Sure, Perfect Was Good...

A tip of the cap to Dallas Braden, who threw a highly improbable, and therefore even more impressive, perfect game. But you know what's better than one perfect game?

How about three no-hitters:

2008 Allen & Ginter #BH5 "Three No-No's" Cabinet Card

This came in the mail on Saturday which got me thinking about no-hitters and the like. What I decided was this: I love historical footnotes and milestones and so forth. Most players aren't going to be immortalized in the Hall of Fame. Many very good players will never make an All Star Game. But there are others who will be part of extraordinary feats that they will be able to talk about for the rest of their lives. No hitters are one. Batting for the cycle. Perhaps a good hitting streak, or a 20-20-20-20 season. These are the types of things that end up on wikipedia lists or as AFLAC Trivia Questions, but, by and large, are forgotten by the majority of fans.

Isn't that what cards are for? To me, a good milestone card or the remembrance of a major feat or season highlight means alot to me. I have an old Score "Cecil Fielder hits 51 Home Runs" that is still one of my favorites. So yeah, I think that this card is pretty great.

What's better is that I didn't even know it existed until last week. I've been going through trying to backfill my collection of mini Allen & Ginters when I thought to myself "Hey, while I'm going after minis, I wonder if there are any Tigers on those really big cards from a few years back." Turns out, yes. There is this one (and two from 2007). This is the first A&G Cabinet card that I've ever seen and I am now on the hunt for more. They are big, well composed and generally fantastic. Here's hoping there's a Tiger worth putting on one in 2010.

Something Beautiful

It's been a long week and I've got a very distinct "blah" feeling right now as I watch the work hours tick down, even though I have some stuff I need to wrap up.

What would brighten my spirits?

2009 Topps 206 #FMA-3 Ryan Perry Auto

For one, this just came in the mail.

I love these framed autos and Perry has a beautiful signature. As unenthusiastic as I am about a 2010 version of 206 coming out this fall, I'll take a card like this any day of the week.

Loooong Gone

Even though everybody knew it was coming, Ernie Harwell's death seems to have struck a chord both locally and nationally. I want to thank Bless You Boys and the Detroit Tigers Weblog, primarily for their extensive links and quotes to all things Ernie. It was a huge help when trying to catch up on public sentiment after traveling all day yesterday.

Bless You Boys' round up of the local perspective and national perspective.

Detroit Tigers Weblog's offering including some very good audio links.

Everyone seems to have their stories--a brief meeting, important moment in life, pervasive feeling of comfort and calm whenever you turned on the radio. They are all wonderful. For me, there are three quick ones.

The first involves meeting Ernie in a dark Tiger Stadium concourse after he was leaving after a game. I got his attention and asked him if he would sign my cap--the blue faded "E Harwell" is still on the underside of that Tigers hat, and although it doesn't fit me any more, I've kept it around. For a kid, getting an autograph is really exciting, and I've been proud of that one for years.

The second memory is of Opening Day the year that Ernie was fired. I remember before the game, out in the street, someone was handing out thousands of cardboard cutouts of Ernie's face on a stick that we could all hold up as cheap Harwell masks. This was, of course, a form of mass protest designed to showcase the disgust we all had for the firing. I held mine up throughout the game and it is still one of the more vivid memories I have from any particular baseball game.

While I was writing that, I decided to do a quick eBay search and...there it is. The internet is so awesome. Here's a screen shot:

Finally, the third "memory" seems to be what people are talking about most. Tigers baseball, broadcast by Ernie Harwell, defined summer. We went to sleep to it. Listened to it in our cars. In my case, listened to it across 4 or 5 different radio stations on our way up North, not sure if there was static on the station because we were losing it or if it was just the gentle hum of the crowd at Tiger Stadium. Then, during the days, sitting outside in the sun and looking over the lake with the game on in the background and Ernie just smoothly telling the story of baseball. There is nothing else like it.

Ernie's passing is truly is the end of an era for me, that combines with the demolition of Tiger Stadium and the death of my Grandfather last year. Those three have always been inextricably intertwined for me, and it is very sad that they are no longer around. At the same time, they are now all firmly cemented in a very-well defined era of my life. The memories are clear and easy to access and don't get muddled up by incongruous timelines or things like that. Ernie Harwell--the most beloved man in the history of Michigan, according to the Free Press subheader the other day--will certainly be missed. I can only hope that, somehow, future generations are able to experience something anywhere close to what he gave us.

Ernie. 1918-2010

My thoughts later. Moment of silence now.

Austin Jackson Cracks the Card World

Sure, he's got an insert in 2010 Topps Pro Debut, and he has some older Bowman stuff, but let's get on with the show. A real, live, major-league uniform wearing baseball card of Austin Jackson.

2010 eTopps #4 Austin Jackson RC (#/999)

Ok, it's eTopps. But still, this is Jackson's first Major League card, his first "official" rookie card and his first card in a Tigers uniform of any variety (even though it is a spring training photo.) eTopps or no eTopps, those are all good things.

The card is having it's "public offering" right now with an IPO price of $6.00 and a print run limited to 999 copies. So if you, like everybody else these days, are speeding away on the Ajax bandwagon, here's your chance.

On a related note, who wants to place bets that he is announced as Topps Finest Rookie Redemption #3 within the next 10 days? That's where my money is.

Who's To Blame For National Chicle?

My worst fears have been realized. Even after I trumpeted the potential wonders of this set, and even after I asked for help on how I should collect it I finally have my Tigers team set in hand.

Sigh.

Sometimes, no matter what you do, you just get the short end of the stick. Sometimes, you luck out and miss it. In 2009 Upper Deck released a Goudey set full of washed out cadaverous freak cards. The Tigers were mostly spared, and for this the baseball card Gods were thanked. With 12 artists in National Chicle, you're bound to see a wide range of both styles and quality. Unfortunately, I think that the Tigers set falls just short of where I would have liked it to be.

I can't say I didn't see it coming, but I'm disappointed now that we're here.

But instead of blaming the Chicle release, or blaming Topps, I think that it is fair to blame the people responsible for the select number of letdowns and abominations in the set. As a former amateur and aspiring artist, I'm not one to hand down this criticism easily. But I think that there comes a time and a place when it is appropriate to say "I'm sorry, but that sucks."

So while National Chicle, the set, continues to be a very nice release on the whole, someone needs to bear the consequences of a relatively sad Tigers offering. Who's to blame?

Hobrecht
The number one offender in my opinion. There are 8 Tigers cards in the set (plus a Cobb SP still to be acquired by me). Hobrecht did two of them. The first you've already seen.

2010 Topps National Chicle #71 Miguel Cabrera by Dave Hobrecht

Cabrera looks as though his soul has been removed. His glazed over, out of frame focus suits lobotomy patients or is representative of the blinded by drunkenness crowd. For shame on you Mr. Hobrecht, if in fact that was your commentary on this card. In case you hadn't heard, we're not talking about that any more.

Am I being unfair to Dave for one bad card? Maybe. But as Wrigley Wax showed us, he was responsible for this card too.

Oof.

That's not to say that Hobrecht can't paint--JD's Wild Cardz clearly showed that not to be the case when they highlighted this card:

To call that card anything less the spectacular would be an understatement, but clearly that "A" game was not put into all of Hobrecht's work in this set. As for his other card, of Johnny Damon, it is a generally acceptable image, barring some slightly odd features. The most egregious part is the fact that he painted the WRONG D on Damon's hat (I'm pretty sure he got it wrong on Cabrera's turtleneck too). Still, this card falls in the "meh" range on the set.

2010 Topps National Chicle #40 Johnny Damon by Dave Hobrecht

But this is a whole lot of griping for me about just one card. Geez Dan, relax.

No.

2010 Topps National Chicle #271 Brent Dlugach RC by Paul Lempa

It must be really hard for Dlugach to play shortstop with a deformed midget arm. I am not a fan of this painting at all. Lempa seems to have issues with shadows and perspective. From JD's again:

Not so good, Paul. Also, I'll take this moment to criticize Topps here. Why is Dlugach in this set? (Twice??) He must this year's Mark Woodyard or Chris Lambert or Eulogio De La Cruz. If you don't recognize any of the names I just mentioned, it is because they were former Rookies that Topps decided needed billing across multiple card sets despite the fact that they weren't even on the 25 man roster and never had any impact on the team whatsoever. The card companies are rookie-obsessed, feeling obligated to make sure that each team has a rookie in a release, even when no qualified rookie exists. At least, that's my opinion on the matter.

With that, you've seen the two worst offenders in the Tigers set, plus a middle of the road Damon card. Out of an 8 card set, these are not particularly satisfying inclusions. It does get better, but even the cards that should be good have things about them that just screw them up.

2010 Topps National Chicle #47 Brandon Inge by Jason Davies

Human Fly Anyone?

And this one is just off, and not enough for me to really complain about, but I think that I at least need to mention the feminine eyes that Justin Verlander is sporting.

2010 Topps National Chicle #85 Justin Verlander by Jason Davies

Hmm...That one is Davies too. Listen man, it seems like you do good work and you get this close to making really nice cards and just screw it up a little bit at the end. Don't ever be a closer and you'll be fine.

But seriously, what's with this crap? Two Hobrechts and Two Davies? and a Lempa? Has it gotten to the point where I need to collect these cards based on their artists instead of the players? What do you think the Beckett Value is on a Hobrecht versus say, a Zachowski?

Anyway, I would have liked to have seen a little more diversity among Tigers artists. Out of an 8 card set, 6 artists sounds good, but with 12 to choose from it's really not--especially when the two repeats you have put out some of the lesser works in the set. I mean hey, I wouldn't complain if you had to give me a second Monty Sheldon

2010 Topps National Chicle #224 Al Kaline by Monty Sheldon

Ooh baby.

I will be posting a full Tigers gallery of National Chicle in the next day or two that shows off all the Tigers cards. This set really does look quite good, and some of the artists have done phenomenal work. I recommend reading posts from Cardboard Junkie, Wrigley Wax,JD's Wild Cardz and A Pack To Be Named Later (although no artists on that one) for plenty of images to give you a well rounded view of the set. In the meantime, we'll see if the Tigers grow on me, or if all is saved by the inclusion of a beautiful Brian Kong drawn Hank Greenberg relic that's on it's way to me.

Remembering Jay Bruce

It's May 3rd and it has already reached this point.

The Tigers and Yankees have each played just over 20 games, but I can't wait any longer to look at the evidence of who got the better of their off-season trade.

The principle pieces in the trade were Curtis Granderson going to New York and rookie Austin Jackson coming to The D. So far, it looks like a complete steal for the Tigers.

--snip--

The trade almost feels lopsided at this point.

Now don't get me wrong. I have been very, very impressed with Austin Jackson so far this season. He has hit well, fielded well, run the basepaths well--he seems primed to have a long and fruitful major league career and a handful of accompanying accolades.

Meanwhile, Curtis Granderson who, I would like to say, started off even better than Jackson just wrapped up an epic 4 for 37 slump with a Grade 2 groin strain that will keep him out for four weeks, at a minimum.

Clearly, the Tigers made out like bandits in this trade. Austin Jackson is the second coming. Curtis Granderson is finished. Etc.

Lest we forget, Austin Jackson started the season with EPIC numbers by having a historically high batting average on balls in play (BABIP) and striking out at an incredible rate. These things are known.

Yet something has changed. For one, Austin Jackson, all of a sudden, stopped striking out. On April 27th the Detroit Free Press printed an article that included this story about Jackson.

Jackson has taken a step to reduce the strikeouts; he did so after he saw a highlight last week of a swing by Tampa Bay third baseman Evan Longoria. "He wasn't trying to crush the ball -- he wasn't using a lot of effort, but he was taking his hands right to the ball, and he hits the ball farther than anybody," Jackson said. "I looked at some of my tapes, and I was trying to generate power with my body. I was pulling off a lot of outside pitches. So now I'm trying to use my hands more instead of getting my swing started with my body."

Prior to that quote, Jackson had struck out in every game he had played in his major league career, racking up an incredible 32 in his first 19 games. Starting on the 27th he didn't strike out for four straight games, and has only struck out twice in his last 26 at bats. That is good news indeed.


Still, it is hard to wrap your head around the rookie who is leading the major leagues in hits, but continues to terrorize opposing teams thanks to a BABIP that appears aided by a half dozen rabbits' feet and pockets full of four leaf clovers that he picks from Comerica's center field grass.

To help explain, let's turn to a Golden Boy from days of yore:

How unlucky was Bruce? Would you believe that last year he was dead last in BABIP in the entire National League? It's true.

Even if we assume that Bruce's approach last year was flawed - and we happen to believe it was (he swung at bad pitches, tried to jerk the outside pitch over the fence, and did not wait for his pitch) - he was still unlucky.

By the way, the early sample size from this season indicates he's improving in all those categories.

I've seen estimates that Bruce's BABIP with normal luck would have been anywhere from .270 to .294. That would have meant anywhere from 12 to 18 more hits during the year - or 35 to 50 points in batting average.

Thirty-five to fifty points!

Even if those 12 to 15 hits are all singles, that's 60 to 100 points more of the beloved on-base average plus slugging.

And what do you think Bruce's BABIP is this year? Would you believe that a week ago it was .205? He was hitting in worse luck than he did last year, when he was dead last in the league. But through Thursday's games, he was up to .250, indicating that his luck might be improving.

And he's been hitting the ball on the line 20 percent of the time. The estimators say his BABIP should be somewhere between .290 and .310.

This is Jay Bruce. The same Jay Bruce who did this when he made his major league debut.

He has made an early impression with the Reds, and it's not just about his .432 batting average, .533 on-base percentage or .757 slugging percentage. Right from the start, he showed he fit in with an unusual ability to laugh at himself.

--snip--

No surprise, Bruce is getting the last laugh. Heading into this season, in many circles he was considered baseball's best positional prospect. Yet, a start that included 16 hits in 30 at-bats is an attention grabber, no matter what the expectation.

Asked to explain his Red-hot start, Bruce said simply "Sample size."

The best part of that entire article?

Volquez: Another Pedro?

Um, no.


So here we are, one month into the season. One month? Jay Bruce's torrid start in 2008 is just a memory faded by a poor approach and unbelievably bad luck. I'm pretty sure the Jeff Franceour Hall of Fame plaque was melted down after he was unceremoniously shipped out of Atlanta. Jason Heyward...well, he's just awesome. What can I say?

As for Austin Jackson, I think Kurt at Bless You Boys says it best:

Just be sure to keep a spoonful of perspective when thinking about it. I get the feeling some people out there would have been happy to swap the players one-on-one knowing what they do today. But asking "Granderson Who?" before 20 percent of the season has even been completed is a bit too much for me.

If you flipped Granderson's completely bad luck on balls in play (.267) with Jackson's unsustainable good luck (.500+), would you like this trade nearly as much?

Of course, many still would, and we heard from them throughout the offseason.

But give a little time for the hots and colds to even out before making too definitive of a statement. The season doesn't end the first weekend in May; a lot can change.

Indeed, the future is bright for Jackson--something I think few will dispute--but let's not fool ourselves into thinking that he will continue on this path. I'm not saying it's not possible, I'm just saying that it has never been done before in the history of baseball and to continue in this way would make him the best hitter of all time. But yeah, he could totally do it.

The point is this: Austin Jackson has made the impression that we all needed him to make. He is our anesthetic for the trade that shook up the town. He is the future. He has been a key reason that the Tigers have been able to win night after night--even after their starting pitchers imploded one by one. And while I advise caution, please, as we all set our expectations for the rest of the season, we can shoot for any number of things instead of say, shooting for the moon.

How about Rookie of the Year, to start? Or even better, just be good enough to keep the Tigers in a playoff hunt. There's no reason to believe that either of those are out of reach.