My old gang is breaking up

 

Joey Votto announced his retirement yesterday in his usual quirky-and-lovable way.

It was another sad reminder that my old gang is breaking up. First Evan Longoria and now Joey Votto.

I'll explain.

I feel an odd kinship with the rookie class from 2008, at least those players who received rookie logos in 2008 product. That's because I started when they started. I began a blog in 2008, and that was the first year that I was fully into modern cards since the early '90s. I returned to modern collecting in 2005 and 2006 but 2008 was when I became aware of everything, every last dumb product available, because the wonderful blogging world had told me so.

 

So I knew all the rookies that were around that year, hot or lukewarm. You couldn't miss them, card companies were shoving them down our throats. Ross Ohlendorf, Brian Bass, Kevin Hart (no, not the comedian), Chin-Lung Hu, I knew all their names.

 

There were some decent players, too, guys like Jay Bruce, Carlos Gonzalez, Hiroki Kuroda and Clay Buchholz. And there were big-time hopefuls who never really panned out like Luke Hochevar and Kosuke Fukudome (Also, who can forget Topps' boy, Kazuo Uzuki).  

 

But just five guys really made an impact. They've been my guys ever since ... well, OK, I only really collect one of them.

 

Here they are:

 

 

 

Check out that rookie card logo, it looks like something you'd find in your grandparents' house! That's how long I've been blogging folks!

So those five -- Clayton Kershaw, Max Scherzer, Evan Longoria, Joey Votto and Johnny Cueto -- lasted all the way until this year before someone called it quits. Longoria hasn't played this year and said last month he's probably retired. Votto joined him this week.

I feel like Cueto's going to try every possible avenue until absolutely no one wants him. Kershaw and Scherzer, the definite Hall of Famers of the group, could still go a little longer -- or they could retire after the season. It's getting that bleak for the rookie class of '08.

As far as Topps' main product, I have only the rookie cards of Kershaw and Longoria. I know I had the Cueto, and maybe the Votto, at one point, but don't anymore.

Fortunately, in 2008, there were abundant products on packed card shelves so you could find rookie cards of those guys everywhere, as I just demonstrated with the display of Upper Deck Timeline rookies.

 

I think Joey Votto's best-looking rookie card is his '08 Stadium Club card.

 

The less said about the stupid second RC's in Stadium Club that are numbered to 999 (but not the stamped ones as you see here), the better.

Actually, for my money, the best-looking rookie cards of these Five Guys are the ones from '08 Allen & Ginter, the best-looking modern A&G set, I think.

I know that the flagship rookies are the ones that go for the most, but I think it should be the Allen & Ginter cards. With a number of rookie cards to choose from -- if I could only choose one and I'm not going to sell it -- I'd take these. (Fortunately I have them all as the set's complete).

 

It's odd for me to be talking about rookie cards so affectionately because I mostly think they're a pox on the hobby, but they have their uses. I would never get into prospecting so I'm the last person to know whether a new player is going to play 15 seasons or 6 months.

 

For example, take a look at my first mention of each of the Five Guys on my blog:

 

Clayton Kershaw, Nov. 6, 2008

 

That's right, Kershaw's just a question mark. Here's another reason I cut back on my blatant rooting blog posts.

 

Evan Longoria, Oct. 31, 2008

Ah, 2008 was also the year when blog polls worked and mixing up Evan and Eva Longoria was the height of comedy. But I do miss when Halloween meant something to me.

The other first mentions have to do with baseball cards.

Max Scherzer, Jan. 27, 2009

This is what I was mentioning before. I actually pulled the numbered to 999 Scherzer card in this post. I don't have it now, must've traded it to someone who was better at forecasting player performance than me. I also couldn't have predicted the Jonas Brothers would still be a thing.

Johnny Cueto, Jan. 23, 2009

Cueto was first mentioned on my blog when I pulled a redemption card for his autograph in 2008 Stadium Club. It was my first redemption card pull. I ended up getting the autograph seven months later. I owned it quite awhile before, I believe, distributing it in some giveaway.

Joey Votto, March 9, 2009

Out of the five, Votto is the one I mentioned last. I didn't say anything much about him. His name showed up in a box break of 2009 Heritage and I simply listed his name. I had to look up whether I still have this card and I do! Maybe I better sleeve that sucker!

So that was a little scary, looking back on what I wrote in 2008/09. With posts that old, there's always the chance I will think "what the f did I write that for?" and my finger will inch toward the delete button.

 

But mostly what I think about 2008 are the good times and what these Five Guys have brought to the game and the hobby (and admittedly to my wallet a time or two).

We're all getting old, I don't need to say it again. And so is this blog -- like I really thought Chad Billingsley could be the ace of the staff.

 

At least I didn't invest all my money in Micah Hoffpauir cards.