Good Luck Ducks, Week 7: Turning Point

Quack vs. Husky: Only one survives.

That Oregon is finally, supposedly getting their first true test of the season in #16 Washington today could be seen as a problem to some. It's an indictment of the Ducks schedule (so far), but I don't mind the easy early schedule this season as it gave new head coach Mark Helfrich ample time to work out any bugs against teams there was virtually no chance of losing to anyway. What came out of those first six games is that Oregon seems unstoppable, Marcus Mariota seems unflappable, and Duck victories on Saturday seem inevitable. Those are a lot of "seems" right now and not givens.

I think this could be a close game, at least for awhile. Washington is smarting from a tough loss against Stanford, the tallest tree in the conference right now. They have clearly stepped up their game from previous seasons and will be playing at home in newly renovated Husky Stadium. They've also modeled their offense after Oregon's "blur", which has to make Ducks fans giggle a little bit. Keith Price looks to be a solid quarterback with multiple weapons at his disposal, and Bishop Sankey has emerged as one of the top running backs in the Pac-12. Austin Seferian-Jenkins, one of the few bright spots of last year's Huskies/Ducks game, is a beast to try to contain. It's going to be a tough game... for awhile.

Oregon has this funny way of making everyone nervous until someone blinks and you realize that they are up by three touchdowns. That may yet happen in this game, but I don't think it will happen in the first half. Marcus Mariota has only played in the 4th quarter 4 times in his career (out of 18 games) because of all of the lopsided scoreboards Oregon handles, but I wouldn't be surprised to see him out there in the 4th today. De'Anthony Thomas's status remains uncertain, and without him this could be a nailbiter.

Kenny Wheaton's gonna score!

Game time is 1:00 PDT in Seattle with national coverage on Fox Sports 1. Go Ducks!

Airbrushed Fridays: 1978 Topps #657

Bombo Time!

Who is this week's victim, and why do we care? Bombo Rivera had a fairly unremarkable career for a big leaguer, but let's face it- his name is fun to say. Bombo came up with Les Expos, signed as a free agent out of his native Puerto Rico. He apparently earned his nickname "Bombo" as a little leaguer, as his coach would shout "bombo!" at him to indicate "fly ball".

Why is this a thing? After a season with the Expos, Bombo spent all of 1976 in hitter-friendly Denver, where he posted the best numbers of his career. That must have piqued the interest of the Twins, as they purchased his contract for the upcoming season. This card is actually fairly decent as far as airbrushed cards go, but there's obviously something off about the hat. It also looks a bit like a batting helmet, which makes me wonder why no one poses with their batting helmets on these days. It's a good look.

Airbrushed Fridays is a weekly feature as the name seems to imply. If you know of a card with an altered photograph that you'd like to see featured, please contact me. You probably won't win anything other than a used copy of Lou Bega's 1999 debut album "A Little Bit of Mambo", but you never know!

Series Preview: NLCS

The Cardinals/Dodgers NLCS series at a glance.

Having survived a 5-game series with Pittsburgh where both teams won on the road, the Cardinals now face off against the Los Angeles Dodgers in a best-of-7. This will be the 8th NLCS appearance for St. Louis since the great Y2K scare. The last time these teams met was in the divisional round in 2009, where Matt Holliday dropped a key fly ball that some Cardinal fans never got over. It's hard to spot an underdog here, with a big payroll team playing the biggest payroll team (Dodgers) of all-time. The nation seems to be experiencing Cardinal fatigue, so despite their obvious economic advantage, Los Angeles should have a healthy edge in fan support (for whatever that's worth.)

2013 Season Series: Dodgers won 4-3
Los Angeles had the edge in the 7 game season series, due largely to winning 3 out of 4 at Busch in August. Back in May, with manager Don Mattingly tidying up his resume, the Cards took 2 out of 3 in Chavez Ravine in what seems like a lifetime ago. None of this likely means much of anything.

Starting Pitching: Joe Kelly / Michael Wacha / Adam Wainwright / TBD vs. Zack Greinke / Clayton Kershaw / Hyun-Jin Ryu / Ricky Nolasco
Neither staff ace is available for Game 1, but the Dodgers have a worthy stand-in Greinke. Kelly is slated to start Game 1 for the Cards. Wacha has only allowed a single hit in each of his last two starts while Wainwright would have been a shoo-in for the NLDS MVP were such a thing to exist. The rest of the rotation seems pretty iffy, and Lance Lynn couldn't have inspired much confidence in his manager with his shaky outing last round. Kershaw has actually had his share of troubles, relatively speaking, against the Cardinals. Ryu and Nolasco are both pretty solid, though Nolasco has never pitched in the postseason before (all that time in Miami) and Ryu lasted just 3 innings in his start last round. This one is close. ADVANTAGE: DODGERS

Bullpen: Trevor Rosenthal vs. Kenley Jansen
Jansen has been automatic since taking over the closer role in 2012, though he has a relatively low number of saves for a winning team. The Dodgers offensive explosions have a tendency to take save opportunities off the table. Jansen is joined by Brian Wilson, who has only thrown 16 2/3 innings in the majors since returning from Tommy John surgery, plus Chris Withrow, J.P. Howell and Paco Rodriguez. Rosenthal is bolstered by Carlos Martinez, Seth Maness, Randy Choate and Kevin Siegrist. Martinez emerged as Mike Matheny's go-to 8th inning option in the divisional series, while the rest of the pen will be used as situational relievers depending on matchups and runners on base. Both teams are very solid here. ADVANTAGE: DODGERS

Catcher: Yadier Molina vs. A.J. Ellis
Ellis seems to be the Dodgers catcher by default. At 32, the organizational soldier is coming off only his second full season as a starter. Molina is one of the game's best and has loads of playoff experience. ADVANTAGE: CARDINALS

First Base: Matt Adams vs. Adrian Gonzalez
Since taking over for Allen Craig, Adams has been locked in and should be pitched around at all costs by anyone throwing right-handed. Gonzalez seems to be in decline, but he's every bit as dangerous as the relatively green Adams and still managed to plate 100 batters this season. ADVANTAGE: PUSH

Second Base: Matt Carpenter vs. Mark Ellis
Ellis is a competent second baseman, and not quite a black hole at the plate at a position where there are black holes in abundance. Carpenter had a fantastic season, but he went 1-for-19 in the NLDS. He did lead the team in most champagne-saturated hair. When right, he is one of the smartest and most patient hitters in the game. ADVANTAGE: CARDINALS

Third Base: David Freese vs. Juan Uribe
Both starting third basemen had Big Playoff Moments in the divsional round. Freese reminded everyone of 2011 with his game-changing blast in the deciding game versus Pittsburgh while Uribe bailed out short rest starter Kershaw in the Dodgers clinching win. Freese had a career worst season in 2013, but his success in the postseason can't be understated or overlooked. Pressed into more regular duty due to injuries, Uribe had his best season since 2010. ADVANTAGE: CARDINALS

Shortstop: Pete Kozma vs. Hanley Ramirez
Kozma seems to have wrested control of the starting shortstop position from Daniel Descalso, where he had much success in his limited 2012 run. Descalso has been relegated to late game defensive replacement duties at a position he rarely plays (3B), which frustrates me to no end. If Kozma finds the magic elven ghost wizard pixie dust (this is a real thing) again that he ingested late last summer, he might be almost as good as his opposite in Dodger blue. Ramirez had a career high in OPS in an injury-shortened season where he apparently rediscovered his All-Star form that he left in one of the empty seats in Miami. ADVANTAGE: DODGERS

Right Field: Carlos Beltran vs. Yasiel Puig
Puig drew national buzz for the scorching hot start to his career, and remains a powerful weapon at the plate and in the field. He went 8-for-18 in the NLDS series against the Braves. Beltran has some of the best playoff numbers of any active player in the game, though he probably couldn't beat Puig in a race from right field to the plate if he was spotted 7 seconds. This is a close one. ADVANTAGE: DODGERS

Center Field: Jon Jay vs. Skip Schumaker
Jay plays a passable outfield and gets on base enough to keep his job, but he was buried in the batting order for a reason. He's best fit to be a really solid 4th outfielder for someone, but the Cardinals have a lot of sluggers who can't play center field. Somebody has to. Schumaker may be the answer to a trivia question about this series someday, or worse, a punchline. The former Cardinal 4th outfielder was converted to a second baseman out of sheer desperation, but it wasn't a plan for the long haul. Schumaker is in this lineup now because of his connections to hitting coach Mark McGwire and because he kneecapped Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier. He's got a pretty good arm. ADVANTAGE: CARDINALS

Left Field: Matt Holliday vs. Carl Crawford
Crawford's last All-Star year must seem like a century ago, but it was actually 2010. He endured a miserable stint in Boston and has been a bit of a forgotten man in the corner of the Dodgers outfield. Once the premiere base thief in the game, he's stolen just 39 bases since leaving Tampa Bay after that last All-Star hurrah. Holliday is the engine that keeps the Cardinals offense moving, though he sputters a bit in the field. ADVANTAGE: CARDINALS

Bench: Allen Craig? vs. Andre Ethier?
Craig has a serious Lisfranc injury that seriously is going to keep him out of the playoffs, no matter how far the Cardinals can progress. That hasn't stopped speculation that the team might succumb to using him as a pinch hitter, though it seems doubtful at this point. It's more of an indictment of the Cardinals bench as it stands right now than it is an indication of what Craig might be able to offer. Most of the current bench options (Daniel Descalso, Kolten Wong, Adron Chambers, Shane Robinson, Tony Cruz) are automatic outs which might force Mike Matheny to get creative. Ethier has a much better chance of providing some punch off the bench, and he will be in the starting lineup the second someone explains to Don Mattingly that Schumaker is not the same guy as David Eckstein, the lucky charm he bought from some peddler than claimed to have a couple World Series rings under his belt. Los Angeles also has Michael Young and Andy Van Slyke's son, plus a pinch-running option in failed prospect Dee Gordon. ADVANTAGE: DODGERS

Manager: Mike Matheny vs. Don Mattingly
Matheny has been here before, leading the Cards to the NLCS before blowing it spectacularly against the Giants last season. Mattingly has been here before in that he was the manager of Dodgers a few days ago when they beat the Braves in his first playoff series. As a player, Matheny left the Cardinals for San Francisco a couple of years before they finally won their first title under Tony La Russa, while Mattingly retired the year before the Yankees won their first title since the '70s. Considering that Mattingly was nearly out of a job before the Dodgers pulled a 180 on their season... ADVANTAGE: CARDINALS

Prediction: CARDINALS in 7



There probably won't be a forfeited game in this series. Whatever happened to Craig Kilborn?

Game 1 game time is 7:00 CDT at Busch Stadium with national coverage on TBS. Go Cards!

Deja Vu

On to the NLCS!

Freese went deep in a pivotal game, much like the 2011 World Series.

Waino went the distance tonight, and got to make this face again, just like the 2006 World Series (and as pictured, Game 7 of the 2006 NLCS. Some version of this needs to be on a baseball card.)

Now the Cardinals face the Dodgers, just like 2009... oh, crap. Just like 1985, I mean.

Up For Grabs Cardinalpalooza: Chris Carpenter

Previously on the Cardinalpalooza: Mark McGwire | J.D. Drew | Colby Rasmus | Yadier Molina | Allen Craig | Stan Musial | Rick Ankiel | David Freese | Keith Hernandez | Steve Carlton | Lance Berkman | Lou Brock | Dennis Eckersley

It's no secret that Chris Carpenter is my favorite pitcher in the game right now, and possibly of all-time. Being that he's on my list of so-called top players that I collect, it's also no surprise that I have accumulated a lot of his doubles. The list of those doubles follows at the end of the post.

Carpenter has probably thrown his last pitch in the big leagues, but he was still working to get back to the mound as recently as this summer. The man had one of his own ribs (!) removed after suffering through pain and numbness in his shoulder and various other locations in his pitching arm just to try to prolong his career.

A lot of people seem to dislike him, and I get that. Most baseball players, especially Cardinals players it seems, are rather boring, non-personality having non-entities. Carp isn't one of those guys. When you take his fiery on-field mound intensity (totally genuine unlike, say, Kevin Garnett) and add it to the status of perennial contenders that the Cardinals seem to enjoy, and you get a mix that probably doesn't sit well with your average fan. People don't often like the angry yelling guy unless he's on their team.

Carp was a well regarded young pitcher who came up alongside Roy Halladay in the Blue Jays organization, but before he ever reached the Halladay level of success, he suffered a major injury that would sideline him for the entire 2003 season. The Cardinals snatched him up anyway, knowing that he wouldn't take the field in the season that came to be the "3 Nights in August" year. It wasn't until 2009 that he experienced something that's almost a rite of passage for big time young pitchers these days: Tommy John surgery. So at 36 years old, when he single-handedly led the Cards through a series-deciding playoff duel for the ages with his old boy Roy, I was beginning to feel that Carp's time was just about up. By the time the Cardinals pulled off the improbably World Series win, Chris Carpenter had logged more innings than anyone in professional baseball that year. It's no great wonder that he's only pitched 25 innings since (and none in 2013.)

The list:

2004 Topps Total #626
2005 Donruss Diamond Kings #217
2005 Topps #207 [3 available]
2005 Topps (Sporting News All-Stars) #727 [3 available]
2005 Topps Update (All-Star) #UH194
2006 Bowman Gold #44
2006 Fleer Tradition #51 [2 available]
2006 Fleer Tradition Black and White #51
2006 Fleer Ultra #39 [5 available]
2006 Fleer Ultra Strikeout Kings #SOK6 [3 available]
2006 Topps #488 [7 available]
2006 Topps (Cy Young Award) #261
2006 Topps Update (Postseason Highlights) #UH199 [3 available]
2006 Topps Update (All-Stars) #UH260 [2 available]
2006 Topps Own the Game #OG29
2006 Upper Deck Future Stars #65
2007 Bowman #124
2007 Fleer #42 [6 available]
2007 Fleer Ultra Retail #150 [7 available]
2007 Topps #240 [6 available]
2007 Topps Own the Game #OTG22
2007 Topps Opening Day #41 [4 available]
2007 Upper Deck #451
2007 Upper Deck #964 [4 available]
2007 Upper Deck (Team Checklist) #965 [4 available]
2007 Upper Deck Goudey Red Back #133 [2 available]
2007 Upper Deck MLB Artifacts #68 [3 available]
2007 Upper Deck SP Authentic #47 [2 available]
2007 Upper Deck SP Rookie Edition #47
2008 Bowman Chrome #60
2008 Topps #630 [2 available]
2008 Topps Gold Foil #630
2008 Topps Chrome #165 [2 available]
2008 Topps Chrome Refractor #165
2008 Topps Opening Day #151 [7 available]
2008 Upper Deck #651 [5 available]
2008 Upper Deck Baseball Heroes #158 [5 available]
2008 Upper Deck Documentary #2352
2008 Upper Deck First Edition # 470 [2 available]
2008 Upper Deck Masterpieces #85 [2 available]
2008 Upper Deck Spectrum #89 [2 available]
2008 Upper Deck Sweet Spot #27
2009 Topps #484 [3 available]
2009 Topps Ticket to ToppsTown #TTT66 [4 available]
2009 Topps First Class Ticket to ToppsTown #FCTTT66
2009 Topps Unique #38 [2 available]
2009 Upper Deck #345 [3 available]
2009 Upper Deck A Piece of History #87 [2 available]
2010 Bowman #45
2010 Bowman Gold #45
2010 Bowman Chrome #15
2010 Topps #479 [3 available]
2010 Topps (ERA Leaders w/ Tim Lincecum and Jair Jurrjens) #106
2010 Topps Chrome #99 [2 available]
2010 Topps Opening Day #153 [2 available]
2010 Upper Deck #474 [3 available]
2011 Bowman #96 [3 available]
2011 Topps #299
2011 Topps Lineage #38 [6 available]
2012 Topps #490
2012 Topps (ERA Leaders w/ Tim Lincecum and Roy Oswalt) #92
2012 Topps (World Series) #264
2012 Topps Gypsy Queen #138 [2 available]
2012 Topps Opening Day #96 [3 available]

Plain White Heroes

Compact trade packages from a White Sox guy.

I haven't quite gotten into the plain white envelope craze, mostly because I have too many cards to get rid of. In fact, if you contact me out of the blue, you're more than likely to get a bunch of team bags full of cards than just a couple that you think you need. Trust me. You need all my cards. Fortunately, there are people out there who are great at the PWE thing, like Jeff from 2x3 Heroes!

I responded to a couple of Jeff's posts over at APTBNL, and he was kind enough to set aside a couple of things for me and send them off with some odds and ends. One of the cards he sent was a Ducks card I'm holding out for a future GLD post as is my usual practice, so I'm just going to show off the other card here. This is another one of a seemingly unlimited number of Jim Edmonds cards from the decade of oughts that I didn't have in my collection. Now I have it. Isn't that fun?

I never expected to get a vintage card in a plain white envelope, but they make great vessels to carry well worn older cards. This flat-topped mug has a couple of creases, but it's going to look great in my Cardinal binders anyway.

Jeff also sent a few 2013 Topps Heritage needs that I was able to tick off of the want list. I'm down to needing just 7 plain old base cards while trying not to think about all of the SPs, variations and inserts that I don't have.

Finally, here's a card I needed from the nearly forgotten 2008 Upper Deck Goudey revival. I can't bring myself to scan a dreaded Lakers card and post it on this blog, especially not one of this jerkface. Instead, I scanned the back. And now that I'm reading the text on the back, I'm wishing I hadn't looked at it at all. AHH! IT BURNS MY EYES!

Good Luck Ducks, Week 6: COLO

Is it too late to uninvite a school from a conference?

When the Ducks met Colorado in the Fiesta Bowl, it might have sounded like an amazing idea for the Buffaloes to one day be a part of the Pac-10. That was January 1, 2001. Since that fateful beatdown, Colorado's football program has been in a tailspin, putting together just two winning seasons and winning just 6 games since joining the conference for the beginning of the 2011 season. What was once a very tough school to play (in the '90s) has fallen on hard, and then very hard times.

This year's Buffaloes are essentially a one-player team, relying almost entirely on the talents of wide receiver Paul Richardson. It's tough to see Colorado giving Oregon much of a challenge this time around, even without star De'Anthony Thomas. Oregon simply has too many weapons. Even though this is a road game, I can't imagine Oregon playing in tougher conditions this season than the monsoon that they endured last week, where they put the game away early by capitalizing on many of Cal's mistakes. The Buffs will have to play razor sharp football to stay in this one.

Does that smack of overconfidence by a Duck fan such as myself? Probably. The fact is, until Oregon can play with someone at or near their level, the outcome of these games isn't going to be much of a mystery. Only Oregon can beat Oregon today, and that's something I don't even want to think about. Fortunately, a much tougher road test is lurking on the horizon. We'll talk about that one next week, however.

The last visit to Colorado saw Cliff Harris gifting Colorado their only points of the day. What a guy!

Game time is 3:00 PDT with national coverage on the Pac-12 Network. Go Ducks!