Pick me a Player #13 - Don Mossi

 I have 133 (due to recent downsizing) different players in my keepers with at least 10 cards.  The players are listed at the end of this post.  In an effort to get myself posting more consistently, I invite the first commenter on this post to choose one of the players below and I will post 5 of the most interesting cards I have of that player as the subject of another blog post.  Then on that post, the first commenter can pick another player and when I get around to it, I will post 5 cards of that player, and so on. 

So who will be my first commenter/player picker on this post???  Additional comments are welcome, but only the first one will be the player featured on the next post.

---

The 13th player picked to be featured in this series was picked by Jeff B, and is......

Don Mossi!!  Don was nicknamed The Sphinx, mostly due to his big ol nose. Since these cards are all vintage, expect some hammered cardboard!

Cards of Don Mossi that I would like to add to my keepers:

1. 1956 Topps

2. 1958 Topps (smiling!)

3. 1966 Topps (on the A's)

OK, on to the five cards I selected...no particular order.

1. 1964 Topps

If you didn't know who Don Mossi was before this, now you do.  This is how I assume Mossi looked when he rolled out of bed.  And when he bought a cup of coffee.  And when he kissed his wife.  And when he shot the Sheriff.  And so on.

2. 1963 Topps #218

This is the only card I have of Don actually smiling.  And the ears are still doing their job.

3. 1961 Topps

One of Mossi's most common poses.

4. 1959 Topps

The eyebrows really pop on this one!!  Somebody had issues with the Tigers logo.

5. 1955 Topps

You can't go wrong with 55 Topps, even with a chunk out of the corner.  This is Mossi's RC.

So what player is next??  First commenter gets to pick a player that is not crossed off from this list:

Aaron Judge

Adley Rutschman

Adrian Beltre

Al Kaline

Albert Belle

Albert Pujols

Alex Rodriguez

Andre Dawson

Andruw Jones

Babe Ruth

Barry Bonds

Bo Bichette

Bo Jackson

Bob Gibson

Bobby Witt Jr.

Boog Powell

Brooks Robinson

Bryce Harper

Buster Posey

Cal Ripken Jr.

Carl Yastrzemski

Carlton Fisk

Chase Utley

Chipper Jones

Clayton Kershaw

Cody Bellinger

Corbin Carroll

Corey Seager

Dale Murphy

Darryl Strawberry

Dave Parker

David Ortiz

David Wright

Dennis Eckersley

Derek Jeter

Don Mattingly

Dwight Gooden

Eddie Murray

Edgar Martinez

Eric Davis

Felix Hernandez

Fernando Tatis Jr.

Frank Thomas

Freddie Freeman

George Brett

Greg Maddux

Gunnar Henderson

Hank Aaron

Ichiro Suzuki

Ivan Rodriguez

Jacob DeGrom

Jeff Bagwell

Jim Palmer

Jim Rice

Jim Thome

Joe Mauer

Joe Morgan

Joey Votto

John Smoltz

Johnny Bench

Jose Altuve

Jose Canseco

Juan Gonzalez

Juan Soto

Julio Rodriguez

Justin Verlander

Ken Griffey Jr.

Kirby Puckett

Lou Brock

Luis Arraez

Manny Machado

Manny Ramirez

Mariano Rivera

Max Scherzer

Mickey Mantle

Miguel Cabrera

Mike Piazza

Mike Schmidt

Mike Trout

Mookie Betts

Nolan Arenado

Nolan Ryan

Ozzie Smith

Paul Goldschmidt

Paul Molitor

Pete Alonso

Pete Rose

Phil Niekro

Randy Johnson

Reggie Jackson

Rickey Henderson

Roberto Alomar

Roberto Clemente

Robin Yount

Rod Carew

Roger Clemens

Ronald Acuna Jr.

Salvador Perez

Sammy Sosa

Sandy Koufax

Scott Rolen

Shohei Ohtani

Stan Musial

Steve Carlton

Thurman Munson

Tom Glavine

Tom Seaver

Vladimir Guerrero

Vladimir Guerrero Jr.

Wade Boggs

Warren Spahn

Willie Mays

Willie McCovey

Willie Stargell

Xander Bogaerts

Yadier Molina

Yogi Berra

Yordan Alvarez

Zack Greinke

Already picked:

Tony Gwynn - picked by Rod
Ryne Sandberg - picked by Jeff B
Steve Garvey - picked by gcrl
Duke Snider - picked by Rod
Frank Robinson - picked by Nachos Grande
Ted Williams - picked by Matt
Harmon Killebrew - picked by Crocodile
Francisco Lindor - picked by OhioTim

Gary Carter - picked by Angus
Todd Helton - picked by Laurens
Barry Larkin - picked by Nachos Grande

Pedro Martinez - picked by Matt

Don Mossi - picked by Jeff B

Five years of Visions

Ready for some of the coolest junk wax around?  For 5 years in the early 90s, Fleer produced a subset called Pro Visions.  They were outlandish art cards, and I liked them back then.  Somehow, nostalgia seems to have caught up with me, because I REALLY like them now.

At a recent card show, I found this Matt Williams, which completed my 1994 Pro Visions set:

And here is the set in a binder page.  What I love about this particular year is that the cards fit together from side to side, kind of like the Triumvirates cards that came later without the die-cutting.

I also picked up these 2 tough to find Pro Visions to get me closer on the 1993 set.

Both ridiculous and cool.

Some of the Pro Visions sets are part of the year's main set, but most are inserts.  Some span multiple series in a year.  Here is the quick and dirty rundown, along with what I still need:

1991 - Insert Set - I have the Black set of 12 complete.  The Factory set came with a 4 card White set, I am missing one, the Ryne Sandberg

1992 part of the main set - 6 card set - I am missing the Yount and Ryan (not because I haven't had both at one time, but because I seem to have misplaced them!)

1993 - Insert Set - 3 inserts in Series 1 and 3 more in Series 2. I have Series 1 complete, I still need Cecil Fielder and Tom Glavine for Series 2

1994 - Insert Set - I have complete set

1995 - Insert Set - I have complete set

Once I complete all 5 years (of the baseball), I will do a post showing them all.  There are also Pro Visions cards in Fleer's Basketball and Football releases, I am not necessarily trying to complete those sets, but would definitely take any extras of those you want to send my way.  This is an "I'll take dupes" situation for now (especially the 1993s).

Speaking of which, at the same show I found these Football Pro Visions as well!

The Sanders is moderately valuable, and I was able to get 2 copies!

Anyone else like Pro Visions?

Pick me a Player #12 - Pedro Martinez

I have 133 (due to recent downsizing) different players in my keepers with at least 10 cards.  The players are listed at the end of this post.  In an effort to get myself posting more consistently, I invite the first commenter on this post to choose one of the players below and I will post 5 of the most interesting cards I have of that player as the subject of another blog post.  Then on that post, the first commenter can pick another player and when I get around to it, I will post 5 cards of that player, and so on. 

So who will be my first commenter/player picker on this post???  Additional comments are welcome, but only the first one will be the player featured on the next post.

---

The 12th player picked to be featured in this series was picked by Matt, and is......

Pedro Martinez!!

Cards of Pedro Martinez that I would like to add to my keepers:

1. Old refractors - Chrome and Finest mostly

2. Minor league cards

3. Topps Legends Variations

 I have lots of Pedro.  The vast majority of what I have is parallels and weird looking stuff.  Here is a sampling:

Lots more where that came from too!  OK, on to the five cards I selected...no particular order.

1. 2020 Topps Tribute - Tribute Triple Relics #/150

A solid, somewhat thick card. Decent color scheme for a Mets card.

2. 2000 Topps Gallery - Gallery of Heroes

I Love, love Gallery of Heroes cards.  But this year's offering is one of the less awesome to me.  Still a great card!

3. 2000 Topps Gold Label - The Treasury

Gold label made some crazy weird cards around 2000  This one really pops!

4. 1994 Finest Refractor

As you might have picked up on, I really like early refractors.....

5. 2004 Topps Chrome - Black Refractor

This one is my favorite.  Might not be the most expensive, but I love the black refractors, and this one looks great in hand.

So what player is next??  First commenter gets to pick a player that is not crossed off from this list:

Aaron Judge

Adley Rutschman

Adrian Beltre

Al Kaline

Albert Belle

Albert Pujols

Alex Rodriguez

Andre Dawson

Andruw Jones

Babe Ruth

Barry Bonds

Bo Bichette

Bo Jackson

Bob Gibson

Bobby Witt Jr.

Boog Powell

Brooks Robinson

Bryce Harper

Buster Posey

Cal Ripken Jr.

Carl Yastrzemski

Carlton Fisk

Chase Utley

Chipper Jones

Clayton Kershaw

Cody Bellinger

Corbin Carroll

Corey Seager

Dale Murphy

Darryl Strawberry

Dave Parker

David Ortiz

David Wright

Dennis Eckersley

Derek Jeter

Don Mattingly

Don Mossi

Dwight Gooden

Eddie Murray

Edgar Martinez

Eric Davis

Felix Hernandez

Fernando Tatis Jr.

Frank Thomas

Freddie Freeman

George Brett

Greg Maddux

Gunnar Henderson

Hank Aaron

Ichiro Suzuki

Ivan Rodriguez

Jacob DeGrom

Jeff Bagwell

Jim Palmer

Jim Rice

Jim Thome

Joe Mauer

Joe Morgan

Joey Votto

John Smoltz

Johnny Bench

Jose Altuve

Jose Canseco

Juan Gonzalez

Juan Soto

Julio Rodriguez

Justin Verlander

Ken Griffey Jr.

Kirby Puckett

Lou Brock

Luis Arraez

Manny Machado

Manny Ramirez

Mariano Rivera

Max Scherzer

Mickey Mantle

Miguel Cabrera

Mike Piazza

Mike Schmidt

Mike Trout

Mookie Betts

Nolan Arenado

Nolan Ryan

Ozzie Smith

Paul Goldschmidt

Paul Molitor

Pete Alonso

Pete Rose

Phil Niekro

Randy Johnson

Reggie Jackson

Rickey Henderson

Roberto Alomar

Roberto Clemente

Robin Yount

Rod Carew

Roger Clemens

Ronald Acuna Jr.

Salvador Perez

Sammy Sosa

Sandy Koufax

Scott Rolen

Shohei Ohtani

Stan Musial

Steve Carlton

Thurman Munson

Tom Glavine

Tom Seaver

Vladimir Guerrero

Vladimir Guerrero Jr.

Wade Boggs

Warren Spahn

Willie Mays

Willie McCovey

Willie Stargell

Xander Bogaerts

Yadier Molina

Yogi Berra

Yordan Alvarez

Zack Greinke

Already picked:

Tony Gwynn - picked by Rod
Ryne Sandberg - picked by Jeff B
Steve Garvey - picked by gcrl
Duke Snider - picked by Rod
Frank Robinson - picked by Nachos Grande
Ted Williams - picked by Matt
Harmon Killebrew - picked by Crocodile
Francisco Lindor - picked by OhioTim

Gary Carter - picked by Angus
Todd Helton - picked by Laurens
Barry Larkin - picked by Nachos Grande

Pedro Martinez - picked by Matt

Time to get going again

 Well, it looks like I took another blogging break.  This time, it was for better reasons than usual, as I had all three of my kids in town for 4 weeks during the holidays.  Definitely a blast!  But they are all back to their normal lives now, so I suppose I have no good justification for not posting.

So I'll ease back into things with a couple of appreciated holiday season gifts from blogger friends.  First from Fuji.  

The Yogi is the next to last card I need for the 2007 Masterpieces set.  The last one is the Ripken, #92.  There is also another Ripken in the set, #101, which I see all the time.  It's been years without seeing the #92 though.  Weird.

The Kemp is my 173rd Hoops RC of him.  Isn't that crazy???

The McReynolds always takes me back to being 11, playing fake MLB games in my backyard with my brother and keeping stats.  I was the Padres most times, and having someone named Kevin in MLB was a big part of the reason.  Lots of Kevins have come since, but he was my intro.

Fuji also threw in a bunch of other Kemps, these three are ones I liked/needed the most.  Thanks a bunch Fuji!!

And local buddy Gavin gifted me this sweet bleached border McGwire!!  Coincidently, I am up to 1549 unique McGwires in my collection.  

Now that I am back, look forward to an upcoming Pedro Martinez post and a card show recap or two.  I'll be looking for fun stuff to write about too!