Bowl Pick 'Em Contest Winnings, Part XXIX

College football will be here again before we know it IS HERE, so I've got to get my prize from last season's Bowl Pick 'Em contest at Cards on Cards posted! My prize for a second place tie was a very generously sized box of cards, so I felt a bit overwhelmed even sorting through them. I finally sorted them out by player, and, as usual, I'll plan to post them all eventually, but I might quit halfway through, we'll see.

Part I II III IV V VI VII VIII IX X
XI XII XIII XIV XV XVI XVII XVIII XIX XX
XXI XXII XXIII XXIV XXV XXVI XXVII XXVIII

We're starting to run out of bowls, but I've still got some cards to show. I'm doing decently in this year's contest, too. I'll finish today in the lead, but not the top Max Points Possible, so I'm not quite in control of my own destiny.

All of today's cards are from a fun time in collecting and in my baseball-watching life. 1993-1995 weren't great years for the Cardinals, but for whatever reason, it's when I really started getting deep into baseball despite their struggles.

1993 Fleer - Rookie Sensations #RSA9 Mike Perez
1993 Fleer Ultra #111 Mike Perez
1993 Fleer Ultra #462 Rheal Cormier
1994 Leaf #110 Rheal Cormier
1994 Leaf #130 Mike Perez
1994 Upper Deck #357 Mike Perez

That Leaf Rheal Cormier is in rough shape. It was actually what I would consider packing material, stuck on the outside of one of the bricks of cards to protect the good stuff within. I'll still throw it into my collection, but noted with it's bad condition so I don't accidentally try to trade it off to an unhappy partner.

1994 Upper Deck #422 Rheal Cormier
1994 Upper Deck Collector's Choice #229 Mike Perez
1995 Leaf #351 Tom Henke
1995 Upper Deck Collector's Choice #196 Tom Henke
1995 Upper Deck Collector's Choice #199 Mike Perez
1996 Donruss #320 Tom Henke

Tom Henke's glasses always made him look old to me. He came to the Cardinals for his final, age 37 year. He even made the All-Star game in 1995, and he wasn't the only player from the team, since Ozzie Smith also went. (I have this theory that having 2 players from a given team in the All-Star game legitimizes both of their appearances, whereas a lone player could arguably be below All-Star caliber, but the best on his team at a position the league needs for the game, and so make one despite not really "deserving" it.)

1994 Upper Deck #529 Alan Benes
1994 Upper Deck Collector's Choice #464 Tom Pagnozzi
1994 Upper Deck Collector's Choice #481 Rheal Cormier
1994 Upper Deck Collector's Choice #641 Alan Benes

To finish off, I have some Alan Benes and Tom Pagnozzi cards, left out of the previous posts to feature those two, and one last Rheal Cormier, who is wearing 52 on all the cards in this post, but later switched to my favorite jersey number, 37.

Bowl Pick 'Em Contest Winnings, Part XXI

College football will be here again before we know it IS HERE, so I've got to get my prize from last season's Bowl Pick 'Em contest at Cards on Cards posted! My prize for a second place tie was a very generously sized box of cards, so I felt a bit overwhelmed even sorting through them. I finally sorted them out by player, and, as usual, I'll plan to post them all eventually, but I might quit halfway through, we'll see.

Part I II III IV V VI VII VIII IX X XI XII XIII XIV XV XVI XVII XVIII XIX XX

Today's post is all John Mabry, a guy who my dad always seemed to call John Mayberry. I was surprised to learn later in life that was the name of an actual player, too. But I don't think he was confusing them, he just got the name wrong.

1995 Fleer #502 John Mabry
1995 Fleer Ultra #432 John Mabry
1995 Pinnacle #151 John Mabry
1995 Upper Deck Collector's Choice #21 John Mabry
1996 Donruss #253 John Mabry
1996 Leaf #197 John Mabry
1996 Score #293 John Mabry
1996 Topps Stadium Club #46 John Mabry

I think every one of these Mabry cards was on my wantlist, so these were probably a purposeful inclusion rather than random collection of Cardinals duplicates. It's always nice to knock a few cards off my gigantic list.

1997 Metal Universe #233 John Mabry
1997 Topps #102 John Mabry
1997 Upper Deck #163 John Mabry

This is the first 1997 Metal Universe card I've ever posted, though I do have about 20 in my collection. It was certainly flashy compared to the Topps and Upper Deck of its era, though I think that Upper Deck design has aged pretty well and would still be a viable design in the current day.

Bowl Pick 'Em Contest Winnings, Part XV

College football will be here again before we know it IS HERE, so I've got to get my prize from last season's Bowl Pick 'Em contest at Cards on Cards posted! My prize for a second place tie was a very generously sized box of cards, so I felt a bit overwhelmed even sorting through them. I finally sorted them out by player, and, as usual, I'll plan to post them all eventually, but I might quit halfway through, we'll see.

Part I II III IV V VI VII VIII IX X XI XII XIII XIV

1992 Donruss Rookies - Phenoms #BC-14 Brian Jordan
1992 Upper Deck - Scouting Report #SR11 Brian Jordan
1994 Donruss Triple Play #63 Brian Jordan
1994 Leaf #272 Brian Jordan
1996 Leaf #142 Brian Jordan
1996 Topps Laser #9 Brian Jordan
1997 Leaf #116 Brian Jordan
1997 Score #55 Brian Jordan
1998 Score #184 Brian Jordan

Since I stick a little notecard in my card storage boxes to mark the start of each set or insert set, I take special notice each time I have cards from a set new to my collection. This time that includes 1996 Topps Laser and the Phenoms insert set from 1992 Donruss Rookies.

1996 Select #90 Brian Jordan
1996 Topps #126 Brian Jordan
1995 Collector's Choice #192 Brian Jordan

I believe that's Todd Zeile in the Collector's Choice card. Most likely warning Brian not to let the Cardinals move him out of his natural position for some young up and comer.

Bowl Pick 'Em Contest Winnings, Part XII

College football will be here again before we know it, so I've got to get my prize from last season's Bowl Pick 'Em contest at Cards on Cards posted! My prize for a second place tie was a very generously sized box of cards, so I felt a bit overwhelmed even sorting through them. I finally sorted them out by player, and, as usual, I'll plan to post them all eventually, but I might quit halfway through, we'll see.

Part I II III IV V VI VII VIII IX X XI


Today's going to be an Alan Benes kind of day. I don't even know what that means.

1995 Upper Deck Minors #161 Alan Benes
1995 Bowman's Best #55 Alan Benes
1995 Upper Deck Collector's Choice Special Edition #11 Alan Benes
1995 Fleer - Major League Prospects #3 Alan Benes (x2)
1996 Leaf #212 Alan Benes
1996 Topps #216 Alan Benes (x2)
1997 Topps #351 Alan Benes

Alan Benes was overshadowed a bit by his brother Andy, who joined him on the Cardinals in 1996. The Cardinals also drafted their other brother Adam, but he never made it to the majors.

1997 Topps Finest #208 Alan Benes
1998 Pinnacle Inside #66 Alan Benes
1998 Donruss #53 Alan Benes (x2)

I'm surprised this is the first 1998 Pinnacle Inside card I've posted. I bought a whole lot of those cans in the late 90s. At least I thought it was a lot. A quick search tells me I now have 33 of the 150 cards in the base set.

Bowl Pick 'Em Contest Winnings, Part I

College football will be here again before we know it, so I've got to get my prize from last season's Bowl Pick 'Em contest at Cards on Cards posted! My prize for a second place tie was a very generously sized box of cards, so I felt a bit overwhelmed even sorting through them. I finally sorted them out by player, and, as usual, I'll plan to post them all eventually, but I might quit halfway through, we'll see.

2013 Topps Update - Blue Parallel #US4 Matt Adams
2015 Gypsy Queen - Mini #197 Matt Adams

It's hard to believe this is Matt Adams's 5th season in the majors. He still seems like one of the new kids on the team.

1993 Pinnacle #599 Rene Arocha
1993 Topps Stadium Club #712 Rene Arocha
1994 Fleer - Rookie Sensations #1 Rene Arocha
1995 Fleer Ultra #221 Rene Arocha

I was too young to really be aware of it at the time, but Rene Arocha was apparently the first player to defect from the Cuban national team. There was a great article about it in the New York Times a few months ago, you can read here.

1996 Donruss #92 David Bell
1996 Leaf #70 David Bell

Both of these cards are from the same year, yet Donruss claims David Bell wore #25, while Leaf clearly shows 27. He first wore 25 when he came over from Cleveland near the trading deadline, and switched to 27 later that same year, about 2 full seasons before Mark McGwire arrived. Yet, now that he's the Cardinals hitting coach, he's wearing 25 again, because Jhonny Peralta has 27.

2015 Gypsy Queen #27 John Lackey
2015 Topps Opening Day #29 John Lackey

I started out just grabbing guys from the beginning of the alphabet (I'm always sorting), but to cram as many cards as possible in while still tagging each set, I'm doing my best to stick players together who both have cards in common sets, like John Lackey and Matt Adams, who both had a 2015 Gypsy Queen in the package.

182 Packs Giveaway, Part I

When I claimed the Cardinals - and Mark McGwire and Todd Stottlemyre - in the pack-per-day giveaway held at TribeCards, I had no idea just how many cards I'd wind up with, and how many different players. So that I can tag all of the sets and Cardinal players, I've broken this up into a series of who knows how many posts. Thanks for all the cards, David.

1996 Leaf
#2 Dennis Eckersley
#70 David Bell
#98 Sandy Alomar, Jr.

I guess the Eckersley and Alomar were randomly assigned to me as duplicates, or no one claimed the A's and Indians. Even so, Eck is definitely a player I liked even before he got to the Cardinals, so that's a great card to me.

1996 Leaf
#142 Brian Jordan
#212 Alan Benes

Two more from 1996 Leaf, Brian Jordan, and the middle Benes brother, Alan. The Cardinals once had all 3 Benes brothers in their system, but Adam only made it up to AA Arkansas.

1997 Pinnacle
#41 Brian Jordan
#81 Ron Gant
#122 Ozzie Smith

1997 Pinnacle
#136 Gary Gaetti
#185 Dmitri Young

1997 cards bring me good memories of the Cardinals resurgence from mediocrity in the mid 90s, to make the playoffs in Tony LaRussa's first year in 1996.

1998 Stadium Club
#114 Alan Benes
#232 Gary Gaetti
Checklist 2 of 2

Here's another Alan Benes and Gary Gaetti from 1998, as well as...

1998 Stadium Club #74 Todd Stottlemyre

Todd Stottlemyre! Of course, I would have gotten this card even if I only claimed the Cardinals, but I wanted to be covered in case any of his Blue Jays or A's cards came up.

1998 Stadium Club - Royal Court #RC5 Mark McGwire

And here's another of my favorites, Mark McGwire, in an extra sparkly Stadium Club insert. Since he's a Cardinal, I double-claimed this one too.

That's it for now, look for this series to end sometime in mid-2015.