See here for a headnote and explanation. #52: Matthew Liberatore I got a real education on baseball card lingo from Toppsrippsed.com, most importantly a glossary of so many terms that didn’t exist when I was a mere lad. Folks, this is required reading. As for Liberatore, he gets an “RC” for his rookie card, which […]
Tagged as:
Christian Javier,
Dylan Cease,
Jermaine Palacios,
Marcus Stroman,
Matthew Liberatore,
Topps
See here for a headnote and explanation. #47: Ryan Mountcastle Voted most likely to be a character in Game of Thrones. #48: Jacob DeGrom I think most fans want a home-grown star to remain with their team for the duration of their career. And especially nowadays, with salaries being so high, why would anyone really […]
Tagged as:
Chas McCormick,
Jacob DeGrom,
Mitch Haniger,
Mookie Betts,
Ryan Mountcastle,
Topps
See here for a headnote and explanation. #42: Franchy Cordero As opposed to Frenchy Bordagaray? #43: NL Average Leaders Average leaders? Sounds like an oxymoron. I want above average leaders. That’s why they’re “leaders.” BITD, all the leader cards came consecutively numbered: average, home runs, and RBI for batters; wins, strikeouts, and ERA for pitchers. […]
Tagged as:
Franchy Cordero,
Gerrit Cole,
Jesus Sanchez,
Jorge Alfaro,
NL Average Leaders,
Topps
See here for a headnote and explanation. #37: Josh Smith A second-round draft pick for the Yankees in 2019, Smith was traded to the Rangers in 2021 and made his debut with them last year, so another first-carder. #38: Jorge Mateo Led the American League in stolen bases in his first full season last year. […]
Tagged as:
Adam Wainright,
Brian Serven,
Jorge Mateo,
Josh Smith,
Keegan Thompson,
Topps
See here for a headnote and explanation. Back to earth, so to speak and with all due respect. #32: Jordan Montgomery Has been around since breaking in with the Yankees in 2017, joining the Cardinals in a trade late last year. #33: Kyle Farmer “Kyle batted .394 across a 29-game stretch from mid-May to mid-June […]
Tagged as:
Brandon Lowe,
CJ Abrams,
Jordan Montgomery,
Kyle Farmer,
Topps,
Zack Thompson
See here for a headnote and explanation. #27: Mike Trout Another player whose stature would have earned him a “zero” on his card in another generation. There’s a fascinating site by SportTrac that keeps tabs on, among other things, time spent on the Injury List (you may have heard by now that Shohei Ohtani (#17) […]
Tagged as:
Corey Knebel,
Kenley Jansen,
Mike Trout,
Riley Greene,
Topps,
Trevor Rogers
See here for a headnote an explanation. I don’t know what I was thinking. Doing one card a day for more than 600 cards will take almost a couple of years. Ain’t nobody got time for that. So by doing five a day, I can be done by the end of the year. So without […]
Tagged as:
Albert Pujols,
Bryce Harper,
Paul Blackburn,
Topps,
Yadier Molina,
Zack Thompson
Because you can keep cards on your bookshelf. Headnote: I don’t know why I keep doing it. Force of habit I guess. As I pointed out in an entry about Mets cards, The way it worked back then, Topps would release seven series of about 132 cards each beginning in March or April. Once the […]
Tagged as:
Juan Soto,
Topps
Every now and then there’s Facebook post featuring a baseball card, whether it highlights a player or event. I was in my basement and came across this, which led me down a rabbit hole. Surf came out with booklets like this for several teams; this one in particular — which covers the Mets from 1962 […]
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Topps
♦ For better or worse: According to overthemonster.com, “Moneyball is one of the five most important baseball books ever written, and given its easily absorbed central premise, it’s often used as a verb to describe building a baseball team on the cheap.” And it goes on from there in this piece about the effect such […]
Tagged as:
Aaron Judge,
Moneyball,
Topps
When I was a kid, there was only Topps. And only one set of Topps. Now there are so many, of varying degrees of quality and inteerest, it’s hard to keep up. Case in point: the 2017 Inception set. Maybe this is all a dream.
Tagged as:
Baseball Cards,
Topps
♦ The Minnesota Spokesman Record, an African-America newspaper, posted this review of They Played for the Love of the Game: Untold Stories of Black Baseball in Minnesota, published by Frank M. White. ♦ The Lincoln (NE) Journal Star provided this piece on Roger Angell‘s memoir, This Old Man: All in Pieces. I still maintain this […]
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Baseball Cards,
minor leagues,
Negro Leagues,
Roger Angell,
Topps,
Washington Senators
Sometimes things just work out in surprising fashion. Last week I received an e-mail from Fred Harris to let me know he was re-releasing one of my favorite books, The Great American Baseball Card Flipping, Trading And Bubblegum Book, co-written with Brendan Boyd, as an e-book (though previous versions are still available on-line). TGABCFTABB is […]
Tagged as:
boomer nostalgia,
Fred C. Harris. Baseball cards,
Topps
The baseball card scion died yesterday at the age of 91. If you were a red-blooded American boy, you probably collected some form of “sports cards” as a kid. Most likely, they were the offspring of Berger, who created Topps back in the early 1950s. Although trading cards have been around for more than 100 […]
Tagged as:
Baseball Cards,
Sy Berger,
Topps
From the Associated Press: Advanced Stats Find Way Onto Baseball Cards The advanced-stats movement is making headway in another area: baseball cards. Topps added WAR (wins above replacement) to its cards last year in a sign that the oft-debated metric is becoming more accepted by the mainstream. As a company that’s been making baseball cards […]
Tagged as:
Baseball Cards,
Topps
Came across this interesting item by Joe Posnanski on how the iconic baseball card company decides who gets the honors of the prime “real estate” of their annual output. At least that’s how it was in the 1976 set he bought on eBay. I haven’t bought sets in awhile; is that still the case? Also, […]
Tagged as:
Joe Posnanski,
Topps
The author of Yankee Greats: 100 Classic Baseball Cards will be the featured guest at the Bergino Baseball Clubhouse in Manhattan on Thursday, Sept. 20, at 7 p.m. Woods was a guest on a Bookshelf podcast back in June. From the press release: Yankee Greats features 100 baseball cards of the greatest and most popular […]
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baseball art,
Baseball Cards,
Bergino Baseball Clubhouse,
Bob Woods,
New York Yankees,
Topps
With Fathers Day upon us, and a few prominent author appearances on the horizon, I’ve been scrambling to put up some relevant podcasts. So rather than putting up one this week, there will be a few including: Wayne Coffey, co-author of R.A. Dickey’s notable memoir, Wherever I Wind Up Marty Appel, Pinstripe Empire, which is […]
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Dave Anderson,
Marty Appel,
New York Times,
Pinstripe Empire,
Topps,
Wayne Coffey,
Yogi Berra Museum
That’s what it’s coming to these days. Topps is undoubtedly looking for a new audience, according to these recent pieces in The New York Times and Time magazine (both of which use the same photo to illustrate the story). According to the Time story, [T]oday, as Angry Birds and iPads beckon, the baseball card has […]
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Baseball Cards,
Topps
But savvy baseball cards buffs like Night Owl Cards caught them. To be fair, back int he day when the company released one series at a time, instead of all at one (kids, ask your parents), they often airbrushed logos onto the hats and/or unis of players who had been traded during the season. In […]
Tagged as:
Baseball card,
collectibles,
Topps
Five Cards Whenever #52-56: Matthew Liberatore, Dylan Cease, Marcus Stroman, Christian Javier, Jermaine Palacios
August 31, 2023
See here for a headnote and explanation. #52: Matthew Liberatore I got a real education on baseball card lingo from Toppsrippsed.com, most importantly a glossary of so many terms that didn’t exist when I was a mere lad. Folks, this is required reading. As for Liberatore, he gets an “RC” for his rookie card, which […]
Tagged as: Christian Javier, Dylan Cease, Jermaine Palacios, Marcus Stroman, Matthew Liberatore, Topps
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