2017 Topps Clearly Authentic Review - A fresh look for card collectors

Topps is taking a new product for a spin with 2017 Topps Clearly Authentic Baseball, featuring on-card autographs on acetate in fancy encapsulated holders. As each box only contains one of these signed cards, collectors are banking on unearthing a gem once they get past the plastic wrapping on the box.

2017 Topps Clearly Authentic / Topps

A majority of the autographed acetate cards are in the design of 2017 Topps with new pictures from the base set. To up the ante for collectors, Topps has added four colored parallels (Green, Red, Blue, and Gold) to track down.

2017 Topps Clearly Authentic Andrew Toles / Topps

For those who are searching for a vintage touch, Topps has created Clearly Authentic reprints of major rookie cards, including those of Al Kaline, Hank Aaron, Bo Jackson, Ichiro, Mike Trout, and Sandy Koufax. These autographs are markedly scarce compared to their modern counterparts in the set, coming at the rate of one for every 10 boxes.

2017 Topps Clearly Authentic Rookie Reprint  Bo Jackson / Topps

As the list of signers is loaded with nubile rookies, the odds are weighted that you are more likely to come away with the likes of Dan Vogelbach, Jharel Cotton, and Jacoby Jones, instead of Bryce Harper, Ichiro, and Mike Trout; however, that should not deter you from checking out this product.

The acetate is an attractive diversion from traditional Topps products, as both the images and signatures stand out against the clear background. The chase of snagging one of the reprinted rookie cards at a fraction of the cost of buying a signed original rookie on the open market is also an exciting play for this product.

With any guaranteed hit offering, collectors are taking a risk by hoping that the one card in the box turns out to be a winner. Judging by the overwhelmingly positive response by collectors since its release, signs point to getting a box of 2017 Topps Clearly Authentic is one that is not only worth pursuing, but an enjoyable one at that.

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Book Review: They Call Me Pudge - Ivan Rodriguez with Jeff Sullivan

The intense emotion displayed on Ivan “Pudge” Rodriguez ‘s face on the cover of his new biography “They Call Me Pudge," perfectly captures the spirit with which he played throughout his 21-year major league career. Newly minted in 2017 as a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame, Rodriguez became part of an exclusive group, joining only Johnny Bench, Carlton Fisk, and Mike Piazza as the living catchers currently enshrined in Cooperstown.

They Call Me Pudge / Triumph Books

It is obvious after reading through the early chapters of “They Call Me Pudge,” that Rodriguez’s story is one of commitment to the game. From a young age, he showed an insatiable desire not only to play the game, but to love the training that made him into a Hall of Famer. His legendary workouts including making 150-mile roundtrips from Key Biscayne to Key Largo, kept his engine pumping when many thought he was out of gas.

Rodriguez stressed that it was his dedicated training and not anything else that kept him as the top player at his position for two decades. Multiple times during the book, he vehemently denied using steroids.

"Let's make that as crystal clear as possible — I never took steroids," Rodriguez said. "If anyone says differently, they are lying. Here's what I did do: I worked my ass off. I was a guy who played the game the right way. I was disciplined in my workouts and my diet. I worked as hard as I could to do the best that I could - every day for 20-plus years. I loved the game of baseball."

Perusing deeper into Rodriguez’s book uncovers the strategies of the Hall of Fame catcher, as he carefully breaks down how he handled a nubile World Series pitching staff with the Florida Marlins, as well as how he approached Barry Bonds during their faceoff in the 2003 National League Division Series.

“If you don’t have to pitch to him — meaning it’s not bases loaded in a tie game in the ninth inning —put him on first base,” he said. “If you need to pitch to him, our deepest sympathies. And don’t strain a neck muscle or anything turning around.”

When the Texas Rangers thought that Rodriguez was on the decline, he bet on himself, signing a one-year deal with the Marlins in 2003. His leadership steadied their pitching staff, guiding them to an improbable World Series Championship.

Once again left to fend for himself at the end of the season, Rodriguez proved doubters wrong when he signed with the Detroit Tigers in 2004. Detroit’s team doctors felt that Pudge was only worthy of a two-year contract due to his injury history. In order to make the deal work, he gave up guaranteed money to sign a four-year, $40 million contract. This time, Pudge came out a winner, as the Tigers went to the World Series in 2006.

“I knew I was healthy,” he said. “I know I could play the five years, depending on if they picked up the option. And I played eight more years after that. I mean, the doctors can tell you whatever they want to say, but it’s how you feel that counts.”

Omnipresent throughout the book is the fact that Pudge was always a gamer. When he wasn’t playing baseball, he was breaking down video, going over scouting reports, or watching highlights on ESPN. If you are looking for tales of carousing, innuendo, or hi-jinks, look elsewhere, but if you want an inspirational story of how a kid with a golden throwing arm made it to the Hall of Fame all the way from Vega Baja, Puerto Rico, feel free to step in the batter’s box with “They Call Me Pudge.”

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2017 Topps Chrome Review - Boom or Bust for Collectors?

With the meteoric rise of Aaron Judge and Cody Bellinger, it was of little surprise that collectors bum rushed stores nationwide to pick up boxes of 2017 Topps Chrome Baseball. Whether was in search of the first Topps rookie this season of the second-generation Dodgers upstart Bellinger, or an insert of the 2017 Home Run Derby champ, this year’s Topps Chrome literally flew off of the shelves. Collectors almost immediately went online post-release either sharing photos of the joys of their finds, or desperate shots of empty shelves at nationwide retailers.

2017 Topps Chrome Box / Topps

Topps struck gold with this release due to the timing of the success of the two power-hitting rookies, as well as the anticipation of Bellinger’s first official Topps major league card. Many looked to jump on the heels of their ascent with the anticipation of turning a quick profit or snagging a rare parallel for their personal collections. With prices easily eclipsing those of suggested retail, collectors hoped for a huge payout knowing they might come up short of the big “hit” that they’re searching for.

With each of the 24 packs in the box yielding only four cards, there was a feeling of urgency going through each quartet, hoping that a coveted variation of the aforementioned East and West coast supernovas emerged. In between the anticipation of the big names also sat a host of refractors, a rainbow of colored parallels, glossy 1987 Topps themed inserts to keep the excitement level high while perusing the contents of the box.

2017 Topps Chrome / Topps

After the dust settled, we had good reason to shout, “All Rise,” as an Aaron Judge rookie was among the dividends, as well as a chrome refractor of fellow Rookie of the Year candidate, Andrew Benintendi. Unfortunately, Bellinger’s debut issue was absent, as well as a high end autograph, with the box serving up two rookie autographs of Donnie Hart and Eddie Gamboa.

Donnie Hart Topps Chrome Autograph / Topps

There are a bevy of reasons why baseball card collectors should be excited about 2017 Topps Chrome; the design is outstanding, the parallels are worth chasing, and the narrative of the young stars will have fans coming back to this product as the pennant race heats up. For the few left on the fence deciding whether to take the plunge into 2017 Topps Chrome, it’s an exciting dive that collectors hopefully know the risk of the waters they’re jumping into.

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2017 Topps Allen and Ginter Review - Does Allen and Ginter have enough to keep collectors on the ball?

Topps’ Allen and Ginter product has always been a source of mixed emotions for collectors. On one hand, it has perennially been a highly anticipated release due to its design and cultural variety; however, in the midst of a baseball season filled with an extraordinary amount of young superstars, those looking for a pure baseball play are growing frustrated with paying a premium to wind up with inserts of obscure celebrities and fishing lures.

For collectors who have embraced the widening scope of the set, 2017 Topps Allen and Ginter continues to deliver in the tradition of one of Topps’ most popular issues. Baseball die-hards will get their fix whether it is in the form of rookies from Aaron Judge, Andrew Benintendi, and Yulieski Gurriel, adored veterans Bryce Harper, Mike Trout, and Clayton Kershaw, or retired legends such as newly minted Hall of Famers Tim Raines and Jeff Bagwell.

2017 Topps Allen and Ginter Aaron Judge / Topps

The part of the set that annually attracts both excitement and controversy are the non-baseball inclusions in the series. Remember when MySpace dominated the social media landscape? Well Tom Anderson, everybody’s friend, now has his own baseball card to boot. Media personalities Stephen A. Smith, Peter Rosenberg and his wife Alexa Datt, Jay Glazer, Sage Steele, and Jayson Stark made their Topps debuts as well.

Inserts for the set went well off the landscape of the diamond, paying homage to the World’s Fair, Constellations, Magicians, Famous Revolutionary Battles, and yes, Sport Fish and Fishing Lures. While Allen and Ginter has always been about showcasing a diversity of interests, when half of the inserts culled from the box provided for this review fell into the non-sport category, it deflated some of the excitement that preceded this release.

2017 Topps Allen and Ginter / Topps

Looking at the baseball inserts for 2017 Topps Allen and Ginter, it is clear that Topps played to its strengths. The What A Day inserts beautifully chronicle remarkable single-game performances, such as Kyle Schwarber’s dramatic 2016 World Series return, Bo Jackson’s three home run performance against the Yankees, and Ozzie Smith’s improbable 1985 NLCS walk-off home run. The sequentially numbered rip cards continue to be sought after, as they yield low numbered parallels and the choice of keeping or opening these inserts have them actively trading hands. Also, the framed autographs and cloth inserts provide a regal touch for collectors looking for an affordable card they can easily put on display.

Each box guarantees three hits in the form of an autograph, relic, printing plate, rip card, or book card. The box provided for this review yielded a framed autograph of actor Joe Manganiello and two relic cards of Ryan Braun and Javier Baez.

At a price of $120 per box, 2017 Topps Allen and Ginter is a proposition that could give collectors a pause before adding it to their shopping carts. If you hit it right, a box could yield some attractive inserts, on the other hand, one could be left with oddball autographs and relics of disc golfers and B-list celebrities. If collectors intend to open their wallets, they must be more than willing to accept and embrace the assortment of genres in 2017 Topps Allen and Ginter, otherwise they might be more content picking apart singles on the secondary market.

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How Jorge Posada was almost traded for Ivan Rodriguez

Jorge Posada was once dangerously close to becoming a member of the Texas Rangers. Going through recently-minted Hall of Famer Ivan Rodriguez's new book, "They Call Me Pudge," Rodriguez explains how right before the 1997 trade deadline he was going to be traded to the New York Yankees.

"I was sitting with Juan [Gonzalez] on the flight, and he was begging me to talk with team president Tom Schieffer," Rodriguez said. "I later found out that I was about to be traded to the New York Yankees for catcher Jorge Posada and pitcher Tony Armas Jr."

Posada / Rodriguez 2008 Upper Deck Card / Upper Deck

The next morning Rodriguez met with Schieffer and signed a five-year, $42 million contract, avoiding the exchange of franchise catchers. While the two would later become teammates with the Yankees in 2008, both Rangers and Yankees fans would have a difficult time imagining their franchises with out their star catchers at the peak of their careers.

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Lee May, three time All-Star dies at 74

Reports have surfaced that three-time All-Star Lee May passed away Saturday July 29, 2017 in Ohio. He was 74.

May played 18 seasons in the major leagues for four teams, hitting 354 home runs with 1,244 RBIs. He made the All-Star team twice with the Cincinnati Reds (1969, 1971) and once with the Baltimore Orioles (1972).

Lee May

Please send prayes out to my grandpa he was coughing up blood and rushed to the hospital this morning

— Lee May (@mayday3233) July 27, 2017

RIP my friend pic.twitter.com/JD2toaNnZS

— Lenny Harris (@LennyHarris) July 30, 2017

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2017 Topps Stadium Club Baseball Review - A beauty marvel for collectors

Due to the myriad of baseball card variations that is exist today, it is easy for collectors to lose sight of what is on the front of the card. In the quest to find limited inserts, parallels, and signatures, rarely do collectors stop anymore to savor the images of their cardboard heroes. With the release of 2017 Topps Stadium Club, Topps has given consumers more than a reason to slow down and pause when ripping through their packs.

Immediately, it is obvious that Topps saved some of its best photography for this set, with the vivid shots putting you right on the field of action. Enhanced by its borderless design, the set captures every pixel of real estate to put the game’s full range of emotions on display. Furthermore, the contrasting black and white tones of the legends included in Topps Stadium Club provide the proper context for the heroes of the past in their own element.

While 2017 Topps Stadium Club is a buy if not solely for its imagery and design, those looking for a chase will find it in terms of 50 base card variations, an array of colored foil issues, and chrome variations that come one per every box. Also pleasing the autograph hounds are the guaranteed two signed cards in each box, which also have their own subset of parallel issues.

The box provided for this review yielded rookie autographs of Mets infielder Gavin Cecchini and Giants pitcher Ty Blach. For those who are concerned about collation, mysteriously absent were the base cards of Aaron Judge, Yoan Moncada, Kris Bryant, and Mike Trout — a tough group to miss out on when opening an entire box.

Collation issues aside, Topps Stadium Club brings the action happening on the card to the forefront of the release ahead of the shiny insert of the day. Fans and collectors searching for a product that they can get continued enjoyment from by browsing through their cards will find it in 2017 Topps Stadium Club.

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Horace Mann grad Bader turns heads in his major league debut

First Harrison Bader's dream was just to get drafted. Once the St. Louis Cardinals made that a reality, he turned his laser-like focus on making the major leagues. In just two short years, Bader rode the elevator all the way from A-ball to the major leagues.

Harrison Bader / via Allison Rhoades / Peoria Chiefs

When Cardinals outfielder Dexter Fowler went down with a forearm injury, the club reached into their minor league system and gave Bader his long awaited call. Marking on Bader wasted little time putting his signature on his major league debut, helping St. Louis to a July 25, 2017 victory against the Colorado Rockies.

Leading off the 9th inning, Bader smoked a double off of Colorado's Jake McGee for his first major league hit. After moving to third on a sacrifice bunt, Bader sprinted home when Jedd Gyorko lofted a sacrifice fly to right field that was just deep enough to plate him for the winning run.

While Bader's mad dash to home plate may not hold the same place in Cardinals lore as Enos Slaughter's, his hustling style of play surely has the Hall of Famer smiling in the heavens. For those who knew him here in the New York City area, Bader's on-field spirit and skill came as no surprise.

Back in 2015, I spoke with Bader shortly after he was drafted for metroBASEBALL magazine in the article pictured below. It was obvious after a few minutes into our conversation, that he had a professional mindset that was rarely demonstrated by a player fresh out of college. Now that he had made the major leagues, rest assured that Bader will continue to work and grind because it is the only way he knows.

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2017 Topps Series 2 gives a nod to unforgettable moments for baseball fans

With their flagship base series product, Topps gives a nod to unforgettable baseball moments in their 2017 Topps Series 2 release. Focusing on their "Memorable Moments" subset, one groundbreaking debut jumped out of the box of cards provided for this review.

Winding up with a laser-eyed focus, Satchel Paige knew the cameras were on him as he stepped to the mound to deliver the goods for the Cleveland Indians on July 9, 1948. Topps captured the intensity of this moment in a colorized version of a classic photo of Paige rearing back to pitch for the Indians.

While Topps fills in many missing pieces to their 2017 Series One product, the real catch of this set are the inserts, specifically the aforementioned subset. In honor of Paige's debut, below is a piece that I originally wrote in 2012 about Paige's debut that includes interviews with players who appeared in that game.

Just two days after the record books said he turned 42, Satchel Paige made his major league debut with the Cleveland Indians on July 9, 1948 in front of a crowd of 34,780 at Cleveland Stadium. The sheer magnitude of the situation shouldn’t have fazed the legendary hurler, who once pitched in the championship game of dictator Rafael Trujillo’s league in the Dominican Republic under the threat of a machine gun toting militia. Yet, for Paige, toeing the rubber on major league soil brought a sense of high drama, shaking one of baseball’s most experienced moundsmen.

“I felt those nerves … they were jumping every which way,” Paige recalled.

Standing at the plate for the St. Louis Browns was 29-year-old first baseman Chuck Stevens, who entered the game sporting a .252 batting average with one home run, certainly not the type of numbers that would rattle fear into opposing hurlers. While Paige admitted his nerves, Stevens on the other hand saw a familiar target. Back in the late 1930s and early 1940s, Paige came out to Stevens’ California hometown of Long Beach to play winter ball. The two squared off many times before that fateful day.

“I played against him about ten times before that night. I played against him when he could really smoke it,” said the 94-year-old Stevens from his home in California. “When Satch relieved against us [in Cleveland], he was just spotting the ball around. [It seemed like] he had lost 60 mph off of his fastball. He threw his breaking stuff and he had great control so you knew he was going to be around the plate all the time. He wasn’t going to overpower you like I had seen him in his earlier days.”

Stevens wasted no time getting acquainted with his old friend. He promptly laced Paige’s offering into left field.

“The ballgame in Cleveland was not a big deal for me because I was just hitting off of Satch," he said. "I singled into left field, between [Ken] Keltner and [Lou] Boudreau. … I always had pretty good luck off of him.”

Stevens dates his success against Paige back to a meeting they had a few years prior, just as he returned from his service in World War II.

“One of the longest home runs I had ever hit in my life was off of Paige," he said. "I had just gotten out of close to four years in the service, and we played an exhibition game in Long Beach and Satch pitched against our ball club. The ball I hit, I guess it must have been well over 400 feet. I wondered where all that power came from when I was rounding the bases.”

Stevens’ teammate Ned Garver was a 22-year-old rookie relief pitcher. Only in the major leagues for two months, he found himself right in the middle of this historical event.

“There was never a time when there wasn’t a bunch of hoopla around Satchel because he was such a colorful guy,” said the 85-year-old Garver from his home in Ohio.

Garver pitched two and one-thirds innings of scoreless relief for the save that day, but his clearest memories from that game started before a pitch was even thrown.

“We had a man on our team who hit cleanup and played left field [Whitey Platt]. He was from Florida. He told the manager he wasn’t going to play,” Garver recalled. “Zack Taylor was our manager, and you know back in those days, you didn’t tell somebody you weren’t going to play. You didn’t get away with that kind of crap. [Taylor] said, ‘No, you’re gonnna play.’ So he put him in the lineup.” Platt wasn’t a happy camper to say the least, and when he batted against Paige, he let him know it. “The first pitch Paige threw to him, he threw his bat at Satchel, and it whistled out there about belt high. He just wanted to show that he did not like that situation.”

Paige fooled Platt so badly for strike three with his famed hesitation pitch, that his bat once again took flight, this time flying up the third base line. Looking to extract some sort of revenge for Platt’s first toss of the bat, Garver said Satchel pulled one from his bag of tricks to finish the deal.

“If he threw a bat at Satchel like he did, Satchel was not going to look on that with favor, so he was probably going to give some of his better stuff along the way. To strike him out gave him some satisfaction.”

Paige pitched two scoreless innings that day, quickly shaking whatever nerves he had when Stevens stepped to the plate. He finished the season with a 6-1 record and helped the Indians get to the World Series, where he made one appearance in relief. Even though his best days were behind him, he still had enough left to outsmart major league hitters and give fans a taste of what the major leagues missed in his prime.

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