Box Break - 2009 Bowman Chrome

I mentioned in an earlier post that I had recieved a box of 2009 Bowman Chrome from my wife as a graduation gift. I have a great wife! Due to the nature of the card, most of them do not scan very well. Here are a few of the cards that I got.

Prince Fielder - Base cards do not scan well, but I liked the behind the batting practice net shot.

Gordon Beckham RC

My only 2 D-Backs cards in the whole box, Kecin Eichhorn and...

...Isaias Asencio

Here are a couple of the World baseball Classic cards. No action shots, all poses.

Mosies Sierra Orange Refractor numbered 01/25

Ryan Zimmerman Refractor numbered 144/250

My guaranteed auto - Matt Miller

2009 Topps Updates & Highlights Needs

After buying a hobby box and recieving some unexpected packs yesterday, I decided to see how close I am to completing a set of 2009 Topps Updates & Highlights. I'm only 33 cards shy of the set. Here are the cards that I need. If you would like to trade, email me at daniel24303(at)gmail(dot)com. Thanks!

UH15
UH31
UH49
UH53
UH68
UH80
UH92
UH 110
UH115
UH117
UH118
UH130
UH138
UH146
UH150
UH152
UH176
UH184
UH191
UH196
UH209
UH221
UH223
UH245
UH247
UH256
UH258
UH260
UH269
UH289
UH293
UH295
UH323

Unexpected Baseball Cards

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Mine was fantastic! We had dinner at my Mother-in-law's house and then we went to my parents house for dessert. When we got to my parents house I noticed that they had decorations up. Upon further inspection, I noticed that they were baseball decorations. When we walked into the family room, everyone yelled congratulations! I finished my MBA last week, and my wife and family had planned a little something to celebrate as a surprise. There was a sign that read, Try to stump the Baseball MASTER. (MASTER, because I now have a Master's Degree.) They put together some baseball trivia and it was me against everyone else, first to 10 points won. I, of course won, and my prize was a 2009 Topps Updates & Highlights rack pack, 5 retail 2009 Topps Updates & Highlights packs, a 2009 Upper Deck Series 1 pack, and a 2009 Bowman Chrome hobby box. Geat prizes! It's late so I am only going to post the results of the packs. I will try to post the box break tomorrow. Here goes.

2009 Topps Updates and Highlights rack pack

Jeff Nemann Gold version 1519/2009 - Something tells me this wasn't Jeffs best game.

Zack Greinke Porpeganda Poster Card

Ken Giffey Jr. Season Highlights card commemorating his 8th homer on Opening Day

Paul Komerko/Jermaine Dye Season highlights card commemorating their back-to-back 300th home runs. I don't have ESPN, but how did I miss hearing about this during the season?

Nolan Ryan Legends of the Game insert - Sweet card!

2009 Topps Updates & highlights Pack 1

Randy Johnson as a Giant, yuck!

2009 Topps Updates & highlights Pack 2

Roy Halloday Gold 0431/2009

2009 Topps Updates & highlights Pack 3

Randy Johnson Topps Turkey Red

2009 Topps Updates & highlights Pack 4

Albert Pujols Propeganda Poster Card insert - Sweet Card!

Mark & Daniel Schlereth - Welcome to the Big Show - Mark played for the Denver Broncos and Daniel plays for the Diamondbacks

2009 Topps Updates & highlights Pack 5

Nolan Ryan Legends of the Game insert - My second one.

2009 Upper Deck Series 1 pack

Cameron Garfield USA Baseball - This kid was born in 1991, boy am I getting old.

Reds Team Leader card

Placido Polanco - Check out the look on his face.

Roy Halloday and Dan Haren, two of the best pitchers today.

Blaster Box Break - 2007 Ultra (Packs 4-6)

Here are some of the highlights from packs 4-6 of my first 2007 Ultra blaster box.

Pack 4

Yadir Molina - back of the card says that only Molina joined Johnny Bench and Yogi Berra as only the 3rd catcher to play in a World Series before the age of 25. Can this really be true?Chipper Jones - Not sure if he will make the Hall of Fame, but he is certainly a great player.

Pack 5

Curt Schilling - I still think of him as a D-Back.

Carlos Delgado - Very impressive power numbers! Dontrelle Willis - love the high leg kick and the way he rocks his hat slightly askew.

Pack 6

Lucky 13 Rookie Card of Akinori Iwamura

Chris Carpenter - An underrated pitcher.

Todd Helton - An underrated hitter.

So there you have it. The contents of my first of two 2007 Ultra Blaster Boxes.

Blaster Box Break - 2007 Ultra (Packs 1-3)

Last Saturday I went to Wal-Mart with my family and took a stoll down the card isle to discover that they had some blaster boxes marked 50% off. 6 packs for less than 5 bucks, that's hard to pass up, so I picked up 2, 2007 Ultra Blasters. This post will delve into the contents of the first 3 packs of the first box. Here we go!

Pack #1

Andruw Jones - Great photo! Love that we get to see all of Mr. Jones and his bat in the photo. I like the teammate on deck with the bat on his shoulder and dirt all over his pants. I love the empty catchers glove popping indicating that Andruw has just driven this ball to deep left field.

Derek Jeter - Gotta show some love to a World Champion.

Carlos Zambrano - Feel the Game insert

Pack #2

Scott Kazmir - Great photo! The back of the card reveals that Kazmir, after just 3 seasons had become Tampa Bay's all-time K leader. Congratulations Mr. Kazmir.

Pack 3

Trever Hoffman - All-time Saves leader and Barry Zito - 2002 AL Cy Young Award Winner

Francisco Rodriguez and Bronson Arroyo - Gotta love the high leg kick

Cal Ripken Jr. - Ultra Ironman insert #UIM21

Baseball related TTM Success

Any guesses as to who might have signed this card, and then touched it, based on the smudging in the middle of the signature. It took me a few minutes to figure it out. A few months ago I read a book called: Why I Love Baseball by Larry King. I wrote a post about the book. I decided that I would send him a baseball signature card and ask for his autograph. He obliged. Thanks Mr. King!

Blaster Break - 2009 Goodwin Champions

The blaster box that I bought last week while I was in California was a 2009 Goodwin Champions box. 12 packs per box. 4 cards per pack. Here are some of the highlights.

Ted Williams - The Greatest Hitter who ever lived

Ryne Sandberg Jersey - Cubs Pinstripe

Ryan Howard - I like the World Series trophy on the Phillies cards.

Citizens of the Century - Ronald Reagan

Chuck Liddell - Big UFC fan, big fan of Liddell!

Michael Jordan - This was the 1st card I saw out of the 1st pack I opened. Does it get any better?

Black Bordered Gypsy Queen Giles Mini

Guerrero, Jurrjens, and Hamels Minis

Garciaparra, Samardzija, and Oswalt Minis

Other cards I got, in no particular order:

133 Joba Chamberlain

51 Carlos Beltran

125 Chris Johnson - in college jersey (East Carolina)

121 Dustin Pedroia - Boston Red Sox #1

23 Kevin Youkilis - Boston Red Sox #2

86 Brooks Robinson - Gold Glove emblem in the upper right hand corner

2 Derek Jeter

15 Dick Allen

170 Chris Perez

24 O.J. Mayo - basketball

67 Josh Beckett - Boston Red Sox #3

56 Ozzie Smith

54 Kosuke Fukudome

77 Manny Ramirez

150 David Ortiz - Boston Red Sox #4

123 B.J. Upton

17 Rollie Fingers - No mustache, what's up with that?

82 Justin Morneau

108 Tim Lincecum

71 Adrian Gonzalez

96 Paul Molitor - holding 2 bats (this will go into my theme collection)

43 Cole Hamels

135 Tony Gwynn - Sr. not Jr.

4 Jorge Posada

78 Jason Varitek - Boston Red Sox #5 (5 Red Sox and not a single Diamondback)

28 Brian McCann

14 Donovan Bailey - 1996 "World's Fastest Man"

141 Bobby Orr - hockey

111 Kevin Garnett - basketball

55 Chad Reed - Supercross Champion

30 Al Kaline

99 Ben Rothlisberger - in college jersey (Miami, OH)

24 O.J. Mayo - basketball

Pack Break - 2009 Topps Ticket to Stardom

This was the other pack that I got at K Mart in California. I will post about the blaster tomorrow. 2009 Topps Ticket to Stardom. All cards are up for trade, except for Scherzer, if anyone is interested. Here we go!

Travis Hafner, Jermaine Dye and David Ortiz

This is the perforated card that you can't tell is perforated because it dosen't scan well.

Big Ticket insert of Tim Lincecum - "Big Ticket" how appropriate.

Max Scherzer (D-Back!), Magglio Ordonez and Jon Lester

Pack Break - 2009 SP

I went to California last week and picked up a couple of packs and a blaster at a K Mart. The first pack I bought was a 2009 SP baseball pack. I hadn't bought an 2009 SP yet and just wanted to see what it was like. I will post on my other purchases shortly. All cards are available for trade if anyone is interested.

Mariano Rivera - The greatest postseason reliever of all-time.

David Wright - Found this little tidbit on his Wikipedia page, "In May 2007, Vitamin Water was sold to the Coca-Cola Corporation for $4.1 billion. As part of his endorsement deal, Wright was given 0.5% of the company, and thus netted approximately $20 million from the deal.

Dustin Pedroia Faces of the Game insert - 2007 ROY and 2008 AL MVP - Impressive

Francisco Rodriguez - "Francisco, that's fun to say." - Elf

Justin Morneau - 2006 AL MVP