“One look at Albert, and even the casual fan can tell he’s got the powerful body of a big-time home run hitter.  But there has been more to his success than just muscle.  ”He’s as smart as any player I’ve ever managed,” says Cards manager Tony LaRussa.  His intellect has enabled him, at just 23, to make uncanny adjustments.”

2004 Topps Series 1:

1. #311 Kenny Perez (First Year)
2. #32 Brad Radke
3. #143 Omar Vizquel
4. #6 Mike Matheny
5. #1 Jim Thome
6. #112 Octavio Dotel
7. #339 Alex Rodriguez/Frank Thomas/Carlos Delgado (League Leaders)
8. #39 Gil Meche
9. #241 Orlando Hudson
10. #40 Albert Pujols
11. #124 Eric Owens

Another pack of 2011 Topps Series 2, this one had the autograph, and it’s a good one.

World Series Champion

Early favorite that never lived up to the promise

Haven’t been seen in the playoffs since 1985

His 4 singles, 2 doubles, and triple weren’t enough in the Division Series

Get well soon!

1. #637 Ricky Nolasco
2. #419 Kelly Johnson
3. #345 Austin Jackson
4. #439 Ervin Santana
5. #400 Troy Tulowitzki
6. #476 Matt LaPorta
7. #628 Blake DeWitt
8. #410 Prince Fielder
9. #572 Brad Hawpe
10. #429 Skip Schumaker
11. #483 Justin Smoak
12. #546 Pat Burrell
13. #607 Daniel Murphy
14. #463 Will Venable
15. #364 Tim Wakefield
16. #379 Ben Francisco
17. #401 Michael Crotta (Rookie Card)
18. #466 Johnny Damon
19. #404 Chris Capuano
20. #394 Austin Jackson (Topps All-Star Rookie)
21. #503 Nathan Adcock (Rookie Card)
22. #418 Zach Britton (Rookie Card)
23. #547 Albert Pujols (Checklist)
24. Gold #614 Minnesota Twins (Serial#1701/2011) (Team Card)
25. Topps Town Series 2 #TT2-33 Austin Jackson
26. Diamond Giveaway #TDG-17 Ryan Braun
27. Diamond Anniversary #568 Kansas City Royals (Team Card)
28. Diamond Duos Series 2 #DD-20 Clayton Kershaw/Madison Bumgarner
29. 60 #T60-74 Chase Utley
30. 60 Years of Topps #60YOT-107 Roy Halladay
31. Kimball Champions #KC-92 Frank Thomas
32. 60 Autographs #BP Buster Posey (Autograph)
33. #539 Brandon Lyon
34. #513 Adam LaRoche
35. #465 Yovani Gallardo
36. #497 Alex Avila
37. #632 Scott Kazmir
38. #342 Jorge de la Rosa
39. #565 Mark Teahen
40. #577 Mike Fontenot
41. #657 Nick Blackburn
42. #397 Sean Rodriguez
43. #493 Ryan Sweeney
44. #587 J.P. Arencibia
45. #516 Mike Leake
46. #457 Brandon Allen
47. #494 Drew Storen
48. #556 B.J. Upton
49. #433 Curtis Granderson
50. #375 Matt Kemp

Here’s my last jumbo pack of 2011 Topps Series 1!

1. #216 Jose Bautista
2. #323 C.J. Wilson
3. #265 John Danks
4. #188 Pablo Sandoval
5. #33 Max Scherzer
6. #221 Scott Hairston
7. #307 Alex Rios
8. #46 Hong-Chih Kuo
9. #184 Brandon Morrow
10. #284 Reid Brignac
11. #67 Vladimir Guerrero
12. #218 Victor Martinez
13. #75 Jered Weaver
14. #253 Jim Thome
15. #142 Johnny Cueto
16. #162 Ronny Cedeno
17. #1 Ryan Braun
18. #23 Jaime Garcia
19. #44 Martin Prado
20. #290 Ike Davis
21. #176 Daniel Hudson
22. #242 Brad Lidge
23. #194 Andres Torres
24. #149 David Aardsma
25. #76 Tom Gorzelanny
26. #32 Chris Johnson
27. #105 Jonathan Lucroy
28. Diamond Giveaway #TDG-4 Albert Pujols
29. 60 Years of Topps #60YOT-35 Dave Winfield
30. Diamond Duos #DD-PC Albert Pujols/Miguel Cabrera
31. 60 #T60-16 Carl Crawford
32. Diamond #196 Jose Ceda (Rookie Card)
33. Kimball Champions #KC-33 Martin Prado
34. Lost Cards #60YOTLC-2 Duke Snider
35. 60 Autographs #FCA Fausto Carmona (Redemption)
36. #132 Brian Duensing
37. #187 Milwaukee Brewers (Team Card)
38. #168 Felix Hernandez (Cy Young Award)
39. #222 Matt Lindstrom
40. #274 Michael Brantley
41. #303 Emilio Bonifacio
42. #161 Chicago White Sox (Team Card)
43. #73 James McDonald
44. #236 Nelson Cruz
45. #238 Pedro Ciriaco (Rookie Card)
46. #38 Ryan Dempster
47. #298 Jeff Keppinger
48. #96 Zach Duke
49. #51 David Eckstein
50. Topps Town #TT-17 Aroldis Chapman

1986 Topps #163 Pete Ladd

A jumbo pack of 2011 Topps Series 1:

1. #205 Ty Wigginton
2. #151 Fausto Carmona
3. #9 Gil Meche
4. #94 Ryan Raburn
5. #177 Brian Matusz
6. #201 Mike Napoli
7. #17 Mark Ellis
8. #62 Jonathan Papelbon
9. #112 Jorge Cantu
10. #258 Rafael Soriano
11. #231 Mark Buehrle
12. #248 Wade LeBlanc
13. #179 Armando Galarraga
14. #113 Arthur Rhodes
15. #191 Jay Bruce
16. #217 Yunel Escobar
17. #154 Marlon Byrd
18. #267 Jose Contreras
19. #230 Aaron Cook
20. #325 Jayson Werth
21. #313 Chris Coghlan
22. #269 Stephen Drew
23. #180 Paul Maholm
24. #13 Billy Wagner
25. #276 Miguel Olivo
26. #56 Johan Santana
27. #89 Placido Polanco
28. Gold #132 Brian Duensing (Serial#1392/2011)
29. Diamond Giveaway #TDG-7 Derek Jeter
30. 60 Years of Topps #60YOT-50 Manny Ramirez
31. Diamond Duos #DD-TU Hisanori Takahashi/Koji Uehara
32. 60 #T60-24 Josh Johnson
33. Diamond #117 Brett Sinkbeil (Rookie Card)
34. Kimball Champions #KC-38 Roy Oswalt
35. CMG Reprints #CMGR-15 Jimmie Foxx
36. #299 Chris Carpenter
37. #185 Peter Bourjos
38. #159 Chris Perez
39. #11 Roy Halladay/Adam Wainwright/Ubaldo Jimenez (League Leaders)
40. #138 Albert Pujols/Carlos Gonzalez/Joey Votto (League Leaders)
41. #34 Rick Ankiel
42. #186 Carl Pavano
43. #235 Felix Hernandez/Clay Buchholz/David Price (League Leaders)
44. #200 Ichiro
45. #87 Daniel Descalso (Rookie Card)
46. #206 Chase Headley
47. #45 Hunter Pence
48. #77 Tim Hudson
49. #181 Magglio Ordonez
50. Topps Town #TT-11 Chris Young

Just when I thought my Diamond Topps luck couldn’t get any worse, I get this:

1987 Topps #256 Royals Leaders

Ripping a jumbo pack of 2011 Topps Series 1:

1. #252 Michael Saunders
2. #140 Brett Anderson
3. #102 CC Sabathia
4. #255 Torii Hunter
5. #164 Koji Uehara
6. #47 Kevin Correia
7. #261 Alexei Ramirez
8. #131 Kevin Kouzmanoff
9. #121 Brandon Inge
10. #35 Shin-Soo Choo
11. #260 Freddy Sanchez
12. #197 Aaron Hill
13. #36 Ted Lilly
14. #8 Julio Borbon
15. #128 Manny Ramirez
16. #104 Ian Stewart
17. #156 Josh Thole
18. #20 Hanley Ramirez
19. #2 Jake Westbrook
20. #310 Alex Gonzalez
21. #295 Jon Jay
22. #60 Andrew McCutchen
23. #247 Starlin Castro
24. #136 Jason Marquis
25. #256 Tyler Colvin
26. #58 Edgar Renteria
27. #66 R.A. Dickey
28. Diamond Giveaway #TDG-1 Mickey Mantle
29. 60 Years of Topps #60YOT-28 Eddie Murray
30. Diamond Duos #DD-RS Hanley Ramirez/Mike Stanton
31. 60 #T60-44 Duke Snider
32. Diamond #49 Angels (Team Card)
33. Kimball Champions #KC-6 Clay Buchholz
34. Lost Cards #60YOTLC-3 Mickey Mantle
35. #322 Brent Morel (Rookie Card)
36. #183 Stephen Strasburg (Topps All-Star Rookie)
37. #141 Ubaldo Jimenez (Checklist)
38. #65 Chris Sale (Rookie Card)
39. #57 Mark Trumbo (Rookie Card)
40. #309 Chicago Cubs (Team Card)
41. #59 Gaby Sanchez (Topps All-Star Rookie)
42. #88 Brian Bogusevic (Rookie Card)
43. #80 Desmond Jennings (Rookie Card)
44. #68 Cleveland Indians (Team Card)
45. #318 Albert Pujols/Adam Dunn/Joey Votto (League Leaders)
46. #204 Oakland Athletics (Team Card)
47. #12 Carlos Marmol
48. #158 Casey Blake
49. #279 Nick Swisher
50. Topps Town #TT-14 Shin-Soo Choo

As for the spoils of the Diamond Giveaway card-grab:

1967 Topps #2 Jack Hamilton

“After being carried by their pitching and some lesser-known hitters in the NLCS, the Cardinals turned to the heart of their order to dispatch Detroit in the World Series opener.  Their Nos. 3-4-5 men — Pujols, Edmonds and Rolen — combined to go 5-for-11 with 4 RBI in a 7-2 win.  Pujols and Rolen homered.”

Jim Edmonds just officially announced his retirement last month.  He played 17 seasons in the Major Leagues, winning 8 Gold Gloves for his exceptional fielding abilities.

2006 Topps Updates & Highlights:

1. #UH91 Oscar Villarreal
2. #UH103 Aaron Sele
3. #UH47 Elmer Dessens
4. #UH75 Wilson Betemit
5. #UH55 Julio Lugo
6. #UH227 Alfonso Soriano (All-Star)
7. #UH250 Carlos Lee (All-Star)
8. Gold #UH328 Johan Santana/Francisco Liriano (Serial#0278/2006) (Classic Duos)
9. #UH197 Albert Pujols/Jim Edmonds/Scott Rolen (Postseason Highlights)
10. #UH264 Mariano Rivera (All-Star)
11. #UH317 Frank Thomas/Barry Zito (Team Leaders)
12. #UH263 Dan Uggla (All-Star)

Of these three hitters, Freddy Sanchez was the one who declined the most since winning the batting title in 2006, hitting only .290 since 2007.  Miguel Cabrera and Albert Pujols hit .316 and .330, respectively, since 2007.

2006 Topps Updates & Highlights:

1. #UH20 Jeff Conine
2. #US32 David Riske
3. #UH12 Brett Tomko
4. #UH40 Jeremy Accardo
5. #UH24 Eddie Guardado
6. #UH226 Kenny Rogers (All-Star)
7. #UH175 Trevor Hoffman (Season Highlights)
8. Rookie Debut #RD-2 Ian Kinsler
9. #UH185 Frank Thomas (Postseason Highlights)
10. #UH268 Bobby Jenks (All-Star)
11. #UH211 Freddy Sanchez/Miguel Cabrera/Albert Pujols (League Leaders)
12. #UH266 Tom Gordon (All-Star)

“From Japan and Dominican Republic, respectively, Ichiro and Pujols made dramatic big-league debuts in 2001.  Ichiro won the AL bat crown (.350), Rookie of the Year Award and MVP Award.  Albert smashed .329-37-130, won the NL Rookie of the Year prize and finished fourth in NL MVP voting.  Each player ripped at least .312 in ’02 and ’03, with Pujols copping his first NL bat crown (.359) the latter year.”

After 10 seasons of play, neither Ichiro nor Pujols have ever hit under .300 in a season.

2004 Topps Series 2:

1. #537 Paul Konerko
2. #430 Garret Anderson
3. #523 J.T. Snow Jr.
4. #634 Shea Hillenbrand
5. #401 Troy Glaus
6. #702 Mike Cameron (Gold Glove)
7. #646 Cleveland Indians (Team Card)
8. #643 Chicago Cubs (Team Card)
9. #694 Ichiro/Albert Pujols (Fan Favorites)
10. #638 Anaheim Angels (Team Card)