Showing posts with label 2013 Topps Heritage. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2013 Topps Heritage. Show all posts

Thursday, April 18, 2013

At Long Last We Have Completion


Hey, whoa! Where did the time go?  Has it really been that long since I posted?  I’m really getting too old to let two weeks slip by almost unnoticed.  I guess I should wrap up this whole “drag out a box break” series and move on to more interesting topics like the Lightning playoff chances (excuse me while I go cry in a corner now).  Three more packs to go, let’s go get them!

Or, because I am lazy let’s not.

I’ll boil it down to one card. 



Hey there leader of Birdland!  Good ol’ Buck Showalter looking all managerial and serious. Which is exactly how managers not named Joe Maddon should look.  The O’s are lingering around .500 this season. Luckily in the AL East that still has them in contention.

There wasn’t much else lurking in the last three packs of the box.  I did get a Venezuelan variation of a pitching leaders card.  If you haven’t seen them, well they’re just like the normal cards except with a black border around the back of the card.

My thoughts on the 2013 Topps Heritage product – a definitive “meeehhh”.

Of all the Topps products on the market, Heritage really is the simplest to get a grip on.  Take a vintage design and airbrush a bunch of current players on the front and ship it out.  I like that they mimic  the inserts and foibles of the original years to keep a bit of continuity, that makes for a nice touch.  The problem is, if you’re not a fan of the base card design it’s really hard to talk yourself into investing the time and money to put a complete set together (thanks short prints!)

I will be trading away, or at least attempting to trade away, most of the cards that I pulled from this box. I’m off to a decent start having set aside the Braves for Captain Canuck and the Pirates for Staff Sergeant Real DFG.  About a week ago I pulled off a 2013-for-2012-Heritage swap on Zistle that cleaned out  about another 20 cards.

So if you are looking to put this set together or need some team needs, check out my trade list on Zistle on get in touch with me. In the meantime I think I might be looking for some Gypsy Queen cards.  I’m really digging the Dealing Aces insert set, might put that one together. After all I already got the best one out of the way.



Saturday, April 6, 2013

The Next To Last Heritage Post - We're almost there!


Here we go.  The first of two posts where I knock out the rest of the Heritage box that bought seemingly 3 months ago.  I’m not done opening packs and I’ve already managed to trade about 20 cards through Zistle.  I’m sure once I’m done and can focus I can get most of this set traded away.  Then I can start thinking about buying a box of Gypsy Queen.  For some reason I’m more intrigued by that set this year then I have been in the past.

Pack I



Carlos Ruiz – “Chooch” to Phillies fans.  Not a bad nickname.  Definitely better than A-Rod or S-Rod or anything like that. I’m pretty sure that “photo” was taken at the Phillies spring training stadium in Clearwater. For my money it’s the best place to watch a game in the Tampa area.

Luis Ayala – Part of a very strong bullpen for the Orioles last year that led to a 29-9 record in one-run games last season.  Critics and sabreologists scoffed at the record and decried it as “UNSUSTAINABLE!” I guess they might be right, the O’s are 0-1 in one-run games this season.

Howie Kendrick- Kendrick is a doubles machine – 195 in only 7 seasons.  Maybe the O’s can pick him up to replace their oft-injured doubles hitter Brian Roberts.





Jacoby Ellsbury – Speaking of oft-injured

Wellington Castro – I’m not going to lie, Wellington is a strong, strong first name.

Heath Bell – No Flat Breezy for Mr. Bell.  That’s an old-school grab the hat and bend it as hard as you can in the middle brim.





Jake Peavy – Anytime you can invest $29 million in a pitcher whose arm may fall off his body at anytime you gotta do it!

AL Bombers – Is Cano that short or Rodriguez that tall.  They look like Marty and Vinny celebrating a goal.

James McDonald – This is his third full year as a starter in the National League. If he was surrounded by better talent I’d say he was on the verge of a breakout season.

Best Card – Ayala – Go O’s!
Worst Card – The Yankees.

Pack II




Pat Neshek – He’s probably the best TTM signer in the league and after a couple of years dealing with arm injuries it looks like he found a place in Oakland. Good for him

Garrett Jones – I wonder how often his name will pop up in trade rumors this season.

Chris Perez – They couldn’t have memorialized Perez getting sick on the field? Who knows, maybe there is a super short print variation of that awesome moment!





Tyler Pastornicky – Chalk up another name I have no idea of who it is. Into the pile for Captain Canuck it goes!

Jeremy Hellickson – With James Shields off to Kansas City it is time for Hellickson to step up his game a bit. He won’t be the ace, but needs to be a strong number two.

Jay Bruce – He seems to be the pure slugger compared to Joey Votto’s more cerebral approach.






David Ortiz Memorable Moments – Whatever.  I really don’t care.  Just retire already.

James Loney – Tampa Bay might have another reclamation project on their hands. 

Mike Leake – He’s 28-22 in his career while giving up over 4 runs a game.  Should be in line for a $75 million contract.

Best Card – Pat Neshek
Worst Card – Ortiz

Pack III





A.J. Pierzynski – A royal portrait for a royal asshole

Brendan Ryan – Shortstop or crazed meth addict biker?

Tommy Milone – Proof that you don’t have to be a flamethrower to be successful.  I have a theory that the next undervalued market are pitchers who throw strikes but don’t light up the radar gun.  Even the new age scouts seem to be enamored with hard throwers.





Daniel Nava – After 7 at bats this year Nava is hitting .429 – could be the next superstar!

Pitching Leaders AL – Good for them.

Darwin Barney – The Cubs are quietly putting together a decent infield with Barney, Anthony Rizzo, Starlin Castro and eventually Javier Baez.  Who knows, maybe Theo Epstein will put a winner on the field eventually.



Koufax and Kershaw – Another awesome card in this set. At some point I will own a Koufax card (you know one from when he actually played). 

Royals/Rays Prospects – This would have been an all Royals prospects card if Andrew Friedman didn’t get Odorizzi included in the James Shields trade.  That’s why Friedman is one of the best in the business.



Best Card – Koufax and Kershaw
Worst Card - Hudson

Thursday, April 4, 2013

Time To Speed This Break Up


Alright.  I’ve obviously lost count of what pack I’m busting right now.  That was bound to happen, because I’m really bad at numbers.  That’s why I’m not an accountant, or good at gambling. This project is dragging on a lot longer than I wanted it to so from here on out we’re busting multiple packs at a time. Today there will be two and the next two days will have three packs.  Frankly there is more I want to write about (thems creative juices be flowin’ again), kind of like the post about the Lightning.

Yes, it defeats the original idea of the project – opening a box one pack, one day at a time.  Well, there was actually another reason behind it.  That was to get me in a place where I can write every day, or at least almost every day.  I think I’m in that place right now so I’m taking the training wheels off and going for it.
Without further adieu today’s packs:





Andrelton Simmons – “Yo baby, why don’t you drop that zero and get with a hero?”

Joel Hanrahan – “I was told there would be chicken and beer.”

Victor Martinez – “My knee looks like what?”





Ryan Cook – “I’m totally Vadaring this ball”.

Frank Francisco – “You said look serious”

Alfonso Soriano – “I swear I will waive my no-trade this year, please trade me”





Albert Pujols (action variation) – “Ow. Ow. Ow. Ow.”

Alex Presley – “If one more person mentions Elvis I will crush their head with this bat.”

Matt Cain/Buster Posey – “So my guy was saying I need to diversify my portfolio.  I don’t know what that means but I did buy a lot of gold and bury it in my back yard.”

Best Card – Simmons
Worst Card – Francisco

Pack Two!




Rockies Future Stars – Ortega hit .500 in spring training this year with an OPS of 1.405.  Not too shabby. Topps might be onto something.

NL Pitching Leaders – Of everyone pictured here I think only Johnny Cueto makes it back.

Matt Moore – Those are some thick eyebrows you got there, Matty Moore.




Justin Smoak – In the land of failed prospects, he shall be their king.

Omar Infante – Ummm.. I got nothing.

Don Mattingly – The Hit Man. One of the great “What ifs” of the modern era. As in, “What if his back had actually held up for his entire career.”





Chris Sale Chrome – Love the herky-jerky windup.  There are too many cookie cutter windups in the league these days.  Nice to see something different (especially since I don’t have to hit against it).

Andy Pettitte – “You Mad Bro?”

Hitting Area – Who would have though Bryce Harper wouldn’t be the asshole in this picture?

Best Card – Pettitte
Worst Card –Infante, just cause I couldn’t come up with anything remotely clever.

Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Fifteen Packs? That Means Less Than Ten To Go


As I listened to the Orioles game today (pitching and the long ball – Earl Weaver was smilin’ in heaven today) it struck me that they’re pretty much rolling out the same team they did last year.  Which, in today’s game is really, really odd.  Thanks to free agency, salary “caps” and rapid change in management it seems like players are almost always on the move. 

To put this thought to test let us take a look at my most recent Heritage pack and see if there are any players who are still with the team that drafted them.




Tyler Colvin – Nope. He was a Cub.

Mitch Moreland – Drafted by the Rangers. Still with the Rangers. Thanks for screwing this up so early, Mitch.

Nathan Eovaldi – Was in the Dodgers organization and came over in the Hanley Ramirez deal.




Justin Ruggiano – Former Ray

Gavin Floyd – Former Phillie

Brandon Phillips – Drafted by the Expos (remember them?) debuted with the Indians



The Beatles – Former Quarrymen

Jose Bautista – Who didn’t he play for?

Tommy Hanson – Former Brave

So, seven out of eight players in this pack have changed organizations. Seems about right.  Even a team like the Rays who are notorious for developing their own talent are dipping into the free agent pool more and more. In one of those jaw dropping stats, Roberto Hernandez (you may remember him as Fausto Carmona) will start for the Rays on Thursday. While his comeback is story enough, he will also become the first free agent pitcher to start for the Rays since Hideo Nomo in 2005; that’s a streak of 1,207 games. Amazing.

Best Card – The Beatles.  After the Bunchado card this was the card I really wanted the most. Love the Beatles.
Worst Card – Tommy Hanson.  He should have been a Brave for life.

Monday, April 1, 2013

One Card, One Card Only






BUN-CHADO Acquired!

Happy True Opening Day.

Cubs up 2-0 early, local residents planning victory parade routes.

O’s start tomorrow – I will be at a bar begging someone to turn it on.

That is all.

Sunday, March 31, 2013

Fourteen Packs = Too Many Yankees


Just found out that “Justified” is streaming for free on Amazon Prime.  Well, free if you’ve paid for Prime.  Seeing how it has been getting raves for about three years I figure it’s time to start watching. So that’s what is playing in the background while I write up this quick review.

Not only is it Easter, it’s also technically Opening Day since the Astros are taking on the Rangers tonight. Luckily I have a few days off this week so I’m sure to catch an O’s game or three. Heck with three days off in a row there is a 36% chance I’ll fly down to Tampa to watch the opening series. Let’s take a look at some flights…….$487 one way? OK, looks like I’ll be watching the game on TV. Stupid spring breakers.

Now the cards:




Justin Maxwell – One of these days I’m going to start a fantasy team with nothing but Justin’s.  I’m guessing Mr. Verlander would have to be my top pick.  I’m pretty sure Mr. Maxwell will be available later in the draft.

Gerardo Parra – Yup, don’t know him. Gotta work on my National League players this year.

Carlos Gomez – He kind of looks like a hobbit or something here.  Almost Yoda-esque.



Jon Jay – his twitter handle is @jonjayU.  Feel free to follow. There is also a twitter handle @JonJaysButt Good for him (and his posterior).

Robinson Cano – He so happy! He is also one of three Yankees I don’t despise.  He’s a free agent next year.  Who throws the money at him and do the Yankees match or beat it?

Eduardo Nunez – Ladies and Gentlemen – your opening day starter for the New York Yankees!  Good luck with that.



New Age Performers Cano – It’s a Cano Hot Pack.  Seriously, six Yankee cards in the last two packs.  What have I done to deserve this?
Clint Barmes – BARM-es or Bahrmms?  Anyone?
Alcides Escobar – Escobar is part of the young core of players in Kansas City that have some Midwest fans hoping for the future.  Will it pan out? It’ll all depend on their pitching.  It always depends on pitching.

Best Card – Cano base.  Can’t beat a good smile.
Worst Card – Barmes. Just because I don’t know how to say his last name.

Saturday, March 30, 2013

After A Day Off We March On - And A Streak is Broken


Another weekend and another missed post. It does seem that the only thing bigger than this project is work.  Pesky, pesky work.  Blogging was much easier this time last year when I didn’t have a job to cut into my writing time.  Of course, I had no money and I’m sure I wasn’t the Duchess’ favorite person at the time (although to her credit she still married me). 

So we march on to the second half of the box.




Matt Garza – Oh Mr. Garza you are such the pitching enigma. No hit stuff one night (July 26, 2010) or barely get past the sixth the night before (July 20th, 2010). He’s a free agent after this season so it will be interesting to see if the Cubs re-sign him as part of the rebuild project or trade him for new pieces. 

Quintin Berry – Not to be confused with Quinton McCracken (although they were both outfielders).

White Sox Prospects – I bet my buddy Clarence, the biggest White Sox meathead I know, could barely name these two guys. Thing you find out when you look people up on the internet – Heath was suspended while with the Braves organization for clicking on an online prostitution advertisement. Kids and their money! 





Rafael Soriano – He stepped in for an injured Mariano Rivera last season and had a pretty good year as a closer with 42 saves. Which came as at a great time as he turned that solid season into a two-year $28 million contract with the Washington Nationals. Why teams continue to overpay for closers mystifies me.

Dominic Brown – A lot of hype for young Mr. Brown. It seems like the Phillies are counting on him to have a big year. Especially once Ryan Howard suffers his season-ending injury.

Alex Rodriguez – Another Yankee.  No matter how many more hits or home runs he adds to his career number there will be an underlying feeling that he was somehow a disappointment.





Matt Holliday – Short Print! I’ve never been a Holliday fan.  Some players you just don’t care for.  For me it’s Holliday.
Miguel Gonzalez – An Oriole! Finally – one in thirteen packs, what a hit ratio.  From free agent invitee to dominating the Yankees in the postseason all in six months. Yeah, I’d be pretty happy to!
David Robertson – My penance for pulling an Oriole card, three Yankees in a pack.  Uggh.

Best Card – Miguel Gonzalez

Worst Card -3 Way Tie for the Soriano, Rodriguez and Robertson

Thursday, March 28, 2013

A Dozen Down and A Dozen To Go


Halfway home! Because I am bad at math I had some vague idea that this project would wrap up right around the start of the season. Instead it looks like it will run well past Opening Day, but hopefully be done before the NHL playoffs are done.  What a great week next week will be – baseball starts and the NHL Trade Deadline!  Of course, it looks like the Penguins are doing their best to win the deadline derby with a week to go. Well, let us look at some cards while we acknowledge that GM Ray Shero is better at his job than us.






Matt Thornton – Matt looks more like a 17th century fire-and-brimstone preacher than a ball player. I could definitely see him making Demi Moore wear a scarlet “A” on his shirt and casting out witches.


Michael Bourn – Pictured in his old Brave’s uniform because even Topps’ graphics departments are fast enough to catch his late free agent signing, I wonder if Bourn overvalued his talents a bit.  Not that he’s going to struggle to feed his family with $48 million, but I think he thought he was in line for more when BJ Upton signed his $75 million deal with the Braves.







AL Batting Leaders – The Happiest Card in the World!  Look at all of those smiles. Even Beltre is cracking a grin.

Red Sox Sluggers – Ha.  Will Middlebrooks. Sure over a 162 game schedule he would have hit 32 home runs, but it’s only one year.  Kevin Maas would have hit 43 home runs based on his pro-rated rookie season and you don’t see anyone putting him on a baseball card these days.

Mets Future Stars – More Mets without smiles.  Seriously, Familia looks like he heading to the gallows.





New Age Performers RA Dickey – I’m not sold on Dickey in the AL East.  The Blue Jays are the trendy pick to win the division due to their off-season moves, but winning the Hot Stove League is a lot different than besting the Yankees, Rays, and Red Sox over 162 games.

Dan Uggla – Either he just struck out or they told him his favorite hair gel was being taken off the market.

Sergio Romo – Being so happy just looks illegal 

Best Card – AL Leaders – Bask in glad times
Worst Card – Mets Rookies 

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

We've Opened a Tom Pyatt's Worth of Packs So Far (He wears number 11, get it?)


Eleven? I’m not even halfway yet.  Isn’t this turning into a long, drawn out process? Heck, the Lightning were still coached by Mr.  Boucher back when I started this and Bruce Garrioch’s rumors of him being on the hot seat were still being scoffed at.  By the way, is it ever a good thing to fire someone who looks like a Bond villain?







More on that later.  Now on with the break!







Corey Hart –I see this and all I think is, “Arf, Arf, Arf”.  Oh and Cubs fans do not like Corey Hart.

Kurt Suzuki – Born in Wailuku, Hawaii.  Someday The Duchess and I will be living in Hawaii.  That will mess with my hockey addiction (games at one in the afternoon!) but I think the trade off will be worth it. 

Drew Pomerez – Drew looks a lot like a guy I knew in college.  Link, tell me he ain’t a spitting image of a certain pitcher whose finger you destroyed with a line-drive up the middle.




Alex Rios – Mr. Rios stayed healthy last year and put together a career year. Will he duplicate it this year? At $12.5 million the White Sox hope so. The White Sox picked him up on waivers in August of 2009. According to ESPN, GM Kenny Williams also picked up a $56 jaywalking ticket on the same day. I wonder if he hit Rios up for a quick loan.

Brett Wallace- Please tell me this photo was taken at a Topps “Make a Card Booth”. Wallace is just some kid who threw a jersey on for a fake baseball card, right?  I did that when I was a kid at Boardwalk & Baseball (lets pour one out for a fine baseball themed amusement park).  Much to my family’s chagrin I rocked a Yankees uniform. In my defense I was a big Don Mattingly fan. What left-handed kid who played first base in the 80s wasn’t?

Jonathon Niese – Does anyone on the Mets have a picture where they’re smiling?




Giants – Rookie – Nope, still not Machado/Bundy

Andrew Cashner – “Yo dog. Can I borrow that knife?”  

Yonder Alonso – I was going to come up with a clever pun, ok a horrible pun, about Mr. Alonso hitting a ball out “Yonder”, but you don’t need to read that.  I’m starting to notice that most packs have two players from the same team in them.  Wonder if that was intentional by Topps or just a random happening.

Best Card – Rios.  Smiles are the best.
Worst Card – Arf. Arf. Arf.

Monday, March 25, 2013

Ten Little Packs Sitting On My Desk (And one Indian in the Deck)


We’re going to a slightly different format starting with this post. Frankly, posting nine different photos was taking a bit too long in my opinion and since most of the card fronts have been posted on Zistle already I didn’t see the need.
Plus the photos now look like the 3-card advertising panels that you can pull as a boxtopper.
Today’s cards:



Marlins prospects.  Soon these two players will be traded because they make too much money (i.e. more than $8.25 an hour).
World Series – I like it when they recognize World Series highlights in a base set.  Hopefully in 2014 there will be a different team that sports orange as a primary color.
Ervin Santana – Airbrushed glory on this one.  The Royals went all out on rebuilding their pitching staff and now seem to be a trendy “sleeper” pick.




Joey Votto – He’s got a bit of a Feldman look to him here.  As in Cory Feldman.
Justin Morneau – Wow, this card would not be out of place in a real 1960’s set.  Well except for the luxury boxes in the background.
Jeremy Guthrie – “Guts” is another starting pitcher for the Royals. He’ll probably battle for a spot in the rotation in April and then by July be their most consistent starter.





New Age Performers Kris Medlan – Seriously, it couldn’t have been the Machado card? C’mon Topps don’t you know who I am?
Matt Harvey – Don’t know him. Not gonna bother to look him up because he’s a Met.
Trevor Bauer – Let’s just call this the airbrushed pitcher pack.  Cleveland is also getting some minor buzz as a sleeper team. Heck they’re good enough that they cut Dice-K.

Best Card – Morneau, fantastic looking card. Might be my favorite of the set so far.
Worst Card – Matt Harvey. Just because.

Sunday, March 24, 2013

After A Litte Delay Pack Number Nine, Number Nine, Number Nine


Well, at least we know now what will derail this project – back-to-back 12 hour days at the office.  Fridays and Saturdays are fun at the hotel folks!  Especially when it’s a sold out night.  Well enough about work time to get back to the cards.  This is going to be a quick one (that’s what she said).




Seth Smith – Didn’t he hit a bunch of home runs for the Rockies during their miracle run a few years ago?  Now he’s in Oakland you say? OK.




Bret Lawrie – Smiling like someone just told a fart joke.





Phil Hughes – You’re too serious, son.  Lighten up.




Dexter Fowler – Not gonna lie, he looks like he’s been sitting in the dugout with Dave Parker.





Carlos Beltran – Still  going after all these years.



Kris Medlan – Don’t know him, but it’s another Brave in the pile for the Captain.



Mark Trumbo – Chrome-a-licous. Love the shiny. I wonder how many poor bastards are trying to put a full Chrome set together. 



Jason Heyward – “Curve ball, bats are afraid.”


Anthony Rizzo – A quick Rizzo story.  My place of employment hosted the Cubs convention this year (talk about a fun weekend of work) and with the way we were laid out the players had to come in the front entrance and walk through the lobby to get to the elevators.  Needless to say the autograph hunters figured that out quickly and set up camp in our lobby.

Rizzo came back to the hotel Saturday night and was instantly besieged by a gaggle (flock, pride, school?) of autograph seekers.  As we were kind of worried about his safety and his annoyance level and him not being able to get to his room we went out there and asked if he wanted an escort to his room.  He politely declined and then spent the next 45 minutes signing autographs as he slowly made his way across the lobby.  Good for him.

Best Card – Rizzo (big shiny trophy trumps Chrome)
Worst Card – Dexter Spicolli’s card. 

Thursday, March 21, 2013

Eight Packs? Only Eight Packs in?


Eight packs in.  One-third of the way through this project and I’m still drawing blanks when it comes to Orioles. Spoiler – there are none in this pack.   I know there are Orioles in this set, I’ve seen them on Zistle. This is the point of the break where I’m wondering if I picked the opposite of a hot box.  Which I guess would be a cold box, and another name for a cold box (“Boy, go to the cold box and get me a Natty Bo!”) would be a fridge.  So I’m thinking I picked the Fridge of Heritage Orioles boxes.  Well, let’s take a look at what I did get.



Drew Storen – I think his name should be Stu Droren.  I like that better. Who was the last MLB’er named “Stu”?  Stu Miller?  Well he played for the Orioles.  I think I have a theme for this break!






Juan Nicasio – I don’t know who this guy is, but apparently he got hit on the neck with a line drive in 2011.  So I had to look that up on YouTube. It took a bit, but I found some footage
Wow, fractured vertebrae.  That’s pretty bad. Speaking of pretty bad my pick for Oriole named “Juan” – Juan Guzman.




Wandy Rodriguez – A long time Astro who went from one bad team to another when he was traded to the Pirates. Seriously, I come up with a gimmick that lasts all of two cards? I don’t even know if there has ever been another Wandy in the league.  So we have to go with his last name. I chose Aurelio Rodriguez who played 45 games at third base for the 1983 team.




Carlos Quentin – I don’t have much to say about Quentin, he’s just one of those guys in the league. You recognize the name and think he’s better than he actually is because you know the name.  Then you look at the stats and see he is a career .250 hitter. I couldn’t think of any Carlos’ so I had to resort to the all time O’s directory and found Carlos Lopez who played for the team in 1978.



Ricky Romero – I’m pretty sure Romero has a 39-0 record in his career against the O’s (ed. Note – no he doesn’t). When I was growing up I always thought Chris Bosio was a stud because the O’s could never seem to beat him.  We always over value players that do well against our favorite teams. As for the Oriole named Ricky – lets continue with shitty pitchers and chose Ricky Bones.



Ben Revere – My that’s a large hat you have Mr. Revere.  Ben McDonald is the easy pick here. Not only did he put an alligator in a teammates bathtub as a prank, but he was also my sister’s favorite player for a while.




Adrian Gonzalez – Adrian is a little lost in thought here.  He’s either trying to figure out how much interest his millions are earning or if there will be any repercussions for his dad suing Major League Baseball.  Adrian Lynch played for the 1920 St. Louis Browns (precursor to the O’s) and went 2-0 in five games.  These days that would earn him a $4 million a year contract.




Scott Baker – Baker was signed as a transitional free agent by the Cubs this season.  One of those, “hey we’re gonna suck but we need to throw someone out there every fifth day” guys to get through the season.  Sadly he might not even make it to Opening Day as he’s been shut down with elbow inflammation.  Scott Erickson would be my first choice for Orioles named Scott.  Perfect style pitcher for Camden Yards – lots and lots of ground balls.




Juan Francisco – It’s a Juan hot pack! Another Brave for the trade pile. Juan Bell is my second choice for the namesake game.  Otherwise known as “Tito”, Bell was part of the big Eddie Murray trade with the Dodgers and was one of many thought to be an heir to Cal Ripken.  In the end he couldn’t even beat out Billy Ripken and was traded to Philadelphia in 1992.

Nine more cards down.

Best Card – Ben Revere and his giant hat
Worst Card – Juan Francisco who looks like he sat on a splinter.