Topps Awarded License to Create Minor League Baseball Cards in 2010 and Beyond!!!

The guy at Trader Crack's broke the news, and I went to the website for confirmation, but it appears that although Topps lost the NFL rights, they have gained something potentially better.

MiLB.com (the official site for Minor League Baseball) has just announced that the Topps Company, home of Major League Baseball cards for almost 60 years, has just signed an exclusive agreement to be the official licensee of Minor League Baseball cards.

Read all about it here.

So what does this mean?

According to Warren Friss, Topps' Vice President, that "Now we're the only trading card licensed by both Major League Baseball and Minor League Baseball, and we look forward to a lasting relationship with both Leagues."

But what does this mean for Topps' major league products? Will this mean that Topps will now include draft pick cards and future star cards in the eponymous brands? Will Topps even be allowed to do that? What about Bowman? Will there be a need to create a prospect cards "insert set" with all the parallels, chrome, and other bells and whistles? Will Bowman become a minor league brand?

As most of us already know, there is also the matter of the minor league "debut card" logo that the licensing arms wanted Tristar (good luck in all future endeavors by the way) to include when players made their debut onto a minor league card. The press release states that Topps has the exclusive rights to the logo. Will this mean that a player can have a Pro Debut card AND a MLB Rookie card???

And what does this mean for minor league cards as a whole? Will regular card collectors jump in and buy minor league Topps cards? Will set collectors want in on this? Heck, will Topps set collectors want to get in on this? Speaking for me, I would have to see what the cards are going to look like first?

But most importantly...

Will this mean the return of Topps MLB debut???

So many questions, so much time to speculate as the first Topps Minor League product, known as Topps Pro Debut Series 1 (meaning there will be more than ONE SERIES of this product) will be coming out in March.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

The First of Hopefully 25 U & H Shortprints Has Arrived!!!

Out of the blue, I get an e-mail from reader and friend of the blog Larry Littman saying that he is getting a package together for me in the mail, including an SP from the Updates and Highlights set. Appreciating the generosity, I asked for a wantlist to see if I can return the favor. He sent me a wantlist, I went through all the cards, and before I could even get a chance to mail his stuff, his package arrived on Saturday morning.

The package was filled with inserts from all three series of Topps, including a good number of Topps Gold cards, about 8 Propaganda cards, ToppsTown cards (need the codes for the kids...thanks), a Jesus Guzman Topps Chrome Traded Rookie bonus card, a Honus Wagner gold refractor card (the exclusive insert found in Target Cereal boxes), a bunch of Legends of the Game inserts, a sampling of 2009 Topps Cubs cards (which my daughter nabbed and claimed as her own...), and this, which is still in the original holder (have not taken a screwdriver to it yet):

2009 Topps Johnny Mize #UH250b.
Larry, thank you very much for the cards. I do appreciate, and am humbled by your generosity. The cards you need are on their way via the USPS. Please let me know when you get them.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

What Am I Thankful For...Updated for 2009.

Now I originally wrote much of what you'll see below on the blog last year after Thanksgiving. A lot has happened in the year since. But many of these I am still thankful for. Please allow me the pleasure of giving thanks.

By the time this post comes online, I will either be in Crown Point, IN, partaking in Thanksgiving festivities with my in-laws, or on the road heading home, ready to face whatever calamity will come up (we've driven home from Indiana through snowstorms, rainstorms, balding tires, sometimes rain and balding tires at the same time, and the best one, a deer at 65 miles per hour. Needless to say, every trip home is an adventure!!!)

Anyway, I can rattle on and on about how tough it is nowadays, but everyone already has an idea. For all the bad news out there (and it seems there is plenty), there is so much for me personally to be thankful for.

I am thankful that I have a wonderful family that gives me a reason to be alive. My wife and I have been together for 11 wonderful years, and I look forward to many more with her. Though we may have had our share of disagreements, the good times outweigh all the bad. We constantly talk about how it would be nice if we went to this place, or if we had this car, or whatever. But those are just dreams for the moment. I hope that one day that we get to realize those dreams. For now, we just have to keep going with what we have. As with many who took this vow of marriage, I promised to be with her for richer or poorer, in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health. I loved her then, and I love her more so now.

I have two beautiful children who I love with all my heart. I am truly grateful to have them in my life. I may be a little strict with them about their grades in school (oh my gosh, I've become MY OWN FATHER), but to hear them laugh, and to see them show both their mother and me how much they love us makes up for all of that. I love hearing them laugh, and seeing them smile. It is for them that I work as hard as I can. Although there are many nights that I come home and they are already in bed, I make sure to give them my full attention when I am with them in the mornings before going to school. They are both growing up so fast, it's hard to believe that not a long time ago, they were babies who I could carry rather easily. Both their mom and I have a lot of work to do raising them, but it is something that I would never exchange.

I am thankful to have a family to lean on when times are hard. My parents, who have been my support when I have nobody to turn to when I'm having troubles and give me good advice whether I ask or not. My siblings, who keep me grounded as a person (based on whatever they're doing in their lives). Even my in-laws...who help keep my wife in check and make sure that she's doing well.

I am thankful for having a steady job. I've been working at the same place for more than eleven years now. Long ago, I was told that the average person lasts two years or less in one job. I have seen many people here come and go in eleven years, more so this year. I am grateful that I still have a place to earn a living through these troubled times.

I am thankful for having a roof over my family's head. Yes, I have to admit it's been rough at times, both financially and physically (and by this, I mean our house is old, and there has been a lot of work that needed to be done with it), and somehow we are able to scrape through another month. A lot of sleepless nights have happened over the last few years. But somehow, we overcome and are able to continue and still have a place to call home. I hope in the future, things will get better.

I am thankful that we have food on our table. We don't eat out as often as before, and we've had to cut back on many luxury items (seafood, steak), but our kids love home-made mac and cheese and those little Vienna sausages (not necessarily together mind you, but that has been dinner some nights). I'm not saying that we've had to totally give up on good food, but as long as we have the basics (milk, bread, eggs), and we're never out of pasta, I'm happy.

The final thing I am for which I am thankful, is for all intents and purposes, is a reason I am able to keep sane through all the things going on in my life. It is something that many understand, but few will admit relating to it. Many people, no matter what their situation, have at least one. And often times, use it for the same reasons I do. For the goals this one thing accomplishes is not just to give joy to my life, but to give it an escape. An outlet if you will, to a time where I didn't have stress, or have much to worry. This one thing is the reason why I write this humble little blog. I give thanks to the Hobby. Because with everything going on in the world today, second to my family, it is the one thing that gives me comfort.

If this sounds like I'm whining at the same time that I'm being grateful, I apologize as that was not the intent of my writing. There are many people out there who are struggling and somehow surviving on less than what we have. To them I pray that things will get better. It will take some work, but it will get better.

If there is one thing I have forgotten to do above, it's to say thank you to those who have read my blog, left comments, accepted me into this crazy community, and have added to my card collection since I started this blog. Thank you for adding me to your blogrolls, your blog readers, and welcoming me into your online lives. I will do my best to fill this blog with information that I continually promise to provide. After all, 2010 Topps Series I won't be out until January, and I don't plan on leaving this site hanging until then.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

2009 Topps All-Star Rookie Team Contest Winners!!!

Now that the 2009 Topps All-Star Rookie Team has been announced, I have spent the good part of the evening going over all the e-mails I received, seeing who outguessed me in the All-Star Rookie Team contest.

Unfortunately, nobody correctly predicted all ten players who would make the team. The news that Omir Santos won the catcher's position pretty much dashed everybody's shot at a perfect ten (almost everyone chose Matt "I'm-a-Razor-Exclusive" Wieters). So nobody wins the 2005 Topps Rookie Cup set grand prize.

But I am happy to say that out of all the entries I received, only two...TWO...readers beat my score. Congratulatory e-mails have already been sent, so it's okay for me to announce:

Congratulations to Don Sherman and Glenn Savage!!!

Both gentlemen each correctly predicted who would win in eight out of the ten positions. If you recall in my announcement post, I only got seven right. Each of them will receive a Hobby Jumbo pack of 2009 Topps Updates and Highlights (I know that I originally said a regular pack, but I am free to change my mind).

Thank you very much to all who participated in the contest. Although nobody got all ten to win the grand prize, I promise to run this contest again next year. Hopefully somebody will win it.

Introducing the 2009 Topps All-Star Rookie Team!!!

The MLB managers have spoken, and today, Topps has announced the players named to the 51st All-Star Rookie Team!!! (If the player's name is in bold, it means I predicted that they would make the team back in October).

• 1B: Travis Ishikawa, San Francisco Giants (.261 batting average, 9 HR 39 RBI, 2009 stats)
• 2B: Chris Getz, Chicago White Sox (.261, 2, 31)
• 3B: Gordon Beckham, Chicago White Sox (.270, 14, 63)
• SS: Elvis Andrus, Texas Rangers (.267, 6, 40)
• OF: Chris Coghlan, Florida Marlins (.321, 9, 47)
• OF: Andrew McCutchen, Pittsburgh Pirates (.286, 12, 54)
• OF: Nolan Reimold, Baltimore Orioles (.279, 15, 45)
• C: Omir Santos, New York Mets (.260, 7, 40)
• RHP: Tommy Hanson, Atlanta Braves (11-4, 2.89 ERA, 116 K's,)
• LHP: J. A. Happ, Philadelphia Phillies (12-4, 2.93 ERA, 119 K's)

So I guessed 7 out of 10 spots correctly (I guessed Colby Rasmus for the third outfield spot, Matt "I'm a Razor Exclusive, so I'm not with Topps" Wieters for the catcher and Andrew Bailey for the RHP). I did better last year.

That Santos pick came out of nowhere. He wasn't even a blip on MLB's rookie tracker radar. Could it be because of the Wieters exclusive with Razor and Upper Deck? Could this be why Hideki Matsui was not part of the 2003 Topps All-Star Rookie team??? Let the conspiracy theories flow!!!

So congratulations to all. Each player will now get the illustrious rookie cup trophy (pictured above) added to their 2010 Topps cards. And about that trophy. Instead of gold, it's now a silver cup, with the words "Topps All Star" on the cup, and the word "ROOKIE" on the base. Brand new decade, brand new rookie cup.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

P.S. I will go over the entries this evening to see if there was a winner in my contest. To all who participated, good luck to you. jba

bdj610's End of Year MLB All-Star Teams: 1992 Edition

It's now the end of the 1992 season. By the time I named my 1992 End of the Year All-Star Teams, it's junior year in high school. I was making a lot of decisions about my future around this time. Colleges were sending brochures by the sack full. Mount Mercy College in Iowa was the first college to send me mail if I remember correctly. It sounded like a great place to start my college life (although that's not where I wound up going). Baseball took a backseat at this time of my life, so my 1992 All-Star teams once again are made up many of the players who participated in the midsummer classic in San Diego in July plus others that filled the rest of the positions.

This year's teams include 10 pitchers on each team (seven starters, three closers), and the usual 3 players per position (1b, 2b, 3b, ss, c, 9 of), and because the 1993 ASG would be in Baltimore (at the two-year-old Orioles Park at Camden Yards), each team included a DH. So the rosters were expanded back to 35 players per team.

Let's cut to the chase. Without further ado, for the first time online, I am proud to introduce my 1992 End of Year MLB All-Star Teams (in alphabetical order by position):

(On feeds and on other blog sites like Sculu, it all looks normal, but on Blogger, there is this huge space. And I better have this written correctly because Sculu doesn't update even after posts have been edited...)

American League First Basemen Cecil Fielder, Tigers Mark McGwire, Athletics Paul Molitor, Brewers Second Basemen Roberto Alomar, Blue Jays Carlos Baerga, Indians* Chuck Knoblauch, Twins* Third Basemen Wade Boggs, Red Sox Edgar Martinez, Mariners* Robin Ventura, White Sox Shortstops Travis Fryman, Tigers* Cal Ripken, Orioles Omar Vizquel, Mariners* Outfielders Brady Anderson, Orioles* George Bell, White Sox Joe Carter, Blue Jays Juan Gonzalez, Rangers* Ken Griffey, Jr., Mariners Roberto Kelly, Yankees* Kirby Puckett, Twins Ruben Sierra, Athletics Dave Winfield, Blue Jays Catchers Pat Borders, Blue Jays* Ivan Rodriguez, Rangers* Mickey Tettleton, Tigers Designated Hitter: Frank Thomas, White Sox* Pitchers Rick Aguilera, Twins Kevin Brown, Rangers* Roger Clemens, Red Sox Dennis Eckersley, Athletics Juan Guzman, Blue Jays* Mark Langston, Angels Jack McDowell, White Sox Jeff Mongtomery, Royals* Mike Mussina, Orioles* Charles Nagy, Indians* Manager: Cito Gaston, Blue Jays The Starters: 1B: McGwire 2B: Alomar 3B: Boggs SS: Ripken OF: Carter OF: Griffey, Jr. OF: Puckett C: Tettleton DH: Thomas P: Brown *First-Time All-Star

National League First Basemen Will Clark, Giants John Kruk, Phillies Fred McGriff, Padres* Second Basemen Craig Biggio, Astros Ryne Sandberg, Cubs Mike Sharperson, Dodgers* Third Basemen Terry Pendleton, Braves Gary Sheffield, Padres* Matt Williams, Giants Shortstops Tony Fernandez, Padres Barry Larkin, Reds Ozzie Smith, Cardinals Outfielders Barry Bonds, Pirates Brett Butler, Dodgers Andre Dawson, Cubs Ron Gant, Braves Marquis Grissom, Expos* Tony Gwynn, Padres Bip Roberts, Reds* Andy Van Slyke, Pirates Larry Walker, Expos* Catchers Darren Daulton, Phillies* Mike LaValliere, Pirates Tom Pagnozzi, Cardinals* Designated Hitter: Mark Grace, Cubs Pitchers Norm Charlton, Reds* Sid Fernandez, Mets Tom Glavine, Braves Doug Jones, Astros Greg Maddux, Cubs* Dennis Martinez, Expos Mike Morgan, Cubs Lee Smith, Cardinals John Smoltz, Braves Bob Tewksbury, Cardinals* Manager: Felipe Alou, Expos The Starters: 1B: McGriff 2B: Sandberg 3B: Pendleton SS: Smith OF: Bonds OF: Gwynn OF: Van Slyke C: Daulton DH: Grace P: Maddux

Twenty-seven players are first-time all-stars (16 for the American League, 11 for the Nationals). One-person teams on my 1992 rosters include the Angels (Langston), Brewers (Molitor), Royals (Montgomery), Yankees (Kelly), and Mets (Fernandez). Both the Blue Jays and Cubs send five representatives on the AL and NL rosters respectively, leading both leagues (back to that Chicago bias...love it). The White Sox, Braves, Cardinals, and Padres each send four players to their respective squads.

As always, seven regular games (10,000 simulations each, six with the same starting pitchers, one where lineups and starting pitchers change), and one All-Star Game will be simulated during the course of the week. I hope to have the results of all the games by the end of the week.

Now it's time for me to create the .DAT files before getting the games set. To answer commenter Ric Knapp, and to all of those who missed the first post explaining how I getting these simulations, I am using the Strategic Baseball Simulator for all of the simulations. It's been really easy to create my teams via copy and paste. And the simulator has been relatively accurate to say the least. Time to play the games.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Blogroll Farewells to...

I was able to add a number of blogs to the Sports Card Blogroll recently, thanks to dayf and to the bloggers who send me e-mails at bdj610@hotmail.com asking to be added.

But now, six months have passed since these blogs had any new posts. So, unfortunately, I have to take them off. Many were written by collectors, some were managed by professionals, most had potential to be great. It is sad when I have to do this, but to keep my blogroll relevant, it has to be done.

As always, I will link the sites here for posterity. Take a look and see what they were all about. If these are your blogs and you want them added back to the big blogroll, let me know. For now, the blogroll says goodbye to:

• Kimaloo's Cards
• I Got Bo Jackson!
• basketball 4 you
• Sports.Cards.Life.
• Cardboard Reflux
• Current Sports Cards
• One More Pack
• 1958-59 Topps Hockey - Quest for the 1958-59 Topps Hockey Set
• 1987 Topps Baseball - 1987 Topps: The Greatest Set Ever
• St. Louis Cardinals - Ike's Cards
• Scripps News - Waxpak's blog

To the new bloggers, welcome to the Hobby blogging community. Enjoy the journey. Keep posting. And good luck.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Card #327 Now Officially Belongs to...

A couple of weeks ago, I mentioned that Topps reserved six cards for the AL and NL award winners that were going to be announced this week. Now we know who gets card #327.

Congratulations to Albert Pujols of the St. Louis Cardinals for winning the National League Most Valuable Player Award, his third, unanimously. There was no doubt who would wind up the victor as many within the Hobby penciled him in as the MVP even before the votes were tallied.

Card #327 will now be of Pujols, the Cardinals mega-star, who put up astronomical numbers (.327, 47 HR, 135 RBI, 1.104 OPS) and got all 32 first-place votes (448 points). The race for second included worthy candidates like Hanley Ramirez of the Marlins (233), Ryan Howard of the Phillies (217), Prince Fielder of the Brewers (203), and Troy Tulowitzki of the Rockies (172).

Awards season is now officially over. This officially ends the 2009 season. The Hot Stove is now heating up, and 2010 Topps is coming soon.

Thank goodness.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Card #172 Now Officially Belongs to...

A couple of weeks ago, I mentioned that Topps reserved six cards for the AL and NL award winners that were going to be announced this week. Now we know who gets card #172.

Congratulations to Joe Mauer of the Minnesota Twins for winning the American League Most Valuable Player Award. While he was considered one of the favorites to win the award, he had some stiff competition, especially with two New York Yankee teammates also vying for the award.

Card #172 will now be of Mauer, the Twins' All-Star catcher who put up astronomical numbers (.365, 28 HR, 96 RBI, 1.031 OPS) even though he missed the first month of the season and led the Twins to the AL Central Division crown. Mauer's win was nearly unanimous as 27 of the 28 voters gave him the first place vote (387 points, 27 first place votes). He paced a field that included Yankees teammates Mark Teixeira (225 points) and Derek Jeter (193), and Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers (171, 1).

Let the debates continue. Did your guy win???

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

P.S. We're down to the final award, the NL MVP. Will Albert Pujols take the expected win? Or will Prince Fielder or Hanley Ramirez spoil the party for the Cardinals' superstar? Stay tuned. jba

bdj610's 1991 End of Year All-Star Teams Simulated Games Results

I have finally finished simulating the All-Star Games using my 1991 End of Year All-Star Teams. And if ever there was a time that the American League showed its dominance over the National League, 1991 was definitely the year. It was a total bloodbath as the AL not only beat the NL in all SEVEN 10,000 game series (a couple of series were won by more than 2,500 games) but the junior circuit shut out the seniors 2-0 as well.

As previously stated, I simulated seven games (six series between starters, and one series where the lineups, starting rotations changed on a daily basis), by playing each one 10,000 times.

The first six games I simulated used each starting pitcher on both sides at least once, and all position players started a minimum of two games each. Here are the results:

• Game 1: AL vs. NL, Jack Morris vs. Tom Glavine. The AL wins 5,206 games out of 10,000 simulations.
• Game 2: AL vs. NL, Mark Langston vs. John Smiley. The AL wins 5,742 games.
• Game 3: NL vs. AL, Ramon Martinez vs. Roger Clemens. The AL wins 6,838 games (using a DH).
• Game 4: NL vs, AL, Jack McDowell vs. Dennis Martinez. The AL wins 5,904 games (using a DH).
• Game 5: NL vs. AL, Mike Morgan vs. Scott Sanderson. The AL wins 5,053 games in a very close series (using a DH).
• Game 6: AL vs. NL, Jimmy Key vs. Frank Viola. The AL wins 6,418 games.
• Game 7: AL vs. NL, anything goes. The AL wins 5,868 games.

Maybe it's because the NL only had two relief pitchers (Lee Smith and Rob Dibble). That's the only reason I see for the mismatches here as in many of the sims, Pete Harnisch, Tom Browning, and even Smiley and Morgan were used for relief.

For the official All-Star Game, I decided to just simulate one game and one game only. The starting pitchers were Morris and Glavine and I let them pitch two innings (unless they struggled badly). The rest of the pitchers would get one inning each (unless they struggled badly). The position players were replaced every three innings. No pinch hitters here, (as in previous tries, the pinch hitter is taken out of the game), and there was only one double switch.

The starting lineups, first for the American League (I'm using 1992 Topps cards because these are the cards I used to imagine my All-Star teams):


Now the National League starting lineup:


Here is the result:


The 1991 AL All-Stars beat the 1991 NL All-Stars by a final score of 2-0.

The box score is below (Just click on the picture to take a closer look.


The scoring plays were like this:

Top 5: Dennis Martinez pitching. Rafael Palmeiro singles. Ruben Sierra triples, Palmeiro scoring. Kirby Puckett strikes out. Brian Harper doubles, Sierra scoring.

Ruben Sierra is the MVP, not only for the game-winning RBI in the fifth, but because of two great defensive plays.
If this game actually existed, the MVP would have been Ruben Sierra (1-2, 1 triple, 1 run, game winning rbi). What his line score doesn't show the two defensive plays he made in right field, including robbing Bobby Bonilla of a home run in the fourth, which could have put the NL ahead 2-0. And although the NL had men on second and third with two out, Rick Aguilera earns the first save in bdj610 All-Star Game history. Meanwhile, Roger Clemens gets the win, Dennis Martinez takes the loss, and the only players who didn't get in the game were pitchers Tom Browning & Lee Smith from the NL and Jeff Reardon & Dennis Eckersley from the AL.

If you want to see the .DAT files that I used (I still don't know how to download these onto the blog , so please just take a look at the screen caps below). If anyone can e-mail me instructions, please do so at bdj610@hotmail.com. Below is the AL .DAT file, then the NL .DAT file:




Now that the 1991 All-Star Games are officially over, on Tuesday, I will introduce the 1992 End of Year All-Star teams. Simulations for games with those rosters to come by Sunday night for a Monday morning recap.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

It is Official. It was Confirmed Before, But Now I Know for Sure that...

I am a big league dunderhead.

Thanks to commenter Brady James, not for pointing this not so new fact about myself, but because he asked if I had the Paul Molitor SP card from U & H (which by the way, I don't...), I realized that I left Molitor off not only from my wantlists (on both my last post and the wantlist on the sidebar), but also from this article.

I should really, really learn how to count. There are 25 SP's, and I only jotted down 24 on the list. When I get home tonight, I will update the above post with this little factoid:

• #UH65 Joe Mauer, #UH65b Paul Molitor.

To answer Brady James, no, I still need the card. If you have it, please let me know. Thanks for the heads up. I'm going to go lie down now.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

I Might Not Be Able to Go to the Sun-Time Show This Weekend...

And I feel horrible about it. As has been the case for most of the summer, money has been tight, and priorities shifted. Money that would have normally been set aside for cards and the Hobby have gone to other, more important things.

But a couple of weeks ago, thanks to a bit of good timing, a bit of extra cash, and a much needed day off, I finally bought some cards that I've been waiting to get for some time. I now have master sets (base and basic insert sets) for both the 2009 Topps Updates and Highlights and 2009 Topps Allen & Ginter sets.

The 2009 Topps U & H set I purchased includes all 330 base cards, the 30-card Propoganda set (beautiful by the way), the 50-card conclusion to the Turkey Red continuity set, the 25-card conclusion to the Ring of Honor set, both 25-card Toppstown and Toppstown Gold sets, and the 25-card conclusion to the Legends of the Game set. That's 510 cards. I also bought a few U & H packs at Target and got one of the exclusive Legends cards (Roger Maris #LLG24).

So all I need now are the following cards and SP's and I can call my 2009 Topps Baseball set done (write these cards down and see if you have them please...):

2009 Topps MLB Short-Prints Series 2:

#353b Cal Ripken, Jr.
#475b Mike Schmidt
#476b Juan Marichal
#490b Nolan Ryan
#495b Brooks Robinson

2009 Topps Updates & Highlights Short-Prints:

#47b Duke Snider
#48b Roger Maris
#52b Bo Jackson
#65b Paul Molitor
#71b Rogers Hornsby
#71c Ryne Sandberg
#98b Honus Wagner
#103b Wade Boggs
#148b Tris Speaker
#150b Ty Cobb
#153b George Sisler
#186b Christy Mathewson
#198b Cy Young
#232b Nolan Ryan CAL
#232c Nolan Ryan NYM
#250b Johnny Mize NYY
#250c Johnny Mize NYG
#253b Reggie Jackson CAL
#253c Reggie Jackson OAK
#260b Willie McCovey
#281b Jimmie Foxx
#318b Rickey Henderson
#325b Frank Robinson
#330b Babe Ruth BSB
#330c Babe Ruth BOS

2009 Topps Walmart Legends of the Game Series 2:

LLP12 Jackie Robinson
LLP13 Babe Ruth
LLP14 Honus Wagner
LLP15 Lou Gehrig
LLP16 Nolan Ryan
LLP18 Thurman Munson
LLP20 George Sisler

2009 Topps Walmart Legends of the Game U & H:

LLP21 Babe Ruth
LLP22 Rickey Henderson
LLP23 Roger Maris
LLP24 Nolan Ryan
LLP25 Reggie Jackson
LLP26 Steve Carlton
LLP27 Tony Gwynn
LLP28 Paul Molitor
LLP29 Brooks Robinson
LLP30 Wade Boggs

2009 Topps Target Legends of the Game Series 2:

LLG13 Babe Ruth

2009 Topps Target Legends of the Game U & H:

LLG21 Rickey Henderson
LLG22 Ozzie Smith
LLG23 Babe Ruth
LLG25 Nolan Ryan
LLG26 Reggie Jackson
LLG27 Frank Robinson
LLG28 Ryne Sandberg
LLG29 Steve Carlton
LLG30 Johnny Bench

Meanwhile, the 2009 Topps Allen & Ginter set I now own consists of the 350 base cards (with all SP's), the 25-card Highlight Sketches set, and the 75-card National Pride set (I just concern myself with the regular-sized insert cards, I don't have the room or storage capabilities for the minis or the big cards). That's another 450 cards I now own.

I also was able to snag the five card retail-exclusive Rookie Variation cards (numbered JCP1-JCP5...must have been a JC Penney thing). The cards are of:

JCP1 Rick Porcello, Tigers
JCP2 David Price, Rays
JCP3 Koji Uehara, Orioles
JCP4 Colby Rasmus, Cardinals
JCP5 Jordan Schafer, Braves

After going over the numbers, I can now change the number of cards in the "bdj610's Official Card Collection Count Stands At" section to 44,621 cards and counting.

Wait, that doesn't sound right. The last count had the collection at 43,657 cards. I just added 966 cards to the collection. How did I wind up two cards short???

(taking a minute to double check figures...)

Okay, I see it. I did add 966 cards to the collection, but I miscalculated the number of series 2 SP's in the 2009 set (I have 12 of the 17 cards, not 14 as I had on the my spreadsheet). So the adjusted, and correct total now stands at 44,621.

So while I have some cards to put in binder sheets this weekend, I'm still ticked that I now don't have any extra funds to go to the show. And I could have used the show to whittle down the SP's. Oh well.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

P.S. If anyone has any hobby factory sets (or if the Holiday Factory sets are out), and don't want the bonus Rookie cards, could you please let me know if you would be willing to send them my way too??? Between the two sets, there should be twenty cards total. jba

Card # 9 Now Officially Belongs to...

Last week, I mentioned that Topps reserved six cards for the AL and NL award winners that were going to be announced this week. Now we know who gets card #9.

Congratulations to Tim Lincecum of the San Francisco Giants for winning the National League Cy Young Award (for the second consecutive year). While he was considered one of the favorites to win the award, he had some stiff competition, especially with two St. Louis Cardinal teammates also vying for the award.

Card #9 will now be of Lincecum, the Giants' All-Star ace who started the ASG for the NL and also led the league with 261 K's to go with a 15-7 record and 2.48 ERA, (100 points, 11 first-place votes), who beat out a field that included Cardinals teammates Chris Carpenter (94, 9) and Adam Wainwright (90, 12 first-place votes), Javier Vasquez of the Braves (3), and Dan Haren of the Diamondbacks (1).

Let the debates continue. Did your guy win???

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

bdj610's End of Year MLB All-Star Teams: 1991 Edition

It's now 1991, and I've just survived my freshman year in high school. By the time I named my 1991 End of the Year All-Star Teams, I was now the theatre's construction manager, as well as an extremely busy sophomore. I followed baseball a bit more closely over the summer, and as usual, the Cubbies didn't fare so well, although that other team had a good year. It was also the year that two last place teams the year before, met in the World Series for the very first time (Twins and Braves).

As I mentioned in my last All-Star introduction post, when it came to picking teams in the early 90's, all it involved was using the players from the actual All-Star Game, and plugging in the holes as needed to fill out the rest of the positions. So while it was not yet picking the best of the best yet, the players chosen for my 1991 teams deserved to be there. There are 10 pitchers on each team (six starters, four closers), and because the 1992 ASG would be in San Diego, there was no DH needed. So the rosters contracted to 34 players per team.

Let's cut to the chase. Without further ado, for the first time online, I am proud to introduce my 1991 End of Year MLB All-Star Teams (in alphabetical order by position):

(Ignore the blank space. On feeds and on other blog sites like Sculu, it all looks normal, but on Blogger, the space remains...)

American League First Basemen Cecil Fielder, Tigers Mark McGwire, Athletics Rafael Palmeiro, Rangers Second Basemen Roberto Alomar, Blue Jays Julio Franco, Rangers Steve Sax, Yankees Third Basemen Wade Boggs, Red Sox Paul Molitor, Brewers Robin Ventura, White Sox* Shortstops Felix Fermin, Indians* Ozzie Guillen, White Sox Cal Ripken, Orioles Outfielders Harold Baines, Athletics Joe Carter, Blue Jays Ken Griffey, Jr., Mariners Dave Henderson, Athletics Rickey Henderson, Athletics Kirby Puckett, Twins Tim Raines, White Sox Ruben Sierra, Rangers Danny Tartabull, Royals* Catchers Carlton Fisk, White Sox Brian Harper, Twins* Mickey Tettleton, Tigers Pitchers Rick Aguilera, Twins* Roger Clemens, Red Sox Dennis Eckersley, Athletics Bryan Harvey, Angels* Jimmy Key, Blue Jays* Mark Langston, Angels Jack McDowell, White Sox* Jack Morris, Twins Jeff Reardon, Red Sox Scott Sanderson, Yankees* Manager: Tom Kelly, Twins The Starters: 1B: Fielder 2B: Alomar 3B: Boggs SS: Ripken OF: Griffey, Jr. OF: D. Henderson OF: R. Henderson C: Fisk P: Morris *First-Time All-Star

National League First Basemen Will Clark, Giants John Kruk, Phillies* Eddie Murray, Dodgers Second Basemen Delino DeShields, Expos* Juan Samuel, Dodgers Ryne Sandberg, Cubs Third Basemen Howard Johnson, Mets Terry Pendleton, Braves Chris Sabo, Reds Shortstops Tony Fernandez, Padres Barry Larkin, Reds Ozzie Smith, Cardinals Outfielders George Bell, Cubs Bobby Bonilla, Pirates Brett Butler, Dodgers* Ivan Calderon, Expos Andre Dawson, Cubs Tony Gwynn, Padres Felix Jose, Cardinals* Paul O'Neill, Reds* Darryl Strawberry, Dodgers Catchers Craig Biggio, Astros Benito Santiago, Padres Mike Scioscia, Dodgers Pitchers Tom Browning, Reds Rob Dibble, Reds Tom Glavine, Braves* Pete Harnisch, Astros* Dennis Martinez, Expos Ramon Martinez, Dodgers Mike Morgan, Dodgers* John Smiley, Pirates* Lee Smith, Cardinals Frank Viola, Mets Manager: Bobby Cox, Braves The Starters: 1B: Clark 2B: Sandberg 3B: Sabo SS: Smith OF: Calderon OF: Dawson OF: Gwynn C: Santiago P: Glavine

Eighteen players are first-time all-stars (9 for the American League, 9 for the Nationals). One-person teams on my 1991 rosters include the Brewers (Molitor), Indians (Fermin), Mariners (Griffey, Jr.) Orioles (Ripken), Royals (Tartabull), Giants (Clark), and Phillies (Kruk). The Dodgers send seven representatives to the NL roster, leading both leagues. The Athletics, White Sox (Chicago bias rules!!!), and Reds each send five players to their respective squads.

As always, seven regular games (10,000 simulations each, six with the same starting pitchers, one where lineups and starting pitchers change), and one All-Star Game will be simulated during the course of the week. I hope to have the results of all the games by the end of the week.

Now it's time for me to create the .DAT files before getting the games set. You know, putting my imagined All-Star Teams to the 'net, and the added fun of simulating games with them, is really rejuvinating. And a whole lot of fun. I'm actually enjoying this.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

bdj610's 1990 End of Year All-Star Teams Simulated Games Results

I have finally finished simulating the All-Star Games using my 1990 End of Year All-Star Teams. And the results are pretty surprising.

Just like the first three times, I simulated seven games (six series between starters, and one series where the lineups, starting rotations changed on a daily basis), by playing each one 10,000 times.

The first six games I simulated used each starting pitcher on both sides at least once, and all position players started a minimum of two games each. Here are the results:

• Game 1: NL vs. AL, Jack Armstrong vs. Bob Welch. The NL wins 5,138 games out of 10,000 simulations (using a DH).
• Game 2: NL vs. AL, Neal Heaton vs. Dave Steib. The AL wins 5,806 games (using a DH). Big highlight was a game where Rob Dibble struck out 21 batters pitching 12 innings of relief (only in a simulation can this happen...I don't understand why...)
• Game 3: AL vs. NL, Bret Saberhagen vs. Ramon Martinez. The NL wins 5,216 games. Martinez pitched 14 no-hitters.
• Game 4: AL vs, NL, Roger Clemens vs. Dennis Martinez. The AL wins 5,375 games.
• Game 5: AL vs. NL, Chuck Finley vs. Frank Viola. The NL wins 5,029 games in a very close series.
• Game 6: NL vs. AL, Jack Armstrong vs. Randy Johnson. The NL wins 5,450 games (using a DH). The reason why Armstrong started this series was that I only had five starters in the NL rotation while the AL had six.
• Game 7: NL vs. AL, anything goes. The AL wins 5,207 games (using a DH).

So the NL wins the regular series 4 games to 3. For the official All-Star Game, I decided to just simulate one game and one game only. The starting pitchers were Armstrong and Welch and I let them pitch two innings (unless they struggled badly). The rest of the pitchers would get one inning each (unless they struggled badly). The position players were replaced every three innings. No pinch hitters here, (as in previous tries, the pinch hitter is taken out of the game). The DH's (Ron Gant of the NL and Dave Parker of the AL) were never replaced.

The starting lineups, first for the National League (I'm using 1991 Topps cards because these are the cards I used to imagine my All-Star teams):


Now the American League starting lineup:


Here is the result:


The 1990 NL All-Stars beat the 1990 AL All-Stars by a final score of 9-5.

The box score is below (Just click on the picture to take a closer look.


The scoring plays were like this:

Bottom 3: Ramon Martinez pitching. Ken Griffey, Jr. grounds out to Chris Sabo (5-3). Rickey Henderson singles. Steve Sax strikes out. Mark McGwire walks, Henderson advances to second. Dave Parker hits a home run, Henderson scoring, McGwire scoring.

Top 4: Dave Steib pitching. Ryne Sandberg walks. Will Clark doubles, Sandberg advances to third. Andre Dawson singles, Sandberg scoring, Clark advances to third.

Top 6: Chuck Finley pitching. Tony Gwynn reaches first on an error by Brook Jacoby (E5). Ron Gant doubles, Gwynn advances to third. Bobby Bonilla doubles, Gwynn scoring, Gant scoring. Tim Wallach grounds out to Julio Franco (4-3), Bonilla advances to third. Barry Larkin singles, Bonilla scoring. Gregg Olson pitching. Benito Santiago reaches first on an error by Gregg Olson (E1), Larkin advances to second. Lonnie Smith hits a home run, Larkin scoring, Santiago scoring. Doug Jones pitching. Roberto Alomar grounds out to Alan Trammell (6-3). Eddie Muray hits a home run.

Bottom 6: Jeff Brantley pitching. Ivan Calderon walks. Alan Trammell singles, Calderon advances to second. Brook Jacoby walks, loading the bases. Carlton Fisk hits into a double play (5-4-3), Calderon scoring, Trammell advances to third, Jacoby out at second on the force out. Ellis Burks singles, Trammell scoring.

Top 7: Dennis Eckersley pitching. Tim Wallach hits a home run.

Your starters, Jack Armstrong and Bob Welch. Lonnie Smith is the MVP.
In the actual All-Star game using many of the players who participated in this simulation, the scoring was held to a minimum (helped by the rain). This was not the case in the simulation. If this game actually existed, the MVP would have definitely been Lonnie Smith (1-3, 1 hr, 3 rbi's to put the game away for good). Dennis Martinez earns the win, Chuck Finley suffers the loss, and this is the first simulation that I was able to get all 68 players in the game.

If you want to see the .DAT files that I used (I still don't know how to download these onto the blog , so please just take a look at the screen caps below). If anyone can e-mail me instructions, please do so at bdj610@hotmail.com. Below is the NL .DAT file, then the AL .DAT file:




Now that the 1990 All-Star Games are officially over, at noon today, I will introduce the 1991 End of Year All-Star teams. Simulations for games with those rosters to come hopefully by Sunday night.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Card # 155 Now Officially Belongs to...

Last week, I mentioned that Topps reserved six cards for the AL and NL award winners that were going to be announced this week. Now we know who gets card # 155.

Congratulations to Zack Greinke of the Kansas City Royals for winning the American League Cy Young Award. While he was considered the favorite to win the award, he had some stiff competition, especially with three 19 game winners in the AL.

Card #155 will now be of Greinke, the Royals' All-Star ace who led the AL with a 2.16 ERA to go with a 16-8 record, (134 points, 25 first-place votes), who beat out a field that included Felix Hernandez of the Mariners (80, 2), Justin Verlander of the Tigers (14, 1), CC Sabathia of the Yankees (13 points), and Roy Halladay of the Blue Jays (11).

Let the debates continue. Did your guy win???

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Need Another Reason to Collect the 2009 Topps Legends of the Game Cards???

According to this article from Symbian Developers Journal, Topps and a company called GetFugu, Inc, are joining forces, using GetFugu's "See It, Say It, Find It, Get It" vision, voice and location recognition services to enhance the "Legends of the Game" cards in 2009 Topps Baseball Series 1, Series 2 and Updates and Highlights.

Utilizing GetFugu's image recognition service, baseball fans who use their mobile device to capture an image of one of the enhanced cards will get additional information from the web relevant to that card. GetFugu's application will send the individual to the player's Wikipedia page, to the Topps' online store or to Topps on Ebay.com to purchase classic Topps products.

If this works with the Legends cards, who knows what will happen in 2010? And you thought those Legends cards were just made to utilize Topps' license with CMG players...

For more information about GetFugu, Inc, here is their website: http://www.getfugu.com/.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

More Things Added to 2010 Topps Baseball Series I

It's a slow news day, but Topps has decided to put out a bit more information about the product that will be unleashed to the masses around January 18, 2010. While most of the information is pretty much "old news," here are some tidbits that I thought were interesting, courtesy of the number one source in the Hobby:

Okay, so the "Cards Your Mother Threw Out" insert set is a reprint set that will appear 1:3 packs of regular (1:1 jumbo). The backs of each card will present a brief summary of the history of that year's design and certain quirks about that year's set (I am so looking forward to the 2006 Alex Gordon explanation). What I noticed today was that there will be a card "BACK" variation (called appropriately enough "The Cards Your Mom Threw Out Original Backs") to each of these cards which will come 1 per box, meaning these will be a lot harder to find. So if you want a set of cards that features the reverse of every year's Topps card from 1952 onwards, this is the set for you.

Other 1 per jumbo pack insert cards will include cards from the Legendary Lineage Past and Present (1:4 regular), Turkey Red (2007 design, 1:4), The History of the Game (great baseball moments, 1:6), Tales of the Game (quirky baseball moments, 1:6), Peak Performance (1:4), and When They Were Young (cards of current players as kids, 1:6). So add the gold parallel cards (1 in every pack, regardless), and the Toppstown card (also 1 in every pack regardless) and that means every jumbo pack will include 9 insert cards. Let's hope that every jumbo pack comes 39 per pack, otherwise it's not going to be easy to get a full base set (330 cards) from a box of 12 jumbo packs.

With the Yankees winning the World Series, it's all Yankees, all the time as Topps will include:

Yankees World Champion Autographs (5) #'d to 50.
Yankees World Champion Relics (15) #'d to 100.
Yankees World Champion Autographed Relics (5) #'d to 50. HOBBY & HTA ONLY

And finally, Topps has announced their plans with WalMart and Target. We get the blaster boxes with manufactured patches again. But more importantly, we're going to see the return of 1951 Topps Red Backs and Blue Backs. Each series (1, 2, U & H) will be 15 cards each, featuring stars from the past and today, with packs at WalMart getting the blue backs, and packs at Target getting the red backs.

Hey, it's only Monday. Can 2010 come any sooner???

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

P.S. The card of David Wright is included just to see if a couple of ladies out in New Mexico still read the blog. And while I initially thought it looked like he had grown his hair, it looks like the lights from the scoreboard made the clean cut third baseman's hair a lot longer than it really is. jba

Card #'s 235 and #275 Now Officially Belong to...

Last week, I mentioned that Topps reserved six cards for the AL and NL award winners that were going to be announced this week. Now we know who gets both card #'s 235 and #275.

Congratulations to both Andrew Bailey of the Oakland Athletics and Chris Coghlan of the Florida Marlins for winning the American League and National League Rookies of the Year Awards. Until the announcements were made this afternoon, it was anybody's guess as to who would win either award, as both leagues had many worthy candidates.

Card #235 will now be of Bailey, the Athletics' All-Star closer (88 points, 13 first-place votes), who beat out a field that included Elvis Andrus of the Rangers (65, 8), Rick Porcello of the Tigers (64, 7), Jeff Niemann of the Rays (21 points), Gordon Beckham of the White Sox (10), and teammate Brett Anderson (4).

Card #275 now goes to native Floridian Coghlan, the Marlins left fielder and leadoff hitter (105 points, 17 first-place votes). He beat out ten other players for the award, including J. A. Happ of the Phillies (94, 10), Tommy Hanson of the Braves (37, 2), Andrew McCutchen of the Pirates (25, 2), Casey McGehee of the Brewers (18, 1), Randy Wells of the Cubs (3 points), Garrett Jones of the Pirates (2), Everth Cabrera of the Padres (1), Dexter Fowler of the Rockies (1), Gerardo Parra of the Diamondbacks(1), and Colby Rasmus of the Cardinals (1).

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

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

It's Awards Season

With the World Series now over, and the Hot Stove League starting to warm up, we are now at the throngs of handing out the big awards. Now, earlier this week, MLB announced the winners for both the Gold Gloves and Silver Sluggers, and as soon as the season ended, Chris Carpenter of the Cardinals and Aaron Hill of the Blue Jays were voted by their peers to be the NL and AL Comeback Players of the Year respectively.

So next week, the Cy Young, the Rookies of the Year, and the Most Valuable Player award winners will be announced (along with the Managers of the Year). As they have done in recent years, Topps will be including cards honoring the six award winners in their 2010 Topps Series I product. But of course, since they don't know who's going to win, they left the cards TBD (to be determined). So, unless the checklist somehow dramatically changes, here are the card numbers assigned to the Award Winners:

• #009 NL Cy Young Award Winner
• #155 AL Cy Young Award Winner
• #172 AL Most Valuable Player
• #235 AL Rookie of the Year (although for some reason, the checklist has Neftali Feliz here. Hmmmmmmm...)
• #275 NL Rookie of the Year
• #327 NL Most Valuable Player

It should make for an interesting debates when we round out the Series I checklist with next weeks announcements. Already, there has been arguments for and against the winners of the Gold Gloves and Silver Slugger Awards. I can't wait to read the shouting matches when these six are announced.

Then again, I'm still waiting on the All-Star Rookie Team.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Veteran's Day Thanks.

On behalf of the staff of this humble little blog, I would like to thank all those who have either served, are currently serving, or will be serving their country shortly, for the sacrifices you've made for all of us so we may live our lives freely.

Regardless of how we feel about the wars our country is involved in, we all should take time to think about the brave men and women, whether stationed around the country, or around the world, representing our country, representing our people, doing the things that many of us could only imagine. They deserve our respect.

To all in the Armed Forces (the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard)...Thank You!!!

To make this post semi-baseball card related, I wrote about a little insert set from 2007 Topps called Distinguished Service. It's worth a read if you have the time.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

bdj610's End of Year MLB All-Star Teams: 1990 Edition

We're finally into the 1990's. By the time I named my 1990 End of the Year All-Star Teams, I was balancing high school homework and working as a lackey in the theater department. I followed baseball a bit more closely over the summer, and watched as the defending NL East champs wrote in their season. But the real All-Star Game was at Wrigley, and while I wasn't at the actual game, my aunt who lives on Addison allowed us to watch the game from her place. And we all know what happened at the game that night, right???

While I am still learning more about the game (I started picking up books about the history of baseball at this time too), when it came to picking teams in the early 90's, all it involved was using the players from the actual All-Star Game, and plugging in the holes as needed to fill out the rest of the positions. So while it was not yet picking the best of the best yet, the players chosen for my 1990 teams deserved to be there. There are 10 pitchers on each team (six starters, four closers), and because the 1991 ASG would be in Toronto, each team included a DH. So the rosters expanded to 35 players per team.

Let's cut to the chase. Without further ado, for the first time online, I am proud to introduce my 1990 End of Year MLB All-Star Teams (in alphabetical order by position):

(Lots of space here when I added the table. On feeds and on other blog sites like Sculu, it all looks normal, but on Blogger, the space remains...)

American League First Basemen Cecil Fielder, Tigers* Mark McGwire, Athletics Rafael Palmeiro, Rangers Second Basemen Julio Franco, Rangers Steve Sax, Yankees Lou Whitaker, Tigers Third Basemen Wade Boggs, Red Sox Brook Jacoby, Indians* Kelly Gruber, Blue Jays Shortstops Ozzie Guillen, White Sox Cal Ripken, Orioles Alan Trammell, Tigers Outfielders George Bell, Blue Jays Ellis Burks, Red Sox* Ivan Calderon, White Sox* Jose Canseco, Athletics Ken Griffey, Jr., Mariners* Rickey Henderson, Athletics Bo Jackson, Royals Kirby Puckett, Twins Robin Yount, Brewers Catchers Sandy Alomar, Indians* Carlton Fisk, White Sox Lance Parrish, Angels* Designated Hitter: Dave Parker, Brewers* Pitchers Roger Clemens, Red Sox Dennis Eckersley, Athletics Chuck Finley, Angels Randy Johnson, Mariners* Doug Jones, Indians Gregg Olson, Orioles* Bret Saberhagen, Royals Dave Steib, Blue Jays* Bobby Thigpen, White Sox Bob Welch, Athletics* Manager: Jeff Torborg, White Sox The Starters: 1B: McGwire 2B: Sax 3B: Boggs SS: Ripken OF: Canseco OF: Griffey, Jr. OF: Henderson C: Alomar DH: Parker P: Welch *First-Time All-Star

National League First Basemen Will Clark, Giants Mark Grace, Cubs* Eddie Murray, Dodgers* Second Basemen Roberto Alomar, Padres* Tommy Herr, Mets Ryne Sandberg, Cubs Third Basemen Chris Sabo, Reds* Tim Wallach, Expos Matt Williams, Giants* Shortstops Shawon Dunston, Cubs Barry Larkin, Reds Ozzie Smith, Cardinals Outfielders Barry Bonds, Pirates Bobby Bonilla, Pirates Kal Daniels, Dodgers* Andre Dawson, Cubs Lenny Dykstra, Phillies* Tony Gwynn, Padres Kevin Mitchell, Giants Lonnie Smith, Braves* Darryl Strawberry, Mets Catchers Greg Olson, Braves* Benito Santiago, Padres Mike Scioscia, Dodgers Designated Hitter: Ron Gant, Braves* Pitchers Jack Armstrong, Reds* Jeff Brantley, Giants* Rob Dibble, Reds* John Franco, Mets Neal Heaton, Pirates* Dennis Martinez, Expos* Ramon Martinez, Dodgers* Randy Myers, Reds Dave Smith, Astros* Frank Viola, Mets Manager: Jim Leyland, Pirates The Starters: 1B: Clark 2B: Sandberg 3B: Sabo SS: Smith OF: Dawson OF: Dykstra OF: Mitchell C: Scioscia DH: Gant P: Armstrong

Twenty-nine new players are first-time all-stars (12 for the American League, 17 for the Nationals). One-person teams on my 1990 rosters include the Twins (Puckett), Yankees (Sax...this would be unheard of today), Astros (DSmith), Cardinals (OSmith), and Phillies (Dykstra). Both the Athletics and Reds send five representatives on the AL and NL rosters respectively, leading both leagues (figures, since both teams went to the World Series that year). The White Sox, Cubs (Chicago bias rules!!!), Dodgers, Giants, and Mets each send four players to their respective squads.

As always, seven regular games (10,000 simulations each, six with the same starting pitchers, one where lineups and starting pitchers change), and one All-Star Game will be simulated during the course of the week. I hope to have the results of all the games by the end of the week.

Now it's time for me to create the .DAT files before getting the games set. You know, putting my imagined All-Star Teams to the 'net, and the added fun of simulating games with them, is really rejuvinating. And a whole lot of fun. I'm actually enjoying this.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

bdj610's 1989 End of Year All-Star Teams Simulated Games Results

I have finally finished simulating the All-Star Games using my 1989 End of Year All-Star Teams. I'm getting a whole let better now that I kinda know what I'm doing (I'm sure by the time I'm done, I'll be an expert...wishful thinking).

Just like the first two times I ran these, I simulated seven games (five series between starters, one series with the full rotation but one regular lineup, and one series where the lineups, starting rotations changed on a daily basis), by playing each one 10,000 times.

The first five games I simulated used each starting pitcher on both sides at least once, and all position players started a minimum of two games each. Here are the results:

• Game 1: AL vs. NL, Dave Stewart vs. Mike Scott. The NL wins 5,939 games out of 10,000 simulations.
• Game 2: AL vs. NL, Chuck Finley vs. Orel Hershiser. The NL wins 5,806 games.
• Game 3: NL vs. AL, Joe Magrane vs. Nolan Ryan. The AL wins 5,498 games (using a DH). Nolan Ryan pitched 16 no-hitters.
• Game 4: NL vs, AL, Rick Reuschel vs. Mark Gubicza. The AL wins 5,453 games (using a DH). Tony Gwynn had hitting streaks of 30, 32, 41, and 42 games.
• Game 5: NL vs. AL, John Smoltz vs. Greg Swindell. The NL wins 5,661 games (using a DH).
• Game 6: AL vs. NL, each SP started 2,000 games. The AL wins 5,197 games.
• Game 7: AL vs. NL, anything goes. The NL wins 5,190 games.

So the NL wins the regular series 4 games to 3. For the official All-Star Game, I decided to just simulate one game and one game only. The starting pitchers were Stewart and Scott and I let them pitch two innings (unless they struggled badly). The rest of the pitchers would get one inning each (unless they struggled badly). The position players were replaced every three innings. No pinch hitters here, (as in previous tries, the pinch hitter is taken out of the game...I couldn't figure out how to double switch here), but the game did ask me if I wanted to make double switches (to which the response was YES!!!)

The starting lineups, first for the American League (I'm using 1990 Topps cards because these are the cards I used to imagine my All-Star teams):


Now the National League starting lineup:


Here is the result:


The 1989 NL All-Stars beat the 1989 AL All-Stars by a final score of 9-3.

The box score is below (Just click on the picture to take a closer look.


The scoring plays:

Bottom 1: Dave Stewart pitching. Eric Davis triples. Ryne Sandberg grounds out to Wade Boggs (5-3). Will Clark singles, EDavis scoring. Tony Gwynn reaches on an error by Boggs, Clark advancing to second. Howard Johnson reaches on an error by Cal Ripken, Clark scoring, Gwynn advancing to third. Kevin Mitchell hits a home run, Gwynn scoring, Johnson scoring.

Top 2: Mike Scott pitching. Mark McGwire walks. Wade Boggs grounds into a double play to Ryne Sandberg (4-6-3), McGwire out. Ruben Sierra hits a home run.

Top 5: John Smoltz pitching. Steve Sax singles, reaches second on an error by Tim Raines (E8). Bo Jackson strikes out. Rickey Henderson singles, Sax advancing to third. Tony Fernandez singles, Sax scores, Henderson advancing to second.

Bottom 5: Mark Gubicza pitching. Larking flies out to Rickey Henderson (7). Von Hayes singles. Bobby Bonilla grounds out to Gubicza (1-3), Hayes advancing to second. Pedro Guerrero doubles, Hayes scoring.

Bottom 6: Doug Jones pitching. Craig Biggio reaches on an error by Don Mattingly (4-E3). Tim Burke strikes out. Tim Raines singles, Biggio advancing to second. Both runners advance via passed ball by Terry Steinbach. Tom Herr singles, Biggio scoring, Raines advancing to third. Mike Henneman pitching. Barry Larkin grounds into a fielders choice to Steve Sax (4-6), Raines scoring, Herr out at second.

Bottom 8: Jeff Russell pitching. Darryl Strawberry walks. Shawon Dunston strikes out. Mike Scioscia reaches on an error by Joe Carter, advancing to second, Strawberry advancing to third. Willie Randolph grounds out to Lou Whitaker (4-3), Strawberry scoring, Scioscia advancing to third.

Top 9: Mark Davis pitching. Jeffrey Leonard strikes out. Joe Carter singles to right, reaches second on an error by Andre Dawson. Ozzie Guillen singles, Carter advancing to third. Jeff Russell singles, Carter scoring, Guillen advancing to second.

Kevin Mitchell is the MVP, thanks to his 3-run homer in the first.
After the drubbing at the hands of the AL the year before, the NL comes back with a vengeance in this game. If this game actually existed, the MVP would have definitely been Kevin Mitchell (1-2, 1 home run, 3 rbi's). Orel Hershiser earns the win, Dave Stewart suffers the loss, and the only players who didn't get in the game were pitchers Bobby Thigpen from the AL and Joe Magrane from the NL.
If you want to see the .DAT files that I used (I still don't know how to download these onto the blog , so please just take a look at the screen caps below). If anyone can e-mail me instructions, please do so at bdj610@hotmail.com. Below is the AL .DAT file, then the NL .DAT file:




Now that the 1989 All-Star Games are officially over, on Wednesday, I will introduce the 1990 End of Year All-Star teams. Simulations for games with those rosters to come hopefully by Sunday night.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

The NFL Players Association Will NOT Renew Topps License for 2010.

Yes, this is a baseball card blog, but because it is related to the company whose products I collect, it's big news.

The number one source in the hobby has reported that the NFL Players Association will not renew Topps License for 2010.

The current deal with Topps, Upper Deck, and Panini runs until February, 2010, and who is to say what happens in 2011 and beyond.

But here is the thing:

Just like in MLB, there are two distinct marketing arms in the NFL, NFL Properties and the NFL Players Association. There was a time in the early 90's that Topps didn't have a license from the NFL Properties, yet still produced cards as they were licensed by the NFLPA. I think now that the licenses have reversed because there has been no official word from NFL Properties regarding this matter. Just because the Players Association is cutting Topps off doesn't mean that they are totally out of the NFL card business yet. If however, NFL Properties says they are no longer going to work with Topps, then all is lost.

Regardless, this is a blow to Topps for sure. How much of an impact, though, remains to be seen.

This should make one specific blogger extremely happy though. And he knows who he is.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

bdj610's End of Year MLB All-Star Teams: 1989 Edition

It's now 1989, and it's a big year for baseball in Chicago. Don Zimmer's Cubs were the talk of the town, and the White Sox were mired in last place in a seven-team American League West (take a moment for that to sink in...). I'm still new to this concept called baseball, and while I'm getting to know more and more about the players, I'm still influenced by outside sources when it comes to naming my end of the year All-Star teams. It actually isn't until the early part of 1990 that I finally get around to naming my teams.

The main source of influence when it came to picking teams was actually the 1990 Panini sticker album. I was still crazy about sticker albums then, and as I didn't see Topps come out with one for the 1990 season, the Panini album was a good alternative. All the Panini regular player stickers were the same size as the Topps stickers from the year before, and none were the "half size" pictures. They were all large. Panini even included a little caption stating "All-Star" somewhere near the player's name. And I will have to admit that most of the players on the lists you see below were named All-Stars by Panini. Now whether they were actually All-Stars during the 1989 ASG or not I can't recall. All I do remember is that every team had an All-Star named by Panini, and to get the rosters up to 34 members, I did stick to the same formula as the year before when it came to roster sizes (3 each for the infield spots, 3 catchers, 9 outfielders, 9 pitchers), but because the 1990 ASG was coming to Wrigley Field, I took out the DH spot and replaced it with a 10th pitchers spot (which broke down to five starters, and five closers).

Let's cut to the chase. Without further ado, for the first time online, I am proud to introduce my 1989 End of Year MLB All-Star Teams (in alphabetical order by position):

(Lots of space here when I added the table. Don't know why...)

American League First Basemen Wally Joyner, Angels* Don Mattingly, Yankees Mark McGwire, Athletics Second Basemen Julio Franco, Rangers Steve Sax, Yankees Lou Whitaker, Tigers Third Basemen Wade Boggs, Red Sox Gary Gaetti, Twins Kelly Gruber, Blue Jays* Shortstops Tony Fernandez, Blue Jays Ozzie Guillen, White Sox* Cal Ripken, Orioles Outfielders Harold Baines, Rangers Joe Carter, Indians Rickey Henderson, Athletics Bo Jackson, Royals* Jeffrey Leonard, Mariners Kirby Puckett, Twins Ruben Sierra, Rangers* Devon White, Angels* Robin Yount, Brewers Catchers Carlton Fisk, White Sox Terry Steinbach, Athletics* Mickey Tettleton, Orioles* Pitchers Chuck Finley, Angels* Mark Gubicza, Royals Mike Hennemann, Tigers* Doug Jones, Indians Dan Plesac, Brewers Jeff Russell, Rangers* Nolan Ryan, Rangers* Dave Stewart, Athletics Greg Swindell, Indians* Bobby Thigpen, White Sox* Manager: Frank Robinson, Orioles The Starters: 1B: McGwire 2B: Franco 3B: Boggs SS: Ripken OF: Puckett OF: Sierra OF: Yount C: Fisk P: Stewart *First-Time All-Star

National League First Basemen Will Clark, Giants Glenn Davis, Astros Pedro Guerrero, Cardinals Second Basemen Tommy Herr, Phillies Willie Randolph, Dodgers Ryne Sandberg, Cubs Third Basemen Bobby Bonilla, Pirates Howard Johnson, Mets Tim Wallach, Expos Shortstops Shawon Dunston, Cubs Barry Larkin, Reds Ozzie Smith, Cardinals Outfielders Vince Coleman, Cardinals* Eric Davis, Reds Andre Dawson, Cubs Tony Gwynn, Padres Von Hayes, Phillies* Kevin Mitchell, Giants* Dale Murphy, Braves Tim Raines, Expos Darryl Strawberry, Mets Catchers Craig Biggio, Astros* Benito Santiago, Padres Mike Scioscia, Dodgers* Pitchers Tim Burke, Expos* Mark Davis, Padres John Franco, Reds Orel Hershiser, Dodgers Jay Howell, Dodgers Joe Magrane, Cardinals* Rick Reuschel, Giants* Mike Scott, Astros John Smoltz, Braves* Mitch Williams, Cubs* Manager: Don Zimmer, Cubs The Starters: 1B: Clark 2B: Sandberg 3B: Johnson SS: Smith OF: Davis OF: Gwynn OF: Mitchell C: Santiago P: Scott

Twenty-four new players are first-time all-stars from the previous year's teams (14 for the American League, 10 for the Nationals). One-person teams on my 1989 rosters include the Mariners (Leonard), Red Sox (Boggs), and Pirates (Bonilla). The Dodgers have five representatives on the NL roster, leading both leagues. The Athletics, Indians, Rangers, and Cubs each send four players to their respective squads.

Very veteran-heavy teams on both sides. Had I known better, players like Fred McGriff, Ken Griffey, Jr., and even Jerome Walton would have made it onto either team. But again, Panini influence and a tendency to stay with players I was already familiar with keeps the teams above where they are.

Seven regular games (10,000 simulations each, five with the same starting pitchers, two where lineups and starting pitchers change...since I have only five starters...a home and home battle where anything goes), and one All-Star Game will be simulated during the course of the week. I hope to have the results of all the games by the end of the week.

Now it's time for me to create the .DAT files before getting the games set. This is a lot of fun. Why didn't I think of this sooner?

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

bdj610's 1988 End of Year All-Star Teams Simulated Games Results

I have finally finished simulating the All-Star Games using my 1988 End of Year All-Star Teams. Now that I have enough practice with it, using the SBS has been so much fun. And I didn't even get that "Error: Box Score 70" that plagued me the last time.

Just like the last round using the '87 teams, I simulated seven games (six series between starters and one series where the lineups, starting rotations changed on a daily basis), by playing each one 10,000 times.

The first six games I simulated used each starting pitcher on both sides at least once, and all position players started a minimum of two games each. Here are the results:

• Game 1: NL vs. AL, Orel Hershiser vs. Frank Viola. The AL wins 5,707 games out of 10,000 simulations (using a DH).
• Game 2: NL vs. AL, Dwight Gooden vs. Mark Gubicza. The AL wins 5,948 games (using a DH).
• Game 3: AL vs. NL, Roger Clemens vs. David Cone. The NL wins 5,031 games.
• Game 4: AL vs, NL, Dave Stewart vs. Danny Jackson. The NL wins 5,253 games.
• Game 5: AL vs. NL, Bruce Hurst vs. Tom Browning. The AL wins 5,221 games.
• Game 6: NL vs. AL, Bob Knepper vs. Teddy Higuera. The AL wins 7,238 games (using a DH).
• Game 7: NL vs. AL, anything goes. The AL wins 6,001 games.

So the AL beats (in dominating fashion in some cases) the NL 5 to 2 in the regular series. For the official All-Star Game, I decided to just simulate one game and one game only. The starting pitchers were Hershiser and Viola and I let them pitch two innings. The rest of the pitchers would get one inning each (unless they struggled badly). The position players were replaced every three innings. No pinch hitters here, (as in previous tries, the pinch hitter is taken out of the game...I couldn't figure out how to double switch here). The DH's (Dale Murphy of the NL and Harold Baines of the AL) were never replaced.

The starting lineups, first for the National League (I'm using 1989 Topps cards because these are the cards I used to imagine my All-Star teams when not using the Topps sticker backs):


Now the American League starting lineup:


Here is the result:


The 1988 AL All-Stars beat the 1988 NL All-Stars by a final score of 12-4.

The box score is below (Just click on the picture to take a closer look.


The scoring plays were like this:

Top 2: Frank Viola pitching. Andre Dawson singles. Gary Carter singles. Runners advance on a Mike Greenwell error. Bobby Bonilla grounds out to Viola (1-3). Ozzie Smith walks. Andy VanSlyke reaches on a fielders choice, Smith out at second (5-4), Dawson scoring.

Top 4: Bruce Hurst pitching. Gary Carter doubles. Bobby Bonilla flies to Rickey Henderson (7). Ozzie Smith lines out to Tony Fernandez (6). Andy VanSlyke hits a home run, Carter scoring.

Bottom 4: David Cone pitching. Harold Reynolds reaches on an error by Rafael Palmeiro (E7). George Brett grounds out to Barry Larkin (6-3). Harold Baines walks. Dave Winfield strikes out. Robin Yount walks, loading the bases. Paul Molitor singles, Reynolds scoring, Baines scoring, Yount out at third (8-3).

Bottom 5: Tom Browning pitching. Carlton Fisk walks. Tony Fernandez doubles, Fisk to third. Rickey Henderson singles, Fisk scoring, Fernandez scoring. Reynolds flies out to Tony Gwynn (8). George Brett doubles, R. Henderson scoring. Harold Baines flies out to Kirk Gibson (9), Brett moving to third. Dave Winfield singles, Brett scoring.

Bottom 6: Danny Jackson pitching. Paul Molitor grounds out to Barry Larkin (6-3). Carlton Fisk grounds out to Vance Law (5-3). Tony Fernandez singles to right, reaches second on an error by Kirk Gibson. Rickey Henderson singles, Fernandez scoring. Harold Reynolds doubles, R. Henderson scoring.

Top 8: Doug Jones pitching. Benito Santiago singles to center, reaches second on an error by Joe Carter. Howard Johnson fouls out to Geno Petralli (2F). Shawon Dunston singles, Santiago scoring.

Bottom 8: Bob Knepper pitching. Cal Ripken walks. Dwight Evans triples, Ripken scoring. Lou Whitaker walks. Mark McGwire walks, Whitaker to second, loading the bases. Harold Baines singles to left, reaches second on an error by Barry Bonds, Evans scoring, Whitaker scoring.


Your starters, Orel Hershiser and Frank Viola. Rickey Henderson is the MVP.
Compared to the 1987 simulation, this was a blowout of epic proportions, not helped by Bob Knepper's collapse in the 8th (which may somewhat coincide with the 7,238 wins the AL got when he started 10,000 games). If this game actually existed, the MVP would have definitely been Rickey Henderson (2-2, 3 rbi's). Dave Stewart earns the win, Tom Browning suffers the loss, and the only players who didn't get in the game were relievers John Franco from the NL and Jeff Reardon from the AL.

If you want to see the .DAT files that I used (I still don't know how to download these onto the blog , so please just take a look at the screen caps below). If anyone can e-mail me instructions, please do so at bdj610@hotmail.com. Below is the NL .DAT file, then the AL .DAT file:




Now that the 1988 All-Star Games are officially over, on Friday, I will introduce the 1989 End of Year All-Star teams. Simulations to come hopefully by Sunday night.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama