Opening Day Is Upon Us (Part 2: Inserts)

Voting for the All-Star Game is well underway. If you haven't voted in the first round, you have about a week left to do that. I did submit a few ballots during the first couple days, and it's so much easier now than when I was a kid. I remember the old paper ballots, and I used to vote so many of them at once that the kitchen table would be blanketed in tiny white paper dots. Things are a bit more environmentally friendly now.

Meanwhile, as the season approaches its halfway point, I'm still over here writing about Opening Day. Specifically, the inserts and other goodies from a blaster of 2022 Opening Day that I got shipped from Target. 

I'll never be caught up again, will I?

And I'm sure I'll hold the record for the last post in the community about Nick's 10th Anniversary giveaway. Sorry, Nick.

2022 Topps Opening Day Mascots #M-19 Mariner Moose

As promised in Part 1, and as longtime readers probably predicted, I did pull a card of a very patriotic-looking Mariner Moose. I've still yet to see one of these gigantic animals in the wild, but that chance is ever-present in the great state of Colorado. I hope that my repeated luck in pulling Mariner Moose cards isn't negatively impacting my luck of seeing a real one, because I'd love to someday.

In the meantime, I'll rely on Topps to keep me in a steady supply of Mascot cards.

2022 Topps Opening Day Mascots #M-7 Dinger

It goes without saying that I've never seen a triceratops in the wild, either. But Dinger makes plenty of appearances on my mascot cards and in person at Coors Field, too. Here's a shot of him all dressed up to host the Purple Carpet show prior to the 2021 All-Star Game at Coors Field. I'm not sure exactly, but this is probably in front of the new McGregor Square building, just across 20th Street from Coors Field.

Hard to believe that was almost a year ago.

2022 Topps Opening Day Mascots #M-9 Orbit

The 2022 All-Star Game is being held in Los Angeles at Dodger Stadium. It was supposed to be there during 2020, but that of course was cancelled due to the pandemic.

There were lots of mascots on the concourse at Coors Field during the All-Star Game. I remember seeing Fredbird, the Phillie Phanatic, and of course Orbit. Though I'm not sure Orbit will be particularly welcome at Dodger Stadium considering the cheating scandal that happened during the 2017 World Series. As pictured on this card, maybe he's limbering up with squats to be able to escape angry fans.

And where's the 2023 game going to be held? That would be Seattle, giving our friend the Mariner Moose a real opportunity to shine.

2022 Topps Opening Day Opening Day #OD-2 Detroit Tigers

The other insert sets found in Opening Day are never as fun as Mascots, but they're still worth a look. Here's the redundantly named Opening Day set, a fifteen-card set featuring half of the MLB teams and their performance on Opening Day 2021. 

The Tigers, in particular, won their season opener in Detroit thanks to a home run from Miguel Cabrera. His turn at the plate began rather normally, but a sudden snow flurry rapidly picked up over the course of his at-bat, ending with the ball just clearing the right field fence.

The future Hall-of-Famer gave fans at Comerica Park memorable moments in two consecutive Aprils, as he got his 3,000th hit two months ago against the Rockies.

2022 Topps Opening Day Opening Day #OD-9 Kansas City Royals

I don't recall the Royals making the highlight reel that day, but they won their 2021 home opener in a 14-10 slugfest against the Rangers. The card back tells us that fan favorite Alex Gordon threw out the first pitch that day, all the way from his longtime station in left field.

I saw the Royals visit Coors Field in May, the 29th team I've seen play. I missed my chance at the Expos, but only the Minnesota Twins remain to be checked off.

2022 Topps Opening Day Bomb Squad #BS-10 Giancarlo Stanton

Nearly as plentiful as Mascots in this blaster were cards from the Bomb Squad insert set. This 25-card set features some of the game's best home run hitters, new and old. Giancarlo Stanton, one of many slugging Yankees, is frequently on the highlight reel for launching baseballs deep into the Bronx night. He is far off his league-leading pace of 59 from his 2017 season, his final as a Marlin, but he still has a respectable 14 so far in 2022. 

The #16 patch on his pinstriped sleeve honors Whitey Ford, who died in 2020.

2022 Topps Opening Day Bomb Squad #BS-7 Babe Ruth

Stanton traces his lineage as a slugging Yankee all the way back to the granddaddy of them all, George Herman "Babe" Ruth. Not much needs to be said about the Sultan of Swat, perhaps the greatest-known player to ever take the field. Nevertheless, the card back gives us plenty of unique statistics, starting off with his career total of 714. The Bambino also led the AL in homers twelve times, and two of those seasons were 35 ahead of the second-place finisher.

They didn't really call home runs "bombs" back in those days, but Ruth's colorful and alliterative nicknames like "The Colossus of Clout" more than make up for it.

2022 Topps Opening Day Bomb Squad #BS-16 Jim Thome

He might not be on the Mount Rushmore of baseball players like Ruth, but Jim Thome is in the Hall of Fame, and he has 612 home runs to thank for it, good for eighth all time. He's pictured here as a Phillie, but he spent most of his career with Cleveland. He was the first Phillie to compete in a Home Run Derby, and the card back also tells us that 17 of his homers came on a 3-0 count.

I seem to remember the baseball world getting into quite a kerfuffle last year when young stars like Fernando Tatís, Jr. and Yermín Mercedes took pitchers deep on 3-0 counts, apparently violating the sacred unwritten rules. I don't remember hearing much about that during any of Thome's 17 blasts.

2022 Topps Opening Day Triple Play #TPC-1A Mike Trout / B Shohei Ohtani / C Anthony Rendon

A trio of Angels (though not the Russian ones from 1993 Topps #633) make up this odd-looking insert card from the Triple Play subset. Mike Trout (who possesses a Ruth-esque nickname of "The Millville Meteor"), Shohei Ohtani, and Anthony Rendon all make appearances, and the card includes a perforation between each player. If you were to separate these, they would be slightly smaller than an Allen & Ginter tobacco-sized Mini. This design also includes the same divot on the top border we saw in 2008 Topps, which everyone disliked for encroaching on the photo.

There isn't much room on these card backs, but somehow Topps still left a ton of white space. Mike Trout's storied career is boiled down to eight All-Star Game selections, more than any other Angel.

Sadly, Anthony Rendon's season came to an end last week due to wrist surgery, but the Angels have added an exciting breakout star to their lineup in Taylor Ward, a five-season veteran who is finally finding his stride.

2022 Topps Opening Day Blue Foil #72 Gavin Sheets /2022

I didn't pull any cards from the exceptionally rare Walk This Way, Luck of the Irish, or Dugout Peeks insert sets, so we'll close with the only Blue Foil parallel I found, a Rookie Card of Gavin Sheets. No relation to former Brewers pitcher Ben Sheets, but he is the son of former Orioles outfielder Larry Sheets. I haven't heard much about him, as he only has 98 games under his belt, but he fits right in on a young White Sox team playing for the oldest manager in the game.

As is usual with Blue Foil parallels, their stated print run is equal to the calendar year, but there is no serial number to be found.

That about wraps up Opening Day, just in time for summer.

The Start of a Strange Season (Part 2: Inserts)

It wasn't that long ago that I was regularly pulling three or four Blue Foil parallels out of a single blaster of Opening Day. Unless my luck has changed, I'm more likely to just find one with today's level of production. 

2021 Topps Opening Day Blue Foil #177 Gleyber Torres

And here it is.

No need to hit the panic button just yet. We're still far away from the days of 1991 Donruss Elite, an insert set which you'd be lucky to find within four cases, despite a 10,000 print run. But still, it's getting harder and harder to find what you're looking for. And I'm not even sure these have a limited print run anymore.

In much the same way, the Yankees are having a hard time finding wins this season. They're in a tough division (and they usually are the ones making it a tough division), so their 31-28 record is only good enough for fourth place. The twice-no-hit Mariners have scored more runs this year. 

Gleyber Torres isn't really to blame for that, since he missed some time due to COVID protocols, but he has since returned and I'm sure he's just aching to play a few games against Baltimore to get his bat going. The card back shows his full professional statistics, so there's no room for a fun paragraph, but it would be a perfect spot to mention his 13 home runs against the Orioles in 2019.

For the first time in a while, the date listed on the front of these Blue Foil parallels was truly Opening Day, league-wide. No overseas exhibition games a week early, no big-market rivalry matchup the day before. Everyone simply began April 1st at the starting gate, as it should be.

2021 Topps Opening Day Mascots #M-3 Mr. Met

The actual Opening Day has been in flux for a while, as have the insert sets found in the set itself, but Mascots are always there to delight us. This insert set is a big reason why I keep coming back to the brand.

For 2020, mascots didn't have fans to entertain nor many games to work, so most of these card backs mention their efforts in the community, such as working with MLB's Play Ball program or area nonprofits. All while properly masked, of course. Seeing mascots wearing masks reminds me a little of the airplanes that did too.

2021 Topps Opening Day Mascots #M-7 Sluggerrr

Sluggerrr of the Royals also masked up, and he looks a lot like I looked for most of last year. Wearing a mask, shielding his eyes to see into the distance (part of my new birding hobby), and holding a sign that says "Food". This mascot is reaching right out to me.

He's also surrounded by cardboard cutouts, and my single favorite mascot moment from the strange 2020 season was Blooper of the Braves pumping up the cutouts, motioning for them to get on their feet. 

Yes, Blooper fully embraced his role last year.

I showed these cards to my girlfriend, and she remarked at how strange it was that Sluggerrr's crown is a fully-formed structural part of his head. In truth, these aren't that different from a giraffe's actual horns. But Sluggerrr is supposed to be a lion. King of the Jungle and all that. He shares uniform #00 with Mr. Met, Dinger, and Carmelo Anthony of the Portland Trailblazers, who we watched a lot last week during the first round of the NBA playoffs. The Nuggets, whose mascot is a similar-looking mountain lion named Rocky, advanced to the second round.

2021 Topps Opening Day Mascots #M-16 Mariner Moose

As usual, Mariner Moose popped up for me as well. Seriously, I have an uncanny gift for pulling Mariner Moose cards. Someday I'd like to convert that into seeing a real one in the wild.

Mr. Moose looks exceptionally casual in this shot, throwing out the first pitch while wearing a pair of board shorts. Interestingly, I had a dream last night where I was on my way to throw the first pitch at a Rockies game. Somehow, I was identified as the one millionth fan at the gate, and was led as a VIP all over the stadium. I woke up before the actual ceremonial moment, but I'm pretty sure that's what they had in mind.

Somehow, I had the presence of mind while in the dream to question what the big deal was about being the one millionth fan. Even the lowest-attended teams pull in more than that during a season, Marlins excluded.

2021 Topps Opening Day Legends of Baseball #LOB-2 Roberto Clemente

Next up and new to the Opening Day insert family is the Legends of Baseball set. I'm pretty familiar with these from seeing them in the Bunt app, but it's nice to also have a physical copy. Each one has their place, and I'm starting to view it a bit like the physical book/e-book debate. There are advantages and disadvantages to each, but electronic cards save you the trouble of having to buy sleeves and pages and binders. I can carry lots of "cards" around in my pocket that would otherwise require expensive and hard-to-find supplies to store. 

So I effectively have two copies of this Roberto Clemente card. Say what you will about digital cards, but no one will argue that he's a Legend of Baseball. A frequent Gold Glove winner, an even more frequent All-Star, and a beloved figure in Pittsburgh. He's an undisputed legend, and we'll sadly never know how much more legendary his numbers could have been if not for his tragic death in 1972.

2021 Topps Opening Day Legends of Baseball #LOB-23 Rickey Henderson

On the other hand, unlike Clemente's 3,000 hits, we can be reasonably certain that Rickey Henderson's 1,406 stolen bases was about as high as that number could go. Rickey played well into his forties for any team that would take him, and he added just three steals to that number in his final season.

A career that long will bridge different eras of baseball, from the speedy early '80s into the power-heavy early 2000s. As we know, stolen bases are an endangered species these days, but Rickey was on the cutting edge of the latest movement to disregard the old unwritten rules. Rickey would often bolt for second (or third) regardless of the count or the score. And judging by how White Sox manager Tony La Russa is (publicly) handling his own players swinging away on a 3-0 count, I have to wonder how he and Henderson ever got along all those years in Oakland.

2021 Topps Opening Day Legends of Baseball #LOB-10 Derek Jeter

With all the Yankee greats we've seen over the years, including Lou Gehrig who now has his own special day in the MLB calendar, it's surprising that they had a single-digit number left to give to Derek Jeter, another obvious legend. With Jeter's number retirement in 2017, not to mention his imminent Hall of Fame induction, every number from 1-10, and many others, have been retired in the Bronx.

Each of these card backs picks a few key statistics that confirms their legendary status, and of course there's enough for each of these players to fill volumes. Jeter's card tells us that he reached the Hall of Fame in 2020 with 99.7% of the vote, without quite saying that he was one vote shy of unanimity.

2021 Topps Opening Day Opening Day #OD-1 New York Mets

Across town, the New York Mets have a lot more of these numbers still in circulation. This Mets outfield crew celebrating a win on Opening Day 2020 are Brandon Nimmo, Jake Marisnick, and Michael Conforto. Nimmo's #9 is no longer worn in the Bronx thanks to Roger Maris, and Marisnick's #16 (obscured by his glove) was retired for Whitey Ford. Only Conforto's #30 is still available in both boroughs.

All three of these guys look really happy to be in the Win column, a feeling they hadn't known for a long time due to the shortened season. As expected, staff ace Jacob deGrom pitched the season opener, and as expected, the Mets gave him next to no run support, relying on a solo shot by Yoenis Céspedes to win the game 1-0. That's still continuing this year, despite deGrom's sub-1.00 ERA putting him in the conversation with 1968 Bob Gibson. I just looked up his WHIP and it is 0.569. His ERA+, an advanced stat based on the league-average ERA, is a statistics-breaking 624, with the league average defined as 100.

I mean, this guy's WHIP looks more like a slugging percentage. This is all unheard of, yet he has a 5-2 record with two no-decisions.

Typical Mets.

2021 Topps Opening Day Outstanding Opening Days #OOD-4 Bryce Harper

There are a few other insert sets with long odds that I didn't pull, but I had good enough luck with the rest. Outstanding Opening Days is the last of the plentiful sets, and a young Bryce Harper is the lone representative I found from this 10-card insert set.

You might think this is from Harper's debut game in 2012, but his career didn't begin until late April that year. His first taste of a true Opening Day came during this game in 2013, where he hit two home runs against Ricky Nolasco of the Marlins. Those two solo shots were the only runs scored all day, during a game that barely cracked the two-hour mark.

We're well into June by now, with the season a bit beyond one-third over. In fact, this is about as long as the regular season lasted in the shortened 2020 year. The season is still pretty young, and the Rockies are planning on taking Coors Field to full capacity on June 28th for a day they are calling "Opening Day 2.0". 

Perhaps I'll blog about my 2020 Opening Day blaster by then.

The Trading Post #157: Topps Cards That Never Were (Part 4: Inserts)

Little did I know when this trade arrived from Topps Cards That Never Were that it would keep me company throughout the 2020 League Championship Series. It's been three parts so far, and this will be the fourth and last before we move on to the next trade. If you need a break from Rockies cards, this one won't have any. There will be a lot of Yankees and American Leaguers in general, and everything here is a Topps insert.

2015 Topps Eclipsing History #EH-3 Sandy Koufax / Nolan Ryan

Right off the bat is a hit for my Eight Men Out list, a card from 2015's Eclipsing History insert set. I didn't have a particular card in mind from the ten on offer; any one would do. I first became aware of it over three years ago thanks to one of Peter's posts shortly after the 2017 total solar eclipse, and I knew it would be perfect for my collection. Jeremy found card #EH-3 for me, a dual-player card of Nolan Ryan and Sandy Koufax.

Every record holder out there passed someone else along the way. In the strikeouts per 9 IP category, Sandy Koufax was the leader in that statistic until Nolan Ryan came along. In 1973, Ryan compiled his 1,000th inning pitched, and by that milestone, he eclipsed Koufax's mark of about 9.3, setting his mark at about 9.7. Ryan remained the record holder until Randy Johnson came along, whose K/9IP is about 10.6. These are rounded somewhat, and it shouldn't be that surprising to see strikeout leaders like Ryan and Johnson on the leaderboards for such a statistic.

Witnessing the total solar eclipse in 2017 was one of the great moments of my life. I did a vintage-heavy post shortly thereafter, and I am happy to add a newer card around this theme to my collection. This card doesn't really look much like a real solar eclipse, but then again, nothing really does. It's something you have to see for yourself.

2016 Topps The Greatest Streaks #GS-10 Lou Gehrig

One year later, Topps made another 10-card insert set called The Greatest Streaks. I feel like ten cards is a good size for an insert set. It offers some hope of completion. One could also make a fantastic argument for nine cards, which would perfectly occupy a nine-pocket page without obscuring any backs.

Anyway, Lou Gehrig was included in this set, but not for the reason you might think. We all know about The Iron Horse's record of 2,130 consecutive games played, but Cal Ripken, Jr. ended up eclipsing that, earning himself card #1 in this set. Gehrig, during his own streak, put together another. As part of a fearsome Yankees lineup, he had 100 RBI in 13 straight seasons, something only Jimmie Foxx and Alex Rodriguez have done otherwise. 

Sadly, both streaks were cut short by Gehrig's illness, as it was going strong right up to the end. He batted in one lone run in 1939, and that would be his last.

2016 Topps Back to Back #B2B-12 Babe Ruth / Lou Gehrig

Generally speaking, Gehrig batted after Babe Ruth in the batting order, so a huge portion of his RBI count meant Ruth crossed the plate. Gehrig's only RBI in 1939 was actually Tommy Henrich, the player who was up to bat when the most famous dropped third strike in history occurred in the 1941 World Series. But these two were the core of the Yankees for a long time (though not long enough, it must be said).

This card in particular, also from 2016, comes from a fifteen card set called Back to Back. That's exactly what happened in the 1932 World Series. Everyone knows about Babe Ruth's "called shot" in Game 3, arguably the most famous home run in history. What's often overlooked, this card tells us, is that Lou Gehrig hit one out immediately after.

No one disputes that Ruth hit that historic home run back in 1932. But over the years, there has been much debate about whether he "called" it. Joe Posnanski wrote about it in The Baseball 100, and it remains inconclusive. Interestingly, some previously-unheard audio recently surfaced, giving us none other than Lou Gehrig's view on the event.

This photo, at least of Gehrig, isn't from 1932. It's actually from 1938, and we can tell because of the commemorative patch on Gehrig's left sleeve. The Yankees, Dodgers, and Giants all wore that patch in 1938 for the upcoming 1939 World's Fair. Those shapes on the patch are the Trylon and Perisphere, the iconic temporary structures built in Queens for the occasion. I have a pressed penny that my grandparents took home as a souvenir from the event, dated 1940.

2014 Topps Upper Class #UC-27 Robinson Canó

Our next set is one I've seen before. This is the fourth card out of a possible fifty to enter my collection, and every time, the "Upper Class" name throws me off. I see "Upper" and "2005" at the top of this fancy gold border, and I immediately think it's something from Upper Deck. I wasn't buying boxes of UD at the time, so at a glance, this could be one of any number of sets from the mid-2000s. 

It's indeed a Topps product, though, and Robinson Canó is still going strong. Matt Holliday, whose card I showed last time, retired after the 2018 season. Canó will turn 38 on Thursday, so his career is likely coming to a close soon.

2014 Topps Update Power Players #PPA-MTA Masahiro Tanaka

Today's last Yankee is still with the team. Masahiro Tanaka pitched twice in the 2020 Postseason, earning a record of 0-1 and putting up a frightfully high ERA. He has many years of MLB experience under his belt by now, but when this card was printed, he had just joined the MLB after a lengthy career in Japan for the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles. The card back on this one is more of a scouting report, letting us know about his various pitches and high strikeout count in his then-limited MLB performance.

I've seen this insert set too, getting both Rockies from it already. 2014 Topps Update made this one 25 cards, but numbered them with letters only. Of the four cards I now have from it, the background is yellow and blue on all but Carlos González's. Side note, the former Rockies outfielder is celebrating his 35th birthday today!

2018 Topps Update Don't Blink #DB-7 Ichiro

October 22nd used to be a big day in Mariners land. Ichiro and Robinson Canó happen to share that birthday. It's a shame that they never got to play as Mariners in the Postseason to celebrate it together. Regardless, it was always a joy to watch Ichiro play, especially that day when I witnessed his 3,000th hit. That hit was a triple, so it's appropriate for this speedy outfielder to be included in this 2018 Update insert set, Don't Blink.

Speed is becoming less valued in today's game, so you can probably guess who's in the 25-card set. Mike Trout, Trevor Story, Whit Merrifield, Dee Gordon. I guessed all four of those before glancing at the checklist, and I was only wrong on Story. In my defense, I was unaware that the checklist included a mixture of retired and current players, meaning that Henderson, Robinson, and Brock are in here.

I probably should have guessed Trea Turner, though.

The streaking horizontal lines on this card really give a sense of speed, but it's artificially added. It is definitely possible to do something like this in-camera, not counting the streaking on Ichiro's outline. Ideally you'd do a panning shot with a tripod, although certain lenses have an optical stabilizer mode that allows you to do it handheld. That's not what the photographer did here, because we can see the player in the dugout isn't streaked the same way the lines are.

2018 Topps Heritage '69 Topps Deckle Edge #1 Mike Trout

We're almost two decades into Topps Heritage by now, and they've always had insert sets. However, it wasn't until the brand reached the mid-1960s designs that they had real insert sets to use as inspiration. This Deckle Edge card of Mike Trout is just such a set, modeled after a 35-card insert set from 1969. They trimmed it to 30 for the 2018 version, but kept the same rough borders and even gave us a period-correct blue facsimile signature.

I'm not sure how they made these in 1969, but having seen enough cards from the '90s, I assume this is what we'd consider a die-cut today.

2015 Topps Update Whatever Works #WW-2 Tim Lincecum

Here's a fun one. Whatever Works is from 2015 and selected fifteen players and their superstitions. Tim Lincecum's particular quirk is that he likes to keep old hats to wear, a practice he did all the way back in high school. Others in this set are Nomar Garciaparra and I assume his batting glove routine, Joe DiMaggio for something other than his bat polishing, and a few various pitchers. Who knows what they were up to?

Apparently, the baseball world recently learned, Freddie Freeman wears a lucky shirt under his jersey, and has done so ever since 2012. He'd better hope that luck holds out in Game 7 of the NLCS on Sunday.

2018 Stadium Club Never Compromise #NC-RD Rafael Devers

We'll take a quick pop over to Stadium Club and their Never Compromise insert set. The Boston Red Sox haven't been great since winning the World Series in 2018, and part of that is due to the departure of Mookie Betts. Betts, a former teammate of Rafael Devers, weighed in on the back of this card, saying that "We just kind of sit and admire his work", speaking about Devers.

There's a little bit more foil on this card than on most others we've seen today. It's held back for Stadium Club, though. Usually we get things like Power Zone and Beam Team.

2016 Topps Update First Pitch #FP-2 Jake Gyllenhaal

Devers debuted for the Red Sox in 2017, so he wasn't on hand to see Jake Gyllenhaal throw out the ceremonial first pitch at Fenway. That happened in April 2016, where the famous actor was on hand along with Jeff Bauman, a victim of the Boston Marathon bombing whom Gyllenhaal portrayed in the movie.

Topps kept this celebrity-heavy insert set going for a few years, I believe 2015-17. Jeff Bridges was my first card from 2015, and I have McKayla Maroney's card in a stack from a card show I went to ages ago. I'm pretty sure that stack is from the same show at which I got that Joe DiMaggio Pinnacle set, and I keep telling myself that I'll finally do that post when I get caught up on everything else. After this, I only have one trade post left. And a couple LCS visits. And about seven blasters.

Someday.

2011 Topps Opening Day Mascots #M-20 Mariner Moose

In the meantime, we'll wrap up this four-post marathon with what I will confidently say is my favorite insert set of all: Opening Day Mascots.

I've said before that Mariner Moose is one of my most frequently-pulled mascots when it comes to Opening Day. I see Dinger a lot, too, but that's usually via trade. I didn't get him in my 2020 Opening Day purchase (one of the seven blasters I mentioned above), but I will add these to my collection any chance I get. 

One of these days I'd like to make it to Seattle for a game and see this "funny, neat, and friendly" mascot. I've never seen a moose in the wild before. From what I hear, they are not friendly at all. I've never seen one at a ballgame either, for that matter. But they're a frequent sighting when it comes to Opening Day.

Thanks to Jeremy for this amazing batch of cards, and thanks to all my readers for continuing to stick around for my sporadic posting sprees.

 

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

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

2018 Topps Opening Day Mascots #M-14 Rally Monkey

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

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

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

2018 Topps Opening Day Mascots #M-18 Phillie Phanatic

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

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

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

2018 Topps Opening Day Stars #ODS-KJ Kenley Jansen

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

2018 Topps Opening Day Blue Foil #64 Byron Buxton

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

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

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

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.

The Trading Post #29: Highly Subjective and Completely Arbitrary

I had plans to watch the NCAA National Championship game tonight, but a trade package in my mailbox from Brian at Highly Subjective and Completely Arbitrary (which many bloggers are simply shortening to HSCA) superseded that plan. I do have the game streaming on my iPad mini off to the side of my desk, but a blog post seemed to be in order.

Brian commented on my 2015 Topps Heritage post just a few days ago, saying he had a Rockies team set reserved for me. We also exchanged emails that day, and he offered some 2015 Donruss and Opening Day as well. I have no idea how it got here so quickly. There was even a postal holiday in there! It's almost like using Amazon Prime.

2015 Donruss #83 Charlie Blackmon

Anyway, as promised, I got my first in-person look at 2015 Donruss tonight. It's not all that different from the 2014 set, as the colored banner of tiny baseballs simply runs top-to-bottom rather than side-to-side. However, they got rid of the script for the team name, and made the player's name much more prominent, while omitting the player's position. I like it a bit better, and don't think it deserves the derision it seems to earn in the blogosphere. Personally, the complete incomprehensibility of Bowman's set structure gets under my skin way more than a "meh" design.

2015 Donruss Stat Line Season #81 Troy Tulowitzki /340

And I like it even more when it's nice and shiny! Serial numbered cards are always appreciated (numbered to 340, the same as his average), and Panini's decision to reserve the foil treatment for parallels is more appropriate than what Topps has done in their flagship sets for almost two decades.

Tulowitzki drove in the first run of the Rockies' 2015 season today, as they routed the Brewers 10-0 to spoil the fun in Milwaukee. Tulowitzki had three hits, following up Carlos Gonzalez's 1st-inning double with a two-bagger of his own, well on his way to another solid batting average in 2015. Maybe the Badgers will win tonight and take some of the sting out of it for the Wisconsin fans.

2007 Topps Moments & Milestones Milestone Autographs #MA-GA Garrett Atkins (AU)

As small as my autograph collection is, it completely amazes me when I end up with a duplicate autograph card. You might remember this one from Moments and Milestones as the card I won at a monthly card show last year. His autograph looks pretty similar from card to card, although the one Brian sent was clearly signed when Atkins' Sharpie had a lot more life in it.

2015 Topps Opening Day #41 Carlos Gonzalez

He also included a couple cards from 2015 Opening Day. Carlos Gonzalez, who scored the first Rockies' run this year on Tulo's double, marks my second Rockie from this set. I pulled Tulowitzki's card from this weekend's Target blaster, so fortunately I didn't end up with a duplicate.

If not Tulo, then who was on the second Opening Day card?

2015 Topps Opening Day Mascots #M-10 Dinger

Dinger! And he's looking very patriotic in that American flag outfit.

Last year, I had to rely on some luck and a second blaster to get the Dinger mascot card. This year, thanks to the generosity of my trading partners, one showed up in my mailbox as if by magic.

In addition to the great cards above, the main attraction of this trade package was a complete Rockies team set from 2015 Topps Heritage, including the short prints of Tulowitzki, Gonzalez (really, Topps?), and Corey Dickerson.

2015 Topps Heritage #72 Nolan Arenado

Nolan Arenado is my favorite Rockie, and I fully intend to wear my #28 jersey to work on Friday in honor of the Rockies' home opener. No one bats an eye when the Broncos are playing on Monday Night Football and everyone is decked out in orange, so a white jersey with pinstripes shouldn't be too big a deal.

2015 Topps Heritage #239 LaTroy Hawkins

Rockies closer LaTroy Hawkins looks rather more perplexed by a baseball than you'd expect from a 20-season veteran. Maybe that's why I'm not so wild about this year's heritage set. The photography is just...odd.

2015 Topps Heritage #93 Wilin Rosario

See? They likely used a short focal length lens to shoot this one, which gives you all sorts of distortion when you're up close for a portrait. At least it's a pretty good image of the logo on the bat knob. Can you imagine if the 1989 Fleer Billy Ripken card were photographed like this? Maybe then it would have caught someone's eye before it went to print.

But smack in the middle of that Heritage team set was an unexpected card.

1991 Stadium Club #463 Tim Wallach

At first, I wasn't sure why this was in here. My initial thought was that Brian intended it for the blogger who is trying to collect all the Tim Wallach cards. Literally, all the Tim Wallach cards. Maybe it snuck (yes, it's a word) into the wrong pile. But suddenly, it clicked.

It's an Eight Men Out card!

With the addition of this Tim Wallach, I'm only one single card short of completing Series 2 of 1991 Stadium Club! I believe that was the first set to include gold foil, and it was super premium stuff in 1991.

Brian's really an awesome trader. I have two older envelopes from him that I haven't blogged about yet. One contains the Rockies from his recent late-'90s group break, and the other includes lots of assorted Rockies that I need to take another look at. I still owe him cards in return for my share of the group break, but I'm afraid I won't be able to get them to Brian with the same lightning speed this shipment had.

Thanks to the generosity of Brian and others in this community, checking my mailbox these past several months has been a lot more fun!

And I won't complain at all that the Rockies haven't yet given up a run this season.