Ginter Birthday Blaster

Building sets by blasters is the only way to go! Stretching things out over a period of many months is even better. This blaster was a birthday present from my friend Kevin. At 6 cards per pack and 48 per box, this product is actually beginning to hit my target level for both cost and size/effort for optimal blog posting.

Pack 1:

56 - Shin-Soo Choo (Choo was extremely productive, affordable, and under the radar for the second year in a row. I feel like no one was talking about him at all in 2010. Has Cleveland sunk below even Baltimore in terms of "the radar"?)

249 - Alfonso Soriano

285 - Alex Rodriguez (I'm hoping Rodriguez becomes disinterested in the game soon instead of hanging around, hitting 25 HRs or so and generally being uninspiring and uninteresting to watch.)

312 - Carlos Ruiz

14 - Shane Victorino Mini A&G Back (It's okay, Phillies Phans. You'll probably be back in the playoffs next season.)

TDH59 - Hunter Pence This Day in History (The Astros have to rebuild, obviously, but can you really build your team around Hunter Pence?)

Pack 2:

38 - Tiago Della Vega (AKA my upstairs neighbor. If he wakes me up again at 5 AM, I am going to start blasting fools.)

119 - Dan Uggla

93 - Brandon Inge

39 - Josh Johnson (Does a player's name detract from their Potential Popularity Quotient? I think in baseball, someone like Josh Johnson suffers a bit. It probably doesn't help that he plays for the Fish, though.)

NA24 - Condor National Animals Mini (Nice wingspan, wingy.)

TDH1 - Chase Utley This Day in History

Pack 3:

94 - Luke Hochevar

167 - Dan Haren

43 - Yovani Gallardo

314 - Ivan Rodriguez (Dude's played with a lot of teams. I can't keep up.)

20 - Sacagawea Mini (Sometimes I think the "title" for the non-baseball subjects minimizes their place in history or society a bit. Sacagawea = "Interpreter & Guide".)

TDH20 - CC Sabathia This Day in History

Pack 4:

185 - X-Rays

3 - Ryan Braun

14 - Shane Victorino

234 - Nick Johnson

- Crack the Code ad

LO13 - Prometheus Lords of Olympus Mini (Quite a lord, that Prometheus...)

TDH64 - Josh Hamilton This Day in History

Pack 5:

272 - David Blaine (The "last names only" on the front thing occasionally throws me for a loop. I thought this was just some sort of unimpressive wrestler at first, instead of "Holder of Various World Records".)

226 - Brian McCann

261 - Adam Jones

326 - Aaron Rowand

29 - Cole Hamels Mini A&G Back

TDH43 - Jonathan Broxton This Day in History

Pack 6:

131 - Tyler Flowers

100 - Matt LaPorta

149 - Ichiro Suzuki (There's something to be said for winning a Gold Glove every single year that you're in the league... for a decade! I do wish, however, that I could put more stock in something that seems to be largely based on reputation, fielding percentage and offensive production instead of something that actually attempts to measure defensive value.)

244 - Aaron Cook

SSS8 - Henry Hudson Sailors of the Seven Seas Mini

TDH54 - Derrek Lee This Day in History

Pack 7:

8 - Miguel Tejada

106 - Dustin Pedroia

295 - Josh Thole (If you hold your tongue with your fingers and try to say his name outloud, it sounds like "Tha Soul". I have no idea why I do such things.)

322 - Gary Matthews

133 - Nelson Cruz Mini Black

TDH71 - Billy Butler This Day in History

- Checklist 4 of 4

Pack 8:

144 - Stuart Scott

46 - Chad Billingsley

85 - Yunel Escobar

AGHS14 - Mark Teixeira Baseball Sketches (I don't have many of these, even though they are not incredibly rare. This may have been the first time in my life I was happy to get a Mark Teixeira card, as Kevin can be witness to.)

WB4 - Tree World's Biggest Mini (It's General Sherman... in Tree form!)

TDH40 - Jake Peavy This Day in History

I'm well on my way to updating the want list. I think it's high time I picked one of these sets off.

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[11/10/10 11:38 PM Edit:] Sad to hear about this, but I just learned of Dave Niehaus's sudden passing. He was one of my all-time favorite baseball broadcasters, and, along with Bill Schonely, is a true Northwest legend. Hat Tip to KOMO and The Card Chop.