See here for a headnote and explanation.
The mother lode.
When we used to collect cards by the pack, to borrow from Forrest Gump, it was always an adventure. Life was like a box of chocolates; you never know what you were going to get. You might get a Mickey Mantle, but he would be surrounded by mere mortals. It was extremely rare to find two superstars in a pack of five or even ten cards. In today’s grouping we have three potential Hall of Famers, four if you give Alonso some love. And that’s with all due respect to Tanner Scott.
#17: Shohei Ohtani
What more needs to be said? Players have won Cy Young and MVP awards in the same season, but not for a combination of offensive and pitching talent. If Ohtani ever pulls that off, I hope there’s some sort of asterisk (yes, I said asterisk) noting that fact. Who knows how long he can continue to excel on both sides of the plate but for now, enjoy. This card is strictly for Ohtani as a hurler; I won’t look ahead to see if there’s one for him as a batter as well.
#18: Tanner Scott
Unfortunately, the runt of this litter. A lifetime WAR of just 1.1.
#19: Joey Votto
I have great respect and admiration for players of whatever ability who remain with the same team for an entire career: Mantle, Brooks Robinson, Ernie Banks, Yaz… Of course, things were different in the pre-free agency era but not even Babe Ruth could be included in this select group. In 1997, The New York Times Sunday Magazine published an article about 15 then-current players who had only one major league team listed on their stats sheet so Votto is a rarity. To this date, he’s only worn the colors of the Cincinnati Reds. According to Baseball-Reference.com, they’ve paid him more than $250 million, so money should never be an issue. Yes, he’s had some downward slide over the past couple of years, but I’m hoping the 39-year-old will be allowed to call it a career in the same uni.
#20: Pete Alonso
At last, a player worthy of his card number. Pete Alonso is a gem. If you’re in the New York market, you’ve enjoyed his appearances in a few commercials (even one for a company I can’t stand). Recently he accidentally tossed St. Louis Cardinals’ rookie Masyn Winn’s first career hit into the stands and felt truly awful about it. How could you not root for this guy? A three-time All-Star — and two-time Home Run Derby champ — who led the majors with 53 home runs in his first season and, when you kick out the 2020 Covid season, has averaged over 40 dingers per year (he has 39 as of this writing). Good choice, Topps.
#21: Maz Scherzer
Old Blue-and-Brown Eyes is back. When I was a kid, her probably would have a “double-zero” card. A lock for the Hall, he was a bit of a personal disappointment for his lack of production as a Met this year after such high hopes in the pre-season. But, hey, he’s 39, with three Cy Youngs, 8 All-Star selections… I’m not going to get into all the accolades. In the words of Casey Stengel, “You could look it it.”
Back in the day, it was rare to have teammates on back-to-back cards, unless it was a later series where a such an occurence might reflect a mid-season trade.
I also don’t bother with a card’s monetary value here; they vary so widely from outfit to outfit. I don’t keep up enough with all the different versions to know about rarity. I saw an Alonso rookie card on eBay for $9,999 and a Ohtani Topps Chrome for — wait for it — $309,878. Crazy.
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