Repack Haiku #99 (Greg Olson)

Shared All-Star spotlight

With Oriole Gregg Olson

In Nineteen-ninety 

1991 Leaf #158 Greg Olson

According to a recent interview, he still gets TTM autograph requests of cards for the other guy!

Who's #100 Contest

One more week! Thanks to everyone who has made guesses so far! I don't think I clarified well what happens if no one gets the mystery player. If no points are awarded for correctly guessing the player, additional points can be earned by guessing the year of the card and the company that produced it. I'm allowing a one-time guess for each, and 3 points for each correct guess. You can still possibly win this way, even if your player guess was off. In the event of a tie, the winner will be randomly chosen. Here's the clues so far:

Clue #1: He's a former All-Star.
Clue #2: He was once traded for a former Cy Young Award winner.
Clue #3: He was almost traded for a Hall of Famer.
Clue #4: He was drafted by Texas Rangers. 
Clue #5: He has never played for the Boston Red Sox.
Clue #6: He has played in both the American and National Leagues.

Here's your 4-point clue:

Clue #7:  He was born in Northern California.

I hope these clues aren't being too vague. I was originally going to put the city as well, but once I did a quick Google search for players from there, it became obvious that would have narrowed the guesses down considerably. Comment below with your educated guesses! Good luck!

Red Barn Battle - 1991 Topps Vs 1992 Stadium Club

In a previous post, I mentioned how I went to a flea market and picked up 5 packs of cards for $1. I thought it would be fun to take two packs, open them up, and see which card would win in a side by side competition. As luck would have it, two packs I got contain the same number of cards, making them the ideal competitors!

I've always liked 1991 Topps. The simple border and 40th Anniversary logo are well-done. Stadium Club has the sharp photography and the awesome rookie card representations on the back. I'm hedging that Stadium Club's overall photography will give them an edge in this contest, but we'll see!

Victory goes to the card I like best, whether it's due to the player, the team, the photography, or if I find something interesting/annoying.

Let's get ready to rumble!

#381 Jim Leyland vs #611 Esteban Beltre

Jim Leyland is a potential Hall of Famer, and manager cards are just cool. Belte's is just a slight angle adjustment away from looking like a Panini product.
Advantage: Topps 1991 (1-0)

#273 Johnny Ray vs #765 Kevin Mitchell

Ray's glove gives his action shot an almost 3D effect. Mitchell is a former MVP whose practice swings still manage to look mighty.
Advantage: Topps 1991 (2-0)

#430 Gary Gaetti vs #603 Ken Griffey Jr.

Yeah, no contest here.
Advantage: Stadium Club 1992 (2-1)

#304 Kevin Reimer vs #688 Kirk McCaskill

Hmm...this is a tough one actually. Reimer is your run-of-the-mill bat on shoulder pose. The McCaskill bothers me slightly because both the background and the foreground are blurred, leaving just the player in the middle. It makes the ball look like a giant circle in the outfield. I guess I'll take the action shot over the posed one.
Advantage: Stadium Club 1992 (2-2)

#31 Colby Ward vs #807 Zane Smith

Two fairly similar pictures, showing two pitchers after a throw. It's a toss-up, but I'm picking Zane for no other reason than Ward's uniform piping doesn't seamlessly transition from pants to shirt. Don't judge me.
Advantage: Stadium Club 1992 (2-3)

#122 Paul O'Neill vs #859 Jose Lind

As a Red Sox fan, I'm not allowed to like Yankee Paul O'Neill. I can like Reds Paul O'Neill though.
Advantage: Topps 1991 (3-3)

#526 Moises Alou vs #659 Eric Bullock

Teammate fight! Alou is the better player, and has the better uniform.
Advantage: Topps 1991 (4-3)

#698 Mark Guthrie vs #658 Wayne Rosenthal

Hard to argue against a high leg kick!
Advantage: Tops 1991 (5-3)

#50 Bob Welch vs #702 Donnie Hill

I'm not a Welch fan since he beat out Roger Clemens for the Cy Young award. However, his card is better Donnie Hill's.
Advantage: Topps 1991 (6-3)

#565 Craig Biggio vs #640 Jack Morris

Hall of Fame battle! Wow, do I go with a great photo of a young Biggio, or the awesome moustache of Morris? I may flip-flop on this one here, but for now I'm going with my gut instinct.
Advantage: Topps 1991 (7-3)  

Yikes, this is turning into a bigger blowout than I would have thought!

#55 Jeffrey Leonard vs #828 Brook Jacoby

Stadium Club stops the bleeding with a great angled photo! I do wish the guy behind him wasn't blurred though.
Advantage: Stadium Club 1992 (7-4)

#424 Calvin Schiraldi vs #773 Denis Boucher

Here's the windup, and the pitch! Former Red Sox Schiraldi was the losing pitcher for both the infamous Game 6 of the 1986 World Series, as well as the equally crushing Game 7. He can add this loss to his resume as well.
Advantage: Stadium Club 1992 (7-5)

#547 Mike Pagliarulo vs #791 Jack Armstrong

Is it me, or does the Armstrong card look like a still from the movie "Major League"? I love that movie...
Advantage: Stadium Club 1992 (7-6)

#234 Scott Erickson vs #777 Scott Ruskin

Once again, when in doubt, take the action shot!
Advantage: Stadium Club 1992 (7-7)

Stadium Club comes back from behind to tie things up! This was closer to what I was hoping for! We're down to the last two cards. Winner takes all!

#490 Kirk Gibson vs #798 Mike Perez

It's fitting Gibson hits the walk-off!
Advantage: Topps 1991 (8-7)

Topps wins the pack war!

Congratulations to Topps. Stadium Club can take solace in the fact that all these Topps cards will end up in the double box. What say you? Who wins this battle if you were the judge?

Who's #100 Contest

Thanks to everyone who has made guesses so far! It's been great reading all the different answers. Has anyone guessed correctly yet? Time will tell. Until then, here's the clues you have so far:

Clue #1: He's a former All-Star.
Clue #2: He was once traded for a former Cy Young Award winner.
Clue #3: He was almost traded for a Hall of Famer.
Clue #4: He was drafted by Texas Rangers. 
Clue #5: He has never played for the Boston Red Sox.

The sixth clue is worth 5 points. You can earn an additional 3 points for guessing the year, as well as another 3 for the brand.

Clue #6:  He has played in both the American and National Leagues.

Comment below with your educated guesses! Good luck!

First Impressions - 2019 Topps Gypsy Queen

I know, Gypsy Queen was released almost a month ago! But I caved in and bought a pack so I could give it a proper review. This is one of those 3 packs with some green parallels deals.

#85 Ryan McMahon

The honor of the first card pulled goes to the Rockies' corner infielder. For the most part, I like the graphical layout. The blue ribbon and circles are nicely done. (Maybe the GQ could be a little smaller...) The text however....wow. It's been said how small the print is, and they weren't kidding! Granted, you're not missing much on the front, but I will say this: the minuscule little "started at" tag above the position circle annoys me to no end.

#55 Shohei Ohtani
#214 David Peralta
#300 Aaron Judge
#133 George Springer

Let's talk about the back of the cards. Other than consistency with the  front, there is no logical reason to have the card number so small! My eyesight was never great but this is almost worthy of a magnifying glass. I like the simple trivial write-ups, but the copious amount of empty space leaves me wanting more.

#42 Archie Bradley
#223 Tyler Austin 

Rock those shades and eye-black, Tyler!

#177 Zack Godley
#231 Tyler Skaggs
#97 Austin Meadows
#189 Edwin Encarnacion (blank plate parallel)

Does anyone collect these or find them remotely worthwhile? Missing nameplates have to rank among the worst gimmicks Topps has tried to pull off.

#105 Bryce Harper
#144 Daniel Poncedeleon
#62 Zack Greinke
#283 Danny Jansen
#FTMJM J.D. Martinez (Fortune Teller insert)

I'm not a huge fan of minis, but if I'm going to get one, at least it's a Red Sox card. It'd be interesting to see next year how well these predictions did.

#168 Kevin Pillar
#31 Jake Arrieta

Green Parallels

#172 Ryan Braun
#256 Brian Anderson
#132 Blake Treinen

As you would expect from a green border, the Athletics cards look great!

#80 Ronald Guzman
#31 Jake Arrieta

Overall, it seems about more of the same from Gypsy Queen. I like the design better than last year, but I'm starting to wonder if this brand has run it's course.

Who's #100 Contest

Clues! Who wants clues? Get your clues here! As we inch closer to Haiku #100, each clue narrows the field down! You have these 4 already:

Clue #1: He's a former All-Star.
Clue #2: He was once traded for a former Cy Young Award winner.
Clue #3: He was almost traded for a Hall of Famer.
Clue #4: He was drafted by Texas Rangers.

Now, It would seem almost logical that I'd celebrate a milestone by focusing on my favorite team, wouldn't it? Well, I'm not:

Clue #5: He has never played for the Boston Red Sox.

If you've guessed a Red Sox alum already, now's your chance to try again! Keep the clues coming! Guess correctly here and earn 6 points!

Repack Haiku #98 (Joe Carter)

Forget about WAR

Drove in one hundred 10 times

Put Joe in the Hall!

1989 Score #213 Joe Carter

Who's #100 Contest

To summarize:

Clue #1: He's a former All-Star.
Clue #2: He was once traded for a former Cy Young Award winner.
Clue #3: He was almost traded for a Hall of Famer.

If you guess on this post with the following clue, you get 7 points. Bonus points for guess the year and company!

Clue #4: He was drafted by Texas Rangers.

Return Of The Sheep King

Finally, I'm ready to show off the rest of the cards I won from Josh (Royals And Randoms) from his baseball sheep contest. If you missed the first post, you can find it here. Just like before, I picked out my 10 favorites to show off:

 1996 Pinnacle #78 Mo Vaughn

Maybe because it looks like he's cracking his knuckles, maybe it's those sweet goggles he's wearing, but this is a great card of the Hit Dog, even if his face is partially obscured by his sleeves.

1999 Upper Deck Century Legends 

#76 Pedro Martinez

Already a legend in Upper Deck's eyes, he'd cement that status with an epic 1999 season.

2004 Topps #359 Bill Mueller (AS)

I've already shown off this card earlier, and now you know where I got one from! Great job by Topps using The Sporting News as the card's backdrop.

2002 Bowman Heritage 

#66 Pedro Martinez

Intentional graininess aside, I like this simple pose from Pedro.

2003 Upper Deck Sweet Spot 

Classic #2 Al Lopez

That sure does look like Boston's B, doesn't it? The Brooklyn Dodger's Al Lopez managed to sneak himself into the Red Sox stack!

2004 Topps Cracker Jack 

#85 Manny Ramirez

I really like the old Cracker Jack card design, and Manny is always a great subject matter.

2015 Topps Allen & Ginter 

#338 Mike Napoli (SP)

Can just a player's beard make the Hall of Fame? Napoli's was truly a hirsute work of art.

2011 Topps - Throwback Logo 

Manufactured Patch 

#TLMP-AG Adrian Gonzalez (MANU, SER2)

I'm not one for manufactured relics, but it's hard not to like the creepy old Red Sox logo. Man, how did that not give kids nightmares?

2015 Topps Gypsy Queen 

- Pillars Of The Community 

#PC-DO David Ortiz

This is just a beautiful card! I love when a player's off the field charities and endeavors are highlighted as well! 

2012 Topps Gypsy Queen - Relics 

#GQR-JL Jon Lester

Fun Fact: I own 0 cards from the 2012 Gypsy Queen base set, but have 2 cards from that set's relics.

Thanks once again Josh! These cards are fantastic!

Who's #100 Contest

It's time to reveal the third clue of the contest, worth 8 points. So far you've been given the following clues:

Clue #1: He's a former All-Star.
Clue #2: He was once traded for a former Cy Young Award winner.

If you've made guesses on either of the two previous post, a guess here replaces them. Also, don't forget you can earn bonus points for guessing the year and the manufacturer of the card! Here's the latest clue:

Clue #3: He was almost traded for a Hall of Famer.


Good luck!

TCDB Trade Recap: Cards From Pembroke, Ontario

During the last Time Travel Trading update, I mentioned a second component to the trade with TCDB member Kari. Kari wanted a bunch of extras I had from this year's base set, and in return sent along a nice stack of recent Red Sox I needed:

That gold parallel of Marcus Walden officially becomes the first card in my Golden Sox Project. 1 down, 30 to go!

Thanks again, Kari!

Who's #100 Contest

Ready for the second clue? This clue is worth 9 points, and if you guessed Wednesday, you can replace that guess with a guess here. Good luck!

Clue #2:  He was once traded for a former Cy Young Award winner.

Just to be nice, here's last post's clue as well:

Clue #1: He's a former All-Star