Pack Stash, 2008 Upper Deck Documentary Edition

Just for fun, let's go back to the pack stash. I currently have two cards from this set, which consists of over 4000 base cards, so the odds are I will at least not get any duplicates.

2008 Upper Deck Documentary
#1257 CHC47 May 21st
#1493 WAS43 May 16th
#1454 STL44 May 16th
#1572 CIN52 May 27th
#1883 CLE63 June 8th
#2560 MIL90 July 8th
#2570 MIN90 July 8th
#2599 OAK89 July 7th
#2830 HOU100 July 22nd

That Chris Duncan card is exactly the same image as the only other base card I have from this set, #854, which I showed in this post. A checklist review reveals that's pretty common for this set, but I have to ask, was Chris Duncan really one of the top guys on the team in 2007/2008, worthy of appearing on multiple cards in a set?

2008 Upper Deck Documentary
#3813 LAA130 August 25th
#3816 AZD130 August 24th
#3819 ATL130 August 23rd
#3822 BAL130 August 24th
#3854 LAD129 August 23rd
All Star Game #ASG-DW David Wright

I could see tracking down all 162 of the Cardinals cards from this set, or even theirs along with the opponents for the given games, for a total of 324, but finding 4000+ cards seems more like a part time job than a hobby. Still, it'd make a heck of a bindered or boxed set.

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?

A Trade Post is in Order, Part II

[Part I]

Thanks to my obsessive need to scan and post every insert card I receive, I got an email from The Angels, In Order about the Tyler Chatwood in this contest win post.

Here's the next part of my trade.

2008 Upper Deck Documentary
#854 Chris Duncan

 The back of this card talks about Braden Looper, and doesn't even mention Chris Duncan. This is an odd, 4000+ card set.

2008 Upper Deck First Edition
#50 Adam Wainwright
#51 Joel Pineiro
#57 Rick Ankiel

2007 Upper Deck Future Stars
#88 Chris Carpenter
#89 Chris Duncan

 I've mentioned before I'm not sure why this is called Future Stars with Carpenter well-established by 2007. And Chris Duncan? He's been in local sports radio for a few years now.

2011 Opening Day - Mascots
#M-8 Dinger

Now we're on to the wantlist stuff. In 2011 I bought a lot of Opening Day since it's cheap, and I've decided to collect the set and the inserts. Here's the Rockies' slightly-too-cute mascot.

2011 Opening Day - Superstar Celebrations
#SC-5 Ubaldo Jiminez
#SC-11 Jimmy Rollins
#SC-17 Prince Fielder
#SC-9 Nick Markakis

Seeing these cards together gets me antsy for the end-of-season pennant races and the playoffs. When these celebrations seem to happen more often due to the heightened sense of urgency to win.

There's just one more chunk of this trade to go.