Obscure player collections?

[theplasticman]

I've been collecting Aaron Kurcz (a 10 yr minor league vet who retired this off season).
https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=kurcz-001aar
I've gotten to know him a bit and actually connected via music stuff I do for my job before I knew he was a pro ballplayer.

Down to needing 5 1/1 and 1 other card /25.

Are you collecting any obscure players?

 

[dstrawberryfan39]

I collect Jeff Reed collected him my whole like. He lives in my hometown and married a friend of my mom's. He won a world series with the reds in 1990 and caught Tom browning no hitter. Got lots of game used jerseys and bats!

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[bstanwood]

I have a Nick Gorneault collection, he was primarily an Angels minor leaguer who had a cup of coffee in the show. I met him doing an internship in college at the facility the trained at in the winter. He was a cool, down to earth guy. Other than 1/1s I'm probably missing only a handful of his cards.

 

[mrmopar]

I've been collecting Aaron Kurcz (a 10 yr minor league vet who retired this off season).
https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=kurcz-001aar
I've gotten to know him a bit and actually connected via music stuff I do for my job before I knew he was a pro ballplayer.

Down to needing 5 1/1 and 1 other card /25.

Are you collecting any obscure players?

Just to clarify, this is not aimed at you or meant in a negative way. It is a general statement and your example is a perfect one to illustrate it.

I have to laugh at the absurdity of new cards and the relationship to your comment that this player is obscure. By definition he certainly is. However, the part I found funny is that he has AT LEAST (5) 1/1 cards, probably more since you said you were down to needing those. In my mind, an obscure player collection used to be something like a Jon Matlack or similar player. There was a Matlack collector online (spiff, I think was his user ID) who had nearly all 100 some odd cards. That may sound like a lot, but also consider Matlack had a dozen year career too and played from 1971-83. He was not quite good enough to really get into a lot of the odd 70s or 80s sets (although he was ROY, a 3X AS and an AS MVP), so what could have been a much larger selection was kept at bay by his journeyman status. I loved that someone was passionate about a guy like that. I don't recall if Matlack had any 1/1 cards now.

I don't go crazy and I am not sure he has enough cards to qualify for a "collection", but I have tried to grab as many different Kevin Pasley cards as I could. He has a few minor league issues, 2 Topps MLB cards and then maybe a few oddballs, mostly related to his 1977 Topps RC He has an oddball metal card of his rookie card, only because he shares that with Dale Murphy. I think there was also some sort of metal card made of Beckett covers that he is featured on, once again because that card graced the cover of Beckett in the earliest days. That is probably about as obscure as I can get and still consider it a player collection. I thought about doing a Bruce Bochte collection for a time, but realized I only really wanted his Mariners stuff.

 

[Dilferules]

My five most collected baseball players are Todd Van Poppel, Alex Cole, Bobby Jones (the Mets/Padres one), Tom Goodwin, and Xavier Nady...those aren't exactly the most popular players but I wouldn't consider them "obscure" because they all had somewhat lengthy careers in the majors. Well also Van Poppel is more "infamous" than "obscure." Probably the most obscure player that I try to get pretty much every card of is former ten-year minor leaguer Adam Morrissey, who never quite made it to the majors. He spent parts of 3 seasons on the A's AA team in Midland while I was living near El Paso and going to lots of El Paso/Midland games to get A's prospect autographs. I traded a major autograph hound some cards for a Morrissey GU bat he had, and surprisingly they let me take it into the stadium to get signed.

 

[DaClyde]

I've been collecting Hensley Meulens since 1989. Missing four cards that I know of, one of those Leaf cut autos /4, his only pack-issued auto card from Japan /34, a team issued card that was only given away at Giants signing events and a back-doored 1990 Upper Deck 25th anniversary buyback. I've also got at least one bat, a few jerseys and a autographed copy of his canvas tribute thing from a few years ago when he was inducted into the International League Hall of Fame. Now that he's with the Mets, I'm hoping for some manner of team-issued card to continue the collection.

 

[gracecollector]

Lars Davis, failed Rockies OF prospect. Carl Lundgren, 1900's Cubs pitcher. Chuck Hiller, 1960's Giants 2B.

 

[thelesquad]

I've thought about starting a Doug Dascenzo collection. I may at some point, but I still have too many holes to fill in my Ryno collection.

 

[tpeichel]

If anyone is curious about obscure items or variations for these players, just post your interest and I'll list them (it won't have most of the regular issue). I was curious about Bochte and it seems like he was in some interesting sets.

Team	PLAYER	Year	DESCRIPTION
MARINERS	BOCHTE, BRUCE	1978	MSA Tastee Freez Disc #25
MARINERS	BOCHTE, BRUCE	1978	RC Cola Iron On #NNO
MARINERS	BOCHTE, BRUCE	1978	Sports Photo Association Numbered Button #147 (no border/signature/3 inches)
MARINERS	BOCHTE, BRUCE	1980	Topps Superstar 5x7 Photos #55
MARINERS	BOCHTE, BRUCE	1981	All-Star Program Insert
MARINERS	BOCHTE, BRUCE	1981	Drakes #25
MARINERS	BOCHTE, BRUCE	1981	FBI Foods Disc
MARINERS	BOCHTE, BRUCE	1981	Fleer Star Sticker #08 (dark blue variation)
MARINERS	BOCHTE, BRUCE	1981	Fleer Star Sticker #08 (light blue variation)
MARINERS	BOCHTE, BRUCE	1981	Kelloggs #62
MARINERS	BOCHTE, BRUCE	1981	MSA Peter Pan Mini Disc (blank back)
MARINERS	BOCHTE, BRUCE	1981	Topps Scratch-Off #NNO (scratched off variation)
MARINERS	BOCHTE, BRUCE	1981	Topps Scratch-Off #NNO (unscratched variation)
MARINERS	BOCHTE, BRUCE	1981	Topps Scratch-Off Panel of 3 (Jim Rice/Bruce Bochte/Steve Stone)
MARINERS	BOCHTE, BRUCE	1981	Topps Scratch-Off Panel of 3 (Joe Charboneau/Bruce Bochte/Dave Stapleton)
MARINERS	BOCHTE, BRUCE	1981	Topps Scratch-Off Panel of 3 (Joe Charboneau/Bruce Bochte/Frank White)
MARINERS	BOCHTE, BRUCE	1981	Topps Scratch-Off Panel of 3 (Steve Kemp/Bruce Bochte/Dave Stapleton)
MARINERS	BOCHTE, BRUCE	1982	All-Star Program Insert
MARINERS	BOCHTE, BRUCE	1982	Fleer Stamp #222
MARINERS	BOCHTE, BRUCE	1982	MSA On Deck Cookie Disc
MARINERS	BOCHTE, BRUCE	1982	OPC Sticker #232
MARINERS	BOCHTE, BRUCE	1982	Topps Sticker #232
MARINERS	BOCHTE, BRUCE	1983	Fleer Stamp
MARINERS	BOCHTE, BRUCE	1983	Fleer Stamp Panel of 4 (Joaquin Andujar/Graig Nettles/Don Baylor/Bruce Bochte)
MARINERS	BOCHTE, BRUCE	1983	Fleer Sticker #185
MARINERS	BOCHTE, BRUCE	1983	Fleer Sticker Panel (Woodie Fryman #258/Bruce Bochte #158)
MARINERS	BOCHTE, BRUCE	1983	OPC #28
MARINERS	BOCHTE, BRUCE	1983	OPC Sticker #111
MARINERS	BOCHTE, BRUCE	1983	Topps Sticker #111
MARINERS	BOCHTE, BRUCE	1983	Topps Test Sticker Strip (George Brett/Jerry Mumphrey/Bruce Bochte/Ted Simmons/LaMarr Hoyt)
OAKLAND	BOCHTE, BRUCE	1986	Fleer Star Sticker Panel of 4 (B.Bochte/D.Carman/Canseco/V.Hayes)
OAKLAND	BOCHTE, BRUCE	1986	OPC Dealer Panel (Bob Clark/Dale Berra/Keith Moreland/Dave Collins/ Bruce Bochte/Rob Picciolo/Julio Cruz/Mark Brouhard)
OAKLAND	BOCHTE, BRUCE	1986	Topps Tattoo
OAKLAND	BOCHTE, BRUCE	1986	Topps Tattoo Panel (Sammy Khalifa/Bruce Bochte)
OAKLAND	BOCHTE, BRUCE	1987	OPC Sticker #169 (Bruce Bochte/Andy Allanson)
OAKLAND	BOCHTE, BRUCE	1987	Topps Sticker #169 (blue print on back/Made in Italy)-(Bruce Bochte/Andy Allanson)
OAKLAND	BOCHTE, BRUCE	1987	Topps Sticker #169 Hard Back/Test Issue (blue print on back/ No "Made in Italy")-(Bruce Bochte/Andy Allanson)

 

[SecondToNone]

Is Jody Davis too popular for this discussion? Slowly building a nice collection.

 

[EtherealSOC]

As a spinoff to my David Justice collection I started a small PC of Drew Denson (d. 2014) who was from the same city, one year older, and drafted one year earlier by the Atlanta Braves. Denson only played in 16 MLB games and I'm lucky enough to own one of very few of his game-used bats, and it's signed.

 

[WizardofOz1982]

I collect Jeff Frye and have since we became friends at a card show signing back in 1991 when he was still in AA. I'm only missing 9 cards and team issues (21 if you include plates from '97 Pinnacle and '98 Stadium Club) from his career but I'm always looking for oddball stuff, jerseys, etc.

He's had something of a visibility blow up lately though because of his crusade on Twitter against a certain hitting coach and the Travel Ball Structure as a whole. That's good for me because stuff is popping up up on eBay that I haven't ever seen but bad for me because people who only know him from Twitter are paying crazy prices (not so much really expensive, just 4-5 times normal) for his stuff. This new market is nuts thanks to hype/infamy swings.

 

[tpeichel]

Is Jody Davis too popular for this discussion? Slowly building a nice collection.

I think he qualifies.

 

[theplasticman]

Is Jody Davis too popular for this discussion? Slowly building a nice collection.

Not at all! Bring it on.

 

[theplasticman]

I collect Jeff Frye and have since we became friends at a card show signing back in 1991 when he was still in AA. I'm only missing 9 cards and team issues (21 if you include plates from '97 Pinnacle and '98 Stadium Club) from his career but I'm always looking for oddball stuff, jerseys, etc.

He's had something of a visibility blow up lately though because of his crusade on Twitter against a certain hitting coach and the Travel Ball Structure as a whole. That's good for me because stuff is popping up up on eBay that I haven't ever seen but bad for me because people who only know him from Twitter are paying crazy prices (not so much really expensive, just 4-5 times normal) for his stuff. This new market is nuts thanks to hype/infamy swings.

That's wild!

 

[DeliciousBacon]

I've been collecting every major and minor league player named Jeremy for the last several years now, and there are dozens and dozens of short-career minor league washouts. But as far as obscure goes, it's hard to beat some of the guys who played independent ball; there are a couple who don't even have entries on Baseball Reference because stats were never properly tabulated.

 

[Dazed]

My main player collection is Amos Otis. I wouldn't consider him an obscure player at least in the KC area. I mainly missing oddball stuff like team issued from the Mets (1969), Royals (1970-83) & Padres (Coach 1988-90).

Post your needs list. Who knows who might have something stashed away and can help each other out.

 

[tramers]

My five most collected baseball players are Todd Van Poppel, Alex Cole, Bobby Jones (the Mets/Padres one), Tom Goodwin, and Xavier Nady...those aren't exactly the most popular players but I wouldn't consider them "obscure" because they all had somewhat lengthy careers in the majors. Well also Van Poppel is more "infamous" than "obscure." Probably the most obscure player that I try to get pretty much every card of is former ten-year minor leaguer Adam Morrissey, who never quite made it to the majors. He spent parts of 3 seasons on the A's AA team in Midland while I was living near El Paso and going to lots of El Paso/Midland games to get A's prospect autographs. I traded a major autograph hound some cards for a Morrissey GU bat he had, and surprisingly they let me take it into the stadium to get signed.

MY son's name is Trent so i have a large collection of Dilfer / Green and a couple other Trents .

 

[mrmopar]

If anyone is curious about obscure items or variations for these players, just post your interest and I'll list them (it won't have most of the regular issue). I was curious about Bochte and it seems like he was in some interesting sets.

Team	PLAYER	Year	DESCRIPTION
MARINERS	BOCHTE, BRUCE	1978	MSA Tastee Freez Disc #25
MARINERS	BOCHTE, BRUCE	1978	RC Cola Iron On #NNO
MARINERS	BOCHTE, BRUCE	1978	Sports Photo Association Numbered Button #147 (no border/signature/3 inches)
MARINERS	BOCHTE, BRUCE	1980	Topps Superstar 5x7 Photos #55
MARINERS	BOCHTE, BRUCE	1981	All-Star Program Insert
MARINERS	BOCHTE, BRUCE	1981	Drakes #25
MARINERS	BOCHTE, BRUCE	1981	FBI Foods Disc
MARINERS	BOCHTE, BRUCE	1981	Fleer Star Sticker #08 (dark blue variation)
MARINERS	BOCHTE, BRUCE	1981	Fleer Star Sticker #08 (light blue variation)
MARINERS	BOCHTE, BRUCE	1981	Kelloggs #62
MARINERS	BOCHTE, BRUCE	1981	MSA Peter Pan Mini Disc (blank back)
MARINERS	BOCHTE, BRUCE	1981	Topps Scratch-Off #NNO (scratched off variation)
MARINERS	BOCHTE, BRUCE	1981	Topps Scratch-Off #NNO (unscratched variation)
MARINERS	BOCHTE, BRUCE	1981	Topps Scratch-Off Panel of 3 (Jim Rice/Bruce Bochte/Steve Stone)
MARINERS	BOCHTE, BRUCE	1981	Topps Scratch-Off Panel of 3 (Joe Charboneau/Bruce Bochte/Dave Stapleton)
MARINERS	BOCHTE, BRUCE	1981	Topps Scratch-Off Panel of 3 (Joe Charboneau/Bruce Bochte/Frank White)
MARINERS	BOCHTE, BRUCE	1981	Topps Scratch-Off Panel of 3 (Steve Kemp/Bruce Bochte/Dave Stapleton)
MARINERS	BOCHTE, BRUCE	1982	All-Star Program Insert
MARINERS	BOCHTE, BRUCE	1982	Fleer Stamp #222
MARINERS	BOCHTE, BRUCE	1982	MSA On Deck Cookie Disc
MARINERS	BOCHTE, BRUCE	1982	OPC Sticker #232
MARINERS	BOCHTE, BRUCE	1982	Topps Sticker #232
MARINERS	BOCHTE, BRUCE	1983	Fleer Stamp
MARINERS	BOCHTE, BRUCE	1983	Fleer Stamp Panel of 4 (Joaquin Andujar/Graig Nettles/Don Baylor/Bruce Bochte)
MARINERS	BOCHTE, BRUCE	1983	Fleer Sticker #185
MARINERS	BOCHTE, BRUCE	1983	Fleer Sticker Panel (Woodie Fryman #258/Bruce Bochte #158)
MARINERS	BOCHTE, BRUCE	1983	OPC #28
MARINERS	BOCHTE, BRUCE	1983	OPC Sticker #111
MARINERS	BOCHTE, BRUCE	1983	Topps Sticker #111
MARINERS	BOCHTE, BRUCE	1983	Topps Test Sticker Strip (George Brett/Jerry Mumphrey/Bruce Bochte/Ted Simmons/LaMarr Hoyt)
OAKLAND	BOCHTE, BRUCE	1986	Fleer Star Sticker Panel of 4 (B.Bochte/D.Carman/Canseco/V.Hayes)
OAKLAND	BOCHTE, BRUCE	1986	OPC Dealer Panel (Bob Clark/Dale Berra/Keith Moreland/Dave Collins/ Bruce Bochte/Rob Picciolo/Julio Cruz/Mark Brouhard)
OAKLAND	BOCHTE, BRUCE	1986	Topps Tattoo
OAKLAND	BOCHTE, BRUCE	1986	Topps Tattoo Panel (Sammy Khalifa/Bruce Bochte)
OAKLAND	BOCHTE, BRUCE	1987	OPC Sticker #169 (Bruce Bochte/Andy Allanson)
OAKLAND	BOCHTE, BRUCE	1987	Topps Sticker #169 (blue print on back/Made in Italy)-(Bruce Bochte/Andy Allanson)
OAKLAND	BOCHTE, BRUCE	1987	Topps Sticker #169 Hard Back/Test Issue (blue print on back/ No "Made in Italy")-(Bruce Bochte/Andy Allanson)

HA! The FBI disc and the RC Cola iron-on/transfer are enough to dissuade anyone from collecting him if they want it all! I have both for Garvey, but have seen VERY FEW other copies of either offered any other time. Believe it or not, the RC Cola is the scarcer of the two from my perspective, having only seen 1 other that I ever recall and that just sold as a team strip for big $$$ about a month back. I have had mine for years now.

 

[Greg Cleveland]

I have a pretty good Brian Dinkelman collection. Twins prospect only had cards in 2008 Bowman Chrome. I have the Super, only need a Red #/5 for the rainbow. I even have a couple printing plates. All his other cards are minor league cards as a player and now as a manager for the Cedar Rapids Kernals. I think someday he'll make it back to the majors as a coach/manager down the line. He's from my hometown of Centralia, IL like my other PC focus, Gary Gaetti.

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