Bucket or Chuck-It; 2016 Topps Throw Back Thursday Set

Ahh time to return to a feature that we haven't had in a while Bucket or Chuck-It. Bucket is good as in add it to your bucket list. Chuck-It is bad as in Toss it out like a pair of worn sneakers.

2016 Topps TBT #37 Mike Piazza '96 ASG MVP

All seaon Jim from the Phillies Room has been picking up Phillies related Topps Now cards in bulk and passing along cards to other Phils collectors. I find the cards unique and as a fan of game dated cards the concept appeals to me, especially when someone like Jim is dedicated to do all the work of submitting the requests to Topps. There have been at least 6 Phillies Topps Now cards and I would like to get to those and a More dedicated thank you to Jim in a future post.

I myself  hadn't picked up anything directly from Topps until recently when I saw in celebration of the Hall of Fame weekend they issued a "bundle" related to this year's inductees Ken Griffey Jr and Mike Piazza.

The six card set is inspired by the 1962T Babe Ruth Subset with 3 cards dedicated to each of the new Hallers.  The second card of the set features a photo of Mike Piazza receiving an the 1996 All-Star Game award.

This card was appealing to me as a Piazza fan and it is a nice add to my local players collection, but the real draw is that the 1996 ASG is a Phungo Game and This is a card I can add to the Phungo Games collection.

Despite the fact that the image on the card makes Piazza appear as if he had a few to many at the family picnic, I do like the front of this card.

However.....

2016 Topps TBT (b-sides)

Topps mailed it in on the b-sides for the text. The backs of all six cards have identical text. The only thing that differentiates each card is the number and the player name.

 It's a shame, if these are such big events in each players career how about paying a writer and a copy editor (or even an intern) for a couple of days work to come up with a paragraph. This is a $20 set of six cards, that can be produced months in advanced - it's not like they woke up on Wednesday and said "Hey we need to put out a Throw Back Thursday set tomorrow" or maybe they did.

Compare

2016 Topps TBT #37 Mike Piazza '96 ASG MVP (b-side)
1962 Topps #138 Babe Ruth Special (b-side)

Check out this example of an original 1962 Babe Ruth Special. We have a pretty detailed summary of Ruth's rough 1925 season. On the New Piazza card all you get "Hey look at us, we have been making cards for 50 years and Mike shares this documentation with Ken Griffey Jr"


Flip

2016 Topps TBT Ken Griffey Jr 1995 ALDS
1962 Topps #138 Babe Ruth Special

Just for comparison we present the front of one of the other TBT specials with Babe's original.  I think Topps did a decent job on the fronts, just wish they would have carried through to the back.

Verdict
Very disappointed, Great Concept, I think Topps picked a great subset to use for these cards, but the execution of the backs is insulting, especially for a set that runs $20.

Sources and Links
1996 All-Star Game Index
Phungo Mike Piazza HoF Index
Phungo Ken Griffey Jr HoF Index
Phungo Babe Ruth HoF Index
Topps TBT
Baseball-Ref

Babe Ruth HoF Index

This is an index of our Postings related to Babe Ruth and Babe Ruth cards.

 1962 Topps #138 Babe Ruth Special The Famous Slugger

1972 Topps #626 Babe Ruth Award
1973 Topps #1 (#1 Club - All Time HR Leaders)
Post Cereal 500 HR Club (2008 September - The House that Ruth Built closes)
2010 Topps Legendary Lineage #LL-3 w/ Alex Rodriguez
2011 Gypsy Queen the Great Ones #GO2 (100th Anniversary of MLB Debut)

Babe Ruth Mosaic (ESPN Zone NYC)

Babe Ruth Birthday: 1973 Topps #1 League Leaders Home Runs

Today we continue our #1 card obsession by noting the 121st anniversary of Babe Ruth's February 6ht birthday.

1973 Topps #1 All Time Home Run Leaders Ruth, Aaron, Mays

 Love how Topps had the foresight to realize that this card was in it's waning moment. The following year Aaron would be sitting at 713 at press time, and a month into the 1975 season Hammerin Hank would be atop the pyramid.

Willie Mays on the edge of retirement and retuning to New York is just icing on the baseball card cake.

1973 Topps #1 All Time Home Run Leaders Ruth, Aaron, Mays (b-side)

I kind of like what Topps did here, listing each of the three leaders with their annual Home Run totals. I still haven't gotten any 2016 Topps but I fear one of the things I will mention when I finally get my hands on some of this years cards is the lack of imagination in the new set. Of course back in 1973 Topps was significantly younger, I suppose the chance of producing pleasant surprises were higher.

#1 Club
This beauty has to be on the top end of the #1 club and it easily beats out the 2015 Derek Jeter card. 1973 is the first of four consecutive years in which Hank Aaron is featured on the #1 card, he also appeared on 1963T #1 as the fifth man in a quintet of Batting average leaders. Willie Mays previously appeared as the sole occupant on the 1966T #1 card. 1973 is Babe Ruth's only appearance in the top spot.

Sources and Links
#1 Club
Babe Ruth HoF Index
Hank Aaron HoF Index
Willie Mays HoF Index

Babe Ruth Debut 100th anniversary: 2011 Topps Gypsy Queen Great ones #GO2

2011 Topps Gypsy Queen Great ones #GO2 Babe Ruth

100 Years ago on July 11 1914 Babe Ruth made his Major League Debut earning the W in a 4-3 Red Sox victory over the Cleveland Naps (now Indians). Ruth was of course a Pitcher back then. He went 7 innnings giving up 8 hits and 3 Runs (2 earned). He struck out 1 while walking none. Notable players he faced in that game included Nap Lajoie, Shoeless Joe Jackson and Ray Chapman. Ruth's Teammates included Tris Speaker.

Ruth batted 9th in the game went 0 for 2 including a strike out versus LHP Willie Mitchell. Mithell was a mediocre pitcher for the era (caree ERA+ 103) who was in the middle of a 10 year career in which he poated and 83-92 record - I say mediocre, but among the comps that show up in his later career Sim Scores is Tommy John.

After his 7 innings Ruth was removed for a pinch hitter Duffy Lewis a career .284 hitter who tallied 38 Home Runs - Those 38 Home Runs were pretty solid for the era. Lewis finished in the AL top 10 in Homers four times, but never hit more than 8 in a season.

2011 Gypsy Queen Great Ones
Typically Babe Ruth represents the Yankees. This GQ card gives a nod to the games history showing Ruth with the Red Sox. The card also show the legendary southpaw pitching, which of course was his position with the Sox. 

Sources
baseball-ref
SABR Bio Duffy Lewis

2010 Topps - The Inserts

I got plenty of inserts in the five retail packs, In addition to the cards below there were Five Toppstown and a Topps Attax card.

The Retros
2010 Topps Inserts George Sisler, Josh Beckett, Steve Carlton, Frank Robinson

Of course I was happy with the Carlton card, even if it is Cardinals rather than a Phils and you cannot go wrong with good old Frank Robinson. My only issue with the Mom cards is that the Carlton card seems so fake compared to the 1970 cards of my youth. The first pack I opened also had the Soriano Mom card.

The New York Inserts



2010 Topps Legendary Lineage LL-3 Babe Ruth Alex Rodriquez







2010 Topps Tales of the Game #TOG11 1969 Mets

As I had stated in an earlier post, I like the ToG inserts and may build the set, even if I have to start with a stinkin Mets card.

my final insert was a Million Card Giveaway redemption which will get its own post.

Links
Phungo HoF index Frank Robinson

Cole Hamels World Series MVP, The Babe Ruth Award

Cole Hamels deservedly won the World Series MVP award. He won game one and was in line to win deciding game 5 before Rocco Baldelli homered off of Ryan Madson. Hamels was 4-0 over the post season which tied the record for wins.

2008 Topps Heritage #499 Cole Hamels

This is the 2008 Heritage All Star version of Hamels card. I like these cards - they closely mirror the original All-Star cards of 1959. The motif follows on the reverse side with the card number in a shield, a cartoon, and a short point of interest about the player.

2008 Topps Heritage #499 Cole Hamels (obverse)

1959 Topps #555 Bill Mazeroski (obverse)

When Topps released the 1959 set the All-Star cards were present in the final High Number Series and are somewhat harder to find then cards from the earlier series. In the Heritage edition the cards are part of the regular release, despite the fact that Topps is planning on releasing more 08 Heritage cards in another product.

At one time the World Series MVP received the Babe Ruth award. The award was the subject of a Topps card in 1972.

1972 Topps #626 Babe Ruth Award

The Babe Ruth Awared is no longer presented, the last award winner was David Eckstein in 2002, when the Angels defeated the the Giants.

Phillies World Series Teams - 1915 Grover Cleveland Alexander

2006 Phillies Toyota Wall of Fame Postcard

I know even less about the 1915 Phillies then the 1950 Phillies. I do know that they lost to the Boston Red Sox in five games. Yes you heard that right, The Bosox did win a World Series before 2004 and without Manny. Of Course this was all pre-curse, as a young Babe Ruth played for the 1915 Red Sox, but he only got one at bat. It was Ruth's first World Series, He grounded out in the 9th inning of game 1. It was the only game of the Series which the Phillies Won as they went on to lose the final four games.

Ok there you have it - the six Phillies World Series teams.

Phillies v Rays prediction later today

The House that Ruth Built

On Sunday September 21 2008, The New York Yankees host the Baltimore Orioles in the final game at Yankee Stadium.

The Yankee’s are a team which has a legacy so great that Topps and Upper Deck have dedicated entire series’ to single players:

And there is a series dedicated to the stadium itself:

Yankee Stadium is the place that the Yankees called home while winning 26 World Championships. A wing of Hall of Famers have played in Yankee Stadium: Ruth, Mantle, DiMaggio, Whitey Ford, Reggie. This Legend played the home half of 2131 consecutive games there:

The more recent versions of the Bronx Bombers have consisted of all-stars at nearly every position. Some are from the system some from trades some were free agents. Jeter, Posoda, Rivera, Clemens, Bernie, O’ Neill, Tino, Pettite, and of Course A-Rod.

This guy even left the enemy and SHAVED to play in Yankee Stadium.

Over the next couple of days I will be putting together a series of entries about the Yankees and Yankee Stadium. I hope you enjoy the posts.

Babe Ruth Mosaic: ESPN Zone, NYC

Since the Phils are in New York this week I will try and post some pictures taken while visiting the city for the Futures game last weekend.

The photo above is of the Babe Ruth Card-Mosaic at the ESPN Zone in New York. And here are some close ups:


These photos didn't come out as clear as I would have liked - It was the day of the Home Run Derby, consequently it was pretty busy. Those are all real cards there and they are all Yankees cards - It looks pretty cool. The top inset photo is of Babe's Left Eye (the right one in the mosaic). The last picture is a close-up of the left-hand side of the mosaic.