Surprise Package from Padrographs

Is there anything better in the world than getting a surprise package full of baseball cards from your favorite team? I'm hard pressed to think of many things. Along with street corner Mexican food, donut shops that stay open all night and very hoppy beer, this has to be one of life's best little pleasures. Or perhaps I'm just giddy because I just watched the Cardinals put up 11 runs on Justin Verlander and the Tigers.

Warning: This is going to be a very J.D. Drew-heavy post. I didn't really realize this until I was finished scanning all of the cards. The first card is from a bilingual Pacific set called Invincible. All I can think about is that if J.D. is so "Invincible", what's he doing playing baseball in what looks like some sort of heavenly vast expanse? Perhaps he was unable to dodge all of those batteries from Phillies fans and got knocked out.

I like receiving Pacific cards because there's only a very slight chance that I actually own the card. In fact, I am not sure I owned any of the cards in the package before, which is rather impressive considering how many Cardinals binders and boxes of dupes that litter my living space.

Like Eric Davis before him, Will Clark is another Cardinal who you probably either did not know donned the Birds on the Bat or just never picture him wearing a St. Louis cap. Larry Walker (not pictured) also fits this category. I need more of all of those guys.

Yes, here's J.D. again. I'm not sure how he sneaked his way in one more time.

I also got a handful of 2009 Bowman cards. I don't know who Miguel Flores is, but apparently he was last year's 16th round pick and enjoys working on cards. This is his gold parallel card. Also included was his chrome card, which is nice.

This card is so hideous looking that it seems like it might be a joke. I think I love it.

Albert Pujols survived the 2009 Goudey test. This set is so hit and miss with the drawings.

This David Freese card from Series 2 Topps conforms to the Cardboard Junkie cropping standards. Who is David Freese? Oh, he's the guy that Jim Edmonds was traded for. He's been hurt for most of the season, unfortunately.

There were several new Topps cards and several new Upper Deck cards as well. Brendan Ryan is captured here sans high socks, which is rare these days. Ryan is starting to settle in as the everyday shortstop, which is somewhat surprising.

I am far too cheap to buy stuff like Finest, so I'm in the position of relying on others to get Cardinals from this set. To be honest, though, I don't understand why both this and Topps Chrome co-exist.

A big thanks to Rod from Padrographs. I will be sending him a package back along with a requested reading recommendation.