Lajoie's Locker

Its been a busy few days. My wife and I are in the middle of potty-training our 3-yr old so I am consolidating half a weeks worth of mail into one post because I haven't had the time to get to this post. I received my most recent box shipment from Sportlots . I started this box back in March and have been adding to it since. The majority of the box was putting together my Stadium Club team sets, of which I am short just a couple cards from completing the entire team set run from 1991-2022. Also as part of the box shipment I was able to get caught up on this years releases (Topps Series 2, Donruss, Bowman, and Bowman Prospects). Lastly, also from the box shipment I was able to wittle down some of the vintage cards I need as well. I've just about completed my 1971 Dell Today's Stamps, 1961 Fleer, 1963 Fleer. I added to my 1961 Post, 1960 Leaf, and Kellogg's run. I have now completed my 1960 Fleer. In addition to the Sportlots shipment I also received

 As a team collector my collection has had several revisions and evolutions over the years.  As a kid I would just buy any card if it was a Cleveland Indians card.  Later as a teenager I decided I was going to simplify my collection by going after all Topps flagship cards (base & traded/update).  A few years ago realizing there were many players who weren't represented in the Topps sets, I expanded to include the other big card makers (Bowman, Donruss, Fleer, Upper Deck). Still not completely satisfied, over the past year I've come to include other sets as well (Score, Pinnacle, Leaf, Pacific, Stadium Club, Ultra, & Collector's Choice).  What I came to the realization of is what was truly driving my collection wasn't just collecting Cleveland Indians cards, but was the players themselves.  the 90's Indians teams were my introduction to the Fandom.  I remember getting caught up in the wave of excitement of the first pennant race in forty years.  As a nine yea

     Being a Cleveland Indians fan in Cleveland growing up in the 1990s meant that I could rattle off every player on the 1995 roster including names like Alvaro Espinoza, Wayne Kirby, & Ruben Amaro.  It also meant I could tell you about other Cleveland Baseball Heroes from yesteryear like Feller and Boudreau, Lemon and Rosen (who were part of the last great playoff run teams) or even names further back like Averill and Harder.  But one name that I always gravitated towards growing up was Lajoie.  I have always assumed it was because much like my Polish surname "Maciag" people seem to struggle with the French name "Lajoie" and how to spell and pronounce it.     Fast-forward a few years to the early 2000s after our move to a small town (Marietta, OH), I discovered a local baseball card shop, aptly named "Marietta baseball card shop".  It was here that I would spend many hours and many hard earn paper-route dollars as a young teenager.  One of my favorit