#UP-2 Yasiel Puig - Fired Up insert
#160 Nate Schierholtz
#19 Koji Uehara
#106 Matt Moore
Pack three
#158 Nolan Arenado
#175 Trevor Plouffe
#89 Julio Teheran
I had to go back and find the card so I can add it to the stack of cards I planned on purchasing - it's about as good as a card as anything else I'd find out of the quarter boxes and while it's just not happening for a number reasons, maybe it makes me think about the idea of collecting hockey cards.
The luster as a potential superstar faded off B.J. a long time ago, but he was a key free agent signing coming into the 2013 season - B.J. can't be as bad as he was last year, though he is what he is while there is still hope Justin bumps up his game as he enters his late 20's.
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.
I know little of Alvarez except for having a lone 2010 Topps Pro Debut card - sometimes I wonder if some of these random minor league guys [either pictured on Bowman prospect cards or Topps Pro Debut] will ever reach the major leagues, but the 24-year old Alvarez did so last year [though the results weren't all that pretty].
The 21-year old outfielder only had 7 extra base hits in 250 at-bats over parts of two seasons in the Chicago Cubs' system - so in order to be more than a curiosity, he probably needs to bulk up and learn to drive the ball.
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
Cowgill fits the mold as a seemingly classic overachiever and a wiry little guy who has the ability to showcase some surprising pop - if he doesn't make the Angels out of spring training, the 27-year old maybe stashed in AAA or move onto a MLB team that isn't looking to contend for anything this season and become a semi-regular.
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.
He was on the firing line when he had the gall to put up his resume in his first two MLB seasons against what Mike Trout has done in his first two MLB seasons - as an Angels fan, I hope Pujols is motivated to bounce back, because it would be devastating if it was all downhill in his apparent decline phase.
When Pujols signed with the team, I thought he would be the marquee player for the Angels for years to come and that would be that - but the prospects of him replicating his astounding success early in his career was never going to come to fruition.
Pujols is an all-time great who has a lot of pride in what he has accomplished, but you don't diss the great hope realized especially when you've turned out be an injured, broken down machine - while Pujols may have been El Hombre at one point, Trout has become The Man for the Angels as well as Major League Baseball.
I didn't see him, but just as I'm only putting away the two cards [just yesterday], sorting a little bit for the upcoming baseball season - I read that he's been signed by the Angels, according this transactions list posted on Baseball America.
Martinez could be this year's Billy Buckner [who did get a few appearances with the Angels last year] or he may strictly AAA fodder [who might not be in the organization for long] - however his signing gives me some hope I could get my 2009 Topps Allen and Ginter set card signed in-person.
On the surface, he seemed to be a good guy to collect even though he plays for an East Coast team I wouldn't see much - he's always put up decent numbers and had the ability to come through in clutch situations for the Nationals in his career.
I guess Zimmerman is still a viable major leaguer - living the life, playing for a potential World Series contender while being paid nearly like a franchise player he once was thought to be.
It seems peculiar that I don't seem to hear much about him through the national media - he seems like just another good player who maybe trending downwards at he enters his 30's.
Has had the yips throwing the ball and maybe more of a passable first baseman in the near future - rather than a star third baseman for the rest of his MLB career.
A comparable player to Zimmerman maybe David Wright, but while Wright has sort of gone through his up and downs - I think he sorts of still has the allure of a star.
Am I'm wrong about Zimmerman being merely 'meh' over the last several years - does it matter that perhaps he isn't the first guy fans talks about when mentioning the Washington Nationals?
I’m thinking there is a chance the seven letters put in was included among the 100,000 - though considering the following players I sent to, I might not have been realistically counting on getting any responses back.
Javier Baez
Xander Bogaerts
Byron Buxton
Robinson Cano
Carlos Correa
Frazier
Masahiro Tanaka
I'm thinking I'd get to watch one of Baez's spring training at-bats, but during the time I'd momentarily gone back-and-forth - the guy had already hit a home run, so there goes my fleeting interest in the game.
I remember when I was trying to get him to sign stuff, trying to get a picture with him at Maryvale five or six years ago - but now I don't really like seeing Ryan Braun interacting with teammates, coaches, opposing players or umpires on the baseball field like it was not a big deal what he put himself and fans through the past two or three years. The cover up is worse than the crime as far as I'm concerned.
As far as the Angels game was concerned, I can't believe catcher John Hester is still lurking around as a Halo this spring - however, I see he went to school at Stanford and since catchers are supposed to be smartest guys on the field anyway, he's probably a guy looking to be a coach or manager soon enough, besides hanging onto some sort of Major League dream as a player.
