Dollar Tree Fun: 2009 Sage Hit Low Series

I picked up a bunch of assorted packs at the dollar tree the other day, and this is the first of the non-repacks.  I LOVE cards of football players in their college uniforms, so naturally, I love Sage Hit.  On to the cards:















37 Eric Wood, C, Lousville, Round 1, Pick 28, Buffalo Bills
 - Eric is currently a right guard for the Bills

30 Nathan Brown, QB, Central Arkansas, Undrafted,
 - Nathan was signed by the Jaguars, but released soon after

23 Javon Ringer, RB, Michigan State, Round 5, Pick 173, Tennessee Titans
 - Javon is currently Chris Johnson's backup for the Titans

9 Jeremy Maclin, WR, Missouri, Round 1, Pick 19, Philadelphia Eagles
 - Jeremy is currently the top receiver for the Eagles...and receiving passes from former Hokie Michael Vick

33 James Laurinaitis, LB, Ohio State, Round 2, Pick 35, St. Louis Rams
 - James is currently the starting middle linebacker for the Rams.  Still awesome that his dad is Animal

15 Pat White (Shiny Variation), QB, West Virginia, Round 2, Pick 44, Miami Dolphins
 - Pat recently was waived by the Dolphins, and signed a minor league contract with the Kansas City Royals























The card design doesn't blow my skirt up, but a lot of the pictures are pretty unique.  For a dollar, you can't beat it.

Upper Deck Charlie Hustle Collection

So, I was thinkin about card sets that would be cool if they existed, and I came up with this: The Upper Deck Charlie Hustle Collection.  The set would be a tribute to Pete Rose, and would also serve as a nice "F You" to MLB.  I came up with a few smaple cards.  I'm thinking a base set with 4,256 cards, one for each hit (think UD Documentary, but the way it should have been done).  The base cards have a 4,256 print run as well.  In addition, the set would have 86 postseason hit silver cards and 7 all-star hit gold cards, each numbered to the year of the game.  This is what I envision, though I'm not a graphic artist (I airburshed out the logo in the first one UD-style, but this is a half-assed commitment so I didn't on the rest):
















I'll save the best insert set for last, since it would be a freakin awesome set on its own; for now, I foresee a red-bordered on-card auto for each card in the set.  So, every card would really be a 1 of 1, but calling them 1 of 1's doesn't sit well with me be they aren't that unique.

As for memoribilia cards, there will be a bat mem card for each regular season hit, and a patch card for each postseason and all-star hit.  Yes, that's right, patches - no plain jerseys. 

Of course, there would have to be an auto/mem card:

And just to give MLB the finger - and despite the fact that I think cut autos are stupid - we'll have a cut auto of the Rose-banning commish Giamatti

Now, I am a bit conflicted, because while I think the following insert set would be a great addition, I also think it would be a great set on its own.  I introduce: "Upper Deck Blacklist"

A set with each person banned from MLB (regardless of whether they were reinstated).  The checklist:

Thomas Devyr
Ed Duffy
William Wansley
George Bechtel
Jim Devlin
George Hall
Al Nichols
Bill Craver
Oscar Walker
Richard Higham (Umpire)
Jack O'Connor (Manager)
Harry Howell (Coach)
Horace Fogel (Owner)
"Shoeless" Joe Jackson
Eddie Cicotte
Lefty Williams
Chick Gandil
Fred McMullen
Swede Risberg
Happy Felsch
Buck Weaver
Joe Gedeon
Eugene Paulette
Benny Kauff
Lee Magee
Hal Chase
Heinie Zimmerman
Joe Harris
Heinie Groh
Ray Fisher
Dickie Kerr
Phil Douglas
Jimmy O'Connell
William B. Cox
Ferguson Jenkins
Mickey Mantle
Willie Mays
Pete Rose
George Steinbrenner (Owner)
Steve Howe
Marge Schott (Owner)

Tell me the Shoeless, Jenkins, Mantle, Mays, Rose, and Steinbrenner wouldn't be awesome to have.  I might have to actually make some of the cards from this other than Shoeless, just to see what they look like.  We'll save that for another day...

Needless to say, I think Pete Rose should be reinstated.  The Hall of Fame is a joke without the Hit King. 

1960 World Series Film Found

Perhaps this dinger should be called a Bing-er.

What an awesome story.

2009 A Piece of History Blaster

In the past month, I have purchased a couple blasters of 2009 UD A Piece of History because I want to finish the set, I'm impatient, and Wal-Mart has had a ton of the blasters at 40% off.  I can honestly say one of the blasters was decent, and the other sucked hard.  I'm not talking about that typical blaster experience where you're sitting in the parking lot, opening it, wishing you could un-buy it.  I'm talking about the kind of blaster where, in retrospect, if it were free, it would be overpriced.  I'm talking the kind of blaster that almost kills card collecting for you, because the only thing keeping you around is that maybe, just maybe, Topps will continue to put out excessively-insert-loaded boring products and horrible high-end garbage until MLB is forced to bring back Upper Deck, and you just got an Upper Deck blaster that bent you over and took you to pound town for 12 bucks.  So now that I've built up some suspense, I have to tell you that I won't be posting the craptastic blaster today because I haven't scanned in the crappiness yet.  So I will post the highlights from the decent blaster.

I picked up a couple cards I needed for my set along with a couple of inserts/parallels, and the guaranteed hit:



















Cut From the Same Cloth Gold Mark Teixeira / Chipper Jones #61/75 (A sub-100 print run parallel is always nice in APOH.  I have some other Braves inserts from this set, and from others, if anyone is interested in trading)

Red Parallel of the Golden Gate Bridge (not a huge fan of the unnumbered red parallels, especially in the historic events.  I think if you are going to produce a set that has historic events cards, they should be limited to just a base card and at most one parallel at around the 500 print run for people who have some attachment to that particular event)

Upper Deck 20th Anniversary, Cal Ripken Jr (Cal Ripken is the man, so this is a nice card.  I'm glad this is a sports related Anniv. card, because the non-sport events in the Anniv. set suck.  This card is already part of an outgoing trade package.)

Box Score Memories David Ortiz Jersey (could be better, could be worse.  The white jersey is a snooze, and I don't understand the Box Score Memories Jersey line since it is the same as the regular insert, except it doesn't have the box score...you know, the whole point to the insert in the first place.  But, there are worse players to pull than Ortiz.  This is up for trade.)

So, not bad for an APOH blaster, the guaranteed hit was a little dull, but the Gold insert #ed to 75 was nice, and if you are going to get a 20th Anniversary card, who better to pull than Cal.  If anyone else collects APOH, let me know because I have a bunch for trade. 

I hope to scan the crap from the craptacular blaster and get that crap up here soon. 

  

Dollar Tree Fun: Round 2

Yesterday I mentioned that I picked up a couple PressTine repacks from Dollar Tree and showed you the outcome of the baseball pack.  I got cards ranging from 1984 to 2008, so it covered pretty much my entire life.  Hopefully the football pack won't disappoint.  I'll do a quick "where are they now" also:

-2009 Sage Hit Nate Davis (starting off with a pretty recent card, not bad) [status: 49ers Practice Squad]
-1989 Pro Set Rick Donnelly (I love the 20 year jump back in time, just what you expect from a pack like this) [status: ?]
-1993 Classic Gold Tom Carter III 1/5000 (wow, getting a little high class with a 5000 print run card) [status: working with the NFLPA on the concussion issue]
-1993 Classic Gold Deon Figures 1/5000 (another goldie, nice)[status:?]
-1991 Pinnacle Rookie Bryan Cox (nice, he later gave the double middle finger to the Buffalo crowd)[status: defensive line coach for the Browns]
-1990 Pro Set Alan Veingrad [status: motivator...yeah, I didn't expect to find a whole damn website for the guy]
-2008 Upper Deck Star Rookies Chauncey Washington (another relatively recent card, and pretty nice looking one at that)[status: Jets practice squad]
-1991 Pro Set Tim Harris [status:?]
-1992 Upper Deck Steve Beuerlein [status: NFL and College analyst for CBS]
-1993 Collector's Edge Corey Harris #032274/100000 (these cards are pretty cool since they are plastic and serial numbered)[status: business man/family man?]
-1989 Pro Set Mike Gann (and we're back in the '80s)[status:?, but his son plays for Army]
-1988 Topps New Orleans Saints "Hebert Hands Off" (the oldest card yet)[Hebert Status: drag queen?]
-2007 Playoff Contenders Greg Jennings (woohoo!!! an active player!!!)[status: Packers WR]
-1990 Score Clarence Verdin [status: ?]
-1991 Score Art Monk (alrighty, a HOFer) [status: businessman]
-1994 Fleer Ultra Louis Oliver [status: high-end Realtor in Miami Beach]
-1988 Topps Michael Walter [status:?]
-1991 Score Vince Newsome [status: Ravens Director of Pro Personnel]
-1994 Score Gold Zone Warren Moon (two HOFers in one repack, I'll take it) [status: Seahawks Broadcaster]
-2006 Score Plaxico Burress (well shoot me in the leg, I got a Plax.  One of the guys I'm not so happy he's from the 757)[status: inmate...seriously, if you only click one of these links, this is the one to click]
-1993 Classic Tom Carter III (deja vu, only it's not gold this time)[status: see above]

Well, not quite as fun as the baseball pack, though I did have more fun looking up these guys (especially looking up Plax in the NY State Department of Correctional Services website).  All in all, it was a fun pack, and I did get two HOFers.  All i have to say is, man, these guys take a broad range of paths through the league and after leaving the league.

Dollar Tree Fun

Any card collector who has been to the Dollar Tree lately has noticed that they are carrying more and more year or two old packs (especially UD Documentary).  I've actually had some luck, getting a mem card (albeit a soccer card) and an auto (Frank Catalanotto crap, but still only a dollar pack).  In addition, they also are carrying a number of repacked random cards.  I've noticed there are two different brands of repack cards, so I bought some of each.  I definitely recommend that you avoid "Cards One" brand packs because they just suck (and only really span the time from 1987-1993).  When you pay $1 for a pack of random cards, you at least want to it to be a really random selection, but "Cards One" packs only seem to yield major brand junk cards.  I picked up two packs by "PressTine" - see what they did there, they mixed "pristine" and "press", oh so creative - one baseball and one football.  I'll post the baseball one now and save the football for another time. I was completely amused by this pack, so it was well worth the dollar I spent on it.

-1990 Mother's Cookies Mariners: Gene Clines, Bob Didier, Rusty Kuntz, Mike Paul, Bill Plummer. (seriously, the first card is just plain incredible.  Randomness at its finest, not to mention I got Rusty Kuntz)
-2008 Topps Update Jason LaRue (this guy is retiring because Johnny Cueto got to his head...literally...with cleats)
-1991 Upper Deck Mike Morgan (blah)
-1989 Score Kevin Romine (blah)
-1988 Donruss Buddy Bell (blah)
-1992 Upper Deck Minors Marty Cordova (now that's better, a little of the beaten path)
-2008 Topps Update Jason LaRue (this card looks familiar...2008 Topps Update Jason LaRue HOT PACK!)
-1989 Topps Traded Paul Kilgus (if I ever comment that I have no idea how I ever got Topps Traded cards, please remind me of this)
-1997 Collector's Choice Jaime Navarro (really, this is the chase card of the PressTine baseball product...or not)
-1989 Topps Traded Jesse Orosco (I have no idea how I end up with Topps Traded)
-1997 Pinnacle Express Peak Performers Tino Martinez (good random love)
-1991 Upper Deck Mark Eichhorn (blah)
-2008 Topps Jason LaRue (wow, LaRue number three, and this one is beat up and dirty.  How do you have a card with a dirt stain on it?)
-1984 Topps Tom Paciorek (and just like that we go back 24 years)
-2007 Bowman Melky Cabrera (Man, I love this randomness)
-1986 Donruss Al Cowens (and now we go back 21 years)
-1994 Studio Mike Devereaux (this is seriously the "what will I ever get next" pack)
-1990 Donruss Roy Smith (blah)
-1991 Upper Deck Wally Backman (blah)
-1988 Donruss Frank White (blah)
-1992 Topps Joey Cora (blah)
-2000 Upper Deck Yankees Legends Phil Rizzuto (wow, this card doesn't fit in, yet fits in at the same time...wierd)

Well that would be the 22 cards of the random pack that was supposed to have 20 cards...well, maybe they meant 20 unique cards and the two extra LaRue bombs were a bonus just for me.  I really dig the fact that you don't know if the next card will be a 1984 Topps or a 2007 Bowman. 

Coming soon from the Dollar Tree: PressTine Football, 2009-10 Collector's Choice Hockey, 2010 Greats of the Game Basketball, 2009 UD Draft Football, 2009 Sage Hit Football, and 2010 Topps Football (apparently the Dollar Tree is getting in the game with 5-base-card packs).

On a side note, my wife and I were out and about the other night and I picked up a half-price 2009 O-Pee-Chee blaster at Target that probably won't be posted for a while, as well as some 2010 Topps Platinum packs.  After leaving Target at around 10, we needed to find somewhere to get some food and what's better on Friday night than pizza.  The Pizza Hut by our house was open until 11, so we dropped in and were the only one's there for the next hour.  We ordered a medium pie, and when the waitress brought it out, she said, "We were out of mediums, so we brought you a large."  Many thoughts come to my mind including that obviously the "hand-tossed crust" doesn't mean it was hand tossed recently.  Who knows...maybe Pizza Hut does DiGiorno now?   If that wasn't enough, the waitress dropped another bomb.  As I was stuffing my face with my large medium not-so-fresh fresh pizza, she brought me my third Dr. Pepper, and said "Would you like to donate to help feed children in Africa?"  Seriously, as my fat ass can't finish the large pizza you gave and I can't slurp down the Dr. Pepper fast enough, you ask me to donate to starving kids.  As if I didn't already feel like a fat piece of crap.  But now, I have to give my dollar to "feed a starving child" instead of buying another pack of 2008 UD X from the dollar tree.  And I am going to hell...

My 2010 Topps 206 Fill

I bought a little bit of 2010 Topps 206, but wasn't real ecstatic about it, so I stopped before it got out of hand.  I picked up a blaster, a couple retail packs, and one hobby pack.  I'm not big on the bronze cards because they don't seem to make sense to me. One-per-pack parallels just don't do it for me, and the fact that they are thicker just seems like a waste.  I like the minis - because minis are awesome - but could have lived without the historical events cards.  The minis would have been a big hit if the historical events were all baseball related, but then you get into the fact that Topps beat that idea into the ground with the flagship set inserts.  I didn't care enough for the base set to list them all here, but I do have a scan of the minis

Beckham, Gomez, and Pudge are Piedmont; Uggla and Dice-K are Caramel; Kawakami and Ordonez are Polar Bear.  I got four short prints, which I do like.























Ah, what the hell, I'll post one base card...

...since it's the one card that will go in my personal collection.

So, that's my super exciting post about a set of cards that I found to be kind of boring.

1999 Topps Finest Series 2

Here is the second set of 1999 Finest packs that I got during my trip to the card shop.  I posted the Series 1 packs recently, and they yielded a pair of Ripkens and some other good names, so Series 2 has some work to do. 

Pack 1:






























Cliff Floyd, Scott Erickson, Denny Neagle, Mariano Rivera, Ugueth Urbina, Nomar Garciaparra Sterling.
Three familiar names, a future HOFer, a inmate, and an insert of a guy that was HUGE in 1999.  Not bad, but pack 2 needs to deliver for Series 2 to beat out Series 1.

Pack 2:

Brian Hunter, David Wells, Todd Helton, Ray Lankford, Roger Clemens Gamers, and Nomar Garciaparra Milestones RBI #0452/1400.

Well, it looks like a tie to me.  The two Ripkens are tough to beat, but the Nomar Milestone 500 RBI even the score.  I'm pretty sure that is my oldest nicely serial numbered card now.  How sweet would that Clemens card be if insted of "Gamers" it said "Roiders" or "Liars"...

I might have to pick up a few more of these next time my wife goes out of town and I get a chance to visit the card store. 

Oh yeah, and all of these are available for trade.

Trade with Timmy519

I just got my trade package from Timmy519 full of 2008 UD X Die Cuts.  He offered up about 20 Die Cuts I needed and four Die Cut Golds, and I sent him some UDX Base cards, some 2010 Topps inserts he needed, and a UDX Posada Jersey.  It was a fun trade as we were both able to find some cards we needed.  A look at some of the cards:

 


































I think it would be awesome to finish the base, die cut, and die cut gold, because they would look sweet in a binder with each player's three cards in each row.  Fortunately I already have the Pujols Gold which could be hard to find and I have the best card in the set - Evan Longoria RC in base, die cut, and die cut gold.  The Jeter gold might be hard to get though. 

Anyway, a great trade with Timmy519 that got me closer to finishing 2008 UDX.

1999 Topps Finest Series 1

I picked up two packs of 1999 Finest Series 1 during my card shop trip the other day, because I love to open packs from the period of 1995-2005 when I didn't open much baseball.  I only opened a little bit of basketball in the late '90s, so I'm trying to at least get a feel for that time period.  I don't have a huge interest in it though, since my collecting targets are all current players.  

Pack 1:
Kevin Young, Dante Bichette, Robb Nen, Cal Ripken, Bartolo Colon, Eric Chavez Sensations.
Not much besides the Ripken, which is always nice to get.  Eric Chavez was awfully hyped back then, but I can't say I was super thrilled with the Sensations card.

Pack 2:

Darryl Strawberry, Greg Vaughn, Mark Grace, Tino Martinez, Jim Thome, Cal Ripken Gems
Now that's more like it.  This would have been a pretty sick pack to open in the '90s.  2 packs, 2 Ripkens, gotta love that.  I should note that failed to mention Jim Thome in my 600 Club post as a possible future member.  He wasn't doing much at the time, but lately he's been tearing it up and should reach the plateau. 

Some good names and you can't beat a pair of Ripkens for just a couple of bucks.

All of these are available for trade.

Keep an eye out for Series 2...

Trade with BA Benny

Those of you familiar with BA Benny saw his recent post about our trade.  He gave me a little more credit than I was due though, as the TTM's and the Brad Smith AU weren't from me.  However, I wanted to make sure to get the trade cards he sent me up quickly since it was a very satisfying trade.  I don't have a specific team I collect, so BA Benny went the extra mile to find me some great cards of the players I do collect.  I couldn't be happier.

First, he sent a Justin Verlander FY Bowman Chrome Refractor along with some Verlander base cards for my collection.  And, the FY Refractor happens to be my 100th Verlander, so what a great card to reach that milestone.

Also in the trade were several base cards of David Wright, BJ Upton, Justin Upton, Michael Cuddyer, and Ryan Zimmerman and a nice David Wright Jersey

Also on the baseball side of things was a few needs for some sets I want to finish.  A 2008 UD X Die Cut Carlos Quentin and a 2008 UD Masterpieces Ryan Braun were much appreciated.  Of course, I can't forget the stack of 2009 A Piece of History base cards that the trade started with.

On the football side, BA Benny came through big time with some awesome VT Hokies, including some base cards of Eddie Royal and Xavier Adibi.  In addition to the base, he also sent an Eddie Royal Jersey and a sweet Eddie Royal RC Refractor.














The highlight of the trade, for me, was a 2006 Leaf Limited Monikers Kevin Jones Autograph #19/34.  He is one of my all-time favorite Hokies, and I got the chance to watch him my freshman year at Tech. 

This is what trading is all about.  Start off small with some base cards and work up to an awesome trade with a wide range of players and sports.  I am very satisfied with this trade and look forward to trading with BA Benny in the future. 

Card Store Pickups

I found a decent card store in my area the other day, which was a nice surprise because all I had found in the first year of living here was a comic book store that hasn't gotten any new cards in the entire year.  My wife was out of town, so I had some time to dig through the singles and pick up a few cards I wanted.  I also picked up four packs of 1999 Finest (2 each series 1 and 2) and the Just Minors 2K pack I posted the other day.  It's just wrong to visit a card store and not buy an old pack to open.  I'll post the finest packs in the next couple of days.  For now, here are the other cards I picked up:

I picked up some David Wright cards for my collection (before I reached 100):

I really wanted the 2006 Topps Update HR Derby card, as it had somehow eluded me to this point.  The Dick Perez Chrome Refractor is also an awesome card to pick up for dirt cheap. I flipped through the cheap Game Used and Auto bin to see if they had anything interesting, and I came across a David Wright from 2009 Topps 206

If that swatch was blue, this card would be sick.  But, it is cool that it is from his All-Star Jersey.  I also picked up some VT Hokies including Jimmy Williams, Xavier Adibi, Josh Morgan, and Macho Harris, all guys that played while I was there. 

I love the Josh Morgan card, because I was most likely at that game.  The Macho is cool, though I do prefer the guys to be in their college uniforms.  Against my will, I did purchase a few West Virginia guys as well for my mentor at work.  I picked up some of Pat White, Owen Schmitt, Chris Henry and Steve Slaton.  I miss playing WVU every year, but I'm glad I don't have to go through the rivalry business every year with the guy I share an office with. 

Look for the 1999 Finest packs coming soon...

2010 Topps Football Rack Pack

I just got back from a fun (sarcastic) weekend watching Virginia Tech lose in our worst loss ever.  We lost 21-16 to I-AA James Madison.  Not only was it against an in-state opponent, it was at home.  Time for a coaching shuffle...Anyway, I don't plan on buying a ton of 2010 football since there isn't much VT representation in it, but I did buy a Wal-Mart rack pack the other day.  I like the set and think the inserts are pretty interesting, so I may buy a pack or two more.  Here are the highlights of my pack:

Not bad to start with a couple of the best player in the game.  Too bad Arian Foster had to rain on the Colts season opener.

First, a Gridiron Giveaway code with Joe Montana on the front.  I like the baseball version of this, so the football version is good with me.  I'll get to the redemption of this later.  Second, a Gridiron Lineage of Brandon Marshall and Demaryius Thomas.  Well at least Topps feels that Thomas will follow in Marshall's footsteps as an incredibly talented headcase waste.   Third, a Peak Performance CJ Spiller.  Spiller is starting for the Bills, which is a testament to how bad they are this year.  Spiller couldn't run on ACC defenses...how is he going to carry the load in the NFL.  Within three years, he will be signing with a new team as a kick return specialist and nothing more.















A couple cards of the Champs.  That Brees throwback card is sweet; really glad he got a ring. 

Eli Manning vs. Tony Romo...many words describe this matchup...classic is not one of them.  Eli and Romo are the epitome of mediocrity in the NFL.  Eli has been overhyped since he was drafted (he was only the third best QB in that draft).  Don't give me the "he won a championship" crap either.  He had his ring gifwrapped and handed to him all while he was putting his best effort out there to lose it for them.  Romo isn't bad, he's just not a top level QB.  The Cowboys offense is designed so he can make several short dumpoffs without having to do too much.  That's also why the 'Boys haven't been too successful.

Now on to the rookies:

Golden Tate: a good college reciever underachieving for the Seahawks.
Kyle Wilson: Backup corner behind  Revis, a good place to start your career.
Gerald McCoy: A beast who had 3 tackles and forced fumble in his first game...nice.
LaMarr Houston: 3 tackles in his first start.
Ben Tate:  on Injured Reserve
Phillipp Dillard: ...
Dez Bryant: 8 rec 56 yds, but thrown to wayyyy too much by the mediocre QB mentioned above.
Tim Tebow: 2 carries, 2 yards.  But really didnt play much at all.  I hope he does well, but I don't see him producing a ton the first couple years.  But, I like guys who work hard and don't complain. This is one of the only cards I wanted from this set, so I'm glad I got it.  How sad is Brady Quinn by the way...

All in all, not bad for 5 bucks.  All are for trade except the Tebow, Brees Throwback (unless a really good offer was made), and the Gridiron Code. Speaking of the Gridiron Code, I waited until it seemed like a lot of older cards were popping up and submitted my code.  And what magnificent card was I granted...

1990 Bob Nelson...woo..........hoo......I really didn't feel like bothering to put a picture of the card in here.  He is notable however, as the original football house rule in Tecmo Bowl, since he was unstoppable.  I traded this card for a Hokie, though, so it was well worth it.



















Good ole Lee Suggs.  It's a shame he couldn't stay healthy, he was tremendously talented.

Just Minors Justifiable 2K pack

I picked up a pack of Just Minors Justifiable 2K at the card store the other day for a buck along with some singles, cheap mem cards, and a couple packs of 1999 Topps Finest that I'll post some other time.  I didn't really know what to expect with this pack, so I was really interested to see who was in the set. 

I figure the 2K minors cards would be perfect for a "where are they now?" post. So, here we go:

222 Brian Cole, OF, St. Lucie Mets
>>> Brian died in a car crash March 31, 2001 after leaving Port St. Lucie for a Double-A assignment in Binghamton.  Brian was a top prospect and was expected to be a star.  The stats on the back of the card show him batting .316 with 18 homeruns, 41 doubles, 4 triples, 71 RBI, and 50 stolen bases in 500 AB, so he seemed to be an impact player.  The cause of the accident remains uncertain.

249 Gary Johnson, OF, Erie Seawolves
>>> Brian played 5 games with the Anaheim Angels in 2003, and then apparently dropped off the radar.

246 Aaron Herr, SS, GCL Braves
>>> A one-time AAA rising star, Aaron is now a third baseman for the Lancaster Barnstormers of the independent Atlantic League.  His dad, Tom Herr of St. Louis Cardinals fame, is the Manager.  He attended Hempfield High School, which is where a few of the guys I played volleyball with in college went.

242 Toby Hall, C, Orlando Rays
>>> Hall was released from a minor league contract with the Texas Rangers in June, and is currently a free agent.

215 Sean Burnett, P, GCL Pirates
>>> Sean is currently a relief pitcher for the Washington Nationals...woohoo! an active major leaguer.

one card left...who could it be...





















...yes, that Adrian Gonzalez.

237 Adrian Gonzalez, 1B, GCL Marlins
>>> Adrian is currently the first baseman for the San Diego Padres who is batting .307 with 27 HR and 90 RBI in 512 ABs this season.  Honestly, if you don't know who this guy is, why are you here?

Well, I apologize for leading off with the sad story of Brian Cole, but that's the way the cards came and I didn't know ahead of time what the first four guys were all about.  That Adrian Gonzalez card is pretty sweet, though, so I think the pack was well worth a dollar.

I'm heade to the VT-JMU football game this weekend, so my next post probably won't be until sunday or monday.  GO HOKIES!!!!

Daddy's little girl...

...makes me so proud...

...but, I think Dayf has brainwashed my cat somehow.

Custom Spankee

I have a ton of things I need to post up here, but unfortunately I'm a bit busy this week, so I'll do a quick post of two custom cards I made of myself.  The first is my 2010 Allen and Ginter card using my all-business picture.  The second is a card I made as part of a set of players from my work volleyball league.

I really hate people sometimes

I was at Target yesterday and came across a marked-down 2009 Goudey blaster, so I picked up since I hadn't bought much '09 Goudey and the price was right.  I resisted opening it in the car since my wife usually  gives me crap when I do that, so I took it home.  I got home and ripped off the shrink-wrap, only to find that EVERY pack in the box had been opened.  Instead of the 8 cards per pack, each pack had only 3-5 cards, all base.  I was so pissed.  I hate people that do crap like that.  And even worse, after the person opened them, they RETURNED it to the store.  Target, being the great operation they are, simply re-shrink-wrapped it.  I'm not sure if I would be more mad if a) the Target employee didn't the check box contents for tampering since they wanted to be a lazy bum or if b) the Target employee checked, saw the ripped packs and thought "oh, we'll just put it on sale".  So then, I had to drive 20 mins back to Target to get my 10 dollars back.  I told the cashier that I got home, opened the box, and saw that all the packs were searched.  I was fully prepared to raise hell if I was accused of the asinine act, but fortunately she could tell from my demeanor that I was pissed.  She refunded my money and I was on my way, card-free.  I wish I could meet the person that opened the packs and took the cards. 

100th David Wright Card

I finally hit the century mark with my David Wright collection with this beatiful 2010 Topps Heritage All-Star SP. 























I got the Ichiro AS SP a while back and really wanted this one, so I picked it up on Ebay for cheap. I love this design for all-stars (1970 Topps). Now if I could get the original 1970 Topps Boog Powell AS, I'd be happy.

2008 Masterpieces Retail Pack

I picked up a pack of 2008 UD Masterpieces at K-Mart the other day because I'm getting close to finishing that set and wanted to try my luck.  It turned out to be one of the best retail packs I've ever gotten.  I already love this set, and with Beardy's 2010 Masterpieces Virtual Set shaping up, I figured it'd be a good time to post this pack. 

80 Tim Lincecum (This is one of the cards I needed)

84 Jason Varitek (I needed this card too)

32 Justin Verlander Blue Frame #010/125 (What an awesome card.  The blue frame looks great and the card is of his no-no at the Brewers.  Another nice Verlander for the PC)














7 Evan Longoria RC

And my Longoria Luck strikes yet again.  This was a card I needed, and I'm always happy to add another Longoria RC.

I can't say enough how beautiful the cards in this set are.