Hero Numbers Part II: Can they Mean More?

2012 Topps #100 Jose Bautista
 As an adult I now realize Hero is a term that is more appropriate when applied to my local EMT making snap decisions under difficult circumstances then a Millionaire Ballplayer throwing and hitting a little white ball.  In that way I suppose we should use the term Glamor Number, but Hero Number is what I grew up with and I am sticking to it.


This line of thinking let me down a strange path ...Lets look at this years Heroes.  


100 Jose Bautista 
200 Miguel Cabrera
300 Josh Hamilton


I quickly noted that the latter 2 in the group have had various issues with alcohol and substance abuse. 

Should Hamilton and Cabrera get Hero Numbers?

I wanted to find out how much this is noted by fans of the players.  

Regarding Miguel Cabrera 
Too Many Verlanders: 
When he got in trouble again for drinking and driving, I definitely got very frustrated, as I get every time some knuckleheaded gazillionaire athlete, who could easily afford 10 different limo drivers every night, pulls that crap.  He's more frustrating than most for me because he plays for a team I root for, and more importantly he obviously has so much more talent than almost every Major Leaguer that I would hate to see him throw that away.


Then TVL went on to add an interesting comment
....while what Cabrera did (multiple times) was very reprehensible, and probably should have resulted in more severe punishment either by the local authorities, MLB or both, I find people criticizing Cabrera and fawning over Josh Hamilton frustratingly hypocritical.
 
When I asked the questions Too Many Verlanders was unaware that one of the other Hero Number Mates was Hamiton. 


Regarding Hamilton 
Play at the Plate

We would all hope the people our kids look up to would be solid citizens who don’t make mistakes.  In reality, many athletes aren’t good role models.  It could be for any variety of on or off field behavior, but it’s true nonetheless.  The thing I like about Josh Hamilton is that he stood up and faced the media, and thus his fans, when he could have just tried to ignore or cover up his recent relapse.  All of us make mistakes, but most of us don’t face the scrutiny someone like Hamilton faces.

interesting comments all.   And I am glad I asked the question. 

Granted at the time of publication Topps didn't know that Hamilton would tarnish his refurbished image.  Regardless It's obvious that Topps didn't really note off the field activities when awarding the numbers.


And I ask Why Not? 


Would you consider it a gimmick if Topps awarded the Hero Numbers to star players who are also solid citizens??? 

Check the Right Hand Side - Topps sort of owns the concept of Hero Numbers so why not capitalize on it.   

Award Numbers 100 200 and 300 to star players who are also part of the community and generally on the good behavior side.  

Hero Numbers could be a topic of instant conversation every year and not just another lame gimmick.

On Deck
Hero Numbers Pt III - Two more Hero numbers I want to see 


Replay - Previous Post on Hero Numbers Plus
Are Hero Numbers Significant 
A comprehensive List of Topps Hero Numbers (1952-2012) compliments of Night Owl Cards  big THANKS 


Thanks also to Too Many Verlanders and Play at the Plate for some insights into two of the games biggest stars. 

Anthony Lerew Update

Just got some news on Phungo Phavorite Anthony Lerew.

Lerew is a graduate of the high school that I attended way back in the middle 80s.  Fortunately for him, his tenure there is significantly more recent then my own.   

The Harrisburg Patriot News recently ran this feature on Lerew who is not currently in Major League baseball, but continures applying his trade in Asia.  Lerew who spent the 2011 season in Japan will be pitching in the Korean League this summer. 

2005 Authentic Memorabilia Anthony Lerew

In the last 30 years things have changed quite a bit in the little town I grew up in - but a lot of things remain - and I can tell you, Korea and Japan are places kids from the rurals spots of South Central PA don't often think they will ever get a chance to see.   

In related news my school has a growing baseball program and last year they saw a player get drafted by those stinkin Mets.  Joe Tuschak was taken in the 6th round of the 2011 draft and Team Phungo has resigned themselves to the fact that there is at least one Met they will be cheering for in the coming years.

Prevoius Phungo Posts on Anthony Lerew

Lerew Throws No-Hitter in Mexican League

Lerew Returns to Majors with the Royals

Lerew Makes Major League Debut with Braves

2012 Phungo Cards - Happy Trails Bengie Molina

It has been reported that Bengie Molina has officially retired.   

None of them were ever Phillies but I have always enjoyed following the Molina clan and hope to see Bengie Stick around baseball in some capacity.

2012 Topps #31 Bengie Molina

This is the Bengie Molina card I put together for the 2012 Phungo Set.  He is catching a warm up toss from then Ranger Cliff Lee. 

I like this shot.   There are often pix of catchers in the crouch but they are always posed, or if in action from the side.  During warm ups it gives you the rare opportunity to see the catcher face front from relativley close range.  If you look in Molina's Mitt you see the baseball square in the pocket. 

This pitcher seems a little up in the zone.  Which may have been ominous as Lee got lit up by the Baltimore Orioles that day.  O's rookie third baseman Josh Bell was the hero of the day as he hit his first and 2nd career Homers both of of Lee.

Bengie Molina retires the owner of 1 and half World Series Rings.  He won one with the 2002 Angels and was awarded one by the 2010 Giants who he played a half a season for, before being traded too the Texas Rangers squad that lost to the Giants. 

Molina carreer spans 13 seasons, he retires with 144 career homers and a respectable .274 average. 

Hero Numbers Pt I: Why Don't We Talk about Hero Numbers?

When I collected cards as a kid I had a certain fascination with Hero Numbers and to some extent I still do.  Each year I enjoy seeing which players have been awarded hero numbers - and with heritage it is interesting to see what players get paired with stars of yesteryear on those numbers.  

2012 Topps #100 Jose Bautista (b-Side)


Recently it occurred to me with literrally hundreds of blogs discussing every topic in the world related to cards we rarely hear any discusiion about Hero Numbers.  Heroes are an aspect of Topps Cards that date all the way back to their classic sets of the 1950s. 

This got me thinking, am I the only person that gives a damn about hero numbers?  Am I just numbers obsessed with numbers while the typical collector views them as fluff.

This led me to ask around for some outside opinions. 

One of the folks I thought of turning to was our resident Mathamatician, Reds Fan, and Super BoxBreaker Chris from Nacho's Grande.  I was interested on his take on numbers and our perception of them.

Nachos Grande: 

Although mathematicians don't think of numbers in terms of "hero" numbers much - they do think in terms of different bases.  For most of us, we are used to counting by tens (base 10) so numbers like 10, 100, and 1000 DO hold a special place in a mathematicians heart.  Computer scientists are used to base 2 (1s and 0s) so the powers of 2 are their form of "hero" numbers (2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, etc.).

Ahh - of course - we have 10 fingers and that is the basis for a lot of our numbers thinking - can you imagine if we were all Simpsons - Our hero Numbers would be 80, 160, and 240 - actually they would still be 100 200 and 300, but they woudl occur every 80th card.  The 660 card set woudl contain 8 heroes rather than 6. 

For the record The Computer Scientists Hero Numbers in 2012 Series 1 would yield: 

2  Trevor Cahill

4  Jeremy Guthrie

8  Mike Adams

16  Desmond Jennings 

32   Detroit Tigers Post Season highlights

64 Michael Martinez

128  Lucas Duda

256  Mat Latos

of course all your Hero Numbers would be in S1 - Series two would only yield 512.  Interesting list there - Lets face it only in the Comp Sci world of Binary Numbers is Michael Martinez a Hero Number.  I think Desmond Jennings is a prospect - maybe he is a future HN candidate.

Next up I spoke with Greg from Night Owl Cards.  The Night Owl is one of the stronger Topps enthusiasts among card bloggers and is always good for fresh insight on every aspect of collecting.

Night Owl Cards: 

I've read hero numbers in the past from older blogs, like The Baseball Card Blog. I thought it was something that had been addressed pretty completely already so that's why I've never mentioned it on my blog.

As for what I think: I grew up with the hero number system, so it makes sense to me. At some point in the '90s, Topps got away from it. Now it addresses it -- sort of. It seems to be that it uses an appropriate hero number whenever it feels like it -- which is basically Topps' philosophy in everything now. "If I feel like it."

Personally, I'd like Topps to do what Fleer used to do -- group each team together by card number. Maybe it wouldn't look as great in a binder, but it sure makes it easy for collectors in other ways.

Interesting take here - Has Topps devalued the Hero Number by ignoring them?  Recently Topps Series 1 and 2 have at least given the idea a nod.  The Updates and Highlights sets have been sporadic.  Heritage only recognizes Hero Numbers to pair active players with their historically significant teammates. 

I was a little dismayed about all this.  Maybe I am the only person that cares about Hero Numbers and that is why they do not get talked about.  Perhaps they are too inherently obvious and posting about them is just restating the obvious.  

The last paragraph from Night Owl also bummed me out.  I have never been partial to the Fleer/UD thing of bunching teams together - I like the cards spread out through a set and seeing a binder page with a variety of players - that's just personal preference.  I appreciate the convenience of having all of a teams players in one area - for me the variety in a base set trumps that convenience.  In the NetWorld there are plenty of places to dig up team set information. 

Exception - Dammit Topps can you put the League Leaders cards together.  sprinkling them through the set is just plain annoying.

On Deck

Hero Numbers 2012 - in the Part 2 we will discuss the Merits of this years Heroes Mr Bautsita (above), Miguel Cabrera, and Josh Hamilton

Professional Ultimate Comes to Philadelphia and YOU can make the team

The American Ultimate Disc League is the first Professional Ultimate League in the Country and Philadelphia is getting a squad. 

I am far to old to make the team - regardless, I was never that good when I played - but if you're an Ultimate player or an athlete in good condition this may be your opportunity to get into Professional Sports.

The Philadelphia Spinners are holding Tryouts on Saturday Night 2/25 on the Penn Campus.  For more information visit their website.

Phungo 2 Cents: 2012 Topps Design FOILED AGAIN

Today we look at Foil.  Unlike most folks, I don't have a huge problem with foil as a design element.  Sometimes it looks ncie, often it is overused.  It can also be confusting - Remember 2008s Gold and Silver Foil which appeared so similar.

The biggest problem I see with Foil is This

1994 Topps #34 Nolan Ryan

1994 Topps #310 Robin Yount

1994 is the last time that Topps has issued a base set without foil.  Back then both Nolan Ryan and Robin Yount were in the set.  Now they are in the Hall of Fame. 

To give you an idea of how long ago that was, Yount's Brewers were still in the AL.  

The last time Topps didn't foil their base set they were still issuing cards of Nolan Ryan, who they had issued cards of back in the 1960s.  (Ryan retired prior to the 1994 season) 

When the last non-foil set was issued in 1994 The D-Backs and Devil Rays were yet to play a game.  Derek Jeter had won a grand total of zero world series and the Red Sox were Still Cursed.     

Topps has issued 18 consecutive years of base sets with Foil - and in 1994 they as well as well as a few years prior foiled cards were issued as parallels.

In short after 2 decades Foil has become tired.  Sometimes Opening Day looks refreshing or even better because of the lack of foiil.

The Foling of 2012 Topps isn't even that bad - it doesn't scan well, but I don't think that is something that is really complaint worthy.  The scanning issues against Topps because it makes it harrd to discuss the cards, but in hand the player names are readable. 

But falling back on foil as a design element year after year is lazy cardmaking. 

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Full Disclosure

Here is a look back at our previous 2012 Topps postings 

2012 Topps Review - Its a Like
First Look

Whats the Position Topps???
Hanger Pack Phils
Hanger Pack All-Stars
Topps Back-loading Stars into Series 2
2012 Topps v 2002 Topps Football

On Deck:   Snapshots - Talking Topps Photography

Philly Card Show in Valley Forge (3/2-4) POSTPONED

The Valley Forge Convention Center is undergoing major renovations as part of the Casino that is being added to the facility. 

Unfortunately this has caused Hunt Auctions to postpone the Philly Shows March edition until June of this year. 

For More Info from Hunt click here.

The Autographs for the Philly show are run by MAB - they had a healthy list of signers scheduled - no info on which of these guests will be part of the June Show.

This means the next Major show to come to the area will be the CSA show in Oaks which falls the weekend of 4/27.