Case Review Part 1: Base Set plus Starting Points

Let's jump right in and start talking base cards.  As many of you probably know by this point, Topps did not seem to short print base cards this year.  What I found interesting was that the cards numbered 301-350 (those that used to be the SP) still showed up in their expected position in each pack, right behind the mini.  I did not find a single card numbered 301 or higher in any other position in the pack.  This seems strange to me and points to either Ginter Code shenanigans or Topps' intent to keep short prints around, but then messing up.  I don't know which seems more likely to me.

I didn't pull his auto :( maybe in the Gint-a-cuffs box!

Either way, it made me quite happy because, instead of receiving enough SP's to make 2.5 complete sets (144 is the usual count), I received far more.  I didn't bother to count the exact number, but I know I was able to put together FOUR complete base sets.  Hooray for great collation!  Certainly, there were cards I got far more than four of (I got 7 Kris Bryant's :D), but I would say that the mode (most common occurrence) of the quantity of any given card was probably 4.  As far as where these base sets are going... well, I'm keeping one and I'm going to assume I'm going to be shipping one out for this contest ending tonight.  The other two are up for grabs.  Most likely one of them will be broken down so I'm able to trade singles away more easily, but if someone has a hankering for an entire base set and doesn't feel like piecing it together over time feel free to hit me up!

This or the Fall of the Berlin Wall is probably my favorite base card of the year.

The only other set we're going over today is these Starting Point cards.  First, I like them a lot.  Easily the best Allen & Ginter baseball themed insert set since 2009's National Pride... and it might even be better than that, I have to sit on it for a bit to decide.  I love that the players are featured on a team that you don't usually associate them with.  I actually haven't gotten a chance to sit down and really look at this set yet, but I'm wondering what Topps did for photography.  How many of these photos have already been used in years past (granted, in most cases, we're talking many years past, but reusing photos is something Ginter is commonly accused of).

One other thing I noticed about this set is something you probably wouldn't be able to notice until you've come very close to completing the set.  Since the set is numbered with actual numbers instead of player initials (HALLELUJAH!), Topps was free to throw this set in any order they so chose.  They decided to order it alphabetically by current team, so former Brave Jason Heyward is towards the bottom of the checklist because he is currently on the St. Louis Cardinals.  It's funny because I had already put this set into a binder and was thumbing through it when I noticed this ordering process.  Felix Hernandez happens to be one of my favorite non-Brave players and I actively went and tried to find his card.  I turned toward the back to Seattle and didn't see it.  I was wondering if I made a mistake or missed a card while sorting through the set.  Did he secretly come up with a different team that I wasn't aware of???  Nope.  Topps is just weird.  Felix seems to be the only exception to this rule (unless you count some of the more recent trades), and is card #1 of this set.  I don't get it.  More Ginter Code nonsense...

More importantly, this case did yield exactly 144 Starting Point cards and one full, complete set.  The collation was just out-of-this-world good this year.  Almost too good.  I kinda enjoy chasing after rando common inserts.  As you'll see tomorrow, I don't need a single full sized card for this year's set.  I guess I shouldn't complain!

What I've Been Up To...

I wanted to briefly assure those of you that read this blog and say, "Hey! This guy likes Allen & Ginter!  Why isn't he blabbing like crazy about it??" Well, I've been Gintering, I just haven't been posting about it.  In the past week I've opened a hobby case, some retail, and have made a couple Ginter-related eBay purchases as well.  I'm in the process of writing and posting a case recap/summary but that won't come out til probably August 1st or so (when I announce the contest winners).  I have, however, included a brief taste of my pulls.

I will tell you this much though.  I did okay on the case.  Not great, but not horrible either.  The cards I liked the most came from very unlikely places.

I'm going to try and update my haves/wants lists ASAP as there's still quite a bit on both of them.  I've decided this year I'm going to try and collect a set of the framed relics (mostly because the frames are purple and I love them), so if you happen to have any of those I'll trade for them because I almost certainly won't have them yet.

There will be plenty of minis that I'll still need as well (regular back and inserts).

Yes, I got 3 insert mini case hits instead of the normal 2!  WOO!

Last, but not least, I still have my contests going and they're still open to enter!  They all have a deadline of tomorrow at 11:59 PM so get in now!  There's even a couple of contests that still only have 3 entrants!

Oversized Vintage from Greg

So before I go and spend the week opening Allen & Ginter (and yes, I found some retail yesterday evening at Target which made me incredibly happy), I promised I'd get to the second half of what Greg sent me of the "vintage" variety.  Even before we go there, I realized I scanned a card for my previous post from this trade and I didn't actually include it.  Here it is!

Not that I'm a huge fan of Gypsy Queen, but I'm still a sucker for minis and I love great pitching, so this card is still right up my alley.

Now that we've got that out of the way, on to the promised other cards.  I would like to make a huge disclaimer before I start spouting off about these cards.  I know absolutely nothing about vintage, so basically everything I say will probably be wrong.  Up until last week, I think I owned a grand total of one card older than 1986, and that card I pulled last year out of a 2014 Allen & Ginter hobby box (a A&G original).  All that being said, I'm not exactly opposed to vintage... I'm just of the younger variety of collectors and haven't really had access to it.  Plus, I love set collecting, and the idea of trying to collect fairly big sets from the 50's, 60's, and 70's where single cards can get pretty pricey just feels incredibly daunting to me.

A quick bit of research shows this to be a 1970 Topps Play Baseball Scratch Off card (...and only of one of the best players to ever play the game).  I've never seen anything like this before and I have absolutely no clue where it came from.  A giveaway??? Contained in a program???  I'm sure someone will know and proceed to enlighten me.  I'm also sure the answer will adequately explain why it is necessary that the card be serrated and folded down the middle.  I suppose that this was done so that people couldn't scratch off the black without buying the card.  Perhaps they were sold individually?

In any case, I was impressed that none of the black is scratched off at all.  It makes me want to know what's under the black.

The first Hank Aaron is pretty beat up with plenty of creases across it.  In contrast, these four beauties are in excellent condition for how old and big they are.  Don't worry, the black scribbles on a couple of them are just on the outside of the penny sleeve, not the card.  More research showed these to be 1964 Topps Giant cards.  Pretty cool!

The cards are definitely oversized... probably slightly bigger than two regular cards side-by-side.  This size just augments the fact that the pictures used are stunning.  The card backs are also really fun.  There aren't any stats on them.  Instead, the backs feature a newspaper article-like design that tells a bit of a story along with highlight some achievements.  Here.  I show you.

Winning 20 games 13 times is just plain ridiculous...

Also, I can't imagine the 3 cards above not being the entire Braves team set since the set was only 60 cards, so that makes the set builder side of me extremely happy.  We weren't done though!  Greg sent me one more card from the same set.

Another incredible and timeless pitcher!  Storage for these cards might be a bit of an issue.  Greg was good enough to send these in toploaders that properly fit the cards, so that helps a lot, but they're still pretty big.  I'll definitely have to find a place though, as these aren't leaving my collection!

Thanks so much for the trade Greg!  I hope you liked what you got as much as I loved what you sent me!

Well Worth the Wait

A couple months back I sent Greg of Plaschkethysweaterisargyle a bunch of cards of the Dodger variety along with some A&G needs. He told me he was going to poke around for a while to try and find me some cards.  Boy did he come through!

We'll go over some of the hits, Braves, and ginter things he sent me today, but we still won't be done.  Tomorrow will be set aside for the second half of his package which contains some sweet, sweet vintage that I've never even seen before (let alone owned).

When we first started talking about a trade, I told Greg to just send me any extra Ginter minis he had and then whatever else he felt would make the swap fair.  After opening his package, I feel like he simply dumped what remained of a hobby box on me.  I'm certainly not complaining.

I needed a couple of these and the rest have just become more trade bait.  My favorite is definitely that snazzy looking black bordered Marichal.  That's one thing I really don't like from last year's Ginter set; the black bordered minis weren't all that special looking.  Hopefully this year's set will rectify that.

Greg also sent me two seemingly random hits.  I didn't have either of them, so that's cool.  I'm not really a huge relic guy though, so these, and most of my other Ginter relics are up for trade if anyone happens to be interested.

Now that we're finished with the Ginter, Greg also sent me a huge stack of Braves cards from various sets.  Most of the cards were from Topps flagship sets (Greg seemed to have a particular affinity for 2011), but I really haven't bought much flagship, so a lot of these were new to me.  Here are some highlights!

I remember having that Glavine card at one point in my life, but I haven't been able to find it.  So I really appreciate the new one, as its one of my favorite.  I'm not even all that much of a hockey guy.  To me, pitchers tend to have one of two vibes; complete (and unapproachable) studs, or somewhat awkward.  Maybe I'm crazy.  Anyhow, for some reason, Glavine playing hockey makes me laugh.

Greg also sent me a handful of Braves hits.  The first is this Heyward manufactured patch.  I surprisingly like this card quite a bit.  Most manu-patches turn me off, but I really think this one is particularly clean and well designed.  Well done Topps!

We've got a relic of my favorite player!  Wooo!!!  It's a pretty simple gray swatch, but I certainly didn't have this card before.

The McCann auto is also very appreciated.  I'm actually curious about how McCann will be viewed toward the end of his career.  I'm still at the point where I still consider him a "career Brave"... as in, I still don't think of him as a Yankee.  I suppose he still has plenty of years left in him, but I'm curious as to how many non-Brave years McCann would have to have for me to stop considering him as primarily a Brave.

I suppose Alex Rodriguez is a decent example of this.  When I think of him, I think Yankee, but it took quite some time to actually get me to think that way (probably 2013).  He played in Seattle for 7 years and Texas for 3.  He's now been a Yankee for 11 years, so it took me quite awhile to drop that Seattle franchise tag from his name (at least in my mind).  

Complete change of subject.  I have an Allen & Ginter contest going on right now and one of the 6 has a deadline of TOMORROW!  I currently only have one entry and I know for a fact that many, many people have seen the contest (13 people have signed up for the first one).  This one is probably the easiest of the 6 too!!  All you need is to provide a number and you've got a chance!  Find it here!

Showing off some Chris Reed cards

Yep, got these all from none other than Nachos Grande the other week.  I reached out to him to try and acquire more Munnatawket minis that I knew he had and he didn't disappoint!  He sent me exactly enough to perfectly fill up the scanner bed (please tell me that was planned).

If you look there's actually a card in there that features his likeness and this was the first of its kind I have received that is not autographed (I think I already have 3 of those...)

Chris also sent me 3 minis I still needed from 2012.

...along with 3 cabinet sized inserts featuring Roller Coasters.  This was the only one that wasn't completely ugly btw.

The other major part of the trade were the two Archives cards below.  I did not participate in the group break Chris did for Archives about a month ago, but I certainly watched it.  I saw that he pulled these two cards and I mentioned that I'd be interested in them if he didn't want 'em.  Now I have them!

Chris also added a bonus white paper frame Gypsy Queen card.

Last, but not least, we have a single Curious Cases insert from 2013.  I really like this insert set (and the 2014 version of the retail only set), but wish they weren't so hard to find.  I suppose I'll keep slowly plugging away on them!

Also a reminder!  I've got no less than 6 Allen & Ginter themed contests going on this week with some pretty cool prizes!  One of those six has a deadline of 7/21 so hurry up and get in!

2015 Topps Allen & Ginter: Contest #6

I shall spare you the horrid rhyming on this last contest.  For this one, we're all going to be opening a pack of 2015 Allen & Ginter.  That's the theme of this contest after all... is it not?  Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to find a single pack of this year's Allen & Ginter.  It can be hobby or retail.  It can be part of a blaster, a case/box break you're doing.  Whatever.  All you have to do is designate it as the pack for this contest.

Open it.  Review it in detail.  If you have a blog, post about it.  If you don't have a blog, e-mail me your review.  I'll post it for you..

I'm going to decide the winner for this one and it's going to be based loosely on what's in the pack, the creativity of the review, and perhaps some other things.

Two rules for this one... please designate on your post or e-mail in some way that this pack review is for this contest.  I don't mind if you combine the post with something else (feel free in fact).  Second, if your entry is a blog post, to ensure it is read, please link to me to the post in question either in the comments below or in your e-mail to me with your mailing address.

I feel like I have a good mix of luck, thinking, and opinion-based contests in here.  So sign up for the ones you feel like participating in!  Or do all of them!  There's no limit on how many times you can win!  But most of all have fun!  Happy Ginter Days!

Rules:

1. To enter any of these contests you must e-mail me the following information.  My e-mail address will be provided in the excel sheet below.
1. Your name and mailing address.
2. Your favorite baseball team (if you have one).
3. The below excel sheet attached to that e-mail with your submissions.
2. If you win any of the contests, you will be entitled to pick a prize from the list on the first contest post.  I will reach out to you for that information on or around August 1st.  
3. The order in which winners pick their prizes will be determined by the number of people participating in the individual contest.  Those with the least participation will pick first.
4. The deadline for all of these contests is July 29th, unless explicitly stated otherwise.
5. There may be a few contests that simply don't have a winner.
6. Have fun!

Here's the aforementioned excel sheet.  You should be able to submit answers to most of the contests with this.  If you struggle with excel, or for any reason need/want to submit your answers in a different way, I'm sure we can work something out.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3OrtdzcZXesRi1TOTZsbV9RbU0/view?usp=sharing

2015 Topps Allen & Ginter: Contest #5

DEADLINE: 7/21/15

For this trial only one must write their answer below
and the king will be chosen as the famous game show.
Two things you must combine to succeed at this task,
and both will be discovered when my case is unmasked.
First number the cards, be they pirates, ladies, or hawks,
that are not in the case, or the one Gint-a-Cuffs box.
For the second simply add this figure to that
Look for the total number of Braves I pull at bat.
When you have that count, care it is not already taken
All posts must be unique and secondary ones are forsaken.


It is important that I again note what I collect for this particular contest.  Main set, all insert sets, regular backed minis.

Rules:

1. To enter any of these contests you must e-mail me the following information.  My e-mail address will be provided in the excel sheet below.
1. Your name and mailing address.
2. Your favorite baseball team (if you have one).
3. The below excel sheet attached to that e-mail with your submissions.
2. If you win any of the contests, you will be entitled to pick a prize from the list on the first contest post.  I will reach out to you for that information on or around August 1st.  
3. The order in which winners pick their prizes will be determined by the number of people participating in the individual contest.  Those with the least participation will pick first.
4. The deadline for all of these contests is July 29th, unless explicitly stated otherwise.
5. There may be a few contests that simply don't have a winner.
6. Have fun!

Here's the aforementioned excel sheet.  You should be able to submit answers to most of the contests with this.  If you struggle with excel, or for any reason need/want to submit your answers in a different way, I'm sure we can work something out.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3OrtdzcZXesRi1TOTZsbV9RbU0/view?usp=sharing

2015 Topps Allen & Ginter: Contest #4

I knew I wanted to do something with physical cards for one of these contests as well.  I thought about doing something with "finding" certain cards in the new Ginter set and sending them my way.  I also thought about the commonly used bribery option, but neither of those really sat well with me.

Therefore, this one is a bit unusual.  I have a friend in Virginia who reads this blog because I tell him to.  He obliges.  He's even commented on it once or twice.

In any case, he's been a Magic player for most of his life but likes baseball quite a bit and seems very interested in the hobby.  This contest is going to be simply to send this guy cards.  He knows that they are coming.  The winner of this contest will be entirely judged by him.  I've asked him to write up a little blurb afterwards about why he picked the cards he did.

I've set up a couple guidelines for this contest so it can't simply be "bought":

• PLEASE. ONLY send PWE's to Stephen.  All other entry types will be disqualified.
• Value of cards sent is not intended to be a factor in this contest.
• In fact, he truly isn't aware of general value of cards (so junk wax might be just as interesting to him as a 1962 card).  Basically send him fun things to look at.
• So that you aren't shooting in the dark, here's a quick bio of Stephen.
• Lives in Northern VA
• Nationals fan 
• Before the Nationals existed, he hated the Expos and was an Orioles fan
• He's in his mid-20's (I'm not sure how this impacts his interests)

Rules:

1. To enter any of these contests you must e-mail me the following information.  My e-mail address will be provided in the excel sheet below.
1. Your name and mailing address.
2. Your favorite baseball team (if you have one).
3. The below excel sheet attached to that e-mail with your submissions.
2. If you win any of the contests, you will be entitled to pick a prize from the list on the first contest post.  I will reach out to you for that information on or around August 1st.  
3. The order in which winners pick their prizes will be determined by the number of people participating in the individual contest.  Those with the least participation will pick first.
4. The deadline for all of these contests is July 29th, unless explicitly stated otherwise.
5. There may be a few contests that simply don't have a winner.
6. Have fun!

Here's the aforementioned excel sheet.  You should be able to submit answers to most of the contests with this.  If you struggle with excel, or for any reason need/want to submit your answers in a different way, I'm sure we can work something out.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3OrtdzcZXesRi1TOTZsbV9RbU0/view?usp=sharing

2015 Topps Allen & Ginter: Contest #3

If you've been following/reading this blog for the past two months, you've seen some posts regarding Allen & Ginter Insert sets.  I've been doing posts on each of them in order from common to rare.  I've also been arbitrarily giving them a number rating on a scale from 0-100.

This contest directly involves these rankings.  I'm going to ask you to rank these inserts using that same number scale.  The winner of this contest will be the person to correctly pinpoint the rating of the most of these inserts sets.

Don't you worry.  This is easier than it sounds.  I've provided you with a spreadsheet that has my rankings (blank of course) alongside every insert set over the past 10 years.  All you have to do is cut and paste!

Hint:  There're quite a few freebies if you just go back and poke around a bit.

Rules:

1. To enter any of these contests you must e-mail me the following information.  My e-mail address will be provided in the excel sheet below.
1. Your name and mailing address.
2. Your favorite baseball team (if you have one).
3. The below excel sheet attached to that e-mail with your submissions.
2. If you win any of the contests, you will be entitled to pick a prize from the list on the first contest post.  I will reach out to you for that information on or around August 1st.  
3. The order in which winners pick their prizes will be determined by the number of people participating in the individual contest.  Those with the least participation will pick first.
4. The deadline for all of these contests is July 29th, unless explicitly stated otherwise.
5. There may be a few contests that simply don't have a winner.
6. Have fun!

Here's the aforementioned excel sheet.  You should be able to submit answers to most of the contests with this.  If you struggle with excel, or for any reason need/want to submit your answers in a different way, I'm sure we can work something out.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3OrtdzcZXesRi1TOTZsbV9RbU0/view?usp=sharing

2015 Topps Allen & Ginter: Contest #2

We begin!

This contest requires naught but luck and only clicks
Yet all the baseball players and inserts we must nix.
Return to me the name of the card I first will see
In the contest sponsored by the great Mark Aubrey.

Forgive my poetry writing skills.  They are abysmal.

Rules:

1. To enter any of these contests (including the one on the previous post) you must e-mail me the following information.  My e-mail address will be provided in the excel sheet below.
1. Your name and mailing address.
2. Your favorite baseball team (if you have one).
3. The below excel sheet attached to that e-mail with your submissions.
2. If you win any of the contests, you will be entitled to pick a prize from the list on the first contest post.  I will reach out to you for that information on or around August 1st.  
3. The order in which winners pick their prizes will be determined by the number of people participating in the individual contest.  Those with the least participation will pick first.
4. The deadline for all of these contests is July 29th, unless explicitly stated otherwise.
5. There may be a few contests that simply don't have a winner.
6. Have fun!

Here's the aforementioned excel sheet.  You should be able to submit answers to most of the contests with this.  If you struggle with excel, or for any reason need/want to submit your answers in a different way, I'm sure we can work something out.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3OrtdzcZXesRi1TOTZsbV9RbU0/view?usp=sharing

On promoting July 22nd

I doubt it really needs much promotion, but I'm doing it anyways.  I'm holding contests.  Yes plural.  I'm going to get right to it because people are going to want to know what they can possibly win.  Simply put, if you are lucky enough to win one of these contests over the next couple weeks you will get to choose your prize from the following:

• A complete base set of 2015 Topps Allen & Ginter
• A selected 2015 Topps Allen & Ginter relic/auto (by you) from those I pull (there will be a VERY minor number of disqualifications, but you'll get to see the full list before choosing this option)
• All the 2015 Topps Allen & Ginter base baseball box toppers I pull
• Your choice of 20 A&G back minis (supply limited)
• A copy of every duplicate I pull from the 2015 Topps Allen & Ginter Starting Points set
• Your choice of 15 duplicate inserts (mini or regular sized)

This should be a pretty good idea of what I'll be offering to winners.  Obviously, Ginter is sometimes full of surprises so this list is somewhat subject to change.

So, you say, how does one obtain these goodies?!?!  Participation says I!  Your first chance of winning is right here in this post!  All you have to do is comment below with a link to your blog advertising these contests in some way, shape, or form.  I know... boring... not original, but too bad about it.  I'd love to see lots of people participate in this and drumming up some attention is the best way I can think of to do this.

All bloggers who do this by the deadline of July 29th will be entered into the 1st contest (a random drawing) for a pick at one of the prizes.

For all you non-blogger readers out there, have no fear!  The rest of these contests will not require a blog of your own!  I'm going to attempt to get all the contests with more detailed rules up by this afternoon, but no promises.

Good luck!

This is an exciting time of year for me. Particularly this year.

This is an exciting time of year for me.  Particularly this year.

All kinds of wonderful (The Drifters anyone???) have been happening these last two weeks and we aren't even close to done.

To start off, I haven't been around because I've been vacationing in the Outer Banks.  This included, but was not limited to, eating lots of seafood, playing many board games, finding out my body doesn't particularly enjoy being forced to ingest copious amounts of "natural fruit smoothies," playing texas hold 'em in a pool (bets were in the form of belly flops), running uphill through the finest sand I've ever seen in order to fly stunt kites, and recreating the main tourist attraction of Egypt (complete with human flesh!).

Here we have the friend that I had the pleasure of burying getting out of the sphinx that we created for him.  This was the only picture I personally took of the "incident," but it definitely looked really awesome while his arms were all buried and he was relaxed.

Obviously, I wasn't going to take precious time out of sweltering in the NC heat to write blog posts, but I was able to keep up with the reading and following others out there.

Other fun things!  As of last week, I was promoted within my department at ESPN, so I also was busy trying to reorganize my upcoming schedule.  I'm very excited for the extra responsibility I'll now have and am very grateful for the opportunity.

EVEN MORE AWESOME THINGS!  I came home to no less than 3 trade packages waiting for me and I was more than happy with all of them.  I got a set completion package, a Munnatawket mini package, and a package that included my first* vintage cards.  I feel so behind as far as trade posts.  We'll get to them soon though...

MOST AWESOMEST THING!

You know it.  One week.  

Speaking of A&G, it looks like a preliminary checklist has been released here.  A couple observations:  

We have some duplicate number base cards.  Ryan Cracknell said he contacted Topps about these (in the comments) as if he thought this might be an error.  I would tend to think not... this seems right up A&G alley as far as silly things they like doing with their base set.  meh.

Set I'm most excited for: Birds of Prey

Set I'm least excited for: First Ladies

This was already true before I saw this checklist.  Both of these sets were on the sell sheet.  Now I find out that the birds only have 10 cards and First Ladies have a whopping 41... uggggg.

The auto/relic list:  While this really isn't the reason I open/collect Ginter, I am at least curious.  The non-sport list has almost nothing I'm looking forward to.  There are tons of comedians and sports writers/reporters (both of which aren't things I particularly enjoy).  Probably the only non-sport auto/relic I'd be interested in would be of Breaking Bad's Aaron Paul.  I haven't even finished watching the show, but I do think he's talented.

As far as the baseball stuff, we're looking good, and I'm pretty sure every baseball auto list this year looks good.  The rookies this year are simply off the charts, so while you can still absolutely strike out (Red Sox fans... who the heck is Bryce Brentz???), there are still far more opportunities than usual to make some money on this product if that's what you're after.

Buybacks.  EWWWW.  Why stamp perfectly good cards.  GAHHH!  Anyways, I already wasn't a fan of the stamped buybacks Topps has been doing for old flagship stuff... but now for cards that are only 10 years old... at most???  I don't get it.  I already have complete sets of those, I don't want more.  

So I don't end on a bad note I shall add one more brief paragraph that highlights the vast amount of excitement I have currently boiled up in my nether regions.  I have 2 cases of this stuff coming to me next week.  One is absolutely all mine.  The other will be used for a variety of things including gifts, Gint-A-Cuffs, and perhaps some boredom breaking as well.

Also, I will absolutely being hosting some contests revolving around this Ginter release in which I plan to give out a complete base set, some hits, and who knows what else, so stayed tuned for those!

2006 Bowman Originals; A Break From Yester-Year: Part III

So here we go, the last 6 cards from my box of 2006 Bowman Originals.  Let's start it right off with the only player of these 6 no longer playing in the MLB.

First of all, I'm just now realizing that this scan is atrocious.  It's not my scanners fault, so don't blame his delicate lightbulbs... these cards are stuck in inch thick plastic and "sealed" shut with a sticker.  I'm sure it wouldn't be too hard to free the cards from the plastic and they could probably even be resealed with the same sticker if need be, but I'm not going to bother unless I decide to display them somewhere at some point.  All the scans aren't that great, but this is definitely the worst of them so I won't mention them from here on.

I remember when I opened this box (probably around 2008/09 or so) that this was by far the card I was most excited to get.  D-Train had one of the strangest careers of pretty much any player I remember watching.  He entered the MLB with a bang, being extremely recognizable with his unique leg kick, winning the 2003 NL rookie of the year, and leading the Marlins to their 2nd World Series.  He had another excellent year in 2005 winning 22 games, but it was all downhill from there.  Willis would never have a year with under a 4.00 ERA after 2006.

Willis's career has always made me sad.  I loved watching him pitch as a teenager and he was easily my favorite non-Braves player in the NL East.  I remember emulating his leg kick in my back yard while practicing pitching.  Heck... who am I kidding, I still emulate his leg kick today when playing pickup wiffle ball or stick ball.

We still have 5 more cards to go though, so onward!

How about another pitcher?  This time a Bravo which made me happy, but I feel embarrassed to say that, outside of having this card, I don't think I would've ever been able to tell you that Mr. Marquis ever played for Atlanta.  I looked up his stat line with the Braves and it made me feel a lot better.  He started 40 games over 4 years in ATL, so definitely more of a spot starter.  

Marquis has never really been more than a #3 starter for any of his clubs, but that hasn't stopped him from being around for 15+ years.  He's currently tossin the ball for Cincy and... not doing so hot, but neither are the Reds as a whole...

Keeping with the pitching theme, we have our first low numbered card (2/10) of Scott Kazmir.  This is 2006 Bowman Chrome so it isn't a rookie buyback, but I still love this card.  To me, Kazmir has always been a pitcher that quietly goes about his business and dominates batters with little to no flair.  As much as I like pitchers with quirky mechanics, I also love those that stay simple.  It's why Smoltz is, and has remained my favorite player for so long.  He knew he could throw the ball past anyone, but never got in anyone's face or overreacted.

I also like this card because of Kazmir's signature.  The 2006 Bowman Chrome design featured a facsimile signature (as did many sets around these years), and his actual signature matches the fake one almost exactly.

Here's one for you Sox fans, and this one is a true first Bowman card.  I will always think of the Red Sox when Lowrie is mentioned and I'm really not even sure why that is.  To me, he's the definition of "scrappy player" and that's how I think of the Red Sox; David Ortiz + scrappy bunch.

Onto the last two cards of the box and they are by far the best two.  I don't really even know which one is better.  Unfortunately, neither of them are rookie buybacks, but I'm not really going to complain past that.  How about we look then talk.

A Miggy auto numbered to 69!  A Ervin Santana auto numbered to 4!!!  I'm probably more happy now than I was back when I broke this box.  Both players have done outstanding in their careers so far (aside from this year's Santana suspension).

I really don't think I need to say much more about either of these players, so I'm going to talk about the cards themselves.  I really like the Cabrera card even before the signature.  It's a simple (arguably boring) design, yes, but I like the photo.  His actual signature, however, leaves something to be desired.  It looks as if he was in a rush to get in and out of the signing day.  :(

The Santana is first and foremost Chrome.  This is important.  I feel like a racoon... shiny things are my bane.  Second, I'm not sure if this was on purpose, because I looked and his 2005 rookie card is the same, but the facsimile signature is actually that of Johan Santana instead of Ervin.  Take a gander.

Obviously I stole this image because I don't believe I own this card, but that is clearly Johan, not Ervin.  Not to mention that although Johan's signature is neat and legible, Ervin's is flat out awesome.  I know the scan doesn't really do it justice, but trust me, that's one sweet sig.

So I'm not sure which card I like better.  Obviously Miggy is the better and more famous player... probably a clear cut hall of famer, but Ervin Santana is not a player to sneeze at and dismiss.  He's been a great pitcher and his card is numbered 3/4!  Which one would you rather have for your collection?  Or maybe it's one of the other cards???  Hope you enjoyed the break from the past!