2 for $5 off

The nice thing about eBay notifications is that every so often, you get a free $5 coupon, good toward anything on the site. I've seen these a time or two, and I especially like that they don't mandate a minimum larger purchase. As long as you're at $5.01, you're good to go. One of these coupons went out earlier this month, and I used it to pick up two cards, including shipping. My total out-of-pocket was a mere 99 cents.

2013 Topps Mini Chasing History #MCH-46 Troy Tulowitzki

As part of a longtime goal I've had to complete a rainbow, I ordered the mini version of Troy Tulowitzki's 2013 Chasing History card. It's been on the Eight Men Out list for a while, and might be the first that I flat out just decided to buy for myself. On the other hand, I guess you could say eBay bought it for me.

This is the last one I needed to complete the rainbow. In my collection, that includes the full-size base card, the silver holofoil, the gold holofoil, and the relic. According to Beckett, there is a gold relic out there, but I'm most likely just going to call this good. Getting into the business of completing rainbows is dangerous and expensive territory to tread, and even that type of collector probably has to get used to writing off the printing plates and other 1/1s more often than not.

In all that time since these cards started coming my way (spanning almost the whole history of this blog), Tulo was traded to Toronto, and then was signed by New York. This card documents his 25-HR seasons, but Topps jinxed this too, as he hasn't put one up since. He came within a hair's breadth in 2016, hitting 24 as a member of the Blue Jays.

1996 Stadium Club Extreme Winners Bronze #EW3 Andres Galarraga

The other card I ordered was an Andres Galarraga card from 1996 Stadium Club. What I actually ordered was the Members Only parallel, but the seller appears to have goofed and sent, uh, something else. Something I did not know existed. Shocking, I know. Every time something turns up from this set, I basically question my whole reality. Because I have learned, time and time again, that I actually have no clue when it comes to mid-'90s Stadium Club.

Presumably, neither does the seller, but I really can't say I'm too upset about it. It's not worth the time and trouble to correct for 49 cents, and the Members Only cards back then are much more plentiful than the needle-in-a-haystack case hits they are today. Instead, it's just yet another surprise from the rich vein of 1996 Stadium Club, and frankly, 49 cents is a bargain for another surprise.

So what the heck is this thing anyway?

What we're looking at is a Bronze-level winner card from the Extreme Players contest. Topps printed a 180-card partial parallel set in Gold, Silver, and Bronze. When the 1996 season concluded, Topps ran a formula against those 180 players, and the top ten players' cards became redeemable for a ten-card Extreme Winners set featuring those ten players, matching whichever metal color your redemption card was.

Follow all that?

You should see the Extreme Batter calculations used to determine who those top-ten players were. They're right on the back, and Topps did a great job showing their work. The formula goes something like this:

[(HRs * 0.2) + (RBIs * 0.07) + (SBs * 0.15) + (((Avg*1000)-200) * 0.06)] = Extreme Player Score

Galarraga's 1996 stats plugged into that formula resulted in an Extreme Player score of 28.84, topping other first basemen like Mo Vaughn, Frank Thomas, Mark McGwire, and Jeff Bagwell. Whoever redeemed Galarraga's bronze card in late 1996 got this in return, along with nine others. The foil is a rainbow bronze, and the lettering around the TSC logo says "1996 Top Rated Extreme Player". Returning to the card back, we're told that you'd have to go back to Ted Kluszewski in 1954 to find a first baseman who led the NL in homers with more than Galarraga's count of 47.

Upon closer investigation of my 1996 binder, I actually have one of the redemption cards.

1996 Stadium Club Extreme Players Silver #148 Johnny Damon

Unfortunately, Johnny Damon's performance in 1996 finished in the lower 170 among Extreme Player (EP) candidates, forever leaving this redemption card as a what-if in my collection. It looks familiar, and it's probably been in my collection for a while. The large foil seal denotes it as a redemption card (Silver-level, no less), and it differs from normal 1996 Stadium Club cards by including the position above the player's name.

Hypothetically, if Damon had a better EP Score at Center Field than Ken Griffey, Jr., this could have been redeemed for the Silver Winner cards. We know what the Bronze Winner cards look like, but what about Silver?

Turns out I have one of those too.

1996 Stadium Club Extreme Winners Silver #EW4 Chuck Knoblauch

I have no idea where it came from, but this Chuck Knoblauch card was once in the possession of a collector who drew a better ticket in the Silver redemption contest than I did. Knoblauch sat atop the second base rankings that year, edging out Eric Young, Roberto Alomar, Craig Biggio, and Ray Durham. Eric Young almost joined his teammate in the 10-card set, but didn't have the power to out-hit Knoblauch.

Side note, a fun fact I learned during my 2015 trip to Vienna is that "Knoblauch" directly translates to "garlic".

The Silver Winner cards are obviously quite a bit different from what we're used to from 1996 Stadium Club. It's a lot more like a Finest card or a Chrome Refractor, and the background has a repeating pattern of the same "X" lettering that is found on the redemption cards.

Someday, I should just buy a box or two of 1995 or 1996 Stadium Club and better educate myself on what these sets are all about.

But these surprises are much too fun.

Last Year's Opening Day (Part 2: Inserts)

In my annual examination of a blaster of Opening Day, we already saw some of my favorite base cards. Now, it's time for the fun stuff, the insert sets that consistently keep me coming back year after year.

2018 Topps Opening Day Mascots #M-14 Rally Monkey

Chief among that fun stuff are mascot cards, although Topps is reaching a little bit here. The Angels are one of just three teams without an official mascot, the others being the Dodgers and Yankees. The Rally Monkey is just a fan favorite, but isn't officially part of the team. It began in 2000 during a come-from-behind win the Angels put together on June 6th, 2000. The Rally Monkey was just a graphic on the Jumbotron, but the Angels pulled of a win, forever immortalizing itself in Angels lore.

That win came against the Giants, setting the stage for the Rally Monkey to gain national popularity when those two teams met in the 2002 World Series, and giving Topps another card in their long-running Mascots insert set. There's even a little cartoon on the card back showing a monkey swinging a bat, but he is way, way too late on the pitch since the ball is already in the frame.

This all looks quite official to me, so maybe the Angels should look into turning the monkey into an actual mascot and join 27 other teams in the trend.

2018 Topps Opening Day Mascots #M-18 Phillie Phanatic

The Phillie Phanatic is the textbook example of a baseball mascot, although I think Orbit really doesn't get the credit he deserves. Still, the Phanatic is a favorite year after year, maybe even the GOAT when it comes to mascots. This card mentions that he likes to "play practical jokes on broadcasters." Have a look at an example to see what Topps is talking about.

This mascot seems to have an outfit for every occasion, such as this red raincoat, which presumably comes out to keep the fans entertained during rain delays.

With Bryce Harper joining the Phillies, I can't wait to see what antics they get up to in the next thirteen years.

2018 Topps Opening Day Stars #ODS-KJ Kenley Jansen

This blaster yielded a nice variety of the many insert sets Topps put out last year. I didn't find all of them, but there was a good sampling. Opening Day Stars is still being printed, but it's changed a lot from past years. It used to be an example of 3-D lenticular awesomeness, but no longer. It's now a rather plain set, printed on flimsy card stock, and not much is happening on the back besides an oversized Opening Day logo and Kenley Jansen's name and team. I'm not 100% certain this isn't a sticker.

I'm not sure where Jansen is pitching in this game, but he appears to be playing in front of a whole mess of empty seats. I'm guessing it's a save situation, since Jansen is the Dodgers' closer, and my best bet is that it's not a Freeway Series against Anaheim, as there is no Rally Monkey in sight. Only an umpire in the lower right and a few diehard fans.

I know he pitches for a rival team, but I'm sending my best wishes to him following his heart surgery over the winter. He's recovering well, and all signs point to him being ready for the start of the 2019 season.

2018 Topps Opening Day Before Opening Day #BOD-MB Mookie Betts

We know of several athletes that excel in multiple sports. Baseball and football tend to go together frequently, a combination that instantly reminds us of players like Bo Jackson and Deion Sanders. Some NFL players' baseball exploits are lesser known, like Russell Wilson and Tim Tebow. There are some more unexpected combinations out there, like Lolo Jones in both track & field and bobsledding.

This Before Opening Day insert card shows Betts in the clubhouse playing a little table tennis, but his real talent is bowling. The card back tells us that the 2018 AL MVP bowled a perfect 300 in the World Series of Bowling, so if his baseball career falls on hard times, or a strike occurs in a year or so, Betts will have something to fall back on.

2018 Topps Opening Day At The Ballpark #ODB-TR Texas Rangers

Night Owl sent me the Rockies card from the At The Ballpark insert set not long ago, and I have the Rangers card to add to it. Rougned Odor, whose base card had that nifty bat barrel shot in Part 1, is clearly extremely excited about his most recent play. If this shot is really from April 3rd, 2017, the Rangers '17 season opener, it's probably following his three-run homer in the second inning off of Corey Kluber.

The Rangers had the luck of opening their season at home. The Rockies almost never do, instead usually beginning their home season the following Friday. The season takes a little while to get going, but Lower Downtown Denver has really embraced opening weekend as an occasion for a big party. The last time I went to one was in 2014, the first time The Rooftop was open for business. That also happened to be the day that Charlie Blackmon went 6-for-6, one of the rarer baseball feats I've witnessed.

2018 Topps Opening Day Team Traditions and Celebrations #TTC-TF The Freeze

Just like players find ways to keep themselves occupied in the offseason, stadium operators find ways to keep fans entertained between innings. That's certainly part of the Phillie Phanatic's job description, but there are plenty of other things to keep the attention of fans during the many two minute breaks. One such example can be found at Braves home games, an exciting footrace between a usually hapless fan and a former college track star nicknamed "The Freeze". Despite the fan having a massive headstart, The Freeze almost always wins.

His real name is Nigel Talton, and he's also part of the Braves' grounds crew. It's way more interesting than a t-shirt cannon, and every once in a while, a fan manages to leg out a win. But usually not.

The only trouble is that "Team Traditions and Celebrations" set name is an awkward mouthful. "Ballpark Fun" from a few years ago did the trick just fine, in my opinion.

2018 Topps Opening Day Blue Foil #64 Byron Buxton

Last up is one of the un-numbered Blue Foil parallels with a limited print run. Topps did the same fountain shape in the background as they did in Chrome, developing a way to make a colored parallel out of a full bleed set. The date of "March 29th 2018" remains the only place you'll find foil in Opening Day.

Twins outfielder Byron Buxton had a rough go of it in 2018, having trouble living up to his top-prospect billing. The center fielder has excellent speed, stealing 29 bases in 2017, and from the looks of it, he would have a real shot at beating The Freeze.

That about does it for 2018 Opening Day. 2019's Opening Day product is on sale now, and I may even find one before the 2019 season begins on March 28th. You'll probably see a similar set of posts before long. I like this set too much to let it sit for a whole year again.

Last Year's Opening Day (Part 1: Commons)

I didn't get a chance to write about last year's blaster of 2018 Topps Opening Day, and my plan was to squeeze in at least one post before 2019 was launched.

For some reason, I thought 2019 Topps Opening Day was releasing on Tuesday, March 19th. Turns out, it came out a few days ago. What can I say? I'm behind. It wasn't until last night that I got my first pack of 2019 Heritage.

2018 Topps Opening Day #34 Billy Hamilton

The plus side of that delay is that I've had this awesome card staring up at me from my side table all year, an amazing action shot that a lot of people picked as their favorite from the 2018 "waterslide" design. That could be why I waited so long; I didn't want to put this card in the binder yet. Billy Hamilton is one of not many guys who still steals bases, and the speedy outfielder can clearly make it to the wall with time to spare. There's no weird cropping, no intrusive design, no smoke effect obscuring the brilliant red backdrop of a Toyota banner.

This is full-bleed at its best. As usual with Opening Day, there isn't even any foil to distract you. Even the color-coding at the bottom works well for the Reds.

2018 Topps Opening Day #104 Nomar Mazara

Nomar Mazara's card is somewhat similar. The red banner is for State Farm rather than Toyota, and Texas' outfielder is a whole heck of a lot more relaxed than Hamilton while preparing for this catch. It's still technically an action shot; it just didn't become a hobby-wide favorite. I also like the way the Rangers logo is nestled at the base of the waterslide as if it just rolled right down it.

2018 Topps Opening Day #26 Javier Baez

A lot has been said about blurry backgrounds in recent years, but the backgrounds are clear enough on a few of these shots to make out the advertisements that companies shell out big bucks for. CVS Health has a spot on the Green Monster in Boston, which we can see behind a leaping Javier Baez, the Cubs second baseman who has the best tag application in the game. This double play card even has two cameos. Mookie Betts, last year's AL MVP, is #50 on the Red Sox, and I believe that is Baez' fellow middle infielder Addison Russell backing up the play.

I'm not 100% sure on this one, but I think this is from the bottom of the 8th on April 29th, 2017. Betts began the inning with a leadoff single, but was forced out at second on a Hanley Ramirez grounder to short. Looks like the Russell-Baez duo did their best to turn two, but didn't quite get it done. That makes this a double play attempt card, which is somehow a little bit more awesome.

It ended up not mattering, as Mitch Moreland grounded into one of his very own right after this play, although Baez wasn't involved in the 3-6-3 play. The Cubbies ended up winning 7-4.

2018 Topps Opening Day #92 Robinson Cano

This set is just a year old, but already lots of players are moving around. Billy Hamilton will be a Royal this year, and Robinson Cano is back in New York, this time on the Mets. Still, I've always liked the Mariners colors, and their sea-green waterslide looks even more like something you'd see in a waterpark than some of the other colors in this set.

Unfortunately for Cano, Topps kind of jinxed him with their write-up. We're told that he's eclipsed 30 doubles in a season for 13 straight seasons, something no one has done besides Stan Musial, and Cano has the distinction of beginning that streak in his rookie year. His suspension-shortened 2018 campaign only led to 22.

2018 Topps Opening Day #103 Rougned Odor

I found quite a few Rangers in this blaster, and this one caught my eye thanks to it being a unplanned bat barrel shot. All eyes, including Rougned Odor's, are on the ball he just hit, but the photographer managed to snap a lucky shot of Odor routinely letting the bat slip out of his right hand. It's an easy shot to pose, but a lot of things have to line up perfectly to get it on an action shot. I'd bet that anyone with a bat barrel mini collection won't have too many action shots in there.

2018 Topps Opening Day #82 Rhys Hoskins (RC)

Lots of 2018 Home Run Derby participants appeared in this blaster. Rhys Hoskins performed quite well, even making it to the second round. He had plenty of Major League playing time in 2017, so I'm not quite sure why Topps chose to only give us his 2017 minor league stat line on the back. The power hitter will be playing alongside Bryce Harper this year, and this young player is only going to get better.

The black patch you see on Hoskins' right sleeve was worn by all Phillies in 2017, honoring Dallas Green, the manager who led the Phillies to their first-ever World Series championship in 1980. Green passed away shortly before the 2017 season.

2018 Topps Opening Day #24 Kyle Schwarber

Hoskins was doing great in the Home Run Derby until he reached Kyle Schwarber in the second round. Schwarber hit a whopping 21 shots in his allotted time, edging out the 20 that Hoskins launched out of Nationals Park. He's the epitome of a power hitter, being able to hit home runs on top of the scoreboard, but being a bit, ah, lacking in the defensive department. Let's just say that Kyle Schwarber probably won't be winning any Gold Gloves.

When you look at it that way, the question of whether the National League should have a DH becomes an intriguing one. Madison Bumgarner's home runs are quite impressive, and it would be a shame to see that go away. But instead of framing the DH question around "Should pitchers have to hit?", asking "Should guys like Kyle Schwarber have to play the field?" might give you a different answer. I, for one, was not a huge fan of having Matt Holliday in left field.

2018 Topps Opening Day #71 Aaron Judge

Back in Fenway Park, we come to 2017's Home Run Derby winner, Aaron Judge. A recipient of the Topps Rookie Cup, not to mention the AL Rookie of the Year, Judge looks like he hit one a long way into the Boston night, as backup Red Sox catcher Sandy León looks on. Judge certainly earned that award, as he led the league in Home Runs, walks, and runs scored, the first rookie to lead all three categories, as Topps tells us.

Aaron Judge is sure to have tons of Topps cards in the future, and I'd bet a lot of them will show him inside Fenway Park.

2018 Topps Opening Day #3 Kris Bryant

Kris Bryant hasn't been in a Home Run Derby in a while, not since 2015. The 2016 NL MVP and man who made the final out of the 2016 World Series absolutely just hit one here, trotting around the bases as an opposing infielder and an umpire stare at where it probably departed Wrigley Field. Bryant looks about as cool as can be with these shades on.

He can have fun, too. He, his wife, and Anthony Rizzo just put together a hilarious Newlywed Game-esque skit called "Bae vs. Ballplayer". Rizzo knows Bryant's January 4th, 1992 birthday by heart, and that checks out on the card back.

2018 Topps Opening Day #52 Justin Verlander

I also like pitchers. There's a big outfield banner on this card too, for National Car Rental, but it doesn't pop as much as the red ones. It's my first card of Justin Verlander as an Astro, a late-season trade Houston made that was instrumental in the team winning their first-ever World Series in 2017.

I don't usually refer to the "acquired" statistic on the back, but once in a while I'm curious. This trade with the Tigers took place on August 31st, 2017, extremely late in the season, and may have influenced MLBs recent rule changes for 2019. The waiver trade deadline that the Astros and Verlander benefited from will be taken away, putting a hard stop on all trades on July 31st. Not that this will affect JV, but September call-ups are also greatly reduced, as rosters will expand to just 28 players instead of 40. That will make it a lot tougher for prospects to get playing time, but should make pennant races more fair, as potential contenders won't be getting a bunch of free wins against quasi-Triple-A clubs at the end of the season.

2018 Topps Opening Day #59 Corey Seager

Corey Seager squared off against Verlander plenty in the 2017 World Series. He hit a home run off of him in Game 2, one of the many games that was more or less a Home Run Derby but with running the bases. In this card, he's at home in Dodger Stadium, and some of the yellow seats in the first deck are visible behind him.

I ran across a good tidbit about those seats recently. The seats are a different color in each deck of the stadium, and they're meant to represent the ocean and the beach. I'm sure all the Dodger bloggers out there knew that, but it was news to me.

The card back has a few more fun facts, telling us that Corey's game-winning hit on June 10th, 2017 was his first walk-off RBI at any level. There's a slight error on Topps' part in that they said it happened in the 10th inning, but it was really just the 9th. No matter, walk-off hits are awesome. I saw the basketball equivalent of one earlier this week, in fact. I got tickets to my first NBA game since 2005, and saw the Dallas Mavericks play the Denver Nuggets. It was a close game, probably closer than it should have been, but star Nugget Nikola Jokic hit a buzzer-beater to beat Dallas 100-99. It happened way at the other end of the arena, but watching that shot land was amazingly thrilling. It's just so sudden, and doesn't have the relatively long wait associated with it like a home run or a Hail Mary where we're waiting several seconds for the ball to land.

2018 Topps Opening Day #186 Kyle Seager

Kyle Seager, Corey's older brother, got a card in 2018 Opening Day, and it has a clear view of the Mariners 40th Anniversary patch. They and the Blue Jays entered the American League in 1977. They're not really that much older than the Rockies and Marlins, who just wrapped up their 25th season. But I was born after '77, making the Mariners seem like ancient history.

Mariners fans aren't going to have a whole lot to look forward to this year, with Cano and Edwin Diaz shipped off to New York, and Kyle Seager out until around June due to a surgery he just had on his hand. Seattle isn't even letting Felix Hernandez pitch on Opening Day.

At least they're scheduled to get a hockey team in the early 2020s.

2018 Topps Opening Day #40 Raimel Tapia

There were one or two Rockies in this blaster, and I picked Raimel Tapia, who had a pretty good card. There's a lot of sameness in the full-bleed photos that just show players in their batting stances, but Tapia isn't wearing a helmet following whatever play just occurred, and there's an unusual view of the foul pole and stadium construction in the background. My first instinct told me this is Miller Park where the waterslide is (how appropriate would that be for this set?), but I'm not sure that's right.

A bit of Googling led me to PNC Park, home of the Pirates, and this large walkway ramp matches a few of the many Pirates cards I found in 2017's Opening Day blaster. That would date this photo to either June 12th or June 14th, 2017, the only games Tapia played in during the Rockies' visit to Pittsburgh that year.

2018 Topps Opening Day #132 Walker Buehler (RC)

Up until now, I've only shown vertical cards. I wouldn't say there was a shortage of them in this blaster, just none that really caught my eye. And I think Walker Buehler, who finished third in NL Rookie of the Year voting, is going to be one to watch. That is, assuming he can stay healthy. This card points out that the Dodgers drafted him knowing he would need Tommy John surgery, and they're handling him delicately this Spring Training. Also on the card back is his twitter handle @buehlersdayoff.

There are still the inserts to cover, always a great part of Opening Day. The actual Opening Day for the 2019 season is not far off. Officially, it's March 28th, the earliest ever, but the Mariners and Athletics are playing two games in Japan on the 20th and 21st, which will technically count as regular-season games.

I hope that my annual Opening Day blaster isn't far behind.

The Trading Post #127: Night Owl Cards

It's official.

After tense negotiations, both parties have finally agreed that...

2018 Topps Opening Day At The Ballpark #ODB-COR Colorado Rockies

...Bud Black will remain the Rockies manager through the 2022 season.

A lot of the players in this pre-game anthem photo from 2018 Opening Day either won't be back or have already left, including Greg Holland, Carlos González, and the man standing two down from Black, DJ LeMahieu.

There is a particular player, though, who will be, and he just signed one of the most lucrative contracts in the history of professional sports.

2018 Topps National League Standouts #NL-17 Nolan Arenado

The ink is now drying on Nolan Arenado's contract, an eight-year deal for $260 million, with an opt-out after three years. That will keep him in Colorado for at least a few more years, and hopefully he continues to like it here enough to stick around to the end of it, or even beyond.

I'd actually seen that Bud Black card before; I just liked that lead-in so much I couldn't resist showing it again.

Anyway, these cards were sent by Night Owl Cards, a follow-up shipment to the Don Newcombe card sent as part of his 10th-anniversary giveaway. Sadly, Newk passed away since that card entered my collection.

You might think this is just a garden-variety Topps base card, and it does use the same photo, but it's actually from the National League Standouts Team Set, something that's definitely new to me. The set includes just 17 cards of some of the biggest NL players from various teams, mostly the Nationals, Dodgers, and Rockies. I guess the inclusion of Dodgers is why Night Owl bought it. At first, I thought these were just from the Rockies Team Set, not knowing there was a general NL set at all. I just hadn't considered that it would be weird for him to both A) buy a whole Rockies team set and B) send me three cards from it.

That photo, by the way, shows Nolan at bat in Target Field, home of the Twins. That would date this to May 16th-18th, 2017, the opening Interleague leg of a long road trip. There's nothing on the back to differentiate it from Flagship, other than the card number itself.

2018 Topps National League Standouts #NL-3 Charlie Blackmon

Charlie Blackmon's NL Team Set card is different than in Flagship, but still similar. He has the full white pinstripe uniform on instead of the black top, and he's at an earlier stage of his swing. The card back is also different, telling us some Studio-like tidbits like his chess and juggling hobbies, and that he has a finance degree from Georgia Tech. He got some league leader cards in Flagship, and there is a varying photo selection on them all, but always at the plate.

2018 Topps Chrome Pink Refractors #194 Charlie Blackmon

Chrome is different still, opting to show him on the basepaths on this Pink Refractor. Topps also made the massive design change of moving the Topps logo from the left to the right, and putting some background shapes on the design to make up for the lack of a border. This refractor isn't quite rare enough to warrant a serial number, and the color is in that weird gray area where you can't quite tell if it's pink or purple. I even had "Purple Refractor" written before I checked Beckett.

2018 Topps Rainbow Foil #96 David Dahl

Night Owl knows I like shiny cards, and he found a nice assortment. The final example of 2018's "Waterslide" set is a Rainbow Foil parallel of David Dahl, which shows him approaching third base. I'm not sure which stadium this is, but there's probably enough information on the scoreboard to nail down a date, even though they're both divisional games. Jake Arrieta wore #49 with the Cubs, so let's start there.

Turns out, this photo is from 2016, even though it's a 2018 card. The Cubs beat the St. Louis Cardinals (and #50 Adam Wainwright) by a score of 13-2 on August 12th, 2016. The other matchup lines up too, with Mike Foltynewicz beating Stephen Strasburg 8-5. That would place the Rockies in Philadelphia, on their way to a 10-6 loss. David Dahl only reached base once in this game, on a wild pitch in the first inning. This photo definitely shows him going first-to-third on a Gerardo Parra single. Dahl finished the game 0-4 with no walks and a run scored, not a line you see too often.

The Rio Olympics were in full swing on that date, and rather than watching this game, I was likely watching swimmer Katie Ledecky set a world record in the 800m.

2017 Topps Update Rainbow Foil #US230 DJ LeMahieu

Topps has been producing Rainbow Foil parallels for some time now, and DJ LeMahieu got one in 2017's Update Series. It adds a little pizzazz to the rather unattractive green-colored outfield walls in Miami, which sharply contrasts the orange jersey worn by the All-Star second baseman. The next time he makes an All-Star Game, it will likely be for the American League, as he has a two-year deal with the Yankees about to kick in.

The card back heaped lots of praise on DJ's 2017 first-half performance, including his back-to-back four-hit games in mid-June, leading the league in assists and defensive double plays, and a 1.0 dWAR. At the very bottom of all that, the paragraph wraps up with "Exhibition Performance: Did not play."

Sadly, NL manager Joe Maddon decided to keep DJ on the bench during the extra-inning affair. It was his second All-Star appearance, and he went 0-2 in 2015's Midsummer Classic in Cincinnati.

2018 Topps Big League Gold #121 DJ LeMahieu

DJ LeMahieu's leaping throw gives me my very first look at 2018 Topps Big League. I bought a blaster of this last summer, but I've yet to open it. Maybe you could say I'm aging it like a wine, waiting for it to improve the longer I let it mature.

I know this set didn't earn many fans, but I don't really have a problem with it. It's not too expensive, and it has the look of something like Topps Total, plus maybe a mash-up of the large logo from 2010 Topps and a little 1989 Topps with the curve in a different place. It is quite a nice design for such a bargain-priced product. This is the Gold parallel, but unlike the equivalent in Flagship, there is no serial number. It's not shiny, but I like this shade better than what they selected for 2002 Topps.

One of these days I'll dig into that blaster and see if there are any surprises. I just want to catch up on trade posts first.

2017 Topps Heritage Chrome #THC-685 German Marquez /999

The Cardsphere has been abuzz this week with the release of 2019 Topps Heritage, based on the 1970 design. Pat Neshek's sunglasses card will surely go on a few Card of the Year posts in December. But a couple years ago, we were still on the '68 design. German Marquez got a card in High Number that year, a 225-card set from which just 50 were selected to get the Chrome treatment. Those Chrome cards just have 999 copies each, pretty scarce for a partial parallel set.

Putting together a master set of Heritage seems like it would be an absolute nightmare. Good thing a pack or two here and there along with the usual incoming trades satisfies me.

Maybe Nolan Arenado just really likes Denver, but it's likely that the promising young rotation including Marquez and Kyle Freeland was a factor as well. Couple that with Charlie Blackmon sticking around for a few more years, possibly through his retirement, and you have a team that can really find some lasting success under a proven manager.

Thanks, Night Owl!