Bowl Pick 'Em Contest Winnings, Part XXVI

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 XVII XVIII XIX XX
XXI XXII XXIII XXIV XXV

We're just about into Bowl Season again. Will I get these done anytime soon?

1986 Topps Traded #82T Jose Oquendo
1990 Sportflics #85 Jose Oquendo
1991 Topps Stadium Club #190 Jose Oquendo
1991 Topps Stadium Club #366 Felix Jose
1991 Topps Stadium Club #481 Jamie Moyer
1992 Donruss - Diamond Kings #DK-13 Felix Jose

St. Louis was Jamie Moyer's 3rd team, and yet he retired 21 years after he left the Cardinals.

1992 Fleer - All Stars #1 Felix Jose
1996 Donruss #87 Brian Jordan
1996 Donruss #153 Tripp Cromer
1996 Donruss #234 Jose Oquendo
1996 Donruss #282 Mike Morgan
1996 Pacific #228 Jose Oquendo

I got a nice handful of Felix Jose and Jose Oquendo cards, among others. Both of them were on the 1992 team which was the first I ever watched. Oquendo had a long coaching career with the Cardinals as well, but has opted to just be a spring training instructor for now. He's no Hall of Famer, but I think the Cardinals should retire #11 for him, for combined playing and coaching contributions to the team.

A Jumbo From the Pack Stash

Today I have a Jumbo Pack of 2008 Upper Deck. That's 36 cards, including two Rookie Debut cards visible through the clear wrapper on the back of the pack.

2008 Upper Deck
#54 Francisco Cordero
#93 Livan Hernandez
#131 Felix Hernandez
#132 Jeff Weaver
#154 Billy Wagner
#270 Magglio Ordonez

Jeff Weaver played half a season for the Cardinals in 2006, won a World Series, then promptly priced himself out of St. Louis's range. I'll admit when he left I was wondering if we'd regret it, but he regressed a bit and in the end I think it was in the Cardinals best interest not to pay him as much as he got in Seattle.

2008 Upper Deck
#318 Kevin Hart
#341 Bronson Sardinha
#363 Grady Sizemore
#390 Jake Peavy

A few weeks ago, someone called no-grass cards like Peavy's "Tattooine cards" after the desert planet. Now that's all I can think of when I find one.

#14 Chad Qualls
#36 Gregg Zaun
#37 Aaron Hill
#112 Barry Zito
#114 Brad Hennessey
#115 Jack Taschner
#151 John Maine
#152 Tom Glavine
#153 Orlando Hernandez

Check out that Gigantes jersey on Brad Hennessey. I'm glad when the photographers show up on special uniform days. The three Mets cards show different jerseys, too, and clearly the two Blue Jays cards do as well.

2008 Upper Deck
#191 Jamie Moyer
#193 Kyle Lohse
#209 Ryan Doumit
#231 Bronson Arroyo
#232 Matt Belisle
#248 Kazuo Matsui
#269 Gary Sheffield
#287 Jim Thome

Here I've got two former Cardinals playing for the Phillies, Kyle Lohse and Jamie Moyer.

2008 Upper Deck
#271 Matt Garza
#327 Jonathan Meloan
#359 B.J. Upton
#377 Magglio Ordonez
#386 Frank Thomas
Rookie Debut #7 Ryan Hanigan
Rookie Debut #23 Dave Davidson
Yankee Stadium Legacy #YSL3088 Moose Skowron

Since the Rookie Debut cards are what's immediately visible outside the pack, I'd wager that's the reason this particular pack made it to the repack factory. Ryan Hanigan and Dave Davidson weren't exactly the hottest prospects in a set with Ian Kennedy, Joey Votto, and Clay Buchholz. That Yankee Stadium Legacy set is kind of cool, but I don't think I'll be tracking down the other 6000+ cards for it. It'd be pretty awesome to have something like this for Busch Stadium, but I definitely understand the New-York-centricity of the card collecting world.

2012 Update Rack Pack

Somewhere along the way, I decided to buy a Jumbo Rack Pack of 2012 Topps Update, to go with the six hanger packs I bought, and the 2 retail packs I won.

2012 Topps Update
#US72 Carlos Beltran
#US123 Jamie Moyer/Checklist
#US178 Lance Lynn

All the current and former Cardinals were duplicates for me this time.

2012 Topps Update
Golden Moments #GM-U27 Matt Kemp
Gold Border #US238 Shawn Camp #0643/2012

I like shots of grown men getting excited like kids to play the game, so that's a great card of Matt Kemp. There's a nice Cubs throwback on Shawn Camp too.

2012 Topps Update
Blockbusters #BB-11 Rickey Henderson
Gold Border #580 Tony Campana #0762/2012

2 Gold Borders and both are Cubs? It's nearly too much for a Cardinals fan to handle. As a fun note on the Rickey Henderson trade, Eric Plunk was sent from the Yankees to the A's among others for Rickey in this trade. 4 1/2 years later, he was sent back with others for...Rickey Henderson.

Ok, that's the last of any packs I'm buying of 2012 Update. I've got all my cards cataloged in my have/want/trade lists, so please let me know if you'd like to trade for this set or any others.

Sixth 2012 Update Hanger Pack

Despite the fact that I show the inserts on my blog, I really buy these for the base cards. I figure with 5 of them, I'll get 360 cards total, but about 50 will be inserts, leaving me with 310. So 6 is a good number, in theory, to try to get enough base cards to complete 1 for 1 trades to complete the base set. In practice it doesn't really work that smoothly, and I bought quite a bit more of 2010 and 2011 Update. I've thought about getting a Hobby box, but at a current price of $57.95 for 36 packs of 10 cards, even perfect collation would leave me short after inserts. So if you're in the same boat as me, check my trade list and want list, and let's complete each other's sets.

2012 Topps Update
#US72 Carlos Beltran
#US242 Joe Kelly
#US251 Kyle McClellan

Beltran in the KC themed All-Star uniform might have been a little painful for Royals fans, who have seen many young prospects leave and become big stars.

2012 Topps Update
#US25 Joe Mather
#US60 Edwin Jackson
#US123 Jamie Moyer/Checklist
#US149 Octavio Dotel
#US227 Mark DeRosa
#US247 Ryan Ludwick

Every single former Cardinal was a duplicate this time. Anyone out there have a Joe Mather PC?

2012 Topps Update - Gold Border
#518 Jake Peavy #0284/2012
#636 Chris Heisey #1815/2012
#US249 Angel Pagan #1092/2012

Here we have 3 more golds toward my impossible but inevitable quest.

2012 Topps Update
Blockbusters #BB-15 Babe Ruth
Gold Sparkle #US317 Marco Estrada

Babe Ruth to the Yankees, that was kind of a big trade.

2012 Topps Update - WalMart Blue Border
#US170 Jerry Hairston
#US294 Sergio Santos

My curse is finally lifted for good, with a blue-bordered Dodger and Blue Jay.

2012 Topps Update
Golden Moments #GM-U11 Yu Darvish
1987 Topps Minis #TM-102 Reggie Jackson

This Reggie Jackson is another good-looking mini, with a great classic Orioles logo.

That's it for the big hanger packs. I did buy a rack pack as well, which I'll post in a few days, then it'll be time to start filling in the gaps in the set.

2012 Update Hanger Pack #5

More 2012 Update!

2012 Topps Update
#US12 Jake Westbrook
#US301 Carlos Beltran

I've got a few of these Beltrans now, but the Westbrook is new.

2012 Topps Update
#US63 Gerald Laird
#US82 Ty Wigginton
#US123 Jamie Moyer/Checklist

Likewise with these former Cardinals, I had Laird and Moyer already, but Wigginton is new. As far as I know he hasn't landed with a new team yet. Maybe a deal will happen after the trading deadline.

2012 Topps Update
#US11 Rick Ankiel
Golden Moments #GM-U21 Ernie Banks
1987 Topps Minis #TM-122 Yonder Alonso

When I was attending SLU, one car in a garage near my dorm had the license plate "Mr. Cub". I always joked that it was Ernie Banks' car, and no one got it. Baseball nicknames don't really pervade pop culture too much I guess, even in a rival town.

2012 Topps Update - Walmart Blue Border
#US84 Eric Thames
#US161 Brian Dozier

I'm going to call my curse lifted, as these blue borders are on Navy teams, although the Twins could probably go either way.

2012 Topps Update
Gold Sparkle #US28 Matt Albers
Blockbusters #BB-30 Jose Bautista

Was the trade for Bautista really considered a blockbuster at the time? It definitely worked out well for him and Toronto, but I can't quite imagine big headlines when he came over.

2012 Topps Update - Gold Border
#527 Aaron Hill #1278/2012
#562 Henderson Alvarez #0583/2012
#US94 Kevin Slowey #1781/2012

And I'll finish this pack off with the Gold Borders. Kevin Slowey never actually played for Cleveland, but spend all of 2012 at AAA, and is now in Miami. And, who's that sliding into second under Aaron Hill? Why, it's Ty Wigginton again.

Finally, I Can Open My Hanger Pack

I bought a few hanger packs of 2012 Update in late 2012, because I knew Target would only carry them for so long, but I've been so behind on blogging cards, and didn't want to make a mess of my desk, that I just now opened the first one. Here's what I found.

2012 Topps Update
#US123 Jamie Moyer/Checklist
#US178 Lance Lynn
#US273 Yadier Molina

2012 Topps Update
#US11 Rick Ankiel
#US46 Jamie Moyer

I only post base cards of Cardinals, and Moyer technically was one for 8 appearances wayyyy back in 1991. That's reason enough to show his 2 base cards here. Those Lynn and Molina guys are pretty good too.

2012 Topps Update - Target Red Border
#US57 Hanley Ramirez
#US122 Logan Ondrusek

Red Parallels look good for red teams, and bad for most others. I don't think I'm saying anything new with that statement. I am rather surprised they don't look pleasing with the Dodgers jerseys, though, with that bold red jersey number on the front.

2012 Topps Update
Golden Greats #GG-92 Reggie Jackson
Blockbusters #BB-24 Steve Carlton

I'm not sure I'm a fan of all the gold in 2012 Topps, but at least something finally goes with the A's uniform. That's a good looking card of Reggie Jackson. I do, however, like the Blockbusters set, despite its reminder of the 4-time Cy Young winner Steve Carlton the Cardinals traded away.

2012 Topps Update
Gold Sparkle #US155 Franklin Morales
1987 Topps Minis #TM-148 Justin Morneau

I scanned these two this way just so the mini would look mini. Why do gimmicks like minis and sparkly gold tempt me so?

2012 Topps Update - Gold Border
#389 Alexi Casilla #0029/2012
#511 Ervin Santana #0838/2012

These 990-card parallels nearly sucker me in every year. I think one year I'll actually try to collect them all, along with all of the attainable Series 1 and Series 2 parallels. #/50s and 1/1s will probably have to be skipped over, unless I win a small lottery and feel like blowing it all on cards. Also, I love that throwback LA Angels hat on Ervin Santana. I might need to get one of those.

2012 Topps Update
Gold Border #US238 Shawn Camp #0298/2012
Golden Moments #GM-U38 Tim Lincecum

Another Gold Border parallel, but it's a Cub. I like Tim Lincecum. I don't like that the Giants beat us in the NLCS in 2012. So I give this card a B.

My non-Cardinals insert cards are generally up for trade, so if you see anything you'd like here, or in my next few hanger packs, let me know.

March Radness Win, Part VII

[Part I]
[Part II]
[Part III]
[Part IV]
[Part V]
[Part VI]

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.

I've reached the end of this prize, but this post has the most cards of all. Lucky for you, they're not all scanned. You'll see what I mean at the end.

As I flipped through the 1990 Donruss from the package, I set aside anyone who was a Cardinal. This wasn't based on research, just memory, so I may have missed a few. And I actually had to look up Chris Sabo because I thought I knew he was a Cardinal, but I don't really remember it, if that makes sense. As it turns out, he played 5 games for us after the White Sox released him in 1995, but was again released during September.

1990 Donruss
#41 Andy Benes
#42 Delino Deshields
#210 Dennis Eckersley
#230 Will Clark
#242 Chris Sabo
#349 Tom Henke
#378 Jamie Moyer
#578 Larry Walker
#674  Pedro Guerrero

1990 Donruss
#695 Eric Davis
#697 Mark McGwire
Bonus MVPs #BC-12 John Smoltz
#BC12A John Smoltz (Erorr)

I've bid on this Tom Glavine/John Smoltz error card on eBay a few times, but it always seems to go a bit high because of its perceived value.

So, how many non-Cardinals were there from 1990 Donruss? Oh, about this many:

1990 Donruss, sleeved and ready to be sorted

I haven't gone through them completely yet, but it looks like if this doesn't complete my 1990 Donruss set, it brings me very close. What an awesome prize for a blog contest. Now of course, I realize if my want list consisted of refractor parallels and cards numbered to 25, instead of lots of cards widely considered junk wax, I'd probably have gotten a much lighter envelope, but I love these cards. That's the cool thing about collecting instead of investing in cards; show me a bunch of ugly 1990 Donruss card and I can get as excited as one fancy relic "from no particular event". To sum up, thanks again to madding, and go follow Cards on Cards.

eBay Wins #34

It's been over a week and a half since I posted an eBay win thanks to various contests, so here's another one. This time I won 4 1990 Topps cards, 2 I'd consider common and 2 that are at least notable. best of all, they were a penny each! I figure for that price, any card is worth the chance that I'll eventually trade it to someone who is trying to complete the set.

1990 Topps #50 Glenn Davis

Paul Lukas doesn't like them, but I really like these Astros uniforms. And this from a guy who has hate a statutory dislike for the Astros since they and the Cardinals moved to form the NL Central.

1990 Topps #342 Alex Trevino

Now I hope this was a BP jersey, because I'm adamantly against anything but white, gray, or pinstripe jerseys for real games. It even kinda bugged me in Spring Training this year that some teams wear BP jerseys for games.

1990 Topps #365 Ozzie Guillen

Is Ozzie even still managing in Florida Miami? I haven't heard his name since he made some remarks to upset local Cubans and Cuban-Americans. Maybe management wisely told him to dummy up for awhile. Also, I dig the uniform number on the pants.

1990 Topps #412 Jamie Moyer

This card is 22 years old. Seeing some of the stats on the back and knowing he still had another 22+ years left in him is kind of amazing. Here are some of his career stats after the 1989 season.

Games: 100
IP: 566 1/3
W-L: 32-43
K: 357
Starts: 94
CG: 6
SHO: 2

Enough of all that, let's see the tracker.

eBay Bargain Tracker
Total Cards Bought	1930
Total Spent	$37.56
Per Card	1.946 cents