Domonic Brown had a breakout season in the minor leagues this past season:

Chad Qualls had a rough 2010 season coming back from knee surgery:

Mickey Mantle died in 1995.  Teammate Yogi Berra is still around and is 85 years old:

Ozzie Smith won 13 Gold Gloves:

And here’s my “Manufactured Bat Barrel”… pretty nice to see in person, though I don’t care for manufactured “relics”.  It’s the thickest card I’ve ever seen – it’s 5mm thick:

2010 Topps Update Series:

1. #US-135 Starlin Castro (Rookie Debut)
2. #US-137 Austin Kearns
3. #US-22 Ty Wigginton (All-Star)
4. #US-208 Jeff Keppinger
5. #US-217 Yorvit Torrealba
6. #US-286 Arthur Rhodes
7. #US-43 Brennan Boesch (Rookie Debut)
8. #US-29 Livan Hernandez
9. #US-318 Domonic Brown (Rookie Card)
10. #US-278 Brad Penny
11. #US-129 Gregor Blanco
12. #US-288 Jonny Venters (Rookie Card)
13. #US-246 LaTroy Hawkins
14. #US-239 Gabe Gross
15. #US-293 Pat Burrell
16. #US-253 Mike Minor (Rookie Card)
17. #US-292 Kelly Shoppach
18. #US-272 Brian Stokes
19. #US-235 Jose Tabata (Rookie Card)
20. Gold #US-112 Chad Qualls (Serial#0582/2010)
21. Attax Code Card #JH Jason Heyward
22. Million Card Giveaway #TMC-23 Bob Gibson
23. The Cards Your Mom Threw Out #CMT122 Yogi Berra/Mickey Mantle
24. More Tales of the Game #MTOG-12 There’s No Tying in Baseball
25. Turkey Red #TR139 Johnny Mize
26. Vintage Legends #VLC-28 Ozzie Smith
27. Legendary Lineage #LL-72 Larry Walker/Justin Morneau
28. Manufactured Bat Barrel Relic #MBB-27 Paul Konerko (Serial#21/99) (Manufactured Bat Barrel Relic)
29. #US-265 Ryan Howard (All-Star)
30. #US-326 Miguel Cabrera (Home Run Derby)
31. #US-274 Stephen Strasburg/Ivan Rodriguez (Merry Stras-Mas) (Checklist)
32. #US-45 David Price (All-Star)
33. #US-124 Chris Young (All-Star)
34. #US-243 Michael Bourn (All-Star)
35. #US-303 Brandon Phillips (All-Star)
36. #US-105 Chone Figgins
37. #US-84 Melvin Mora
38. #US-206 Garret Anderson
39. #US-182 Randy Wolf
40. #US-1 Vladimir Guerrero
41. #US-144 Eric Patterson
42. #US-327 Mike Stanton (Rookie Debut)

And finally, my wild card:

1978 Topps #451 Minnesota Twins (Team Card)

We should see a 31-year-old Rod Carew in his prime in this photo.  In 1977, Rod Carew led the league in Runs, Hits, Batting Average, and Triples… then went on to win the AL MVP Award.

I just opened up a Jumbo box of 2010 Topps Update Series.  Evan Longoria is on the front of the box, but maybe they should have just put Stephen Strasburg on it because this is the set where Topps seems to be piling on the Strasburg.  This box came with a bonus box topper pack of a Chrome Rookie Refractor.  I think I got the best card out of the set:

BOX TOPPER:

Chrome Rookie Refractors #CHR01 Stephen Strasburg

Then I picked up two more Strasburgs from the first pack of the box:

Oh yeah, and I also got some non-Strasburg cards out of this pack:

2010 Topps Update:

1. #US-154 Jose Guillen
2. #US-157 Jason Marquis
3. #US-211 Daniel Hudson
4. #US-76 Jose Tabata (Rookie Debut)
5. #US-62 Chris Narveson
6. #US-186 Scott Hairston
7. #US-95 Jamie Moyer
8. #US-195 Mark DeRosa
9. #US-7 Sam LeCure (Rookie Card)
10. #US-77 John Axford
11. #US-107 Matt Capps
12. #US-201 Jeffrey Marquez (Rookie Card)
13. #US-131 Takashi Saito
14. #US-203 Jon Jay (Rookie Card)
15. #US-270 Vladimir Guerrero (All-Star)
16. #US-28 Bill Hall
17. #US-55 Stephen Strasburg (Rookie Debut)
18. #US-311 Felix Doubront (Rookie Card)
19. #US-294 Aaron Heilman
20. #US-59 Jeanmar Gomez (Rookie Card)
21. #US-54 Akinori Iwamura
22. #US-268 Logan Morrison (Rookie Card)
23. #US-159 Octavio Dotel
24. #US-261 Jason Vargas
25. #US-297 Don Kelly
26. #US-140 Josh Hamilton (All-Star)
27. #US-27 Koyie Hill
28. #US-5 Troy Glaus
29. Gold #US-141 Phil Hughes (Serial#1040/2010) (All-Star)
30. Attax Code Card #CK Clayton Kershaw
31. Million Card Giveaway #TMC-27 Thurman Munson
32. The Cards Your Mom Threw Out #CMT146 Ozzie Smith
33. More Tales of the Game #MTOG-14 Stephen Strasburg
34. Turkey Red #TR150 Starlin Castro
35. Vintage Legends #VLC-47 Jimmie Foxx
36. Legendary Lineage #LL-68 Mark Teixeira/Logan Morrison
37. #US-218 Kevin Gregg
38. #US-134 Rick Ankiel
39. #US-111 Willie Bloomquist
40. #US-183 Luis Atilano (Rookie Card)
41. #US-219 Bobby Crosby
42. #US-123 Alberto Callaspo
43. #US-58 Brian Wilson (All-Star)
44. #US-89 Frank Herrmann (Rookie Card)
45. #US-3 Sam Demel (Rookie Card)
46. #US-78 Jon Link (Rookie Card)
47. #US-109 Luke Hughes (Rookie Card)
48. #US-213 Alex Gonzalez
49. #US-309 Andruw Jones
50. #US-257 Joel Hanrahan

My Topps Million card of the week is…

1972 Topps #101 Bill Greif/J.R. Richard/Ray Busse (Rookie Stars)

J.R. Richard draws many parallels to Stephen Strasburg.  Back in 1971, he made his Major League debut at the age of 21 and struck out 15 batters in his first start.  Hopefully Strasburg doesn’t follow Richard’s career path though, because Richard eventually suffered a career-ending stroke and was homeless and destitute in his later years after retirement.

2010 Topps Series 2:

1. #650 Dustin Pedroia
2. #657 Chris Young
3. #561 Ryan Zimmerman
4. #430 Kazuo Matsui
5. #370 Robinson Cano
6. #438 Jason Bartlett
7. #584 Matt Capps
8. #359 Aramis Ramirez
9. #425 Dontrelle Willis
10. #574 Milwaukee Brewers (Team Card)
11. #371 Nick Hundley
12. #494 Andrew Miller
13. #589 Edinson Volquez
14. #416 Ruben Tejada (Rookie Card)
15. #376 Esmil Rogers (Rookie Card)
16. #431 John Raynor (Rookie Card)
17. #503 Austin Jackson (Rookie Card)
18. #476 Yadier Molina
19. #520 Randy Wells
20. #654 Collin Balester
21. #632 Daric Barton
22. #604 Atlanta Braves (Franchise History)
23. #543 Adam Jones/Nick Markakis (Checklist)
24. #486 Raul Ibanez
25. #480 Boston Red Sox (Team Card)
26. #379 Phil Hughes
27. #559 Nick Markakis
28. Gold #356 Angels (Franchise History) (Serial#1353/2010)
29. The Cards Your Mom Threw Out #CMT66 Warren Spahn
30. History of the World Series #HWS2 Walter Johnson
31. Million Card Giveaway #TMC-20 Carl Yastrzemski
32. 2020 #T18 Clayton Kershaw
33. Vintage Legends #VLC9 Ozzie Smith
34. Turkey Red #TR90 Johan Santana
35. Legendary Lineage #LL-42 Lou Gehrig/Albert Pujols
36. Peak Performance #PP-89 B.J. Upton
37. #420 Shin-soo Choo
38. #448 Joakim Soria
39. #529 Carlos Lee
40. #614 Kelly Johnson
41. #660 Brandon McCarthy
42. #585 Dioner Navarro
43. #631 Marc Rzepczynski
44. #519 Alexi Casilla
45. #621 Aaron Cook
46. #521 Jeremy Bonderman
47. #484 Mike Fontenot
48. #396 Jake Westbrook
49. #447 Jeremy Guthrie
50. Attax Code Card #MH Matt Holliday

“Is Pujols the new Gehrig?  The comparison is compelling.  Through their age-29 seasons, Lou holds slight edges in RBI (1,146 to 1,112) and OPS (1.084 to 1,055), but Albert is way out in front in HRs (366 to 267).  They also rank third and fourth in most XBHs in a player’s first 5,000 career ABs — “The Iron Horse” with 761 and “Prince Albert” with 744.”

I think Topps is stretching it a little just to put Gehrig on a card with Pujols.  Pujols is actually much closer to Jimmie Foxx in comparison.  Through age 29, Pujols batted .334 with 366 home runs, while Foxx batted .334 with 379 home runs.  Foxx hit more home runs through age 29 than Pujols because he had 405 more at-bats.

Some other nice cards from this pack:

It’s amazing how Austin Jackson can lead the league in strikeouts, yet still maintain a batting average above .300:

I’m assuming this is from the Angels’ 2002 World Series title?

The Big Train:

and the Wizard of Oz:

I FINALLY got a pre-1970s card in the Topps Million Card Giveaway lottery!

1958 Topps #141 Ken Lehman

He was a relief pitcher in a time when needing a relief pitcher was a sign of weakness.

2010 Topps Series 2 Jumbo:

1. #468 Delmon Young
2. #541 Jason Motte
3. #617 Luis Valbuena
4. #343 Brian Bruney
5. #387 Josh Fields
6. #434 Kevin Slowey
7. #533 Gary Matthews Jr.
8. #643 Michael Young
9. #506 Jose Lopez
10. #489 Russell Martin
11. #409 Kosuke Fukudome
12. #333 Ryan Ludwick
13. #436 New York Mets (Team Card)
14. #502 Jhoulys Chacin
15. #646 Trevor Crowe
16. #544 Kevin Kouzmanoff
17. #524 Dusty Hughes (Rookie Card)
18. #453 Jesse English (Rookie Card)
19. #395 Jenrry Mejia (Rookie Card)
20. #335 Jordan Norberto (Rookie Card)
21. #558 Ronny Paulino
22. #545 Fred Lewis
23. #372 Philadelphia Phillies (Franchise History)
24. #652 Chipper Jones
25. #331 Ryan Braun
26. #602 Kansas City Royals (Franchise History)
27. Gold Border #583 Anibal Sanchez (Serial#1230/2010)
28. The Cards Your Mom Threw Out #CMT87 Joe Morgan
29. History of the World Series #HWS8 Enos Slaughter
30. Million Card Giveaway #TMC-19 Mike Schmidt
31. 2020 #T4 David Price
32. #590b Ernie Banks (Short Print)
33. Vintage Legends #VLC17 Mike Schmidt
34. Turkey Red #TR55 Aaron Hill
35. Legendary Lineage #LL-54 Ozzie Smith/Elvis Andrus
36. Peak Performance #PP-60 Mike Schmidt
37. #389 Troy Tulowitzki
38. #481 Scott Rolen
39. #557 Aaron Hill
40. #537 Michael Cuddyer
41. #546 Bud Norris
42. #627 Jeremy Hermida
43. #341 Texas Rangers (Team Card)
44. #407 Nick Punto
45. #518 Corey Hart
46. #606 Chad Qualls
47. #342 Melky Cabrera
48. #443 Jason Hammel
49. #588 Landon Powell
50. Attax #LB Lance Berkman

I found two Nats cards in this jumbo pack.  However, neither of them are on the current 25-man roster.  Brian Bruney has already been released, while Jesse English is hanging out in the Bush Leagues.

The Ernie Banks card is a pleasant surprise.  I’ll probably end up auctioning it off for a few bucks on eBay and using the cash towards buying a “real” Ernie Banks card.

Some of the other notable pulls from this pack:

And for all you crazy Topps Million people, I didn’t get a Strasburg.  I got junk wax:

1992 Topps #100 Jose Canseco

2010 Topps Series 1:

1. #209 Alexei Ramirez
2. #121 Brett Anderson
3. #326 Tyler Colvin (Rookie)
4. #75 Adrian Gonzalez
5. #140 Matt Holliday
6. The Cards Your Mom Threw Out #CMT-28 Ozzie Smith
7. Turkey Red #TR47 Curtis Granderson
8. Topps Town #TTT25 Manny Ramirez
9. #53 Craig Counsell
10. #144 Rich Harden

“Smith’s 1979 rookie card was barely noticed by hobbyists.  He was just another light-shortstop who, in fact, batted only .211 that season.  Not only would he play his way into the Hall of Fame, but this particular card being perfectly centered was extremely rare.”

This is a bit misleading.  While he didn’t have a great 1979 season, Ozzie was the runner-up for Rookie of the Year on his rookie season of 1978 after hitting .258, stealing 40 bases, and leading the league with 28 sacrifice hits.  He won his first Gold Glove in 1980 and appeared in his first All-Star Game in 1981.

1995 Topps Traded and Rookies:

1. #92T Vaughn Eshelman
2. #118T Jerald Clark
3. #46T Dave Mlicki
4. #110T David Cone
5. #24T Tomas Perez
6. #29T Todd Williams
7. #27T Derek Bell
8. #104T Melvin Bunch
9. #159 Cal Ripken/Ozzie Smith (All-Star)
10. #104T Melvin Bunch
11. #156 Frank Thomas/Fred McGriff (All-Star)

Cal Ripken edged out Ozzie Smith in 1994 All-Star Voting 1,628,524 votes to Smith’s 1,367,518.

1992 Studio, to be integrated into my collection:

1. #88 Randy Tomlin *x2
2. #89 Andy Van Slyke
3. #91 Pedro Guerrero *x2
4. #92 Rex Hudler
5. #93 Brian Jordan
6. #96 Tom Pagnozzi
7. #98 Ozzie Smith *x2
8. #100 Todd Zeile
9. #104 Tony Gwynn
10. #108 Gary Sheffield
11. #109 Kurt Stillwell
12. #110 Tim Teufel
13. #111 Kevin Bass
14. #112 Jeff Brantley *x2
15. #114 Will Clark
16. #116 Mike Jackson
17. #117 Darren Lewis
18. #118 Bill Swift
19. #119 Robby Thompson
20. #122 Glenn Davis
21. #126 Ben McDonald
22. #133 Greg Harris
23. #135 Tony Pena
24. #136 Phil Plantier
25. #138 Jody Reed
26. #143 Chad Curtis
27. #144 Gary DiSarcina
28. #147 Von Hayes
29. #148 Mark Langston
30. #149 Lance Parrish

1992 Leaf Black Gold was the same concept as the Topps Gold cards that also came out in 1992.  However, Leaf inserted one Black Gold card in every pack — an idea Topps ran with in 1993:

1. #8 Chris Gardner
2. #89 Mike Greenwell
3. #146 Greg Gagne *x2
4. #150 Milt Thompson
5. #155 Rich DeLucia
6. #156 Roberto Kelly
7. #160 Luis Gonzalez
8. #161 Steve Wilson
9. #165 Mike Scioscia *x2
10. #170 David Valle
11. #173 Kenny Rogers
12. #174 John Franco
13. #175 Jose Lind
14. #183 Andre Dawson
15. #205 Hal Morris
16. #218 Dave Otto
17. #221 Frank Viola
18. #223 Gary Redus
19. #225 Dean Palmer
20. #267 Jose Canseco
21. #270 Jose Vizcaino
22. #349 Frank Thomas *x2
23. #369 Dan Pasqua
24. #373 Matt Williams
25. #400 Ozzie Smith
26. #406 Danny Tartabull
27. #426 Moises Alou
28. #517 Kirk McCaskill
29. #521 Scott Ruskin