Yesterday I got home and opened the mailbox to see a padded bubble mailer sitting waiting for me. Success! These envelopes can only mean something relating to my hobby has arrived. This day, it was an eBay purchase of 100 miscellaneous Blue Jays cards from throughout the years. The eBay listing didn’t say much, other than there were no duplicates, and I won the auction for 99 cents. At one cent a card, this is the best way to get extra Blue Jays cards for my TTM hobby. I’ll be sending a lot of these cards out over the next few weeks, but here’s a look at six of my favourites, clockwise from top left:

Billy Koch: One of the best things about buying old cards is the walk down memory lane. Remember Koch’s awesome, albeit short-lived career in Toronto? He routinely hit 100 mph on the radar gun as a closer, and in his first three seasons in the Bigs, saved 31, 33 and 36 games, respectively. After he was traded away, and bounced around in Oakland, Chicago and Florida, he was signed to a one-year, $950,000 contract by the Jays prior to the 2005 season. They released him in Spring Training, and he made a point of not ever playing baseball again so that Toronto would be on the hook for every penny of the salary. Awesome. And who can forget a hammered Koch showing up at a Jays game in Tampa to heckle Toronto?

Brad Fullmer: He is one of a handful of players to hit a home run in his first career at-bat, and part of another select group to play for both Canadian franchises. Fullmer joined Toronto in 2000, and in his first of two campaigns with the Jays, hit .295 with 32 home runs and 104 RBI — easily the best season of his career. I remember Fullmer was disgruntled with being sent to the Minors by Montreal a season before coming to Toronto, and had CAN’T BREAK ME tattooed across his right biceps. There were lots of rumours of steroid use around Fullmer, and the fact that he could fit 11 letters on one bicep might be the best indicator of that.

Tony Fernandez: One of my all-time favourite Jays, and one of the few Jays enshrined in Toronto’s Ring of Honour, Fernandez was a classic. He played for the Jays over and over again, and no matter where his career took him, he always seemed to find a way back to Toronto. I saw him last year at Toronto’s Back 2 Back celebration, and he looks the exact same as he ever did, right down to the flat-top. Tony’s son was drafted by Toronto last season; here’s hoping he has half the career of his pops.

Roberto Alomar: I’d be hard up to decide between Alomar and Fred McGriff as my favourite Jay of all time. McGriff didn’t play long in Toronto, but I sure loved him as a kid. Alomar stepped into that role with big Freddie’s departure, and was everything a second baseman could be. I think he’ll a shoe-in for the Hall of Fame before long, and I will certainly be in Cooperstown to celebrate his career when he’s inducted. At last season’s Back 2 Back celebration, I waited in line nearly four hours for Robbie’s autograph … only to have the line cut off when I was about 25 people back from the signing table. Luckily, I got his autograph on a ball TTM soon after.

Raul Mondesi: In my opinion, he was a Manny Ramirez Jr. in a way. A tremendously talented player with a questionable attitude, Mondesi was exciting to watch when he wanted to play. He had a nice 13-year career and hit 271 home runs. I remember seeing him around 2001 or 2001 at SkyDome. I was in the right field bleachers, and Mondesi hustled to grab a ball right in front of where I was sitting, and fired it to the infield … where it missed the cutoff man by a country mile, allowing the baserunner to advance. Mondesi looked at us, smiled, and shrugged.

Carlos Delgado: Tell me again why J.P. just let Delgado go without trying to keep him? Delgado is Toronto’s all-time leader in plenty of offensive categories, and is probably the best pure hitter in team history. Three hundred and thirty-six of his 473 career dingers were hit with the Jays, and I can still remember his four home run game in 2003. This card shows Delgado comfortably atop the AL RBI leader rankings in 2003, with 145. In second? Alex Rodriguez with 118, and Bret Boone (WTF?) and Vernon Wells were tied in third with 117. Tell me again why J.P. let Delgado leave Toronto?