The Sea Turtle Cards: A's

Showing posts with label A's. Show all posts

Tuesday, March 10, 2020

#76 - Brandon Inge

What’s that Turtle doin’? Just funnin' around there in the dugout. For the first time in the set, Topps keeps it loose as it breaks the official set theme of live action baseball and chillax' a little.

Over time collecting Topps Baseball cards created by photographs from inside MLB stadiums, one begins to recognize where the various pro photogs around the League tend to shoot from. In Oakland, for some reason, the photographer seems to have total access to the dugout; I base that on the # of cards created from either dugout there, which are not rare.

And that's a good thing. A good set of baseball cards should let the atmosphere of the game out onto the baseball cards sometimes, too, and this certainly does that.

One thing I like about Dugout Cards is a quick glimpse at the card subject's teammates. I think that is Chris Carter going a round with Inge here. Meanwhile Josh Reddick seems about to say "hey, I'm trying to watch a game here" while for some reason Jarrod Parker looks like he is about to cry. Over to his right, it looks like the actor who played Jeremy Giambi has stopped by fresh from the set of Moneyball, though now sporting Catcher gear for some reason. Can't explain that one.

+Bonus points for a nice view of the classic A's shoulder patch.

Uniform Hero? No; Inge was just a regular baseball 'positional' player, who wore rather basic, low uniform #s commonly associated with starting fielders.

Where’d the egg hatch? Brandon was drafted by the Tigers in the 2nd round of 1998, a year earlier than checklist neighbor Barry Zito, and is thus one of the older Sea Turtles still playing in 2013.

How about the migrations? This card documents the first of such actually. Inge reached the majors at 24, in 2001, debuting as a Catcher, where he would play about a quarter of his career. Known for his overall athleticism, he was a mainstay at Third Base for Detroit through the decade of the '00s, but also played a fair bit of Outfield as well.

But after the '00s ended, Time was starting to assert it's inevitable presence, specifically on Inge's offensive production, which had only occasionally reached league average. Though he was well liked by his Manager and General Manager for his defensive versatility, his reception in the fanbase was wearing thin despite his being a survivor of the worst Tiger season ever in 2003. Perhaps in the 20th Century, he may have been considered a Fan Favorite, but in the Social Media 21st Century, well, I'm not sure there are quite as many Fan Favorites as there used to be, when it is so easy to casually hate people online whenever one wishes.

When Dave Dombrowski unleashed his latest blockbuster signing of 2013 Topps Baseball cover star #28 - Prince Fielder in early 2012, Miguel Cabrera returned to Third Base and Brandon Inge was basically out of a job, though the Tigers seemed unwilling to forget his ten years of service with the club. The result felt rather cruel as the team kept Inge on through Spring Training with vague plans to play him at Second Base, some, and elsewhere, somehow, but Inge was totally unable to warm up his bat that early April and finally after just 9 games Dombrowski had to pull the plug he should have pulled back in January.

Oakland promptly signed him for infield depth and he promptly hit a Grand Slam for them on his first visit to Detroit in early May 2012. But as this card was being pulled from packs, Inge was in camp with a new team, the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Don’t flip over real Turtles.

What I like about this card back is that for a Tigers fan, this is pretty much the complete story of his career in Detroit, excepting the slow conversion from Catcher to Third Baseman, for which there isn't room on complete stat card backs.

Can the Turtle Catch the Rabbit?

CAREER CHASE: With 641 RBI, Inge is 1,656 away from Hank Aaron's all-time record of 2,297.

I like how this comparison draws the card back reader to Inge's 2006 season, which was one of his best at the plate and the year the Tigers lost a World Series. But for most collectors, that would probably be just a whatever.

Brandon Inge finished his career with 648 RBI.

Subspecies? Though this 'fun' card image would seemingly be a perfect fit for the Opening Day set, an almost sunset card for just an ordinary everyday Major Leaguer isn't something that Opening Day nor Chrome has much checklist room for. There are no variants.

Bling That Shell For this somewhat goofy card, I went with the somewhat goofy parallel choice, the Factory Set Orange. Which somehow slightly pays a little tribute to Inge's time in Detroit too, if you mentally squint at the idea a little:

Sunday, February 9, 2020

#48 - Ryan Cook

What’s that Turtle doin’? Just lettin' one fly on a nice sunny day in Oakland. This is the kind of baseball card that is perfect for Series One in that it is an excellent reminder of the Boys of Summer, something that is always nice to behold in the middle of winter.

Whereas many high quality action photos in Topps Baseball sets of the 21st century draw the eye along through the image and into the future, something I comment on regularly, this card has an opposite effect: Time has stopped when the shutter clicked.

That's probably due to the presence of the baseball, which you know is moving, but now on this baseball card, it is not. When your eye reaches it - Stop! A live action baseball is always a good thing on a baseball card, but are probably more rare on a live action Pitching card than on a Hitting or Fielding card.

Uniform Hero? Yes indeed.

Where’d the egg hatch? Ryan Cook was actually drafted by the Diamondbacks in the 27th round in 2008, probably one of the highest rounds we have seen so far in this set. After a cup of coffee in Arizona in 2011, he was traded to wheelin' dealin' Billy Beane's Oakland in a 3-for-2 deal that included fellow regular Sea Turtles Jarrod Parker, #32 - Craig Breslow, and Trevor Cahill, and insert-only Sea Turtle Collin Cowgill. Probably, both teams were happy with the results; I will consider those more closely on the Trevor Cahill card, perhaps.

How about the migrations? This card catches Cook at an early peak of his career, and the Topps card back writer has an easy assignment we will see next. In 2014, Cook would experience 2 injuries and struggle to ever return to the promising career arc it held on this nice bright baseball card. That would include a comeback attempt in Boston, a lost Tommy John season in 2017, another comeback in Seattle in 2018, a season in Japan in 2019, and now as Truck Day for the northern MLB teams has just passed and Pitchers & Catchers day is on the horizon, Cook will be in camp with the Miami Marlins for 2020 Spring Training.

For the last on-the-bubble Sea Turtle reliever I found in that particular career spot when composing his blog entry, #41 - Daniel Hudson, well, that worked out pretty good.

Don’t flip over real Turtles.

There are two mysteries to this concise card back - why didn't the Topps composer mention Cook's All-Star Game appearance in 2012 (pitched a scoreless 7th), and why didn't he remain the Closer for the playoff bound A's that year? The ASG appearance probably does explain Topps slotting him into the performance driven uniform # checklist spot inherent to this set.

The answer to that second question can be found in a little less than 40 checklist spots from this card.

Can the Turtle Catch the Rabbit?

CAREER CHASE: With 14 saves, Cook is 594 saves away from Mariano Rivera's all-time record of 608.

The obvious, though not only, choice for this part of the card back. Unfortunately, it seems to have created a bad bit of bad mojo for Cook in that going into the 2020 season, he still has just 17 Saves for a career total.

Subspecies? For such a promising MLB sophomore, I could possibly see inclusion on the tight checklists that use the Sea Turtle design, however neither Opening Day nor Chrome are going to have room for 2 relievers from one team, and this is the only Ryan Cook Sea Turtle card.

Bling That Shell Although it has only been two cards since I used this one, the binder page has turned and it is time for me to daydream about bubble gum again. Depending on what I can find for other cards on this page, this might not be my final selection, but for now I do particularly like this only-by-Topps creation of Pink&Green here:

Saturday, February 2, 2019

#23 - Jemile Weeks

What’s that Turtle doin’? A card from Whoville? There aren't many such cards in this part of the checklist; so far only Lawrie and perhaps Duda are fated to largely become players mostly remembered by baseball card collectors of the future. So when a player like this appears in the midst of so many All-Stars, one takes note.

And probably, that doesn't totally hurt the player/card in question - there must be a reason Jemile Weeks follows Clayton Kershaw in a checklist like this, one reasons - what is it? Piquing curiosity is a central function of baseball cards.

I will delve into that a little more below, but a key reason is probably the success of his brother - our first familial pair of Sea Turtles in the set, though I do not expect to find another one.

As a card, this is largely a successful one. Who doesn't like a Dirty Uniform card? You can only get a uniform dirty like that one by sliding in head first, Pete Rose style. The image also relates well with the constructions on the back of the card that we will see shortly - something that is not always the case with Topps baseball cards.

For A's fans in 2013, enjoying a peak in franchise success, this was probably a happy card to find, with a nice cameo from their new Cuban star and an augury of 2013 game plans - we'll get Weeks on the basepaths, then we'll get Cespedes to knock him in. I like the way the 2 yellow batting helmet brims somewhat connect the 2 players.

Sometimes, when you don't view baseball cards through the 20/20 cloud-tinted glasses of hindsight, they can be quite a bit more enjoyable.

Uniform Hero? And right here on the front of this card for everyone to see, the whole Uniform # = Card # tie-in comes thudding to a four flat tire halt for the first time in the set. What gives?

This is a relatively simple error to divine, though not traceable to a change in teams, as with the #3 - Hunter Pence card.

Turns out, Jemile Weeks' brother Rickey, a 2011 All-Star at the peak of his career in Milwaukee as these Sea Turtle cards were hatching - wore #23. Most likely, an early checklist mock-up only used last names, would be my guess. Sigh.

Where’d the egg hatch? Jemile Weeks was a first round pick by Oakland, a team baseball fans probably largely suspect make the most careful draft picks of them all, back in 2008 and was the 12th pick overall. That was a post-College selection; Weeks was also drafted in the 8th round by his brother's team, the Brewers, in 2005, two years after his elder brother's selection.

How about the migrations? Jemile debuted with the A's in 2011 and has a minor Topps footnote in that he does not have a coveted RC logo card in Topps Baseball - only in 2011 Bowman Sterling and eTopps, despite a 97 game Rookie season.

That 2011 season was dynamite - a .303 AVG! The A's had a new lead-off hitter for a long time to come, it seemed.

That 2012 season was a dud. Topps supplies a few more clues to what all was going on in his career on the back of the card as we will see shortly. When a Rookie debuts in the Major Leagues, the rest of the League often needs experience facing the new player, in terms of designing a pitching strategy to exploit the "hole in the swing" that almost every baseball hitter has. This is called "writing the book" on that player and to maintain success in MLB, a Rookie has to be able to make adjustments to the changes he starts to see from the opposing Pitchers.

Weeks could never do that, unfortunately, and he would appear in only 8 games in the 2013 season for Oakland. A classic post-season "change of scenery" trade never really worked out for him at multiple other MLB stops and the result is that this 2013 Topps Baseball card is technically his "Sunset" card, though one could quibble that Opening Day comes out 2 months after Series One.

This is the first such card on the checklist, and is one reason I started a Set Blog for a set of cards that is only 6 years old when the blog starts. Careers are shortening dramatically in Major League Baseball, and I was already beginning to forget just who some of the players on the Sea Turtles cards were, and what they accomplished. Baseball card collectors will be seeing a lot more cards like this Jemile Weeks card in the decade to come.

Don’t flip over real Turtles.

How often do you ever consider a player's Height and Weight? They are listed on the back of just about each and every baseball card we collect. On this card, 5' 9" and 160 Lbs ties in directly with all the other information presented.

Topps did what it could to find a ray of hope amidst the disappointment of everyone involved given the results of Weeks' 2012 season. One thing standard card back structure does not reveal, as it always lists MLB stats after MiLB stats from the same year, is just when Weeks played those games in Sacramento. Those occurred late in the season, as part of a retool-your-swing-in-the-minors attempt, which didn't really help much, as it turned out.

Can the Turtle Catch the Rabbit?

CAREER CHASE: With 38 stolen bases, Weeks is 1,368 away from Rickey Henderson's all-time record of 1,406.

Another easy does it chase comparison by Topps; who wouldn't think of Rickey Henderson when the Oakland Athletics have a lead-off hitter banging away at over .300 and stealing 22 bases as a Rookie?

Jemile Weeks would add just 3 more MLB SBs and finish his career with 41.

Subspecies? Weeks also appears in 2013 Opening Day, which is technically his final baseball card of any type.

Bling That Shell So I guess it is quite fitting that I selected the /2013 Opening Day Blue parallel for this checklist spot, though I was unaware of Weeks' baseball card oeuvre when I picked it.