Topps Cards That Should Have Been: 2005 Yankees

 

2005 was the last time I saw a regular season game at the old Yankee Stadium. Esteban Loaiza was pitching. It was really damned hot. I think the Yanks won.

This was another Torre team that tried to recreate the 90s success and couldn't, though we certainly tried. More importantly, after the Tony Womack signing was kind of a flop, 2005 was the first year of Robinson Cano's ascent to 2nd. And while the PED charges have tainted the once extraordinary career for the hard-hitting 2nd baseman, you have to admit that his rookie year was still pretty refreshing. 22 years old, hitting .297 with 62 RBIs and 14 homers in an 132 game rookie season, and finishing second in the ROY voting to Huston Street.

More from Ruben Sierra. 2005 was Sierra's last year of bench-DH work in New York. In 61 games, the 39-year old former Rangers phenom hit .229 with 29 RBIs and only 4 homers. With Giambi and Tino switching off at DH, Sierra mostly was a bench bat, and a kinda shoddy one at that. Minnesota would be next. 

How rare is this? A year after being a crucial member of the Red Sox team that knocked off the Yankees in Game 7 of the ALCS and won the Series, Mark Bellhorn was cut by the Sox in August and picked up by the rivals. A prelude to Johnny Damon, I suppose, but with shakier results. Bellhorn's stuff had dissolved since his Boston heyday, and he only hit .118 with 2 RBIs in 9 games for the Yankees before getting cut again. 

And former Cubs infielder and frequent MLB traveler over the late-90s and early 2000s Rey Sanchez gave his last MLB numbers as a member of this Yankee team. After a strong defensive season in Tampa, Sanchez handed in negative defensive totals, and hit a decent .279 over 23 games. Bit of a whimper to go out on.

Tomorrow Uncustomed Heroes begins!!

Topps Cards That Should Have Been: 2007 Reds

 

2007 was a transitional year for the Reds. We began to wind down the era of Ken Griffey, Adam Dunn and Aaron Harang, and we began to see some new heroes emerge. For instance, despite his rookie being a 2008 Topps card, Joey Votto played his first games in 2007. In 24 games, he gave Reds fans a sharp preview of how awesome he'd be for them over the next decade and a half, hitting .321 with 27 hits, 17 RBIs and his first four home runs. By the time the 2008 season would start, the 1st base position would basically be his, and he'd be in position for a long, prosperous HOF-quality career.

Still pitching in 2007 was former Braves and Yankees relief specialist Mike Stanton. Stanton had played for a bunch of teams since leaving the Yanks, with his best post-Bronx season clearly being 2004 with the Mets. For his final MLB numbers, he'd be the most relied upon non-closing reliever for the Reds, and he'd hand over a 5.93 with 40 Ks in 69 innings. I think I have one or two spring training stint customs for him after this season in waiting. 

Speaking of spring training stints, Mark Bellhorn was coming off an insanely weird 2006 season. The former Sox infielder and mid-lineup bat had a -11 batting WAR, but also a 11 FIELDING WAR, so he still managed to turn in decent numbers despite hitting below the Mendoza line. So there wasn't a TON of suitors lining up for Bellhorn for 2007. Bellhorn signed a minor league deal with Cincinnati, made it to the majors, and hit .090 in 13 games, with only 2 hits and one RBI. The Reds had better options at 2nd and 3rd, so he was cut fairly soon after and never played in the majors again. Meanwhile, in 2007, a lot of his old teammates would win their second rings with Boston. 

Tomorrow, we feature a similar schematic of youth and winning down heroes, this time with the Rockies in 2006. This one features a missed opportunity that I'm sad that Topps never delivered on.