#289 Matt Thornton

After taking my normal Sunday off from posting to do a little blog maintenance by updating links and such, I’m back today connecting Saturday’s card to today’s through the Players Named Matt Niche. It’s also been a while since I posted anything about the Red Sox. One Jonny Gomes card early on and they haven’t even been an opponent on any of the other cards.

#289 Matt Thornton

First impression of what’s going on: This seems to be a candid shot, taken between pitches. I don’t know if he's getting signs, waiting for the next batter or what. He looks a little tense though. The crop is, as usual, a little too tight.

BOSTON, MA - JULY 20: Matt Thornton #38 of the Boston Red Sox pitches against the New York Yankees during the game on July 20, 2013 at Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Jared Wickerham/Getty Images)

The Reality of the Photo: Ah, a Red Sox-Yankees rivalry game. That’s probably enough to make you tense. And as a relief pitcher, it’s probably even more pressure. Let’s take a look at the BOXSCORE.

Uh-oh. I don’t know when Thornton came into the game, but it looks like the Red Sox bullpen may have blown this game. Or they left the starter in too long.

Well, Thornton gave up two hits but no runs so that’s good for him.

Oh. Whoops. Looks like he inherited a couple of runners who scored on the two hits that Thornton gave up. And one of them was the eventual game winner.

Despite the not-so-good appearance, Thornton does have a couple of niches going for him, including two instances of free advertising.

He sports the all too common Nike undershirt with the swoosh by his neck. And in the lower left corner we see a pair of Rawlings logos on his glove.

And while the reasons behind a commemorative patch are always sad, Thornton has the Boston Strong patch on his left sleeve.

On to the back:

Rookie Fact: Matt made his only start, then began a streak of 603 relief outings.

I took this to mean his first appearance was a start and then he was permanently moved to the bullpen. But after seeing this chart on Baseball-Reference I was confused when I saw the total games played.

Although the wording is technically correct in the Rookie Fact, apparently Thornton made two relief appearances before making a start and then moving to the bullpen for good. Not a big deal, just walking you through my process.

And the number 603 stuck out at me because I know it’s right around Mariano Rivera’s record breaking Save total, which made me wonder how many appearances he had to make to get there. Guess I’ll have to wait until I get to his card…

Information I’ll be tracking:

Card Number: #289

Player Name: Matt Thornton

Team: Boston Red Sox

Position: Pitcher

Game Date: July 20, 2013

Opponent: New York Yankees

Stadium: Fenway Park

Division: American League East

Home/Away: Home

Outcome of the game: 5-2, Yankees over the Red Sox, Loss for the player depicted

Alternate/Throwback Jersey: No.

Bats/Throws: Left/Left

Birthdate: 9/15/1976

Birthplace: Michigan

Cameos by: N/A

Photographer: Jared Wickerham

Niche collections this card could fit into: Former 1^st Round Draft Pick, Free Advertising, Commemorative Patch, Southpaw, Players Named Matt

My Grade: This card hit a couple of niches to give it the collectability factor, but as far as the picture and the story behind it, they’re a little lackluster. I like pictures where the batter isn’t just swinging and the pitcher isn’t just going through the motion, but just standing there isn’t that great either.

I’ll give this one a C+.

#329 Matt Holliday

#329 Matt Holliday

First impression of what’s going on: Looks like Matt Holliday has the beat on a fly ball hit his way. I don’t know much about photography, but I can only imagine the lens needed to get an image that clear from the distance this had to be taken from. Probably one of those that are the size of Prince Fielder’s thigh. Holliday is listed as an outfielder but I believe he plays left field more often than not. So the photographer was probably in/near the first base dugout. Crazy.

ST. LOUIS, MO - JUNE 1: Matt Holliday #7 of the St. Louis Cardinals catches a fly ball against the San Francisco Giants in the seventh inning during game one of a doubleheader at Busch Stadium on June 1, 2013 in St. Louis, Missouri. The Cardinals beat the Giants 8-0. (Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images)

The Reality of the Photo: The caption gives us just about every piece of information we’d need about the play. The only thing missing is the batter, but hopefully narrowing it down to the 7^th inning is enough help. Let’s go to the BOXSCORE.

Always nice to shutout the defending World Champions. And for the record, the Cardinals swept the double header by beating the Giants in Game 2, 7-1.

Luckily, there was only one flyball to left field in the 7^th inning and the batter was Nick Noonan.

In addition to being a good photo, the card fits into a couple of niches.

First up, Holliday is another one wearing sunglasses as an accessory instead of eye protection.

We get a sneak peak at a Nike logo on his shoe for some Free Advertising.

The Cardinals wore alternate jerseys for both games in the double header.

And lastly, I don’t actually collect cards of guys named Matt (my name), but I know some people collect cards of people with their names. Holliday is the second player to join the Players Named Matt niche.

I see Bob Gibson peaking but he doesn’t get a cameo appearance.

On to the back:

Rookie Fact: Matt was the third Colorado Rockies rookie ever to hit a grand slam, 6/12/2004.

I did a quick search but aside from searching every rookie from every season to see if they hit  grand slam, I couldn't find the other two. I did find a game recap where Nolan Arenado hit one as a rookie last season. There was no mention in the article that he was the first Rockies rookie to do it since…so and so did it. Oh well.

Before I forget, tying this card to A-Rod’s card from yesterday is the red text designating a league leader.

Information I’ll be tracking:

Card Number: #329

Player Name: Matt Holliday

Team: St. Louis Cardinals

Position: Outfield

Game Date: June 1, 2013

Opponent: San Francisco Giants

Stadium: Busch Stadium

Division: National League Central

Home/Away: Home

Outcome of the game: 8-0, Cardinals over the Giants, Win for the player depicted

Alternate/Throwback Jersey: Yes, alternate

Bats/Throws: Right/Right

Birthdate: 1/15/1980

Birthplace: Oklahoma

Cameos by: N/A

Photographer: Dilip Vishnawat

Niche collections this card could fit into: League Leader in Italics, Alternate Jersey, Sunglasses, Free Advertising, Players Named Matt, Unnecessary Censorship

My Grade: I don’t really hate the Cardinals, but I toe the company line when it comes to the Cubs-Cardinals rivalry. Holliday, however, has been on my s-list since this incident a couple years back.

That said, this is pretty nice card. Despite the miscrop by Topps, it hit several niches. I can’t justify giving it any lower than an A aside from my bias.

#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.