2004 Topps Traded and Rookies

I ripped a crapton of this product back in 2004. When I saw a"4 packs for $6" repack hanging with that red white and blue wrapper peeking out the front I got it for old times sake. What does it say about the present day when I'm nostalgic for 2004? Let's try not to think about it and drown our sorrows in a good Topps design.


T77 Bill Bray Draft Pick
T24 Andy Pettitte
T88 Erick San Pedro Draft Pick
T109 David Parrish
T56 Tom Gordon Chrome
Checklist Puzzle card 40 of 110
T62 Braden Looper Chrome
T116 Kazuhito Tadano Gold parallel #0903/2004
T172 Paul Bacot First Year
T11 Kelvim Escobar
T15 Billy Wagner

Billy covering first! Now that's a professional. The veterans in this pack ain't too shabby. Wagner, Andy Pettitte, Tom Gordon and Kelvim Escobar are all solid. This is a Traded set though, so no one gives a rat's patootie about the veterans. BRING ON THE ROOKIES

This set has a pretty solid group of rookie, um, first year cards. Felix Hernandez, Phil Hughes, Huston Street, Fausto Carmona, Joel Zumaya, Howie Kendrick, Blake Dewitt (Notice any familiar names from this year and last?) Josh Fields, Homer Bailey. I didn't get any of them though. Here's the rookie/draft pick/first years I did get:

Bill Bray: Solid relief pitcher for the Reds. Relievers are critical in today's game so this is a win even though it's not going to book in any quarterly price guides from an outdated publisher.

Erick San Pedro: Injury prone catching prospect who is bouncing around organizations at an alarming rate. As far as I can tell, he's in the Nationals system right now. Maybe.

Kazuhito Tadano: Somewhat infamous pitcher (Google it yourself) who spent a couple years with the Indians. HE's back in the Japanese league having some success with the Nippon Ham Fighters.

Paul Bacot: Yay! I got a Brave! Boo! He never got past single-A and hasn't pitched since 2005!

Ok, that's enough of that. This is the really cool stuff in the pack. Each pack either had a super thick, puzzle on the front, glossy on the back checklist card, or some stupid relic card. I wanted only the puzzle pieces and even tried to build the set. The problem was when I asked dealers if they had any of these cards because I was building a set of them they gave me a look like I had just asked them the question in Russian and sprouted horns on my head while dancing the Charleston. Naked. The flea market dude found me a nice pile of 'em (I guess he likes my dancing?) but I never got a single one besides them other than in a pack and my set remains sadly unfinished. I don't know if I need this one or not, but I'm afraid to check lest I be tempted to resume the hunt. This card features prominently the name that will go down as this generation's Dick Pole: Jung Bong. Pass that over here, man.