100 Losses by September 10th

Going into this season, I knew the Tigers would be bad. It became very obvious early on. But...I had no idea they were gonna beat Baltimore to 100 wins.

Like, that in itself takes skill.

The Tigers right now...have the kind of lineup that most expansion teams start off with. One bonafide legend with a few years til retirement, some rookies who can't hit, some rejects from better teams who can't hit, one legitimately good pitcher who can't catch a break, a few crappy pitchers, a few crappy rookie pitchers, an alright bullpen, and Edwin Jackson.

From a distance, you'd think the catching would be hurting the Tigers the most, as their starter, John Hicks, is hitting .210, but Jeimer Candelario is below the Mendoza line. You'd think Jordan Zimmermann's plight would be the most pathetic, but Matthew Boyd had still given up 36 home runs.  You'd think that Travis Demeritte would be doing something, anything, to revive this team, but now he's only hitting .231. And as bad as this team is...Miguel Cabrera's still not hitting too far above replacement levels.

It's very sad. Especially when I saw this team just last year, and they weren't this bad. They squeaked out a win against Cleveland, and Candelario, who's listless now, was the hero. This was back when they had Mike Fiers, and he previewed his Oakland dominance in a pitching duel with Mike Clevinger.

The team's last 100-loss season came in 2003, Alan Trammell's first year managing. Their biggest statistical leader was Dmitri Young. This was pre-Verlander, pre-I-Rod...pre-Joel Zumaya, even. They had nothing but other people's space.

And that's kinda what this season felt like. Even the guys they're bringing up don't feel like their own, or that they're gonna lead to anything. They're just there to fill space until the next movement, and the next.

Whatever, at least the Mud Hens are a little more entertaining.

Coming Tonight: His brother just struck him out the other night, but that won't stop this guy.

Another Year of Unmemorable Padres Baseball

In 2010, the Padres had a record of 90 wins and 72 losses, a record that would get them into the playoffs any other year, and a record several teams are gunning for this year. They finished second in the NL to the San Francisco Giants, and the wild card exploits of the Atlanta Braves kept them out of the playoffs, after organizing a surprisingly potent team.

That was the last time the Padres had a foreseeable chance at the playoffs. And that includes their 2015-era quest for contracts. They've been middling or unspectacular ever since. And even if they've drafted a few competent people, they haven't especially handled their farm system well, owing back to last season, where they had to squeeze two Rule 5 acquisitions into the 40-man roster due to lack of options.

Is it possible that a lot of the people they're calling up just aren't good? Not necessarily. I'm not denying the talents of people like Hunter Renfroe, Manny Margot, Christian Villanueva or new standout Franmil Reyes, but...none of them are able to lift this team past mediocrity. It's not like you can see any of these guys carrying the next generation of this team. I don't know if that's a knock at the farm system or a knock at the team in general, who, even with Eric Hosmer and Wil Myers, still can't seem to get things together.

And you want to see a team like this succeed, but with the rotation as messy as it is, and with the lack of impressive batting averages in this lineup...I don't know how likely success is for a team like this. And even if they try another tactic like 2015, it may not work with a hollow iteration of the team, like this one.

I wanna be optimistic, but...just look at what the Padres are dealing with.

Coming Tomorrow- It may be Gleyber Torres' year, but this guy might try to steal the ROY honors right out from under him.

Damp Sox

Not much else left to say about this White Sox team in August. They're wedged into third, they've got no chance of making the playoffs, their best players are probably gonna be divvied up by contenders in a few months, and even if Carlos Rodon, finally healthy, is pitching in his best season to date, there's just this effeteness that they can't escape.

It doesn't help that the rest of the pitching, including guys who were doing alright like Reynaldo Nunez and James Shields, is pretty poor, and their bullpen is pretty scattered after the loss of Joakim Soria. The lineup is fine. None of the recent callups have managed to stick around, and the few rookies who are playing everyday are okay at best, like Daniel Palka and Nicky Delmonico. Yoan Moncada still isn't able to hit over .250, Avisail Garcia's numbers are down, Tim Anderson has slumped a bit since his bit July, and Jose Abreu isn't COMPLETELY perfect this year. It's a flawed, mediocre team, that's lucky enough to have the Royals below them in the standings.

I don't have a ton else to report with this team. They just aren't fun to write about every month, because nothing really changes, and things don't get a ton better. I can only hope that something will finally improve, because it's just been too long since the Sox have been really good.

Coming Tomorrow- After a few years of slumping, he's made it back to the semi-mainstream, and is helping the Brewers chase the Cubs.

Marlins Update: [Exhausted, Embarrassed Sigh] Edition

On one hand, I was expecting worse from the Miami Marlins. On the other hand, UUUUNNNGHHHHHHHH...

The Marlins lineup has surprisingly rebounded over time, with Derek Dietrich becoming a starter AND a power hitter, Starlin Castro picking up where he left off in the Bronx, and Brian Anderson becoming a starter like we all thought he would. They also seem to have found their everyday shortstop in Miguel Rojas, though JT Riddle has been playing some games as a way of security.

Other than that...dear lord this team is bad.

The pitching? I have not found a silver lining here. Nobody is pitching well, and everybody who was is now injured. Kyle Barraclough is doing his best to hold up the closing pitching, but it's hard to close games for a last place team. The youth isn't really working as well as the team would like.

It's not fun to watch, it's not fun to report on, and...it's not fun to be a Miami Marlin right now. J.T. Realmuto is playing really well right now, and the Red Sox need a catcher. Put two and two together.

Coming Tonight: Reliable defensive shortstop for a second place, but by no means contending, team.

Yet Another Padres Custom

...I really don't have anything to say, other than 'thank god we've got a month left of the regular season. Making Padres customs is tough, especially when nobody's playing well enough to deserve one.

Coming Tomorrow- Best closer in baseball, finally getting back to what he does best.

A Blaster of 2017 Topps Gypsy Queen

I'll be honest, this has been a pretty solid year of cardboard so far. Topps flagship and Heritage which both were really good, solid upgrades from last year. I haven't had a ton of qualms about specific products. However...I'm going to be honest...I opened a blaster of Gypsy Queen today, and I wasn't thrilled.

Look, I'm actually one of the people that was a fan of the set even in its more dormant years, from 2013-2016, when nobody really cared about it. I really enjoyed the inserts, the degree of Spring Training shots, the detail packed into making the cards look vintage but distinct. Not a ton of that is still left in the 2017 edition, sad to say.

The main problem is Topps is trying to make Gypsy Queen into a cousin of Allen and Ginter, by sprucing up the backs and the card stock, giving it a classier, more artful feel that the set didn't especially need.

I'll present the blaster as is, but I wasn't the biggest fan of this set:

Pack 1-
226- Eric Hosmer.
297- Adam Lind, looking very tired on this card.
73- Brett Gardner. Okay, at least I pulled a Yankee.
162- AJ Pollock, in one of those newfangled, weirdly okay Diamondbacks uniforms.
264- Adrian Beltre, future Hall of Famer and...sadly currently on the DL.
246- Kole Calhoun

Pack 2-
2- Edwin Diaz.
200- Mike Trout. Again, I'll give Topps credit that I could actually pull a Mike Trout card without it being an SSSSP.
285- Kirby Yates. But...a knock against Topps for including a middle-reliever in a photoshopped uniform that didn't especially need to be here.
199- Jose Quintana
49- Kevin Gausman, one of two young O's pitchers who've FINALLY begun pitching well.
44- Kirk Nieuwenhuis. We...didn't especially need a card of him either...

Pack 3-
87- Jake Lamb, who should have another nice season this year, if the D-Backs platooning allows him to.
56- Yasmani Grandal
3- Marcus Semien, a surprisingly potent addition for the A's.
Fortune Teller insert of Ivan Rodriguez. Okay, to be fair, these mini-inserts are cool, but I prefer the Glove Stories/Sticky Fingers/Sliding Stars variety that we'd become used to.
269- Brian Dozier, Twins hero.
182- Sam Dyson.

Pack 4-
239- Asdrubal Cabrera
165- JA Happ. Glad to see he's reentering the spotlight.
282- Andrew Benintendi RC. If what I saw in Florida holds ground in the regular season...he's for real.
145- Zack Cozart
141- Adonis Garcia...only this is a Blackplateless- variation, so it's a lighter version of the card without black ink, and without a position. Weird, but cool.
206- Dustin Pedroia. Hate the team, respect the player.

Pack 5-
50- Anthony Rizzo. One of my favorites.
245- DJ LeMahieu, probably up for another big season in 2017.
125- Francisco Cervelli. Again, I'm glad people are rooting for him.
Hand-Drawn Reproduction of...Roger Clemens. Good enough idea, I just wish I would have gotten someone else.
80- Scooter Gennett. Now with the Reds.
103- Mitch Moreland.

Pack 6-
267- Zack Davies, who's become an apparent ace in a squad without many.
244- Ian Desmond. I'll admit that the photoshopping this year is a ton better, as Desmond does indeed look like he's wearing a Rockies uniform.
81- Starling Marte
299- Orlando Arcia
149- MATT HOLLIDAY IN A YANKEE UNIFORM...AND...Purple Parallel, #'d to 250. Again, I'm not loving this set, but this was pretty nice of Topps to throw this in, as if they knew. 'Yeah, he's not digging the set, maybe throw a Yankee parallel his way'.
210- Adam Jones. Baltimore hero.

Pack 7-
51- Kevin Kiermaier. Still fantastic, will probably be holding up the Rays this year.
82- Brad Ziegler
247- Charlie Blackmon
315- Rod Carew SHORT PRINT. Hey, this is a pretty nice one to pull, too.
75- Clayton Kershaw. Best in the game.
69- Randal Grichuk

Pack 8-
255- Matt Wisler
191- Marcell Ozuna, who should be back on the right track
184- Austin Hedges. ...Okay, Topps. If I don't know who someone is, they SHOULDN'T BE IN GYPSY QUEEN...
78- Robert Gsellman rookie.
284- Tommy Joseph. Jim Thome Part Deux.
111- Freddie Freeman.


Yeah, not a ton to talk about with this set. Just underwhelming, and not as good as previous issues.

Uncustomed Heroes of 2016: Padres

Ugh.

Just...not fun. Not pretty. Not good.

There's not much optimism about the Padres, even for 2017, as they've successfully shot their organization in the foot, as they have completed trading nearly everyone they acquired in 2015 away, and now they have an even worse team than they had when they started...which takes SKILL. You need to be SKILLED to be that bad.

Jon Jay had a decent enough season, but he's going to Chicago, so they're not even gonna have him.

So, what do the Padres have? They have Hunter Renfroe, who came in with a month left to go in the season and hit like a pro. Will this translate to 2017 success? Who knows!? But it's all Padres fans have to cling onto. They have no pitching, barely any hitting, and only Wil Myers to hold the team down. It's pathetic. It disgusts me.

Coming Tomorrow- Isn't it funny that it's a slightly better subject, and it's the Phillies?

Looking for Optimism in a Rack Pack of 2016 Topps

I held off because I was afraid.

I usually go and grab a pack of the new Topps the second it's released. The second I know it will be there. But once it was released, everyone who DID pick it all said, in a unified voice, "NO."

It wasn't looking good. It, in fact, looked very unpromising, unoriginal, and some other uns. But, as a card collector, it was my solemn duty to at least pick up some packs, and try to find a silver lining.

I have a rack pack in front of me. 36 cards. Let's see if I can try to name some good things.

194- Chase Headley. Okay, so for for the first time (I think), my FIRST CARD OF THE SEASON is a Yankee, and it's a pretty good one, too. However, the design is impeding on what could be a pretty cool photo. This is close to 2008 Topps levels of a design interfering with perfectly good parts of a photo. If it was just the little MLB network crawl on the bottom, I'd be fine with this design. Not 100% happy, but fine. Instead, the smog on the edges are putting me off.
17- Billy Butler. The colorful smog on the backs of the cards is reminding me of 2015, and reminds me if this design wasn't so misty and over-elaborate, we could have had a pretty good extension of the 2015 ideologies, which were pretty refreshing.
300- Buster Posey, the poster boy. One of the plusses, like last year, is that there is VERY minimal foil. And I do like that, as it's very reminiscent of stuff like 1993 and 1994 Topps. Only thing is there's just too much going on design wise.
113- Aaron Sanchez. 41 games of relief work gets you an encore card, I guess.
9- Eric Hosmer, one of your World Series heroes.
267- Chris Heston. If you're going by patterns, Chris Heston could be one of your 2016 World Series heroes.
230- Ryan Vogelsong, who's back with the Pirates this season. Also, close cropping!
234- David Robertson. Okay, so every once and a while 2016 Topps can have a gem, and Robertson's is zoomed back far enough that it's pretty cool.
327- Anthony Rizzo. Man, Cubs fans must absolutely adore this guy. I even adore him; I snagged a Rizzo jersey-shirt while I was in Chi-Town.
337- HR Leaders. Jeez, even the leaders cards have the smog.
308- Brian Dozier. Okay, the sideways cards are a little better here, but there's more Miguel Sano on this card than Dozier.
156- Cameron Maybin. This is a pretty damn good shot too, also because it's zoomed out.
122- Melky Cabrera
248- Braves TC. Like everybody's been saying, the team cards have some awesome photography.
41- Josh Harrison. Another awesome card, and more zooming. Topps, do you see the pattern here?
Berger's Best Insert of 1996 John Smoltz. Eh.
Back to Back insert of Rizzo and Bryant.
One of the few consistently awesome inserts, First Pitch, with a Red Sox card of Mo'Ne Davis, which is pretty awesome.
mLB Debut of Ryan Howard. Yay, I guess.
Bunt insert.
43- Noah "Thor" Syndergaard. Future Stars are back. Dude, Thor's a pretty big star NOW.
20- Andrew McCutchen. 2016 Topps: The product that makes Andrew McCutchen look boring.
274- Ryan Goins
304- Charlie Furbush
347- Jason Grilli. Guy's turning 40 this year, and has made a late-stage comeback as a closer, which is awesome. Pretty sweet card, too.
104- Jeremy Hellickson. Phillies picked him up, which says a lot about where his career is at.
173- Jose Abreu. 2014 and 2015 Topps would combine MLB stats with Cuban/Japanese numbers. Here, we get two rows of stats. Beautiful.
4- Sonny Gray. Another cool card. Not saying 2016 Topps can't pull out some great ones, because they can, just not often enough.
103- Trea Turner.
143- Oliver Perez
219- Hector Oliviera. The big-time Cuban prospect the Braves got for Alex Wood.
129- Kendall Graveman
222- Homer Bailey
316- Jake Odorizzi 'FUTURE STAR'. Dude, he's been in the league since 2012. That's just degrading.
348- Seth Smith.
271- Kevin Kiermaier. This guy keeps it up, he'll be a bigger star than Longo.

So, that was a rack-pack of 2016. Not great, right? There are a ton of problems with this set, most of which can't be rectified in the same calendar year. I'm gonna be stuck with a lot of these problems until update, which is kind of sad.

I also got 2 hanger boxes of the stuff, which I will post later.

Uncustomed "Heroes" of 2015: Phillies

I put the word 'heroes' in parenthesis because the 2015 Phillies were nobody's heroes, and everybody's goats. And that's pretty damn sad. They had two good closers, and traded them both away for practically nothing. They had some All Star caliber players that they traded away, for a little bit more than nothing. And...they just weren't trying. Especially Ryan Howard.

Fortunately Aaron Altherr is going to save the team. He came in halfway through the season and started playing like an absolute pro. He's a great talent, great hitter, and a good young guy. If we hang onto him, he's the guy we build a team around.

Jerad Eickhoff was the 2nd-biggest pitcher call up for the Phillies, after Aaron Nola, and did a pretty nice job on the mound. I swear, if him, Nola, and Morgan all play well next year, we may not be in for another last place season.

Coming Tomorrow- A much better team, one that actually cracked the playoffs.

So I went to a Phillies game...

...They lost.

To the White Sox.

Part of me isn't surprised at all.

I'll say that it was close. We were hitting, and then three innings later they would tie it, and then Ruf would hit one out, and it'd be tied again. Like, we definitely hung in there against the formidable third-to-last-place team.

Of course, then it rained. Quite a bit, actually.

And it stopped for a while, and then it came back, and there was a rain delay. Once the tarps came back off, we went through two straight innings of loading the bases, and then leaving those guys on. Because the Phillies are great with toying with our emotions.

Unfortunately, it ended with the entire White Sox lineup ganging up on J.C. Ramirez, and consecutive errors by J-Rol and Young, plus a nice double play that ruined any offensive efforts we had going.

Yet, needless to say, it was nice to get out of the house and see a Phillies game, even if they lost. I mean, the Phillies are kinda meant to lose. It's just rare that I win when I see them.

But still, even if it was a depressing baseball game, it's still a baseball game.