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

Ranking the 30 MLB teams on my watch - Milwaukee Brewers #23 of 30

The emergence of Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder made this team relevant through the late 2000's but Fielder is long gone and the once golden Braun has stumbled because of PEDs - Carlos Gomez and Jean Segura really makes the Brewers go these days, even though just a few years ago, I thought Gomez wouldn't be able to establish himself as a regular player in the Major Leagues.

Gomez had sort of his breakout season in 2012 where I kind of noticed for a guy putting up some bad stats [20 walks / 98 strikeouts / .260 batting average] - he played with a certain fire and if I was rooting for a below average MLB player, it might be him.

2013 Topps Series II retail jumbo pack recap

The tip of the blue Sharpie I've used for autographing endeavors was getting fat and I lost the only ballpoint pen I've used to get baseballs signed - I was sort of in a rushed state so I tried to find if they had any of the pens I needed at a Walmart, but I couldn't immediately find the two types of pens I needed.

I ended up ended up with a retail jumbo pack for $4.98 of Topps Series II - it seems like card releases have been slow, so I wasn't really paying attention when Topps Series II came out on shelves.

Top section

#423 Miguel Gonzalez
#614 B.J. Upton

#630 Andy Dirks
#602 Anibal Sanchez
#610 Brandon Beachy
#621 Steve Cishek
#654 Brandon Barnes
#359 C.C. Sabathia
#551 Wellington Castillo

#418 Evan Gattis
#382 Jackie Bradley Jr.
#577 Matt Harvey
#609 Scott Baker
#409 Logan Morrison
#539 Phil Coke
#356 Greg Dobbs
#466 Jerome Williams

Bottom section
#559 Travis Snider
#547 Glen Perkins
#600 Mariano Rivera
#587 Matt Cain
#CH-87 Lance Lynn - Chasing History foil insert
#CH-80 Yu Darvish - Chasing History foil insert
#359 C.C. Sabathia - Walmart blue parallel

#387 Jean Segura - Walmart blue parallel
#475 Garrett Jones - Walmart blue parallel
#TM-64 David Price - 1972 Topps Mini insert
CH-75 Dustin Pedroia - Chasing History insert
#538 Phil Coke - Emerald Foil
#344 Kris Medlen - Gold parallel serial #'d 0200/2013
#WBC-8 Justin Morneau - World Baseball Classic insert
"2nd Chance" Vintage Card Giveaway info card
#393 Andres Torres
#463 Jason Hammel

#566 C.J. Wilson
#378 Joe Kelly
#554 R.A. Dickey

Angel prospect mailday - Jean Segura

Jean Segura is probably the best position player coming through the Angels system not named Mike Trout - the shortstop wasn't healthy for much of the season in Single-A Inland Empire in 2011 and his ability to stay on the field will probably dictate how far he goes in 2012.

Featured autograph - Jean Segura

Segura is coming on strong as the second best position player in the Angels' minor league system - after being a second baseman for much of his 4-year pro career, he has shifted over to shortstop in 2011 and it tempts me to believe this guy could be a Starlin Castro clone.

I got this autograph in-person after an Inland Empire 66ers game on April 23 - it was Ken Griffey Jr. bobblearm night, so getting the doll was a nice bonus in addition to the autographs I got with my friend.

Featured card: 2010 Bowman Chrome Prospects Jean Segura #BCP 7

While uber prospect Mike Trout in the Angels' farm system getting much of the Midwest League accolades [despite already being promoted] in 2010 - Segura has had a pretty good year himself down in Cedar Rapids and is likely slated to play in advanced Class-A ball in 2011.