My First Three-Way

Dear Beckett,

I participated in my very first three-way today! It was a little confusing at first, but once I had some time to figure it out in my head, I got the hang of it. I took some pictures too! Do you wanna see?

god damn fucking right you do


Anyways, that's 12, count 'em 12 '71 Topps for the Mets team set! I haven't bought a single '71 card and yet I'm only missing 5. I'll eventually have to buy the Nolan Ryan and Tom Seaver at some point unless someone has them lying around. These came courtesy of everyone's favorite veggie,é rayhahn, rayhahn They're all in great shape and I couldn't be happier!


Also included was the Travelin' Lee! I can't for the life of me remember who started this, but I'm glad it's found its way to me. Once I sign him he's on his way to whoever's my next trade victim!

So the 3rd participant in this deal was The Daily Dimwit. I stating seeing his name pop up on alot of trade posts lately and had been meaning to send him an email for a little while. I just had to send some 'Stros over his way and the deal was done!

So that's it, my first three way. Not much else to say...


(...Joe)

What I Learned This Year

The snow didn't kill us, so that gives me some time to reflect on the past year. Personally, I learned alot of new things. Come, share with me...

1- This is a great hobby. There's an infinate number of ways to collect and an endless supply of products to choose from if you don't mind buying older boxes.

2- Elevators are not soundproof

3- The pinnacle of life can be achieved with nothing more than a bowl of macaroni and cheese and a Kilians Irish Red

4- There are others out there just like me! Card wise, that is. A year ago, I was convinced that I was the only collector left in the world but since starting the blog, I've been connected with a ton of you guys! The more people I meet and the more blogs get started, the more fun this hobby becomes.

5- I still hate Alex Rodriguez

6- Cole Hamels is still a pussy

7- Scrubs is the greatest show in the history of the entire world

8- The number 2 is not bi-sexual. It's... a long story.

9-The Mets are the Mets are the Mets are the Mets

10- Sometimes if you're really looking for something but getting nothing, you just need to let it find you instead.

I'm going to the NYC for New Years but hopefully this won't be my last post before then. Just incase it is though, happy New Years to everyone and as a Mets fan there's more then one way to take this...

HERE"S TO NEXT YEAR!!!!!!!!!

(...Joe)

They Said a Storm was Coming

Apparently, according to the news media, everyone who lives here in the North East is about to die via snow! Yup, we're all gonna get covered lost and forgotten like pompeii. So what better time for a post!?

I wanted to highlight a few of my favorite Piazza cards, year by year. Obviously, my collection is far from complete (except for '92!) so it's only fair for me to highlight the ones I have. Trust me, my favorite '93 Piazza is the Finest Refractor but trust me... I ain't got it.

To start this off I'm gonna do both '92 and '93, since I did a post about some of the '92 cards a little while back. Let's begin...

1992 (reeeemixxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx)
To the best of my knowledge, I have every Piazza card produced in '92 except for a minor league team issued set or two. As far as I'm concerned, those'll be a bonus if I can find them. At only 7 cards it wasn't too hard to pick a few favorites.

First up and my overall favorite from the year is Bowman's offering. I think I got this off the bay for around $8 with shipping, give or take. This is my only card from '92 Bowman, ever. So when I got it and took it out of the top loader, my initial reaction was "This is a fucking reprint!" When you think junk wax bowman, you think cardboard stock, no gloss and overall shittyness. Common knowledge quickly set in, however, and realized that '92 was Bowman's first effort at making "premium" cards. Take THAT voices in my head that speak Spanish...

Next up is Fleer's version. This card took FoReVeR for me to get. Not because I couldn't find a copy, but because I couldn't find a copy that was
1- Ungraded
2-Not graded a 9 or higher and priced lower then $100 by some prick seller
I stopped looking for a while, but when I decided to check it out again I saw a couple copies, graded of course, with a BIN of $30. I figured I'd wait a couple days and if nothing else came up, I'd get that. My main problem was that once I get the card, I'd have to take it to the bandsaw to get it out of that case, but luckily a few days later an ungraded came on ebay with a BIN of $25. Niiiicceeeee. My favorite part of the card? Jersey #25!

Lastly for '92, we've got a Donruss "Phenoms" out of the Donruss Rookies set. I'm not sure if this is technically a RC since it's an insert, but I could really care less. I've lost track of what a RC is anymore once Bowman starting making cards of Middle Schoolers.

1993

SP's first year as a brand and the beining of the "Platinum Power" insert. This was one of the first Piazzas I got off ebay when I began collecting again. I couldn't believe the price I got it for (.99 cents + shipping) because I was still living in Becketts fantasy world of cardboard at the time. Does it make it less cool now though? Nuh uh. My favorite part of the card? Know that look you got on your face as a kid when a ball you hit or threw went through the window? Yeah, he's got that look in the card.

Another brand first, '93 Finest! Another card I won for the price of shipping and yes, it's in a screw down holder. Again, Beckett...
Anyways, what's not to like? It's a '93 Finest, it's shinyyyyyy and it's of my favorite player ever in the history of the entire world.

One more brand first by way of Flair. These cards are still amazing now, I can only imagine what they were like back in '93 when shit like Triple Threads, Sterling and UD Black weren't around to make snobs of everyone. Super glossy and thick, but not to the point of it ruining the page. I'm pretty sure I could run this card through the washer and it'd be fine. Not gonna, just saying.

Lastly we have that years Ultra. Nothing fancy here at all. No insert, nothing "premium" just a great photo on a clean design. I feel you couldn't have gotten a better photo for this card if you set it up in a studio and posed it.

So that's that for that. A couple of my favorites through the first two years. If the snow doesn't kill us all, maybe I'll be back with a few more years!

(...Joe)

Some Year End Numbers

I was looking through my Piazza collection yesterday and thought to myself "By golly, I wonder how many Piazza cards I have?" So I did a count and the total came to 377. (408 unofficially. I have 31 coming to me from COMC, but until they're in hand 377 is the official count.)

377 different Piazza cards. Not bad, considering when I started this page back in March, I had well under 100. I actually had more Ken Griffey Jr cards then I did Piazzas. Not. Any. More.

Then I counted up my Wrights. 99% of the time when I'm buying cards for a player collection, it's for the Piazza. Most of the Wright collection is either pack pulled or obtained from you guys via trade, so 59 isn't such a horrible number I don't think.

Next I counted up how many Team Sets I've finished off. This is the biggest part of my collection and the vintage (1962-1979) set are what I'm building as the true cornerstone. Overall I have 69 completed Mets sets, with a handful more to be finished once the appropriate packages arrive. 12 of those sets are of vintage flavor.

All in all, I'm extremely happy with what I've done collecting wise this year. I started reading some card blogs late '09 early '10 and found a few people to trade with. From there I started this in March and found ALOT of people to trade with. Then others started up their own pages and I found even MORE people to trade with and I'm still finding more each week.

Having this connection to all kinds of different collectors, whether it be teams, players, or even themes, makes opening a box or pack way more enjoyable. 2 years ago, if I opened a hobby box, I'd get what... maybe about 10 Mets if I'm lucky? The rest of the cards I was basically stuck with unless I'm building sets. Now, I can open a box and know that just about every card is now valuable to me in some way. I've even opened boxes hoping to get a huge hit of a Dodger or Rockie or Twin or just about any other team besides the Yankees or Phillies because God I fucking hate them no matter how many people I know I can trade those fuckers to...

...

Sorry, blacked out for a second.

Wow, midnight already? Hmm.

Anyways, so those are my collection numbers heading towards the new year. I didn't really have any "goals" I wanted to reach this year. Looking at what I have, I guess I can say "I want to get more Piazzas until I get 400, then I'll start building more team sets." Or "Once I get 100 team sets, I'll build up my Wright collection." I've never really played that game before, but maybe I'll try it for a little bit down the road. My real collecting goal for this year was to figure out what the fuck I was doing.

When I first starting collecting again, I was building sets, because since I didn't have anyone to trade with I needed something to do with all those non-Mets! I wasn't too happy with collecting that way after a while, so then I wanted to focus on building my Piazza collection. But what was I gonna do, buy an entire box for $50 and hope I pull the one Piazza base card? But again, with finding and becoming apart of the blog scene here, I've been able to really focus on a few different collections and have a good idea on where they're going.

I know most of you guys have collections that dwarf mine in comparison, but what are your numbers? How many cards do you have of your favorite players? How many collecting goals did you reach this year? Why is it necessary for it to be this fucking cold outside?

(...Joe)

Philisophical Fridays

"I see great things in baseball. It's our game - the American game. It will take our people out-of-doors, fill them with oxygen, give them a larger physical stoicism. Tend to relieve us from being a nervous, dyspeptic set. Repair these losses, and be a blessing to us."

~Walt Whitman

The Joy of a Completed... Wall?

I've seen "The Joy of a Completed Page" on a few different pages. It's a simple idea, when you finish a page off from a set. Not the whole set, but just a page and knowing your that much closer. Well, recently I found a place to put the Aaron handout my uncle got and it officially closed off the wall to any new additions.


I swear my wall's not really pink. The camera thought it'd be funny if it just made it look that way...


Stage left is where Rusty resides. I did the original write up on this back in June, so if your new 'round these parts, check it out!


Charlie Keller auto is at stage right. What I didn't mention in the original post, was that much like the Staub, there's a lil' somethin' extra on back! Now, it's nowhere as cool as the Stuab. It's Kellers' obituary from a local paper, which is kindda cool in the fact that without it, I honestly wouldn't have known who he was, butttt it's also kindda creepy. Not gonna lie.


The latest addition to the wall is the Aaron handout my Uncle got at the game when he hit #715. Yeah, apparently he was at that game. The fuck?!?! It looks much better now that it's in a frame. It flattened out and the rip isn't so noticeable.

And wayyyy up top is my certificate for finishing dog (training) school. I've been a licensed lunatic since 2008!

So that's my wall. It's right by the door so anyone who walks is sure to know right away that Ima nerd and what their getting into. Hey, they've been warned...

(...Joe)

Lunar Eclipse + Meteor Shower Tonight!!!

I know, I know. "This is a baseball card blog" you say. But even cardboard has a special place in tonights eclipse! I'll be burning an entire barrel full of it to stay warm while watching tonight!!! Don't worry, no cards will be in the fire, just paper garbage and some boxes.

I love the idea of space and the thought that goes into it, same with the stars and planets so I'm stoked for this tonight and while doing some quickie reading to get the times of everything, I saw that there's going to be the possibility to see a minor meteor shower too! It'll be best viewed during totality (approximately 2:40 am-3:52am EST) when the moon is dimmest.

Check it out, it'll be beyond awesome! I'll get back to cardboard goodness soon, I promise!

(...Joe)

Wrapper Redemption Pack!

I bought a couple High Numbers off COMC to help finish off the '72 Mets team set, so when I saw a bubble envelope, I defaulted it to that. When I opened it however, I was greeted by a shiny plain silver pack. I had no idea what this was and looking at the return address from PA offered no clues either.

I had the dog sniff it. She gave it her approval, so I went for it.

It was my 3 card pack from Topps for the Chrome wrappers! I only sent that in with the first wave of cards from the group break, so this was much sooner than I thought it would have come.

Now, a quick question before I show off what I got. I don't know too much about the odds of getting Refractors and whatnot, but I thought it was a 1:3 packs had a refrac in it. I could be completely wrong (most likely) but I ask because all 3 of my cards were Refractors. Anyways, let's take a look...

Dear Topps,
Stop it! Just stop it. No one gives a fuck about Mickey Mantle anymore. Find a different legend to destroy...

Buster Posey. I've got a pretty good idea what to do with this card...

Hey, all right! I got the only Met in the set, Ike Davis! I'm stoked I got to actually pull this card in what may very well be my only wrapper redemption.

All in all I think this was a very cool idea Topps had with this. It was a simple "buy our shit and we'll send you more of our shit if you send our original shit back to us." type thing. I'd like to see this again next year, but Topps has that habit of over doing everything soooo maybe we can be more careful this time?

(...Joe)

Philisophical Fridays

"Baseball is a game where a curve is an optical illusion, a screwball can be a pitch or a person, stealing is legal and you can spit anywhere you like except in the umpire's eye or on the ball."

~Jim Murray

In Memory Of...

(...Joe)

SAY UNCLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

iT'S BEEN SINCE FOREVER AGO SIN...

sorry, caps lock was on.

All right, so anyways it's been since forever ago since I've done an Uncle post. Really it's been forever since I've done anything other than a group break post! So here we are, back with another installment of SAY UNCLE!!!!!!!!!!!!

I've gained some new followers since the last, so here's the down-low on the first Uncle post.

Diving right in...


A 1971 Topps Reggie Jackson! I remember my first thought when I saw this card was "I guess there are 2 Reggie Jacksons."

Look at that. At him! That looks nothing like... well, Reggie Jackson. Where's the hair? The mustache the Reggieness?!

Now, this is a stat I found curious. 228. Two hundred twenty eight career steals. I would have been shocked to see 3 career steals but 228 is way more, like 50!

Anyways, the card is in great shape. Off centered but who cares. There's none of the famed "chipping" on the boarders and on the back, if you look reallllll close. Do you see that? Yup it's a dog hair. Safely and forever encapsulated within the case. Reggie doesn't seem to mind and I've become used to it.

(...Joe)

Tradewinds

During the break I received some of the best trades I've ever done. A little of this, a little of that. Why don't we dive right in...

First up we have one that came from Natstown just before the break began. I only received one card in this trade and gave up between 5-7 if I remember correctly off my trade bait page. But damn, whatta card...

2005 Topps David Wright Auto

BOOM bitch, Myspace!!! (thinking of making that my catch phrase. Like it?)
I made the mistake of collecting 2 players whose auto cards are extremely sought after. Wright being one of the more popular active players in the game coupled with the fact that Topps thinks it's funny to short print all of his autos makes it fairly difficult for me to obtain any. So pulling off a trade for one, on card by the way, was a no brainer and well worth anything I had to give... to me at least.

Next up we have a neat little trade with Cardboard Collections. We've done a few trades with each other and they've all been great. He's got a ton of different player collections, so check it out and see if you can fill any holes for him.

Some Felicianos thank you very much!

I swear I'll only show this card six or seven thousand more times on this page.

Now, we're all familiar with Topps and the lengths they go to on some things. I like Davis. I think he's gonna be a great player and maybe in 10 years we can validate this card, but right now can you really compare Ike Davis to Hank Greenberg? Topps thinks that because their both Jewish their like, twins now or something. Oh, and they're both tall. Yeah, that's on the card somewhere too...

Next is a package from the Middle Child. And that can only mean one thing- I got Piazza's!!!

Anything Metal Universe is pure awesomeness and the '98 Titanium card falls nowhere short of that. The Circa Thunder is sweet too, I didn't even notice untill a couple days after I got it that it opens up and does a team breakdown.

Next we have our headliner. Hopefully your still with me 'cuz this trade was beyond cool. I gave up 2 cards for this. 2, two, zwei. That's it. And I gotst all this in return...




Yeah. In case you haven't guessed by now, this was with none other then Wicked Ortega. The team set is a 1990 Kahns, complete with hot dog coupons. Awesome.

The programs are '72 and '73 respectively and are the oldest I have. I'm thinking about buying a program for each year of Mets existence, just as a neat little non card side collection.

The Ray Knight photo is auto'd, I swear.

And the Ed Kranepool ball is just, well... fucking awesome! It's inscribed '69 Champs and it looks great next to the Wright ball!

Then, get this, the guy has the balls to say "I've got some more stuff I think you'd like too." !?!? What the hell else could you possibly have! Well, I'm on the lookout for some more stuff for your collection dude, so if I find something, I'll let ya know!

Thanks to everyone for the trades! They were all great and I'm looking forward to our next!

(...Joe)

Chrome Trade Bait

2010 Topps Chrome Officially Licensed Major League Baseball Cards!

2010 Topps Chrome Officially Licensed Major League Baseball Cards!

2010 Topps Chrome Officially Licensed Major League Baseball Cards!

Hi, I'm (...Joe) author and creator of the Sandlot sports card web page and due to a recent group break I am currently overstocked with 2010 Topps Chrome Officially Licensed Major League Baseball Cards and I'm passing the savings on to you!!!

Fill in your set needs!

Player needs!!

Team needs!!!

Whatever your needs!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(Family Guy, anyone?)

Anyways, yeah. I've got a bunch of Chrome left over that I would love to trade to you guys to help fill in your sets or whatever you may need them for. Check out the list below and shoot me an email or leave a comment if there's something you want!

Inserts/Parallels
Adam Lind "Refractor" (Blue Jays)
Zach Duke "Refractor" (Pirates)
Justin Upton "Refractor" (Diamondbacks)
Chone Figgins "Heritage" #/1,961 (Mariners)

Base
#2 Derek Lee (Cubs)
#16 Howie Kendrick (Angels)
#25 Adrian Gonzalez (Padres)
#28 Ken Griffey Jr. (Mariners) *pending*
#36 Gordon Beckham (White Sox)
#38 Ichiro (Mariners) *pending*
#40 Cliff Lee (Mariners)
#47 Rich Harden (Cubs)
#51 Vernon Wells (Blue Jays)
#58 Yovani Gallardo (Brewers)
#73 Lance Berkman (Astros)
#77 Akinori Iwamura (Pirates)
#80 Stephen Drew (Diamondbacks)
#91 Wandy Rodriguez (Astros)
#94 Kosuke Fukudome (Cubs)
#97 Luke Hochevar (Royals)
#102 Jake Peavy (White Sox)
#124 Geovany Soto (Cubs)
#137 Ryan Braun (Brewers)
#138 Carlos Zambrano (Cubs)
#142 Mark Buehrle (White Sox)
#148 Jered Weaver (Angels)
#151 Aaron Hill (Blue Jays)
#158 Aramis Ramirez (Cubs)
#164 Hunter Pence (Astros)
#167 Franklin Gutierrez (Mariners)
#186 Cole Gillespie (Diamondbacks)
#187 Luke Hughes (Twins)
#195 Starlin Castro (Cubs)
#204 Tyson Ross (Athletics)
#209 Daniel McCutchen (Pirates)

(...Joe)

This is It!!!

Finally, the last friggin' one! This took WAY longer then I thought it was gonna take. Anyways, here we go. The LAST ONE!!!

Braves Roster:
Hitters- Chipper Jones "Unique Unis" (1:6)
Adam LaRoche "Unparalleled Performances" (1:6)
Brian McCann
Yunel Escobar
Nare McLouth
Garret Anderson
Adam LaRoche
Chipper Jones
Jordan Schafer RC
Pitchers-
Tommy Hanson "Red" #/1199
Javier Vazquez "Red" #/1199
Javier Vazquez
Jair Jurrjens
Kris Medlen
Total cards (not including doubles)- 14

Red Sox Roster:
Hitting- Jason Bay "Copper" #/99
David Ortiz "Red"
Josh Reddick "Red" RC
Mike Lowell "Red''
Aaron Bates
Jason Bay
Jacoby Ellsbury
David Ortiz
Victor Martinez
Mike Lowell
Dustin Pedroia
Josh Reddick RC
Pitching- Daisuke Matsuzaka "Red"
Daisuke Matsuzaka
Josh Beckett
Jon Lester
Total cards (not including doubles)- 16

Josh Reddick vs Garret Anderson
Anderson is on fire!!!
Red Sox- 15 Braves-14

Dustin Pedroia vs Brain McCann
I like Pedroia. He's one of those grity guys that's always playing balls out. But with the production that McCann puts out while at Catcher, gives him the edge here.
Red Sox-14 Braves-14

Jason Bay "Copper" vs Nate McLouth
The up side for the Braves is that the Bay didn't take out one of their inserts.
Red Sox-14 Braves-13

David Ortiz "Red" vs Jordan Schafer
Another poorly timed parallel for the Sox.
Red Sox-14 Braves-12

Jacoby Ellsbury vs Chipper Jones "Unique Unis"
Braves bring it back down to 1.
Red Sox-13 Braves-12

Jason Bay vs Adam LaRoche
The stats are actually alot closer than I would have thought. Bay wins it, but still...
Red Sox-13 Braves-11

Josh Reddick "Red" vs Yunel Escobar
There's a good parallel.
Red Sox-13 Braves-10

Mike Lowell "Red" vs Chipper Jones
More good timing
Red Sox-13 Braves-9

Victor Martinez vs Adam LaRoche "UP"
The Braves are back to the top next match up and they can't fall behind to much farther.
Red Sox-12 Braves-9

Mike Lowell vs Garret Anderson
Lowell is a good solid player. Anderson is boarder line HOF.
Red Sox-11 Braves-9

David Ortiz vs Brain McCann
I still think it's hilarious they buried an Ortiz jersey in the Yankees dugout.
Red Sox-11 Braves-8

Aaron Bates vs Chipper Jones "Unique Unis"
And the Braves pull within 2. This all started with the Braves down by 2.
Red Sox-10 Braves-8

Josh Beckett vs Jair Jurjens
When Beckett is on the field, he wins hands down. When Beckett is on the DL, Jurjens wins. I'm going to assume Beckett is healthy for this...
Red Sox-10(4) Braves-7(4)

Jon Lester vs Kris Medlin
Lestah as the natives would say...
Red Sox-10(4) Braves-6(3)

Dice-K "Red" vs Javier Vazquez
I really didn't want to have to compare these 2 on an even plain...
Red Sox-10(4) Braves-5(2)

Dice-K vs Javier Vazquez "Red"
...odd
Red Sox-9(3) Braves-5(2)

Josh Beckett vs Tommy Hanson "Red"
That's it, we're done!!!
Red Sox-8(2) Braves-5(2)

Pitching Advantage-none

Final Score-Red Sox-8
Braves-5

And the Red Sox win it! Chris, I already sent you a refund through paypal.

Thanks to everyone who joined, played along and stayed with me through all this. I've already got my next break in mind, but I promise it'll be WAY easier than this was. I should resume normal posting again soon. Thanks again!

(...Joe)

NL Winner!

So we finally have our last NL match-up to see who takes on the Red Sox for it all!

Braves Roster:
Hitters- Chipper Jones "Unique Unis" (1:6)
Adam LaRoche "Unparalleled Performances" (1:6)
Brian McCann
Yunel Escobar
Nare McLouth
Garret Anderson
Adam LaRoche
Chipper Jones
Jordan Schafer RC
Pitchers-
Tommy Hanson "Red" #/1199
Javier Vazquez "Red" #/1199
Javier Vazquez
Jair Jurrjens
Kris Medlen
Total cards (not including doubles)- 14

Giants Roster:
Hitting- Jesus Guzman RC "Red"
Aaron Rowand
Freddy Sanchez
Pitching- Tim Lincecum "Alone at the Top" (1:12)
Tim Lincecum "Copper" #/99
Tim Lincecum "Red"
Tim Lincecum
Matt Cain
Randy Johnson
Total cards (not including doubles)- 9

Will the juggernaut Braves finally take out the Giants pitching? They do have a 5 card lead, so we'll see...

Aaron Rowand vs Jordan Schafer
Rowand finally wins one. More importantly, the Giants finally win a hitting match not involving their one parallel.
Braves-13 Giants-9

Freddy Sanchez vs Adam LaRoche
Tough, because these are two completely different hitters. I'm looking at Sanchez's 3 AS selections to LaRoches zero and leaning towards that. I'm giving it to Sanchez, I guess...
Braves-12 Giants-9

Jesus Guzman "Red" vs Brain McCann
Parallel wins it.
Braves-11 Giants-9

Aaron Rowand vs Adam LaRoche "UP"
There we go. Knew the Giants wouldn't keep this up too long.
Braves-11 Giants-8

Freddy Sanchez vs Garret Anderson
Finally, Anderson wins one!
Braves-11 Giants-7

Jesus Guzman "Red vs Chipper Jones "Unique Unis"
And just like that, we're back to where we started!
Braves-11 Giants-6

Braves still up by 5 through the Hitting.

Tim Lincecum vs Kris Medlin
Insert clever one liner here.
Braves-10 Giants-6

Tim Lincecum "Alone at the Top" vs Javier Vazquez "Red"
Chipping away...
Braves-9 Giants-6

Tim Lincecum "Copper" vs Javier Vazquez
Look at it this way, there's only one more Lincecum card left...
Braves-8 Giants-6

Matt Cain vs Tommy Hanson "Red"
The Giants lose a pitching match-up!!! Unbelievable.
Braves-8 Giants-5

Randy Johnson vs Jair Jurrjens
And now all is right with the world once more...
Braves-7 Giants-5

Tim Lincecum "Red" vs Tommy Hanson "Red"
And there's the last Lincecum.
Braves-6 Giants-5

Pitching Advantage-Giants

Final Score Braves-5
Giants-5

Our 2nd tie! Same as last time, 3 hitters and 2 pitchers. No frills.

Freddy Sanchez vs Garret Anderson
Same result as before.
Braves-5 Giants-4

Aaron Rowand vs Jordan Schafer
Again... same as before.
Braves-4 Giants-4

Jesus Guzman "Red" vs Adam LaRoche "UP"
Guzman gets taken out by the insert.
Braves-4 Giants-3

Matt Cain vs Jair Jurjens
Gotta go with Cain here. Jurrjens has a better winning percentage, but Cain's better in ever other catagory including ERA.
Braves-3 Giants-3

Randy Johnson vs Tommy Hanson "Red"
And the Braves win it on the last card!!!

Final Score- Braves-3
Giants-2

So the overall winner will be between the Braves and the Red Sox!

(...Joe)

Pure Awesome.

I'm sure I'm the last person on earth to see this video, but just in case you haven't...


Cubs Fan Catches Ball In Beer - Watch more Funny Videos

Reds vs Giants

Again, the whole odd number of teams thing comes into effect here and this time the bye is going to the Braves. Is it because I actually want the Braves to go "bye"? In this contest, no. As a franchise... yes, absolutely.

Reds Roster:
Hitting- Brandon Phillips "Red"
Scott Rolen "Red"
Scott Rolen
Jay Bruce
Joey Votto
Brandon Phillips
Pitching- Johnny Cueto "Unparalleled Performances" (1:6)
Johnny Cueto
Edison Volquez
Total cards (not including doubles)-9

Giants Roster:
Hitting- Jesus Guzman RC "Red"
Aaron Rowand
Freddy Sanchez
Pitching- Tim Lincecum "Alone at the Top" (1:12)
Tim Lincecum "Copper" #/99
Tim Lincecum "Red"
Tim Lincecum
Matt Cain
Randy Johnson
Total cards (not including doubles)- 9

Giants, pitching, blah blah blah. The Reds should be able to run right over the San Fran hitting, but if that Red Guzman can catch a few base cards before hitting a parallel, then this could knock the Reds right out. If not, then it'll be close. I think we only had one other time though where both teams had the same number of cards, so there's no automatic deficit to overcome. Neat-o.

Jay Bruce vs Freddy Sanchez.
For an NL batting champ, Sanchez gets no love. Not even here...
Reds-9 Giants-8

Scott Rolen vs Jesus Guzman "Red"
And there's the only dynamite in the Giants lineup.
Red-8 Giants-8

Scott Rolen "Red" vs Aaron Rowand
Still think Wright should have won the Gold Glove this year. I've been called a homer before though...
Reds-8 Giants-7

Joey Votto vs Jesus Guzman "Red"
DYNO-MITE!
Reds-7 Giants-7

Brandon Phillips "Red" vs Jesus Guzman "Red"
And boom goes the dynamite.
Reds-7 Giants-6

The Reds opened up a 1 card lead through the hitting. If they can tie through the pitching, then we'll get a 3 card playoff.

Edison Volquez vs Matt Cain
How a pitcher has a career ERA of under 3.50 and a below.500 winning percentage to show for it is beyond me.
Reds-6(2) Giants-6(6)

Johnny Cueto "Unparalleled Performances" vs Tim Lincecum "Alone at the Top"
"Hi, my name is Tim Lincecum and I just fucked your couch."
Reds-5(1) Ginats-6(6)

Johnny Cueto vs Tim Lincecum
"Hi, my name is Tim Lincecum and I just fucked your couch."
Reds-4(0) Giants-6(6)

Pitching advantage-Giants

Final Score Giants-6
Reds-3

(...Joe)

Quickie Update

1-I finally made my way out to the post office to start getting the cards out. I got about 1/2 of everything out and should be able to get some more out on Tuesday.

2- I sent my wrappers from the Chrome box in, so we'll see what comes from that. I only put it in a regular envelope sooooo hopefully it'll be aight.

3- Madding, BA Benny: I put insurance on your cards, so let me know if they're not coming or it looks like they got put through a shredder when they get to ya.

4- Madding (again): I couldn't find a case thick enough for that brick but don't worry, I made sure it was packaged safely ;)

5- Peace.

(...Joe)

And the AL Winner Is...

I know, do you know? It's the Red Sox vs the Tigers!

Fight!

Red Sox Roster:
Hitting- Jason Bay "Copper" #/99
David Ortiz "Red"
Josh Reddick "Red" RC
Mike Lowell "Red''
Aaron Bates
Jason Bay
Jacoby Ellsbury
David Ortiz
Victor Martinez
Mike Lowell
Dustin Pedroia
Josh Reddick RC
Pitching- Daisuke Matsuzaka "Red"
Daisuke Matsuzaka
Josh Beckett
Jon Lester
Total cards (not including doubles)- 16

Tigers Roster:
Hitting-Curtis Granderson "Unique Unis" (1:6)
Miguel Cabrera "Red"
Carlos Guillen "Red"
Curtis Granderson
Carlos Guillen
Magglio Ordonez
Miguel Cabrera
Pitching-Justin Verlander "Unique Unis" (1:6)
Justin Verlander
Ryan Perry RC
Total cards (not including doubles)- 10

Another 6 card lead for the Sox. But there's a reason we play the game...

Mike Lowell "Red" vs Carlos Guillen
Not a big lose for the Tigers off the bat.
Red Sox-16 Tigers-9

Jason Bay vs Magglio Ordonez
Bay is a very good player. Overrated?, very slightly at most. Mags I think is an excellent player that seems to always be, for lack of a better word, forgotten.
Red Sox-15 Tigers-9

Jacoby Ellsbury vs Curtis Granderson "Unique Unis"
Good insert for the Tigers, although I think the Granderson would have beaten Ellsbury anyways.
Red Sox-14 Tigers-9

David Ortiz vs Carlos Guillen "Red"
Excellent timing this time for the Tigers!
Red Sox-13 Tigers-9

David Ortiz "Red" vs Miguel Cabrera
Paybacks a bitch.
Red Sox-13 Tigers-8

Aaron Bates vs Miguel Cabrera "Red"
Almost a wasted Red for the Tigers here. Anything at all would have beaten Bates.
Red Sox-12 Tigers-8

Josh Reddick vs Curtis Granderson
For some strange reason, thewre's something always telling me to not like Granderson. It could be the Yankee factor, it could be the Wrestling thing. Don't know...
Red Sox-11 Tigers-8

Josh Reddick "Red" vs Magglio Ordonez
Back to the top for the Tigers and it's not so good this time round.
Red Sox-11 Tigers-7

Jason Bay "Copper" vs Curtis Granderson "Unique Unis"
And there's the Copper card. Couldn't have been timed better for the Sox.
Red Sox-11 Tigers-6

Mike Lowell vs Carlos Guillen "Red"
The Tigers are making this interesting...
Red Sox-10 Tigers-6

Dustin Pedroia vs Miguel Cabrera "Red"
The Red Sox lead is cut in half at this point! Up by only 3.
Red Sox-9 Tigers-6

Victor Martinez vs Curtis Granderson
Now disregard what I said previously for a second. Victor's gonna win this one, but look at the stats. Higher AVG, 300 more H and 300 less SO.
Red Sox-9 Tigers-5

The Tigers took it to the Sox, but are still down by 4. That could prove too much going into the pitching match ups...

Josh Beckett vs Justin Verlander "Unique Unis"
I'm calling it now. Verlander will have no less then 10,000 career strikeouts. I would say 20,000, but I don't wanna be to bold.
Red Sox-8(3) Tigers-5(3)

Dice-K "Red" vs Justin Verlander
Fuck it, 50,000 STRIKEOUTS!!!
Red Sox-8(3) Tigers-4(2)

Dice-K vs Ryan Perry
This is tough cuz it looks like Perry has been used mainly as a reliever so far. I'm going with Dice-K, but Perry could still prove himself down the road.
Red Sox-8(3) Tigers-3(2)

Jon Lester vs Justin Verlander "Unique Unis"
Last match-up and it goes to the Tigers!
Red Sox-7(2) Tigers-3(2)

Pitching advantage- None

Final Score: Red Sox-7
Tigers-3

The Tigers made it close for a while, and continued to hold their own but the automatic deficit of 6 was 4 too much. Red Sox are the AL winners and will take on the NL winners to see who gets their refund!

(...Joe)

Rangers vs Red Sox

This is the Rangers first go around. Unfortunately for them, it against the Red Sox. And the Red Sox are gonna be super tough to knock off. Weider shits happened though, so let's see...

Rangers Roster:
Hitting- Ian Kinsler "Red"
Ian Kinsler "Unparalleled Performances" (1:6)
Nelson Cruz
Hank Blalock
Josh Hamilton
Michael Young
Ian Kinsler
Pitching- Kevin Millwood "Red"
Derek Holland
Kevin Millwood
Total cards (not including doubles)- 10

Red Sox Roster:
Hitting- Jason Bay "Copper" #/99
David Ortiz "Red"
Josh Reddick "Red" RC
Mike Lowell "Red''
Aaron Bates
Jason Bay
Jacoby Ellsbury
David Ortiz
Victor Martinez
Mike Lowell
Dustin Pedroia
Josh Reddick RC
Pitching- Daisuke Matsuzaka "Red"
Daisuke Matsuzaka
Josh Beckett
Jon Lester
Total cards (not including doubles)- 16

The Red Sox have the most number of cards for any team in the break. The Braves are next with 13, but the Rangers have a margin of 6 to make up.

Nelson Cruz vs Josh Reddick "Red"
No other way, would a Nelson Cruz lose to a Josh Reddick.
Rangers-9 Red Sox-16

Hank Blalock vs Jason Bay
The numbers between the 2 are actually really very close. Looking at a season and career average, Bay has the slightest of edges over every category. Bay takes it.
Rangers- 8 Red Sox-16

Ian Kinsler "UP" vs Jason Bay "Copper"
Ouch. The Inserts have beaten the Reds based off odds, but there's no way we can have it lose to the Copper #/99.
Rangers- 7 Red Sox-16

Ian Kinsler "Red" vs David Ortiz
Finally, a Rangers win!
Rangers-7 Red Sox-15

Josh Hamilton vs Mike Lowell "Red"
Nicely timed parallel for the Red Sox. The Rangers are gonna have to flip through their line up again, but now the Sox won't have to worry about this years MVP.
Rangers-6 Red Sox-15

Michael Young vs Josh Reddick
Still don't know who Josh Reddick is...
Rangers-6 Red Sox-14

Ian Kinsler vs Jacoby Ellsbury
Ahh, the current hot topic for the Mets trade rumors. Kinsler has the speed+power combo over Ellsbury's straight speed game. Also, Kinsler has a higher OBP and the AS selections that Ellsbury doesn't have.
Rangers-6 Red Sox-13

Ian Kinsler "Red" vs Aaron Bates
Does anyone smell comeback?
Rangers-6 Red Sox-12

Michael Young vs Dustin Pedrioa
Young has an edge on some stats and twice as many AS selections as Pedroia. Pedrioa has a ROY and an MVP that Young doesn't have. I'm gonna tie this one, mainly because I can't decide...

Ian Kinsler vs Victor Martinez
Another tough one. Mailyh because you're comparing teo completely different players. If I was running a team and with my first pick, I had to choose between the two, I would take Kinsler.
Rangers-6 Red Sox-10

Ian Kinsler "Red" vs Mike Lowell
Ahh, an easy one...
Rangers-6 Red Sox-9

Ian Kinsler vs David Ortiz "Red"
And we're done with the Hitters.
Rangers-5 Red Sox-9

The Rangers did quite well hitting wise. Not sure how they'll do pitching wise though.

Derek Holland vs Jon Lester
Holland pitched great this offseason and with some more time and experience this may go the other way, but for now it's Lester all the way.
Rangers-4(2) Red Sox-9(4)

Kevin Millwood "Red" vs Dice-K
Wait for it. Waitttt for itttttttt....
Rangers-4(2) Red Sox- 8(3)

Kevin Millwood vs Dice-K "Red"
IN THE FACE!!!!!! (weird)
Rangers-3(1) Red Sox-8(3)

Kevin Millwood "Red" vs Josh Beckett
These 2nd time 'round parallels are killing the Red Sox
Rangers-3(1) Red Sox-7(2)

Pitching Advantage- Red Sox

Final Score-Red Sox-7
Rangers-2

The Rangers put up a fight, and lost in large part to the Red Sox overwhelming number advantage. There's only 1 more round to decide the AL champion!

(...Joe)

Happy Hanukkah!!!

OK, so I'm technically late on this. Last night was the first night of Hanukkah this year, but I was why too busy with life to get on here. My family already got together for our dinner and pyrotechnics and hopefully everyone's having a good one as well! I should be able to get another team match-up post here tonight, so keep an eye out for that.

(...Joe)
p.s- if you didn't know it was Hanukkah, then well... you do now! haha