I bought some modern cards: 2019 Topps Series 1

I said in my last post that I had bought some 2019 Topps and some 2019 Donruss, which is a big departure for me as I hardly own any modern cards.  I showed some of the more interesting Donruss cards last time, so today I'll show a selection of the Topps cards.  I bought two blasters at Target, for about 200 cards.

Hank Aaron and Mike Trout.

Greatness has returned, according to Topps.  I really like the picture of Hank Aaron batting here.  I don't know if Mike Trout is a new Hank Aaron, but he's certainly also great.

Nick Ahmed and Cesar Hernandez.

I got two numbered parallels.  This stars-and-stripes Nick Ahmed is numbered 20/76, and the gold Cesar Hernandez is 1932/2019.  I heard a lot about Ahmed in the offseason as a possible shortstop for the Pirates to pick up.  They didn't, and they do have some trouble at shortstop.  As I write this, Ahmed and the Diamondbacks are pummeling the Buccos.

Willie Calhoun.

Rich Hill.

I guess you'd call these two rainbow foil parallels.  We have a Future Stars, Willie Calhoun of the Rangers, and also Rich Hill, pitcher for the Dodgers.  Just like when I was a kid in 1987, it is nice to pull Future Stars and All-Star Rookies from packs of Topps.

Then we have a selection of stadiums I've been to.

Fenway.

I have a friend and longtime research collaborator at Boston University, so I visit there often.  BU is just a short walk from Fenway, so I've availed myself of the opportunity to catch a game a few times.

Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum.

Another good friend and research collaborator is at University of California at Berkeley.  So when I was visiting him once, I asked him to take me to an A's game.  We met up with a couple of friends, one from high school and one from college, who both moved to San Francisco.

Citizens Bank Park.

In the 80s and 90s, I would say that Dad and I went to about 50-75 Phillies games at the Vet.  Then when I wasn't living in the area anymore, they tore down the Vet and built Citizens Bank Park.  I moved back to the area at some point, and Dad got sick.  I wanted to take him to see the new park before he died, so me, my wife, Mom, and Dad all went to a game together.  The game started but then got rained out.  We got a rain check and came back for the completion of the game.  I'm so glad Dad and I got there before he died; he's been gone over six years now.

Mike Piazza.

Randy Johnson.

Finally, I'll close with these commemorative patch cards, which are guaranteed at one per blaster.  The back proclaims "Congratulations!" for receiving the card, which strikes me as odd since you're definitely getting one per blaster.  I'm not quite sure what the point of these is, but I do like both Randy Johnson and Mike Piazza, so it's good to have more cards of them, at least.

Overall, despite the lack of logos, I think I actually prefer the Donruss.  I would describe the design of the Topps cards as overwrought, while the Donruss cards seem to capture more fun to me.  Anyway, thanks for reading!

From My Collection: Bill Mazeroski

I have two Topps cards of longtime Pirates second baseman Bill Mazeroski, known as a defensive wizard, and famous for his home run to end the 1960 World Series.

1967 Topps Bill Mazeroski.

Mazeroski eventually made the Hall of Fame, and people had been discussing his candidacy for years, asking whether defensive skill was enough to get someone into the Hall of Fame.  I think that's a canard, though -- I think it's clear that the one home run is the real reason he's in the Hall of Fame.  I love the Pirates and I love how they won the 1960 World Series.  But without that home run, there's no amount of defensive skill in the world that will get you to Cooperstown.

1971 Topps Bill Mazeroski.

Mazeroski stayed around long enough to be part of the 1971 Pirates championship team as well.  In 1971, in the regular season, he played in 70 games with 213 at bats, hitting .254. 

I also have this Hygrade All-Time Greats card of Mazeroski.

Hygrade Bill Mazeroski.

He retired after the 1972 season, ending with career offensive numbers of 853 RBI and a .260 average, with 2016 hits.

Statue outside PNC Park.

Plaque outside PNC park.

My family took a vacation this past summer which included a couple of days in Pittsburgh.  The Pirates weren't in town, but we stayed near PNC Park, and took a walk around.  There are statues of Mazeroski, Honus Wagner, Willie Stargell, and Roberto Clemente.  The lighting isn't good, but you can see here that the statue of Mazeroski is of him rounding the bases after hitting that legendary home run.  The old home plate of Forbes Field is inside an academic building at University of Pittsburgh, and there is a bit of the old outfield wall outside.  Years ago, there was also a marker in the parking lot outside the building to show where the famous home run landed.  That parking lot is no more, though -- it's now a park instead.  I've looked just a little but haven't found a current marker for where the home run landed.

Visit to Angel Stadium + 1968 Topps Game Jim Fregosi, and more

1968 Topps Game card of Jim Fregosi, wearing a nice, old-fashioned California Angels helmet.

I recently visited Los Angeles, and took the opportunity to catch an Angels game.  I have a vague goal of visiting more MLB parks, and I'm glad to get Angel Stadium on my list of parks I've been to.  The following is my list of stadiums I've seen games in:

Active stadiums (in no particular order):
Citizens Bank Park, Philadelphia, 1 game
Rogers Centre, Toronto, 1 game
Wrigley Field, Chicago, 1 game
Fenway Park, Boston, 2 or 3 games
Oakland Alameda Coliseum, Oakland, 1 game
Angel Stadium of Anaheim, 1 game

Former stadiums (in no particular order):
Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, between 2 and 5 games
Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, Minneapolis, 1 game
Memorial Stadium, Baltimore, between 6 and 10 games
Veterans Stadium, Philadelphia, about 50+ games

On this trip, I arrived a few hours too late to catch the only Dodger game while I was in town.  As for other stadiums, I visit Chicago regularly and would like to get to see the White Sox play at home, but so far it hasn't worked out.  I missed an opportunity to see the Royals play at home recently, because I didn't plan ahead.  I'm hoping to add some of San Francisco, Baltimore and Pittsburgh next year (despite it being about 25 years old, Camden Yards in Baltimore is still the "new stadium" to me; I've never been there and my dad and I caught about 10 games over the years at Memorial Stadium), and also maybe getting to Oakland again.

In honor of my visit to Anaheim, I am posting this Jim Fregosi card.  This is the only card I have from the 1968 Topps game; Fregosi is a ground out in the game, but at least he advances the runners!  To me, Fregosi is better remembered as a manager, since he took the Phillies to the World Series in 1993.  I have curious memories of the Angels from my card collection, having watched baseball regularly from 1987-1993.  I don't remember them ever being a serious threat to win a division (I started paying attention just after they won in 1986), but they seemed to have a succession of players that I liked from other teams, like Bob Boone (formerly of the 1980 Phillies), Bert Blyleven, John Candelaria, and briefly Dave Parker (all formerly of the 1979 Pirates), Johnny Ray (former Pirate), Lance Parrish (former Phillie), Hall-of-Famer Dave Winfield, and some young talent, like Wally Joyner and Devon White.

I wasn't close enough to Fregosi's retired number at the stadium to get a good picture.  But, here is Fregosi represented on the Wall of Fame at the stadium, on their list of All-Stars and on their list of all-time batting leaders.

Angels Wall of Fame list of All-Stars.

Angels Wall of Fame list of batting leaders.

I read a list of the best MLB stadiums recently, and checked to see where the Angels ranked: almost last.  For all the other stadiums, there was a long paragraph describing the author's ranking, but for the Angels, all it said was, "Meh."  I had a great time, though, and thought the stadium was great.  I think that means that seeing any live baseball is a good experience to me, and I would enjoy any of the MLB stadiums.

Since I just looked through some of my 1970s Topps, and in honor of both the Angels and Fregosi, I'll conclude this post with another Fregosi card and another Angels card.  These are both 1978 Topps cards; the Fregosi card has several creases, and he's with the Pirates.

1978 Topps Don Baylor and Jim Fregosi cards.

As a final remark, I'll mention that I find it slightly interesting as to how Topps changed the card backs from year to year, and in 1978 they included a block that was essentially the same as the 1968 game.  In 1978, the Fregosi gamepiece did a bit more than in 1968; in 1978, Fregosi was worth a single in the "PLAY BALL" game.

Back of 1978 Topps Jim Fregosi.