Since its National Trading Card Day, I figured Id post one my favorite cards of one of my favorite all-time baseball players, Cardinals star, Albert Pujols. This game-worn Upper Deck logoman. Thankfully, this is from his days in St. Louis - it’s hard for me to buy cards of him in an Angels uniform (the same way I can’t buy Paul Pierce in anything except a Celtics uniform…we all have our boundaries!). This would only be better if it was autographed as well.

I’m just gonna teach the young ones about how good Stan “The Man” was: Stan Musial, one of the greatest hitters in baseball history, had an incredible career with the St. Louis Cardinals from 1941 to 1963. Here are some of his key highlights:
Career Achievements
• 3× MVP (1943, 1946, 1948)
• 24× All-Star (1943–1944, 1946–1963) (MLB held two All-Star Games per year from 1959-1962)
• 3× World Series champion (1942, 1944, 1946)
• 7× NL batting champion
• 2× NL RBI leader (1948, 1956)
• 6× NL doubles leader
• 5× NL triples leader
Career Stats
• .331 batting average
• 3,630 hits (4th all-time, tied with Hank Aaron)
• 475 home runs
• 1,951 RBIs
• 725 doubles (3rd all-time)
• 177 triples (19th all-time)
Notable Moments
• Had six seasons batting over .350
• 1948 season: Nearly won the Triple Crown, leading the league in batting average (.376), hits (230), doubles (46), triples (18), RBIs (131)—missed HR title by just one home run
• Hit 5 home runs in a doubleheader (1954)
• Finished top-10 in MVP voting 14 times
• Missed the 1945 season serving in the Navy during WWII
• Never struck out more than 50 times in a season
• Had exactly 1,815 hits at home and 1,815 on the road

Mark McGuire was an absolute beast. He was amazing for the A’s but really stole my heart as a Cardinals fan. The summer of 1990 when he and Sammie Sosa went neck-to-neck and the HR record was broken was an absolute electric time. Still looking for a nameplate gave me his bat card or a few other rare or odd pieces. But for now, this will have to do.

Stan is an all-time great. Look at his stats. I love vintage cards with vintage pen autos. Yes, they aren’t in sharpie or paint pen but they have more depth of character and tell more of a story!