Thursday, July 21, 2011

So That's Why Starlin Castro Got Bumped

A couple days ago I was bemoaning the fact that Starlin Castro got bumped from Allen & Ginter's Hometown Heroes set, and that there wasn't a single Cubs among the 100 cards. Now I know why he got bumped and why the Cubs got left out.

I got my set in the mail yesterday and was looking the cards over as I put them into the binder. I noticed something about all of the hometowns: they are all cities in the United States. No foreigners allowed!

Castro is from the Dominican Republic, so he got tossed out of the set. The preliminary checklist that was released in February included a bunch of foreign players. But somewhere along the way, Topps decided to make the set US-only. So guys like Albert Pujols, Ichiro, and Robinson Cano all got the boot.

That would also help explain the lack of Cubs. Most of their big names are all from other countries. Ryan Dempster, Kosuke Fukudome, Aramis Ramirez, Carlos Zambrano, Alfonso Soriano, Geovany Soto, and Carlos Marmol are all out.

I did want to highlight one of the cards....



....the newest member of the 3000 hit club, Derek Jeter. His hometown is Kalamzaoo, Michigan. Of all the players and towns in the set, Kalamazoo is probably the closest to my home here in beautiful Sturgis, Michigan. Kalamazoo is about 50 minutes north of me. If I want to go to a mall or a card shop, I would head to Kalamazoo. The card mentions that Jeter was a star baseball and basketball player at Kalamazoo Central High School. K-Central is in the same conference as Sturgis HS. So if another Jeter comes along, I'll get to see him play.

If you're wondering if your hometown (or any town near yours) is in the set, I've got the checklist below, with the hometowns listed. The states are listed in alphabetical order.

MobileALJake Peavy31
Phenix CityALColby Rasmus2
BentonARCliff Lee80
Pine BluffARTorii Hunter26
PhoenixAZAndre Ethier38
ScottsdaleAZIke Davis45
TucsonAZIan Kinsler52
CamarilloCADelmon Young44
Chula VistaCAAdrian Gonzalez65
CovinaCAMichael Young85
DowneyCAEvan Longoria48
Long BeachCAChase Utley5
Mission HillsCARyan Braun10
Newport BeachCAC.J. Wilson94
OaklandCAJimmy Rollins58
PalmdaleCAJason Kubel4
Rohnert ParkCABrandon Morrow97
Santa AnaCAPhil Hughes47
SunnyvaleCATroy Tulowitzki70
VallejoCACC Sabathia7
West CovinaCADan Haren6
WoodlandCADustin Pedroia23
ArvadaCORoy Halladay32
New BritainCTCarl Pavano14
Boca RatonFLDanny Valencia49
Fort MeadeFLAndrew McCutchen12
JacksonvilleFLBilly Butler72
JacksonvilleFLChipper Jones34
MelborneFLPrince Fielder40
MiamiFLJon Jay67
MiamiFLAlex Rodriguez60
OrlandoFLJohnny Damon68
OrlandoFLZack Greinke18
Pembroke PinesFLMike Napoli92
AlpharettaGADexter Fowler30
AtlantaGAGordon Beckham36
BrunswickGAAdam Wainwright9
DuluthGABrian McCann96
HahiraGAStephen Drew8
LeesburgGABuster Posey1
McDonoughGAJason Heyward11
Stone MountainGABrandon Phillips27
WailukuHIShane Victorino13
Des MoinesIAJeremy Hellickson87
BartonvilleILJim Thome82
SpringfieldILJayson Werth74
AndersonINAdam Lind76
JasperINScott Rolen17
Bowling GreenKYCorey Hart61
Severna ParkMDMark Teixeira73
DearbornMIDerek Lowe66
KalamazooMIDerek Jeter79
St. PaulMNJoe Mauer54
St. CharlesMOMark Buehrle77
St. LouisMORyan Howard90
WeirMSRoy Oswalt88
HudsonNCMadison Bumgarner91
RaleighNCJosh Hamilton50
SykestonNDTravis Hafner83
LincolnNEJoba Chamberlain43
LincolnNEAlex Gordon35
ExeterNHChris Carpenter71
LondonderryNHBrian Wilson3
EnglishtownNJDavid DeJesus41
Haddon HeightsNJAndrew Bailey99
West OrangeNJRick Porcello29
CardsbadNMCody Ross63
Washington HeightsNYPedro Alvarez62
Washington HeightsNYManny Ramirez78
CincinnatiOHKevin Youkilis86
Midwest CityOKMatt Kemp84
StillwaterOKBrett Anderson56
StillwaterOKMatt Holliday15
MadrasORJacoby Ellsbury46
GibsoniaPANeil Walker81
Holly HillsSCBrett Gardner59
ColumbiaTNDan Uggla16
GermantownTNMatt Cain64
KnoxvilleTNTodd Helton89
MurfreesboroTNDavid Price20
DallasTXClayton Kershaw37
DentonTXAustin Jackson33
Fort WorthTXYovani Gallardo69
HoustonTXCarl Crawford75
LumbertonTXClay Buchholz98
New BraunfelsTXLance Berkman93
New CaneyTXAdam Dunn25
Round RockTXJohn Danks22
SpringTXJosh Beckett51
The WoodlandsTXKyle Drabek95
ChesapeakeVAJustin Upton55
ChesapeakeVADavid Wright42
Manakin SabotVAJustin Verlander53
Virginia BeachVARyan Zimmerman24
EverttWAGrady Sizemore28
Mill CreekWATravis Snider100
RentonWATim Lincecum39
TacomaWAJon Lester21
AuburndaleWIJordan Zimmermann57
ParkersburgWVNick Swisher19

So who is from the town closest to you??
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5 comments:

  1. TwitchJuly 21, 2011 at 2:11 PM

    Jeez, more players fron Texas, Cali, Florida & Georgia plz.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Justin McLeodJuly 21, 2011 at 3:59 PM

    Not a single player from Louisiana? They can't be that scarce. And Matt Cain's hometown is about fifteen minutes from mine.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Jeff LawsJuly 21, 2011 at 5:25 PM

    Kzoo is the closest to me as well, I want to say about an hour north of me. My grandparents used to live there for a year or two so I've been there quite a bit. Seen quite a few hockey games there as well.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Wrigley WaxJuly 21, 2011 at 5:50 PM

    Go K-Wings! WW Jr. and I went to two games this past season.

    ReplyDelete
  5. lafJuly 23, 2011 at 2:04 PM

    Didn't realize you lived in MI. My dad's family grew up in the Portage, Kalamazoo area and we typically go visit every couple years. I spent several summers worth of my childhood allowances at Scott's Cards

    ReplyDelete

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