#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.

#189 Adam LaRoche

Man, I really goofed up these last couple of days. Last night's Manny Machado card was supposed to post in the morning at 9 AM, not PM. And the cards from last evening and this morning don't even looked they posted. Whoops! Anyway, here's is the card that should have gone up last night.

#189 Adam LaRoche

First impression of what’s going on: Another kind of standard shot for a first baseman, mitt out, ready to receive the ball. I never really understood the upside down glasses thing. And I don’t know what the patch is for so I’ll have to look into it.

WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 01: Adam LaRoche #25 of the Washington Nationals catches the ball at first base against the Miami Marlins during Opening Day at Nationals Park on April 1, 2013 in Washington, DC. (Photo by G Fiume/Getty Images)

The Reality of the Photo: Again, the crop is a shame. Not that you see much of his arm anyway, but it still could have been framed better.Opening Day went to the Nationals acording to the BOXSCORE.

 According to his game log, LaRoche had 10 putouts in the game so I'm not going to even try to figure out the exact play with the lack of clues.

I will note that LaRoche is standing with a foot firmly on first base. When I played the position, I was always taught to put my foot up against the edge, giving me more of a reach towards the ball and also to prevent collisions with the base runner. There’s no runner in sight so maybe that wasn't an issue, but thought I’d point it out since I noticed.

From Opening Day of the 2013 season, this photo is now the earliest one used. Long time readers (and I use that term loosely as I've been active all of about two weeks) may recall the Michael Young photo from mid-September as the most recent.

As for the patch, it commemorates the victims of the Sandy Hook tragedy and was worn by all players, managers, coaches and on-field personnel from March 31-April 2, 2013. Here’s a preseason press release giving more details. And a better view of the patch if you don’t click the link:

On to the back:

Rookie Fact: Adam was the first NL rookie to get his 1^st 2 hits in the same inning.

That’s pretty cool. The hits came in his MLB debut on April 7, 2004 ( BOXSCORE). He grounded out to second in his first at bat but his first two hits and two RBIs came in the 11-run 4^th inning.

Way to not be a rally killer! 

Information I’ll be tracking:

Card Number: #189

Player Name: Adam LaRoche

Team: Washington Nationals

Position: First Base

Game Date: April 1, 2013

Opponent: Miami Marlins

Stadium: Nationals Park

Division: National League East

Home/Away: Home

Outcome of the game: 2-0, Nationals over the Marlins, Win for the player depicted

Alternate/Throwback Jersey: No

Bats/Throws: Left/Left

Birthdate: 11/6/1979

Birthplace: California

Cameos by: N/A

Photographer: G Fiume

Niche collections this card could fit into: Southpaw, Commemorative Patch, Sunglasses

My Grade: I am a Cubs fan through and through but the Washington Nationals are my local team so I get blasted with Nats news more often than I 'd like. With all the hype of Stephen Strasburg and Bryce Harper, you might gloss over the fact that Adam LaRoche got MVP consideration in 2012 (6th place), as well as winning the Silver Slugger and Gold Glove for his position. His numbers came back to normal in 2013 as the Nationals did as a whole.

My kids had the opportunity to get his autograph after a Nats game in 2012, so my grade will probably come off a little biased. Its not much better than average, but with a couple of niches covered and the fact that LaRoche seemed liked a pretty god guy, I'll give it a B.

And just for fun, here the cards he signed for us:

#45 Jake Marisnick

Yesterday I had cards representing the defending National and American League champions. Today I’m going to the other end of the spectrum and find the defending cellar dwellers. The worst record in the National League belonged the 62-100 Miami Marlins. Since I went rookie with the Astros earlier, I've got a rookie from the Marlins to match.

#45 Jake Marisnick

First impression of what’s going on: Oh good, another shot like this. One I've already seen on CharlieBlackmon and Matt Carpenter. Unfortunately, I don’t see any patches or tattoos or crazy hair or free advertising to set this card apart from the others that are similar. I wish the dugout guys were a little more in focus for a cameo. I will give Topps credit for one of their best crops so far though.

MIAMI, FL - AUGUST 02: Jake Marisnick #23 of the Miami Marlins bats during a MLB game against the Cleveland Indians at Marlins Park on August 2, 2013 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Ronald C. Modra/Sports Imagery/ Getty Images)

The Reality of the Photo: Nothing any more exciting about the full size photo. So let’s take a look at the BOXSCORE to see if anything exciting happened for Marisnick and the Marlins.

Alright. Marlins blowout. Maybe Marisnick did some damage at the plate too.

Three-for-five at the plate with an RBI, a double and a stolen base. Nice day at the plate! Here's his run scored:

And his RBI in the Marlins' 5-run 8th:

I’m so confused right now. This morning we had an above average photo in a lowlight kind of game. This evening we have a fairly boring photo taken during the middle of a thus far, career game.

On to the back:

Rookie Fact: Jake connected for his first Major League homer on July 31, 2013.

To be honest, these are the kind of facts I half expected when I first heard of the Rookie Fact concept. First hit was this day. First this, first that. I think I was spoiled by the earlier few that I've already written about so this one fell a bit flat. I guess not every first home run can come in your first at bat or be a walk off.

The blurb is a little more interesting, mentioning the time he hit grand slams in consecutive innings while in Double A earlier in the 2013 season. That could explain why he skipped Triple A and jumped right to the Majors.

Information I’ll be tracking:

Card Number: #45

Player Name: Jake Marisnick

Team: Miami Marlins

Position: Outfield

Game Date: August 2, 2013

Opponent: Cleveland Indians

Stadium: Marlins Park

Division: National League East

Home/Away: Home

Outcome of the game: 10-0, Marlins over the Indians, Win for the player depicted

Alternate/Throwback Jersey: No

Bats/Throws: Right/Right

Birthdate: 3/30/1991

Birthplace: California

Cameos by: N/A

Photographer: Ronald C. Modra

Niche collections this card could fit into: Rookie

My Grade: After a feel good story of a career day for a young rookie, I really wanted to like this card. But the photo is average, the blurb was average and rookie fact was average. It couldn’t even manage any niche collections aside from the Rookie Card designation. Flat out C.

For fun, I looked to see if there were any more exciting photos from the game. There were a few post-swing-starting-to-run-to-first shots, but nothing real exciting there either. There was this diving attempt on defense:

And only super nerds like me that research this kind of stuff would know that he missed it:

Oh well.

#44 Matt Carpenter

Yesterday I honored the Super Bowl teams with cards from their baseball counterparts. Today, I’ve got two random members of the two World Series teams. Earlier I had a representative of the World Champion Boston Red Sox in Jonny Gomes and now I’ve got one from the runner-up St. Louis Cardinals.

#44 Matt Carpenter

First impression of what’s going on: I’ll try to do this review without letting my Cubs bias shine through. Pretty standard follow through swing. I can live with the bat being slightly cut off on the left but the crop at the top is too tight. I don’t know enough about the Cardinals jerseys, but it looks like an alternate one to me. I think they're regular ones are whiter for home and grey from away?

 ST. LOUIS, MO - JULY 6: Matt Carpenter #13 of the St. Louis Cardinals bats against the Miami Marlins at Busch Stadium on July 6, 2013 in St. Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images)

The Reality of the Photo:  You can see that Topps did go with a pretty tight crop, although the photographer didn't leave much room at the top for them to work with. That being the case, I probably would've opted for a different photo, especially since it is just a generic swing. The caption doesn't lead me to believe that the swing was even a particularly important one so let’s go to the BOXSCORE and see how Carpenter did that day.

Well, the Cardinals won, so there's a start.

Carpenter went 1-4 with an RBI and a run scored. He tripled home pitcher Joe Kelly in the bottom of the third to put the Cardinals on the board and later scored on a Carlos Beltran single. But like I said, there’s nothing in the caption to prove this is anything significant and I’m not sure his posture is that of a triple. Although, if you think you've just hit a home run that turns into a triple…maybe.

His other at bats consisted of a fly ball to center, short fly to left and a ground out to the pitcher. It’s tough to tell with his eye line, as it could be any of those of them except for the last one.

After a little research, I see that the red piping and St.Louis (rather than Cardinals) across the front show that this is an alternate jersey. Combine that with the eye black and a commemorative patch, Carpenter has nice trifecta to help him out, despite a below average photo selection.

Photo from the Cardinals Wikipedia page

On to the back:

Rookie Fact: Matt’s 11 pinch-hits in 2012 were most since 1954 by a Cardinals rookie

I don’t know the statistics behind pinch-hitting but coming off the bench and delivering 11 times, and as a rookie no less, seems pretty impressive to me. I didn't look too hard for the rookie record or for the 1954 Cardinal rookie but the all-time record for pinch hits in a season (not just rookies) is 28 by John Vander Wal in 1995. That doesn't make me think any less of Carpenter, though as that's a lot of trust by a manager to keep throwing a rookie into that situation.

And it certainly didn't hurt him winning the starting second base job for 2013 and again dominating the Majors at the plate. Carpenter’s blurb mentions that he is only the second person to lead the MLB in hits, runs and doubles since 1911. The other? Pete Rose in 1976. Guess he can’t be mentioned on the card though…

In 1911, Ty Cobb did it, and Nap Lajoie in 1901. That is some pretty solid company to keep. Thanks to a Roger Schlueter article for those tidbits.

Information I’ll be tracking:

Card Number: #44

Player Name: Matt Carpenter

Team: St. Louis Cardinals

Position: Second Base

Game Date: July 6, 2013

Opponent: Miami Marlins

Stadium: Busch Stadium

Division: National League Central

Home/Away: Home

Outcome of the game: 5-4, Cardinals over the Marlins, Win for the player depicted

Alternate/Throwback Jersey: Yes

Bats/Throws: Left/Right

Birthdate: 11/26/1985

Birthplace: Texas

Cameos by: N/A

Photographer: Dilip Vishwanat

Niche collections this card could fit into: Eye black, Alternate Jersey, Commemorative Patch, League Leader in Italics, Players Named Matt, Partial Southpaw

My Grade: I've already had a couple of cards I wanted to like but gave only average scores to. This is one I didn't want to like because of the Cardinals affiliation and generic photo but it is going to get a B+ from me. Despite its shortcomings, it racked up on the niche collections and had a solid rookie fact and blurb on the back.