2010 Topps Heritage 2 Box Break - Pack 5

Moving right along -

Having now really spent time with this set I have to say I am really happy with it - Although you may not have seen all of the different inserts, other than the Ruth series - I think Topps nailed it with this set - beats the shit out of the abomination that is the Topps base set this year - I will be waiting for cheap series 1 and 2 purchase on Ebay - same with the updates - Topps will be getting me to get this set in whole this year though - so thank you for that.

Brandon Inge

Scott Kazmir

Mike Scioscia

Felix Hernandez

This is the first card that I have seen of Kazmir as an Angel. It's too bad the Mets traded him because of perceived makeup issues and a little bit of pot smoking. You trade Kazmir and keep Tony Tarrasco? God - for those of you who are not Mets fans 1) you are lucky - at least Pirate fans expect their team to suck 2) Screw you - Mets rules! I Think that the Mariners made a great deal in locking up King Felix long term - this kid is young and scary good.

John Lackey

Luke Hochevar

Yuniesky Betancourt

Matt LaPorta

Boston acquired their third ace in Lackey and here he is in what I think is the first card of him as a member of the Sox. Many pundits (see the fabulous fangraphs.com) would have you believe that Yuniesky Betancourt is the worse everyday player in baseball. I am not going to try to convince you otherwise. Matt LaPorta I think will have a nice season, and I think the fact that both Cliff Lee and Victor Martinez were traded takes a lot of pressure off the kid for having to be great immediately since he was the main haul in the Captain Cheeseburger deal.

You've seen many scans by now - what do you think of the set?

2010 Topps Heritage 2 Box Break - Pack 4

Good Friday - Hope you are all faring well - Here in NY we've a shit ton of snow so I'm staying in again! By the end of this day I will be playing "Carry On My Wayward Son" on my guitar with much proficiency (I hope). But, before I get there, I do believe I promised you more Heritage!

You'll probably get another pack today, and 1 each Saturday and Sunday depending how long I want to sit here and scan - Anyway - onto the the dudes!

Daniel McCuthen RC

Checklist

These Checklists are pretty nice I guess - and it must be nice to be a young player on a shitty team - sure you will lose a lot, but you really do get to go out there and learn the game, get your reps, and hopefully be ready to really succeed once you hit your prime years and free agency.

Willy Tavarez

Brandon Webb

Mike Jacobs

Howie Kendrick

I hate Willy Tavarez - I think most fantasy owners wish that he would just always bunt. If he bunted every time up, he would still probably only hit .212, but there is nothing more frustrating than a player like him popping out to the third baseman. Brandon Webb could be in for a big year after surgery and if so Arizona will have a sweet 1/2 after Dan Haren was named the opening day starter.

Mike Jacobs is back with the Mets now - funny story about him is while he was with Florida on Hebrew heritage night they gave away Mike Jacobs shirts - nothing really funny there - but Mike isn't Jewish - I remember him giving a very confused interview before the game not knowing why they chose him.
Carlos Delgado - Los gets his own scan due to his SPness - I kinda just said penis - good for me I guess.
Here is the back of the card, you will notice the SPs are lighter backed than the normal cards - just like Carlos's palms.
I hate these fucking Babe Ruth cards - anyone like these? I'll trade for other inserts or SPs (really I am just talking big here - if you hold out I'll trade for a french fry or Marvin Freeman RC)
See ya in a few hours.

2010 Topps Heritage 2 Box Break - Pack 2

Away we go!

First up

Rafael Furcal

Gio Gonzalez

Curtis Granderson

Now Granderson was the first big trade of the offseason and I think Topps did a nice job of getting all of the big news in their new uniforms, but you can really tell that this one is shopped - of all of the times they did this that I noticed my first run through the packs, this was by far one of the worst.

Drew Stubbs

Paul Maholm

Casey Blake

Here we have a trio of players that you would like to have on your team, but don't really care either way about. Stubbs looks like he could turn into a 15-25 type guy and is the new Willy Tavarez in Cincy. Casey Blake has a very workmanlike beard. This I do appreciate.

Finally a couple of manager cards making their first appearance on the blog.

Jim Leyland

Dave Trembley

I cannot have any man named Jim cross my path without wanting to put the word "Hacksaw" in front of it.

Jim Leyland

"Hacksaw" Jim Leyland

See - it's totally cooler - not that JL needs help being cool - this man smokes like a chimney and I cannot wait to see him navigate his teams new no smoking on stadium property rule.

There we go - more coming!

2010 Topps Heritage 2 Box Break - Pack 1 (Hit)

So here we go - Normally I don't posts up back to back, but I will do a few here today since I don't see a lot of breaks out there just yet - let you all see how the cards are falling - Quick note - the packs from 2 boxes got mixed up, so if the other hit shows up soon, I didn't beat the odds on anything. Got the right amount of SPs and everything else, just threw all the packs in one place to make them easier to carry.

Garret Jones

Josh Johnson

Jason Varitek

J.J. Hardy

Of this group the only player I feel is really noteworthy is Josh Johnson - To think we are going to have to go against this guy 3-6 times a season is a tough proposition as he is already in the conversation for best starter in the NL East after Santana and Halliday.

Here are 2 rookie gold cups and an actual rookie. I think we all know that Tommy Hanson might already be in the same class as Josh Johnson - a dude who you do not want to see on the mound if you don't have an A on your hat. I got to watch him a few times on the extra innings package last year and it really was a treat to see him pitch.

We also have our 2nd photoshop job of the pack - Hardy was in his Twins uni and now we have Chris Getz in his Royal Blues - I think that Chris came over w/ Josh Fields in the Mark Teahan deal - is that right? Finally we have Boston rookie Dustin Richardson and the new rookie card logo - cool I guess.

Finally, we have our first hit of the 2 boxes - now I think we can all agree that the relic hits in the Heritage series are usually something along the lines of hot garbage covered in baby shit. Something no one really ever wants. Anyway, I was able to get an auto of Rocky Bridges. I don't know anything about this dude, just that he looked about the age of 63 in his playing days and this card is numbered 52/61.

There you go! More on the way today/tomorrow rest of your goddamn lives.

2010 Topps Heritage 2 Box Break - Pack 3

On we go with another pack of 2010 Topps Heritage and what will be the last of the day - I will have some more tomorrow.

Ricky Nolasco

Chris Young

Denard Span

Ricky Nolasco was the third pick my Dynasty Leagues expansion draft this winter - if he can perform like he did at the end of last season, Florida has a very nice 1/2 punch with him and Josh Johnson. Young and Span are 2 more players who should be entering their prime and while they may not be all stars, you can do a lot worse than running them out there every day/5 days.

Michael Saunders

Justin Morneau

Mike Fontenot

Justin upton

Now we are talking pulling 2 of the best young sluggers in baseball in the form of former MVP Justin Morneau and Justin Upton - 2 Justin's, how about that? Upton is my biggest regret from my dynasty draft last year - I didn't call him until very late then let myself get outbid because I still needed a closer (Joel or Jack Hannahan from Washington - fuck my life). Rumor has it this Saunders kid has quite a bat - I wonder what kind of PT he will get in Seattle since they seem to be going for the gold this year instead of running with the kids - time will tell.

Here are some Giants.

I was hoping that you would just see Randy Johnson peeking through some people in the back row not using a riser - that would have me happy.

See ya tomorrow!

2010 Heritage 2 Box Break - Toppers and Buyback

Good afternoon - ahem - morning - Sorry for another absence - the flu just killed me last week and then when I felt better, had many other things that needed to be done. I should be able to focus more time here in the near future - I am appox 6000 cards away from being 100% organized and filed - so that big project is almost done!

Anyway - grabbed 2 boxes of the 2010 Heritage and just to get this started Here are the box toppers and buy back card I got.

I've seen a few places where these stamp sheets were called boring - while they are not super exciting, I feel they make for an interesting piece to try to get some TTM autos going. Even if you do not want a Sizemore or Choo auto - really any Indian would work - Something I might have to look into. I didn't scan the back, but it is pretty neat - Has a list of where they played in 1961 and then a career list of all hitting and pitching records for the team. I like.

Next topper has a Met on it, Mr. John Maine (who was recently dubbed the fastest ((or one of)) talkers in major league baseball). Next up is Mat Latos who I am trying to trade for daily in my dynasty league but I cannot get Chuck to let him go - one of these days - I really don't understand how Yovani Gallardo is not enough for Brad Lidge and Mat Latos - fucker. Finally there is Jackie Robinson who was the first African American to get a seat at Denny's.

I was happy to get a buy back card - don't really know what I am going to do with it yet though - I bring you Eddie Bressoud who (and I did not research this anymore than turning the card over) had a very average career. Stuck around for a few seasons playing at what appears to be replacement level. Good for him.
Here is the proof of mediocre stats.

There was still something really cool back here that I have not seen on a card before and bet was pretty common back in the days of war - Eddie sat out 1953-1954 for military service. Good on you Eddie - both of my bros are veterans - (I couldn't hack it) so its pretty sweet to see.

More packs to come over the next few weeks - also grabbed a box of Night Owls favorite cards 2010 Upper Deck. Leggo My Ego man!

Off With Their Heads!

Tonight I took a few hours off of work to head over to Endicott to check out a great pop punk band Off With Their Heads. Every tune has a great hook, sounds like the singer is chewing on gravel - pretty sweet tunes. Here is my favorite song by them - enjoy!