WSC Birth Years: Dan Johnson

Card #123 - Dan Johnson

Born: August 10, 1979

Dan signed with the White Sox on February 1, 2012 and made things interesting in spring training. Ultimately, Johnson was cut and sent to the Sox AAA affiliate, where he banged out twenty-eight homers and finished second in the AAA All-Star Home Run Derby.

When the rosters expanded in September 2012, Dan was called up to the Sox. In fourteen games, Johnson mostly appeared as a pinch hitter. He also occasionally took over as designated hitter and at first base during the final weeks of the season. Despite limited action, Dan sported a .364 average in thirty-one plate appearances.

While his home run hitting heroics are remembered on the last day of the 2011 season with the Tampa Bay Rays, Dan saved his home run display for the last day of the 2012 season. Johnson hit three home runs for the White Sox in 2012 and they all came on the last day of the season against the Cleveland Indians, propelling the Pale Hose to a 9-0 victory.

WSC Birth Years: Ray Olmedo

Card #122 - Ray Olmedo

Born: May 31, 1981

Ray signed with the White Sox on November 25, 2011 and remained in AAA Charlotte for the majority of the 2012 season, until Eduardo Escobar was traded to Minnesota in the Francisco Liriano trade. Olmedo made his Pale Hose debut on August 5, 2012, against the Los Angeles Angels in Chicago, pinch running for Paul Konerko, after his single that led off the eighth inning. He would score on Alexei Ramirez's triple later that inning. It would be his first time on playing in a MLB game since September 30, 2007, with the Toronto Blue Jays.

Perhaps his best day with the ChiSox was on August 26, 2012, at home against Seattle, when he went two for three, and scored on a Kevin Youkilis triple in the bottom of the third inning. He only repeated two hits in a game once more in a White Sox uniform, on October 3, 2012, the last day of the season, Ray went two for five with a run scored.

Olmedo played twenty games with the Sox, in various roles. He played third base, shortstop, second base and designated hitter in his short time with the team. After the 2012 season, Ray was option back to AAA, but opted for free agency instead, where he signed with the Minnesota Twins.

1964 Topps

After the candy coated clown colors of the 1963 set, Topps went simplistic. The colors are still there, but more subdued. The subject dominates the card this time around, even popping out slightly from the box he fills.

While it may seem like Topps phoned in the design, the simplistic elements aren't here by accident. A conscious decision to focus on mostly head shots wouldn't have worked if the colors were garish or overbearing.

What people remember most about the 1964 Topps set is the orange backs. The backs of the cards remind me of a Dreamsicle. The orange and white combination shouldn't work, but it weirdly does. Here is where the glaring colors of last year's set have decided to take residence. It's an adjustment for the eyes, but it is a pleasant diversion. Some collectors are divided on the 1964 orange backs. Most people either love them or hate them. Rare is the collector that sees the orange and white backs indifferently.

The backs feature complete MLB stats, a short bio and (if room allows) a trivia question on a player's regular card. Topps suggested to rub a nickel on the back of the card to view the answer to the trivia question, but if the card is angled just right, the answer could be seen without coin rubbing.

The 1964 Topps set has 587 cards. There are thirty-one cards featuring White Sox players.

2 - AL ERA Leaders - Gary Peters, Juan Pizarro (Camilo Pasqual)
13 - Hoyt Wilhelm
31 - Dave Nicholson
66 - Eddie Fisher
81 - All-Star Vets - Nellie Fox (Harmon Killebrew)
85 - Pete Ward
107 -  Bruce Howard, Frank Kreutzer
130 - Gary Peters
148 - J.C. Martin
168 - Al Weis
195 - Floyd Robinson
215 - Ray Herbert
232 - Al Lopez
247 - Dave DeBusschere
264 - Jim Landis
283 - Tommy McCraw
308 - Gene Stephens
323 - John Buzhardt
340 - Joe Cunningham
368 - Fritz Ackley, Don Buford
384 - Ron Hansen
401 - Charlie Maxwell
421 - Camilo Carreon
430 - Juan Pizarro
453 - Frank Baumann
465 - Mike Hershberger
496 - White Sox Team
519 - Charlie Smith (pictured on White Sox, listed on Mets)
538 - Minnie Minoso
564 - Jerry McNertney (McCabe)
584 - Joel Horlen

The 1964 set is one of the underrated sets of the sixties. It has a solid, yet simplistic design, memorable backs and a nice selection of players. Even though Nellie Fox has a regular card on the Colts, he shows up with Harmon Killebrew on a multi-player card while in a White Sox uniform. This set also features the second of three Dave DeBusschere cards. DeBusschere pitched with the White Sox for two seasons in the majors and an additional two seasons in the minors before hanging up his pitching glove to focus of a Hall of Fame career as a power forward in the NBA for the Detroit Pistons and New York Knicks.

WSC Birth Years: Donnie Veal

Card #121 - Donnie Veal

Born: September 18, 1984

Originally drafted in the second round by the Chicago Cubs in 2005, Donnie was taken from the Cubs in the 2008 rule V draft by the Pittsburgh Pirates. It was in Pittsburgh that Veal made his MLB debut on April 7, 2009, against the Cardinals in St. Louis. Donnie worked the fifth inning after Ian Snell got rocked for eight runs (six earned) in the first four. Veal would appear in nineteen games for the Pirates that year. In 2010, Donnie got off to a promising start in the Pittsburgh minor league system before being sidelined by an injury in late May, which required Tommy John surgery.

Veal was signed by the White Sox on November 10, 2011 and made his White Sox debut on July 20, 2012 against the Tigers in Detroit. Donnie retired twenty-six consecutive left-handed batters before Shin-Soo Choo broke the streak with an RBI double on September 24, 2012, in a game which also saw Veal record his first career save. It looks like Donnie has found a comfortable spot in the Sox bullpen. He will definitely be in the mix for a roster spot on the 2013 team.

Is A T-Shirt Worth $37.29?

 

Don't get me wrong. I like a nice White Sox t-shirt as much as the next fan, but $28.00 is a bit steep for a cotton/poly blend t-shirt. That's just my opinion.

I'm both tall and a little on the heavy side, so typically, I wear 2X, 2XT, or 3X size shirts, depending on the cut and manufacturer. Unfortunately, these t-shirts are only available in small, medium, large and extra large. What if Adam Dunn wanted to wear one of these t-shirts? I'm thinking that a tall, muscular guy like him would be out of luck. I see an extra large t-shirt fitting Adam Dunn like a baby doll tee.

Even if I wanted to pay $28 for a t-shirt and I was able to squeeze into one, would I want to pay $9.29 just to get it to my residence? I would have to, since that is the ONLY option available for shipping.

For the biggest option, an extra large t-shirt, I would have to pay $37.29 to get it delivered to my door if I failed to have a coupon code.

I seem to be doing nothing but complaining about the monopoly of Topps lately. I am not a negative person, but I'm not going to praise and sugar-coat something that doesn't deserve it. The latest business practices and pricing by the Topps company leave me little option.

No thanks, Topps. That is nearly twice what I'm willing to pay for the convenience of getting a t-shirt (not a polo or dress shirt, mind you) delivered to my door. You lost me at $28 a t-shirt. I clicked off your website when I saw $9.29 shipping.

2012 Topps Heritage High Numbers

While I'm not a huge fan of the high numbers sets (I blame the sudden emergence of a 2008 high numbers series as the main reason I have not completed that set yet), I am a fan of the Topps Heritage sets. This is the way to do a set. Each year there are different designs and they have the retro feel that all the cool kids love. It's mostly a win/win situation. The thing that brings this set down is the online exclusivity and the limited number of sets for the high numbers. There were only 1,000 factory sets available.

Don't get me wrong. I do enjoy collecting limited cards. It's one aspect of the hobby which assures that no two collections are alike. What bugs me is the disturbing trend to circumvent the hobby shops and retail stores all together for a physical release that is highly collectible. These shouldn't be online exclusives. Not if you've already released the bulk of the set with wider distribution. Topps continues to be innovative while alienating its consumer base. I would say that is highly frustrating.

The high numbers set contains one hundred cards. The White Sox have eight total cards.

H591 - John Danks
H597 - Jake Peavy
H601 - Philip Humber
H618 - Brett Myers
H623 - Gordon Beckham
H625 - Alex Rios
H635 - Francisco Liriano
H671 - Gavin Floyd

Topps continues the retro feel with the 1963 set design. Even with the many complaints I have about how this has been released to the public, I cannot deny the attraction to this set. The set is a winner, even with some questionable delivery methods. My only question... where is Kevin Youkilis' White Sox card in this set. With eight cards in the set for the Pale Hose, that is a miniscule complaint.

2013 WSC HOF Voting Cards

If you never saw the older players on the field or heard of some of them, here's your chance to put a face to the candidates' names. There is a link to each candidates' Baseball Reference page, so you can check out their stats.

Remember, this voting is meant to reflect the player's impact on the White Sox. Some are fan favorites. Some kept hope alive in dismal seasons. Some had magical seasons. Some set White Sox team records that stood for a long time and/or still stand. Some are even World Series heroes. The point being, that all these players made some type of impact on the team, its fans and team history.

Here are voting cards for each candidate. Enjoy!

Harold Baines – OF (3rd year)

 George Dickey - C (1st year)

 Nellie Fox – 2nd Base (3rd year)

 Oscar Gamble - DH (3rd year)

 Jerry Hairston - OF (1st year)

 Frank Isbell – 1st Base (2nd year)

 Fielder Jones – OF (3rd year)

 Al Lopez – MGR (3rd year)

 Gary Peters - P (3rd year)

 Bobby Thigpen - P (2nd year)

 Robin Ventura – 3rd Base (3rd year) 

 Buck Weaver - SS (1st year)

Hoyt Wilhelm – P (2nd year)

2013 Turkey Red

Something smells fishy. Topps Turkey Red could be viewed as a sticker dump, and a curious one at that. The distribution was weird and disjointed, being an online exclusive that had a slow roll out announcement, which caused many consumers to be left out in the cold for any hope of ordering an eleven card box directly from Topps. It's almost as if the product was released in the middle of a moonless night and received only by those who just happen to be taking a late night stroll, down the alley this product was dumped in, to cure their insomnia.

The only way this product was released was in an eleven card box, which contained ten base cards and a card with a sticker autograph. It is said that only five to six thousand boxes were available, which places this product at five to six hundred complete sets. This is all pure speculation though, as print run numbers were not released for the base set. The completed base set has one hundred cards.

The White Sox have four cards in the base set and no sticker autographs.

37 - Jake Peavy
57 - Paul Konerko
68 - Adam Dunn
82 - Chris Sale

The design front and back is reminiscent of the 2007 Turkey Red release, with very slight tweaks. The set has a desperate quality. Each card looks slightly out of place and out of time with the previous Turkey Red releases. The cards do not have the same feel to them as the other Turkey Red releases. I can't quite put my finger on what feels different, but whatever that difference, it feels forced and cheap. I would not expect that type of feeling from a product rolled out in this manner.

I am disappointed in 2013 Turkey Red. I had high hopes for this set, but wrong turns and a cheap feel have derailed this product, in my opinion. For once, I'm happy that the White Sox were not participants in the sticker dump portion of this release. I'm content enough to collect the base, quickly and quietly, and be done with this release.

WSC Vintage: Marty Hopkins

Card #44 - Marty Hopkins

After debuting on April 17, 1934, at age twenty-seven, with the Philadelphia Phillies, Marty would play in ten games for the Phightin' Phils before being involved in a transaction which sent him back to the American Association St. Paul Saints, where he had spent the previous five seasons. Hopkins would only spend a month and a half in Minnesota before being purchased from the Saints by the White Sox on June 27, 1934.

Marty made his ChiSox debut on July 15, 1934, in the first game of a double header in Chicago against Connie Mack's Philadelphia Athletics. He replaced manager Jimmy Dykes at third base in the late innings of an 11-7 loss. His first Sox hit came a few days later, on July 18th, against the Boston Red Sox, at Comiskey Park.

Hopkins remained with the White Sox through the 1935 season. He appeared in one hundred twenty-six games for the Pale Hose over those two years and sported a .218 average. In 1935, he moved from third base to second base for the last week of May, replacing Glenn Wright, who was replacing Jackie Hayes, who was out of the lineup for an extended amount of time. It was a short lived experiment, as he was back at his familiar position of third base on June 1st. Tony Piet was purchased from the Cincinnati Reds on June 4th to fill in for the vacated Hayes.

Marty spent 1936 in the White Sox organization, playing for the American Association Kansas City Blues. Hopkins remained with the Blues through the 1937 season, under control of the New York Yankees.

WSC Birth Years: Jhan Marinez

Card #120 - Jhan Marinez

Born: August 12, 1988

Jhan was part of the compensation package from the Florida Marlins, when manager Ozzie Guillen left the White Sox, with one year left on his contract, to helm the vacated manager position in Miami. Marinez made his MLB debut with the Marlins in 2010 and made his White Sox debut on July 13, 2012, in the eleventh inning of a game against the Royals in Kansas City. Jhan loaded the bases with one out before getting Yuniesky Betancourt to fly weakly to the shortstop.

Marinez would not get another chance until September call-ups. In the top of the ninth inning, with a 10-4 deficit against the Tampa Bay Rays, Jhan dominated Stephen Vogt, Desmond Jennings, and Elliot Johnson to retire the Rays in order. The Sox couldn't overcome a six run dearth, but Marinez's last appearance of 2012 left a lasting impression.

2013 WSC Hall Of Fame Ballot

Here's a Hall of Fame that anyone can vote for: The White Sox Cards Hall Of Fame.

You can vote for as many or as few players as you want. The rules are the same as the MLB Hall of Fame. 75% of the vote will get a player in. At least 5% of the vote will keep a player on the ballot for next year. A player has to be away from the White Sox for a minimum of five years for ballot consideration. If a player cannot get 75% of the vote after 15 tries, he is taken off the ballot.

Last ballot, shortstop Luis Aparicio and outfielder Joe Jackson were voted into the WSC Hall Of Fame. Who will make it in this year?

The 2013 ballot includes a player for each positional spot on the field, a designated hitter, a manager, and pitching has been split into spots for starter, middle relief and closer.

Harold Baines – OF (3rd year) 
George Dickey - C (1st year)
Nellie Fox – 2nd Base (3rd year)
Oscar Gamble - DH (3rd year) 
Jerry Hairston - OF (1st year)
Frank Isbell – 1st Base (2nd year)
Fielder Jones – OF (3rd year)
Al Lopez – MGR (3rd year)
Gary Peters - P (3rd year)
Bobby Thigpen - P (2nd year)
Robin Ventura – 3rd Base (3rd year) 
Buck Weaver - SS (1st year)
Hoyt Wilhelm – P (2nd year)

Voting will be through July 16, 2013, with the results announced shortly after. You can vote on the right sidebar. Any position left open due to election or cuts will be filled by another player next year.

The results should prove interesting. Have fun!

2013 Topps Spring Fever

A breath of fresh air. The days getting longer. Players flocking to Arizona and Florida. New card product. Spring training must be upon us.

Just as Topps Series One was getting to be old news, the set still has some surprises left for us. For those of you lucky enough to find a special insert card among your packs, you can redeem that insert card for a five pack of baseball cards from February 20th through the 27th. I would guess the ratio of these insert cards would fall roughly one per hobby box.

The set itself has fifty cards and some insert autographs. The two packs that I acquired through my local hobby shop netted me one-fifth of the base set. Not too bad, if I was going after the set.

A rainbow foil background works very well with the design and intended purpose of the set. This feels like a fun little add on set to celebrate spring training and to give a little back to the customer base.

The back of the card looks very similar to the insert. The "baseball is back" text is replaced by the player name and team affiliation. The ad text is replaced by text about the player.

The White Sox have one card in the set.

SF-16 - Jake Peavy

All in all, this is a fun, little harmless set that gets collectors into the hobby shops. If you don't find an insert or don't have a hobby shop near you, don't worry. These cards are fairly easy to pick up on the secondary market.

WSC Birth Years: Pedro Hernandez

Card #119 - Pedro Hernandez

Born: April 12, 1989

Chris Sale, Jake Peavy and Jose Quintana all needed an extra day of rest, so the White Sox reached into their minor leagues and plucked out the ninth rookie pitcher to take the mound in 2012 for the Pale Hose on July 18th. Paul Konerko provided Pedro with the lead, when he singled home Alejandro De Aza in the top of the first. Call it butterflies. Call it inexperience. Call it whatever you will. Hernandez took the mound in the bottom of the first and tied the game.

The Red Sox at Fenway Park are usually tough. Throw in a twenty-three year old pitcher making his MLB debut and things can go south quickly. After settling down in the second inning, Hernandez gave up four runs in the third and four runs in the fourth, before giving way to Hector Santiago after two batters in the fifth inning. Pedro ended up with an ERA of 18.00 after one outing. After the game, Hernandez was optioned back to AAA Charlotte. Ten days later, Pedro was traded, along with infielder Eduardo Escobar, to the Minnesota Twins for Fransico Liriano. It would mark the first time in twenty-six years that the two teams traded players.

The First White Sox Card Of 2013 Is...

 One of the most anticipated days of the year is finally here. The first release attributed to the new year; Topps Series One. The flagship series of the only major card company to be fully licensed. I'm still at odds with that aspect of the hobby, but it is nice to have a breather from being barraged by endless releases by multiple companies. Still, I'm waiting for Topps to become complacent, being essentially the only game in town. I'm not willing to stand for complacency by any company in the hobby.

It's nice to see a decent design on the flagship cards. Not great. Not memorable. Not horrible either.

I planned my outing for the early afternoon, right after my quiz for psychology class. I would end up at two different places to get a sampling of the product.

My first stop was Target. I searched for the blaster box, but was unable to find it right away. Then I noticed something peculiar. The boxes were there, but my eyes passed them by because they packaging is smaller. I always wondered why card companies wasted so much space in the blasters. Now, I needn't wonder about that again. A quick look at the rest of the product on the shelf confirms that the newer blasters are all smaller. It's a nice thing to see.

I picked up a blaster and two loose packs from Target. There were no opened boxes on the shelf, but there were plenty of loose packs in a hanging bin. I grabbed two and went to the movie section. I found a nice bargain on a Hunger Games blu-ray, so I grabbed that as well.

As luck would have it, the first White Sox card came from the blaster. It was an Emerald Foil parallel. It was one of my favorite players that I don't have a player collection for. It was...

 A.J. Pierzynski!

My first White Sox card is of a player no longer on the White Sox. A.J. isn't even on my 2013 White Sox calendar. Tyler Flowers looks like he's about to throw a runner out or toss the ball back to the pitcher with too much annoyance on his face, adorning my wall for January. In fact, in a White Sox calendar first, every player featured on a month is still with the team.

It might be because green is my favorite color, but I absolutely adore this parallel! The chances were one in six that I get an Emerald Foil parallel and this was the only one I got in the blaster. It turns out that this would be the lone White Sox card from Target.

I was off to the hobby shop, Baseball Card King #2, right in the heart of my hometown. My task was simple. I was to browse around and then pick up two jumbo packs. I was able to find a 2011 Topps Target Throwback card of Edwin Jackson for fifty cents, so I picked that up. It makes me sad that I never bring a list because I wasn't sure about it, but lo and behold, I needed it.

Out of two jumbo packs, containing fifty cards each, I would up with one White Sox card.

Addison Reed strikes again. At least Topps graced the card with a slightly different picture than the 2012 Topps Heritage disaster of four rookie cards for the Sox closer.

As I look through the packs, I can spot one of the "Out of Bounds" variations of Rajai Davis. Since I received one, they mustn't be too difficult to obtain.

A pleasant experience, to say the least. I sampled the new release and I came away with a good feeling. How many days before pitchers and catchers report?

The Traveling Box: Pass Two

Here's what you've been waiting for. The Traveling Box of Sports Cards has made its way through my hometown with three cards swapped out. While I can't tell you what I put in the box, I can tell you what I took out.

A fistful of Frank.

I swiped the 1990 Leaf card of Frank Thomas. It has been a card that has eluded me for almost twenty-three years. I have coveted this card since Series Two started trickling out during the summer of 1990. I never pulled the trigger on the card because of the enormously inflated price tag. Always outbid on eBay and always astronomically priced in the Chicago area, I thought this card might be a white whale for me. Albeit an extremely easy white whale, marred only by a moral sense of value. The obtaining of this card concludes the 1990 Leaf White Sox team set, and for that, I am thrilled.

The other two cards I took because of a "why not" factor. Did I need them? Not really. Could I pass them up? Probably, but something told me to take a chance.

I normally do not collect graded cards. They have their place in the hobby, I guess, but there's something alien about them that makes me back away slowly before turning around and bolting through the nearest exit. Then I thought to myself, "Self, when are you going to get another chance to get a graded Frank Thomas rookie? And a rookie card that isn't one of the typically thought ones?". The opportunity presented itself and I took it. Do I feel shameful? No, not really. This graded 1990 Score Rookie/Traded card of Frank Thomas helps balance out the other graded card I own. A 1990 Upper Deck Sammy Sosa. It balances it out a lot!

The final card is a 2005 Bazooka Moments Game-Worn Uniform card of Frank Thomas. Did I need it? Nope. But I didn't have the card either. It's cute. It's different. It's mine.

The box has only been through a handful of participants and already I see things listed that aren't in the box and things in the box that aren't listed. There was at least one listed card that I had my eye on that I could not find anywhere inside the box. I think we need to be a little more diligent on marking what's entering and exiting the box. I hope that it doesn't become too much of a problem.

I did find it interesting and funny that a card that I had made ended up in the box without my knowledge. Future possessors of the traveling box, who have been reading the various blogs for quite awhile, should recognize it when they see it. That was probably the biggest surprise I came across, at least to me. I should also note that I am very happy to see that the box has grown in size since the first pass.

As always, I think I left the box a little better than I found it. The box should be arriving at its next destination as this posts.