#47 - Howie Kendrick

What’s that Turtle doin’? Oh, just relaying the ball from Shortstop Erick Aybar over to Pujols at First for a routine Double Play on the road in Detroit. The appearance of Danny Worth, who struggled to ever get much playing time for the Tigers, makes it a simple affair to sort out all the details here. This photo was taken on July 18, 2012.

I have always liked this card due to the cameo from Worth, who appeared this way on Topps products (twice) almost as many times as he received his own baseball cards from Topps (thrice).

Overall, as routine of a baseball card as the phrase 'routine double play' entails. I like how Kendrick is completely focused on the throw and is paying absolutely no attention to Worth sliding into the bag. I also like how all the guys in the bullpen are still just chillin' - it's only the bottom of the 4th.

Uniform Hero? Card # clearly right there in the center of the card - the front of the card.

Where’d the egg hatch? Kendrick was an extremely good bit of scouting work by the early-00's Angels as he was drafted in the 10th round in 2002 and produced excellent results for a player selected that high.

How about the migrations? As this card was produced, there had been none, however 2013 would be his next-to-last for the Angels before being traded across town to the Dodgers after the 2014 season when his initial contract had just a year to go. The Angels received some six years of service from Andrew Heaney in the deal, which might have worked out very well for them if anyone who enters their rotation would ever stay healthy.

Kendrick would add a second year for the Dodgers via a Free Agent signing before being traded to Philadelphia and then Washington, where in 2019 he most likely achieved the pinnacle of career success on a winning World Series club after being the NLCS MVP along the way.

2020 will find Kendrick back on the field for the Nationals on a one year deal.

Don’t flip over real Turtles.

The Topps sage was certainly correct with the positive opening to this card back text. With two more years of consistent production for the Angels after these stats, I would imagine Kendrick still ranks very well on Angels 2B career lists.

Can the Turtle Catch the Rabbit? 

CAREER CHASE: With 881 hits, Kendrick is 3,375 away from the all-time record of 4,256.

Without notably exceptional slugging power, Kendrick's excellent basic production at the plate is best highlighted by his very good batting averages each year. After the 2019 season (a career mark of .344 BA) and 14 years of that production, Kendrick has 1,722 Hits.

Subspecies? By 2013, Kendrick had appeared in one All-Star Game (2011), his only such appearance, but was in general just an excellent everyday starting 2nd Baseman. That made a reputation good enough to also place this card on the Opening Day checklist, but oddly not on the 2013 Topps Chrome checklist. That probably traces to the insatiable need to place new Rookies on all baseball card checklists, which sometimes requires squeezing out excellent veterans, no matter how solid their career at that particular point.

There are no other variants of this card.

Bling That Shell Placing this card on the Opening Day checklist worked out well for me, as I could use the nice deep blue 'Opening Day Blue' parallel for this one, which pairs nicely with the red Sea Turtle for the Angels. I am also glad Danny Worth doesn't disappear into the 'foil'.

#36 - Jered Weaver

What’s that Turtle doin’? This is probably the most zoomed-in Pitching card yet seen in the set, as Weaver's belt almost doesn't make the cut here. I have read how people appearing on Television these days have to have just exactly perfect make-up, because the super duper clear resolution of the HD XD LED Ultra Q 4K four-wall TVs we watch today will instantly reveal every tiny blemish on a human being for everyone to see.

Baseball players don't have the luxury of preparing like that for their baseball card closeups. Nevertheless, Jered Weaver appears just fine on this baseball card. He is focused on delivering a Strike to Home Plate, not worrying about some super duper obscure baseball card blogger 6.33 years in his future.

When the live action cards get this close-in to the player, there isn't always much to consider on the card. The only thing really goin' on on this card is Weaver's momentum making his hair stream out behind him. Topps likes a good hair day on a baseball card, that's for sure.

Uniform Hero? The players with the big red uniform #s right on the front of the card really make this checklist format work the best.

Where’d the egg hatch? Jered Weaver was selected by the Angels in the same draft as the previous card for Justin Verlander, in 2004, though he was picked 12th.

How about the migrations? Weaver debuted soon enough in Anaheim, pitching a solid 123 Innings in 2006.

This card captures him coming off 3 straight All-Star Game appearances and a 20 Win 2012 campaign which included throwing a No Hitter. There were still some more solid seasons on the way.

My memory of Jered Weaver is one of intensity, something this up-close card does hint at. Somehow, he and the Detroit Tigers developed a "beef," the details of which I doubt can be remembered by many, and I am certainly not one of them. When a Tiger reached base against him somehow, there was a palpable tension between the mound and the basepath as if the 60' distance between the 2 was still a little too close.

He almost completed his career as a California Angel for 100% of his MLB service time; the Angels declined to re-sign him after his final contract extension with them ended after the 2016 season. He was still a Major League Pitcher, but was just becoming hittable in his mid-30s. Weaver gave it 'one more go' with the Padres, appearing in 5 games for them in 2017 before finally retiring during the season, his 12th.

Don’t flip over real Turtles.

3 undefeated Aprils in a row. Neat.

Can the Turtle Catch the Rabbit?

CAREER CHASE: With 102 wins, Weaver is 409 away from Cy Young's all-time record of 511.

Well, he was just coming off a League Leading 20 Win season, so I guess he had a shot at it. Whaddya think?

Jered Weaver finished his solid MLB career with a nice round 150 Wins.

Subspecies? All-Stars do well on Topps checklists and Weaver was no exception in 2013. This card # would not be tied to any photo variants, and the same image did appear in Chrome.

But in 2013 Opening Day, Jered Weaver did receive a unique card - quite a rare feat in that set, until just recently at least, especially for a player that wasn't switching teams in the just preceding off-season. I think this was the only such card in 2013 Opening Day. So here we get a bit of a bonus Sea Turtle:

Bling That Shell The end of the page draws near and it is time to make an easy choice. Even All-Stars can be acquired very easily on the Emerald parallel. I do think the best cards for these are the super close-ups like this one. Every other element of the image largely disappears on a foil parallel, so this one works just fine -

#27 - Mike Trout

What’s that Turtle doin’? I think he might have just stolen that particular Third Base, and stolen it in such a blink of an eye that the visiting team could not do a single thing about it, because they are nowhere to be seen.

This is also the first baseball card in the set that actually shows one of the bases, which are seen on baseball cards now much less often than is the ball. I like how different portions of the grass on this card have differing amounts of light on them. 

Writing in 2019, I now notice how this card foreshadows a certain nervousness among fans of Mike Trout today - the only injuries that have cost him any significant amount of playing time have each come while sliding into a base. I do not know if he has begun participating in the current trend of wearing a "sliding mitt" on the basepaths yet, but I know some fans hope that he does, just in case. No one who enjoys Major League Baseball wants to see Mike Trout hit the Disabled List.

At this point, there are new Mike Trout cards issued routinely in every product checklist, and most insert checklists as well. There are so many I don't even have time to scroll through online sources of all the imagery that would be involved - but I have to wonder how many of all those new cards depict a slide.

This card could ultimately become the "best" card in the set, for those who pick "best" to mean "most valuable." The Topps Rookie Cup remains a popular icon in the hobby, though for many only in so far as when it appears on a card of a player that goes on to financial success, with 'financial' meaning The Cup appears on a card worth more than several nickels and dimes, which is rare even for some eventual All-Stars.

Should Manny Machado ever fall back to more ordinary WAR #s in his still moderately young career, this card will then likely be THE card to own from 2013 Topps Baseball.

Uniform Hero? Topps is firmly back in the groove on this concept now, as this is the 4th sequential card to display a same # on the front and on the back. A fitting selection for the 2012 AL Rookie of the Year.

Where’d the egg hatch? It is now becoming a bit of a standard trivia question/answer to know for fans of the 24 teams that selected someone other than Mike Trout in the first round of the 2009 MLB draft - who did they pick instead? Trout would debut in 2011 for the Angels, but would not use up his "rookie limits," which are 135 At Bats or 45 days on the 25 man roster, though he came fairly close to those in '11.

How about the migrations? Mike Trout is currently signed through the 2020 season with the Angels. The amount of screen pixels that will be dedicated to pondering what happens after that in his career has only just begun to ramp up, but it will be considerable.

Don’t flip over real Turtles.

It is rather nice that this card is Trout's 2nd regular Topps Baseball checklist appearance beyond his official Rookie Card in 2011 Update, so there are still only 2 MLB statlines to show and thus room to include both some basic text -and- his minor league stats, something one does want to read for a player as bound for glory as Mike Trout.

Of note on this card is the details in the "Acq:" slot which one would normally predict to read "Via Draft." Instead we see "Free Agent 1-28-11" which is much more curious. Baseball Reference just notes his initial contract signing in 2009, though there has been one extension signed just before the 2014 season, carrying through the 2020 season as noted above.

One thing I can find on the Internet connecting Mike Trout and January 28, 2011 is that on that date, official "Transactions" lists for 2011 mention that they "came to terms" with about 2 dozen players that day on their minor league contracts. Just what type of "Acq" action occurred between Mike Trout and the California Angels on that date can possibly only be divined in some future Trout biography, perhaps.

Can the Turtle Catch the Rabbit?

CAREER CHASE: With 149 runs, Trout is 2,146 away from Rickey Henderson's all-time record of 2,297.

This is the second sequential card to ponder this record, and the 2nd card to do so for a player that Lead the League in Runs. Though Trout also Lead the League in Steals in his Rookie season, making the Rickey Henderson comparison much more relevant for a Center Fielder than a 2nd Baseman.

And after this card appeared, Trout would go on to Lead his League in Runs in 2013 and 2014, and then again in 2016 before the pair of sliding injuries in 2017 and 2018 somewhat cut into his ability to Lead Leagues in counting stats. Otherwise one of his newer cards might well have more stats printed in red than in black.

After the 2018 season, Mike Trout had scored 793 Runs, placing him only 33rd on the Active list; however only one player in front of him has 10 or fewer seasons, as compared to the 8 seasons Trout has completed now. This places Trout 1,504 Runs away from Rickey Henderson's all-time record, which took Henderson 25 seasons to score. After his first 8 seasons, Henderson had 862 Runs scored.

Subspecies? No one should be surprised to know that this card is also in Opening Day, where it also is card #27, using this same image. The same image would also appear in Chrome, which has one of those exceptionally tough variations floating around in the world.

On the Sea Turtle design in this set, this card has 3 variations - including a "Great Catch" issued in Series One, which is probably the only one I will ever seriously consider tracking down, given the prices for Mike Trout cards. Series 2 delivered a new Mike Trout #27 card in each type of variation - "Sunglasses" and "Fan Interaction" / "Autographs".

A final Sea Turtle variant appears in the All-Star Game Factory Set checklist of 5 cards, which I can share with you:

Bling That Shell The realities of Mike Trout card values forces my hand on this selection once again. I think the varying brightness levels of the grass would make this a fantastic "Blue Sparkle" card but even in the summer of 2013 I was not going to luck into one of those by buying a random 4 dozen card lot of them. I hope to see that card in-hand someday.

I was fortunate enough to pull the Wal-Mart Blue version of this card in 203-2015, twice even, as well as one Target Red version. So perhaps those key "dups" will get me closer to owning a Blue Sparkle version, some day. Many Trout collectors consider the red 'team color' parallels to be non pareil; I much prefer good old red, white, and blue for such a quintessential American baseball player.

#24 - Dan Haren

What’s that Turtle doin’? Getting back on track with established MLB veterans now, Dan Haren goes into his wind-up from the stretch and heeeeere's the pitch...

I like how action cards can so easily trigger a pleasant baseball audio flashback, like this one does. Different sets of uniform wrinkles doing different things betray the multiple things going on in a pitcher's delivery.

I also like how the infield dirt and the infield grass cleanly cut the card in half - methinks this might make for an interesting parallel version. And then the chalk of the first base line nicely parallels the line of Haren's arms, and vision to the plate, making it oh so easy for your brain to contemplate the flight of the baseball just about to begin.

And my final click on the Like button for this card is that it is _not_ a horizontal card. Although I like horizontal cards, I don't always care for Topps' propensity to use all that space just to show off a Pitcher's upper torso and fully extended arms, in a photo like this. It is nice to see how the legs contribute to the delivery, something seen here a bit more than on the Kershaw card.

Uniform Hero? Smack dead center on the card and right on that perfect visual break line of the infield grass, too, this is another card with a pretty easy to remember card #.

Where’d the egg hatch? Haren was drafted by the Cardinals in the 2nd round in 2001 and would debut with them just 2 summers later.

How about the migrations? St. Louis was soon unable to resist trading their young right-hander to Oakland in exchange for established Ace Mark Mulder during another one of Billy Beane's teardowns. If I were to include various General Managers in the labels on these posts, I am confident I know which GM would get the most.

Not surprisingly, Haren would not retire as an Athletic as he was traded to the Diamondbacks and then the Angels in complex multi-player trades involving several other eventual MLB starting Pitchers. 

Just as this card was being created, Haren finally reached the end of a contract and could test the Free Agent waters for the first time. This led to a one year deal to pitch for the Nationals in 2013, followed by stops in L.A., Miami, and finally Chicago in 2015, where his final start yielded a 6 Inning, 3 Hit, 1 Run, Win on the last day of the regular season. Subsequently, he was left off the Cubs playoff roster for their run to the NLCS that year and retired shortly afterwards.

He is currently still part of Major League Baseball, working in the Front Office for the Diamondbacks.

Don’t flip over real Turtles.

Can't go wrong just letting the #s from 11 years of Major League action speak for themselves. I am always intrigued by the way WHIP and ERA can correlate so differently from year-to-year for basically successful Pitchers like Dan Haren, as they do here in 2006 and 2007. The '07 Athletics must have drastically improved their defense, is all I can conclude.

Can the Turtle Catch the Rabbit?

CAREER CHASE: With 119 wins, Haren is 392 away from Cy Young's all-time record of 511.

This particular Chase stat gives me a pleasant flashback to 1970s Fleer stickers, as one of those efforts (which I peeled and stuck on something) gave me something on the back: a simple illustration of a gigantic triple set of numbers 5-1-1 and a brief explanatory text in small type. Even as a child, I knew that was a record that couldn't possibly be broken.

Haren finished his career with 153 Wins. 

Subspecies? Given his December Free Agent signing, Haren will get another card in Update. He did not crack any other Sea Turtle checklists in Chrome or Opening Day, something not common for just a solid mid-rotation starter.

Bling That Shell With all the clean background elements in 3 basic portions, I figured this one would look good on the Blue Sparkle parallel. Let's take a look: