What’s that Turtle doin’? Dramatically planting it's actually quite large frame right into our frame of reference - this baseball card.
As with the previous card, but even more impressively, a player missing a foot or lower arm in a picture sometimes seems to have suddenly leapt into the camera's lens. Despite the impressive entry, the missing foot also seems, to me, to stop the motion entirely at "Click."
A somewhat strange result of the image selected here is that the viewer of this baseball card has absolutely no way to guess a singular, trivia contest winning fact about Jon Rauch: he is the tallest player in Major League Baseball history at 6' 11".
After a while looking at cards for Pitchers from the New York Mets, one begins to theorize that CITI Field must have some sort of just slightly elevated area along the first base side, possibly in the lowest level of the various boxes above the lower level seats, for media photographers. The mound at CITI Field is a regular feature on Mets baseball cards.
Though I generally like bright sunny day baseball cards the most, I don't care for this card at all. I always want to see a baseball player's face on my baseball card, which was just about a golden rule of the genre for decades. I think 1991 Topps was the first set I can recall with a few cards that traded in showing the subject's face in exchange for a dramatic live action baseball photo; I do think that is worthwhile, sometimes. But for a player like Jon Rauch, who played for more teams (8) and in more seasons (11) than he had cards in a Topps Baseball set (7), I don't think this is a good approach to photo selection, particularly as this is Rauch's first card with the Mets after being skipped completely in 2012 Topps Baseball.
As I have owned and enjoyed this set of 2013 Topps Baseball cards all through the life-span of the TV series for "Game of Thrones," I sometimes look at this card and expect it to say "Valar morghulis."
Uniform Hero? Another clear card # just about perfectly centered - on the front of the baseball card. It is tempting to chalk up the appearance of a journeyman reliever here on a Series 1 card to the need to match those #s, but I think, as we will see shortly, that would be a touch overly cynical. Also, Topps was not without other options on this uni-card # choice.
Where’d the egg hatch? Rauch is one of the oldest Sea Turtles, as he was drafted in the last draft of the 20th Century (1999), in the 3rd round by the White Sox.
How about the migrations? Before Rauch would debut with the White Sox in 2002, he was a key part of a Championship baseball club: the gold medal winning Team USA at the Sydney Olympics in 2000.
His time with the White Sox was brief (10 games) before they would trade him and another rookie reliever, Gary Majewski, to the Expos in 2004 (the White Sox received 1.5 years of still league average service from Carl Everett near the end of his career). Very few players on the Sea Turtle checklist have any remaining connection to Montreal.
Eventually as with most largely 'middle' relievers, Rauch's career became quite migratory, moving on from Washington to Arizona, Minnesota, and Toronto, usually as a Free Agent each time, before signing a one year deal to pitch for the Mets in 2012.
His time with the White Sox was brief (10 games) before they would trade him and another rookie reliever, Gary Majewski, to the Expos in 2004 (the White Sox received 1.5 years of still league average service from Carl Everett near the end of his career). Very few players on the Sea Turtle checklist have any remaining connection to Montreal.
Eventually as with most largely 'middle' relievers, Rauch's career became quite migratory, moving on from Washington to Arizona, Minnesota, and Toronto, usually as a Free Agent each time, before signing a one year deal to pitch for the Mets in 2012.
Don’t flip over real Turtles.
I regularly presume that some of the favorite players at composition time for a new Topps Baseball set - are the ones with a long enough career to just simply fill up the back of the baseball card with their journeys.
Can the Turtle Catch the Rabbit?
CAREER CHASE: With 541 games pitched, Rauch is 711 away from Jesse Orosco's all-time record of 1,252.
Jesse Orosco broke in with the New York Mets and represented them on 2 All-Star teams early in his career. Topps Baseball cards are created right in the New York Mets' home-town, and Topps never forgets a good New York Met.
541 games pitched represents a very successful out-of-the-bullpen career; it is a good thing the text for a Lead League in Italics always appears on the top right of the stats on a card, otherwise it would be easy to miss the one for Rauch, in 2007, for "G" - games pitched.
Another key stat to read on this card is near the bottom right. A 0.99 WHIP across 73 "G" is an excellent result for a reliever, and that is what probably explains the presence of a journeyman reliever card in Series One - a nice touch by Topps rewarding a job well done.
However, Rauch's one year deal with New York ended as this card was being created. He would sign for the 2013 season with the Marlins but would only pitch for them for about 6 weeks and would be unable to reach the Majors again despite 2 final attempts with the Orioles and Royals.
Rauch finished his career with 556 Games pitched.
Subspecies? No, middle relievers are lucky enough to appear in a Topps Baseball set at all, usually.
Bling That Shell There is one parallel from 2013 that I would really like to see Topps use again, and that is the "Blue Sparkle" edition with a print run of /150 (not stamped), that were issued via a wrapper redemption program for Series 1 and as a hobby shop giveaway for Series 2. I generally like sunlit cards with some infield grass on them the best on those, so went with that vibe for this spot with the Parallel Turtles:
