The Philippines in the World Baseball Classic...2016 Edition!!!

In 2012, the Philippines, that hotbed of baseball in Asia, was invited to participate in a four-team qualifying round where the country that wins this six-game round-robin schedule, would go on to the 16-team World Baseball Classic tournament.

Okay, so hotbed isn't really the word. But listen, after the Americans introduced the Filipinos to the game during the Spanish-American War, the Philippines won the first Asian Baseball Championships in 1954. The game, however, faded in popularity, with basketball the number one team sport on the islands. But baseball is making a comeback, thanks in part to Filpino teams winning gold medals in the 2005 and 2011 Southeast Asian Games.

The WBC Philippines team shocked the world by beating Johnny Damon (yes, THAT Johnny Damon) and team Thailand in their first game (proudly recalled in this post back after it happened). And although they did eventually lose to squads from Chinese Taipei and New Zealand, a third place showing did in fact give the powers that be to give the Philippines another shot at getting to the games.

This week, the Philippines, along with Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa, are competing amongst themselves for one spot in the tournament that takes place in 2017. Team Aussie will be their first opponents, which should be a challenge for the Filipino team. Australia has participated in EVERY WBC since 2006 and doesn't plan on taking next year off.

So who is on Team Philippines? Any major leaguers with ties to "The Pearl of the Orient?" The answer...is YES!!!

Tim Hulett, a MLB player from 1983-1995 and has been a minor league manager (presently with the Rangers Short-A team in Spokane) after his playing days, was tabbed to manage Team Philippines.

Clay Rapada, a journeyman left-hander who last appeared in the majors in 2013, leads a pitching staff of 13. In seven seasons, Rapada has a cumulative record of 8-0, with a 4.06 ERA, 82 strikeouts, and a WHIP of 1.366 in seven MLB seasons.

Chris Aguila, one of six outfielders on the team, played for both the Marlins and the Mets in parts of four seasons. He hit 4 home runs, drove in 16 rbi's, to go with a .230 batting average and slash statistics (OBP/SLG/OPS) of .280/.343/.624.

Eric Fariss, who was in the majors from 2011-2012 and was recently in the minor league system of the Twins, is on the team as well.

There are presently two players on the team with MLB affiliations, one is Marlins farmhand Brad Haynal, a catcher, and the other is outfielder Angelo Songco, who has a Pro Debut card from 2010.

By the time this post comes out, the game would be long over (they lost 11-1 by the way).

Good luck to Team Philippines the rest of the way.

Mabuhay!!!

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Do You Remember the Topps 300 (and then some...)?

Back in 2011, Topps had this brilliant idea. They would hold a contest to determine the Top 60 Topps cards in its 50 year history. Now Topps picked 100 cards from its wide collection of cards and asked fans and collectors to pick their top ten cards from the 100. While the list contained many rookies and other classic cards (which you can find here), there were some cards that I really didn't think belonged here.

After picking my ten, I didn't feel so good. My choices were fine, but in my mind, the Hobby Blogging Community could do better.

That's when I decided to create "The Topps 300 (and then some...)" I picked 5 cards from each year of Topps' history (from 1951 through 2010) that I thought were the best from that particular year and asked readers to respond with what they thought of my picks and if they believed another card could be better than what I picked (that's the "and then some..." part of the site).

My efforts did gain a bit of publicity, thanks to Rich Mueller and the Sports Collectors Daily. I had hoped that by the end of the year, I could do a countdown of the best card of each year and then from that, pick the top 60 cards overall. While the final countdown never came to fruition, the comments left by readers with their picks were great and I thank all of those who took time out of their days to comment.

It's now five years later. The site is still up, and although there haven't been any new comments since 2014, people still do come across that blog.

For the first series of its eponymous set for 2016, Topps has decided to include a 65-card insert set called "Berger's Best." In honor of the "Father of the Modern Day Baseball Card," Topps has decided that they would include a reprint of one card from each year (1952-2015). I like the concept, but I really hope that they skip the "bio in the back" as they did with their reprint sets from 2010 and 2011 - only to include SP's of full reprint cards as well. I know I'll be going after this set, I just am nervous about how they'll present it.

That made me think. What if I presented my Topps 5 (get it...) cards from each of the past five seasons and presented them the same way I did back then? Make it an update, an addendum, to the original 60 years that I created five years prior. To that, I said, "Why not?"

So I present for your review tonight, my Top 25 cards, 5 for each year, from 2011 through 2015. Tell me if you agree with my picks or if I'm nuts and I could have picked another card.

To paraphrase the intro on the Topps 300 blog:

"Below are scans of the best five (in my opinion) cards from each year from the last 5 years of Topps Baseball Cards. I picked the 25 based on a few qualifiers, including: Key Rookie, Unique Photo, Action Shot, Card caused a buzz in the Hobby, Noteworthy Errors, Player had an impact on the game that particular year."

Let me know what you think.

• #110 Aroldis Chapman
• #200 Ichiro Suzuki
• #210 Brian Wilson
• #421 Domonic Brown
• #US175 Mike Trout

• #58 Tim Hudson
• #136 Casey McGehee
• #396 Yoenis Cespedes
• #660 Yu Darvish
• #661 Bryce Harper

• #253 Adam Greenberg
• #589 Jose Fernandez
• #617 Fernando Rodney
• #660 Miguel Cabrera
• #US250 Yasiel Puig

• #8 Coco Crisp
• #228 Jayson Werth
• #496 Jose Abreu
• #625 Albert Pujols
• #661 Masahiro Tanaka

• #1 Derek Jeter
• #177 Paul Konerko
• #300 Mike Trout
• #616 Kris Bryant
• #US174 Carlos Correa

Feel free to leave comments on here. Let me know if you can think of a better card than one that I selected. I'm pretty sure that some of these cards will be included in that Berger's Best set (which is also confirmed for Series 2...I'll get around to sell sheets later).

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Oh Yes, It's Taco Night, and the Feeling's Right...Oh Wait...I've Been Gone a Full Month AGAIN!!!

To those who haven't given up on this dog-and-pony-show of a blog...thank you for sticking around.

One of the fun things about having a full-time job (and working at home) is that I have...well...work. And it's been a busy time at the new job. Lots of reports, lots of promotions, lots of contracts to maintain, and we have a food show coming up, so there was work to do there.

And then April just came and went.

To be honest, the Cubs poor performance (plus the White Sox trying to stay afloat) hasn't really motivated me to watch many ball games, but the card world still goes on. Thing is though, I have been quietly building the collection up, not only with catching the legendary sp's from 2010 and 2011, but with getting my hands on a 2014 Gypsy Queen set, with inserts.

Once again, Topps nailed it with this set. A good mix of legends and current players in the unique picture format exclusively used for Gypsy Queen. The base set looks great, and I can now claim to have cards of rookie cards of Jose Abreu and Masahiro Tanaka (among others). Now it's time to focus funds on the 32 retail sets before Topps Series 2 arrives on the shelves. More on that when it's time.

Is it really time for me to give up the Random Cards of the Day? The last one I have ready is the one for Tippy Martinez for March 27. I haven't done anything new since. But then again, I haven't made the time to get down to the basement scanner to upload. I might have to spend a weekend just scanning cards for so I have images at the ready.

Back to some Hobby news (as it relates to me anyway).

Topps Bunt, the app that had the Hobby world abuzz early this year, could only be used with Apple i-everythings and only can be accessed through the Apple iStore. Well finally Topps has figured out that not everyone has an Apple device (like me...I have an HTC-One which utilizes Android) and is starting to format their highly popular app for Android devices. Beta-testing will be happening soon, and the company has asked for volunteers to beta-test the Android version. Guess who signed up and was selected to participate? That's right. I do.

Yay!!!

Also, a number of card-bloggers have requested to get their sites onto the big Blogroll or return to the blogroll. I have your emails, I have your tweets, and I will work on getting them onto the site shortly. I apologize for the delays.

Balloting for the All-Star Game at Target Field is up and running. Hoping to get the Series 2 cards before the rosters are announced, and you know this site covers rosters and the impending changes.

Tonight is Cinco de Mayo. A time of celebration in Mexico. It celebrates the day back in 1862 when the Mexican army overcame all odds and beat the French forces at the Battle of Puebla. This is not Mexico's Independence day (that would be September 16), nor is it a national holiday (it is celebrated voluntarily), outside of Mexico. But in the United States, Cinco de Mayo is a day to honor Mexican heritage and pride.

To celebrate, the family is having taco night. I'd splurge on tacos at the Bell (have you tried their breakfast offerings???), but I thought it would be easier (and more cost-effective) to prepare them at home. Somehow home-made tacos just taste better, probably because you can build your own tacos to your tastes. And thanks to Avon, we have all of the taco holders, platters, and other hardware to use.

In 2009, in honor of the holiday, I created my All-Time Mexican Baseball Team. Since 2009, five more Mexican-born players made their MLB debuts, including:

Fernando Salas of the Cardinals (from Huatabampo, Sonora)

Miguel Gonzalez of the Orioles (from Guadalajara, Jalisco)

along with Arturo Lopez (Culiacan, Sinaloa), Francisco Rodriguez (Mexicali, Baja California), and Ali Solis (Mexicali, Baja California).

Celebrate responsibly if you're going to go out tonight.

Gracias por la lectura (Thank you for reading). ¡Adios!

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Random Topps Pro Debut Card of the Week: 2012 Topps Pro Debut #58 Grant Buckner

It's Minor League Monday!!! Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Pro Debut Card of the Week:

• Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 2010 Topps Pro Debut #399.
• Player Name, position, team: Grant Buckner, first baseman, Briston White Sox.
• Level-League, Team Affiliation: Rookie-Appalachian League, Chicago White Sox.
  
• Minor League Stats (stats with team depicted only): 61 G, 235 AB, 39 R, 73 H, 20 2B, 1 3B, 5 HR, 36 RBI, 2 SB, 18 BB, 42 SO, .468 SLG, .852 OPS, .311 AVG.
• Any special information about player: Drafted by the White Sox #26th, June 2011. Bats: right. Throws: right.
• Major League Debut: n/a.
• Baseball America Organizational Ranking After Season with Team: n/a.
• Blurb on the back: "The pure-hitting Buckner made an impression in his pro debut for Bristol by swatting .311 with 20 doubles in 61 contests. The former Big East Conference batting champ also led his team with 39 runs scored, 73 hits, 110 total bases, 36 RBI and a .383 OBP."
• Official Topps Rookie Card: n/a.
• Commentary: Grant Charles Buckner has been gradually climbing the White Sox' organizational ladder. But with Jose Abreu tabbed as the Pale Hose's first baseman of the foreseeable future, it makes sense that he try to learn to play other positions if he were to make it onto the big league roster. As he is only 25 years old, he still has time to develop and possibly make an impact for the Sox or any other team. In the meantime, Buckner spent his 2012 season with the Kannapolis Intimidators, the White Sox' A-Southern Atlantic League team in North Carolina. With the Intimidators, Buckner hit .254, tallying 6 home runs and 59 rbi's while learning the ropes at third and in left field. In 2013, he was promoted to the Winston-Salem Dash, the Sox' High-A Carolina League team. He made appearances in both corner infield spots as well as in 62 games in the outfield, committing only three errors (all at first) in 539 chances (a ridiculous .994 fielding percentage). On offense, Buckner hit .254 with 10 home runs, 62 rbi's, and percentages of .331/.396/.727. He could see time in AA or AAA in 2014.

Next week's featured card will be: 2010 Topps Pro Debut #225. Post will arrive at 9:00 AM CST. Hope you enjoyed this week's installment of Minor League Monday.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Random Topps Card of the Day: 2012 Topps #112 Juan Nicasio

Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Thursday, December 12, 2013:

• Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 2012 Topps #112.
• Player Name, position, team: Juan Nicasio, pitcher, Colorado Rockies.
• Major League Debut: May 28, 2011.
• Last Line of Statistics: 2011 stats (Rockies): 13 G, 4-4, 71.2 IP, 73 H, 35 R, 33 ER, 18 BB (W), 58 SO, 0 CG, 0 SHO, 0 SV (S), 1.27 WHIP, 4.14 ERA.
• Any special information about player: Signed with the Rockies as a Free Agent 08/21/2006. Bats: right. Throws: right.
• Number of regular Topps Cards (includes regular and traded cards only): 3. This is his second Topps card.
• Blurb on the back: "Duane Espy, one of Juan's Minor League coaches, remembers him as "a really nice young man. And I wish he threw harder." Espy got his wish. A high-80s guy at the time, Nicasio now reaches the high 90s."
• Commentary: After earning a 5-1 start with a 2.22 ERA and 63 K's in 9 games worth of work, Juan Ramon Nicasio was called up to the big club to take a spot in the starting rotation. He was cruising along in 2012, earning a 2-3 record in 11 starts with an ERA of 5.28 and 54 strikeouts before injuring his knee while fielding a groundball in June. Arthroscopic surgery ended his season. But that injury was mild compared to the one he suffered in 2011, when he was struck in the face by a ball during a game which caused him to lose his balance and fractured a vertebrae in his neck. He rebounded in 2013, and pitched remarkably well for a guy coming off knee surgery. He earned a 9-9 record in 31 starts, struck out 119 batters and finished with a WHIP of 1.471. Eligible for arbitration in 2014, the Rockies are hoping that the young Nicasio (who will be 27 heading into the season) will mature and maintain his spot on the Rockies' rotation.
• Lo-Hi Beckett value: $0.12-$0.30.
• How many cards of this player do I own?: 7.

Tomorrow's card will be: 2013 Topps Update Series #US326. Post will arrive at 1:00 PM CST. Until tomorrow everybody.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Random Topps Card of the Day: 2012 Topps Update Series #US134 Ramon Ramirez

Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Saturday, November 2, 2013:

• Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 2012 Topps Update Series #US134.
• Player Name, position, team: Ramon Ramirez, pitcher, New York Mets.
• Major League Debut: April 14, 2006.
• Last Line of Statistics: 2011 stats (Giants): 66 G, 3-3, 68.2 IP, 54 H, 24 R, 20 ER, 26 BB, 66 SO, 0 CG, 0 SHO, 4 SV, 1.16 WHIP, 2.62 ERA.
• Any special information about player: Signed with the Rangers as a Free Agent 12/27/1996. Traded by the Giants to the Mets 12/07/2011. Bats: right. Throws: right.
• Number of regular Topps Cards (includes regular and traded cards only): 3. This is his third Topps card.
• Blurb on the back: "The Mets added Ramon to the bullpen for 2012 in the trade that sent Angel Pagan to the Giants. He put his first win for New York in the books in his debut for the Club against the Braves on Opening Day."
• Commentary: I always wonder who got the better deal when the one player who was traded away to another team returns to that team a season or so later. The question becomes more prevalent when the player traded to a team is still there when the player he was traded for returns. Such is the case with Ramon Santo Ramirez, an infielder-converted-pitcher (not to be confused with Ramon A. Ramirez, who coincidentally was an outfielder-converted-pitcher) whose career started in Texas before joining the Yankees (in which he is pictured on his first Topps card in the 2004 Topps Traded and Rookies set). Flash forward to 2012. By this time, Ramirez was a journeyman pitcher who appeared for three other teams (the Rockies, Royals, and Red Sox) and a fourth in Japan before joining the Giants in a deadline deal just in time to contribute to the Giants first World Series win in San Francisco. On December 7, 2011, Ramirez was traded off to New York in exchange for Angel Pagan. With the Mets, Ramirez went 3-4 with an ERA of 4.24 with 52 strikeouts and a WHIP of 1.461 exclusively out of the bullpen. But apparently, he left his heart in San Francisco, because when given the opportunity to sign a deal with any team in baseball, he signed with the Giants. His second stint in the Bay Area was shortlived as he achieved an ERA of 11.12 and a WHIP of 2.471 in six games (5.2 innings pitched) before being sent down to Fresno, the Giants' Triple-A team. He was eventually released and signed by the Rays in 2013 as a minor league Free Agent. He spent the rest of his 2013 season with the Rays AAA team in Durham.
• Beckett value: $0.12-$0.30.
• How many cards of this player do I own?: 3 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: 1969 Topps #316. Come back at 1:00 PM CST to see who (or what) it is.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Random Topps Pro Debut Card of the Week: 2012 Topps Pro Debut #217 Alfredo Silverio

With the posts for the Random Topps Cards of the Day returning to this humble, little blog, it is now time for another one of the regular segments to make its triumphant return.

It's Minor League Monday!!! Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Pro Debut Card of the Week:

• Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 2012 Topps Pro Debut #217.
• Player Name, position, team: Alfredo Silverio, outfielder, Chattanooga Lookouts.
• Level-League, Team Affiliation: Double A-Southern League, Los Angeles Dodgers.
  
• Minor League Stats (stats with team depicted only): 132 G, 533 AB, 90 R, 163 H, 42 2B, 18 3B, 16 HR, 85 RBI, 11 SB, 30 BB, 91 SO, .542 SLG, .883 OPS, .306 AVG.
• Any special information about player: Signed with the Dodgers as a Free Agent 11/13/2003. Bats: right. Throws: right.
• Major League Debut: n/a.
• Baseball America Organizational Ranking After Season with Team: Los Angeles Dodgers #4 prospect after the 2011 season .
• Blurb on the back: "In a season anchored by a Topps Southern League Player of the Month Award for June, Silverio finished in the loop's top five in slugging (.542). An eight-year pro at the age of 24, he batted .306 with 42 doubles, 18 triples, and 16 homers for the Lookouts."
• Official Topps Rookie Card: n/a.
• Commentary: By the looks of things, Silverio would have had a great shot of making it to the majors during the 2012 season. But a serious car accident in his native Dominican Republic left him on the sidelines for the entire season. He was called-up to the Dodgers MLB team in September, if only just to put him on the 60-Day DL. On December 6, 2012 the Miami Marlins selected Silverio in the Rule V draft at the end of the 2012 campaign, giving him a one-way ticket onto the major league roster. But the injuries sustained in the car accident kept him off the roster and in July, it was announced that he would undergo his second Tommy John surgery in a 14-month span. While it is hoped that he can return to the Marlins for the 2014 season, his future is definitely up in the air.

Next week's featured card will be: 2013 Topps Pro Debut #6. Post will arrive at 9:00 AM CST. Hope you enjoyed this week's installment of Minor League Monday.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Random Topps Team Set of the Week: 2012 Topps Boston Red Sox

As the Random Card of the Day segments are making their return, it's time for another weekly feature to make its return. Now appearing every Saturday at 3:00 pm CST, thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Team Set of the Week:

• Team: 2012 Boston Red Sox
• Record: 69-93, fifth place, AL East Division.
• Manager: Bobby Valentine
• Card on the Top: Jacoby Ellsbury

The checklist consists of the following players:

• BOS1 Jacoby Ellsbury
• BOS2 Josh Beckett
• BOS3 Carl Crawford
• BOS4 Kevin Youkilis
• BOS5 Adrian Gonzalez
• BOS6 Daniel Bard
• BOS7 Jon Lester
• BOS8 Dustin Pedroia
• BOS9 David Ortiz
• BOS10 Andrew Bailey
• BOS11 Clay Buchholz
• BOS12 Mike Aviles
• BOS13 Jarrod Saltalamacchia
• BOS14 Mark Melancon
• BOS15 Fenway Park 1912
• BOS16 Fenway Park 1967
• BOS17 Fenway Park Modern Day

The cards in order from the set (the checklist at the end was cut from the back of the package. What, you don't do that?):

Key differences between the team set and 2012 Topps eponymous set:

• Jacoby Ellsbury's regular Topps card features a magnificent action shot at the plate:
  
  

• While it does appear that the picture used on both Andrew Bailey's regular and retail cards are the same, you can actually see the ball in the regular card:
  
  

• It's the same shot of Mike Aviles, just a little bit more cropped to the right on his base card:
  
  

• Mark Melancon pitched for the Astros in 2011, so his base 2012 features him with Houston. You'd like to think that because he played for the BoSox in 2012 that he'd at least show up in the Update Series in a Boston uniform. Alas, he's a middle relief pitcher. Guess what treatment he got? No 2012 Update Series Red Sox card. So if you want a 2012 Topps card of the future leader of the Pirates Shark Tank, it's only in the retail set. For kicks, here is his 2012 base card:
  
  

At 14 players, this is the least amount of player cards in a retail team set since 2008. It's a shame too. Yes the team went on to fifth place, and yes, both key guys from their Free Agent spending in 2011 (and the SSP cards they were subjects of) were shipped off to LA before the season ended (thus giving them more SSP cards in 2012 Topps Update). I know that it's the 100 year anniversary of Fenway, thus Topps giving the perfect tribute. But did Topps really need to include THREE CARDS OF FENWAY PARK??! If you're going to talk about the Fenway Park in 1967 (The 37-foot wall in left that had been covered in tin and concrete in '34 was painted 13 years later (1947) to match the rest of the ball park painted the tin wall green that year), Topps should have at least made an effort to show what the WALL LOOKED LIKE after the paint job. Or could have talked about the park...IN 1967!!!

So of the 14 players included in this set, only two use different pictures that can be found exclusively within the retail set, and two others use the same picture, just cropped differently. At that point, it would have been better if Topps just used the same picture from the base set as they had with the other ten players.

Next week's featured set will be the 2007 Washington Nationals. Hope you'll be here when we compare the cards from the retail set to their counterparts found in Topps and Topps Updates and Highlights sets.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Random Topps Card of the Day: 2012 Topps Update Series #US158 Jared Burton

Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Friday, October 4, 2013:

• Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 2012 Topps Update Series #US158.
• Player Name, position, team: Jared Burton, pitcher, Minnesota Twins.
• Major League Debut: April 4, 2007.
• Last Line of Statistics: 2011 stats (Reds): 6 G, 0-0, 4.2 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 3 SO, 0 CG, 0 SHO, 0 SV, 1.93 WHIP, 3.86 ERA.
• Any special information about player: Drafted by the Athletics #8th, June 2002. Signed with the Twins as a Free Agent 11/11/2011. Bats: right. Throws: right.
• Number of regular Topps Cards (includes regular and traded cards only): 2. This is his second Topps card.
• Blurb on the back: "Jared calls his signature pitch a "splange-up" - a circle change that acts like a splitter. "It's not really a crazy grip," he says. "It's just the way it comes out of my hand." The big right-hander, finally healthy after two injury-plagued years with Cincinnati, "splanged" his way to 11 straight scoreless outings early in his 2012 Twins debut."
• Commentary: Levi Jared Burton has found a home in the Twins bullpen after five seasons in Cincinnati. His last two years in the Reds organization were marred by injuries, and when there was no room for him on the Reds roster when he was healthy, he was sent to Louisville, the team's AAA affiliate to get into games. He signed with the Twins as a minor league Free Agent. He pitched well enough to earn a spot on the team in 2012 and in his first season with the Twins appeared in 64 games, earned a record of 3-2 with a 2.18 ERA. He struck out 55 batters in 62 innings of work and achieved a WHIP of 0.919. In 2013, he appeared in 71 games, and in 66 innings, achieved a 2-9 record and an ERA of 3.82, 1.62 higher than the year prior. He is under contract for 2014 with an option in 2015. Hopefully he can rebound from this past season and revert to the form that he showed in 2012.
• Lo-Hi Beckett value: $0.12-$0.30.
• How many cards of this player do I own?: 2.

Tomorrow's card will be: 1991 Topps #80. Post will arrive at 1:00 PM CST. Flash back with the blog tomorrow.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Random Topps Pro Debut Card of the Week: 2012 Topps Pro Debut #141 Kevin Quackenbush

It's Minor League Monday!!! Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Pro Debut Card of the Week:

• Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 2012 Topps Pro Debut #141.
• Player Name, position, team: Kevin Quackenbush, pitcher, Lake Elsinore Storm.
• Level-League, Team Affiliation: A-California League, San Diego Padres.
  
• Minor League Stats (stats with team depicted only): 18 G, 57.2 IP, 3-2, 9 R, 6 ER, 70 SO, 22 BB, 0 GS, 0 CG, 0 SHO, 27 SV, 1.110 WHIP, 0.94 ERA.
• Any special information about player: Drafted by the Padres #8th, June 2011. Bats: right. Throws: right.
• Major League Debut: n/a.
• Baseball America Organizational Ranking After Season with Team: San Diego Padres #29 prospect after the 2012 season.
• Blurb on the back: "The Padres unearthed a relief ace in the eighth round out of the U. of South Florida. Quackenbush divided his first season almost equally between Eugene and Fort Wayne, combining to allow only three runs and 25 hits while striking out 71 in 43 innings."
• Official Topps Rookie Card: n/a.
• Commentary: I had thought that the cards from these minor league sets featured players with their teams from the season before. Not the case with Kevin Quackenbush's Pro Debut card. Why? Becuase he played for both the Eugene Emeralds of the Northwest League and the Fort Wayne TinCaps of the Midwest League. So ideally, Quackenbush should have been pictured wearing the jersey of either team. It seems that Topps was able to get a 2012 picture into their 2012 set (figures, they do this all the time with their major league cards). The difference here is that I'm honestly not sure that Topps would have taken the time to Photoshop a Storm uniform on Kevin for his 2012 card. Anyway, it's not a matter of if Kevin Quackenbush gets to the majors, it's when. And when he gets his first major league card that includes his minor league statistics, I will guarantee that you're going to think that Topps fell asleep at the switch when you see his ERA numbers and his WHIP. But unless Topps really screws this up, his numbers are the stuff of shock and awe. Even as of right now in 2013, his ERA has never reached above 1.00. Let me share with you his ERA totals by team: Eugene: 0.44 (1 ER in 20.2 IP); Fort Wayne: 0.84 (2 in 21.1); Lake Elsinore: 0.94 (6 in 57.2); San Antonio: 0.39 (1 ER in 23.0). In two plus seasons, he's given up a grand total of 16 runs, 10 earned, in 122.2 innings of work. That leads to a mind-blowing 0.73 ERA. His WHIP in case you're wondering? In 122.2 innings of work, he has allowed 76 hits and walked 43 batters. That's a combined 119 hits and walks. His minor league career WHIP thus far is just under 1 (0.970). For the Missions, the Padres' AA-Texas League team, Quackenbush is 1-0. has appeared in 22 games, saved 9 of them, and has a WHIP of 0.783. Kevin is making the quick climb up the Padres' minor league ladder, and if not this year, by next for sure, this guy will be closing out games for San Diego.

Next week's featured card will be: 2010 Topps Pro Debut #227. Post will arrive at 9:00 AM CST. Hope you enjoyed this week's installment of Minor League Monday.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Random Topps Team Set of the Week: 2012 Topps Miami Marlins

Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Team Set of the Week:

• Team: 2012 Miami Marlins
• Record: 69-93, fifth place, NL East Division.
• Manager: Ozzie Guillen
• Card on the Top: Jose Reyes

The checklist consists of the following players:

• MIA1 Jose Reyes
• MIA2 Logan Morrison
• MIA3 Anibal Sanchez
• MIA4 Ricky Nolasco
• MIA5 Omar Infante
• MIA6 Hanley Ramirez
• MIA7 Josh Johnson
• MIA8 Emilio Bonifacio
• MIA9 John Buck
• MIA10 Mark Buehrle
• MIA11 Heath Bell
• MIA12 Mike Stanton
• MIA13 Gaby Sanchez
• MIA14 Matt Dominguez
• MIA15 Carlos Zambrano
• MIA16 Bryan Petersen
• MIA17 Marlins Park

The cards in order from the set (the checklist at the end was cut from the back of the package. What, you don't do that?):

Key differences between the team set and 2012 Topps eponymous set:

• Jose Reyes' regular Topps card uses the same picture, but is cropped a bit off to the left. And then of course, there is the issue of an SSP card inserted into series 1:
  
  

• It looks like Topps decided to photoshop the new Marlins duds on Anibal Sanchez' card. How do I know??? Here is the original card:
  
  

• Same goes with Ricky Nolasco:
  
  

• And here is a nice shot of Hanley Ramirez, before he was traded off to the Dodgers. His retail card is vertically-oriented. The base card? Horizontally-oriented:
  
  

• Hey, you know how Topps photoshopped the Miami duds on a couple of players for the retail set? They did the same thing for Emilio Bonifacio:
  
  

• On both the regular set and in this retail set, he is recognized as Mike. It's nice to know that when he decided to go by his real name that Topps added a second card with the name...Giancarlo (cue Fandango's music please):
  
  

• As it was with Sanchez, Nolasco, and Bonifacio, Matt Dominguez had a Florida Marlins jersey on his base card:
  
  

So of the 16 players included in this set, there are four cards that feature photoshopped Miami Marlins jerseys from their Series 1 cards, one with a different picture in the retail set that was used in 2012 Topps set, and one slight crop job (not counting the super SP).

Next week's featured set will be the 2009 Milwaukee Brewers. Hope you'll be here when we compare the cards from the retail set to their counterparts found in Topps and Topps Updates and Highlights Series.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Random Topps Team Set of the Week: 2012 Topps Chicago Cubs

Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Team Set of the Week:

• Team: 2012 Chicago Cubs
• Record: 61-101, fifth place, NL Central Division.
• Manager: Dale Sveum
• Card on the Top: Starlin Castro

The checklist consists of the following players:

• CHC1 Starlin Castro
• CHC2 Reed Johnson
• CHC3 Alfonso Soriano
• CHC4 Ryan Dempster
• CHC5 Darwin Barney
• CHC6 Kerry Wood
• CHC7 Marlon Byrd
• CHC8 Matt Garza
• CHC9 Geovany Soto
• CHC10 Randy Wells
• CHC11 Carlos Marmol
• CHC12 Bryan LaHair
• CHC13 Anthony Rizzo
• CHC14 David DeJesus
• CHC15 Paul Maholm
• CHC16 Ian Stewart
• CHC17 Wrigley Field

The cards in order from the set (the checklist at the end was cut from the back of the package. What, you don't do that?):

Key differences between the team set and 2012 Topps eponymous set:

• I wonder why Alfonso Soriano's retail card looks like it's photoshopped? I mean he's been with the team for years. Maybe it's just the way the picture looks. But compare it to his base card...:
  
  

• While Darwin Barney is flashing his eventual Gold Glove arm in the retail set, he's showing his Superman impression in his base card:
  
  

• Here is Kerry Wood as I'd like to remember him...in happier times...on his base card:
  
  

• Carlos Marmol on the Fourth of July (the picture was shot in Washington, D.C.) throwing what I'm hoping is a strike against somebody as depicted on his eponymous card:
  
  

• I was so happy that Bryan LaHair was voted by the players to be a 2012 All-Star. It's a shame that his playing time was cut off (although the Cubs did get an upgrade). I hope he's doing well in Japan. But here's his base card...and no, it's not the same as what was used in the retail set:
  
  

• David DeJesus' card uses the same picture on both retail and regular cards, but is cropped just ever so slightly:
  
  

• Okay, you can see the blatant photoshopping used on Paul Maholm's base card:
  
  

• I really hope that what's on Ian Stewart's jersy on this card is infield dirt...:
  
  

So of the 16 players included in this set, there are seven cards that feature a different picture in the retail set that was used in 2012 Topps set (and one slight crop job). If you're a fan of variations, you're going to have a field day with this set. If you are a team collector, you have to get this set (I know Wrigley Wax did as he talked about this set last year in a couple of posts)

Next week's featured set will be the 2012 Miami Marlins. Hope you'll be here when we compare the cards from the retail set to their counterparts found in Topps and Topps Update Series (and as it's the Marlins, there will be a lot to discuss).

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama