These six cards were sent by long time contributor Bo, of Oceanside, New York. Bo has been sending me cards going all the way back to 2015. It's kind of wild to type out here in this post. I have hard time reconciling that in my mind, that over a decade has past since I started this blog, or that a generous stranger would continue to send me cards for that long. Thank you, Bo, as always, the cards are greatly appreciated.
For a number of reasons, most of them good, I'm not posting on this blog nearly as much as I used to. Of late, I've actually started to consider if I should wrap it up as I just don't see a future where I start posting regularly again. Rather than let it linger in the background and stress me out, or feel like something I'm neglecting, some sort of satisfactory conclusion feels like an okay idea.
I don't know what that means, or what it will look like, but it's an idea I've started to kick around. We'll see.
Thanks again Bo!
Updated Totals:
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Card Review: 9.0
This is the 15th variation of this card that I've posted, and I have another variation in hand that I haven't posted yet. There is alos at least one more variation on ebay that I don't have (or plan on having given it's price tag and it being numbered to "1"). This "paint splatter" is pretty much the same as most the other autos, which is to say, it's fine. It's a take on the 1988 Topps All-Star card which is hard to mess up.
Yet, I feel as though this card is a missed opportunity and as such is a bit of a disappointment. From the name, "Paint Splatter," I was expecting somthing else. I thought maybe the image on the front would be a more blurry, muddled, "splattered," take on the original. But it's the same image on the front as every other one of these. The "paint splatter" is confined to the back. Also, given only 15 of these were printed for each card (technically 30, with 15 getting the auto sticker), how long could have taken to hit these with actual water color paint instead of just the printed design of a "splatter" on the back?
In any event, don't count on seeing any of the other 14 of this card being posted here anytime soon. Then again, this stuff is hard to predict.
Number of this card in my collection: 1
1992 to 1995
Thanks a lot Upper Deck, and misguided kids who bought it (my brother and I bought a crazy amount of Upper Deck from '89-'91). This is the start of Topps messing with the program that had worked perfectly well for forty years, wasn't broken, and didn't need to be fixed. 1992 saw the white backs with color photos of the stadiums, '93 introduced gloss to the backs, and for some reason Topps decided their bubble gum cards required foil stamping in 1995 and have never looked back. By 1995 I wasn't really buying cards any more. I would pick up a few packs every year until '97, just to see the designs, but I had moved on to other interest for the most part.
I appreciate Topps making an effort to take some design risk during this run of sets. They don't all hit (2016 I find particularly terrible), but a few of them do and I'd much prefer Topps take a risk that doesn't work out with a design, then pump out another generic boring set.
Updated Totals:
Thanks for the cards Nick!
I've been unusually active on Sportlots lately. I know I said I wasn't going to buy random cards this year, and instead focus on saving for a '53 Mays, but my hand was forced. One of the perks of being a season ticket holder to the Albuquerque Isotopes, is that early in the year they put on a meet and greet with all (or most of, sans a few curmudgeons) of all of the players. So I made a point to track down cards for as many of the guys as I could this year, which for the most part was ones I didn't have from random Bowman and Topps Debut sets (where do you even buy packs of these?). Old habits die hard, and I couldn't just order 3 cards from a seller, without maxing out the shipping price point with a few Wallach's. That's where most of the 80 cards above came from.
The best cards of the bunch, pictured again below, were two random eBay purchases. These sort of oddballs aren't all that hard to find, but usually sellers want about $5 a pop for them. The Rancho Cucamonga showed up for a buck shipped, and the lot of Stuarts was less than a buck a card, so I pulled the trigger. It's actually the first Ranco Cucamonga card I've added since 2013. So maybe it's a little more rare than I thought it was.
Updated Totals:
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Card Review: N/A (I gave the non-error a 4.5)
I came across this on eBay recently. This an error (that's what we used to call variants back when they were unintentional) printing of the 1992 Bowman card. The correctly printed version has gold foil around the edges of the card. This one is just plain card stock, like the rest of the 1992 Bowman set.
I prefer the standard '92 Bowman to these USA Gold Foil subset cards, but I don't mind the foil as a limited run in the set. So I have mixed feelings about this card. That said, it's fun to come across new Wallach's from that era some 30 years after they were produced. I'm not sure how rare these are or if the other USA cards also have non-foil versions floating around. I also haven't checked to see if the gold foil is something that can just be rubbed off. If it's the case, then this post will be getting a big re-write and this card will just get tallied with the others as a low grade copy.
Here's a look at the 1992 Bowman for a refresher:
Number of this card in my collection: 1
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Card Review: 9.4
I like this non-autograph version better than the autographed version (sharpie marks don't belong on baseball cards). These wood variants, while certainly a goofy gimmick, are a very cool goofy gimmick. They sort of have the feel of those old wooden airplanes that you could buy and then assemble. The back of the card feels like a normal card, but the front is very much thin wood. Snapping one of these in half wouldn't take much pressure, though the paper back would likely hold it all together. Given that there are only 5 of them, I'm not willing to spend the $5 to $20 bucks the cheaper ones demand to find out.
If Topps is going to continue to insist on stuffing their hard to find, overpriced packs with all sorts of junk that isn't part of the set, then I fully support them getting weird with it. I'd like to see them try to print on gum. A card sized slab of gum with a card, even if monotone, printed on the front that is fully edible. Different flavors can be printed in different numbers.
I also like the idea of intentionally embracing errors, but curated. Print off centered cards, but go ahead and slap x/# on the back, with the more off-centered ones being more scarce, or start slapping wax stains on cards. Call them "variants" and individually number them. I'm just sick of refractors, gold borders, and other similar things. As far as non variants, would modern collectors like cards that were nothing more than offers to mail in $10 for your favorite teams painters cap if they were individually numbered? Yellow ones could be common, with green ones being out of 100 and red ones out of 10? Then do the same thing with offers to win a trip to the All-Star Game or something. I wouldn't be as annoyed with inserts like those.
Number of this card in my collection: 1
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Over 23,000 people have played Major League Baseball, give or take a few, depending on what year you start. Of those 23,000 people, a mere 251 of them have reached the career milestone of 2,085 hits. That's 0.01%. There are currently four active players in Major League Baseball who have reached the vaunted milestone of 2,085 career hits. It's no small feat. A player needs to average a 140 hits a season for 15 years to reach the rarified air of 2,085 hits.
140 hits a year may not appear to be all that impressive of a mark on first blush. Yet last season, only 68 players reached the number. Look deeper, and you'll find that only 14 players have reached the number in each of the last four seasons, those being; Bobby Witt, Bryan Reynolds, Francisco Lindor, Freddie Freeman, Jose Ramirez, Luis Arraez, Manny Machado, Matt Olson, Rafael Devers, Shohei Ohtani, Trea Turner, Vladimir Guerrero, and Yandy Diaz. Again, 2,085 demands 140 hits for 15 seasons. It's an incredible mark.
You may have heard of a few of these players below. They all have something in common. They're all Hall of Famers who came up short in their chase for 2,085 hits. It's a long list, full of household names, but here are few of the legends it includes: Johnny Bench, Andruw Jones, Hank Greenberg, Jackie Robinson, Hack Wilson and Gil Hodges.
Of course, 2,085 hits doesn't assure a player a place in Cooperstown. Some notable players to have reached the milestone and not receive a plaque include; Omar Vizquel, Al Oliver, Rusty Stuab, Bill Buckner, Buddy Bell, Torii Hunter, Mark Grace, Lou Whitaker, Paul Konerko, Bernie Williams, Willie McGee, Willie Randolph, Will Clark, Don Mattingly, and Tim Wallach.The 2,085 Hits Club
Freddie Freeman 2,431
Hits in 2025: 164
Average over the Last Four: 182
Will He get there: Yes, of course he's there already. I don't think he ends up reaching 3,000, but he'll have a look at it, and even if he doesn't, there will be plenty of other stuff to put on his plaque in Cooperstown.
Active Players Chasing 2,085
Xander Bogaers 1,822
Bryce Harper 1,801
DJ LeMahieu 1,772
Mookie Betts 1,767
Mike Trout 1,754
Nick Castellanos 1,742
Salvador Perez 1,712
Jose Ramirez 1,668
Francisco Lindor 1,664
Lindor is the youngest player on this list. He's averaged 166 hits a season the last four years and posted his highest season total since 2018 last year. He should reach 2,085 in 2027 or 2028 if he can stay on the field. If he can play, and produce, until he's 40 (no small task), he may flirt with 3,000 hits.
Starling Marte 1,639
Marcell Ozuna 1,627
Marcus Semien 1,613
Jason Heyward 1,575
Trea Turner 1,531
