I Am Disappointed With the Youth of Today

 

This whole blog is the fault of little league as a concept.

I did my 6 or so years in little league, made a name for myself as a power hitter as an 8/9 year old and, once I realized how tantalizingly difficult it was to hit 12/13-year-old pitching, I became a late-lineup contact/bunt supplier. I was mostly in it for the fraternity, the social bonds, as I clearly wasn't much of an athlete. I knew I wouldn't get disciplined to death by some coach, as the coach, more often than not, was my dad. 

The perk of that was at the end of the year, he'd give all his players a pack of baseball cards as a going away gift, to keep abreast of the game ahead. These packs of 2007 Topps would be my gateway into the hobby, and an addiction that's persisted to this day.

I've kept around my old little league field because my family coaches a Challenger Baseball League, and has for 15-odd years, at the same field. So I go on back to the place where I struggled to hit it past third and get to help absolute units with autism or down syndrome or whatnot completely annihilate baseballs. It's fantastic, and I assure you, a lot of these guys are legitimate athletes with genuine talent that just happen to need help with some things here and there. 

So yesterday was the first game of the season, and I get there early to help set up, and since the little league also occupies the fields, you see remnants of other coaches and regimes in the supply area. As we were unlocking the storage closet, I saw a large rubbermaid tub filled with cheap sunglasses flanked by a wax wrapper.

1993 Fleer, Atlantic Edition. Like a hunter sniffing the footprints. Cards have been this way.

In the storage room, on the old desk with various pens and supplies and things was a cardboard container filled with about 40 or so little individual bags filled with baseball cards. Despite the Fleer wrapper, there were no 90s or junk wax oddities, as everything in these baskets was from the past year, and a coach likely strung 'em together last fall to give to his travel team athletes. 

Around here was when I, and my dad, figured out that the little league had been claiming, and taking home, helmets reserved for challenger athletes. So I thought, if they're gonna leaf through our stuff...and if these baseball cards are gonna be sitting here...

Here's where I mention that this isn't the first time some coach has left cards around there. A couple years ago there were some random 2019 Bowman singles, including rookies of Adolis Garcia and Pete Alonso. Some morally-minded person would call this theft. The way these cards were strewn out in this box yesterday, they weren't being well kept, and you could just feel this dirt grit to a lot of them. 

This wasn't robbery. This was a rehoming. I was giving these cards a good home, where nobody would throw dirt on them or leave them in a box at a little league field again. 

The majority of this was from 2022 Update, a set I bought tantalizingly few cards from anyhow. There was only one outlier, that being the 2022 A&G Jack Suwinski card that heads the post. Nothing from 2023, as, again, this must have been last fall. 

I reckon this wasn't everything that landed in these packs. There weren't any inserts, there weren't any Philadelphia Phillies, and there was certainly no sign of Julio Rodriguez or Bobby Witt or any of the big money cards. Though, as evidenced by Pujols, they weren't all picked clean.

These boxes, which I didn't completely ransack as there were a lot of Henry Ramoses and Stephan Ridingses that I had no interested in, were predominantly filled with rookies. I think this coach must have known that rookies were what the kids wanted, and could hold onto. But there were a lot of veterans too, and these two, which, like most of these, were new to me, had some of the more inspired photography of Topps' recent eras.

All of these were needs for me. Bassitt, Ruf and Cutch have already moved on, but these are at least good portraits of them. Joc's City Connect uni is pretty cool there.

And yes, there were some rookies there that I had some interest in. As this was last fall, Bryce Elder had yet to become a big figure in the Braves' rotation, so these kids must not have had a use for him. Useful for me, for sure.

These three aren't even on these teams anymore. Sears is more of a loyalty pick than anything. But Siri and Gore are gonna be big, and have already posted excellent numbers this year. 

Whole page of rookies. Some of these aren't in great shape, admittedly Duran's has a bent corner, which isn't ideal, but these were still useful. 

Most surprisingly, there was an OMG rookie card still left in here, that of Nick Lodolo. There was a Hunter Greene as well, but I already pulled two of those last year. Lodolo is sharp, and he'll probably have the longer career of the two. If the kids aren't gonna want a genuinely good rookie card, I guess I'll take it.

As I went about the day of Challenger games, I couldn't help but notice a few of the empty plastic bags that I'd seen in the storage room lying around on the field, or a corner of a pack flittering in the breeze. I thought about how grateful I was 15 years back to get packs of cards, and how I tried to trade with my teammates and value the star cards, and now I see that the kids of today either want the really ritzy stuff from cards or they don't care. Julio or bust. And so to see the unorganized, occasionally dinged mess that I sifted through was disheartening, but not surprising. Not every kid growing up now has that collecting gene, I guess, and not every kid sees the hobby like I've grown to see it.

Still, if they're not gonna value the occasional cards, I guess collectors like me will have to. 

Two Blasters of 2022 Stadium Club [Part One]

 

The bad news is I'm probably not gonna continue my tradition of breaking a hobby box of Stadium Club this year. Just can't make it work this year.

The good news is I did manage to find two blasters of the stuff on Topaz's website, and I suppose that'll have to suffice. I've been excited for this year's edition of Stadium Club for a while, due to its really awesome base design, handful of nice cards I'd spotted online, and probability of finding a damned Julio Rodriguez card. I'll post one of the blasters today and the other tomorrow.

Each blaster comes with a fuller-size Artist's Proof base variation in the style of 1993 Topps, which is a nice touch. Posey was a pretty great choice for one.

Pack 1- Already we have two 2022 Phillies in Castellanos and pre-trade Marsh, a HOFer in Edgar, and a decent rookie in Baz.

Since this is a 2022 product, here is a Wander Franco card. I think these are still worth something. As you'll soon find out, Team of the Future is one of the better insert designs we have this year.

Pack 2- The best photo obviously goes to Ian Anderson, on the search for Yogi Bear from the looks of things. 

Our one-per-pack orange/sepia parallel, and it's of a guy I don't collect with a photo we've seen a ton of times.

Pack 3- Another 2022 Phillies in Schwarber, a great dramatic shot of Ortiz, one of a few pitchers in batting position photos in this set of Waino, and a good Seager shot from circa May.

Best card in the set. The MVP gets a beaut. No notes.

Pack 4- Here's the other MVP, one of two Cardinals here. I love the Murray one. Also good that A.) Topps got Kimbrel's full lunge B.) in a Dodger jersey. 

Pack 5- Muncy's is the best shot in the pack, though I like Gurriel's, and I love getting a Sox Fisk.

Pack 6- Two HOFers, and Dawson's Expos duds stand out the most. Franmil's is slightly outdated but I love that Little League Classic jersey of his. 

So uh...Power Zone sucks this year. This is a design I'd expect from modern Topps. I assume that with COVID delays they had to choose an insert design that had as little foil as possible, so we get this uninspired one. Lovely. I wish I'd be happier about pulling a Griffey card. 

Pack 7- More good stuff, including a third 2022 Phillie in Harper, a Hall of Famer and a future Hall of Famer.

Also slightly disappointing this year are the triumvirates. Photo choice, design simplicity. Down several pegs from where we were when this set came back in 2014. Vladdie is a good pull though.

Pack 8- Dylan Carlson's got a ton of great outfield shots, it seems. And that is a Lodolo rookie, which is one of the more high profile rookies that landed in these.

And we end with a nice chrome version of Mike Trout's base card. No complaints here.

Tomorrow I'll post the results of the second blaster.

That Which I Desire

 

Not sure if y'all have noticed, but I haven't been buying a ton of cards this year.

There's a few reasons for that, if I can be candid:

1. Cards are still hella scarce at retail stores, and I've only gotten lucky a couple of times at Target or so. But then again,

2. I'm not really hitting Target or any other retail stores much often at all lately. Kinda staying in unless I really need to, working remotely does that. On that note,

3. Work. Lots of little jobs rather than one big one, and I haven't had as much of a card budget as I used to. So I just...haven't splurged as much. Which is at least good for my stability. 

4. I'm also trying to figure out how to sell cards on eBay. I am...still incredibly scared of this because I've never done it before, and I don't want to do it 'incorrectly'. So there's stuff I have graded that I'm sitting on because I don't wanna put it out at the 'wrong time'. This shit is so difficult sometimes if you're like me and don't know the nuances and unwrittens of the hobby.

So I haven't gotten many cards at all in the last few months. Haven't reorganized my binders in longer. Been focusing mostly on making customs for the next two months. And then after that...I dunno.

But I had some gift card money burning a hole today, so I stopped at Target and figured that at this point they must have something. And they did. My choices were:

-Allen & Ginter, newly released. 

-2022 Chronicles, relatively newly released.

-Topps Fire, which came out in, like...August?

No Archives or Update, two of the sets I hadn't found any of and was still looking for. Which kinda blue. But they did have baseball cards. And...a ton of hockey cards. But baseball cards.

So I went with the Fire because it'd at least be interesting. I'm gonna ask you at the end of this if I made the right choice.

7 packs here. 6 cards per pack, but some come with 7 cards because consistency apparently doesn't mean anything anymore.

Pack 1- Seeing this guy right at the top made me feel somewhat alright with my choice. 

So, like usual, Fire's base set is separated into 3 subsets, denoted by difference in design.This is the most striking of the three, using those reds and yellows to catch the eye. It's never not gonna be odd seeing legends like Hank Aaron on these designs.

The other two. Like Judge's. Lewis's is similar to previous Fire designs. 

Also, hey, what if this is the last time I pull a Judge card in a Yankee uniform while he's still a Yankee?

Pack 2- The good thing about this set is that it went to print as a little bit of the season had elapsed, meaning they could have updated uniforms like Jesse Winker's and Matt Olson's. 

The other good thing about this printing in May or whatever is they knew Spencer Strider would be a thing this year, so they could make him one of the prominent rookies of the set. Alongside yet another Wander Franco rookie, which...if they're in every set, are they really that special, Topps?

The big thing to look for in Fire blasters are these yellow, 'minted in gold' or whichever parallels. Unnumbered, but they look hella cool. Similar to the blue fire ones the set began with. Tatis's Flippin Out insert is seeded 1:20 packs, so those are pretty rare.

Pack 3- Here you find one of the downsides of this printing in May. When Fire went to print, Kevin Smith was still looking like a promising replacement for Matt Chapman. He petered off.

And while I see why Topps needed some Torkelson rookies ready, his season didn't amount to the exclamation points his promotion promised. Aaron Ashby's is a red base card parallel, unnumbered. Bichette's Fired Up insert just looks cool. This set does inserts really well.

Pack 4- Meadows and Stroman look great in new uniforms. Bellinger's already looking for a new one himself.

This insert...is frigging incredible, and it's the kind of wild idea I wish Topps did more. Reminds me of 90s Stadium Club inserts. I'll forgive the Cardinal, it's Arenado so I get it. Frigging awesome.

Pack 5- Fairly standard base selections, though Bryson Stott's rookie feels a bit more earned after the postseason. 

Story's is proof that the gold minting just lifts this set so much. And Yelich's die-cut To the Moon is, yes, another incredible insert from this set. I love it so much and want more.

Pack 6- More standard base card selections. 

Two I was excited to find- Rizzo is becoming a Yankee favorite, and Marsh, though in the wrong uniform, is gonna be a fan favorite in Philly.

and then...

I...I mean...

That is an autographed card of the guy who placed 2nd in NL Rookie of the Year voting this year, and who got a 200 strikeout year for the Braves alongside Charlie Morton. This is...I'm dumbfounded. Spencer Strider is an insanely good auto pull in 2022, even if it is a sticker auto. It's both Topps picking correctly and me picking the correct blaster. I'm honestly impressed.

This is a green parallel auto, numbered to 75, and seeded 1 in 604 packs. I don't know if I've just had better retail luck in the last few years, but I never used to pull this many great hits out of retail product. This is definitely worth the [ballooned] blaster price. And now I have to figure out how to properly sell this on eBay. Lovely.

Pack 7- I forgot how early this year Alek Thomas debuted.

We end on two base parallels we've already seen in this blaster.

So uh...do you think I made the right decision here? Cause I sure did. Yes, Fire is a crazy set with odd logic, but the inserts are beautiful, I got great stars and rookies, and I pulled an autograph of one of the best young pitchers in the league. If I'm only gonna get cards every so often, this is an insanely good outcome to have.

Maybe things will increase eventually. Maybe I'll figure things out. But this definitely whetted my appetite for new product, and I'm alright with that.

The Best of the Rest: 2022

 

This is both one of my favorite posts to write each year and one of the least favorite.

It's one of my favorites because I get to have fun with superlatives and the teams that didn't make the playoffs, and you get to be a little mean. But it's one of my least favorites because, well, I get to be a little mean to teams who tried to compete and didn't. Also, I prepare this one a little in advance of the end of the season, and I have to eventually put in the last team cut from the wild card race, and I'm still extremely worried that it's gonna be the Phillies. [It wasn't]

But...at the end of the day, it's proof that the hierarchy of baseball can change on a year to year basis. Every year there are teams that make this post that didn't before, and there are teams that were on last year's post that aren't on this year's. More of that may have to do with Rob Manfred expanding the playoffs from 10 to 14, so I have a little over half the league in here this year, but also a lot of teams that were so close to making the playoffs last year are comfortably in this year. If anything, it proves this post is always gonna have flux. 

To give you the exact variable, four teams who made the playoffs last year are in this post for 2022, while five teams that were in this post last year are playoff teams.

So, with sixteen teams that won't win anything this October, let's see what they did in in The Best of the Rest:

Most Likely to Succeed [According to the Sportswriters in March]: Texas Rangers

Best Example of Banking Too Hard on A Single Free Agent Signing: Colorado Rockies

Best Example of Banking Too Hard on Two Insane Prospects to be MLB Ready: Detroit Tigers

Team That Did Pretty Much Exactly What Everyone Expected: Washington Nationals

Team That Peaked Too Early: Los Angeles Angels

Team That Shouldn't Have Taken a Health-Related Retirement to Realize What Everyone Already Realized Last Year About Their Manager: Chicago White Sox

Best Squanderer of Hopes Their Fans Had in 2021: Boston Red Sox

Best Squanderer of Hopes Their Fans Had in June: In a squeaker, the Minnesota Twins

Most Willing to Settle: San Francisco Giants

Most Underwhelming Use of Other Teams' Top Prospects: Oakland Athletics

Best Pitching Staff for a Team That Didn't Make the Playoffs: Arizona Diamondbacks

Worst Pitching: Pittsburgh Pirates

Biggest Anticlimax: Baltimore Orioles

Most Blatant Victims of a Rough Second Half: Milwaukee Brewers

Worst Trade Deadline Luck: Minnesota Twins

Most Interesting Use of Replacement-Level Players: Chicago Cubs

Most Depressing Team to Talk About Every Few Weeks: Detroit Tigers

Most Comically-Timed Injuries: Miami Marlins, in a heated category this year

Most Fun Last Place Team: Kansas City Royals

Most Unwilling to Recapture the Lightning in the Bottle: Cincinnati Reds

Most Likely Not to End Up on This List in 2023: Baltimore Orioles and Milwaukee Brewers

It was a hard fought season, and I hope some of these teams aren't on this list next year. 

I'm toying with whether or not I'm gonna do a predicting the playoffs post this year, cause I'm always extremely far off. Maybe I will anyway.