1993 Topps Traded Set

Found a nice deal on a sealed 1993 Topps Traded Set, so today I am sharing some of the highlights with you! Mike Piazza was already an established star when this set was issued, even though he was still a rookie.

The 1993 Topps Set featured a 2nd player photo on the back, a flourish they hadn't tried in a long long time. But the pressure was on to keep up with Johnny Fleer and Joey Donruss and uh, Janey Upper Deck, so that means photos on both sides! I don't know if this a common issue with the traded set, or a symptom of being in a sealed box for so many years, but the ink on the backs looks a little runny to me.

Also - what's the deal? For the first time, the traded set was no longer in alphabetical order. Also ALSO, " IT - 132T ?" I? Weird.

Piazza was one of 6 Hall of Fame players in the set (with 2 or 3 more possibly to add later?). Boggs defected from Boston to the Yankees, where he would finally win a World Series, and get to ride a NYC Police horse after the clinching game. Andre Dawson went from the Cubs to Beantown, now towards the end of his magnificent career. Greg Maddux and Paul Molitor were thinking championship as well, and both would be rewarded by the end of their tenures with their new teams.

Now that Bowman has returned and the Prospect Machine was in full motion, finding quality rookies in the traded set was becoming more rare. The Team USA issue provided opportunities to add more young players to the set, and like Nomar in 1992, another Freshman made a splash in the new traded set.

The Team USA backs are a little different, so I figured I'd share those, too. Todd was quite the athlete!

The Twins representatives had nearly 20 seasons combined in the big leagues by the time the set came out - granted, they were all from Hall of Fame OF/1B/DH Dave Winfield. Todd Walker technically wasn't with the Twins organization yet, but he'd be drafted in the first round in 1994 by the Twins. David McCarty and Pat Meares were expected to take the reigns in the infield for Greg Gagne and Kent Hrbek. Meares ultimately did become the team's everyday SS, and McCarty had flashes of brilliance, but never really became the player to match the potential.

This group of guys might have a Hall of Famer or 3 in it, you can argue about which 3 they might be. Bonds had card #1T honors, all of these guys became key pieces of their team's success for the rest of the 1990s.

Lastly, here are a couple of my favorite photos from the set, and two guys that were appearing in familiar uniforms. The traded sets can be light on action and personality, but Boomer Wells listening to the national anthem and Erik Pappas sporting some gnarly hat hair. The Big Cat had a miserable 1993 in Saint Louis, playing in fewer than 100 games, and hitting just 10 homers. But Colorado would prove that he still had a few of those 9 lives remaining, and in fact would have the best years of his career. Kirk Gibson was returning to Detroit where he found his early post season success.

1994 Topps All-Star Rookie RHP Joey Hamilton

They're Back! It's the 1994 Topps All-Star Rookie Squad. I'm going to cover the whole team in card number order. First up is the Padres' Right Handed phenom, Starting Pitcher Joey Hamilton.

Born in Georgia, schooled in Georgia. Hamilton set school records at Georgia Southern in games, complete games, shutouts, wins, innings pitched and strikeouts - and that was with just a little over 2 seasons. Early in his Junior year, Hamilton had to undergo elbow surgery that effectively ended his college career. The injury did little to scare off major league teams in the 1991 Draft, however. He was selected ahead of pitchers like Aaron Sele, Justin Thompson, Scott Ruffcorn, and Bobby Jones. In his 2 minor league seasons, he would be promoted 5 times, finishing in AAA by the end of 1993. Padres' scouts were pleased with the big righthander's fastball / change-up combo, going from mid 90s to low 80s.

His MLB debut came the following season in May of 1994, facing off against the Giants. He was unfazed, however, hurling a quality start (6 innings, 3 ER, 3 Ks, 3 walks) and earning his first win. His first loss was another quality start, this time against Marlins knuckleballer Charlie Hough. Topps helpfully pointed out that Hough was pitching in the big leagues before Hamilton was born. More on Charlie later. Joey would make 16 starts as a rookie, 14 of which were quality starts. The highlight was a shutout in late June against the Reds, though he only struck out 1 batter. 

Hamilton was a solid mid-rotation starter for the Padres throughout the 90s, including starts in the postseason in 1996 and 1998. During the '98 World Series he'd appear in one inning of scoreless relief. Had the Padres not been in an 0-3 hole, he may have been the Game 4 starter instead of Kevin Brown. He topped 200 innings 3 times, leading the Padres' staff in victories twice. After his tenure in San Diego, he'd spend 3 seasons with the Blue Jays, and 3 seasons with the Reds, but struggled to stay healthy. He'd finish his career with 74-73 career record and a 4.44 ERA, which is roughly a full career of quality starts. (6 innings and 3 ER gives you a 4.50 ERA.) Solid production for a pitcher in the thick of the steroid era.

For no reason, here is Charlie Hough teaching Smokey the Bear how to throw the knuckle ball. Real reason - I didn't have any Hamilton Blue Jays or Reds cards, so this is the consolation prize...

Arbitrary Acquisitions

Summer keeps on rolling - I haven't been to a card show in a few months now, both for financial and for scheduling reasons. Missed out on the National, as well. But that doesn't mean I was completely shut out of new cards.

"Twinkletoes!" I only have a pair of 1940 Play Ball cards, after adding this George Selkirk over the summer in a COMC bundle.

I don't think I will chase the set, but I couldn't pass up the awesome nickname. The other Play Ball in my collection? Stormy Weatherly, of course.

On to a set I am building, I added a short stack of 1959 Topps. Wally Post and Sherm Lollar were probably the biggest names of the bunch. The 1958 NL shutout leader, Johnny Antonelli is also in the group.

When I saw this Ted Williams  / Paul Bunyan mashup, I assumed that it was a photo taken in Minnesota, but Bunyan gets around. This was taken in Maine, where Ted was given an 8 foot long baseball bat.

Once you fall down a COMC rabbit hole, there's no telling where you'll end up, like fence leaning rebels, Robbie Alomar on the horn, Nolan Ryan selling out for Classic, and even a Felipe Alou photobomb on Tim "my moustache is the 11th Canadian Province" Blackwell's card.

I did actually buy some new retail - including a blaster of Allen & Ginter, which yielded a couple big rookies and a couple even bigger egos. No problem though, Reggie and Rickey proved they could back up the talk.

Saw this one on eBay and made the decision to buy it right away - several of these SPs have dropped in price since they were released, I may have jumped the gun on this one. But this may even count as a bat rack card - there are shipping boxes of Louisville Sluggers in the background!

This card, however, I waited a few decades before snapping up in an eBay auction. I was the only bidder for this well-loved card.

Bob Bonner didn't pan out as the Orioles' shortstop of the future. Good thing they had a backup plan.

NOW, to be On Demand is to be In Demand

We've just passed the July 31st Trade deadline, and with no waiver deadline this year, that means that teams are now fairly set. The Minnesota Twins have an historic campaign, with franchise highs in Homers and Wins through the first half of the season.

While the bullpen hasn't been a Total disappointment, regression by Trevor Hildenberger (and his subsequent injury) has thinned an already light corps of relievers. Jake Odorizzi has had one of the best seasons of his career, and Max Kepler has taken off this year.

Serving as the Twins' lead-off hitter, Kepler has also found success at the end of games, providing fireworks at the end of this mid-June Marathon against the Red Sox.

Can't forget the bat flip!

It won't always be Twins On Demand in my collection - I do make room for signature / iconic moments throughout the season. Scherzer smashed his face while taking batting practice, but still made his scheduled start with a broken nose and a nasty shiner that made for some extra spice to the legend of his toughness.

This view is a pretty common progression for the 2019 Twins - see ball, hit ball, see ball go. Wave #3 of Topps Total featured a trio of Twins that can all crush the baseball.

The AL's Starting Short Stop was bumped from the Topps NOW All-Star set in favor of home town rep Francisco Lindor, but he did find his way into this Throwback Thursday set.

Are you keeping up with your team's On Demand offerings? Have you picked up any Topps NOW cards recently?

Transatlantic Triple Break Joins the Club

Stadium Club has been out for some time now, I picked up a hobby box to share as my contribution to the Transatlantic Triple Break with Kevin of The Card Papoy and Matthew of Bob Walk the Plank.

Each of us get 2 divisions. We each chose our home town team divisions this time, so I had these parallels from the AL Central, Fulmer on the left is a holofoil card numbered to just 25 copies.

I also picked the NL West, which afforded me this sweet Trevor Story insert.

Just a pair of Twins in the box, Buxton and Sano. The biggest name rookie pulled was Eloy Jimenez. We were robbed of a Vlad Jr card! Sorry Kevin.

Before I forget, here are the backs. The sooner I forget Buxton's 2018 season, the better. Yikes! He's doing much much better this year.

Stadium Club went hard after horizontal shots this year. Maybe it was just the luck of the draw, but they appeared to be more than half of the base cards. At that point, I think they could have just gone all in with the horizontal shots. Happy to a new bat rack card with Justin Turner!

I didn't pull this one from the box - both autographs and the box topper will be going out in the mail, just the way I prefer it on the breaks. But I saw that La Tortuga was on the auto checklist, so I made a special addition off of eBay of this card, and since the autos I pulled are going elsewhere, I figured I would share this one now.

Overall, the base cards still bring home the bacon, and like years past I feel like the parallels / inserts are unnecessary - I'd rather have more variety of base card images, as they are the best part of the set! Have you picked up any Stadium Club yet this year? What are some of your favorite cards in the checklist?