Pack #19

Jason Marquis
Jose Guillen
Gary Sheffield
Kyle Phillips
Mark Teixeira
Tim Lincecum ToppsTown
Chris Coghlan
Jack Cust
Chicago Cubs (horizontal) +5
Tales of the Game - Jeter flip (horizontal) +5

Pack 19 total = +10

Pack #20

Carlos Delgado
Chad Tracy
Timmy!
Paul Molitor CYMTO
Cesar Izturis
Carlos Carrasco
Ricky Romero
Chris Davis (shades) +5
Adam Dunn (Cellar Dwellar) -5
The DEATH CARD! Nick Swisher BLACK BORDER = -100

Total for pack 20 = -100

Pack #21

Baltimore Orioles (horizontal) +5
Randy Johnson (horizontal) +5
Casey Blake (Ed Rooney) +10
Eric Young Jr (bonus player) +5
Freddy Sanchez
Million Card Giveaway Gary Carter
Alfonso Soriano Peak Performance
Brian Mccann toppstown
Hideki Matsui (Yankee scum) -10
Micky Mantle (yep, still counts) -10

Pack 21 total = 5


Pack #22

Josh Thole (horizontal) +5
Daniel Murphy GOLD plus a flying bat = 25
Travis Buck (flying bat) + 5
Ian Kinsler (bonus player) +5
Joe Mauer Toppstown (top o the heap) +5
Victor Martinez (Sox) +5
Denard Span
Ivan Rodriguez
Humberto Quintero
Ian Stewart

Pack 22 total= +50

Packs 19-22 total = - 35

Oh my! Well, not that any of these packs were anything amazing, but all it took was one card to really do me in! I am not saying that this thing is said and done, but it is going to take some really special pulls to dig out of this hole. Lets see what happens next post!

Let the games begin!

Well, I have to say, those final few postings made it a lot tougher to dilly out the final teams than I had originally thought.

To start, I must apologize to one commenter whom I believe had not gotten in yet in the original post. The second posting was for those that had already entered and therefor were able to meet the criteria of the four questions to get another number. Unfortunately I had to DQ, and I apologize for that.

Also, we had some true sportmanship displayed as Opoohwan and DayF each had the opportunity for an extra team, Opoohwan offered it to DayF, and DayF generously gave it to a team that suddenly came up short on even a single competitor. I have learned of some teams that were listed on the Olympic website that I listed may not actually have a team after all. Unfortunately, I can't go back and change that, but if you signed up for a team minus an olympian, you still get three to eight entries just for signing up.

In true Dumbledorian fashion, I award Opoohwan an additional three entries for offering his second pick to DayF, and DayF, I award you six extra entries for giving away that pick to to Dukie and also some stellar research regarding Nepal and its two Olympians. You don't have the bobsled team, but you have a nice 14 entries.

OKAY, all of that craziness aside, Here is what happens next.

Over the next two weeks I will be updating points daily based on medal counts earned. The list allows me to slide teams up and down so you should be able to locate yourself fairly easily. This will be displayed as your original entries + medal count earned. I will update once a day, so while medal counts change real time, mine will one reflect a moment in time and will be caught up the next day.

At the end of the competitions, your number of entries will represent how many times your name is entered in random.org for the prize drawings. Final winners will be announced no later than Tuesday after the Olympics! Enjoy the games and good luck!

Olympic Contest Last Second Special!

Not happy with original pick? Wanna double up? :)

There are 13 nations left to select, among them are powerhouses Austria, Finland, and Switzerland! I am offering ALL ENTRANTS a chance at a second country!

Rules are simple. The first 13 responses that A) Name your original country you won, B) name an athlete from that country in this olympic games and C) the sport they are competing in and D) a number off of the list below, then you shall receive an additional country and 3 additional entries! I WILL be fact checking! Also, make sure to read each comment so you don't take the same number.

Once all countries are filled up, stay tuned for next steps. Here are the remaining numbers....GO!

36,40,50,51,59,60,65,68,82.

Olympics Contest Update

If you wanna know whats going on, please click here! Also, please continue to put your number requests in the original post so I can keep it all straight!

Updates! Hi Folks! Final day to pick your number! We have done a great job of filling up most of the competing countries, but there are still a few juggernauts left to be had! See below for the remaining numbers and sign up before the opening ceremonies tonight.

Also, I need MMMRHUBARB to go back into the comments and pick again. your number was already taken! Use the list below as a guide.

One more quicky. It seems that this little contest has garnered a little attention from the TeamUSA organization. A representative has asked if I would be willing to place a link on the blog promoting the games and in support of Team USA. Normally I don't do links, but in the spirit of competition and supporting the local athletes, I figured what the heck. so if you click on this link you will be taken to TeamUSA.org where you have the ability to sign up for Olympic updates, shop for official apparel, post banners, and other various Olympic themed functions. If interested click in the link above and I will also post in my sidebar throughout the games!

Thanks

Mike

As of 2:45 PM Pacific these numbers are currently still up for grabs!

35,36,40,50,51,58,59,60,62,63,65,68,82.

The bonus question was correctly answered by Mark's Ephemera with David Letterman (or more specifically, Letterman's mother. Mark receives and extra three entries!

Some big boys fell this evening, but there are still a LOT of good countries left out there! Keep on pickin!

Midpoint Stetch! Packs 15-18

Needless to say, this hombre has some ground to make up, so onward we rip!

Pack #15

Brandon Morrow
Mike Sweeney
Justin Upton Toppstown (cellar dwellar) -5
Willie McCovey TR (sweet...old timer) +10
History of the Game first game in Japan (horizontal) +5
Adrian Gonzalez (horizontal) +5
Javier Vasquez
David Eckstein
Adam Kennedy (shades) +5
Eric Aybar (shades) +5

Pack 15 total = 25 pts


Pack #16

Rich Harden
Andrew Mccutchen Toppstown (cellar dwellar) -5
Hank Greenberg Turkey Red (very nice card) +10 for being an old timer
Howard/Hamels Cards Your Momma Threw Away
Juan Pierre (bonus player and horizontal) +10
Huston Street (horizonal)+5
NL Batting Avg Leaders (horizontal) +5
Jays franchise history
Yovani Gallardo YO!
Ryan Theriot (Ed Rooney style glasses and bonus Rollins) +15


Pack 16 total = 40 pts!


Pack #17

Mets Franchise History
Matt Kemp
Adrian Gonzalez Toppstown
Fielder/Thomas Legendary Lineage (horizonal) +5
Ozzie Smith CYMTO ooooooh yeeeah
Matt Holliday (horizontal) +5
Dustin Richardson (red sox) +5
Gil Meche
Kyle Blanks
Brad Kilby


Pack 17 total = +15
Pack #18

Ty Wiggington

Tim Wakefield (sox) +5

Zach Greinke (cellar dwellar) -5

Ripken/Jeter LL (horizontal) +5

Million card giveaway Bob Gibson

Milton Bradley (horizontal, shades) +10

AL Home Run Leaders (horizontal) +5

Jarrod Washburn

Garrett Mock

Rick Porcello

Pack #18 total = 20

Grand total packs 15-18 = 100 pts!

Thoughts: Well, reaching a hundo on four packs is nothing to sniff at, though I hear Joe has been on fire with his rips and is likely destroying me yet again this week. I am still pretty casi-casi on the base cards, but I continue to pull some nice CYMTO as well as am warming up to the Legendary Lineage cards. I really like the pairings and the design is pretty slick. A card like this would never work if Upper Deck were running the show. They would design a card with two random players like Bob Gibson and Prince Fielder, Or Ozzie Smith and Justin Verlander. Just would not make a lick o sense. I like em. More to come on Saturday.

Muy Muy Olympioso! Contest Time!

(+3 entries if you can identify who coined that phrase....but we'll get to that in a second).

Well, the Super Bowl has ended, and pitchers and catchers have yet to report to spring training, much less position players. We seem to have a sports lull to deal with...hmmm, what do we do? Would you like to play a game? You would?? Well then you have come to the right blog! I present to you....


The 2010 Winter Olympic Baseball card giveaway! What better way to burn a couple of weeks that to pin your hopes on some olympic athletes that will increase your chances of winning a blog contest! Makes watching curling and cross-country skiing while pulling for the Cayman Islands a little more interesting now doesn't it?

Here are the rules of the contest.

I have gone to random.org and entered the names of all 87 competing countries and assigned a random number. If you would like to play, you will need to comment below with your pick of a number and I will assign you the country associated with that number.

Each day I will check the medals tally and update the site. For each Bronze medal your country has won, you will receive one entry for the random drawing. For a Silver you get two entries, and bring home the gold and you receive three entries! At the end of the competition, All entries will be entered in random.org and the top three names will receive prizes! One prize per person.

Now obviously, Norway is going to have way more medals than Jamaica, that's why the pick is random. And so is the final drawing, so even if you only have a few entries, you can still win the grand prize! Just ask the Portland Trailblazers about defying the odds...of course they drafted a lemon, but they still WON.

Now, here is the next deal. There are 87 teams, and my blog and followers is pretty small-scale compared to some other blogs out there, and we need to fill these teams up in a hurry. So if you advertise this contest on your blog, let me know in your comment and you will receive an additional five entries in the contest. Not only that, but anybody who signs up gets 3 entries just for entering, AND if you happen to know the answer to the question at the top of the blog, that's another three entries. So you have the possibility of starting out with 11 entries even if you do draft Congo.

Wanna know what you are playing for?

In true Olympic fashion, there will be three winners, Gold, Silver, and Bronze. While I am still formulating prize ideas, here is what I have in mind so far...

Gold Prize - My entire tin of 2007 Sweet Spot and its unrevealed contents (minus the Russell auto redemption cuz it may take 3 months to show up or may never come at all). I will throw in some extra special hits to fill it out though, plus the Ken Griffey Jr tin as well.

Silver - Relic pack with several relics. Also, name your favorite team or players and I will throw some of those in as well.

Bronze - Name your favorite team and players and I will hook you up!

These prizes are still in motion and will continue to expand...so at MINIMUM this is what you will win.

Worth playing for? (Insert Jeff Probst joke here).

Alright then! Lets get these countries filled up. Keep track of the numbers already taken in the comments field. I will occasionally update what is available as we progress along.

Let's have some fun!

p.s. I will be adding the country names in the side bar. This in NOT the number order, so don't think you are beating the system :)

2009 Ginter Prize Revealed...

Before I start this post I just want to begin by saying that I feel really awkward.

I am a humble person by nature. I have learned a ton from all of you over the (almost) year of baseball card collecting. I owe the success of this blog to my readers and those I have done trades with. I truly appreciate your readership and allowing me an outlet to talk sports and to learn about card collecting.

Why awkward? Well, I would like to share something with you that I hope will not be taken in a boastful manner, it is certainly no intended to be so. Sure, we like to all share our great hobby box hits and killer trades and eBay finds, but it's all meant in fun and to pull for each other for the next great hit. Last summer I had an amazing experience and would like to share it with you.

This may be a re-hash for some of you, but for others...

Last July, Topps released the 2009 Allen and Ginter trading card series. In 2008, Ginter had a "crack the code" contest in which the winner, Jason Wong, got the honor of being featured in the next years set. I had read about this contest online, and thought about how cool it would be to get my son Jacoby on a baseball card. Once the product came out, I started to look around for some of the code cards and to give it a shot.

Nick Jacoby, another blogger, noticed that I had been discussing the code and decided to contact me on a Saturday about a partnership on solving the puzzle. We figured two heads were better than one and spent the next 48-72 hours in constant contact with each other. The teamwork was incredible, and if one of us got stuck, suddenly the other would figure out another piece of the puzzle. Long story short, we solved it late Monday afternoon and submitted our answer. After a couple weeks of prodding Topps, they eventually relented and sent Nick an email that he was the first and only person to submit the correct answer! To view the code solution, click here Of course, everything was unofficial..until now.

Last week the Topps volcano began to rumble and I was contacted by Nick saying that Topps had contacted him and the prize was on its way to him. It appears that there was a couple holdouts on signatures, and it took some time to gather them up. Well, Nick contacted me again today, and through rain, and sleet, and a helluva lot of snow, they got to him...

So what happens next?

Well, no doubt through intense negotiations, Nick and I are going to have to find a way to split these up. No easy task, but somehow I think we will find a way to get through it!

Secondly, I wanted to let everybody know that, according to Topps, I will be getting my wish of having little JD on a baseball card after all! I am crazy excited about this. They want both Nick and myself to send in some photos and they will meld them together Ginter Style and we will get to be featured in next years series! Unsure how this will all play out at this point, but I am amped!

Also, at this point in time, I have no idea which cards of will have in my possession much less what will become of them. I can't speak for Nick, but as for myself, for the time being I would like to hang on to these cards and just enjoy them, so they are not currently for trade. Not to say that won't change at some point down the road, but for now, away in Jacoby's treasure chest they go!

Thank you for sharing in my wacky tail! We now return you to your regularly scheduled blog.

Keep on Rippin! Packs 9-14

Well, for every season, turn, turn, turn. The tides were in favor, the moons and the planets all aligned for Joe during this Super-Rip 6-pack edition of the Topps-O-Cuffs grudge match. I actually ended up with a couple of negative packs in this session, and the relic (though a nice one for a stupid piece of fabric) really took a chunk out of my score. Still though, we are just over a third-of the way through, and there is still time to pull a comeback! Here is the latest rips...

Pack #9



Craig Counsell (bonus player AND Ed Rooney style flipped-up shades) +15 BOZANGA!
Kelly Shoppach (PLUS Umpire in shot) +5
Pujols ToppsTown (leaders) +5
Roy Halladay Peak Performers
TOTG-Reggie Jackson (horizontal) +5
Asdrual Cabrera (horizontal) +5
Wilkin Ramirez (horizontal with bonus player) +10
Melvin Mora
Orlando Cabrera (shades) +5
Derrek Lee (isnt this the same pose he has in every set?)

Pack 9 total = 50 pts! Daaaaaaaaaaamn!

Pack #10

Scott Hairston

Vladamir Guerrero

Hanley Ramirez Toppstown

When they were young Russell Martin in some crazy PJ's

Juan Uribe Gold

Mike Gonzalez (horizontal) +5

Ross Ohlendorf (horizontal) +5

Rays franchise history (an unfortunate moment)

Brandon Inge (in what is probably THE scariest card of the set thus far, Inge looks like he is 95 years old).

Andrew McCutchen

Pack 10 total = 10 pts....and we plummet back down to earth.

Pack #11

Randy Wolf (hugging buddies bonus shot) +5

Ronny Cedeno (bonus player) +5

Ichiro Toppstown

Reggie Jackson Peak Performance (sporting the sweet shades)

Duke Snider CYMTO - Sweeeeet card. Love this series (horizontal) +5

St. Louis Cardinals team card (horizontal) +5

Albert Pujols "Mr Card Number 100"

Francisco Cordero

Miguel Tejada (sunglasses) +5

Tim Stauffer

Pack 11 total = +25

Pack #12

Detroit Tigers (orange trim, Grand Cards Fav)

Roy Halladay Toppstown

Ricky Nolasco When They Were Young (awww, he looks pissed then, and looks pissed now!)

History of the Game - Nolan Ryan

Juan Francisco (horizontal) +5

Henry Rodriguez

Chris Young

CC Sabathia (Yankee scum) -10

Hank Blalock

Jeff Neimann

Pack 12 total - -5 Ewwwwwwww! Puke Green.

Pack #13

Daniel McCutchen

Ichiro!

Brad Penny

Timmy! Toppstown

Raul Ibanez Peak Performance

Million card giveaway Carl Yastrzemski style!

Lance Berkman/Mike Hampton creepy, pale hugging buddies card (horizontal +5, Bonus Player +5, and Posed shot +5) total +15

Placido Polanco

David "it's all" Wright

Aubrey Huff

Total for pack 13= a measly, crummy +15

Pack # 14

Kevin Youk Cards Your Mother Threw Out

AL ERA Leaders (horizontal) +5

Jhonny Peralta

Chris Snyder (Mask a flyin!) +5

Joey Votto

Adam Dunn Toppstown (cellar dwellars) - 5

Kendry Morales

PANTS PANTS, Cal....Ripkin's.........Pants.......relic.....uggggggg....-20

Total for pack #14 = -15

Grand total for packs 9-14= +80

Holy smokes! I definitely have some ground to make up.

Latest impressions: I still think that some of the base cards suffer from crowding with the additional bling added to the left side of the cards. I also still believe that the horizontal cards just work better with this design and there have definitely been some nice base cards that use this format. I am obviously disappointed in not only pulling a relic, but also knowing that I am only a third of the way through the box and the mystery hit has already revealed itself. I still hold out for the bonus hit, the silk or some other BOOM! but when you limit yourself to only two packs a day, you can get pretty itchy to find that surprise.

I still value the CYMTO inserts the most, simply because I am a new collector and am pretty much learning the history of baseball in reverse by slowly working backwards in time. I will say this though, I am getting much better at seeing a base card and being able to name the year...slowly getting better. The Youk is great and the Snider is a nice add as well. I still don't know whether there are the original backed cards in this set or whether people are just playing a joke by throwing their cards into rips, but if legit, it would sure be fun to pull one of those.

I am also a bit curious about the whole Million Card giveaway feature that has yet to open its doors. I don't know if those are for cyber cards, or a way to get actual cards. I have no idea, but we will all find out soon enough I guess.

Well, that's it for now. Send me some mojo to help me get back into this baby!

Ginter Prize News!

A teaser....more to follow...

Super Bowl recap and too much underwear!

What am I doing writing about Football? Clearly this is a baseball blog, so what gives?

Okay fine, here is some baseball....Johnny Damon is still looking for a job.

Great! Let's talk about football!

Well, yesterday the wife and I took Jacoby to his first-ever Super Bowl party. The party has been traditionally held in the basement of a friend who is renting it out to a buddy to live in. Think "Happy Days" and the Fonz. Except the friend is a computer nutter and an absolute dead-eye at Call of Duty...So actually think "The Fonz" meets "Warlock from Die Hard 4". Yeah, that pretty much sums him up.

So basically the basement is stocked with a Wii, Xbox360, Playstation3, a 56 in LCD and a 32 inch LCD that doubles as a computer screen. Throw in full surround sound and you have the ultimate Super Bowl location.

On Saturday I headed out with Jacoby to one of those T-Shirt press stores and had him made up a "Who Dat" tshirt (the one from my blog photo yesterday). Most of the people at the party were going to be Colts fans so I thought Jacoby and I could make a grand entrance. I am sure glad they won though, because the shirt is a 2T size (a bit big), and he is going to be able to wear it for awhile. Now it is trendy!

Oh, by the way, during that T-Shirt stop I also stopped at the card shop and broke down and bought the 2007 tin of Sweet spot with delusions of a Lincecum auto...turns out I got an expired redemption for a Russell Martin glove. I am going to contact UD, as the redemption just expired in November, but talk about anti-climatic. I am pondering offering up the entire tin (plus the Martin, should it be redeemable) for trade. The other cards included are reasonably good. Should I post them?

Anyways, back to the game. So we get to the party and while Jacoby is overwhelmed at first, he discovers two of his favorite things, toys and other little kids, and before you know it, the three of them are playing happily.

Here's how I break down the day on the Gellner-o-Meter

The Good:

The Food: My buddy Mike makes a killer salsa. Perfect heat and cilantro. A Super Bowl tradition. My wife made some smokies wrapped in croissants with a honey glaze. Money. There were these Tyson frozen chicken wings that were surprisingly good as well. It was rumored that there was fruit somewhere, but I could not see it past the brownies.

The contests: I design a game each year where there are questions about who will win the coin flip, who will score first, questions about the commercials, halftime act, etc... for the second year running I won my own game, in fact I nearly nailed the score head on at 31-24, but alas Peyton could not get it in the end zone. I also totally stunk it up at the scoreboard for the second year in a row and won NOTHING.

The game: Hard to complain about this one. Really there have not been too many stinkers for the last several years. I can't say whether that has been attributed to my forced sobriety (I am on blood-thinners), therefore I can actually REMEMBER the end of the game, but I think they have been pretty entertaining for the last several years. I STILL cannot believe that the Giants beat the Patriots though. I was drunk for that one, thus dramatically skewing my perceptions of reality.

The outcome: Who Dat! I swear that there was a lot more cheering when N.O. scored than when Peyton and his army put up points. I think people naturally have a soft-side for the underdog. And lets face it, that onside kick was PURE GUTS. It is very similar to the Patriots-Colts.

Pantless Jacoby: Jacoby had an unfortunate accident somewhere in the second quarter where he wet through his jeans. Unfortunately, we had forgotten to bring another set of clothes, other than pajama bottoms. Mom took him upstairs to change. As we are watching the game we are forced to witness not one, but TWO pantless ads in a row. In true comedic timing, right after the second ad, downstairs comes Jacoby wearing nothing but his long "Who Dat?" shirt and a diaper. Comedy gold.

The Bad:

The commercials!: DayF had this pegged as well. Those commercials were either A) terrible, B) Terrifying, or C) Both. The underwear ads were just plain wrong, but the Etrade ads have lost their luster, and my personal pick for most horrifying went to the drones who worked at an office "I will nod and say yes even if I disagree". It gives you about 30 seconds of pure real-office-life hell before the guy rips outta the office in an Audi. Basically, "Everything else about my day pretty much sucks, but at least I drive a rippin' car". Terrible and horrifying. Did I mention the underwear ads? Who needs to see baggy tighty-whities on pasty cottage cheese legs? That's four million dollars down the drain. Oh and one more thing...the Denny's ads? WHY are they paying 12 million dollars to advertise that they are giving away a free grand slam?

The Who: Let me justify this statement. I like The Who. And I will say that while I thought that they were incredibly rough in the first couple of minutes, they seemed to loosen up and got stronger as the performance went along. That said, I was terribly disappointed that they only sang their CSI songs. I would have thought "maybe one" but NOOOOO, all three....in succession! I guess since the Super Bowl was on CBS, the producers probably made that call, but it was still sad to see the band packaged as one long television ad. The Who HAVE other hits, really they do!

The Ugly:

The Drive Home: We drove all of the way across the big city of Portland, Oregon to watch the game. The drive home was a mixture of cop cars and wild and swerving drivers who were really in a hurry or had had one too many libations during the game. Either way, I felt like I was in Speed Racer or playing Super Mario Cart.

The evening dinner? This happens every year. The game starts at such an awkward time (at least here on the West Coast) and ends right around 7 or 7:30. You have been snacking all day on wings, meatballs, salsa, brownies and other oddities, but when you go home you feel like you should eat something decent, but are unsure if you are hungry or if any extra food will put your stomach over the top in revolt. Back in the drinking days, this is also about the time that the hangover would start kicking in...nothing worse than an early evening hangover. For the record, Jacoby went to bed, the wife ate a turkey sandwich and an apple...I settled on mint chocolate chip ice cream!

Well, that wraps up the Super Bowl post. My wife rolled her eyes when I said that their was no major sports until April "you'll find something". Oh yeah...I totally forgot that the Olympics start this week! Dang those wives for always being right!

Enjoy!

Happy Super Bowl Sunday!



May the scoring be plentiful,

May the chips and salsa be endless,

May the wings be spicy,

May there be no party fouls,

May The Who not suck.



Be safe, and enjoy the game!