2009 Topps Updates & Highlights:

1. #UH231 Josh Bard
2. #UH169 Mark Kotsay
3. #UH140 Jack Wilson
4. #UH128 Chone Figgins (All-Star)
5. #UH181 Zach Duke (All-Star)
6. Gold #UH288 Jon Garland (Serial#1194/2009)
7. Turkey Red #TR131 Jermaine Dye
8. Topps Town #TTT56 Josh Beckett
9. #UH145 Micah Hoffpauir
10. #UH17 Derek Jeter/David Wright (Classic Combos)

“In 2009, Braun joined Hall of Famer Robin Yount as just the second player in Brewers history to earn back-to-back starting nods in the MLB All-Star Game.  After an impressive first half that saw him post a .310-16-58 ledger, Ryan received the most votes of any NL outfielder — more than 4.1 million.”

2009 Topps Updates & Highlights:

1. #UH143 Matt Maloney (Rookie Card)
2. #UH214 Jason Grilli
3. #UH195 P.J. Walters (Rookie Card)
4. #UH315 Jerry Hairston Jr.
5. #UH123 Ryan Braun (All-Star)
6. #UH235 Joe Nathan (All-Star)
7. Topps Town #TTT63 Jose Reyes
8. #UH135 Ryan Perry/Rick Porcello (Classic Combos)
9. #UH27 Josh Reddick (Rookie Card)
10. #UH144 Ronny Cedeno

“Johan’s statistics — including five straight 200-strikeout seasons — seem like video game numbers, and maybe that’s fitting.  He’s been known to study the tendencies of opposing hitters on his PlayStation.”

2009 Topps Series 1:

1. #70 Jermaine Dye
2. #308 Chris Duncan
3. #73 Shane Victorino
4. #178 Frank Catalanotto
5. #1 Alex Rodriguez
6. World Baseball Classic Redemption Card (expired)
7. Topps Town #TTT6 Johan Santana
8. #309 Humberto Sanchez (Rookie Card)
9. #11 Fernando Tatis
10. #189 Jay Payton

The WBC redemption card is expired, but I entered the code into Topps’ redemption site anyways and it seemed to work!  Shipment of the card is pending for 7/26/2012…

Some career bests for Mel Ott:

Once hit .349

Once hit 42 homers

Once had 151 RBIs

2009 Topps Series 2:

1. #465 Troy Glaus
2. #544 Pat Neshek
3. #471 Kerry Wood
4. Legends of the Game Career Best #LGCB-MO Mel Ott
5. Legends of the Game #LG-CJ Chipper Jones
6. Topps Town #TTT41 Manny Ramirez
7. #598 Micah Owings
8. #647 Manny Parra
9. #570 David DeJesus
10. #363 Jhonny Peralta

2009 Topps Series 2:

1. #353 Derek Jeter
2. #527 Jason Isringhausen
3. #629 Lyle Overbay
4. #415 Josh Beckett
5. #539 Miguel Olivo
6. #384 Bob Melvin (Manager)
7. Topps Town #TTT33 Carlos Lee
8. #373 Joe Martinez (Rookie Card)
9. #502 Yovani Gallardo
10. #421 B.J. Ryan

A hobby pack of 2009 Topps Series 1:

“Josh overcame a lot in life to not only resume a promising career after a three-year layoff, but to become a star and an inspiration.  He hit 32 home runs with 130 RBI and a .304 average for Texas in 2008.”

1. #193 Zack Greinke
2. #37 Erick Aybar
3. #211 Ryan Rowland-Smith
4. #122 Joe Mather
5. #301 Clint Barmes
6. Topps Town Gold #TTT23 Josh Hamilton
7. #326 Manny Ramirez (Postseason Highlights)
8. #166 Jeff Baker
9. #98 Akinori Iwamura
10. #120 Mark Teixeira

““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