#81 - NL ERA Leaders

What’s that Turtle doin’? Leading the way from the mounds of the "Senior Circuit."

This is of course a long-standing tradition in a Topps Baseball set; my rough hunch is that more years have these cards than do not. Probably only Night Owl and some other baseball card historians know the actual % of Topps Baseball sets that include these. I do like these cards quite a bit; always have. I can't say I go out of my way to purposely collect them in a general sense, but I do always keep them; they are especially nice X number of seasons later, where X = any number you wish.

On this card, only Johnny Cueto is putting on an optimistic Pitcher Face here. But then he finished 3rd on this one, so it kind of seems like R.A. Dickey's wing&prayer outlook isn't the way to go either, and perhaps Kershaw's straight stare-down scowl at the batter is what gets you to #1.

That official National League™ logo sure is a classy bit of graphic design considering how old it probably is. If only there was a way it could add apple pie, hot dogs, and a Chevrolet symbol to all that glorious Americana there. But like many hard-working graphic objects, it probably wasn't designed to be shrunk down on to the corner of a baseball card, or look good on a TV camera from far away, like most Major League logos. In that way it kind of reminds of the way some excellent Minor League Baseball logos kind of struggle on baseball cards, too.

My favorite part of the front of this card is being able to see that Dickey is going to throw a knuckle-ball here. Recently I started trying to accumulate 9 copies of a card that shows this fairly rare pitch; one of my many extra copies of this card will certainly be a helpful 11% of that small-time collecting goal.

+Bonus points for all 3 teams issuing color-coordinated belts to their players.

Uniform Hero? 22 + 43 + 47 ≠ 81, sorry. Maybe the Topps checklist creator will slyly work that equation onto another one of these cards elsewhere in the checklist.

Where’d the egg hatch? The National League™ was formed in February, 1876.

How about the migrations? It has been in business ever since, making it the oldest currently active team sports League. And you thought it was called "The Senior Circuit" just because it is 25 years older than the American League.

Don’t flip over real Turtles.

Now this is the real deal on why I like Leaders cards. I particularly like them years and years after the set was released, so my memory can be jogged of which baseball card in the set will be worth 10¢ instead of 2¢. And of course for just what the heck happened that particular season.

Here I am now pondering why I can't quite recall who the Cardinals beat in the Wild Card game that year, and then who they beat in the other NLDS. But I know Topps has me covered there, with upcoming cards in the checklist to help out an old man's fond baseball memories. But now I am really wondering just what happened to the Nationals and Phillies that October.

Subspecies? These cards only appear in the Topps Baseball set. Or, at least, with this design, as they usually appear in Heritage as well. Quite often, I prefer the old timey Heritage take on these, often with the top 50 players for the given statistic.

Bling That Shell As the National League™ logo deftly illustrates, when it comes to Baseball, you can't go wrong with red, white, and blue. Next time, let's get Kershaw to wear the rare Dodgers Home Alternate uni, so we can get this even more just exactly perfect:

#70 - Todd Frazier

What’s that Turtle doin’? Arching an eyebrow to admire a 'moon shot,' perhaps?

I mean, that is a pretty optimistic look, in the regard of - what is the baseball doing right now?

This is a classic baseball card not-pose, but live action point to snap a photo. It calls to mind the wrapper from 1977 Topps, which also calls to mind a famous baseball card from 2011 - #US175. But both of those examples include a pair of hands still visible. 

But over all, the various lines in the image easily lead the collector's eyes to Frazier's eyes, and lead the brain to wonder if Todd just hit a home run - which is always possible.

This card is perhaps an example of how some, seemingly including the Topps Baseball head honcho for many years now, may not care for a white bordered card. A classic home white uniform, as on this card, really creates a lot of white space on a white bordered card. However that it where design comes in. For the Cincinnati Reds in the 2013 Topps Baseball set, the design graphics I call the 'Sea Turtle' do have a nice synergy in that the base primary red color used in the design seems to perfectly match the color and tint the baseball club uses in their iconography and uniform detailing. Which is something that is not always true of the Sea Turtle colors and some other teams.

The appearance of the Rookie Cup here does illustrate one demerit in this baseball card design - no Position on the front of the card. The Rookie Cup is awarded on a one-per-Position basis, but in this set, one must turn the card over to confirm how that is working, for the players who didn't just win Rookie of the Year and/or aren't coming off that Rookie excitement process which 'The Hobby' makes their fame reach pretty high levels, for collectors.

So evidently, Todd Frazier was the best Rookie Third Baseman in the game in 2012.

Uniform Hero? Nowhere close now.

Where’d the egg hatch? Frazier was drafted twice, first by the Rockies in the 37th round in 2004, but he went off to college and then became a first round pick for the Reds, 34th overall, in 2007.

How about the migrations? For a college slugger, Frazier took a little longer to reach the Majors than most, debuting in Cincinnati in 2011.

Don’t flip over real Turtles.

That slightly longer route to the Bigs seems to have given the Topps card back scribe a chance to take a quick break.

Can the Turtle Catch the Rabbit?

CAREER CHASE: With 25 home runs, Frazier is 737 away from Barry Bonds' all-time record of 762.

Todd Frazier's career certainly became associated with Home Runs as it has gone along, though his Slugging % actually had just hit a peak in his 4/5ths of a full Rookie season - which in turn makes his 19 Homers that year seem a little less remarkable.

2020 finds Frazier in camp with the Texas Rangers on a Major League deal as I compose this one, so he will see more MLB action in the season to come. He currently has 214 Home Runs on the back of his newest baseball card.

Subspecies? Topps is certainly not going to let a Rookie Cup selection go to waste and it is probably near automatic that that small set of players will be included in Opening Day and Chrome.

There is a Short Print photo variation of this card in the Series One "Great Catch" theme, however this post will have to be updated some day with a So, Did He Catch It? section — when I eventually catch a copy of that card.

Bling That Shell A classic red & white baseball card can certainly use a nice blue border:

#32 - Craig Breslow

What’s that Turtle doin’? This is probably technically a live game photo from the field of play. There would be no way or much reason to worry about knowing for sure. I am going to Blogger label it a "Candid" as it does contribute nicely to some baseball card variety in this set.

The only action on the card is the standard habit of a Pitcher rubbing the baseball vigorously to improve his grip on it. Though only, probably - the viewer can't confirm that a baseball is actually present in Breslow's hands. But I bet it would take a little while to find another baseball card depicting this particular baseball playing activity, so that makes me like this card.

Given the overall relaxed nature of the image, I like the torso-only approach here, which is perfectly framed/composed.

The other items of interest in the image are no less than 3 shoulder accessories to consider. For the classic red socks the Red Sox wear on their left shoulder, on the road uniform only, this is probably the best card in the set for showing them off. And probably one of the best examples of them on a baseball card I can think of. Sometimes using a from-the-uniform logo in the design of a baseball card can result in duplicative or even triplicate usage of the logo, sometimes in close proximity on the card design and the player photo, and that can get a little nutty on some cards. Two pairs of Sox, as on this card, feels just fine though.

Also interesting are the 2 items on Breslow's right shoulder. The "Fenway 100 Years" patch was worn by the Red Sox in 2012 and the best on-card example of it could be (we'll see...) a 'manufactured patch' card I included in the post for the first Red Sox card in the set, #15 - Dustin Pedroia.

What do I mean about a 2nd item on his right shoulder? There is also a black armband being worn, something easy to miss on a baseball card. This is a memorial effort for Boston Red Sox all-around everyman with the club, Johnny Pesky. He died on Aug. 12, 2012 after a near complete lifetime in a Red Sox uniform, as a player (debuted in 1940), manager, coach, broadcaster, front office employee, roving instructor, and general historical lodestar for decades; he was sometimes referred to as "Mr. Red Sox." 

The black armband was only worn on the road uniform for the balance of the 2012 season, due to the use of the red socks patch on the left shoulder. On home uniforms at that time, a more traditional round uniform # (6) patch was worn on the left shoulder. I can't recall seeing a clear image of that on any Topps Baseball card, but I will certainly be watching for even traces of it on all my 2013 Boston Red Sox baseball cards.

Uniform Hero? As with the previous card, another technical "yes." Placing a basic journeyman reliever amidst all the star power in this checklist sequence is basically the third wtf? on this idea.

I suspect that here again, a player team change may have resulted in just an ordinary player assuming this card #. The most famous player to wear #32 in 2012 was Josh Hamilton, who's star was still burning it's way brightly onto many Topps cards in 2013 releases. However he had signed with the California Angels in mid-December 2012 as this set was being assembled; he would appear on a couple insert cards in Series One as a Texas Ranger and in Series Two as a California Angel, and more importantly, his base card was issued in Series 2.

Quite likely, it was simpler to just plug in any other random Uni #32 player right here and keep on makin' more baseball cards.

Where’d the egg hatch? Craig Breslow was originally drafted by the Brewers in the 26th round in 2002, making him the highest draft round selection in the set so far.

How about the migrations? He eventually debuted in MLB action with the Padres, commencing a fairly normal career arc for a reliever that included pitching for 7 teams, and 3 of them twice. Across his career, he would appear on only 4 Topps Baseball cards, this one being his third.

Perhaps being placed in this checklist spot created excellent luck for Breslow as his 2013 season was probably his best, statistically, and he was able to enjoy being a key cog in a bullpen for a World Series winning team.

Breslow would remain in Boston through the 2015 season and retire after the 2017 season, his 12th. In the winter of 2019 he was hired to work in the Chicago Cubs organization on the strength of his reputation in the game as being one of the smartest players around, a rep slightly fore-shadowed on the back of this very baseball card...

Don’t flip over real Turtles.

Now that is the kind of just exactly perfect uselessly entertaining / entertainingly useless information one enjoys reading on the back of a Topps Baseball card, particularly for one featuring a player in New England.

Can the Turtle Catch the Rabbit?

CAREER CHASE: With 358 games pitched, Breslow is 894 away from Jesse Orosco's all-time record of 1,252.

This is a new record chase to consider, although this is still only the fourth Pitcher card in the set. Still I doubt anyone having already read a passel of these nerdy little baseball card back lines expected to consider a Jesse Orosco All-Time record on the back of this one, or already knew that Jesse Orosco held an All-Time record. Topps, keeping you connected to The Game.

For a middle reliever, this is of course the perfect record to consider. I expect we won't see this Career Chase very much until we reach the Update cards, several baseball seasons from now.

Craig Breslow pitched in 576 Major League Baseball games in his career.

Subspecies? Nope.

Bling That Shell Given the Hall of Fame future of this particular page of 9 Topps Baseball cards, I am always surprised when I look at this page at how things worked out for this card in particular. That probably traces back to a mixed lot purchase of some of these parallels, which supplied the next card in the checklist and in turn probably made using one of the parallels with the 2 highest prints (unknown in total) for one of the 2 most common players on the page -- a bit of a fait accompli here:

#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.