Completed insert set – 1998 Topps Roberto Clemente Reprints

I’ve still got a ton of completed set posts to go through, but on New Year’s Eve, this set seems like the most appropriate.  43 years ago today, Roberto Clemente died while on a flight to bring relief aid to victims of a massive earthquake in Nicaragua.

Info about the set:

Set description:  Clemente was the 3rd historic player honored with a reprint set (after Mickey Mantle in ’96 and Willie Mays in ’97).  Clemente was a good choice, as 1998 marked 25 years since his tragic death.  This set had reprints of the full run of his base Topps cards during his career.  Reprints of his 19 regular cards from 1955-1973 were issued across both series.  The 10 odd years come in series 1, while the 9 even years come in series 2.  There is a gold Clemente logo, created just for this set.

Set composition:  19 cards, 1:18 odds (1998 Topps series 1, 2)

Hall of Famers:  1 – just Clemente.  None of his multi-player cards are included.

How I put the set together:

• 4 cards from my 2 1998 hobby boxes
• 5 cards from Beckett Marketplace
• 10 cards from COMC

Card that completed my set:  #18 – 1972 Topps

I bought the last cards I needed from COMC back in May.

Thoughts on the set:  Retro sets are everywhere you look these days, but in 1998 there weren’t that many, and they were almost all reprints.  This wasn’t the first set like this, but it was still a great idea at this point in time.

Best card (my opinion):  #19 – 1973 Topps

The 1972 card is probably my favorite photo, but the 1973 card is great as well.  And there’s something awesome about seeing exactly 3,000 hits on the back of the card.

My Favorite Reds card:  There are none (obviously).

2015 Card of the Year!!!

That card at the top, from 2015 Topps Update, is not my choice for card of the year.  Close, though.

As I mentioned in my last post, my card of the year and runner-up were centric to this blog.  I thought about other cards, which I talked about in the last post.  But the 2 cards I thought were the coolest in 2015 had a connection to my blog.  Yesterday’s runner-up was George Brett’s Stadium Club card.

Today’s winner for card of the year is a card I just got.  It’s related to the set I started collecting from 2015 Topps Update called “All-Star Stitches”.  I went to the All-Star Game and the Home Run Derby in Cincinnati this year.  The Derby in particular was the coolest sporting event I’ve ever been to.  MLB changed the rules, and they really got it right in making the Derby as exciting as possible.  From there, Todd Frazier put on a show that I’ll always remember, so his card from the relic set is my winner this year.  It’s (allegedly) got a piece of his jersey from that day, of course!

I don’t own the card above, but the next I find will be 6th card of the set.  What I do own is an even better version, which is the card of the year for me and this blog!

It’s the autographed version, numbered out of 25.  I bought it on eBay as a hospital present for myself earlier in December.  It was about 50 bucks, which doesn’t seem too bad to me.  Frazier has since been traded as the Reds are in full-on rebuilding mode.  That doesn’t change how I feel about last year’s All-Star game festivities, or this card.

This is the 5th year I’ve done a card of the year.  Here were the others:

2014: Stadium Club – David Ortiz

2013: Topps Heritage Real One Autograph – Stan Musial

2012: Gypsy Queen Autograph – Ken Griffey, Jr.

2011: Topps – Jay Bruce

2015 Card of the Year runner-up

I’ll warn you in advance, this year both my card of the year and the runner-up are very centric to this blog.  I thought this was actually a very good year as far as baseball cards go.  Topps issued its first set without white borders in what seems like forever, and I thought the design was phenomenal.  They also increased the set size, which was a great move in my opinion.  Stadium Club was back for the 2nd straight year, and was completely awesome again.  Archives, Heritage and Gypsy Queen were about what you’d expect from Topps; they aren’t doing anything ground breaking but are sticking with what works.  Ginter seemed like it was too focused on the 10th anniversary.

So my 2 picks are coming from those first 2 sets.  I think if I picked set of the year, I’d probably go with Topps just because I was ecstatic with the design.  Add a great crop of young players, and it was a great set to collect (though the inserts were a bit blah for me).  And then I’d go with Stadium Club, because the photos are just phenomenal.  And I’d go back and forth trying to decide.

Anyways, the runner-up card is going to come from Stadium Club.  About a year ago, I started doing a series of posts about baseball tunes.  It’s called Tuesday Tunes: Diamond Ditties.  The first one was a pop song by Lorde, called Royals.  Not what you’d think of as far as a baseball song, but I was intrigued by the upstart (at the time) Royals and how they were playing that song at the games.  Then I learned she’d written in when she saw this picture:

This was an iconic photo of Brett from, of all magazines, the National Geographic.

Fast forward to this year’s Stadium Club set.  What card did they include?  My 2015 runner-up card of the year.

I posted about this set because I thought the picture and the story behind it were so great, as well as the fact that this pop singer who knew nothing about baseball had been inspired to write a #1 hit song by it.

A few other cards I considered:

• Topps – Derek Jeter.  It was card #1 of the set, which is his final base Topps card and shows him in the walk-off hit he had in his last game at Yankee Stadium
• Topps – Kris Bryant.  Archives is the rookie card for Bryant that got more pub because it was unnecessarily short-printed.  But this is one of the nicest cards in the set.  Not only is it Bryant’s Topps rookie card, but you can see the new Wrigley Field video board in the background.  That was a very notable development in baseball.
• Stadium Club – Ernie Banks.  It shows him getting the Presidential Medal of Freedom back in 2013.  Last year, my card of the year actually had Obama on it, with David Ortiz.
• Gypsy Queen Throwbacks – Nelson Cruz.  A set devoted entirely to throwback uniforms, and Cruz is shown with a really cool Black Sox jersey.
• Gypsy Queen Walk-off Winners – Ken Griffey Jr.  Junior’s slide into home in the 1995 ALDS to beat the Yankees in game 5.  The coolest card of a cool set.

Check out my next post for the winner…

The Obtained Ocho

I hope everyone had (and is having) a great holiday season!

In honor of the best time of year (at least the best time of year when it’s cold) – I’m going to start a new feature on this blog, and this post is the first post for that feature.  This is going to be centered around the cards in my collection that seem to be taking me the longest to find.  I’ve seen a number of bloggers do a similar feature where they put extra emphasis on a few cards from their wantlist.  Eight sounds like a good number.  Not too many – putting 12 cards on a list like this would probably not be much different from just being on my wantlist.

I’m going to call mine the “Elusive Eight”.

But that’s not today’s post.  Because today’s post is about the eight cards that I maybe would have put on the list earlier this year.  But I made a bunch of purchases on Black Friday, so I now have these cards.

I’m going to call these the “Obtained Ocho”.

Most of these are going to lead to completed set posts sometime in early 2016.  Here’s those cards, in order of how excited I was to finally find these cards.

2000 Topps Perennial All-Stars #6 – Nomar Garciaparra

I got this one from COMC.  This card I’ve been hunting for quite a while, but not as long as the two below.  But finishing up a card set from 2000 is still pretty good.

1998 Topps Interleague Mystery Finest #16 – Tim Salmon

The Elusive Eight will have 2 criteria when I get it started in the next few days.  It will be cards that I’ve been hunting for a long time, and I should be very close to completing the relevant set.  This certainly meets the first criteria; I first posted about 1998 Topps in late August 2013.  It’s been 2+ years that I’ve been trying to finish off this insert set.

The other criteria is that it can’t be more than 2 or 3 cards from the same set.  This card meets that criteria quite as well – it was the only one I purchased, and it finished off the set for me.  I got this card from Beckett Marketplace.

2011 Allen & Ginter Glossy Exclusives #AGS5 – Anthony Rizzo

This was a card I got from a Sportlots dealer.  I’ve been trying to finish this set off for a while – the Ginter Glossy cards came out as a bonus for the glossy factory set in December 2011.  That’s a long time, though it’s not like I haven’t seen this card around.  I was just unwilling to pull the trigger because I couldn’t find a decent price.  I finally found one on Sportlots for $5, which wasn’t great, but was fair.  I also purchased 2 cards for this set earlier this year, so it hasn’t been down to 1 card for all that long.  Still – a very good purchase to knock this off the wantlist.

2011 Goodwin World Travelers #ET7 – Great Pyramids of Giza

2011 Goodwin World Travelers #ET21 – Na Pali Coast

This was 2 cards needed to complete a set.  I got one of these cards from Beckett Marketplace, another from Sportlots.  They each cost about $5.  I’m happy to be done with this 50-card, multi-year set.  The World Traveler postcards came as box toppers in 2011 and 2012 Goodwin Champions.  I bought my 2011 Goodwin boxes back in July or August of 2011 – so I’ve been trying to finish this set for longer than anything on this list.  And I’ve been sitting on just these 2 for over a year.

But the real reason these cards are nearer to the top of the list has to do with what it’s been holding up.  This didn’t only finish one master set – I’ve been waiting on completion of 2 master sets for these cards.  You see, the World Traveler set spanned 2011 and 2012, so I haven’t been able to post “completed insert set” for this.  And since it’s been the only Goodwin insert set in 2011 or 2012 that I hadn’t finished – it was holding off posting about the completed master set as well!

I haven’t been to the Great Pyramids, but I did go to the Na Pali Coast on Kaua’i during my honeymoon.  It’s as beautiful as the pictures above make it seem.

1995 Topps League Leaders #LL44 – Chuck Knoblauch

OK, so this one is probably less rare than any other card on this set, but it’s near the top for a few reasons.  First, it’s very central to my Lifetime Topps project.  It was the last League Leaders card I needed for almost a year.  And, finally, I was just shocked at how difficult it was to find this card!  I had an automatic eBay search set up.  It looks like it’s only sold once in the past 2 years on COMC.  And I checked Beckett and Sportlots fairly regularly.  I finally found one on Beckett’s Marketplace.  Despite the fact that I didn’t get anything else from that seller, I was fine to pay $2.50 shipping just to get this elusive card!  It has been 20 years, but I just didn’t expect a card from this set to be so tough to come by!

One more thing to add – I think the Knoblauch card may be the best in the whole set.  The dust flying up really goes well with that design.

1995 Topps Pre-Production Spectralite #PP4 – Sandy Alomar

In almost any list this would be the card I’m most excited about.  It was tough to knock it down to #2.  These cards are impossible to find!  For those who don’t know, in 1995 there was a promo set of 9 cards created.  However, those 9 cards came in packs of 10!  The extra card was a “spectralite” version that previewed the technology used on the 1995 Topps Cyberstats parallels.  While the regular cards aren’t that difficult to find, it’s pretty damn hard to find these parallel versions.  I’ve gone to pretty significant lengths to find these.  Earlier this year, I actually bought 3 promo packs blind in an eBay auction, in hopes that I would randomly find at least one I needed.  That worked – I got my 5th card of the set.  It’s also been very challenging to find the Mike Piazza, because the picture has a dark background.  I’ve had many scans where I couldn’t tell – it might be the spectralite version of Piazza.  I did get that card earlier this year.  So I was down to 3 cards left, and after this card popped up on COMC a few months ago, I pounced on it.  I waited to have it shipped until the Black Friday promotion.

And the most elusive card this year….

2011 Topps Heritage NSCC Promo #DC2 – Dee Gordon

This card isn’t part of my Lifetime Topps Project, and it doesn’t even finish the 2011 Topps Heritage Master set (though it puts me one card away).  However, it did finish off these promos for me.  The 5 cards to this set were given out at the 2011 National Sports Collector’s Convention in Chicago.  I didn’t live here yet, so I didn’t attend, and I didn’t get these cards.  This card beats out the Spectralite promo because it’s been just as difficult to find, and it’s super rare.  I have been looking for this card specifically for a very long time (I was able to find the other 4 more easily than I would have thought).  I think I did see an extremely overpriced version at some point, but this I found from a Beckett Marketplace seller for $12.  That’s not cheap, but I would have probably paid twice that because I just haven’t seen it much.  Add to that – 1962 Topps is probably my favorite Topps set, and 2011 Heritage is thus my favorite retro set.

In early 2016, I’m going to figure out the 8 cards to put on my first “Elusive Eight”…

2015 All-Star Stitches #5: Anthony Rizzo

Merry Christmas!  This is the last of 3 posts from an eBay lot I purchased.  As a reminder, I went to the All-Star game and Home Run Derby in Cincinnati.  The All-Star Stitches cards from that have swatches from 2015 Topps Update the Monday practice festivities.  Since I went, I naturally want to get all these cards!

This is my third National League player, my 5th card overall.  It’s my second starter for the game, though both starters were named by the manager, so I haven’t had a starter who was voted in yet.

Rizzo is my first Home Run Derby Participant.

Card number:  STIT-AR

Player:  Anthony Rizzo

How I got the card:  from an eBay lot of 3

Position:  Designated Hitter

How he made the roster:  Rizzo was voted in by the players as a reserve first baseman.  He was later tabbed by manager Bruce Bochy as the starting DH, since the NL vote doesn’t capture that.

This was his 2nd All-Star selection.

First half stat line:  .298/16/48, .413 OBP, .542 SLG

Home Run Derby:  Rizzo was the 6-seed in the derby for the 16 homers he had as of July 7th.  He lost to Josh Donaldson, 9-8, in the first round.

All-Star game:  0-2.  Rizzo didn’t do much at the plate.  He grounded out to first against Dallas Keuchel in the 2nd inning, then flew to center in the bottom of the 5th.  Troy Tulowitzki pinch hit for him the next inning.

*********************

STIT-AB A.J. Burnett – Pittsburgh Pirates
STIT-AC Aroldis Chapman – Cincinnati Reds
STIT-AE Alcides Escobar – Kansas City Royals
STIT-AGN Adrian Gonzalez – Los Angeles Dodgers
STIT-AJ Adam Jones – Baltimore Orioles
STIT-AM Andrew McCutchen – Pittsburgh Pirates
STIT-APO A.J. Pollock – Arizona Diamondbacks
STIT-APU Albert Pujols – Los Angeles Angels
STIT-AR Anthony Rizzo – Chicago Cubs
STIT-BB Brad Boxberger – Tampa Bay Rays
STIT-BC Brandon Crawford – San Francisco Giants
STIT-BD Brian Dozier – Minnesota Twins
STIT-BG Brett Gardner – New York Yankees
STIT-BHA Bryce Harper – Washington Nationals
STIT-BHO Brock Holt – Boston Red Sox
STIT-BP Buster Posey – San Francisco Giants
STIT-CA Chris Archer – Tampa Bay Rays
STIT-CK Clayton Kershaw – Los Angeles Dodgers
STIT-CM Carlos Martinez – St. Louis Cardinals
STIT-CS Chris Sale – Chicago White Sox
STIT-DB Dellin Betances – New York Yankees
STIT-DK Dallas Keuchel – Houston Astros
STIT-DL DJ LeMahieu – Colorado Rockies
STIT-DO Darren O’Day – Baltimore Orioles
STIT-DP David Price – Detroit Tigers
STIT-FH Felix Hernandez – Seattle Mariners
STIT-GC Gerrit Cole – Pittsburgh Pirates
STIT-GP Glen Perkins – Minnesota Twins
STIT-JA Jose Altuve – Houston Astros
STIT-JDE Jacob deGrom – New York Mets

STIT-JDO Josh Donaldson – Toronto Blue Jays
STIT-JK Jason Kipnis – Cleveland Indians
STIT-JM J.D. Martinez – Detroit Tigers
STIT-JPA Joe Panik – San Francisco Giants
STIT-JPD Joc Pederson – Los Angeles Dodgers
STIT-JPE Jhonny Peralta – St. Louis Cardinals
STIT-JU Justin Upton – San Diego Padres
STIT-KB Kris Bryant – Chicago Cubs
STIT-KH Kelvin Herrera – Kansas City Royals
STIT-LC Lorenzo Cain – Kansas City Royals
STIT-MB Madison Bumgarner – San Francisco Giants
STIT-MMA Manny Machado – Baltimore Orioles
STIT-MME Mark Melancon – Pittsburgh Pirates
STIT-MTE Mark Teixeira – New York Yankees
STIT-MTR Mike Trout – Los Angeles Angels
STIT-NA Nolan Arenado – Colorado Rockies
STIT-NC Nelson Cruz – Seattle Mariners
STIT-PF Prince Fielder – Texas Rangers
STIT-PG Paul Goldschmidt – Arizona Diamondbacks
STIT-RM Russell Martin – Toronto Blue Jays
STIT-SM Shelby Miller – Atlanta Braves
STIT-SP Salvador Perez – Kansas City Royals
STIT-SV Stephen Vogt – Oakland Athletics
STIT-TF Todd Frazier – Cincinnati Reds
STIT-TT Troy Tulowitzki – Colorado Rockies
STIT-WD Wade Davis – Kansas City Royals
STIT-YG Yasmani Grandal – Los Angeles Dodgers
STIT-YM Yadier Molina – St. Louis Cardinals
STIT-ZB Zach Britton – Baltimore Orioles
STIT-ZG Zack Greinke – Los Angeles Dodgers

2015 All-Star Stitches #4: Adam Jones

This is the 2nd of 3 posts from an eBay lot I purchased.  As a reminder, I went to the All-Star game and Home Run Derby in Cincinnati.  The All-Star Stitches cards from that have swatches from 2015 Topps Update the Monday practice festivities.  Since I went, I naturally want to get all these cards!

This is my second American League player, my 4th card overall.  It’s also my first starter from the game (though he wasn’t voted in).

I forgot to mention it yesterday, but I’m obviously in the market for these.  Anyone who has these – I’m game for a trade!!!!

Card number:  STIT-AJ

How I got the card:  from an eBay lot of 3

Player:  Adam Jones

Position:  Outfield

How he made the roster:  Jones was voted in by the players as a reserve outfielder.  He was later tabbed by manager Ned Yost as the replacement for Alex Gordon, who had pulled his groin, as the starting left fielder.

This was his 5th All-Star selection.

First half stat line:  .281/14/43, .326 OBP, .490 SLG

All-Star game:  0-2, 1K.  Jones didn’t do too much at the plate.  He struck out against Zach Greinke in the 2nd inning, then flew to right against Madison Bumgarner in the 4th.  Brett Gardner (who was Gordon’s roster injury replacement) pinch hit for him in the 5th.

*********************

STIT-AB A.J. Burnett – Pittsburgh Pirates
STIT-AC Aroldis Chapman – Cincinnati Reds
STIT-AE Alcides Escobar – Kansas City Royals
STIT-AGN Adrian Gonzalez – Los Angeles Dodgers
STIT-AJ Adam Jones – Baltimore Orioles
STIT-AM Andrew McCutchen – Pittsburgh Pirates
STIT-APO A.J. Pollock – Arizona Diamondbacks
STIT-APU Albert Pujols – Los Angeles Angels
STIT-AR Anthony Rizzo – Chicago Cubs
STIT-BB Brad Boxberger – Tampa Bay Rays
STIT-BC Brandon Crawford – San Francisco Giants
STIT-BD Brian Dozier – Minnesota Twins
STIT-BG Brett Gardner – New York Yankees
STIT-BHA Bryce Harper – Washington Nationals
STIT-BHO Brock Holt – Boston Red Sox
STIT-BP Buster Posey – San Francisco Giants
STIT-CA Chris Archer – Tampa Bay Rays
STIT-CK Clayton Kershaw – Los Angeles Dodgers
STIT-CM Carlos Martinez – St. Louis Cardinals
STIT-CS Chris Sale – Chicago White Sox
STIT-DB Dellin Betances – New York Yankees
STIT-DK Dallas Keuchel – Houston Astros
STIT-DL DJ LeMahieu – Colorado Rockies
STIT-DO Darren O’Day – Baltimore Orioles
STIT-DP David Price – Detroit Tigers
STIT-FH Felix Hernandez – Seattle Mariners
STIT-GC Gerrit Cole – Pittsburgh Pirates
STIT-GP Glen Perkins – Minnesota Twins
STIT-JA Jose Altuve – Houston Astros
STIT-JDE Jacob deGrom – New York Mets

STIT-JDO Josh Donaldson – Toronto Blue Jays
STIT-JK Jason Kipnis – Cleveland Indians
STIT-JM J.D. Martinez – Detroit Tigers
STIT-JPA Joe Panik – San Francisco Giants
STIT-JPD Joc Pederson – Los Angeles Dodgers
STIT-JPE Jhonny Peralta – St. Louis Cardinals
STIT-JU Justin Upton – San Diego Padres
STIT-KB Kris Bryant – Chicago Cubs
STIT-KH Kelvin Herrera – Kansas City Royals
STIT-LC Lorenzo Cain – Kansas City Royals
STIT-MB Madison Bumgarner – San Francisco Giants
STIT-MMA Manny Machado – Baltimore Orioles
STIT-MME Mark Melancon – Pittsburgh Pirates
STIT-MTE Mark Teixeira – New York Yankees
STIT-MTR Mike Trout – Los Angeles Angels
STIT-NA Nolan Arenado – Colorado Rockies
STIT-NC Nelson Cruz – Seattle Mariners
STIT-PF Prince Fielder – Texas Rangers
STIT-PG Paul Goldschmidt – Arizona Diamondbacks
STIT-RM Russell Martin – Toronto Blue Jays
STIT-SM Shelby Miller – Atlanta Braves
STIT-SP Salvador Perez – Kansas City Royals
STIT-SV Stephen Vogt – Oakland Athletics
STIT-TF Todd Frazier – Cincinnati Reds
STIT-TT Troy Tulowitzki – Colorado Rockies
STIT-WD Wade Davis – Kansas City Royals
STIT-YG Yasmani Grandal – Los Angeles Dodgers
STIT-YM Yadier Molina – St. Louis Cardinals
STIT-ZB Zach Britton – Baltimore Orioles
STIT-ZG Zack Greinke – Los Angeles Dodgers

2015 All-Star Stitches #3: Brett Gardner

I went to the All-Star game and Home Run Derby in Cincinnati.  The All-Star Stitches cards from that have swatches from 2015 Topps Update the Monday practice festivities.  Since I went, I naturally want to get all these cards!

I recently bought a lot of 3 cards on eBay for my collection.  I’m only doing 1 card for post, so the next 3 days will be these posts.  This is my first American League player, my 3rd card overall.

Card number:  STIT-BG

How I got the card:  from an eBay lot of 3

Player:  Brett Gardner

Position:  Outfield

How he made the roster:  Gardner was an injury replacement, added for Alex Gordon who was voted in the starting lineup but injured his groin just before the game.  Gardner was a final vote candidate, but was removed from that list and added to the team when Gordon got hurt.

This was his 1st All-Star selection.

First half stat line:  .302/10/42, .377 OBP, .484 SLG, 15 SB

All-Star game:  0-2, 2K.  Gardner pinch hit for Adam Jones (who coincidentally will be my next post) in the top of the 5th.  He struck out against Clayton Kershaw, leaving runners on 2nd and 3rd.  He also struck out against Mark Melancon leading off the top of the 8th.

*********************

STIT-AB A.J. Burnett – Pittsburgh Pirates
STIT-AC Aroldis Chapman – Cincinnati Reds
STIT-AE Alcides Escobar – Kansas City Royals
STIT-AGN Adrian Gonzalez – Los Angeles Dodgers
STIT-AJ Adam Jones – Baltimore Orioles
STIT-AM Andrew McCutchen – Pittsburgh Pirates
STIT-APO A.J. Pollock – Arizona Diamondbacks
STIT-APU Albert Pujols – Los Angeles Angels
STIT-AR Anthony Rizzo – Chicago Cubs
STIT-BB Brad Boxberger – Tampa Bay Rays
STIT-BC Brandon Crawford – San Francisco Giants
STIT-BD Brian Dozier – Minnesota Twins
STIT-BG Brett Gardner – New York Yankees
STIT-BHA Bryce Harper – Washington Nationals
STIT-BHO Brock Holt – Boston Red Sox
STIT-BP Buster Posey – San Francisco Giants
STIT-CA Chris Archer – Tampa Bay Rays
STIT-CK Clayton Kershaw – Los Angeles Dodgers
STIT-CM Carlos Martinez – St. Louis Cardinals
STIT-CS Chris Sale – Chicago White Sox
STIT-DB Dellin Betances – New York Yankees
STIT-DK Dallas Keuchel – Houston Astros
STIT-DL DJ LeMahieu – Colorado Rockies
STIT-DO Darren O’Day – Baltimore Orioles
STIT-DP David Price – Detroit Tigers
STIT-FH Felix Hernandez – Seattle Mariners
STIT-GC Gerrit Cole – Pittsburgh Pirates
STIT-GP Glen Perkins – Minnesota Twins
STIT-JA Jose Altuve – Houston Astros
STIT-JDE Jacob deGrom – New York Mets

STIT-JDO Josh Donaldson – Toronto Blue Jays
STIT-JK Jason Kipnis – Cleveland Indians
STIT-JM J.D. Martinez – Detroit Tigers
STIT-JPA Joe Panik – San Francisco Giants
STIT-JPD Joc Pederson – Los Angeles Dodgers
STIT-JPE Jhonny Peralta – St. Louis Cardinals
STIT-JU Justin Upton – San Diego Padres
STIT-KB Kris Bryant – Chicago Cubs
STIT-KH Kelvin Herrera – Kansas City Royals
STIT-LC Lorenzo Cain – Kansas City Royals
STIT-MB Madison Bumgarner – San Francisco Giants
STIT-MMA Manny Machado – Baltimore Orioles
STIT-MME Mark Melancon – Pittsburgh Pirates
STIT-MTE Mark Teixeira – New York Yankees
STIT-MTR Mike Trout – Los Angeles Angels
STIT-NA Nolan Arenado – Colorado Rockies
STIT-NC Nelson Cruz – Seattle Mariners
STIT-PF Prince Fielder – Texas Rangers
STIT-PG Paul Goldschmidt – Arizona Diamondbacks
STIT-RM Russell Martin – Toronto Blue Jays
STIT-SM Shelby Miller – Atlanta Braves
STIT-SP Salvador Perez – Kansas City Royals
STIT-SV Stephen Vogt – Oakland Athletics
STIT-TF Todd Frazier – Cincinnati Reds
STIT-TT Troy Tulowitzki – Colorado Rockies
STIT-WD Wade Davis – Kansas City Royals
STIT-YG Yasmani Grandal – Los Angeles Dodgers
STIT-YM Yadier Molina – St. Louis Cardinals
STIT-ZB Zach Britton – Baltimore Orioles
STIT-ZG Zack Greinke – Los Angeles Dodgers

My 2004 All-Star selections and Silver Slugger comparison

My opinion of the best player at each position in each league.  For pitchers, I pick 3 starters and 1 reliever.  I do include a DH. Here’s the 2004 version:

My NL All-Stars:  C – Jason Kendall, PIT (.319/3/51)

1B – Albert Pujols, STL (.331/46/123, 133 R, 1.072 OPS)

2B – Mark Loretta, SDP (.335/16/76)

3B – Adrian Beltre, LAD (.334/48/121, 200 H)

SS – Jimmy Rollins, PHI (.289/14/73, 12 3B, 30 SB)

OF – Barry Bonds, OF, SFG Barry Bonds, OF, San Francisco Giants (.362/45/101, 232 BB – MLB record, 120 IBB – MLB record, .609 OBP – MLB record, .812 SLG, 1.422 OPS – MLB record, MVP)

OF – Jim Edmonds, STL (.301/42/111)

OF – J.D. Drew ATL (.305/31/93, 118 R)

SP – Randy Johnson, ARI (16-14/2.60/290, 4 CG, 2 SHO)

SP – Roger Clemens, HOU (18-4/2.98/218, Cy Young)

SP – Ben Sheets, MIL (12-14/2.70/264, 5 CG)

RP – Brad Lidge, HOU (6-5/1.90/157, 29 SV)

Shortstop was a tough position to pick – Jack Wilson could have easily been slotted in for Rollins.  Outfield was almost as tough, too – as Bobby Abreu had a 30-30 season and Juan Pierre had over 220 hits.  You could slot either of those guys in for Drew and I wouldn’t argue.  Pitcher was also tough after Randy Johnson.  Johnson should have matched Roger Clemens for his 6th Cy Young award.  He finished 2nd in the vote, behind Clemens, won his 7th award.  But Carlos Zambrano, Carl Pavano or Jason Schmidt all had a good case to be in the top 3 pitchers.

Scott Rolen also had a really notable year.  He was one of the best 4 players in the NL, but Beltre had a slightly better year at third base.

My AL All-Stars: C – Ivan Rodriguez, DET (.334/19/86)

1B – Mark Teixeira, TEX (.281/38/112)

2B – Juan Uribe CHW (.283/23/74)

3B – Alex Rodriguez, NYY (.286/36/106)

SS – Miguel Tejada, BAL (.311/34/150)

OF – Ichiro Suzuki, SEA (.372/8/60, 262 H – MLB record, 36 SB)

OF – Manny Ramirez, BOS (.308/43/130, .613 SLG)

OF – Vladimir Guerrero, ANA (.337/39/126, 124 R, MVP)

DH – David Ortiz, BOS (.301/41/139)

SP – Johan Santana, MIN (20-6/2.61/265, Cy Young)

SP – Curt Schilling, BOS (21-6/3.26/203)

SP – Pedro Martinez, BOS (16-9/3.90/227)

RP – Mariano Rivera, NYY (4-2/1.94/63, 53 SV)

Starting pitcher was also tough in the American League.  But not for the same reason as in the senior circuit.  Pedro felt like he was the best choice among a number of good-not-great candidates.  The other positions weren’t too particularly difficult.  It felt like Gary Sheffield was in the argument to be picked over Manny or Vlad, but I think they are the right decisions.

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NL Silver Slugger: C – Johnny Estrada (.314/9/76), 1B – Pujols, 2B – Loretta, 3B – Beltre, SS – Jack Wilson (.308/11/59, 12 3B), OF – Bonds, Edmonds, Bobby Abreu (.301/30/105, 40 SB), P – Livan Hernandez (.247/1/10)

As I mentioned above, Abreu could have been considered over Drew.  Drew was better defensively, which is a big reason why I picked him for my “all-star” team (whereas for Silver Sluggers, defense has nothing to do with the award).  The decision between Rollins and Jack Wilson could be considered a toss-up.

AL Silver Sluggers: C – Rodriguez & Victor Martinez CLE (.283/23/108), 1B – Teixeira, 2B – Alfonso Soriano TEX (.280/28/91), 3B – Melvin Mora BAL (.340/27/104, .419 OBP), SS – Tejada, OF – Guerrero, Ramirez, Gary Sheffield NYY (.290/36/121), DH – Ortiz

Victor Martinez and Pudge Rodriguez shared the Silver Slugger award at catcher – the only time in the history of the award there has been a tie.  Melvin Mora was an interesting choice – he had a really good year, the best of his career.  I’m sure the .340 average stuck out to silver slugger voters, and there was probably some A-Rod backlash.  Sheffield was a good choice, I thought there were 4 deserving outfielders.

 

2004 Cincinnati Reds season

The 2004 Reds started off with plenty of promise.  Ken Griffey Jr. was healthy for the first half of the season.  Sean Casey was hitting well above .300.  Adam Dunn was mashing home runs.  A young Ryan Freel was stealing bases and giving spark at the top of the lineup.  The starting lineup looked pretty solid with a young Aaron Harang and Paul Wilson leading the way.  The bullpen was solid behind Danny Graves and Todd Jones.

Griffey, Casey, Graves and Barry Larkin made the All-Star game that year.  Though the Cardinals had pretty much put the division out of reach, the Reds (47-41) were only 1.5 games out of the Wild Card at the All-Star break.   A strong 2nd half could have meant a playoff berth.

The biggest moment of the season in St. Louis on Father’s Day.  With his dad at the game, Griffey connected for the 500th homer of his career.

That was the 19th homer, and unfortunately, he’d hit only 1 more the rest of the year.  And the Reds’ fortunes turned for the worse.  Griffey had a partial hamstring tear the day before the All-Star break and couldn’t play in the game.  The Reds went into a slide at that point, losing 11 of 12 at the end of July.  A month later, Griffey came back, but he tore his hamstring completely off the bone in his first game back and was done for the season (this injury, more than any of his others, came the closest to putting his career in doubt).

The second half became a complete tailspin.  They finished the season with a 76-86 record, 29 games behind the Cardinals and 16 games back of the Astros for the Wild Card.

Dunn and Casey were the 2 bright spots of the 2nd half – both finished with some impressive numbers.  Casey hit .324 for the year, nearly matching his career bests with 24 homers, 99 RBI and 101 runs scored.

Dunn’s season was even more notable.  He smashed 46 homers, walked 108 times, knocking in 102 runs and scoring 105.  Unfortunately, he had a more dubious distinction.  Dunn struck out 195 times, which broke the previous single season record of 189 held by Bobby Bonds.  He also hit one of the farthest homers in recent times.  On August 10th he hit a ball that left the stadium in center field and rolled into the Ohio River.  The river is (officially) part of Kentucky, so this is (somewhat unofficially) the only ball in baseball history to land in a different state.  It’s the longest ball in the history of Great American Ballpark, and probably in all of Cincinnati baseball history.  You can’t fully appreciate it in the video below due to the camera work, but I figured it’s still worth showing it.

Team MVP:  Adam Dunn (.266/46/102)

Best Pitcher:  Paul Wilson (11-6/4.36/117)

Award Winners:

none

All-Stars:

Sean Casey, Barry Larkin, Ken Griffey Jr., Danny Graves

2004 Season – statistics

All-Star Game:  AL over NL, 9-4 at Minute Maid Park in Houston, TX     (Alfonso Soriano, MVP)

Home Run Derby:  Miguel Tejada 27 – beat Lance Berkman, 5-4 in the final     (AL over NL, 47-41)

ALDS:  New York Yankees over Minnesota Twins, 3-1

Boston Red Sox over Anaheim Angles, 3-0

NLDS:  Houston Astros over Atlanta Braves, 3-2

St. Louis Cardinals over Los Angeles Dodgers, 3-1

ALCS:  Red Sox over Yankees, 4-3

NLCS:  Cardinals over Astros, 4-3

World Series:  Red Sox over Cardinals, 4-0

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MVP:  AL – Vlad Guerrero, OF, Anaheim Angles (.337/39/126, 206 H, 124 R)

NL – Barry Bonds, OF, San Francisco Giants (.362/45/101, 232 BB – MLB record, 120 IBB – MLB record, .609 OBP – MLB record, .812 SLG, 1.422 OPS – MLB record)

Cy Young:  AL – Johan Santana, SP, Minnesota Twins (20-6/2.61/265)

NL – Roger Clemens, SP, Houston Astros (18-4/2.98/218)

RoY:  AL – Bobby Crosby, SS, Oakland A’s (.239/22/64)

NL – Jason Bay, OF, Pittsburgh Pirates (.282/26/82)

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MLB Amateur Draft:

Matt Bush, SS, SDP (1st overall pick)

Justin Verlander, P, DET (1st #2) – 6x All-Star, 2006 AL RoY, 2011 AL MVP & Cy Young, 24 wins in 2011, 2x leader in wins, 157 career W, 3x strikeout leader, 2011 AL ERA leader, 2 no-hitters

Philip Humber, P, NYM (1st #3) – 2012 Perfect Game

Homer Bailey, P, CIN (1st #7) – 2 career no-hitters

Jered Weaver, P, ANA (1st #12) – 3x All-Star, 2x leader in wins, 138 career W, 2010 AL strikeout leader, 2012 no-hitter

Gio Gonzalez, P, CHW (1st #38) – 2x All-Star, 21 wins in 2012

Huston Street, P, OAK (1st #40) – 2x All-Star, 2005 AL RoY, 300+ career saves

Hunter Pence, OF, HOU (2nd #64) – 3x All-Star

Dustin Pedroia, SS, BOS (2nd #65) – 4x All-Star, 4x Gold Glove, 2007 AL RoY, 2008 AL MVP, 2x AL runs leader, 2008 AL hits leader, 54 2B in 2008

Wade Davis, P, TBD (3rd #75) – 2x All-Star, 21 wins in 2012

Pat White, OF, ANA (4th #113) – All-time leading rusher for a QB in NCAA FB while at West Virginia

David Price, P, LAD (19th, #568 – did not sign) – 5x All-Star, 2012 AL Cy Young, 2x ERA leader, 2014 AL strikeout champ

Jake Arrieta, P, CIN (31st, #918 – did not sign) – 2015 NL Cy Young, 2015 no-hitter

Todd Frazier, OF, COL (37th #1100 – did not sign) – 2x All-Star, 2015 HR Derby champ

Chris Davis, 3B, CHC (50th #1496 – did not sign) – 53 HR in 2013, 2013 AL RBI Leader

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Hall of Fame:  Paul Molitor, INF/CH, Milwaukee Brewers, Toronto Blue Jays, Minnesota Twins (1st ballot)

Dennis Eckersley, SP/RP, Oakland A’s, Boston Red Sox (1st ballot)

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Batting Leaders:

Avg. (AL) Ichiro Suzuki SEA .372, (NL) Bonds SFG .362

HR (AL) Manny Ramirez BOS 43, (NL) Adrian Beltre LAD 48

RBI (AL) Miguel Tejada BAL 150, (NL) Vinny Castilla COL 131

R (AL) Guerrero ANA 124, (NL) Albert Pujols STL 132

SB (AL) Carl Crawford TBD 59, (NL) Scott Podsednik MIL 70

H (AL) Ichiro SEA 262 – MLB record, (NL) Juan Pierre FLA 221

Pitching Leaders:

W (AL) Curt Schilling BOS 21, (NL) Roy Oswalt HOU 20

ERA (AL) Santana MIN 2.61, (NL) Jake Peavy SDP 2.27

K (AL) Santana MIN 265, (NL) Randy Johnson ARI 290

SV (AL) Mariano Rivera NYY 53, (NL) J. Isringhausen STL / A. Benitez FLA 47

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Trends and Stats:

9 players above .330 AVG, 2 above .350 AVG

37 players above 30 HR, 9 above 40 HR

33 players above 100 RBI, 9 above 120 RBI, 1 above 150 RBI

2 players above 50 SB

8 players above 200 H, 1 above 230 H, 1 above 250 H

3 pitchers above 20 W

9 pitchers above 200 K, 4 above 250

7 pitchers below 3.00 ERA, 1 below 2.50

1 pitcher above 250 IP

10 pitchers above 40 SV, 1 above 50 SV

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I’ll post my standard All-Star selections and compare to the silver slugger winners for the year in the next post.