First Half Champions

Banking wins is good, but this team needs to be the best in October.

The good times and vibes abound with the Cardinals right now as the team has jumped out to a 50-24 start and a sizable division lead over two very talented teams in the Cubs and the Pirates. It's been strange to watch, as the Cardinals have seen quite a few injuries already, both of the season ending variety (Wainwright and Adams) and the significant but not season threatening (Holliday and Walden.) They don't hit very well, but they seem to hit just enough. The pitching has been great. They don't really have a quality first baseman right now, but that may be changing as Xavier Scruggs has been very productive since his recent callup. I'm not complaining, but I am a little nervous considering that past Cardinal glories have come from the team playing their best at the end of the year rather than the beginning.

Here's a fresh batch of Cardinal cards from Scott Crawford that I received back in April. This is a mid-oughts parallel of Jimmy numbered to 643, which matched his slugging percentage the previous year. It's also Edmonds card number 482 in my collection.

Scott added a couple of goldies to my collection, including Cardinal legend (not really) Felipe Lopez.

This shiny-for-no-real-reason Heritage Chrome refractor is Holliday number 250!

There were lots of serial numbered goodies, like this Sweet Spot gold from Big Albert. Pujols is moving his way up some very impressive lists these days.

If' you're still a productive player in 2015, take a step forward. Ehhh... not so fast, Mr. Howard.

Scott also sent a number of minor league cards, which are always welcome in my collection. Wacha is pretty much the ace of the staff these days with Wainwright's long recovery from an Achilles tear still ahead of him.

Tim McCarver recently called Wong the best second baseman in the league [edit: National League] during one of the local team broadcasts. Wong's bat has certainly been impressive, but is that the truth or is McCarver succumbing to home team bias in his post-FOX national team years?

Finally, here's a classy Jon Jay framed jersey swatch from a couple of Gypsy Queens ago. This is further proof to me that all relics should be framed and miniature.

Airbrushed Fridays: 2014 Topps Opening Day #132

What a pain in the neck. Literally.

Who is he? Prince Fielder is the son of former All-Star and prolific home run hitting first baseman Cecil Fielder. Like his father, Prince is also an All-Star first baseman and prolific home run hitter. Cecil couldn't find his big break with the team that raised him, Toronto, and joined up with the Tigers (after a season in Japan) to become a breakout star. Prince was a Brewer through and through until he left for a big payday by that same Tigers franchise.

How did he get here? The story takes a turn when Prince didn't quite put up the same kind of numbers he did in Milwaukee through his first two seasons in Detroit. The Tigers needed to make some changes to their offense if they wanted to continue to be successful and traded him for Ian Kinsler. It's rare that two well known players are swapped for each other without prospects being involved in the current game, but that's exactly what happened. The Rangers seem to have been snakebitten lately and the Fielder trade is another example of this. There was significant chatter yesterday that a neck injury may sideline Fielder for the rest of the season. Already at age 30, Fielder's career looks a bit more uncertain. Then again, he plays Major League Baseball and probably sleeps on a bed of money.

Repeat offender? No

Other versions of this card: 2014 Topps #550 (short printed variation card)

Airbrushed Score: 6

Comments: Okay, this is somewhat unrelated but strange. Prince's 2014 Topps Heritage card looks like this while the parallel versions look like this. I guess we know which cards are manufactured first!