And probably, that doesn't totally hurt the player/card in question - there must be a reason Jemile Weeks follows Clayton Kershaw in a checklist like this, one reasons - what is it? Piquing curiosity is a central function of baseball cards.
I will delve into that a little more below, but a key reason is probably the success of his brother - our first familial pair of Sea Turtles in the set, though I do not expect to find another one.
As a card, this is largely a successful one. Who doesn't like a Dirty Uniform card? You can only get a uniform dirty like that one by sliding in head first, Pete Rose style. The image also relates well with the constructions on the back of the card that we will see shortly - something that is not always the case with Topps baseball cards.
For A's fans in 2013, enjoying a peak in franchise success, this was probably a happy card to find, with a nice cameo from their new Cuban star and an augury of 2013 game plans - we'll get Weeks on the basepaths, then we'll get Cespedes to knock him in. I like the way the 2 yellow batting helmet brims somewhat connect the 2 players.
Sometimes, when you don't view baseball cards through the 20/20 cloud-tinted glasses of hindsight, they can be quite a bit more enjoyable.
Uniform Hero? And right here on the front of this card for everyone to see, the whole Uniform # = Card # tie-in comes thudding to a four flat tire halt for the first time in the set. What gives?
This is a relatively simple error to divine, though not traceable to a change in teams, as with the #3 - Hunter Pence card.
Turns out, Jemile Weeks' brother Rickey, a 2011 All-Star at the peak of his career in Milwaukee as these Sea Turtle cards were hatching - wore #23. Most likely, an early checklist mock-up only used last names, would be my guess. Sigh.
Where’d the egg hatch? Jemile Weeks was a first round pick by Oakland, a team baseball fans probably largely suspect make the most careful draft picks of them all, back in 2008 and was the 12th pick overall. That was a post-College selection; Weeks was also drafted in the 8th round by his brother's team, the Brewers, in 2005, two years after his elder brother's selection.
How about the migrations? Jemile debuted with the A's in 2011 and has a minor Topps footnote in that he does not have a coveted RC logo card in Topps Baseball - only in 2011 Bowman Sterling and eTopps, despite a 97 game Rookie season.
That 2011 season was dynamite - a .303 AVG! The A's had a new lead-off hitter for a long time to come, it seemed.
That 2012 season was a dud. Topps supplies a few more clues to what all was going on in his career on the back of the card as we will see shortly. When a Rookie debuts in the Major Leagues, the rest of the League often needs experience facing the new player, in terms of designing a pitching strategy to exploit the "hole in the swing" that almost every baseball hitter has. This is called "writing the book" on that player and to maintain success in MLB, a Rookie has to be able to make adjustments to the changes he starts to see from the opposing Pitchers.
Weeks could never do that, unfortunately, and he would appear in only 8 games in the 2013 season for Oakland. A classic post-season "change of scenery" trade never really worked out for him at multiple other MLB stops and the result is that this 2013 Topps Baseball card is technically his "Sunset" card, though one could quibble that Opening Day comes out 2 months after Series One.
This is the first such card on the checklist, and is one reason I started a Set Blog for a set of cards that is only 6 years old when the blog starts. Careers are shortening dramatically in Major League Baseball, and I was already beginning to forget just who some of the players on the Sea Turtles cards were, and what they accomplished. Baseball card collectors will be seeing a lot more cards like this Jemile Weeks card in the decade to come.
Don’t flip over real Turtles.
How often do you ever consider a player's Height and Weight? They are listed on the back of just about each and every baseball card we collect. On this card, 5' 9" and 160 Lbs ties in directly with all the other information presented.
Topps did what it could to find a ray of hope amidst the disappointment of everyone involved given the results of Weeks' 2012 season. One thing standard card back structure does not reveal, as it always lists MLB stats after MiLB stats from the same year, is just when Weeks played those games in Sacramento. Those occurred late in the season, as part of a retool-your-swing-in-the-minors attempt, which didn't really help much, as it turned out.
Can the Turtle Catch the Rabbit?
CAREER CHASE: With 38 stolen bases, Weeks is 1,368 away from Rickey Henderson's all-time record of 1,406.
Another easy does it chase comparison by Topps; who wouldn't think of Rickey Henderson when the Oakland Athletics have a lead-off hitter banging away at over .300 and stealing 22 bases as a Rookie?
Jemile Weeks would add just 3 more MLB SBs and finish his career with 41.
Subspecies? Weeks also appears in 2013 Opening Day, which is technically his final baseball card of any type.
Bling That Shell So I guess it is quite fitting that I selected the /2013 Opening Day Blue parallel for this checklist spot, though I was unaware of Weeks' baseball card oeuvre when I picked it.
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