Christmas Cards, a Few Months Late

I seem to always be trying to catch up, so here's some cards that arrived sometime in December, from ATBATT's 3rd Annual Operation PWE. There's something about an envelope of mostly different players and sets that just brings joy to opening the mail.

1991 Topps #343 Jose Oquendo
1992 Pinnacle #381 Andres Galarraga
2015 Topps #220 Shelby Miller
2015 Topps #336 Matt Carpenter
2015 Topps - Archetypes #A-11 Mark McGwire
2016 Topps Heritage #89 Trevor Rosenthal

I'm bad at staying on top of acquiring the Cardinals inserts when new sets come out. That Mark McGwire is a card I definitely should have already had, but didn't. As always, I'm surprised when I don't already have junk-era cards I receive, because it seems like I have so many cards from those years. But both the Oquendo and Galarraga fill holes in my collection.

1988 Topps UK Minis #72 Ozzie Smith
2016 Topps #254 Matt Holliday

I like these UK Minis, and I actually have a couple copies of the Ozzie card now. All the more reason to chase down the Vince Coleman and Willie McGee cards from that set. Then there's Matt Holliday, who just won't seem right in a Yankees uniform this year.

Thanks to Stealing Home for the PWE!

Bowl Pick 'Em Contest Winnings, Part XXXV

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

Let's sort some cards!

1998 Bowman's Best #146 Braden Looper
1998 Fleer Tradition #397 Kent Mercker
1998 Fleer Tradition #415 Braden Looper
1998 Fleer Tradition #541 Cliff Politte
1998 Topps #485 Braden Looper/Cliff Politte/Brian Rose
2009 Topps #612 Joel Pineiro

I've apparently never posted a Cliff Politte card, and now here I have 2. He only played one year with the Cardinals, and started just 8 games. I sometimes amaze myself at how much more time I must have had for baseball in those days. I could easily lose track of a guy like that now, but I can easily remember him on the team. Braden Looper is another one I remember from his first stint with the Cardinals, which was only 4 appearances. He came back after some time in Florida and New York, though.

1997 Topps #477 Braden Looper/John Patterson
2009 Upper Deck #880 Joel Pineiro
2014 Munnatawket Allen and Ginter #34 Matt Carpenter

That Matt Carpenter isn't just your average Allen and Ginter mini (which are also good cards, for the record). It's from a custom set made by a friend of Nachos Grande, in the 2008 Ginter style, but with an ad for Munnatawket bats on the reverse. I've seen these on a few blogs in the past, but usually as part of the full set. This set might be harder to chase than something from the 60s, so I'll probably just be content with my anachronistic Matt Carpenter card, appearing to feature him 3 years before his MLB debut and 1 year before he was drafted.

Bowl Pick 'Em Contest Winnings, Part XXX

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 XXVI XXVII XXVIII XXIX

I'm not sure I've ever done a 30 part post before. Oh well, let's keep rolling! Today I've got Kyle Lohse, Matt Holliday, a Matt Carpenter, Trever Miller, and Mark Ellis, and a pair of team cards.

2009 Upper Deck Signature Stars #77 Matt Holliday
2011 Topps - Factory Set Diamond Anniversary #373 Trever Miller
2012 Topps - Gold Sparkle #26 Kyle Lohse
2013 Topps Archives #125 Kyle Lohse
2013 Topps Gypsy Queen #343 Kyle Lohse
2014 Topps - Blue Parallel #44 Matt Carpenter
2014 Topps - Red Hot Foil Parallel #329 Matt Holliday

I'm still a little bummed Matt Holliday won't finish his career in St. Louis, but that's sort of the nature of the game when players who are much better hitters than defenders can go to the American League and squeeze in another season or two.

2012 Topps #233 St. Louis Cardinals
2012 Topps - Gold Sparkle #233 St. Louis Cardinals
2014 Topps Update #US272 Mark Ellis
2016 Topps #254 Matt Holliday

I know Mark Ellis played for the Cardinals, but it felt like I never actually saw him play during his one season in St. Louis. He only started 46 games and played in 73 total, so that may be part of the reason. The team cards here commemorate the game that clinched a World Series appearance for the Cardinals, which they ultimately went on to win for the 11th World Championship.

Bowl Pick 'Em Contest Winnings, Part VI

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

2016 Topps
#46 Jhonny Peralta
#106 Jordan Walden
#107 Kevin Siegrist
#134 Yadier Molina
#146 Stephen Piscotty
#217 Lance Lynn
#244 Matt Carpenter
#319 Adam Wainwright

I still haven't bought any 2016 Topps cards. The other was from winning the subcontest within this same contest, picking the Belk Bowl. The only Cardinal in that prize was Pat Neshek, now with the Astros, so these were still all new to my collection.

2016 Topps
Back to Back #B2B-9 Red Schoendienst/Stan Musial
Berger's Best #BB-16 Steve Carlton
Pressed Into Service #PIS-6 Stan Musial
Perspectives #P-25 Ozzie Smith

Here we have more 2016 Topps, all inserts and all Hall of Famers. I'm glad to see Ozzie Smith has been included more and more in sets with older players. And I'm always happy to get Musial and Schoendienst cards.

July Card Show Purchases II

Here's the other half of the Cardinals and other players I collect.

2015 Topps Gypsy Queen
#9 Bo Jackson
#25 Matt Carpenter
#27 John Lackey
#37 Mark McGwire
#44 Steve Carlton
#47 Ozzie Smith

That's a strong bottom row, with two Hall-of-Famers, and one that would have been, probably if he just handled the post-career PR a little better. Bo Jackson is one of the few players who never played for the Cardinals that I nevertheless collect, just because his story was so fascinating. I think the two-sport aspect gets me a little, too, because I considered adding Deion Sanders to my collections as well.

2015 Topps Gypsy Queen
#48 Shelby Miller
#49 Albert Pujols
#59 Adam Wainwright
#72 Carlos Martinez
#84 John Smoltz
#99 Roger Maris

This half netted me 6 uniformed Cardinals and 5 other Cardinals, for a total of 13 uniformed and 8 other. I wanted to say "former", but both Smoltz and Maris are pictured with teams they played on before St. Louis. I wasn't expecting a full 8% of the base set to fall into my personal collection, but here we are. Certainly that's somewhat due to the Cardinals recent success, and at the expense of other teams, so I will enjoy and appreciate this while the winning lasts. 

2013 Topps Update Jumbo Pack #5

With this pack, I'm half done with the box. Before this pack, I was already half done with the set.

2013 Topps
#US4 Matt Adams
#US67 Kyle McClellan
#US104 Matt Carpenter
#US165 A.J. Pierzynski
Emerald Parallel #US215 Travis Blackley
Franchise Forerunners #FF-7 Matt Harvey/David Wright
Gold Parallel #US108 Ryan Kalish #0169/2013
Making Their Mark #MM-42 Wil Myers
1971 Topps Mini #TM-27 Stan Musial

Thanks to the recent pickup of A.J. Pierzynski, this pack had 5 Cardinals in it, including a mini Musial. I mentioned when I pulled an Emerald parallel that I was hoping the Cardinals would pick him up to replace the injured Yadier Molina, and so far he seems to be worth the risk.

2013 Topps Update
Chasing History #CH-103 Anthony Rizzo
All-Star Stitches #ASR-DB Domonic Brown

Here's one of the hits in the box, a Domonic Brown jersey. I'm always a little ambivalent about the all-star jersey cards. On one hand, it's the wrong color for many teams. It'd be weird to have an orange Cardinals jersey swatch, but it's not quite as jarring for a guy that doesn't play for my home team. Still, he's a Phillie, and shouldn't be in orange. However, this jersey is from a specific day, and doesn't contain the standard disclaimer of most relic cards about not being from a specific game, event, or even season.

This pack had 41 base cards, and I already had all 41. On its face that feels a little disappointing, but I was bound to get that many doubles eventually, and I think it gives me a little insight into Topps' collation practices. Assuming my box contains a full set, this pack is completely unnecessary to build it. It would seem that the 330 cards are mechanically distributed among 9 or less packs, and this pack comes off of another line, which makes some sense because it contains one of the guaranteed hits of the box. I'm not sure I can explain how that relates to the other 2 hits, though, because even at 45 base cards per pack, 7 "regular" packs wouldn't quite finish the set. There must be just a bit more complexity at work.

Update Series Completion: 168/330 (50.9%)

2013 Topps Update Jumbo Pack #2

There's something about Update I just like more than Series 1 and 2. I'll have to consider only getting Update in 2014 and going back to buying the first 2 series directly.

2013 Topps Update
#US4 Matt Adams
#US55 Pete Kozma
#US104 Matt Carpenter

3 uniformed Cardinals showed up in this pack, though Pete Kozma has spent most of his time at AAA this year. And Matt Carpenter is a 2B on this card, but a 3B this year. In fact, he's now been to the All-Star game at 2 positions in 2 years.

2013 Topps Update
Emerald Parallel #US147 Charlie Morton
Francise Forerunners #FF-10 Jose Fernandez/Giancarlo Stanton
Gold Parallel #US2 Trevor Bauer #0191/2013
Making Their Mark #MM-43 Jose Fernandez

Miami always seems to have exciting young players, now they just need to hold onto them long enough to put together a winning team again.

Chasing History #CH Mike Trout
1971 Topps Mini # Buster Posey

Minis and a throwback design are a dangerous combination for collectors like me. I see these mini 1971s and I want them all, just as much as I do the 1972 minis from Series 1 and 2.

I had a high-water mark of 44 base cards in this pack, which caused me to go searching for any SP variations. I don't think I saw any, but that's assuming the Zistle list is complete. I'll have to flip through the full stack of ordered cards after I complete the box to see if any variations stand out.

Update Series Completion: 87/330 (26.4%)

2013 Topps Jumbo Pack #9

Pack 9 is here. Will I get within striking distance of finishing the set?

2013 Topps
#146 Kyle McClellan
#193 Matt Carpenter
#224 Jon Jay
#233 Edwin Jackson

This pack had 4 Cardinals in it, including my first Jon Jay and Edwin Jackson cards from this set.

2013 Topps
Chasing the Dream #CD-10 Giancarlo Stanton
Chasing History #CH-18 Ken Griffey, Jr.
Emerald Parallel #278 Christian Garcia
Gold Parallel #253 Adam Greenberg #0077/2013

Some more of the standard inserts, but with a nonstandard subject on the upper right, Ken Griffey, Jr. This card celebrates his tying of the record for most consecutive games with a Home Run, at 8. There's also a Gold Parallel of Adam Greenberg, the guy who had a 1-day contract with the Marlins after getting severely injured in his first ever at-bat, on the first pitch, with the Cubs many years ago.

2013 Topps
Cut to the Chase #CTC-4 Babe Ruth
1972 Topps Mini #TM-47 Roberto Clemente

If I got to pick 2 Hall of Famer cards (and wasn't allowed any Cardinals), these two would definitely be near the top of my list.

With only 23 new base cards in this pack, I'll now need 36 in the final pack. It won't be impossible, but it'll mean Topps needs to have very good collation, something I've heard isn't really the case these days. With 1 pack left in the box, I'll find out soon enough if I'm going to have to beg for some trades.

Series 1 Completion: 294/330 (89.1%)

College Bowl Game Contest Win, Part 2

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 I]

2013 Topps
#190 Daniel Descalso
#193 Matt Carpenter
#315 Rafael Furcal
#321 Allen Craig

2013 Topps
#4 Yadier Molina
#269 St. Louis Cardinals
Emerald Green #207 Matt Holliday
Chasing History #CH-16 Lance Berkman

I feel torn when I see all the cards Topps gives to the Cardinals when they're winning. On one hand, it's nice that there are 9 pitcher cards (or maybe more) picturing players I collect among the 330 cards of Series 1, and at least 6 batters seen here, and a team card. On the other hand, I know teams like the Astros and Marlins get shortchanged, and that MLB can turn around quickly. St. Louis could be the team with almost no base cards and no inserts by 2015.

2013 Topps Heritage
#40 Carlos Beltran
#406 Jaime Garcia

These are my first two 2013 Heritage cards. Together these two have far-off stares like roommates who don't get along in a bad sitcom. Come to think of is, Carlos and Jaime would probably make for an entertaining pair in a sitcom. The grizzled old (in baseball terms) veteran rooming with the young hotshot; each one learns from the other at the end of each 30 minute episode. It'll be great!

2012 Topps Chrome #91 Allen Craig

2012 Topps Chrome #119 Jaime Garcia

Oh, Topps Chrome. Why do you look so good on the table and so bad in scans? That throwback uniform on Jaime looks great when I hold the card in my hand.

2012 Topps Archives
#85 Matt Holliday
#197 Allen Craig

I never jumped into 2012 Archives like many bloggers seemed to. When I pulled the Holliday card out of the pack I immediately became confused and disoriented. A 2007 Matt Holliday? We haven't had him that long have we? No wait, that's not the 2007 design, that's...1971? Where am I? Then I remembered Archives existed, and the copyright date on the back brought me back to my happy place. I do think there may be much confusion in coming years, with sets masquerading as earlier years tripping me up, because I won't remember exactly which years some of our role players and short-term players played for us.

My Second Jaybarkerfan PWE

As I mentioned before, Jaybarkerfan of Jaybarkerfan's Junk has been dropping PWE bombs on anyone who gave him their address and a favorite team. I just got another one, with more great Cardinals.

2004 KC Life #29 Chris Carpenter

I'm not 100% sure, but based on the Kansas City Life Insurance Company logo on the back and the weird size, I think this is from a set given away free to kids at a Cardinals game. I have some similar sets with the same sponsor from 1993-1996 or so.

1993 Hostess #5 Ray Lankford

I love this 1993 Hostess set, so I'm happy to get this card even though I already had it. I can always find good reasons for spare Cardinals.

1990 Upper Deck #68 Vince Coleman (Team Checklist)

Checklists should always have players on them. That is all.

2011 Bowman - Prospects #BP66 Matt Carpenter

I just posted my first Matt Carpenter card, and now here's my second.

2009 Upper Deck Icons #92 Ryan Ludwick

This card showed up in the first PWE too. All the easier to trade with my fellow Cardinals fans.

2008 Upper Deck Baseball Heroes - Charcoal #124 Ozzie Smith

Of course, any package with an Ozzie is a great one to me, even if the rest were Bip Roberts and Mario Mendoza. This card was tricky to figure out since I don't have a lot of the 2008 Baseball Heroes set. At first I thought it was a Black parallel, but those are numbered to 250. It turns out, it's a Charcoal.

Thanks to Jaybarkerfan for all the Cardinals. And go follow Jaybarkerfan's Junk; I'd do it even without the bribe.

A Free Card from Baseball Dad

Back in November, Baseball Dad offered up a nice selection of cards for his readers for his blog's 4th anniversary. I chose one, of course, because who would pass up a free card? That's like going to a birthday party and not eating the cake.

When I got the package, there were some additional Cardinals thrown it, which I always enjoy. Let's see what I got.

1999 Team Best
#12 Greg Clark
#41 Gabe Johnson
#Kris Rayborn
#83 Steve Stemle

First up were some minor league cards. Of the 4, I think only Steve Stemle appeared the majors, and that was only for 11 games with the Royals in 2005-2006.

2013 Topps #193 Matt Carpenter

2013 Topps #207 Matt Holliday

Since so many people follow his blog, it took until after 2013 Topps was released to get my package out, which is great! I'm not planning on buying any packs of flagship this year, but I'll probably stick all the Cardinals on my want list, and this gives me a 2-card head start. So, this is my first taste of 2013 cards, and also my first-ever Matt Carpenter card.

2009 Allen & Ginter - Relics #AGR-RL Ryan Ludwick

Finally, we have the card I claimed, a Ryan Ludwick relic. This is the first A&G framed relic I've ever actually held. It's kind of weird the way the card shifts around inside the frame. As always, I'm glad to add another unique card to my collection.

Thanks, Baseball Dad!