Active Leaders – Pitchers

Topps update series baseball is usually my favorite set. Normally, it wraps up the season with stars, All-Stars, rookie debuts and some inserts. In particular, you might get All-Star relic cards or All-Star autographs from that season’s All-Stars. However, 2020 is not normal. The MLB All-Star game was canceled this season and it’s a season with only 60 games. So, no 2020 All-Star relic cards in the set. Top rookies such as Jake Cronenworth and Cristian Javier aren’t in this set, either. For me, it’s not so attractive because I really like to collect baseball cards that highlight the All-Star game. But, I still bought some packs to see whether I can get some cool cards.

These free agents might be worth watching

Joc Pederson

Some players and some teams already made some decisions. Kevin Gausman and Marcus Stroman accepted qualifying offers. Drew Smyly signed a one-year contract with the Braves. Josh Tomlin also signed a one-year contract with the Braves. Robbie Ray inked the deal with the Blue Jays. Players such as Jose Peraza and Mallex Smith each signed a minor league contract. Top free agents such as Trevor Bauer and DJ LeMahieu are still available. In the meantime, on the free agent market, besides these top players, there are several players worth watching.

1961 & 2009 Then & Now (Base on Balls)

Off-season. Waiting for news on the free agent market. I spent a few hours re-classifying my baseball cards and saw a 2010 Topps heritage then & now. On the front, we can see Yankees legend Mickey Mantle and Adrian Gonzalez in the Padres jersey. On the back, it indicated that Mantle was the 1961 bases on balls leader and Adrian Gonzalez the 2009 bases on balls leader.  

MVPs are first basemen

Two first basemen won the MVP awards. Braves’ Freddie Freeman received 28 first-place votes in the NL MVP voting and Jose Abreu from the White Sox received 21 first-place votes in the AL MVP voting. Previously, Jose Abreu won the 2014 AL Rookie of the Year award and finished 4th in the 2014 MVP voting. Freddie Freeman finished 4th in the 2018 MVP voting. In the 2020 season, their outstanding performances convince the members of the Baseball Writers' Association of America.

Cy Young winners are from OHIO

Shane Bieber received 30 first-place votes, thus, he is the unanimous winner of the 2020 Cy Young award. He’s the 5th Indians pitcher to win the award. Trevor Bauer received 27 first-place votes and he is the first Reds pitcher to win the Cy Young award. Previously, they were teammates in the Cleveland Indians. Let’s look back to see how outstanding these two great pitchers are.

Mariners ROY(s)

Unanimous choice. Kyle Lewis won the 2020 American League Rookie of the Year award. He’s the fourth Mariners player who won the Rookie of the Year award, the other three winners from the Mariners are Alvin Davis, Kazuhiro Sasaki and Ichiro Suzuki. Among these 4 ROY winners, Kyle Lewis is the only unanimous winner. 

Joy of collecting baseball cards

As a baseball fan, watching baseball games is definitely one of the great things in our life. Meanwhile, collecting baseball cards also provides a lot of fun when you get something you want or something special. For me, there are a lot of great things to love about collecting baseball cards.

Splitter

The first time I heard of splitter was probably when former MLB pitcher Manny Hernandez played in Taiwan and the broadcaster indicated that splitter was his weapon. Back then, I was thinking that throwing a splitter was very common. Well, in the 2020 season, 17 pitchers threw at least 100 splitters.