Searching for Padres in 2016 Topps

The night before last I went to the local "big box" retail store to pick up a huge bag of food for some of my cat friends, so of course I stopped by the card aisle to snag up some of the recently released Topps Series 1 baseball cards. I'm not a set builder, and I don't collect any current non-Padres players, so I usually make a fairly minimal purchase when new sets come out. Even though well over 90% of the cards I pull don't go into my personal collection, I still like checking out the new stuff, plus getting a brand new Padres card is exponentially more exciting when you pull it fresh from a pack instead of picking it out and waiting for it to show up in your mail box. With that in mind, I opted for a 72-card hanger-box for two cents under ten bucks. I figured 72 cards was bound to net me at least one Padres player.

Here are the cards I got, in the exact order they were packaged. I've included snapshots of some particularly noteworthy or neat cards; if I pictured all of them we'd both be spending way more time on this than either of us would care to.

Miguel Montero, Cubs

Anibal Sanchez, Tigers

Kevin Plawecki, Mets

Andrelton Simmons, Braves

AJ Pollock, Diamondbacks

Adam LaRoche, White Sox

Lance Lynn, Cardinals

Dee Gordon, Marlins

Liam Hendriks, Blue Jays

Cameron Maybin, Braves

Old friend alert! This is a great shot of Camzilla at Wrigley Field. I'm glad he stayed healthy last season, and I hope he does the same and excels this season in his return to Detroit.

Melky Cabrera, White Sox

Braves team card

Josh Harrison, Pirates

That's a great celebration shot, but nowhere close to the best one in this pack. Give it a second...

Nick Castellanos, Tigers

Carlos Gomez, Astros

Jose Bautista, Blue Jays

...There it is. That's an instant classic.

Barry Larkin, Reds - "Berger's Best" insert

This is a reprint of Larkin's 1995 Topps card with a different back. In honor of the late Sy Berger, longtime Topps employee and father of the baseball card as we know it, this set contains one reprint from each of the last 65 years. Dave Winfield, Ozzie Smith, and Tony Gwynn are the Padres included.

Yasmany Tomas, Diamondbacks

Kyle Schwarber, Cubs - "Wrigley Field Turns 100" insert

This set commemorates 25 moments from Wrigley Field's century of use.

Ichiro, Marlins - "Pressed Into Service" insert

This set includes ten position players who have pitched, and you'd better believe I'm livid that Alexi Amarista was not included.

David Ortiz, Red Sox - "Perspectives" insert

Fernando Valenzuela, Dodgers - "MLB Debut" insert

Nolan Ryan, Rangers - "The Greatest Streaks" insert

Felix Hernandez, Mariners

Keyvius Sampson, Reds

I have several of Sampson's Bowman cards from when he was a Padres prospect. I wish he had panned out for the Friars, but either way I'm glad he finally made it to the bigs.

Brandon McCarthy, Dodgers

JJ Hardy, Orioles

Josh Hamilton, Rangers

John Lamb, Reds

Marcus Semien, Athletics

Todd Frazier, Reds

Brian Ellington, Marlins

David Murphy, Angels

Sonny Gray, Athletics

Trea Turner, Nationals

That stings a little bit. I hope Wil Myers has a monster 2016 to alleviate the pain of seeing that.

Oliver Perez, Astros

Hector Olivera, Braves

Kendall Graveman, Athletics

Homer Bailey, Reds

Jake Odorizzi, Rays

Gio Gonzalez, Nationals

Zach Lee, Dodgers

Christian Yelich, Marlins

Asdrubal Cabrera, Rays

Travis d'Arnaud, Mets

Steven Sousa, Jr, Rays

Ike Davis, Athletics

Billy Burns, Athletics

Scott Feldman, Astros

Mark Teixiera, Yankees

White Sox team card

Ian Kinsler, Tigers

Astros team card

Bryce Harper, Nationals; Nolan Arenado, Rockies; Carlos Gonzalez, Rockies - NL HR Leaders

Brian Dozier, Twins

Kendrys Morales, Royals

Ender Inciarte, Diamondbacks

Ubaldo Jimenez, Orioles

Alexei Ramirez, White Sox

I still haven't pulled a card of a player pictured as a Padre, but I finally got someone from the current roster.

Kaleb Cowart, Angels

Rougned Odor, Rangers

Shin-Soo Choo, Rangers

Rob Refsnyder, Yankees

Jonathan Schoop, Orioles

Doug Fister, Nationals

Curtis Granderson, Mets

Chad Bettis, Rockies

Kyle Schwarber, Cubs

Jedd Gyorko, Padres

Finally, a Friar. Kind of. This one is even more bittersweet than the Trea Turner card. As much as I despise the Cardinals, I hope Jedd excels for them, hitting a ton of solo home runs in blowout losses, and getting stranded on second after a double about forty times.

Brian Johnson, Red Sox

Starling Marte, Pirates

Alcides Escobar, Royals

...and that's a wrap on it. I imagine I'll eventually just buy the rest of the Padres cards in the set dirt-cheap online.