With the Timbers advancing to the MLS Cup final, a timely envelope arrives.

Thorzul's annual Trade Me Anything affair is always a good time, and this year was no exception. I was able to snag a low numbered parallel and an unnumbered parallel from this year's Topps Update set in exchange for some goodies that I had cooked up. As a surprise bonus, Thorzul included a refractor of Timbers star Darlington Nagbe. (Thorzul's Twitter feed clued me in that he is a PTFC supporter.) Nagbe finally joined the US Men's National Team earlier this month for a World Cup qualifier and got to top things off with a berth in the MLS Cup final after the Timbers dramatic win yesterday.

The Timbers have a long history in Portland that dates back to the '70s and the old NASL. I was too young at the time to have clear memories of their NASL days, but I remember plenty of their bumper stickers on soccer mom van's in the old neighborhood as a kid. The club went through a few incarnations, but the fanbase really started to grow in the ought years as they navigated their way through US pro soccer's second tier before being awarded the current MLS franchise that began play in 2011. I won't claim to be Timbers Fan #1 and was heartbroken when their newly remodeled MLS-ready stadium permanently displaced the PCL's Portland Beavers franchise, but I had enjoyed attending their games in the past and currently follow them when I can. It's been an exciting playoff run so far and the big match against the Columbus Crew on Sunday should be exciting as well.

I should probably get around to getting some Timbers team sets, but they are unsurprisingly overpriced in this area.


As far as the cards I knew I was receiving, both were of the Cardinals variety, as is my standard operating procedure. I haven't checked the odds, but I seem to have pulled (and received in trades) far fewer of these rainbow foil parallels this year than last year's "red hot foil", 2013's "emerald something-or-others", 2012's "gold sparkle", and (don't forget) 2011's diamond anniversary sparkletastrophes. I might just be unlucky this year.


I'm lucky to own this card, however. There are very few Topps flagship black parallels in my collection, so I'm always up for taking what I can get. Mark Reynolds doesn't make a very exciting low numbered pull exactly, but I suppose it could have been worse. There are a lot of relief pitchers in this year's Update set.

One of the newest Cardinals had a little work done.

Who is he? Mark Reynolds is the hard-swinginest, home run-hittinest free swinging baseball man the game has seen in some time. Okay, fine, he just strikes out a ton and hits plenty of home runs. Throw in a few walks here and there and you have a Three True Outcomes guy. Except... well... striking out truly is favorite thing to do. He led the league in the category for four consecutive years and only now doesn't do it because he doesn't get enough playing time.

How did he get here? At one point, Reynolds had a primo job with the Diamondbacks and was considered a budding star, but he just couldn't keep the strikeouts down even as his power numbers plummeted. He also hit south of the Mendoza Line more than once. After Arizona traded him to Baltimore, the Orioles let him go and he's hopped from team to team via free agency ever since. While the Cardinals picked him up as a bench bat to boost their lack of "pop" on the roster, it remains to be seen if his time in St. Louis will outshine that of, say, Ty Wigginton.

Repeat offender? No

Other versions of this card: 2013 Topps Heritage #230 - same Photoshopped photo, plus zoom

Airbrushed Score: 7

Comments: It's entirely possible I won't hate Mark Reynolds at this time next year, but we'll see.