When is a common player's card or item not really common? When it fits perfectly into your personal collection ...

Wade LeBlanc's career numbers probably won't shock you, but the left-hander has been good enough long enough to stick around in Major League Baseball for a decade.

This journeyman has been a Padre, a Marlin, an Astro, an Angel, a Yankee, an Angel again, a Blue Jay, a Mariner, a Pirate, a Yankee again and a Mariner once again in 10 MLB seasons. In the right here right now, you'll see him leading the headlines on the Seattle Mariners section of MLB.com as he struck out a career-high 10 batters last night as he upped his career record to 36-36. He's 6-1 with a 3.44 ERA and 76 strikeouts this season and is on pace for a career year in wins (8-12 his best back in 2010) and strikeouts (110 that same year).

Along the way to this point, though, he's also played elsewhere. He's been a Buffalo Bison, a Seibu Lion (yes, Japan), a Salt Lake Bee, an Oklahoma City RedHawk, a New Orleans Zephyr, a Tucson Padre, a Portland Beaver, a San Antonio Mission, a Lake Elsinore Storm(er?), a Fort Wayne Wizard and a Eugene Emerald.

But why are you hearing all of this about a guy who's gone from starter to bullpen guy and back to starter but still ultimately a common in any baseball card parlance?

Because he fits my collection and shows a classic example of supply and demand in the hobby. He was the subject of a recent bargain buy that fits perfectly into one of my various collections -- but maybe not others' interests. LeBlanc's first team in that trek of the last 14 years or so was the Alabama Crimson Tide and his numbers as a junior in 2006 were anything but pedestrian -- he was 11-1 with a 2.92 ERA and 128 strikeouts in 129 innings. That helped him become a second-round pick of the Padres (61st overall) in 2006. Among the guys taken before him include Evan Longoria, Clayton Kershaw and Max Scherzer. Among the guys picked after him? Zach Britton, Justin Turner, Chris Davis, David Freese, Josh Reddick and his Crimson Tide teammate David Robertson among others. They've all been good enough to still be playing and a couple of those names will end up in Cooperstown.

My guy? Not one of them -- but that's how he ends up in my collection.

One of the dealers of baseball stuff that I check out from time to time recently had a run of LeBlanc game-used Pittsburgh Pirates jerseys available -- on sale even -- that ran the gamut of possibilities for MLB Authenticated pieces. Standard LeBlanc jerseys, a Jackie Robinson Day No. 42 jersey, a Fourth of July jersey, a military jersey worn for Thursday games (Memorial Day gets a different jersey for the Pirates), a batting-practice jersey and even a uniform-and-pants combo when the Pirates honored the Homestead Grays were all up for grabs.

The price was right on all of them but I simply couldn't decide which one would make the cut and join my modest collection of game-used bats or jerseys for Alabama guys who have made MLB. It's a relatively deep list with players from long ago and players from recent years with most of them -- nearly all of them, actually -- being relatively affordable, though gamers for Hall of Famer Joe Sewell and some others simply won't be happening. For all of them, though, I try to pick off at least an autograph with memorabilia cards (if they have them) along with Rookie Cards. It's kind of a casual side project that presents itself when the items do -- without the bigger dollars paid for stars from the Crimson Tide's history-rich football program.

Finding a name-model bat for this (or any) journeyman relief pitcher ain't happening with any ease -- if LeBlanc even orders name-model bats -- but the jersey was do-able as it was priced for less than the typical mid-range box of cards. I also didn't have anything for LeBlanc, so I checked the various MLB Authentication stickers on all of my options and then I cross-checked those with his game log to try and narrow things down. I definitely prefer a game-used jersey when a pitcher actually pitched vs. a game-used jersey where he sat in the dugout or bullpen and that helped shape my preferences. Then, I continued to hem and haw on which one to pick. Then I turned to my third source that helps make a simple item a quality item -- checking Getty Images to see if I could match any of these jerseys to photos showing him actually playing that day. (That's not easy for a reliever.)

I found a great photo showing one of the jerseys in use -- the only photo of him from that day -- and as a bonus it was the throwback that came with MLB Authenticated pants, too. (I don't need the pants but they were all basically the same price.) I knew that his name wasn't on the back of the Grays jersey, so I put that one in my cart but then I continued to look for other images from other days via other photo services and online searches. Then, just a few minutes later, this one -- the one in my cart -- sold right out from under me.

It was gone -- and all my searches and clicks were instantly erased from consideration. That added value (to me) of having a strong photograph to go with an item atop my MLB Authentication? Not happening. I even contacted the seller to ask if it actually had sold ... just in case it was merely taken out of inventory.

Nope, sold. Gone.

I had to start over, not being able to find images of LeBlanc in action in the other jerseys via Getty but I did manage to find two lower-resolution images of him in his camo jersey and one in the Fourth of July jersey both from The Associated Press. So then I went back and forth comparing the remaining jerseys and opted for the camo because it simply looked better than the other leading candidate that just didn't feel like a Pirates jersey to me with its Fourth of July colors. Done deal.

After my new piece arrived, I took my customary pics of my new item and then stashed it away with others -- I generally don't display stuff -- and then I looked up the condensed game on MLB.com to see if LeBlanc potentially made any appearances there for the May 18, 2017, game against the visiting Washington Nationals. He did as he pitched 1.2 scoreless innings with a strikeout (Trea Turner, looking) and recorded a hold in the 10-4 Pirates victory. The screenshot you see here? It's pretty cool as it allows me to literally match the patterns of the camo to my jersey. It's not as perfect as the Grays photo that eluded me, but I actually like this jersey more. So it's a win to me.

Sure LeBlanc is a common when it comes to cardboard -- but just like any other guy on any other team there's potentially somebody somewhere who might be interested in his cards or jerseys. And that's why it's good to see sets that include more than the top 50 big names in the game and that's one reason why shows like the upcoming National Sports Collectors convention are important. Now that I think about it, I've added at least two bats and a game-used jersey for this particular niche in my collection during past National visits. The sheer size of that show will allow you to find stuff you wouldn't imagine seeing on dealers' tables in both the high-end and the lesser-demand categories.

No matter the price, they're all potentially gems -- if they fit perfectly in your collection.

Follow Buzz on Twitter @BlowoutBuzz or send email to BlowoutBuzz@blowoutcards.com. 

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