25 Years of Baseball

2008 Topps Update Gold Foil #UH155 Jay Bruce (Highlights)

I finally got my hands on a box of 2008 Updates & Highlights, and I’m planning on opening every pack in the box before next spring so I’ll have time to send in any redemptions I might find.  Here we go, the first pack of 2008 Topps Updates & Highlights:

1. #UH74 Corey Patterson
2. #UH152 Steve Trachsel
3. #UH330 Johan Santana
4. #UH69 Chad Moeller
5. #UH231 Chris Davis (Rookie)
6. #UH147 Josh Banks (Rookie)
7. #UH192 Craig Hansen
8. #UH149 Paul Hoover
9. #UH198 Andy LaRoche
10. Gold Foil #UH155 Jay Bruce (Highlights)

…and an expired Topps Town code card.

“Two shaving cream pies to the face and a bucket of ice water dumped on him — that was the price Jay paid for going 3-for-3 with a double, two RBI and two runs scored in his Major League debut.  Fans chanted, “Bruuuuuuce!” during the 9-6 Reds home victory over the Pirates, in which the rookie outfielder reached base in all five plate appearances.“

Now that I’ve archived all of my Topps cards, it’s time for the last phase of my Archives project.  This phase is gonna take quite awhile to complete.  I have about 5,000 non-Topps cards dating from 1981 to 1994.  I’m going to go ahead and integrate these into my collection as well, rather than let them sit and pretend they don’t exist.

I admit, back in 1992 I knew Topps as the company that made the cheap ugly cards that weren’t worth anything.  There were so many other brands by then that looked so much more appealing than Topps.  Upper Deck was the brand to buy in 1992, but there was also Donruss, Fleer, Bowman, Pinnacle, Stadium Club, Fleer Ultra, Studio, Leaf… Topps was probably the least appealing out of all the brands to buy.

It will probably take a few months, but I’m going to integrate all of these non-Topps cards into my main collection and show off some of the best ones, starting with 1981 Fleer:

1981 Fleer #638 Carl Yastrzemski

1. #485 Rollie Fingers
2. #638 Carl Yastrzemski

I have a nice treat of a pack break today to kick off my upcoming Topps Traded and Topps Updates pack breaks.  Today I’m opening up the 2008 Topps Updates & Highlights box topper.  It’s supposed to contain an exclusive Chrome Refractor rookie card.  I don’t think I’ve ever seen a Chrome Refractor before.

Let’s see what I got…

2008 Topps Update Chrome #CHR54 Eric Hurley

1. Chrome #CHR54 Eric Hurley (Rookie)

Well, it’s not some hyped-up rookie superstar whose career will fizzle in a couple years.  I never heard of him.

“Called upon to replace departed starter Sidney Ponson, Eric picked up his first Major League victory on June 29, 2008, pitching into the sixth inning of a 5-1 Rangers win over the Phillies.  The former first-round draft pick blossomed in ‘05, when he compiled a 12-6 record with Clinton while leading the Class A Midwest League with 152 strikeouts.”

He looks like he has some potential…

Too bad he just tore his rotator cuff and underwent surgery earlier this year.

Well, now that I’ve collected one of each regular series basic Topps hobby box from the past 25 years, and integrated every regular series basic Topps card from my old collection into my new collection, I’ve decided to foray into Topps Traded and Topps Updates sets.  I felt bad for not getting 2008 Topps Updates and Highlights last year, and it’s gonna be a long offseason if I don’t get this year’s Update set, so the decision has been made… 25yearsofbaseball will include Topps Updates A.K.A. Topps Series 3.

I was never into the Topps Traded sets when I was collecting as a kid, probably because most of the time they were only available as complete sets.  In 1990, I did get my hands on a few packs of 1990 Topps Traded.  It’s a completely worthless set that I wouldn’t pay more than the price of a Starbucks coffee today.  The only cards of note in the set are David Justice and John Olerud rookie cards, which were cool in 1990, but with our hindsight we know that those players are not exactly Hall of Fame material.  Beckett lists the complete set as going for anywhere between $1.25 and $3.00.

1990 Topps Traded #130T Dave Winfield

So without further ado, here are my 1990 Topps Traded archives, to be integrated into my collection:

1. #4T Steve Avery
2. #6T Carlos Baerga (Rookie)
3. #9T Mike Blowers (Rookie)
4. #15T Tom Brunansky
5. #16T John Burkett
6. #19T Gary Carter
7. #20T Joe Carter
8. #27T Wayne Edwards (Rookie)
9. #32T John Franco
10. #45T Jeff Huson
11. #47T Stan Javier
12. #53T Brad Komminsk
13. #58T Tim Leary
14. #65T Candy Maldonado
15. #67T Mike Marshall
16. #69T John Marzano
17. #71T Jack McDowell
18. #75T Alan Mills (Rookie)
19. #78T Randy Myers
20. #80T Junior Noboa
21. #84T Greg Olson (Rookie)
22. #86T Dave Parker
23. #89T Alejandro Pena
24. #90T Tony Pena
25. #95T Tony Phillips
26. #100T Willie Randolph
27. #101T Jeff Reardon
28. #105T Kevin Romine
29. #108T Bill Sampen (Rookie)
30. #109T Juan Samuel
31. #110T Scott Sanderson
32. #112T Dave Schmidt
33. #116T Don Slaught
34. #119T Paul Sorrento (Rookie)
35. #121T Russ Swan (Rookie)
36. #130T Dave Winfield

2009 Topps Gold Border #234 John Russell (Serial#1813/2009)

2009 Topps series 1:

1. #31 Ian Stewart
2. #126 Orlando Hudson
3. #115 Kevin Youkilis
4. #81 Ryan Howard/Adam Dunn/Carlos Delgado (League Leaders)
5. #43 Joe Mauer/Dustin Pedroia/Milton Bradley (League Leaders)
6. Gold Border #234 John Russell (Serial#1813/2009)
7. Topps Town #TTT3 Grady Sizemore
8. #108 Alcides Escobar (Rookie)
9. #237 Aaron Cunningham (Rookie)
10. #236 Kelly Johnson

“Deliberate and attentive to detail, John was pegged as “manager material” back in his Minor League playing days.  After spending 10 years in the Pirates farm system and three years as a Pittsburgh coach, he made his Major League managerial debut in 2008.  The Pirates made modest improvement (two more wins than in ‘07) in the standings, but Russell hopes a foundation based on fundamentals will pay dividends.“

2008 Topps T205 archives, to be integrated into my collection:

2008 Topps T205 #TCP1 Albert Pujols

1. #TCP1 Albert Pujols *x2
2. #TCP10 Ryan Howard

2008 Topps #363 Brian Barton (Rookie)

2008 Topps series 2:

1. #635 Michael Young
2. #435 Torii Hunter
3. #363 Brian Barton (Rookie)
4. #499 Milton Bradley
5. #374 Jason Jennings
6. #366 Jeff Weaver
7. Gold Foil #575 Ty Wigginton
8. #515 A.J. Burnett
9. #553 Jo-Jo Reyes
10. #540 John Smoltz

…and Series 2 Checklist 3 of 4.

“Brian, who earned a degree in aeronautical engineering from the U. of Miami, has a chance to soar into the Major Leagues for the first time in 2008 after being selected in the Rule 5 Draft from the Indians organization.  “Barton is a player that has always hit, and he can play all three outfield positions,” says Cardinals VP of scouting Jeff Luhnow.“

2008 Topps Year in Review archives, to be integrated into my collection:

2008 Topps Year in Review #YR32 Derrek Lee

1. #YR32 Derrek Lee
2. #YR93 Damian Miller