Go get some free Obak

The Mojonic Beard is giving it up...the Obak that is. Go here for a shot!

CA-Lapse

That's the St. Louis Cardinals collapse. If I did the math right, the Cincinnati Reds are 18-8 so far this month. The Cardinals are 11-14. As of right now, the Reds have a 6 game lead on the Cards. On August 1st, again, if I did the math right, the Cards had a 1/2 game lead on the Reds. In a matter of a month, the Reds made a 6.5 game turnaround and now sit nicely atop the NL Central.

My point is this: I'm still not comfortable with the Rangers 8.5 game lead over the A's. The magic number is what it is and that's swell. I know this team is far superior to teams we've had in Texas, probably ever. However, years of disappointment have left me a little leary. I know this team CAN make the playoffs. I'm with them, just like I have been every year since I was a kid, and it's going to be a fun ride.

Now for the latest news...

Nelson Cruz was activated off the DL and played last night against the Royals. He had a double in his first at-bat and scored the first run of the game for the Rangers in a 3-0 win. Cruz' return means Julio Borbon and David Murphy will be rotating in the 3rd outfield spot.

Ian Kinsler should have a couple more rehab starts this week and rejoin the team on Friday. Even though Andres Blanco has been hitting a lot of doubles lately, I'm looking forward to the dilemma Ron Washington has on his hands-where to hit Kinsler in this lineup.

Derek Holland is supposed to get the start Friday because the Rich Harden woodshed treatment didn't take. Harden did throw nicely in a start last week, but gave up 4 runs in 4 1/3 innings Saturday. The Rangers have banished him to the bullpen so it remains to be seen how that turns out.

Last, but not least, the Rangers intend to move their AAA affiliate to Round Rock, Tx (near Austin) from Oklahoma City. That may not matter to many, but I have family in Round Rock and now I may have an excuse to go visit them.

Swift Justice...I think not

Confidence and arrogance are two different things.

You want your starting pitcher to be confident. You want him to want the ball in big games.

You don't want your starting pitcher to be arrogant. He shouldn't antagonize the other team's big hitters. He shouldn't demand to testify before Congress.

Getting indicted for lying to Congress is stupid. Getting indicted for lying to Congress, when you didn't HAVE to testify before Congress is monumentally stupid. Roger Clemens made a brief appearance at a hearing yesterday to plead "Not Guilty" to the charges facing him. ESPN radio's legal talking head said the trial is scheduled to begin in April, but will most likely be delayed until the end of 2011 due to the mountains of evidence and papers the legal teams will have to sift through in the coming months.

I'm not sure how rich Clemens is, but rest assured he will be spending a lot of cash in the next year or so trying to stay out of jail.

Maybe we should have a Clemens-a-thon to help pay his legal expenses. I have a feeling we wouldn't need ANY operators to answer calls.

The dangers of NOT having a wantlist

I absolutely love trading. I made 50 or more trades before I started my blog. I actually delayed starting the blog until I could get a scanner so I could show off the results of my trade.


The problem with blind trading is that you oftentimes end up with cards you already have in your collection. I am so jealous of some of your detailed wantlists that I decided to follow up with some wantlists of my own.


I've been working, slowly, but diligently, on developing my own wantlists, going all the way back to the Washington Senators of 1961. Not having a wantlist has led to this...

Lots of duplicates.

Lots and lots of duplicates.

Hopefully, I'll start getting wantlists posted for my Rangers collection soon. I started sorting the Topps cards first since I had more of them than anything else.

My goal is to get the list completely done by the end of the year and spend 2011 knocking as much of it out as possible. Maybe I can even make a trade with Spiff over at Texas Rangers Cards. He only contacted my last November about a Rangers for Rangers trade.

Help a Blogger Out

I need help from someone with more techno-know how than me. That could be anyone, even your unborn children/grandchildren. I'm technologically challenged to put it ever so mildly.

Here's my issue. I have Canon CanoScan LIDE 100 Scanner. A few days ago it started acting up. The problem is that after I scan, it doesn't reset. Here's where I get techno on you...what I mean is after it scans, the little slidy part doesn't go back to the other end. What I have to do is hit scan again and immediately hit cancel. A minute or two later, after it processes my ridiculousness, I hit scan again and it slides down and proceeds to scan the item.

That is a HUGE pain in the butt. I've searched through my online manual, I've searched the interwidewebnet and nothing has helped.

If you have any ideas, tips or advice, I would greatly appreciate it. Unfortunately, I can't do what I would normally do. That is to treat it like the fax/printer from Office Space and then go buy another one.

Thanks in advance.

I hope.

Horizontal Vintage Catcher Greatness

I can't speak to the greatness of the player, but I do love the card.




It looks like Joe Ferguson is either returning to the plate from a bathroom break or from chasing a foul ball. Either way, I love the "non-action" action shot. I'm a big fan of shots that aren't your typical pose. This isn't exactly a play at the plate as the catcher is running toward the batter, who I believe is Phillie Craig Robinson. Robinson wore 18 for the Phils in '73.

As for the play, notice the crowd looking back and to their right. If Ferguson was chasing a foul ball, he seriously misjudged it's trajectory. I wonder if it might have bounced off the dugout and back into the crowd.

Joe Ferguson played 14 years in the majors. He appeared in 1,013 games. He hit 122 homers and drove in 445 runs while batting .240. He appeared in two World Series with the Dodgers, 1974 and 1978. Unfortunately for Joe, the Dodgers didn't win either one.

Thanks for a great card Joe...and Topps too I guess.

Joy of an Incomplete Page: Part 3

This is the third installment in a five part series. Oooh, that sounded official, didn't it? This page comes from my original binder. It was the binder that I carried back and forth to my best friend's house when we traded cards.

The front part of this page is pretty bare, a sure sign that I traded away some cards. Considering the cards that are here, I wonder what cards I traded.

The top two rows are empty and the lone card on the page is a much handled 1972 Topps Bob Gibson. The corners are soft, there's a small section on the back that is peeled away and there is the rather large crease down the left side. Even with all that wear, Bob still has the beginnings of a smile on his face. So do I as I sit here looking at the card.

The back of the page has a few more cards to offer.

In position two, top middle, we have a 1980 Topps Highlights card of Pete Rose. It commemorates Rose setting a record with his 10th straight seaon of 200 or more hits. That record still stands today. Ichiro went hitless yesterday, so he has 33 games to get 35 hits and tie Rose's record.

The top right corner has a 1979 Topps Record Breaker Pete Rose. This card highlights Rose breaking the modern NL record for consecutive games with a hit. His 44 game hit streak broke the mark of Tommy Holmes who hit in 37 straight in 1945. Rose's streak tied the all-time NL streak of 44 set by Willie Keeler in 1897.

The second row features Jim "Catfish" Hunter on his 1978 and 1979 Topps cards. As kids, we loved that his nickname was "Catfish".

The bottom row features a lone 1972 Topps card of Vida Blue. I can guarantee I didn't know who Vida Blue was back in the first couple of years of my collecting. I do know that I would have gotten this (and the Gibson) from my friend who got them from the "Creepy Old Janitor".

Only two more to go and there will be some more good vintage to come.

Some 'Splainin' to Do

The post I put up this morning regarding the Stephen Strasburg card as a prize was actually written in the wee hours of the morning on Friday. I scheduled it to run this morning.

So, having written that post just before the news of Strasburger's impending surgery, I felt bad about the post as it went up. Unfortunately, I was unable to get to a computer to stop it from posting. That doesn't mean I won't include the care in a prize package, just that it was bad timing.

I don't think a lot of people are shocked by the turn of events surrounding Strasburg's arm. I only speak for myself, but as much as I was put off by Strasmania, especially the way Topps was acting, I hate to see the guy get hurt. Baseball needs all the superstars it can get-and it needs them in more places than just New York. Every team needs a few big names, players to get the local fans excited and coming to the ballpark. Players that people want to watch, follow and maybe...just maybe get people to buy more cards.

Early September Contest Entry Opportunity

That may be the most cumbersome post title I've ever created.


I'm going to be really cutting back on the money I spend on new cards for the next few months.


That means no more unopened packs in my monthly contests. Well, I probably won't be able to stick to that, but that is the plan right now. I'm trying to save my pennies for the end of the year prize, which all the monthly winners will be eligible to win. For the Sept-Dec contests, I'll be trying to find cards out of my collection to give away.

I asked the other day about this one and got no comments.

Would you be interested in getting this as a part of a prize pack?

In the unlikely event you haven't seen this, it's the Strasburg refractor from those goofy Topps "Value" Boxes.






I'll give everyone who voices an opinion one extra entry into September's contest.

Rangers Game Recap

This recap is a bit delayed. It's from the Tuesday night game between the Rangers and Twins. The reason for the delay is that I didn't want to "jinx" the Rangers by bragging and have them miss out on the possible sweep. Of course you and I both know that "jinx" business is hooey, but in baseball, you don't take chances.

Alas, the Rangers didn't get the 4 game sweep anyway, but I'll take 3 out of 4 every time.

The game started out with a demonstration by the U.S. Army Golden Knights Parachute Team. You may have seen this on the news or ESPN.

You can check out the video on the Golden Knights blog. At first a lot of us thought the "snag" was part of the show, but it quickly became clear that it was NOT. He was ok though and quickly released himself onto the platform atop the scoreboard and his chute was retrieved about 15 minutes later.

I don't know when this happened...

but it's a funny picture. At least that's what the girl behind him thinks. This was also at the game that night and I'm guessing he's either clapping because he got a black eye, or he whiffed on the catch. Most likely it was the latter. That's why I always take a glove. I don't care what anyone says, I know how to use a glove, I have a glove and I'm going to have my glove if I'm sitting where I might get beaned. (I must admit, my glove is usually down under my seat by the middle of the 1st inning.)

As for the game recap, the Rangers won 4-3, Josh Hamilton hit a homerun, Bengie Molina made an awesome pick of a Mitch Moreland throw in the dirt and tagged someone out on a "play at the plate". Joe Mauer DH'd and I was happy. Neftali got the save on a called strike three so that was nice.

As for the end of the 4 game series with the Twins, it leaves the Rangers 1/2 game behind Minnesota for home field advantage. It also finished up with the Rangers leading Oakland by 8.5 games and the LAAAAAA Angels by 9.5. Oakland comes into town for three games starting tonight (Mojo, are you going?) so the Rangers need to take care of business.

Oh yea, my son did manage one autograph. I think I'll use if for the September contest so I'll show it to you in a few days.

If you're still up...and have any Topps MCG codes

I've been trying to make some trade offers for that '56 Bill Sarni, as well as some other '56 play at the plate cards.

I've noticed they are unlocking a lot of '60s cards with a pretty fair amount of '50s cards mixed in as well. Earlier I saw 6 of the 10 cards on the "recently unlocked page" were from the '50s. This is a screen shot from just a minute ago.

Two from the '50s, four from the '60s and some dude from 2010 named Strasburg.

I'd give it a shot if I had any codes.

Great vintage play at the plate

This is one of the cards I've been trying to trade for on the Topps MCG site.

It's a very nice 1956 Topps (duh!) Bill Sarni. Part of my interest is the play at the plate of course, part is the vintage greatness of the card and part is the fact that I wonder if that's supposed to be Jackie Robinson sliding in at the plate.

Any thoughts on that?

Bill Sarni played for the St. Louis Cardinals from 1951 through 1956. His best season was 1954 when he hit 9 homers and drove in 70 in only 380 at bats. He was traded to the New York Giants on June 14, 1956 (along with Dick Littlefield, Jackie Brandt, Red Schoendienst and Gordon Jones) for Al Dark, Ray Katt, Don Liddle and Whitey Lockman. The Giants released him in March, 1957 and his career was over.

Improvements

Not here. PATP is the same. I'm a little gunshy about trying one of the new templates although I've seen some blogs around that have made changes that look great.

The improvements that I'm referring to are over at the Topps MCG site.

I know, I know. Many of you are over it. You either don't have any cards in a virtual portfolio or do and don't bother to check the site out anymore.

They have made some improvements worth noting. First, you can see all the trades you've made. Even the ones where someone else initiated the offer. Until a day or two ago, you could only see the completed trades if you initiated them. I had 53 completed trades that I initiated. Now I can see I've completed a total of 105 trades. That's kind of nice to see.

The best improvement is in how you can search for cards for which you'd like to make an offer. Previously you could search for specific players by year or for just a certain year. Now you can search for specific players, teams, or even positions for a certain year or range of years. For example, I'm looking for vintage catchers. I can search for catchers from the years 1956-57. The only limitation seems to be that it will only show one page of results so if you search for catchers from 1952-1960, there may be hundreds of cards, but it will only show one page worth.

Still, it's an improvement and one I hope to put to good use as I try unload a bunch of the 70 cards in my portfolio for more desirable vintage cards.

Claiming Manny

I hereby claim Manny Ramirez off waivers for my softball team.

I do need the Dodgers to pick up most of his remaining salary.

The Rangers were mentioned as one of the guys that scouted Manny recently.

No, please, no. No Jon Daniels. No Nolan Ryan. NO!

Please?

By the way, Josh Hamilton just hit ANOTHER homeruns. It's 2-0 Texas in the 3rd game of the series with the Twins.

Topps Value Box: Round 2

The day after I bought my first Topps Value Box, I bought my second and final box.

I opened the A&G pack first. It's a hobby pack, but I was still surprised to get a hit.

That is one tiny piece of Joey Votto's bat.

Next up were the 6 packs of Topps Series 2. I managed to get one of the copper parallels. I think these are only available through the Topps Value packs, which basically makes them a gimmick in my eyes. How much do we have to trick up the sets these days?

Luis Valbuena Copper Parallel #309/399

I pulled one MCG code from the packs to go along with the one they include in the box.

These are the cards Topps so graciously added to my portfolio.

1978 Bob Bailey

1972 Cecil Upshaw

Last, but not least, we have the tricked up Refractor from the box. Did I get lucky?

Not really. I'm not into the Strasburg mania. I'd like to get the necessary cards to complete sets, but this is pure money grubbing by Topps. Of course, they are in the business of making money so that's their right.

I'm thinking about making this the prize for the September contest. Any interest in that?

I'm at the Game

Sorry, I don't have time to post now. I'm at the Rangers-Twins game. The gates should be opening any second, so I'm probably standing there with my kids, waiting to go watch them try for some autos.

Hopefully, my favorite non-Ranger doesn't hurt us too bad. He DID break up the no-hitter last night.

Phungo Joe Mauer

This will be my first chance to see Joe Mauer play in person. I hope he goes back to Minnesota wondering how the Rangers managed a four game sweep of the Twins.

See you all back here tomorrow! (Hopefully!)

A Trip to the Woodshed Pays Off

I don't know if there is any truth to it, but I heard on the radio yesterday that Nolan Ryan took Rich Harden "to the woodshed". The word was that Harden was going to get one more shot to keep his spot in the rotation.

I'd say 6 2/3 innings of no-hit ball against the Twins earned him another start. That said, I think the Rangers are tired of the inconsistency Harden is giving them. He's 5-4 this year, with a 5.00 ERA and a 1.58 WHIP. Last night's win was just his 3rd since June 1st, and it was only his 3rd start since June 11th.

It would certainly be nice to see Harden pitch well enough to contribute to the playoff hunt. Good pitching is more important now than ever before and any arm that can provide a boost to the team is fine with me.

Topps Value Box...Value or Bust?

I've seen several blogs reporting on these things.

So I just had to buy one when they finally appeared at my Wal-Mart. It contains one of those "Exclusive" Chrome cards of Babe Ruth, Cal Ripken or some Nats pitcher. It also has 6 packs of 2010 Topps Series 2, one Hobby pack of 2010 Ginter and one MCG code.

Of course I ripped the Ginter first and the best card I got was this one.

At least it was one I didn't have already.

I was a bit disappointed in the Topps packs.

There was this somewhat interesting Miguel Montero near Play at the Plate card.

I also got another copy of possibly my favorite card of the set. How many cards have you seen that show the homeplate umpire making a call at 3rd?

I did pull this Luis Aparicio Turkey Red that I didn't already have.

I didn't get any extra MCG codes, but the one code I did get turned into this...

1984 Topps AL Active Home Run Leaders--Nothing special, but dig that Luzinski beard!

Last, but not least, was the refractor. It's actually a nice looking card, even if it is a Yankee.

I did buy one more of these the next day with a birthday gift card. I'll get around to that box in a day or two.

Joy of an Incomplete Page: Part 2

This is the 2nd of 5 pages I pulled from my original binder. It's the same binder I used to carry to my friends house to trade cards back in the early '80s. I never thought "early '80s" sounded like a long time ago until just now. I'm getting old.

Any empty spaces are from cards that were traded to my best friend. As I mentioned the other day, I got most, if not all, of my 1980 Topps cards from my friend who found 1980 cards in late summer of 1981.




This is apparently the Red Sox page. We have three 1980 Topps Carl Yastrzemskis, one of my favorite players ever. The only other guy keeping the Yaz company is fellow BoSox teammate Jim Rice. Sadly, while transporting this loose page to work, I lost the top middle Yaz card. That sleeve was torn down the side and I've looked everywhere for it. Hopefully it will turn up somewhere.




The back side has more variety. We'll start with a pair of 1980 Topps Gary Carters on the top row. I just realized I lost a Carter too, the one that was in the middle with Yaz. *Sigh*

Row two has a couple of 1980 Topps "1979 Highlights" cards. The first one Lou Brock and Carl Yastrzemski reaching 3000 hits. The second informs collectors that Willie McCovey set a new career homer mark for NL Lefties with 512. That number, and all others, has of course been passed by he of the large head. And I'm not talking about Kevin Mench. The final card in row 2 is a 1980 Topps Rod Carew.

Row 3 has a 1980 Rick Sutcliffe who I'm sure warranted binder treatment just for being a 1980 card. The last card for this sheet is a 1978 Topps Lou Brock 1977 Record Breaker card. Brock passed Ty Cobb as the Career Stolen Base Leader in 1977 with a nice round 900 steals.

You haven't seen all the 1980 Topps cards yet, but the last three pages have some nice vintage cards. Nice if you don't worry too much about condition, which I don't.

If they can, so can I

I'm taking the weekend off.

From the blog that is.

The Rangers have been taking some time off from playing winning baseball so I think I'll join them. They've lost 4 in a row. They don't like it when people talk about the usual "August Swoon", but guess what. They are 6-10 this month and don't look they did earlier this year.

I know every team goes through rough stretches during the season. The Rangers rough stretch goes back to the beginning of July. They are 20-23 since then. The only thing saving them is that the Angels and A's haven't been able to put together a really good run. Guess what Rangers. The A's have won 3 straight and that means they've made up 3 games in 3 days. The A's and the Angels now stand 7 games out of first in the division and even though that seems like a big lead, it really isn't. Not when you can't win.

The Rangers have 42 games left. They need to rediscover the win column. Maybe even today.

I'll be back on Monday...hopefully in a better mood.

Joy of an Incomplete Page...the Completed Version

I am working on getting my Rangers collection organized so I can go all Beardy on the blogosphere. I want to figure out what I have so I can put up a comprehensive wantlist and maybe cut down on the number of 1987 Topps Rangers I get.

As part of the process, I pulled out my original binder. I haven't touched this thing, other than to move it, in years. The last time a card was removed or added to the binder is 1986. This was the binder that I carried back and forth from my friends house so we could trade cards. This is where I stored any vintage cards I was able to get. Except the ones I got in the trades with the creepy old janitor in our town...those I kept in a little treasure box.

I pulled out and scanned the first 5 pages from the binder. Most of them have empty spots where cards were removed for trading purposes. This first page, which is actually the 5th page from the binder, is the only one that has all 9 slot filled, front and back.

Front of 1st page.

From top to bottom, left to right, here are the suspects. Two 1980 Bob Horners, 1978 World Series card with Reggie Jackson, 1979 Ron Guidry, 1980 Ron Guidry, 1980 Red Sox Future Stars, 1980 Frank White and a pair of 1980 Dusty Bakers.

I started collecting in 1981 and never opened a pack of 1980 Topps. My friend was lucky enough to find 1980 Topps packs at a Mott's store in a neighboring town on several occasions. Almost all of my 1980 Topps cards came from trades with him. I don't know why I would have traded for multiple copies of the same player. Hey, I was just a dumb kid.

Back of 1st page

I was a big fan of Pete Rose early in my collecting days. There are three or four pages of Rose cards in that binder. This was the first section of those cards. You have two different 1981 Topps cards, one 1981 Fleer, and doubles of three different 1981 Donruss Rose cards.

Question...do you guys that store your sets/player collections in binders put two cards in each slot?

A Little Willie for My Birthday

Let me apologize if you found this post after typing in an inappropriate search term. This happens to be a baseball card blog so you may be in the wrong place.

However, if you're into cards, you're in the right place.

I didn't expect anything card related for my birthday yesterday. My wife is not exactly anti-baseball cards, but she's close to it. She didn't disappoint me either. She didn't get me any cards, but something very cool in the electronics category.

My little baseball card collecting offspring did manage to surprise me with this little gem.

That's a very sharp 1975 Topps mini Willie Stargell. That is the toploader it was in when he bought it. I was very suprised, not that he would get me a card, but how he would have gotten it. My wife never would have taken him to a card shop. So I asked him where he bought it. He said it came from a garage sale he had been to with my wife. He found it mixed in with some newer baseball cards and a bunch of Pokemon cards. He bought it because he saw it was from '75 and that was close to the year I was born. The best part was he only paid a quarter for it. I was very touched that he would get it for me. Even though Willie isn't one of my collecting goals, this one will have a special place in my collection, much like the Michael Young Turkey Red he gave me a while back.

Here is a better scan of the card. It's in really great condition. It's a bit off center, but the corners are really sharp.

I never realize Willie Stargell's full name was Wilver Dornel Stargell. Willie sounds much better.

Appreciating Cardboard: Randy Jackson Style

Don't go thinking I've come up with some grand new concept for covering cards. This is a direct ripoff of Night Owl and probably countless other blogs. I won't do it justice compared with some of those blogs, but I'm okay with that. Hey, I turned 40 today. I'm happy not to be curled up in a ball complaining about my life being over.

As the post title said, this is all about Randy Jackson.


No, not this guy.


I'm talking about this Randy Jackson, circa 1956 Topps.

It turns out that I really don't want to pay to have all 78 of the cards in my Topps MCG portfolio shipped. So I bundled up a bunch of Red Sox cards and started making trade offers for a variety of cards. The first offer that was accepted was for this Randy Jackson card. That puts my portfolio down to 68 cards and I'll be making some more trade offers trying to pare down the list.

"Handsome Ransom" Joseph Jackson played in the majors for 10 seasons for the Cubs, Dodgers and Indians. He played in 995 games, totalling 835 hits, 103 homers and 415 RBIs. His career average was .261. Jackson was also a 2X All-Star, coming off the bench in 1954 and 1955.

In 1955, Jackson led the National League in double plays. He was traded to the Dodgers in December of 1955. The Dodgers used him as a backup for Jackie Robinson in 1956. In 1957 he had a major knee injury and was never the same player.

This little tidbit comes from Wiki..."17 April 1954: With the wind at his (Jackson) back, he had four hits, including a home run that hit an apartment building on Waveland Avenue, across from Wrigley Field, in a NL record three-hour and 43-minute game against the St. Louis Cardinals. The Cubs won the game 23–13, the highest scoring game ever between these two rivals, and the two teams combine for 35 hits, including five homers and a 10-run Chicago 5th inning. Jim Brosnan is the winning pitcher over Gerry Staley".

I'm off to have a nice birthday dinner. Thanks for the birthday wishes earlier.

Birthday Pie

First, some pie.

Forty-one years ago today, the 4 day experience known as Woodstock came to an end. Roughly half a million people saw 32 musical acts perform in what Rolling Stone magazine called one of the “50 moments that changed the history of rock and roll”.



Topps gave Woodstock a little love on this 2001 American Pie card.

Now for some birthdays.

This great Hall of Famer would be celebrating his 76th birthday today.


Unfortunately, he was killed in a plane crash on December 31, 1972, while escorting relief supplies to earthquake stricken Managua, Nicaragua. Clemente got his 3000th hit in his final regular season at-bat and was voted into the Hall of Fame in a special election just 3 months after his death.


This next player is definitely a step (or 10) down from Clemente, but he today is his birthday also.

Bobby Higginson is turning the big 4-0 today. Why is that significant you ask? It just so happens that Bobby and I share the same birth date.

That cartoon is funny. No explanation. No question. Just a "can of corn".

All I really want for my birthday is a World Series Championship for the Rangers. Is that too much to ask? A guy only turns 40 once after all.

Back to the Blaster Aisle

I ventured back to the discount blaster aisle where I found the 2007 Bowman Heritage I posted yesterday. I wanted another blaster or two to see if lightning would strike again. I was disappointed that all the BH blasters were gone. There were still plenty of discounted blaster left to choose from.

Chris over at Budget Baseball Cardboarding found the same thing at his local "W" store and posted pics of the blaster bonanza if you want to see them.

I counted the different types of blasters and found there were 22 different types of blasters, with 9 of them falling in the baseball card category. I opted to pick up three more of the $11.98 boxes and head home.

I chose two 2007 Turkey Reds (leaving about 6 more on the shelf) and one 2008 Masterpieces box.

The Masterpieces blaster didn't give up anything except base and one SP. I really do like those cards.

I had a little better results with the Turkey Red blasters.

Blaster 1

Todd Helton SP

TRP Thomas Jefferson--One of my favorite cards in the box

Miguel Cabrera Ad Back Variation



Justin Morneau bat relic

Blaster 2

Road to 500...Meh



Jason Isringhausen SP



Mark Teixeira SP

Manny Ramirez Jersey

I also got one of the numbered Chrome cards, but I may use that for the September contest, so I'll show it at some point in the future.

What I would really love to see on those discount shelves is a bunch of 2006 and 2007 A&G blasters? Did they even have those? I wasn't back in the hobby then, but it doesn't hurt to dream.