Baseball Card of the Year

Name a member of the 2023 Cardinals who played the most positions on the field?  

You may have guessed Tommy Edman, but the answer is Taylor Motter.  

Name the only Cardinals shortstop to not strikeout more than 50 times in 2023?

Tommy Edman again? Paul DeJong before he got traded?  Nope, Taylor Motter.  

We could talk more about Taylor Motter's dominance on the field in 2023, but you are all reading this blog post waiting to see the best baseball card of the year. You already know who is going to be on the card at this point.......

A great looking card of a great utility player for my favorite team.  

Did I mention that Taylor Motter was a long-running member of the Durham Bulls a few years back?

He was. 

Here is the back of the card.  

"Super Utility" isn't a title that Topps throws out on just anyone's baseball card.  The second fact is actually pretty interesting, although slightly misleading. Motter has not caught in a Major League game and only appeared as a pitcher on three different occasions. He gave up a home run to Mike Moustakas.  

I was curious about the cartoon on the side of the card. I did not know much about his performance with the Memphis Redbirds in 2023, but he stole 8 bases and hit 8 home runs in just 56 games. The 8 steals were Motter's highest total since he had 12 with the Mariners in 2017.  

I had expressed my concerns about Taylor Motter not having a Cardinals card this summer.......

I am glad that Topps followed through on a tweet with only 109 views and thousands of ignores.  

2023 Blake Snell Autograph Count: 6

The 2023 Topps Heritage Blake Snell Autograph is the 81st Blake Snell autograph in my collection.  

I was excited to see a few brand new 2023 Blake Snell autographs come up in the past month. I was worried for a second that he had stopped signing for the year. It is his walk year, so I figured he might just be strictly focused on pitching this year. He has definitely slowed down. There are currently two out there with this being the first current year autograph I have added to my collection.  

Here is the front of the card.....

Typical of the Heritage cards from this year, which borrow the design of from the 1974 Topps, this Snell features a tightly cropped portrait style photo. The Padres cards all have the orangish-brown team name boxes and yellow picture frame. Snell's signature has its usual appearance. It's Heritage, so the autograph is on-card.  

Very nice looking card front.  

Back of the card.  

I like that the Heritage autographs have the same back as the base card with the exception of the card number in the top left corner. You get the autograph, plus all the player stats, two really cool factoids about Snell's 2020 World Series appearance, the player information, and a cartoon of Blake Snell holding a what is supposed to be a Cy Young Award.  

Sounds a bit like an infomercial......

But wait there's more.......

Not really. 

Remember that time Blake Snell was pitching for the Rays in the World Series and had a ton of strikeouts and a two-hitter in the sixth inning and then the Rays manager pulled him out of the game?  

Still not really over that.  

Just Hope Willson Can Help The Team.....

I was waiting for Topps to put out a Willson Contreras card in a Cardinals uniform.

Sure, I was excited the Cardinals signed him to replace Yadier Molina, but Willson was not super high on my baseball card fandom list. Add a historically bad start to the season by the Cardinals and some ridiculous drama by the team's front office, and I am a huge Willson Contreras fan.  

To summarize.......

It's been an infuriating season for the 10-24 (!) Cardinals, but removing Willson Contreras from behind the plate signifies the biggest red flag to date.

More on the most bizarre turn of events yet in St. Louis: https://t.co/4rzBNN1NVo

— Katie Woo (@katiejwoo) May 7, 2023

The Cardinals pitchers were (are) terrible at the beginning of the season and it was all Willson's fault according to the team's management, so they stopped using him as a catcher one month into a five year contract he signed to be the primary catcher. 

In reality, Willson has been just fine and he's handled the situation really well. My Willson Contreras fandom has been elevated enough that I am willing to take on some Cubs cards.  

Let's start.  

I picked up a copy of the 2019 Topps Heritage Willson Contreras autograph. Nice looking card.  

I just hope Willson can help the Cardinals win some games.  

Pujols Post - 2022 Topps Heritage High Numbers

It's the end of January and this is just my third post of the year and none of the posts have been on the topic of my baseball card room. I have spent some serious time in there recently working on cards. If only I had time to sit down and write about it.  

This is the current stack of cards that I am sorting out. 

Just loose singles that do not belong to a set. Most of these were organized while I was watching the NC State and Wake Forest basketball game on Saturday afternoon. I went to the women's game on Sunday against Notre Dame.  I should have brought a stack with me to the arena.  

Both NC State teams are good this year. The women's team has been ranked the entire season, the men's team is just outside the Top 25.  

On to the Pujols card.  

Topps has done a really good job with their Pujols cards this year. They have all been good cards including this Heritage card.  

The front of the card. 

Good shot of him clapping for something in the Cardinals dugout. While I was putting this card away I ran across his 2001 Bowman Heritage, which was his first appearance in a Heritage product. I thought the cards bookended well next to each other.  The first card is a black and white photo of a young, clean-shaven Pujols waiting to bat. The final card is in color and shows him on the bench, older with a beard. 

Lots of contrasts.  

I know, I am giving Topps too much credit and they likely did not put that much thought into their 2022 Heritage Pujols card. I would guess that Pujols will also appear in most of their 2023 products. I would be surprised if they did not use him beyond that for autographs and the whatnot.  

Back of the card.  

I love the cartoon on the top of the card. I also love when the player has been around so long that you need a magnifying glass to clearly read the stats on the back of the card. 

Excellent card.  

Random Ray - 2001 Topps Heritage

I am reaching for the top shelf this week and going with a 2001 Topps Heritage Ray Lankford card. I am not always really big on rehashed designs, but this set is probably the best one ever in that category. Heritage sets are put out every year, but this was the first one. It's in its own class.  

While the set is a modern classic, it was sadly one of Ray Lankford's last baseball cards in a Cardinals uniform. He was traded during the 2001 season to the Padres for pitcher Woody Williams. The end of year products in 2001 featured Ray as a member of the Padres. 

Here is the front of the card.  

Almost all of the Cardinals cards in this set were photographed at Spring Training. I love the posed photograph of Ray Lankford batting. Better yet, I really like the landscape layout of his card. There are not many Lankford cards with this layout. A little sad about this fact.  

Here is the back.  

This is the best write-up on the back of a Ray Lankford ever. 

Great card.  

Sunday Simbas

Yesterday, I posted a gaggle of former Durham Bulls players who signed for the Topps Heritage set this year. However, I did not forget about the Cardinals. They also have several players who signed for Heritage, but after looking at the checklist, there was an easy to choice to be made here. 

I bought a Ted Simmons.  

Of all the Cardinals in the Hall of Fame, he is easily the player who is grossly under represented on baseball cards. Up until last year, I think there were more Dennis Eckersley autographs as a Cardinal than Ted Simmons. 

That's not good.

I am not sure if the lack of interest was from Simmons not wanting to sign or card companies not asking him to sign.  If he did not want to sign, I completely understand.  That's his choice.  If card companies did not ask, I would be a little disappointed.  

I like this card a little more than the one that Topps released in the 2018 Archives set pictured below.  

Both are great cards, so really I am splitting hairs by telling you that I like one card over another.  

While I am here talking about Ted Simmons, I also wanted to take a moment and share a pair of cards I found/received in the last month, but did not post. I do not do much with the Topps Now cards, but this was a card I got because of combined shipping. 

I did not realize that Topps gave players a card when they were elected to the Hall of Fame. Sweet that old Ted Simmons still has the long hair.  

Last one.  

I think that this was a stadium giveaway from the Pirates of some sort, but Ted Simmons worked for the team in several different capacities during the early 1990s after retiring from baseball. For a time, he was the general manager, but resigned due to stress related health problems.

The centering is not great both side-to-side and top-to-bottom, but I got this card in a random box of cards that a parent sent into school.  Hard to argue with free. 

The Battle of the Blues

There is a basketball games taking place this evening between two local universities. Each of these schools is an equal distance from the south Durham Wal-Mart. As a former Durham resident, it is safe to say that this Wal-Mart, which is located on the worst road in all of central North Carolina, could very well be the center of hell.  

The picture below was edited out of the final edition of Dante's of The Inferno.  

Drive north from Wal-Mart and you will run into a small, elite private school that was featured on Manny Ramirez's rookie card. He did not actually attend the school. Some say it's because the Indians drafted him in the first round and paid him a huge bonus.  

It's more likely that Manny did not attend the school, because the chapel (shown in the background) has a statue of a man smoking a cigar in front of it.  

No, seriously. 

Drive south from the Wal-Mart and you will reach a large, public liberal arts university. Some of the student work and grading leaves a lot to be desired......

One of these schools will win a basketball game this evening.  

One will have a chance to win a basketball championship on Monday evening.  

Neither team will win their Division Title. 

Neither team will win their League Title. 

Neither team has won the National Championship, yet.  

Neither will win the Final Stretch Championship. 

The Durham Bulls, another local team that wears blue, won all of these championships within the last calendar year.  

The Triple-A Intercontinental Champion Durham Bulls are up for 2 #MiLBYs, including Best Team!

The accolades speak for themselves:
- Triple-A East Southeast Division title ✅
- Triple-A East League crown ✅
- Triple-A National Championship ✅
- Triple-A Final Stretch Winners ✅

— Durham Bulls (@DurhamBulls) October 12, 2021

It appears that these two colleges, centered around a Wal-Mart in south Durham, are both really playing to see which of them is the second best sports team in town to the Bulls. Did I mention that there is no Wal-Mart in downtown Durham near the Bulls stadium?

Shall we look at some baseball cards?  

It appears that Topps has recognized the greatness of the Durham Bulls and placed half of their team from last season into the 2022 Topps Heritage set. Better yet, a fair number of them signed autographs and I have spent some time working on tracking them down during the past week.   

Shall we look at these highly successful, championship-winning players?  

First up is Shane Baz. The guy has a championship ring from the Durham Bulls and appeared in the playoffs last year for the Rays. While the two local college teams playing basketball this evening have lost several games this year, Shane Baz has never lost a Major League game.  

2-0.  

Perfect. 

Look at that blue hat. Beautiful.  

Next up is Vidal Brujan.  He also has a championship ring from the Durham Bulls. While the two blue schools are often ranked, Vidal has been ranked in the Baseball America Top Prospects list every single year that he has been in the Minors. 

Have the blue schools been ranked every year that they've played basketball? 

No.  

Advantage Vidal. 

Next up is outfielder Josh Lowe who has a championship ring with the Durham Bulls from last season.  

Josh got one at-bat last year in the Majors and got a hit.

He's perfect.  

Are the blue schools perfect at sports?  

As I recall.....

No.  

Last one.  

Joe Ryan played in the Majors last season after he was traded for Nelson Cruz.  

Was anyone from a blue school traded for Nelson Cruz?

No.

If you are staying up to watch the battle for the second-best-blue-team from the Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill metro area, I hope your team wins.  

Old Bulls On New Cards

I am always on the lookout for new cards of Durham Bulls players.  There are plenty of easy and obvious targets out there, but every once in a while there is a name on a checklist that surprises me.  When the 2021 Topps Heritage set was released, I was really happy to see Jake Cronenworth had an autograph in the set.  Unfortunately, that card is also selling for a ton of money at the moment.  Luckily, there was also a surprising name in the mix on the Topps Heritage checklist.  

This guy.  

Phil Regan was a starting pitcher for the 1957 Durham Bulls.  It was a great year for the team.  Future Tigers outfielder Bubba Morton broke the color barrier for the Bulls franchise, and the team won the Carolina League championship defeating the High Point Hi-Toms led by Dallas Green.  It's hard to believe 64 years later, players on the team are still appearing on baseball cards. 

Sure, Regan played on some good teams with the Tigers, Dodgers, and Cubs, but look at the second line of the stats.....

This card is exactly the same as the actual 1972 Topps Phil Regan card.  I never realized that this set had Minor League playing stats for veteran players.  A bit of a rarity, but I checked out a few other former Durham Bulls players and they also had their Minor League stats listed.  Might have to go find the former Durham Bulls in this set at some point.  

Not Giving Up

As a Minor League baseball fan, inevitably all of your favorite players are going to leave. Minor Leaguers get promoted to the Majors, get traded, and get released all the time.  Sometimes it is easier to maintain a connection with the player after they have moved onto a different team.  Other times it is a little bit more challenging.  

I have spent a lot of time lately trying to process the Blake Snell trade from the Rays to the Padres.  I was expecting him to leave at some point, not exactly the type of player that they can afford to re-sign, but this off-season felt a little soon.  I thought I would get at least half a season more of Snell with the Rays.  

I guess not.  

Snell is one of my all-time favorite former Durham Bulls.  How many autographs of Snell have I posted on here over the past four or five years?  Fifty or sixty something?  

The number is large.  

I don't mind the Padres.  There are far worse places he could have ended up.  Do you know how many former Durham Bulls have been on the Cubs the last few years?  I know there was a strong connection with Joe Maddon managing the team.  A little hard to think good thoughts about players like Mike Montgomery and Ben Zobrist while they are beating the Cardinals.  

For the moment, I am going to press on with my Blake Snell cards.  I picked up a few inexpensive singles over the past two weeks.  There are still a few Snell autographs from 2020 that I am still missing from my collection, but not going to buy them at their current prices.  

Here are the new cards:  

Is there a baseball card product that Topps won't turn into a Chrome product?  You already know the answer.  I really like the coloring on these cards and I am not sure if I own any/many Chrome minis?  Maybe none?  Allen & Ginter always has the white borders and card stock.  The Chrome version has all sorts of colored cards, not sure if I am going to pursue the other Snells.  Probably all depends on their cost.  I am not sure the colored versions of Ginter would looks as good on standard card stock.  

The back of the card is same old Ginter design.  

This is a little different card for me.  I know it looks like a regular Topps Heritage card from 2019, but it is actually  one of those gimmicky variations that I am not really into collecting.  Well, sometimes you stumble across one that is not very expensive.  

The card is in both English and French.  Did these even appear in the 1970 Topps set?  Feels like it's some sort of salute to O-Pee-Chee.  This is actually one of those variations that I would have noticed if I pulled it out of a pack.  Topps should have put his height and weight in Metric.  

Next.  

How many times can Topps remake the 1993 Finest set?  It seems like an annual event at this point.  Maybe it's not that often, it just feels that way.  Not scanning the back of the card.  

Last card.  

How many different products can Topps make with a Chrome finish?  The answer will eventually be all of them.  This is some Chrome parallel of Snell's card from this year's Heritage set.  I prefer the black borders on the regular base set, but still not a bad looking card.  

The card is serial numbered to 571 copies.  

This is going to be the first of many Blake Snell posts I make in 2021.  Even if I get annoyed with the Padres, still more preferable than the Dodgers, I will just go back and collect all the Rays cards I am missing.  

There Are Enough Baseball Cards For Everyone

 Have you tried to find baseball cards recently? 

There are not any for sale in retail stores these days.  I am certain they have all been bought in bulk and are all currently being resold on Facebook and Twitter for twice the price.  I am not going to provide an examples, or call out anyone's social media posts.  They are plentiful if you want to find them.  

All this craziness over a White Sox prospect/rookie who has been in baseball card products the last two years.  As a baseball card collector who does not do "prospecting", but watches a lot of Minor League baseball, you should buy cards of prospects who the Cardinals are too cheap to sign.  Like Luis Robert.  

Sure bet they are at least a solid Major League player.  

Here's another Luis Robert gem from my collection.  

    

My teaching assignment for the coming school year has changed a few times over the past few weeks, a little stressful, and slightly time consuming.  I have picked up a few new cards over the past two weeks, but have not had the opportunity to sit down and write anything about them.  While people can buy out all the packs of 2020 Topps cards at Target, there are still plenty of baseball cards out there in other places.  There are enough baseball cards for everyone.

My first pair of cards are from the 2020 Topps Heritage set, both autographs that I found on the cheap.  

First up is A's pitcher A.J. Puk.  I saw him play for US College National team while he was in college at Florida.  I saw him pitch a combined no-hitter, so I am collecting his card regardless of how well he pitches in the Majors.  For what it is worth, he off to a good start during the first few weeks of the 2020 season.  The A's are using him as a reliever, but he's done well in that role.  I am probably biased to some degree, but he is going to be a really good pitcher.  Hopefully he gets back into the rotation.  

Next.  

Everyone's favorite Cardinals shortstop who strikes out way too often.  I am not a huge Dejong collector, but if the cards are there, cheap, and I can use combined shipping then sure, I will buy them.  I do not own many DeJong autographs.  Maybe only two or three, which is a low number for a modern Cardinals player with a high number of certified autographs.  I think this might be the nicest one in my collection.  Love the 1971 Topps design.  

I saved the best cards for last in this post.  I was really excited to add these cards to my collection.  I have been working on the 1970 Kellogg's passive-aggressively for the past three or four years.  They are more expensive than the other Kellogg's sets, but they are a personal favorite.  So, I picked up three cards.  Two of these are new, and another is an upgrade over another copy I own.  

This Gibson card is my upgrade. 

This is a pretty clean copy.  The bottom border is a little discolored, the scan did not pick it up, but that is much better than having a giant crack in the middle of the card.  

The last two Kellogg's cards are former Durham Bulls.  

Again, this is a passive aggressive attempt to collect the 1970 Kellogg's set.  If I end up with the whole set at some point, these cards will fit into the set.  If I never quite get there, then they are nice additions to my collection of former Durham Bulls cards.  Morgan played for the Bulls in 1963.  This card has a really clean surface, but again the border has some discoloration.  You can see it a little better on the right side of the card.  It's hard for a white border to stay white for 50 years.  

Last card. Lolich was on the Bulls in 1959 and 1960.  Really unrated pitcher from the 1960s and 1970s.  Much more deserving Hall of Fame candidate then Jack Morris, right down to the Game 7 pitching heroics in a World Series.  Of the three Kellogg's cards that I have posted here, this is by far the cleanest of the group. 

The Super Utility Team Part 2

It's been a few days, back to some former Durham Bulls players. 

The last time I shared a card of a Durham Bulls player, it was an Inception card of Michael Brosseau, one of the current Rays players who seems to play everywhere on the field.  Really nice card too. 

Which brings me to another newer card in my collection.  I think I might have picked this up our first week at home.  A little bigger name than Brosseau.  Here is the card which is from this year's Topps Heritage set.  Love the black borders. 

I saw Brendan McKay while he was in college with Louisville, and again with the USA National College team a few summers back.  I am not sure if he is going to hit enough to stick in the Majors as a DH, but he's certainly talented enough as a pitcher.  For the moment, I just think it's neat to see the old "pitcher-dh" label on his baseball cards.  

I also like that McKay squeezed his signature into the lone light colored space on the card.  He's always had a small autograph, this card would stink he used that blue pen over a dark blue Rays uniform.  

There Is Still Mail

I have not worked this week, and probably have several more weeks at home ahead of me between cancelled school days and "track out" time.  I work on a year round schedule, so the "track out" time is three to five weeks in between the quarters.  I do not mind doing work at home, but it feels odd not being able to go far away from my house.  My son was sick last month with an autoimmune virus he developed after having strep, so we are really trying to stay home. 

I have been across the street for a carton of milk.  My kids have been to the end of the street on their bikes.  So far, we are doing well.  A little stir crazy, but not too bad. 

Luckily there was mail today. 

I am seriously not going to collect every Blake Snell autograph under the sun this year.  I am going to collect more of his parallels and inserts.  I also plan on trying to add a few more Jack Flaherty cards, as my current Cardinal of choice.  I have also decided to narrow my former Durham Bull focus on Brandon Lowe. 

He plays second base, and sometimes the outfield if you are not familiar with the Rays.  I think they have also played him at first base too, but he's not the same thing as a player like Ben Zobrist. 

In the grand scheme of things, his cards were probably a little high when he was first called up in 2018, but that did not really stop my from adding a few of his cards.  My favorite card of the Rays second baseman in my collection before my mail this afternoon was probably his Stadium Club autograph from last year. 

My newest Brandon Lowe might be better.  Ask me next week.  I don't want to rush to judgement. 

I did not take the card out of the top loader to scan the card.  All the little scratches and marks are on the plastic, not on the card.  Outstanding card.  Really like the look of this card a lot.  

Back of the card.  

Great looking card. 

Cards I Love Part 24 & 25 - Cards That I Owned For A Week.

These cards are not even in my collection anymore.  I am not sure they was in my collection for more than a week.  I do not regret getting rid of them for a second, but they were a pair of cards that I will always remember owning.  Even if it was just for a few days.

I bought a box of 2001 Topps Heritage cards from the Sports Card Dugout in Webster Groves right after it was released.  I took the box home, opened the packs of cards, and landed a copy of the Classic Renditions Barry Bonds autograph.

There are only 25 copies of the card.

Even crazier is the fact that I landed a Nomar Garciaparra red autograph in the same box. 

I do not own this card either.  Owned it for less than a week just like Bonds.  

The odds for the Bonds are 1:19,710

The odds for the Nomar are 1:545

Getting one of the cards is phenomenal, especially the Bonds.  Both in the same box is ridiculous.  I listed them both on Ebay.  I got almost $1,100 for the Bonds and $200-$300 for the Nomar.  I don't remember the exact amount.  The same guy bought both.  

Are there cards not in my collection that I love? 

Yes, even if they were only there for just a week.  These are the best combination of cards that I have ever pulled from the same box.  Every once in awhile I search these two cards out on Ebay.  I am not going to buy copies of them.  I'd be sleeping on the porch.  Just kind of an ongoing curiosity.  

I Forgot

Willy Adames spent two years playing for the Durham Bulls.  I collected quite a few of his cards during that time, and continued to track down a few once he got called up to the Rays last season.  I think my favorite was his Topps Living Set card. 

I have a few Minor League cards of him too, also a few autographs. 

The beginning of the year was not kind to Willy, and with plenty of other former Durham Bulls players on the Rays I set my sights elsewhere.  Well, I mainly collected Blake Snell cards, but there were a few other Rays players who made an appearance in this space during this baseball season too. 

Willy did not. 

Then the second half of the season happened.  Willy improved his OPS by more than 100 points, played Gold Glove caliber defense, and helped the Rays get into the playoffs.  He even hit a pair of home runs in the ALDS against the Astros. 

So, maybe it is time to find a few new cards of this former Durham Bull.  His cards have gotten a lot less expensive, so I was actually able to pick up two of his cards rather than the one that I had originally set out to find.  

First up.  

This is from Topps Heritage High Numbers.  The autograph looks a little smudged, but there are other copies of this card with a similar appearance.  Perhaps this was not Willy's best effort on signing cards.  The card cost a few dollars, so I am not overly worried about the the slight smudge.  Just happy to own an Adames autograph from this set.  Always one of the best every year.  

Next.  

This is from this year's Archives set, the autograph is on card, and the design in borrowed from the 1994 Topps set.  When I saw this card, I was reminded that the original 1994 set had different shortstop prospect that was on my rooting interest.......

No autographs from Tripp "Homer" Cromer, but I hope that Willy Adames turns out a little bit better in the long run.