#65 - J.P. Howell

What’s that Turtle doin’? Oh, probably making the best Turtle Face we've seen in the set so far. Now that I've seen it, I will be mentally comparing every instance of 'Pitcher Face' in the set to Mitch McConnell perhaps. Don't worry, I won't drag you into those. Too much.

This card has things I like, and things I don't like.

I don't like that it looks better blown-up an extra 50% after scanning. But that is a little informative about baseball cards, too, I suspect, in that the Topps composition team probably (?) looks at the card at a size bigger than 2.5x3.5 on their computer screens before clicking "save" or whatever.  

Then I like that Howell's half-shaded face looks kinda more intense on the blow-up version. But on the card, in hand, I don't like excessively shaded faces.

I do like the card being yet another study in Pitcher mechanics. J.P. has some rotational force development goin' on here, but the total sum of the forces about to be released (as per Trevor Bauer), don't seem to be as a high a total as the ones rotationally developed by Tim Lincecum. But then Howell did pitch for 2 more seasons than Lincecum as it all turned out.

Another thing I like is another appearance of what I call 'That Necklace,' which was all the rage for MLB players in the early 10s. By 2012 when the Sea Turtles had their pictures taken, a full set of these necklaces had been manufactured in every team color scheme. I keep cards showing this necklace as a random little side collection; someday I will un-ravel the mystery of 'That Necklace' in a big long blog post on Base Set Calling.

But another thing I don't like is that the necklace can really only be confirmed as 'That' (and a perfect team color style of 'That') by looking at the blown-up scan again.

I really like the upside-down Swoosh on the glove. Sums up my feelings nicely.

Uniform Hero? As I steadily learned all of the J.P. Howell gestalt with this baseball card, I began to suspect that an appearance of a 3rd Rays pitcher in as many binder pages (and the ever random inclusion of a Middle Reliever on the Topps Baseball checklist) must herald another card # / uni # match. But, 'twas not to be, although Topps did have another option — note the singular, there. 

Really, uniform #s in the 60s are generally uniform #s more commonly seen in Spring Training than in real MLB action.

Where’d the egg hatch? The Atlanta Braves drafted James Phillip out of High School in 2001, using a 2nd round pick. When Howell elected to go to USC rather than sign, I have to wonder who got the blame in the Atlanta front office that year.

The Kansas City Royals then drafted Howell in the 1st round in 2004 but as another of those selections - 31st - that I don't fully understand as still counting as the "1st" round. Someday I'll learn how Major League Baseball really works.

How about the migrations? After all that heavy draft interest, Howell's debut in the 2005 season in KC did not go well. While still in the minors in June, 2006, the Royals traded him to the Rays for an outfielder named Joey Gathright, who never became a regular in KC. Tampa obtained about 6x more WAR from Howell over the next several seasons.

But early in the year of the Sea Turtle (January 7), Howell signed with the Dodgers. With just 3 weeks to go before Series One released, this card may even have already been printed by that point, so seeing him still with the Rays is fairly more understandable than the cards created for players released the day after the World Series.

Don’t flip over real Turtles.

A textbook example really; when you flipped this card over fresh from a pack of 2013 Topps Baseball, you pretty much were brought instantly up to speed on J.P. Howell's career arc so far.

Can the Turtle Catch the Rabbit?

CAREER CHASE: With 267 games pitched, Howell is 985 away from Jesse Orosco's all-time record of 1,252.

This record intrigues me more each time I flip over a Middle Reliever Sea Turtle card now. Can one of the Sea Turtles catch Jesse Orosco? Given the career fluctuations of relievers in the 'Data Age' of Baseball, that seems doubtful. But it still seems more plausible than the Cy Young and Nolan Ryan comps on this portion of each card.

Howell would pitch for LA for 4 complete, > 60 appearance seasons, and would add 17 more Games with Toronto in 2017.

J.P. Howell finished his career with 547 Games pitched.

Subspecies? I have to wonder if any non-Closer relievers will get any bonus Sea Turtle cards. There are no variants of this one though.

Bling That Shell This card is on my small 'upgrade' list for now. There is a small chance I could stumble across an easy-to-acquire Factory Set Orange version, but that chance is pretty low actually. And, I might not pull the trigger on the idea anyway.

I do like how the Purple frame reveals that the "TB" logo is actually framed itself, in white, something that can't really be seen on the regular white framed version of the card.

#58 - Jeremy Hellickson

What’s that Turtle doin’? Perhaps, purring a little, just as the baseball was released? I mean, when the cats in my house have the tip of their tongue sticking out like that, they are always purring simultaneously. Surely one of the more odd 'Pitcher Face' cards you ever will see.

The live baseball playing motion is captured by the line of Hellickson's right leg flowing up to the billowing uniform and along the Rays logo but then the overall momentum of the pitching motion is even whip-sawing Hellickson's glove a fair bit. That is probably the most dramatic element in the photo, but somewhat brings your eye to a halt there, rather than at the frame sliced baseball at the top of the card. But a good reminder of just how rapid and forceful a Picher's delivery motion really is.

Otherwise, this is most definitely a Tampa Bay home game, which, on-card, always seem like neither a day game, or a night game. Just, an indoor game. For that reason, many baseball cards produced for Rays players just never interest me all that much, and to be honest, neither does this one. Maybe Topps will throw me a lifeline somewhere on the flip side.

Uniform Hero? Hellickson did wear #58 for his entire career.

Where’d the egg hatch? He was drafted by the Rays in the 4th round of the 2005, after his high school graduation.

How about the migrations? Naturally his MLB debut would not then occur until a good amount of minor league seasons; he would first appear in Tampa in the 2010 season for 3 starts and a few summons from the bullpen. In 2011, however, Hellickson would join the Rays' rotation and go on to win the AL Rookie of the Year award and this checklist position. Things were beginning to look very promising for a Tampa Bay club with a solid, high quality, young rotation.

Don’t flip over real Turtles.

Must be break time at the Topps Baseball card mine.

Can the Turtle Catch the Rabbit?

CAREER CHASE: With 27 wins, Hellickson is 484 away from Cy Young's all-time record of 511.

Ultimately, Jeremy Hellickson only appeared out of a bullpen 8 times in his career; Wins thus becomes the go-to stat comparison here. 

Hellickson's post ROY seasons included more successful ones in Tampa, then a series of ups and downs, stat wise, in Arizona, Philly, and then Baltimore. He reached Baltimore at the trade deadline in 2017 from Philly - quite a strange trade for Baltimore to be essentially trading _for_ a veteran starter like Hellickson in the middle of a season. Things must have been, perhaps all too usually, tough in B'more that summer. Jeremy's final 2 seasons with Washington in 2018-19 included the same mix of more success on the mound than not, but also more time with shoulder problems than without.


I am actually composing this one on February 15, 2020, several days before my devoted readers will follow along with me here. 2-15-20, it turns out, was the day Hellickson officially announced his retirement on news that his shoulder would require yet more surgery and another long rehab process in order to try pitching again.

Jeremy Hellickson finished his career with 76 Wins.

Subspecies? Sooo much promise in that early 10s rotation in Tampa; this card would also appear in Opening Day and Chrome, though without any variations.

Bling That Shell Another Tampa Bay card, another easy chance to acquire a parallel with a low print run, fairly cheap. I went with the tasty Pink here:

#53 - Alex Cobb

What’s that Turtle doin’? I think this Pitcher is smiling at the batter, too. He must be particularly pleased that his Catcher just asked for a 4 Seamer. Good thing I am standing in the on-deck circle still and I am not on the receiving end of this pitch. Cobb seems to be thinking it will be a wipe-out pitch.

I do like the authenticity of modern Topps Baseball cards in that I get to see what each player looks like while they are truly playing the game on a large majority (though not 100%) of the cards. 

That is accomplished by showing a player's face clearly. I like how on this card, that is done without the shade from the bill of the cap overly obscuring Cobb's face, which is something I have started to see a few issues with on some recent sets where it semi-routinely feels like Topps ran the original high quality image through some sort of digital filter for some reason. I have never had that impression from one of the 2013 'Sea Turtle' cards.

But aside from all that thinking about today while looking at the past, there isn't a whole lot to remark upon, on this particular baseball card. 

Uniform Hero? Sure enough; note the beginning of the card back text you will see below.

Where’d the egg hatch? Cobb was drafted by the Rays in the 4th round in 2006, after High School, rather than College ball.

How about the migrations? As a routine result of that, he did not reach the majors until 2011. But he quickly showed a lot of promise as the Topps card back writer picks up on...

Don’t flip over real Turtles.

Perhaps one of the better card back writing assignments is to cover a young player who's career arc is still ascending, which makes sense right here in this performance driven checklist structure.

Can the Turtle Catch the Rabbit?

CAREER CHASE: With 14 wins, Cobb is 497 away from Cy Young's all-time record of 511.

As it turns out, Alex Cobb has started all 146 Major League games he has appeared in so far, so this is the natural comparison to pick. This card came out at the start of his best 2 years in the MLB, posting an ERA < 3 in the AL in both of them, always a notable achievement for a starter. After the 2014 season however, the story of his career has been injury. 2015 was lost to rehab from Tommy John surgery. For 2018 he signed a 4 year deal in Baltimore where miscellaneous other injuries have continued to steal away his possible starts and the results; he is signed through 2021 and will continue to eat innings through a very tough and drawn out rebuild process in Baltimore.

After the 2019 season, Alex Cobb has 53 Wins.

Subspecies? As is basically routine for the better players occupying the better part of this checklist, this card also appears in Opening Day, probably based on the bright future Cobb held in early 2013 in Tampa Bay. However the card does not appear in Chrome, probably because that future, and Tampa Bay cards for most collectors, weren't so exciting as a new Rookie Card card, a key part of the 'collectability' of the Topps Chrome release. There are no other variants of this one.

Bling That Shell Well now this is a little exciting. On the very day that I sat down to write about this card, a Pink /50 copy finally appeared on eBay. I instantly bid as the shipping is cheap and I kind of almost want a complete set of the 'blue' teams on the pink cards. So although I already have a Pink card for this binder page (the Ryan Cook card), the blue team cards are the most challenging to place in this project as a blue Sea Turtle graphic disappears all too easily on a number of the parallels, and I could re-arrange the turtle shells if needed here.

I would kind of prefer to luck into finding a Factory Set Orange /230 copy of this card, but most of those are locked up in Factory Sets in people's closets, so I am not super optimistic of that ever happening. How this page, and this particular parallel, turns out in the project, remains to be seen...