2010 Topps Series 1:

1. #323 Jim Thome
2. #59 Kevin Gregg
3. #110 Andrew McCutchen (Topps All-Star Rookie)
4. #275 Chris Coghlan (Rookie of the Year)
5. #228 Chris Pettit (Rookie)
6. The Cards Your Mom Threw Out #CMT-4 Duke Snider
7. Topps Town #TTT14 Albert Pujols
8. #308 Robinzon Diaz
9. #262 Homer Bailey
10. #173 Kendry Morales

“Albert was just 6 years old when he adopted Julio Franco as his idol.  Amazingly, 15 years later, he got to play against him in the Majors for six seasons.”

Julio Franco finally retired in 2007 at the age of 49.

Duke Snider retired from baseball in 1964.  He has been retired for over 45 years, and is still alive and well at the age of 83.

Chris Pettit hit .321 last season in Triple-A.  Unfortunately, he tore up his shoulder playing winter ball last year and is still trying to recover from the surgery.

2010 Topps Series 1:

1. #2 Buster Posey (Rookie)
2. #114 Chris Iannetta
3. #48 Joey Votto
4. #100 Albert Pujols
5. Gold Border #262 Homer Bailey (Serial#0893/2010)
6. Turkey Red #TR1 Ryan Howard
7. Topps Town #TTT5 Evan Longoria
8. #112 Kevin Correia
9. #129 Reid Gorecki (Rookie)
10. #217 Gio Gonzalez

“The incomparable Albert not only led the NL in OPS for the third time in four seasons last year, but he set an MLB record for first basemen with 165 assists and led the Majors in SBs for his position.”

The worst this guy has ever batted in 9 MLB seasons was .314.  He’s a Machine!

2009 Topps Updates & Highlights:

1. #UH54 Vin Mazzaro (Rookie)
2. #UH160 Edgar Renteria
3. #UH164 Brett Tomko
4. #UH300 Albert Pujols (Home Run Derby)
5. #UH95 Ryan Freel
6. #UH301 Ryan Zimmerman (All-Star)
7. Turkey Red #TR116 Rick Porcello
8. Topps Town #TTT52 Torii Hunter
9. #UH46 Clayton Richard
10. #UH165 Maicer Izturis

“One of the most highly touted pitching prospects of recent years, Rick was drafted in the first round by Detroit in 2007, led the Flordia State League with a 2.66 ERA in ’08, and made the rare jump from Single-A to the Motor City the next year.  The youngest player in the Majors when he debuted at just 20, Porcello made it known quickly that he is mature beyond his years.  He gave up just one run over seven innings in his second start (April 19 at Seattle) to earn his first Major League victory.  The right-hander captured all five of his starts in May — a first for a Tigers pitcher that youthful.”

And my newest player collection:

And another Nat for my team collection:

2010 Topps Series 1:

1. #188 Joe Blanton
2. #87 Darin Erstad
3. #49 Jorge de la Rosa
4. #42 Prince Fielder/Ryan Howard/Albert Pujols (League Leaders)
5. The Cards Your Mom Threw Out #CMT-7 Orlando Cepeda
6. Peak Performance #PP-6 Steve Carlton
7. Topps Town #TTT15 Miguel Cabrera
8. #178 Kerry Wood
9. #83 Mark Teahen
10. #223 Ryan Church

“Carlton Cruises to First NL™ Cy Young Award”

“In what is viewed as one of the most sensational pitching seasons in history because it came for a last-place team, Carlton won his first of four NL Cy Young Awards in 1972.  He collected all 24 first-place votes after topping the circuit in wins (27), ERA (1.97) and CGs (30). Steve struck out a career-high 310 — 61 more than anyone else in the League.”

I wasn’t aware that the letters “NL” were trademarked by Major League Baseball.

I also picked up a bunch of heavy hitters in this pack:

2008 Topps Series 2:

1. #399 Jarrod Saltalamacchia
2. #560 Aramis Ramirez
3. #457 Josh Fields
4. #508 John Danks
5. #335 Eric Byrnes
6. #536 Albert Pujols/Prince Fielder (Classic Combos)
7. Gold Foil #567 David Eckstein
8. #385 Troy Tulowitzki
9. #581 Kazuo Matsui
10. #524 Raul Ibanez

Nice action shot of Prince Fielder (AKA “The World’s Fattest Vegetarian”, as Chris Harris of Stale Gum likes to say) showing some surprising agility.  Both Pujols and Fielder consistently hit 40 home runs per season.

I’m starting a new tradition on this here website.  Each year I’m going to pick a new player to begin collecting and join my 25-Years-of-Baseball Hall of Fame.  I’ve even pre-populated my Hall of Fame with who I believe are 114 of the greatest players of all time.

The latest induction for 2009 is…

Albert Pujols!  Today I am starting a new player collection for Albert Pujols.

2008 Topps:

1. #490 Albert Pujols
2. #399 Jarrod Saltalamacchia
3. #560 Aramis Ramirez
4. #446 Randor Bierd (Rookie)
5. #359 Evan Meek (Rookie)
6. 50th Anniversary All Rookie Team #AR84 Adam LaRoche
7. Gold Foil #393 Michael Cuddyer
8. #338 Matt Diaz
9. #505 B.J. Upton
10. #461 Jacoby Ellsbury

…and Series 2 checklist 1 of 4.

“Not only does Albert pack amazing power, he went 109 straight plate appearances late last season without striking out, nearly going fan-free in September.“

2005 Topps Series 1:

1. #23 Mike Hampton
2. #131 Kevin Millar
3. #107 Mark Buehrle
4. #150 Vladimir Guerrero
5. #79 Brad Wilkerson
6. #186 Juan Uribe
7. #354 Scott Rolen/Albert Pujols/Jim Edmonds (Postseason Highlights)
8. #156 Edgar Renteria
9. #203 Trevor Hoffman
10. #84 Brad Ausmus

…and Series 1 Checklist 1 of 3.

“In the 2004 NLCS, the Cardinals flawlessly executed big ball, little ball and everything in between to eliminate the Astros in seven.  The series was so excruciatingly close that, after six games, the two teams had identical batting averages, ERAs and runs scored totals.  St. Louis won Game 6  on a home run by Jim Edmonds in the 12th inning, then clinched on the muscle of Albert Pujols’s RBI double and Scott Rolen’s two-run homer in Game 7.  Pujols batted .500 and crunched four longballs to take series MVP honors.“