That Didn't Last Long and A Set Update

I went into work at the end of last week and one of my students brought me a pack of 2018 Topps cards.  You know, the set that I am not collecting.  Hard to hand a pack of baseball cards back to an eleven year old and say, "Sorry, but I do not collect these".

I opened the pack of cards.....

First card of the year goes to Diamondbacks infielder Brandon Drury.  

First Cardinals card was Dexter Fowler.  I like the action shot.  

First former Durham Bulls player was Wil Myers.  

A few thoughts on the base cards.  First, the wave on the front of the card isn't nearly as bad as I thought it was going to look.  I am still not rushing out to buy a bunch of packs, but definitely better in person than online.  I will still always refer to these cards as the "Aqua Fresh" set.  

The card backs are a huge letdown.  

For the second year in a row we've lost the player's stat line in favor of some box with the player's Twitter and Instagram handle?  If someone was going to follow C.C. Sabathia on social media, I am pretty certain that they don't need a baseball card to prompt them to do it.  He has an Old English Sheepdog (+1), but he named it after an NFL team (-1).  

I know I have advocated for sets being more kid friendly, social media connections are definitely more kid friendly, but as a young collector the stats on the back were helpful with matching up players who appeared old and washed up on television versus someone my dad and older brother told me was a good baseball card.  

Fergie Jenkins comes to mind.  

Old guy pitching for the Cubs.   

Hall of Famer.  

Two more quick items.  First, I never posted the best card I pulled out of the pack with the scans above.  I was rather surprised, in a good way.  

Would love to have seen a Cardinals Postseason card, but the players have had a hard time overcoming Mike Matheny lately.  Maybe next year.  

Last item.  I have also started working on the 1983 Topps inserts.  I have picked up 8 of the cards so far.  I won't repost the whole checklist, but I have 92 more cards to find.  

I like the idea of mixing vintage and modern players in the 1983 set.  I wish the retired players matched up a little bit better with the players who actually appeared/played around that time.  Of the retired players in this group of cards only Darryl Strawberry seems to fit.  

I understand that Topps has to make as many Derek Jeter cards as possible, but he did not play in 1983.  Same with Canseco.  Can't we sub out Canseco for Rickey Henderson?  Seems like a better choice for an A's outfielder from the early 1980s.  Maybe a Don Mattingly in place of Jeter?  

2015 Topps Heritage Minor League

I am probably a little bit slow on this post, but I recently picked up a box of Topps Heritage Minors.  I have seen tons of posts on other blogs about this product and have really enjoyed reading and seeing everybody else's pulls from this product.  I love watching Minor League baseball and this is one of my favorite products every year.  I know that it is nothing high end, nor super fancy, but I like seeing the Minor League guys in their actual Minor League uniforms.

So, not to rehash too rehash too much about the base set design, or the content of the base set, I am just going to take a few minutes to write about the hits I got out of my box.  I am going to start off with the only low numbered parallel card out of my box, no printing plates, but this was nice for my collection of Rays players....

Honeywell was in A ball last year, and he is still just 20, so he is probably a few years away from being on the Durham Bulls, but this is the type of card I can put in a box and happily revisit in a few years.  The orange parallel has a limited print run of just 25 copies.  On to my relic....

Urias is a really highly regarded prospect, so this was a nice pull.  I am not always the biggest fan of relics and I kind of wonder where this piece of jersey came from considering that all of the Dodgers affiliates have a blue color scheme.  I like trying to figure things like this out, but have not tried too hard yet on this one.  I am trying to decide between a Great Lakes Loons jersey, or perhaps something from the Futures Game in Minnesota. 

On to some autographs.   First up is Wes Parsons.  The Braves prospect pitched very little this year, due to injuries, but looked good when he played.  Perhaps next year.  He spent part of the season playing locally with the Carolina Mudcats in Zebulon, so perhaps I will drive over and watch him pitch next spring.  With the promotion of Lucas Sims he might be the best pitcher on that team to start the 2016 season.  

Last one.  Brandon Drury made it all the way up to the Majors with Diamondbacks this year.  I am not sure how serious of a prospect the third baseman is going to be in the long run.  He seems to have a limited amount of power, though he did end his 2015 season in the Minors with 40 doubles, and some of his other offensive skills seem limited too.  Perhaps a utility player?  It's a nice looking card if nothing else.