) and this is the first fruit of that labour, and a good one. This card is thicker than a Chicago pizza, and when I turned it over I was stunned to see that it was #ed/45! Thanks for digging this one out, Daniel!

If you're reading this, and are looking for someone to trade with, send some Brandon Webbs and miscellaneous Diamondbacks over to Daniel at It's Like Having My Own Card Shop. It's totally worth it.