My First Look at 2019 A&G

As Topps has increased the number of products that they release each year, I realize that I have a slight problem when it comes to these new releases. I often get super attached to these sets when they come out and buy a lot of cards, only to move onto the next set a month or so later.

No matter the product, it seems like a given set captivates my interest for a short time before I turn my attention to another new and exciting set. This cycle was apparent throughout 2017 and 2018, and it's something I'm trying to avoid in 2019.

At this point, I've acknowledged my favorite Baseball card releases as well as the ones that I'd like to avoid. Now, all that's left to do is follow through and purchase packs from sets that I love rather than the brand new set that I'm not going to be collecting a month from now.

In no particular order, my 5 favorite Baseball card sets include Topps Heritage, Bowman's Best, Topps Chrome, Panini Chronicles, and Topps Allen & Ginter which was just released on July 17th.

Each and every one of those products has an extensive range of base cards, inserts, and parallels as well as the possibility to deliver incredible value. Those 2 traits are, in my opinion, essential to any stellar release. 

Last year, I was fortunate enough to open 2 of these fabulous products (A&G and Chrome) at The National, something I'd like to do again in 2019. Even though I'm not as fond of the Allen & Ginter set design this time around, the oddball inserts, in particular, make this set a standout year after year.

Although I'm leaving for Chicago next Tuesday, I wanted to see this year's A&G cards in person so that I can decide whether I want to buy more of this set at The National or not. 

I wasn't a huge fan of the base set when I saw the cards online, so we'll see if anything changes following this hobby pack break.

#8 Reggie Jackson

While the color splashes in the background have become synonymous with the Allen & Ginter set, I'll admit that I like this year's design way more than I originally thought I would. If nothing else, the traditional background works for Reggie Jackson's card.

It's going to take some getting used to, but I was pleasantly surprised with how fond I am of this year's design. 2017 and 2018 were both terrific as far as the base set was concerned, so I'll have to open a little more 2019 A&G to formulate an opinion.

Plus, I'm ecstatic that Topps chose to feature Mr. October as a member of the California Angels instead of the teams that we always see him on (Oakland and New York).

#208 Dawel Lugo mini

From the breaks that I've seen of 2019 Allen & Ginter, the minis are often the 2nd card in the pack, something I don't believe we've seen before. Not that it's a big deal or anything, but we've grown used to finding them in the middle along with an insert or hit.

Per usual, you get 1 mini per pack of Allen & Ginter, and mine happens to be Dawel Lugo of the Detroit Tigers. At this point, my only major complaint about the set design is that it doesn't say the player's position on the front or even the back of the card.

I keep up with Baseball, but only to a certain extent. If Topps doesn't tell me what Dawel Lugo's position is, who knows when I'll actually find out?

#105 Todd Helton

I know that some collectors don't enjoy seeing recently-retired players appear in sets like A&G and Stadium Club, but I don't have a problem with Todd Helton making the checklist. In fact, I'm elated to see Mr. Rockie get some love from Topps.

I'm using Helton's card to point out the card backs, something that's stayed consistent with the Allen & Ginter set throughout the brand's 10+ year history. This time around, they're shaded with a faint yellow to give them more of a vintage feel than we've seen in the past few years.

Come to think of it, the 2019 A&G design is the most authentic reproduction of the original Allen & Ginter cards than we've seen in some time, so I must applaud Topps in that respect.

#186 Wade Boggs

Whether I end up building this set or not, the fact that 3 of the first 4 cards that I pull are players I collect is awesome. Even though he's featured in sets like A&G and Archives almost every year, I never get tired of pulling Wade Boggs cards, even when he's shown as a member of the Yankees.

The closer I look at this year's design, the fonder I'm becoming of the set as a whole. Granted, the base set isn't perfect, and I still prefer the cards from 2018, but Topps did a nice job with A&G, as they always do, in 2019.

#367 Masahiro Tanaka

Don't be fooled, this year's A&G checklist is still 350 cards. For some unknown reason, Topps didn't print any cards from 301-351. Instead, the SPs start at #351 and end at #400. I cannot fathom a reason for doing this, so I'll assume it was completely unintentional.

In addition to being downright weird, this card numbering affects collectors like Night Owl who are trying to build A&G mini frankensets. Although I haven't tracked down minis in a while, I'm also building one of these, and Topps' poor numbering is going to limit my ability to expand the frankenset this year.

#BSS-4 Baseball Star Signs Mookie Betts

I couldn't ask for much more than 3 base cards of players I collect, an SP, and a Mookie Betts insert through the first 6 cards of my initial pack of 2019 Topps Allen & Ginter. The craziness of this product even finds its way into the Baseball inserts, because what other product has Baseball players' astrological signs?

Like myself, Mookie Betts is a Libra and the back of the card talks about how Libra's love trying new things. Clearly, this attitude worked for Betts in 2018, by far the best season of his young career.

Apparently, these are also available as box toppers, and I'm dying to see what those would look like.

#284 Roy Halladay

This was a very bittersweet card to pull, especially in light of Halladay's induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame yesterday along with his wife Brandy's emotional speech. 

Rightfully so, Doc doesn't have a logo on his HOF cap. It wouldn't be right to choose between the 2 teams, Blue Jays and Phillies, that he played for and that he had a tremendous impact on. I'm just glad that he earned his well-deserved spot in Cooperstown.

RIP Doc

#204 Cionel Perez

The last card of the pack may not be as stellar as the ones that came before it, but all 8 cards helped establish Allen & Ginter as an incredible product once again in 2019. It would be foolish of me to deny myself the opportunity to purchase more A&G when I arrive at The National.

It's far from a perfect set, but there's so much to like about Allen & Ginter no matter what you collect. Whether you want dogs, planes, or just regular Baseball cards, A&G has something for everyone.

Be Back Soon

Since I started blogging in August of 2017, I haven't taken a break longer than 2 days from posting. For whatever reason, I've always felt the need to post as often as possible, usually resulting in 24 or 25 posts each and every month.

Now, for the first time, I'll be taking more of an extended break from the blog. Not because I've run out of ideas or desperately need a break from posting almost daily, but because I'm going on vacation for the next 13 days. 

I haven't been on a vacation since my trip to The National last year, and I still managed to post during some of my days in Cleveland. However, throughout my time in Washington DC and North Carolina, I'm going to be too busy to write high-quality posts. 

I value quality over quantity, and I feel like there have been some instances on the blog in which that notion hasn't held true. Thus, I have no problem taking this break from blogging, though I foresee myself returning to my normal posting schedule on July 19th or 20th.

As a result, this will be my final post for the next 2 weeks or so, and it's a quick recap of a trip that I took to my LCS earlier in the week. It's become a regular occurrence for me to, in addition to necessary supplies, pick up some dime and 50 cent cards while browsing through the card shop.

While I'm away, Panini Donruss Optic and, more notably, Topps Allen & Ginter are going to be released. While I've never opened a pack of Optic in my life, A&G is an essential release for me, year in and year out.

However, this shouldn't be too much of a concern, for I can pick up what I want from both of these sets when I arrive in Chicago for The National at the end of this month.

Since my Dad and I visited the dime boxes at our LCS a couple weeks beforehand, the selection of available cards didn't change all that drastically. However, we still found a reasonable number of cards; some were for our player collections while others were not.

Take the 4 cards above, for example. Only 1 of them (the Jimmy Dean George Brett) will immediately be going to a player collection. Truth be told, I really should start collecting Francisco Lindor along with many other players. 

I should remind myself to add some new PCs to my collection when I return home. Guys like Lindor, Freddie Freeman, Ronald Acuna Jr, and Gleyber Torres should be added to my list of 250 PCs. 

Following Ichiro's retirement after the 2-game series between the Mariners and Athletics in Japan, the 45-year old retired. This made Albert Pujols the largest of my active player collections at 161 total cards, a number that'll be boosted thanks to these 2 Stadium Club base cards from 2015 and 2016 respectively. 

I've ranted about Stadium Club quite a bit in the last week, but I just love the wide range of various cards throughout the set and even across each release. Although these 2 cards are from the same product and are just 1 year apart, they're incredibly different. That's not something that you can find in every Baseball card set.

Speaking of Topps Stadium Club, I picked up a couple of cards from the 2017 set that, come to think of it, I might already have in the Rod Carew and Paul Goldschmidt PCs. 

However, I wasn't as certain when shuffling through the dime bins, and if there's any set that I'll accept doubles from more than others, it's Stadium Club.

I'm not sure who brought that painting of Paul Goldschmidt to the Arizona Diamondbacks game, but I truly hope that he signed it. That would be a one of a kind collectible. As for Rod Carew's card, he's also signing autographs for fans before the game, a similarity between the 2 cards that I didn't notice beforehand.

The tragic death of Los Angeles Angels pitcher Tyler Skaggs earlier in the week brought back painful memories of the Baseball players that we've lost over the last few years. Jose Fernandez, Yordano Ventura, Jose Castillo, Luis Valbuena, and Roy Halladay have all passed away since September of 2016.

I remember hearing the news of all of these player's devastating deaths, and it's incredibly unfortunate that history has repeated itself numerous times over the last few years. I picked up this Halladay card the day after Skaggs' passing, and it brought all of those memories back.

RIP Tyler Skaggs.

I don't want to end this post on a depressing note, but I felt compelled to address what happened earlier this week. Moving on, we have a couple of Bowman's Best cards for 2 of the brightest stars in the National League. 

The card of Dodgers shortstop Corey Seager, who I wrote a top 5 cards post for on Thursday, is an insert from the 2016 Bowman's Best set, making it a card from the rookie season of the 25-year old. 

Although it's challenging to tell, the Paul Goldschmidt card is a refractor from the 2018 Bowman's Best set, back when he was still with the Arizona Diamondbacks. More so than most of the extensions signed over the offseason, Goldschmidt's surprised me, for he had never played a game for St. Louis at the time of the contract.

With that being said, he's been one of the most consistent players in Baseball over the last 5 years, so I have reason to suspect that the signing will work out for both sides.

Finally, we have a "felt" (I don't know what they're really called) card of J.D. Martinez from 2019 Topps Heritage, another player who I have no excuse not to collect cards of. 

Seriously, he was one of the best players on the World Champion Boston Red Sox team, and he's been an All-Star each of his first 2 seasons in Boston.

On that note, I have a few final things to do before I leave for DC tomorrow morning and take my first ever extended break from the blog. 

I hope you all have a great 2 weeks, and I look forward to getting back into the swing of things later this month.

Best 30 Cards From All 30 Teams; AL East

At first, I wanted to create 1 post featuring my best card from all 30 MLB teams. I thought it would be really interesting to have 1 card from every Baseball team in 1 total post, but I soon discovered how difficult it would prove.

When the idea of showcasing all 30 cards together in 1 post was still a reality, I began brainstorming which cards I'd select for each and every club. Some teams, like the Cubs, Yankees, and Angels, had a ton of different options to choose from.

Others, like the Cleveland Indians and Texas Rangers, seemed to have no legitimate candidate for the "best card." While it doesn't necessarily have to be a hit, relics and autographs usually make up the top tier cards in my collection, though this isn't always the case.

Anyway, before I get to the post itself, I should briefly go over what this series is going to be like. Basically, for the next 6 posts, I'll be showing off my best card from all 30 MLB teams. However, I won't be going strictly off of value since there are numerous factors that come into play.

As you'll soon see, my best doesn't always mean necessitate an extremely valuable card, for there are a couple of teams of which I don't own a highly sought after rookie card or autograph.

I'll be writing these posts on and off for the next 10 days or so, in between the Baseball card show recap posts that I'll start tomorrow. I'm hoping, through these posts, that the viewers will gain insight into my collection and learn things that even I didn't know about my collection.

I'll be making my way through the league, so these posts will start with the 5 AL East clubs; the Orioles, Red Sox, Yankees, Rays, and Blue Jays. 

While I have marquee cards from some of these teams, this isn't the case for the latter 2, forcing me to do some digging to discover the top card from each of these franchises.

Baltimore Orioles

This pick shouldn't really come as a surprise, for I placed this 2018 Topps Archives Rookie History auto of Jim Palmer at #1 on my top 5 Orioles relics/autographs list a couple of weeks ago. Out of all 5 AL East teams, this was by far the easiest decision for me to make.

This card, more so than any other Orioles card that I own, has a distinct story behind it; I purchased a redemption card for this autograph at the Baseball card show a few months back for the same price as a blaster box of cards. Now, this rookie reprint auto has become the best Orioles card in my collection.

There's different serial numbering for each of the Topps Rookie History autos, and Palmer's happens to be out of 125 copies. While I'd prefer to pull a card like this from a pack myself, I paid far less for this than I would for a hobby box of Archives, and Palmer's a better name than most of the guys in the set.

Boston Red Sox

In this series, I'm most excited for the chance to display cards that I haven't had the chance to or decided not to showcase on the blog beforehand. One of these cards is an absolutely gorgeous encased autograph relic out of Topps Luminaries, an on-card auto that I picked up at the Baseball card show earlier this year,

Admittedly, this was a splurge purchase from the Mansfield show earlier this year, but I opted not to feature it on the blog until now. Numbered 2/10, the card is absolutely breathtaking, and it features an autograph of one of my favorite Red Sox players of all-time.

New York Yankees

Although I've only just begun this series, I'm certain that choosing my best New York Yankees card will be one of the most challenging decisions that I'll have to make. Considering the wide variety of Yankees cards that I have, from vintage cards to printing plates, deciding on just 1 wasn't easy.

However, my 1962 Topps Mickey Mantle card is on a higher level than every other Yankees card that I own. Vintage Mantle base cards can hold a tremendous value depending on the card's condition, and a 3.5 isn't too shabby considering how profound the damage is on the wood-bordered set.

Even though I have some pretty awesome Yankees cards of guys like Whitey Ford, Gleyber Torres, and even Babe Ruth, there's something about Mickey Mantle that makes him the most collectible player in Baseball history. I cherish this unbelievable '62 Topps base card that I have of his, and that's why I selected this card as the best New York Yankees card in my collection.

Tampa Bay Rays

Although I love the style of these mojo refractor cards from 2019 Bowman, I'm hoping that this Wander Franco card won't be the best Tampa Bay Rays card in my collection for long. I hope to sell this card on eBay very soon, for I'd rather cash in on this card while these mega box exclusive parallels are still hot.

This card was an extremely recent pull, for I landed it out of a Target mega box last weekend. Immediately, I listed it on eBay, and I've since had 4 people start "watching" the item. Franco is a top tier prospect at just 18-years old. 

The chances of him living up to the hype surrounding him now, in my opinion, are slim, so I'd rather sell this card and choose the Gypsy Queen framed relic that I have of Evan Longoria to take Franco's place on this list.

Toronto Blue Jays

The final team, the Toronto Blue Jays, was an extremely difficult one to decide on. I don't have any valuable Blue Jays cards or Vladimir Guerrero Jr rookies. This forced me to be more creative when it came to my choice since there were no immediate options that came to mind.

After pondering this decision for a while, I decided on my 1 and the only rookie card of the late Roy Halladay. A member of the 2019 HOF class, my one rookie card of Doc is from 1999 Topps Finest, and it still has the protective coating over the chrome card.

Highly-desired Blue Jays cards aren't exactly common like the Red Sox and Yankees, so it definitely required more thinking as to which card I'd choose for Toronto. Nevertheless, I'm pleased with my decision, because Halladay's rookie truly is the best Blue Jays card in my collection.

My 2019 Hall of Fame Ballot

Whether it's the ranking of sets released this year or my card of the year post that I put out earlier this week, the end of the calendar year always entails certain special posts that I always have a fun time writing. This year, I'm writing one of them, my 2019 Hall of Fame ballot, a little bit early.

Unfortunately, I don't actually have a say in who's to be elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame this January, so this ballot merely acts as what my choices would look like if I was on the committee. 

After I predicted last years' inductees on my 2018 ballot, there's a little bit of added pressure to keep up this streak.

This time around, I don't expect my ballot to be 100% correct simply because some of my choices are a little bit unexpected. The group includes 3 players whose first year it is on the ballot and 2 guys on their last year. 

The chances of my ballot being completely accurate are slim but at the end of the day, the 5 players I'm about to talk about belong in Cooperstown, at least in my book.

Considering he had received just 27% of the votes 3 years ago, Edgar Martinez came a long way to reach 70% in 2018. Now, all he needs is that final push to make the Hall of Fame on his final year on the ballot just like Tim Raines did in 2017. His stats, specifically his career .312 average and 2,247 hits speak for themselves as Martinez was one of the most consistent hitters of the 90s. 

While he was never able to capture AL MVP, he was a 7-time All-Star who drove in 100+ runs 6 times in his career. He's made far largest jumps on the ballot than 5% over the last few years, giving him a fairly high likelihood of being elected to Cooperstown.

Frankly, it's pretty much certain that Fred McGriff won't be elected to the Hall of Fame on his 10th and final ballot due to falling just shy of 25% of the votes needed to become a Hall of Fame inductee. It's unfortunate because McGriff ended his career with 493 home runs, the same total as Lou Gehrig, 1,500 RBI, and 10 hits shy of 2,500. 

What I think McGriff lacked throughout his career, more than anything, was the ability to be a true impact player. While he was a phenomenal hitter, he never really got the chance to make a huge splash in the Baseball world and was instead overshadowed by other hitters of the 90s. As a result, he became one of the most underrated players in Baseball history.

Easily the greatest Colorado Rockie to ever play the game, Todd Helton excelled as a power hitter in one of the toughest ballparks to hit a home run in all of the MLB. In addition to sporting a career .316 batting average, Helton put together a stellar resumé over the course of his 17-year career, including over 350 home runs, 2,500 hits, and 1,400 RBI.

However, Helton's ability went beyond career stats as he was the winner of the 2000 NL Batting Title with a .372 average and was the winner of 3 Gold Glove awards for his stupendous defense at first base. Even as he grew older, Helton maintained his status as a consistent and well-respected player, traits that should lead him to the Hall of Fame.

With 2019 being his first year on the ballot, the late Roy Halladay is likely to be one of the most debated players on whether he belongs in Cooperstown or not. Despite playing a semi-short career of 16 years which is still pretty impressive, Halladay captured 2 Cy Young awards, 1 in each league, and struck out over 2,000 batters in around 2,700 innings pitched.

Halladay completed 67 starts throughout his career, including 20 shutouts, and was a major factor behind the 2009 World Champion Philadelphia Phillies. Though he struggled in his last 2 seasons, they do not represent who he was as a player. His career 3.38 ERA showcases Halladay as one of the best pitchers of the century, someone whose plaque deserves to hang in Cooperstown.

RIP Doc.

Even though this years' class is being called one of the weaker Hall of Fame classes that we've seen over the last few years, I think there's one player we can all agree deserves Baseball's highest honor. Whether you think relief pitchers belong in Cooperstown or not, Mariano Rivera was more than just your average closer, way more, in fact.

His 652 saves were rivaled only by 2018 inductee Trevor Hoffman, and he still finished his career with 50 saves fewer than Mariano. He remains one of the most consistent players we ever saw play the game of Baseball, even if his role was different than that of a position player. A 2.21 ERA, 1,173 strikeouts, and his 13-time All-Star appearances are just some of his credentials. Believe me, I could go on.

While I felt pretty confident that Thome, Guerrero, Hoffman, and Jones would all be inducted this year, I'm not too certain about all my choices for 2019. However, with the evidence presented above, each player is capable of making a strong case for the Hall of Fame.