Bowl Pick 'Em Contest Winnings, Part XXVIII

College football will be here again before we know it IS HERE, 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.

Part I II III IV V VI VII VIII IX X
XI XII XIII XIV XV XVI XVII XVIII XIX XX
XXI XXII XXIII XXIV XXV XXVI XXVII

I'm averaging fewer and fewer cards per post as I'm getting down to a lot of cards that represent the only card of a given player AND a given set. At least I had a handful of Chris Duncans and 2006 Fleer cards.

2005 Topps Opening Day #47 Jason Marquis
2005 Topps Update #UH269 Stu Pomeranz
2006 Fleer #85 Jason Isringhausen
2006 Fleer #86 Tyler Johnson
2006 Fleer #89 Chris Duncan (x2)
2006 Fleer #321 Aaron Miles
2006 Topps 52 #233 Chris Duncan
2007 Upper Deck Future Stars #89 Chris Duncan

Stu Pomeranz never actually played for the Cardinals, and only pitched 6 innings over 3 total games in 2012, which appears to be his last professional baseball. I totally forgot Aaron Miles went to the Cubs for a year and came back. He was a handy blowout pitcher, taking the mound 5 different times for 5 total innings, and only allowing 2 runs total.

2013 Topps Jumbo Pack #7

With 4 packs and 113 cards to go, can I stay on pace to complete the set?

2013 Topps
#245 Jason Isringhausen
#305 Shelby Miller

I like to pretend former Cardinals in Angels or even sometimes Rangers uniforms are still Cardinals. Squinting just slightly at Izzy makes that pretty easy on this card.

2013 Topps
Calling Cards #CC-5 Jonathan Papelbon
Chasing History #CH-42 Alex Rodriguez
Chasing the Dream #CD-19 Yu Darvish
Emerald Parallel #303 Alex Rodriguez/Checklist

2 A-Rod inserts from a single pack would have been a bit more exciting before the whole year-long suspension thing.

2013 Topps
Cut to the Chase #CTC-16 Nelson Cruz
1972 Topps Mini #TM-27

These die-cuts are still weird, and the minis are still awesome.

Out of 42 base cards, 22 were new this time. The set-complete percentage is still slightly above the box-busted percentage, but it's getting closer.

Series 1 Completion: 239/330 (72.4%)

College Bowl Game Contest Win, Part 16

For the 2012-2013 College Football season, I entered the College Football Pick 'Em contest hosted by madding of Cards on Cards. I've won several of his contests over the years, and he always dumps a ton of Cardinals on me when I do. Yet, I think this time he may have outdone himself. I may have to work hard to get them all posted before the 2013-14 College Football season starts August 29, and I start posting my Power Rankings again.
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2005 Upper Deck #184 Edgar Renteria

I felt like Edgar Renteria was ageless, having already had a World Series winning hit before arriving at the Cardinals, playing here for 6 years, and then 7 more seasons elsewhere after that. Of course, he was actually quite young on arrival, and he was only 21 in that World Series win for the Marlins.

2005 Upper Deck #185 Jason Isringhausen

I think I see some Wrigley Field ivy in the background of Izzy here.

2004 Fleer Legacy
#8 Sammy Sosa
#48 Hideo Nomo
#53 Richie Sexson

These cards were a little dinged up and sort of used as packing material on the outside of each stack in the team bags. Still, those are some medium to big stars on the cards (Sorry Richie, you necessitated the "medium to" there).

2003 Topps
#469 Brett Tomko
#567 So Taguchi
#702 Jim Edmonds

I'm continually surprised that I keep finding sets I don't have cards from. 2003 Topps was one of those as well, which is even stranger, since Topps base cards from any year seem to just float around and settle in my card boxes.

2003 Upper Deck Game Face
#102 J.D. Drew
#104 Scott Rolen
#106 Tino Martinez

Game Face is a bit more of an obscure set, so it's not surprising I didn't have any of it. Rolen has a legitimate focus-on-the-pitch game face. However, it would appear someone caught J.D. Drew after fouling a ball off his shin, and Tino before a dugout tirade.

1991 Upper Deck
#636 Stolen Base Leaders (Lou Brock/Ricky Henderson)

1991?! That's right, there's a bit of a gap in the cards I received as prizes, from 1992 to 2002. Given that it took me 16 posts to get through the 11 years of 2003-2013, I figure that saves you about 16 more posts of reading. We're at the beginning of the end now. Or is the end of the beginning, since I'm going reverse chronologically?

The Fourth 2012 Update Hanger Pack

I was going to title this "2012 Update Hanger Pack The Fourth" (I know, infinitely more clever, right?), but it sounded a bit like Yoda grammar.

2012 Topps Update
#US179 Matt Adams
#US242 Joe Kelly
#US273 Yadier Molina
#US301 Carlos Beltran

I'm starting to get more duplicate Cardinals, but there are still a few new ones in this pack. That's also my first ever Matt Adams card. He may be poised to be our first baseman for a long time if he can keep up his offense.

2012 Topps Update #US329 Jason Isringhausen

This pack had just one former Cardinal base card, our once-dominant closer Jason Isringhausen.

2012 Topps Update - Gold Border
#2Trevor Cahill #1367/2012
#37 Mike Napoli #0177/2012
#171 Koji Uehara #0182/2012
#US4 Matt Treanor #0207/2012

This is the first time I've pulled 4 Gold Border cards in one of these packs. I was short a Golden Greats though, so I think it's about even. I can't decide if I would know who Matt Treanor is if not for his wife, Misty May-Treanor. 3 consecutive gold medals in any sport is pretty impressive, making her and Kerri Walsh the reigning champs for 12 years running.

2012 Topps Update - Target Red Border
#US92 Chone Figgins
#US203 Fernando Rodney

This time it's red borders on Navy and Green/Blue teams. I might be cursed. A mildly annoying, not dangerous at all, curse.

2012 Topps Update
Golden Moments #GM-U47 George Brett
1987 Topps Minis #TM-105 Ichiro

George Brett makes me, and probably Topps, wish that card companies put out cards of assistant coaches. He took over as hitting coach for the Royals in mid-season, in case you haven't kept up with Missouri's other team.

2012 Topps Update
Blockbusters #BB-6 Jay Buhner
Gold Sparkle #US324 Jamey Wright

Jamey Wright was a waiver trading deadline pickup for the Cardinals in late August, 2002. He only played 4 games before the end of the season. He's been quite a journeyman, and has moved on from the Dodgers to Tampa Bay this year. As for Jay Buhner, I can't resist a chance to post this video again.

All-Star Winnings, Part 5

Way back in July 2012, I won a contest at Cards On Cards. The premise was to pick the Cardinals player who would have the biggest impact on the game, determined Sabermetrically. I picked the right player, and got a pile of Cardinals for my trouble. They've been sitting in that same pile, haunting me, for quite some time, so now is the time to show them to you.
Part [ I | II | III | IV ]

Today's theme, besides "The Next Few Cards I Grabbed from the Pile" is 2000s Pitchers.

2002 Donruss Originals #417 Scotty Layfield
2002 Upper Deck #509 Scotty Layfield
2003 Donruss #60 Scotty Layfield

I must admit I don't know who Scotty Layfield is, but the fact that there were multiple cards prompted me to look him up. Of course the go-to source is baseball-reference.com, which showed he climbed up a level in the minors each year from 1999 through 2003 when he was at AAA, so it makes sense that companies would try to jump on the soon-to-be MLBer. Then, 2004 and 2005 show no stats, and 2006 and 2007 show him playing in the dreaded independent leagues. Not that there's anything wrong with Independent League ball, but it's a far cry from AAA. I couldn't find any other information, but I assume a bad injury took place in 2003 and he never quite recovered.

2002 Upper Deck #652 Darryl Kile

Next we have Darryl Kile, probably batting 8th. Tony La Russa loved doing that, and Kile was one of our better hitting pitchers at that time. I still remember finding out he had died during the night before a day game at Wrigley Field, and watching Joe Girardi announce the game's cancellation to the fans. It was rather jarring at the time to see that even a pro athlete could be taken down by bad health. Just a few days prior, Jack Buck, the longtime Cardinals broadcaster, had died, but he was elderly, ill, and it was expected to happen soon. The news of Darryl Kile was much more shocking.

2002 Upper Deck #653 Jason Isringhausen
2004 Upper Deck First Pitch #164 Jason Isringhausen
2006 SP Authentic #85 Jason Isringhausen
2008 Upper Deck #64 Jason Isringhausen

And finally, listen up, MLB. Despite his gig as pitching coach for SIUE, Izzy is apparently still looking for a chance to pitch. I can think of a few bullpens that could use an extra arm in September.

This Break is so 2007, Part V

When CaptKirk42 of the aptly named CaptKirk42's Trading Cards Blog opened up a break of 5 boxes of 2007 baseball cards, I jumped right in to claim the Cardinals and my 2 random teams. It was slow to fill so each slot wound up with 3 random teams, which also caused me to pick up the Dodgers as well in hopes of a Nomar Garciaparra card or two. In all I got the Athletics, Braves, Cardinals, [Devil] Rays, Dodgers,  Mariners,  Royals, and Twins.
[ I | II | III | IV ]


I might be a sucker, I might be behind the times, I might just dig in my heels when people disagree with me, but so help me, I like both Heritage and Turkey Red.

2007 Heritage
#27 Dan Haren
#41 Anthony Reyes SP
#65 Chris Narveson
#106 Scott Rolen
#199 Ronnie Belliard
#287 Chris Carpenter
#337 Jason Isringhausen
#476 Albert Pujols
#492 Brad Penny SP

I landed 2 SPs among the Cardinals, although one was Brad Penny, who pitched 9 games and hit one Grand Slam for us in 2010.

2007 Heritage
#216 2006 Cardinals
#289 Justin Verlander/Jeff Weaver

World Series winners usually get some bonus cards in the following year's set, such as this Verlander/Weaver card.

2007 Heritage
#103 Carl Crawford SP
#339 Jarrod Washburn SP
#357 Eric Stults SP
#419 Scott Kazmir SP

Here are the other SPs I received. I like having all of the SPs in the highest numbers like 2011-2013 Heritage, because then I feel like 1-425 can be seen as the base set. Also, I know when I flip through the cards by number which ones are SPs. To track these down, I had to go to some shady user-generated content sites, so hopefully they're correct.

2007 Heritage
Flashbacks #FB7 Eddie Yost
New Age Performers #NP11 Chipper Jones

These inserts don't seem to fit the set as well as other years of Heritage. But a Chipper's always a good thing.

2007 Heritage - A-Rod Road to 500 #71

Finally, my randomly assigned Seattle pays off again. This set was inserted across Topps products, so it'd be a bear to put together through pack buying.

That's it for the break. It was a lot of fun going through my giant box of cards, covering 5 different products and 8 teams. And, of course, I now own 5 more partial team sets of the Cardinals, so my wantlist has only increased.

This Break is so 2007, Part III

When CaptKirk42 of the aptly named CaptKirk42's Trading Cards Blog opened up a break of 5 boxes of 2007 baseball cards, I jumped right in to claim the Cardinals and my 2 random teams. It was slow to fill so each slot wound up with 3 random teams, which also caused me to pick up the Dodgers as well in hopes of a Nomar Garciaparra card or two. In all I got the Athletics, Braves, Cardinals, [Devil] Rays, Dodgers,  Mariners,  Royals, and Twins.
[ I | II ]

Turkey Red was the biggest reason I got in this break. Ever since I jumped back into collecting with 2010 Update, which had a Turkey Red insert set, I enjoyed the look and feel of the cards. I gather from other card blogs some folks were getting tired of Turkey Red by that point, but I was just getting started. I was quite tempted to try to get some 2013 Turkey Red, but the price, scarcity, and resale shenanigans just put me off.

2007 Turkey Red
#25 Albert Pujols
#37 Edgar Renteria
#72 Chris Carpenter
#87 David Eckstein
#135 Jason Isringhausen
#172 Kelvin Jimenez

Here we have the Cardinals base cards, including an Edgar Renteria as an Atlanta Brave.

2007 Turkey Red
#25b Albert Pujols - Ad Back SP

This is a variation SP, where it appears Albert has held his pose from above long enough for the sun to go down.

2007 Turkey Red
#48 Prince Albert

Here's yet another Albert, this time in Checklist form.

2007 Turkey Red - Chrome
#102 Elijah Dukes #0528/1999

The shininess of this card didn't really come through in the scan, although it doesn't have quite the same finish as the usual Chrome cards.

2007 Turkey Red - Relics
#TRR-AJ1 Andruw Jones

I'm still a sucker for relics, so this is a pretty cool Andruw Jones card, especially since it still shows him in his Braves heyday.

2007 Turkey Red - Cabinet Cards
#DP-DY Delmon Young

I could be fooling you with simply resizing the picture, but I assure you I am not. This is the one-per-box Cabinet card, about twice as wide and tall as a regular card. I wish it had been a Cardinal, but still it's a nice looking card. Now I just have to figure out how to store it. Between this and the Chrome, this was a good box for the Devil Rays.

Number 5 Type Collection's Cardinals Giveaway, Part 5

[Part 1]
[Part 2]
[Part 3]
[Part 4]
Matt at Number 5 Type Collection gave me way too many Cardinals in a recent contest. Here's the final part, part 5:

2008 Upper Deck #656 Anthony Reyes

2008 Upper Deck #658 Adam Kennedy

If I remember correctly, Adam was a hot SS prospect when we still had Ozzie. This was my first realization that the players I loved would eventually retire or be pushed out by younger guys. I think my fantasy baseball drafting style shows I'm still coming to grips with this. Anyway, we moved him to 2B, then moved him to Anaheim for Jim Edmonds. He then won a World Series in 2002 with David Eckstein, Scott Spiezio, and Troy Glaus, then joined the Cardinals for 2007 after Eckstein and Spiezio won another ring here.

2008 Upper Deck #66 Yadier Molina

2008 Upper Deck #64 Jason Isringhausen

2008 Upper Deck First Edition #52 Jason Isringhausen

I really like parallels and...whatever you'd call sets like Topps Opening Day. Parallel Sets? So having both of these Isringhausens is a good fit for my collecting style.

2009 O-Pee-Chee - Black Mini Parallel #493 Yadier Molina

2009 O-Pee-Chee - Black Parallel #579 David Freese

Did I mention I like parallels? And in case you missed it, that Molina is a mini.

2009 O-Pee-Chee Box Bottom Albert Pujols and Adrian Gonzalez

Does anyone have any great solution for how to store something like this? It's basically the size of two cards next to each other. I could trim it as intended, but that'd be too easy. Anyway, this is the semi-mystery card promised in the contest post, the O-Pee-Chee box bottom. I'm glad this one has the Albert card on it like the example shown. Also that'd make a sweet 3D card.

That was a pretty awesome prize. I was impressed how many were actually spare #5s from his collection. I owe a big thanks to Matt at Number 5 Type Collection. If you're not a regular reader, go give his blog a look.