2000 charleston riverdogs team set review

2000 Charleston RiverDogs team set
Official Score – two out DOUBLE
Manufacturer: MultiAd Sports
Sponsor: Pepsi
Retail price: $6.00

Believe it or don’t, I was actually writing up a review for a different team set review prior to the beginning of the MLB All-Star home run derby. In light of what went down in the “House that Josh Demolished,” I shifted gears and leagues to bring you this review of the 2000 Charleston RiverDogs team set. Yes, only the font remains the same.

So why this set? I offer…

This isn’t exactly one of Josh Hamilton’s first baseball cards since he appeared in several issues in 1999. Still, this remains highly collectible given the relatively low press run of most minor league team sets.

I find it intriguing that Beckett lists this card as no. 11 since there is no checklist. They must have organized the cards alphabetically by last name, including the mascots, to place Josh 11th. Although I don’t mind the concept of their alphabetical system, I do refuse to recognize mascot cards before players or coaches. Thus, I have created my own master checklist based on the system I have used with other Grandstand team sets- by player jersey number order with the nonessential cards dropped to the bottom.

Go ahead and read the list of players included in the 2000 Charleston RiverDogs team set. You may (or may not) be surprised by some of the names you recognize.

1 – [5] Frank Moore (2b)
2 – [8] Jorge Cantu (ss)
3 – [11] Castulo Valdez (c)
4 – [13] Josh Pressley (1b)
5 – [14] Derek Anderson (p)
6 – [15] Neal Frendling (p)
7 – [16] Chris Schrock (if)
8 – [17] Joe Kenney (p)
9 – [19] Brian Stokes (p)
10 – [20] Travis Minix (p)
11 – [21] Brian Martin (of)
12 – [22] Josh Hamilton (of)
13 – [23] Jose Ortiz (p)
14 – [24] Carl Crawford (of)
15 – [26] Brian Chwan (c)
16 – [27] Radhames Peguero (p)
17 – [30] Jose Rodriguez (p)
18 – [31] Jim Magrane (p) – ODD BACK PHOTO
19 – [32] Angel Batista (of)
20 – [33] Patrick Hertzel (p)
21 – [34] Jason Pruett (p)
22 – [35] Chairon Isenia (c)
23 – [37] Dan Grummitt (1b)
24 – [38] Jesse Cornejo (p)
25 – [45] Juan Salas (3b)
26 – [na] Milt Hill (pitching coach)
27 – [na] Charlie Montoyo (manager)
28 – [na] Dwight Smith (hitting coach)
29 – [na] Charlie (mascot)
30 – [na] Chelsea (mascot)

The 2000 Charleston RiverDogs team set is a MultiAd product. No credits are given for the player photos that have been isolated and placed over an interesting background that includes a pocket watch displaying high noon, a baseball, fragments of a couple of 1940s–era photos, a ticket to a baseball game and a few stray kernels of popped corn. A strip of solid purple that covers the left-most fifth of the cards contains player names and jersey numbers. That strip takes up to much real estate in my opinion, but what has been done is done.

While the card fronts contain a color RiverDogs logo, the backs include a small Tampa Bay Devil Rays logo. The backs are printed in greyscale and include a nice player headshot along with player stats and short bios. The cards have a semi-gloss finish that requires no preautographing preparation.

You may have been wondering what the Carl Crawford card looked like, so here it is. As you can see, not a whole bunch of variation from the Josh Hamilton pose. The set contains seven players in the act of hitting, wearing a couple of different uniforms, and facing pretty much every direction imaginable (within a batter’s box).

Frank “Frankie” Moore is one of three cards in the set that contains an image of a position player in the field. The front of Moore’s card would prove completely useless in trying to identify him in his street clothes. However, the small headshot on the back of the card would prove extremely useful in that undertaking. Frank Moore would go on to spend the 2007 season with the Triple-A Albuquerque Isotopes (Florida Marlins).

The Jorge Cantu card offers another look at position players in non-hitting poses included in this team set. This is also an example of one of the better photographs used in this set.

Here is the front of pitcher Jim Magrane’s card. Nothing to get riled about, but it works.

If you would then, please check out the headshot on the back (right). Is Magrane holding an arrow in front of his face, or is something messed up with the photo? After staring at is so long that I was beginning to develop my own magrane, I did a little Photoshopping to see if I could figure out what that straight line of seemingly foreign pixels was all about. My results (highlighted in red) were inconclusive.

Radhames Peguero provides a different look to the classic pitching pose. Once you’ve seen these two variations, you’ve more or less had a taste of all thirteen.

Well, I may as well also include Brian Stokes while I’m at it. Stokes is currently pitching for the Triple-A New Orleans Zephyrs (New York Mets). If I am lucky, I will be able to get this card autographed in person when the Zephyrs return to Albuquerque to close out the Isotopes season at the end of August.

The remainder of the 2000 Charleston RiverDogs team set includes a pair of catchers, the manger, two coaches and two mascots. If I overlooked anyone in this set I assure you it was inadvertent as I was busy hashing out a clever title for this post.

One thing is certain. Whether you pick up the 2000 Charleston RiverDogs team set in person at their team shop, or directly from the RiverDogs online, you will have to keep an eye peeled for police lights in your rearview mirror after STEALING this set for only six bucks! I hadn’t seen this set available on eBay since mine arrived a couple of weeks ago- that is, until soon after the MLB All-Star home run derby had ended. It should be interesting to see how much that set goes for, and whether more people start posting auctions of the set or individual cards from the set.

– Kris

2005 charleston riverdogs team set review

2005 Charleston RiverDogs team set
Official Score – 2-6-5-4-2-6 CAUGHT STEALING
Manufacturer: undetermined
Sponsor: SunCom Wireless
Retail price: $6.00

Just under a quarter of a million fans attended games at the “Joe” to cheer on the Charleston RiverDogs as they finished the 2005 season with a record of 80 wins and 58 losses. Crowned the first half Southern Division champions of the South Atlantic League, the RiverDogs were unable to defeat the Kannapolis Intimidators in the first round of the SAL playoffs at the end of the season.

Outfielder Tim Battle led the RiverDogs in games played (134), at bats (525), runs scored (97), doubles (33), triples (11), homers (16), stolen bases (40), caught stealing (16) and strikeouts (195). I think those stats are deserving of having his card featured here.

It would be a mistake for me to not also feature the card of Phil Hughes from this set, if for no other reason than using his name recognition to help attract new readers. Philip Hughes led the RiverDogs pitching staff with a WHIP of 0.90 and winning 7 of his 12 starts. The fact that Hughes yielded only a single long ball in 68.2 innings helped keep his season ERA at 1.97. Hughes was one of three RiverDogs who hurled complete games during the 2005 season. The other two were Eric Hacker and Jeff Marquez. They both have cards in the set, so I will also include scans of them to give you a good idea of the sort of variation to expect with this set.

The design layout of the front doesn’t offend me, but I don’t feel that it is as interesting as the 2007 RiverDogs team set. “Minor league-thin” cards in this set have a semi-gloss finish on both sides. Card backs consist of black and tan printing over white. As expected, this is where you will find short player bios and stats. In addition to the RiverDogs logo, the back also contains a cartoon baseball player. Well, don’t get too excited over this news because there are only two variations of the cartoon- one for hitters and one for pitchers.

No printed checklist or any sort of # or # designators, so I have listed them alphabetically- with the nonessential cards at the end. Be sure to consult minors.baseball-reference.com to review the stats of all the RiverDogs from the 2005 season.

1 – Tim Battle (of)
2 – Saydel Beltran (p)
3 – Phil Coke (p)
4 – Jordan Devoir (inf)
5 – Christian Garcia (p)
6 – Mike Gardner (p)
7 – Cody Ehlers (inf)
8 – Edwar Gonzalez (of)
9 – Ryan Haag (inf)
10 – Eric Hacker (p)
11 – Estee Harris (of)
12 – Mario Holmann (inf)
13 – Philip Hughes (p)
14 – Ben Jones (inf)
15 – Jeff Marquez (p)
16 – Mike Martinez (p)
17 – Bill Mosiello (manager)
18 – Shaun Parker (p)
19 – William Plaza (c)
20 – Grant Plumley (inf)
21 – Steve Renko (pitching coach)
22 – Kevin Rival (p)
23 – Irwil Rojas (c)
24 – Torre Tyson (hitting coach)
25 – Marcos Vechionacci (inf)
26 – Chase Wright (p)
27 – Tim Lentych (trainer) & Orlando Fernandez (clubhouse manager)
28 – Ken Carrington (announcer)
29 – Charlie T. RiverDog (mascot)
30 – Chelsea (mascot)

All photos are credited to Brad Nettles, Sr. This shot of Mario Holmann is my selection for “best” card in the team set.

I also like this card of Irwil Rojas who seems to have removed his catcher’s mask to ask the home plate umpire if Holmann’s card truly is the best in the set- lobbying with the man in blue, “But it looks like it was taken directly from “The Sandlot!”

I know it’s crazy, but Ben Jones appears to have been caught between the moon and New York City, and is trying to make up his mind on what to do next… if anything.

Of course it comes down to a matter of your priorities, but I’d say an entire team set for about what you’d expect to pay for a single gallon of gas these days is a reasonable deal. Best deal is for you to purchase this team set directly from the Charleston RiverDogs.

Expect to pay in the range of $11 to $15 if you buy this team set on the secondary market. Or you could go nuts and buy a partially autographed set on eBay for approximately sixty to eighty bucks.

– Kris

2007 charleston riverdogs team set review

2007 Charleston RiverDogs team set
Official Score – DOUBLE STEAL
Manufacturer: Grandstand
Retail price: $ 6.00

One of the teams making up the southern division of the South Atlantic League, the Charleston RiverDogs are presently the Class A affiliate of one of the major league teams from New York. They play their home games at “the Joe,” or Joseph P. Riley, Jr. Park located along the banks of the Ashley River in historic Charleston, South Carolina.

This team set lacks a printed checklist and uses player jersey numbers as card identifiers on the back (without benefit of a # of # designation). Of course I won’t leave you hanging, so here is the official checklist.

Checklist: 32 cards
1 – [2] Randy Martinez (p)
2 – [3] Chris Kunda (inf)
3 – [4] Mike Dunn (p)
4 – [5] Mitch Hilligoss (inf)
5 – [7] Eduardo Nunez (inf)
6 – [9] Kyle Anson (c)
7 – [11] Kevin Smith (inf)
8 – [12] Seth Fortenberry (of)
9 – [13] Torre Tyson (manager)
10 – [15] Jonathan Hovis (p)
11 – [16] Luke Trubee (p)
12 – [17] Chris Malec (inf)
13 – [19] David Robertson (p)
14 – [22] Edgar Soto (p)
15 – [23] Ferdin Tejeda (p)
16 – [24] Brian Aragon (of)
17 – [25] José Gil (c)
18 – [26] Josue Calzado (of)
19 – [28] Greg Colbrunn (hitting coach)
20 – [29] Wilmer Pino (inf)
21 – [31] Carlos Reyes (pitching coach)
22 – [33] Brian Baisley (c)
23 – [35] Garrett Patterson (p)
24 – [36] Grant Duff (p)
25 – [38] Austin Jackson (of)
26 – [39] Ivan Nova (p)
27 – [40] Hector Noesi (p)
28 – [‘07] Vinnie Colangelo (clubhouse manager)
29 – [‘07] Tim Lentych (trainer)
30 – [‘07] Jeff Zaba (strength coach)
31 – [‘07] Charlie T. RiverDog (mascot)
32 – [‘07] Chelsea (mascot)

Interestingly, I haven’t been able to located a website for Grandstand cards, so I’m unable to identify the template used in the creation of these cards. Card fronts consist of color photos framed by an eighth-inch blue and olive border. This border provides suitable locations for player name and position, as well as the team name, logo and the year of issue. Card thinness is average minor league fare. Surface treatment is a semi-gloss that requires no additional preparation prior to autographing. The backs also feature four-color printing, with easily read player stats and short bios in black text over an image of several baseballs and a glove.

The card for infielder Mitch Hilligoss is noteworthy due to his hitting streak between April 18 and June 1, 2007 that left him the all-time SAL leader in consecutive games with a lofty 38. This card is also provides graphers with a second opportunity to get Eduardo Nunez’s signature as he is featured prominently in the photo.

The card of Austin Jackson depicts the outfielder doing one of the things he does best- burning up the base paths. Jackson accumulated 33 stolen bases during the 2007 season while timesharing between Charleston, Class A Tampa and Triple A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

Four of the cards in this set turn the normal minor league baseball card mold on its side… literally. I don’t think it is any secret that I prefer horizontal alignments over portrait- assuming that the image works in that format. The card of pitcher Mike Dunn demonstrates that this concept is well understood by the designer(s) of the 2007 Charleston RiverDogs team set.

A few of the more aesthetically-pleasing cards included in this set include catcher Kyle Anson legging out a base knock…

pitcher Jonathan Hovis and an intriguing and well-captured mid-flight pitch…

and infielder Chris Kunda fixin’ to score. The drama captured by this shot is punctuated by the fact that everyone including Kunda is watching the batted ball. One gal in the stands is even waiting to see where the ball lands before she takes a drink of her beer. Perfect!

Several of the cards are a bit on the dark side, but overall, I believe that photographer Chrissa Stroh turned in some excellent shots. That said, there are three cards in the set (Greg Colbrunn, Hector Noesi and Garrett Patterson) that fall well short of the mark. Patterson’s card isn’t terrible, but there must have been better photos available of Colbrunn and Noesi that better show what these guys look like.

If you couldn’t tell from my “official scoring” whether or not I think this team set is “worth” the $6 price tag, my answer is “Yes, easily.” Cards from this set are currently available on the secondary market ranging from $3.00 each to 10-card single player lots for anywhere from $10.00 to $30.00 (depending on the player). You do the math… then order directly from the Charleston RiverDogs team shop. Keep your rss reader tuned to Cards in the Attic for reviews of older Charleston RiverDogs team sets that are still available from the team.

Subjectively yours,

– Kris

2008 beloit snappers team set review

2008 Beloit Snappers team set
Official Score – TWO RUN RAINMAKER
Manufacturer: Grandstand
Retail price: $10.00

I wish to begin by stating that it was an absolute PLEASURE to review this particular team set. The Beloit fans are fortunate to have such a quality product available to help them document the 2008 season as their Snappers continue in their winning ways in the Western Division of the Midwest League.

I must caution that this set lacks a printed checklist and utilizes player jersey numbers as card identifiers on the back (without benefit of a # of # designation), a small detail that I know will frustrate the most anal of completist collectors. With that out of the way, let’s move on to the official checklist.

Checklist: 32 cards
1 – [1] Rudy Hernandez (hitting coach)
2 – [2] Ramon Santana (ss)
3 – [4] Chris Cates (ss)
4 – [5] Joe Benson (of)
5 – [7] Ben Revere (of)
6 – [8] Garrett Olson (3b)
7 – [9] Daniel Lehmann (c)
8 – [10] Chris Parmelee (of)
9 – [11] Steve Singleton (ss)
10 – [13] Daniel Berlind (p)
11 – [16] Jair Fernandez (c)
12 – [17] Spencer Steedley (p)
13 – [18] Matt Williams (p)
14 – [19] Greg Yersich (c)
15 – [21] Charles Nolte (p)
16 – [22] Michael Tarsi (p)
17 – [23] Mark Dolenc (of)
18 – [24] Deibinson Romero (3b)
19 – [25] Gary Lucas (pitching coach)
20 – [26] Brad Tippett (p)
21 – [27] Steve Hirschfeld (p)
22 – [28] David Bromberg (p)
23 – [30] Michael McCardell (p)
24 – [31] Blair Erikson (p)
25 – [33] Ozzie Lewis (of)
26 – [35] Brian Kirwan (p)
27 – [37] Santos Arias (p)
28 – [39] Nelson Prada (manager)
29 – [40] Loek Van Mil (p)
30 – [‘08] Kazumasa Manabe (strength coach)
31 – [‘08] Alan Rail (trainer)
32 – [‘08] Snappy D. Turtle (mascot)

The Class Low “A” affiliate of the Minnesota Twins through 2010, the Beloit Snappers have sprinted to an early lead in the second half of the Midwest League’s Western Division after finishing the first half in third place. They play their home games at Pohlman Field in Beloit, Wisconsin. Home to just under 38,000 Snapper fans, the “Petunia City” is located at the confluence of the Rock River and Turtle Creek, and nearly straddles the mythical Illinois/Wisconsin border.

The cards in this set include a nice mixture of action and portrait shots featuring stunning photography framed by an eighth-inch white border. Player names along with the snazzy team logo and name are superimposed over the image of a bat rack along the lower margin of the cards. While not detracting from the overall appearance, this does lend itself for effortless reading of player names- even in low light situations.

This card of Brian Kirwan is fabulous not only because the photo is both in focus and well cropped, but also because the outfield signage helps capture the flavor of the ballpark. For instance, the Hormel Chili sign is likely significant to many Beloitians as they probably at least know someone with no more than a couple of degrees of separation from the Hormel plant. Beloit is also the birthplace of Korn Kurls, Cheap Trick’s Robin Zander and the speedometer. Both Chief Black Hawk and former Major League infielder Jerry Kenny once called Beloit home.

Another major plus with this set is the variety of backgrounds present. For example, the hibernating trees in the background of David Bromberg’s card not only provide a wonderfully neutral background ideal for autographing, but also serve as a stark contrast between the coldness of winter and the initial signs of spring- in this case, the onset of a new minor league baseball season.

Outstanding examples of the ten “portrait” cards included in this set are pitching coach Gary Lucas sporting his big league jacket, and catcher Jair Fernandez- apparently smiling after realizing that he will be one of few minor league catchers who will be recognizable on his baseball card rather than shot while completely covered with safety gear.

The 2008 Beloit Snappers team set also contains seven kool action cards that aren’t simply guys standing in the batters box waiting to take a hack. (Don’t worry, there are a few of those, but even they are well done.) A few good examples of these action shots include outfielder Ozzie Lewis about to grab a fly ball just shy of the warning track…

third baseman Garrett Olson judging a high hopper…

and catcher Greg Yersich playing first base and concentrating on a hit ball in an effort to make an inning-ending play to preserve a two-run lead for the Snappers. Sports photojournalists around the world over could take a lesson from this card and due their best to compose similarly creative shots that help tell the story they are helping preserve for the future.

Backs of the cards feature smart four-color printing with black stats and player bios over a grey and white background. Cards appear to have a semi gloss finish. Card stock is thin, but I would not characterize them as flimsy. Add thicker cards to the sparsely populated “wish list” for 2009.

I’ve encountered no evidence on the Snappers pocket schedule or website to indicate that these cards were given away to fans as one of this season’s game promotions. I believe the most interesting of the Snappers promotions has to be their “Must Win Miller Mondays.” According to the rules of that promotion, all fans attending games when the Snappers end up losing at home on a Monday receive free tickets to the next Wednesday home game. I wonder what will happen if the Snappers drop the final home game of the season on Monday, September 1st. Obviously, they MUST win that one! Right?

Fans of the Minnesota Twins, Midwest League baseball or simply well-designed baseball cards should not hesitate to snap up one (or more) of these team sets. 2008 Beloit Snappers team sets are available online directly from the team shop for $10 each. As of this posting, they also still have team sets from 2007, 2006 and 2001, in addition to Midwest League Top Prospects sets from 2008 and 2004. Order one for your collection today! I haven’t had the opportunity to review previous Beloit Snappers team sets, but I would not be surprised to discover that this isn’t the first time they’ve knocked this product out of the park.

The same set is moving at $14.00 on the secondary market, while a nearly complete autographed set recently sold for $38.00 on eBay.

Subjectively yours,

– Kris