I can't keep up ... baseball isn't helping

 

This blog is full of laments about the increasingly fast-paced world and my inability to keep up.

 

I look back on my moaning about this topic from 10-15 years ago and smile to myself, "you have no idea, younger-than-you-think night owl". I also mention how old I am in those long-ago posts. But now, it's really the truth. I am old. By virtually any definition  (Unless you're 80 and reading this).

 

I can't keep up in whatever aspect of life we are addressing. And any moment it's time to learn something new -- usually related to some gadget -- I want to crawl under the covers and sing '70s songs softly to myself.

 

This feeling of falling increasingly behind is with me almost every day. Baseball isn't helping either. The amount of transactions seem to be multiplying every year. I came across some transaction list recently that absolutely illustrated the quickening rate at which players move now, but in typical old-person fashion, I can't remember where I saw it or really what the list was.

 

In 2011, I wrote a post titled "Five years is a long time" and contrasted the 2011 Topps set with the 2006 Topps set to point out player movement over five years. Well, that seems simply charming now. You don't even need to go back more than a couple years to underline this point. Not even one year.

 

Here are the first 90 cards of the 2024 Topps set, nine cards at a time. I'll point out the instances of players moving on for each page:

 

Players moving on: two. 

 

Owen White (White Sox) and Joey Wiemer (Marlins)

 

 

Players moving on: three

 

Josh Naylor (Diamondbacks, then Mariners), Nate Robertson (in Royals system), Nick Pivetta (Padres)

 

 

Players moving on: three

 

Joey Votto (retired), Esteury Ruiz (Dodgers system), Rafael Devers (Giants)

 

 

Players moving on: three

 

Samad Taylor (Mariners system), Willy Adames (Giants), Prelander Berroa (White Sox)

 

 

Players moving on: one

 

Dylan Cease (Padres)

 

 

Players moving on: four

 

Paul Goldschmidt (Yankees), Cavan Biggio (Dodgers, then Braves, then Royals), Juan Soto (Yankees, then Mets), Nick Cortes Jr. (Brewers, then Padres)

 

 

Players moving on: three

 

Isaiah Campbell (Red Sox), Justin Verlander (Giants), Christian Walker (Astros)

 

 

Players moving on: four

 

J.D. Davis (Released from Angels), Jorge Polanco (Mariners), Stone Garrett (released), Griffin Canning (Mets)

 

 

Players moving on: three

 

Mickey Moniak (Rockies), JP Sears (Padres), Nick Fortes (Rays)

 

 

Players moving on: five

 

Curtis Mead (White Sox), Alex Bregman (Red Sox), Jose Rodriguez (Phillies system), Orlando Arcia (Rockies), Tyler Glasnow (Dodgers)

 

So that's 31 players out of the first 90 cards who have moved on since appearing in 2024 Topps -- just one year ago. But I didn't count several of the cards -- league leaders, team cards. So it's actually 31 players out of 85 cards, or 36 percent.

 

Obviously I haven't established anything here other than "that seems like a lot". I'd have to do this for a number of other sets, from the recent past and from decades ago to compare. Maybe I'll do that -- as some sort of sometimes series over the next few months.

 

I'll see how fast life goes.