Topps released their Update set few weeks ago. It received a lukewarm response mainly due to the checklist. With pandemic cancelling this year's All-Star game and shortening the season Topps had find a ways to fill remainder of the set. They settled on few subsets such as players previous All-Star games and homerun derbys. Let's see what's in this 34 card pack.
U-156 - Wilmer Flores - lead the Giants in homeruns this season
U-193 - Miguel Cabrera - active leaders subset
U-19 - Yasmani GrandalU-101 - Nick Dini - didn't play a single game for Royals this season
U-246 - Greg Holland - finished the season with 1.91 ERA and 6 saves. Now a free agent.
U-154 - Mariano Rivera - All-Star subset. They used stock from past All-Star games. This one is from 2013 game, Rivera's final appearance
U-288 - Giancarlo StantonU-223 - Chris Devenski - only played 4 games this season as he sidelined with elbow soreness. Currently a free agent
U-29 - Aristides Aquino - MLB debut card. Had poor season hitting .170
U-63 - Terrance Gore - got only 2 games one as defensive replacement and the other as pinch runner before spending rest of the season with Dodgers alternate training site. Currently a free agent.
U-124 - David Ortiz - Big Papi from 2004 All-Star game
U-279 - Bryce Harper - from 2018 All-Star game
U-82 - Kenley Jansen - lead the team in saves.
U-197 - Zach Green - currently a free agent
U-10 - Anthony Alford - finished the season with Pirates
U-129 - Hunter Pence - he was released in late August and call it a career a month later
85TB-8 - Fred McGriff - 1985 insert set
TR-26 - Nick Castellanos - Turkey Red insert set
TR-9 - Craig Biggio - got an Astro
U-130 - Richie Martin - didn't play this season after breaking his wrist
U-16 - Phillip Diehl - pitched 6 games with whopping 10.50 ERA before getting sent down to their alternate site
U-222 - Scott BarlowU-296 - Mark McGwire - All-Star homerun derby subset. This one from 1992 as Big Mac took the crown
U-219 - Zack Greinke - the quirky Greinke was sure having his own fun on the mound. I still think Astros gave up too much for him. They should have kept Seth Beer
U-44 - Jorge AlcalaU-115 - Brad Peacock - only pitched 3 games dealing with shoulder issues. Currently a free agent.
U-149 - Nick SolakU-93 - Tyler White - released before the season started
U-169 - Yadier Molina - from 2017 All-Star game where he cranked out a homerun
U-180 - C.J. Cron - knee injury ended his season early. Currently a free agent
U-177 - Andy Burns - strangely they included him in the set despite his last MLB appearance was in 2016. Currently a free agent
U-28 - Eduardo Nunez - only got in two games before knee injury finished his season. Currently a free agent
U-150 - Ken Griffey, Jr. - another KGJ card to chase. This one from 1994 homerun derby which he won his first of three.
U-178 - Jarrod Dyson - finished his season with White Sox after Pirates traded him. Currently a free agent.
Might as well call it all end of the season free agent pack.
5 comments:
"Lukewarm response" are the kindest words I've read to describe this year's Update set. In fact, I don't think I've read one positive thing about this product yet.
Fuji I was thinking the same thing. Topps had an unique opportunity with this year's Update set and didn't put any effort into what they produced
Definitely a lackluster offering from Topps (to put it mildly). Prices for boxes of this product are falling. Topps really didn't have much to work with. The shortened season and cancellation of the All-Star game did not help. I'm sure Covid had a big impact on the Topps workforce/operation too. Let's hope this is just an isolated blip.
Not to mention the whole back of the card issue. After the initial frenzy the card flippers are leaving this set alone.
I don't blame Topps for the checklist too much given they probably hope to finalize the checklist before when the season ended up starting this year. That said, with the lack of retail availability paying more for this then normal blows. I'm also someone who really isn't a fan of the ASG and HRD sets to begin with, so to see them keep those around and then add more slop in the active leaders made me disappointed. I wouldn't have minded a load of RPs who never got a card before or more randos who didnt end up actually playing for the team they appeared for. Would have made for a more interesting set.
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