Heritage Grande

Late last week I received another package, this time from the blog Nachos Grande, containing a supersized portion of tasty Topps Heritage treats with a side of cards from my general want list. In exchange, I sent am sending over a stack of Stadium Club cards.

I can't believe how many players are gone from the 2006 Cardinals championship club already. Guys like Taguchi, who is on a minor league deal with the Cubs now, have been gone for awhile. A lot of guys that were significant contributors to that team such as Tyler Johnson and Randy Flores have seen their departures fly under the radar, by and large. The Cardinals renewed focus on building their team from within their own system is very interesting, at least.

Brian Fuentes was one of a number of players the Cards have seemed to covet in recent times, but ultimately passed on (or were passed on by.) I never saw the sense in throwing a lot of dollars at a guy who couldn't even keep hold of his own closing role at Colorado, though, so I wasn't disappointed when trades never materialized.

Seeing Shane Victorino reminds me that it's almost fantasy baseball time. Victorino has been on one or more of my times for the past couple of seasons, providing just enough on the basepaths to be tantalizing yet not enough anywhere else to really justify keeping him in a constant starting slot. There are so many players who tread this line. At least he's not Corey Patterson.

I may try and do a regular fantasy update on the blog, complete with baseball cards, of course. I haven't fully committed to that idea, though.

One of the cards I received was the disembodied head version of the Albert Pujols Upper Deck Timeline card. After initially thinking this set was awful, I've really come to appreciate some of the designs and am still working towards hopefully completing the Cardinals team set, SPs and all.

This is the very last 2008 Baseball Heroes card I needed to complete the Cardinals team set. I had several opportunities to buy this card cheaply at a card show I attended in January, but I couldn't remember if I needed it or another Cardinal legend. Ultimately I ended up passing on both. I'm still interested in getting some of the rainbow of parallel cards that are rampant in this set.

Finally, here's ex-Cardinal Dmitri Young and the state flag of Mississippi in all of their respective glories. This is the last flag card that I needed from the A&G set. Finally, a sense of completeness!