Farewell A-Rod - is it the end of the line?

Because of his immense talent, the scrutiny over his accomplishments and his misdeeds, A-Rod will always be the car crash I'll rubbernecking to watch - in what was supposed to be a week where A-Rod is playing his last game with the New York Yankees, there was some controversy over how many games he'd get into.

After a bounce back year in 2015, reality caught up to the 41-year old - who really knows what is on his mind and what maybe his possible options if he isn't bent on hanging it up just yet.

If A-Rod doesn't play in a big league game again, it will be interesting where he ends up as far as Hall of Fame consideration goes - because of the players' PED ties, I think the baseball writers have resigned themselves to letting three of the greatest players in baseball in Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens and A-Rod sit in limbo as opposed to inducting them into the most exclusive club in any professional sport.

I think Bonds and Clemens have to get in first and that doesn't look like that is happening anytime soon - before they A-Rod gets any actual consideration.

2015 Topps Update jumbo pack recap

#US-379 Cameron Maybin
#US-32 Blake Swihart
#US-382 Dan Uggla
#US-35 Justin Bour
#US-390 Donovan Solano
#US-334 Clint Barmes
#US-150 Eric Sogard
#US-225 Keone Kela
#US-182 Scott Van Slyke
#US-137 Andrew Romine
#US-66 Neftali Feliz
#US-346 Brandon Crawford
#US-47 Jeremy Jeffress

#US-261 R.J. Alvarez - a draft pick of the Angels in 2012, maybe because he never made it as a Halo and has had no MLB success otherwise, the sight of his cards haunt me.
#US-165 Seth Maness
#US-252 Francisco Rodriguez
#US-372 Alex Wood
#US-72 Brett Gardner
#US-344 Aramis Ramirez
#US-368 Aroldis Chapman

#US-361 LaTroy Hawkins - gotta give a professional ballplayer his due when he is 42 and still pitching in the big leagues.
#H-72 Tom Seaver - Highlight of the Year insert
#US-132 Geraldo Parra - Rainbow Foil
#RS-25 Mark McGwire - Rookie Sensations insert
#US-177 Matt Holliday - Gold parallel serial #'d 1228/2015

#R-3 Daniel Nava - Rarities insert

#WW-8 Roger Clemens - Whatever Works insert; I'm not sure whether or not I really like this or the Nava, but I like cards featuring quirky player trivia.

#CHA-WP Wily Peralta - Career High autograph; though I'm not guaranteed a hit out of a lone pack, this was kind of a 'meh' pull that I feel I could have found in Series I or Series II; maybe I was hoping for an All-Star and/or rookie themed card.
#US-62 Brian Dozier

#US-286 Francisco Lindor
#US-318 Philippe Aumont

#US-13 Tommy Pham
#US-223 Kevin Jepsen

#US-81 Pat Venditte
#US-326 Jonathan Herrera

#US-256 Danny Dorn / Darrell Ceciliani - though he has to share it with another player, it must be neat for a 10-year pro like Dorn to finally show up on an MLB rookie card.
#US-28 Miguel Cabrera

#US-156 Colby Rasmus / Jake Marisnick / George Springer - Amazing Astros; it might not mean much, though on the back of the card, it's nice Topps identified the obscured Marisnick [C] besides Rasmus [L] and Springer [R].

#US-242 Kris Bryant
#US-141 Glen Perkins
#US-392 Odrisamer Despaigne
#US-121 Alexi Ogando
#US-377 Taijuan Walker
#US-40 Sam Dyson
#US-149 Thomas Field
#US-201 Jose Altuve
#US-314 Rafael Betancourt
#US-290 Zach Britton

#US-50 Alex Guerrero
#US-85 Justin Nicolino

Featured mail day - 1985 Fleer Roger Clemens rookie card

"354 wins did not overcome the controversy as this ex-Red Sox pitcher didn't make the Hall of Fame cut in 2013."

Congrats Craig Biggio - my thoughts on the Hall

With 68 percent of the vote in 2013 - you are probably getting into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2014 or 2015 at the latest.

The fact no one is getting into the Hall of Fame this year except these dead guys and/or ones honored as writers and broadcasters is disappointing but not surprising - the writers have finally taken a stand [at least for one year] and have refused [at least for one year] to let numbers [boo hoo stats guys] bully their judgement of guys who played in the Steroid Era.

It doesn't mean guys like Biggio, Jeff Bagwell, Mike Piazza, Barry Bonds or Roger Clemens won't eventually enshrined - but they aren't sailing in with the stats alone and even the guys fans / writers assume have done things the right way might be scrutinized because of the era they played in.

I think it's even sadder for guys like Rafael Palmeiro and Sammy Sosa - those two schmucks look like they'll never get any serious consideration despite 3,000 hits / 569 home runs for Palmeroids and 609 home runs for Sosa.

It might be unfair to the standouts of the mid 1990's through mid 2000's - but as much as I enjoyed watching Bonds personally and recognized others' excellence [even through suspected PEDs], it doesn't pain me to make any those guys wait.