Playing in the Big Leagues (Part 1: Base)

It's a sunny but cold day in Colorado, following a few days of snow. And since it's too cold to be able to do much bird photography (another one of my many hobbies), this makes it a good day to look at a blaster of 2019 Topps Big League. It's been a month or so since I went through the debut 2018 Topps Big League set, and I found it surprisingly enjoyable. From what I can tell so far, 2019 picked up right where it left off.

2019 Topps Big League #125 Juan Soto

I've been spending an excessive amount of time on the Topps BUNT app lately. Come find me at AdamK0310 if you're a fellow BUNTer. I mention this because I've found a handful of Juan Soto autograph "cards" in the app. Most current signatures, mine included, are basically chicken scratch, but Soto's is particularly awesome. A good friend of mine ordered a signed 8"x10" after his Nationals won the 2019 World Series, and it's even better to see in person.

Obviously, there's no signature on this Big League base card, but it does capture the moment of Soto's bat flip in horizontal fashion. Maybe this one is more of a bat toss than a true flip, as even a charismatic young player like Soto has to keep it in check, lest he get beaned. MLB has a long way to go before they even approach how well they do bat flips in the Korea Baseball Organization. It's practically an artform.

Also visible on this horizontal card is the Washington Nationals All-Star Game patch, which the team wore in 2018. Somehow, this young star hasn't appeared in a Midsummer Classic yet, but it surely won't be long before he does. He won the NL batting title in 2020, after all. Like Bryce Harper before him, he made a splash with the Nats at a very young age, and we're told on the card back that he's the first Big Leaguer who was born after the inaugural seasons of the Diamondbacks and Rays.

The 2019 Big League design blends a few familiar elements. There's a waving pennant, which is basically 1965 Topps. There's a light-colored woodgrain pattern in the background, which blends in nicely and doesn't make itself as obvious as 1987 Topps did. And there's the occasionally-used theme of a ticket stub. A few sets have done this, but the textbook example in my mind for that is 2003 Fleer Authentix. Soto's card tells us we're sitting in Section 2019, Row BB, Seat 1.

If I have a seat 20 decks above the field and about 50 rows deep, I'm glad I at least have an aisle seat.

2019 Topps Big League #243 Pat Neshek

This isn't the actual debut of 2019 Topps Big League on the blog. Trevor sent several last year, and I even told a similar ticket stub joke then. I get a lot of mileage out of that one, in true Dad Joke fashion. As you can see from the way the ticket stub design is cut off on a vertical card, you really need a horizontal card for that joke to land. On the other hand, the vertical layout makes it a little more obvious that they're also going for a scrapbook theme, with the photo slightly tilted and a border added at the bottom to give the illusion that these are two photographs (or cards, or tickets, whatever) stacked atop one another. It's really quite effective, especially in such a low-budget set.

Noted baseball card collector Pat Neshek appeared in this 400-card set, and Topps didn't miss an opportunity to plug their product. His "Did You Know?" fact on the back is that he pulled a rare red-ink Shohei Ohtani autograph when he opened his own box of 2018 Topps Heritage. He sold it, a move he later came to regret.

2019 Topps Big League #169 Adam Frazier

As in 2018, plenty of fun photographs made it into the checklist. Here's one of Adam Frazier getting a Gatorade shower on throwback uniform day. Usually this kind of thing is relegated to an insert set even in something like Opening Day. But in Big League, it's right there for all to see in the main set. 

Adam Frazier, while a useful utility player, isn't generally known for walkoff home runs. But one is enough to get a great card like this, and this is from his 11th-inning solo shot on August 19th, 2018. He's surrounded by teammates Jordan Luplow, now with Cleveland, and David Freese, the 2011 World Series MVP who retired after the 2019 season.

2019 Topps Big League #33 Jon Lester

The Pirates were their playing division rival Cubs that day, although Jon Lester didn't start. That task went to Jose Quintana, who ended up with a no-decision. That game obviously took place in PNC Park, so this shot of Jon Lester in Wrigley is clearly from a different series. The photo is from 2018, and in the years since, the Nike Swoosh has migrated a few inches over from the undershirt to the jersey itself.

Remember when that logo was the worst thing expected to happen in baseball in 2020? Nothing quite like a global pandemic to put things into perspective.

2019 Topps Big League #279 Edwin Díaz

It seems like this was a pitcher-heavy blaster, at least among base cards. Edwin Díaz had a stellar year in 2018 for the Mariners, and Seattle cashed in during the offseason, trading him to the Mets. Prior to that, Díaz saved a whopping 57 games for the Mariners, and even managed to get the extra-innings win in the 2018 All-Star Game. His fun fact on the card back mentions his haircut, which has a lightning bolt pattern shaved in above the ears. What the card doesn't say is that Mariners manager Scott Servais, who was very briefly a Rockie in 2000, promised to get that same haircut himself if Díaz reached 50 saves.

As mentioned, Díaz did indeed hit that mark, and Scott Servais is a man of his word.

2019 Topps Big League #377 Edwin Díaz AW

Díaz is pictured on his main card as a Photoshopped New York Met, but he had spent his entire career in Seattle when these cards were printed. That's where this photo came from, which Topps used for his Award Winners subset card. Yes, Edwin Díaz was named the Mariano Rivera AL Reliever of the Year in 2018, thanks to those 57 saves, 124 strikeouts, and a truly magical WHIP of under 0.8. 

As this card points out, the legendary Mariano Rivera never had 57 saves in a single year. That said, part of that is due to how good the Yankees were back then. Closers on dominant teams who often win in a blowout aren't going to get as many save opportunities as closers on a middling team like the Mariners, who squeak out wins by just a run or two. This card also tells Díaz only had a one-run lead in nearly half of his save situations. That's unquestionably an award-worthy season, but it's been an outlier thus far in his career. 

2019 Topps Big League #394 Edwin Díaz HL

One more Edwin Díaz card, and it's from the Highlights subset. He's wearing his Players Weekend jersey in this one, showing the moment when "Sugar" secured his 50th save on August 25th, 2018. As a Rockies fan, I applaud that, because it came at the expense of the Diamondbacks, who finished one place behind the Rockies in the NL West that year. 

This being the milestone 50th save, Topps also took the opportunity to mention the Scott Servais haircut thing on this card, saving that juicy tidbit for one of the final cards in the checklist. All in all, this was pretty much an Edwin Díaz hot box. He made his mark with the Mariners, but with the recent change in Mets ownership, he could find himself in a very fortuitous situation.

2019 Topps Big League #240 Trevor Story

Those are the highlights from the blaster, but I did have this Trevor Story card set aside with a note that it was sent to me by Rod at Padrographs. I don't usually have the best luck with finding Rockies in blasters, so I appreciate having traders looking out for me. For the moment, Trevor Story is still a Rockie, but with the strategy the Rockies front office has been running the past few years, that remains a question mark. He could be shipped off anywhere at any moment for a questionable return package, much like what happened when the Marlins traded Christian Yelich, the cameo player on this card.

If not for that trade, this card could show negative-career-WAR Lewis Brinson as the cameo, rather than a player in the midst of an MVP season. Story is just as capable of winning the MVP, and I hope if he does so, it's with the Rockies. In any case, he's sure to remain in the Big Leagues for quite some time to come.

OD-10

Though that is Felix Hernandez's card number in 2016 Topps Opening Day, more importantly it's NASA-speak for the number of days remaining to MLB's opening day! A few games start up on Sunday, April 3rd, though most teams begin play the following day, which is what the foil parallels have listed.

Now that we survived our seemingly annual giant March blizzard in Denver, we can start digging out, waiting for a foot and a half of snow to melt and drain from our roofs, backyards, and baseball diamonds. But "snow series" have become more common in Denver, so we're not out of the woods yet.

2016 Topps Opening Day #OD-92 Jean Segura

Digging into my annual blaster of Topps Opening Day from my local SuperTarget, there's your first look at a 2016 card on Infield Fly Rule. Jean Segura is laying down a bunt with pretty good form. And like them or not, 2016 Topps finally got rid of borders for the base set for the first time, well, ever. There is that cloudy area behind the player, which does serve to frame the photo, but it's quite a departure from what we've seen since the 1950s.

But there's plenty more you can do with a bat than just bunt.

Like, oh, I don't know. Maybe belt an epic go-ahead home run with it in a deciding playoff game, then fling the thing one-handed right at the visitor's dugout and into the history books.

That would make a great baseball card.

2016 Topps Opening Day #OD-187 Jose Bautista

Yep.

This was the second card from the second pack in the blaster, and though I haven't seen one from 2016 Topps base, this is just about the same thing, though zoomed in a little bit. Along with that Dinger mascot card from 2014, these $10 Opening Day blasters tend to give me just what I'm after.

2016 Topps Opening Day #OD-17 Kris Bryant

Kris Bryant is one of the most promising young prospects in baseball, and he's certainly the most sought-after player in baseball cards these days. I'm sure I could flip this lowly base card on eBay for a buck or two. But I'd rather hang on to it, and I'm interested to see what he and the Cubbies will do this year. It's always hit or miss with "Future Stars" cards, but I think this one's a pretty safe bet.

2016 Topps Opening Day #OD-181 Justin Bour

Justin Bour maybe less so. Although he finished fifth in Rookie of the Year voting behind the winning Kris Bryant, he still mashed 23 home runs last season. Yet he's far from a household name (maybe because he's a Marlin), but that could change at any moment.

I haven't said much about the design yet, and I do like this 2016 set. The banner in the corner reminds me of a blown-up 1993 Topps, and the layout is effective. No vertical names or distracting cluster of information. The team logo is pretty large, though not quite as imposing as 2010, but I'm not so sure I like how it's partially obscured behind the banner. The banner can slant either left or right, and it's pretty much dependent on the team logo which way looks best. The actual Marlin in the logo is almost entirely obscured here, but the Diamondbacks, Brewers, and Mets look pretty good with this banner orientation. The White Sox, Rockies, Cubs, and most others look better the other way.

This is also kind of a busy card, even without foil. The key elements are pretty clean, but add in the Opening Day seal, the Future Stars lettering, and the Topps Rookie Cup, it starts to look pretty cluttered.

2016 Topps Opening Day #OD-123 Johnny Giavotella

You might think this is one of the Superstar Celebration insert cards that Opening Day is known for. But no, just a base card. Baseball players have taken the Gatorate shower way further than the NFL, who still pretty much reserves that for clinching a playoff spot. In baseball, pretty much any game-winning hit can earn it. I've noticed that camera crews are getting pretty good at stepping out of the way in time. The photographer also used a really fast shutter speed here, as the water droplets are frozen in midair, cascading around Giavotella's neck.

You need a fast lens to do that, especially at the end of a night game. That means a wide aperture to grab enough light in the slightest fraction of a second. Which equals a shallow depth of field, thus causing all those blurry backgrounds people have been noticing in this year's set. That's been the case for quite some time, but there just must be something about this design that makes it more noticeable. Maybe the edge fading they're using instead of a true border. Regardless, I'll take some blurry backgrounds to get shots like this. Do we really want to return to all those posed shots Topps gave us in the late '60s where the left field facade of Yankee Stadium was clearly visible on almost every card? In my opinion, all these pin-sharp photos are just fine with me. These horizontal ones especially are like holding tiny HDTVs.

And we haven't seen one straining pitcher's face yet. But don't worry, that's coming.

2016 Topps Opening Day #OD-188 Troy Tulowitzki

No big deal here, just a Rockies franchise player batting for the Blue Jays.

As a Rockies fan, this is just weird. It's taking a long time to get used to this trade. I'm sure this is old hat to all you Dodgers and Tigers and Yankees fans who trade and sign and release players of this caliber on a regular basis. But our transactions are more along the lines of Daniel Descalso, Brandon Barnes, Brett Anderson, etc.... Yes, once in a while there's a Holliday-for-Gonzalez type of trade, and Jose Reyes did come over in the Tulo trade with all the pitching prospects, but more often than not, a casual fan has no idea who's coming or going.

2016 Topps Opening Day #OD-155 Jake Odorizzi

Jake Odorizzi, a guy who's been on my Fantasy squad once or twice, led off three straight Rays starting pitchers at the tail end of one pack. I think Odorizzi's been in the league a little too long to be labeled a Future Star. He'll be hitting that all-important 27th birthday in about a year, and I really don't see this guy becoming a late bloomer like Randy Johnson, who took a long time to develop control.

But even a middle-of-the-rotation guy like Odorizzi could be a game changer if he somehow ended up on the Rockies.

2016 Topps Opening Day #OD-113 Alex Cobb

The Rays have a pretty good rotation, though with Alex Cobb out until late in the season rehabilitating from Tommy John surgery, their success in the always-tough AL East is far from certain. Though if they do manage to win the division, it will be the first time in the Wild Card era that five different teams win their division in five consecutive years.

Thanks, reddit.

2016 Topps Opening Day #OD-49 Erasmo Ramirez

With Cobb Out, Erasmo Ramirez will have a more solid spot in the Rays rotation. He looks dwarfed by the pitcher's mound from this high angle, and it may be a Shadow Shots candidate for Johnny's Trading Post, even with the banner and the fade-out in the way.

I'm really not kidding that I pulled these three cards in a row. Three Rays righties, all with straining mid-pitch faces.

2016 Topps Opening Day #OD-39 DJ LeMahieu

Finally, it just wouldn't be right to leave out the Rockies. This is a great double-play shot of second baseman DJ LeMahieu, continuing the great tradition of Rockies middle infielders with difficult-to-spell last names. Looks like this is from Chase Field, as Jake Lamb is wearing a throwback Diamondbacks jersey, their original pinstriped design with purple and teal. Also don't forget that Pepsi ad on the outfield wall.

Speaking of Pepsi, the last time I had one was in 2009 at Angel Stadium with my dad. Not the last time at a ballgame, the last time period. Soda just isn't my thing.

Potato chips, on the other hand? Well, let's just say that the expiration date on a bag of chips is one of the most useless pieces of information in my day-to-day life.

I'll wrap up the base cards here, but I'll have another entire post devoted just to inserts and parallels. You already know I love Opening Day inserts, and this blaster was a pretty lucky one in the parallel department.

Stop by as the countdown continues!