We couldn't get much Higher

Heritage High Numbers sneaks up on me more than any other set around today.

It's always a surprise when it hits the shelves, and with it comes all sorts of unpleasant realizations: it's September?! Baseball's almost over?!  But subconscious stuff aside, I think part of me hasn't gotten used to High Numbers being available in retail since I'd somewhat grown accustomed to its dark years of online exclusivity.

But yet, during a recent trip to Target, there it was, and I bought a bit more than I probably should have just because I was so shocked it was there at all.

Usually, there isn't much of note as far as inserts go in High Numbers: nice enough, but mostly stuff we've seen before.

But that Cleon Jones was a pleasant surprise, because when's the last time Topps made a Cleon Jones card?

Heritage High Numbers is kind of a pre-Update Update, and it's always exciting because it's often among the first looks I get of guys I collect in their new uniforms (or, in the case of Pablo Sandoval, his new old uniform).

I usually have buzzard's luck when it comes to pulling SPs I need out of Heritage, so getting these two was a thrill (which is more than I can say about Darvish's season).

My first cards of a couple dudes I've grown quite fond of this season.

Big rookies: acquired.

I pulled a dupe of the Acuna which recouped the price of one of the hanger boxes I bought and thus made me feel a little less guilt about my overspending on these packs.

But the card I was most excited to pull wasn't Ohtani or Acuna, but one David Bote, a 25-year-old bench player who'd barely played above AAA before last year.

Every so often, a guy breaks into the majors whose play and backstory seems to be created in a laboratory specifically to win my fandom. This time that guy is David Bote, and he just so happens to be on my favorite team. He was never regarded as much more than a fringe prospect prior to this year (this is his first base Topps card) and nearly quit baseball before earning a call-up and hitting what might be the most dramatic homer I've ever seen.

So yes, it's September, and yes, baseball's getting near the finish line, but David Bote's got a card under his belt now, a feat that will forever rest on the shoulders of Heritage High Numbers.