Another in a long line of blogs devoted to baseball cards, specifically from the Topps Company, and the Hobby in general. Reviews on new and older sets, along with unbiased opinions, will be included.
If you stumbled upon this blog and didn't find what you were looking for, please feel free to e-mail me at bdj610@hotmail.com. I'd be happy to answer your questions.
Earlier in the week, smokinjoe from the Topps Message Board asked if I could reserve the last three 2010 Topps Gold Cards I have for him as he wanted to offer a card to me. I said I'd hold it for him, but did he need anything more from me as I didn't think I had enough for a trade. I didn't hear anything from him since. That was until yesterday.
A bubble envelope arrived in the mail from smokinjoe. And I was shocked. I didn't hear from the guy, thinking that the offer was dead. But this is what was inside:
2009 Topps U&H Wade Boggs #UH103b.
Needless to say, the three gold cards will be in the mail as soon as I can get envelopes (that would be Monday morning). The generosity of those in the Hobby blows me away. Whether you're a blogger, or a forum junkie, you have to admit that without this internet thingy, none of our collections could be where they are now. So thanks Joe.
That's ten down, and fifteen more to go to complete my 2009 U&H shortprint set. If anyone has any of the other fifteen cards (you'll find them on the sidebar...not too hard to find), please let me know what you have and what you need.
It's Retro Sunday!!! We gave the Topps Card Randomizer the week off so we can highlight seven cards redeemed from Topps' Million Card Giveaway. Introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Sunday, February 28, 2010:
Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 1967 Topps #340.
Player Name, position, team: Joe Pepitone, first baseman-outfielder, New York Yankees.
Last Line of Statistics: 1966 stats (Yankees): 585 AB, 149 H, 21 2B, 4 3B, 31 HR, 83 RBI, .255 AVG.
Any special information about player: Signed by Yankees a Free Agent before 1958 season. Bats: left, Throws: left.
Any special information about this specific card: Pepitone's sixth regular Topps card. If you're looking for anything special about the 1967 Topps set in terms of design...you're not really going to find one. Other than the team name in big bold letters and a facsimile autograph, the design department really mailed the design in for this set. Although, you have to admit for the mid-60's, it's not so bad of an effort (do this in the 21'st century, and you're asking for mass overhauls in the graphics department). Pepitone led the Bronx Bombers in home runs with his 31 and 83 RBI's. At least that's what the back of his card reads. It goes on to read that the "popular first sacker is one of the game's best fielders...a good clutch performer, Joe broke up several games with timely hits...". Pepitone's minor league numbers are included on his card, showing that he made stops in Auburn, Fargo, Binghamton, Amarallo, and Richmond before hitting the big time in New York. There are two cartoons above the stats and comments. The first one indicates that Joe "once crashed 2 homers in one inning" The other one says that he "hit a grand-slammer in the 1964 World Series."
Lo-Hi Beckett value: $4.00-$8.00.
How many cards of this player do I own?: 5 cards.
In case you're actually wondering, I don't own this card. And this time I was not able to get a crystal clean copy of the image from the Baseball Card Cyber Museum. However, thanks to Topps' new promotion, the Million Card Giveaway, and after figuring out how to find a card by it's numeric ID, I was able to snag the image you see above. For the record, the card in Topps' baseball card library is #8151.
Well, it's back to normal on Monday. and we're already into March. The Topps Card Randomizer back at work and has already selected the next seven cards we'll be looking at next week. Tomorrow's card will be: 1985 Topps #350. Post will arrive at 1:00 PM CST.
We're giving the Topps Card Randomizer the week off so we can highlight seven cards redeemed from Topps' Million Card Giveaway. Introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Saturday, February 27, 2010:
Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 1985 Topps #30.
Player Name, position, team: Cal Ripken, shortstop, Baltimore Orioles.
Last Line of Statistics: 1984 stats (Orioles): 162 G, 641 AB, 103 R, 195 H, 37 2B, 7 3B, 27 HR, 86 RBI, 2 SB, .510 SLG, 71 BB, 88 SO, .304 AVG.
Any special information about player: Drafted by Orioles #2nd, June 1978. Bats: right, Throws: right.
Any special information about this specific card: Ripken's fifth Topps card (this total includes his shared rookie card in the 1982 Topps set, not including his All-Star, team leader cards). The card looks great, with a young Ripken swinging for the fences, plus the appropriate black, orange, and white banner and name plate. The Orioles logo on the right of the team name. It's one of the few times that the design works well with the picture on the card. As this is Ripken's fourth year in the majors, there no longer are minor league stats on the back. A blurb below the stats talks about how Cal played Little League, Babe Ruth, and Mickey Mantle League Baseball. He also played soccer. Not on the blurb was that Cal also plays basketball. There is a baseball trivia quiz question on the back, as with many of the other 1985 player's cards. The question? "The only relief pitcher to win both Cy Young and MVP in one year? Answer: The answer. What's funny is that this card came out the year AFTER this player became the second relief pitcher to win both Cy Young and MVP in one year (POSSIBLE UNCORRECTED ERROR CARD???) And this pitcher can claim to be the third to do so (although he won it about eight years later...thanks for the correction sg488).
Lo-Hi Beckett value: $1.00-$2.50.
How many cards of this player do I own?: 113 cards.
Tomorrow is Retro Sunday, the one day of the week that we feature a card from 1951-1975. The card we will feature tomorrow is: 1967 Topps #340. Come back at 1:00 PM CST to see who (or what) it is.
We're giving the Topps Card Randomizer the week off so we can highlight seven cards redeemed from Topps' Million Card Giveaway. Introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Friday, February 26, 2010:
Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 2009 Topps #151.
Player Name, position, team: Tim Naehring, shortstop, Boston Red Sox.
Last Line of Statistics: 1992 stats (Red Sox): 72 G, 34 AB, 7 R, 10 H, 0 2B, 0 3B, 2 HR, 5 RBI, 1 SB, .471 SLG, 8 BB, 6 SO, .294 AVG.
Any special information about player: Drafted by Red Sox #8th, June 1988. Bats: right, Throws: right.
Any special information about this specific card: Naehring's fourth regular Topps card (total includes regular and traded Topps cards). Played sparingly for the Red Sox for the first three years of his career, only reaching more than 100 games played twice (1995 & 1996). Tje 1993 Topps design is great. It's too bad that every time Topps has reprinted the card, they've used Derek Jeter's draft pick card. Which, while a great card in it's own right, clearly does not really represent what the actual design looks like (extra lage picture, team-colored ribbons holding the player's name, with the team name below). Blurb on the back does talk about Tim's 2-run home run in the 19th inning (not a typo) that gave the Red Sox a 7-5 victory at Cleveland 04/11/1992.
Lo-Hi Beckett value: $0.02-$0.10.
How many cards of this player do I own?: 11 cards.
Tomorrow's card will be: 1985 Topps #30. Post will arrive at 1:00 PM CST. Join us then, won't you?
Last week, I mailed out a bunch of envelopes. These last couple of weeks, I've been getting mail. All envelopes had, whether I mailed them, or they showed up at my door, contained cards. And in some cases, not necessarily baseball cards (and in a couple of cases, not even Topps cards!!!). I'll explain in a minute.
The wantlist on the sidebar will be shrinking a bit thanks to the following people who so kindly traded cards or just sent me stuff out of the kindness of their hearts (or in one case, I won a contest...I know...I'll explain in a minute).
First, thanks to friend of the blog Don Sherman. Don, as you recall, won my 2009 All-Star Rookie Team contest. A while back, he e-mailed me saying that he bought himself a 2009 Topps Holiday factory set, complete with the ten bonus rookie cards inside. He asked if I wanted them. No would have been the wrong answer. So he sent me a list of cards he needed from 1997 and 1998 Topps to exchange for them. And, after digging through all my boxes (and getting them organized by year...finally), I found a ton of cards he needed to whittle down his wantlists. So a package of 1997 and 1998 Topps, along with the pack of jumbo 2009 Topps U & H made it's way to Don. And in return, this package came in from Arkansas, containing:
and
Second, new friend of the blog Matthew Edwards (I gave up Facebook for Lent, Matt, so please don't be upset with me for not hitting the "accept friend" thing yet...I'll be back in April), e-mailed me asking how it was possible for me to know down to the single card how many I have in my collection. It's easy...I collect complete sets, so I just add up the totals of how many cards come in a set and there you go. The challenge is keeping tabs of the singles I have for sets I haven't completed yet (like all the cards in my want list). Anyway, he said he that he had some cards for me and because they weren't much, he wasn't going to even bother sending me a list for a trade. Well, the cards came on Saturday...
Third, Richard Cavallaro (aka rcav220 on the Topps Message Boards) has a lot of cards on his 2010 want list. For eight cards that he needed, I received:
Next, friend of the blog the drizz saw that I had a 2010 Topps Gold Brandon Inge card in my trade list, and promptly asked for it. The card was mailed late last week, and last night a package from Michigan arrived with these:
and this:
The pack of 2010 Topps Opening Day (nice touch drizz) contained:
And last but not least, Brian Karcher e-mailed out of the blue saying that he had an Alfonso Soriano CYMTO Original back that he'd be willing to trade for the Pujols gold. After agreeing, he also said that he was also interested in a few random Brewers inserts I had as well. That's fine. So, for four cards sent to Milwaukee, this one came to me:
That takes care of the trades and thank yous. Now onto the contest winnings.
What? He won a contest?
The Voice of the Collector (the Anti-Beckett) blog ran a contest asking to identify a character.
Yes, there are UD cards amongst the prizes. But, more importantly, there were two packs of Topps Puck Attax (yeah, I know I showed only one here...)
The packs contained 12 round cards. How the heck am I supposed to store these??? The thing is that I wanted to wait until I got the cards before I let the public know how I knew the answer. Ironically, I was going over some old...wait for it...BECKETT BASEBALL magazines when I saw the picture of the subject of his contest. After going over the magazines, I went online, happened upon his contest, and wouldn't you know it was the same alien/monster/thingy that I had just looked at moments before. Needless to say, since he had just posted it, I answered quickly and won.
Regardless, to everyone who sent me cards. Thank you very much. Wow this was a long post.
We're giving the Topps Card Randomizer the week off so we can highlight seven cards redeemed from Topps' Million Card Giveaway. Introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Thursday, February 25, 2010:
Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 1976 Topps #507.
Player Name, position, team: Ray Bare, pitcher, Detroit Tigers.
Last Line of Statistics: 1975 stats (Tigers): 29 G, 151 IP, 8-13, 81 R, 75 ER, 71 SO, 47 BB, 4.47 ERA.
Any special information about player: Drafted by Cardinals #3rd, January 1969. Signed by Tigers from waivers 04/04/1975. Bats: right, Throws: right.
Any special information about this specific card: Bare's first regular Topps card (his rookie card). Although he played for the Cardinals for two seasons, this is his first (of two total) Topps cards. Not much about Bare has been written, but on the back of his Topps card, it refers to a 2-hit, 8-0 shutout vs. the Angels on 08/16/1975, which snapped the Tigers 19-game losing streak.
Lo-Hi Beckett value: $0.15-$0.40.
How many cards of this player do I own?: 2 cards.
Tomorrow's card will be: 1993 Topps #24. Post will arrive at 1:00 PM CST. Until tomorrow everybody.
We're giving the Topps Card Randomizer the week off so we can highlight seven cards redeemed from Topps' Million Card Giveaway. Introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Wednesday, February 24, 2010:
Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 1980 Topps #622.
Player Name, position, team: Mario Soto, pitcher, Cincinnati Reds.
Last Line of Statistics: 1979 stats (Reds): 25 G, 37 IP, 3-2, 25 R, 22 ER, 32 SO, 30 BB, 5.35 ERA.
Any special information about player: Signed by Reds as a Free Agent 12/03/1972. Bats: right, Throws: left.
Any special information about this specific card: Soto's second regular Topps card. The 1980 Topps set, with it's simple design, ribbons to indicate team and position, and the facsimile autograph, is mostly remembered for holding the rookie card for a certain Rickey Henderson. But there were 659 other cards in this set. This, was one of them. The set used a blue background for the reverse, and it made for easy reading, as long as the black ink stayed on the card. It was a bit of a stretch to read some of the stats on Soto's card. But there is a cartoon and a couple of blurbs about Mr. Soto (at least both involve the subject on the front of the card). The cartoon indicates that Mario led the Florida State League (A) with 124 strikeouts in 1976. The first note on the back talks about his complete game win for the Reds at Wrigley field in 1976. That's funny, because Soto debuted in 1977 (UNCORRECTED ERROR CARD!!!), and it was Soto's first career MLB start. The second one reads that he picked up a victory in relief against the Braves in 1978, which in five games played was the only highlight for him in 1978.
Lo-Hi Beckett value: $0.30-$0.75.
How many cards of this player do I own?: 17 cards.
Tomorrow's card will be: 1976 Topps #507. Post will arrive at 1:00 PM CST. Hope you will be too.
We're giving the Topps Card Randomizer the week off so we can highlight seven cards redeemed from Topps' Million Card Giveaway. Introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Tuesday, February 23, 2010:
Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 1989 Topps #615.
Player Name, position, team: Robin Yount, outfielder, Milwaukee Brewers.
Last Line of Statistics: 1988 stats (Brewers): 162 G, 621 AB, 92 R, 190 H, 38 2B, 11 3B, 13 HR, 91 RBI, 22 SB, .465 SLG, 63 BB, 63 SO, .306 AVG.
Any special information about player: Drafted by Brewers #1st, June 1973. Bats: right, Throws: right.
Any special information about this specific card: Yount's fifteenth regular Topps card (total does not include any league leader, super veterans, record breakers, or all-star cards). I've made no secret that I love...LOVE...Topps' 1989 design. I mean look at it: large picture, appropriate team colored border, beautiful script text for the team name, the player's name in the ribbon below. It doesn't get any better than that right??? Yes, they made millions of 1989 cards, but this is the set that really got me started in collecting. And the year before, Yount had a career year. A .306 average, led the league in games played and triples. He even hit 13 GW-RBI's in 1988. He was one of the best in 1988, which explains why he was inducted into the HOF ten years after this card was made.
Lo-Hi Beckett value: $0.15-$0.40.
How many cards of this player do I own?: 51 cards.
Tomorrow's card will be: 1980 Topps #622. Post will arrive at 1:00 PM CST. We're looking back at a card from 1980 on the blog tomorrow.
The sell sheets for the product that EVERYBODY is waiting for are now live. Please take a look and see what is in store for the 2010 edition of Topps' Allen & Ginter set:
Mini inserts this year include the 25-card Lords of Olympus, the 16-card Monsters of the Mesozoic (dinosaurs), the 50-card National Animals set (I want the carabao), among others.
Product information can be found here. As always, the checklist is subject to change.
We're giving the Topps Card Randomizer the week off so we can highlight seven cards redeemed from Topps' Million Card Giveaway. Introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Monday, February 22, 2010:
Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 1987 Topps #430.
Player Name, position, team: Mike Schmidt, third baseman-first baseman, Philadelphia Phillies.
Last Line of Statistics: 1986 stats (Phillies): 160 G, 552 AB, 97 R, 160 H, 29 2B, 1 3B, 37 HR, 119 RBI, 1 SB, .547 SLG, 89 BB, 84 SO, .290 AVG.
Any special information about player: Drafted by Phillies #2nd, June 1971. Bats: right, Throws: right.
Any special information about this specific card: Schmidt's fifteenth regular Topps card (total does not include any league leaders, record breakers, super veterans, in action, or all-star cards). Remember when 37 home runs was enough to win the home run title? Me neither. But with that number, Schmidt led the NL in 1986, to go with a league leading 119 RBI's. The 1987 is the second wood bordered set Topps produced (see 1962). A lighter wood (pine perhaps) was used this time, and to see a full sheet of these (and they sold these cards in full sheets) is like looking at 132 pictures on a piece of plywood. The back of the card has a quick blurb about Mike listing electric trains among his hobbies. He also hit 13 Game Winning RBI's in 1986 (they listed this stat in 1987...to bad it's not kept track of anymore).
Lo-Hi Beckett value: $0.20-$0.50.
How many cards of this player do I own?: 75 cards.
Tomorrow's card will be: 1989 Topps #615. Post will arrive at 1:00 PM CST. See you then.
It's 2002 now, and my wife, my daughter, and I spent part of the year waiting for the new addition to our family, and the rest of the year taking care of our new baby boy. Our son joined us in July, a 6 pound, 3 ounce miracle. And the story of his birth will never be forgotten. Although as the years have gone by, the story has gotten wilder and wilder with every re-telling. Let's just say that nobody's mind is alert at 3:00 in the morning. My baseball card collection, some of which has already been manhandled by my daughter, is starting to grow at this point, thanks to being able to take her to card shows all over the area. And the card shop that I spent a lot of time (and money) in kept adding more kerosene to my wanting more cards. But 2002 is the year of a lot of changes. None bigger than bringing home my son, and the eventual reality of having to search for a new home.
This year's teams include 10 pitchers on each team (six starters, four closers), and the usual 3 players per position (1b, 2b, 3b, ss, c, 9 of), and because the 2003 ASG would be in Chicago (at the newly named U. S. Cellular Field), each team included a DH. The middle reliever position used last year was put on the shelf for now, keeping the rosters at 35 players per team.
Without further ado, for the first time online, I am proud to introduce my 2002 End of Year MLB All-Star Teams (in alphabetical order by position):
(Nothing to see here...really!)
American League
First Basemen
Rafael Palmeiro, Rangers
Mike Sweeney, Royals
Jim Thome, Indians
Second Basemen
Bret Boone, Mariners
Adam Kennedy, Angels*
Alfonso Soriano, Yankees*
Third Basemen
Tony Batista, Orioles
Troy Glaus, Angels
Eric Hinske, Blue Jays*
Shortstops
Nomar Garciaparra, Red Sox
Alex Rodriguez, Rangers
Miguel Tejada, Athletics
Outfielders
Garret Anderson, Angels
Carlos Beltran, Royals*
Robert Fick, Tigers
Torii Hunter, Twins*
Magglio Ordoñez, White Sox
Manny Ramirez, Red Sox
Ichiro Suzuki, Mariners
Bernie Williams, Yankees
Randy Winn, Devil Rays*
Catchers
A. J. Pierzynski, Twins*
Jorge Posada, Yankees
Ivan Rodriguez, Rangers
Designated Hitter:
Jason Giambi, Yankees
Pitchers
Eddie Guardado, Twins*
Roy Halladay, Blue Jays*
Billy Koch, Athletics*
Derek Lowe, Red Sox
Pedro Martinez, Red Sox
Mark Mulder, Athletics
Troy Percival, Angels
Ugueth Urbina, Red Sox
Jarrod Washburn, Angels*
Barry Zito, Athletics*
Manager:
Mike Scioscia, Angels
The Starters:
1B: Thome
2B: Soriano
3B: Glaus
SS: Rodriguez
OF: Hunter
OF: Ramirez
OF: Suzuki
C: Posada
DH: Giambi
P: Martinez
*First-Time All-Star
National League
First Basemen
Jeff Bagwell, Astros
Todd Helton, Rockies
Richie Sexson, Brewers
Second Basemen
Luis Castillo, Marlins*
Jeff Kent, Giants
Jose Vidro, Expos
Third Basemen
Aaron Boone, Reds*
Mike Lowell, Marlins*
Scott Rolen, Cardinals
Shortstops
Jose Hernandez, Brewers*
Edgar Renteria, Cardinals
Jimmy Rollins, Phillies
Outfielders
Lance Berkman, Astros
Barry Bonds, Giants
Brian Giles, Pirates
Shawn Green, Dodgers
Vladimir Guerrero, Expos
Chipper Jones, Braves
Albert Pujols, Cardinals
Sammy Sosa, Cubs
Larry Walker, Rockies
Catchers
Paul LoDuca, Dodgers
Mike Piazza, Mets
Benito Santiago, Giants
Designated Hitter:
Ryan Klesko, Padres*
Pitchers
Eric Gagne, Dodgers*
Tom Glavine, Braves
Randy Johnson, Diamondbacks
Jose Mesa, Phillies
Kevin Milwood, Braves
Hideo Nomo, Dodgers
Roy Oswalt, Astros*
Curt Schilling, Diamondbacks
John Smoltz, Braves
Mike Williams, Pirates*
Manager:
Jim Tracy, Dodgers
The Starters:
1B: Helton
2B: Kent
3B: Rolen
SS: Rollins
OF: Bonds
OF: Guerrero
OF: Sosa
C: Piazza
DH: Klesko
P: Johnson
Twenty players are first-time all-stars (12 for the American League, 8 for the Nationals). One-person teams on my 2002 rosters include the Devil Rays (Winn), Indians (Thome), Orioles (Batista), Tigers (Fick), White Sox (Ordoñez), Cubs (Sosa), Mets (Piazza), Pirates (Williams), and Reds (Boone). Both the Angels and Red Sox send five representatives to the AL roster, leading both leagues. The Braves and Dodgers each send four players to the NL squad.
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. Game results coming next week.
Last Line of Statistics: 1961 stats (Senators): 33 G, 212 IP, 8-18, .308 PCT, 220 H, 105 R, 91 ER, 76 SO, 48 BB, 3.86 ERA.
Any special information about player: Signed by Cardinals a Free Agent before 1953 season. Drafted by the Senators from Charleston of the American Association 12/14/1960. Bats: right, Throws: right.
Any special information about this specific card: McClain's second regular Topps card. Before the 1987 set, with it's wood grain borders, there was the 1962 set. Like looking at pictures over a freshly stained piece of maple wood, the 1962 Topps cards were classy, even down to where it looks like they rolled up the bottom right corner of the picture to let the player's name, team name, and position make an appearance. Joe was drafted by the newly formed Senators in time for the 1961 season (the original Senators left for Minnesota prior to this re-incarnation). The back of his card states that McClain, in his rookie season, led the team in innings pitched 212. Prior to that, he won 13 games in Peoria in 1956 and posted a 2.06 ERA in the Sally (South Atlantic League) the following year. There is a cartoon included on the card, with the caption "King for a Day," explaining that Joe pitched 6.1 innings of a 7 inning no hitter in 1957. Either Topps couldn't get a new picture of the man, or they decided to save a bit of money by using the exact same picture you see above for the following year's set.
Lo-Hi Beckett value: $2.50-$5.00.
How many cards of this player do I own?: 0 cards.
In case you're actually wondering, I don't own this card. And this time I was not able to get a crystal clean copy of the image from the Baseball Card Cyber Museum. However, thanks to Topps' new promotion, the Million Card Giveaway, and after figuring out how to find a card by it's numeric ID, I was able to snag the image you see above. For the record, the card in Topps' baseball card library is #5151. And all three of McClain's cards (the above card, along with his 1961 and 1963 cards) have been redeemed.
Well, it's back to normal on Monday. And in honor of the Million Card Giveaway, I'm giving the randomizer the week off, and the blog will feature seven cards that I "won" from Topps' site. Tomorrow's card will be: 1987 Topps #430. Post will arrive at 1:00 PM CST.
I have finally finished simulating the All-Star Games using my 2001 End of Year All-Star Teams. Featuring a number of players who would dominate the headlines in the first decade of the new millennium, who would prevail? Keep on reading below.
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, Roger Clemens vs. Randy Johnson. The NL wins 6,203 games out of 10,000 simulations. As in previous series featuring Johnson, many 20-strikeout performances (11), and many no hitters (10). This series included a game where he struck out 23 batters.
Game 2: AL vs. NL, Mark Mulder vs. Curt Schilling. The AL wins 5,214 games.
Game 3: NL vs. AL, Matt Morris vs. Jamie Moyer. The AL wins 5,202 games (using a DH).
Game 4: NL vs, AL, Jon Lieber vs. Freddy Garcia. The AL wins 6,016 games (using a DH).
Game 5: NL vs. AL, Greg Maddux vs. C. C. Sabathia. The NL wins 6,043 games (using a DH).
Game 6: AL vs. NL, Joe Mays vs. Russ Ortiz. The NL wins 5,770 games.
Game 7: AL vs. NL, anything goes. The NL wins 5,313 games.
So the NL wins the seven game series 4-3, coming back from a 3-1 deficit. And they win the ever important "anything goes" series. We've seen how important this seventh series seems to be when predicting a winner in the one game ASG. Will this mean a win for the NL?
For the official All-Star Game, I decided to just simulate one game and one game only. The starting pitchers were Clemens and Johnson 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. Due to a bit of a glitch, (me forgetting to replace the defense in the seventh inning), pinch hitters are used in the bottom of the seventh, slowly inserting the third defensive unit into the game. Double switches were performed on both sides when the case allowed it.
The starting lineups, first for the American League (I'm using 2002 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 2001 NL All-Stars blank the 2001 AL All-Stars by a final score of 4-0. The game was dominated by the pitching squads on both sides, but the NL squad takes the game, due in large part of a Roger Clemens meltdown in the first.
The box score is below (Just click on the picture to take a closer look).
The scoring plays were like this:
Bottom 1: Roger Clemens pitching. Rich Aurelia doubles. Jeff Kent strikes out. Barry Bonds walks. Sammy Sosa walks, Aurelia advancing to third, Bonds advancing to second. Luis Gonzalez grounds into a fielders choice (4-6), Aurelia scores, Sosa out at second base, Gonzalez safe at first. Chipper Jones hits a double, Bond scores, Gonzalez scores.
Bottom 5: Freddy Garcia pitching. Gary Sheffield draws a walk, advances to second on a wild pitch. Vladimir Guerrero flies out to Mike Cameron (8), Sheffield advancing to third. Lance Berkman singles, Sheffield scores.
The MVP for the 2001 All-Star Game is Randy Johnson.
If this game actually existed, the MVP would have been Randy Johnson (2 innings, five strikeouts). Curt Schilling picks up the win, even though it should have been awarded to Johnson (the simulations does take into account the five inning rule for a win). Roger Clemens takes the loss, and the only players who didn't get in the game were pitchers Joe Mays, Mariano Rivera, and Kazuhiro Sasaki from the AL and Kyle Farnsworth, Jon Lieber, and Trevor Hoffman.
In fifteen All-Star Series, the AL has a 8-7 lead in series play, but the NL has a 9-6 record in the one-game All-Star 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 AL .DAT file, then the NL .DAT file:
Now that the 2001 All-Star Games are officially over, on Monday, I will introduce the 2002 End of Year All-Star teams. Simulations for games with those rosters to come by next Sunday.
As the Sports Card Blogroll gets closer to adding it's 300th blog to it's roster, I would like to thank everybody for the e-mails, and requests to add new blogs to the roll. We're almost at 300 known active sports card blogs, meaning that the Hobby is getting a lot more exposure online.
But before we can continue the growth, we have to prune away the blogs that haven't been updated in six months. Just like training a plant or a tree to grow, you have to trim off the parts that hinder it from developing. For the Blogroll to continue to grow, it means we have to say goodbye to those blogs who are no longer active. As with every month, I post the blogs that will be removed from the active blogroll here for posterity. These sites will now be removed:
The links to these blogs will now be moved to the Blogs Being Removed from the Sports Card Blogroll section in the sidebar. If any of these are your blogs, and you plan on working on them again, please let me know so I can add them back to the blogroll.
Last Line of Statistics: 1981 stats (Blue Jays): 25 G, 95 AB, 7 R, 22 H, 3 2B, 2 3B, 2 HR, 9 RBI, 4 SB, .368 SLG, 4 BB, 19 SO, .267 AVG.
Any special information about player: Drafted by Blue Jays #9th June 1977. Bats: right, Throws: right.
Any special information about this specific card: Barfield's second Topps card (this total includes his shared rookie card in the 1982 Topps set). The unique thing about the 1982 Topps Traded set is that while the card backs of the regular 1982 Topps set uses a green background, the Traded set utilizes a red one. All other aspects of the design, front and back, are the same. The blurb on the back indicates that Barfield's first home run in 1982 was a grand slam on April 24. There is a cartoon above the the player's name, card number, and vital stats, as well as a mini factoid, neither about Jesse. The cartoon talks about the Twins' Rob Wilfong and how he led the team with 11 bunt hits in the 1980 season. The factoid is about Dave Kingman, one of only 14 players to hit over 200 HR's (252) in the 1970's.
Lo-Hi Beckett value: $1.25-$3.00.
How many cards of this player do I own?: 20 cards.
Tomorrow is Retro Sunday, the one day of the week that we feature a card from 1951-1975. The card we will feature tomorrow is: 1962 Topps #324. Come back at 1:00 PM CST to see who (or what) it is.
Okay, the polls closed on Monday, and before I remove everything from the front page, I better make a comment about it first.
Let me first say that since 2010 Topps came onto the scene, this humble, little blog, really isn't so little anymore. The average number of people who find there way here has jumped more than 60% since word of the first SP's came onto the scene, and has not dipped under 150 readers in more than a month. That could explain 235 votes were cast for this latest poll. But regardless of the reasons, thank you very much for coming, and I do hope that you come back on a regular basis.
Okay, on to the poll.
Of the 235 people who cast their votes (and I think my daughter was one of them, she said something about voting...):
96 voters (40%) did not like the new logo,
60 voters (25%) wanted Topps to bring back the logo from the 70's
48 voters (20%) said they liked the new logo and
31 voters (13%) just asked, "Who Cares," meaning that they feel indifferent either way, or just wanted to ask why cares...
So there you have it. Unfortunately, we're stuck with the new logo, and thus will have to make the appropriate changes around here soon.
It's the 20th of the month, meaning that I will be making updates to the Sports Card Blogroll. Stay tuned.
Last Line of Statistics: 2008 stats (Yankees): 7 G, 34.1 IP, 4-2, 23 R, 22 ER, 15 SO, 10 BB, 7 GS, 0 CG, 0 SHO, 0 SV, 1.49 WHIP, 5.77 ERA.
Any special information about player: Drafted by Red Sox #13th, June 1994. Signed by the Yankees as a Free Agent 12/22/2004. Bats: right, Throws: right.
Any special information about this specific card: Pavano's fourteenth regular Topps card (total includes regular and traded Topps cards). Another sign that every Yankee gets a card in that Pavano only played in 9 MLB games between 2007 and 2008 and still managed to get cardboard. The blurb on the back shows that he won his first two starts upon returning in August, 2008. The random stat on the arch involves those players with the lowest career OPS against Pavano (15 minimum plate appearances): Andruw Jones (.385), Jeff Kent (.457), Marlon Anderson (.470), Julio Lugo (.494), Jamey Carroll (.501), and Endy Chavez (.529).
Lo-Hi Beckett value: $0.15-$0.40.
How many cards of this player do I own?: 18 cards.
Tomorrow's card will be: 1982 Topps Traded #2T. Post will arrive at 1:00 PM CST. Join us then, won't you?
As you know, one million cards are being given away by Topps in 2010 in that Million Card giveaway. And of course, Topps didn't exactly MAKE one million cards, so there are bound to be multiples upon multiples of certain cards (or years, or eras, whatever).
But if you want to see what cards have been (or for that matter, have not yet been redeemed), all you have to do is type this web address:
http://www.toppscards.com/BaseballCard.aspx?CardID=#(don't click on this link yet...)
and type in any number from 1 to 38312 where the # is, and if it works properly, give you the card info for every card in the database from the 1952 Topps Andy Pafko #1 (which will work if you enter 2 as the #, you know because red back vs. black back variations) to 2009 Topps Jacoby Ellsbury #660 (I'm going to go on a wild guess that since Ellsbury is #660A as #38311 that #660B, or #38312, is the 2009 Topps Carl Yastrzemski SP). Starting with #38313 to 38456, you get all the bonus cards Topps is adding to the pot (for now, as starting with #38457, no information is available).
I do hope, when this is all said and done, that Topps keeps this site up for posterity and eventually add all the traded/update cards, and all cards going forward. But that would mean that every all 38456 unique cards need to be redeemed.
So what are you waiting for??? Get those codes in!!!
Last Line of Statistics: 1990 stats (Padres): 144 G, 505 AB, 45 R, 125 H, 25 2B, 3 3B, 9 HR, 59 RBI, 1 SB, .362 SLG, 24 BB, 59 SO, .248 AVG.
Any special information about player: Drafted by Cardinals 1st, June 1974. Traded by Padres to the Mets 05/31/1991. Bats: both, Throws: right.
Any special information about this specific card: Templeton's seventeenth regular Topps card (total includes regular and traded cards only). The long time Padres shortstop, the man traded by the Cardinals for Ozzie Smith, Templeton finds his way to the Mets and ends his career with the New Yorkers. There is no blurb on the back as this career numbers take up the entire space in the back. Somebody pointed out that many of the logos used for the 1991 set are being used again for the 2010 Topps set. The Mets script hasn't really changed much, so it would be one of the few that haven't changed in the last 20 years (can't believe it's been almost 20 years since this set came out).
Lo-Hi Beckett value: $0.01-$0.05.
How many cards of this player do I own?: 22 cards.
Tomorrow's card will be: 2009 Topps #151. Post will arrive at 1:00 PM CST. Until tomorrow everybody.
Last Line of Statistics: 2001 stats (Twins): 89 G, 303 AB, 48 R, 71 H, 17 2B. 1 3B, 18 HR, 48 RBI, 1 SB, .475 SLG, 40 BB, 68 SO, .234 AVG.
Any special information about player: Signed by Mariners as a Free Agent 11/28/1992. Traded by the Mariners to the Twins 08/29/1996. Bats: left, Throws: left.
Any special information about this specific card: German's fourth regular Topps card (total does not include parallels or cards from other sets). Before becoming the man we now know as "Big Papi" David Arias was just struggling to stay in the big leagues. Signed by the Mariners, he was the player to be named later in a trade that sent Dave Hollins to the M's. With the Twins (who were at the time on the precipice of contraction), Ortiz showed flashes of power that he would eventually be known for with the Red Sox. He went on a 10-RBI "indulgence...(Topps' word, not mine) from April 8 to 11, homered in four straight games in August, and launched four more bombs in a three game stretch in September. Alas, he was released by the Twins after the 2002 season, and signed with the Red Sox not long afterwards. The rest, as they say, is history. I know the Twins are doing rather well themselves, but I'm sure they're kicking themselves for letting this guy go.
Lo-Hi Beckett value: $0.20-$0.50.
How many cards of this player do I own?: 84 cards.
Tomorrow's card will be: 1991 Topps Traded #118T. Post will arrive at 1:00 PM CST. Hope you will be too.
Last Line of Statistics: 1990 stats (Cubs): 92 G, 186 AB, 21 R, 38 H, 8 2B, 2 3B, 4 HR, 19 RBI, 3 SB, .333 SLG, 14 BB, 25 SO, .204 AVG.
Any special information about player: Signed by Royals as a Free Agent 09/03/1978. Traded by Padres to the Cubs 08/30/1989. Bats: left, Throws: left.
Any special information about this specific card: Wynne's eighth and final regular Topps card. Since 1990 was his last major league season, the career stats on this card are complete. I remember that Wynne and Luis Salazar were traded to the Cubs for the pennant drive. The picture on the front is awesome. Just a classic picture of a player swinging for the fences behind Wrigley's famous brick background. The blurb on the back includes highlights of Wynne's minor league days. He led the South Atlantic League with 15 Triples an 256 total bases in 1980. He helped Tidewater to the 1982 International League title with a .400 playoff average.
Lo-Hi Beckett value: $0.01-$0.05.
How many cards of this player do I own?: 9 cards.
Tomorrow's card will be: 2002 Topps #489. Post will arrive at 1:00 PM CST. We're looking back at a card from 2002 on the blog tomorrow.
Well, it took some doing, but I finally was able to redeem my 16 cards. I was thinking of giving the randomizer a break, and I think I can still do that. But instead of doing 16 random cards of the day, I'll reveal nine redeemed cards now, leave a preview of the other seven, and then next week use the rest for the card of the day.
So without further ado, the 9 cards I'm admitting to have redeemed:
1969 Topps #23 Lew Krausse
1971 Topps #307 Don Wert
1972 Topps #234 Ron Taylor
1973 Topps #382 Mike Hegan
1987 Topps #273 Gene Nelson
1991 Topps #131 Checklist 1 of 6 (that's right, I won a checklist!!!)
2002 Topps #714 Roger Clemens AL Cy Young Award
2009 Topps #394 Barry Zito
2009 Topps #453 Javier Valentin
Here is the preview of the seven cards for next week's Topps Card of the Day:
Monday: 1987 Topps #430
Tuesday: 1989 Topps #615
Wednesday: 1980 Topps #622
Thursday: 1976 Topps #507
Friday: 1993 Topps #24
Saturday: 1985 Topps #30
Retro Sunday: 1967 Topps #340
I was very surprised with the variety of cards I won. I could have sworn that I'd be stuck with a bunch of 1988 Topps or some such thing. Kind of disappointed by "winning" a checklist. It probably wouldn't have been bad. I would have been happy with a checklist from let's say 1975 or earlier (especially if it's unchecked...), but a checklist from 1991??? And it's the corrected one??? Yeesh.
Oh well. Cards are up for trade. Send me a line at the usual e-mail address if you're interested in trading for any of the cards from 1976 on.
Sincerely,
JayBeeAnama
P.S. First person wanting a trade will get the checklist for free...no questions asked!!! jba
We've reset the Topps Card Randomizer to come up with seven new cards to present for this week. Introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Monday, February 15, 2010:
Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 2005 Topps #249.
Player Name, position, team: Tony La Russa, manager, St. Louis Cardinals.
Last Line of Statistics: 2006 stats (Cardinals): 95-67 managerial record.
Any special information about manager: Promoted to Manager (Chicago White Sox) 08/02/1979. Hired as Manager (Cardinals) prior to the 1996 MLB season.
Any special information about this specific card: La Russa's twenty-third regular Topps card, twentieth as a manager (total includes both Topps and Topps Traded cards). Previously discussed before, the 2007 Black Bordered set is prone to chipping. Hired by the Cardinals after the 1995 MLB season. In 2006, La Russa's 11th season at the helm, the Cardinals became World Series Champions for the 10th time in team history. The 2006 Cardinals won their NLDS 3-1 over the Padres, won an exciting seven game series over the Mets in the NLCS, and upset the heavily favored Tigers 4-1 in the World Series, making LaRussa the sixth man to win World Series in both leagues. The card itself is an uncorrected error card because while the bio on the back of the card reads that he has (as of the end of the 2006 season) 2,297 career victories, the career managerial record below his 2006 stats reads 1589-1478. What??!
Lo-Hi Beckett value: $0.07-$0.20.
How many cards of this player do I own?: 31 cards.
Tomorrow's card will be: 1991 Topps #714 . Post will arrive at 1:00 PM CST. See you then.
Put the torches and pitchforks away people. I have just been informed that the Topps Million site (http://www.toppsmillion.com) is now up and running. Please read the update from Stormsurge, who sent me the e-mail below.
Enjoy.
From: stormsurge@gmail.com Date: Mon, 15 Feb 2010 13:30:41 -0500 Subject: The Unlocking Has Begun! To: bdj610@hotmail.com
Just in case you weren't aware...
I brought 3 cards with me to unlock at work. More to come tonight.
1993 Chris Colon
1985 RB Bruce Sutter
1985 Craig McMurtry
Oy...
Sincerely,
JayBee Anama
P.S. The "Oy..." comment came from stormsurge. jba I'll be adding mine later this evening. The results will be posted after next week at which time I will give the Topps Card Randomizer the next couple of weeks off (I have 16 of these to work with). jba
That went incredibly well. Wasn't today supposed to be the day when the Topps Million thing was to have started??? As of 11:45 AM CST, nothing has been set up on the website to enter codes.
And the crowds have been getting restless.
I wonder if Topps realized that February 15 was President's Day. I wonder if they remembered that they probably scheduled their offices to be closed that day. Meaning nobody is at One Whitehall North, New York today. Meaning that the guy who was supposed to feed the hamsters powering the computer is off today. Meaning that they probably aren't going to start running this site until either later today or even tomorrow.
Although, the news feed on my sidebar did indicate that Cal Ripken Jr. will be on all the news and sports talk shows promoting Topps big event tomorrow...
Eh, who am I kidding. I have my pitchfork and torch ready. Who's with me??!
Any special information about this specific card: Simply put, this is the card that highlights Game 3 of the 1974 World Series between the defending champion Oakland A's against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Just three days after earning the win in Game 1, Rollie Fingers takes over for Catfish Hunter in the seventh inning of the pivotal third game. Fingers works the final 2.2 innings that night, allowing only one run, but preserved the win to give the A's a 2-1 lead in the series. The A's went on to win the last two games, both played in Oakland, winning their third straight World Series. The back of this card features the both the box score and line score of the game.
Lo-Hi Beckett value: $0.75-$2.00.
In case you're actually wondering, I don't own this card, but was able to get a crystal clean copy of the image from the from the Baseball Card Cyber Museum. So thank you Joe McAnally and the folks at the BCCM. (You have to stop by and visit them now. They just announced that they are allowing more people to enter the museum at one time.)
Well, it's back to normal on Monday. Tomorrow's card will be: 2007 Topps #249. Post will arrive at 1:00 PM CST. Come on back then to see what the Topps Card Randomizer gets us to look at then.
Not only is today Valentine's day, but today is also the day the Chinese celebrate New Year's Day. This year, it's the year of the Tiger. So in honor of Chinese New Year, I present a card from one of my favorite insert sets of all-time:
So Happy Valentine's Day Everyone!!! Xin nian hao (Happy New Year)!!!
Two packages came in the mail a while back from two friends of the blog. And because of my "computer issues," I haven't had a chance to thank them...until now.
Friend of the blog, all around good guy, the guy that gave us the scoop on the 2010 Topps SP's, tdlindgren sent an SP card from 2009 Topps U & H. Up to this point, I only have six of the twenty-five cards. A long way to go before even considering this set complete. But an e-mail from him appeared in my inbox, stating, " I have an SP from 2009 Topps Updates and Highlights that I'm going to send to you."
2009 Topps U & H Jimmie Foxx #UH281.
I sent an e-mail to Tim stating that if I did ever get an SP card, even if I didn't already have it, it was his. And sure enough, I did get one (Babe Ruth). Also, I know you commented that you were looking for the Blue Back #15 (which also happens to be of the Babe). That was the one card that I got from my WalMart experiment. Tim, if you're still looking for those cards, please let me know.
Also, another friend of the blog daverysr58A, had a couple of SP's from U & H that I was looking for, and although he didn't update his wantlist, he did say that he would send a couple of SP's in exchange for some 2010 Topps cards. I received the cards:
2009 Topps U & H Honus Wagner #UH98. 2009 Topps U & H George Sisler #153.
I sent Don a few cards from his 2010 Topps Series 1 want list and a few inserts. But now I think I may have shorted the man. Don, when you get the package, and think there isn't enough, please go through the cards I have available and let me know if there is anything else you'd like, and it's yours.
So gentlemen, thank you very much for the cards. It brings my wantlist for the U & H SP's down to 16 cards. Still a long way to go, but I'm getting there. Thanks again guys. Your generosity knows no bounds (and I have a long way to go before mine is as high as yours).
I went to WalMart yesterday, and found their stash of baseball cards (instead of putting them in front by the registers, they're now all the way in the back in the toy section, where they should be. Anyway, I realized that packs at Target, packs with the security tag had the elusive 1951 Red Back inserts. So I thought if I got the packs with the security tags at Walmart, I'd have the same success finding the Blue Back inserts. So for an experiment, I bought ten packs, five with the tag, and five without (their easy to find, just look for the bump in the back).
The result? Ten packs, one Blue Back card (Babe Ruth). And it was found in a pack...WITHOUT the security tag.
Yesterday, I mentioned I will be looking for 100 cards from 2010 Topps 1. Now, it's down to 99.
(In honor of a 99-card want list, here is Nena and 99 Luftballoons)
Oh, you wanted the English version...
Okay, enough 80's music (and who can't get enough of 80's music??!)
Here is my official 99-card wantlist for 2010 Topps inserts as of Saturday, 02/13/2010:
2010 Topps Cards Your Mother Threw Out Backs (56) All except 1959 (Gibson) and 1974 (Winfield).
2010 Topps Blue Backs (WalMart/Meijer) (13): All except 1 (Ruth) and 15 (Ott)
2010 Topps Legends Short-Prints Series 1 (20): #1b Hank Greenberg #20b Warren Spahn #50b Cy Young #56b Whitey Ford #80b Christy Mathewson #85b Jackie Robinson #90b Rogers Hornsby #94b Carlton Fisk #95b Rickey Henderson #100b Stan Musial #110b Willie Stargell #116b Robin Yount #125b George Sisler #130b Reggie Jackson #165b Joe Morgan #175b Roger Maris #200b Walter Johnson #222b Curtis Granderson NYY #250b Lou Gehrig #300b Ryne Sandberg
If you, or somebody you know, has any of the above 99 cards (or for that matter any of the other cards in my wantlist you can find on the sidebar), please send me an e-mail. I have a lot of base and insert cards that can be used for trade. In the case of 2010 Topps inserts for example, I have:
