To kick off the 2024 edition of the World Series we are going to examine the series from a Rookie Cup perspective and see if that can predict a winner.  Yankees Juan Soto 2019 Gleyber Torres 2019 Aaron Judge 2018 Carlos Rodon 2016 Anthony Rizzo 2013 Giancarlo (Mike) Stanton 2011 Dodgers James Outman 2024 Will Smith 2020 Shohei Ohtani 2019 Walker Buehler 2019 Sort of Dodgers Ryan Yarbrough 2019 Jason Heyward 2011 Turns out Rookie Cups are well represented in this year's World Series with each team rostering 6 players this season. However the Yankees have all 6 of their cups on ..read more

On Monday we covered base cards, today we are going to take a look at the inserts and noteworthy cards.  Orioles The blaster was a bit of an Oriole Hot Pack. out of 84 cards Eight were Orioles. We discussed the crummy Stars of MLB cards earlier this week and I am confusing the new Mystical cards with Stars - although they are slightly better. I prefer players wearing their teams uniforms for the ASG, but this year I did not mind the design that much. Regardless the Orioles have lots of young talent and are my favorite AL team, it was nice to get a bunch of them in one pack.  Shohei ..read more

On Monday I mentioned I was looking for Justin Topa cards in my s3 Blaster.  Why would I, a Phillies fan, care about a reliever that has never played for the Phillies? Well the IG post below sort of explains why I was seeking a Justin Topa card in this box.  Topa is an MLB reliever that is also a card collector. Last Friday HE WAS IN MY LOCAL CARD SHOP OPENING CARDS. I happened to be there that same day, but I was there prior to Topa - who I believe dropped in unannounced. The Cards in this blaster review were all picked up that day.  Here is a link to the Instagram -> J ..read more

Picked up a Blaster of 2024 Topps Update Last Week. I have dubbed this the "Hunt for Justin Topa" because:  1) The Twins Reliever is a baseball collector who is active and fun follow on social media  2) This is the first set that contains a Justin Topa card - since Topps had dawdled at getting Topa a card, the -net made a bid deal out of him being on the Mariners celebration card in series one  3) He is connected to the Philadelphia area.  Eighty-Four cards 12x7, In addition to Topa, we will be looking for Phillies and the sets prominent rookies like Paul Skenes and Jacks ..read more

Today we take at 1966 Outfield Topps Cup Selection Ron Swoboda  Ron came up in 1965 and led NL Rookies in Home Runs with 19. The outfielder did not receive any ROY votes likely due to his .228 batting average. Regardless his 1.6 WAR placed him 5th among 1965 rookies and was good enough to earn Swoboda Cup Honors. For the most part Ron Swoboda's career was top loaded. His 19 Home Runs in 1965 was 6 better than any other season he would haveIn fact by the end of May Swoboda had 11 dingers, a number he would only exceed once during his remaining career. The highlight of Ron Swoboda's care ..read more

We are down to the PostSeason final 4 we are going to take this opportunity to look back on some cards representing the remaining contenders. Today we lead off with the Cleveland Guardians (nee Indians) and 1961 Topps Dick Stigman. 1961 Topps #77 Dick Stigman Dick Stigman at age 88 is one of the eldest of the TASR honorees. He had a remarkable career that is highlighted by being part of big baseball events but not getting a chance to participate. During his rookie campaign in 1960 (the Two ASG era) he was named to both All-Star Teams (despite a 5-11 record), but did not participate in eith ..read more

Cincinnati Reds Legend and Fan Favorite Joey Votto announced his retirement recently. Amongst active position players he was the longest tenured member of the Topps All-Star Rookie Cup.  That baton has now been passed on to Giancarlo Stanton and Andrew McCutchen who were both named as outfielders to the TASR team in 2011. Justin Verlander (Class of 2007) remains the elder statesman among all active players.  2009 Topps #390 Joey Votto This is not Joey Votto's Rookie card, he was in the 2008 Topps base set, it is his 2nd Topps flagship card. Couple of quick Notes on the card:  ..read more

This week we got the tough news that Chet Lemon has been having health issues. It's complicated - he has had blood clotting issues for a while and this has led to a series of strokes that has left the Major League outfielder in a near non-communicative state. You can read more about Chet Lemon's condition in Jeff Seidel's sad but interesting Detroit Free Press article here.  1977 Topps #58 Chet Lemon 1976 was an okay year for Chet Lemon, his .245/4/38 13 SB, 0.4 WAR season beat out Ellis Valentine .279/7/39 14 SB 1.4 WAR and Jerry Turner .267/5/37 12 SB 2.1 WAR and others for cup honors ..read more

This is an Index to postings related to the 1977 Rookie Cup Team which honors rookies for their 1976 Season 291 JASON THOMPSON Tigers 1B 359 WILLIE RANDOLPH Yankees 2B 549 JERRY ROYSTER Braves 3B 161 GARRY TEMPLETON Cardinals SS 58 CHET LEMON White Sox OF 93 TOM POQUETTE Royals OF 397 LARRY HERNDON Giants OF 175 BUTCH WYNEGAR Twins C 265 MARK FIDRYCH 1st ASG flair Tigers RHP 577 JERRY AUGUSTINE Brewers LHP Sources and Links TASR Master Index Baseball_ref Topps.com ..read more

This is an index of our columns related to the 1989 Rookie Cup Winners which are honored in the 1990 Topps Set 461 CARLOS MARTINEZ White Sox 1B 1990 457 GREGG JEFFERIES Mets 2B 1990 521 CRAIG WORTHINGTON Orioles 3B 1990 718 GARY SHEFFIELD Brewers SS 1990 336 KEN GRIFFEY JR. Mariners OF 1990 464 JEROME WALTON Cubs OF 1990 288 GREG BRILEY Mariners OF 1990 536 BOB GEREN Yankees C 1990 752 TOM GORDON Royals RHP 1990 675 JIM ABBOTT Angels LHP 1990 Source and Links   Topps All-Star Rookie Card Master Index trading card db FASportsCards ..read more