Yes We McCann!

Hey guys, Drew back here! My first official year as a college student is now complete, and I have to say there isn't a better feeling in the world than to be done. A lot has taken place in my life in that time, and I'm really fortunate for the way everything ended up. I definitely made the right decision by switching schools mid-way through the year, as being away (especially where I was) really brought me down in a number of ways. But, the past is the past, and every experience led up to where I am right now, and I'm very lucky to be where I am.

With all that said, here was my gift to myself for completing the school year; something I snatched up on eBay last week for a better price than what the remaining 24 copies were selling for.

Out of this year's stunning Topps Museum Collection product, I purchased my first autograph of the Yankees new gritty backstop, Brian McCann! McCann hasn't delivered as well as a lot of Yankee fans had hoped in his one plus year in the Bronx, but I feel like he deserves a lot more credit than he's been given. Being able to have a dependable catcher in this day of age who can also come up with clutch hits is really an asset only a select few teams can say they have. The Yankees pitching staff has come a long way, surpassing expectations thus far in the 2015 season, and I feel like some of that can be attributed to McCann's veteran leadership. He may not be the threat he was during his prime, but I would gladly take him over any of the options they threw out there after Posada left.

McCann didn't have many autographs in a Yankee uniform last year, but this year he's been featured in several products. This one is on a sticker, but it is pretty hard to tell unless you see it in person. It is rare to find quality Yankees patches in any product, so to be able to find one of one of the team's leaders, autographed and numbered to only 25 copies for under $30; I couldn't be happier.

He may not be our best player, but I have grown quite fond of Brian McCann as a person and leader. That is something many Yankee fans seem to overlook since we've had the pleasure of having the best team leader possible for the past twenty years. This year, other players have had to step up, such as CC Sabathia, McCann, and Brett Gardner; and I think they've clearly done a great job considering the Bombers have been in 1st place of the crowded AL East for a majority of the season! And if you haven't seen his Oscar nominated performance as Ham Porter of "The Sandlot" (totally kidding about the Oscar thing), you should definitely go do that.

Happy Sunday everyone! See Ya!

A Pick-Me-Up from William & Co.!

Hey guys, Drew back here. Boy, has it been a whirlwind of a past month. I finally got a taste of the true college lifestyle (and no, not that kind of taste), and I've been absolutely crushed by homework over the past few weeks. I ended up having to withdraw from a course because I don't feel happy at my school and am transferring back home following this semester. I know it was short lived, but I really want to get back home because I know I'll enjoy the experience much more. 

With all that in mind, I got another great surprise package from my great friend William and one of his newer friends, Max, as well! William keeps me in the loop with the card hobby, and helps me still complete Yankees team sets though I haven't had the time and money to stay involved myself. 

Towards the end of the 2014 season I grew to adjust to Brian McCann, and I think part of it was because he hit a home run in a game I attended. While it was a down year, he still ended up putting up 23 home runs and driving in 75 runs while managing a staff that changed as frequently as the weather on my campus. William sent me three very nice McCann cards that I will gladly include in my Yankees PC box when I get home.

Also, congratulations to Alfonso Soriano on a fantastic career. He won't be getting into Cooperstown in my book, but he had some great moments with the Yankees, and some spectacular seasons with the  Rangers, Nationals, and Cubs before calling it quits at the age of 38. I'll always remember him for the being on the other end of the famous A-Rod trade prior to the 2004 season, but his batting stance and power streaks will always be memorable as a young baseball fan.

This scan covers a very strange range of Yankees history, spanning from two Red Sox turned Yankees, one of the most clutch postseason pitchers in our history, along with a cool Prizm Sabathia card and some prospects. I'm beginning to lose faith in Mason Williams unfortunately, but I wish I could say differently. I got the chance to meet him at a card show a few years ago when the Yankees considered him one of their top prospects, but it seems like things are starting to fall apart for the kid. On a much better note, this is my first card of Michael O'Neill, the son of Yankee great Paul O'Neill! He probably won't amount to anything, but you never know considering he has the blood of the Warrior!

I didn't know this card existed, but I'm really glad they did it during the horrendous "Snoop Lion" phase. I've never been a fan of his music (except for the classic stuff with Dr. Dre of course), but as a relatively big rap fan, its a must have.

Along with all the sweet stuff William included, his new friend Max, an Instagram collector; had included a few cards in the package to send me as well! I plan on getting Max back when I come home, because it was extremely thoughtful of him to do this for me.

I really don't know where I stand as far as Cano goes at this point. I believe my policy is that I'll still take anything of his, but would prefer stuff from his Yankees career over the Mariners stuff. You know, the good memories. Poor guy is going to have a long 10 years in Seattle. This is the blue refractor out of 2013 Topps Chrome, and I have to admit (and this is pretty sad) I spent quite a bit of time questioning whether it was the normal refractor or the blue refractor. However, the card was numbered to 199, and after looking online I confirmed it to be the blue. Max also threw in a Jeter Upper Deck rookie, and even with the wear on the front, I'll take every Jeter card I can get; especially that of the rookie variety!

All in all, thank you both William and Max for some really cool stuff, I'll be sure to get you both back as best as I can as soon as possible!

See Ya!

A Special Night at a Special Place

Hey everyone, Drew back here. My summer is coming to a close and fast, but I've been busy making sure I leave my home on the best note possible. Last night my Dad took my girlfriend, sister, and I to the Yankees game! The Yanks took on Detroit, and the pitching matchup worried me that we may not have chosen the best night to go. The Tigers started last year's Cy Young winner Max Scherzer, while the Yankees put newly acquired Brandon McCarthy on the mound. The thing with baseball is, things never seem to go as planned.

We got to the stadium over 2 hours prior to gametime, so we immediately bolted to Monument Park to see it before it became overcrowded with people (still too late). It was very busy, but we got there early enough that we didn't really have to wait in line for long, which certainly helped under the blistering sun. I got to finally see Mariano Rivera's retired number, which really was amazing. He was the first player I grew up watching whose number was put to rest by the Yankees organization, so it almost felt like a part of my childhood was along the hallowed halls of the park. 

I forgot my mom's amazing camera at home before the game, so I only ended up with cell phone pictures. I didn't get any spectacular pictures, but we had field level front row seats in right field (if you've been following for a while, the same seats I got on TV with when Cano belted one out a few years ago). Here's Jesus Joba Chamberlain warming up with Detroit. He kind of looks like he lived out of a garbage pail between his time in New York and Detroit, but I must say, it may have brought out the best in him since he's having a solid 2014 campaign.

Batting practice was scary, to say the least. As I mentioned earlier, our seats were in the front row of the right field bleachers, and BP took place just as the sun was setting. We couldn't see any balls coming our way until they were right near us, and I find it funny how 9 out of every 10 of those balls were hit by Miguel Cabrera. If you were there and didn't really believe in his talent beforehand, you'd have been sure to change your mind following the show he put on in batting practice. Unreal.

I don't know if any of you saw this, but last night Justin Verlander flipped his renowned girlfriend Kate Upton a baseball. It just so happens that she was the second young blonde he threw a ball to that day, because before this happened, Justin tossed my sister a ball! My dad yelled to him that it was his daughter's first Yankees game (which, by the way, it was), and Justin came over and tossed her the ball! It was a nice moment for sure, and I just so happened to catch it on camera! After my dad let two Miggy Cabrera blasts roll past his fingertips, we finally got ourselves a souvenir, one Diana will have for the rest of her life.

Oh, and here it is.

One of the best parts about having the seats we had is the atmosphere. At this section we're directly in front of the bleacher creatures, extremely close to the right fielder throughout the game, and right next to the Yankees bullpen. I said hello to Francisco Cervelli and Brian McCann last night as the pitchers got loose, and both players responded back to me! I love hearing the pop sound when the ball hits the glove in the bullpen, and from that spot we are right in the action of the pitcher getting loose!

We were very pleased to see the Captain in the lineup this go round, especially since he wasn't in the lineup at the last game we went to. I tipped my cap to Derek each time he came to the plate, because who knows if this was the last time I'd ever get to see him play baseball. Mark Teixeira was a last second lineup scratch, but it worked out because rather than hanging out with Martin Prado all night, we got Ichiro instead who took Tex's place in the lineup! From being right by Ichiro all night, I realized just how small he was, and how locked in he was during the game. He's as professional as it gets, and it was really cool to get to watch him play also before he calls it quits.

We were extremely spoiled in right field that night, because we also got to see Torii Hunter up close too. I've always had a tremendous deal of respect for Torii, and I thought he was one of those universally loved players coming from a dark era in the game. However, the hammered guy next to me didn't seem to feel the love, and let Torii know it all night. I have to admit, the guy was pretty funny ragging on Hunter, but after a while the joke got old and annoying. Hunter responded to the guy with hand gestures saying how he's fat, ugly, and short, which got a big kick out of the right field crowd. 

Brian McCann and Jacoby Ellsbury drove in the lone two Yankees runs, but Brandon McCarthy was able to hold off the terrific Tigers offense to 1 run over 5 2/3 innings and earned himself the victory. Ellsbury could've had much more on the sac fly he hit with the bases loaded had it not been for the incredible catch made by new Tiger Ezekiel Carrera. I've never seen a better defensive play in person before, and after watching the highlights I firmly believe that catch should be nominated for one of the finest of this season! 

Matt Thornton (no longer a Yankee), Adam Warren, Shawn Kelley held the game for David Robertson to finish off in the 9th for his 30th save! It was a big win for a hot Yankees team against one of the best in the business, and Brandon McCarthy impressed me a lot. I don't think the Yankees have the pitching to go deep into the playoffs, but who knows if Tanaka will come back and help the cause down the stretch.

On top of getting to witness a great game, I added two things to my Yankees collection, the 2014 Yankees yearbook and a Derek Jeter bobblehead! I didn't get around to purchasing the 2013 Yankees yearbook yet but plan on adding it soon, since I have the yearbooks dating back to 2005 when I first started following the team. My dad bought me the Jeter bobblehead, which actually resembles him a little bit! I've been adding a few bobbleheads to my collection here and there lately just for fun, and no collection could be complete without my favorite player of all time.

I had an amazing time with some of my favorite people last night, and if this was the last time I got to see Derek Jeter play, it's been an unbelievable run. RE2PECT.

See Ya!

Thoughts on Cano

Hey guys, Drew back here. In case you haven't heard, Jay-Z brought my favorite player away from New York and all the way to Seattle. Yeah, you heard that right. It's unbelievable to me that a man who lives for New York took away one of the Yankees' finest pieces without putting a lot of effort into the negotiation. Alicia Keys brags on Jay-Z's classic "Empire State of Mind": "New York, concrete jungle where dreams are made of". Mr. Carter obviously is infatuated with everything about the Bronx, but I guess he dropped that love when he went and took Robinson Cano as far from the Big Apple as possible. Hopefully Robby likes seafood and rainy days, because while Seattle is a beautiful city, there is no place like New York.

From a business standpoint though, it makes sense. The Yankees weren't budging from their original offer of 7 years and $170 million, and Seattle, fresh off a $2 billion TV deal, was willing to open their wallets for the star second baseman. After a supposed hiccup between Jay-Z and Mariners owner Howard Lincoln, the two sides eventually agreed to a 10 year, $240 million dollar deal. The move put Seattle back on the map for the first time since the times of Randy Johnson, Alex Rodriguez, Edgar Martinez, and Ken Griffey Jr. While the move doesn't project them to now be a playoff caliber team, they supposedly aren't done. They've been linked to free agents Nelson Cruz and Shin-Soo Choo, and have expressed interest in trading top pitching prospect Taijuan Walker for a David Price or Matt Kemp. The Mariners finally have the money they needed to contend with Texas and Oakland (who seemingly gets it done without all the money). This move also makes Jay-Z look great, as he was only $60 million off from his original goal of a $300 million dollar move, which at first sounded absolutely ridiculous to anyone but him.

Sure, the move makes sense for a Seattle franchise that is struggling tremendously to put fans in their seats. However, they can't stop here, or else they will essentially throw $240 million out the window. They aren't paying $24 million a year for Cano's age 41 season, they're paying $240 million over 10 total years in order to bring Seattle its first World Series championship. If they don't win during this next decade, the contract will be a colossal failure. Cano is already 31 years old, and if they expect him to put up similar numbers to what he's produced for New York during his prime years, they're crazy. Take a look at similar moves, especially Albert Pujols, who got the exact same deal as Cano but was a year older at that time than Cano is now. Pujols was expected to bring Los Angeles back to the top, but now they're drowning in his enormous contract as his performance is making him look like more and more of an average player. Seattle has the money and prospects to build a winner now, but they have to keep in mind there are plenty of other elite teams out there, including the Yankees, whose signings have already made up for the loss of Cano. With just Cano leading the way in New York's lineup last season, the team struggled tremendously. However, with the money they would've used mostly towards Cano, they've already signed Brian McCann, Jacoby Ellsbury, and Carlos Beltran, and seem to be far from done!

I'm not calling the Yankees geniuses for dumping Cano and his enormous contract off with the Mariners. I've never liked the way the Yankees have handled their roster. Since the days where they allowed players such as Jeter, Posada, Bernie, Pettitte, and Rivera to develop into All Stars, they've practically bought their whole team. Cano was one of the last remaining pieces that came straight out of their farm system, and he was in the midst of writing his script to being the next Yankee to take his career straight to the Hall of Fame. Instead, he chose to start a new chapter in Seattle that could make or break his chances to eventually be enshrined in Cooperstown. But in this day in age in baseball, the best business decision for New York was to let Cano walk. The Yankees certainly don't have to worry about money, however their revenues decrease significantly if they don't have a contending, playoff caliber team on the field, which was proven during their injury riddled 2012 season. With 3 potential All Stars now in the heart of the Yankees lineup, nothing could go wrong, right?

Wrong. Ellsbury is signed for 7 years and $153 million dollars, and he's faced numerous injuries over the past four years with Boston. McCann will most likely have to be moved to 1st base a few years into his 5 year contract, and you never know how Beltran's knees will hold up, especially in year 3 of his deal. The Yankees outfield now consists of tortoises Beltran, Wells, Soriano, and Ichiro, and hares Ellsbury and Gardner. At least one of those 6 is now expendable, Gardner easily having the most trade value. The Yankees believe that having two speed threats and top notch defenders would be a good thing, but I think their top priority should be finding a short term solution at either second or third base. I also believe New York needs to add a solid reliever that can close if needed such as Joaquin Benoit, or maybe even Grant Balfour. Nobody knows how David Robertson will fare stepping into Rivera's shoes, so having some dependability as backup will be key. I believe the rotation needs one more solid upgrade too, even despite their resigning of Hiroki Kuroda. I'm not confident enough in David Phelps to have him lock down one of their five rotation slots, but I'm willing to give Michael Pineda a shot at least in Spring Training to prove his worthiness. Without Cano, the Yankees should get by just fine, however, if they don't make the playoffs after all their spending it could significantly impact their financial situation as well. You're taking a gamble any time you go and add a big fish from free agency to your team, because besides for believing his talents will translate, you also have to hope he has the right mindset to get along with the players and become a leader. I think Cashman is choosing the right type of players for the team, specifically McCann, who draws a lot of leadership/talent comparisons to Thurman Munson.

While having Cano for the rest of his career would be a nice story, it was in the best interest of the Yankees organization to start off on a new foot, especially after the chaos that took place last season. The team wasn't awful, but it didn't offer a lot of hope towards current and future attempts at contention. The Mariners are right for giving Cano a chance to revitalize their organization, but only if they can add more pieces to surround him.

On a personal note though, I'm going to miss the heck out of Robinson Cano. He's been my favorite player besides for the Core Four members for years now, and if you've been to my blog before, you'd know he's an enormous part of my collection. I'm currently not planning on parting ways with any of my Cano PC, and I'll continue to add to it, but probably to a lesser extent. He's still one of my favorite players, I mean you can't blame him for taking a contract worth $65 million more than the next best offer. Had he agreed with Seattle if they only offered $20-30 million more than the Yankees did, I'd be genuinely upset in him and probably would look to sell a majority of my collection of his. However, this deal was too enormous for him to pass up, even if it means being stuck in gloomy Seattle for the next decade (which won't happen anyway most likely- see Alex Rodriguez's Texas contract and Prince Fielder's Detroit deal). Cano was the first player I really followed from the very beginning, as he was an up and comer when I first started to follow baseball. I've been honored to watch him develop into the Hall of Fame caliber player he's become, and he's been a heck of a lot of fun to root for. I'll continue trying to be a fan of his, up until Seattle and New York face off in the playoffs. It's going to be fun.

I'm going to miss you Robby Cano, don't you know?

See Ya.

2010 Topps Box Break Recap Part 2

Hey guys, Drew back here, with part 2, the grading, of my 2010 Topps box. I am starting to look for tradelists for this product and kinda ignored all the lists for this set while I was opening the box, and don't know where to find them. Please comment if you know of any or have a tradelist up for 2010 Topps. As you saw I picked up a few nice cards off eBay last night after losing 3 in a row, and got them for cheap. I have some mail going out today, including 3 Spring Training TTM attempts. Oh yeah, and NO SCHOOL TODAY W00T!!!!! Ok, getting back to the review, here it is, hand in your papers class, it's time to grade some 2010 Topps!

Design: I really like this new design, and although I've liked it from the start, it's grown on me still, and I may like it more than 2009. It's a pretty simple design, and I think Topps used huge team logos just to rub it in Upper Deck's faces. The photography is great, I really like the Prince Fielder card, and the other one of him with Ryan Braun is cool too. Randy Johnson's card as you probably have seen is really cool looking too, and Matt Kemp has a nice card as well. Many people say some of the pictures are kinda blurry or screwed up but I haven't seen one card like that yet. It seems as if nobody wants to appreciate this set, just try to find the bad things about it. There are no doubt way too many insert sets. I wanna try to collect them all as much as I can, but that will be an extremely hard task. I have a ton of ToppsTown for trade, I completed the set in the box alone, so the blaster ToppsTown and the other 6 ToppsTown duplicates I pulled are all for trade. I'm planning on posting that later. I really like the Legendary Lineage design, and the Tales of the Game design doesn't look spectacular but the photography and moments used make up for it, I think it's my favorite insert set. History of the Game gets really boring in some parts, but some cards are really nice as well, like the Nolan Ryan & Roger Maris cards I pulled in the box. Peak Performance is only saved by the photography and may be my least favorite, and I don't get why they needed to make the relics on those cards, they don't look that great. When They Were Young is pretty cool too, but the player selection isn't great. Most of them are scrubs but it's cool getting cards of Wright, A-Rod, Pujols, and Ortiz when they were little. Design Grade: B+ (for everything combined, base design is an A)

Price: The price is a little high at first on many products, and this is one of them. In a product where you don't get much value back, it's pretty high. I got my box for $55 (including shipping) from Blowout so that was pretty good, but you'll see these selling for $60-65 and that's too high. Considering you'll only get 1 card that could add up the value, unless you pull something additional, it's not a product that you'll make your money back on. But that is NOT what the product is about! With this product you want to have fun ripping 36 packs and pulling some cool inserts of old timers, with chances of cool pulls. Eventually, you can get the past Series 1 boxes for much less, ala, here and here. Given that, Price Grade: B-

Hits: You need to get really lucky here to be happy with your 1 per box hit. Most likely you'll pull a scrub auto, or even worse, scrub game used, but to add to it, pulling a nice gold border, a black border, jumbo patch, silk, or short print, and you have a nice box. Unfortunately I didn't pull any of those, and had a Brian McCann relic. He isn't bad but I was hoping for something nicer. In the jumbo boxes you can get those manufactured hat logos, which are really nice and sell very well. I want to get one of those, but since they is no Cano or Swisher I'm not in any rush to get one, I'll wait for the price to drop. The Legends Short Prints are really nice as usual and you could at least get $10 back on a card, depending on the player. Then you have the Curtis Granderson short print, where they photoshopped Grandy into a Yankee uniform, similar to what they did with CC Sabathia last year. I hope to get that Grandy eventually, to add to the CC that I have. Lastly, with the short prints, there are the Yankees Pie in the Face cards. While it's a cool concept, they are selling extremely well, and I am praying they turn into a card like this, or this, in 2 years. The worst part is that Cano has 2 and Swisher has 1, and it would probably cost me close to $400 to get them all, which I don't plan on doing. Hits Grade: C+ (my Box: D+)

Overall: Well, all in all, this is a nice product. I have wanted to try a box of flagship for a while now, and I finally pulled the trigger on one. If anyone has the Swisher relic, one with dirt on it in particular, like this one, I'll trade my McCann and maybe a gold or two as well for it. It wasn't a great box, but the inserts were really cool and I enjoyed opening the box, and took my time, which is all that matters (for the most part, unless you get screwed). I took a week opening the box, and if I didn't have any days off last week I probably would just be finishing. I would've liked a black border or silk, but I'm stuck with Brian McCann, which isn't too bad of a thing. I will trade the McCann for anything Yankees or Jets related. Anyway, enough talking about trading, my overall grade for this box is.... Overall Grade: B+

2010 Topps Box Break Recap Part 1

Hey guys, Drew back here. I finally got around to scanning my box, and here is Part 1 of the review. This box was ordered from Blowout Cards, my favorite online resource for buying boxes, check it out if you haven't before. Best prices on the planet no doubt (sorry DA). Here is the Product Information, although most of you guys can tell me all this in your sleep.

PRODUCT CONTENT
36 Packs Per Box
10 Cards Per Pack
360 Cards Per Box
1 ToppsTown Card Per Pack
4 First Class Ticket to ToppsTown Cards Per Box
12 Regular Cards Your Mom Threw Out Inserts Per Box
1 Original Back Card Your Mom Threw Out Insert Per Box
9 Legendary Lineage Inserts Per Box
9 Turkey Red Inserts Per Box
9 Peak Performance Inserts Per Box
6 History of the Game Inserts Per Box
6 Tales of the Game Inserts Per Box
5 When They Were Young Inserts Per Box
6 Million Card Giveaway Codes Per Box
6 Gold Parallels Numbered To 2010
1 "Hit" Per Box, (not including the chance at
silk parallels, black borders)

The 1st set of 3 flagships that Topps put out contains the first 330 cards in the base set, and features several different inserts, including the Cards Your Mom Threw Out, Tales of the Game, History of the Game, Legendary Lineage, ToppsTown, Peak Performance, When They Were Young, Turkey Red and more. The chase cards are Cut Autographs of Heroes of the Sport, Silk Cards numbered to 50, Black Bordered Base Variations numbered to 59, and Jumbo Patch cards. Most likely you will pull a jersey card of a decent player, but I'll get to all that in Post Part 2. Without further adieu, let's break my box!

MY BOX BREAK REVIEW:

Base Set: 252/330

The new base design is a favorite of mine, Topps went kind of retro-ish on the design, and the huge logos were used to shove the license into Upper Deck's faces. I like! This Prince Fielder card is the best card in the set no doubt, what a cool and funny picture. I really like Prince, he has a big future in baseball.

Base Doubles: 9 (more on that in another coming post)

Inserts:

ToppsTown: 25/25

ToppsTown Doubles: 7 (more on that in another post)

First Class Ticket To ToppsTown: 4/25

- Ryan Howard (FCTTT13)
- Kevin Youkilis (FCTTT16)
- Todd Helton (FCTTT17)
- Adam "Don't Call Me Pacman" Jones (FCTTT20)

Turkey Red: 9/50

- Albert Pujols (TR4)
- Justin Upton (TR6)
- Tommy Hanson (TR8)
- Josh Johnson (TR9)
- Jonathan Papelbon (TR10)
- Derrek Lee (TR17)
- Cal Ripken Jr. (TR19)
- Mel Ott (TR31)
- Evan Longoria (TR41)

Peak Performance: 9/50

- Honus Wagner (PP-3)
- Walter Johnson (PP-4)
- Bob Gibson (PP-9)
- Vladimir Guerrero (PP-16)
- Jimmie Foxx (PP-21)
- Chase Utley (PP-25)
- Dizzy Dean (PP-36)
- Hanley Ramirez (PP-37)
- Rogers Hornsby (PP-46)

Legendary Lineage: 9/25

- Ty Cobb/Curtis Granderson (LL5)
- Jimmie Foxx/Manny Ramirez (LL6)
- Tris Speaker/Grady Sizemore (LL8)
- Reggie Jackson/Adam Dunn (LL13)
- Stan Musial/Albert Pujols (LL16)
- Hank Greenberg/Ryan Braun (LL21)
- Jackie Robinson/Matt Kemp (LL23)
- Tom Seaver/Roy Halladay (LL25)
- Dennis Eckersley/Mariano Rivera (LL26)

When They Were Young: 5/18

- Alex Rodriguez (WTWY-AR)
- Charlie Morton (WTWY-CM)
- Cody Ross (WTWY-CR)
- Clint Sammons (WTWY-CS)
- Daniel McCutchen (WTWY-DM)

History of the Game: 6/25

- First MLB Game (HOTG2)
- AL Elevated to MLB (HOTG4)
- Giants & Dodgers Move to California (HOTG17)
- Roger Maris (HOTG18)
- Nolan Ryan's 7th No Hitter (HOTG22)
- First MLB Game in Japan Played (HOTG25)

Tales of the Game: 6/25

- Ty Cobb (TOG-1)
- Babe Ruth (TOG-3)
- Ernie Banks (TOG-6)
- Wade Boggs (TOG-17)
- Cal Ripken Jr. (TOG-19)
- Derek Jeter (TOG-20)

The Cards My Mom Threw Out: 12/58

- Mickey Mantle (1952 Design, CMT-1)
- Carl Yastrzemski (1960 Design, CMT-9)
- Willie McCovey (1967 Design, CMT-16)
- Mickey Mantle (1968 Design, CMT-17)
- Tom Seaver (1972 Design, CMT-21)
- Reggie Jackson (1977 Design, CMT-26)
- Ryne Sandberg (1983 Design, CMT-32)
- Tony Gwynn (1986 Design, CMT-35)
- Chipper Jones (1991 Design, CMT-40)
- Derek Jeter (1993 Design, CMT-42)
- Alfonso Soriano (2004 Design, CMT-53)
- Alex Gordon (2006 Design, CMT-55)

The Cards That My Mom Threw Out Original Back: 1/50

Million Card Giveaway Code Cards: 6

Unlocked Cards on this Post

Gold Base Parallels /2010: 6/330

- Casey Blake (74) 651/2010
- Kevin Correia (112) 1462/2010
- Reid Gorecki (129) 1308/2010
- Carlos Carrasco (164) 127/2010
- Hideki Matsui (185) 706/2010
- Juan Rivera (226) 15/2010

Game Used Relic:

- Brian McCann #PPR-BM

Well, that's it, nothing spectacular but a nice break, I love the inserts but just TOO many, it took me forever to post that. So, Part 2, the grading is tomorrow, the part where I go give you my overall perspective of the product. Stay tuned for that, and See Ya!