2002 Upper Deck Series 2, Part 2

2009 Allen & Ginter has hit the retail stores. I picked up a blaster and a pack tonight and I'm so excited that I'm tempted to post about that stuff instead of the 2002 box that I started. However, I know that if I do that, I'll probably never get back to this stuff. Self-awareness is a good thing, you know.

Pack 9:

683 - Reggie Sanders (I miss seeing Sanders patrolling left field in his Cardinals days, especially with the persistent struggles of Chris Duncan and Rick Ankiel. I don't miss the horrible collision he had with Jim Edmonds once upon a time, though. Yikes.)

738 - Ichiro Suzuki Season Highlights Checklist (If I'm not watching, Ichiro cards in my collection actually multiply.)

558 - Mike Sirotka

611 - Mike Rivera

657 - Todd Hundley (Hundley had some pretty huge years, but he looks bad in a Cubs uni.)

PJ-DW - David Wells The People's Choice Game Jersey (These fall at 1:24 packs, so I got my "on average" jersey card. Okay, here's where you all can help me out. What jersey, exactly, was Wells wearing for this card? At first I thought it might be a Boston jersey, but Wells didn't pitch for the Red Sox until 2005. His three previous teams were the White Sox, the Blue Jays and the Yankees again. I know that Toronto features red as a secondary color, but I don't have a clear picture in my mind of an all-red Jays jersey. That just seems wrong anyway.)

Give up?

Oh, okay. An "official 2000 All-Star Event." I hope it wasn't that silly celebrity softball game that they show on ESPN every year.

525 - Matt Thornton Star Rookie

Pack 10:

577 - Ben Davis

551 - Tim Salmon (Always an underappreciated player in my book.)

592 - Hank Blalock (You can barely see his bat here, so the photo looks really strange.)

688 - Mike Redmond

549 - Brad Fullmer

705 - Marlon Anderson (Somehow Anderson quickly went from a near-.300 hitting everyday second basemen to a part-time outfielder/pinch hitter in a few short years.)

590 - Chan Ho Park

527 - Tyler Yates Star Rookie (Flags were big in 2002.)

Pack 11:

594 - Pedro Martinez (So, Pedro's a Phillie now. It seems like a bit of a desperate move to me. The Phils are hot right now and not really a team I'd expect to make a move like this.)

639 - Vinny Castilla

671 - Cesar Izturis

645 - Richie Sexson

661 - Craig Counsell (Classic "doing the turn" baseball photo.)

718 - Wilton Guerrero

601 - Mark Quinn

531 - Steve Bechler Star Rookie (Tragic card.)

Pack 12:

690 - Mo Vaughn

664 - Jay Bell

719 - Chris Reitsma

727 - Barry Bonds Year of the Record 73 Home Runs (Bleh to this guy. It would be nice to see someone break his stupid record, but I don't think it will happen in my lifetime.)

632 - Gregg Zaun

726 - Ichiro Suzuki Year of the Record 192 Singles (Yep, it's him again. This is similar to the one I got in an earlier pack, but it's for all the singles he hit. The other card was for the insane number of Mariners victories in 2001.)

606 - Dmitri Young

521 - Val Pascucci Star Rookie

Pack 13:

708 - Jason Kendall

682 - David Bell

566 - John Flaherty

711 - Kris Benson

608 - Craig Paquette (Paquette was coming off of a 3 year stint with the Cardinals and is in a Detroit uniform.)

742 - Jason Giambi Season Highlights Checklist

662 - Mark Grace (Grace had some choice words to say about Colby Rasmus's sad attempt at growing a mustache during the Cards/D-Backs broadcast today.)

501 - Brandon Puffer Star Rookie

Pack 14:

613 - Luis Rivas

619 - Frank Thomas ("What is this... baseball... thing? I don't get it! I'm just a designated hitter!")

593 - Todd Van Poppel (Master of analogies to disappointing draft prospects.)

732 - Alex Rodriguez Year of the Record 52 Home Runs (More bleh.)

660 - Curt Schilling

598 - Dustin Hermanson (Hermanson pitched a full season for the Cardinals in 2001, was fairly average, and I constantly confused him with Chad Hutchinson.)

RA3 - Pedro Martinez Return of the Ace (These are pretty cool looking. I guess as much as the last post was the Cardinals post - 4 Cardinals in 8 packs - this is the Pedro post.)

505 - Chris Baker Star Rookie

Pack 15:

638 - Gary Sheffield (On his Braves tour.)

612 - Jacque Jones

693 - Shawn Estes

667 - Eric Karros (Another FOX announcer. These guys are everywhere!)

668 - Hideo Nomo (I wonder if Night Owl has this one.)

717 - Scott Williamson

528 - Mark Corey Star Rookie

Pack 16:

699 - Bobby Jones

548 - Darin Erstad

640 - Javy Lopez

728 - Randy Johnson Year of the Record 20 Strikeouts (Ol' Randy is still around and kickin'.)

683 - Reggie Sanders (Ahh, doubles!)

738 - Ichiro Suzuki Season Highlights (Ahh! Ahh!)

RA8 - Kevin Brown Return of the Ace

537 - Mike Gonzalez Star Rookie (Annnnnd we'll wrap it up with the Braves semi-closer.)

Part 3 will be coming up hopefully in the next couple of days. I've gotten a couple of e-mails about these cards and I'm by no means attached to them. I'm certainly up for entertaining trade offers, so let me know.

(Side question here: does anyone have a reliable 2009 Allen & Ginter SP checklist? I feel like it's not cards above #300, since I've gotten one of those in almost every pack I've opened so far.)