2014 Topps Series 1: My top five

The final 4 cards for the set arrived today with the last of my Sportlots purchases from this past weekend. This might be the fastest I've completed a set since I started the blog.

My standard M.O. for selecting the top 5 is by going through the set twice, and pulling out the cards that strike me as interesting as I go.  I usually end up with anywhere from 10-15 cards that I really like, and from that smaller group I whittle down to the top 5.

This time, I only found 8 that I really stood out for me.  The honorable mentions this time go to Nick Hundley (the tongue), Nate Schierholtz (great diving catch), and Chris Getz (double play/potential kick to the groin).

So, without any further babbling, here are the 5 cards I thought the best in Series 1.   Feel free to disagree.

#5--  194  Joel Hanrahan

I just read that Hanrahan is going to hold a showcase sometime during the next couple of weeks for teams that may be interested in his services.  Boston unfortunately got the worst of the deal with Pittsburgh (as a Blue Jays fan I'm secretly smiling), but if he can rebound to the point where he left off with Pittsburgh, then some team is going to be very lucky.  This card showing him signing for the fans was an easy choice for me, as cards that show players giving a little something back to the faithful have always been a winner in my book.

#4--  8  Coco Crisp

Better than the Oscar Gamble cards of the 70's?  The green and gold A's colors, the fantastic afro neatly trimmed.  Great look, great card.

# 3--  326  Khris Davis

It looks as though the ball is in the glove, it's very hard to tell though.  Great photo of man meets wall.  Ryan Braun's suspension helped launch this guy's career last season, and 2014 has Davis hitting over .300 so far. 

#2--  212 Jason Heyward

I can sympathize with those who weren't happy because they couldn't see Heyward's face on this card.   But this is one helluva shot.  Does he catch the ball?  Does he hit the wall?  Full extension, eyes on the ball.   Fantastic.  This would have been #1 for me if it wasn't for the next card...

#1--  42 Mariano Rivera

July 28th, 2013, Mariano Rivera comes trotting in from the bullpen with the game tied 5-5 and throws a 3 up 3 down inning on 12 pitches.   The Yankees score in the 9th to win the game. 

I don't like the Yankees, and I never will.   But for me, this card pays a great tribute to the man who will probably be the best closer I will ever see in my lifetime. 

At least Topps got it right and gave him card #42 for his swan song.

And that, is my top 5...

thanks for reading, Robert

My top 5: 1975 Topps

It's finally done.  I have all 660 cards of the '75 Topps baseball set in my possession, and yes it's a very colorful and wonderful set. 

When going through the set to determine the top 5 cards (in my opinion), I look through the entire set twice.  If I were to look at the set only once, I would surely miss something that would merit consideration.  True to form, I did miss something and it actually shows up in this countdown. 

Another thing that I noticed about the set is that there aren't a lot of action shots.  The majority of the cards are posed shots, standard stuff you would see in spring training shots.  It kind of surprised me to be honest.

OK, enough chatter.   Here are my top 5 cards in the set. 

5.  #80 Carlton Fisk

Yes, this is your basic stand there with the bat in your hands and look like you're ready to hit pose.  What struck me is the background.  Tell me that isn't some random apartment/office building in Winter Haven, FL (that's where the Sox spent spring training in the 70's).   Were they taking photos at some playground/little league field back then?  The card is so off the wall it's cool, that's why it makes #5.

4:  # 30 Bert Blyleven

This is the card I almost missed the first time through the set.   It never fails, I always end up going too fast and miss something.  Who doesn't love a card with someone blowing a bubble on it?   I'm guessing that those are hooks on the wall in the dugout, and is that graffiti on the wall to the left?   The card also makes you wonder who he was planning on giving the hotfoot to next.

3.  # 6  '74 Highlights Mike Marshall

Why this card in the top 5?  Because the accomplishment is amazing.  A reliever pitching 2 out of every 3 days.  Marshall pitched 208.1 innings, all in relief, that season.  He finished 83 of those games.  Only 4 pitchers since then have appeared 90 times, and the only AL pitcher to do it since '74?  Yep, Mike Marshall himself with 90 games in 1979.  Only rubber armed Kent Tekulve has appeared in 90+ games in 3 seasons. 

Look at the death stare he's giving Walter Alston.  It's almost as if he's saying, "you're not taking me out of this game".  That's what makes this card even greater as far as I'm concerned.

2.  # 625   Boog Powell

You're right, on 99 out of 100 other people's lists, this card would easily be #1.  It is a great card, but I have my reasons for my choice.  The expression on Powell's face is priceless on this card, searching for the ball on what appears to be a very sunny day is great.  Powell actually played the '75 season in Cleveland, enjoying a bit of a renaissance with 27 HRs and a .297 average. 

1.  # 640  Harmon Killebrew

Love the old school light blue Twins jersey.  Love that he's signing a program for a fan, and there's something about players being photographed while taking time out for the fans that I really enjoy.  I've said that on this blog many times before, and will keep on saying it as long as I keep seeing these types of cards.  Even the brown on top, orange on the bottom color scheme is great.   Killebrew wound up spending his final season in '75 playing for the Royals, hitting 14 HRs.  The Twins actually retired his number during the '75 season, while he was still playing.  Now that's respect.

Honorable mention:  Ralph Garr, Joe Ferguson, Rollie Fingers, Rick Monday, Fergie Jenkins

And that's my top 5.  Love em or leave em.

Thanks for reading, Robert

The so bad it's good set. My top 5: 2001-02 UD Vintage hockey

I will say this, my quest to post a top 5 for each set that I complete is doing some good.  It's forcing me to take a look at some of the sets that I started years ago.  Sometimes those years actually turn to a decade or more, which is the case with the set I just finished this week.

I finally finished the 2001-02 Upper Vintage hockey set, with the word vintage being used very loosely.

Definitely not the greatest release ever put to cardboard.  But it was one of those sets that I vowed when I first started this blog that I would complete, and now finally it has been put to bed.

So try and suppress those yawns, and take a look at my top 5 cards from this very monotonic set.

#5:  Dan Bylsma

There are 37 cards listed in the Trading Card Database of Dan Bylsma.  By my count, 27 of them are parallels.  For a guy that played during an era where there was a multitude of sets and cards produced, Dan sure didn't make the cut for a lot of sets. 

It's also cool to see Coach Bylsma with out his glasses...

#4:  Wes Walz

Let'z zee, how many wayz can I type wordz with the letter z inztead of an s??  Maybe one of the funniest error cards I've come across, you have to wonder how Upper Deck blew this one.  Walz played 607 games over a 13 year NHL career, and I'm sure that not one time in the box scores did anyone spell his name Wez. 

#3:  Miroslav Satan

There was a time when I actually liked these 3rd uniforms for the Sabres.  I'd like to think that my mental faculties have gotten a lot better in the decade since then...

I don't know if it ever would be a good idea for Satan to be walking around with sabres attached to him....

#2:  Daniel Sedin

Another classic mistake by the Upper Deck company (at least in my opinion).  Anyone who has followed hockey for the past decade knows about the Sedin twins.  For some reason, in this set Upper Deck included a card of Daniel, but didn't use Henrik.

Maybe UD thought they could get two cards for the price of one? 

#1:  Dominik Hasek

I will give credit for Upper Deck getting Hasek on a Red Wings card for this set.  Hasek was traded by Buffalo to the Red Wings after 9 seasons in the Queen City.  Hasek paid immediate dividends for the Wings by leading them to the Stanley Cup in 2001-02.  Hasek was only one of 3 cards in the set that didn't feature the player in some kind of hockey "action" pose.  The other 2 were players that also found new homes in 2001-02, Jeremy Roenick and Doug Weight.

So there you have it, the best of the best...or so to speak.

Thanks for reading, Robert

My top 5: 2013 Topps Heritage

I received a PWE from Doug over at the Sportscards From The Dollar Store blog that contained card #259, which finished off this set, finally.  With set #27 complete and ready to be put away, I did what will be customary for me going forward, I took a good look at all the cards and came up with my top 5.  There is a kind of a disclaimer for this top 5, since I didn't bother with chasing down the SPs this year.  That means you're only going to see what I call the top 5 from cards 1-425.

This card is not on the countdown, but I'm going to show it anyways, because it appears that the Cardinals may have two great pitchers on their staff, and I thought that both of them sharing a rookie card was excellent.

Both Miller and Rosenthal came up for looks last season, and in 2013 they have been very solid hurlers for St. Louis.  A potentially great foundation for years to come...

OK, here we go:

# 5:  Card #263 Vance Worley

I forget who the other pitcher in the set was that had the same type of glasses as Worley, but I picked Vance's card for the sole fact that his frames were solid white.  The lenses are so thin that it almost looks as if he's wearing nothing but the frames.

#4:  Card #305  Todd Helton

There are a couple of miserable looking souls on the countdown, and Helton's card just screams "I'm 40 years old dammit, don't you have a stock photo you could use of me??"  It also must be miserably cold where the photo was taken, because it appears that the trees behind Todd still don't have any leaves on them.

#3:  Card #63  Jason Grilli

I could have easily made this card #2 or #1, simply because this is the defining yell at the end of outings that Pittsburgh has seen for the past two years.  This guy pitches with raw emotion, and leaves everything he has on the field every time he goes out. 

#2:  Card #35  Michael Bourn

The 2nd miserable looking player to be featured, Bourn looks like he'd rather be anywhere than having his picture taken.  Even better, that's not his bat.  Bourn wore #24 while with Atlanta in 2012.  Who wore #48 last year for the Braves?  Tommy Hanson, who went 1 for 49 at the plate.  Probably why the bat looks so new.  Stick with the leaping catches Michael....

#1:  Card #68 Cameron Maybin

I get a chuckle every time I look at this card.   Tell me that isn't the look of a player, eyes on the pitcher after returning to the dugout thinking "I'm going to get you next time".  This is one of the few cards in the set that looks like the photo was taken during a game, which gives me more reason to like it.

I'm sure that there are other cards that people liked more than these, but hey that's what makes card collecting so great.  Everyone has their opinions, good, bad or indifferent.  Let me hear what you think I missed....

Thanks for reading, Robert

2013 Topps series 2: My top 5

I kind of enjoy running these little countdowns when I complete a set.  I'm so consumed most of the time with getting the cards in order that I don't take the time to appreciate them.  Topps did a good job with the photography again this time around, and so without further adieu, I present my top 5 cards from series 2.

#5:  Card # 517 Pedro Alvarez

I showed this card off when I first received it a few weeks back.  I love the photo, the timing of the point of contact with the baseball is perfect.    I don't think that this card would have worked as well had the photo been placed vertically instead of horizontally. 

#4:  Card # 630 Andy Dirks

Continuing along with my love of outfielder catches/leaps, this card of Andy Dirks is great.  Tell me something, padding or no padding, that impact with the wall had to hurt.  Hell, if it were me, I probably would have busted a couple of ribs.   Who am I kidding, my ass would never have gotten up that high. 

#3:  Card # 487 Hanley Ramirez

There may be a lot of you that scoff at this choice, but I really do like the bat flip on this card.  I've heard a lot of broadcasters go on about how bat flipping is disrespectful, but how is that any different than a pitcher walking off the mound after a strikeout giving the fist pump and yelling.  If the bat flip is not at an opposing team's player, or their dugout, I have no problem with it.  If you do it, be prepared to be thrown at, because not all pitchers have a flair for the dramatic.

#2:  Card # 541 Jon Lester

Have you ever had a card just jump out at you?  That's what this card did for me.  The eyes, the glove over the rest of Lester's face hiding any emotion.  The dark red of the jersey.  A lot of you may disagree with my choice here at #2, but it took a lot for me not to place this at #1.  This is a great card in my opinion.

#1:  Card # 540  Michael Bourn

 
The only thing that's missing from this card is the location of the ball.  How high up do you think Bourn is, 2.5 feet maybe?  The concentration he has on the ball with Jason Heyward right beside him is incredible as well, because I know that I sure would have been quite distracted with someone that close to me.  The battling drink logos don't hurt either. 

There were a couple of cards that came close to making the Top 5, such as #412 Everth Cabrera (in his camos flying through the air), # 546 Carlos Quentin about to do a rolling block on Josh Thole and # 568 Steve Lombardozzi getting a very sticky Gatorade shower. 

I'm sure that there may be those who have some differing opinions (maybe most of you, who knows..), and I'd sure like to hear them.

Thanks for reading, Robert

2013 Topps Series 1: My top 5

I've wanted to do this post for the past 10 days now, but I kept putting it off when other ideas came to my mind.

Since I finally own all the cards in the set, I can honestly give my opinion as to what my top 5 are. 

Remember, it's not the top 5, these are the 5 cards that I like the best.  The one thing that I did notice while leafing through the 330 cards is that there is a lot of generic pitching and batting photos.  I finally managed to whittle down the 330 to 12, and then from those 12 I chose my 5 favorites.

Best of the rest?  Danny Espinosa (card 97), Didi Gregorius (296) and A.J. Pierzynski (12).  Those cards were good, but for me, my top 5 was just a bit better.

5.  David DeJesus (card # 209)

Any card showing a great catch in the ivy at Wrigley Field will be a part of one of my countdowns.  The only catch better than this?  Check out this commercial...

4. Matt Holliday (card # 207)

Nothing like a great photo featuring a hard nosed play at the plate.   Even better??  Check out where the tag was made.  No wonder Holliday was grimacing.  You don't see that on a card very often.

3.  Daniel Descalso (card # 190)

Now, you may be saying "what about the Daniel Murphy card?"  I did have the Murphy in my top 12, but for some reason, I prefer the head on shot of Descalso flying through the air more than the side view shot of Murphy.   The look on Descalso's face as well is one of determination, a great shot all around.  The striped socks don't hurt either...

2.  Jon Jay (card # 224)

With 3 cards in the top 5 showing outfielders committing a heinous crime, I'm sure you can guess that I'm slightly partial to those kinds of photos.  For me, there's 3 things that stand out on this card.  One, Jay is airborne.  Two, the photo of Tony LaRussa on the wall is a great secondary image on the card.  Three, the look on the face of the fan with the Washington Nationals jersey.  I wonder if the baseball in that guys hand was the one that Jay was going after....

1.  Josh Reddick (card # 316)

You can argue all you want about any other card in the set.  This photo in my opinion is just fantastic, because the larceny that Reddick is about to commit is well documented.  Glove over the wall, ball about to land in the glove, right at the foul line.  Fantastic.

Begin the disagreements....

Thanks for reading, Robert