““Dice-K” and durability go hand-in-hand.  As a teen in Japan, he once threw about 500 pitches (and a no-hitter) in a tournament.  Now he’s chewing up innings — and hitters — for the Red Sox.  In 2008, he went 18-3.”

Although in 2007 and 2008 he pitched over 370 innings and went 33-15, since then he has only pitched 250 innings and is 16-15.

2009 Topps Series 1:

1. #311 Kelly Shoppach
2. #228 Scott Rolen
3. #206 Johan Santana/Tim Lincecum/Jake Peavy (League Leaders)
4. #221 Cliff Lee/Roy Halladay/Daisuke Matsuzaka (League Leaders)
5. Turkey Red #TR30 Christy Mathewson
6. Topps Town Gold #TTT25 Daisuke Matsuzaka
7. #315 Hiroki Kuroda
8. #141 Mark Teahen
9. #44 Geoff Jenkins
10. #175 Jeff Samardzija

“Cole has lived up to his lofty reputation as one of the great young talents in baseball.  A former San Diego high school star who was drafted in the first round in 2002, he posted an 11-3 Minor League record before debuting for Philadelphia with some terrific starts in 2006.  The next year, he emerged as the staff ace, going 15-5 with two complete games and throwing a scoreless inning in the 2007 MLB All-Star Game.  Hamels and his lethal change-up continued to dominate in 2008.  The southpaw was 14-10 with a 3.09 ERA (fifth in the National League) and was named both 2008 World Series and NLCS MVP after going 4-0 with a 1.80 ERA in the postseason.”

Hamels is having the best season of his career so far, going 6-2 with a 3.06 ERA and 68 strikeouts in 67⅔ innings.

2009 Topps Series 1:

1. #323 Vicente Padilla
2. #330 Daisuke Matsuzaka
3. #31 Ian Stewart
4. #4 Chipper Jones/Albert Pujols/Matt Holliday (League Leaders)
5. #153 Lastings Milledge
6. Turkey Red #TR41 Cole Hamels
7. Topps Town #TTT24 Jay Bruce
8. #137 Angel Salome (Rookie Card)
9. #168 Mark DeRosa
10. #251 Greg Smith

“Jorge keeps a quote in his locker from his childhood hero, Thurman Munson.  It serves as a daily reminder that hitting is important, but not nearly as vital as the work he does behind the plate.”

Maybe the pitchers have gotten better, or maybe the weather hasn’t been quite right, but Posada is one of many otherwise good hitters who are struggling this season with sub-.200 batting averages.

2009 Topps Updates & Highlights:

1. #UH219 Ken Takahashi (Rookie Card)
2. #UH201 Jordan Zimmermann (Rookie Card)
3. #UH221 Adrian Gonzalez (Home Run Derby)
4. #UH117 Alex Rios
5. #UH184 Francisco Cordero (All-Star)
6. Gold #UH67 Brandon McCarthy (Serial#0446/2009)
7. Topps Town Gold #FCTTT64 Jorge Posada
8. #UH134 Derek Holland (Rookie Card)
9. #UH284 Mark Melancon (Rookie Card)
10. #UH250 Mark Teixeira

“Colby tasted success at a young age, playing in the 1999 Little League World Series and setting high school home run records in Alabama.  The former first-rounder shows good pop and plays strong defense.  ”If there was a five-tool player in the league, Rasmus was the one,” Tulsa manager Stu Cole said after Cody hit 29 Texas League homers in 2007.”

Rasmus is off to a great start, hitting .305 so far this season.

2009 Topps Series 2:

1. #512 Steve Pearce
2. #458 Jeremy Bonderman
3. #446 Matt Holliday
4. #429 Mike Hampton
5. WBC Stars #BCS5 Ichiro
6. Gold #544 Pat Neshek (Serial#1011/2009)
7. Topps Town #TTT40 Nate McLouth
8. #631 Colby Rasmus (Rookie Card)
9. #577 Jose Contreras
10. #537 Anthony Reyes

“Injuries reformulated the Jays rotation into one of extreme inexperience in 2009, but the team remained in contention thanks to the contributions of pitchers such as Scott.  With only five games of MLB work by age 29, he was a longshot to make the roster.  Yet he was named the AL Rookie of the Month for April, during which time he went 3-0 with a 2.70 ERA.”

2009 Topps Updates & Highlights:

1. #UH70 Wilkin Ramirez (Rookie Card)
2. #UH7 Brayan Pena
3. #UH113 Francisco Rodriguez (All-Star)
4. #UH186 Zack Greinke (All-Star)
5. #UH318 Carl Crawford (All-Star)
6. Gold Border #UH310 Scott Richmond (Serial#0591/2009)
7. Topps Town #TTT63 Jose Reyes
8. #UH146 Juan Cruz
9. #UH326 Nate McLouth
10. #UH328 Matt Palmer

“Chris was raised in the hockey hotbed of Exeter, N.H., While his first love was baseball, he did more than just dabble in the stick-and-puck sport; Carpenter earned All-State honors twice on the ice.”

2009 Topps Updates & Highlights:

1. #UH72 John Mayberry Jr. (Rookie Card)
2. #UH205 Dallas Braden
3. #UH303 Luke French (Rookie Card)
4. #UH2 Felipe Lopez
5. #UH266 Jonathan Broxton (All-Star)
6. Gold #UH207 Garrett Jones (Serial#0521/2009)
7. Legends of the Game #LGU23 Rogers Hornsby
8. Topps Town Gold #FCTTT66 Chris Carpenter
9. #UH5 Brian Fuentes
10. #UH91 Anderson Hernandez

“Neftali unleashed a change-up at 91 mph in his August 3, 2009, Major League debut — a discouraging sign to anyone who hadn’t yet seen his heater.  Oakland batter Tommy Everidge later saw — and somehow managed to foul off — a Feliz fastball clocked at 101.  Needless to say, the two-inning, four-strikeout performance opened plenty of eyes to the 21-year-old phenom.”

So far this season, Neftali has closed out 6 games for the Rangers for 4 saves, never allowing any earned runs, only allowing 2 hits, and walking one.

2009 Topps Updates & Highlights:

1. #UH24 Gabe Gross
2. #UH167 Julio Borbon (Rookie Card)
3. #UH18 John Grabow
4. #UH282 Victor Martinez
5. #UH252 Justin Verlander (All-Star)
6. Propaganda #PP30 Zack Greinke
7. Topps Town #TTT74 Brian McCann
8. #UH177 Neftali Feliz (Rookie Card)
9. #UH306 Endy Chavez
10. #UH299 Ryan Langerhans

“In December 2007, the White Sox had a chance to enlist the services of one of the better young hitters in the game for the price of a mid-level Minor Leaguer.  They pulled the trigger, acquiring Quentin from the Diamondbacks in one of their best trades ever.  Carlos took over in left field and supplied 36 home runs (second in the AL) and 100 RBI in ’08.”

Quentin opened up the 2011 season with a hot bat, hitting .351 and leading the league with 7 doubles in 10 games.

2009 Topps Updates & Highlights:

1. #UH20 Gordon Beckham (Rookie Card)
2. #UH59 David Ross
3. #UH193 Landon Powell (Rookie Card)
4. #UH247 Lastings Milledge
5. #UH289 Nick Johnson
6. Propaganda #PP6 Carlos Quentin
7. Topps Town #TTT60 Dan Uggla
8. #UH324 Nolan Reimold (Rookie Card)
9. #UH212 Ian Kinsler (Season Highlights)
10. #UH137 Ross Ohlendorf