1. #63 Nate Schierholtz
2. #76 Ian Kennedy
3. #293 Eric Thames
4. #305 Chipper Jones
5. #46 Peter Bourjos
6. #102 Chase d’Arnaud
7. #142 Travis Wood
8. #21 Chris Iannetta
9. #72 Rex Brothers
10. #330 Matt Kemp
11. #280 Ryan Howard
12. #6 Nick Hagadone
13. #28 Placido Polanco
14. #4 Jeremy Guthrie
15. #177 Josh Thole
16. #53 St. Louis Cardinals (World Series)
17. #91 Alex Rodriguez/Jim Thome/Jason Giambi (Active Leaders)
18. #29 Livan Hernandez/Roy Oswalt/Randy Wolf (Active Leaders)
19. #90 Adron Chambers (Rookie Card)
20. #292 Ben Revere (Topps All-Star Rookie)
21. #308 Mike Leake
22. #238 Emilio Bonifacio
23. #60 Hanley Ramirez
24. Gold Sparkle #212 Tim Wakefield/CC Sabathia/Mark Buehrle (Active Leaders)
25. Classic Walk-offs #CW-5 Jay Bruce
26. Golden Moments #GM-50 Roy Halladay
27. Golden Greats #GG-14 Willie Mays
28. Gold Standard #GS-23 Tom Seaver
29. Gold Futures #GF-1 Michael Pineda
30. 1987 Topps Minis #TM-48 Paul Konerko
31. Golden Giveaway #GGC-2 Troy Tulowitzki
32. Timeless Talents #TT-23 Edgar Martinez/David Ortiz
33. #163 Justin Turner
34. #307 Vance Worley
35. #203 Jeff Niemann
36. #140 Troy Tulowitzki
37. #316 Nick Blackburn
38. #100 Jose Bautista
39. #9 Jesus Montero (Rookie Card)
40. #150 Roy Halladay
41. #169 Brett Myers
42. #71 Jeff Karstens
43. #193 Kelly Shoppach
44. #158 Josh Reddick
45. #82 Rick Porcello
46. #198 Matt Dominguez (Rookie Card)
47. #81 Liam Hendriks (Rookie Card)
48. #252 Dellin Betances (Rookie Card)
49. #219 Jordan Pacheco (Rookie Card)
50. #41 Devin Mesoraco (Rookie Card)

Here’s what I got in the Golden Giveaway:

In 2007, Jim Thome was 5th in career home runs among active players, behind Bonds, Sosa, Griffey, and Thomas.  Today he is still active and 2nd in career homers among active players, behind Alex Rodriguez.

2007 Topps Series 2:

1. #612 Ozzie Guillen (Manager)
2. #615 Lou Piniella (Manager)
3. #381 Ronny Paulino
4. #456 Ted Lilly
5. Hit Parade #HP4 Jim Thome
6. Distinguished Service #DS21 Joe DiMaggio
7. Red Back #539 Eric Milton
8. Red Back #341 Akinori Iwamura (Rookie Card)
9. #346 Shawn Green
10. #570 Mariano Rivera

Three members of the 500-Club:  A-Rod has 613 and counting, Thome has 589 and counting, and Palmeiro ended his career with 569.  That’s 1,771 home runs among the three of them, with more to come!

2002 Topps Series 1:

1. #210 Hideo Nomo
2. #175 Ivan Rodriguez
3. #57 Dante Bichette
4. #121 Jorge Fabregas
5. #339 Alex Rodriguez/Jim Thome/Rafael Palmeiro (League Leaders)
6. #269 Marlon Anderson
7. #116 Ruben Rivera
8. #101 Keith Osik
9. #212 Ricky Gutierrez
10. #136 Omar Olivares

It seemed like most of the audience consisted of Los Angeles Dodgers fans.  It’s a long way from California, so they were here looking for a dramatic display of power, and that’s exactly what they got.  The Dodgers scored 7 runs in the 4th inning and 6 in the 7th.  I stopped keeping count of their runs after the 4th inning.

The Nationals were already eliminated from playoff contention a few weeks ago, so I was at the game mainly to see the Dodgers in person before they go into the playoffs.  The Adam Dunn home run, coupled with the fireworks display that followed, was an awesome experience.  It was also pretty cool to see Chin-Lung Hu (胡金龍), the first Taiwanese infielder ever to play in the Major Leagues, make a plate appearance (and strike out).  Future Hall of Fame contender and 500-HR clubber Jim Thome also made a surprise appearance (and grounded out).  Then of course, there was Manny Being Manny, who drew boos at every plate appearance.

The box score for the game can be found here.  As I write this, the Nationals and Dodgers are playing game 2 of their 3-game series at Nationals Park and the score is tied 3-3 in the 8th inning.  Whether the Nationals win or lose tonight, I’ll look forward to seeing the Dodgers play in the playoffs next month on TV.

2007 Topps #481 Jim Thome

2007 Topps archives, to be integrated with my collection:

1. #425 Tomo Ohka
2. #427 Randy Wolf
3. #430 Justin Morneau
4. #432 Takashi Saito
5. #440 Mark Teixeira
6. #446 Jaret Wright
7. #449 Francisco Liriano (Topps All-Star Rookie)
8. #451 Bobby Jenks
9. #455 Dan Johnson
10. #457 Mike Hampton
11. #460 Jose Reyes
12. #464 Omar Vizquel
13. #466 Raul Ibanez
14. #470 Gary Sheffield
15. #471 David Wells
16. #476 Aaron Harang
17. #481 Jim Thome
18. #486 Wandy Rodriguez
19. #487 Eric Chavez
20. #489 Doug Davis


2007 Topps #560 Randy Johnson

21. #492 Michael Barrett
22. #496 Ryan Klesko
23. #510 Alex Rodriguez
24. #512 Jason Kubel
25. #513 Jermaine Dye
26. #514 Mark Grudzielanek
27. #522 Anthony Reyes
28. #523 Derrek Lee
29. #534 Terrmel Sledge
30. #536 Tom Gorzelanny
31. #540 Chad Billingsley
32. #542 Omar Infante
33. #547 Byung-Hyun Kim
34. #549 Horacio Ramirez
35. #557 Scott Olsen
36. #560 Randy Johnson
37. #561 Chan Ho Park
38. #562 Jamie Moyer
39. #563 Mike Gonzalez
40. #564 Nelson Cruz

1992 Topps #768 Jim Thome

1992 Topps archives, to be integrated with my collection:

1. #715 Craig Biggio
2. #717 Ken Dayley
3. #719 Terry Mulholland
4. #720 Kirk Gibson *x2
5. #726 Kirt Manwaring
6. #727 Chuck McElroy
7. #729 Art Howe (Manager)
8. #732 Nelson Santovenia
9. #738 Dennis Eckersley
10. #744 Chris Hammond
11. #746 Bernard Gilkey
12. #751 Steve Wilson
13. #753 Paul Assenmacher
14. #754 Charlie Hayes
15. #757 Rob Dibble
16. #762 John Burkett
17. #766 Mark Davis
18. #768 Jim Thome
19. #772 Garry Templeton *x3
20. #773 Hal Morris
21. #774 Bud Black
22. #775 Ivan Calderon *x2
23. #788 Mike Stanton
24. #790 Joe Carter
25. #792 Dave Winfield