The Trading Post #151: Dime Boxes

Nick at Dime Boxes is back with another great batch of cards from his Free Card Friday series. These arrived long before the 2020 MLB season started, and here we are on the final day of the regular season. Despite all that's happened in the past year, the Rockies finished one game above last place for the second straight season. Unless they find a way to squeak into a Wild Card spot, they frequently finish in fourth place, slightly above whichever hapless NL West team happened to have a worse year.

No matter where they finish, a trip to Coors Field is always a great way to spend a few hours. Obviously that didn't happen this year, but in nearly every season since 1993 with just a couple exceptions, I've managed to make it to a game.

2017 Topps Opening Day Incredible Eats #IE-8 Foot-long Hot Dog

I have some favorite spots for food inside the ballpark, especially up in the Rooftop section, but you can get one of these foot-long hot dogs in plenty of places. When I first saw the Incredible Eats insert set in 2017 Topps Opening Day, I remarked how one of these "really sounds good right about now". As the 2020 season wraps up nearly a year after my last trip to the ballpark, my mouth is literally watering at the idea.

I'm not really a fan of yellow mustard, the buns lack a certain structural integrity, and I prefer a brat to a hot dog, but let's be honest here. I could have taken this picture. I prefer to sit on the third base side, I usually splurge for the peppers and onions (though I skip the relish), and once in a while I even end up sitting about this close to the Visitors' dugout. 

As the card tells us, this is what's known as a Rockie Dog, "topped with fresh grilled peppers, onions, and sauerkraut." Pair it with one of the many craft beers available throughout Coors Field and you have a proper ballpark snack.

Extra credit to Topps for opening the paragraph on the back with "Frankly". This is why I love Opening Day inserts.

2016 Topps Allen & Ginter Mini #44 Miguel Castro

While you're enjoying your Rockie Dog, how about some actual baseball? Former Rockie Miguel Castro makes his Infield Fly Rule debut with this Allen & Ginter mini. These are always tiny, and the horizontal orientation makes it look even tinier. Still, it's a better layout than the full-size card, which crops out his glove and forearm, leading to a cramped look. Despite how small this is, the aspect ratio gives it an expansive canvas, relatively speaking.

2019 Topps Walmart Holiday #HW165 Nolan Arenado

With this Nolan Arenado card, Nick has helped build out my 2019 Holiday parallel collection, started by Rod. Overall, it has a similar look to David Dahl's card, but the holly and ivy stencil becomes quite a noticeable design element in the horizontal orientation when it has so much room to expand. I mean, that's what ivy does. It's a vine.

This is a Coors Field card showing one of the all-time Rockie greats, but despite his contract, rumors continue to swirl that Arenado may have played his last game in a Rockies uniform. That would be a shame, as he's become one of my favorite players ever in just a handful of years. He didn't put up career numbers in 2020, but I definitely hope that this isn't the last we'll see of him in a purple jersey.

2019 Bowman's Best #5 Nolan Arenado

Rotate 90 degrees. Enhance.

Applying a little TV show cliché takes us back to the usual vertical orientation and shines things up significantly. As he did last time, Nick sent a Bowman's Best card of Nolan Arenado, this time from the 2019 set. It shows Nolan in his natural element, about to fire a baseball off to first base to throw out a runner. It's unknown how amazing this particular play was prior to the ball being in his right hand, but odds are it was a great one.

There's a faint checkbox pattern in the lower left area of the photo, transitioning to raster dots in the upper right. There's a slight curl to this card, common for shiny Topps products. Despite a slightly busy design with angles reminiscent of 2020 Topps, the photo itself is as sharp as can be.

I doubt that many Bowman's Best collectors flip the card over, but if they do, they'll find out about Arenado's "Best 2019 Game", May 25th against the Orioles. I was at this game with a good friend of mine, and even though Nolan batted in five runs on his way to an NL Player of the Week award, I can report that this particular game ended up in the L column for the Rockies. I don't remember every detail of this game, but I remember getting beers with my friend at a nearby sports bar and feeling a sense of relief that it was finally spring.

Things were extremely different one year later.

2019 Topps Chrome Update #90 Trevor Story AS

Not long after Arenado's best game of 2019, the All-Star Game happened in Cleveland. Arenado was a starter, and Trevor Story played a few innings as a reserve and got an at-bat. 

You've seen this photo before. This is a shinier version of a yellow bordered parallel I received from The Lost Collector as part of 2019 Update. The extra shine and the usual silver border made it a little easier for me to notice the tiny MasterCard logo on the dugout roof.

We'll see if the 2021 All-Star Game happens, with or without fans. It's scheduled to take place in Atlanta, and they just announced the logo a few days ago.

Speaking of Update, is there going to be a 2020 Topps Update set? What are they going to do since they can't cram it full of All-Star Game cards this year?

2018 Topps Chrome Sepia Refractors #128 Sandy Alcantara

We'll wrap up the shiny section with the one actual card I claimed from Free Card Friday. The rest of these were just things Nick knew I would like. This is a Sepia Refractor from 2018 Chrome. I like shiny, always. Even better, Nick and I were both happy that I took a Marlin off his hands.

I first pulled a Sandy Alcantara card in my 2018 Stadium Club Hanukkah blaster, and haven't heard much about him since. I assume Miami will keep him on the postseason roster, as the Marlins were able to snag a playoff spot despite their early challenges with COVID-19.

I didn't know this at the time, but curiously, I have another Marlin from this set. Chavez Ravining sent me Starlin Castro's Sepia Refractor back in #130, and yes, these are the only two Sepia Refractors I have. It would be one thing if I had two Rockies from one particular flavor of the many Chrome parallels. That happens all the time, for obvious reasons. But two Marlins with the same Refractor color and no one else? That's pretty weird. 

Law of large numbers, I guess. Something like that was bound to happen in a collection of this size eventually.

2019 Topps Update 150 Years of Baseball #150-60 Chad Bettis

Returning to a normal level of glossy card stock, here's a parallel from a huge 100-card insert set from 2019 Topps Update, similar to an even larger 150-card insert set from 2019 Topps base. Both the Base and Update versions of 150 Years of Baseball are chock-full of Hall of Famers, but recently-retired Chad Bettis got a card right in the middle of the checklist. The card talks about his brave recovery from cancer during the 2017 season. He had his initial treatment during the 2016-17 offseason, but had to undergo chemotherapy as Spring Training started in 2017. He battled back and returned later in 2017, helping the Rockies get a Wild Card spot for their first playoff appearance since 2009.

Quite a few players lately have had to deal with this horrible disease, including Carlos Carrasco, Trey Mancini, Anthony Rizzo, and Jon Lester. I'm glad to see them all still with us.

If you're interested, The Athletic ran a story about Bettis's battle with cancer that's worth reading. The Athletic is paywalled, but I can share a 30-day pass with up to five of you. Feel free to leave a comment if you'd like one.

2019 Topps Gallery #125 Garrett Hampson (RC)

It wasn't long ago when I'd have to dig into Bowman Draft to find a card of Garrett Hampson. But he's become a real bright spot in the Rockies lineup, earning him a place in Topps Gallery. He's a versatile player, fun to watch, is up to bat as I write this paragraph, and is one of the fastest guys on the whole team. The card back confirms that versatility, telling us he started at four positions in the first half of 2019. Also, that back in his Minor League days, he led his Low-A league in stolen bases and triples, so we've always known about that speed.

The artwork here was done by a different artist than Kyle Freeland's card, this one by Kevin Graham. It shares the same elegant design with the rest of the 2019 Gallery set, and this one is really growing on me.

2020 Bowman Prospects #BP-137 Ryan Rolison

Speaking of Bowman, I'll file this card away for future years when Ryan Rolison may or may not make it to the Majors. I'm sure the complete lack of Minor League games this year didn't do any favors for his development. 

This is another Bowman design in a long line of Bowman designs I'll never remember, but it seems like a much simpler design than what Topps has been giving us the past few years. I wouldn't mind seeing Topps base sets heading back in this general direction.

1995 Stadium Club #313 Andres Galarraga BES

Our final card finds us much earlier in Rockies history, all the way back to Mile High Stadium. 1995 Stadium Club is a perpetual gold mine, and this Best Seat in the House subset lives up to the Stadium Club name. Twenty teams got a card like this, showing the optimal view of the best sights on the field. Here, Topps picked a spot low on the third-base side, perfect for viewing Andres Galarraga take a pickoff throw as Lenny Harris of the Reds scoots back to first.

On the back, there's a small map of the stadium with a yellow arrow pointing to their selected spot, and a few key stats about the ballpark. Topps lists each park's capacity, playing surface, dimensions, and wall height. There were a lot more fields with artificial turf back then, making the playing surface a relevant data point.

Topps was fairly specific about when this photo was taken. Not quite to 1997 Upper Deck levels, but enough to pinpoint this to May 1994. Odds are this is from May 26th, 1994, as Harris, #28 on the Reds, spent a lot of time on first base that day. The Rockies were right to be worried, as he stole two bases that series. There is a chance it's from May 24th, but Harris was just a pinch hitter that day, making it to first only once.

I never sat in that part of Mile High Stadium, usually finding myself way up in the nosebleeds in right field foul territory. But I would have loved to sit in a seat like this at the age of ten. And compare this card to the similar view in the Opening Day hot dog card at the top. As far as Topps and I are concerned, the best seat in the house is pretty much in the same spot whether you're at Mile High or Coors.

Just as long as I have snacks.

Yarrrr, Matey

It's time for my annual blaster of Topps Opening Day, and there was a theme to this 11-pack box that became apparent very quickly.

2017 Topps Opening Day Mascots #M-12 Pirate Parrot

Not much has really changed with the brand for 2017. There is still no foil, it still partially parallels the Topps Base set, Target still just charges $10 for a blaster, the inserts are still awesome, and I still can't tell which pack is the Bonus Pack.

Speaking of inserts, the Mascot set continues its run, even if they missed an actual mascot name or two. The Pirate Parrot was one of a few mascot cards to fall out of this blaster, leading the charge with a Pirates logo flag.  The Pirate Parrot, of course, famously appeared on Taylor Buchholz' 2008 Topps card, another of the most frequent Rockies cards I see on non-Rockie blogs, after the humidor.

2017 Topps Opening Day Mascots #M-23 Clark

If you look closely, Clark, a newcomer to the mascot realm, has a Sharpie in his right...paw (?) and is ready to sign some autographs for Cubbies fans at Wrigley. Clark refers to one of the Chicago cross streets at which Wrigley Field is located, the other being Addison.

Despite the Cubs' long and storied history, they only brought on a mascot in early 2014, according to the back. That leaves just three MLB teams without one: the Yankees, Dodgers, and Angels. Clark got to wave the "W" flag at the Cubs' victory parade last year, and maybe that's all the Cubs needed to break their century-long curse.

The Dodgers haven't won a World Series since 1988. Maybe they should look into it.

2017 Topps Opening Day Mascot Relics #MR-F Fredbird (MEM)

Have you picked up on the theme yet?

No, I didn't get 77 mascot cards in my blaster, but the NL Central was extremely well-represented, especially among the insert cards. Though I didn't expect to pull another printing plate like I did last year, a mascot uniform relic really fits the Opening Day set perfectly. It's even specified as a "Mascot-Worn Relic" right on the front. The Cardinals are not a pinstripe team, so no chance for one of those on the swatch, but it's a pretty fun card and shows that Opening Day doesn't take itself too seriously.

I also pulled Fredbird's base card, which helpfully informed me of his height and "hatching" date, in April 1979.

2017 Topps Opening Day Incredible Eats #IE-17 Cracker Jack & Mac Dog

One of the new insert sets found in 2017 is the Incredible Eats set, which looks to be a cross-promo with foodservice company Aramark. Their logo is on the back of both insert cards I pulled. The ballpark snack depicted here is about as baseball as it gets, a hot dog with cracker jacks on it. This snack happens to be available at PNC Park, home of, yes, the Pirates.

The foot-long hot dog at Coors Field makes an appearance in this set, a ballpark snack I've had more than a few of over the years. One of those with some onions on top really sounds good right about now. The set offers an interesting look at the cultures and cuisines that exist in various Major League cities (poutine in Toronto, pastrami in Queens, chicken and waffles in Houston, etc...), but the $25 stuffed corn dog at the Diamondbacks' Chase Field is not present.

2017 Topps Opening Day Superstar Celebrations #SC-19 Gregory Polanco

The Pirates showed up again in the long-running Superstar Celebrations insert set. And twice more on the other two Superstar Celebrations cards in the blaster. This one of Gregory Polanco low-fiving Andrew McCutchen was my favorite of the three, and offers the best look yet at PNC Park, home of the Cracker Jack and Mac Dog. The Pirates ended up going on to a 12-1 rout of the Diamondbacks that day, starting off with Polanco's 3-run homer. Disappointingly, the video cuts out just before McCutchen and Polanco connect on their celebration.

2017 Topps Opening Day Edition #42 Yulieski Gurriel

The only rainbow foil parallel in the box was of Astros rookie Yulieski Gurriel. These Opening Day Edition parallels are stated to have a print run of 2,017, though no serial number appears, consistent with the past few years. There are a few games scheduled for April 2nd, but April 3rd, the day all 30 teams get under way, is printed in silver foil below the Opening Day logo.

What's that you say? The Astros are in the AL West now? Yes, I knew that, but it still doesn't sound right. And they suffered a computer hacking attack at the hands of the Cardinals not long ago. The issue has been settled, and the Cardinals were given little more than a slap on the wrist.

Gurriel is just a few months younger than I am, which is certainly on the old side for an MLB debut. But he played for Cuban teams since the tender age of 17, so this photo of him spearing a rocketing grounder isn't that surprising.

2017 Topps Opening Day #165 Alex Reyes (RC)

Perhaps some karmic adjustment has been forced upon the Cardinals, as their star pitching prospect will be missing plenty of time recovering from Tommy John surgery, which he underwent just as Spring Training was beginning. At only 22, he has time to recover, but it will likely be a while before we regularly see him in Topps sets. The Cardinals, long a dominant force in the NL Central, now have the Cubs to contend with, along with a dangerous Pirates team.

2017 Topps Opening Day #115 Carlos Gonzalez

A few Rockies made it into the blaster, always a nice bonus. The Venezuelan slugger looks ready to take his place in the on-deck circle, all decked out in purple, right down to the batting gloves. He helped carry Venezuela to the second round of the World Baseball Classic, but they finished 0-3 in Pool F. The final will be on March 22nd.

But look more closely. What team logo is that on the roof of the dugout? Yep, Pirates. CarGo is scowling at the playing surface of none other than PNC Park. Even the Rockies cards can't escape the Pirates in this blaster.

2017 Topps Opening Day #100 Jonathan Villar

A Rockie even got a cameo appearance on another NL Central card, this one of a Milwaukee Brewer. Jonathan Villar, who represented the Dominican Republic in the WBC, narrowly missed an appearance in the final round, falling to Team USA partially thanks to this amazing catch that Adam Jones made to rob MLB teammate Manny Machado of a home run.

I'm not sure who that Rockie is. Possibly Cristhian Adames, who didn't get a base card in Opening Day or Topps Series 1. But if he has a cameo, the Brewers is as good a team as any when it comes to this particular blaster. Incidentally, the Rockies begin their season on the road in 2017, visiting the Milwaukee Brewers.

2017 Topps Opening Day #70 Jay Bruce

In case you forgot that there are five other divisions in MLB, here's one of Jay Bruce at Citi Field in a throwback Mets uniform. This one really jumped out at me, as those old Mets jerseys I grew up with are among my favorites from that era. It probably doesn't hurt that the first two regular-season games played in Rockies history were against the Mets in Shea Stadium. Even back then, the Rockies rarely began their season at home. 2017 will be no different, as Opening Day at Coors Field falls on Friday, April 7th against the Dodgers.

Some readers will recall that Jay Bruce wasn't always a Met. His previous team? The NL Central Cincinnati Reds. Todd Frazier almost made it into this post as well, before Bruce's blue and orange jersey caught my eye.

Between the snacks, the mascot, the players, division rivals, and even a clear opposing team, this blaster was almost like going to an actual Pirates game.

A Package of Whack

Even though my first exposure to Topps Wacky Packages came just a couple months ago, this product first hit the market way back in 1967. In case you are unfamiliar, they are parody cards in sticker format, and they poke quite a bit of fun at the baseball world. Best I can describe it is if Mad Magazine got into the card business. Topps (wisely) inserted a few of them in 2016 Baseball packs, which is how I finally learned of their existence. I got a couple from Ain't Nobody Got Time for Cardboard, but earlier this month, my girlfriend stopped by Target and bought two packs for me.

2016 Wacky Packages MLB #16 Cubs Honey

This set is filled to the brim with puns, and certainly puts a smile on my face. This squeeze bottle of honey with a Cubs logo (get it?) is great for helping "get your pitchers out of sticky situations". While this is of course a parody, it has more than a grain of truth to it, as pitchers have used all sorts of foreign substances to help get a better grip on the ball for nearly as long as baseball has been a sport. Sunscreen is a favorite these days, especially since it has legitimate uses on the field, unlike, say, a squeeze bear of honey.

2016 Wacky Packages MLB #7 Blue Jays Bird Bath Sports Drink

If you want to achieve "Beak" Performance, be sure to try out this flavor of Gatorade. Yes, we all know that's supposed to be a Gatorade bottle. I'm pretty good with logos and trademarks. I can almost always discern the make and model of a car, or even something like a computer monitor, when they blur out or cover up the logos on various reality TV shows. Personally, I've never had blue Gatorade (or Gatorade at all, for that matter), but we sold a lot of it at the Conoco station where I worked when I was 16.

Of course, I never saw a bottle with an actual bird inside.

2016 Wacky Packages MLB #10 Braves Cutlery Set

It's a bit of a crude method of food preparation, but if you ever need to chop a baseball in half or "carve up the competition", why use a cleaver when you can instead use an official Braves tomahawk? Millions of Braves fans have the motion down perfectly, though I can't say whether the annoying chant would improve your results.

This reminds me a bit of the Samurai Delicatessen, one of the John Belushi's great skits from the early days of Saturday Night Live.

2016 Wacky Packages MLB #20 Dodgers Sushi

Speaking of Japanese cuisine, what better than a little 9-piece serving of sushi? Because that's how the Dodgers "California Roll".

Yeah, some of these puns are better than others.

I'm not sure if I'd go for ballpark sushi, but getting little baseball bats as chopsticks might seal the deal. I'd just have to forgo a beer or two, because when a sixty-cent hot dog goes for six bucks, I can easily see ballpark prices for something like this being well into the $20 range.

2016 Wacky Packages MLB #22 Giants Magic Beans

Using honey is obviously breaking the rules, but climbing a sturdy plant to field a ball is much more vague. The rules say that a fielder must have "one or both feet on or over the playing surface" to legally make a catch, but if these magic beans grow quickly enough and can germinate in the outfield grass, then such a catch may not truly be illegal. After all, they're magic! And according to the fairy tale, there are real giants at the top of that beanstalk!

There's a bit of truth to this one too, as groundskeepers once discovered hundreds of marijuana plants growing in the outfield at Anaheim Stadium following a concert by The Who in 1976. Apparently, fans with on-field seating scattered seeds all over the outfield, and no one noticed anything was amiss until just before the season began.

Thanks, Reddit!

2016 Wacky Packages MLB Red Seam #83 Nacho High Cheese

I personally prefer the term "chin music" for a high and tight fastball, or simply "high heat", but apparently "High Cheese" also describes such a pitch. I'd never heard that phrase before, but if it can give us another food pun, then I have no problem with it.

These Red Seam parallels don't seem to be on the sell sheet or checklist, but here they are nonetheless. The base cards just have a white background, but we can always count on Topps to make a bunch of parallels, even ones that aren't advertised.

Longtime fans of David Letterman may vaguely remember a baseball joke they used to do many years ago called "Ball, Get Out Of My Nachos!" Biff Henderson, the stage assistant they brought on the air once in a while, was shown sitting in a crowd eating nachos, when a baseball suddenly landed on his plate. Rather than keep the souvenir, he'd shout, "Ball, get out of my nachos!" and fling the ball back on the field.

Can you tell I'm a fan of late-night comedy shows?

Nachos also happen to be my girlfriend's favorite ballpark snack, so the fact that this card dropped out of a pack she bought me is quite appropriate. And the use of high cheese one card after a marijuana reference was a complete accident. Though in Colorado, you never know. Next time you visit friends in this state, double check with the host before you munch on a brownie.

2016 Wacky Packages MLB Red Seam #75 Charlotte Stone Crabs Cakes

A few minor league teams made it into this set, including the Charlotte Stone Crabs and Asheville Tourists, though the Yard Goats were left out. The Stone Crabs are an affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays, so there is definitely some sea creature lineage in that organization. I'd probably avoid cellophane-wrapped crab cakes even more so than ballpark sushi, although these seem to be a pair of actual crabs stuffed inside the package, with a little Hostess Cupcakes icing on top.

Rather unappealing to my palate, but the "Pinch Hitters" pun might be the best in the whole pack.

2016 Wacky Packages MLB #76 Toledo Mud Hens Hen Sanitizer

Surely it hasn't escaped your notice that everything I've shown so far is in some way related to food. That's true for most of the set overall, and might have continued on for the whole post if not for this one. The Toledo Mud Hens, the AAA affiliate of the Detroit Tigers, happened to be my team name for my second (and final) year of little league. If I stayed in one more season I'd have been old enough to get on a team with a Major League name, but even in my little league days, I didn't make it out of the minors.

Interestingly, I finally decided to look up what a mud hen is, and it turns out it's a duck-like bird called a Coot. And with this handy hen sanitizer, the birds can be cleaned up regularly, although a true pitcher would look at this and just see another foreign substance to experiment with.

2016 Wacky Packages MLB #87 Salty Pretzel

This last one was my favorite, and yes, it's food-themed. A soft pretzel with a bit of mustard sauce is an excellent snack (my mouth is watering as I write this), and another great option for ballpark food. This "salty" pretzel looks to be quite unhappy, with angry eyes and everything. He even has "a chip of salt on his shoulder".

I'm no expert in slang, but I've heard "salty" quite frequently in the past year or so to describe someone who is upset or agitated. Really, go look at Twitter. I'd say it's 50/50 whether someone is describing actual food with it. And for Topps to tie both meanings together shows a fair bit of genius, I'd say.

As an aside, if you enjoy salted pretzels, or salty snacks in general, you ought to go find a salt bagel. They can be a bit tough to come by, and are typically firmer than soft pretzels, but are well worth trying. It's like the salt equivalent of sugar crystals on a cookie.

Thanks for reading! Now I need to go find something to eat.