You Always Remember Your First Time: Carlos Santana

A new-ish series of posts. A series that will randomly appear from time to time. The first time had as its focus top Dodger prospect Zach Lee. The second installment begins forthwith.

The 2008 trade of Carlos Santana and Jonathan Meloan for Casey Blake was one of the absolute worst trades in Dodgers history. And that's saying something, considering this is an organization that traded away Mike Piazza and Pedro Martinez, and lost Roberto Clemente to Pittsburgh in the 1954 Rule 5 Draft.

Thanks, Ned Colletti.

Anyways, for longer-time readers of the blog, though Santana was traded away years ago, I vowed to keep his name on the labels portion of the sidebar, as a form of silent protest. I also wanted to collect him, because this team would be infinitely better with him on it.

Of course, I'm not the only one collecting one of the brightest catching prospects in recent memory, so his cards - particularly his autos - weren't cheap when they first hit. Even after the devastating knee injury he suffered last year, his cards were still just out of the range I was looking to pay.

However, patience does sometimes pay off. And it pays off in spades when it comes to cards, eBay, and a fickle collecting community. So after numerous attempts to land a Santana Auto, I finally hit the jackpot. For $9 shipped, I landed this sweet 2010 Bowman Sterling auto:

I was beyond thrilled to have finally snagged a Santana Auto, and for a great price to top off the joyous occasion.

But as with just about every other collector I've come into contact with, a great deal can't be passed up, even for a card you already own. Especially when it's of a player you collect. And his signature is involved. And he's one of baseball's brightest young stars.

So yeah....I added another Santana Auto when the price was just $6.38 delivered.

The card is not miscut (sorry dawgbones). It is simply the scan I stole borrowed.

Well, you know how they say three's a crowd? I scoff at that time-honored statement. Because as we all know, everything is better in a 3-Way.

So checking in at a price of $7.51 shipped, this seemed to be a no-brainer.

I'm not even entirely sure I anticipated winning any of these, let alone all three. But I'm not complaining. Far from it. As the kids say, I'm stoked. But for us old, grizzled men, I think "I'm pretty swell right now" is a more apropos description of my state of mind.

To spice up the fun of having three of these bad boys (and I foresee one eventually making the trip to eBay, and hopefully netting me a handsome little profit - or not so little, as I'm not opposed to reeling in the scrilla), I placed the first Carlos in a penny sleeve, rookie toploader, and team bag; the second Santana in a magnetic and team bag; and the final "we're too cheap to pay two million dollars for Casey Blake, so here's our top offensive prospect" got the penny sleeve, regular toploader, and team bag treatment.

Oh, and I now only need Santana's true rookie card (with him in Dodger Blue!....oh crap, that's sorta bittersweet, come to think of it). It was hinted at in a past trade that never came to fruition - both me getting his RC and the trade itself. So yeah, if anyone has one they're willing to part with, I'll gladly trade you for it.

50/139

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I'll have a Graduation Box Break to post tomorrow, so tune in. Because I'm sure there will be at least some Trade Bait to come from it.