These 5 cards bring the set to 69% complete, and I'm quite happy that I have been able to proceed this far in the set. With another trade proposed to me today, the goal of 1100 by the end of the year still has a small chance of being completed.
With all that being said, here's the last 5 cards of my mini "marathon". Enjoy.
Card # 1031: Richard Hidalgo
Serial Number: 251
45th card out of 50 for the Mets
There has been a lot of Mets cards on the SNI posts for the past week. Remember the 2000 season of Richard Hidalgo? 44 HRs, 122 RBI, .314 average for the Astros. This card shows him during his only season as a Met, one in which he hit homers in 5 consecutive games. Hard to believe that he was out of the major leagues by age 30.
Card # 1032: Grady Sizemore
Serial Number: 598
38th card out of 50 for the Indians
Injuries cut this very talented outfielder's time in Cleveland down, but I just read an article here that states the Phillies may be interested in signing Sizemore as an extra outfielder. This guy is too talented to have his career end the way it did in Cleveland, so I'd really enjoy see him getting a chance to play somewhere with a fresh start.
Card # 1033: Ryan Perry & Rick Porcello
Serial Number: 1438
27th card out of 50 for the Tigers
It's been a long time since I had a multi player card come into the set. Porcello has been a mainstay of the Tigers rotation since his rookie year of '09, and '13 was his best season for K's (142) and WHIP (1.282). Perry has had a bit of a rough time after his first two seasons, 2011 and 2012 were not good statistically, and 2013 was spent in the minors between AAA & AA. At 26, he's got some time to get it back together and find his way back to the majors...
Card # 1034: Chris Narveson
Serial Number: 610
29th card out of 50 for the Brewers
Narveson is the first card from the '13 Update set that I've shown off here, courtesy of Pat from the Hot Corner Cards blog. Narveson pitched in only 2 games for the Brewers in 2013, before being sent to the minors where he spent the remainder of the season in AAA. At only 31, and being a lefty, I'm sure he'll end up somewhere in 2014.
Card # 1035: Kyle Lohse
Serial Number: 509
30th card out of 50 for the Brewers
Would love to know what he learned to turn his career around. In his first 10 big league seasons, he only had only one season with an ERA below 4, and 4 other seasons his ERA was above 5. The last 3 years, he's won 41 games, his combined ERA is 3.19 and WHIP is 1.140. What changed? You'd also think that with a turnaround like his, he wouldn't have had to wait until a week before the '13 season started before landing a contract.
Thanks for reading, Robert
With Richard Hidalgo, it's not that hard to believe he was out of baseball by 30 because:
ReplyDeletea) he probably lied about his age
b) injuries
c) PEDs
A nasty combination to be sure. That half year he had with the Mets, though, was wonderful.