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

Favorite Player Collection Pt. 2: 2005 Topps Brooks Kieschnick

I've always thought Brooks Kieschnick would hit a ton of homers in MLB. I remember his cards being hot in 1994 and 1995, but I was 10 or so and I didn't buy many packs of cards cause I didn't get allowance or anything, and I never pulled a card of his until 1996. 

He got drafted in the expansion draft by the Rays in 1997 and I got his Rays card from a '98 Topps pack. I hoped he would do good for the Rays, but he didn't. 

He did get a chance with the Brewers a few years later, and made the most of it, becoming a great pinch hitter and also pitching for the club. 

I haven't ever seen a card with a player listed as a pitcher and a position player, although I do have 1 or 2 Draft Pick cards of players who pitched and played another position in college and has both sets of stats, but that's it. 

Kieschnick didn't get a Topps card after 1998, so we never got to see what a Pitcher/Outfielder card would've looked. Brooks did have a few Brewer cards from other companies, but no Topps version. 

This would've been his sunset card and even though '05 Topps doesn't list positions on the front, I think the photo makes it clear that he is a pitcher/outfielder. 

If I can figure out how to do the photo sillohuette from '04 Topps, I'm definitely going to do Brooks' card from that set. 

Hope you enjoyed part 2 of my Favorite Player Collection. Thanks for checking out my site. 

-Jeremy

Missing Topps Cards: Mariano Rivera 1992 Topps, 1993 Topps, 1994 Topps Traded Update, 1995 Topps Traded, 1996 Topps

I had planned on doing the next cards in order numberwise, but I started making a few random Mariano Rivera cards, and decided to do a post where I completed his Topps run of cards. I did the 1992 card as part of my 1992 Topps blog. the others came as a request from REJ who writes Century 21 Topps Cards. I could've paired some great pitchers with Rivera in the 1993 card, but since Topps chose to post a player from each Minor League class, the pickings were slim. Topps already had a Coming Attractions card for the Yankees in the '94 set, but I decided to give them 2 more (including one with Jeter and Posada) in the Traded Update set. Rivera had a card with Lyle Mouton in the '95 Traded set, but didn't have his own card, so I gave him a Future Star card, and finally the '96 card pictures him with 3 borderline Hall of Fame pitchers. 

I have never been a Yankee fan, but I have a little respect for Rivera since he does alot of charitable work in his hometown. I'll try not to post too many Yankee cards on my blog, but I think I can live with a few of Rivera. 

In one of the next posts, I'll do another Missing Topps Card post of Jeromy Burnitz. I don't know how many of them I'll do, but I'll do a few at least to get the ball rolling.

1994 Topps Dale Murphy

Today's card is one that I've heard many people say that they wish Topps would've made. After spending the 1992 season with the Philadelphia Phillies, Murphy signed with the Colorado Rockies as a free agent. He played for them in 1993, and then retired. Topps put Murphy on a '93 card with the Phillies in Series 2, but that was it.  Many players for the Colorado Rockies got cards in Series 2, but Murphy for some reason didn't get one. The '93 Traded set featued more Rockies, but Murphy was left out. O-Pee-Chee, Fleer Ultra, and Upper Deck gave him Rockies cards in '93, and as far as I know, he didn't get any cards from major brands in 1994.
Steve from White Sox Cards made a '93 Topps Traded card of Murphy, but as far as I know, nobody has made another sunset card of Dale.
I really wish Topps would make sunset cards of players no matter how crappy they do in their final season. I understand Murphy retired in 1993, but I'm not one to argue with history (except when it comes to putting the DH in BOTH leagues), and since Topps' first real recognized set in 1952 showed 1951 stats on the card, I believe that the current years' set should show the stats of the year before and therefore a player who retired in 1993 should get their last card in the 1994 set. It creates a point of disagreement with collectors, autographed set collectors, and even casual fans, but it is what it is.

I really have no rhyme or reason on which custom cards I will create next as you will be able to see in the next few posts, but I guess for now, I will be doing cards that sound like they would be fun to make, as well as trying to get some more cards made for weekly/monthy featured posts. The next few weeks might be slow as my work will be picking up for the holidays, we will be moving to a new place (hopefully with enough room for a man cave/baseball/music room), and we will be traveling to Talahassee next weekend. I will try to post cards when I can between work, church, moving, traveling, other commitments, and softball games. For anyone wondering, I went 2-4 with a run and RBI in my last game, and should've been 3-3, but I got robbed of possibly a double in my first AB and swung at ball 4 in my second. We still won and I hit the ball on the screws twice.
Thanks for checking out my blog.
-Jeremy

Favorite Player Collection: 1999 Topps Mike Simms

Mike Simms didn't become a part of my favorite player collection until after he retired. I probably saw him play a few times on TV while he was with the Texas Rangers, but never really tried to add his cards to my collection. 

Fast forward to 2005 or so. I started collecting autographs through the mail. When I saw that Simms was a good singer, I decided to send him a few cards to get signed. While choosing the cards, I looked at some of his minor league stats, and he had some great power numbers in the minors. So I sent 3 cards along with a letter with a Bible verse at the end, and a few weeks later, I got an envelope back. Mike signed the cards and wrote a nice note with the cards. After that, I decided to collect Mike Simms cards. I have added a few more to my collection over the years thanks to COMC, and now I can add this 1999 Topps card to my collection. Topps didn't have any Simms cards after 1992 if I'm correct, so they missed out on his final years as an Astro, his career season with Texas in '98, and missed out on making his sunset card (2000).

Hope you enjoyed this post on one of my favorite players. I will be adding many more cards of favorite players in the future. Later this week, I'll post a card that many bloggers have wanted made and Braves fans in particular will be able to cross it off of their want lists. Thanks for checking out my post.

-Jeremy

Coaches Center: 1993 Topps Larry Hisle/Rich Hacker

This card is the first card in a segment I will be calling "Coaches Center". In each one, I will make a card of a coach or coaches that Topps left out of one of their sets. Since Topps hasn't produced coach cards in many sets, I should have plenty of ones to choose from.

I used the 1993 Topps Managers design, and had coaches from the same teams on the same card (with the managers in the set, Topps chose to do 1 from the AL and one from the NL on a card). It turned out pretty well, I think (thanks GIMP!), and I might have to use the design to make a '93 Topps Traded Dick Pole card for the Dick Pole Project). 

Larry Hisle payed for the Philadelphia Phillies, Minnesota Twins, and Milwaukee Brewers from 1968-1982. He came to the Toronto Blue Jays in 1992, and won the first of 2 consecutive championships with them as their hitting coach.  

Rich Hacker played 1 season for the Montreal Expos (1971), and then went on to coaching. He was the St. Louis Cardinals 1st Base Coach from '86-'87, then coached 3rd base from '88-'90. He went to the Blue Jays from their, coaching with them from '91-'93. He was fairly successful, winning 2 titles with the Jays, and appearing in a World Series with the  Cardinals in '87.  He also has a card I made for the 1992 Topps set (on my other blog, I have completed the '92 Topps set by giving a card for every player and coach that Topps didn't have in that set). 

I hope you enjoyed the first segment of Coaches Center. Hang tight, because I have 1 more card to post on Monday, and then I will show a card that I have heard a good number of bloggers say that they would love to see have made. Thanks for checking out my blog. 

-Jeremy

1993 Topps Dave Bergman

Dave Bergman spent most of his career with the Detroit Tigers. He came to them in the middle of their 1984 World Championship season, and stayed with them till his final season in 1992. I had the opportunity to meet him a few times during the Tigers fantasy camp in Lakeland Florida through the years. He was a nice person, and I got many cards signed by him. Unfortunately, I found out he passed away recently.

He appeared in most Topps sets throughout his career. His last Topps card came in the 1992 set, and he missed getting a sunset card. Here is his final card. 

Now that I have a new laptop I'll probably be making cards more frequently, and I hope to try out some new regular types of posts. Perhaps not a certain day of the week, but more every so often, and once I get enough, I'll probably make a link on the sidebar. Some ideas include Favorite Players, which is self-explanatory, All Their Missing Cards where I will fill in all of a players missing Topps cards, Missing Managers where I will do a manager card from the Topps sets missing managers (1994-2000 and 2010 to the present). I might come up with a few more but hopefully these will be enough to get something going. I have my 3rd softball game of the season tonight, so maybe next time I post, I'll update everyone on how I'm doing. Thanks for checking out my blog.
-Jeremy 

1996 Topps Billy Ashley

So I've finally got back to making some cards after compiling a list of cards I want to make (as well as ones that others bloggers have made) from the 1989-2015 Topps sets. I'm going to number the cards with the number for the Topps set on the bottom left, and the number for my custom set on the bottom right, and not make backs for the cards.

I don't believe I've really discussed myself too in depth in this blog so far, so let me write a little about growing up, and it will make sense of some of the players I've chosen in my custom series as well as some of the sets I'm working on.

I was born in 1983 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. In 1989, my grandmother in Florida sent a few packages with baseball cards in them. My first packs of baseball cards were '89 Bowman, Donruss, and Topps. I then developed an interest in baseball. In 1990 I moved to Lakeland, Florida, and started going to private school. The next year, I decided I was a Detroit Tiger fan since I had lived in Michigan and since the Tigers trained in Lakeland in the spring. I traded cards with friends and tried to get as many Tigers as I could. In 1992, I started buying packs of cards with my own money, and 1992 Topps was the first set I remember purchasing. So that was the main reason why I chose the 1992 Topps set as the one I would complete by making customs of the players Topps left out. I was pretty much a Topps guy after that. I kept buying packs and trying to get Tigers the next few years, and then in 1998, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays started playing. I went to my first Rays game in April that year, and the Rays became my other favorite team. I didn't have much spending money growing up (since my dad was constantly switching jobs and I had 3 younger sisters), but every chance I did get money, I would usually get baseball cards. I was a big fan of prospects growing up, many of which only played a few seasons in the majors. Many were players the Rays got in the expansion draft. Many played for the Lakeland Tigers, the Tigers single-A team in my hometown who I saw a few times a year. Others were just players I noticed from cards I had got from packs. Some of those players include Bubba Trammell, Brooks Kieschnick, Daryle Ward, Eddie Gaillard, Greg Whiteman, Todd Greene, Bob Wolcott, George Arias, Derrick Gibson, and Billy Ashley. In 1997, the first jersey cards came out and the year before that, so did autographed cards. I generally only bought packs of cards from Wal-Mart, and maybe a few a year from the hobby shop at that point, so I usually never got inserts, but still enjoyed collecting and looked forward to getting cards of my favorite players. Around my senior year, I had a job and used a bunch of my money to add cards to my collection, adding a complete set or 2, and getting my first certified autograph card in 2001. The next year, I added my first game-used card. Between 2002-2007, I got most of my packs the same way, but added a few complete sets to my collection. I also was able to purchase a few more game-used cards as I had a full-time job since 2005. I started collecting autographs on cards in 1996, and in '05 did the through-the mail thing up until 2011 or so. I moved to Alabama in 2006, and stayed there through '09. I really added some cards of my favorite players from www.comc.com in 2007, and that really helped me out. Moved back to Lakeland in 2009, and kept getting cards of favorite players and Tigers and Rays, as well as a few neat relic cards the next 2 years. Then, in 2011, I met my wife. She took up most of my time, and I decided to change how I collect around then. Instead of just buying packs and packs, I wanted to focus on collecting cards of my favorite players and teams. So now, I have a few binders of Tigers and Rays, a binder with rookie cards, season highlights, and special cards to me, and a binder of favorite players. Most of my albums are in storage right now until we get a bigger house, and that's cool. I buy a few packs every now and then, but not nearly as many as I used to, and I still go to COMC and look at new cards for my collections.
That was lengthy, but I think it explains why I like to do more customs of '90's cards, and why I do customs of some random players instead of stars. Hope you enjoy this 1996 Topps Billy Ashley

I have a new laptop!! (and updated some checklists)

I finally got a new laptop and have installed GIMP on it. On one of my next days off, I will definitely make some new customs, but for now, I have updated the checklists of every Topps set from 1989-2002 so far. Here is a link to the page. If you see a card that is missing, see a card that someone made that I have not given credit for, or if you see a card you want made, please let me know. I value the opinions of my readers, and hope to make this an enjoyable blog. Thanks for bearing with me as I did without a computer for a while.

-Jeremy