How About A Game Of Catch, Son?

This Sunday is Father's Day. As a father of four, I'm looking forward to a little extra attention on that day. A couple of years ago, I did a Father's Day post listing all of the sons of former major league players currently in the MLB. Since this year's Topps Heritage set included a subset of Father and Sons, and I thought it would be a good excuse to update the list.

 

2025 Topps Heritage
#69 Vladimir/Vladimir Jr. Guerrero (FS)

 

Did you know there are 32 guys who have played a game this year who are second-generation players? That includes two who made their debut this year - Jack Dreyer and Logan Davidson! Also, we have 3 current players who have dads in the Hall of Fame - Vlad Guerrero Jr., Cavan Biggio, and Will Wagner. 

 

2025 Topps Heritage
#66 Matt/Jackson Holliday (FS)

  

The Heritage subset only features 5 father-son combos, featuring the two cards above as well as representatives of the Clemens, Biggio, and Baker families. If Topps wanted to really expand on the concept, they have the following pairs to choose from:

• Clay and Cody Bellinger
• Dante and Bo Bichette
• Craig and Cavan Biggio
• Mike and Daz Cameron
• Roger and Kody Clemens
• Jeff and Griffin Conine
• Mark and Logan Davidson
• Steve and Jack Dreyer
• Mike and Tyler Fitzgerald
• Luis and Luis (Jr.) Garcia
• Vladimir and Vladimir (Jr.) Guerrero
• Bryan and Hunter Harvey
• Charlie and Ke'Bryan Hayes
• Matt and Jackson Holliday
• Kevin and Bryce Jarvis
• Al and Jack Leiter
• Mark and Mark (Jr.) Leiter
• Sandy and Angel Martinez
• Lance and Lance (Jr.) McCullers
• Brian and Hoby Milner
• Stu and Joc Pederson
• Geronimo and Jeremy Pena
• Paul and Cal Quantrill
• Larry and Gavin Sheets
• Steve and Tyler Soderstrom
• Fernando and Fernando (Jr.) Tatis
• Brian and Brice Turang
• Gary and Daulton Varsho
• Billy and Will Wagner
• David and Ryan Weathers
• Jack and Jacob Wilson
• Bobby and Bobby (Jr.) Witt

Plus their are a good number of players who played last year but haven't had a chance to take an MLB at-bat this year, including Dusty Baker's son Darren.

 

2025 Topps Heritage
#70 Dusty/Darren Baker (FS)

 

Of course, I'd also have to mention the legendary grandfather-grandson pairing of Carl and Mike Yastrzemski! (Bonus Happy Father's Day to you grandfathers out there!)

 

2020 Stadium Club #197 Mike Yastrzemski

 

An early Happy Father's Day to those of you with kids. Enjoy your day gentleman!

Blog Bat Around: Fun Facts Chain

I follow a few baseball-centric groups on Facebook. One day, one of them posted an image with a series of facts that was nothing short of amazing. Check this out:

 

2016 Stadium Club
#214 Madison Bumgarner

Madison Bumgarner has more grand slams than...

 

2016 Topps Archives #9 Prince Fielder

 

Prince Fielder, who has more inside-the-park home runs than...

 

1991 Score #10 Rickey Henderson

Rickey Henderson, who has fewer steals of home than...

 

1994 Megacards Ruthian Shots
#1 Babe Ruth

Babe Ruth, who has as many shutouts as...

 

2000 Stadium Club #164 Pedro Martinez

Pedro Martinez! 

 

Here's the image from the post, so I can give proper credit to the media account that came up with this:

 

 

It's fascinating, isn't it? You don't think of pitchers out-slugging hitters, or big burly guys doing things on the bases more than the greatest lead-off hitter of all time. The stats are just wild, and it gave me an idea for a blog bat around. You're assignment, should you choose to accept it, is to post a string of fun facts connecting players. Make it as long as you want, but I think a minimum of 2 facts connecting 3 players is expected. 

 

As I was deciding to try my own, I decided to basically continue with the original poster's chain and come up with a fun fact about Pedro. Did you know that over the course of his career he hit 2 triples? I thought that was noteworthy and with a little finagling I can tell you that...

 

2002 Fleer Tradition - Diamond Tributes
#4DT Pedro Martinez

Pedro Martinez hit more triples in the 1990's than...

 

1990 Upper Deck #171 Mark McGwire

Mark McGwire, who has fewer intentional base on balls than...

 

1991 Score #860 John Olerud (FRAN)

John Olerud, who won as many batting titles as... 

2024 Stadium Club #171 Babe Ruth

Babe Ruth, who has more saves than... 

 

2016 Topps #600 Madison Bumgarner

 

Madison Bumgarner! 

 

Look, I even circled back to Bumgarner!  Now it's your turn - have fun with it!

TCDB Trade Recap: Cards From Napersville, IL

Today is officially the 8th Anniversary of this blog! What a wild ride it's been. I had planned to do something bigger in terms of a celebratory post, but time has gotten away from me. Perhaps down the line I'll have the time to wax poetic on the past 8 years, but for now, a simple trade.

This particular TCDB trade comes from a gentleman named Vern. He only wanted a single card, but offered up these 4 needs in return:

 

The 2018 Topps Big League AL Saves Leaders card and the 2015 Topps David Ortiz are both the final cards needed to complete the Red Sox portion from both of those particular sets. Foulke of course is the underrated off-season acquisition that helped the Red Sox break the curse. Grady Little, despite being given a lot of grief for his management of Pedro Martinez in the 2003 ALCS, was the last Red Sox skipper to win Manager of the Year.

Favorite Card: A big smile from Grady as he holds a kid makes for one fantastic card!

 

Thanks for the trade Vern!

Ranking 50 Years Worth OF Topps #330 Cards #20 - #11

In honor of my 50th birthday, I'm ranking all 51 Topps base cards numbered #330 since 1975. Why #330? Because my birthday was on 03/30. Why 51 cards when I've turned 50? Because that's how math works, and as my father-in-law likes to say, I didn't turn 50, I started my 51st year of existence!

 

Today we continue the count down of the best #330 cards in the history of Topps base sets (since 1975 - get with the theme here!) We're in the Top 20 now, so you know these cards will be good! Rankings are purely subjective to my whim. 

#20 - 2004 (Zack Greinke/Jimmy Gobble)

One of the more annoying aspects of the hobby is that there seems to be too many different opinions as to what constitutes a rookie card. Zack Greinke made his MLB debut in 2004, and was issued a card in 2004. That a rookie card, right? Apparently not. No matter - I see this as his rookie card! Even though the card itself isn't unique, this may be the only time I can say a future hall of Famer's rookie card is on this list!

 

#19 - 2007 (Ryan Howard)

 

Just a little more... just a little more of his bat showing...just a little more clarity in the background...this card could have been so much better. I still like it though.

 

#18 - 2018 (Ian Kinsler)

 

Another solid card that could have been cropped just a wee bit better.

 

#17 - 2006 (Michael Barrett/Greg Maddux)

 

I was all set to make a joke about Michael Barrett being considered a "star" player, but he did win the Silver Slugger for catcher the year before, so he gets a pass. For once I actually like the colorfully blurred background and that there's ample space on either side of the main focal point.

 

#16 - 2024 Vladimir Guerrero Jr.

 

I think I have a little recency bias going on here. The popular 2024 design plus a fun reaction shot of a young slugger make this a fun card.

 

#15 - 2014 (Evan Longoria)

 

Good fielding card with just the right amount of tilt to necessitate a horizontal card.

 

#14 - 2020 (George Springer)

 

The juxtaposition between his facial expression and his hand motions amuses me for some reason. You would think he'd be happier if something warranted a double thumbs up, right? Something good happened, so why the pout?

 

#13 - 1975 (Mike Marshall)

 

I just know Night Owl was waiting for this one to show up! My birth year card shows the former Cy Young winner who was famous for his refusal to pose for Topps. Action shots are better than poses anyway!

 

#12 - 2016 (Edward Mujica)

 

I love the scowl on his face, and the way the 2016 set design makes it look like he's throwing a smoking ball. Kind of magical, really.

 

#11 - 1999 (Jeff Kent)

 

Is there a grass/turf equivalent to a "Tatooine" card? Seeing an infielder fielding with no sign of dirt is just odd, and the fact the background is almost entirely green makes it stand out.

 

We've got just 10 more cards left in the countdown - tune in tomorrow to see who's the best of the best!

Ranking 50 Years Worth Of Topps #330 Cards #51 - #41

In honor of my 50th birthday, I'm ranking all 51 Topps base cards numbered #330 since 1975. Why #330? Because my birthday was on 03/30. Why 51 cards when I've turned 50? Because that's how math works, and as my father-in-law likes to say, I didn't turn 50, I started my 51st year of existence!

 

Today we count down starting with the worst #330 in the history of Topps base sets (since 1975 - get with the theme here!) and through the next 10 on the list. Rankings are purely subjective to my whim.

 

Just to give you an idea of how I did this, I gathered images of all 51 cards together, grabbed the ones I'd pick if this were merely a Top 10, and put them aside. I then grabbed the next 10 best, and so on and so forth. 5 groups of cards, and for each of them I ordered the lot as I saw fit. It was much easier to do 5 Top-10 (or 11 in today's case) lists then one giant 50 card list.

#51 - 2003 (Juan Rivera/Marcus Thames)

 

It would be easy to say that this card came in last because of my particular team bias, and you'd be right to a point. There are other Yankee cards in this list ranked much higher though. This is just a boring card, although I was surprised to find out each of these guys had solid careers that lasted at least decade at the Major League level.

 

#50 - 1995 (Randy Myers)

 

The only thing this card really has going for it is that it's a candidate for Johnny's Saturday Shadow Shots posts. (FYI - I see a playground slide).

 

#49 - 1988 (Ed Whitson)

 

I'm pretty sure that how my arms looked when I tried to throw a ball as a kid. The difference between me and Whitson is my baseball landed two feet in front of me.

 

#48 - 1982 (Rick Wise)

 

If this image wasn't so grainy I might like it more. I do appreciate players wearing glasses...

 

#47 - 1997 (Pat Hentgen)

 

The borders of the 1997 set clashed with so many card photos. That sharp blue jersey doesn't look good surrounded by red.

 

#46 - 1983 (Buddy Bell)

 

Have the Rangers brought back this uniform recently? They should. Baseball needs more racing stripes.

 

#45 - 2015 (Brian Duensing)

 

The color scheme works a lot better here than with Hentgen. His contortions look like he's going to lose a couple of buttons on that jersey.

 

#44 - 1994 (Charles Nagy)

 

I went back and forth between Duensing and Nagy, but gave Nagy the edge because he from the era of Cleveland baseball where I see the uniform and think of the movie "Major League."

 

#43 - 2025 (Jake Burger)

 

The newest #330 isn't horrible, it just gives me the same disinterested look that Burger seems to have...

 

#42 - 1989 (Eric Davis)

 

I surprised myself with having Davis this low in the countdown. I thought this card would be higher.

 

#41 - 2017 (Doug Fister)

 

I like being able to clearly see the grip on a ball when a pitcher is throwing, but the angle makes his arm look oddly elongated.

 

Eleven cards down, forty to go! Tune in tomorrow for the next group of ten!

6 Degrees Of Raffy: The Roger Clemens Connection

It's time for another installment ("aka filler post") of 6 Degrees Of Raffy, where I connect a beloved card from my collection and connect the player depicted on it to current Red Sox superstar Rafael Devers. 

 

We start with a randomly generated card from my collection:

Random TCDB Card: 

1997 Select #24 Roger Clemens (BLUE)

Roger Clemens is the most prominent player in my collection, with over 200 unique cards in my collection. It was only a matter of time before he popped up as a random card. For once, I'm glad he's depicted as a Blue Jay and not a member of the Red Sox. That would have been too easy. Upping the level of difficulty is that the 1997 Select set only has 9 total Toronto cards in it, with one of them a prospect who never reached the big leagues. 

Teammates in the 1997 Select set
#24 Roger Clemens (BLUE)	#178 Kelvim Escobar (SR, RC)

After checking in on bigger names like Carlos Delgado and Joe Carter, I found a link in rookie pitcher Kelvim Escobar. Escobar pitched 12 years for the Blue jays and Angels, but it was his time in sunny California that got my attention.

Teammates in the 2007 Upper Deck set
#754 Kelvim Escobar	#758 Mike Napoli

Aw yeah, party at Napoli's! Back before tugging on his big bushy beard became a celebratory mainstay for the 2013 World Champion Red Sox, Napoli was a power hitting catcher for the Angels.

Teammates in the 2015 Topps set
#130 Mike Napoli	#445 Christian Vazquez

 

From one (former) catcher to another! Napoli's tenure in Boston saw him play with numerous players who would continue on with the team long enough to see Raffy's debut in 2017. It's a nice opportunity to showcase someone else besides the big names like Ortiz and Pedroia. 

Teammates in the 2022 Topps set
#63 Christian Vazquez	#331 Rafael Devers

 

Vazquez spent 8 years in Boston before being traded to the Astros in 2022, where he won his second World Series ring. He is currently with the Minnesota Twins.

Degrees of Raffy: 4

Repack Haiku #399 (Brad Fullmer)

Faced high school teammate

Giants pitcher Russ Ortiz

In the World Series

 

2001 Fleer Tradition #64 Brad Fullmer

 

Fullmer attended Montclair College Preparatory School in Van Nuys, California along with Ortiz. In 2002, Fullmer's Angels and Ortiz's Giants squared off in the World Series. Fullmer got a hit off Ortiz in each of the two games Ortiz pitched as the Angels defeated the Giants in 7 games.

First Impressions: 2025 Topps

New year, new baseball cards! Sure, I know that these cards have been all over the internet now, and opinions have been given en masse, but you still haven't heard my thought on them have you? That is why you're here, right? So as I opened up my first tantalizing pack of 2025 Topps, I made a note of my first impressions, which I'm happy to share with you now

 

#209 Taylor Ward

 

 

The honor of the first card goes to Mr. Taylor. Right off the bat, I noticed the bat! Swing that giant pencil Taylor! Unfortunately, the next thing I noticed was the LAA team abbreviation on the side (or in this case "AA" since the bat almost perfectly wipes out the "L"). Turns out this is how Topps decided to notate teams on horizontal cards. One could argue that this was done because of the smaller amount of space on the ribbon, but then again for the city-less Athletics, they didn't have any trouble squeezing the whole team name on there. It doesn't look good to be honest, and the design team could have easily made the set look  a whole lot more cohesive with just a bit more effort.
 

#135 Maikel Garcia

#101 Nolan Arenado

#67 Trey Sweeney (RC)

#257 Korey Lee

 

Another design fail comes with a player's last name in black. It doesn't show up well, especially on scans/photos. Other than that, the design itself is OK. It's not as exciting as last year's design, but a solid design nonetheless. I do like the attempt to do something new with the positional dots on the baseball diamond. It works and makes this set unique.

#56 Ranger Suarez

#217 Rece Hinds (RC)

#216 Hunter Greene

#108 Mitch Keller

#183 Taj Bradley

#99 Cincinati Reds (TC)

#21 Nick Lodolo

#147 Bryson Stott

#270 Andres Gimenez

#337 Ben Rice (RC)

#175 Ha-Seong Kim 

 

 

As far as the backs go, the 2025 design is pretty straightforward and bland. The card numbers are nice and readable, so kudos for that.

 

#161 Bradley Blalock (RC)

#190 Miguel Vargas

#7 Alec Bohm

#320 Drew Thorpe (RC)

#227 Ty France

#113 Marco Gonzales

#36 Greg Jones (RC)

#139 Jordan Beck

#125 Jackson Merrill (ASR)

 

As long as MLB is going to shove the City Connect jerseys down our throats, the cards are going to do likewise. Part of the allure this year's card set design is that the colors match the team's traditional colors. The City Connect uniforms take away from that.

 

#T90-68 Albert Pujols (1990 Topps 35th Anniversary insert)

 

In keeping with the numerous ways Topps rehashes their old designs, we once again have the completely arbitrary 35th Anniversary set. Personally, I have always liked the 1990 set design, so I don't mind this too much, but now that Topps has reached the 90's, we are rapidly approaching the time I stepped away from the hobby and thusly will no longer care about this yearly insert...

#SMLB-7 Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (Stars of MLB insert)

#SMLB-28 Carlos Correa (Stars of MLB insert)

 

Another returning insert series is the Stars of MLB. This is probably the best design they've come up with since they started doing this insert in 2022.

#324 Masataka Yoshida

 

The "Macho Man" gets the honor of being my first 2025 Red Sox card! Not a bad card at all, and despite his struggles last year, I still think we haven't seen the best of him yet. I will point out that Yoshida gets the LF designation, despite only appearing in the field for 1 game last year. He should be listed as a DH.

 

#225 Tyrone Taylor

#288 Evan Carter (FS)

 

 

I've always had a soft spot for Future Stars cards, especially when they use a script reminiscent of the original 1987 ones.

#81 Minnesota Twins (TC)

 

This is an early contender for best card of the year. Such a fun card!

 

#114 Ryan O'Hearn#279 Trevor Larnach

#342 Davis Schneider

#151 AL Wins Leaders (Skubal/Berrios/Lugo) 

We end the pack with a League Leaders subset card. I'm glad they're actually showing the players who led the league, but once again Topps would rather stick to a trifecta of players rather than give proper due to Skubal and all three players who finished second with 16 wins (Poor Carlos Rondon...)

 

Overall I like the set, even though in some cases it seems to get in it's own way. I think some minor tweaks could have made this set even better.