2021 Topps Home Run Challenge - Kyle Schwarber and Yordan Alvarez

I added Home Run Challenge codes for Kyle Schwarber and Yordan Alvarez for their Thursday games - Schwarber has been on a Ruthian home run tear through the past week but I felt like I’ve slept on that one lousy code card I had in-hand.

I considered adding the Schwarber HRC code for Wednesday, but figured the Washington Nationals slugger wasn't going to hit a home run in every game and didn’t in a Nationals 15-6 rout over the Tampa Bay Rays - if he’d hit another one then, that would have really been crazy.

Yesterday might have been the start of a new home run thing for Schwarber against righthander Tony Gonsolin of the Los Angeles Dodgers - however he hadn't homered in a couple of bats and worst yet, the game ended up being a rain shortened 6-2 win for the Dodgers.

The hulking Alvarez has been solid with the bat all year and checking the probable pitching matchups - all I knew was he going up against a rookie [J.C. Mejia] pitcher for the Cleveland baseball team, so it might be worth adding a code [I have one more unused Alvarez code].

I figured Alvarez might be able to size up the inexperienced starting pitcher and that's what happened as he hit his 14th home run - so at the very least, that's a winner for me.

Featured autograph - Ryan Zimmerman

I remember being high on Zimmerman as a potential franchise star and when he was a rookie all the way back in 2006 - I made a trade for this ball in exchange for a Ron Cey baseball I got signed during one of the preview days at the National 14 years ago.

It is hard to believe that all these years, the original National was still with the team and was part of a World Series Championship team - I suppose a number of people didn't like his appearance at the White House along with Kurt Suzuki in particular, but it is what it is.

Featured autograph - Brian Goodwin

Goodwin has been a solid addition so far for the middling 2019 Angels, getting an opportunity to stick at the end of spring training after Justin Upton got hurt - I got his autograph when he was in the Washington Nationals organization, playing in the Arizona Fall League in 2013, long before he was an Angel.

2012 Topps factory set Bryce Harper cards

Harper has had a pretty good start with his new team and it’s going to be interesting to see if he holds up through the rest of the season - both these Harper rookie-year cards were included as part of the 2012 Topps factory sets, so they aren't too hard to find.

Even though the cards weren't randomly inserted in packs, due to a little FOMO - I picked up a copy of each for my micro-mini Harper personal collection.

I wouldn't say pulling one is common, but I’ve seen the 'screaming variation' found enough times through $5 repack boxes that I wanted one outright - so at the very least, I don’t go fiending out trying to find my own copy of the card.

The screaming Harper is 1 of 5 factory rookie variation cards inserted as a bonus - the card to the right ['front leg up'] is the factory set variation of Harper’s super short print rookie card from 2012 Topps Series 2.

Presumably the factory set variation was issued because Topps wanted traditional set collectors to have a Harper card with 2012 sets - even though it just isn't the flagship SSP Harper card coveted by serious collectors / speculators.

Mail day - 2012 Topps Bryce Harper #US-183

I don't think Harper can ever match Mike Trout's run of excellence but Harper is still the player big league fans are waiting on to go HAM for years to come - I had seen this card on the Dime Boxes blog and I wondered if I should look into picking one up.

I was looking for a graded copy and lost an impulsive bid for a BGS 9.5 - for just about the same price as a discounted blaster however, I found another listing after the fact and jumped at it, even though I want to have some peace of mind as far as something slabbed.

From what I've read up on, I would assume Harper’s 2012 Topps Update rookie debut maybe his most popular ‘mainstream’ rookie year card even though it is from a subset - I think the rookie debut subset cards are annoying, but Harper's 2012 Topps Series II card is an SSP that is simply hard to find.

Harper does have 2012 Topps factory set cards [a non SSP version of #661 and a factory set rookie insert card] - but the demand for those cards are relatively soft, presumably since the factory sets are usually printed in abundance and contain the pair [as opposed to being pack pulled issues].

The 30-Day Baseball Card Challenge - Day 21

A card of a rookie you thought you were "investing" in.

2007 Bowman Heritage Jesus Flores #231 - I spent at least a couple of hundred dollars on a handful of autographed prospect cards [between 2006-2008] of players [Jason Heyward, Cameron Maybin, Matt LaPorta, Justin Upton, Josh Vitters] who didn't quite make the impact I'd hoped, but maybe Flores was a guy between that time period who was actually in the big leagues.

I was hoarding assorted low-end cards [maybe a handful of Bowman paper cards, a Bowman Chrome parallel and a certified autograph] - hoping Flores would turn out to be some sort of star.

After being a Rule 5 pick of the Washington Nationals from the New York Mets, I think I read somewhere in a rookie report from Baseball America - that Flores was having a solid rookie season and it really looked like like the Nationals had something in the 22-year old.

Maybe Flores' profile didn't actually scream 'hobby star' in the first place, so I don't know what I was looking for - but after the fact, various injuries really sapped his potential to be a frontline catcher.

Featured autograph - Danny Espinosa

Espinosa isn't exactly Chase Utley in his prime, but he has already helped the Angels win a game with a clutch 3-run home run - hopefully he hits quite a bit more home runs over the course of the year, even with a flawed low batting average / high strike out, all-or-nothing approach.

A future Angel - Ian Desmond?

Assuming the Angels let their own regular shortstop [Erick Aybar] walk after this year - Desmond would be at the top of my wishlist as far as a position player.

I'm not sure how it's going to happen, though I assume it is going to be through free agency - Desmond will not come cheap as a fairly complete, athletic package, with the ability hit for power, steal bases and play defense at shortstop.

When the Washington Nationals picked up shortstop Trea Turner from the San Diego Padres this off-season - it probably means Desmond is as good as gone after he plays out his contract unless of course Turner gets hurt playing for the Lake Elsinore Storm or something.

Featured autograph - Yunesky Maya

I picked up a 2011 Topps Allen and Ginter in-person signed card of Maya and it was kind of a no brainer - it was another $2.50 auto from a group of autograph cards detailed in this previous post.

I can go ahead and put my original set card in my collection of foreign born players and not worry about needing him to sign something specific - it's not like Maya was a major want, but it's one autograph set card out of the way from a player that might be tough to track down.

A Cuban defector who was a free agent bust with the Washington Nationals, Maya was pitching in the Atlanta Braves' system this year before being sold to a baseball team in Korea - I just want to say that he's already 32 years old and while he's probably not permanently going back to Cuba, he is on the pro baseball journeyman path.

Featured autograph - Kurt Suzuki

Suzuki is 30 years old and now has spent parts of 10 seasons playing pro ball - it's nice to see the current Minnesota Twin start off great with the bat in 2014, though as a catcher, maybe the MLB season takes it's toll and drags his numbers down.

He's not a Buster Posey or a Yadier Molina - but I guess as long as he posts passable numbers at the plate, he'll get his opportunities to play a starring role [as opposed to someone stuck on the bench].

It seemed like just yesterday when he was a fresh faced rookie with the Oakland A's - I didn't really follow guys playing in college when Suzuki enjoyed an inspired collegiate playing career at Cal State Fullerton, but probably became aware of him, when his first-year Bowman Draft cards started to come out late in 2004.

Congrats Albert Pujols!!!

Random thoughts - Ryan Zimmerman

Ideally I wanted to collect his cards 'on the side,' expecting him to be a rising star at one point - though he isn't even 30 yet, it seems like he's been playing for 10 years and there isn't as much hype associated with his career.

On the surface, he seemed to be a good guy to collect even though he plays for an East Coast team I wouldn't see much - he's always put up decent numbers and had the ability to come through in clutch situations for the Nationals in his career.

I guess Zimmerman is still a viable major leaguer - living the life, playing for a potential World Series contender while being paid nearly like a franchise player he once was thought to be.

It seems peculiar that I don't seem to hear much about him through the national media - he seems like just another good player who maybe trending downwards at he enters his 30's.

Has had the yips throwing the ball and maybe more of a passable first baseman in the near future - rather than a star third baseman for the rest of his MLB career.

A comparable player to Zimmerman maybe David Wright, but while Wright has sort of gone through his up and downs - I think he sorts of still has the allure of a star.

Am I'm wrong about Zimmerman being merely 'meh' over the last several years - does it matter that perhaps he isn't the first guy fans talks about when mentioning the Washington Nationals?

Ranking the 30 MLB teams on my watch - Washington Nationals #12 of 30

I've always liked how Nationals third baseman Ryan Zimmerman has carried himself as a professional baseball player - even though he has been overshadowed by the likes of Bryce Harper and Stephen Strasburg in recent years.

Zimmerman has been with the Nationals ever since their first season in Washington back in 2005 - hopefully he can get his throwing problems straightened out as the Nationals look to bounce back from a season where they were expected to reach the World Series.

Stephen Strasburg MIA?

I don't hear too much about the supposed ace of the Washington Nationals anymore though I assume he's never been quite a peach and the less national attention he gets - the more comfortable he feels as long as he can go out and dominate on the mound.

However, it's been three or four years already since Strasburg was hyped as the greatest thing since sliced bread - though pitching relatively well despite his W-L record, maybe he doesn't seem to be as sure of a thing at the ripe old age of 24.

It's not like his future is all behind him - but I wonder if fans and or experts will ever get an opportunity to talk about his talent like a Justin Verlander or Felix Hernandez any time soon.

Strasburg missed much of the 2011 season after coming back from Tommy John surgery - in 2012, wasn't allowed to finish the 2012 season and it was a strange decision for the Nationals to make, even with Strasburg's long-term interests in mind.

I guess Strasburg has to take a back seat to position player and teammate Bryce Harper on the Nationals - and apparently Strasburg is no Matt Harvey, who is the hot rookie pitcher of the moment in Major League Baseball.

More 2013 Topps - a couple of manufactured relics and a random Daniel Descalso base card

I wasn't going to be caught up in the new release hype of Topps' flagship brand but after browsing through eBay - the manufactured patch card set featuring Topps first cards / rookie cards of various star players caught my eye.

I ended up picking up two blaster boxes in addition to the 72-card hanger box I purchased at Walmart and pulled a Ryne Sandberg 1983 commemorative rookie patch relic in my first box - I've never pulled a Topps framed silk insert and while reprint cards have been sort of redundant, it's kind of neat to see various Topps first cards / rookie cards this way, from Willie Mays' first Topps card in 1952 to Yu Darvish's 2012 Topps rookie card.

Topps is definitely preying on collectors' nostalgia once again by using cards from previous years' Topps releases to come up with this 25-card insert set - however, the novelty of such inserts however is appealing, so I'll probably be caught up looking to pick up one or two more Topps Series I blasters than I already have.

In my second blaster box, I pulled a commemorative patch relic of Stephen Strasburg - not all blaster boxes will contain a rookie patch relic and while I'd rather have a rookie patch relic, this card features a nice, manufactured patch of the Washington Nationals' logo alongside a mugshot of the franchise's ace pitcher.

This Topps card [#190] is my early favorite of 2013 - it looks like Descalso's about to dunk [or in reality, caught in the air for a moment as he's trying to throw someone out of at first base].

Featured autograph - Sean Burnett

The Angels signing of reliever Sean Burnett adds another good lefty to complement Scott Downs in their bullpen - I assume Burnett is going to be a flexible piece, with the ability to come into any late inning situations and maybe even close out a game if needed.

I probably got this 2004 Bowman Draft card signed in-person four or five years ago - when Burnett was still with the Pittsburgh Pirates and I couldn't tell the difference between him and then teammate Tom Gorzelanny.

Autograph request through the mail received: Jordan Zimmermann

Jordan Zimmermann c/o Washington Nationals - maybe an unheralded pitcher in a starting rotation that maybe the best in the National League in 2012, Zimmerman signed my 2011 Topps Allen and Ginter card in blue Sharpie and didn't return the other card I sent; this request took about a month.

Mail day - 2011 Bowman Bryce Harper #BP 1

I picked this Bryce Harper card up for $6 shipped and it came in the mail Wednesday afternoon - hardly the most exciting looking or the most valuable card but something to file away in my collection.

With the burden of high expectations, Harper has made great progress in his first professional season - already making the jump from Low-A ball Hagerstown to AA Harrisburg in the Washington Nationals system.

He will be playing for Team USA in the 2011 Futures Game in Phoenix - hopefully he puts on a show so we are all reminded why he is the next great hope in Major League Baseball.

Baseball busts and disappointments - No. 13 Ryan Wagner

I don't know what to say about Ryan Wagner, a college relief ace whose professional career came up quite short of expectations - he never developed into closer material and whileh he played in parts of five years in the Major Leagues, his last full season was in 2005 when he posted a 6.11 ERA in 42 games.

BUST

Featured autograph - Chad Cordero

Chad Cordero was once a relief ace who piled up 127 of his 128 career saves in his four full MLB seasons with the Montreal Expos / Washington Nationals - despite enjoying much early success, he has struggled to make it back to the Major Leagues and make a significant impact with stints in the Seattle Mariners and New York Mets organizations.

It was kind of a shock to read about what he and his family had gone through during the off-season - now just learning about his tragedy of losing a daughter who was only 11 weeks into her life just blows me away.