Sunday Best–October 4th, 2009
Hitters | Pitchers | |||||
Pujols | 99.8 | Cardinals | Greinke | 88.2 | KC | |
Mauer | 89 | Twins | Carpenter | 69.2 | Cardinals | |
Hanley Ramirez | 80 | Florida | Sabathia | 58.1 | Yankees | |
Jeter | 67.6 | Yankees | Lester | 55.6 | Red Sox | |
Utley | 62.9 | Phillies | Jimenez | 50.2 | Rockies | |
Tulowitzki | 60.8 | Rockies | Jered Weaver | 49.5 | Angels | |
Youkilis | 52.9 | Red Sox | Wolf | 49.2 | Dodgers | |
Kemp | 50.4 | Dodgers | Happ | 47.5 | Phillies | |
Morales | 39.9 | Angels | Baker | 32.2 | Twins | |
The best hitters and pitchers on each playoff team, and the best hitter and pitcher not in the playoffs, by VORP. I flipped a coin for Minnesota/Detroit and Minnesota won. I’ll rescan on Tuesday if the coin flip proves wrong.
The Angels don’t have a single hitter over 40 VORP, but they have ten over 15.
I don’t have a single card of A.J. Happ, but I rode him pretty hard as a free-talent pickup in my Roto league. I will commemorate him with a purchase from Sportlots.
The Week’s Best
The best baseball and baseball card blog articles of the week (as voted on by a panel of one):
JayBee Anama displays some hard-to-find inserts from 2k6.
Dinged Corners goes off topic, and I gotta feeling it’s gonna be good good fun.
Mark’s Ephemera decorates a man-cave.
Night Owl breaks out the blender to relieve some stretch-drive frustration.
Sunday Best–September 27th, 2009
National League | |||
1 | #Jimmy Rollins | PHI | 697 |
2 | *Prince Fielder | MIL | 684 |
3 | *Ryan Howard | PHI | 673 |
4 | Ryan Braun | MIL | 673 |
5 | Albert Pujols | STL | 668 |
6 | #Shane Victorino | PHI | 666 |
7 | *Chase Utley | PHI | 664 |
8 | *Andre Ethier | LAD | 662 |
9 | Ryan Zimmerman | WSN | 660 |
American League | |||
1 | #Chone Figgins | LAA | 703 |
2 | Aaron Hill | TOR | 700 |
3 | Derek Jeter | NYY | 698 |
4 | #Mark Teixeira | NYY | 686 |
5 | Dustin Pedroia | BOS | 683 |
6 | #Brian Roberts | BAL | 681 |
7 | Marco Scutaro | TOR | 680 |
8 | *Nick Markakis | BAL | 677 |
9 | *Curtis Granderson | DET | 669 |
The players with the most PA in each league. I guess the Phillies have been healthy and good all season.
Hard to believe that I don’t have a single Pedroia card. I’ll have to get one off of Sportlots.
The Week’s Best
The best baseball and baseball card blog articles of the week (as voted on by a panel of one):
PunkRockPaint delivers a whale of a pirate card.
EdS is not ashamed to re-collect a classic. Roll out the doubles, everyone.
Dinged Corners does a blaster-less review of Goodwin.
EdS breaks some 2006 Flair Showcase.
Night Owl tells the story of Frank Smith.
PunkRockPaint goes vigilante after spotting a pack searcher.
Condtion:Poor goes a little bit nuts over his first TTM success.
National League | |||
1 | #Jimmy Rollins | PHI | 697 |
2 | *Prince Fielder | MIL | 684 |
3 | *Ryan Howard | PHI | 673 |
4 | Ryan Braun | MIL | 673 |
5 | Albert Pujols | STL | 668 |
6 | #Shane Victorino | PHI | 666 |
7 | *Chase Utley | PHI | 664 |
8 | *Andre Ethier | LAD | 662 |
9 | Ryan Zimmerman | WSN | 660 |
American League | |||
1 | #Chone Figgins | LAA | 703 |
2 | Aaron Hill | TOR | 700 |
3 | Derek Jeter | NYY | 698 |
4 | #Mark Teixeira | NYY | 686 |
5 | Dustin Pedroia | BOS | 683 |
6 | #Brian Roberts | BAL | 681 |
7 | Marco Scutaro | TOR | 680 |
8 | *Nick Markakis | BAL | 677 |
9 | *Curtis Granderson | DET | 669 |
Sunday Best–September 20th, 2009
The best pitchers in each league, by SLG against.
National League | |||
1 | *Clayton Kershaw | LAD | 0.287 |
2 | Tim Lincecum | SFG | 0.292 |
3 | Chris Carpenter | STL | 0.313 |
4 | Josh Johnson | FLA | 0.329 |
5 | Ubaldo Jimenez | COL | 0.331 |
6 | Javier Vazquez | ATL | 0.348 |
7 | Adam Wainwright | STL | 0.348 |
8 | Danny Haren | ARI | 0.362 |
9 | Joel Pineiro | STL | 0.363 |
American League | |||
1 | Felix Hernandez | SEA | 0.320 |
2 | Zack Greinke | KCR | 0.341 |
3 | Scott Feldman | TEX | 0.359 |
4 | *C.C. Sabathia | NYY | 0.361 |
5 | *Jon Lester | BOS | 0.363 |
6 | Justin Verlander | DET | 0.376 |
7 | Gavin Floyd | CHW | 0.379 |
8 | Matt Garza | TBR | 0.380 |
9 | *Cliff Lee | CLE | 0.382 |
Jimenez and Garza and Feldman all elude me. To Sportlots I go.
The Week’s Best
The best baseball and baseball card blog articles of the week (as voted on by a panel of one):
The Other World shows us the view from AT&T Park’s upper deck.
Doc offers a great tip for a cheap way to store lots of cards.
Beardy shows off a literally priceless 1/1.
Mark’s Ephemera gives us the lowdown on ’92 Stadium Club.
Dinged Corners interviews two daughters of baseball.
Night Owl presents his All-Aught Dodgers.
A preview of 2010 SlangKo Heroes of the Diamond.
Dayf is a mad pirate genius.
National League | |||
1 | *Clayton Kershaw | LAD | 0.287 |
2 | Tim Lincecum | SFG | 0.292 |
3 | Chris Carpenter | STL | 0.313 |
4 | Josh Johnson | FLA | 0.329 |
4 | Alberto Arias | HOU | 0.356 |
5 | Ubaldo Jimenez | COL | 0.331 |
6 | Javier Vazquez | ATL | 0.348 |
7 | Adam Wainwright | STL | 0.348 |
8 | Danny Haren | ARI | 0.362 |
9 | Joel Pineiro | STL | 0.363 |
American League | |||
1 | Felix Hernandez | SEA | 0.320 |
2 | Zack Greinke | KCR | 0.341 |
3 | Scott Feldman | TEX | 0.359 |
4 | *C.C. Sabathia | NYY | 0.361 |
5 | *Jon Lester | BOS | 0.363 |
6 | Justin Verlander | DET | 0.376 |
7 | Gavin Floyd | CHW | 0.379 |
8 | Matt Garza | TBR | 0.380 |
9 | *Cliff Lee | CLE | 0.382 |
Sunday Best–September 13th, 2009
The sluggiest sluggers in each league so far this season, by Total Bases.
NL | |||
1 | Albert Pujols | STL | 343 |
2 | *Prince Fielder | MIL | 303 |
3 | Ryan Braun | MIL | 302 |
4 | *Ryan Howard | PHI | 301 |
5 | Hanley Ramirez | FLA | 292 |
6 | Mark Reynolds | ARI | 290 |
7 | Ryan Zimmerman | WSN | 284 |
8 | *Andre Ethier | LAD | 280 |
9 | *Adam Dunn | WSN | 275 |
AL | |||
1 | Aaron Hill | TOR | 299 |
2 | *Robinson Cano | NYY | 294 |
3 | #Mark Teixeira | NYY | 294 |
4 | Miguel Cabrera | DET | 293 |
5 | *Adam Lind | TOR | 290 |
6 | #Kendry Morales | LAA | 287 |
7 | Evan Longoria | TBR | 275 |
8 | Michael Young | TEX | 273 |
9 | Derek Jeter | NYY | 268 |
Pujols = Man among boys.
Mr. Morales, I will find you on Sportlots.
The Week’s Best
The best baseball and baseball card blog articles of the week (as voted on by a panel of one):
Stusigpi pays tribute to Mr Pack Searcher Guy.
Dinged Corners invents the six-cards-in-30-seconds test.
Night Owl shows us that he is no punkrockpaint.
Stusigpi exposes some eBay patch frauds.
Night Owl revisits the magic of sixth grade.
Some great hockey cards from this years UD set on Shoebox Legends.
Night Owl shows off some great horizontal cards.
Sunday Best–September 6th, 2009
The best defensive players at each position in each league according to the excellent series Diggin’ in the Defensive Dirt by Brian Joseph at Baseball Daily Digest. (Brian did not cover pitchers, so I made my own all-time selections to fill out the pages.)
National | American | |
C | Yadier Molina | Gerald Laird |
1B | Casey Kotchman | Paul Konerko |
2B | Craig Counsell | Ian Kinsler |
3B | Andy LaRoche | Joe Crede |
SS | Jack Wilson | Marco Scutaro |
LF | Seth Smith | David DeJesus |
CF | Matt Kemp | Franklin Gutierrez |
RF | Randy Winn | Nelson Cruz |
I need to grab a DeJesus from Sportlots this week.
The Week’s Best
The best baseball and baseball card blog articles of the week (as voted on by a panel of one):
Night Owl appreciates Nomo cardboard.
Dayf gives a brief review of 2009 SPx.
Mario puts Icons baseball and football side by side.
Dayf gets all excited about some beat-up old card.
Thingpen shows us Larry Walker when he was yet a spry lad.
2008 A&G Card-scape breaks Adam Jones’ ankle, and gets a smeared auto for karma.
Night Owl eschews Reggie for a surprise entry into the Badass Club.
Night Owl bemoans the marriage of a certain Dodgers fan.
C | Yadier Molina | Gerald Laird |
1B | Casey Kotchman | Paul Konerko |
2B | Craig Counsell | Ian Kinsler |
3B | Andy LaRoche | Joe Crede |
SS | Jack Wilson | Marco Scutaro |
LF | Seth Smith | David DeJesus |
CF | Matt Kemp | Franklin Gutierrez |
RF | Randy Winn | Nelson Cruz |
DBacks in the Mail from Stats-on-the-Back
If you are ever fortunate enough to get an unexpected package in the mailbox and the return address reads “stats-on-the-back,” you are in for a treat. A while back I was treated to such goodness as this:
Naturally I gobbled it up. Or, rather, I unwrapped it and spread out the contents. Here is what I beheld:
Mark, I can’t say thanks enough for such generosity. It has been too long since I’ve just sat down with a big ol’ pile o’ dbacks and watched a ball game. I think I’ll do that right now.
Sunday Best–August 30th, 2009
The best relievers in each league in 2009, by WXRL.
National League | |||
1 | Ryan Franklin | SLN | 4.294 |
2 | Jonathan Broxton | LAN | 4.163 |
3 | Heath Bell | SDN | 3.78 |
4 | Huston Street | COL | 3.704 |
5 | Ramon Troncoso | LAN | 3.398 |
6 | Francisco Cordero | CIN | 3.342 |
7 | Carlos Marmol | CHN | 3.244 |
8 | Jeremy Affeldt | SFN | 3.209 |
9 | Rafael Soriano | ATL | 3.121 |
American League | |||
1 | Mariano Rivera | NYA | 5.317 |
2 | Jonathan Papelbon | BOS | 5.163 |
3 | David Aardsma | SEA | 4.673 |
4 | Joe Nathan | MIN | 4.027 |
5 | Fernando Rodney | DET | 3.898 |
6 | Andrew Bailey | OAK | 3.76 |
7 | Matt Guerrier | MIN | 3.59 |
8 | Matt Thornton | CHA | 3.511 |
9 | Michael Wuertz | OAK | 3.211 |
How amazing is Mariano Rivera? Normally by the time someone is considered a legend of the game, they are past their prime. Mo is still leading the big leagues. There’s HOFers, and then there’s no-doubt, first-ballot, should-be-unanimous HOFers.
I’ll be headed to Sportlots for a Thornton and a Wuertz.
The Week’s Best
The best baseball and baseball card blog articles of the week (as voted on by a panel of one):
Trader Crack takes a closer look at the 1996 Pinnacle Christie Brinkley Collection.
Dinged Corners produces a Magnum Opus on the Mets in 1983 Topps.
Jeff Lubbers discusses the implications of Magglio’s playing-time incentives.
JayBee presents the all-time Hawaiian team.
Mark’s Ephemera plays “What Would Mark Buy?”
Mmosely shows us a denizen of the old school.
Thingpen shows off the complete set of Big Unit rookie cards from 20 years ago.
Night Owl imagines the O-Pee-Chee studio scenario.
National League | |||
1 | Ryan Franklin | SLN | 4.294 |
2 | Jonathan Broxton | LAN | 4.163 |
3 | Heath Bell | SDN | 3.78 |
4 | Huston Street | COL | 3.704 |
5 | Ramon Troncoso | LAN | 3.398 |
6 | Francisco Cordero | CIN | 3.342 |
7 | Carlos Marmol | CHN | 3.244 |
8 | Jeremy Affeldt | SFN | 3.209 |
9 | Rafael Soriano | ATL | 3.121 |
American League | |||
1 | Mariano Rivera | NYA | 5.317 |
2 | Jonathan Papelbon | BOS | 5.163 |
3 | David Aardsma | SEA | 4.673 |
4 | Joe Nathan | MIN | 4.027 |
5 | Fernando Rodney | DET | 3.898 |
6 | Andrew Bailey | OAK | 3.76 |
7 | Matt Guerrier | MIN | 3.59 |
8 | Matt Thornton | CHA | 3.511 |
9 | Michael Wuertz | OAK | 3.211 |
Sunday Best–August 23rd, 2009
The highest paid players in each league (source).
National League |
Manny Ramirez, LAD 23,854,494 |
Carlos Beltran, NYM 19,243,683 |
Carlos Lee, Hou 19,000,000 |
Johan Santana, NYM 18,876,139 |
Carlos Zambrano, Cubs 18,750,000 |
Barry Zito, SF 18,500,000 |
Alfonso Soriano, Cubs 17,000,000 |
Aramis Ramirez, Cubs 16,900,000 |
Todd Helton, Col 16,600,000 |
American League |
Alex Rodriguez, NYY $33,000,000 |
Derek Jeter, NYY 21,600,000 |
Mark Teixeira, NYY 20,625,000 |
Magglio Ordonez, Det 18,971,596 |
Torii Hunter, LAA 18,000,000 |
Ichiro Suzuki, Sea 18,000,000 |
A.J. Burnett, NYY 16,500,000 |
CC Sabathia, NYY 15,285,714 |
Vladimir Guerrero, LAA 15,000,000 |
The Week’s Best
The best baseball and baseball card blog articles of the week (as voted on by a panel of one):
Night Owl All-Dog Nickname Team
mmosely Confesses His Love for Chipper (And Other Transgressions)
Trader Crack Wonders Why the Hobby Likes Pretty Girls
Bill Baer Analysis of Smoltz’s current effectiveness
dayf A Great Idea for Upper Deck in ’10
Mario Recaps old-school Pinnacle
National League |
Manny Ramirez, LAD 23,854,494 |
Carlos Beltran, NYM 19,243,683 |
Carlos Lee, Hou 19,000,000 |
Johan Santana, NYM 18,876,139 |
Carlos Zambrano, Cubs 18,750,000 |
Barry Zito, SF 18,500,000 |
Alfonso Soriano, Cubs 17,000,000 |
Aramis Ramirez, Cubs 16,900,000 |
Todd Helton, Col 16,600,000 |
American League |
Alex Rodriguez, NYY $33,000,000 |
Derek Jeter, NYY 21,600,000 |
Mark Teixeira, NYY 20,625,000 |
Magglio Ordonez, Det 18,971,596 |
Torii Hunter, LAA 18,000,000 |
Ichiro Suzuki, Sea 18,000,000 |
A.J. Burnett, NYY 16,500,000 |
CC Sabathia, NYY 15,285,714 |
Vladimir Guerrero, LAA 15,000,000 |
To The Winner Go These Spoils
Zach over at Autographed Cards was the winner of the Cali V World contest I ran on APAD. Here is the prize package I put together for him. His favorite team is the Royals and, as you know from his blog, he has a strong hankering for on-card autos. I only have one on-card in my collection (non-DBacks division), so he gets that, and a mess of Royals.
A Barmes on-card Auto and a Bo bat bit.
Some olden Royals.
Some golden Royals.
Some random Royals and a mini.
Zach, I hope you enjoy the cards. If I manage to get more than one auto of Guillermo Quiroz during the Southern league playoffs, I’ll send you one as well.
Thanks everyone for playing. I’ll be running another contest on APAD pretty soon. I hope you have as much fun with them as I do.
First Card of 2009: Topps Guillermo Quiroz
I know it’s only about seven months late for this, but here it is for posterity.
I had no idea who the guy was, but he was my First Card of the Year(tm), so I did some research. Turns out he’s a former big-time prospect from Venezuela who was derailed by injuries and didn’t quite develop a MLB-caliber bat. Okay. Good for him that he made it to a baseball card in the big leagues. He’s the kind of guy fans don’t remember, but card collectors might just fixate on. He’s my first card of the year, so he goes in my wallet for good luck.
Then Dinged Corners opens their first 2009 Topps pack, and they get a GOLD Quiroz. Sweet ladies that they are, they send it to me just for the asking.
A month later I open a Target Throwback blaster, and I get the retro version of the Quiroz. Sweet. Now if I ever see the guy in person I have a non-glossy card that I can get signed. Fat chance of that happening.
I find out a bit later that Q was actually playing for West Tennessee in the Southern League early this season. By the time I found out, I had already missed the Diamond Jaxx series in Birmingham. In late May he was called up to the Mariners for a spell. He played in 4 games and got 4 hits in 15 AB. He’s back down in AA now, where he’s hit .248/.303/.411 with 4 HR in 41 games. If I get lucky, West Tennessee will win the North Division race in the second half and have a playoff series against my Barons. If that happens, I may be the only fan all year long that begs Quiroz for an auto or three and actually knows who he is.
Also, if anyone has the blackout version or the black-bordered version or the silk version or the banana peel version or whatever other versions Topps put out this year, hit me up for a trade.