Youngest players in 2011

I thought I did this feature last year but I can't find the post. So a new tradition begins this year.  I've been informally tracking the age of the youngest player for years. My original benchmark was a player born after my oldest son in 1984. Guys born in 1984 are practically veterans now. The youngest players this year were born in 1991. Here are the youngest players in the big leagues this year, all born after in 1990 or later.

2011 Tri-Star Obak #88 Mike Trout

Born on 8/7/91, Mike debuted with the Angels on 7/811, at only 19 years old. He was the Angel's #1 draft pick in 2009. He appeared in 33 games hitting .220. In 2010 he was considered the top prospect in baseball.

2011 Topps Update #174 Jacob Turner

Jacob was born on 5/21/91 and made his debut with the Tigers on 7/30/11. Another #1 draft pick in 2009. He appeared in 3 games, losing 1. He has a major league contract with the Tigers for $5.5 million.

2011 Topps Update #152 Julio Teheran

Born on 1/27/91, Julio made his debut with the Braves on 5/7/11. He was up and down with the Braves several times in 2011, making 3 starts and compiling a 1-1 record and a 5.03 ERA.

2011 Topps Update #132 Jose Altuve

Jose was born on 5/6/90 and made his debut with the Astros on 7/20/11. He is one of a number of young players who saw action with the Astros this year. On 8/20, he led off a game with an inside-the-park home run.

2010 Bowman Chrome #211 Starlin Castro

Starlin was born on 3/24/90 and made his debut with the Cubs on 5/7/10. A second year player, he looks like the real deal so far with a .304 batting average over 283 career games. He made the All-Star game in 2011. Defense may be an issue as he led all major league short stops in 2011 with 29 errors.

2011 Topps Update #282 Brad Hand

Brad was born on 3/20/90 and made his debut with the Marlins on 6/7/11. He made 12 starts for the Fish, with a 1-8 record and a 4.20 ERA.

2011 Tri-Star Obak #76 Randall Delgado

Randall was born on 2/9/90 and made his debut with the Braves on 6/17/11. He was up from the minors several times, making 7 starts for the Braves. He was 1-1 with an impressive 2.83 ERA in 35 innings.

2011 Topps Update #9 Jose Iglesias

Jose just squeaked into this group being born in 1/5/90. He made is debut with the Red Sox 5/8/11. He spent most of the season down on the farm, getting only 6 at bats with Boston.

2011 Tristar Obak Mini T212

Back in September I did a post on the regular sized cards from this set. I planned a post on the minis and here it is, finally. While there are 120 cards in the main set, there are only 24 minis. Since you get one per pack, maybe it wouldn't be too hard to collect them all. There are several parallels, blue brown, green and purple. Plus autos in various colors.

As far as I know there are not many post-career Ripken cards. This is the second I've gotten this year.

I'd like to think this was Nolan in an Astros uniform, considering the background similarity to the Astros uniforms when Ryan played in Houston. But I'm pretty sure that's a Rangers uniform.  The number is the give away.

The background of some of these cards is rather fanciful. Here's Joe Carter hacking his was through the Canadian wilderness.

Zach had a pretty good rookie season with the Orioles, but I'm not sure he fits in well with the rest of this group of players.

Two Whitey Ford cards. He began his career in 1950 and then served with the Army in 1951-1952. Another great background. I'd say it was supposed to represent his early years, except that he grew up in Queens.

There are also 2 Stan Musial cards. After winning the World Series in 1944, Stan spend 1945 in the Navy.