More progress in completing the set. While there aren't a lot of cards to write home about, at least there weren't any duplicates, either. Here's my picks from the pack:

Best three cards (in reverse order):

#3 – Coco Crisp (#190): I like collecting (maybe hoarding is a better word) Athletics cards because of the green and gold. I love the way those two colors look together and find it very appealing. Green and gold, in case you didn't know, are also the official colors of Australia. Even though you'll find neither in our flag, they're all over the place in our sporting uniforms.

I also like dirt on my baseball cards. Dirt signifies extra effort, and playing hard. Combining green, gold and dirt is a winner in my book.


#2 – Carlos Ruiz (#219): Look at his eyes. Ruiz is tracking that fly ball. It's those little things - capturing the fundamentals on film - that makes me happy. I love cards that do that.


#1 – John Buck (#296): Who knew that a card that obscured the subject's face could look so good? But that is one heck of a catcher's mask right there. It's only fitting - the Blue Jays' Charlie O'Brien started the trend of hockey-style catcher's gear. Not surprising, really. Here's something you might not know - O'Brien originally had a mask with a fierce-looking Blue Jay, in the traditional hockey mask style. But MLB wouldn't approve it, and made O'Brien go with a mask with the official Jays logo instead. It was quite a few years before they finally relented and allowed masks with personality.


Worst card:
Heath Bell (#178). It's not so much the card, because I like the picture and the display of raw emotion. My problem is with the uniform that Bell is wearing. Judging by the hat, it looks like a Fourth of July (or September 11th) special - see the flag hat? But the uniform is all-white. First, I thought the Padres wore a sandy beige? Second, that uniform isn't just white - it's, really, really gleaming white. He looks like a chef.


Jamie Moyer Award for best card back:
Kurt Suzuki (#79). This card gets the nod for its brief primer on Hawaiian baseball history, at least Hawaiian baseball history as it relates to Kurt Suzuki.

Insert cards:


Chipper Jones Topps 60


Albert Pujols/Miguel Cabrera Diamond Duos


1990 Bernie Williams 60 Years of Topps


1953 Duke Snider 60 Years of Topps Lost Card (A particularly poignant inclusion)


1988 Greg Maddux 60 Years of Topps Original Backs (there's something kind of anti-climactic about getting a card that you already have the original...but I guess it could have been worse - it could have been that 2010 Albert Pujols)


Jered Weaver Kimball Champions

Was there a hit? Is it available for trade?:
No, and with three already pulled I don't expect there to be any more.

Any Diamond Parallel cards?:

Yes! David Wright (#15). Notice anything missing? Like diamond foil? That's four out of six. I give up.


Card I was most happy to see: Paul Konerko (#93). While he is Mr. White Sox now, Paul first made his mark in the big leagues with the Reds after spending time as a Dodgers farmhand (and touted prospect). While I don't necessarily seek out Konerko cards and don't have a Konerko PC, I won't turn them away and am always glad to get them. I think four different PCs are enough, though.


Oddball card I thought I'd mention: Matt Lindstrom (#222). Notice where the Topps logo is on this card? It's not where it's supposed to be. Since I only have one copy, I can't tell if this is a printing error or if the card is really supposed to be laid out like that. I can't see anything in the top left-hand corner that would keep the logo from going there. It's not like his pitching hand is in the way or anything.

I'm going with printing error. Does anyone else have a picture of a Lindstrom card they can post?

Overall thoughts:
Another pack that serves its purpose - the purpose being, get me closer to completing the set! Nothing to shout about, but any time I can get another 41 cards closer to my goal, I'm not going to complain.

Set Progress: 225/330 (68.2%) 
Lyle Overbay sightings: 1

Another 50 cards, or 48, or 46, or 44. At just over 25 percent of the set completed after two packs, I'm well positioned to weather the onslaught of duplicates that is no doubt coming. Of course, I've already found two of the three hits in the first two packs - will I make it three for three? And if I do, what do I have to look forward to for the other seven packs?

Best three cards (in reverse order):

#3 – Casey Blake (#158): You know the "God kills a kitten" meme? That's what this card reminds me of. Every time you masturbate, God kills a Casey Blake.


#2 – San Diego Padres (#126): Two words: throwback uniforms.

Collecting baseball cards is largely about nostalgia. We do it as adults to re-connect to when we did it at kids. That's why, I think cards featuring uniforms from the '70s and '80s, or reprint cards from those eras, are so popular. That's our time. If this card featured the players wearing old San Diego Padres PCL uniforms from the 1940s or '50s, it wouldn't resonate with me even half as much as the brown and mustard yellow.

And if you don't believe me, you probably haven't been paying attention, because just about everybody's baseball card blog as some sort of nostalgia-related regular feature. We may make fun of junk wax, and we may dismiss it, but we'll never stop loving it.


#1 – Brett Wallace (#329): What's going on here? An Astros card as my top pick? Well, yeah. This card is damn good. It's a night card, so the picture is sharper, and the lines are crisper. It's an action shot, and not one of those spring training staged action shots. This picture was clearly taken at Minute Maid Park. It's a snapshot in time - every single person in that photo is doing their job. Not a one is even looking at the camera, and they don't realise that the shutter snapped. And if all that wasn't enough, look at the baseball. The photographer snapped the shutter at the exact moment the bat hit the ball. That, my friends, is great timing. That's how good this card is.

Was there a diamond sparkle parallel of this card, with the twinkle replacing the baseball? If not, there should have been. If so, then that's the only one of these cards I'm interested in acquiring.


Worst card:
We have a tie! Melvin Mora (#286) and Chris Narveson (#92). Tongues have no place on the front of baseball cards. Didn't your second-grade teachers tell you not to stick them out?


The Jamie Moyer Award for best card back:
Trevor Hoffman (#277). The career statistics of baseball's all-time saves leader.

Insert cards:


Michael Young Topps 60


Rickey Henderson/Desmond Jennings Diamond Duos (A completely ridiculous statistical comparison in a set full of ridiculous comparisons)


1979 Eddie Murray 60 Years of Topps


Jimmie Foxx National Chicle reprint


Hanley Ramirez Kimball Champions

Was there a hit? Is it available for trade?: Nope, no hits this time, sorry.

Any Diamond Parallel cards?:


Yes, Cleveland Indians (#68). Another printing error, except this time it's the right-hand third that's missing its diamond foil. I'm seriously considering asking for some sort of replacement from Topps. I understand that printing errors happen, but a 1:3 success rate (so far) is unacceptable. We'll see what happens with the rest of the box.


Card I was most happy to see: Oakland Athletics (#204). There were any big-name cards in the pack, but this team card of one of my five teams but me in a good mood. The green, the fresh, crisp, white, and the beautiful sunny day - this card is what baseball is all about.


Card I was least happy to see: Zach Duke (#96) Gold Parallel (214/2011). First gold parallel, and it's a freaking Pirate. I am a Pirate gold parallel magnet. Does anybody know any Pirates collectors? Maybe I can bundle them together in an eBay lot and get like 50 cents for them.

Overall thoughts:
A workmanlike pack that served its purpose: to get me even closer to completing the set. Only one duplicate, and, again, it was a card that I got from my bonus pack, so it wasn't really a duplicate as far as the box itself is concerned. There were a few laughs (Casey Blake), a few tears (Zach Duke and the second broken diamond parallel) and a lot more cards put into the binder. I can't say that I'm overjoyed, but neither am I displeased.

Set Progress: 123/330 (37.3%) 
Lyle Overbay sightings: 1

Apparently, semi-fearsome facial hair is the order of the day for the Reds this season. I know I'm scared.


I kid because the Reds have not had a good time of it in California. They damn near got swept by the Giants, in humiliating fashion, no less. But one thing remains true - I will never get tired of seeing Scott Rolen in a Reds uniform. He just looks like he was born to play for the Reds. And honestly, he's been the secret weapon for the team this year. Long may it continue.


This is Todd Van Poppel. You may remember him. Twenty years ago, he used to be Stephen Strasburg.

Look, I'm not here to bash on Strasburg. I wish him all the best and hope that he is successful and has a happy life. But Strasburgmania (and yes, I'm guilty of it, too, if you look at my Twitter account during his first game) is premature and quite silly. I hope that his injuries aren't serious, and he does become a great, dominant pitcher. Baseball needs those - pitchers who you make a point to watch whenever they start because there's always a chance they could pitch a game for the ages. Sandy Koufax, Nolan Ryan, Roger Clemens and Randy Johnson - anything was possible with those guys whenever they took the mound. I hope Strasburg does turn out like them, because it makes the game fun. But to quote Bill Simmons paraphrasing Winston Wolf from Pulp Fiction, let's not go sucking each other's popsicles just yet.


From the same Score set, here's a card of Darrin Jackson. Two things:

a) from the look of things, this picture was taken on a Negro League commemorative day because I'm pretty sure those are Chicago American Giants caps the players are wearing

b) maybe I should do a "Cards of Baseball Announcers" series like Night Owl and his Great Night Cards.


Sometimes I hate my scanner. Here's a nice shiny silver mini of Bobby Crosby, and thanks to my scanner, it looks dull, lifeless and dark. You can't even read the name on the card.

By the way, that's two different metallic parallel cards of Bobby Crosby that I have (the other is a gold Topps parallel) and he doesn't even play for the A's anymore.


Dear U.S. Playing Card Company - I have a bone to pick with you. I think your set of baseball player playing cards is pretty cool - but the three of hearts? How hard would it have been to make this guy the jack of spades, or even the jack of clubs?


By the way, this guy should have been the joker.


Finally, there's this card, and it requires a bit of explanation. You see, it came sandwiched in amongst the following other cards - a 2010 Barry Zito, the Buster Posey rookie card I mentioned in the other post, and a Tim Lincecum ToppsTown card. I flipped through them and thought "well, Greg knows I collect Lincecum cards, so maybe he thinks I'm a Giants fan, and he's just trying to unload some of his unwanted random Giants cards on me." I'm not a Giants fan, of course, but Cepeda is a Hall-of-Famer so it's a nice card to have. I must have looked at this card at least five different times before actually flipping the damn thing over and realising what kind of card it actually was:


It's a Cards Your Mom Threw Out original back card! You know, the insert set that I'm foolishly trying to collect to completion. What a generous card to include in the trade package. Thanks Night Owl - you're still my favourite nocturnal trading partner. Even if you did steal that kid's Tootsie Pop.

Dallas Braden is a badass. Dude always does things his own way, and things are starting to come together for him with a 3-0 record to start the season. The latest win came yesterday, at the Yankees' expense, but that wasn't the best part, oh no. The best part was when Braden called out the purple-lipped cheater, Alex Rodriguez, for taking a shortcut on the way back to first base after a foul ball. It was a shortcut that took him right over the pitcher's mound. And that's a no-no, in Braden's eyes.


I wonder if there's any post-screaming spike in the price of Braden's cards. It seems like any time a player is in the news for any reason, people like to hike up their Buy it Now prices.

P.S. I don't have any '09 Updates and Highlights in my collection (yet) so I had to borrow this image from the always entertaining Cards on Cards site. Check it out - especially on Airbrushed Fridays. Thanks Madding!

Last season: 75-87 (4th in AL West)
This season's prediction: 3rd in AL West



Just kidding, of course. Even I wouldn't pick a key player that isn't playing for the team. I just wanted to show off my gold parallel card of Crosby.

The real key player based on cards in my collection is Justin Duchscherer. Much has been made about the Ben Sheets signing, and how he provides a veteran presence in the rotation, but the A's already had a leader. What I want to know is, how will The Duke handle coming back from an absolute nightmare of a season last year? And how is his mental health? I hope, for his sake, he's got things under control. Because that's what's really important, not baseball.
The Bottom Line:
The Athletics good start should give them some confidence later on down the track. Of course, it needs to be said that their record was fattened by playing four games against the Orioles last week. But the four starters (Sheets, Braden, the Duke and Brett Anderson) are all off to a good start. I'd say a .500 (or better) season is in the cards.

In today's home opener at Safeco Field, this fellow pictured above will start for the Athletics. His opponent for the Mariners is their Australian starter-turned reliever-turned starter again.

Yes, it's Justin Duchscherer vs. Ryan Rowland-Smith, in what is quite possibly the biggest pitching matchup in Major League history, at least in terms of last names. One is eleven letters long. The other is twelve letters, with a hyphen. That's 23 letters plus a punctuation mark!

This matchup is so huge, even the shiny new scoreboard at Target Field can't fit it all (which, quite frankly, is nothing more than poor planning).

My question to you all is - can you think of anything possibly bigger? Maybe something involving Giants great William VanLandingham?