Help a Fella Out, Will Ya?

I opened a pack of Topps Update and I was happy to see an Andrew McCutchen card among the others of guys I've mostly never heard of. I really like McCutchen. I had him on my fantasy team this past season and he was a real star (Ed. note: I finished last in the league. Maybe I should learn more about the other guys on these cards?).

This afternoon I was waiting for some updates to run on my laptop and was examining the cards. I wasn't totally sure Gerrit Cole or McCutchen was the 'forerunner' part of this combo so I turned it over and found this:

The write up features Pedro Martinez and Allen Webster and says nothing about either of the Pirates. Is this a trick? Part of a puzzle subset? An error? I looked at one eBay listing for the card and it was going for $1.00 and didn't say anything about it being an mistake so I'm guessing it is supposed to be this way.

PWE from a Feathered Friend, and questions for the group

A week or two ago I got an envelope from Night Owl, one of the more prolific and enjoyable hobby bloggers out there. (This was before he trashed my main man Dennis Martinez but I'm going to let that little hiccup slide.)

Anyway, back to the envelope. Inside was a nice stack of modern Oriole cards including several 2013 Topps. He also sent along a Heritage or two and a Bowman. All of which I didn't have save one. Now while I don't go out and buy many current cards I do like having some and they are especially welcome when they are 1) Orioles and 2) guys I need for my fantasy baseball team binder.

Everyone has seen all the 2013s they need to see but I will post two cards that I got from NO.

First is a Heritage Jason Hammels.

I still enjoy the idea of Heritage cards, probably because I'm not inundated with them. And the '64 design is still pretty nice. Plus, like the next guy, I had him on my team last year. I also like the throw back Rookie Trophy they used on this Nolan Reimold. I remember seeing 1958 Topps cards, getting a few packs of 59's as a gift, actually buying quite a few 60s but the 1961 set is the first one that I actively tried to complete. So this design brings back memories.

Here is one 2013 that everyone has seen but I'm posting because it may be my favorite in the set (at least among those I've seen). I may not love the Orioles' 'softball' tops but in this picture it really looks great. btw... there is no actual evidence but this Machado strikes me as a 'night' card.

Now to my questions. Does anyone try to collect a complete Topps set these days. And if so, what the hell IS a complete set? I see all kinds of variations in border color and finishes. There are chrome versions, correct? And is Opening Day a part of the same set? Some of them use the same photos, right? How is it even possible to know what cards come in what colors?



Stop reading Night Owl. Thanks a bunch for the cards, I really do appreciate them. But flip back over to Blue Heaven or dodgerbobble or something. Everyone else, scroll down.

El Presidente!!!

Succumbing to the Pressure

OK, I didn't actually bow to the pressure of being the only one in the blogosphere that hadn't posted new cards. I usually pick up a handful at some point. And since I was skipping work and found myself at Target on Friday (shhhhh) I used my two $5 gift cards to get a box that they had for 9.99. I don't guess it's a 'blaster' since the official price for those is $20, yes? Call it a hanging half blaster.

I like getting new crds. And these are fine, but as usual I don't know many of the guys in the set. Mostly I'm familiar with any Orioles, guys on my 2012 Fantasy team and guys I looked at as possible pickups for that team. And that means I know about a short list of good players and a bunch of scrubs.

First things first. My scanner hated the regular cards. Hated them! It cut off the borders, parts of the names and team logos as well. So the regular cards all look like crap in my scans. Like this:

That's really weird  Anyway those were the best cards of the regular issue. Fielder, Kershaw (who looked like Sandy Koufax to me for just a split second as I pulled him) and Bundy. I hope Bundy has many more cards in the future during a nice long career.

But the box had so many non-regular cards I can look at them and comment.

The best one in the box was the Tony Gwynn up at the top of this post. Then there is a green sparkly card of Eury Perez who I don't know. I DO know I hate jerseys on major leaguers that look like those I've worn to play slo-pitch city softball.

There were several of these reddish border cards. Meh. I like how the regular cards are more coordinated color-wise. Brewers have really nice jerseys, though. Very underrated.

Somebody tried to trade me this guy for A. J. Pierzynski before the season started last year. Pierzynski was my back-up at the time and I almost made the deal. Good thing I didn't because...

.. Carlos Santana, who I was so happy to draft, had a lousy year. So I benched him eventually  Too late I think. I kept thinking he'd turn it around.

 I had forgotten he was a Phillie. And I don't get the 'Calling Card' business. Doesn't every pitcher do this?

I had Matt Moore on my fantasy team, the 'Elrods'. I thought he'd get me more than 11 wins. But he helped in the strike out category. Another softball top. Why put his name on the front twice?

I like Leaders. And I had Ryan Braun! So this is a good card, even with two crappy tops alongside a classic one. And why didn't my scanner cut off the border on this one? A mystery.

Cards my scanner threw out. There are some really big dudes in the majors these days. And that ALDS card was the only one I got. Shows the Yanks clinching game. Figures.