2015 World Series - New York Mets

With their stud pitching staff featuring Matt Harvey, Jacob deGrom, Noah Syndergaard and Steven Matz, the Mets are primed to win the World Series - maybe the most important aspect is to get some runs on the board.

Presumably Daniel Murphy's bat is going to cool off - so the Mets need to lean on other players like Yoenis Cespedes [if playing], Curtis Granderson, David Wright, Travis D'Arnaud and maybe another guy [like a Michael Conforto or Wilmer Flores].

It would be nice to see the Mets win because of an individuals like manager Terry Collins and Wright - Collins has been a baseball lifer, so if he can lead the Mets to a World Series championship, he deserves all the credit he is going to get as the team's skipper.

Wright has been the face of the franchise for the last 11 years - he's represented the Mets well otherwise and while he was injured for much of the 2015 season, he finally gets an opportunity to play for a championship.

2014 Topps Heritage retail blister recap

I picked up a three pack blister for $9.49 at Target - I like how the cards look, though I fancy myself more of a poor man's prospector looking for random 'first year' guys on cardboard as opposed to established major leaguers I've seen on cards for a number of years.

I don't think these blisters are harder to find than any other 'pack types,' though the lure of the black border parallel cards got me - once these blister packs are gone off the shelves, at least I can say I got one.

Black border pack
#447 Dustin Pedroia
#494 Carlos Gonzalez
#269 Albert Pujols

Pack one
#181 Nick Christiani / Tuffy Gosewisch - 2014 Rookie Stars
#204 Jonathan Papelbon
#15 Asdrubal Cabrera
#198 Eric Hosmer

#497 Curtis Granderson - SP
#63 Jacob Turner
#40 Carl Crawford
#206 John Lackey
#70 Paul Konerko

Pack two
#145 Edwin Encarnacion
#9 Max Scherzer / Bartolo Colon / Matt Moore / C.J. Wilson / Chris Tillman - 2013 AL Wins Leaders
#186 Jon Niese
#255 Darin Ruf
#489 Jean Segura - SP
#284 David Wright
#226 J.R. Murphy / Cesar Cabreal - 2014 Rookie Stars
#7 Anibal Sanchez / Bartolo Colon - 2013 AL ERA Leaders
#83 Justin Smoak

Pack three
#136 Jon Lester
#288 Jhonny Peralta
#305 Garrett Jones
#309 Brandon Barnes
#Topps 65MLB-JB 2 Johnny Bench - First Draft insert
#405 Danny Salazar
#66 Joe Maddon
#336 Andy Dirks
#38 Brett Lawrie 

2014 Topps Heritage blaster recap

I got $5 off with my Topps coupon book, though I didn't pull anything special - except for more redundant cards to go through and add to my 'can't really get them signed in-person' pile.

Pack one
#185 Matt Holliday
#27 Jarrod Saltalamacchia
#207 David Murphy
#358 Vernon Wells
#430 Justin Verlander - SP
#362 Eduardo Nunez
#414 Robin Ventura
#336 Andy Dirks
#38 Brett Lawrie

Pack two
#1 Miguel Cabrera / Mike Trout / Joe Mauer - 2013 American League Batting Leaders
#136 Jon Lester - 2013 World Series Game 5
#21 Jon Jay
#243 Billy Hamilton / Nick Castellanos - 2014 Rookie Stars
#Topps 65 MLB-GN Graig Nettles - 1st Draft insert
#86 Wei-Yin Chen
#423 Alex Wood
#7 Anibal Sanchez / Bartolo Colon - 2013 American League ERA Leaders
#83 Justin Smoak

Pack three
#288 Jhonny Peralta
#145 Juan Encarnacion
#212 Steve Cishek
#56 Alexi Ogando
#240 Jarred Cosart
#49 Xander Bogaerts / Jonathan Schoop - 2014 Rookie Stars
#142 Michael Saunders
#227 Jonny Venters
#111 Yunel Escobar

Pack four 
#22 A.J. Ellis
#235 Kevin Gregg
#160 Andrew McCutchen
#292 Jim Henderson

#489 Jean Segura - SP
#80 Brett Oberholtzer
#48 Marlon Byrd
#43 Carlos Beltran
#342 Matt Carpenter

Pack five
#241 Drew Stubbs
#299 Mike Moustakas
#178 Jose Quintana
#2 Michael Cuddyer / Chris Johnson / Freddie Freeman - 2013 National League Batting Leaders
#297 Khris Davis

#437 Hanley Ramirez - Red bordered parallel
#135 Jonny Gomes - 2013 World Series Game 4
#339 Zack Cozart
#23 Joaquin Benoit

Pack six
#33 Michael Cuddyer
#335 Tyler Pastornicky
#274 Ron Washington
#137 Koji Uehara - 2013 World Series Game 6
#322 Brandon Crawford
#NF-TSOM The Sound of Music - News Flashbacks insert
#161 Brett Gardner
#215 Matt Harrison
#398 Daniel Webb / Chris Robinson - 2014 Rookie Stars

Pack seven
#223 Miguel Gonzalez
#219 Michael Young
#311 Brandon Morrow
#366 A.J. Griffin

#428 Madison Bumgarner - SP
#NAP-WM Wil Myers - New Age Performers insert
#39 Chris Carter
#343 Russell Martin
#35 Ryan Vogelsong

Pack eight
#53 Giancarlo Stanton
#400 Bryce Harper
#296 Randall Delgado
#15 Asdrubal Cabrera
#120 Shin-Soo Choo
#202 Wade Miley
#396 Everth Cabrera
#294 David Robertson
#137 Anthony Gose

Albert Pujols - in case fans weren't aware

I check Angels box scores and Pujols' profile pages online to see how he is doing on a game-by-game basis - he is two home runs away from the 500 home run mark and despite rumblings about the milestone being watered down, maybe all the 'home run hitting' guys were doing 10, 15, 20 years ago have sort of slowed down.

Reaching the 500 home run club still means you were a consistent power hitter for a long period of time - not a flash in the pan sort of player who may have had several fluke power seasons or a player who sort of lucked out in a previous era.

Still, it doesn't seem like the national media doesn't care as much and a likely scenario is Pujols is going to hit the two home runs he needs sooner than later and that will be that - I'm cautiously optimistic that as long as he's healthy, Pujols is going to play and hit well and the only thing I fear is another injury that may knock him out for a prolonged period of time.

Haven't bought any cards lately

But this coupon book might come in handy as far as some impulsive purchases - I'm going to try to find a 2014 Topps Heritage blaster box and see if I could get $5 off.

2014 Topps Heritage hobby pack recaps

I picked up eight random packs [five of the eight shown above] for $3.25 each at my LCS - not the most inspiring breaks, though I did pull a Mike Trout insert I can squirrel away.

Pack one
#141 Torii Hunter
#76 Chris Capuano
#160 Andrew McCutchen
#292 Jim Henderson

#312 Munenori Kawasaki
#49 Xander Bogaerts / Jonathan Schoop - 2014 Rookie Stars
#142 Michael Saunders
#35 Ryan Vogelsong
#396 Everth Cabrera

Pack two
#410 J.J. Hardy
#10 Adam Wainwright / Jordan Zimmermann / Clayton Kershaw - 2013 NL Pitching Leaders
#178 Jose Quintana

#427 Jurickson Profar - SP

#NF-MA Muhammad Ali - News Flashbacks insert
#80 Brett Oberholtzer
#294 David Robertson
#137 Anthony Gose
#246 Jeremy Guthrie

Pack three
#96 Andres Torres
#402 Jayson Werth
#311 Brandon Morrow
#296 Randall Delgado
#393 Lorenzo Cain

#441 David Ortiz - SP
#120 Shin-Soo Choo
#202 Wade Miley
#206 John Lackey

Pack four
#303 Prince Fielder
#364 Darwin Barney
#15 Asdrubal Cabrera
#198 Eric Hosmer
#18 Felix Doubront

#BF-AK Al Kaline - Baseball Flashbacks insert
#424 Zach Wheeler
#70 Paul Konerko
#264 Fernando Rodney

Pack five
#139 Melky Cabrera
#149 Buster Posey
#98 Mark Buehrle
#391 Bob Melvin

#92 C.J. Wilson
#337 Jimmy Rollins
#236 Jorge De La Rosa
#308 Travis D' Arnaud / Wilmer Flores - 2014 Rookie Stars 
#359 Huston Street

Pack six
#191 Tommy Milone
#85 Alex Rios
#78 Adam Jones
#54 Andrew Cashner

#456 Brandon Phillips - SP
#31 Salvador Perez
#14 Brian Roberts
#268 Christian Yelich
#320 Shelby Miller

Pack seven
#328 Jeremy Hellickson
#387 Jedd Gyrko
#2 Michael Cuddyer / Chris Johson / Freddie Freeman - 2013 NL Batting Leaders
#50 Matt Cain

#NAP-MT Mike Trout - New Age Performers
#48 Marlon Byrd

#135 World Series - Gomes Knots It Up
#421 Kevin Pillar / Ryan Goins - 2014 Rookie Stars
#238 Josh Beckett

Pack eight
#397 Peter Bourjos
#29 Derek Norris

#137 World Series - Champs For Third Time in Decade
#322 Brandon Crawford
#339 Zack Cozart
#161 Brett Gardner
#39 Chris Carter
#357 Lonnie Chisenhall
#124 Aramis Ramirez

2014 Topps Heritage preview

I'll pick up some hobby packs, maybe pony up for a blaster box to see what the cards look like - though I'm over the novelty of new Topps Heritage cards mimicking old-school Topps cards, even if I find the concept quaint at times.

More more importantly, I'm not a set builder and even if I was, what is the point to building the base non-SP'd set from scratch [?] - hand collated sets can be picked up on ebay for the price of about two blaster boxes.

As far as Topps Heritage is concerned, I'll wait until later in the year to get a hobby box and a hand collated set of the the minor league version - it maybe a personal preference, but the minor league version naturally gives me more cards [of minor leaguers / prospects] I can potentially get autographed in-person or maybe through the mail.