2009 Upper Deck Update - Who Knew?

I took a stroll through Target this afternoon on my way to somewhere else (I swear), but I just had to check the trading cards aisle to see if Topps Updates & Highlights had hit the retail shelves yet (it hasn't, as far as I know.) I actually had an opportunity to buy a hobby box of the stuff for $45 yesterday, but I decided to go for something I'm actually trying to collect the full set of. I'll have more on that later, but I did decide to get a pack while I was there. Upper Deck has been doing these Series 1 + 2 combo "fat packs" for awhile now, but this year there's apparently a twist. In addition to the usual two exclusive insert cards, there was something else that caught my eye: two "UD Update" cards. Last year a planned update set was cancelled, and as far as I know there hasn't been an Upper Deck update-type set since 2006.

I'll spare you the details of the usual array of series 1 and 2 base cards and just get to the fun stuff.

As you can see, the update cards use the same base design. Andrew McCutchen has one of the plain studio shot photos that have plagued the base set this year. Topps finally got wise and ditched the studio photos, while Upper Deck probably took this one of McCutchen and nearly every other player on each team's 40-man roster as they seemed to have plenty of "outtakes" to use in the O-Pee-Chee set.

The backs look the same, but the cards are numbered with a U prefix. Above the legalese it merely says "2009 UPPER DECK BASEBALL" which leads me to believe that these were just released as inserts and not as a proper set.

Fernando Martinez was the other update card in the pack. A quick search of eBay makes it apparent that there are only 50 cards in this "set". I couldn't really find anything else about it online, not at Beckett's site nor at Upper Deck's.

Here's one of the two Generation Now inserts. I wonder if they had to get permission to use this name from Topps. Perhaps Topps paid Upper Deck to use it so that they could expunge the horror that was their 2007 insert concept.

Decent use of team colors on these cards, I suppose. Hopefully there aren't any (or many) Cardinals to collect in these two insert sets. Part of me keeps hoping they'll stop making Cardinals cards just so there is a finite amount of cards for me to collect.

There was also a 20th Anniversary insert card. This one commemorates the first regular season NFL game outside the US, with the illustrious Josh McCown on the card. I added the words "regular season" because what Upper Deck states on the card is completely inaccurate if you include the preseason. Amazingly, McCown actually played in the game described on the card.

How Topps Defeated Upper Deck in 2009: Exhibit A

I threw my wantlist into the ring awhile back and Scott from Hand Collated sent over a few 2009 Cardinals that I needed, including my first "rookie cards" of NL ROY candidate Colby Rasmus. For some reason, Upper Deck chose a cheesy spring training "signing autographs for the fans" shot for their first look at Colby. It's a strange choice, if you ask me, because this seems to be sort of a cliche photo choice usually reserved for superstar players. At this point, Rasmus had yet to appear in a counting major league game.

I think the Topps card is perfect, however. I'm admittedly a sucker for the photos where you can see the ball suspended in mid-air. This card just looks great, though. I like that you can see the coach observing his young prodigal player in the background. Colby seems a little different than a lot of young players. He did not walk once in the entire month of June and claims that he isn't interested in walking, only hitting. I am also not impressed with his arm, having seen him hit the pitcher's mound at least twice now with a throw from the outfield. But he does have a lot of talent and he did hit the big walkoff HR in Wednesday night's game. I will be rooting for him, of course, because he's a Cardinal.

I also picked up my first two Ring of Honor cards in the trade. These apparently are hobby-only inserts, which would explain why I was lacking in that department. I don't think I like the design, but anything honoring the World Series Champion Cardinals is alright in my book.

Of course, I'm not sure how this would constitute a trade if I don't actually send something back in return. Oops. I'll be poring over the want lists and will have something in the mail soon, I promise.

Upper Deck is Lazy

I understand Upper Deck's approach with Series 2, don't get me wrong. They like to throw in a few stars (sometimes even mid-level guys like Adam Wainwright) to beef up the set even if those stars also appeared in Series 1 and didn't change teams, uniforms or anything else worth mentionining. Who is going to complain about an extra Albert Pujols card, right? While Topps usually holds out a few guys for their Series 2 run, Upper Deck doesn't really worry about continuity and just rolls with whatever players they feel like. And I'm okay with that. But, come on, this is just lazy.

Take a look at the back of the cards. The only thing different about these is the text. Nice.

Series 2, Finally

This is the honest-to-goodness first 2009 Series 2 pack I've purchased. I spent a bunch of money at the card show today and the Retail Guy was there (hadn't seen him since I went before Christmas.) He has a table full of discounted retail packs and unopened retail boxes. Upper Deck was going for $2.50 a pack (not sure how he gets those prices, but I won't ask.) I didn't find any Series 2 Topps packs, so I decided this would have to do.

659 - Tim Byrdak (Okay, this is my first Series 2 card of the year and it's an Astros reliever? No thanks.)

701 - Danny Ardoin (What is he, the Dodgers 3rd catcher? Not even a Brad Ausmus card?)

800 - Chad Durbin

938 - Nick Johnson (More Nick Johnson cards for me... wonderful.)

582 - John Danks (Requisite bubble-blowing card.)

859 - Franklin Gutierrez (Upper Deck just can't stay away from those studio shots.)

945 - Rick Porcello (RC) (He's probably the best rookie around this season, isn't he? None of the position players are really setting the league on fire. I think Colby Rasmus has a decent chance at NL ROY if he can figure out how to balance his home run stroke with a little bit more contact. Many Cardinals fans on the good ol' internet were sad when the Cards passed on Porcello.)

SQ-27 - Brandon Phillips StarQuest Blue Uncommon (The only speck of blue I can see on this card is on Brandon's shades.)

USA-KD - Kentrail Davis USA National Team Game Jersey Autographs 097/225 (Game-used card? Check. Autographed? Check. Major League Baseball player? Er, not quite. In case you can't tell, there's one of those clear stickers on the card that was signed, not the card itself. There's actually a thumbprint on the sticker that I noticed, which is just kind of creepy. Still, I can't complain - I don't think I have any jersey/auto cards. This is also good news because it means that Retail Guy doesn't search his packs.)

871 - Khalil Greene

889 - Gabe Gross (He's flying!)

786 - Gio Gonzalez

553 - Jed Lowrie

610 - David Dellucci (Great looking card here. Dellucci recently got cut or DFA'd or something, though.)

881 - Jason LaRue (LaRue is in full gear here to hide his creepy mustache from the easily frightened.)

612 - Masahide Kobayashi

I have much more to discuss about the card show. For now, go and vote in the poll that I just put up tonight. It's the first poll I've done here, and hopefully also the last.

Your Attention, Please

First off, I have some announcements to make. If you're all good and sit through these announcements without making a fuss, I may even post some images of baseball cards and the results of baseball card packs that I have purchased.

• Cards on Cards is using Zistle now. For starters, I've begun with my Jim Edmonds collection (still a work in progress). I'm just trying the site out. It seems to have a lot of promise and it looks like the team behind it have great intentions of doing something really cool (and free) for those who want to stay organized with their cards and potentially end up with some trading partners. Check the link at the sidebar or, better yet, just go and sign up and give it a look.
• One snide comment I made about Josh Beckett recently touched off some interesting conversation and sparked an inspired post over at Night Owl Cards. To make a long story rather short, I happen to agree with most of what he says. I just don't like to see pitches thrown at people's heads, as I'm sure no one else does, either.
• I will make my "final" Blazers post here to wrap up the season and possibly talk about the playoffs in the next day or two, hopefully before the first playoff game tips off Saturday night (7:30 PM PDT on ESPN!) I say "final" because I fully intend this blog to be committed to baseball cards, yet I am not sure how I will handle the playoffs quite yet. It's a very exciting time to be a fan of both the Blazers and the Cardinals, that much is for certain. Perhaps I will just PhotoShop Rudy Fernandez's head on a bunch of old Score cards or something.
• I've mentioned this before and had no takers, so I will mention it one final time. I have some codes from packs that I've purchased this year. Topps Town, Topps Attax (the code cards from the Topps base set) and some Upper Deck wrappers. If anyone out there has any use for this stuff, let me know and I'll e-mail the codes. I'm not sure what sort of value these codes might have for kids who can participate in the web stuff that Topps and UD have lined up.
  

So, here's what you really came for. I bought a couple of jumbo packs of 2009 Upper Deck at some point this year. I have no idea when or where this happened anymore, to be honest. Let's take a look.

Pack 1:
47 - Curt Schilling (Retired player. He sneaked a card into a 2009 set simply because he waited an entire year to retire, I guess.)
12 - Alex Romero

28 - Casey Kotchman
70 - Ryan Theriot (Did you know his last name spells out "The Riot"? Oh, you did? Is that so? Did you know the Cubs are lame? Think about that for awhile!)
123 - Jeff Francis
186 - Ervin Santana
130 - Gary Sheffield (I hadn't really realized just how many players have changed teams since the end of last year until I started going through these cards.)

193 - Chad Billingsley
465 - Manny Ramirez Season Highlights (A Red Sox card, with a smashed corner to boot.)

SQ-19 - Miguel Cabrera Starquest Common (The Starquest design isn't too bad, I suppose, but I'm not thrilled with the violetish coloring on the "common" cards. I don't know what colors the other versions are.)

479 - Albert Pujols Team Checklist (The Machine)
415 - Conor Gillaspie (RC)
293 - Pedro Feliz
208 - Blake DeWitt (Recently demoted.)
259 - Ivan Rodriguez (Pictured with the Yankees, now with the Astros)
387 - Alex Rios (His HR total went back to where he's normally at - 15 - but he nearly doubled the number of steals last season from past seasons.)
370 - Eric Hinske (Now a Pirate, but not the bad kind.)
380 - Vicente Padilla
5 - Orlando Hudson (A Dodger now)
68 - Ted Lilly
49 - Dustin Pedroia (I still help but feel that Pedroia will go on to be considered the worst player ever to win Rookie of the Year and MVP in consecutive seasons.)
142 - Jeremy Hermida

163 - Mike Aviles (Team Puerto Rico!)
128 - Edgar Renteria (Was a Tiger, now a Giant)
191 - Manny Ramirez
496 - Joe Mauer Team Checklist
412 - Aaron Cunningham (RC)

SQ-3 - Alfonso Soriano Starquest Common (Erin, hide your eyes.)

447 - Rockies Team Leaders (Speaking of guys changing teams, only one of these Rockies stuck around for 2009.)
498 - Jack Cust Team Checklist
242 - Jose Reyes
225 - Denard Span (One of my multi-team fantasy guys this year.)
206 - Chin-Lung Hu
397 - Wily Mo Pena
312 - Jake Peavy

363 - Carlos Pena (Pictured with his Silver Slugger award. I believe he only won in 2007, so perhaps he was presented with the award at the beginning of the 2008 season since he's shown in the newer Rays uniform.)

Pack 2:
1 - Randy Johnson (Randy is pictured with the D-Backs but is now with the Giants.)
64 - Kerry Wood (Cubs ---> Indians)
27 - Tim Hudson
92 - Juan Uribe
194 - Russell Martin

152 - Roy Oswalt (I feel like I've softened up a bit on the Astros in the past couple of years. But this stupid team likes to play dead every season, no matter how much or little talent they have and somehow always catch fire late in the season. It's embarrassing that they caught the Cards last year and I'm hoping that this year, where it seems like they've dropped off talentwise even further, that they won't be a problem for the Cards this season at any point.)
117 - Ubaldo Jimenez
493 - Carlos Quentin Team Checklist
404 - Phil Coke (RC) (When spoken outloud, his name is a verb followed by a noun. I guess my name isn't far from doing that as well.)

SQ-4 - Chipper Jones Starquest Common
485 - Tim Lincecum Team Checklist (According to the back, the poor Giants only have 12 cards in the entire 500 card Series 1 set, including this card and a Team Leaders card.)
424 - Michael Bowden (RC)
265 - Johnny Damon
250 - Johan Santana
267 - Hideki Matsui
365 - Jonny Gomes (Gomes only hit .182 last year. Ouch.)

348 - Adam Wainwright (Wainwright has been fairly shaky so far in 3 starts, but has a 2-0 record to show for it.)
399 - Cristian Guzman
57 - Kevin Youkilis
8 - Eric Byrnes (Ugh.)
71 - Mark DeRosa (Like Wood, a Cleveland player now.)
36 - Daniel Cabrera (Lousy pitcher who still makes 30 starts a year for some reason.)
180 - Jered Weaver
159 - Jose Valverde

103 - Jay Bruce (Oh come on, Reds, you're better than that. I thought this was only a Padres thing.)
166 - Gil Meche
458 - Angels Team Leaders

SQ-11 - Hanley Ramirez Starquest Common

453 - Diamondbacks Team Leaders
462 - Jon Lester Season Highlights (The no-hitter)
233 - Jason Kubel
216 - Corey Hart (Bleh.)
284 - Frank Thomas

382 - Jesse Litsch (The Jays are doing pretty well for themselves so far this season. With Roy Halladay as a teammate, this guy gets overlooked by a lot of people, but he seems to have good numbers on the back of his card.)
364 - Akinori Iwamura
398 - Ronnie Belliard (Quite a character.)

The Elusive Upper Deck

It's been almost impossible for me to find single packs of 2009 Upper Deck anywhere. I finally found some retail packs stashed away at a Fred Meyer's in Beaverton. I posted the first pack at APAD. Here are the other two that I bought.

Pack 1:
76 - Rich Harden
10 - Chris Young (The D-Backs guy, not the pitcher.)
87 - Mark Buehrle (I think it would be nice to see this guy in a Cardinals uniform one of these days. Hopefully before he turns 40, anyway...)
31 - Jeremy Guthrie (From Roseburg, Oregon. An exception, obviously.)
182 - Francisco Rodriguez (I put the over under on his saves in 2009 at about 28. It seems like big-time closers rarely have immediate success, if ever, after getting dealt.)
147 - Dan Uggla (I wonder if he'll decline any future All-Star Game invites.)
140 - Joel Zumaya (Ever since Rock Band 2 came out, Zumaya has felt guilty for ditching his first love.)

432 - Phillies Team Leaders (Yeah, these guys won a World Series. Weird.)
470 - J.D. Drew Season Highlights

301 - Politics - President of Russia 20th Anniversary Retrospective
480 - Nate McLouth Team Checklist
224 - Ray Durham
241 - Nick Evans (He's on my "never heard of this guy" list.)
207 - Juan Pierre (Any JP player collectors out there? AJ?)
258 - Ramon Castro

383 - Roy Halladay (Probably one of my favorite non-Cardinal starting pitchers, but probably mostly because of fantasy baseball.)
338 - Jeff Clement (Erin's new favorite player.)
318 - Kevin Kouzmanoff

Pack 2:
56 - Tim Wakefield (I can't believe he's still around.)
21 - John Smoltz (...)
84 - Jim Thome (Word Up Thome)
172 - Billy Butler
137 - Justin Verlander

102 - Joey Votto (Votto looks like a pitcher here.)

458 - LA Angels Team Leaders (I think I've mentioned this already, but I really like these team cards.)
474 - Cristian Guzman Team Checklist

USA-4 - Brian Duensing USA Baseball Retrospective (I haven't figured out Upper Deck's inserts at all, so I have no idea if this is supposed to be cool or not.)
466 - Derek Jeter Season Highlights
484 - Manny Ramirez Team Checklist
298 - Brad Lidge (Ugh.)
281 - Bobby Crosby
264 - Bobby Abreu (6 straight seasons with 100+ RBIs.)
337 - Jose Vidro
320 - Josh Bard

360 - Evan Longoria (He's ranked extremely high by Yahoo's fantasy league thing. Guess who I won't be drafting.)


343 - Albert Pujols (Best way to end a pack.)

Getting There

I haven't completed a set in about 17 years (unless you count non-sports cards, but I'm not getting into that now.) Thanks to fellow blogs like Night Owl Cards, I'm closer than ever to completing 2008 Allen & Ginter. I've only posted about this set about, oh, maybe 10 times now, but here's another couple of cards from the set (and some extras) that I received from Night Owl this past week.

When looking at my want list, I stumbled upon someone called Takudzwa Ngwenya, not having any idea who he or she was. That's part of the fun of this set. Now that I see the card, I can go... ooh, rugby guy.

I know who Melky Cabrera is. I wonder what the Yankees will end up doing with their enormous collection of outfielders. I would hate to be a minor league player in their system.

I was also sent my first two 2009 Upper Deck cards featuring the Cardinals' former starting middle infielders. Cesar Izturis left quietly and unceremoniously, having done his job about as well as could be expected last season with a sharp glove and a toothpick for a bat.

Adam Kennedy was released about a week before pitchers and catchers were set to report. The timing was fairly ridiculous, but supposedly the team still held out hope that they could hope that they could find a trade partner for him even while publicly stating that he wasn't going anywhere. Having now seen the new Upper Deck design in person rather than just on the internet, I'm still not sure that I'm all that wild about it. They really are reminiscent of that lousy Documentary set. Still, it beats 2008 Topps.

Finally, there was a Colby Rasmus rookie card. I believe I whined in a post or a comment on some blog somewhere awhile back that I was hoping to pull one of these in a 2005 Topps Updates & Highlights pack someday because I didn't have any of his cards. Night Owl must have had one in a secret stash somewhere, because he sneaked his way into the package I got last week. I'm afraid all of the hype that is built up around Colby is going to forever surpass what he actually does on the field, but for now I'd just settle for getting to see him play. Maybe I should consider a move to Memphis.