Baseball Cards: Retro Legend Additions

It's been a while since I posted any cards here at England Tribe (nearly two years actually). I recently picked up a few nice looking ones and thought I'd share them. They're nothing too special, but I think they look good.

Up first are two Jackie Robinson cards. Before you get too excited, no that is not an original 1952 Jackie Robinson on the left. I'm not that lucky, or rich. Instead, it's a 2001 Topps Through The Years #5 reprint of the 1952 Robinson. It has a nice shiny Topps 50 Years Anniversary badge on it, on his bat. I really like this card, and it's from a really iconic set too. 

The card on the right is a 2010 Topps 206 #25 Jackie Robinson. I love the design of the Topps 206 cards, with their faded cigarette card look. The picture of Jackie is really nice too, and I've not seen many cards of him without a hat on. 

Jackie is right up there with my favorite players of all time, maybe even number one on the list. I wrote my dissertation at university on the man, spending an entire year researching and writing about his exploits on and off the field. The guy is the definition of the word legend. Somehow these are the first two cards I own of him. They definitely won't be the last.

Here we have a 2006 Topps Rookie of the Week Card Shop Promotion (Base) #7 of Pirates Hall of Famer Roberto Clemente. It's a similar design to his 1955 rookie card, the Topps #164 from that year, but Topps have changed the photos from the original (here is what his rookie card looks like). I think it's pretty nice and for $0.55 I thought why the hell not.

Clemente sits next to Robinson on my shelf of baseball legends, the greatest Latin player in history. He's a total boss in my book and he has some of the nicest cards around too. I'll be looking at getting many more of them.

More Roberto Clemente's up next. Here we have, from left to right:

1998 Topps Roberto Clemente Reprint #7. It's a reprint of the 1961 Topps Clemente #388, and is a damn fine card. In the top left-hand corner, you can see a small bronze Clemente 25th Anniversary badge which I love. I don't know if you can make it out from the photo, but it has 1972-1997 on the bottom and in the center is Clemente tipping his cap. It's a really nice card I had to grab, for just $1.85. A near-mint version of the 1961 original goes for nearly a grand. I'm happy with my 1998 reprint thanks.

In the middle is a 1998 Topps Roberto Clemente Reprint Finest #9. What makes it "finest" you ask? It's a shiny chrome card, and it's all the better for it. I really nice reprint of the 1963 Topps Clemente #540, it cost me $2.65, the second most expensive card in my haul. The 1963 original in mint condition goes for over $2,200. Yeah, my reprint doesn't seem so pricey anymore. I'm fine parting with $2.65 for this excellent card.

Last but not least is a 2012 Topps Archives Reprint Insert #440. It's another reprint (sensing a theme now are we?), this time from the 1964 Topps set, one of my favorite card sets in Topps history. These cards look so good and I made sure to get a Clemente. Just $0.95, not bad value for under a dollar.

Something a little more recent now. Here is a 2014 Topps Heritage #250.1 base card of the reigning AL MVP, Mike Trout. It's hard not to be a Mike Trout fan. Following on from what I was saying about my love for the 1964 Topps set, in 2013 I pulled a Trout shortprint from a pack of 2013 Topps Heritage. I couldn't believe my luck because, A) I don't really buy packs and B) I got a Trout card in my first pack, just as he was blowing up after his sensational rookie year. Since then I've always wanted to get more Trout cards and couldn't pass up this 2014 Heritage card. It's such a nice design and the photo is awesome too. It cost me $1.45, which isn't bad for a card from the year he won his first MVP.

This one I didn't purchase with all the others but it came recently so I thought I'd include it. Here we have a 2015 Topps Series 2 #616 Kris Bryant rookie card. I quite often buy team sets of Indians cards from a UK seller on eBay and decided to get the Cubs Series 2 set essentially for the above card alone. Bryant has been everything we expected in the majors this year and to own his rookie card is great. I wasn't going to pass up the opportunity to get this one, especially if he goes on to become something special. If you had the chance to get a Mickey Mantle rookie card back in the day, you would right? Which leads me onto...

OHMYGOD IS THAT A 1952 TOPPS MICKEY MANTLE ROOKIE CARD?! No, no it isn't. I told you already, I'm loving these reprints. The card on the right you mistakenly thought was the infamous 52 Mantle (admit it) is actually a 1996 Topps Mickey Mantle Commemorative Reprint #2. I will never, ever be able to own a real 1952 Mantle rookie so to own this beautiful replica will just have to do. It really is a very nice card and I can see why people go crazy over the original. Mine has that golden badge in the top left corner, commemorating Mickey's life (1931-1995). I'm a big fan of these little holofoil badges, as they're a really nice addition to what was already a very iconic card, arguably the most iconic card of them all. It set me back a whopping $2.75, the most expensive card from this bunch. A mint condition of the 1952 original is going for over $650,000. $2.75 doesn't feel so bad now.

The card on the left is another Mantle, a 1996 Topps Mickey Mantle Commemorative Reprint Finest #13. Again with the "finest." Yeah, these chrome cards are just too nice. This one even comes with a Topps protection coating on the top, hence the black writing sprawled across it. It's a reprint of the 1963 Topps Mickey Mantle #200. It cost just $1.40, a bargain, so I snapped it up. There are 19 of these 1996 commemorative Mantles and I already have 2 of them. I'm tempted to see if I can get the whole set. As long as they're not more than $3...

That's it for this haul from the fine folks at COMC. This is the third time I've ordered from them and I will definitely be returning for more. I have my eyes on a Ken Griffey Jr. card or two and of course I'd like some Indians players too. Watch this space.

Bombed In The Bronx, Indians Swept

I hate the Yankees. I know, everybody does, but lately I really hate the Yankees. And I'm so glad that's the last time we have to play that bunch in NYC. They just have our number and somehow, despite their geriatric pensioners and spare-parts players, they are still winning and still competing in the tough AL East. I don't know how they're doing it, I really thought we'd get the better of them this year but the Yankees just seem to find a way to win practically every year.

So the Tribe kicked off this torrid roadtrip in the worst way possible, getting swept in New York. I don't think we should get too down though, the AL East teams are all ridiculously good on their day so I'm glad we're putting that division behind us for a while. Still, it's disappointing to see us playing so poorly of late and the Tribe are really being tested now. I'm going to skip the usual series re-cap today, since there is nothing positive at all to come out of New York these past three days for the Tribe faithful. Instead I'll weigh in on some of the newsworthy events that took place lately:

Asdrubal To The Disabled List

The series in New York got off to a bad start the second our star shortstop pulled up clutching his quad. So bad was his injury that he had to be helped from the field, he couldn't even walk on that leg. It's been giving him some trouble for a while now, but he's battled through the pain, grimacing every time he rounds first base to stretch a hit into a double. Asdrubal's right quad finally gave up though and he now find himself on the 15-day disabled list, with Mike Aviles taking his place at shortstop for the foreseeable future.

The injury couldn't come at a worse time, just when we need our best players on form for one of toughest parts of the schedule. Reports are that Cabrera will probably miss a month, which sucks because he's quietly been having a pretty good year. He currently leads the teams in doubles (18) and extra-base hits (25) and has been playing some exemplary defense at short lately, errorless in 32 straight games. Cabrera is one of my favourite players and I hate to see him out of the lineup. Hopefully he can rehab his quad quickly and get back to the club as soon as possible because we'll need him back firing on all cylinders if we're to stay in touch in the division race.

Perez In Trouble Again

But this time it's not baseball related. No sir, Perez is in trouble this time for a suspected narcotics package delivered to his suburban Cleveland home. Can you believe this? The guy has just had no luck lately, and even when he's not playing things won't go right for him. The details are scarce at the moment and I suspect it's all a massive misunderstanding. I seriously doubt Perez is involved in dealing drugs or anything of the kind and the story will become clearer over the next few days. Poor Chris, the guy just can't catch a break at the moment.

I'm going to leave it there for now, I'm a bit limited for time today. The Indians need to put the Yankees in their rear-view mirror for 2013 and move on. They've got an off-day now before flying to Detroit to face the Tigers tomorrow for a three-game series. Up first is Ubaldo (4-3, 4.83 ERA) against Tigers ace Justin Verlander (7-4, 3.70 ERA) who we've had some success against recently. We really need to turn things around and there's no better time or place than against our division rivals. Its still early in the season but we really can't afford to lose any more ground. It's also the MLB Draft tonight and the Indians have the 5th pick, so I may weigh in on who we select tonight with a post tomorrow (yet to be determined... we'll see). Until next time...

Thanks for reading.

Indians Split Double-Header With Yankees

A beautiful sunny Monday in Cleveland saw a rather mixed bag for the Indians in their double-header against the Yankees. Let's take a look:

The Good...

The first game of the day saw an absolutely stunning pitching performance from Justin Masterson. Backed by a 1st inning home run from Jason Kipnis (his fifth homer of the season), Masterson was untouchable. He lasted the entire 9 innings, giving up 4 hits, 3 walks and striking out 9 Yankees in a memorable outing for the 1-0 complete game shutout. Despite only having Kipnis' homer for support, Masterson didn't need anything else and protected the thin lead with ease. Masterson now sits at 6-2 with a 3.14 ERA, joint first in the majors in victories. Francona said, "Masty went out and did exactly what you want your ace to do. From the very first pitch of the game, he had power, he had breaking ball, he attacked hitters." A near perfect performance from our number one guy, a very well pitched game. It'll earn Masterson the Player of the Series award from me as well.

The Bad...

Unfortunately things didn't go quite so well for Trevor Bauer, up from Columbus for the day to make the spot-start in the second game of the double-header. He pitched the best game of his young Indians career so far but he had no help from the offense, who struggled to muster any sort of attack in a 7-0 whitewash by New York. Bauer lasted 6 1/3 innings, surrendering 6 hits for 3 runs, 2 of them earned, whilst he walked 2 and struck out 4 batters. Despite getting the loss, the improvement in Bauer's performance was notable. For one, he kept his walks down to just 2, which is significantly better than his previous two starts where he walked far too many hitters. Bauer now sits at 1-2 for the year, with a 2.76 ERA.

He wasn't helped by his bullpen. Nick Hagadone came in to relieve Bauer and immediately allowed one of Bauer's runners to score. Hagadone is really struggling of late, still adapting to life in the majors and he had a torrid time against the Yankees. He only lasted a third of the 7th inning and was hit 3 times by the Yankees, giving up 4 runs, 3 of them earned, striking out 1 and walking 1. Matt Albers and David Huff pitched the rest of the game and didn't allow any more runs but the damage was done off Hagadone and the Indians never recovered.

It was a frustrating game for the Indians offense, who have been so potent of late but stumbled in this series. The Yankees sent former Indians draft pick Vidal Nuno to the mound and he stifled the Tribe lineup over 5 innings of work to earn his first major league win. He allowed only 3 hits and the Tribe had no answer for him, nor Adam Warren who pitched the final 4 innings for the Yanks, also allowing no runs and only 2 hits, earning the save. It was a very disappointing game for the Indians offense to say the least.

... And The Ugly

I mentioned on Sunday after the 4-3 win in Detroit that the Indians might look at the Lonnie Chisenhall situation sooner rather than later and that's exactly what they did. They made a decision on Chisenhall much sooner than I expected though, sending him down to AAA Columbus on Monday and recalling pitcher David Huff, who pitched in the second game against the Yankees yesterday.

I can understand this move certainly. With Vinnie Pestano still out for a bit, the bullpen needs another arm and Huff can do that job, so I can see why the struggling Chiz is the one who has to make way. Still, I can't help but think sending Lonnie back to AAA after making him the everyday starter at third base could be slightly detrimental to his long term prospects. When he does make it back to Cleveland, and that will certainly be this year, we'll see if the trip back to Columbus did him more harm than good. I don't expect that to be the case, I think mentally this is a good move for Lonnie and he should make it back to the bigs a stronger player.

But Nino over at The Tribe Daily made a good point that Lonnie doesn't have anything more to learn at the AAA level, that he can work out his problems whilst still being part of the Indians team. I agree and I especially agree with Nino that we don't want this to become another Matt LaPorta situation. However I can see why this move will be beneficial for Lonnie. Now he can get away from the limelight of the major leagues and fix his batting mechanics in a more relaxed setting, where the fans and the media aren't dissecting and criticising his every move. He needs to snap out of this funk and get back to what made him successful in Spring Training, because right now Chisenhall is not playing like the guy we know he can be. It's not pretty, but sending him back to Columbus to fix his plate approach is ultimately the right move.

So after two games against the Yankees the Tribe now fly to Philadelphia for two games against the Phillies before getting a day off on Thursday. Scott Kazmir (2-1, 4.87 ERA) will look to continue his good start to the season against the Phillies' Jonathan Pettibone (2-0, 3.63 ERA) tonight, first pitch at 7.05 pm ET. Lets hope the offense can get back on track and put up some big numbers.

Thanks for reading.