Parallel-Insanity

So with the release of 2014 Bowman Draft and Bowman's horrible decision to include Luis Torrens, I now have a new rainbow to chase. And boy is it fugly.

In 2014 Bowman Draft, Luis Torrens has the following...

Paper Rainbow:
Base
Red
Blue
Black
Asia-Exclusive Black
Green
Silver Ice
Red Ice
Purple Ice
White Ice
Orange Ice
Four different printing plates.

Chrome Rainbow:
Base
Refractor
Super-Jumbo Refractor (WTF?)
Blue
Black
Green
Blue Wave
Red Wave
Silver Wave
Black Wave
Gold
Orange
Purple
Red
Superfractor
Four different printing plates.

If my math is correct (and it usually isn't) then that's a total of 34 different colored cards I'd theoretically need to get from this one product. THIRTY-FOUR!

Now I'm one who's usually willing to forgive parallels because having parallels in moderation can be a good thing since it stimulates a good chase. But this is a bit too excessive for even me.
I mean, of the 34 different parallels I listed up there:
*Eleven of them are 1/1's.
Eight printing plates, a 1/1 Black paper parallel, the White Ice paper parallel and of course the superfractor.

*Seven of them are exclusive to certain types of boxes/continents.
The black paper, black refractors and white ice parallels are exclusive to hobby boxes.
The orange ice paper parallels are exclusive to the jumbo boxes.
The green paper parallels and "super-jumbo refractors" are exclusive to the super jumbo boxes.
The Asia-exclusive black paper parallels are only found in 2014 Bowman Draft Asia Edition.

*Two of them are pretty much the same
The black 1/1 paper parallel and the Asia-exlusive black paper parallel are pretty much the same except that one has 1/1 stamped on the back.

Now those three bulletpoints alone are scary. But here's the scariest part, it could've been worse. A LOT worse. Looking through just the Chrome parallels I can name at least six parallels Bowman could've included to drive collectors even more insane.

Actually no, that's not the scariest part. The scariest part is that all of these parallels are for recently drafted minor leaguers in the 2014 Bowman Draft set. Even though I'm a prospect head, I can't imagine anybody sane actually willing to invest so much time and money into players that have yet to reach the majors and whose value only comes from "potential." (Note, families and close friends of the card subjects do not count).

Now, I understand why Topps/Bowman does this. They need certain parallels to be exclusive to certain kinds of boxes so they can move more units. What's the point in buying a box that's three times more expensive if the contents are the same? They need a gimmick to help out sales on their new Super Jumbo boxes while also making sure hobby boxes and regular jumbo boxes keep selling. But knowing that doesn't help. In fact I dare say that it makes it worse.

Looking at that giant list again I'm suddenly reminded of Night Owl's post about the impossible Puig checklist. He mentioned how Yasiel Puig had 42 different cards in 2013 Topps Update. And yes that's quite a task but keep in mind that those 42 cards can be divided into four different entities, US46 (and its parallels), US250 (and its parallels & short print variations), US330 (and its parallels), and finally inserts (and one autograph). This time you've got 34 different variations for basically one card. And if you're going after a player with an autograph (the autographs have 34 parallels too) or an insert in this set (inserts have parallels too) or an insert autograph you're probably going need to track down nearly 100 different cards when it's all said and done.

Then I'm reminded of one more part of that Night Owl post. The very end where he reminisced on how there was a time when you could accumulate every card of a player with just one card. Now by the time I came into this hobby parallels were already engrained into the collecting world so I've never known a world where there weren't any parallels. In fact, what's pretty disappointing is that almost all of the players I chose to focus on have parallels.

*Luis Torrens - He has at least 34 parallels in this product alone
*Dellin Betaces - Just Rookies, Tri-Star & Upper Deck made a complete Betances collection impossible
*Hiroki Kuroda - His Hiroshima Carp era cards even have parallels!
*Jack Chesbro - Even Chesbro T206es have parallels (Piedmont backs, Sweet Caporal backs, etc...)

Okay at this point I'm just rambling about some minor #FirstWorldProblem that doesn't have an effect on the world in any way and I apologize for that. It's just that ever since I read that Night Owl post, there's been a small part of my brain going "man, it'd be nice to say I own every Luis/Dellin/Big Hirok/Cervelli card in this year's *insert product name here* with just one card." And these 34 new cards are basically Topps/Bowman's way of giving me the finger.

What's worse is that I'm sure they're not done here. Now that Torrens is on the map (in addition to the previous accolades he was recently picked as the ninth best prospect on Baseball Prospectus' top 10 Yankees prospects list) it's only a matter of time before he's inserted into products like Pro Debut and Heritage Minors, two products that also keep adding more parallels with every new edition.

So to all of you future player collectors out there, go for guys who aren't highly touted at all and yet managed to make it to the majors and stay there (like Shane Greene). Otherwise you'll have to track down 1000 of their pre-rookie cards and then 2000 more after they make it to the majors.
And to all you future team collectors out there. Just give up now and look for another hobby. It's better for your health (and wallet).

Anyway thanks for stopping by and tolerating my negativity (or not).
Take care everybody :).

Wob Balked!

A while back I said I was going to stop doing trade posts because I'm too lazy (also because I no longer trade with people, I just Zap people and they surprise me back), but today I received a package from Bob Walk The Plank that's so great that that rule can be broken. Now Bob Walk The Plank has sent me a lot of great cards in these past few months that I've integrated into other planned posts but this latest one just demands to be seen immediately.
I mean take a look at this!

THAT, my friends, is Luis Torrens' black On Fire die-cut auto from 2014 Leaf Valiant. Why's it so special? Well...

It might be a little hard to see but this fine specimen is numbered THREE OUT OF FIVE!
Matt knows that Zippy goes Zappy for Torrens, and boy am I Zappy for this card. It's the second Torrens I have that's numbered to five and they're both numbered 3/5.

Matt, I don't know what you had to do get this (was it the eBay auction that only went for under $10 shipped?) and I have no idea how I'm going to pay you back. Well okay I have a few ideas. Or at least I did until I saw the other cards Matt sent along.

Yep, BWTP included those four A-Rod relics with the Torrenator. And they're all from special sets. The Topps 60 & Gypsy Queen relics are from 2011, the year I came into this hobby.
The ASG relic is from 2005 Topps, the very first pack of cards I ever got was 2005 Topps (series 2).
The Turkey Relic, well, I don't have any special ties to 2005 TR but the original Turkey Red featured some greats who played for the Highlanders, so there's that!

Thanks a lot for the great cards Matt, they're wonderful!

As always thanks for stopping by and take care :).

Introducing The Torrenterion Collection

Recently I put up a new page on my blog that I like to call the Torrenterion Collection (aka my Luis Torrens Collection). I've gathered and posted all of my Luis Torrens PC pieces on the page. It's listed in chronological order from the Torrenators' first cards to his latest cards.
I would like to say, for the record, that even if you come across or come into possession of a Torrens card and you want to send it my way but already see it on that page, just send it to me anyway. I'll never say no to giving a good Torrenator a good home, my home.

Now onto some recent pickups.
As expected progress on my LUIIIIISSSSSSSSSSS 2013 Bowman Chrome rainbow stopped but I've slowly accumulated a few of his other cards in recent times.

Like this Gold Prismatic 1/1 auto from 2014 Leaf Metal Draft that I referred to as Omega Luis when the Wampa attacked.
As you can see it's Leaf's answer to the superfractor in the Bowman brand, right down to the way the card looks with those weird (yet cool) circle things that make the card shine. Literally.
Now even though this card is cool and all I do have two major problems with it. One is that it uses the same picture Panini used for the Torrenatrix's base card in 2013 Panini Perennial Prizm Draft. Second, this thing is called a "gold prismatic" refractor. See when I think of the word "prism" in the cardboard world I don't think of Leaf, I think of Panini. So the only conclusion I can draw from this is that Leaf is now trying to be the poor man's Panini, and that's not good (although it's very appropriate).

As you can see it is indeed a 1/1 and my third Torrens 1/1 in my collection.

Next is this die cut from 2013 Panini Elite Extra Edition. Torrens die cuts from EEE don't appear too often and the autographed versions are all redemptions that have yet to be "redeemed" (no way I'm wasting money on a code though, I'll wait until a live one pops up).

This one is Torrens' most recent non-licensed card. It's from the very ignored and very forgettable Leaf Valiant. Naturally there are like a billion different variations of Torrens alone that I don't have the time or money to chase. Ugh. Despite that I do like the way this card looks. You don't see too many die-cuts shaped like flames.

This particular one is the orange parallel of these On Fire die-cut autographs. I decided to go after this particular one out of both desperation and because orange is the best color to go with when it comes to flames. Although I hate how this is numbered to 50. Not because it's numbered, exactly, but because when I think of orange chrome-y parallels, I think of them being numbered to 25 thanks to Bowman.
So thanks a lot of Leaf, first you try to be the poor man's Panini and then you don't even try to be the poor man's Bowman. I expect you to make up for your blunders by living up to your company name and including marijuana leaves in your future products. I'll have the Zig Zags ready.

I picked up this green die-cut because it was cheap. Even though it's green it's not numbered and apparently the base version of this die-cut auto insert. See this is why I no longer bother to keep up with parallels and just go after them at random.

Pulled in the very last pack of my 2014 Bowman Draft hobby box. This card is just so cool. I was really worried that Bowman was going to use a pic of Torrens that they already used before but instead we get this really awesome shot of Torrens in catching gear in presumably the GCL (hence the fences).

So anyway thanks again for stopping by to witness me just showing off my latest LUIIIIISSSSSSSSSS cards :).
As always thanks for stopping by and take care :).

Revisiting Profiles: John Frill

Alright, it is time to revisit John Frill.
Just who was John Frill?
How did his professional baseball career go?
What kind of pitches did Frill throw?
What was his life like before baseball?
What was his life like after baseball?

These are the questions I dared to ask when I decided to look up Frill The Thrill.

Much like Lefty Davis, a lot of information about John Frill has been lost over time. But lets try and uncover as much as we possibly can.
John Edmond Frill was born on April 3rd, 1879 in Reading, PA. Frill was a left-handed pitcher who batted right. By 1906 he had become a professional baseball player as he played for the Springfield Ponies in 1906. In 1907 he spent some time in East Liverpool but spent the end of the season with the Newark Sailors. Frill spent the following two seasons in Newark and was allegedly a star pitcher for the Sailors/Clevelands (I say allegedly because I haven't been able to confirm whether or not BR Bullpen's claims are accurate). On August 6th, 1909 John Frill was sold to the New York Highlanders for $2,500 (adjusted for inflation that's aprox. $63,225.45 today).

He started the 1910 season with the Highlanders and made his MLB debut on April 16th, 1910 against the Boston Red Sox. John Frill out dueled Frank Arellanes and the Highlanders won 4-2. The victory was also the first Highlanders win of the 1910 season. During the 1910 season John Frill appeared in 10 games for the Highlanders and started five of them. He struck out 27 batters while only walking five batters and pitched to a 1.85 FIP (per Baseball Reference). There aren't too many reports about John Frill's outings or his time with the Highlanders but if his 60 ERA+ and -0.9 bWAR are any indication then it's no surprise that the Highlanders sold him to the Jersey City Skeeters on July 13th, 1910.

Frill spent the rest of the 1910 season and the 1911 season with the Skeeters. In 1912 he returned to the majors twice, first as a member of the St. Louis Browns where he started three games but only lasted 4.1 innings between all three outings combined. He and his 20.77 ERA were picked up off the waiver wire by the Cincinnati Reds on August 5th, 1912 where he fared a little better, but his stint with the Reds would be his final one as a major league baseball player. After his time with the Reds he spent the next three seasons playing for the Buffalo Bisons, Jersey City Skeeters (again), Toronto Maple Leafs (haha), Syracuse Stars and the Albany Senators. Overall Frill was a solid pitcher in the minors but was sort of a AAAA guy during his stints in the majors.
According to a few sources John Frill was drafted by the US government in 1917 and fought in World War I in 1917 and possibly parts of 1918. On September 28th, 1918, John Frill died due to influenza at the age of 39 in Westerly, Rhode Island.

And that was all I was able to come up with (again I'm NOT as diligent as Thom over at the fantastic site Baseball History Daily so who knows what I might've been able to uncover if I had gone the extra distance and looked up old newspaper archives). But for a handful of Google searches I think I managed to answer close to four of the six questions I had. Of course the two I didn't answer were about his personal life before his playing days (and I guess his post-baseball life wasn't exactly answered very well either) and what he threw but I wasn't really expecting to find much about that sort of information ranyway so I'll just appreciate what I could get.

Hopefully you all enjoyed this post (I sure enjoyed digging up old bits of baseball knowledge again).
And as always thanks for stopping by and take care :).

Sources:
*http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/f/frilljo01.shtml
*http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=frill-001joh
*https://baseballrevisited.wordpress.com/2014/02/14/baseball-and-the-saturday-evening-post-april-16-1910/
*http://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/John_Frill
*http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=46057322
*https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K8W4-MS7

*http://www.legendaryauctions.com/1910_11_m116_sporting_life_john_frill___300_subjec-lot90868.aspx
*http://sports.ha.com/itm/baseball-collectibles/photos/1913-buffalo-bisons-imperial-cabinet-photograph-thrilling-international-league-artifact-pictures-the-members-of-the-club-t/a/709-19607.s#Photo