OT: Home Run Derby
 

Did anyone watch this?
First round Bour vs Aaron Judge was impressive!
And then Judge winning with multiple 500+ foot shots. So much power. Incredible. Always a favorite event for me and my kids to watch.
The home run ball is alive and well in MLB!

My Minnesota boy Sano made the finals, can't complain.

When is a RC not a RC?

Loved the home run contest, and Judge is in another world. He swings easy and hits home runs, he mis-hits balls and hits home runs, and when he connects it goes a mile. Plus he seems like a really great guy too. As a Yankee fan, i am so glad he is a Yankee!!!!!

Judge toyed with the best homerun hitters in the game tonight.

Effortless oppo power. 513 foot bomb. A roof shot.

Kid has got serious star quality. Love this kid.

You can call that a rookie if you like; define your own terms ;)

Don't care about the HR Derby myself. It's just fancy batting practice. :D

Couldn't agree more. The flashiness of this event is everything that's wrong with pro sports, IMO.

I guess I'm somewhere in the middle. I think it is good for the game and highlights all the young star power dudes. And kids love it. But personally I couldnt watch more than a few minutes of it before getting bored.

I enjoy it typically. And I have watched it with my wife and kids for years. It's kind of an event for our family. But it is getting to be more and more of a carnival side show or WWF type event with all the hype and the DJ. But there's just something about the home run ball!

Stanton's round was the most exciting for me. It was my first time watching Judge hit besides highlights and he is crazy strong. Seemed like he was hitting in a video game the way the ball was carrying.

I really like the new derby format. When the bonus time comes on and a guy only has 30 seconds to hit 2 or 3 home runs it was genuinely exciting. I also enjoy seeing all the players pump each other up rather than show each other up like is so often the case during games.

Still like to watch the derby, it was the announcers that I had a tough time handling.

I was impressed with Jessica Mendoza's patience as an announcer. She would make points and then either Tex or Ravech would just repeat what she said like it was their idea. Couldn't have been easy to sit through.

It's not for purists but still, it's pretty good theater, like the slam dunk contest. What the hell.

Cards match the RC limits set by MLB

http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/official_info...egulations.jsp


So if the player hasn't had a RC season as defined by MLB the card is considered a pre-rookie or prospect card.
This is obviously a change since the 80's and 90's (even then the term XRC was used arbitrarily) and I believe it was implemented when MLB tightened the reigns on licensing for cards.

So if you wanted to buy a Judge RC which one would y'all recommend?

I agree. Unfortunately, life and society in general have become more like a carnival side show or WWF type event with hype.

Here's mine:

http://i107.photobucket.com/albums/m...psjpkicpbs.jpg

So why wasn't Judge a rookie in 2016? He had not had a prior season that would disqualify him.

A player shall be considered a rookie unless, during a previous season or seasons, he has (a) exceeded 130 at-bats or 50 innings pitched in the Major Leagues; or (b) accumulated more than 45 days on the active roster of a Major League club or clubs during the period of 25-player limit (excluding time in the military service and time on the disabled list).

Right, but he didn't exceed RC limits in 2016 either. So Topps couldn't consider that 2016 card his rookie. Not until he exceeded RC status for the season are they allowed to use the "RC" logo.

I see your point, but this is just the answer as I understand it not my opinion. Some collectors, myself included, will include any card that was put out in conjunction with other major leaguers within a set (as opposed to a set that was only MiLB and prospects). That just isn't the technically defined status as determined by MLB and Topps.

So? You obviously can't wait for a season to be over before assigning an RC designation. By the definition you quoted someone could have multiple rookie seasons. That definition makes sense in voting for rookie of the year (that is, Judge is STILL a rookie for 2017 because he didn't previously exceed limits), not for cards.

Aaron Judge
 

Total BEAST!!!!!!!!looks like the real deal...left everyone with their jaws dropping...I broke down and picked up his 2013 bowman chrome raw for $60.00 at a card show....I love the bowman chrome and they are always their "true rookie"..... id rarely buy new "shiney " stuff, but this guy is ridiculous!! I had to do it...id love the auto refractor 2013 bowman chrome, but I could not bear to spend more than the $60.00 I did spend....

I liked the format(time on clock,ect), but I don't think "pitbull" was appropriate for kids, bad TASTE:eek:......it was not great at all, I enjoyed the dancers, but singing about taking off your clothes and smacking the dancers ass in front of little kids was bad taste:o imho.....pitbull is a loser imho:D should have saved that for his backstage and not in front of little kids..

:)

I have been into collecting Judge for a while now, along with Sanchez, Frazier, Bird, and other young Yankees.

Here is a good list of Judge's— let's just call them Top Tier— cards, for you or anyone interested. Would have been helpful had I seen a list like this when I began, so as my recently departed nana said, "Do unto others..."

I won't rank them since they are all in the premiere bucket, so to speak:

- Topps Heritage Real One Auto Red and Blue

- Topps Heritage SP 'action variation.'

- Topps Archives Bazooka Auto, FFA Auto, and Rookie Stars Auto, these come in a base white border, with very rare colored parallels.

- Topps Heritage "dual" card with Tyler Austin - rare variations (Heritage makes special Gold Refractors/5, Blue Refractors/68, Chrome Refractors/568, as well as Flip Stock variation/5, Gray Back/10, Yellow Back/25, and Blue Border/50.)
The Refractors are quite attractive IMO in hand, and the Blue Border as well. The Flip Stock is very cool in hand, perhaps my favorite.

- 2013 Bowman Chrome Draft Auto, and its various colored parallels.

- 1987 style Topps Series 1 (2017) Auto

- Topps Now also does some very cool and noteworthy collector-driven cards to commemorate specific highlights.

Hope that helps.

I would feel neutral about the derby except that these days every game is already seems like a home run and strikeout derby. I like field action, which is missing more and more in baseball, instead of just power hitting and pitching.

Lets face it....
 

baseball has taken a back seat to football....we need some excitement to keep it relevant .....although I love the history, these hr monsters are the future of baseball....

football is much easier to play than baseball imho.....and im sick of all the losers in football.....too "hyped" and ever idiot talking about football...:D

ok, let the bashing begin:)

People just have a different opinion of what constitutes excitement. I like good fielding, plays at the plate, base running and stealing. I also enjoy home runs when there are a moderate number. A long solo home run and three strikeouts in an inning is not exciting to me put clearly is to others.

By the time Lou Piniella won Rookie of the Year in 1969, he had been on four Topps Rookie Stars cards.

1964 w/Washington
1965 w/Baltimore
1968 w/Cleveland
1969 w/Seattle

Bill

Hope Judge doesn't turn out to be juiced. Amazing.

Rob M

btw....
 

did I mention pitbull sucks!!!:D

I am in a bitching mood today:eek:

somebody was feeding this kid hgh in his gerber!lol.....I think he is just a freak and not juiced....a rare talent as multi sport....just a beast!

get the bowman 2013 chrome :D

double post

I don't understand it. In early 2017 when his first cards of the year came out how would anyone know he would exceed rookie card status in 2017, he could have played 5 games and got hurt, in which case he still would have been a rookie in 2018. Ex ante, a 2016 card after he was called up is the same as a 2017 -- at the time it's printed and either receives a designation or doesn't, you can't know what his numbers are going to be for the year.

The problem as I see it with your analysis is that you are using hindsight but a card has to be either designated or not at the time it's printed.

Didn't we find Bill Davis was on 6 or something like that LOL.

Yeah but the masses love the long ball. Witness McGwire and Sosa. People don't have patience to appreciate an intense, chessmatch of a 12 pitch at bat.

When we were all 12 year old kids we dreamed of hitting the grandslam farther than anyone else to win the game. No kid dreams about working out a 12 pitch walk or laying down a drag bunt.

And Fernando Tatis- a name I had not heard for a long time, throwing to Sano I believe. Tatis notoriety comes from 2 grand slams in one inning. Absolutely crazy. Lots of cool story lines. Stanton as the favorite getting knocked off in 1st round, Bellinger's dad pitching to him, lots of players with their kids on the field, just good stuff. I had never watched the celebrity all-star game, but it was neat to see guys like Rickey Henderson, Andre Dawson, Livan Hernandez, Fred Lynn, Tim "Rock" Raines, and others just tattooing the softball. It was cheesy but entertaining.

I remember the days of McGwire vs Sosa. 1998. Such a battle. That was my favorite year of baseball. Their home run chase was epic, although significantly tainted now.

Yeah, but the squeeze play in Major League (if I have my movies right) was a thing of beauty.

Precisely. We all know baseball fans and the general public became intensely interested in baseball again during the 1998 season.

Then the fact of PEDS became apparent, and we were let down, disappointed, and disillusioned.

Now we have Aaron Judge, an elderly rookie, but a rookie by the standards of MLB today. In only 83 games, he breaks Joe DiMaggio's 81-year old record for home runs by a Yankee rookie. He is unusual for today---a nice guy in the swirling hysteria of THE BRONX ZOO. His attitude and approach to the game leaves everyone with the highest respect for him---except the assholes who never have anything good to say about anybody.

He put on a sterling performance at the Home Run Derby.

He's got collectors buying out ANY new product that might contain a Judge.
Topps had better put their best card designer, and the one with the best taste in selecting the finest photos, in charge of his cards, 'cause some of them are not that appealing. Rarity is swell, but if the card does not have a compelling WOW photo, it's a piece of "so what". Too many bells and whistles have ruined otherwise nice cards. Just sayin'.........

Aaron Judge is good for baseball, the Yankees, collectors, and America.

There's the matter of the second half of the season.....

Hey, let's just keep enjoying the journey and rooting for the kid.

I'm nobody, but I bought my first modern card of this millennium the night Aaron busted DiMag's record. It's just an ungraded Topps Heritage Bazooka, but the card looked terrific---won it.

Nobody can know for certain what the rest of 2017 holds for Mr. Judge, but he's got a great organization behind him to help him, along with his teammates, and I hope he continues to excel. May God continue to bless him!

---Brian Powell

Here, here!

https://www.collectorfocus.com/image...oka-judge-auto

Judge
 

As a Yankee fan I have to be happy with Both Judge and Sanchez. I cannot keep up with requests from friends and Family for anything Judge. I bought a 50 card lot of his 2013 Rookie cards (Rookie cards?) and passed them out but they were gone by end of June. . I always wonder do young stars help the hobby or take $ out of the pockets of mostly vintage collectors? Either way lots of fun at the Stadium these days.

I think there already are probably 5 Judge cards for every person on the planet. :)

John Sterling? Radio announcer John Sterling???

Rookie card Status
 

When you are on the opening day Roster then you qualify for RC status. The late season call ups do not get that designation. But Judge has been on Bowman cards since 2013 and Topps since 2014. His first Topps card 2014 Heritage Minor League . He is in 2 Topps Pro debut sets 2015 and 2016. Gary Sanchez was on Bowman cards since 2010 and is in Pro Debut sets from 2011 till 2015. That said this years Topps Chrome with the RC will be, (based on recent star on the rise history) very highly collected. Like a couple other folks that posted Judge's rise coupled with birth of my First Grandchild (a Boy) has had me pre ordering lots of product this year. With a Full case of Topps chrome jumbo's being my largest purchase.

Ah. Finally, a clear explanation, although not necessarily one I agree with. Thanks Jon.

But ... Cody Bellinger wasn't on the opening day roster was he?

holy moly the asking prices!!!!!!!

https://www.topps.com/collectibles/t...HRDerbyYankees

NOT Asking prices. That is what they got. Sdold out in about 10 minutes.. There goes the Judge..

Manufactured scarcity, Exhibit A.

..

Fact us most of the Topps now autographed cards can be bought on secondary market like ebay for less than original price. Many just buy to flip and find they wait weeks some times months for card and a lot if things can happen to a hot rookie in a couple months... like Trevor Story's story from last year. Or Kris Bryant ROY, MVP, dose not make All star team ...Market for hero's always has been about what have you done lately..I hope Judge and Sanchez have long productive careers. But for their cards to sell and fame used equipment sell for Thousands...that I will never understand.

Well,

Supposedly MLB routinely tests the baseballs, they are ok, within MLB standards.

The bats are what they are.

Something is very different this season. The home run total for the league is going to be smashed. Yonder Alonzo ? is on pace for 30 or 40 homers. So is Smoak, and Morrison. Moose is on pace for about 50. NOTHING about the Royals are different this season. The fences weren't moved in, we didn't add home run hitters, yet the team is going to best their home run total by a good margin . ?

Is Judge juicing, I have no idea. But something in the game changed. I do think players are juicing, who is or isn't beats me. I have no proof, just an open mind that something in the game is going on.

Baseball only tests for what they deem illegal.

It's rather remarkable after what we lived through in the 80s that I have yet to see a single article questioning whether anyone is juicing. All about the ball. Rather remarkable lack of a collective spine in baseball journalists. Maybe no one is. But isn't the question worth considering?

In three minor league seasons Judge hit 50 some home runs and hit in the .270s. His meteoric rise does seem incredible at age 25, but who knows.

We all remember Joe Charboneau.. Baseball is a funny game..

Super Joe had minor league totals similar to his MLB numbers.

The numbers the players are putting now, are very out of the norm.

This is in essence what's wrong with modern cards. THERE'S TOO DAMN MANY OF THEM! :-)

None of the new made up rules for "RC" logo cards seem to make much sense. Topps actually did make one RC logo Judge/Tyler Austin dual card in an obscure release in 2016 available only to Yankee Stadium season ticket licensees as part of a 3 card gift set to certain members of Yankees legacy club...

Not sure if most collectors are even aware of this issue.

I was at the HR Derby (and ASG as well). With the heavy hispanic/latin influence Miami was a great place for the festivities. What they did with the Latin American members of the HOF with the first pitch was very nice.

Seeing the HR derby live was pretty cool. It was a different experience than what I have seen on TV as it is easy to tell at the crack of the bat if it is going out. Judge had a few that hit high on the pane glass/back wall. I was a bit bummed that it wasn't Stanton vs Judge in the end, but Sanchez did very well to beat Stanton and Giancarlo had a very slow start.

The AS game was tough to watch. Not a ton of action, a lot of substitutions, relievers. I was ready to go about 4 innings in, but stayed for the entire thing. When it went to Extra's I was dreading it a bit, but Cano did us a favor and ended it quickly. I had an early Tee Time yesterday morning, so it had been a long day after a very long night the night before - so maybe it wasn't as boring as I had actually felt - but more than half of the stadium had cleared out by the 7th inning - not sure if that was clear on TV.

I did hear that Topps was using fabric from Judge's socks at the derby to create some cards - and they were looking to go in the $1500 range. Just insane - I cannot fathom that anyone would desire that or be willing to pay for it - but then again some look at my collection and can't believe that I would spend my hard money on it...

Kevin here is a cheaper version that Topps produced, & is Sold out!
Still crazy for the price

https://www.topps.com/sock-relic-to-...topps-now.html

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This is why I have gotten rid of almost all of my new and shiny cards. SO volatile. SO much done on emotion. This weeks $10,000 bowman chrome rookie may not sell for 10% of that in a short time based on many factors, especially if someone else is getting hot. It's absolutely crazy.
But Judge is fun to watch.
I actually loved watching Bour swing out of his shoes launching bombs into right field. He was having a good time and putting on a derby clinic!

I don't really understand why collectors care, allow card companies to dictate, what some company or MLB decides is a player's RC. Who cares if a card has "RC" next to it in some guide if another card, with the player in his MLB uniform, came out 4 years earlier? Collect what you want - why care what MLB says you should collect?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1996-Fleer-U...kAAOSw0j9ZWUGk
Not sure how this is a rookie, but maybe by today's standards it is.

I agree with what you say about the derby and watching Judge.

It's just worth adding that one could say all collector choices are made on emotion. At least all my purchases are.

In terms of the volatility of modern, well of course when the player is active, especially before there is a long body of work, performance extremes will create price extremes. That's just par for the course with modern.

As someone who only collected PreWar and vintage, I find the thrill of rooting for a live player I collect to be something quite rewarding and fun— and it's a rush that only modern cards can provide. It coexists well with the other collecting pursuits.

I personally would prefer a 1995 card if I cared about Jeter, but I don't think it's that unreasonable to consider a card issued in the year that he was Rookie of the Year to be, you know, a rookie card.

Wasn't aware but unfortunately am now. To each their own, I can't stand much about MLB today including the. games, players and cards.....other than that it's great though.

Except that nobody in the hobby considers it his rookie card, and everyone in the hobby considers his 1993 cards to be his rookie cards.

Between the lines it's still the same game, fortunately.

Is it fair to assume then that anyone who has ever used the word prookie is not in the hobby?

Nobody considers Jeters' 1993 cards to be pre-rookies, as far as I know. 1993 is generally and widely considered to be his rookie cards. As has been discussed this is not consistent with the way people now think of rookie cards, but that's a different matter.

It's silly to think otherwise, imo, but I guess, for those that don't own one, choose to believe some of his later ones can also be considered his RC, especially if they read something to that effect in an article.
http://www.cardboardconnection.com/b...r-rookie-cards

Never really thought about it, but to what extent is that just because his minor league team was called the Yankees and wore pinstripes? It seems like if they had been called the Hound Dogs and worn lime green polka dotted uniforms it would be considered the textbook example of a prookie card. Certainly it is if any baseball card is, no? And I don't want my categorization to hinge on how some minor league team dresses, or, for that matter, on other people's inconsistent use of the English language. Many (most) of the people who would identify the 1993 SP as his rookie card would also tell you 1993 if you asked what year his rookie season in the majors was. So we have the tail wagging the proverbial dog.

What year was it issued? 1993
How many MLB games had he played in prior to that year? 0
That year? 0
The following year? 0
Eventually? 2,747
Did he have cards issued during the year of his MLB debut? Yes.
During the year he exceeded rookie limits? Yes.
Do more than zero people think that the use of the word "rookie" as in "rookie card" is the same usage of the word found in "rookie season"? Yes.

He is pictured in New York Yankees uniforms. I don't follow your point. The year before Mariano Rivera was pictured in street clothes but everyone considers his 1992 Bowman to be his rookie card. Back then, the thing was major manufacturer/major league set is all that counted.

I believe that's a Gulf Coast Yankees uniform, though of course indistinguishable from the New York version, but he wasn't with THE Yankees when the picture was taken. The street clothes issue is a good one and also makes my point; we shouldn't confer or withhold rookie card status because of what the guy is wearing in the photo. I wasn't collecting in 1992 or 1993, so I'll just defer to you on what was going on then. I'm only objecting to your claims about unanimity in the hobby about what is considered a rookie card and that it isn't tied to one's playing career.

Do Gulf Coast Yankees wear NY caps?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1993-SP-Dere...8AAOSwIhxZY9MZ

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1993-Topps-9...UAAOSw8gVYABGN

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Derek-JETER-...cAAOSwHLNZXGqT

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1993-Stadium...kAAOSwWdZZX8CF

Yes.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/DEREK-JETER-...oAAOSwDrNZW7Jm

Mind you there's also a picture of me wearing a New York Yankees cap in 1996, but that doesn't really prove I played for them.

Great points! I agree very much with the comment about purchases made on emotion. I can absolutely see how there would be a thrill and excitement at the success of people you collect. For me it was the opposite. It created more of an anxiousness than excitement. I collected Russell Wilson football cards and had quite a bit of cash tied up in those. Football is even much more volatile than baseball IMO with a shorter season and injuries etc. I sold them (and picked up a T206 Magie which I like much better) and so i enjoy watching games more now. I am exclusively prewar and vintage at this point and very content with it.

He clearly didn't play for them, and interesting on the uniform, but what can I tell you, in the day there was no question at all that the 93s were his rookies, and that 92 was Rivera's.

I think there is also universal, or close to it, consensus that the 1985 Topps Team USA card of McGwire is his RC. Back then it was the major manufacturer/major set criterion.

I'm told that Jesus was born in 6 B.C. I can't help but think that this is somehow related.