Custom Card of the Day: Pujols Edition (FINALLY!)

Thanks to a suggestion from a fellow blogger, I finally found a new site for pictures for customs. Now granted, the pictures aren't in the best resolution, and I have to stretch some of them to get them to fit in the card, but these pics still work. And being that I had found a new custom site, the first person to pop into my head was the man above.

Why? Because it's been a month now and I haven't posted a custom of the season's hugest acquistion.

The trade not only gave one of baseball's biggest stars to the Angels, it also began the shift in power between the AL and the NL, with some of the NL's biggest stars headed to the AL. Now how could I not make a custom of him. Also, HE'S ALBERT FREAKING PUJOLS! He's the biggest star in baseball!

Coming Tomorrow- I need to make more, but it'll most likely be a Red Sock. Why? Because I must celebrate my least favorite day of the year by posting a custom of my least favorite team. It's kinda fitting.

Custom Card of the Day: Lincecum Edition

My inconsistency can be rooted to my extremely busy March, and a recent allergy sickness. Also, it's because of the fact that fricking zimbio doesn't post too many spring training photos. Which makes me mad. But nevertheless, I'm still making them as they come. Today's custom depicts a former Cy Young winner who needs to return to his prime. The Giants had a down year last year, and Lincecum had a down season. I'm hoping he steps up and returns to form...just not too much.

Coming Tomorrow- Thanks to fricking zimbio, I don't know. Hopefully something.

Custom Card of the Day: Betances Edition

I don't really have much to say about this guy, other than the fact that he's an up-and-comer, one of the Killer B's, and awesome.

Coming Tomorrow- I dunno. I need to make more.

Custom Card of the Day: Kuroda Edition

For some reason, this is one of the Yankee purchases that hasn't been getting too much publicity this year. And you kinda have to wonder why. Kuroda was a fearsome pitcher for LA for four seasons, a tad dimming last year, and this year he's signed with the Yankees. Why didn't more people take notes? Maybe the acquisition was overshadowed by the Pineda deal that occurred hours before. Maybe he wasn't really a star.

However, the way he's pitching, people should start watching.

He's one of the brighter names in the rotation this far, and he's pitching beautifully. I really hope he keeps pitching this way, because there are a lot of names competing for a spot in the rotation. Sabathia, Pineda and Pettite are pretty much givens. I just hope this guy can prove himself.

Coming Tomorrow- Another Yankee pitcher, this one much younger, and a member of the killer B's.

Custom Card of the Day: Reyes Edition

Jose here is just an example of the gigantic team the Marlins have become. The Marlins snatched up numerous stars at the trade deadline, and while some (Zambrano, Buehrle) aren't as reliable as others, they have still formed a stronger team. And Jose has added a One-Two punch between him and Hanley Ramirez, who previously had that thing going with Dan Uggla. Still, if Jose has a stellar season this year, then the Marlins will be a favorite to win the division. I hope not.

Coming Tomorrow- One of two forthcoming yankee pitchers. Tomorrow's a former Dodger finally getting back into his good years.

The age old game of Musical Quarterbacks

Okay, so most bloggers are talking about this, so I kinda feel the need to throw in my two cents.

You see, back, uh, 30 days ago, Peyton Manning was a wandering free agent, Tim Tebow was safe in Denver and the Packers had a decent backup. Of course, this all changed.

Matt Flynn is sitting in Seattle, under the rain. Manning is happily in Denver, while Tebow might be going to New York...if the money holds over. Which begs the question- are there any safe quarterbacks??

Of course the answer is yes, but I just wanna look into this a little. Here are some headlines I hope I don't see in the next few months.

• Tebow staying in Meadowlands: Sanchez looking for a job.


• Sanchez signs with Dallas, who are more than happy to give up Tony Romo.


• Romo is traded to Washington for a draft pick. Rex Grossman is dejected.


• Grossman finds Solace in Jacksonville. No problems there.


• The Jaguars are traded to Los Angeles for a governor and a few movie stars.


• Gabbert out of job; joins cross country trek with Jimmy Clausen and Cade McKnown


• Unsatisfied, Jags trade Grossman to Dolphins. He's apparently accepted there.


• A dejected (insert name of Dolphins QB) is signed by the Chiefs. This pisses off Matt Cassel.


• Cassel is traded back to New England. Realizing what they have just done, the Pats trade Cassel to the Raiders.


• Carson Palmer is traded to the Colts. Apparently this will help things.


• But NO! Brett Favre wants to play football again! He signs with the Lions.


• Matt Stafford, in retaliation, signs with the Vikings.


• Christian Ponder abruptly joins Gabbert's cross country trek


• Wait- now Donovan McNabb wants to play football again!


• He signs with the Cardinals, who promptly give Kevin Kolb the boot.


• Kolb signs with the Seahawks. However, somehow Kevin Kolb is not good enough for the Sehawks.


• Kolb signs with the 49ers, just in time to tell Alex Smith that Peyton already signed with someone. Alex Smith still doesn't get the message, and signs with the Broncos.


• Alex Smith is obviously out of a job. Unfortunately, I've stretched this gag out as far as it can go, and I'm getting tired.

Ahhh...those nights where you can't think of a post...solved by insanity.

Custom Card of the Day: Beltran Edition

Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah, he's not as good as he used to be. Blah Blah Blah the Cardinals need to come back after losing their star. Blah Blah Blah they should have gotten a bigger star. Blah Blah they probably won't get back to the postseason without Pujols. Blah Blah Blah good luck to Beltran, as he might infuriate several fans.

Blah.

(You've heard it all before. Why hear the same thing from me?)

Coming Tomorrow- A former NL East rival competes as part of an...NL East team. Wow, who'd have thought he'd just stay in the division and haunt the Phillies.

Custom Card of the Day- Manny Edition

I was a bit pissed last year when Manny Ramirez retired before I could even make a custom of him. I mean, he is a big star in a new uniform, which is basically the whole point of the first few weeks or so. And I never made a real Manny Rays card. Surprisingly, neither could everybody else. So I was a bit pleased this year when I saw him in an A's uniform, in a workable shot. I think he's a decent enough player, and if he gets lucky, could be a Hall of Famer. And remember, Manny isn't too bad when he's not playing in your division.

Coming Tomorrow- An aging outfielder brought in to fill an unfillable hole underneath the archway.

Welcome Back (again)

I feel like every five years Andy Pettite returns to the Yankees. Fitting, too. Back in 2007 we were a force to reckon with in the AL. Back to the good old days, I guess.

Welcome Back, Andy. Stay for as long as you want.

The First Sampling of 2012 Heritage, with other stuff as well

It's about that time of year again, where the blogosphere spends a few weeks collecting a product, then swearing off set building on it. In other words: It's Topps Heritage time!

I was fully intent on buying some heritage today, and I indeed found some, but I saw some discounted 2008 Upper Deck Football Rookies, and at $3, I kinda had to. I threw in a rack pack of Topps and the deal was sealed.

We'll start with Heritage. Rack Pack 1-
328- Elvis Andrus. Nice start. The guy has some talent.
12- Jim Johnson. Not a Nascar driver.
292- Justin Turner. This guy could have a decent enough career.
149- Ian Desmond. Got his autograph last year.
43- Rivera/Girardi combo
Flashbacks of Al Kaline. Very nice.
317- Jason Donald
113- Kerry Wood. Why aren't they including closers stats?
417- Jeremy Guthrie.
183- Mark TEIXIERA! NICE!
349- Alex Gonzalez
105- James oh so Lonely
108- VLADIMIR GUERRERO! What a hitter.
410- Jesus Guzman
493- Josh Willingham. Quite overrated.
239- Indians team

Pack 2-
320- Zack Greinke. Despite being injured, he had an awesome season last year.
232- Kevin Youkilis. BOOOOOOOO! WHY DO I ALWAYS GET CARDS OF HIM?
341- Ryan Madson, shopped into a Reds uni. This card makes me sad.
30- Cody Ross. He's now up on the charts in my Most Infuriating Player list.
195- Desmond Jennings. Great Rookie season
335- Bobby Abreu. Back in the early 2000's he was so fun to watch.
181- Brent Morel
392- Indians combo
152- Nick Hagadone. Did I wind up with Baseball Dad's pack?
90- Joey Votto. Great player.
409- Jair Jurrjens. Needs to rebound.
290- ALBERT PUJOLS IN AN ANGELS UNI! THIS IS A GREAT CARD!
399- Mike Minor.
357- Allen Craig. Bleah.
477- Derrek Lee. Great player.
114- Cardinals team card.

Topps Rack-
140- Troy Tulowitski
316- Nick Blackburn
100- Jose Bautista. Please stop hitting over the wall. Granderson's been waiting in the wings.
9- Wait...is this...YES IT IS! JESUS MONTERO ROOKIE! AHHH-HAHAHAAA! YES! I'VE FINALLY GOT MY HANDS ON IT! THANK YOU!
259- Michael Stutes. If he hasn't been traded yet, he will be.
22- Alfredo Simon
Gold Standard of Reggie Jackson on his 500th. It's a shame that a certain 3 of those in a certain World Series game didn't count.
Bench/McCann Talents/Duos/Lineage.
202- Andrew Carnigan. I now have 7 copies of this card. Why?
97- Jim Thome cl.
147- Orlando Hudson. Great defensive player.
313- Phil Hughes. Uh yeah, Phil, remember Andy? He'll be taking your job. No hard feelings. He's 42 and he still pitches better than you.
164- Carl Pavano.
157- Anibal Sanchez. Yesterday my dad told me about how in 77, he opened a pack and saw a Mariners card, and had no idea about this new team. I wish we'd have the same surprise with these Marlins.
260- Brian Bleeping Wilson.
136- Casey McGeehee
130- Asdrubal Cabrera. Sorry, just...that name.
239- Leaders
85- The J-Hey Kid. Sorry, it just fits.
144- Marlon Byrd. Oh, if only he was the centerfielder Philly was hoping for.
307- VANCE "THE VANNIMAL" WORLEY! YES! I WAS LOOKING FOR THIS ONE TOO! BOOYAH!
163- Justin Turner.
203- Jeff Niemann.
Babe Ruth Golden Greats
Albert Belle Golden Moments.
Andre Ethier mini.
41- Devin Mesoraco. I have a feeling he was traded somewhere.
79- Austin Romine.
39- James Loney
323- Jason Isringhuasen
132- Will Venable. A decent young star,
61- Daniel Bard. grrr
201- Doug Fister
45- Jhoulys Chacin
leaders

And the highlights of the UD Rookies from 2008-
Rookie Shoot Flashbacks- Kellen Winslow Jr, Santonio Holmes
Ray Rice
Joe Flacco
Jermichael Finley
Chad Henne
Jerome Simpson
Dominique Rodgers Cromarite
Aqib Talib
Tashard Choice
Alonzo Highsmith

So that's it. Great packs, and some really good Heritage.

Custom Card of the Day: Wilson Edition

To be honest, about a year ago today if you told me CJ Wilson would be one of the bigger pitching stars in the AL, I'd shrug. I really didn't know who Wilson was last year, before the season started. When his Rangers started going nuts at the plate, he got the acclaim. Hell, at the end of last year he was dominating everything, which is why seeing him blow another World Series was a bit saddening. But of course, him and Pujols are now Angels, and will both be part of one of the most surprising AL teams this year.

Coming Tomorrow- Meanwhile, a tad upwards in California, a once retired star hopes to reclaim his mojo. So basically, if he fails, he's the baseball equivalent of Brett Favre.

Custom Card of the Day: McCutchen Edition

I usually do a horizontal custom of this guy, mainly because in most of the awesome shots I find he's either running or fielding. I guess it was finally time to actually have a vertical fielding shot. That's pretty much all I have to say. He's an awesome player, and Pittsburgh is lucky to have him.

Coming Tomorrow- The 2nd Biggest Star to come to Anaheim this year.

Custom Card of the Day: Cespedes Edition

2012 is a big year for prospects. There are dozens of Japanese prospects landing on American teams, and of course, there's the big three: Darvish, Cespedes and Harper. While Harper seems to look like the next Babe Ruth (or the next Cory Snyder), Cespedes is surprisingly taking a low profile in Spring Training so far. The question right now is: why? He's a monster at the plate, and has made an impact on Cuban Baseball.

And as he bats strongly for the Oakland A's, a team that hasn't been to a World Series since before his birth most likely, people are gonna take notice. For one thing, the team just purged all its big stars except Brandon McCarthy and Kurt Suzuki. And after gobbling up free agents like Cespedes and Manny Ramirez, it will be an interesting team to watch.

And Cespedes: if he keeps hitting, the rest of the country will take note.

Coming Tomorrow- I always feared he'd leave his team, due to their tendency to unload all stars at the deadline. But he's still here, and he's the team's star.

Custom Card of the Day: Kershaw Edition

I know of several Kershaw fans out there in and out of the blogs, so this is a great present to them. After all, what better way to cap off Clay's Cy Young season, which definitely made a statement for the team that has been through so much crap in the last few years. Hopefully, with a better team, the Dodgers will return to October...until the Phillies win in the end. No offense. Still, Kershaw's an excellent pitcher, and hopefully has some more good years ahead of him.

Coming Tomorrow- The Most Hype- what's that? Who's Bryce Harper? Oh yeah... The Second Most Hyped Prospect in the Majors.

Custom Card of the Day: Montero Edition

Immediately after I realized the results of the Montero-Pineda deal, I came across one conclusion- It's the Austin Jackson dilemma all over again!

You see, two years ago, I was intent on the fact that Austin Jackson would be the Yankees' starting centerfielder, after ending his 2009 campaign with a grand slam in spring training, and the subsequent departures of Johnny Damon and Hideki Matsui. So the outfield was supposed to be Gardner, Jackson and some other guy we'd acquire, most likely Randy Winn (grr)

Then, Granderson came to New York...for Austin Jackson. And I was shocked. Jackson was our centerfielder, and now...he was Detroit's. So the entire year, I was debating which acquisition was better: us with Granderson, or them with Jackson. And at the end of the year, I was wrong. Granderson had the better year, and last year he had a MVP Campaign, only curtailed by the fact that Justin Verlander had the greatest pitching year since the 60's. Jackson...has been slumping ever since.

So I promised myself I would never make the same mistake again. Of course, this was a promise I'd fail to keep. It's like watching a horror movie, and, near the end, saying "Gee, no one else is going to die. Not even that heroic guy, who's on his last day before retirement."

Speaking on those terms, Jesus Montero got whacked in the last ten minutes. And the killer's name was Michael Pineda.

So yeah, I'm still bummed that Montero was shipped off to Seattle, where he's basically one of the team's few stars. But we do have Pineda now, and he'll hopefully be pretty good. And still, I'll be hoping that Montero has a good year.

But not too good.

Coming Tomorrow- The First Dodger of the year. And man, if he doesn't have a season like last year, the fans will kill him (that could be any one of them).

Custom Card of the Day: Braun Edition

Admit it, you knew this was coming. Braun is one of the most talked-about players in baseball, for better or for worse. He's a great player, but his steroid scandal shocked the baseball world. So how could I resist making a custom of this guy?

Besides, now that Fielder is sleeping with the Tigers, Milwaukee is basically The Ryan Braun Show. Everyone else, including Zach Grienke, is a supporting player. See him deck homers over the wall while the crowd watches, etc, etc. I just hope he has a decent enough rebound season.

Coming Tomorrow- My second Mariner in three days. Of course, if it weren't for Michael Pineda, it would be my first Yankee of the year.

Custom Card of the Day: Ichiro Edition

My Gosh, if this guy doesn't end up in the Hall of Fame first ballot, it will be for one sole reason: his team has never made, let alone won, a World Series. For the past twelve seasons, the Mariners have started off kinda strong, then sank into mediocrity. Hell, I actually thought they'd get to the World Series back in 2001, then I remembered- THEY WERE PLAYING THE YANKEES.

Ichiro, hands down, is the greatest Japanese player ever to play the game. No one else comes a yardstick's worth close. He had a numerous amount of 200 hit seasons, until last season. And it's likely that, since his career is on the downslope, he may not ever make a World Series. But will that stop his entry into Cooperstown? No. He ruled the Major Leagues for a brief period of time, and he's still one of the biggest stars. Hell, at a Baltimore game I attended vs. Seattle, the free prize was an Ichiro customized ball. He was so huge that the attendees of the OTHER TEAM were giving out balls with his face on it.

But still, I hope Ichiro's 2012 season is an upgrade from last year. And I hope no loss of rings can keep him from Enshrinement.

Coming Tomorrow- One never knows.

Custom Card of the Day: Buehrle Edition

This is what the first few weeks of customs are all about: new players and new uniforms. This guy's donning a new uniform this year...though, in retrospect, everyone on his team is. He's one of the many aces in the Miami Marlins' deck this year. He's been consistently good for Chicago lately, but the downside is that Buehrle was the consolation prize for not getting Pujols. Still, he'll be a decent edition to a growing team.

Coming Tomorrow- Coming off his first down season in years, a storied veteran hopes to return to form in the city where the sun never shines.

The Long Awaited Return of Custom Card of the Day

I know. It's my second custom of the year, and all I can get for it is Jimmy Rollins? Let's support this: though he may be declining in quality, he's still one of Philly's stars, and he's still a great player. Also, he could have left the team this year, but he thankfully stayed on. Also, I haven't made a J-Rol since before Roy Oswalt's release. He deserved another, better one.

Coming Tomorrow- Who knows?