“When the pitch left Byung-Hyun Kim’s hand at 2.14 p.m. on May 28, 2006, it was a fastball.  When Barry Bonds turned on it a fraction of a second later, it was history — literally and figuratively.  Barry’s 445-foot blast into right-center was the 715th dinger of his career, moving him past Babe Ruth on the all-time list and putting him an even forty homers behind all-time champ Henry Aaron.  The sell-out crowd at AT&T Park erupted, and Bonds took two curtain calls.”

Bonds ended his career with 762 home runs.

2006 Topps Updates & Highlights:

1. #UH53 Denny Bautista
2. #UH73 Cory Lidle (In Memoriam)
3. #UH45 Scott Williamson
4. #UH101 Roberto Hernandez
5. #UH117 Scott Proctor
6. #UH170 John Maine (Rookie Card)
7. #UH244 Nomar Garciaparra (All-Star)
8. Barry Bonds 715 #715-BB Barry Bonds
9. #UH213 Jose Reyes/Juan Pierre/Hanley Ramirez (League Leaders)
10. #UH298 Lance Berkman/Roy Oswalt (Team Leaders)
11. #UH282 Carlos Zambrano (All-Star)
12. #UH299 Chris Capuano/Prince Fielder (Team Leaders)

Barry Bonds hit his 234th home run on May 21, 2994 at Wrigley Field against the Chicago Cubs.  It came in the 3rd inning with one man on and Frank Castillo on the mound.

2005 Topps Series 2:

1. #564 Zack Greinke
2. #406 Kerry Wood
3. #454 Mike Gonzalez (Topps All-Star Rookie)
4. #455 Jake Peavy
5. #698 Bret Boone (Gold Glove)
6. Barry Bonds Home Run History #BB234 Barry Bonds
7. #686 Mike Bourn (Draft Pick) (First Year) (Rookie)
8. #545 Tony Armas Jr.
9. #602 Jaret Wright
10. #485 Dustan Mohr

Here’s five hobby packs of 2007 Topps Updates & Highlights:

PACK 1

1. #UH141 Cameron Maybin (Rookie Card)
2. #UH192 Terry Evans (Rookie Card)
3. #UH117 Jeremy Accardo
4. #UH320 Troy Percival
5. #UH51 Zack Greinke
6. Red Back #UH307 Kyle Davies
7. Red Back #UH183 Travis Metcalf (Rookie Card)
8. Barry Bonds Home Run History #738 Barry Bonds
9. #UH280 Carl Crawford/Carlos Guillen (Classic Combo)
10. #UH245 Takashi Saito (All-Star)

PACK 2

1. #UH3 Jason Marquis
2. #UH199 Yoel Hernandez (Rookie Card)
3. #UH169 Micah Owings (Rookie Card)
4. #UH62 Mike Fontenot
5. #UH63 Cesar Izturis
6. Red Back #UH233 J.J. Putz (All-Star)
7. Red Back #UH179 Jesus Flores (Rookie Card)
8. Mantle Home Run History #MHR470 Mickey Mantle
9. #UH275 Mike Fontenot/Khalil Greene (Classic Combo)
10. #UH226 Jose Reyes (All-Star)

PACK 3

1. #UH109 Jason Wood
2. #UH301 Bob Howry
3. #UH307 Kyle Davies
4. #UH103 Antonio Alfonseca
5. #UH156 Matt DeSalvo (Rookie Card)
6. Red Back #UH194 Guillermo Rodriguez (Rookie Card)
7. Red Back #UH253 Derrek Lee (All-Star)
8. Gold #UH135 Jose Molina (Serial#0767/2007)
9. #UH162 Phil Hughes (Rookie Card)
10. #UH218 Derek Jeter (All-Star)

PACK 4

1. #UH69 Claudio Vargas
2. #UH94 Al Reyes
3. #UH82 Rafael Betancourt
4. #UH52 Armando Benitez
5. #UH28 Olmedo Saenz
6. #UH207 Prince Fielder (Season Highlights)
7. Red Back #UH260 Matt Holliday (All-Star)
8. Red Back #UH43 Ubaldo Jimenez (Rookie Card)
9. #UH211 Randy Johnson (Season Highlights)
10. #UH221 Magglio Ordonez (All-Star)

PACK 5

1. #UH56 Jamie Burke
2. #UH186 Kyle Kendrick (Rookie Card)
3. #UH174 Curtis Thigpen (Rookie Card)
4. #UH27 Yusmeiro Petit
5. #UH32 Russ Ortiz
6. Red Back #UH22 Jeff Salazar
7. Red Back #UH266 Justin Morneau (All-Star)
8. Mickey Mantle Story #MMS32 Mickey Mantle
9. #UH271 Dan Haren (All-Star)
10. #UH232 Jonathan Papelbon (All-Star)

“Barry made his major league debut: 5-30-86.  He collected 1st major league Hit: 5-31-86.  He scored his 1st major league Run: 6-1-86.  His first major league Home Run: 6-4-86.”

It’s very interesting how they did the gold borders on the 1986 Topps designs.  The Barry Bonds is one of the better Gold cards in the 2001 Topps Traded set and it’s going into my display case.

2001 Topps Traded & Rookies:

1. #T8 Ken Caminiti
2. #T22 Charles Johnson
3. #T36 Mike Bordick
4. #T250 Matt White (Rookie Card)
5. #T225 Cody Ross (Rookie Card)
6. #T252 Chris Russ (Rookie Card)
7. Gold #T114 Barry Bonds (Reprint) (Serial#0871/2001)
8. #T128 Fred McGriff (Reprint)
9. Chrome #T223 Scott Heard (Rookie Card)
10. Chrome #T228 Bob Keppel (Rookie Card)

Here’s a 5-hobby-pack rip session of 2005 Topps Series 2:

PACK 1

1. #429 Gary Matthews Jr.
2. #505 Nomar Garciaparra
3. #531 Daniel Cabrera (Topps All-Star Rookie)
4. #522 David Bush
5. #711 Andruw Jones (Gold Glove)
6. Gold #381 Brad Lidge (Serial#1946/2005)
7. #504 Craig Monroe
8. #424 Ramon Hernandez
9. #383 Alex Cora
10. #513 Mark Redman

PACK 2

1. #550 Pat Burrell
2. #525 Marlon Byrd
3. #579 Jeff Conine
4. #390 Manny Ramirez
5. #696 Ivan Rodriguez (Gold Glove)
6. Barry Bonds Home Run History #BB161 Barry Bonds
7. #375 Magglio Ordonez
8. #587 Dan Kolb
9. #497 Richie Sexson
10. #681 Bobby Livingston (Draft Pick) (Rookie)

PACK 3

1. #672 Glen Perkins (Draft Pick) (Rookie)
2. #468 Ross Gload
3. #492 Tomas Perez
4. #423 Jose Mesa
5. #714 Roger Clemens (Cy Young Award)
6. Hit Parade #HR10 Manny Ramirez
7. #636 Pedro Feliz
8. #514 Jason Michaels
9. #518 Jose Lopez
10. #554 Jamie Moyer

PACK 4

1. #450 Mike Piazza
2. #608 Luis A. Gonzalez
3. #547 Kevin Brown
4. #410 Joe Kennedy
5. #563 Junior Spivey
6. #697 Darin Erstad (Gold Glove)
7. #446 Chris Capuano
8. #590 Alex Gonzalez
9. #573 Paul Byrd
10. #491 Tony Womack

PACK 5

1. #577 Ryan Wagner
2. #486 Bobby Madritsch
3. #378 Chin-hui Tsao
4. #566 Chris Shelton
5. #732 Curt Schilling (Postseason Highlights)
6. Barry Bonds Home Run History #BB280 Barry Bonds
7. #524 Paul Quantrill
8. #596 Mark Hendrickson
9. #443 Pete Munro
10. #592 Jolbert Cabrera

2000 Topps Series 2:

1. #256 Charles Johnson
2. #295 Johnny Damon
3. #247 Randy Winn
4. #442 Rafael Furcal/Jason Dellaero/Travis Dawkins (Prospects)
5. #359 Hideki Irabu
6. #476e Barry Bonds (Magic Moments) (1992 MVP)
7. #348 Tim Salmon
8. #356 Troy O’Leary
9. #245 Ray Lankford
10. #254 Kenny Rogers
11. #266 Dave Roberts

“After accepting the 1990 NL MVP Award, and finishing a close second in ’91, Bonds grabbed the hardware again in ’92.  With Buc’s basher Bobby Bonilla gone, NL hurlers pitched around Bonds all year.  They walked him 127 times, including 32 intentionals.  Nevertheless, with his huge uppercut swing and 100-mph bat speed, he slugged .624 to pace the NL.  He also tallied a .311 average, 34 homers, 103 RBI, 39 steals and a league-high 109 runs.  He powered the Pirates to their third straight NL East crown.”

One of the rules of the baseball card industry should be:  ”One number per baseball card”.  Not 5 variations assigned to one number as in the case of the Magic Moments cards of 2000 Topps.  Also not letters instead of numbers or no number at all, as I’ve seen in other Topps cards.  So much confusion in the hobby could be avoided by eliminating vague and deceptive numbering.

Again, I don’t actually have jumbo packs of 2006 Topps Series 1, so instead here are 5 hobby packs of the stuff:

PACK 1

1. #153 Ray King
2. #305 Chuck James (Rookie Card)
3. #24 Jason Marquis
4. #302 Chris Denorfia (Rookie Card)
5. #262 Alex Rodriguez (MVP)
6. #172 Todd Greene
7. Barry Bonds Home Run History #BB682 Barry Bonds
8. #114 Travis Lee
9. #192 Larry Bigbie
10. #235 Cliff Floyd

PACK 2

1. #263 Albert Pujols (MVP)
2. #242 Felix Hernandez
3. #132 Russ Adams (Topps All-Star Rookie)
4. #238 Matt Morris
5. #279 Jim Tracy (Manager)
6. #161 Chris Shelton
7. Hobby Masters #HM14 Vladimir Guerrero
8. #211 Melvin Mora
9. #61 Eric Hinske
10. #216 Russell Branyan

PACK 3

1. #303 Anthony Reyes (Rookie Card)
2. #228 David Eckstein
3. #62 Damaso Marte
4. #249 Vernon Wells (Gold Glove)
5. #259 Bobby Abreu (Gold Glove)
6. #250 Ichiro (Gold Glove)
7. Barry Bonds Home Run History #BB681 Barry Bonds
8. #179 Deivi Cruz
9. #10 Clint Barmes
10. #200 Albert Pujols

PACK 4

1. #231 Chris Capuano
2. #209 Orlando Hudson
3. #204 Miguel Cairo
4. #220 Jason Bay
5. #94 Matt Stairs
6. #111 Erubiel Durazo
7. Mantle Home Run History #MHR1 Mickey Mantle
8. #155 Paul Lo Duca
9. #4 Scott Hatteberg
10. #53 Tomo Ohka

PACK 5

1. #169 Jhonny Peralta
2. #86 Brad Radke
3. #207 Billy Wagner
4. #21 Lance Berkman
5. #9 Damian Miller
6. #84 So Taguchi
7. Declaration of Independence #RTP Robert Treat Paine
8. #115 Adam Dunn
9. #92 Lance Cormier
10. #25 Chipper Jones

1996 Topps Series 2:

1. #318 Greg Maddux
2. #302 Dave Nilsson
3. #368 Dennis Eckersley
4. Mickey Mantle Sweepstakes Entry Card
5. #227 Ivan Rodriguez (Star Power)
6. #241 Garrett Long (Draft Pick) (Rookie Card)
7. #282 Jeff Cirillo
8. Wrecking Crew #WC3 Barry Bonds
9. #410 Glenn Dishman
10. #231 Jose Mesa (Star Power)
11. #385 Heathcliff Slocumb
12. #309 Moises Alou

Pretty neat pack here.  The Barry Bonds Wrecking Crew card is one of the most valuable cards in 1996 Topps packs.

“Few pitchers can pitch in a hitter’s “kitchen” with any consistency.  And Barry Bonds will turn anything that’s in his attic, basement or living room into a souvenir.  Once he reigned-in a penchant for impatience, Bonds evolved into a three-time MVP, a slugger who also hits for average and commands high walk totals.  His ability to recognize pitching patterns only adds to pitchers’ problems.”

Barry Bonds is scheduled to go to trial for perjury in the BALCO scandal next March.

Then I also found this:

The Mickey Mantle Sweepstakes Entry Card is also pretty neat.  They came only one in every three hobby boxes.  In 1996, Topps gave away 19 original Mickey Mantle cards, one from each year.  They randomly inserted 2,500 Sweepstakes Entry cards in packs for each Mantle card they were giving away.  If you got one, you could fill it out and send it in to enter the drawing for the card that was pictured on the Sweepstakes Entry card (I got the entry card for the 1964 Topps Mantle).  Entry cards had to be mailed in no later than October 15, 1996, so I’m a little too late to mail mine in.  It’s sort of like an early version of the Topps Million Card Giveaway if you think about it.