Hallbound...2026!!!

The votes are in...

2000 Topps Carlos Beltrán #178 and 1998 Topps Andruw Jones #334

• Carlos Beltrán 358 (84.2%);
• Andruw Jones 333 (78.4%);
• Chase Utley 251 (59.1%);
• Andy Pettitte 206 (48.5%);
• Félix Hernández 196 (46.1%);
• Álex Rodríguez 170 (40.0%);
• Manny Ramírez 165 (38.8%);
• Bobby Abreu 131 (30.8%);
• Jimmy Rollins 108 (25.4%);
• Cole Hamels 101 (23.8%);
• Dustin Pedroia 88 (20.7%);
• Mark Buehrle 85 (20.0%);
• Omar Vizquel 78 (18.4%);
• David Wright 63 (14.8%);
• Francisco Rodríguez 50 (11.8%);
• Torii Hunter 37 (8.7%);
• Ryan Braun 15 (3.5%);
• Edwin Encarnación 6 (1.4%);
• Shin-Soo Choo 3 (0.7%);
• Matt Kemp 2 (0.5%);
• Hunter Pence 2 (0.5%);
• Rick Porcello 2 (0.5%);
• Alex Gordon 1 (0.2%);
• Nick Markakis 1 (0.2%);
• Gio González 0;
• Howie Kendrick 0;
• Daniel Murphy 0;

Congratulations to Carlos Beltrán and Andruw Jones for being elected into the Hall of Fame. On this year's ballot, a player needed to receive 319 votes to reach or exceed the 75% needed for induction. 

The players whose names are italicized will appear on next year's ballot, having surpassed the five percent rule to stay on (22 votes). Omar Vizquel will be on his tenth and final ballot going into 2027. Manny Ramirez' first go-through with the Veteran's Committee will be in 2028, when the Contemporary Baseball Era Committee re-convenes (this is the committee that elected Jeff Kent for induction back in December).

1993 Topps Jeff Kent #703

History dictates that the player with the most votes but not elected into the HOF will eventually be voted in, whether it be on the BBWAA ballot or one of the Veteran's Committees. If this trend continues, Chase Utley will eventually be going to Cooperstown.

On an unrelated note (because I'll be updating Wikipedia after submitting this post...unless someone beat me to the punch), all three players who will be inducted into the HOF on July 26 were members of Topps All-Star Rookie Team. Kent (in 1992), Jones (1997) and Beltrán (1999). There are now 37 HOF players and 2 HOF managers who were once a part of the ASRT.

According to the Baseball Hall of Fame website, of the 428 ballots that were cast, eleven of them was blank.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Hallbound...2019!!!

The votes are in...

• Mariano Rivera 425 (100%);
• Roy Halladay 363 (85.4%);
• Edgar Martinez 363 (85.4%);
• Mike Mussina 326 (76.7%);
• Curt Schilling 259 (60.9%);
• Roger Clemens 253 (59.5%);
• Barry Bonds 251 (59.1%);
• Larry Walker 232 (54.6%);
• Omar Vizquel 182 (42.8%);
• Fred McGriff 169 (39.8%);
• Manny Ramírez 97 (22.8%);
• Jeff Kent 77 (18.1%);
• Billy Wagner 71 (16.7%);
• Todd Helton 70 (16.5%);
• Scott Rolen 73 (17.2%);
• Gary Sheffield 58 (13.6%);
• Andy Pettitte 42 (9.9%);
• Sammy Sosa 36 (8.5%);
• Andruw Jones 32 (7.5%);
• Michael Young 9 (2.1%);
• Lance Berkman 5 (1.2%);
• Miguel Tejada 5 (1.2%);
• Roy Oswalt 4 (0.9%);
• Plácido Polanco 2 (0.5%);
• Rick Ankiel 0;
• Jason Bay 0;
• Freddy García 0;
• Jon Garland 0;
• Travis Hafner 0;
• Ted Lilly 0;
• Derek Lowe 0;
• Darren Oliver 0;
• Juan Pierre 0;
• Vernon Wells 0;
• Kevin Youkilis 0;

Congratulations to Mariano Rivera, Roy Halladay, Edgar Martinez, and Mike Mussina for being elected into the Hall of Fame. On this year's ballot, a player needed to receive 319 votes to reach or exceed the 75% needed for induction. Rivera becomes the first player ever inducted with a 100% of the voters selecting him...a perfect 425.

The players whose names are italicized will appear on next year's ballot, having surpassed the five percent rule to stay on (22 votes). Larry Walker will be on his tenth and final ballot going into 2020. Fred McGriff's first go-through with the Veteran's Committee will be in 2023, when the Today's Era Committee re-convenes (this is the committee that elected both Lee Smith and Harold Baines for induction back in December).

History dictates that the player with the most votes but not elected into the HOF will eventually be voted in, whether it be on the BBWAA ballot or one of the Veteran's Committees. If this trend continues, Curt Schilling will eventually be going to Cooperstown.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Hallbound...2018!!!

The votes are in...

• Chipper Jones 410 (97.2%);
• Vladimir Guerrero 392 (92.9%);
• Jim Thome 379 (89.8%);
• Trevor Hoffman 337 (79.9%);
• Edgar Martinez 297 (70.4%);
• Mike Mussina 268 (63.5%);
• Roger Clemens 242 (57.3%);
• Barry Bonds 238 (56.4%);
• Curt Schilling 216 (51.2%);
• Omar Vizquel 156 (37.0%);
• Larry Walker 144 (34.1%);
• Fred McGriff 98 (23.2%);
• Manny Ramirez 93 (22.0%);
• Jeff Kent 61 (14.5%);
• Gary Sheffield 47 (11.1%);
• Billy Wagner 47 (11.1%);
• Scott Rolen 43 (10.2%);
• Sammy Sosa 33 (7.8%);
• Andruw Jones 31 (7.3%);
• Jamie Moyer 10 (2.4%);
• Johan Santana 10 (2.4%);
• Johnny Damon 8 (1.9%);
• Hideki Matsui 4 (0.9%);
• Chris Carpenter 2 (0.5%);
• Kerry Wood 2 (0.5%);
• Livan Hernandez 1 (0.2%);
• Carlos Lee 1 (0.2%);
• Orlando Hudson 0;
• Aubrey Huff 0;
• Jason Isringhausen 0;
• Brad Lidge 0;
• Kevin Millwood 0;
• Carlos Zambrano 0;

Congratulations to Vladimir Guerrero, Trevor Hoffman, Chipper Jones, and Jim Thome for being elected into the Hall of Fame. On this year's ballot, a player needed to receive 317 votes to reach or exceed the 75% needed for induction.

The players whose names are italicized will appear on next year's ballot, having surpassed the five percent rule to stay on (22 votes). Edgar Martinez and Fred McGriff will be on their tenth and final ballot going into 2019.

Chipper Jones is also the 24th member of Topps' All-Star Rookie Team to be inducted into the Hall of Fame as a player (2 are in as managers).

According to the Baseball Hall of Fame website, of the 422 ballots that were cast, one of them was blank.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Hallbound 2018. And the Motor City Rejoices!!!

1985 Topps #610 Jack Morris and #690 Alan Trammell

On Sunday, July 29, 2018, the National Baseball Hall of Fame will be welcoming what should be a large and unique class of new inductees. Players who should be making their speeches after the big announcement on Wednesday, January 24, 2018, will be up there on stage, talking about their playing days, and thanking all of those who helped them become better ball players, and certainly, better human beings.

But before we get to talking about the 33 players who are on the BBWAA ballot, let's talk about two players who stayed on the ballots for 15 years and were not able to get the necessary 75% of the votes to be inducted during the regular voting cycles. Thanks to the revamped Veteran's Committees, these two men, teammates for many years, will be enshrined as Hall of Famers, and join whoever makes it in from the writer's vote, as part of the HOF Class of 2018.

On Sunday, December 10, 2018, it was announced that pitcher Jack Morris and shortstop Alan Trammell, part of a 10-person Modern Baseball Era ballot (contributions from 1970-1987), earned over 75% of the votes from a panel of 15 Hall of Fame players, managers, executives, writers, and historians that was taken on the last day of Baseball's Winter Meetings. Teammates from 1977 through 1990, both men were part of the dominant 1984 World Series Champion Detroit Tigers.

Jack Morris played in the Majors from 1977 through 1994 with the Tigers, Twins (1991), Blue Jays (1992-93) and Indians (1994). He pitched in 549 regular season games, 527 of them as a starting pitcher, posting a record of 254-186 with a 3.90 ERA, striking out 2478 batters in 3824 innings of work. He led the AL in wins in both 1981 (14) and 1992 (21), and was part of 4 World Series winning teams (1984 Tigers, 1991 Twins, and 1992-3 Blue Jays) being named the WS MVP in 1991. He was a 5-time All-Star, 7-time Cy Young candidate, and 5-time MVP candidate. He set the record for most consecutive opening day starts by a pitcher with 14 starting nods.

Alan Trammell was a lifelong Tiger, playing 20 seasons in the Motor City from 1977 through 1996. In 2293 regular season games, Trammell hit for a .285 average, with 185 home runs, 1003 runs driven in, stole 236 bases, and had a slash line of .352/.415/.767.  He was a six-time All-Star, four0-time Gold Glove winner, a 3-time Silver Slugger, and a 7-time MVP candidate. He was also named the MVP of the 1984 World Series, hitting .450 with 2 home runs and 6 runs driven in. For 19 seasons, Trammell shared the middle infield duties with second baseman Lou Whitaker, a man who many feel was slighted from the HOF voting and dropped from the writer's ballot after only a couple of years. Alan and Lou were so synonymous with Tigers baseball that not only did the pair set the record for most games played as an infield combo, but they made an appearance on Magnum PI. It is hoped that with Morris and Trammell both getting the call that "Sweet Lou" gets another look. Who knows, maybe one day he will join his teammates and manager (Sparky Anderson was inducted in 2000) in Cooperstown.

So who'll be joining the long-time teammates in July? The Hall of Fame announcement will take place on Wednesday, January 24, at 5:00 pm CST.

Post about the 33 candidates forthcoming.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

A New Beginning

For those of you who still happen to read this humble, little blog, you know that the reason for my recent activity was because I was no longer employed. Realistically, I have been working, but not making enough money to pay major bills. I was able to get back to blogging on a semi-regular basis, and I've enjoyed re-connecting with the Hobby, the blogs, and most importantly, the cards in my collection.

Starting Monday, December 4, I return to the specialty foods industry, but with a food broker instead of a distributor. And I'll be returning to an office environment instead of working from home. Meaning no more Maury...no more MLB Network...no more playing games on the tablet during the day. It's going to be a new experience, and I am grateful to those of you who have reached out to me and given me encouragement, moral support, prayers, and, most importantly, job leads. I will be forever grateful for your kindness and taking time out of your busy days to check in on me.

Now, the blog...

still goes on.

Well, let me explain.

I have a tablet. It helps because I can get online and do get onto the blog and catch up on other sites. The only trouble I have is that it's hard to write using it. Yes, the touchscreen is great, and I could certainly use the voice-to-text thing, but it's an inconvenience at best, and time consuming at worst. I certainly can't go back and forth with my research on a tablet (try copying and pasting spreadsheet data on a tablet...having fun yet??!)

So, until I get a computer that I can use at home (and I vowed not to use my kids' laptops from school), the only time I'll get to sit down in front of a computer will be at the local library.

Onto the baseball card portion of the program.

I am working on my 2017 Topps Update Series set. I have the base set done, but now am working on inserts. Money is obviously at a premium, so trades would be welcome for any cards you're willing to part with. You can email me at bdj610@hotmail.com with what cards you have and what cards you need (your want lists don't necessarily have to be from this set...)

I am definitely looking forward to 2018 Topps. I wish I could see cards in hand, but I'm not that well connected with The Company to have that kind of access.

Regarding, the Sports Card Blogroll, 8 blogs will be removed for reaching past six months of inactivity. They are:

• Mets Baseball Cards Like They Ought To Be!
• My Life In The Sports Card Hobby
• Starting Nine.
• Scott Crawford On Cards!
• Nolan's Dugout
• Dawgbones, a Phillies Phan!
• addiction as therapy
• timeless teams

That brings us down to 217 active blogs on the big Blogroll. As always, if you, or someone you know, writes a blog about the Hobby of Sports Card Collecting, and it's not on my list, please drop me a line at bdj610@hotmail.com. If you've recently decided to bring your inactive blog back to relevance, let me know as well.

One thing I will definitely have time for is the return of Pack Break Week. Starting next week, using the magic of the tablet, I'm going to open the packs that I bought back during National Baseball Trading Card Day and see what each holds. And after a lot of agony over making this decision, I will also reveal what was inside that 2017 Topps Allen & Ginter's Noah Syndergaard Rip Card that I found in the one pack of A&G that I did open a few months back. That should be entertaining.

Finally, after going over the entries that I received for the Guess the 2017 Topps All-Star Rookie Team contest that was held last month, nobody out-predicted me in the contest. I had seven, as you recall, and of all the entries, the only person who matched the number of names was Jason Carter of The Writer's Journey.

Just like me, he had the names, but the positions ran all over the place. He had Paul DeJong at 2B (Ian Happ was this year's second baseman), Cody Bellinger (the 1B), Andrew Benintendi, and Aaron Judge in the outfield (the third outfielder was Trey Mancini), Manny Pina was the only rookie catcher it seemed, and both German Marquez and Jordan Montgomery as the pitchers. The rest of his squad included Josh Bell at 1B (the aforementioned Bellinger), Yuli Gurriel at third (Rafael Devers was the winner), Pat Valaika at shortstop (DeJong won this one), and Robert Stephenson as the relief pitcher (which went to Josh Hader). For coming the closest, Jason, I think I still have your address (unless it's changed), a Hobby pack of 2017 Topps Update Series is on its way to you. The 2005 Topps Rookie Cup base set remains with me.

Thank you all for sticking around. Once I get that home computer, the posts should increase a bit more.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Introducing the 2017 Topps All-Star Rookie Team

The 2017 Topps All-Star Rookie Team. Image from MLB Network.

The 2017 Topps All-Star Rookie Team was announced this morning on MLB Network's Hot Stove program. And there are number of surprises, at least for me.

Congratulations are in order for the 11 players who make up Topps' 58th ASRT. If the player's name is in bold, it means I predicted that they would make the team yesterday).

• 1B: Cody Bellinger, LAD (132 G, 0.267, 39 HR, 97 RBI, 0.933 OPS, 10 SB)
• 2B: Ian Happ, CHC (115 G, 0.253, 24 HR, 68 RBI, 0.842 OPS, 8 SB)
• 3B: Rafael Devers, BOS (58 G, 0.284, 10 HR, 30 RBI, 0.819 OPS, 3 SB)
• SS: Paul DeJong, STL (108 G, 0.285, 26 HR, 65 RBI, 0.857 OPS, 1 SB)
• OF: Andrew Benintendi, BOS (151 G, 0.271, 20 HR, 90 RBI, 0.776 OPS, 20 SB)
• OF: Aaron Judge, NYY (155 G, 0.284, 52 HR, 114 RBI, 1.049 OPS, 9 SB)
• OF: Trey Mancini, BAL (147 G, 0.293, 24 HR, 78 RBI, 0.826 OPS, 1 SB)
• C: Manny Pina, MIL (107 G, 0.279, 9 HR, 43 RBI, 0.751 OPS, 2 SB)
• RHSP: German Marquez, COL (29 GS, 11-7, 4.39 ERA, 147 SO, 1.376 WHIP)
• LHSP: Jordan Montgomery, NYY (29 GS, 9-7, 3.88 ERA, 144 SO, 1.229 WHIP)
• RP: Josh Hader, MIL (35 G, 2-3, 2.08 ERA, 68 SO, 0.986 WHIP, 0 SV)

So I guessed 7 out of now 11 spots correctly, even if I had Bellinger in the outfield and DeJong at second. I had Josh Bell at first, Matt Davidson at third, Dansby Swanson at short, and Wandy Peralta as the reliever. This was a poor showing on my end.

Now my comments.

• Three teams have 2 representatives on the team (Brewers, Red Sox, and Yankees).
• I am happy (pun intended) that the Cubs have some representation this time around with Happ. I had DeJong as my 2B, but Happ could have taken this spot had I thought I could use DeJong at short.
• Topps is showing some consistency with naming three pitchers to the team (two starters, 1 reliever).
• Even though I'm not a White Sox fan, I'm really disappointed that Devers was picked over Davidson. Granted Davidson had a low .222 batting average, but he played a full season. It just shows once again the White Sox don't get much Hobby love.
• Had I thought of putting Bellinger in as my 1B, I would have put Mancini in as the third outfielder.

So congratulations to all. Each player will now get the illustrious rookie cup trophy added to their 2018 Topps cards. I will be going over the results shortly and will announce the winners, if any, soon.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Introducing Card #1 for 2017 Topps

The subject for card #1 in the eponymous 2017 Topps set was just announced on the MLB Network this morning. The winner of the fan vote from late last year is...

Why not? He only was:

• 2015 Rookie of the Year
• a two-time NL All-Star
• 2016 NL MVP

and most importantly...

a World Series Champion!!!

Well deserved honor.

And with that, a final checklist, with card numbers, will be coming soon.

I can't wait for Opening Day!!!

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Hallbound...2017!!!

The votes are in...

• Jeff Bagwell 381 (86.2%);
• Tim Raines 380 (86%);
• Ivan Rodriguez 307 (76.0%);
• Trevor Hoffman 327 (74.0%);
• Vladimir Guerrero 317 (71.7%);
• Edgar Martinez 259 (58.6%);
• Roger Clemens 239 (54.1%);
• Barry Bonds 238 (53.8%);
• Mike Mussina 229 (51.8%);
• Curt Schilling 199 (45.3%);
• Lee Smith 151 (34.1%);
• Manny Ramirez 105 (23.8%);
• Larry Walker 97 (21.9%);
• Fred McGriff 96 (21.7%);
• Jeff Kent 74 (16.7%);
• Gary Sheffield 59 (13.3%);
• Billy Wagner 45 (10.2%);
• Sammy Sosa 38 (8.6%);
• Jorge Posada 17 (3.8%);
• Magglio Ordonez 3 (0.7%);
• Edgar Renteria 2 (0.5%);
• Jason Varitek 2 (0.5%);
• Tim Wakefield 1 (0.2%);
• Casey Blake 0;
• Pat Burrell 0;
• Orlando Cabrera 0;
• Mike Cameron 0;
• J.D. Drew 0;
• Carlos Guillen 0;
• Derrek Lee 0;
• Melvin Mora 0;
• Arthur Rhodes 0;
• Freddy Sanchez 0;
• Matt Stairs 0;

Congratulations to Jeff Bagwell, Tim Raines, and Ivan Rodriguez for being elected into the Hall of Fame. On this year's ballot, a player needed to receive 332 votes to reach or exceed the 75% needed for induction.

The players whose names are italicized will appear on next year's ballot, having surpassed the five percent rule to stay on (23 votes). Lee Smith was on his fifteenth and final ballot. He will now wait for the Veteran's Committee to decide his fate in the future.

According to the Baseball Hall of Fame website, 442 ballots were cast.

No one has mentioned this yet, but all three of this year's inductees are members of Topps All-Star Rookie Team. The "Rock" was on the 1981 ASRT, while both Bagwell and "Pudge" were part of the 1991 team. I think I'm going to visit the Wikipedia page and make a few edits...

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Update: Wednesday, January 17, 2017, 07:10 PM CST

After a bit of digging, it looks like of the 442 ballots that were cast, two of them were blank.

Hallbound...2016!!!

The votes are in...

• Ken Griffey, Jr. 437 (99.3%);
• Mike Piazza 365 (83.0%);
• Jeff Bagwell 315 (71.6%);
• Tim Raines 307 (69.8%);
• Trevor Hoffman 296 (67.3%);
• Curt Schilling 230 (52.3%);
• Roger Clemens 199 (45.2%);
• Barry Bonds 195 (44.3%);
• Edgar Martinez 191 (43.4%);
• Mike Mussina 189 (43.0%);
• Alan Trammell 180 (40.9%);
• Lee Smith 150 (34.1%);
• Fred McGriff 92 (20.9%);
• Jeff Kent 73 (16.6%);
• Larry Walker 68 (15.5%);
• Mark McGwire 54 (12.3%);
• Gary Sheffield 51 (11.6%);
• Billy Wagner 46 (10.5%);
• Sammy Sosa 31 (7.0%);
• Jim Edmonds 11 (2.5%);
• Nomar Garciaparra 8 (1.8%);
• Mike Sweeney 3 (0.7%);
• David Eckstein 2 (0.5%);
• Jason Kendall 2 (0.5%);
• Garret Anderson 1 (0.2%);
• Brad Ausmus 0;
• Luis Castillo 0;
• Troy Glaus 0;
• Mark Grudzielanek 0;
• Mike Hampton 0;
• Mike Lowell 0;
• Randy Winn 0;

On this year's ballot, a player needed to receive 330 votes to reach or exceed the 75% needed for induction. The new voting rules (writers can be inactive no more than 10 years) eliminated 100 plus voters, and also the years to be eligible to stay on the ballot were changed from 15 to 10 (Trammell, Smith, and Raines were grandfathered).

The players whose names are italicized will appear on next year's ballot, having surpassed the five percent rule to stay on (22 votes). Alan Trammell was on his fifteenth and final ballot. Mark McGwire was on his tenth and now final ballot. Both will now wait for the Veteran's Committee to decide their fates in the future.

According to the Baseball Hall of Fame website, 440 ballots were cast.

UPDATE: Wednesday, January 6, 2016, 06:15 pm CST

A few years ago, I wrote about an insert set called Topps Hallbound. That's where the two cards above came from. There are 15 subjects in this set. Of the 15, 11, including Griffey and Piazza, are now in the Hall of Fame.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Introducing Your 2015 MLB Cy Young Award Winners - Three Horse Race in NL, David vs. Dallas in the AL

In recent years, Topps has reserved six cards within Series 1 for the AL and NL award winners that are being announced this week. While no preliminary checklist for next year's eponymous set has been released as of Thursday, November 19, last night, we learned who was named the winners of the Cy Young Award in both the National and American Leagues.

Congratulations to both Jake Arrieta of the Chicago Cubs and Dallas Keuchel of the Houston Astros for winning the National League and American League Cy Young Awards. If the teams these aces play for sound familiar, it's because the other day, their teammates were named the NL and AL Rookies of the year.

Any of three dominating pitchers could have easily won the award in the NL. But Jake Arrieta's dominant second half (which included a no-hitter) convinced 17 voters to put him on the top of the list over two Dodger pitchers. With a record of 22-6 record, an ERA of 1.77, 236 strikeouts, and a WHIP of 0.87 in 229 innngs of work, 17 of the 30 voters picked Jake as their first place choice (for a grand total of 169 points). The Dodger duo of Zack Greinke (147 points, 10 first place votes) and defending Cy Young winner Clayton Kershaw (101, 3) finished second and third. Pirates ace Gerrit Cole finished fourth (40 points) followed by Max Scherzer of the Nationals (32), Madison Bumgarner of the Giants (8), last year's NL Rookie of the Year Jacob deGrom of the Mets (7), Pirates closer Mark Melancon (5), and the Cardinals John Lackey (1).

Dallas Keuchel's career year propelled the Astros to their first playoff appearance in more than 10 seasons, their first as a member of the American League. He finished the 2015 campaign with a 20-8 record, a 2.48 ERA, 216 strikeouts and a 1.02 WHIP in 232 innings pitched. No team could beat him at Minute Maid Park, as he won all 15 of his decisions at home. He was on the top of 22 of the 30 voters' ballots, earning a high 186 points. David Price of the Blue Jays finished second in the balloting taking the other 8 first place votes (143 points) while Sonny Gray of the Athletics landed in third place (82 points). The rest of the field included a bevy of All-Star quality pitchers: Chris Sale of the White Sox (30), Chris Archer of the Rays (29) Wade Davis of the Royals (10), Felix Hernandez of the Mariners (9), Collin McHugh of the Astros (5), last year's AL Cy Young winner Corey Kluber of the Indians (4), Marco Estrada of the Blue Jays (3), Yankees closer Andrew Miller (3), Shawn Tolleson of the Rangers (3), Carlos Carrasco of the Indians (2), and Dellin Betances of the Yankees (1).

This is the fifth time a Cubs player won the Cy Young Award (last was Greg Maddux in 1992) and while it's the third time an Astros player has taken home the trophy (Roger Clemens, 2004), it's the first time an Astro has won it in the American League (again, they spent their first 50 years in the NL).

The fun concludes on Thursday when the Most Valuable Players in both leagues are announced. Let the debates continue. Did your guy win???

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Introducing Your 2015 MLB Rookies of the Year - Unanimous in NL, Tighter Race in AL

In recent years, Topps has reserved six cards within Series 1 for the AL and NL award winners that are being announced this week. While no preliminary checklist for next year's eponymous set has been released as of Tuesday, November 17, last night, we learned who was named the Rookies of the Year in both the National and American Leagues.

Congratulations to both Kris Bryant of the Chicago Cubs and Carlos Correa of the Houston Astros for winning the National League and American League Rookies of the Year Awards. As was done last year, MLB decided to announce the top three finalists for each of the awards. While there certainly more players in the running, announcing the top three made for interesting debate.

Kris Bryant, who's name was on the lips of EVERY baseball writer, fan, and card collector, not only showed that he was the real deal, but was truly deserving of the words "Future Star." He led all MLB rookies in home runs (26, tied for first), rbi's (99), doubles (31), runs (87), while hitting .275 with an OBP/SLG/OPS line of .369/.488/.857. He was also named to the NL All-Star Team in 2015. On a team of young stars, it is hoped that Bryant will help lead the Cubs to the promised land. He received all 30 first place votes in the NL ROY balloting, thus earning the maximum 150 points possible. The rest of the field included Giants third baseman Matt Duffy (70 points, 22 second place votes), Pirates shortstop Jung Ho Kang (28, 4), Noah Syndergaard of the Mets (16, 3), Justin Bour of the Marlins (4, 1), Joc Pederson of the Dodgers (1), and Stephen Piscotty of the Cardinals (1).

Like Bryant, Carlos Correa of the Astros did not make the Opening Day roster. But once he made his MLB debut on June 8, not only did he become the youngest position player in the majors in 2015, but he also added to what was already a renaissance year for the Astros. Just like the Cubs, the Astros were building for their future. But the future was now for the 'Stros, leading the AL West division for most of the year before managing to earn the second wild card spot in the playoffs. In 99 games, Correa hit 22 home runs, drove in 68 rbi's, stole 14 bases, and hit for a .279 average with a slash line of .345/.512/.857. It was a close race on the AL side though, with Correa taking 17 of the 30 1st place votes (124 total points). Francisco Lindor of the Indians finished in second place in the voting (109 points, 13 first place votes), followed by Miguel Sano of the Twins (20), Roberto Osuna of the Blue Jays 9 (8, 2), Billy Burns of the Athletics (6, 1), Eddie Rosario of the Twins (2), and Delino DeShields of the Rangers - feel old people, he's the son of the Expos All-Star from the 90's - (1).

Bryant becomes the first Cubs player to win the Rookie of the Year award in unanimous fashion, and the sixth Cubs player to do so overall (last to do so was Geovany Soto in 2008). Correa is the first Astro player to win the AL Rookie of the Year award (remember, the Astros spent their first 50 years in the NL), and the second Astro player to win the award (last was Jeff Bagwell in 1991).

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

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Hallbound...2015!!!

The votes are in...

• Randy Johnson 534 (97.3%);
• Pedro Martinez 500 (91.1%);
• John Smoltz 455 (82.9%);
• Craig Biggio 454 (82.7%);
• Mike Piazza 384 (69.9%);
• Jeff Bagwell 306 (55.7%);
• Tim Raines 302 (55.0%);
• Curt Schilling 215 (39.2%);
• Roger Clemens 206 (37.5%);
• Barry Bonds 202 (36.8%);
• Lee Smith 166 (30.2%);
• Edgar Martinez 148 (27.0%);
• Alan Trammell 138 (25.1%);
• Mike Mussina 135 (24.6%);
• Jeff Kent 77 (14.0%);
• Fred McGriff 71 (12.9%);
• Larry Walker 65 (11.8%);
• Gary Sheffield 64 (11.7%);
• Mark McGwire 55 (10.0%);
• Don Mattingly 50 (9.1%);
• Sammy Sosa 36 (6.6%);
• Nomar Garciaparra 30 (5.5%);
• Carlos Delgado 21 (3.8%);
• Troy Percival 4 (0.7%);
• Aaron Boone 2 (0.4%);
• Tom Gordon 2 (0.4%);
• Darin Erstad 1 (0.2%);
• Rich Aurilia 0;
• Tony Clark 0;
• Jermaine Dye 0;
• Cliff Floyd 0;
• Brian Giles 0;
• Eddie Guardado 0;
• Jason Schmidt 0;

On this year's ballot, a player needed to receive 412 votes to reach or exceed the 75% needed for induction. For the first time since 1955, four players have been elected by the BBWAA into the Baseball Hall of Fame. This will also be the first time that three pitchers have been voted into the Hall by the writers in the same year. Pedro Martinez is now the first player born in the 1970's to be inducted into Baseball's Hall of Fame (Pedro was born in 1971).

The players whose names are italicized will appear on next year's ballot, having surpassed the five percent rule to stay on (28 votes). Don Mattingly was on his fifteenth and final ballot, and will now wait for the Veteran's Committee to decide his fate in the future.

According to the Baseball Hall of Fame website, 549 ballots were cast.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

2014 Topps All-Star Rookie Team Contest Winners!!!

Now that the 2014 Topps All-Star Rookie Team has been announced, I have spent the good part of the morning going over all the e-mails I received, seeing who outguessed me in the All-Star Rookie Team contest.

Even with the unanimous picks of Jose Abreu, and Billy Hamilton, nobody correctly predicted all eleven players who would make the team this year. The fact that Topps named Danny Santana as the third outfielder and not as the shortstop, even though MLB.com had him listed as one (in Topps' defense he played 69 games in CF compared to 34 games at short) pretty much ruined everyone's chances for a perfect score. But once again, nobody wins the 2005 Topps Rookie Cup set grand prize.

More entries were sent to me this year than in last year's contest (which is a testament to the fact that last year at this time, I was down to almost nothing in terms of posts...hence almost no readers), so needless to say I was a bit nervous that the results would be expensive on my part. But out of all the entries I did receive, only one person beat my score of nine. The congratulatory e-mail has already been sent, so it's okay for me to announce the winner:

Congratulations to Anthony Zarriello!!!

Many of the people who participated in the contest did get the same number of players right that I did...a big fat nine. The Santana screw-up aside, Mr. Zarriello once again came close to perfection with 10 correct picks (his third outfielder was Oscar Taveras). Regardless, a Jumbo pack of 2014 Update Series for outguessing me.

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

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Introducing the 2014 Topps All-Star Rookie Team!!!

The MLB managers have spoken, and today, Topps has announced the players named to the 55th All-Star Rookie Team!!! (If the player's name is in bold, it means I predicted that they would make the team earlier this month).

• 1B: Jose Abreu, CWS (145 G, 0.317, 36 HR, 107 RBI, 0.964 OPS, 3 SB)
• 2B: Kolten Wong, STL (113 G, 0.249, 12 HR, 42 RBI, 0.68 OPS, 20 SB)
• 3B: Nick Castellanos, DET (148 G, 0.259, 11 HR, 66 RBI, 0.7 OPS, 2 SB)
• SS: Xander Bogaerts, BOS (144 G, 0.240, 12 HR, 46 RBI, 0.66 OPS, 2 SB)
• OF: Billy Hamilton, CIN (152 G, 0.250, 6 HR, 48 RBI, 0.648 OPS, 56 SB)
• OF: Danny Santana, MIN (101 G, 0.319, 7 HR, 40 RBI, 0.824 OPS, 20 SB)
• OF: George Springer, HOU (78 G, 0.231, 20 HR, 51 RBI, 0.804 OPS, 5 SB)
• C: Travis d'Arnaud, NYM (108 G, 0.242, 13 HR, 41 RBI, 0.718 OPS, 1 SB)
• RHSP: Masahiro Tanaka, NYY (20 GS, 13-5, 2.77 ERA, 141 SO, 1.056 WHIP)
• LHSP: Roenis Elias, SEA (29 GS, 10-12, 3.85 ERA, 143 SO, 1.314 WHIP)
• RP: Dellin Betances, NYY (70 G, 5-0, 1.40 ERA, 135 SO, 0.778 WHIP, 1 SV)

So I guessed 9 out of now 11 spots correctly. I guessed Kevin Kiermaier as one of my outfielders and Matt Shoemaker as my right-handed starting pitcher. Last year, I was almost close to perfect (getting 10 of the 11 spots correct).

Now my comments. At least now Topps is showing some consistency with naming three pitchers to the team (two starters, 1 reliever). Good thing that I asked those entering the All-Star Rookie Team contest to name four pitchers (two right-handers, two-left handers) just in case.

Figures that Tanaka gets the RHSP spot, and many have taken to social media to make their displeasure known (Matt Shoemaker and Jacob deGrom were two of the names more people thought should have been named instead of the Yankees' hurler (figures...should have known).

So congratulations to all. Each player will now get the illustrious rookie cup trophy added to their 2015 Topps cards. I will be going over the results shortly and will announce the winners if any soon.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Introducing Your 2014 MLB Most Valuable Players - West Coast Winners

In recent years, Topps has reserved six cards within Series 1 for the AL and NL award winners that are being announced this week. Once again, however, this year's preliminary checklist doesn't specify what numbers are being held for the them. But yesterday, we learned who was named the Most Valuable Players in both the National and American Leagues.

Congratulations to both Mike Trout of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and Clayton Kershaw of the Los Angeles Dodgers for being named the American League and National League Most Valuable Players for 2014. Incredible seasons by both players, one a runner up to the MVP for two seasons prior, the other, this year's Cy Young Award winner.

After playing second fiddle to Miguel Cabrera for two consecutive seasons, Mike Trout finally wins his first MVP award. One of the game's best players, the Angels' outfielder hit .287 with 36 home runs, 111 rbi's, stole 16 bases, had an OPS of .939, and for you sabermetric people, a 7.9 WAR. Trout also claimed all 30 first place votes, good for 420 points in the overall ballot. In second place was the Tigers' Victor Martinez (229 points, 16 second place votes), Michael Brantley of the Indians (191, 8), AL Rookie of the Year Jose Abreu of the White Sox (145, 1), Robinson Cano of the Mariners (124, 1), Jose Bautista of the Blue Jays (122, 1), Nelson Cruz of the Orioles (102), Josh Donaldson of the Athletics (96, 1), two-time MVP Cabrera of the Tigers (82, 1), Felix Hernandez of the Mariners (48, 2), AL Cy Young Winner Corey Kluber of the Indians (45), Alex Gordon of the Royals (44), Jose Altuve of the Astros (41), Adam Jones of the Orioles (34), Adrian Beltre of the Rangers (22), Greg Holland of the Royals (13), Albert Pujols of the Angels (5), Howie Kendrick of the Angels (3), James Shields of the Royals (3), and Kyle Seager of the Mariners (1).

Kershaw becomes the tenth pitcher (fourth in the NL) to win both the Cy Young and MVP award in the same season. He earned 18 of the 30 MVP votes, good for 355 voter points. Marlins' slugger Giancarlo Stanton finished second in the voting (298, 8 first place votes), follwed by last year's NL MVP Andrew McCutchen of the Pirates (271, 4), Jonathan Lucroy of the Brewers (167), Anthony Rendon of the Nationals (155), Buster Posey of the Giants (152), Adrian Gonzalez of the Dodgers (57), Adam Wainwright of the Cardinals (53), Josh Harrison of the Pirates (52), Anthony Rizzo of the Cubs (37), Hunter Pence of the Giants (34), Johnny Cueto of the Reds (22), Russell Martin of the Pirates (21), Matt Holliday of the Cardinals (17), Jhonny Peralta of the Cardinals (17), Carlos Gomez of the Brewers (13), Justin Upton of the braves (10), Jayson Werth of the Nationals (9), Denard Span of the Nationals (8), Yasiel Puig of the Dodgers (8), Devin Mesoraco of the Reds (5), Lucas Duda of the Mets (3), Freddie Freeman of the Braves (2), Justin Morneau of the Rockies (2), Dee Gordon of the Dodgers (1), and Troy Tulowitzki of the Rockies (1).

Trout becomes the third Angels player, and the fifth player to win the MVP unanimously. Kershaw becomes the eleventh Dodgers player to be named NL MVP. With both winners from the Los Angeles area teams, it is also the 11th time in MLB history that two players from the city or area take home the MVP awards. As with the last two sets of awards, here for your viewing pleasure are the 2014 Topps cards of your MVP's. Too bad they didn't make cards for the managers (congratulations to both Buck Showalter of the Orioles and Matt Williams of the Nationals by the way).

With everything all said and done, did your guy win?

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Introducing Your 2014 MLB Cy Young Award Winners - Unanimous in the NL, No Longer Anonymous in the AL

In recent years, Topps has reserved six cards within Series 1 for the AL and NL award winners that are being announced this week. Once again, however, this year's preliminary checklist doesn't specify what numbers are being held for the them. But yesterday, we learned who was named the Cy Young award winners in both the National and American Leagues.

Congratulations to both Max Scherzer of the Detroit Tigers and Clayton Kershaw of the Los Angeles Dodgers for winning the American League and National League Cy Young Awards. While there was no doubt in the NL, the AL margin between first and second place was a mere 10 votes.

On Monday, a Stetson Hatter alum was named the NL Rookie of the Year. Yesterday, another Hatter took home the AL Cy Young award. Kluber, a second-year starter with the Indians, had a very dominant run in 2014. With a record of 18-9, an ERA of 2.44, 269 strikeouts, and a WHIP of 1.095 in 235.2 innngs of work, 17 of the 30 voters picked Corey as their first place choice (for a grand total of 169 points). The Mariners' Felix Hernandez claimed the other 13 first place votes, good for 159 points. Following Kluber and the King were Chris Sale of the White Sox (78 points), Jon Lester of the Athletics (46), last year's Cy Young winner Max Scherzer of the Tigers (32), David Price of the Tigers (16), Phil Hughes of the Twins (6), and Royals relievers Wade Davis (3) and Greg Holland (1).

Kershaw takes home his third Cy Young Award in four years after leading the NL for the third straight year in ERA (a ridiculous 1.77) to go along with a 239 strikeouts, a 16-9 record, a WHIP of 0.915, 3 complete games, and two shutouts. Claiming all 30 first place votes (210 points) Kershaw outpaced the rest of the field of contenders, including finalists Johnny Cueto of the Reds (112 points), Adam Wainwright of the Cardinals  (97), Madison Bumgarner of the Giants (28), Jordan Zimmermann of the Nationals (25), Cole Hamels of the Phillies (17), Zack Greinke of the Dodgers (6), Doug Fister of the Nationals (5), Jake Arrieta of the Cubs (3), Craig Kimbrel of the Braves (3), Stephen Strasburg of the Nationals (3), and Henderson Alvarez of the Marlins (1).

The fun concludes on Thursday when the Most Valuable Players in both leagues are announced. Let the debates continue. Did your guy win???

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Introducing Your 2014 MLB Rookies of the Year - Little to No Doubt Who Was Going to Win

In recent years, Topps has reserved six cards within Series 1 for the AL and NL award winners that are being announced this week. Once again, however, this year's preliminary checklist doesn't specify what numbers are being held for the them.  But yesterday, we learned who was named the Rookies of the Year in both the National and American Leagues.

Congratulations to both Jacob deGrom of the New York Mets and Jose Abreu of the Chicago White Sox for winning the National League and American League Rookies of the Year Awards. This year, MLB decided to announce the top three finalists for each of the awards. While there certainly more players in the running, announcing the top three made for interesting debate.

Jose Abreu, the White Sox' first baseman of the future, had a breakout rookie season that could only be described as dominant. He was among the top 5 players in the AL in batting average (0.317), home runs (36), and rbi's (107), was named to the All-Star Team, and won the Silver Slugger Award for first basemen. He was everything the Southsiders were hoping for and more. Abreu also received all 30 first place votes in the AL ROY balloting, thus earning the maximum 150 points possible. The rest of the field included Angels pitcher Matt Shoemaker (40 points, 12 second place votes), Yankees reliever Dellin Betances (27, 7), Collin McHugh of the Astros (21, 6), Masahiro Tanaka of the Yankees (16, 3), Yordano Ventura of the Royals (9, 1), Danny Santana of the Twins (3, 1), Nick Castellanos of the Tigers (1), Brock Holt of the Red Sox (1), Jake Odorozzi of the Rays (1), and George Springer of the Astros (1).

For Mets starting pitcher Jacob deGrom, the numbers may be a bit misleading, but it does not mean he is not more than deserving of the honor. He earned a 9-6 record, a 2.69 ERA, struck out 144 batters, and a WHIP of 1.140 in 22 starts and 140.1 innings of work. Taking 26 of the 30 1st place votes (142 total points), deGrom earned more points than runners-up Billy Hamilton of the Reds (92 points, 4 first place votes), Kolten Wong of the Cardinals (14 points), Ken Giles of the Phillies (8), Ender Inciarte of the Diamondbacks (4), Joe Panik of the Giants (3), Travis d'Arnaud of the Mets (2), Jeurys Familia of the Mets (2), Kyle Hendricks of the Cubs (2), and Chase Anderson of the Diamonbacks (1).

Abreu becomes the fourth Cuban-born player, the sixth White Sox player, and the ninth player to be named Rookie of the Year. deGrom is now the fifth Mets player and the first starting pitcher with less than 10 wins to earn the award.

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

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

And Just Like That...The Season is Over!!!

Your 2014 World Series MVP, Madison Bumgarner!!!

For two teams that were not supposed to be here when the World Series started, it proved to be one great series. Two shutouts, three blowouts, and two 3-2 games later, the San Francisco Giants win their third World Series title in five seasons over the upstart Kansas City Royals, thus ending the 2014 MLB season.

So congratulations once again to the San Francisco Giants, the 2014 MLB World Series Champions, for winning their third World Series title in 5 big league seasons. And congratulations to the AL Champion Kansas City Royals for an incredible run in the postseason and for making it really interesting these last few days.

It's going to be a wild offseason, with free agents getting ready to move, and teams ready to restock for the 2015 season. Topps is getting their final stats ready for the 2015 campaign. Take your time folks. You have until February to get the new cards to the masses.

I can't wait. And for now, every team, even my Cubbies, are 0-0.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Hallbound...2014!!!

The votes are in...

• Greg Maddux 555 (97.2%);
• Tom Glavine 525 (91.9%);
• Frank Thomas 478 (83.7%);
• Craig Biggio 427 (74.8%);
• Mike Piazza 355 (62.2%);
• Jack Morris 351 (67.7%);
• Jeff Bagwell 310 (54.3%);
• Tim Raines 263 (46.1%);
• Roger Clemens 202 (35.4%);
• Barry Bonds 198 (34.7%);
• Lee Smith 171 (29.9%);
• Curt Schilling 167 (29.2%);
• Edgar Martinez 144 (25.2%);
• Alan Trammell 119 (20.8%);
• Mike Mussina 116 (20.3%);
• Jeff Kent 87 (15.2%);
• Fred McGriff 67 (11.7%);
• Mark McGwire 63 (11.0%);
• Larry Walker 58 (10.2%);
• Don Mattingly 47 (8.2%);
• Sammy Sosa 41 (7.2%);
• Rafael Palmeiro 25 (4.4%);
• Moises Alou 6 (1.1%);
• Hideo Nomo 6 (1.1%);
• Luis Gonzalez 5 (0.9%);
• Eric Gagne 2 (0.4%);
• J. T. Snow 2 (0.4%);
• Armando Benitez 1 (0.2%);
• Jacque Jones 1 (0.2%);
• Kenny Rogers 1 (0.2%);
• Sean Casey 0;
• Ray Durham 0;
• Todd Jones 0;
• Paul Lo Duca 0;
• Richie Sexson 0;
• Mike Timlin 0;

For the first time since 1999, three players have been elected by the BBWAA into the Baseball Hall of Fame. On this year's ballot, a player needed to receive 429 votes to reach or exceed the 75% needed for induction.

The players whose names are italicized will appear on next year's ballot, having surpassed the five percent rule to stay on (29 votes). Jack Morris was on his fifteenth and final ballot, and will now wait for the Veteran's Committee to decide his fate in the future.

According to the Baseball Hall of Fame website, 569 ballots were cast. One of the ballots returned were left BLANK!!!

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Hallbound 2014!!! Managers Called to the Hall!!!

Introducing the HOF Inductees in 2014. More will be coming...right??? 

I guess the first order of business at the Winter Meetings being held this week was to announce who the 16-panel Veteran's Committee inducted into Baseball's Hall of Fame in the Expansion Era ballot (1961-Present). Nominees included 6 players, some of whom were on the HOF ballot for 15 years without induction (Tommy John, Dave Parker, Ted Simmons, Dan Quisenberry, Dave Concepcion, and Steve Garvey), two executives (Yankees owner George Steinbrenner, and MLBPA Union Chief Marvin Miller), and 4 managers (Bobby Cox, Tony LaRussa, Billy Martin, and Joe Torre).

Of the 12 individuals on the ballot, the 16-man panel unanimously voted to induct managers Bobby Cox, Tony LaRussa, and Joe Torre into Baseball's Hall of Fame.

These three legendary skippers bring a combined 91 years of managerial experience to the HOF ranks. Between them, they have won eight World Series titles, seventeen League pennants, ten Manager of the Year Awards, and have a combined record of 7558-6363.

Bobby Cox managed the Atlanta Braves (1978-1981, 1990-2010; 2149-1709) and Toronto Blue Jays (1982-1985; 355-292) .

Tony LaRussa managed the Chicago White Sox (1979-1986; 522-510) Oakland Athletics (1986-1995; 798-673) and St. Louis Cardinals (1996-2011; 1408-1182).

Joe Torre managed the New York Mets (1977-1981; 286-420), Atlanta Braves (1982-1984; 257-229), St. Louis Cardinals (1990-1995; 352-354), New York Yankees (1996-2007; 1173-767). and Los Angeles Dodgers (2008-2010; 259-227).

All three men will be formally inducted into Cooperstown in July. Hopefully, some of the players who played for and/or against them, will join in the festivities as well.

Congratulations to all three skippers on their being voted into Baseball's Hall of Fame.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama