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)

A jumbo pack of 2010 Topps Update Series.  Is anyone else annoyed at how there are 7 versions of 201o Topps card #661, not counting the gold/black/copper/whatever parallels?  I’m happy with my “normal” version.

1. #US-152 Ian Kennedy
2. #US-91 Nick Johnson
3. #US-222 Ted Lilly
4. #US-198 Francisco Cervelli
5. #US-207 Jerry Hairston Jr.
6. #US-146 Peter Bourjos (Rookie Card)
7. #US-230 Robinson Cano (All-Star)
8. #US-162 Hong-Chih Kuo
9. #US-69 Lance Cormier
10. #US-275 Hong-Chih Kuo (All-Star)
11. #US-101 Jake Westbrook
12. #US-173 Lorenzo Cain (Rookie Card)
13. #US-139 Jorge Cantu
14. #US-237 Jhan Marinez (Rookie Card)
15. #US-256 Mike Gonzalez
16. #US-6 Adam Ottavino (Rookie Card)
17. #US-74 Ryan Church
18. #US-296 Lance Zawadzki (Rookie Card)
19. #US-262 Rob Johnson
20. #US-254 Chris Perez
21. #US-40 Evan Longoria (All-Star)
22. #US-284 Josh Reddick
23. #US-229 Joe Saunders
24. #US-271 Travis Wood (Rookie Card)
25. #US-245 Placido Polanco
26. #US-53 Jordan Smith (Rookie Card)
27. #US-41 Anthony Slama (Rookie Card)
28. Gold #US-62 Chris Narveson (Serial#0375/2010)
29. Attax Code Card #DW David Wright
30. Million Card Giveaway #TMC-26 Roger Maris
31. The Cards Your Mom Threw Out #CMT155 Larry Walker
32. More Tales of the Game #MTOG-5 Babe Ruth
33. Turkey Red #TR117 Carlos Gomez
34. Vintage Legends #VLC-30 George Sisler
35. Peak Performance #PP-125 Roy Halladay
36. Topps #661D Stephen Strasburg (Rookie Card)
37. #US-228 Brandon Phillips/Martin Prado (Checklist)
38. #US-44 Scott Rolen (All-Star)
39. #US-328 Adrian Beltre (All-Star)
40. #US-73 Torii Hunter (All-Star)
41. #US-215 Albert Pujols/Ryan Braun (Checklist)
42. #US-38 Chris Young (Home Run Derby)
43. #US-161 Matt Holliday (All-Star)
44. #US-106 Orlando Cabrera
45. #US-308 Matt Thornton
46. #US-98 Yunel Escobar
47. #US-312 Coco Crisp
48. #US-100 Roy Halladay
49. #US-39 Kila Ka’aihue
50. #US-300 Cliff Lee

Here are 5 hobby packs of 2010 Topps Series 1:

PACK 1:

1. #143 Omar Vizquel
2. #183 Jonathan Papelbon
3. #298 Baltimore Orioles (Team Card)
4. #220 Randy Johnson
5. #1 Prince Fielder
6. Million Card Giveaway #TMC-10 Carl Yastrzemski
7. Legendary Lineage #LL19 Whitey Ford/CC Sabathia
8. Topps Town #TTT19 Justin Upton
9. #230 Jonathan Broxton
10. #271 Jermaine Dye

My Topps Million Card Giveaway card:

1987 Topps #430 Mike Schmidt

PACK 2:

1. #25 Adam Jones
2. #115 Gordon Beckham (Topps All-Star Rookie)
3. #182 Coco Crisp
4. #281 Braden Looper
5. #27 Lance Berkman/Mike Hampton (Checklist)
6. Gold #194 Neil Walker (Serial#1529/2010) (Rookie Card)
7. Turkey Red #TR17 Derrek Lee
8. Topps Town #TTT25 Manny Ramirez
9. #214 Matt Kemp
10. #238 Ian Stewart

PACK 3:

1. #11 Orlando Cabrera
2. #13 Melvin Mora
3. #81 Ryan Theriot
4. #314 Angel Pagan
5. #65 Nick Swisher
6. #296 Atlanta Braves (Team Card)
7. Tales of the Game #TOG-18 Prince Fielder
8. Peak Performance #PP-1 Albert Pujols
9. Topps Town #TTT13 Ryan Howard
10. #226 Juan Rivera

PACK 4:

1. #176 Yovani Gallardo
2. #267 Toronto Blue Jays (Franchise History)
3. #35 Rick Porcello
4. #172 Joe Mauer (MVP)
5. #194 Neil Walker (Rookie Card)
6. The Cards Your Mom Threw Out #CMT-7 Orlando Cabrera
7. Turkey Red #TR10 Jonathan Papelbon
8. Topps Town #TTT16 Kevin Youkilis
9. #241 Rocco Baldelli
10. #78 Cesar Izturis

PACK 5:

1. #276 Matt Lindstrom
2. #31 Jason Grilli
3. #76 Joe Saunders
4. #325 Julio Lugo
5. #259 Daniel Hudson (Rookie Card)
6. Tales of the Game #TOG-10 Jimmy Piersall
7. Legendary Lineage #LL18 Gary Carter/David Wright
8. Topps Town #TTT9 Roy Halladay
9. #90 Ian Kinsler
10. #205 Chris Coghlan (Topps All-Star Rookie)

“His teenage teammates insisted he use a metal bat.  But David, eager to prepare himself for pro ball, used wood through most of his youthful years.  One time, he finally gave in to his peers — and hit a homer.”

2009 Topps Series 2:

1. #607 Jarrod Washburn
2. #636 Armando Galarraga
3. #361 Alex Rios/Vernon Wells (Classic Combos)
4. #555 Joe Girardi (Manager)
5. Legends of the Game Career Best #LGCB-CY Cy Young
6. Legends of the Game #LG-TGL Tom Glavine
7. Topps Town Gold #TTT32 David Wright
8. #438 Mark Loretta
9. #567 Willy Aybar
10. #533 Darin Erstad

2010 Topps Series 2 Jumbo Pack:

1. #393 Jason Frasor
2. #522 Jordan Schafer
3. #582 Martin Prado
4. #368 Wade LeBlanc
5. #427 Brandon Webb
6. #567 Mike Pelfrey
7. #493 Travis Ishikawa
8. #441 Clete Thomas
9. #367 Wandy Rodriguez
10. #645 Texas Rangers (Team Card)
11. #527 Brandon Wood
12. #388 Joel Pineiro
13. #505 Andy Marte
14. #550 Freddy Garcia
15. #482 Mike McCoy (Rookie Card)
16. #442 Dan Runzler (Rookie Card)
17. #601 Blake DeWitt
18. #487 Dan Uggla
19. #474 Kyle Kendrick
20. #565 Franklin Morales
21. #454 James Loney
22. #451 Michael Saunders
23. #641 Chase Headley
24. #553 Florida Marlins (Team Card)
25. Gold #366 Hiroki Kuroda (Serial#1425/2010)
26. The Cards Your Mom Threw Out #CMT82 George Brett
27. History of the World Series #HWS11 Johnny Podres
28. Million Card Giveaway #TMC-16 Mickey Mantle
29. 2020 #T16 David Wright
30. Manufactured Hat Logo Patch #MHR-414 Dizzy Dean (Serial#25/99)
31. Vintage Legends #VLC6 Willie McCovey
32. Turkey Red #TR62 Troy Tulowitzki
33. Legendary Lineage #LL-53 Nolan Ryan/Justin Verlander
34. Peak Performance #PP-51 Luis Aparicio
35. #337 Carlos Zambrano
36. #580 Ian Snell
37. #549 Derek Jeter
38. #626 Glen Perkins
39. #465 Chien-Ming Wang
40. #378 George Sherrill
41. #490 Michael Bourn
42. #596 Brendan Ryan
43. #358 Mark Buehrle
44. #439 Emilio Bonifacio
45. #526 Carlos Guillen
46. #619 Mike Napoli
47. #611 Josh Outman
48. Attax Code Card #MK Matt Kemp

It’s no wonder Topps can put an “autograph or relic” in every box of cards now.  Whenever they need a relic, they just have to “manufacture” one.

The relic card that Topps so graciously manufactured for me is of Dizzy Dean.  He was a player who pitched a spectacular 5 seasons in the 1930′s before succumbing to injuries.

Here are some of the other neat cards I got…

Nolan Ryan, my childhood hero:

The oddly colorful 1975 George Brett:

The Japanese pitcher who always seems to get really scary injuries:

Mr. Met:

And finally what will Topps’ glorified random baseball card generator bring me today?

1983 Topps #604 Joe Morgan (Super Veteran)

2010 Topps Series 1:

1. #14 Ted Lilly
2. #9 Tim Lincecum (Cy Young Award)
3. #298 Baltimore Orioles (Team Card)
4. #311 Jose Valverde
5. The Cards Your Mom Threw Out #CMT-52 Kevin Youkilis
6. Legendary Lineage #LL18 Gary Carter/David Wright
7. Topps Town #TTT9 Roy Halladay
8. #186 Andrew Bailey
9. #192 Andruw Jones
10. #26 Zach Duke

“Although they staffed different positions, Carter and Wright have combined supreme defense with hitting prowess.  Gary won three straight NL Gold Glove Awards behind the plate beginning in 1980, while Wright took the honors at the hot corner in 2007 and ’08.  Both have taken multiple NL Silver Slugger accolades, too — Carter five times and Wright twice.”

While he has a career batting average of .305, Wright has been in a slump of late, batting only .154 in his last 10 games.  His batting average on the season dropped to .244.

2008 Topps Series 2:

1. #419 Bengie Molina
2. #462 Freddy Sanchez
3. #612 Kelly Johnson
4. #404 Cecil Cooper (Manager)
5. #591 Rico Washington (Rookie)
6. #653 Endy Chavez
7. Stars #TS5 David Wright
8. #384 Carlos Quentin
9. #557 John McDonald
10. #648 Ryan Freel

“Wright’s third full season as the Mets third baseman was his greatest as he was honored with both the 2007 Silver Slugger and Gold Glove Awards while finishing fourth in NL MVP balloting.  A complete player who also gets high marks for his demeanor, David set a Mets record with a 26-game hitting streak that spanned ’06 and ’07.”

The most interesting card in this pack was actually the Home Run Derby Contest game card.  I don’t know why, but it’s actually serial numbered 846/999.  It’s even lower numbered than Topps Gold cards!  The contest ended back in December 2008, but I couldn’t have won anyways.  Ryan Howard didn’t even participate in the 2008 Home Run Derby!

2009 Topps Updates & Highlights:

1. #UH33 Daniel Bard (Rookie)
2. #UH37 Adam Kennedy
3. #UH58 Omar Quintanilla
4. #UH87 Jake Peavy
5. #UH98 Hanley Ramirez (All-Star)
6. Propaganda #PP15 Andrew Bailey
7. Topps Town #TTT70 Hunter Pence
8. #UH50 Gary Sheffield
9. #UH270 David Ortiz/Alex Rodriguez (Classic Combos)
10. #UH122 Kevin Youkilis/David Wright/Derek Jeter/Shane Victorino (Classic Combos)

Topps is really milking this Yankees/Red Sox rivalry thing.  They seem to be trying their best to catch Yankees mingling with Red Sox lately.