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.