Usually, the team I follow (you know, the Cubs???) are packing up for another season of disappointment and "what could have been?" But not this season.
The 2015 edition of the Chicago Cubs finished with the third best record in MLB at 97-65. Too bad that they also finished with the third best record in the NL Central. The boys in blue managed to finish 3 games behind the 100-62 Cardinals and one game behind the 98-64 Pirates, the only two teams with a better record. This means that the Cubs finished with the best third place record in MLB history...and they get to play a one-game Wild Card playoff against the Pirates at PNC Park. I like their odds, but hold some caution as anything can happen in one game.
Anyway, the end of the MLB season means a ton of other articles that I usually write at or after the end of the regular season:
- The 2015 Rookie Review (which leads to the annual "Guess the players for the 2015 Topps All-Star Rookie Team)
- The comparison between the players who made their Major League Debuts in 2015 vs. those who debuted in 1995 (and the annual "I Wish Topps Brought Back the MLB Debut Set")
- The announcement of my 2015 End of the Year All-Star Teams!!!
Tomorrow, Topps will announce the results of their first round of votes to determine who will grace card #1 for the eponymous 2016 Topps set. The top five players will be added to a final ballot and fans/collectors will get to vote for subject number 1.
Now, I've read the few comments that I received last week. While it might be a nice sentiment, no, I don't think Yogi Berra would make a good card number 1 in next year's set. And that's not because I'm from Chicago. Just...no. A lot of other MLB players passed away last year (Minnie Minoso, Ernie Banks to name a few...okay, so I'm biased).
I did find it funny that somebody suggested that we stuff the ballot box with (and I'm paraphrasing here...this is a family friendly blog) "one of the 'not-so-good' players in the MLB right now the first card." Sure, maybe we should have stuffed the box with Kyle Kendrick or Mike Zunino (I didn't pick these guys, and I'm sure they're better ball players than 99 percent of us in the Hobby), but that would be akin to picking all 9 KC Royals in the All-Star ballot this year. Just not right.
One more note. To @lifetimetopps, I did get your email. I actually do have three of the seven 2003 Topps Nolan Ryan Record Breakers No-Hitters. Yes, they were a special subset to the large Record Breakers insert Set Topps included in that year's set. Each card highlights Ryan's seven no-hitters. They are extremely hard to come by. The last time I saw them on eBay, one guy had all seven cards graded and sold each one individually. I don't remember how much they sold for, but I recall that the end prices were not cheap. I'm still looking for four of them. If you need scans, let me know.
It may have been a quiet season on the blog, but I swear, it will get much busier pretty soon. Stay tuned to this space.
Sincerely,
JayBee Anama
Maybe it's time for baseball to change their postseason to be more along the lines of the other major sports. They may have to make some compromises like starting the season a bit earlier and/or adding a few double headers to the schedule (oh, the horror!). Go, Cubbies!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the info JB! I have seen 4 on eBay recently, and purchased 2 of them. But that was the first time I'd ever seen them in about a year of checking. I wish I could determine what packs they were inserted in - because it wasn't in the HTA jumbo packs that Baseball card pedia and beckett list it as. I know because I bought that box and it's not on the odds!
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