Card Stacks Blog: Nick Markakis

Showing posts with label Nick Markakis. Show all posts

Thursday, September 5, 2019

You Be the Judge

Well I opened my first pack of 2019 a few weeks back, and that led to more packs being purchased, of course. In what I hope will be an ongoing tradition, my two year old son helped me open two 3-packs of Topps Chrome, with some Pink Refractors included with each.

My favorite card of the bunch is the our first Braves card of 2019. I give you, Chrome Nick Markakis.

Base Chrome cards never scan particularly well, but it's the first Braves card I've opened in over a year, what can you do? I compare Nick Markakis to Topps Chrome in that you pretty much know what you're getting. With Markakis you're not going to get a ton of power, but you're going to get good at-bats lots of doubles and solid above-average defense. When you open a pack of Topps Chrome, you know you're getting shiny cards that you've probably seen before, and chances are solid of getting an insert or refractor, and a rookie card.

These packs fulfilled that expectation perfectly.

Here's the other base card that stood out to me from these packs. I first watched Manny Margot (He'll always be Manuel to me), play in Class A ball in Greenville, and he stood out as one of the best on the field each time.

I appreciate Topps Chrome (and Topps) showing Minor league and Major league stats for the younger players. This one shows stats from Margot's ascent up the minor league ladder to the Padres, and his switch from the Red Sox system to the Padres (Portland to El Paso). Over 40 stolen bases between Greenville and Salem back in 2014!

The best of the Pink refractors had to be Jeff McNeil, one of the Mets star rookies. While not the most valuable card of the two rookies, McNeil is having a fine season and a big reason that the Mets still have a shot at the playoffs. This was the first of many cards we pulled of rival and 'hated' (Yankees) teams.

Springer I seem to pull a card of in just about every break. Francisco Lindor is another. Could do worse, I guess, and the play at the plate shot here is fun.

Two 1984 Topps inserts, neither fit into my collection and fit the NL East or Yankees criteria. The Nationals are trying to catch up to the Braves in the NL East, but are looking like a sure thing to make the playoffs and are one of the hottest teams in baseball. I also opened a base card of Soto.

And this is the first Judge insert I've seen and while I won't object to pulling his cards, they don't fit into my collection either. The inserts definitely scan much better than the base cards.

Another NL East player in Brian Anderson. Down the road the Marlins may be dangerous but it seems like it might be awhile. Also opened a Trevor Richards.

Kopech can throw the heat with the best of them. Another former member of the Greenville Drive who went to the White Sox in the Chris Sale trade.

Greatness Returns in Jeter/Judge form in my packs of Topps Chrome, and while I'd rather have it return in the form of a Braves great and current star, I know I'll have plenty of takers for this insert. The faces of the Yankees franchise, as the back of the card describes, won rookie of the year 21 years apart.

It looks like both Braves in this insert set are paired up with Mike Trout. GRE-8 features Hank Aaron and Trout, and GRE-10 features Ronald Acuna and Trout. Why not just pair up Aaron and Acuna, or at least have it as another card in the set?

Here's the full contents of the six chrome packs plus the pink refractors:

Base-

19 Alex Bregman Astros

22 Gary Sanchez Yankees

29 Lorenzo Cain Brewers

39 Kyle Tucker RC Astros

91 David Dahl Rockies

93 Trevor Richards RC Marlins

97 Heath Fillmyer RC Royals

113 Ian Desmond Rockies

116 Jake Lamb Diamondbacks

125 Brandon Belt Giants

144 Blake Treinen A's

145 Nick Markakis Braves

155 Juan Soto Nationals

176 Aaron Nola Phillies

187 Ryan Borucki RC Blue Jays

196 Dee Gordon Mariners

Pink Refractors-
26 Nomar Mazara Rangers
42 George Springer Astros
63 Jeimer Candelario Tigers
136 Sean Reid-Foley RC Blue Jays
152 Jeff McNeil RC Mets
174 Eric Hosmer Padres

Regular Refractors-
79 Dean Deetz RC Astros
181 David Fletcher Angels

1984 Topps-
84TC-1 Juan Soto Nationals
84TC-2 Aaron Judge Yankees

Freshman Flash-
FF-14 Michael Kopech White Sox

Future Stars-
FS-16 Brian Anderson Marlins

Greatness Returns-
GRE-6 Derek Jeter/Aaron Judge Yankees

So you be the judge, which card wins from this set of packs? What are the odds of hitting two inserts of Judge out of 6 packs.

Friday, August 4, 2017

Hit Milestones

2,000, 10, and 1. Three numbers that came up during last night's Braves/Dodgers game. Two go with an Atlanta veteran outfielder and a favorite player of mine. The other was a first hit for a Braves top prospect. Let's start with the veteran.

Nick Markakis reached the 2,000 hit milestone last night with a fourth-inning single off former Brave Alex Wood. He added number 2,001 later in the game. Nick has never made an All-Star appearance. He does have two Gold Glove awards and is 2nd all-time in fielding percentage as a right-fielder.

These are the first two Markakis cards from 2017 I've picked up. Still need to pick up Series 2.

Here's the stat for Markakis that jumps out at me. He's 10th among active players in hits. Here's a list of guys behind him who are the same age or older:

Adrian Gonzalez (35)

Brandon Phillips (36)

Joe Mauer (34)

Chase Utley (38)

Dustin Pedroia (33)

David Wright (34)

Hanley Ramirez (33)

Yadier Molina (34)

Ryan Braun (33)

Edwin Encarnacion (33)

Joey Votto (33)

Ryan Howard (37)

Brian McCann (33)

There's a lot of All-Star appearances in that list. Markakis is a model for consistency and solid play. Outstanding career with hopefully several more years left.

Still adding versions of 2016 Topps to my collection. These bring the total to five cards for Markakis (Series 1, Gold, Opening Day, Chrome, Mini).

This brings us to someone who's career is just getting started at the big league level. Ozzie Albies broke through with his first hit, a three-run home run in the 9th inning of last night's game. I love seeing guys get their first hit as a home run. Same thing happened with Rafael Devers for the Red Sox the other day. Here's hoping Ozzie gets to 2,000 someday.

Friday, July 29, 2016

The Oh So Rare Trip to a Card Shop

Over a recent weekend I had an opportunity to visit a card shop while out of town. With none located within a few hundred miles of my house, I had to take advantage. It's been probably 10 years since I've visited a card shop in person. With a max of about 20 minutes to spare, I quickly dove into several boxes of random baseball singles and looked for Braves. I enlisted the help of my wife who graciously pulled a stack of Braves aside for me from a different section of the box.

At the end of the 20 minutes I came away with a stack of about thirty Braves from the mid-90s to today. I'd forgotten how fun it is to sort through a box of previously unseen cards.

All these cards are new to me, and I almost didn't pick up the first Smoltz from 'Future Stars' because, well, it's Smoltz in a set called 'Future Stars'. But it reminded me of some Upper Deck sets from the 90s so I added it to my stack. The Fond Farewells card makes me sad that Smoltz didn't finish his career as a Brave, but it's a sharp insert. The Maddux I can appreciate because it's shiny on the back as well as the front, and it's a Maddux.

A trio of Braves from 2009. Can never have enough cards of Bobby Cox. The Braves traded Kelly Johnson to the Mets for the second year in a row and was leading off against the Braves just recently. Glad he may get another playoff run, just not happy about it being with the Mets. I like these Red uniforms.

A few cards of one of my favorite Braves, Tim Hudson, all from sets that I like. Would have preferred an action shot on the O-Pee-Chee, though. The Green is nice on the 2013 Archives.

Couldn't pick up a stack of Braves without a handful of Chipper cards. Nice expression on the 2007 Upper Deck. The design is terrible, but I like the photo.

Next up a pair of guys that I remember watching in person at AAA Richmond. What a solid career for Martin Prado. Gregor Blanco has put together a nice string of solid seasons for the Giants. The Braves traded him to the Royals in 2010 for part of a season of Rick Ankiel and Kyle Farnsworth.

One of my favorite all-time Braves, with an insert from 2008. There are a couple other Braves in this set, Chipper Jones and a current Brave, Nick Markakis.

A couple Jason Heyward cards. Any Heritage card is a good Heritage card. This O-Pee-Chee might be one of my favorite Chipper cards.

Three Frenchies. It's been nice to see Francoeur back in a Braves uniform this year. He's been much better against left-handed pitching, hitting a respectable .288 as of earlier in the week. Seems the Braves might be looking to deal Francoeur if the right deal comes along.

And three current Braves up-and-comers. Folty in general has been solid. He'll have a string of good quality starts and then a poor start. Hoping to see more of Mallex Smith later this year. Based on latest reports it's looking like September. Wisler has been struggling recently and was just sent down to AAA, but looks to still be a key piece for the future. With the lack of starting options for the Braves and having recently traded away starter Lucas Harrell, these young pitchers, Aaron Blair and Matt Wisler for instance, have been thrust into starting in bad situations. The offense isn't giving any support which puts so much pressure on these young guys to try to carry the load. This is my first Wisler card, though. I'll expect to add many more over the years.

Can't go wrong with a Freeman rookie card. Even Freeman is having a down year by his standards. It's been a tough year for everyone in Atlanta offensively.

Great card of Markakis beating a throw, sliding into a base. It's been fun watching Markakis in Atlanta this year, and while his power hasn't really returned, he did recently have a streak where he didn't have a swinging strike for 32 plate appearances. Markakis just doesn't strike out that often.

Well that is certainly a record for me as far as number of cards scanned for one post. Those of you who have a card shop within easy driving distance, I envy you.

Wednesday, April 20, 2016

On the Mark-akis

Nick Markakis has been one of my favorite players since he made his debut with the Orioles 10 years ago. I was thrilled when he signed with the Braves in December of 2014 for four seasons, despite him coming off a surgery for a herniated disk by his neck. He has two gold-glove awards for his career and it seems wrong that he doesn't have an All-Star game appearance.

Markakis is off to a strong start to 2016, one of the lone bright spots in the Braves lineup so far. He's leading the majors with 9 doubles through 12 games. In a game my wife and I attended last weekend against the Cardinals he smashed three doubles and was robbed of a fourth. It seems like he is as healthy as ever based on these early games.

With that said, I've been eager to pick up cards of Markakis in a Braves uniform. I picked up a few from 2015 but recently added a handful from 2016. My #1 want for 2016 is the Opening Day blue parallel. Those things are awesome.

I'll start it off with a trio from 2016 Topps. We've got the Opening Day version, the regular Topps and the Topps Gold version /2016. Foil cards do not scan well for me but fortunately you can see the foiled out parts with the regular version right next to it. How many design differences can you spot in the Opening Day version? Answers at the bottom in white. Highlight over to see. I'll have to do this more maybe with some photoshop work.

Other recent Markakis additions from 2015 and 2016. I love a good Heritage card. One card showing my favorite two current Braves might make my top cards of 2016.

Differences between opening day and the regular version (highlight below to see):
1. The Opening Day log, of course. 2. The Topps logo is in gray on the Opening day and on the right side, silver foil on the left side on the others. 3. The Braves logos and associated text are flip-flopped. 4. Atlanta Braves text is in gray as well on Opening day. 5. White sections flip-flopped. 6. More of the bat showing on Opening Day version. 7. Is it just me or is the image slightly zoomed out more on the Opening Day version? This was fun, but would be more fun if the differences weren't so obvious. Maybe the attempt was amusing if nothing else.

Monday, July 27, 2015

Changing Teams

Players staying with one team for their entire major league career is becoming increasingly rare and nearing impossible in baseball today. For me that's always been the dream, to have my favorite players finish their careers where they started. It's happened in the past, in multiple sports. Reggie Miller spent all 18 years of his NBA career with the Indiana Pacers. Tim Duncan will end up retiring as a Spur after spending his whole career in San Antonio.

This guy did it too, spending 21 seasons with the Orioles.

And this guy, spending 19 years with the Braves.

I've got high hopes for Freeman, but chances are he won't make it his whole career with the club.

Even rarer is a guy who goes from your favorite team to your other favorite team the following season. But that's exactly what happened with Nick Markakis. Great Heritage card, by the way.

Markakis is having a great season with Atlanta. He's not hitting for power after coming back from neck surgery, but I would expect some power to return next season. He's hitting .286 with 1 home run and 32 RBIs for the Braves so far. He's hit leadoff and is currently hitting third in a power lacking Braves lineup.

He returns to Baltimore today as the Braves take on the Orioles at Camden Yards. He and former teammates admit it'll be weird seeing him return in a Braves uniform. Hoping he has a successful series against his old team. And maybe he'll finish his career with Atlanta, only playing for my two favorite clubs. One can dream.

Tuesday, September 23, 2014

A Backstop Stack, Part 2

Last time I started showing off a stack of cards that Marcus from All the Way to the Backstop. I hit some of my favorites from the older sets, and this time I'll look at some of the more recent cards.

A nice start to a Mike Minor collection, with this year's Bowman, a Topps Chrome Refractor (yes!!) and a Blue parallel. Mike has rebounded somewhat from a miserable start to the season, putting together a string of quality starts from mid-August to mid-September. Overall though a season to forget for Mike. Hopefully 2015 will be better!

Marcus also set some sweet Craig Kimbrel cards. All of these are awesome, but my favorite is probably the Hometown parallel from this year's Bowman set. I need to pick up some more of these. Maybe a Braves hometown team set should be added to the wantlist. The Allen & Ginter is my first ever ripped card.

Next up an array of cards of some other current Braves. While I'm honestly not a fan of the inserts from this year's Topps, I'm glad to add any card of Freeman to my collection.

Bethancourt appears to be a promising catcher, great defensively. He's getting some playing time currently for the major league club with the Braves out of the playoff race and he is hitting pretty well.

And lastly a Heritage Blue parallel of one of my favorite pitchers, Julio Teheran. I've said on multiple posts that I really enjoy this heritage set, and why would a blue parallel be any different?

While Marcus included a good number of current Braves, he also included a couple of the recently retired Chipper Jones. I particularly enjoy the Stadium Club card from 1994 showing the date from his major league debut. The back of the card mentions his time in AAA Richmond. I enjoy seeing the references to Richmond.

Rounding out my favorites from the package are a few current Orioles. Even with Chris recently suspended, I'll still cheer for him when he comes back because of things like this.

Markakis has been one of my favorite Orioles for years. This season's he's in a leadoff role, and while it isn't his best season statistically, I'd say he's been a big part of the team's success this year.

Thanks again, Marcus! I've got a stack of cards ready to be sent off to you.

Pages