Baseball Card Blogs » texas rangers

Colby, Neftali, and Michael.

Spiff — Tue, 22 May 2012 01:01:00 +0000

So the Rangers won 6-1 yesterday to take the series from the Astros. Obviously the offense showed up finally but Colby Lewis was the star of the game to be sure. Colby started the game and went 8+ innings. He was lifted after he allowed a lead-off home run in the ninth inning that ended his shutout bid. He allowed just three hits other than that home run and struck out six while walking just one. If that wasn't enough, Colby also jumped in on the offensive side of things. He went 2-for-4 at the plate. While he did strike out twice he also drove in two runs. Not bad at all for an American League pitcher. Steve Busby summed it up nicely, "Atta boy Colby!"

So that's the good news. Couple of items of concern coming down today as well. First is Neftali Feliz, shown here on card 459 of the 2010 Topps Heritage set. The Rangers won his last start on Friday but Neftali took a no-decision as he struggled with his control. Today the Rangers placed him on the 15-day Disabled List for shoulder inflammation. That probably puts him out of action at least until after the All-Star break. At least there were no tears or structural damage in Neftali's shoulder. Scott Feldman is currently slated to step into Feliz's spot in the rotation and Yoshinori Tateyama has been called up from Triple A to replace Feldman in the bullpen. Not sure if that will be the permanent fix or if something else will happen. Jon Daniels says that all options are on the table and that the club has not ruled out trying to sign Roy Oswalt. Hope it's an extremely cheap contract with lots of incentives if they decide to go that way.

The second item of concern comes from Triple A Round Rock. Here is the Rangers official release by way of T.R. Sullivan's blog:

Arlington, Texas—Pitcher Michael Kirkman was diagnosed in January with a form of skin cancer during an examination that took place in Gainesville, FL, which is near his off-season home in Lake City, FL. Michael is currently undergoing regular treatment in Round Rock and is being continually monitored by his doctors in both Florida and Texas. He is allowed to participate in full baseball activity while undergoing the treatment, and the prognosis is for a full recovery.

Scary stuff. Glad to see that a full recovery is expected. Always hope and pray for the best whenever I see or hear of somebody facing the cancer fight.

Kicking off the Silver Boot.

Spiff — Sat, 19 May 2012 23:19:00 +0000

Nice 4-1 win in Houston last night to start the 2012 Silver Boot Series. Of course it's probably the final Silver Boot Series with the Astros moving the American League West next season.

Good to see the offense pick up and help Neftali Feliz out. About the only gripe I have is that Feliz went less than five innings. Even though he gave up just one run he was pretty wild and appeared to have been experiencing one of his confidence stumbles.

Robbie Ross continued to impress out of the pen as he worked 2.1 scoreless innings. Would have been nice to see him get a day off but it's also nice to have him there to cruise through the middle innings. Koji Uehara handled the eighth and then Joe Nathan came out and worked a three up-three down ninth. Very encouraging to see him do that on his fourth outing in four days. Looks like he may be completely back to his pre-injury form.

Ian Kinsler, Adrian Beltre, and Michael Young all turned in good offensive performances. Michael gets the card of the day though, number 87 in the 2005 ESPN set. Mike gets the card because his 2-for-3 night ended an 0-for-11 skid that he had been on. Great to see him have a good night after struggling. Hopefully that's what it will take to get him on track and tearing it up again.

Fergie Jenkins 1977 Burger Chef Disc – Front & Back

30-Year Old Cardboard — Sat, 19 May 2012 21:59:13 +0000

Fergie Jenkins 1977 Burger Chef Disc – Front & Back

We’re going back to the 1970′s this time. 1977 to be exact!

I had never seen these cards before until this one of Fergie Jenkins came across Ebay.

I quickly bought it and am now happy to show it off to you.

Here is the front:

And here is the back:

I was immediately intrigued by the card, so I sought out some more info.

This is courtesy of Beckett:

The individual discs measure approximately 2 1/2″ in diameter and contain a burger-related caricature on the reverse. There were nine discs on each tray; five on the front and four on the back. Each tray contained one team and there were 24 different trays, obviously one for each team. On the tray the copyright notice indicates 1977. The player photos are shown without team logos on their caps. We have sequenced this set in the following order: Houston (1-9), St. Louis (10-18), Texas (19-27), Boston (28-36), Baltimore (37-45), Minnesota (46-54), Cleveland (55-63), Kansas City (64-72), Chicago White Sox (73-81), Milwaukee (82-90), Detroit (91-99), San Francisco (100-108), Oakland (109-117), California (118-126), San Diego (127-135), New York Mets (136-144), Los Angeles (145-153), Montreal (154-162), Philadelphia (163-171), New York Yankees (172-180), Pirates (181-189), Chicago Cubs (190-198), Cincinnati (199-207), Atlanta (208-216). No 1977 expansion teams were featured in this set. Complete Panels are worth twice the amount of the values for each team.

Pretty neat, huh??

Odd Moments: Eye for trouble.

Spiff — Sat, 19 May 2012 02:58:00 +0000

Looks like the guys are on track for a win in Houston tonight barring an Astros rally. Since the game is still in progress though I don't want to jinx it by commenting. Instead we'll take a look at one of the Top 50 Strange Moments in Rangers history.

Coming in at number 27 we have Ned Yost, shown here on card 221 of the 1985 Donruss set. The December, 1983 Yost for Sundberg trade was one of the worst trades in Rangers history. This incident helps explain in part why.

In his lone season with Texas Yost appeared in just 80 games. Part of the reason for his low number of appearances was due to being on the disabled list.

Yost had been having trouble hitting and throwing out runners. Many people might have attributed that to the fact that he had been a back-up catcher for his entire Major League career to that point and was trying to transition to a full-time role at 29 years of age. Also, the comparisons with Jim Sundberg could not have been favorable in the minds of most observers. Manager Doug Rader wasn't buying. Something had to be wrong and it couldn't be his opinion of Yost and Sundberg.

Off to the disabled list went Ned. Why? "Excessive eyelid tension." The unique diagnosis was also described as "heavy eyelid tension." I thought that was what happened when you didn't get enough sleep. I never realized how serious it can be. It is though. At the time Doug Rader remarked that, "We're going to treat it just like knee surgery." Now that's bizarre.

Best Seasons: Jon Matlack – 1978.

Spiff — Fri, 18 May 2012 02:45:00 +0000

Extra innings loss this afternoon in Arlington. A's split the series and Mike Adams takes the L. Ends a seven game home stand at 3-4. Hopefully the guys can get it back on track against Houston. Might be a good time for another installment from T.R. Sullivan's 50 Best Seasons in Rangers History list.

Jon Matlack, shown here on a signed 1981 Topps card, had his best seasons with the Mets. However, he still had some gas left in the tank when he came to Arlington. 1978 was his first season with Texas and he joined a pitching rotation that included Fergie Jenkins, Doyle Alexander, and Doc Medich. Jon was supposed to bring some added firepower and he did.

Matlack made 33 starts and pitched 18 complete games for a total of 270 innings pitched. All three were team bests. His 2.27 ERA was also a team best, for the whole pitching staff. His 1.122 WHIP was second only to Fergie Jenkins. He tied Fergie for the team lead in strikeouts with 157.

Not bad numbers and the team stayed in contention as they finished second in the American League West. In addition to leading the team in several pitching categories that season, Jon also put his name in the franchise record book. His 2.27 ERA remains the lowest ever by any Rangers pitcher with at least 200 innings pitched in a season. Not too shabby.

Decisions: Four in one.

Spiff — Thu, 17 May 2012 01:10:00 +0000

Doing a rare no scan post today. Got busy before work and now I'm trying to get this posted on my dinner break. Due to the Rangers anemic offense and a couple of poor throws by Colby Lewis the Royals came out on top last night. Not much else to discuss so this strikes me as a good time to take another look at T.R. Sullivan's list of the Fifty Decisions that have shaped the Rangers as a franchise. The lack of a scan works out since the next few entries really don't have a specific player attached to them.

Number 24. San Diego. Astros owner Roy Hofheinz convinced the National League to expand in San Diego in 1969. Dallas had also been under consideration.

Number 25. Sorry Charlie. Charlie Finley started looking to move the Athletics out of Kansas City almost as soon as he bought them. In 1964 he tried to take the team to Dallas. The American League turned him down and the team later went to Oakland instead. That meant no Catfish Hunter, Reggie Jackson, or Vida Blue in Texas. As a side note: Mrs. Spiff is particularly grateful for this entry, she has no interest at all in the A's green and gold.

Number 26. Mike Stone. Eddie Chiles hired him as the club president in 1984. T.R. credits Stone with bringing a real sense of professional organization to the franchise.

Number 27. Sandy Johnson. Hired by Tom Grieve to oversee scouting and player development, he helped build the Rangers farm system into a real talent pipeline that eventually included Juan Gonzalez and Ivan Rodriguez.

Josh Hamilton’s key baseball cards heat up

chrisolds — Tue, 15 May 2012 20:51:10 +0000

By Chris Olds | Beckett Baseball Editor | Commentary

His bat is headed to Cooperstown, his baseball cards are headed upward.

That’s the easiest way to sum up Josh Hamilton‘s legendary week, one that saw him hit a record-tying four home runs against Baltimore and five more after that before his lucky bat couldn’t take any more and finally broke on Sunday.

That final blow — at least for that bat — meant the lumber was destined for the Hall of Fame and that even more attention was on his key baseball cards.

“All of his 1999 Rookie Cards were bumped up at least one level, and his 1999 Topps Traded Autograph has quickly become one of the most desirable cards in the hobby,” said Beckett Baseball Senior Market Analyst Brian Fleischer, who tracks values of cards daily. “Literally overnight, many of his certified autograph cards doubled in value.”

Hamilton has just four Rookie Cards, all made by Topps — Bowman, Bowman Chrome, Topps Traded and Topps Chrome Traded — and all depicting him as a member of the Rays organization, which drafted him with the No. 1 overall pick. His Bowman Chrome RC is the most valuable, often selling for $25 or less. (Need a Hamilton checklist or OPG? Click here.)

According to the Beckett.com database, Hamilton appears on 2,716 baseball cards with a total value of more than $22,900 not including cards too rare to price. He appears on 491 different certified autographs and has 576 different game-used memorabilia cards. While his Rangers cards might be the ones most sought-after by collectors now, his 1999 Topps Traded Autographs card is no slouch, checking in at $400 — $100 more than the night of his historic four-homer game.

“He’s been a solid seller during the early parts of the season,” Fleischer said, “but his four-home run game catapulted him to the top of many collectors’ want lists.”

Hamilton, a Panini America spokesman, most recently has had certified autograph cards in 2012 Topps, Museum Collection and Topps Tribute as well as 2011 Playoff Contenders.

Chris Olds is the editor of Beckett Baseball magazine. Have a comment, question or idea? Send an email to him at colds@beckett.com. Follow him on Twitter by clicking here.

1976 Topps – Juan Beniquez.

Spiff — Tue, 15 May 2012 18:57:00 +0000

Kind of frustrating last night listening to the ballgame. After playing the Angels hard, the Rangers couldn't score more than one run against the Royals. On top of that, a rare Adrian Beltre error led to two unearned runs to give Scott Feldman the undeserved loss. Time to start through the 1976 Topps team set.

Juan Beniquez appears in an obviously airbrushed uniform on card number 496. Gotta like the buttons and stitches around the collar. The reason for the airbrushing is that Juan came to the Rangers on November 17, 1975. The trade that brought him to Texas also brought Steve Barr and Craig Skok to the Rangers. In exchange Texas sent Fergie Jenkins to Boston.

Moving from a fourth outfielder role with the Red Sox, Beniquez became the Rangers everyday center fielder in 1976. In 141 games he logged 1,169 innings in center. His .986 fielding percentage was five points higher than the league average and his 18 assists were a league best. In fact, they were the most by an American League outfielder since Bobby Mercer managed 21 with the 1974 Yankees.

Juan made 526 plate appearances on offense. His batting average totaled to .255 and his on-base percentage to .315. While Beniquez didn't have a lot of power (he hit no home runs), he did have some speed. He managed to steal 17 bases while getting caught six times.

In retrospect Beniquez's performance in the field had probably been everything that the Rangers were hoping for in 1976. Unfortunately his offense had tailed off significantly from the previous season when he played with Boston. Juan was safe for the immediate future but he needed to get the offense up if he wanted to keep showing off his cannon arm in the outfield.

Texas Rangers Cards 2012-05-14 10:16:00

Spiff — Mon, 14 May 2012 17:16:00 +0000

With the series tied at one game apiece, Texas sent Neftali Feliz to the hill last night against the Angels in Arlington. Feliz lasted six innings and gave up two earned runs while striking out five Halos. Not a bad start but several pitchers have found out in the past that a better one is needed against Angels ace Jered Weaver.

Not the case last night though. The Rangers managed to hang eight earned runs on Weaver before he left after 3.1 innings. That was enough to give Feliz the win and hang a rare loss on Jered. Very nice to see the win coming against the division rivals' ace.

Amazingly, Josh Hamilton didn't hit a home run during the game. In fact, the Rangers hit just one long ball as compared to the Angels three. The one Texas homer was a good one though. Nelson Cruz, shown here on card DDC-101 from the 2012 Topps Diamond Die Cut set, hit it in the third inning off Weaver. At the time there were three runners on. Nellie's grand slam made up a major part of the Rangers five run third and helped put them back on top after the Angels briefly led the game 2-1.

The Texas bats kept rolling even after Cruz's blast. Even though reliever Mark Lowe struggled and gave up three runs in his two thirds of an inning pitched, the Rangers managed to stay on top. Final score: 13-6 Texas.

The bombing continues.

Spiff — Sun, 13 May 2012 02:40:00 +0000

Posting Josh Hamilton's 1987 Topps Mini card from this year's Topps set tonight. Texas lost today but Hamilton's home run torrent is continuing as he launched another bomb in the loss.

That gives Josh nine homers in his last six games. Incredible. That's about the only word for it. He's even got Rangers manager Ron Washington expecting something to happen about every time he steps into the batter's box.

The latest onslaught brings Hamilton to 18 home runs on the season. That total leads the Majors. It also puts him on pace to possibly break Barry Bonds' single season home run record. Of course there are those out there who would claim that such a record would be just as tainted as Bonds'. I find that hard to believe with all the extra drug testing that Hamilton is required to undergo by his team and Major League Baseball.

Two big things are going to stand in the way of Hamilton continuing his tear. One is the opposing pitchers. They have already started to intentionally walk him - he leads the league with five intentional free passes so far. Of course the fact that Elvis Andrus is doing well getting on base ahead of him and that he has protection behind him will help minimize that trend.

The second thing that could derail Josh is injury. Hopefully that is a non-issue but with the way he plays all out it is always a possibility. Of course, if he didn't play 110% he wouldn't be Josh so having him back off is not really an option. I do wish that he would do something about his head first slides. They make no sense going into first base and I cringe along with Ron Washington every time he does it.