Card of the Day: 2002 SPx GU Frank Thomas and Magglio Ordonez

Just a sweetass card today.

Card of the Day: 2002 Topps Jake Mauer

2002 Topps

For awhile there, Jake and Joe looked like they might be a repeat of the Maas brothers, where Joe was Kevin and Jake was Jason. Does anyone even remember Jason Maas? How about Jake Mauer?

Game-Used: Andres Galarraga

2002 Topps

Okay, seriously, why do the GU and Auto insert sets have such silly names? Regardless, though, I was thrilled as hell to pick this up. I think this came from Check Out My Cards and represents Andres’ last run with the Expos in 2002. I’m sure the bat wasn’t used that year, but I’m not going to freak about that. It’s nice to have one last souvenir to commemorate his time with the Expos.

Trade with Cards on Cards

Awhile back I made a deal with Kerry from Cards on Cards to send some 2003 Topps needs that he had…and promptly forgot the deal. With my busy schedule, it happens. Well, imagine my surprise when a huge package of cards showed up last Friday! It’s taken me awhile to get these scanned, but I’m ready to show some of what he sent (most of which I actually needed)…

2009 Topps Heritage

Remember how I said I had gotten one of only two Stammen cards that I was aware of? Well, this is the other one, so I now have a “complete” Stammen set. Not to mention I didn’t realize how little 2009 Topps Heritage I had. He also included this nice Detwiler…

He also included a few players I didn’t have, including this Mike Thurman:

2002 MLB Showdown

But here is, by far, the COOLEST thing he included. Man, these are just awesome to behold:

That is not the 1978 Topps Gary Carter; it’s the 1978 O-Pee-Chee. In fact, he included a whole mess of 78 OPC that’s…well, it’s amazing. It’s so crazy to see an issue from the 70s with a higher-quality white card stock as opposed to the drab gray cardboard.

Of course, he included a lot of other awesome Expos and Nats cards, but we’ll save those for when it’s appropriate. He also included a whole mess of Reggie Jacksons (which I still need to put in binders).

So thanks a lot, Kerry!  These are some treasured cards.

John Olerud Game-Used #1

It’s been awhile since I’ve posted about old Johnny O; I’m still in the process of scanning his 1993 cards, so I thought in the meantime I’d show some of the game-used Olerud that I already have.

2005 Prime Patches

One of my absolute favorite Olerud cards. I believe it’s numbered to 50. These sets looked horrid when you got the base version, but something like this just looks great, and I got it for insanely cheap. I felt like I ripped someone off, honestly.

2002 Topps Ten

This card is a lot cooler than it looks. It’s made of an almost translucent material, and you can touch the jersey from both the front and the back. Another favorite.

2003 Stadium Club Born in the USA

Kind of an interesting concept; make the swatch cut-out the shape of the state in which the player was born. Doesn’t exactly blow me away, but it is kind of an interesting little piece.

I have a LOT more of these, I just don’t have them scanned. Look for more soon.

Box Break: 2002 UD Authentics

I haven’t disguised my love for this set, that’s for sure, and yet I’ve always found the boxes tantalizingly out of reach, either too expensive or difficult to find, so when I found a box going for an obscenely cheap amount on Ebay, I bid and sat on that auction. Yesterday the box finally arrived.

Stated odds, as you can see, are 1 in every 16 packs. The box is obviously meant to echo the 1989 box design, as everything in this set is a loving homage to that original set. Including the setup when you open the box:

As you can see, they’ve used that same paper material that UD used in their 1989 issue:

The whole thing gave me nostalgia goosebumps, down to the authentic (heh) feel of opening the first pack.

Now, as to the actual content of the box. Well, first, I should note that I was supposed to get two reverse-negatives card in this box, but I only got one, this Jason Johnson:

And that’s A-okay by me. The reverse negative gimmick is easily the crappiest, most annoying thing about this set, as I’d have preferred to get the base Johnson, which I still don’t have. Sigh. Oh, I’m also okay with it because I not only beat the odds for relics on this box, I pulverized them. 1 in 16 packs, right? 18 packs in the box, so maybe, tops, I could have gotten two if I was extremely lucky. Yeah, I got four, including a reverse-negative game-used card and a gold reverse-negative game-used card. I didn’t even know the latter existed. My first ever hot box!

Very, very cool stuff. I love it. Oh, I also got two inserts: their version of the Baseball Heroes, numbered to 1989

And a 1989 Flashback Mark Grace, numbered to 4225 (though that Cubs picture is more recent than 1989, he didn’t have that facial hair until the 90s).

I also got a mess of base cards that I needed; only two doubles in the whole box, and a small stack of cards that I already had. Look for those cards to wind up in some trades in the near future.

I’m still quite a bit short of the set, so I may pick up another box when I have some money. Overall, I give the box an A for the presentation, the hits, and the collation. Totally worth the money and exceeded my expectations. Oh, and all these cards save the base cards/reverse negative are available.

It’s Here…

2002 UD Authentics. At last!

And it was a hot one; printed odds of a relic are 1:16 packs. I pulled four relics out of 18 packs. That’s beating the odds! I’ll show the pulls off tomorrow.

Expos Auto: Claudio Vargas

2002 Select Rookies and Prospects

This is another auto that I pulled from a repack box, though at the time I wasn’t collecting Expos, so I just tossed in a card holder. Vargas never really lived up to what was expected of him, but he was serviceable up until he got injured. Ever since then he seems to have kind of been inconsistent, bouncing from team to team. He looks to have been good for Milwaukee last season, but absolutely abysmal this season. Oh, well. This was a pretty great set, and I’d love to try to complete it some day.

Trade with BA Benny

I’ve been in the process of cleaning up and streamlining my baseball card collection thanks to a post by Gellman at Sports Card Uncensored (whose site I love, just by the way) about hoarding versus collecting, so I’ve been participating in lots of trades to turn perfectly good but perhaps unwanted cards into cards that fit my collecting habits. So I offered Mike from BA Benny’s Baseball Card Buffet a trade. I sent his cards off the other day, and yesterday a package arrived from him. Yay! I love a good trade. Let’s take a look at what he sent…

1992 Topps Kids

I had completely forgotten about the existence of this set. Now I have to see how many of these have Expos on them and get them to round out the set!

1992 Topps Gold Winner

This is my first Topps Gold Winner Expo. I’ve been wanting to complete the regular gold team set for awhile, so this gives me a head start on the winner version.

1994 Flair

If you’ve been a long-time reader of this blog, you’ll know I’m a total sucker for Flair. From the quality of the card stock to the high-gloss photos, it’s one of my all-time favorites, so getting one I didn’t have was a real treat.

1996 Pinnacle Summit

Mid-90s Pinnacle is some great stuff, and oddly enough, 1995-1998 are the biggest gap in my collection, so it’s always good to get this stuff.

1995 Topps

Speaking of which…I had no idea Moose Milligan was ever an Expo. How did I miss that? I guess that shows how into baseball I was in 94/95.

2009 Topps 206

This is my first Topps 206 card, and I have to say, I really like it! This is another team set I may end up pursuing.

2010 Upper Deck

Upper Deck did such a good job of disguising Ian that I didn’t even recognize him at first. It took me a minute, that’s for sure. Still not feeling the 2010 Upper Deck set, but I will eventually pick up the team set. Maybe sooner rather than later.

2002 E-X Game Essentials

I love the EX set and it’s awesome to get a GU from it. This one really meant a lot to me. And finally…

2007 Topps Update Highlights

An Austin Kearns auto! I wasn’t expecting this one at all. Thanks a lot, Mike, and I hope you enjoy the cards I sent your way!

Expos and Nationals All-Bust Teams 3: The Showdown – Infield

Okay, so I had to figure out a way to weight these players against each other, given that the older players had more of a chance to pick up some WAR in the majors. So I decided that taking the overall minor league numbers and putting them through a major league equivalency converter would be the best answer. So, let’s take a look…

1B

Thomas Pittman Vs. Larry Broadway

Pittman Mle numbers (best season): 12 hr, .195 BA, .216 OBP, .302 SLG

Broadway Mle Numbers (best season): 11 hr, .194 BA, .253 OBP, .320 SLG

I’m surprised it was as close as it was. The HR and BA are virtually identical, but Broadway has a slight edge in OBP and SLG. Even more interesting is that both of their best seasons were played in the Sally league. So Broadway wins…but it’s not a clear-cut victory.

Winner

Larry Broadway

2B

Henry Mateo Vs. Seth Bynum

Mateo Mle numbers (best season): 3 hr, .209 BA, .245 OBP, .272 SLG

Bynum Mle Numbers (best season): 15 hr, .189 BA, .234 OBP, .325 SLG

Whew. That’s almost a push. Bynum has the advantage in power, but falters greatly when it comes to the batting average and OBP. I’m going to give Mateo the slight edge for his speed and stolen bases.

Winner

Henry Mateo

SS

Hiram Bocachica Vs. Esmailyn Gonzalez/Carlos Lugo

Bocachica Mle numbers (best season): 14 hr, .263 BA, .331 OBP, .453 SLG

Gonzalez/Lugo Mle Numbers (best season): 2 hr, .228 BA, .275 OBP, .302 SLG

Easy victory.

Winner

Hiram Bocachica

3B

Boi Rodriguez vs. Jake Smolinski

Rodriguez Mle numbers (best season): 8 hr, .187 BA, .239 OBP, .307 SLG

Smolinski Mle Numbers (best season): 4 hr, .188 BA, .241 OBP, .280 SLG

Wow, they’re pretty close to the same player, but Rodriguez had a little more power, so he gets the nod.

Winner

Boi Rodriguez

So, let’s look at how our combined team’s infield is shaping up:

• 1B: Larry Broadway
• 2B: Henry Mateo
• SS: Hiram Bocachica
• 3B: Boi Rodriguez

The Expos are solidly beating the Nationals so far in the infield. Tomorrow we’ll examine how the outfielders and catchers stack up.