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 – 2001 Topps Noteworthy

Another completed set from 2001 Topps from Sportlots last year!

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Info about the set:

Set description:  50-card set of current and retired players with bullet points highlighting their career accomplishments on the back.  This insert set isn’t my my favorite idea, but it’s not the worst either.  The backs are a good read.  This is the kind of set that it’s good to have one of per year.  In the set Topps puts out these days, there’s quite a few more than that.

Set composition:  50 cards, 1:8 odds (2001 Topps series 2)

Hall of Famers:  39.  78%!!!!

Derek Jeter, Chipper Jones, Ken Griffey Jr., Frank Thomas, Randy Johnson, Cal Ripken, Mike Piazza, Ivan Rodriguez, Jeff Bagwell, Vladimir Guerrero, Greg Maddux, Tony Gwynn, Larry Walker, Scott Rolen, Pedro Martinez, Willie Mays, Whitey Ford, Jackie Robinson, Ted Williams, Babe Ruth, Warren Spahn, Nolan Ryan, Yogi Berra, Mike Schmidt, Steve Carlton, Brooks Robinson, Bob Gibson, Reggie Jackson, Johnny Bench, Ernie Banks, Eddie Mathews, Duke Snider, Hank Aaron, Roberto Clemente, Harmon Killebrew, Frank Robinson, Stan Musial, Lou Brok, Joe Morgan

How I put the set together:

• 4 cards from my 2001 series 2 hobby box
• 5 cards from trades
• 5 cards from a card show (1 was the 2015 NSCC)
• 9 from Just Commons, which I think doesn’t exist any more
• 9 cards from COMC
• 18 cards from Sportlots

Card that completed my set:  #TN42 – Don Mattingly

I got this and the Jeff Kent card the same Sportlots purchase late in 2022.  This is the one that showed up last, so it makes the post.

They mention his record of 8 straight games with a homer; he’s tied with Griffey Jr. and Dale Long for that.  Griffey is in the set and that didn’t seem to make it to his card back.  I wish they would have got Dale Long in this set, and put those 3 guys back to back to back to make it a triumvirate!

Thoughts on the set:  The design is not my favorite, there’s a ton of cards in it.  It’s kind of one of those sets that as I get further into this project – they just don’t seem necessary.  Filler.  Like one of them existing makes sense.  But there are like 5 of these. 

Best card (my opinion):  #TN38 – Reggie Jackson

I actually like this one by a long shot.  One of those pictures that goes particularly well with the card design, at least compared to some of the others in a set design that ain’t my favorite.  A couple of things also going for this – it’s a cool shot of Reggie – wearing sunglasses while batting?  And it’s one I haven’t seen recycled a million times (he tends to have a pose or a follow through showing his back).

My Favorite Reds card:  #TN39 – Johnny Bench

It’s Griffey, Bench or Morgan.  I think Bench fits this set the best?  Any could have done, as I’ve said, this set is OK.

Here’s a scan of the full set:

Other tidbits:  Of the 11 players who aren’t HOF-ers, I’d say:

• 1 will get in (Helton)
• 1 maybe will get in later (Kent)
• 1 maybe won’t get in later (Mattingly)
• 2 was just kind of early in his solid career (Burrell, Nomar)
• 4 are steroids casualties or something like that (McGwire, Sosa, A-Rod, Bonds)
• 2 were maybe steroids casualties (Juan Gon, Giambi)

Completed insert set – 2001 Topps Through the Years

Getting back to a few completed set posts – this was an insert set I completed at the end of 2021.  I’m almost to the ones I completed at the end of 2022!

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Info about the set:

Set description:  “These 50 cards, representing the 10 best players from each of the past five decades, are patterned after a classic Topps design from the last 50 years.  These commemorative cards display a brilliant gold foil stamp and include legendary players like Yogi Berra (1959 card style), Willie Mays (1953 card style), and Mark McGwire (1999 card style).”

That’s from the Hank Aaron sell sheet.  Interesting that they are so definitive with “the 10 best players” and the “brilliant stamp” 🙂  I guess it’s a sell sheet!

Unlike the single player reprint sets from previous years, there aren’t Chrome versions inserted in the regular Topps Flagship sets.  However, you can find Chrome and refractor versions in the Topps Chrome product.

Set composition:  50 cards, 1:8 odds (2001 Topps series 1)

Hall of Famers:  43 – Yogi Berra, Roy Campanella, Willie Mays, Jackie Robinson, Stan Musial, Duke Snider, Warren Spahn, Ted Williams, Eddie Mathews, Willie McCovey, Frank Robinson, Ernie Banks, Hank Aaron, Sandy Koufax, Bob Gibson, Harmon Killebrew, Whitey Ford, Roberto Clemente, Juan Marichal, Johnny Bench, Willie Stargell, Joe Morgan, Carl Yastrzemski, Reggie Jackson, Tom Seaver, Steve Carlton, Jim Palmer, Rod Carew, George Brett, Roger Clemens, Ryne Sandberg, Mike Schmidt, Cal Ripken, Tony Gwynn, Ozzie Smith, Wade Boggs, Nolan Ryan, Robin Yount, Ken Griffey Jr., Mike Piazza, Chipper Jones, Greg Maddux, Derek Jeter

(not HOFers in the set – Pafko, Mattingly, McGwire, Sosa, A-Rod, Bonds, Nomar)

How I put the set together:

• 4 cards from my 2001 series 1 hobby box
• 2 cards from a trade (Addiction is Therapy)
• 1 card from the 2015 NSCC
• 11 cards from Sportlots
• 2 cards from Beckett Marketplace
• 30 cards from COMC

Card that completed my set:  #15 – Sandy Koufax (1961 Topps)

One of a couple I got from COMC at the end of 2021.

Thoughts on the set:   After doing single player full-career reprints the previous 6 years, Topps went with a many-player, each-year represented reprint set that feels like they’ve done 50 more times.  Retro sets are everywhere you look these days, and this was the beginning of this overplayed theme.  I liked the single player sets from before this, and wish that had been what was continued.

I also don’t like the Ripken card where they cut off the other guys on a multi-player card.

Best card (my opinion):  #9 – Ted Williams (1954 Topps)

Like that they chose this one, it’s the first card of the 1954 set, and was in a bit of controversy back in 1994 when Upper Deck had Teddy Ballgame’s card rights and Topps couldn’t include him in the Archives set they did for the first card and card #250.  Upper Deck created a rarer version of both cards that was inserted into their 1994 All-Time Heroes product, along with a “card that never was” of Mickey Mantle at #259.

My Favorite Reds card:  #21 – Johnny Bench (1970 Topps)

There is a Morgan and even a Seaver from his Reds years – but the 1970 Bench is a more notable card than the others so I’m going with that.

Other tidbits:  Since there would have only been 49 years if you don’t count the 1951 game set, Topps doubled up on on 1952 Topps cards, having both Andy Pafko and Jackie Robinson.

Willie Mays (1953), Roberto Clemente (1963), Hank Aaron (1965) and Nolan Ryan (1980) got the first double dip on Topps reprinting the same cards in the flagship product.  Mickey Mantle didn’t have cards in this set for what I’m sure were contractual reasons.

Here’s a scan of the whole set.

Completed insert set – 2001 Topps A Tradition Continues

One more completed set from 2001 Topps from COMC last year!

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Info about the set:

Set description:  This insert set came a couple per box in series 1, with a description of how current players were carrying on the game’s tradition.

Set composition:  30 cards, 1:17 odds (2001 Topps series 1)

Hall of Famers:  14.  Chipper Jones, Cal Ripken Jr., Mike Piazza, Ken Griffey Jr., Randy Johnson, Derek Jeter, Roberto Alomar, Greg Maddux, Ivan Rodriguez, Jeff Bagwell, Pedro Martinez, Vladimir Guerrero, Tony Gwynn, Frank Thomas

How I put the set together:

• 2 cards from my 2001 series 1 hobby box
• 2 cards from a trade
• 5 cards from a card show (3 from the NSCC)
• 8 cards from Sportlots
• 13 cards from COMC

Card that completed my set:  #TRC4 – Ken Griffey Jr.

I technically got Griffey and McGwire in the same COMC purchase.

Thoughts on the set:  This one is filler in my set.  The design is OK, and there are just some other inserts in the product that seem to make more sense to me from a “why does this exist” standpoint.

Best card (my opinion):  #TRC18 – Barry Bonds

 

This picture goes particularly well with the design of the card; it’s one of the few hitter cards that isn’t showing the player’s back on a follow-through.

My Favorite Reds card:  #LA5 – Ken Griffey Jr.

The only one!

Here’s a scan of the full set:

Other tidbits:  Here’s the retired players named on the back of this set via player comparisons:

• Mickey Mantle (Chipper, Andruw)
• Babe Ruth (Ripken, Pedro, McGwire)
• Tommy LaSorda (Piazza – quoted)
• Willie Mays (Griffey, Bonds, Andruw)
• Hank Aaron (Griffey)
• Carl Yastrzemski (Garciaparra)
• Sandy Alomar Sr. (Alomar)
• Tom Seaver, Jim Palmer, Steve Carlton (Maddux)
• Johnny Bench, Carlton Fisk (Pudge II)
• Bobby Bonds (Bonds)
• Roger Maris (McGwire)
• Duke Snider (Andruw)
• Ernie Banks, Al Kaline, Roberto Clemente (Gwynn)
• Manny Mota (Green)

Cal Ripken is the only player with a card in the set who is referenced on the back – he’s compared to A-Rod and referenced on the back of Tony Gwynn’s card.

Completed insert set – 2001 Topps Golden Anniversary

Here’s another completed insert set from the COMC bonanza I did over a year ago!  This one is from 2001 Topps – and the next one I do will be as well!  Only a few more for these!

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Info about the set:

Set description:  Golden Anniversary was an insert with subsets honoring the history of the game.  There were five different 10-card subsets.

• Golden Greats – 10 cards featuring classic photos that capture legendary Hall of Famers during the hey-day of their illustrious careers.
• Gold Nuggets – 10 clubhouse catalysts whose consistent All-Star performances have destined them for the hallowed Hall of Fame.
• Glistening Gold – 10 dominating diamond men currently rewriting the record books with unparalleled play.
• Hidden Gold – 10 leading prospects soon to infuse a load of young talent and inspired energy into the game.
• Going for Gold – 10 former Team USA players who were dedicated to bringing honor to America’s most beloved sport.

Set composition:  50 cards, 1:10 odds (2001 Topps series 1)

Hall of Famers:  24.  Hank Aaron, Ernie Banks, Mike Schmidt, Willie Mays, Johnny Bench, Tom Seaver, Frank Robinson, Sandy Koufax, Bob Gibson, Ted Williams, Cal Ripken Jr., Tony Gwynn, Ken Griffey Jr., Greg Maddux, Rickey Henderson, Mike Piazza, Derek Jeter, Ivan Rodriguez, Chipper Jones, Jeff Bagwell, Pedro Martinez, Randy Johnson, Frank Thomas, Barry Larkin

How I put the set together:

• 3 cards from my 2001 series 1 hobby box
• 3 cards form a card show (2 were the 2015 NSCC)
• 10 cards from Sportlots
• 15 cards from Beckett
• 19 cards from COMC

Card that completed my set:  #GA10 – Ted Williams

#GA12 – Tony Gwynn

These were the last 2 cards – an appropriate duo – that I got last year from COMC.

Thoughts on the set:  The different subsets are pretty cool, but I will say this insert set doesn’t quite seem to stand out over time.  The dark gold design is shiny, but somehow dull at the same time.  It probably would be a more enjoyable way for Topps to have celebrated their Golden Anniversary if it was the only 50-card insert set in the product (but there were 3 that large).

Best card (my opinion):  #GA37 – C.C. Sabathia

Going through these insert sets that have the same historic greats over and over can get kind of mundane – but a card of a young CC in the United States uniform was really cool.  This card caused me to look it up – Sabathia would have been on Team USA but he got called up by the Indians (I guess Minor Leaguers would play in the Olympic tournament that year).

The last subset of this insert set would have been a lot cooler if Topps had dug up old pictures of guys like McGwire, Larkin and Garciaparra from their actual Team USA days.

My Favorite Reds card:  #GA49 – Barry Larkin

The gripe above aside, those sleeveless Reds uniforms from that era were my favorite and I like the Larkin card a little bit more than the Griffey (or the Bench) because of the reference to his Team USA days.

Here’s a scan of the full set:

Other tidbits (“nuggets”): McGwire has 2 cards in the set (he’s the only one) – one in the Golden Nuggest subset and another in the Going for Gold portion.

Completed set – 2001 Topps

Hope everyone is safe out there.  I thought I’d try to throw myself back to baseball cards with the extra 2 hours of time I’m saving by not commuting to work, but I just haven’t been able to put that to baseball card blogging use.  I have worked on this post for quite a while – these completed set posts take a lot of time to put together and remind me how much more free time I had back in 2010 to 2013 when this blog was in its “Heyday”.

From the Black Friday purchase (COMC) I was catching up on – I finished up the 2001 Topps set.  I’ve now completed the base set for everything from 1980 through 2001!

Info about my set:

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How I put the 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 (purchased on COMC)

I think at first I got this card in a trade but it was semi-damaged, so I had to wait a bit and didn’t finish this set until now.

Set composition:  790 cards (640 individual ML player cards, 25 Prospects, 25 Draft Picks, 30 Managers, 20 Golden Moments, 8 League Leaders, 5 Season Highlights, 7 Postseason Highlights, 30 Team Checklists)

*The 640 individual player cards include 10 All-Star Rookies

Representation of ’00 MLB season:

Out of the 640 player cards, 9 players did not play in the 2000 season.

• Bret Saberhagen – out with a shoulder issue after a solid 1999 season with Boston.  The 2 time Cy Young winner tried to make a comeback in 2001 but only lasted 3 starts before retiring.
• John Smoltz – Smoltz had famously Tommy John surgery and missed all of 2000.  He came back in late 2001 as a converted closer and saved 154 games over the next 3+ seasons.
• Graeme Lloyd – missed all of 2000 with a shoulder injury
• John Thomson – missed all of 2000 with a torn labrum
• Justin Thompson – missed all of 2000 due to injury (short minors stint as well)
• Mike Jackson – missed all of 2000 with a shoulder injury
• Wilson Alvarez – spent 2000 in the minors
• Ichiro Suzuki & Tsuyoshi Shinjo – they got very late additions to Topps 2001 series 2 after signing from Japan

Also, 5 players have two regular cards in the set.

• Brian Meadows – for no apparent reason other than poor quality control by Topps.
• Alex Rodriguez, Michael Tucker, Mike Hampton, Mike Mussina – all were traded or changed teams via free agency in the offseason and got a new card with their new team in series 2

That leaves 626 different players represented.  But, on top of that, there were 19 players in the Prospects set (Barry Zito being the most notable) who did play in the regular season but didn’t have a regular card.  So now that leads to 645 players.  The 645 players represent 52.4% out of the 1,230 players who played in MLB in 2000.

Earliest active player from this set:  #379 – Bobby Thomson, #105 – Rickey Henderson (active players)

Like most of these sets after the mid-90’s – there are again 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).

Thomson is one of the 12 retired players in the Golden Moments subset and is the earliest.  He is in the set for his historic homer to win the 1951 pennant.  It’s been alleged the Giants had a system to steal signs and relay them from center field.  Baseball has moved past that at least*!  Thomson’s debut came September 9, 1946 when he went 2-4 with a double, a run and 2 RBI.

* – back when I started working on this post – how baseball teams were going to deal with the Astros this season was the biggest story in MLB.  That got superseded quickly in the middle of March when the season became in doubt.

Last active player from this set:  UPDATED from when I first posted:

#355 – Adam Wainwright (DP)

After a very unproductive COVID-shortened 2020 season, Edwin Encarnacion wasn’t resigned in 2021.  So Wainwright was the last player in this set.  He finished his career in 2023 with an awful year by his standards (after being great in 2021 and pretty good in 2022), going 5-11 with a 7.40 ERA.  However, he did finish with a flourish, winning the 200th game of his career on September 18th via 7 scoreless innings in a 1-0 victory at Busch Stadium.  He hung up his pitching glove at that point, but wasn’t done there.  Wainwright was always a decent hitting pitcher, and came in to hit twice in the last series (also at home at Busch Stadium) against the Reds.  He grounded out in a blowout loss on September 29th, and struck out swinging in the 8th inning on the final game of the season, October 1st.

Originally:

#355 – Adam Wainwright (DP), #746 – Edwin Encarnacion (PROS)

Wainwright & Encarnacion are the only 2 players from this set who are active in 2020.  Unless Ichiro makes a pitching comeback!

Player with the most cards in the set:  Todd Helton – 5 cards.  Helton had such a statistically insane year, he has 4 cards in the League Leaders set on top of his regular card.  He always gets the shiny front of these cards since Topps went with the NL guys on the front and the AL guys on the back.

Todd Helton – #255, #393 / #394 / #396 / #397  (League Leaders)

First Card and the Hundreds:  #1 – Cal Ripken, #100 – Derek Jeter, #200 – Alex Rodriguez, #300 – Vladimir Guerrero, #400 – Will Clark PS HL, #500 – Kent Mercker, #600 – Russ Johnson, #700 – Frank Catalanotto

Topps just kind of gave up on marquee guys as the hundred cards in series 2.

Highest book value:  #726 – Ichiro Suzuki RC

Most notable card: #726 – Ichiro Suzuki RC

Pretty easy choice here – Ichiro took the baseball world by storm in 2001, winning the MVP and Rookie of the Year and changing the face of Japanese players coming over to MLB.  He ended up being unique – with all respect to Hideki Matsui, no former Nippon League player came even close to matching his MLB accomplishments.

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

I have to go with Ichiro here as well.  There isn’t an incredible picture card here to wow you (though I really like the one below) enough to take away from one that captures Ichiro in the year he came to America.

Second best card (also my opinion): #60 – Pedro Martinez

Pedro was unreal in this stretch and this is a really cool card – you can see the grip on what I think is his knuckle curve.  Mike Piazza’s card where he’s crossing home as Robin Ventura throws up the “stand up sign” is in third to me, but worth the effort of a scan at the bottom of the post!

Best subset card: #379 – Bobby Thomson GM

None of the current year subset cards were particularly enticing, so I’m going with the most famous homer of all-time.  Apologies to other cards from this Golden Moments subset – Rickey Henderson’s card for breaking the stolen base record is a very cool picture and the Don Larsen perfect game card is arguably a better card than the Thomson one from an aesthetic aspect.

Favorite action photo: #537 – Magglio Ordonez

Ohhhh-eeeee-oh!  Maaaaaggg-gliooooo!

Favorite non-action photo: #580 – Curt Schilling

I like this card because it reminds me of some of the cards from the 60’s and 70’s where players would get their portrait shots into the set with empty bleachers in the background.

My Favorite Reds card:  #79 – Aaron Boone

The sleeveless uniforms were the best.

Other Notable Cards:  A few more really cool shots.

2001 Topps Brian Meadows and… 2001 Topps Brian Meadows

I’m working on the 2001 Topps set recap since I just finished the base set.  And it takes a lot of work, more than I remembered (man, I used to have way more free time).  Anyways, I came across this.

2001 Topps Brian Meadows

And also this.

2001 Topps… Brian Meadows?

 

Now, you may think those are the same card.  But, you my friend, would be mistaken…

See, when trying to figure out how much the set represents the 2000 season as far as number and percentage of players, I have to check for guys who have a card in series 1 and 2.  Well, Brian Meadows has one, and he’s got the same picture on both cards.  I’m sure this has been written about somewhere, but I couldn’t find anything in a quick google search.  Topps could have used a little help in the QC back in 2001!

Completed insert set – 2001 Topps Before There Was Topps

Here’s another completed insert set.  I finished this one from COMC in December (from a Black Friday purchase). This one is from 2001 Topps.  It’s kind of nice to be caught up on these – when I finish them, I post!

Info about the set:

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Set description:  As part of its 50th anniversary product, Topps created a lot of sets that paid homage to the Company’s history producing baseball cards.  This set, along with “What Could Have Been”, takes a different spin.  It looks at players who were around before Topps started making cards.

The fronts feature a black and white photo of the player with a gray foil finish over the background.  The player name is at the bottom, while the Topps 50 logo is in the corner.  The back has statistics of the player.

Set composition:  10 cards, 1:25 odds (2001 Topps series 2)

Hall of Famers:  All 10.  Lou Gehrig, Babe Ruth, Cy Young, Walter Johnson, Ty Cobb, Rogers Hornsby, Honus Wagner, Christy Mathewson, Grover Cleveland Alexander, Joe DiMaggio

Card that completed my set:  #BT5 – Ty Cobb

I got this card from COMC in December (Black Friday purchase).

How I put the set together:

• 3 cards from the 2001 series 2 hobby boxes I bought
• 4 cards from COMC
• 2 from a card show
• 1 from Sportlots

Thoughts on the set:  For a lot of these guys, this is either their first Topps card in over 20 years.  It’s a great for that, though 16 years later it’s not like I’m pining for a Topps card of Ty Cobb.  The gray makes it so bland, just like the What Could Have Been set.  I would have liked some of the color-making technology you see on lots of cards these days. 

Best card (my opinion):  #BT4 – Walter Johnson

I have a sweet spot for the Big Train.

My Favorite Reds card:  There are none.

Here’s the scan of the full set.

Other tidbits:  Most of the other players had a card in the Connie Mack All-Stars set from the early 50’s, a 1985 Topps Woolworth card, possibly a 1967 Topps Venezuelan “Retirado” card, and a few others.  Joe DiMaggio actually had the fewest.  This was only his second card Topps card after having one in the 1967 Venezuelan set.