Calling all team collectors

[JLange]

Love this thread! I'm a Cleveland Baseball collector - Indians, Naps, Spiders, etc. There are a ton of stars and HOFers better associated with other teams for which I collect their Cleveland cards/collectibles, especially guys who were coaches, managers, GMs in Cleveland but played their baseball elsewhere. Here's a short list: Hank Greenberg (GM), Billy Evans (GM), Walter Johnson (MGR), Luke Appling (CO), Bill McKechnie (CO), Red Ruffing (CO), Al Simmons (CO), Warren Spahn(CO), Billy Williams (CO) just to name a few. I am interested in their time in Cleveland, even though sometimes incredibly brief. I am also interested in those guys who came up in the Cleveland farm system, and those guys that passed through near the end of their careers. Even though I love the stars and HOfers who spent big portions of their careers in Cleveland, there's something about guys with shorter affiliations with the team that piques my interest. Not sure if its the scarcity factor for their collectibles, or the surprise to learn they were even on the team (maybe only in spring training), but I pursue them as vigorously as I do the career Cleveland guys.

Here's a few you don't think to associate with Cleveland so much, but their photos tell a different story!

Pictured below: CO Red Ruffing, CO Al Simmons, Lou Piniella, Zoilo Versalles, Gus Zernial, Blue Moon Odom

[JLange]

Also, as serious team collectors come to find out, there are not cards of every player who ever donned your team's uniform. That is the reason my own pursuit has taken me into team publicity photos, news photos, picture packs, and publications just to find a collectible image of the player - which makes my response better suited for the memorabilia side of the board. Even with that, I am still looking for cards or collectibles of nearly a third of the historical Cleveland team.

That's the reality of being a team collector if you are pursuing the whole team!