State of the Cards, 2013 Edition

Now that we're a week and a half into the 2013 season, it's time for a little analysis on where this season is going. Just kidding! Small sample sizes, guys! Small sample sizes. It's fun to look at stats right now and see that Michael Morse of the Mariners is on pace to hit 97 HRs and that Cardinals rookie Matt Adams is hitting .643. It's hard to make much of else of a season that has already seen the Astros win 3 games, which is close to the over/under on what I figured they'd win in any given month this year.

I'm posting some cards from the final packages I received in February, though technically these first few are from a PWE. Jazzy Jedi Jeff of 2 by 3 Heroes sent me some tasty cardboard Cardinal parallels from the recent flagship Topps set. Jake Westbrook has basically picked from where he left off last year, boring people to death while putting up really nice numbers from the 4th starter position. He tossed his first shutout in 7 years today in the final game in the Cardinals first home series. Meanwhile, Brandon Phillips is crying himself to sleep tonight. Well, I don't know that for sure, but that's what I'm going with.

Given the Cardinals recent handling of injuries and injury-related news, I'm going to go ahead and assume that Jason Motte is out for the year and will require Tommy John surgery. That leaves a full-time closer job open. Mitchell Boggs has never really wowed anyone in his opportunities in the role, so it seems natural that someone experienced like Edward Mujica could be given the job. The problem is, Mujica has a pretty unimpressive track record outside his St. Louis work.

I also received a small package from Adam of Thoughts and Sox. Adam is in the first group of people I ever traded or corresponded with, so it's always nice to hear from him. He sent over a bunch of well-loved 1971 Topps cards, and there were several that I didn't recognize, which is always a good sign.

The '71 in the best shape by far was also the most star-studded. My monthly card show is coming up on Saturday, and I should really force myself to take a closer look at the always present vintage-heavy tables.

Finally, here's a Carlos Beltran Heritage Chrome parallel. Topps severely reduced the odds on getting the Chrome parallels last year, and I can say that I have seen very few of these compared to past years. Oddly enough, they are still stamped with the same-ish printing run. 1963 of these exist, supposedly. If they didn't all make it into packs, I wonder where they actually are. And if they were all distributed in packs, does that mean that there are lots more 2012 Heritage base cards than other years?