Blog Bat Around - Origins of Player Collections

All, with the exception of one, of my Player Collections revolve around former Angels. Obviously I need one example of every player in his Angels uniform since I am a team collector, but beyond that, my PCs only consist of those players cards for the OTHER team(s) they played for. That way I don't have to have two of each Angel card: one for the PC and one for the Team Collection.

Following are the six individuals comprising my PRIMARY PLAYER COLLECTIONS, in order of importance.

#1 Nolan Ryan

One of my Favorite Angels as a kid growing up near Anaheim Stadium.

Ryan meant a lot to the Angels community, still does.

My dad was at his 3rd no-hitter.

#2 Frank Tanana

The Tanana/Ryan combo in the 70's was awesome.

Tanana was just as fun to see as Ryan was.

#3 Wally Joyner

Who didn't love sitting out in Wally World hoping for a home run ball?

I still think he would have made a better Rookie of the Year selection over Canseco.

#4 Jim Abbott

Inspiring from day one.

My jaw was stuck open for every pitch he threw, just amazing.

And to think he threw a no-hitter.

#5 Mike Napoli

My first baseball man-crush.

I'm still peeved that Scioscia let him go and held on to Jeff Mathis instead.

Follow Napoli around to the different teams he's been on and you'll see the guy is magical.

#6 John Olerud

A big dude, with a sweet swing, that can crush the ball and wears a helmet in the field?

Super cool.

Add all business and a great respect for the game.

That's why he's the only non-former-Angel in my PC.

SECONDARY SIDE PCs

Todd Greene

I kept coming across some really nice cards of Todd Greene.

Like every card of his is just awesome. And he's such a great TTMer that I kept sending him cards to sign. So I made him a PC.

But this is the sole card in his PC, so I need to beef it up.

Bo Jackson

The guy is all-around amazing.

If you never saw him play you really missed out on something great.

And those are the players in my Player Collections.