Custom Card of the Day: Trout Edition

You know, if the existence of anything excites this blogger more, it's the existence of throwback uniforms. Why? Because it gives another level of realism to the customs. It makes them truly look like they were from the 70's, 80's or whatever. And that's why I love using them so much. Of course, with this year's Angels I am in luck. It's their 50th Anniversary, so every once in a while they pull out their 60's uniform, or their 80's uniform as a throwback. I already featured the 80's one back with Torii Hunter. I might have already done someone else with the 60's one, possibly Ervin Santana.

But this time, it's special. This is the rookie a lot of people have been saying might change the Angels. Now granted, he hasn't gotten a lot of time in the Majors this season, because he hasn't been playing like the phenom we know him to be. But I'm thinking that he'll turn out to be a fixture next season. I'm hoping he'll be more of a Jim Edmonds than a JT Snow, though...

Coming Tomorrow- I realized when I posted the "First White Sox of the year" last week that I had already posted a White Sock back in March. So I kinda lied. Sorry....but tomorrow, another White Sox.

Stadium Club Contest: 1993 Last Four Packs

When last we spoke of this legitimately insane contest, Captain Canuck's Braves were in the lead with 47 points. This is pretty far in the lead- the closest team to the Braves is the defunct Marlins, with 41. Still, anything can happen as we near the halfway point of this contest.

And the ripping continues:

Pack 21:
Well hello there, it's a well-expired Master Photo giveaway card, of Greg Maddux of the Braves. Sure, the card is worth absolutely nothing, but it represents a pretty cool giveaway from less than 20 years ago. 4 points.
Andy Ashby of the Rockies. Double, dammit. 1 point
Joe Carter Members Choice. 1 point
Charlie Hayes of the Rockies. 1 point
David Justice of the Braves. 1 point
Tony Tarrasco of the Braves. 1 point
Russ Springer of the Angels. 1 point
Tom Brunansky of the Brewers. 1 point. Grrrrr...
Spike Owen of the Yankees. 1 point
Andre Dawson of the Red Sox. 1 point
Brian Williams of the Astros. 1 point
Dave Winfield of the Twins.1 point
Harold Reynolds of the Orioles, 1 point
Jeff Reardon of the Reds. FINALLY, A NEW CARD! 5 POINTS! JUST CAUSE!
Dan Wilson of the Reds. Looks like a Minor Leaguer. 2 points

Ladies and Gentlemen, Pack 22 is yet another pack filled entirely with doubles. Even the checklist is a double. This makes me angry. All involved gets a point

John Johnstone of the Marlins. Got it. 1 point
Bud Black of the Giants. Got it, 1 point
Frank Bolick of the Expos, 1 point
Matt Mieske of the Brewers. A nice spring training shot. 3 points
Richie Lewis of the Marlins. 1 point
Jeff Reardon of the Reds. 1 point
Dan Wilson of the Reds. 1 point
David Nied of the Rockies. Was big for Colorado in 93. Then the wheels fell off. 3 points
Todd Worrell of the Dodgers. A cool pitcher shot. 4 points
Dante Bichette of the Rockies. Possible after a strikeout. 3 points
Randy Bush of the Twins. The pre-swing ritual. 3 points
Chipper Jones of the Braves. This is very close to a Chippah rookie card. Also, it's Chipper Jones in his early days. Either way, it's a 5 pointer. The Braves had a lot of Star Power back in 93
Manuel Lee of the Rangers. A decent fielding stance. 3 points
Willie Wilson of the Cubs. Looks like he just hit a homer. 4 points

Pack 24:

Kevin Stocker of the Phillies. Double. 1 point

Doug Dacenzo. 1 point

Tim Wallach of the Dodgers. 1 point

Frank Thomas Members Choice. 1 point

Steve Decker of the A's. 1 point

Carlos Quintana of the Red Sox. The swing...and most likely a miss. 3 points

Harold Baines of the Orioles. 1 point

Paul O'Niell of the Yankees. 1 point

Greg Hibbard of the Cubs. 1 point

Charlie Hough of the Marlins. 1 point

Greg Gagne of the Royals. 1 point

Mitch Webster of the Dodgers. 1 point

Bengi Gil of the Rangers. 1 point

Mike Bielecki of the Indians. 1 point. This was the only cards the Indians ever got in this box. A shame, too.

After an entire box of some base cards and a lot of crappy doubles. Captain Canuck's Braves still lead with 59. Nobody else is even close. Still, there's a box down, and one hopefully-better-collated box left to go. The contest continues tomorrow night.

Custom Card of the Day: Kimbrel Edition

If there's anyone who's fueling the most Rookie of the Year debate, it's the man pictured above. He's heading up the NL in Saves, and he's doing it while on a team stuffed with rookie prospects. And it was about time the Braves had a good closer anyway, assuming the last one left back in '08. So basically what I'm saying is that I wouldn't be surprised if Kimbrel wins the NL ROY. Sure, John Mayberry's gonna come very close, Danny Espinosa will keep trying, and Aroldis Chapman will get very far, but Kimbrel will take it. Why? Because right now he's one of the best closers in the league. That's the same fact that gave Andrew Bailey his ROY. And Huston Street his.

Coming Tomorrow- A rookie prospect up in California who's helping his fun team try to win the division.

Custom Card of the Day: Wood Edition

It's funny how we have two days in a row of a guy who left his old team a while ago, and is now back, fittingly. Kerry Wood may not be Jim Thome, or a hall of famer, but he's still had a solid career. His rookie year he was hyped to be the next big thing, fanning batters at the drop of a hat. Injuries quelled his 2000's, and he was left an aging but still merciless closer. It's kinda poetic that Kerry's back with Chicago, although the fans still love him.

Back when I was on my baseball road trip, we stopped at a Nationals game, where they were playing the Cubs. I was waving for batting practice balls over the visiting team's bullpen. A ball flew into the pen, and Kerry Wood went to get it. At the sight of seeing Mr. Wood, a visible Chicago fan came running out of his seat, to try to talk to him. The fan proclaimed that he was there back in 03, and 05, when they were coming close to a victory in the playoffs. And Kerry, almost a full 360 as to what I thought of him, just started talking to the guy. He seems like a fairly affable human being, but I thought he was dead serious before this. And finally, the fan tossed him two baseballs for Kerry to sign, which he did thoughtfully.

The bottom line is that while Kerry Wood might not be destined for Cooperstown like we all thought he'd be, he's still a solid player, and a nice guy. And how can you top that?

Coming Tomorrow- A surprising new reliever prospect that's been making a lot of headlines, from Prospect City, aka Atlanta. And it ain't Jose Costanza.

Stadium Club Contest: 1993 Packs 17-20

The power is still on, and the hurricane has subsided. Yet somehow the TV in my house is turned to MTV's Video Music Awards, the annual proclamation of "We do too still care about music". But screw all of that, because I've got a contest to cover. As of the last packs, Captain Canuck's Braves were in the lead with 42, while the Marlins, Rockies and Blue Jays were close behind, with 37, 36 and 35 respectively.

Let the ripping begin:

Tom Glavine of the Braves. He looks pretty creepy here, but he's still Tom Glavine. 4 points.
Steve Howe of the Yankees. Basic pitcher shot. 2 points
Doug Drabek of the Astros. Another double. 1 point
Joe Magrane of the Cardinals. 1 point
Richie Lewis of the Marlins. Standard pitcher shot. 2 points
Paul Wagner of the Pirates. 1 point
Scott Sanderson of the Angels. 1 point
Kirk Gibson of the Tigers. 1 point
Milt Thompson of the Phillies. 1 point
Dave Stewart of the Blue Jays. Yep...still a badass. 1 point
Willie Greene of the Reds. 1 point
Rene Arocha of the Cardinals. 1 point
Jody Reed of the Dodgers. The run to first, watching it sail. 3 points
Billy Ripken of the Rangers. AHAHAHA. AHAHAHA. Ahhh... 3 points

Roger Clemens Members Choice Insert. With only 5 cards in the insert set, you're bound to get doubles. 1 point
Fernando Valenzuela. 1 point
Royals pitcher whose name I can't quite make out. It's a double anyway. 1 point
Steve Reed of the Rockies. 1 point
Gary Sheffield of the Padres. Guhhh. 1 point
Jody Reed of the Dodgers. 1 point
Billy Ripken of the Rangers. Heh... 1 point
Russ Springer of the Angels. A nice windup. 3 point
Tom Brunansky of the Brewers. A nice portrait shot at Batting Practice. 4 points
Spike Owen of the Yankees. A decent swing. 3 points
Andre Dawson of the Red Sox. People forget that the Hawk played for Boston. I want to. 5 points cause he's Andre.
Brian Williams of the Astros. Not the NBC Guy. 2 points
Dave Winfield of the Twins. That's two HOF'ers in the same pack. Great scott! 5 points.
Harold Reynolds of the Orioles. A current MLBNet Sportscaster. 2 points because of this. Grrr..

Ladies and Gentlemen, this is yet another complete pack of Doubles. Every team involved will get one point. Damn 90's collation.

John Jaha of the Brewers. 1 point

Ricky Guittierez. 1 point

Kevin Mitchell of the Reds. 1 point

Alan Mills of the Orioles. 1 point

Henry Mercedes of the Athletics. 1 point

Mike Felder of the Mariners. He looks like he's taking a nice swing. 3 points

Mike Hampton of the Mariners. A rookie card of a future disabled star. 4 points

Pete Incaviglia of the Phillies. That swing. THAT STACHE! 4 points

BJ Surhoff of the Brewers. Quite possibly the best shot of the break so far. 5 points

Ben Rivera of the Phillies. Decent field play. 3 points

Kevin Reimer of the Brewers. Nice stance. 3 points

Scott Somethingorother, from a team I can't interpret. Can anyone I identify who I should give 3 points to here?

Brian Harvey of the Marlins. A routine pitcher shot. 2 points

Jose Lind of the Royals. A nice fielder shot. 3 points

With 4 packs left in this box, the Braves are leading with 47 points, with everyone else trying to catch up. Tomorrow, the contest continues.

Custom Card of the Day: Thome Edition

I realize that yes, I promised to post a Kerry Wood custom today, but when one of your favorite non-Yankees returns to his old team, and hits a homer there, you have to commemorate.

There isn't much to say about Jim Thome that hasn't already been said. He's one of the nicest guys in the majors, and him coming back to his old team after 9 years likely proves that. The Indians fans still love Thome, which says a lot about his repuation. I enjoyed watching this man play for my team for three years. I went to Phillies games all the time back then, and I loved watching Thome...I thought he was something south of a legend.

I'm just so happy that his original fans can watch him play for their team one last time. Because if he retires after this season, this won't be the last time they see him wearing an Indians cap. He'll be wearing one on his plaque in Cooperstown.

Coming Tomorrow- Finally I'll post Kerry Wood.

Stadium Club contest announcement

Due to the impending hurricane looming in the distance, my computer with all the scans of the packs on it has been shut down for the night. We don't want any power-outage induced crashes on this thing- it's an old computer. So because of this, tonight's scheduled Stadium Club contest post has been moved to tomorrow. I apologize sincerely, but I'm taking the proper precautions in order to keep my computer around.

So have a sate knife- safe night (thanks for that Mayor Bloomberg, even if I do live in Jersey), and the contest resumes tomorrow.

Custom Card of the Day: Bailey Edition

Looking back on it now, the 2009 Rookie of the Year winners turned out to be not as good as the award promised them to be. For starters, I was still pissed that Andrew McCutchen, JA Happ and Tommy Hanson all were deemed second by Chris Coghlan, who has been injured the last few years. But part of me did think Andrew Bailey deserved his ROY that year. He'd been such a fixture in Oakland, and I'd thought he'd be going far. But he hasn't gone as far as most people have hoped. Still, like Ryan Howard, Justin Verlander, Hanley Ramirez, Dustin Pedroia, Ryan Braun, Evan Longoria and Buster Posey, Andrew Bailey has at least made an impact on the game, despite minor injury setbacks. I think that while he won't be a hall of famer, he'll still be a great player by the end of his career.

Coming Tomorrow- On the subject of keeping a career strong after a solid rookie season, a closer who's back with his old team after a rocky few years.

Stadium Club Contest: 1993 Packs 13-16

With 12 packs down in this heavily frenzied contest, the Marlins, led by no one, were leading with 35, followed quickly by Captain Canuck's Braves with 33. Will both teams hang on to their leads, or will another team swoop into action? Tonight we will find out:

Pack Thirteen:

Kevin Mitchell of the Reds. The guy seems happy after hitting a homer. I feel the same. 5 points.

Alan Mills of the Orioles. Now, I do not feel happy. 1 point. Damn doubles.

Henry Mercedes of the Athletics. Another double. 1 point

David Cone of the Royals. 1 point

Rob Natal of the Marlins. 1 point

Jimmy Key of the Yankees. 1 point

Otis Nixon of the Braves. 1 point

Jon Shave of the Rangers. Heh...still funny. 1 point

Tony Fernandez of the Mets. 1 point

Kevin Young of the Pirates. 1 point. WHAT IS THIS MADNESS???

Dave Martinez of the Giants. 1 point

Steve Avery of the Braves. 1 point. An entire pack of doubles plus Kevin Mitchell. Ughhh...

Roger Clemens Members Choice Insert for the Red Sox. Were the members on Roids as well? 4 points cause it's an insert.

Fernando Valenzuela of the Orioles. Fernandomania was well over, but he was still an okay player in that era. Also, never knew he was an Oriole. 5 points

Mark Gardner of the Royals. Horizontal shot. Also: awesome. 4 points

Steve Reed of the Rockies. Now that is how you pose a pitcher shot. 5 points. This puts them a point behind the Marlins, and a point in front of the Braves.

Damon Buford of the Orioles. Another nice shot for Baltimore. 4 points

Cris Carpenter of the Marlins. Dammit...this pack was going so well. 1 point

Jim Abbott of the Yankees. 1 point

Barry Bonds of the Giants. 1 point

Mike Harkey of the Cubs. 1 point

Jeff Russell of the Red Sox. 1 point

Phil Plantier of the Padres. 1 point

Mark Williamson of the Orioles. 1 point

Troy Percival of the Angels. The rookie card of a decent, consistent closer. 5 points.

Steve Bedrosian of the Braves. Speaking of closers, a decent windup. 5 points puts the Braves back on top.

Pack Fifteen:

Kevin Stocker of the Phillies. Double. 1 point

Doug Dascenzo of the Rangers. A nice horizontal shot. 3 points

Tim Wallach of the Dodgers. A Decent player straddles in the field. 4 points

Greg Swindell of the Astros. Double. 1 point

Barry Bonds Members Choice. 1 point

Troy Percival of the Angels. 1 point

Steve Bedrosian of the Braves. 1 point

Paul Wagner of the Pirates. Decent pitcher shot. 3 points

Rene Arocha of the Cardinals. Better pitcher shot. And in Spring Training no less. 4 points
Scott Sanderson of the Angels. A decent closeup. 3 points

Kirk Gibson of the Tigers. The nice swing, and running to first. 4 points cause he's Kirk Gibson.

Milt Thompson of the Phillies. Watching the ball sail. 4 points

Dave Stewart of the Blue Jays. Vin Diesel, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Daniel Craig and Chuck Norris all look up to this guy. The ultimate badass. 5 points out of fear.

Willie Greene of the Reds. Watching from the dugout. Looks too much like a batboy. 2 points

Javy Lopez of the Braves. Dammit, the doubles return. 1 point

Jeff Juden of the Astros. 1 point

Mike Lansing of the Expos. 1 point

Greg Gohr of the Tigers. 1 point

Tim Bogar of the Mets. 1 point

Steve Cooke of the Pirates. 1 point

Ozzie Canseco of the Cardinals. 1 point

Jerald Clark of the Rockies. 1 point

Kirt Manwaring of the Giants. 1 point. Grrr.

Paul Molitor of the Blue Jays. THERE WE GO! A MLB Legend, somehow in Toronto. 5 points. The Jays aren't far behind the Rockies, Marlins and Braves.

Mike Moore of the Tigers. Too plain. 2 points

David Hulse of the Rangers. That is a nice swing. 4 points

Ken Griffey Jr. of the Mariners. Is there an explanation needed? 5 points.

Ivan Calderon of the Red Sox. Ivan has been taking Badassery lessons from Dave Stewart. They work. 5 points.

2/3 through the box and the Braves have snatched the lead again, with 40 points. Close behind are the Marlins with 37, the Rockies with 36, and the Blue Jays with 34. Of course, anything can happen in this crazy contest. More to come tomorrow night, if I can survive Hurricane Irene.

Custom Card of the Day: Ogando Edition

So the Rangers are still in first, battling the Angels and barely staying alive. I did realize last week that Ian Kinsler wasn't the guy leading the team- that's Michael Young. So I'll say right now that while Alexi Ogando over here isn't exactly CJ Wilson, he's still a pretty strong pitcher- hell, he made the All Star Game this year. And I should have posted a card of Alexi back in July. But I didn't. Why? Just look at him.

The man looks 20 years older than he actually is, yet plays his age. Unless he's been borrowing Bartolo Colon's Cuban Mystery Cream, that just means he doesn't have the greatest MLB Face. Hell, even Raul Ibanez, RA Dickey and Scott Linebrink agree with me, AND LOOK AT THEM! This guy proves that you don't have to be good looking to be a good pitcher.

(Postscript: If Alexi is reading this, please know that it's only some good-natured ribbing. You look fine. )

Coming Tomorrow- He's been put out by injuries, but so did the other guy that won the ROY tih him in 2009. At least he's fared better than Chris Coghlan.

Stadium Club Contest: Packs 9-12

We're already nine packs through this crazy contest, and already we have a front runner, albeit by 3 points. Captain Canuck's Braves and Hiflew's Rockies have been leading the pack, the former three points ahead of the latter. And much to my delight, I have yet to pull a Boston Red Sox card. This is not my fault, it's how it was collated. And I applaud the collation guys from 1993.

On with the packs...

Pack Nine:
John Johnstone of the Marlins. A nicely captured shot...of the back of the guy's uniform. 3 points.
Bud Black of the Giants. Did every pitcher shot have to look like this? 2points
Frank Bolick of the Expos. Any horizontal shot is a good shot, in my opinion. 4 points
Greg Swindell of the Astros. The same damn shot. 2 points
Barry Bonds Members Choice of the Giants. Were the Members on Roids too? 4 points, cause it's an insert.
Otis Nixon of the Braves. Back to doubles. 1 point
Jon Shave of the Rangers. Heh, still funny. 1 point
Tony Fernandez of the Mets. 1 point
Kevin Young of the Pirates. 1 point
Dave Martinez of the Giants. COME ON! 1 point
Steve Avery of the Braves. 1 point
Greg Maddux of the Braves. 1 point
Tom Henke of the Rangers. Not many other human beings could pull of those glasses. 4 points.
Al Leiter of the Blue Jays. Star power, along with a nice shot. 4 points only because of his MLB Network-ness.

Pack Ten:
Ladies and Gentlemen, this is an entire pack of doubles. Seriously. I will spare you the gruesome details and say that every card in this pack gets one point. Damn 1990's collation...

Pack Eleven:
Charlie Hough Inaugural Notes Insert. Awesome action shot, worthy of most other sets Topps was making at that time. 5 points. The defunct Marlins have tied the Braves for first.
Pat Mahomes of the Twins. Double. 1 point
Alan Mills of the Orioles. Nice pitcher shot. 3 points
Henry Mercedes of the A's. A nice shot of a guy getting up to bat. 3 points
Tom Henke of the Rangers. 1 point
John Olerud of the Blue Jays. 1 point
Jaime Navarro of the Brewers. Still cool,but 1 point
Al Leiter of the Blue Jays. 1 point
Cris Carpenter of the Marlins. The ball's coming right at you...or something. 3 points. I'm hoping someone catches up to the defunct Marlins.
Jim Abbott of the Yankees. An automatic 5 points. It's not everyday that people pitch a no-hitter with only one hand. Bravo, Mr. Abbott.
Barry Bonds of the Giants. Bleaaahh...not a double, but a steroid abuser. EVEN WORSE! 2 points
Mike Harkey of the Cubs. Warming up before the inning. 4 points
Jeff Russell of the- SWEET MOTHER OF GOD, IT'S A RED SOCK! IT'S TAKEN ELEVEN PACKS, BUT WE FINALLY GOT ONE! 4 points.
Phil Plantier of the Padres. A nice swing. 3 point
Mark Williamson of the Orioles. A tight shot of the pitcher. Creative. 4 points

Pack Twelve.
Mark Eichhorn of the Blue Jays. A good shot. 3 points.
Domingo Martinez of the Blue Jays. doubles. gah. 1 point
Greg Maddux Members Choice. 1 point
Armando Reynoso of the Rockies. 1 point
Dave Nilsson of the Brewers. 1 point
Chilli Davis of the Angels. A good shot of a casual looking Chili before the game. 5 points
Julio Franco of the Rangers. HE WAS YOUNG HERE? 4 points. I'm used to him looking old on cards.
Sherman Obando of the Orioles. A before the game shot. Too plain. 2 points
Steve Cooke of the Pirates. A standard pitcher shot. HAVE SOME VARIETY TOPPS! 2 points
Ozzie Canseco of the Cardinals. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Now that that's done, 3 points
Tim Bogar of the Mets. Sitting in the dugout, before the game. The game and the career were probably both failures. 4 points.
Jerald Clark of the Rockies. A nice shot of a potential steal. 4 points
Julio Franco. TWICE IN THE SAME PACK??? 1 point
Sherman Obando of the Orioles. 1 point

At the end of 12 packs, the Marlins, whom NOBODY PICKED, are in the lead with 35. The Braves are hot on their heels with 33. Hopefully a team with a blogger signed up for them will win. The contest will continue tomorrow...

Custom Card of the Day: Alexei Edition

You ever have one of those moments where you've done something the whole year without knowing it, and it's pissing a few people off. That was me last week, when I realized I'd gone a whole year without making any White Sox customs. A know a few bloggers might have noticed something, so this week I made 3 of them. Yeah, 3. This is the first of three, which means I'll have to weave other teams in between. But hey, at least you get an awesome looking Alexei Ramirez diving for a catch today.

Coming Tomorrow- A rookie for Texas who has been plowing down batters despite looking worse than Raul Ibanez's morning face.

Stadium Club Contest: 1993 Packs 5-8

And slowly but surely, the Stadium Club contest rolls along. Before we go any further, I would like to inform a certain Mets fan that will not be named that I did not remove any cards, especially any Mets cards from the packs. If you want to blame anyone, blame Topps. They collated the packs...not me. I must also say the same thing for the Angels, Cardinals, Expos, Mariners, Red Sox and Twins bloggers- they also came up shorthanded. So did the Athletics, but nobody picked them.

But enough of my prattling- on with the packs:

Pack 5-

John Olerud of the Blue Jays. Well posed studio shot, and also, he's John Olerud. 5 points.

Jaime Navarro of the Brewers. Another great shot under the stadium lights. 5 points.

Pat Mahomes of the Twins. Bleah, a standard pitcher shot. 2 points.

Gary Sheffield of the Padres. Hey, remember back when Sheff was a badass? 5 points.

Lonnie Smith of the Pirates. Oh, it's you again. 1 point

Nigel Wilson of the Marlins. Hey. 1 point

Jim Tatum of the Rockies. HEY! 1 point.

Dave Steib of the White Sox HEEEYY! 1 point

Jose Guzman of the Cubs. This isn't funny. 1 point

Steve Decker of the Marlins. Sighhh. 1 point

David Cone of the Royals. 1 point. I'm doing the best I can with the Mets.

Rob Natal of the Marlins. Finally, a new card. And it's an original catcher shot no less. 4 points. In case your counting, 2 teams that no one signed up for are tied for first with Colorado. SEEE???

Jimmy Key of the Yankees. Good pitching stance. AJ Burnett must beware of not becoming this guy. 3 points.

Pack Six:

Javy Lopez of the Braves. Just giving the world a big hug. Also, his rookie card. 4 points.

Mike Lansing of the Expos. A decent fielding shot, but pulled back too far. 3 points.

Felix Jose of the Royals. One word: Power. 3 points

Frank Thomas of the White Sox Members Choice. The definition of badass in the 90's. I think. 5 points

Kevin Seitzer of the Athletics. A failed prospect on a nice sideways shot finally puts the A's on the board. 4 points

Rob Natal of the Marlins. ...Dammit. 1 point

Jimmy Key of the Yankees. DAMMIT. 1 point

Otis Nixon of the Braves. Basic. A little too basic. 3 points only because it's Otis Nixon.

Jon Shave of the Rangers. HAHAHAHAHA! What a last name. 4 points.

Tony Fernandez of the Mets. Okay, BA Benny...here you go. 4 points cause he's Tony Fernandez.

Kevin Young of the Pirates. Running, and watching the ball. 3 points.

Dave Martinez of the Giants. A nice close shot of Martinez swatting the ball. 4 points

Steve Avery of the Braves. Good, but not enough. 2 points

Greg Maddux of the Braves. THAT is enough. 5 points for being a first ballot HOFer. This puts a certain Canadian in the lead.

Pack Seven:

John Olerud of the Blue Jays. Come on... 1 point

Kevin Stocker of the Phillies. A swing and a near miss. 3 points

Jaime Navarro of the Brewers. Grrr. 1 point

Charlie Hayes of the Rockies. This card gets 4 points, because it has a First Day Printing emblem in the top right corner. So there.

John Jaha of the Brewers. 1 point

Dave Nilsson of the Brewers. 1 point

Domingo Martinez of the Blue Jays. Close shot of a fielder. 3 points

Greg Maddux members choice. Dammit. 1 point

Armando Reynoso of the Rockies. 1 point.

Harold Baines of the Orioles. 1 point. I MEAN...

JT Snow of the Angels. We finally get an original card, but it's JT Snow. Oh well. 3 points

Norm Charlton of the Mariners. That's a pretty cool pitcher's shot. 4 points

Robby Thompson of the Giants. This guy means business. 5 points

Gregg Jeffries of the Cardinals. A nice swing. 3 points. This leaves the Red Sox as the only team without points. I did not alter the packs, even if I'm a Yankee fan. This is how it was collated. Seriously.

Pack Eight:

Paul O'Neill of the Yankees. And as usual, doubles. 1 point

Charlie Hough of the Marlins. 1 point

Greg Gagne of the Royals. 1 point

Mitch Webster of the Dodgers. 1 point

Darrell Sherman of the Padres. This isn't funny. 1 point

Steve Howe of the Yankees. The Phil Hughes of 1993. 3 points

Doug Drabek of the Astros. How is it that this guy looked like he was 50 when he was in his late 30's. How is that possible. He looks like the old guy in a western. 5 points. Just to get you a shave, dude. Preferrably not Jon Shave.

Joe Magrane of the Cardinals. A nice horizontal shot. 4 points

Jim Converse of the Mariners. An okay pitcher shot. 2 points

Candy Maldonaldo of the Cubs. And here come the doubles. 1 point

"Bobby" Kelly of the Reds. HA! 1 point

Charlie Leibrandt of the Rangers. Was kinda old, but not compared to teammates Ryan and Gossage. So not that old. 4 points

Mark Carreon of the Giants. Tight shot of a guy standing. 2 points

Mike Draper of the Mets. A standard pitcher shot, but it's a spring training shot. So 3 points.

After 8 packs, the Braves lead the contest with 27 points. The Rockies are close behind with 25. And in some irony I can get behind, a box I bought in New England has 8 packs without a single Red Sock. Wow. Still, the contest continues tomorrow.

Custom Card of the Day: Fielder Edition

And finally, we come to the last of the customs I made for the New Hampshire vacation last week. I know, I kinda got carried away in the whole contest thing, but here's the final one, before the ones I've been making this week start.

I've spoken of this factor a few times before, but I wanna go over it again, just to make a point. There's a labored "disease" in the MLB known as "Mo Vaughn's Disease", where a perfectly good, and perfectly big, first baseman will start his career being good for hits, and end his career as a slobby fat guy who can't even play his position. This happened to Mo Vaughn, and I feel very sorry for the man. There is the matter of Prince Fielder, who I'm hoping will not fall victim to this disease of sorts. He is very large, you see. An uneducated human being would estimate that the weight has come from tons of cheeseburgers, but uneducated human beings don't know that Prince is a vegetarian. And if so, he's doing a very bad job of it.

He's still a great hitter, there is no doubt. But there may come a time when he'll filter out due to being too big. And I hope for all of Milwaukee's sake that that never occurs.

Coming Tomorrow: Because I haven't posted a White Sox all year, the first of two debuts tomorrow. And it's a quick one.

Stadium Club Contest: It's on! 1993 1st four packs

That's right: After a week of trying to get this contest filled, I'm finally ripping packs. I know, it took quite a while, and many posts, but it's just about filled. I said last post that it was the last call, and since I don't have too many readers, apparently nobody wanted the Brewers, Twins, Athletics or Marlins. So if any of those teams get the most points, which going by the boxes, isn't very likely, the 2nd place team will get the loot.

Also, since I don't like using my scanner, and because it's a kinda crappy scanner, these packs were recorded via my camera. Hopefully you can zoom in enough to see the players. If not, I apologize.

Pack Numero Uno:

Darrell Sherman of the Padres. A fairly run of the mill shot of a failed prospect bunting. For the effort, I'll award them 3 points.

Guillermo Velasquez, of the Padres. Interesting Action shot, but doesn't wow me. Another 3.

Greg Gohr of the Tigers. Miscut, and a standard pose. 2 points.

Jeff Juden, of the Astros. Nice horizontal shot, but no star power. Still gets them four points.

Kirt Manwaring of the Giants. Well posed photo day shot, which was what was expected from Stadium Club back then. Pretty nice shot, too. 5 points.

Greg Hibbard of the Cubs. The expected pitcher shot. Yawn. 2

Lonnie Smith of the Pirates. Legitimate star, with a nice swing shot. 5 points. You can already see that I'm easy to please. It goes up to five though.

Nigel Wilson of the Marlins. The shades, the cross, the facial expression all spell "badass". The teal spells "90's" 4 points.

Harold Baines of the Orioles. A definite star watching the ball drop. Good card. 4 points.

Paul O'Neill of the Yankees. The card has star power, and a nice shot of the Warrior's swing. 4 points.

Charlie Hough of the Marlins. Proves that even a tenured knuckler like Charlie can make teal look cool. 5 points. Proves if your team has a lot of cards, you can gain a lead fast.

Greg Gagne of the Royals. Decent card, without much star power. 3 points.

Mitch Webster of the Dodgers: Not a star, but a good swing. 3 points.

Bengi Gil of the Rangers. The glare kinda obscures this one, but it's a good shortstop shot. In a strong stance waiting for the ball. 4 points.

Pack 2:

Darrell Sherman of the Padres. Look familiar? 1 point.

Guillermo Velasquez of the Padres. Again, look familiar? Now in Miscut. 1 point.

Greg Gohr of the Tigers. This is getting pathetic. 1 point.

Jeff Juden of the Astros. Sighh... 1 point.

Kirt Manwaring of the Giants. Okay, the card's still cool, but it's still a double. 1 point. This proves that if your team gets a lot of doubles, it awards you an easy one point.

Terry Mulholland of the Phillies. The pitcher watching the pitch sail overhead is minimally original. There's also some star power, but not much. 4 points.

Mike Fetters of the Brewers. The pose is average. The mustache raises it above mediocrity. Seriously, zoom in if you can. That mustache is worth the pixelated madness. 4 points.

Brien Taylor of the Yankees. HA! 3 points.

Randy Myers of the Cubs. Decent shot. 3 points.

Wade Boggs of the Yankees. The man who was notorious for his chicken rituals taking a Bunyanesque hack at the ball. 5 points.

Phil Hiatt of the Royals. Okay shot. 2 points.

Alex Arias of the Marlins. The elegants "watching the ball" shot, marred by the teal unis. 3 points.

Candy Maldonaldo of the Cubs. That's a nice swing. 3 points.

Bobby Kelly of the Reds. Yes, this is the guy formally known as Roberto Kelly. Which raises it to not only the "Benny" Santiago level, or the "Bob" Clemente level, but also to 4 points.

Pack 3:

John Jaha of the Brewers. A nice posed shot set with the sunset. 5 points.

Ricky Guitierrez of the Padres. A close shot of the batter, ready to whack it. 4 points.

Greg Maddux Members Choice insert. Because he's Greg effing Maddux, 5 points.

Armando Reynoso of the Rockies. Shows dominance even when he didn't show any at the mound. 3 points.

Dave Nilsson of the Brewers. Another cool posed shot. 5 points. The Brewers are on a roll...a shame nobody chose them.

Mike Bilecki of the Indians. Standard pitcher shot. 3 points.

Greg Hibbard of the Cubs. Bleah. 1 point

Lonnie Smith of the Pirates. Gahhh. 1 point.

Nigel Wilson of the Marlins. Hooray for 90's collation. 1 point.

Jim Tatum, of the Rockies. Standard swinging shot. 2 points.

Dave Stieb of the White Sox. Minimal star power with a nice pitch pose. 4 points.

Jose Guzman of the Cubs. Clever fielding pose. 3 points.

Steve Decker of the Marlins. Okay, decent catcher shot. 3 points.

David Cone of the Royals. 6 years after this card, he threw a no hitter for the Bombers. Just wanted to remind you how awesome he was. 4 points.

Pack 4:

Andy Ashby of the Rockies. I've heard of him, and that's a cool pose. 3 points.

Joe Carter of the Blue Jays Members Choice Insert. The year this card was made, he hit that postseason homer off Mitch Williams. This proves how awesome he is. 5 points.

Charlie Hayes of the Rockies. Nice batter's stance. 3 points.

David Justice of the Braves. Excellent looking pose. 5 points.

Tony Tarrasco of the Braves. Wonder if it was a strike? 3 points.

Ellis Burks of the Rockies. Hey, he's Ellis Burks. 4 points.

Joe Girardi of the Rockies. Current Yankees Manager. 4 points.

Terry Mulholland of the Phillies. Ughhh. 1 point.

Mike Fetters of the Brewers. Mustache, but still a double. 1 point.

Brien Taylor of the Yankees. 1 point.

Randy Myers of the Cubs. 1 point. DAMN DOUBLES!!!

Wade Boggs of the Yankees. 1 point

Phil Hiatt of the Royals. 1 point.

Alex Arias of the Marlins. 1 point. Thank you slackers at the Topps company.

So far the Rockies are in the lead with 19 points, but we're only 4 packs in. The contest has only just begun. More tomorrow.

Custom Card of the Day: Lester Edition

At the beginning of the season, Boston's pitching staff was praised, and welcomed as one of the best in the AL. Now, their two best starters are on the DL, and people have started betting on when Erik Bedard will follow suit. Jon Lester and Tim Wakefield remain in a rotation shattered by injuries, on a team of hitters praised by New England. But Lester is a good asset to have on a injury-tattered rotation. He's been pitching pretty well for a few seasons, and had been struggling to stay off the DL himself. But hopefully he'll stay strong...hopefully not strong enough...

Coming Tomorrow- The World's Fattest Vegetarian in all his glory.

Stadium Club Contest: LAST CALL!

It's been a week since I've been pushing this contest, and begging for spots to be filled, and it all comes down to this: After this post, the contest will begin. If there are spots left unfilled, then that gives everyone else a better chance of winning. Of course, it also gives me a buncha crappy 90's Rockies and Marlins cards, but that's what happens sometimes.

So at the time of this logging, there are five spots left. The Brewers, the Twins, the Rockies and the Marlins. All five teams were well represented, and all five teams had some really crappy prospects back in the 90's. So any of those five teams could win the contest. I'm not saying any of them will, since there are only one or two hall of famers on those teams, but it could happen.

Lemme refresh the rules, for any newcomers: I'll rip each pack, and I will assign each card I pull a number of pulls, varying by the star power, pose, action shot, or if it's an insert. If it's a double, it automatically gets one point. These points will go to the team, and the blogger that has the most points at the end of 2 Stadium Club boxes (1993 and 1996) for their team will win (A- All the cards from their team, and (B- Some assorted other things I'll throw in corresponding to that team, or the winner's wantlist. To reiterate- 28 or less bloggers will enter, only one will win. There's a 1 in 28 (or 27, depends on the number of entrants) chance of winning, but there's sweet swag on the line. Sweet, full bleed, stuck to themselves, 90's swag.

The teams, copied from the last post:
Angels: Mariner1
Astros- The Dimwit
Athletics-
Blue Jays- Kazi
Braves- Captain Canuck
Brewers
Cardinals- FanOfReds
Cubs- card anathema
Dodgers- Greg Zakwin
Giants- Dan
Indians- Baseball Dad
Mariners- The Lost Collector
Marlins
Mets- BA Benny
Expos- Nathan
Orioles- shady Twine
Padres- Rod of Padrographs
Phillies- dawgbones
Pirates- piratesfan731
Rangers- Play at the plate
Red Sox- dominicfdny
Reds- henchmiester
Rockies- hiflew
Royals- Spiegel83
Tigers -indiana potch
Twins
White Sox- Jeff Laws
Yankees- Ryan LaMonica

So there you go: Five spots remaining, and any teams not filled just won't take part in the contest. And if a team without a blogger actually wins the contest, the prize will go to the team with the 2nd highest amount of points. So please, if anyone else wants in, sign up in the comments. Tomorrow, we get this damn thing started.

Stadium Club Contest: Seven Spots Remaining

The shameless plugging continues. This contest was launched early in the week last week, and there are still a few spots left. Thankfully, only seven teams have been unclaimed, but these teams include the Red Sox, Twins, Brewers, and even the Rockies and Marlins, who seemed to overpopulate the 1993 box.

Lemme refresh the rules, for any newcomers: I'll rip each pack, and I will assign each card I pull a number of pulls, varying by the star power, pose, action shot, or if it's an insert. If it's a double, it automatically gets one point. These points will go to the team, and the blogger that has the most points at the end of 2 Stadium Club boxes (1993 and 1996) for their team will win (A- All the cards from their team, and (B- Some assorted other things I'll throw in corresponding to that team, or the winner's wantlist. To reiterate- 28 bloggers will enter, only one will win. There's a 1 in 28 chance of winning, but there's sweet swag on the line.

The teams, copied from the last post:
Angels: Mariner1
Astros- The Dimwit
Athletics-
Blue Jays- Kazi
Braves- Captain Canuck
Brewers
Cardinals- FanOfReds
Cubs- card anathema
Dodgers- Greg Zakwin
Giants- Dan
Indians- Baseball Dad
Mariners- The Lost Collector
Marlins
Mets- BA Benny
Expos- Nathan
Orioles- shady Twine
Padres- Rod of Padrographs
Phillies- dawgbones
Pirates- piratesfan731
Rangers- Play at the plate
Red Sox- dominicfdny
Reds- henchmiester
Rockies
Royals- Spiegel83
Tigers -indiana potch
Twins
White Sox- Jeff Laws
Yankees- Ryan LaMonica

So for anyone that wants to sign up, please try to claim these last few spots. I wanna get this thing rolling soon.

Catching Up: 2011 Topps Football, and Lineage

You wouldn't know it, but there aren't that many Targets in lakes secluded from most of civilization. There was a walmart, but it didn't have any of the awesomeness I was looking for. So as the blogging world shared their mixed opinions on a set that sparked me interest, my anticipation grew larger by the day. Now that I'm home, I hit a Target (heh), and got a blaster fulla Lineage, as well as 2 rack packs of Topps Football. I'll open those first.

Pack 1-
195- Jahri Evans
318- Matt Cassel. If there's a Top 10 show to be made of Top 10 people that tried to replace a legend, let Mr. Cassel not be mentioned at all.
343- London Fletcher
236- Mohamed Massaquoi
229- Quinton Carter rookie
108- Delone Carter rookie
432- Stevan Ridley
95- Jeremy Kerley
7- Vincent Brown
19- Titus Young rookie. Finally a rookie I've heard of.
Arian Foster ToppsTown
163- Cowboys
400- Tom Brady. On the subject of NFLNet, why was this guy voted the #1 current player over Manning? Just a thought.
34- David Harris
25- Steve Smith
346- Patriots.
265- Brandon Lloyd
62- Terrell Suggs.
340- Hakeem Nicks
189- Jahvid Best. I have an autographed card of him...better keep it safe now.
5- Lance Briggs. One of the few players to give DAAAAA BEARRSSS star power.
35- Bucaneers
382- Jaime Harper
342- Jimmy Smith
365- Kealoha Pilares. How'd you guess he was born in Hawaii?
David Garrard bowman mini. Great card, but I don't collect minis.
Faces of the Franchise of Joe Namath and Mark Sanchez. If you're comparing anyone to Sanchez, try Richard Todd. Oh yes, I went there.
Cam Newton Game Day. Well isn't that nice.
166- Current Eagles Backup Quarterback Vince Young
179- Former Eagles Backup Quarterback Kevin Kolb. Heh.
13- Brian Cushing.
175- Todd Heap
139- James Jones
133- Ryan Fitzpatrick
38- Mike Tolbert
392- Clay Matthews. I'd call him the Brian Wilson of the NFL, Although Chad Ochocinco would come as a close second.

Pack 2-
159- Donovan McNabb. Was an awesome QB, Got old, plays for the enemy.
417- Tony Gonzalez
32- Brent Celek.
100- Drew Effing Brees
109- Jermichael Finley
337- Anthony Castonzo
238- Christian Ponder rookie
143- Bilal Powell
275- James Carpenter
331- JJ Watt. Another good rookie
Joe Montana Super Bowl Legends.
Legends Giveaway Card
232- Chargers
264- Shane Lechler
380- Jamaal Charles. I'd love to hear someone with a thick british accent try to say his name, like Christopher Lee.
220- Michael Turner
209- Visanthe Shiancoe
89- Chris Long
71- Alex Smith
118- Felix Jones
88- David Garrard, current Backup QB of the Jags, thanks to Blaine Gabbert
136- Brandon Marshall
394- Jeremy Maclin
51- Rob Housler
146- Dontay Moch.
427- Von Miller. Great prospect. One question...Does he live in a Von down by the river?
Titus Young Bowman mini
Matt Ryan and Roddy White Faces of the Franchise
Santonio Holmes Game Day
144- Danny Amendola.
186- Jericho Cotchery
31- Knowshon Moreno
208- Logan Mankins
39- DeAngelo Williams
381- Heath Miller
141- LaMarr Woodley. Not Headley.

Now for the Lineage:

Pack 1-
96- Jason Bay. 2007- Star. 2009- Star. 2010- Mets Outfielder. I feel for ya, buddy.
102- Cole...HAMELS!!!
39- Ricky Romero
Tris Speaker Cloth Sticker
180- Former Phillies Prospect, Current Marlon Byrd, Marlon Byrd.
191- Johnny Bench.
199- CC Sabathia Rookie Cup. Cool idea, bad execution.
152- David DeJesus

Pack 2-
29- Chris Sale rookie.
22- Johan Santana. Did the Mets see this season coming back in 2008 when they signed him? Methinks not.
14- Kendrys Morales, formally Kendry.
114- Dustin Pedroia Shiny- isn't that great, my first two inserts are Red Sox.
Mike Minor Rookies
169- CLIFF...LEE!
142- Dan Haren. Great player, undeserving of being traded so often.
133- Zach Grienke. All of America and Fred Willard want to know: "WHA HAPPEN?" You were Cy Young winner 2 years ago, and now you're tanking in Milwaukee. Come on, Zach! Hundreds of fantasy baseball players need you to rebound! PLEASE!

Pack 3-
61- Zach Britton.
75- ALEX...RODRIGUEZ!!!
79- Carl Crawford.
155- Bob Gibson Notfractor. Wow, that's pretty nice.
Felix Hernandez stand ups.
107- Chad Billingsley
163- Jered Weaver
172- Jose "I'm still not buying it" Bautista.

Pack 4-
6- Carlos Beltran, current Giant.
36- Michael Young
64- Joe Morgan. Loving the retired players in this set.
124- Franklin Gutierrez
160- Stephen Strasburg mini
116- Pedro Alvarez
108- HANK AARON!
164- Brandon Beachy.

Pack 5-
76- Roberto Alomar.
88- David Price. Whenever I hear this guy's name, I still think of that line from Happy Gilmore. You know the one.
11- Ryan Zimmerman
17- Billy Butler
155- Bob Gibson NotFractor. Yes, another one. Anyone want it?
177- PHIL...HUGHES!
181- Frank Thomas
197- Andre Dawson. I'm still very happy to have his rookie card.

Pack 6-
63- Ubaldo Jimenez. Currently in Cleveland.
77- David Wright. Welcome back.
86- Carlos Gonzalez. I'm still happy to have HIS rookie card.
Troy Tulowitski 3D. It's a Colorado Hot Pack!
23- Carlos Zambrano. Wanna talk about irony. Within a week of me posting a custom, and saying people should talk about him more, he gets a suspension. And people start talking about him.
141- Ozzie Smith. What a player.
131- Carlos Lee, one of the most overrated players in the game.
125- MARK...TEIXIERA!!

Pack 7-
80- Troy Tulowitski
51- Hunter Pence, currently a Phightin' Phil
65- Josh Johnson.
1- Sandy Koufax, greatest Jewish baseball player of all time. Thankfully, that doesn't limit the people who worship him- everyone does.
55- Nolan Ryan SHINY CARD. NICE!
117- Torii Hunter.
109- Mat Latos
138- Prince Fielder. Still thinking he's going to end up with Mo Vaughn's disease from eating too many veggie burgers.

And my promised relic is...
1975 mini GRADY SIZEMORE Relic. Pretty cool.
If the Indians win the Stadium Club contest...they will get that relic. Hopefully Baseball Dad doesn't already have it.

Overall, great packs. Lineage isn't the product I was hoping for, but it's still alright. And football, I'll be getting more of that soon.

Custom Card of the Day: Jimenez Edition

I have returned to the mainland, otherwise known as New Jersey, back from a weeklong vacation in Lake Winnipissaukee, or however you spell it. It's safe to say that I'm finally feeling at home- unfortunately, the man on the card is in the exact opposite situation. He just was dropped from Colorado, where he's been pitching so well, to Cleveland. I'm not dissing the Tribe here, because there isn't much about the tribe to diss. But Jimenez hasn't been pitching too well since the trade from the Rockies. Now granted, maybe it's because of the fact that his 2011 season hasn't quite been like his 2010, where he lost the Cy Young only because Roy Halladay was in front of him. Hopefully he'll rebound, and make all the tribe fans happy.

Coming Tomorrow- Moving from a team I admire to a team I absoultely loathe, this guy has been pitching a decent season so far.

Stadium Club Contest: Seven Spots remaining

I'm finally back from vacation, and I've settled in at home. Unfortunately, there are two wax boxes waiting to be ripped, and a contest waiting to be started. I know that there aren't too many bloggers for certain teams, but once there's an indefinite drought, and no one will claim the remaining teams, I'll stop plugging and start the contest. But for now, I'm trying to get my first contest filled, because it's going to be very interesting.

Lemme refresh the rules, for any newcomers: I'll rip each pack, and I will assign each card I pull a number of pulls, varying by the star power, pose, action shot, or if it's an insert. If it's a double, it automatically gets one point. These points will go to the team, and the blogger that has the most points at the end of 2 Stadium Club boxes (1993 and 1996) for their team will win (A- All the cards from their team, and (B- Some assorted other things I'll throw in corresponding to that team, or the winner's wantlist. To reiterate- 28 bloggers will enter, only one will win. There's a 1 in 28 chance of winning, but there's sweet swag on the line.

The teams, copied from the last post:
Angels: Mariner1
Astros
Athletics- dominicfdny
Blue Jays- Kazi
Braves- Captain Canuck
Brewers
Cardinals- FanOfReds
Cubs- card anathema
Dodgers- Greg Zakwin
Giants- Dan
Indians- Baseball Dad
Mariners- The Lost Collector
Marlins
Mets- BA Benny
Expos- Nathan
Orioles- shady Twine
Padres- Rod of Padrographs
Phillies- dawgbones
Pirates- piratesfan731
Rangers- Play at the plate
Red Sox-
Reds- henchmiester
Rockies
Royals
Tigers -indiana potch
Twins
White Sox- Jeff Laws
Yankees- Ryan LaMonica

Please try to sign up for this thing, so we can get the ball rolling on it. Customs will be back tomorrow, and this week I'll also be looking for some Lineage (I know, I'm very late).

Custom Card of the Day: Kinsler Edition

I am very surprised that out of all the first place teams, we've heard the leas about the Rangers. Sure, the other five divisions have had big stories of upsets, surprises, victories and rivalries, but the Al West has been very quiet. There are only four teams, but 2 of these four are really good, and vying for the division, including Texas and Anaheim. Ian Kinsler isn't the team's most notable performer (that person's name starts with a J, ends with an N, and has "osh Hamilto" in the middle), but he has certainly evolved from the lanky, underperforming 2nd baseman he once was. He has been hitting pretty damn well as of late, and the team really needs him.

Also, there are about 11 spots left in the Stadium Club contest. I'm gonna be plugging away at this until it's all filled up.

Coming Tomorrow- He was a hit last season with Colorado...now he's hoping to rebound for the Tribe.

Stadium Club contest - Upping the Ante

So here's the deal- of the 28 spots needed for the 1993 Stadium Club contest, only 14 have been filled. I will now change that number to thirteen, because I have recently realized how stupid it was to enter myself into my own contest. Therefore, the Yankees are now open. Any other budding Yankee fan that wants t win this, your time has come.

Anyway, that leaves 15 spots left. With this ratio, I was brought to an unwelcome conclusion: nobody likes 1993 Stadium Club. Sure, the inaugural set was pretty Colleen, and the 92 one was okay as well, but in 1993 the set wasn't as good. Therefore, to the fifteen open slots, and to the other bloggers who are afraid to enter, I am raising the stakes, by adding another box.

I went to the card shop again today, and the wax boxes were still there. The dealer said he'd make a discount since I already got a box a few days ago. So I looked around, and that's when I saw the perfect box, that I needed for this contest. S the dealer gave it to me for 12 bucks, half off the original price, and I skipped away with a grin on my face.

Here's the box: 1996 Stadium Club Series 2. Now, I know what you're thinking- how is this better than the 1993 version of this same damn product?!?!? Well, it has a lot more stars, more rookies, and more inserts. It's safe to say that this is less of a junk waxy product than the 1993 set. So it's the same contest, I'll be giving both boxes points, and the team with the most at the end wins all the team's loot, yadda yadda yadda...you know the deal.

Here Are the teams, last revised a few days ago.
Angels:
Astros
Athletics- dominicfdny
Blue Jays- Kazi
Braves-
Brewers
Cardinals- FanOfReds
Cubs- card anathema
Dodgers- Greg Zakwin
Giants- Dan
Indians- Baseball Dad
Mariners- The Lost Collector
Marlins
Mets- BA Benny
Expos
Orioles- shady Twine
Padres- Rod of Padrographs
Phillies- dawgbones
Pirates- piratesfan731
Rangers- Play at the plate
Red Sox- Captain Canuck
Reds- henchmiester
Rockies
Royals
Tigers
Twins
White Sox- Jeff Laws
Yankees- Ryan LaMonica

So there you go. Sign up in the contest please, I'd like to get this thing filled, and rip the packs necessary. This is gonna be a good one.

Custom Card of the Day: K-Rod Edition

I have been using this analogy a lot lately, but I figured it works especially with Francisco Rodriguez. If you told me three years ago that this guy would be playing for the Brewers this year, I would call the Brewers a surefire playoff team. Now...well, maybe the Brewers are a playoff-bound team, but not because of K-rod. Because he's not the Brewers closer- that would be John Axford, and from the looks of things, he's doing a pretty good job of it. So now this is turning into a bad Owen Wilson movie, with K-Rod trying desperately to help, while acting really nnoying to John Axford. He'll...it's more like the 1978 Yankees closets. You have Axford, or Lyle, who's doin a pretty damn good job already...and then the team has to get a veteran closer, Rodriguez, or Gossage, to limit Axford's playing time.

Whichever way it goes, it better end up better than how Rafael Soriano's doing for us.

Coming Tomorrow- his team is heading the division, and he's finally become a 2nd baseman that they can trust.

Custom Card of the Day: Crawford Edition

In honor of my stay in New Hampshire, smack dab in the middle of Red Sox country, I figured I'd post a Red Sock. A year ago today, if you told me that Carl Crawford had joined Boston, I would be afraid of the Yankees chances. Of course, I would be overreacting a little bit. It is a known fact tha Crawford hasn't lived up to Boston's expectations. In his time on and off the DL, he has established himself as a waste of perfectly good prospects, and a could-have-been Hall of Fame career tarnished by a crappy season. The truth is that he hasn't been playing like Carl Crawford this year, and it's a shame.

So thanks, Boston.

Also, we still need 14 spots for the 1993 Stadium Club contest. I might be getting other packs, or another box to sweeten the deal. And before you ask, I don't think it will be more Stadium Club.

Coming Tomorrow- 3 years ago he was the best closer in the AL. Now, he's struggling to compete for Milwaukee

1993 Stadium Club Series 3- CONTEST!!!!

In case you haven't been reading this blog lately, lemme recap: I am currently on vacation in New Hampshire, with my family. Las year, when I was in Lake George, NY, I found a nifty little card shop, that sold these $2 mix packs, that I dubbed "Adironpacks". This year, I found out that there is a small card shop up here in Meredith, actually based in somebody's house, that sells better wax. So, being the card geek. A, I checked it out. I found tons of little singles, and a few packs, which I will reveal the highlights of afterward. Then, I found, on the floor, a box of 1993 Stadium Club Series 3. The owner said it was worth ten bucks, and I was astonished. Sure, it was junk wax, and a product that wasn't as good as it's predecessors, but it's still stadium club. And that's why I bought it.

So after I left the shop, with my eighteen year old wax box in hand, I thought to myself "how can I make this fun? How can I make this a cool contest, or at least one that attracts enough bloggers?" Well, I've figured something out, and while it may not be one of the coolest blogger contests out there, it'll still be pretty rewarding.

SO HERE IS THE DEAL!!! 28 teams were around by the time of this product, so 27 bloggers will play this one. This will be like a group break, only without pay, and only the winner will get all the cards of his team. That means 26 of the bloggers that sign up will get out of this contest empty handed. Over the course of the rest of my vacation, I will post all 24 packs of this box. For every card pulled, I will assign a number of points, up to 5 per card. They could be awarded in behalf of a fun looking pose, or a good player, or just an awesome looking card. The points the card gets goes to the team. If the card has no good qualities, or sucks,, I'll only award it one point. The team with the most points by the end if the break wins.

The blogger who wins will receive all the cards from their team from this break, as well as the cards from their team pulled in the packs I'm about to reveal, as well as some hits or ore things from their team.

Teams:
Angels:
Astros
Athletics
Blue Jays- Kazi
Braves- Ryan LaMonica
Brewers
Cardinals
Cubs- card anathema
Dodgers- Greg Zakwin
Giants
Indians- BASEBALL DAD
Mariners- TheLostCollector
Marlins
Mets- BA Benny
Expos
Orioles- Shady Twine
Padres- Rod, of Padrographs
Phillies- dawgbones
Pirates- piratesfan731
Rangers
Red Sox- Captain Canuck
Reds- henchmiester.
Rockies
Royals
Tigers
Twins
White Sox
Yankees: Jordan, Mint Condition (me).

Again, there is no pay involved, and only one person will receieve all their team's loot. Now, let me first reveal the results of the packs I got today. There will be no points awarded, and the winner will get the cards from their team from these.

First, 2 packs of 2005 Topps Series 1:
Zach Day, of the Expos
Mike Hampton of the Braves
Kevin Millar of the Red Sox
Mark Buehrle, of the White Sox
Vladimir Guerrero of the Angels
Paul Konerko Sporting News insert, of the White Sox
Johan Santana Own the Game, of the Twins
Scot Shields of the Angels
Ken Macha if the Athletics
Scott Williamson of the Red Sox
Erubeil Durazo, of the Athletics
Jason Jennings if the Rockies
Torii Hunter of the Twins
Rafael Furcal of the Braves
Brett Harper of the Mets
Greg Maddux Season Highlights, of the Cubs
Eric Byrnes, of the Athletics
Juan Encarnacion of the Marlins
Al Lieter of the Mets

Ad now, two packs of 2002 Topps
Cliff Floyd of the Marlins
Edgardo Alfonso, of the Mets
Scott Sullivan, of the Reds
Sammy Sosa of the Cubs
Jim Edmonds of the Cardinals
Joe Torre, of the Yanks
Michael Barrett of the Expos
Jose Mesa of the Phillies
Dave Martinez of the Braves
Ricky Bottalico, of the Phillies
Paul Konerko of the white sox
Kelvim Escobar if the Blue Jays
Athletics Playoff Bound insert
Tony Gwynn if the Padres
Art Howe of the Athletics
Al Martin of the Mariners
Jason Bere of the Cubs

So that is all. If you want in, sign up in the comments, and pick your team before you lose it. The packs will be ripped in the next few days.

Custom Card of the Day: Kershaw Edition

I do realize that I've been posting a lot of Dodgers this year, despite the fact that they've been doing terribly. But it's a team with talent, and it's a shame that a team with talent can fail like this. For example, even if Clay Kershaw hasn't been winning many games, he's still Clay Kershaw, and he's still one of the best pitchers in the league. The Dodgers are just out of luck THIS season-that doesn't mean they're the new Pirates. Next year it is obvious that they'll be better, due to lack of internal conflict and maybe a few additions. At least I hope so.

Coming Tomorrow- Being that I'm in New England, it's only fitting that I post a Red Saaaack.

Custom Card of the Day: Pujols Edition

Believe me, I'm as surprised as you are. I thought the Pujols custom would head off the year, and its inevitability would have been endless. But I decided to hold one until August. Why? Because the Cardinals are getting good this month. Even if Pujols has had a pretty crappy year all around, he's still on a pretty damn good team. And even if he's having an okay season...he's still Alber Pujols. He's still that big star that everyone talks about, and everyone gobbles of rookie cards of.

He's Albert fricking Pujols. And it's August.

Coming Tomorrow- Being that Night Owl has stolen all my Lineage Yankees (I'm getting some Lineage this week before you all ask), I will gladly post a dodger. And it's a good one.

Custom Card of the Day: Zambrano Edition

Last year, I felt like I was hearing too much about Carlos Zambrano. How he was pitching poorly, racking up suspensions, and getting hurt often. He's the Cubs' star pitcher- can't he at least try winning like the rest of his team does? Of course now that he's having a comeback season, completely redeeming all the respect he'slost during the 2010 season, I feel as though I'm hearing too little of him. And that is wrong. Isn't it the point of a sportswriter to spotlight a player who's had a rocky career, and is now pitching beautifully? Then why has nobody even spoken about Carlos Zambrano, and how he's returned to form.

(I imagine most comments left on this post will involve sportswriters hating the Cubs, so to all Cubs fans reading this post, I apologize in advance.)

Coming Tomorrow- Speaking of fan hatred, I'm out of customs! Gotta make some tonight, and by the pound, too- I'm going on another vacation soon!

Custom Card of the Day: Uehara Edition

I always thought that Koji Uehara would be one of Baltimore's biggest new stars. Of course I also said the same thing about Walter Young, Radhames Liz, David Hernandez and Brian Matusz, but all but the latter are now out of baseball. Still...Uehara couldn't seem to keep himself off the DL in Baltimore, and eventually he was relegated to the bullpen. I kinda thought that was the end right there, but it wasn't. Uehara went to Texas this year to finally add some decent pitching to the Orioles' roster. And as a starter again, Uehara didn't disappoint. He's now a Texas mainstay apparently, and I for one pretty happy for the guy. And I remember thinking...which is happier, the player given a second chance, or the team that accquired him?

(In order to get the full effect of that paragraph, read it in Morgan Freeman's voice. Trust me, it won't sound boring!)

Coming Tomorrow- He's had his highs and lows on the North Side, but now he's been having a comeback to remember.

Custom Card of the Day: Gordon Edition

I've made quite a few Royals customs this year, especially of their up-and-comers, who all somehow decided to premiere this year. But the one guy who was somehow untouched by me was Alex Gordon, and I find that odd. That is considering the fact that he's slowly transformed into the best player on the team, and a great hitter. And I've been getting a few gripes as to why he hasn't been here, which is not the first time that collectors have begged for just one Alex Gordon card (See what I did there?). The only reason I didn't make one prior to this is that I couldn't find a good enough photo. Hosmer, Moustakas and Butler all had great photos that I just had to customize. For a while I couldn't find one for Alex Gordon, but a few days ago, I finally did. And now, we finally have a 2010 Alex Gordon custom...fittingly.

Coming Tomorrow- Two years ago he debuted with Baltimore. Two weeks ago he debuted with Texas.

Custom Card of the Day: Bourn Edition

I already made a card of this guy back in April, citing that he got good just when he left the Phillies. Well, now he's getting good the year he leaves the Astros. Which is nice. And I'm happy for all the Braves fans now that they have Bourn. I know the reactions are mixed, but seriously- you only had to give up Jordan Schafer and a few prospects to get him, and that's not that bad. Hell, if I were a good trader, I'd through Nate McLouth in there, but he's been injured ever since he left Pittsburgh. Still...if my team got Michael Bourn for a few players we didn't need, I'd be pretty happy too.

Coming Tomorrow- A lot of rookie Royals have been getting their due this year, but there's one veteran that's been mashing the ball this year.

Custom Card of the Day: Avila Edition

It was really only a matter of time before I made an Alex Avila custom, considering the season he's having. But if he wins the Rookie of the Year award this year, the comparisons will not be to Johnny Bench: they will be to Geovany Soto. And yes Cubs fans, that is a bad thing.

I am a member of the minority that thinks Geovany Soto should not have won the NL Rookie of the Year award in 2008. There were more deserving Rookies in the conference, such as Jay Bruce, Kosuke Fukudome, Clayton Kershaw and Joey Votto. Of course, I am also part of the majority that thinks Chris Coghlan didn't deserve his ROY in 2009, but now I'm rambling. Back to Soto- he played a decent enough season at his position back in 2008, but it wasn't his first season. The same thing goes for Alex Avila- he debuted in 2009, and has been playing the position since. So even if he was nominated to the All Star team, does he deserve it over others in his division, such as Michael Pineda, and others that I can't think of right now? I don't think so.

Still he's a great player, but not the Rookie of the Year.

Coming Tomorrow- He began the season in Houston, and will finish it in Atlanta.

Custom Card of the Day: Tulo Edition

I realize I've been doing a lot of new teams in old designs lately. I need to poll the herd here: Are you guys liking them? If not, I'll stop them and go back to putting them on newer designs.

But I did have a lot of fun making this one, as the 82 design is a cool one, and it was fun to change up a bit. Speaking of changing up, that's what the Rockies really need to do if they want to contend next year. Having three huge stars like Helton, Tulo and CarGo is a start, but to really contend they need a lot more pitching, better hitters and better defense. But Tulo is doing just fine. He's hitting, he's a fixture at short, and I don't think the Rockies could survive without the guy.

Coming Tomorrow- This is a breakout season for this guy, who is becoming one of the best young AL Catchers.

Custom Card of the Day: Upton Edition

The Diamondbacks are having a surprising season, and it's no wonder- the guy above is becoming a force to reckon with at the plate. Not only is he quick, but he can hit as well, and play the outfield well too. But even if the D-Backs keep beating the other three teams, the Giants will be standing in their way indefinitely, and it will take a lot to stop them from clinching. And also, if they get to the playoffs, it might bring back memories of the 2001 postseason, and I really don't want that. And I know the D-Backs haven't been the most surprising comeback of the season, but they are becoming one of the strongest.

Coming Tomorrow- Another new team in an old design, only this team isn't so lucky in the numbers.

Custom Card of the Day: Wang Edition

You're probably all wondering why this guy is getting a custom, over so many other "worthy individuals". Well, Wang over here is just as worthy: in the three years I've been making customs, I've never made a Wang, until now. This mainly has been due to injuries, or lack of a good photo, but now that he's pitched in his 1st game since the Yankees, I had no choice but to make one. And even though he bombed against the Mets, I made one anyway. Why? Let me splain...no, there is too much. Let me sum up.

My dentist happens to be from Taiwan. And in Taiwan, Chien-Ming Wang is almost equivalent to a god. The people there worship him, and root for him, and mob him for autographs and all that. This was great back when Wang was with the Bombers- we had an entire country rooting for the Yankees. Eat that Boston! But everytime I go to get my teeth cleaned, my dentist is always anxious to hear about Wang, and if he's getting better. I mentioned last year that Hong-Chi Kuo, another Taiwan native was elected to the All Star Game, but it didn't look like he cared- Kuo was 2nd to Wang, and I really felt the same way. Now that Wang's back, an entire country can regain their hero, and the Nationals can regain their great pitcher.

Coming Tomorrow- A player for Arizona that's always been a key factor in wins...even if they haven't been getting much this year.