From the Collection: Paul Goldschmidt, 1b, St. Louis Cardinals
Paul Goldschmidt had a career year in 2022, hitting .404/.578/.981 with 35 HR. He led the league in slugging, OPS, and OPS+.
Collecting Cleveland Baseball Since 1982
Collecting Cleveland Indians Topps team sets from 1952-present, as well as post-war minor and major league autographs.
New Arrival: Mike Schmidt, 3b, Philadelphia Philles
Mike Schmidt spent 18 seasons in the big leagues and would retire with 548 HR, and a career 148 OPS+. He was selected to 12 All-Star teams, and won 10 Gold Gloves and six Silver Sluggers. He won three NL MVP awards.
New Arrival: Russell Branyan, if, Cleveland Baseball
Russell Branyan was a very well thought of prospect when he was coming up through the minors. In 1999 he was Cleveland’s #1 prospect, and was through to the premier power hitter in all of minor league baseball.
New Arrival: Wladimir Balentien, of, Seattle Mariners
From 2004-2008, Wladimir Balentien was one of the Seattle Mariners best hitting prospects. He was projected to be a power-hitting outfielder and a solid outfield defender. But like so many power-hitting prospects, he struggled to make contact in the majors. He did not have the same issue in Japan.
From the Collection: Quincy Nieporte, 1b, Detroit Tigers
Quincy Nieporte is a 27-year-old first baseman in the Detroit system and spent all of 2022 with AA-Erie. A 26th-round pick, Nieporte really isn’t a big prospect, but that does not stop him from putting up some big numbers.
From the Collection: Eugenio Suárez, if, Seattle Mariners
Eugenio Suarez had one of the better seasons of his career in 2022, with a 129 OPS+ and 31 HR. Suarez has a rough 2021 (82 OPS+), so this was a very nice bounceback campaign for him. And it was great for Seattle as well, since he was no small[…]
From the Collection: Don Mattingly, if, New York Yankees
I am not a Yankees fan by any stretch of the imagination. But in the late-1980s, Don Mattingly was one of the most well-known players in the game, so I was well aware of his career. And I was also from Cleveland, so it’s not like there was anyone on the Indians who were going to outshine him.
From the Collection: Zack Greinke, sp, Kansas City Royals
Zack Greinke ended his 2022 campaign by going 4-9 with a 3.68 ERA/1.343 WHIP/111 ERA+ over 137 innings. At 38 years old and 19 seasons at the big league level in the books, you have to think his career is just about to wrap up. It has certainly been an impressive career
New Arrival: Doug Nikhazy, sp, Cleveland Guardians
Doug Nikhazy was drafted by Cleveland in the 2nd round of the 2021 draft out of the University of Mississippi. He does not have the super high ceiling you would expect with a second-round pick. But he is a lefty with four decent pitches, so there is lots to like.
Topps Now: 2021 Cleveland No-Hitters (Four of them…)
Nothing illustrated the anemic 2021 Cleveland team more than the fact that they were no-hit three–and really four–times during the season. Insane.