From the Binder- Rafael Furcal

While Rafael Furcal, a three-time All-Star and NL Rookie of the Year award winner, played more seasons on other teams than with the Braves, he was one my favorite Braves to watch.

The GameTime card shows more pixeled or blurry Furcal than clear Furcal. Neat design nonetheless. Always enjoy a good Heritage card, and this shot of a smiling Furcal is no exception. And while the 2003 Topps design isn't among my favorites, the Chrome version looks much better, especially with Braves cards. 

A few more cards here reminding me how much I miss Fleer brands, and mainly, card buying choices. The Gold Label ranks up there for me in my Fucal card hierarchy. Have always been a fan of the Gold Label brands from the late 90s/early 00s. Any opportunity to open a pack of Gold Label was a special treat, even years after release.

I have almost as many non-Braves Furcal cards as ones that show him in a Braves uniform. Gypsy Queen usually falls near the top of my mental set 'power rankings'. I've talked about the Flashback Fridays set in the center before. This is an insert set I wouldn't mind trying to complete. Chipper is the only Brave in the set. While I mentioned not being a fan of the 2003 Topps set, I quite like the design and colors on the 2006 set.

In the spirit of 2017 Stadium Club being released, here's a Furcal Stadium Club card from 2002. Pretty nice photo here. Safe bet that runner is out.

Ballplayer

There's no denying Chipper Jones is one of the greatest to wear the Atlanta Braves uniform. Being a Braves collector I have accumulated a decent number of Chipper cards despite not specifically calling him out among my player collections. Part of the appeal for me is he shows up in some interesting insert sets from the 90s that will give me an excuse to pick up cards from sets I otherwise wouldn't as I discover what I've missed from before I really started a baseball card collection in 2014.

And even though Chipper hasn't been retired that long, I remember getting goosebumps hearing his name announced during the only gave I saw him play in, at Turner Field against the Dodgers.

One thing I've been missing in my collection is a Chipper autograph. For my birthday back in April, my brother-in-law picked up a copy of Chipper's recent book, Ballplayer. While I've yet to read it, there's something special about this book outside of it being a birthday gift.

My brother-in-law went to a book signing and got the book autographed! Pretty neat item that I will hang onto for a long time.

I look forward to digging into the book and adding more cards of Chipper to my collection, particularly 90s inserts.

A few more Chippers that stand out to me from my collection.