5 on the 5: 2009 Topps Heritage High Number Series Presented by The San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl

I picked up 5 packs of the stuff I prefer to call Heritage High Series, my first 5 packs and probably my last for quite awhile as I need to devote more money to Christmas shopping and less to myself. This pack wrapper is particularly jarring. It's like a Civil War (Ducks and Beavers) broke out in the Topps design department. (Speaking of Ducks football, there was a Ducks-themed skit on SNL last night, featuring one of those movie vampire kids as Nate Costa AKA "Phil Pomeroy".)

Pack 1:

And the very first Heritage High Series card of 2009 for me is...

566 - Eric Byrnes

597 - Jason Vargas

578 - Gerardo Parra

UH188 - Jeff Francoeur

UH312 - Ryan Hanigan

CHR161 - Kendry Morales Chrome 1409/1960 (Morales is a good player. It's nice to see him break away from the Pacific Coast League, which many have dominated over the years, but few seem to be able to translate it to Major League success.)

619 - Justin Masterson

538 - Chris Jakubauskas (I love saying this guy's name. He's a great story, too, as Seattle picked him up out of independent leagues a couple of years ago and he suddenly cracks the big leagues at age 30.)

Pack 2 (aka the Dallas Braden pack):

576 - Garrett Olson

549 - Dallas Braden

522 - Brad Bergesen

UH205 - Dallas Braden (Ehh... him again. I think Topps could have used a more flattering photo of him.)

UH91 - Anderson Hernandez (has two last names is the end of that sentence.)

715 - Nolan Reimold SP (I do have to say that I like the fact that the short printed cards in this set are extremely easy to identify, since they use different card stock on the back.)

618 - Jarrod Washburn (I've heard that the Mariners might bring this guy back. You could do worse, I suppose.)

634 - Mark Loretta (Loretta has been annoyingly successful against the Cards lately.)

Pack 3 (aka the Rays pack):

624 - Koji Uehara

526 - Brandon Lyon (I can't believe the Astros gave this guy three years. THREE YEARS!)

562 - Diory Hernandez (Lots of rookies in this set it seems.)

UH298 - Jason Bartlett All-Stars (I love this year's All-Star logo for... some reason. It makes these cards look nicer, in my opinion.)

UH242 - Randy Wells

CHR117 - J.P. Howell Chrome 1415/1960

598 - Jeff Baker

574 - Gabe Kapler (Yep. Rays-a-plenty.)

Pack 4:

506 - Adam Kennedy (I don't know what was more confusing to me - Kennedy's success this season after having a really negative couple of seasons with the Cardinals combined with his failure to make an impact with the Rays or the fact that he played mostly third base with Oakland... and was fairly successful.)

565 - Endy Chavez (Chavez was on his way to becoming a cult hero in Seattle when injury struct. It was a microcosm of their season, I think.)

589 - Jamey Carroll

UH95 - Ryan Freel (Three teams in one season gets you a cropped, fuzzy photo of the guy in a Royals uniform.)

UH322 - Sean Marshall

CHR155 - Huston Street Chrome 1413/1960 (Any Rockies fans in the house? I'd love to trade with you.)

658 - Pat Burrell

630 - LaTroy Hawkins

Pack 5:

604 - Joe Crede

669 - Rocco Baldelli

660 - Ramiro Pena

UH303 - Luke French (The back of the card tells a charming little tale about how French always dreamed of becoming a Mariner - which he did after being sent over from Detroit in the Washburn trade. What's strange is that he was born in Kansas.)

UH14 - Yadier Molina All-Stars (Hey, it's Yadi!)

RP-07 - Gordon Beckham Rookie Performers

548 - Cristian Guzman

521 - Nick Evans

- David Wright thing with a security sticker on it

I need some more of this stuff. Feel free to stick some packs in my stocking.