The Alexei Syndrome

Topps and Upper Deck series 2 cards are now out. The dust has started to settle a little and I'm beginning to figure out the checklists. A disturbing trend is starting to emerge with Alexei Ramirez.

I was hoping that one of the many TBD spots on the Topps series 2 checklist would be filled by Alexei Ramirez. Well, it wasn't to my knowledge. What happened to the Alexei Ramirez card in the set? Well, it's there. It's just nothing that you would expect.

Topps decided to release an unmarked card of Alexei. The problem with this is that Alexei is pictured playing for Cuba's team in the World Baseball Classic. That was in 2006 and Alexei has now been on the White Sox 25 man roster since Opening Day. I would think that this fact would shoot Alexei to one of the TBD spots in the checklist, but that would only make sense.

What makes matters worse is that the card in question appears to be extremely short printed. This card on eBay is selling for just under $100. If I were to get this card in my collection, it would be fine, but I'm not going to actively seek it out. Plus, I'm not going to pay a lot for this card. It doesn't fit my general criteria for collecting. Alexei is not in a White Sox uniform and is not identified as being on the White Sox.

Upper Deck has more success with Alexei, although he's not in their base set either. He is in a special rookie set that gets tacked on to the end of series 2. It doesn't appear to be short printed in any way, but I haven't gotten that confirmed. Upper Deck features Alexei in a White Sox uniform and has him listed as being on the White Sox. That's more like it!

Being a team collector is tough. It's unimaginable to believe the amount of homework one needs to do before the collecting can even begin. With the penchant for companies to release cards of players in older uniforms, you can't buy sight unseen anymore. You will get burned and burned often. I can't even assume that Jermaine Dye will be in a White Sox uniform on a 2008 card. There is one of him on the Braves that came out this year.

The time and research are well worth the effort. I have a better understanding of the cards I collect by the research that I have to do. I just wish that things were a lot simpler when it came to collecting by team.