2007 Topps Hit Parade #HP30 Bernie Williams

2007 Topps series 2:

1. #389 Gavin Floyd
2. #479 Chris Shelton
3. #509 Josh Fogg
4. #453 Howie Kendrick
5. Hit Parade #HP30 Bernie Williams
6. Distinguished Service #DS24 Red Schoendienst
7. Red Back #537 Kip Wells
8. Red Back #533 Erik Bedard
9. #416 Mark Redman
10. #435 Felix Hernandez

Wow, I’ve been really racking up these insert cards.  Purists would roll their eyes in disgust, but it actually makes opening these packs quite fun.

The Bernie Williams Hit Parade card is kind of weak.  He ranks 10th in Career Hits among active players with 2,336.  At least the card is shiny.

The Distinguished Service card is much cooler.  You can see where the autograph might go on the card if this had been an autographed version.  This set honors players who served in the U.S. armed forces.  The back of Red Schoendienst’s card says:

“THE INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE’S MOST VALUABLE PLAYER AFTER A FINE CAMPAIGN WITH THE ROCHESTER RED WINGS IN 1943, RED SEEMED TO BE ON A FAST TRACK TO BIG-LEAGUE STARDOM.  HE OPENED ’44 IN THE U.S. ARMY, THOUGH, AND SERVED UNTIL ’45, WHEN A SEVERE EYE INJURY GOT HIM DISCHARGED FROM THE SERVICE.  HE WAS ABLE TO MAKE HIS MAJOR LEAGUE DEBUT LATER THAT YEAR AND WENT ON TO FASHION A HALL OF FAME CAREER IN ST. LOUIS.“

2007 Topps Hit Parade #HP2 Ken Griffey Jr.

2007 Topps series 2:

1. #616 Fredi Gonzalez (Manager)
2. #593 Washington Nationals (Team Card)
3. #368 Mark Prior
4. #600 Ryan Zimmerman (Topps All-Star Rookie)
5. Hit Parade #HP2 Ken Griffey Jr.
6. DiMaggio Streak Before the Streak #JDSF7 Joe DiMaggio
7. Red Back #636 Mike Rabelo (Rookie)
8. Red Back #352 Carl Pavano
9. #510 Alex Rodriguez
10. #332 Chris Young

…and a series 2 checklist 1 of 3

The Ken Griffey Jr. Hit Parade card is a nice looking card.  The whole thing is shiny and the back has a list of Active Career Home Runs Leaders, in which Griffey ranks third (behind Bonds and Sosa).

Then there’s also a DiMaggio “Streak before the Streak” card commemorating a 61-game hitting streak Joe DiMaggio made with the minor league San Francisco Seals.  Topps explains, “Joe’s 56-game hitting streak of 1941 was not his longest as a professional.  In ’33, he put together a 61-gamer with the San Francisco Seals, shattering a 19-year-old Minor League record set by Jack Ness.”

Here’s my local baseball team, the 2006 Washington Nationals.

And in the same pack, Ryan Zimmerman, one of the key players on the Nationals.

Stale Gum

http://www.stalegum.com/

Stale Gum provides in-depth reviews and commentary about the latest baseball card products and about the baseball card industry in general.  If you hate reading blogs, the guy running the website, Chris Harris, also does a lot of enlightening box break videos.

2007 Topps series 2.  This pack was so awesome that I want to share the cards one by one this time:

#622 Matt Chico (Rookie)

Rookie card of the Washington Nationals’ (my local team) Matt Chico.  Unfortunately for Matt, the Nationals are the worst team in Major League Baseball.

#385 Brad Hawpe

I also used to live in Denver, so I’m also a fan of the Rockies.  Here’s Brad Hawpe in that beautiful Rockies uniform.

#460 Jose Reyes

He’s like the Dominican Rickey Henderson!

DiMaggio Streak #JD34 Joe DiMaggio

This card commemorates Joe DiMaggio hitting safely for the 34th consecutive game during his famous 56-game hitting streak.  It was June 21, 1941 at Yankee Stadium, hosting the Detroit Tigers.  The pitcher was Dizzy Trout and Joe got a single off of him.  Nice looking card, but damn I hate these “mirror” sets…

Opening Day Team vs. Team #OD13 Pittsburgh Pirates at Houston Astros

This card commemorates the Opening Day game between the Pirates and the Astros April 2, 2007 at Minute Maid Park.  Yawn.  I don’t like these non-player cards either.

Red Back #471 David Wells

He pitched the 15th perfect game in baseball history in 1998

Red Back #432 Takashi Saito

Japanese relief pitcher who’s been putting up some really impressive numbers over the past three years.  His career stats are 12-7, 1.95 ERA, 11.6 SO/9, and 81 SV.

#439 Miguel Tejada

Miguel Tejada’s nickname is “La Gua Gua”

#400 Ichiro

I always respect players with lots of speed and athleticism.  That’s why Ichiro is one of my favorite players.  This is the first Ichiro card I’ve ever gotten.

#447 Angel Berroa

Here’s the third Dominican player in this pack of 10 cards.  There were also two Japanese players.

Topps of the Class

And finally, Topps’ attempt to bring kids back to baseball cards.  Doesn’t seem to be working yet.  I suppose the most popular sport among kids these days isn’t baseball, football, or soccer.  It’s Pokemon training.

2007 Topps Trading Places #TP13 Gary Matthews

2007 Topps series 2:

1. #352 Carl Pavano
2. #583 Joe Inglett
3. #604 San Diego Padres (Team Card)
4. #467 Hanley Ramirez (Topps All-Star Rookie)
5. #445 Pablo Ozuna
6. Trading Places #TP13 Gary Matthews
7. Red Back #371 Kenny Lofton
8. Red Back #507 Shea Hillenbrand
9. #451 Bobby Jenks
10. #466 Raul Ibanez

Got another one of those Trading Places cards.  This one apparently uses the same picture twice, but with the second picture with an Angels uniform digitally added.  They enlarged the second picture a little and maybe adjusted the angle of the right arm a bit to make it look like two different pictures.

“After seven seasons of playing time ebb and flow, Matthews turned a monster 2006 season with the Rangers into a big deal with the Angels.  Gary made the All-Star Team last year, when he went .313-19-79 and sparkled on defense.  “I think he’s figured it out,” says manager Mike Scioscia.  “He’ll be productive offensively and a difference-maker in center.””

Gary Matthews was acquired by the Texas Rangers on April 8, 2004 as a free agent.  On November 22, 2006, he “Traded Places” to the Angels as a free agent.

2007 Topps Trading Places #TP12 J.D. Drew

2007 Topps, series 2:

1. #611 Eric Wedge (Manager)
2. #545 Miguel Cairo
3. #555 Andy Marte
4. #585 Willie Bloomquist
5. #613 Buddy Bell (Manager)
6. Trading Places #TP12 J.D. Drew
7. Red Back #614 Bob Geren (Manager)
8. Red Back #491 David Eckstein
9. #581 Mike Sweeney
10. #387 Nate Robertson

I really hope 2007 Topps isn’t heavily loaded with Manager cards like 2005 Topps.  In 2005 Topps, I got 8 managers in the first 6 packs I opened!  Here’s three in my first 2007 Topps pack.

My first insert card of 2007 Topps is a 1:9 Trading Places card of J.D. Drew:

“After trotting out Trot Nixon and a host of others since 1999, Boston will turn over right field to Drew in 2007.  J.D., who has hit three homers in six games at Fenway, was a 100-RBI man for the ’06 Dodgers and a 30-HR guy for the ’04 Braves.  “That’s going to be amazing,” he says of packaging himself in a batting order with Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz.”

It looks like the Trading Places insert set features players who have been traded.  Hmmm, sounds a lot like something called “Topps Traded” in the days of old.

2007 Topps series 2 hobby box

2007 TOPPS SERIES 2

Big picture of David Ortiz on the front of the Hobby Edition box.  The usual 36 packs per box.  10 cards per pack.  Packs with a relic card contain 8 cards.

The promotion on this box is a “2008 All-Star Game Promotion”.  “Be the MVP in NYC.  Thousands of prizes!  Look inside!”.  “Find an online instant win game card in 1 out of 5 packages”.

One major gripe I have about 2007 Topps is the “Red Back” cards that come 2 per pack.  This eliminates any possibility of even getting close to completing a set with one hobby box, because these Red Back cards are considered inserts, even though they look the same as the regular base cards.  That means even if you get no inserts (which is impossible) and no duplicates, you can only get 288 base cards from a hobby box, coming up 43 cards short of the full set (consisting of 331 cards).  Realistically though, you’ll probably get about 200-250 base cards towards your set from a single hobby box.

HIGHLIGHT AUTOGRAPHS

GROUP A:  Albert Pujols, Jim Thome, Ryan Howard, Steve Trachsel, Vladimir Guerrero

GROUP B:  Andruw Jones, Curtis Granderson, David Ortiz, Endy Chavez, Johnny Damon, Justin Verlander, Kendry Morales, Paul Lo Duca, Shin-Soo Choo, Tom Glavine

GROUP C:  David Wright, Dontrelle Willis, Kelvim Escobar, Russell Martin, Ryan Zimmerman

GROUP D:  Derrick Turnbow, Matt Cain

GROUP E:  Aaron Boone, Anthony Reyes, Craig Wilson, Dan Uggla, Ervin Santana, Jon Garland, Joel Zumaya, Lastings Milledge, Melky Cabrera, Robinson Cano, Shawn Chacon, Scott Podsednik, Shawn Riggans

2007 Topps series 2 pack

HIGHLIGHT RELICS

GROUP A:  Alfonso Soriano, David Eckstein, Garrett Atkins, Grady Sizemore, Johnny Damon, Justin Verlander, Tom Glavine

GROUP B:  Adrian Beltre, Anthony Reyes, Albert Pujols, Barry Bonds, Chipper Jones, Jim Thome, Matt Cain, Mark Teixeira, Melky Cabrera, Miguel Tejada, Paul Konerko, Robinson Cano, Roy Halladay, Ryan Howard

GROUP C:  Alex Rodriguez, Jermaine Dye, Lance Berkamn, Scott Kazmir

GROUP D:  Aramis Ramirez, David Ortiz, David Wright, Manny Ramirez, Nick Swisher, Pedro Martinez, Vladimir Guerrero, Vernon Wells

GROUP E:  Andruw Jones, Dontrelle Willis

2007 Topps cards, front and back

Approximate odds per pack of finding (*Sequentially Numbered):

Inserts listed in green are likely to be found in every hobby box

Generation Now 1:4; MVP in NYC 1:5; Topps Stars 1:9; Trading Places 1:9; Hit Parade 1:9; Mantle HR History 1:9; The Streak 1:9; The Streak before the Streak 1:9; *Gold Parallel 1:11; Opening Day 1:12; Distinguished Service 1:12; Mantle Story 1:18; Base Variation 1:30; 1st Day Edition 1:36; AROD Road to 500 Continuity 1:36; 06 Highlights Relic Group D 1:533; 06 Highlights Relic Group B 1:609; Highlights Autograph Group E 1:1,410; 06 Highlights Relic Group C 1:1,420; 06 Highlights Relic Group E 1:1,705; 06 Highlights Relic Group A 1:2,435; Trading Places Relic 2,435; Trading Places Autograph 1:3,055; Highlights Autograph Group B 1:7,330; Highlights Autograph Group C 1:7,330; Mantle HR History Relic 1:12,106; Highlights Autograph Group D 12,198; *Platinum Parallel 1:24,000; Highlights Autograph Group A 1:37,162; Generation Now Autograph 1:94,000; 1953 Mantle Reprint Relic 1:199,750; Distinguished Service Cut Signature 1:165,000; AROD Road to 500 Continuity Autograph 1:750,000

KEY CARDS

Key rookies in this set include Daisuke Matsuzaka, Alex Gordon, and Hideki Okajima.  Other key cards include the “No Signature” cards of Jason Bay, Paul LoDuca, Jim Thome, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Alex Gordon, and Yadier Molina, the “Classic Combos” card of Alex Rodriguez/Derek Jeter, and the #661 Barry Bonds card.

1995 Topps #552 Vinny Castilla

1995 Topps series 2:

1. #415 Mike Magnante
2. Cyberstats #281 Rico Brogna
3. #652 Shane Andrews/Carlos Perez (On Deck) (Rookie)
4. #537 Jon Lieber
5. #518 Omar Daal
6. #581 David Bell/Joel Chimelis/Lino Diaz/Aaron Boone (Prospects) (Rookie)
7. #593 Steve Ontiveros
8. #644 Angel Martinez/Paul Spoljaric (On Deck) (Rookie)
9. #626 Steve Finley
10. #504 Rick Wilkins
11. #552 Vinny Castilla
12. #468 Pat Kelly
13. #607 Felix Jose

I used to live in Denver when the Rockies first arrived as an expansion team.  So as a result, I was a Rockies fan and Vinny Castilla became one of my favorite players on the team.

“Vinny entered the season with a .254 AVG but, after a little minor league tune-up, closed out the campaign with a .331 mark.  Along the way, he played his usual shortstop and third base, but also made his debut at 2nd and 1st.  Vinny hit .372 with all of his HR’s vs. RHP’s.”

I also noticed that Pat Kelly can fly like Spiderman:

1995 Topps #468 Pat Kelly