Set Collecting
Tony Phillips Won Some Games
Wins above replacement show I significantly undervalued Phillips when I watched him playing in the 1990s.
Every Night is Singles Night with Pete Runnels
He came to the ballpark to chew gum and hit singles, and he’s all out of bubble gum.
Finest Farewell to Glenn Davis
Finest represents the last card in the careers of several players. Glenn Davis was unexpectedly among this number.
A .252 Hitter Can Be Surprisingly Hard to Strike Out
In the 2021 MLB season there were 14 batters who struck out at least 96 times by the onset of the All Star Break. What is the significance of this obscure fact? 96 strikeouts represents the total number of punchouts endured by journeyman infielder Sam Dente over the course of his career of 8 years.
Estimating the Print Run of 2001 Finest Origins Refractors
Refractors are generally pretty scarce. Only a few hundred of each card were produced in 1993. How many did Topps release when it revisited the set in 2001?
The Same Guy Was Two Different Teams’ Best Player of the ’90s
John Olerud did more for the Blue Jays and Mets than his more famous teammates.
The Pafko Effect
The first card in a set typically gets more than a fair share of attention. Perhaps no other card #1 exhibits this better than that of Andy Pafko in the ’52 Topps checklist.
Two Refractors of a 2x Philly/Yankee/Giant
I get a duplicate for the first time in my set collecting project. The subject pictured on the extra card played twice for multiple teams.