Bowl Pick 'Em Contest Winnings, Part I

College football will be here again before we know it, so I've got to get my prize from last season's Bowl Pick 'Em contest at Cards on Cards posted! My prize for a second place tie was a very generously sized box of cards, so I felt a bit overwhelmed even sorting through them. I finally sorted them out by player, and, as usual, I'll plan to post them all eventually, but I might quit halfway through, we'll see.

2013 Topps Update - Blue Parallel #US4 Matt Adams
2015 Gypsy Queen - Mini #197 Matt Adams

It's hard to believe this is Matt Adams's 5th season in the majors. He still seems like one of the new kids on the team.

1993 Pinnacle #599 Rene Arocha
1993 Topps Stadium Club #712 Rene Arocha
1994 Fleer - Rookie Sensations #1 Rene Arocha
1995 Fleer Ultra #221 Rene Arocha

I was too young to really be aware of it at the time, but Rene Arocha was apparently the first player to defect from the Cuban national team. There was a great article about it in the New York Times a few months ago, you can read here.

1996 Donruss #92 David Bell
1996 Leaf #70 David Bell

Both of these cards are from the same year, yet Donruss claims David Bell wore #25, while Leaf clearly shows 27. He first wore 25 when he came over from Cleveland near the trading deadline, and switched to 27 later that same year, about 2 full seasons before Mark McGwire arrived. Yet, now that he's the Cardinals hitting coach, he's wearing 25 again, because Jhonny Peralta has 27.

2015 Gypsy Queen #27 John Lackey
2015 Topps Opening Day #29 John Lackey

I started out just grabbing guys from the beginning of the alphabet (I'm always sorting), but to cram as many cards as possible in while still tagging each set, I'm doing my best to stick players together who both have cards in common sets, like John Lackey and Matt Adams, who both had a 2015 Gypsy Queen in the package.

Mail Day

It's Sunday; clearly no mail arrived at my home today. But, it is the day I went through my pile of mail I've been ignoring. Ipso facto: Mail Day.

2013 Topps Update
Making Their Mark Autographs #MMA-AH Aaron Hicks

I'm rather proud of myself I only procrastinated about 6 months in sending in my redemption for this card, which I pulled from a Jumbo box last August. I had a whole 18 months left to wait around. As I said before, this was my first redemption in about 20 years. I liked being able to do it online, though I kind of forgot about it, and this package arrived as a complete surprise. I didn't check the status online and get to go through the agony of waiting for shipping.

Tis The Season Winnings, Part XII

Sometimes, I procrastinate posting and sorting some cards. Normally I don't pay too much attention to how long a particular item has been sitting on my desk, but given that this one was the Tis the Season contest from 2013, I've probably had it in my possession for a little over a year now. But, even with the long delay, I still want to throw Jeff at 2 by 3 Heroes some referral traffic while I show off my prize.
Part I II III IV V VI VII VIII IX X XI

Today I have the last of the Red Sox and Yankees. When I sorted roughly by year, no Cardinals showed up in this last bunch.

2012 Bowman #102 Clay Buchholz
2012 Bowman - Prospects #BP105 Xander Bogaerts
2012 Topps Update #US310 Kelly Shoppach
2012 Topps Chrome #4 David Ortiz
2012 Topps Heritage #20 Derek Jeter
2013 Topps Update #US177 David Ortiz

I don't buy much Chrome, for some reason, so it's always nice to get them in the mail. Bowman products are sort of in that same category, because the sheer number of sets and subsets just overwhelms me. But, just like Chrome, I like getting them in the mail, because they're very rarely duplicates.

2011 Topps - Kimball Champions #KC-6 CLay Buchholz
2011 Topps Update - Kimball Champions #KC-130 Adrian Gonzalez
2013 Topps Update - Blue Parallel #212 Alfonso Soriano
2012 Topps #50 Adrian Gonzalez

Kimball Champions are one of those insert sets that Ambitious Me thought I would finish by now. Maybe someday.

2013 Topps Update Jumbo Pack #10

It's the final pack in my quest at the full run of 990 cards in 2013 Topps.

A fan of the other Missouri baseball team gave me trouble about all the Cardinals in Pack 9, but he was the only one to comment, so I shall reward him with all of the Royals in Pack 10.

2013 Topps Update
#US40 Tim Collins
#US75 Ty Wigginton
Emerald Parallel #US141 Chris Carter
Franchise Forerunners #FF-8 Nolan Ryan/Yu Darvish
Gold Parallel #US166 Kevin Gregg #0845/2013
Making Their Mark #MM-28 Nick Franklin

Well, as far as base cards go, this pack had one Cardinal, and one Royal. I don't really know much about Tim Collins, but I do know this is my first card of Ty Wigginton in a Cardinal uniform. He didn't last very long here, but I'll still collect his cards. That Nolan Ryan guy down on the left isn't bad either.

2013 Topps Update
Chasing History #CH-108 Shelby Miller
1971 Topps Mini #TM-25 Shelby Miller

This pack had not one, but two Shelby Miller insert cards, modeling both the home and road jerseys, I think. Maybe the mini is just poorly lit.

After the last pack, I still had 45 cards to go, or so I thought. All 44 of the base cards in this pack were new, according to my list. That left one card, #109. I looked in the already sorted pile from the previous 9 packs, and sure enough, there was a #109 in there. I must have just misclicked when entering my cards into Zistle.

Also, I mentioned back in Pack 3 that I had a dinged up Wilson Betemit card. I did get an additional copy of that one along the way, so I have a full, undamaged set. All in all, I think my decision to get a Jumbo box of Update was a good one. I will probably do the same for 2014. As for Series 1 and 2 this year, I'm still a little on the fence, so it might come down to the price I find for Jumbo boxes and the factory set.

Update Series Completion: 330/330 (100.0%)

2013 Topps Update Jumbo Pack #9

Does anyone actually read blog posts that are posted on a Saturday night? I guess maybe for some folks reading the blog roll is the modern equivalent of reading of the Sunday paper, so maybe some of your are reading this over your morning coffee.

2013 Topps Update
#US55 Pete Kozma
#US152 Randy Choate
#US168 Michael Wacha
#US213 Matt Adams
Emerald Parallel #US118 Joe Blanton
Gold Parallel #US61 Rafael Soriano #0185/2013
Making Their Mark #MM-46 Hyun-Jin Ryu
Postseason Heroes #PH-9 Mariano Rivera

Not all of them were new, but I had 4 Cardinal base cards in this pack, and they're all in Cardinal uniforms, and they're all still Cardinals to this day (barring some sort of cleared-waivers trade between writing up and posting this pack). I also had 2 Mariano Rivera base cards to go with this Postseason Heroes insert.

2013 Topps Update
Chasing History #CH-127 Prince Fielder
1971 Topps Mini #TM-21 Ian Kinsler

The final two inserts in this pack, I grouped together because I had 8 vertical regular-sized cards, and these. Only after I scanned them did it hit me that I've got 2 guys just about as connected as two non-teammates can be, since they were traded for each other last November.

Well this is slightly concerning. Every base card in this pack was a duplicate. That leaves 45 more to go still, with just 1 pack left, and I haven't seen a pack with 45 base cards in it yet. It's possible I mis-clicked somewhere along the way and messed up my checklist, but if not, it's not looking good for completing the set.

Update Series Completion: 285/330 (86.4%)

2013 Topps Update Jumbo Pack #8

I'm coming into the home stretch in the metaphorical horse race that is this Jumbo box. Man, I should enter that terrible writing contest.

2013 Topps Update
#US22 Carlos Beltran
#US221 Allen Craig
#US282 Brock Peterson

These 3 Cardinals are now members of the Yankees, Red Sox, and Dodgers. Brock Peterson got called up at the age of 29 in mid-2013, and played just 23 games, which I guess is enough to get a card in Update.

2013 Topps Update
Emerald Parallel #US182 Luis Valbuena
Gold Parallel #US155 J.B. Shuck #0251/2013
Making Their Mark #MM-48 Craig Kimbrel
Postseason Heroes #PH-7 Reggie Jackson

There were no particularly flashy inserts in this pack. I think my favorite of this group is the Reggie Jackson.

2013 Topps Update
Chasing History #CH-138 David Ortiz
1971 Topps Mini #TM-46 George Brett

I grew up liking the Royals moderately, since they're Missouri's other team. That changed a little when interleague play began, and they were our yearly rival. Still, I appreciate a good hall of famer card, especially a mini like this George Brett.

I had another perfect pack, 44 for 44 new cards. That hardly seemed possible at this point, except for the fact that packs are obviously not exactly random groupings of cards. My last 2 packs just need to finish off 45 base cards total. 44 is the highest base card total I've seen, I think, so I double checked to see if any were variation SPs. As far as I can tell none were, but I'll give the set a once-over after pack 10 and report the results.

Update Series Completion: 285/330 (86.4%)

2013 Topps Update Jumbo Pack #7

Some say 7 is lucky, but I've never really found that to be the case. Let's see how Pack #7 works out

2013 Topps Update
#US171 Nick Punto
#US201 Adam Ottavino
#US253 Shelby Miller
#US261 Skip Schumaker
#US270 Edwin Jackson
Emerald Parallel #US Dylan Axelrod
Gold Parallel #US40 Tim Collins #1277/2013
Black Parallel #US278 Jose Alvarez #61/62

Believe it or not (and why wouldn't you, really?), these are the first cards of Nick Punto and Adam Ottavino I've ever shown on my blog. I would have figured their cards would have come up before. On another note, I pulled another black parallel from this pack, numbered to 62.

2013 Topps Update
#US189 Kyle Lohse
Chasing History #CH-144 Yasiel Puig

This pack had quite the rogues' gallery of former Cardinals, with 4 in the first scan, and Kyle Lohse in the horizontal section. Along with him I have another card of this Puig fellow who seems to be showing up a lot.

2013 Topps Update
Franchise Forerunners #FF-2 Yasiel Puig/Matt Kemp
Making Their Mark #MM-39 Kevin Gausman
1971 Topps Mini #TM-2 Babe Ruth

And here I have yet another Puig along with Matt Kemp. It must be good to be a Puig collector these days, unless you're a completist. Then I'd guess it gets a little pricey.

This pack had the full 43 base cards after subtracting out the "standard" inserts. 30 of them were new, keeping me ahead of the pace to finish the set; with 70% of the packs busted, 73% of the set is complete.

Update Series Completion: 241/330 (73.0%)

2013 Topps Update Jumbo Pack #6

The last pack had a recently acquired Cardinal in it, and this one did too.

2013 Topps Update
#US142 Yadier Molina
Chasing History #CH-107 Babe Ruth
1971 Topps Mini #TM-14 Troy Tulowitzki

The more I see of the Chasing History set, the more I like it, especially as it deals with the history of the game and statistical milestones. Some of its stats are a little esoteric, but this one is straightforward. Babe Ruth is the only player to hit 3 Home Runs in a World Series game twice. Albert Pujols, Pablo Sandoval, and Reggie Jackson have each done it once.

2013 Topps Update
#US93 Adam Wainwright
#US96 Mark DeRosa
#US239 Justin Masterson
Emerald Parallel #US115 Drew Stubbs
Gold Parallel #US94 Joba Chamberlain #0433/2013
Making Their Mark #MM-34 Nolan Arenado
Postseason Heroes #PH-20 David Wright
Making Their Mark Autograph Redemption #MMA-AH Aaron Hicks

This is the first card I've shown of new Cardinal Justin Masterson. He didn't have a stellar first game on Saturday, but the offense scored enough to earn a victory for him. Also in this bunch is the second hit of my box, an autograph redemption for Aaron Hicks. This will be the first redemption of this type for me since I mailed in a Topps Black Gold winner card in 1993 or maybe 1994. This is also the reason I started going through these boxes, because I knew there was a chance there would be a card that would eventually expire. However, I have another 2 years to send it in. Hopefully I'll take care of it before then.

This pack had 43 base cards, and all 43 were new, so I'm still reasonably well on track to finish the set, and maybe even find another fully redundant pack like pack 5.

Update Series Completion: 211/330 (63.9.%)

2013 Topps Update Jumbo Pack #5

With this pack, I'm half done with the box. Before this pack, I was already half done with the set.

2013 Topps
#US4 Matt Adams
#US67 Kyle McClellan
#US104 Matt Carpenter
#US165 A.J. Pierzynski
Emerald Parallel #US215 Travis Blackley
Franchise Forerunners #FF-7 Matt Harvey/David Wright
Gold Parallel #US108 Ryan Kalish #0169/2013
Making Their Mark #MM-42 Wil Myers
1971 Topps Mini #TM-27 Stan Musial

Thanks to the recent pickup of A.J. Pierzynski, this pack had 5 Cardinals in it, including a mini Musial. I mentioned when I pulled an Emerald parallel that I was hoping the Cardinals would pick him up to replace the injured Yadier Molina, and so far he seems to be worth the risk.

2013 Topps Update
Chasing History #CH-103 Anthony Rizzo
All-Star Stitches #ASR-DB Domonic Brown

Here's one of the hits in the box, a Domonic Brown jersey. I'm always a little ambivalent about the all-star jersey cards. On one hand, it's the wrong color for many teams. It'd be weird to have an orange Cardinals jersey swatch, but it's not quite as jarring for a guy that doesn't play for my home team. Still, he's a Phillie, and shouldn't be in orange. However, this jersey is from a specific day, and doesn't contain the standard disclaimer of most relic cards about not being from a specific game, event, or even season.

This pack had 41 base cards, and I already had all 41. On its face that feels a little disappointing, but I was bound to get that many doubles eventually, and I think it gives me a little insight into Topps' collation practices. Assuming my box contains a full set, this pack is completely unnecessary to build it. It would seem that the 330 cards are mechanically distributed among 9 or less packs, and this pack comes off of another line, which makes some sense because it contains one of the guaranteed hits of the box. I'm not sure I can explain how that relates to the other 2 hits, though, because even at 45 base cards per pack, 7 "regular" packs wouldn't quite finish the set. There must be just a bit more complexity at work.

Update Series Completion: 168/330 (50.9%)

2013 Topps Update Jumbo Pack #4

Pack 4 has my first hit - of sorts - from this box, though it's not an autograph or relic. I also got 2 former Cardinals.

2013 Topps Update
#US67 Kyle McClellan
Emerald Parallel #US225 Chris Getz
Gold Parallel #US289 Kevin Correia #0168/2013
Making Their Mark #MM-35 Aaron Hicks
Postseason Heroes #PH-18 Bret Saberhagen
1971 Topps Mini #TM-32 Carlos Gonzalez

Even though Bret Saberhagen hung around in the major leagues into 2001, I still remember him best as the first reliever for the AL All Stars in RBI baseball. I spent quite a bit of time playing that game, either as the NL or the Cardinals. Usually I liked to play the AL when I was the NL, otherwise it just didn't seem fair.

2013 Topps Update
#US41 Dan Haren
Chasing History #CH-134 Tony Cingrani
League Leaders Pins #LLP-MT Mike Trout

You can't tell from the scan, but if you're familiar with the set, you know that Trout card is a shadow-box style card, probably as thick as 6-8 regular cards. I put it on the pile with the other two thick inserts from Series 1 and 2, and I figured, hey, it's time to go get some toploaders of the correct size, since they're probably 10 to a pack, and I need at least 3. But, after examining the cards, all 3 are a different thickness, leaving me with the choice to buy 3 different sizes, or storing 2 in a toploader thick enough to allow them to wobble. Oh, the woes of the frugal collector.

The extra-thick Trout card cost me a few base cards, so there were only 38 in the pack. Still, all 38 were new, so I'm now over halfway done with the set, after just 4 out of 10 packs.


Update Series Completion: 168/330 (50.9%)

2013 Topps Update Jumbo Pack #3

I'm up to my third pack of Update, and again, 4 Cardinals showed up. For some reason Matt Adams has 2 cards in this set.

2013 Topps Update
#US152 Randy Choate
#US168 Michael Wacha
#US213 Matt Adams
#US205 Prince George of Cambridge SP
Emerald Parallel #US165 A.J. Pierzynski
Making Their Mark #MM-38 Yasiel Puig
Gold Parallel #US159 Donald Lutz #/2013
Postseason Heroes #PH-16 Nolan Ryan
1971 Topps Mini #TM-34 Yu Darvish

Based on a very small N, it looks like the SP Variations are more common in Update than Series 1 and 2, much like they were in previous years. I've already got 2 in my first 3 packs, and maybe more...it's sometimes hard to notice the subtle ones. In my entire Series 1 and 2 boxes, I got 1 SP each. It's weird to think this baby could be King of England in my lifetime.

Among the rest of the inserts, there's A.J. Pierzynski, who I was sort of hoping the Cardinals would pick up when he was designated for assignment right around the time of Yadier Molina's injury. So far that doesn't look like it's going to happen. There's also a nice Nolan Ryan there, from an insert set I haven't seen yet.

2013 Topps Update
#US189 Kyle Lohse
Chasing History #CH-112 Johnny Podres

To close out this pack, here's Kyle Lohse in one of my favorite current throwback uniforms. I feel ok liking this uniform because it's from an era before the Brewers were division rivals. For the same reason, I much prefer Houston's current uniforms to anything from their NL Central Division days.

There were another 43 base cards in this pack, and all 43 were new. If this keeps up (it won't), i'll have the full set at pack 8. Unfortunately, my Wilson Betemit card has a significantly bent corner, so if I don't wind up with a duplicate, I'll probably seek out another copy before I call my set complete. For now, though, I'll count him in the numbers for simplicity's sake.

Update Series Completion: 130/330 (39.4.%)

2013 Topps Update Jumbo Pack #2

There's something about Update I just like more than Series 1 and 2. I'll have to consider only getting Update in 2014 and going back to buying the first 2 series directly.

2013 Topps Update
#US4 Matt Adams
#US55 Pete Kozma
#US104 Matt Carpenter

3 uniformed Cardinals showed up in this pack, though Pete Kozma has spent most of his time at AAA this year. And Matt Carpenter is a 2B on this card, but a 3B this year. In fact, he's now been to the All-Star game at 2 positions in 2 years.

2013 Topps Update
Emerald Parallel #US147 Charlie Morton
Francise Forerunners #FF-10 Jose Fernandez/Giancarlo Stanton
Gold Parallel #US2 Trevor Bauer #0191/2013
Making Their Mark #MM-43 Jose Fernandez

Miami always seems to have exciting young players, now they just need to hold onto them long enough to put together a winning team again.

Chasing History #CH Mike Trout
1971 Topps Mini # Buster Posey

Minis and a throwback design are a dangerous combination for collectors like me. I see these mini 1971s and I want them all, just as much as I do the 1972 minis from Series 1 and 2.

I had a high-water mark of 44 base cards in this pack, which caused me to go searching for any SP variations. I don't think I saw any, but that's assuming the Zistle list is complete. I'll have to flip through the full stack of ordered cards after I complete the box to see if any variations stand out.

Update Series Completion: 87/330 (26.4%)

2013 Topps Update Jumbo Pack #1

I decided to go ahead and start going through my 2013 Update jumbo box. At the rate I've been going, it'll take 40 days or so to finish it, and it'll nearly be time to start posting my football projections and power rankings.

2013 Topps Update
#US306 Pat Neshek
#US250b Yasiel Puig SP
Emerald Parallel #US310 Boone Logan
Franchise Forerunners #FF-3 Manny Machado/Cal Ripken, Jr.
Gold Parallel #US152 Randy Choate #0496/2013
Making Their Mark #MM-32 Matt Harvey

The first pack started off nicely, with a base card of All-Star Pat Neshek, and a Gold Parallel of Randy Choate. There's also a SP of Puig. I seem to remember SPs being more common in Update than Series 1 and 2 in the past, so we'll see if more show up. I've already equaled each of those boxes, which yielded 1 SP Variation each.

2013 Topps Update
#US175 Carlos Martinez
1971 Topps Mini #TM-43 Frank Thomas
Chasing History #CH-129 Clayton Kershaw

Carlos Martinez is another good get from this box, and I hope he's one of the duplicates. I don't really have a good reason to want a second copy, but I do. Kershaw's no slouch either, and Frank Thomas was one of my favorite non-Cardinals in the 90s.

There were 43 base cards in this pack, up from the Series 1 and 2 norm of 42, probably due to the lack of Million Dollar Giveaway cards in each pack. There were, of course, no duplicates in the first pack, so much like a player with 2 home runs on opening day, I'm well ahead of the pace.

Update Series Completion: 43/330 (13.0%)