2001 Topps Series 2:
“Edgar’s 200th career home run, on 4/15/00, was a grand slam.”
Edgar hit his 300th home run in 2004 before retiring with 309 career home runs and a .312 career batting average.
2001 Topps Series 2:
Keith Bucktrot got up to the AA minor league level before being released by the Phillies.
Dane Sardinha is still active and consistently hits under .220 at the AAA level. He has been called up to the Majors four times already, but only hit .125 in 80 At-bats. He was picked up by the Phillies organization earlier this year.
2001 Topps Traded & Rookies:
I remember seeing a post on bdj610′s Topps Baseball Card Blog a while back where he said his favorite Topps set was 2001 Topps. After these past few days of opening 2001 Topps, I’d have to agree. The Justin Morneau Chrome rookie card and Ichiro rookie card I pulled yesterday are as good as pretty much any “hit” I could have pulled from more recent Topps releases.
“A .302 hitter in the Gulf Coast League (R) in 1999, Morneau was reassigned to the circuit in 2000 for more seasoning. His response: a batting title (.402), a league-high 58 RBI in 52 games and the GCL MVP Award. On July 20, 2000, he unloaded on the GCL Orioles for five hits and 10 RBI. “He’s as good a hitter as I’ve ever seen at this level,” said GCL Rangers manager Darryl Kennedy. Justin, who’s been used as both a first baseman and catcher, kept on slugging in the Midwest League (A) in ’01. In April, he earned a Player of the Week award after smaking .474 with eight extra-base hits.“
2001 Topps Series 2:
My thoughts while ripping this pack:
::rip rip rip::
thinking, “2001 Topps is so fun to rip, but dang these cards stick so badly”
“Pat Mahomes”, ::skrat:: (the sound the cards make as they get unstuck), “Mike Lansing”, ::SKKKRRRAAAATTTT!!::, “Ichi… YES YES YES! AWESOME! MY FAVORITE PLAYER’S ROOKIE CARD!!!… wait a minute… NOOOOOOOOO!!! NO NO NO!”
That’s when I realized that the only card I’ve ever damaged by unsticking stuck cards from a pack happened to be the Ichiro rookie card! While these are just for my private collection and I’m still happy just having my own copy, it still kinda sucks. Hope I pull another one someday ::crosses fingers::
2001 Topps Series 1:
“Ramirez has transformed himself into a superstar. His weight room results are obvious, while his gorgeous swing is the product of endless hours of BP. In the late 1990s, he worked with a psychologist to improve his focus on defense and the bases. It apparently helped him at the plate, too: In ’99, he batted .386 with men in scoring position.”
LOL, “His weight room results are obvious”… well the weight room among other things…
After a few failed launches in the 90′s, Topps began releasing a Traded & Rookies set again in 2001. This time it was a success, and Topps has followed up its flagship brand with a Traded & Rookies set in the hobby box format every year since.
2001 Topps Traded & Rookies promised 24 packs with 10 cards per pack, 2 Chrome cards in every pack, and a relic in every box. This configuration, along with Albert Pujols’ rookie card being in the set, made this the most expensive hobby box that I have ever purchased. I think I paid about $110 for it, which I still think was a good deal. However, I’d be a little irked if I didn’t at least get an Albert Pujols rookie card out of this.
Let’s see if we can get some Pujols in the first at-bat:
…and 2001 Traded Checklist 2 of 2
I am officially and undeniably impressed with 2001 Topps Traded and Rookies. If every pack is gonna be like this, I can’t wait to open up the rest. My only complaint is that there are a lot of reprints that confuse the numbering of the set. I also hate reprints.
The story behind (the card of) Phil Dumatrait:
“Phil has come so far, so fast that his performance ceiling is difficult to project. As a high school senior in 1999, he was such a soft-tosser that he wasn’t even drafted. But upon attending junior college, he suddently responded to arm-strength training so dramatically that his velocity increased 10-12 mph into the mid-90s. That was enough to make him a first-rounder in ’00. Dumatrait, who also has an outstanding curveball and an endearingly competitive demeanor, was lights out in the Gulf Coast League (R) that summer, allowing only three earned runs in a half-dozen starts. And since he has plenty of room on his frame for extra weight and muscle, he could deveop into a rare power-lefty.“
2001 Topps What Could Have Been #WCB8 George "Mule" Suttles
2001 Topps series 2:
“Only a handful of sluggers could stake a legitimate claim as the greatest home run hitter ever. One of them is Suttles. A former coal miner, Mule was 6-6, 230 pounds — gargantuan for ’20s-’30s era. With a bat rumored to weigh 50 ounces, he bashed 20 homers in 57 recorded Negro League games in 1930. One of them flew a reputed 600 feet. And in 79 at-bats against Major League players, he clubbed 11 roundtrippers — a home run percentage of 15.3, which is far greater than Babe Ruth’s or Mark McGwire’s.“
2001 Topps #688 Sammy Sosa
2001 Topps series 2:
“From 1996 to ’00, Sammy smashed 255 home runs — just one less than Babe Ruth’s greatest five-year stretch (’26-30).”
What do you think? Does this ‘roided up 600-HR Clubber belong in the Hall of Fame? Maybe we should let Jose Canseco decide.