Yes, I'm Writing About Heritage Again

I was flipping through my binder, which needs to expand into three binders by the way (Braves/Orioles/Other), and I realized I only owned 3 cards from this year's Heritage release, and none of them Orioles. This. Had. To. Change. And so in my latest package from Just Commons, I got a start on an Orioles team set. 

I can't get enough of these cards, not the Orioles home uniforms, not the Orioles banner waving, not the staged poses, not even the beautiful blue sky.

First cards in the collection of Gausman, which can be expected as he only appeared in the majors starting in 2013. But J.J. Hardy? I guess I didn't see Hardy as someone who would be sticking around, but with a three year extension, appears I was wrong.

I like Heritage so much I couldn't stop at the major league release. I had to dip into the Heritage Minors set as well, picking up my first card of Tommy La Stella, Atlanta's likely second baseman going into next year. La Stella was 2nd on the team in average with runners in scoring position in 2014, second only to Jayson Heyward, per this article.

Christian Walker got some at bats in Septembers for the Orioles, after playing 95 games in AA Bowie and 44 games for AAA Norfolk. He hit a combined 26 homers in the minors and looks promising.

I've got my eye on some other cards from the Heritage Minors set, so those may show up here on the blog soon. La Stella also has a card in 2014 Update.

Something tells me I'm not done with the 2014 Heritage set yet.

Kershaw's Possible MVP Season

Clayton Kershaw is 18-3 with a 1.67 ERA.  How ridiculous is that?  Pretty much every pitching stat is a career best for him this season, and he's only 26 years old.  His win/loss percentage is .857. 

When looking at the all-time best ERAs for a season, Kershaw's 2014 campaign shows up 79th on that list, which sounds good, but when you take out anyone pre-1968, you get a number of seasons you can count on one hand with some room to spare.

Kershaw has been a pleasure to watch this season, and every season for that matter, and he's why I tune in to watch the Dodgers at least every 5th day, even if it's not live, and even if I'm doing something else with the game on in the background.  

It also makes me wonder why more collectors don't seem to value Kershaw like they value other stars like Trout.  Is it a position player/pitcher thing?  I'm OK with it as a Kershaw collector, by the way, just don't really understand it.

Here are some of the first Kershaw cards I added to my collection, all 2014 versions.  My favorite is the 2014 Heritage.  I will definitely be putting some team sets together from Heritage.  This is probably my favorite set from 2014 so far, even ahead of the shiny Chrome.

Here's a 2013 die-cut insert from Bowman Platinum that I picked up in a batch of cards from Just Commons recent.  The back of this one talks about Kershaw developing a slider that has turned into his best offspeed pitch.  Could it be his curveball now?  

I heard Kershaw talk to Colin Cowherd recently on the radio and he seems to be a humble guy who really has not let success get to his head.  It was also interesting to hear about his routine and how he prepares.  You can listen to the interview at this link.  Of course I'll be cheering for the Braves to make the playoffs and go far, the Orioles to go far, but if both of those teams come up short, I'll be cheering for Kershaw and the Dodgers to win a championship.

Now Collecting- Alex Wood

The Braves have somewhat righted the ship after a slump that put them 7 games behind the Nationals in the AL East and several games out in the wildcard hunt.  One of the reasons for them remaining in playoff contention has been 23 year old starting pitcher Alex Wood.  Wood is 10-10 with a 2.92 era for the season.  In his most recent start he struck out 12 Marlins in 8 innings, scattering 5 hits and not walking a batter.  You could argue Wood may be the long-term ace of the staff.  Add in the fact that Wood is from Charlotte, NC where I spent 5 recent years of my life and he's also a lefty, and you've got a player I want to collect.  I picked up a small lot of his cards off Just Commons to start off the collection.

A few rookies from 2013.  Apparently these two Chrome cards are from different sets, Bowman Chrome and Bowman Chrome Draft, but you could have fooled me.  They do have different color backs which I guess would make them easier to identify.

I enjoy a good minor league card.  It's especially neat to see minor league cards of players from teams in the South Atlantic League.  I was able to catch a game between the Rome Braves and Greenville Drive this year.  Just a few years too late to see Wood pitch there.  Also in this row, the most recent Topps design and a gold parallel.

Not the biggest fan of this year's Donruss, but for 15 cents I added it to the stack.  This year's Topps Heritage is one I will want a Braves team set from.

I noticed on the back of the Donruss card Wood is listed as throwing lefty and batting lefty.  On his Topps Heritage and 2014 Topps cards, Wood is listed as batting right handed.  Which is correct?  It appears batting right handed could be a recent development for Wood, or maybe the other cards simply have it wrong. 

A good start to the Alex Wood collection! Looking to add more, maybe cards from some minor league team sets.  I'll post my have list on my What I Collect page.