25 Years of Baseball

2003 Topps Series 2:

1. #456 Robin Ventura
2. #591 Cory Lidle
3. #615 Tyler Houston
4. #558 Tim Hudson
5. #531 Placido Polanco
6. #700 Andruw Jones (Gold Glove)
7. #486 Adam Eaton
8. #680 Joe Mauer/Justin Morneau (Prospects)
9. #640 Detroit Tigers (Team Card)
10. #679 Joe Borchard/Corwin Malone (Prospects)

Both Mauer and Morneau are 4-time All-Stars, both have won the league MVP award, and both have been with the Minnesota Twins for their entire career.

2000 Topps Series 1:

1. #160 Steve Finley
2. #157 Lance Johnson
3. #95 Ben Grieve
4. #187 Miguel Tejada
5. #127 Richard Hidalgo
6. #80 John Olerud
7. #124 Rich Aurilia
8. #102 Ron Gant
9. #135 John Valentin
10. #167 Aaron Sele
11. #231 Lance Johnson (20th Century’s Best)

As of 2000, Lance Johnson led active players in triples with 117.  In 1996, he became one of only four players in Major League history to lead the league in triples at least 5 times.  The other three are Sam Crawford (1914), Stan Musial (1951), and Willie Wilson (1988).

Who are our 2010 triples leaders so far?  Carl Crawford, Austin Jackson, and Dexter Fowler.

1993 Topps Series 2:

1. #701 Mike Piazza/Brook Fordyce/Carlos Delgado/Donnie Leshnock (Prospects)
2. #419 Mark Thompson (Draft Pick) (Rookie)
3. #575 Monty Fariss
4. #629 Cris Carpenter
5. #664 Calvin Jones
6. Gold #425 Joe Girardi
7. #639 Mike Bordick
8. #674 Mark Gubicza
9. #496 Reggie Jefferson
10. #414 Juan Guerrero
11. #646 Rich Scheid (Rookie)
12. #707 Donn Pall
13. #689 Eddie Zosky
14. #554 Arthur Rhodes
15. #675 Tim Raines

Another crop of early 90′s prospects here.  What became of them?

Mike Piazza went on to play 16 seasons in the Major Leagues and is regarded as one of the best hitting catchers of all time.  He officially announced his retirement in 2008 and ended his career with a .308 career batting average with 427 home runs.  He will likely be inducted into the Hall of Fame someday.

Brook Fordyce played in the Major Leagues 10 seasons and was regarded as a good hitting catcher, especially in the 2000 season when he hit .301 with 14 home runs.  He retired in 2004.

Carlos Delgado is surprisingly still playing baseball in the Boston Red Sox organization.  He is 38 years old and has 473 career home runs.  He probably wants to hit those remaining 27 home runs to reach the 500 club before he retires.

Donnie Leshnock was drafted by the New York Yankees and never made it past the single-A level.

2000 Topps Series 2:

1. #256 Charles Johnson
2. #295 Johnny Damon
3. #247 Randy Winn
4. #442 Rafael Furcal/Jason Dellaero/Travis Dawkins (Prospects)
5. #359 Hideki Irabu
6. #476e Barry Bonds (Magic Moments) (1992 MVP)
7. #348 Tim Salmon
8. #356 Troy O’Leary
9. #245 Ray Lankford
10. #254 Kenny Rogers
11. #266 Dave Roberts

“After accepting the 1990 NL MVP Award, and finishing a close second in ’91, Bonds grabbed the hardware again in ’92.  With Buc’s basher Bobby Bonilla gone, NL hurlers pitched around Bonds all year.  They walked him 127 times, including 32 intentionals.  Nevertheless, with his huge uppercut swing and 100-mph bat speed, he slugged .624 to pace the NL.  He also tallied a .311 average, 34 homers, 103 RBI, 39 steals and a league-high 109 runs.  He powered the Pirates to their third straight NL East crown.”

One of the rules of the baseball card industry should be:  ”One number per baseball card”.  Not 5 variations assigned to one number as in the case of the Magic Moments cards of 2000 Topps.  Also not letters instead of numbers or no number at all, as I’ve seen in other Topps cards.  So much confusion in the hobby could be avoided by eliminating vague and deceptive numbering.

2010 Topps Series 2:

1. #650 Dustin Pedroia
2. #657 Chris Young
3. #561 Ryan Zimmerman
4. #430 Kazuo Matsui
5. #370 Robinson Cano
6. #438 Jason Bartlett
7. #584 Matt Capps
8. #359 Aramis Ramirez
9. #425 Dontrelle Willis
10. #574 Milwaukee Brewers (Team Card)
11. #371 Nick Hundley
12. #494 Andrew Miller
13. #589 Edinson Volquez
14. #416 Ruben Tejada (Rookie Card)
15. #376 Esmil Rogers (Rookie Card)
16. #431 John Raynor (Rookie Card)
17. #503 Austin Jackson (Rookie Card)
18. #476 Yadier Molina
19. #520 Randy Wells
20. #654 Collin Balester
21. #632 Daric Barton
22. #604 Atlanta Braves (Franchise History)
23. #543 Adam Jones/Nick Markakis (Checklist)
24. #486 Raul Ibanez
25. #480 Boston Red Sox (Team Card)
26. #379 Phil Hughes
27. #559 Nick Markakis
28. Gold #356 Angels (Franchise History) (Serial#1353/2010)
29. The Cards Your Mom Threw Out #CMT66 Warren Spahn
30. History of the World Series #HWS2 Walter Johnson
31. Million Card Giveaway #TMC-20 Carl Yastrzemski
32. 2020 #T18 Clayton Kershaw
33. Vintage Legends #VLC9 Ozzie Smith
34. Turkey Red #TR90 Johan Santana
35. Legendary Lineage #LL-42 Lou Gehrig/Albert Pujols
36. Peak Performance #PP-89 B.J. Upton
37. #420 Shin-soo Choo
38. #448 Joakim Soria
39. #529 Carlos Lee
40. #614 Kelly Johnson
41. #660 Brandon McCarthy
42. #585 Dioner Navarro
43. #631 Marc Rzepczynski
44. #519 Alexi Casilla
45. #621 Aaron Cook
46. #521 Jeremy Bonderman
47. #484 Mike Fontenot
48. #396 Jake Westbrook
49. #447 Jeremy Guthrie
50. Attax Code Card #MH Matt Holliday

“Is Pujols the new Gehrig?  The comparison is compelling.  Through their age-29 seasons, Lou holds slight edges in RBI (1,146 to 1,112) and OPS (1.084 to 1,055), but Albert is way out in front in HRs (366 to 267).  They also rank third and fourth in most XBHs in a player’s first 5,000 career ABs — “The Iron Horse” with 761 and “Prince Albert” with 744.”

I think Topps is stretching it a little just to put Gehrig on a card with Pujols.  Pujols is actually much closer to Jimmie Foxx in comparison.  Through age 29, Pujols batted .334 with 366 home runs, while Foxx batted .334 with 379 home runs.  Foxx hit more home runs through age 29 than Pujols because he had 405 more at-bats.

Some other nice cards from this pack:

It’s amazing how Austin Jackson can lead the league in strikeouts, yet still maintain a batting average above .300:

I’m assuming this is from the Angels’ 2002 World Series title?

The Big Train:

and the Wizard of Oz:

I FINALLY got a pre-1970s card in the Topps Million Card Giveaway lottery!

1958 Topps #141 Ken Lehman

He was a relief pitcher in a time when needing a relief pitcher was a sign of weakness.

1991 Topps:

1. #261 Bud Harrelson (Manager)
2. #386 Cecil Fielder (All-Star)
3. #623 Jeff Blauser
4. #42 Chris Hoiles
5. #401 Barry Bonds (All-Star)
6. #426 Joe Grahe (Rookie)
7. #364 Dan Pasqua
8. #60 Frank Viola
9. #789 Tom Lasorda (Manager)
10. #121 Eric King
11. #276 Bill Swift
12. #183 Clay Parker
13. #725 Ron Gant
14. #105 Kevin McReynolds
15. #552 Jeff Hamilton

Getting Tommy Lasorda in two consecutive random packs from different years must be a sign.  Therefore today’s feature card is Tom Lasorda lookin’ slim and fast with a jacket slung coolly over his shoulder.

Today, even at the age of 82, Lasorda travels the country promoting his beloved Dodgers.

1987 Topps:

1. #667 Ron Hassey
2. #371 Mark Eichhorn
3. #604 Fernando Valenzuela (All-Star)
4. #732 Manny Trillo
5. #319 Greg Swindell (Rookie)
6. #271 Mike Brown
7. #711 Ken Griffey
8. #781 Atlee Hammaker
9. #126 Mike Loynd (Rookie)
10. #507 Dave Stapleton
11. #35 Sid Bream
12. #69 Lonnie Smith
13. #541 Rafael Belliard
14. #70 Charlie Hough
15. #200 Pete Rose
16. #457 Len Matuszek
17. #493 Tom Lasorda (Manager)

“Greg set University of Texas records with 19 Wins, 204 Strikeouts and 172 Innings in 1985.  He fanned 10-0r-more batters in a game 17 times during his 3-year career & ranks 3rd in NCAA history with 501 K’s.”

Greg Swindell was inducted into the National College Baseball Hall of Fame in 2008.

1991 Topps:

1. #338 Luis Rivera
2. #22 Storm Davis
3. #507 Steve Jeltz
4. #457 Todd Hundley (Rookie)
5. #669 Lou Piniella (Manager)
6. #560 Greg Smith
7. #777 John Candelaria
8. #228 Rex Hudler
9. #360 Rock Raines
10. #321 Bob Rodgers (Manager)
11. #114 Lance Dickson (Future Star) (Rookie)
12. #336 Matt Nokes
13. #499 Melido Perez
14. #469 Chet Lemon
15. #30 Gregg Jefferies

“Rock was selected as MVP of the 1987 All-Star Game.”

The 1987 All-Star Game was Raines’ 7th in a row, but also his final one.  During his 12-year career with the Montreal Expos, he batted .301 and averaged 53 stolen bases per season.  However, he fell from favor after he was traded to the Chicago White Sox after the 1990 season.  Since he left the Expos, he batted .282 and averaged only 16 stolen bases per season.