2013 Topps Heritage Orioles

As I promised yesterday, here is a breakdown of the Orioles included on the 2013 Topps Heritage Checklist. And my comments on each inclusion, whether you want my opinion or not.

Nick Markakis- pretty standard, has probably represented the O's in almost every Topps set in the past 7 years, except '13 Series 1
Jason Hammel- only his third O's card, but also third consecutive Topps appearance ('12 update, '13 series 1) to decrease my excitement
Manny Machado/Dylan Bundy RC- both have multiple O's cards but first combo card would like great if both sign it
J.J. Hardy- pretty much another one you expect to see, but like Markakis was also left out of '13 Series 1
Jim Johnson- if he pitches like he did last year and remains the closer, he should be in most sets for the forseeable future
Buck Showalter- absolutely deserved, but likely included because the 1964 set this series is modeled off of included managers
Nolan Reimold- a bit of a surprise as he didn't play in any games last season after April 30th, this would be logical spot for McLouth card
Tommy Hunter- similar situation to Hammel, this is his third nearly consecutive (he was in '12 Series 2 instead of Update) Topps card
Luis Ayala- see Hammel & Hunter; dear Topps, this was a nice spot to give O'Day/Strop their 2nd O's card instead of giving Ayala his 3rd

By this point in the set, I was rather pissed about how the set was taking shape. A few guys with not many Orioles cards, but nothing earth-shaking nor first-timers.

Miguel Gonzalez- Until this guy! Finally, a deserving player being given his first O's card. And his MILB cards are few and far between too
Chris Tillman- deserves the inclusion after finding himself last year, but one of many of his O's cards
Joe Saunders- and here is the dagger, an official Orioles card of a guy who left town; it's always a chore to get cards signed once they leave
Adam Jones SP- Kind of surprising to see Jonesy as a short print, but I have plenty of his cards, so it's all good
Wei-Yin Chen SP- same with Chen, but I don't have quite as many of his cards, might need to track this one down

In addition to these base cards, two other Orioles insert cards caught my attention: a Clubhouse Collection relic card featuring Chris Davis (possibly commemorating his day on the pitching mound in Boston), and a Chris Tillman error short print, that likely will feature some sort of photo variation.

So there you have it, my official take on the Orioles included in the 2013 Topps Heritage set. Here's what I said after my review of 2013 Topps Series 1 "However, I was expecting to see Nate McLouth and Miguel Gonzalez featured for the first time as Orioles, especially after last year's playoff run. And it's strange that both Nick Markakis and J.J. Hardy were passed over, but you can't include everyone in every set. But, if it was up to me, I would have included Markakis, Hardy, McLouth, Gonzalez, and probably Wei-Yin Chen, Ryan Flaherty, and Wilson Betemit over the combination of Reynolds, Arrieta, Hoes, Andino, Matusz, Ayala, and Chavez." So it appears that I nailed the inclusion of Markakis, Hardy, Gonzalez, and Chen, as well as the players who possibly shouldn't have been included, minus Ayala. But when is Nate McLouth going to get some Orioles card love? Topps generally loves taking advantage of the former star comes back to make a postseason impact story, and I'm shocked that McLouth didn't make the cut in either of the 2013 sets. 

And mainly because I don't want to write back to back image-less posts, here is an autographed 1964 Topps Orioles card of Bob Saverine, to show the basic template for the 2013 set. Bob played in six MLB seasons between 1959-67, including 170 games over parts of four years spent with the O's. He holds the American League record for having gone 0-12 in a 1966 doubleheader during his time in Baltimore, and definitely seems to have made it to the big leagues more for his defensive prowess than his skills with the bat.