Shiny and Jumbo Sized

On a night where the ghost of Don Denkinger momentarily possessed umpire Jim Joyce, I thought I'd show off an eerie jumbo pack of 2009 Topps Heritage High Series I picked up last weekend in a retail binge. Let's play "Got It or Don't Got It" as we see if I can make some progress on my 2009 Heritage master set.

609 - Jonny Gomes (Got It. Gomes has been a particularly pesky run producer in the NL Central this year as the Reds seem to be the only competition for the Cards so far.)

646 - Milton Bradley (Got It. As the cartoon on the back reads, Milton led the AL in OBP and OPS in 2008. Those were undoubtedly happier times.)

682 - Scott Podsednik (Don't Got It! Pods has been a somewhat successful free agent pickup for one of my fantasy teams this year. I take steals where I can get them.)

553 - David Aardsma (Don't Got It! As my Mariner-loving friend laments, Aardsma may be one of the best closers in the league but no one would know it because he never gets opportunities.)

607 - John Mayberry Jr. (Don't Got It! I don't know who he is, but I'm guessing his father was named John Mayberry and he probably played Major League Baseball.)

668 - Xavier Paul (Don't Got It! All I know about Paul is that he was in the lineup during a Dodgers game on KCAL that I got to watch in the hotel on my recent business trip. You never know just how grateful you'd be for a baseball game to watch until you're stuck in a hotel in another town that barely gets any channels and hasn't even heard of FSN.)

UH229 - Kevin Millar (And on to the Updates & Highlights portion of the pack...)

UH320 - Mark Schlereth / Daniel Schlereth Classic Combos (Weird... I did not know this card existed. I don't know what else to say about it, though.)

UH119 - Bud Norris (I HATE THIS GUY! Against the Cardinals he's Bob Gibson, Cy Young and Roy Halladay all wrapped up in one. Against everyone else he's Kip Wells meets Mike Maroth and Anthony Young.)

CHR171 - Rick Porcello Chrome 0943/1960 (Porcello is a young phenom or whatever they like to call guys like this. I'm not collecting the chrome cards unless they're Cardinals. This is good for trade bait, but it also means it's likely I won't get an insert or short printed card.)

CHR173 - Russell Branyan Chrome Refractor 436/560 (Another Chrome card? What kind of sorcery is this? Branyan isn't quite as tradeable, but this one is a refractor at least.)

636 - Ben Francisco (Don't Got It!)

605 - Alex Gonzalez (Don't Got It! I wonder how many Alex Gonzalezes there are in the world.)

571 - Francisco Cervelli (Don't Got It! Cervelli is making fans forget about Jorge Posada in... well, maybe not.)

What? Denkinger's still alive? Sorry about that...

Here's More High Series

I want to talk about 2010 Topps. I really do. I actually picked up three regular packs of the stuff at Target yesterday along with a jumbo pack. I have some thoughts about it. But I have some serious work to get done here at Cards on Cards Central, including my need to finally finish my 2009 Heritage High Series want list so that some of you can trade me your extras. I picked up another blaster of the stuff yesterday as well and will get this all sorted out as soon as I'm done posting it here. This will be a quick 'n dirty post, whatever that means.

Pack 1:

525 - Braden Looper (It's amazing to me how many of these players already have new teams - or in Looper's case, no team.)

640 - Melky Cabrera (Now with the Braves.)

685 - Sean West

UH166 - Mike Redmond

UH113 - Francisco Rodriguez All-Stars

CC-CH - Cole Hamels Clubhouse Collection Relics (Not bad. I was just complaining recently about how I never get jersey cards from Heritage. There's a stripe with this one, too, although it's hanging out along the edge of the window.)

557 - David Huff

Pack 2:

617 - Julio Borbon

638 - Matt Maloney

656 - Orlando Cabrera (Now with the Reds.)

UH186 - Zack Greinke All-Stars

UH77 - Jeremy Reed

CHR195 - Pat Burrell Chrome 0291 / 1960 (I tried to look up what Burrell's 2010 destination is and realized he's still with the Rays. Oops.)

670 - Ross Detwiler

569 - Alex Rios (Again, for some reason I thought Rios was traded again. Maybe it was because he had such a terrible time with Chicago last year.)

Pack 3:

680 - Scott Hairston (Hairston is pictured with Oakland but is back where he started last season: San Diego.)

676 - Ryan Perry

652 - Tyler Greene (It'll be interesting to see if Greene can make a push for a utility/backup infielder role with the Cards this season.)

UH175 - Jody Gerut

UH318 - Carl Crawford All-Stars (The All-Star Game MVP)

FB-10 - Ichiro Suzuki Flashback (My requisite Ichiro card.)

504 - Takashi Saito (Now with the Braves.)

567 - Eric Hinske (Ditto for Hinske.)

Pack 4:

613 - Josh Bard (Now with the Mariners.)

596 - Jason Marquis (Now with the Nationals. Does this mean that the Nats make the playoffs this season?)

561 - Derek Lowe

UH185 - Kevin Correia

UH97 - Juan Castro

696 - Fernando Martinez (My first short print of the box.)

608 - Jon Garland (Now with the Padres.)

649 - Ty Wigginton

Pack 5:

532 - C.J. Wilson (C.J. Wilson is Straight Edge. Oh, the things you learn from Wikipedia.)

514 - Anthony Swarzak

510 - Alfredo Figaro

UH298 - Jason Bartlett All-Stars

UH76 - Scott Rolen

CHR124 - Randy Wells Chrome 0253 / 1960 (Blehhh.)

681 - Scott Olsen

599 - Jeff Francoeur

Pack 6:

543 - Cliff Floyd (Out looking for a job, presumably.)

570 - Fernando Nieve

610 - Jordan Schafer

UH206 - Chris Burke

UH14 - Yadier Molina All-Stars (I think I have about 5 of this card now, but I'm still lacking other Cardinals from Updates & Highlights.)

RP-10 - Jordan Zimmermann Rookie Performers (I could have sworn that I scanned this card. Oops.)

639 - Scott Kazmir

620 - Kenshin Kawakami

Pack 7:

537 - Chris Gimenez

556 - David Hernandez (I don't know who any of these Rookie Stars are.)

590 - Jarrett Hoffpauir (Now with the Blue Jays. That's too bad, I always liked him...)

UH158 - Wilson Valdez

UH304 - Nick Swisher / Johnny Damon New York Rockers (I can't post this card. This is a family-friendly blog. Look it up if you want to, but don't say that I didn't warn you.)

720 - Russell Branyan (Branyan is looking for a new team as well. This one is a short print. I wonder if there are any cards out there with Branyan in a Cardinals uniform.)

545 - Neftali Feliz

674 - Ryan Church (Now with the Pirates.)

Pack 8:

633 - Tony Gwynn (They really should have stuck with the Jr. on these cards once Gwynn became a Padre. It looks weird.)

653 - Nyjer Morgan

UH70 - Wilkin Ramirez

UH119 - Bud Norris

702 - Jason Bay (This is good - another short print. I feel better that Bay is no longer with Boston, although I don't like the Mets at all, either.)

592 - Cliff Lee (Now with the Mariners.)

534 - Cesar Izturis

Alright, it's time to get to sorting. I'll update my 2009 Topps Heritage want list shortly.

Sloppy Topps and Monday Night Miscellany

Just a few quick updates here. Even though it's technically Tuesday for nearly everyone reading this by now, I only got off work a couple of hours ago and it's still Monday night to me.

I was given a couple of mid-'90s hobby boxes for my birthday a couple of months back and I'm finally getting set to show them off. I don't have a Trollian effort in me this time (i.e. I won't be recapping and scanning images from every pack) but I am going to post one of the packs to A Pack A Day shortly and another to APTBNL in the coming days. I'm hoping to have both boxes sorted out before the week is out and I will post some sort of overall recap here. I will likely end up sending a lot of the cards to the team collector people I trade with unless someone objects horribly and/or provides me with a list of cards they need (or can claim that they have every card they could ever hope to get from these sets.)

My college bowl pick 'em is drawing to a close. I was going to do an update on Sunday, but I have been pretty disheartened by the entire bowl season this year. Fortunately, Ducks basketball is off to a great start this year. In any case, the winners will be announced Friday. I was asked today if I was going to do a similar contest for the NFL Playoffs, but I'm really unimpressed with what's going on right now. Three of this weekend's games are rematches of games played just yesterday. Boring! Instead, I'll point you in the direction of Waxaholic's contest. Just don't beat me, okay?

Finally, you may be wondering why I posted a Jason Grilli card.

TRXAS? Has anyone else noticed this?

Speaking of noticing things, what's the story with the "tracking info" on the backs of all of the Topps products that came out in the latter portion of 2009? It looks like each card within a set has the same "code" while the code may be different for different products.

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.

5 on the 5: 2009 Topps Updates & Highlights

I don't suppose this needs much of an intro. I picked up 5 packs at the local megastore about a week ago for my first look at this year's Updates & Highlights. I was tempted to buy a blaster, but once again came to my senses and remembered that you get far more cards buying the (searched) loose packs. I'll probably buy some more of this stuff next weekend just for fun, but I'm trying not to get too burned out on it as I know I'll be buying plenty of the Heritage High Series scam of a product... if it ever comes out.

Pack 1:

UH11 - Daniel Schlereth (Best known as Mark Schlereth's son so far.)

UH57 - Juan Uribe

UH21 - Matt Diaz (Diaz is a Portlander, but I never hear about him.)

UH84 - Gerardo Parra (Is this ball headed over Gerardo's head? Suave.)

UH151 - Jayson Werth All-Stars

UH110 - Justin Masterson

UH258 - Nyjer Morgan

UH73 - Sean West Gold 0153/2009

PP4 - Andrew McCutchen Propaganda Art (I love these cards.)

TTT57 - Joey Votto Topps Town

UH284 - Mark Melancon

UH288 - Jon Garland (Pictured as a Diamondback. Topps isn't up with the late season deals.)

Pack 2:

UH206 - Chris Burke

UH70 - Wilkin Ramirez (I haven't heard of most of these rookies, sadly.)

UH7 - Brayan Pena

UH41 - Xavier Paul (Yeah, another rookie... no idea.)

UH103 - Evan Longoria All-Stars

UH38 - Justin Upton All-Stars

UH161 - Andrew Bailey All-Stars (The All-Stars seem to come in waves.)

TR116 - Rick Porcello Turkey Red (It's interesting that they slapped a rookie card logo on this. Usually inserts don't get that sort of distinction.)

TTT54 - Adam Jones Topps Town

UH5 - Brian Fuentes (I scanned this especially for Erin.)

UH135 - Detroit Youth Movement Ryan Perry / Rick Porcello

UH248 - Chan Ho Park

- David Wright junk card

Pack 3:

UH56 - Wes Helms

UH233 - Ramon Santiago

UH127 - Shane Robinson (This pint-sized reserve outfielder got a cup of coffee with the Cards prior to all the mid-summer deals. I was really surprised to see him make it to this set as I'd kinda forgotten about him already.)

UH173 - David Robertson (Effective Yankee reliever who was underused in the playoffs. Joba Chamberlain and Phil Hughes seemed really shaky to me.)

UH156 - Heath Bell All-Stars

UH148 - Jason Bay All-Stars (I like Jason Bay and all. He's a proud ex-Portland Beaver and a proud Canadian - I'm assuming. But I kind of hope that the Red Sox spend a ton of money on resigning him because I don't think he's THAT good.)

UH227 - Edwin Jackson All-Stars

PP30 - Zack Greinke Propaganda Art

TTT62 - Russell Martin Topps Town

UH27 - Josh Reddick

UH322 - Sean Marshall

UH180 - Mariano Rivera Season Highlights (For all the haters out there. Well... couldn't they have picked a better angle for this shot?)

Pack 4:

UH44 - Seth Smith (Seth Smith was on one of my fantasy teams last season, which goes to show how thin the talent pool was.)

UH241 - DeWayne Wise (Yeah, the crazy catch guy...)

UH114 - Chris Coghlan (Coghlan came out of nowhere to likely capture the NL Rookie of the Year honors.)

UH249 - Brian McCann All-Stars

UH240 - Jason Marquis All-Stars (I can't believe this guy was an All-Star. With the game in St. Louis, no less. Where he couldn't even make the playoff roster...)

UH2 - Felipe Lopez

UH266 - Jonathan Broxton (This post is lousy with Dodgers, as usual.)

UH76 - Scott Rolen Gold 0076/2009 (Scott looks really enthusiastic about wearing the wrong red team's gear.)

TTT55 - Vernon Wells Topps Town Gold

UH310 - Scott Richmond

UH262 - Jeff Niemann (Speaking of enthusiasm...)

UH141 - Jason Hammel

Pack 5:

UH32 - Kris Medlen (Another unknown rookie guy.)

UH45 - Brad Ausmus (Dodger. They paid him money?)

UH29 - Rich Hill

UH315 - Jerry Hairston Jr.

UH123 - Ryan Braun All-Stars

UH235 - Joe Nathan All-Stars

LLP-26 - Steve Carlton Legends of the Game Platinum (Wal-Mart) (Nice! Best card of the bunch.)

TTT63 - Jose Reyes Topps Town

UH271 - Frank Catalanotto

UH50 - Gary Sheffield (I show this because it pays tribute to Gary Sheffield on his final Topps card. At least, that's what I'm hoping for. Gary? Please retire. Thanks. You're kind of obnoxious.)

UH270 - Dominican Dandies David Ortiz / Alex Rodriguez (Yes, the card is really titled Dominican Dandies. I would have scanned it, but I've already hit my PED quota on the blog for the month.)

UH25 - Orlando Hudson (Another Dodger... but apparently not for long?)