2009 Topps Series 1:

1. #303 Zach Duke
2. #244 Sean Rodriguez
3. #111 Troy Percival
4. #221 Cliff Lee/Roy Halladay/Daisuke Matsuzaka (League Leaders)
5. #246 B.J. Upton/Carl Crawford/Evan Longoria (Postseason Highlights)
6. #259 Tim Lincecum/Johan Santana/Dan Haren (League Leaders)
7. Topps Town #TTT6 Johan Santana
8. #248 Scott Lewis (Rookie)
9. #185 Randy Johnson
10. #269 Hunter Pence

“The Rays, in their first postseason, captured the AL pennant thanks to their booming bats.  B.J. Upton and Evan Longoria accounted for half of the team’s 16 ALCS homers (each slugging .780-plus) while Carl Crawford tied the series lead in hits.”

If the Rays keep doing what they have been doing this season, they’ll be headed to the World Series again this Fall.  Upton, Crawford, and Longoria are all still with the team.

Another one for my Randy Johnson collection:

2008 Topps Series 2:

1. #495 James Shields
2. #397 Brian Wilson
3. #579 Jesse Litsch
4. #638 Juan Pierre
5. #489 Joakim Soria
6. 50th Anniversary All Rookie Team #AR105 Miguel Cairo
7. Year in Review #YR77 Russell Branyan
8. #550 Curt Schilling
9. #396 Randy Johnson
10. #548 Garrett Olson

Future Hall of Famer Randy Johnson ended his Major League career batting .125 with 1 Home Run and 40 RBIs in 625 At-Bats.  Of his 78 career hits, 14 of them were doubles.

2008 Topps Updates & Highlights:

1. #UH242 Raul Chavez
2. #UH14 Bartolo Colon
3. #UH2 Sean Casey
4. #UH173 Randy Johnson (Highlights)
5. #UH285 Kosuke Fukudome (All-Star)
6. #UH222 Dave Borkowski
7. #UH306 Casey Kotchman
8. #UH96 Vladimir Nunez
9. Gold Border #UH148 David Wright (All-Star) (Serial#0052/2008)
10. Gold Foil #UH42 Chip Ambres

“Although David did not win the Monster All-Star Final Vote as the last addition to the 2008 NL All-Star Team, he was added soon after as a replacement for the injured Alfonso Soriano.  He singled and walked during the 15-inning marathon.  It was Wright’s third straight Fall Classic, including the ’06 game, when he homered in his first at-bat.”

Randy Johnson retired last month.  I’m pretty sure he will be first-ballot Hall of Famer when he becomes eligible, I think in 2016.

Also of note, I noticed the card is missing a letter… it says, “RANDY MOVES UP TO NO. 2 ON ALL-TIME K LIS”

2009 Topps Updates & Highlights:

1. #UH200 Randy Johnson
2. #UH157 Josh Hamilton (All-Star)
3. #UH231 Josh Bard
4. #UH259 Victor Martinez (All-Star)
5. #UH47 Carlos Beltran (All-Star)
6. #UH243 Jonathan Papelbon (All-Star)
7. Ring of Honor #RH99 Thurman Munson
8. Topps Town #TTT62 Russell Martin
9. #UH313 Jeff Baker
10. #UH5 Brian Fuentes

“Munson, a winner of the highest order, captained the back-to-back Yankees World Series champions of 1977 and ’78.  He pounded eight hits in each, and drove home seven runs against the Dodgers in the latter.”

Future Hall of Famer Randy Johnson:

and former Washington National Josh Bard, who is now contracted to play minor league ball in the Seattle Mariners organization:

Opening up a fresh box of 2009 Topps Updates & Highlights to celebrate the new year!

Although the box topper says there is only “one rookie chrome refractor card inside!”, I lucked out and got two!  Hopefully it’s a sign of things to come:

1. Chrome Refractor #CHR41 P.J. Walters
2. Chrome Refractor #CHR42 Jordan Zimmermann

Now on the the first pack:

1. #UH74 Mitch Maier
2. #UH4 David Hernandez (Rookie)
3. #UH216 Mat Latos (Rookie)
4. #UH321 Hunter Pence (All-Star)
5. #UH22 Brett Gardner
6. Legends of the Game #LGU18 Babe Ruth
7. Topps Town #TTT59 Justin Verlander
8. #UH80 Matt Stairs
9. #UH130 Randy Johnson (Season Highlights)
10. #UH288 Jon Garland

Not a bad pack if I might say so myself.

I have never seen 1994 Fleer Ultra before, so today I get a treat in ripping this pack.  If it’s anything like previous releases of Fleer Ultra, then I can expect pretty cards with full-bleed photography.  Let’s see what we got:

1. #161 Mike Harkey
2. #170 Willie Greene (Rookie)
3. #244 Tommy Greene
4. #102 Danny Tartabull
5. #243 Darren Daulton
6. #40 Sandy Alomar Jr.
7. #76 Mike Ignasiak (Rookie)
8. #49 Jim Thome
9. #72 Juan Bell
10. #240 Joe Orsulak
11. #195 Orestes Destrade
12. #169 Willie Wilson
13. #84 Larry Casian
14. League Leaders #5 Randy Johnson

I collect Randy Johnson, but this is honestly the ugliest card of the pack.  I guess this still is, after all, a pack from the tacky 90′s.

“Don’t ask hitters about facing Randy.  It’s all a blur to them.

Johnson is one of the hardest throwers in the game, and not surprisingly he has always struck out a lot of hitters.  But in 1993, he joined the ranks of the all-time great strikeout artists with 308 Ks.  That total was 112 more than his closest pursuer in the American League and 81 more than any National League hurler.  It also was the 10th-highest strikeout total in AL history.“

1992 Upper Deck, to be integrated into my collection:

1. #156 Sandy Alomar Jr.
2. #157 Brian McRae
3. #160 Felix Fermin *x3
4. #161 Leo Gomez
5. #163 Ben McDonald
6. #164 Randy Johnson
7. #168 Greg Gagne
8. #169 Ron Karkovice
9. #170 Charlie Leibrandt
10. #176 Ruben Sierra
11. #180 Kirk Gibson *x2
12. #184 Tony Phillips
13. #187 Gene Larkin
14. #191 Lenny Harris
15. #192 Terry Kennedy
16. #194 Willie McGee
17. #200 Checklist 151-200 (Checklist)
18. #203 Pat Tabler
19. #204 Jose Guzman
20. #205 Jose Lind
21. #207 Joe Orsulak
22. #213 Mike Boddicker
23. #216 David Howard
24. #217 Gary Varsho *x2
25. #218 Mike Harkey
26. #219 Luis Aquino
27. #220 Chuck McElroy
28. #222 Dave Winfield
29. #223 Rafael Palmeiro
30. #225 Bobby Bonilla

1992 Stadium Club, to be integrated into my collection:

1. #576 John Habyan
2. #577 Jeffrey McNeely
3. #580 Fred McGriff
4. #584 Rob Dibble *x2
5. #587 Randy Milligan
6. #588 Checklist 301-400 (Checklist)
7. #589 Checklist 401-500 (Checklist) *x2
8. #590 Checklist 501-600 (Checklist) *x2
9. #606 Jeff Bagwell (Members Choice)
10. #613 Troy Afenir (Rookie) *x2
11. #617 Alvin Davis
12. #629 Rico Rossy
13. #630 Royce Clayton
14. #657 Jeff Reardon
15. #674 Wayne Edwards
16. #682 Matt Young
17. #685 Ron Darling *x2
18. #686 Bryan Hickerson
19. #699 Jeff Manto *x2
20. #700 Rick Sutcliffe
21. #707 Paul Sorrento
22. #709 Junior Noboa
23. #720 Randy Johnson