Boston Red Sox - 2007 World Champions

At the entrance of Fenway Park they have a series of old ticket booths repurposed as display cases, this is the one dedicated to the last Red Sox World Championship in 2007.

There is the Papelbon Jersey in there, and a fair amount of Josh Beckett - The bat is from Dustin Pedroia.

Congrats to the BoSox - 2013 World Series Champs

2013 WS Game 6: 2013 Topps #527 Carlos Beltran

It has been noted that the St Louis Cardinals are up against a bit of history as they hit the Road to face the Red Sox in Boston for game 6 (and possibly 7) of the 2013 World Series.

Several sports outlets have noted the last team to take games 6 and 7 on the road is the 1979 Pirates. One knows that is a long time ago - #1 because the Pirates were involved and #2 The calendar tells us that it has been 33 years.

There is a bit of an illusion in that 33 years. The Cardinals aren’t really up against a phenomenon that only occurs once every three decades – Not all World Series find the Away team down 3-2 after 5.

2013 Carlos Beltran #527 Carlos Beltran (Green Parallel)

Lets take a look at what Carlos Beltran and the Cardinals are up against. Since the Pirates 1979 comeback v the Orioles there have been six teams that faced the same odds as the Cardinals (down 3-2 needing 2 Road Wins). A closer look at those teams provides the following:

As you can see the team that came the closest to the double road gm comeback was the 1997 Indians. In fact they came within a Save opportunity by Jose Mesa of being World Champs. The other 5 contenders all bowed out in game 6 - with 2 of those 5 being Phillies teams, including the Joe Carter game.

To me it is worth noting if you have 2 evenly matched teams the odds of either one winning back/back games is 1 in 4. The down 3-2 on the road scenario has only happend 6 times. This leads me down the small sample route - it hasn't happened in 33 years simply because it the opportunity doesn't occur that often (except to the Phillies). A probability person may conjecture that the Cardinals Winning the 2013 World Series is expected, it is just evening out the odds (or returning to the mean)

2013 PostSeason Cardinals
Matt Adams
Lance Lynn
Michael Wacha 
Adam Wainwright
Orlando Cepeda


2013 PostSeason Red Sox
Clay Buchholz
David Ortiz
Dustin Pedroia 
Shane Victorino

Carl Yastrzemski
Jose Iglesias (Now with Tigers)

Sources
baseball-ref.com 

Happy 5th Anniversary 2008 World Champion Philadelphia Phillies: 2009 Topps #278 Post Season Highlights

Tempus Fugit - 5 years ago This blog was in it's infancy and the Philadelphia were World Champions.  A lot has happened in those five years.  The Phillies aren't nearly the same squad but it is fun for a day to look back at that magical 2008 run.

2009 Topps #278 Post Season Highlights (black parallel)

I like the cards that commemorate the great moments in the game, and this is also a game that I was lucky enough to attend - it is a card that I will always love.  There are several other cards that commemorate the Phillies run including this DayF custom.

More Phungo 2008 World Champions Postings
2008 10 29 - 10th anniversary with some Phungo Pix and a game ticket
2008 10 30 - Our initial celebration posting, the photo is quite blurry, yet I love it.
2008 10 31 - Series Recap
2008 11 03 - Cole Hamels World Series MVP


DayF original 1/1 

2013 WS Game 5: 2013 Topps Chrome #43 Adam Wainwright (Orange Parallel)

The 2013 World Series is now down to a best of three. I am not sure that it is a classic, but there sure have been some oddities notably and overturned call and an obstruction ruling,

2013 Topps Chrome #43 Adam Wainwright (Orange Parallel)

In game 5 Adam Wainwright will be hoping for a better start then he had in Game 1. The Cardinals defense didn't help Wainwright, and he was hurt by the overturned call.  Regardless if those issues crop up tonight he will need to find a way out of the jams.    

2013 Topps Chrome Orange 
The last few years Topps Chrome has offered "Value" packs which are basically three 4-card packs with three Orange Parallel cards.  This is one of the orange parallels that I picked up in the single value pack that I picked up a few weeks back.
 
2013 PostSeason Cardinals
Matt Adams
Lance Lynn
Michael Wacha 

Orlando Cepeda


2013 PostSeason Red Sox
Clay Buchholz
David Ortiz
Dustin Pedroia 
Shane Victorino

Carl Yastrzemski
Jose Iglesias (Now with Tigers)

Sources
baseball-ref.com 

Lou Reed 1942-2013

Ticket Stub 1992 05 16 - Lou Reed

The 2 decades between May 1992 and today leave me sketchy on the details, but I can remember having a great time.  Lou Reed performed an entire album that night - "Magic and Loss" I think.  He finished the evening with a few encores - Dirty Boulevard and either Sweet Jane or Rock N Roll.

The Velvet Underground's "Loaded" will always we one of my favorite albums. 
 
Further Reading

NYT Obit 


  

2013 WS Game 1: 1975 Topps #205 MVPs Yastrzemski & Cepeda

I wanted to find a card that combined the BoSox and Cardinals and was very happy to find this beauty.

1975 Topps #205 1967 MVPs Yastrzemski & Cepeda (image swiped from baseball card database)


The 75T MVPs is one of the most fun subsets in the Topps canon. It marks both the 25th anniversary of Topps and the MVPs of each of those seasons.  In 1967 the MVPs were Yaz and Orlando Cepeda pictured here on the minimalist 67T Design.

Recent MVP discussion appear to come down to discussion of various traditional stats vs the single WAR stat.  Tonight I would like to examine the WAR numbers for these two future HoF players during their 67 MVP seasons - which was the only MVP for each. 

Yaz
Working from Left to Right we start with Yastrzemski.  He won the AL Triple Crown in 1967 and collected an astounding WAR of 12.41.  The 12.41 WAR is the highest single season number for anyone in the history of the game that is not named Babe Ruth. Yes Yaz won the Triple Crown and he had the 4th highest WAR in history, but he didn't get voted MVP unanimously.  Cesar Tovar received a single #1 vote for his 2.44 WAR season - I have no idea.    

Orlando Cepeda
Of course in a year when Carl Yastrzemski puts together one of the greatest seasons in history and doesn't get a unanimous MVP, Orlando Cepeda collected all 20 MVP first place votes in the NL Balloting. Cepeda had a very good year, but not historic. His 6.80 WAR was 5th among vote getters - Ron Santo led the league at 9.77. Cepada led the league in RBI (111) and finished 3rd in OBP (.399)

MLB 1967
Finally it should be noted that in 1967 the Cardinals and Red Sox met in the World Series. Yaz hit 3 Homers and batted .400 in the Series.  Cepeda collected 3 hits total and batted .103.  But baseball is a cruel game Yaz and the Red Sox lost to the Cardinals - Bob Gibson won 3 complete games giving up 3 ER across those starts.   

Other Voices
Night Owl Cards - 2010 posting from the NOC 75 Topps retrospective. Contains some interesting observation on 67T and notes that Orlando Cepeda's MVP season was his first with the Cardinals.   

2013 PostSeason Cardinals
Matt Adams
Lance Lynn
Michael Wacha 


2013 PostSeason Red Sox
Clay Buchholz
David Ortiz
Dustin Pedroia 
Shane Victorino
Jose Iglesias (Now with Tigers)

Sources
Phungo HOF Orlando Cepeda Index
Phungo HOF Carl Yastrzemski Index 
baseball Card Database
baseball-ref.com 

Bucket or Chuck-It 2013 Topps Chrome Value Pack

The break in the 2013 PostSeason gives us the chance to clear out some old stuff from the Draft Folder.  Today we add to our Bucket or Chuck-it with a "Value Pack" of 2013 Topps Chrome.

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2013 Topps Chrome #208 Cliff Lee

I have admitted it before, parallels are lame and rarely show creativity, but boy am I a sucker for them. Not to the point where I would pick up a hobby box, but I typically pick up a couple of packs each year.  

Opening a pack is generally fun, even if most of the cards are ones that I have seen previously.  The Cliff Lee card above is the base chrome. It is the same photo featured on his series 1 card

Highlights 

 1972 Topps Retros appear once again.  Yu Darvish is probably one of the better players in the set.

As with 2011 Value packs contain 3 Orange parallel cards.  This is the best card I picked up among the bonus cards.  I don't see Gerrit Cole on the S1 or S2 checker for 2013 Topps, so this may be what the Cole card will look like in 2013 U&H.

 Refractors are the lowest level parallel in Chrome. I picked up one player from each of the FLA franchises as the two parallels.

 

Selected foursome of the base cards, Mike Nunino and Alex Colome RC. Former Phil Hunter Pence, in what I believe is a photoshopper.  Victor Martinez here to fill out the quartet. 

 The Last 2 orange cards were Wainwright and Nick Maronde RC.

Topps Chrome Curse?

Topps Chrome comes out and finally puts an Oriole on the cover, 5 minutes later Manny Machado rolled his knee.

Bucket or Chuck-it Verdict

I got a pretty good pack, but the $9.50 price point for 15 cards takes some of the fun out of busting packs - Verdict = Chuck-it. 

And what makes this a value pack.  The Target I was at didn't sell individual packs at all, so there were only 2 ways I could pick up Topps Chrome - Value Packs and Blasters (32 cards/ $20). Shenanigans.

PHUNGO CHALLENGE: Topps Jim Leyland 1992 and 2009 - Fungo on Phungo

Took a look at some of Jim Leyland's cards on the Baseball Card Database and noticed something interesting.  

1992 Topps #141 Jim Leyland (pix stolen from baseball card database)


 Above we have a Topps card of Jim Leyland likely hitting a Fungo as the Pirates manager. 

2009 Topps #339 Jim Leyland (again swiped from baseball card database)

And here we have Leyland with the Tigers 17 years later once again hitting a Fungo.

Most manager cards are profile shots, rarely these sort of "action" shots.  Which brings me to the....

Phungo Challenge
Is there another manager that can be found batting on 2 different cards.   Has to be a manager card, a pair of Ryne Sandberg cards of him batting for the Chicago Cubs doesn't count. 

Jim Leyland
I don't think that Leyland is done managing.  I think he and Detroit may have had enough of each other.  I know 68 seems old enough to retire, but some folks don't appear to be built for Retirement and I think Leyland is one of them. 

2013 Phungo #50 Clayton Kershaw

For the purely selfish reason of wanting a Game 7 to watch on Saturday Night, I will be a Dodgers fan for the evening. To rep the Dodgers we are posting a Phungo Card of their Game 6 Starting Pitcher Clayton Kershaw.

2013 Phungo #50 Clayton Kershaw

I am a tad surprised we don't see this post on more cards. Pitchers do it all the time during BP. It is a different perspective on your ace. They are being a member of the team, setting a target for their throwing partner.  We also see here Kershaw has placed his cap down to use as a target/plate.  


I didn't post as many Phungo cards as I would have liked this year, but I have been thinking about 2014 Phungo. I am pretty sure there will be a 2014 set which will be the 6th edition of the cards. I also want to get out some last minute mailings of 2013 cards in the next couple of weeks - the last 2 years I have produced sets, but absolutely failed on the mailing out process. which is kind of the most important step.

Best o luck to the Dodgers - cmon game 7.


2013 PostSeason Cardinals
Lance Lynn
Michael Wacha 

2013 PostSeason Dodgers
Adrian Gonzalez
Clayton Kershaw (2012 Panini Prizm)
Yasiel Puig

2008 UD Goudey #143 Shane Victorino

During our playoff frenzy we have been featuring a lot of non-Phillies material. The Phils are no longer in the mix and I wanted to feature some of the players that are getting a chance to perform on the big stage of postseason baseball. Tonight we feature a Phils card and a playoff participant!

2008 UD Goudey #143 Shane Victorino

Similar to his tenure in Philadelphia, Shane Victorino has become a fan favorite in Boston.  It hasn't hurt that he has had a terrific year. Having a Centerfielder playing one of the corner OF positions is a nice bonus.

With the Phils out of the postseason Victorino gives me a player to cheer for on the Red Sox.  For Phils fans that haven't been paying attention to the playoffs, you may be interested to know that Victoriino has given up switch hitting.  He is a righty only currently. It will be interesting to see if he continues to bat strictly RH in the future. 

2013 PostSeason Tigers
Miguel Cabrera
Max Scherzer
Jose Iglesias (Red Sox Card)

2013 PostSeason Red Sox
Clay Buchholz
David Ortiz
Dustin Pedroia 


Sources
baseballcardpedia
baseball reference

2010 Bowman Topps 100 #TP64 Jose Iglesias (pre-RC)

Regardless of the outcome of the ALCS, there is one guy that may end up as a LCS Bonus qualifier either way. 

2010 Bowman Topps 100 #TP64 Jose Iglesias (pre-RC)

Jose Iglesias was traded from Boston to Detroit mid-season. If the BoSox players are generous they could vote Iglesias get a portion of their playoff shares from the 2013 bonu$ pool.

The Tigers picked up Iglesias to fill in the hole created by Jhonny Peralta's Biogenisis suspension and he has been a solid fill in at the Shortstop position.  

2010 Bowman Topps 100
The Topps 100 Insert set consists of 100 Prospects, In addition to Iglesias the impressive checker includes early cards of Dom Brown, Ben Revere, Kyle Drabek, Anthony Gose, Josh Lindblom, Stephen Strasburg, Freddie Freeman, J-Hey, Posey, Bumgarner, Aroldis Chapamn, Logan Morrison, Todd Frazier, Austin Jackson, Ivan DeJesus JR, Koby Clemens, Zack Wheeler as well as several others.

2013 PostSeason Tigers
Max Scherzer
Miguel Cabrera


2013 PostSeason Red Sox

Clay Buchholz
David Ortiz
Dustin Pedroia 

Sources
baseball-ref
baseballcardpedia

2010 Bowman Prospects #14 Matt Adams (Pre-RC)

Tonight the NLCS kicks off in St Louis with the Cardinals hosting the LA Dodgers . The RedBirds seem to return to the playoffs every year and always seem to have a good influx of new talent. One of those players is Matt Adams.

2010 Bowman Prospects #14 Matt Adams

Adams has been on my radar for a while. He and my Wife both have roots in a rural area of Central Pennsylvania. He played college ball at Slippery Rock Univ - which is Division 2 Baseball. Kudos need to be given to the Cardinals for digging down to the lower levels of the collegiate game to find talent.

2010 Bowman Prospects
Matt Adams was drafted in 2009, so if this isn't Adams' first card it has to be close - indeed it does specify that it is his "1st Bowman Card".  

2010 Bowman Prospects is a 110 card insert set within 2010 Bowman. The Insert set is a noted within the hobby because it contains the debut card of Stephen Strasburg, who (unlike Matt Adams) has never played in the Postseason.


2013 PostSeason Cardinals
Lance Lynn
Michael Wacha 
 

2013 PostSeason Dodgers
Adrian Gonzalez
Clayton Kershaw
Yasiel Puig

Sources
baseballcardpedia.com
baseball-ref.com

2012 Topps Allen & Ginter #209 Coco Crisp

The deciding game of the final LDS features the Athletics hosting the Tigers.

2012 Topps Allen & Ginter #209 Coco Crisp

In a series that hasn't had much offesne Coco Crisp is getting a lot of hits batting leadoff and playing CenterField for the A's. At age 33 Crisp is having perhaps the best season of his career. His 22 HR 119 OPS+ and 61 walks are all career bests. Crisp may not have arrived in Oakland as the prototype of the player the A's were looking for but he has become that player - improved OBP with a bit more Pop.

2013 PostSeason A's
Josh Donaldson
Yoenis Cespedes
Josh Reddick

2013 PostSeason Tigers
Max Scherzer
Miguel Cabrera

Sources
BaseballCardpedia.com
baseball-ref.com
ebay.com

2013 Topps Archives #101 Andrew McCutchen

Our playoff postings continue today with the Pirates exciting young Centerfielder Andrew McCutchen.

2013 Topps Archives #101 Andrew McCutchen (1985 Topps)

I will be rooting for the cross-state Pirates in tonight's elimination game. Andrew McCutchen and Gerrit Cole are just 2 examples of the clubs young talent that I would like to see under the bright lights of the NLCS.

2013 PostSeason Pirates
Pedro Alvarez
Gerrit Cole

2013 PostSeason Cardinals
Lancy Lynn
Michael Wacha

2008 Topps Stadium Club #108 Evan Longoria RC (First Day Issue Variation)

This Evening the Tampa Bay Rays are facing elimination in game 3 of their ALDS matchup with the Boston Red Sox. Fenway was a disaster for the Rays who return home to the Trop for tonight's game. The Rays have been around the playoff scene since 2008 and one of the guys that has been with them during the entire arc of this period is Evan Longoria.

2008 Topps Stadium Club #108 Evan Longoria RC (First Day Issue Variation) 

Evan Longoria was the 2008 AL Rookie of the Year and led the Rays to an AL Pennant. The 2008 Rays defeated the Red Sox in a 7 game ALCS to win the pennant, if the Rays return to the World Series they will once again need to defeat the Red Sox in another full length series.

In 2008 Topps took the worst photos they can find and put them in their base set, this left some really great shots for the return of Topps Stadium Club. One of the fine photos to find it's way into 2008 TSC was this fine pix of Evan Longoria striking a classic baseball card pose. Unfortunately 08 Stadium Club had a pretty convuluted checklist which contained several variations for 1/3 of the cards. The great, but now defunct, Fielder's Choice Blog explains what all this means in regards to the Evan Longoria card here.

More Rays PostSeason Postings
David Price (2012 Topps Archives)
David DeJesus (2008 Topps Heritage)

Sources
Fielder's Choice
baseball-ref.com

Amazing Race: Mr Nicky Getz, Chris Getz (2008 Bowman Draft Picks and Prospects #BDPP81)

Tonight we take a break from our playoff postings and take a look at the latest edition of "the Amazing Race". Last week we took a look at David DeJesus, the Husband of Kim DeJesus who is competing on the show. Kim's teammate is Nicky Getz wife of ballplayer Chris Getz   

2008 Bowman Draft Picks and Prospects #BDPP81

Each year the Bowman Draft Picks & Prospects set has a subset dedicated to the Futures Game.  Chris Getz was involved in the game played as part of the 2008 All-Star Festivities in New York's "old" Yankee Stadium during it's final season. The photo on this card is from that game.  Chris Getz started at second base in that game and went 0-2.

Chris Getz got to the majors with the White Sox later in the 2008 season. He has since been traded to the Royals, this season had a mediocre hitting year for the Kansas City ball club, but was important as a defensive replacement at second base.

More Reality TV on Cards 
Last weeks column on David DeJesus 
The Greatest 21 Days on Steve Smith
Survivor Jeff Kent  

Sources
baseball-ref.com
Baseball America

2009 Topps Heritage #TME-DP Dustin Pedroia

Today Game 2 of the Rays and Red Sox ALDS is happening at Fenway. After a injury marred 2012 the BoSox second baseman and leader Dustin Pedroia is back in the fold.  

2009 Topps Heritage #TME-DP Dustin Pedroia

Pedroia's raw numbers for the 2013 (.301/9 HR/84 RBI) may not be as impressive as his 2008 MVP season, but his WAR number ended up being pretty close (6.5 in 2013, 6.9 in '08). It has been a quietly impressive season - which is what has happened for many of the Red Sox this years.

2009 Mayo
The Mayo Cards are based off of an 1895 football release. The inserts were in 2009 Topps Heritage RETAIL. The set consists of 20 cards with the Phillies represented by Ryan Howard.  A Pedroia card has recently gone on Ebay for $6.95 - Others have sold as low as $3.33 (Albert Pujols).  

Sources
baseball-cardpedia
Nachos Grande
baseball-ref.com
ebay.com

2010 Bowman Chrome Prospects #BCP61 Josh Donaldson

The American League kicks off their ALDS playoffs today. In the late game the Oakland A's will be hosting the Detroit Tigers. Year in and year out the Athletics remain an unknown to me. One of the aspects of their Moneyball rooted philosophy is the constant changover of players as they age out. This aids with getting an steady influx of young talent like Josh Donaldson.  

2010 Bowman Chrome Prospects #BCP61 Josh Donaldson

JD is coming off a fine first full season with the A's. As the 2013 campaign drew to a close Donaldson emerged as a WAR oriented favorite in the MVP Debate. He played on a division winner and his WAR ranked 2nd to Mike Trout.

Unlike Miguel Cabrera who ranked 4th in WAR, I am not sure of where the source of Josh Donaldson's WAR numbers comes from. His raw numbers are good but not impressive - a couple of top 10s (OBP/SLG/OPS) but no dominant category. He does play in a pitchers ballpark, which likely deflates his BA, HR and RBI but leaves his WAR unaffected. Another component of WAR is level of competition with some good pitchers in the AL West.  

2010 Bowman Chrome Prospects #BCP61 Josh Donaldson (b-side)

There is no position on the Front but the flip of the 2010 Bowman card lists Donaldson as a catcher. I am always a fan of early cards of players as Catchers before they move to other positions. Craig Biggio and Jayson Werth come to mind. There are guys like Darren Daulton that caught most of their careers but he didn't win a World Series title until he moved to 1B. Bryce Harper was drafted as a catcher but was moved to Center to speed is trek to the majors. For a variety of reasons these guys got moved, but typically the early training behind the plate gives them an advantage in the baseball IQ when moved elsewhere.

For The Collector
This card has gone for as low as $1.09 on the Bay - however I suspect it can be found in a quarter box, probably even a dimer. A Blue refractor #d/250 went for $12.50.


Sources
baseball-ref.com
ebay.com

2013 Topps Chrome #210 Gerrit Cole (RC)

Congrats to the Pirates and Rookie Starter Gerrit Cole

2013 Topps Chrome #210 Gerrit Cole (RC)

Near as I can tell this is Gerrit Cole's first card since reaching the Majors (he is not in Series 1 or 2), so we have a true rookie card here. Actually this is a parallel of his RC, the base would be straight chrome rather than orange.   

Mostly I wanted to post this card before it gets end off to its future home with the Pirates Treasure Room.

2012 Panini Prizm #29 Clayton Kershaw

Tonight the NLDS Phase of the playoffs kickoff. The Late game features the Braves with Kris Medlen on the mound versus the Dodgers who send out the best pitcher in the league, Clayton Kershaw.

2012 Panini Prizm #29 Clayton Kershaw

Clayton Kershaw was the Cy Young winner in 2011 and was runner up to the RA Dickey Show in 2012.  This year Kershaw is among the leading candidates once again - He is led the League in ERA (1.83!!), Ks, ERA+, as well as Lowest WHIP.

2012 Panini Prizm

Panini Prizm really isn't my thing. 

I think Panini Prizm went for $3 for a 4 card pack. A bit beyond the Team Phungo budget. One thing I don't understand about cards that are not MLB licensed is the sticker price. I mean if your not paying MLB megabucks for an exclusive, why do your cards cost just as much (and more) than Topps.  I don't get it.

Prizm are higher card stock - chromium cards to be specific. Which is nice but bumps up costs a bit.

The biggest reason I am not a Prizm collector isn't the license nor is it the money.  I just have never been a fan of the sets where every card is one of the players image is taken totally out of the the picture it has originated.  I prefer a card werhe I can see the field or stadium and try and figure out where and when the game was played. All that being said this Kershaw card has a fine photo of the lefty as did the remaining cards in the small "pack".

Sources
Baseball-ref.com
Dodgers Blue Heaven

 
 

   

2004 UD USA Baseball #USA-60 Terry Francona

Tonight is the last of 3 consecutive nights of Winner or Go Home MLB games, featuring Monday Nights winner the Tampa Bay Rays v the Cleveland Indians who have come to be known as the "Fighting Francona's" 

2004 UD USA Baseball #USA-60 Terry Francona


Lots of folks know that in addition to managing the Indians Terry Francona has also managed both the Phillies and of course the Red Sox (2004 and 2007 World Champions), however they may not know that he was the manager of the 2001 USA Baseball team.  The USA squad took the silver medal in the 2001Baseball World Cup (not affiliated with the WBC) hosted by Tapei Taiwan. The Gold Medal game was versus Cuba who took the gold with a 5-3 victory. 

2004 UD USA Baseball  
 
The USA Baseball set gets around (2013=Panini, 2010=Topps)  The 2004 Set by Upper Deck consists of 200 cards and recognizes the 25th anniversary of USA Baseball.  The checklist contains some superstars: McGwire, Oswalt, Mussina, Brian Roberts, Jack McDowell, Varitek, and Mauer as well as lesser known players.  In addition to the full 200 cards the factory sets include a relic plus 3 autographs. RA Dickey is a notable auto from the set. 

Factory sets are available on Amazon for $34. 

Sources
USA Baseball
Dave and Adam's Card World
wikipedia.com
Amazon.com

2009 TriStar Obak #1 Pedro Alvarez

For tonight's playoff posting we take a look at the Obak product that Tristar revived in 2009.

2009 TriStar Obak #1 Pedro Alvarez

In a nod to Upper Deck's inaugural set (1989) Tristar put a bunch of minor league prospects at the top of their debut Obak offering with Pedro Alvarez getting the honored with the #1 slot. Alvarez will likely never be Ken Griffey Jr, but this season he lead the NL in Home Runs with 36 (however he batted only .233 - His 186 Ks also led the league)

Sources
Tristar Cards
baseball-ref.com