“Since his rookie season in 1991, Rodriguez has been a model of consistency behind the mask and in the batter’s box.  During his 12-year career with the Texas Rangers, “Pudge” has always been a fan favorite in Arlington for his clutch hits and stout defense.  The 1999 American League MVP (35-113-.332) shows power to all ends of the field, and his shotgun for an arm can be counted on to throw out roughly half of would-be base stealers.”

2003 Topps Series 1:

1. #84 Rafael Furcal
2. #23 Roberto Hernandez
3. #134 Aaron Rowand
4. #68 Matt Morris
5. Hobby Masters #HM14 Ivan Rodriguez
6. #367 Mike Scioscia (Sporting News All-Stars) (Manager)
7. #259 Adrian Beltre
8. #100 Ichiro
9. #162 Greg Vaughn
10. #261 Kazuhiro Sasaki

“The 88 Games Caught as a teenager by Ivan in 1991 were exceeded in baseball annals only once.  Frankie Hayes (at age 19) caught 89 Games with A’s in 1934.”

1993 Topps Series 1:

1. #331 Kenny Lofton (Topps All-Star Rookie)
2. #103 Jody Reed
3. #329 Mike Maddux
4. #135 Mickey Tettleton
5. #357 Phil Stephenson
6. Gold #108 Jose Lind
7. #360 Ivan Rodriguez
8. #98 Derek Jeter (Draft Pick)
9. #60 Roberto Kelly
10. #369 Jaime Navarro
11. #48 Bert Blyleven
12. #149 Rheal Cormier
13. #46 Eric Fox
14. #30 Fred McGriff
15. #307 Dan Serafini (Draft Pick)

Oh yeah, and I also got a Derek Jeter rookie card… not featured today because it’s the second one I pulled.  I pulled my first Jeter rookie card on March 10, 2009.

A jumbo pack of 2011 Topps Series 2:

1. #612 Detroit Tigers (Team Card)
2. #573 Nyjer Morgan
3. #376 Clayton Richard
4. #380 Jose Reyes
5. #531 Juan Rivera
6. #534 Bud Norris
7. #434 Mark DeRosa
8. #477 Franklin Gutierrez
9. #460 Cole Hamels
10. #645 Adam Wainwright
11. #566 Jordan Zimmermann
12. #590 Tim Lincecum
13. #407 Jonathan Broxton
14. #356 Alfonso Soriano
15. #499 J.A. Happ
16. #442 Brad Bergesen
17. #596 Anibal Sanchez
18. #396 Adam Jones
19. Kimball Champions #KC-76 Lou Brock
20. Diamond Stars #DS-21 Carl Crawford
21. Gold #360 Ivan Rodriguez (Serial#1357/2011)
22. 60 Years of Topps #60YOT-99 Larry Walker
23. 60 #T60-75 CC Sabathia
24. Diamond Duos Series 2 #DD-14 Ryan Zimmerman/Jayson Werth
25. Diamond Anniversary #376 Clayton Richard
26. Diamond Giveaway #TDG-16 Buster Posey
27. Topps Town Series 2 #TT2-19 Victor Martinez
28. #427 Brad Emaus (Rookie Card)
29. #600 Neftali Feliz (Topps All-Star Rookie)
30. #580 Chris Young
31. #346 Jose Bautista (Checklist)
32. #479 Justin Duchscherer
33. #635 Jason Heyward (Topps All-Star Rookie)
34. #618 Josh Lueke (Rookie Card)
35. #606 Juan Miranda
36. #545 Jose Tabata
37. #417 Miguel Cairo
38. #627 Kyle Blanks
39. #538 Jason Motte
40. #514 Kelly SHoppach
41. #625 Ruben Tejada
42. #459 Frank Francisco
43. #428 Brett Myers
44. #636 Chris Tillman
45. #658 Mitch Maier
46. #406 John Lackey
47. #390 Danny Valencia
48. #622 Matt Thornton
49. #349 Drew Stubbs
50. #395 Tyler Flowers

A hobby pack of 2006 Topps Series 1:

“Ivan shares the nickname Pudge with Hall of Famer Carlton Fisk”

1. #135 Josh Beckett
2. #166 Dave Roberts
3. #175 Ivan Rodriguez
4. #217 Jeff Weaver
5. #47 Felipe Lopez
6. #232 Rodrigo Lopez
7. Mantle Home Run History #MHR1 Mickey Mantle
8. #29 Aaron Harang
9. #146 Matt Clement
10. #67 Brian Jordan

Now that all the catch-up pack breaks are out of the way, here’s this week’s regular JUMBO Sunday feature – a jumbo pack of 2011 Topps Series 1:

1. #288 Matt Capps
2. #18 Kevin Millwood
3. #108 Zack Greinke
4. #178 Heath Bell
5. #93 Paul Konerko
6. #327 Cristian Guzman
7. #311 James Shields
8. #224 Milton Bradley
9. #69 Brett Gardner
10. #182 Jeremy Bonderman
11. #3 Jon Lester
12. #54 Brian Fuentes
13. #321 Jeremy Guthrie
14. #215 Edwin Encarnacion
15. #227 Nate McLouth
16. #297 Jason Jaramillo
17. #312 Gaby Sanchez
18. #40 Justin Upton
19. #119 Jason Bay
20. #220 Todd Helton
21. #245 Neil Walker
22. #277 Trevor Hoffman
23. #125 Evan Meek
24. #92 Chris Narveson
25. #286 Melvin Mora
26. #147 Jon Niese
27. #308 Ian Desmond
28. Diamond Giveaway#TDG-2 Jackie Robinson
29. 60 Years of Topps #60YOT-17 Frank Robinson/Brooks Robinson
30. Diamond Duos #DD-BD Ryan Braun/Ike Davis
31. 60 #T60-41 Shin-soo Choo
32. Diamond #135 Mike Stanton (Topps All-Star Rookie)
33. Kimball Champions #KC-34 Joey Votto
34. 60 Years of Topps Original Back #60YOT-48 Mike Piazza/Ivan Rodriguez/Jason Kendall (Reprint)
35. Lost Cards #60YOTLC-7 Bob Feller
36. #287 Scott Cousins (Rookie Card)
37. #268 Jake McGee (Rookie Card)
38. #254 Lars Anderson (Rookie Card)
39. #49 Angels (Team Card)
40. #198 Buster Posey (Topps All-Star Rookie)
41. #29 Josh Hamilton (MVP)
42. #117 Brett Sinkbeil (Rookie Card)
43. #196 Jose Ceda (Rookie Card)
44. #26 Neftali Feliz (Rookie of the Year)
45. #79 Kurt Suzuki
46. #175 Brennan Boesch
47. #169 Chipper Jones
48. #53 Arizona Diamondbacks (Team Card)
49. #283 Colorado Rockies (Team Card)
50. Topps Town #TT-13 Chase Utley

And my latest Topps Diamond lottery card:

1962 Topps #3 Pete Runnels

1996 Topps Series 2:

1. #329 Bobby Bonilla
2. #320 Ben McDonald
3. #223 Albert Belle (Star Power)
4. #225 Wade Boggs (Star Power)
5. #374 Chris Hammond
6. #439 Trey Beamon/Yamil Benitez/Jermaine Dye/Angel Echevarria (Prospects) (Rookie)
7. #375 Lance Johnson
8. #256 Bernard Gilkey
9. #270 Jay Buhner
10. #227 Ivan Rodriguez (Star Power)
11. #282 Jeff Cirillo
12. #401 Bill Swift

“Johnny Bench has long been the standard for defensive excellence behind the plate.  Ivan may yet usurp that title.  Rodriguez’s seven Gold Gloves are the most by any American League catcher in history and are tied with Bob Boone for second overall among big league catchers, trailing Bench’s 10.”

Ivan Rodriguez won his 13th Gold Glove Award in 2007.

2000 Topps Series 1:

1. #101 Preston Wilson (Topps All-Star Rookie)
2. #89 Edgar Martinez
3. #164 Fernando Tatis
4. #33 Eric Karros
5. #108 Kris Benson
6. #59 Mike Sweeney
7. #113 Greg Vaughn
8. #11 Steve Avery
9. #166 Paul Byrd
10. Power Players #P9 Jose Canseco
11. Hands of Gold #HG2 Ivan Rodriguez

“Ivan went 43-for-86 in 6/04, becoming the first player in four years to hit .500 in a month.”

As his career winds to a close, the future Hall of Famer is batting only .154 while preparing young Nationals catchers to succeed him.

2005 Topps Series 1:

1. #52 Danny Graves
2. #77 Barry Zito
3. #30 Ivan Rodriguez
4. #68 Francisco Cordero
5. #226 Josh Fogg
6. #60 Jose Vidro
7. #344 Juan Pierre/Mark Loretta/Jack Wilson (League Leaders)
8. #281 Jim Tracy (Manager)
9. #51 Chone Figgins
10. #255 Braden Looper