I Got it at Sportlots 9: Revisiting the Mendoza Line

I grabbed a few more cards for my Mario Mendoza collection from the sellers on Sportlots. There's some pretty good stuff here. First up is a card from the 1975 SSPC set. I don't know a lot about these cards, but I do think that minimalist design looks pretty good. Of course, the lack of any information at all on the front of the card could be an issue for some folks.

Next up is a small stack of O-Pee-Chee cards, headed up by a copy from 1975. Then there is a run of cards from 1980-1982. I don't know if this is a common thing, but the edges of most of these were cut very rough. Maybe the saw blade was a bit dull at the O=Pee-Chee factory.

I also got Mendoza's three cards from the 2003 Topps All-Time Fan Favorites set. The first one is his base card, and I also grabbed a copy of the Refractor version. I didn't know it when I ordered it, but when it arrived I discovered that it was numbered out of # / 299. So only about 300 Mario Mendoza super-collectors will have a chance to snag all of his cards. Upon looking at my order invoice, it looks like I may have grabbed the third card at COMC and not Sportlots. Anyway, it is the autographed version. It's a pretty decent autograph, too, in blue Sharpie across the center of the photo.

In addition to cards from his playing career, I got a couple of cards from his coaching days. I guess it's kind of piling on the guy, but I wonder how that interview for the Hitting Coach job went. And those sunglasses in that picture on the right are super fabulous.

Finally, it's hard to tell from the scan but this is the 1975 Topps Mini. It's some pretty good stuff. There are still a fair number of Mendoza cards that I don't have yet, but I've built up a decent representative sample from his career.