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.

Superbowl Winnings, Part 2

Part 1

Here's the rest of what I won for nailing the Superbowl result at the beginning of the playoffs.

2005 eTopps
#198 David Eckstein

This is my first eTopps card, since I wasn't collecting while it was going on. It's in a thick plastic holder with a holographic seal. And it's World Series MVP David Eckstein, so that's a nice addition to my collection.

2006 SPX -
#186 Matt Leinert #113/399
#190 Laurence Maroney #0188/1650

And now we have the football hits. It was a Super Bowl contest, after all. Laurence Maroney is from St. Louis, so he always gets a little bonus coverage on the local news' sports segment when he makes a particularly good play, so that was a nice card to get.

1996 Laser View - Inscriptions #8 Jim Everett #0248/3100
2006 SP Authentic - Rookie Authentics Signature #255 Tarvaris Jackson
2013 Panini Limited - Monikers Silver #187 Nick Kasa #051/299

Here we have 3 more autographs, one of which is also a relic: Jim "Don't call me Chris" Everett, formerly of the LA Rams, Nick Kasa, and Tarvaris Jackson. The Jackson card was the one promised in the original contest post, and he actually made it into the game. He's one of the few backup QBs to ever play in a Super Bowl, and I think the first since Tony Banks in an almost-as-lopsided Super Bowl XXXV, for the Ravens against the Giants.

That was a pretty great prize pack, full of nothing but Cardinals and autographs (and autographed relics). Thanks to the one and only cynicalbuddha of Collector's Crack!

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.

A New Autographed Ball - Lee Smith

Last July, Fuji's contest question was about Autographed baseballs, and I showed off my small collection. I've got a new one to add - Lee Smith.

Lee Smith #47
478 Saves

A few new Menards stores opened in the St. Louis area, and Lee Smith was signing free one night from 6pm to 8pm. I showed up at 5:30, and got my autograph about 6:45. I really wasn't expected that much of a line since the Cardinals really weren't that good while Lee was here. He couldn't have been nicer to the fans in line, posing for pictures, switching pens upon request, and even trying to get a baby to laugh. He shook everyone's hands after signing, and gave a very genuine thanks. I of course returned the Thank You right back, since I now have a souvenir of meeting the most intimidating Cardinal player I can remember as a kid in 1992. When Lee came in, the game was as good as over.

Unfortunately, the next night was not so fortuitous, as David Eckstein was signing. Eckstein, of course, was the 2006 World Series MVP, so fresher in our memories, and also around at a time with more fans. I showed up at 5pm this time, a full hour before signing was to begin. I estimated the line to be 6 times the length it was when I showed up for Lee Smith. Doing some mental math, at Lee's pace that line would last 4.5 hours, and he was scheduled for just 2 hours. I didn't wait it out to see if Eckstein was lightning fast with the pen, and went home.

On the plus side, I think I have a better shot at having a HOF ball in my collection than if the nights were reversed. Also, Eckstein just retired, so hopefully he'll be around signing for many more years.

This Break is so 2007, Part III

When CaptKirk42 of the aptly named CaptKirk42's Trading Cards Blog opened up a break of 5 boxes of 2007 baseball cards, I jumped right in to claim the Cardinals and my 2 random teams. It was slow to fill so each slot wound up with 3 random teams, which also caused me to pick up the Dodgers as well in hopes of a Nomar Garciaparra card or two. In all I got the Athletics, Braves, Cardinals, [Devil] Rays, Dodgers,  Mariners,  Royals, and Twins.
[ I | II ]

Turkey Red was the biggest reason I got in this break. Ever since I jumped back into collecting with 2010 Update, which had a Turkey Red insert set, I enjoyed the look and feel of the cards. I gather from other card blogs some folks were getting tired of Turkey Red by that point, but I was just getting started. I was quite tempted to try to get some 2013 Turkey Red, but the price, scarcity, and resale shenanigans just put me off.

2007 Turkey Red
#25 Albert Pujols
#37 Edgar Renteria
#72 Chris Carpenter
#87 David Eckstein
#135 Jason Isringhausen
#172 Kelvin Jimenez

Here we have the Cardinals base cards, including an Edgar Renteria as an Atlanta Brave.

2007 Turkey Red
#25b Albert Pujols - Ad Back SP

This is a variation SP, where it appears Albert has held his pose from above long enough for the sun to go down.

2007 Turkey Red
#48 Prince Albert

Here's yet another Albert, this time in Checklist form.

2007 Turkey Red - Chrome
#102 Elijah Dukes #0528/1999

The shininess of this card didn't really come through in the scan, although it doesn't have quite the same finish as the usual Chrome cards.

2007 Turkey Red - Relics
#TRR-AJ1 Andruw Jones

I'm still a sucker for relics, so this is a pretty cool Andruw Jones card, especially since it still shows him in his Braves heyday.

2007 Turkey Red - Cabinet Cards
#DP-DY Delmon Young

I could be fooling you with simply resizing the picture, but I assure you I am not. This is the one-per-box Cabinet card, about twice as wide and tall as a regular card. I wish it had been a Cardinal, but still it's a nice looking card. Now I just have to figure out how to store it. Between this and the Chrome, this was a good box for the Devil Rays.

This Break is so 2007, Part II

When CaptKirk42 of the aptly named CaptKirk42's Trading Cards Blog opened up a break of 5 boxes of 2007 baseball cards, I jumped right in to claim the Cardinals and my 2 random teams. It was slow to fill so each slot wound up with 3 random teams, which also caused me to pick up the Dodgers as well in hopes of a Nomar Garciaparra card or two. In all I got the Athletics, Braves, Cardinals, [Devil] Rays, Dodgers,  Mariners,  Royals, and Twins.
[I]

2007 Upper Deck Artifacts is a small set, and with only 40 cards in a Hobby Box, there's not quite as much to show for this post.

2007 Upper Deck Artifacts
#66 Albert Pujols
#69 David Eckstein

I managed to get 2 of the 4 Cardinals in the set. Now I'm just short Jim Edmonds and Chris Carpenter.

2007 Upper Deck Artifacts #36 Chipper Jones

I suppose I've got some room for a future Hall-of-Famer before the big hit.

2007 Upper Deck Artifacts - Autofacts
#AF-CJ Cesar Jimenez

Cesar signed with the Phillies this offseason, but is still in the minors. Maybe he'll make it back to MLB for good, or maybe I'll offload this to a Mariners fan one day.

That's it for Artifacts. My 8 teams managed to get 14 cards out of the 40 in the box, so I think I did alright.

This Break is so 2007, Part I

When CaptKirk42 of the aptly named CaptKirk42's Trading Cards Blog opened up a break of 5 boxes of 2007 baseball cards, I jumped right in to claim the Cardinals and my 2 random teams. It was slow to fill so each slot wound up with 3 random teams, which also caused me to pick up the Dodgers as well, in hopes of a Nomar Garciaparra card or two. In all I got the Athletics, Braves, Cardinals, [Devil] Rays, Dodgers,  Mariners,  Royals, and Twins.

First up, we have the 2007 Bowman cards, confusing subsets, insert sets, and all.

2007 Bowman - Prospects
#BP46 Trey Hearne
#BP68 Jarrett Hoffpauir

I don't think we're going to see either of these guys back in MLB, though Hoffpauir actually played for the big club in 2009, enough that I remembered his name.

2007 Bowman
#56 Dan Haren
#59 Jim Edmonds
#124 Chris Carpenter
#138 John Smoltz
#163 David Eckstein
#175 Albert Pujols
#183 Jeff Weaver
Gold #27 Brian McCann
Gold #105 Eric Chavez

As usual, here are all the base cards of anyone who ever wore the birds on the bat. McCann and Chavez didn't, but I only had 7 for this scan, so why not add some Gold, right?

2007 Bowman - A-Rod Road To 500
#130, 139, 151, 156

This was one of the best parts about landing the Mariners; a whole insert set of one player. As for a fun Cardinals connection, 3 of the 4 pitchers mentioned played for the Cardinals. There was Chris Carpenter, Jeff Suppan, and Arthur Rhodes. Not bad for a career AL player.

2007 Bowman Chrome - Propects
#46 Trey Hearne

Trey Hearne again. Cards like this are what make Bowman a little disappointing when it's a few years old. It's Chrome, and it's my team, but I've never heard of the guy.

2007 Bowman - Blue Parallel
#56 Dan Haren #024/500

It's an eBay 1/1! #024 and he's wearing #24! I'm rich!

2007 Bowman - Prospects Blue
#BP133 Jarrod Saltalamacchia #188/500

Finally, this was the big hit from Bowman, a Jarrod Saltalamacchia autograph. I kind of feel bad for the guy for having to sign such a long name 500 times for this card, although it looks like he's got a bit of a shortened version going here. Salty has been a player I've liked for some time, maybe because of his unique last name, maybe because he's a catcher like I sometimes tried to be. Either way, with many less impressive autograph subjects in the checklist, this is great pull.

March Radness Win, Part III

[Part I]
[Part II]

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.

First up in this batch of cards is the Series I 2008 Upper Deck Cardinals I needed.

2008 Upper Deck (Series I)
#61 Adam Wainwright
#62 Joel Pineiro
#63 Brad Thompson
#65 Troy Percival
#67 Albert Pujols
#68 David Eckstein
#69 Jim Edmonds
#70 Rick Ankiel

Together with the 8 cards from part II, and the 4 from a previous contest win, I have all of the Cardinals from this set, and never bought a pack.

2011 Gypsy Queen
#38 Walter Johnson
#117 Dallas Braden

That's 2 more off the wantlist, leaving me just 125 left to go for Gypsy Queen. It would seem I tend to get a little over ambitious with the wantlists sometimes, desiring a whole set after getting a few packs.

1988 Donruss Wax Pack

Ah, the mystery of an unopened pack. I'm not going to open this yet. Maybe I'll wait for the 30th anniversary in 2018. More likely, I'll break down and open it when I finally sort through my 1988 Donruss cards, because I'm a weak, weak man.

A Prize For My Prescience, part 1

Way back in the few days between the 2011 Regular Season and Playoffs, I managed to predict the Cardinals would win the World Series in a contest at The Great Orioles Autograph Project. Amazing, right?

OK, I had multiple entries and picked the Phillies over the Rangers in #1. No matter; the point is I won, and Ryan took his time combing my want lists and putting together quite a pile of cards for me. So many that, as always, I'll have to split into multiple posts because I have an overwhelming need to

I have a feeling that image will stick around on this blog for awhile.

First up, some 2011 Topps Heritage to chip away at my want list, including 6 short prints.

2011 Topps Heritage #438 Shaun Marcum

2011 Topps Heritage #446 Carlos Marmol

2011 Topps Heritage #455 Joe Saunders

2011 Topps Heritage #456 Jeff Keppinger

2011 Topps Heritage #484 David Eckstein

2011 Topps Heritage #489 Brandon Morrow

2011 Topps Heritage #56 NL ERA Leaders

2011 Topps Heritage #18 Managers' Dream

The full list of 2011 Topps Heritage was:

10 Andrew McCutchen
11 Joe Nathan
15 Fausto Carmona, aka, Roberto Hernandez Heredia
18 Managers' Dream - Pujols/Braun
22 San Diego Padres
38 Coco Crisp
42 Nelson Cruz
46 cole Hamels
56 NL ERA Leaders
89 Jake Peavy
101 Jacob Ellsbury
105 Max Scherzer
115 Alfonso Soriano
125 Vladimir Guerrero
130 Omar Infante
134 Brett Cecil
135 Babe as a Boy
136 Babe Joins Yanks
138 The Famous Slugger
142 Babe's Batting Record
146 Placido Polanco
152 Jim Riggleman
156 Hank Conger
181 Dillon Gee
184 Kurt Suzuki
188 Freddy Sanchez
227 Cliff Lee
249 Vance Worley
257 Scott Kazmir
263 Rangers Danger - Hamilton/Cruz
267 B.J. Upton
271 Jeremy Jeffress
278 Derek Lowe
307 Jair Jurrjens
308 Jason Bay
309 Yonder Alonso
355 Brian Matusz
368 J.P. Arencibia
392 Ryan Zimmerman
399 Roy Halladay
422 Kendry Morales
423 Fear the Beard - Wilson/Posey
438 Shaun Marcum
446 Carlos Marmol
455 Joe Saunders
456 Jeff Keppinger
484 David Eckstein
489 Brandon Morrow

Next, some Ozzies to round out Part 1.

1993 U.S. Playing Cards Aces #3H Ozzie Smith

1994 Bowman's Best (- Refractor?) #R3 Ozzie Smith

Can anyone tell from the scan if this is a Refractor? It bugs me when parallel sets don't announce themselves clearly, but of course if this is a base card maybe the backs of the refractors are perfectly clear.

1993 Post #26 Ozzie Smith

Check out that sweet airbrush job for this MLBPA set. The Red cap and grey uniform can only mean this was a spring training game, as the Cardinals had ushered in the Navy road caps by 1993.

1993 Select #15 Ozzie Smith

1993 Donruss #520 Ozzie Smith

I think what I remember most about this set is excitedly buying the blister-packed full team sets of the Marlins and Rockies. One of these days I'll have to dig those up, scan them, and share the story.

I'll have more of the great prize package Ryan sent me in my next post, tomorrow if all goes well.