Matt Merullo Missing Topps Cards

Matt Merullo played in the Majors from 1989-1995. He spent 1989, and 1991 through 1993 with the Chicago White Sox, 1994 with the Cleveland Indians, before playing his final season in 1995 with the Minnesota Twins. His Grandfather Lennie Merullo, played shortstop for the Chicago Cubs from 1941-1947.

Matt only got into 1 main Topps set, the 1992 one, but did get 1990 Topps Debut, 1991 Topps Stadium Club, 1992 Topps Stadium Club, and 1994 Team Stadium Club cards. Matt needed 1990, 1993, 1994, 1995, and 1996 Topps cards to complete his career Topps run.  Here are all of Matt's Topps cards to showcase his career Topps run.

1990 Topps custom rookie card

 1992 Topps card

 1993 Topps custom by Paul

 1994 Topps custom

 1995 Topps custom

1996 Topps custom sunset card

A few years ago, I sent Matt a letter and a 1992 Topps card to sign. I had some extra cards, so I sent them as well asking for him to keep them, and he sent the '92 back signed, as well as a note saying that he would be in Germany soon doing a camp and that he was excited to bring the extra cards I sent with him to hand out to the kids there. Matt looks to be a pretty consistent signer, so if autographs are your thing, I would send Matt a letter, and perhaps send a few extras of his that you can afford to lose so he can have more to hand out at camps and stuff. 

The 1997 Topps checklist is officially done, so that means the 1987-2001 sets are all ready to go, with every checklist done, and every template completed and up on its own page. 

I have kind of started a side project that I have wanted to do for some time now. I have always wished that Topps would just scrap their Archives brand as it is now with current and retired players on old designs, and turn it into a brand of nothing but cards that never were. Since they probably wont, I am. I am currently in the process of coming up with a checklist of 300-500 cards to make a base set out of, as well as a few insert sets. Not sure if I should split the set up into decades, or just make it into a 1-2 series set of 1951-2017 Topps cards. I do want to make maybe 100 cards in the set devoted to Draft Picks, Highlights, Managers, and Coaches. I plan on making a fake 'sell sheet' of the set, showcasing the cards, maybe a parallel set or two, all of the insert sets, and yes, even a relic and autograph insert set. As far as insert sets, I want to do a card with showcasing 2 players with 2 different Topps cards from the same set. Maybe 1/2 with a regular Topps card and a card that never was, and the other with both players' card that never was. Also have an autograph version of that one. The big insert would probably be cards of stadiums in various Topps designs (like the year after the team won or was in a World Series), but including a unique stadium/team-themed relic in it, like a tomahawk for the Braves, a piece of ivy for the Cubs, a Homer Hankie for the Twins, a dollar bill for the Yankees (just kidding!). That would probably be a serial numbered insert (maybe to 25 or 50). The main draw to the set would be a redemption card that would be redeemable for an original copy of every one of the depicted players' Topps cards, including cards that never were. These would probably be 5 per player, and then the holy grail would be one redeemable for every card, and each card would be autographed. So I will probably start working on a page to list the checklist, and then go through my inventory of cards I have already made and add them to the checklist and start working on insert cards. It might take a while, but keep your eyes peeled, and hopefully it won't bee good enough that Topps will want to sue me. 

Thanks for checking out my latest post.

-Jeremy

1995 Topps #700 Mike Myers/Scott Sullivan/Eric Dinyar/Danny Graves

Today's card features 4 players. 3 of them were valuable relievers in the Majors, and 1 of them was a great pitcher I saw play in the minors that had an injury cut his career short before he reached the Bigs.

Mike Myers pitched from 1995-2007 with a number of teams, and won a World Series title with the Boston Red Sox in 2004.
Scott Sullivan had a 3.98 ERA in 10 seasons in the Majors, mostly for the Cincinnati Reds. He went to Auburn University, and gets bonus points for doing so.
Eric Dinyar pitched in the minors for the Detroit Tigers from 1994-1997. In 1996, I saw him pitch a few times, and he set the Lakeland Tigers single-season record for Saves with 27. He was injured in 1997, and retired shortly after. He was elected to the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown Hall of Fame in 2014.
Danny Graves played for 11 seasons in the Majors, making the All-Star team in 2000 and 2004 with the Cincinnati Reds. He finished his career with 182 Saves.

The next few cards coming up will be prospect and draft pick cards. Hopefully you will enjoy them. I have been working on finalizing all of the checklists that I have done by adding team photos that I could find, stadium cards, and notable draft picks that Topps missed. The 1989-1994 sets are done, as well as the 1996 set. I chose to make some customs tonight rather than doing the 1995 set, but I'll finish it soon enough. I think I will do the 2001 set and then just hold off with the '97-99 sets until all of the players are done for those. The 1999 set will be first (already have the Blue Jays and Rangers teams done), then 1998, 1997, and 2000. I'm hoping to finish a set or two by the end of the year and possibly more. Thanks for checking out my latest card.
-Jeremy

1991 Topps Keith Hernandez

Keith Hernandez was on his way out of baseball by the time 1990 hit. He played for the Mets in 1989, but was just a fraction of his former self, hitting only .233. He got a card in the 1990 Topps set, and signed with the Indians for the 1990 season. He only played in 45 games, hitting .200 with 1 Home Run, and retired after the season. He didn't get a 1991 sunset card from Topps, and only appeared in Fleer and Score sets in 1991.

Keith played in the Majors from 1974-1990, and the 1991 set was the only one that didn't include Hernandez. There were a few good players missing from that set, including Goose Gossage, a Bill Buckner sunset card, and Keith.

I am headed to Alabama for the weekend to see my cousin get married. Hopefully I won't see too many obnoxious 'Bama fans. I probably won't post again until sometime next week, but wanted to go ahead and post this one before I leave.
Thanks for checking out my latest custom.
-Jeremy

1999 Topps Cecil Fielder

Cecil Fielder was one of my favorite players growing up. My first love is the Detroit Tigers since I was born in Michigan and lived in Lakeland, Florida as a teenager, which is their Spring Training home. I've seen Cecil play in person many times, and always wanted to get his autograph.

He got a card in the 1998 Topps set, but was left off of the 1999 set, so he never recieved a sunset card. This one was pretty simple to make, and it finally gives him his final Topps card.

I finally got my Cecil autograph in 2005 I believe when he signed a few cards for me through the mail when he was a coach. In 2010, I got to meet Cecil at a free agent showcase that was organized by former MLB player Rob Ducey. Cecil was there as a coach. I found a website for the showcase and wanted to contact Ducey and see if I could attend and try to get autographs. There was an e-mail address for Ducey, so I sent him a short e-mail asking if I could come. Maybe an hour after I e-mailed him, he replied and said it was ok. I was impressed at how fast he responded. I came to the showcase and got some autographs of some cool players. I got one of Pete LaForest, who I saw hit a game-winning RBI Double in the bottom of the 12th Inning in 2002 when he was in Orlando in the Minors. I got one of Sheldon Fulse, who I went to grade school with from 1991-1995. Midway through the day, I met Ducey and thanked him for letting me come. He signed some cards for me, and later in teh day at lunch, he asked me if I was hungry and let me go through the food line and get some of the bbq that they had got for the players attending. Ducey is a truly nice guy. At the end of the day, I finally was able to get close to Cecil and try to get him to sign some cards. He was talking with someone, so I waited for him to finish. He saw me, and motioned for me to come over. He signed my cards and I got to shake his hand. It was a totally amazing day, and the only thing that could've made it better is if I would've thought to take some selfies. Or maybe if I would've had this card printed.

There is a blog that highlights some of Cecil's cards. Every now and then, they highlight some of his cards, and there are some hard to find cards on it. If you are a fan of Cecil, check it out.

This is actually the 2nd card of Fielder that I made on this blog. The first is a '91 Topps card of Big Daddy highlighting his 50th Home Run. I'm hoping to get a ton of cards on this blog and have multiple cards of many players, so it's nice to see it when it happens. Thanks for checking out my latest post.
-Jeremy

Dick Pole Project Part 13: 2002 Topps Dick Pole coach

Today's Topps Card that Never Was is a 2002 Topps Dick Pole coach card. He was finishing up his 2nd year with the Indians in 2001, getting a nice rookie season from CC Sabathia. That wasn't enough to keep him from being let go, but the good news is that he ended up with the Expos in 2002. 2002 Topps is one of the hardest sets to master customs with in my opinion (along with 1988 Topps) because of the ribbon-y lettering on it. I am going to try to make some Topps Traded cards for Pole along with his regular ones, and it's going to suck having to deal with '02 Topps again as I will have to do a Traded card for him with the Expos. Best case scenario is that the Indians colors on the color ribbon match the Expos ones. If I recall correctly, I think they don't.

I did a '79 Topps Dick Pole yesterday to give him one final Topps card from his playing career. Today, I got an '88 Topps Traded and a sweet '93 Topps Traded card featuring Larry Herndon with him. I think by the time the Dick Pole Project is over with, he will have about 20 new Topps cards. Maybe somebody can print some of these customs and have him sign them (if he does ttm). I would love to see what he thinks.

I'm off tomorrow, so there's a chance I might be able to finish the 5 customs needed to complete the Dick Pole Project (player, coach, and Traded coach cards). I might update this post if I do. Thanks for checking out the latest card in my set.
-Jeremy

Dick Pole Project Part 12: 2001 Topps Dick Pole coach

The latest card in the Dick Pole Project is his 2001 Topps card. I was a senior in high school in the spring of 2001, and I eagerly tried to complete the 2001 Topps set when it came out. I would've loved for this card to be in the set. I went to a few Spring Training games every year, and had this card came out and I been a few years older and the internet had more info on it, I could've easily got this card signed at an Indians Spring Training game. I probably had the chance to get Pole's autograph a few times over the years, but didn't have any cards of him so I probably ignored him.

Pole would have 1 more season with Cleveland before moving to Montreal. I'm not quite sure, but it looks like Terry Francona in the background of the photo I used.

I haven't worked much on cards for this site lately (choosing to keep making backs in an effort to complete the 1992 Topps set), but that doesn't mean I will run out of cards for this site, as I probably have 40 or so cards in the reserves.  I will keep posting on and still keep making cards, don't worry.
Thanks for checking out my latest card.
-Jeremy

1995 Topps Indians Chiefs

Back in 1994, the Cleveland Indians were one of baseball's hottest teams. They would've probably represented the AL in the '94 World Series had it been played, and they actually won it in Topps' computer simulation of the remainder of the '94 season. 3 of their key cogs were Centerfielder Kenny Lofton, Leftfielder Albert Belle, and Second Baseman Carlos Baerga. Kenny was the fastest player in the Majors at the time (maybe second to Rickey Henderson), Belle had 50-Home Run power, and Baerga had power (19 HRs in '94) and could hit for Average (.314 Batting Average in '94). With these 3 guys in the lineup, the Indians made it to the Series in '95.

The last time Topps made random cards with a few of the teams' players on it was back in the '60's. Topps had the Leader cards in the '80's which sometimes had shots of a few players, but just with the teams' leaders listed on the back and no text. Topps finally gave us some combo cards in 2006, and have put some in just about every set since. I like combo cards. They can feature just about anyone, and you can make them for any team, and if you work them out right, you can make them for 2 guys at the same position, 2 players with excellent speed, 2 ace lefties, whatever you can think of. For this one, I had wanted to get a picture of Belle, Lofton, and Jim Thome from that era, but couldn't find one. This picture came up, and it more than sufficed.

The '95 Topps set is difficult to work with, but I was able to isolate every consonant and vowel by themselves, and have a file with them by themself with a white background, so that makes the process a lot easier. I will probably do that with the '10 Topps set as well. Most of the other Topps sets are easy to find similar fonts to. After cutting out the inside of the card, all I had to do was place the border over the photo, and then place the lettering over everything, and I was basically done.

I've made a few cool cards tonight. 1 is a final card of a Hall of Famer that I am really surprised nobody has made yet. I may be wrong, but I did a Google image search and couldn't find one. I also made a rookie card of one of my favorite Detroit Tigers who is now in a pretty powerful position in MLB. Those cards are #s 151 and 152 in my set, the first 2 cards in the 5th Series. I save each card as part of a custom set, and also save it with the Topps set it is a part of, so it is cool to look at some of the sets that have a good number of cards in them. I think 1999, 1990, 1994, and 1993 are some of the ones with the most cards. 1991 and 1996 might be close too.

Thanks for checking out the latest card in my custom set.
-Jeremy

Missing Managers Part 2: 1996 Topps Mike Hargrove

In 1994, Topps didn't produce any manager cards, the first time in forever that they didn't at least include a picture of the manager on a team card. I've made a few manager cards from the missing '94-'00 sets, and I really like how the '96 design turned out. I knew I needed something to distinguish the card as a manager one, and I decided to experiment with a bar ontop of the name, and I think it turned out well.
Mike Hargrove led the Cleveland Indians to the '95 World Series, which they ultimately lost the the Atlanta Braves in 6 games. Hargrove's Indians made it back in '97, losing again to the Florida Marlins in 7 games, with Game 7 going 11 innings long. Nobody knows what would've happened in 1994 had the season not gotten interrupted by the strike. I know of at least 3 simulated seasons with 3 different outcomes. Topps famously did their simulation and put the results on the back of their Cyberstats/Spectra Light parallel set. In their simulation, the Indians beat the Braves in the World Series. Dateline NBC did a sim, and theirs had the New York Bankee$ beating the Cincinnati Reds in the Series. I did one using Strategic Baseball Simulator, and the Chicago White Sox beat the Reds in the World Series.  One thing is for sure, Hargrove was a great manager, and he should've had a ring. Florida wasn't the best team in '97, and you could argue that in '94 the Indians were the best team going. I will probably make some more manager cards of Hargrove, maybe finish out his Topps run of cards by making his '94, '95, and '97-'00 cards.
I hope you enjoyed this missing manager card. Thanks for checking out my blog.

-Jeremy

Missing Topps Cards Pt. 2: Jeromy Burnitz 1991 Topps Draft Pick, 1996 Topps, 2007 Topps

Jeromy Burnitz was drafted by the New York Mets in 1990 and was a mega prospect. He missed getting a card in the 1991 set, but got prospect cards in the 1992 and 1993 sets before making it to the bigs in '93 and getting his own '94 Topps card. Burnitz never made it in New York, and was traded to the Cleveland Indians in '95. He didn't get a card in the 1996 Topps set (which if I'm not mistaken, was the smallest one Topps has ever done at 440 cards). Burnitz got traded to the Milwaukee Brewers in '96, and his career started taking off and he had multiple 30-HR seasons. He appeared on tons of cards in his Brewer years, and after 2002, he started towards the end of his career and played for a few different teams. Burnitz's 2002 Topps Traded bat relic card was the first Game-Used card I ever pulled from a pack, and it featured him with his first team (and 2003 team), the New York Mets. Burnitz went on to play for the Dodgers, Cubs, and Rockies, before suiting up for the Pirates in 2006, his last season. Jeromy missed out on a sunset card in 2007. 

All in all, Topps did a pretty good job of getting Burnitz a card in all of his seasons. The 1996 set was pretty small (probably due to lack of interest in baseball due to the 1994 strike), so many middle-of-the-run players and younger, unproven players missed out on getting cards in that set. Not sure why he missed out on the '91 Draft Pick card, but Todd Van Poppel also missed out on a card that year, and he was supposed to be Nolan Ryan. Many players have missed out on sunset cards over the last 20 years at Topps, and I suppose because the Pirates were rebuilding in '07 that Topps didn't include him. 

I hope to do a few more players for this blog theme. None currently come to mind, but if you can think of a player who missed 2 or more cards from Topps who played from 1988 to the present, let me know, and I should be able to come up with a few Topps cards to complete their Topps run.

Thanks for checking out my blog.

-Jeremy

Favorite Player Collection Pt. 3: 2003 Topps Brady Anderson

Brady Anderson is one of my favorite players. I know that most people think he did PEDs, and he probably did. I've liked Brady before his 50 HR season, mainly because of his cool sideburns. I grew my sideburns long in high school and have kept them that way pretty much ever since. I decided to add Brady to my player collection around 2005 or so, and have always kept a lookout for refractors and other interesting cards of Brady. I picked up a jersey card from COMC a few years ago, and also got his autograph on a 1992 Topps card at a signing a few years back.
Topps gave Brady a card in the 2002 Traded set and skipped his sunset card in '03. I believe his last card is the only on Topps missed for him.
I'm going on a short vacation so this will probably be the last post till maybe Monday or Tuesday. I'm hoping the Mets will come back and deGrom will get his ring, but right now it's not looking good. Thanks for checking out my latest post.
-Jeremy

1995 Topps Jack Morris

I wasn't born quite early enough to remember Jack Morris as a Detroit Tiger, but I do remember him with the Toronto Blue Jays. He was a great pitcher, and I remember him winning 20 games for the Jays and helping them to 2 World Championship trophies. If the strike hadn't happened in 1994, it could've been 4 in a row and 5 overall (He pitched 10 shutout innings in Game 7 of the 1991 World Series with the Minnesota Twins to win the title, and his 1994 Cleveland Indians team was one of the strongest in the majors that year).

I personally think the Jack Morris should be in the Hall of Fame, especially after doing the research for this card. He won 250+ games, if he would've played 3 more seasons and been healthy, he would've had an outside shot at 300 wins, and maybe 3,000 strikeouts. One of the many problems I have with the Hall of Fame is that they base their membership on accumulated stats. For pitchers, it's 300 wins or 3,000 strikeouts. For hitters, it's 500 home runs or 3,000 hits. The problem with that is that if an average player plays in 20+ seasons, they can get close to any of those numbers. Heck, if Joe Carter played in 6 or so more seasons, he would've been close to those numbers. So Jack Morris gets penalized just because he didn't hit the 300 win total. News flash: Back in the 60's players played more seasons in their careers. Now in the '90's and '00's, we have 5-man rotations, players are getting pinch-hit for more often, and the players are making so much money, that they would rather retire than play a few seasons into their 40's. That wasn't the case 40-60 years ago, and players needed all the money they got, so they often had second jobs in the off-season, and many of them played into their 40's and put up those extra 50-100 home runs that pushed them over the 500 mark. Baseball is different now, and we need to accept that, and put players in the Hall because of how good they were during THEIR era, not if they compare with Mickey Mantle, Roy Campanella, or Bob Gibson's numbers. So what if a pitcher has an ERA close to 4.00? That is pretty decent nowadays, and you can have an ERA of 3.75 and still give your team a chance to win 70% of the games you start. I think Morris put up excellent numbers for his era, and he was the go-to pitcher (if not, the ace) of 4 World Series winning teams. He is a Hall of Famer in my book, and I hope the writers who vote realize that (the fact that writers, and not fans or former players get to vote is beyond me, and I'll save that for another post).

Topps gave Morris a card in their 1994 Traded set, but not in 1995. I like how this one turned out, and I think it's a good sunset card of Jack Morris.

1989 Topps Charles Nagy Draft Pick

Got back from my trip yesterday, and had time to make this card today before I go to work. Charles Nagy was one of the most solid pitchers for the Cleveland Indians in the 1990's. He won 16 in '95, 17 in '96, and helped them make it to the World Series that year. I met him a few times over the years at Indian Spring Training games in Winter Haven, Florida, and he was always nice, signing autographs and being pretty fan-friendly. He was one of 3 players the Indians picked up in the first round in 1988. Mark Lewis was the first, and he was given a 1989 Topps card. Next came Nagy, who wasn't given a card, and last came Jeff Mutis, who wasn't given a 1989 Topps card (but who I did make a http://completingthe1992toppsset.blogspot.com/2014/07/1992-topps-jeff-mutis.html of).

So now Charles Nagy has his 1989 Topps Draft Pick card. Card #42 is a 1987 Topps Traded Edgar Martinez, and depending on if the Kansas City Royals or the San Francisco Giants win the World Series, card #43 will either be a 1973 Topps George Brett/Mike Schmidt/Ron Cey card, or a 2008 Topps Buster Posey Draft Pick card. I personally hope the Royals win, just because most of the players on the Giants already have 2 rings, and most of the Royals haven't won any. I do sympathize with Tim Hudson, but I'm rooting for the Royals.

I do think the 2008 Posey Draft Pick card would be fun to make, and making that card unlocks an even bigger can of worms: Since Topps can't make a card of a player until they are on the MLB roster, they wouldn't have been able to make this card in 2008. But, if Topps gave every #1 draft choice a Bowman, and then once they made the Bigs, issued their "true" Topps Draft Pick card in a Topps Archives set, and gave it all the bells and whistles that previous Topps Draft Pick cards had before 2006 (autographs, Chrome/Refractors, maybe serial numbering), would those cards carry their weight as if they were issued during the player's draft year? I would personally get them to complete my Topps run of the player. Would MLB frown upon the practice? Would the cards just be considered another regular card of the player? I don't know, but I intend to make a few just to see what people think. Thanks for checking out my blog.
-Jeremy

1996 Topps Dave Winfield

A little over a month ago, Nick from the Dime Box blog did a post on Dave Winfield's sunset cards. Topps made their last Winfield card in 1995, so I put a 1996 Topps Winfield on my list of cards to make. His card finally came up, so here it is. I really like how it turned out. It was a little bit of a challenge, but not so much that it wasn't fun to make.

1991 Topps Traded Jim Thome

Card #11 in my custom set is a 1991 Topps Traded Jim Thome. Card that never were made a version of this card that looks great, but I decided to go ahead and make one that has a back to it. I have always been a fan of Jim Thome. I remember pulling his 1992 Donruss Rated Rookie card out of a pack when I was 9 as one of my first baseball card memories, and also remember getting his autograph on his 1995 Topps card in 1995 during a Spring Training game in Winter Haven, Florida. I really hope Jim makes it to the Hall of Fame when he is eligible. Congratulations on a great career, Jim Thome. Maybe this would've been considered your best rookie card if Topps had made it.

1997 Topps 1st Base Prospects

Topps made a card of Daryle Ward in 1996, but not in 1997. Topps made a card of Sean Casey in 1996 AND 1997. Topps didn't make a card of Big Papi in 1996, or 1997, but they did in 1998 (alongside Ward). I decided to put them all together on one card in 1997. Who knows, if this card was around, maybe it would be the key David Ortiz rookie.

1993 Topps Outfield Prospects

This was a difficult card to make. I was hoping GIMP would have a wider variety of fonts, but it didn't, so it was difficult to use fonts on the back that were true to the original set. I don't know what I'm going to do for the 1994 Topps fronts...Topps left Manny Ramirez and Shannon Stewart off their 1993 set. Manny had a card in 1992 when he was drafted, and in 1994. Stewart was a high Draft Pick that year, but Topps chose to give Todd Steverson a card instead. Now they, along with Rondell White and Kevin Roberson (the best guy in AAA that I could find that didn't debut in 1992) have a card.