Card #101: International Affair

Short on time, but wanted to keep the trend of posting 3 times a week on this blog.

This 2018 Topps International Affair was picked up as part of a COMC package I got late last year.

Card #91: Perrenial All-Star

As discussed on Monday, I really want to get this blog back up and running on a consistent basis.  So I have already drafted 4 additional posts to try and stay ahead of schedule.  Going forward I am planning on doing posts here every Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.

It will be something that you can expect for the forseeable future.

In 2019 Topps produced an insert set called perennial all-stars. 

 The set showcased players who were All-Stars year in and year out.

The back discusses Clemente's 15 All-Star appearances of which he batted .323 in 31 at bats. 

Card #87: 150 years of baseball fun

The Pittsburgh Pirates and Cincinnati Reds got into another near altercation yesterday when Clay Holmes of the Pirates hit Eugenio Suarez on the hand.  Reds manager, David Bell, believed it,was on purpose and would eventually be tossed for arguing about it.

The Reds and Pirates have had a lot of skirmishes in the past and in 2012-2016 no two teams hit more batters than these two against each other. 

The Reds and Pirates had some battles in the 70s too when the Pittsburgh Lumber Company would be competing for the NL pennant against the Big Red Machine. 

The Reds are celebrating their 150th anniversary this year as being a professional major league team.

Last year Topps celebrated 100 years for their Topps Heritage release.  That's because the 1969 designed cards were celebrating 100 years of baseball.  This year, 2019, Topps is celebrating 150 years of baseball.  In addition to every flagship base card having a 150 year stamp parallel to,chase there is an insert set celebrating the first 150 years.

150 Years of Fun is the insert set to chase

The back goes on to show how much of a great humanitarian Clemente was as just a few days before his passing he was holding a baseball clinic for young kids.

On a completely unrelated note, please pray for the family of the little girl hit at the Astros game yesterday.

Card #86: Cannonball Coming!!!

Famous Pirates announcer, Greg Brown, has a saying "Clear The Deck, Cannonball Coming!"

Had he been around in 1964, he surely would have said it many times during Roberto Clemente's career.

485 FEET!!!!

That is a shot!!! The only problem with such a homerun happening so long ago is that it depreciates over time.  You see in 2015, the homerun was calculated at 492 feet according to the 2015 insert Topps made.  I wrote about it here.

I don't have the complete sets of either Long Ball Leaders (2018 insert) or Tape Measure Blasts (2015) so I can't confirm if any other cards feature questionable distances.

Card #46 : Gallery of Greats

Here's another insert set that Topps has produced in the recent 5 years with a title including Greats.

It makes sense for Clemente to be included as the bronze statue outside PNC Park recognizes Clemente as The Great One.

Cards #43-45: More Golden Moments

It's Super Bowl Sunday.  Someone today will have a moment that will lead them to greatness.  Could it be a member of the Eagles leading the team to their first Super Bowl victory?  Could it be Tom Brady leading the Patriots to their 6th Superbowl?

History will be made today.  That's for sure.

I showed off another of these last week

Here are three more that I have.

I am currently missing GG40

Card #39: Golden Great

Considering that this card is number 39 it seemed appropriate to show it off today.  I have a few more of these Golden Moments

This insert was from 2012.  Topps produced these to be inserted in Series 1.  The 75 card checklist featured 5 cards of 15 of the greatest ballplayers to put on a pair of cleats.  Besides Clemente, others included Lou Gehrig, Babe Ruth, Nolan Ryan, Derek Jeter, Ty Cobb, Willie Mays, Cal Ripken Jr, Hank Aaron, Tom Seaver, Sandy Koufax, Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle, Albert Pujols, Jackie Robinson.

This particular card discusses two games where Clemente amassed 10 hits.

Card #17: Ted Williams Etched In Stone

In the early 90s Ted Williams created a card company that produced some really nice looking classy cards of legendary players and fan favorites.

There was an insert set called Etched in Stone of which Clemente made the checklist.

This card was part of my COMC purchase I have talked about.  The front of the card features an action shot of Clemente that I haven't seen appear on any other forms of cardboard.  The nearly full bleed photo design has a stone design in the top right corner which adds to the classy look of the card.

The back features a lot of information about the 1960 season and the World Series Champions Pittsburgh Pirates.

There's a bunch more Clemente cards from the Ted Williams Company that I hope to chase down as the collection grows.

Card #10: Statcast in the 1960s

Could you imagine if Statcast existed in the 1960s?

The tape measure shot that Clemente hit off legendary pitcher Sandy Koufax would be analyzed in details by the spin rate of the pitch, exit velocity, launch angle, etc.

It would certainly be fun to analyze how one of the greatest pitchers of All-time surrendered a .905 OPS to the Pittsburgh superstar.  I would love to see the on field demonstration of how Clemente would be able to consistently hit one of the game's greatest.

Card #9: A Rare Feat of Feet

On July 25th 1956 Roberto Clemente was the first and only player in MLB history to hit a walk-off inside the park Grand Slam.

The rare event is celebrated on Topps 2015 Rarities insert as seen below.

Details of the event are on the back.

I really like the entire concept of this insert series.  The cards feature unique moments that many Hall of Famers have done.  Strange things like Ken Griffey Jr towering in 44 different ballparks or Rod Carew stealing 2B, 3B, and home all in the same inning.

Unfortunately Topps also included not so rare events which are still impressive in the set by non Hall of Famers.  Asdrubel Cabrera completed an unassisted triple play (14th in MLB history) and got the cardboard love.  Anibal Sanchez' 4 strikeouts to start an ALCS also got the production of a card for the rare but not 100% unique event.

The cards design is perfect as the background matches the player's primary team color as evidenced by the yellow in the Clemente above.  The back of the card giving a description of the rare event is perfect as well.

With so many unique things that Hall of Famers have done I think the only thing that could have made 2015 Rarities insert set better would be to limit it to strictly Hall of Famers and the rare and unique things they did in their careers.

Only 1% of all players become Hall of Famers.

The concept of a rarity should begin and end with only Hall of Famers.   Not Asdrubel Cabrera and Shawn Green.