CLEARWATER, Fla. -- Matt Strahm is still searching for one specific Charlie Blackmon card to add to his collection.

Rookie.

Beardless.

Autographed.

¡°It keeps vanishing on me,¡± Strahm said this week at BayCare Ballpark.

Strahm, 31, is one of the Phillies¡¯ newest relievers, signing a two-year, $15 million contract in December. He will slot somewhere behind Seranthony Dom¨ªnguez, Jos¨¦ Alvarado, Craig Kimbrel and Gregory Soto in what could be one of baseball¡¯s best bullpens. Strahm is a left-handed former starter who throws five pitches. His long hair rivals Brandon Marsh¡¯s.

But Strahm stands out because of his baseball card collection. Specifically, he collects cards of players who have homered against him in the big leagues. It is a small part of a collection he estimates to be close to one million cards.

¡°I call it my box,¡± Strahm said, laughing. ¡°If you hit a home run against me, you¡¯re good enough to collect. That¡¯s kind of my arrogance, my personality.¡±

Thirty-nine players have homered a combined 42 times in Strahm¡¯s seven-year career. There are likely future Hall of Famers, such as Miguel Cabrera and Freddie Freeman; former MVPs like Christian Yelich, Josh Donaldson, Cody Bellinger, Ryan Braun and Jos¨¦ Abreu; and relative unknowns like John Ryan Murphy and Phil Ervin.

Strahm has not collected a card from everybody, including Blackmon. He still needs ones from the players who homered against him last season, including Jonathan Schoop and Patrick Wisdom.

He has never allowed a homer against anybody in Phillies camp.

¡°Hopefully that doesn¡¯t change during a live BP this week,¡± Strahm said.

Strahm grew up in North Dakota and collected cards until he turned 11 or 12. He started collecting again with his brother in 2018. His hobby turned into a couple shows, including Strahm¡¯s Stadium Pulls and The Card Life.

¡°I opened up one box and it was like I was 12 again,¡± Strahm said. ¡°Now I have a spare bedroom full of them. I don¡¯t go out to buy individual cards. I call myself a packrat. I enjoy the product releases, every month, every year. I enjoy just getting the box, and whatever I open, that¡¯s my collection. I¡¯m not looking to sell, trade or buy. I look at my collection as a hobby for me, and hopefully one day it¡¯ll be an inheritance for my daughter. And if she doesn¡¯t like baseball cards, I hope she sells them and does something she likes. We all have those relatives who are hoarders, and they¡¯re like, ¡®What are we going to do when we get all that crap?¡¯ I don¡¯t want my daughter to think that.

¡°I just told [prospect] Mick Abel, ¡®Dude, I have one of your [2021 Bowman Chrome Red Sapphire cards]. But I¡¯ve got to find it. Give me some time.¡¯ I¡¯ve got a million cards. Seventy-five to 85 percent are base cards. The other 15 percent are like parallel, numbered, [autographed]. What¡¯s 15 percent of a million? That¡¯s what I¡¯ve got to go through to find Mick. We¡¯ll get it. But you¡¯ll see during the year, I have boxes of cards up in my locker. I¡¯ll open them during the season. Quite a few guys got into it in the clubhouse [last year with Boston].¡±

Strahm¡¯s collection is almost exclusively newer cards. He does not collect vintage cards, although he once specifically sought and found a Roger Maris 1961 Topps.

Maris is from North Dakota, too.

¡°He hit 61 in '61, so I wanted his '61 card,¡± Strahm said. ¡°I¡¯ve hunted down all the North Dakota guys' rookie cards.¡±

So he¡¯s got a Chris Coste?

¡°He doesn¡¯t have a rookie card,¡± Strahm said. ¡°Well, he does, but it¡¯s not a licensed one. He¡¯s got a weird one. I got baseballs signed by all North Dakota baseball players, too. I have Roger Maris, Rick Helling, Travis Hafner, Chris Coste, Darin Erstad.¡±

The Maris baseball also has autographs from Mickey Mantle, Yogi Berra and Whitey Ford on it.

¡°My dad worked the first-ever Roger Maris golf tournament in Fargo,¡± Strahm said. ¡°He ended up DD-ing [designated driving] for those guys that night. So they signed a baseball for them.¡±

Strahm¡¯s advice for new collectors?

¡°Collect what you love,¡± Strahm said. ¡°Don¡¯t chase the dollar sign. That just takes the fun out of it. I got more hyped about a 2019 Tim Hill base card because he¡¯s my best friend and I played with him. On YouTube, in the comments, people were like, ¡®You got more hyped about the Tim Hill than the [Fernando] Tatis Jr.¡¯ I¡¯m like, 'Well, Tim Hill eats dinner at my house three nights a week in the offseason. It¡¯s kind of cool.'¡±