Special Delivery

On Sunday, I pulled this redemption out of a box of 2017 Allen & Ginter, a splurge purchase at the Shriners baseball card show. It was going for a very good price and since I hadn't opened packs in quite a long time, I decided to bite the bullet and go for it. Only to find this incredible redemption in one of the final packs of the box.

I don't get shocked very often, but I was at a loss for words when I pulled this card. I had never pulled an auto of such a big name at a time when the player was doing so well. Sure, I've pulled other autos of active players and even a couple Hall of Famers, but those pulls were all very different from this Bellinger pull. Cody Bellinger is incredibly young, he just won NL Rookie of the Year and is poised to have and is poised to have an incredible career if everything goes well. 

Like I said, I was flabbergasted when I pulled this redemption. But I was even more surprised that after redeeming it Sunday evening, I received the card on Wednesday, only 3 days later. Even more impressive, the confirmation email from Topps stated it was mailed out early Wednesday morning, meaning they used 1-day shipping to get this card to me.

I was incredibly pleased and in awe to get the card so fast. I absolutely love the card, and I'm sure you guys want to see it too. So, here it is.

There it is! Topps sticker and everything, behold the mighty Cody Bellinger autograph. This instantly makes all the money I spent on 2017 baseball cards worth it.

For most of 2017, there were no 2 players more popular in baseball, maybe even sports, then Aaron Judge and Cody Bellinger. And since Bellinger doesn't play for the arch-rival, much-hated, New York Yankees, Bellinger is obviously my favorite of the 2. At just 22 years of age, Bellinger's only major weak-spot from 2017 was his batting average. I listed him at #9 on my Top 10 Players Under 25 post, but with a bunch of players set to turn 26 very soon, Cody will have a shot at climbing into the top 5 maybe even this year.

As I was saying, his only real weak spot is his batting average, which he could improve a little bit. Bellinger hit .267 last season. Raising that up a bit from .267 to say, .287 would be HUGE for Bellinger. Not only would he become a far better player, but he could see some MVP awards come his way if he's able to improve in that category.