Topps Customer Service Comes Through

Like others I have read about, I was shorted a hit in my 2010 Allen & Ginter box. I contacted Topps customer service about the issue, and received the standard response about what to do. So I sent my receipt of purchase, all 24 pack wrappers from the box, the UPC code from the box, and a letter detailing the nature of the complaint to Topps. Within two weeks, I received this card in the mail.



I was pleased because of the quick response time and it completed the "guarantee" in the box. I'm disappointed because it was a hand-picked card from the Topps representative and removed the illusion of randomness from pulling it from a pack.

Even though Upton's not my favorite player, it is a nice card. So thank you Topps for your quick response and making sure that guarantees are kept, one way or another.

As a side note, does this mean my box gets more points for Gint-a-Cuffs (not that it matters in the standings)?

2010 Allen and Ginter Wantlist-Updated 10/30/10

Base Set:

1, 10, 13, 14, 15, 21, 22, 23, 24, 26, 29, 31, 32, 34, 35, 37, 39, 40, 42, 43, 45, 46, 48, 50, 53, 60, 61, 62, 63, 67, 69, 71, 73, 74, 79, 81, 83, 85, 87, 88, 93, 95, 99

100, 102, 103, 106, 107, 108, 111, 112, 113, 117, 118, 121,, 122, 124, 128, 129, 130, 132, 133, 134, 139, 140, 142, 149, 151, 155, 156, 157, 161, 164, 165, 166, 167, 168, 172, 173, 174, 176, 178, 179, 187, 190, 192, 193, 196

203, 207, 208, 209, 214, 218, 220, 221, 222, 223, 226, 229, 230, 231, 232, 234, 236, 237, 238, 240, 242, 244, 246, 254, 255, 257, 258, 260, 261, 264, 266, 267, 275, 277, 278, 280, 281, 285, 288, 291, 294, 295, 296, 299

Short Print Base Cards
301, 302, 303, 304, 305, 306, 307, 309, 310, 311, 313, 317, 320, 321, 323, 324, 325, 327, 328, 329, 330, 331, 332, ,333, 334, 335, 336, 338, 339, 341, 342, 343, 344, 345, 347, 348, 349

This Day in History
1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 15, 16, 17, 19, 20, 23, 24, 25, 29, 31, 34, 35, 36, 37, 40, 42, 43, 44, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 53, 54, 56, 57, 58, 59, 61, 62, 63, 64, 67, 69, 70, 71, 74, 75

Lords of Olympus
1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 25,

Baseball Highlight Sketches
1, 2, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15

Catching Up: Play at the Plate Contest Winner Goods

Brian at Play at the Plate holds monthly contests, and though I didn't win one of those, I did manage to win a different one by guessing which pitcher would win 10 games the fastest this season, Ubaldo Jimenez. The consensus was Roy Halladay (for good reason), but I just had an intuition back in April when the guessing occurred. In any case, check out his blog for the September contest...coming soon to a computer near you. Here are some the cards that he sent along.2002 Upper Deck MVP Scott Rolen Jersey: I;m not sure what Upper Deck was going for here. MVP usually implied a product with a lot of gaudiness, but the muted tones of the jersey design don't fit with the set motif.
2002 Fleer Authentix Scott Rolen Jersey: The mini-ticket stub (is it a replica?) is of the first series in 2002. Little did he know, it would be his last in a Phillies uniform.
2010 Topps Heritage Chase Utley AS: I love these SP AS cards unequivocally. They are also hard to obtain readily. Oh yes, and Utley is back for the stretch drive. Bring on September!
2010 Topps Heritage Jaime Moyer and 2002 Topps Gallery Carlos Silva: Two pitchers at opposite ends of the line. Moyer may have pitched his last ball in 2010 and Silva pitched his first ball in 2002 (though his last may be coming shortly as well)

Thanks!

Stat Anomaly, 20 Losses in a Season, Jack Fisher, 1965

This entry will not be the last that depicts a player from the Amazin' Mets of the '60s. In 1965, Jack Fisher didn't just reach 20 losses,he blew past the mark with an 8-24 W/L record. How did he do it? First, he had remarkable durabilility. He started 36 games and had 10 CG. In addition, he was a reliever in 7 additional games. His WHIP wasn't too bad (1.26) and he had a 3.89 ERA (89 ERA+). There have been pitchers with much worse stats who have not lost so many games. How did he end up with a league-leading 24 losses and 111 earned runs allowed?

Fisher was not an overpowering pitcher, averaging 4.1 K/9 in 1965 and 4.9 K/9 for his career. I can't give credence to his stuff as a pitcher. However, in 1965, with the poor run support of the newly minted Mets and strangely, two losses in relief, Fisher managed to tie for the most losses in a season since 1935.

He had 9 starts in which he went 8 innings or more and allowed 3 runs or less and got the loss. This included allowing 3 runs in 13 innings in the season finale and .....getting the loss.

Unfortunately, the other feats that Fisher are recognized for are allowing Roger Maris's 60th HR in 1961, allowing Ted William's last HR in his last AB in 1960, and giving up the first HR in Shea Stadium history to Willie Stargell in 1964. The strange part is he really didn't allow many HRs for the context of the times over the course of his career.

Somehow, they just kept scoring more than his team could.

Best Card from a Group Break I've Received? : 2005 Upper Deck Heroes Cal Ripken Jr

Thorzul of Thorzul Will Rule hosted a player-specific group break from the tins of 2005 Upper Deck Heroes, back when it was a premium brand. I chose Cal Ripken, Jr and Jimmie Foxx.

2005 Upper Deck Baseball Heroes details

1 tin contains 5? cards
1 SP base card (101-200)#d to 575 per tin
1 parallel #d to 199 or less per tin
game-used odds #d to 99 or less 2:3 tins
auto odds #d to 99 or less 1:3 tins

The base set is divided into sets of five for each player (including a hand painted header card) for cards 1-200. Game-used and auto cards use the same design as the base set cards, but with many, many more colored parallels.

The images tell the story.


I think this may be the nicest auto card I have received from a pack or group break in my collecting career. Hand-signed, low-numbered auto of a HOF that I respected greatly as a kid. What else can I ask for (rhetorically)?

Anyway, thanks to Thorzul for hosting the break.

2010 Allen and Ginter Tradelist

I have many doubles to trade (I always seem to get the same cards no matter where and when I open packs after my box)

I will have my wantlist posted in the next couple days. Let's make a deal...this is only door number one....

2, 9, 12, 16, 18, 20, 28, 41, 49, 51, 52, 54, 55, 57, 59, 64, 68, 70, 82, 90, 91, 105, 110, 114, 120, 125, 126, 127, 131, 135, 136, 137, 138, 143, 146, 147, 148, 154, 160, 162, 171, 175, 177, 181, 182, 183, 188, 191, 199, 200, 201, 204, 205, 216, 225, 235, 241, 243, 245, 247, 250, 252, 256, 262, 265, 268, 270, 272, 279, 283, 284, 286, 292, 298

SP:308, 314, 315, 316, 318, 319, 322, 326, 337

This Day in History
4, 5, 9, 13, 18, 21, 22, 27, 28, 30, 32, 33, 38, 39, 45, 52, 55, 66, 72, 73

Gintacuffs 23 and 24: The Heartbreaking Finale

Pack 23
TDH45 Miguel Cabrera (+1)

Mini Black Border Randy Oitker (Archery) (+3)

312 Carlos Ruiz (+1, +2)

150 Grady Sizemore (+2)


66 Orlando Hudson
182 Chris Carpenter
138 Javier Vazquez (+2, -1)

30 Rafael Furcal

Pack 23 Total: 10

Pack 24
TDH52 Justin Upton (+1)

Mini No Number X-Rays (+10, +1)

Auto Andrew McCutchen (+15)

75 Jayson Werth (+1)

200 Lance Berkman
247 Rajai Davis
144 Stuart Scott

Pack 24 Total: 28

Box Total: 193

Anyway, I only had 2 hits in the box for those keeping track. I have sent away for a replacement. Does that count? Not that it matters since I'm so far behind anyway.

Tradelist and wantlist to come in the coming days.

Gintacuffs 21 and 22

Pack 21
TDH32 Adrian Gonzalez (+1, +2)

Mini LO2 Lords of Olympus Poseidon (+3)

202 Aramis Ramirez
4 Prince Fielder
250 Magglio Ordonez
241 Derek Lowe
54 Tony Hawk
135 Ken Blackburn (paper airplane guy)

Pack 21 Total: 6
Pack 22
TDH27 Ken Griffey Jr (+1, +2)

Mini 330 Jonathan Papelbon (+3)

96 Roy Halladay (+1, +2)



314 Ivan Rodriguez (+2)

286 Revolving Door
148 Anne Donovan
41 Daniel Hudson
204 Russell Martin

Pack 22 Total: 11

Box Total: 155

Gintacuffs 19 and 20

Pack 19
TDH26 Francisco Rodriguez (+1)

Mini NA22 National Animals Stag (+2)

346 Ryan Theriot (+2)

86 Andrew Bailey
212 Ken Griffey Jr (+2)

215 Daniel Murphy
297 Isaac Newton
11 Wade Davis

Pack 19 Total: 7

Pack 20
TDH12 Andre Ethier (+1)

Mini MM12 Monsters of the Mesozoic Iguanodon (+3)

AGHS5 Ichiro(+3)


5 Edwin Jackson
186 Jose Reyes
160 Derrek Lee
131 Tyler Flowers
272 David Blaine

Pack 20 Total: 7

Box Total: 138

Gintacuffs 17 and 18

Pack 17
TDH30 Hideki Matsui (+1)


Black Border Mini 218 Todd Helton (+3)

319 Austin Jackson (+2)


265 Kendry Morales (+2)

256 Rick Porcello
194 Nyjer Morgan
9 Kelly Kulick (Pro Bowler)
163 Raul Ibanez (+1)
Pack 17 Total: 9

Pack 18
TDH39 Torii Hunter (+1)

228 Chase Utley (+4, +1)

Mini WGWS3 World's Greatest Wordsmiths Washington Irving (+4)

284 Dustin Richardson
292 Chris Pettit
143 Jorge Posada (-1)
162 Juan Pierre
243 Jim Zapp (+2)

Pack 18 Total: 11

Box Total: 124

Gintacuffs 15 and 16

Pack 15
TDH66 Curtis Granderson (+1, -1)
Mini A&G Back 225 Mark Teahen (+2)

58 Colby Rasmus
259 Scott Feldman
52 Gavin Floyd
146 Carlos Lee
272 David Blaine
3 Ryan Braun (+2)

Pack 15 Total: 4

Pack 16
TDH4 Lance Berkman (+1)

Mini MM17 Monsters of the Mesozoic Dilophosaurus (+3)

235 Carlos Guillen
55 Esmil Rogers
262 Zack Greinke
188 Jason Bartlett
205 Meb Keflezighi
70 Joey Votto (+2)
Pack 16 Total: 6

Box Total: 104

Gintacuffs 13 and 14

Pack 13
TDH72 Jay Bruce (+1)


Mini NA26 National Animals Gray Wolf (+2)

131 Tyler Flowers
8 Miguel Tejada
160 Derek Lee
290 Jon Lester
227 Henry Rodriguez
316 Nate McLouth (+2)
Pack 13 Total: 5

Pack 14
TDH33 Kosuke Fukudome (+1)


Mini NA28 National Animals Sable Antelope (+2)

6 Madison Bumgarner
90 Kevin Kouzmanoff
51 Matt Holliday (+2)

191 Justin Morneau
181 Tyler Colvin
322 Gary Matthews (+2)

Pack 14 Total: 7

Box Total: 94