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JUMBO Sunday: 2011 Topps Series 1

Sunday, May 15th, 2011

Now that all the catch-up pack breaks are out of the way, here’s this week’s regular JUMBO Sunday feature – a jumbo pack of 2011 Topps Series 1:

  1. #288 Matt Capps
  2. #18 Kevin Millwood
  3. #108 Zack Greinke
  4. #178 Heath Bell
  5. #93 Paul Konerko
  6. #327 Cristian Guzman
  7. #311 James Shields
  8. #224 Milton Bradley
  9. #69 Brett Gardner
  10. #182 Jeremy Bonderman
  11. #3 Jon Lester
  12. #54 Brian Fuentes
  13. #321 Jeremy Guthrie
  14. #215 Edwin Encarnacion
  15. #227 Nate McLouth
  16. #297 Jason Jaramillo
  17. #312 Gaby Sanchez
  18. #40 Justin Upton
  19. #119 Jason Bay
  20. #220 Todd Helton
  21. #245 Neil Walker
  22. #277 Trevor Hoffman
  23. #125 Evan Meek
  24. #92 Chris Narveson
  25. #286 Melvin Mora
  26. #147 Jon Niese
  27. #308 Ian Desmond
  28. Diamond Giveaway#TDG-2 Jackie Robinson
  29. 60 Years of Topps #60YOT-17 Frank Robinson/Brooks Robinson
  30. Diamond Duos #DD-BD Ryan Braun/Ike Davis
  31. 60 #T60-41 Shin-soo Choo
  32. Diamond #135 Mike Stanton (Topps All-Star Rookie)
  33. Kimball Champions #KC-34 Joey Votto
  34. 60 Years of Topps Original Back #60YOT-48 Mike Piazza/Ivan Rodriguez/Jason Kendall (Reprint)
  35. Lost Cards #60YOTLC-7 Bob Feller
  36. #287 Scott Cousins (Rookie Card)
  37. #268 Jake McGee (Rookie Card)
  38. #254 Lars Anderson (Rookie Card)
  39. #49 Angels (Team Card)
  40. #198 Buster Posey (Topps All-Star Rookie)
  41. #29 Josh Hamilton (MVP)
  42. #117 Brett Sinkbeil (Rookie Card)
  43. #196 Jose Ceda (Rookie Card)
  44. #26 Neftali Feliz (Rookie of the Year)
  45. #79 Kurt Suzuki
  46. #175 Brennan Boesch
  47. #169 Chipper Jones
  48. #53 Arizona Diamondbacks (Team Card)
  49. #283 Colorado Rockies (Team Card)
  50. Topps Town #TT-13 Chase Utley

And my latest Topps Diamond lottery card:

1962 Topps #3 Pete Runnels

Pack Break: 2005 Topps Series 1

Wednesday, November 24th, 2010

Piazza and Clemens made headlines in 2000.  First, Piazza was hit in the head by a Clemens pitch in July.  Then, in Game 2 of the World Series, Clemens tossed the barrel of a broken bat near Piazza as he ran to first base.  Still, the duo worked in harmony as a battery during the 2004 All-Star Game.

2005 Topps Series 1:

  1. #194 Bobby Abreu
  2. #250 Mark Prior
  3. #241 Luis Rivas
  4. #119 Steve Trachsel
  5. #221 Carlos Guillen
  6. #351 Curt Schilling/David Ortiz (Postseason Highlights)
  7. Grudge Match #GM2 Mike Piazza/Roger Clemens
  8. #243 Jason Johnson
  9. #113 Darrell May
  10. #283 Ron Gardenhire (Manager)

Pack Break: 1995 Topps Series 1

Tuesday, November 2nd, 2010

Before the All-Star break in 1994, Mike Piazza fared better than Mike Stanley in nearly every statistical category.  However, after the All-Star break the tables were turned and Mike Stanley batted .378 with 8 home runs and a .733 slugging percentage.

1995 Topps Series 1:

  1. #110 Walt Weiss
  2. Cyberstats #104 Jim Edmonds
  3. #37 Kevin Tapani
  4. #37 Kevin Tapani
  5. #144 Tommy Greene
  6. #174 Darren Hall
  7. #391 Mike Piazza/Mike Stanley (Topps All Stars)
  8. #266 Sterling Hitchcock
  9. #24 Rene Arocha
  10. #367 B.J. Surhoff
  11. #149 Turk Wendell
  12. #350 Barry Larkin
  13. #378 Mark Dewey
  14. #349 Armando Reynoso
  15. #298 Phil Clark

JUMBO Sunday: 2005 Topps Series 2

Sunday, September 5th, 2010

Here’s a 5-hobby-pack rip session of 2005 Topps Series 2:

PACK 1

  1. #429 Gary Matthews Jr.
  2. #505 Nomar Garciaparra
  3. #531 Daniel Cabrera (Topps All-Star Rookie)
  4. #522 David Bush
  5. #711 Andruw Jones (Gold Glove)
  6. Gold #381 Brad Lidge (Serial#1946/2005)
  7. #504 Craig Monroe
  8. #424 Ramon Hernandez
  9. #383 Alex Cora
  10. #513 Mark Redman

PACK 2

  1. #550 Pat Burrell
  2. #525 Marlon Byrd
  3. #579 Jeff Conine
  4. #390 Manny Ramirez
  5. #696 Ivan Rodriguez (Gold Glove)
  6. Barry Bonds Home Run History #BB161 Barry Bonds
  7. #375 Magglio Ordonez
  8. #587 Dan Kolb
  9. #497 Richie Sexson
  10. #681 Bobby Livingston (Draft Pick) (Rookie)

PACK 3

  1. #672 Glen Perkins (Draft Pick) (Rookie)
  2. #468 Ross Gload
  3. #492 Tomas Perez
  4. #423 Jose Mesa
  5. #714 Roger Clemens (Cy Young Award)
  6. Hit Parade #HR10 Manny Ramirez
  7. #636 Pedro Feliz
  8. #514 Jason Michaels
  9. #518 Jose Lopez
  10. #554 Jamie Moyer

PACK 4

  1. #450 Mike Piazza
  2. #608 Luis A. Gonzalez
  3. #547 Kevin Brown
  4. #410 Joe Kennedy
  5. #563 Junior Spivey
  6. #697 Darin Erstad (Gold Glove)
  7. #446 Chris Capuano
  8. #590 Alex Gonzalez
  9. #573 Paul Byrd
  10. #491 Tony Womack

PACK 5

  1. #577 Ryan Wagner
  2. #486 Bobby Madritsch
  3. #378 Chin-hui Tsao
  4. #566 Chris Shelton
  5. #732 Curt Schilling (Postseason Highlights)
  6. Barry Bonds Home Run History #BB280 Barry Bonds
  7. #524 Paul Quantrill
  8. #596 Mark Hendrickson
  9. #443 Pete Munro
  10. #592 Jolbert Cabrera

Pack Break: 1993 Topps Series 2

Tuesday, August 31st, 2010

1993 Topps Series 2:

  1. #701 Mike Piazza/Brook Fordyce/Carlos Delgado/Donnie Leshnock (Prospects)
  2. #419 Mark Thompson (Draft Pick) (Rookie)
  3. #575 Monty Fariss
  4. #629 Cris Carpenter
  5. #664 Calvin Jones
  6. Gold #425 Joe Girardi
  7. #639 Mike Bordick
  8. #674 Mark Gubicza
  9. #496 Reggie Jefferson
  10. #414 Juan Guerrero
  11. #646 Rich Scheid (Rookie)
  12. #707 Donn Pall
  13. #689 Eddie Zosky
  14. #554 Arthur Rhodes
  15. #675 Tim Raines

Another crop of early 90′s prospects here.  What became of them?

Mike Piazza went on to play 16 seasons in the Major Leagues and is regarded as one of the best hitting catchers of all time.  He officially announced his retirement in 2008 and ended his career with a .308 career batting average with 427 home runs.  He will likely be inducted into the Hall of Fame someday.

Brook Fordyce played in the Major Leagues 10 seasons and was regarded as a good hitting catcher, especially in the 2000 season when he hit .301 with 14 home runs.  He retired in 2004.

Carlos Delgado is surprisingly still playing baseball in the Boston Red Sox organization.  He is 38 years old and has 473 career home runs.  He probably wants to hit those remaining 27 home runs to reach the 500 club before he retires.

Donnie Leshnock was drafted by the New York Yankees and never made it past the single-A level.

Pack Break: 2006 Topps Series 2

Tuesday, December 8th, 2009

2006 Topps Series 2:

  1. #365 Aramis Ramirez
  2. #574 Darin Erstad
  3. #584 Jorge Sosa
  4. #495 Adrian Beltre
  5. Hit Parade #HR9 Mike Piazza
  6. #346 Hideki Matsui
  7. #560 Jim Thome
  8. #620 Hanley Ramirez (Rookie)
  9. #539 Juan Rincon
  10. #612 Los Angeles Dodgers (Team Card)

After the 2005 season, Mike Piazza ranked 8th in active career home runs with 397.  He ended his career with 427 home runs, securing a comfortable niche between Cal Ripken Jr. and Billy Williams at #39 on the all-time career home run list (with Chipper Jones passing through).

Speaking of great catchers, it looks like Ivan Rodriguez will end his Hall of Fame career with the Nationals!  Can’t wait to see him play this upcoming season!  The Nats should just go ahead and sign all the old future Hall of Famers before they retire.  It would certainly boost ticket sales and interest in our humble (and poorly performing) team.

Pack Break: 1993 Leaf Series 1

Saturday, November 28th, 2009

Today I have another special pack break.  Back in 1993, I bought a single pack of 93 Leaf and saved it up and eventually forgot about it.  I don’t even know what ’93 Leaf looks like because I never opened a single pack.  It’s now or never:

  1. #177 Brady Anderson
  2. #166 B.J. Surhoff
  3. #155 Leo Gomez
  4. #144 Bill Wegman
  5. Gold Rookies #7 Ryan Thompson
  6. #26 Jose Oquendo
  7. #35 Mike Piazza
  8. #58 Brian McRae
  9. #44 Bob Tewksbury
  10. #146 George Brett
  11. #27 Julio Franco
  12. #38 Milt Cuyler
  13. #49 Rafael Palmeiro
  14. #60 Dan Gladden

The really cool thing about 1993 Leaf is that the card backs look just as good as the fronts.  Take a look:

Archives Project: 1993 Donruss

Friday, November 27th, 2009

1993 Donruss, to be integrated into my collection:

  1. #44 Eric Wedge (Rated Rookie)
  2. #72 Todd Worrell
  3. #124 Chuck Carr
  4. #159 Jose Canseco
  5. #187 Ivan Rodriguez
  6. #188 Bret Boone (Rated Rookie)
  7. #189 Juan Guzman
  8. #190 Tom Browning
  9. #206 Craig Shipley
  10. #207 John Jaha
  11. #208 Royce Clayton
  12. #209 Mike Piazza (Rated Rookie)
  13. #210 Ron Gant
  14. #211 Scott Erickson
  15. #212 Doug Dascenzo *x2
  16. #213 Andy Stankiewicz *x2
  17. #214 Geronimo Berroa *x2
  18. #215 Dennis Eckersley *x2
  19. #216 Al Osuna *x2
  20. #217 Tino Martinez
  21. #218 Henry Rodriguez
  22. #219 Ed Sprague
  23. #220 Ken Hill
  24. #283 Kent Hrbek
  25. #295 Jimmy Poole
  26. #307 Gregg Jefferies
  27. #319 Geno Petralli
  28. #320 Melvin Nieves (Rated Rookie)