Bowl Pick 'Em Contest Winnings, Part XI

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

Let's see some Jon Jay!

2010 Topps Update #US203 Jon Jay
2010 Topps Chrome #178 Jon Jay
2011 Topps - Platinum Diamond Anniversary #295 Jon Jay
2013 Bowman #54 Jon Jay
2013 Topps Archives #7 Jon Jay
2015 Bowman #94 Jhonny Peralta
2015 Topps
#11 Jon Jay
#311 Jhonny Peralta
#527 Carlos Martinez

Jon Jay was traded to San Diego for Jedd Gyorko before this season. So far it seems to have been a decent trade. Unfortunately that means we no longer have a player to lead the team in High Sock Sundays.

2014 Topps Update
#US134 Tony Cruz
#US212 Randy Choate
#US260 Jhonny Peralta

Randy Choate became a free agent at the end of 2015, was a member of the Blue Jays organization (though never played for the MLB team) for part of March, and baseball reference now claims he's signed with the dodgers, but he doesn't seem to be on even the 40-man roster. I really thought Tony Cruz was being groomed to replace Yadier Molina when he retires - or goes to the AL to DH, but the Cardinals sent him to Kansas City, and he has since been sent to AAA. These are the first 2014 Update cards I have. That was a year I just didn't buy much current stuff at all.

A PWE of Kindness from 2 by 3 Heroes

JediJeff of 2 by 3 Heroes is a fellow 2010 Topps Turkey Red collector, and we traded some awhile back. When he picked up a handful for his wantlist and got some duplicates, he kindly forwarded a few to me, along with some other Cardinals.

2010 Topps - Turkey Red
#TR76 Chris Coghlan
#TR77 Luis Aparicio
#TR99 Ryan Ludwick
2010 Topps Update - Turkey Red
#TR116 Jonathan Broxton
#TR120 Curtis Granderson
#TR122 Ben Sheets
#TR133 Lou Brock

Like I've said before, there's just something about these cards I really like. They look like framed gallery portraits. Also, the longer I wait to finish it, the more of them are Cardinals, like Jonathan Broxton, who joined the team this past year. I still need 70 of the 100 from the flagship set, but only 12 of the 50 that came in Update.

This was only about half the package, but since I like to tag every Cardinal and set, and blogger limits me, I'll have to leave those for another post.

Happy Birthday Steve Garvey

Steve Garvey turns 65 today, and GCRL is giving away a 1952 Topps card to get as many birthday wishes out there as he can. I've only got one Steve Garvey card in my collection, a nice sharp 1971.

2010 Topps Update Cards Your Mom Threw Out
#CMT136 Steve Garvey

Much like George Washington, I cannot tell a lie. My lone Garvey is actually from 2010's reprint set Cards Your Mom Threw Out. It's not even the original back variation.

Happy Birthday, Steve. And thanks for the contest, GCRL.

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.

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.

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.

2009 Allen and Ginter
#70 Rick Ankiel
#99 Chris Duncan
#239 Chris Carpenter
#336 Ryan Ludwick SP

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.

2009 Upper Deck #347 Rick Ankiel

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.

College Bowl Game Contest Win, Part 7

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 ]

2010 Allen and Ginter #127 Albert Pujols

I don't recall ever seeing horizontal A&G cards, so I was wondering if this was some sort of short print. Evidently I'm just very unfamiliar with the set.

2010 Allen and Ginter
#28 Felipe Lopez
#58 Colby Rasmus
#182 Chris Carpenter
#343 Brad Penny

My scanner seems to have a little trouble with the backgrounds of 2010 Allen and Ginter. The pale blue fading into the amorphous white border causes it to totally lose its bearings. But the important parts are all there.

2010 Topps
#325 Julie Lugo
#452 Allen Craig

How about that, an Allen Craig rookie. And 51-game Cardinal Julio Lugo.

2010 Topps
Cards Your Mom Threw Out Original Backs #CMT-111 Ichiro/Albert Pujols
Legendary Lineage #LL-48 Stan Musial/Matt Holliday

Ichiro, Pujols, Musial, and Holliday on just 2 cards? I'll take that any day of the week. That Ichiro/Pujols reprint took me a while to figure out, though, since it's an original back version. The word "reprint" appears in small print on the back, though, along with a 2010 copyright date, which helped me narrow it down.

2010 Topps Update
#US-125 Adam Wainwright
#US-176 Felipe Lopez
#US-278 Brad Penny
Peak Performance #PP-109 Colby Rasmus

Brad Penny and Felipe Lopez both started 2010 with the Cardinals, yet they showed up in the Update set for some reason. Even more curious, both are in the A&G group above. I suppose the later release date allows Allen and Ginter to have more up-to-date rosters. This is the set that brought me back to collecting, when I bought a pack on a whim while killing time in Target. Consequently, both it and 2010 flagship - because it has the same look - bring me fond (recent) memories.

A Fantastic Trade, Part II

I always enjoyed using Roman Numerals, except VI sorts lexicographically after IX, which just messes everything up.

In case you missed Part I, go check it out.

It's always good to find a new trading partner, and I recently got an email from Fantastic Catch with an offer of a bunch of cards from my wantlists, and I was able to send him some stuff for his player PCs and set needs.  Of course as a fellow Cardinal fan, he sent so many he triggered my obsessive need to use up my all of my available tag space , so here's part 2 what I got in my 2-piece box:

2011 Opening Day - Superstar Celebrations #SC-21 Matt Holliday

Opening Day is a set I really like, and I've bought enough I've decided to collect the inserts too. I'm working on 2012 too, but I won't put up my wantlist until I've finished buying packs. From this 2011 set I also got:
SC-5 Ubaldo Jimenez
SC-17 Prince Fielder

2011 Opening Day - Mascots #M-23 Rangers Captain

And also:
M-6 Gapper (Reds)
M-24 Toronto Blue Jays
M-25 Screech (Nationals)

2011 Opening Day - Spot the Error #2 Jason Heyward

He also sent a good pile of base cards from my list, with no Cardinals, oddly enough:
3 Jon Lester
13 Carl Crawford
25 Johan Santana
35 Vladimir Guerrero
38 Mike Stanton
43 Jered Weaver
44 Omar Infante
54 Ian Stewart
57 Zack Greinke
61 Jason Bay
71 Jon Niese
91 Andres Torres
92 Nick Markakis
101 Brian Wilson
112 Andre Ethier
120 Roy Halladay
138 Chris Young
156 Ryan Zimmerman
165 Carlos Zambrano
170 Logan Morrison
192 Dustin Pedroia
194 Delmon Young
212 Vernon Wells

I guess I had a lot less of that set than I realized.

2011 Lineage #12 Elvis Andrus

There was just a single 2011 Lineage card, but this is another set I'm working to complete. A lot of people kind of trash-talked it last year, but I liked it; I'm not sure why.

2010 Topps Update - Vintage Legends #VLC-30 George Sisler

2010 Topps Update #TR128 Chris Carpenter

2010 Update was what really brought me back into collecting, and I have a ton of extra base cards, so it's nice to a few inserts, since I definitely won't be buying any more packs of it.

2008 Upper Deck First Edition Update - Star Quest Common #SQ-32 Albert Pujols

Good old UDFEU for short.

Thanks again for the trade, and go check out Fantastic Catch if you're not following it yet.

Another Trade with Too Many Grandersons

It's taken me just under a year since my re-entry to baseball card collecting, but I've completed my first set, thanks to the second 2010 Topps Update trade with Too Many Grandersons.  The missing card was of last night's hero, Evan Longoria.

Since I really owed Dennis from our last trade, when I saw he posted his second 2010 Update box break, I immediately stepped in to fill out set #2 for him. He insisted upon sending me something though, which was the final card I needed above, and these guys, all also pseudo-involved in big games last night:

1-3 with a walk, and no reason to be playing really.

On the Yankees now, but did not play

On the Red Sox now, also did not play

I'm sure others have noticed this, but when I got around to sorting my 2010 Update, I noticed the foil printing around the player names was misaligned on a large number of them.  These 3 replace 3 cards for which I didn't quite have the "perfect" cards.

A big thanks to Dennis for the completed set!

A Contest from the Daily Dimwit

Sam from The Daily Dimwit is holding a contest with 5 prizes.  4 are relics, and one is a Fausto Carmona autograph.  I expect tons of entries to this one.  Go check it out.  Comment and promote it to earn one entry each.  If you're not convinced yet, check out the cards:

2008 Upper Deck

From 2010 Topps Update, these are cool looking cards. I have Neftali Feliz in the #d/50 Gold (like this one), and Elvis Andrus and Chris Young in the regular set.

Fausto Carmona autograph on a 2008 reprint from 2011 Topps Lineage.

From 2011 Topps Series I.  He's a Cub, but I'd still like this one.

2007 Upper Deck Masterpieces - Captured on Canvas

A Trade with Too Many Grandersons

I never know the right proper noun to use when referring to another blogger.  Do I use the blog name (as in the title of this post), the user name, or the name signed to the post?

Dennis at Too Many Grandersons sent me a pile - and I do mean pile - of 2008 cards.  There were 135 in total.

5 of the biggest stars and/or Cardinals from the beginning of the stack

He also gave me 5 2010 Topps Update cards to replace the misprints I have.  I'm still looking for US-40 to make a mostly complete set.

Ooooh, Updatey.

I really didn't come up with enough to satisfy my end of the trade, but he graciously sent along all he had of 2008 for me anyway.  Once I come into some cool Tigers, I definitely owe him one.  I've updated my wantlists for both sets, so take a look and make me an offer.

Thanks, Dennis!