I’ve been an overall fan of Rick Ankiel since 1999 and I appreciate his journey from pitching phenom to castaway to solid outfielder.

In 2013, which turned out to be Rick’s final Major League season, he had a blistering Spring Training with the Astros, going 19-46 with a 1.289 OPS. I attended one of the games in that session and saw him hit two dingers. When the manager replaced him late in the game and sent him back to the team training center, Rick walked up the third base sideline with his equipment bag over his shoulder and a giant smile on his face. That memory always brings me joy.

SLAM Score: 17

Eye Appeal: 100

I recently acquired this 2013 Atlanta Falcons game-used jersey of offensive lineman Ryan Schraeder.

I normally don’t collect gamers of offensive linemen, primarily because their on-field experiences aren’t as eye catching as a running back or wide receiver, but this one tells a fun story. Schraeder started his first NFL game in this jersey, which was played in Toronto against the Bills. During that game, Schraeder blew open a huge hole that enabled Steven Jackson to score completely untouched from 27 yards out. The Falcons went on to win in overtime and Schraeder built an impressive career in the years to come.

Ryan’s career trajectory also makes this one noteworthy. He played 0 high school football games, which means my year of freshman football gives me more high school experience than a multi-year NFL player (and for the record, I started all 7 games and logged 1 reception). Ryan was busy playing baseball and basketball through high school, plus he wasn’t that big. Luckily for him, he grew a foot after high school and got into football while at Butler Community College. He bulked up to bring his weight in line with his height, and his Wikipedia page states that he once “put a Valdosta IHOP on a temporary hiatus because of how many pancakes he was able to consume on ‘National Free Pancake Day’ in 2013.”

Lord, please don’t let that be lowbrow Wiki vandalism.

This jersey represents an unconventional rise to the pros and several years of hard work (and pancake consumption). Glad to have it in my collection.

Photomatch

Getty Image # 453940217

Now that I’m older and have disposable income, one of my collecting lanes is high-end parallel cards of players everyone was chasing when I was young. That’s why I grabbed this 1999 Upper Deck Encore F/X of Troy Glaus (#’d/125) and 1999 Bowman Chrome Refractor of Corey Patterson. These would’ve been monster pulls when I was 13…today, I grabbed them for less than a sawbuck combined.

In the spring of 2020 I was aimlessly walking around my neighborhood with a lot on my mind. I was in the very early stages of a professional comeback after a couple down years and the uncertainty of a burgeoning pandemic was threatening to uproot the little progress I’d made.

As I was lost in thought I noticed the unmistakable color pattern of a 1990 Topps card laying in the gutter. I reached down and picked up this Steve Carter and studied it as I continued on my walk. It was tattered and riddled with pockmarks - a kind of cardboard roadkill. The stats on the back indicated that the 25-year-old Carter was a recent MLB call-up following a solid season at AAA Buffalo.

I thought about how, 30 years prior to that moment, a kid might’ve pulled that card from a pack purchased at the corner store and felt compelled to ‘put it in the good pile’ at the possibility that Carter could be the next Willie McGee or Vince Coleman. I also found it curious that despite growing up in the 1990s and being a rabid baseball card collector, I’d never before heard of a player named Steve Carter.

It gave me a comforting moment of insight: It’s best to not get too attached to wherever I am in life - the top of the mountain, the edge of the gutter, or somewhere in between - because time can change fortunes in either direction. Today’s top prospects can become tomorrow’s commons and undrafted free agents can become all-stars.

This card has stayed on my shelf since that day and serves as my reminder to not get too high on myself during the good times or low on myself during the bad times.