Group Break Results and a Contest Update

And a Merry Christmas Eve to everyone. 

I'm a sucker for an affordable group break with a guaranteed team spot, and Tracy's Box Breaks pops up now and again with just the thing that I seek. This time around, boxes of 2016 Bowman Chrome and 2008 Tristar PROjections High Series were opened and distributed. While the output was small in number, I ended up with a couple of nice cards for my collection.

Junior Fernandez is an up and coming prospect out of the Dominican Republic that should be turning some big league heads in a few years. A lot of nice things have been written about him, and it was great to get an on card auto of him even on a badly Photoshopped card.

Tyler Herron is, however, not an up and coming prospect in the Cardinals system. He is, however, a minor league soldier, and assuming he keeps the ball rolling he will be entering his 12th season of professional baseball next year. This particular card is a low numbered parallel, 8 out of 25.

Tracy was kind enough to throw a bunch of extra Cardinals my way, which is never expected and always appreciated. The Rolen/Walker card that heads this post was my favorite of the bunch, but I was also intrigued by this Big Mac card from 2014 Panini Classics, a set which seems to have completely escaped my radar.

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And now, your Bowl Pick 'Em Contest Update Report. Heading into today's light action, Wilson is the overall leader in total points, while there's currently a 3-way tie for most number of correct picks (Raz, AJ!, thepeavine). Raz is the overall leader in possible points, which can sometimes be the best indicator of who has the best shot at winning. If you're all watching the Yule Log on television right now instead of a meaningless college football game, 6-7 Hawaii is currently stomping on Middle Tennesse State.

Cubs Fatigue

Cards from the other side of the rivalry courtesy of @TomSOlson 

I knew it was going to be bad when I was already tired of hearing about the Cubs before an official pitch had been thrown this season. The lovable losers are a lot less lovable these days, with their 7th ranked payroll and frontrunner status this season. Thanks to an impressive staple of talented young players, the team that floated into the NLCS last season on Joe Maddon's magic carpet is expected to win 130 games this season and destroy every team in its path on its way to world domination.

Okay, fine, sorry -- I'm cranky tonight. It's an exciting time to be a Cubs fan, but even tossing the rivalry with the Cardinals aside for the moment, I seriously dread the moment the Cubs actually win a World Series because it's going to rival the Red Sox of the past decade in terms of insufferable fan encounters. Fortunately, many Cubs fans are not insufferable, and I am positive that P-Town Tom is one of them. I've had nothing but great encounters with card collecting Cubs fans and the Waiting 'til Next Year blogger is certainly among the good guy traders I've dealt with. He was also kind enough not to send me any Cubs (or Heywards) in our most recent dealing.

A shiny, colorful Bob Gibson card will certainly help to calm my nerves. This one appears to be an insert from a 2001 Upper Deck set, and it was one that I needed.

The colors on this card are just off (blue and gold?) and poor Stan is reduced to a small photo. This card is super shiny however, and looks to be from a Panini Hall of Fame set that probably came out at a price a little too rich for my blood.

This has to be one of the youngest looking dudes to ever appear on a baseball card. If Nick Plummer comes into your bar, you should probably check his ID.

Here's a minor league card that looks like it may have been signed in-person by former Cardinals prospect Tyler Herron. Cool stuff.

Adam Wainwright is Fired Up! Unfortunately, his performance this season so far has been rather tepid, like a frozen burrito that you tried to microwave that's still cold in the middle. Hopefully Waino can right the proverbial ship, and soon.