What's Buzzing: Samuel Basallo arrives, three-pitcher cards, MLB alignment, new pulls, Dig Dumper and a spicy licensing rumor.

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1 -- Samuel Basallo arrives ... but Orioles collectors' minds are elsewhere

2 -- Talking three-pitcher auto cards

3 -- MLB realignment?

4 -- All your new pulls are here

5 -- Big Dumper is nearing a record and 50 homers

6 -- A licensing development?

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Have you spotted a hot thread? Tell us about it in a comment or on Twitter.

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As Yogi Berra said, "It's déjà vu all over again."

Not everything that's game-used comes from on the field and this is the second entry in the Collecting Game-used series that is a simple kind of item like that and just like the last time we went there. It's one you can find these days quite easily and most often on the cheap -- and it's a little something that's a key piece in the game.  It's one straight from either of the dugouts or bullpens with the tape still on it. It's the lineup card and it's a piece of affordable memorabilia that low-key documents some of the details like a box score does but without any of those pesky stats -- just names, batting order numbers and positions.

Keep reading to see the details this time.

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If you're one of those baseball collectors who's been all about the anime, this one's for you.

Buzz was busy today adding a bunch of cardboard to the preview gallery for the forthcoming 2025 Bowman release (click here to see all of those and order your boxes), but this one -- all 30 cards in the 2025 Bowman Anime insert set -- gets its own standalone.

Why? These baseball cards are unique and they're a popular style of artistic card inclusions from a few companies in a few sports in recent years. This time there are 30 standard cards for stars of the past, present and future -- and then four Japanese icons will have Kanji Variations to find as well.

You can learn more and see the 30 standard cards after the jump.

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Jackson Holliday may not be in The Show at the moment, but his new cardboard is already getting looks.

A series of short-printed variations in 2024 Topps Series 2 -- which officially arrived today (get your boxes here) -- includes the top prospect on a card that's an homage to one of the most-controversial baseball cards of all time, the 1989 Fleer Billy Ripken card that had an obscenity written on his bat knob.

So far, there are six versions of the homage card to chase along with a traditional action photo version that isn't all about the controversial card from 35 years ago.

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The Blowout Cards Forums are where thousands of collectors converge daily to discuss, well, a little bit of everything. Here are a few threads about collecting and more that you should check out right now.

What's Buzzing: NFL Draft reactions, a grading question, the Baltimore Orioles, slow starts in MLB and more.

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It only took 10 games in the minors -- where he hit .333 with two homers and nine RBI -- to get a Holliday in Boston tonight.

No, it's not Roger Dorn Night or Big Papi Funko Pop! day (that's Sept. 9) ... it's the MLB debut of No. 1 prospect Jackson Holliday, an infielder for the Baltimore Orioles and son of a former big-leaguer.

Holliday's Rookie Cards will arrive later this year, in theory, and his Topps Now debut will inevitably arrive tomorrow no matter what, but he's already appeared on more than 2,000 different baseball cards since he was the first pick in the 2022 MLB Draft.

In fact, his certified autograph total alone is pushing 1,000 cards and that's thanks to early Perfect Game prep all-star sets, USA Baseball appearances as well as a number of prospect releases -- some from before draft day.

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The Blowout Cards Forums are where thousands of collectors converge daily to discuss, well, a little bit of everything. Here are a few threads about collecting and more that you should check out right now.

What's Buzzing: Jackson Holliday set to debut, Topps Heritage is here, Dawn Staley, Victor Wembanyama, Elly De La Cruz and more.

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With these Ticket Stud or Ticket Dud stories I'm turning just a tiny bit of that energy just a few degrees away from cards (we'll still have plenty of them here) for a different kind of cardboard. What am I doing? Simple ... this is an occasional dip into some random ticket lots -- a show and tell showing something small with a story.

This time? We turn back the clock to today in 2018 ...

Keep reading to see the details this time ... and tell me if you think it's a Ticket Stud or a Ticket Dud.

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From time to time, Buzz will break a box of something and break down the results here. Like this and want to see more -- or maybe there's a box you'd want to see busted? Send Buzz an email at BlowoutBuzz@blowoutcards.com.

The pack: 2022 Choice Delmarva Shorebirds MiLB team set
Where to buy: Via the team (while available) ... hit BlowoutCards.com for in-pack MiLB

Keep reading for a full breakdown of what was in this one along with a gallery of images.

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From time to time, Buzz will break a box of something and break down the results here. Like this and want to see more -- or maybe there's a box you'd want to see busted? Send Buzz an email at BlowoutBuzz@blowoutcards.com.

The packs: 2022 Choice Delmarva Shorebirds MiLB team sets (2)
Where to buy: Via the team (while available) ... hit BlowoutCards.com for in-pack MiLB

Keep reading for a full breakdown of what was in this one along with a gallery of images.

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From time to time, Buzz will break a box of something and break down the results here. Like this and want to see more -- or maybe there's a box you'd want to see busted? Send Buzz an email at BlowoutBuzz@blowoutcards.com.

The packs: 2022 Choice Delmarva Shorebirds MiLB team sets (2)
Where to buy: Via the team (while available) ... hit BlowoutCards.com for in-pack MiLB

Keep reading for a full breakdown of what was in this one along with a gallery of images.

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Sometimes, there are no extra visuals to photo-match a piece

Forget sometimes ... that's almost always the case with pretty much everything that's game-used before the advent of the MLB Authentication program in 2001. That was the year MLB started stickering and databasing items from the field of play creating a whole new playing field for memorabilia. But this month's piece in this Collecting Game-used series isn't from that past era, either.

This one is from just 2014 ... an item that's newer, but one from when the capture-every-play MLB Film Room and complete data with authentication for every pitch where a ball was used didn't exist. It's stickered but short of finding a pirated game video online (I did a brief search and found nothing), it's a ball that I can only show here and then offer up from info from a game's summary to help tell its story.

You can keep reading to see the details.

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Fast Five is a quick list that might offer a basic starting point for a themed collection or new focus -- five things that could be fun for a beginner or a new way to add something to your stash if you're a grizzled veteran.

This time? Five MLB players worth a look after this season ... and, no, not the super-obvious guys.

A CAREER YEAR ...
Ozzie Albies, SS, Atlanta Braves -- RCs in 2018 releases
The Braves' loss of Ronald Acuña Jr. to a season-ending injury didn't lead to the team faltering without one of MLB's biggest stars in the midst of another strong year. Instead, other guys kept at it and other guys stepped up and the team is still leading the NL East as the season winds down. Albies? He's having a career year in pretty much everything but average with 30 homers (previous high 24), 103 RBI to reach that plateau for the first time and even a career-high 19 stolen bases. Big-picture, there are other shortstops out there with numbers like this but they might be pricier when it comes to cards for whatever reasons. His RCs in 2018 releases are all over the place yet affordable and his 2015 cards might get overlooked here and there as he's listed as "Ozhaino." (You might set up a saved search for that name, too.) He's a home-grown player on a contender who's only 24 and among a core of young players ... a recipe for strong cards if they win it all.

Keep reading for four more making up the list this time.

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Group breaks have been a game-changer for the card industry for several years now and from time to time Buzz will jump into a BlowoutTV break of some type and break down the results of what he landed by picking up a team. There are near-daily breaks right here with Matt on Blowout TV during weekday working hours and even more from Houdini and others over on the forum in the evening.

Now, it's time for this post's break breakdown -- a spot in an MLB mixer that included everything you see above.

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Here's a look at the top five players on this week's Baseball America Top MLB Prospects Hot Sheet and their seasons so far. It's a little something to help those who might want to dabble with prospecting -- some basics on their baseball cards alongside a highlight line from those more scouting-minded. We may not do this every week, but we'll check in on BA's top crop from time to time for the remainder of the season.

1. Joey Bart, C, Giants — Double-A Richmond Flying Squirrels
Baseball America’s highlight line: “The Giants’ top prospect put an exclamation point on his season with an extremely strong finish to his brief tenure at Double-A Richmond. He produced an .868 OPS in August, which included four of his 16 homers in his first full season as a pro. He might not have any 80-grade tools on his card, but Bart has a plethora of pluses that should lead him to become the Giants’ long-term answer at catcher."

CARDBOARD BASICS
Approximate card total (so far): 450
First Chrome auto: 2019 Bowman
One auto to consider: 2018 Elite Extra Edition
Buzz’s card take: He's a top name, so you should know him and he's got more than 200 autographs to choose from, too. There's some promise to those words from BA -- sounds like they are sold -- but the second pick in last year's draft has decent numbers to justify it. He's hit .284 with 29 homers and 88 RBI in 130 MiLB games the last two years. Good for a catcher but perhaps not for a big-money guy on cardboard. Replacing Buster Posey would come with expectations if he makes it, so I'd be prudent with my looking in terms of prices paid.

Keep reading for the rest of the top five ...

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Here's a look at the top five players on this week's Baseball America Top MLB Prospects Hot Sheet and their seasons so far. It's a little something to help those who might want to dabble with prospecting -- some basics on their baseball cards alongside a highlight line from those more scouting-minded. We may not do this every week, but we'll check in on BA's top crop from time to time for the remainder of the season.

1. Michael Baumann, RHP, Orioles — Double-A Bowie Baysox
Baseball America’s highlight line: “Baumann came within one out of a no-hitter on April 30. He got another chance last week and, this time, completed the feat. Baumann threw a no-hitter with two walks and 10 strikeouts against Double-A Harrisburg in his first start last week, his most dominant start in a season full of them. The 2017 third-rounder is 3-5, 2.80 with 113 strikeouts and 33 walks in 86.2 innings this year between high Class A Frederick and Double-A Bowie, cementing himself as one of the Orioles’ most promising pitching prospects."

CARDBOARD BASICS
Approximate card total (so far): 60
First Chrome auto: 2018 Bowman Chrome
One auto to consider: 2017 Elite Extra Edition
Buzz’s card take: About half of his seriously low card volume is thankfully certified ink so that's good that he has them -- but it's also bad news in that it means there is less stuff for buyers to fight over when he has performances like this. The two products above are the only places to find his autos. In three MiLB season, he's 20-12 with a 2.74 ERA and 262 strikeouts with 259 innings pitched. Those are solid numbers overall mostly fueled by this season's strikeouts.

Keep reading for the rest of the top five ...

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Like many collectors, Buzz is a fan of grading and knows that there are many reasons that collectors choose to slab cards. Sometimes it's to enhance the appeal and protect them when selling. Other times it's to protect an investment for the long-term or to protect for sentimental reasons. Or, it might be just for fun or curiosity about a potential grade.

Here's this month's grading diary here on The Buzz ... a super-sized edition this time around that's heavy on MLB and NBA but with a few surprises.

The Cards: 1991-92 SkyBox #544-546 Team USA puzzle
The Reason Graded: I picked up a box of this one for roughly $16 late last year (a bargain price) and pulled two sets of these puzzles, which was good. Why? Because grading these and the other notables from the iconic Hall of Famer-loaded Dream Team is pretty heavy and this one has been on my to-do list. I landed most of the notables more than once but just one Jordan that was noticeably off-centered. These glossed cards on the puzzle could have issues that the standard cards don't have simply because of their surfaces, but mine were clean. I will revisit my second set to see if anything stands out. I may go the PSA route on the other set for variety's sake if I see anything that would make me wonder about potential grades.
The Grades: BGS 9.5

Reality Check: This one was a stressful one as I had hoped for matching grades. Thankfully, that's what I got and that's where most cards land for all three pieces of the puzzle. This is a textbook example of the kind of cardboard that can make you some money with grading, too, as they're no more than $10 total raw, while BGS 9.5s together should top $100 in some cases and asking prices for the middle (Jordan) card alone can be steep. It's memorable cardboard from the past with nothing but iconic players involved, so there's still good demand -- and that's another reason why I slabbed. Wax boxes aren't all that plentiful, either, compared to other boxes around that time.

Keep reading for the rest of this month's new grades and additions.

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Here's a look at the top five players on this week's Baseball America Top MLB Prospects Hot Sheet and their seasons so far. It's a little something to help those who might want to dabble with prospecting -- some basics on their baseball cards alongside a highlight line from those more scouting-minded. We may not do this every week, but we'll check in on BA's top crop from time to time for the remainder of the season.

1. Ty France, 2B-3B-1B, Padres — Triple-A El Paso Chihuahuas
Baseball America’s highlight line: "In a loaded Padres system, it was France who led the organization in total bases, runs and RBIs last year and tied for the lead in home runs. That performance got him put on the 40-man roster in the offseason, and he’s now on the verge of mashing his way to his major league debut. France extended his hit streak to 14 games during his incredible week, capped by hitting back-to-back homers twice with Josh Naylor on Sunday."
CARDBOARD BASICS
Approximate card total (so far): Only MiLB team sets 
First Chrome auto: Still to come
One auto to consider: Still to come
Buzz’s card take: He's been in the minors since 2015 after he was a 34th-round pick, but hasn't appeared on anything more than minor-league team sets despite hitting 22 homers with 96 RBI in 137 games between Double-A San Antonio and Triple A El Paso last season. The 24-year-old is on pace for a career year with nine homers in 18 games this season and that should get him a cardboard look soon.

Keep reading for the rest of the top five ...

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One of baseball's greatest sluggers -- and overlooked superstars on in the hobby -- is gone.

Hall of Famer Frank Robinson was a Triple Crown winner, the only player in MLB history to win the MVP in both leagues, a social pioneer on the managerial side, and one of the top home run hitters in the game. He retired fourth on the career list with 586 back in 1976 -- behind only Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth and Willie Mays -- before continuing his life in baseball as a manager and MLB executive. He lost an ongoing battle with cancer on Thursday at age 83.

"Frank Robinson's résumé in our game is without parallel, a trailblazer in every sense, whose impact spanned generations," MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said. "He was one of the greatest players in the history of our game, but that was just the beginning of a multi-faceted baseball career."

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There are eight guys with realistic chances at being voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame tonight (announcement is set for 6 p.m. EST on MLB Network) and there's one good thing to be had here for potential new baseball card collectors or veterans still needing them.

Most of them have Rookie Cards can be easily landed thanks to the timeframe when they were made -- and they have plenty of cards to chase in boxes made since.

The first lock of the bunch is former New York Yankees closer Mariano Rivera, MLB's career saves leader (652), who is a contender for the highest Hall of Fame voting percentage ever. That mark is 99.6 percent of ballots and is held by Ken Griffey Jr. back in 2016. Unlike Griffey -- and others you'll see here -- Rivera has just one Rookie Card. It can be found in 1992 Bowman, a set that added gloss and white stock into the brand's repertoire along with a deeper checklist (and guys in street clothes). Rivera has more than 5,500 different cards but only one gets the RC label -- that's a rarity in this day and age that helps bolster its value. (If you want one, buy it graded. They have been counterfeited.) >> Check out his autographed cards (and more) on eBay

Who else is out there and potentially headed to Cooperstown?

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The Blowout Cards Forums are where thousands of collectors converge daily to discuss, well, a little bit of everything. Here are a few threads about collecting and more that you should check out right now.

What's Buzzing Today: Big waits, big pulls, Valyrian Steel and the starting point for World Series chatter on the boards.

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One generation might know him as a bit of a slugger and the 1979 American League MVP, while another might know him as a manager and coach.

Either way, Don Baylor was a man who lived his life in baseball -- his career that spanned from the 1960s until 2015. He died on Monday at age 68 after a battle with multiple myeloma.

"Don Baylor: 14 teams as player, coach and manager. Countless lives influenced. There's a hole in the universe, its expanse without end," said J.G. Taylor Spink Award-winner Claire Smith on Twitter. "Deepest love and condolences to Becky Baylor and the Baylor family who are mourning a man whose heart was as big as all of Texas."

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A new baseball season is nearly here with the first spring training games set to air later this month and that's when we'll see the newest players on their new teams.

And many of them will be wearing new uniforms -- well, at least new caps.

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In an interview with Dan Patrick this week, Kevin Costner said he'd be opening to reprising the role of Crash Davis in Bull Durham 2 if creator Ron Shelton was open to the idea and could draft the next chapter in the story of big-screen players that have become minor-league baseball icons.

But there's one cardboard icon in the real world who's partly responsible for the creation of the 1988 film in the first place.

He's Steve Dalkowski.

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MLB's postseason begins tonight ... and we simply want to know who you think wins it all.

[polldaddy poll=9541118]

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Follow Buzz on Twitter @BlowoutBuzz or send email to BlowoutBuzz@blowoutcards.com. 

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