2022 Topps Fan Vote- Miggy is My #1

It's been an amazing baseball season, both as a fan, and as a collector of baseball cards.

My Detroit Tigers are struggling down the stretch, having lost 4 or their last 5 games, but they've won 75 baseball games, a total many fans, myself included, thought impossible, especially after a miserable first month. 

On the card front, Topps Series 1 got off to a bad start as well, and why it never recovered from fans disdain for a less than likable design, it did, for me, produce a terrific looking card.

🐯⚾️  Matthew Boyd started 2021 off pitching well, the season was cut short before the All-Star Game, and he ended up having surgeon his left elbow.

Another Tigers player, Miguel Cabrera, got off to a terrible start this year, but the last 3 1/2 months have been almost as good as the vintage Miggy, including watching him hit his 500th Career Home Run, as well as collecting his 1,800th RBI, and nearing 600 doubles (597 as of this post).

Topps started it's annual fan vote for Card #1 in 2022 Series One today, and I was very surprised that Miguel Cabrera was one of the choices, and,thusly, I did my duty as a Tigers fan of 54 years and voted for Miggy to be card #1.

2️⃣0️⃣2️⃣2️⃣ Topps design for 2022 is a very good looking, indeed. 

👉 Look, I know he won't get it, but heck, I actually think Miggy should get card #500.

You can go go topps.com , or any of Topps social media channels for the links to vote...you'll get three (3) votes each, for America League, and National League players.

In the A.L. I voted for Miggy, Vlad Guerrero, Jr., and, Jose Altuve.

In the N.L. I voted for Joey Votto, Bryce Harper, and, Juan Soto. 

I'm guessing Shoehi Ohtani will be Card #1, especially with the amazing season he had.

🗳 If you vote, let me know the players you voted for, and, who you want to be Card #1 in 2022 Topps Baseball. 

Thanks,again, for your time, I appreciate it.

Play BALL! ⚾️

Monday Mopup- 9/27/2021

Well, our weekend wasn't very good, both sports wise, and personal wise.

Our sports teams didn't perform very well, including the Detroit Lions, who lost to the Baltimore Ravens on a last second, NFL Record, 66 yard field goal by Ravens kicker Justin Tucker.

☹ Of course, I've seen this act before. 

On 1970, the first year I started following the Lions, they lost a game in New Orleans on a last second, THEN NFL Record 63 yard FG by Saints kicker Tom Dempey. 

🐯⚾️ The Tigers just lost to the White Sox, 8-7, in a makeup game at Comerica Park, a makeup game from last week.

👉 The Tigers ended up the home part of the schedule by losing 3 of 4, and now have 81 losses, meaning they'll have to win out this week against the Twins and ChiSox on the road to finish up at .500.

2️⃣9️⃣8️⃣6️⃣ Miguel Cabrera collected two hits today, including his 597th career double.

👉 Miggy is 18th All-Time in doubles, and can, hopefully, collect his 600th two bagger, a feat that's very underrated. 

✌ Maybe Miggy will hit double #600 on Sunday afternoon in Chicago, in front of yours truly...hit number 3,000 is probably out of reach for this year, but, heck, strange things happen in baseball.

👑 One good thing that happened on Sunday night was my favorite Wrestler, Charlotte Flair, winning her "Extreme Rules" match against Alexa Bliss.

💗💗 Alexa is a beautiful and talented young woman, a definite fan favorite, including our friend Collecting Cutch, who featured the WWE Superstar in his recap of 2020's Save Second Base. 

🎃👻 We only have a few days left in September, which means playoff baseball and conference football games in college football. 

〽️🏈 Michigan beat Rutgers on Saturday, however, after taking a 20-3 halftime lead, the Wolverines didn't score again, hanging on for a 20- 13 win over the Scarlett Knights. 

👉 Let's hope they perform better on Saturday in Madison,  where they haven't beaten the Badgers since 2004.

In Memoriam. 

😥 We lost a beloved member of our family on Saturday night.

😿 We found our male kitty, Mr. PAWS, on the kitchen floor, and, a few minutes later, he was gone. 

This came out of nowhere...just a couple days before he was jumping in my arms and wanting to play.

The above picture is of him as a baby, just a few months old.

Tracy and I are devastated, and it's been a very emotional couple of days.

Thanks, again, for taking time out of your day to stop by and read this post, it's much appreciated. 

Have a great week.

RIP Mr. PAWS 

😥💔

Tigers Card Tuesday- 2021 Project 70 Akil Baddoo

Today's leadoff hitter for the Detroit Tigers against the Chicago White Sox, speedy outfielder Akil Baddoo, is the subject of today's Tigers Card Tuesday! 

        

2021 Topps Project 70 #384 Akil Baddoo ( 1990 Topps by Tyson Beck)

7️⃣0️⃣  The Project 70 cards are interesting, and they're not for everyone, but some of the cards are well done, including this Tyson Beck 1990 Topps version. 

👉 The Tigers are woefully under represented in the Project 70 Series, with just 5 cards. ( Al Kaline, Ty Cobb (2), Baddoo, and Miguel Cabrera).

👉 In last years Project 2020 Series, there were no Tigers players represented.

🐯 I'm hoping to own all the Tigers cards in the Project 70 Series, mostly, I guess, because there's so few of them, and they are, to an extent, a poor man's way of collecting art, as the cards are paintings done by each individual artist.

5️⃣ The Tigers selected the speedy outfielder in the Rule 5 Draft in December 2020, from the Minnesota Twins, and from his first appearance wearing the Olde English D, Baddoo has been special to watch.

🤔 Do you have any Project 70 Cards?

     Any Project 2020 Cards? 

Have a terrific Tuesday, and, hey, Play BALL! ⚾️

Monday Mopup, September 20, 2021

What a weekend it was for sports teams from the Great State of Michigan! 

🐯⚾️ First, our Detroit Tigers went to the dungeon know as Tropicana Field and survived a meltdown on Friday night to come back with wins on Saturday and Sunday, splitting the 4 game series, and winning the season series.

The Tigers shut out Tampa Sunday afternoon, with starting pitcher Wily Peralta tossing 7 scoreless innings.

❌ One of my favorite Twitter follows is Umpire Scorecards, a page that shows each Home Plate Umpire's performance from the previous days games.

😎 The human element is such a huge part of sports, and, as bad as some umps are, most are really good at a job that's far from easy.

Give them a follow if you are on Twitter. 

🏈 Michigan, Western Michigan, and Michigan State all won their games on Saturday, which doesn't always happen.

👉 Michigan beat Northern Illinois at The BIG House, the Broncos upset Pittsburgh, at Heinz Field, and underdog Sparty went down to South Florida and beat the Hurricanes.

 

🦁🏈 What a fine end to a great football weekend it'll be if our Detroit Lions could beat the Packers at Lambeau Field tonight. 

The Lions have only won once in Green Bay since 1991, and tonight the Lions will try and beat a Packers team that was humiliated by the Saints in Week One.

1️⃣2️⃣ One more thing that made the weekend awesome was 45 year old Tom Brady throwing 5 TD passes against the Falcons, giving the former Michigan QB 9 TD passes in the two games so far in 2021.

3️⃣ Our friend Fugi posted a cool collecting idea that I hadn't ever though about.

So, here's a trifecta to show....I'll start with Matthew Boyd, my current PC.

RC)                                2015 Topps Update GOLD

Relic)                         2020 Topps Triple Threads, #1/3

Autograph)                          2021 Topps 1986 Anniversary 

This is a cool idea, and I hope to see more posts using the trifecta of cards.

1️⃣9️⃣7️⃣0️⃣ Over at The Shlabotnik Report, 1970s, A-Z, one of the players in the post is former slugging 3rd Baseman of the White Sox, Bill Melton, my favorite ChiSox player of All-Time.

4️⃣6️⃣ This afternoon in Cleveland, baseball history was made as Kansas City Royals catcher Salvador Perez hit his 46th home run, a big league record for catchers in a single season.

🅱️  Johnny Bench, considered the greatest of all baseball catchers, hit 45 HRs in 1970, the year he was the National League MVP, at age 23.

1️⃣ Perez won't win the A.L. MVP Award this year, as Shohei Ohtani and Vladimir Guerrero,  Jr. will finish 1/2, but he'll no doubt finish 3rd, and he'll definitely win the Silver Slugger Award for catchers.

Well, that's it for today, as the Tigers game has already started against Chicago.

Thanks, again, for stopping by the blog, it's much appreciated. 

Have an awesome week, Play BALL! ⚾️

Tigers Card Tuesday... Miguel Cabrera Topps Now 500th Home Run

               HAPPY Tigers Card Tuesday! 

On Sunday, August 22, 2021, Miguel Cabrera hit his 500th Career Home Run, the 28th player in the history of the big leagues to join the exclusive club of power hitters. 

🐯⚾️ Cabrera is the first player to hit his 500th HR in a Tigers uniform, and the opposite field shot was his 362nd as a Tigers player, trailing the 373 dingers hit by Norm Cash, and the 399 HRs hit by HOFer Al Kaline. 

👉As of today, Miggy now sits at 502 career HRS, 364 as a Detroit Tiger. 

5️⃣0️⃣0️⃣ Over the weekend my friend Michael, from our Detroit Tigers Collector's Facebook group, brought over the package of Topps NOW cards that he ordered.

👉 Of the 10 he ordered, I only wanted two of the special cards, and both are now secure in my collection of Miggy's cards.

I must say, Topps did a tremendous job on this card, using the picture of Miggy coming out of the Tigers dugout in Toronto to acknowledge the crowd  that was applauding the history achievement of one of the greatest players of my lifetime. 

📌 Topps NOW cards aren't for everyone, and I don't always get the cards, however, for an occasion like this, being a life-long Detroit fan, it was a must have card.

📬 I have a couple more Miggy cards coming in the mail soon, and it'll certainly find their way into another TCT post.

Have a great day, and, as always, remember,  PLAY BALL! ⚾️ 

Monday Mopup, Happy Labor Day!

Here's to all the hard working Americans who deserve a day of rest and relaxation. 

Labor Day is one of those unofficial baseball dates. 

 🚩Back in the days before Divisional Play (pre-1969), today was one if those days on the baseball calendar used as a barometer for pennant contenders, along with Memorial Day, July 4th, and the All-Star break.

👉 If your favorite club was in first place on one of those days, you were a happy kid, if not, "wait 'till next year" was your rally cry.

🐯⚾️ The Tigers lost in Pittsburgh today. 6-3, kind of a bummer after they won 2 of 3 games over the weekend in Cincinnati.

💗💗 We're a bit less than a month until October, and Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

The annual "Save Second Base" event held by our friend Collecting Cutch always includes the leader in doubles in the National League, and, going into today, that player is Tommy Edman, of the St.Louis Cardinals. 

3️⃣9️⃣ The overall leader in doubles is Jeimer Candelario of the Tigers, who has 39 two baggers as of today.

Jeimer, in his 5th year with Detroit, is having a good year, playing 122 games at 3rd Base, with 135 Base hits.

The last Detroit player to lead the Junior Circuit in doubles was Miguel Cabrera, who collected 52 back in 2014.

3️⃣0️⃣0️⃣ Over the weekend the battery of Adam Wainwright and Yadier Molina became just the 4th pitcher/catcher teammates to start 300 games together. 

👉 Baseball is made for special records like this, two men who've been together for 15 years, winning along of baseball games, including a pair of World Series Championships, in 2006, and 2011.

Molina is one of my favorite ballplayers, an amazing catcher who's on his way to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

🐯⚾️ FYI, the battery mates with the most starts in a career are a pair of Tigers, Mickey Lolich, and William Ashley Freehan. 

🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈

                                9️⃣6️⃣5️⃣

🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈

My beloved Michigan Wolverines kicked off their 142nd season of Inter-Collegiate Football with a resounding win over Western Michigan, 47-14, at The Big House, on Saturday. 

〽️🏈〽️ The win was #965 for Michigan, the most in college football  history. 

💻 Blogging Around 

Today is National Read a Book Day, something I didn't know until reading the post by Fugi this morning. 

2️⃣ The last book I read (didn't finish it), was

  "TheCaptain."

📖 I read the book on my return trip from Idaho this spring on the flight back to Kalamazoo, my hometown, and the place Derek Jeter grew up.

I enjoyed reading it, I love baseball books, and I definitely need to finish it up. 

🥒⛰ My fellow Tigers and Michigan fan, Dennis, continues to amaze me with his collection of baseball cards.

His latest post features former Wolverines pitcher Rich Hill, and his additions via trade,of cards of the current pitcher of the New York Mets.

One of my recent pickup of Hill was from a special 25 year Anniversary Set of the Lansing Lugnuts.

I ordered the set right from the team, just to get the Matthew Boyd card, so I could add it to my collection.

📌 The Shlabotnik Report checked in to say hi, and posted a sweet 1962 Topps card of Dick Williams. 

👀 Wanna win some FREE cards, well, head over to Sport Card Collector, and, hey, good luck! 

👇👇👇👇

Jason Thompson was a  slugging 1st Baseman for my Tigers in the mid-late 1970s.

Thanks to When Topps Had Balls, for producing a very cool card of the All-Star first sacker, and "1977 30 Home Run Club." 

Hope ya'll had a terrific weekend, and enjoyed time with family and friends.

Have a terrific week, and thanks for taking time out of your day to read this blog.

Play BALL! ⚾️