Bowl Pick 'Em Contest Winnings, Part XXV

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

With Jaime Garcia getting traded today, I thought I'd play one of Deadspin's favorite games: Let's Remember Some Guys. Except I'll throw in some context about how they left.

2011 Topps Allen and Ginter #303 Jaime Garcia
2011 Topps Lineage #189 Jaime Garcia
2012 Topps Archives #34 Jaime Garcia
2012 Topps Chrome #119 Jaime Garcia
2013 Topps #54 Jaime Garcia
2014 Topps Allen and Ginter #84 Joe Kelly
2014 Topps Allen and Ginter #198 Pete Kozma
2014 Topps Archives #28 Joe Kelly
2015 Topps Heritage Minor League #2 Rob Kaminsky

Jaime Garcia went to the Braves after multiple injury plagued seasons here. I hope for his sake he can make it through a season. On the scale of Braves-Cardinals trades, I just need this one to go better than Jason Heyward, and if we're lucky, as good as Adam Wainwright. The return is all prospects, so we'll see what happens.

Joe Kelly was part of the deal to bring John Lackey to St. Louis. I'd say that trade was a success overall, especially since the Cardinals got his 2015 season very cheaply due to a quirk of his contract triggered by an injury earlier on.

Pete Kozma signed with the Yankees after becoming a free agent at the end of the 2015 season. He played all 4 infield positions and 130 games in 2016, but in AAA only.

Rob Kaminsky hasn't even made it to AAA yet, but was sent to Cleveland for Brandon Moss at the 2015 trade deadline. He lasted through the 2016, but is now a free agent. Moss wore my favorite jersey number, so I'll have to have a new default favorite player in 2016.

Me Too!

I've seen lots of 2015 Update boxes with the Chrome cards on your blogs, and had to get one myself. Let's see how I did. As usual I like to show off the Cardinals and inserts, lest I spend a ton of time scanning 9 cards at a time.

2015 Topps Update
#US106 Shelby Miller
#US214 Yadier Molina
#US338 Pete Kozma
#US373 Mitch Harris
#US393 Dan Haren
Pride and Perseverence #PP-8 Jon Lester
Rarities #R-3 Daniel Nava
Rookie Sensations #RS-6 Nomar Garciaparra
Rookie Sensations #RS-20 Tom Seaver

Shelby Miller's got an ugly hat, and Yadi's got a ridiculous gold chest protector, but I like All-Star game cards. It's not Topps' fault the game has started to look a bit silly.

Pride and Perseverance is a good idea for a set, featuring players with unique challenges, mostly medically related from the checklist. I think it might have been better if it didn't just look like a brown parallel, though. The other insert card of note in the first bunch is the Nomar Garciaparra, one of the very few players I collect that hasn't played for the Cardinals.

2015 Topps Update
Highlight of the Year #H-76 Hank Aaron
Tape Measure Blasts #TMB-11 Mark McGwire

Here are two more retired players feature on inserts. I guess it's a nice easy way to please everyone, having insert sets featuring not only the biggest stars of today, but all time. The McGwire card features a specific long home run he hit just a few months before being traded to St. Louis in 1997, and breaking the single-season record in 1998.

2015 Topps Update - Chrome
#US237 Craig Kimbrel
#US238 A.J. Cole
#US309 Howie Kendrick
#US308 Joey Butler
#US319 Will Harris
#US392 Odrisamer Despaigne
#US398 J.T. Realmuto
2015 Topps Update - Rookie Sensations Chrome #RSC-2 Ichiro Suzuki

Here's the big draw for these boxes, the Chrome parallels. There were 8 and they scanned nicely this way, so apologies to Joey Butler's card for being sideways. I didn't get any Cardinals in the Chrome packs, but I did get an Ichiro insert. The exclusive nature of these means I might be tempted to grab another box or two, and then try to trade for or buy the rest secondhand.

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 #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%)