Introducing the 2010 Topps All-Star Rookie Team!!!

The MLB managers have spoken, and today, Topps has announced the players named to the 52nd All-Star Rookie Team!!! (If the player's name is in bold, it means I predicted that they would make the team back in October).

• 1B: Gaby Sanchez, Florida Marlins (.273 batting average, 19 HR 85 RBI, 2010 stats)
• 2B: Neil Walker, Pittsburgh Pirates (.296, 12, 66)
• 3B: Danny Valencia, Minnesota Twins (.311, 7, 40)
• SS: Starlin Castro, Chicago Cubs (.300, 3, 41)
• OF: Austin Jackson, Detroit Tigers (.293, 4, 41)
• OF: Mike Stanton, Florida Marlins (.259, 22, 59)
• OF: Jason Heyward, Atlanta Braves (.277, 18, 72)
• C: Buster Posey, San Francisco Giants (.305, 18, 67)
• RHP: Stephen Strasburg, Washington Nationals (5-3, 2.91 ERA, 92 K's)
• LHP: Jaime Garcia, St. Louis Cardinals (13-8, 2.70 ERA, 132 K's)
• RP: Neftali Feliz, Texas Rangers (4-3, 2.73 ERA, 71 K's, 40 saves)

So I guessed 7 out of 10 spots correctly (I guessed Tyler Colvin for the third outfield spot, Ike Davis for first base, and Pedro Alvarez at third). I did just as well last year (7 of 10).

Valencia's selection surprised many as many people who entered the contest picked Alvarez of the Pirates (like I did). Didn't know that Topps would have 11 players make the team this time around. Is it just me, or do you think Topps added the RP position so that they could justify Strasburg winning the RHP position. Regardless, if you entered the contest and picked Feliz as your RHP, that will count as a correct answer. Let the conspiracy theories flow!!!

So congratulations to all. Each player will now get the illustrious rookie cup trophy added to their 2011 Topps cards.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

The Topps 300 (and then some...) is Finally Complete, Up, and Running!!!

Inspired by Topps attempt to whittle down the Top 60 cards of All-Time, I thought that the Hobby Blogging Community can do better.

So now I would like to introduce you all to my latest project,

The Topps 300 (and then some...)

The best five cards from each year (from 1951-2010) is included in each post (see the slideshow on the sidebar). I invite readers to add comments to each post telling me what cards should have been included. What will happen eventually is that every card will be put to a vote to determine the best card from every year, and then the best cards of All-Time.

So please take the time to visit the site and let me know what you think.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Card #'s 29 or #211 Now Officially Belong to...Part 2

In recent years, Topps has reserved six cards within Series 1 for the AL and NL award winners that are being announced this week. Card #'s 29 and #211 (according to the preliminary checklist) are reserved for the Most Valuable Players.

On Monday, Joey Votto was named the NL Most Valuable Player. Yesterday, we learned who won the award in the American League, and thus gets to appear on either card #29 or #211 (Topps did not specify which card goes to which league's winner).

Congratulations to Josh Hamilton of the Texas Rangers for being named the American League's Most Valuable Player. This caps what has become a very inspirational comeback for one of baseball's best players. We all know the story (top prospect, the drug abuse, being out of baseball for a number of years, finding divine intervention, getting back into baseball, and finally making it to the majors). When all was lost, he found redemption. And all that hard work has paid off because thanks to him (and a little help from his friends), the Texas Rangers made it to the World Series for the first time in franchise history. He led the AL in batting average, hitting a good .359 average to go with 95 runs scored, 32 home runs and 100 RBIs. He also led the league with a .633 slugging percentage and was second with a .411 on-base percentage.

So card #29 or #211 will be of Hamilton, the first Ranger to win the MVP award since 2003 when Alex Rodriguez (notice the irony here...when ARod came to Texas, he was supposed to help get the Rangers into the World Series. And in a turnabout kind of way-striking out against Neftali Feliz as the last out of the series-he did). He received 22 of 28 first-place votes for a total of 358 points, beating a field that included Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers (262, 5 first-place votes), Robinson Cano (229), Jose Bautista of the Blue Jays (165, 1 first-place vote), Paul Konerko of the White Sox (130), Evan Longoria of the Rays (100), Rays teammate Carl Crawford (98), Joe Mauer of the Twins (97), Adrian Beltre of the Red Sox (83), Delmon Young of the Twins (44), Vladimir Guerrero of the Rangers (22), Rafael Soriano of the Rays (21), CC Sabathia of the Yankees (13), Shin-Soo Choo of the Indians (9), Alex Rodriguez of the Yankees (8), AL Cy Young winner Felix Hernandez of the Mariners (6), M's teammate Ichiro Suzuki (3), Jim Thome of the Twins (2), Joakim Soria of the Royals and Mark Teixeira of the Yankees (1 each).

Hamilton also becomes the fifth Rangers player to win the MVP award, joining Jeff Burroughs, Juan Gonzalez (twice), Ivan Rodriguez, and Alex Rodriguez.

Let the debates continue. Did your guy win???

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Card #'s 29 or #211 Now Officially Belong to...

In recent years, Topps has reserved six cards within Series 1 for the AL and NL award winners that are being announced this week. Card #'s 29 and #211 (according to the preliminary checklist) are reserved for the Most Valuable Players.

Yesterday, we found out who gets to appear on either card #29 or #211 (Topps did not specify which card goes to which league's winner).

Congratulations to Joey Votto of the Cincinnati Reds for being named the National League's Most Valuable Player in almost unanimous fashion. Although he didn't lead the league in any of the Triple Crown categories (.324 was good for second, 37 HR and 113 RBI's put him in third), he did lead the NL in other stats like slugging percentage (.600), on-base percentage (.424) and OPS(1.024). What was more surprising was by how many points he earned in the voting.

So card #29 or #211 will be of Votto, the first Red to win the MVP award since 1995 when Barry Larkin took the prize home. Coincidentally, 1995 was also the last time the Reds made it to the postseason. He received 31 of 32 first-place votes (an almost unanimous 443 points), beating a field that included Albert Pujols of the Cardinals (279, 1 first-place), Carlos Gonzalez of the Rockies (240), Adrian Gonzalez of the Padres (197), Troy Tulowitzki of the Rockies (132), Cy Young winner Roy Halladay of the Phillies (130), Aubrey Huff of the World Series winning Giants (70), Jayson Werth of the Phillies (52), Martin Prado of the Braves (51), Ryan Howard of the Phillies (50), NL Rookie of the Year Buster Posey of the Giants (40), Matt Holliday of the Cardinals (32), Brian Wilson of the Giants (28), teammate Scott Rolen of the Reds (26), Ryan Braun of the Brewers (19), Ryan Zimmerman of the Nationals (18), Carlos Ruiz of the Phillies, Dan Uggla of the Marlins, Adam Wainwright of the Cardinals (12 each), Jason Heyward of the Braves (11), Brian McCann of the Braves, Adam Dunn of the Nationals (9 each), Ubaldo Jimenez of the Rockies (7), David Wright of the Mets (3), and the trio of Corey Hart of the Brewers, Josh Johnson of the Marlins, and Heath Bell of the Padres (2 each).

Votto also becomes the tenth Reds player to win the MVP award, joining Ernie Lombardi, Bucky Walters, Frank McCormick, Frank Robinson, Johnny Bench (twice), Pete Rose, Joe Morgan (twice), George Foster and Barry Larkin.

Let the debates continue. Did your guy win???

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Ten Blogs Up...How Many Off the Blogroll???

It was a better month for discovering new blogs to add to the big Sports Card Blogroll. In fact, thanks to links from the Cardboard Junkie, and a few other sources, I managed to find ten new blogs and added them to the active roster. Not counting my latest pet project, the Topps 300 (and then some...), there are presently 318 blogs on the roll. That's ten more from last month's blogroll post.

But this also means that I have to remove blogs from the active roll as well due to 6 months of inactivity. And looking at the list of blogs moving down the inactivity highway, I'm concerned that at least one of the best blogs that I've ever encountered may soon join the ranks. While I'm hoping that it isn't the case, if it ever happens, I know where to make room.

So this time, the blogroll says goodbye to the following blogs:

• Old School Breaks
• USABaseballCardsInOz
• RobbyT Cards
• Hero Of The Silver Curse, Life Is Minty
• Confessions of a Sports Junkie (there is a new site...will have to update it)

Okay, so that's five blogs removed, but one is technically a site change. So make it four blogs removed, and that gives us a net total of 314 active blogs on site, for a gain of 6 blogs. Remember, keep those journeys going. We're heading towards the end of the year, and while the Hobby has gone through major changes in 2010, it was still an exciting ride. Reading, writing, and commenting on the blogs have made learning about this great Hobby of ours a lot of fun. And here is hoping that in 2011, we get to hear from more voices. The more stories we read, the more collections are shared, the better the Hobby Blogging Community is going to be.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Card #'s 146 or #168 Now Officially Belong to...Part 2.

In recent years, Topps has reserved six cards within Series 1 for the AL and NL award winners that are being announced this week. Card #'s 146 and #168 (according to the preliminary checklist) are reserved for the Cy Young Award Winners.

On Tuesday, Roy Halladay was named the NL Cy Young Award winner. Today, we know who won the award in the American League, and thus gets to appear on either card #146 or #168 (Topps did not specify which card goes to which league's winner).

Congratulations to Felix Hernandez of the Seattle Mariners for winning the AL Cy Young Award. Even with a record of 13-12 (thanks in part to a lack of run support in his "losses"), he finished first in innings pitched (249 2/3), first in ERA with a dazzling 2.27, second in WHIP at 1.06, and second in strikeouts with 232. He can now claim to have the lowest win total and still win the Cy Young. And he had some very stiff competition.

So card #146 or #168 will be of King Felix, the Mariners' All-Star ace. He received 21 first-place votes (out of 28, for a total of 167 points), beating out a field that included David Price of the Rays (111, 4 second-place votes), CC Sabathia of the Yankees (102, 3), Jon Lester of the Red Sox (33), Jered Weaver of the Angels (24), Clay Buchholz of the Red Sox (20), Cliff Lee of the Rangers (6), Rafael Soriano of the Rays (5), Trevor Cahill of the Athletics (4), Joakim Soria of the Royals (2), Francisco Liriano of the Twins (1), and Justin Verlander of the Tigers (1).

Hernandez becomes the second Venezuelan-born pitcher to win the award (Johan Santana was the first). Either way card #'s 146 and 168 are now reserved for both Doc and The King.

Let the debates continue. Did your guy win???

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Did the Preliminary Checklist for 2011 Topps Heritage Inadvertently Leak the 2010 Topps All-Star Rookie Team???

Not that I have ever collected Topps Heritage, having the latest version of Adobe Acrobat just installed on my computer made me curious as to who was on the preliminary checklist. And what I found blew me away.

The preliminary checklist for 2011 Topps Heritage includes the name of the player, team name, and what kind of card it is of the player (veteran, rookie, combo card, league leaders). But then there were eleven listed as rookie cup. Now unlike the preliminary checklist of 2011 Topps Series 1, where the names were still TBD, there were players' names listed next to the words Rookie Cup. And there were 11 of these cards. Who were they???

• #25 Starlin Castro, ss, Cubs
• #35 Stephen Strasburg, rhp, Nationals
• #91 Gaby Sanchez, 1b, Marlins
• #218 Buster Posey, c, Giants
• #283 Danny Valencia, 3b, Twins
• #288 Mike Stanton, of, Marlins
• #320 Jason Heyward, of, Braves
• #335 Austin Jackson, of, Tigers
• #353 Neil Walker, 2b, Pirates
• #372 Jamie Garcia, lhp, Cardinals
• #454 Jose Tabata, of, Pirates

That's eleven players, with all four infielders, four outfielders, the catcher, and 1 right-handed and 1 left-handed pitcher. An entire team...+1.

I'm glad I cut off the contest on the first of November. And I'm not sure when exactly the preliminary checklist first appeared on Magazine-Exchange's website. And I know that the checklist is "always subject to change." So the question now is...

Are these eleven players on the 2010 Topps All-Star Rookie Team? Stay tuned.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama