Department of Accuracy Calling...

On my previous post regarding the All-Star Rosters, I realized that I had some faulty information (and in some instances lack of information) regarding players who were selected by Ron Washington and Bruce Bochy to fill out each team.  I redid the post and sent it, deleted the original post through my phone (since I can't make any edits online at the moment), and then found out that somebody had commented on my original post.

So to Ryan G, I apologize.  The attached picture is a screen capture of his original comment.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

The 2011 All-Star Rosters Have Been Announced...What Do You Think???

The MLB All-Star Game rosters have been announced. Here are the players who are going:

American League Starters (with 2011 Topps Card # and retail team set if applicable)

1B-Adrian Gonzalez, Red Sox (#425, BOS14)
2B-Robinson Cano, Yankees (#130, NYY16)
3B-Alex Rodriguez, Yankees (#50, NYY3)
SS-Derek Jeter, Yankees (#330, NYY1)
OF-Jose Bautista, Blue Jays (#216, TOR1)
OF-Curtis Granderson, Yankees (#433, NYY12)
OF-Josh Hamilton, Rangers (#650, TEX1)
C-Alex Avila, Tigers (#497, DET15)
DH-David Ortiz, Red Sox (#315, BOS2)

American League Pitchers

P-Josh Beckett, Red Sox (#610, BOS16)
P-Gio Gonzalez, Athletics (#30, OAK11, selected by MGR)
P-Felix Hernandez, Mariners (#530, SEA2)
P-David Price, Rays (#61, TBR2, selected by MGR)
P-James Shields, Rays (#311, TBR4)
P-Justin Verlander, Tigers (#355, DET13)
P-Jered Weaver, Angels (#75, ANG11)
P-C. J. Wilson, Rangers (#323, TEX8, selected by MGR)
RP-Aaron Crow, Royals (#633, selected by MGR)
RP-Brandon Leauge, Mariners
RP-Chris Perez, Indians (#159, CLE10)
RP-Mariano Rivera, Yankees (#42, NYY2)
RP-Jose Valverde, Tigers (#594, DET14, selected by MGR)

American League Reserves

1B-Miguel Cabrera, Tigers (#150, DET1)
2B-Howard Kendrick, Angels (#118, ANG9)
3B-Adrian Beltre, Rangers (#302 with the Red Sox, TEX14)
SS-Asdrubal Cabrera, Indians (#522, CLE11)
OF-Michael Cuddyer, Twins (#21, MIN3, selected by MGR)
OF-Jacoby Ellsbury, Red Sox (#351, BOS7)
OF-Matt Joyce, Rays (#55, TBR16)
OF-Carlos Quentin, White Sox (#389, CWS4)
C-Russell Martin, Yankees (#114 with the Dodgers, NYY9)
C-Matt Wieters, Orioles (selected by MGR)
DH-Michael Young, Rangers (#320, TEX9)

American League Final Man Candidates

OF-Alex Gordon, Royals (#262, KCR7)
OF-Adam Jones, Orioles (#396, BAL2)
1B-Paul Konerko, White Sox (#93, CWS16)
C/DH-Victor Martinez, Tigers (#218, DET16)
2B-Ben Zobrist, Rays (#27, TBR11)

National League Starters

1B-Prince Fielder, Brewers (#410, MIL4)
2B-Rickie Weeks, Brewers (#266, MIL13)
3B-Placido Polanco, Phillies (#89, PHI16)
SS-Jose Reyes, Mets (#380, NYM5)
OF-Lance Berkman, Cardinals (#144 with the Yankees, STL15)
OF-Ryan Braun, Brewers (#1, MIL2)
OF-Matt Kemp, Dodgers(#375, LAD5)
C-Brian McCann, Braves (#415, ATL4)

National League Pitchers

P-Matt Cain, Giants (#570, SFG4, selected by MGR)
P-Roy Halladay, Phillies (#300, PHI2)
P-Cole Hamels, Phillies (#460, PHI4)
P-Jair Jurrjens, Braves (#72, ATL3)
P-Clayton Kershaw, Dodgers (#275, LAD3)
P-Cliff Lee, Phillies (#103 with the Rangers, PHI1)
P-Tim Lincecum, Giants (#590, SFG2, selected by MGR)
P-Ryan Vogelsong, Giants (selected by MGR)
RP-Heath Bell, Padres (#178, SDP6, selected by MGR)
RP-Tyler Clippard, Nationals (#74, WAS6, selected by MGR)
RP-Joel Hanrahan, Pirates (#644, PIT8)
RP-Jonny Venters, Braves (#619, ATL12)
RP-Brian Wilson, Giants (#210, SFG16)

National League Reserves

1B-Gaby Sanchez, Marlins (#59, FLA5, selected by MGR)
1B-Joey Votto, Reds (#5, CIN1)
2B-Brandon Phillips, Reds (#630, CIN14)
3B-Chipper Jones, Braves (#169, ATL2)
SS-Starlin Castro, Cubs (#655, CHC1, selected by MGR)
SS-Troy Tulowitzki, Rockies (#400, COL15)
OF-Carlos Beltran, Mets (#515, NYM15, selected by MGR)
OF-Jay Bruce, Reds (#191, CIN2)
OF-Matt Holliday, Cardinals (#490, STL7)
OF-Hunter Pence, Astros (#45, HOU1)
OF-Justin Upton, Diamondbacks (#40, ARI1, selected by MGR)
C-Yadier Molina, Cardinals (#90, STL9)

National League Final Man Candidates

OF-Andre Ethier, Dodgers (#240, LAD1)
1B-Todd Helton, Rockies (#220, COL2)
P-Ian Kennedy, Diamondbacks (#39, ARI6)
OF-Michael Morse, Nationals (#518, WAS15)
OF-Shane Victorino, Phillies (#495, PHI10)

Notes:
º Injured, will not participate
ºº Elected not to participate
ª Named as replacement

If you notice, not counting those injured, there will be two 34-man rosters here (including the Final Man winners). Last year, a new rule was implemented to allow for one "re-entry" player...somebody who can go leave the game and then possibly later on get back in at another position. Previously, only catchers were allowed to leave the game and be re-inserted later. But unlike last year (when Omar Infante (NL) and Ty Wigginton (AL) were selected), I don't see any potential utility candidates on either roster.

This year, three players do not have any cards from either the eponymous Topps set or the retail sets.  In one case, it could be by choice.  Matt Wieters has yet to appear on any Topps cards since his debut.  This was due to the ultra-exclusive deal he signed with another card company.  Although past history with Topps and these situations (see Hideki Matsui for example and his lack of Topps cards in his first few years in the majors) eventually works out, nobody except the heads of the Topps Company knows if and when he shows up on a Topps card. (For those who follow me on twitter - @bdj610 if you want to follow me -, I posted a tweet to @toppscards about this).  Brandon League, the closer for the Mariners also does not have a card in 2011 for some reason (he does have two cards in Topps' history).  Ryan Vogelsong hasn't been on a Topps card since 2006.  To alleviate their slights, I will be using the team cards to fill-in for them.  Vogelsong and League are scheduled to appear in the 2011 Topps Update Series (#US94 and #US197 respectively).  No word on Wieters (although there are a ton of TBD's).

Gaby Sanchez and Starlin Castro were both named to the 2010 Topps All-Star Rookie Team.  In Topps' infinite wisdom, both players have TWO cards in this year's set (#'s 59 and 312 for Sanchez; #'s  247 and 655 for Castro).  I have included the cards with the Rookie Cup above because there really was no need for a second card of each player (unless you're a player collector and like having two cards).  With 11 players named to last year's team, that means there are 22 cards for the members of the ASRT.  That's 11 cards too many and could have gone to players who were now relegated to the Update Set (that's another post for another day).

On a final note, news has come out that as many as four pitchers on the AL side may have to be replaced due to being scheduled to pitch on Sunday or other issues.  The rule for pitchers is that if they are set to pitch on the last day before the All-Star break, they become ineligible to appear in the game.  They still get to participate in the All-Star festivities, are still officially All-Stars, but just won't play.  Felix Hernandez, James Shields, and Justin Verlander are affected by this.  Also, Brandon League could possibly skip the festivities because he and his wife are expecting any day now, and MLB (and rightfully so) has implemented a paternity leave of abscence.  If this is correct, then the M's will need someone to come in and pitch as a replacement (Michael Pineda anyone???).

Let's hear the answers to these questions:

Who do you think should have been chosen that wasn't (not even for the Final Man ballot)?

Of the players selected, who shouldn't be going to the game?

Were the guys you wanted from your team chosen?

If not, then who should have represented your team?

Let the debates begin.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Random Topps Card of the Day: 2008 Topps #284 Lance Broadway

Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Tuesday, July 5, 2011:

• Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 2008 Topps #284.
• Player Name, position, team: Lance Broadway, pitcher, Chicago White Sox.
• Major League Debut: September 7, 2007.
• Last Line of Statistics: 2007 stats (Charlotte-AAA): 26 G, 8-9, 155 IP, 15 H, 86 R,80 ER, 78 B, 108 SO, 2 CG, 0 SHO, 0 SV, 1.50 WHIP, 4.65 ERA.
• Any special information about player: Drafted by the White Sox #1st, June 2005. Bats: right. Throws: right.
• Number of regular Topps Cards (includes regular and traded cards only): 2. This is his first card.
• Blurb on the back: "After a season in whch their team ERA dipped to 11th in the League, the White Sox are holding auditions for starters in 2008.  Lance is near the front of the line.  The former first-round draft pick out of Texas Christian turned heads with six innings of two-hit, eight-strikeout, shut-outball against the Royals in his first MLB start on September 26, 2007."
• Commentary: The 2008 Topps set was met with a bit of disappointment when the preview of the design first came out.  One year removed from the black "filmstrip" border/design set, the use of colored circles reminded many of the circus (for some reason) and an unnecessary dip on the photo (where the Topps logo was nested).  Here is Lance Broadway, his photo taken most likely on media day.  Reminds me of a yearbook photo.  And isn't that what these cards are supposed to be anyway???  Lance, a September Call-up in 2007, did a decent job with the Pale Hose to be considered for next year's staff.  In 2008, he pitched in seven games for the White Sox, starting only one of them.  He was traded to the Mets during he first part of 2009, where he spent most of his season with their AAA affiliate, the Buffalo Bisons. In 2010, he spent the entire year with the Blue Jays' AAA team in Las Vegas.
• Lo-Hi Beckett value: $0.25-$0.60.
• How many cards of each player do I own?: 2 cards.

Tomorrow's card will be: 1996 Topps #28. Post will arrive at 1:00 PM CST. We're looking back at a card from 1996 here on the blog tomorrow.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Random Topps Card of the Day: 2009 Topps Updates & Highlights #UH25 Orlando Hudson

Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Friday, July 4, 2011:

• Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 2009 Topps Updates & Highlights #UH25.
• Player Name, position, team: Orlando Hudson, shortstop, Los Angeles Dodgers.
• Major League Debut: July 24, 2002.
• Last Line of Statistics: 2008 stats (Diamondbacks): 107 G, 407 AB, 54 R, 124 H, 29 2B, 3 3B, 8 HR, 41 RBI, 4 SB, 40 BB, 62 SO, .450 SLG. .817 OPS, .305 AVG.
• Any special information about player: Drafted by the Blue Jays, #43rd, June 1997. Signed with the Dodgers as a Free Agent 02/21/2009. Bats: both. Throws: right.
• Number of regular Topps Cards (includes regular and traded cards only): 14. This is his twelfth Topps card.
• Blurb on the back: "Batting against the Giants on 04/13/2009, just days into his career with the Dodgers, Orlando became the team's first player to hit for the cycle since Wes Parker in 1970."
• Commentary: The 2009 Topps set included larger than life pictures, clean design elements (like a scrapbook), and interesting information for the back of the cards (in Hudson's case, the six pitchers whom he has had the most success hitting against).  The "O-Dog" has been bouncing around the last few years.  In fact, in 2011, Hudson is playing for his fourth team (the Padres) in four years (Diamondbacks, Dodgers, and Twins being the other teams).  Not that he's a bad player (hard to call a four-time Gold Glove winner and two-time All-Star - and he was both for the Dodgers in 2009 - bad), but he's signed one-year contracts it seems with all of these teams.  But moving to new environments hasn't affected his performance.  With the Dodgers, the second baseman provided a steady glove (ahem...Gold Glove winner) and a decent bat to help the Dodgers win the 2009 NL West.
• Beckett value: $0.12-$0.30.
• How many cards of this player do I own?: 17 cards.

Tomorrow's card will be: 2008 Topps #284. Post will arrive at 1:00 PM CST. Flash back with the blog tomorrow.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Random Topps Card of the Day: 1971 Topps #433 Skip Lockwood

It's Retro Sunday!!! Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Sunday, July 3, 2011:

• Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 1971 Topps #433.
• Player Name, position, team: Skip Lockwood, pitcher, Milwaukee Brewers.
• Major League Debut: April 23, 1965.
• Last Line of Statistics: 1970 stats (Brewers): 27 G, 174 IP, 5-12, .294 PCT, 173 H, 91 R, 83 ER, 93 SO, 79 BB, 4.29 ERA.
• Any special information about player: Signed with the Athletics as a Free Agent 06/10/196. Drafted by the Pilots from the Athletics 10/15/1968. Bats: right. Throws: right.
• Number of regular Topps Cards (includes regular and traded cards only): 13. This is his third Topps card.
• Blurb on the back: "A veteran of American Legion ball, Sip was selected to play on the U.S. All-Star team in the Hearst Sandlot Classic Game a Yankee Stadium, 1963. Hurled well for Brewers, 1970, after recall from Portland."
• Commentary: The 1971 was innovative for its time because it was the first set that included picture of the player on the BACK of the card.  Albeit a large black and white headshot.  But a picture none the less.  The obvious drawback, however, is that with such a large picture, you didn't get a full set of career stats.  For a young player like Lockwood, that may not have necessarily been a bad thing.  When looking up his cards on the Beckett website, his listing included the name Claude Lockwood.  Didn't occur to me that Claude was his real first name and that "Skip" was just a nickname.  That was until you notice that facsimile autograph on the card above has his full name (thanks to Topps' use of his contract signature) "Claude E. Lockwood, Jr."  He is one of the few to claim that he played for the Seattle Pilots (drafted in the fourth round during the expansion draft).  Believe it or not, Lockwood's debut was not as a pitcher (his pitching debut was on 08/27/1969), but as a pinch hitter (drew a walk in his only plate appearance).  Realistically, he was a third baseman with the Athletics before finding more success on the mound than at the hot corner.  
• Lo-Hi Beckett value: $1.00-$2.50.
• How many cards of each player do I own?: 6 cards.

In case you're actually wondering, I don't own this card, but was able to get a crystal clean copy of the image from the from the Baseball Card Cyber Museum. So thank you Joe McAnally and the folks at the BCCM.
Well, it's back to normal on Monday. Tomorrow's card will be: 2009 Topps Updates and Highlights #25. Post will arrive at 1:00 PM CST. Come on back then to see what the Topps Card Randomizer gets us to look at then.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Random Topps Card of the Day: 2004 Topps #689 Dodgers Prospects Edwin Jackson & Greg Miller

Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Saturday, July 2, 2011:

• Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 2004 Topps #689.
• Player Name, position, team: Prospects Edwin Jackson, pitcher, Los Angeles Dodgers; Greg Miller, pitcher, Los Angeles Dodgers.
• Major League Debut: September 9, 2003 (Jackson); n/a (Miller)
• Last Line of Statistics: 2003 stats: Jackson (Jacksonville-AA): 27 G, 148.1 IP, 7-7, 68 R, 61 ER, 157 SO, 53 BB, 27 GS, 0 CG, 0 SHO, 1.17 WHIP, 3.70 ERA; Miller (Vero Beach-A/Jacksonville-AA): 25 G, 142.1 IP, 12-5, 45 R, 35 ER, 151 SO, 48 BB, 25 GS, 1 CG, 0 SHO, 1.17 WHIP, 2.22 ERA.
• Any special information about players: Jackson: Drafted by the Dodgers, #6th, June 2001. Throws: right. Bats: right; Miller: Drafted by the Dodgers, #1st, June 2002. Throws: left. Bats: left.
• Number of regular Topps Cards (includes regular and traded cards only): Jackson: 9. This is his first card; Miller: 1. This is his first and only Topps card.
• Blurb on the back: n/a.
• Commentary: The 2004 set was one of my favorite sets in the 2000's in terms of its design and unique silhouette on the lower left corner. The prospect cards, of course, did not have that luxury, but did see a continuation of the multi-player prospect cards. Jackson has been a mid-season trade pickup for the last two seasons, and has played for five teams since his debut. He was even an All-Star with the Tigers in 2009. Miller, on the other hand, could not crack the Dodgers' starting rotation, and spent his entire career in the Dodgers' minor league system until 2009. A bit of trivia about this card. The checklists for the 2004 Topps Traded and Rookies set had puzzle pieces on the back of them. There were 10 checklists, but 11 rows (so in effect, there were 110 checklists). Anyway, whoever was lucky enough to complete the 110 set master checklist would complete the puzzle that was actually a visual checklist of the 2004 Topps set (both series). There were two cards that were excluded upon further inspection: card #313 (Kyle Davies...the picture of card #312 Khalid Ballouli) and this one (pictured in its place was #688 Cleveland Indians Prospects Guthrie and Sizemore).
• Lo-Hi Beckett value: $0.20-$0.50.
• How many cards of each player do I own?: 10 (Jackson); 1 (Miller).

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: 1971 Topps #433. Come back at 1:00 PM CST to see who (or what) it is.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Random Topps Card of the Day: 1979 Topps #600 George Foster

The ever popular Topps Card Randomizer has been in the shop since the end of January getting a much needed break/overhaul. Unfortunately, when I restarted it this morning, it still had a bit of a glitch,

Why do you ask?

Because the first card it picked was already featured on this humble little blog during the Randomizer's infancy (all the way back to January 12, 2010). Anyway, before I sent it back to the shop, it was able to give me a month's worth of cards to pick. And that's what we'll work with until we get something set so that it doesn't pick a card we've already had on here.

So bear with me as we kick off the summer with a repeat from last winter (ahem).

Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Friday, July 1, 2011:

• Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 1979 Topps #600.
• Player Name, position, team: George Foster, outfielder, Cincinnati Reds.
• Major League Debut: September 10, 1969.
• Last Line of Statistics: 1978 stats (Reds): 158 G, 604 AB, 97 R, 170 H, 26 2B, 7 3B, 40 HR, 120 RBI, .281 AVG.
• Any special information about player: Drafted by Giants #3rd, January 1968. Traded by the Giants to the Reds 05/29/1971. Bats: right. Throws: right.
• Number of regular Topps Cards (includes regular and traded cards only): 18. This is his ninth Topps card.
• Blurb on the back: Hit 3 Homers in one game for the Reds vs. the Atlanta Braves at Riverfront, 07/14/1977. Many of the players' cards also had a little section called "Baseball Dates" where the question of "What Happened" on a certain date in baseball history. In Foster's case, the date is 04/18/1899 (John McGraw makes his managerial debut).
• Commentary: Now the last time this card was featured, the comments focused on the lack of the Reds' logo on his batting helmet.  Either the helmet was airbrushed off from the picture during editing, or (and don't send me nastygrams for me being ignorant about it) did his helmet not get the sticker/print job that was supposed to be on it?  Was the picture to be used for some unlicensed set (like Kraft for instance using a commenter's example) and Topps just used the same photo?  This is the kind of picture that the other card company could have used. But then again, they'd still be in the baseball card business, and...let's not go there.  Up until 1981, Topps would include the words "All-Star" on a player's regular card instead of creating a second card with that sole purpose in mind. By the time this card came out, Foster was already a three-time All-Star and the NL MVP in 1977, and his cards from the past couple of years also included the words "All-Star." And looking back, with only 726 cards in the set, it made sense just to include the All-Star moniker on the regular player card. When sets expanded to the glorious number of 792, then they had room to have two separate cards (a regular one, and an All-Star subset). I've been clamoring for years to increase the number of cards in the base set. Because since 1979, there are four more team, 100+ more roster spaces, and 660 cards in the eponymous Topps set. And that leaves people out who should get a card, even if that player is the third string catcher or the situational lefty in the bullpen. And what makes me want to grab the pitchforks and torches in the 2011 Topps set (as much as I love it), is something that will be the focus of my What??! of the Week on Monday.
• Beckett value: $0.30-$0.75.
• How many cards of this player do I own?: 28 cards.

Tomorrow's card will be: 2004 Topps #689. Post will arrive at 1:00 PM CST. Flash back with the blog tomorrow.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama