The Trading Post #87: cards as i see them

Veterans of the Cardsphere (am I the only one still using that term?) know garvey cey russell lopes as one of the well-known early entrants into our community. Its writer wrapped up that particular blog in 2015, but couldn't stay away blogging for long, starting up a new one in September called cards as i see them. It has his trademark no-capitalization style, though I can confirm that his handwriting doesn't follow the same pattern, based on the PWE I got from him right around Christmas.

2013 Topps Chrome Update #MB-15 Michael Cuddyer

Inside that envelope was another iteration of Michael Cuddyer's 2013 Update card, this one of the Chrome variety. Right around the same time, the Gold version arrived from It's Like Having My Own Card Shop. I can't decide which of the colored borders I like best, but orange with the silver background looks surprisingly good. I had to look up why the card number has "MB" in it, and it's because these cards were sold in "Mega-Boxes" back in 2013. It's pretty much just a blaster, so I'm not sure why that packaging warranted a card number like that, but that's how they did it.

I just don't think I quite get Update.

2013 Topps Update 1971 Topps Minis #14 Troy Tulowitzki

Maybe it's just Chrome, though. Because this mini of Tulowitzki makes much more sense to me. I'm sure anyone who actually collected 1971 Topps will wonder what the heck I'm talking about, but I grew up being able to afford reprints, not the real thing. So current players on old designs seems like quite a good idea.

This is definitely a recycled photo, but it does look good when placed next to Cuddyer's card, as they've both been captured at precisely the same point in the swing from the same angle. Tulo looks a little behind the ball here, but it's a Coors Field shot, and this particular cropping of the photo shows us that they were playing the Padres that day. As we know now, the Padres are the last pro team remaining in San Diego, with the Chargers moving to L.A. next season. I didn't know this, but both the Rockets and Clippers of the NBA originally played in San Diego, before moving to Houston and Los Angeles, respectively.

Good thing Los Angeles already has two pro baseball teams, otherwise San Diego might be without a major league team before long.

2014 Panini Prizm Prizms Red White and Blue Pulsar #100 Jorge De La Rosa

Panini Prism took a page from Topps Chrome and went a little crazy with colored borders. There are more than a handful listed on Beckett, and this one is the particularly odd Red, White, and Blue Pulsar variety. Rotate it 90 degrees clockwise and you have the French flag, which actually looks pretty cool when held at arm's length. And I was so distracted by these colors and the dot pattern in the background that I didn't even notice there were no logos! Well, other than Nike. But I've flogged that dead horse before.

2011 Topps Heritage Black #C94 Ubaldo Jimenez

When 2011 rolled around, it was time for Topps Heritage to use the 1962 design that I so adore. Of course, it got the parallel treatment too, such as this Black variety. The border isn't entirely black, but they gave it this sort of charred wood look which looks great. It's a clever idea to implement on a woodgrain design. I'm interested to see if they do the same thing in 2036 when the 1987 design gets its turn with the Heritage treatment.

Of course, that assumes that Heritage, or even Topps itself will still be around in 2036.

Maybe by 2036 the Rockies will have had a 20-game winner. As it stands now, Ubaldo holds the Rockies single-season record, with 19 wins. This card was printed the year after that, so his 19-8 record is proudly displayed on the back. He finished third in NL in strikeouts, wins, and Cy Young voting. Perhaps the fact that he led the NL in wild pitches and finished second in walks issued hurt his chances at that accolade a bit.

2009 O-Pee-Chee #73 Ian Stewart

I never opened any, but I'm probably getting pretty close to completing the team set from 2009 O-Pee-Chee. It's an understated retro set, although the photos are significantly sharper than they are on Heritage, making it feel just a little bit too modern. I'm sure this was taken in Hi Corbett Field, the former Spring Training home of the Rockies. That scoreboard just visible on the left matches up with photos I've taken of it.

2016 Topps Update #US256a Nolan Arenado AS

Ian Stewart held down the hot corner for several years, but was traded to the Cubs for DJ LeMahieu, and clearing the way for Mr. Arenado and his four straight Gold Gloves.

Arenado was an All-Star in 2016, meaning he had the privilege (?) of wearing the retro yellow and brown All Star jerseys in San Diego. He did better in the field than at the plate, but anytime you're on the All Star team, you're pretty much guaranteed to get a card in Topps Update.

Starting this season, the All-Star Game is just going to be about having fun and putting on a show again, rather than determining the league with home-field advantage. But perhaps that doesn't really matter. In the 14-season period that the All-Star Game "counted", the NL was 3-11, but 8-6 in the World Series. However, in the three seasons the NL did have home field, (2010-2012), they also won the World Series.

I'm sure there's more in-depth analysis out there than that. But either way, if the Midsummer Classic can just be about having fun and wearing oddly-colored jerseys, I am fine with that.

The Trading Post #72: Off Hiatus Baseball Cards

This marks the second time that Tony at Off Hiatus Baseball Cards has sent me a trade (supertrade?), and based on what I got from him last time, he clearly has a fondness for Topps Minis.

2012 Topps Mini #219 Jordan Pacheco (RC)

I got a few 2013s in our previous trade, and now I get to add to my 2012 collection. Jordan Pacheco, one of the Rockies' homegrown players, was one of a crop of exciting young stars the Rockies had a few years ago. He was released in 2014 and is now with the Reds, but as Todd Helton's retirement neared, Pacheco and Josh Rutledge were both candidates to take over at first base.

The Rockies are on the road in this one. Possibly they're in San Francisco, based on the spot of orange on the fan's hat. But his runny eye black indicates this is later in the game on a hot day, and a good illustration of Pacheco's hustle.

2012 Topps Mini #154 Ty Wigginton

Ty Wigginton only spent a year with the Rockies, holding down the hot corner until Arenado could take over a couple years later. Wigginton was a journeyman, playing with eight teams in his twelve-year career. He played for Tampa Bay when they were still known as the Devil Rays in 2006 and 2007. A year after Wigginton's departure, they dropped the "Devil" and just became the Rays, launching themselves into the World Series that very same season. They lost to the Phillies, but it marked the second straight season in which an expansion team won their first and so far only pennant. Of course, the Rockies were the team do to it the year prior. But both the Rays and Rockies are still chasing their first championship.

Also, whenever I see "TBD" as the team abbreviation on Baseball Reference, I'm always thrown off for a second until I remember they're referring to the "Devil Rays," and not that his stats from a decade ago are "To Be Determined."

2012 Topps Mini #140 Troy Tulowitzki

Troy Tulowitzki is a common fixture around here, and he got a great Coors Field card in 2012 Topps, acrobatically turning two, and we even get a Mark Kotsay cameo, who was then on the Milwaukee Brewers. Like Pacheco, Tulowitzki is sporting some eye black, but his is in pristine shape.

I tried dating this card, likely to a four-game set just after the 2011 All-Star Break. But Mark Kotsay mostly came off the bench in that series, and the only possible candidate seems to be a weird fielder's choice on July 14th, 2011. The play doesn't seem to describe this photograph just right, but I can't find any other candidate play that places Mark Kotsay anywhere near second.

2012 Topps Mini Gold #431 Guillermo Moscoso /61

I have precisely zero recollection of Guillermo Moscoso. He was a Rockie for 2012 only, mostly in middle relief, though he did start three games. He was out of baseball a year later, but he was around long enough to get a card in a Topps base set, impressive for a Rockies pitcher with minimal name recognition.

Topps Mini parallels the main set, and that means he gets a gold parallel, numbered to just 61 copies in this fairly scarce set. This Venezuelan originally came up in the Tigers organization, but only appeared in the Majors for teams in either the AL West or NL West. He managed to get two hits in his career, both as a Rockie. One of them was even a double.

I guess he was inspired by Todd Helton.

2014 Donruss #55 Michael Cuddyer

That brings us to the second set included in this trade, 2014 Donruss. Former Twin Michael Cuddyer looks to be playing in San Francisco as well, judging again by the orange logo on a spectator's cap. Technically that's a logo, Panini. I guess it's so out of focus that it's not easily recognizable, or could potentially be confused with an Orioles cap.

Cuddyer spent three years as a Rockie from 2012-2014, before playing one final year as a Met. "Cuddy", as the Rockies TV guys liked to call him, had some of his best seasons as a Rockie, even winning the NL batting title in 2013, the same year he had his second of two All-Star appearances. I can't quite recall, but it's very likely that I sent my 35 votes his way that year.

2014 Donruss #29 Troy Tulowitzki DK

If it's Donruss, that means Diamond Kings are likely to be lurking nearby. The 2014 set pops up here on occasion, but this is the first time I've used a Rockie from that set for a post. Diamond Kings from 2014 are part of the base set, although they're short-printed. Perhaps no one really cares, since Panini's resurrection of Donruss doesn't seem to be high on anyone's favorite list, but they're common enough where I've gotten at least two via trade.

Two I've blogged about, that is. All these trades throughout my blogging career have just been going into a nearly-full 5,000-count box with little organization. There are probably more in there.

Today's Diamond Kings are a bit different from the overproduction era. Other than the short-print thing, they aren't painted anymore, though they still have sort of a painted look. Early Diamond King subsets were 26 cards at the beginning of the set (plus a checklist for card #27), but the subset has ballooned to 30 cards to coincide with two rounds of expansion.

I wouldn't be opposed to a couple more teams, perhaps to match the 32 teams in the NFL. The NHL and NBA, like Major League Baseball, also have 30 teams, albeit with a much different playoff and division structure.

Where else would such a team go? I can think of a few candidates. Maybe a booming tech hub like San Jose, Portland, or Austin. I wouldn't be opposed to Canada getting a team back. Maybe a return to Montreal, or even another team in the west in Vancouver. As diverse as baseball is, it might even make sense to expand into Latin America, such as the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, or even (gasp!) Cuba.

Wouldn't that be something?

2009 O-Pee-Chee #354 Manny Corpas

Panama, where Manny Corpas hails from (along with countryman Mariano Rivera), is probably a bit far away to be a realistic candidate for expansion. But players from all over the world come to play in the Majors, including this occasional closer, who is looking quite alone out there on the mound. Unlike Moscoso, I do remember Manny Corpas, who spent almost his whole career with the Rockies, other than a one-year stint with the Cubbies.

The Cubs bullpen is certainly in the news today, as they traded a handful of prospects to the Yankees for fire-throwing closer Aroldis Chapman. Chapman's fastballs regularly push 105 mph, and MLB had to install a "Chapman Filter" on the fastest-pitches-of-the-season page just to be able to show anyone besides him on the list. Turning that filter on pretty much just displays pitches from a Braves rookie named Mauricio Cabrera, who has appeared in all of twelve games in the Majors.

Amazingly, Chapman has avoided Tommy John surgery, despite his superhuman fastball. And according to an interesting thought experiment, he could theoretically throw a baseball fourteen giraffes high.

Corpas never threw that hard, but he played at the right time to get a card in one of Upper Deck's final throwback efforts, the well-loved 2009 O-Pee-Chee.

2009 O-Pee-Chee Black #596 Dexter Fowler

So did Dexter Fowler, then a rookie, now a Cub who has a real shot at a World Series championship this year, especially with Mr. 105-mph now closing out games in the Windy City. This is a one-per-pack Black parallel, and I definitely prefer these to the white-bordered base cards.

The Black parallels have quite a history, as UD's original idea for the one-per-pack parallel was a card styled nearly identically to 1971 Topps. Topps didn't like that one bit, and successfully sued for an injunction. UD complied and just printed up these black parallels, still a nod to 1971 Topps, but not a direct copy. It was the beginning of the end for Upper Deck, who lost their MLB license the following year and ended up in more legal hot water.

It's an interesting set to get from Tony, who happens to be a lawyer. But he's also a SuperTrader, finding some sets you don't see every day.

I'll note that none of the players in this post are currently with the Rockies. Most are retired by now, but a few are still swinging bats around the league. They've cleared the way for the farm system, as longtime prospect David Dahl finally got the call-up tonight at Baltimore, getting a hit and scoring a run in his first Major League game. When you add that to Jon Gray, who settles down very well after the first inning, star rookie Trevor Story who currently leads the NL in home runs, and a talented prospect or two from the Tulowitzki trade, it looks like the Rockies have some promising years ahead.

I'll see your war hammer, and I'll raise you an elf!

I've had a lot going on the past couple of weeks. Summer (or at least late spring) has finally arrived in Colorado. On Saturday, I went to my first Rockies game of the year, a 10-5 loss to the Giants. Although the Rockies took the lead in the 7th on a Carlos Gonzalez home run to straightaway center, the Rockies bullpen played their usual role, blowing the lead before even retiring a batter in the 8th.

My Fantasy team seems to have turned a corner, with Greinke working his way to a decent record, and Mookie Betts crushing numerous home runs over a non-numerous series of games.

And oh yeah, I bought a new car. First time I've ever owned a car built in the current decade. A few days before, as part of a birthday present my family chipped in on in March, I got to drive a Ferrari for an hour in the foothills outside Denver. A bit anticlimactic to go buy a Mazda after that, but if anyone in your area offers cars like that for a quick, guided rental, it's well worth it, especially if you can find a Groupon.

With all that new stuff, surprise baseball cards from my girlfriend are still a common fixture, and she brought home a partial box of 2015 Allen & Ginter from a hobby shop that also sells coins and comic books. We had a bit of a pack war, and she definitely saw the appeal in cracking into a sealed pack of cards, especially A&G, a set that is well-known for more than just baseball.

2015 Topps Allen & Ginter Ancient Armory #AA-8 War Hammer

They pick some quite obscure things for insert sets, including battle gear from the days before mechanized warfare. The war hammer, quite a lethal-looking tool, is perfect for smashing through armor when a sword would likely just bounce off. When I pulled that card from the Ancient Armory insert set and showed it to my girlfriend, she responded with a quip that just had to be the title of this post.

2015 Topps Allen & Ginter Menagerie of the Mind #MM-2 Elf

And she used this card to do it. Elves can be found in the Menagerie of the Mind insert set, along with other mythological beings like fairies, trolls, centaurs, and a creature called a bunyip.

You learn something new every day.

These particular elves look like something out of a 1970s BBC production, and while the card mentions their current relation to Santa's workshop and the cookie factory, their roots can be found in Norse paganism. Their alleged immortality, found in the work of J.R.R. Tolkien, is also alluded to.

2015 Topps Allen & Ginter Great Scott #GS-7 Continental Drift

This next set uses Doc Brown's catchphrase from Back To The Future to highlight some important scientific discoveries over the past century or so, including X-rays, DNA, and the Polio vaccine, right up to current endeavors like the Large Hadron Collider. It's rather amazing to think of all we've discovered in the last century. Of course we know that the sun's at the center of the solar system, and we figured that out over 400 years ago. But continental drift, the existence of other galaxies, and the discovery of Pluto are surprisingly recent.

2015 Topps Allen & Ginter #302 Fall of the Berlin Wall

Even more astonishing are the changes in geopolitics in my lifetime alone. The reunification of Germany had yet to occur when I was born, the USSR hadn't yet fragmented into countless breakaway republics, and the developed European economies each had their own currencies. The invasion of Kuwait and the first Gulf War are the first newsworthy world events that I can remember, and I would have been about six then.

If you're interested in this era of history, Bridge of Spies is worth seeing, although Tom Hanks is so A-List that it's become hard to see him as anyone besides Tom Hanks. For all I know, he'll be in an A&G set before too long.

2015 Topps Allen & Ginter Mini First Ladies #FIRST-23 Edith Roosevelt

The last time I wrote about 2015 Allen & Ginter, I remarked about how underrepresented women are in this set. The First Ladies insert set makes up for that a bit. Yes, that's a mini, but it's not the Mrs. Roosevelt that first comes to mind. Rather, she's Edith Roosevelt, wife of Teddy, serving in the role from 1901 to 1909. Edith was actually Teddy's second wife, as he became a widower in 1884. Perhaps you've seen his diary entry from that day, a day on which both his mother and wife passed away. Tragic, yes, but that didn't stop him from ascending to a two-term presidency, nor from having his likeness carved into Mount Rushmore.

2015 Topps Allen & Ginter #143 Mike Zunino

Despite all this scattered randomness found in the inserts, Allen & Ginter is still first and foremost a baseball set. Though he's at the Triple-A level right now after three seasons in the Bigs, all that catcher's gear makes for one of the more interesting photos in the set. And when I say "all that catcher's gear," really I'm just referring to the mask and mitt. He might have shin guards on, but no chest protector, so it's probably just a warm-up shot.

I still can't quite get over how A&G insists on spelling everything out, like writing a check. His slugging percentage is Three Hundred Eighty Three, though he just has Two triples to his name.

2015 Topps Allen & Ginter #23 Johnny Cueto

One aspect of baseball that was very, very different in the late 19th-century, when this brand got its start, is how little players moved around. Since this photo of Cueto as a Red just a year ago, he's pitched for the Kansas City Royals (and earned a World Series ring), and in 2016, he has an excellent 8-1 record with the San Francisco Giants, with one of those Ws coming just a few days ago against the Rockies. More on that series later, but the Rockies didn't do much to help their spot in the standings over the holiday weekend.

2015 Topps Allen & Ginter Starting Points #SP-87 Adrian Beltre

This is from the only Baseball-themed insert set found in 2015 packs, and it's rather astonishing to be reminded that Adrian Beltre is currently in his 19th season. He and Elvis Andrus have been up to all sorts of antics for years, but he was once just a green rookie like everyone else.

His debut came on June 24th, 1998, and as the back of this card tells us, Randy Johnson whiffed a dozen Padres that day, and Jeff Bagwell hit two home runs in a pre-humidor Coors Field. However, the card neglects to mention that those 5 RBIs were not enough to beat the Rockies.

2015 Topps Allen & Ginter Starting Points #SP-76 Buster Posey

Buster Posey's two home runs on Saturday, however, were indeed enough to sink the Rockies. His start came in 2009, just before the Giants started their every-other-year championship run, and they're up by a nice 4.5 game margin atop the NL West right now. Posey's 6-RBI performance on Saturday was a career high for him, and while the outcome wasn't what I'd hoped, at least I got a great view of Buster's homers, plus lots of quality time with my sister.

Posey hasn't been in the league nearly as long as Beltre, but already he has three World Series rings, plus his broken leg in 2011 is basically the reason why the rules for sliding into home plate changed. He's definitely an influential player, and he can add his name to the long list of San Francisco Giants whom I've seen hit a home run in person.

Plus, he sort of looks like an elf.

The Trading Post #66: Jaybarkerfan's Junk

The first time I attended a card show after my exit from the hobby in about 1996 came when I was in college. It was probably 2003 or 2004, at the now defunct Westminster Mall north of Denver. Alfonso Soriano was one of the hot tickets back then, and Todd Helton was solidly cemented as the Rockies' franchise player.

I learned a lot that day; that card prices had fallen quite a bit, overproduction cards were available for next to nothing, there were neat little relics of uniforms and bats, there wasn't much left in the way of Score or Donruss, and cards had gotten pretty shiny.

But the thing that stood out the most were serial numbers. Right there on the card was very official-looking proof of a card's scarcity. I came away with a nice stack of numbered refractors from 2003 Topps Chrome, just amazed that I had one of only 199 copies of each of the Black Refractors I purchased, like the below.

2003 Topps Chrome Black Refractors #327 Jose Hernandez /199

I found a few other numbered refractors of the slightly more common colors, like the /449 Golds and /699 Blues. I even snagged a few XFractor box toppers numbered to a mere 57, complete with the Topps Uncirculated slab. I was hooked, and they remain one of my favorite types of cards. This is partially why I was a bit annoyed that Topps removed the serial numbers from Opening Day blue parallels the past couple years.

But that affinity for documented scarcity made a particular trade package from #Supertrader head honcho Jaybarkerfan's Junk pretty amazing. I had a really hard time narrowing down cards to scan for this post, because pretty much all of them had this:

2002 Upper Deck Ballpark Idols #239 Rene Reyes /1750 (RC)

Yup, serial numbers. I don't recall much about Rene Reyes, but I vaguely remember him as a utility guy in the early 2000s. There was a lot in this package I'd never seen before, primarily because these types of cards (and this era) don't often show up in discount boxes. Plus the number of sets being printed up in the late 1990s and early 2000s was absolutely staggering.

It has all the correct dimensions of a standard card, but only has borders on three sides. The actual photo and the top banner continue right up to the edge, sort of like the Tibetan Flag. UD also uses one of their favorite devices to create a virtual 3D appearance, letting the photo overlap the other boxes, which makes the player appear to pop out of the card.

2002 Diamond Kings #160 Aaron Cook (RC)

Though they only had a few years left, Donruss was still printing in 2002, including their long-running Diamond King set. I wrote a bit about painted cards in my previous post, and Diamond Kings are perhaps the most well-known example of them. Anyone who collected at the height of the industry probably remembers them, though they aren't likely to know Panini still uses the brand today, nor that Topps has a product called Gypsy Queen with a similar look.

Cook's red beard is painted the correct color, but his hair isn't. He has red hair too, but the artist chose to go with a reddish-brown for the canvas background, rather than Cook's hair, which would have been correct. What I do like about these cards is that they have a rather unique surface, a lot like a playing card.

1993 Armando Reynoso The Queen of Spades

In fact, there were a couple of actual playing cards in here. This isn't from a set that Beckett recognizes, and there's no card number other than the Queen of Spades. I'm unsure about the provenance of this one, but I've played enough hearts to know that you don't want the 13 points this card represents (unless you shoot the moon, of course).

1997 Topps Chrome #26 Eric Young

Multiple exposures were quite the trend in the mid-1990s, and they do help create the illusion of action. The dirt spray helps too. I'd love to see a card or two like this in a modern set. Gold foil and glossy coatings were some of the pioneering innovations in the 1990s that stuck around, but multiple exposures and photos on the back are quite rare these days. I wouldn't mind seeing those make a resurgence.

Topps Chrome was only around for two years when this was printed, and already the dreaded curl was starting to show up. This isn't too bad, nothing like some of the 2010s I saw. And they used a mirror finish, rather than the odd dot pattern found in the inaugural 1996 set.

1996 Topps Chrome #122 Craig Biggio

I guess they are actually little diamonds, now that I look more closely. But there are dots around the border. I'm glad they got away from this type of pattern, otherwise I don't see myself liking Topps Chrome as much throughout the years. And I'm even more glad they use colored borders to differentiate parallels, rather than different dot patterns (though I suppose Topps Tek went down that road a bit).

2008 Finest Refractors Black #139 Seth Smith /99 (RC)

You might be a bit curious after those first few paragraphs where I went on and on about serial numbers, as few of the cards so far have them. Don't worry, they're coming. When it rains, it pours. To tide you over, this Finest card of Seth Smith is the rarest in the whole bunch, numbered to just 99 copies. As far as '08 Finest goes, that's middle-of-the-pack in terms of scarcity. And the black border works really well with the Rockies' pinstriped home uniforms. The Rookie Card logo is quite large, but doesn't obstruct anything and fits into this bold design quite well.

2013 Bowman Chrome Mini #137 Corey Dickerson

There was a nice little stack of these Bowman Chrome minis, including this one of Corey Dickerson, a rare look at a consistent major leaguer on a Bowman card. Usually the noise of the prospects drowns out the batch of established players, but they're in there. I guess collectors generally hold on to those types of cards, ditching the prospect cards of players who didn't pan out after a few years.

A couple of top prospects like Jon Gray and Tom Murphy were also included, but Dickerson is the only one to have made a name for himself in the Majors. He's not even on the Rockies anymore; instead he's having a decent season so far down in Tampa Bay.

2016 Topps Heritage #311 Jason Motte

Jason Motte, a reliever who has done quite well for the Cardinals (and a year as a Cub), was picked up by the Rockies in the offseason to add some much-needed depth to their bullpen. Trouble is, he's working through shoulder problems and has yet to throw a pitch in the Majors this season. Hopefully he'll be back by the time the Rockies start slipping down the standings, as is expected once the summer months roll around.

Also, that's my first look at 2016 Topps Heritage. 1967 isn't my favorite vintage set, but I do like the pale green of the card backs.

But Adam, where are all the serial numbers you promised? You've only done three so far, and one of those you already owned!

Fine. Brace yourselves.

2007 Topps Co-Signers Silver Bronze #4a Garrett Atkins w/Jeff Francis /175

I've seen more than a few Topps Co-Signers base cards over the years, but this is one of only a few that have a pair of facsimile signatures. This product only lasted three years, and while it's an interesting concept, the execution fell pretty flat. There are way more colored parallels than I care to count, but its easily in the double digits. Double that number again when you learn that there's an "A" and "B" variety of these parallels, both with a different ghostly teammate in the background. Though Jeff Francis literally gets top billing, this is considered a Garrett Atkins card, as he has the back entirely to himself, along with #022 of 175.

2008 Topps Co-Signers Silver Red #42a Todd Helton /400

Not much changed in 2008 Co-Signers, except the player is his own ghost on the "A" variety, only getting a teammate on the "B" variety. Both edges are a little beat up, but I've asked for red foil before, and there's a nice amount of it here. I assume that the "Silver" part refers to the background color, and the "Red" part to the foil and banners. It's just an odd thing to say, "Silver Red". I've never seen one, but there's also a "Hyper Plaid" foil color, itself with the same six banner colors available on Silver cards.

At least it's not a fractured set. But I can see why it flopped.

2012 Bowman Prospects Blue #BP12 Rafael Ortega /500

Rafael Ortega played two games for the Rockies in 2012, and apparently he's on the 40-man roster for the Angels right now, having appeared in a handful of games for them this year. I can't recall ever hearing of him, but Bowman Blue parallels often (always?) have serial numbers, and this one does. This one in particular is notable, as it's the final one in the print run, 500/500. I don't recall for certain, but I believe this is the only one in my collection like that. It's not any rarer than any of the other 499 copies, but there's something about that final one that is immensely satisfying.

2011 Topps Lineage Diamond Anniversary Platinum Refractors #118 Todd Helton

We'll take a quick breather here for a hyper sparkle Topps Lineage parallel. I am about a dozen cards from completing the base set, but I have a few of these parallels too. It's the same sparkle pattern found on 2011 Topps base cards, and there's a distorted glimpse of the Padres dugout in the background. Condition-wise, it's a bit off-centered, but I can't stop tilting this card under a bright light source to see the light bounce off all those facets.

2002 Donruss Production Line #PL-25 Larry Walker SLG /662

Back to our regularly scheduled serial-numbered programming, here's the inspiration for those Stat Line parallels found on current Donruss cards, where a player's statistics determine the print run. Natually, the better players will have more cards, because if they were to do one based off of Bartolo Colon's career HR count, it would be a 1/1. Interestingly, if they based it off his walks, it wouldn't exist yet. He's coming up on the all-time record for most plate appearances without a walk, and this weekend he became the oldest player to hit his first home run. As Night Owl says, that is reason enough to keep the DH out of the National League (or scrapping it entirely).

Incidentally, Night Owl received a pretty similar package, filled to the brim with scarce cards like this. Of course, his were Dodgers, but like that Orlando Hudson card from Colbey, another rogue NL Wester snuck into mine.

2003 Upper Deck Classic Portraits #152 Chris Capuano MP /2003 (RC)

I remember Capuano as a Brewer (in fact that's where he's pitching now, after bouncing around the league since 2011), but he got his start with the Diamondbacks. Though the sentence on the back documents his first MLB win on July 9th, 2003, the stat line claims he has "No MLB Experience". Perhaps that gives us an indication of just how much UD was rushing all these sets to market. The black marble background reminds me of one of the Bowman sets (1999?).

2004 Studio Rally Caps #RC-18 Joe Kennedy /999

Donruss went a little wacky with this insert set, having pitcher Joe Kennedy balance a baseball on the bill of his cap (or at least photoshopped one in). To me, it just looks like he flipped his bill up, rather than a true rally cap where you turn your hat inside out. If I were Joe Kennedy, I'd be happy that there are only 999 copies of this out there.

I remember David Freese's Rally Squirrel card, but I don't know if the Angels' Rally Monkey ever made it onto a card.

Superstitious lot, us baseball fans. I've sported a rally cap at Coors Field more than once.

1996 Donruss Elite #71 Dante Bichette /10,000

Players from the Blake Street Bombers era are a rarity on this type of card, since it was just beginning to be introduced in the early days of Coors Field. This one of Bichette, which reminds me a lot of 1994 Leaf Limited, is numbered to a staggering 10,000 copies. Makes you wonder how many cards were printed in a regular base set, if this special one has ten thousand examples. I spelled that out to match the card number, Seventy-One. Such was the gravitas of a serial-numbered card in 1995.

2013 Bowman Chrome Purple Refractors #36 Troy Tulowitzki /199

We haven't seen Tulowitzki yet, and this purple beauty from 2013 (I got the year right without looking it up!) is #42 of 199. Maybe you could start a Jackie Robinson themed serial-numbered card collection with just #42s. It would be a daunting challenge.

The paragraphs on the card backs of a prospect-heavy set like Bowman can usually be considered a scouting report, but with an established star like Tulo, his talents are well-known, like his "outstanding plate discipline" and that he's a "smooth defender with [a] rifle arm".

2012 Topps Tier One Relics #TSR-TT Troy Tulowitzki /399 (MEM)

The Serial Number parade rolls on (where does he find all these?), and we get a relic, to boot. Tier One is another of Topps' ultra-premium (and ultra-expensive) brands, one I rarely see in discount boxes. Even Triple Threads and Museum Collection end up in there sometimes. As this /399 relic is the least scarce card in 2012 Tier One, it's the closest thing to a base card that exists in that set.

It's hard to tell, but this doesn't look like silver foil to me. Rather, it looks more like a white gold. The color-coding is excellent, and the photograph is crystal clear. They chose an interesting stat for the back, writing about his career .389 average with the bases loaded. I imagine that's dropped a bit since then, but this is an absolutely gorgeous card. I wonder if this particular bat was used on any of those plate appearances.

2015 Bowman's Best Best of '15 Autographs #B15-BR Brendan Rodgers

The final card in this marathon post (you try narrowing this down!) is an on-card autograph of Brendan Rodgers. With Trevor Story making quite a name for himself already, this recently-drafted shortstop might have a tough time breaking into the big leagues, but if he does, and if he turns in a performance anything like Story has so far, this card will surely be a hot item in the Denver area.

Though it doesn't have a serial number like most cards in this post, it's a bold yet simple design, and is evidence of a Rockies farm system that is stronger than I can ever remember it being. Rodgers has lots of promise, Story is absolutely on fire, David Dahl is still coming along, and there are a slew of top pitching prospects to show for the Tulowitzki trade.

This was an amazingly generous trade package, and trust me when I say that the life of a #Supertrader is a good one. We still have openings for the Royals, Marlins, and Indians if you want in on some of this magic!

Mini Monday #2

Four total boxes of Topps Mini (three from 2014 and one from 2013), along with other various minis in my collection, means I'll have plenty of material to keep this theme going for a while. One-card posts go pretty quickly, perfect for preparing before a workday or on a Sunday night.

But I'm enjoying some vacation time today, and awaiting a blizzard that's been projected to hit the Denver area for a few days. The weather forecasters have had a tough time with this one, as I've seen snow forecasts ranging from a couple inches to a couple feet. Unsurprisingly, it'll likely end up somewhere in the middle of that range. Regardless, not having to drive home from work in that kind of weather makes for a great Monday.

2013 Topps Mini Black #450 Jay Bruce /5

And so do minis!

This black-bordered mini parallel is one of two I pulled from that box of 2013 Topps Mini, the other being Kyle Farnsworth. The low print run of Topps Mini as a whole means that the numbered parallels are quite rare, and these gorgeous black cards (which work particularly well with the red of the Reds) are numbered to a mere five copies.

Black borders are hit or miss. I was underwhelmed in 2007, preferring the white-bordered variant of Opening Day over the standard 2007 base set. And Bowman's years-long run of black cards that all looked the same didn't help either. But then you have legendary sets like 1971 Topps and cult favorites like 1992 Pinnacle.

Black borders work very well with 2013's "Sea Turtle" design, as the color coding stands out better on a black background than on white. Bruce's card itself is a reflection of the "strained athlete faces" theme that's been taking over their photography for a while, although at least's it's less of a close-up than a lot of the pitcher cards.

Of course, the Emerald parallels were my favorite of that year, and quite a bit easier to chase than a /5 set. But let's be honest. If you slap a #2 of 5 serial number on a card, I think we'd all be pretty happy with it, no matter the color.

I've pulled even rarer cards out of a Topps Mini box, but that's a story for another Mini Monday.

Infield Fly Rule has been quiet the last couple weeks. Perhaps I'm suffering from a baseball withdrawal that's always a little tough to push through after the World Series wraps up. But I do want to dedicate a little space to the recent news. Tommy Hanson, an MLB pitcher who last played in 2013, passed away recently. Like the late Darryl Kyle, he was far too young, although he enjoyed a successful, if short, career.

And of course the world's attention remains on Friday's events in Paris. I'm not sure what else to say other than an offer of sympathy to the French people. One of our own is a Frenchman, and I'm glad for his safety. As our President pointed out on Friday, America has counted France as an ally longer than any other nation, and in the wake of such tragedy, the outpouring of support from all over the world reminds us that the good guys vastly outnumber the bad.

Mini Monday #1

I'm debuting a new theme on Infield Fly Rule today, called Mini Monday.

Feel free to hashtag that.

I definitely do not have the same appreciation of MMMIIINNIIIISSS!!! as Night Owl, but after acquiring a fair number of inserts and a few boxes of Topps Mini Online Exclusive, I should have enough material to run this theme from time to time. Not necessarily weekly, but definitely when the inspiration strikes.

Topps ran a sale last year for three boxes of 2014 Topps Mini for around $50, which definitely grabbed my interest. As scarce as this product is (even the base cards only have a few thousand copies), I jumped at the chance, thinking I might pull a few rare cards.

2014 Topps Mini #378  Ryan Zimmerman

2014 Topps Mini The Future Is Now  #FNM-50 Bryce Harper

The base minis are a complete parallel set, so you've likely seen these before. However, The Future Is Now inserts have a different checklist than their full-size counterparts, and are seeded 1:4 packs. Other than relics, autographs, and colored parallels, this is the only true insert set to be found in 2014 Topps Mini.

After opening and sorting all three boxes (some time ago, to be honest), I had an extra copy of each lying around. While these are the originals from my collection, today the two extras went to a Nationals fan that I work with, who moved to Colorado from our D.C.-area office a few years ago.

With guys like Harper and Zimmerman, the Nationals have a playoff-caliber team, though they missed out on the 2015 festivities. The management was pretty lacking this year, so we can expect they'll turn things around next year now that Matt Williams has been let go.

On another note, today was a big, big outgoing mail day for Infield Fly Rule. If you reside in one of the following ZIP Codes, you can expect something from me within a week!

21921
26554
27314
33511
45067
48005
60586
75201
76063
76380
76522
91320
95503

Happy #MiniMonday to you all, and enjoy the World Series! Whether you're pulling for the Mets, Royals, or neither, you won't want to miss the last few games of 2015.

The Trading Post #22: Dime Boxes

Yes, it's Super Sunday, and it will be time for "The Big Game" (to keep the NFL's intellectual property SWAT team happy) in a few hours. And what better way to spend some time during pre-game than blogging about baseball cards?

My buddy Nick over at Dime Boxes sent over a stack of cards recently, and I have to admit, I had a really hard time narrowing down what I'd scan for the blog. He's kind of the king of mini-collections, and he did a pretty good job finding some great Coors Field cards for me.

I've written a couple times recently about pinpointing the date a baseball card photograph was taken. One of the cards that Nick sent probably provided enough information for me to do that.

1997 Upper Deck #59 Walt Weiss

However, in a stroke of genius, 1997 Upper Deck frequently just flat-out told us on the front of the card. Just to be sure, I did pop over to baseball-reference.com to verify, and it does indeed check out. So there you have it. April 27th, 1996. That was easy.

The prior year's UD set didn't have the specific date listed, but this one's nearly as easy.

1996 Upper Deck #65 Andres Galarraga

That is from the final game of the inaugural Coors Field season on October 1st, 1995. The Rockies beat the Giants to win the NL Wild Card, which marked both the first postseason appearance for the Rockies, as well as the first year of the expanded playoff structure. Lucky for the Rockies that the Wild Card exists at all. They've never won their division, so all three of their postseason appearances were earned on Wild Cards.

I remember that game and the victory lap the Rockies took in their brand-new ballpark. And here's another Fun Fact: though it just opened in 1995, it's already the third-oldest ballpark in the National League.

Looking at 1996 and 1997 Upper Deck side-by-side, I never really noticed how similar these sets are. UD logo in the upper left, copper border on the bottom with silver foil above it. Even the backs have a pretty similar layout, though I do prefer the shift to full career statistics on the 1997 cards, rather than just a few recent seasons of stats that appeared on prior sets.

There's still a bit more Upper Deck to cover, starting with the second and final year of one of their most beautiful sets.

2008 UD Masterpieces #30 Matt Holliday

UD Masterpieces only existed for two years, 2007 and 2008. They were small sets, too—only 90 base cards and a few short prints. But they're stunning. Makes you wonder what this hobby would look like if the glossy trend hadn't started. This card documents part of the historic run the Rockies made in September and October 2007. Including the postseason, they won 21 of 22 games to make it to the World Series, and Matt Holliday cranked out quite a few home runs during that span.

Longtime readers know that I'm a sucker for serial numbers. And this trade package didn't disappoint.

2009 UD A Piece of History Blue #116 Dexter Fowler /299

Dexter Fowler was one of my favorite Rockies in recent years. There's just something about the speed and range of a Center Fielder. He was traded to the Astros last year, and he'll be playing for the Cubbies in 2015.

Like Masterpieces, the "A Piece of History" set only existed for a few years. However, it's a bit unusual, in that 25% of the checklist consists of "historical moments" from world history.

2009 UD A Piece of History #175 Smallpox Eradicated

Such as a card commemorating what might be humankind's greatest achievement, the eradication of smallpox. As you likely know, vaccines and the diseases they prevent have been in the news lately. My choice from the Historical Moments subset should say all I need to say about my position on that matter.

Back to baseball, another serial numbered card came from 2013 Opening Day. The numbered blue parallels are one of the few places to find foil in the Opening Day brand, and it's just in that tiny date above the opening day logo.

2013 Topps Opening Day Blue #79 Tyler Colvin /2013

Coincidentally, this one just happens to be #1000. Round numbers are just so pleasing, aren't they? The purple "sea turtle" clashes a little bit with the blue background, but into the collection it goes!

2013 Topps Emerald #449 Michael Cuddyer

Green.

2012 Topps Stickers #273 Dinger

There were two or three of these stickers, which is yet another set I had never seen before. I don't really recognize this size either. It's got some odd dimensions, too: 1 13/16" x 2 5/8". No idea how they came up with that, but Dinger cards (and mascot cards in general) are some of my favorite ones to find.

2011 Topps Allen and Ginter Mini Bazooka #131 Chris Iannetta /25

These narrow A&G minis are a bit more recognizable, but Nick put this one in a penny sleeve with a note to "check the back!"

2011 Topps Allen and Ginter Mini Bazooka #131 Chris Iannetta /25 (Reverse)

This is the rare Bazooka back variation, and unlike most serial numbers which are embossed in foil, this one is handwritten in blue ballpoint pen. I can honestly say that I never expected to see that. And irony of ironies, though it's written on, that makes it more valuable.

Nick loves the oddball cards, and while these aren't my cup of tea as much as some other collectors, they do mix things up a bit.

1988 Donruss Pop-Ups #8 Bret Saberhagen

Regardless, I am pleased to see that the Bret Saberhagen portal my girlfriend opened up on Christmas is still open.

Throughout its existence, Pacific straddled the line between mainstream and oddball. 1998's Pacific Online set was definitely a bit more on the oddball end of that spectrum.

1998 Pacific Online #238 Jason Bates

This one with gold foil is the base card; there's also a red foil parallel. Pacific was weird like that. Either way, that ugly white URL bar is still up at the top, and it still gives you a 404 error. There are a few remnants of it on Archive.org, and it looks pretty much like you'd expect for a website built in 1998 that ends in ".html".

I could easily pick another three or four cards, but this has been a long post and it's getting close to gametime, so the last card I'll show today is pretty similar to a relic card I blogged about last week.

2013 Topps Chasing History Holofoil Gold #CH-97 Troy Tulowitzki

That's nearly the same Tulowitzki card that I got in trade from Andrew's Baseball Cards, though without the baseball bat relic. Instead, that's the Holofoil Gold parallel (yes, a parallel of an insert, I know); basically a refractor. Now that I have the two rarest varieties, going for the rainbow of this card wouldn't be too difficult. It would just be two more cards; the base and the silver holofoil. Perhaps I'll work my way backwards in terms of scarcity.

Just a quick note to wrap this up. In my opinion, Nick's blog is the best one around. The number of new blogs I see that mention Dime Boxes as an inspiration (my own included) is quite high. He's a great trader, has an encyclopedic knowledge of the hobby, and I don't think this community would be what it is today without him.

Thanks, Nick, and you'll find a return shipment headed your way shortly!