Betances, Kemp Win 1st Ever HBC Final Man Roster Spots

After I posted my End-of-the-Year All-Star Teams last month, I gave whatever readers I have left the opportunity to vote one of the players I had to leave off onto the teams. Called the "HBC (Hobby Blogging Community's) Final Man," I picked five players that I thought could have been on either the AL or NL team, but because of roster space and other factors, they did not make it initially.

This was the first time I have done asked the public to help me with these "fantasy" teams since I started doing this back in 1989. I also said that if that if there was enough interest in this, I'd consider running a final man ballot every year. Turnout, considering how often I have posted these last two years, was surprisingly good. So I will do this next year too.

Summary:

There were ten players I selected for the initial final ballot. Five players per league. Readers who voted were allowed to vote for one player per league. Voting ran for two weeks. Those players were:

American League RP Dellin Betances, Yankees DH Chris Carter, Astros SP Wei-Yin Chen, Orioles 2B Ian Kinsler, Tigers DH David Ortiz, Red Sox

National League OF Charlie Blackmon, Rockies 1B Freddie Freeman, Braves OF Matt Kemp, Dodgers RP Francisco Rodriguez, Brewers 2B Neil Walker, Pirates

Now for the results:

From the very beginning, both Dellin Betances of the Yankees and Matt Kemp of the Dodgers led their respective ballots.

By the time it ended, Betances earned 16 of the 40 votes cast, followed by Ortiz (9), Kinsler (8), Carter (6), and Chen of the Orioles (1). Betances becomes the fourth Yankees player added to the 2014 AL squad, joining Jacoby Ellsbury, Brian McCann, and David Robertson.

Kemp outpaced the rest of the NL field, with 18 votes, followed by Freeman (5), Blackmon, Rodriguez, and Walker (3 each). Kemp's addition brings the Dodgers' contingent up to 6 players, joining Adrian Gonzalez, Dee Gordon, Zack Greinke, Clayton Kershaw, and Kenley Jansen.

When SBS Baseball comes out with the team rosters from the 2014 campaign, I will go ahead and add Betances and Kemp to the rest of the rosters. This will be the first time ever that I will have one more pitcher on one side and another batter on the other side. Should be interesting to see which team has the advantage.

Thank you very much to everyone who voted.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Things That Should Have Been Posted in 2011: Survey Says Aroldis Chapman Should Be the 2011 Topps LHP on the ASRT.

Because this blogger spent a lot of time away from this humble little blog, there were a lot of posts that should have been written but for reasons beyond comprehension, just were not. Here is the first of what hopefully isn't an ongoing series of posts (but there are a number of them).

When the 2011 Topps All-Star Rookie Team was announced, to my surprise, instead of three pitching spots (thanks to the Strasburg rule in 2010), there were two pitchers named to the ASRT. While that ideally brings the team back to the traditional ten spots, what made it a bit of a shock was that instead of the usual right handed pitcher and left handed pitcher categories, reigning MLB Rookies of the Year Jeremy Hellickson of the Rays was named the Starting Pitcher and Craig Kimbrel the Relief Pitcher.

And that was it. Again, not only was my contest scrambled (don't worry guys, I haven't forgotten to send the prizes...will get to the store by the end of next week). But now that means the pitching positions have changed for the third straight year.

So for the sake of tradition, I created a poll asking which of the following left handed rookie pitchers should have been named by Topps as their LHP on the All-Star Rookie team. Forty-nine readers responded to the survey. The results were interesting to watch during the course of the voting.

Initially, Cory Luebke of the Padres was had a good lead over the field of seven (plus two other choices), with Zach Britton of the Orioles just behind him. But as the polls reached the finish, Aroldis Chapman of the Reds took the victory, thanks to the ten voters who put him over the top (by one vote over Luebke). The rest of the results:

• Luebke with 9 votes,
• Who Cares took third with 8 (which probably means that it doesn't matter what Topps does...it's their thing),
• Britton of the O's follows with 7 votes (he lost to Who Cares??!),
• Chris Sale of the White Sox follows with 6,
• Somebody Else (realistically, there wasn't really anybody else to consider if you follow the MLB Rookie Tracker),
• Danny Duffy of the Royals trails with 3,
• Tim Collins, Duffy's teammate on the Royals, received no votes.

So thanks to the voters who participated, and congrats to Chapman for winning the poll. You should have a trophy next to your 2012 Topps card, but you won't. Sorry about that.

#ThanksTopps

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

The Results are In: The Readers Like #2!

The poll that I ran for the entire month of September is over and 137 votes were cast (I only had 137 people read this blog ALL SEPTEMBER??!). The poll asked which of artfuas' 12 design concepts for 2012 Topps would have been better than Topps' actual 2012 design (Which of the 2012 Topps Design Concepts Would You Have Liked Topps to Use?). Voters could have picked any one of the twelve, or even voted to say that they actually liked the real 2012 Topps design.  Let's review the results:

• 23 votes were cast for design #2,

• 21 votes were cast for design #6,

• 13 votes were cast for design #12,

• 12 voters said they liked the 2012 Topps design,
• 12 votes were cast for design #7,
• 11 votes each were cast for designs #5 and #8,
• 7 votes each were cast for designs #1 and 10,
• 6 votes were cast for design #11,
• 5 votes were cast for design #3,
• 5 voters decided that none of the 13 designs were good (none of the above),
• and finally, 2 votes each were cast for designs #4 and #9.

What does this all mean?  That beauty is in the eye of the beholder (unless the votes for #'s 4 and 9 were out of pity).  Now personally, I liked design #6 with #12 a close second.  You have a large photo dominating the card, with unobtrusive design elements that take away from the image.  I do see where #2 would have been a good choice as well (pennants), but I'm not sure I like where the player's name was going to fit.

I predicted that #4 was not going to get a lot of votes if only because there is just too much white space at the bottom of the card.  It looks like someone stuck a bandage on the card with someone's picture on it.

Thanks to all who voted. And thanks to artfulas for allowing me to use his designs for the blog.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

The Results are in: We Want More Retro Sets (Just Not so Many in One Year).

The announcement of Topps' newest retro line, the Gypsy Queen, led to some really good debate as to whether or not the Topps Company has worn down the novelty of these tributes to the Hobby's past. Not counting their own Heritage line, Topps has paid homage to the following 1800's to early 1900's brands:

• T206 (2002-2003, 2009, 2010)
• T205 (2003-2004)
• Cracker Jack (2004, 2005)
• Turkey Red (2005-2006, 2007)
• Allen & Ginter (2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010)
• National Chicle (2010)

Heck, even that other card company got into the act with their own line of tributes, including:

• Play Ball (2003, 2004)
• Goudey (2007, 2008, 2009)
• Goodwin Champions (2009)
• Others I may or may not be missing

And within their own insert sets, they've featured the T202 Triple Folders (from Topps 205), DeLong set (2006) Turkey Red (2009-2010) and in 2011 will honor the N184 Kimball's Champions set from 1888 (which could have been a set in it's own right for 2011, but that's another topic for another day).

But after almost 10 years, the retro craze is starting to wear thin, and now collectors (or at least those who go online on message boards and fire at all cylinders) have been clamoring for the company to slow down if not end the concept. And, it looks like the Topps Company is listening.

In 2011, a video was posted on the Topps Blog (and on Facebook, and on Twitter) talking about the newest retro product, the Gypsy Queen. And according to Clay Luraschi, of Topps baseball product lines this year, there will only be two...that's right...2...retro lines this year. The aformentioned Gypsy Queen, and the ever popular Allen & Ginter. That's it. Just the two.

Which for me, sounds about right. Allen & Ginter has become such a successful product line that it now ranks among the most anticipated products of the year. Everyone looks forward to what craziness the Topps company has in store. And they deliver in huge ways. Although I can't imagine how many more champions they have yet to find (I thought the beard champion and the rock/paper/scissors champion were a bit of a stretch), there are competitions out there every year, and somebody has to win them.

I think one retro product outside of A & G makes sense. We've seen where having too many of these special products brought forth for the masses in one year can kill the interest of set collectors. But the question still remains. Should Topps continue to create more vintage/retro trading cards? A poll put up on this humble, little blog, aimed to find out.

So after 14 days and 59 votes, here are the results:

• 34 votes (57%) said Yes. There are more designs they can utilize from the Hobby's rich history.
• 25 votes (42%) said No, the appeal of these kinds of cards is gone and Topps should stop producing them.

The voting was kind of close for a while, but it seems that the yes votes started to out run the no's. You have to admit, even though the Yes votes won by 15%, it still seems pretty even in terms of people's opinions of the topic.

I do like the retro products. There is so much out there that the Topps Company can still use. And if you were collecting their 2007 WalMart cards or the Trading Card History set from 2008, you can see that they were able to recreate many classic sets. Who knows, maybe in 2012, they can recreate the T204 Ramly's (Topps 204), the 1904 Fan Craze set, use the Mayo Cut Plug (all black borders...) that they did for football a couple of years ago, the V61 Neilson's Chocolates from 1921, or maybe stun the world with a set honoring Japan's baseball card heritage.

Who knows what the future will hold. But for now, it's A & G and the Queen in 2011. And Topps Series 1 comes out in just over a month. Can't we get them sooner??!

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

The People Say...

that Topps should call their end-of-the-year set Topps Series 3. And while that's the majority vote, I have a problem with that...and I'll explain it after going over the poll results.

A record 152 readers decided that to participate in the latest poll (up from 128 from the last time I ran one of these things), and 56 of them (or 36% of the voters) believed that Topps should call their end-of-the-year set Topps Series 3. The rest of the results:

• 27 voters (17%) thought that the set should be called Topps Stephen Strasburg and 329 Other Guys (with Strasburg as a bonus card and also in the set, and with people planning on buying the set because of said athlete, they might as well have called it that and gotten it over with),
• 22 voters (14%) liked the new product name of Update Series,
• 19 voters (12%) wanted Topps to go back to what the product was originally called, Topps Traded,
• 12 voters (7%) couldn't care less what Topps called the product,
• 9 voters (5%) preferred that Topps just continued to call it Topps Updates & Highlights,
• 5 voters (3%) would have liked to see blasters and packs of Topps End-of-the-Year Electric Boogaloo, and
• 2 voters believes that the product should be named Topps Traded and Rookies again.

Now, while the majority would like the product be called Series 3 (as it is indeed the third series of the eponymous Topps flagship product), I have a problem with that. Because the end-of-the-year set basically features a number of players who changed teams during the course of the year...AND had cards in the base set, it's hard to call it "Series 3." The only way I'd agree to a "Series 3" name is if Topps put in all the players they MISSED in the first two series. You know, the relief pitchers (you do know that All-Stars like Evan Meek, Arthur Rhodes, Matt Thornton don't have cards right???), the unheralded utility player (like Omar Infante, another All-Star this year), the third string catchers, the 25th man on the team. Of course, mix in the superstars and rookies as well. Bring back the subsets like the All-Star cards (use the starters of the game if you must for series 3, and leave room for the rest of the All-Star rosters in the EOY set so that you can get everybody this year...including those injured & ineligible to participate, you should have 81 players on both sides). I have a hard enough time liking the idea that Topps photoshop new uniforms on players who changed teams in series 2. I'd probably scream "WHAT??!" if it continued in a product called "Series 3."

Personally, I like the term Traded, but it's almost outdated don't you think? Sure, teams still trade players all the time, but there are also players who change teams by other means (free agency being the big one), so maybe they should stop calling it Topps Traded.

And then there are the rookies, those young players who make it to the bigs and because nobody expected them to get in, or because of the new RC rules (are the five-year-old RC rules still considered "new?"), Topps would add them to their final set. But Rookies do not an end-of-the-year product make (unless the name of the product begins with the words Bowman). So Topps Traded and Rookies no longer seems relevant.

I liked the name Updates and Highlights because this product truly is an Update set, and it had highlights of major events that happened during the course of the year. But I also felt that because of the set breakdown, there just (on average, there are 180 players, about 55 rookies, 60 all-stars, 8 home run derby competitors, 10 season highlights, 5 combos, 12 postseason or other random cards) that people were still missed, and other highlights were not included. I know you can't squeeze everything into a 330 card set, but the name of the product made the most sense here.

So do we like the name Topps Update Series? Ehhh...maybe. The name really fits the purpose of the set (it updates the regular set). The numbering is going to look a lot weirder (#US1, #US2...sounds like they're trying the patriotic theme here don't you think???), but whatever sells right? They can call it whatever they want though...people will still think of it as either Topps Series 3 or Topps Traded.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Survey Says...

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.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

The People Have Spoken...Bring Back the MLB Debut Set!!!

Whether it is because I left the poll open for so long, or there are a lot of readers feel strongly about the issue, but apparently many agree with me that they would like to see the return of the MLB Debut set.

A total of 128 people voted on this issue. Here are the results:

• 89 people (69%) would like to see a Topps Major League Debut set featuring players who debuted in 2009.
• 23 people (17%) on the other hand, did not.
• 10 people (7%) don't really care either way.
• 5 people (4%) gave up, considering that UD has Weiters locked up anyway.

It's funny that since the announcement was made that Topps was now the exclusive baseball card company for MLB, nothing has been said regarding how many baseball products Topps will be making in 2010, or what (if any) changes are there to the Rookie Card rule. These are the only things I can think of that would hold back a set of this caliber.

Hopefully one day, we'll see the return of the Debut set, giving those players who might never again play in the big leauges a chance at cardboard immortality. Thanks to all who voted.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

The Readers Have Spoken Again...

This past week, I put another poll up on this humble little blog. The question? Which Topps Andy Seminick Card Should Be Used in the 2011 Topps Archives Project?

Well, 37 readers cast their votes, and 18 answered, "Who's Andy Seminick?"

That can only mean I didn't do a good job in last week's Archives Project post about Mr. Seminick.

Eleven people, however voted to have his 1951 card used for the project, while eight selected the 1952 card.

So thank you for the votes. Here are the Andy Seminick cards that will be used in the 2011 Topps Archives project:

First card: 1951 Topps Red Back #45. Last card: 1956 Topps #296.
Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

The Results are In...Stadium Club is Out!!!

Last week, I asked which of four products did you the readers think won't be coming back in 2009. The results are in, and while I wish more people would have voted (partially my fault for not posting more often this past week), I think a comment left early in the voting by the voice of Stale Gum that may have steered the voting the way it did.

The results (from 42 votes tallied):

• 19 people believed Stadium Club won't return in 2009
• 5 people voted for Topps Sterling
• 4 people chose Bowman Sterling
• 1 person dared pick Bowman Chrome Draft Picks and Prospects
• 8 people thought at least two of the above won't return
• 5 people went with all of the above

Earlier in the week, Topps announced plans for Bowman Chrome DP&P and Topps Sterling. And there was talk that Bowman Sterling was going to return as well. Which leaves Stadium Club as the odd product out for 2009. Which may or may not have come as a surprise since Topps, while presenting a fantastic product last year, miffed on pricing it higher than many collectors believed it should have been worth.

Now maybe Topps will be allowed more products in 2010 and beyond since they are the exclusive manufacturer of licensed MLB trading cards. Maybe they'll bring Stadium Club back in 2010. But until we know for sure, it is all just speculation.

Maybe they'll bring back the Major League Debut set in 2010...that's what I would like to see.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

What's Left for Topps to Make for Baseball Cards in 2009?

As there hasn't been anything for me to talk about lately, I started thinking about what's left for Topps to make in 2009. You see, this is the final year in the four-year agreement that Topps and UD made with MLB Properties. If you recall, both Topps and UD agreed to produce 20 products each in 2006 and 2007, and then 17 products each in 2008 and 2009.

So far, Topps has either put out or announced the following products for 2009:

Topps Baseball 1 & 2 (yes, their flagship set counts as one product, not two)
Topps Updates and Highlights (coming soon, counts as a separate product)
Topps Chrome
Topps Heritage
Topps Heritage High Numbers (coming soon, counts as a separate product)
Topps Finest
Topps Triple Threads (coming soon)
Topps Allen & Ginter
Topps Ticket to Stardom (new in 2009, coming soon)
Topps Unique (new in 2009, coming soon)
Topps T206 (returning in 2009, coming soon)
Topps Tribute (returning in 2009, coming soon)
Bowman
Bowman Chrome

That's 14 products with three more to be announced before the end of the year. And if you notice, I did not include Topps Attax in the above list. Why? Because, products similar to Topps Attax is exempt from the official list of products that MLB Properties considered as part of the agreement (just replace Topps Hot Button with Topps Attax in the original contract and you'll see what I mean).
From the above list, there are four new products in 2009, two of which are making their return to the lineup (T206 and Tribute). That means four products from last year's list won't be back for the 2009 season.

Now let's compare last year's product list:

Topps Baseball 1 & 2
Topps Updates and Highlights
Topps Chrome
Topps Heritage
Topps Heritage High Numbers
Topps Finest
Topps Triple Threads
Topps Allen & Ginter
Topps Opening Day (did not return in 2009)
Topps Co-Signers (did not return in 2009)
Topps Moments & Milestones (did not return in 2009)
Topps Sterling
Stadium Club
Bowman
Bowman Chrome
Bowman Chrome Draft Picks & Prospects
Bowman Sterling

Collectors who keep tabs of this stuff knew that Opening Day, Co-Signers, and Moments & Milestones were not going to come back in 2009. With four new products, that means one product will not be coming back for sure. But which one would that be?

If Topps does not want to tick off a lot of prospect collectors (those affectionately known as Chromies), they're going to want to bring back the Bowman Chrome DPP. That should be product number 15. That leaves either Sterling brand (Topps and Bowman) and Stadium Club as the odd product out. Now, let's say for a moment that Topps is not going to be introducing (or re-introducing) any more new products this year. Which product do you see not returning?

Topps Stadium Club made it's triumphant return last year after a long hiatus, making many who petitioned to have it brought back happy. However, while the cards in the set were fantastic, bringing back the focus on photography thad made the set great, the price point was too high for a product (to super-premium product levels) that was should have been a premium product at best. So it wound up on many collectors "most disappointing products" list. Will it make a return in 2009? If it does, will the SRP's be lower?

Both Sterling (either Topps or Bowman) products are marketed as incredibly super high end products with super high SRP's to boot. With laminated wood boxes and packs featuring just one player (three cards) and a relic of another player, either one is not for the faint at heart. But with the economy the way it stands, will people WANT something that retails for more than $50.00 (possibly into the triple digits?) If you discontinue one brand's Sterling, do you cancel the other one as well? And to top it all off, the sell sheets for Topps Unique show cards that look to blow away any previous Sterling cards ever produced.

In defense of the brand though, Topps Sterling normally utilizes legends and the uber-uber superstars. This is a set tailor made to use the CMG exclusives. Bowman Sterling traditionally focuses on rookies and prospects, thus making it something for prospectors to fight over.

So, I ask (and will probably put a poll in later...) which of these four remaining products should be left off the 2009 product list:

Bowman Chrome Draft Picks and Prospects
Bowman Sterling
Stadium Club
Topps Sterling

Leave comments, or vote on the poll at the top of the blog.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

The People Have Spoken: No Twitter Feeds on the Blogroll!!!

The polls were closed on Friday night, and it looks like a majority of voters don't want Twitter Feeds added to the Sports Card Blogroll!

The poll was placed on both this humble little blog and the Blogroll. Here are the results:

On this blog:

• 13 votes said yes (19%)
• 36 votes said no (53%)
• 5 votes suggested creating a separate blog for Twitter feeds (7%)
• 13 votes for people who just don't care.

On the Sports Card Blogroll:

• 5 votes said yes (9%)
• 29 votes said no (54%)
• 8 votes suggested creating a separate blog for Twitter feeds (15%)
• 11 votes for people who just don't care.

Thank you very much for your votes. So I guess I'll leave the tweets alone.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

With Many of the Hobby Bloggers Signing Up on Twitter...

The second poll question ever on this humble little blog is this:

The latest trend in the Hobby Blogging Community has been to join the Twitter Revolution. All your favorite bloggers, from Stale Gum to Dinged Corners, from SCU and VOTC to Wax Heaven and the Cardboard Junkie, from Paul's Random Stuff to White Sox Cards, have all signed up for Twitter within the past couple of months.

Should the Sports Card Blogroll add another section for the Twitters amongst us? Or Should I create a new blog specifically for the Bloggers' Tweet Feeds?

Poll coming up shortly...this should be interesting.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

The Readers Have Spoken

This past week, I put my first poll up on this humble little blog. The question? Should I use a player's Topps Traded or Updates card as their "first" card for the 2011 Topps Archives Project?

Well, 48 readers cast their votes, and 31 answered, "Yes." So, from here on out, any time a player has a traded card as their first Topps card, that's what I'll use.

The rest of the results?

• Seven wanted to do a vote whenever this situation would arrive.
• Four stated that I should be the one to make the decision.
• Three said, "No," meaning that I should just stick to the regular Topps cards (I hope that's what they meant...that's what I implied when I put that choice up).
• And three resounded with "Who Cares???"

For those who wanted the traded cards, here are the Mark Grace cards that will be used in the 2011 Topps Archives project:

First card: 1988 Topps Traded #42T. Last card: 2003 Topps #581.
Sincerely,

JayBee Anama