The Last Great Pull in 2012 (of 2011)

Welcome to 2013! Does it feel any different? No? I didn't think so. It's time to get back to the grind, and nothing says grind better than trying to complete a set released more than a year and a half ago. I found an $11.99 blaster of 2011 Allen & Ginter at Target last week and thought I'd share a little "hit" that I pulled with you all.

But first, here's the rest of the cards from the box that I actually needed.

Here's a pack of dogs from Africa, all looking very serious even if their ears say otherwise. I only have 10 of the Animals in Peril minis, which makes it more of a "haves" list instead of a want list.

The back of the card tells me that this lady won some televised dancing competition on more than one occasion. Good for her.

Gauss was a math guy. The math tells me that there are too many of these inserts for me to collect, but I'm still going to give it a try.

Luke Hochevar was one of the short printed cards that I needed. There are still 5 left for me to chase. I actually need more non-SPs (11) than SPs.

I wonder how noted gun nut Luke Scott feels about the current debate on gun control. Just kidding. I don't wonder at all!

Jimmy Rollins hit 23 HRs last year, but reached base at a paltry .316 clip last season as he enters his age 34 season.

If Rudy had existed as a player in the YouTube era, I have a feeling he would have been given a feel-good 30 second piece on SportsCenter and maybe hit the local talk show circuit. Things were more cerebral in his day, and a big movie came out of his story.

I always forget about these clover cornered parallels until I randomly run across one in a pack or a trade package somewhere. I think in hindsight, it would have been more fun if these were used as the base design.

I'm never drafting this guy again. NEVER AGAIN. I think he struck out more than 700 times last season.

And finally, here's that great pull - a hand-numbered Bazooka Back mini of Jason Bay. Bay had some very good seasons in almost total obscurity for some lousy Pittsburgh teams before his one randomly great season in Boston. He was a former Portland Beaver, but probably best known in this household as the dodged bullet when the Cardinals ultimately signed Matt Holliday to a huge deal following the 2009 season. I must say, it's fun to get hand-numbered cards, but everyone knows some crusty intern was handed a 10 cent blue Papermate pen and told to get to work on all of these cards. They're probably not so special when you really think about it.

Check the 2011 Ginter want list on the sidebar. It's been updated along with all of the extras that I've pulled that are available for trade. Happy New Year!