2013 Topps Series 2: Just the Catchers

Something I have been meaning to do for a while is to break down just the catcher cards from sets, it's something I do anyway, I am just taking the time to post it now. I am leaving out cards of catchers batting, so no Evan Gattis, just cards that might land in the catcher binder. Starting off with John Buck, Buck is the only catcher allowed to custom paint his mask. This card does a poor job of showing it, a major disappointment for me considering how awesome his 2011 Topps card was.

A Swing and a Trade

A trade proving one man's junk is another man's wantlist. In return for a pile of early 1990's Donruss, the fine human being behind Swing and a Pop-up send me a pile of stuff from my Zistle.com list including Tom Glavine and Barry Bonds rookie cards along with a pile of the usual suspects seen above and below.

2013 Gypsy Queen Johnny Bench Bat Relic

Updating an almost forgotten project, collecting bat relics of the top home run hitting catchers of all time. Johnny Bench held the record with 327 until it was broken by Carlton Fisk and later by Mike Piazza. Bench does have more total career home runs than Fisk, but I am going by home runs hit as a catcher. This pick-up puts me at 7 of the top 10, with Yogi Berra next on the list.

Tricked by a Baseball Card

Over the past few years I have been getting pretty good at noticing acetate cards from a scan. When I saw this 1999 Skybox Molten Metal Fusion insert I was pretty sure I had a new card for the acetate collection. I was wrong. The usual indicators were there, cropped photo on the front, and the mirrored logo on the back of the cards is usually a dead giveaway. Once the card arrived in the mail I discovered that it was regular card stock, and the head shot image was made out of holes in the card. While not a new acetate card, it is something different and a nice addition to the Rockies collection.

Trade From The Dollar Store

A quick trade with Sportscards From The Dollar Store, one of the few trades I have done that haven't crossed an international border. I was offered a 2013 Gypsy Queen D.J. LeMahieu autograph which was much needed as it is the only LeMahieu card with the Rockies. Also included we have some 2013 GQ base, leaving me 6 shy of the non-sp set, the 2 Rockies mini photo variants, Wilin Rosario Collisions at the Plate, and a 2012 Colby Rasmus to replace the one I took from the set binder to get signed.

Oddball Mailday: 2009 Konami WBC Chris Iannetta

A weird little Japanese card for the Chris Iannetta collection. Slightly smaller than a traditional baseball card, measuring roughly 2 1/4" x 3 1/4", this is from a 253 card set featuring players from the 2009 World Baseball Classic.

Iannetta played in 4 games in the 2009 WBC going 6-13 (.462 average) with one home run and 6 RBI splitting time with Brian McCann.

There is a more complete write up on the set at the Japanese baseball card blog.

June COMC Loot

Going through the cards to sort/post folder I found a couple scans from a COMC order and figured I might as well show them off. The main card was a Matt Holliday autograph numbered to 25 filling in the biggest hole in my Rockies autograph collection. Trevor Story is a highly ranked Rockies prospect and Lance Painter and Steve Reed are from early Colorado teams of my youth. Lance Painter might be best known for having to pinch hit in the 1995 playoffs after Don Baylor burned though his bench.

Custom Card: 1986 Topps Ramon Ortiz

Being surrounded by Blue Jays fans I end up paying more attention to the Toronto Baseball Club than I really need to. This weekend 40 year old Ramon Ortiz left the mound in tears after suffering an elbow injury that could end his career. Ortiz is probably best know for his time with the Angels were he won at least 13 games three seasons in a row and was the winning pitcher in Game 3 of the 2002 World Series earning himself a World Series ring. While his Rockies career lasted 10 games in late 2007, he earned his only win with the club in game 163, retiring all three batters he faced in the 13th inning. The Rockies would then score 3 runs in the 13th to win the game and earn their first playoff appearance since 1995 and make it to the World Series. His career took some strange turns after 2007, spending 2008 in Japan and 2009 in AAA. He would return to the majors in 2010 with the Dodgers and 2011 with the Cubs, spent 2012 in AAA before pitching with the Blue Jays in 2013.

A Couple Thoughts on 2013 Archives

I like the Archives line, as someone who enjoys custom cards, that's basically what this set is and as a Rockies fan it's interesting to see how Topps handles cards of players whose teams didn't exist when the original sets came out. I also love the return of the acetate Gallery of Heroes inserts, while I have yet to land one of these, early scans look pretty damn good. The 1983 All-Star inserts and Stadium Club Triumvirates look good as well and are a nice inclusion to the product. The autograph checklist doesn't do much for me other than Mickey Tettleton, and Ellis Burks as a Red Sox and not a Rockie is a little disappointing, but Archives never uses retired Rockies so no big surprise. The Heavy Metal autographs are a joke, first off, save the non-sports crap for Ginter, secondly the checklist is all Glam Rock other than Scott Ian, I'm sorry, but when I think of Heavy Metal, I don't think of Kip Winger, how about a Tom Araya auto? My biggest problem with Topps right now, and this set is terrible for it, is the re-used photos (this was pointed out by Sportscards from the Dollar Store linked here.), All 4 Rockies cards have previously used images, and it really didn't take that long to find them.