eBay Scores and the Beginning of my Chad Jenkins Collection

So, I'm pretty happy that I socred these three beauties (and when I saw beauties, that's an understatement) from eBay on, oh, Thursday or so. Today, on Monday, I already had them. Pretty solid. Each was $.99, and all three shipped together for $3.00. That's right, three Prospect autos for less than $6.00. I think I made out pretty well.

First up is Rinku Singh. You may remember a few days, maybe a week or so ago I posted how much I loved Rinku's inks. I posted the Bowman '09 Auto, which isn't nearly as attractive as the Bowman Sterlings. I had already purchased this one, so I didn't want to ruin the surprise.

Next is Dinesh Kumar Patel. Patel finished second in the Million Dollar Arm contest, but ended up being the more successful pitcher this year in this summer's Pirates Florida League teams. Mechanically he is mroe sound than Singh, but Singh also has the magic ability of being able to throw with his left arm.

Finally, Chad Jenkins. The back of the cards details a bit about the our newest baby Blue Jay (1st Round, 20th Overall in 2009) saying that he never intended to play professionally, just wanted to play some ball at Kennesaw State and get a Business Degree...then he won '09 Atlantic Sun Conference Pitcher of the Year, going 8-1 with a 2.54 ERA. Welcome to the Jays, Chad.

Super Awesome Autos - Rinku Singh

In 2008, Indian television (not exactly Baliwood or Slumdog Millionaire) ran a Reality/Contest TV Show aptly named "Million Dollar Arm". The program, brainstormed by JB Bernstein, was aimed to find the one Indian who could throw the hardest and most accurate fastball. Rinku won the contest out of 37,000 contestants by throwing 87 MPH. Singh later tried out for 20 MLB teams and was eventually signed by the Pittsburgh Pirates while reaching 92 MPH on the gun.

Singh struck out one batter on July 13th, 2009 and became the first Indian-born baseball player to win a professional baseball game.

Fellow Indian Dinesh Patel also was signed by the Pittsburgh Pirates, and was runner-up in the MIllion Dollar Arm contest.

Spelunking along on ebay for a Dinesh Patel auto, I came across Singh's 2009 Bowman Auto. I thought it was one of the greatest autos in a long time, mainly because:

• Singh's first language, and script, is not English. Most International free agents that speak foreign languages usually have to learn just the language, however for Singh and Patel, they had to learn to write the language as well.
• All of the letters are printed and rarely touch.
• Some letters, such as the "g" in Singh, are above other letters, very cool.
• Originality! Probabl moreso due to Singh's language and script, but this auto is very refreshing and original, more enjoyable than the cursive letter-LINE cursive letter-LINE autos so many baseball players feature now.