Bowl Pick 'Em Contest Winnings, Part XL

College football will be here again before we know it IS HERE IS OVER, 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 XXIX XXX
XXXI XXXII XXXIII XXXIV XXXV XXXVI XXXVII XXXVIII XXXIX

40's a good round number to end on. Not that I had a choice. I made it all the way through!

2004 Topps #203 Bo Hart
2009 Topps - Ring of Honor #RH12 David Eckstein
2013 Panini Hometown Heroes #8 David Eckstein
2013 Panini Prizm Perennial Draft Picks #45 Mike O'Neill
2013 Topps Opening Day - Mascots #M-4 Fredbird
2013 Topps Pro Debut #128 Stephen Piscotty
2013 Topps Pro Debut #161 Mike O'Neill
2014 Topps Opening Day - Mascots #M-6 Fredbird

This aren't necessarily my favorite 8 cards in the prize package, but they're a good representation of what it had. Some guys I've bafflingly never posted before (Bo Hart), some sets I never had cards from (Panini Hometown Heroes, Panini Prism Perennial Draft Picks, and Topps Pro Debut), some draft picks that never quite made it (Mike O'Neill, who is now playing independent ball), some that did (Stephen Piscotty), and some fun cards (Fredbird).

I must say thanks once more to Cards on Cards for the Bowl Pick 'Em Contest each year. In case you've lost track, this came from 2015-2016's contest, not the 2016-2017 one in which I totally took a freefall in the last 5-6 games. I've got a whole bunch of other cards that have been piling up to post while I pushed myself to get through these, so I'll be happy to start knocking those out soon.

Bowl Pick 'Em Contest Winnings, Part XVII

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

2012 Topps Archives #114 Jason Motte
2013 Topps Archives #151 Jason Motte
2013 Topps #130 Jason Motte
2013 Opening Day #202 Jason Motte
2013 Topps Blue Parallel
#96 Edward Mujica
#188 Brian Fuentes
#235 Jake Westbrook
2014 Topps #599 Jason Motte

In addition to a fine collection of Jason Motte base cards, I got a trio of 2013 blue parallels in the prize package too, including Brian Fuentes, who pitched 5 innings over 6 games with the Cardinals to end his career.

2009 Allen and Ginter #157 Jason Motte
2013 Allen and Ginter #283 Jason Motte
2013 Topps #269 St. Louis Cardinals
2013 Gypsy Queen - Mini #322 Jason Motte

Jason Motte had a great 2012, leading the NL with 42 saves, but lost all of 2013 to injury, and never quite made it back to that same level of performance. He's back on the DL in Colorado now, too, with just 20 2/3 innings pitched this year.

2013 Opening Day Blaster

Nearly a year after its release, I'm finally opening this Opening Day blaster. I haven't had it for a year; I think I bought this one toward the end of the season, but my "to blog" pile is getting ridiculous. At some point I may just have to declare blog pile bankruptcy, and rip open every pack without scanning and sharing them. But today, here are some new-to-me 2013 Opening Day cards.

2013 Topps Opening Day
#9 Mark Buehrle
#13 Carlos Beltran
#91 Adam Wainwright
#197 Jhonny Peralta
Mascots #M-2 Phillie Phanatic
Mascots #M-3 Mariner Moose
Ballpark Fun #BP-21 Jurickson Profar
Ballpark Fun #BP-22 David Price
Opening Day Edition #179 Wade Miley #0670/2013

I threw a bit of everything in this first scan. I pulled Buehrle and Wainwright last time I opened some packs of these, as well as the Jurickson Profar card. Here I've also got a card of new Cardinal Jhonny Peralta, and now-former Cardinal Carlos Beltran. The Mascots are one of my favorite insert sets, and I got 2 in this box. Finally there's a parallel with too many colors: the blue border, red team color, and purple throwback uniform. I challenge you to find me an uglier card in this set. Nothing against Wade Miley, of course.

2013 Topps Opening Day
Superstar Celebrations #SC-8 Ryan Zimmerman
Play Hard # Dustin Pedroia
Superstar Celebrations #SC-20 Prince Fielder
Play Hard #PH-18 Carlos Ruiz
Opening Day Edition #65 Will Venable #1584/2013
Play Hard #PH-16 Matt Kemp

3 packs had a Play Hard insert, and one had another Blue parallel that could have been used on a Play Hard card as well. The Prince Fielder is yet another duplicate from my previous packs.

2013 Topps Opening Day - Opening Day Stars
#ODS-16 R.A. Dickey
#ODS-19 Bryce Harper

I dare you to enlarge the scan of these 3D cards and stare at them for 2 minutes without getting a headache. I dig 'em in person though.

2013 Topps Opening Day
#141 Yadier Molina

To finish up, here's Yadier Molina, with a nice cameo from Adam Wainwright, since I couldn't scan 7 horizontal cards in one nice block.

2013 Opening Day Jumbo Packs

It's late August, which can only mean one thing...Opening Day? The truth is, sometimes I buy cards from a set I know I want, but defer opening them until later, especially if I want to show them on my blog. These packs aren't too terribly old though, they're from the early August 1/2 price sale on cards at Target. I don't think I've ever seen a store run a sale on current products, but I went straight to my local Target when I heard about the sale, to get Topps' cheapest product even more cheaply. I only found 4 24-packs of Opening Day, so I went ahead and bought all 4 for a total of $5.98. Here are the highlights from all 4 packs at once.

2013 Opening Day - Mascots
#M-6 Oakland Athletics
#M-7 Screech
#M-13 Atlanta Braves

Opening Day followed a few of the same patterns this year. There were 6 1:2 insert sets, so my first 3 packs all had inserts from the same 3 sets. I can't quite place what it is I like about these mascot cards so much. Maybe it's because I rarely get to see any opposing team's mascot on TV, and almost never in person.

2013 Opening Day - Play Hard
#PH-1 Buster Posey
#PH-2 Bryce Harper
#PH-20 Yadier Molina

There have been rumblings in the league about eliminating the catcher collision play. I've heard that Buster Posey has been specifically instructed not to block the plate, since he's too valuable offensively. Seeing Yadier Molina bowl over the catcher, also in red, makes me imagine the positions switched, which then makes me think I really don't like the collision at the plate any more.

2013 Opening Day - Superstar Celebrations
SC-17 Chase Headley
#SC-20 Prince Fielder
#SC-21 Buster Posey

I like what Opening Day has done with Superstar Celebrations this year, switching from the common border and design to team colors.

2013 Opening Day
Ballpark Fun #BF-21 Jurickson Profar
Opening Day Stars #ODS-25 Yadier Molina
Opening Day Edition #192 Josh Beckett #0571/2013

The last pack had 3 different insert sets. If all of the Ballpark Fun set is pie-in-the-face cards, I may not try to complete it. But, if there's a card with the old wad of bubble gum on the hat squatchee, I'm in. Also, I pulled another Molina, and Opening Day's favorite parallel color, blue.

2013 Opening Day
#9 Mark Buehrle
#91 Adam Wainwright

Would you believe, out of 84 base cards, only 1 was a Cardinal? That would be Adam Wainwright on the left. That's okay, though, because I tend to get random cardinals in trades, so really from a set-completion standpoint, non-Cardinals are better, right? I also included local guy Mark Beuhrle, because I follow him a bit too.

I'm hoping to eventually build this set, and most of the common inserts. I've got some more I haven't opened yet, which is good, because at best I'm 84 cards into the 220 card base set.