#CHC-16 Jose Veras

For the most part, I’m going to slowly add the Factory Team sets to my collection but wait and see which cards actually make Series 2 and the Update set before writing about them. With that said, I picked up the Cubs set for my team collection and did a brief write up on my other blog, Once a Cub, where I briefly touched on this card. I don’t want this card to show up in Series 2 or the Update series and I’m pretty sure Topps doesn’t either.

#CHC-16 Jose Veras

First impression of what’s going on: To a non-Cubs fan, this might look like a pretty good card. Jose Veras is making a goofy face. The card is horizontal (one of my favorite attributes) and is framed well. We get to see a nice grip on his breaking ball. In fact, if Topps keeps this card for Series 2 or Update, but makes the correction, this might be one of my favorite Cubs cards of the year. What correction am I talking about?

THIS!

Any respectable Cubs fan and even a lot of good baseball-in-general fans can tell you that the Cubs retired the #31 in honors of Hall of Famers Fergie Jenkins and Greg Maddux. For you non-Cubs fans, this happened five years ago, May 3, 2009 in a joint number retirement ceremony.

The problem begins with the source photo.

Screen grab courtesy of Getty Images

NEW YORK, NY - AUGUST 11: Jose Veras #31 of the Detroit Tigers in action against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium on August 11, 2013 in the Bronx borough of New York City. The Yankees defeated the Tigers 5-4. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)

The Reality of the Photo: Veras signed with the Cubs as a Free Agent during the off season so Topps does what it normally does and uses a photo from the player's previous team but touches it up a bit. As you can see, Veras wore #31 with the Tigers last season and Topps just carried over that number to the Cubs, regardless of the fact that it is retired.

For what it’s worth, Topps did an otherwise pretty good converting the Tigers road jersey to the Cubs road jersey. They even added the logoed sleeve patch to his left arm.

Enough with the “error” and let’s go to the BOXSCORE to see how Veras did in his game against the Yankees when the photo was taken.

Screen grab courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com

A walk off loss after coming from behind doesn’t look good. Hopefully, Veras wasn’t the closer this game.

Screen grab courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com

Whoops! Veras got through two thirds of an inning but took the loss, his fifth of the season.

Screen grab courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com

It took 13 pitches to get the first two out, but the 15th ended the game with a solo home run from Brett Gardner. As Yankee biased as Topps can be, I wonder if this was a subtle dig on Veras with the photo selection. But Veras is a former Yankee so I’m probably just reading too much into it.

We do get the Nike swoosh on Veras’ undershirt for a little Free Advertising credit.

On to the back:

Rookie Fact: Jose retired the only batter he faced in a 1-run game for his 1st save.

I like the fact that Topps carried over the Rookie Facts to the Factory Team sets. As I mentioned, Veras is a former Yankee, making his MLB debut with them in 2006. His first Save came on September 18^th that year against the Toronto Blue Jays.

Screen grab courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com

After the Yankees extended their lead with three runs in the top of the 9^th, the Troy Glaus brought the Blue Jays back to within one run with a three-run home run.

Screen grab courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com

A single by pinch-hitter JasonPhillips chased reliever Mike Meyers and Jose Veras was able to induce a fly ball from Aaron Hill to end the game.

Information I’ll be tracking:

Card Number: #CHC-16

Player Name: Jose Veras

Team: Detroit Tigers (Chicago Cubs)

Position: Pitcher

Game Date: August 11, 2013

Opponent: New York Yankees

Stadium: Yankee Stadium

Division: American League Central

Home/Away: Away

Outcome of the game: 5-4, Yankees over the Tigers, Loss for the player depicted

Alternate/Throwback Jersey: No.

Bats/Throws: Right/Right

Birthdate: 10/20/1980

Birthplace: Dominican Republic

Cameos by: Greg Maddux, Fergie Jenkins

Photographer: Jim McIsaac

Niche collections this card could fit into: Cubs, Horizontal, Photoshopped, Error, Free Advertising

My Grade: I really wanted to like this card. As I already said, it’s horizontal, it’s cropped well, Veras is making a funny face. This card was destined for an A+ grade, but with one Topps oversight, it goes straight to an F. No offense to Veras or the photographer, Jim McIsaac. They did their parts. This one rests solely on Topps.

Normally, if a card gets a failing grade, I'll look for some photos that would have worked better. But I really like this photo and just want them to correct the number, not change the photo. 

Hopefully this was caught early enough that someone at Topps can change the “3” to a “4” before it goes to print in Series 2 or the Update series. As I mentioned in my other post about the team set as a whole, last year Edwin Jackson was a National in Series 1, a Photoshopped Cub in the factory team set and had a different third card altogether in the Update series. So it can be done. 

I tweeted Topps earlier today from my Once a Cub twitter account pointing out the error, but haven’t heard anything back yet. I've never been a “rally the troops” kind of guy but do we bloggers and collectors have any power here? Can this oversight be corrected in time? I don’t ask for much from this tiny blog, but let’s see what the power of the people can do!

Here’s a link to my tweet. Please retweet that or this post to @Toppscards and make our voices heard!

Hopefully, this doesn't come off as too whiny. I don't want anything but a fixed card!

#66 Kris Medlen

After yesterday’s “uncorrected error” disappointment, I wanted a palette cleanser. So the streak is over because as far as I can tell this card isn’t connected in any way to the Andre Rienzo.

#66 Kris Medlen

First impression of what’s going on: When I said palette cleanser, I meant something that I looked at and immediately thought it was awesome. While this isn’t necessarily the best of the remaining cards, it’ll probably be among them. The crop is a bit too tight, cutting of his foot in the upper right, It doesn’t necessarily take away from the photo but it will probably keep it from getting a A+.

DETROIT, MI - APRIL 27: Kris Medlen #54 of the Atlanta Braves pitches while wearing a Atlanta Black Crackers Negro League Tribute uniform during the game against the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park on April 27, 2013 in Detroit, Michigan. The Tigers defeated the Braves 7-4. (Photo by Mark Cunningham/MLB Photos via Getty Images)

The Reality of the Photo: With all that extra space, there’s no reason the crop needed to be that tight. This caption is actually pretty thorough as we get the teams involved, the date of the game, score, and which throwback uniform Kris Medlen is wearing. But let’s check out the BOXSCORE anyway.

As the photo caption said, the Tigers won 7-4. It looks like Medlen probably gave up the first five runs and ultimately suffered the loss.

Yep. Giving up five runs is one of those things that could go either way in the win/loss column. Some of the better teams can overcome that but the perennial contender Detroit Tigers held the Braves off. Maybe I’m just used to cubs pitching but the innings didn’t seem particularly bad for Medlen; the Tigers just kept chipping away.

A single followed by a home run accounts for two runs in the bottom of the second.

After the Braves battled back to take the lead, Medlen gave up three consecutive singles that plated a run.

And then one of those pesky walks was followed by another home run in the bottom of the fourth.

Let’s get back to the positive stuff, the niches.

Starting with the free advertising, we see two Nike swooshes. One of his shoe and one on his undershirt.

We can also see a Rawling logo on Medlen’s glove.

On to the uniform. Last season, the Tigers hosted the 11^th Annual Negro League Weekend for their series against the Braves. Here is a link from the Tigers website that talks about the weekend festivities. The Saturday game was the only one that featured the throwback uniforms though.

I’ll admit I’m way undereducated about the Negro Leagues but here’s a link I found interesting regarding the Atlanta Black Crackers.

And done properly are the high socks. Nice!

On to the back:

Rookie Fact: Kris, a righty, held left-handed hitters to a .183 Batting Average.

I couldn’t find anything (with minimal effort) that broke it down but holding any group to a .183 batting average is pretty impressive, depending on the sample size.

Unfortunately for Medlen, it looks like he’ll be out for the entire 2014 campaign.

Information I’ll be tracking:

Card Number: #66

Player Name: Kris Medlen

Team: Atlanta Braves

Position: Pitcher

Game Date: April 27, 2013

Opponent: Detroit Tigers

Stadium: Comerica Park

Division: American League Central

Home/Away: Away

Outcome of the game: 7-4, Tigers over the Braves, Loss for the player depicted

Alternate/Throwback Jersey: Yes, throwback.

Bats/Throws: Right/Right

Birthdate: 10/7/1985

Birthplace: California

Cameos by: N/A

Photographer: Mark Cunningham

Niche collections this card could fit into: Horizontal, Throwback Uniform, Free Advertising, High Socks

My Grade: After filling in the Information I’ll Be Tracking portion of this card, I did find a link to Andre Rienzo from yesterday. Both pitchers were on the losing end of a 7-4 game. But I am officially done with the streak. Going random for a little while.

I also really wanted to like both cards, but what separates today’s card are the niches it fits into. The throwbacks are awesome. While researching them, I learned a little about the Negro Leagues which is an intangible part of this grading system. And I've already express my love of horizontal card and in spite of the crop, this was an excellent use of the format.

This card gets a solid A.

#47 Baseball Highlights - Chris Davis

There are three active players in Series One alone that were born on St. Patrick's day, but only one that I could tie to the last card I did (Paul Goldschmidt) to keep the streak alive.

#47 Baseball Highlights - Chris Davis

First impression of what’s going on: There are five cards in this sub-series of Baseball Highlights, all of which are are horizontally oriented.If not for the long caption telling us what the highlight was, there really isn't a need for this photo to be used horizontally. And I say that as an admitted fan of horizontal cards. It seems to match up with the theme of the card though, as it looks like Chris Davis has hit one of his pre-All-Star break home runs. There's just too much dead space on either side of him.

Baltimore Orioles' Chris Davis (19) hits a 2-run homer against the Colorado Rockies at Oriole Park at Camden Yards in Baltimore, Maryland. Orioles won, 7-2. (Algerina Perna/Baltimore Sun/MCT via Getty Images)

The Reality of the Photo: This is the first caption I've had so far that didn't give me the actual date of the game. Luckily, it was an interleague game against the Colorado Rockies and not a divisional matchup. With a score, that should make it easier to find which game of the series it was.

The Rockies came to town for a three game series from August 16th-18th. The 7-2 game was played on the 18th. Last time I checked, that was after the All-Star Break. So not only is the photo a bad selection for a horizontal card, it doesn't even depict any part of the highlight it is representing! Not good, Topps. Not good.

Let's take a look at the BOXSCORE anyway.

As we knew, the Orioles won 7-2, but let's see how Chris did. His two-run homer could have come in the third, seventh or eighth.

Not a bad day at the plate, but that's kind of expected when you put up season long numbers by the All-Star Break. In fact, I'm happy if any of the Cubs hit either of those marks by the end of a season.

Davis' home run came in the bottom of the 8th inning though and only added 2% to the Orioles win probability. Mainly because they were already at 97% with a 5-2 lead in the 8th.

We do get some eye black, something we haven't seen much of yet.

And Nike squeezes in yet another appearance with a swoosh on Davis' batting glove.

We also get to see a glimpse of the Earl Weaver tribute patch.

Baltimore Orioles legend, Earl Weaver passed away before the season started and the Orioles wore this patch on their sleeve throughout the season.

On to the back:

Well, there's not much to say about the back. There's no Rookie Fact to break down, or blurb or statistics. Chris Davis was left out of having a base card in Series One, but does appear on two League Leaders cards. I guess the back breakdown will be saved for a Series Two card later this year!

I will say, before I forget, that the small connection I made between this card and Paul Goldschmidt's is hidden here on the back.

See, there's Goldschmidt's card listed as part of the checklist. Small connection just to get Chris Davis posted on his birthday, but it's there! The other two players I mentioned at the very beginning of the post with birthdays today and in Series One are Milwaukee's Jean Segura (#215) and the Mets' Juan Lagares (#304)

Information I’ll be tracking:

Card Number: #47

Player Name: Baseball Highlights - Chris Davis

Team: Baltimore Orioles

Position: First Base

Game Date: August 18, 2013

Opponent: Colorado Rockies

Stadium: Oriole Park at Camden Yards

Division: American League East

Home/Away: Home

Outcome of the game: 7-2, Orioles over the Rockies, Win for the player depicted

Alternate/Throwback Jersey: No

Bats/Throws: Left/Right

Birthdate: 3/17/1986

Birthplace: Texas

Cameos by: N/A

Photographer: Baltimore Sun

Niche collections this card could fit into: Eye Black, Commemorative Patch, Free Advertising, Horiztonal, Checklist, Baseball Highlights, Partial Southpaw

My Grade: This is a card that for all intents and purposes I should like. It hits a bunch of niche collections, is horizontal, the highlight is impressive. The photo itself isn't bad, but its use here is puzzling. If Topps wanted a horizontally oriented subset, they should have selected a better photo. And one that actually happened during the time frame of the highlight. This one gets my first D. Too many niches to actually fail it. As I usually do for low graded cards, here are a few suitable alternatives.

Ok, maybe not this test shot from photo day, but I thought it was too glorious not to share.

Home opener grand slam celebration? That'll do.

This picture may be a little generic, but I think it represents both home runs and RBIs pretty well (the theme of the card) and is better suited for a horizontal card than the one Topps chose.

Better luck in Series 2 with your base card, Chris, and Happy Birthday!

#94 Mitch Moreland

Yesterday’s card didn’t leave me much wiggle room in finding a connecting card. I could have gone Marlins but since I connected teams to get to Nicasio, I decided to go with a palette cleansing horizontal card.

#94 Mitch Moreland

First impression of what’s going on: At first glance, this one might look like a generic first baseman’s pose. And to many, it might be kind of boring. I like that you can see the ball just before it arrives in the glove. Many times this would have been vertical card  and the ball cropped out. This is a great example of how cards should be cropped/framed. I like it.

ARLINGTON, TX - MAY 30: Mitch Moreland #18 of the Texas Rangers in action in the interleague game against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington on May 30, 2013 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Rick Yeatts/Getty Images)

The Reality of the Photo: Since the card was well-cropped, there isn't much I want to add about the photo. As far as the selection goes, the only thing that could have been better for the viewer is maybe a closer play where the runner is coming into view. No big deal though, still a great shot. And since the caption for the photo doesn't give any detailed information about the play or the final score, let’s go to the BOXSCORE to find out more about the game.

Looks like the Rangers got off to an early big lead before stamping out some late inning Diamondbacks rallies. Even though this card shows Moreland on the defensive side of the ball, let's see if he helped offensively, too.

Not a bad day at the plate, a two run home run and he was hit by a pitch and came around to score on that, too.

And his home run was even one of the top five plays of the game.

Ive mentioned before that I don’t know too much about teams’ jerseys other than the Cubs. I thought Moreland might be wearing an alternate jersey because they were obviously home (check out the Rangers Road Trip sign in the background) but his jersey said Texas and not Rangers across the front. I thought, for the most part, home jerseys said the team nickname while road jerseys bore the name of the city/state from which the team hailed. Apparently, the Texas Rangers are an exception to this rule of thumb.

And speaking of the Rangers Road Trip, does that count towards the Free Advertising niche?

Unfortunately, I’m leaning towards no. Maybe if the website had been a little more in focus. What do you think? I almost missed the subtlety of the Nike logo from his undershirt. Nike has gone subliminal!

Moreland does get credit for wearing sunglasses, even though they are being worn uselessly. And from the brightness of the original Getty photo, it looks like he probably should have had them on his eyes.

On to the back:

Rookie Fact: Mitch ranked fourth in the 2010 AL rookie class with nine homers.

I ran a quick query over at Fangraphs.com and came up with the list of rookie home run leaders in the AL in 2010.

Even though he is listed as “5^th” Moreland clearly tied for fourth with the Detroit Tigers’ Don Kelly. But when you look at how many fewer games and plate appearances it took Moreland to reach his numbers than any of the other top players, it is much more impressive.

Moreland’s blurb mentions her interest in pitching. I wonder if we’ll ever get to see him as a late game, inning eater in a blow out or extra inning affair.

Information I’ll be tracking:

Card Number: #94

Player Name: Mitch Moreland

Team: Texas Rangers

Position: First Base

Game Date: May 30, 2013

Opponent: Arizona Diamondbacks

Stadium: Rangers Ball Park in Arlington

Division: American League West

Home/Away: Home

Outcome of the game: 9-5, Rangers over the Diamondbacks, Win for the player depicted

Alternate/Throwback Jersey: No

Bats/Throws: Left/Left

Birthdate: 9/6/1985

Birthplace: Mississippi

Cameos by: N/A

Photographer: R. Yeatts

Niche collections this card could fit into: Horizontal, Southpaws, Sunglasses, Free Advertising

My Grade: I really like this card. The look of concentration, great angle, ball in the photo, great crop. All the makings of an A card. An alternate/throwback jersey or maybe the runner as a cameo would have pushed it over the top to an A+. Still a great card though.

#13 Juan Nicasio

Today’s card is connected to the last card through the Colorado Rockies organization. A sliding Josh Rutledge appeared as a cameo on Mark Ellis' card and today I have Juan Nicasio, a pitcher with the Rockies.

#13 Juan Nicasio

First impression of what’s going on: I don’t think even my love for horizontal cards can save this monstrosity. This is a worse-than-usual crop job by Topps here. Right leg in the upper left corner, cropped. Glove hand on the right side, cropped. Left leg, cropped. Even the one appendage we can fully see, Topps managed to find a photo where it looks like Nicasio’s thumb is missing! This card is very synergetic with my Once a Cub post from today, Ugh.

DENVER, CO - JULY 25: Juan Nicasio #12 of the Colorado Rockies pitches against the Miami Marlins during a game at Coors Field on July 25, 2013 in Denver, Colorado. The game was delayed due to rain in the middle of the seventh inning. (Photo by Dustin Bradford/Getty Images)

The Reality of the Photo: This photo by itself isn't bad at all, but on this particular baseball card, Topps chose poorly. Nicasio's delivery is so spread out, it didn't really have a chance of being cropped properly. The caption is generic so we can’t pinpoint to any particular play in the game. But let’s go to the BOXSCORE and see if they at least finished the game, since the caption says it was delayed.

Screenshot from Baseball-Reference.com

Looks like some solid starting pitching before the dam broke for both bullpens. Is that literal since there was a rain delay between the shutout and scoring?

To be honest, I couldn't even tell you if Nicasio was a starting pitcher or a reliever so I’ll have to further into the breakdown to see what this means for today's subject.

Screenshot from Baseball-Reference.com

I guess the good news for Nicasio is that despite the crappy card, he had a very nice day on the mound. Seven innings pitched while only giving up two hits and a walk and striking out nine seems pretty good in the Mile High City. Who knows how it would have turned out if there was no rain delay and Nicasio kept pitching. According to this RECAP, it was 93 minute delay.

Unlike during the Rutledge cameo, the Rockies weren't wearing an alternate jersey on this day. But we do get to see a decent shot of the Rockies 20^th Anniversary patch that Nicasio is sporting on his sleeve.

Here’s a better look courtesy of Chris Creamer’s Sportslogos.net:

On to the back:

Rookie Fact: The Colorado Rockies won six of Juan’s seven starts at Coors Field in 2011.

He must have gotten a little bit more run support than he did in the game pictured on the front.

Turns out that while the Rockies were 6-1 when Nicasio pitched at home, they were 1-5 when he pitched on the road. And that only home loss? That was the game that Nicasio “broke his neck” as mentioned in the blurb.

For those that don’t remember, while pitching against the Washington Nationals, Nicasio took a line drive to the head. When he fell, he fractured a vertebrae in his neck. There is video online for those curious, but I won’t be posting it here. Scary stuff.

Information I’ll be tracking:

Card Number: #13

Player Name: Juan Nicasio

Team: Colorado Rockies

Position: Pitcher

Game Date: July 25, 2013

Opponent: Miami Marlins

Stadium: Coors Field

Division: National League West

Home/Away: Home

Outcome of the game: 5-3, Marlins over the Rockies, Loss for the player depicted

Alternate/Throwback Jersey: No.

Bats/Throws: Right/Right

Birthdate: 8/31/1986

Birthplace: Dominican Republic

Cameos by: N/A

Photographer: Dustin Bradford

Niche collections this card could fit into: Horiztonal

My Grade: When I saw this card, I hated it. After the breakdown, and remembering/learning more about Nicasio’s injury, I feel a little guilty about that but it is still a horribly conceived card. The fact that it is horizontal can’t even carry it out the doldrums. Sorry, Juan, but this card gets an F.

Also apologies go out to photographer Dustin Bradford because the photo itself is pretty good. Not his fault.

As I did with the other “F” card, here are a couple of photos that would have been better.

This is a slightly different angle of the one used but would have been much better as the only thing cropped would have been his left leg. Still nothing that would set it apart so I kept looking.

Cropped at the waist, this one would have made for a good horizontal card too. We have an alternate jersey with a celebratory motion going on.

Can't go wrong with a pitcher at the plate. And laying down a bunt, too. The last three were also by the same photographer as the one that was used.

And last, we have what could be my favorite. We've got a cameo by the bat boy and the player most synonymous with the Rockies organization, Todd Helton. There's the pitcher's appreciative and congratulatory butt slap. And of course one of the rarest of locations for a card, the on deck circle. Photographer Doug Pensinger's work has already been used on other cards and the game is from May, well within Topps time frame for cards, so I see nothing that would have stopped the use of this photo.