Friday, January 22, 2010

2003 Topps HTA Jumbo

Anytime you get a chance to buy a Topps hobby jumbo pack for $2, you have to pounce on it. I don't care what year it is. It also doesn't hurt that I am trying to collect this set.

187 - Ismael Valdes
191 - Ramon Hernandez
216 - Todd Hundley
218 - Derek Lowe

220 - Jorge Posada (Posada is the last of five consecutive horizontal cards to lead off the pack. These things seem to always come in groups.)

130 - Gary Sheffield (Here's Sheff back when he was slightly less obnoxious.)
195 - Tony Batista
234 - Matt Lawton
239 - Eric Milton
153 - Mike Stanton (Mariano Rivera gets all the credit, but Stanton was tossed out into the fire in some pretty key situations during the Yankees late '90s period of dominance.)
260 - Vicente Padilla
78 - Jimmy Anderson (Anderson gets the dubious honor of being the first gut in the pack that I've never heard of.)
203 - Kip Wells
192 - Adam Kennedy (Kennedy had a surprisingly good year with Oakland yet can't land a job for 2010 for some reason.)

173 - Johnny Damon (Pre-Caveman Damon.)
339 - Alex Rodriguez / Jim Thome / Rafael Palmeiro AL HR League Leaders

361 - Bernie Williams All-Stars

337 - Manny Ramirez / Mike Sweeney / Bernie Williams AL Batting Average League Leaders

RB-JM - Juan Marichal Record Breakers

HM7 - Chipper Jones Hobby Masters (Wow, look at all of those MLB logos!)
154 - David Justice
254 - Glendon Rusch
10 - Mark Prior
163 - Carl Everett (I wonder if Carl Everett watched Jurassic Park back with his buddies in college and freaked out.)
212 - Robert Fick
132 - Brian Daubach

99 - Jose Rijo (Rijo has five consecutive years of stats on the back which read "INJURED - DID NOT PLAY")
16 - Kerry Wood

243 - Sean Burroughs (What happened to this guy? He was the typical Can't Miss Kid.)
263 - Bobby Cox
25 - Nick Neugebauer (No idea who this guy is.)
204 - Ron Coomer (Him neither.)
102 - Hideki Irabu
23 - Aubrey Huff
157 - Brian Lawrence

6 comments:

NMCLax24 said...

Great commentary. I like the nod to Stanton, he was definitely under appreciated. Johnny Damon went into the cave with the Red Sox, but the Yankees showed him the light again lol. How does one go about being injurred for 5 years yet somehow earn a contract upon return? Cool pack

Sharpe said...

I've always enjoyed the design and blue color of the '03s. Regrettably, I was barely collecting still/again in 2003 and bought only a few packs.

Thanks for the break.

night owl said...

I have to get that Rijo card just for what you said about the card back.

Andy said...

oh, a Chipper. dayf must have opened this pack.

DaveH said...

Sheffield was no less obnoxious, just not as much coverage while with Atlanta. Braves have seemingly played rent an outfielder since.

PunkRockPaint said...

I find it highly suspect that Carl Evertt went to college...

Just checked... ummm. Nope.