2014 Topps Rookie Cup All-Star Team

This is an index to postings related to the 2014 Topps All-Star Rookie Team which honored rookies from the 2013 season. 

2014 Topps #157 Matt Adams

40	HYUN-JIN RYU	Dodgers	LHP
110	WIL MYERS	Rays	OF
157	MATT ADAMS	Cardinals	1B
181	JIM HENDERSON	Brewers	RP
275	NOLAN ARENADO	Rockies	3B
331	YASIEL PUIG	Dodgers	OF
358	CHRISTIAN YELICH	Brewers	OF
449	JEDD GYORKO	Padres	2B
464	EVAN GATTIS	Braves	C
653	JOSE IGLESIAS	Tigers	SS
660	JOSE FERNANDEZ	Marlins	RHP

Sources and Links
All-Star Rookie Index
Baseball-Ref
Topps.com

Name the Game: 2014 Chrome #174 Chase Utley

If you want to Name the Game DON'T SCROLL BEYOND THE CARD!

Otherwise stay with us and I will discuss this card below.

2014 Topps #174 Chase Utley (Black Parallel #61/100)

The Photo features Phungo favorite Chase Utley, it appears he is recording a putout on the front end of a possible double play with Cleveland Indians catcher Carlos Santana sliding into second base.

Chase is wearing the Phillies alternative cream jerseys which are reserved for day games. Those two facts point pretty quickly to a single game, a sad 10-4 loss on the 15th of May in 2013. If we look a little deeper we find the only time Santana reached base was in the 7th inning.  He was erased a pitch later on a 6-4-3 double play induced by Phillies pitcher Phillippe Aumont versus the Indian Ryan Raburn

Getty Got It
Once we established the date as a cross check we scanned the Getty Archive and found the image. Hovering the cursor over the photo yield the date and location information which confirms the 2013 05 15 date mentioned above. It also credits Hunter Martin as the Photographer.

Phungo Games

Ticket 2015 05 15 Indians @ Phillies

One of the reasons this card caught my eye is that it is from a Phungo Game - A game attended by Team Phungo. For our dismal game report on that disaster click here. 

Flip

2014 Topps #174 Chase Utley (b-side Black Parallel #61/100)

This is a parallel from the 2014 Chrome set. The black border refractor is a nice look for Phillies Cards - Nice contrast with the Red and having an Indians uni in the frame doesn't hurt. These parallels have a limited print run of 100 copies which can be seen in the top right corner.

To see the vanilla Utley Chrome card you can click here to see our blaster break from 2014.

Variations
In addition to all the parallels the Image also shows up on the mini variation of the 2014 Gypsy Queen Chase Utley card. An example can be seen in the Cardboard Connection Variation Guide - scroll down to card #255.
 
Sources and Links
Phungo Games Index
Chase Utley Player Collection
Baseball-ref
Getty Images
Hunter Martin Photography
Cardboard Connection 

Updates
2016 0121: Game Ticket Added

AL Wild Card Game: 2014 Topps Chrome Update Masahiro Tanaka

The MLB postseason commences tonight with the New York Yankees hosting the Houston Astros in the AL Wild Card playoff

2014 Topps Chrome Update #MB-43 (Gold #d 035/250)

The Yankees will send out Masahiro Tanaka to face the young Houston squad. The Japanese import has had a decent season but is trending downward after a standout 2014. His ERA is up from 2.77 to 3.51, with strikeouts down and  walks and Home Runs up. The ERA+ of 114 is well down from last years 140 however his 3.1 WAR in 2015 is comparable to his 3.3 debut.

fllip

The card notes Masahiro Tanaka's Debut when he started a 7-3 victory over the Blue Jays. Highlights from Tanaka's 7 inning 6 Hit No Walk start included striking out Blue Jays slugger Jose Bautista twice and inducing Adam Lind to ground into a double play in the sixth inning.

If the Yankees are to advance to the World Series Tanaka will likely will have to face the potent Blue Jays lineup once again. 

2014 Topps Chrome Update
Chrome Update is a bit of an odd release that was packed only in "Mega-Boxes" paired with Topps Update - thus the MB- prefix for the card number. This pack pulled Tanaka card is probably one of my luckier strikes in the past year. It is serial #d and I imagine if the Yankees go deep in the playoffs it could get some collectors excited.

Note the card has the RC shield but is not considered a Rookie Card. Tanaka was definitely included in the standard issue of 2014T Chrome and likely other releases as well. 

Sources and Links
2015 Playoff Contenders
baseball-ref

Cardboard Connection

WAR Stories: Phillies 2015+ Jerome Williams

The Phillies picked up Jerome Williams in early August of 2014 and he well. Over the course of nine starts with the club the Right Hander went 4-2 with a 2.83 ERA. 

2015 Topps #236 Jerome Williams

During his brief stint with the Phillies Williams peripheral numbers were better than career averages, in most categories including  WHIP, H/9, K/9, BB/9 K/BB, ERA+ and FIP.

Maybe Jerome WIlliams has found something, however I would think his 9 start bump with the 2014 Phillies is an anomaly. His 132 ERA+ with the Phils far exceeds any number he has ever put up. Outside of his rookie campaign in 2003 (128 ERA+) Williams has never done better than 104 ERA+.

It is also worth noting that Williams is now 33 years old and last year was not good enough to stick with not one but two teams that lost more games then the Phillies (Astros and Rangers).

Additionally Williams has struggled in two spring starts.

The Verdict
I am projecting a regression to mean for Jerome Williams. Last year he posted 1.5 WAR for the Phillies but negative numbers for each of his Texas based teams. At his age he is a replacement palyer at best. 0 WAR. 

2014 Topps Card
I like this card with a nice photo which prominently features Jerome Williams signature pink glove.  Williams wears the distinct glove to honor the memory of his mother who died of Breast Cancer.

Sources and Links
Phillies 2015 WAR Projections
Baseball-Ref
ESPN LA

WAR stories 2015 Phillies Projections: David Buchanan

When I first started doing the Phillies 2015 WAR projections I had David Buchanan #6 on the Starting Pitcher depth chart and possibly headed to AAA. Well the Injury to Cliff Lee, the questionable status of Aaron Harang, and Buchanan's decent spring  has changed this.

I now see Buchanan as almost a definite for the Opening Day Roster.

2014 Topps #US-281 David Buchanan

2014T Update is a nice card to have of Buchanan, good photo with the MLB Rookie Card flair.

2015
Buchanan made his major league debut on Memorial Day Weekend of last year versus the Dodgers. He pitched 5 innings and picked up the W. For the season he 6-8 and with a 3.75 ERA. He had a decent season for a rookie, putting up numbers typical of your average major league pitcher. His 99 ERA+ number is the most average of these numbers.

Buchanan pitched to contact and I think the loss of a steady shortstop may hurt him. I am projecting a slight dropoff from his 2014 campaign when Buchanan posted a 1.4 WAR and going with 1.0 Even for this season.


Sources and Links
2015+ Phillies WAR Projections
baseball-ref

2014 Topps #US-280 Cole Gillespie: Error Card?

Anybody run into this in this years Topps Update?

2014 Topps #US-280 Cole Gillespie

 Perfectly fine card of journeyman outfielder Cole Gillespie with a Seattle Mariners jersey and logo on the card. but then flip the card over:

 

2014 Topps #US-280 Cole Gillespie  (b-side)

Also a fine 2nd side to the card. but check out the top left corner. It lists Gillespie with the Toronto Blue Jays. This is actually correct - Gillespie did finish the season with the Blue Jays after being waived by the Mariners as is mentioned on the cards b-sidel.

Is this basically an Uncorrected Error. Gillespie isn't a prominent player, so can't imagine a corrected version with his photo as a Blue Jay on the front being released

Or has anyone found other cards in 2014 Topps that have the traded to team on one side with the former club repped on the front?


This card reminds me of the 60s variations that would be the same card but some of them would have a Waiver or Trade statement if the player got moved during the off-season.



Sources/Links
Baseball-ref

Bucket or Chuck-it: 2014 Topps Chrome Blaster Break

I picked up a blaster of 2014T Chrome a couple of weeks ago, immediate remorse. $20 for 32 cards that I have basically already seen.

Highlights

2014 Tops Chrome #174 Chase Utley


I got one Phillies card which is the average in a 30 card break and it was a good one, so I can't complain. Bummed to see Chase occupying a lowly common number here but other than that very happy to pick up this card.

I didn't have this card from flagship so I hadn't really taken a close look at it prior - I am going to dedicate an entire posting to this card at some point in the future, but For now I will just reiterate that I am really glad it is now in the Phungo Collection.

 2014 Topps Chrome #10 Masahiro Tanaka (rc)

My first 2014 Tanaka card. An obvious +1 for this blaster, nice to get one of the key 2014 rookies.  I also have it on the Phungo agenda to discuss Mr Tanaka's cards in a future post. Who knows if we will get to it.


*Fractors

2014 Topps Chrome #3 Enny Romero (rc -Refractor)

2014 Topps Chrome #67 Wilmer Flores (rc - refractor)
2014 Topps Chrome #122 Shin-Soo Choo (refractor)

Presenting Mr Flores with his base card and power play parallel. Shin-Soo Choo was in 2014 Topps earlier this year as a member of his former team.  

Refractor b-Sides

The Refractors specify "Refractor" in the bottom right corner (above the Topps Logo). I think they have only done this the last couple of years, but they don't bother distinguishing between the vanilla refractors, rainbows, or x-fractors - Romero is an x-fractor while the other two are the commons.
 
Purple

2014 Topps Chrome #166 Hunter Pence (refractor purple)
2014 Topps Chrome #53 Chase Headley (refractor purple)  
2014 Topps Chrome #62 Zach Walters (rc-refractor purple)  
2014 Topps Chrome #123 Jose Bautista (refractor purple)

Blasters include 4-pack of parallels. Pence and a Rookie Card, highlight the "bonus" pack.

2014 Topps Chrome Connections #CC-RC Robinson Cano

Here we have whatever these are - these puzzle piece cards seem more suited for opening day. I can see a lot of dealers wanting to figure out ways to put these cards together.

Flip

2014 Topps Chrome Connections #CC-RC Robinson Cano (b-side)


The Chrome Connections card runs off and makes a comparison to Junior. For those of you who are interested Ken Griffey Jr WAR through age 31 season was 78.0. Robinson Cano 51.5

Rookies

 

2014 Topps Chrome #91 Christian Bethancourt (rc)

2014 Topps Chrome #127 Tanner Roark (rc)

2014 Topps Chrome #107 Hyn-Jin Ryu (rookie cup)

2014 Topps Chrome #191 CJ Cron (rc)

As usual Chromes late season release date allows for a good mix of rookies. The Ryu isn't a RC but I included it here for the Rookie Cup. 

Bucket or Chuck-It

After opening a blaster of Topps Chrome, I was reminded why I am a flagship collector. $20 for 32 cards is just out of my league - For me Chrome is a Chuck-It, A Blaster is more than I really am interested in, one of those 3 packs with a "Bonus" pack of parallels is probably more my speed.

There is an argument for chrome, the cards are nice and sturdy. the shiny works over the white borders. The checker for Chrome may also be better. Chrome gleans the top talent and rookies which are probably the most interesting subjects from the collects S1 and S2 sets


Sources & Links
Chase Utley Player Collection Index
Cardboard Connection
baseball-ref

How expensive is 2014 Topps?

Tonight we take a look our second look at the price of Baseball Cards, specifically Topps Cards.  We will take a look at the price of 2014 Topps versus some different Topps sets that have been produced over the lasr 40+ years.

2014 Topps #4 Cody Asche

Key
Column B is the Price of a Pack in the referenced year.
Column C is the number of cards in that pack.
Column D is what a 12 card pack would cost (Everything is relative to 2012 Topps Cards)
In Column E I produce the cost for a 660 card set build from 12 card packs under perfect collation.  I used 660 cards as a constant because it was the basic set size in 2012.

Column F in red is the Inflation factor. This is the Key to the chart.  2012=$1. That dollar is worth 97 cents today, but in 1972 a single dollar  had the buying power equivalent to $5.49 in 2012 dollars. 

Column H is the price of a 12 card pack with the inflation adjustument (product of columns D*F)
Column I is similar to H but for the 660 card set.

Observations
-To build a 660 card 2014 base set via Topps $1.99 12 card retail packs would cost 106.17.
-While building a 660 card set would cost one about 3 times as much as it did in 1972, the price of building a set really hasn't changed since 1995.
-I understand there are inserts and possible collation issues. I say trade people trade your inserts for base cards.
-The cost of 660 cards is slightly cheaper each of the last 2 years because Topps has maintained the  pack size and price point while inflation has been slight.
-Cards are cheaper then a decade ago by over 30%!
-This is because Topps went from a 10 card pack to 12 card packs AND reduced the price
-Despite Topps obtaining a monopoly on the MLB license  prices have dropped 16% since 2008. This is a difference of over $20 when building a 660 card set.


Sources & Links
2013 Topps Cost Analysis
Pack Prices 1997- present Baseballcardpedia
Pack Prices 1979-1995 - ebay (shown on retail boxes)
Pack Price 1972 my memory - Could be wrong on this one.

Bureau of Labor Inflation Calculator (For this article the inflation rates were captured on 2014 10 08 The data is approximately 6 weeks behind, the rates here would reflect data through end of August 2014 for a more in depth description click here)

2014 MLB Playoffs Cardinals Matt Adams 2014 Topps #157 (Rookie Cup)

Even on teams that annoy me, I have favorite players. Cardinals First Baseman Matt Adams falls into that category.

Matt Adams 2014 Topps #157 (Rookie Cup)

Last night via twitter Crashburn Alley author Corinne Landry (@ut26) used the term "Goosebumps" when describing Matt Adams Home Run off of Clayton Kershaw.

It is an apt description. 

There are several things I like about Matt Adams; He hails from an area near where Mrs Phungo came from, He went to a D2 PSAC (Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference) school like myself, He is big as a house, and goes by the nickname Big City. What's not to like?

If you play your college ball for Slippery Rock in Western PA, it is going to be hard to get noticed, and Matt Adams barely did. The Cardinals took Adams in the 23rd round of the 2009 Draft - The 699th overall pick int the draft. Adams arrived in the majors 3 years later.

Through the end of 2014 Adams has a 3.2 WAR this would rank him 11th among first round picks from the June 2009 Draft. It is obviously to early to get a feel for the relevance of that class (Mike Trout tops it at 28.2 WAR), but that is good company for a 23rd rounder.

Phillies 2009 Draft
The Phillies Did not have a pick in the 09 Draft, their highest selection was Kelly Dugan (2nd Round, 75th overall). Dugan has shown signs of life in 2014 playing up a level for AA Reading - He hit .296/.383/.435 as a corner outfielder, but only played 76 games.

To the point the Phils biggest "success" out of their 2009 crop is Darin Ruf (20th rd /216 overall) who bears some similarities to Adams - College Firstbaseman with Some Pop. Ruf has had some moments but for various reasons hasn't stuck at the major league level.

Rookie Cup
Didn't want to get out of here without mentioning the Rookie Cup. I try and place something beyond a base card when working with current cards outside the Phillies. Topps has gotten away from subsets, so I definitely consder Rookie Cup a subset and this makes the above Matt Adams card beyond base for me. I enjoy looking back at past Rookie Cup selcetions and am glad that Adams made the cut for 2014 Topps.

Cards from the Quarry has been on hiatus since July, but they have some really great Rookie Cup Coverage.

2013 Playoff Cards
We liked Adams so much we featured his 2010 Bowman Prospects card in our 2013 Playoff Cards series last year.

Sources & Links
2014 Playoff Cards
Baseball-ref
Cards from the Quarry

2014 Topps #498 Steve Susdorf

Things have been crazy busy here at Phungo HQ, some good Vacations & travel, some uhh more menial obligations and work ugh.

Somewhere in the last couple of weeks we were able to pick up some 2014 Topps Series 2 cards.

2014 Topps #498 Steve Susdorf

I picked up a hanger box and a single pack. Time permitting we will present some of them here - no major hits, but some fun ones and a couple of Phillies were in the lot.

Steve Susdorf is my odd selection for the first Phils cards from S2 to present here. Susdorf has been in the Phillies system forever. A collegiate player drafted in 2008 he finally made his major league debut last year at the age of 27. He only got into 3 games and unfortunately for him, in his only major league start he dropped and easy fly ball. I am not sure if Susdorf's fielding is that bad,  but if it isn't I hope that single error doesn't prohibit his major league return.

The Phillies season is looking like a loss and they will likely be sellers a month from now. That may open a spot for Susdorf to get onto the team for the last couple of months of the season. While he doesn't really have corner outfielder power, he is career .300 batter in the minors with a respectable .283 average at AAA in 2014.

Despite not being a really notable player, I do like this card. I like the Susdorf is shown in the Phillies road uni. He only played in three games and all 3 of those games were on the road.  Also Now that the RC logo has been around a while, it is kind of nice to see on these cards of players with limited debuts. This may just be hathead but the RC logo is an interesting counterpoint to what appears to be a bit of a receding hairline for the not so young Mr Susdorf.  Regardless the man is in a Major League game and he is smiling.

Ok, that is probably as much as anyone will ever write about a Steve Susdorf baseball card.

Sources 
Baseball-ref

   

Angel Stadium Anaheim CA

Supplementing the game pix from our previous post with a few photos showing off the Angels Ballpark. 

The entrance to Angels Stadium has a brick field that greets fans, you may notice that some of the bricks appear to be a bit different

That is because they are engraved. Each Angels All-Star gets a brick. Here we have the catcher section which shows us a nice string of Bob Boone bricks from the middle 80s. Red Lion PA Butch Wynegar is seen here bookending the Boone string in 1987. 

Topps 

Collin Cowgill

The Angels use the template from 2014 Topps to introduce the players. 

Collin Cowgill 2 

The template displays the player via video, as we see here - this is a different image then the previous Cowgill pix. Also the name of the player is not displayed initially, but rather added during the intro - notice in the first pix, there is no name, while in the latter photo we have Cowgill's first name Collin. 

More Cards

This wasn't at Angel Stadium, but I thought I would tuck it in here. I spotted these framed Donruss puzzles at a Retro/Vintage store near Berverly Hills. The shop called tini (This Is Not Ikea) was sort of a Kitsch flea market that had a lot of pop culture and movie related items.  

The Big A outside Angel Stadium can be seen from area highways.

Game Tix.

Sources

Baseball-ref

Swag from Night Owl Cards - 2014 Topps #296 Domonic Brown

Team Phungo took a mini staycation during the early part of this week, unfortunately we had to return to the real world and all of it's concerns yesterday. The stress of the first workaday under the early AM of DST was mitigated a bit by fun card package from Greg over at Night Owl Cards that I received upon arriving home.

2014 Topps Red #296 Domonic Brown

Dom Brown is the Phillies only young star. Ok, "star" may be a bit generous. Browns first couple of season have been mixed. There was a couple of weeks early in 2013 when Dom hit the cover off the ball, Phils fans like myself are hopeful that this is a glimpse into who Domonic Brown will be in the future.

2014

Brown is having a lousy spring. He his hitting .107 through his first 28 ABs, before hitting a triple on Wednesday he was yet to collect and extra base hit. I am hoping for much bigger things from Domonic in the regular season. His 27 dingers in 2013 led the team, although the bulk of those came during the aforementioned 12 home run outburst in May. If Brown can come up with similar power and reach base a tad more that would make me happy. Dom can also be a bit comical in the field this shows up in his dWAR number which is a negative, Brown is young enough that hopefully he can turn this around as well.

 More Swag

2013 Topps Opening Day #M-2 Phillie Phanatic
2013 Allen & Ginter's mini #247 Ryan Howard

Another Phils player that the Phanatic has high hopes for is Ryan Howard, who we talked about last week in our Phillies 2014+ feature. Here we have a nice 2013 A&G mini of Mr Howard. For whatever reason there seems to be a lot of cards of Howard in the field, which is a bit of a mystery as he is often a liability with the glove.

2002 Donruss Originals #233 Rated Rookie Anderson Machado

Nice retro card from somebody other than Topps here. Machado never held on at the major league level. He has been kicking around the minors and according to Baseball-ref was last spotted in the Italian League.

1992 Sargento Mootown Snackers #16 Terry Mulholland

Definitely one for the Phungo type collection here. Never saw any cards from this issue. Also one of my player collections is dedicated Mulholland, at some point I will get organized enough to post some checkers for those palyers.

Even More Swag

A nice mix of Inseerts, Oddballs, Stars, and Rememember Me cards. Thanks to NOC for all the Phils cards and the nice variety.

Phillies 2014+ Ryan Howard 2014 Topps Target Red #105 - NOT a sparkle SP

With our 1964 Phillies and Topps Heritage features we have been looking at baseball past a lot recently. Today we are going to turn the page a bit, the Phillies have returned to Clearwater and are playing real live spring training games. It is time for us to start taking a look at Phillies present and future. Which means it is new Feature Time: Phillies 2014+. Notice I added a '+' at the end of the feature title - we will be looking at both this season and the Phillies down the road. We leadoff by looking at the Phillies highest paid position player Ryan Howard

2014 Topps Target Red  #105 Ryan Howard

Ryan Howard isn’t a great Baseball Player. There it is, it is tough to admit, but it is true. He is a good baseball player and perhaps can even be very good. Despite the Rookie of the Year award (deserved) and MVP (not deserved) his numbers do not really warrant All-Star consideration. He has only one season where he was top 10 in Offensive WAR, 6.1 good enough for fourth place in 2006. That is eight years ago. In 2014 Howard is coming off of 2 injury shortened season in which he produced decent power numbers when available but little else. I think expecting the 40+ HR years that Howard put up from 2007-09 is far too optimistic. Hell his 30 HR years of 2010-11 is pretty optimistic.

Baseball-ref SimScores

I am fascinated with similarity scores. Bill James develop the concept which Baseball-ref/Sean Foreman have modified and placed into an easily analyzable form. Ryan Howard doesn't have a close comp, but he does have some interesting names in his top 10 comps. They range from Hall of Famer Willie Stargell down to Howard's closest comp, Richie Sexson. For Phillies fans Sexson is a particularly depressing comp, he never played a day of baseball beyond age 33 - Ryan Howard turned 34 during the offseason. The other comps include Mark McGwire, Cecil Fielder, Frank Howard, and oddly David Justice.

At 34+ Stargell had the best remaining career WAR (+17.4) followed closely by McGwire(+17.2). The average of the 10 players was +7.2. Another aspect of the SimScores in Baseball-ref is career stat projections. For Ryan Howard (currently at 311 Homers) projects for 395 career Home Runs. There it is kids - enjoying them while they last. Ryan Howard has 84 home runs left in him. This is down from his career peak (2011) when his expected HR total topped out at 425.

I project Ryan Howard to have a healthy 2014 season, but to be closer to his 2011 numbers than his MVP numbers - Phungo sez 28 HR, 100 RBI and .267 Avg/ .342 OBP 1.0 WAR


2014 Topps Target Red - NOT A SPARKLE
 

Just wanted to note that for me the last two season of Topps Target Red cards have been a bit rich in color for my taste. I like getting my retail at Target because red is the Phillies color but the is just a touch dark for me.

Not A Sparkle 
And this card is not a Sparkle Variation. Stupid Topps Gimmick. 

2014 Topps Review
Phillies Checker (Carlos Ruiz)
First Pack  (Matt Davidson) 
Blue Blaster (Jimmy Rollins)

Sources
Baseball-ref.com
Cardboard Connection

2014 First Phillies Card: Topps #182 Carlos Ruiz - and Phillies Series 1 Checklist

The first Phillies card of the year is this fine one of Carlos Ruiz

2014 Topps #182 Carlos Ruiz

Catcher make for great photography and this is a fine example. Ruiz is shown here in action firing the ball down to second base, although In action may be a stretch. For some reason this appears to be a between innings warm up toss down to second.

2014 Topps Phillies Checker
4 Cody Asche
74 John Mayberry
90 Ethan Martin
105 Ryan Howard
122 Jonathan Papelbon
180 Ben Revere
182 Carlos Ruiz
196 Cole Hamels
296 Domonic Brown
312 Jimmy Rollins

After missing out on the playoffs in consecutive seasons the Phillies can no longer be considered a perennial contender, so coming up with 11 cards in series 1 is about right.

2014 Topps has it's share of inserts and the Phillies represent a bit. One of the insert sets I was happy to see pop was the return of Super Veterans, which was a subset in 1983 Topps. The 2014 Topps version has only 15 cards in S1 but the Phillies manage to get 2 reps, Roy Halladay and Jimmy Rollins.  The checker for various 2014 Phillies Inserts listed below.

Phillies Inserts
Super Veterans (15 card checker)
SV-8 Jimmy Rollins
SV-14 Roy Halladay

Silk (100 card checker)
SC-20 Domonic Brown Philadelphia Phillies®
SC-21 Cole Hamels Philadelphia Phillies®
SC-22 Carlos Ruiz Philadelphia Phillies®
SC-23 Jimmy Rollins Philadelphia Phillies®
SC-24 Ben Revere Philadelphia Phillies®
SC-25 Ryan Howard Philadelphia Phillies®

Upper Class (50)
UC-26 Ryan Howard

Before they were Great (30)
BG-20 Mike Schmidt
BG-21 Steve Carlton

Topps Mini Die Cuts (50 subjects)
TM-16 Mike Schmidt

Power Player (110)
PP-2 Cole Hamels
PP-10 Ben Revere
PP-54 Ryan Howard
PP-65 Ethan Martin
PP-105 Carlos Ruiz

BEFORE THEY WERE GREAT AUTO (14)
BGA-MS Mike Schmidt

BEFORE THEY WERE GREAT AU-GU (10)
BGAR-MS Mike Schmidt

Various Relics
TR-MS Mike Schmidt
UCR-RH Ryan Howard
BGR-MS Mike Schmidt
TMR-MS Mike Schmidt
SVR-JR Jimmy Rollins
ITN-CL Cliff Lee
ITN-DB Domonic Brown

ManuPatch
CP-23 Chase Utley

Sources
Beckett

Swag from Play at the Plate: 2014 Topps Blue Blaster

At the end of last year Brian over at Play at the Plate ran a contest to win a blaster of 2014 Topps. It was my kind of contest too, All I had to do was comment on a post. And Team Phungo Won!

2014 Topps Blue #312 Jimmy Rollins

There was only one Phillies player in the blaster, but it was a colorful Walmart parallel. Other than that it was a pretty nice box. I had already hoarded 100+ cards via Hangers and Looseys, and it was a pleasant surprise to find out that the blaster didn't duplicate many of the cards that I had already collected. I have developed a taste for hangers so it has been a while since I have opened a blaster. The number of inserts is mindblowing. Since each 8 card pack contains 2 blue parallels plus an insert, technically 37.5% of the cards are not base. To me parallels count as base, but for the completists out there, well I sympathize for their plight.

Highlights - Base

2014 Topps Leonys Martin 
2014 Topps Brian McCann

Check it out a Ranger and a Play at the Plate card. These should put a smile on faces at PATP HQ.

Inserts

Manupatch of 2008 Kershaw RC

These are a bit odd. the "Border" from the original 2008 design is raised, while the pix is inset.

89T Die Cut Sandy Koufax

The blaster was a bit of Dodger Hot Box. Never been a big fan of Die Cuts. Just harder to take care of. That being said the 89T design is a good one to give the Die Cut treatment.

2014 Topps Power Player Wilmer Flores

Just noting the difference from the PP cards and base here. The RCe logo is gone and the Topps moved from right to left. There is good news here if your hate the chrome print, it appears a bit lighter on the Power Play cards.

2014 Topps Blue Mariano Rivera

This was a bit of an oddity, All of the Blue Parallels in the box were of cards with Landscrape Photos, notice these two of the retiring Rivera and the one of Jimmy above. This is a coalation thing I have noticed from Topps previously. In 2008 I got a Hobby Box of S1 where all the Gold Foil stamped cards were Horizontal.

Bleeders

Night Owl referred this years new Red parallels as bleeding walls or something similar. At some point I hope to have some additional thoughts on these, but will note that all 3 of these like the blue instagrams above are landscapes.

etc   

The reamaining inserts. I like the UpperClass cards but find the Future is Now cards meh. For whatever reason I liked the UC cards of Retired players more than these new cards of current players.

All in all a fun break. Lots of new blue cards for the Phungo collection, a couple of cool inserts including a Rollins Parallel. Thanks to the Brian over at Play at the Plate for running a contest that even Team Phungo can win.

More 2014 Topps Review
2014 Topps First Pack

2014 Topps First Pack

2014 Topps #199 Matt Davidson

Mixed on the first card of 2014. Matt Davidson has been on my radar since last summer when Team Phungo took in the 2013 Futures Game. He hit a home run and took home the MVP honors for the day. This is all great, a RC of a player I am familiar with - The flip side of all this is that Davidson was traded a little over a month ago. He is now a member of the Chicago White Sox. So yes my first 2014 Topps card is a player show representing an outdated team.

The Pack - Base Highlights
 

2014 Topps #134 Josh Donaldson
2014 Topps #211 Dioner Navarro

During the 2013 version of the great WAR vs RBI vs Playoff debate Josh Donaldson's name came up as a second thought behind the big guns of Trout & Cabrera. Donaldson was a factor because he had WAR cred and played on a contender. So yes he beats out Miguel Cabrera in WAR and he is on a Playoff team which knocks out Mike Trout. Of Course we have a Topps fail here as Mr Potential MVP Josh Donaldson doesn't get any type of hero number. He gets stinkin #134.

I posted Dioner Navarro just to showcase Topps photography. Catchers are great for pix and this is a nice example.

The Hits

2014 Topps Upper Class #UC-42 Jim Rice

This is one of two inserts I picked up in pack one. I will cover this set more in a future post, but will mention here that I like the look of the cards.

2014 Topps Red #6 Josh Beckett

Last year the Target Reds moved to a deeper shade which is maintained in 2014. I prefer the red in previous sets as it seems closer to the Phillies colors. 

Remaining Base

2014 Topps JD Martinez, Don Kelley, Brandon League, Garrett Jones, Mike Minor

Verdict
In my opinion the sole purpose of the extension of the white borders into the pix frame is done exclusively for use in creating parallels. Other than that and the duplication of the team name on the tab the design is decent.  The photography throughout the set is good. On day 1 I picked up the above pack plus 2 more and a hanger. The roughly 100 card sampling yielded strong pix throughout with interesting shots at an decent rate.   

Over the next couple o weeks we will take a look at some specific elements of 2014T as well as some of the different insert sets.

Previous Debut Packs
2013 Topps
2012 Topps
2010 Topps Opening Day
2010 Upper Deck

Sources
Beckett