Short Stops, it's more than just a position

Are you a bit of a nerd like me sometimes? Do you own media guides from years past? I love to keep up with the history of my team, and they are a great way to do it sometimes. I have a fascination with knowing who has been on my team, what years they were here, even what number they wore. I even took it so far as to make spreadsheets of my Mariners by number, by year, and by alphabetical order including managers and coaches. I know, a little scary that I take that much time to work all that stuff up for my own pleasure. With my last post about short time guy Greg Norton, it got me to thinking about other short time guys. I decided that we should look first at the position guys that had 10 games or less in Seattle, and then I will eventually give you the pitchers that had 5 games or less. Let's start with the guys that saw one game in the Emerald City and work our way to the 10 gamers.

1- Arquimedez Pozo also saw just one game. During the playoff run of 1995, on September 12th Pozo was a pinch hitter for Joey Cora. In a 14-3 win against the Twins, Arquimedez would fly out to the 2nd baseman, and finish the game playing 2B in the Kingdome for the only time in his Mariner career.

1- Raul Chavez saw time in 1 game for Seattle. On July 4th 1998 the Mariners were in Texas. Raul would replace Dan Wilson in the bottom of the 5th to catch Bob Wells. Raul got one AB, grounding the first pitch he saw from Tim Crabtree to the shortstop in the top of the 7th inning.

1- Ron Wright had a brief MLB career consisting of one game as a Mariner. In an unexpected turn, Ron was forced to be the DH on April 14, 2002 for the Mariners in Texas against the Rangers. Sadly, Ron would strikeout, ground into a double play, and also ground into a triple play in his only game before soon heading back to AAA Tacoma.





Look at this beauty from 1978 with the AAA San Jose Missions

 





















2- During the Mariners first season in 1977, many guys would see their way on to the roster. Tommy McMillan was a September call up that saw time at SS for two games on September 17th and 21st. Sadly, those would be the only games Tommy would see time on the field in his big league career.

2- It would be the last days of August in 1997. Brian Raabe would play on the 30th and 31st of August as a Mariner that year, but it was his only time with the team. He has gone on to coach high school ball in Minnesota, and is currently the head baseball coach at Bethel University.

2- In early 2000, Carlos Hernandez would be a pinch hitter and play 3B on the 25th of April. The next day he would come in as a pinch runner and finish again at 3rd Base. Those would be the only two games we would ever see Carlos.

4- Oswaldo Navarro saw time in just four games in 2006. He would make it back around to see 14 games with the Astros in 2010 only to return to the minors for the remainder of his career.

5- Jim Wilson never saw time as a position player. During the 1989 season, he did get into those five games as either a pinch hitter, or was the Designated Hitter.

5- Quinn Mack had a short career. During the shortened 1994 season, Quinn made it into five games as a Mariner. Those games would be the only ones of his career.

5- Another player to start and end his big league time in Seattle was Rickey Cradle. During  five games in the 1998 season, Rickey was a Mariner. he would never see the big leagues again.

5- Just two years later in the 2000 season, Brian Lesher made an appearance with the M's. It was quick and over before we knew him.

6- Jerry Willard. I don't remember him either. There were six games in 1994 that Jerry's name was in the box score for the Mariners.

6- The Mariners brought Mickey Lopez up the the big team for a short spell in 2004. Those six games would be Mickey's only big league games.

6- Joe Borchard was traded for from the White Sox in 2006. Joe was seen six times in early 2006 before he would leave Seattle.

6- The next season was 2007 and we would see a brief glimpse of Nick Green in the infield only for him to never be heard from again as a Mariner.

6- As the last post told you, Greg Norton was in Seattle for six games in the start of the 2008 season, only to be shipped to Atlanta.

7- I don't remember him, but Jim Weaver saw time in 1987. It was a quick turn for Jim in the Emerald City.

7- It would be 10 years later in 1997, that Dan Rohrmeier would come to the Mariners. Dan would not ever see the majors again after those seven games.

7- Guillermo Quiroz is an example of an indecisiveness of if a team likes you or not. He saw time in one game in 2006, he would see time in 4 games in 2009, and one more in 2010.

7- We saw Luis Jiminez in 2012 for 7 games. He came with the hype of hitting long bombs, but not much else. That was all we would see of Luis.

8- During the early years of the team, many guys came and went through Seattle. During the shorter 1981 season, Brad Gulden saw a little time with the Mariners.

8- Not to be outdone, along would come Bert Heffernan for the month of May during the disastrous season of 1992. Bert saw 8 games behind the plate for the first time in the majors only to never to return.

8- While the Mariners were looking for extra players for continued playoff runs in 1998, they would bring Dave McCarty to try to help out. It didn't work and Dave was gone and Seattle missed the playoffs that year.

8- Robert Machado made stops with 6 teams during his major league time from 1998-2004. He would spend 8 games with the Mariners on the playoff bound team from the 2000 season.

8- Mike Wilson was one of those more highly touted Mariner prospects. Finally after hearing about his promise since being drafted in 2001, he came up in May of 2011 for eight games. He did more time in the minors, only to find himself in Independent ball for 2013.

9- Joe Lis saw there was a revolving door to the clubhouse in the Kingdome during the 1977 season. The team didn't really know what they had so many guys played in that first season. Joe was done in baseball after the Mariners.

9- Brick Smith had a road block at 1B behind Alvin Davis. The Mariners were willing to give him a chance though. Between the 1987 and 1988 seasons, Brick made it into those nine games but those would be the only big league games he would ever make it to.

9- Also during the season in 1988, the Mariners would be short home for John Rabb. John had spent time behind the plate for the Giants, and Braves before finishing his career in Seattle.

9- In June of 1996, Manny would make his debut with the Mariners. He would soon be released by the team only to be picked up by the Phillies, and bounce around to many teams here and abroad.

9- Chad Meyers had seen time in 97 games with the Cubs between 1999 and 2002. During September of 2003 he would be a pinch runner in most games getting one AB only to ground into a 6-4 fielder's choice in the 7th inning of a 12-0 loss in Oakland on September 21, 2003.

9- Chris Shelton was thankfully spared from having to be a Mariner for too long in 2009. He played a little 1B, was a the DH a couple of times and pinch ran. He spent longer in AAA Tacoma than with the Mariners.

10- Did you know Wally Backman was a Mariner in 1993? Trust me, I don't remember either but i was getting married that year and had a lot going on. Wally was here and gone without hardly a whimper.

10- The next year in 1994, we would see another NBA ten game contract with the Mariners in current Cubs manager Dale Sveum. I don't really know what we were doing back in those days with guys coming and going constantly.

10- During the turn of the century in 2000 the Mariners had a pretty good team. One of those guys that saw time during the year was Anthony Sanders. His ten games came and went so fast we do even remember him.

10- Another guy that has been talked about for the longest time to be a great infielder is Carlos Triunfel. Carlos finally got a shot in 10 games last year at the end of the 2012 season.

I wanted to give a shout out to a guy who actually played one over the cut off in 1977. Most people know Ray Fosse from the 1970 All Star Game when he was run over by Pete Rose. Ray would see 11 games for the M's in their first season in 1977.


I have the list together of pitchers that saw 5 games or less for the Mariner and will work on it to bring it to you and see if you recognize some names that we might have forgotten were in Seattle.

He was here??

Do you ever start do some poking around on the Internet about your team and find a nugget? While I was doing my research for the 1979 Topps blog I came across a name I forgot was even on the team.

In the start of the 2008 there was hope the M's would start to turn their fortunes around. We didn't have any big time players except one that was full of himself, but he's in New York now. One guy that was here in the start of that season saw time in 6 games before he and Brad Wilkerson were DFA'd in May of 2008. I forgot that Greg Norton was even a Mariner. He was sent to Atlanta for a guy that never left AA and has played in Mexico for the last 3 years. I might have to sit down and find how many guys would play maybe 10 or 20 or a small number of games for the team and see if any names sound familiar.

More Angels Scoring in the Upper Deck

Sometimes when I get as package like this in the mail I feel like I'm cheating on my team. I'm sure that everyone knows that I am the lone Mariners fan out here in the blog world. I take great pride in rooting for my team that has been down for quite a few years. Yesterday's package came to me and there was only 2 Mariners cards and the rest were all California Angels cards. Yes, as you all know I grew up in the part time spring training home of the Angels until the 1193 season, even though I left after school in 1989.

I must say that I don't really know how we as collectors survived before the Internet and social networking. The mailer that came in yesterday is from a man that I've never met bet we have been on Facebook for quite a while. He continues to find cards I need for my collections, and keep humbly accepting them. I constantly ask how I can repay him, and he asks me to pay it forward and help out other collectors. As of today in the Mariners Super Set, I now have all the cards from both Score and Upper Deck. These were the last two pieces to those puzzles:

The 1994 Score of Bret Boone with a guest appearance by Willie McGee was the last of the 314 Score cards. The 1998 Upper Deck of Jay Buhner Making History was card #568 of the 568 from Upper Deck. It is so awesome to have three makers down and only two to go. I am down to about 14 cards from Donruss to blow them up, and the big challenge to finish off the 49 cards from Fleer and their run of Mariners. I seriously think and hope that I will make this baby happen by the All Star break!!


Tom also seems to have some kind of connection to someone that is secretly hiding all the cards I need for my projects and slowly releases them to me. Inside the mailer was a stack of VINTAGE TOPPS. Just look at the beauty of these 50 year old LA Angels before they were the California Angels. You know that even if this was your most hated rival of a team, you wouldn't just drool all over yourself to find cards that are 50 years old coming to you!!

Being an equal opportunity giver of all things I need to make collections, there just happen to be a nice stack of 17 cards that came from a five year run of Donruss from 1982 to 1987. There were some fairly big names that were later in their careers that were Halos that I saw around Palm Springs Stadium in my junior high and high school days. Here is a look at about half of those Donruss cards that are now going into the binder with the other Angels that are the ones I want to collect.

It seems that most mail I get from Tom is somehow always got cards that will finish off years or sets or has some kind of finishing touch. Earlier it was the finishing of Mariners sets. Here is the last six Halos that were necessary to finish Fleer and add them to Score as finished Angels. The mountain behind Ron Romanick reminds me so much of my young days in the desert since the mountain range was always behind you. I love the look of Tim Foli and his 80's aviator glasses, so classic!

Not to be outdone, Upper Deck did a few cards from the Coachella Valley before the Angels left for the greener pastures of Tempe, AZ. I only needed two last cards from UD to complete them. If you sense the theme here, Tom finished them too. I had never seen the Von Hayes up close, but that bat shattering is an awesome pic by the cameraman. The last one is a guy that I always thought had one of the coolest names in Chili Davis. Until I found it was a nickname, I wondered what kind of parent would name their boy after something to eat.

I am so proud that the numbers for my collections continues to get smaller and smaller. It is hard to believe that I am down to only trying to find 63 cards for the Mariners to get me to the over 3400 base cards out there. Even though it was only a side project, i find myself down to needing 21 more Halos cards to put what was once just a thought of a collection to completion. Big thanks again to the Internet and social media for helping us collectors connect with each other to help fulfill our dreams, and collections!!

Maybe, maybe not. What would you do??

Welcome to the opening of baseball season, ladies and gentlemen! As I'm sure everyone knows, I AM A PROUD MARINERS FAN!! I don't care that my team has been off the radar for 10 years, we are coming back to relevance. My lifelong goal has been to collect all the baseball cards for all the players to wear a Mariners uniform if they had a card. I currently am about 65 cards away from finishing this project that I thought about starting when I was about 14 during the 1985 season. All the bloggers I have met have been so generous to me in helping out, and I've done my fair share of damage in LCS's too. When I finish this thing hopefully early this baseball season, I will be a happy collector.

I have thought to myself, what would I want to do after I finish the Super Set. I have thought maybe I should work on some sets that mean something to me, or ones that I like the look of. I know that one of those sets is the second set I ever saw as a kid, in 1980 Topps. I bought plenty of 79's and finished off that beauty a few years ago and have started to blog about it, card by card. I will always love that set since it was my first, but my favorite as far as looks will always be the 1980 set. I also want to work on the 1982 Fleer set. I know it gets a bad rap because of the simplicity of the front, and the poor photography. I'm not thinking of it for the big rookie cards, but for some reason the look of the cards just is what I like.

One set that I hadn't even thought about before is calling my name lately. I recently was at one of the LCS's that I don't often frequent, they are more about Magic cards and high price autos and RC's. They had stacks and stacks of 5000 count boxes of some good cards, and a bunch of junk. I was looking through some of them so see what I could find. One of the guys said if I found something I could start to mix and match the box to my liking. My first thought was go for the vintage. There was some here and there, but wasn't to take the time to look at every card in about 25 of those big boxes. I would see some 70's here and there, and would think those are for me. If I saw anything that was before 1987 it was in there too. I still ended up with a boatload of junk wax, but all in all I was fairly happy to walk out with about 4000 cards for $10.

After hitting the dentist yesterday, I had time to stop at Target before getting to my son's first scrimmage baseball game of the season. I've seen quite a few of you talk about the $15 big boxes that that they are selling from Fairfield. I know there was going to be about three or four vintage cards. A worthless relic(Johnny Estrada in Braves uni but a Brewers logo), a Yankee Stadium patch, a ton of coins, and maybe a few cards. I went for one just to see if I could get some good out of it. After looking through it, I have found what I think will the third set I will probably end up collecting. If you get a bunch of cards from this set in two different times is it a sign? Would you build this set if you could?:

These aren't my cards, but I took it from the Internet so you could get an idea of the set I'm thinking of collecting

I haven't even figured out what I have or what cards I need, but I wanted to see what everyone think of the last set that Topps did before we hit the overproduction era of 1987. Does the black top and simple lettering of the team name do anything for you, or is it just blah? Is this a sign of fate that I should build this set? Once I have sat down and started to figure out which cards I have and need I will start put it out there. The good news for me, is if I collect this set there is already a great blog out there about the 1986 Topps set . He can do the write ups and I will collect them.

Welcome to the start of the 2013 season. I can only say GO M's!!

I'm a Fan-attic and Facebook comes through again!!

Yesterday was a productive day around my house. I was able to do a ton of yard work like mowing, and getting moss killer on the grass. My wife was cleaning the inside of the house, so I was gone to wash cars. Next comes the standard w need to go to the grocery store. Not really my favorite trip, but I do like to eat. As we come home, I stop for the mail and she starts tossing stuff at me saying "it's all for you." In all reality, only half was for me. The first thing is find is a nice little PWE from Jeff. If you don't know him, he is the new man behind the Fan-Attic Sports Card Blog. He sent me the last 1994 UD card I needed, only to find I guess I didn't need it because I can't find any Mariners on it, except on the back for stats. Don't you hate when you've needed a card for forever and then find out it wasn't one that fits your collection?

What was I thinking? I guess I need to quit trusting the internet when it tells me I need a card

 He also sent me a 94 Score of Bosio's no no to finish that year, and another 95 Score of Bobby Ayala to inch that one closer too. Thanks Jeff!!

Not to let it end there, I also got another fat package from a friend on Facebook. I have never met Thomas before, but he randomly sends me mailers that might have a couple cards, or yesterday's fat pack of want list goodness! There were all kinds of Mariners I needed for the Super Set. The best part of the big pile of goodness was the Angels in the desert he sent my way! There was a stack of 26 Angels that were all on the want list. I never really thought about this side project when I first started it, but it's getting closer too!

Just some of the Palm Springs goodness that came!!

Thanks to Jeff and Thomas, I am getting closer to finishing the Mariners. I think I can do it before the All Star break without having to buy them online with the help of so many great bloggers that I've traded with over the years who are always willing to help out! I'm down to needing 1card to finish off Score, Do you have this one to spare?:

I can't find a picture of it anywhere, but does anyone have a 1998 Upper Deck #3 of Jay Buhner?? That would be the last card I need to finish off Upper Deck too. I can't believe that those two cards would finish off two makers and leave me with Donruss and Fleer to go. I don't know why Fleer have been a thorn in my side and still needs almost 50 cards to finish them off.

Big thanks to both collectors for the help, and if you have any of the cards I need in the lists on the right side over there, let me know if you can help out!!

24 is the new 21 don't you know...

We all know that if you've ever played Blackjack you don't want to go over 21 or you bust. I'm quite glad that the trade that came to me this week has a guy who's favorite player wore #24. One of the newer blog sensations is TJ who is a Junior Junkie. I recently sent him a small box with a couple of extra Griffey's I had laying around (you get a few cards of Ken when you are a Mariners collector). He in turn sent me a small flat rate box packed with all kinds of M's cards. The most important cards were definitely these 4 babies!

The last 3 cards I needed to finish off the 1991 Upper Deck Update cards. I really thought those three might be the death of me since they seem to be ones I don't see around very often. I was not surprised to find a 98 UD Griffey I needed too. Who wouldn't think that a Junior collector wouldn't come through with some of his cards. Also in the mammoth box was some cards of my favorite current Mariner in Kyle Seager. I don't know why, but this kid is one I really like and think he might have the chance to do some good stuff.

Not to be outdone, there was a few cards that hearken back to when I first became a Mariners fan. I found the team in the summer of 1982, when I came to the Seattle area with my grandmother when she moved here. It was a nice vacation from living in the desert in the 110 degree summers. There was rarely too many games on TV back then, but I would listen to Dave Niehaus on the radio and became a Mariners fan, and some of these guys were the first ones I got to know.

Not to be outdone by putting cards to knock down the Super Set, TJ included a couple of cards from my favorite Mariner still to this day. There is a reason why he is still known as Mr. Mariner. While I have no disrespect for his favorite guy in Ken, I still believe the Mariners need to do the right thing as an organization and retire #21 for Alvin as the first number to be retired. Alvin came in to the team after Ken Phelps broke his hand in the third game of the season. All Alvin did was become an All Star and win ROY in 1984 with teammate Mark Langston finishing second. We would be with Seattle through 1991, only to be released at play a season closer to home in Riverside, CA with the Angels. I have a special place for these Alvin's.

In about the middle of all the Mariner goodness was this beauty. While I'm not a guy who goes after autos, relics or any of that stuff, It always cool to get one just to say I have in my collection. This a pretty nice one of a guy that had promise but injuries have derailed him. Adam Moore was going to be the catching savior that Jeff Clement couldn't be. We've only really ever had one good catcher in Dan Wilson. Adam showed promise in the appearances he made, but after continuing to tear parts of his knees it all went downhill. What good is a catcher if his knees are shot? Adam was let go last year, and caught on with the Royals, but is in their camp this spring as an NRI.

If you have any cards of Ken, whether they be Seattle, Cincinnati, or White Sox send them down to Louisiana way. I also know that if you have cards of players that were born in the Bayou State or the Saints he would be happy to see those too. I might have to put together some Who Dat's for him since I have a stockpile of stuff from when my cousin was a Saint for 5 seasons. Gigantic thanks again to TJ and go see him and see if you can hook him up too...

Not to end the fun there, I was the victim of the highly common PWE Bombs that are sweeping the nation. I think everyone knows the sneakiness of Wes who runs Jaybarkerfan's Junk. You open your mailbox and BOOM! there are random cards you weren't expecting. I got an envelope that contained the good, the bad, and the ugly.

I would classify Mark Lowe and Sean Green as the good. Jeff Harris was bad, he just wasn't all that great and somebody had to be the bad guy. Sorry Jeff. I won't hide my disdain for this guy and will always call him the ugly stain on the M's franchise. The Orioles gave us a worthless Erik Bedard, and got some damn good players in return. I don't even know what happen to Erik, nor do I care. I just want Adam Jones back so we could have a good center fielder. We haven't had one since this guy on his old school looking card. But Mike has to share company with an old card in Mark Langston and his spring training mesh back hat.

Big thanks to Wes for some random M's from all over the board. Keep an eye on your mailbox because you never know where he might strike next. It could be you, or any other of the great bloggers and traders out there who get free cards at any time without warning!!

Lucky 7!!

Since it has been a week since I sent them out, I hope everyone that wanted the 2013 Topps from the box break got their cards. I set aside the Pirates for Big Daddy Filth of Gravediggers, Mooses, and such fame. He was nice enough to send me back a few Mariners in return. In fact all 7 cards were of two guys that I needed for the Super Set. Victor sent these 3 beauties from Score to knock it down needing 11 cards from them. Look at Junior and Randy in all their Mariner glory:

Randy is looking at The Kid thinking why do we have to be on the same team, if he wasn't here I'd be the star of this city. We had so many good guys in the 90's that it's sad they couldn't bring it all together just once to make the Series.

Not to be out done, there was another 4 cards from Upper Deck that will be going into the binders to knock down the needed number even lower. It amazes how many cards Ken had during his heyday as the face of MLB that I have to collect as a Mariner. As you can see, Griffey won out on the numbers game against Randy again:

Thanks to Victor, that now brings me down to only needing 93 cards to bring this lifelong project to completion. I'm hoping that as the season comes, and progresses I can either trade or buy my way to making this dream a reality.

If you have anything laying around that is Pittsburgh related in any sport, go and see him and see if you can work a deal with him. I know that he will take care of you the way he helped me. Big thanks again to Big Daddy Filth, and for him I say raise the Jolly Roger for the Buccos!!



Anyone want to trade??

All you have to do is take this guy and I'll be happy!! I think the Yankees knew something when they threw in Hector as part of the deal that took Michael Pineda from Seattle. While I know that Mike has been hurt, and hasn't played we made a mistake. Everyone said we got a steal in this deal. While Jesus Montero is average at best, everyone seems to think he's the next Johnny Bench. The guy is a defensive liability behind the plate. He can't block balls, doesn't throw guys out, and can't really call a game. His offense is decent, but I've seen better and he will be our #1 catcher this year.

The Yankees sent Hector I think because they knew he wasn't that good. Just look at some of his numbers. In 22 games with us last year, he went 2-12 with a 5.82 ERA. All that came in 106 innings while giving up 71 runs and serving up 21 bombs. The spring of 2013 has been no better for him in Arizona. Before yesterday, Hector had given up 8 runs, six of them being earned in 3.2 innings. Thankfully Hector got rained out but not before giving up another six runs and two dingers in 2 innings to the A's. I think it's time for the M's to cut bait on this guy. If your team would like a bad pitcher, contact the Mariners in Peoria, AZ and I'm sure Jack Z would take just about anything for him. Send us some seeds, and a pack of gum and we will call it even.

POPS!!

In case you didn't know my favorite player has a birthday today. Willie would be 73 today. He and the 1979 We are Family Pirates are what started my love of baseball.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY POPS!!

Inching closer

As you may or may not know there is so many ways to connect via social medias in this day and age. One man that has hooked up with me through Facebook continually finds cards and sends them to my mailbox. Yesterday brought another package from Tom and held another 30 cards I needed for the Super Set.

The amazing thing is he is working off a checklist from my blog that he printed last June!! With the cards that are now in my collection, I am so excited to know that I only need 101 Mariners cards to finish off this project that I have been working on since I started collecting Mariners cards more than 25 years ago. I hope that some of the great bloggers that are receiving cards from Series 1 from me will help knock that number to double digits! Could I actually complete the 3400+ card Super Set by the end if the season or maybe the All-Star break? I know if you guys have your way it will get done and that's why I love my fellow writers!!

Just to let everyone that asked for cards from the free box from Topps, they went out today and most all should be to you on Tuesday or Wednesday at the latest. I hope everyone is ready for the regular season like I am!!

Logo overkill

Do you have those times when you are looking through boxes of cards, either for yourself or for someone else? You are looking through and you are focused on looking for a particular team or player, and as you are flipping cards something catches your eye? I was doing that looking for some cards to send out and for myself at the same time. A random 1991 Upper Deck just jumped out at me and I had to take it all in. I present card #594 of Scott Lewis of the California Angels:

Don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with what I saw. I love the fact that in the early 90's players still went with stirrups and sanitaries. What struck me as funny is that Scott has the Halo A on his hat, sleeve patch, and his stirrups. If you include UD'S use of it in the logo at the corner of the card, that's four big A's on the front of one card.

I still love the simplicity of this Halos logo more than the current one, but it's what I grew up on. I'm finding out that 91 UD is growing on me like some of my favorites like 80 Topps, 82 Fleer, and 83 Donruss. I really think the design of the fronts on the 91 is simple, but effective and easy on the eyes to like.

Free box break recap

Well, I hope everyone had some fun with seeing what goodness of free cards I won from Topps. I really had fun opening packs, sorting them out, and making posts for you to see. I sat down and looked everything over and here are the stats of how the box came out.

As everyone may or may not know, there are 36 packs of 10 cards each in a hobby box. That means 360 cards with the hopes of making the 330 card base set. I opened all 36 packs to these results:

Base Cards: 299/330 (90.6% complete) only needed 31 cards...

No duplicates of base cards!!

Emerald Parallels: 6 cards

Gold Parallels: 4 Cards

Black Parallels: 1 cards

Cut to the chase die-cuts: 3 Cards

Chasing history: 9 Cards

Calling Cards: 3 Cards

1972 minis: 9 Cards

Chasing the Dream: 6 Cards

The Greats: 2 cards

Million Dollar Chase: 5 cards

Relic Cards: 1 card

If you count it up, that is 49 cards of inserts and other nonsense. I guess the good news is I was able to make my Mariners for 2013 so far out of the box. My son decided that he wanted the Giants since no one else jumped on them. The only card not in the box was #260 of the NLDS Game 5. If anyone that is sending me cards for the cards out of this box has this one could you throw it in for the boy? I want everyone that has claimed cards, I will try to start getting everything together today. If I don't make it in time to mail them, I will try this week depending on work, if not it might be next Saturday before they go out. Thanks for hanging out with me on the box and let's get Spring Training going....Baseball is back!!!

Free box break- the final 6 pack

It's kind of like American Idol, Only this is way better. The final 6 will be on stage today, your job is to look and see what you like. Let's get to the cards...

Pack 31:

37 Max Scherzer- Detroit Tigers
20 Kevin Youkilis- Chicago White Sox
149 Yovani Gallardo- Milwaukee Brewers

254 Sean Burnett- Washington Nationals
(there's something about those stars&stripes jerseys that makes me feel patriotic)
171 Brock Holt- Pittsburgh Pirates
Million Dollar Chase Card another code to give away
Spring Fever Redemption card good for 2/20-2/27
226 Derek Lowe- NY Yankees
146 Kyle McClellan- St. Louis Cardinals
102 Denard Span- Minnesota Twins

Pack 32:

15 Dustin Pedroia- Boston Red Sox
(my son likes Dustin because he's a small guy that plays all out, like he does)
105 Freddie Freeman- Atlanta Braves
16 Andre Ethier- LA Dodgers
282 Russell Martin- NY Yankees
173 Tyler Skaggs- Arizona Diamondbacks

CH-35 Hank Aaron Career HR's- Atlanta Braves
CTC-2 Ken Griffey Jr- Seattle Mariners
(Two HOF'er inserts! Ken is held for a new blogger I'm making a stack for)
237 Brandon Lyon- Toronto Blue Jays
45 Travis Ishikawa- Milwaukee Brewers

Pack 33:

52 CC Sabathia- NY Yankees
137 Edinson Volquez- San Diego Padres

34 Felix Hernandez- Seattle Mariners
(the King makes series 1 complete for me. He is ours for the next 7 years baby!!)
88 Jamey Carroll- Minnesota Twins
10 Adam Jones- Baltimore Orioles
175 A.J. Ramos- Miami Marlins
CD-18 Chris Sale- Chicago White Sox
CC-9 R.A. Dickey Calling Card- NY Mets
318Hiroki Kuroda- NY Yankees
217 Brian Matusz- Baltimore Orioles

Pack 34:

29 Adrian Beltre- Texas Rangers
233 Edwin Jackson- Washington Nationals
255 Will Venable- San Diego Padres
142 Tony Cingrani- Cincinnati Reds
TM-23 Clayton Kershaw 1972 mini- LA Dodgers

CDR-DW David Wright Mets Hits relic- NY Mets
(I said it wasn't a jaw dropper, but it is pretty good player)
265 Tyler Colvin- Colorado Rockies
178 Justin Maxwell- Houston Astros

Pack 35:

47 Howie Kendrick- Angels
72 Gerardo Parra- Arizona Diamondbacks
309 Endy Chavez- Baltimore Orioles

331 Jose Reyes- Toronto Blue Jays
(the non SP #331 since we didn't use 7 for Mickey Mantle)
119 Chris Davis- Baltimore Orioles
124 Ricky Romero- Toronto Blue Jays
Emerald 261 Trevor Rosenthal- St. Louis Cardinals
242 Matt Kemp- LA Dodgers
21 Lucas Duda- NY Mets
98 Gaby Sanchez- Pittsburgh Pirates

Pack 36:

120 Ian Desmond- Washington Nationals
210 Vernon Wells- Angels
169 Brad Ziegler- Arizona Diamondbacks
278 Christian Garcia- Washington Nationals
224 Jon Jay- St. Louis Cardinals
Gold 68 Colby Rasmus- Toronto Blue Jays #0893/2013
Emerald 199 Avisail Garcia- Detroit Tigers
188 Brian Fuentes- St. Louis Cardinals
262 Kevin Correia- Pittsburgh Pirates

190 Daniel Descalso- St. Louis Cardinals
(so much goodness with stirrups and flying to make the play)

There it is ladies and gentlemen. The free box sent to me by Topps. I need to sit and sort it all out to see how close I was to making a set out of a hobby box. I got the Mariners I needed so that is a great thing! Feel Free to hit me for what you want out of this thing, if you could help my collections that would be a big help. I hope everyone enjoyed what I got!

Free box break packs 25-30

Let's give everyone another six pack of cards to see if you can something you like. We have this one and one more to see if we can finish this bad boy off. I forgot how much I miss opening packs, but I know I'm not going out and buying a bunch of stuff just to rip, it's funner to do this for you guys and gals!

Pack 25:

70 Todd Frazier- Cincinnati Reds

126 Dan Uggla- Atlanta Braves
(I grew up on the Braves on WTBS, but I don't remember them looking ripped like Danny)
310 Edwin Encarnacion- Toronto Blue Jays
179  Detroit Tigers ALCS Game 4
330 Ryan Raburn- Detroit Tigers
CH-30 Adam Dunn 400th HR- Chicago White Sox

CC-4 David Ortiz Calling Card- Boston Red Sox
Andrew has laid claim to Papi, he still loves David
248 Colby Lewis-Texas Rangers
192 Javier Lopez- San Francisco Giants
18 Mitch Moreland- Texas Rangers

Pack 26:

11 Yu Darvish- Texas Rangers

55 Tim Lincecum- San Francisco Giants
(I love the Giants Orange Friday jerseys, and Timmy is a local kid we think rocks)
33 Cliff Lee- Philadelphia Phillies
246 NL HR Leaders Braun, Stanton, Bruce
153 AL HR Leaders Cabrera, Hamilton, Granderson
83 Darin Ruf- Philadelphia Phillies
TM-38 Adrian Beltre 1972 mini- Texas Rangers
289 Jeremy Guthrie- Kansas City Royals
239 Ramon Santiago- Detroit Tigers
323 Michael Brantley- Cleveland Indians
(Michael's dad Mickey started in the Mariners system)

Pack 27:

147 Ivan Nova- NY Yankees

320 Michael Young- Texas Rangers
(that is one nice looking throwback uniform for the Rangers)
138 Michael Morse- Washington Nationals
(welcome back to Seattle, Mr. Morse)
67 San Francisco Giants WS Game 4
290 Tom Layne- San Diego Padres

CTC-25 Josh Hamilton- Texas Rangers
Million Dollar Chase Card give me base cards and stop wasting my time...
215 Gordon Beckham- Chicago White Sox
279 Vincente Padilla- Boston Red Sox

Pack 28:

2 Derek Jeter- NY Yankees
(I don't like the Yankees, but there's nothing bad I can say about Derek he's total class)
127 Giancarlo Stanton- Miami Marlins
28 Prince Fielder- Detroit Tigers
81 NL ERA Leaders Kershaw,Dickey,Cueto
269 St. Louis Cardinals NLDS Game 5
286 Jurickson Profar- Texas Rangers
CH-8 Rickey Henderson Career SB's- Oakland A's
174 Jason Grilli- Pittsburgh Pirates
321 Allen Craig- St. Louis Cardinals
132 Ryan Vogelsong- San Francisco Giants

Pack 29:

155 Mat Latos- Cincinnati Reds
113 Starlin Castro- Chicago Cubs
115 Tim Hudson- Atlanta Braves

112 Mark Reynolds- Baltimore Orioles
(once the O's went back to the cartoon bird, they were winners. Coincidence??)
303 Alex Rodriguez Record Chase Checklist- NY Yankees
231 Melky Mesa- NY Yankees
Million Dollar Chase Card Please stop. I don't want to play your game
77 Dustin Moseley- San Diego Padres
74 Kenley Jansen- LA Dodgers
243 Aaron Crow- Kansas City Royals

Pack 30:

240 JJ Putz- Arizona Diamondbacks
(I like the combo of old and new, but the colors clash. Dennis loves JJ the Wolverine!)
214 Curtis Granderson- NY Yankees
8 Ryan Braun- Milwaukee Brewers
42 Detroit Tigers ALDS Game 5
17 Shin-Soo Choo- Cleveland Indians
65 J.P.Howell- Tampa Bay Rays

TM-43 Tony Gwynn 1972 mini- San Diego Padres
(Mr. Padre and current SDSU coach comes home to my collection!!)
162 Kyle Seager- Seattle Mariners
292 Matt Thornton- Chicago White Sox
51 Jonathan Broxton- Cincinnati Reds

OK, that's 5/6's of the box. We haven't found the "hit" for the box yet. It doesn't matter to me though. I know it's coming in these last six packs. It's not too bad, I think someone will claim it since it is of no use to me. It isn't a barn burner, but I wouldn't mind a few Mariners, Angels, Willie's, or Murphs I need for it. It is coming soon for you to see.

Free box break packs 19-24

I hope everyone is enjoying seeing what I won from Topps. If you want something you see let me know. What do you say should we start on the second half of the box??

Pack 19:

24 Dan Haren- Angels
229 Jeff Samardzija- Chicago Cubs

141 Carlos Santana- Cleveland Indians
(is it just me or does Carlos look like a Transformer in all that color coordinated gear?)
30 Neftali Feliz- Texas Rangers
121 Delmon Young- Detroit Tigers
183 Drew Hutchison- Toronto Blue Jays
CH-14 Lou Brock Career SB's- St. Louis Cardinals
297 Michael Saunders- Seattle Mariners
216 Josh Willingham- Minnesota Twins
238 Carlos Zambrano- Miami Marlins

Pack 20:

22 Clayton Kershaw- LA Dodgers
213 Alex Rodriguez- NY Yankees
75 Barry Zito- San Francisco Giants
194 AL RBI Leaders Cabrera, Hamilton, Encarnacion
12 A.J. Pierzynski- Chicago White Sox
197 Tyler Cloyd- Philadelphia Phillies
Million Dollar Chase Card- I'm still not playing this thing
57 Mark Lowe- Texas Rangers

220 Octavio Dotel- Detroit Tigers
(the Tigers are stop 13 on Octavio's baseball World Tour like a rock band)
106 Drew Stubbs- Cincinnati Reds

Pack 21:

68 Colby Rasmus- Toronto Blue Jays
201 Johnny Venters- Atlanta Braves
302 Aaron Hill- Arizona Diamondbacks
317 Baltimore Orioles AL Wild Card
82 Jason Vargas- Seattle Mariners
79 Adam Eaton- Arizona Diamondbacks
TM-25 Jose Reyes 1972 mini- Miami Marlins
(funny that they didn't PhotoShop it like the base card)

209 David DeJesus- Chicago Cubs
(if David isn't careful he'll get lost in the ivy like Andre Dawson did last season)
182 Randy Choate- LA Dodgers
156 Dillon Gee- NY Mets

Pack 22:

200 Scott Downs- Angels
(I grew up with the Halos, I wish they would go back to the California name and look)
191 Chris Capuano- LA Dodgers

227 Jose Altuve- Houston Astros
(I know these have been said to be the worst unis of all time, but I still think they rock!)
103 Evan Longoria- Tampa Bay Rays
270 Manny Machado- Baltimore Orioles
40 Chien-Ming Wang- Washington Nationals
CD-24 Brett Lawrie- Toronto Blue Jays
160 Stephen Drew- Oakland A's
92 Clint Barmes- Pittsburgh Pirates
181 Jeff Keppinger- Tampa Bay Rays

Pack 23:

308 Desmond Jennings- Tampa Bay Rays
43 R.A. Dickey- NY Mets
122 Andrew McCutchen- Pittsburgh Pirates
109 Kirk Nieuwenhuis- NY Mets
261 Trevor Rosenthal- St. Louis Cardinals
288 Starling Marte- Pittsburgh Pirates
Gold 22 Clayton Kershaw- LA Dodgers #0582/2013
Emerald 111 Casey Kelly- San Diego Padres

31 Jose Tabata- Pittsburgh Pirates
(3 Buccos in one pack? I like the running catch, and for some reason I want a Budweiser???)
154 Sergio Romo- San Francisco Giants

Pack 24:

36 Jared Weaver- Angels
123 Rickie Weeks- Milwaukee Brewers

80 Ryan Zimmerman- Washington Nationals
(I think this kid has the potential to turn into a big star this year in DC)
35 Justin Verlander- Detroit Tigers
266 Albert Pujols Record Chase Checklist- Angels
304 Kyle Drabek- Toronto Blue Jays
Emerald 90 Andy Pettitte Record Chase Checklist- NY Yankees
53 Alex Cobb- Tampa Bay Rays
144 Jason Bay- NY Mets
(welcome to Seattle, Mr. Bay)
198 Chris Coghlan- Miami Marlins

Two thirds of the way through the box. I like the design, but I'm glad I won instead of buying the box. Is it just me or does it seem like some teams from the East have a ton of cards in this set? Where's the West Coast love man??