Random posting for the real start of the postseason

 

I did this post last year and it got so many "more, more" requests that I'm doing it again this year.

As a review, to avoid too much flack for actually daring to root for teams during the postseason for a whole entire post, I went with a "most, oldest, newest" post to recognize the annual October ritual.

Yeah, I know I'm a little late. But I planned it like this. I don't know what that thing was that we just saw this week. I'm pretty much discounting the wild card as part of the postseason until they get it fixed. You got to win only two games? And teams that won their division are involved??? If you're going to have some crapshoot round, let the wild card teams knock heads, keep the guys who conquered everyone over six months out of it. Also, please, MLB, start reseeding after each round like pro leagues who know what they're doing.

 

So now we're at the division series, where things make sense somewhat -- though the Phillies should be playing the Padres and the Dodgers playing the Mets. So let's kick this post off.

 

Thanks again to TCDB for analyzing my collection so I can play this little game:

 

ROYALS vs. YANKEES

 

Kansas City Royals

(Cards in my collection: 2,666. Overall rank: 18th) 

Oldest card in my collection: 1969 Topps Dave Morehead (I can hear Beavis and Butt-Head as I'm typing out the name).

Newest card in my collection: 2024 Topps Heritage mini Nick Loftin (A lot of the "newest" cards in this post will be '24 Heritage minis. That's both due to my interest in Heritage this year and Topps' super-slow roll-out of product).

 

 

Random card in my collection: 2002 Topps Gallery Carlos Beltran (Oof, a Beltran card during the postseason. I thought I ripped up all his cards by now).

 

New York Yankees

(Cards in my collection: 4,081. Overall rank: 2nd).

Oldest card in my collection: Danny MacFayden, 1933 World Wide Gum

 

There's the back so that you can see he actually did player for the Yankees, that this card actually is from Canada and he was the first player in the American League to wear spectacles!

Newest card in my collection: Yogi Berra/Roy Campanella, 2024 Topps Heritage mini white border (You will see this card again!)

 

Random card in my collection: Mike Witt, 1991 Topps (The early '90s was a great time to be a Yankee hater, I wish we could go back there again).

Who I want to win: Royals (They still need to even the score for all those Royals-Yankees ALCS rounds they played. Royals are still down 3-1!)

 

GUARDIANS vs. TIGERS

Cleveland Guardians

(Cards in my collection: 2,822 -- this includes both Indians and Guardians cards. Overall rank: 14th)

 

Oldest card in my collection: Lou Boudreau, 1950 Bowman

Newest card in my collection: Gavin Williams, 2024 Topps Heritage mini

Random card in my collection (Indians portion): Andre Thornton, 1984 Fleer

 

 

 Random card from my collection (Guardians portion): Oscar Gonzalez, 2023 Topps

 

Detroit Tigers

(Cards in my collection: 2,773. Overall rank: 15th)

 

 

Oldest card in my collection: Ray Boone, 1956 Topps. (Appropriate since his grandson is managing in the postseason. Also, this is one of the more off-condition cards in my '56 set).

 

 

Newest card in my collection: Reese Olson, 2024 Topps Heritage mini. (Good to see the first player I pulled out of a flagship pack this year managed to pitch in 22 games).

 

Random card in my collection: Jack Morris, 1986 Fleer miniature

 

The best part of these Fleer miniatures is that the pictures are different from the base cards.

 

This makes up for the miniatures being a little too small.

Who I want to win: Oh, I don't know. Whichever team has a better shot at beating the Yankees, if they advance.

METS vs. PHILLIES

New York Mets

(Cards in my collection: 3,044. Overall rank: 6th)

Oldest card in my collection: Choo Choo Coleman, 1963 Topps. Classic pick.

Newest card in my collection: Francisco Alvarez, 2024 Topps Heritage mini. (The guy I saw hit a walk-off home run as a Syracuse Met last year!)

 

 

Random card from my collection: 1969, A Year to Remember, 1989 Score Magic Motion insert (I don't really consider these cards, but I must not question the randomizer! Plus, it was a good year for the Mets).

 

Philadelphia Phillies

(Cards in my collection: 3,083. Overall rank: 5th)

 

Oldest card in my collection: Philadelphia Phillies team, 1956 Topps (this is actually the third-oldest Phillies card in my collection. I've done this exercise two previous times and the Phillies were involved each time).

 

Newest card in my collection: Michael Lorenzen, 2024 Topps Heritage mini

Random card in my collection: Richie Hebner, 1977 O-Pee-Chee. (Excellent choice by the randomizer with one of the classic 1977 differences from the Topps set).

 

Who I want to win: Phillies. I'm a little sick of seeing their hyped-up fans on TV, but I've got no problem with the team.

 

 

DODGERS vs. PADRES

Los Angeles Dodgers

(Cards in my collection: 27,325. Overall rank: 1st)

 

Oldest card in my collection: Johnny Podres, 1958 Hires Root Beer (There was a bit of a snafu in determining my third-oldest Brooklyn Dodgers card, so I went with my oldest LA. Dodgers card just to make things easier).

 

Newest card in my collection: Roy Campanella/Yogi Berra, 1951 Most Valuable Players, 2024 Topps Heritage mini, white border (There it is again! Is that a sign of a Dodgers-Yankees World Series? I Hope Not!)

Random card in my collection: Mike Piazza, 1992 Bowman (Randomizer picks a cool one with Piazza's rookie card).

San Diego Padres

(Cards in my collection: 2,528. Overall rank: 22nd. Padres are the lowest-ranked team in my collection among teams that still exist from 1969 and earlier -- as it should be),

Oldest card in my collection: Al McBean, 1969 Topps (McBean is smiling like Topps artists when they realized that McBean just got done playing for several years with the Pirates and they didn't have to do any painting!)

Newest card in my collection: Xancer Bogaerts, 2024 Topps Heritage mini.

Random card in my collection: Eric Show, 1989 Topps

Who I want to win: Y'all know the answer to that. I will be pleasantly surprised if the Dodgers advance. San Diego is one of the hottest teams in MLB and recent playoff configurations favor the hot hand. Also a squad that has mostly avoided injuries (recent Musgrove news excluded) and somehow gotten a good season out of Jurikson Profar seems destined. P.S.: Have you seen the Dodgers pitching staff?

If that's the way it must be, then I hope the Tigers advance out of the American League and we can have a repeat of the 1984 World Series, including another 4-1 decision for Detroit. I might even take 1998 and let the Yankees pound them.

Oh dear, I think I did some rooting there.

Happy Real Postseason. Per usual, I'll be hiding behind the couch.