Even as Nick Senzel begins the 2019 season in the minor leagues, there's little doubt his bat will get him to the Major Leagues and the Cincinnati Reds sooner than later. Now blocked at his natural position of third base by the solid Eugenio Suarez and at second base by Scooter Gennett, Senzel will focus on center field in 2019. Of course, Senzel showed in 2018 Spring Training that he can handle shortstop defensively, as well.

Even in limited play in 2018, Nick Senzel bashed in both Double-A and Triple-A.  Senzel did have offseason elbow surgery, but he's expected to be ready for 2019 Spring Training. His offensive potential and ability to hold his own in the field just about anywhere means that he has a bright future with a Reds team that could use his potent bat in the lineup.

So, it's little surprise that Nick Senzel rookie cards are hot commodities at the start of the 2019 MLB season, much as they were in 2018. The hottest card is Nick Senzel's 2017 Bowman Prospects card, numbered #BP1, and the Chrome version of the card #BCP1. What makes it a hot card is that it's his 1st Bowman card. Bowman rookie cards are regarded highly in the baseball card hobby. There are also several parallel versions of this card that allow more serious baseball card investors the chance to get a higher return on investment.

The 2017 Bowman Prospects card is particularly a key rookie card because of the interest in collectors getting their copies graded by trading card grading giant PSA. There are already 149 PSA 10 Gem Mint copies of the base Nick Senzel card and 305 of the Chrome card. While no longer the top Reds prospect, interest is still definitely there for Nick Senzel and his 1st Bowman card.

The base Rookie Card of Nick Senzel is very affordable with about a $1.50 price point at the beginning of the 2019 season. Even a PSA 10 copy of the base card can be had on eBay under $15 in February 2019. A Chrome base card isn't much more and a PSA 10 Chrome card sold for around $20 in early February 2019. The Yellow Parallel is around $3 on eBay. There's also the various numbered parallels including the Silver parallel numbered to 499. If you want to "go for broke" with Senzel, there's the Gold parallel numbered to 50, and the Orange parallel numbered to 25.

If you're looking for something in between, there are two other parallels, too. There's the Purple parallel numbered to 250 and the Blue parallel numbered to 150. These options allow you to essentially choose how much you want to invest in a particular player. Collectors seem pretty happy with Nick Senzel's potential, offensive ability, and positional versatility, so he's a less risky investment than many other rookie cards.

Are you a fan of Nick Senzel? Do you think he'll establish himself as a solid Major League ballplayer? Let us know in the comments!

Updated 2/4/2019

Philadelphia Eagles Rookie Quarterback Carson Wentz has really been tearing it up in 2017. Unsurprisingly, there's a lot of demand for Carson Wentz rookie cards. Tonight, there's one such rookie card commanding nearly $2,000 on eBay. It's a 2016 Panini Contenders Cracked Ice Rookie Card with Auto. It's #6 of only 24 copies out there. This particular copy is also graded 9.5 by Beckett with a 10 graded autograph. You can see the listing on eBay here.

If you want to own a somewhat more affordable version of this card, there's also a Panini Contenders Rookie Card with Auto that's numbered to 25. It doesn't have the fancy Cracked Ice parallel and isn't graded. Still, on eBay it's been bid up to $500! Basically, if it's a Wentz RC with auto, you can expect a lot of bids!

Talk about a "boom or bust" investment! Right now, Wentz's stock is most definitely booming!

I won this Dee Gordon baseball card on Listia for a low amount of Listia credits. This is card #122 of the 2017 Topps Gypsy Queen set.  At the time, I was also bidding on Yuliesky Gurriel and Dallas Keuchel cards from the same set, but they went for more credits than I wanted to spend on them. So, Dee Gordon was a consolation prize.

Gordon had a breakout year for the Miami Marlins in 2015 before an injury-riddled season in 2016. He rebounded a good deal in 2017, hitting over .300 and scoring over 100 runs. He also stole 60 bases. He seems like a  good   candidate for an even better year in 2018.

Overall, I like the design of these Gypsy Queen cards. So, I don't mind getting even a base card of a  lesser known  player when it's for relatively pennies. Here's to a great 2018 season and beyond for Dee Gordon!

Being a popular Baseball Hall of Fame player, Frank Thomas rookie cards have become quite popular. There's the 1990 Topps Frank Thomas No Name error baseball card that's been known to sell for quite a bit. But the Topps #1 Draft Pick card is not the most valuable Frank Thomas rookie card. There's the 1990 Leaf #300 Frank Thomas RC. Not only is it a nice looking card, but you can put some money in the bank if you happen to pay Beckett Media or PSA to grade it!

One BGS 10 (Pristine) Leaf Frank Thomas Rookie Card snatched $706 in August of 2017. As one of the more popular Hall of Famers in recent years, it's not surprising that this card fetched a high price. But, it's not a price that you'd expect for a 1990 baseball card that is simply a base card! But, the pose is great and the overall card design is clean and simple. It's very attractive to collectors.

That auction just shows how highly sought after 10's are from collected. Another 9.5 also graded by Beckett only fetched about $110 by PWCC auctions on eBay. It was still well worth getting the card graded. That's no number to sneeze at, but it's no $700! Likewise, a PSA 10 of the same card fetched only $77 by PWCC. In 2018,  $70 to $80 was the going price for PSA 10 copies of this card, with plenty of eBay sales at that price point.

But in late 2018 and early 2019, PSA 10 Frank Thomas rookie cards started eclipsing the $100 mark in auctions on a regular basis. Considering there are a ton of PSA 10 copies out there (3035 PSA 10 examples as of 2/9/2019), that's quite a jump in price. Of course, his demand makes sense, as he hit over 500 home runs and hit over a .300 batting average in his career (.301) - both milestones that card collectors appreciate.

In PSA 9 graded condition, however, there are over 9200 (!) PSA 9 copies out there. Because of the sheer volume available on the market you're lucky to get $25 for a PSA 9 copy. At about $10 to $20 a card, depending on how many cards you submit at once, grading isn't cheap. But, grading IS worth it for this particular 1990 Leaf Frank Thomas card if you can get it in a PSA 10. Due to essentially breaking even (or worse) on getting a PSA 9 back instead of a PSA 10, collectors are willing to pay a substantial premium for an already slabbed PSA 10 example.

So, what if you don't want to put the time and money into grading? Well, the great news is you can find this card raw under $5 in mint condition! Even better, you can find the entire 1990 Leaf set for $20 or less. The  set also has a Sammy Sosa rookie card that collectors are still buying today. If you do decide to grade the 1990 Leaf Frank Thomas, since there's a discount on grading more cards at once, there are other cards to consider submitting:

• #12 Roger Clemens
• #21 Nolan Ryan (HOF)
• #25 Greg Maddux (HOF)
• #63 Mark McGwire
  
• #91 Barry Bonds
• #98 Ryne Sandburg (HOF)
• #125 Bo Jackson
• #154 Tony Gwynn (HOF)
• #160 Rickey Henderson (HOF)
• #178 George Brett (HOF)
• #180 Joey (Albert) Belle RC
• #197 Cal Ripken Jr. (HOF)
• #237 John Olerud RC
• #245 Ken Griffey Jr.
• #265 Nolan Ryan (No Hit King) HOF
• #297 David Justice RC

Many of these cards can fetch $10 or more as graded PSA 10 examples. There are a few other Hall of Famers in the set, such as Eddie Murray, as well.

Frank Thomas continues to be a beloved, charismatic former ballplayer long after his Hall of Fame induction in 2014. While you may not be able to build a retirement fund around his most popular rookie card, it definitely is looking like a strong investment in any baseball card collection. So, thanks, Frank Thomas, for making the 1990 Leaf baseball set worth collecting!

Updated 2/9/2019

There are not many baseball cards from the early 1990's that are worthy much money. However, one card that certainly is worth money is the 1990 Topps Frank Thomas #414 with a missing name on the front! A Beckett Graded copy of this card actually sold on eBay for $7200! However, there have been other graded copies that have sold for as low as $150. Ungraded, you're looking at closer to $15. Goes to show the value in paying to have cards graded!

What about a regular, ungraded 1990 Topps #414? Frank Thomas is a Hall-of-Famer. The "Big Hurt" is one of the more recognizable recently retired players. Well, you'd be lucky to get $2 for a regular copy. There are just so many of these in the wild. But the no-name error card is DEFINITELY worth having graded if you happen to come across one. Also, authenticated signed copies of this card (even the corrected version) are worth $40 or more. In any case, this Frank Thomas Rookie Card is a good card to have from the 1990's.

Don McMahon may not be a household name, but he was a pretty good baseball relief pitcher for almost two decades. He actually pitched in the Major Leagues until he was 44 years old! This 1967 Topps #7 baseball card isn't exceptionally rare, but it's a nice piece of history.

Back in 1966, the Red Sox traded once all-star reliever Dick Radatz for McMahon. As it turned out, Radatz was washed up and was out of baseball a couple years later. McMahon was good in 1966 for the Red Sox, but wasn't stellar for them in 1967, essentially being replacement level. In that year, the team that would end up being the "Impossible Dream Team" traded McMahon and minor leaguer Rob Snow for infielder Jerry Adair. To the Sox's credit, they got a lot of value out of Adair, although he'd be dreadful in 1968.

Meanwhile, after being traded to the White Sox, McMahon pitched very well for the rest of 1967 and 1968 for the White Sox. He'd move to the Tigers, where he was adequate, and pitched several more seasons for the San Francisco Giants, including  one of his best years in 1970 at age 40.  McMahon would still have several seasons left in him, although he was never quite that good again.

So, this was a pretty good trade for the Red Sox, and it's a good card for vintage Red Sox baseball card collectors. Excellent condition copies can be found for $2 or less. While McMahon might not be remembered much today, he was definitely an above-average relief pitcher for a very long time. Not only was he good for the Red Sox for a bit, but he again contributed by acquiring a very useful infielder for the 1967 team. As of 2018, Don McMahon is still with us, too.

Here's to what was a great, and pretty underrated, career!

by R.A. Rowell; Co-Owner ofIntent-sive Nature & theBrand Shamans network

The baseball card collecting hobby (and sports card collecting in general) is still alive and well! There are plenty of great, regularly updated baseball card blogs out there worth reading. So, after finding that many sports card blog lists were very outdated, I decided to put together a blogroll of my own!

Please do not hesitate to let me know if any of these blogs are no longer available or are inactive (no new posts for months.) Also, feel free to suggest new blogs for the list!

Thanks in part to the Sports Card Blogroll by bdj610 on Blogger for pointing me to many of these blogs!

Updated 8/29/19

A Pack to Be Named Later - http://apacktobenamedlater.blogspot.com/

A Penny Sleeve for Your Thoughts - http://pennysleevethoughts.blogspot.com/
Deals with a lot of older baseball cards, plus football cards, basketball cards, and non-sport cards.

Angels in Order - http://angelsinorder.blogspot.com/

Baseball Card Breakdown - http://baseballcardbreakdown.blogspot.com/

Baseball Cards Come to Life - http://borosny.blogspot.com

Baseball Dime Box - http://baseballdimebox.blogspot.com

Baseball Every Night - http://baseballeverynight.blogspot.com/

Beckett News - http://www.beckett.com/news/
Because it’s Beckett

Cards on Cards - http://cardsoncards.blogspot.com/

Collecting Cutch - http://collectingcutch.blogspot.com/

CrazieJoe’s Card Corner - http://craziejoescardcorner.blogspot.com/

Daily Autograph - http://www.dailyautograph.com/

Diamond Jesters - http://diamond-jesters.blogspot.com

Dodgers Blue Heaven - http://www.dodgersblueheaven.com/

Foul Bunt - http://foulbunt.blogspot.com

From a 1980’s Baseball Card Collector -
http://80sbaseballcardcollector.blogspot.com/

Johnny’s Trading Spot - http://johnnnystradingspot.blogspot.com/

Nachos Grande - http://fanofreds.blogspot.com/
A blog about baseball cards, the Cincinnati Reds, and Barry Larkin

Night Owl Cards - http://nightowlcards.blogspot.com/
Actually runs a lot of baseball card set blogs, too, like 1985 Topps.

Old Sports Cards - https://www.oldsportscards.com/
Also covers basketball & football

One Million Cubs Project - https://www.onemillioncubs.net/
An epic project in which Beau Thompson aims to collect 1,000,000 Chicago Cubs cards!

Pack War - http://packwar.blogspot.com/

SABR Baseball Cards - sabrbaseballcards.blog

Section 36 - http://section-36.blogspot.com/

Shoebox Legends - http://shoeboxlegends.blogspot.com/

Sport Card Collectors - http://sportcardcollectors.blogspot.com/

Sport Cards from the Dollar Store - http://buckstorecards.blogspot.com/

The Collective Mind - http://thecollectivemind.blogspot.com/

The Radicards Blog - http://www.radicards.com/

The Shlabotnik Report - https://shlabotnikreport.wordpress.com/
Writes about other sports cards and music, as well.

The Topps Archive - http://toppsarchives.blogspot.com/
This blog features all sorts of Topps cards, including non-sports oddities.

The Yount Collector - http://theyountcollector.blogspot.com/

Topps Blog - https://www.topps.com/Blog

Upper Deck Blog - http://upperdeckblog.com/
Because it’s Upper Deck

Wax Pack Gods - http://waxpackgods.com/

When Topps Had (Base)Balls - http://whentoppshadballs.blogspot.com/

Wrigley Wax - http://wrigleywax.blogspot.com/



Again, please leave a comment if you have an active baseball card blog you’d like to see added.

Cubs top prospect has come to the Major Leagues on fire, hitting .410/.439/.744 in his first 11 games. He's only gotten this opportunity so quickly due to veteran catcher Miguel Montero's injury. It's believed that the Cubs may move Schwarber to the outfield simply to keep his bat in the lineup. The #4 pick in the 2014 MLB draft, Schwarber has had an OPS north of 1.000 in his two minor league seasons so far. This offense is no surprise at all.

Understandably, Kyle Schwarber Rookie cards are extremely hot right now. From the 2015 Bowman Prospects base card to the various limited edition versions from the 2014 Rize Rookie set - there are options for any baseball card collector's budget.

One of the most affordable Schwarber rookie cards you might consider is 2014 Bowman Draft Picks and Prospects #DP2. The base card edition sells for only about a dollar, plus shipping. If you want a limited edition refractor version of this card, the Draft Picks and Prospects set has plenty of them to choose from.

Another popular Schwarber rookie card is 2015 Topps Pro Debut Baseball Card #100. This card depicts Kyle at one of his minor league stops, the Boise Hawks. It lists for about $4-5, plus shipping. There's also a short print Distinguished Debut insert of him in the set, as well.

Kyle Schwarber looks like he'll have a pretty strong career, especially if he can eventually stick behind home plate for the Cubs. It's probably a great time to jump on the Schwarber RC bandwagon if you're a serious baseball card collector.

The New York Yankees are enjoying a good season in 2015. As of this writing, they're currently in first place in the American League East. As team sets tend to be one of the most popular items for casual baseball card collectors, it's not a surprise that the 2015 Topps Yankees Team Set is a top seller The set includes 17 exclusive cards.

• Masahiro Tanaka
• Jacoby Ellsbury
• Brett Gardner,
• Dellin Betances
• Carlos Beltran
• Stephen Drew
• Brian McCann
• Garrett Jones
• Michael Pineda
• Jose Pirela (RC)
• Mark Teixeira
• Bryan Mitchell
• CC Sabathia
• Nathan Eovaldi
• Alex Rodriguez
• Didi Gregorius
• Chase Headley

Jose Pirela's rookie card and Bryan Mitchell's rookie card are two of the more important pieces of this team set. Pirela had a very successful cameo in 2014 but hasn't done much at all in his stint so far in 2015. He's shown plenty of offensive potential in the minors, however, so there's still hope for him.

Mitchell has done well in very limited action, with a 2..66 ERA in 20 1/3 innings so far in his career. He's enjoyed decent success at AAA, as well. It's possible he could become a full-time starter for the Yankees in the near future.

Masahiro Tanaka has enjoyed plenty of success with the Yankees. Therefore, Tanaka's All-Star Rookie card, while not a true Rookie Card, is still worth a couple of dollars. There's tons of stars in this set, too: Ellsbury, Gardner, Beltran, McCann, Teixeria, Sabathia, and A-Rod. If you're a Yankee fan, and this ends up being a team to remember, it's going to be well worth the $10-11 that you'll typically spend on one of these sets.