Another in a long line of blogs devoted to baseball cards, specifically from the Topps Company, and the Hobby in general. Reviews on new and older sets, along with unbiased opinions, will be included.
If you stumbled upon this blog and didn't find what you were looking for, please feel free to e-mail me at bdj610@hotmail.com. I'd be happy to answer your questions.
(As this blog has been around for five years now, I thought that now would be a good time for an Extreme Blog Makeover. Hope you like the changes. Let me know if there are any problems. Thanks.)
Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Thursday, May 23, 2013:
Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 2003 Topps #705.
Player Name, position, team: Miguel Tejada, Most Valuable Player, American League.
Blurb on the Back: "Miguel's string of clutch September hits during the 2002 pennant race, added to his final .308-34-131 numbers, clinched his selection as the AL Most Valuable Player. The power-hitting shortstop followed George Bell and Sammy Sosa as the third Dominican to win the honor. When told of his distinction, Manny (yes, it says Manny, not MIguel) said, "I don't think there can be anyone on earth more happy than I am right now.'"
Commentary: I don't know about you, but this picture makes Miggy (not Manny) look a lot shorter than 5'9". Tejada did not lead the AL in any hitting category in 2002 (he did appear in all 162 games, so there's that), but when you help lead your team offensively to a 103-59 record, and have a phenomenal second half to the season (.325 average, 19 home runs, 72 rbi's, and an .926 OPS in 74 games), you get a lot of consideration for MVP. Of the 28 voters who selected the MVP that year, 21 gave Tejada first place votes, which led to 356 points and a 102 point lead over the runner-up Alex Rodriguez of the Rangers (254, 5 first-place votes). The rest of the MVP field consisted of Alfonso Soriano of the Yankees (234, 2 first-place votes), Garret Anderson of the Angels (184), Jason Giambi of the Yankees (162), Torii Hunter of the Twins (132), Jim Thome of the Indians (69), Magglio Ordonez of the White Sox (59), Manny Ramirez of the Red Sox (39), Bernie Williams of the Yankees (32), David Eckstein of the Angels (24), Nomar Garciaparra of the Red Sox (24), Athletics teammates Barry Zito (22) and Eric Chavez (14), closers Eddie Guardado of the Twins (12) and Troy Percival of the Angels (12), defending AL MVP Ichiro Suzuki of the Mariners (10), Billy Koch of the Athletics (8), Red Sox pitchers Derek Lowe (3) and Pedro Martinez (1), and Mike Sweeney of the Royals (1).
Lo-Hi Beckett value: $0.07-$0.20.
Tomorrow's card will be: 2000 Topps #377. Post will arrive at 1:00 PM CST. Until tomorrow everybody.
The cards in order from the set (the checklist at the end was cut from the back of the package. What, you don't do that?):
Key differences between the team set and 2012 Topps eponymous set:
Jose Reyes' regular Topps card uses the same picture, but is cropped a bit off to the left. And then of course, there is the issue of an SSP card inserted into series 1:
It looks like Topps decided to photoshop the new Marlins duds on Anibal Sanchez' card. How do I know??? Here is the original card:
Same goes with Ricky Nolasco:
And here is a nice shot of Hanley Ramirez, before he was traded off to the Dodgers. His retail card is vertically-oriented. The base card? Horizontally-oriented:
Hey, you know how Topps photoshopped the Miami duds on a couple of players for the retail set? They did the same thing for Emilio Bonifacio:
On both the regular set and in this retail set, he is recognized as Mike. It's nice to know that when he decided to go by his real name that Topps added a second card with the name...Giancarlo (cue Fandango's music please):
As it was with Sanchez, Nolasco, and Bonifacio, Matt Dominguez had a Florida Marlins jersey on his base card:
So of the 16 players included in this set, there are four cards that feature photoshopped Miami Marlins jerseys from their Series 1 cards, one with a different picture in the retail set that was used in 2012 Topps set, and one slight crop job (not counting the super SP).
Next week's featured set will be the 2009 Milwaukee Brewers. Hope you'll be here when we compare the cards from the retail set to their counterparts found in Topps and Topps Updates and Highlights Series.
Last Line of Statistics: 2007 stats (White Sox): 62 G, 214 AB, 30 R, 52 H, 13 2B, 4 3B, 2 HR, 11 RBI, 12 SB, 13 BB, 36 SO, .369 SLG, .668 OPS, .243 AVG.
Any special information about player: Drafted by the Rangers #3rd, June 1994. Signed with the Rockies as a Free Agent 01/30/2008. Bats: left. Throws: left.
Number of regular Topps Cards (includes regular and traded cards only): 8. This is his sixth Topps card.
Blurb on the back: "Scott added speed to the Rockies as a part-time outfielder in 2008. Between '03 and '06, his 212 stolen bases were exceeded in the Majors by only two players."
Commentary: The reason why the White Sox were the best team in baseball in 2005 had a lot to do with the right combination of excellent pitching, fantastic defense, clutch power hitting, and getting on base by any means necessary. One of the sparkplugs of that offense was this man, Scott Eric Podsednik. By the time he was traded to the White Sox, he had earned a reputation as a formidable leadoff hitter who not only can get on base, but steal bases at will. He led the NL in stolen bases the year before with 70. But with the Sox in 2005, as everything just came together on the south side, the man known as "Scotty Podz" would hit a productive .290 with 25 rbi's and 59 stolen bases. He didn't hit a home run at all during the regular season, but in the postseason managed to hit two of them, one a walk-off in extra innings, helping the Sox win their first title since 1917. But after an injury plagued 2007 season, the White Sox released Podsednik. The Rockies signed him just as spring training was getting underway, with a chance to win a spot on the bench. In 93 games with Colorado, Podsednik would hit .253 with a homer, 15 rbi's and 12 stolen bases. He would go on to sign another one-year deal with the Rockies, but was released before the season started. The White Sox, probably feeling a bit of regret for letting him go in the first place, re-signed Podsednik to a minor league deal, placing him with their AAA affiliate in Charlotte. But due to injuries to three of their outfielders, Podsednik found himself back in Chicago two weeks later. Given the chance to play on a regular basis, Scott would hit .304 with 7 home runs and 48 rbi's while stealing 30 bases to give the Sox a much needed (and sorely missed) presence in the lineup. In 2010, he signed a deal with the Royals, who subsequently traded him to the Dodgers before the trading deadline. He signed a minor league deal with Toronto, but was released after appearing in only 17 games in their minor league system. He finished the rest of the 2011 campaign with the Phillies, but only appeared in 14 games due to injury. He was traded to Boson in 2012, but his stay in Beantown wasn't for long as he was traded in a deadline deal to Arizona. But because he was going to be assigned to the D-Backs' AAA team, he refused the assignment, and was eventually released. He would re-sign with the Red Sox nine days later. He was granted free agency after the season ended, but as of now, Podsednik is without a team.
Lo-Hi Beckett value: $0.12-$0.30.
How many cards of this player do I own?: 30.
Tomorrow's card will be 2003 Topps #705. Post will arrive at 1:00 PM CST. Hope you will be too.
(the words to the song for those who either can't access the video, or for those who are deaf or hard-of-hearing)
(Gioacchino Rossini; arr. William Hanna / Joseph Barbera)
Practically a restaurant standard, most people don't realize that these lyrics, to the tune of "The William Tell Overture", were written by Bill Hanna and Joe Barbera for the episode titled "The Hot Piano".
Well, let's see what has happened to me and my collection in the last five years. When I first started this blog, I had 38,749 cards in my official collection. I had every set from 1976 through 2008 Topps Series 1, along with a number of complete insert sets from 1995 through 2008. I also owned the following sets that are part of my collection:
2001 Topps Archives, 2002 Topps Archives: Best Years;
2003-2005 Topps All-Time Fan Favorites;
2003 Topps Shoebox Collection;
2002-2003 Topps T206 series I, II, and III;
2003-2004 Topps T205 series I and II;
2004-2005 Topps Cracker Jack;
2005-2006 Topps Turkey Red;
2006-2007 Topps Allen & Ginter;
1986-1990 Topps Mini Leader Cards;
1984-1986 Topps Super;
1988-1990 Topps Big;
1983-1990 Topps All-Star Glossy Send-In Sets;
1984-1991 Topps All-Star Glossy Sets;
1987-1991 Topps All-Star Glossy Rookie Sets;
1990-1992 Major League Debut;
2005 Topps Rookie Cup;
2006-2007 Topps 14-Card Team Sets, all 30 of them;
2005 Topps Hot Button;
Since then, I have added 20,191 cards to the collection, which comes to 4000 plus per year. I now have all the base and traded cards from 2008 Topps 2 through 2013 Topps Series 1, along with almost all of the basic insert cards that come with these sets. I also have added the following sets to my ever growing collection:
2012 Topps Archives;
2009-2010 Topps T206;
2010 Topps National Chicle;
2007 Topps Turkey Red;
2008-2012 Topps Allen & Ginter;
2011-2013 Topps Gypsy Queen;
2010-2012 Topps MiLB Pro Debut;
2008 Topps 14-Card Team Sets, all 30 of them;
2009 Topps 15-Card Team Sets, all 30 of them;
2010-13 Topps 17-Card Team Sets, all 30 of them;
2011-13 Topps 17-Card All-Star Team Sets, all 6 of them;
In five years, this blog has gained 230 followers and over 354,000 pageviews (according to Blogger), and almost 200,000 hits (according to sitemeter). Thanks to the blog, I have also been interviewed by the Tampa Tribune and Sports Collectors Daily, and was part of the Topps Blog (when they had one) Roundtable. All this because I wanted to add my voice to what was then a very small but growing segment in the Hobby.
I am so happy to see that blogging about baseball cards, and sports cards for that matter, has grown into what it is today. The Sports Card Blogroll, which will also turn five years old in a couple of months, has seen well over 700 blogs in its lifetime listed in the main section (a post about the SCBR's anniversary will come when it is time).
I am not going to promise what I'm going to write about in the coming year. I have found that for one reason or another, I have not been able to keep my word on those (Topps Archives project...cough cough - Topps 300 cough cough). But I do know this. Whenever Topps, or anything else piques my interest in this Hobby that we all know and love, rest assured that it will be discussed here.
I want to thank everyone who has taken the time to read this one-trick pony of a blog. Thank you for your comments, your e-mails, for the cards sent via trades and gifts to me over the years (the Hobby Blogging Community is still one of the most generous I have ever had the honor of being a part of). Thanks to all those who gave me advice about writing a blog when I first started, and those of you who asked me for my own opinions on how a blog should be written. I have enjoyed the past five years and look forward to many more, especially since Topps has the exclusive license to themselves until the end of the decade.
Now it's time to get to work and put those retail sets in binders...
Last Line of Statistics: 1988 stats (Phillies): 157 G, 629 AB, 68 R, 153 H, 32 2B, 9 3B, 12 HR, 67 RBI, 33 SB, .380 SLG, 39 BB, 151 SO, .243 AVG.
Any special information about player: Signed with the Phillies as a Free Agent 04/29/1980. Traded by the Phillies to the Mets 06/18/1989. Bats: right. Throws: right.
Number of regular Topps Cards (includes regular and traded cards only): 12. This is his eighth Topps card.
Blurb on the back: "His first 6-RBI major league game: 6-23-86."
Commentary: Juan Milton Samuel could well be the reason why the Phillies traded Ryne Sandberg to the Cubs. They probably felt that "Sammy" would make be the Phillies' second baseman of the future, and with Mike Schmidt entrenched in the hot corner for the Phils (remember, Sandberg was a primarily a third baseman), there was no place to put the man who would soon be known as "Ryno" anywhere. But Juan Samuel was no slouch at the plate either, and for six plus seasons, gave Phillies fans someone to cheer (or whatever it is they do in Philadelphia). He would hit a cumulative .263 with 100 home runs, 413 rbi's, steal 249 bases, was so fast that he even hit 71 triples, leading the league twice and had five straight years of double digit three-baggers. He was a two-time All-Star with Philly, and won a Silver Slugger in 1987 (probably his best season at the plate). But in 1989, with the Phillies going nowhere in the division, traded Samuel, who by now was playing centerfield instead of second base, to the Mets for outfielder Lenny Dykstra, pitcher Roger McDowell and a PTBNL on June 18. In 86 games for the Mets, Samuel would hit .228 with 3 home runs, drive in 28 rbi's, and steal 31 bases. Samuel would be traded off to the Dodgers at the end of the season for outfielder Mike Marshall and pitcher Alejandro Peña. He would play for LA for three seasons, returning to second base and be named to his third and final All-Star team in 1991. Juan Samuel's final Topps card as a player would come in the 1992 Topps set, and I'll be honest, I thought that he was done when he didn't appear in the 1993 Topps set. But Samuel continued playing until 1998. After being released by the Dodgers on July 30, 1992, he signed on with the Royals, finishing the season in KC. He would sign a one year deal with the Reds for 1993, and another one with the Tigers for 1994. He signed a second one-year deal with the Tigers for 1995, but was traded back to the Royals for a PTBNL. After a second stint with KC, he signed with the Blue Jays, spending three seasons with Toronto before calling it a career. But from 1993 to 1998, Topps didn't include him in any of their sets. He has since continued in baseball, coaching or managing at different levels over the years. He even managed the Orioles on an interim bases in 2010. In 2008, Samuel's contributions to the Phillies were recognized as he was inducted into the Phillies Wall of Fame at the new Citizens Bank Park. He joined the Phils as their third base coach in 2011, where he held the job until 2013. Why? Because in 2013, the Phillies promoted their AAA manager to a coaching job at third base. Samuel was more than happy to move over to the first base coaching box to accommodate the promotion. Oh, the guy that is now the third base coach for Philly? Some guy named Ryne Sandberg.
Lo-Hi Beckett value: $0.01-$0.05.
How many cards of this player do I own?: 28 cards.
Tomorrow's card will be: 2008 Topps Updates and Highlights #UH247. Post will arrive at 1:00 PM CST. Post will arrive at 1:00 PM CST. We're looking back at a card from 1980 here on the blog tomorrow.
Last Line of Statistics: 2005 stats (Giants): 14 G, 42 AB, 8 R, 12 H, 1 2B, 0 3B, 5 HR, 10 RBI, 0 SB, 9 BB, 6 SO, .667 SLG, 1.071 OPS, .286 AVG.
Any special information about player: Drafted by the Giants #1st, June 1985. Signed with the Giants as a Free Agent 12/08/1992. Bats: left. Throws: left.
Number of regular Topps Cards (includes regular and traded cards only): 23. This is his twenty-second Topps card.
Blurb on the back: n/a.
Commentary: As with the time his 2003 All-Star card was featured as a Card of the Day, I am not going to discuss the controversies, the scandals, the court trials for this reason: I am no expert on any of those things and so much has been written already about them, there is no need for me to repeat them or add anything that hasn't already been speculated on about the career of Barry Bonds. Instead, today's post will just be a brief review about his 2005 and 2006 seasons. After winning his fourth consecutive NL MVP award (and his seventh total...this would be his final one), his 2005 season was marred by a knee injury, multiple surgeries, and lenghty rehab. He did return in September, and the numbers you see in the "Last Line of Statistics" were his totals for the month. While it did put a dent in his quest to break the home run record, his 2006 season would make up for lost time. Even at 41 years of age heading into the 2006 season, Bonds still showed that he could hit...and hit well. Yes, he hit .270 with 26 home runs and 77 rbi's, the first time since his arrival in the Bay Area that he hit lows in both categories (not counting the 2005 season), but he still was a feared hitter, so much so that he led the league again in walks with 115, which contributed to a league leading .454 OBP. In 2006, he would pass Babe Ruth for second on the All-Time HR list, and Hank Aaron for the NL record for homers. It wouldn't be until August 7, 2007 that he would finally break the MLB record, hitting his 756th home run against the Washington Nationals. Barry Bonds would retire from the game after the 2007 season. He finishes as MLB's all-time leader in homers (762), walks (2558), and intentional passes (688).
Lo-Hi Beckett value: $0.40-$1.00.
How many cards of this player do I own?: 167 cards.
Tomorrow's card will be: 1989 Topps Traded #108T. Post will arrive at 1:00 PM CST. Flash back with the blog tomorrow.
It's Minor League Monday!!! Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Pro Debut Card of the Week:
Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 2010 Topps Pro Debut #141.
Player Name, position, team: Sean Ratliff, outfielder, Savannah Sand Gnats.
Level-League, Team Affiliation: A-South Atlantic League, New York Mets.
Minor League Stats (stats with team depicted only): 122 G, 468 AB, 64 R, 124 H, 28 2B, 7 3B, 15 HR, 68 RBI, 11 SB, 31 BB, 131 SO, .451 SLG, .312 OPS, .265 AVG.
Any special information about player: Drafted by the Mets #4th, June 2008. Bats: left. Throws: left.
Major League Debut: n/a.
Baseball America Organizational Ranking After Season with Team: New York Mets #22 prospect after the 2009 season.
Blurb on the back: "Sean was drafted by the Mets in 2008 out of Stanford, where he led the team in home runs and RBI. The strapping, powerful outfielder was assigned to short-season Brooklyn. He blasted nine doubles and seven home runs in 59 games, then moved up a notch in '09 to become a South Atlantic League All-Star."
Official Topps Rookie Card: n/a.
Commentary: Sean M. Ratliff was one of the Mets' more promising prospects, and one that had the potential to be a future slugger and run producer. In three minor league seasons, a journey that began with the Brooklyn Cyclones in 2008, continued with Savannah (the team he is pictured with on his card), and then the FSL St. Lucie Mets and AA Binghamton Mets, Ratliff hit for an impressive .274 average with 43 home runs and 176 rbi's. Defensively, he committed only 14 errors in 642 chances (.977 fielding percentage), had 19 assists and participated in 6 double plays. His was on the quick path to the majors until he was struck in the face by a foul ball during a spring training game (a freak accident as he was standing on deck when the ball came towards him), breaking six bones. The injury ended his 2011 season. Although he managed to make a comeback, appearing in 7 games for the St. Lucie Mets, after hitting .136 (3-22) with a double, Sean Ratliff retired from the game as an active player on April 22, 2012.
Next week's featured card will be: 2012 Topps Pro Debut #141. Post will arrive at 9:00 AM CST. Hope you enjoyed this week's installment of Minor League Monday.
