“Randy says his nickname, “Big Unit,” was coined by Tim Raines when the two were teammates in Montreal.  In 1989, says Johnson, Raines bumped into him, with the bill of Tim’s batting helmet hitting Randy in the chest.  Raines looked up and declared, “Man, you’re a big unit!””

1997 Topps Series 2:

1. #388 Dennis Eckersley
2. #325 Randy Johnson
3. #360 David Cone
4. #442 Mark Lewis
5. #327 Mark Leiter
6. #478 Danny Peoples/Jake Westbrook (Draft Picks) (Rookie Card)
7. #483 Mark Johnson/Mark Kotsay (Draft Picks) (Rookie Card)
8. #468 Jason Conti/Jhensy Sandoval (Rookie Card)
9. #377 Todd Walker
10. #364 Kirt Manwaring
11. #373 Jose Rijo

Gonzalez has been the San Diego Padres’ All-Star slugger for the past 3 seasons, averaging a .286 AVG and 35 homers from 2008-2010.

Funny note:  The Oakland Athletics team card #410 lists the home run leader as “Jack Crust”

The younger of the LaRoche brothers:

Strikeout King #2:

Strikeout King #1:

The Sultan of Swat and The… hmm… Ryan Howard needs a fearsome nickname…

My Topps Million Card lotto ticket gave me…

1965 Topps #474 Cookie Rojas

Not a bad card.  Cookie Rojas is not a big name, but he played 5 All-Star games in his day.

2010 Topps Series 2 Jumbo pack:

1. #432 A.J. Burnett
2. #473 Jason Varitek
3. #528 Brian Bannister
4. #635 Carl Pavano
5. #332 Brad Hawpe
6. #459 Joel Zumaya
7. #535 Andy Sonnanstine
8. #607 Ubaldo Jimenez
9. #344 Brett Myers
10. #394 Luis Castillo
11. #547 Brett Gardner
12. #649 Casey McGehee
13. #509 Todd Helton
14. #583 Anibal Sanchez
15. #471 Drew Butera (Rookie Card)
16. #452 Allen Craig (Rookie Card)
17. #375 Mike Leake (Rookie Card)
18. #636 Evan Longoria/B.J. Upton (Celeb-Rays-tion Time) (Checklist)
19. #467 Fausto Carmona
20. #552 Chris Tillman
21. #566 Maicer Izturis
22. #642 San Diego Padres (Franchise History)
23. #410 Oakland Athletics (Team Card)
24. #656 Jon Lester
25. Gold #594 Andy LaRoche (Serial#0139/2010)
26. The Cards Your Mom Threw Out #CMT96 Randy Johnson
27. History of the World Series #HWS23 Cole Hamels
28. Million Card Giveaway #TMC-12 Gary Carter
29. 2020 #T17 Tommy Hanson
30. Peak Performance Relics #PPR-AG Adrian Gonzalez (Bat Relic)
31. Vintage Legends #VLC21 Nolan Ryan
32. Turkey Red #TR93 Ian Desmond
33. Legendary Lineage #LL-45 Babe Ruth/Ryan Howard
34. Peak Performance #PP-86 Justin Verlander
35. #382 Kyle Davies
36. #458 Todd Wellemeyer
37. #507 Francisco Rodriguez
38. #628 Ross Detwiler
39. #578 Aaron Rowand
40. #630 Ben Francisco
41. #568 Jarrod Saltalamacchia
42. #488 Delwyn Young
43. #417 Dallas Braden
44. #373 Clint Barmes
45. #639 Los Angeles Dodgers (Team Card)
46. #542 Heath Bell
47. #401 Chad Billingsley
48. Attax Code Card #AR Alex Rodriguez

2010 Topps Series 1:

1. #153 Justin Duchscherer
2. #63 Josh Bard
3. #310 Elvis Andrus (Topps All-Star Rookie)
4. #220 Randy Johnson
5. #269 Alex Rodriguez/Derek Jeter/Robinson Cano (Checklist)
6. Gold Border #252 Ronny Cedeno (Serial#0095/2010)
7. When They Were Young #WTWY-AP Aaron Poreda
8. Topps Town #TTT6 Ichiro
9. #146 Yunel Escobar
10. #151 Mat Gamel

The photography for 2010 Topps is still awesome.

2010 Topps Series 1:

1. #21 Cristian Guzman
2. #141 Chone Figgins
3. #292 Tommy Manzella (Rookie)
4. #34 Michael Dunn (Rookie)
5. #227 Josh Thole (Rookie)
6. Million Card Giveaway #TMC-4 Ichiro Suzuki
7. Legendary Lineage #LL8 Tris Speaker/Grady Sizemore
8. Topps Town #TTT9 Roy Halladay
9. #208 Tim Wakefield
10. #111 Ty Wigginton

“Speaker and Sizemore are considered among the most well-rounded players of their time.  Each led the American League in runs and doubles, and both are adept on the base paths.  Grady’s 53 two-baggers in 2006 rank third in franchise history, while Tris (the Major League career leader in that category with 792) is second on the list with 56 in 1923.”

Actually, Tris Speaker had 59 doubles in 1923.  George Burns had 64 for Cleveland in 1926.

The card I got from the Million Card Giveaway is good, but I already have it:

2007 Topps #560 Randy Johnson

2006 Topps Series 2:

1. #460 Randy Johnson
2. #403 Brandon Webb
3. #448 Bobby Crosby
4. #529 Kris Benson
5. #434 Frank Catalanotto
6. United States Constitution #SC-CP Charles Pinckney
7. #622 Jason Bergmann (Rookie)
8. #430 Octavio Dotel
9. #353 Claudio Vargas
10. #649 Adam Dunn/Ken Griffey Jr. (Big Reds)

I’m starting to hate these non-baseball cards.  I just don’t see how they can possibly fit into my collection.

The Randy Johnson card on the other hand is going into my Future Hall of Famers binder:

And Jason Bergmann to my Nationals binder:

2009 Topps Series 1:

1. #303 Zach Duke
2. #244 Sean Rodriguez
3. #111 Troy Percival
4. #221 Cliff Lee/Roy Halladay/Daisuke Matsuzaka (League Leaders)
5. #246 B.J. Upton/Carl Crawford/Evan Longoria (Postseason Highlights)
6. #259 Tim Lincecum/Johan Santana/Dan Haren (League Leaders)
7. Topps Town #TTT6 Johan Santana
8. #248 Scott Lewis (Rookie)
9. #185 Randy Johnson
10. #269 Hunter Pence

“The Rays, in their first postseason, captured the AL pennant thanks to their booming bats.  B.J. Upton and Evan Longoria accounted for half of the team’s 16 ALCS homers (each slugging .780-plus) while Carl Crawford tied the series lead in hits.”

If the Rays keep doing what they have been doing this season, they’ll be headed to the World Series again this Fall.  Upton, Crawford, and Longoria are all still with the team.

Another one for my Randy Johnson collection:

2008 Topps Series 2:

1. #495 James Shields
2. #397 Brian Wilson
3. #579 Jesse Litsch
4. #638 Juan Pierre
5. #489 Joakim Soria
6. 50th Anniversary All Rookie Team #AR105 Miguel Cairo
7. Year in Review #YR77 Russell Branyan
8. #550 Curt Schilling
9. #396 Randy Johnson
10. #548 Garrett Olson

Future Hall of Famer Randy Johnson ended his Major League career batting .125 with 1 Home Run and 40 RBIs in 625 At-Bats.  Of his 78 career hits, 14 of them were doubles.

2008 Topps Updates & Highlights:

1. #UH242 Raul Chavez
2. #UH14 Bartolo Colon
3. #UH2 Sean Casey
4. #UH173 Randy Johnson (Highlights)
5. #UH285 Kosuke Fukudome (All-Star)
6. #UH222 Dave Borkowski
7. #UH306 Casey Kotchman
8. #UH96 Vladimir Nunez
9. Gold Border #UH148 David Wright (All-Star) (Serial#0052/2008)
10. Gold Foil #UH42 Chip Ambres

“Although David did not win the Monster All-Star Final Vote as the last addition to the 2008 NL All-Star Team, he was added soon after as a replacement for the injured Alfonso Soriano.  He singled and walked during the 15-inning marathon.  It was Wright’s third straight Fall Classic, including the ’06 game, when he homered in his first at-bat.”

Randy Johnson retired last month.  I’m pretty sure he will be first-ballot Hall of Famer when he becomes eligible, I think in 2016.

Also of note, I noticed the card is missing a letter… it says, “RANDY MOVES UP TO NO. 2 ON ALL-TIME K LIS”