Introducing Your 2026 MLB Rookies of the Year!!!

 

Congratulations to both Sal Stewart of the Cincinnati Reds and Kevin McGonigle of the Detroit Tigers for winning the National League and American League Rookies of the Year Awards. As in recent years, MLB announced the top three finalists for each of the end-of-the-year awards. While there certainly more players in the running, announcing the top three for each category made for interesting debates.

The future of the Reds looks bright (barring a work stoppage) thanks in part to a young core of players who can only get better as they develop as a team. Between Chase Burns leading the rotation, and some guy named Elly de la Cruz, who quietly had a 30 HR/30 SB season, patrolling the infield, this team has the potential to challenge for the NL Central title for the next few years. But Sal Stewart, the Reds' up-and-coming superstar (he did appear in this year's ASG), appeared in all 162 games for Cincy, hit for a .263 average, with 32 HR, home runs, 112 RBI's, and had a slash line of .330/.457/.787. He was named to the NL All-Star Team as the backup third baseman, but has primarily been the Redlegs' first baseman in 2026. Stewart received 20 of the 30 first place votes, earning 170 total points (7 points for first place, 4 for second, 3 for third, 2 for fourth, and 1 for fifth place). 

The other finalists were Carson Benge of the Mets (107 points, 7 first place votes) and JJ Wetherholt of the Cardinals (99, 3). The rest of the field included Mets pitcher Nolan McLean (70 points, 6 second place votes), TJ Rumfield of the Rockies (49, 3), Logan Henderson of the Brewers (10, 1), Bryce Eldridge of the Giants (2), Didier Fuentes of the Braves, (2), and A. J. Ewing of the Mets (1).

For the American League, fellow rookie All-Star Kevin McGonigle of the Tigers was announced the league's ROY. The Tigers, like the Reds, have a core group of players that look to challenge for the AL Central division going forward. Dillon Dingler helps manage the pitching staff, and along Colt Keith, Spencer Torkelson, and Zach McKinstry, the lineup looks formidable. But it's McGonigle's breakout year that made headlines in 2026. The shortstop appeared in 156 games for the Tigers, hitting at a .278 clip to go with 18 homers, 72 rbi's, and a slash line of .376/.430/.806. McGonigle received 28 of the 30 first place votes, earning a commanding 204 points.

The other finalists were Guardians' pitcher Parker Messick (122 points, 2 first place votes), and Red Sox pitcher Payton Tolle (54). The rest included Munetaka Murakami of the White Sox (39 points, 2 second place votes), Carter Jensen of the Royals (31), Chase DeLauter of the Guardians (23, 1), Kazuma Okamoto of the Blue Jays (17), Tristan Peters of the White Sox (12), Walbert Ureña of the Angels (2), Sam Antonacci of the White Sox (2), Travis Bazzana of the Guardians (2), Henry Bolte of the Athletics (1), and Dylan Beavers of the Orioles (1).

Stewart becomes the ninth Reds player to be named Rookie of the Year, while McGonigle is the sixth Tigers player to win the award.

So begins a wild week were debates will come fast and furious. Did your guy win???

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

A GameStop Visit to Get a Topps Update Super Box...and Video Games.

A 2026 Topps Update Super Box

On Thursday, I was able to take my son to GameStop. The mission? To buy a Nintendo Switch Sports Resort game, along with a Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream that he's been wanting for a while...

Okay...he did want those and we did get them. But the real reason why I took him to GameStop??!

Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

I had to buy this game. I never played the original one on the Nintendo 64, nor any of the GameBoy versions. I hear this is the "Greatest Game of All Time"

If this doesn't get Gellman to come back to my blog...nothing will...

Seriously, I've wanted to play it, but I still have to finish Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment, along with the original Hyrule Warriors...and maybe one day I'll finish Skyward Sword (I'm almost there...I swear)...

Okay, can we get back to the baseball cards? I think we've tuned out half of the audience??!

All 2 readers??!

YES!!!

Fine.

At GameStop, if you weren't aware, they started selling baseball cards...and other trading cards. And among the tables on Ocarina of Time release day were three 2026 Topps Update Super Boxes. And to go with the three games being purchased, I bought two retail jumbo packs (the last two) and one of the three Super Boxes.

It's Sunday night, and while the Bears game is on (and wow, that was an unnecessarily close one), I opened the box to see what goodies were in the box. Unlike the Series 1 and Series 2 boxes, the Update box did not disappoint.

This Super Box consists of 10 fourteen-card packs of Update Series Topps, along with a bonus 5-card pack of foilboard parallel cards (see below), an exclusive jumbo card, the header (which I will be using for the 6-inch binder) and a Funko mini. Let's start with the mini Funko Pop!

Who's in here??!

Pop goes the Julio Rodriguez Mini Figure!!! He's going to go well with the Mike Trout and Ronald Acuña mini figures. 

Now let's look at the oversized card and the (possibly as there wasn't one in the Series 2 box) bonus card. Peeling behind the header reveals...

2026 Topps Update Series Oversized #US7 Kevin McGonigle

It's one of Topps' SP Rookie subjects, Kevin McGonigle of the Tigers. He could be the AL Rookie of the Year for 2026. It's a great addition to the binder. The bonus card is of Andrew Painter of the Phillies. The companion card will also go into the binder...with the Tarik Skubal and Adley Rutschmann SP cards (when I get them).

Next is the pack of Foilboard cards. What's in this pack below??!

The five-card foilboard pack

• #US163 Martín Pérez, Braves
• #US188 Tomoyuki Sugano, Rockies
• #US3 Carson Benge, Mets
• #US84 Ty France, Padres
• #US295 Ryan Thompson, Diamondbacks

Other than Benge, another of the SP subjects, the pack isn't something to write home about. But the trade bait pile builds.

Now, again, I'm hoping that between this and the retail packs that I've already opened, I'm hoping (not optomistic mind you) that I'll manage to build a full set. I'll spare the highlights, but I can tell you that below is the full result of the box break:

The Haul!!!

I can say that I have removed 9 insert cards from my want list. Included in the haul is:

• a Topps BlackGold card (Shohei Ohtani)
• two 1991 Topps 35 Year Anniversary cards (Bobby Witt Jr and the aformentioned Andrew Painter)
• four All-Star Game cards (including the Miz, Ben Rice, Max Muncy and Brandon Marsh)
• two Stars of MLB (Junior Caminero and Manny Machado).

I am now down to one Stars of MLB card to complete the set. I should have enough extra Stars cards to trade for the Kazuma Okamoto #SMLB-75 card.

But the highlight of the entire box is the card on the bottom right.

Not the Pink Ronald Acuña 1991 card. But the autograph card next to it.

2026 Topps 1991 All-Star #91AS-MC Miguel Cabrera 

This box was considerably better than the ones from the first two series. Just from the auto alone. I'm thrilled.

Now, what should I do next? Watch Bears highlights? Play video games? Or finally getting around to sort the base cards to see how many cards I need (if any) to call Update Series complete?

Decisions, decisions, decisions...

(As he picks up the controller and plays Suika Game)

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Adventures in Trading: Diving Headfirst into the 2026 Topps Insert Card Pool

I've been slowly, but surely, opening the packs and retail blasters that I bought a few weeks ago now, building the 2026 Topps Update Series set and inserts. I still have not opened the Hobby box yet, probably will save that when I am able to commit more time that doesn't involve earning continuing education units for pharmacy or playing the new Ocarina of Time on the Switch 2 (which I will be buying today). On an unrelated note, I've beaten Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment (at least the main storyline) but there are so many...MANY...sidequests and battles that have popped up AFTER THE BASIC GAME ENDED!!! So I'm fighting through (literally) to finish everything. 

Oh...I never mentioned I play Legend of Zelda games before??! Well...

Anyway, back to the point.

I've been building the insert sets from the packs I've opened so far. As of this morning, after opening the 1 retail box, 4 blasters, and 9 jumbo packs. Of the 632 cards from all those packages, I "should" have enough (doubt it...that's where the Hobby box comes in) for the base set and 33 insert cards that have added to the growing collection.

But this is an Adventures in Trading post. Why mention what you've opened??!

I'm getting to it.

Now that I have his permission (he said I didn't need it), I want to introduce you to a guy name Bob Jasiak.

Bob, whose handle is bdhrbob, is a prolific trader on the Trading Card Database. He has completed over 1200 trades on the TCDB, and I've had the honor of being involved in 10 of them. He's a Chicago guy, and he lives near the office building where I work. So for every trade we've done, he's driven to the office building, sends me a quick text saying he's in the lobby, and I meet him to exchange cards and a quick story about shows in the area, specifically the monthly show in Schaumburg that I can never attend because I work at the pharmacy (I will go to one, someday...). 

I haven't really dived into the trading space just yet only because I still need to gauge what I need versus what I have (I have extras...specifically the retail specific Stars of MLB that everyone gets). But Bob, a great guy, reached out to me this past Friday, saying,

Hi James , I saw some matches for you so I started picking some from your trade list .

Can you still use them all ? Thanks & Plmk BOB

My response,

Hey Bob:

I would be more than happy to take whatever you are offering. Let me know if you need anything as well.

So he sent me his trade proposal the following day:

 

A 13-card for 13-card trade offer. I'm not picky with value or any of that stuff. I just don't have the time. But I'm not going to say no to a double-digit offer. Especially when I have the cards he's asking for. I accepted the trade request, and said I'd see him on Monday.

Monday came. And he delivered the cards. I had to apologize as I was roped into a quick spreadsheet and had missed his first text. Upon exchanging cards, I explained that write a Hobby blog and was going to ask if I could put his name in the article I was going to write about the trade (this one you're reading here). He said it was fine and that he actually read my blog and the Topps Ripped article about my collection. He was impressed. He said that he trades not only for baseball cards (huge Cubs collector) but also for Bulls and Blackhawks items as well and was thrilled to meet and trade with collectors outside the baseball side of the Hobby. 

I thanked him for the cards, and went back to work.

Bob, if you're reading this, thank you once again for another great trade opportunity. I will, eventually, put more insert cards that I've found onto the TCDB for trade bait. Hopefully we do this again really soon.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

I Would Like to Apologize to the Families of Conrad "Randy" Cardinal and Stu Tate

 

1963 Topps Rookie Stars #562: Randy Cardinal, Dave McNally, Don Rowe, Ken Rowe

It appears that when I made the gallery of cards in my post yesterday, I missed one card that should have been included.

Let me explain.

I use Baseball Almanac when listing the players who passed away during the course of the year. I find that it's more accurate than Baseball Reference when it comes to this kind of information (as of now, they haven't updated the profile pages of Todd Benzinger and Jerry Koosman). Among the names listed on the Almanac's "Players who Passed Away" page was Conrad Cardinal, a pitcher for the Houston Colt .45's, whose MLB career lasted one season in 1963, the team's second year of existence (before becoming the Astros). Cardinal pitched in 6 games, started 1, and in 13.1 innings of work, he had a 0-1 record, a 6.08 ERA, a 1.650 WHIP, struck out 7 batters, walked 7 batters (so his SO/BB ratio is a solid 1.0)/ Not much to write home about, honestly, but he earned his callup to the majors after posting a 14-7 record with the Tigers' Jamestown (D-League) affiliate the year prior. 

He never played in the majors after that brief stint, finishing his minor league career in 1965 with the Durham Bulls, at the time the Astros' Carolina League affiliate.

But that's not the point.

I used the Card Cyber Museum to get images of the cards for the In Memoriam gallery. Of the 91 players on the list, I could only find images for 79 players. 

There should have been 80.

Using the list from the Almanac, there were no cards listed for Conrad Cardinal.

There weren't cards either for John Edelman, Tony Balsamo, Corky Withrow, Chuck Nieson, Jim Duckworth, Ossie Blanco, Herb Hutson, Mike Johnson, Rick Kreuger, Greg Thayer and Stu Tate (okay, Tate has one card also, and it's from Fleer-see below). 

But here's where it gets complicated. His full name is Conrad Randall Seth Cardinal. His nickname is "Randy." On Baseball Reference, he's referred to as Randy Cardinal.

And apparently, "Randy" has a Topps card.

That's right, Cardinal has one Topps card, a 1963 Topps Rookie Stars card, that is now at the top of this post. 

I do plan on updating the "In Memoriam" image to include it and will update the November 2 post at a later time. 

But for now, I would like to apologize to the Cardinal family for excluding his card in the gallery.

Now for Stu Tate.

He was a pitcher for the San Francisco Giants, appearing in 2 games for the eventual NL Champions in 1989. A 0-0 record with 4 K's and 0 walks, an ERA of 3.38 in 2.2 innings of work. He earned his call-up after 6 long seasons in the minors, and after one last season in 1991 with the Giants' AAA team in Phoenix, called it a career.

Stu Tate has one MLB card, a 1990 Fleer Major League Prospects card shared with Cubs infielder Greg Smith. 

Now I can use the excuse that the 1989 Giants ruined my childhood (the Cubs won the NL East that year, and that was the team that got me hooked on baseball to stay) and thus I didn't include Tate in the gallery, even if he only played for 2 games. But the fact is...this is a Topps baseball card blog. I'm supposed to stay consistent with the content.

But because I forgot to include Cardinal's sole MLB card, it is only proper that I should include the card of Stu Tate as well, even if it's...cough cough...Fleer.

1990 Fleer Major League Prospects #643: Greg Smith, Stu Tate.

I would like to apologize to the Tate family for the exclusion of his card image as well.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

As Today is November 2, 2026

November 2 is traditionally All Souls Day. It is the day where we celebrate the lives of family and friends who have passed away. Many will go to cemeteries and pray, some may even picnic on the grounds. It is not really a day of mourning, but a day of reflection. Remembering those who we strongly miss.

I am going to start with honoring my dad, Leslie Filoteo Anama. I love you Dad. We miss you, now more than 8 years since you passed. We all continue to honor your legacy and share stories about you.

On behalf of my wife, I would like to honor both her mother and father Faye and Charles Mok, Sr., the latter who passed away in 2024, her grandparents, aunt and uncles.

Personally, I would like to honor my grandparents, Felix Anama, Leonor Filoteo Anama, Gloria Y. Nichols, Ruben S. Menguito, Sgt. Clinton H. Nichols. As well as countless great aunts and uncles too numerous to list.

Today I want to remember the seven souls who died on January 8, 1993, at the Brown's Chicken in Palatine, Illinois: Michael C. Castro, Rico Solis, Thomas Mennes, Marcus Nellsen, Guadalupe Maldonado, Richard Ehlenfeldt, and Lynn Ehlenfeldt.

I would like to remember the people I've met over the years who left us too soon: Lynn Swoboda, Shannon McNamara, Linda Beyer, Gail Leff, Lois Winesburgh, Mary Jo Scanlan, Nancy Huber, Joseph Nasca, Antoinette Nasca, Dan Doles, Chris Stufflestreet, Thomas Scanlon, Darrin Steffey, Katie (Olin) Wood, Erin (Ryals) Semerad, Leonard "LJ" Marek, Rob Swanson, Steve Hanson, Bill Rutherford, Dawn (Padlo) Voss, Robert Strickland, Arthur Waldrom, Mary Jo Crowley, Sandy LaSalvia. 

Finally, I would like to take a moment to remember the families, the loved ones who were left behind.

Now that the personal side of the blog has been taken care of, I would also like to take time to remember 91 more people. Between 11/02/2025 and 11/01/2026, 91 people who can lay claim to playing major league baseball, 8 of whom had the honor of being a manager of a major league franchise (even for one game), passed away (a ninth, Ted Turner, owner of the Braves and died on May 6, managed the Atlanta Braves for 1 game in 1977 during a long losing streak. The MLB Commissioner at the time blocked him from continuing). Many lived long productive lives, even after their careers ended. Others, tragically, either passed away before their potential could be fully reached or before they could enjoy the fruits of their retirement.

Today, I take time out of my humble little baseball card blog to remember players who died between 11/02/2025-11/01/2026.

Jim Duckworth
11/11/2025
Tom Timmermann
11/14/2025
Randy Jones
11/18/2025
Bart Shirley
11/19/2025
George Altman
11/24/2025
Dave Morehead
11/24/2025
Tim Harkness
11/27/2025
Steve Hertz
12/4/2025
Greg Thayer
12/12/2025
Mike Campbell
12/15/2025
Albert Hall
12/16/2025
Andy Kosco
12/19/2025
Ray Lamb
12/25/2025
Jim Willis
1/2/2026
Dave Giusti
1/11/2026
Stu Tate
1/13/2026
Ray Crone
1/15/2026
Chris Krug
1/16/2026
Wilbur Wood
1/17/2026
Dave Schmidt
1/19/2026
Zack Monroe
1/19/2026
Rob Maurer
1/21/2026
Rick Renick
1/31/2026
Ron Teasley
2/3/2026
Mickey Lolich
2/4/2026
Terrance Gore
2/6/2026
Gary Blaylock
2/7/2026
Bobby Henrich
2/9/2026
Joe Nossek
2/12/2026
Roy Face
2/12/2026
Bill Mazeroski
2/20/2026
Wayne Granger
2/25/2026
Herb Hutson
2/28/2026
Gary Wagner
3/11/2026
Tony Balsamo
3/12/2026
Larry Stahl
3/17/2026
Doug Camilli
3/17/2026
Ken Clay
3/26/2026
Tom Nieto
3/27/2026
Bob Duliba
4/4/2026
Chuck Nieson
4/7/2026
Davey Lopes, MGR
4/8/2026
John Edelman
4/9/2026
Billy Bryan
4/9/2026
Phil Garner, MGR
4/11/2026
Garret Anderson
4/16/2026
Ellie Rodriguez
4/22/2026
Corky Withrow
4/22/2026
Conrad Cardinal
4/28/2026
Bob Skinner, MGR
5/4/2026
Dick Hughes
5/6/2026
Rick Kreuger
5/7/2026
Bobby Cox, MGR
5/9/2026
Buzz Capra
5/11/2026
Mike Johnson
5/20/2026
Charlie Moore
5/23/2026
Mark Bailey
5/26/2026
Bob Horner
5/26/2026
Eddie Haas, MGR
6/4/2026
Bob Lacey
6/4/2026
Wes Gardner
6/10/2026
Al Closter
6/11/2026
Al Worthington
6/18/2026
Derrell Griffith
6/25/2026
Al Holland
7/4/2026
Darrell Jackson
7/5/2026
Phil Regan, MGR
7/8/2026
Gil Blanco
7/9/2026
Hector Valle
7/11/2026
Ron Hunt
7/15/2026
Duane Ward
7/18/2026
Scott Brown
7/21/2026
Ossie Blanco
7/23/2026
Butch Huskey
8/14/2026
Tommy John
8/15/2026
Pat Putnam
8/25/2026
Rich Rowland
8/27/2026
Larry Christenson
8/28/2026
Jim Rittwage
8/28/2026
Rollie Sheldon
8/31/2026
Joe Morgan, MGR
9/5/2026
Brian Wolfe
9/15/2026
Don Cooper, MGR
9/22/2026
Mike Edwards
9/22/2026
Jeoff Long
9/25/2026
Dave Rosello
9/30/2026
Sam McDowell
10/5/2026
Bud Zipfel
10/10/2026
Todd Benzinger
10/21/2026
George Thomas
10/23/2026
Jerry Koosman
11/1/2026

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

And Just Like That...The 2026 Season is Over...and The Uncertainty of a 2027 Begins

 

Your 2026 World Series MVP, William Contreras!!!

The two best teams in MLB's respective leagues, the number one seeds, played in this year's World Series. And in the end, the best team in baseball won the championship in a dominant 5-game series.

Your 2026 champions are the Milwaukee Brewers. Literally armed with a pitching staff that dominated the National League, and a balanced lineup, the Brew Crew beat the Tampa Bay Rays 4 games to 1 to bring Milwaukee it's first MLB title. The team, who last made it to the WS in 1982, as a member of the American League, has finally given Milwaukee it's first baseball championship.

So congrats to the Brewers, from a disgruntled Cubs fan. And congratulations to the Rays for an incredible run in the postseason. 

But now the uncertainty begins.

With the looming talks of a potential work stoppage beginning in December, and the whole possibility of next year's season could be delayed, if not scrapped entirely, what will it mean for 2027 and the Hobby??!

Will there even be cards? The last MLB work stoppage was over 32 years ago. I am pretty sure that 1994 Topps Traded and 1995 Topps Series 1 were distributed on time, even as the strike carried on into Spring Training.

That's all above my pay grade and whatever little expertise I have. This blog will return to the usual off-season shenanigans of highlighting off-season award winners, the announcement of Topps' 2026 All-Star Rookie Team, the build-up to the Hall of Fame elections, and whatever comes to mind.

At least now everyone is 0-0. 

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Opening a 2026 Topps Update Series Pack

2026 Topps Update Retail Jumbo Pack

So...

Update Series. 

As of right now, here is the total card count for what I've purchased:

• 400 cards from the Jumbo box
• 396 cards from the eleven jumbo packs
• 295 cards from the five blaster boxes
• 72 cards from the retail box
• 24 cards from the two Hobby packs

That's 1187 cards.

And I have not opened a single box or pack yet.

Why?

Work is the number one reason. Then there were family parties, a belated Sweetest Day/Night dinner, another night out with my daughter and her husband. So...yeah...

But on Monday I had the day off, and as much as I wanted to just tear everything apart, I needed to update my Certified Pharmacy Technician License (due at the end of October...thanks Covid). To do this, I needed to take 10 classes, 20 credits. No problem. PowerPak has the classes, and it's a 30 minute read (if the jargon was a bit more challenging, 45 minutes) before taking a test to earn the credits. And you can even review the questions before taking the test. So I had done that...

Then the dentist appointment...

Then it was a conference call with the coordinators for the Chromosome 18 Registry and Research Society (one of the things that we became during the blog hiatus)...

And now it's Wednesday.

So why not open one now?

Here is the deep dive.

The first card in this pack (and my first card of Update Series) is of...

Sam Antonacci of the Chicago White Sox!!!

• Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 2026 Topps Update #US301.
• Player Name, position, team: Sam Antonacci, outfielder, Chicago White Sox.
• Major League Debut: April 15, 2026.
• Last Line of Statistics: 2025 stats (Minor League Statistics for ACL White Sox, Winston Salem, and Birmingham): 116 G, 406 AB, 78 R, 118 H, 21 2B, 6 3B, 5 HR, 57 RBI, 48 SB, 69 BB, .409 SLG .842 OPS .291 AVG.
• Any special information about player: Drafted by the White Sox in the #5th round, July, 2024 Bats: left. Throws: right.
• Number of regular Topps Cards (includes regular and traded cards only): 1. This is his first Topps card.
• Blurb on the back: "Having grown up three hours south of Rate Field in the Illinois capital of Springfield, Sam had extra excitement when he made his White Sox debut at home on April 15, 2026. Family and friends who made the drive got rewarded in the second inning, when Antonacci singled in his maiden at bat. He'd earned his call with a .445 OBP over three MiLB seasons."
• Commentary: And what a year Antonacci had for the Pale Hose. A .277 average with 8 home runs, 48 rbi's, 20 stolen bases, and a slash line of .370/.396/.766 (that's OBP/SLG/OPS). He was the team's primary left fielder this past season, and is part of a young core of players that should put the White Sox back to relevance after 3 previous seasons of 100-losses.
• Beckett value: n/a.
• How many cards of this player do I own?: 2 cards.

The breakdown of the pack included:

• 31 base cards, including two more White Sox players, 1 Cub, 1 Cub combo card, a Payton Tolle Rookie Debut card and two other rookie debut cards
• 1 Topps Gold card (Peter Lambert #0524/2026)
• 1 Topps All-Star Game card (CJ Abrams of the Nationals)
• 1 Topps 1991 card (Mike Trout)
• 2 Stars of MLB cards (Ben Rice and Travis Bazzana)

It's an average pack of cards. No earth shattering "Hobby Rookie" darlings (at least not the Konnor Griffin or Kazuma Okamoto variety) but a good start for anyone who builds sets. The four insert cards reduces my wantlist, and...

What's this??!

Someone at the TCDB is sending me a trade request??! Okay, so it's for Stars of MLB. And I'll probably wind up getting these cards anyway in the packs.

But it's a five-for-five. I'm going to go for it. It's been a hot moment since I was at the post office anyway.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama