First, the annoyed bit. Let's get that out of the way first.

I'm going through my jumbo box of 2013 Series 1, and I've opened four packs so far. That said, pack #4 was a complete bust. Every single base card that I pulled was a duplicate of one of the cards in the first three packs, with I'd say 70% of them being from pack #3 (that is, the pack that was lying right next to it in the box). That's just really, really poor collation.

Okay, not every single base card was a duplicate. There was one (one!) different card, and here it is.

I was hoping I would get one of the Out of Bounds short prints, because now I have something to put in the glaring hole on the first page of the binder where card #7 is supposed to be. And Albert Pujols is a nice one to have. That said, he is available for trade if you have a Jay Bruce, Paul Konerko or Todd Frazier OoB short print to trade.

Now for the good part. I mentioned a big eBay purchase the other day. Well, it arrived, quicker that expected:



This is one of the printing plates for 2009 Spectrum, aka the "Four Rainbows" that I've been chasing since, well, 2009. Three years ago, I let a Lincecum printing plate slip through my fingers because I was on school camp and got my times confused (and missed the ending by an hour). I wasn't going to let Felix get away.

The goal for me is not to get all the printing plates, but at least one from each of the four rainbows. One down, three to go.

...in Topps Series 1?

Because I just pulled my second in as many boxes. I now have a Howie Kendrick to go with my Eric Hosmer.

Both are available, preferably in exchange for a short print I actually care about.

This is what Card US58 is supposed to look like:

Not bad, especially because it's Lincecum. I need one for my PC, anyway. But this is what the US58 I pulled looks like:


Holland's greatest living ballplayer, Rik Adelbert Aalbert Blyleven.

What's the name of that particular type of diamond parallel? Port wine stain?

Pack 17 (A-Fraud)

60 - Mariano Rivera

128 - Johnny Cueto
230 - Justin Upton
5 - John Lackey


TR13 - Brian Giles (I did have this one already, but it wasn't "case fresh" so the one you see above replaced it in the binder)
208 - James McDonald (RC)
11 - Fernando Tatis


189 - Jay Payton (Is that ivy? Must be an interleague game. Anyway, the green makes a nice background with the orange and black)


249 - Jack Hannahan

Pack 18 (G.H. Ruth)
116 - Omar Infante
171 - Jeff Bailey
286 - Odalis Perez
25 - Jon Lester


85 - Justin Verlander (yet another back shot - VERLANDER 35)
184 - Bobby Parnell (RC)


99 - Juan Castro (More fundamentally sound defense from the 2008 Orioles)
279 - Ryan Church
215 - Ian Kinsler

Is it halfway through the box already? Wow, how it flies. I'd be more sad if I didn't have half the box and an entire jumbo box of U&H still to open.

Pack 19 (R. Howard)


26 - Jason Giambi (complete with porn mustache)
110 - Hideki Matsui (how many Yankees are in this set?)
38 - Eric Wedge
227 - Freddy Sandoval (RC)


TR20 - George Sisler (loves me some Sisler because of the Ichiro parallels, plus he's an honorary Oriole, as are all St. Louis Browns)
51 - Will Venable (RC)
287 - Greg Maddux
325 - Dustin McGowan
322 - John Buck

Pack 20 (T. Williams)


82 - Miguel Cairo
240 - Ryan Braun
250 - Josh Hamilton
238 - Jorge Cantu


170a - CC Sabathia as a Yankee (SP) (see what you've made me do, Topps? You've made me put Yankee cards into toploaders! Damn artificial scarcity!)
321 - Checklist (Kazmir & Price)
327 - Phil Coke (RC) (FFS - how many more Yankees?)
283 - John Baker
320 - Miguel Cabrera

Even my short prints have Yankees on them!

My first short print of the 2010 season is fitting, because it's the guy who shares card No. 125 with one of my all-time favorite players. It's George Sisler of the St. Louis Browns, the man who held the single-season hits record until Ichiro broke it in 2004. That act forever cemented the two players in history, and if I had to guess, this Legendary Lineage card is not the first, nor will it be the last, to feature these two players.

Sisler is largely forgotten to fans today (at least, he certainly was until 2004, and has since faded back into obscurity). It didn't help that he played for the St. Louis Browns, perennial doormats of the American League. But Sisler's feats were remembered for a while after he left the game, and he was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1939.

Sisler was signed as a pitcher, but, much like another George of the same vintage (Ruth), he was converted to a position player so that the Browns could have his potent bat in the lineup as much as possible. It certainly worked, as during his record-setting 1920 season (when he took the hitting crown from that bastard Ty Cobb), Sisler played not just every game, but every inning. He also finished second to that "other" George in home runs. With a career that spanned the dead ball and lively ball eras, Sisler proved himself to be a speedster on the bases (Ichiro still hasn't caught up to him in stolen bases) who could also hit the ball out of the park if need be.

I'm glad to have this as the first short point in my collection for a couple of reasons. First, there is the connection with Ichiro. I targeted this card because of it, I won't lie. But secondly, George Sisler played for the St. Louis Browns. Leaving aside how good the Browns' logo and orange-brown swoosh look on that card (and they look damn good), there's a more significant reason. In 1954, the Browns left St. Louis...

...and became the Baltimore Orioles.

So there you go. A short printed card of one of the great "forgotten" Hall of Famers, a player who will forever be linked to the greatest hitter of all time (and Ichiro is the greatest hitter of all time - sorry, Pete), and the best player in history for the team that would go on to become the Orioles. And, frankly, it's just a great looking card. I can't wait for it to get here so I can add it next to Mr. Suzuki.

By the way, I also tried to get a Joe Morgan short print, but got outbid at the end. Since the auction ended when I was in the middle of teaching a class, not much I could do about that. Oh well. My time will come.