Canseco Collector

Again, reflecting Jose’s late career jumping from team to team, we see both an Angels and a Yankees logo on the back. I think this could also join my “Let ‘Er Rip” series, thanks to the ripped neck on his t-shirt. 2/2

1,246. 2001 FLEER PREMIUM #200

With that swing and launch angle, safe to say Jose got a good piece of that pitch. With Jose moving around so much and sadly struggling to catch on with teams late in his career, this card pictures him as a Yankee but lists him with the Angels, who cut him in S.T. 1/2

We get the same pic from the front in the background of the back, and I like the carryover of the curvy design elements. Since this set was released in December 2001, we get 2001 stats on a 2001 card. Sadly, those would wind up Jose’s final career stats. 2/2

1,245. 2001 DONRUSS CLASS OF 2001 #6

I’ll take a throwback-uni card any day. Cool design and big-swing pic. Nice gold stamp set logo, too. Oddly, hobby boxes came with a bobblehead, but Jose wasn’t one of the 22 players who got one. 1/2

The back is very bare bones, but that was 1948 Bowman. And it’s a great write-up, more or less (and sadly early) wrapping up his impressive career. 2/2

1,244. 2001 BOWMAN HERITAGE #393

You almost wouldn’t know this card is black and white, considering the White Sox colors. And always weird to see Jose wearing 31. But it’s all based on 1948 Bowman and looks pretty cool. It’s actually the inaugural Bowman Heritage set. 1/2

Those all-star stats are a bummer, and he could have had more at bats if not for injuries. What’s not a bummer is the card number, recalling the great ‘60s/‘70s Detroit rock band MC5. Kick out the jams, baby! 2/2

1,243. 2000 UPPER DECK SP AUTHENTIC #MC5

Jose presumably made it into this 10-card insert set thanks to being named to the 1999 AL All-Star squad, though he didn’t play. And they used the 2000 AS Game logo here. Maybe they were anticipating a selection. Nice card either way. 1/2

We get more “fun” algebra on the back, but another odd photo choice for a card meant to give him power props. That doesn’t look like a home run trot. It looks like a grounder to second trot. 2/2

1,242. 2000 UPPER DECK MVP DRAWING POWER #DP7

This is a little 7-card insert set featuring some of the game’s best power hitters. So why did they use a photo of Jose making such a defensive swing? Aside from that it’s a nice, math-y card with team colors in the background. 1/2

I beg to differ with the write-up on the back. Jose’s power never really went anywhere, he was just hurt a lot so didn’t get the chance to show it off. 2/2

1,241. 2000 UD IONIX SHOCKWAVE #S11

This is a wonderfully Y2K design, a little Matrix-y, shiny, we’ve got the “leet” spelling of Shockwave, combining letters and numbers (sometimes backwards) that look like letters. Fun! 1/2

The back’s “watching it go Jose” was, of course, on the front of the base card. And we’ve got more of that very Minecraft 8-bit design on the back, too. 2/2

1,240. 2000 UD IONIX RECIPROCAL #R17

This very Minecraft-before-Minecraft-was-a-thing-looking card is a parallel where they traded images from the front to back. So on the base card, “hands on his hips Jose” is on the back. 1/2

I will give them a writer’s kudos for the awesome alliteration on the back. All those f’s! What’s weird on an otherwise nice back is the base card listed Jose at 235 lbs, but this insert card in the same set bulks him up to 240. 🤔 2/2

1,239. 2000 UPPER DECK HITTER’S CLUB ETERNALS #E7

Cool card, inserted 1 in 23 packs, love the big swing. Now, grammar police time. “Hitter’s Club” implies it’s a club of one hitter. It really should be “Hitters’ Club,” because this is a set featuring 90 hitters. Plural. 1/2

I love any card that features Jose’s number as part of the design, and here you get a 33 on the front and a double shot of it here on the back. Not sure what that “career projection” graph is trying to tell us. 2/2

1,238. 2000 UPPER DECK HITTER’S CLUB #15

Not a pitcher to be found in this set, obvs. Although back then you could’ve included Mike Hampton in a set like this. Cool, unique design here, but it almost looks black and white if not for the tiny glimpses of the Rays logo. 1/2

The serial number /999 should be on the back to the right of the gold bar about Jose’s ‘80s batting totals. But with all the weirdness about how this parallel was produced and distributed (and destroyed), I can see how mistakes could be made. 2/2

1,237. 1996 TOPPS GALLERY PLAYERS PRIVATE ISSUE #33

I encourage you to go to www.baseballcardpedia.com, search this set and read the blurb about Players Private Issue. Weird story. And this is a weird card because it’s supposed to be serial numbered but isn’t. 🤷🏻‍♂️ 1/2

Very cool!

I love that they put so much vibrant color on the back of this coin, and it’s crammed with a lot of info in a small space, but still looks tasteful. Although breaking up the year with the logo makes it look like 19792. Is this Future Jose? 2/2

1,236. 1992 SCORE 7-ELEVEN SUPERSTAR ACTION COINS #21

Here’s a cute little guy I just picked up. You can kind of tell this uses lenticular technology, so from one angle it’s Jose swinging at a low pitch, and from another it’s a headshot. These came with Slurpee purchases. 1/2

Fully the same back as yesterday, minus the card number and mirror image of the “Veteran” background. The inset photo is fun, though, with Jose giving us some side-eye. 2/2

1,235. 2000 TOPPS TEK PATTERN 14 #11-14

This is considered the “Roster Status” background. Same photo as yesterday’s Pattern 13, but now it’s against that “Veteran” background. Not quite sure how that’s a roster status, but okay. Still looks cool. 1/2

Same deal here as the other backs, with the red tint to maybe soften the weirdness of the mirror image logos on the photo. Aside from the background and card number, all the other back elements are the same across variations. 2/2

1,234. 2000 TOPPS TEK PATTERN 13 #11-13

Somewhere in between the Pattern 6 version we saw yesterday, and today’s 13, they switched up the photo. Still a good one, with Jose bundled up in long sleeves. Oddly, this is the “Date of Birth” pattern. 🤔 1/2

As we’ve seen so many times, when you have a photo on a clear background, the back is a mirror image. And here’s a new/odd way of dealing with it: don’t airbrush anything out, just give it a red tint. 2/2

1,233. 2000 TOPPS TEK PATTERN 6 #11-6

Topps went a little bonkers with the variations in this set. Each card had 20 background variations! Clearly (pun intended), Pattern 6 featured the team logo. Very cool transparent/opaque design. 1/2

I know some people don’t love the “black alternate jersey era,” but I’m a fan. I love the contrast between the black and the pop of color in the logo on that jersey Jose’s wearing on the back. 2/2