Live Blaster Break: Pack 3

We're moving along nicely with this 2007 Bowman Heritage break. An auto showed up in the last pack. I'm not expecting much else, but hopefully I'll get plenty of cards I need toward finishing the set.

Pack 3

#17 Nick Johnson--need it

#243 Hideki Okajima no auto variation--need it

#192 Gil Meche rainbow--need it

BHP 68 Ryan Finan--need it

BHP 58 Jeremy Jeffress--need it

#212 Billy Butler--have it

#4 Todd Helton--need it

#52 J.J. Hardy--need it

Another pack down, another variation and 7 out 8 cards that I needed. You know you need a lot of cards to finish a set when almost every card from a pack fills a hole.

Live Blaster Break: Pack 2

Wow, it appears I'm having some technical difficulty posting tonight. The problem is I've hit the enter key at the wrong time. Twice. Oh well, let's get to pack two of my 2007 Bowman Heritage Blaster.

Pack 2

#105 Pedro Martinez--need it
#81 Orlando Cabrera--need it



Sean Kazmar Signs of Greatness Auto.


This makes 3 autos from 3 blasters. Not bad at all. I don't know who this guy is though. I find it hard to believe, but the box says Kasmar is a Group G auto and those fall 1:4,800 packs. That is highly unlikely. I'm just sayin'.


#4 Todd Helton rainbow--need it
BHP 76 Chris Salamida--need it
BHP 40 J.R. Trowles--need it
#234 Ryan Braun--have it
#108 Rafael Furcal--need it


I've been pulling hits out of all these blasters. I wonder if they have any more....?

Live Blaster Break: Pack 1

I'm sitting here, staring at the last of my 2007 Bowman Heritage discounted blasters. I've opened a couple of these and I like them enough that I want to build the set. The set does have a number of variations and SPs so it presents a challenge.

So, I'm going to do something different. I'm going to do a live blaster break. There won't be any video, but I'll post each pack as I open it and list the contents. It may take a few minutes between posts so I can scan any cards of interest. I'll list the contents of the pack and whether I need it for my set.

Sounds exciting right?! Woo Hoo! Let's go.
Box Topper--Just kidding, there's no box topper.

Pack 1

#165 Rich Harden--need it
#9 Randy Johnson--need it




#241 Ryan Sweeney no auto variation--need it
#64 Victor Martinez rainbow--need it
BHP 26 Mark Wagner--have it
BHP 90 Gabriel Sanchez--have it
#172 Aubrey Huff--have it
#48 Freddy Garcia--have it

Ok, that's the first pack. I needed 6 of 8 cards and got one variation. Fun city.

I'll be back with pack 2 in a bit.

Rangers Win!

Nelson Cruz just made a nice catch for out 27 to help preserve the win.

Rangers win, A's lose. Yay me!

I know it's just the Royals, but a win is a win.

The Rangers can enjoy a day off tomorrow, then get down to business with a 3 game set in Minnesoata, a 4 game trip to Toronto and then 3 at home vs. the Yankees.

They'll have to do better against those teams. No sloppy play. No wasted chances.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled programming.

*Go enter the September contest! Only 4 people have entered so far.*

September Contest

Oh how the months roll by. The older I get, the faster they go too. My dad use to tell me that and I thought he was crazy. As usual, he was right.

A bunch of people got early entries into the September contest by commenting on a previous post. If you're one of those 16 people you already have one entry into the contest.

The September contest is pretty straight forward. Just tell me who autographed my son's program and you get 5, count 'em FIVE, entries in the contest. I'll randomize the early entries and the entries of the people who guess correctly and send someone a prize.

I hope that's big enough for you to see the auto.

I blew it up a bit just in case. I'll let the entries go for a day or so and then we'll randomize a winner. As always, thanks for stopping by and good luck!

By the way, previous winners of the monthly contest can enter to win this month. Winning twice would just improve your odds of winning the year end contest.

World's Greatest Mom=Discount Blasters

My mom contributed nicely to help my wife buy my birthday present. That gift had nothing to do with my card hobby though. A couple of days ago, I received a surprise envelope from her with a nice little Wally World gift card. She said she knew I didn't get any cards for my birthday (She didn't know about the '75 Willie Stargell mini my son gave me).

My intention was to buy a few packs of 2010 Topps football, just to get a taste of it. When I arrived at the card aisle, I noticed the discount blaster shelves had been restocked. I grabbed 4 discounted blasters along with one blaster of 2010 Topps Football and a couple of the football rack packs.

The first blaster I busted....in the car (ahem...) was 2007 Bowman Heritage. I bought one of these before, so I thought maybe I'd go for the set. Here's the goods from this blaster.

The Lone Ranger. Of the blaster that is. Michael Young.

Kei Igawa rainbow.

Elijah Dukes rainbow

Delmon Young rainbow

B.J. Upton rainbow

The Rays were well represented in this blaster.

Josh Hamilton rainbow

Not a Ranger card, but I like it!

Mickey Mantle rainbow: 1 of 5

Mickey Mantle rainbow: 5 of 5

A verly small sliver of Vladimir Alvino Guerrero's bat. This is from Group B and falls 1:46 packs.

This is the second signs of greatness auto I pulled. I got a Carl Crawford in the other discount blaster. This is Jeff Manship. Uh huh, I had the same thought. Who is Jeff Manship? He made one start for the Twins, back on May 1st. He has been back and forth between the Twins and Rochester this year, but is currently on the big league roster. He got his seond big league win August 18th. He is 1-0 with a 2.41ERA in 18.2innings this season. On-card is the way to go. You hear me Topps?

I got a number of the background variations and signature-free cards as well. My first blaster had rainbows with signatures and this blasters had rainbows with no signatures. I have to thank Dayf over at the Cardboard Junkie for posting about these cards back in 2007. I found his old posts via Google searches and now have some idea of the variations and SPs. Thanks Dayf.

There you have it. I like these cards. I bought one more blaster that I'm going to do something else with later today.

Scorched Earth Scattershooting

The Texas Rangers entered August with an 8.5 game lead. They leave August with the same 8.5 game lead. Thank God that the A's and Angels don't really have it this year. The Rangers were 13-15 in August. I'm sorry, but limping into the playoffs isn't going to cut it. I suppose I should be happy their August swoon wasn't as bad as it has been in past seasons and that the other teams didn't make up any ground.

Unfortunately, this evening's game against the Royals was so brutally bad, I can't enjoy the big lead tonight. I don't know what is wrong with Cliff Lee, but I'm getting tired of telling everyone around here that "he'll be ok" or "just wait for the playoffs". That guy needs to get his act together. I know everyone goes through rough patches, but he's made 11 starts for the Rangers now, and he's 2-5. Let's compare his stats for Seattle and Texas

In Seattle, Lee made 13 starts, went 8-3 with a 2.34 ERA. In 103.2 IP, he gave up 5 homers and 27 earned runs.

In Texas, Lee has made 11 starts. He's 2-5 with a 4.69 ERA. In 80.2 IP, he has given up 10 homers and 42 earned runs.

That's not going to cut it. I know he won't be here next season. No pitcher in his right mind want's to pitch in the heat we have here in July and August. I'm still holding out hope that he'll be his normal dominant self come playoff time. Really, I am. If I keep telling myself that, maybe he'll be ok.

I won't hold Lee entirely repsonible for the debacle in KC. How on earth do you uncork a wild pitch in the bottom of the 9th with the winning run on 3rd!!?? I wanted to throw up when I heard that on the radio.

Ok, let's do some scattershooting.

1. I heard Stephen Strasburg was all set to get his Strasectomy on Friday. I mean Tommy John Surgery. Hey, I get it. You made a big splash for the Nats and an even bigger splash in the hobby. Let's face it, a fat guy in a pool can make a splash. How about you put up some long term numbers and then we'll name the surgery after you.

2. So the Rangers traded Joaquin Arias to the Mets for Jeff Francouer. I have to admit, I don't know squat about Francouer. I guess I need to find out something about him. I do know that Arias was a bust here. He just couldn't help the team in any way. Lucky for me I've got this to remember him by.

3. I need a little help from any of you with any broadcast knowledge. I was listening to ESPN radio on the way to work. The guy says that Strasburg is having Tommy John surgery on Friday to repair his injured ankle. I know he messed up. You know he messed up. It's not a big deal. Why don't they correct themselves? He went right on to the next copy point like he didn't realize he messed up and he may not have realized it, but I know he has a producer there too. Why don't they correct the guy? You hear it all the time during games. One guy will make a mistake and no one corrects the mistake. Sometimes you hear a pause, like they realized they said something wrong, but they don't correct it. Can't the guy talking in his earpiece say hey dummy, you said "X" when you meant "Y"? Maybe it doesn't bother anyone else. Sometimes it's even funny, but sometimes I just wish they would fix it.

4. The rosters expand from 25 to 40 on Wednesday. Is your team looking for help on the bench or are they giving some of the young guys some big league game time to finish out the season?

Ok, that's it. I'm off to figure out the contest for September.