JJ Hoover on baseball cards

JJ Hoover pitched seven seasons in the major leagues for the Reds, Diamondbacks and Brewers. His best season was 2015 when he went 8-2 with a 2.94 ERA for the Reds. Overall in 290 major league games, all in relief, he went 19-21 with a 4.17 ERA. A lifelong fan of baseball and Pokemon cards, he now has is own online card shop, Hoov's Hangout, and is active on YouTube and Discord. He kindly answered my questions about baseball cards.

    "I do not have any big stories that come to mind but I do wish I was shown the modern card market when I was playing.  I have a few cards of myself and all were gifts from clients that I have coached and helped train. I did not understand or know about numbered cards and all the different parallels.  I did come across some guys during my time playing in the MLB that asked me to sign some cards and in the moment I did not understand it.  Looking back on it I get it now and now I am in the business of selling cards, doing live streams, and deep in the hobby now which is a fun way to stay connected to fans and players! 

My favorite cards that I own are vainly of myself but like I mentioned above these were gifts.  I have a few Beckett 9.5 cards. I am hoping to one day get a 10 or even better a coveted Black Label graded card of myself.  If it could be a rare variant or auto card that would make it way cooler but that is a goal of mine.  

My collection consists of players I am a fan of or teammates.  I am not too deep into that side of it yet but I have some cards from 1989 Donruss and up.  I still have some of my old Junk Card era cards from when I was a kid.  I love looking back at those cards and remembering baseball then.  I loved that era and I miss it.  

 

I love what I am doing now in the card industry from Baseball cards to Pokemon to all the other sports and even Disney.  I love connecting with both sides of the aisle from Sports to TCG.  I am actually also proud to be in on the ground floor of the new Bo Jackson Battle Arena which is the perfect pairing of TCG and Sports! The community I have been working to grow online is amazing.  We have a generous and well connected group and I hope to foster that and continue to enjoy the hobby with many more people in the future."

Thanks!