New pitchers hitting pick ups for me

The Darvish and Tanaka were part of lots I found on eBay - I thought I might have bought the cards from a local stateside seller, but the cards looks like they were actually mailed from Japan.

They are only really checklist cards but it's a novelty to see these big league pitching imports at bat in games - for the teams they played for before coming over to the United States.

The other cards were part of my BaseballCardStore.ca acquisitions - the 1986 Fleer Classic Miniatures Gooden [#19] is sweet while the other two were nice finds as well.

2014 Topps Series I blaster recap

I was going to pick up a 2014 Topps Opening Day blaster since I've seen a few random breaks and it looks like cheap fun with assorted inserts to be pulled - along with possible autographs and even image variations.

However, the guaranteed lure of a commemorative patch card along with two Target Red parallels per pack steered me towards my first 2014 Topps blaster instead - even though at first I'd actually bought a blaster without the Target red parallels inserted and returned the 'dud' blaster to look for a blaster marked as having the parallels.

It seems like the idea of continuing to pick up 2014 Topps unopened packs / blasters is something I'm still interested in even though I have all the base cards from 2014 Topps Series I - maybe because there might be inserts [or specifically parallels] to still pull that are a little different than just the base cards.

With the right 2014 Topps blaster in-hand and at home, I'm going through a 'detailed' break where I list the contents from the 8-card packs - as I flip through the cards, what I start noticing is most of the cards in middle of the packs all have at least one mashed corner; maybe the cards are packed too tight and 'can't breathe.'

Is pulling a 'bunch' of cards with at least one corner mashed considered merely a bad run [?] - it looks like I have to return most of the Target red borders and other inserts and maybe a few base since they don't look to great.

The best card to come out of the blaster was from the commemorative patch pack - I pulled a 2012 Topps rookie reprint of Yu Darvish [#RCP-16] and the card is nice, even though it looks like the prices for these types of cards have bottomed out on ebay.

I stayed away from 2014 Topps Series I blasters because I thought these reprint cards were redundant, considering these are similar to last year's rookie card patches - unlike last year's version, only the image is reprinted in a 'silk' cloth material, while the actual card design is integrated as part of the border that 'holds' the image.

Maybe I'll look for more of the rookie card reprints since they are not as bulky as last year's rookie card patches and it's not as cumbersome to have in-hand I guess - I still think I should have gone with the 2014 Topps Opening Day blaster.

Ranking the 30 MLB teams on my watch - Texas Rangers #6 of 30

In recent years, the Angels are still looking up at the Rangers, so I can't really talk smack - I do feel like the Rangers have had it tough between losing the 2011 World Series, committing a choke job in losing the American League West title in 2012 and losing the Wild Card playoff game against the Tampa Bay Rays this past season.

It seems like manager Ron Washington can't get a break - it seems like he is the one put on the firing line rather than be considered one of the main guys who is responsible for the team's overall success, regardless of their shortcomings.

Yu Darvish might be the best pitcher in the American League with the potential to throw a no-hitter every time he is making a start - my in-person autograph white whale, I think he'd be the bees knees if he actually acknowledges and signs for me sooner than never.

Adrian Beltre's numbers have stayed consistent playing with the Rangers and besides his bat, he continues to be a great defender as he enters his mid 30's - he is making a late career push towards the Hall of Fame, something that didn't seem quite possible when he is a just an OK player and quite a disappointment in Seattle.

2012 Panini Prizm - three pack break recap #2 of 3

Pack two
#44 David Freese
#2 Cameron Maybin

#67 Alex Rodriguez

#148 Cal Ripken Jr.
#170 Drew Pomeranz
#151 Yu Darvish

2012 Bowman retail three pack blister recap

2012 Bowman three pack blister [$9.49 each at a Target] - the white borders in this year's Bowman base set make the set look a little less claustrophobic.

The metronomic black borders that was a trademark of Bowman had gotten stale and it's nice to change things up this year - even it's just the borders of the base cards.

Purple border pack
#BP 73 Will Swanner
#BP 107 Joe Ross
#BP 1 Justin Nicolino

Pack one
#8 Paul goldschmidt
#113 Yovani Gallardo
#160 R.A. Dickey
#BCP 31 Nick Maronde - Chrome
#BCP 89 Austin Hedges - Chrome
#145 Brandon Phillips - Gold parallel
#BP 79 Josh Bell
#BP 36 Michael Brady
#33 Chris Young
#176 Ichiro

Pack two
#175 Starlin Castro
#5 Brennan Boesch
#BCP 94 Charlie Tilson - Chrome
#BCP 104 Joc Pederson - Chrome
#172 Bud Norris - Gold parallel
#98 Nyjer Morgan - International parallel
#BP 78 Nick Castellanos
#BP 43 Rookie Davis
#23 Colby Rasmus
#28 Mat Latos

Pack three - first pack I actually opened and looking at the last card to start off the pack, it looked like I got a base Yu Darvish.

#106 Pedro Alvarez
#167 Asdrubal Cabrera
#BCP 17 Tyler Austin - Chrome
#BCP 9 Eddie Rosario - Chrome
#71 Hanley Ramirez - Gold parallel
#BP 24 J.R. Graham
#BP 89 Austin Hedges
#121 Neftali Feliz
#133 Gio Gonzalez
#209 Yu Darvish

Japanese baseball imports - the cards

I've ended up with various Japanese cards over the years and found cards of the imports looking to come over to play Major League Baseball in 2012 - after a stellar pitching career in Japan, Yu Darvish is the most coveted player coming over and there is a lot of hot stove buzz as to which team he'll end up with.

Pitcher Tsuyoshi Wada signed a two-year contract with the Baltimore Orioles and looks to be a candidate for a spot in the starting rotation in 2012 - supposedly as a Dallas Braden clone of sorts.

Norichika Aoki is supposedly as gifted a hitter as Ichiro was - though let's be real here and hope that if he plays in the Major Leagues next year, is at least a bit better than the Ichiro that showed up for the Seattle Mariners in 2011.

Munenori Kawasaki is looking to sign with the Seattle Mariners - I don't know too much about him, though I vaguely recall referring to him as the 'fake Ichiro' when I attended a World Baseball Classic workout several years ago and saw him signing autographs.