Troy Tulowitzki Retires...
News of long time Colorado Rockies shortstop Troy Tulowitzki's retirement made the rounds last week. Given his injury riddled history, it wasn't a great surprise. I watched a whole lot of Colorado Rockies baseball during Tulo’s years with them, and saw him become a much needed team leader.
I was a big Tulo fan during his Rockies years. Following his career closely, from the 7th overall pick in the 2005 MLB Draft, all the way to his shocking trade to the Toronto Blue Jays, on July 28th, 2015.
Let's not get too negative right away, I want to remember the fun times watching Tulowitzki, and collecting Rockies cards of that era with positive thoughts!
This happened mere days before Tulo announced his retirement, and I expressed my dismay on seeing him in a Yankees uniform. Talking about all the years I watched his career play out in Denver. Similar to his longtime teammate, Carlos Gonzalez. Who played the most games for the Rockies of any player, during the time I lived in Colorado.
It occurred to me that I've written very little about the Colorado Rockies, when held up against my Twins and Expos stories. Tulowitzki announcing his retirement seemed like the perfect opportunity to reflect a bit on watching Rockies baseball, specific to the time that Tulo captained the infield.
He signed in time to make the Bowman Draft set, late in 2005. For whatever reason, Tulowitzki was not among the pool of recent draftees to autograph a bunch of his cards. A certified Tulo Auto in this set would have been very cool.
But Tulo would end up better than any Rockies prospect before him (not named Todd Helton), zipping through the minor leagues, in just over one season. The Rockies included Tulowitzki among their September call-ups in 2006. Auditioning for the starting job in 2007, Tulo hit a respectable .240 with 1 home run in 25 September games. Showing off great defense and leadership abilities this long underachieving team sorely needed at shortstop.
Strange to see Tulo wearing the uniform number 14, which he did in his September 2006 Major League warm-up. By Spring Training 2007, he'd switched to wearing number 2. That was to honor his childhood hero, Derek Jeter. (Not poop, in case your mind went there... Because mine did...) For this reason, I was not surprised when Tulo chose to sign with the Yankees when he was free to do so.
I saw my first Rockies game with Tulo at short, on April 28, 2007. He wasn't hitting much at that point, but would finish 2007 with a .291 average, 24 home runs, 99 RBI, and an .838 OPS in 155 games. Tulowitzki would be a key contributor in taking the Rockies somewhere I never thought they'd be, the 2007 World Series. He missed out to the Milwaukee Brewers Ryan Braun, for the 2007 National League Rookie of the Year Award. Losing out by only 2 votes.
For the sake of this particular Whatever, I'm only including cards that I already had scanned. Since that date of scanning, most of the Tulo cards I've picked up in the last year and a half, are not included. Whatever represents the number of cards in the countdown, because it changes depending on the set. My criteria for the Whatever is, as always, how much I like the card. Simple as that.
The idea of making a full set of all the year's rookies in a set is a solid one. Kind of an update to Topps own Major League Debut set concept from 1989-1992. However, they skipped giving this set it's own identity, making both year's sets (2006-2007) look exactly like 1952 Topps. Because no one is sick of the 1952 Topps design at all… And yeah, no one cared, and no one bought them and it was just another case of Topps being so far up their own ass, that they ruined a good idea.
Something that Topps did right was the Diamond Giveaway promotion of 2011. Like the Million Card Giveaway promotion of 2010, you could redeem codes found in packs on the Topps website. This would give you a digital card from Topps back catalog. You could then trade that card with others, or have it sent to you. Both years, I bought a lot of extra Topps packs, just to get codes for online trading. It was a really fun addition to card collecting. I can imagine it becoming kind of a nightmare for Topps to deal with, but I'd love to see it come back...
2007 World Series teammates reunite in the outfield of Angel Stadium, at the 2010 All Star Game. But this card just does nothing for me... And I’m NOT a Matt Holliday fan…
For reasons I don't want to get into, I can't look at 2008 Topps (and especially 2008 Opening Day) without feeling my lunch well up in my throat... (That's odd...)
I like how Topps used shots from the same game on this card. With the helmet rack carrying over between the photos. Though I would have switched the photos of CarGo and Tulo. That would make the card look more like continuous action...
Thought these "where they're from" insert sets that appear in Allen & Ginter nearly every year, were always kinda lame.
I was watching the Rockies game on TV when Tulowitzki accomplished one of the rarest feats in baseball, which has only happened 15 times in the history of the game. This instance occurred on April 27, 2007. I had tickets for the Rockies Braves game the next day. Hoped he could be the first player to do it two games in a row.
Good idea in principle... A card for every game of the season, with a recap and box score on the back. Each team gets 162 cards to cover the season. Okay, I'm on board with that. So what did Upper Deck do for the card fronts? Repeating the same 10 or so pictures of only the starriest stars from each team... Why not a photo of the star of each game? Better yet, a photo FROM that game? Put some effort into making this set matter!
Whenever I went to a Rockies game, I didn't have good enough seats to take a really good action shot of Tulowitzki (or any of the other players) up close. So I couldn't take a picture like what is appearing on that 2013 Topps card, My Rockies pictures looked more like this...
This game was several years before the right-center field upper deck of Coors Field was demolished in order to build The Rooftop. A series of bars and restaurants that opened in place of about 10,000 (usually) empty seats. It was a great idea for Coors Field, and brought needed life to the usually desolate section of the ballpark.
That (and this) picture were taken from the same game, August 16, 2011. Catcher Chris Iannetta was batting when I took it. He is back playing with the Rockies again in 2019, after a several year break with the Angels, Mariners and D-Bags. Other than him and Dexter Fowler, there's not a whole lot of other players still active from this game... Giancarlo Stanton and Anibal Sanchez from the Marlins, but not with the Marlins. CarGo is still hanging on, showing up with both the Indians and Cubs in 2019. Though this appears to be the end of the road for his Major League career...
The Rockies marketed Tulowitzki as one of the franchise cornerstones. On September 3, 2014, I found his photo of the side of the “Players Clubhouse” (which had been shuttered), outside the upper deck of Coors Field, in very deep right. Tulo was surrounded by Jorge De La Rosa and Carlos Gonzalez, with chairs obscuring Nolan Arenado, Justin Morneau and someone else.
Debatable Hall of Famer, Todd Helton had just retired by this point, so the Rockies needed to find a new star to focus their marketing on. These six were the focus of the post-Helton Colorado Rockies. Tulo was signed long term and was a productive member of the team.
Yeah, I don't remember what these were called in 2011. I'm really sick of Topps reprinting key cards from past sets EVERY SINGLE YEAR. We get it, you made some important cards for the hobby...
What's funny is that I don't actually have a 2007 Topps Tulowitzki rookie card. If I did, it would have ranked much higher. I probably would have even Photoshopped out that piece of Gracie fur that is crossing his right shoulder.
On the other hand, this was an insert set that I liked. Detailing past and present stars' various pursuits of records they own. The design is classy and I think Topps did a good job in putting this one together.
Of course there was Upper Deck’s giant middle finger to MLB for taking that license away. Upper Deck would release a set approved by the Players Association, but not MLB. So the team names and logos would all have to be removed. Then Upper Deck decided to not bother actually removing the logos from the photos after all.
For a very common Upper Deck insert set, I kinda liked this design. Not too busy, or flashy, or distracting. That being said, I'm not sure why we needed another set highlighting the top stars of 2008. Upper Deck was doing a great job of that with all of their abundant insert sets, that all said pretty much the same thing.
Except by 2014, our Star Attraction was missing close to half of Colorado's games. The daily rigors of playing baseball at the Major League level were destroying Tulo's body. He played in 155 games during his 2007 rookie season, plus another 15 in the post season, but he would never top that number in his career. Tulo suited up for 151 games in 2010, but he missed significant time in every other season, due to a non-stop series of injuries. Guess how many games Tulowitzki would miss that year became a fun Spring Training game to play with your friends…
Most of the cheap inserts in 2008 Upper Deck were poorly planned and pointless, as were these. However, I kind of liked this design. If for no other reason than photos of fielding baseball players are more fun to look at than photos of batting baseball players.
With the recurring “Diamond” theme running throughout 2011 Topps, the Diamond Stars inserts were the lowest level of Diamond related sets. They also looked fairly cheap and somewhat incomplete when held against Topps’ other efforts that year. These cards are fine, but I just feel they are missing something every time I see one.
This card may be common, it may be uncommon. Or rare... Or super rare! Or it may not even exist at all! I think the point behind the Starquest was to try and acquire each level of commonality, for each given player in the set. The different tiers of rarity were just different tints to the foil background. It’s not like the super rare ones lit up on their own or anything...
This may or may not have come from the same pack that my 2011 Topps Update (Why can’t we call it Series 3???) Mike Trout rookie card was in… Sadly, I only bought one Hobby Jumbo box of 2011 Topps Series 3 Update, in hopes of completing the set. I think I completed it, but I don’t remember. I do know that I did get one Mike Trout rookie. Though, if I’d tried to put the set together via retail packs (my usual plan in those days), I would have ended up with a whole bunch extra Trout rookie cards…
You know, it’s too bad the Colorado Rockies didn’t take a long look at a photo like this, or they may not have made one of the most embarrassing mistakes in franchise history…
In July of 2014, the Rockies and local grocery sponsor King Soopers, held a Troy Tulowitzki t-shirt giveaway, for the first 20,000 fans attending that night’s game. Which is nothing out of the ordinary, all teams tend to honor their star players with special promotions, in order to bring more people to the ballpark. This is especially useful during down seasons, as 2014 definitely was for Colorado.
To their credit, the Rockies acknowledged the mistake before the game, and announced that all misspelled shirts could be traded in for a correct t-shirt when they arrived for the vendor, AND a free single ticket to any game for the rest of the 2014 season, or any game in 2015.
Among card sets of the last 15 or so years, I have a soft spot for 2007 Upper Deck. Despite weighing in at a bloated 1020 cards, I managed to collect the entire set by hand, almost exclusively through retail packs. Most of which were heavily discounted jumbo rack packs from the Englewood, CO K-Mart (RIP), during 2007-2010. I remember checking off a small list of the last 14 cards I needed, at a Minnesota card store that is no longer open. While the set itself isn’t that special, it is huge. Completing it was a goal that I was happy to finally accomplish.
Here is a very cheap insert card that I really like. Probably the intense Tulo eyes staring at the incoming ball. The black background is particularly nice if you ignore my linty scan.
Oh those sneaky imps at Upper Deck… Surely there’s no CR on Tulo’s hat! They obviously removed it before printing! Those were the rules after all!
Though I’ve put zero effort into doing so, I would really like to own a complete 2010 Upper Deck baseball set. I figure it would bookend the classic 1989 set, the first and last years of Upper Deck baseball cards.
With bonus Rainbow foil parallel! Still, these are ranked too high this Whatever. But I do like the rainbow card… Which doesn’t have the fake autograph. So it may be another short print or parallel. I really don’t care. I don’t want to have to think too hard when it comes to collecting…
Topps spent a lot on advertising at Coors Field over the years, placing posters for Topps cards on each of the portable souvenir stands in the concourses. Players that Topps chose to spotlight in 2014 included Nolan Arenado, Carlos Gonzalez, Michael Cuddyer, Wilin Rosario and Jorge De La Rosa. And on the far right is Tulowitzki's 2014 Topps card.
I also ended up with way too many 2007 Bowman cards. Most of which ended up getting thrown out in the years leading up to moving away from Denver in 2018. I got rid of so many cards over the last decade…
A lot of 2010 Topps Chrome went through my collection. In a half hearted effort at getting a Stephen Strasburg autographed rookie, my goal was to keep buying 2010 Topps and Bowman products until I got my autograph. Of course in real life, I didn’t have that sort of money to blow on the hottest lottery ticket in the hobby at the time. But I wanted one, so that was my plan.
When I complain about the abundance of pointless sets from Upper Deck in this time period, I do not mean Masterpieces. This “painted” set from 2007 & 2008, was just that, a Masterpiece. Although, some of the cards tended to be a little dark, likely due to the stock used. Still, a very nice set.
50 cents was all this card cost me to pick up in the Summer of 2016, at my now Local Card Shop. Tulowitzki was probably never a hot seller in Minnesota, but for that price I’d never turn it down!
2015 Topps Chrome was released shortly after the Colorado Rockies unexpectedly traded Tulowitzki to the Toronto Blue Jays, on July 27, 2015. The Rockies were in Chicago, playing the Cubs at Wrigley that night. Tulo was taken out of the game in the bottom of the 9th, and the TV cameras showed him exit the dugout with a stunned look on his face. The announcers speculated on why he was removed from the game, but no one mentioned a trade.
Shortly before the game ended, the news broke. Tulo was going to Toronto. The Colorado Rockies had traded their superstar shortstop.
Colorado didn't want him. But they had to take his entire contract (with over $50 million remaining on it at the time of the trade) to offset money owed to Tulowitzki. Reyes was a shadow of the superstar he was with the New York Mets, now a decade earlier. He also didn't want to play in Colorado. Reyes moped and didn't hit when he got here, getting boos from the normally docile (or high) Rockies fans. After the season, he allegedly beat up his wife on Halloween and was suspended by the league.
While Reyes was the name included in the trade for money reasons, the Rockies made the trade for the future. Fighting for last place was becoming the assumed finish in Denver, and trading Tulo would hopefully jump start the rebuild... Swapping their superstar netted three of Toronto's better pitching prospects, headlined by...
Jeff Hoffman (whose autograph is J... awww screw it...) was Toronto's first round draft pick in 2014, 9th overall. He was predicted to go higher in the draft, but had Tommy John surgery and missed his senior year of college baseball. Once healthy in 2015, Hoffman was the pitcher the Rockies wanted in the Tulo trade. The Blue Jays also sent minor leaguers Miguel Castro and Jesus Tinoco to the Rockies. Castro didn't get much of a chance before spinning off to the Baltimore Orioles, where he is a valuable piece in their bullpen today. Tinoco made his Major League debut for Colorado this season in relief, and has fared okay so far.
Hoffman has been a disappointment for Colorado. Pitching to a 7-12 record, with a 6.03 ERA in 177 innings, spanning 2016 until this point in the 2019 season. Allowing too many base runners has been his downfall. I hope he turns it around and helps Colorado, but I think his time is running out. Perhaps a trade out of Denver would be best for Hoffman?
What Toronto got was a shell of Tulowitzki. A .299 hitter with an .856 OPS over 10 seasons with the Rockies, Tulo hit only .250 (and a .727 OPS) in one and a half seasons with the Blue Jays. He also missed the entire 2018 season, due to injury. Toronto released him in November 2018, despite two more years and $40 million left on his contract. Tulowitzki signed with the Yankees as a free agent, but played in only 5 games in 2019, before injury struck again. This one took Tulo out of the game for good, at the age of only 34.
This isn't a Tulo card, but a Rockies card that features him front and center. Leading the team to victory. The way I remember watching Tulowitzki from 2006 until the night he was traded.
The silver borders of this card, when given the Refractor treatment, look a lot nicer than the color bordered 2015 version I showed earlier. That card was purchased as a single (for the great price of 50 cents), but the 2014 Chrome Tulo came from a retail pack. Likely at the Englewood Walmarts or Sheridan Targets. Unfortunate supplier of most of my cards from 2013-2018, after Mike's Sports Cards closed.
I'm not happy with Topps for making this set a Walmarts Retail Exclusive product. I used to like the Bowman Platinum line from the days of Mike's Sports Cards, and I don't want to go to Walmarts for ANYTHING ever again.
Filter painted pictures sometimes look good and sometimes look bad on cards. For example, I don't like this image on Tulo's khaki colored base card at all. But on the black border, it looks great. Maybe that's because the card is so much smaller that there's a lot less to not like?
Two for number two! I bought both of these cards at the LCS at the same time. Pretty sure they were $1 each. See what I mean about no one caring about Tulo in Minnesota? I rarely buy Finest in pack form, but I will almost always pick up the singles I like/want whenever I can find them.
Well, this would have been my #1 Tulowitzki card even if I have every card I own scanned... I got this for the bargain price of $3 back in January of this year. A Tulo auto had been on my want list for years, and at that price, this card had to be mine. However, I wish it was a different Jersey/Auto Tulo. I really dislike that design. A giant ugly gold X? Why? It's covering up a far more appropriate purple and grey color scheme, with that gold clashing horribly.. Make it black! Then you have something!
As far as the post-Tulowitzki Colorado Rockies have done, I think it's safe to say they've fared pretty well. They haven't replicated the playoff runs and World Series appearance from Tulo's first couple of seasons, but the shortstop position hasn't been a black hole...
As if replacing one of the most popular and loved players wasn't a tall enough task, Story took the job by the throat on Opening Day 2016. He won the vacant shortstop job in Spring Training. Troy Tulowitzki was gone and Jose Reyes was suspended for allegedly beating up his wife. Leaving the position to one of the Rockies top prospects entering 2016. Reyes returned from his suspension and was released by Colorado without being allowed to play another game for the Rockies. It didn't matter that they still owed him over $39 million, Reyes was gone!
Since 2016, Trevor Story has put up numbers very similar to those that Tulowitzki posted in his first 4 seasons. The franchise has been a lot stronger after parting with it's long time star shortstop, kicking off a quick turn rebuild. Surprisingly, they've been in a better position than the team has for most of it's existence. Thanks to finally developing some pitching, Colorado has made the playoffs each of the last two seasons...
When he could...
Let's not get too negative right away, I want to remember the fun times watching Tulowitzki, and collecting Rockies cards of that era with positive thoughts!
YAAAAAYYYYYY!!!
During a visit to the LCS a few weeks ago, I was presented the following card...
2019 Topps Clear Parallel, #4/10
(Bad cell phone photo, I didn't feel like hooking up my scanner for it. But I probably should have…)
He told me that he thought it would be something I'd be interested in.
Absolutely!
How exactly do you run the We Want Tacos promotion without CarGo?
It occurred to me that I've written very little about the Colorado Rockies, when held up against my Twins and Expos stories. Tulowitzki announcing his retirement seemed like the perfect opportunity to reflect a bit on watching Rockies baseball, specific to the time that Tulo captained the infield.
Still going to pretend the late 1990’s version of Rockies baseball was just a bad dream that didn’t really happen.
The Rockies drafted Tulo, with the 7th overall pick of the first round in 2005.
Upon being drafted, Tulo would become the next in a series of Rockies top prospects at shortstop.
Alongside names like...
And...
Strange to see Tulo wearing the uniform number 14, which he did in his September 2006 Major League warm-up. By Spring Training 2007, he'd switched to wearing number 2. That was to honor his childhood hero, Derek Jeter. (Not poop, in case your mind went there... Because mine did...) For this reason, I was not surprised when Tulo chose to sign with the Yankees when he was free to do so.
I saw my first Rockies game with Tulo at short, on April 28, 2007. He wasn't hitting much at that point, but would finish 2007 with a .291 average, 24 home runs, 99 RBI, and an .838 OPS in 155 games. Tulowitzki would be a key contributor in taking the Rockies somewhere I never thought they'd be, the 2007 World Series. He missed out to the Milwaukee Brewers Ryan Braun, for the 2007 National League Rookie of the Year Award. Losing out by only 2 votes.
Whatever...
Speaking of whatever, I'm now going to to present:
The Top Whatever Troy Tulowitzki Cards
(that I have scanned...)
For the sake of this particular Whatever, I'm only including cards that I already had scanned. Since that date of scanning, most of the Tulo cards I've picked up in the last year and a half, are not included. Whatever represents the number of cards in the countdown, because it changes depending on the set. My criteria for the Whatever is, as always, how much I like the card. Simple as that.
My rules are arbitrary, and I tend to not follow them anyways...
Here we go!
#60 - 2007 Topps '52 Rookies
The idea of making a full set of all the year's rookies in a set is a solid one. Kind of an update to Topps own Major League Debut set concept from 1989-1992. However, they skipped giving this set it's own identity, making both year's sets (2006-2007) look exactly like 1952 Topps. Because no one is sick of the 1952 Topps design at all… And yeah, no one cared, and no one bought them and it was just another case of Topps being so far up their own ass, that they ruined a good idea.
Sorry if that's harsh, but I really hate this set!
#59 - 2011 Topps Diamond Giveaway Code Card
I hate Topps '52 Rookies so much, an expired code ranks higher than an actual Tulowitzki rookie card…
#58 - 2010 Topps All Star (with Matt Holiday)
2007 World Series teammates reunite in the outfield of Angel Stadium, at the 2010 All Star Game. But this card just does nothing for me... And I’m NOT a Matt Holliday fan…
#57 - 2009 Goudey
Don't like these cards either...
#56 - 2015 Topps All Star (with Matt Holiday, Nolan Arenado and a couple others)
It's slightly better than the 2010 card, but all those red jerseys bother me...
#55 - 2014 Donruss
Not a fan of the font Panini used for the city/state names in this deign. But I do like this photo.
#54 - 2008 Topps Opening Day White Parallel
For reasons I don't want to get into, I can't look at 2008 Topps (and especially 2008 Opening Day) without feeling my lunch well up in my throat... (That's odd...)
#53 - 2011 Topps Diamond Duos
Hey look! It's Todd Helton!
I like how Topps used shots from the same game on this card. With the helmet rack carrying over between the photos. Though I would have switched the photos of CarGo and Tulo. That would make the card look more like continuous action...
#52 - 2011 Allen & Ginter Hometown Heroes
#51 - 2012 Topps Timeless Talents (with Ernie Banks)
They were both power hitting shortstops... Guess you don't need anything else to link them…
#50 - 2008 Topps Co-Signers (with Matt Holliday)
Tulo may or may not be on this card. His name is, but you can’t see him.
These cards are terrible...
#49 - 2014 Topps All Star
Would be ranked lower, except that's the game from Target Field...
#48 - 2008 Upper Deck
Good photo, probably should rank higher.
#47 - 2008 Topps Heritage
He couldn't...
The scoreboard from that game appeared earlier in this story.
#46 - 2008 Upper Deck A Piece of History
Speaking of pointless sets... Upper Deck sure put out a bunch of them in their last few years...
Like Documentary...
#45 - 2008 Upper Deck Documentary
Good idea in principle... A card for every game of the season, with a recap and box score on the back. Each team gets 162 cards to cover the season. Okay, I'm on board with that. So what did Upper Deck do for the card fronts? Repeating the same 10 or so pictures of only the starriest stars from each team... Why not a photo of the star of each game? Better yet, a photo FROM that game? Put some effort into making this set matter!
But you guys went the laziest route you could have...
Yet, I still wish you had a license...
#44 - 2008 Allen & Ginter
Rather bland, but not too bad...
#43 - 2010 Topps
While having some great photos, 2010 Topps kind of blew the contrast out of far too many of them.
#42 - 2011 Topps Heritage
Not bad... Not notable...
#41 - 2013 Topps
Interesting photo from the Sea Turtle set...
(Nod to Night Owl!)
Whenever I went to a Rockies game, I didn't have good enough seats to take a really good action shot of Tulowitzki (or any of the other players) up close. So I couldn't take a picture like what is appearing on that 2013 Topps card, My Rockies pictures looked more like this...
Tulo is out there at short! See!
This game was several years before the right-center field upper deck of Coors Field was demolished in order to build The Rooftop. A series of bars and restaurants that opened in place of about 10,000 (usually) empty seats. It was a great idea for Coors Field, and brought needed life to the usually desolate section of the ballpark.
That (and this) picture were taken from the same game, August 16, 2011. Catcher Chris Iannetta was batting when I took it. He is back playing with the Rockies again in 2019, after a several year break with the Angels, Mariners and D-Bags. Other than him and Dexter Fowler, there's not a whole lot of other players still active from this game... Giancarlo Stanton and Anibal Sanchez from the Marlins, but not with the Marlins. CarGo is still hanging on, showing up with both the Indians and Cubs in 2019. Though this appears to be the end of the road for his Major League career...
The Rockies marketed Tulowitzki as one of the franchise cornerstones. On September 3, 2014, I found his photo of the side of the “Players Clubhouse” (which had been shuttered), outside the upper deck of Coors Field, in very deep right. Tulo was surrounded by Jorge De La Rosa and Carlos Gonzalez, with chairs obscuring Nolan Arenado, Justin Morneau and someone else.
Debatable Hall of Famer, Todd Helton had just retired by this point, so the Rockies needed to find a new star to focus their marketing on. These six were the focus of the post-Helton Colorado Rockies. Tulo was signed long term and was a productive member of the team.
Unless injuries kept him out of the game.
Whatever...
#40 - 2007 Topps Heritage Chrome
While they look nice, Heritage and Chrome are kind of an oxymoron...
#39 - 2009 O Pee Chee
This is a set I really liked and need to complete. I think I need less than 20 cards to finish it off.
#38 - 2011 Topps Pointless Redundant Reprint Insert Set
Yeah, I don't remember what these were called in 2011. I'm really sick of Topps reprinting key cards from past sets EVERY SINGLE YEAR. We get it, you made some important cards for the hobby...
GET OVER YOURSELF!!!
#37 - 2013 Topps Chasing History - Rookie Home Run Record
On the other hand, this was an insert set that I liked. Detailing past and present stars' various pursuits of records they own. The design is classy and I think Topps did a good job in putting this one together.
#36 - 2008 Upper Deck X
Did I mention Upper Deck made some really dumb sets in their last few years with an MLB license?
#35 - 2010 Upper Deck Tape Measure Shots
Which got them sued...
#34 - 2009 Topps Topps Town
Complete with MST3K style audience!
#33 - 2008 SP Authentic
This card is missing a big comfy chair for Tulo to sit on...
Not a fan of cards with the background cut out. There's just way too much white going on here.
#32 - 2011 Topps Topps Town
Now without the MST3K style audience!
#31 - 2008 Bowman
And a Bowman Gold parallel as a bonus!
#30 - 2015 Stadium Club Contact Sheet
Think I ranked this one too low...
Tulo!
#29 - 2008 Topps
As much as I hate 2008 Topps, I do like this card... The Rookie Cup goes a long way in helping that!
#28 - 2013 Topps Wallmarts Blue Parallel
Chris Davis playing well enough to be an All Star? Guess this card is fairly old now...
#27 - 2008 Upper Deck Star Attractions
For a very common Upper Deck insert set, I kinda liked this design. Not too busy, or flashy, or distracting. That being said, I'm not sure why we needed another set highlighting the top stars of 2008. Upper Deck was doing a great job of that with all of their abundant insert sets, that all said pretty much the same thing.
Even in just his second season, Troy Tulowitzki was definitely a Star Attraction for the Colorado Rockies.
#26 - 2011 Topps Lineage
Love the card fronts... HATE the card backs...
#25 - 2008 Upper Deck Infield Power
Most of the cheap inserts in 2008 Upper Deck were poorly planned and pointless, as were these. However, I kind of liked this design. If for no other reason than photos of fielding baseball players are more fun to look at than photos of batting baseball players.
Usually…
#24 - 2011 Topps Diamond Stars
#23 - 2008 Upper Deck Starquest
Whatever...
#22 - 2013 Topps Chasing History 25 Home Run Seasons
Each of the 2013 Topps Chasing History inserts had a rarer rainbow foil parallel to try and find.
They weren’t hard to find.
#21 - 2011 Allen & Ginter
Probably the least Allen & Ginter looking design was one of my favorite Allen & Ginter designs.
I really like this card.
#20 - 2011 Topps All Star
This may or may not have come from the same pack that my 2011 Topps Update (Why can’t we call it Series 3???) Mike Trout rookie card was in… Sadly, I only bought one Hobby Jumbo box of 2011 Topps Series 3 Update, in hopes of completing the set. I think I completed it, but I don’t remember. I do know that I did get one Mike Trout rookie. Though, if I’d tried to put the set together via retail packs (my usual plan in those days), I would have ended up with a whole bunch extra Trout rookie cards…
Shoulda never spent all that money on Lineage…
#19 - 2011 Topps
Probably my favorite Topps Tulo base card. Just really like the photo.
You know, it’s too bad the Colorado Rockies didn’t take a long look at a photo like this, or they may not have made one of the most embarrassing mistakes in franchise history…
In July of 2014, the Rockies and local grocery sponsor King Soopers, held a Troy Tulowitzki t-shirt giveaway, for the first 20,000 fans attending that night’s game. Which is nothing out of the ordinary, all teams tend to honor their star players with special promotions, in order to bring more people to the ballpark. This is especially useful during down seasons, as 2014 definitely was for Colorado.
One problem…
The cases of 20,000 free t-shirts arrived from the vendor with Tulowitzki’s name misspelled on the back.
They forgot the T on the t-shirt.
To their credit, the Rockies acknowledged the mistake before the game, and announced that all misspelled shirts could be traded in for a correct t-shirt when they arrived for the vendor, AND a free single ticket to any game for the rest of the 2014 season, or any game in 2015.
Tulo himself just laughed it off.
Basically, Whatever...
#18 - 2007 Upper Deck
Tulo was not one of those last needed 14. His was one of the first cards I got.
I think I still have about 7 more just like it…
#17 - 2012 Topps Opening Day Elite Skills
Here is a very cheap insert card that I really like. Probably the intense Tulo eyes staring at the incoming ball. The black background is particularly nice if you ignore my linty scan.
#16 - 2015 Topps Archives
1983 Topps always looks good. No matter when or how often it’s (re) used…
#15 - 2010 Upper Deck
Though I’ve put zero effort into doing so, I would really like to own a complete 2010 Upper Deck baseball set. I figure it would bookend the classic 1989 set, the first and last years of Upper Deck baseball cards.
I miss Upper Deck.
#14 - 2007 Bowman Heritage
Topps spent a lot on advertising at Coors Field over the years, placing posters for Topps cards on each of the portable souvenir stands in the concourses. Players that Topps chose to spotlight in 2014 included Nolan Arenado, Carlos Gonzalez, Michael Cuddyer, Wilin Rosario and Jorge De La Rosa. And on the far right is Tulowitzki's 2014 Topps card.
Which is very similar to...
#13 - 2014 Topps Red Foil Parallel
Hey wait! I really don’t like this card all that much!
#12 - 2007 Bowman Chrome
I also ended up with way too many 2007 Bowman cards. Most of which ended up getting thrown out in the years leading up to moving away from Denver in 2018. I got rid of so many cards over the last decade…
#11 - 2010 Topps Chrome
A lot of 2010 Topps Chrome went through my collection. In a half hearted effort at getting a Stephen Strasburg autographed rookie, my goal was to keep buying 2010 Topps and Bowman products until I got my autograph. Of course in real life, I didn’t have that sort of money to blow on the hottest lottery ticket in the hobby at the time. But I wanted one, so that was my plan.
Then I got my redemption card out of the first hobby box of 2010 Bowman Chrome that I purchased.
So I quit buying it right away. So much for plans…
#10 - 2010 Bowman Chrome
I’d be willing to be this Tulo came from that box…
#9 - 2008 Upper Deck Masterpieces
When I complain about the abundance of pointless sets from Upper Deck in this time period, I do not mean Masterpieces. This “painted” set from 2007 & 2008, was just that, a Masterpiece. Although, some of the cards tended to be a little dark, likely due to the stock used. Still, a very nice set.
#8 - 2015 Topps Chrome Refractor
50 cents was all this card cost me to pick up in the Summer of 2016, at my now Local Card Shop. Tulowitzki was probably never a hot seller in Minnesota, but for that price I’d never turn it down!
2015 Topps Chrome was released shortly after the Colorado Rockies unexpectedly traded Tulowitzki to the Toronto Blue Jays, on July 27, 2015. The Rockies were in Chicago, playing the Cubs at Wrigley that night. Tulo was taken out of the game in the bottom of the 9th, and the TV cameras showed him exit the dugout with a stunned look on his face. The announcers speculated on why he was removed from the game, but no one mentioned a trade.
Shortly before the game ended, the news broke. Tulo was going to Toronto. The Colorado Rockies had traded their superstar shortstop.
The face of the franchise was gone.
And in his place…
Say hello to someone who would quickly become the most hated man in Colorado Rockies team history!
Sticking the Rockies with a gigantic question mark and a massive bill for it...
Jeff Hoffman (whose autograph is J... awww screw it...) was Toronto's first round draft pick in 2014, 9th overall. He was predicted to go higher in the draft, but had Tommy John surgery and missed his senior year of college baseball. Once healthy in 2015, Hoffman was the pitcher the Rockies wanted in the Tulo trade. The Blue Jays also sent minor leaguers Miguel Castro and Jesus Tinoco to the Rockies. Castro didn't get much of a chance before spinning off to the Baltimore Orioles, where he is a valuable piece in their bullpen today. Tinoco made his Major League debut for Colorado this season in relief, and has fared okay so far.
Hoffman has been a disappointment for Colorado. Pitching to a 7-12 record, with a 6.03 ERA in 177 innings, spanning 2016 until this point in the 2019 season. Allowing too many base runners has been his downfall. I hope he turns it around and helps Colorado, but I think his time is running out. Perhaps a trade out of Denver would be best for Hoffman?
For Rockies fans, we had to become okay with seeing this...
Which really sucks...
Whatever...
#7 - 2011 Topps Diamond Collection
This isn't a Tulo card, but a Rockies card that features him front and center. Leading the team to victory. The way I remember watching Tulowitzki from 2006 until the night he was traded.
#6 - 2014 Topps Chrome Refractor
The silver borders of this card, when given the Refractor treatment, look a lot nicer than the color bordered 2015 version I showed earlier. That card was purchased as a single (for the great price of 50 cents), but the 2014 Chrome Tulo came from a retail pack. Likely at the Englewood Walmarts or Sheridan Targets. Unfortunate supplier of most of my cards from 2013-2018, after Mike's Sports Cards closed.
#5 - 2013 Bowman Platinum Refractor
I'm not happy with Topps for making this set a Walmarts Retail Exclusive product. I used to like the Bowman Platinum line from the days of Mike's Sports Cards, and I don't want to go to Walmarts for ANYTHING ever again.
#4 - 2012 Bowman Chrome XFractor
These cards just look awesome.
I have nothing more to add to that...
#3 - 2011 Gypsy Queen Mini Black Parallel
#2 - 2012 Topps Finest Refractor AND XFractor
Two for number two! I bought both of these cards at the LCS at the same time. Pretty sure they were $1 each. See what I mean about no one caring about Tulo in Minnesota? I rarely buy Finest in pack form, but I will almost always pick up the singles I like/want whenever I can find them.
And the number one Troy Tulowitzki card that I currently have scanned is...
#1 - 2008 SPx Jersey Autograph
Well, this would have been my #1 Tulowitzki card even if I have every card I own scanned... I got this for the bargain price of $3 back in January of this year. A Tulo auto had been on my want list for years, and at that price, this card had to be mine. However, I wish it was a different Jersey/Auto Tulo. I really dislike that design. A giant ugly gold X? Why? It's covering up a far more appropriate purple and grey color scheme, with that gold clashing horribly.. Make it black! Then you have something!
As far as the post-Tulowitzki Colorado Rockies have done, I think it's safe to say they've fared pretty well. They haven't replicated the playoff runs and World Series appearance from Tulo's first couple of seasons, but the shortstop position hasn't been a black hole...
Thanks to this guy...
As if replacing one of the most popular and loved players wasn't a tall enough task, Story took the job by the throat on Opening Day 2016. He won the vacant shortstop job in Spring Training. Troy Tulowitzki was gone and Jose Reyes was suspended for allegedly beating up his wife. Leaving the position to one of the Rockies top prospects entering 2016. Reyes returned from his suspension and was released by Colorado without being allowed to play another game for the Rockies. It didn't matter that they still owed him over $39 million, Reyes was gone!
Since 2016, Trevor Story has put up numbers very similar to those that Tulowitzki posted in his first 4 seasons. The franchise has been a lot stronger after parting with it's long time star shortstop, kicking off a quick turn rebuild. Surprisingly, they've been in a better position than the team has for most of it's existence. Thanks to finally developing some pitching, Colorado has made the playoffs each of the last two seasons...
But likely wont in 2019...
Whatever...
Just one more Coors Field picture to alleviate homesickness...
And you can't get more Colorado than that!
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