RBI (139) Ivan Rodriguez...

My post about Torii Hunter had me thinking about another defensive great that I had been able to secure the autograph of catcher Ivan Rodriguez. I'm not sure if he's going to be in the Hall of Fame, but he's definitely in the hall of great.

Ivan "Pudge" Rodriguez was signed by the Texas Rangers as an amateur free agent in 1988. He debuted at the tender age of 19 in 1991 for more than a cup of coffee appearing in 88 games. It was history from then on with him becoming a mainstay behind the plate until he retired after the 2011 season.

He was a 14 time All-Star, was awarded an astounding 13 Gold Gloves, 7 Silver Sluggers, named the 1999 AL MVP and  won the 2003 World Series Championship. He collected 2,844 hits, 1,332 RBI's and 311 Home Runs throughout his career as one of the top offensive catchers to play the game. He brought a serious blend offensive power with his key defensive play that made him a popular player throughout the 90's. When he retired he made headlines again for throwing the ceremonial pitch in an unique way, actually moving behind the plate to catch a strike from Michael Young after he signed a one day contract to retire with the Rangers.

I was able to get this Ivan Rodriguez autographed baseball during interleague play at Angel Stadium while he was on the Washington Nationals in 2011.

RBI (59) My foray into 2012 Topps was a hit...

That's right folks. I went to my local card shop and bought 2012 Topps. I highly doubt I'll buy any more now that I've wet my taste buds and have been pleasantly surprised but honestly not all that interested in the set.

Not only did I buy 2012 Topps, but I invested in a hobby box of 36 packs. I know some of you may be surprised seeing as the pack hits I've always shown were blaster, jumbo, or even rack pack hits, but I decided to live a little. With 2012 being so mixed and me already being able to secure a few Angel cards to work on this season I decided if I were going to get a taste I may as well invest in something that would leave me happy. The major selling point for me though was not only the Gold Rush Wrapper Redemption going on, where I was pretty intrigued in the design and autograph possibilities, but my card dealer offered to give me the final 14 hobby wrappers I'd need to finish my required 50 for FREE.

I scored a fair amount of parallels to try and get in person or mail out and went right on the average with the redemption cards online. I was able to get a nice pair of cards out of the box.

A Detroit Tigers Ryan Rayburn black parallel number 57/61.

And more importantly a Jordan Zimmermann Golden Moments autographed card. I'm big on Zimmermann in general and I think the card is a pretty nice looking one as far as the inserts go. Jordan is a key part of the Nationals' resurgence into relevance providing a strong 1-2-3 punch with Strasburg and Gio Gonzalez. Last year was his first season back from Tommy John surgery and he posted a respectable 8-11 record with  3.18 ERA before he was shut down to watch his innings. I'm looking forward to big things from the former second round pick.

Not a bad pair of items to find in my box. I'm pretty pleased with them both and fairly sure I'm done buying series 1 of 2012.

RBI (56) 365 Returns are rolling on in now...

I was able to get another score in the mail this week, though I was kind of sad when I opened up the return envelope. I have a good mental track of what areas I send cards out to, and typically I try to avoid sending cards out to the same area so to help my organic organizer. I actually thought the post mark meant it was a certain pitcher I'd been hoping to get but instead it was a excitingly fast reply from Second baseman Danny Espinosa.

Danny is another local talent from Southern California who was taken in the 3rd round of the 2008 draft by the Washington Nationals. He sped through the minors and was a September call up for the Nationals in 2010, and became the regular starting second baseman in 2011. Espinosa is part of the Nationals hopefully less expensive homegrown core that will provide run support for Strasburg, Zimmerman, and Gio. If he follows up his rookie campaign with another solid season it's not unreasonable for him to put up a 20/20 season.

Despite a .232 average between the season and his 2010 call up, he crushes the ball when he makes contact with 27 Home Runs and 33 Doubles in only 186 games. When on the base paths due to a remarkably steady eye that has given him a .323 OPB despite the low average he's proven to be a surprising nuisance to opposing pitchers with 17 steals. He's actually proved to provide a reasonable glove though I'm not sure he will be winning any Gold Gloves anytime soon.

Espinosa signed this 2008 Razor Signature Series card for me from his home address in only 5 Days. I think it's an awesome card and especially like that he signed across the light part of the card though I think it would have been beautiful in blue.

You can find Danny Espinosa's twitter here.