I’ve gotten way backed up on posting about trades and
whatnot and, while that stuff is still to come, I wanted to do a quick post
today about the recently-released checklist for 2018 Heritage, which hits
stores later this month.
I have mixed feelings on Heritage. It is usually a pretty
good-looking set and definitely the kind of product I’d go for, but it’s also
pretty damn expensive. Especially for someone mostly interested in putting
together a base set. My primary interest in it then, as usual, is for the
Brewers. So let’s take a look at that list…
10 Davies/Kershaw/Grienke LL
13 Domingo Santana
17 Zach Davies
49 Stephen Vogt
62 Eric Thames
150 Josh Hader
155 Orlando Arcia
204 Travis Shaw
242 Jimmy Nelson
243 Keon Broxton
283 Brett Phillips
313 Corey Knebel
344 Manny Pina
380 Eric Sogard
394 Woodruff/Wilkerson/Williams
406 Ryan Braun SP
407 Lewis Brinson SP
432 Chase Anderson SP
458 Jonathan Villar SP
493 Hernan Perez SP
Once again, Topps has pleasantly surprised me. It’s a solid
group and has the much anticipated – by me, anyway – debut Brewers cards of Manny
Pina, Eric Sogard and Stephen Vogt. Pina and Hader will also carry the big ass
All Star Rookie trophy, which is always a nice touch. There will also be a
trifecta of Brewers rookie pitchers on W/W/W card, showcasing three hurlers who
debuted at the end of last season. I was hoping for a card of Jacob Barnes, who
is yet without a major league card, but maybe he’ll show up in the high numbers
set, if they do one this year.
As far as inserts go, it’s mostly snoozers and parallels,
the one major exception being the waaaaay cool multi-player poster insert. Of
course, it is limited to 50 copies, which is total bullshit. I want one of
those to pin to my wall, not send into PSA. It’s a great idea that Topps muffed
by making way too rare. Seed them 1:12 or something like that, and I’m thrilled
and wanna collect them all. Now I’d be afraid to even touch one. Barf.
But the insert set I’m really interested in is the 1969
Seattle Pilots autograph set. As 1969 was the only year for the Pilots before
they moved to Milwaukee and became our Brewers, Topps is celebrating with a set
of SIGNED cards by legends of the brief Pilots franchise.
(Checks list)
Ok, scratch that last part.
Here is the list of “Pilots” included in the set:
SPA-BE Bill Edgerton
SPA-BP Bill Parsons
SPA-BR Bob Richmond
SPA-BS Bernie Smith
SPA-BST Buzz Stephen
SPA-DB Dick Baney
SPA-DBA Dick Bates
SPA-FK Frank Kimball
SPA-FS Fred Stanley
SPA-JB Jim Bouton
SPA-MR Mike Rollyson
SPA-PK Pete Koegel
SPA-RH Roric Harrison
SPA-RK Ron Kotick
SPA-RP Ray Peters
SPA-BP Bill Parsons
SPA-BR Bob Richmond
SPA-BS Bernie Smith
SPA-BST Buzz Stephen
SPA-DB Dick Baney
SPA-DBA Dick Bates
SPA-FK Frank Kimball
SPA-FS Fred Stanley
SPA-JB Jim Bouton
SPA-MR Mike Rollyson
SPA-PK Pete Koegel
SPA-RH Roric Harrison
SPA-RK Ron Kotick
SPA-RP Ray Peters
Now, the 1969 Pilots saw 53 different players see game
action. And who did they chose to represent the club?
Edgerton: 4 innings pitched for Pilots
Parsons: Drafted by Pilots, debuted with Brewers in 1971
Richmond: 50th pick in expansion draft, never
played in MLB
Smith: Traded to Pilots after 1969 season, debuted with
Brewers
Stephen: 14 games with Pilots Arizona League team
Baney: Nine games with Pilots
Bates: Pitched 1.2 innings with Pilots
Kimball: Played A ball in Pilots system
Stanley: 17 games with Pilots
Bouton: 57 (!!!!!) games with Pilots
Rollyson: Invited to spring training by the Pilots, never
played pro ball
Kogel: Half-season for Pilots AZ league team
Harrison: Half-season for Pilots AZ league team
Kotick: Eight games with Pilots A ball team
Peters: Full season in Pilots’ system, two games with
Brewers in 1970
So out of 15 subjects, only five actually played for the
Pilots and only one of those spent more than a few weeks with the team. This
group saw more action in the Arizona Instructional League in 1969 than in the
Emerald City. While I am all for digging up some long-lost ball players for
modern sets, this is just… odd. Is it lazy? Is Topps being cheap? I’m kind of
at a loss here.
That said, I still really want some of the cards in this
set. Parsons, Edgerton, Ellsworth, Peters, Kogel, Bates, Baney, and Smith are
ALL needs for my all-time Brewers set, sigs I have yet been able to find on
Brewers/Pilots cards elsewhere. So despite all my harrumphing, I am very
interested in this set as a whole and really REALLY hope they’re not limited to
10 copies per card or something absurd like that. Wait and see is all I’ve got,
I guess.
I am totally on the other side of the Pilots argument. These are precisely the Pilots I had hoped to see. The name players--Davis, Harper, Pattin, et. al.--they had long careers with plenty of Topps cards and they've had good post-careers signing many many autographs that are relatively cheap and easy to find. If you're looking for a comprehensive set of '69 Pilots, there's the Renata Galasso. But it seems to me a fan that is really hard core about their team wants to know everyone who played a part--at least everyone who played a part in (pardon the pun) getting them off the ground. Especially a team with such a short history. Every one of these guys played the game. Every one of them was part of something unique in baseball history. Yet their careers were very short, they got no baseball cards, few ever ask for their autograph, and, hell, there are probably only 4 guys on that list who even got a pension. I think its a real nice thing Topps done, giving these guys a moment in the sun (I could speculate on the origins of the idea--I don't think it was from Topps--but I really don't care). And for those of us who were Pilots fans than didn't go on to be Brewers fans...this is the stuff that dreams are made of. Do you know that Ron Kotick was on the very first Pilots' roster in the summer of 1968? He was. And yet I've still never seen any clear picture of the man and certainly nothing in color. I only wish Billy Williams had lived long enough to be included (wouldn't have minded a Paul Click, either). And you never know who might show up in High Numbers. These will be fairly limited--like Corky Evans was last year; Corky goes for $30-$60 on the secondary market. Not bad for a guy who never played in the majors. Its a fact of the market that anything Pilots sells and sells for lots. These cards will be no exception. That's good and bad. But the fewer people who want them (wishful thinking on my part), the more affordable they'll be for either of us. And, me, I want 'em.
ReplyDeleteThis is all quite true and, like I said, I'd looking forward to chasing some of these cards. I do hope that their stories are told on the cards. I guess I've become so cynical about Topps that it precluded me from thinking that they might do something fun and fringe like this without screwing it up. If only this were an insert set as well as a signed set!
DeleteAnd I would LOVE to see a real Billy Williams Pilots card.
You know, I tend to agree with Stubby on most of this. If I could add one or two to this, I'd add two guys who have always been identified with the Brewers but were among the first June draftees for Seattle: Gorman Thomas and Jim Slaton.
ReplyDeleteBut that's a selfish desire to get more cards for my PCs of them.
What? There's a complete Pilots autograph insert set? Well, I know what I'm going to be searching for at some point provided they aren't too terribly expensive.
ReplyDeleteThere is one reason and one reason only I am buying 2018 Heritage: cards 162 through 168. (Screw card 169, I don't need any Astros celebrating).
ReplyDelete