Archive for the ‘2011 Topps’ Tag
2011 Topps Greg Holland autographed custom card Leave a comment
Danny Duffy 2011 Topps custom card autograph 2 comments
This is my Danny Duffy from my 2011 Topps Spring Training set. At the time he wasn’t on the Royals yet but he turned out to be a big part of the team late in the season. The Royals Caravan came through town last weekend and I saw it as a good opportunity to get one of my custom cards signed. Very cool by the way. Duffy’s comment about the card: “I haven’t seen this one before, I look mad!”
Manny Pina to get the call to the big leagues Leave a comment
It’s funny how baseball works sometimes. It appears that all in the same week Manny Pina will get demoted to AA Northwest Arkansas from the AAA Omaha Storm Chasers and now be called up to the Kansas City Royals. Matt Treanor got hammered in a collision at home plate in Cleveland and was almost immediately put on the 7 day disabled list meaning the Royals needed a second catcher.
Manny Pina reportedly left his AA game in Springfield minutes later indicating that he was trying to catch a plane to Cleveland for the series finale between the Royals and Indians. I’m excited to see him at the big league level even though it appears Salvador Perez has passed him in the chain of players ready for the Royals at the catcher position. Pina is already on the 40 man roster so it makes perfect sense that he will be joining the team.
2011 Topps Spring Training: Will Smith Leave a comment
Will Smith’s no-hitter on Tuesday made me dig out this card I made this spring training. At that time I really thought that either Everett Teaford or Will Smith were going to make the opening day roster.
Custom Card of the Day: Brittany Schutte and Kelsey Bruder 2011 Topps 4 comments
Here is a new one for your custom card of the day. These two ladies play for the University of Florida. I did these as a custom card request. I loved the challenge and think they turned out good as well. I had some reservations about some subtle changes like making the ball the color of a softball, it looks a little weird on the card is all. It provides a bit of a strange background for the Gators logo as well.
Just to let it be known; custom card requests are always welcome. I have done a couple and have really enjoyed doing them. Often my biggest problem is deciding what to do with my custom cards. It also gets me out of ruts I feel. Sometimes I feel like all I do is the same Royals or St. Joe Mustangs stuff so this is nice to break the monotony.
2011 Topps Royals: a look at player choices 3 comments
So I am a big Topps fan. I am also a huge Royals fan. I collect all of the Royals Topps sets, I currently have every year from 1976 to 2011. I anxiously await what Royals will be released with each series Topps puts out. I am focusing on 2011 in this post. I just mentioned in another post that Series 2 Topps comes out in a couple short weeks on June 6, 2011. This led me to find a checklist and review what Royals cards I would soon be getting my hands on.
So far here is what I have:
Series 1 :Gil Meche, Lucas May, Gregor Blanco, Zack Greinke, David Dejesus, Mike Aviles, Kyle Davies, Alex Gordon and Yuniesky Betancourt
The cards for the Royals on the 2011 series 2 checklist are as follows: Wilson Betemit, Billy Butler, Vin Mazzaro, Jason Kendall, Kila Ka’aihue, Joakim Soria, Luke Hochevar and Mitch Maier.
The series 2 checklist is not final though, several should be added, see below for more details.
Lets look at Series 1 and 2 more closely along with their current standing with the Kansas City Royals:
Gil Meche: retired, 0 games with the Royals; FAIL
Lucas May: in Omaha, 0 games with the Royals; FAIL
Gregor Blanco: started in Omaha, now traded to Washington, 0 games with the Royals; FAIL
Zack Greinke: traded to Milwaukee, 0 games with the Royals; FAIL
David Dejesus: traded to Oakland 0 games with the Royals; FAIL
Mike Aviles: starts nearly every day for the Royals; PASS
Kyle Davies: injured but for some reason is still in the Royals rotation; PASS
Alex Gordon: everyday player; PASS
Yuniesky Betancourt; traded to Milwaukee, 0 games with the Royals; FAIL
Wilson Betemit: starts nearly every day for the Royals; PASS
Billy Butler: everyday player; PASS
Vin Mazzaro: 2 games with the Royals, now in Omaha; FAIL
Jason Kendall: injured all year, 0 games with Royals; FAIL
Kila Ka’aihue: played in just 23 games before getting sent to Omaha; PUSH
Joakim Soria: Royals closer having a rough year; PASS
Luke Hochevar: pitches every 5th day; PASS
Mitch Maier: played in just 14 games as a backup outfielder: PUSH
So that is 17 Royals cards and just 7 that are legitimate forces on the team so far: horrible choices by Topps.
Every year Topps releases a “Stadium Set” for teams to sell in their stadium gift shops. This year the set included a respectable 17 cards and here they are.
Stadium Set: Billy Butler, Mike Aviles, Alcides Escobar, Chris Getz, Kyle Davies, Vin Mazzaro, Alex Gordon, Luke Hochevar, Kila Ka’aihue, Jason Kendall, Sean O’Sullivan, Joakim Soria, Wilson Betemit, Melky Cabrera, Jeremy Jeffress, Jeff Francoeur and a team card.
Of these Escobar, Mazzaro, Cabrera, Jeffress and Francouer were all pictures of them on other teams but photoshopped to look like they were in Royals uniforms. These are better choices that the first two series’ of Topps.
Alright now for more additions to the series 2 set.
Last year the Royals series 2 set was 11 cards, the year prior to that 12. This is a good point to expect cards for 2011 except that the Royals have a ton of rookies and new additions so they might get a couple extras. They should really clean up in the Update set expected around September. Escobar and Jeffress had Brewers cards in the 2011 Topps set so they won’t appear until the update set if even then. I don’t think Eric Hosmer was called up in time to have a card in series 2 this year so he will have a very sought after update card.
Alright so we know 8 of the cards in the series 2 set but several numbers on the checklist are listed as “TBD.” Some of these will be Royals. Lets figure the Royals will get 13 cards in series 2. That leaves 4 more in the TBD category. Lets guess at these 4 cards. My guesses are Jeff Francoeur, Melky Cabrera, Bruce Chen, Aaron Crow Rookie and Jeff Francis. This is ignoring a couple big options, mainly Chris Getz, Matt Treanor, Tim Collins Rookie, Jarrod Dyson rookie and Brayan Pena.
The update set this year could be absolutely killer! Hosmer and Duffy rookies are a lock. In either series 2 or update we should get all of the following rookies: Hosmer, Duffy, Collins, Crow and possibly Dyson, Teaford. There is even an outside chance some other callups could happen and get cards in the update set(Moustakas, Montgomery, Lamb)
I wish I could get about 35 Royals cards this year but that probably won’t happen. I’ve rambled enough, any thoughts?
History of Joakim Soria: 2011 Topps Leave a comment
This card has appeared on my site before but I thought I would officially induct it into the “History of Joakim Soria” set. It is originally from my 2011 Royals spring training set that was all Royals, all from spring training and came in at a whopping 55 cards, wow, good times.
This Soria was one of my favorites from the set. I was actually forced to use a picture that I normally wouldn’t. I like to give the picture room to breathe and I had to crop really tightly on this one. I had the same issue with Brayan Pena’s card from the same set. In retrospect, those two cards are likely among my top 5 from the set.
The 2011 Topps design got mixed reviews from me. I like that it is not drenched in silver foil and that it has a big picture on it. The bad points were more minor but annoying nonetheless. I hated the fact that it said Kansas City Royals around the baseball on top and bottom in addition to having a Royals logo in between the two. Not too bad though, I am anxious to see what Royals are included in series 2, could there be an Eric Hosmer rookie card? We can only hope. June 6th you can get your grubby little hands on them and find out.
A Hair Off Square 