I'm still rather speechless about tonight's NLCS game. This is the type of game that the Cards have lost all year. They scored early, but not often. In fact, this is the exact same game they lost to the Phillies in the NLDS, when they got to Roy Halladay early but couldn't do anything for the rest of the game. They scored 4 tonight off of Gallardo, who is like a reverse Bud Norris to the Redbirds for some reason, but didn't so much as sniff home plate for the rest of the game. Fortunately, Carp battled through 5 and the bullpen was up to the task, pitching 4 scoreless innings capped off by another maniacal 4-out save by Jason Motte.And now, baseball cards...
Pack 1:
US301 - Tom Gorzelanny
US220 - Adam Dunn ("Yo, guys... no offense... but you probably don't want me to bat.")US121 - Jon Rauch
US324 - Melvin Mora
US66 - Andy Dirks
US151 - Cory Gearbin (Sometimes I don't know the names that I am looking at or typing.)
US71 - Jeff Francis
KC-103 - Zach Britton Kimball ChampionsUS72 - Colby Rasmus (Ugh.)
US86 - Rafael Furcal (The single most important in-season acquisition. I'm convinced that the Cards would have been eliminated from playoff contention with plenty of days to spare without the Furcal deal. It's bizarre, because until this very moment when I looked it up, I could not have told you who the Dodgers got in return for Furcal. It turns out it was someone whose name I only recognize from his 2011 Bowman card.)US302 - Alex Torres
US49 - Rickie Weeks All-Star (I hate Rickie Weeks.)
Pack 2:
US101 - Scott Downs
US120 - Bobby Parnell
US33 - Jayson Nix
US30 - Dustin Ackley (What does it say about Ackley... and the Mariners, for that matter... that this young rookie second baseman has become the heart of Seattle's offense? Wow.)US55 - Anthony Rizzo
US94 - Ryan Vogelsong (Whoa, settle down there, Crazyface.)US2 - Ty Wigginton
TDG-30 - Diamond Giveaway Code Card
T60-120 - Ozzie Smith Topps 60 (Great looking card. This goes right into the Ozzie binder. I don't even think I recognize this photo, which is nice.)
US50 - Jered Weaver Red Target Parallel (It looks like in the Update Series they turned the retail exclusive Diamond Gemerald inserts into exclusive colored border parallels. I guess I am going to be suckered into wanting these things if they're Cardinals.)
US60 - Heath Bell All-Star (It's cool when you can instantly recognize a moment from a game you merely watched on TV.)US306 - Brandon Phillips All-Star
Pack 3:
US5 - Josh Willingham
US176 - Xavier Nady
US54 - Jerry Sands (The future savior of Los Angeles? Of the Future?)
US122 - Alfredo Aceves
US194 - Jason Kipnis
US57 - Tony Campana (Here's another for the Weird Face file.)
US270 - Todd Frazier Bedazzled
DD-26 - Buster Posey / Brian McCann Diamond Duos (These often pair young players with legendary Hall of Famers, but I guess McCann is just playing that role here by wearing a retro uniform.)US238 - Carlos Beltran All-Star
US175 - Mike Trout (Highly touted rookie.)
US131 - Jeff Keppinger
US294 - Edwin Jackson (Here's another one for the Blurry, Horizontal Pitcher file. This is also a cool TV moment for me, however, as I clearly remember the day and place that I watched Jackson's first start against the Small Bears.)Pack 4:
US35 - Eduardo Nunez
US32 - Matt Stairs (I should have scanned his stats on the back. They go all the way back to 1992!)
US67 - Miguel Olivo
US179 - Michael Pineda Rookie DebutUS228 - Zach Britton Rookie Debut
US276 - Yuniesky Betancourt (I'm still not over the fact that he hit a HR in Game 1 of the NLCS.)
TTU-14 - Matt Garza Topps Town
477 - Franklin Gutierrez Pukey YuckarellaUS146 - Jordan Walden All-Star
US31 - Curtis Granderson All-Star
US242 - Matt Holliday Home Run Derby (I approve of this card.)US128 - Mariano Rivera Checklist 3 of 5
Pack 5:
US187 - Bobby Wilson
US311 - Drew Butera
US93 - Matt Downs
US223 - Arthur Rhodes (Rhodes must have come over to the Cards just a little too late for the deadline. This photo is great, although it makes Rhodes look extremely short for some reason.)US267 - Sam Fuld
US178 - Jason Bourgeois
KC-144 - Reggie Jackson Kimball Champions (I still hate that my scanner likes to crop these borders off.)
425 - Johnny Mize Vomit Parallel (Well... er... yes! Awesome. I have a hunch now that the retired legend parallels aren't more difficult to pull than your garden variety Jason Bartletts, but it's just a hunch.)
US319 - Corey Patterson (Ugh, Corey Patterson would have to show up and ruin all of that good feeling about all of the Cardinals cards I've been pulling here. Oh well, at least he's not on the playoff roster.)US58 - Tim Lincecum All-Star
US229 - Asdrubal Cabrera All-Star
US170 - Brad Ziegler
At least the vomit is someone you'll want to keep. I've got one of the cards you showed scheduled for a post later today.
ReplyDeleteNice bronzed bedazzled short print there dude!!
ReplyDeleteThat Ozzie's pretty awesome, I'm going to have to track one down.
ReplyDeleteAnd I'm with you, when I saw the 4-0 lead had been cut to 4-3, I knew we'd have to score a few more for a chance to win the game. Here's hoping we can wrap this up at home.