Bowl Pick 'Em Contest Winnings, Part XX

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


No Cardinals prize package would be complete without some Albert Pujols cards. This one still isn't complete with it though.

2002 Topps #719 Albert Pujols
2002 Topps Total - Total Topps #TT36 Albert Pujols
2004 Playoff Honors #177 Albert Pujols
2007 Topps #130 Albert Pujols
2008 Upper Deck First Edition Update - Star Quest Common #SQ-32 Albert Pujols
2009 Upper Deck Icons #5 Albert Pujols
2010 Topps - Factory Set Bonus #RS5 Albert Pujols

Almost all of these were new cards to my collection, except the Upper Deck Icons, of which I oddly enough already have 2, and I've also got 3 Ryan Ludwicks from that set. The Factory set insert is a good pickup since it's one I don't think I'd encounter much in the wild (the wild of card shows, that is), and if I did, I'd probably flip past it thinking it's just a base card.

2007 Bowman #175 Albert Pujols
2010 Upper Deck - Tape Measure Shots #TMS-11 Albert Pujols
2015 Topps Update - Highlight of the Year #H-89 Albert Pujols

That 2015 Update card offers me assurances that I can still get new Pujols Cardinals cards for the rest of his career and beyond.

A Rodney Hampton Contest Win

I'm falling a little behind on posting due to several days a week of NFL projections and NCAA Football Power Rankings, so now's the time I start catching up. I won this contest back in September, by guessing how many Rodney Hampton cards were in a lot purchased at Sport Card Collectors. If you follow that link, you'll see everything I won, but here it is again anyway, because I like cataloging stuff, as well as posting my winnings to show my gratitude to the generous contest-runner.

1995 Fleer Ultra - Gold Medallion #14 Bert Emanuel
1995 Fleer Ultra - Gold Medallion #15 Jeff George
2014 Sage Hit #51 Blake Bortles
2014 Sage Hit #60 Jimmy Garoppolo
2007 Topps - Ring of Honor #RH41-PM Peyton Manning
1995 Fleer - Gridiron Leaders #10 Steve Young
2014 Sage Hit - Autographs #A58 Travis Swanson
1990-91 Topps - Team Scoring Leaders #12 Wayne Gretzky

I didn't wait until today to post this for any particular reason, but now's a great time for a Peyton Manning card. He's getting ready to play in what is probably his last Superbowl, and possibly his last professional game. On the opposite end, there are some nice pre-draft rookies, and a hockey player you may have heard of.

1995 Flair - Preview
#10 Barry Sanders
#18 Dan Marino
#28 Chris Warren
2014 Sage Hit #7 Jadeveon Clowney
1996-97 SPx #17 Doug Weight
2014 Topps Chrome - Refractors #179 Carlos Beltran

These are all the horizontal cards from the prize package, because I despise scanning whitespace. There's another pre-draft rookie in Jadeveon Clowney, and some top football players from 1995. There were only two hockey cards in the package, and both features former Blues players, this one being a holographic Doug Weight. And, that Carlos Beltran is the first 2014 Chrome card in my collection. I need to expand my horizons into Chrome more often, because I always like how they look.

Since I like to label all my posts with every card set and hometown player shown, I'm out of space for this post. I'll cover the rest in the next one, including what's inside the unopened packs.

Turkey For Me, Turkey For You III: Turkeys in Time

If you get that sequel reference, you're probably just about my age, and, like me, you felt that the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles could do no wrong in 1993. Anyway, let's see the last of the Turkey Red trade from 2 by 3 Heroes.

2008 Upper Deck - Star Quest #SQ-16 Albert Pujols
2008 Upper Deck - Star Quest #SQ-32 Albert Pujols
2006 Fleer Ultra #38 Jim Edmonds
2007 Fleer Ultra #149 Jim Edmonds
2013 Gypsy Queen #80 Bob Gibson
2007 Topps #660 Yadier Molina
2003 Upper Deck Victory #88 Mark McGwire
1993 Topps #191 Sean Lowe

That's a nice pile of Cardinals to finish off the trade. With all the Cardinals cards I have stockpiled, I'm always kind of impressed to see just how many simple base cards are out there that I don't have, even though I know that shouldn't surprise me.

2007 Topps Series 2

Here's another pack from a repack box. To think this pack is nearly 8 years old really makes me feel like time is flying

2007 Topps
#333 Mark Kotsay
#446 Jaret Wright
#568 Carlos Guillen
#641 Hideki Okajima
Checklist 3 of 3
Generation Now #GN343 Hanley Ramirez
Mickey Mantle Home Run History #MHR329

No Cardinals in this pack, but I did get one more than the promised 6 cards. I suppose the checklist is the bonus. That Mantle card is going to be a challenge for me to sort, since I like to go by year. I just learned today that those cards spanned multiple series from 2006-2008

Contest Winnings, Part II

A good friend of mine likes to say - jokingly, I think - that second place is the first loser. When Daniel of It's like having my own Card Shop, opened up a contest to help Pack War reach 100 followers, I joined in, and the Randomizer put me in 6th for 4 prizes. But, since 2 people won the top 4 prizes, he was kind enough to throw some cards to the 5th and 6th position to still have 4 people as winners. Consequently, I got some cool stuff for being the 5th loser.

Part I

The cards in this portion of my prize cover the years I wasn't collecting, which means it's quite probable any card will be a card I didn't have.

2002 Fleer Tradition
Glossy #462 Bill Ortega #057/200

Hmm. Bill Ortega. Doesn't ring a bell. According to baseball-reference he had 5 ABs in 5 games in 2001, likely as a PH, but no further MLB stats. Such is the risk with prospect cards. This one's a glossy parallel of the base set, and numbered to just 200.

2002 Fleer Ultra #251 Bud Smith

Here we have the 4th most popular Smith to play for the Cardinals, after Ozzie, Lee, and Lonnie, but probably ahead of Bryn. Bud Smith caused an uproar when the Cardinals assigned him recently-retired Willie McGee's number 51, and they actually switched him to 52 mid-season because of it. People get a little number-retirement-happy here, and there's still a movement to retire #51 for Willie.

2006 Upper Deck
Star Attractions #SA-AR Anthony Reyes

Anthony Reyes wasn't a big star at the time this set was printed, so I'm curious about the Star Attraction title. Maybe it was speculative, like Mr. Ortega up top. This one turned out a little better though, as Reyes played a few years for the Cardinals.

2007 Topps
Own The Game #OTG22 Chris Carpenter

I can't quite tell what patch is on Chris Carpenter's hat here. It could be from the 2006 All Star Game, but I think it's from game 3 the World Series, which he won 5-0.

2008 Upper Deck Documentary
All Star Game #ASG-RL Ryan Ludwick

2010 T206
Mini Old Mill Back
#150 Ryan Ludwick

Finally, for today, here are 2 Ryan Ludwick inserts. For some reason there was no controversy around him getting Lee Smith's number, likely because 7 other players had it in between. We love handing out #47 for some reason, though John Mabry may have a claim to it now that he's coaching for us after 3(!) playing stints. I can't help but root for former Cardinals like Ryan Ludwick, even though he played for division rivals Pittsburgh and now Cincinnati. And everyone loves minis, right?

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.
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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.

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.

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.

2007 Turkey Red
#48 Prince Albert

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.

2006 Topps
#36 Jeff Suppan
#228 David Eckstein

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.

All-Star Winnings, Part 4

Way back in July 2012, I won a contest at Cards On Cards. The premise was to pick the Cardinals player who would have the biggest impact on the game, determined Sabermetrically. I picked the right player, and got a pile of Cardinals for my trouble. They've been sitting in that same pile, haunting me, for quite some time, so now is the time to show them to you.
Part [ I | II | III ]

Today's subject is a man who managed the Cardinals too many times to count, and coached most of the time he wasn't managing, Red Schoendienst.

1972 Topps #67 Red Schoendienst
1981 Donruss #431 Red Schoendienst
1990 Topps Traded #113T Red Schoendienst
1992 Studio #262 Red Schoendienst
2006 Fleer Greats of the Game #74 Red Schoendienst
2007 SP Legendary Cuts #93 Red Schoendienst
2007 Topps - Distinguished Service #DS24 Red Schoendienst
2008 Donruss Threads #47 Red Schoendienst
2011 Topps Gypsy Queen #62 Red Schoendienst

As the cards get more recent, Red's picture seems to get younger. Of course, that's because the first few picture him past his playing prime as a manager, and the rest are throwbacks to his playing days. Upon my reentry into collecting in 2010, I was happy to see cards of guys like Red showing up, even though he's no longer manager or even a regular-season coach for the Cardinals.

As a side note, 1981 Donruss cards are paper-thin, aren't they?

eBay Wins #66

Another day, another 22 penny cards. Let's go oldest to youngest this time.

1989 Fleer
#249 Luis Aguayo
#271 Don Slaught
#273 Gary Ward
#468 Dante Bichette

A little '89 Fleer, aka, the prison bars set.

1989 Topps - Rookies #9 Ron Gant

The only Cardinal in the bunch, Ron Gant. To me, 1989 Topps is the definition of junk wax, but the inserts seem to have not been been overproduced nearly as much.

1990 Kmart #14 Mark Davis

Slowly but surely I'll put together this whole Kmart set. If I'm lucky it'll be before Kmart goes bankrupt.

1992 Upper Deck
#250 Billy Ripken
#640 Oakland A's Checklist

Here's Billy Ripken trying to create another quirky card, and two of my favorite players from the 90s (at the time).

2004 Throwback Threads #190 Hank Blalock

Doesn't a set name like Throwback Threads seem like it should include a relic, or at least a throwback uniform?

2007 Topps #269 Fred Lewis

Just a 2007 base card of a career .266 hitter.

2007 Upper Deck
#555 Kelly Johnson
#704 Aaron Boone
#761 Reggie Willits
#765 Justin Speier
#873 Rod Barajas
#926 Ryan Klesko
#993 Jeremy Accardo
#999 Josh Towers

Do you ever scan a bunch of cards, then realize you messed up the orientation? Because I haven't. No sir. Although I don't know how I'd have arranged 7 vertical cards and 1 horizontal card nicely in a single scan, so it's for the best.

2007 Upper Deck Artifacts #1 Miguel Tejada

Again, "Artifacts". Give me a...well...an artifact.

2009 Upper Deck First Edition #352 Francisco Rodriguez

K-Rod looks terrified to be joining the Mets for 2009.

2010 Bowman Platinum - Propects
#PP26 Jose Iglesias
#PP46 Noe Ramirez

And we'll finish off this collection as weakly as possible, with 2 prospect cards. At least it's only 2010, so in 2-3 years I might look back and see these as cards I didn't know would be so great. Although so far in spring training, Noe's got a 20.25 ERA.

That's it for this round, except for the tracker.

eBay Bargain Tracker
Total Cards Bought	2243
Total Spent	$41.28
Per Card	1.84 cents

March Radness Win, Part II

[Part I]

I "won" a prize, in that I managed to have the worst bracket of all in Cards on Cards March Radness contest. I legitimately tried to win, in fact I didn't even realize there was this consolation prize until the contest was over, because I stopped scoreboard watching about 2 rounds into the tournament because I did so poorly to start off. The good thing about winning cards from a fellow Cardinals fan is that he can't resist dumping a whole bunch of his Cardinal duplicates on me, which I'm more than happy to take.

2008 Upper Deck (Series 2)
#651 Chris Carpenter
#652 Mark Mulder
#653 Juan Encarnacion
#654 Skip Schumaker
#655 Troy Glaus
#657 Cesar Izturis
#659 Chris Duncan
#660 Matt Clement

2007 Topps #207 Mark Mulder

Another Mulder to go with his 2008 UD above.

2011 Topps - Kimball Champions
#KC-15 David Price
#KC-36 Hanley Ramirez

For awhile I had the idea I'd collect the Kimball Champions set. It may happen, but man is it ever going slow. I still need about 75 of the 100 from Series 1 and 2, and some of the Topps Updates ones as well. My guess is it'll finish sometime in 2027.

2011 Goodwin Champions #55 Bill Walton

This wasn't on a wantlist, and isn't even a baseball player, so I was unsure if this was thrown in accidentally. Then I realized, the fact that it's not a baseball player is probably the key. The Contest was for the NCAA Basketball Tournament, after all, so it's only fitting to have a basketball player in the mix.

Spring Training Giveaway, part 2

[Part 1]
I won another contest at Number 5 Type Collection. After ranking the 5 teams I wanted from what he had to offer, I tied another reader and so wound up with half the Tigers and Red Sox.

1981 Fleer Stickers #13 Carl Yastrzemski

1981 Fleer Stickers #34 Dennis Eckersley

1981 Fleer Stickers #53 Jim Rice

1981 Fleer Stickers #58 Carlton Fisk

All 4 of these Fleer Stickers have Hall of Famers on them. That's pretty awesome.

1982 Donruss #5 Alan Trammell

1983 Donruss #5 Jack Morris

It's kind of crazy that Donruss used the same Diamond King design in 1982 and 1983. I never knew that before just now.

1986 Sports Design Products Tigers #5 Mickey Cochrane

It took me awhile to track down what set this one was from. The confusion came in that the back just says 1986 Sports Design Products, but there was a league-wide set that year by that name as well.

1989 Bowman #26 Roger Clemens

This card doesn't fit in a regular sleeve. Between these and Topps Big, I need to find some more accommodating supplies.

1992 Denny's #5 Jack Clark

I'd never seen these Denny's cards before, I must have started collecting after they came out that year. I have several from later years.

2005 Fleer Tradition #141 Bobby Higginson

2005 Fleer Tradition #121 Johnny Damon

2006 Tristar Prospects Plus #21 Jason Place

2007 Topps #28 Brandon Inge

2007 Topps #87 Alexis Gomez

2007 Topps #280 Curt Schilling

2007 Topps #294 Mike Rabelo

2007 Topps #304 Kenny Rogers

Number 5 Type Collection's Cardinals Giveaway, Part 4

[Part 1]
[Part 2]
[Part 3]
Matt at Number 5 Type Collection gave me way too many Cardinals in a recent contest. Here's part 4:

1983 Louisville Redbirds Riley's #5 Gene Roof

I've never heard of Gene Roof. Apparently he played a total of 48 games over 3 years with St. Louis and Montreal. I may have to track down more of this set though; it's kind of cool looking and should have some other players I'd know.

2010 Upper Deck #471 Jason Motte

2010 Upper Deck #459 Ryan Ludwick

I wished we'd kept Ludwick at the time, though I suppose a World Series win in 2011 means we did something right along the way.

On to the big guns:

2007 Topps #302 Scott Rolen Gold Glove Award

2007 Topps #39 Jim Edmonds

2008 Topps Opening Day #82 Jim Edmonds

2008 Topps Opening Day #50 Albert Pujols

2007 Fleer Ultra - Swing Kings #SK-AP Albert Pujols

And this was one of the big cards promised in the original post. Of course, Pujols was still a Cardinal at the time. I think on some level his leaving hasn't quite hit me yet, because I haven't seen him play in an Angels uniform (yes, I saw the press conference). For now, I'm still collecting his cards, and still feel that extra thrill of doing well when I pull one. Plus this card's extra shiny and part of one of the flashiest sets ever, Fleer Ultra.

One more post tomorrow.