Favorite Cards of 2012 #3 - Local Boy Made Good

I try to be methodical about my collecting.  When I start a set, I set up a binder and create a checklist of all the cards. I carry that checklist through until I complete the set. Once I have a card in my possession, it is checked off the list and, as soon as possible, placed in it's designated spot in the binder

I hate having too many sets underway because it makes the collecting more haphazard. Which to work on?  How to allocate my funds for a given day across the sets?  How some of you have want lists with dozens of sets on it is beyond me. More power to you, but I would feel completely lost and out of control. Heck, I feel that way with 6 or 7 sets underway.

This card should not have been mine, because acquiring it did not help me in the quest to complete any of the various sets I have in process. Indeed, the $20 this 1948 Bowman Allie Reynolds cost me could have bought 3 or 4 1971 high numbered cards.  Or 5 to 7 Heritage short prints and inserts.  Or even a couple 2004 Fleer Greats autographed cards.

But, obviously, it is mine.  It is a playing days card of a star player for my Yankees and also represents a connection to my adopted home of Oklahoma.  I can't think of anything that could make this pickup any better.