The Trading Post #147: Highly Subjective and Completely Arbitrary

I learned a new term yesterday, the "last at-bat win". It's the away team's equivalent of a walk-off win. It refers to a team taking the lead in their final inning at the plate, then holding the lead for three more outs. The Rockies had just such a win yesterday against the Dodgers, thanks to key 9th inning hits by cousins Nolan Arenado and Josh Fuentes, followed by a Save courtesy of Daniel Bard.

The Angels had a win of each type yesterday against the Astros, both in Angel Stadium. Anaheim was the home team in Game 1 of a doubleheader, winning on a Jo Adell walkoff. They played as the away team in Game 2, a make-up game from a couple weeks ago that was postponed due to Hurricane Laura. The Angels won that one too in "last at-bat" fashion, as Anthony Rendon hit a three-run shot in the top of the 7th that ended up being the difference.

"I hate this doubleheader visiting stuff!", exclaimed Victor Rojas, the Angels announcer, after he mistakenly thought it was the second walk-off of the day.

All this happened in the span of just fourteen innings. Doubleheaders are seven innings this year. It was also 109°F at first pitch of Game 1.

Before 2020 shaped up to be such a wild ride, I claimed a couple free Opening Day cards from Highly Subjective and Completely Arbitrary. There's been an Angel atop this stack ever since it arrived, so their heroics yesterday made for a great occasion to write a blog post.

2018 Topps Opening Day Blue Foil #33 Zack Cozart

Despite what you see here, Zack Cozart is no longer an Angel. He was traded to the Giants over the offseason, who released him in January. He isn't on anyone's roster currently, and is getting to witness the 2020 season from the outside. He wasn't even an Angel yet when this card was printed shortly before the 2018 season. The card back has five years of his stats with the Reds, including his 2017 All-Star season. There's also mention of Joey Votto gifting Cozart a donkey thanks to that All-Star selection.

Yes, really.

I have no idea how to make a clean transition into this paragraph, so I'll just state the obvious and say that is one of the un-serialed Blue Foil parallels that appear year after year in Topps Opening Day. This isn't the parallel set's first appearance around here, as I found Byron Buxton's card a couple years ago. Incidentally, he beat out an infield single yesterday for his own walkoff.

Speed never has a bad day, they say.

2016 Topps Opening Day Striking Distance #SD-2 Robinson Canó

I also claimed this insert from 2016 Opening Day's Striking Distance set. I showed Mark Teixeira's card from this set back then, and Teixeira did indeed exceed the 400 homer milestone before calling it quits after 2016. Robinson Canó (named after Jackie) remains an active player, and has blown far beyond the 1,000 runs milestone, currently standing at 1,249.

On the topic of milestones and Angels, Mike Trout hit his 300th home run in Game 1 yesterday, passing Tim Salmon's 299 to take the all-time Angels lead. MLB marked the occasion with a 60-second montage of all 300, which is astonishing, mesmerizing, and slightly dizzying. And across town, Clayton Kershaw recently became the third-youngest pitcher to reach the 2,500 strikeout mark.

2019 Stadium Club Warp Speed #WS-7 Trevor Story

Those were the only two cards I actually claimed, but Brian kindly added in numerous extra Rockies cards he had been saving up for me. He must know I love Stadium Club, and this insert card of Trevor Story made its way into the envelope, complete with retro TSC logo.

As I recall, that phrase "Speed never has a bad day" was last uttered by Drew Goodman, the Rockies play-by-play TV announcer regarding none other than Trevor Story. He runs extremely well and has led the Rockies in stolen bases since 2018. While not truly capable of Faster-Than-Light travel as implied by the set's name of Warp Speed, he's in very good company in this 15-card insert set. He's joined by players like Trea Turner, who had an inside-the-park home run a few days ago, Whit Merrifield, who led the AL in stolen bases in both 2017 and 2018, the aforementioned Byron Buxton, and Mike Trout, who is, well, Mike Trout.

It's fun to see how card companies come up with designs to illustrate speed. Frequently it involves shapes like you see here, spirals and vortices and so forth. There's also a little Photoshop motion blur being added around his legs and wrist. That's easy enough to do in-camera with a slow shutter speed, but with the latest fast lenses and ultra-high ISO cameras, sports photographers are able to freeze action and keep it sharp and focused basically every time.

We're quite familiar with Topps Heritage and how they try to reproduce the look and feel of an old set. Reenacting portraits and poses, matching up teams to the old card number, and so on. In the coming years, we'll finally be arriving at the point when Topps started including action photos on their cards. Are they going to look like they do now, with a cleanly-blurred background and tack-sharp subjects? Or are they going to have an older look and feel, where more of the background is in focus, less motion is perfectly frozen, subjects aren't framed quite so tightly? Typeface and color shade nitpicks aside, the Heritage versions of early-'70s sets aren't going to look quite right to my eye if the action photos lack a certain retro look.

2013 Bowman Prospects Purple #BP102 Jayson Aquino

Brian was also on the lookout for purple-colored borders for me. 2013 Bowman and its Prospects offshoots were color-coded sets, but usually the colored borders are applied to every card equally. It's just an excellent conjunction when the checklist of a purple parallel set happens to land on a Rockies card.

This is another variant of Jayson Aquino's card that Julie sent my way. This one doesn't have a serial number and is much less shiny, but it still earns a place in my 2013 binder along with at least five other varieties. When I last wrote about him, he wasn't more than several months removed from his most recent MLB appearance. By now, that door seems to have closed for good for this Bowman Prospect.

2018 Topps Archives Purple #124 Nolan Arenado /175

Nolan Arenado appears on this parallel from 2018 Archives, which has an ever-so-slightly darker shade of purple on the border. When I looked at this set a few months ago, I lamented that DJ LeMahieu's card lacked purple. This certainly makes up for it, but the white-on-yellow text in the pennant is still completely illegible.

Fortunately, every fan knows just where Nolan Arenado plays. He's one of the true masters at the hot corner, a "human highlight reel" as the broadcast team likes to call him. The card back calls him "a genius gloveman", along with plenty of batting accolades and clutch hits. Also on the card back is a serial number, noting a print run of just 175 copies.

2017 Topps Gypsy Queen Missing Blackplate #252a Nolan Arenado

In that same post (#143) as LeMahieu, I received a certain variant of 2018 Gypsy Queen that didn't use the black printing plate during production. Apparently, Topps also created that same variant in the 2017 set. Compare this slightly blue-tinted card with the normal example, just a few cards down from Aquino in that post on Julie's trade, #112.

I continue to remain in awe not only at how many parallels there are these days, but also that numerous bloggers all over the country continue to find them for me.

The only thing that's really changed since the last time I wrote about a variant of this card is that I've now been to Petco Park, where this photo was taken.

2018 Donruss Out of this World Crystals #OW10 Nolan Arenado

We'll conclude with a short trip over to the unlicensed side of things. Panini can make shiny cards, too, and there's so much going on here that I barely noticed there were no logos on this one. Both Panini and Topps have used this broken glass shard pattern, which I've likened to Topps Atomic Refractors from 2011. I'm again surprised at how well it scans.

The set itself is a space-themed insert set called Out of this World, featuring Nolan Arenado standing on the moon. It contains twelve cards of some major power hitters, guys like Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, Mike Trout, and Joey Gallo, who has more career home runs than singles. Mickey Mantle is even in it, right there at card #7.

Curiously, Mickey Mantle's career ended in 1968, one year before the actual moon landing. But he put 536 into orbit from both sides of the plate, and all these guys, even Trout, have a long way to go before they can catch him.

There is no serial number on this card, which, according to Beckett, means it's the Crystals parallel. That could be, but what's weird is that the so-called base card is serial numbered to 999, yet this parallel is presumably more common.

I already put a Bowman card in this post, which is confusing enough. I won't dare try to figure Panini's methods out here.

This card especially stood out because of this photo I took last night, a waning gibbous moon with Mars appearing quite nearby. It won't look quite that close tonight, but celestial objects are always worth a look, especially if you have the luxury of dark skies. If you're unable to stargaze tonight, I'll simply note that the card back keeps the space theme going by mentioning Arenado's stellar 2017 season.

Thanks to Brian for the freebies and the unexpected Rockies bonuses!

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 #95: 2x3 Heroes

It's finally Opening Day!

Baseball has come out of its long winter hibernation. Well, not counting the weeks of spring training and the World Baseball Classic. But you know what I mean.

Writing with a ballgame on in the background is one of my favorite pastimes, especially when someone from my fantasy team is playing. I happen to have Madison Bumgarner on my team, who was on the hill for the Giants this Opening Day. He took a perfect game into the 6th, and became the first pitcher to hit two home runs in a single Opening Day game.

That makes today the perfect day to write about a stack of cards that Jeff from 2x3 Heroes sent as part of his annual 'Tis the Season giveaway.

2016 Topps Opening Day #OD-133 Greg Holland

Greg Holland didn't actually appear as a Royal in 2016, as he was recovering from Tommy John surgery, which he underwent shortly before the Royals' World Series championship in 2015. But he still got a card in 2016 Topps Opening Day, a perfect set to highlight on a day like today. Holland, of course, signed with the Rockies in the offseason, and while it's not certain he'll spend all season as the closer, he'll be a solid late-inning reliever to support the Rockies' rotation.

Or maybe he'll end up in more of a high-leverage sort of role, similar to what the Indians have been doing with Andrew Miller. ESPN ran a pretty interesting article the other day, about how the whole idea of the Save statistic has effectively shaped the modern closer role, and perhaps not always for the best. The argument is that it makes more sense to put your best reliever in during the diciest late inning, not simply the 9th where a Save can be earned. Leaving your best reliever in the bullpen in case a save situation materializes isn't necessarily the best strategy. For example, the Orioles famously didn't use their star closer Zach Britton in last year's AL Wild Card game against the Blue Jays, and that ended up costing them dearly in the 11th inning with Edwin Encarnación at the plate.

2016 Topps Opening Day #OD-152A Carlos Gonzalez

Slugging outfielders are a lot more consistent with Rockies history than elite closers. Carlos Gonzalez has been holding down various outfield positions at Coors Field for the better part of a decade, and he's no slouch on the basepaths either. He's sliding into third at AT&T Park against the Giants, a common location for Rockies cards and other NL West teams. CarGo's season doesn't kick off until Monday, as only six teams played their first game today. As usual, the Rockies begin their season on the road, a four-game set in Milwaukee.

2016 Topps Bunt #59 Trevor Story (RC)

Trevor Story is also expected to be in the Opening Day lineup, and while he didn't get a card in 2016 Topps Opening Day, he did get a card in Bunt. Of course, the gray back of this card mentions his "unprecedented" start to his rookie season, in which he hit ten memorable home runs in his first 21 games. Not bad for a rookie in a 200-card set that also includes retired legends.

2016 Topps Opening Day #OD-148 Robinson Cano

I watched part of a Rockies/Mariners spring training game on Friday, one that ended in a 5-5 tie. Robinson Cano is one of the key players for Seattle, but from what I saw he wasn't doing anything special at second. Maybe he was just getting the last minute kinks out, but he's definitely been supplanted by Jose Altuve as the best second baseman in the league.

By the way, I did it! I finally remembered the Astros are in the AL without having to think twice about it!

The Mariners' colors do look good on this card, and especially on Cano's batting gloves. And seeing all those aqua-colored knuckle pads on his batting gloves line up appeals to me. I liked when the Seahawks had similar colors, before they moved to airport-gate-worker electric green.

2016 Topps Opening Day #OD-139 Dustin Pedroia

Dustin Pedroia was once toward the top of the 2B rankings, and he also won the Rookie of the Year award in 2007. He's got quite the career under his belt, but he's no longer the elite second baseman he once was. Still, I did pick him for my fantasy team as the final hitter, with DJ LeMahieu as the primary second baseman. It's nice to have a Rockie this year; it will make watching Rockies games that much more interesting.

Also, with the trend toward beard and facial hair throughout the Major Leagues, it's a bit odd to see Pedroia clean-shaven now. It's even more odd to see Hunter Pence with a much shorter beard than before.

2016 Topps Opening Day #OD-138 David Ortiz

David Ortiz has etched himself into Red Sox lore even more than Dustin Pedroia. Ortiz retired at the end of 2016, so it will be strange not to see him on the highlight reels this year. Ortiz does have a card in 2017 Topps, but with the shift to five years of stats, this is as close to a sunset card as we're likely to see for him. This photograph is much more appropriate for a sunset card than his 2017 issue anyway, but it does skip his still-strong 2016 statistics.

2016 Topps Bunt #133 Stephen Piscotty (RC)

2016 Topps Opening Day and 2016 Topps Bunt were the two sets that Jeff sent as part of this giveaway. Nothing super high-end but I do enjoy these lower-end sets. The no-frills design may not be as eye-catching as others, but the price point really can't be beat. And Stephen Piscotty, whom I saw play when the Cardinals came to town last year, is also on my Fantasy team. I'm not sure if I'll see the Cardinals this season, as my Cardinals-fan friend who I tried to catch a game with every season moved to Chattanooga this weekend. I'm sure we'll catch a Double-A Lookouts game if I have a chance to visit him, but it will be unusual not to catch the Redbirds in Denver with him this year.

2016 Topps Bunt #45 Steven Matz

Stephen Matz of the Mets went just a couple picks later than Piscotty in my league's draft. Unfortunately, Matz is dealing with an elbow injury and will miss the first few weeks of the season. The Mets have some insanely good young pitching talent, but elbow problems and Tommy John surgeries have affected most of them over the years, including Matt Harvey, Zach Wheeler, Jacob deGrom, and Matz. Mets fans will certainly recognize those names as pretty much the entire rotation, other than Noah Syndergaard. Robert Gsellman will round out the Mets' rotation to start the season, a player I spent a late-round pick on.

2016 Topps Opening Day #OD-73 George Springer

George Springer, along with his teammates Jose Altuve, Carlos Correa, and Dallas Keuchel, are making the Astros look like a very strong young team, despite the Cardinals' computer-hacking efforts. Moving to the AL West could end up being a great move for the Astros, as it effectively takes them out of competition with the Cardinals, Cubs, and even Pirates, all of whom are at least a Wild Card threat. Even if it takes half a decade for their new division to become second-nature to this baseball fan.

On this shot of Springer sliding into home, you can spot an Astros' 50th Anniversary patch on his right sleeve. Not the 50th Anniversary patch, a 50th Anniversary patch. Apparently the Astros also celebrated their 50th Anniversary in 2012, but for 2015 they ignored the three years they spent as the Houston Colt .45s and celebrated it again. It's a bit strange, celebrating anniversaries that both include and disregard the team's first name. But it does let you sell twice as many t-shirts.

2016 Topps Bunt #114 Brooks Robinson

Brooks Robinson, the career Oriole, finished a little bit shy of 3,000 hits, at 2,848. But in that time he won an MVP award, became one of the most well-known Orioles in history, and earned himself two World Series rings. He's also considered to be the best defensive third baseman of all-time, winning sixteen consecutive Gold Glove awards. Now, everyone knows I'm a huge Nolan Arenado fan, but as talented as he is on the diamond, he has a long, long way to go before he challenges Robinson for a record like that. 3,000 hits is somewhat likely, but to win another 12 Gold Gloves, let alone consecutively, remains a tall order. Especially so, as much as the defensive game of baseball has been elevated in the past forty or so years.

2016 Topps Bunt Light Force #LF-23 Willie Stargell

There were even a couple inserts that made it in here. Willie Stargell, the career Pirate, got a card in the Light Force set, the same as Luis Gonzalez in the pack of Topps Bunt I purchased. Stargell won two World Series as a Pirate, his second coming in 1979, the same year as his only NL MVP award. That came surprisingly late in his career, at the age of 39. The inclusion of Hall of Famers like Robinson and Stargell help distinguish this Bunt set from Topps Opening Day, and although some have suggested otherwise, I'd be happy to continue seeing these two sets stay on the market.