With the World Baseball Classic starting tomorrow it's been 20 years since the first one, which Ichiro and Japan won!

In three decades of collecting, I’ve never owned a serial-numbered card that matched the player’s jersey number - until lightning struck twice this week.

I nabbed this 2002 Upper Deck 40-Man Rainbow of Orlando Hudson #’d 3/40. When I received a shipment of cards from Burbank a few days later, I found that the 2004 Leaf Certified Materials Mirror Gold Richard Hidalgo I purchased was #’d 15/25. Just like that, $3 cards immediately became $5 cards (that’s retirement money!).

I recently picked up this gem mint Mirror Gold card for barely more than the cost of grading. This set is notoriously condition-sensitive, what with its easy scratching and bubbling, so a PSA 10 of a player even of Davis’ caliber is worth the price of admission.

2026 Topps Series 1 Juan Soto 75th anniversary 1991 Insert #T91-82 - New York Mets

Believe it or not, this might be the first Topps card of Shoeless Joe Jackson.