Error in Judgment

 

So, after the Yankees got away with the torpedo bats there was all of this smoke about how the Yankees would never be properly penalized for anything. And they were kind of right, the Yankees have just been penalized improperly ever since.

The umpiring against this team lately. Good lord. It's not exactly costing us games, so it's not the kind we can really take to task, but it's been terrible. First Jazz Chisholm gets tossed for disagreeing with a call, then gets suspended for tweeting 'not even close' about it after the game. Then yesterday, Aaron Judge hits a home run that the umps refuse to count as anything other than a foul, which allows a prompt strikeout on a called strike that wasn't even close. The fact that Judge came extremely close to losing his cool and didn't, but as Aaron Boone came out to back him up he was thrown out in seconds...that's an agenda. Then after a solid minute of Boone arguing with umpires, the official scorer decides, 'hey, you know what? That Paul Goldschmidt error from two innings ago that was the only thing that came close to breaking this no-hitter Max Fried has going? Suddenly, now, at this unrelated point in the game, I think that was a hit'. 

Which was decided between innings, during a commercial break. While Fried was warming up to try and keep the no-no going into the eighth. Fried immediately giving up a hit then is besides the point. It was a suspect and incomprehensible move. 

There's a sort of unwritten politeness in it, where if you're going to overturn a call, especially when a no-hitter is on the line, do it while the play is still live. Don't wait around for two innings. Because Fried went two more innings thinking he had a no-no going and needed to stay in the game. If that hit gets counted in inning 6, he doesn't need to stay in for the eighth. And in this era of MLB pitching, keeping a pitcher in past the seventh is a risky play, as you could keep him up there and within two weeks there's arm tightness. If Max Fried gets injured as a result of having to pitch the eighth when he didn't need to, that scorer needs to send Fried a check or something. Because that's entirely his fault. 

The thing that many people with status are miffed about is what Michael Kay did during the broadcast. I was watching, we cut back in with the hit on the board and Kay was PISSED. You could tell that he'd just gotten some cursing out of his system before they went live but he still had some angst leftover. The broadcast cut to the scorer who made the decision, put his name up there in big letters, BILL MATHEWS, and kept it up for 10 seconds. As Michael Kay seethed behind it. 'THERE HE IS. GET HIM'. Not verbatim but that was kind of the gist of it.

People are mad about that. They're saying it was unprofessional of Kay for spotlighting an official after a decision he didn't agree with. I honestly think it was more unprofessional to overturn an error immediately after a manager argues with your calls, but apparently the moral high ground is that Kay was the one that made the mistake and not the one who works in the field of 'getting things wrong for a living and having a good enough union to still make money from it'. 

You know what would have been unprofessional? If Kay had put Mathews' address up there. Of a picture of one of his summer homes. All he did was just figure that the fanbase should put a face to the discrepancy, and that it wasn't some elite in a suit but just some regular old guy with no deep pockets...who could probably be taken in a fistfight. 

The Yankees won the game, ultimately, and it was a shutout. But Judge still hit a home run, and Fried still had a no-no going. The officiating team was simply wrong, and will go unchecked in being wrong. And Rob Manfred is in no rush to employ automatic officiating systems because he doesn't want a union to stick him in a car boot and push him off the Golden Gate Bridge. Nothing will be done, nobody will learn, and everybody will get madder. Such is life right now.

As for the Yankees themselves, barring some infuriation, like Devin Williams just not figuring shit out in pinstripes, Chisholm and Volpe's averages, and the back half of the rotation, I like the look of this team. Judge has a .397 average, 25 RBIs, 7 homers and 31 hits. Absolutely unreal. Grisham's gotten hot as hell too, which is a pretty welcome development. This team's a little rough around the edges at the moment, but they could toughen up and go deep. Just keep those big wins coming.

Coming Tomorrow- The closest thing the Marlins have to a star hitter right now.

[P.S.- Anyone infuriated by the points made during this post can send any hate mail to BILL MATHEWS, P.O. Box 666, Tampa, FL.]

Let Ronnie Wear the Hat

 

Are we really at the point where baseball sees a fun thing happening and immediately thinks of a reason to kill it?

There's been a lot of that recently. After position players pitching became a quirky event, MLB limited teams to only using designated two-way players for this. The 2017-2019 Players' Weekend tradition was axed because Nike didn't wanna do it. Even the Freeze at Truist Park is beatable now. All these things, either from intervention or just somebody making a decision, end up changing and making the game more serious.

And that's where we're at with this oversized hat ban. Because of rules and decorum, the celebrations must end in Atlanta.

It's odd, because home run celebration items have become a staple of MLB dugouts in the past few years. Boston started it off with the cart, then the Blue Jays came up with their jacket, and now it seems like everybody has their own, from logical [a trident in Seattle] to inspired [a cheesehead in Milwaukee] to absolutely awesome [a sword in Pittsburgh and a viking helmet in Cincinnati]. And yes, some change and get phased out, like the jacket and the cart [Boston now has Masataka Yoshida's dumbbells], but mostly just because of changing whims and opinions. The Jays have basically said that they don't see themselves as flashy as they were when they had the jacket, and that's honestly fair.

But then there's the oversized Braves hat. Who is this harming? No one. It's a big goofy hat, Braves players look goofy in the big goofy hat. It's honestly the least inspired of all the home run celebrations. No ancient mythos, no Party City budget, none of that, just a really big hat. And yet that's the one that's breaking the rules. New Era basically came down and said that the Braves were only supposed to wear the smaller hats that they make rather than the big goofy one they wear whenever someone hits a home run. 

How sensitive do you have to be to say no whenever someone wears a hat that isn't yours? Even for like, a minute. It's not like Matt Olson's denouncing the Braves by not wearing a New Era Braves cap for, like, a couple seconds. "Hahaaa, I no longer play for the Braves, I now play for the Atlanta COWARDS...with a hat by OLD ERA." Who frigging cares? And it's not like the Braves are rupturing brand loyalty. Nobody's going onto the field wearing the big hat. Nobody's signing autographs in the big hat. They're only wearing it in the dugout, which has always been the safe area where you can be off-duty, take your hat off, chew gum, curse, and not have to be Captain America for all the kids watching. Who cares if you put on a big hat that isn't the company in question's when somebody hits a home run? 

The Braves should retaliate by getting an even bigger hat with a giant NEW ERA type on the back. Just to stick it to 'em. 

All this to say that the Braves are still doing extremely well, and hitting a lot of home runs. If they weren't, this wouldn't have been an issue for New Era. Why couldn't the Tigers have done this? To give you an idea, Ozzie Albies has 7 homers right now. SEVEN. And he's usually a contact guy. He's hit 30 before, yeah, but he's not known for his long balls. No wonder New Era complained. If the second baseman's gonna have celebrations with the oversized hat, THEN we have to step in.

And Ronald Acuna's having another awesome season as well, hitting .352 with 14 RBIs, 4 homers and a 1.7 WAR. He's on the road to another excellent career year, and possibly his first ever MVP. I sincerely hope he keeps it up. But if there's any player right now who is tailor-made to smile widely in an oversized hat, it is, by far, Ronald Acuna Jr. Come on now. He was enjoying himself! Are you saying you don't like Ronald Acuna's JOY, New Era?? I guess you hate the Braves, then. Maybe you should do a contract for the other 29 teams, and get another company to do the Braves, and they can wear whatever oversized hat they please. 

If this means Harper's Phanatic headband is next, I'm switching to the NBA.

Coming Tomorrow- Last year he was one of the best pitchers in the AL, and this year he is struggling along with the rest of his team.

Rookies of the Year: Only Marginally Better Edition

 

Tim Kurkjian voice: "DID YOOOU KNOW THAT THIS IS THE FIRST TIME THE TWO WINNERS OF THE ROOKIE OF THE YEAR AWARD PLAYED FOR TEAMS WHOSE CLUB NAME START WITH THE SAME LETTER SINCE 1999, WHICH COINCIDENTALLY ALSO HAD A CINCINNATI RED WIN?"

So, if you'll recall, last season I got a little mad when the NL Rookie of the Year was revealed and it was a guy who was healthy for under a month. I had a whole rant about how Devin Williams didn't especially change the trajectory of his team, didn't have a season that denied a long, powerful career, and wasn't the single most notable first-year player in the NL that year. 

I do think now that the 2020 ROYs were sort of skewed by the shortening of the season to begin with. With only 60 games to go by, voters had to keep small stints in mind, and that's why Williams ended up winning out. Kyle Lewis probably would have won either way, though.

So going into this year, I wanted fuller areas for voters to choose from, and more of a target when choosing the winners. And to their credit, this year's ROYs both started the season in the majors, and played the entire season up in the majors, with both playing between 141 and 150 games. Both were clearly dominant, had wonderful seasons, and were justified in being the clearest option of the three.

Just one problem. Only the NL picked an actual first-year player. 

Jonathan India I have no qualms with. Around June I figured he'd have a nice shot for ROY, outdid Trevor Rogers and Dylan Carlson, and came out to a huge defensive lead in a lot of categories. That pick is totally valid because India's career started in 2021. 

But...this year wasn't Randy Arozarena's rookie year. If we want to get technical, his first career numbers came in 2019 with St. Louis. Then he had playing time in August and September in 2020, and played for the Rays for the entirety of that blistering postseason, becoming a starter and a playoff hero easily. 

And that's the thing. The year of Arozarena's breakout was 2020. He went from a rookie callup to someone who was the controlling voice behind the Rays in less than a month, and was a crucial starter by the time the World Series rolled around. That is a normal rookie arc, and I'd always considered 2020 to be Arozarena's rookie season. Heck, Topps even gave Arozarena rookie cards in the 2020 set, and they seem to think so as well, I think. 

And that's why it bothers me so much that after a rookie campaign last year, Arozarena still was ranked as a rookie this year. This, to me, felt like sophomore numbers. He played the whole season, locked into an everyday role, was a major player in the postseason again, and felt like a member of the team the entire season with no real learning arc. That's not a rookie story, that's a young second-or-third-year story. And because of MLBPA rules, because he was called up after a certain point last year, even if he'd already been called up in 2019, he was still a rookie going into 2021. 

And to me, that's unfair to any other actual first-year trying to compete in the AL category. Randy Arozarena is a second-year player grandfathered into a first year category, and he has no right to have his very accustomed stats be compared to people just getting the hang of MLB play. I kind of figured the award would go to Luis Garcia, who had a great regular season campaign with Houston.

But...then there's the issue of Wander Franco. According to Topps, and their deadline, his rookie year is 2022, and he does not have a rookie card in any 2021 product, despite making his debut in June. It's the same shit they pulled with Yordan Alvarez in 2019. But Franco was eligible for Rookie of the Year this year, and honestly would have had a shot to win had it not been for Arozarena splitting the Tampa vote. I do think Topps' hand making him a 2022 rookie did sway into a lot of voters' decisions, saying that he needed a full year to establish himself rather than going off his strong last few months. Or maybe MLBPA pushing Franco into the race this year gave only a small amount of numbers for voters to go by. 

The bottom line is there are too many rules and regulations denoting what a rookie is. A rookie is a player that is in his first season. It shouldn't be more complex than that. Randy Arozarena's first season was 2020, therefore he really shouldn't be 2021 Rookie of the Year. He's a great player, and he's a Rays hero already, but I don't think he really belonged in the rookie category. I think, if anything, that's doing his strong season a disservice. 

Maybe when the inevitable lockout happens, that'll be one of the things that gets repaired in some way. Or maybe it won't, because nothing that's systemically broken ever gets fixed if fixing it would benefit people who have less money than people that not fixing it would benefit. 

Anyway. Cy Youngs on Wednesday. I'm not deluded enough to think that both my teams are winning this one. Wheeler and Ray, most likely. If it's an NL pitcher other than Zack Wheeler, I'm gonna throw things.

Tuve or Not Tuve

 You know, it's never BAD players who turn heel, is it?

Come to think of it, it's always guys who are at the top of their game and really good that are easier to hate, and that take on the fully villainous persona. Jose Bautista embraced it during his Blue Jays heyday. Manny Ramirez graciously became the fun, villainous jester during the 2004 and 2007 playoff seasons. Players like Cody Ross, David Freese, even Brian Wilson, got their reputation for being big, exceptional players whose abilities feel like a smack in the face when they happen to you. It's never happened to anyone untalented, though a case can be made with Cody Ross [that is a joke, for the record].

Jose Altuve's decent into baseball infamy may be the most heartbreaking of all though.

The first stretch of his career feature contact numbers like no one else in the game at the time. 4 straight 200+ hit seasons, 5 straight .300+ average seasons, a 30.2 WAR between 2014 and 2018. These numbers were making Altuve look like a future hall of famer, and one of the most fun 2nd baseman to watch in years. 

Then, starting in 2019, Altuve began to instead take after 2nd basemen like Jeff Kent and Roberto Alomar. First of all, he shifts to being a power bat, rakes in 31 homers and only 149 hits. Then, at the end of the 2019 season, it's revealed how much of a stake Altuve had in the stolen 2017 World Series, and the telltale jersey-tug that spoiled the whole thing. And as Altuve is barely even punished for his actions, he decides to play up the infamy and continue his reign. After a weak year in 2020, Altuve returns to glory, with 16 home runs so far, a .298 average, 38 RBIs and a 2.6 WAR. 

Altuve is getting good again...specifically so we'll all be forced to like him once more. And if we don't...he can keep being this good, and we can hate him for it. If we don't want Altuve to be Batman, that's fine. He can very easily become the Joker.

And that's where Altuve and the Astros are at. Still good, still a few games behind the A's, still powered by the same, unpunished core that's still good, and still the scourge of the rest of the MLB. Pitchers who are losing spin rate thanks to the tack reparations Manfred is laying down have pointed to his lack of punishment for the Astros as a way of saying that Manfred doesn't have the game's best interest in mind, and I agree with them. What Rob Manfred is doing is making the game more palatable to people who hate baseball, him included. Nobody cares about pace of play, or pitchers getting a good grip on the ball, or how dead the ball actually is. And when something we do care about comes along, like a team legitimately cheating and stealing signs to win a World Series, we're told not to care at all. 

And so the Astros are good again, and it's good for baseball somehow, and we're supposed to be okay with it. And Jose Altuve might be an All Star again, and maybe a Hall of Famer, and we're supposed to be okay with it. And pitchers are blowing out their arms and hindering their careers getting around this substance ban, and we're supposed to be okay with it. 

Cause this is baseball. Why overthink baseball?, says Manfred. Why take something as something other than face value? Why go against the natural order of all things? If Manfred doesn't punish people who interfere with the sanctity of the game...what does that say about the rest of society? That people will do illegal shit and get away with it because they're rich and talented and that's the way life's supposed to go? Meanwhile, there's people who start from the bottom and do it with honesty and integrity and they suffer and lose out to people like the Astros. Is Manfred saying that they don't matter?

...I'm sorry, this very quickly became about something other than baseball. Or Jose Altuve. But it's all valid.

The game's broken, Manfred's not fixing it, Jose Altuve could see the playoffs again. What does it matter? It's only a game. 

Isn't it?

Coming Tonight: A happier post, I hope. A sharp pitcher for a team clawing their way back up the ladder.

The Annual 'Jordan Bitches About All-Star Replacements' Post

...I don't even know what I expect anymore.

Maybe I'm just very ADD about the whole thing (and i don't even have that). You announce something a week ago, and you just expect it to remain set in stone for another week. It's probably the same reason I get mad at teams who start in last and make a run halfway through the year. I just want things to stay constant sometimes.

So once again, the best laid plans of managers and men have gone to waste thanks to several bullshit-related things, and we're left with some replacement All-Stars that occasionally might seem questionable. So I'm gonna go over 'em all, starting with the big one.

Who's Missing the Game? Hunter Pence, starting DH from Texas.
Why? Due to an injury that seemed to bring him back soon, but he had a set-back, and now he's missing the game.
Who's Replacing Him? J.D. Martinez, DH for the Red Sox.
How do I feel? Kind of upset? Like, I think we all voted for Pence to get out of the routine of someone like Martinez DHing, Pence gets it, and then...we get Martinez anyway? It's counterproductive as hell.
Who Should be Replacing Him? I mean, I don't think anybody else is more qualified than JD, I just wish Pence could have started.

Who's Missing the Game? Tommy La Stella, impressive 2nd Baseman for the Angels
Why? Injury.
Who's Replacing Him? Brandon Lowe, rookie 2nd baseman for Rays...except he just got injured too, which is karmic.
Who's Replacing HIM? Gleyber Torres, infielder extraordinaire for the Yankees.
How do I feel? I mean, I think this works, and I love Gleyber, but...Gleyber's credited as a 2nd baseman, and DJ LeMahieu is starting at 2nd. So...we have two Yankee second baseman on the All-Star Team. Which is odd.

Who's Missing the Game? Jake Odorizzi, of the Twins
Why? Injury
Who's Replacing Him? Jose Berrios, other hurler for the Twins
How do I feel? This one works, especially considering that both of them are kinda equally great.

Who's Missing the Game? Charlie Morton, standout Rays arm.
Why? Because he's pitching today.
Who's Replacing Him? Shane Bieber, Indians hurler.
How do I feel? I'm mixed on this one. Bieber's fine and all, but if Trevor Bauer wasn't pitching today, I would have gone with him.

Who's Missing the Game? Mike Minor, pitching standout for Texas
Why? Because, and I quote, 'he wants to take extended rest'. I'd go on a rant on why nobody in the MLB seems to respect the ASG, but...I'm already thick into this post.
Who's Replacing Him? Liam Hendriks, reliever specialist for Oakland.
How do I feel? Look, I'm kinda worried about Joey Gallo, because he's the only Texas rep left and he might not even play, but...I like Hendriks, and I like that we have another reliever on the AL team.
Who Should be Replacing Him? I can't really think of another qualified reliever, but...maybe Adam Ottavino?

Who's Missing the Game? Marcus Stroman, of the Blue Jays
Why? Injury
Who's Replacing Him? Masahiro Tanaka, Yankee hero
How do I feel? Well, I have a few issues with this one. Firstly, Stroman's out, so the Blue Jays now don't have any representatives in the All Star Game. The only Toronto personnel headed to Cleveland is Vladimir Guerrero Jr., who's in the Home Run Derby. The Jays have been left out, which kinda sucks. Also, as much as I love Masahiro Tanaka...he's been very okay in the last month. You can argue that maybe calling him an All-Star is pushing it? I'm not complaining too much, as he'll finally get to pitch in an ASG, and he deserves it.
Who Should be Replacing Him? David Price, but he's pitching today. Matt Boyd?

Who's Missing the Game? Anthony Rendon, Nats hero 3rd baseman.
Why? Injury
Who's Replacing Him? Max Muncy, Dodgers 1st baseman.
How do I feel? Infield incongruity aside, I love this pick, as it rights a wrong of the initial ballot.

Who's Missing the Game? Zack Greinke, D-Backs ace
Why? Details are vague, but I keep hearing 'personal matter'
Who's Replacing Him? Sonny Gray, of the Reds.
How do I feel? Very mixed. Not just from Greinke's vagueness, but...was Sonny Gray the best Reds arm of the bunch? Would Amir Garrett have been a better choice? I love Sonny, but was HIS season All-Star caliber?
Who Should be Replacing Him? Zach Eflin, Julio Teheran, Jon Gray, Zach Wheeler or Jon Lester?

Who's Missing the Game? Max Scherzer, Nats ace
Why? Because he just had his second kid and needs time off. Which I can respect.
Who's Replacing Him? Brandon Woodruff, Brewers pitching breakout.
How do I feel? Now the Nats don't have any nods either, so that's TWO teams who aren't bringing anybody. At least the Jays have someone in the Derby. Nats just have Max sitting on the bench and looking pretty, which is exactly what he did in 2015, instead of actually having a horse in the race.
Who Should be Replacing Him? STEPHEN STRASBURG OR PATRICK CORBIN. Come on fellas, you're losing your heads!

Who's Missing the Game? Josh Hader, Brewers relief expert
Why? Soreness, I think
Who's Replacing Him? Felipe Vazquez, Pirates closing giant
How do I feel? Actually, this one works.

Not a very well-thought out post, but...it'd be weird if I started thinking posts through 10 years in.

Coming Tomorrow- Toms River's finest.

2018 Topps Gallery, or Night of Too Few Stars

Last week, I examined a product by Panini that, while it nominally attempted to raze the spirits of dead card products and concepts, could only do so by sacrificing their own original ideas.

Today...Topps tries a similar approach.

2017 Topps Gallery was a gallant, if inadequate, attempt at bringing back a once-beloved product from yesteryear, and revitalizing it for the new generation of collectors. Design-wise, the set was impressive, though there were some hiccups in translation, as well as the low card-per-buck ratio that seems to inhabit Topps' better products these days.

For 2018, they tried again, using a similar approach. Additionally, they continued the idea of releasing it as a Walmart exclusive. Which is a novel, if flawed idea.

I bought a blaster of this today, and we're gonna see how it holds up. Not to old Gallery, but mostly to last year's. My standards aren't THAT high.

Each blaster comes with an exclusive quartet of Artists Proofs, which is such a Donruss idea that I'm surprised Donruss didn't do it first this year.

These are the artist's proofs we got: What you'll notice immediately is that, design wise, this is pretty spot on, though it's a bit more reminiscent of Donruss Diamond Kings in its static photo usage. It's also, as you'll see, very rookie-based, as Kingham and Fried are here along with Sandberg and Jones.

You'll also notice that Mayumi Seto, the artist of last year's set, is not responsible for a lot of these, as Topps credits different artists for this year's product. While that is nice, as it brings back memories of National Chicle, it also loses some of the impressive quality of Seto's work from last year, not to disparage any of these artists.

Pack 1-

Now...you'll notice that there aren't any established stars in this pack.

You can make a case for the legitimacy of Walker Buehler (which I wouldn't argue with you on), or of Michael Taylor (which I...WOULD...argue with you on), but even if Buehler is a star, he's a rookie. As is 3/4ths of this pack.

I must bring hindsight value into this: if I were to open this box in 2028, at which point the careers of all of these people may either be over or on their last legs, would I be excited? Will I feel redeemed by it? And the answer is probably no, even if Villanuena learns to hit for average, or Buehler churns out 10 more seasons like this one. Taking out established stars, and secluding most of them to short print status, ruins the case for any pack of merely base cards to stand on its own. You can argue Flagship is like that, but there I still have a chance to pull someone from my team, a fringe player that wouldn't generally be in a set like Gallery, or an insert of a star. There's a chance to pull star cards in Flagship, and...less of one here.

Now, would this have been easier if Gallery was made a set simply consisting of rookies and second-year players? Possibly. We'd know what we'd be getting into. It'd also be similar to something like 2007 Heritage '52 Rookies. Yes, Topps' exclusive license would mean they may have to pepper in either retired stars or established ones in some caliber, but it'd be a little more contextually exciting than this.

I don't know, maybe it turns around, but...this isn't a great start.

Pack 2- This is an improvement, but not by much. Smoltz and Pujols are here, as established stars and Legends, but...just that. I'm not really seeing a middle ground yet.

Good news is the art and design are better here, especially with Smoltz and Peters. I dunno, the yellow is kind of nice.

Pack 3- Again, only rookies and second-year players are here, although Matt Olson is pretty close to an established star. It's also interesting to note that both A's photos are obviously Photo Day shots that have been redone. The hell's the point of just doing artist's portraits of publicity shots? They're artists! They can add in different backgrounds, change uniforms, edit in a goddamned T-Rex or something! It doesn't need to be just the exact same as the photo, or else it spells out how lazy the decisions are!

Pack 4: Okay, this is more like it. Posey is an established star, and McGwire, while a juicing cheat, is a fringe legend. So, even with Dominic Smith there, this still makes more sense than the last few packs.

We also have, more than halfway through the box, our first insert! And it's a really cool one of Reggie Jackson as a California Angel. Yes, doing a HOF insert set is kinda low-hanging fruit, but at least these look good.

Pack 5- The best pack yet! Not only are all four legitimate stars, despite rookies, but these four would be in a pack of this product if it wasn't so rookie-oriented. Plus, the Hoskins '52 insert is pretty cool, Didi looks great, Goldy's beard is cool on here, and that's a RC of the NL ROY. So...well done, Pack 5.

Pack 6- I'll admit things have gotten better, but only slightly. All four of these cards look great, and the Soto does have some artistic license taken with the background. Bregman's is a short print...and while I'll save my rant about short-printing stars for the hell of it for another day, the Bregman does look pretty cool.

Pack 7-
We finish with another rookie, some really cool Donaldson and Story cards, and a Sandberg that sort of counts as a double. A ho-hum finish to a ho-hum box.

So...guys, that was pretty underwhelming. Not just the box, but the set as well. It's a step-backward from the 2017 set...which was itself a step-backward from the entire 00's Gallery run. Aside from a nice design and decent inserts, the player selection for the base set is horrible, giving showcases to rookies that don't really need to be here, and shoving several established stars to short print status. And yes, Topps' argument is 'if they don't find base cards of stars initially, that'll get 'em to keep pulling more packs of the stuff'. Yes...OR...ALTERNATIVELY, it could have people stop buying the product altogether. Which...barring some mid-January card drought, I might.

This is a noble failure by Topps, proving once again that they would still rather sacrifice creative ideas for what works.

Box Break: 2018 Topps Update Series (Part Three)

We're about to round the halfway point of this box, and so far it's been pretty nice, with good, satisfying pulls of updated base cards of traded players, which is the whole point of the set. Yes, it still suffers from being a modern Topps set, but that's a minor quibble.

Onto another 9 packs, immediately starting with a rant:

Pack 19-
So...aside from the cool Ramirez ASG base, this pack brings me one of the most disappointing hits I've encountered in a while.

Solely because this...is not a hit.

I know, you can do what Topps did and go with the Webster's definition of a hit, which is an unexpected relic of added value that is inserted more rarely than base or inserts, but...let's examine this. This is a manupatch, a shiny, plastic manupatch, of Eric Hosmer from the 2015 postseason. It was created specifically for this product, meaning they didn't get an actual 2015 WS patch or anything. And...it's the kind of manupatch that has been featured in blasters of S1 and S2 as box toppers. They're not worth anything, because they're not game-used, and they're barely a relic. They're simply a needless add-on, put in to dupe inexperienced collectors into thinking they've earned something.

This does not belong in hobby packs of Update. Topps can pride itself all it wants on giving collectors one hit in every hobby box, but this isn't a hit. This is a blaster insert that Topps clearly produced too many copies of, and inserted into Update as a way of A.) saving money on producing actual hits, and B.) saving time and energy of going further to third-party autograph or game used jersey sellers.

In short: Topps is too lazy to actually give me a hit, so I got this piece of shit. Rant over.

 Pack 20-
2018 Playoffs: 2/10
NL East: 4/10

 Some notable cards here: a needed card of Danny Farqhuar, who was given hero status after surviving a medical issue, plus great photography for Tyler O'Neill and Craig Kimbrel.

 Plus, more great photography with a nice ASG lunge from Jose Abreu, and Jay Bruce happy to be back in Queens.

 Mark Reynolds and Tommy Pham both had great seasons post-trade. Freddie Freeman had one of his best seasons to date. And Tim Raines' Legends card is a pretty nice one, especially considering that liking Raines is now back in style.

To make up for my lack of a hit, I did get this cool Jean Segura Hot Pink parallel, which is numbered to 50. So a /50 card of a guy who's one of the best raw hitters in the game. Not too bad.

 Pack 21-
2018 Playoffs: 7/10
2018 World Series: 1/10
Cards of Moments That Made me Smile This Year: 1/10

 Josh Hader looks ferocious on his card, and David Bote has his second awesome card of the year. This gold card, #'d to 2018, is of Jaime Garcia, who was traded to Chicago after press.

Jeremy Hellickson and Junior Guerra had great late pushes for their teams, Sean Manaea's card commemorates his no-hit over Boston (THANK YOU SEAN), Javier Baez' ASG card is cool, and the Don't Blink card is of a guy I always love pulling cards of, Jackie Robinson.

 Pack 22-
2018 Playoffs: 4/10
Phillies: 2/10

 Kingery's RD is, while slightly misplaced, welcome. Marco Gonzales looks great on his breakout card, and ASG cards for Brad Hand and Lorenzo Cain are nicely done.

 This is my third Miles Mikolas card of the box. This must be my revenge for getting through a Stadium Club blaster with no Cardinals earlier this year.

Jeurys Familia and Nate Eovaldi look ferocious in their new uniforms, as does Aaron Nola, though I hope he never wears a uniform that isn't a Phillies one.

 Pack 23-
2018 Playoffs: 5/10
2018 World Series: 1/10
2017 World Series: 2/10
2006 World Series: 2/10

 Some truly great landscapes here, with Justin Verlander's standing out, though the swing on Aguilar's is pretty fantastic. And this gold, #'d to 2017, is a pretty nice rookie card for Austin Meadows, whose Pittsburgh numbers spell a fine 2019 for the guy in Tampa.

Assorted bit-players of 2018, plus a highlight checklist of Pujols' 3000th hit, and a really nice diving shot of Marcell Ozuna in St. Louis.

 Pack 24-
Highlight Cards of AL West Pitchers: 2/10
2018 Playoffs: 6/10

 Lucchesi and Hicks had alright rookie years, Paxton's no-no was a classic, and that Rajai Davis card is pretty fantastic. Lots of subdued emotion there.

 Brad Boxberger has some nice detail here in his comeback year, Acuna's rookie is a nice one, and that Verlander 2,5000 card is pretty cool.

Those two ASG cards definitely standout. Schwarber's is a cool HRD one, where he excelled (as expected). And the shiny one is a Jose Altuve ASG base card.

 Pack 25-
2018 Playoffs: 6/10
People famous for getting hit in the head with a ball: 1/10
[OSUNA JOKE REDACTED]

 Osuna did manage to have a good second half, while McCarthy ended his career with a consistent, but still injury-prone, year.

 Kingham's RD card is a great use of 70s Pirates throwbacks. Torres' RD is a great use of awesome Topps photographers. And Kluber's is just awesome, because he's Corey Kluber.

 These two ASG cards are kinda standard, but Blackmon's beard does make it a bit more interesting.

And this is proof that Torii Hunter has ascended into Legends status for Topps, which is nice, I guess.

 Pack 26-
2018 Playoffs: 4/10
Insane Rays Rookies: 2/10
Rare Injuries: 2/10

 Rookies of Franmil Reyes, Austin Meadows and Willy Adames, and a standard ASG shot of Max Scherzer.

 Ryu and Martin missed substantial parts of the 2018 season due to big-time injuries. Shiny Archie Bradley's sitting in the middle.

Gerrit Cole's ASG card is awesome, but Giancarlo Stanton's first base card as a Yankee is more awesome. And I appreciate that Topps threw Will Clark (AS A CARDINAL!) into their Storybook Endings set.

 Pack 27-
Awesome Catchers: 2/10
2013 World Series: 2/10

 Two sharp 2018 rookies, and a TRULY awesome photo of Bryce Harper. Considering that Topps doesn't know how many Bryce Harper Nats cards are left to make, they sure are making this one count.

 Tommy Kanhle had a down year in the Bronx, but Clay Buchholz had a comeback year in Phoenix. So...net loss.

 Two legendary catchers get ASG cards.

The Hoffman 83, already pretty nice, is a blue parallel. It's not numbered, but it looks cool. And that Christian Yelich is a nice ASG shot to end on.

Rant notwithstanding, this box has been pretty nice. If I boiled every box down to its hits, I'd be a lot matter, but I got this card mostly for base updates, so I'm alright with it.

Tomorrow (or, like, soon) the last part will go up.