Card Spotlight: 2008 Upper Deck Heroes Quartet Card (Griffey, Clemente, Guerrero, DiMaggio)

Here is the header on th rear of the card:  Ken Griffey Jr/Roberto Clemente/Vladimir Guerrero/Joe Dimaggio-a quartet of dazzling outfield defenders.   The only other information on the back was that Griffey and Clemente won a lot of Gold Gloves, Guerrero has a cannon for an arm, and DiMaggio is the standard for outfield defense by which all others should be measured. (I'm paraphrasing a bit here.)

Despite the players involved on this card, I don't really like the card. If I had any one of these players' cards standing alone with that information (and more), I wouldn't even think twice about the banality of the facts on the back of the card. But this set and this card were to represent "Heroes" in a baseball sense. Players and/or performances that transcended the seasonal grind to be ingrained in the subconscious.

That's not really waht I dislike about the card; I think I just wanted to use the word "transcended" in a blog post (I hope it was the first time)

It's actually simple why this card is unappealing. There are aesthetic and conceptual issues governing this piece.

Aesthetically, there is too much tan/brown/beige oer the whole of the card.  By itself, this isn't a bad thing.  However, the majority of the space that has been used has been by player name and team logo.  For a dazzling quartet shown here, that sure isn't elegant.  The team logo is especially egregious because it obscures the player head shots (no, they can't even be called images).

Interestingly enough, the players' head shots can all be characterized differently:  Griffey (happy), Clemente (bemused), Guerrero (chillin'), DiMaggio (stoic)

Conceptually, the card falls flat because it doesn't lead to a smooth finish.  In a personality driven card such as this one, give mental images which would lead to their fielding excellence.  Maybe a dual sided card with two images on each side, showcasing what made each of them a worthy fielder in the eyes of the baseball fanbase. 

Imagine a card with Griffey scaling a fence scraping the heavens with the juxtaposition of Guerrero coiling up to sling a ball at unimaginable speeds on side.  On the other side, you can have DiMaggio gliding under a flyball deep in the gap and Clemente exhibiting grace with a fielding move that defies convention.  I would like that card.

On a completely related note, except for league leaders, rookies, and team cards, I'm not a fan of multi-player cards.   There has to be better themes out there then what we've seen.  I did enjoy Passing the Torch from Donruss Elite and 2001 Topps Combos.  But the combo cards in Topps Update and Upper Deck Ballpark Collection are not for me.    Anyone else have an opinion on how to improve multi-player cards or make them more or less relevant (depending on your preference)?

Junior High Coundown: 43. 1993 Flair

1993 was a banner year of changes in the hobby in terms of type of baseball cards that entered the market. Today there is base, mid-end, and high-end. During this time, there was base and premium (Stadium Club, Ultra, Leaf, Upper Deck, Pinnacle) heading into 1993. All that changed during this year with the introduction of the self-named "superpremium" brand introductions.

Described here is Fleer's foray into this market with Flair.
The Stats
Issued in a one series 300 card set, coming in a 24 pack box with 10 cards per pack. I believe the suggested retail price at the time was $4.99 per pack.
The Design
I believe these were the first cards produced on all laminate card stock. They were much thicker than the normal card of the time (almost the thickness of three cards). The front consisted of two images, one usually an in-game pose with the second usually a close-up ghosted upon the first. The back has the last ten years of stats etched over another ghosted image of the player.

The Rookies

There was JT Snow....and not much else. A lot of 1993 sets did not have a lot of rookies because of 1992 Bowman.

The Inserts
One insert set was included which can almost be a continuity now until the brand's demise...Wave of the Future, which was a 20 card set inserted 1:5 packs or so. Notable names included Mike Piazza, Manny Ramirez, and Jim Edmonds. The image in the set looked like an ocean wave about to swallow the young, up and coming ballplayers.

The Impact
This set became a key component escalator upon which the card companies are riding up to this day in terms of offering packs of continually increasing SRPs. It used to be that the card quality itself carried the day without any thinking about return on investment or pack outs of special cards. 1993 Flair only offered a base set and one relatively obtainable insert set.

Unfortunately, the brand changed dramatically in 1997 to Flair Showcase, though while it had great ideas, did not follow the same pathway as the progenitor of the series. Flair essentially established itself as the first multi-image brand (greater than two) that I can recall (for both front and back combined) and was true to it through all of its incarnations.

The packaging was also novel. For the first time, cards were not issued in the standard sealed wrappers. The packs were little two-piece card board boxes that could classily house the cards after revealing the contents within.

Summary

1993 Flair was a foundation builder for many aspects of the proliferation of superpremium (and beyond) card sets. As a set itself, it didn't have much to offer except the classy look and the ultra-classy (for the time) packaging. It is still a collectable set because the set size is small and limited to one series (assuming decent collation). Flair began the revolution of struggling to put cards back to back in 9 pocket pages, and for that I'm not grateful. Of course, it was a thrill to open one of the packs and know one would be getting cards that could look good on the wall in a frame.

My Favorite Relic Card Purchase of 2010

I haven't done a retrospective of 2010, mostly because my mind has not yet advanced past August. Speaking of which, if your body and mind were separated along two different planes among the space-time continuum, how would you be able to distinguish when and where you were? Your mind (i.e. consciousness) would "see" your body and your body would look back at your mind from the past....so which one would be in the present?

Also, if the past were rooted in the future, would Bowman Heritage come before the original Bowman? Can there be a heritage from a past which has not yet existed? Are sepia tones really reminiscent of a past time or is that the color that happens when color fades and oxidizes away?

This Chase Utley is a bat relic from the 2006 Bowman Heritage. It is also the white parallel type of a relic and is #d to 49. When you see this card, you know of the shadows of the past, represented by the ghostly Bowman Heritage logo and the shadow thrown by the brim of Utley's past. When you hold this card, you're reminded of a simpler time, when the only color from a summer's evening was from a baseball cap and grass stains. Before foil stamping, before metallic coloring, there is and always will be cardboard, wood, and a piece of greatness in the ballplayer in all of us. Let Utley show you the way.

Stat Anomaly: 20 game loser Glen Hobbie

There is an irony inherent in this card. Glen Hobbie is presented as "Batter Baffler" after a year in which he went 16-20 with a 3.97 ERA (95 ERA+), leading the league in earned runs allowed. However, he was the ace of that Cubs staff, having been conferred the honors of starting Opening Day.

On the text on the back of the card, it mentions his 16 wins in both 1959 and 1960 (while neglecting the 20 losses aspect). In addition, it mentions carrying a no-hitter into the 7th inning of a game against the Cardinals before it was broken up by that notorious hitmaker, Stan Musial.

Let's find out about that game a little bit more. According to the game logs for Hobbie's 1960 season.....I was unable to find it. So, there's a mystery. I wonder which year this start mentioned on this card occurred?

The real question with the entrants in this series is did he deserve this fate of ignominy for a starting pitcher?

I would classify only four of his losses as hard-luck losses (pitching a greater than 7 innings and allowing three runs or less). Surprisingly, three of his losses came as a relief pitcher (including two games he entered before the 7th inning). There were 9 losses in which he started the game and did not make it through the 5th inning.

His 2nd half was much better than his 1st half (3.09 ERA vs. 4.93 ERA) and he had a 1.41 ERA in his 16 wins vs. 6.05 ERA in his 20 losses.

I would say, on the whole, Hobbie had a season (high volume of starts and innings) on a losing team (the Cubs finished in 7th place) with an uneven performance which led to his plight.

Junior High Countdown: 82. 1996 Pacific Crown Collection

NOTE: I will be doing these out of order from now on because I don't like looking at all the sets I don't remember fondly first

I will admit this, I have a soft spot for 1996 Pacific because it's actually a brand I actively collected during those years. I may be one of the few people left on this blue, green, and brown earth still trying to hand collate this set. I am down to three cards: 117, 317, 382.

The Stats
Issued in a one series 450 card set, coming in a 36 pack box with 12 cards per pack. I believe the suggested retail price at the time was $1.99 per pack.
The Design
Pacific tried to position this in the same realm as Stadium Club and Fleer Ultra by using a full bleed design. The Pacific logo was conspicuous in the upper left. The team logo was at the lower left. In a nice touch, the player's last name was accented by team colors and the triple crown of Pacific. All hail the gold foil of the '90s.

The back was adorned in a primary team color with a headshot of the player in a fading halo. There was the previous year's stats and card copy in Spanish (large font) and English (small font)

The Rookies
There really weren't that many (I count 4 on the checklist). The most significant that I've heard of was Matt Lawton (remember him? traded for Roberto Alomar?)
The Inserts
These range from forgettable to flashy to iconic. (there are other insert sets as well.
Forgettable: Hometown Heroes, had the stars of the day on the checklist with the requisite amount of '90s gold foil (half the card)
Estrellas Latinas: black cards with gold foil in the background like lightning left no impression.
Flashy: Milestones: obscene amounts of blue foil and etching, you will be blinded by this card
Cramer's Choice: a rare insert that was prismatic and die-cut in the shape of a pyramid
Iconic: Gold-Crown Diecuts: this design begat a franchise that lasts to this day. Who doesn't like royalty in cards?


The Impact
I would say in terms of content there isn't much impact on future generations of card sets. The one lasting design feature that has maintained itself beyond Pacific's demise is the gold-crown diecut design as evidenced by even this year's Panini Crown Royale set. In addition, the Cramer's Choice inserts were pretty snazzy (though I haven't seen one in person). A case hit of an insert were pretty steep odds (1: 720 packs) and led to actual scarcity. Otherwise, it continued the 'mid-90s trend of full bleed photos with gold foil stamping.

Summary
1996 Pacific was a mid-level set that appealed to those who didn't want to chase two series of Stadium Club or be inundated with the inserts of Fleer Ultra. The Spanish language aspect of Pacific was appealing, but until 1996, the card stock did not lend itself to collectability and handling. This set was a precursor to the full-bore Pacific license of the 1998-2000 where they fully embraced the "locura" of paralleling the base set and took die-cutting to an unbelievable arena of whimsy. Luckily, this set only had die-cuts for the most desirable inserts and no parallels, so in the end, it was fairly collectible, though largely unpursued by a majority of collectors since Pacific had not distinguished itself before.

Wishes for the Holiday Season

NOTE: As with everything lately, I´m late posting this. Anyone recognize who this is an homage to?

If I had just one wish for this holiday season, I would wish all the collectors of the world would get together at one card show to sing "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" for harmony and peace.

If I had two wishes for this holiday season, I would wish for $100, 000 per week deposited in an anonymous bank account dedicated to the proposition that all collectibles should be collected and I should be the one to collect them. And of course, I would wish all the collectors of the world would get together at one card show to sing "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" for harmony and peace.

If I had three wishes for this holiday season, I would wish for a 31 day trip into the Topps vault, helped along by employees that I properly bribed into my idea. I´m sure my family would enjoy my disappearance for awhile as I emerge with wild eyes and babbling ideas about conspiracies in the hobby and then I drive them all into the same condition as they get the same paranoia about every other aspect of their lives. I would also wish for the money dedicated to that noble proposition mentioned before and most importantly, I would wish all the collectors of the world would get together at one card show to sing "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" for harmony and peace.

Wait a minute! Who are we kidding? How are we going to get all of the collectors of the world together? The logistics of the things will be impossible. There are only so many basements to check and so many people who would openly talk about such things. All right, so let´s reorder. First, the money...no wait, first the vault thing, then the money, and then the.....

Of course, I forgot about revenge against hobby scam artists! Ok, so that´s first...then, the vault and the paranoia, then the money, and then we will continue to strive to bring together all the collectors of the world at one card show to sing "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" for harmony and peace.

Happy Holidays!

(Possible) Tale of Shame: Cut Signatures of the 1927 Yankees

A historic first-time idea for a card left to nothing more than a bitter taste in the mouth. A fresh bloom shriveling into dust before its time has come. The tepid taste of swamp water.

The imagery may be a bit much, but the initial excitement of the pull of the 1927 Yankees lineup cut signature card has been severely tempered.

Since the card was pulled and issued out on auction, the allegations are clearly discussed here at haulsofshame.com.

Here's the prime passage.

-Babe Ruth forgeries are everywhere…..Sports Collectors Daily just advertised an embarassingly fake Ruth signature on a “2010 Topps Tribute” card, and alleges it features authentic signatures of the 1927 Yankees. Here’s the article: http://www.sportscollectorsdaily.com/1927-yankees-topps-tribute-card-pulled-consigned/ Billed as a “1-1 Legendary Lineups autograph book card,” the Topps product features horrible forgeries of both Ruth and Gehrig. Who authenticated this one? The experts we spoke to deemed them poorly executed forgeries. The card is being offered on EBAY by Beckett Select Auctions with a minimum bid of $20,000.

-A comment by Richard Simon on Net54 sums up the cut signature fiasco best. He said: “If Upper Deck can be stupid enough to use multiple forgeries in their cards, why can’t Topps be stupid too?”

For my part, I am not an expert and unable to distinguish a fake Babe Ruth or Lou Gehrig signature from an authentic one. However, if it turns out that these signatures on this "epic" card are forgeries, it is a major black eye for the industry and the one remaining licensed company by MLB (Topps). Upper Deck underwent a similar situation a couple of years ago and the embarrassment probably still stings more than anything else.

How can we as collectors trust that what we receive is authentic when they are not duly certified and verified by the manufacturers themselves? Enough care was given to make this card a redemption to not be restricted by pack-out schedules. Unfortunately, either Topps didn't do their due diligence or their authentication party and/or source did a disreputable job.

At the end of the day, it's collectors who are disheartened and bound to think twice about what comes out of a pack.

The Tristar Obak Want List (2009 and 2010)

I am now attacking with zeal the two releases of Tristar Obak. You saw one of the boxes opened right here in this very space many moons ago. Here is what remains.

2009 version

Base Set
18, 32, 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110, 111, 112, 113, 114

(is it just me or are the set numbers over 100 shortprinted?)

Mini Set
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 15, 18, 19, 23, 24, 29, 34, 36, 38, 46, 47, 55, 59, 61, 62, 63, 66, 67

2010 Version
Base Set
11, 110, 111, 112, 113, 114, 115, 116, 118, 119 ,120

Mini Set
1, 6, 7, 11, 13, 16, 17, 19, 20, 21, 32, 39, 41, 43, 44, 45

Breaking News: Cliff Lee has Returned to Philly!

We interrupt this lazy blogging month to bring you the news that the Phillies signed the prodigal son, Cliff Lee, to join the starting rotation for the 2011 season (and beyond). As reported by Jon Heyman of SI.com at this link, it is probable that Lee accepted a discount in both dollars and years compared to the reported bids by the Yankees and Rangers. It was reported that Lee took a liking to Philadelphia and his Phillies teammates during his time there in 2009.

What does this mean for the Phillies? Well, at first glance, it looks like the forming of a stacked rotation (and that is a not an adjective to throw around lightly) by name value and performance value (with the latter being infinitely more important). They will have the pitchers ranked 1, 2, 17, and 22 in the league over the last 3 years in WAR, and all are projectable to be in this range at least for 2011.

At second glance, it means someone's gotta go. Probably, Joe Blanton, he of the $8 million salary, for a couple of minor leaguers. As a 5th starter, Blanton is superfluous (though he is a grinder and a perfectly fine league average pitcher who can go about 6 innings per start) because of the presence of Kyle Kendrick and the possible emergence of Vance Worley. Also, they have a sudden need for an outfielder with the departure of Jayson Werth to either play full-time or be a platoon mate for Domonic Brown and/or Ben Francisco and/or Raul Ibanez (think the 1993 Phillies outfield arrangement).

Another possibility is that Ibanez is shipped out since he's in the last year of his contract, paying him $12 million for this year, or that Francisco is used to bring in a relief pitcher. If Amaro has proven one thing during his time as GM, it's that he's not shy about making deals with nearly any team in the league.

Let's just say that 2011 will be another potentially exciting year. Kudos to Amaro for pulling off a buzzworthy signing. And maybe the most underrated part of the whole deal is the return of a pitcher with the eminently rhythmic name of Clifton Phifer Lee.

Pyramid Contest: Tier 2 Results

Thanks to all for your comments. These years were really the sweet spot of my collecting years. I would say most of my cards(if I ever locate them all again) are from those 4 years. It's when it was permissible to get hobby boxes twice a year plus we made frequent visits to the Fort Washington Expo card show in PA (quarterly) and the mall shows in Neshaminy and Franklin Mills malls. Those were good times.

Here is the ballot of favorite sets by the commenteers:

93 Upper Deck: 4 votes
93 Topps: 2 votes
93 Kraft, 95 Emotion, 96 Emotion XL, 95 Bowman, 94 Flair, 94 Topps, 95 Collector's Choice: 1 vote

I apologize for the delay in getting this out because I was trying to figure out my new webcam, and I failed miserably. I could not get any sound to work. So, all you'll get is screenshots. I entered everyone in a list in random.org with the appropriate number of entries and did the randomization three times. The name on top Randomization 3 is the winner.

Randomization 1
List Randomizer

There were 22 items in your list. Here they are in random order:

1. BA Benny
2. BA Benny
3. dawgbones
4. Play at the Plate
5. night owl
6. Dustin
7. Brad
8. cubsfan731
9. BA Benny
10. Brad
11. Cam
12. Derek
13. cubsfan731
14. dawgbones
15. cubsfan731
16. Fuji
17. FanofReds
18. night owl
19. Play at the Plate
20. Play at the Plate
21. Dave
22. Spankee

Timestamp: 2010-12-07 07:07:02 UTC

Randomization 2
There were 22 items in your list. Here they are in random order:

1. cubsfan731
2. Brad
3. BA Benny
4. Derek
5. Fuji
6. Dustin
7. Cam
8. Spankee
9. Dave
10. BA Benny
11. Brad
12. dawgbones
13. dawgbones
14. FanofReds
15. cubsfan731
16. Play at the Plate
17. night owl
18. BA Benny
19. night owl
20. Play at the Plate
21. cubsfan731
22. Play at the Plate

Timestamp: 2010-12-07 07:08:18 UTC

Randomization 3
There were 22 items in your list. Here they are in random order:

1. cubsfan731
2. night owl
3. Dustin
4. dawgbones
5. Cam
6. BA Benny
7. Play at the Plate
8. BA Benny
9. cubsfan731
10. Derek
11. FanofReds
12. cubsfan731
13. BA Benny
14. Spankee
15. Dave
16. dawgbones
17. Brad
18. Play at the Plate
19. Fuji
20. night owl
21. Brad
22. Play at the Plate

Timestamp: 2010-12-07 07:09:00 UTC

Congratulations, cubsfan731! You are the winner of an unopened box of 1993 Flair. Please e-mail me your address and I will get the box out to you.

Thank you all for playing.

Tier 3 is on the horizon. That's where the Clay Dalrymple card will come in....really.

Card Spotlight: 1955 Bowman Robin Roberts

Just a reminder: the contest will run until this evening at 11:59 PM PST. Comment to win an unopened box of 1993 Fleer Flair.


What is a baseball card but a suspension of a moment in time? In days of yore, treetops lined the spring training fields as preparation began for a new season. Uniforms and faces change, but then return. The brisk wind of February blows on the heels of a winter gone in Florida as the flowering palm trees mark the arrival of hope and longing for the new season to begin.

Behold Robin Roberts wearing a blue undercovering to shield off the rust and the raingusts. Coming off a Cy Young-like year in 1954 (before the award existed), leading the NL in 10 various categories, Roberts exudes an air of focus and confidence as the first few spheroids are gently flung into the catcher's mitt as a remembrance of the spring/summer routine.

1955 Bowman is a landmark set, being the last before the Topps monopoly. It also captured the essence of the era with the television mock-up, celebrating the proliferation of color TV in the country. One image, one design, one moment captured in time.

non-HOF Profile Derby #17: Lou Whitaker

Just a reminder: the contest will run until Friday evening at 11:59 PM PST. Comment to win an unopened box of 1993 Fleer Flair.

Next, is one of part of a long-time keystone pairing in Detroit (and really a true HOF omission)Sweet Lou Whitaker.

Place on the WAR chart: : Below Johnny Bench and Billy Hamilton and above Brooks Robinson and Luke Appling. He is the 2nd highest rated eligible player (non-pitcher) not in the HOF.

Career Overview and Some Numbers:Played for the Tigers from 1977-1995 almost exclusively as a 2B. Won ROY in 1978. Also had 5 All-Star appearances, 3 Gold Gloves, and 4 Silver Sluggers. What defined him and maybe made him overlooked is that he never led the league in any one category (or finished in the top 10 very often). However, he only finished with an OPS+ below 100 once in a full season (incredible for a second baseman) and had 5 seasons of greater than 130 OPS+. Most similar players numbers-wise were Ryne Sandberg, Alan Trammell, and Roberto Alomar.



Best Season:Hard to say really, since he didn't have standout seasons, but really a long string of good to great seasons. How about 1983: Hit .320/.380/.457 (133 OPS+) with 94 R, 12 HR, 72 R, 40 2B and 67 BB: 70 K.

The Final Numbers:: .276/.363/.426 (116 OPS+) with 1386 R, 420 2B, 244 HR, 1084 RBI and 1197:1099 BB:K

Why He Should be Remembered:: Steadiness as a good-to-great player is easily forgotten when it comes to HOF voting. Second baseman with his stats are not common. Especially, uncommon is the longevity with which he was able to maintain his level of performance. Witness the career path of Roberto Alomar or Ryne Sandberg(higher peaks and steeper declines than Whitaker). Also, was a great fielding 2B, accumulating more defensive WAR over his career than Ryne Sandberg with a higher range factor. Was also a key figure on the historically great 1984 Tigers team.

HOF Balloting Performance:one year on the ballot with 2.9% vote in 2001.
Rookie Card:: 1978 Topps #704
Modern Cards:: 2001 Topps Archives Auto, 2002 Stadium Club World Champion relic,