2010 Topps USA Baseball Carson Kelly Autograph

I picked up my second Carson Kelly autograph this past week.  According to FanGraphs, Kelly is rated as a Top 10 prospect in the deep Cardinals minor league system.  While the front of the card lists Kelly as a right-handed pitcher, he is playing third base in the professional ranks and projects to have a very good bat with power potential.

2010 Topps USA Baseball Carson Kelly Autograph

As I mentioned before, this is my second Carson Kelly autograph.  My other Kelly autograph is also an on-card USA Baseball issue, but the signature clearly has evolved over time.  I actually prefer the signature on the 2011 card better, but still prefer this card to his first professional autograph which was issued in the Bowman Sterling set last fall and features a sticker autograph.  

2013 Topps Chasing The Dream Lance Lynn Jersey Card

Besides the Carson Kelly card, I also picked up a Lance Lynn jersey card.  This seems to be the basic Topps jersey card for the 2013 set, or the most common, but I am still happy to pick up a nice card of the Cardinals hurler.  

2012 Topps Triple Threads Dayan Viciedo Jersey/Autograph

Proof that it is not Tigers week on my blog.  The appearance of a Chicago White Sox card.  I picked up this Dayan Viciedo autograph last week on the cheap after spending the better part of a year looking off and on for one of his cards.  He also has an autograph in the 2010 Bowman Chrome set which usually sells for around $20.

2012 Topps Triple Threads Dayan Viciedo Jersey/Autograph

I first saw Viciedo playing for the White Sox AAA team the Charlotte Knights a few years ago.  While the Knights are usually pretty thin in talent I was really impressed with the power that Viciedo displayed in the game by hitting a rare home run to the left-center field of the Durham Bulls ballpark.  That corner of the field is a reasonable 371 feet away from home plate, but also features a 20 foot wall. Viciedo cleared the fence quite easily and has moved up from Charlotte to the middle of the White Sox batting order.  

2012 Topps Five Star Miguel Cabrera Jersey/Autograph

The Five Star release was easily the best product put out on the market last year by Topps.  While it is definitely a high-end product, the cards are well worth the money.  Especially if you can find some of the single cards out on the secondary market.  My favorite part of this product is the fact that Topps actually put out a high end product with on-card autographs.  I completely understand why a box of base Topps might have sticker autographs to keep prices low, but when you are selling people a box of cards with one pack for a couple of hundred dollars, you can pay some players to actually sign their cards.  Which brings me to the latest addition to my collection:

2012 Topps Five Star Miguel Cabrera Jersey/Autograph

I have been working on adding more Cabrera cards to my collection during the past year and have added several really nice cards.   This autograph might be my favorite.  While Cabrera does not have the most artistic signature, he is very consistent in how he signs his name.  This card has a great signature and a piece of white Tigers home jersey.  A definite keeper.

2013 Topps Silver Slugger Award Prince Fielder

I picked up one last Silver Slugger award for the collection in the middle of last week.  I was happy to see Prince Fielder's name on the checklist a week or so before the 2013 Topps product dropped, but was a little reluctant to pick up the card when I saw that Prince was wearing a Brewers jersey on the card.  I dabbled a little bit with Prince cards during the past year with him ending up on the Tigers last off season, but I haven't gone all in on Prince.

2013 Topps Silver Slugger Prince Fielder

Fielder actually won the Silver Slugger last season for the Tigers in his first season in Detroit.  I also got to check out a Tigers game last summer where I learned that Prince cannot slide.  Really, check out the video below.  Just like my Matt Kemp Silver Slugger card, the Prince is a very thick card and the metal bat on the side is really metal and is pretty heavy.  I am finished picking up manufactured cards from the first series of 2013 Topps cards unless I can find the Ken Griffey Jr. Silver Slugger card for a reasonable price.  

2013 Topps Cut To The Chase Ken Griffey Jr.

I have spent a little bit of time raving about the first series of the 2013 flagship product for the past few weeks and am going to bend your ear for a few more minutes this afternoon.  Again, this product has been one of the best Topps issues in recent memories and there is plenty of good to go around.  One of my favorite inserts in the 2013 Topps set is the die-cut Cut To The Chase Set.

2013 Topps Cut To The Chase Ken Griffey Jr. 

I have not devoted a post to this insert yet, but I did put a scan of the Andrew McCutchen card in my glance post when the 2013 Topps set first dropped.  This insert set reminds me a lot of some of the die-cut cards that Pacific used to put out every year.  Topps, Upper Deck, Pinnalce, Fleer, Panini and all the other card companies that have existed in some form or fashion during my time collecting cards cannot hold a candle to the die cut cards of Pacific.

Topps tried die-cuts back in the mid 90's with their Topps Laser product, but the cards were so complexly cut that they were hard to keep in mint condition.  Topps started working some nice die-cut cards into some of last year's products, but I was really impressed with the Cut To The Chase inserts and will make these my final mission for my 2013 Topps collection.  I am hoping that Topps will continue this insert into the 2nd Series and the Traded/Update set, however no picture is shown in the released photos.

A Quick Glance: 2013 Topps Turkey Red

Topps released it's second product of this year this week in the form of their Turkey Red product.  This is a relaunch of a product for Topps who used this brand name in the mid 2000s and dropped the label after a few years before picking it back up this year with a couple of changes to the line.  The first few Turkey Red releases by Topps featured a mid range price point with the possibility of an autograph per box along with about two relics.  The base set wasn't hard to assemble, nor difficult to buy on the secondary market.  The mid 2000 Turkey Red releases were also available at retail outlets which greatly increased the number of cards produced and drove down the price on the secondary market.  This year's Turkey Red is completely different.

2013 Topps Turkey Red Adam Wainwright

The boxes of 2013 Turkey Red cost around $40 give or take depending on where you find the box.  Each box is essential one pack with ten cards and one autograph.  It's a high end formula, one pack per box, with a slightly lower than normal price.  The base cards are nicer than the mid 2000s issues of Turkey Red, but you can tell from my Adam Wainwright above that they are essential a very similar card.  The base set is composed of 100 cards which means it will take a minimum of 10 boxes, or $400, for a shot at a complete set.  The price point and limitations on completing a base set have actually made the base cards pretty valuable on the secondary market.  However, the real key to opening a pack per box product is always the autograph.  There are always some good and not so good cards that can come out of these boxes that can make or break your purchase. 

2013 Topps Turkey Red Felix Hernandez Autograph

In my box of Turkey Red cards I was able to pull a Felix Hernandez autograph which made this product well worth my $40.  The card has a print run of 20 and is selling nicely on Ebay.  Haven't seen any for trade yet, but I think this one might stay right here with me.  My only suggestion for improving the product would be to have the autographs be signed on-card.  Turkey Red used to be a $70-$80 box, or a $2.50 retail product with on-card autographs.  Now it's a $40 pack per box, one autograph product and we get sticker autographs?  Charge me $50 and get the players to sign the cards.

2013 Topps Turkey Red Zack Greinke 

Overall, this is a really nice product and given the value of the base cards at the moment collectors can easily break open a box and get their money back if they desire, or feel justification for their money spent if they are adding to their collection.  For collectors trying to build a set, a box might be a good starting point to a good challenging set to assemble.  I really like these cards and Topps is 2 for 2 in my book for the year.  

A Pair of Pumas

Baseball starts tomorrow for my Cardinals tomorrow when they play their first spring training game.  In a few weeks they will begin their regular season and a quest for the 12th World Series Championship in the franchise's illustrious history.  The last championship for the team occurred in 2011 and last season the team came within a game of returning to the World Series falling to the Giants in the National League Championship Series.

The Cardinals have generally left the roster alone this off-season making a few small moves to add or subtract players.  In my opinion, the biggest move this year was the the subtraction of first baseman/outfielder Lance Berkman.  Understandably, Allen Craig has established himself as the everyday first baseman and the outfield is crowded with Jon Jay, Matt Holliday, Carlos Beltran, and uber prospect Oscar Taveras.

While the team is in good hands for the future and Berkman only played one healthy season, with the 2011 World Series team, during his time in St. Louis, the presence of the Big Puma will be missed.  My favorite Berkman moment came during the sixth game of the 2011 World Series.  While many people remember the show that David Freese put on tying the game in the 9th inning with two outs and two strikes, and then later winning the game on a walk off home run, I will always remember the Berkman at-bats that made it possible.

First, in the ninth inning Berkman walked in front of Freese and scored from first base when the Cardinals third baseman tripled to left field.  The Rangers came back in the tenth and took a two run lead when Josh Hamilton hit a two run home run.  That home run set the stage for the Cardinals second at-bat of the night taken with two outs and two strikes.  My favorite Berkman highlight:

Of course, I also knew Berkman for the many years he played on the Astros as the Cardinals rival.  While I was not pulling for the Astros to win, their teams featured classy players and were much easier to watch and enjoy than the mid 80s Mets teams, or frankly any Cubs team from any year.  So, even though the Big Puma has taken his talents to the Rangers for the 2013 season, I am still going to add more Berkman cards to my collection.  Especially ones where he is wearing the birds on the bat.  

2013 Topps Chasing History Lance Berkman Jersey

First up this evening is a Lance Berkman from the newly released 2013 Topps series one set.  The card hails from the Chasing History set which features a small piece of Cardinals road jersey and a blurb about a record the player has, or is chasing.  In this case, the card recognizes Berkman as the National League's all-time OPS record holder for a switch hitter.  I was quite surprised that he ranks ahead of Chipper Jones, but he does indeed hold the record.  

2012 Topps Triple Threads Lance Berkman Jersey

Last one for the day.  I also picked up a 2012 Topps Triple Threads Lance Berkman jersey card.  This is my second Lance Berkman Triple Threads jersey card from the 2012 set, but I like this one since Lance is sporting his shades.  Look through a stack of Lance cards, or just watch him the next time you see a Rangers game on and chances are good that Lance might be rocking some really cool sun glasses.