bdj610's Topps Baseball Card Blog

bdj610's End of Year MLB All-Star Teams: 1993 Edition

2009-12-02T12:00:00.000-06:00

At the end of the 1993 baseball season, just like every season since I started following baseball, I named my All-Star teams. It's been six seasons since I started this little, private tradition, and it's only now that I've decided to share with the world what I had done. By the time the 1993 season ended, I was beginning my senior year in high school. I busted my behind so much the first three years, that I decided to take it easy this final year of high school and actually take the time to enjoy myself. I had aspirations of working in the theatre after college, and was taking steps to prepare for a life in the dramatic arts. Ahhh, youth.

Back to the point.

By this time, I started reading a publication called Baseball Weekly. Every week, I'd make a trip to the gas station to get my hands on the latest copy of the magazine. It had everything a baseball junkie would want: Full stats (and I mean full before the dawn of the internet stats) for every player, weekly recaps for every team. A minor league section. A rotisserie section (which is probably why the stats were so fully detailed). And much more. I carried it with me everywhere, even in school. I even had my own fantasy team (which I may revisit one of these years) and used the magazine for stats and news. I was also getting a lot better at picking players for my All-Star teams. Of course, those players who actually made that summer's teams still had sway over others, but I was starting to rely on actual numbers now, while still sticking to the "every team has a rep" and plugging the position holes where need be. As in previous years, there are 10 pitchers on each team (six starters, four closers), and because the 1994 ASG would be in Pittsburgh (at old Three Rivers Stadium), there was no DH needed. So the rosters contracted to 34 players per team. With 28 teams (this was the first year for both the Florida Marlins and Colorado Rockies as expansion teams in the NL), getting seven guys from one team would become a rarity, if not difficult, going forward.

So without further ado, for the first time online, I am proud to introduce my 1993 End of Year MLB All-Star Teams (in alphabetical order by position):

(I don't need to explain about the blank space anymore...do I???)

American League

First Basemen

Cecil Fielder, Tigers
John Olerud, Blue Jays*
Frank Thomas, White Sox

Second Basemen

Roberto Alomar, Blue Jays
Carlos Baerga, Indians
Chuck Knoblauch, Twins

Third Basemen

Wade Boggs, Yankees
Scott Cooper, Red Sox*
Dean Palmer, Rangers*

Shortstops

Travis Fryman, Tigers
Ozzie Guillen, White Sox
Cal Ripken, Orioles

Outfielders

Albert Belle, Indians*
Joe Carter, Blue Jays
Juan Gonzalez, Rangers
Ken Griffey, Jr., Mariners
Darryl Hamilton, Brewers*
Kirby Puckett, Twins
Tim Salmon, Angels*
Ruben Sierra, Athletics
Greg Vaughn, Brewers*

Catchers

Chris Hoiles, Orioles*
Ron Karkovice, White Sox*
Ivan Rodriguez, Rangers

Pitchers

Rick Aguilera, Twins
Kevin Appier, Royals*
Tom Henke, Rangers
Pat Hentgen, Blue Jays*
Randy Johnson, Mariners
Jimmy Key, Yankees
Mark Langston, Angels
Jack McDowell, White Sox
Jeff Montgomery, Royals
Duane Ward, Blue Jays*

Manager:

Gene Lamont, White Sox

The Starters:

1B: Olerud
2B: Alomar
3B: Boggs
SS: Ripken
OF: Carter
OF: Griffey, Jr.
OF: Puckett
C: Rodriguez
P: McDowell

*First-Time All-Star

National League

First Basemen

Andres Galarraga, Rockies
Mark Grace, Cubs
John Kruk, Phillies

Second Basemen

Gregg Jefferies, Cardinals*
Ryne Sandberg, Cubs
Robby Thompson, Giants*

Third Basemen

Dave Hollins, Phillies*
Gary Sheffield, Marlins
Matt Williams, Giants

Shortstops

Jay Bell, Pirates*
Jeff Blauser, Braves*
Barry Larkin, Reds

Outfielders

Barry Bonds, Giants
Bobby Bonilla, Mets
Brett Butler, Dodgers
Lenny Dykstra, Phillies
Marquis Grissom, Expos
Tony Gwynn, Padres
Dave Justice, Braves*
Reggie Sanders, Reds*
Sammy Sosa, Cubs*

Catchers

Darren Daulton, Phillies
Mike Piazza, Dodgers*
Rick Wilkins, Cubs*

Pitchers

Rod Beck, Giants*
Andy Benes, Padres*
John Burkett, Giants*
Tom Glavine, Braves
Bryan Harvey, Marlins
Randy Myers, Cubs
Mark Portugal, Astros*
Bill Swift, Giants*
Bob Tewksbury, Cardinals
John Wetteland, Expos*

Manager:

Dusty Baker, Giants

The Starters:

1B: Kruk
2B: Sandberg
3B: Sheffield
SS: Larkin
OF: Bonds
OF: Grissom
OF: Justice
C: Daulton
P: Burkett

Twenty-eight players are first-time all-stars (12 for the American League, 16 for the Nationals). One-person teams on my 1993 rosters include the Athletics (Sierra), Red Sox (Cooper), Astros (Portugal), Mets (Bonilla), Pirates (Bell) and Rockies (Galarraga). The Giants send six representatives to the NL roster, leading both leagues. The Blue Jays and Cubs (Chicago bias rules!!!) each send five players to their respective squads.

As always, seven regular games (10,000 simulations each, six with the same starting pitchers, one where lineups and starting pitchers change), and one All-Star Game will be simulated during the course of the week. I hope to have the results of all the games by the end of the week.

Now it's time for me to create the .DAT files before getting the games set. Results to come on Monday. You can now begin to see the shift from 80's stars to 90's stars with these teams as you'll start to see many of the players who are first timers here on more All-Star teams going forward.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

bdj610's 1992 End of Year All-Star Teams Simulated Games Results

2009-12-01T09:00:00.002-06:00

I have finally finished simulating the All-Star Games using my 1992 End of Year All-Star Teams. And this will mark the first time that a team loses the seven-game simulation series and wins the one-game All-Star Game. And even though I spent most of my weekend watching the real All-Star Game highlights on the MLB Network (I love that station), the one game simulation, if it was a real game, would have ranked among the best All-Star Games...EVER!!!

As always, I simulated seven games (six series between starters, and one series where the lineups, starting rotations changed on a daily basis), by playing each one 10,000 times.

The first six games I simulated used each starting pitcher on both sides at least once, and all position players started a minimum of two games each. Here are the results:

Game 1: NL vs. AL, Greg Maddux vs. Kevin Brown. The NL wins 6,391 games out of 10,000 simulations (using a DH).
Game 2: NL vs. AL, Tom Glavine vs. Jack McDowell. The NL wins 5,263 games (using a DH).
Game 3: AL vs. NL, Mike Mussina vs. Mike Morgan. The AL wins 5,350 games.
Game 4: AL vs, NL, Juan Guzman vs. Bob Tewksbury. The AL wins 5,283 games.
Game 5: AL vs. NL, Roger Clemens vs. John Smoltz. The AL wins 5,359 games. This is the first series ever simulated that had no batting highlights, but there were 21 no-hitters pitched, 15 by Smoltz.
Game 6: NL vs. AL, Dennis Martinez vs. Mark Langston. The AL wins 5,254 games (using a DH).
Game 7: NL vs. AL, anything goes. The AL wins 5,044 games (using a DH) in a very close series.

So the AL wins the regular series 5 games to 2. Would they fare just as well in the one-game ASG???

For the official All-Star Game, I decided to just simulate one game and one game only. The starting pitchers were Maddux and Brown and I let them pitch two innings (unless they struggled badly). The rest of the pitchers would get one inning each (unless they struggled badly). The position players were replaced every three innings. No pinch hitters here, (as in previous tries, the pinch hitter is taken out of the game). The DH's (Mark Grace of the NL and Frank Thomas of the AL) were never replaced.

The starting lineups, first for the National League (I'm using 1993 Topps cards because these are the cards I used to represent the players on my All-Star teams):

Now the American League starting lineup:

Here is the result:

The 1992 NL All-Stars mount a comeback in the ninth to beat the 1992 AL All-Stars by a final score of 8-5.

The box score is below (Just click on the picture to take a closer look.

The scoring plays were like this:

Bottom 2: Greg Maddux pitching. Joe Carter grounds out to Darren Daulton (2-3). Frank Thomas flies out to Tony Gwynn (9). Mickey Tettleton hits a home run.

Bottom 4: Bob Tewksbury pitching. Paul Molitor grounds out to Craig Biggio (4-3). Roberto Kelly singles. Frank Thomas walks, Kelly advances to second. Ivan Rodriguez singles, Kelly advances to third, Thomas advances to second. Ruben Sierra singles, Kelly scoring, Thomas advances to third, Rodriguez advances to second. Travis Fryman pops up to Gary Sheffield (5UP), Thomas scores as he beats the throw home.

Top 7: Mark Langston pitching. Will Clark doubles. Tom Pagnozzi strikes out. Ron Gant grounds out to Chuck Knoblauch (4-3), Clark advances to third. Gary Sheffield hits a home run, Clark scoring.

Bottom 7: Dennis Martinez pitching. Edgar Martinez is hit by a pitch, goes to first. George Bell flies out to Marquis Grissom (7). Cecil Fielder hits a home run, E. Martinez scoring.

Top 9: Rick Aguilera pitching. Matt Williams grounds out to Omar Vizquel (6-3). Mark Grace singles. Barry Larkin singles, Grace advances to second. Andre Dawson singles, Grace advances to third, Larkin advances to second. On passed ball by Pat Borders, Grace scores, Larkin advances to third, Dawson advances to second. Mike Sharperson singles, Larkin scoring, Dawson advances to third. Brett Butler reaches first on fielders choice, Dawson scores as he beats the throw home. Dennis Eckersley pitching. John Kruk hits a home run, Sharperson scoring, Butler scoring.

Your starters, Greg Maddux and Kevin Brown. John Kruk is the MVP.
So the National League, who didn't even get their first hit until the fifth inning on a Gary Sheffield single, scores six runs in the top of the ninth, coming back from a 5-2 defecit to win the game 8-5. If this game actually existed, the MVP award would have gone to John Kruk (2-2, 1 hr, 3 rbi's, breaking the game open in the ninth). Doug Jones picks up the victory, Rick Aguilera takes the loss, and Lee Smith picks up the save, and the only players who didn't get in the game were pitchers Norm Charlton & Sid Fernandez from the NL and Charles Nagy from the AL.

If you want to see the .DAT files that I used (I still don't know how to download these onto the blog , so please just take a look at the screen caps below). If anyone can e-mail me instructions, please do so at bdj610@hotmail.com. Below is the NL .DAT file, then the AL .DAT file:

Now that the 1992 All-Star Games are officially over, at noon on Wednesday, I will introduce the 1993 End of Year All-Star teams. Simulations for games with those rosters to come hopefully by Sunday night.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Maris in the Mail! Two SP's Down, 23 to Go!

2009-12-01T07:00:00.000-06:00

Jeremy DeJong, the creative mind over at Jeremy's Custom Cards wrote a comment a couple of weeks ago, asking if I was interested in the Roger Maris SP card that he happened to have in his possession. Needless to say, absolutely I was interested. So, an e-mail was sent.

In his reply, all he wanted were current Tigers cards as he lives in Lakeland, FL, the Tigers spring training home. He also stated that he had one of the seven 2003 Topps Record Breakers Nolan Ryan No-Hitter cards that have been buried in my want lists for quite a long time.

So an envelope came in the mail today from Florida. Here's what was inside:

2009 Topps Roger Maris SP #UH48b.
A note included in the envelope read:

Hope you enjoy these. I don't really collect the S.P.'s, and I'm sure the card would be more appreciated in your collection.

Definitely will be appreciated Jeremy. Mr. DeJong also included this Nolan Ryan RB card:

Now I've been searching on and off for the seven cards that comprise this set. And while it's been on my want list for almost forever it seems, it wasn't one of the high priorities to finish. But this is a good start, and hopefully, eventually, I'll start searching for the other six (if anybody has any of the other six cards, this is card #5, please e-mail me.)

Finally, there was a third card in the envelope. It was an autographed card no less. I don't think there could be any value placed on this, and I'm pretty sure it's a rare card. It wasn't something I was looking for, but it will go into the binder along with all my 2009 Topps cards:

Jeremy, thank you very much for the cards. The background of your card looks similar to my basement. Bookshelf of cards, miscellaneous stuff on top of bookshelf. Baseball cards and other things scattered everywhere. If I didn't know any better, I'd swear you found your way to my house to get the picture taken.

A bunch of Tigers cards will be on their way to you before the end of the week. I promise.

Two down, 23 to go. The quest continues.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

P.S. For those wondering, the Bible quotation included with his autograph is Proverbs 3: verses 5-6, which reads (according to the New International Version):

5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding;
6 in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.

Amen. jba

Topps Awarded License to Create Minor League Baseball Cards in 2010 and Beyond!!!

2009-11-30T15:01:00.002-06:00

The guy at Trader Crack's broke the news, and I went to the website for confirmation, but it appears that although Topps lost the NFL rights, they have gained something potentially better.

MiLB.com (the official site for Minor League Baseball) has just announced that the Topps Company, home of Major League Baseball cards for almost 60 years, has just signed an exclusive agreement to be the official licensee of Minor League Baseball cards.

Read all about it here.

So what does this mean?

According to Warren Friss, Topps' Vice President, that "Now we're the only trading card licensed by both Major League Baseball and Minor League Baseball, and we look forward to a lasting relationship with both Leagues."

But what does this mean for Topps' major league products? Will this mean that Topps will now include draft pick cards and future star cards in the eponymous brands? Will Topps even be allowed to do that? What about Bowman? Will there be a need to create a prospect cards "insert set" with all the parallels, chrome, and other bells and whistles? Will Bowman become a minor league brand?

As most of us already know, there is also the matter of the minor league "debut card" logo that the licensing arms wanted Tristar (good luck in all future endeavors by the way) to include when players made their debut onto a minor league card. The press release states that Topps has the exclusive rights to the logo. Will this mean that a player can have a Pro Debut card AND a MLB Rookie card???

And what does this mean for minor league cards as a whole? Will regular card collectors jump in and buy minor league Topps cards? Will set collectors want in on this? Heck, will Topps set collectors want to get in on this? Speaking for me, I would have to see what the cards are going to look like first?

But most importantly...

Will this mean the return of Topps MLB debut???

So many questions, so much time to speculate as the first Topps Minor League product, known as Topps Pro Debut Series 1 (meaning there will be more than ONE SERIES of this product) will be coming out in March.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

The First of Hopefully 25 U & H Shortprints Has Arrived!!!

2009-11-30T07:00:00.001-06:00

Out of the blue, I get an e-mail from reader and friend of the blog Larry Littman saying that he is getting a package together for me in the mail, including an SP from the Updates and Highlights set. Appreciating the generosity, I asked for a wantlist to see if I can return the favor. He sent me a wantlist, I went through all the cards, and before I could even get a chance to mail his stuff, his package arrived on Saturday morning.

The package was filled with inserts from all three series of Topps, including a good number of Topps Gold cards, about 8 Propaganda cards, ToppsTown cards (need the codes for the kids...thanks), a Jesus Guzman Topps Chrome Traded Rookie bonus card, a Honus Wagner gold refractor card (the exclusive insert found in Target Cereal boxes), a bunch of Legends of the Game inserts, a sampling of 2009 Topps Cubs cards (which my daughter nabbed and claimed as her own...), and this, which is still in the original holder (have not taken a screwdriver to it yet):

2009 Topps Johnny Mize #UH250b.
Larry, thank you very much for the cards. I do appreciate, and am humbled by your generosity. The cards you need are on their way via the USPS. Please let me know when you get them.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

What Am I Thankful For...Updated for 2009.

2009-11-26T17:30:00.000-06:00

Now I originally wrote much of what you'll see below on the blog last year after Thanksgiving. A lot has happened in the year since. But many of these I am still thankful for. Please allow me the pleasure of giving thanks.

By the time this post comes online, I will either be in Crown Point, IN, partaking in Thanksgiving festivities with my in-laws, or on the road heading home, ready to face whatever calamity will come up (we've driven home from Indiana through snowstorms, rainstorms, balding tires, sometimes rain and balding tires at the same time, and the best one, a deer at 65 miles per hour. Needless to say, every trip home is an adventure!!!)

Anyway, I can rattle on and on about how tough it is nowadays, but everyone already has an idea. For all the bad news out there (and it seems there is plenty), there is so much for me personally to be thankful for.

I am thankful that I have a wonderful family that gives me a reason to be alive. My wife and I have been together for 11 wonderful years, and I look forward to many more with her. Though we may have had our share of disagreements, the good times outweigh all the bad. We constantly talk about how it would be nice if we went to this place, or if we had this car, or whatever. But those are just dreams for the moment. I hope that one day that we get to realize those dreams. For now, we just have to keep going with what we have. As with many who took this vow of marriage, I promised to be with her for richer or poorer, in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health. I loved her then, and I love her more so now.

I have two beautiful children who I love with all my heart. I am truly grateful to have them in my life. I may be a little strict with them about their grades in school (oh my gosh, I've become MY OWN FATHER), but to hear them laugh, and to see them show both their mother and me how much they love us makes up for all of that. I love hearing them laugh, and seeing them smile. It is for them that I work as hard as I can. Although there are many nights that I come home and they are already in bed, I make sure to give them my full attention when I am with them in the mornings before going to school. They are both growing up so fast, it's hard to believe that not a long time ago, they were babies who I could carry rather easily. Both their mom and I have a lot of work to do raising them, but it is something that I would never exchange.

I am thankful to have a family to lean on when times are hard. My parents, who have been my support when I have nobody to turn to when I'm having troubles and give me good advice whether I ask or not. My siblings, who keep me grounded as a person (based on whatever they're doing in their lives). Even my in-laws...who help keep my wife in check and make sure that she's doing well.

I am thankful for having a steady job. I've been working at the same place for more than eleven years now. Long ago, I was told that the average person lasts two years or less in one job. I have seen many people here come and go in eleven years, more so this year. I am grateful that I still have a place to earn a living through these troubled times.

I am thankful for having a roof over my family's head. Yes, I have to admit it's been rough at times, both financially and physically (and by this, I mean our house is old, and there has been a lot of work that needed to be done with it), and somehow we are able to scrape through another month. A lot of sleepless nights have happened over the last few years. But somehow, we overcome and are able to continue and still have a place to call home. I hope in the future, things will get better.

I am thankful that we have food on our table. We don't eat out as often as before, and we've had to cut back on many luxury items (seafood, steak), but our kids love home-made mac and cheese and those little Vienna sausages (not necessarily together mind you, but that has been dinner some nights). I'm not saying that we've had to totally give up on good food, but as long as we have the basics (milk, bread, eggs), and we're never out of pasta, I'm happy.

The final thing I am for which I am thankful, is for all intents and purposes, is a reason I am able to keep sane through all the things going on in my life. It is something that many understand, but few will admit relating to it. Many people, no matter what their situation, have at least one. And often times, use it for the same reasons I do. For the goals this one thing accomplishes is not just to give joy to my life, but to give it an escape. An outlet if you will, to a time where I didn't have stress, or have much to worry. This one thing is the reason why I write this humble little blog. I give thanks to the Hobby. Because with everything going on in the world today, second to my family, it is the one thing that gives me comfort.

If this sounds like I'm whining at the same time that I'm being grateful, I apologize as that was not the intent of my writing. There are many people out there who are struggling and somehow surviving on less than what we have. To them I pray that things will get better. It will take some work, but it will get better.

If there is one thing I have forgotten to do above, it's to say thank you to those who have read my blog, left comments, accepted me into this crazy community, and have added to my card collection since I started this blog. Thank you for adding me to your blogrolls, your blog readers, and welcoming me into your online lives. I will do my best to fill this blog with information that I continually promise to provide. After all, 2010 Topps Series I won't be out until January, and I don't plan on leaving this site hanging until then.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

2009 Topps All-Star Rookie Team Contest Winners!!!

2009-11-26T09:00:00.001-06:00

Now that the 2009 Topps All-Star Rookie Team has been announced, I have spent the good part of the evening going over all the e-mails I received, seeing who outguessed me in the All-Star Rookie Team contest.

Unfortunately, nobody correctly predicted all ten players who would make the team. The news that Omir Santos won the catcher's position pretty much dashed everybody's shot at a perfect ten (almost everyone chose Matt "I'm-a-Razor-Exclusive" Wieters). So nobody wins the 2005 Topps Rookie Cup set grand prize.

But I am happy to say that out of all the entries I received, only two...TWO...readers beat my score. Congratulatory e-mails have already been sent, so it's okay for me to announce:

Congratulations to Don Sherman and Glenn Savage!!!

Both gentlemen each correctly predicted who would win in eight out of the ten positions. If you recall in my announcement post, I only got seven right. Each of them will receive a Hobby Jumbo pack of 2009 Topps Updates and Highlights (I know that I originally said a regular pack, but I am free to change my mind).

Thank you very much to all who participated in the contest. Although nobody got all ten to win the grand prize, I promise to run this contest again next year. Hopefully somebody will win it.

Introducing the 2009 Topps All-Star Rookie Team!!!

2009-11-25T12:29:00.003-06:00

The MLB managers have spoken, and today, Topps has announced the players named to the 51st All-Star Rookie Team!!! (If the player's name is in bold, it means I predicted that they would make the team back in October).

1B: Travis Ishikawa, San Francisco Giants (.261 batting average, 9 HR 39 RBI, 2009 stats)
2B: Chris Getz, Chicago White Sox (.261, 2, 31)
3B: Gordon Beckham, Chicago White Sox (.270, 14, 63)
SS: Elvis Andrus, Texas Rangers (.267, 6, 40)
OF: Chris Coghlan, Florida Marlins (.321, 9, 47)
OF: Andrew McCutchen, Pittsburgh Pirates (.286, 12, 54)
OF: Nolan Reimold, Baltimore Orioles (.279, 15, 45)
C: Omir Santos, New York Mets (.260, 7, 40)
RHP: Tommy Hanson, Atlanta Braves (11-4, 2.89 ERA, 116 K's,)
LHP: J. A. Happ, Philadelphia Phillies (12-4, 2.93 ERA, 119 K's)

So I guessed 7 out of 10 spots correctly (I guessed Colby Rasmus for the third outfield spot, Matt "I'm a Razor Exclusive, so I'm not with Topps" Wieters for the catcher and Andrew Bailey for the RHP). I did better last year.

That Santos pick came out of nowhere. He wasn't even a blip on MLB's rookie tracker radar. Could it be because of the Wieters exclusive with Razor and Upper Deck? Could this be why Hideki Matsui was not part of the 2003 Topps All-Star Rookie team??? Let the conspiracy theories flow!!!

So congratulations to all. Each player will now get the illustrious rookie cup trophy (pictured above) added to their 2010 Topps cards. And about that trophy. Instead of gold, it's now a silver cup, with the words "Topps All Star" on the cup, and the word "ROOKIE" on the base. Brand new decade, brand new rookie cup.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

P.S. I will go over the entries this evening to see if there was a winner in my contest. To all who participated, good luck to you. jba

bdj610's End of Year MLB All-Star Teams: 1992 Edition

2009-11-24T19:00:00.001-06:00

It's now the end of the 1992 season. By the time I named my 1992 End of the Year All-Star Teams, it's junior year in high school. I was making a lot of decisions about my future around this time. Colleges were sending brochures by the sack full. Mount Mercy College in Iowa was the first college to send me mail if I remember correctly. It sounded like a great place to start my college life (although that's not where I wound up going). Baseball took a backseat at this time of my life, so my 1992 All-Star teams once again are made up many of the players who participated in the midsummer classic in San Diego in July plus others that filled the rest of the positions.

This year's teams include 10 pitchers on each team (seven starters, three closers), and the usual 3 players per position (1b, 2b, 3b, ss, c, 9 of), and because the 1993 ASG would be in Baltimore (at the two-year-old Orioles Park at Camden Yards), each team included a DH. So the rosters were expanded back to 35 players per team.

Let's cut to the chase. Without further ado, for the first time online, I am proud to introduce my 1992 End of Year MLB All-Star Teams (in alphabetical order by position):

(On feeds and on other blog sites like Sculu, it all looks normal, but on Blogger, there is this huge space. And I better have this written correctly because Sculu doesn't update even after posts have been edited...)

American League

First Basemen

Cecil Fielder, Tigers
Mark McGwire, Athletics
Paul Molitor, Brewers

Second Basemen

Roberto Alomar, Blue Jays
Carlos Baerga, Indians*
Chuck Knoblauch, Twins*

Third Basemen

Wade Boggs, Red Sox
Edgar Martinez, Mariners*
Robin Ventura, White Sox

Shortstops

Travis Fryman, Tigers*
Cal Ripken, Orioles
Omar Vizquel, Mariners*

Outfielders

Brady Anderson, Orioles*
George Bell, White Sox
Joe Carter, Blue Jays
Juan Gonzalez, Rangers*
Ken Griffey, Jr., Mariners
Roberto Kelly, Yankees*
Kirby Puckett, Twins
Ruben Sierra, Athletics
Dave Winfield, Blue Jays

Catchers

Pat Borders, Blue Jays*
Ivan Rodriguez, Rangers*
Mickey Tettleton, Tigers

Designated Hitter:

Frank Thomas, White Sox*

Pitchers

Rick Aguilera, Twins
Kevin Brown, Rangers*
Roger Clemens, Red Sox
Dennis Eckersley, Athletics
Juan Guzman, Blue Jays*
Mark Langston, Angels
Jack McDowell, White Sox
Jeff Mongtomery, Royals*
Mike Mussina, Orioles*
Charles Nagy, Indians*

Manager:

Cito Gaston, Blue Jays

The Starters:

1B: McGwire
2B: Alomar
3B: Boggs
SS: Ripken
OF: Carter
OF: Griffey, Jr.
OF: Puckett
C: Tettleton
DH: Thomas
P: Brown

*First-Time All-Star

National League

First Basemen

Will Clark, Giants
John Kruk, Phillies
Fred McGriff, Padres*

Second Basemen

Craig Biggio, Astros
Ryne Sandberg, Cubs
Mike Sharperson, Dodgers*

Third Basemen

Terry Pendleton, Braves
Gary Sheffield, Padres*
Matt Williams, Giants

Shortstops

Tony Fernandez, Padres
Barry Larkin, Reds
Ozzie Smith, Cardinals

Outfielders

Barry Bonds, Pirates
Brett Butler, Dodgers
Andre Dawson, Cubs
Ron Gant, Braves
Marquis Grissom, Expos*
Tony Gwynn, Padres
Bip Roberts, Reds*
Andy Van Slyke, Pirates
Larry Walker, Expos*

Catchers

Darren Daulton, Phillies*
Mike LaValliere, Pirates
Tom Pagnozzi, Cardinals*

Designated Hitter:

Mark Grace, Cubs

Pitchers

Norm Charlton, Reds*
Sid Fernandez, Mets
Tom Glavine, Braves
Doug Jones, Astros
Greg Maddux, Cubs*
Dennis Martinez, Expos
Mike Morgan, Cubs
Lee Smith, Cardinals
John Smoltz, Braves
Bob Tewksbury, Cardinals*

Manager:

Felipe Alou, Expos

The Starters:

1B: McGriff
2B: Sandberg
3B: Pendleton
SS: Smith
OF: Bonds
OF: Gwynn
OF: Van Slyke
C: Daulton
DH: Grace
P: Maddux

Twenty-seven players are first-time all-stars (16 for the American League, 11 for the Nationals). One-person teams on my 1992 rosters include the Angels (Langston), Brewers (Molitor), Royals (Montgomery), Yankees (Kelly), and Mets (Fernandez). Both the Blue Jays and Cubs send five representatives on the AL and NL rosters respectively, leading both leagues (back to that Chicago bias...love it). The White Sox, Braves, Cardinals, and Padres each send four players to their respective squads.

As always, seven regular games (10,000 simulations each, six with the same starting pitchers, one where lineups and starting pitchers change), and one All-Star Game will be simulated during the course of the week. I hope to have the results of all the games by the end of the week.

Now it's time for me to create the .DAT files before getting the games set. To answer commenter Ric Knapp, and to all of those who missed the first post explaining how I getting these simulations, I am using the Strategic Baseball Simulator for all of the simulations. It's been really easy to create my teams via copy and paste. And the simulator has been relatively accurate to say the least. Time to play the games.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Card #327 Now Officially Belongs to...

2009-11-24T15:30:00.000-06:00

A couple of weeks ago, I mentioned that Topps reserved six cards for the AL and NL award winners that were going to be announced this week. Now we know who gets card #327.

Congratulations to Albert Pujols of the St. Louis Cardinals for winning the National League Most Valuable Player Award, his third, unanimously. There was no doubt who would wind up the victor as many within the Hobby penciled him in as the MVP even before the votes were tallied.

Card #327 will now be of Pujols, the Cardinals mega-star, who put up astronomical numbers (.327, 47 HR, 135 RBI, 1.104 OPS) and got all 32 first-place votes (448 points). The race for second included worthy candidates like Hanley Ramirez of the Marlins (233), Ryan Howard of the Phillies (217), Prince Fielder of the Brewers (203), and Troy Tulowitzki of the Rockies (172).

Awards season is now officially over. This officially ends the 2009 season. The Hot Stove is now heating up, and 2010 Topps is coming soon.

Thank goodness.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Card #172 Now Officially Belongs to...

2009-11-23T13:16:00.002-06:00

A couple of weeks ago, I mentioned that Topps reserved six cards for the AL and NL award winners that were going to be announced this week. Now we know who gets card #172.

Congratulations to Joe Mauer of the Minnesota Twins for winning the American League Most Valuable Player Award. While he was considered one of the favorites to win the award, he had some stiff competition, especially with two New York Yankee teammates also vying for the award.

Card #172 will now be of Mauer, the Twins' All-Star catcher who put up astronomical numbers (.365, 28 HR, 96 RBI, 1.031 OPS) even though he missed the first month of the season and led the Twins to the AL Central Division crown. Mauer's win was nearly unanimous as 27 of the 28 voters gave him the first place vote (387 points, 27 first place votes). He paced a field that included Yankees teammates Mark Teixeira (225 points) and Derek Jeter (193), and Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers (171, 1).

Let the debates continue. Did your guy win???

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

P.S. We're down to the final award, the NL MVP. Will Albert Pujols take the expected win? Or will Prince Fielder or Hanley Ramirez spoil the party for the Cardinals' superstar? Stay tuned. jba

bdj610's 1991 End of Year All-Star Teams Simulated Games Results

2009-11-23T09:00:00.004-06:00

I have finally finished simulating the All-Star Games using my 1991 End of Year All-Star Teams. And if ever there was a time that the American League showed its dominance over the National League, 1991 was definitely the year. It was a total bloodbath as the AL not only beat the NL in all SEVEN 10,000 game series (a couple of series were won by more than 2,500 games) but the junior circuit shut out the seniors 2-0 as well.

As previously stated, I simulated seven games (six series between starters, and one series where the lineups, starting rotations changed on a daily basis), by playing each one 10,000 times.

The first six games I simulated used each starting pitcher on both sides at least once, and all position players started a minimum of two games each. Here are the results:

Game 1: AL vs. NL, Jack Morris vs. Tom Glavine. The AL wins 5,206 games out of 10,000 simulations.
Game 2: AL vs. NL, Mark Langston vs. John Smiley. The AL wins 5,742 games.
Game 3: NL vs. AL, Ramon Martinez vs. Roger Clemens. The AL wins 6,838 games (using a DH).
Game 4: NL vs, AL, Jack McDowell vs. Dennis Martinez. The AL wins 5,904 games (using a DH).
Game 5: NL vs. AL, Mike Morgan vs. Scott Sanderson. The AL wins 5,053 games in a very close series (using a DH).
Game 6: AL vs. NL, Jimmy Key vs. Frank Viola. The AL wins 6,418 games.
Game 7: AL vs. NL, anything goes. The AL wins 5,868 games.

Maybe it's because the NL only had two relief pitchers (Lee Smith and Rob Dibble). That's the only reason I see for the mismatches here as in many of the sims, Pete Harnisch, Tom Browning, and even Smiley and Morgan were used for relief.

For the official All-Star Game, I decided to just simulate one game and one game only. The starting pitchers were Morris and Glavine and I let them pitch two innings (unless they struggled badly). The rest of the pitchers would get one inning each (unless they struggled badly). The position players were replaced every three innings. No pinch hitters here, (as in previous tries, the pinch hitter is taken out of the game), and there was only one double switch.

The starting lineups, first for the American League (I'm using 1992 Topps cards because these are the cards I used to imagine my All-Star teams):

Now the National League starting lineup:

Here is the result:

The 1991 AL All-Stars beat the 1991 NL All-Stars by a final score of 2-0.

The box score is below (Just click on the picture to take a closer look.

The scoring plays were like this:

Top 5: Dennis Martinez pitching. Rafael Palmeiro singles. Ruben Sierra triples, Palmeiro scoring. Kirby Puckett strikes out. Brian Harper doubles, Sierra scoring.

Ruben Sierra is the MVP, not only for the game-winning RBI in the fifth, but because of two great defensive plays.
If this game actually existed, the MVP would have been Ruben Sierra (1-2, 1 triple, 1 run, game winning rbi). What his line score doesn't show the two defensive plays he made in right field, including robbing Bobby Bonilla of a home run in the fourth, which could have put the NL ahead 2-0. And although the NL had men on second and third with two out, Rick Aguilera earns the first save in bdj610 All-Star Game history. Meanwhile, Roger Clemens gets the win, Dennis Martinez takes the loss, and the only players who didn't get in the game were pitchers Tom Browning & Lee Smith from the NL and Jeff Reardon & Dennis Eckersley from the AL.

If you want to see the .DAT files that I used (I still don't know how to download these onto the blog , so please just take a look at the screen caps below). If anyone can e-mail me instructions, please do so at bdj610@hotmail.com. Below is the AL .DAT file, then the NL .DAT file:

Now that the 1991 All-Star Games are officially over, on Tuesday, I will introduce the 1992 End of Year All-Star teams. Simulations for games with those rosters to come by Sunday night for a Monday morning recap.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

It is Official. It was Confirmed Before, But Now I Know for Sure that...

2009-11-20T17:50:00.001-06:00

I am a big league dunderhead.

Thanks to commenter Brady James, not for pointing this not so new fact about myself, but because he asked if I had the Paul Molitor SP card from U & H (which by the way, I don't...), I realized that I left Molitor off not only from my wantlists (on both my last post and the wantlist on the sidebar), but also from this article.

I should really, really learn how to count. There are 25 SP's, and I only jotted down 24 on the list. When I get home tonight, I will update the above post with this little factoid:

#UH65 Joe Mauer, #UH65b Paul Molitor.

To answer Brady James, no, I still need the card. If you have it, please let me know. Thanks for the heads up. I'm going to go lie down now.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

I Might Not Be Able to Go to the Sun-Time Show This Weekend...

2009-11-20T13:00:00.002-06:00

And I feel horrible about it. As has been the case for most of the summer, money has been tight, and priorities shifted. Money that would have normally been set aside for cards and the Hobby have gone to other, more important things.

But a couple of weeks ago, thanks to a bit of good timing, a bit of extra cash, and a much needed day off, I finally bought some cards that I've been waiting to get for some time. I now have master sets (base and basic insert sets) for both the 2009 Topps Updates and Highlights and 2009 Topps Allen & Ginter sets.

The 2009 Topps U & H set I purchased includes all 330 base cards, the 30-card Propoganda set (beautiful by the way), the 50-card conclusion to the Turkey Red continuity set, the 25-card conclusion to the Ring of Honor set, both 25-card Toppstown and Toppstown Gold sets, and the 25-card conclusion to the Legends of the Game set. That's 510 cards. I also bought a few U & H packs at Target and got one of the exclusive Legends cards (Roger Maris #LLG24).

So all I need now are the following cards and SP's and I can call my 2009 Topps Baseball set done (write these cards down and see if you have them please...):

2009 Topps MLB Short-Prints Series 2:

#353b Cal Ripken, Jr.
#475b Mike Schmidt
#476b Juan Marichal
#490b Nolan Ryan
#495b Brooks Robinson

2009 Topps Updates & Highlights Short-Prints:

#47b Duke Snider
#48b Roger Maris
#52b Bo Jackson
#65b Paul Molitor
#71b Rogers Hornsby
#71c Ryne Sandberg
#98b Honus Wagner
#103b Wade Boggs
#148b Tris Speaker
#150b Ty Cobb
#153b George Sisler
#186b Christy Mathewson
#198b Cy Young
#232b Nolan Ryan CAL
#232c Nolan Ryan NYM
#250b Johnny Mize NYY
#250c Johnny Mize NYG
#253b Reggie Jackson CAL
#253c Reggie Jackson OAK
#260b Willie McCovey
#281b Jimmie Foxx
#318b Rickey Henderson
#325b Frank Robinson
#330b Babe Ruth BSB
#330c Babe Ruth BOS

2009 Topps Walmart Legends of the Game Series 2:

LLP12 Jackie Robinson
LLP13 Babe Ruth
LLP14 Honus Wagner
LLP15 Lou Gehrig
LLP16 Nolan Ryan
LLP18 Thurman Munson
LLP20 George Sisler

2009 Topps Walmart Legends of the Game U & H:

LLP21 Babe Ruth
LLP22 Rickey Henderson
LLP23 Roger Maris
LLP24 Nolan Ryan
LLP25 Reggie Jackson
LLP26 Steve Carlton
LLP27 Tony Gwynn
LLP28 Paul Molitor
LLP29 Brooks Robinson
LLP30 Wade Boggs

2009 Topps Target Legends of the Game Series 2:

LLG13 Babe Ruth

2009 Topps Target Legends of the Game U & H:

LLG21 Rickey Henderson
LLG22 Ozzie Smith
LLG23 Babe Ruth
LLG25 Nolan Ryan
LLG26 Reggie Jackson
LLG27 Frank Robinson
LLG28 Ryne Sandberg
LLG29 Steve Carlton
LLG30 Johnny Bench

Meanwhile, the 2009 Topps Allen & Ginter set I now own consists of the 350 base cards (with all SP's), the 25-card Highlight Sketches set, and the 75-card National Pride set (I just concern myself with the regular-sized insert cards, I don't have the room or storage capabilities for the minis or the big cards). That's another 450 cards I now own.

I also was able to snag the five card retail-exclusive Rookie Variation cards (numbered JCP1-JCP5...must have been a JC Penney thing). The cards are of:

JCP1 Rick Porcello, Tigers
JCP2 David Price, Rays
JCP3 Koji Uehara, Orioles
JCP4 Colby Rasmus, Cardinals
JCP5 Jordan Schafer, Braves

After going over the numbers, I can now change the number of cards in the "bdj610's Official Card Collection Count Stands At" section to 44,621 cards and counting.

Wait, that doesn't sound right. The last count had the collection at 43,657 cards. I just added 966 cards to the collection. How did I wind up two cards short???

(taking a minute to double check figures...)

Okay, I see it. I did add 966 cards to the collection, but I miscalculated the number of series 2 SP's in the 2009 set (I have 12 of the 17 cards, not 14 as I had on the my spreadsheet). So the adjusted, and correct total now stands at 44,621.

So while I have some cards to put in binder sheets this weekend, I'm still ticked that I now don't have any extra funds to go to the show. And I could have used the show to whittle down the SP's. Oh well.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

P.S. If anyone has any hobby factory sets (or if the Holiday Factory sets are out), and don't want the bonus Rookie cards, could you please let me know if you would be willing to send them my way too??? Between the two sets, there should be twenty cards total. jba

Card # 9 Now Officially Belongs to...

2009-11-19T13:22:00.002-06:00

Last week, I mentioned that Topps reserved six cards for the AL and NL award winners that were going to be announced this week. Now we know who gets card #9.

Congratulations to Tim Lincecum of the San Francisco Giants for winning the National League Cy Young Award (for the second consecutive year). While he was considered one of the favorites to win the award, he had some stiff competition, especially with two St. Louis Cardinal teammates also vying for the award.

Card #9 will now be of Lincecum, the Giants' All-Star ace who started the ASG for the NL and also led the league with 261 K's to go with a 15-7 record and 2.48 ERA, (100 points, 11 first-place votes), who beat out a field that included Cardinals teammates Chris Carpenter (94, 9) and Adam Wainwright (90, 12 first-place votes), Javier Vasquez of the Braves (3), and Dan Haren of the Diamondbacks (1).

Let the debates continue. Did your guy win???

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

bdj610's End of Year MLB All-Star Teams: 1991 Edition

2009-11-18T12:00:00.004-06:00

It's now 1991, and I've just survived my freshman year in high school. By the time I named my 1991 End of the Year All-Star Teams, I was now the theatre's construction manager, as well as an extremely busy sophomore. I followed baseball a bit more closely over the summer, and as usual, the Cubbies didn't fare so well, although that other team had a good year. It was also the year that two last place teams the year before, met in the World Series for the very first time (Twins and Braves).

As I mentioned in my last All-Star introduction post, when it came to picking teams in the early 90's, all it involved was using the players from the actual All-Star Game, and plugging in the holes as needed to fill out the rest of the positions. So while it was not yet picking the best of the best yet, the players chosen for my 1991 teams deserved to be there. There are 10 pitchers on each team (six starters, four closers), and because the 1992 ASG would be in San Diego, there was no DH needed. So the rosters contracted to 34 players per team.

Let's cut to the chase. Without further ado, for the first time online, I am proud to introduce my 1991 End of Year MLB All-Star Teams (in alphabetical order by position):

(Ignore the blank space. On feeds and on other blog sites like Sculu, it all looks normal, but on Blogger, the space remains...)

American League

First Basemen

Cecil Fielder, Tigers
Mark McGwire, Athletics
Rafael Palmeiro, Rangers

Second Basemen

Roberto Alomar, Blue Jays
Julio Franco, Rangers
Steve Sax, Yankees

Third Basemen

Wade Boggs, Red Sox
Paul Molitor, Brewers
Robin Ventura, White Sox*

Shortstops

Felix Fermin, Indians*
Ozzie Guillen, White Sox
Cal Ripken, Orioles

Outfielders

Harold Baines, Athletics
Joe Carter, Blue Jays
Ken Griffey, Jr., Mariners
Dave Henderson, Athletics
Rickey Henderson, Athletics
Kirby Puckett, Twins
Tim Raines, White Sox
Ruben Sierra, Rangers
Danny Tartabull, Royals*

Catchers

Carlton Fisk, White Sox
Brian Harper, Twins*
Mickey Tettleton, Tigers

Pitchers

Rick Aguilera, Twins*
Roger Clemens, Red Sox
Dennis Eckersley, Athletics
Bryan Harvey, Angels*
Jimmy Key, Blue Jays*
Mark Langston, Angels
Jack McDowell, White Sox*
Jack Morris, Twins
Jeff Reardon, Red Sox
Scott Sanderson, Yankees*

Manager:

Tom Kelly, Twins

The Starters:

1B: Fielder
2B: Alomar
3B: Boggs
SS: Ripken
OF: Griffey, Jr.
OF: D. Henderson
OF: R. Henderson
C: Fisk
P: Morris

*First-Time All-Star

National League

First Basemen

Will Clark, Giants
John Kruk, Phillies*
Eddie Murray, Dodgers

Second Basemen

Delino DeShields, Expos*
Juan Samuel, Dodgers
Ryne Sandberg, Cubs

Third Basemen

Howard Johnson, Mets
Terry Pendleton, Braves
Chris Sabo, Reds

Shortstops

Tony Fernandez, Padres
Barry Larkin, Reds
Ozzie Smith, Cardinals

Outfielders

George Bell, Cubs
Bobby Bonilla, Pirates
Brett Butler, Dodgers*
Ivan Calderon, Expos
Andre Dawson, Cubs
Tony Gwynn, Padres
Felix Jose, Cardinals*
Paul O'Neill, Reds*
Darryl Strawberry, Dodgers

Catchers

Craig Biggio, Astros
Benito Santiago, Padres
Mike Scioscia, Dodgers

Pitchers

Tom Browning, Reds
Rob Dibble, Reds
Tom Glavine, Braves*
Pete Harnisch, Astros*
Dennis Martinez, Expos
Ramon Martinez, Dodgers
Mike Morgan, Dodgers*
John Smiley, Pirates*
Lee Smith, Cardinals
Frank Viola, Mets

Manager:

Bobby Cox, Braves

The Starters:

1B: Clark
2B: Sandberg
3B: Sabo
SS: Smith
OF: Calderon
OF: Dawson
OF: Gwynn
C: Santiago
P: Glavine

Eighteen players are first-time all-stars (9 for the American League, 9 for the Nationals). One-person teams on my 1991 rosters include the Brewers (Molitor), Indians (Fermin), Mariners (Griffey, Jr.) Orioles (Ripken), Royals (Tartabull), Giants (Clark), and Phillies (Kruk). The Dodgers send seven representatives to the NL roster, leading both leagues. The Athletics, White Sox (Chicago bias rules!!!), and Reds each send five players to their respective squads.

As always, seven regular games (10,000 simulations each, six with the same starting pitchers, one where lineups and starting pitchers change), and one All-Star Game will be simulated during the course of the week. I hope to have the results of all the games by the end of the week.

Now it's time for me to create the .DAT files before getting the games set. You know, putting my imagined All-Star Teams to the 'net, and the added fun of simulating games with them, is really rejuvinating. And a whole lot of fun. I'm actually enjoying this.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

bdj610's 1990 End of Year All-Star Teams Simulated Games Results

2009-11-18T09:00:00.007-06:00

I have finally finished simulating the All-Star Games using my 1990 End of Year All-Star Teams. And the results are pretty surprising.

Just like the first three times, I simulated seven games (six series between starters, and one series where the lineups, starting rotations changed on a daily basis), by playing each one 10,000 times.

The first six games I simulated used each starting pitcher on both sides at least once, and all position players started a minimum of two games each. Here are the results:

Game 1: NL vs. AL, Jack Armstrong vs. Bob Welch. The NL wins 5,138 games out of 10,000 simulations (using a DH).
Game 2: NL vs. AL, Neal Heaton vs. Dave Steib. The AL wins 5,806 games (using a DH). Big highlight was a game where Rob Dibble struck out 21 batters pitching 12 innings of relief (only in a simulation can this happen...I don't understand why...)
Game 3: AL vs. NL, Bret Saberhagen vs. Ramon Martinez. The NL wins 5,216 games. Martinez pitched 14 no-hitters.
Game 4: AL vs, NL, Roger Clemens vs. Dennis Martinez. The AL wins 5,375 games.
Game 5: AL vs. NL, Chuck Finley vs. Frank Viola. The NL wins 5,029 games in a very close series.
Game 6: NL vs. AL, Jack Armstrong vs. Randy Johnson. The NL wins 5,450 games (using a DH). The reason why Armstrong started this series was that I only had five starters in the NL rotation while the AL had six.
Game 7: NL vs. AL, anything goes. The AL wins 5,207 games (using a DH).

So the NL wins the regular series 4 games to 3. For the official All-Star Game, I decided to just simulate one game and one game only. The starting pitchers were Armstrong and Welch and I let them pitch two innings (unless they struggled badly). The rest of the pitchers would get one inning each (unless they struggled badly). The position players were replaced every three innings. No pinch hitters here, (as in previous tries, the pinch hitter is taken out of the game). The DH's (Ron Gant of the NL and Dave Parker of the AL) were never replaced.

The starting lineups, first for the National League (I'm using 1991 Topps cards because these are the cards I used to imagine my All-Star teams):

Now the American League starting lineup:

Here is the result:

The 1990 NL All-Stars beat the 1990 AL All-Stars by a final score of 9-5.

The box score is below (Just click on the picture to take a closer look.

The scoring plays were like this:

Bottom 3: Ramon Martinez pitching. Ken Griffey, Jr. grounds out to Chris Sabo (5-3). Rickey Henderson singles. Steve Sax strikes out. Mark McGwire walks, Henderson advances to second. Dave Parker hits a home run, Henderson scoring, McGwire scoring.

Top 4: Dave Steib pitching. Ryne Sandberg walks. Will Clark doubles, Sandberg advances to third. Andre Dawson singles, Sandberg scoring, Clark advances to third.

Top 6: Chuck Finley pitching. Tony Gwynn reaches first on an error by Brook Jacoby (E5). Ron Gant doubles, Gwynn advances to third. Bobby Bonilla doubles, Gwynn scoring, Gant scoring. Tim Wallach grounds out to Julio Franco (4-3), Bonilla advances to third. Barry Larkin singles, Bonilla scoring. Gregg Olson pitching. Benito Santiago reaches first on an error by Gregg Olson (E1), Larkin advances to second. Lonnie Smith hits a home run, Larkin scoring, Santiago scoring. Doug Jones pitching. Roberto Alomar grounds out to Alan Trammell (6-3). Eddie Muray hits a home run.

Bottom 6: Jeff Brantley pitching. Ivan Calderon walks. Alan Trammell singles, Calderon advances to second. Brook Jacoby walks, loading the bases. Carlton Fisk hits into a double play (5-4-3), Calderon scoring, Trammell advances to third, Jacoby out at second on the force out. Ellis Burks singles, Trammell scoring.

Top 7: Dennis Eckersley pitching. Tim Wallach hits a home run.

Your starters, Jack Armstrong and Bob Welch. Lonnie Smith is the MVP.
In the actual All-Star game using many of the players who participated in this simulation, the scoring was held to a minimum (helped by the rain). This was not the case in the simulation. If this game actually existed, the MVP would have definitely been Lonnie Smith (1-3, 1 hr, 3 rbi's to put the game away for good). Dennis Martinez earns the win, Chuck Finley suffers the loss, and this is the first simulation that I was able to get all 68 players in the game.

If you want to see the .DAT files that I used (I still don't know how to download these onto the blog , so please just take a look at the screen caps below). If anyone can e-mail me instructions, please do so at bdj610@hotmail.com. Below is the NL .DAT file, then the AL .DAT file:

Now that the 1990 All-Star Games are officially over, at noon today, I will introduce the 1991 End of Year All-Star teams. Simulations for games with those rosters to come hopefully by Sunday night.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Card # 155 Now Officially Belongs to...

2009-11-17T13:16:00.002-06:00

Last week, I mentioned that Topps reserved six cards for the AL and NL award winners that were going to be announced this week. Now we know who gets card # 155.

Congratulations to Zack Greinke of the Kansas City Royals for winning the American League Cy Young Award. While he was considered the favorite to win the award, he had some stiff competition, especially with three 19 game winners in the AL.

Card #155 will now be of Greinke, the Royals' All-Star ace who led the AL with a 2.16 ERA to go with a 16-8 record, (134 points, 25 first-place votes), who beat out a field that included Felix Hernandez of the Mariners (80, 2), Justin Verlander of the Tigers (14, 1), CC Sabathia of the Yankees (13 points), and Roy Halladay of the Blue Jays (11).

Let the debates continue. Did your guy win???

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Need Another Reason to Collect the 2009 Topps Legends of the Game Cards???

2009-11-16T17:12:00.002-06:00

According to this article from Symbian Developers Journal, Topps and a company called GetFugu, Inc, are joining forces, using GetFugu's "See It, Say It, Find It, Get It" vision, voice and location recognition services to enhance the "Legends of the Game" cards in 2009 Topps Baseball Series 1, Series 2 and Updates and Highlights.

Utilizing GetFugu's image recognition service, baseball fans who use their mobile device to capture an image of one of the enhanced cards will get additional information from the web relevant to that card. GetFugu's application will send the individual to the player's Wikipedia page, to the Topps' online store or to Topps on Ebay.com to purchase classic Topps products.

If this works with the Legends cards, who knows what will happen in 2010? And you thought those Legends cards were just made to utilize Topps' license with CMG players...

For more information about GetFugu, Inc, here is their website: http://www.getfugu.com/.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

More Things Added to 2010 Topps Baseball Series I

2009-11-16T16:48:00.002-06:00

It's a slow news day, but Topps has decided to put out a bit more information about the product that will be unleashed to the masses around January 18, 2010. While most of the information is pretty much "old news," here are some tidbits that I thought were interesting, courtesy of the number one source in the Hobby:

Okay, so the "Cards Your Mother Threw Out" insert set is a reprint set that will appear 1:3 packs of regular (1:1 jumbo). The backs of each card will present a brief summary of the history of that year's design and certain quirks about that year's set (I am so looking forward to the 2006 Alex Gordon explanation). What I noticed today was that there will be a card "BACK" variation (called appropriately enough "The Cards Your Mom Threw Out Original Backs") to each of these cards which will come 1 per box, meaning these will be a lot harder to find. So if you want a set of cards that features the reverse of every year's Topps card from 1952 onwards, this is the set for you.

Other 1 per jumbo pack insert cards will include cards from the Legendary Lineage Past and Present (1:4 regular), Turkey Red (2007 design, 1:4), The History of the Game (great baseball moments, 1:6), Tales of the Game (quirky baseball moments, 1:6), Peak Performance (1:4), and When They Were Young (cards of current players as kids, 1:6). So add the gold parallel cards (1 in every pack, regardless), and the Toppstown card (also 1 in every pack regardless) and that means every jumbo pack will include 9 insert cards. Let's hope that every jumbo pack comes 39 per pack, otherwise it's not going to be easy to get a full base set (330 cards) from a box of 12 jumbo packs.

With the Yankees winning the World Series, it's all Yankees, all the time as Topps will include:

Yankees World Champion Autographs (5) #'d to 50.
Yankees World Champion Relics (15) #'d to 100.
Yankees World Champion Autographed Relics (5) #'d to 50. HOBBY & HTA ONLY

And finally, Topps has announced their plans with WalMart and Target. We get the blaster boxes with manufactured patches again. But more importantly, we're going to see the return of 1951 Topps Red Backs and Blue Backs. Each series (1, 2, U & H) will be 15 cards each, featuring stars from the past and today, with packs at WalMart getting the blue backs, and packs at Target getting the red backs.

Hey, it's only Monday. Can 2010 come any sooner???

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

P.S. The card of David Wright is included just to see if a couple of ladies out in New Mexico still read the blog. And while I initially thought it looked like he had grown his hair, it looks like the lights from the scoreboard made the clean cut third baseman's hair a lot longer than it really is. jba

Card #'s 235 and #275 Now Officially Belong to...

2009-11-16T15:16:00.004-06:00

Last week, I mentioned that Topps reserved six cards for the AL and NL award winners that were going to be announced this week. Now we know who gets both card #'s 235 and #275.

Congratulations to both Andrew Bailey of the Oakland Athletics and Chris Coghlan of the Florida Marlins for winning the American League and National League Rookies of the Year Awards. Until the announcements were made this afternoon, it was anybody's guess as to who would win either award, as both leagues had many worthy candidates.

Card #235 will now be of Bailey, the Athletics' All-Star closer (88 points, 13 first-place votes), who beat out a field that included Elvis Andrus of the Rangers (65, 8), Rick Porcello of the Tigers (64, 7), Jeff Niemann of the Rays (21 points), Gordon Beckham of the White Sox (10), and teammate Brett Anderson (4).

Card #275 now goes to native Floridian Coghlan, the Marlins left fielder and leadoff hitter (105 points, 17 first-place votes). He beat out ten other players for the award, including J. A. Happ of the Phillies (94, 10), Tommy Hanson of the Braves (37, 2), Andrew McCutchen of the Pirates (25, 2), Casey McGehee of the Brewers (18, 1), Randy Wells of the Cubs (3 points), Garrett Jones of the Pirates (2), Everth Cabrera of the Padres (1), Dexter Fowler of the Rockies (1), Gerardo Parra of the Diamondbacks(1), and Colby Rasmus of the Cardinals (1).

So begins a wild week were debates will come fast and furious. Did your guy win???

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

It's Awards Season

2009-11-13T14:31:00.002-06:00

With the World Series now over, and the Hot Stove League starting to warm up, we are now at the throngs of handing out the big awards. Now, earlier this week, MLB announced the winners for both the Gold Gloves and Silver Sluggers, and as soon as the season ended, Chris Carpenter of the Cardinals and Aaron Hill of the Blue Jays were voted by their peers to be the NL and AL Comeback Players of the Year respectively.

So next week, the Cy Young, the Rookies of the Year, and the Most Valuable Player award winners will be announced (along with the Managers of the Year). As they have done in recent years, Topps will be including cards honoring the six award winners in their 2010 Topps Series I product. But of course, since they don't know who's going to win, they left the cards TBD (to be determined). So, unless the checklist somehow dramatically changes, here are the card numbers assigned to the Award Winners:

#009 NL Cy Young Award Winner
#155 AL Cy Young Award Winner
#172 AL Most Valuable Player
#235 AL Rookie of the Year (although for some reason, the checklist has Neftali Feliz here. Hmmmmmmm...)
#275 NL Rookie of the Year
#327 NL Most Valuable Player

It should make for an interesting debates when we round out the Series I checklist with next weeks announcements. Already, there has been arguments for and against the winners of the Gold Gloves and Silver Slugger Awards. I can't wait to read the shouting matches when these six are announced.

Then again, I'm still waiting on the All-Star Rookie Team.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Veteran's Day Thanks.

2009-11-11T12:00:00.001-06:00

On behalf of the staff of this humble little blog, I would like to thank all those who have either served, are currently serving, or will be serving their country shortly, for the sacrifices you've made for all of us so we may live our lives freely.

Regardless of how we feel about the wars our country is involved in, we all should take time to think about the brave men and women, whether stationed around the country, or around the world, representing our country, representing our people, doing the things that many of us could only imagine. They deserve our respect.

To all in the Armed Forces (the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard)...Thank You!!!

To make this post semi-baseball card related, I wrote about a little insert set from 2007 Topps called Distinguished Service. It's worth a read if you have the time.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

bdj610's End of Year MLB All-Star Teams: 1990 Edition

2009-11-11T09:00:00.000-06:00

We're finally into the 1990's. By the time I named my 1990 End of the Year All-Star Teams, I was balancing high school homework and working as a lackey in the theater department. I followed baseball a bit more closely over the summer, and watched as the defending NL East champs wrote in their season. But the real All-Star Game was at Wrigley, and while I wasn't at the actual game, my aunt who lives on Addison allowed us to watch the game from her place. And we all know what happened at the game that night, right???

While I am still learning more about the game (I started picking up books about the history of baseball at this time too), when it came to picking teams in the early 90's, all it involved was using the players from the actual All-Star Game, and plugging in the holes as needed to fill out the rest of the positions. So while it was not yet picking the best of the best yet, the players chosen for my 1990 teams deserved to be there. There are 10 pitchers on each team (six starters, four closers), and because the 1991 ASG would be in Toronto, each team included a DH. So the rosters expanded to 35 players per team.

Let's cut to the chase. Without further ado, for the first time online, I am proud to introduce my 1990 End of Year MLB All-Star Teams (in alphabetical order by position):

(Lots of space here when I added the table. On feeds and on other blog sites like Sculu, it all looks normal, but on Blogger, the space remains...)

American League

First Basemen

Cecil Fielder, Tigers*
Mark McGwire, Athletics
Rafael Palmeiro, Rangers

Second Basemen

Julio Franco, Rangers
Steve Sax, Yankees
Lou Whitaker, Tigers

Third Basemen

Wade Boggs, Red Sox
Brook Jacoby, Indians*
Kelly Gruber, Blue Jays

Shortstops

Ozzie Guillen, White Sox
Cal Ripken, Orioles
Alan Trammell, Tigers

Outfielders

George Bell, Blue Jays
Ellis Burks, Red Sox*
Ivan Calderon, White Sox*
Jose Canseco, Athletics
Ken Griffey, Jr., Mariners*
Rickey Henderson, Athletics
Bo Jackson, Royals
Kirby Puckett, Twins
Robin Yount, Brewers

Catchers

Sandy Alomar, Indians*
Carlton Fisk, White Sox
Lance Parrish, Angels*

Designated Hitter:

Dave Parker, Brewers*

Pitchers

Roger Clemens, Red Sox
Dennis Eckersley, Athletics
Chuck Finley, Angels
Randy Johnson, Mariners*
Doug Jones, Indians
Gregg Olson, Orioles*
Bret Saberhagen, Royals
Dave Steib, Blue Jays*
Bobby Thigpen, White Sox
Bob Welch, Athletics*

Manager:

Jeff Torborg, White Sox

The Starters:

1B: McGwire
2B: Sax
3B: Boggs
SS: Ripken
OF: Canseco
OF: Griffey, Jr.
OF: Henderson
C: Alomar
DH: Parker
P: Welch

*First-Time All-Star

National League

First Basemen

Will Clark, Giants
Mark Grace, Cubs*
Eddie Murray, Dodgers*

Second Basemen

Roberto Alomar, Padres*
Tommy Herr, Mets
Ryne Sandberg, Cubs

Third Basemen

Chris Sabo, Reds*
Tim Wallach, Expos
Matt Williams, Giants*

Shortstops

Shawon Dunston, Cubs
Barry Larkin, Reds
Ozzie Smith, Cardinals

Outfielders

Barry Bonds, Pirates
Bobby Bonilla, Pirates
Kal Daniels, Dodgers*
Andre Dawson, Cubs
Lenny Dykstra, Phillies*
Tony Gwynn, Padres
Kevin Mitchell, Giants
Lonnie Smith, Braves*
Darryl Strawberry, Mets

Catchers

Greg Olson, Braves*
Benito Santiago, Padres
Mike Scioscia, Dodgers

Designated Hitter:

Ron Gant, Braves*

Pitchers

Jack Armstrong, Reds*
Jeff Brantley, Giants*
Rob Dibble, Reds*
John Franco, Mets
Neal Heaton, Pirates*
Dennis Martinez, Expos*
Ramon Martinez, Dodgers*
Randy Myers, Reds
Dave Smith, Astros*
Frank Viola, Mets

Manager:

Jim Leyland, Pirates

The Starters:

1B: Clark
2B: Sandberg
3B: Sabo
SS: Smith
OF: Dawson
OF: Dykstra
OF: Mitchell
C: Scioscia
DH: Gant
P: Armstrong

Twenty-nine new players are first-time all-stars (12 for the American League, 17 for the Nationals). One-person teams on my 1990 rosters include the Twins (Puckett), Yankees (Sax...this would be unheard of today), Astros (DSmith), Cardinals (OSmith), and Phillies (Dykstra). Both the Athletics and Reds send five representatives on the AL and NL rosters respectively, leading both leagues (figures, since both teams went to the World Series that year). The White Sox, Cubs (Chicago bias rules!!!), Dodgers, Giants, and Mets each send four players to their respective squads.

As always, seven regular games (10,000 simulations each, six with the same starting pitchers, one where lineups and starting pitchers change), and one All-Star Game will be simulated during the course of the week. I hope to have the results of all the games by the end of the week.

Now it's time for me to create the .DAT files before getting the games set. You know, putting my imagined All-Star Teams to the 'net, and the added fun of simulating games with them, is really rejuvinating. And a whole lot of fun. I'm actually enjoying this.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

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bdj610's End of Year MLB All-Star Teams: 1990 Edition