So why do you collect Juan Gonzalez?

[freddie]

Did you buy all four on eBay in different auctions?

Do you regret the decision to go with Juan over Pudge? Pudge is going to go in the hall of fame while I really don't think Juan has any chance. He will always be known as a malcontent, injury prone slugger who probably used steroids.

Personally, I think it is possible that he used steroids in 94-95 as Jose Canseco claims but I believe he gave it up long ago. Juan simply never changed in his output, he peaked when he was supposed to and never went crazy like Brady Anderson, Luis Gonzalez, Barry Bonds, Sammy, and so on.

The Diamond Kings Press Plates were issued with the 2005 DK Challege factory sets. Each set contained all four of one player's press plates. There were only 480 sets produced (One for each card in the base set). I saw the set with Juan in it selling on eBay and jumped all over it. To get a match set like that of press plates is almost unheard of and to do it in one purchase was equally amazing. I can't tell you how cool it is to see those cards next to each other. I will try to get pics uploaded soon. You can see them on my website under "Mike's Collection Pictures."

I do regret choosing Juan a little. I was actually a catcher growing up including into college so I always liked Pudge, but in 1995 when I got really serious about cards I had to choose and I thought Juan was a better HOF prospect.

I am glad I chose Juan now because there are sooooo many cards of Pudge that I would have no chance of keeping up on my budget. He has far surpassed Juan. The parallels alone over the last few years are ridiculous. I do like that Pudge is on the newer designs and it really is about the cards to me as much as the player.