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.

Heritage High Series Blaster and Contest Update

An update on the ongoing contest follows this post about baseball cards, although those of you participating can just check the standings via Yahoo.

I was unexpectedly given a $25 Fred Meyer gift card with my most recent paycheck at work, so in a shocking turn of events I invested the entire thing in baseball cards. The big pickup was a blaster of the 2009 Heritage High Series. I also bought a repack box, but that turned out to be nothing to write home (or write on the internet) which is pretty typical.

Pack 1:

503 - Aaron Poreda (One of the many guys the Padres got back in the Jake Peavy trade. Is it just me, or does it look like San Diego will come out ahead on that one?)

666 - Rich Hill

655 - Omir Santos

UH72 - John Mayberry Jr. (One of my Christmas gifts was a new desk lamp. Other than revealing clumps of dust that I didn't realize were there before, the big benefit so far has been my newly found ability to easily read all of the card numbers on the backs of the 2009 Topps base cards.)

UH247 - Lastings Milledge

FB-01 - Jonathan Sanchez Flashback (Can you really "flashback" to something that happened only 5 months ago?)

618 - Jarrod Washburn

634 - Mark Loretta

Pack 2:

555 - David Freese (First Cardinal of the box. Freese looks to be in line for the starting 3B job next season, although he needs to keep away from the wheel after partaking in adult beverages.)

525 - Braden Looper (For some reason, I see Looper returning to the Cardinals again someday in some capacity.)

640 - Melky Cabrera (One of the new Braves.)

UH195 - P.J. Walters (The Cards thought enough of Walters, who got a cup of coffee this past season, to keep him on the 40-man roster thereby protecting him from Rule 5 Draft vultures. Mike Parisi was not so lucky.)

UH251 - Ian Snell

TN-9 - Bobby Richardson / Cole Hamels Then and Now

569 - Alex Rios (Apparently there is a rare black & white version of this card, but that's not what I ended up with.)

504 - Takashi Saito

Pack 3:

550 - Daniel Bard

582 - Homer Bailey

UH143 - Matt Maloney

UH307 - Heath Bell (I'm not sure how one of the league's best setup guys, who became a closer this past season, doesn't get a card in series 1 or 2 despite not changing teams.)

628 - Landon Powell

581 - Gregg Zaun

542 - Clayton Richard (Another reason to be excited about the Peavy trade.)

700 - Huston Street (SP)

Pack 4:

CHR118 - Joe Crede Chrome Refractor 258 / 560 (Any Crede fans out there? Twins fans?)

619 - Justin Masterson

538 - Chris Jakubauskas

UH205 - Dallas Braden (Only one UH card?)

693 - Chris Coghlan (SP)

598 - Jeff Baker

574 - Gabe Kapler

Pack 5:

506 - Adam Kennedy

565 - Endy Chavez (Could have been a player I despised had Game 7 of the 2006 NLCS ended differently.)

589 - Jamey Carroll (A.J.'s new favorite player!)

UH289 - Nick Johnson

UH133 - Graham Taylor (Lots of Fish in this box.)

CHR114 - Eric Byrnes Chrome 1432 / 1960 (I deserve this for making fun of Byrnes in my last post about this set.)

548 - Cristian Guzman

521 - Nick Evans

Pack 6:

626 - Tim Redding

651 - Nick Green (I have no idea who this guy is, but apparently he started at SS for Boston this past year. Maybe I should watch more ESPN.)

501 - Shane Robinson (Another cup 'o coffee guy for the Cards this year. There were a lot of them, especially early in the season.)

UH303 - Luke French (I think I have like 5 of this card, and I haven't even bought much U&H this year.)

UH221 - Adrian Gonzalez Home Run Derby

RP-08 - Brett Anderson Rookie Performers

623 - Kevin Millar (Millar actually played this past season? I thought he was just an MLB Network guy.)

563 - Pedro Martinez (Pedro also has a B&W variation card.)

Pack 7:

614 - Josh Outman (Born with a pitcher's name.)

641 - Micah Hoffpauir

657 - Vin Mazzaro

671 - Ross Gload

UH117 - Alex Rios

UH309 - Scott Podsednik

557 - David Huff

545 - Neftali Feliz (This Texas prospect also has a variation card. Are there any others that I'm missing?)

Pack 8:

659 - Rafael Soriano (I would have loved it if the Cards had signed this guy, but for some stupid reason I don't think they were interested.)

616 - Juan Uribe

586 - J.J. Putz

UH214 - Jason Grilli

UH184 - Francisco Cordero All-Stars

714 - Nelson Cruz (SP) (Cruz came from out of nowhere to star at the Home Run Derby. I was rooting for him after Pujols got knocked out.)

674 - Ryan Church

670 - Ross Detwiler (Hey, it's this guy again.)

---

Contest time! I managed to correctly pick my 4th bowl game (out of 11) when Georgia beat Texas A&M to put me in 10th place overall out of 15. There are 16 people entered, but I am officially disqualifying "Onelostpunk86" for failing to make any picks at all. I suppose that's one way to win the "worst" prize, but... trust me... that prize is not appealing enough to be sneaky about it.

Kevin, who chose a name I wholeheartedly approve of (Home Movies reference "Fenton Sucks") is in the lead despite also only correctly predicting 4 games. He's going to have a tough road to the finish, however, as he has the fewest possible "potential points" of the entire group. Remember, first prize is based on Yahoo's crazy weighted scoring rules. Adam of Thoughts and Sox is currently in 2nd while Tim of the Great Sports Name HOF is in 3rd. Reader Jason, who was the runner-up in my March Radness contest, has correctly picked the most games with 8 of 11. He seems to be good at this sort of thing.

Erin is currently beating me, so all of the Erin supporters are looking good for the second prize. Sean of Condition: Poor (is there a better blog banner out there?) right now is the frontrunner for the worst place prize, although he has some stiff competition.

I'll do another update next week going into the final BCS games (and that absurdly late GMAC game) if anyone is interested.

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.

Consolation Prize Blaster

It's 2009, right? So what am I doing with another box of 2008 stuff on the blog? Well, I'm like that kid on the block that got the Nintendo like two years after everyone else. It wasn't like I didn't try, though. But I only had time to hit one Target last weekend and I've had to work all week. Maybe this weekend will be fruitful, but in the meantime, here's another blaster of the High Heritage Series of Rookies, Bench Players and Near-Stars.

Pack 1:
512 - Ryan Sweeney (Now there's a Ryan Sweeney? I couldn't even keep Mark Sweeney and Mike Sweeney straight.)
565 - Dana Eveland (No RC logo but he has the Rookie Stars design.)
543 - Greg Smith (RC)
622 - John Baker
514 - Brandon Backe (Huge Albert Pujols fan.)

689 - Eric Patterson (SP) (Part of the Rich Harden trade and brother of fantasy flub Corey.)
UH267 - Gregorio Petit (RC)
UH107 - Jason Varitek All-Stars (Can't complain much about Jeter always making the All-Star team when this guy makes it.)

Pack 2:
640 - Joe Crede

660 - Dioner Navarro (Nice shades. His head and mask take up like 60% of the photo.)
600 - Miguel Tejada
538 - Brian Buscher (Not sure who he is, still. These cards are starting to look awfully familiar.)
599 - Joe Inglett (He could be a fake player and I wouldn't know any better.)
FB9 - Carlos Delgado Flashbacks (Got it already.)
UH40 - Jon Rauch
UH69 - Chad Moeller (One of the guys the Yankees desparately turned to when Jorge Posada went down.)

Pack 3:

524 - Hiroki Kuroda (RC) (Nice touch with Kuroda's Japanese stats on the back.)
620 - Cristian Guzman
630 - Ryan Ludwick (The back references his All-Star appearance as "last year" on the back when it was actually 2008. Little things like that bug me for some reason.)
549 - Jeremy Sowers Black Back
537 - Toronto Blue Jays
TN1 - Ernie Banks / Jimmy Rollins Then & Now (Have it already.)
UH266 - Rob Mackowiak
UH68 - Jonathan Papelbon All-Stars

Pack 4:
503 - Johnny Cueto (RC) (Another Cueto.)
670 - Joakim Soria
680 - George Sherrill
501 - John Danks
655 - Angel Berroa Black Back (Still trying to live up to his 2003 Rookie of the Year award.)

700 - Eddie Kunz (RC) (SP) (I did a double take when I saw this. Why is he familiar? Eddie was on the back-to-back College World Series winning Oregon State teams. I had no idea he made it to the majors already.)
UH231 - Chris Davis (RC)
UH35 - Hanley Ramirez All-Stars

Pack 5:
554 - Vicente Padilla
652 - Glen Perkins
517 - Brian Burres
614 - Russell Branyan (Has averaged 1 HR almost every 15 ABs in his career, according to the stats on the back. He's also only averaged about 12 per season.)
665 - Texas Rangers (I have about 5 or 6 of these cards now.)
612 - Jeff Baker (Lots of him, too. I don't think he's a rookie, with 239 ABs over three seasons going into 2008, but he has the RC logo anyway.)
UH109 - Alberto Callaspo
UH279 - Alex Hinshaw (RC)

Pack 6:
502 - Jamey Wright (Wright made 4 appearances for the Cards in 2002. I wonder if he has any Cardinals cards. Maybe I have one already and I forgot about it.)

505 - Chase Headley (Somewhere on my hard drive I have pictures of Headley that I took at a AAA game in Portland last April.)
506 - Takashi Saito (Has both Japanese and Major League stats on the back.)
605 - Greg Reynolds (RC)
621 - Jeff Samardzija Black Back (RC)
712 - Jack Hannahan (SP)
UH1 - Kosuke Fukudome (RC)
UH83 - George Sherrill All-Stars (Remember "All-Stars", Seattle? You used to have some of those. Now you just have Ichiro.)

Pack 7:
674 - Paul Maholm (Was a decent late season fantasy pickup for me.)
637 - Tim Redding
634 - Manny Parra
613 - Houston Astros (Bleh.)
666 - Jason Michaels (Double bleh.)

C251 - Jonny Gomes Chrome 1581/1959 (Erin likes him because of a card in which he was flying about.)
UH32 - Cody Ross
UH197 - Michael Young All-Stars

Pack 8:
624 - Scott Olsen

593 - Nick Blackburn (RC) (Just your average sideburns-wearin' Twinkie.)
574 - Mike Pelfrey
566 - Bryan LaHair (RC)
539 - Kelly Shop Vac Black Bac
RP8 - Carlos Gonzalez Rookie Performers
UH26 - Chris Iannetta
UH153 - Armando Galarraga (RC) (Another one of my fantasy guys last year.)

Well, I should have expected this after the last blaster I got. But I still wasn't happy that all of my inserts were cards I already had before. I guess it's finally time to get that want list ready.