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| All this can be yours if the price is right |
I see at least 2008 and 2010 Ginter in there. I'm pretty sure Peter Gammons is from 2011. And the Topps 206 cards appear to all be 2010. If nothing else, the Bram Stoker will go well with my Mary Shelley.
2013-08-31
Everyone Loves Talking About Themselves
Well, maybe not everyone. But what if I said there was a prize at stake? I'll cut to the chase, go to It's like having my own Card Shop and explain your blog name for a chance to win some Allen and Ginter and Topps 206 minis.
I see at least 2008 and 2010 Ginter in there. I'm pretty sure Peter Gammons is from 2011. And the Topps 206 cards appear to all be 2010. If nothing else, the Bram Stoker will go well with my Mary Shelley.
I see at least 2008 and 2010 Ginter in there. I'm pretty sure Peter Gammons is from 2011. And the Topps 206 cards appear to all be 2010. If nothing else, the Bram Stoker will go well with my Mary Shelley.
2013-08-29
I'm Not Superstitious
If I was, I wouldn't be writing this trade post. At the start of the day, the Pirates were a mere 0.5 games behind the Cardinals for the NL Central, and, more importantly, the right not to play in the wildcard sudden-death play-in.
Of course, a little friendly competition is no problem for fans of opposing teams with baseball cards on the brain. I made a small trade with Zistle user BucCollector, who, as his name would suggest, collects Pirates. I sent a few cards from the late 90s he needed, and got this little old '84 Fleer in return.
Even though that picture was taken in 1983 or so, it still reminds me of what Busch Stadium looked like in the early 90s when I started watching baseball. The bright green turf, almost no dirt on the infield, the dark green outfield with team logos all around. All of those things went away with a significant remodel in the mid to late 90s, and subsequently the new Busch Stadium in 2006
So, not only did I trade with a Pirate fan, but in return I received a player best known as a Pirate.
...
If the Cardinals go into a free-fall starting tomorrow, the rest of you Cardinal fans can blame me.
Of course, a little friendly competition is no problem for fans of opposing teams with baseball cards on the brain. I made a small trade with Zistle user BucCollector, who, as his name would suggest, collects Pirates. I sent a few cards from the late 90s he needed, and got this little old '84 Fleer in return.
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| 1984 Fleer #339 Andy Van Slyke |
Even though that picture was taken in 1983 or so, it still reminds me of what Busch Stadium looked like in the early 90s when I started watching baseball. The bright green turf, almost no dirt on the infield, the dark green outfield with team logos all around. All of those things went away with a significant remodel in the mid to late 90s, and subsequently the new Busch Stadium in 2006
So, not only did I trade with a Pirate fan, but in return I received a player best known as a Pirate.
...
If the Cardinals go into a free-fall starting tomorrow, the rest of you Cardinal fans can blame me.
2013-08-27
eBay Wins #84
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| 1993 Upper Deck #214 Brian Barnes |
| eBay Bargain Tracker | |
| Total Cards Bought | 2440 |
| Total Spent | $43.25 |
| Per Card | 1.773 cents |
2013-08-25
2013 Opening Day Jumbo Packs
It's late August, which can only mean one thing...Opening Day? The truth is, sometimes I buy cards from a set I know I want, but defer opening them until later, especially if I want to show them on my blog. These packs aren't too terribly old though, they're from the early August 1/2 price sale on cards at Target. I don't think I've ever seen a store run a sale on current products, but I went straight to my local Target when I heard about the sale, to get Topps' cheapest product even more cheaply. I only found 4 24-packs of Opening Day, so I went ahead and bought all 4 for a total of $5.98. Here are the highlights from all 4 packs at once.
Opening Day followed a few of the same patterns this year. There were 6 1:2 insert sets, so my first 3 packs all had inserts from the same 3 sets. I can't quite place what it is I like about these mascot cards so much. Maybe it's because I rarely get to see any opposing team's mascot on TV, and almost never in person.
There have been rumblings in the league about eliminating the catcher collision play. I've heard that Buster Posey has been specifically instructed not to block the plate, since he's too valuable offensively. Seeing Yadier Molina bowl over the catcher, also in red, makes me imagine the positions switched, which then makes me think I really don't like the collision at the plate any more.
I like what Opening Day has done with Superstar Celebrations this year, switching from the common border and design to team colors.
The last pack had 3 different insert sets. If all of the Ballpark Fun set is pie-in-the-face cards, I may not try to complete it. But, if there's a card with the old wad of bubble gum on the hat squatchee, I'm in. Also, I pulled another Molina, and Opening Day's favorite parallel color, blue.
Would you believe, out of 84 base cards, only 1 was a Cardinal? That would be Adam Wainwright on the left. That's okay, though, because I tend to get random cardinals in trades, so really from a set-completion standpoint, non-Cardinals are better, right? I also included local guy Mark Beuhrle, because I follow him a bit too.
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| 2013 Opening Day - Mascots #M-6 Oakland Athletics #M-7 Screech #M-13 Atlanta Braves |
Opening Day followed a few of the same patterns this year. There were 6 1:2 insert sets, so my first 3 packs all had inserts from the same 3 sets. I can't quite place what it is I like about these mascot cards so much. Maybe it's because I rarely get to see any opposing team's mascot on TV, and almost never in person.
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| 2013 Opening Day - Play Hard #PH-1 Buster Posey #PH-2 Bryce Harper #PH-20 Yadier Molina |
There have been rumblings in the league about eliminating the catcher collision play. I've heard that Buster Posey has been specifically instructed not to block the plate, since he's too valuable offensively. Seeing Yadier Molina bowl over the catcher, also in red, makes me imagine the positions switched, which then makes me think I really don't like the collision at the plate any more.
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| 2013 Opening Day - Superstar Celebrations SC-17 Chase Headley #SC-20 Prince Fielder #SC-21 Buster Posey |
I like what Opening Day has done with Superstar Celebrations this year, switching from the common border and design to team colors.
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| 2013 Opening Day Ballpark Fun #BF-21 Jurickson Profar Opening Day Stars #ODS-25 Yadier Molina Opening Day Edition #192 Josh Beckett #0571/2013 |
The last pack had 3 different insert sets. If all of the Ballpark Fun set is pie-in-the-face cards, I may not try to complete it. But, if there's a card with the old wad of bubble gum on the hat squatchee, I'm in. Also, I pulled another Molina, and Opening Day's favorite parallel color, blue.
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| 2013 Opening Day #9 Mark Buehrle #91 Adam Wainwright |
I'm hoping to eventually build this set, and most of the common inserts. I've got some more I haven't opened yet, which is good, because at best I'm 84 cards into the 220 card base set.
2013-08-23
eBay Wins #83
After spending 3 weeks showing off a single prize, I'm back to my eBay penny card posts with some 1990 Donruss.
While I know it's popular to bash this set, I still like it, though not necessarily from an aesthetic standpoint. I'm still dangerously close to finishing it, which probably causes me some bias. I'm pretty sure I'm only missing checklist #700, Will Clark #707, and one of the confusing Nolan Ryan cards, most likely #659. That would give me 1 of each numbered card in the set. There are many error cards in the set, though, so it'd also be nice to get one of every variation as well, which puts my want list around 39 cards for now.
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| 1990 Donruss #116 Greg Minton #202 Pete O'Brien #412 Gus Polidor #514 Hal Morris #530 Jeff Peterek #623 Jeff Musselman |
| eBay Bargain Tracker | |
| Total Cards Bought | 2439 |
| Total Spent | $43.24 |
| Per Card | 1.773 cents |
2013-08-21
College Bowl Game Contest Win, Part 18
For the 2012-2013 College Football season, I entered the College Football Pick 'Em contest hosted by madding of Cards on Cards. I've won several of his contests over the years, and he always dumps a ton of Cardinals on me when I do. Yet, I think this time he may have outdone himself. I may have to work hard to get them all posted before the 2013-14 College Football season starts August 29, and I start posting my Power Rankings again.
[ 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 ]
Here we have another classic case of the 1980s oddball, which is MLBPA licensed, but not MLB licensed. Thus, all logos are airbrushed away. I'm surprised the Cardinals team name appears, though. I would expect just a "St. Louis" for his team. I'm not sure how I'll store this, because it's just wide enough not to fit in a card sleeve. It'll still fit in a regular storage box, so maybe I'll just put in in one of those and hope for the best.
We've quickly jumped back far enough that I don't remember these guys as players, except Terry Pendleton, but he looks odd in Cardinal red to me to this day. From my earliest baseball memories, he was a Brave. I actually used to have a very similar jacket to the one Jeff Lahti is wearing on his card, but that when when I was about 10, so I quickly outgrew it.
I do have a little context about these players, because my dad and uncle loved to tell me about the Cardinals. In fact, they still do. I appreciate the first-hand accounts of players I've only seen on cardboard or in 5-second blips in highlight reels. Joaquin Andujar in particular brings my uncle's stories to mind, because he had a few completely dominant years with the Cardinals, especially the 1982 season and World Series.
Finally, and I do mean finally, we have the oldest card of the whole prize, a 1983 Tito Landrum. Tito won the 1982 World Series with the Cardinals, was traded to the Orioles in 1983 for September and the playoffs, where he won another World Series, then was traded back to the Cardinals before the 1984 season. That's about all I know about Tito, but I do love that powder blue uniform. I understand those were seen as a bit odd or even ugly at the time, but now, they're a classic. It's funny how time does that. Time and World Series appearances, I guess. Also, this card is 30 years old, so it's officially vintage now, right?
That's it. That's the whole thing. I posted them all! A big thanks to madding for giving me a ton of Cardinals, and 18 posts worth of material. It's always fun to go back through the years and reminisce about players I remember seeing, and players I never knew we had, and even see some players before my time.
[ 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 ]
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| 1988 Jiffy Pop #7 Vince Coleman |
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| 1987 Topps #8 Terry Pendleton #110 John Tudor #367 Jeff Lahti (x2) #647 Tom Lawless |
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| 1985 Fleer #220 Joaquin Andujar #224 David Green #230 Kurt Kepshire #236 Terry Pendleton #231 Jeff Lahti |
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| 1983 Topps #337 Tito Landrum |
That's it. That's the whole thing. I posted them all! A big thanks to madding for giving me a ton of Cardinals, and 18 posts worth of material. It's always fun to go back through the years and reminisce about players I remember seeing, and players I never knew we had, and even see some players before my time.
2013-08-20
College Bowl Game Contest Win, Part 17
For the 2012-2013 College Football season, I entered the College Football Pick 'Em contest hosted by madding of Cards on Cards. I've won several of his contests over the years, and he always dumps a ton of Cardinals on me when I do. Yet, I think this time he may have outdone himself. I may have to work hard to get them all posted before the 2013-14 College Football season starts August 29, and I start posting my Power Rankings again.
[ 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 ]
Glorious Junk Wax! There are probably plenty of copies of most of these cards floating around, except perhaps the Donruss Doppelganger that is 1988 Leaf.
By now you've probably heard about Jack Clark's recent troubles caused by his big mouth, when he said he knew for sure that Albert Pujols has been juicing for years. Those are big allegations that require at least a little bit of evidence before you go mentioning them on the air. To give a local perspective, his co-host is notorious for being a sports shock-jock, and fired from nearly every station in town that ever employed a sports talk guy. I can't stand him, and I'm always glad to hear him go, so I don't stumble across his show when radio-surfing. Jack Clark has now retained one of the biggest names in high-priced attorneys in St. Louis, Chet Pleban. It's not clear to me whether this is to sue his (former) employer, or defend himself against the lawsuit Pujols has publicly threatened.
I knew Jack Clark has a bit of a reputation as a hothead, but I guess since St. Louis media don't usually hammer their hometown guys too hard, I never really knew his whole story. Apparently he's had trouble with Hall of Famers ranging from his Managers Frank Robinson and Lou Piniella, his teammates Ozzie Smith and Tony Gwynn, and now likely Hall of Famer Albert Pujols. As a side note, can we get Lou Piniella in the Hall of Fame as a manager please? Clark's apparently just got an attitude problem, and has for years.
I don't like negative posts, so let's end this one with Tony Pena making John Olerud feel silly.
...and then another guy named Brian Johnson.
Stay on your toes out there; it's the only way to save yourself from trick plays.
[ 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 ]
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| 1987 Fleer Update #U-71 Joe Magrane 1988 Donruss #170 Tony Pena 1988 Fleer #38 Steve Lake 1988 Leaf #181 Jack Clark 1988 Score #202 Todd Worrell 1989 Donruss #466 Luis Alicea 1989 Topps #1 George Bell 1990 Donruss #531 Carlos Martinez |
By now you've probably heard about Jack Clark's recent troubles caused by his big mouth, when he said he knew for sure that Albert Pujols has been juicing for years. Those are big allegations that require at least a little bit of evidence before you go mentioning them on the air. To give a local perspective, his co-host is notorious for being a sports shock-jock, and fired from nearly every station in town that ever employed a sports talk guy. I can't stand him, and I'm always glad to hear him go, so I don't stumble across his show when radio-surfing. Jack Clark has now retained one of the biggest names in high-priced attorneys in St. Louis, Chet Pleban. It's not clear to me whether this is to sue his (former) employer, or defend himself against the lawsuit Pujols has publicly threatened.
I knew Jack Clark has a bit of a reputation as a hothead, but I guess since St. Louis media don't usually hammer their hometown guys too hard, I never really knew his whole story. Apparently he's had trouble with Hall of Famers ranging from his Managers Frank Robinson and Lou Piniella, his teammates Ozzie Smith and Tony Gwynn, and now likely Hall of Famer Albert Pujols. As a side note, can we get Lou Piniella in the Hall of Fame as a manager please? Clark's apparently just got an attitude problem, and has for years.
I don't like negative posts, so let's end this one with Tony Pena making John Olerud feel silly.
...and then another guy named Brian Johnson.
Stay on your toes out there; it's the only way to save yourself from trick plays.
2013-08-19
College Bowl Game Contest Win, Part 16
For the 2012-2013 College Football season, I entered the College Football Pick 'Em contest hosted by madding of Cards on Cards. I've won several of his contests over the years, and he always dumps a ton of Cardinals on me when I do. Yet, I think this time he may have outdone himself. I may have to work hard to get them all posted before the 2013-14 College Football season starts August 29, and I start posting my Power Rankings again.
[ 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 ]
I felt like Edgar Renteria was ageless, having already had a World Series winning hit before arriving at the Cardinals, playing here for 6 years, and then 7 more seasons elsewhere after that. Of course, he was actually quite young on arrival, and he was only 21 in that World Series win for the Marlins.
I think I see some Wrigley Field ivy in the background of Izzy here.
These cards were a little dinged up and sort of used as packing material on the outside of each stack in the team bags. Still, those are some medium to big stars on the cards (Sorry Richie, you necessitated the "medium to" there).
I'm continually surprised that I keep finding sets I don't have cards from. 2003 Topps was one of those as well, which is even stranger, since Topps base cards from any year seem to just float around and settle in my card boxes.
Game Face is a bit more of an obscure set, so it's not surprising I didn't have any of it. Rolen has a legitimate focus-on-the-pitch game face. However, it would appear someone caught J.D. Drew after fouling a ball off his shin, and Tino before a dugout tirade.
1991?! That's right, there's a bit of a gap in the cards I received as prizes, from 1992 to 2002. Given that it took me 16 posts to get through the 11 years of 2003-2013, I figure that saves you about 16 more posts of reading. We're at the beginning of the end now. Or is the end of the beginning, since I'm going reverse chronologically?
[ 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 ]
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| 2005 Upper Deck #184 Edgar Renteria |
I felt like Edgar Renteria was ageless, having already had a World Series winning hit before arriving at the Cardinals, playing here for 6 years, and then 7 more seasons elsewhere after that. Of course, he was actually quite young on arrival, and he was only 21 in that World Series win for the Marlins.
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| 2005 Upper Deck #185 Jason Isringhausen |
I think I see some Wrigley Field ivy in the background of Izzy here.
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| 2004 Fleer Legacy #8 Sammy Sosa #48 Hideo Nomo #53 Richie Sexson |
These cards were a little dinged up and sort of used as packing material on the outside of each stack in the team bags. Still, those are some medium to big stars on the cards (Sorry Richie, you necessitated the "medium to" there).
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| 2003 Topps #469 Brett Tomko #567 So Taguchi #702 Jim Edmonds |
I'm continually surprised that I keep finding sets I don't have cards from. 2003 Topps was one of those as well, which is even stranger, since Topps base cards from any year seem to just float around and settle in my card boxes.
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| 2003 Upper Deck Game Face #102 J.D. Drew #104 Scott Rolen #106 Tino Martinez |
Game Face is a bit more of an obscure set, so it's not surprising I didn't have any of it. Rolen has a legitimate focus-on-the-pitch game face. However, it would appear someone caught J.D. Drew after fouling a ball off his shin, and Tino before a dugout tirade.
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| 1991 Upper Deck #636 Stolen Base Leaders (Lou Brock/Ricky Henderson) |
1991?! That's right, there's a bit of a gap in the cards I received as prizes, from 1992 to 2002. Given that it took me 16 posts to get through the 11 years of 2003-2013, I figure that saves you about 16 more posts of reading. We're at the beginning of the end now. Or is the end of the beginning, since I'm going reverse chronologically?
2013-08-18
College Bowl Game Contest Win, Part 15
For the 2012-2013 College Football season, I entered the College Football Pick 'Em contest hosted by madding of Cards on Cards. I've won several of his contests over the years, and he always dumps a ton of Cardinals on me when I do. Yet, I think this time he may have outdone himself. I may have to work hard to get them all posted before the 2013-14 College Football season starts August 29, and I start posting my Power Rankings again.
[ 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 ]
I didn't own a single card from 2006 Fleer before these two. Now, my want list has had a net gain because I've added all Cardinals from the set.
I also didn't own any 2006 Fleer Ultra, but that one only added 5 Cardinals to my want list. Now, look at this card, then look at Mulder's Fleer card above. They look suspiciously similar, don't they? I'm pretty sure these were taken from the same game. How can I be so sure? I can't be 100% positive, but here is my evidence:
Gary Bennett was a solid, dependable backup to Molina for 2 years, but he wasn't near the character Jason LaRue was.
The Cardinals seem to pick up a lot of aging stars for their final years, but they seem to work out to be productive years. When Larry Walker came to St. Louis, I enjoyed getting to see a player I had known to be a superstar for a long time, and he did quite well in his final year and a half with us. 2005 Opening Day is another new set for me, despite my fondness for the current Opening Day sets.
[ 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 ]
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| 2006 Fleer #86 Tyler Johnson #91 Mark Mulder |
I didn't own a single card from 2006 Fleer before these two. Now, my want list has had a net gain because I've added all Cardinals from the set.
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| 2006 Fleer Ultra #40 Mark Mulder |
- Those are the Cardinals Home Sunday caps. They don't mess around and wear them on special days; they're for Home Sundays.
- Mulder had no relief appearances in 2005, narrowing my search to his starts.
- He only started 1 Sunday game at Busch Stadium in 2005, on July 3.
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| 2006 Upper Deck #808 Gary Bennett |
Gary Bennett was a solid, dependable backup to Molina for 2 years, but he wasn't near the character Jason LaRue was.
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| 2005 Opening Day #32 Chris Carpenter #65 Woody Williams (x2) #154 Scott Rolen #156 Edgar Renteria #157 Larry Walker |
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| 2005 Opening Day #17 Jim Edmonds |
The Cardinals seem to pick up a lot of aging stars for their final years, but they seem to work out to be productive years. When Larry Walker came to St. Louis, I enjoyed getting to see a player I had known to be a superstar for a long time, and he did quite well in his final year and a half with us. 2005 Opening Day is another new set for me, despite my fondness for the current Opening Day sets.
2013-08-16
College Bowl Game Contest Win, Part 14
For the 2012-2013 College Football season, I entered the College Football Pick 'Em contest hosted by madding of Cards on Cards. I've won several of his contests over the years, and he always dumps a ton of Cardinals on me when I do. Yet, I think this time he may have outdone himself. I may have to work hard to get them all posted before the 2013-14 College Football season starts August 29, and I start posting my Power Rankings again.
[ 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 ]
If not for the different uniforms, I'd like to think these are 2 shots from the same play, and Tony's taking Chris Duncan out for a defensive replacement. Sorry, Chris, I like you on the radio though.
Spiezio might be responsible for the silliest Cardinals phenomenon until the Rally Squirrel. He had very long facial hair growing under his lip, and at times he dyed it Cardinal red. Of course, people cut up red fabric and made their own faux hair, and I think there may have even been an official promotion night around it.
Zoom in really far on that David Eckstein card. He's got quite the zombie eyes in that drawing.
I'd love to know what happened on this pitch, if this is based on a real photo. It could be a home run, a fly out, or even just strike 2. It looks like Albert might be swinging a little low for the ball.
Here's Eckstein looking much less Zombiefied, and journeyman extraordinaire Jeff Suppan. He wore my favorite number (37), so I almost bought a jersey when we won the World Series in 2006. Luckily I didn't because he quickly left for Milwaukee. One day I may get one anyway, along with Todd Wellemeyer and Kent Bottenfield.
[ 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 ]
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| 2007 Topps #127 Chris Duncan #249 Tony La Russa |
If not for the different uniforms, I'd like to think these are 2 shots from the same play, and Tony's taking Chris Duncan out for a defensive replacement. Sorry, Chris, I like you on the radio though.
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| 2007 Topps Updates and Highlights #UH44 Scott Spiezio |
Spiezio might be responsible for the silliest Cardinals phenomenon until the Rally Squirrel. He had very long facial hair growing under his lip, and at times he dyed it Cardinal red. Of course, people cut up red fabric and made their own faux hair, and I think there may have even been an official promotion night around it.
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| 2007 Turkey Red #72 Chris Carpenter #87 David Eckstein #172 Kelvin Jimenez |
Zoom in really far on that David Eckstein card. He's got quite the zombie eyes in that drawing.
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| 2007 Turkey Red #48 Prince Albert |
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| 2006 Topps #36 Jeff Suppan #228 David Eckstein |
2013-08-15
College Bowl Game Contest Win, Part 13
For the 2012-2013 College Football season, I entered the College Football Pick 'Em contest hosted by madding of Cards on Cards. I've won several of his contests over the years, and he always dumps a ton of Cardinals on me when I do. Yet, I think this time he may have outdone himself. I may have to work hard to get them all posted before the 2013-14 College Football season starts August 29, and I start posting my Power Rankings again.
[ 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 ]
More Heritage! This really is one of my favorite sets (every year) since I resumed collecting, but I haven't completed the Cardinals yet, so I'm glad these have been a big part of my prize. And even though I sorted these by number to scan, I managed to line up in the bottom row the guys once called MV3, when speculation was they would finish 1-2-3 in the MVP vote, or possibly cancel each other out.
I have much less Bowman Heritage, in fact it's a total of 7 cards now, 5 of them Cardinals, spanning 2001-2007.
Since my collecting hiatus (~2000~2010) included Topps getting their exclusive deal, I think of companies like Fleer as ceasing production in 1999 or so. I like seeing sets that are new to me, and 2007 Fleer is one of them. Having my one card from this set be our All-Star catcher is icing on the cake.
[ 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 ]
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| 2007 Topps Heritage #24 Yadier Molina #60 Preston Wilson #65 Chris Narveson #96 Kip Wells #106 Scott Rolen #210 Jim Edmonds #476 Albert Pujols |
More Heritage! This really is one of my favorite sets (every year) since I resumed collecting, but I haven't completed the Cardinals yet, so I'm glad these have been a big part of my prize. And even though I sorted these by number to scan, I managed to line up in the bottom row the guys once called MV3, when speculation was they would finish 1-2-3 in the MVP vote, or possibly cancel each other out.
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| 2007 Bowman Heritage Prospects #BHP77 Nathan Southard Prospects #BHP84 Jarrett Hoffpauir #154 Scott Rolen #164 Chris Duncan |
I have much less Bowman Heritage, in fact it's a total of 7 cards now, 5 of them Cardinals, spanning 2001-2007.
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| 2007 Fleer #47 Yadier Molina |
Since my collecting hiatus (~2000~2010) included Topps getting their exclusive deal, I think of companies like Fleer as ceasing production in 1999 or so. I like seeing sets that are new to me, and 2007 Fleer is one of them. Having my one card from this set be our All-Star catcher is icing on the cake.
2013-08-14
College Bowl Game Contest Win, Part 12
For the 2012-2013 College Football season, I entered the College Football Pick 'Em contest hosted by madding of Cards on Cards. I've won several of his contests over the years, and he always dumps a ton of Cardinals on me when I do. Yet, I think this time he may have outdone himself. I may have to work hard to get them all posted before the 2013-14 College Football season starts August 29, and I start posting my Power Rankings again.
[ 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 ]
Has anyone heard if 2013 Allen and Ginter is out yet? That United States insert is needlessly thick. At first I thought maybe it was a relic, but no, it's just a very thick slide of cardboard. I'm guessing this set contained each state's most famous native ballplayer.
2008 Topps is a set I have a decent chunk of, by virtue of finding a lot of cheap packs at one point. Consequently, I'm chasing its completion in my mind, though I haven't gone so far as to put the missing cards on my want list yet.
I could come up with any number of excuses for putting the Ozzie in the wrong orientation, but you know the real reason. I wasn't paying attention. And I'm not going to go de-sleeve and re-scan it. Carpenter knocked a card off my want list, so I just have a few Cardinals to go in this set.
I feel like I've heard of Co-Signers many times, but this is the first card of it I own. That's probably because I'm not a huge autograph seeker, except those I acquire from an in-person meeting, and autographed inserts were the big gimmick of this set.
[ 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 ]
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| 2008 Allen and Ginter #287 Chris Carpenter #326 Adam Kennedy |
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| 2008 Allen and Ginter #44 Adam Wainwright United States #US29 Chris Carpenter |
Has anyone heard if 2013 Allen and Ginter is out yet? That United States insert is needlessly thick. At first I thought maybe it was a relic, but no, it's just a very thick slide of cardboard. I'm guessing this set contained each state's most famous native ballplayer.
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| 2008 Topps #244 Adam Wainwright #272 Anthony Reyes #285 Tony La Russa #353 Brendan Ryan |
2008 Topps is a set I have a decent chunk of, by virtue of finding a lot of cheap packs at one point. Consequently, I'm chasing its completion in my mind, though I haven't gone so far as to put the missing cards on my want list yet.
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| 2008 Upper Deck Masterpieces #83 Ozzie Smith #85 Chris Carpenter |
I could come up with any number of excuses for putting the Ozzie in the wrong orientation, but you know the real reason. I wasn't paying attention. And I'm not going to go de-sleeve and re-scan it. Carpenter knocked a card off my want list, so I just have a few Cardinals to go in this set.
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| 2007 Topps Co-Signers #67 Anthony Reyes |
I feel like I've heard of Co-Signers many times, but this is the first card of it I own. That's probably because I'm not a huge autograph seeker, except those I acquire from an in-person meeting, and autographed inserts were the big gimmick of this set.
2013-08-13
College Bowl Game Contest Win, Part 11
For the 2012-2013 College Football season, I entered the College Football Pick 'Em contest hosted by madding of Cards on Cards. I've won several of his contests over the years, and he always dumps a ton of Cardinals on me when I do. Yet, I think this time he may have outdone himself. I may have to work hard to get them all posted before the 2013-14 College Football season starts August 29, and I start posting my Power Rankings again.
[ 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 ]
The single horizontal card and prime number of other cards strikes again. I'm a big fan of Heritage, so these cards are great for me. I'm hoping to eventually complete all the Cardinals from all of the years, and who knows, maybe the full sets eventually.
A random Brian Barton appears!
This is the second Upper Deck First Edition Update card I have. That's quite a set name. It looks like this is a set akin to Topps Opening Day for Topps flagship; it looks like Upper Deck but without the foil. Don't let Topps get any idea though, or I'll be chasing the 110 card Opening Day Update set every year too.
[ 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 ]
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| 2008 Heritage #223 St. Louis Cardinals |
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| 2008 Heritage #345 Chris Carpenter #504 Todd Wellemeyer #507 Skip Schumaker #558 Adam Kennedy #603 Joel Pineiro #630 Ryan Ludwick #669 Aaron Miles |
The single horizontal card and prime number of other cards strikes again. I'm a big fan of Heritage, so these cards are great for me. I'm hoping to eventually complete all the Cardinals from all of the years, and who knows, maybe the full sets eventually.
 |
| 2008 Stadium Club #130 Brian Barton |
A random Brian Barton appears!
 |
| 2008 Upper Deck First Edition Update #472 Skip Schumaker |
This is the second Upper Deck First Edition Update card I have. That's quite a set name. It looks like this is a set akin to Topps Opening Day for Topps flagship; it looks like Upper Deck but without the foil. Don't let Topps get any idea though, or I'll be chasing the 110 card Opening Day Update set every year too.
2013-08-12
College Bowl Game Contest Win, Part 10
For the 2012-2013 College Football season, I entered the College Football Pick 'Em contest hosted by madding of Cards on Cards. I've won several of his contests over the years, and he always dumps a ton of Cardinals on me when I do. Yet, I think this time he may have outdone himself. I may have to work hard to get them all posted before the 2013-14 College Football season starts August 29, and I start posting my Power Rankings again.
[ Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 ]
In his rush and/or zealous generosity (or is that generous zeal), madding sent me 2 of each of these cards. That's an easy mistake to make though, and I didn't even realize it the first time I looked through them, because there were simply so many cards. Eventually I sorted them out by set and lo and behold, my 10 Goudey cards only had 5 unique. So, I've got one each of these to keep, and one to trade.
I'm starting to build up quite an Ankiel collection now. I wasn't collecting during either of his heydays with the Cardinals, so I never pulled one of his cards in a current pack.
SP Authentic is a set that makes me want Upper Deck back in the game. It's got a very clean look that appeals to me.
And on the flip side, we have Upper Deck X. It's a little too busy for my taste, but I always love getting a new Cardinal card.
[ Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 ]
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| 2008 Goudey #171 Albert Pujols #173 Lou Brock #174 Chris Duncan #175 Vince Coleman #193 Troy Glaus |
In his rush and/or zealous generosity (or is that generous zeal), madding sent me 2 of each of these cards. That's an easy mistake to make though, and I didn't even realize it the first time I looked through them, because there were simply so many cards. Eventually I sorted them out by set and lo and behold, my 10 Goudey cards only had 5 unique. So, I've got one each of these to keep, and one to trade.
 |
| 2008 Upper Deck #70 Rick Ankiel |
I'm starting to build up quite an Ankiel collection now. I wasn't collecting during either of his heydays with the Cardinals, so I never pulled one of his cards in a current pack.
 |
| 2009 Upper Deck SP Authentic #78 Matt Holliday |
SP Authentic is a set that makes me want Upper Deck back in the game. It's got a very clean look that appeals to me.
 |
| 2009 Upper Deck X #97 Colby Rasmus |
And on the flip side, we have Upper Deck X. It's a little too busy for my taste, but I always love getting a new Cardinal card.
2013-08-11
College Bowl Game Contest Win, Part 9
For the 2012-2013 College Football season, I entered the College Football Pick 'Em contest hosted by madding of Cards on Cards. I've won several of his contests over the years, and he always dumps a ton of Cardinals on me when I do. Yet, I think this time he may have outdone himself. I may have to work hard to get them all posted before the 2013-14 College Football season starts August 29, and I start posting my Power Rankings again.
[ Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 ]
There are quite a few young guys in that bunch, especially Motte and Robinson who are still with the team. The oldest guy is probably Smoltz, who pitched for us late in the year and his whole stint still seems a little surreal to remember. Also, horizontal cards can actually look pretty good when the whole set matches.
...nevermind. At least it's a manager card. But still, this kind of chicanery prevents a set from looking nice in a binder. Maybe if we can get Topps to go all-vertical or all-horizontal by 2015, then 2064 Heritage and beyond won't suffer from this problem. I do like the old Cardinals logo up top, though.
This card only goes with the rest of them in that it's an old-style, current player card, and I figure, that's good enough. Now if we could just get rid of that Ankiel mystery beard...
[ Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 ]
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| 2009 Heritage #40 Ryan Ludwick #124 Jason Motte #327 Kyle Lohse #368 Aaron Miles #501 Shane Robinson #507 John Smoltz #518 Blake Hawksworth #590 Jarrett Hoffpauir #652 Tyler Greene |
There are quite a few young guys in that bunch, especially Motte and Robinson who are still with the team. The oldest guy is probably Smoltz, who pitched for us late in the year and his whole stint still seems a little surreal to remember. Also, horizontal cards can actually look pretty good when the whole set matches.
 |
| 2009 Heritage #220 Tony La Russa |
...nevermind. At least it's a manager card. But still, this kind of chicanery prevents a set from looking nice in a binder. Maybe if we can get Topps to go all-vertical or all-horizontal by 2015, then 2064 Heritage and beyond won't suffer from this problem. I do like the old Cardinals logo up top, though.
 |
| 2009 Topps 206 #159 Rick Ankiel |
This card only goes with the rest of them in that it's an old-style, current player card, and I figure, that's good enough. Now if we could just get rid of that Ankiel mystery beard...
2013-08-10
College Bowl Game Contest Win, Part 8
For the 2012-2013 College Football season, I entered the College Football Pick 'Em contest hosted by madding of Cards on Cards. I've won several of his contests over the years, and he always dumps a ton of Cardinals on me when I do. Yet, I think this time he may have outdone himself. I may have to work hard to get them all posted before the 2013-14 College Football season starts August 29, and I start posting my Power Rankings again.
[ Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 ]
We're up to part 8 and I'm still posting from 2010? At least we inch back into 2009 in this post.
More 2010 Update, my first set in my second phase of collecting.
When you're the only horizontal card of the bunch, you get your own scan. Getting one's own scan may also apply to all World Series MVPs, but I'd have to check to be sure.
I assumed these National Pride cards were put out because of the World Baseball Classic in 2009, and it's even mentioned on the back of this card. I like these because they give me more context about players, since often you'll never hear any spoken interviews outside of your own team, except for the very biggest stars.
These are the first 2009 Allen and Ginter base cards in my collection. I specify "base cards" because I won a Ryan Ludwick relic in a contest awhile back. Ludwick strikes again in this bunch with a short print. And there's that Rick Ankiel beard again.
There's the Rick Ankiel I'm used to seeing, with a soul patch and maybe a slight bit of stubble for a goatee. He was an impressive all-around athlete to be a top-drafted pitcher and return as an outfielder, and I still see plenty of Ankiel #24 shirt-jerseys, or shirseys, around town.
[ Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 ]
We're up to part 8 and I'm still posting from 2010? At least we inch back into 2009 in this post.
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| 2010 Topps Update #US-259 Yadier Molina #US-263 Randy Winn #US-285 Jaime Garcia #US-302 Pedro Feliz |
More 2010 Update, my first set in my second phase of collecting.
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| 2010 Topps Update #US-298 David Freese |
When you're the only horizontal card of the bunch, you get your own scan. Getting one's own scan may also apply to all World Series MVPs, but I'd have to check to be sure.
 |
| 2009 Allen and Ginter National Pride #NP74 Yadier Molina |
I assumed these National Pride cards were put out because of the World Baseball Classic in 2009, and it's even mentioned on the back of this card. I like these because they give me more context about players, since often you'll never hear any spoken interviews outside of your own team, except for the very biggest stars.
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| 2009 Allen and Ginter #70 Rick Ankiel #99 Chris Duncan #239 Chris Carpenter #336 Ryan Ludwick SP |
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| 2009 Upper Deck #347 Rick Ankiel |
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