Birthday Box Break: 2008 UD APOH Box 2 Part 1

Time for box #2.  Have I mentioned lately how awesome my father-in-law is for getting me baseball cards for my birthday?  Well he is.

Pack 1:
199 Juan Ponce De Leon
143 Jeff Clement RC
193 International Space Station
113 Joe Koshansky RC Blue #24/25
19 Daisuke Matsuzaka
58 Jose Reyes
84 CC Sabathia
YSL5177 Don Mattingly Yankee Stadium Legacy

>>> So we're just going to kick this off with a low-numbered RC parallel.  Joe Koshansky, currently of the Richmond Flying Squirrels (and a UVA grad...yuck), set a minor league record earlier this year.  In an 18-inning game, he went 0-for-8 with 7 strikeouts. That is awesome.   7 strikeouts is bad, though I'm sure Mark Reynolds (speaking of UVA) could probably do it, given an 18-inning game. The only difference is that Reynolds would be 1-for-8 with the 1 being an absolutely destroyed home run.

Pack 2:
115 Seth Smith RC
157 Statue of LIberty Given to U.S.
101 Emilio Bonifacio RC
SS48 Ichiro Stadium Scenes #218/699
70 Rich Harden
32 Magglio Ordonez
71 Joe Blanton
97 Scott Rolen

Pack 3:
108 Lance Broadway RC
185 1st Heart Transplant
129 Alberto Gonzalez RC
171 Bell X-1 Breaks Sound Barrier
FM3-1 Smoltz/Hudson/Glavine Franchise Members 3 Jersey #21/99
18 Jonathan Papelbon
44 Alex Gordon
5 Mark Teixeira
FH-40 Jimmy Rollins Franchise History Red #047/149

>>> Hey, this looks familiar, only theres a Glavine on it this time.  Certainly surprised to see that one. Nice J-Roll in red, too.

Pack 4:
178 Paul Revere's Ride
150 Justin Maxwell RC
164 Geneva Summit
CSC-PG Pujols/Guerrero Cut From the Same Cloth #758/799
96 Alex Rios
31 Todd Helton
57 Delmon Young
83 Travis Hafner



>>> This box is all about encore performances from the first one.  Another Pujols insert is nice.

Pack 5:
116 Harvey Garcia RC
191 History of Nobel Prize
HM-21 Phillip Seymour Hoffman - Capote - Jacket A Piece of History Memorabilia
23 Carlos Zambrano
49 Andruw Jones
75 Chase Utley
YSL5165 Dave Righetti Yankee Stadium Legacy

>>> If you haven't seen Capote, you've missed one of the greatest acting performances ever.  Phillip Seymour Hoffman is brilliant.  After watching the trailer, go look at some videos of the real Truman Capote.  It's amazing how closely he matches.

Pack 6:
184 Pope John Paul II
114 Josh Newman RC
170 Polio Vaccine Invented
TM-36 Alex Rodriguez Timeless Moments #141/699
SS29 Rickie Weeks Stadium Scenes Blue Jersey #08/25
28 Aaron Harang
93 Michael Young
54 Prince Fielder
88 Albert Pujols

>>> This first half of the box is kicking ass.  Rickie Weeks isn't the best player on the checklist, but a really low numbered relic of a Brewer in blue is very nice.  Excellent card.

Pack 7:
165 Woodstock
109 Donny Lucy RC
151 Fall of the Berlin Wall
128 Carlos Muniz RC
41 Roy Oswalt
67 Joba Chamberlain
2 Dan Haren
SS11 Alfonso Soriano Stadium Scenes Red #013/149

>>> Ah, one serial number away from an eBay 1/1.  The red looks good on the Cubbie.

Pack 8:
137 Steve Pearce RC
179 Civil Rights Act Passes
123 Chin-Lung Hu RC
FM3-14 Jeter/Ramirez/Reyes Franchise Members 3 #474/799
45 Mark Teahen
6 Jeff Francoeur
80 Trevor Hoffman

15 Manny Ramirez

>>> A trio of shortstops round out an excellent first half of the box.