I grew up with my dad's, and grandfather's, baseball cards, and I made it a point to memorize all of the sets, the ones from the 70's and 80's. i didn't have much from earlier, except for a nice assortment of commons from the 1966 set. The faded, older quality of them won me over, and seeing people like Bill Mazeroski and Jim Bunning on older cards was kind of special.
That's why this edition of Heritage is very special. This is the first Heritage set that reflects a card set that I grew up with. I never had any of the 50's or early 60's stuff, so that was nice, but now we're getting into the stuff I know by heart. Hell, the one in nine years is gonna be amazing, solely because the 1975 set is begging for that sort of thing.
But I've done enough talking. Onto the packs. We'll start with the "VALUE PACK", and then go into the hanger boxes.
Rack Pack-
388- Dellin Betances. Always nice to start out with a Yankee. Unfortunately, this particular one is getting hit a lot in Spring Training, and may not be the closer we'd been hoping for. Again, it's only March.
95- Scooter Gennett, who has gracefully replaced Rickie Weeks among the Milwaukee defense.
205- Jorge De La Rosa, who is beginning to slow down, which surely must be the reason that Kyle Kendrick's been named Colorado's Opening Day starter.
29- Avisail Garcia. Chicago's putting a lot of pressure on him for a guy who's never played a full season.
154- Chris Johnson, who...isn't exactly Chipper Jones, but is a hard hitting third baseman.
322- Tsuyoshi Wada. I love the fact that Topps is using Japanese stats along with MLB stats.
381- Eric Hosmer. Glad to see this guy's finally rose to the occasion in Kansas City
418- Matt Garza, who feels older than he is.
265- Marlon Byrd. This is just sad. He has his first great season as a Phillie, and what do we do? Trade him to freaking Cincinnati.
358- Shane Greene
1966 Topps Flashbacks inserts of BATMAN AND ROBIN! Holy shit, this is a bonafide Adam West card. This is amazing.
125- Jon Jay. Cardinals better be god-awful this year, for once.
382- Shin-Soo Choo. That goes for you too, Rangers.
217- NL Home Run leaders. Stanton is atop the list. However, Devin Mesoraco had the most grand slams last year. Interesting.
392- Rookie Stars of Kendall Graveman and Carlos Frias
326- Braves team card
43- Juan Uribe. Good to see he's finally become a nice member of the Dodgers offense.
396- Jose Quintana
272- Wei-Yin Chen. Good to see that this guy's finally achieving some nice numbers for Baltimore.
83- Matt Shoemaker, the unsung hero of the Angels pitching staff.
Hanger Box #1-
18- David Freese. Man, he's too pathetic to hate these days.
50- JACOBY ELLSBURY! Looking for a great season from this guy this year.
236- Ervin Santana. Now on...the Twins I think?
274- Hector Rondon.
28- Jason Castro. The Astros got Evan Gattis to do Jason's job. He may have a Sparky Lyle season on the bench.
12- Jean Segura. Man, HE might end up being the best piece in the Greinke trade.
102- Tim Hudson. Not a Hall of Famer by any means, but a great player nonetheless.
1- BUSTER POSEY! The man has three World Series rings and he's not even 30 yet. Fantastic.
126- Chris Tillman, who's the unofficial ace in Baltimore.
342- Tyler Matzek
14- Kyle Lohse, who's not a bad pitcher to have.
57- CHOOOOOOOOOCH! One of the best catchers in the NL. Great to root for.
160- MICHAEL FREAKING PINEDA. If he stays healthy, he's gonna have a great season.
91- Nick Markakis. Weird to see him in Braves uniform, but he'll be fine.
440- Well, wouldn't you know, my Short Print is of Bryce Harper, who looks like he's been borrowing some of Ben Stiller's hair gel in this shot.
New Age Performers of YUUUUUUUUUUUU Darvish. Sadly he's gonna be out for a while this season, but he's still a great pitcher.
260- Continuing my good luck, here's a Chrome Refractor of MADISON BUMGARNER, #'D TO 566! Very, very nice.
455- Jose Altuve, best second baseman in the AL (besides Cano). Chrome.
475- Miguel Cabrera, one of the best players in baseball, chrome.
465- David Price, who the Tigers are expecting amazing things from, chrome.
429- Jacob DeGrom, the sole reason Mets fans have to go to games, chrome.
10- Julio Teheran, who will somehow be one of the few non-injured talents on the pitching staff in Atlanta.
357- KHRIS Davis.
344- Jedd Gyorko, who's gonna fight to stay relevant in a newly crowded roster.
178- Jake Odorizzi
111- Garin Cecchini
417- Angels rookies
419- Vance "The Vanimal" Worley. Glad to see he's back to his old tricks.
257- Danny Salazar
421- Gerardo Parra
393- Tyson Ross, one of the best pitchers in San Diego
121- Kevin Kiermaier
337- Billy Butler, looking strange in a A's uniform.
99- Trout and Pujols combo
352- Seth Smith, now on the Mariners
Hanger Box 2-
84- Red Sox rookies
59- Reds checklist
290- Luis Valbuena
283- Daniel Hudson. The Arizona rotation has basically moved on without him.
409- Jarrod Saltalamacchia. Who'd have thought HE'D become a reliable everyday catcher?
35- Mike Leake.
195- Edinson Volquez. Now on the Royals
307- Alfredo Simon. Has had one good season. The Tigers think he has more in him. ...Kay.
32- Andrelton Simmons
330- Carl Crawford, who is finally back. Like, last season was a return to form for him.
110- Anthony Rizzo, who's become a bonafide star in Chicago.
323- Andrew Cashner, another great pitcher out of the Padres.
62- Lance Lynn
294- J.A. Happ. The Mariners are banking on J.A. to have a big season. Hope he does.
291- John Lackey, who I think St. Louis is trusting to have a nice season.
426- My short print here is GIANCARLO STANTON, best hitter in baseball.
And my New Age Performers is...MASAHIRO FREAKING TANAKA! BEAUTIFUL! Gonna love seeing this guy pitch this year.
491- Victor Martinez chrome. Glad to see this guy came back.
461- Anthony Rendon chrome. Awesome talent. Hope he sticks around.
457- Ian Kinsler. Man, I'm getting so many Tigers chrome.
476- Greg Holland, the best closer in the AL, chrome.
400- Joe Mauer chrome. I love the fact that he's still a great player, even after giving up his catching job.
177- Drew Hutchinson
88- More Red Sox rookies
193- Chris Iannetta
38- B.J. "MELVIN" Upton.
96- Tim Lincecum. Is a comeback likely for him? Not sure.
2- Melky Cabrera.
225- Strikeout leaders- NL
242- Kendrys Morales, who hopefully will be a healthy DH for the Royals.
71- Mark Buehrle. Hall of Famer?
146- Rangers Rookie Stars
420- Matt Cain, who is apparently back in full force this season
248- Wade Miley. Sadly they got the ps job.
181- Gio Gonzalez. May be left to the wayside in a crowded rotation.
I do love this set, and I may try to get some more this year. I do adore Heritage, and I love that Topps is still putting effort into it.
No comments:
Post a Comment