2009 Topps WBC Redemption - Yoennis Cespedes

The 09 World Baseball Classic redemptions are starting to pop up. This is the redemption card Cuban Center Fielder Yoennis Cespedes.

Cesepedes is 24 years old and had a pretty good WBC, with 11 hits in 24 at bats (.458) over six games. Six of his 11 hits went for extra bases including 2 dingers, yielding a gaudy 1.000 slugging percentage.

2009 Topps WBC Redemption #8 Yoennis Cespedes

The cards are similar to 09 Topps Base with a light chrome finish. The WBC Logo is in the lower left corner and with the country the player represented above the players name where the team is listed on a base card. The Cuban flag is placed upon home plate where the team logo is on the 09 Topps card.

The photograph is pretty interesting, it appears that Cespedes broke his bat on the pitch. This on one hand is a pretty cool moment to capture, of course on the other hand this is supposedly a special card of a significant player of some merit and it would nice to see him displayed more favorably. Also this appears to be from one of the games Cuba played versus Japan - which were both losses for Cuba, the second of which eliminated the Cubans.


2009 Topps WBC Redemption #8 Yoennis Cespedes (B-side)
2009 Topps #207 Joe Blanton (B-side)

Click this image to enlarge it, but the cards are basically similar on the back. There is obviously no Signage/Acquisition information on the Cespeedes card. Which also only lists the place of birth for Cespedes and no residense. The Cuban flag is placed on the bases as the Team logo is on the base card. The WBC Logo is at the bottom of the card where the MLB/MLB PA logos are on the Blanton Card.

The Card number is in the upper right - For Cespedes the card number is 8, but my redemption number was 6 - It would have been nice to get Redemption 8 though. There is no trivia tidbit on the WBC card (The Lowest BA against on the Blanton Card). The Stats on the WBC card are from the 09 Classic. This was the first WBC for Cespedes, perhaps the other redemptions have career WBC stats.

The blurb on Cespedes card notes a Home Run he hit off Damion Moss in Cuba's 5-4 Victory over Australia.

For a report on Team Phungo's WBC experience click here. And for a look at some other WBC cards click here.

Some other card blogs featuring WBC redemptions.
The Mojo Hand
Wax Pack Relapse
Saints of the Cheap Seats

The complete list of redemptions is located here.

Phungo Cards - Futures Game

2009 Phungo Black Frame Insert - Futures Game

I am sure most of us cannot afford to go to the All-Star game or the Home Run Derby, but there is one event that is part of All-Star weekend that a baseball fan of lesser means may be able to attend. That event is the Futures Game. I have been to two Futures games, 2006 in Pittsburgh and last year at Yankee Stadium. It is a great opportunity to see several players from the next generation of superstars all in one day.

It has only been three years since that 06 Futures game yet the list of notables that have emerged from that game is already pretty formidable: Gio Gonzalez, Yovani Gallardo, Alex Gordon, Josh Fields, Stephen Drew, Hunter Pence, Troy Tulowitzki, Phil Hughes, Joey Votto, Cameron Maybin, Pablo Sandoval, Yunel Escobar, Ryan Braun and sadly the late Nick Adenhart.

For a Card Bloggers view of the 2009 Futures Game in St Louis click here to find out how the squad over at Autograph Cards made out this past weekend.

Sloppy Topps - 2008 All-Star Game Patch "Relics"

Last year, this was my "Hit" from a Jumbo Hobby Box of 2008 Topps.

2008 Topps Commemorative Patch Relic #CPR-AP Albert Pujols (339/499)

While I admit that it is a fun one to bring out for the All-Star game in a year that Pujols plays the Mid-Summer Classic in his home park, it is in my opinion a really really weak hit.

It is not game worn or event worn, in fact its not anybody anytime worn.

The caption on the back is great:


2008 Topps Commemorative Patch Relic #CPR-AP Albert Pujols (B-side - 339/499)

On top of the commemorative mumbo jumbo they tell me the player featured on the front is Albert Pujols, never mind the fact that the photo on the front is an edit from the one next to the caption itself.

Moving on to tonight's game - The NL has lost this game every year since 1996, when the game was in Philadelphia. I was fortunate enough to go to the game, which may have been the most lackluster in history. There were tons of no-shows including Ken Griffey Jr, The guys that did show included such stars as Roger Pavlik, and Rickey Bottalico was the Phils lone rep.

However the game did have it's moment. Local product Mike Piazza hit an Upper Deck Homer that helped give the NL the victory in a 6-0 shutout.

I would love to see a St Louis local product named Ryan Howard have a similar moment in tonight's All-Star game and get the Senior Circuit back on the winning side of the ledger.

For the Collector
Ok there are not a lot of these 2008 Topps Commemorative Patch Relics in the recently finished sales on ebay but I did find a couple and to be honest they went for a lot more than I expected.

Cole Hamels $7.19
Chase Utley $5.03
Prince Fielder $3.99
Jake Peavy $3.15

and get this

the Ryan Howard CPR went for a whopping $20.25

All the cards above are #d to 499 with the exception of the Fielder card which was 274/379 for some reason. All prices include S&H Charges, which for the Peavy and Fielder cards made up the bulk of the price.

NL East All Stars

Time to get fired up for the All Star game which is a week away in St Louis.

Baseball is a very parochial sport, we tend to know a lot about our own teams and very little about the other teams except for big stars like Albert Pujols. But we do tend to know a thing or two about our favorite teams division. This got me to thinking - what would the NL East All-Stars look like. Most of these I could pick out without even looking at the numbers and I think they are pretty accurate.

NL East All Stars

RHP Josh Johnson - showing what he can do when healthy, He is keeping the Marlins afloat and is the anchor that makes their young pitching staff dangerous.
LHP Johann Santana - despite some inconsistency is likely the Mets first half MVP.
C Brian McCann - Even with botched Bionic Eyes remains a threat and a Philly Killer
1B Ryan Howard - 20 Homers 60 RBIs
2B Chase Utley - Leads Division in OBP (.426)
SS Hanley Ramirez - By far the best SS in the division (.346 BA)
3B David Wright - Despite power drop, Best of the candidates at a strong position.
LF Raul Ibanez - Best FA signing in the division
CF Carlos Betlran - Dinged up but solid numbers
RF Jayson Werth - This one I had to check - but he's the best this year - definitely a lack of production in the position in the division.
CL Francisco Rodriguez - Mets other MVP

P#3 Javier Vazquez - Really Really impressive numbers other than W/L
P#4 Jamie Moyer - no matter what kind of year he is having he has more wins then Bob Gibson. This would more appropriately go to Jair Jurrjens
Set Rafael Soriano - Honorable Mention Ryan Madson - he was having a great year before getting moved into closer role.

LHB Adam Dunn - Bright Spot in DC
RHB Ryan Zimmerman - Brightest Spot in DC
C#2 Carlos Ruiz (HM - Brian Schneider - Kills the Phils but he is injured this year)
Inf Chipper Jones
OF Shane Victorino

MVP - Chase Utley
Cy Young - Johann Santana

NL Least All-Yuk Stars

RHP Daniel Cabrera - this could also go to Joe Blanton or Rickey Nolasco but both have made significant turnarounds recently
LHP Any Phils left handed starter including Cole Hamels or the Mets Oliver Perez
C anybody in DC
1B none Everybody in the East is putting up decent years
2B Kelly Johnson
SS Jimmy Rollins
3B none I cannot dishonor Pedro Feliz here.
LF Daniel Murphy
CF Lastings Milledge and Elijah Dukes (The all overrated spot)
RF Jeff Francouer (although if the Braves would fall out of this thing he'd me a nice bat on the Phils bench)
CL Parade of arms in DC or Brad Lidge

LVP - Jim Bowden - It takes a siginificant amount of effort to put together a team as bad as the Nats.
Cy Yuk - Oliver Perez - could have been Phils Starting Staff but they have been better last couple of weeks.

What do you think? are the NL East All-Stars and Yuk Stars? Are there any other nominees?

Is anyone interested in publishing their own divisions All Stars and Yuk Stars at the break??

Hall of Fame Thursday - Robin Yount

I have a bunch of stuff going on today, so I am mailing this one in a bit, but still wanted to take time to Recognize Robin Yount on the 20th anniversary of his 2500th hit.
1983 O-Pee-Chee #350 Robin Yount


Yount was inducted into the Hall in 1999. He collected 3154 hits during his carreer which was spent entirely with the Milwaukee Brewers. He won 2 MVP awards at two pretty different positions, Shortstop and Centerfield.

Also in honor of Canada Day yesterdsay we have an O-Pee-Chee card up.

Phungo Cards - Shane Victorino

2009 Phungo #30 Shane Victorino

This Saturday is Independence Day and it will also mark the 70th anniversary of the "Luckiest man on the Face of the Earth" speech made by Lou Gehrig on July 4th 1939.

This Saturday the Phi Delta Theta International Fraternity of Oxford Ohio will honor Shane Victorino with the Lou Gehrig Memorial Award. The award is given annually to a player that exemplifies the Giving Character of Lou Gehrig.

There was a time a few years ago I would of thought Victorino would never be more than a footnote in Phillies history. I think now that he may one day become one of the teams leaders. Congratulations to Shane, I am glad to see he has earned this honor.

This Phungo card photo was taken during game one of the 08 NLCS. The Phils beat the Dodgers 3-2 that day, Victorino went 0-4 but did score on a Chase Utley Home Run after reaching on a rare Rafael Furcal error. The Phungo Card has the specific position of CF and I gave Shane a hero number of 30.

It has been 68 years since Lou Gehrig died. There remains no cure for ALS better known as Lou Gehrig's Disease.

Autograph Signing - Dickie Noles

I perused the BadWax autograph event list a few weeks back and found out that Marty Bystrom was signing autographs at a Nursery (botanical), of all places, near me. I had a little bit of free time and decided to check it out. Well......Marty Bystrom couldn't make it but Dickie Noles was good enough to show up in his absence. It turned out that Marty was in a golf tournament that weekend and figured he would only play on Saturday. Well Bystrom played well enough to qualify for the final. Regardless the signing was great. I showed up near the end and there was only one other person there that was really interested in the signing, everybody else was in the employ of Main Line Gardens near as I can tell.

Noles told a couple of stories and made several comparisons between the players of today and his own era both talentwise and money wise. Noles is still employed the Phillies and works for both their minor and major league teams. He also had several anecdotes about Phillies Dream week, which could almost get me to shell out the 4 or 5 grand it takes to go down there.

Noles was good enough to pose for some pictures and sign a couple of items I brought as well as a postcard provided by the venue. I am not sure but it appeared that Main Line Gardens may be somehow connected to the now defunct BC Collectibles. There were a couple of small display cases of autograph items and they appeared to be labeled the same way that one may see them in a BC Collectibles store.

Dickie Noles with World Series Ring (click to enlarge - and see Marty Bystrom ad in back)

This is a picture of Dickie posing and displaying his World Series Ring. As he said he has done this before and he has the pose down.

Main Line Gardens was hosting the signing as part of a Father's Day promotion, I hope they have additional signings. Thanks to them, Dickie Noles, and thanks to Bad Wax for publishing the listing.