Card of the Day: Eric Davis 1982 TCMA Cedar Rapids Reds #20

Card of the Day: Chris Lombardozzi 1989 ProCards Cedar Rapids Reds #935

Card of the Day: Michael Myers 1989 Cedar Rapids Reds Best #5

Orioles vs. Reds – 6/25/11

Last night the Orioles and Reds put on a show.  A combined 9 home runs were hit, the second most in Camden Yards history.  The Orioles lost 10-5.  I have never seen such a display of power between two teams before.  It was fun to see Scott Rolen again in-person.  I met Rolen many years ago at the first card show I attended.  At the time, he was just a prospect making his way up to the Phillies.  In the 7th, he belted a two-run homer.

Scott Rolen and Matt Wieters

The first 20,000 fans received a Buck Showalter bobblehead

That is a lot of bobbleheads

Rolen’s On The Radar

I know it is fairly early into the baseball season, but one player that I did not expect to standout a lot would be Scott Rolen.  As of right now, Rolen is batting .289, with 13 HR and 37 RBI’s.  He has finally taken a leadership role with a team, something that he never really felt like he could do before.  In 1997 he was the NL Rookie of the Year and in 2006 won the World Series with the Cardinals.  If he keeps going at the pace he is at now, its very possible that he could have one hell of a season.

Back in 1997 I attended my very first card show in Lebanon, PA.  Scott Rolen was just a rookie and was signing autographs that day.  When I first arrived, the line was extremely long but I was able to jump to the front after one of the people running it grabbed me while Rolen was walking in.  I got him to sign a baseball before he even sat down.

Unlike a lot of newer players, Rolen only has two rookies…….. technically.  ’95 Bowman and ’95 Bowman’s Best is where you’ll find his rookies.  He does have a Gold Parallel in Bowman and a Refractor in Bowman’s Best, but certain publications don’t consider them true rookies.  I always like to see veteran players who have cooled off for a few years start to get hot again.

Topps Releases Red Hot Rookie Redemption #1

Topps has annouced the first Red Hot Rookie Redemption from their 2008 Topps Series 2 product.  Its none other than an autograph of…………………………………………………Jay Bruce.  Each box contains one of these redemption cards.  Topps says this will be part of a 20 card set.  The card will look like a Topps Chrome Refractor.

 

2008 Upper Deck SPx Mystery Rookie Redemption #1

In Upper Deck’s attempt to compete against Topps, they have created a “Mystery Redemption” program kinda like how the Topps Finest redemption cards work.  Upper Deck put these mystery cards in their 2008 SPx product.  Today Upper Deck annouced that card number one in this rookie redemption set is Jay Bruce, which is autographed.  Looks pretty cool.

Topps Unveils 2008 Topps Finest RC Redemption #2

Topps has annouced that the #2 redemption card in their 2008 Topps Finest baseball cards is Jay Bruce.  Not only will it be a rookie card but it will also be autographed.  Jay Bruce is one of the biggest prospects in baseball, going 3-3 his first night up with the Reds.