Sunday, February 1, 2015

2002 Upper Deck Vintage, David Espinosa


#260 David Espinosa

This is probably going to be the last Danny Espinosa card that I will ever post. This is the fourth or fifth one that I have got signed and I do not see myself going out of my way to buy any more cards of him.

This card, however, did not cost me a thing. A few years back, one of my employees had a brother that died in a car accident. When going through his things, she found some cards. Since she didn't know anybody else that had anything to do with cards, she offered them to me. Being that it was me or the dumpster, I gladly accepted them. There were only a couple hundred of them, mostly of mid-90s junk. But, there was a healthy stack of cards from this set.

If you have never seen this set before, it was basically Upper Deck's version of 1971 Topps. The stack included a little bit of everything, from your commons to semi-stars to stars to a Fred Lynn jersey card.

In 2012, I was going to a Kansas City T-Bones game to get a Frank White Bobblehead. They were hosting the Lincoln Saltdogs and Danny was playing for them at the time. He signed this card for me before the game. To date, this is the only card from my employees brother's collection that I have got signed. While it was a very tragic way for me to acquire cards, I am glad she kept me in mind and that I put one to good use.

David Espinosa has been a mainstay in the American Association since 2008. He has played for the AirHogs, Saltdogs, T-Bones, and Wingnuts. He was a big contributor for Wichita when they picked him up mid-season last year. In 36 regular season games with the Nuts, David hit .338 with 6 home runs and 22 RBI.

David was only 32 years-old when this last season ended and he has already played in 1500+ minor league games.

No comments: