With the book on Spring Training long closed, and the window for receiving back cards effectively shut, it's time to look at how I fared for my first spring TTMing.
I've never submitted cards during Spring Training. After winning the Mariners for a 2018 Topps Series 1 case break, I wanted to put those doubles (and triples) to good use. I sent a card to every Mariner featured in Series 1, outside of Robinson Cano and Nelson Cruz, for a total of 7 TTM requests.
When Tweeting about my plans I remarked that I would be happy with even just one return.
Taylor Motter signed his card with Cano. He was even kind enough to sign it on his side of the card. Would I love to get Cano to sign his side? Absolutely. Will that ever happen? Probably not.
I also took the time to send out some requests to Mr. Automatic Pat Neshek. Neshek regularly tweets out his current address for TTM requests and I had been meaning to get some cards out to him.
My favorite set of the new millennium is 2008 Topps. This card was a must send to Neshek.
2015 Topps is another one of my recent favorites and this presented an opportunity for my first horizontal TTM return.
Not the most plentiful Spring Training for me but some solid additions nonetheless. If I do this next year I'll do some better advance planning and increase my TTM request range.
Have you ever looked at a card at thought, "I wonder when this picture was taken?" Most of the time it's impossible to figure out. Card images tend to be generic in the sense that the picture is an isolated shot of the player. Sometimes there will be another player in the background but even then it can be hard to know which game the photo took place. Especially if it's two teams that play regularly.
The Topps First Pitch rectify this mystery by listing exactly when the first pitch was thrown by the person being featured. Makes sense. A person doesn't get the chance to throw out the first pitch any ol' day of the week so it's important to specify the date. I like the insert because it gives non-players, and even non-celebrities, a chance to be featured on their own card.
Topps 2015 Baseball #FP-12
I've shown this card before in a post about the 2015 Topps set. I post about it again because I realized I omitted some crucial information about the card--I was at the game! I have a terrible memory sometimes and this only helps prove it. The only reason I remembered I was at this game was a recent post on the Baseball Hall of Fame website about Macklemore and the Mariners.
In my defense, part of the reason why looking at this card didn't trigger my memory is that there is no mention of his bobblehead. One small mention of his bobblehead and I would have remembered that "oh yeah, he threw out the first pitch at his own bobblehead night, I got said bobblehead, I was at the game with some co-workers, and that the Yankees were in town and this was Jeter's last game in Seattle." One small cue and a whole bunch of memories are triggered. It's weird how the mind works like that.
Are there any cards like this that you have some connection to, such as you were at the game or you remember watching it on TV?
To close out the post I'm including Macklemore's tribute song to Hall of Fame Seattle Mariners broadcaster Dave Niehaus. Makes me happy to be a Mariners fan and live in Pacific Northwest. Even baseball cards get a shout out in the video!
Welcome back for the conclusion of the 2015 Topps Baseball Series 2 retail break. If you missed my first post highlighting some of the cards, you can check it out here.
I don't have as many cards as the first post to discuss but here we go.
Base
I don't like Mike Trout. He's too good and he plays in the AL West, where my team the Mariners also play. It's hard to believe that he is only 24 but has already won an MVP and ROTY award. He's been an all-star every full year he's been in the league. He already has a WAR above 4.0 and it's not even the all-star break.
The only reason I included this card is because I thought it was a very cool image. It's easy to get fatigued with the typical baseball card picture but this one is different. I'm surprised Topps didn't put this is a short print since they are keen on doing that these days.
Highlight of the Year insert
The Babe. What a legend. I'm always a fan of baseball history cards.
Free Agent 40 insert
As far as free agent signings go, Cano was likely one of the biggest for the Mariners. Consistent all-star, gold glove award winner, and positive clubhouse personality. This signing, and the money to go along with it, showed that the Mariners' front office was serious about contending. In 2014, his first year with the Mariners, Cano played like a the multi-million dollar man he was. Unfortunately, the Mariners missed the playoffs by 1 game. In 2015, Cano struggled mightily at the beginning of the year and the Mariners finished below .500.
This year he has been playing close to his 2014 level but the Mariners have tanked in the month of June and Cano's flaccid bat this month is partly to blame. I still think he is an all-star this year but he will have to turn it up in the 2nd half if the Mariners have ANY chance of making the playoffs.
First Pitch insert
Local product Macklemore loves Seattle and all it's sports teams. He's a good ambassador for Seattle sports. His music is good too.
Baseball History insert
Any card with Casey Kasem is alright with me. His voice is legendary.
Base
I'm sure I've talked about Pineda before so I won't talk much about him. Former Mariners prospect that has not seemed to play up to his potential yet. This year his ERA is a whopping 5.51. He had a rough start to the year but in June he has been pitching better.
Future Stars - Base - Gold Parallel
The Future Stars tag on DeGrom has been pretty accurate. In 2015, the year this set came out, DeGrom was an all-star and pitched his way to a 14-8 record with a 2.54 ERA. He also pitched pretty well in the playoffs last year with the exception of his lone World Series start where he gave up 4 runs in 5 innings. This year is ERA is a little higher, WHIP is up and his strikeouts are down. I don't follow the Mets/NL so I can't say for sure how he is doing but the numbers suggest that he's not pitching the same.
Initially I was going to correct the rotation on Fernando Rodney but on second thought I decided to keep it. Rodney was Mariners closer for a few years and watching him pitch was like riding a roller coaster. One game he could go 1-2-3 no problem to get the save. The next game he could walk every batter to load the bases and then get three easy outs. There was no consistency. An upside down picture seemed appropriate. I still like the dude though. He's been pitching very well this year so congrats to the Padres.
Last, and kinda least, Rick Porcello with the gold parallel, serial numbered to 2015. I have no affinity for Porcello as I'm not familiar with him. I just wanted to include the other serial numbered card. He seems to be doing alright with the Red Sox this year so he's got that going for him.
Topps had a Memorial Day sale so if course I had to see what they were offering. The only thing that caught my eye was a retail box of 2015 Series 1 baseball cards -- 24 packs for $20. Since I wasn't actively collecting in 2015 I figured now would be a good chance to get some baseball and catch up on a prior set.
After an excruciating two-week wait, the package finally arrived on a Friday. I knew my weekend plans. As I opened up the packs on Friday night (okay I couldn't wait until the weekend to get started) I actually started to feel a bit stressed. "There are a lot of cards here. How am I going to blog about all these cards? There is going to be so much scanning to do." *deep breath*
At first I thought I might scan a pack a day and do an individual post on each pack. That seemed like overkill though as 24 packs would take a while and this is last year's set so people have probably seen these cards enough. Then I narrowed down my options to maybe 3 cards per pack to highlight but that still ended up being a significant number of cards. Finally, I settled on going through the 3 cards I originally picked out per pack and winnowed that number down even further to cards I could actually write about.
With my plan settled, I started scanning the noteworthy cards. I still scanned a decent amount of cards and I'm going to turn it into a two-part series. Otherwise, I think the posts would be too long to enjoy, especially since these are not the latest and greatest Topps.
I want to make a quick note that cards are not in any order from packs pulled.
Now that the behind-the-scenes look into my psyche is out of the way, on to the cards!
Future Stars - Base Card - First Pitch Insert
The benefit of opening last year's Topps cards is that I can look at whether or not a Future Stars card turned out to be true. In the case of Xander Bogaerts, he is absolutely a future star. He is currently 1st in All-Star voting for shortstop. All-star voting is not always an indication of a player's actual all-star worthiness (I'm looking at you Royals fans) but for Bogaerts, he fits the bill. In 2015, his 2nd full year in the majors, Bogaerts hit .320 with 81 RBI. He also earned himself a Silver Slugger award. This year he is hitting even better with .359 batting average and already 44 RBI. He is a solid defensive player as well.
On the flip side we have Alcides Escobar. 2015 was actually a good year for him. He won a World Series Ring, an ALCS MVP award, a Gold Glove award, and he was an All-Star. While this year he is 2nd in All-Star voting for shortstop (behind Bogaerts), he has particularly played like an all-star. His batting average is down, fielding percentage is down, and his OPS is down. I admit I don't track the Royals but I'm sure the team is expecting more out of him this year if they want to defend their title.
Jack White is a not a shortstop but I'll still talk about him anyway. I like the First Pitch inserts as it's always fun to see some celebrities mixed in with the baseball players. I have never been a listener of The White Stripes but I can appreciate the band for what it is/was. In addition, White is pretty dedicated to the independent music scene and runs a great label called Third Man Records. One day I would like to go to their record store in Nashville.
Base card
I actively dislike the Yankees, which par for the course for most non-Yankees fans. However, Jeter is a quality baseball players and I like that the photo on this card captures a special moment. I saw Jeter on his farewell tour last year when the Yankees made a stop in Seattle. I thought I had a picture from the game but can't seem to find it.
Gold parallel - SN 1941/2015
These high serial numbered parallels aren't the flashiest of cards but for a retail pack I can't complain about getting a serial numbered card. I like the gold border, too. Zimmermann had an okay year with the Nationals in 2015, going 13-10 with a 3.66 ERA. This year he's on an improved pace with an 8-3 record so far.
Robbed insert - Baseball History insert - Future Stars
The Robbed insert is presumably a feature of a team's best outfielders. The fact that Dustin Ackley was considered Seattle's best outfielder is laughable and sad. It's laughable because Ackley was converted to an outfielder (first center then left) late in his career after he didn't pan out as a 2B. His story is unfortunate because he was a drafted second overall in 2009 and was considered an absolute lock for success as a power hitter. However, he never lived up to the hype and was eventually shipped off to the Yankees where he has achieved even lesser success. I won't even get worked up about the fact that Mike Trout was drafted later in the 1st round. Oh well, the Mariners would have found a way to screw him up anyway. But I digress.
Based on the aforementioned let down in Ackley's career, it's sad that he was at one time considered Seattle's best outfielder. He did have some nice plays and this one comes to mind:
Luckily, the Mariners have an improved outfield with Leonys Martin, Nori Aoki, and even Nelson Cruz.
The baseball history card is a little confusing since Dick Clark has nothing to do with baseball but I like him on a card nonetheless.
Masahiro Tanaka was a pitcher I was hoping the Mariners didn't have to face regularly when he joined the MLB back in 2014. Unfortunately, he went to the Yankees, which meant we would have to seem him a few times a year. He's had the Mariners' number so far this year going 1-0. Tanaka has had some stuggles, including an injury last year and the fact that he has struggled on 4 days' rest versus 5 days. Overall though I would say the Future Stars label was not inaccurate.
Inspired Play insert
I'm not totally on board with the comparison here. Cano has only been with the Mariners for a few years and joined them in his prime so their rise to fame is a little different. Yet they are both dominant players at their respective positions. Either way, I like both of these players.
Base cards
Mike Zunino is another disappointing Mariners prospect. He was supposed to be the Mariners' catcher of the future but has been beset by Seattle's poor farm system and an inept general manager who rushed him up to the majors waaay too soon. As a result, Zunino struggled mightly offensively. His defensive and pitch framing abilities were there but he struggled at the plate. Thankfully, with Jerry DiPoto now in charge, Zunino is given time to develop in AAA.
I don't have much to say about Paul Konerko as I didn't really follow him as a player. I just liked this photo as a nice tribute to him. It's always a breath of fresh air when a photo is other than the typical action shot.
Base - Baseball History insert
I can't stand Kendrys Morales. He had a nice season with the Mariners in 2013. In the off season when Mariners tried to re-sign him he didn't take their offer. He then proceeded to sit out part of the 2014 season until he signed with the Twins. Towards the end of the trade deadline, the Mariners brought him back as they were trying to make a playoff push. Morales was very disappointing and was nowhere near repeating his 2013 performance. The Mariners missed the playoffs by 1 game and their decade long playoff drought continued. The following year Morales went to the Royals, returned to his old form, and won a World Series ring. So yeah, can't say I have fond feelings of Morales.
Rounding out this post is another non-Baseball History insert. This time it's the start of CNN. Once a reputable news source, CNN has degraded into tabloid-journalism and click-bait worthy news stories.
Phew! This post was long despite all my best efforts to pare down the cards I talked about. This wraps up the first half of Topps 2015 and stay tuned for the next one!
