2010 Topps Series 2:

1. #650 Dustin Pedroia
2. #657 Chris Young
3. #561 Ryan Zimmerman
4. #430 Kazuo Matsui
5. #370 Robinson Cano
6. #438 Jason Bartlett
7. #584 Matt Capps
8. #359 Aramis Ramirez
9. #425 Dontrelle Willis
10. #574 Milwaukee Brewers (Team Card)
11. #371 Nick Hundley
12. #494 Andrew Miller
13. #589 Edinson Volquez
14. #416 Ruben Tejada (Rookie Card)
15. #376 Esmil Rogers (Rookie Card)
16. #431 John Raynor (Rookie Card)
17. #503 Austin Jackson (Rookie Card)
18. #476 Yadier Molina
19. #520 Randy Wells
20. #654 Collin Balester
21. #632 Daric Barton
22. #604 Atlanta Braves (Franchise History)
23. #543 Adam Jones/Nick Markakis (Checklist)
24. #486 Raul Ibanez
25. #480 Boston Red Sox (Team Card)
26. #379 Phil Hughes
27. #559 Nick Markakis
28. Gold #356 Angels (Franchise History) (Serial#1353/2010)
29. The Cards Your Mom Threw Out #CMT66 Warren Spahn
30. History of the World Series #HWS2 Walter Johnson
31. Million Card Giveaway #TMC-20 Carl Yastrzemski
32. 2020 #T18 Clayton Kershaw
33. Vintage Legends #VLC9 Ozzie Smith
34. Turkey Red #TR90 Johan Santana
35. Legendary Lineage #LL-42 Lou Gehrig/Albert Pujols
36. Peak Performance #PP-89 B.J. Upton
37. #420 Shin-soo Choo
38. #448 Joakim Soria
39. #529 Carlos Lee
40. #614 Kelly Johnson
41. #660 Brandon McCarthy
42. #585 Dioner Navarro
43. #631 Marc Rzepczynski
44. #519 Alexi Casilla
45. #621 Aaron Cook
46. #521 Jeremy Bonderman
47. #484 Mike Fontenot
48. #396 Jake Westbrook
49. #447 Jeremy Guthrie
50. Attax Code Card #MH Matt Holliday

“Is Pujols the new Gehrig?  The comparison is compelling.  Through their age-29 seasons, Lou holds slight edges in RBI (1,146 to 1,112) and OPS (1.084 to 1,055), but Albert is way out in front in HRs (366 to 267).  They also rank third and fourth in most XBHs in a player’s first 5,000 career ABs — “The Iron Horse” with 761 and “Prince Albert” with 744.”

I think Topps is stretching it a little just to put Gehrig on a card with Pujols.  Pujols is actually much closer to Jimmie Foxx in comparison.  Through age 29, Pujols batted .334 with 366 home runs, while Foxx batted .334 with 379 home runs.  Foxx hit more home runs through age 29 than Pujols because he had 405 more at-bats.

Some other nice cards from this pack:

It’s amazing how Austin Jackson can lead the league in strikeouts, yet still maintain a batting average above .300:

I’m assuming this is from the Angels’ 2002 World Series title?

The Big Train:

and the Wizard of Oz:

I FINALLY got a pre-1970s card in the Topps Million Card Giveaway lottery!

1958 Topps #141 Ken Lehman

He was a relief pitcher in a time when needing a relief pitcher was a sign of weakness.

2006 Topps Updates & Highlights:

1. #UH49 Kelly Shoppach
2. #UH69 Kyle Lohse
3. #UH57 Kip Wells
4. #UH41 Shawn Green
5. #UH65 Greg Maddux
6. #UH165 Chad Billingsley (Rookie Card)
7. #UH236 Derrick Turnbow (All-Star)
8. Rookie Debut #RD-44 Joe Saunders
9. #UH199 Chris Carpenter (Postseason Highlights)
10. #UH278 Trevor Hoffman (All-Star)
11. #UH288 Miguel Tejada (Home Run Derby)
12. #UH296 Albert Pujols/Chris Carpenter (Team Leaders)

Pujols ended the 2006 season with a career-best 137 RBIs (it still stands today as his career best).  Carpenter finished 2006 with a record of 15-8, leading the team in wins.  Both Pujols and Carpenter are still playing for the Cardinals, and both are All-Stars this season.

Last pack of 2010 Topps Series 1!

1. #101 Scott Baker
2. #23 Shane Victorino
3. #317 Ryan Doumit
4. #327 Albert Pujols (MVP)
5. #268 Juan Pierre
6. Gold Border #217 Gio Gonzalez (Serial#0072/2010)
7. Turkey Red #TR21 Johnny Bench
8. Topps Town #TTT4 Adrian Gonzalez
9. #152 Nyjer Morgan
10. #226 Juan Rivera

By hitting his 17th and 18th homers of the season yesterday afternoon, Albert Pujols tied Stan Musial for the most multi-HR games in Cardinals history with 37.  Other similarities with Musial include:

• Both have made the All-Star team every season after their second season.
• Pujols’ career batting average is currently .332, while Musial batted .331 in his career.
• Through his first 10 seasons, Pujols has a 171 OPS+, while Musial had 172.

2009 Topps Series 1:

1. #68 Brandon Inge
2. #222 Curtis Granderson
3. #92 David Eckstein
4. #329 Colorado Rockies (Franchise History)
5. Million Card Giveaway #TMC-1 Roy Campanella
6. Peak Performance #PP-1 Albert Pujols
7. Topps Town #TTT22 Andrew McCutchen
8. #47 Brad Penny
9. #125 Ichiro
10. #229 Daniel McCutchen

“Pujols’ remarkable power consistency continued in 2009, when he became the first player in MLB history to start his career with nine straight 30-homer seasons.  Extending his unprecedented run never seemed in doubt; Albert reached the level a full two weeks before the MLB All-Star Game, collecting Nos. 29 and 30 against the Giants on June 30.”

Prince Albert is on his way to a 10th straight 30-homer season.  However, they’re starting to get harder to come by as opposing pitchers are being more cautious when pitching to him.  He has led the league in intentional walks since 2008.

My Million Card Giveaway blind dart throw nets me:

1974 Topps #26 Bill Campbell

2010 Topps Series 1:

1. #323 Jim Thome
2. #59 Kevin Gregg
3. #110 Andrew McCutchen (Topps All-Star Rookie)
4. #275 Chris Coghlan (Rookie of the Year)
5. #228 Chris Pettit (Rookie)
6. The Cards Your Mom Threw Out #CMT-4 Duke Snider
7. Topps Town #TTT14 Albert Pujols
8. #308 Robinzon Diaz
9. #262 Homer Bailey
10. #173 Kendry Morales

“Albert was just 6 years old when he adopted Julio Franco as his idol.  Amazingly, 15 years later, he got to play against him in the Majors for six seasons.”

Julio Franco finally retired in 2007 at the age of 49.

Duke Snider retired from baseball in 1964.  He has been retired for over 45 years, and is still alive and well at the age of 83.

Chris Pettit hit .321 last season in Triple-A.  Unfortunately, he tore up his shoulder playing winter ball last year and is still trying to recover from the surgery.

2010 Topps Series 1:

1. #2 Buster Posey (Rookie)
2. #114 Chris Iannetta
3. #48 Joey Votto
4. #100 Albert Pujols
5. Gold Border #262 Homer Bailey (Serial#0893/2010)
6. Turkey Red #TR1 Ryan Howard
7. Topps Town #TTT5 Evan Longoria
8. #112 Kevin Correia
9. #129 Reid Gorecki (Rookie)
10. #217 Gio Gonzalez

“The incomparable Albert not only led the NL in OPS for the third time in four seasons last year, but he set an MLB record for first basemen with 165 assists and led the Majors in SBs for his position.”

The worst this guy has ever batted in 9 MLB seasons was .314.  He’s a Machine!

2009 Topps Updates & Highlights:

1. #UH54 Vin Mazzaro (Rookie)
2. #UH160 Edgar Renteria
3. #UH164 Brett Tomko
4. #UH300 Albert Pujols (Home Run Derby)
5. #UH95 Ryan Freel
6. #UH301 Ryan Zimmerman (All-Star)
7. Turkey Red #TR116 Rick Porcello
8. Topps Town #TTT52 Torii Hunter
9. #UH46 Clayton Richard
10. #UH165 Maicer Izturis

“One of the most highly touted pitching prospects of recent years, Rick was drafted in the first round by Detroit in 2007, led the Flordia State League with a 2.66 ERA in ’08, and made the rare jump from Single-A to the Motor City the next year.  The youngest player in the Majors when he debuted at just 20, Porcello made it known quickly that he is mature beyond his years.  He gave up just one run over seven innings in his second start (April 19 at Seattle) to earn his first Major League victory.  The right-hander captured all five of his starts in May — a first for a Tigers pitcher that youthful.”

And my newest player collection:

And another Nat for my team collection:

2010 Topps Series 1:

1. #188 Joe Blanton
2. #87 Darin Erstad
3. #49 Jorge de la Rosa
4. #42 Prince Fielder/Ryan Howard/Albert Pujols (League Leaders)
5. The Cards Your Mom Threw Out #CMT-7 Orlando Cepeda
6. Peak Performance #PP-6 Steve Carlton
7. Topps Town #TTT15 Miguel Cabrera
8. #178 Kerry Wood
9. #83 Mark Teahen
10. #223 Ryan Church

“Carlton Cruises to First NL™ Cy Young Award”

“In what is viewed as one of the most sensational pitching seasons in history because it came for a last-place team, Carlton won his first of four NL Cy Young Awards in 1972.  He collected all 24 first-place votes after topping the circuit in wins (27), ERA (1.97) and CGs (30). Steve struck out a career-high 310 — 61 more than anyone else in the League.”

I wasn’t aware that the letters “NL” were trademarked by Major League Baseball.

I also picked up a bunch of heavy hitters in this pack: