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 set – 2012 Allen & Ginter

I finished up the 2012 Ginter set with the COMC purchase I made about 3 months ago (that came about 1 month ago).  I only collected Ginter for 2 years, and now I’ve finished both base sets.  I like this design a little better than 2011, but I think I liked the insert themes in 2011 a little more.

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Info about my set:

How I put the set (non-SP / then SP) together:

• 138 (126/12) cards from my first hobby box
• 9 (5/4) cards from retail packs
• 61 (59/2) cards from a case break by Nachos Grande
• 99 (89/10) cards from trades
• 7 regular cards from Beckett Marketplace
• 31 (14/17) cards from Sportlots
• 5 SP cards from Check Out My Cards

Card that completed my set: #345 – Nolan Ryan

One of 2 cards from COMC I got recently, this is the one I like best!

General Set Info:

Set composition: 350 cards (287 current players, 30 retired players, 1 retired umpire, 32 popular figures / other sports)

Earliest active player from this set: #197 – Ty Cobb (retired players), #204 – Jim Thome (active players)

There’s two answers to this – Thome is the earliest active player from this timeframe – he made his debut of September 4, 1991.  But Ty Cobb is the earliest retired player – debuting August 30, 1905.  In 2012, Topps went from only having Mickey Mantle in the set to having 30 retired players.

Player with the most cards in the set: every player has just 1

First Card and the Hundreds: #1 – Albert Pujols, #100 – Troy Tulowitzki, #200 – Matt Kemp, #300 – Roberto Clemente

Highest book value: #140 – Mike Trout

This card does not look like Trout at all.  It’s a little more than the Harper RC as far as Beckett says.

Most notable card: #157 – Roger Federer

Best card (my opinion): #157 – Roger Federer

In 2011 it was Manny Pacquiao – in 2012 the big Champion was Roger Federer.  I’m a big Federer fan, and while I think this wouldn’t be nearly as big of a deal today – in 2012 having the G.O.A.T. (who has now probably been surpassed) was just that.

I love having this card in this set, regardless!

Second best card (also my opinion): #75 – Erin Andrews

11 years ago I was way too stoked about Erin Andrews having a card in Allen & Ginter.  Still pretty cool, and I wish the old Gameday crew would still be around.

Best subset card: N/A

Favorite action photo: #229 – Ichiro Suzuki

A&G isn’t really made for action shots – this one is pretty cool though.

Favorite non-action photo: #254 – Rickey Henderson

Fits well with the card set, a photo of a younger Rickey that wasn’t too heavily used (at least at the time).

My Favorite Reds card: #74 – Johnny Cueto

The Reds were so good in 2012.  Cueto always reminds me of that.  I think if he hadn’t gotten injured in game 1 of the opening series, we beat the eventual champion Giants and then … who knows?

Other Notable Cards:  Justin Verlander and Kate Upton did not start dating until 2014 – but they both made the Allen & Ginter 2012 set!

Completed set – 2012 Panini Golden Age

This is the last from my Beckett Marketplace completed sets.  I collected the first 2 years Panini did the Golden Age set, but had not quite gotten around to finishing off either of the base sets.  Cross this one off the list.

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Info about my set:

How I put the set together:

• 112 cards from my hobby box
• 27 cards from Sportlots
• 2 cards from a card show
• 5 cards from Beckett Marketplace

Card that completed my set: #59 – Bobby Thomson (1 of 5 cards I got from Beckett Marketplace)

General Set Info:

Set composition: 146 cards (115 athletes, 31 famous figures)

There are 115 athletes

• 78 Baseball
• 9 Horse Racing (5 horses, 4 jockeys, 1 owner)
• 6 Golf (5 men, 1 women)
• 6 Olympian (4 track & field, xx Gymnasts, 2 Swimming)
• 5 Basketball
• 3 Boxing
• 3 Football
• 3 Auto Racing
• 1 Chess
• 1 Ice Hockey

There are 31 non-athletes / “famous figures” in the set

• 15 Actors
• 7 Political Figures (6 U.S. Presidents)
• 3 Vehicles
• 2 Journalists
• 1 Businessmen
• 1 Musician (Jazz)
• 1 Author
• 1 Mythical Creature

Earliest active player from this set:

Baseball – #5 – Sam Crawford

Crawford has always been something of a favorite of mine in baseball history, so I think this is a good addition.  The all-time triples leader is the only MLB player who debuted in the 19th century from this set.  He played for the Red Stockings from 1899-1903 before really doing his main damage for the Tigers.  He made his MLB debut in September 1899.

All sports – #6 Battling Nelson

Nelson was one of the early Lightweight boxing champions.  He won the world title in 1904, but his first professional fight was in September 1896.

Overall – #1 Edgar Allen Poe

Poe’s writing career began in the 1830’s.  One of the nice things about this set – it generally goes chronologically so this stuff wasn’t too difficult to figure out!

Player with the most cards in the set:  The 3 stooges have one card each and a card with all 3 of them.

First Card and the Hundreds: Given the set size, this doesn’t make a ton of sense to do.  I’ll say – Poe is card #1 and Gene Tenace was card #100.

Most notable card: #9 – Joe Jackson

A big selling point on this set was the inclusion of all 8 members from the Black Sox scandal who were banned from baseball for life.  Of course, Shoeless Joe is the most notable of those 8.  Pete Rose is also in the set (see below), so having both of those 2 made for some headlines in the hobby at the time.

Best card (my opinion): #84 – Frank Robinson

Any time you find a Triple Crown shot, even if it came at the expense of the Reds, I’m all over it.

Second best card (also my opinion): #34 – Jimmie Foxx

I think of Foxx as a First baseman – but this is a good reminder he started as a catcher.  The old school catcher’s mask up-front and close is super cool.  The thing definitely makes me thing of prison in some fashion.  And – I question if the section for his eyes is actually wider than a baseball!

Best subset card: N/A

Favorite action photo: #67 – Al Kaline

This isn’t a set with a ton of action photos, and a set like this often will lend itself more to posed shots.  But this is one of the few ones and it’s really good – a lot of people watching to do in the background.

Favorite non-action photo: #34 – Jimmie Foxx

Going purely on the photo – the Foxx card is the best.

My Favorite Reds card: #118 – Pete Rose

Rose, Johnny Bench and Tony Perez all have cards.  This is the best to me.

Other Notable Cards: I think I’ve covered quite a few above!  But here’s all the cards of the Eight Men Out.

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 set – 2003 Topps

Another one I’ve had in the queue but not for nearly as long as the 2004 set.  I completed this one in December last year with a Greg Maddux card purchased form Sport Lots.

I now have 24 flagship Topps sets from the Lifetime Topps project completed, still not a full string with 2002 missing.  But I have 1980-2001 and then 2003-2004.

Info about my set:

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How I put the set together:

• 274 cards from the series 1 HTA jumbo box
• 319 cards from the series 2 HTA jumbo box
• 62 cards from trades
• 31 cards from Sportlots

Card that completed my set:  #694 – Greg Maddux AW-GG (purchased on Sportlots)

I missed this card in late 2021 so had just this one open for a while for this set.  I purchased a bunch of cards on Sportlots on Black Friday last year and this arrived in December.

Set composition:  720 cards (526 individual ML player cards*, 30 First Year cards**, 10 Future Stars dual player cards, 10 Prospect dual player cards, 15 Draft Picks, 26 Managers***, 12 League Leaders, 23 Sporting News All-Stars, 24 Award Winners, 5 Season Highlights, 9 Postseason Highlights, 30 Team Checklists)

*The 526 individual player cards include 10 All-Star Rookies

**I’m including the First Year cards as a subset – but one player did actually play in 2002 (Cliff Lee)

***There are 4 teams without managers and Topps just randomly filled in those gaps in the numbers for the manager subset with player cards.  Kind of weird how many that is.

Representation of ’02 MLB season:

Out of the 526 player cards, 3 players did not play in the 2002 season.

• Jose Contreras was in series 2 despite not making his MLB debut until 2003.
• John Franco & Darren Dreifort both had Tommy John surgery and missed all of 2002.

No players have two regular cards in the set, a phenomenon that cropped up in the 2001 set.

With the above and the Cliff Lee card from the First Year subset, that leaves 524 different players represented.  In addition, there were 15 players in the Future Stars subset (Brandon Puffer and Jung Bong on the same card) who did play in the 2002 regular season.  And the Prospects subset had 2 players who made the Majors in 2003 – including a guy who would have an NFL start at QB in his future (Drew Henson).

So now that leads to 545 players who were in 2003 Topps and played in the 2002 MLB season.  The 545 players represent 44.7% out of the 1,219 players who played in MLB in 2003.

Earliest active player from this set:  #72 – Rickey Henderson, #279 – Frank Robinson (if you include non-active players)

Again, two answers to this.  2003 Topps was the final base Topps card for Rickey Henderson (during his playing career), so this is the last time he is the earliest active player.  He made his debut by playing both games of a doubleheader on June 24, 1979.

If you include subsets, etc., and retired players – Frank Robinson gets the nod as the Expos manager.  Robinson made his debut for the Reds on Opening Day 1956.

Last active player from this set:  #200- Albert Pujols

There are no currently active players in this set.  Oliver Perez pitched a few games in April of last year for the Diamondbacks before being released, so Pujols holds the latest player distinction via his incredible retirement tour last year 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: 

Alex Rodriguez – 6 cards – #1, #338 / #339/ #340 (League Leaders), #358 (SN All-Star), #690 (Award Winners)

Like the nest year’s set that I just posted, A-Rod* had a ridiculous* year* in his 2002 Rangers campaign, so he is on a ton of cards for the 2003 Topps set.  He has 3 cards in the League Leaders subset (Runs, HR, RBI), a card in the Sporting News All-Star subset, a card in the Award Winners subset (Gold Glove), and of course his regular card which is the first card of the set.

Randy Johnson was runner up here with 5 cards.

First Card and the Hundreds:  #1 – Alex Rodriguez, #100 – Ichiro, #200 – Albert Pujols, #300 – Andy Marte (FY), #400 – Derek Jeter, #500 – Mike Piazza, #600 – Garret Anderson, #700 – Andruw Jones (AW)

Highest book value:  #311 – Kevin Youkilis RC

This isn’t the greatest pure rookie card set, which has a lot to do with Bowman prospecting but also just some timing stuff.  Youkilis generally is viewed as the highest valued card when I’ve checked on Beckett.

Most notable card: #680 – Joe Mauer / Justin Morneau PROS

Not a true RC for either guy, but a pretty great tandem.  It’s not too often Topps hits this well on a 2-player card like this.  But here you’ve got 2 future MVPs, from the same organization who both came up at relatively similar timeframes and stayed with that organization together for over a decade.

Best card (my opinion): #400 – Derek Jeter

Nobody will confuse me with a Derek Jeter fan, but I have learned to appreciate him more in his retirement.  This is a really cool card, him making a play at 2nd, with Gil Hodges retired number in the background.  Plus, one thing that I always think about when I pick these cards is how it goes with the design.  I don’t particularly like the 2003 design, mostly because of the odd blue that just doesn’t seem baseball card-ish to me.  But Yankees & Mets with that background and the right spacing from the camera and it works really well here.

Second best card (also my opinion): #64 – Mike Williams

If you look closely at this one, someone appears to be handing Williams his own 2000 Topps card to sign.  With the foul pole in the background, a pretty cool and interesting shot overall.

Best subset card: #693 – Torii Hunter AW-GG

Honorable mention to the NL Center Field winner Jim Edmonds.  The pictures from this subset seem a lot better than the 2004 version (I noticed since I just did that post).  This is just an awesome photo – particularly for a card that honors his Gold Glove award – and could arguably be the winner for the next category…

Favorite action photo: #31 – Brian Giles

A few potential ones here – the Hunter AW above, Craig Wilson and Jim Thome regular cards also got consideration.  I just like the focus on this one, it really feels like it caught a moment.  And maybe a moment before a moment.

Favorite non-action photo: #582 – Dmitri Young

Da Meat Hook!  Doing some ninja stuff!

My Favorite Reds card: #510 – Jason LaRue

The horizontal shots are few and far in between for this set, but they are generally the best action shots.  This was a pretty easy choice.

Other Notable Cards:  A few more really cool shots.  Sorry again for duplication on the Dmitri Young card, I’m using photos from an earlier post!

Completed set – 2004 Topps

I’ve had this one in the hopper for quite a while – about 2.5 years, actually.  One thing I realized – man, I used to have a lot more free time!  Doing these complete set posts is a bear for figuring out the percentage of players who the Topps (and Topps traded sets – which I do for when I do the master set) represents.  Anyways, this was fun, even if there was some legwork involved.  Hopefully now that I’m back in practice I can knock these out more quickly when the next arises.

I now have 23 flagship Topps sets from the Lifetime Topps project completed, though this breaks a string as I have 1980-2001 and 2004.  No 2002 or 2003 yet!

Info about my set:

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How I put the set together:

• 362 cards from the series 1 HTA jumbo box
• 364 cards from the series 2 HTA jumbo box
• 4 cards from trades
• 2 cards from Sportlots

Card that completed my set:  #325 – Zach Duke FY (purchased on Sportlots)

I made a bunch of purchases in January 2021 on Sportlots, which was the first time I’d bought cards from that site in almost 3 years.  However, I got cards from a few buyers and got the last 2 cards I needed for this set.  Kyle Sleeth was the other, but this Zach Duke from the First Year subset was the later to show up.  So it wins by being last!

Set composition:  732 cards (536 individual ML player cards*, 30 First Year cards**, 5 Future Stars dual player cards, 5 Prospect dual player cards, 20 Draft Picks, 29 Managers***, 12 League Leaders, 23 Sporting News All-Stars, 23 Award Winners, 5 Season Highlights, 11 Postseason Highlights, 3 Combo cards, 30 Team Checklists)

*The 526 individual player cards include 10 All-Star Rookies and one All-Star Rookie cup on a card where it wasn’t supposed to!

**I’m including the First Year cards as a subset here because none of the players actually played in 2003; all were expected to make the Big Leagues in 2004 (and a good portion did).

***The Reds, who fired manager Bob Boone mid-season, didn’t have a manager card.  Boone was replaced by Dave Miley, who did have a card in 2005 Topps, so I’m not sure what happened there.  Juan Castro of the Reds ended up getting a player card out of this for card #267, which should have been where Mike Scioscia was slotted since the manager cards are alphabetical by City for this subset.  But Topps gave Castro card #267, Scioscia is also card #267 but is considered #274 (where Boone or Miley should have been) for checklist purposes.  My guess is that it was something of an oversight contractually with Miley.

Representation of ’03 MLB season:

Out of the 536 player cards, 6 players did not play in the 2003 season.

• Adam LaRoche & Joe Mauer- both had cards in series 2 despite not making their MLB debut until 2004.  Obviously this is the time where even tracking the main set (let alone the Traded set) to the prior year begins to become less realistic.
• John Lieber & Paul Byrd – both had Tommy John surgery and missed all of 2003.
• Robb Nen – missed all of 2003 with a rotator cuff issue.  He tried to return to baseball, but retired before the 2005 season.
• Steve Karsay – missed all of 2003 due to shoulder surgery

No players (thankfully) have two regular cards in the set, a phenomenon that cropped up earlier in the decade.

That leaves 530 different players represented.  But, on top of that, there were 5 players in the Future Stars subset (Khalil Greene, Ryan Madson, Rich Harden, Bobby Crosby, Jimmy Gobble) who did play in the regular season but didn’t have a regular card.  There were 2 such players (Ryan Wagner, Rickie Weeks) in the Draft Picks subset who made the majors the year they were drafted.  And there were 2 players in the Prospects subset (Edwin Jackson, Neal Cotts) who played in the Bigs in 2003.

So now that leads to 539 players who were in 2004 Topps and played in the 2003 MLB season.  The 539 players represent 43.8% out of the 1,230 players who played in MLB in 2003.

Earliest active player from this set:  #518- Roger Clemens, #284 – Frank Robinson (if you include non-active players)

Like most of these sets after the mid-90’s – there are again two answers to this.  2003 Topps was the final base Topps card for Rickey Henderson during his playing career, so for this set the earliest active player is Clemens, who made his debut on May 15, 1984.  Both John Franco (a little earlier in the 1984 season than Clemens) and Julio Franco (1982) could have been in this set but being left out gives the Rocket that honor.  Julio Franco is in fact in the flagship Topps product in the Hit Parade insert set, just not the base set.

If you include subsets, etc., and retired players – Frank Robinson gets the nod as the Expos (and eventually Nationals) manager.  Robinson made his debut for the Reds on Opening Day 1956.

Last active player from this set:  #330- Zack Greinke (FS), #575 – Miguel Cabrera

Greinke & Cabrera are the only 2 players from this set who are active in 2023.  Cabrera is on his retirement tour and Greinke is looking like he might need to retire, so we’ll probably know the answer between the two by the end of the season.

Player with the most cards in the set: 

Alex Rodriguez – 7 cards – #100, #339/ #340 (League Leaders), #358 (SN All-Star), #693 (Combo), #701 / #716 (Award Winners)

A-Rod* had a ridiculous* year* to round out his Rangers tenure, so he naturally is on a ton of cards.  He has 2 cards in the League Leaders subset (HR, RBI), a card in the Sporting News All-Star subset, 2 cards in the Award Winners subset (MVP, Gold Glove) a Combo card with Jeter in series 2, and of course his regular card.

First Card and the Hundreds:  #1 – Jim Thome, #100 – Alex Rodriguez, #200 – Nomar Garciaparra, #300 – Brayan Pena (FY), #400 – Dontrelle Willis, #500 – Ivan Rodriguez, #600 – Alfonso Soriano, #700 – Eric Chavez (AW)

 

Highest book value:  #324- Yadier Molina RC

Most notable card: #324- Yadier Molina RC

This tends to go hand in hand – the most notable rookie is the most valuable.  Last I saw, Beckett listed this card as $25 and nothing else was above $2.

Best card (my opinion): #510 – Ken Griffey Jr.

One of the best Griffey cards out there, particularly from his Reds days.

Second best card (also my opinion): #452 – Chone Figgins

 

I hate to have the same general idea, but these are two great cards.  The 400 sign and the hang time could put this ahead of Junior, except it’s not Junior…

Best subset card: #693 – Kings of New York

I do like the style of the regular season highlight cards – but none of the events were particularly intriguing to me.  The postseason highlight cards are mostly multi-player, which kind of eliminates those.  The Boone home run would likely be here if it got its own card, but it’s barely mentioned on one card.  The Sporting News cards aren’t bad but not great.  So the card showing A-Rod coming to New York seems the neatest, so to speak, of the available options.  It was a big deal at the time, obviously!

Favorite action photo: #204 – Jack Wilson

For the pure action, I’ll take this over the Chone card, which is a better picture overall.  This one may actually work even better with the design though.

Favorite non-action photo: #160 – Bernie Williams

Another card I could have argued for best card overall.

My Favorite Reds card: #510 – Ken Griffey Jr.

Pretty easy when it’s your overall favorite card.  I’ll say it again – the sleeveless uniforms were the best.

Other Notable Cards:  A few more really cool shots.  Sorry for some duplication, I’m using photos from an earlier post!

Completed set – 2013 Gypsy Queen

Here’s a full base set I completed recently!  A few years ago when I was more active on this blog, I thought I had finished this set but when I went through it – realized I was missing a card.

Info about my set:

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How I put the set together:

• 189 cards (6 SP) from my first hobby box
• 123 cards (6 SP) from my second hobby box
• 3 cards (all SP) from a trade
• 35 cards (all SP) from COMC, Beckett, and Sportlots

Card that completed my set: #215 – Kris Medlen

I got this from COMC in early 2021.  I had actually thought the Wainwright picture above back in 2019, but had to re-visit that and got this Medlen card in late 2020 and had it shipped with a COMC lot in early 2021 (after like a 5 month wait – not sure if that’s still the norm!).

General Set Info:

Set composition: 350 cards (by my count – 260 current players, 90 retired players)

Earliest active player from this set: #155 – Ty Cobb.

When I’ve done this for sets from my Lifetime Topps project, I usually do “last active player”.  For these sets I’ve done first active player.  This is easily Ty Cobb – who along with Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig are the only players in the set who finished their career before World War II.  Cobb debuted in 1905.

Player with the most cards in the set: There are 350 different cards and 350 different players with 1 card each :).

First Card and the Hundreds: #1 – Adam Jones, #100 – Bryce Harper, #200 – Ernie Banks, #300 – Johnny Bench

Highest book value: #14 – Mike Trout

Most notable card: #14 – Mike Trout

About anything from Trout around this time is going to be the most notable.  He’s priced above anyone else in Beckett – not suprisingly they put him as an SP card.

Best card (my opinion): #161 – Whitey Ford

Love this card.  It kind of jumps out at you with the background, which I’m guessing is a Spring Training type picture.

Second best card (also my opinion): #86 – Mariano Rivera

I guess I’m staying with Bronx pitchers here, but the throwback Yankee uniform goes really well with this set design.

Best subset card: N/A

Favorite action photo: #117 – Phil Niekro

 

This set tends to have close-ups, even on action shots, and that doesn’t lead to the most unique in-game photos.  This was a cool follow-through of a Knucksy pitch.

Favorite non-action photo: #161 – Whitey Ford (see above)

My Favorite Reds card: #148 – Todd Frazier

Nice shot of one of my all-time favorite Reds.

Completed set – 2003 Topps Traded & Rookies

I made a few purchases last year on Sportlots to finish up some sets that were low hanging fruit.  One of those was 2003 Topps Traded & Rookies – where I had needed just one card for 5 years.

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Info about my set:

How I put the set together:

• 270 cards from the Topps Traded HTA jumbo box
• 4 card from a trade with reader Bill
• 1 card from Sportlots

Card that completed my set:  #T146T – Gabe Gross

I got this from Sportlots in early 2021, as I mentioned I did kind of catch-all buy of some low hanging fruit.

Set composition:  275 cards (115 single MLB player cards, 5 Managers, 45 Prospects, 110 1st Year Cards)

Representation of ’02 MLB season:  This set passed the point where this is relevant to do for traded.  The guys in the first 115 cards are all players who either signed with a new team in the offseason – for example, David Ortiz, Pudge Rodriguez or Cris Carpenter signing with Boston, Florida and St. Louis respectively.

There are also some mid-season 2003 trades like Aaron bleeping Boone (see below)!  There aren’t any players with their 2002 baseball teams in this set, so putting this type of comparison with the 2002 regular set doesn’t make a ton of sense.

Earliest active player from this set:  #T117 – Felipe Alou, #T73 – Rickey Henderson (active players)

The earlier player is Rickey Henderson.  So the player years from this set span from 1979 to 2022 – 6 different decades!  I’m saving extra scans and megabytes by including the scan I did when I first posted about this set – so Rickey has Roberto next to him here!

That excludes the managers, where Felipe Alou would bring it back 2 more decades as he debuted in 1958.

Last active player from this set:  #T158 – Adam Wainwright

Pretty wild there’s a guy in this set still playing – though it’s possible Wainwright will follow Yadier and Pujols and announce his retirement this offseason.

Highest book value:  #T200 – Robinson Cano

This is a true RC for Cano, so it’s way ahead of any other cards from the most recent Beckett I have.  Miguel Cabrera is in the Prospects subset, but this is a couple years after his true RC.

Most notable card:  #T200 – Robinson Cano

That it’s the most notable rookie card in a Traded set makes it the default most notable card as well, though the first Red Sox Topps based card for Big Papi is worth mentioning as well.

Best card (my opinion):  #T108 – Aaron Boone

A part of me should hate this card, because Boone was a bit of a fan favorite for me when he was with the Reds – and this card exists to point out he was traded away when they started to stink in the early aughts.  But he hit one of the biggest homers in postseason history, one of only 3 walk-off homers to clinch the pennant in the history of this great game – and this is the card that shows the midseason trade for it.

Second best card (also my opinion):  #T52 – David Ortiz

Obviously Ortiz moving to the Red Sox had a much bigger long term impact than the Boone trade.

Best subset card:  #T116 – Dusty Baker

Dusty finally got that World Series ring as a manager the other day.  He’s beloved throughout all of baseball, and despite some silly fans who think they can do better – his win-loss record is second to none.  Felt appropriate to pick him here.

Favorite action photo:  #T81 – Bobby Kielty

Traded/Update sets aren’t particularly known for their action shots.  This is a very good one.  The Aramis Ramirez card was the other one I considered – looks like he’s just hit a home run.

Favorite non-action photo:  #T100 – Kenny Rogers

The Gambler was always a pretty cool player, and this dugout shot works pretty well.  said, I like the cool effect with the background here.  I couldn’t have told you he played for Minnesota, but apparently he went 13-8 his one season there.

My Favorite Reds card:  #T168 – Joe Valentine

Unfortunate default here – of the 4 Reds cards in this set, Joe was the only guy who ever spent time with the actual Major League ballclub, though he had a negative WAR so maybe that should even DQ him for this distinct honor!

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.

Completed set – 2000 Topps

Back in February I finished up the 2000 Topps set.  I’ve now completed the base set for everything from 1980 through 2000!

Info about my set:

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How I put the set together:

• 234 cards from the series 1 hobby box
• 239 cards from the series 2 retail box
• 3 cards from trades
• 2 cards from Beckett Marketplace

Card that completed my set:  #225 – Pedro Martinez PSH (purchased from Beckett Marketplace last February)

Set composition:  478 cards (394 individual ML player cards*, 16 Prospects, 19 Draft Picks, 1 Tribute, 7 League Leaders, 10 Season Highlights, 7 Postseason Highlights, 14 20th Century Best, 10 Magic Moments)

*The 394 individual player cards include 10 All-Star Rookies

Representation of ’99 MLB season:

Out of the 394 player cards, 3 players featured did not play in the 1999 season.  Andres Galarraga found out in Spring Training that he had a tumor in his back and had to take a season off for treatment.  Kerry Wood had Tommy John surgery, derailing what seemed like a potential HOF career.  And Moises Alou tore his ACL in the preseason.

Additionally, 14 of the players in the 3-player Prospect subset actually made it to the majors in 1999.

That leads to 405 players.  The 405 players represent 33.5% out of the 1,209 players who played in MLB in 1999.

Earliest active player from this set:  #44 – Hank Aaron, #104 – Rickey Henderson (active players)

There are again two answers to this – Henderson is again the earliest active player.  Rickey made his debut by playing both games of a doubleheader on June 24, 1979 – naturally he stole a base in his first game.

Aaron is the earliest (and only) retired player – featured for the 25th anniversary of his record-breaking homer.

Last active player from this set:  #446 – C.C. Sabathia

There’s a few guys who played through 2018, but C.C. is the only one who played in 2019.  He finished his career on September 24, 2019 as a reliever.  It was the only game he didn’t start in his entire career, and he got credited with a Hold in a game where the Yankees lost 2-1 to the Rays.  They had already clinched the division and were doing a bullpen game.

His last actual game was in the playoffs that year.  He came in – again in relief – to help in game 4 of the ALDS against the Astros.  One of his inherited runners scored on an error, and he hit a batter, but did get 2 outs to finish the 8th inning with no runs credited to himself.

Player with the most cards in the set:  Mark McGwire – 7 cards.  Big Mac was much celebrated in this set.

Mark McGwire – #1, #232 / #469 (20th Century Best), #236 (Memorable Moments), #456 (Season Highlights), #462 / #463 (League Leaders)

First Card and the Hundreds:  #1 – Mark McGwire, #100 – Alex Rodriguez, #200 – Jose Canseco, #300 – Mike Piazza, #400 – Ken Griffey Jr.

Highest book value:  #451 – Barry Zito RC / Ben Sheets RC

Not the greatest rookie card class, though it’s better than the previous year, and it would become much improved in 2001.  That said, a future Cy Young winner and another 4-time All-Star was worth noting.

Most notable card: #400 – Ken Griffey Jr.

Hank Aaron’s tribute card was fairly notable, but honestly, Topps had been doing tribute cards since 1986 (maybe longer).  And unlike the previous year, Topps wasn’t paying tribute to Sosa or McGwire smashing the Roger Maris HR record.  I may be jaded, but I think the biggest story of 2000 was Ken Griffey Jr. getting traded to the Reds.  This is a really nice card that seems to be from Spring Training or batting practice.  Getting Griffey in the most updated uniform at this point was something worth pointing out.

Best card (my opinion): #85 – Barry Larkin

So many things right with this card.  The MLB logo in the background makes the color pop.  It’s Barry Larkin, a Hall of Famer, throwing out Barry Bonds.  You see how he’s dodging the slide.  It’s beautiful.

Second best card (also my opinion): #425 – Greg Maddux

While this set has a bunch of nice photos, there was a clear distinction for me between the top 2 and the rest.  Maddux bunting.  You can see the “Aaron 715” patch on his jersey.  So awesome.  This card could have been #1, but the Klesko and Larry Walker cards (which I’d put #3 and #4 in this set) are far behind these top 2.

Best subset card: #225 – Pedro Martinez PSH

If Griffey going to the Reds was the biggest story from early 2000, Pedro’s performance in the ALDS was the biggest story in late 1999.  His relief performance against the Indians is etched in my memory.  I remember watching it downstairs in the social room of my fraternity house.  All my Tribe fan friends were despondent.  The Red Sox didn’t move on any further – the ALDS win was their peak that year.  But it has always seemed more memorable than the Yanks’ win over Boston in the next round or their win over Atlanta in the World Series.

Favorite action photo: #85 – Barry Larkin

I think it’s the pure best action shot in this set.  And it’s 2 HOF-caliber players.  And the main subject is a Red.  Which is why it gets 3 scans in this post.

Favorite non-action photo: #1 – Mark McGwire

I cheated a little bit here.  Which may make the selection of McGwire appropriate (zing)!  This is a set that focuses on action shots.  I could have taken one of the series 2 portrait shots of guy in their new uniforms (Mike Hampton is trying his best to look dreamy in his new Metropolitan uniform).  But I decided this is clearly after a McGwire home run, it’s card #1, and he’s not in the field of play so it definitely doesn’t seem to be an action photo.  So it wins the award.

My Favorite Reds card:  #85 – Barry Larkin

If I think it’s the best card in the set – I obviously think it’s the best Reds card in the set.

Other Notable Cards:  Here are a few more cards I loved from this set.  The Walker and Klesko cards stand out to me.