Pack War Prize Showoff

Their are certain milestone numbers that are important in sports, especially in baseball. 3000 is a big one. If a hitter gets to 3000, you know he's a Hall of Fame level player. People pay attention when you get that 3000th hit.

2000 is a pretty impressive number too. A lot of players get to this level with little fanfare. This is solid player territory, players who have worked hard and paid their dues get here. If you're lucky enough to reach this milestone, it's safe to say you've built up a pretty good fan base. Hitting the 2000 plateau doesn't get the credit it deserves.

Shawn (aka Corky) over at Pack War recently hit his 2000th blog post, and for a blogger, that's quite an accomplishment. He's consistently posted over 200 posts a year every year since he started blogging in 2009. I'd say he's built up a pretty good fan base himself!

In celebration of such an impressive milestone, Shawn held a contest. He initially started with 3 random commenters picking from 3 different prizes, but expanded it to 6 by the end. Lucky for me he did, as I was lucky winner #5! The prizes were nothing short of amazing, and when it came to my turn, I had two very good cards to chose from. I turned down the opportunity to own my first printing plate, mainly because I don't really follow basketball, let alone collect cards from the sport. What I did pick came in the mail recently, and Shawn was generous to include some extra goodies:

Both rookie cards of all-star shortstops who made their debut at age 20 during the month of August. Coincidence?

First, my prize: The 1982 Fleer rookie card of Hall of Famer Cal Ripken Jr. Even if I had a higher pick and more prizes to choose from, this would have been one of my top picks. You just can't go wrong with the rookie card of an all-time great. Besides, I don't have many from 1982 Fleer, but if I ever decide to complete the set, I can cross the most popular card off that list. Shawn also included another All-Star shortstop's rookie card - current Red Sox player Xander Bogaerts. These two cards alone were enough to enough to put a big smile on my face, but wait, there's more!

These cards are so amazingly cool you could keep a side of meat in them for a month!

When I saw these cards I was taken in by the their shininess and beautiful artwork. Then I noticed the guy on the left was carrying a towel, and that my friends made me excited! Sure enough, these cards are from one of my all-time favorite book series, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy! These were unknown to me, so I had to look these cards up. These are Tekchrome inserts from a Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy set set produced by Cardz in 1994. They are just amazing, and I can't believe I hadn't seen them until now. I may have to reread the books again soon!

Somewhere, a focus group decided to issue cards for every single one of David Ortiz's 75 walks in 2004....

Shawn finished it up with a trio of serial numbered Red Sox from Topps Moments & Milestones set. Roger Clemens was my favorite growing up, and cards like these remind me how amazing he was when he was with Boston. The Ortiz card is amusing because few things should be as numerically documented as the exciting stat known as a walk.

Thanks for the cards Shawn, and congrats again on the milestone post! You keep writing, and I'll keep reading!