#80 - Ryan Zimmerman

What’s that Turtle doin’? ...and the ball is hit weakly to the the third base side where it is a routine play for Zimmerman as he sends it across the diamond....

This photo has elements that lead the viewer over to First Base (the uniform showing the rotation of Zimmerman's body, his eyes) as well as elements that focus your attention on the baseball about to be thrown (the right arm extending towards you, the glove aligned with that).

But overall it all just does seem like a routine bit of baseball action; a bit staid & lacking urgency, even, as if this photo was taken during pre-game infield warmups. Finally the blurred baseball - not quite as blurred as on a hitter hitting card, but still quite blurred - reveals just how fast baseball fielding action takes place.

This is the second time in the checklist that a team has 2 sequential cards. I have never understood why Topps does that more on the rarely-seen side than on the routine side, unless perhaps they use a random # generator to connect the players to a checklist #, or something, whenever building checklists outside of this unique effort.     

Uniform Hero? #11 there on the right lung (possibly a unique uniform placement?) ≠ #80.

Where’d the egg hatch? The Washington Nationals drafted Ryan Zimmerman as their very first draft pick, ever, in the first round of the 2005 draft as the 4th pick.

How about the migrations? Zimmerman was fresh from a successful career at the nearby University of Virginia and he appeared on the diamond in Washington as a classic September call-up after just 67 games in the minors. He proceeded to almost hit .400 that September and has been in the Nationals' line-up ever since September 1, 2005.

Don’t flip over real Turtles.

By the year of the Sea Turtle, Zimmerman was already pretty much the Face of the Franchise as the Topps card back writer notes in what was probably a pretty easy assignment here.

Can the Turtle Catch the Rabbit?

CAREER CHASE: With 593 RBI, Zimmerman is 1,704 away from Hank Aaron's all-time record of 2,297.

Though the card back does show one year probably amidst the National League Home Run Leaders, the more telling stat in Zimmerman's baseball #s oeuvre is the routine production of RBIs. Which is something that flows from Zimmerman's routine OPS values above league average, something that continued through the 2010s, for good OPS anyway, though RBI production has naturally been lessened whenever Zimmerman hits the injury-list.

The 2019 season was particularly rewarding for Zimmerman after such a good long career in Washington as he hit a Home Run in Game One of the World Series. Though his playing time has decreased some after 15 seasons in MLB, Washington did keep the band together and re-signed him on a one-year deal for 2020.

At the start of play in 2020 (I hope), Ryan Zimmerman has 1,015 RBIs.

Subspecies? A player as well known to the local fans as Ryan Zimmerman, if perhaps not to all MLB fanbases via becoming an All-Star (only one appearance before this card), well is an easy choice to include on the Opening Day checklist, where he also receives two insert cards. And that same basic routine, everyday, I want his baseball card calculation sees this same card in Topps Chrome. Though there are no photo variations, there are plenty of choices on what color frame you can admire for this card.

Bling That Shell Is any team more solidly red, white, and blue than the Washington Nationals? That sure seems to make the Opening Day Blue frame a solid pick for this card:

#72 - Gerardo Parra

What’s that Turtle doin’? Those long arching flyballs sure are hypnotic, it appears.

This card has a bit of reverse motion, really. Parra's body has rotated all the way through the swing and now even the uniform lettering teams up with his left fore-arm to draw the eye down and almost off the card, until the bat knob is encountered. Which kind of reminds the viewer what just happened, and perhaps one should look up, up, and away, like Parra is — and then finally the gaze reaches his eyes, and the card collector too is lofted up, up, and away.

So I would have to say this is a nicely chosen photograph just for it's capture of live baseball playing action. The card has some other nice elements such as the strangely deserted Marlins dug-out in the background which makes for a nice dark background making the baseball player stand out even more, and also contributes to a miscellaneous set of horizontal image components that do the same for the vertical subject.

+Bonus points for the mysterious symbology of those wristbands. I got nothing, on those. But that is kind of cool as someday, somewhere else, I will see that oddly flag like red ball on a green & yellow stripe, and I will instantly think A-ha! Gerardo Parra!

Uniform Hero? Parra wore a lot of uniform #s in his career, but never #72.

Where’d the egg hatch? Gerardo is a Venezuelan national, so he was never drafted; rather he signed with the Diamondbacks when he was just 17, in 2004.

How about the migrations? And would debut with them in 2009, quickly becoming a regular in Arizona's outfield, as Topps picks up on...

Don’t flip over real Turtles.

I do like the seemingly relatively recent tread of just simply quoting the baseball player on the back of their baseball card. But then sports quotes, sports quotes - how often do you ever hear a sports quote you have never heard before? And then how often does that happen on the back of a baseball card? That does happen, but not on this card.

Can the Turtle Catch the Rabbit?

CAREER CHASE: With 462 hits, Parra is 3,794 away from the all-time record of 4,256.

I enjoy writing this blog so much that the other night I had a dream about this section of the card back. In the dream, I discovered a totally new all-time record that Topps started comparisons with. Except of course, they only did it on one card, and try as I might, I could not find that card in the binder. What was the elusive all-time record? I will have to await my next Sea Turtle dream, sorry.

On this card, Hits is certainly the category to expect possible notable results from Parra, who upon cruising into the middle years of his career as this card was pulled from packs, didn't seem to have exceptional power or base-running speed. And these cards have no defensive stats.

Parra would move on from Arizona to play in Milwaukee, Colorado, San Francisco and Washington; in the 2019 World Series he did see some action though largely as a defensive replacement in the late innings, despite putting up an OPS still above league average during the stretch run for the Nationals, who were already pretty stacked beyond the infield.

For the 2020 season, Parra signed a one year deal in Japan, which doesn't always preclude future MLB action, but in the Data Age of MLB, an 11 year career is now a fairly long one.

At the close of the 2019 regular season, Gerardo Parra had 1,312 Hits.

Subspecies? Parra was certainly established enough in the Arizona outfield to make a few more checklists, so this card does appear in Opening Day. But when it came time to cut a few players to make way for Rookies in the Topps Chrome release, Parra didn't make that checklist. There are no other variants.

Bling That Shell As I pulled this card out of the binder to scan, I had a touch of regret that I didn't try a Blue Sparkle here, rather than on the previous card. But these 'Opening Day Blue Foil' cards can really deliver a shiny punch sometimes, & this one did not disappoint:

#64 - Will Middlebrooks

What’s that Turtle doin’? It's a bird, it's a plane, it's - an impossible camera angle? I mean, is the photographer allowed out on the field, now?

This is one card where I particularly wish the player's position was noted on the front of the card. I already knew Middlebrooks played Third Base, but knowing that is a big part of what makes this photo even more dramatic. I'm thinking the photographer (Jim Davis, Boston Globe) must have been at least a bit beyond First, to capture Middlebrook's face coming towards us like this. So let's once again see what the Internet might have on this one:

BOSTON - JUNE 26: Red Sox 3B Will Middlebrooks dives, but can't get to a sixth inning ball hit by Toronto's Rajai Davis, not pictured, but the ball went to SS Mike Aviles, who threw to secondbase for a force out to end the inning. The Boston Red Sox hosted the Toronto Blue Jays in a major league baseball game at Fenway Park. (Photo by Jim Davis/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)

Knowing all that mentally drags the image even farther into the middle of the diamond, making this an even more impressive display of camera wizardry. I also like how this photo & baseball card comparison illustrates that sometimes, the crowd is already blurred in the photo, before the Topps wizards go to work.

As for the wizards' decisions here, the card does crop out the baseball zinging past, but that is quite alright in this case.

I have a nice, specific 2013 memory about this card, though not about acquiring the card. I completed Series One fairly early in it's release that winter. A month or so later, with Opening Day quite close, I was delighted to be baseball card shopping in eastern North Carolina one rainy day and the Local Card Shop owner proved to be a Red Sox fan. Naturally, conversation turned to coming season outlooks, and I imparted my base optimism for the Sox' chances that year - "Looks like they have a great new third baseman," I said. "Yeah, did you see that new Middlebrooks card?" replied the owner. "That's one of my favorites. I think the Sox will be back in the playoffs this year." This drew a shrug - the correct pessimistic New Englander response.

I also like how this card foreshadows Middlebrooks famously diving for a ball in the World Series some 7 months later.

There is no question that if I had to pick 9 favorite cards from the 2013 set, this card would make that cut.

Uniform Hero? For such a heroic photograph selection, I would hope the card # would match even though it is not visible. Middlebrooks did wear #64 with the Red Sox in 2012, a number more likely to seen on a Rookie than a veteran.

One other heroic thing about this card is that it finally ends what I have been calling the 'Pitcher Parade' in this set - 16 sequential cards for Pitchers. I have to wonder if that has ever happened on any other Topps Baseball checklist.

Where’d the egg hatch? The Red Sox drafted Middlebrooks in the 5th round of the 2007 draft.

How about the migrations? This is Will's card for his sophomore season in MLB; his Rookie campaign in Boston had this particular baseball card collector already pondering what might happen...

Don’t flip over real Turtles.

That is such a nice looking Rookie stat line. But what those #s, nor the bit-of-a-stretch pun in the card back text, can relate is a certain shadow already routinely falling over the career of Will Middlebrooks: injury; his 2012 campaign actually ended in August.

His 2013 season would include only 93 games and Boston had to work around yet more injuries for Middlebrooks by bringing up another infielder a little earlier than planned, but that ultimately worked out just fine as that younger prospect's name was Xander Bogaerts.

Can the Turtle Catch the Rabbit?

CAREER CHASE: With 54 RBI, Middlebrooks is 2,243 away from Hank Aaron's all-time record of 2,297.

A different stat clipping from his call-up informs this one: in his first 41 games for the Sox, Middlebrooks had 34 RBI. A slugging % > .500 for a Rookie will also bring on such thoughts of a key batting order spot and steady production.

Will Middlebrooks seemed to perpetually battle injury in his career, which probably peaked on this card, really. Subsequent stops included San Diego, Milwaukee, and Texas. A broken leg playing in Spring Training for Philadelphia in 2018 was his final entry on the IL. As the front of this card shows, it seems he always played hard.

Middlebrooks finished his career with 155 RBI.

Subspecies? Recall here that the original photo shows this great attempt at diving for the ball didn't work; perhaps that would disqualify including this great photo in the "Great Catch" series of photo variations in Series One. 

But Topps would hardly let a card this good go to waste, and it is included in both Opening Day and Chrome.

Bling That Shell Like many of my favorite cards in this set, I am a little tempted to collect a rainbow of this card. However it is such a popular card that I can't recall often seeing any of the limited /x parallels of it for sale. The photo is shot at night and the only real feature of the card is Will Middlebrooks himself, so I think any parallel of this would look pretty good; really this is another one for which the base "white" version is hard to improve on as photography clearly trumps design here.

I went with the Opening Day Blue version, probably because I pulled it from a pack but did not hit the OD version of the preceding Masterson card. I believe these parallels are very similar to what are called "foilboards" in the 2020 baseball card collecting world; what is more dramatic here is the nice dark blue frame rather than the background 'foil' effects.

Another great thing about this spot in the checklist is that we have reached the end of a binder page again, and can move on into the checklist and away from the Pitcher Parade via the best way possible in a baseball card binder: by turning the page.

#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'.

#15 - Dustin Pedroia

What’s that Turtle doin’? This card illustrates a not uncommon minor problem on the checklist, at least when cards are viewed as part of a set, rather than just singles in a Team or Player Collection: it is nearly identical to the card preceding it.

I would say this card is better than the Konerko card however, for two reasons - the wrinkles, and the eyes. The wrinkles of Pedroia's uniform supply the viewer with a perception that he just leaned in towards the Plate, and set his bat in preparation for the pitch. There is a sense of motion for the whole thing.

The image is also cropped/zoomed in a fair bit farther than the previous one, though still not quite as much as the Jeter card on the previous page; we can see the belt, but just barely. One result is Pedroia's left hand is sliced by the frame edge, but that is worthwhile because with the tighter zoom, we are able to see Dustin's eyes, focused on the pitcher, completely clearly. I only sometimes would be willing to trade in a view of a baseball players eyes on his card for a better action shot - it had better be a darn good action shot. Pedroia's eyes, combined with the line of his eye black and the brim of his batting helmet, lead us, also, off the side of the card and out towards the soon-to-be-released baseball. We are ready for the pitch, too.

At first glance, this card shares another similarity with Konerko's - some sort of bonus gear on Pedroia's left elbow. Is he nursing a minor arm injury back to 100%? This makes me turn the card over, hmm, he played in 141 games in 2012, so, perhaps, perhaps not. However the black piece of athletic gear there is not an actual brace intended to support the arm muscles, but rather is simply a pad some batters wear on the elbow that faces the pitcher. Probably a good idea for a batter that has a stance with as much 'lean in' as Pedroia is displaying here.

+Bonus points for the shiny sunshine spot on the top of the batting helmet, and the way blurry fans with the blue shirts contribute to the image behind the helmet. This almost gives Pedroia a halo effect, which seems fitting for such a popular player.

Uniform Hero? Yes. Pedroia claimed #15 in his Rookie season, although he had to wear #64 during a brief call-up the season before, illustrating a bit of how uniform #s work in MLB.

Where’d the egg hatch? Dustin was drafted in the 2nd round by the Red Sox in 2004 and debuted in 2006, though his official Rookie year was 2007 - when he won Rookie of the Year.

How about the migrations? There have been none. In his sophomore campaign in 2008, Pedroia won an AL MVP, neither fact all that surprising given his neighbors on this checklist. Unfortunately, his entire career has been intertwined with cycles of injury with more 'shortened' seasons than 'everyday starter' seasons. 2018 saw his lowest point yet - only 11 At Bats when another injury comeback process did not work out.

Nevertheless he has had an excellent career in MLB with plenty of postseason success to enjoy as well. He is signed through 2021 and will surely see more MLB action in his future as I write, just before 2019 Spring Training.

Don’t flip over real Turtles.

Another this-is-what-you-want-to-see-on-the-back-of-a-baseball-card baseball card back. Topps adds a nice tip o' the glove to the offensive highlights displayed in the stat columns, with the text comment. The only downer is in the G column, which leads one to wonder how many League Leader in Italics there could have been on the card with more full seasons of play, rather than the 4 we do find.

Can the Turtle Catch the Rabbit?

CAREER CHASE: With 560 runs, Pedroia is 1,735 away from Rickey Henderson's all-time record of 2,295.

Here we have a new record to consider, though it is the second from All-Time Great Rickey Henderson. Pedroia has largely batted 2nd in his career, fitting for such an excellent hitter. Early in his career he was productive at stealing bases and has one 20-20 season. Top-of-the-order guys are going to score more Runs; Pedroia has also led-off and batted 3rd a fair bit each, as well.

But as we have seen, injuries tell the tale and to break an All-Time record, good luck with health is very important. In 2018, Pedroia scored one Run, bringing his career total to 921.

Subspecies? As one would expect for such a shining light of MLB, Pedroia appears in both Opening Day and Chrome, though with this same basic image each time. There are no other variations of this card. But since we all like looking at cards more than reading about them, let's take a short break from the Sea Turtles and check out some of his other cards issued in the 2013 Sea Turtle sets - because I really liked each of these:

How's that for a 'Superman' card?

Yes, I like stadiums on my baseball cards. One of Pedroia's 2012 teammates has a very good one later on in the set. And speaking of stadiums -

This is one of the few "Patch" cards I have ever kept for my Permanent, Personal Collection, though it looks like I will have to assemble a 9 card Pedroia Player Collection now too. Before I moved to Michigan and became primarily a Tigers fan, I was a Red Sox fan thanks to a Massachusetts-bred neighbor when I was very young, which combined well with watching the 1975 World Series, including seeing all of Game Six, live. That left a mark.

I have been in awe of Fenway Park ever since and it is one of my life goals to see a game there. Once upon a time I was in Boston, during baseball season, with the Red Sox on a home stand right then, and staying with a friend across the street from Fenway, even - all to see this All-Time Great rock band I love probably more than Baseball. There were even day games going on - I could double dip, I hoped, game in the daytime, rock concert in the night time. Fenway at last! Unfortunately, this was in late September during a Pennant Chase, and there was no get-up-early-and-wait-in-line-for-a-Day-Of-bleacher-ticket as at many MLB stadiums. All the Red Sox tickets had been sold in advance and were quite more expensive than just sticking to the plan of seeing my boys from San Francisco in the Boston Garden. Sigh.

2012 was the 100th Anniversary of Fenway Park and the Red Sox wore the patch replicated on the above card. I also picked up the 2012 Factory Set Special Fenway Edition with a little packet of authentic dirt from Fenway affixed to a card. Maybe when I finally take in a game at Fenway some day, I hope, I won't look at cards showing Fenway stadium quite as wistfully.

Bling That Shell With all the star power on this early portion of the checklist, there are still multiple cards to pick from on this 2nd page that appear in Opening Day. I went with the Pedroia card, once again likely because it is the one I pulled from a pack:

#4 - Yadier Molina

What’s that Turtle doin’? On our first horizontal card, Topps deploys a not uncommon live game baseball card trope, though technically a post-game trope: a Catcher congratulating his battery-mate on a Win.

Except normally, such cards feature relievers at a minimum, and usually show well-known Closers. This card features Cardinals Ace Adam Wainwright, leading one to guess this is a celebration of an ever more rare thing in today's MLB - a Complete Game Victory.

And a quick bit of clicking through Baseball Reference and Getty Images, the source of a great many Topps baseball cards, reveals that this image is from the conclusion of a game on May 22, 2012, when Wainwright threw a 9 Inning, 4 Hit Shut-out at home to beat the San Diego Padres, 4-0. 

Uniform Hero? No question on a card with this low of a #. In his first two seasons, Molina wore #41 before settling in at #4 in 2006. I would say there is a good chance the Cardinals might someday retire this #, as they have not done so since honoring Ozzie Smith at #1, and a future date in Cooperstown is not out of the range of possibilities for 'Yadi'.

Where’d the egg hatch? A 4th round pick for the Cards, Molina debuted in 2004.

How about the migrations? A steady presence in St. Louis ever since, with numerous accolades, MLB Awards, All-Star games, and post-season triumphs, Molina is quite likely to remain a Franchise Player for his entire career. He is currently signed with the Cardinals through the 2020 season.

Don’t flip over real Turtles.

A straight-forward, insightful comment on Molina's impressive gains with the bat as his career matured.

Can the Turtle Catch the Rabbit?

CAREER CHASE: With 1,022 hits, Molina is 3,727 away from the all-time record of 3,234.

Perhaps The Hit King invisibly looms so large over this stat challenge construction, that the worn-out miner deep in the Topps baseball card mines has lost the ability to do basic math here. Though one also has to wonder just who has 4,749 Hits in some combination of baseball Leagues, somewhere, or who it is/was that had 3,234 somethings playing organized baseball.

Of course few would ever expect a Catcher, given the wear&tear and rest days required of the position, to be able to catch an Infielder in any given offensive stat of the counting variety. This example also illustrates the possibilities that could have existed if Topps could have put more miner hours into the creation of this set, and used occasional position-specific stats for this card-back feature.

After the 2018 season, Molina's career Hit total has reached 1,850. This gives him an excellent chance to reach 2,000 Hits - something only 9 other Catchers have done in the history of Major League Baseball, and just one simple reason he may some day give a speech in a small town in upstate New York.

Subspecies? This image is also used in Chrome, and in Opening Day, which we will see shortly. However as seeing more cards is more fun, I thought I would share a Molina card from an insert set I quite enjoyed and collected to completion in 2013, in Opening Day - the "Play Hard" inserts. 

Now, Play @ the Plate cards are always popular of course, but seeing a moment of impact is somewhat rare. Would a Catcher blocking Home with another Catcher coming down the line from 3rd receive any professional courtesy from that Catcher, a year or so after the famous injury to Buster Posey, but before the new Buster Posey Rule? Nah man, Yadier Molina wants to win this game. Brace yourselves.

Bling That Shell This was another easy decision for the All-Parallel Turtles. As I am already going to be using the Emerald Foil parallels included in S1, S2, & Update, it was not much of a leap to also use the Blue Foil /2013 parallels found on the 220 card Opening Day checklist, about 97% of which uses the same image on the front of the card as is used in Series 1 & 2. I somewhat prefer the parallels that do not use the 'Foil' image modification, but the project would be too overly difficult without them.

The only minor nitpick to the idea is the basically superfluous Opening Day logo included on the cards, but I can live with that. I do like the dark blue border on these quite a bit.

Although 8 of the 9 cards on the 1st binder page have equivalents in Opening Day, 3 of them are "Blue Team" cards, which would break a basic color rule I use for constructing the set, as I will explain a bit more after the post for the 9th card. Of the five choices for using an Opening Day Blue on the page, I pulled this card from a pack: