I Still Have Faith in Evan Carter!

    Just over a week ago I went to my local card shop. I first found them for Topps Trading Card Day, but have grown to really like the store. They go extra-heavy on Rangers cards and memorabilia, which I guess makes sense, but still have a lot of variety otherwise.

    This trip landed me five new cards to add to my collection. It may have been more, but I was pretty busy that day and could only stop by for about fifteen minutes.

    This card caught my eye immediately. The prospect brother of Ronald Acuna Jr, from his days as a Ranger. He was traded straight up last season for Max Scherzer. Can't say we can complain since we won it all, but this was definitely an expensive trade. I really like the design on the thick Bowman Invicta insert. The whole background looks really cool, though not on a baseball field. 

    Luisangel has made his MLB debut this season at the age of 22. The shortstop has two hits in seven big-league at-bats. Congrats to him for making the big club.

    And here's the guy we traded him for! Funny, I didn't even notice that until now. I feel kinda dumb.

    Anyway, I really like the X-Fractor card, and didn't even notice that at first. It was shiny. Grab it, think about it later. Due to injury, Mad Max has only made 9 starts in 2024, and has been rather unimpressive at 2-4 with an ERA of 3.95. He is apparently not considering retirement, so we'll see how his age 40 season goes.

    I picked up another refractor in the form of Sky Blue Mitch Keller. The 2018 card is numbered 187/402, which I found interesting but also rather random. Nonetheless, a sharp-looking card and a great design. 

    I was lucky enough to find these three cards in the $1 boxes at the store. It comes as a surprise that I was able to get them for so little, but I'm not complaining. After these cards, it gets a bit expensive though.

    I picked this one up for five dollars. The blue sharpie autograph looks beautiful. Englert is currently throwing for the Detroit Tigers in the minors after having a 5.40 ERA in 12 appearances with the team. His numbers on the farms look good this year (3.15 ERA, 11.6 K/9), so I would not be surprised to see him make an impact for the team's bullpen come 2025.

    And now for the gem of the whole trip to the store. I found this one, and wasn't going to buy it, but I guess my fear of missing out got the best of me. No regrets.

    The Grade-10 Evan Carter Pre-Rookie Card! Both buying graded cards and getting your cards graded are so expensive that I haven't really thought of doing/buying them. Believe it or not, this is by far the most expensive baseball card I've ever bought, at $45. Why I spent that much? Well, I guess I have faith in the man still. The GM does too. "...He's a huge part of our future," says general manager Chris Young. I expect Carter to become a superstar in the next coming seasons.

    My Evan Carter collection is quietly growing, though I still don't have many of his cards. Hopefully I'll get more and build this mini-collection. Right now the only decent single-player collections I own are my humble Buster Posey and Cal Ripken Jr. collections, but I expect that I'll end up getting myself a nice collection of Carter cards in the future. I have a good start thus far (and I still love that 2024 base card!).

    That sums up my latest card store trip. All in all it cost me $53, which I would normally consider a lot for one day, but for the cards I got I'd say it was worth it, though I probably won't make a card purchase that big again for a while.

    So, there you have it. Y'all have a great week, and happy collecting. Good morning, good afternoon and goodnight!