And the Slowdown Continues

Well, another weekend come and gone. In one of the stranger series that I have ever witnessed, the Yankees took two out of three from the Red Sox and I lose my bet to Joe. If you had to go back in time and predict this contest, who would ever have thought that a day after a rookie shuts down the Yankee lineup, that the team would then go on to thrash on Josh Beckett? The whole thing seemed upside down and backwards to me. I understand how rookie pitchers often have the advantage because nobody has seen their stuff before, but Tazawa found his way out of jams all day Saturday.

I have watched enough baseball in my life to know that the month of August is really the most critical in determining whether a team has the juice to go the distance. I could have told you two weeks ago that I don't think the Sox have it this year. Thankfully the bats have warmed up, but I believe I heard that their ERA since the All-Star break is hovering right around 5.00. I was reasonably alarmed in the offseason with the risky aquisitions the Red Sox were making, none of which have worked out.

Still, they currently lead the Wild Card by one game, though I think that Tampa Bay is going to have an opinion on that by the time all is said and done. All you gotta do is make the playoffs and then anything can happen, but this season feels more and more like the 2005 when the Sox squeeked in and were blown away by the Pale Hose. There is still time to right the ship though...

In regards to card collecting, the slowdown is on...either that or I have become uber-efficient. I am awaiting a 4th and final box of Chrome this Friday. I really like the Rookie autos in this set and would not mind a couple more, plus I still have a crack at that Obama card and maybe a superfractor or a nice red refractor. I currently stand about 40 cards short of the set, but if I get the proper collation in the next box, that should be helped considerably.

Heritage 2009 project is winding down. I made a "pick 25" ebay purchase over the weekend that should take care of all of the remaining base cards minus the ridiculously elusive SP's. I can tell that is going to be a bit of a struggle, but if any of you have any dups in this set, please let me know and I can do my best to help you out with your needs...

Ginter is wrapped up. I have no desire to complete the National Pride, and still have a bunch of minis and sketch cards looking for homes. I originally thought that I wanted the sketch set, but then realized how many of them were Yankee moments and became disenchanted with the completely. I have a bunch of NP, mini's and sketch cards looking for homes!

So where does that leave me? Not a ton to do at this point. I think that I will be hitting the prospects and rookie box and alphabetizing those (ooooh) and seeing if anybody made a name for themselves this year. I have a box of phenoms looking to be properly filed in folders, as well as a "Box of Sox" needing the same treatment. Basically filing duty. Whoop whoop! I think I will also spend some more time in Zistle uploading card scans, the site needs more pretty pictures to go with the cards!

Oh well, it will give me a chance to save some pennies up for Topps Updates and Highlights in October. I am CONSIDERING Goodwin as a possibility, or maybe grabbing a pack or two of this Topps Tickets set, but I think I need a few sample packs before I jump in that pool.

Any other suggestions on where I should focus next? I thought about the 2007 Heritage, those looked pretty cool, but is there enough doubles out there with the blogger community to make that project a possibility? Let me know!