Contest Winnings, Part III

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 | II

The end of my prize package posts has the 2011-2013 cards, with players who are mostly still on the team.

2012 Topps Archives
#14 Yadier Molina
#34 Jaime Garcia
#85 Matt Holliday
#114 Jason Motte
#125 David Freese
#197 Allen Craig

Here we have half of the 2012 Archives Cardinals. I almost have to get the other 6 now. Freese is gone to the Angels, but the other 5 are still here.

2012 Topps
Red Parallel #363 Fernando Salas

2013 Topps
Red Parallel #125 Matt Holliday

I really like red parallels, especially for Cardinals cards. Completing the red parallel team sets is on my long list of collecting goals. Also, Salas was another part of the same trade that sent Freese to the Angels, but like any former Cardinal, I still collect his cards.

2013 Gypsy Queen - Mini #322 Jason Motte
2011 Allen and Ginter - Mini #303 Jaime Garcia

Finally, we have 2 minis. Like I said in the last post, I think everyone loves minis. Motte and Garcia are both coming off injuries this year, so I'm hoping they'll strengthen our already very good bullpen, Garica indirectly as a starter.

Thanks to Daniel from It's like having my own Card Shop for all the Cardinals!

College Bowl Game Contest Win, Part 5

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 ]

2011 Heritage
#18 Manager's Dream (Albert Pujols/Ryan Braun)
#106 Yadier Molina
#344 Fernando Salas
#370 Matt Holliday
#372 Jaime Garcia
#395 Matt Holliday

Plantar fasciitis and a 65-game suspension is no Manager's Dream this year. I got 2 more Holliday cards to go with the 2 from Allen and Ginter in part 4, which is great, because I'm a big Holliday fan.

2011 Topps
#87 Daniel Descalso
#138 League Leaders (Albert Pujols, Carlos Gonzalez, Joey Votto)
490 Matt Holliday 

2011 Topps #429 Skip Schumaker

2011 Topps - Diamond Duos #DD-HHO Rogers Hornsby/Matt Holliday

Again, 2 more Holliday cards and another Pujols card. Just for fun, note the different jersey number in the base set and the insert set for Holliday. He wore 15 for his partial season with us, then switched to 7 after signing a 7-year deal.

2011 Bowman #6 Albert Pujols

Yet another Albert Pujols. Part of me wants to root against him now that he's left, but then the logical part of my brain says that what's done is done, and his performance from this point forward won't affect how the Cardinals do, except in the 3 games every 2 or 3 years we might play against the Angels. So I quickly turn back around and root for him. I'm sure he'll hit homerun #500 early next year, or maybe even this year if he can return in time.

College Bowl Game Contest Win, Part 3

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]

2012 Heritage
#172 Yadier Molina
#226 Skip Schumaker
#336 Jon Jay
#250 Fernando Salas
#375 Daniel Descalso

Jon Jay must not have been at camp the day they posed for Heritage. He definitely stands out in this bunch of 5, with the road cap, and no close-up mugshot.

2012 Gypsy Queen
#41 Yadier Molina
#55 Matt Holliday
#138 Chris Carpenter
#202 Jason Motte
#208 Adron Chambers
#297 Lou Brock

Say, whatever happened to Adron Chambers? He had enough MLB time to get a card in 2012, but he's back in the minors for now. I'm sure we'll see him again in September when the rosters expand.

2012 Opening Day #96 Chris Carpenter

Here's another guy I'm hoping to see in September, or I'll even take just October. The latest rehab news doesn't sound good, though, and it's appearing more and more likely he's done for the year, and done - at least as a Cardinal - for good.