#MyCardMonday: Placido Polanco

As a Detroit Tigers fan everyone knows that 2006 was a magical season for the Tigers. To me it was the season that turn the Tigers into one of the worse teams of the decade into a team that showed they could compete. We all know that season was capped with a World Series run. Out of all of the players on that team, Placido Polanco was probably my favorite player out of them all.

Saturday night I was watching the Tigers pregame show and they were talking with Polanco before he was honored during the game. They were celebrating the 10th anniversary of Fiesta Tigres which honors Latin-American ball players. Polanco spent five seasons in Detroit as our second basemen and our number 2 hitter in the lineup. As a hitter I cannot think of anyone who was better then Polanco batting second. He wasn't a power guy, but he could move the runner over and hit for average (.311 as a Tiger) along with getting a walk (.355 OBP). Defensively he was one of the best defenders in the game at second. He posted a career dWAR of 6.8 and won two gold gloves in Detroit. His defensive career is highlight by him setting the record of 144 straight games at second without an error.

In 2009 Polanco would reach free agency and would sign with the Philadelphia Phillies. The Tigers hoped that upcoming prospect Scott Sizemore could hold down second base for them. I thought they should have kept Polanco and have him work with Sizemore at second before letting he have full control. That didn't work out for the Tigers as plan. The Tigers didn't have a second basemen until they traded for Omar Infante in 2012.

Bowman Chrome Hits

My other box that I had waiting for me when I got home from work on Saturday was Bowman Chrome. With Bowman Chrome you are guaranteed three autograph cards in the box. The series focuses on more younger players with their rookie cards. It is a good set to get familiar with young guys who are still in the minors. Out of the three autograph cards I pulled, I only had heard of one of the three.

Joes De Leon is a right handed pitcher in the Dodgers organization. He was drafted in the 24th round in 2013. He is ranked number 7 in the Dodgers organization in top prospects according to mlb.com. He is a strikeout pitcher who broke Clayton Kershaw's Great Lakes single game strikeout record with 14.

Alex Reyes is a top 3 prospect in the St. Louis Cardinals farm system. He is another strikeout pitcher with a fastball that can reach mid 90s and even touch triple digits. He even made baseball's top 100 prospect list. The card is #/499.

Brandon Finnegan was the one player that I knew. I did pretty well with pulling Royals cards this weekend (the other being Venture in Gypsy Queen). I heard of Finnegan last year when he was drafted 17th overall to the Royals and then made his major league debut later on that year. He would earn a win in the 2014 ALDS and throw perfect 10th and 11th innings in the AL Wild Card game also.

#TwoforTuesday

My #TwoforTuesday post I figured I would share a couple cards of some Hall of Famers. I don't have many cards in my collection with Hall of Fame players, but these are some cool cards.

1999 Hall of Fame inductee Robin Yount stared for the Milwaukee Brewers during the 70s and 80s before retiring in 1993. He has 3,000 hits to his career to go with his 2 MVPs.

This Upper Deck Premier Trios card feature three great hitters, Carl Yastrzemski, Stan Musial, and Rod Carew. Yastrzemski and Musial were both part of the 3,000 hits and 400 home run clubs in their careers. Carew also reached 3,000 hits, but was not a power hitter like the other two. My personal opinion Upper Deck should have added someone else then Carew who has at least 3,000 hits and 400 home runs. A few guys on the list Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, Dave Winfield, and Cal Ripken Jr.

#TwoForTuesday

For my post today it is about to future Hall of Famers. One just retired and the other still has a few years to go. Both have had dominating careers highlighted with my accolades.

Albert Pujols was a 13th round pick in the 1999 draft to the St. Louis Cardinals. He wouldn't take long before breaking into the major league in 2001 at the young age of 21 years old. He would have a slash of line .329/.403/.610 in his rookie season to take home the Rookie of the Year, Silver Slugger, and finish 4th in the MVP voting. He would spend 11 seasons with the Cardinals leading them to 3 World Series and winning 2 of the 3 series. After winning his last World Series in 2011 he would go on to sign a big off season contract with the Los Angeles Angels. His career has since been on the decline, but when he was with the Cardinals he was known as one of the best hitters in the game. Going into the 2015 season he has 520 home runs and over 1,600 RBIs to his name. As long as he can stay healthy enough for at least another 3-4 seasons (if not sooner) he should reach the 3,000 hit mark as he currently stands with 2,519 hits.

Derek Jeter aka The Captain has had what you could say a story book career. Drafted 6th overall in 1992 by the New York Yankees Jeter would work his way through the minors and play his first full season in pinstripes in 1996. Just like Pujols he would win the Rookie of the Year. The Captain has many accolades to his name 14 All Star appearance, 2000 MVP, 5 Gold Gloves and Silver Sluggers, and 5 World Series rings. Jeter joined the 3,000 hit club on July 9th, 2011 with a home run and a five hit performance off of the Tampa Bay Rays. His final at bat came this past season and it would cap off a historical career when he would walk off the Yankees with a base hit over the Baltimore Orioles. Jeter was the face of baseball for many years and will also go down as one of the greatest Yankees of all time, right up there with Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, and Joe DiMaggio. He will without a doubt be a first ballot Hall of Famer.

#TwoforTuesday

I'm going to try something new today. On Tuesday's I'm going to take the time to post about different baseball players that probably won't have any association with the Tigers. I will post about two players and I will try to do my best to talk about the actual baseball card.

Today my post is centered around two young pitchers, Matt Moore of the Tampa Bay Rays and Shelby Miller, formerly of the St. Louis Cardinals and now the Atlanta Braves. The cards are from the 2014 Topps Supreme Series. I really like the looks of theses cards. The things that I tend to look for is a nice autograph and I prefer on card over sticker. These are sticker autos but they will do for me. The other thing I like is a card printed on nice thick card stock. Topps Supreme has me covered.

Matt Moore is a young pitcher who will be making a comeback from Tommy John surgery and hoping to pitch as early as June this year. I remember first watching Moore pitch in the 2011 playoffs against the Texas Rangers. In his start he was dominating the Rangers. He went seven strong innings of two hit baseball. I was downstate visiting my sister at the time and was out at dinner when the game was on. I sat and watched his performance and thought this guy is going to be a star. Throw in the fact I am a fellow lefty, new favorite player to follow.

The first thing as a baseball card collector, when I am collecting autographs of non-Tigers players I like someone who has a nice clean signature or something special about their signature. Now Shelby Miller has a nice autograph. Great flow to his signature. This is a die cut autograph and the second oneof the Topps Supreme that I have (first being a Nick Castellanos). Outside of the Tigers I tend to follow the St. Louis Cardinals for my National League team. My brother-in-law (check out his blog here) is originally from St. Louis, so talking with him I adopted them as my other team. I am someone who also does fantasy baseball and with following the Cards I have drafted Miller in the past and have had some success with him. This off-season he was traded away from the Cards to the Braves for Jason Heyward. I will still have to keep my eye on him with the Braves