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Hearing the Fiery Furnaces
2005 Topps Baseball: Learning From Cards
Every Christmas since I was 10 I've had Topps baseball card packs in my stocking. It's always been my first look at the new year's set: fresh design, new faces in new places and, above all else, this year's stats. Each year I'd selfishly suspend my family's gift opening so I could carefully open each pack. I'd read and absorb the back of every card, and, as a result, I developed a Rainman-level knowledge of and obsession w/ baseball over the years.
This year my stocking came and went w/ no cards in it. I dealt by explaining to myself, "I'm 27 now. I asked for money, not cards. Hell, I've got too many of them anyway." But later that day, during the gift exchange at Grandma's house, the grand old lady handed me a small gift which I unwrapped to reveal five fresh packs of 2005 Topps baseball cards. Hallelujah. This year's model has lots of white space. Very sharp photos. Kind've hard to read the names on the front. Overall, they're way better than the psychedelic 1990 Topps and not as old-school cool as the woody 1987 series.
Here's what I learned from reading my new cards, letter-by-letter and number-by-glorious-number:
· Eric Gagne, #238 -- Over the past three seasons Gagne has pitched exactly 82.1 IP per year and averaged 51 saves and 122 Ks w/ a 1.71 ERA. This has got to be the greatest three-year run ever for a closer. Can you name another?
· Antonio Alfonseca, #177 -- "Teammates lovingly call him 'Pulpo,' which is Spanish for 'octopus.' He acquired that moniker b/c he has six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot." Interestingly enough, Three Finger Brown's career ERA was 2.06, which is just more than half of Six Finger Alfonseca's 3.89.
· Joe Randa, #32 -- Joe says, "To think about stats or streaks during the season is selfish. If a guy has a streak, he's helping the team. That's the important thing." Randa must've gone to the Crash Davis schoolof media relations.
· Carl Crawford, #42 -- "Out of high school his other options before signing w/ the Devil Rays were to play point guard for UCLA or quarterback for Nebraska." Based on his three-year progressions in Tampa Bay, Crawford made the right choice. He should have a monster 2005.
· Brandon Webb, #46 -- "'He's the best young pitcher I've seen in a long, long time,' says Bobby Cox. 'This kid has the best sinker in the game. He's got movement like I've never seen.It's dynamite.' Webb did lead the NL in losses and walks last year, but his two-year ERA is still 3.24.
· Jeremy Bonderman, #54 -- In '03, as a 20-year old, this former A's 1st-rounder went 6-19 w/ a 5.56 ERA, 1.55 WHIP and 108 Ks. In '04, he went 11-13 w/ a 4.89 ERA, 1.31 WHIP and 168 Ks. I smell future ace and fantasy sleeper in '05.
· Doug Glanville, #64, Tim Wakefield, #74, Jason Jennings, #184 and Luis Rivas, #241 -- Topps upgrade of the year award goes to the whoever decided to add OPS and WHIP to the stats. This made my life that much better, but I'm sure Glanville and Rivas weren't too happy about it. See, they have respectable career batting averages of .277 and .262, but a horrendous career OPS of .695. Jennings card states that he hit .300 in '02, so I checked out his OPS on Baseball-Reference.com: .645. Glanville and Rivas should consult Tim Wakefield on how to turn a knuckleball into a 12-year ML pitching career.
· Curt Schilling, #70 -- Schill will make the Hall on the strength of his phenomenal '01, '02 and (especially) '04 seasons, but he's had some tough luck over the years. In '92 he led the league in WHIP (0.99). In '96 he posted a 3.19 ERA. In '98 he had a 3.25 and 300 Ks. In '03 he posted a 2.95. In those four seasons combined he won only 46 while losing 44.
· Ken Harvey, #161 -- He made the All-Star team in '04 despite hitting .287 w/ 13 HR and a .759 OPS as a 1B. And this was his best ML season. I can't think of a worse All-Star. Maybe Jack Armstrong. Or maybe Justin Thompson. But, hey, cheers to these guys. I haven't made an All-Star team since I was 12.
· Rob Mackowiak, #171 -- "May 28, 2004 may've been the greatest day of Rob's life. In the morning, he became a first-time father. Later, in the opener of a doubleheader against the Cubs, he hit a grand slam in the bottom of the ninth to win the game. In the nightcap, he tied the tilt w/ a two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth before the Pirates won in the 10th." Just a great story that deserved to be revisited. Well done, Topps.
· Lew Ford,#192 -- "Tales of his antics abound -- such as the one in which he was told to fly to Portland, OR, and wound up in Portland, ME." Well, we all have our stories.
· Chad Tracy, #212 -- He has a Topps All-Star Rookie trophy on his card, and I'd never heard of him. I'm losing my edge.
· Carlos Guillen, #221 -- "Alan Trammell, discussing the glut of AL shortstops, decided, 'There's none better than Guillen in all phases of the game." High praise, but Miguel Tejada did have 150 RBI in '04.
· Kaz Matsui, #225 -- "His hairstyle is not dissimilar to that of David Beckham (pre-buzzcut)." That's really helpful, considering Becks changes his hair more than Dennis Green changes quarterbacks.
· Rich Harden, #266 -- "Brandon Inge says, 'Harden's split-finger is unbelievable. It's borderline Roger Clemens-quality.'
· AL Batting Leaders, #337 -- When Mr. Irrelevant Jr. is looking through my old cards in 20 or 30 years, he's gonna pick this one up and say, "Ichiro and Vlad? Cool! But who the [expletive] is Melvin Mora?"
· NL Batting Leaders, #343 -- Todd Helton has hit over .315 w/ power in each of his seven seasons. Of course he gets no respect from the masses due to the Coors Field Effect, but he hit .326 w/ a .991 OPS on the road last year. He's gonna creep up on a lot of records in the next five to 10 years.
· Corky Miller vs. Sammy Sosa, Grudge Matchinsert #10 -- "As if the enduring rivalrybetween two of the NL's senior franchises wasn't enough, Miller's first name is bound to get Sosa's attention." What a lame way of bringin' up old [expletive].
Feel free to share your card-collecting stories, and have a happy New Year.
Written by dcsportsguy Blog about this entry |
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Mariano Rivera is the one you seek. He has had a 9 year run in big games and has come through in almost everyone of them. He did not do it this past year which is true, but Gagne has never had a big game to save except the All-Star Exhibition game and he blew that. I wonder if that is who he is in a big game. Rivera over all others and that is even with this past year.
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I totally agree with you. The guy is unbelievable. It's too bad the stupid management can't seem to put a team behind him that will take them back to the World Series.
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THE ECK he was the man in a different era everyone wasnt shooting needles then
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2 words THE ECK
8/1/07 9:03 PM