Set Appreciation Post #7 - 2017 Topps Heritage Minors

I let my 10 year old son pick out a random set for this post.  I am honestly surprised that he did not come back with the 1996 SPx set.  It is his all-time favorite set.  We both know it's because of the hologram pictures on the front of the cards.  Instead, he chose the 2017 Topps Heritage Minor League set, which is based on the 1968 Topps set.  Yes, the burlap sack set.  

He actually informed me that there are a lot of Durham Bulls card in this set. After taking five minutes to flip through the cards, it appears that he is correct.  There are a lot of Durham Bulls players and cards in this set.  

Basic Design 

I am going to go ahead and show my hand early in the post.  Personally, I find this design a little bit boring.  That's probably a generous assessment.  I also understand some of the attachment to this set.  When I was a kid it was a super cool set.  There were all sorts of cool unaffordable cards in this set.  Nolan Ryan and Johnny Bench rookie cards, Bob Clemente, old broken down Mickey Mantle.  

Really, when you get past some of the names on the card, it is really overrated.  Reminds me a lot of Nolan Ryan's actual playing career.  

I actually need to get back on topic.  This is the 2017 Topps Heritage Minor League set.  It's easy to drift off topic with design when Topps just recycles all of the old ones constantly.  Kind of makes the Heritage product line seem a little less special.  

Here's a card.  I will do better on the other side of the scan with focus.  

Is there something nice I can say about the design of the 2017 Topps Heritage Minor League set?  

I have two.  

First, the cards have pictures of Minor League players.  I like Minor League baseball.  This set features some pretty talented baseballers before they reached the Major Leaguers.  

Second, I like this yellow color that Topps used on the back.  Most of my 1968 Topps cards are not of the "pristine" variety, and therefore the color on the back is slightly less yellow.  These look nice with the black ink.  In my opinion, one of the most readable baseball card backs.   

I would rank the burlap sack portion of the 1968 Topps set in the bottom half of all Topps sets.  It might be in the bottom half of the bottom half.  It's at least better than 1996 Topps.  

Nickels.  

The "let me tell you something I like" and "let me tell something I don't like" theme really runs throughout this set.  I really like the coin cards that Topps puts in the Heritage Minors on an almost annual basis.  I am not sure that the early Heritage Minor League sets had these cards, but they have been in all of the recent ones.  

I have a few of these cards in my collection.  I wouldn't say that I collect them, but if I see one I like I will usually end up with it at some point.  There have not been any Durham Bulls, but there have been a few Cardinals, along with some other players I enjoyed watching in the Minors.  

I got this J.P. Crawford card because he is shown as a member of the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs.  I am generally of the opinion that Minor League Baseball often goes too far with odd and goofy nicknames.  There are a few that I am willing to overlook for various reasons.  Iron Pigs is one of them.  

The front of the card is really good looking.  The back is a disaster.  

What is all this talk about the Cubs on the back of the card?  I get that it is connected to 1968, but they also randomly throw in the fact that J.P. Crawford was born in 1995 at the top.  

Sir, this is a J.P. Crawford card.  

Couldn't we tie the card back to another shortstop who played in 1968?  Maybe a Phillies player who did something newsworthy in 1968?  You could even just make the card back about J.P. Crawford.  That would work too.  

It's like Topps couldn't get out of their own way while making this set.  

Autographs 

There are some really good autographs in this set.  I don't own any of them.  I won't hold it against the final ranking.  Of all the different baseball card products with autographs of Minor Leaguers, the Heritage sets is always the best.  

The players are in their Minor League uniforms, rather than Major League, which makes it better than Bowman in my opinion.  Pro Debut also has the players in their Minor League uniforms, but those sticker autographs look really bad at times.  

These are nice.....

Both pulled from packs of cards during a meeting at work.  Good story, but for another time.  

I usually try to chase down the different Durham Bulls players, future Durham Bulls players, guys I saw play in college or USA Baseball, or players I just enjoyed watching play in the Minors.  This was not a great set for my collection, but let's face it, this product generally has a good track record.  I know a lot of people who love the autographs in the 2017 Heritage set.  

The autographs are a definite positive.  

Bizarro World.  

I am not a fan of all the different variations.  I will just lump them into the category of "weird stuff".  It happens in almost every Heritage product, and there are very few over the years that I have actual considered owning.  

Just weird.  

Bizarro World.  

Grown men with magnifying classes looking at tiny little codes on the back of baseball cards, or hidden sparkles on the front of cards.  I'm over 40 and I do not wear glasses.  Probably because I do not read the little variation codes on the back of Topps cards.  

This is one of the variations from this set.  

The main variation in the actual 1968 set was the yellow and white team names.  

Why not just roll with that? 

Topps did include variations with the yellow and white teams names, I just don't understand the need to invent some ridiculous new variation for the Heritage remakes.  

Similar to the back of the nickel cards, this is something that should be really simple, but Topps overcomplicates things.  Does this card have any actual connection to the 1968 Topps set?  Maybe there is some variation on a card that I have heard of, but I don't think so.  

Best Cardinals Card 

This was a fairly easy choice, because it's the best Cardinals player in the set.  I am also not into all the gimmicky promotional uniforms that some of the Minor League teams wear at times. I've had it with Star Wars uniforms. This one from the Memphis Redbirds is actually pretty creative.  

Have other teams done themed jersey nights from bands?

Probably.  

In fact, I am almost sure the Toledo Mud Hens did a Sgt. Peppers night at some point too.  Maybe it's the fact Minor League teams have not beat this concept into the ground.  

There is also a Dylan Carlson card in this set from his days in the Midwest League with the Peoria Chiefs.  

The Flaherty card is much better though.  

Best Durham Bulls Card

As mentioned at the top of the post, there are a lot of Durham Bulls cards in this set.  No autographs, but lots of players in the base set, and a few others in the relic card set.  I am not going to scan the relics, but I did the base cards.  

The best of this cards is obviously Adames, who is the Rays starting shortstop.  

Casey Gillaspie was traded to the White Sox, but is playing an independent league this season.  Honeywell is still in the Rays organization, but has had arm injuries the past few years.  I think he might still actually be on the Durham Bulls roster.  

These three cards are far inferior to one other Durham Bulls card that appears in the insert remake of the 1968 Topps Game sets.  The original cards featured players, but the 2017 Heritage Minors set has picture of different mascots.  

This is the Wool E. Bull card.  

Not only is Wool E. Bull a great mascot, but the card has a cool shout out to the movie Bull Durham.  

Best Non-Cardinals Card 

There is a group of short-prints at the end of the set that feature some pretty big name prospects.  I believe Ronald Acuna and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. are both in there.  One of the big upsides to the Heritage Minor League set is the checklist.  I actually feel like Topps does a pretty good job of getting a good mix of big name prospects, along with some others that have good potential to make it to the Majors.  

It was hard to choose here.  

However, I went with the best current Major League player with a card in this set......

Little Fernando, as I like to call him, was in A Ball when this picture was taken.  First year in the Padres organization after being traded from the White Sox for James Shields.  Not sure that was the best move in retrospect.  Anyway, I am sure this card is now selling for the equivalent of a second mortgage on your house with the way baseball cards are working at the moment.  

Honestly, I know he's not a Cardinal, but I always liked watching his father play.  I have enjoyed cards of Tatis Jr. for a few years now.  I just wish they weren't suddenly really expensive.  

How Does It Compare?  

The list of sets I would consider placing above the 1983 Topps set is very short, and this is not on that list.  I wouldn't even rank the 1968 Topps set that high.  Again, my biggest positive is the checklist.  The on-card autographs are nice.  My negatives are the odd card backs on the coin cards, the imaginary variations, and basic design.  

I acknowledge that the design could not be helped here, but those other factors are going to push it down my list a ways.  

7. 2000 UD Ionix 

6. 2017 Topps Heritage Minor League  

5. 1986 Topps Mini League Leaders 

4. 2001 Fleer EX 

3.1979 Kellogg's 

2. 2002 Topps Super Teams

1. 1983 Topps 

The Other Fernando Tatis

I am a big fan of Fernando Tatis, the former Cardinals third baseman.  Hard to believe that he has a kid in the Majors.  Saying Fernando Tatis Jr. makes me feel old.  

I remember the old days when Fernando Tatis cards just said, "Fernando Tatis" on them.  

Then one day, several years ago this card showed up in my collection.  

Notice the front of the card does not say Jr.. 

I was a little skeptical of the other Fernando Tatis at first.  I mean, the White Sox did trade him to the Padres for James Shields.  That's either not a ringing endorsement of the other Fernando Tatis, or someone in the White Sox front office does not know what they are doing.  

I think we have our answer. 

I really like the other Fernando Tatis.  He's a fun player to watch, and I have dabbled in his cards a bit over the last two years.  Plenty of base cards, but nothing much in the way of a bigger card.  I fixed that last week.  

I ended up with an Allen & Ginter autograph.  

Not the most expensive, not flashiest, or shiniest Fernando Tatis Jr. card out there.  However, I am happy that I was able to add this card to my collection.  Maybe a few more to come, as long as people do not go too crazy over his cards.  

Minor League Goodness

How long has it been since I have done a write up on a new, current year, set that I have written up in blog post form?  I am actually not entirely sure, but I know its probably been five to six months.  I love putting together sets, but I have been a little bit lost/uninterested in a lot of the base sets this year.  The topic deserves its own post, maybe over Thanksgiving break next week I will find the time.

I have a hard time passing up Minor League baseball cards.  About a month ago Topps put out one of their two products which feature players from their Minor League uniforms.  Obviously there are Durham Bulls cards, but I can also find cards of the other players I see at Minor League games, as well as a few younger players who previously appeared at USA Baseball.

Heritage Minors has the same borrowed 1968 Topps design as the Major League version of the Heritage set.  I like the commonly held opinion that this set design looks like a burlap sack.  I still have a few favorite base cards.  Really, it's just a pair of Durham Bulls cards and a player with a connection to the Cardinals.

First up the two Durham Bulls.

Adames is widely considered the Rays best prospect.  The middle infield is crowded in Tampa, but young cheap talent always wins out there, so Adames is going to get a chance in the Majors sooner than later.  He was originally signed by the Tigers, but the Rays picked him up in the David Price trade.  Topps has only started putting him in their Minor League products the last two years, even though he was been a highly regarded prospect for a several years now.

Honeywell is the other Durham Bulls card I am going to give a little love.  First, I like the alternate jersey on the card.  The Bulls have now been a Rays affiliate for 20 years.  This season they wore a Rays inspired Bulls jersey several times.  Kind of a cool mash-up of the two uniforms.

I am intrigued by Honeywell.  He's another top Rays prospect, probably their best Minor League pitcher for the moment.  He throws a screwball.  I am kind of skeptical about how that will work out in the long term.  Is it just me, or has there been a serious lack of screwball pitchers since Fernando Valenzuela?  

My last base card is Padres infield prospect Fernando Tatis Jr.  If you weren't sure about his relationship to the Cardinals, long time baseball writer Jon Heyman had a gem of a tweet about this in the middle of the summer.

Just in case you had any lingering doubts.  He's only 18 and in A Ball, but the numbers have been impressive for such a young player.  Last year he hit 21 home runs, 26 doubles, stole 29 bases, and had an on base percentage near .400.  

Fort Wayne Tincaps.  Hilarious.

I also pulled out a base card variation.  You know Topps always has to make these things and make them nearly impossible to find.  This one is actually pretty clear.....

that the first name is missing from the front of the card.  Zack Collins is a pretty well thought of catching prospect for the White Sox, plus one time he dropped a ball on a tag play that let NC State get into the ACC Baseball Championship Game.

A few other things that come in boxes of baseball cards.  Two jersey cards.  

Alex Verdugo is kind of a meh card.  I really like Christin Stewart though.  He hits for powers and draws a lot of walks.  Like the brown jersey swatch from the Futures Game last year.  

Moving along.  

I like these disc inserts which are based on a 1968 Topps test issue.  The set is half mascots and half players.  Just something different.  My favorite mascot, Wool E. Bull, did not make the cut for this insert set, but does make an appearance elsewhere.  

Last two cards for today. 

P.J. Conlon is a Mets prospect.  Not a huge fan.  Bobby Dalbec was drafted by the Red Sox out of the University of Arizona.  I saw him play with USA Baseball a few years back.  The power is impressive, I think he can be an everyday Major League player.