“NEW YORK, NY — Nearly 250 players have reached the 2,000-hit level, but Derek Jeter’s milestone — a tapper in front of the plate that he beat out — was more significant than most.  Of the eight on the list to get them all for the Yankees, he was (at 31 years, 334 days) the youngest to join, beating Lou Gehrig by 11 days.  The hit came in the fourth inning with the crowd chanting his name.”

Jeter needs only 74 more hits to reach “3 GRAND”

2006 Topps Updates & Highlights:

1. #UH26 Ryan Wagner
2. #UH14 David Wells
3. #UH34 Robinson Tejeda
4. #UH6 Toby Hall
5. #UH78 Kevin Mench
6. #UH177 Derek Jeter (Season Highlights)
7. #UH224 Vernon Wells (All-Star)
8. Mantle Home Run History #MHR191 Mickey Mantle
9. #UH293 Miguel Cabrera/Dontrelle Willis (Team Leaders)
10. #UH205 Carl Crawford/Chone Figgins/Ichiro (League Leaders)
11. #UH300 Freddy Sanchez/Jason Bay (Team Leaders)
12. #UH262 Jim Thome (All-Star)

Five packs of 2009 Topps Series 2 coming your way, and a sweet hit in the first pack too!

PACK 1

1. #473 Jered Weaver
2. #540 Russell Martin
3. #585 Alexei Ramirez
4. Career Best Relics Dual #CBDR-PK Dustin Pedroia/Ian Kinsler (Serial#83/99) (Dual Jersey Relics)
5. Topps Town #TTT37 Justin Upton
6. #528 Nick Swisher
7. #401 Tony LaRussa (Manager)
8. #484 Chris Carpenter

PACK 2

1. #609 Juan Rivera
2. #573 Adam Wainwright
3. #490 Joba Chamberlain
4. #433 Coco Crisp
5. Gold Border #400 Alfonso Soriano (Serial#1081/2009)
6. Topps Town #TTT35 Prince Fielder
7. #381 Shairon Martis (Rookie Card)
8. #560 Adrian Beltre
9. #612 Joel Pineiro
10. #500 Ryan Howard

PACK 3

1. #407 Dave Trembley (Manager)
2. #370 Victor Martinez
3. #511 Chad Qualls
4. Topps Town #TTT36 Ian Kinsler
5. #468 Derek Lowe
6. #633 David Patton (Rookie Card)
7. #623 Aaron Hill
8. #497 Clint Hurdle (Manager)
9. #459 Brian Bannister
10. #395 Magglio Ordonez

PACK 4

1. #568 Greg Reynolds
2. #522 Gio Gonzalez
3. #496 Charlie Manuel (Manager)
4. #430 Francisco Rodriguez
5. Topps Town Gold #TTT29 Derek Jeter
6. #452 Orlando Cabrera
7. #625 Jim Thome
8. #595 Vernon Wells
9. #557 Jayson Werth
10. #513 Bronson Arroyo

PACK 5

1. #569 Ted Lilly
2. #617 Shaun Marcum
3. #655 Bengie Molina
4. #427 Brian Duensing (Rookie Card)
5. Topps Town #TTT33 Carlos Lee
6. #479 Brad Nelson (Rookie Card)
7. #424 Jorge Campillo
8. #498 Kyle Davies
9. #556 Brendan Ryan
10. #413 Ruben Gotay

It’s a gimmick, but this card is notorious because it got so much media attention in 2007.  Mickey Mantle watches from the dugout as George W. Bush waves from the stands.  It’ll be a nice addition to my display case.

2007 Topps Series 1:

1. #287 Jose Garcia (Rookie Card)
2. #195 James Loney
3. #192 Matt Capps
4. #230 Barry Zito
5. Distinguished Service #DS4 Bobby Doerr
6. Red Back #40a Derek Jeter (Mantle-Bush Variation)
7. Red Back #50 Miguel Cabrera
8. #87 Alexis Gomez
9. #138 Adrian Gonzalez
10. #2 Nick Swisher

“Few, if any, World Series championships have featured more wall-to-wall drama than the 2001 renewal, in which three games were decided in the final at-bat.  Before Arizona’s Luis Gonzalez clinched Game 7 with a walk-off hit, New York’s Derek “Mr. November” Jeter provided a thrill of his own with a two-out, game-ending homer in the 10th inning of Game 4.”

Now let’s hop into our baseball time machine.  Here we go to 2009… we see Justin Upton sliding in:

On to the 1950′s:

and on to the 1930′s:

and our final stop, the 1910′s, about 100 years ago:

2010 Topps Series 2:

1. #464 Francisco Liriano
2. #391 Manny Parra
3. #397 Colorado Rockies (Team Card)
4. #577 Jason Jaramillo
5. #340 John Buck
6. #406 Jeff Francis
7. #468 Delmon Young
8. #541 Jason Motte
9. #617 Luis Valbuena
10. #343 Brian Bruney
11. #387 Josh Fields
12. #434 Kevin Slowey
13. #533 Gary Matthews Jr.
14. #504 Jeff Mathis
15. #648 Brian Fuentes
16. #534 Hideki Okajima
17. #461 Tyson Ross (Rookie Card)
18. #392 Carlos Monasterios (Rookie Card)
19. #637 Babe Ruth/Lou Gehrig (Checklist)
20. #502 Jhoulys Chacin
21. #400 Alex Rodriguez
22. #411 Jack Wilson
23. #548 Minnesota Twins (Franchise History)
24. #361 Washington Nationals (Team Card)
25. #558 Ronny Paulino
26. #545 Fred Lewis
27. Gold #333 Ryan Ludwick (Serial#1784/2010)
28. The Cards Your Mom Threw Out #CMT113 Justin Verlander
29. History of the World Series #HWS21 Derek Jeter
30. Million Card Giveaway #TMC-18 Thurman Munson
31. 2020 #T5 Justin Upton
32. The Cards Your Mom Threw Out Original Backs #CMT61 Al Kaline
33. Vintage Legends #VLC8 Walter Johnson
34. Turkey Red #TR78 Dan Haren
35. Legendary Lineage #LL-52 Dale Murphy/Matt Kemp
36. Peak Performance #PP-79 Matt Kemp
37. #466 Jered Weaver
38. #587 David Murphy
39. #618 Jorge Cantu
40. #593 Derek Holland
41. #348 Jordan Zimmermann
42. #390 Ervin Santana
43. #389 Troy Tulowitzki
44. #481 Scott Rolen
45. #557 Aaron Hill
46. #537 Michael Cuddyer
47. #546 Bud Norris
48. #627 Jeremy Hermida
49. #341 Texas Rangers (Franchise History)
50. Attax Code Card #IK Ian Kinsler

Here’s this pack’s random Million Card Giveaway card:

1961 Topps #289 Ray Moore

“When owner George Steinbrenner named Derek the Yankees captain in 2003, he cited a quote from Gen. Douglas MacArthur in which both believed: “There is no substitute for victory.”  Of their 11 captains, Jeter was the second-youngest — one month older than Thurman Munson.”

The Yankees will have to do without “victory” this year.  Go Rangers!

2005 Topps Series 2:

1. #512 Bernie Williams
2. #495 Mike Lamb
3. #600 Derek Jeter
4. #607 Kazuhito Tadano
5. #688 Felix Hernandez/Justin Leone (Prospects)
6. #693 Jerry Hairston Jr./Scott Hairston (Band of Brothers)
7. #435 Eli Marrero
8. #616 Jay Payton
9. #557 Brian Jordan
10. #618 Miguel Olivo

5 hobby packs of 2004 Topps Series 1, ripped for your pleasure:

PACK 1:

1. #113 Mike MacDougal
2. #326 Zach Miner (First Year) (Rookie)
3. #318 Nic Ungs (First Year) (Rookie)
4. #268 Bob Brenly (Manager)
5. #4 Edgardo Alfonzo
6. #336 Eric Gagne (Season Highlights)
7. #221 Mike Mussina
8. #211 Jason Marquis
9. #200 Nomar Garciaparra
10. #233 Jose Valentin

PACK 2:

1. #296 Carlos Tosca (Manager)
2. #108 Esteban Loaiza
3. #267 Juan Castro
4. #263 Eric Byrnes
5. #144 Alex Gonzalez
6. #321 Tim Frend (First Year) (Rookie)
7. #85 Jon Garland
8. #344 Albert Pujols/Todd Helton/Juan Pierre (League Leaders)
9. #20 Derek Jeter
10. #212 Jorge Julio
11. #2 Reggie Sanders
12. #19 Aaron Rowand

PACK 3:

1. #187 Aubrey Huff
2. #300 Brayan Pena (First Year) (Rookie)
3. #291 Felipe Alou (Manager)
4. #114 Cesar Izturis
5. #271 Grady Little (Manager)
6. #340 Carlos Delgado/Alex Rodriguez/Bret Boone (League Leaders)
7. #293 Tony LaRussa (Manager)
8. #18 Corey Patterson
9. #186 Tino Martinez
10. #196 Flash Gordon

PACK 4:

1. #88 Steve Sparks
2. #25 Lance Berkman
3. #323 Tydus Meadows (First Year) (Rookie)
4. #64 Andy Pettitte
5. #246 Ryan Franklin
6. #350 Kerry Wood/Mark Prior (Postseason Highlights)
7. World Series Highlights #WS-MS Mike Schmidt
8. #138 Shigetoshi Hasegawa
9. #70 Mark Mulder
10. #137 Brett Tomko
11. #150 Jason Giambi

PACK 5:

1. #313 Kyle Davies (First Year) (Rookie)
2. #148 Kyle Lohse
3. #279 Jimy Williams (Manager)
4. #259 Joe Mays
5. #182 Terry Adams
6. #317 Mike Gosling (First Year) (Rookie)
7. #356 Carlos Delgado (Sporting News All-Stars)
8. #47 Trot Nixon
9. #269 Bobby Cox (Manager)
10. #14 Junior Spivey
11. #245 Scott Strickland

Today I’m going to bust a bunch of my 2003 Topps Series 1 hobby packs:

PACK 1

1. #262 Mike Scioscia (Manager)
2. #317 Doug Waechter (First Year Card) (Rookie)
3. #301 Matthew Peterson (First Year Card) (Rookie)
4. #314 Mike McNutt (First Year Card) (Rookie)
5. #292 Chris Duncan (First Year Card) (Rookie)
6. #338 Alfonso Soriano/Alex Rodriguez/Derek Jeter (League Leaders)
7. #96 Alex Gonzalez
8. #63 Andy Ashby
9. #89 Mike Matheny
10. #233 Derrek Lee

I don’t know why Beckett still lists Chris Duncan’s Topps rookie card as being “worth” $3.  Outdated information?  He’s almost 30 and has been hitting under .200 at the AAA level for the past 3 years.  And playing in the Washington Nationals organization doesn’t help.

PACK 2

1. #119 Randall Simon
2. #145 Michael Tucker
3. #44 Jeff Conine
4. #174 Jon Lieber
5. Hobby Masters #HM3 Derek Jeter
6. #360 Torii Hunter (Sporting News All-Stars)
7. #76 Randy Wolf
8. #170 Vladimir Guerrero
9. #152 Steve Trachsel
10. #161 Kerry Robinson

PACK 3

1. #283 Larry Bowa (Manager)
2. #45 Carlos Baerga
3. #280 John Halama
4. #282 Art Howe (Manager)
5. Record Breakers #RB-JB Jeff Bagwell
6. #344 Sammy Sosa/Albert Pujols/Shawn Green (League Leaders)
7. #179 Wendell Magee
8. #199 Scott Sullivan
9. #31 Brian Giles
10. #48 Aaron Boone

PACK 4

1. #326 Orlando Hudson/Josh Phelps (Future Stars)
2. #330 Juan Rivera/Marcus Thames (Future Stars)
3. #331 Brandon Puffer/Jung Bong (Future Stars)
4. #323 Chris Snelling/Shin-Soo Choo (Future Stars)
5. #327 Jack Cust/Rene Reyes (Future Stars)
6. #351 Angels/Giants (Postseason Highlights)
7. #2 Dan Wilson
8. #255 Michael Barrett
9. #64 Mike Williams
10. #116 Mark Mulder

The infamous Puffer/Bong card!  While Jung Bong is still playing pro baseball in Korea, Brandon Puffer is serving a 5-year prison sentence for breaking into a home and trying to rape a woman back in 2008.

PACK 5

1. #21 Denny Neagle
2. #166 Troy Percival
3. #59 Brad Wilkerson (Topps All-Star Rookie)
4. #144 Mark Quinn
5. #41 Kevin Appier
6. #366 Manny Ramirez (Sporting News All-Stars)
7. #37 Brandon Duckworth
8. #156 Jason Kendall
9. #180 Barry Zito
10. #3 Jimmy Rollins

1996 Topps Series 1:

1. #219 Derek Jeter (Future Star)
2. #76 Jim Dougherty
3. #197 Roger Clemens
4. #140 Ivan Rodriguez
5. #75 Carlos Baerga
6. #134 Chris Gomez
7. #211 Nomar Garciaparra (Future Star)
8. #182 Ken Caminiti
9. #127 Darrin Fletcher
10. #173 Ray Durham (Topps All-Star Rookie)
11. #54 Pat Rapp
12. #120 Jose Rijo

“Prized, young SS with speed, range, arm and quick bat… Led 1995 Int’l League in runs scored… Placed 3rd in hits and 4th in OBP (.394)… Enjoyed a 17-game hitting streak… Named Baseball Weekly Minor League Player of the Year in ’94.”

I think they mean “Baseball America” and not “Baseball Weekly”, but I could be wrong.  Anyone know if they changed the name since 1994?