Joy of a team set, chapter 19 (15 years back in the game)

 

I've mentioned many times that I returned to collecting current cards in 2006. So that makes it 15 years I've been back.

 

I probably didn't make the wisest choice with the year I chose to come back, it certainly can't compete with the first year I collected cards, which was 1975. But sometimes collecting chooses you, not the other way around, and I couldn't resist those rack packs in Walmart in '06.

 

I did end up buying quite a bit of 2006 Upper Deck that year, too, but I never saw Allen & Ginter (didn't know to look for it). Same deal with Heritage and Fleer and Turkey Red and anything besides what I was trained to look for way back when: FLAGSHIP.

 

So, I was stuck with one, super-flawed set upon my return. Foil everywhere, possibly the most foil-tastic (and therefore unreadable) Topps card set ever. It's just not a great design, even though the look of the cards still gives me the warm fuzzies because I was back in the game, baby!

 

 Look at this thing. There's a whole subset -- the previous season's Gold Glove winners -- that looks like this disaster.

 

2006 is also one of the first sets that is impossible to complete. (Sure there were '90s sets with some crazy number of parallels that are impossible, too, but we're talking base here). If you were a poor Royals fan, you couldn't even finish your team set because Topps yanked card No. 297, Alex Gordon from the set (the card at the top of this post is from the "Mamma Threw Out Your Cards" insert set in 2010). 

 

There is also not one but TWO of those "A Card For Every Blasted Home Run This Guy Ever Hit" insert sets with separate devotions for Mickey Mantle and Barry Bonds.

 

I was once attempting to complete every insert set for 2006, but have since given up the Bonds quest. I'm still clinging to that Mantle dream (10 cards to go, heh), as well as finding every bleeping Hit Parade card and Walmart set card and Own the Game card -- why did I return again?

But anniversaries are anniversaries. They must be recognized.

 

I thought about doing a "Joy of a Team Set" review for the Royals just to recognize those poor collectors who had a forever hole in their binder where the Gordon card should go. But one look through that series of names -- Joey Gathright, Emil Brown, Runelvys Hernandez -- and it might have been one of the shortest posts I ever made.

 

Nope, I'm going with the World Series runners-up in 2006 -- just because I figured out while watching ESPN Sunday Night Baseball that I'm still sick of the Cardinals and I don't feel like featuring them.

However, in '06, I was actually rooting for the Cardinals to win (although "rooting" is too strong a word) for reasons that will become clear in a moment.

But first, here is the 2006 Topps team set for the Tigers:

I included the Traded set cards at the end, along with a couple of inserts to fill out the last page.

 

OK, here is the usual breakdown:

 

Favorite card runners-up:

 

5. Kenny Rogers (in a Rangers uniform); 4. Up the Middle (Ivan Rodriguez/Carlos Guillen); 3. Nook Logan; 2. Justin Verlander

 

Favorite element on the back:

 

Naturally I'm gravitating toward the cartoons, which is one of the few bragging points that 2006 Topps has in its briefcase. The Jim Leyland cartoon very nearly predicted another World Series title for him!

Notable error cards: There are some significant ones in the '06 set, from the various Alex Gordon oddities to the Chris DeMaria cards featuring him in a Royals or Brewers hat (what was with the Royals that year?), to the "black" and "white" Pete Mackanin cards. But none involved Tigers.

Most interesting card:

I've been talking about these mid-2000s cards that showed players playing in odd places quite a bit lately. Heritage has been mentioned as the spot to find shrubbery in the background, but this card was the first time I spotted a such a sight. My next question after "who is Chris Shelton" was "why is he pretending to throw in a forest?"

Former or future Dodgers: Marcus Thames' career ended with the Dodgers in 2011 and that's it.

Cards with buildings in the background:

There are five -- FIVE! All of the guys above are standing in the same general spot. So there are also five cards with a flag pole in the background, and big puddle in the background.

 

Players I've talked to: Sean Casey. Back when he was with the Reds.

 

Team's claim to fame: The Tigers made it to the World Series in 2006, losing in five games to the Cardinals, after several years of being mired in fourth or fifth place. They'd go through another "up cycle" between 2009 and 2014 and are now in a long "down cycle." Major League Baseball has become a lot like high school teams lately where teams are dependent on a strong incoming class of juniors or seniors. When those guys graduate then the team isn't good anymore. Of course, high school teams aren't intentionally depleting their squads once they get good.

 

Least favorite player on the team:

 

The Kenny Rogers' incident with shoving a couple of cameramen in 2005 and getting suspended for it was the last straw for me. I was never crazy about him, it didn't help that he was on the Yankees during that one World Series, and then there was all that alleged ball smudging in the '06 postseason. He just seemed slimy and untrustworthy. Look at him up there, it looks like he's belching in mid-pitch.

Most coveted card:

You're not going to get a lot for the Justin Verlander rookie card logo card, unless you encase it in plastic and bamboozle someone with an inflated price. In general, it's a $10-to-$20 card, but you can get it for less.

Favorite card in the set:

#U68 - Sean Casey

It's the Mayor, of course! Great guy. Doesn't shove cameramen.

So, that wraps up my 15th anniversary post. I'm actually glad I came back to modern cards in 2006. I don't have a lot of use for them lately, but they did help build this blog and build an audience for this blog. And I have liked some of the sets that came out since I arrived. Stuff like:

2008-14 Allen & Ginter

2008 and 2011 Heritage

2013 and 2015 Topps flagship

A couple of the insert sets

2011 Lineage

2015-present Stadium Club

2013 Panini Hometown Heroes

And a few other things.

My heart will always be with the cards that came out when I first started collecting -- items from the '70s and '80s -- and the vintage sets that came before that. But current cards make the hobby go and make this blog go.

So even though current cards are in short supply these days -- and I say that I could go without them for as long as it takes -- I think the blog would be better off if I could show those cards off once in awhile. So here's hoping.

And if things continue to go awry, well, it was a good 15 years.