Saturday, September 9, 2017

Frankenset Redux, Page 12: Numbers 100-108


(Chances are I'll be at work when this post airs, so enjoy this week's page -- one of my personal favorites of the binder thus far -- as I negotiate the wonders of customer service land.)

Page #12 (Numbers 100-108):

Completion Status: 9/9

Numbers Needed: None.



The Players

1994 Upper Deck Minors #100 Brian Hunter

Our first hero number of the frankenset, and an impressive display of brute force.



2015 Topps Update #US-101 Jumbo Diaz

Jumbo being Jumbo.



2003 Upper Deck #102 AJ Hinch

One future manager tagging out another on this foreshadowing PATP.



1992 Topps #103 Ricky Jordan

Easily one of the best cards from my birth-year Topps set.



2017 Stadium Club #104 Ryon Healy

Like a sitting duck.



2015 Topps Update #US-105 Brandon Moss

That is one claustrophobic baseball card.



2017 Stadium Club #106 Brandon Belt

A second helping of 2017 Stadium Club, complete with a treasured glove-on-head autograph shot.



1998 Score #107 Doug Drabek

Might want to consider a new barber.




This has always struck me as one of the most dramatic cards I own.



Stats

Cards By Decade:

1990s -- 4 (Running total: 58)
2000s -- 1 (Running total: 7)
2010s -- 4 (Running total: 27)

Mini-collection Hits:

Plays at the Plate -- 1 (Running total: 6)
Interviews/Speeches -- 1 (Running total: 3)
Autographs -- 1 (Running total: 3)
Broken Bats -- 1 (Running total: 1)



Lessons in Card Backs


Somehow I missed out on knowing that Doug Drabek once won a Cy Young (Pirates, 1990), a fact made all the more shocking when you consider legends like Nolan Ryan and Juan Marichal never even won one.



Three Things: Jumbo Diaz


1) Real name: Jose Rafael Diaz.

2) The nickname "Jumbo" understandably stems from his massive 6'4", 315-pound frame, though it also came about because his original club -- the Dodgers -- already had a different Jose Diaz in their system at the time and needed an easier way to distinguish the two.

3) Jumbo had been pitching in the minors since 2002 before finally reaching the majors with the Reds in 2014.



This Magic Moment


Pretty easy find this week: I'm almost positive what we see here is the chaotic celebration following Brandon Moss's game winning single on August 2nd, 2015.

Moss had only been a Cardinal for a little over a month at the time, but it didn't take long to acclimate himself to his new club: his knock gave the Cards a 3-2 win over the Rockies that sunny Sunday afternoon.



Best of the Rest

1995 Upper Deck Minors #104 Kelly Wunsch

Striking out four guys in an inning as odd enough...but five?

Sure enough, then-Brewers prospect (and future White Sox lefty specialist) Kelly Wunsch fanned five batters in a Single-A game in April of 1994, as documented on this terrific UD Minors card which also showcases Wunsch's equally uncanny ability to hold five baseballs at once.

Wunsch also took the loss in that game, by the way, a clear example of how cruel the baseball gods can be.



Toughest Draw


2015 Stadium Club #100 Alex Cobb

You cannot defeat '70s faux-backs, you can only hope to contain them.



Second Guessing


1999 Stadium Club #102 Charles Johnson

It was a PATP toss-up for the #102 slot in my Inaugural Frankenset, and for now I gave Charles Johnson the nod since I'm partial towards anything that prominently features Wrigley in the background.

Yet I still wonder if I gave due consideration to the unique Hinch/Matheny combo from this week's page: after all, I can't imagine many cards feature two different managers-to-be during their playing days.



Favorite Card


You know, it's just like Stadium Club to barge in and completely overrun my frankenset but -- as it has in years past -- that's exactly what happened here in 2017.

Even though he's only been a part of the binder for a little over a month now, Ryan Healy (and Josh Reddick, of course) is, for my money, the runaway winner of this week's frankenset page.

And another page goes by the wayside.

Thanks for reading!

2 comments:

Fuji said...

I agree... that Healy is fantastic and easily the 9-pocket page MVP.

Mike said...

Jumbo Diaz!...can't go wrong there!