Responding to an Anonymous Commenter: "Eponymous"

I've used the word "eponymous" for years on this humble, little blog, when it comes to talking about Topps' regular baseball card sets. Because there really is no "brand" name for the baseball cards I collect, is there?

I mean, there are products out there like Topps Allen & Ginter's, Topps Gypsy Queen, Topps Triple Threads, Topps Archives, and so forth, and so on.

But what do you call Topps regular baseball card set? Is it Topps Baseball? Do you call it Topps Baseball Series 1? Like I'm hoping many of you do, I just call them Topps cards. I could be more specific, but I think to almost 99% of the non-card-collecting world, when I say Topps, baseball cards are most likely the image people have. And many times, when referring to the most basic of card sets, the cards that many of us collect, I write "the eponymous Topps set"

So here comes a comment I received the other day from this post...again from an anonymous poster:

"Maybe use 'flagship' or 'base' instead of 'eponymous' since 'eponymous' doesn't really mean unnamed. Examples of eponyms include 'Rosanne' TV show, named after Rosanne Barr, or the first Van Halen album, named after the band Van Halen."

Now I'm confused. "Eponymous doesn't really mean unnamed?" I didn't think I was un-naming the cards, I thought I was giving it an adjective to describe the kinds of cards I'm talking about here.

So I looked it up.

Ep·onym (n) \ˈe-pə-ˌnim\: one for whom or which something is or is believed to be named
Epon·y·mous (adj) \i-ˈpä-nə-məs, e-\: of, relating to, or being the person or thing for whom or which something is named : of, relating to, or being an eponym

Example: "Cool Britannia," which goes back to Ben and Jerry's eponymous ice cream in Spring 1996, met its sell-by-date within weeks ...

It would probably be correct if I said Topps' eponymous baseball cards in this case. But is it grammatically correct to say "eponymous Topps set?"

I know I'm not a professional writer, and many of my English teachers will tell you that I'm not really that great a wordsmith. But have I really been using the word "eponymous" incorrectly all these years? Can somebody tell me?

If I have indeed been using the word in the wrong context, I apologize for my slight. But I've used the word too much on here. Now I have the urge to go back to the 167 posts I have written on this blog that has the word "eponymous" entered at least once.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

My Wallet Card for 2015 #WalletCard @breakdowncards

On January 2, defgav, the guy who runs the Baseball Card Breakdown blog brought up a, well, not so necessarily new concept for collectors to do in 2015, but it's something that has gotten many of the Hobby Blogging Community together on their sites and on Twitter (I'm at @bdj610 if you want to follow) abuzz.

The concept: Wallet Cards.

This isn't something new. Bob Costas has been known for carrying a Mickey Mantle card in his wallet wherever he goes. By now, unless he's replaced it over the years (and I've heard people have been giving him copies of that card) it has to be damaged to smithereens.

For the life of me, I can't remember for the life of me who did this, but somebody took a stack of cards, and carried them with him in his pocket for a full year, and then compared what they looked like at the beginning of the experiment to the end (the results weren't pretty).

UPDATE: Thank you to J. Meeks, the guy who runs My Cardboard Habit. It looks like Mark Aubrey, the guy who ran Mark's Ephemera (he's on a break right now...) was the one who pondered,

"What if I took 20 sports cards and treated them like I might have when I was in elementary school for the summer?"

The results are here. Viewer's discretion is advised (if looking at this stuff will make you wince).

Now, this is what the guy at BCB proposed:

"The idea is to pick a junk dupe of a card you like (but are willing to "sacrifice") and carry it around in your wallet for a full year, occasionally taking pictures of it on your travels or wherever, and share them on your blog. Sort of like the Cards in Odd Places feature I've done a couple times.

"It should be a card that makes you smile every time you see it, since you'll probably be seeing a lot of it. If size/weight is a concern, consider choosing a mini."

Now when I worked for my previous employers, I was given a badge and a lanyard with one of those electronic key things to hang around my neck. Now, because the badge would always twirl, I thought it would be a good idea to put a baseball card behind my badge. Just for fun. I learned that I couldn't fit a regular 2½ by 3½ card in the plastic pocket that held the badge and key, so I picked a mini card from Allen & Ginter's...specifically:



Okay, imagine the mini version of this card in a mini card penny sleeve and top-loader, and you get the idea.

After one year or so of that, I had this card behind my badge until they closed the place:

Now, while both cards were protected from being folded, wear, or Dinged Corners (I miss Patricia and Lucy), the holder did collect a lot of dust, crumbs (I worked for a food company), and other foreign objects. The cards did get hit and if one were to look closely at the cards themselves (not the pictures above), you could see tiny divots where the some of these things stuck. Eww.

So back to the point. What card can I put in my wallet for an entire year, and then occasionally take a picture of it to share on this humble, little blog?

It is supposed to make me smile when I see it (because supposedly, I'd be seeing it a lot). Should I use an older card from the junk wax era? Should it be a more modern card with the new card stock? Decisions, decisions.

If I could, I'd try and find that Sparky Anderson card from 1988 Topps that's so worn out it looks like it was placed in a wallet for decades.

Sorry Sparky. (Note that this is not the actual card...the real card is buried...I think, in a box in the basement).

Should it be a mini card like the Lincoln or the Philippines flag? I don't know, unless I have the top loader, I'd rather not.

Should I even use, gasp, a card from another company?

I know that the card I'm going to stick in my wallet will have to be of a Cub. But which one? Should I go with "childhood" (Sandberg, Grace, Dawson), or "adult" (Lee, Ramirez, Wood), or current (Castro, Rizzo)?

I got it. Let me find it.

Perfect.

While I didn't find the card of the player I wanted, I did find a good one here.

I'll have the "Hawk" hang out in my wallet in 2015. The 1992 Topps Andre Dawson #460 card will do just fine. This is the actual card.

So what I'll do is at least once a month, I will take a scan of the card, and compare it to the image above and see how it survives being carried around in my wallet. Hey, it looks nice. Now. At the end of the year? We'll see.

Count me in for the Wallet Card game in 2015.

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

This is It! The Hall of Fame Announcement is Today.

When the announcement is made today at 01:00 PM CST on Tuesday, January 6, 2014, to let the world know who has been inducted into Baseball's Hall of Fame, I will be at work. But I'll still have the MLB Network on to watch the results live.

With any luck, more than one person on this list of 34 players will be rewarded with the ultimate honor...enshrinement into the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY. For the final time, here is the list of players (with years on ballot and % of ballots in the 2014 election) being considered:

Rich Aurilia
Jeff Bagwell, 5th, 54.3%
Craig Biggio, 3rd, 74.8%
Barry Bonds, 3rd, 34.7%
Aaron Boone
Tony Clark
Roger Clemens, 3rd, 35.4%
Carlos Delgado
Jermaine Dye
Darin Erstad
Cliff Floyd
Nomar Garciaparra
Brian Giles
Tom Gordon
Eddie Guardado
Randy Johnson
Jeff Kent, 2nd, 15.2%
Edgar Martinez, 6th, 25.2%
Pedro Martinez
Don Mattingly, 15th, 8.2%
Fred McGriff, 6th, 11.7%
Mark McGwire, 9th, 11.0%
Mike Mussina, 2nd, 20.3%
Troy Percival
Mike Piazza, 3rd, 62.2%
Tim Raines, 8th, 46.1%
Curt Schilling, 3rd, 29.2%
Jason Schmidt
Gary Sheffield
Lee Smith, 13th, 29.9%
John Smoltz
Sammy Sosa, 3rd, 7.2%
Alan Trammell, 14th, 20.8%
Larry Walker, 4th, 21.6%

After the ballots were counted last night, as of right now, only two or three people know the results of the election. Stay tuned. Today should be an interesting day to say the least.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

RIP Stuart Scott 1965-2015

It was just before 10:00 CST this morning, and I was sitting at the social hall of our church when I first saw the news that Stuart Scott, who appeared on many of ESPN's shows, from SportsCenter to the NFL and NBA pre-game festivities, passed away. He was just 49 years old.

Back when I had a lot of free time on my hands, before heading off to classes (probably why I was late to many of said classes), I'd tune in to the SportsCenter replays that would air repeatedly from I think 6 in the morning to 12 noon. The show would repeat every hour, and as I prepared for the start of my day, I always made sure to have it on. And many of those shows, when the duo of Dan Patrick and Keith Olbermann were not on the air the night before, were hosted by Rich Eisen and Stuart Scott. Even after going over the highlights of another Cubs defeat (and there sure were many in the mid-90's), there never seemed to be a reason to change the station. The chemistry they had on the air was excellent, like watching two guys discussing sports at the bar or in the living room. Even watching the highlights of a Pirates-Mets game were interesting thanks to the 1-A team.

Scott had his own set of catchphrases (and during this time, what SportsCenter anchor DIDN'T have them), but they were only used to emphasize what we were watching. Even when it stopped feeling spontaneous, you can't help watching an amazing play and thinking of those same phrases in your head.

• Boo-Yow (not Boo-Yah...had to make sure to get it right...this was direct from a quote from Eisen)
• Can I get a witness from the congregation?
• Cool as the other side of the pillow.
• Don't hate the player, hate the game

And so much more.

Many tributes have been made to the man who, although didn't revolutionize sports reporting, brought it to the masses in a way that we all could understand, and appreciate.

I will admit that I stopped watching the Big Show after many of the big players left. Olbermann, then Eisen, Patrick, even Kenny Mayne. But Stuart Scott stayed on, and in his 21-plus years with the company, helped ESPN evolve to the Worldwide Leader, not just on TV, but in other media (print, online). Even when working on ABC, when he was on, there was not a wasted word spoken on screen by the man.

I knew that he was battling cancer, but not realized that he had overcome it, only for it to come back. And after watching the tributes, and even his ESPY speech last year, he has become more than an inspiration to a generation or more of up-and-coming broadcasters, writers, sports junkies, but to many who are still battling. The line that stands out the most from his speech is one that should become a battle cry...no...THE BATTLE CRY for cancer patients, survivors, and their families:

"When you die, it does not mean that you lose to cancer. You beat cancer by how you live, why you live, and in the manner in which you live. So live. Live. Fight like hell. And when you get too tired to fight, lay down and rest and let somebody else fight for you."

I have watched many tributes to Scott. But this was the best one, I think:

Rich Eisen, now of the NFL Network:



My condolences go out to his family, to ESPN, and to all who can say that somehow, in some way, that Stuart Scott was a part of their daily lives, even if it was only for an instant.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

You Know That Penny Per Pack Thing I Talked About at the Dollar Tree???

It's over.

If you recall, my Christmas present from my son was a five-card pack of 2013 Topps Series 1 that he bought for a penny. I've given him some ribbing since that he could have made an effort to buy more...especially since he was budgeted a dollar for each person...

So finally, last night, I had the opportunity to go to the Dollar Tree to see what they had.

There was a box full of 2014 Topps Update Series, packs of 2013 Topps Update Series, and even some 2014 Topps Series 2. There were other products strewn around (although it is pointless to pack search these things, they were just everywhere), mostly repackaged cards (30 different cards from different sports for example).

I grabbed 10 packs each of the Series 2, and both Update Series and proceeded to checkout.

Guess what?

As soon as the cashier rang up the first pack...$1.00.

What??!

Yup. I guess the sale ended after the new year.

AAAAAAGGGGH!

So instead of paying $0.30 for 30 packs, I would have wound up paying $30.00. Yikes. So I returned all of the 2013 Update packs, and kept five packs each of 2014 S2 and Update.

Lesson learned.

But at least I was able to buy some cards. Haven't opened any yet, but I will let you know if there was anything interesting that was inside. Collectors who were lucky...I mean smart...enough to load up on packs have been finding short prints or even SSP's in these things. So maybe I'll find something good.

Or with my luck, five base cards.

Happy New Year!

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

2015 Is Here...2015 Topps Series 1 Comes Soon...

The year 2015 is now ten hours young in Chicago. Last night, my family and I were at a New Year's Eve party hosted by the family of one of my daughter's long-time friends. They're really nice people, and the food was rather good. It wasn't a sit-down dinner, but there were enough appetizers and Ramen noodles (which was our contribution to the party) to satisfy everybody. Conversation ranged from...let's see:

• Philosophy
• Quantum Physics
• Should you get a theatre degree?
• Kids want to go to New York to become Rockettes before going to college? Agree?
• What to do with boyfriends of daughters. Can we compare notes?
• Punk Music from the late 70's through early 80's MTV

While there was no sports talk whatsoever, I did keep to my phone, watching former Bull and current Pelican Omer Asik inadvertently tip the ball into his own basket, sending the New Orleans/San Antonio Spurs game into overtime. Baseball, hey, everyone is now 0-0, and while a few players are looking for the right team and contract, many are ready to go. I'm looking forward to the 2015 season, but more importantly, I want to know who's going into the Hall of Fame. I'll get to that in a later post.

But seeing as it's now 2015, it's time for me to put away the 2014 cards and binders, and prepare for the upcoming baseball card season. Now we all know what the cards are going to look like. I really can't wait to see these cards up close. The design is totally unique, with curved lines everywhere, and the circle pattern that encompasses the team logo. Yes, the logo is once again on the bottom right corner, just as it has been in every odd-year since 2009, but that doesn't detract from the overall beauty of the design.

Now, about the blog.

Just as I had worried about last year, I didn't spend as much time on this humble, little blog as I would have liked. Learning a new job does that to a person. But it's been a year now, and while there is still so much to learn, I have a better handle on the job responsibilities now than I did when I first started. I am hoping that means I can devote some time to other endeavors, like, the Hobby!!! I'm hoping that I can spend a bit more time on the blog, and not leave it to obscurity just yet.

One of my goals for 2015, besides completing the eponymous Topps set, is to go to a card show in Rosemont. I didn't go to any major card shows this year. This is the first time since moving up the street from the Convention Center. I am going to make sure that it will be the last time too. Even if I don't buy any cards at these large events, I just want to take in the atmosphere and see what's being sold.

So let's get to it:

Goodbye 2014!!!

Hello 2015!!!

Goodbye 2014 Topps Design!!!

Hello 2015 Topps Design!!!

May all your collections grow to new heights. Let's hope Topps makes it a bit easier on us insane set collectors (they probably won't but it's nice to dream.) Thank you for letting me into your computers this past year. I hope to be able to share more of my collection with you in 2015!!!

I do not know where this next journey will take me. All I know is that I am going to enjoy the ride. Let's make it a good one. Join me, will you?

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama