Well, some autos

I was browsing the Amazon website, searching for some baseball cards. Suddenly, I saw some mysterious packs. It seems that those mysterious packs are sold by some vendors.

 

I never bought mysterious packs previously, this time, I was just thinking about doing something different. So, I bought some packs. After opening those mysterious packs, well, here’s what I got.

 

Firstly, I found a Matt Dean autograph card. After checking on ebay, it seems that this card is from the 2011 Donruss Elite Extra Edition and it’s numbered to 25. He was selected by the Blue Jays in the 13th round of the 2011 draft. He never made it into the big leagues. In total, he played 508 games in the minors, hitting .257/.320/.396 with 43 home runs and 242 RBI. The last game he played in the minors was in 2017.

 

Secondly, there’s a Bryan Brickhouse autograph card. Brickhouse was selected by the Royals in the 3rd round of the 2011 draft. He didn’t make it into the big leagues. In total, he made 63 starts and 77 relief appearances in the minors, tossing 317.1 innings with a 4.51 ERA and a 1.37 WHIP. The last time Brickhouse played in the minors was in 2022.

 

In addition, I found an Eric Valent auto. It’s from the 2000 Bowman and it’s certainly an old card. Valent was the 42nd overall pick in the 1998 draft. He was selected by the Phillies. Valent made his MLB debut in the Phillies uniform in 2001. From 2001 to 2005, he played 205 games in the majors. Valent slashed .234/.307/.389 with 13 home runs and 37 RBI. The last time he played in the majors was in May 2005. Furthermore, Valent played 650 games in the minors, hitting .262/.346/.442 with 106 home runs and 504 RBI. His last game in the minors was in 2006.

Finally, the other auto I got is a Tim Lopes auto. It’s from the 2020 Topps Chrome. And it’s a rookie auto. Tim Lopes was selected by the Mariners in the 6th round in the 2012 draft. In 2019, he made it into the big leagues. From 2019 to 2021, he played 94 games in the majors, hitting .246/.310/.352 with 3 home runs and 27 RBI. The last time he played in the majors was in September 2021. Moreover, he played 1131 games in the minors, slashing .274/.341/.394 with 62 home runs and 483 RBI. The last time he played in the minors was in 2023.

 

Looking at those cards, clearly, the results aren’t good. However, that’s quite real about collecting baseball cards. There are many baseball players. Among them, only a few make it into the big leagues. Even becoming a player in the majors, it’s really hard to play consistently and play a lengthy amount of time in the big leagues. I don’t think there are a lot of values for those baseball cards. But, it’s just part of the journey. You never know what you got until you open some packs. And your expectation has to be modest.