I supposed you all want to know my thoughts on the Joey Votto contract, right?

On one hand, I am excited that the Reds have locked up the best player I have seen in a Reds uniform since Barry Larkin (yes, I know Ken Griffey Jr was a Red, but he was much better as a Mariner) for the next twelve years. This contract probably means that Votto will spend the entirety of his career, a possible Hall-of-Fame career, in the Queen City. We haven't seen that since the aforementioned Mr. Larkin.

On the other hand, it means that Votto will spend his entire career with the Reds, so the team will be spending in the neighborhood of $25 million to a 39-year-old first baseman come the year 2022. That sort of contract can cripple a small-market team with little revenue streams.

But who knows what player salaries will look like ten years from now? It's entirely possible that $25 million per year then will seem like $4 million now, and $4 million could be the league minimum. This could turn out to be a bargain, or a fairly priced deal.

I'm not ashamed to admit it: part of me is really glad for the deal because it represents a giant upraised middle finger to the fans in Toronto, Los Angeles and anywhere else that was all but measuring Votto for their team's uniform in time for the start of the 2014 season. Instead, thanks to his new contract and full no-trade clause (which is effectively moot thanks to the 10-and-5 rights that Votto will earn in a couple of years), we'll see Votto in red and white for a long, long time.

Why would Votto take the extension? Well, frankly, it's for as much money as he probably could have gotten in free agency, or at least near enough as makes no difference. So that takes money effectively out of the equation. I believe the answer lies in a quote that Votto said to John Fay, the Reds' beat writer for the Cincinnati Enquirer. "Here I am about to sign a $200 million extension," Votto said, "and the only media I have to answer to is you."

That's a big part of it. I grew up in Cincinnati and Raleigh, two cities with the same distinction: they are each among the smallest cities in major professional sports. The result is that the Reds (and the Hurricanes in Raleigh) absolutely own the town. To be a Cincinnati Red is to be loved by the fans (as long as you don't make an ass out of yourself). Joey Votto may be a Toronto native, and he may be one of the best first basemen in the game today, but if he were to have signed with the Blue Jays, as good as he is, and as a Torontonian he may be, he still be behind 21 Maple Leafs in the city pecking order. And while Votto might have movie star good looks, in Los Angeles he would have had to compete with actual movie stars. Not to mention that it's tough to stand out when the team owner is still the city's favorite athlete. I don't know if being "The Man" is an important consideration for Votto, but that quote clearly shows that he knows the situation in the Queen City.

All in all, I was stoked when I got the alert on my phone yesterday morning that said "Votto, Reds near extension." And it didn't take long for the next update to flash across saying that the deal was done. While the numbers seemed incredible at first (after all, there's only been four $200 million contract in history, and I never would have thought the Reds would agree to one of them), the Votto deal shows that Bob Castellini and Reds management are willing to do what it takes to win. I can't ever imagine Carl Lindner agreeing to such a deal, for example. It's no coincidence that his ownership was a fallow time for the Reds.

One thing that has been mentioned a bit, but not enough in my opinion, is the effect this extension has on Brandon Phillips and his negotiations. These now appear to have broken down, and there's a good chance that he could leave after this season. While that would be sad, if forced to choose between Votto and Phillips, I'd pick Votto, ten times out of ten. The Reds got their man, and I for one am glad of it.

What's the cure for getting up at 3:30 in the morning and spending an eight-hour shift at the filling station? Opening a box of baseball cards when you get home, of course. I decided to go with one of my blaster boxes because I would open slightly more cards than a jumbo pack, plus I'm really intrigued about the Retired Number patches. I hope a get a good one.

I'm going to break this down, old school. Pack by pack, with the highlights and the interesting cards. It will take a while and make for a long post, but I view this as my triumphant return to the world of baseball card blogging. Like the title of the post says, away we go...

See, I really do have the cards. In the background you can see the binder, all loaded up with 37 plastic sleeves and ready to store some cards.


Here's the patch card. I think I'll save it for last. One year ago today, I pulled the ol' hidden patch trick. I promise I won't do that this time. No April foolin'.

No lie, the first card staring me in the face was a freakin' Yankee. Not only that, it was a Yankee who's not even a Yankee any more (Jesus Montero). This is not a good omen.



If these are representative examples of the insert sets, I won't have any problems not collecting them. Color me underwhelmed with Golden Moments and Classic Walk-Offs. Still, it's nice to get a Votto in the first pack.


Also, I'm not too impressed with the Photoshopping techniques used to blur out the other players in these two cards. They look really, really sloppy. I'd just as soon Topps didn't retouch the photos. I understand wanting to put the focus on the player whose name in on the front of the card, but there are better ways to do that than this.


Thoughts from Pack 2: The Chris Sale card was the first one I was really excited to get...Nice to see that Topps got the new Marlins logo on the front of the cards, even nicer to see they didn't feel the need to airbrush everyone's hat and uniform to reflect the change...Are Golden Moments and Classic Walk-Offs the only insert sets? Once again, I got one of each...Randy Wells really needs to get more fiber in his diet.


Thoughts from Pack 3: Nice to see Joey Bats get the coveted #100 for his card...Just when I thought the insert sets couldn't get any worse, I pulled a Gold Standard card. Worse yet, it was A-Fraud. I refuse to scan it on the grounds that doing so would violate the Geneva Convention...I think I like the gold parallels more than last year's diamond parallels, but I wasn't aware that the 61st anniversary was the Golden anniversary...I also pulled an Austin Romine card. If you're scoring at home, that's two Yankees catching prospects in three packs. Who says there's a New York bias in the checklists?


Thoughts from Pack 4: FREDDIE!!!...You can imagine my excitement when I opened the pack to see an Angels logo and the word "Albert", followed by my disappointment when I saw "o Callaspo"...I got my first Golden Giveaway card. I assume the principle is the same as the Diamond Giveaway and the Million Card Giveaway. Is the gimmick as least good? I liked the virtual rings for some reason...I forget; is R.A. Dickey called "The Thing," or is it his weird off-speed pitch, or his freakish, ulnar-ligament-free pitching arm?


Thoughts from Pack 5: I got my first Oriole (Alfredo Simon) and first Athletic (Andrew Carignan), so I'm just waiting on my first Reds base card...The one exception I have to my staunch anti-Yankees on baseball cards stance; anything that involves Jason Giambi's porn stache (RIP). Not even A-Rod's second appearance in the blaster can ruin that...Casey McGehee's 2012 card may have the best picture used for a baseball card in the past decade.


Time for a mid-blaster break. So far, I have pulled only three insert cards that I deem worth keeping. The Votto card was one. Above are the other two.

You know what? I just looked at a preview of this post. It's already pretty long, and adding the other five packs is just going to make it longer. So I'm going to split it up into two posts. See you in a couple of hours with part two.

Earlier this week, I posted my latest pull from the Topps Update jumbo pack I purchased over Thanksgiving. It was a Bert Blyleven liquorfractor, and my pal Richard (aka Dawgbones) commented on how great it looked, especially since some liquorfractors are worse than the original card.

Today's liquorfractor comes from Series 1 - it's card #5, Joey Votto. I think it goes in the "improve" pile. I really like the 3-D effect:

Incredibly, not the only Votto card in that pack. Or even the best one. Next up is an early contender for "Pull of the Year, 2012"


The leader in the clubhouse...a Joey Votto jumbo patch card, numbered 1/6. It will take some doing to top that, but I hope I can. I'd hate to think my 2012 has peaked on January 4th.

I love it when case hits like this one (odds - 1:665) end up in the right hands. Namely, me.

Back on the horse. My intermittent Internet service made it hard to post these past two weeks, but so close to the end of this box, I have to get the last two packs in. I can't give up. It's been a while since I scanned these cards, so let's hope I remember what I was going to say. And even if I don't, I can probably fake it.

Best three cards (in reverse order):

#3 – Jose Bautista (#216): For me, this is the enduring image of 2010. Jose Bautista, the Brady Anderson of the 21st century, hitting one of his 54 home runs from last season. Or is it? The more I look at this card, the wonder I don't wonder if this was just a long foul ball. The angle that his body is turned at (extremely closed off), his line of sight (down the left-field line from my estimation) and the general lack of urgency (kinda of hard to tell from a still photograph, but check out the body language) makes me think not is all it seems.

Yes, it could very well be one of his many taters from last year. But something tells me he was right back in the batter's box five seconds after this photo was taken.


#2 – Scott Hairston (#221): Another card that shows the power of the Padres throwback uniforms. I particularly like how the brown and yellow of the unis match the brown and yellow of the infield. I know for a fact that the Padres didn't pick those colors to save on laundry bills (or in honor of brown hamburger patties and yellow cheese) - in fact, they wore brown because it was the favorite color of original Padres owner C. Arnholt Smith. What that says about a man whose favorite colors were brown and yellow, on the other hand...

But now, it's time for a word about Scott Hairston. Unfortunately, Scotty isn't with the Padres anymore. He's moved on, this time to the Mets. It's his fourth team in three seasons (if you count his two stints with the Padres separately). Brother Jerry has moved on, too - gone to Washington. It's his sixth team in six seasons, and seventh overall. I don't know what the record for most teams played for by two brothers actually is, but the Hairstons have to be making a good run at it.


#1 – Jonathan Lucroy (#105): My favorite card of the whole first series. The first thing that popped in my head, looking at Lucroy sitting on the bench, staring into the distance with his shinpads still on, waiting for the next inning to begin, was the title The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner. This picture captures what being a catcher is all about - you're with the team, but not one of them.

Catchers are a breed apart. Other teammates rarely socialise with them, at least during the game. They usually sit alone, watching the game, thinking about the situation, what pitch they would call for, what they are going to do when it's the home half of the inning. At the same time, catcher is the only position that affords a view of the entire field. They are the leaders, and they take precedence over anyone else. No wonder so many of them end up becoming managers.

Call it The Loneliness of the Second String Catcher.


Worst card:
Jason Kubel (#4). Seriously dude, are you whistling? You just seem too pleased with yourself.


Jamie Moyer Award for best card back:
Mariano Rivera (#42). You might think this might be another lifetime achievement award, showing all of Mo's sure-fire Hall-of-Fame stats. But you'd be wrong. The reason this card gets the Jamie Moyer Award is there in the upper right-hand corner. Card #42 for Mo Rivera. Classy move, Topps.

Insert cards:


Frank Thomas Topps 60


Evan Longoria/Ryan Zimmerman Diamond Duos


1955 Ernie Banks 60 Years of Topps


1953 Stan Musial 60 Years of Topps Lost Card (a lot of these cards seem to feature Stan Musial, thanks to the Bowman lawsuit)



Pee Wee Reese Kimball Champion

Was there a hit? Is it available for trade?:
Yes! Another hit, that makes five for the box:


Randy Wells sticker autograph. Available for trade.

Any Diamond Parallel cards?:

Yes! Russell Martin (#114). Oh dear, another printing error. I've gotten more printing errors than I've gotten hit. Not even Night Owl wants this card.

Card I was most happy to see: I thought it was going to be this one:


Joey Votto NL MVP (#211). Why wouldn't it be my favorite card in the pack? It's the card that commemorates the best player on my team winning an MVP award, the first Cincinnati MVP since Barry Larkin in 1995 (you forgot about that one, didn't you?) It's a great moment in Reds history. The only problem is, there's a greater moment in the same pack...


Jay Bruce (#191) ...namely, Jay Bruce's NL Central-winning home run against the Astros. Again, the first time this has happened to the Reds since 1995. What's more, this is only the fifth time in major league history that a player clinched his team's trip to the post-season with a walk-off home run. Can you name the other four?


Card I was least happy to see: Alex Rodriguez Checklist (#155): The second of two A-Fraud cards in this pack, almost undoing all the good work the pack did earlier. However, I think Jay Bruce, Joey Votto, Scott Hairston's mustard yellow uniform and Jonathan Lucroy's pensive stare make up for this congratulatory wankfest of Rodriguez's 600th steroid-aided home run. (*barf*)

I really don't like Alex Rodriguez.

Set Progress: 309/330 (93.6%) 

Lyle Overbay sightings: 2