Completed insert set – 2003 Topps Red Backs

As promised – I finished up another insert set from 2003 – I got the Red backs done the same time I got the Blue Backs finished.  So back-to-back posts for these.  This is the third insert set I’ve completed from 2003.

Info about the set:

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Set description:  Topps didn’t reprint old cards in the flagship set for 2003.  Instead, they piggy-backed off of the Heritage theme that had gotten skipped when they started with 1952 Topps (in 2001 Heritage).  Paying homage to the 1951 Red Back & Blue Back sets, Topps issued Blue Back cards in series 1 and Red Back cards in series 2.  The cards are standard size – unlike the 1951 Playing card size set.  They also deviated from the OG by only making 40 cards in each series (the originals had 52).

Set composition:  40 cards, 1:12 Topps series 2

Hall of Famers:  12.  Ichiro, Guerrero, Jeter, Piazza, Rolen, Randy Johnson, Chipper, Thome, Ivan Rodriguez, Bagwell, Larry Walker, Pedro, Maddux

Ken Griffey Jr. was swapped out of this series

How I put the set together:

• 3 cards from the s2 HTA box I opened
• 2 cards from the National Sports Card Convention (2015)
• 1 card from another card show
• 10 cards from trades
• 7 cards from Sportlots
• 6 cards from Beckett’s Marketplace
• 11 cards from COMC

Thoughts on the set:  Same as the last post!  Pretty cool set at the time, sucks they printed it on the same cardstock and not Heritage card stock.  Also sucks they made it a different card size than the original.  Also sucks they didn’t make the easy jump to make it a 52-card set.  And finally – sucks they didn’t number it!

I like this set a bit more – the photos are cropped to not be as close up.

Card that completed my set:  Albert Pujols

I got this one on COMC on Black Friday, which showed up at just at the end of last year.  The Captain for the Blue Backs, the Machine for the Red Backs – so I think I was holding out on a few of the more expensive ones.

Best card (my opinion):  Carlos Delgado

Love the Blue Jays cap from then and this is a pic that fits with this set.  As I said – I like the focus on these being a little further back from the Blue Backs set.

My Favorite Reds card:  Adam Dunn

He’s the only one in this series after they pulled Griffey and Austin Kearns.

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These cards have no number on the back – but there is an order that both Beckett and Baseballcardpedia follow.  For tracking purposes while I was trying to finish this set – I used that.

See my rant on not numbering these cards in the previous Blue Backs set post!  Here’s a scan of the set.

Any other tidbits:  In addition to Griffey & Kearns, Bernie Williams, Eric Chavez, Eric Hinske, Jimmy Rollins, Kas Ishii, Mark Prior and Richie Sexson were not in this series after being in the Blue Backs set.  They were replaced by Barry Zito, Brian Giles, Delgado, Garret Anderson, Magglio Ordonez, Manny Ramirez, Mark Prior, Miguel Tejada and Torii Hunter.

Here’s the breakout of “events” in this set – a lot more Balls and Strikes compared to the Blue Backs

• Ball – 12
• Strike – 8
• Single – 3
• Stolen Base – 3
• Foul Ball – 3
• Out – 2
• Fly Out – 2
• Bunt – 2
• Home Run – 1
• Triple – 1
• Double – 1
• Hit By Pitch – 1
• Bunt (sacrifice) – 1
• Balk – 1
• Foul Out – 0

Completed insert set – 2003 Topps Blue Backs

This is only my second completed insert set from 2003 – though there’s another one coming up next!

Info about the set:

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Set description:  Topps didn’t reprint old cards in the flagship set for 2003.  Instead, they piggy-backed off of the Heritage theme that had gotten skipped when they started with 1952 Topps (in 2001 Heritage).  Paying homage to the 1951 Red Back & Blue Back sets, Topps issued Blue Back cards in series 1 and Red Back cards in series 2.  The cards are standard size – unlike the 1951 Playing card size set.  They also deviated from the OG by only making 40 cards in each series (the originals had 52).

Set composition:  40 cards, 1:12 series 1

Hall of Famers:  13.  Jeter, Guerrero, Griffey Jr., Piazza, Chipper, Ivan Rodriguez, Bagwell, Thome, Pedro, Randy Johnson, Larry Walker, Maddux, Rolen

How I put the set together:

• 6 cards (3 each) from the s1 hobby and HTA boxes I opened
• 3 cards from the National Sports Card Convention (2 in 2013, 1 in 2015)
• 2 cards from trades
• 15 cards from Sportlots
• 8 cards from Beckett’s Marketplace
• 6 cards from COMC

Thoughts on the set:  Pretty cool set at the time, sucks they printed it on the same cardstock and not Heritage card stock.  Also sucks they made it a different card size than the original.  Also sucks they didn’t make the easy jump to make it a 52-card set.  And finally – sucks they didn’t number it!

Card that completed my set:  Derek Jeter

I got this one on COMC on Black Friday, which showed up at just at the end of last year.  Their shipping times are coming back down!

Best card (my opinion):  Todd Helton

The flipped up sunglasses for Helton was the coolest photo in my opinion.

My Favorite Reds card:  Adam Dunn

This was a fun time to be a Reds fan.  Griffey was still there and we hoped for some prime production for him, Sean Casey was the mayor, and Adam Dunn and Austin Kearns were young up-and-comers!  Griffey and Kearns also had cards in this set.

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These cards have no number on the back – but there is an order that both Beckett and Baseballcardpedia follow.  For tracking purposes while I was trying to finish this set – I used theirs.

I will say – I hate when cards aren’t numbered.  It’s like Topps is saying “we don’t think of this as a set you should try to complete”.  And the original ones had card numbers on the front – so it doesn’t even go with the history of their company they’re trying to pay homage to!

Soap box rant over.  Here’s a scan of the set.

Any other tidbits:  Here’s the breakout of “events” in this set:

• Single – 5
• Out – 4
• Ball – 4
• Strike – 4
• Fly Out – 3
• Foul Ball – 3
• Stolen Base – 3
• Home Run – 3
• Double – 2
• Hit By Pitch – 2
• Foul Out – 2
• Bunt – 2
• Bunt (sacrifice) – 1
• Triple – 1
• Balk – 1

Completed set – 2002 Topps

This was one of those where I thought I’d finished the set – then went through it and was missing a card!  This was from the fall purchases I made – I finished up the 2002 Topps set.  I’ve now completed the base set for everything from 1980 through 2004, which is all the regular sets I’ve started.

I still need a few cards from 2004 Traded and a few more than that for 2002 Traded (those damn SP’s).

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Info about my set:

How I put the set together:

• 259 cards from the series 1 hobby box
• 284 cards from the series 2 hobby box
• 117 cards from trades
• 55 cards from Just Commons – which appears to now be defunct
• 1 card from Beckett Marketplace
• 1 card from Sportlots
• 1 card from COMC

Card that completed my set:  #352 – Cleveland Indians PB (purchased on COMC)

I got this card from COMC a few months ago.

Set composition:  718 cards (549 individual ML player cards, 40 Prospects, 11 Draft Picks, 30 Managers, 12 League Leaders, 5 Season Highlights, 8 Playoff Bound, 8 September 11 Tribute, 1 Bonds Tribute, 24 Award Winners, 30 Team Checklists)

*The 549 individual player cards include 10 All-Star Rookies

Joe Mauer’s Draft Pick card is out of place and not in the numbers for the rest of that subset – so he clearly bumped somebody!

Representation of ’01 MLB season:

Out of the 549 player cards, 8 players did not play in the 2000 season.

• Joe Nathan – was in the minors after shoulder surgery, which would ultimately cause his move to the bullpen
• Mo Vaughn – missed all of 2001 after getting elbow surgery; he hurt it in August 2000 but played through it until the end of that season
• Kris Benson, Seth Etherton – both had Tommy John surgery and missed all of 2001
• Mike Sirotka – Missed all of 2001 with a shoulder injury
• Pablo Ozuna – Missed all of 2001 after wrist surgery
• So Taguchi & Kaz Ishii – they got in as late additions to Topps 2002 series 2 after signing from Japan

Nobody has two regular cards in the set – which was a thing in 2001 Topps.

That leaves 541 different players represented.  But, on top of that, there were 3 players in the Prospects set (Chris George, Juan Cruz, Mike Rivera) who did play in the regular season.  So now that leads to 545 players.  The 545 players represent 44.6% out of the 1,220 players who played in MLB in 2001.

Earliest active player from this set:  #305 – Joe Torre, #165 – Rickey Henderson (active players)

Like most of these sets – there are two answers to this.  Henderson is again the earliest active player, making his debut by playing both games of a doubleheader on June 24, 1979 (he stole a base in his first game).

There isn’t a former player tribute subset, so the Manager subset is where the other answer to this question lies.  Torre is one of many managers in this set that played in the 60’s – his MLB debut was actually at the end of the 1960 season.

And it was in a pretty interesting game, on Sunday September 25, 1960.  The Braves were in 3rd and had been eliminated from pennant contention a few games before, but were playing the NL-leading and eventual World Champion Pirates that Sunday.  The 2nd place Cardinals were still mathematically alive with 5 games to go, so everybody was still playing their best hand still.  Torre pinch hit for Milwaukee Braves starter Warren Spahn (!) in the bottom of the 8th, with the Braves losing 2-0.  He got a single off Harvey Haddix, then was removed for pinch runner Lee Maye, who ended up scoring.  The Braves would end up winning the game on a walk-off Eddie Mathews home run in the bottom of the 10th off Elroy Face.

Last active player from this set:  #160 – Albert Pujols

There are no currently active players in this set.  Like 2003 Topps – Pujols was the last player from this set to keep playing after his incredible retirement tour in 2022 with the Cardinals.  La Maquina played his final regular season game on October 4, 2002, notching a single to plate 2 runs in the third inning for this final play of the regular season.  The Cardinals lost both games of the Wild Card Series to the Phillies, the final game being October 8, 2022.  Pujols did go 2-4 in that game, pulled for a pinch runner in the 8th after his last single in the 2-0 loss that ended St. Louis season and his career.

Player with the most cards in the set:  Barry Bonds – 8 cards.  No surprise – Barry Bonds was the guy with the most cards after his record-breaking 73 home run season.  Bonds had 2 cards in the Season Highlights subset (1 for the HR record, another for hitting his 500th homer), 2 cards in the League Leaders subset, a card in the United We Stand subset (Astros vs Giants), the HR Tribute card with 73 variants, the Award Winner for notching the MVP, and of course his regular card.

Barry Bonds – #500, #332 / #336 (Season Highlights), #344 / #345 (League Leaders), #364 (United We Stand), #365 (Tribute), #717 (Award Winners)

Ichiro actually made this a close contest – he’s on 7 cards!

First Card and the Hundreds:  #1 – Pedro Martinez, #100 – Vladimir Guerrero, #200 – Randy Johnson, #300 – Lou Piniella MG, #400 – Curt Schilling, #500 – Barry Bonds, #600 – Mark McGwire, #700 – Eric Chaves AW

Highest book value:  #622 – Joe Mauer RC

For the non-SP cards – Mauer’s true RC from the Draft Pick subset is the most valuable in Beckett.

Most notable card: #365 – Barry Bonds HR

Just as Topps did in 1999 (McGwire & Sosa), Barry Bonds is featured on card in the set with 73 different versions focusing on each of his record-breaking homers from the 2001 season.  I’d say this is the most notable card for the controversy of having a bunch of SP variations and not a “regular” version of the card, and also for the fact he broke the biggest record in sports.

Even the most common earlier cards would technically be the most valuable per Beckett – ahead of the $10 of the Mauer card above.

Best card (my opinion): #595 – Tim Salmon

I love the sleeveless look from this era (see Reds post below) – and Salmon was always one of my favorite players going back to his Rookie of the Year season in 1993.  For whatever reason, this card just stands out to me.

Second best card (also my opinion): #165 – Rickey Henderson

This is a far inferior set from a photograph standpoint compared to the 2001 Topps set.  But there are some neat cards.  I always love Rickey Henderson cards.

But while a Wrigley Field at bat for the Man of Steal is great – this one is special for a different reason.  It’s one of 2 base Topps cards (3 if you count his 2002 Topps Traded card) where the player’s card back has exactly 3,000 hits.

The other being Roberto Clemente from 1973 Topps.  Henderson notched his 3,000th hit on the final game of the year, which also his teammate and fellow 3,000 hit member Tony Gwynn’s last game.  Gwynn and Henderson were actually not in the game at the same time; Henderson led the game off, got a double for hit #3k and was removed the next inning.  Gwynn came in for his last AB as a pinch hitter in the 9th.

Best subset card: #358 – Mike Piazza UNITED

This was a pretty easy pick.  The Bonds card is interesting, and as I said above – notable.  But Piazza and the connection with New York after the 9-11 terrorist attacks is a part of baseball lore from that era.  Topps didn’t do a Jeter / President Bush card for the Yankees game in this subset – that could have given the above card a run for its money.

Favorite action photo: #10 – Mike Hampton

Again – this set just doesn’t have the plethora of great action shots that 2001 Topps.  So I’m going with one that’s more interesting.  Hampton won the Silver Slugger this year, and 2 years later would accomplish the daily double as the first pitcher to win the Silver Slugger and the Gold Glove in the same year.  It’s happened 2 more times – and won’t happen again since the DH was implemented in the National League.

Favorite non-action photo: #193 – Sandy Alomar

There should be more cards like this, guys in the dugout.  Beats out some of the autograph signing cards and on-deck circle cards in this set.

My Favorite Reds card:  #451 – Todd Walker

The sleeveless uniforms were the best.  This one is such a cool swing – Walker is putting everything he has into it!  It beats out pretty cool Reds cards from Sean Casey and Dmitri Young.

Other Notable Cards:  There are a lot of “last Topps cards” in this set.  I really appreciate this Eric Davis card because it’s got his final stats on the back.  He was my favorite player growing up, and while I know in the back of my mind he finished his career in San Francisco – I forgot he was on the team the year Bonds set the HR record.  He pinch hit in the game where Bonds broke the record and hit the final #73 (but not the game where Bonds tied McGwire).

A few of the best photos – sorry on the double up on Hampton! I’m re-using an old scan for this one.

Completed insert set – 2002 Topps All-World

Another set completed from COMC – this was a 2002 Topps flagship insert set that I really like.  And it’s actually the last insert set but – I haven’t finished the main set (as of this post) or the Traded set (which will take forever).

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Info about the set:

Set description:  All-World was was a new (and ultimately one-time) insert set that was in 2002 Topps Series 2.  Here was my comment 8.5 years ago when I was posting about the 2002 Topps product:

“The only insert set specific to series 2 was the All-World Team.  Someday when I complete this set, I’ll figure out what the point is for it.  Since Todd Helton from Knoxville, Tennessee is in the set – it can’t be an international theme.”

Well, here I am and it’s almost 2024.  Apologies to my mid-2015 self, but I never figured this out.  It definitely has an international tilt – but there’s plenty of U.S. born players.  But not anywhere close enough to where they are setting up a Ryder Cup type matchup.  There’s every position, only because Albert Pujols played third base that one year.  So I don’t know.  Like I said, there’s an international tilt and the wording on the back sort of gets into where the player is from.

Set composition:  25 cards, 1:12 (2002 Topps series 2)

Hall of Famers:  9. Pedro Martine, Larry Walker, Mariano Rivera, Vladimir Guerrero, Ken Griffey Jr., Mike Piazza, Derek Jeter, Randy Johnson, Ivan Rodriguez

How I put the set together:

• 3 cards from my series 2 Hobby box
• 2 cards from card shows (1 from the 2015 NSCC)
• 2 cards from a trade
• 9 cards from Sportlots
• 3 cards from Beckett
• 6 cards from COMC

Thoughts on the set:  It may be challenging to tell from my comments above – but I actually like this card set.  Quite a bit.  If Topps had just set the terms a bit better – I’d love it.  The set does have, in my opinion, a cool design.  It’s super thick, and the write-ups on the back are fun.

Card that completed my set: #AW2 – Barry Bonds, AW18 – Roger Clemens

Got both of these from COMC recently.  Usually pick a last card in that situation, but since these guys are always gonna be linked – I’ll keep it that way in this post.

Best card (my opinion): #AW22 – Hideo Nomo, AW25 – Chan Ho Park

But either way, it’s a sort-of International themed set and if you can get Chan Ho Park and Hideo Nomo into an insert set in 2002 – I’m good.  Both players were big impacted to my card hobby appreciation as a teenager – particularly Park – so I’m all in on this part and these 2 cards.  I also really like the Bonds picture above.  If I had to pick one – I’d go with Chan Ho Park.

Best Reds card (my opinion): #AW12 – Ken Griffey Jr.

As was the case sometimes around this timeframe – the only one.

Here’s the whole set.

Any other tidbits:  By where they were born, which is on the back of the card, here’s the breakdown.

• 11 – U.S.A.
• 5 – Dominican Republic
• 3 – Japan
• 2 – Puerto Rico
• 1 – Canada
• 1 – Venezuela
• 1 – Panama
• 1 – S. Korea

Completed master set – one last look at 2001 Topps

I am blocking and tackling these sets now – I need one card for 1998 and then I’d have everything from the start through this 2001 year.  After finishing the Traded insert from 2001 – I’m now done with the Master Set for 2001.  So – here’s that post!

Info about my base set:

How I put the base set together:

• 289 cards from the series 1 hobby box
• 232 cards from the series 2 hobby box
• 22 cards from a second series 2 hobby box
• 246 cards from trades
• 1 card from COMC

Card that completed my set:  #389 – Ken Griffey SH

Best card (my opinion): #726 – Ichiro Suzuki RC

Check out this link to see the rest of the base set post.

My “Master” Set Info:

1,305 cards – 790 “base”, 265 “traded“, 250 “insert”, 0 “other” (promo cards were becoming out of vogue!!!)

• Insert sets:  Through the Years, Before there was Topps, Combos, Golden Anniversary, A Tradition Continues, A Look Ahead, Noteworthy, What Could Have Been, Traded Who Would Have Thought
• Promo sets:  None – but they did do sheets!

How I put the additional sets together:

• Traded – 178 cards from the Traded Hobby box, 30 cards from trades, 44 cards from Beckett Marketplace, 1 card from eBay, 7 cards from Sportlots, 5 cards from COMC
• Inserts – 30 from my s1/s2/Traded hobby boxes, 14 cards from trades, 16 cards from card shows / NSCC, 88 cards from COMC, 72 cards from Sportlots, 20 from Beckett Marketplace, 9 cards from Just Commons, 1 card from eBay

Other product bests

Completed insert set – 2001 Topps Traded Who Would Have Thought

So I still have a bunch of completed set posts to do – but I’m actually caught up and doing posts from purchases that were recently incoming.  I got my kids some Pokémon cards and myself some insert wantlist items through some Beckett Marketplace and  COMC purchases this Summer/Fall.

This one was the first one I got to from Beckett.

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Info about the set:

Set description:  20-card set showing players who were traded or signed free agent contracts throughout their career, ending up in unexpected places.  The design has the Eagles green from the 2001 set, with 2 pictures of the depicted player.  The left picture has a picture from the player’s initial team, the right shows him with the later team.

Set composition:  20 cards, 1:8 odds (2001 Topps Traded & Rookies)

Hall of Famers:  16.  Nolan Ryan, Ozzie Smith, Tom Seaver, Steve Carlton, Reggie Jackson, Frank Robinson, Andre Dawson, Lou Brock, Dennis Eckersley, Dave Winfield, Rod Carew, Carlton Fisk, Paul Molitor, Gary Carter, Wade Boggs, Willie Mays

How I put the set together:

• 3 cards from my 2001 Traded box
• 10 cards from Sportlots
• 6 cards from COMC
• 1 card from Beckett Marketplace

Card that completed my set:  #WWHT-17 – Paul Molitor

I got the Molitor card from Beckett Marketplace about a month ago in a spending spree!

I like this card – I don’t always understand some of the selections for this set, but not this card.  Molitor to Toronto was a significant signing in the annals of the free agency era of MLB.  The Blue Jays were the defending champions, and while Molitor was 35+ when he signed – he was still a great player.  He had one of the greatest seasons of his career, was Toronto’s 2nd best player that year, got runner-up in the MVP vote and notched the World Series MVP.

Thoughts on the set:  I think this insert set is a great idea, but it looks so much like the base set that you’d think it was a subset.  I’d have done something where the two pictures of each player was a version of their card the year before he got traded and the year after.  Just an idea on my part – but in general these are still cool cards.  Sometimes it’s just a trade or free agent signing that happened, not necessarily some crazy revelation (like was it that weird that Nolan Ryan went to the Angels?)

So to me the coolest cards are the ones like…

Best card (my opinion):  #WWHT-19 – Wade Boggs

This card fits the bill more than any others with the name of this card set.  Boggs was such a standout with Boston, and it’s one thing to see him move on from the Red Sox.  But moving to the Yankees and helping them get back to being World Champions was salt in the wounds for Beantown.

2nd place is Dwight Gooden to the Yankees.  In fact, if they had included Darryl Strawberry – I may have picked those 2 cards as a joint effort over the Boggs card!

My Favorite Reds card:  #WWHT-6 – Frank Robinson

It’s either this or Seaver, and I did have to think about this one.  This trade has to tug at frustrations for any Reds fan – Robinson won the triple crown, MVP and led the Orioles to the World Series title in his first season in Baltimore.  But it’s part of my favorite franchise’s history, and if Robinson had stayed with the Reds – it’s hard to imagine the Big Red Machine of the 1970’s happening.  Whereas Seaver was traded to the Reds in a way that ended up signaling the end of the Big Red Machine.  So I like this card better.

Here’s a scan of the full set:

Other tidbits:  I’d break this down into a few categories or types for this set:

Switched teams early in their career before they became stars:

• Nolan Ryan, Ozzie Smith, Lou Brock, Willie Randolph

Switched teams in the middle of their career

• Steve Carlton, Reggie Jackson, Frank Robinson, Keith Hernandez, Dave Winfield, Rod Carew

Redefined his career

• Dennis Eckersley

Switched teams for a productive later saga of their career

• Tom Seaver, Andre Dawson, Dwight Gooden, Carlton Fisk, Paul Molitor, Gary Carter, Wade Boggs

Finished their career in a place we’d have maybe rather not seen

• Dale Murphy, Willie Mays

I think Topps may have only been allowed to (or they decided only to) use retired players from this set.  No players who played in 2001 were actually in the set – Gooden was the latest, playing in 2000.  Current players from the time that they could have used at the time:

• Ken Griffey Jr., Frank Thomas, Randy Johnson, Mike Piazza, Ivan Rodriguez, Vladimir Guerrero, Greg Maddux, Larry Walker, Pedro Martinez

Other older school retired players that could have been used

• Yogi Berra, Eddie Mathews, Duke Snider, Hank Aaron, Harmon Killebrew, Joe Morgan, Babe Ruth

Completed set – 2001 Topps Traded & Rookies

I finished the Traded set from 2001 last year as well!

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Info about my set:

How I put the set together:

• 178 cards from the Topps Traded Hobby box
• 30 cards from trades
• 44 cards from Beckett Marketplace
• 1 card from eBay
• 7 card from Sportlots
• 5 cards from COMC

Card that completed my set:  #T1113 – Rickey Henderson TTY

I got this from my COMC Black Friday purchase last year.

Set composition:  265 cards (98 single MLB player cards, 1 RotY Candidates, 45 Topps Through the Years, 6 Managers, 60 Prospects, 55 1st Year Cards)

Representation of ’00 MLB season:  Around now – doing this for the traded set kind of passes the point of relevance.  The “Traded” guys now represent players who signed with new teams in the offseason between 2000 and 2001.  For example – the first card is Sandy Alomar Jr. with the White Sox.  Alomar played with Cleveland in 2000, then signed with the ChiSox for the 2001 season.

But – I did check on the data here, so…

The 645 players from the flagship 2001 set who played in 2000 represented 52.4% out of the 1,230 players who played in MLB in 2000.  There were 35 guys who played in 2000 who were in the Traded set that didn’t make it into the regular set (though only about 10 of this new 35 were there repping the team they played for in 2000).  So in total between the two sets, you have 680 of the 1,230 representing 55.3% of the 1,230 MLB players of 2000.

Last active player from this set:  #T247 – Albert Pujols

If I had finished this set just a touch earlier – there would have still been an active player in this set!  Pujols played his last regular season game on October 4, 2022 – which was the Cardinals penultimate game of the season. They had wrapped up the division earlier that week and had no chance to move off of the 3-seed, so he didn’t play the final game.  Pujols grounded out in his first at bat, then singled (hit #3,384) in the 3rd inning to knock in the 2,217th and 2,218th run of his career.

He played both games of the Wild Card Series that was swept by the Phillies, going 2-8 with 2 singles.  His last MLB game was October 8th – he was the Cardinals DH and singled in the 8th inning of a 2-0 loss and was pulled for pinch-runner Ben DeLuzio.

Earliest active player from this set:  #T148 – Buck Martinez, #T102 – Juan Marichal, #T77– Rickey Henderson (active players)

The earliest player in this set excluding the Through the Years subset is Rickey Henderson.  So the player years from this set span from 1979 to 2022 – 6 different decades.

If you include the managers subset, Buck Martinez played his first MLB game in 1969 and that adds a 7th decade.

 

If you include the Through the Years subset, Juan Marichal has a Traded reprint and his MLB debut was 1960.

A.J. Hinch is in this set and is still managing.  So the longest you could stretch this set out for MLB involvement is 1960-current!

Highest book value:  #T247 – Albert Pujols

Most notable card:  #T247 – Albert Pujols

Best card (my opinion):  #T247 – Albert Pujols

This is a true RC for Pujols, and you can’t get it for cheap.  Kind of hard to put anything else ahead of this for most notable or best card – even if you don’t love Pujols, he is baseball history!

Second best card (also my opinion):  #T77 – Rickey Henderson

This is the card from the famous Rickey-ism when he supposedly called Padres GM Kevin Towers to say “This is Rickey calling on behalf of Rickey. Rickey wants to play baseball.”  Henderson has said that never really did that – but either way it’s a pretty cool photo from Spring Training of his second stint with San Diego.

Henderson scored his 2,246th run on October 3rd of that year to break Ty Cobb’s record and also notched his 3,000th hit on the last game of the season against the Rockies.  Funny story for that game – Henderson led off that game and got a double for the 3K milestone hit.  After he came around and scored, he was pulled for a defensive replacement.  Tony Gwynn didn’t start, but did come in as a pinch hitter in the bottom of the 9th for what was his final MLB plate appearance.  So the Padres started the game with 1 guy with 3,000 hits who was on the bench.  Then they had a starter get his 3,000th hit.  The bench guy played, but they never had the 2 guys playing at the same time.

Best subset card:  #T102 – Juan Marichal TTY

The Topps Through the Years reprints was really cool to do in the Traded set, and the old school update cards that were actually part of the 1974 set are particularly great.  Lou Piniella was the other one of these that Topps included in this set.  It’s better to me than the Pujols / Ichiro card they tried to squeeze in here at card #99.

Favorite action photo:  #T28 – Reggie Sanders

 

Traded/Update sets aren’t particularly known for their action shots.  This is a good one for a guy who made a real impact for the eventual champion.

Favorite non-action photo:  #T95 – Rob Bell

Neat pose with Yankee Stadium fencing so clear in the background.

My Favorite Reds card:  #T98 – Adam Dunn

Dunn’s card is a slam dunk, it’s a really nice picture and it’s cool that it’s one of the early Topps cards from a guy who hit 270 homers for the Reds and over 450 in his MLB career.

Completed insert set – 2002 Topps Own the Game

Somehow I went 2 weeks without a post, have been trying to stack them timely to avoid that – but life has been busy and I got in a hole again!  This is another 2002 insert set – completed at the end of last year.

Info about the set:

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Set description:  Own the Game was an insert set that came back from 2000 after skipping a year.  It was basically a league leaders set – the first 18 cards are hitters who led in categories like homers, RBI, stolen bases.  The last 18 cards are pitchers.  These are the only super-shiny foil insert cards, that actually scan a little bit better than they

Set composition:  30 cards, 1:10 (2002 Topps series 1)

Hall of Famers:  6. Roberto Alomar, Jim Thome, Greg Maddux, Mariano Rivera, Randy Johnson, Pedro Martinez

How I put the set together:

• 3 cards from my series 1 Hobby box
• 1 card from the 2015 NSCC
• 3 cards from COMC
• 23 cards Sportlots

Thoughts on the set:  These shiny hologram background sets that Topps was doing back in the early 2000’s look better when scanned then when you see them in person.  This one is OK; I will say, it’s a trip down memory lane seeing some of these league leaders from the 2001 season.

Card that completed my set: #OG26 – Mariano Rivera

I got this card from Sportlots at the end of last year.

Best card (my opinion): #OG13 – Luis Gonzalez

This Luis Gonzalez card definitely jumped out when I looked through the scans.  I’m big on the photo working with the design, and this one does – it shows his full uniform, the name plate overlays the bottom part of his photo but not in a way that detracts from it.

Best Reds card (my opinion): there are none.  The Reds had gotten to be pretty mediocre by this timeframe.

Here’s the whole set.

Completed insert set – 2002 Topps Hobby Masters

Back to back on the Hobby Masters – this was the 2002 version.

Info about the set:

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Set description:  I’m not sure if it was the same as 1997, where Topps reached out to hobby dealers to pick 20 players who had the most hobby impact.  But these are cards printed on very thick card stock with a grid background.  The word Hobby Masters is printed in block capital letters on the left-hand side.  Player name is in much smaller Italics type next to that.  Player pic is on the right.  There’s a write-up on the back – next to another photo – describing how this player has had a hobby impact.

The set was (weirdly) not a hobby exclusive, and was available in retail, hobby and HTA packs.

Set composition:  20 cards, 1:25 odds (2002 Topps series 1)

Hall of Famers:  9 – Derek Jeter, Chipper Jones, Vlad Guerrero, Ken Griffey Jr., Randy Johnson, Ivan Rodriguez, Mike Piazza, Pedro Martinez, Jeff Bagwell

How I put the set together:

• 1 card from my series 1 hobby box
• 4 cards from card shows
• 2 cards from Sportlots
• 4 cards from Beckett Marketplace
• 9 cards from COMC

Card that completed my set:  #HM9 – Albert Pujols

I got this card from COMC last Black Friday (with the shipment coming in late December).  I had 15 of the 20 cards through 2016, then finished it very slowly after that.

Thoughts on the set:  Seems weird it isn’t hobby only?  Not a bad design, like the thicker card stock.  It does have the feel of a premium insert.

Best card (my opinion): #HM18 – Pedro Martinez

I like the fit of this photo with the design of the card.  And it’s Pedro at the height of his powers.

My Favorite Reds card: #HM11 – Ken Griffey Jr.

As the saying goes – it beat out all of the competition.  Of which there were no others.

Here’s the scan of the full card set:

Any other tidbits:  Whenever I get to the last of these – I’ll want to put together a list of who made the most of these sets.  But so far – guys that are in all 3 I’ve completed (’97, ’02, ’04) are:

• Randy Johnson
• Mike Piazza
• Chipper Jones
• Barry Bonds
• Derek Jeter
• Sammy Sosa

Completed insert set – 2004 Topps Hobby Masters

Keeping it moving with finishing some more insert sets.

This is my second completed insert set from 2004 Topps (after Hit Parade).  This was another one finished via a Black Friday purchase from COMC.

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Info about my set:

Set description:  Hobby Masters was a set Topps had done a few times before this (1997, 2002 and 2003 being the other years).  they’re supposed to be a bit of a higher end insert, not as common as some other insert sets.  It’s Hobby exclusive.  The cards have a black border with the player highlighted over a greyed out background with some elegant cursive of the first letter of the player’s last name as a background overlay.  There’s a short write-up horizontally on the back.

Set composition:  20 cards, 1:12 (2004 Topps series 1 Hobby)

Hall of Famers:  5.  Derek Jeter, Jim Thome, Mike Piazza, Randy Johnson, Chipper Jones

How I put the set together:

• 3 cards from the series 1 HTA box
• 6 cards from Sportlots
• 5 cards from a card show
• 3 cards from Beckett Marketplace
• 3 cards from COMC

Thoughts on the set:  The earlier sets of Hobby Masters seemed to be a little more special – they were thicker card stock.  It’s kind of middling in my opinion, though it certainly isn’t a bad design.  I think if it was a thicker card stock I’d like it a lot better.

Card that completed my set:  #HM3 – Alex Rodriguez, #HM14 – Randy Johnson, #HM19 – Chipper Jones (purchased on COMC)

I got all these cards as part of a big Check Out My Cards purchase at the end of last year.

Best card (my opinion): #HM8 – Ichiro, #HM10 – Thome

Great photos of these 2 guys in their notable routine measuring the pitcher up.  Wish they were side by side in the set, but I can show them that way here!

Best Reds card (my opinion):  #HM15 – Adam Dunn

As is oft the case – the only one!

Here’s the whole set.