As a part 2 to my exploration of great teams that resemble what sort of lineup/relief corps/bench I would put together, player for player, a few teams from the 1982 season seemed to match up nicely. Also, the present day Brewers. I landed on the Expos, as I knew it would too easy to take a playoff team and have them run roughshod on the competition. You never walk roughshod, just run. Montreal was the best outlier, and in a season where they did rather well, it wasn’t quite enough to be an elite squad. So the goal was to play a replay season for 1982, aiming for 81 wins, then 86, then 90, ultimately overcoming the real life world champs in the Cardinals. Back to National League baseball, pitchers batting, facing your division rivals multiple times, and death be to the Junior Circuit.

The season went remarkably well, as I weathered some injuries but kept my full timers largely intact. It almost felt like it was supposed to fit the algorithm, but land just on the side of a wobble, like how our Earth wobbles on its axis. I need to rewatch a Veritasium video about the idea of random numbers not being truly random. I had long wondered if maybe there is some sort of rubberbanding stats, or some sort of element in the algorithm that keeps one side from doing too well against its opposition. I don’t know. But I know that an injury or wild play here or there can make the difference in a mythical season.

I’m sharing the results here, which worked much better than I hoped. What I did was play 54 of the 162 games, skipping the first 2 of every 3 games, playing every 3rd. I defaulted to whoever had the most available endurance, sometimes resort to those on short rest.

The ‘spos would produce a 10 game winning streak at the end of the season, finally upending the Cards with 2 games to play and 2 games in hand. Cards had to deal with the Cubs, and would lose both games close at home. And my Expos actually found an Achilles heel in the Pirates, and they would lose both games but the Expos still clinched the division title.

And this is the true payoff of replay. You play to inhabit this world with a good sense of how you are going to do, allowing for a miracle here and there. That wobble I alluded to earlier. And be prepared for the unthinkable, which happened. With the Expos playoff bound as I type this, I take on the Dodgers. The Yankees dispatched the Red Sox to clinch the East on the final day, and Baltimore squared off against Milwaukee to keep things very close to the Yankees until the last days. Dodgers eked out a division wins against the archrival Giants. And California won going away in the AL West. I don’t think anyone wants to face my team, which won the season matchup 8-4.

The playoffs are the bonus ball, the brass ring, everything you didn’t think you’d achieve until you realize it’s here.

I’ll share those results in the next post.

Here’s the league results for the regular season. Best-of-5 with the Dodgers up ahead. Wish me luck

Tommy John of Terre Haute IN, #25 on your scorecard, was no one’s 25th man. The longevity and similarity of his career to HOF’ers should certainly give him greater opportunity to be on a future oversight committee for election. Frankly, having passed away might even help his cause, as is the trend with some HOF elections. He’d be eligible in the Classic Baseball Era election, which goes to vote in December 2027 for 2028 induction.

Naturally when I got the news, I decided that maybe this is a good time to purchase a RC of TJ, with the idea of getting the card graded, and sell in 2028.

I know what you’re probably thinking. Dan! Where’s your ethics at?

There’s no legal ground to suggest that a ruthless, uncouth (uncouth? What’s couth?) collector shouldn’t trade on a player’s passing. Inevitably it’s one of the sure-fire ways and times a player’s card will increase in value. Reminder.... the other ways are:

First first card....HS/college/minors. Looking at you, USA Stars and Stripes set. Player’s debut in MLB and first real hot streak.
First All-Star status and playoff appearances.
Season ending major award like MVP/CYA.
Hall Of Fame election.
Some notorious event that somehow is rendered positive.
Death.

Anything else I’m missing?

If you want to be really macabre about it, take a look at this page:

I sold my Bobby Shantz card, but nothing is stopping you, dear reader from getting one, or of, say, Camilo Pascual, Bill White (man, I’m getting old), Luis Aparicio, Felipe Alou, or Bobby Richardson even Tony Kubek. Seriously.

Checking my TJ/Bob Chance card, I bought it off of eBay very soon after the Facebook post for $13.36. It’s most recent comp is already at $18. Not bad, but, again, I’m planning to sell in 2028, no matter how the election shakes out. As for grading, chatGPT intuites a 3-4 grade, not enough to eat up grading fees. So it’s a true raw long-term hold.

John’s similarity stats suggest that Jim Kaat, Robin Roberts, Fergie Jenkins and Early Wynn are practically holding the door open. But what I found, in researching the TJ candidacy was something astounding. We know the man from his longevity, and handful of elite years. But not nearly so much about Dr. Frank Jobe, whose pioneering UCL reconstruction surgery has helped hundreds of pitchers and some position players ever since, maybe some 25% of all MLB players, and perhaps a lot more in other sports.

Getting help again from ChatGPT, I compiled a list of players who were most successful measured by either batting or pitching WAR pre and post surgery. Dig this Top 25 list based on this metric:

1 Shohei!! 53.5+, nearly his entire career. This here is the most interesting notation, to me.

2 David Wells 53.5, his whole career. Not elected yet.

3 Paul Molitor, 51.7 majority of his career and the first position player to get the surgery. First ballot.

4 de Grom (49.6). Full career

5 Matt Holliday (44.4) Full career

6 Zack Wheeler (43.2) Most of his career

7 Candiotti (41.1) Full career

8 Shin-Soo Choo (33.4) Most of his career

9 Corey Seager (31.5) Majority of

10 TJ himself at 31, just about half of his career, starting at age 31. Incredible.

11 Strasburg (30.8)

12 Matt Carpenter (28.8)

13 Anibal Sanchez (28.1)

14 Adam Wainwright (16.2), about half of his career

15 Eovaldi 25.7

16 Smoltz 23.2, 1/3 of his career. HOF

17 Kerry Wood 22.8

18 Jordan Zimmerman 22.8

19 AJ Burnett 21.2

20 Tarik Skubal 21 +

21 Josh Johnson 20.9

22 Gleyber Torres 20.8

23 Yu Darvish 20.6

24 Lance Lynn 18.1

25 CJ Wilson 17.5

26 Erik Bedard 17.5

Now tell me that Dr. Frank Jobe shouldn’t be in the HOF. Go ahead.

Frankly there’s no wing for contributors to the game except those that were recognized post-haste in much earlier elections like Branch Rickey, Alexander Cartwright, Henry Chadwick, Marvin Miller. Why not a doctor whose surgery (and whose players literally shouldered the discipline of rehab) made both of them household names?

Time to build a new wing, Cooperstown!

This lot was won at $11, 39 cards in all, 28 cents a card.

This is a good looking set of cardboard for its age, nearly as old as me.

The best cards by raw value:

Ed Budde, Glen Ray Hines, Ed Podolak, Ted Kwalick, Mike Bragg, Dan Pastorini, Dave Foley (RC), Roy Winston, Lem Barney. All over $2, with Budde about $3.

These cards in particular stand out

Mike Sensibaugh, #528 and last of the set, one of the great Ohio State Buckeyes at safety, twice a national champion, leading to his 7 year career with the Chiefs and Cardinals. ChatGPT suggests this is the card I should consider grading.

A look back to 1974. Guess who does the voice-over

Dave Foley, fellow Cincinnatian (-ite? something?) two years Sensibaugh’s senior, and fellow Buckeye (1965-68), one national title, played for the Jets and Bills in a 9 year stretch. Pro Bowl member in 1973. Member of the Electric Company, working in the trenches blocking for OJ.
As for the Hank Soar reference….he was on the field for the Don Larsen perfect game as well as being crew chief of the 1969 World Series. NFL champion and All-Star participant in 1938. He definitely played in 1937, which means he squared off with the Giants against my great-uncle Herb and the Philadelphia Eagles, twice.

Jan White from Pennsylvania’s capital city of Harrisburg, also attended Ohio State in the time period, also twice a national champion, played 2 years for the Bills at tight end, making plays like this..

Steve Tannen graduated from the University Florida, played between 1970 and 1974 for the Jets at defensive back. Memorable punt block in the 1969 Gator Bowl.

And this one for the Jets:

So what do you think of these cards? All pretty good looking and 1, maybe 2 of these are potentially grade-worthy.

What’s next?
I won a few more single card HiBid lots and I’m hoping to receive them this week. Afterward, keeping watch for preorder of 2026 Topps Baseball Pro Debut.

I’m relying on ChatGPT to do the digging for me lately. It’s given me some interesting scopes. What are my parameters? Glad you asked. I ask it to look for auctions less than 250 miles away from home base, with a focus on certain sets, otherwise vintage (pre-1980) mixed sports card lots, or at least football and/or baseball. I accept other lots based on degrees of separation of these. It’s not a wide net to cast either, as I know that I do like to see descriptions that are not very accurate, with photos that aren’t very descriptive.

And so I landed on two lots from Marak Auctions, a family-run business via in Vista CA, a suburb of San Diego. Their semi-monthly auction closed on 8/9. I snapped up 2 lots of cards, all multiple cards, different sets of 1 player each.

For $10 I won 15 different Aaron Judge cards. Here they are..

Half of these cards do show up properly in penny sleeves as they are worth more of a premium, along with being a very liquid player product in the greater market. The only card that seems to command anything worthy of a premium is the Judgement Day card, about $3.

This lot of cards is fine for Judge and Yankee fans tho I will certainly want to hold onto these.

For $8 more I won these 15 Bryce Harper cards. And here they are...

Good solid base cards of Bryce here but also about $1-2 worth. I’d have no problem either holding onto these or selling. I’d consider Judge certainly more valuable and willing to hold onto.

Now here’s some lots from Miller Family Auctions again, out of Seaford DE. Neat packaging, I’ll say that.

Prime Time!

19 cards in all, averaging .12 a card based on the hammer price of 2.25. All these cards are $1-1.50, with a few beyond this. Best is the 2019 Topps Gold Label card at 2.18. Very happy to sell this lot in a team bag to a Prime Time fan. Percentage-wise this was a good pickup.

Next: 20 Pujols cards for $5, 20 cents per. Not sure that I’d want to grade any of these yet, but as I log these into sportscardpro, I will tell you I didn’t find anything here beyond $2 value anyway.

I did have trouble identifying value for 2 cards:

The scratch-off is from 2004 Upper Deck’s Diamond Collection All-Star Lineup set. This game card offered tickets to a 2004 World Series game if you were able to pick the correct starting lineup for 1 of the 2 leagues (based on votes, not manager pick).

The other one is this 2011 Donruss Elite Extra Edition card, base version.

Not a bad Pujols collection here, a good cross section of cards and a very good hammer price of $5, certainly worth flipping closer to HOF election time in 2028, no?

Next are 24 Ryno cards, scored for a total of $4.50, .28 per card Fair amount of junk wax cards, tho the 1990 Score one ticks just over $2

And then there is this one… First photo, top photo, middle left, the one that resembles a 1970’s card… here’s the back:

Sports Card Price Guide Monthly issued a series of 84 cards in 1992, mixing the 4 major sports. This is a handsome Sandberg paper card. Unsure of value.

As for grading hopefuls overall through SGC, ChatGPT suggested just one card:
Here’s a better look at the 2002 Topps Heritage Classic Renditions CR-5 card. What do you think?

Next post is devoted to a 70s football card haul that will pair nicely with a recent loved card from the same set I acquired.

Looking at the raw sales, here’s the cards I’m shooting for in order of value: Gavin Williams, Brandon Nimmo, Buxton, Yordan, Shohei, Kirby, PCA, Vargas, Pivetta, Albies, Verlander, Langford, Bichette, Riley, plus RCs of McGonigle, the Miz, Murakami, Wetherholt. That’s just the cards already priced above 2.50!

This is the last new box I unveil here until Topps Update or Pro Debut, whichever gets here first later in the year, as that countdown now starts

We’re looking at a 300-card set, Baseballcardpedia estimates 163000 base cards were produced of each player. There should be one refractor to a pack at least. Those refractors ranks from the common Green at /99 on up. Tier 1 Gimmicks count as Refractors, with less than 1000 produced. Tier 2s even rarer. Mega Box exclusives include Green, Blue, Aqua, Purple, Gold and something called Lightboard. 17k copies of common Refractors, about half that number are X-Fractors.

Onward!!

Pack 1:

Okamoto RC. Right off, I like the actual polished look of Chrome. Just translates much better than the paper standard. $2

More evidence of the same in Denzel Clarke, with the photo and X-Fractor treatment making this card pop.

Roman Anthony, Wrecking Crew subset.

Pack 2:

Bubba RC tipping his pitch. $2

Luke Weaver Refractor for $2-3

Here comes the Judge X-Fractor, good for 20.00 in the early market!

Sal Stewart X-Fractor, one of my 2026 breakout successes, already an All-Star

Julio Rodriguez in the 1991 treatment. $2-3

Pack 3

Ernie Clements X-Fractor. Telling you, these are dazzling cards.

More of the same with this Wilyer Abreu X-Fractor

Here’s our first big score, possibly, with this Gold X-Fractor of Cody Freeman, 17/50. Then again, it’s Cody Freeman, AAAA type that’s done very well down at Round Rock but not so well for the Rangers as of yet. Price tag is unknown, but the odds of pulling are 1:176.

Pack 4

Seiya Suzuki X-Fractor

Jackson Holliday Refractor. You know they are refractors because it says so on the back. $2

Murakami Future Stars card. This is the best base card of the 10-card subset (1:15 odds), $4-5 It’s also one of the absolute hottest cards and frequently sold cards in the sport’s card market, per sportscardpro.

Big Ticket Players card of The Miz, excellent design, $2-3

Pack 5

Mike Piazza in the Rivals Away (as in home/away) subset

Yaz in X-Fractor. It’s OK to call him Yaz right?

Last pack!

Nolan McLean rookie. Heard so much about him I forgot he was already a rookie last year. He also looks like a younger version of this feller

Daylen Lile Refractor. The hobby is treating these Refractors like gold. Apparently, these cards are $16.00 per one comp. But is it really a SSP to justify the price? I had projected to get 3 such cards per box and I have. Maybe this more like a nice base card.

Meanwhile I still have expectations for Carter Jensen to do well. My #1 breakout candidate among hitter is having a tough year.

Finishing out with Royce Lewis X-Fractor

How’d I do? I will say pretty good, if I relay on the early market numbers, which are of course quite volatile. Rather good pulls, but not quite break-even just yet. I’m sure that will change for the better. Gold X-Fractor is the best of these along with Judge and Lile. And with half of my cards not really trading just yet, I remain hopeful they will soon enough.

For a refresher course, here’s last month’s look

Here’s how I compiled it....

For batters, I use these categories via Fangraphs:

BABIP, xOBA, wxOBA, and Barrel%. Get a free Fangraphs account to do your own studies, it’s worth it.

Hitters for this study must not yet be 26, must have played less than half the games in the season. As of this typing, that would be a max of 56 games. I keep all results to the first page of entries from their website, which can hold 30 players. Also, hitters are limited to 174 amount of PAs (ratio of 3.1 per game)

I gave top drawer to the hitters that qualified in all 4 categories and then to 3 out of 4.

This time around we have 6 hitters, all who got into 3 of the 4.

First up is one of the two from June, Gabriel Gonzalez.

Here’s how MLB reported his call up back in June

He’s still with the AAA St. Paul Saints, batting .243/.307/.402, and there’s some idea of him being promoted to help shoulder the loss of Byron Buxton to the DL. We’ll see.

Abimelec Ortiz has gotten into two games, with this combined line score: 5 ABs, 1 R, 2 Hs, 6 TBs, 1 double, 1 HR, no BBs or Ks. In the Rangers organization since 2021 at the age of 19, traded in last year’s offseason to the Nationals. His OBP of.360 in AAA overall, improving on AA, is one reason for him reaching MLB for the first time. He did get reassigned and optioned a few times in July and even last night on 8/3 as I type this. Doesn’t strike out much, probably going to be platooned with Andres Chaparro

Hot off the presses, here’s his first big-league HR

Max Clark is a multi-year, multi-Futures Game leading prospect, so he’s no surprise to the industry. Drafted in 2023 as the overall #3 pick by the Tigers, his stint at AAA Toledo showed everyone he was saturating there and ready for the show. Thus far: 3 games, 12 at bats, 6 hits, 1 HR, 4 runs, 3 RBI.

And how about this for a debut!

Osleivis Basabe (what a great name for a broadcaster to say, just rolls of the tongue. Try it) In baseball since age 16, playing in Venezuela and then for Texas in the Dominican Summer League. He’s since been in the Rays and Giants organizations, first reaching the majors with the Rays in 2023. He’s just now making his 2nd stint in MLB with the Giants. 4 games, 10 PA, 2 runs 3 hits, 1 double, 2 HRs. 5 RBIs. His numbers really did peak at AA but he’s spent much more time to improve at AAA. Could be a part-timer for the short term; he’s also a bit injury prone but not for long stretches of time.

Here’s one of those 2 HRs from 8/1

Jordan Lawlar has also appeared on multiple prospects for about 4 years now. Overall #6 pick from 2021. Slugging is his calling card, and he’s done enough to impress Arizona to call him up for now a 3rd MLB season. Thus far he’s hitting .316/.409/.447...12 games, 44 PA, 6 runs, 12 hits, 2 doubles, 1 HR, 4 RBI, and 4 SBs, no CS. Currently on the DL due to a hamstring issue, will be back on 8/10. Struggles somewhat at 3B so he seems more reliable to be a pinch hitter or DH.

Here’s more from his initial return after being on the 60-day DL

Esmerlyn Valdez has been in the Pirates franchise since the age of 17, playing in the Dominican Summer League in 2021. This year he made good on his upgrade to AAA Indianapolis as well as his initial callup to the show. Up to 44 games played this season, 172 PAs, 27 runs 38 hits, 9 doubles, 14 HRs, 38 RBI. .262/.366/.628. No surprise he was the league’s rookie of the month for July.

And check out his range..

Dropping off the June list was Rafael Flores Jr. who still ranks in 2 of the 4 categories. He did get recalled to Pittsburgh on 7/8, then dropped onto the 7-day injured list, off that list now since 8/1. So far, hitting just .211/.348/.421 in 9 games.

We turn to the pitchers.. For this there are 6 categories: K/BB ratio, FIP, xFIP, SIERA, fastball speed, and swinging strike %. Again, no one over 25, and for this juncture in the season, no more than 68.1 IP or 11 GS.

I covered 7 players in June, and this time around we have 7 more, 4 of which got a perfect 6-6, while 3 reached 5-of-6.

Here’s the first four, in no order:

Didier Fuentes is a 21-year-old long reliever for the Braves, aiming to make his 2nd MLB callup stick. He first got here last year but was awful in 4 starts. This is his first pro ball season that he’s being used primarily out of the bullpen. The experiment is definitely working thus far: 4-1, 2.49 ERA, 38 games, 1 start, pitching 47 IP, walking 25, striking out 59.

MLB covered him in June:

Bradgley Rodriguez stays at my top level. He’s now 2-2, 3.19 ERA, 46 games, 48 IPs, 16 BBs, 51 Ks. No question, he’s the right-hander from the bullpen for the Padres.

Daniel Espino moves up to the top list from June. He did get recalled in July from Columbus. Season total is now: 6 games, 6 IP, 4.50 ERA, 4 BBs, 12 Ks. I’m not certain the Guardians have committed to keeping up in MLB for now. But the small sample on him shows he just might belong.

Jared Jones had some prospect buzz in 2024, 4 years removed from his 2nd round selection by the Pirates. He did make the show in 2024 as a rotation starter. He was injured all of 2025 and spent this season with several rehab assignment up the farm system. He returned to Pittsburgh in late May. Stats for the year so far:

2-2, 3.81 ERA, 11 starts, 52 IP, 15 BB, 58 Ks.

Oh and look what he did last week

Here are those that ranked 5-of-6, again in no order:

Grant Taylor, who drops from the top to 2nd level here. A current 2026 breakout, here’s where he’s at: 4-2, 2.40 ERA, 41 games, 11 finished, 5 SVs, 18 BBs, 76 Ks. Despite my lower ranking of him (hey, this is a good class here) he’s absolutely solid for me and deserves more of your attention.

William Kempner remains in the 2nd tier. He did get recalled by the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp (love that name). A few games later, he landed on the 15-day DL (right elbow sprain)

For the season, he’s now up to 9 games, 3 finished, no saves, 12.1 IP, with a 2.92 ERA, 4 BBs, 14 Ks. Expect him back around 8/10.

Drew Sommers also stays in the 2nd level, er, mezzanine. He’s remained up with Detroit this past month. This short reliever now has gotten into 23 games, 16.2 IP, ERA up to 4.32, 8 BB, 24 Ks.

I’ll present an update to this list first thing September.

Here’s the Google Sheet

Beckett has a good overview of the parallels.

Baseballcardpedia also covers this and other sets extremely well, odds included.

Right now here are the cards with the best raw value, no parallels: Vientos, Kwan, Bogaerts, Ketel, Team Card #661, Taylor Ward, Chris Sale, Westburg, Chaparro, RCs of Yesavage and Murakami. That’s the cards with $2 value. Yamomoto also interesting grading value. Other RCs nice to have here include Eldridge, DeLauter, Okamoto, Carter Jensen, Sal Stewart, Paul Gervase, Tatsuya Imai.

Pack 1 of 8

Pete Alonso I’ll have to get used to seeing not in a Mets uni but Baltimore. Oh well.

Taylor Ward is $2-3 in the early market for this set.

Connelly Early is one of my pitcher breakout choices, a nice RC pull at $1.50

Jack Suwinski is around $2 early.

First parallels....here’s the dreaded Stars of MLB common subset of Freeland

And this Fanatics exclusive Topps Pattern parallel, this of Josh Hader.

Pack 2

Two cards about $2...team card of the Orioles catching air

and George Kirby

Bryan Rocchio in what I think is Holo Foil, also $2

Sal Stewart RC in the 1991 throwback look, $1-2

Cameron cup card with the Topps Pattern

Chase in the Titans of the Game subset. Love the font and design here.

Pack 3

Two more cards near $2...

Yordan

and Sandy

Cam with the SMLB treatment

RC of Nick Raquet getting the Topps Pattern treatment.

Pack 4

Nice base cards for about $2 each:

Trevor Story

Andres Chaparro

First nice score of the box: JP Crawford, Topps Pattern variant, good currently for $4.

Crooked Numbers card of Skenes

Titans of the Gam card of Ramirez. Just love this.

Can’t complain, halfway home knowing I got a nice bargain and pretty good cards. But I’d love at least one numbered parallel regardless.

Pack 5

2 $2 base cards here as well

Andres Gimenez

Kyren Paris

Cody Bellinger $1-2

SLMB card of Merrill

Jesus Sanchez Topps logo card

Pack 6

4 cards with good raw value, closed to $2

Chris Sale ($2.38)

Zebby, one of my prior MLB breakout choices

Cade Cavalli

Jake Mangum

Schwarber in the SMLB treatment. If you’re wondering, of all the SMLB cards, just one of the cards in the subset has any legs, and it’s Yesavage.

Robert Stephenson Topps Logo card

All-Star card, 1991 Topps variant of Julio, about $2

Pack 7:

More $2 base cards:

Taijuan

Brandon

Grayson

Tatsuya Imai with some traction for this Topps Logo, but on the light side.

Bubba, one of my former breakout pitcher picks. Can’t say enough about this subset design. If you’re curious, Yamamoto and Yesavage are the best of them value-wise.

Onto the last, hoping for more goodness:

A few more $2-or-so base cards...

Alek Thomas

Yamamoto, on this Japanese stars base card

One more SMLB card, this of Jarren Duran

One more Topps Logo card, Brandon Lowe

Closing out with this Glove Work card of Pudge.

No real hits among the 8 packs, but the best cards for sure are Imai in the Topps Logo variant, along with the JP Crawford card of the same type, Sal Stewart (already an All-Star and a favorite player currently), and Skenes, with odds of 1:16 to score a Crooked Numbers card. The Holo Foil card of Rocchio is also pretty nice.

Next up: I’m still chasing some HiBid lots

Also: 1st or 2nd week of August is when I should receive a 2026 Topps Chrome Mega box.

Future scheduling: Preorder of Topps Pro Debut, as well as Topps Update (hobby and jumbo boxes respectively) Having sold the 3-figure Skenes card this week, I am giving myself permission to upgrade one set from hobby to jumbo. My spending will not change otherwise.

First, this 1973 OJ Simpson RC

Cost to me was $2 for this very loved card.

Now imagining a team with question marks on it. Football equivalent of the Savannah Bananas?

Raw value starts at $6 but I’d probably sell for $5...probably will do better in a lot of cards from the set and similar years. I wouldn’t mind looking for other 1973 Topps cards. I’ll hang onto it and get searching for that set.

Next this: a set of 11 1981 cards produced by Coca-Cola and NOT Topps Cost $4

Cos Cob is a real town. I remember seeing it only in news weather coverage.

The cards are in rather good shape for 45 years old. Knight might be the one card worth a premium as a raw card, tho I’m not above grading it. Frankly, based on prior comps, Bench, Knight, Concepcion and Seaver definitely pay for this little lot.

Next: A whole assortment of Pete Rose cards

That’s the first DK card, right there.

How about that 1989 Topps scowl?
The 1979 card is not written on. Earlier owner wrote on the penny sleeve.

Cost: 5

Research suggests that for all the filler and fun cards of Charlie Hustle, it’s the PATCH that is special.

The patch is issued by Penn Emblem, dated 1978-1979. It is actively traded on the market and this red border one is actually pretty common. It looks pristine, no evidence of stitching, glue, trimming, anything. I’m selling cards and patch separately.

Next: Assorted Topps Chrome numbered cards

Real parallels, but not actual autos Cost $5

Zebby is in the Platinum Toile Cream Rose Gold (oooh la la) variant, 31/75. Not sure of the value, but ChatGPT suggests 8-12

Tirso Ornelas, Green Vibes Refractor, 69/99 maybe 4-7

Derrek Lee, Topps Logo Refractor, /499 probably 2-3

Ian Happ, same as Lee

Next: two sets of assorted numbered cards. Cost were $4 for each set

This set is 10 cards. All the cards are worth #1-3. The Verlander card looks like the best of the lot, $4-5

For the 8-card set:

That big honking SAMPLE print on the Kid card makes this interesting. Could go for 5-8
The 1998 Leaf card of Walker might be 3-5.
All else are somewhat less and I might bundle them. The other Griffey card could be 3.

Finally, this 1988 MLB rak pak Got it for a $2 steal. Wasn’t necessary, just nice to have. I don’t think it was even worth mentioning in here anyways.

I paid a total of $32.50 I expect to flip pretty much the whole thing and double.

I owe you a MLB 2026 breakout update
Also: I buy a 20-year-old wax pack inspired by Substack
Also also:

300 cards with 50 SPs in the checklist. I paid about $30 for these 48 cards; 8 packs a box, 6 cards a pack. We’ll call it .60 a card. There are the usual varied parallel and matching mini parallels. Card value has largely fallen off to 1.31 per thus far. Notably these cards are ahead of the raw value: Tony La Russa, Luis Arraez, Beltre, Raines, Shohei, Livvy Dunne, Ichiro, Reggie, Drew Nix, Ben Rice RC, Royce Lewis, Kershaw, Sway Calloway, Don Larsen, Judge.

I’ll just share the best cards from each pack.

Pack 1

Drake Baldwin RC

Big Amish RC..

Clemente Mini is the best pull here... $2 and actually really nice score if it reaches grade 10 for someone.

Wicked Curves subset card of Andy.

Not shown but nice to have: Base cards of Brock and Aaron.

Pack 2:

Not much here but Ivan Rodriguez

And this Phil Niekro Mini

Others in the pack: Lindor, Pujols Sweet Victory card, Ketel, and actress Jamie Chung (The Real World, Samurai Girl, others).

Pack 3:

Kevin Alcantara in Silver Filagree

Drew Thorpe RC

Blake Snell Wicked Curves card

Cody Bellinger in Mini Gold

Also appearing: Base cards of Oneil Cruz, and Pedro Martinez.

Pack 4

Shota Imanaga

And this lighthouse mini, with its claim to fame on the reverse

Also appearing: Actress Emma Roberts, David Festa, Yogi, Eddie Murray Sweet Victory subset

Pack 5:

Skylar Astin (Pitch Perfect, Pitch Perfect 2, So Help Me Todd)

Silver card of Julio

Jack Morris Wicked Curves

Jacob Wilson Mini

Also: Campy (Roy Campanella, kids), Roki

Pack 6

Ty Cobb

Kerry Wood Wicked Curves

Ryan Bliss Mini

Also appearing: Mookie Betts, Carlos Beltran, Griffin Conine

Pack 7

Kris Bryant Sweet Victory subset

Aaron Nola Mini

Also: Base cards of Thome, Denzel Clarke, Alex Bregman, Devers

Last pack

Catching a base Trout

Bryan Cranston (Seinfeld, Malcolm In The Middle, Breaking Bad)

Jarren Duran Mini

also: Blyleven, Seiya Suzuki, Luis Gonzalez Sweet Victory subset

No expectations for great cards from this blaster, but at least, card-for-card, the values do improve on my original cost. The Drake Baldwin and Kurtz RCs, and the Clemente Mini are definitely the best cards.

The other cards not profiled I may just sell off as a lot, but I’ll hold onto the ones you see here.

Dustin Harris 2022 Bowman Paper Prospects BP-119, Purple Refractor, numbered 25/250. I’m actually surprised I included this card. He’s proven to remain a part-timer with the Astros after his short stint with the Chisox and coming up within the Texas franchise.

Raw price is about $4 based on the most recent comp on eBay but that was last year.

RESULT 9.5 MT+

Very nice to get this grade. In comparison from this set, the standard Julio Rodriguez RC that I have is $4 with grade 9 at 9.62. His Purple variant is $23 at grade 9.

I just don’t know what to value this card as, as Dustin hasn’t quite broken through like I thought he would. No confirmed graded sales yet.

Next is Walter Jenkins, from the Topps 2024 Pro Debut set, one of the 4 autographs I was very lucky to gather. Walker had been a #2 prospect by MLB and has spent of 2026 with the AAA St. Paul Saints.

Current raw value of this card is $61.

RESULT: TEN!!! My first ever

Well, the autograph says 10, then 9 after that.

If it’s truly a 10, then this card is worth $142! I haven’t located any sales of an SGC 10 card yet...maybe this is the first??

And as he’s yet to break, which seems a certainty, this card will go up further for at least a while. He’s still considered the future cornerstone of the Twins franchise, and if he stays healthy, could help the Twins with a playoff bush. Definitely untradeable.

Gavin Williams, 2024 Topps Baseball Stars Auto, 148/199.

Curiously I don’t see a parallel numbered to 199 in sportscardpro, but I do see /99. Gavin’s having a nice year, 10-5, 4.00 for the Guardians. Leads the league in K/9 with 10.9. Definite improvement in BB/9, this after leading the league in walks last year. Looking on Baseballcardpedia, indeed the Black version of the cards are numbered to 199. Maybe a typo. Raw version is $7.20... Here goes...

RESULT: TEN!

Or....10/9, whatever that is.

Well if this is an SGC 10, I’m not quite sure how to rank this one. The other autograph cards around his raw value of this parallel at best are at $50.

So is this actually a 9? Anyone know?

So much for the modern cards...

Next is Casey Stengel from the 1959 Topps set. I originally paid under $1 for this card. It’s currently $10-11 in its raw cardboard state.

Result: 3 That only increases the value to about $15, so this one is a loss.

Tell you what, including this handsome card back, it’s still an artistic wonder.

Historic comps from the last 4 years show just 1 sale a year, checking at 10, 7.50, 23 and 15.

Final card to look at is this 1969 AL HR leaders card, with Killebrew, Frank Howard and Reggie, from the 1970 Topps set. Raw value is about $4

Result 7! I’ll take that, as that defines collector’s grade. The number of the decade matches the grade.

This card is now up to about $30 and that is a small profit. Comps from the last 3 years has seen it grow from 20, and peaking last year at $40.

Summing up: I definitely profited from the process, with a total of $260 based on comps, and with Jenkins, it can get considerably better.

PS:

I showed the cards and cardbacks to ChatGPT..

It thinks the Jenkins card is excellent and would make a nice sale at $150 but it’s definitely a hold, at least for the short term. Why the autograph grade of 9 I’m not sure.

Gavin: More uneven ink like Jenkins, maybe keeping it from being a 10. He’s performing well enough to catch digital eyeballs. Suggested price to sell is $50. Sure, makes sense. Not a long term hold.

Dustin: Fair verdict with the 9.5. Probably can go for $20, and the sooner the better.

Casey: Solid vintage, a good-looking 3 if there ever was one. The SGC tux look makes it better. Could sell for $30.

HR Leaders: Biggest positive surprise here $50 might be nice for the star appeal.

But don’t take ChatGPT’s word for it, eh? What do you think? Fair grades, and suggested prices?

Coming up: ONE more box purchase.

Also: Waiting on a mysterious mixed card lot

Also also: Topps Chrome 2026 Mega Box to arrive soon. Not a Watch yet.

As stated in the prior post, it’s a tiny spinoff from seeing the worst WAR-based players by position in the game’s history, and seeing the Doug Flynn cards reminded me of the OPC cards alongside the Big Three at the time. I wondered how lucky I might get to find a pack from the 198-1984 period at a reasonable price.

These 2 packs plus shipping cost me $36.35. That’s 24 cards, 1.51 per, plus 40-year-old gum, if you so desire. Thanks to SMR Collectibles for a smooth purchase and shipping experience.

A complete set of 396 cards would set you back about twice that. Big cards to get by far are the RCs of Mattingly and Strawberry. I’d actually go out on a limb to get either graded.

Others, well you know the names: Sandberg. Ryan. Rickey. Ripken. Flanagan. Boggs. Checklist (uhh. yeah. Checklist). Joe Price. Ozzie. Larry (not Lance) Parrish (I get them confused too). Terry Kennedy. Mickey Rivers. Rose. Cobra. Sutter. Those are all the cards with amazing grading potential if I go that route, and with raw value at $2.50 +. Yeah there are others with that potential, but I’m not thinking that far yet.

Here’s what I see as I open up.

Is that gum sharp or is OPC happy to see me? Do we call it a peek-a-boo, see-through, or what?

As I handle the cards, I can feel its sharpness, the residue and smell of the tightly-packed secret formulas of sugars and flavorings in the 42 year old gum. Geez, I need a shower just typing this.

Silent Steve’s card contains traces of gum stain. Oh well.

Matt Young’s card appears to have the refurbished Yankee Stadium in the background. Facade.

The card that absorbed the gum war was this bonus card, or ‘carte boni de baseball’. What’s this about? The text within describes a mail-order process to get a bonus 5-card set. Basically if you collect 5 of these, you can choose from one of these 8 sets. Which would you have gone with? I’d choose No. 8

Chrome-coated, huh? Are those special cards out on the Web somewhere? Anyone know? Bueller?

Now, le deuxième paquet de cartes

A cleaner Carlton card but best $2-3 raw.

Chili…

…con Carney. Only on this Substack.

No real scores here. Even the Carlton cards had some gum exposure and Rickey suffered a bit of natural damage within the pack. Otherwise, decent cards. But it’s fun to rip, and that’s largely the point, no?

I decided on something that is more of a fun oddity that I hope will be worthy of your perusal. I thought of including a list of the worst players at each position in history, at least in terms of offensive WAR. For context and small bias, I’m including players (live-ball era). with stats from 1920 to the present. The player must have played at least half of the games at one position. The main yardstick, for convenience, is WAR. The more negative, the better.

As a side component to this post I will also list the worst per position in the WPA/LI stat, which I feel is also a good metric to understand name recognition, clutch and leverage and how it applies to these woebegone players.

FIRST BASE

WAR: Archi Cianfrocco (-4.0)

WPA/LI Walter Holke (-6.2)

Angelo Dominic Cianfrocco was active as a borderline part/full time player for the Expos 1992-3, and the Padres 1993-1998, then a year in Japan. Lifetime .241/.292/.379 hitter, 34 homers, 185 RBI. Best season was his rookie campaign in 1992 but frankly indistinguishable from his full career. One playoff appearance in 1996.

Walter Holke played part of his career during the dead-ball era, with the Giants from 1914 to 1918, then the Boston Braves 1919-1922, Phillies 1923-25, and the Reds for part of 1925. Played in the infamous 26-inning tie game of 5/1/1920. Lifetime .287/.318/.363 hitter. His own lifetime WAR is -0.3, appearing in 1212 games. Full time player from 1917 to 1925. Played in the 1917 World Series. Top 100 player for putouts overall, as well as for 1B.

SECOND BASE

WAR Doug Flynn (-6.9)

WPA/LI Flynn (-21.8)

Doug I remember from playing for the gosh-awful Mets. But this is not necessarily a shitpost about him. Part of the Big Red Machine 1975-77, Mets 1977-1981, Rangers for 1982, Expos 1982-1985, Tigers in 1985. 2 championship rings with the Reds in 1975 and 1976, and a Gold Glove in 1980. Top 100 player in Range Factor and Fielding for 2B. But WAR is about hitting and, I suppose we talk ‘good field no hit’ here. In 1309 games, lifetime .238/.266/.294. Yikes. Best of the bad seasons was 1980, his Gold Glove year. He was part of the 4 player trade to the Mets that gave Cincinnati no less than the Franchise, Tom Seaver.

SABR has a neat article from 2014 about his career in baseball.

SHORTSTOP

WAR Jim Levey (-7.2)

WPA/LI Alfredo Griffin (-30.4)

Levey was active from 1930 to 1933, in 440 games for the St. Louis Browns. .230/.272/.305. Somehow he got some MVP votes in 1932. ChatGPT says that 44 players (45 seasons) had a negative WAR and got MVP votes as well. Lowest: Ken Wood, -2.1 (bWAR) in 1950, 2 votes. Most recent was Delvi Cruz and Tony Womack in 1997, each getting votes.

Also notable for Levey is that he was active as a Marine for several years before getting into baseball, and he played in the NFL for the Pirates, 1934-1936.

Griffin was with the Indians 1976-78, Blue Jays 1979-84, Athletics (1985-87, Dodgers 1988-91, Blue Jays again 1992-93. All Star in 1984, 4 WS rings (1988, 1992, 1993, and 2002 while as a coach for the Angels of Los Angeles County. Also a Gold Glove in 1985. His actual WAR was 3.0. In 18 years, he was in 1962 games, with a .249/.285/.319 slash average. Somehow was ROY in 1979 in his first full-time role. Played every game in 1982 and 1983. You’ve got to be mighty aggressive on the bases to not rank in the top 100 in SBs (192 steals), and still rank Top 50 in CS (134) Also, top 100 in assists, putouts, DPs and errors at shortstop lifetime.

THIRD BASE

WAR Kim Batiste (-4.4)

WPA/LI Aurelio Rodriguez (20.7)

Batiste was with the Phillies 1991-1994 and the Giants of 1996. 658 games, .234/.250/.318 for this part-time player. Appeared in the 1993 postseason.

Rodriguez got around: 1967-70 with the Angels, 1970 with the Ted Williams-managed Senators of 1970, his established career with the Tigers 1971-1979, Padres in 1980, Yankees in 1980-81, White Sox in 1982, Orioles in1983, White Sox again in 1983. Gold Glove in 1976. Also is in the Mexican Baseball HOF. A long career for someone you might not remember....2017 games, .237/.275/.351. And a 15.1 WAR. It’s the leverage that does him in. But he is much better remembered for defense. Top 100 in games, assists, fielding %, total zone runs, putouts and DPs turned at 3B.

CATCHER

WAR Bob Clarke (-6.1)

WPA/LI Brad Ausmus (-20.3)

Clarke never played in MLB, but his Negro League stats do count. Richmond Giants in 1922, Baltimore Black Sox 1923 and 1925-1932, New York Black Yankees 1933-1940, Baltimore Elite Giants 1941-1946, and also with the Black Yankees in 1948. All-Star in 1940. Lifetime .215/.274/.268 in 609 games as a part-timer.

Ausmus was with the Padres 1993-96, Tigers in 1996, Astros 1997-1998, Tigers 1999-2000, Astros 2001-2008, Dodgers 2009-2010. All-Star in 1999, with 3 Gold Glove awards. 1971 game, .251/.325/.344. Much better reputation for his fielding. Best seasons were 1999 and 2000. WAR lifetime 16.5. Top 100 in many stats for the position on the defensive side as well as overall defensive WAR. Surely a Veterans Committee should give Ausmus a shot at a plaque. But, you know, the hitting.....When you ground in 201 DPs...that’s not so great.

LEFT FIELD

WAR: Dee Brown (-2.9)

WPA/LI Woody Jensen (-6.8)

Dermal Bram Brown played for the Royals 1998-2004, then the Athletics in 2007, then 2 seasons in Japan. 814 games, .233/.280/.333.

As for Forest Docenus Jensen, he played just for the Pirates 1931-39. Led the league in PA and AB in 1936. .285/.307/.382 over 738 games. Top 50 in Range Factor for LF’ers.

CENTER FIELD

WAR: Karl Olson (-5.0) played for the Red Sox in 1951 through 1955 (1952 military), Senators in 1956-57, and Tigers 1957. In 279 games, batted .235/.278/.316. Full time player only in 1954 and 1956.

SABR fills in more of his rich MLB life story here

WPA/LI: Rick Manning (-11.2) Indians 1975-83, and Brewers 1983-87. Gold Glove winner in 1976. Best known currently as the longest tenured commentator in team history for Indians/Guardians shows, starting in 1990. Actual WAR a decent 11.8, with his best years coming in his youth, in 1975 and 1976. He remained a full time player for his entire career. 1555 games in all, .257/.317/.341. Top 100 ranking for Range Factor, putouts and errors at CF.

RIGHT FIELD

WAR Faye Throneberry (-3.7)

Marvelous Marv’s older brother played for the Red Sox in 1952 and then 1955-57, then the Senators from 1957 to 1960, staying with the franchise at it expanded westward to Los Angeles in 1961. Not bad, being a teammate of the Splendid Splinter, but was a full time player there in his rookie campaign, then did 2 years of military service. In fact, that suggests Faye shared an outfield part of the time with the aforementioned Karl Olson.

I asked ChatGPT about the number of games both shared an OF, and asked further about Teddy Ballgame being in the same game with them (I mean, they could have at least learned something from the man, right??). Also might have done likewise with the Senators in 1957. I’ll provide ChatGPT’s answer below.

521 games, getting more full time work in Washington but that was about it. .226/.297/.343. If you’re wondering, Marv was primarily a 1B fielder, and scored a lifetime .3 WAR between 5 teams and 480 games.

WPA/LI: Jesus Also (-7.1) One of the Alou brothers, and a very successful baseball family at that, even sharing an outfield for one game. Not at all terrible. 1963-68 for the Giants, Astros 1969-73, Athletics 1973-74, Mets in 1975, and Astros again in 1978 and 1979. 2 WS rings with the Athletics. Actual WAR of .8, in 1380 games, hitting .280/.305/.353. Just nothing outstanding at the plate or even on the field to distinguish himself.

DESIGNATED HITTER (you had ONE job)

WAR: Danny Goodwin (-1.7)

WPA/LI: Goodwin (-1.5)

Amazing that he got drafted twice first overall, in 1971 and then 1975, having had a sparkling college career. He got the fast track within the Angels organization, but never got to be a full-time player. Angels in 1975 and 1977-78, Twins 1979-81, Athletics 1982, and 1 year in Japan. 252 games, .236/.301/.373

Member of the College Sports Hall Of Fame.

MLB profiled him in 2024

I actually have one card of his from 1982, still under 2 bucks (cheap).

So, moral of the story, give that Doug Flynn card some more love (I don’t mean creases), or at least a 2nd look.

While we’re at it, I thought to look for some of his OPC cards, alongside his older ones. And, I thought, why not search for some intact OPC packs from the early 80s? Well, dear reader, I sought out and recently purchased 2 packs. That will be the subject of a future post, once they arrive.

Oh, here’s the answer to the question about sharing teams....

Cianfrocco and Ausmus played together with the Padres between 1993 and 1996. The team went from a 61-win season in 1993 to 91 wins and a playoff berth in 1996. Only Ausmus was the full-timer of the two, 1994 and 1995. In 1996 Archi had to take a backseat to Wally Joyner, and Ausmus likewise to John Flaherty and Brian Johnson.

Alfredo Griffin and Rick Manning played for the Indians between 1976 and 1978. 1976 saw Manning and Buddy Bell power the offense, while Griffin was relegated to a 3rd-string DH role, behind a soon-retiring Frank Robinson and starter Rico Carty. 1977 saw Manning back up starter Jim Norris, while Griffin was backup SS to starer Frank Duffy and main utility man Larvell Blanks. 1978: Manning became the starting CF’er, and Griffin was 4th string SS, behind starter Tom Veryzer, and utility men Ted Cox and the aforementioned Blanks.

Olson and Throneberry indeed shared time with the 1955 Boston Red Sox, then again with the 1957 Senators. As for Williams, well, they never shared an OF in the same game, but came close in one game, this one:

What a game, huh?

Here then is my take on the 8 participants as we look at pitch stats along with pitch stats at Citizens Bank Park to determine who should at least make the final.

JUNIOR CAMINERO

Pitches: 4832

PA: 1273

HR: 80

I homer every 60 pitches

CBP stats: No homers in 13 PAs.

JAC CAGLIANONE

Pitches: 2155

PA: 577

HRs: 22

1 homer every 219 pitches.

3.73 pitches per PA

CBP:

1 HR in 10 PAs. So that’s about 1 in about 37 pitches there.

Here was that HR:

https://www.mlb.com/video/jac-caglianone-homers-6-on-a-fly-ball-to-right-center-field-michael-masse?partnerId=web_video-playback-page_video-share

BEN RICE

4290 pitches

1098 PAs

62 HR

1 homer every 69 pitches.

3.9 pitches per PA.

CBP: 1 HR in 7 PAs. That means he saw only 27 pitches.

And here is that HR:

https://www.mlb.com/video/zack-wheeler-in-play-run-s-to-ben-rice?partnerId=web_video-playback-page_video-share

Love the swing, love the Michael Kay ‘see ya’

WILLSON CONTRERAS

18002 pitches

4639 PAs

192 HRs

1 homer every 93 pitches

3.88 pitches per PA.

CBP: 2 HRs in 51 PAs. That’s about 198 pitches for those 2 HRs.

Here were those bell-ringers...oh oops, not for the home side!

https://www.mlb.com/video/willson-contreras-solo-home-run-x9871?partnerId=web_video-playback-page_video-share

That was 2022. Now for 2021:

https://www.mlb.com/video/willson-contreras-homers-19-on-a-fly-ball-to-center-field?partnerId=web_video-playback-page_video-share

Do you know, as much I kinda tolerated the siren and the apple at Shea, and the Big Ben chimes at Yankee Stadium, I get a bigger charge of the Citizens Bank Park bell with each HR, that marvelous structure that swings, flashes and intones deeply, once for each RBI. And also multiple times at the end of a winning Phillies game. I really think it’s tops, and it might be my slight PHI bias.

JORDAN WALKER

5283 Pitches

1430 PAs

49 HRs

1 HR every 107 pitches.

3.69 pitches per PA.

Also 0-13 at CBP

BRYCE HARPER

31852 Pitches

8068 PAs

383 HRs

1 HR every 83 pitches.

3.94 pitches per PA.

CBP of course is home for him:

2252 PAs

128 HRs.

That translates to 1 HR every 69 pitches there.

And here’s one of them

https://www.mlb.com/video/bryce-harper-homers-1-on-a-fly-ball-to-right-center-field-4ZMjXa?partnerId=web_video-playback-page_video-share

KYLE SCHWARBER

24520 Pitches

5793 PAs

372 HR

1 Schwarbomb every 65 pitches.

4.23 pitches per PA.

CBP:

1657 PAs

122 HR

That becomes 1 HR every 57 pitches here.

Here’s one of those

https://www.mlb.com/video/kyle-schwarber-homers-56-on-a-fly-ball-to-right-center-field?partnerId=web_video-playback-page_video-share

MUNETAKA MURAKAMI

1123 pitches

255 PAs

20 HR

1 HR every 56 pitches

4.40 pitches per PA

Never hit at CBP

Putting this all together:

Murakami might be the real wild card here, seeing his frequency of lifetime HRs and never hitting here before. Junior, Rice and Schwarber also have great power ratios lifetime.

The only 2 I can throw out here are Contreras and Walker.

Ben Rice and Schwarber should meet for the final but I’m most curious about Murakami, and even Cags who does have the best ratio of the 8 at CBP alone.

I don’t gamble like I used to but as a betting person, you might want to consider Ben Rice. I like Bryce also but I think he’s a bit outclassed of this field.

Cringe yet?

But this is what we did as kids, and maybe as older kids before we were distracted by hormones (or even, gosh! meet someone we really liked that also shared the love), we were all about our bikes, our books, our time outside, our TV or radio inside, and....if you were still interested it it by age 12, especially the nerd back there watching....your card collection.

I grew up pretty much the same way, and had no concern for how cards were treated. I don’t even know how they even left my collection but I did know that they were an active representation of the game I loved...a game I attempted to play at Little League at 10, a game that give me a nice distraction from all the other things in my life...some of the strife at home and school that forced little ol’ me to create my own psychological worlds. Sometimes it’s a necessary defensive mechanism, even when those you trust bring you down. I think I started with a 1982 MLB sticker album, the same way there is the big deal of collecting the World Cup stickers today, with the trappings of rare colored stickers so you must by more. The MLB album simply had 2 tiers, with maybe 8 stickers for each team. And it nearly got full, 25 cents for 5 stickers at a time. Boy those were times.

The fellow baseball-card channel Beauty Of A Game has a weekly look into cards that are well-loved called, well “Well-Loved Wednesday”. You know those cards...the one you left behind to rot, maybe run over by a wheel, accidently set fire to, cut up (purposely? How? Why?) Those cards that maybe get a 1-3 rating, if at all, by PSA and the like. Ask me how I know.

Differentiating from miscut cards (a neat oddball, but even a miscut card with mint standard should be valuable), the loved ones are really only loved intrinsically by those who own them. Unless you don’t mind a bit. You might not love getting those loved cards, but it’s understood, they’ve likely been around for longer than your lifespan. Do you still keep them, or pass them on, and be sure to treat them gently?

Such is what happened in my latest HiBid haul. I scored 7 team lots of players which seem pretty good on paper, hoping to get a diamond in the rough. $51.20 worthBut the auction house description did not quite accurately describe the reality. Lots of spelling errors and bad references. Signed cards? Pre-printed ones. Typing in capital letters? Sorry, that’s kid stuff. Do a listing the right way, even if you have to borrow AI to do it, just find a good template, be accurate and don’t try to cast glamor on those stones just because they seem to look pretty, taking the love for what it might not be. Hey, sometimes on HiBid, a misspelling or a weird reference can hide better stuff. But this was almost a misrepresentation, and not just in words.

I don’t even want to call out the auction house name here. I just know they are local, and they made a decent promise.

I open up the package and I see packages of cards without sleeves. Actually, Saran wrap, with an extra slice of duct tape over them.

I decided to show off a few cards from each team, some of the better looking cards, and then a few of the really loved ones .....yeesh...My turn to cringe.
Deep breath…

Twitchell was an All-Star in 1973, part of a career that was active completely in the 70’s. Longest tenure by far was as long reliever for the Phillies.

Epstein with the putout of an unknown Angel. MVP vote-getter in 1969 for Washington, and 1972 for Oakland. Led the league in HBP in 1971.

Fergie doesn’t even like the creases.

Or this miscut.

Rangers draftee in 1973, first rounder. Lifetime 18-33, 4.63 ERA, 3 seasons with the Rangers, 2 seasons in the minors, then 2 more seasons with Cleveland. Wiki says he was a budding Sandy Koufax, draftee from HS first overall (Brien Taylor and Brady Aiken the only other ones) but Clyde the only one to break through to MLB. Similarity scores suggest that his best comparisons per age that were HOF-ers include Cool Papa Bell and Hal Newhouser.

And if you played the Play Ball game with this set, good job, you got a single.

Mac made himself Scarce from the league after 1978 (Sorry about that one!). Phillies 1972-4, Mets in 1975, Twins in 1978. 6-19, 3.69 ERA. 21 SVs. Part of a trade with Don Hahn, Dave Schneck and Tug McGraw for Del Unser and John Stearns to the Mets.

Dowtown Ollie Brown! Still in the Top 100 all-time for defensive games as RF as well as assists. Career started with the Giants in 1965 (must be neat to share an outfield with the Say Hey Kid), then a charter member of the Padres, a spell with the Athletics, Brewers, Astros, then the last 4 seasons with the Phillies.

Dick Ruthven pitched for Philly, Atlanta and the Cubs between 1973 and 1986. All Star selection in 1976 (tho he’d lead the league in losses and ERA), and 1981 (leading in ER). Lifetime 123-127, 4.14 ERA.

Randy pitched between the 1973 and 1982 for the Padres and the Mets. All-Star, MVP and Cy Young candidate in 1975 and 1976. Lifetime 100-123, 3.42 ERA. 17th all-time in range factor per 9 IP as P.

Carlos May played between 1968 and 1977 playing for the White Sox and Yankees. .274/.357/.392 All-Star selection in 1969 and 1972. MVP candidate in 1972 and 1973. Top 100 ranking in fielding % and assists for LF. Younger brother of Lee May.

Skip got into 59 lifetime games, 8-8, 4.53 ERA. Pitches for the Giants in 1970, minor leagues after, and the White Sox in 1974-5. Converted to a reliever and then back to a starter, he was known for an unusual windup.

Pat played for 5 teams between 1967 and 1981, and was an All-Star with the White Sox in 1973. 250 SBs, but also 118 CS. Lifetime .264/.353/.377 Not to be confused with t

Danny Cater played for 6 teams between 1964 and 1975. MVP votes in 1968. Top 100 in 1B fielding % and total zone runs.

Rico attended my high school…he and Mark Roth the best known athletes in the school’s history. Yes, Mark Roth was a bowler, he counts. Rico had a solid career with the Red Sox, but falls victim to this miscut. See, I don’t mind miscuts. I just wonder who he shares this card with!

Bernie played 12 seasons, mostly for Boston, St. Louis and Cincinnati, between 1969 and 1980. 2nd in ROY voting in 1970, losing to Carl Morton. Favorably comparable to Larry Walker at age 24. If I believe Wikipedia, it suggests he was also a casualty of the reality of playing in the 70s, what with off-field issues and drugs and the like.

No Diego, no!
Won the ERA title in the AL in 1970. Played for 6 teams from 1962 to 1977. One of those teams was the forerunner of the Rangers, the single-season Seattle Pilots of 1969. 92-111, 3.81 ERA, 71 SV. Passed away last year.

Miller was a Red Sox player 1971 to 1977 and 1981 to 1985, Angels from 1978 to 1980. Gold Glove recipient for OF in 1978. Top 100 career Range Factor for OF.

Ah….the Spaceman. Did you see his first appearance with the Savannah Bananas?

I’ll just do the right thing and give these cards a good home, give them team bags and price them, put them on eBay, take any considerable offer.

I start with the mighty Fangraphs website.

For batters, the same categories, Barrel %, XOBA and XWOBA, and BABIP. Batters at this juncture of the season must have played in less than half of the season’s games (40 was my high cutoff point). Also, players must be under 26. I kept the results to the top 30 entries and filtered it down to the game requirement, or total PAs not more than 135 (3.1 per game). I thought it would be prudent to just profile just those that ranked in all 4 categories or 3 out of 4. Just 2 names surface:

Rafael Flores Jr. catches for Pittsburgh, activated to the show briefly this month. Currently back in AAA Indianapolis. While up in MLB, he went 2-for-3 (I know, I know), one double and one HR and 2 BB. Not shabby! Top C for the Pirates’ farm teams, ready to blossom at age 25, and pretty hefty at 6’3” and 232 lbs.

MLB.com: “It took a while for Flores to get noticed as a college player. He spent two years at Cypress JC in California, took a year off and then played a third season at the JUCO level at Rio Honda (Calif.). The Yankees saw him playing summer ball for the Alaska Goldpanners and signed him for $75,000 in 2022 as a nondrafted free agent. Things started to click for him when he hit 21 homers and earned Yankees Minor League player of the year honors in 2024. He kept on slugging at Double-A in 2025 and moved up to Triple-A before being the key prospect in the David Bednar deal at the Trade Deadline. Flores finished the year with 22 total homers and made his big league debut with the Pirates.”

Don’t sleep on this kid. I guess he’ll come back up if there’s an injury to starting catchers Henry Davis or Endy Rodriguez.

Gabriel Gonzalez drew 2 BBs and got 1 hit in his MLB debut for the Twins vs Boston on 5/22. Currently back with the AAA St. Paul Saints. He remains the team’s #6 prospect

MLB.com “..Gonzalez has always displayed innate contact skills from the right side of the plate, even in his down 2024 season, carrying a career 15.3 percent strikeout rate into the 2026 season. While he’s always going to be a very aggressive hitter, he actually upped his walk rate a bit in 2025 while trimming that K rate even further. He still chases too much, especially on softer stuff, but he did a better job last year of pairing those hitting traits with sneaky damage and power.” He tore up AA pitching and has leveraged his earlier pro career with solid numbers in AAA. This corner OF and 1B should be back up soon, and looking forward to it.

For the pitchers, 6 categories: K/BB ratio, FIP, XFIP, SIERA, fastball velocity, swinging strike %. Pitchers at this point of the season should have started no more than 7 games, or pitched a total higher than 50 IPs.

Longer list here with 2 automatics:

Bradgley Rodriguez was on my radar in terms of card market orientation. Following up on a 2025 season for the Padres, 7 entered, 1.17 ERA, with great /9 ratios, he continues to be strong for the Padres. This season, 31 games, 34 innings, 2.10 ERA, numbers slightly off from 2025 but improving on BB/9. He did get optioned to the Arizona Complex League, then was assigned to the San Antonio Missions in AA, maybe for just a bit more seasoning. He seems rather ready for MLB.

Grant Taylor already exists as a 2026 breakout. Thus far, 31 games for the Chisox, 4 games started, 7 finished 3-1, 2.83 ERA, 2 SVs. Solid K/9 ratio of 13.2 in his short career. It isn’t exactly fair to say there’s more to come but, hey, did you vote for him an All-Star yet? Probably not. There’s always next year.

As for those with 5 of 6

William Kempner is shuttling back and forth between Miami for the Marlins and Jacksonville. 6 games entered, 9 IPs, allowing just 3 hits, striking out 10. Another one to watch carefully.

Drew Sommers also doing the shuttling thing, between Detroit and Toledo. Thus far for the Tigers: 11 games, 3 holds from 7 innings, striking out 10 batters. ERA is, well, Blutarsky...0.00.

Jake Bennett has started 6 games for Boston, going 2-3, 3.27 ERA, 7 BB, 25ks over 33 IP.

Dig this

Love the player, still hate the uniform.

Edgardo Henriquez is out of rookie status now. 3rd different season at the MLB level for the Dodger, and his busiest yet: 30 games, 3 finished, 2-0, 2.84 ERA, 10BBs, 33 Ks over 31.2 IP, as a good setup man.

Here’s a memory from last season

Daniel Espino, well the jury is still out but curiously the particular metrics do mention him as a contender. But don’t take my word for it. Read on:

Here’s the Google Sheet with details

I will probably revisit this at the end of July, August and at the end of the season.

Looking back to that blaster, generally the base prices per card have definitely risen. Of the cards I scored then, Cooper Rummel is best at 2.25. A few cards had already been graded by others (Coleman Borthwick, Jason Marll Jr, Damian Rivas, Zion Rose). My best card there is Jackson Hoyt for 17.50 in a Fireworks red variant, and numbered to 225. It does sway the set to profit status but I’ve heard nearly anything from him except playing in a summer league. Also, Alton Davis II (green variant) for 3.36 but is having a rough time of it in A ball. Research suggests that Daniel Dickinson is already in High-A for the Brewers. Kyle Walter from the Opening Day subset is also pro at High A. Joey Volchko is the current MLB #73 prospect with a huge game during the College World Series. Zion Rose is ranked #31st in the Combine. Jared Grindlinger is also mentioned on Perfect Game and the Combine, while Steven Milam will go back to LSU for 2027.

This is the reality of buying into high school and college players. The hype and risk are bigger but it’s quite the score if and when a few break through.

Let’s look far ahead with this one, a 2026 USA Baseball Stars & Stripes Panini Prizm Mega Box (whew). And lookit! Zion is one of the poster kids for this one.

Early market prices already out among the 2026 card set for William Haggerty, Vahn Lackey, Yaniel Diaz, Roch Cholowsky, Cam Kozeal, and Ryder Hefnick. So, not much to go on here. For brevity’s sake, we’ll focus on the parallels and big hits. I mean, there’s a bunch promised, which is the watchword here, promise. I mean, these are just kids!

The future awaits us, 4 cards at a time:.

I paid $42.92 for 40 cards, so we’ll call it $1.07 per.

Pack 1

Brogan Witcher, Green variant

Call him “B-Witch” if you like. He’s already committed to South Carolina and the Gamecocks as a 2027 grad. Here’s more about his decision to transfer

Trey Beard in the equally base Silver variant.

In the Combine, no notes from him but here’s recent video of what he can do with his changeup

He ranks at #126 on mlb.com for draftees.

Also, base cards of James Clark and AJ Gracia

Pack 2:

Enrique Bradfield patch! He was a first-round draft pick by the Orioles in 2023, and finished last year at AAA along with the Arizona Fall League. Currently the #8 prospect within the organization, and is positioned closest to make it to the show. Ranked twice as a Top 100 prospect by Baseball Prospectus, played in the 2025 Futures Game. Still playing a range of levels for the Orioles but mainly AAA Norfolk this year. His AA numbers are still better, so unless desperate, not sure he’ll get the call this year. Yet.

Here’s MLB.com coverage of his growth from the offseason

Cooper Collins in Green I’ve got no notes for him. I see he’s played for Davidson and now committed to Texas A&M, as a 2027 grad. Stats so far under the Mendoza. Don’t know what to think of him yet.

Vahn Lackey already a $5 base card Vahn is of the big deals here, as a catcher. Projected top 3 overall pick in the draft.

Atlanta media already hip to the hype

Also: Liam Peterson base card

Pack 3:

Charlie Sarsfield in Silver. Committed to Arkansas through 2027. MVP of the World Junior Championships.

Prizmatic insert of Ethan Holliday. Currently at Single A Fresno for the Rockies in the California League, 2nd year running for the 19-year-old. Good numbers so far .254/.381/.492 combined seasons. He’s the #15 prospect by mlb.com and best of the Rockies. Projected to get to the show by 2029.

Here’s more about the latest Holliday to go pro

Also: base cards of Ricky Lopez and Chris Rembert

Pack 4:

Ace Reese, All-American in Green, ready to save the day But is Reese really Ace? 20+ HRs in his first 2 seasons with the Georgia Bulldogs of the SEC. Might be a Top 20 pick by all accounts. Projected to go to the Marlins at #14 by mlb.com Ranked 21st prospect by MLB

Here’s more about him. I don’t have Combine results from his appearance tho

Cade Allen in Silver. I’ve no notes of this Tennessee grad. Nothing from mlb.com or elsewhere suggests what’s going on with him.

Also: Tyler Bell, AJ Ciscar

Pack 5:

Nolan Traeger in Green variant. Performed well for Texas Christian, but has yet to make the adjustment to the Cape Cod League. This catcher already has committed to Arkansas, who have a number of new faces alongside his.

Coleman Borthwick (that name is familiar, huh?) in Orange Ice, 146/199, first parallel pull today. A few of his parallels are moving, just not this one. Yet. Outside chance of making the first round of the draft next month, so he could go to a contending team. MLB Prospect #35. In fact MLB.com says “....while Borthwick can get a little east-west with his delivery, something very correctable, he shows the ability to pitch to all four quadrants effectively. He’s a power-hitting corner infielder who could get the chance to do both should he go on to Auburn, but he profiles as the kind of high-ceiling arm that goes early enough to forego heading to campus.”

Also: Cooper Gornet, Matthew Werner base cards.

Mood so far: Pretty good. Nothing huge, but the market of course is still very early on these players. A lot will change with the draft.

Oh and I love the design and the packaging. How about you?

Pack 6

Brody Crane patch card. I can’t find much ink on him, unfortunately. New graduate who has also committed to Arkansas.
Ebay comps per my direct query suggests this patch sells $3-4, more to the upside.

Jaden Freeze in Silver He was on Team USA and has pitched in both domestic and international tournaments. Among the best pitchers out of Pennsylvania.

Also: Brady Buenik, Orion Gonzalez

Pack 7:

Matthew Sharman in Silver . Not finding anything very specific yet except he did attend the Combine.

Prizmatic card of Carter Shouse. Graduates high school in 2028. No school commitment. 2024 14U Select Fesival player.
This card seems to be $2-3

Also: Will Brick, Cullen Scott.

Pack 8

The aforementioned Zion Rose, Green variant. Catcher, junior in HS. Projected late first-round pick. Currently #31 MLB Prospect. MLB.com says “Though Rose was one of the more intriguing high school catchers in the 2023 class, he went undrafted because of his commitment to Louisville. The Cardinals wanted to take full advantage of his offensive potential and athleticism, so they made him a full-time outfielder. One of just six NCAA Division I players to total at least 30 extra-base hits and as many stolen bases in 2025, he led Louisville to the College World Series before playing for the U.S. collegiate national team.”
This card already trading $1-2.

Fireworks insert of Braden Montgomery. #21 MLB Prospect and the White Sox’s #2 prospect. MLB.com’s take: “Scouts considered Montgomery more of a hit-over-power guy when he was a Mississippi prepster, but he now is most notable for his plus-plus raw power, the product of lightning-fast bat speed. A switch-hitter who was far more effective from the left side in college, he tightened his righty stroke and posted an .875 OPS against southpaws last year. He doesn’t chase pitches out of the zone excessively, but the next step will be to improve his selectivity and thus his quality of contact after generating twice as many ground balls than flyballs in 2025.”

Most importantly, he’s already at the show! Got the call-up on 6/9, and is hitting .246/.302/.439.

Also appearing: Tristin Gaines, Jackson Flora

Pack 9:

Jacob Wilson, All-American, in Silver. AS, ROY and MVP votes last year for the Athletics. That’s all!

Chase Fuller in Silver. No notes on him just yet.

Also: Eric Becker, Liam Peterson

Last pack:

Bryan Ravelo, Green variant. 2022 select festival player. Junior in high school, committed to Louisiana State.

Finally an autograph! Caden Borcherding, Silver variant

Junior in high school, 2021-203 select festival player. Will graduate in 2027, committed to Clemson

Also: Base cards of Landon Mack and Jameson Wilhite.

Ultimately a pretty good mega box. The draft will sort out the unknowns but it will take a while.
Next up: Not too early to look toward 2027
Also: Getting into some HiBid boxes, about time for that.
Also also: Redemption for Topps Series 2 as I get into some of its Fat Packs.

I decided to list here every state and territory and see who are the most successful players from each area, both all-inclusive, and then active players only. I made separate top-3 lists for primary batters and primary pitchers (inclusive of relievers)

Consider this your living reference guide!

I used the stats used from www.baseball-reference.com, where I was able to rank players by WAR

I compiled the stats all month and pubished today 6/25/26. Since there are some players I noted that are active, your results might vary.

For the non-ASG list I looked to the players who played the majority of their career after 1932.

This list is to celebrate baseball’s best per state, and highlight the town or area he is from.

ALABAMA

Batters:

Willie Mays, from Westfield 156.18

Henry Aaron, from Mobile 143.22

Ozzie Smith, also from Mobile 76.92

Curiously, Ozzie was both 8 months after Aaron’s debut!

Top 7 primary batters on the list are HOF members. Top player not on that list: Willie Wilson, from the capital city of Montgomery (also my mom’s birthplace!), 46.12

Top hitter with no ASG selection: Bill Bruton (Panola) 26.40

Top active hitter: Gunnar Henderson (Montgomery) 22.08

Pitchers:

Don Sutton, from Clio 68.29

Early Wynn, from Hardford 51.52

Jimmy Key from Huntsville 49.00

Top non-HOF player: Key

Top player with no ASG: Ivy Andrews (Dora) 19.08

Top active: Craig Kimbrel (Huntsville) 22.52

ALASKA (just 12 batters and 6 pitchers in their list)

Top 3 batters, all from Anchorage:

Josh Phelps 3.20

Randy Kutcher 1.87

Steve Staggs .64

No HOFers among the 12 batters

Top player, no ASG: Phelps

Top 3 pitchers, all from Anchorage:

Curt Schilling 80.52

Shawn Chacon 6.77

Tony Barnette and David Williams, 2.51 (also best with no ASG appearance)

None from this state are active.

ARIZONA

Top 3 batters:

Ian Kinsler (Tucson) 53.82

Cody Bellinger (Scottsdale) 33.91

JJ Hardy (Tucson) 28.15

No HOF members

Best without ASG: Solly Hemus (Phoenix) 25.95

Best active: Bellinger

Pitchers:

Top 3

John Denny (Prescott) 31.10

Alex Kellner (Tucson) 12.45

Bob Howry (Phoenix) 10.72

No HOF’ers

Best without ASG: Denny

Best active: Kyle Bradish (Peoria) 8.17

ARKANSAS

Top 3 batters:

Brooks Robinson (Little Rock) 78.32

Arky Vaughan (Clifty) 77.71

Willie Davis (Mineral Springs) 60.77

Top non-HOF player: Davis

Top non-ASG player: Kevin McReynolds (Little Rock) 30.10

Best active:Can’t locate any active player with positive WAR at this moment

Top 3 pitchers:

Dizzy Dean (Lucas) 43.91

Cliff Lee (Benton) 42.52

Lon Warneke (Mount Ida) 42.09

Top non-HOF: Lee

Best with no ASG: Ellis Kinder (Atkins) 30.89

Best active: Jakob Junis (Jacksonville) 10.58

CALIFORNIA (most players of any state)

Top 3 batters

Barry Bonds (Riverside) 162.78

Ted Williams (San Diego) 121.73

Joe DiMaggio (Martinez) 78.92

Top non-HOF besides Bonds: Graig Nettles (San Diego) 67.97

Best with no ASG: Tim Salmon (Long Beach) 40.59

Best active: Freddie Freeman (Villa Park) 65.30

Pitchers:

Tom Seaver (Fresno) 106.02

Randy Johnson (Walnut Creek) 103.52

Dennis Eckersley (Oakland) 62.25

Best non-HOF: Cole Hamels (San Diego) 57.94

Best with no ASG:Tom Candiotti (Walnut Creek) 42.31

Best active: Gerrit Cole (Newport Beach) 43.27

********************

COLORADO

Top 3 batters:

Chase Headley (Fountain) 26.80

John Stearns (Denver) 19.68

Johnny Frederick (Denver) 16.58

Best non-HOF: Headley

Best no-ASG: Headley

Best active: Will Brennan (Colorado Springs) 0.08 (really)

Top 3 pitchers

Roy Halladay (Denver) 65.38

Rich Gossage (Colorado Springs) 41.62

Kevin Gausman (Centennial) 30.02

Best non-HOF: Gausman

Best no-ASG Kyle Freeland (Denver) 18.25

Best active: Gausman

CONNECTICUT

Top 3 hitters:

Roger Connor (Waterbury) 84.24

Jim O’Rourke (Bridgeport) 52.27

George Springer (New Britain) 41.80

Best non-HOF: Springer

Best no-ASG: Jay Johnstone(Manchester) 16.51

Best active: Springer

Pitchers:

Bill Hutchison (New Haven) 41.16

Red Donahue (Waterbury) 29.38

Charles Nagy (Bridgeport) 24.81

Best non-HOF: Hutchison

Best non-ASG: Jared Hughes (Stamford) 8.51

Best sactive: Scott Barlow (New London) 8.46

DELAWARE

Top 3 hitters:

Paul Goldschmidt (Wilmington) 65.01

Delino DeShields (Seaford) 24.39

Hans Lobert (Wilmington) 22.53

Best non-HOF: Goldschmidt

Best no-ASG: Delino DeShields

Best active: Goldschmidt

Pitchers:

Sadie McMahon (Wilmington) 43.62

Chris Short (Milford) 31.40

Webster McDonald (Glasgow) 19.21

Best non-HOF: McMahon

Best no-ASG McDonald

Best active: Mason Fluharty (Lewes) 0.52

DC

Top 3 hitters:

Maury Wills 39.69

Lu Blue 37.64

Art Devlin 36.71

Best non-HOF: Wills

Best no-ASG: Milt Thompson 18.61

Best active: None. Not a one.

Top 3 pitchers:

Doc White 48.51

Nip Winters 23.49

Johnny Klippstein 13.64

Best non-HOF: White

Best no-ASG: Klippstein

Best active: Nope.

FLORIDA

Top 3 hitters:

Chipper Jones (DeLand) 85.26

Tim Raines (Sanford) 69.46

Andrew Dawson (Miami) 64.82

Best non-HOF: Manny Machado (Hialeah) 61.30

Best no-ASG: Scott Fletcher (Fort Walton Beach) 31.92

Best active: Machado

Top 3 pitchers:

Steve Carlton (Miami) 84.11

Zack Greinke (Orlando) 72.37

Chris Sale (Lakeland) 59.45

Best non-HOF: Greinke

Best no ASG: Alex Fernandez (Miami Beach) 27.68

Best active: Sale

GEORGIA

Top 3 batters

Ty Cobb (Narrows) 149.84

Frank Thomas, Big Hurt (Columbus) 73.82

Johnny Mize (Demorest) 70.39

Best non-HOF: Tony Phillips (Atlanta) 50.91

Best no ASG: Phillips

Best active: Matt Olson (Atlanta) 42.65

Top 3 pitchers:

Kevin Brown (Milledgeville) 68.21

Tim Hudson (Columbus) 56.54

Kenny Rogers (Savannah) 50.53

Best non-HOF: Brown

Best no ASG: Dylan Cease (Milton) 18.16

Best active: Zack Wheeler (Smyrna) 42.23

HAWAII

Top 3 batters

Shane Victorino (Wailuku) 31.42

Kolten Wong (Hilo) 22.94

Kurt Suzuki (Wailuku) 19.60

Best non-HOF: Victorino

Best non-ASG: Wong

Best active Isiah Kiner-Falefa (Honolulu) 16.72

Pitchers:

Charlie Hough (Honolulu) 39.03

Sid Fernandez (Honolulu) 31.41

Ron Darling (Honolulu) 18.84. I wonder if the Mets properly played up the common HI angle between the 2 players during their time together? I can’t quite recall.

Best non-HOF: Hough

Best non-ASG: Milt Wilcox (Honolulu) 13.01

Best active: Kirby Yates (Lihue) 8.35

IDAHO

Top 3 hitters:

Harmon Killebrew (Payette) 60.44

Vance Law (Boise) 10.55

Bill Salkeld (Pocatello) 7.80

Best non-HOF: Law

Best non-ASG: Salkeld

Best active: Kyle Manzardo (Couer d’Alene) .94.

Pitchers:

Larry Jackson (Nampa) 52.56

Jason Schmidt (Lewiston) 31.70

Vern Law (Meridian) 26.04

Best non-HOF: Jackson

Best non-ASG: Matt Lindstrom (Rexburg) 4.58

Best active: Michael Stefanic (Boise) 0.06

ILLINOIS

Top 3 hitters:

Rickey Henderson (Chicago) 111.18

Robin Yount (Danville) 77.36

Jim Thome (Peoria) 72.94

Best non-HOF: Fred Lynn (Chicago) 50.17

Best non-ASG: Billy Rogell (Springfield) 25.53

Best active: Danny Jansen (Elmhurst) 11.77

Pitchers:

top 3 pitchers:

Robin Roberts (Springfield) 83.02

Rick Reuschel (Quincy) 68.08

Joe McGinnity (Cornwall) 62.36

Best non-HOF: Reuschel

Best non-ASG: Fritz Ostermueller (Quincy) 35.95

Best active: Brent Suter (Chicago) 6.69

INDIANA

Top 3 hitters:

Scott Rolen (Evansville) 70.12

Kenny Lofton (East Chicago) 68.39

Billy Herman (no, no known relation to me) (New Albany) 57.41

Best non-HOF: Lofton

Best non-ASG: Kevin Kiermaier (Fort Wayne) 36.21

Best active: Colson Montgomery (Holland) 5.21

Top 3 pitchers:

Amos Rusie (Mooresville) 64.85

Tommy John (Terre Haute) 62.08

Mordecai Brown (Nyesville) 57.21

Best non-HOF: Tommy John

Best non-ASG: Freddie Fitzsimmons (Mishawaka) 33.59

Best active: Sean Manaea (Valparaiso) 14.20

IOWA

Top 3 batters

Cap Anson (Marshalltown) 94.33

Fred Clarke )Winterset) 69.06

Dave Bancroft (Sioux City) 50.43

Best non-HOF Hal Trotsky (Norway) - 29.68

Best non-ASG: Trotsky

Best active Derek Hill (Des Moines) - 0.89

Top 3 pitchers

Red Faber (Cascade) -67.39

Bob Feller (Van Meter) 65.19

Dazzy Vance (Orient)- 62.94

Best non HOF Earl Whitehill (Cedar Rapids) 36.11

Best non-ASG Kevin Tapani (Des Moines) - 29.21

Best active Michael Wacha (Iowa City) 20.85

KANSAS

Top 3 batters

Johnny Damon (Fort Riley) - 56.33

Joe Tinker )Muscotah) - 52.65

George Grantham (Galena) 33.78

Best non-HOF: Damon

Best non-ASG: Mitch Webster (Larned) 14.34

Best active: Can’t find anyone over 0.00 yet

Top 3 pitchers

Walter Johnson (Humboldt) 155.38

Claude Hendrix (Olathe) 25.49

Mike Torrez (Topeka) 23.75

Best non-HOF: Hendrix

Best non-ASG: Torrez

Best active: Blake Treinen (Wichita) 12.07

KENTUCKY

Top 3 hitters:

Pee Wee Reese (Ekron) 68.44

Bobby Veach (St. Charles) 49.10

Earle Combs (Pebworth) 44.94

Best non-HOF: Veach

Best non-ASG: Austin Kearns (Lexington) 12.99

Best active Will Smith (Louisville) 23.57

Top 3 pitchers:

Jim Bunning (Southgate) - 69.38

Gus Weyhing (Louisville) 47.29

Carl Mays (Liberty) - 43.67

Best non-HOF: Weyhing

Best non-ASG: Don Gullett (Lynn) 16.66

Best active: Walker Buehler (Lexington) 12.63

LOUISANA

Top 3 hitters:

Mel Ott (Gretna) 110.71

Reggie Smith (Shreveport) 64.58

Will Clark (New Orleans) 56.48

Best non HOF: Smith

Best non ASG: Zeke Bonura (New Orleans) 21.06

Best active Josh Smith (Baton Rouge) 7.43

Top 3 pitchers

Ted Lyons (Lake Charles) 66.77

Andy Pettite (Baton Rouge) 60.67

Chuck Finley (Monroe) 58.32

Best non HOF: Pettitte

Best non-ASG: Ben McDonald (Baton Rouge) 20.81

Best active Aaron Nola (Baton Rouge) 35.60

MAINE

Top 3 hitters:

George Gore (Saccarappa) 39.94

Freddy Parent (Biddefore) 35.75

Harry Lord (Porter) 16.49

Best non-HOF: Gore

Best non-ASG: Ryan Flaherty (Portland) .92

Best active: Cannot find an active player above zero.

Top 3 pitchers:

Bob Stanley (Portland) 23.85

Bill Swift (Portland) 18.92

Irv Young (Columbia Falls) 11.50

Best non-HOF: Stanley

Bet non-ASG: Swift

Best active: Cody Lawyerson (Bingham) 0.08

MARYLAND

Top 3 batters

Babe Ruth (Baltimore) 182.62

Cal Ripken Jr (Havre de Grace) 95.93

Al Kaline (Baltimore) 92.79

Best non-HOF Mark Texeira (Annapolis) 50.52

Best non-ASG: Billy Werber (Berwyn) 25.75

Best active Bryan Reynolds (Baltimore) 23.80

Top 3 pitchers:

Lefty Grove (Lonaconing) 113.24

Vic Willis (Cecil County) 67.70

Bobby Matthews (Baltimore) 62.64

Best non HOF: Matthews

Best non-ASG: Geoff Zahn (Baltimore) 20.47

Best active: Josh Hader (Millersville) 15.23

MASS

Top 3 hitters:

Jeff Bagwell (Boston) 79.88

Joe Kelley (Cambridge) 49.75

Jimmy Ryan (Clinton) 44.48

Best non-HOF: Ryan

Best non-ASG: Richie Hebner (Boston) 32.98

Best active Mike Yastrzemski (Andover) 17.16

Top 3 pitchers

Tim Keefe (Cambridge) 89.14

John Clarkson (Cambridge) 84.98

Tom Glavine (Concord) 73.95

Best non-HOF: Charlie Buffinton (Fall River) 60.73

Best non-ASG Bump Hadley (Lynn) 35.23

Best active: Sean Newcomb (Brocton) 6.13

MICHIGAN

Top 3 batters

Charlie Gehringer (Fowlerville) 84.60

Bobby Grich (Muskegon) 71.08

Ted Simmons (Highland Park) 50.37

Best non-HOF: Grich

Best non-ASG: Kirk Gibson (Pontiac) 38.41

Best active: Tommy Edman (Pontiac) 19.08

Top 3 pitchers:

John Smoltz (Detroit) 66.40

Hal Newhouser (Detroit) 60.07

Eddie Cicotte (Springwells) 57.74

Best non-HOF: Cicotte

Best non-ASG Steve Gromek (Hamtramck) 22.57

Best active: Hunter Brown (Detroit) 10.50

MINNESOTA

Top 3 batters:

Paul Molitor (St. Paul) 75.70

Dave Winfield (St. Paul) 64.20

Joe Mauer (St. Paul) 55.59

Best non-HOF: Kent Hrbek (Minneapolis) 38.63

Best non-ASG: Jim Eisenreich (St. Cloud) 13.22

Best active: Michael Busch (Inver Grove Heights) 8.83

Top 3 pitchers:

Jerry Koosman (Appleton) 56.96

Jack Morris (St. Paul) 43.61

Charles Bender (Crow Wing County) 42.81

Best non-HOF: Koosman

Best non-ASG: Bill Gullickson (Marshall) 23.63

Best active: Caleb Thielbar (Northfield) 5.54

MISSISSIPPI

Top 3 batters

Chet Lemon (Jackson) 55.63

Ellis Burks (Vicksburg) 49.81

Buddy Myer (Ellisville) 48.29

Best non-HOF: Lemon

Best non-ASG: Oil Can Boyd (Meridian) 17.27

Best active: Jake Mangum (Flowood) 2.09

Top 3 pitchers:

Roy Oswalt (Kosciusko) 49.91

Claude Passeau (Waynesboro) 43.46

Reb Russell (Jackson) 22.58

Best non-HOF: Oswalt

Best non-ASG: Guy Bush (Aberdeen) 22.00

Best active: Brandon Woodruff (Tupelo) 18.38

MISSOURI

Top 3 batters

Ken Boyer (Liberty) 62.83

Jake Backley (Hannibal) 61.36

Zack Wheat (Hamilton) 60.22

Best non-HOF: Boyer

Best non-ASG: Clete Boyer (!) (Cassville) 27.79

Best active: Jake Burger (St. Louis) 5.92

Top 3 pitchers:

Pud Galvin (St. Louis) 83.25

Max Scherzer (St. Louis) 73.70

Carl Hubbell (Carthage) 68.83

Best non-HOF: Scherzer

Best non-ASG: Darren Oliver (Kansas City) 19.99

Best active Scherzer

MONTANA (27 total)

Top 3 batters

John Lowenstein (Wolf Point) 9.93

Ed Bouchee (Livingston) 8.31

John Gibbons (Great Falls) .16

Best non-HOF: Lowenstein

Best non-ASG: Lowenstein

Best active: none

Top 3 pitchers:

Dave McNally (Billings) 24.79

Joe McIntosh (Billings) 1.78

Codi Heuer (Missoula) 1.25

Best non-HOF: McNally

Best non-ASG: McIntosh

Best active: Heuer

NEBRASKA

Top 3 batters:

Wade Boggs (Omaha) 91.44

Sam Crawford (Wahoo) 75.93

Richie Ashburn (Tilden) 64.31

Best non-HOF: Alex Gordon (Lincoln) 34.80

Best non-ASG: Bob Johnson (Omaha) 8.28

Best active: Jake Meyers (Omaha) 7.36

Top 3 pitchers:

Grover Alexander (Elba) 116.89

Bob Gibson (Omaha) 81.70

Mel Harder (Beemer) 48.47

Best non-HOF: Harder

Best non-ASG: Joba Chamberlain (Lincoln) 7.63

Best active: Jason Adam (Omaha) 9.50

NEVADA

Top 3 batters:

Bryce Harper (Las Vegas) 55.06

Kris Bryant (Las Vegas) 27.33

Tommy Pham (Las Vegas) 18.31

Best non-HOF: Harper

Best non-ASG: Pham

Best active Harper

Top 3 pitchers:

Barry Zito (Las Vegas) 33.05

Tyler Anderson (Las Vegas) 16.92

Jim Nash (Hawthorne) 9.97

Best non-HOF Zito

Best non-ASG Nash

Best active Erick Fedde (Las Vegas) 5.79

NEW HAMPSHIRE

Top 3 batters

Arlie Latham (West Lebanon) 30.51

Red Rolfe (Penacook) 28.90

Harry Bernis (Farmington) 7.45

Best non-HOF: Latham

Best non-ASG: Jared Triolo (Nashua) 5.30

Best active: Triolo

Top 3 pitchers

Chris Carpenter (Exeter) 35.24

Mike Flanagan (Manchester) 25.53

Stan Williams (Enfield) 23.78

Best non-HOF: Carpenter

Best non-ASG: Ian Hamilton (Dover) 1.95

Bests active: Hamilton

NEW JERSEY

Top 3 hitters

Mike Trout (Vineland) 90.37

Derek Jeter (Pequannock) 71.29

Goose Goslin (Salem) 65.78

Best non-HOF: Trout

Best non-ASG: John Briggs (Paterson) 24.01

Best active: Trout

Top 3 pitchers:

Al Leiter (Toms River) 42.51

Andy Messersmith (Toms River) 37.55

Kid Gleason (Camden) 32.96

Bet non-HOF: Leiter

Best non-ASG: Bill Hands (Hackensack) 30.02

Best active: Zac Gallen (Somerdale) 19.78

NEW MEXICO

(only 35 players total)

Top 3 hitters

Ralph Kiner (Santa Rita) 48.11

Vern Stephens (McAlister) 46.29

Alex Bregman (Albuquerque) 44.85

Best non-HOF: Stephens

Best non-HOF: Cody Ross (Portales) 13.49

Best active: Bregman

Top 3 pitchers:

Duane Ward (Park View) 10.15

Steve Ontiveros (Tularosa) 8.65

Trevor Rogers (Carlsbad) 8.40

Best non-HOF Ward

Best non-ASG: Ken Giles (Albuquerque) 7.55

Best active: Rogers

NEW YORK

Top 3 batters

Eddie Collins (Millerton) 123.71

Alex Rodriguez (New York) 117.41

Lou Gehrig (New York) 113.51

Best non-HOF: Rodriguez

Best non-ASG: John Valentin (Mineola) 32.53

Best active Harrison Bader (Bronxville) 17.46

Top 3 pitchers:

Warren Spahn (Buffalo) 92.59

Old Hoss Radbourn (Rochester) 73.20

Jim Palmer (New York) 67.57

Best non-HOF: Orel Hershiser (Buffalo) 51.35

Best non ASG John Tudor (Schenectady) 34.13

Best active : Patrick Corbin (Clay) - 14.19

NORTH CAROLINA

Top 3 batters

Luke Appling (High Point) 76.95

Enos Slaughter (Roxboro) 57.35

Mark Grace (Winston-Salem) 46.43

Beset non-HOF: Grace

Best non-ASG: Trot Nixon (Durham) 21.23

Best active Corey Seager (Charlotte) 44.07

Top 3 pitchers:

Gaylord Perry (Williamston) 93.03

Hoyt Wilhelm (Huntersville) 49.69

Wes Ferrell (Greensboro) 48.84

Best non-HOF: Ferrell

Best non-ASG Mike Caldwell (Tarboro) 18.95

Best active: Bailey Ober (Huntersvile) 10.95

NORTH DAKOTA

Top 3 batters:

Darin Erstad (Jamestown) 32.29

Travis Hafner (Jamestown) 24.82

Truck Hannah (Larimore) 2.45

Best non-HOF: Erstad

Best non-ASG: Hafner

Best active: none

Top 3 pitchers

Rick Helling (Devils Lake) 20.95

Matt Strahm (West Fargo) 11.09

Lynn Nelson (Sheldon) 4.30

Best non-HOF Helling

Best non-ASG Helling

Best active: Strahm

OHIO

Top 3 batters

Mike Schmidt (Dayton) 106.88

Pete Rose (Cincinnati) 79.61

Barry Larkin (Cincinnati) 70.53

Best non-HOF: Rose

Best non-ASG: Bill Doran (Cincinnati) 32.79

Best active: Kyle Schwarber (Middletown) 21.49

Top 3 pitchers:

Cy Young (Gilmore) 165.85

Roger Clemens (Dayton) 138.67

Phil Niekro (Blaine) 96.96

Best non-HOF: Clemens

Best non-ASG: Tim Belcher (Mt. Gilead) 26.73

Best active: Chris Bassitt (Toledo) 18.32

OKLAHOMA

Top 3 batters

Mickey Mantle (Spavinaw) 110.26

Johnny Bench (Oklahoma City) 75.14

Paul Waner (Harrah) 74.55

Best non-HOF: Bob Johnson (Pryor) 55.47

Best non-ASG: Hank Thompson (Oklahoma City) 30.76

Best active: JT Realmuto (Del City) 38.94

Top 3 pitchers

Harry Brecheen (Broken Bow) 41.29

Bullet Rogan (Oklahoma City) 37.32

Willis Hudlin (Wagoner) 30.60

Best non-HOF: Brecheen

Best non-ASG Hudlin

Best active Ryan Heisley (Tahlequah) 7.49

OREGON

Top 3 batters

Dale Murphy (Portland) 46.51

Ken Williams (Grants Pass) 42.58

Johnny Pesky (Portland) 34.05

Best non-HOF: Murphy

Best non-ASG: Wally Backman (Hillsboro) 13.16

Best active: Adley Rutschmann (Portland) 16.52

Top 3 pitchers

Mickey Lolich (Portland) 47.89

Syl Johnson (Portland) 29.39

Larry Jansen (Verboort) 23.07

Best non-HOF: Lolich

Best non-ASG Jeremy Guthrie (Roseburg) 18.76

Best active Ryan Thompson (Turner) 2.52

PENNSYLVANIA

Top 3 batters:

Honus Wagner (Chartiers) 132.75

Stan Musial (Donora) 128.54

Ken Griffey Jr. (Donora) 83.82

Best non-HOF: Buddy Bell (Pittsburgh) 66.34

Best non-ASG: Dick Groat (Wilkinsburg) 36.81

Best active: Ian Happ (Pittsburgh) 24.500

Top 3 pitchers:

Christy Mathewson (Factoryville) 100.60

Eddie Plank (Gettysburg) 88.06

Mike Mussina (Williamsport) 82.78

Best non-HOF: Jamie Moyer (Sellersville) 49.95

Best non-ASG Ron Kline (Callery) 20.22

Best active David Bednar (Pittsburgh) 7.12

RHODE ISLAND

Top 3 batters:

Nap Lajoie (Woonsocket) 108.70

Gabby Hartnett (Woonsocket) 55.28

Hugh Duffy (Cranston) 43.14

Best non-HOF: Davey Lopes (East Providence) 42.35

Bet non-ASG: Chris Iannetta (Providence) 14.87

Best active: No one currently

Top 3 pitchers

Clem Labine (Lincoln) 14.25

Andy Coakley (Providence) 11.22

Tom Lovett (Providence) 10.33

Best non-HOF: Labine

Best non-ASG: Johnny Conney (Cranston) 9.18

Best active: Brandyn Garcia (Newport) 0.19

SOUTH CAROLINA

Top 3 batters

Willie Randolph (Holly Hill) 65.94

Joe Jackson (Pickens County) 61.47

Larry Doby (Camden) 56.78

Best non-HOF: Randolph

Best non-ASG: Mookie Wilson (Bamberg) 22.36

Best active: Eli White (Greenville) 2.15

Top 3 pitchers:

Bobo Newsom (Hartsville) 51.24

Van Mungo (Pageland) 30.75

Billy O’Dell (Whitmire) 22.57

Best non-HOF: Newsom

Best non-ASG: Bobby Bolin (Hickory Grove) 16.76

Best active: Emilio Pagan (Simpsonville) 6.05

SOUTH DAKOTA

Top 3 batters:

Mark Ellis (Rapid City) 33.50

Dave Collins (Rapid City) 15.78

Jason Kubel (Belle Fourche) 4.05

Best non-HOF: Ellis

Best non-ASG: Ellis

Best active: None currently

Best 3 pitchers:

Jim Scott (Deadwood) 27.74

Floyd Bannister (Pierre) 26.43

Keith Foulke (Ellsworth Air Force Base) (!) 20.76

Best non-HOF: Scott

Best non-ASG: Terry Forster (Sioux Falls) 18.57

Best active: None currently

TENNESSEE

Mookie Betts (Nashville) 75.83

Todd Hellton (Knoxville) 61.77

Turkey Stearnes (Nashville) 54.82

Best non-HOF: Betts

Best non-ASG: Rick Dempsey (Fayetteville) 25.16

Best active: Betts

Top 3 pitchers:

Tommy Bridges (Gordonsville) 51.62

Noodles Hahn (Nashville) 45.46

Bob Caruthers (Memphis) 44.69

Best non-HOF Bridges

Best non-ASG Chuck Taylor (Shelbyville) 12.09

Best active: Sonny Gray (Smyrna) 34.63

TEXAS

Top 3 batters

Tris Speaker (Hubbard) 136.07

Rogers Hornsby (Winters) 127.40

Frank Robinson (Beaumont) 107.24

Best non-HOF: Norm Cash (Justiceburg) 52.05

Best non-ASG: Randy Velarde (Midland) 24.93

Best active: Trevor Story (Irving) 35.08

Top 3 pitchers:

Greg Maddux (San Angelo) 104.79

Nolan Ryan (Refugio) 83.60

Clayton Kershaw (Dallas) 78.13

Best non-HOF: Kershaw

Best non-ASG: Danny Darwin (Bonham) 40.28

Best active: Nathan Eovaldi (Houston) 25.78

UTAH

Top 3 batters:

Duke Sims (Salt Lake City) 12.78

Chris Shelton (Salt Lake City) 3.90

Gordon Slate (Salt Lake City) 1.99

Best non-HOF: Sims

Best non-ASG: Sims

Best active: Billy Cook (Layton) 0.44

Top 3 pitchers:

Bruce Hurst (St. George) 34.53

Ed Heusser (Salt Lake County) 9.21

Gordon Rhodes (Salt Lake City) 6.43

Best non-HOF: Hurst

Best non-ASG: Heusser

Best active: Tanner Banks (Riverton) 2.57

VERMONT

Top 3 batters

Carlton Fisk (Bellows Falls) 68.45

Larry Gardner (Enosburg Falls) 47.69

Daric Barton (Springfield) 8.90

Best non-HOF: Gardner

Best non-ASG: Barton

Best active: None so far

Top 3 pitchers

Ray Collins (Colchester) 24.55

Ray Fisher (Middlebury) 21.33

Lee Viau (Corinth) 11.59

Best non-HOF Collins

Best non-ASG: None!

Best active: also, nada

VIRGINIA

Top 3 batters

David Wright (Norfolk) 49.13

Paul Hines (unknown, but def VA) 44.94

Jud Wilson (Remington) 35.06

Best non-HOF: Wright

Best non-ASG: BJ Upton (Norfolk) 16.47

Best active: Brandon Lowe (Suffolk) 20.57

Top 3 pitchers

Justin Verlander (Manakin Sabot) 82.28

Eppa Rixey (Culpeper) 57.33

Deacon Phillippe (Rural Retreat) 35.79

Best non-HOF: Verlander

Best non-ASG: Jim Beattie (Hampton) 14.82

Best active: Verlander

WASHINGTON

Top 3 batters

Ron Santo (Seattle) 70.54

Ryne Sandberg (Spokane) 67.95

John Olerud (Seattle) 58.14

Best non-HOF Olerud

Best non-ASG: Earl Torgeson (Snohomish) 33.08

Best active: Corbin Carroll (Seattle) 19.13

Top 3 pitchers:

Jon Lester (Tacoma) 43.51

Ed Brandt (Spokane) 27.50

Blake Snell (Seattle) 25.04

Best non-HOF: Lester

Best non-ASG: Brandt

Best active: Snell

WEST VIRGINIA

Top 3 batters

George Brett (Glen Dale) 88.61

Jack Glasscock (Wheeling) 61.57

Jesse Burkett (Wheeling) 60.82

Best non-HOF: Glasscock

Best non-ASG: Steve Yeager (Huntington) 17.88

Best active: None currently

Top 3 pitchers:

Wilbur Cooper (Bearsville) 48.67

Lew Burdette (Nitro) 25.51

Win Mercer (Chester) 23.63

Best non-HOF: Cooper

Best non-ASG: Max Butcher (Holden) 17.81

Best active: Nobody

WISCONSIN

Top 3 batters:

Al Simmons (Milwaukee) 68.24

Ed Konetchy (La Crosse) 48.58

Lave Cross (Milwaukee) 45.87

Best non-HOF Konetch

Best non-ASG: Jim Gantner (Fond du Lac) 22.45

Best active: Daulton Varsho (Marshfield) 19.23

Top 3 pitchers:

Kid Nichols (Madison) 118.95

Addie Joss (Woodland) 47.68

Burleigh Grimes (Emerald) 46.70

Best non-HOF: Brad Radke (Eau Claire) 45.61

Best non-ASG Jarrod Washburn (La Crosse) 27.72

Best active Pete Fairbanks (Milwaukee) 4.07

WYOMING

Top 3 batters:

Brandon Nimmo (Cheyenne) 27.60

Mike Devereaux (Casper) 14.62

Mike Lansing (Rawlins) 9.94

Best non-HOF: Nimmo

Best non-ASG: also Nimmo

Best active: Who else? Nimmo

Top 3 pitchers

Dick Ellsworth (Lusk) 23.31

Tom Browning (Casper) 19.53

Dan Spillner (Casper) 9.33

Best non-HOF Ellsworth

Best non-ASG Spillner

Best active: none

AMERICAN SAMOA:

Tony Solaita (Nuuuli) 8.04

GUAM 2 players

Batter: John Hattig (Tamuning) .29

Pitcher: Sean Reid-Foley (Agana Heights) -.15

PUERTO RICO

Top 3 hitters:

Roberto Clemente (Carolina) 94.96

Carlos Beltran (Manati) 70.03

Ivan Rodriguez (Manati) 68.71

Best non-HOF: Francisco Lindor (Caguas) 55.85

Best non-ASG: Jose Valentin (Manati) 31.62

Best active: Lindor

Top 3 pitchers:

Javier Vazquez (Ponce) 43.39R

Roberto Hernandez (Santurce) 18.47

Jose Berrios (Bayamon) 17.13

Best non-HOF: Vazquez

Bet non-ASG: Ed Figueroa (Ciales) 15.87

Best active: Edwin Diaz (Naguabo) 13.47

The same drive that got me working again just 2 years later had to do with coming to terms with the realities of supporting others along with myself, and taking a huge leap of faith trusting in a family and parts yet unknown to me. I also had to come to terms with my dad’s legacy, whatever it might be. I guess I’m that legacy or whatever, but he definitely took pride in his retail experience. I decided to pursue retail at that time, landing a few temp sports gigs, and finally landing at the Pro Shop supporting the Seattle Seahawks and soccer’s Seattle Sounders. Yep, that’s the MLS trophy we won (yes, I worked for the team, I can honestly type that we won) in that halcyon year, 2016.

I would be there for a roughly 18 month stretch, before continuing in my present role with a major home improvement company. I’ll let you figure out who. For a major hint, they sponsor the big tournament whose name you can still utter, unlike the Super Bowl. Oops.

So somewhere along the lines of supporting others before taking back my life and living alone again (very happy, thank you), I had gained some weight. I was maybe underweight most of my life, and it was in those last 10 years I was gaining to cruiserweight status. Not heavyweight, but I did get to the point that I felt I needed to seriously slow down.

A few years ago with a different company than my current one, I embraced the noom diet. I left it after 4 months but not without some good insight into what I was eating and learned some best practices that have stuck with me. I have since bounced between 2 ranges of weight and once I got to the upper limit again, slightly below my worst years ago before noom, I decided that I needed to change my ways. If not for permanent, at least alter my course some. Gone are the days my metabolism is as strong and reliable as prior.

Back in May, I decided on getting down to a lower weight class, maybe even 2 of them. In fact, I’d like to be a middleweight again. Why don’t I publish weight numbers? Because I understand that some of you might be triggered by those numbers. I’ve witnessed this happen and I won’t repeat that here. As is such, boxing weight classes have changed a bit over the decades but I’m using the most current reliable ones.

And since we’re in Philly.....Well...no...I haven’t eaten a cheesesteak in months. Philly citizen don’t really eat cheesesteaks. Hoagies? Sure. Around Wawa’s Hoagiefest time (which is right about now) ? You bet. But Pat’s and Geno’s may have ruined it for everyone here. I can tell you that the flavor of Jim’s Steaks is much better than those tourist traps. Still, my worst offenses are frozen foods, and maybe a lack of certain vitamins.

And since we’re in Philly, I literally look to the mythical Rocky Balboa for mentoring.

What I’m doing is a diet created by myself, my interests with tweaks from ChatGPT (no shame) to keep me going and interested in general. The amazing thing is, even with a scheduled Pittsburgh weekend and eating and socializing well there, plus the trappings of whatever is around me at home and work for food, I AM RELIABLY LOSING WEIGHT.

And not only that, I’m on target to reach my desired middleweight status by the end of August. Probably 1.5 lbs to lose a week. I’m dedicated, as I don’t take chances with work lunches that I bring (except a healthy DoorDash option). Plenty of water, some coffee, hardly much to eat overnight (it’s tough as I work into late evenings)

Why all this then? Part of my self-styled regiment includes a walk from home in Center City to the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and to the famed steps leading to where the statue of Rocky currently stands. It’s now my twice-weekly pilgrimage and early morning meditation, and a good 4 miles of walking. I aim to get up early to avoid crowds and the humidity and the sun (and currently soccer crowds).

With this long preamble, and feeling I owe you some cards to rip and enjoy together, let’s have a look at this 1979 Rocky II wax pack.

Purchased on eBay for $16.94, this pack with 10 cards plus gum should be fun, especially if you are nostalgic-minded.
What’s up with that Pop Bottle Candy? Here’s an ad from the time period.

From this 99-card and 22-sticker set, the cards I am looking for are:
#1 “Meet Rocky”
#34 “Tuning Up”
#40 Philly’s Favorite
#6, The Champ and His Dog

I’m not certain that anything but card #1 has particular premium value raw, let alone grading. But I’m doing this pack mainly for the nostalgia and the inspiration. Let’s see what we can see

An incredibly well-connected actress, Talia still does the occasional movie or TV show. Not bad for age 80. Yup, we’re getting old too. Her Bacon number is 3.

I scored 2 of this card in the pack
Here’s the related clip….

Burgess Meredith….I still think of him first as The Penguin…

Bacon number is 2.
(Yours truly has a Bacon number of 3, as I was in a film with Priyanka Chopra Jonas. Really. This one… )

Naturally I am at the Rocky Steps in front of the Philadelphia Museum Of Art for this last pic.
And, here’s the sticker.

As I was going to press and publishing this post, in comes the other Rocky pack!

Rocky IV (4, kids), has a 66 card set and 11 stickers, but a nine-card pack instead of 10, along with 1 sticker. Based on what I see on Trading Card Database, you likely won’t find any cards over $1, except that #1 comes closest. Basically the same story as Rocky II. But good clean cards of our hero and villain are probably best. Plus, any good shots of Philly, if any.

Round 2...fight!

41-year-old gum anyone?

I mean, LOOK at that face. This is among the best cards in my view.

This is the other great card….

Here’s the other sticker

If you hunger (ha!) for more, this still relevant piece from Beckett fills in more of the story to the Rocky trading card series and how it extends.

Later on the fight card:
A mega box that looks to the future
Some HiBid auction boxes on the way
And news into the missing Series 2 Topps Hobby Box I ordered last month and how I responded.

Here are the 5 cards I submitted at Wheelhouse in Philly to SGC:

Chase Utley #345 2005 Topps Chrome Refractor. Original cost to me: $19. Raw is currently $20. This is my HOF play, as his prices should uptick in the next year, what with his HOF induction a near certainty.

Grade: 8.5

POP is now 1.

Sportscardpro doesn’t give me the half grade. For grade 8 the card would be worth $31.29 on the market, so I’m listing it in my log for that price. For grade 9, it would be up to $54.59. If I were to sell it now, it would likely be $50-60. But my plan is to sell next year, soon after the HOF election announcement. No lock for election next year, but he’s very close.

I call this a win.

Next is Topps 1970 Batting Leaders NL card for the 1969 season, with Pete, Bob Clemente and Cleon Jones. Solid players of the era, a card that was part of an auction, split to .55 a card. Raw value is 7.44. With Pete’s passing, this became a big play.

Grade: 6

POP is now 384. 60 cards have a higher grade, so that’s in about the top 16% of cards graded. Not shabby.

Based on comps, we’re looking at a $43 card! Another win.

Current comps on eBay are mixed. Following Rose’s passing, the card at this grade spiked to a high of 85. It’s been reaching into the $50-55 range ever since, some in the high $20s for a low. But the last comps are a year old now. I see 2 sales...one for $20, one for $60. Go figure.

I say this is certainly a solid $40-$45 card.

Next is 1964 Topps card of 1963 NL Batting Leaders, with Tommy Davis, Clemente, Hank, and Dick Groat. Love the head I’er pic. I purchased this at $18.34. Raw value currently down to 14.78

Grade: 3.5 (VG+)

Not so great. Grade 3 is about $19, with Grade 4 at $24.

POP is now 352. 45 cards graded worst. So that makes this into the bottom 12%.

Amazingly, someone on eBay, not me, is selling this card, same exact grade from SGC, for $60, and $10 shipping.

I figure to sell this straight at $25-35, or auction starting at $20.

Next is Don Drysdale from the 1963 Fleer set. Cost to me was just .73 Current raw value is $13.27.

Grade: 4 (VG-EX)

For PSA its worth is 45-60. How does it translate to SGC? 2 years ago a card at this grade sold for $36. I’d say it’d be worth selling for $40 now.

POP is now 311. Just 28 cards fared worse in grading.

Finally, my biggest hope, Shohei, from 2019 Topps Series 1. It was a lucky box find from an otherwise nondescript HiBid auction. Raw is 12.29.

Grade: 8.5. I’m kinda crushed it’s not a 10. Where does that leave me? Not terrible for a base 2nd-year card. It’s looking like a $40-55 card. eBay has one for $51. I might sell at $60. I mean, how long is he going to keep going at such a great rate? I’m a seller.

Ignoring Utley, as I’ll sell him next year, I feel confident I can sell these other slabs and make a profit from the grading investment. What’s your take? Did I get fair grades? Are the prices justified?

While you figure your answer: ChatGPT gave me a decent grade on the submission. It suggested grading raw cards over $40, with expected graded value over $75, vintage HOF with eye appeal in the card, major rookie/parallel/auto/numbered cards. Fine. My absolute 3 best cards are the recent Skenes pull, which will NOT get graded, also the Walker Jenkins 2024 Topps Pro Debut auto which is already in the grading process, and the red hot Jesus Made 2025 Topps Pro Debut auto, which I’ve kept from grading for now. Each of those cards are over $40

Years ago I enjoyed playing such soccer games like FIFA 2001, creating tournaments for clubs and countries. I also have enjoyed, to a degree, Football Manager...tho its console version almost eliminates a lot of guesswork for me the coach and so I end up just playing the games itself, and let a virtual coach do the heavy lifting.

As for soccer cards, I did invest in some Bundesliga cards via a blaster box a few years ago. Also some cards from the Panini Prizm Premier League set from 2021. Checking in on it now, my best card overall is about $5, a Patrick Schick refractor card from the 2021 Bundesliga set by Topps Chrome.

This new 2026 FIFA WC set has 980 stickers and are 7 to a pack, around $2-3 a pack.

Lamine Yamal and Lionel Messi, along with Kylian Mbappe, are the darlings of the soccer world, and it will be interesting to collect those.

I bought these 5 packs at my workplace (off the clock of course) and skipped buying the album to place them in.

I thought to display them pack for pack but I quickly realized that this was nonsensical. I grouped the collection of stickers by club the teams play for. Why not countries? Well, it shouldn’t be complicated but Panini made it so. Check this out:

6 players for England clubs. On the back, however, suggests that the country that they represent are different, probably because of contract or simply nationality. No clue. Anyone know? Bueller?

The design is very homogenized. Very confusing to know what side they are playing for, no details on the players themselves, cookie cutter design. Just not interesting at all.

Team photo of the Swiss national team. The Red Crosses are in the group stages with Canada, Bosnia/Herzogovina and Qatar..They’ve been as far as the round of 16 a number of times since the 1970s. Below them, just the official mascots.

Red parallels show up 1:2 packs. Blues are 1:25, but are they going to be treated in the market that way? I have my doubts.

Vinas plays for the Uruguayan national team. He’s been a senior pro since 2018 for various club, his longest association with Club America (South America, kids). He’ s also on loan from a La Liga (Spain) team. 11 appearances for Uruguay, 2 goals, the latter vs Peru in a World Cup qualifier.

Jonathan David is with Juventus in Italy, and is actually a NYC native, who plays for the Canadian national team. Also active as a pro since 2018 and a 6 year stint prior with Lille in France. 75 appearances for the main Canada squad, with 39 goals. CONCACAF’s Men’s Player of the year for 2025 and certainly a big threat as a striker and play-making forward. I’m looking forward to seeing him in action.