The Cat Power Express

So there I was, on Christmas morning, minding my own business and opening pack after pack of baseball and basketball cards, when all of a sudden, my heart stopped beating.
I'm sure it's happened to all of us. This moment where we're not sure our eyes are seeing what the mind thinks they're seeing, if maybe we're mistaken, maybe it's another common that looks like a hit, or maybe that player looks like a superstar but actually never made it out of the minors.

And then you realize this is for real.

You beat the odds.

1: 7 500 in my case


Out of a random 2001 regular Upper Deck box, carefully selected by a Dave & Adams employee just to make me happy and enjoy my Christmas day even more.


You know how I always say I don't care about book value, that's it's only the History I'm interested in and basically having fun with little pieces of cardboard ? Well, I lied. There's nothing like that rush of pulling a great card.Not because of monetary value, as I have no intention of selling this card in particular or any from my collection, but because of what it represents : something rare and something great and something valuable (ok, I know, I just said I wasn't interested in value. Once again, I lied. Never trust a compulsive collector and hoarder).

Without further ado, I bring to you my greatest pull ever (yeah, that explains the title, as Cat Power released a song called The Greatest. Thought I'd help you with that one).

I'll bet you're all a little disappointed.
One of the greatest pitchers ever on an on card GU auto, numbered according to his jersey.
I'm not a big fan of his, mainly because of politics (we're not here to discuss politics, I know, but he's a very avid Republican with links to the NRA, and let's just say I'm not), and that famous day, I was rooting for Robin Ventura. But still. It sent a tingle down my spine when I saw it in the middle of the pack I was sorting.

And the rush is still in part present, a week after.