182 Packs Giveaway, Part VII

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.
[ I | II | III | IV | V | VI ]

2006 Sports Illustrated for Kids
#8 Jim Edmonds

Some said Jim Edmonds was a showboat, some said he only had to dive for all those balls because he was bad at getting a jump off the bat, but one thing's for sure, he had the coolest hair on the team. I was glad to see him back in camp this year.

2005 Fleer Ultra
#10 Matt Morris

I like Fleer Ultra, and I like Matt Morris. I approve of this card. I think I tend to like the Matts on the Cardinals more than anyone, since that's also my given name. This year's been a good Matt year, with Holliday and Carpenter getting plenty of playing time, and Adams even showing us he deserves some too.

2008 Upper Deck
#654 Skip Schumaker
#702 Brian Barton

I don't quite understand the decision to move Skip to 2B, except that he was probably our least tenured OF at the time. I think he's still got a lot of potential, so I really hope the Dodgers - and reunifying with Mark McGwire as his hitting coach - will treat him well.

2008 Topps Updates and Highlights
#UH136 Classic Combos Hanley Ramirez and Albert Pujols

This is a great card, but sadly the only Albert Pujols I managed from the whole giveaway. Since both players and teams could be claimed, someone got in and claimed Albert before I got the Cardinals, so this must have been a duplicate.

Spring Training Giveaway, part 3

[Part 1]
[Part 2]

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.

Let's start with some minor leaguers we may never hear from:

2007 Tristar Prospects Plus #99 Cale Iorg

 I actually recognized this last name and sure enough, he's the nephew of former Cardinal Dane Iorg. Of course, Dane is from too far back for me to remember.

2007 Tristar Prospects Plus #8 Ryan Dent

2007 Tristar Prospects Plus #76 Brock Huntzinger

2007 Tristar Prospects Plus #85 Anthony Rizzo

2007 Tristar Prospects Plus #94 David Mailman

2007 Upper Deck #574 Matt Clement

 Matt Clement was technically a Cardinal for a bit, but he never saw the majors after an injury and some minor league rehab.

2007 Upper Deck #581 Mike Timlin

 I mostly remember that we had Timlin during 2001 because he was on the team when Bud Smith thew a No-Hitter. My neurons seem to connect in odd ways.

2007 Upper Deck #591 Manny Ramirez

 This would have been a much more exciting card a few years ago. PED suspensions really put a damper on my excitement.

2008 Topps Updates and Highlights #UH123 Matt Joyce

2008 Topps Updates and Highlights #UH153 Armando Galarraga

 Mr. Almost-Perfect himself.

2008 Topps Updates and Highlights #UH195 Chris Carter

I'm a little tired or I'd make a Minnesota Vikings/X-Files reference, and it'd be hilarious.

2008 Topps Updates and Highlights #UH221 J.D. Drew

 Ah J.D. Drew, my first experience in having to root for an outwardly greedy player. I remember thinking he wasn't so great to Philadelphia for refusing to sign and playing in an independent league. Then the Cardinals drafted him the following year. I was a bit conflicted, and I'm still not sure what my opinion would be if he had been drafted by someone else instead.

2008 Upper Deck Timeline #41 Justin Verlander

2010 Upper Deck #99 George Kottaras

2010 Upper Deck #192 Edwin Jackson

Even though he and Colby Rasmus are both gone now, I think this deal worked out pretty nicely for the Cardinals in their 2011 World Series run.

2010 Upper Deck #207 Ryan Perry

Well, I've saved the best for last in part 4. You might be able to guess what's coming based on the teams I chose that I consider it the best.

Number 5 Type Collection's Cardinals Giveaway, Part 2

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

1986 Fleer Box Bottoms #C-5

I bet this set would be pretty hard to complete, even though there are only 8 cards total.

1985 Topps Collectors' Series #5 Lou Brock

Lou Brock, good guy.

2005 Fleer Tradition #293 Larry Walker

The cardinals like to pick up aging stars, but it always seems to work out OK. Will Clark, Larry Walker, and hopefully now Carlos Beltran.

2008 Topps Allen and Ginter Mini Baseball Icons #BI11 Johnny Mize

2008 Topps Updates and Highlights #UH246 Kelvin Jimenez

2008 Topps Updates and Highlights #UH243 Joe Mather

2008 Topps Updates and Highlights #UH164 Jason LaRue

My favorite Jason LaRue quote went something like this, regarding a Yadier Molina injury. "I ain't no doctor or nothin', but that looked like it hurt".

2008 Topps Updates and Highlights #UH273 Chris Perez

I really wish we'd held on to this guy, he was showing great potential, and we gave him up for Mark DeRosa.

Once again, more to see tomorrow