350 is a magic number - the not terrible 2s

a few weeks ago i noted that i was pondering the idea of adding a number type mini-collection to my collection. of the options i considered - 190, 272, 350, or none at all - i decided to go with 350. 

i think i'll post cards from the same year of each decade, and so far i've shown the 8s, 7s, 6s, and 3s. this post will be all about the 2s.

1962 topps #350

frank robinson won his first mvp award in 1961, so here we have a clear application of card number 350 as a hero number. in fact, robby probably should have been card number 100. he would go on to win his second mvp award in 1966 after winning the triple crown, and wouldn't you know it - his 1967 topps card is number 100 in the set.

1972 topps #350 

frank howard hit a lot of home runs, and had led the national league in that category as recently as 1970. he was starting to decline at this point in his career, but still gave the first-year rangers a spot at a hero number on the checklist. seeing this card in a box of 1972 dupes is what inspired me to look at starting this mini-collection, for whatever that's worth.

1982 topps #350

thad bosley! no disrespect to the "white sox' most effective pinch-hitter of 1980", but his inclusion here discredits the notion of hero numbers altogether. and it's not as if he had a big postseason moment in 1981 for the brewcrew that might warrant the card number - he only appeared in 1 game of the divisional playoff (or "mini-playoff" as the card back calls it) without a plate appearance.

1992 topps #350

gregg olson was the 1989 american league rookie of the year, and he followed that season with several solid years in the oriole bullpen. perhaps his role in the 1991 no-hitter mentioned on the card helped his case for being featured at card number 350?

2002 topps #350

the oakland athletics had the misfortune of being in the same division as the seattle mariners who won 116 games as opposed to their total of 102 in 2001. as a result, the a's took the american league wild card in and faced the yankees who had won only 95 games. it didn't matter, as the yankees beat the a's in the alds by coming back from a two games to none deficit in the series. it's an interesting choice of words topps used on the back of the card regarding the team's "destructive offense". "juiced" has a certain connotation in baseball, and i suppose topps could have done this intentionally given the timeframe. when the mitchell report was released in 2007, jermaine dye was not among those players included in the findings, but jason giambi was. 

2012 topps #350

evan longoria was a solid choice for this spot on the checklist in my opinion. he was the face of the rays at this point, and had, as the card back states, just put the rays in the postseason as the wild card winner with a walk-off home run on the final day of the season. i remember watching the end of that game, and it was fun to see it happen in real time. longoria actually hit two homers that day as the rays came back against the yankees and a 7-0 deficit to win in 12 innings. although longoria's second dinger won the game, let's not forget dan johnson, who hit a solo home run with two outs in the ninth inning to tie it at 7. not so pleased were the red sox, who wound up missing out on the postseason as a result of longo's heroics.

i am tracking a few things in an effort to find any consistency with number 350, although there really isn't any. still, i am keeping track of the following occurrences, now through two posts:

number of reigning rookies of the year: 1 (kris bryant)

number of reigning mvps: 2 (frank robinson, robin yount)

number of reigning cy young winners: 0

number of reigning world series champions: 2 (keith hernandez, joe carter)

number of reigning pennant winners: 7 (frank robinson, steve garvey, robin yount, jack clark, keith hernandez, joe carter, clayton kershaw)

number of reigning league leaders: 7 (mel stottlemyre - complete games; robin yount - hits, doubles; keith hernandez - walks; kenny lofton - sb; chase utley - runs; david ortiz - doubles, rbi; clayton kershaw - wins, era)

subset types: 2 (all-time all-stars, postseason highlights (2))

number of repeat players: 0

number of dodgers: 2 (steve garvey, clayton kershaw)

frequency of teams: cardinals (4), mets (3), dodgers (2), astros (2), braves (2), twins (2), a's (2), reds (2), brewers (2), white sox, giants, indians, phillies, red sox, yankees, cubs, blue jays, angels, rangers, orioles, rays

i will have another post with another run of cards soon - stay tuned!