Topps Cards That Should Have Been: The Rich Hill Chronicles

Of all people from when I started collecting in 2007 to still be active in the MLB, I never would have guessed Rich Hill would be one of them. I mean, there's not a ton of people left who were around in 2007. Miguel Cabrera, Justin Verlander, Adam Wainwright, Nelson Cruz, Zack Greinke. And then, uh...and then Rich Hill.

Y'know, the guy who got injured in 2008, struggled with Baltimore in 2009, and we all sorta figured would never fully recover. 

Now, let's play that game for a second. Rich Hill, Cubs prospect who becomes a young fireballer for them in 2006 and 2007, making up for the lack of Mark Prior, and then gets injured and has a tough time coming back. 2009, Topps does make a card of him with the O's, he doesn't do well. 

Prior to the 2010 season he's signed to a minor league deal with the Cardinals. A rare sight for Hill for this post in that it is an NL team. Hill is grouped with the starters, and competing against Wainwright, Chris Carpenter, Kyle Lohse, Jeff Suppan, Brad Penny and eventually Jaime Garcia proves to be an uphill battle. Hill does not make camp with the team, and is cut prior to the season. I've covered a lot of careers in this series, and that can usually mean the end of the line as far as MLB service is concerned.

Wellll...not in this case...

I think one of the defining factors in Hill's continued success into the 2010s is that he's very much a Boston resident. We don't have a ton of MLBers from the Northeast that really wear their region on their sleeves anymore. You can argue we have Todd Frazier, the Jersey Shore native, or New York natives like Marcus Stroman or Andrew Velasquez, but Hill is very much a Bostoner, and I think that's what drew the Sox to bring him on. Y'know, local boy, lives locally, let's bring him on. So they did. Hill was used in bit relief roles, gave up no earned runs, 5 hits, and notched a win. The Sox kept him on going forward.

Hill's 2011 season was slightly more productive, but he still only had 9 appearances. Here he struck out 10, gave up 3 hits and still zero earned runs. The Sox kept bringing him back year after year, including 2012, which I've already done a custom of.

The Cleveland Indians beat Boston to the punch for 2013, and signed Hill knowing they'd be in need of bullpen help. 2013 was Hill's fullest year as a reliever, making 63 appearances and facing the most batters he'd had since starting in Baltimore. Granted, he left the year with a 6.28 ERA and only 53 Ks, but it told teams he could be a reliable relief piece again.

Prior to the 2014 season he was actually signed to another minor league deal by the Red Sox, as they figured it'd be easy enough to bring him back. This time he would not make camp, and would be waived over to the Angels, where he'd appear in two games and finish with an infinite ERA. Eventually he made his way to a very unfamiliar setting for a lifelong Boston resident:

Yes, Rich Hill, the man famous for getting in a fight in the parking lot of Gillette Stadium, had to suit up for the New York Yankees in 2014. I have no idea how he went through with it. He did a pretty decent job in the Bronx, finishing the season with a 1.69 ERA [very fitting for a man nicknamed Dick Mountain], and striking out 9 in 14 appearances.

Hill actually attended camp in 2015 with the Nationals, but, again due to the breadth of both their rotation and their bullpen, he didn't end up making the team. He stayed on as a minor leaguer for a bit but was cut midway through the year. And then, as the 2015 season rolled to a close...Boston once again came calling.

The Red Sox, thanks to injuries to Clay Buchholz and too many unfamiliar arms like Henry Owens, Steven Wright and late-career Justin Masterson failing to keep runs down, were low on starters. As usual, Rich Hill was local and stayed in shape with a few games playing for the Long Island Ducks, so they signed him and had him come up through Worcester, where he notched a 2.78 ERA in 5 starts. Once he made it back to Fenway, he started 4 games in September, and turned the heads of the entirety of the league, posting a 1.55 ERA, 36 strikeouts and a 2-1 record. The man that everyone thought was cooked was officially back.

Hill would use this incredible end to the season to sign with Oakland for 2016, make his was to LA via a trade, and become a very steady low-rotation arm for Minnesota, Tampa, the Mets, and, yes, the Boston Red Sox, who he started 26 games for last year at the ripe old age of 42.

Rich Hill is currently in camp with the Pittsburgh Pirates, and thanks to the dilution of that organization, he is a favorite to make a rotation spot this year. I hope he keeps pitching for as long as he wants to, a guy like him is really good for baseball. 

Topps Cards That Should Have Been: 2011 Mike Hampton

 

We've unwittingly entered a theme of Spring Training recruits that didn't exactly pan out, so why don't we check out this...odd sight from 2011?

The odd thing about this Topps Card That Should Have Been is that it would have been an accurate sunset card. Mike Hampton, after years of solid work for the Astros, Mets, Rockies and Braves, pitched in 10 games for the Diamondbacks in relief late in the 2010 season. There weren't any photos for me to make a 2010 custom of him from, but he did pitch for them in 2010. By this logic, though, Topps would have made a card for them in the initial series of 2011. You know, if they were actually good at keeping up with great players.

The factor that dulled Hampton's appeal after some excellent seasons around the turn of the century was his injuries. Hampton did not play at all during the 2006 and 2007 seasons, and played shortened campaigns for Atlanta in 2005 and 2008. Hampton did have a fuller year with Houston in 2009, but had a 5.30 ERA and a 7-10 record. The D-Backs took a flyer on him in 2010, he had a 0.00 ERA in 10 relief appearances, though he was usually used to get the last out of an inning. 

The D-Backs brought Hampton back for Spring Training in 2011, and from what I can gather the veteran starter didn't seem to have much left. After giving it his all in camp, Hampton was being faced with a late Spring cut and another year of free agency, so he voluntarily retired, ending his 16 year career with dignity. 

Even if a lot of people have forgotten Hampton's impact during the early 2000s, he was a truly underrated starter, and one that deserved a healthier second act. I think Topps should have made a card to commemorate his final season, but...you know, they did their thing. 

Topps Cards That Should Have Been: 2011 Brandon Webb

 

February and March can give you impressive mirages in terms of baseball. Amazing things can happen when it's February and March, and then April has to happen and sad realities set in. Going into the 2011 season, Rangers fans, who had just won a World Series, thought about the possibility of their homegrown, low-key rotation supplanted by a free agent signing like Brandon Webb, one of the best pitchers of the 2000s, and a guy who's helped the Diamondbacks stay relevant after the departures of Schilling and Johnson. 

Sure enough, as the Spring Training season began in 2011, Webb was taking reps as a Ranger, and gearing towards another year of dominance. There was just one problem: Webb hadn't pitched since 2009. 

After becoming a strikeout artist and lineup-killer in the mid-2000s, for some strange reason his shoulder started giving him issues. Maybe it was something hereditary, maybe it was some home injury, maybe it was the fact that he was throwing really hard for 34 games five seasons in a row, we may never know. But by 2011, he'd had multiple surgeries and sat out the remainder of his Diamondbacks deal recovering from them. The Rangers signed him for 3 million to see if he had anything left. Remember, the Yankees did this with both Corey Kluber and Jameson Taillon prior to the 2021 season, and it seemed to go well for both of them.

Brandon Webb, however, had cooked his pitching shoulder, and as workouts progressed it became clear there was still issues that needed to be addressed medically. The former Cy Young winner would never pitch for the Rangers that year, and would never pitch in the majors again. It's an insanely sad ending to a promising career, and one that acted as a cautionary tale for many fireballers that'd crop up in the years to come.

I'd always wanted a 2011 Topps card documenting his Rangers stint. Now I have one.

Topps Cards That Should Have Been: 2011 Rays

 

10 years ago, the Tampa Bay Rays were finishing second in the division and squeezing into the wild card race with a lot of homegrown talent. Nowadays they're doing the same thing but finishing first and chasing world series'. 

There were a lot of interesting pieces of the 2011 team that either came too late or were too obscure for Topps to really do anything about. For instance, because he came up in September, Topps couldn't make a card of Matt Moore until 2012, a lot like Shane Baz this year. Moore is very similar to Baz, actually, with some scorching late-season starts, a very low ERA, and even some postseason numbers worthy of onlookers, like, oh I dunno, STARTING GAME ONE OF THE ALDS. Matt Moore, with 3 regular season appearances to his name, goes 7 innings with the win in Game 1 of the doomed 2011 ALDS. He's basically exactly Shane Baz. I hope Baz's career goes a little better. 

After the departure of Dioner Navarro, the Rays tried a lot of things in replacing him at catcher, aside from John Jaso and Kelly Shoppach. They also tried some younger players, including Robinson Chirinos. In his first 20 games, Chirinos would hit .218 with some decent defensive numbers, but he basically was on as a backup to a backup. After being sent down, he'd gestate before being traded to Texas, where he'd eventually become the starter.

They also tried Jose Lobaton, who the Padres had tried as a rookie a few years prior. In his first of three seasons as an alternate catching option for the Rays, Lobi did well defensively but hit .118 in 15 games. Over time he'd become a great defensive option for the Rays and, eventually, the Nationals. 

One of the most maddening omissions here, at least to me, was Casey Kotchman, because Topps COULD HAVE done a card of him in Flagship, as they made cards of him in other sets, like Allen and Ginter. Despite being the starting 1st baseman for the Rays, in the season after Carlos Pena's departure, he gets no flagship card, even if they throw a Rays one his way in 2012 [by the time he's already left for Cleveland]. Kotchman, believe it or not, hands in his second-best seasonal numbers of his career, even including his Angels tenure that got him the acclaim prior to the Teixeira trade. In 146 games, he hits .306 with 153 hits and an .800 OPS, pretty strong stuff overall. He'd actually have more RBIs the following year with Cleveland. 

Felipe Lopez, from 2008 til 2011, would sign with a team during the offseason, do well, then get traded to a completely different team midseason, and then repeat. Every year. Lopez played for 8 teams in 4 years. Not cause he was bad, because he was a cheap upgrade. To start his last MLB season, he played 32 games as a backup for Evan Longoria, hit .216 with 21 hits, before promptly being put on waivers and claimed by the playoff-bound Brewers.

Tomorrow, we tackle some stories from the 2012 Red Sox. 

Topps Cards That Should Have Been: 2011 Phillies

 

A Philadelphia Phillie has won an MVP for the first time since Jimmy Rollins in 2007. This is a very nice feeling. Unfortunately, Bryce Harper is an MVP for a team that didn't make the playoffs. He's three years into his contract and we're still juuuuust missing the playoffs. This really needs to change.

Anyway, in 2011, the Phillies were the best team in the NL by far, and therefore completely beatable in a playoff scenario, as the Cardinals would find out. There were a lot of Phillies All-Stars, though not all of them made the Update set, mainly because Placido Polanco and Shane Victorino didn't actually play in the game.

The Phils had a few major players miss the Topps sets in 2011, which is kinda odd. A big one was rookie starter Vance Worley, who usurped the fifth starter spot from Joe Blanton and Kyle Kendrick and became a beloved figure in Philly, known as 'the Vanimal'. 2011 would be his single best season, with an 11-3 record, a 3.01 ERA and a 3rd place finish in ROY voting. Topps would never give Worley a proper rookie card, instead just starting in with a second year card in 2012.

And since they'd already done one for John Mayberry Jr. in 2009, and he didn't play much in 2010, Topps felt they didn't need to make a card for him in 2011, what would become his breakout year. In an extra OF position, in 104 games, he'd hit .273 with 49 RBIs, and some great defensive numbers. As Victorino and Pence would leave, Mayberry would be relied upon more for the Phils, to varying degrees of success.

Lastly, some former, and future, All Stars. After some great relief work with Cleveland, Tampa and Baltimore, Danys Baez kept bopping around the majors as a relief piece to anyone who needed help. For his last two seasons, Baez was a relief piece for the Phillies, and delivered his last career numbers in 2011. He was a bit shakier than before, with a 6.25 ERA in 29 games. 

And before he'd become a hero with the Athletics, Brandon Moss was struggling to find a place to latch onto, after stints with the Red Sox and Pirates. The Phils picked him up on a minor league deal before the season, he made it into 5 games, and didn't get a single hit. Dissatisfied, they released him, only for Oakland to pick him up the following year. The rest would be history.

Tomorrow, some truly interesting figures from the 2005 Pirates.

Topps Cards That Should Have Been: The Gregg Zaun Chronicles

 I don't know if you guys have been keeping track, but January I was doing these Topps Cards That Should Have Been posts in alphabetical order. Just a little challenge. Ah, let's see if I can do a Q name, so on, things like that.

So that should explain why I'm posting a ton of customs of switch-hitting backup catcher Gregg Zaun on the last day of January.

......look, it was either him or Todd Zeile.

Nevertheless, there is a lot of things to talk about regarding Gregg Zaun and Topps' gaps in documenting his career on cards. It may be a niche guy to include, but he played throughout the 2000s and was a reliable choice for catcher when other guys wouldn't do. 

As this project starts in 2000, we begin with Gregg Zaun's 2000 season in Kansas City. In 83 games he hits .274, and the starting gig is his for a bit.

Flash-forward to 2003:

Zaun spends 2002 in Houston backing up Brad Ausmus, which he continues to do for 2003, as he hits .217 in 59 games as backup. That doesn't seem to cut it for Houston, and they release him. 

Only for the Colorado Rockies, who need a solid backup option for Charles Johnson, to pick him up. Zaun does miles better with the Rox, hitting .261 with 3 homers in 15 games. 

Then, in 2004, Gregg Zaun figured out that the key to his longevity in the bigs would be playing in Canada. So he signed a minor league deal with the Expos, which would have been an opportunity to play in Montreal in their last season. However, the Expos had Brian Schneider, strike one, and they were going forward with Einar Diaz as a backup, strike two. Which means the Expos had no use for Gregg Zaun, and released him.

About a week into the season, the Toronto Blue Jays realized that their catching options, including Kevin Cash and Greg Myers, were too thin, and they went...not far, and got Gregg Zaun. Zaun quickly became the starting option in Toronto, hitting .269 in 107 games with a 2.3 WAR. Here, Zaun's scorching run in Toronto begins, and the Jays fans couldn't be any more here for it.

Topps, on the other hand, seems to miss the boat. No Zaun cards in Update, which is a foresight, even if it is a low-tier Jays team.

It becomes even more infuriating in 2005 when Gregg Zaun has his best season. Yeah, that's right. Out of all the hitters in Toronto in 2005, including Vernon Wells, Orlando Hudson, Eric Hinske, Alex Rios and Aaron Hill, you know who has the highest WAR? SWITCH-HITTING CATCHER GREGG ZAUN. He only hits .251 with 61 RBIs, but his defensive numbers are so impressive that it propels him to a 3.6 WAR. Which is huge. No longer the backup, Zaun has a beautiful year in Toronto, cements his status as a Canadian legend, and doesn't have to worry about moving around for a bit.

After this season, Topps listens up and makes Gregg Zaun cards in flagship for the next 4 seasons. Zaun is the primary option at catcher for the Jays for the next few seasons, then in 2009 he signs with the Orioles to start. Only problem is that in 2009, the Orioles bring up a guy named Matt Wieters to play catcher, and Zaun's numbers aren't enough to stop him from usurping his playing time. So the O's trade him.

Thankfully they trade him to a decent team that needed catching options behind Dioner Navarro. So Gregg Zaun gets to compete with the Rays. Unfortunately, thanks to a dismal September, the Rays don't make the postseason. Zaun still hits .287 with 14 RBIs in 34 games. The trade happens after the Update cutoff, so no Topps card. In fact, Topps kind of checks out as far as Zaun is concerned.

In 2010, the Brewers sign Zaun to look over the two burgeoning catchers they have, George Kottaras and Jonathan Lucroy. Zaun's 39, he's clearly just doing this to play, not really worrying about numbers. He actually does fairly well, hitting .265 in 28 games. He's still a decent defender but he's...39. On May 20th, he gets injured, sits out the rest of the season...and it's not looking good for him as a defensive catcher. 

Zaun would try one more season, signing a minor league contract with the Padres in 2011. Just to see if anything was left in the tank. He tried his best, but he really couldn't find any of his former strength left, and retired out of camp. Dignified way to leave, but he did it on his own terms.

And he's been a Jays broadcaster ever since, which means, yes, Toronto has been very kind to him. For a guy who was thinking he'd be a backup in different cities, Gregg Zaun sure found a stationary home there, which is nice.

Topps Cards That Should Have Been: The Hideki Matsui Chronicles

If I were collecting in 2003, I'd be miffed.

Hideki Matsui, one of the most fearsome sluggers in Japanese league history, signs with my team, the New York Yankees, and Topps doesn't sign him to a deal. Upper Deck, Donruss and Fleer all do. But Topps, the most important card retailer in the business, can't court Matsui to a deal. So in 2003, while Upper Deck, Donruss and Fleer are producing tons of rookie cards of the slugger, Topps is just...shrugging. Going 'how about Jose Contreras?' 

It always pisses me off when Topps can't sign someone to a card-producing deal, because I'm a Topps-reliant collector, and I like seeing everybody in a Topps set and using that as my base for that player's year. And if they're not gonna do cards of, oh I dunno, THE MOST IMPORTANT JAPANESE EXPORT OF 2003, then what's the point?

So yes. Hideki Matsui makes it to New York in '03, and immediately hits the ground running, hitting .287 with 106 RBIs and 179 hits. He makes an all-star team, plays all 162 games, plays in a World Series, and loses Rookie of the Year to Angel Berroa for some strange reason.If Topps were to have put a Matsui rookie card in flagship, it would have looked like that- a shot of Matsui fielding specifically for card companies to have an action shot. That would have been enough for us. 

2004 is another strong year for the hitter affectionately referred to as Godzilla- he hits a career-high 31 homers, hits .298 with 108 RBIs, makes ANOTHER All-Star team, and finishes the season with a 5.0 WAR, higher than all Yankees that aren't A-Rod. Topps once again isn't making cards of Matsui this year, which is sucky, but UD, Donruss and Fleer all still do.

In 2005, Matsui FINALLY signs a contract with Topps, and from '05 until 2010, Matsui has tons of Topps cards, remains a solid MLB hitter and wins a World Series. 

Then, in 2011...the contract runs out. And Matsui and Topps don't agree on a new deal. Which means, for the last two years of Matsui's career...NO ONE is making cards of him. 

While Matsui's final two seasons aren't to the caliber of his Yankee years...we could have at least had SOMETHING. Anything. Like...2011, Matsui plays 141 games with the Oakland Athletics, in a starting role. He hits .251 with 72 RBIs and 130 hits. Not great, but he's still one of the chief figures of the A's season, and a Topps card of him would have made sense. Of course, no contract, no cards. So we suffer.

In 2012, Matsui doesn't sign with a team until one desperately needs him, and in late April he signs with the Rays. In 34 games, he hits .147 with only 7 RBIs. Clearly, his best days are behind him, and he retires after the season. And, again, Topps could have made a cool final tribute of Matsui, but it doesn't happen. 

In 2017, Topps signs a contract to produce cards of Matsui as a legend. He also signs with Panini, because nyah. Matsui has been on cards ever since. And yet Topps will probably never rewrite the years they missed with Matsui, because....I dunno, money or something. 

Topps Cards That Should Have Been: Corey Kluber's Early Years

 Right now, Corey Kluber is having tryouts for whoever wants to see that he can still pitch, to attempt to get a contract for 2021 and onward. It's a move that's sadly put him into the category of league-high pitching talents who've struggled to maintain success past their prior decade. I don't want to pit Kluber in the same category as people like Johan Santana, Brandon Webb and Tim Lincecum, because I have a lot of respect for Kluber as a fireballer, and I want him to keep having great seasons and potentially get a nice HOF case. 

And yet...after 2020 ended after 1 inning, I worry that he may never reach his 2014 numbers again. Argh.

As starry as Kluber's career is, it's easy to forget that it took a few years for people to notice what was going on with his material, especially Topps. Kluber didn't get his first official Topps card until 2013. A year later, the legend began.

So, a year after being traded from the Padres to the Indians in a three way deal with the biggest name being Jake Westbrook, Corey Kluber debuts in Cleveland. He's used in relief, and pitches an 8.31 ERA in three appearances. So I can see why Topps didn't exactly bite in 2011 Update or 2012 Series 1.

In 2012, Kluber is moved to the rotation, but he doesn't get brought up until August, again affirming Cleveland's lack of space and confidence in Kluber. Also, because he's an August call-up, Topps again can't make a card of him until 2013. So it...sort of makes sense.

In 12 starts in 2012, he had a 2-5 record, a 5.14 ERA and 52 Ks. Not much to really scream about. But, it lets the Indians know that Kluber can be a starter, even in a depleted rotation scenario. So, 2013 they give him another shot in the rotation, he gets an 11-5 record, and the rest is history. 

I hope some team gets an opportunity to sign Kluber and let him get back to where he was, cause I still think he's got some stuff in the tank. 

Topps Cards That Should Have Been: The Jeremy Jeffress Chronicles

Bold statement- Jeremy Jeffress is one of the best relief pitchers of the 2010s. His epic 2020 season in Chicago was the culmination of 9 strong years of solid service across the leagues. As great as he can be, Jeffress's strengths have often gone unappreciated, especially as far as Topps is concerned. For the majority of his career, because he's 'only' a middle reliever, Jeffress will either be included in the wrong uniform or not at all in Topps' sets. The good news is that in the last few seasons he's at least been getting cards in Topps' online exclusive Total sets, but...just like the 2002-05 run, they don't count as official Topps releases to me. So, we're gonna go through every year Topps dropped the ball with Jeffress. 

2011: Jeffress gets a rookie card with the Brewers for his late-season debut in 2010. In all actuality, Jeffress is already in Kansas City by the time the set is released, having been traded for Zack Greinke. In 14 games for KC, he has a 4.70 ERA and 13 Ks in relief. It's enough to get him a Topps card in 2012, but because his 2012 use is minimal, Topps...gives up for a few years.

2013, the Jays purchase his contract from the Royals. This is as part of the reformed, bulked-up 2013 Blue Jays, that end up not being as impressive as advertised. Jeffress, again limited to only 10 games due to roster space, has an 0.87 ERA with 12 games. He's a great asset, but he needs a team that can use him. 

Jeffress begins the 2014 season with the Jays, does Spring Training with them, pitches 3 games but sports a 10 ERA. Now the Jays have even less use for him, and release him. 

Of course, a team does pick him up, and it's thankfully the Milwaukee Brewers, a team that would be nothing but good to Jeffress over the years. In 29 games in 2014, Jeffress has a 1.88 ERA with 25 Ks. This is the season that ensures that Jeffress will be relieving games for the rest of the decade, as he's lights out here, and the Brewers will use him. 

2015 and 2016 Jeffress gets Brewers issues, that's the right idea. Then, at the 2016 trade deadline, he's involved in a deal to Arlington.

This is Topps just showing its biased towards people who aren't relievers again. Jonathan Lucroy, who he's traded with, gets an Update issue. Carlos Beltran, traded around the same time as he does, gets an Update issue. Jeffress, despite being just as crucial to the Rangers as Lucroy, does not. Boo. 

Jeffress gets 12 games in Arlington to finish the 2016 season, doesn't add to his 27 saves in Milwaukee, but strikes out 7 plus one more in the postseason. 

And yes, Jeffress does get a Rangers card in the 2017 Topps set. But...Jeffress is involved in another trade deadline deal. And because NONE of the 2017 trade deadline deals made it into 2017 Update...

I've gotta do this one as well.

The Brewers trading for Jeffress in 2017 is the opposite of his 2016- Jeffress was struggling in Texas and the Brewers wanted to bring him home so he'd excel for them. Sure enough, Jeffress sported a 3.65 ERA in 22 games, and returned to his former glory with the Brewers.

Topps not making a flagship card of Jeffress for their 2018 sets might be their most startling admission. 2018 is Jeffress's best season to date, with a career high WAR of 3.3, a full season career low ERA of 1.29, a career high 89 strikeouts, 15 saves, an All-Star appearance [which is also neglected for Update], and 11 postseason Ks despite a few runs. It's a fantastic performance from Jeffress, and one that gets him a Topps card in 2019, despite an inferior season that year.

Once I figure out how to customize the 2020 design, I'll deliver his 2020 Cubs tenure. Honestly, doing 2020 customs might be a completely different project in itself, as the story Topps told of the 2020 season was more a story of the 2019 season stretched out throughout all of 2020. So if this project is filling in Topps' blanks, I'll have a LOT to do for the 2020 set. 

Topps Cards That Should Have Been: The Manny Ramirez Chronicles

In 2010, Manny Ramirez was still doing pretty well with the Dodgers, still a well-known superstar with capabilities of hitting tons of home runs and making flashy appearances in games. However, in 2009, Manny has his infamous suspension over using a fertility drug as a PED. He rebounds accordingly with .311 numbers in 66 games in LA, but the murkiness that befell his 2009 season hasn't left, especially after rumors of more potent performance enhancing drugs begin to circulate after Alex Rodriguez is implicated.

The bottom line is that 2010 is probably the last time Manny Ramirez really feels like Manny Ramirez. I was at a game in LA when he was still with the Dodgers, and...yeah, that was Manny. He was still, for the most part, being Manny.

It's when he's waived by the White Sox that his career essentially begins to unravel.

Manny spends the last month of the 2010 season with the White Sox, and while the numbers aren't bad, .261 with a home run, his final one, in 24 games, you can see the magic beginning to leave. This stint happened after Topps' cutoff for 2010 Topps, so it wasn't depicted until 2011 Topps.

Then, by that point, Manny had already signed with a new team. He and former Red Sox teammate Johnny Damon made a very big splash in January by both signing with the Tampa Bay Rays on one-year deals. Yes, their best years were past them, but they still wanted to play, and as Tampa was fielding free agents, they saw the opportunity to reunite, and jumped on it. 

2011 was going to be a fun, successful year for Manny, and Topps jumped on the excitement despite missing a Rays card of him for flagship, getting him in Heritage and Bowman in Rays colors. The assumption would be that Manny would get his Rays card in Update..

Except he didn't last in Tampa past April.

It wasn't due to his numbers. Ramirez hit .311 in Spring Training, and was looking at a comeback season. And though his first week left a lot to be desired, with a sub-.100 average and no homers, he was looking forward to getting back to his base level.

Then, on April 8th, Manny Ramirez abruptly retires. It's an inexplicable move that doesn't make sense until the facts come out. Manny tested positive for PEDs again, and would face an 100-game suspension if he chose to keep playing, so he decided right then and there to retire, confusing the hell out of the Rays management. Despite attempted stints with Oakland and Chicago in the next few years, this is the last time Manny sees the majors, and it's a very cloudy note to end his career on.

Topps decides not to make a card of him for Update, as it'd probably be too distracting and unnecessary. I don't have the ethics and standards of a baseball card company, and I like filling in holes in the timeline, so...I made one regardless. 6 games or no, he still played in 2011, and it's a true sunset issue. 

Regardless of how you feel about Manny Ramirez, he's an important figure in baseball history, and his final career footnotes deserve depiction as much as his heights. 

Topps Cards That Should Have Been: The Jim Thome Chronicles

 

I've discussed this on the blog before, but growing up, Jim Thome was one of my favorite players.

In the early days of Citizens Bank Park, I went to a lot of games, basked in Philly fandom, and began to appreciate the raw power and skill of Jim Thome. Then, once Thome got hurt, the Howard-Utley era took hold and they became the playoff monolith I always wanted them to be. Thome's years definitely set the stage though, with help from people like Randy Wolf, Billy Wagner, Bobby Abreu, Endy Chavez and Mike Lieberthal. I do have a lot of nostalgia for those teams.

Of course, I followed Thome throughout the rest of his HOF career, as he sort of mellowed into a one-dimensional bat/bench bat/DH type. After a solid couple seasons in Chicago replacing Frank Thomas as the heart of the lineup, Thome was traded to the Dodgers in a waiver deal in August 2009. That surprised me. But the Dodgers were making a playoff run, so I went with it.

In all honesty, Thome's Dodgers numbers weren't too great, hitting .235 in 17 games, used solely as a bench bat, without any of his trademark home runs. His postseason numbers were slightly better, and he had a hit in his only plate appearance in the NLCS, but the Phillies, ironically, took out LA en route to another World Series. 

Topps did a Thome Dodgers card for 2009 Heritage High Number and in 2010 Topps, but he never got a flagship release for the year he actually played for the Dodgers, hence why I made one. 

Topps figures him out soon after. He signs a 2-year deal with the Twins to be their DH, he hits more homers as a bench tool and DH, gets his 600th homer, and he gets Twins cards in 2010 and 2011, all is well.

And then in 2011, another waiver deal claims Thome.

Thome's old team, the Cleveland Indians, came calling, as they were chasing a wild card spot that would eventually go to Tampa. They purchased his contract from the Twins, he came to Cleveland and immediately got back to his old tricks. In 22 games, he hit .296, had 71 at-bats [THEY STARTED HIM], and 3 more homers. It was a welcome return to form for the Indians legend, and the fans were absolutely stoked to have him back.

Topps, unlike the Dodgers issue, decides to omit this stint entirely from the records, obviously not doing a card in 2011 as it was past the cutoff, and already moving onto the Phillies for 2012 Topps [which I thank them for]. Hence this version.

Now, under normal circumstances, I'd make a 2012 Topps card of Thome's half-year stint on the Baltimore Orioles, also for a stretch run, but by a technicality, one already exists. Topps made a Thome card in Update...but the bastards short-printed it. It will never cease to piss me off how Topps will short-print actual traded players in a traded set. So an Orioles Thome issue exists, it's just maddeningly hard to find. It's not like the 2017 Yu Darvish where I can pay like 2 bucks for it online cause it's surprisingly well printed. The Thome one is just...rare as hell. So I don't know if I'll ever own it, but it's a nice dream. 

But that's why I didn't make a 2012 O's one. Cause Topps, in their own twisted way, already did.

Whatever, made my job slightly easier anyway. 

Five Years (What a Surprise)

 

(This post was supposed to be for yesterday. However, I had half the post written, and then I went to watch the Beatles 50th Anniversary thing, and forgot. I'm awful at this remembering thing. But oh well).

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Five Years ago today I was a young, thirteen year old baseball card collector, racking up cards from everywhere and wanting to share it with the world. I had no idea that I'd get into customizing, Stadium Club, or any of the stuff I've immersed myself in now.

The custom above was my first-ever custom, from June 2009, after many failed attempts at blog series'. I figured it'd be nice to put new players in old designs, so I followed a tutorial, threw Derek Jeter into a 81 Topps design, and posted it. Now, honestly, compared to the stuff I've been producing lately, it's really subpar. Like, for example, here was a 1981 custom I made last year:

Better cropped, better photo, better condition, better gradients and filters. I started simply putting more effort in, and pretty soon I made a name for myself as a customizer.

But, as today's the blog's fifth anniversary, I wanted to look back at the five previous years of the blog, and all the things I was talking about back then.

2009: The First Year

You'll see it in my writing, in my customs, and in my content that I clearly had no idea what I was doing. I was a kid, I was too young, and I banked so much on the fact that nobody was reading, so I felt like I had so much freedom. Around the end of the year I got some followers, and a few trade offers, so I was beginning to get big.

A lot of the posts this year are just me trying hard to be funny, or reporting one-sentence long news stories, or something. The content isn't great, and it's cringeworthy by today's standards.

The only thing that stayed constant were the customs. I didn't use too much filter on them, so they're just the straight photos, but in terms of doctoring the original cards, I had the right idea. The ones I did for 'Year by Year' and the postseason are honestly some of the best of that year.

This was also the year that both my teams played each other in the World Series, and I got to go to Yankee Stadium to watch them. It was an okay first year of blogging, but it was nice to be a part of the sphere, and have people like Dayf, Canuck and Night Owl occasionally comment on your posts.

 

2010: Finding the Knack

First of all, that logo. I dunno what I was thinking. I thought it looked pretty cool, and I thought it was a swell enough idea. Some bloggers weren't amused.

2010 was the year that I became more of a regular blogger, and did more of the normal blogger stuff. I made trades. I ranted. I took part in a blogger worst-autograph tournament (thanks Drew!)

I also started doing a lot of open ended editorial-type posts, which took on some pretty nice topics, like the uselessness of Bowman,  the addictiveness of ToppsTown,  and the fact that everyone despises my team.

My customs were more improved, as I added more filters and just did more work on them. The quality of my writing improved as well.

By the end, I was talking about heartbreak as a fan of two teams unceremoniously booted from the playoffs within two days. I think that the moodier I got back then, the better my posts were.

Like with last year, some of the best stuff was during Year by Year.

2011: Finding the Sweet Spot

I think that 2011 was the year I really settled into the blogosphere. I had an ill-prepared blog contest, bought and ripped some vintage Stadium Club, had some trades with big time bloggers, and started churning out better posts.

One of the more viewed posts of the year was one about how pretty much every team had its haters, so the Yankees weren't free of blame. It soon became an omnibus of all the bloggers' teams of hatred. Reminds me, I should probably update that post.

I started accumulating some pretty nice fans in 2011. One in particular, a Dodger fan, gave me a lot of ideas for customs, as detailed in this post. That same fan ended up leading me to Brent Lillibridge, the first (and only, that I know of) actual ballplayer to actually like one of my customs. He made a custom of mine his Twitter photo. I will take that to my grave.

I had some nice road trips in 2011, going to Indians, Pirates and Nationals games, as well as staying in Meredith, New Hampshire for a week. Also, I went to the Super Bowl, but that's another story.

I think this was the peak of my popularity before I went back to being a regular fringe blogger like I am now.

2012: The Consistent Year

Overall, in 2012 I think I finally hit my stride, and started writing and customizing the way I do now. I learned to control the filters so that I stopped having so many overdone customs. Also, I had more well-written posts, and more well-formed ideas.

2012 was the year that Archives came back, but basically just as a way of copying my set. I had a very angry rant here about how they were stealing my idea. I also had an angry rant about the 2012 Topps gimmicks, which was even more hate-fueled than the Archives one. I had a lot of emotional posts this year, as you can see.

2012 was my biggest year in terms of customizing, as I produced more customs in 2012 than I did any other year. None were real newsmakers, though the Chipper Jones one is a favorite.

I won a contest over at Thorzul's this year. Honestly, I'm drawing a blank on anything else that happened that year.

2013: Making my Mark

Toward the end of this year I was buying Stadium Club boxes, and customizing football players. I was tussling with Topps and still making great baseball customs. Everything I really wanted to do, in my blogging career, I ended up doing in 2013, so it was really a success in my eyes.

You could argue that it was a lot of the same stuff. Making customs, going to lake George, buying cards, telling the world how awful Topps is. For a month I kept getting boxes of football products from a mysterious contact to rip. I think I ripped more actual hobby boxes of products in 2013 than I did in any other year.

2013 was a great year for me even though it wasn't really too different than the other ones. But it really exemplified how I write more than the other years. I think I'm in in my prime, unless in five more years I become as good a blogger as Night Owl or Dime Boxes or something like that.

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To make a long story short, I never did anything on this blog for popularity, for accolades, for followers. I did it mostly for myself, but also for the rest of the world to see my opinions. And I didn't think it would last this long. I didn't think it would last a month.

I'm just glad it lasted part March 2009, and into February 2014.

Will the blog last ten years? Who's to say? Certainly not me. I have no idea what's going to happen to me a year down the line, let alone five. I'll blog until I'm done, and I'll know when I'm done.

Thanks for sticking with me, by the way. For reading when I had nothing to say. And, thankfully, when I had too much to say. I really appreciate it.

Five years, stuck on my eyes
Five years, what a surprise
We've got five years, my brain hurts a lot
Five years, that's all we got...









P.S.- If you were expecting me to pick my favorite custom in all my years of making them, I'll say this-  I'm not one for picking favorites...




....but this one